A/N: The Christmas party of 2007. Both Jenny and Gibbs are bored out of their minds, and the rest of the team have had a little too much to drink.
The song is 'Every Day' by Rascal Flatts. Love this song. It applies to a few pwople in my life who saved me with what they said to me last year when I wasn't in such a great mental state. And they didn't even realise what they were doing.
Hope you like it!
Sarah x
It was the NCIS Christmas party of 2007, and Jenny Shepard was not enjoying it one bit. She was bored of all the middle aged politicians trying their best to successfully flirt with her. There was only one man she wanted to dance with, and he was here under duress. Jenny wasn't actually sure how she would feel if she got to dance with Leroy Jethro Gibbs again. Would it be happy, or would it be too painful?
Jenny's train of thought was derailed when Gibbs was hurled into her by a not-so-sober Abby. Jethro was wearing a frown, as if he was trying to figure out how his hands had ended up upon the bare shoulders of his boss and ex-lover.
He then made an expression that suggested he was following his gut. He grabbed her hand and led her to the middle of the room. He put his arm around her waist while she whispered, "What the hell are you playing at , Jethro?"
"Following my gut," he smirked. Just then, the song changed. Country? Jenny was actually still too surprised to care.
You could've bowed out gracefully
But you didn't
You knew enough to know
To leave well enough alone
But you wouldn't
Huh, Jenny thought. Gibbs never left her business alone, he always interfered. But then, she never kept out of his life.
They swayed together on the spot; Gibbs wasn't capable of any other forms of dancing. If this could be classed as dancing, that was. It reminded Jenny of all the happier times she'd had with him.
It took Gibbs back to a time when he'd wrapped his arms around Jenny's body as they lay on the bed, with Jenny crying about the anniversary of her mother's death. He knew he should have stayed out of it, but he couldn't let her go through I on her own. Maybe that was just the song, though.
I drive myself crazy
Tryin' to stay out of my own way
The messes that I make
But my secrets are so safe
The only one who gets me
Yeah, you get me
It's amazing to me
Jenny instinctively hugged herself closer to him. She felt totally safe with him guarding her. They were concentrating on both the 'dancing' and listening to the song properly.
Gibbs knew that every secret he told Jenny would stay between them. He trusted her, after everything she had done, he still trusted her. She was the one person who truly understood him and his way of thinking.
Jenny had spent the most part of 2007 screwing up her head. She had messed herself up trying to stop others getting hurt, but she'd failed and she knew it: she had allowed Tony, Ziva and Jeanne to get hurt.
She found this situation more than a little bit creepy. This song, right at the moment Gibbs dragged her onto the dance floor? One of the team were up to something. Or all of them.
How every day
Every day, every day
You save my life
Jenny found it amazing that Gibbs saved her all the time without even knowing it. Over the last year, she had contemplated ending everything several times. And each time, Jethro had said something that made her stop and think.
Gibbs cast his mind back to when he lost his memory. It occurred to him that Jenny was the only person he currently worked with that he had been able to recall at all. Perhaps it was because she had always talked him out of his more idiotic plans, ultimately saving his life. He would remember someone who had saved his life like that, amnesia or no amnesia.
He looked up to see who was controlling the music. Sure enough, McGee and Ziva were up there with a computer and an ever growing list of requested songs. He rolled his eyes. Of course, his team were behind this.
I come around all broken down and
Crowded out
And you're comfort
Sometimes the place I go
Is so deep and dark and desperate
I don't know, I don't know
How every day
Every day, every day
You save my life
Jenny looked up to see what Gibbs was seeing: her best friend and the resident computer geek in charge of the music. She made a mental note to have a word with them later. Abby shoving Gibbs into her? Ziva and McGee mucking about with the music? Tony and Ducky chatting a little too casually in the nearest corner? This was obviously a rather drunken attempt at getting her and Jethro together.
Gibbs thought about what he was like in the hospital. Begging for Shannon and Kelly. Yet just Jenny being there with him was comforting. It helped him focus on the present just a tiny bit.
Jenny remembered the places her mind had been in the last year. She had practically lost her sanity in desperation, trying to catch La Grenioulle. Her world had been dark, but with Gibbs around it was fractionally lighter. It was easier to keep going when he was around.
Sometimes I swear, I don't know if
I'm comin' or goin'
But you always say somethingwithout even knowin'
That I'm hangin' on to your words
With all of my might and it's alright
Yeah, I'm alright for one more night-
Every day
Gibbs thought about when he couldn't figure out whether he was a Marine or a NCIS Agent it had been when he remembered Jenny that he had finally accepted the latter. The weird part was that she had no idea what she'd done for him. She had no clue that she'd saved him, made him accept that things had moved on and that he also had to.
Jenny remembered every time she had paid attention to Gibbs' caution over the year she spent losing her grip on reality. With all her strength, she had etched his words in her mind at that at night she did nothing she would later regret. And so that she could make it through the night.
We have so been stitched up, Gibbs thought. Rule number thirty-nine. There is no such thing as a coincidence.
Every day, every day, every day
Every day, every day
You save me, you save me, oh, oh, oh
Every day
Every, every, every day-
Every day you save my life
They saved each others' lives everyday without even realising it. They looked at each other and smiled slightly. "You understand your team have set us up, right?" Jenny laughed.
"'Course I do," Gibbs replied. "They did it with good reason. That song was nothing but the truth, and they used it." Gibbs hesitated slightly. "When I lost my memory, I remembered you before anyone else I know came to mind. Because I need you, Jen."
Jenny gazed up at him, trying to make sense of what was going on. Was this really happening, or was it just another nightmare of her's where she'd remember that she had left him years ago? "This year has very possibly been the worst of my life. Every dark place I went you pulled me out of, and you didn't even know it."
"You know if we prove them right, we'll never hear the end of it," Gibbs stated.
"Maybe I don't want to forget this," Jenny suggested. She didn't want to lose this moment.
Gibbs chuckled and pulled her close. He kissed her softly but surely, knowing that he really loved her. Jenny put her hands on either side of his face and responded by gently crushing her lips to his. She pulled back and said, "Remind me to kick the girls' asses later."
"Remind me to head-slap the boys later," Gibbs countered. Jenny laughed as Gibbs pulled her into a tight hug. "Everything's gonna be fine now. I know how close you got to ending it this year, Jenny," he whispered. He kissed her head.
Jenny rolled her eyes. "There you go again. Saving my life without even knowing it."
Hope you enjoyed it!
Please review!
Sarah x