A/N: This plot bunny came to me this morning while I was getting ready for work. First off this is an AU story and Vance is OOC, I decided maybe underneath it all maybe Vance is secretly nice. But that's not the plot bunny, read to find out what it is! And this is just setting the scene for what's to come this is a Jibbs story even though it doesn't seem like it yet! Disclaimer: I made the whole Italian mafia thing up, I'm not even sure mafias still exist and I don't mean anything negative against Italians.
Gibbs, DiNozzo, and McGee walked in to the bullpen early Monday morning to find a redhead climbing the stairs toward MTAC. "Ooo look a red head Boss, just your type!" DiNozzo exclaimed. Gibbs decided it was best for him not to look and instead decided to head slap his senior agent. He then followed up with one of his infamous icy glares for good measure.
"Shutting up boss," Tony said, "and starting my work now."
Luckily the red head made it to the director's office without being recognized. She was convinced Tony was on to her when he made the red head comment but luckily Gibbs didn't bother to look. She opened the metal doors and sighed, she really missed her old office. Not bothering to knock, she found a tired looking Vance at his desk.
"Did Gibbs learn not to knock from you or did you learn from him?" Vance asked her with a smile. He was long past the days when he believed their relationship was inappropriate, now he believed she must've been a saint to withstand any form of a relationship with him.
"I actually believe in knocking thank you very much. But I was very close to being discovered by Jethro's team, so I moved quickly as possible. Seeing as I'm supposed to be dead, they might be confused to see me."
"Crap Jenny, what happened and why are they all early on a Monday morning?" Vance sighed, he could already tell today was not going to be a good day. He had called her in hopes she could help him out with the case that was plaguing NCIS and help him manage Gibbs. He thought by having her come early on a Monday morning he would avoid having her be seen. But he was wrong.
"They saw the back of my head and Tony made a comment that because I was a red head I was Jethro's type." It was nice to see that in the three years since her "death" some things hadn't changed. It had a calming effect on her, after three years of everything constantly changing; she could come back to headquarters and see that nothing had changed. Except for the director.
"Well isn't that his basic requirement?" Vance asked jokingly.
Jenny laughed, "Yes I suppose it is. Now what's going on? Or should I say what did Jethro do this time?" Vance laughed; she knew them all way to well. He had always secretly been jealous of the way she had connected with her agents when she was director. He didn't have that and it made his job a lot harder.
"You know all of us too well Jenny. And I'm sorry you had to fly out her to save my sorry butt. Why don't you go back to being director and I'll be assistant director again?" Vance had always thought he wanted to be the director of NCIS, until he actually got the job. Then he quickly realized it wasn't what he expected. He didn't mind the politics, but trying to clean up after other people's mistakes, sucking up to higher ups and trying to get his agency to give him the respect they gave Jenny wasn't fun at all.
Jenny smirked, "I do believe I told you the director's position wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. But how are we going to announce to the public that the former director of NCIS who has been supposedly dead for three years is now the director again?"
"I don't know, SecNav can come up with something. We'll say we had to cover up your life threatening sickness by making it look like you died, but then you got the treatment you needed survive. You took a few years off to recover and get back up to speed, but now you're ready to be back in charge. Then we can have somebody leak one of the messes I made and I'll have to resign and you can be director again."
"So you haven't put much thought into this have you Leon? And I don't mind helping you clean up your messes; I've made more than my share of them as well." It was understood she was referring to the frog incident, when revenge consumed her. She had been wrong to let that control her so much, to use NCIS for her personal agenda. But she cleaned up her messes with help from Vance and moved on. The past was the past and now she had to focus on helping Vance clean up the mess he made.
"I have because once SecNav finds out about this, I'm getting fired. I put an entire armed federal agency at risk and there's a good chance NCIS will be attacked by a dangerous Italian mafia!" Jenny's draw dropped, she had not expected this one. She thought putting Tony's life in danger was bad, she couldn't imagine doing that to the entire agency. There was no doubt that this was going to be difficult, mafias aren't exactly known for being cooperative. On top of that she had to do it while trying to not be seen by anybody who would recognize her. And if all that wasn't enough there was Jethro to deal with.
"First Jethro pisses off the Mexican drug cartel then you piss off the Italian mafia. Geez I can't trust you two! But we'll clean this up, but first things first what did Jethro do this time?" She really hoped he wasn't in any trouble, even after three years she thought of him constantly. She wasn't sure if Mike had told him that she had said she regretted leaving him in Paris, but she really hoped he had. She had always wanted to tell him how she felt and she had tried to when Carson stayed with her and she asked him to stay. But he walked away and she lost the courage to tell him.
"Special Agent Gibbs hasn't done anything," Vance clarified earning him a confused look from Jenny, "yet. But after he learns what I've done I know he'll become unmanageable and give me an earful. Which I deserve, but I don't want to hear it from him." There was no denying Gibbs was a good agent, but along with that he was hard to handle and stubborn as hell. He took too much pleasure in proving him wrong, especially when it came to using his gut in cases instead of evidence.
"Jethro won't ever let this go, I hope you know that. He's going to be very, very pissed at you and that man can hold a grudge like no one's business. I can give you tips on how to deal with him, but I'm not sure they'll work, he liked me," Jenny said with a smirk. Although she actually liked Vance, she knew many people at NCIS did not. Especially Gibbs, who resented him for taking the spot where Jenny should still be. A small part of her enjoyed the fact the agency liked her better, Vance and Jenny had a long history of competing against each other. But a bigger part of her wanted NCIS to be the best it could be, and for that reason she wished the agency liked Vance. And she knew they would, if they knew the real Vance. The real Vance was funny and kind, quick with a joke to lighten the mood, always ready to help. He cared deeply about those close to him: Jenny, his wife, and his kids. But in an attempt to gain respect at an agency that cared so deeply for their former director, he became egotistical, stern, and at times rude. This was all an act, because once he got home he became the Vance that Jenny and his family knew and loved. Vance was a brother figure to Jenny, they had a shared past of helping each other clean up their messes. SecNav had even taken to calling them brother and sister because of the way they fought. But they always made up and they always had each other's backs. No matter how much of a mess Vance made this time, she had planned on staying until every little part was cleaned up.
"Gibbs, hold a grudge? Never!" Vance said, sarcasm filling his voice.
"I know, he would never get mad at the director of NCIS!" Jenny said in a mocking tone.
"No he respects each director too much to ever fight them on what they say!"
"He always does what the director tells him to do!" They both laughed, thankful for the light, happy feeling the moment brought. It was moments like this that Jenny loved spending time with Vance.
"Okay so do you care to explain how you pissed off the Italian mafia, which I might add was a very stupid thing to do. I've heard they can hold worse grudges than Agent Gibbs," Jenny said with a smirk on her face.
"Ha, ha, ha Jennifer," Vance spat back, using her full name to annoy her. Only two people on this Earth were allowed to call her Jennifer, Ducky and her mother. She didn't like her full name and became annoyed when people, who knew it bugged her, like Vance, called her by it. She gave Vance her best glare and he couldn't help but wonder how big an effect Gibbs had on her.
"Cute Leon, shall I call your mother and make her come down here so you can tell me what happened? Or are you going to put on your big boy pants and tell me?" Jenny deadpanned.
"Well my family and I was visiting an old friend in Italy and we took Agent Keith, who is still extremely loyal to you, with us as a security detail, which he was not too happy about. Anyways when we got my friends-
"Wait," Jenny interrupted, "you have friends?" She laughed at her clever joke, but the look on Vance's face told her he didn't think she was funny.
"As I was saying when we got to my friend's apartment, Agent Keith got out to make sure the area was secure. While he was doing that he ran into some suspicious looking men who wanted to know what he was doing. He explained to them that he was securing the area for the director NCIS who was visiting a friend. They left and I went and met with my friend who told me he was in trouble with those guys we saw who just happen to be members of the Italian mafia. He had overheard them talking about their plan to rob his business so he reported to his boss and the police. When they went to execute the plan, the police caught them and arrested them. The men Agent Keith had seen were trying to get their revenge on him and were doing surveillance to figure out the best way to do it. The second night we were there they broke into his house late at night. I had been up, reading case files, when they came in and I was startled. They raised their guns and I raised mine, shots were fired and in the end I killed two of them, injured one, and the fifth one ran to report to the boss. I got grazed in the leg and arm and by that point everybody else had woken up and took me took me to the hospital. I had my friend escort my wife and kids back home to keep them safe and Agent Keith stayed with me. He had stepped out a minute when one of the mafia members slipped in and told me they would come take me, and NCIS down, because it would hurt more. I told him; mind you I was on pain killers, that I'd like to see him try. That he couldn't beat NCIS, basically I got him even madder. And now I'm left with a gigantic mess that's more than likely going to be reported to the media and put this agency in danger!" Vance sighed heavily, he had just said more in the past hour and half Jenny had been here than he did all last week.
"Well," Jenny began not really sure of what you said, "at least you were trying to protect your friend. You're talking about Gerard, right?" Vance nodded, pleased that she had remembered. "And it was the painkillers talking not you, which really doesn't help much because the mafia took it serious. We need a plan and agents to execute it. But first things first, does your family and Agent Keith's family have protection?"
"Agent Keith took his family and went to visit family in Connecticut. I instructed him not to come back until I instruct him to. Agent Joe has taken over as my security detail when I'm home and well watch over my family."
"And what about when you're here, they might try to take out your whole family when you're not around. Never underestimate criminal's ability to get their hands on the information they want. Your family needs to be constantly protected even if that means sending them away for a while. I know that's going to be hard, but you don't want them in harm's way." Vance nodded, he knew she was right but he hated to admit it. He didn't want to send his family away; they were his only source of comfort through these tough times. But he also knew he'd been worse off if something happened to them, if he had to wake up every morning to an empty house. And in that moment he made a decision no one in the family was going to like, he was sending them away until it was safe.
Jenny sighed; this was going to be quite interesting. Heads were going to roll when Jethro found out and there was no way Vance could control him. She might be able to, but since she was dead that wasn't going to fly. Then there was the matter of SecNav, who was going to be pissed. He had been pissed when he found out about her and The Frog and he was going to be more pissed about Vance and the mafia because he was putting NCIS in danger. She was glad she had decided to buy another house in Georgetown, because she was going to be here cleaning up this mess for a while.