Jethro Gibbs sighed as he heard his front door open and close. He knew he should have locked it when he came home. He really was hoping for some peace and quiet tonight. The case they had just closed was nowhere close to their most frustrating, or most dangerous, but it was draining all the same.
He may have burned Rule 10, but it had its place, especially where the family members of the team were concerned.
Jimmy Palmer's father-in-law had been involved, pompous ass that he was. Gibbs would never understand how kind, sweet Breena Palmer has been raised by that oaf.
To top that off, the Chief, Tony DiNozzio, Sr. had been one of Ed's poker buddies and had tried to "give assistance" and bungled things as much as he ever did. Gibbs liked the man, but an investigator, he was not. Once Senior got involved, every aspect of the case took on more of a gray, shadowed aspect than it had to start with.
Gibbs heard his visitor approach his basement door and wondered which of the usual suspects would be invading his privacy tonight.
"Cowboy, you have some explaining to do."
Jack Sloane's voice drifted down into his basement sanctuary before she herself actually appeared. Once he did see her, he could tell she was furious.
"What?" He asked, falling back to his usual monosyllabic defense mechanism in the face of her ire.
"DiNozzio, Sr and I had a little chat today. I was concerned that I had offended him in some way. This whole case, he was so very friendly with the rest of the team, but kept me at a polite distance ever since we met. He assured me that he respected you too much to be overly friendly with 'your girl.'"
She heaved a breath and continued on. "I noticed you were staring daggers at him when he and I were introduced. Did something happen that I don't know about? Why does he think we're together?"
Gibbs shook his head. "I never told him that." It was true. He actually never uttered a word to Senior regarding Jack. However, if he was being truthful with himself, he had glowered when Senior started with his usual flirt stuff on being introduced to Jack. He may have even shaken his head, just slightly, when the older man made eye contact with him, Jack's hand still in his. If he were being truthful, which he was not.
Jack pursed her lips, unimpressed by his response. "Except, I know that you are really good at conveying exactly what you want without ever saying a word."
She paused, waiting for a response that never came. Gibbs just sat, staring at her impassively. Jack knew him too well to just let this go as a one off.
"You laid a claim on me!" She was practically shouting now. "How dare you! You had no right!"
Gibbs finally broke his silence. "You want to go out with the Chief, go ahead."
"I don't want to date him Gibbs, that is not the point!" Jack raked her fingers through her hair in frustration.
"What is your point? Cause I don't appreciate you bursting into my house just to yell at me!"
"You laid a claim on me but you didn't bother to do anything about it!" Jack shouted at him and then stopped, as if astonished by her own words.
Gibbs was definitely shocked by them. "What did you say?"
Jack spread her arms out at her sides. "Here I am Gibbs."
Gibbs stood and walked a couple of steps to put some distance between them.
"No, I have no right to any say about who you spend time with. You deserve better."
Jack approached him from behind, speaking more quietly. "What I deserve is an explanation. If you're going to be running off other men, I think I deserve that."
"I am bad at this, Jack." He scrubbed the back of his neck in agitation. "I have three ex wives and at least two serious girlfriends who could tell you that. You deserve everything, and I don't know if I can give that to you. But, the thought of you with someone else…" He paused, turning to look at her. "It makes my skin crawl."
"How long?" Jack whispered, Gibbs' words sinking in. At his questioning glance, she expanded her question.
"How long have you felt like that?"
Gibbs paused as he drew a deep breath and let it out through his nose before answering.
"I don't know. When I thought Gabriel Hicks blew you up along with his attorney, I felt like I couldn't breathe. You complained that I was looking at you strangely that night, but it was all I could do not to wrap you up and never let you go. By the time you told me about your time in Afghanistan, I knew there was no one else like you in my life. That's why I told you about Shannon and Kelly. I knew I could trust you with my secret. By Christmas, I was head over heels." He chuckled in self-deprivation. "You think I just go around, kissing everybody on Christmas Eve?"
Jack gave him a mirthful look. "For a man who has a reputation for being as much of a hard ass as you, you really do tend to kiss a lot of your coworkers. Abby, Kasie…"
Her voice trailed off as she got closer to him. "Are you saying that my Christmas kiss was different than those others?"
Gibbs reached out and placed a hand on each of her shoulders. "Yeah. That kiss was a lot different."
Jack smiled. "I'm really glad." She paused, considering. "So, what now?"
Gibbs ducked his head, just slightly. "I'd like to kiss you for real. But the rest, I'd like to take slow. I want to do this right for you."
Jack nodded, "I'd like that too."
Their kiss was short and sweet. Tentative exploration mixed with the promise of more to come. It was the most that either would ask of the other.
Jack pulled back from their embrace with a slightly amused, slightly perplexed look on her face. "Senior mentioned something else. Who is Judith?"