Disclaimer: Don't own NCIS or the song, "Need You Now",
There was a tinkling of breaking glass. Jenny froze with her hand still extended from throwing the file on her desk. She slowly rose from her chair to peer over the edge of her desk. Her breath caught in her throat.
Picture perfect memories,
scattered all around the floor…
The glass of the frame had shattered completely in the two bottom corners, with the shards scattered in mockingly beautiful swirls around the edges, but the glass over the two smiling figures was intact.
Mostly.
A jagged cut ran between the two, carving their joined shoulders apart, slicing through their tightly interlocked arms, and forcing their clasped fingers apart. Suddenly, Jenny was on the floor, on her knees, in front of the picture. Tears unexpectedly welled up in her eyes, and she tried to pick up the pieces.
As moisture blurred her eyes, a shard of glass slipped and sliced her palm open. Jenny stared at the blood welling up from beneath her skin, and then stared up at the decorative phone on her desk.
…Reaching for the phone,
'Cause I can't fight it anymore…
She stood, cradling her injured hand to her chest, and dialed the familiar number. It rang once, and then she hung up.
And I wonder,
If I ever crossed your mind?
It was only a cut. Nothing like the bullet hole in her shoulder from Paris
A bullet grazed her arm in a fire fight in Paris, and she spent the evening whimpering in his arms as he stitched her up. Afterward, she lay back against his chest as he traced lopsided circles around her wound. He was gentle with her; he held her all night and she relaxed into sleep.
He woke her when her dreams became too much, and he soothed her with his quiet words. It was different than how they usually spent the night, but it was no less intimate. That night brought them closer, though they never spoke of it again. Indeed, it seemed forgotten among the years that eventually separated them.
For me it happens all the time….
She was brought out of her musings by the shrill ring of her cellphone. She scooped it up again to look at the caller ID. Jethro. Jenny flipped it open and hit the end button before fully powering it off. He would get the message.
It's a quarter after one,
I'm all alone,
And I need you now…
Or, maybe he wouldn't. Jenny found herself crouched in a ball on the floor next to the picture again.
Said I wouldn't call,
But I lost all control,
And I need you now.
Jenny blinked and suddenly found herself at her drink cabinet, nursing a glass of bourbon that she had no recollection of pouring. She shrugged to herself and knocked the entire glass back.
And I don't know how I can do without,
I just need you now…
She tried to convince herself that the tears in her eyes were from the sting of the bourbon. She almost succeeded. Almost. The pain in her hand returned with a vengeance, and the glass, now slick with her blood, slid out of her hand and shattered at her feet. She stared at it for a brief moment, then her head snapped around at the sound of a sudden and distinctive creak of the floorboard outside her study. She held her breath for a few moments, simply staring at the closed door.
Another shot of whiskey,
Can't stop looking at the door,
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before…
Jenny snorted to herself as she stooped down to inspect the damage. If it had been Jethro, he would have crashed through the door and slammed it in his wake already.
And I wonder if I ever crossed your mind?
The floorboard sounded again, and Jenny abandoned the blood-soaked crystal for her desk as the door slowly, silently creeped open. Definitely not Jethro, Jenny decided as she made quick work of the lock on her top drawer. Reaching inside, she withdrew her Glock and leveled it at the intruder's chest.
"We seem to have reached an impasse." Jenny noted as she found herself staring down the barrel of Svetlana's gun.
"No impasse," the blonde woman snarled. "You will die tonight."
"I died a long time ago." Jenny met Svetlana's eyes squarely. "When you shot me in Paris, you killed my son. He never even had a chance to grow." Her eyes slid to the open door, to the newcomer with bright blue eyes, wide with shock. She smiled apologetically, and mouthed three words. I Love You.
For me it happens all the time
Two gunshots. Two bodies hitting the floor.
One man's anguished scream.
It's a quarter after one
I'm a little drunk and I need you now
Jethro could not remember calling 9-1-1. All he could concentrate on was the sluggishly bleeding redhead in his arms, and doing all he could to keep her breathing. He knew Svetlana was dead. Jenny's aim had been true.
Jenny tried to smile at him, succeeding only marginally. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, sign of weakness."
"Considering I'm bleeding out on the floor, and can't move, I would say I'm weak." Jenny tried to keep the tremor out of her voice.
"You're still strong in here." He tapped her forehead with a gentle finger, "And in here." He settled his palm across her heart, mindful of the bullet hole
"If I was strong, I would have-" she gasped as pain sliced through her body. "-told you."
Jethro eyed her mournfully, unsure what to say. He settled for, "I love you."
Jenny's eyes, which had started to droop, flared open again. "Don't say that just because I'm dying, Jethro."
"Jen-"
"Don't, Jethro," she insisted.
"Rule twelve was because of you."
"I know," her eyes closed. "You moved on."
"I tried to," he corrected her gently. "Nothing worked out, remember? You saw my last spectacular failure."
Said I wouldn't come
But I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do with out
"Jethro…"
"Shhhh. I got your six, Jen." He pressed down on her wound, blood escaped between his fingers.
I just need you now.
Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all
She gasped in pain. "I love you, too."
"Stay with me, Jen. You…you don't have my permission to die."
It's a quarter after one,
I'm all alone and I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call
"Jen!" But I'm a little drunk and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without,
I just need you now
I just need you now
Oh, baby, I need you now….
A/N: I tried to keep this as close to canon as possible, but now my mind is in an AU. So, I am going to try and continue this plot/storyline. Put a BOLO out in a couple weeks for another NCIS fic by me! Also, any issues w/this fic (Formatting in particular) let me know!
Frogs out.