Inspired by a Twitter update from Stephen Fry where he received 22 cucumbers from an online store instead of 2 due to a typo.

Red Red Roses

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was not a fan of Valentine's Day. The general idea of it was fine – showing how much he cared for someone. Even when he didn't have a date (and he wasn't as pathetic as DiNozzo to go out of his way to find a date for one night of the year), he enjoyed the day, making sure to give Abby a black rose, much to her delight.

What he did not like was the blatant commercialism of the day. The shops filled with cards. The increase in the price of flowers. The chocolates on every shelf in every store, informing him he was a bad person if he failed to buy a box and give them to someone. The commercial pressure to have someone to love at this time of year.

He disliked it all, feeling that excessive spending for a specific day was a waste of time. Why could he not buy chocolate at other times? Why not express his feelings in another way – why did it only have to be on one day? He might not be good at using words, but he knew how to get his meaning across.

Normally, he did not celebrate it anyway. His three ex-wives would (and did) happily tell anyone that he always forgot the day. Which was true, but it was usually because he consciously tried to forget, to forget happier times when he was with Shannon and Kelly, and did not need to buy overpriced tat to tell them he loved them.

This year was slightly different. He and Jenny had patched up their relationship and he finally had someone he wanted to spoil again. His lover didn't expect or demand anything, and it only made him love her more.

It had taken him a while to decide on the best way to treat her. A meal at a restaurant was out – their relationship was still fragile and she did not want to go public and risk her job without feeling more secure. He was fine with it; it saved them both the hassle of being stalked by photographers and he wasn't yet willing to put her in a position where she had to pick between her job and him.

Chocolates were far too ordinary. And she was on some health food kick; while she'd eat the chocolates and love them, she would also moan at him for ruining her plans. Lingerie was too risky at work – he preferred to see it on her and not on a hanger, and Cynthia would get suspicious if he sent her on a long errand today.

Which, as far as he could tell, left flowers.

He knew she loved orchids, but they were out – DiNozzo would become far too curious and would risk a concussion. In the end, he'd settled for the old cliché of red roses. Jenny would love them, no one would suspect who had sent them, and he would be in her good books.

Two days before the day, McGee had quietly approached him and asked if he wanted some help with his computer. 'Some help' had turned out to be a crash course in ordering gifts online. As McGee had pointed out, it removed the risk of running into DiNozzo at a flower store and dealing with awkward questions.

Clearly he had trained his team well.

And so he had found himself ordering a dozen roses for Jenny online. He had managed to enter his credit card details, he had managed to ensure they were delivered to the Navy Yard and not her house, he had managed to arrange for a little card to be added.

All in all, he was feeling rather good about himself.


Jennifer Shepard beamed as she surveyed her flowers. Twelve dozen red roses.

He knew how to spoil her.

She had never had so many roses in her life. It had taken an hour for her and Cynthia to locate enough vases for them all, arranging them around her office so it didn't look as though they had sprouted in a big patch from nowhere.

She was absolutely irrevocably in love with him. After he had pissed off the FBI yesterday, he had found a way to apologize without having to say the words and break Rule Six.

She smiled as her fingers traced a petal. She would make it up to him tonight.


Leroy Jethro Gibbs paused for a moment as he passed Cynthia's desk. He never paused when the woman in question was there, due to his enjoyment at appearing in Jenny's office without warning, but it was nice to know she didn't keep the same crazy hours as Jenny.

If he could call 1900 a 'crazy' hour. Cynthia probably had a date.

Just to keep her on her toes, he knocked gently on Jenny's door before entering. He planned to take her home, feed her up and enjoy the night together. She knew he was planning to leave early and would hopefully be ready.

The sight of all the roses shocked him for a second. If his lover had been looking at him, she would have read the minute signs that would have given it away, but she was busy organizing the last few files on her desk.

Twelve dozen roses? What had he done?

Jenny walked over to him and pecked him on the cheek. "Thank you for my roses," she smiled.

He smiled back, fighting down the panic. He must have screwed up the order when he'd made it. Damn McGee for suggesting he did this online! Next time he would ask Abby to deal with the whole thing for him and swear her to secrecy. He was never ordering anything online again.

"Ready to go?" she checked.

He continued to smile, drawing her in for a kiss. They broke apart much too soon for his liking.

She shot him a wicked grin as she walked out the door and he followed, allowing his eyes to drift to her ass.

How much had the roses cost?