Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

A/N: I'm on a roll! Just an idea I've been playing with for a while. Short. The kind of night I wish they'd had before JD.



She had always known when he was faking sleep. He was relaxed, free from his usual nightmares. She let it go. She was faking sleep too. He glanced over to her and obviously decided it was safe, so he cautiously untangled himself from the sheets and went about picking up his clothes from around her bedroom where they had fallen last night.

"Director," Tony said urgently, bursting into her office. "Gibbs is missing."
"Missing, Tony? Agent Gibbs is often missing."
Ziva, standing in the doorway, said,
"He has been kidnapped, Jenny."

He dressed with his back to her, and she allowed her eyes to run over his body one last time before settling back into her false slumber.

She couldn't figure out how she ended up in the field, but it was hell to sit in her office helplessly while Jethro was in danger. The gun felt good against her side. All of her youthful inhibitions were gone. She'd kill every one of these bastards.

Just before he walked out into the hall he turned to look at her. She tried her best to feign sleep. She had had the chance to leave him without complications – she would give him the same opportunity.

She burst in the door. None of the kidnappers were anywhere to be seen. He lay in the middle of the room, motionless. She rushed to his side, checked his breathing and began CPR. Tony, Ziva and McGee were clearing the other warehouses. He began to respond. She felt a hand against her mouth.

He left the room. She rose silently from the bed, wrapping a robe around herself. She followed him through her house to the door.

She was slammed against a wall. Three men. Her gun fell to the ground. She lashed out against her attackers. The gun was kicked across the room in the fight. She heard two shots.

He hesitated at the door. She knew if it were that simple he would stay. But it was never that simple. The roles might be reversed, but they were still boss and subordinate. And she was in a high profile position.

Two of the men fell down. She was blocking the third, who was desperately trying to keep it that way. She took a risk. Something that had happened once in Serbia. She hoped he was ready. She dropped to the ground. There was a shot. The last man fell.

It wasn't Paris. They couldn't be so foolishly in love, as much as they wanted to. In Paris, it was like the rest of the world wasn't there. But Paris had ended. She had moved on. Maybe she shouldn't have, but she did. That was the way it worked. No matter how much they wanted it, someone had to walk away. It was him this time. Good, she wasn't sure she could do it again.

He helped her up, then he stumbled, still weak, and she caught him.
"Let me drive you home, Jethro."
"You were just attacked."
"You were just kidnapped and nearly killed!"
He smiled. She smiled. They laughed. It was inevitable.

He looked back. His eyes met hers. He nodded slightly. The corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile. It couldn't happen again. They couldn't talk about it. It was reckless, stupid. If they could go back, they wouldn't change a thing.



Pretty please review.