Author's notes:

Uri .. I just saw your review to the last story and wanted to address your question here. I chose Kosovo because in Season 3, Jenny and Gibbs talk about a week spent in a farmhouse in Serbia during a mission in 1999. It made sense to me to have the military strikes ongoing at the time as a backdrop. That said, I hope that nothing I write will upset you. Or come across as disrespectful. Please let me know if anything I write is insensitive. Clearly that would never be my intention. I would have written all of this to you in a private message, but since you are not signed in I cannot. So I hope you will see this.

Washington D.C. is six hours behind Serbia.

The original Fiat Cinquecento was a particularly small car, whereas the Zastava Florida (which Gibbs and Jenny are using in this chapter) was a five door hatchback made by Serbian automaker Zastava. It was introduced in 1987 and produced until 2008.

Ljubenić is a village in the western part of Kosovo. On April 1st, 1999, it was the scene of a massacre by Serbian police.

On April 6th, 1999, NATO had its first major mishap. Missiles hit a residential neighborhood in the mining town of Aleksinac (in central Serbia), killing several civilians and injuring many others.


The outskirts of Novi Pazar, Serbia

April 6th, 1999

0600

Gibbs shrugged off an internal shudder as his mind revisited the warehouse where he'd been exposed to Beryllium a few months earlier. One look at Jen told him that her thoughts were in the same place, so before the conversation could steer itself there, he put a smile on his face and said, "still do those keg things?"

"Eyes on the road, Jethro," she said, highly amused.

"Simple question."

"I can't believe this. You're sitting there asking me the exact same question you asked me last month and you're still getting it wrong. They're called kegels. Kegels, Jethro. Ke-gels. Kegels."

"I love kegels."

"Of course you do. You don't have to do anything."

"Come on, you love them too."

"Not as much as you."

"You used me as a guinea pig in Posita- "

"Don't wanna go there right now," she sing-sang.

Reaching across to place a hand across his mouth, and dropping it again when he placed a kiss to the inside of her palm.

"You love them too."

"Truthfully? I hurt for days afterwards."

"But you love them," he insisted.

Jen laughed.

"Is there ever a time when you don't have sex on the brain?" she asked in mock exasperation.

"Nope. You?"

Jen smiled indulgently as she stretched out against her seat, but didn't pursue the subject.


The Willard Hotel

Washington, D.C.

0630

The sound of the ringing phone jolted Svetlana from sleep.

"Sveta .."

She pushed herself up against the headboard and snapped the light on; all the feelings of dread she'd harboured over the past two weeks melting away in an instant.

He sounded exhausted but she knew that if he was calling her then he must be out of the hot zone.

It meant he was safe – and that was all that mattered.

"Are you still staying till the eleventh?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"I miss you."

The words tumbled out; her heart beating double time at the prospect of seeing him again soon.

"I miss you, too. I'll call you when I know what flight I'm going to be on, my love."


Naples Field Office

1800

William Decker paced anxiously up and down in his office, reading and rereading the latest reports from NATO.

Although Jenny was not supposed to be anywhere near Aleknisac, nothing was a given in a war zone.

And that was before one took Jethro's total penchant for ignoring orders into consideration.

He looked the report over again, and then at his watch.

Another twelve hours until check in.

Until he knew for sure that she was safe.


Import/Export Charity Event Reception

The grounds of the Fairmont Hotel, Washington D.C.

1600

"I didn't get a chance to tell you this earlier, Natasha," Ludlow Lipari said, "but you look absolutely stunning."

Svetlana blushed a little, and smiled graciously.

"Champagne?" Lipari said as he stopped a waiter in his path.

"Please."

He was just picking a flute off the man's tray when a woman armed with a huge camera passed by.

"Martha!" he exclaimed as he reached out to touch her arm.

"Ludlow!" The woman said with a broad smile. "Just the man I was looking for."

"Covering the event for The Times?"

"Yes. I was hoping I could get a quote or two from you."

"How about a quote and a photo?" Ludlow asked with a wink at Svetlana.

"Great," Martha said as she stepped backwards and trained her lens on them.

Ludlow brought his champagne flute up against Svetlana's and put his other arm around her waist.

"Dinner later?" he whispered just before the shutter on Martha's camera clicked.


Woods outside Ljubenić, Kosovo

2330

Gibbs' eyes were drawn from the map by the jerking movement of Jenny's head against his thigh. His flashlight was on its lowest setting, but he could still make out the rapid eye movement

The anguished look on her face told him the dream wasn't pleasant.

Trailing his fingers through a loose strand of hair, he smiled at the thought of how pissed she was going to be when she realized that he'd let her sleep through her watch; even as he wondered absently what she could be dreaming about.

He went back to planning the route they would take in the morning, but a few moments later a moan escaped Jen's lips and the look of anguish intensified.

"Jen! Jenny!"

She sat up with a jerk to find Jethro wrapping his arm around her.

"Bad dream," he said as she sank her chin into his shoulder and let him hold her. "It's okay."

As she pulled away slightly, she was struck by the urge to tell him that it wasn't okay.

She struggled to remember a time in the past two years when the dream hadn't been a part of her life – and found that she couldn't. It had started a few weeks after her father's death, but she'd been having it a lot a lot more frequently since their op in Marseille.

It was as debilitating as it was unsettling.

A message from her subconscious that she was doing nothing to move ahead and get to the bottom of her father's murder.

"Wanna tell me about it?"

The look of concern on his face tripped the guilt circuit in her brain.

Moving ahead would mean leaving Jethro behind – and she couldn't contemplate such a thing at the moment.

As he continued to look at her she felt fear start to consume her, and all she wanted was to feel safe - the only way she knew how. She tuned out the voice in her head that whispered loudly that sooner or later she was going to have to make that move; that she was compounding her failure every time she used her body to stop him from asking questions.

"Jethro," she breathed against his cheek in a deep husky tone that she knew he'd respond to as she brushed the back of her hand against his other one.

When he caught her fingertips between his teeth and bit down on them gently she ran an open mouth against the side of his neck and repeated his name.

Knowing that he wouldn't need more encouragement than that.

"Think there's enough lateral space?" she mumbled against his mouth.

"Lateral's not as important as vertical", he mumbled back. "And the vertical's going to have to do."

"At least it's not the cinquecento," she said with a laugh as she thought of her little car back in Naples which Gibbs could barely fit into.

"So about those kegels?"

"Not telling. If we get arrested for indecent exposure you're dealing with it."

"Arrested by whom? The mountain lions?" he asked with a chuckle.

He'd camouflaged the car to the best of his ability. Even if anyone did pass by, they wouldn't know they were there.

"Fair enough," she replied.

Caressing his cheek once before her mouth locked hungrily with his.

He didn't question the way her fingers held his face as she kissed him, although he did register an edge to her that hadn't been there the last time they'd made love. But in the semi-darkness, the predatory look on her face at such close range was enough to drive any kind of thought from his head, and he watched with a dry mouth as one by one the buttons on her sweater came undone.

She'd unhooked her bra before going down for her nap, and now the cotton cloth hung loosely over her breasts.

Inviting him to touch.

He smirked as he pulled the garment down over her shoulders, pushed her against the passenger door, and locked her arms at her sides; knowing how much she disliked being unable to touch.

He brought his lips to her right breast. Just barely caressing the flesh. Laving a nipple that pebbled in response, before latching onto it and crushing it between his tongue and upper lip.

Jen gasped but he held her in place.

"Those kegels?"

"Let me go and you can find out. Better," she enunciated as he did so, "but not good enough" she added as he struggled to remove his pants and underwear. "Just to be clear, I don't want the stick shift up my butt and there's not enough room back there."

Gibbs took a look at the back seat and then pulled a sleeping bag from it. As he stuffed it inbetween the front seats and padded the shift stick, he looked up and said, "how's that?"

"Barbarian!"

"Yeah well .." He extended a hand towards her and shimmied her panties down her legs. Running that same hand along her inner thighs as he pushed her seat as far back and as it would go with the other.

With a small grunt and a fair amount of difficulty, he manoeuvred himself across onto her side and pulled her backwards onto his lap

Almost sure she was smiling when he twitched beneath her.

His own smile fading the moment she raised herself slightly and grazed the underside of his length.

"Mmmm" she murmured as he pushed her hair aside and dropped his mouth to her neck. Pushing her feet onto the floor and bracing herself against the dashboard for support as his tip brushed against her.

"Cozy."

"Cozy may be an understatement," she spluttered.

Barely able to breathe in the confined space, but not about to say so.

Jethro bit down on her shoulder blade gently as he inched past her opening.

Pressing forward gently.

There was just enough space for him to rock against her as he gave her time to adjust.

Shallow motions.

A slip and slide that built her up slowly even if his body clamoured for fast and furious thrusts. But he knew to bide his time, and his body's protests stopped the moment she clamped around him like a vise.

"Every day," she whispered. "Religiously."

"God, Jen," he mumbled as she started to contract seriously around him.

Tightening and releasing in waves of intensity that made him incoherent as he attempted to stave off the onslaught.

"Jeth -"

He reached round to touch her, almost sure it was his cue to do so; counting two hard rubs before she sucked him over the edge.


Outside Svetlana's room

The Willard hotel, Washington D.C.

2130

Ludlow Lipari did not hold his liquor well.

He had become more and more suggestive as the evening had worn on, and frankly he was beginning to get on her nerves.

"You know that's a fabulous piece," he said as he brushed her clavicle with a fingertip and completely missed the necklace.

"Thank you," Svetlana said as she shifted slightly away from him.

"Aren't you going in invite me in for a nightcap?" he asked as she turned away and inserted her key into its slot.

"It's getting late, Ludlow, and I have a long day ahe-"

She froze as she felt his fingers caress her hair and then run down the contours of her off-the-shoulder dress.

"I'm really not taking no for an answer, Natasha."

Although he was a fairly thin man, she was no match for his body weight once he thrust all of it up against her back and pushed the door handle down.

They stumbled into the bedroom, but before she could so much as gain a foothold he had her up against the wall.

Gripping her tightly by the arms and trying to kiss her.

"Ludlow, please stop."

Despite all of her training she knew there was very little she could do without provoking an international incident – and she couldn't risk that kind of scrutiny.

"I want you," he slurred as he bunched up her dress and insinuated a hand between her thighs.

Svetlana stepped outside her sense of revulsion for a moment and willed herself not to react. She searched for Anatoly in her mind, and when she'd found him visualized herself crawling into him for safekeeping.

A few moments later her phone rang – and she screwed her eyes shut against the knowledge that she had no choice but to let it ring.