This was originally going to be sweet Jibbs and Tiva, but I changed my mind. We girls like to do that often. It is now angsty Jibbs with a nice Jibbsy ending, and sweet Tate. Gibbs and Jenny go to Paris for a conference, with Tony and Kate as their security. There may be some mentions of McAbby too. In this fic, Ziva was never in it, and Kate obviously didn't die, but she was almost killed by Ari. Or she wouldn't be in it. I don't own ANY of these characters. Review!
"Paris?" Gibbs asked incredulously as he stared at Jenny from across her desk.
"Is your hearing going, Agent Gibbs? You will be accompanying me to Paris for a conference. I needed to bring a Senior Field Agent along, and Tony and Kate will be my security detail. But I plan on letting them do their own thing, since you will be there."
"Can we handle going back to Paris, Jen?"
"Why wouldn't we be able to?" Jenny leaned back in her chair and raised an eyebrow.
"Let me refresh your memory-1999, undercover, romance, sex, love, Dear John?"
"My memory works just fine Special Agent Gibbs. You will be with me as an agent, not as a partner. I expect we will be able to keep our memories and feelings in check?"
"We?"
"Director's have feelings too, Gibbs. Now go inform Agent's DiNozzo and Todd that they will be leaving for Paris, France in the morning."
--
"We're going to Paris! Kate, remember what I said when we went down to Paraguay? Well, now we get to go to Paris!" Tony was bouncing around the squad room like a five year old in a candy store.
"Do I really have to go with Tony, Gibbs?" Kate whined to Gibbs.
"Unless you want to bring it up with the Director." Gibbs responded as he sipped his coffee, which always seemed to stay full, or be refilled every time he wanted it.
"I guess I'm going to Paris. With DiNozzo."
~*~*~*~Next Day~*~*~*~
"I hate being up at five a.m." Kate grumbled as she passed her two suitcases to the bag boy at Dulles Airport, where the private flight was set to take off from.
"Morning, Katie!" Tony chirped as he stepped onto the plane with a cup of coffee.
Kate muttered something about too perky and her gun as she climbed in behind him. "Whoa, my mood just changed." Kate smiled as she saw the inside of the charter jet.
"And you thought Air Force One was nice!" Tony smiled as he leaned back in an ivory leather seat.
"It still is nice, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he stepped into the plane and headed towards the other section of the plane, which was separated from the front half by a red velvet curtain.
Kate grinned triumphantly at Tony, who waited until Gibbs was gone before answering, "Wanna sit by me, Kate?"
"Why would I ever want to be that close to you, Tony?" Kate asked as she sat down across the aisle from him.
"Because it's a long flight and I don't want you to get lonely."
"Then go talk to Gibbs."
"Fine." Tony answered as he got up, but instead of heading towards the back of the plane, Tony slid over Kate's lap and sat in the seat next to hers.
"DiNozzo!"
Tony smiled at her as he took his shoes off and propped his feet up on her lap.
"Stewardess?" Kate called out, "Can I have some alcohol, please!?"
--
"Are we going to leave together this time?" Gibbs asked as he fiddled around with the personal air conditioner.
"Excuse me?" Jenny stopped reading the complimentary fashion magazines and stared at him.
"You, me, leave together this time?"
"Jethro," Jenny's voice was low, a warning and a sign that she was putting up her wall again.
"No letters this trip, okay?" Gibbs stared at her.
"Agent Gibbs, this is a long flight and I'm sure you didn't want to start it off like that, so watch yourself."
"Jenny, promise me something?" Jenny looked over at him, so he continued, "This trip, can you not be so selfish and actually care about others?"
Jenny stood up and moved across the aisle. Two hours of awkward silence later, Gibbs stood and went to sit by her. "Jethro, what are you doing?"
"Sitting down?"
"Why over here?"
"You know why!"
"I wasn't being selfish. You were the Senior Field Agent and I was the probie. It was against the rules. How awkward would it have been if we would have actually gone back together as a couple?"
Gibbs didn't know what he was expecting, but that wasn't it, "How do you think I felt? I woke up and you were gone, the only things I had left of you were that damn pillow that smelled like you and the Dear John note you left!"
"I had to do what I thought was best. I loved you. I loved you even after I left! Knowing you had a reputation with red heads, and divorces, I didn't want that! I wanted something stable. Something that would last and anyone who knows you knows that the words Gibbs and successful marriages don't go in the same sentence."
Tony had been on his way to the bathroom in the back of the plane when he heard Gibbs and Jenny fight, he ran back and grabbed Kate's wrist. He silenced her as they ran back towards the curtain and listened.
"You were different, Jen! I felt something for you; it wasn't the same as the other wives! But I guess your feelings are the only ones that count?"
"Special Agent Gibbs," Jenny started.
Gibbs interrupted, "We are way past formalities, Jen."
"Jethro, I figured you would be better off without a newbie holding you back. You never said you loved me, EVER! I doubted you had feelings for me every day we were in Europe."
"You never held me back! You were so talented, you learned quickly, if anything, I was holding YOU back. And I don't know why I never told you my feelings. I guess it was because I was afraid of being hurt like my ex-wives."
"I would have never hurt you, Gibbs."
"You left! You got up in the middle of the night, after having sex, and wrote a letter saying I didn't fit in with your plan. Then you got a plane and I never saw you again. Somehow I think that hurt more than if you would have cheated on me!"
Jenny looked away, but not before Gibbs saw the pained expression on her face, and the tears threatening to spill over. Gibbs reached a hand out, but Jenny stood up and marched through the curtain to the front of the plane. But she didn't get past the curtain. Tony and Kate were sitting in the aisle, listening, when Jenny stepped over them. They stared at each other for a little bit after she passed.
"Was she, was she crying?" Tony whispered as he helped Kate up. Kate nodded solemnly.
--
Gibbs knew Jenny wasn't coming back anytime soon, at least not on this flight. He had wanted her to feel a sliver of the pain she had caused him so many years ago, but now that he had, he felt terrible. He knew Tony and Kate had heard the whole fight, and soon the whole agency would know. As Gibbs moved his feet around, he kicked Jenny's purse. He picked it up and set it down in his lap. What would the Director of NCIS carry in her purse? Gibbs rifled through the huge bag, knowing that if he got caught, he would most certainly be castrated. Or shot, whichever delighted the Director more.
A gun, spare change, a packet of gum, a pouch that Gibbs knew had tampons in it; there was nothing interesting in her purse. Gibbs pulled out her wallet and looked at her driver's license. It was a really good picture, but it was expected, she was beautiful and the director of an armed federal agency, she could take as many pictures as she wanted until at least one came out good. The next and final thing in her purse, besides her check book and makeup, was a little photo album. Gibbs opened it up and thumbed through the pictures. The first were some of the ones taken by them, of themselves. The one that he stopped at though, was the one that he remembered the most vividly. It was by a fountain in the heart of Paris. A young woman had taken the picture and given it to them. It was of them kissing. He remembered it so well, it frightened him.
"Jethro, it's so beautiful here!" Jenny had been walking on the side of the fountain, with Gibbs walking alongside her, holding her hand.
"Just like you, Jen." At this sentence, Jenny had jumped down from the foot high wall and into his arms, where they had kissed for a few minutes. As they were walking away, a woman about twenty tapped them on the shoulder.
"You two are very cute together. I took a picture, it was just to perfect." The woman handed Jenny the photo of them kissing, her in his arms, before walking away.
Gibbs turned the photo over and read the faded writing, August 1998, TRUE LOVE.
Gibbs remembered her dating the pictures with a caption. Now he wondered who really screwed it up, Jenny or himself.
--
Tony woke up as the plane turned into the sun. Looking at the digital map in the seat back in front of him, they still had another hour or two left. Kate's head was resting on his shoulder, her hair cascading down his chest. It was shining in the sun and smelled amazing. It was truly a Kate smell. Tony felt himself falling in love with her as he watched her sleep. As the plane gently turned away from the sun again, Tony wrapped his arms around Kate and fell asleep.
This story was supposed to be written after I finished the three main ones I'm working on, but I was kind of worried I would lose the idea if I didn't hurry and write it so here it is! Review please! I am going for six-seven reviews as well.