A/n: Drabble-ish plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone while I'm trying to write Ch. 6 for Tale of Two Shepards.
Gibbs and Jenny are in a semi-established relationship. Season 3 AU.
that's all.
Oh, and yes, I really did just Rick-Roll all of you with the title. You're welcome. :P
-meg.
"Never Gonna Give You Up"
"This isn't going to work."
Jenny froze halfway through slipping his discarded shirt on, her brow furrowing. "What?"
"Us. It's not gonna work." His voice was low, blue eyes focused on the sheets piled in his lap.
She turned around staring quizzically at him, sitting naked as the day he was born in her bed, the sheets haphazardly bunched around his waist, his silver hair sticking up in all different directions. "What are you talking about?"
Jethro shrugged, frowning at his hands in his lap. "I…Jen, we can't work. This, us…whatever you want to call it."
Jenny walked over to sit on the edge of the bed, staring at him uncomprehendingly. She couldn't figure for the life of her why he was acting like this. They'd been at this re-kindled relationship for a little over five months now, and it seemed to be going from strength to strength. "Jethro…I don't understand."
"What don't you get? I'm not right for you, Jenny!" He raised pained blue eyes to meet her gaze, his hands twisting the sheets in his lap into knots.
She leaned back against the headboard, frowning slightly. "Jethro…I honestly don't know what you're talking about. What do you mean, 'I'm not right for you'?"
"I'm a triple divorcee Marine sniper with crap eyesight and a reputation for causing more than my share of trouble with the press. I don't work well with other agencies, I've never been good at the politics game…I can't keep a steady relationship for longer than a year at best." Gibbs sighed heavily, returning his gaze to the twisted sheets in his lap. "All I'm ever gonna do is end up hurting you and pushing you away."
That's what it all boiled down to, her ambition versus his indifference. She was always looking higher, looking ahead. He saw the straight and narrow, the here and now. Jenny was always looking towards the future, towards bigger and better things.
He was holding her back. She didn't love him…couldn't really love him. His apathy towards the political scene, the caustic indifference he projected to the "tight sphincters" on Capitol Hill, was crushing any chance she had of moving up.
"You're planning on doing that?"
Her low voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up at her in confusion. "Huh?"
Jenny raised a quizzical eyebrow, glancing over at him. "You're actually planning on hurting me? You want to push me away?"
"I—no." Gibbs frowned sharply, looking up at her. "Why would I want to hurt you?"
"I don't know, Jethro, you're the one who said it."
"I'm not saying I want to hurt you and push you away…I just always do." He shrugged, returning his gaze to the sheets. "It's me, not you. I'm the one who's not capable of a healthy relationship."
"What do you mean, not capable of a healthy relationship? What the hell do you call this, chopped liver?" She was getting angry now. This new, unsure Jethro was annoying as hell. Leroy Jethro Gibbs didn't doubt himself.
His eyes flashed in anger as he threw his hands up. "I—we're…I don't know, Jen! I'm never home anymore, we…dammit, this is the first night we've spent together in a month and a half! I can't get my head out of the job, I still piss you off at work, I—I can't…I'm trying to show you what a horribly bad idea this is, and you're fighting me! Why can't you see it? I'm not good enough for you, Jenny!" His rant stopped abruptly, as his shoulders slumped, his head dropping back down to staring at his lap. "You should be with some rich guy who will treat you right, not me."
"You do treat me right." She tilted her head, giving him a quizzical stare. "Why would you think that you don't treat me right?"
"I—I can't give you the picture perfect relationship you're supposed to have, Jenny. I'm just some busted up old Marine who ca-." The sharp smack of her hand across his face cut him off.
Jenny leaned forward, getting up close into his face, her green eyes narrowed in anger. "Stop it. Whatever the hell it is that's eating at you, drop it. I'm not going to sit here and listen to this bullshit, Jethro. Last time I checked, I love you, and you love me. I don't need some stuck up rich guy. You treat me right. You are the person I want to be with." She jabbed her thin finger into the center of his chest as she spoke, reinforcing her point. "This will work, because we want it to. Stop feeding me this bullshit line that you're not good enough for me."
"I-." He stared at her, wide-eyed, his jaw still slack from the force of the slap.
"Are you done with all this ridiculous 'I'm not good enough for you' nonsense?"
He nodded jerkily after a moment, his gaze still trapped within hers.
She settled back with a bright smile, pressing a gentle kiss to the spot on his cheek where she'd slapped him. "So I've convinced you that this is going to work?"
Jethro nodded hesitantly, a ghost of his usual smirk quirking the side of his mouth. "I—maybe you should do that again…just to make sure."
Jenny smiled, leaning forward, her lips meeting his in another kiss. "Better?"
The smirk widened, slipping into a sheepish grin after a moment. "Yeah."
Jenny leaned towards him again, shifting to the side at the last moment and slapping the back of his head sharply. "Good. Don't ever do that again."
She laughed at the surprised look on his face, brushing her lips against his temptingly. "I love you, Jethro."
The blank look morphed into a smirk as he shifted forward, knocking her on her back, his hands already slipping up under the oversize shirt. "I know." He leaned down to kiss her, tangling his hand in her hair. "I love you too, Jen."
A/n:
*sings* "Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you..." Oy vey.
Yay! Semi-angsty JIBBS. I find it slightly depressing that I'm really only capable of writing angsty Gibbs, not angsty Jenny. Sad panda. Oh, well, back to the adventures of the Shepard sisters.
Now, plot bunnies, leave me alone so I can write in peace, dang it.
Hope you liked it. Reviews are always welcome!
-meg