Jenny pulled into Gibbs' driveway shortly after 9:00 on Friday night. She needed to go over some details on one of the cases his team had worked so she could sign off on it but Gibbs had been out late wrapping up his current case. She knew she could catch him at home and decided not to wait around the office for him.
She let herself in his front door without bothering to knock. After glancing into the living room to make sure he wasn't in there she headed for the basement stairs. It came as no surprise to find him down there, even on a Friday night. "Jethro, do you have a second?" she asked as she started down the stairs. She looked into the basement and sure enough there he was with his back to her sanding his boat. "I need to go over some things on the Pratt case so I can put it to bed."
"Not now Jen," Gibbs muttered after a long pause. His attempt to mask the pain in his voice didn't escape her. Jenny looked closer as she reached the bottom of the stairs and noticed Gibbs was only using one arm to sand his boat instead of putting his weight into it like he normally did.
"What's the matter?" she asked walking over to him.
"Nothing," Gibbs said finally able to even out his tone but once again Jenny wasn't fooled.
"Hey," she said softly, "look at me."
Gibbs ran his sandpaper covered sanding block over the wood in front of him. He knew he wasn't using enough force for it to be doing any good. He was in too much pain. He let out a shallow breath before turning to face her.
"Oh my gosh Jethro, what happened to you?" she asked concerned. She carefully studied the cut fixed above his right eye. It was a fairly decent size and looked to be pretty deep. She predicted he was going to need stitches.
"It's nothing Jen," he said unconvincingly, "just a little scuffle with our suspect. No big deal."
"No big deal?" Jenny questioned. She rested her hand against his chest to lean in for a closer look but he immediately winced in pain and pulled away from her touch. "Is that no big deal too?" she asked pointing at his chest.
"I'm fine," Gibbs assured her. He managed to muster up a smile for her but it was clear she wasn't buying his act. "We'll talk about the case tomorrow," he said trying to get rid of her. "I'll call you."
Jenny decided to take a chance. If it didn't work she'd more than likely have to leave him there alone and in pain but if it did maybe she could get him some help without him putting up too much of a fight. "I'll leave under one condition," she said. "You take off your shirt and let me see for myself that you're fine. If you are, I'll go. If not, I'm calling Ducky to come over here and stitch up your head and have a look at your chest."
Gibbs glared down at her. It usually wasn't a good thing when she gave him an ultimatum. He was usually on the losing side. He hadn't inspected his chest since their suspect had hammered the butt of his rifle into it. His only hope was that the pain he felt on the inside hadn't made it to the surface yet. He broke eye contact with Jenny and took a drink of his bourbon, partly to dull the pain and partly to stall.
"Drinking to numb the pain?" Jenny asked as she watched him carefully.
"That's what Ducky always prescribes for me," Gibbs said. He cautiously but smoothly pulled his shirt over his head. Jenny's sharp intake of air told him his battle wounds were as visible on the outside as they felt on the inside.
"You're not fine Jethro," Jenny said. "You get yourself upstairs and I'll call Ducky."
"I don't need you to mother me Jen," Gibbs protested.
"Then don't think of it as mothering you," Jenny said, "think of it as nursing you back to health, just like in Positano." She immediately regretted bringing up the past as memories of them making love flooded her mind. "Any other injuries I should know about?" she quickly asked hoping to keep his mind from recalling the same memory.
"No nurse," Gibbs teased with a slight smirk, "I think you've found them all." Jenny turned him towards the stairs and nudged him forward as she pulled her phone off her belt clip.
Gibbs reclined back on the couch with his eyes closed while Jenny retrieved an ice pack from the freezer. The grimace on Gibbs' face when Jenny pressed the ice pack to the large bruise told her he was hurting even if he wouldn't admit it to her verbally.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked trying to distract him from the pain.
"Positano," he said as the corner of his lips curled up slightly into a smile.
Jenny cursed herself for bringing that up in the basement. The last thing she wanted was for it to turn into an uncomfortable evening. She watched Gibbs' face as she held the ice pack firmly to his chest, trying to assess his pain level. With his eyes still closed she let hers wander down his body. He sat slouched back on the couch next to her, wearing only a pair of blue jeans with the top of his boxers peeking out. The hair on his chest had gone gray since she'd last seen it but she decided that only made him look more appealing. His muscle tone hadn't diminished any and he still had a nice tan left over from the summer months.
Gibbs opened his eyes slightly and watched as Jenny studied his body. Maybe this will be just like Positano, he thought as he smirked. He lifted his hand to her cheek causing her to look down at him. Jenny rested her hand on top of his as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.
"Jethro, you're hurt," Jenny said quietly, enjoying the affection.
"That never stopped me before," Gibbs replied.
A knock on the front door startled both of them. Jenny held his gaze as she stood and backed away before turning to let the doctor in. "Thanks for coming Ducky," Jenny said. "There's no way I would ever be able to get that stubborn ass in there to go to the hospital and I'm fairly certain he needs stitches."
"It's no problem my Dear," Ducky said cheerfully as he slid his shoes off. "It's not the first time I've encountered his stubborn streak." Jenny took his jacket to hang in the coat closet while Ducky went into the living room. "Oh dear God Jethro, what happened to you?"
"I'm fine Duck," Gibbs said, still reclined back on the couch. "Jen is just overreacting."
"Yes well, let's have a look."
Gibbs moved into the dining room and sat down at the table so Ducky would have a place to put his bag down and could get a better look. Jenny stood behind Ducky and looked over his shoulder while he inspected the bruise on Gibbs' chest.
"This looks like it was caused by the butt of a large gun," Ducky said.
Gibbs simply smiled. Ducky was the best. There was rarely an injury that came through autopsy that he couldn't identify, and on the rare occasion that did happen Abby would lend her forensic expertise and the two would figure it out together.
"Doesn't feel like anything is broken," Ducky said as he gently palpated the area. "You'll need to ice it or it will keep swelling up. Now what happened to your head?"
Gibbs pulled away when Ducky touched the sore spot above his eye. "Come on Jethro, let me have a look," Ducky said as he reached a hand around the back of Gibbs' head.
"I think the guy who took a swing at me was wearing a ring or something," Gibbs said finally letting Ducky inspect the cut closer.
"When's the last time you had a tetanus shot?" Ducky asked.
"I don't know Duck, wasn't it earlier this year?" Gibbs asked. "You gave it to me."
"Oh yes," Ducky said, remembering the incident. "That was when ex-wife number two came over to collect something or the other that you'd thrown out long ago. When you told her it was gone she threw her keys at you and…"
"Duck," Gibbs interrupted, "I remember. I was there."
"Right," Ducky said nodding. "I'll just clean this cut out and I have some surgical glue instead of the stitches this time. That and a couple steri-strips and you'll be good as new."
"Thanks Duck," Gibbs said.
He sat patiently as Ducky cleaned out the cut, glued it and put a couple steri-strips over it to hold it closed. He was too tired from the long week to put up much of a fight. He let the doctor poke and prod at his chest one more time to make sure he didn't have any broken ribs before sending him on his way.
"Are you satisfied now Jen?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes," Jenny said, "yes I am. Thank you."
Gibbs stood and moved right in front of her. "Good," he said quietly, "now where were we before Ducky got here?" He wrapped his hand behind her neck and looked into her eyes. He saw only a hint of fear as her eyelids fell partially closed and she leaned her head slightly up towards him. Gibbs looked from her eyes to her mouth before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers, gently at first, until he was sure she wasn't going to pull away, and then he let passion take over.
"Jen," he whispered after they'd pulled apart. "I think I might need a little help in the bedroom."
"Oh you do, do you?" Jenny asked laughing softly. "What is it that you're going to need help with?"
Gibbs leaned in and kissed Jenny again briefly. "I guess you'll just have to come upstairs with me and find out," he said seductively. He extended his hand to her and led her upstairs.