A/N: This is definitely AU...but I love trying to imagine Gibbs and Jenny as a married couple and the challenge that presents. And I know it isn't necessarily the best topic to base a story around so please be aware of some uncomfortable situations, but I just wanted to see how they would deal with this kind of trauma together.
It felt late, like sometime after midnight, but in reality it was only a little after dinnertime. No matter, time was endless in a room with no windows. Jenny Shephard was huddled in the basement, her shaking body clothed in sweatpants and her husband's baggy old hoody. She couldn't stop the tremors rippling through her.
She was afraid. It was an uncommon emotion for her, the director of NCIS. Jenny was known to be strong, stubborn and good at negotiating for her agency and her agents. Fear...fear was something reserved for when important people in her life were hurt or in danger. But this time it was different because this time it was her body that was hurting, h er life that had been threatened.
Jenny pulled her knees up tight against her chest and leaned forward to rest her chin on them. The only lights on were in the hall upstairs and here, in the basement. She sighed and closed her eyes, but immediately opened them again. No. Her eyes flew around the room. Even here it wasn't safe to close her eyes. She couldn't let her guard down again, just in case.
After all, that's exactly why this nightmare started in the first place. Jenny slammed her hand against the workbench in frustration and blinked back tears. Why hadn't she been paying more attention when she left the building Thursday night? She tried to run her fingers through her hair only to find it was still in the same ratty mess from sort of sleeping and her struggle to get free. Not that it had done her any good.
It was NCIS for goodness sake! An armed federal agency, her armed federal agency. There were agents and security details everywhere. Plus, Gibbs usually left the building with her, albeit by a different route. They'd been married for seven months and so far had managed to keep it a secret from everyone. Although, on Gibbs' team, Anthony DiNozzo was always looking for proof that they were more than agent and director.
It was stupid really. She'd wanted to drive her own car that morning. So when she and Jethro met up in the garage, they were already aiming for separate cars. Then Gibbs remembered that he'd promised to stop by Abby's lab before he left. Jenny understood, they were practically father and daughter and heaven forbid Abby think that Gibbs had forgotten her. She liked to be secure in her place as the favourite. Jenny remembered witnessing a hug in the lab earlier and smirked. God help McGee if Gibbs caught him with his arms around Gibbs surrogate daughter. Rule number twelve was not to be taken lightly, though if their marriage ever got out Jethro would have no credibility left with which to enforce that rule with his team.
So Jenny had kissed him on the cheek and told him to catch up. Gibbs had wanted to see her to her car but she'd brushed off his concern with her standard, "I'll be fine Jethro." Ha! He laughed bitterly. Within minutes nothing would be further from the truth. She was still smiling because of her husband as she left the garage and she wasn't paying attention. One second, a moment in the shadows and it was too late. He grabbed her, gagged her and threw her in the trunk of a waiting car. It couldn't have been more than ten seconds at the most. But it was enough.
Shaking her head, not wanting to remember, Jenny ran her hands down her face. But every time she closed her eyes, there they were: images of the longest forty hours of her life. At times she swore she'd counted every second. How many seconds in forty hours? Well over two hundred thousand. Sometimes even seconds were too long. It wasn't just being kidnapped, terrifying as that was. But to wake up hours later tied to a bed in a position that assured she couldn't defend herself no matter the nature of the attack...that was the worst part.
The man had come at her, completely naked and there was barely time for his intent to register. She hadn't been ready for the shock or searing pain that flooded her unprepared body. She was used to her husband's gentleness, not a being used as a harsh strangers plaything. Whether she cried or screamed or struggled it made no difference; he kept on. Jenny had lost track of the number of times he'd violated her. Over and over and over and the pain only got worse the longer he was there or the force with which he came at her. There was nothing she could do and she'd never felt so helpless. No wonder they called it torture.
The gun was another story, kept near his shooting hand at all times. And when she'd refused to return his kiss, trying to bite at him with her teeth - her only weapon - he calmly put the gun to her head without saying a word. There was no question as to his threat, no choice but to cooperate and hope he let her live long enough to be found. In the end she was. But thank God she was not in the same vulnerable position when they came in, guns ready. For her sake and for her attackers, because Jethro would've killed him on the spot, of that she was certain.
An hour, or maybe two before they found the old building where she was, the man had dressed her, tied both her hands and feet together behind her back and tossed her on a cot in a dark room with three other bound women. Once the team found her there was barely a chance for her to exchange glances with Gibbs before she was bundled into an ambulance with the others and taken to hospital.
Rescued in early afternoon, it was several hours later before the doctors were done poking and prodding and examining her. They were concerned about the bruises but Jenny brushed that off. It was what else he had done that injured her more. Internally bruised and torn, the female doctor said it would be several days, if not a couple of weeks, before she felt normal again. Even now just sitting was uncomfortable. Everything was sore, inside and out. She missed Jethro. She longed for the comfort she found in his arms and yet she was afraid to be touched again, even if she knew he would never knowingly cause her pain.
She hadn't wanted to face her big, dark, empty house by herself and chose instead to be dropped off here, at his house. A quiet phone call to Cynthia ensured that Gibbs would get the message about where to find her. And Cynthia, her loyal assistant, was nothing if not discreet.
Jenny heard the front door open and remembering that there was no lock, she reached to her side for the gun she'd retrieved from under Jethro's workbench. Leveling it at the door to the stairs, she waited, the safety clicked off, ready to shoot any intruder. But there was nothing for her to worry about, she heard her husband's voice before she saw him and lowered her weapon, coming to her feet, desperate to be in his arms now.
I'm a little nervous because this is my first heavy piece of fan fiction. Please review and let me know what you think - did I do it okay? Is there something I shouldn't have done? I'm up for both good and bad feedback. Thanks all for reading!