A/N: Set at the end of the episode Under Covers in season three. Jenny asked Gibbs to be her escort to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball

As Jenny descended the stairs, her gaze swept across the squad room. Her hand slid gracefully down the banister as she moved down the staircase. Her eyes found a small group of people, all of them were looking up at her. Leroy Jethro Gibbs, her escort for tonight, was standing with them. Her gaze travelled up and down his body, taking in every detail of his appearance. He was dressed in a black suit, white shirt and black tie. His silver-grey hair looked neat and his piercing blue eyes sparkled. Jenny felt a sudden increase of her heartbeats as she looked at him. He was so...handsome.

She had descended the stairs and was on her way toward the small group. Gibbs stepped out to meet her. He gave her an appreciative look and a smile before offering her his arm. Jenny raised her eyebrows at him, but knew she would not get a verbal compliment from him. The couple turned toward the others, who were staring at them with amazement. Abby was smiling widely and her eyes moved from Gibbs to Jenny, as if she couldn't decide who looked most impressive, then she realized that they completed each other. Tony's mouth hung slightly open as he stared at his boss and Director, unable to believe Gibbs was actually going out, and with Jenny. Ducky gave them a slight nod, secretly thinking that two half's had become one. Ziva locked eyes with Jenny, and blinked one eye. McGee's reaction was very similar to Tony's.

Gibbs led Jenny toward the elevators as he tried his best not to look down her chest. He quickly glanced at her face instead, but she was holding her head high and looked straight ahead. Gibbs allowed himself to take in her features, her smooth skin, her beautiful eyes... Jenny suddenly turned her head, meeting his gaze. She couldn't help but to smile as she looked into his bright blue eyes, noticing he was not embarrassed by having been caught checking her out.

When the elevator door finally opened, a couple of special agents escaped from it, shooting curious looks toward their Director and Gibbs. Jenny ignored them, and gracefully entered the elevator together with Gibbs.

"I appreciate you escorting me tonight, Jethro" Jenny broke the silence and subconsciously tightened her grip around his arm. This didn't, however, pass unnoticed by Gibbs.

"My pleasure" he replied shortly, and Jenny hid a smile. Typical him. But, she was gonna make sure he had fun tonight, despite the fact that he wasn't one for these kinds of events.

It was, of course, Jenny who had asked him to go with her. She'd explained that she would feel out of place without an escort, and he had been the first man she'd thought of. She didn't know whether he'd been flattered or not, he rarely let his feelings show, but he had finally agreed, only claiming that she owed him now.

They made their way to outside the NCIS building, where Jenny's car was waiting for them. Stanley, her driver, got out to open the door for them, he had already reached out his hand when Gibbs quickly pushed him away and placed his own hand on the handle. Stanley hesitated for only a moment, after receiving a glare from Gibbs; he retreated back into his driver's seat. Gibbs gently opened the door for Jenny, who had been watching the two men's interaction with amusement.

Gibbs gestured for her to get in. Jenny smiled at him and hoisted up her dress a bit to crawl inside. Gibbs followed close behind and shut the door behind him. Jenny straightened out her dress and turned toward him, still with a smile playing on her lips.

"Decided to play gentleman tonight?" she teased but he just shrugged.

"Figured you'd expect it"

"Well, I would have expected it, if I had gone with anyone but you"

"I like to surprise you"

"Well, then, thank you, agent Gibbs" she said politely

"Your welcome, Madame Director"

"You didn't get the memo, did you? Or did you just ignore it?"

"What memo?" Gibbs asked innocently, but gave himself away as the corner of his mouth rose in a slight smile "Oh, you meant the one where you said the next person to call you 'Madame' gets keel-hauled"

"Yes, that one precisely"

"I ignored it"

Jenny couldn't help but to laugh. Gibbs smiled at her laughter, it sounded beautifully. Their conversation ceased, as did her laughter. As they spent the remaining time in silence, they both had time to think.

'Why the hell did agree to this?' Gibbs thought and glanced at Jenny who was staring out through the window, not noticing him looking at her 'I'm not gonna be able to keep my hands off her, she's too damn hot! What, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, have I done to myself?'

'I could have asked Ducky, why didn't I ask Ducky?! This is too hard, he's too hard. Oh God, Jenny what are you thinking! Right, you're just gonna have to stay focused for the rest of the night, ok? Don't forget to breathe!' Jenny reprimanded herself, and as if to prove it to herself, she took a deep breath, hoping it would help her ignore the burning sensation of his eyes against her neck.

"Jen, are you ok?" she heard Gibbs' concerned voice from behind. Without turning around she answered "Yes, I'm great. Just great!" the last part she added as a whisper, low enough so that he would not hear.

'Yep, this is going to be one hell of a night!' Gibbs thought bitterly and tried to take his eyes off her, but found he was unable to leave her exposed chest out of sight.

After another ten minutes in what felt like hell, Stanley pulled over outside a magnificent building where cars was pulling up, dropping off their guests and then taking off, leaving space for another car. Finally he managed to park the car, but before he even had taken off his seat-belt, Gibbs had wrenched the door open and let himself out. He composed himself and calmly held out his hand to help Jenny out. He was glad they were no longer cramped inside the backseat of a car, it made him feel less restless. Toward the end of their trip, Gibbs almost hadn't been able to keep his hands to himself, but he had used all of his mental strength to keep them away from her. Now he 'only' needed to survive the rest of the night.

Jenny managed to give him a smile as she accepted the arm he offered her. Stanley took off, and they made their way through the crowd, and walked up to the entrance. They entered a large room filled with people and small, round tables set with silverware and wineglasses. The dinner had not yet begun and all the guests were just walking around, socializing. Jenny led Gibbs toward one of the tables, as she had noticed a few people had already taken their seats; she thought they might as well.

"Shall we sit?" she asked, and Gibbs answered by pulling out a chair for her.

"Thank you"

Gibbs sat down next to her, a little awkwardly as he was not used to these kinds of events. As though she had sensed his unfamiliarity, she reached out her hand and placed it on top of his.

"Hey, this won't be so bad, will it?" she asked and then got uncomfortably aware of the situation. She reluctantly withdrew her hand.

'Bad? No, who are you kidding? This won't be bad at all! I'll just sit here, next to you, have a couple of drinks, with you, before I'll dance, with you. Then I'll just gonna have to get back into that car, with you. Hell no, this won't be a problem at all!' he thought sarcastically and felt his hand was itching for her skin already.

"I'll survive" he chose to answer and met her eyes for a brief second before he had to look away. He was just hoping his weird behaviour didn't show too much. He'd hate to have her realize he had a crush on her.

"Good" Jenny replied and was just about to continue when a female voice calling her name threw her off the question.

"Jenny!" a woman slightly older than her approached them, and someone Jenny recognized as her husband followed a few steps behind, shaking hands with several people on his way to their table. The woman had dark brown hair that was stained with grey tied up in a tight bun; her features were gentle with hazel eyes and red cheeks. Her long, forest green dress rippled as she hurried up to Jenny.

"Mary" Jenny exclaimed and rose from her seat to greet the woman. Gibbs watched as they hugged subtly.

"Oh, sit down, Jenny. Phil and I thought we'd join you and..." Mary trailed off as her eyes found Gibbs. Jenny led her to the empty chair next to her own.

"Mary, this is Jethro Gibbs. He's my d-" she had began saying the word 'date', but awkwardly corrected herself "My escort"

"Pleasure to meet you" Mary said, having not noticed Jenny's mistake. Gibbs politely shook her hand.

"You too, Mary" he said and glanced at Jenny, he had indeed noticed what she had been on the verge of saying. Phil approached them.

"Ah, there you are, Mary" he exclaimed, looking pleased to have finally located his wife. Then he noticed their company. "Jenny! What a pleasure to see you here!" he said with a broad smile and reach out a large hand to shake hers.

"I thought we could join Jenny and Jethro," Mary said and gestured toward Gibbs "for dinner" Phil's eyes found Gibbs and the men shook hands and nodded toward each other before Phil sat down next to his wife.

"Are you Jenny's husband? I had no idea you were married!" Phil burst out and glanced intensely at Gibbs.

"God, no!" Gibbs said loudly, pushing an image out of his mind, causing Jenny to hurtful look up at him "I'm just a friend. She asked me to come with her" he added, and suddenly noticed Jenny expression, it almost shocked him, He thought for a second she looked hurt, vulnerable, when he had exclaimed so loudly they were not married. The next moment, every trace of vulnerability was wiped away from her face, and she somewhat reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"We're not married" she confirmed, a little lower, and met Gibbs' gaze. 'Did I just screw up again? Did I hurt her? Did I make her feel awkward for not having a husband to go with on events like this? Yep, this night is only getting better...' Gibbs thought bitterly but managed to smile at her at least. As it was announced that dinner was to be served, everyone still standing took their seats at the tables and waitresses and waiters began walking around to put plates out in front of the guests. As they ate, Phil and Mary began talking about their latest trip to South Africa. Jenny was only listening with one ear, though, and Gibbs was not listening at all. He was busy staring at Jenny's slender hands as he struggled to get the food into his mouth properly. His head shot up as he felt a slight pressure on his foot, then it was suddenly gone. He looked up at Jenny, who wore an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry" she excused herself and blushed. Gibbs realized it had been her foot that had been the sudden pressure.

"Nothing to be sorry about"

After dinner, Jenny and Gibbs separated from Phil and Mary.

'Thank God, I thought they'd never stop talking!' Gibbs thought relieved as Jenny bid them good night. 'Great, now it's just us again...' he added to himself as he realized he'd be alone with Jenny again. He jumped slightly as he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking down he realized it was Jenny's.

"Shall we move into the salon?" she suggested

"What? Oh, yeah, sure" he replied and placed his hand on her lower back, pushing her in front of him toward the second room. This one was equally large, though there were no tables in the middle, only around the edges, and those had already began filling up with people. The dance area was for the moment empty, and Gibbs figured everyone just wanted to take it a bit easier at first. He just hoped Jenny didn't expect him to dance with her. They found an empty table; Gibbs once again pulled out a chair for her and then offered to get her a drink.

"Yes, thank you Jethro. I would love some champagne" she answered and watched him walk off to find her some champagne.

'This far it's going alright. But I wonder for how long...' Few minutes later, Gibbs returned with two glasses of champagne.

"Here you go" he said and offered her a glass. She accepted it and clinked it together with his before taking a sip. She watched him as he too drank, and a thought floated into her mind 'God, I wish I was your glass, I want you to hold me, I want to taste your lips...Oh, no, I'm doing this again!'

Music began playing, couples began dancing together. Jenny watched with envy how a husband held onto his wife, wishing Gibbs could hold her like that; so loving, so gentle –. During three dances Jenny and Gibbs sat at their table, occasionally sipping their champagne, occasionally glancing at each other, occasionally saying something, but their conversations did not last very long. Finally, Jenny had had enough.

"Jethro, are you not gonna ask me to dance?" she said, putting her empty glass back onto the table. Gibbs forced himself to look calmly at her, when in fact his heart was beating so fast he thought he'd get a headache.

"Nope" he answered, harsh, he knew. But he just couldn't get too close, or else he thought he might not be able to resist her tempting lips.

"Fine then I'll ask you. Do you wanna dance with me?" she sat with her arms crossed over her chest. It was unwise to dance with him, she knew, but she was getting restless, and sick of just sitting here. But when she'd asked him to escort her to this event, she had not expected her feelings to grow as much as they had.

'Damn it Jen! Why did you have to ask? You know I can't reject you!' he thought furiously, but found his mouth saying "Very well" and he became aware that he had risen to his feet and was holding out his hand for her. With a smile she rose too, took his hand in a light grip and he walked her out to the dance floor. There weren't as many people up there now, most had decided to take a break. But there were nevertheless lots of couples up dancing.

Jenny and Gibbs stood awkwardly opposite each other, both unsure of how to made the first move. 'Come on Jenny! What are you afraid of?' Jenny encouraged herself and took a step closer to him, gently placing her hand on his shoulder, her other found his again. She felt Gibbs's other hand lightly rest on her hip, slowly sneaking around her waist to rest on her lower back.

Now that the first move had been made, Gibbs began leading the dance, sweeping her in wide circles across the dance floor. Jenny was impressed; she would never have thought Gibbs could dance like this. She felt her lips curve into a smile as she obeyed to his lead.

"Jethro, didn't think you could dance"

"There are a lot of things about me you don't know, Jen" he answered softly, currently referring to his feelings for her. She had no idea what a challenge this dance, this closeness was for him. He slowed down their pace as the music became slower, dropped her hand to put his on her lower back together with his other hand. Jenny immediately placed hers on his other shoulder.

Jenny chose not to answer him. Instead her gaze travelled from her own hand on his shoulder up to his face, and she found his eyes. Gibbs held her gaze, staring deep into her eyes. Jenny suddenly blushed and looked away, returning her gaze to her hand. But he let his eyes wander up and down her body. Her black, shimmering dress swept over the floor, the dress that so teasingly showed off her curves. Her skin on her chest was damp, whether it was from dancing or something else, he couldn't tell, but he flattered himself by thinking it was because of him. Her long, red hair brushed against her throat and rippled down her back. Her vaguely red lips were slightly parted, her eyes sparkled, and her cheeks blushed.

Gibbs was stunned by her appearance; her eyes enchanted him, made him for a moment forget everything, everything that is, except her. He leaned closer until he felt her lips press against his. He tightened his grip around her, pulling her closer. His heart began to beat faster as he felt her kissing him back.

Jenny opened her mouth, feeling his lips against hers, his tongue in her mouth. 'Wow, still a damn good kisser, are you?' She thought and momentarily forgot where they were. She abruptly remember who she was kissing, and forced herself to pull away. 'Jethro! Oh God, what have I done?!'

They stood still in the middle of the dance floor, their hands still wrapped around each other. Gibbs was smiling down at her, not regretting what he had done. But his heart sank in his chest as he saw her expression. She looked terrified.

"Jethro – "she trailed off, not able to find word for how she felt. 'Oh, hell, it was amazing. But, can we?'

"I couldn't help it" he explained simply, as if it had been good enough reason to kiss her. "But if it doesn't feel right for you…" he was cut off, cut off by her lips pressing against his.

"I couldn't help it" she teased as she pulled away. Gibbs laughed and began dancing with her again, a slow, romantic dance, Jenny's head was resting against his shoulder. They danced in silence, feeling like they were the only two people in the world right now.

'Well, Jenny. I think this night has taken a serious turn for us' Gibbs thought happily as he felt Jenny's chest rise up and down as she breathed. They danced for most of the night; they barely talked, but did not kiss again either. Gibbs was confused, he'd thought something would happen between them again, but Jenny didn't make any attempt at being interested in kissing again. And Gibbs didn't push her, though frankly he was feeling a bit frustrated.

"I – I think maybe we should get going soon" Jenny finally said, withdrawing herself from him. Gibbs caught her hand and led her off the dance floor. He led her back through the room where they had eaten, and they reached the entrance. Jenny picked up her cell and called Stanley, telling him to pick them up.

'Jen, damn it! You tell me what you think about this, us. I'm willing to give it a shot. I want you, more than you realize' Gibbs thought furiously as Stanley pulled up outside the entrance. Jenny and Gibbs made their way toward the car. This time Stanley didn't bother to even step out, and Gibbs automatically reached out to open the door for her.

As Stanley drove, Jenny hit a switch, making a thin separating wall appear between the front and the back seat. She turned toward Gibbs.

"Jen, I want – " he began, but was once again cut off by her mouth covering his. His surprise was soon replaced with pleasure, and he forcefully kissed her back.

"- you" he finished his sentence between two kisses, and felt Jenny smile against him. He placed his hand on the back of her head and held her close, kissing her with all his love and desire.

"Jethro," she breathed and pulled away "Jethro, what are we doing?"

Gibbs frowned at her, she didn't sound frustrated, as if she'd meant they were doing something wrong, more curious, like if she wasn't sure exactly what they were doing.

"I think it's called kissing" he teased and she hit him gently in the chest

"I know that. What I mean is," she said softly and struggled to find the right words to finish her sentence. "Is this just for tonight, or is this something bigger?" She wasn't sure what she wanted him to answer, sure, just one night together would be fine, but if this was something more… then she wouldn't wanna throw it away.

"I'd like to think it's more" he answered, causing her heart to jump excitedly.

"Me too" she replied before pulling him back for another heated kiss. His hands wandered over her body, gripping at whatever part of her he could reach. Jenny pulled her fingers through his hair, their lips never leaving each other.

"Director, we're here" came Stanley's voice suddenly, and then he became awfully quiet. Jenny looked up, and noticed the separating wall was gone, and Stanley was staring at them. Jenny flung herself from Gibbs, knowing it was already too late.

"Oh, thanks, Stanley" she replied awkwardly and gestured to Gibbs that he should get out of the car. He obeyed, and before Jenny joined him, she gave her driver a glare that told him that if he told anyone what he had seen, he'd be looking for a new job.

Jenny stood on her drive way and watched as Stanley drove off, before she walked up to her front door and unlocked it.

"Poor Stanley, he shouldn't have seen that" she mumbled as she entered her bedroom, Gibbs at her heels. He turned her around and stared into her eyes.

"Stanley's not exactly on my mind right now" he whispered and reached around her back to find the zipper of her dress. He pressed his lips against hers, and she responded immediately.

The End

A/N: Have no idea where this idea came from, just floated into my mind as I wrote it

I hope you liked it and I really hope you'll send me a review!

Thanks,

Emma.