3201It had been only a week before Jenny had returned to N.C.I.S. Gibbs was glad he had convince himself that what she'd said to him in the hospital had been only an affect of the heavy medication she had currently been on. She had not mentioned a single thing to him about it. The Director was back and the hard-ass façade had returned with it replacing the glimpse of Jenny, his ex-lover that he'd gotten.

His attention was directed away from his thoughts when he noticed a fiery red head heading to Jenny's office. Her eyes were a piercing aqua blue that matched Gibbs's. Tony apparently noticed the young teenager too. He cocked his head to the side. Gibbs could practically see the gears in the younger agent's head turning.

Without hesitation the red-haired teenager entered the outer office after having climbed to the catwalk.

Once inside the girl was out of earshot. "Excuse me; may I please see Director Sheppard?" She asked quietly. Cynthia's head shot up and she raised an eyebrow completely surprised. "Do you have an appointment?" She inquired with a small smile. The girl shook her head and Cynthia grinned. "Good, she doesn't want to deal with any politicians at the moment, go right in." She offered and the teenager gave her a smile before doing as instructed.

The soft knock had Jenny smiling softly to herself. Maybe, just maybe Gibbs had decided to treat her office door as an actual door rather than barge in on her all the time.

Or not.

The girl shut the door as soon as she was through. The Director's head snapped up. "Who the hell are you?" She snapped irritably, the smile disappearing from her face. Lauren winced at the tone but held her ground.

"Lauren, I'm, uh, I'm your daughter." Her voice was quiet and soft. She was hurt.

Jenny's head snapped up once again from the pile of paperwork at the tone. She flinched but stood and made her way to the teenager, unsure of how she hadn't been able to recognize her own daughter. Her hard exterior melted and she was Jenny, not the Director. Without warning Lauren was enveloped in a bone crushing hug. "Oh, Lauren, I missed you. A day hasn't gone by when I haven't thought about you." She whispered softly into the girl's ear. "You're sixteen next week." Jenny smiled. She knew she was right. Jenny never forgot Lauren's birthday…ever.

"I-can't-breathe." Lauren choked out. Jenny released her daughter.

They both took a seat on the couch and the talk began.

Gibbs had not seen the Director in two hours. In short he hadn't seen her since the mysterious teenager had appeared. There was no doubt that there was something stirring in the Director's office. Had it been any normal teenager, she would not have allowed her to come and see her.

Finally the teenager left the office with a smile. She held a scrap of paper in her hand and headed straight for the elevators. Gibbs on the other hand headed right from where she'd come; Jenny's Office.

He barreled bath Cynthia and barged into the inner office with his usual manner. This time he shut the door gently. Jenny looked up from the paper work having no doubt as to whom it was. Sure enough she found herself looking at the infamous Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure?" Her foul mood had disappeared with Lauren's visit.

"The girl, who was the girl?" Gibbs grunted. His curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"No one you need be concerned about, Jethro." Jenny replied smoothly, taking a sip of her coffee.

"How old is she?" He furthered. He couldn't take his mind off of the aqua blue eyes the teenage girl had had. The red hair no doubt would match Jenny's shade if compared directly.

"Sixteen?" Jenny offered and regretted it immediately. Jethro wasn't a damn idiot, he could count.

Gibbs turned a furious shade of red as he did the math. Sixteen years ago, he'd been in Paris with one Jennifer Sheppard. The girl had his eyes and her hair, it was simple. Any idiot who knew about their history could easily piece the puzzle together. Gibbs just happened to be one of those idiots.

"You didn't tell me?" He gritted his teeth as he spoke. He did not want to speak about this so loudly the whole agency knew. The Director having had an agent's child no matter how long in the past it had been was not good.

"Would it have mattered?" She fired back as her heart sunk. She was screwed. She really didn't want to have this conversation with him all over again. It would only inevitably lead to a shouting match about Paris. That was not particularly on her top ten favorite discussion topics list nor was it ever likely to be.

"Yes." He managed to ground out, barely managing to reign in his temper.

"You would have cared when I left then?" That was a low blow and she knew it. Prepare for him to yell in three…two…one

"I DID CARE! GODDMANIT! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DIDN'T CARE!"

Tony DiNozzo heard the shout and looked to his partner, Ziva.

"Fifty bucks says Gibbs shoots the Director."

"Fifty says that Jenny shoots him." Ziva countered.

"And fifty says that Mommy and Daddy make up." Abby interrupted as she sat down in McGee's vacated chair.

"Or not." Ducky sighed coming from the elevator with an autopsy report in hand just as a fresh shout echoed.

"YOU THINK I DIDN'T REGRET THAT DECISION—DON'T REGRET THAT DECISION EVERY GODDAMNED DAY?" That was the Director's voice now.

"NOT NEARLY AS MUCH AS I DO!" Gibbs screamed right back. He loved her, he truly did but he was not going to risk wrecking the friendship that they had so precariously balanced.

The screaming match went on for another ten minutes until suddenly they stopped.

"I wonder what's going on…" Tony trailed off as a series of loud bangs issued from the upstairs.

"You don't think that they're—" He began again.

"Get your mind out of the gutter." Ziva glared as she spoke coldly.

"Good job." McGee said without really paying attention. He was just praising her because she'd gotten the phrase right.

To answer the question of what was going on in the Director's office; Jenny had passed out in the middle of their fight. It had been sudden and mid-shout when she'd collapsed. Of course, Gibbs had caught her and she'd become conscious almost immediately.

"You OK?" He asked her softly and refused to relinquish his hold.

"Yeah, it's just my headaches are getting worse." She admitted gripping his arm tightly.

"Maybe you should lie down." Gibbs suggested pulling her slightly closer and steering her toward the couch.

"I could if you let go of me but of course you wouldn't want to." Jenny quipped. It never failed to amaze him that she could bicker with him even in moments like these. Gibbs sighed and let her go after making sure she was in no danger of falling. Jenny curled up on the couch and watched as he moved toward the door.

"Stay." The word came out of her mouth without her intending them too but she wasn't going to take them back. She wanted him with her right now, she needed someone.

"What?" He asked turning to face her. His eyebrows were arched in both surprise and amusement. "What did you say?" He amended not quite sure he'd heard her correctly.

"I said stay with me, Jethro." She repeated her voice stronger and her mind made up.

"Ok, Jen." He smiled a little at her and headed to the couch to sit beside her. As soon as he'd sat down he got the surprise of a lifetime; Jenny climbed into his lap and nestled her head into his shoulder, her arms draped around him haphazardly.

"Jen," He began but stopped as she smacked him on the back of his head lightly. "Shut up, I am comfortable and I am going to sleep." Jenny said yawning a little. Hell, if Gibbs hadn't been enjoying the moment he might have pointed that the fact he and his boss were in this position was highly inappropriate. As it was, he was indeed enjoying the moment, therefore he said nothing and merely wrapped his arms around her so she wasn't likely to fall. Well, that's what he told himself was the reason for him doing it.

"Jethro." Jenny mumbled in her sleep and Gibbs grinned. She was dreaming about him.

In said dream:

She was standing on a balcony with the wind blowing her hair back a little. Gibbs was coming up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. His chin was resting on her shoulder and he began to trail kisses down her neck.

"Jethro." She warned softly.

She'd said Jethro because he was making her knees buckle and it was annoying.

"Jen, I-" His words were lost as the dream morphed.

"Jen, you'd better get the door Tony's there with Ziva and their daughter, Lauren's upstairs doing homework, and well I'm sure the baby can't open the door." Gibbs had whispered in her ear, intent on seeing if he could change her dream. Apparently, he could. Had she known right then and there, she would have murdered him but as it was she was in yet another dream:

"Jen, you'd better get the door Tony's there with Ziva and their daughter, Lauren's upstairs doing homework, and well I'm sure the baby can't open the door." Her husband's voice had floated to her from the kitchen where he was attempting to cook. Jethro had been insistent on keeping her out of the kitchen after the last time she'd accidently set the turkey on fire at Thanksgiving. In all due respect it hadn't been her fault, If he hadn't distracted her…..

Jenny smiled at the memory and stood from the couch, where she was pouring over case files, to get the door. "Hi honey." She smiled at her son as it opened. His wife was standing next to him, beaming at their little girl.

"Hi Grandma!" The small child exclaimed. It was funny that the 'grandmother' had a little baby boy but it was still true none the less.

Abby and McGee arrived next with Michael Leroy. They'd decided it would be embarrassing for the boy to have Leroy as his first name, much to the amusement of Jenny, for Gibbs had grumbled for days.

Finally, Lauren appeared to join them. Smiles and laughter were shared and suddenly everything went black.

Jenny awoke with a start. She realized that she'd awoken because Gibbs had placed her on the couch. A soft, sad sigh escaped her lips.

"Missed me?" Gibbs grinned appeared coming out of the private bathroom attached to her office. Jenny stuck her tongue out at him. This felt a lot like Europe, their childish teasing.

"You can't miss what you weren't aware of." She informed him solemnly.

"The fact you were using me as a body pillow and that you kept whispering my name states otherwise."

"I don't talk in my sleep." Jenny said though silently she was thinking, Damn it! She knew that on the contrary, she did indeed talk in her sleep.

"I slept with you often enough, Jen." Gibbs pointed out.

Jenny raised an eyebrow at the accidental innuendo. "You know what I meant." He answered.

The Director nodded calmly though inside her heart was racing.

"Should we go put an end to the rumors?" Jenny grinned at him and was surprised by the shake of his head. "Nope, we should go start some new ones." He stated and before she could even question him, he came over to her and mussed up her hair. She took the initiative and mussed up his hair in turn and then pressed her lips to his cheek, leaving an intentional lipstick mark. Undoing his visible buttons he redid them hastily and watched as she undid her top two. Standing, she angled her skirt so it rode up a little and the hem was crooked.

Together they departed from Jenny's office.

As the two came into view, Ziva nudged Tony. "What?" He asked until he looked up and took in their appearance.

"You do not think?" Ziva exclaimed.

"In her office. Ew, God!" Tony groaned.