Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A.N.: thank you to xxhiphuggersxx, black widow mistress, babyred1995, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, alix33, MissJayne, jstapny, HesMines and Twilight Trekky for reviewing!
Jenny looked at Jethro sharply, the thought he had just voiced having never entered her head. It should have though, she should have thought about what would happen if Tony's cover came under intense scrutiny, but he hadn't said anything. As far as she knew he had only just been introduced to Jeanne's mother, and there was no love lost between her and Jeanne's father. Was it possible that the mother had called La Grenouille and asked him to find out more about Tony DiNardo? Were Jeanne's parents this suspicious of all of her boyfriends?
Jenny sighed; it no longer mattered how he had found out, just that he had. What would happen to Tony? If La Grenouille knew who he really was then just taking him off the case wouldn't be enough to protect him from his reach. He had many people in his service with the skills to take him out quickly and quietly, but she suspected that he wouldn't want that. He would want to make a show of it, so that she knew that it was him that had disposed of Tony, despite the lack of evidence to tie him to it.
"We were so close this time…" Jenny murmured unhappily. She was going to have to do it again; she was going to have to let him get away. It is worth it, she told herself sternly, Tony is in danger. The last thing she wanted was for someone else to get hurt over this monster. She shook her head, ridding it of the images of Tony stepping through the door of his apartment, unaware that someone was already there, with a gun trained on his head…
Just then a shiver ran down her spine and she glared at the bottle and the glass, wrapped in the plastic bags, her mind racing. How had they gotten there? Someone must have put them there obviously, but had they done it while she had been in Paris? Had they done it while she and Jethro had been upstairs asleep? She vividly remembered Jethro unlocking the door when they had gotten in last night but she couldn't recall if he had locked it again behind them. That must mean that this person had slipped in while they had been in bed, right?
Jenny ran past Jethro and out of the study, dread mounting in her chest until she felt like her breathing was being restricted. She stopped in front of the door and reached out her hand to the handle, turning it and yanking before she could change her mind. It didn't budge. The door was locked. Jenny started to hyperventilate as dread turned to horror. They had just walked into her house, locking and unlocking it when they felt like it… she was not safe… her arms wound around her middle and she backed up until she was forced to sit on the stairs or fall backwards.
She was not safe in her own home, which meant that Jethro wasn't safe here with her either, and neither was their baby. Jenny pulled her legs up protectively and stared at the door, willing it to keep intruders out like it should, but she knew it was no use. Lots of people could pick locks; it stood to reason that her enemy could too. She didn't like that though; she didn't like it at all. She had lost one baby to this man, she would not lose another! She had to kill him soon, while her baby was still relatively safe inside her.
Taking Tony off the case was detrimental to this goal though, at least in the sense that she wouldn't be able to get any closer to La Grenouille, but it would keep Tony safe and give them time to regroup. Maybe they would get lucky and La Grenouille would leave behind some sort of clue about his whereabouts or his latest scheme… yeah, keep dreaming Jenny, she thought angrily, this is your chance and it's slipping away. Are you really going to put your baby in danger by letting him walk away again?
Jenny put her head in her hands and willed herself to calm down. She was panicking, which was hardly surprising considering her condition and the circumstances surrounding her last stint at motherhood, but the last thing her baby needed was to become distressed. She briefly wondered if it was possible for the foetus to become distressed since it didn't have a brain yet, or at least she didn't think it did. The stages of foetus growth weren't something she had memorised, and the last time she had been in this position she had been scared and alone.
Ziva had been there for her in the end of course, but they hadn't known each other very well at the beginning, so she had tried to keep her pregnancy a secret. Ziva had eventually taken her aside during a dangerous sting operation and told her that she should be on maternity leave. Jenny smiled; she hadn't been able to get anything past Ziva. She hadn't gone on leave either; they had been seriously undermanned so she had carried on working.
She could still remember the terror on Ziva's face when they had been pinned down by gunfire and her water broke. What a bonding session. The only good thing that had come from it besides a closer friendship with Ziva had been that her screams of agony had made the enemy come out of hiding to finish her off, believing they had injured her. Ziva had picked them off with chilling detachment and then tried not to panic while helping her to give birth. Ziva had told her later that she had thought she was going to die, which hadn't been surprising, Jenny had too.
Her smile faded and the sense of loss that had been haunting her came back full force. She couldn't lose this baby, and that meant not letting La Grenouille find out she had it. She would not make an appointment to see her ob/gyn, it would be too easy for him to find out. She quickly thought about the pregnancy test in the bin upstairs and resolved to dispose of it personally. She couldn't take the chance that someone might find it in her trash. Just then Jethro's arm wrapped around her shoulders, freezing her paranoid thoughts in their tracks, his heat promising the safety and security she so desperately needed. She burrowed in to his warmth and let him surround her. She had Jethro to help her, to make her feel safe. Who did Tony have?
"Call Tony. Tell him to abandon the op." she said firmly, her decision made. Hopefully Tony wasn't already in too deep to back away safely, but if La Grenouille saw him retreating he wouldn't pursue him. At least he wouldn't normally, but this was all so unlike him in the first place. Part of her wanted to take the words back right away, but she bit her tongue until the urge passed. Jethro would help her track down La Grenouille, she knew he would and then justice would be hers. She smiled and closed her eyes, listening to Jethro rummage in his pocket for his phone.
Tony tapped his thumbs against his steering wheel in a familiar rhythm as his car radio played a song that he knew. It was a good one too. Ah they don't make them like this anymore, he thought, and then abruptly stopped thinking it. What was that supposed to mean? He was only in his thirties, he sounded like he was sixty, or whatever age Gibbs was. Not that the guy seemed to age, he was simply 'that old' seemingly forever. Tony had to admit to a tiny bit of jealousy, if he could keep the ravages of time from him like Gibbs could he would be set for a great future. Even Ducky had aged well, if those pictures his mother had shown him, that time he had been providing protection for her, were any indication.
The song ended and another started, a nice jazz number that threatened to erase all thoughts of getting older from his mind, but didn't quite manage it. Jeanne would be moving in soon, his impulsive offer for her to leave her condemned apartment and move into his was now coming to a head. He was shocked and not a little disturbed to find that he was looking forward to it. He shared a closeness with Jeanne that he had never shared with anyone else before, how ironic that most of it should be lies.
His heart wasn't lying though, and now he knew without a shadow of doubt that he was in love with Jeanne. Her smile had the power to make his knees weak and it had become his mission in life to make her do so. It felt right to wake up with her in the morning and to go to sleep with her in his arms at night. He knew he should have told Jenny, hell he could have told Gibbs, he would understand he was sure of it, but he couldn't say anything. What if they took him off of the case? What if they forced him to leave Jeanne? He couldn't do it.
He had to tell her who he really was and he had resolved to do so, but how would he start off that conversation? Well, actually Jeanne my name isn't DiNardo, its DiNozzo, I'm not a university professor of film; I'm a federal Agent and we didn't exactly meet by accident either… but I still love you. He scowled and gripped his steering wheel angrily. What was he going to do? He couldn't keep lying to her, but telling her the truth would definitely hurt her.
He was saved from further internal torment by his cell phone ringing. He pulled over and parked his car before looking at it, not surprised that it was his work phone that was ringing. A swift glance at the screen said that it was Gibbs, so he quickly answered the call.
"Yes boss?" he said by way of greeting and enquiry. He rarely got calls from Gibbs, unless they had a case outside of normal work hours, so this was a surprise. It was also a surprise to actually get a word in before Gibbs could end the call.
"DiNozzo, we have a problem. La Frog has changed his tactics, so you may be in danger." Tony smirked at Gibbs' constant refusal to call the arms dealer by his proper code name, but the mention of a problem had him instantly alert. The only reason he would be told over the phone rather than in Jenny's office was if it involved him or Jeanne. "As of now you are off the case. Meet me and Jenny at NCIS, we'll go over what we know and try and sort out a good story for your removal from his daughter's life." Gibbs said, and every word stung Tony like a dagger to the heart. It was happening; it was really happening, he was being taken away from Jeanne.
Somehow he managed to squeeze a response through his tightly clenched throat and then he tossed his phone on to the passenger seat dejectedly, where it bounced off and onto the floor. It wasn't supposed to end between them, and especially not like this. He could make it work with her, he could, despite the huge blow to her trust finding out would deal. They were stronger than that, they wouldn't fall apart. Tony blinked back the tears of anger and frustration at his situation and resolved to calm himself down before going to NCIS. Then he remembered he was supposed to be picking Jeanne up for lunch.
Jethro sat on the step beside Jenny and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to him. He had seen her intent and checked all of the windows and the back door already, only to find them all locked and secure. It was disturbing to know that even the Director of NCIS's house could be broken into that easily, and he resolved to have a word with Abby and Ziva about setting up something much more difficult to bypass. Jenny's arms were wrapped tightly around her middle and she had curled up so far she looked like a child herself. She snuggled into his embrace and he smiled.
Jenny was pregnant; it was glaringly obvious if you knew what to look for. He wasn't blind; he could see what was right in front of him. He made a living as an investigator and he had been around during his first wife's pregnancy. He'd also had lots of experience with pregnant women in general, both as an interrogator and an Agent with the unhappy duty of reporting a death. She was worried, very worried and he had to admit to being so as well. This would be his third child, and with two dead he felt very on edge over the safety of this one.
What could he do though? The child was safely inside Jenny's body at the moment, so it was as safe as anyone could make it. He would give his life to keep Jenny from harm anyway, so there was nothing more he could do. If he tried to bundle her off to somewhere the Frog couldn't find her she would protest, in the strongest possible terms. There was only the one thing to do, make her house more secure and sweep the neighbourhood daily just in case La Froggy employed any hit men. He could also increase her security detail and make her cancel her dinner parties with the ass kissers on The Hill. She wouldn't like giving up that much freedom, but she would do it for their baby.
"Come on, let's get to NCIS." he said, pulling her to stand with him. She did so reluctantly, looking a little embarrassed over her near breakdown, but she quickly pulled herself together. He waited while she wandered back into the study and gathered her work things, as well as the bottle and glass, and then he drove them both to work.
It was a quiet day today, being a Saturday. Not many people were in, but a few were using the day to catch up on paperwork, as Jethro had intended this morning. He escorted Jenny down to Abby's lab, where the young Goth was waiting for them to bring her something to process. A slow day meant Abby would be terribly bored, and she was really only in because he had called her in for a favour. Abby was a little concerned when he mentioned that the bottle had appeared on Jenny's desk through a locked door, and when Ziva arrived shortly afterwards he sent her down to brainstorm with Abby on making Jenny's house impenetrable.
He and Jenny were waiting in her office for Tony to arrive, and the wait was turning into a long one. Jenny finally became annoyed and called him after a twenty minute wait, turning to gaze at Jethro a few seconds later, her expression troubled.
"He isn't answering either of his cell phones. What if we're too late?" she asked, apprehension written all over her face.
"Maybe he just wants to be alone, he is in deep with the frog's daughter after all." he suggested half-heartedly, but he wasn't really feeling it. Tony wasn't the kind of guy to get emotional over a woman, but what if this woman was different? What if they had totally misjudged how much Tony could take? "Alright, I'll get McGee to track him in MTAC; hopefully we can get a visual and go from there." he said, leaving her office with Jenny following closely behind.
"McGee! You're needed in MTAC!" he shouted down to the young man who had only just arrived and had been headed towards Abby's lab. To his credit McGee merely changed direction and quickly ascended the stairs, not even offering an eye roll at being pressed into service the second he entered the building. The three of them quickly took up their positions in front of the large MTAC screen, and Jethro told Tim to locate Tony. McGee agreed without asking any questions and typed away on his keyboard.
"Got him. He's in his car. He's not alone." McGee said squinting at the screen to try and make out who the other person was, but he couldn't tell. It looked like a woman though. Jenny tried his phone again, but it went to his answer phone. Well if he wasn't alone he wouldn't answer, and since he was driving he should really let the other person answer; if it was Jeanne that was obviously not a good idea. They would have to wait it out.
"He doesn't look like he's in danger at least." Jenny said hopefully, and he nodded. They watched as the little car pulled over next to a burger stand and two people exited. It was Tony and Jeanne. The young couple linked hands and then set off towards the stand at a sedate pace, only managing to go a handful of steps before being knocked off of their feet.
Tony's car suddenly exploded in a large fireball, pieces of the vehicle being torn apart and flung around it at the innocent pedestrians, other vehicles swerving from the shock of the sudden conflagration as much as to avoid the burning wreckage and shrapnel.
"Oh my god!" Jethro heard Jenny exclaim, but he couldn't muster a response. His eyes were glued to the two figures lying on the sidewalk. The two unmoving figures.