AN: Here's a short little bonus chapter for a Sunday afternoon. Short but important.

Betrayal

Chapter 4

Jethro made it back to the Marriott and as he was walking through the lobby to the elevators the desk clerk called out to him.

"Agent Gibbs?"

Jethro knew instantly someone who knew him had been there looking for him because he didn't check in as Agent Gibbs and had not used that name since he arrived. He stepped over to the desk.

"Yes, what do you need?"

"There's someone waiting for you in the bar."

"Who is it?"

"I don't know sir. A man came in asking for you and when I said you were out he said he'd wait and asked me to send you in the bar when you arrived."

"He alone?"

"No sir. There was a woman with him. Petite, red hair, very high heels. Very attractive."

"Okay. Thanks."

Jethro took a minute to process all that. How in the hell did she find him and what was she doing in California? Only one way to find out. He walked over to the bar and stepped into the dim space. As he did so, a man got up from a table near the door and stepped out to greet him.

"Hello, Gibbs. Sorry for springing this on you."

"Hello, Melvin. You seem to be saying that to me too often. What are you doing here?"

"She wants to talk to you. I couldn't persuade her otherwise."

"It's okay. She alright?"

"Mostly. She's sitting in the back."

"Okay. We won't be long."

Melvin nodded and sat back down watching Jethro make his way to the back of the bar area. Jethro saw her sitting in the very back of the bar, no one else around. Her hands were wrapped around a thick, ceramic coffee mug. She looked tired but still beautiful as far as Jethro was concerned. He forced himself to remember all the feelings he'd gone through last night. He drew on the anger he'd felt and shoved the sadness way down where it couldn't get out. He stepped up to the table and looked down at his wife. Jenny looked up at him and he saw a wariness in her eyes that hurt his soul. No matter what he never thought Jenny would be afraid of him.

"Hello, Jen."

"Jethro. I hope it's okay I'm here."

"What are you doing out here, Jen?'

"Callen got in a bit of trouble and I needed to come sort some things out."

"He okay?"

"Yes, he will be."

"Something Leon couldn't handle?"

They both knew this small talk was simply a stalling tactic to put off the hard conversation that was coming.

"He's in Hawaii with Jackie for their anniversary. I didn't want to spoil that."

"How'd you find me?"

"Heddy found you actually."

"Figures. So, you're using the resources of the SpecOps Division to track down one retired agent? Not very efficient use of agency funds."

"You're not just some agent, Jethro. You're my senior field agent. My husband."

"Not an agent anymore, Jen. At least I'm not supposed to be. My bank statement says otherwise. Why is that?"

"I have you on the books as being on annual leave. You have about eight more weeks of that. Retirement is final Jethro, I didn't want to do that until I talked to you and you convinced me you're sure that's what you want to do."

"I don't know that convincing you is required. I can call personnel myself and take care of it if that makes it easier for you. In fact, I'll take care of it tomorrow."

"Just use the leave Jethro."

"Why are you really here, Jen?"

Jenny had kept her gaze pretty steady on Jethro's face up until now but with that question she dropped her eyes to her coffee. Jethro watched her knowing she was trying to make sure she said what she wanted to say in the right way. It was hard for him to look her in the eyes because he kept thinking about how much he loved getting lost in there. Seeing her so close was hard. He wanted to touch her, hold her in his arms and wish away the past two months but of course that wasn't happening. Not the touching or the holding and not the wishing. Finally Jenny looked up at him.

"I wanted to see you and tell you how sorry I am, Jethro."

"Sorry I found out or sorry you betrayed me?"

The anger wasn't far below the surface and Jenny knew she needed to tread lightly. She didn't want to fight with him. She wasn't sure she could do this but she knew she needed to at least try.

"Both. I don't have any excuse or any explanation. I just need you to know I'm sorry, so damn sorry, Jethro. I love you and I don't know what I was doing."

"Got a funny way of showing your love, Jen."

Jenny reached for his hand and he pulled back before she could touch him. He didn't trust himself if she touched him.

"Jethro, can you ever forgive me?"

"Does it matter? We can't come back from what you did. Sure I can forgive you but I can't trust you. I can't forget that you betrayed me."

Jenny didn't know what to say. She studied the coffee now cold in her cup. She told herself not to cry; Jethro hated it when she cried. She wanted to be angry at his attitude but knew that wasn't fair.

"What do you want from me Jen?"

"Just don't shut the door on us Jethro. I know I did the most horrible thing to us but I love you. I do. Maybe in time we could work things out. I will do anything to earn your trust back."

"You shut the door on us when you took a lover. You did that, not me."

"Then just don't lock it Jethro. Please, just think about it. There has to be a way we can salvage our life together. We went through so much to get there."

"Yes, we did and then you threw it all away. And for what? Is the guy even still there? Does he still keep you warm at night? You left me once and I got past that and took you back and now you've done it again but in a much worse way. No, Jen we're not coming back from this. We're not salvaging anything."

He was angry now and he didn't try to hide it. He wasn't intentionally trying to hurt her but he couldn't believe she thought they might get back together. Maybe she didn't know him as well as he thought she did.

"Jethro, other people reconcile and survive this sort of thing why can't we? Is it because of your pride? You don't want to be the man whose wife had an affair but you took her back? Is that it?"

"You're kidding right? You think I give a damn what other people think about us? I don't. I care about you betraying my trust and our marriage. I think we're done here Jenny. You need to go back to DC, run your agency and in six months you'll be divorced and free to do as you please."

Now it was her turn to ask, "What do you want from me, Jethro? I apologized. I told you I love you and I know I made a mistake. What else do you want me to do? Just tell me!"

Jethro wasn't really surprised at her attitude. She had always gotten her way with him and this was really the first time he'd told her no and made her believe it. It did baffle him a bit that she seemed clueless as to the seriousness of her error.

"No! A mistake is getting the wrong order at the drive-thru. What you did was not a mistake, Jenny, it was a decision you made with intent. I don't want you to do anything except sign the divorce papers and then go on with your life."

Now she was angry and just a little disbelieving that Jethro wasn't giving in to her.

"And what are you going to do? Sit on the beach with Mike Franks the rest of your life? You will die of boredom Jethro. You love the action, the chase. What are you going to do?"

"That's not really your concern anymore. I think we're done here Jen. Go back to DC."

Jethro stood up to leave. Jenny stood up and reached for his arm and again he pulled away from her.

"Why won't you let me touch you Jethro? Are you afraid if I do you'll like it and you'll remember what we had and what you still want?"

"I know I'd like it. Yes, I remember very clearly what we had, how much I loved it. Loved you. How much I craved your touch, your scent, the feel of you against me. I remember Jen. God help me I can't forget it now matter how hard I try. But that's over and I can't have it anymore so, no, I don't want you to touch me."

"There has to be something I can do to change things for us? We belong together. You've said so many times."

"Here's what you can do Jen; go back to that moment when you decided to let another man have what you'd promised was only for me. That moment you decided to let another man into that most intimate place that was supposed to be only for me. Go back to that moment and make another choice. If you can pull that off then we're fine. Otherwise, just go home and don't worry about me."

Jethro turned and walked away before he could see the tears that filled Jenny's eyes and streamed down her face. He walked to the door and Melvin stood up to meet him.

"Take care of her, she's upset. Bye Melvin."

"Bye Jethro. Stay safe."

Jethro started for his room but realized that would be too confining. Instead he walked outside and just kept walking. He'd seen Jenny's car waiting so he went in the opposite direction. He was so frustrated and so stunned to have had Jenny sitting across a small table from him that he could barely think straight. In fact he wasn't thinking very clearly at all. He walked for about half an hour then found a diner and went in for a cup of coffee. He got it to go and wandered back in the direction of the hotel. Using skills perfected over many years of denial he managed to block his entire conversation with Jenny from his mind. He concentrated on noticing his surroundings and kept his mind in the present moment refusing to allow himself to think about Jenny and how much he had wanted her the moment he saw her.

TBC