A/n: Hiiiii! I'm back guys! :) I'm really sorry for not updating faster. Time just really got away from me :( . I hope everybody had a nice Christmas, or Hanukkah, or that Kwanza is going well. Whatever you celebrate, I hope it was a good year for you :D So sorry again, but here's a nice long chapter for you. Hope you enjoy it.
BTW: This chapter is now dubbed an M rated chapter, for a little hanky panky ;) But yeah, it's not too much, so it's not to hard to skip through if it's not your thing.
"Kelly," Maddie choked, rushing forward to embrace her childhood friend. They finally laughed through their tears, and Maddie was the one to pull back, swiping at hers. "How?" she asked incredulously, "You're supposed to be dead. They told me you were you were dead."
"Witness Protection," Kelly answered, "Cliché right?"
"Yeah," Maddie laughed, but realization dawned on her, and she spun to face Gibbs. "You knew," she accused. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.
"Wasn't the time," he replied simply. "And then you were kidnapped."
She nodded, and turned back to her friend. "You look different. You're blonde like me," she joked, and Kelly rolled her eyes.
"You have to meet some people," she said, biting her lip. They're great. My dad's whole team. You're going to love them, and I have brothers and sisters. Remember how we used to plot on how to get me one?" she laughed. "And my step-mom, well not really, but she may as well be. She's the best."
Kelly's enthusiastic rambling was cut off as the woman in question descended the stairs. "Jethro?" she called, "Who was at the-?" She stopped, meeting all four pairs of eyes, all of them blue, three of which were familiar, one which was not.
Kelly spoke up, eyeing Jenny in concern. "Jenny are you okay?" she asked. The red head was paler than normal, and her normally vibrant green eyes were dull, and full of exhaustion. Her eyes were bloodshot and watery. She looked awful.
"I'm fine," Jenny assured the younger woman, before turning to the other blonde beside her. "You must be Maddie."
Maddie smiled, holding out her hand, but Jenny waved it away politely. "I might be coming down with something," she offered as way of an apology, and the blonde, nodded, taking a few steps back. She directed her next statement at the entire room, excusing herself. "If you all don't mind, I think I'll head back to bed." Her gaze lingered on Gibbs just a bit longer than anyone else, as he had been burning a hole into the back of her head since she walked into the room.
Once she had disappeared back up the stairs, and Kelly and Maddie had retreated to the home theatre, Gibbs turned to Shannon. "I'll be back," he said, and she nodded, taking a seat on the couch.
He moved bounded up the steps, moving quickly down the hall, and into the bedroom he and Jenny shared. "Jenny," he sighed, her rattling cough sending panic waves of panic through his brain. "You really sound fine," he snapped sarcastically, resting a hand to her forehead once more, finding that she was hotter than the previous night. "I'm calling Ducky," he said, his voice giving no room to argue, but, she tried.
"Jethro do not call him at seven 'o clock in the morning," she protested, but he had already pulled out his phone.
"Yeah Duck, its me," he said, matching the glare Jenny was giving him, "Need you to come check Jenny out." He ended the call, and tossed the phone on the bed. "He's on his way."
"Jethro," she moaned in frustration, flopping back against the pillows.
Within the hour, Ducky had arrived on her doorstep, and currently stood in Jenny's bedroom, holding a thermometer in her mouth. "102 Jennifer," he sighed, "I think you've come down with a case of bronchitis. I'm going to give you a prescription for some antibiotics, and after forty-eight hours, you should no longer be contagious. In the meantime though, I suggest you keep your distance from the children."
"Fine," she sighed, taking the paper from him.
"Thanks Duck," Gibbs said from his place at the back of the room.
Once he had gotten Jenny to consider sleep, he made his way back down stairs, finding a still anxious Shannon sitting there.
Ten minutes later, he came out of the kitchen, and she nearly jumped out of her seat. "She'll be here in two days," he said.
"What did you tell her?" she demanded.
"That I needed to talk to her about you and Kelly. That it needed to be done in person."
"You mean you didn't tell her?" she demanded, "Jethro she'll have a heart attack when she sees us."
"She'll have a heart attack if I tell her on the phone too," he muttered, he never had much liked his mother in law.
"Jethro!" she breathed.
"Shannon, if she has a heart attack it's better if she's around people right? If I go back and call her, she'll be at home, alone."
~ 48 Hours Later ~
After being dosed up on antibiotics for two days, Jenny was up, and back to her old self, despite the lingering cough. "Jethro," she snapped, storming down the stairs, dressed for work in a fitted, black skirt suit, a pair of oversized, square sunglasses on her head. Ava was just over a month old, and Jenny was getting restless. She was not a stay at home mother. She needed to get back to work before Vance caused too much trouble. "Jethro!" she snapped again, irritated at not being able to find him, "Jethro, where are-!" She stopped, almost running head first into him at the foot of the stairs. "Ready?" she asked, and he nodded, rolling his eyes.
She smiled, breezing past him, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor, sliding her glasses down over her eyes. He rolled his eyes, following behind her, locking the door behind them.
In the car, Gibbs turned to the station he had been listening to every morning, and Kenny Roger's Coward of the Country started playing. "Jethro," she sighed, "No."
"Jenny I listen to the same station every morning."
"Not with me in the car," she reminded him pointedly. At his glare, she eyed him pleadingly. "Jethro my ears are starting to bleed. I cannot listen to this anymore," she sighed in exasperation, switching off the radio.
"So silence is better?" he challenged.
She turned her entire body to face him, and said, with conviction, "Jethro, anything is better than that." And he had to chuckle, pulling through the stoplight as it turned green.
Jenny stepped off the elevator, her eyes on her blackberry, and Gibbs followed behind her, walking past her and into the bullpen. He took his seat as she walked past the bullpen, and up the stairs.
Just as her office doors closed behind her, the elevator doors opened with a ding, and a now six months pregnant Ziva stepped off, followed by Tony, both of them bickering. As they drew closer, he could make out what they were saying.
"Tony we are not naming our son after Sean Connery," she snapped, "Or the Duke."
"Come on Ziva," he protested, "Sean or John. That's not a bad name.
She scoffed, taking her seat, but before her butt touched the chair, Gibbs stood, grabbing his things. "We got a call," he said already on his way to the elevator. The doors opened, and McGee stood there. He eyed his boss in question, but at seeing everyone, gear in hand, he stepped back in.
An hour and a half later, Jenny sat in her office, reading over the files Vance had left her, when her phone rang. "Shepard," she answered in her customary business tone, not bothering to check the caller ID. And so, she was not expecting to hear Kelly's frantic voice on the other end.
"Jenny?" Kelly asked, her voice full of panic.
"Kelly what's wrong?" Jenny demanded, standing from her chair.
"It's my dad. He's-channel-Turn to channel three," she fumbled in exasperation.
Jenny grabbed the remote off her desk, turning to channel three as directed. The picture on the screen made her heart drop. Gibbs moved out onto the ledge of some building, moving toward an extremely unstable looking man. "Jethro what the hell are you doing?" she muttered, forgetting that his daughter was on the other end of the phone call.
"Jenny, do something please," Kelly urged, reminding the red head of her presence.
Jenny opened her mouth to reassure the young woman, but both of them gasped in fear at what happened next. A sniper's round flew through the air, hitting the dark haired man in the chest, and Gibbs snatched at the air, as the man fell to the ground below. Loosing his footing, he slipped over the edge, holding fast to the edge of the building. "Oh my God," Jenny breathed, her heart hammering in her chest. Kelly was by then hysterical, pleading with the red head, asking things, she knew Jenny could not do. Seeing that the address at the bottom of the screen was not ten minutes from where she was, five if she sped, she threw the doors to her office open. "Kelly I will call you back," Jenny assured her, already running down the stairs, despite her three inch heels. She ended the call, jabbing at the elevator button, dashing through it when the doors opened.
Precisely five minutes later, she skidded into he parking lot full with police, and firemen, and ambulances, as well as every news station in the city. Looking up, squinting into the sun, she was able to make out Gibbs, dangling from the building. How he was still managing to do that, she had no idea.
She ducked under the caution tape, flashing her badge at the over zealous rookie local who tried to stop her. He stepped back, catching sight of the word Director, and she took off towards the building.
It took her five minutes to make it up ten flights of stairs, and by the time she made it to the roof, she was out of breath.
Tony and Tim looked up at the sound of the door opening, and shock crossed their faces at seeing their read headed leader, her expression livid, a sheen of perspiration on her forehead. "What the hell happened?" she demanded, switching places with Tony in the chain of people, attempting to pull Gibbs up. She kicked off her shoes, jumping up to hold onto McGee's feet. Tony hesitated at seeing her skirt hiked up, making it quite easy to see her green, lace underwear. "Tony," she growled, and he shook himself, grabbing her waist, and tugged with all his strength. In turn Jenny tugged on McGee, and McGee pulled at Gibbs hands, pulling him up just a little bit more.
"Almost up," he huffed, "Pull harder!"
They did as they were told, and with one more heave of strength, he was up, and over the transformer. Gibbs collapsed on top of the box, his chest heaving. "Did good McGee," he huffed, slapping the younger man on the back.
Both men dropped to the roof, and seeing the glare their boss was getting from his boss, they made quick work of coming up with reasons for them to leave.
Once they had arrived back at NCIS, Jenny dragged Gibbs up to her office, and locked the doors behind them.
She advanced on him, smacking him up side his head over, and over, and over. "What…is wrong with…you?" she demanded, emphasizing each word with a slap to the head, "You could've killed yourself. You stupid son of a bitch."
"I was doing my job Jenny!" he yelled, in her face.
"I don't care!" she screamed, though she knew that she was no longer being rational; she had never been rational.
"I can't do this any more Jethro," she whispered, "I can't. Every time something like this happens, every time I send you out to some scene, I don't worry because I'm your boss, and you are my best agent. I worry because you are the father of my children, because you are the man I share my bed with every night. As the Director, I am supposed to be able to handle putting my agents in danger while I deal with the politicians. I can't drop my job, and run out after one of them. Jethro, I can't be rational when it comes to you anymore. I can't do this."
"Jenny," he growled, grabbing her by her forearms, "You were never rational when it came to me. If you were rational, you would've fired me a long time ago. You're good at your job Jenny."
"Jethro," she started, but he cut her off.
"Jenny!" he snapped, "If you were rational, you wouldn't have the job you have. It's not rational to go to heads with the Secretary of the Navy over the NCIS budget, or to go to heads with the Director of the CIA for a probie, but you did. Jenny you wouldn't have the reputation you do if you were rational."
"Jethro," she started in protest once more, but he cut her off, pressing his lips to hers.
She moaned, shutting her eyes, and wrapped her arms around his neck, fisting her hands in his hair. She did not do this. She had never done this. She kept their relationship out of the office, out of her office, but right now, she needed this; despite the fact that it only further proved her point.
He stripped her of her jacket, pinning her up against the wall. He hiked her skirt up around her waist, and thrust into her. She bit her lip in an attempt to muffle the sounds his actions were threatening to pull from her throat. "God," she moaned quietly.
Her breathing grew heavy and labored as he continued to thrust. She hummed, swallowing thickly, and she gasped, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as her chest heaved. She groaned, fighting her cries, and wrapped her legs tighter around him. "Faster," she breathed. "We need-" she stopped when he hit just the right spot, pulling a moan from her. "God!" she breathed. "Jethro we have to be-Oh God!-We have to be…quick." She dug her nails into his neck, feeling herself coming undone.
Her breathing could only be described as panting, as she tipped closer and closer to the edge. She buried her face in his neck, biting so hard on her lip she drew blood, and even still, a small cry escaped her lips as she saw stars, vaguely registering him mumbling her name in the background.
He slid out of her, setting her on her feet, holding her steady. She slid down the wall, in a post coital haze as he zipped his pants. "Irrational isn't so bad," he joked, and she laughed languidly, her eyes heavy.
An hour later, Gibbs strode into MTAC, followed by McGee, where Jenny stood, her face the picture of professionalism. "Special Agent Gibbs, Captain Walsh," she said, making quick introductions, her tone giving no indication of what had happened in her office less than ninety minutes previously, "Lieutenant Arnett's CO."
"You're a hard man to reach," Gibbs challenged.
"My hands were tied, " Captain Walsh explained, "I had to talk to the Director of National Security to get permission to talk to you."
Gibbs turned to Jenny, and she eyed him apologetically. "SecNav has to make a decision."
After a match of sharp words between the men, Captain Walsh ended it with a low blow, "If you had done your job, and pulled Arnett of that ledge, my best man wouldn't be dead. So you'd better be working on it, " he snapped.
Jenny failed to keep her expression impassive, and drew in a sharp breath at the Captain's harsh words.
Later that evening, Jenny sat in her office with Gibbs, under the dim lighting of her office. "Anything so far?" she asked, sticking a bite of steak in her mouth.
He shook his head, slowly, the gears in his head still turning. "Still looking at the wife."
She nodded, and bit her lip mischeviously, reaching across to grab the asparagus off his plate, only to be thwarted by his fork. She grinned. "You aren't going to eat it," she protested, though she knew perfectly well that he would. He fixed her with a look, and raked the vegetables onto her plate. "Thank you," she smiled, sticking a piece of one in her mouth. Checking her watch, Jenny jumped at the time. "I have the analyst who was in contact with Lt. Arnett," she said, "She should be here now actually." She made quick work of cleaning up their mess, and turned to the silver haired man in the chair behind her. She turned off the light illuminating his face so that the only light left was the one on her desk. "Keep quiet until I can talk to her."
Jenny walked through the doors to the outside area of her office, smiling at the young analyst waiting there. "Director Shepard," the woman greeted.
"I appreciate you getting here so fast," Jenny sighed, setting a particularly large stack of folders on her desk.
"No problem," the dark skinned woman assured her.
"Is something wrong Nikki?" Jenny asked, taking in the woman's perturbed expression.
"May I be frank?" Nikki asked.
"Of course," Jenny said, motioning the woman into her office.
"I know that I'm only a low level NCIS analyst," Nikki started, following behind her, and I am more than happy to do whatever the agency requires of me," she assured her boss, as the red head took a seat behind her desk, "But I resent, having a rude message left on my phone by Special Agent Gibbs." Jenny opened her mouth to neutralize the situation before the analyst said something too offending as she had failed to notice that Gibbs sat on the couch behind her, hidden by the shadows, but the younger woman continued. "With no explanation at all, and in the most condescending and insulting manner, he demanded that I get in here immediately. He certainly lives up to his reputation!"
"Special Agent Gibbs isn't know for his, people skills," Jenny explained, and Nikki apologized.
"I'm sorry, Director Shepard. I just, needed to vent. Um…what's this about?"
Finally Gibbs spoke up from behind her. "You don't know?" he demanded, and the analyst looked behind her, as he came into view, turning back to her boss, eyes wide. Jenny eyed her apologetically as Gibbs came up beside the woman.
After briefing the young woman on her new assignment to Gibbs' team, Gibbs simply said, "Report to the squad room 0700."
Nikki nodded, turning on her heel, and tugged her sleeve down before touching the door handle, an action which caused both of the people remaining in the office to share a look.
Gibbs stood against Jenny's door the next morning, rattling the handle impatiently while the new, and unwelcome, if temporary, addition to his team, briefed Jenny on her findings. Once he assumed she had finished, he asked for confirmation.
"Yes," she answered, and he crossed the room, grabbing Jenny's glasses from the table so that he could read the message on his phone, earning him a glare from her.
"Pentagon just sent Arnett's files," he said before leaving the room without another word.
Jenny lifted her glasses from the table, moving them closer to herself, obviously annoyed. Nikki hesitated a moment before asking, "Is he always this…" she trailed off, not exactly sure how to describe him.
"Impatient?" Jenny snapped, supplying a PC word for her, though she would have much rather used something else.
"Not exactly the word I was looking for," Nikki smiled.
Later in the day, Jenny and Gibbs stood in observation, looking in on McGee's interrogation. She smiled as the notarized computer geek, attempted to enforce his authority. "Looks like McGee has your mad act down," she mused.
"Almost," he smiled, amused.
"I heard your agents are pitted against each other," she said, attempting to get him to talk to her. She had no luck the previous night, and she figured, if she prodded enough, he would either talk, or snap some excited utterance. "Wasn't that Gibbs' rule number fifteen? Always work as a team."
"Not on this one."
Her gaze softened. She could see he was beating himself up over this one. "No one could've saved him Jethro. He was dead the moment he stepped out on that ledge."
"That what I tell his sister?" he asked sarcastically, though the anguish in her voice made her move just close enough to hide their hands from the techs in the room, and take his in hers. She squeezed gently, and they returned to observing the interrogation as if nothing were different.
That night, Jenny descended the stairs, after finishing her paperwork. To her surprise, she heard the low rumble of Gibbs' voice. She thought he had gone home already. It was 2200. As she drew closer, she could make out his side of the conversation. "I'm sorry for your loss Rachel," he said, and it was clear, from his expression, that he was not so detached from the case as his customary apology might imply.
He ended the phone call, and she stepped out of the shadows, purse in hand. "Are you okay?" she asked, and he nodded, standing, without a word. She stayed rooted to the spot, watching him as he gathered his things.
"Think I might give my dad a call," he said, and she smiled softly, nodding.
A/n: Sooo…long chapter, but still a lot of questions left unanswered. How are thing's going to play out with Shannon's mom? Meeting Jenny and the twins, finding out about her daughter and granddaughter. How about Gibbs' dad? Akward much? And of course, what's going on with Ziva and Tony? Abby and McGee? What's up with Maddie? Are Shannon and Gibbs still legal? So many questions lol. No worries though :) They'll all be answered in good time! :)
Thanks for reading luvs :D Really do hope you liked it, especially since it's been so long since I updated. And special thanks to my reviewers, I-AM-RIVER-SONG , Tempe4Booth, JiBbS-tIvA4eVs, paris chica, Fiva4Tiva, ladybugsmomma, basket-case1880, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, DS2010, NCIS FTW, DD Agent, and Brii Taylor.
*Hearts Guys!*
