Disclaimer – NCIS is not mine
Author's note – Thank you for all of the support so far, I am glad that you are enjoying this story.
I know Gibbs' emotions are a little confusing but I think he would be that way. I'm trying to show that he is still in love with Jenny, but trying to protect his heart as he believes that she will have moved on. And whilst he can't get his mind off of her, he decides to continue dating Ryan. Hope it makes sense, and don't worry, not too much more of her left.
Thanks to my reviewers: GeneaLady, Amber SanGiovanni, left my heart in Paris, and RhizOneill
Enjoy!
Ne m'oublie pas s'il te plait
Previously . . .
"So you're saying she was working?"
"I think that is the most likely idea, and considering the time, I think a bar or restaurant is most likely."
Gibbs nodded. "Go with DiNozzo, show her picture around, and find out! McGee, go through the staff register of every bar, restaurant, hotel, club in the city. We have to find her."
Now . . .
At first Gibbs didn't know why he had sent tony and Ziva to find Jenny and not him instead. And as he began to pace autopsy Ducky was beginning to wish he had gone. But it didn't take long for it to dawn on the silver haired marine the reason he hadn't gone. It was Ducky's fault. When he had spoken to the wise doctor he had expected him to say that if they found Jenny, then the pair of them getting back together was a good idea. Yet he hadn't, in fact from where Gibbs was standing it sounded as though he thought it was a bad idea.
Whilst he was partially confused as the why the good old doctor thought this, yet he also knew it was partially because he didn't want Gibbs to get hurt. However this marine was now just even more confused. And as Gibbs looked at a message from Ryan, he realised that he had back himself into a corner. That he was head over heels in love with her and yet found himself already deciding that she didn't love him. Gibbs had decided that five years under the radar meant that she had fallen for someone else and moved on. He was so confident of this decision that he decided he would call Ryan and go out for coffee with her whilst his team found Jenny.
"Of for Coffee." Said Gibbs as he walked out of autopsy, but McGee had seen the name Ryan flash up on his bosses screen. McGee usually avoided meddling in other people's business, but in this instance he found himself getting annoyed with his boss, and angry that when they were in touching distanced of their former Director he would rather be with his new girlfriend.
So McGee and Ducky watched as Jethro left. Ducky realising that what he had said to Gibbs may not have been the right thing. Yet he had meant it with good intentions. He had not wanted his old friend to find that Jenny had moved on no longer wanted to be with him. Especially not when he had just finished with Ryan for her. Yet it seemed as though ducky had not been as clear as he wanted and now had the fear of dread that he may just have caused his friend his happiness.
McGee looked down at his computer and decided that he needed to talk to Abby. And as if by magic she appeared. He smiled at her and she walked over. "Where is everyone?" She asked, pouting slightly at no one having told her where they were going. McGee smiled at her.
"Tony and Ziva have a potential lead on director Shepard." He said, deciding unless she asked he would not tell her about Gibbs, after all it would upset her. But if she asked he knew he would not lie to her. Because she deserved the truth.
"Yeye!" She squealed closing distance between them and hugging Tim. She had a massive grin on her face that was extremely contagious. Duck watched and found he too was smiling at the younger agents and the forensic scientist. "What was the lead?" Abby asked, wanting to know so that she could find some way to help them.
"Ziva thinks that Director Shepard was in the alley because she was on her way home from work. So they're showing her photo around and interviewing people at bars." He said, smiling as she sat down next to him, her I Pad sitting in front of her, preparing herself to be able to help.
"So what are we doing Timmy?" She asked eagerly. Getting set up and ready to help.
"Checking staffing records for the bars." He said, and watched as Abby began to get set up.
Ducky smiled from behind them, watching as the pair began to work in perfect sync, almost like they were two parts of the same whole. There was an unbreakable bond between them. Ducky knew at one point they had dated, but not at present. However it was often amusing to watch as they danced around one another, both getting jealous when someone began to grow close to the other.
"McGee?" Said Abby, a frown all of a sudden crossing her face as realisation hit her.
"Yeah?" He questioned, eyes not leaving the screen as he scanned though personnel pictures and his fingers tapped away almost forming their own beat as they did.
"Where did you say Gibbs was?" She asked, turning to glare at him.
"I didn't." He replied turning to her and becoming more scared of Abby than he was of Gibbs in that moment as her piercing eyes drilled holes into him. Her glare was just as intense – if not more so – than Gibbs', so it didn't take long for McGee to spill. "He went out for coffee." He stated, but Abby knew there was something missing.
"McGee!" She warned him.
"With Doctor Ryan." He said before looking away. Abby's face fell, she looked shocked.
"Why?!" She questioned, upset.
"I don't know Abby."
"But, if we are close to finding Jenny then he would want to be here, he would want to find her. He's missed her McGee, why would he do this?" Questioned Abby. McGee pulled her into a hug, as the Goth became shocked, annoyed and horrified by the man she worshipped.
"I may be the reason." Said Ducky, noticing that Abby was obviously in distress.
"What do you mean Ducky?" Asked Abby, quietly.
"I may have said that he should not burn his bridge with the doctor until he knew that Jenny had not moved on and fallen for someone else." Said Ducky, feeling ashamed of himself.
"But why would she have Ducky?"
"It has been five years my dead. It is not an impossible scenario."
"No!" Abby said glaring at him. "No! Jenny still loves him. I know so because she told me that 'Sometimes you can't control the outcome. Sometimes you have to look at the reality in front of you and accept it'. She was talking about Gibbs Ducky!"
"That may be so my dear, but that was five years ago."
"I will find her and prove to you that she still loves him!" Said Abby before turning back to her I Pad and continuing with her task with even more determination that before.
The bar was getting full of people, and Jenny was beginning to relax. She preferred the bar when it was busy and she was rushed of her feet. There was so many more people that she didn't have time to move slowly and worry about being spotted, in fact she didn't have time to worry. That was why she liked it. Currently she stood behind the bar pouring pint after pint for builders who had come in on their afternoon off. They flirted with her and she flirted back. At first, in the first bar she worked in she hadn't, but now, five years on it was a kind of reassurance that there was still a chance that someone out there might find her attractive.
She smiled as she took the man's money and put it into the till. Moving quickly and with a fluid motion that came only with someone who was well accustomed to what they did. Lynne worked next to her, both taking one side of the bar each. They worked in perfect sync, almost like an act. When someone requested a bear that was on Lynne's side she would throw the bottle over, and they'd all laugh. Now and again there would be a cocktail evening, and the pair would make the drinks as though they were something out of cocktail.
To most who watched them go about their work, it would seem like the two had worked together for an eternity, and knew ever wrinkle and frown line of the other. When in actual fact they had worked together for not even a year, and Lynne knew only the bare minimum about the woman she worked with day in day out.
"Have you cheered up now?" Asked the older woman as the rush began to settle and Jenny set about wiping the bar free of spillages.
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Bad morning." Said Jenny, smiling reassuringly. The truth was that Jenny had decided that she would forget about everything to do with the CIA as much as she could. That if they wanted to try and control her they could try, but it would not work.
"You want to talk about it?" questioned Lynne, although she already knew that she would end up being shot down. She always was whenever she offered the other woman help. Yet she was never offended, the red head was a private woman and she respected that.
"Nah. Nothing to talk about really. I blame it on hormones." Said Jenny trying to lighten the mood. Lynne let a small smile cross her face and nodded before returning to the pint she was in the process of pulling. There was something about Louise Walters, the red head who she worked with, that didn't quite fit. And whilst she was dying to know what it was, she would ever ask.
Gibbs was sat on a park bench with Ryan drinking coffee from a starbucks 'to go' cup. Ryan sat next to him, softly looking at him and knowing something was not right. When he had agreed to go to coffee it would be an understatement to say she was surprised. In fact she had nearly dropped the phone. She was sure he was going to say no and blow hr off once more. Yet there he sat. However he was only with her in body, not in mind.
"What's going on Gibbs?" She asked, watching as he took another drink of his burning hot coffee.
"Nothing." He said, looking back at her. Trying as he did so, not to compare her with Jenny. Because he had come to the decision that Ducky was right, even though he knew it was the wrong decision, if that made any sense.
"I can read you." She stated.
'Not as well as Jen could' was his immediate thought before he brushed it away and tried to forget about the redhead. "Tough case." Was all he said.
"You want to talk about it? As much as you may hate it, talking can help." She said.
"Just old stuff being dug up." He stated, deciding that was as close to the truth as he was willing to say at that moment.
"Well don't let it drag you down; you need to concentrate on your present." She said.
"Yeah, it's what Ducky said."
"Then maybe you should listen to us! We are Doctors for a reason." She said, laughing before kissing his cheek.
Tony and Ziva walked down the street not far away from the alley way where they had found their former directors blood. They were bickering as usual, this time about a waiter who tried to hit on Ziva. Tony was getting jealous and Ziva was trying t point out that she did not flirt back. However neither was winning the argument. So far they had been to numerous bars and restaurants and were heading to a small bar which one of the restaurants had said to try; apparently it didn't have any website so not many people knew about it. Ziva had said it sounded like the perfect place for someone under WI to go, that that was where they were heading.
As they went they passed a group of builders who were heading the opposite way, numerous wolf whistles and Ziva laughed at the attention. "How do you know they were not whistling at me?" Said Tony, getting anode with all the attention Ziva was getting.
"Really Tony?" Said the Israeli as they walked.
"Why is it so hard to believe that I may be attractive to the homosexual community?" He questioned, looking at Ziva.
"You are absolutely unbearable!" She stated as she pushed the door to the bar open.
Tony looked hurt as they walked in. The place was small, yet it seemed relatively busy. There were numerous tables and a small stage in the corner where the open mike night would most likely take place. Behind the bar was a woman who was older than the two agents but had a warm smile. "Hello, my name is Special Agent David, and this is my partner Special Agent DiNozzo." Said Ziva, stepping forward as Tony looked around. "We're from NCIS."
"It's Naval-"Began Tony.
"Oh I know what it is." She said with a smile. "How can I help you? I'm Lynne, the owner."
"We're looking for a woman; she went by the name of Jennifer Shepard five years ago. We think she may be able to aid us in a murder case." Said Tony, as Ziva showed her the picture.
"Have you seen her around, even if she was just a customer?" Questioned Ziva. Both had said their lines so many times that they would probably be saying them in their sleep for the next five months.
"Yeah, I've seen her." Said Lynne, looking confused. "But I don't know any Jenny Shepard. But that's my bar maid."
"What?" Said Tony.
"Yeah, that's her. That's Louise Walters. Been working here for a while now, best bar maid I've had in years."
"So you know where she lives." Ziva asked.
"Nah, but I'm sure she'll tell ya both. She'd out the back. You want me to get her?"
"Well it would help." Tony managed to say, but then out came Jenny. Smiling and about to say something to Lynne when her eyes caught onto Tony and Ziva.
"Dammit." She said, because they had seen her, and there was nowhere to hide. It looked like her cover had just been blown, and the CIA were about to have a field day.
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