Gibbs had most certainly noticed the hurt expression on Jen's face as she left earlier that day; the expression that had winded him for a second. It was in the moments that the fear of having done some irreversible damage to Leena dissipated that he realized something.

He cared. Far more than he should.

With that admission taken care of, Gibbs climbed the stairs to the Director's office, waiting in poorly concealed impatience as Morrow finished his meeting with some Senator that he cared nothing about. Gibbs didn't play politics; well, not nicely.

He followed Morrow into the office again, waiting for permission to sit before he did so, and watched his boss quite calmly. He knew what he had to do – what was best for everyone involved in this situation.

"What can I do for you, Jethro?"

"Take me off Shepard's case."

Morrow blinked for a moment, leaning forward, giving him a confused look. "May I inquire as to the reason?"

"Bias," he said simply. "Emotional involvement. Insufficient progress."

"This was not meant to be a grab-and-go mission, Jethro. I knew that it would take time."

"I won't be the one to take that little girl's mother from her, Tom," he said firmly.

The Director lifted his chin slightly, reading into his statement perhaps a little too much. "So you think she's a mole, then."

Gibbs' jaw tightened on its own accord, gaze hardening. He thought of the Frenchmen in her study, of what little she'd shared about him. He remembered the briefest of conversation of Leena's father, and finally, of falling into bed with her. He swallowed involuntarily, one hand tightening around the arm of the chair he sat in. "I didn't say that," he said tightly.

"You implied it, Jethro," Morrow said slowly, watching him intently. "Why would you worry about leaving young Leena without a mother otherwise?" He paused, "What aren't you telling me?"

This wasn't something he wanted to approach. He wished Morrow would just take him the fuck off the case and let someone else take over. Perhaps then he wouldn't ever see her again, and everything would go smoothly. Nothing would be his fault.

"You know I was a Marine," he started, looking him square in the eyes. "Had a wife and a daughter. My wife, Shannon.. witnessed a murder. NCIS was protecting her and Kelly; until the drug lord put a bullet in the agent's head while he was driving them. They were both killed in the crash; while I was still in Kuwait." Gibbs was able to keep a straight face, keep calm, perhaps even appear as if he'd come to terms with it. Not.. quite. "I won't be the reason that Leena grows up without her father and mother. Give the case to someone else."

Morrow said nothing for a moment, running over a time-line in his head. Jethro had been Mike Frank's probie.. Shit. Now things were actually making sense to him. He cleared his throat and turned his eyes back to Gibbs. "Jethro, she trusts you. I can't put another agent in now."

"I nearly killed her daughter this morning, Director," he half-growled. "I'm not so sure she trusts me at all."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but snapped it shut, thinking better of it. Morrow put his glasses on and picked up a file, ignoring Gibbs for a while. When he began to sense the impatience from the man across from him, he looked up and stared at him very calmly. "I'm not taking you off the case, Jethro. See this through."

The only response he received was his office door slamming behind an irate Agent Gibbs.

"Mommy," Leena whined again, shaking her arm insistently. "Please? I won't never ask for nothin' 'gain!" Jenny snorted at the use of a double negative (something the child had no concept of), knowing that she had just turned her statement into a positive. Therefore, she would be asking for many, many things in the future.

She grunted her response and stood up, pulling the comfortable house-boots off her feet and walking drowsily to the front door. She opened it, sighing as she stared up into the rain, closing the door firmly behind her. The power was knocked out on the entire street, and with a monsoon raging outside, Jen highly doubted that she'd be getting much sleep tonight. Both she and Leena hated thunderstorms.

Jenny was soaked by the time she got to the car and retrieved the godforsaken stuffed animal that Leena just had to have, right this very minute. Her t-shirt and shorts stuck to her uncomfortably and she grumbled to herself as she moved back towards the house. Jen heard a car door open and close quickly and she tensed, glancing towards the sound, jaw set. The light from the car was muted by the tinted windows and the rain, but she recognized the make of the car almost immediately, and it gave away the identity of the man leaning against the vehicle quietly. She relaxed considerably and turned to stare at his dark outline, swallowing slightly. Jenny wanted to go to him, but his reactions from earlier in the day halted her; made her wary. Already soaked by the rain, she didn't see the problem with standing out here like this, staring at him.

As soon as he took a step forward, away from the car, she took that as an invitation. She walked quickly, barefoot, to meet him in the middle and wrap her arms around his neck, oddly comforted by him coming back to her. She kissed his wet skin, smiling up at him when she pulled back to look at his face. He looked into her pretty eyes, feeling guilty because of the way she seemed so happy to see him.

"I didn't think you'd come," she said quietly, nestling her head against his shoulder.

"Yeah," he grunted. "Me neither."

She swallowed and looked up, pressing her lips to his hesitantly, testing. He squeezed her waist and kissed her back briefly, skimming his hand along the outside of her thigh. "Let's go inside before you catch a cold, Jen."

Jenny nodded and took his hand in her free one, clutching the sopping wet stuffed animal to her chest as she led him back up to the house. Something was different in him, she could sense it, and it told her that she had to be careful. Tonight, if Leena would ever go to sleep, they would have to have a talk. A talk that both parties were dreading considerably.