A/N:It's been a while and I can't promise the next one will come quickly. I should be able to post one chapter of Implicit Rule and one of Train wreck next week but then I will go back to school so...

Anyway, thanks to everyone who read, alerts, favorites and a huge thanks and a hug to JiBbS-tIvA4eVs, Last. One .02, left my heart in Paris, jstapny, She-Demon Sparacino for their reviews. :-D

I discovered that 'Toby' is a name given to learned pigs and it really was too perfect. You will see ;-D

Spoilers for 5x04 "Identity Crisis". I know you wanted to see your all-time favorite FBI Agent.


Chapter 8: Behind Locked Doors


October 17, 2007 9:00 pm

Gibbs' residence, Alexandria, Virginia

Gibbs still had some difficulty realizing how much his life had changed in just one week.

Jenny and Hannah had stayed with him for another couple of days before Abraham had announced that Nathan was going home. Despite Jenny's warning, Hannah's uncle had harassed all the medical personal so much so that they now refused to treat him.

The family had decided to hire an aide to stay with Nathan during the day because Jenny had refused to burden Noemi with this charge. She had said she cared about and valued Noemi too much to do that to her.

For now, Jenny still refused to let Hannah out of her sight and was still bringing her to work so Noemi was happy being the nanny.

The day before Nathan's return, Jenny had finally gone back home and Gibbs had been invited to tag along. He was finding himself enjoying more and more those quiet evenings with the mother and daughter. Once Hannah had been put to bed, there had been a strange moment where they had stayed standing, face-to-face, hesitant as to what to do next.

Over the past few days, the little girl's presence had only allowed them fleeting moments of intimacy. It was as if a barrier had been lifted, the hesitation didn't last long and they rapidly closed the remaining distance between them. Their relationship had always been very passionate and the years they had spent apart from each other hadn't changed that. They had made love and, even if neither of them had said the words yet, they were both aware of it.

They had reached an unspoken agreement of keeping their relationship between them for now. Gibbs had had the weird impression Abby had felt something was different but the Goth hadn't said anything.

Jenny's three boys had been back for the weekend and he had let them be. A sudden idea had struck him and he wanted to surprise Jenny with it.

He had had just enough time to work on it before they caught their new case and crossed paths with the FBI… again. He had felt strangely good at the sight of Tobias struggling with one of his probies, even if, in the end, Special Agent Krieger had proved herself.

He was finally coming home after observing the FBI's arrest and finishing the paperwork and the last thing he expected was to find Fornell on his doorstep.

"Your door is locked and there is light inside. Something you want to tell me?" his old friend asked.

Gibbs didn't answer and just opened the door. He had a pretty good idea of who he would find inside -there weren't many people who had his key after all- and since he had no chance of getting rid of Tobias, he wouldn't maintain the suspense any longer.

As he had guessed, Jenny and Hannah were in the living-room, on the couch; Jenny was sound asleep, her arms around Hannah, who was slowly waking up and looking around. Spotting him, she raised her arms and Gibbs took her in his, being careful not to wake Jenny up.

"You must be kidding me," Tobias whispered and Gibbs raised his eyebrows at him. "You two hid a kid from me! I feel hurt."

"Don't be stupid, Tobias, she is not ours," Gibbs answered, rolling his eyes.

"I heard a strange story about your Director last week. It was true then," Fornell said, more seriously.

Gibbs nodded. "Hannah, here, is her goddaughter; Jenny's been taking care of her for the past sixteen months, since her parents died."

"Poor kid, seems happy though," Fornell remarked as Hannah was snuggling against Gibbs, sucking her thumb, still looking very sleepy.

"Friend?" Hannah asked Gibbs drowsily, pointing at Tobias.

"I'm not sure. What do you think Tobias? Are you a friend?" the NCIS agent asked his FBI colleague.

"Well, if we keep it strictly between us; wouldn't want anyone accusing me of favoritism with NCIS," Fornell answered and Gibbs nodded.

"Same thing here."

The two men smiled when Hannah looked confusedly between them.

"Silly," she decided and put her head back on Jethro's shoulder.

"That's what she calls DiNozzo," he told Tobias.

"Smart kid," Fornell replied. "So what do you want to eat tonight? My treat, since you got two more mouths to feed," he added slyly.

"Indian?" Gibbs proposed and Fornell gave him a knowing smile. Their case had had them staking out an Indian restaurant and they didn't even get to try the food.

Less than twenty minutes later, their order was delivered and Gibbs was trying to convince Hannah to wake her mom up.

"Crazy Jibbs," she told him, looking at him with wide eyes and shaking her head.

It seems even Hannah, who wasn't yet two-years old, knew what it meant to disturb her mom's sleep. Gibbs had learned it at his expense several years ago and he wasn't about to try it again.

He glared at Fornell, who was shaking with laughter, and tried the ultimate trick - bribing Hannah with the promise of a new toy. Being a good negotiator, she asked for the toy first and he gave her Bert's little brother that Abby had given him for Hannah. Testing the toy, she opened wide eyes at the - interesting sound it made.

Giggling madly, she finally nodded. She approached the couch carefully and shook her mom softly while speaking to her.

Jenny's eyes snapped open after a moment and focused on her daughter. She was getting her bearings back and had yet to notice the two federal agents' presence.

"You escaped?" she asked Hannah and shook her head when the girl gave her an innocent toothy grin in response. She recognized the mini-Bert and wondered where Hannah had found it.

"Jibbs and Toby here," Hannah informed her mom, pointing in their direction.

"Toby?" Jenny asked, confused and raised her head. She burst out laughing when she understood that 'Toby' was the name her daughter had chosen for Fornell. "You couldn't have chosen a better one, honey," she added, thoroughly enjoying Fornell's sour expression. "Loosen up, Tobias, if you knew what she calls SecNav."

"Does your boss know what you're doing behind locked doors?" Fornell asked in mock curiosity, looking between her and Gibbs and smirked when it shut the NCIS Director up.

"What SecNav doesn't know…" Jenny started, letting him complete the sentence the way he wanted to. "You know I could make your life very difficult if you decided to open your mouth about this, don't you?" she added with an evil smile that made the two men shudder.

Fornell raised his arms in surrender. "I don't have a death wish," he said.

"Good," both Jenny and Gibbs replied, nodding.

"It won't be pretty with those two, believe me," Fornell told Hannah in a dramatic fashion, making her giggle.

"When you're done traumatizing my kid, maybe we will be able to eat something," Jenny said, trying to negotiate for the food's liberation.

"Why are you here, by the way?" Gibbs asked, still bemused by the banter between Jenny and Tobias.

"I wouldn't have stood another evening like this at home. Nathan is unbearable, he is pushing himself too hard, can't see why he needs a baby-sitter. When he is like this, he takes it out on everyone and I've never signed up to be anyone's punching bag. The boys are big enough to cope without me," Jenny explained, sincerely annoyed.

"Boys?" Fornell asked and Jenny's eyes snapped in his direction, as if she had forgotten he was there.

"Long story and no, I'm not in the mood to tell it," she answered curtly and Fornell rolled his eyes.

"Stop trying to piss her off," Gibbs warned his friend; he really didn't want to deal with the fallout. "I will be the one who's gonna clean-up if she kills you."

Jenny's smile plus Gibbs' statement seemed to do the trick and silenced Fornell.

"Tell me again why the two of you are friends?" Jenny asked as they were watching Fornell's car moving away.

Once Fornell had been scared enough to stop making annoying comments, the evening had been pleasant, which was a surprise for her. But then, she had never spent that much time with the FBI agent outside of the office. There may have been one or two outings in bar with him and Jethro but that was years ago.

The three of them had shared some anecdotes about past cases, trying not to get into the more gory details in front of Hannah; they had laughed and bantered some more.

"Diane would have a field day with this," Fornell had muttered as he had left- earning a growl from Gibbs and a snort from Jenny in the process- which had led to Jenny's question.

"Being able to put up with Diane created an unbreakable bond between us," Gibbs quipped and Jenny laughed.

"I'm not sure about who put up with whom," Jenny mumbled and Gibbs cleared his throat warningly.

Hannah was out again and it was getting late so Gibbs guided Jenny upstairs, carrying the baby girl for her. She noticed for the first time the safety gates now in place at the stairway.

Instead of entering his bedroom, Gibbs went into another room; the one Jenny recognized as Kelly's old bedroom.

"Jethro, what …" she started before gasping in surprise at the sight. She had seen Kelly's room a few days before, as she had been looking for Jethro, and she hadn't been too surprised to find out that the room hadn't been touched since the last time Kelly had set foot in it. Hence her astonishment as she crossed the threshold and discovered what seemed to be a completely different room.

The walls were a sky blue and yellow, very different from the pink Kelly had apparently favored and very similar to Hannah's own bedroom in her house. The ceiling was of the same blue that the walls were and had fluorescent stars. There wasn't any furniture, just a very basic bed and a night-light also projecting stars.

"The bed is just temporary," Jethro said as he tucked Hannah in and turned towards Jenny, who still looked stunned. "I started her new one, I'm working on it as fast as I can," he told her, a little uncertainly.

Jenny's eyes snapped up and focused on his. "You're building her a bed?" she stuttered, not sure she had understood.

Gibbs nodded. "It's less complicated than a boat," he said, as if it was no big deal.

"You're building her a bed," Jenny repeated. "Jethro, I don't know what to say. You didn't have to do that, it's Kelly's room," she murmured, cupping his cheek.

"I wanted to do it. Kelly is not coming back. I know it, I just didn't want to face it before. It feels right to do it for Hannah… and for you," he added quietly at the end and Jenny felt tears spring to her eyes. She blinked them away and tried to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat.

"Jethro, thank you. I have no idea how difficult it must have been for you, it means so much." Jenny said and embraced him. "She loves looking at the stars," she said as they were watching Hannah sleep.

Gibbs smiled slightly and then got an idea. "Do you want to help me build the bed?" he asked her and, seeing her hesitate, he gave her a baby monitor. "You will know if she wakes up," he told her, knowing she would be worried Hannah might wake up and be a little scared in this new environment.

"You really amaze me sometimes," Jenny said.


A/N: Don't throw tomatoes at me, you will get a Jibbs love scene in the next one. It will also include the return of a certain someone, guess who?

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