A/N: I'm back (and sooner than I expected)! Thank you to everyone that checked in to see how I was, and as always, your too kind reviews :) Major spoilers for the season one episode 'Dead Man Talking' in this chapter, but I obviously changed some things to fit into this universe, because I realize I added Tim to the team, and in the show he wasn't a part of it yet-oops. I hope you'll all forgive me for that ;) And italics indicate flashbacks.
Disclaimer: I own my OCs and the plot.
"Hold on."
Tony and Kate stopped their walking to the elevator when they heard their boss's voice, their bickering forgotten at the look on his face. He came down the stairs and headed towards them, his eyes flickering over to his wife's in the second bullpen briefly before looking at the pair.
"What is it Boss?" Tony asked, tilting his head slightly as he regarded the older man.
"Chris Pacci was murdered," Jethro answered, and the two faces in front of him softened, grief touching their features.
"The agent that…used to sit behind me?" Kate asked, turning to look at where Chris' desk had been before Jenny's team had arrived.
"Hey Pacci."
"Hey Tony," Pacci answered, meeting them as Tony and Gibbs stepped off the elevator. "How's the shoulder?"
"Ah, gettin' there," Gibbs replied, striding into the bullpen.
"You got a minute Gibbs?" Pacci asked, and Gibbs reached his desk, shrugging one shoulder.
"No, not really," Gibbs replied, annoyance touching his voice. "Pacci, whatya need?"
"Nah, you're busy, it's a cold case," Pacci answered, recognizing the other man's tone. "What's one more day?"
Jethro was still kicking himself for letting Chris walk away.
Without a word he walked back into the bullpen, going to his desk to gear up. He was just putting his gun into its holder when a soft voice spoke behind him.
"Jethro."
He turned to see Jenny, her green eyes soft as they regarded him.
"Yeah Jen?" he asked, his voice exhausted. She tilted her head slightly, leaning against the divider between them.
"I'd like to help. With the investigation," she said, and his immediate reaction was to shake his head. No, he needed to do this, alone. "Don't shake your head at me. Chris was on my team at one point too, and he was my friend. I want to help. You need the help."
And he knew his wife was right-he couldn't deny her that.
"Alright. Joint investigation," he answered, and she nodded, turning back to her team. Tony and Kate walked into the bullpen, setting things down and grabbing their gear.
Twenty minutes later, they were walking into the hotel, Jenny matching her husband's stride as they entered the building.
"Detective Hanlon," Jethro said, meeting the police officer.
"Special Agent Gibbs, Shepard," the man answered, nodding to them both and shaking their hands.
"Thanks for the call," Jethro said as both he and Jenny stepped to the side to speak to him.
"Well when we IDed him as NCIS, I assumed you'd want to take the lead," the detective answered, and husband and wife nodded.
"We appreciate that," Jenny answered, casting a look at the elevator. "Who found the body?"
"Security guard," Hanlon answered, pointing to the man waiting a few steps away. "Found him when a fire alarm went off on the fifth floor."
Jethro cast a look at Tony, who nodded.
"We're on our way up," he replied, grabbing Landon, Kate, and Gianna and taking the other agents with him.
"We held off on taking his statement," Hanlon said, looking at Jenny and Jethro. "Figured you'd do that."
Jethro nodded once more to the detective before heading to the man, and Jenny went to stand behind Ducky as he looked at Chris's body.
"Oh Christopher," Ducky said, and Jenny couldn't help but smile at the use of the agent's full name. He's been like her in the fact that they both hated their long first names, instead going by shorter nicknames. "Who did this to you?"
"It's easier to overcome the gore and inhumanity when you don't know the person," Ducky said to Jimmy, who was looking a bit green. Ducky's next words were said as he pulled on his rubber gloves. "It's so hard to be detached when it's one of your own."
"Should I start taking photos Dr. Mallard?" Jimmy asked, the camera around his neck.
"Work goes on," Ducky answered simply, casting a glance at Jenny, who was looking at Chris with sad eyes. "Are you alright Jennifer?"
"Fine," she replied, finding her voice. "It's just hard-I haven't seen a friend's body since my Probie days."
"It doesn't get easier," Ducky said softly, touching her arm. "Unfortunately. But, life moves forward regardless."
"The sad fact of life," Jenny replied, pulling herself from her reverie. "But, we need to find out how and why Chris died. We owe him that."
"Indeed we do," Ducky said, turning back to the body.
Jethro was taking the security guard's statement a few feet away, listening to the man talk.
"I called 911, and someone left the building from the rear exit stairs and pulled the door alarm."
"Security cameras?" Jethro asked, scribbling on his notepad.
"Uh, they're not installed yet," the guard replied sheepishly, looking at his toes. "The building's being retrofitted with new systems, and nothing's online."
"When did Chri-"
He stopped, unable to finish the name. He couldn't think about the fact that it was Chris who was lying dead in that elevator. He just couldn't.
"What time did the victim enter the building?" he corrected, looking at the guard.
"I don't remember seein' him come in," the guard answered, his hands on his hips.
"Is there another entrance?"
"No," the guard answered, shaking his head. "Woulda had to come through here."
"How could you not see him?" Jethro asked, annoyed. "Does this lobby get that busy?"
"He coulda come in while I was signing construction workers out," the guard replied, gesturing to the entrance.
"I want a copy of their names and a list of the floors they work on," Jethro said, starting to walk away, writing on his notepad.
"Yes sir," the guard said, watching him walk off.
Jethro walked over to the elevator where Ducky and his wife were standing, waiting for Palmer to finish taking pictures. He touched Jenny's lower back gently, causing her to look at him, her eyes soft as she took in his face.
"The bastard disemboweled him," Jethro noticed with disgust, anger filling him. Jenny's hand was gentle on his arm, reminding him to keep his cool.
"Yes, but I don't think that was the cause of death," Ducky said, kneeling near the body.
"Is that a bullet wound Ducky?" Jenny asked, stepping closer and peering at Chris's neck.
"Yes, in the neck," the ME answered, looking at the wound through his spectacles. "Most likely pierced the carotid artery. It was a quick death; he would have bled out in less than a minute."
"Shouldn't there be a lot more blood?" Jethro asked after a moment, collecting himself. Jenny noticed, and slipped her fingers into his briefly, squeezing lightly before letting go. He sent her a look of gratitude which she returned easily.
"If he was shot in the elevator," Ducky answered, looking back at them.
"You think it happened topside?" Jethro asked, stepping a little closer.
"That'd be my guess," Ducky replied, nodding. "Yes, this-slashing, was done here, in the elevator."
"Rage or ritual Ducky?" Jenny asked, sinking down to a squat as she adjusted her hat slightly.
"I don't know Jennifer-maybe after I've autopsied him," Ducky replied, and Jenny nodded.
"Chris asked me for help on a cold case," Jethro revealed, and both Ducky and Jenny looked back at him, curious. "I was chasing Curtain and I didn't have time."
"Jethro…"
"He said it could wait," Jethro continued, interrupting Ducky. "What difference, could another day make?"
"Jethro, this is not your fault," Jenny said, covering his hand with her own.
"It feels like it is Jen," Jethro answered, shaking his head.
No one spoke-there were no answers for this.
Then Jethro's phone rang, and he straightened up, answering it.
"You found a lot of blood."
"…Yeah," Kate said, clearly confused as to how he knew.
"We're lookin' for a bullet," Jethro said, and Kate closed the door that led to roof access on level five.
"On it," Kate said. "Whatever happened started on the sixth floor. We followed the trail backwards. Pacci made it to the stairwell, he exited at the fifth floor where he pulled the fire alarm…then making it to the elevator."
The picture her words painted was gruesome.
Jethro stood in front of Chris's desk, pulling on rubber gloves. This happened with every desk clearing, which thankfully didn't happen as often as it could. He was doing this alone-Tony and Kate had offered to help, but he'd turned them down. So, he was sitting at Chris's desk, on the level below theirs, where he'd been moved when Jenny's team had arrived.
He was going through the top drawer when he felt her standing behind him.
He looked through the pens and pencils and paper of the top drawer without saying anything, and continued on to the drawer below it, waiting for her to speak. When he opened it and found Chris's weapon, he turned his head, shaking it slightly.
"Chris knew the regulations were to carry his weapon from portal to portal," she said, coming to stand closer, one hand falling lightly to his shoulder. "Why'd he leave his behind?"
"He was tailing someone," Jethro replied, leaning back slightly in the chair, clearing his throat against the thick emotion that had suddenly clogged it. "Goin' from place to place, didn't want to have to stop to identify himself or risk setting off an alarm."
"We've all done it," Jenny said softly, shrugging one shoulder slightly. "Especially with the heavy security these days."
"We have to go through his case files-and his house," he said, and Jenny nodded.
"I sent Tony and Kate to check his house, Landon and Gianna are going over his files," she replied, her hand moving from his shoulder to his neck, turning his head towards her. "What you need to do is take a deep breath and look me in the eye for the first time today please."
He looked up, locking into his wife's emerald green eyes, reading the emotions there.
"You need to remember that I knew Chris too-I was his friend for just as long as you were, probably longer, since I was nice to him from the beginning. You aren't the only person who lost someone today, Jethro," Jenny said, cocking her head to the side slightly, willing him to listen. "This is hard-babe, I know this is hard. This stuff is never easy, and when it's someone that used to be on our team, it's even harder. But please-you can't let this suck you down. You can't pull away from me, please."
She knew she sounded desperate-but that's because she was. Every time something big had happened in their marriage, she'd been days behind on, because she'd been an ocean away. Now, she was here, and she wanted desperately to know how to help him.
Wordlessly, Jethro pulled the chair farther out and tugged Jenny down into his lap, his arms slipping around her waist as he held her close, his nose in her hair. She let him hold her without a sound, one hand resting comfortably on his neck, the other situated directly over his heart, feeling the steady beating of his heart.
"I know this probably won't help right now," she whispered in his ear after a few long minutes, her words pausing to press a soft kiss to his neck, just below his ear. "But please know that I love you-I love every part of you, through and through. Please remember that."
She ended her words with a gentle kiss on his lips, her hands cupping his cheeks lightly, framing the face that she loved so much.
"I'll see you at home," she whispered as she stood, squeezing his hand gently.
He watched her walk away, the silence of the room heavy in his heart.
"You get the bullet we found last night?"
"I already ran it," Abby answered as Jethro walked into her lap, Caf-Pow! in hand.
"What time did you get in?" Jenny asked, coming in behind her husband, smiling at the Goth.
"Four am," Abby answered, accepting the drink with a nod.
"Thanks Abs," Jethro replied, one hand lightly rubbing her shoulders.
"Well, Pacci was family," Abby said simply, shrugging. Jenny looked pointedly at her husband, and he nodded, gracing her with the first small smile all day. "The slug looks pretty clean, from a 357. The stippling came from a Smith and Weston, model 56."
"Small, easy to conceal," Jethro remarked, looking up at the computer screen.
"Yeah. I ran a comparison, got nothing. Looks like our gun's a virgin, but I'll keep looking," Abby said, turning her chair to look at the two of them.
"Yeah. Abs, did Pacci ask you to do anything for him recently?" Jethro asked, turning from where he had been walking out of the room to look back at her.
"Not in a while," Abby answered, shaking her head.
"He was workin' a cold case, search the hard drive on his computer," Jethro said, nodding his head up slightly before walking the rest of the way out of the room, leaving Jenny behind. Jenny went to follow but Abby caught her arm, and she stopped, turning towards the younger woman.
"Yes Abby?" Jenny asked, casting one more glance at her husband before looking back at the Goth.
"Is Gibbs…okay?" Abby asked, not really sure how to phrase her question.
"Not really," Jenny answered, not going to lie to the girl. "But he will be, after we've caught Chris's killer."
Abby nodded, and before Jenny could blink she had been engulfed in an unexpected Abby-hug. She awkwardly patted the girl's back, her arms tight to her sides as she was practically squeezed to death.
"Abs-can't breathe," she said after a moment, and the forensic scientist let out, looking dismayed.
"Oh, sorry!" she said, and Jenny smiled reassuringly.
"It's fine-but, I should be going to find Jethro now," she said, and Abby nodded.
"I'll call with any info I get," she said, and Jenny smiled.
"Thank you Abby."
Jenny headed for the elevator, surprised when it came up and her husband was still inside. She stepped on, the doors closing behind her as she regarded Jethro, leaning back against one corner.
They'd barely even begun to move when he flicked the switch, plunging them into darkness.
In the darkness he reached for her, pulling her flush against him, reveling in her warm curves and the sweetness of her pale skin. His lips touched every inch of her face, her neck, the part of her chest that was exposed by her scoop-neck crimson top. She let him; she merely threaded her hands into his hair as he explored a body he already knew very well.
He turned them so that she was pressed into the elevator wall, his lips moving to her stomach; he pushed up her top so he could drop kisses to her stomach and ribs, working his way up to the edge of her red satin bra. He deposited kisses to the tops of her hip bones, his tongue seeking out the dips there before moving to the top of her lower abdomen, the pale, soft skin that was just exposed by her low-ride khaki pants.
Then, he stood suddenly, kissing her on the lips, his tongue pushing against her lips insistently. She opened her mouth easily, letting him completely invade her senses. His hands ran over her body, needing to feel her.
"Jethro…"
He pulled back, his eyes darkened as they looked at her, his hands settled low on her hips. Both of their chests heaved as they fought to catch their breath, their foreheads touching.
"Need you," he said, his voice hoarse with desperation and raw need. Her heart leapt to her throat at how vulnerable he looked, and her resolve began to crack.
"Jethro we can't…" she started, but he merely leaned forward and kissed her again, cutting her off. If his hands kept doing that, she wouldn't be able to argue anymore.
"Jen, please," he said, his blue eyes boring into hers, their blue a shocking cobalt, making her heart beat faster.
She gave up the fight.
Letting him crush her closer, he captured her lips again, his hands going for her clothes. Her hands did the same; they pulled his polo from his pants and slid underneath, feeling his warm skin.
It was not slow; it was fast and hot-not exactly how the fantasy fulfillment had been imagined, but a fulfillment nonetheless. Jethro's hard muscle kept Jenny pinned to the cool metal wall, his lips on hers to stop the spread of sound as he pushed her over the edge.
They remained together as they caught their breath and came down from their highs, panting together. Gradually they both got their legs back and Jethro let her down, and they both righted their clothes and hair. Jenny wiped her lipstick off of her husband's mouth and neck, the crimson smears disappearing under her fingertips.
He pulled her close, tucking her head underneath his chin as his arms wrapped around her, his lips pressed against the top of her head.
"Thank you," he whispered, and Jenny knew he wasn't thanking her for the sex.
"Anything for you," she replied, her own arms encircling his waist. "I love you."
"Love you too."
Jenny couldn't help but notice how he held on to her like she was going to disappear.
A day later, Chris's killer was lying on a slab in Autopsy, reports had been written, and Jenny was preparing to go home-this case had drained her, both emotionally and physically.
She turned behind her to see if her husband was ready, only to find that he wasn't there. Frowning, she turned back to her desk, eyes widening when she caught sight of her husband standing in front of her desk.
"Hi," she said, waiting for him to say something.
"You ready to go home?" he asked, and she nodded, grabbing her coat and bag from behind her before rounding her desk. One of her husband's hands pressed into the small of her back, guiding her to the elevator. Their descent was silent, his hand moving from the small of her back to wrap around her waist, pulling her closer.
Jenny managed to get the keys from Jethro, and she drove home, her husband's hand resting comfortably on her thigh. They stopped quickly to pick up pizza and beer before they arrived home, and when they did reach the house, Jenny tossed the keys back to Jethro, letting him put them in the bowl by the door.
She headed upstairs to change into more comfortable clothes while Jethro got out plates, and a fork for Jenny's salad. She pulled on a pair of comfortable dark blue yoga pants and a long-sleeved black shirt that hugged her chest before going back downstairs, where her husband already had dinner laid out.
She settled in the chair across from him, but one look told her he thought she was too far away. Getting up she moved to the chair right next to him, and he dragged her even closer, one arm wrapping around her shoulders, pulling her practically into his lap.
"Jethro, I'm not going to disappear," Jenny pointed out, raising an eyebrow slightly at him. He shrugged, placing her salad in front of her before grabbing a slice of pepperoni pizza and placing it on his plate. He opened two beers, giving one to Jenny before taking a swig of his own.
They ate in comfortable silence, and Jethro only rose to get a second beer part way through the meal. He found some way of touching his wife the entire time they are; a hand on her leg, an arm around her. While Jenny didn't mind the attention, she was worried about why he wouldn't let her out of his sight.
"Jethro," she started after they'd eaten and cleaned up. "Seems like a good night to work on the boat."
"Couldn't agree more," Jethro said, and Jenny waited for him to go to their room and change before both heading down to the basement. Grabbing a sanding block, Jethro took her to the hull of the boat, standing behind her as his arms wrapped around her. With his hands over hers, they worked together to sand the rib of the boat.
Jethro pressed a kiss to her exposed neck, causing her to tilt her head to the side to give him more access. She hummed in approval, closing her eyes in pleasure as he kissed up her neck to her cheek.
"I take it you feel better?" she asked softly, tilting her head backwards so that she could look into his eyes. He raised an eyebrow, confused, and she elaborated. "Jethro, this case was hard. I figured working on the boat would loosen you up. I believe I was correct."
"This one wasn't easy," Jethro agreed, resting his chin on her shoulder, his arms slipping around her waist.
"It's hard to lose a family member," Jenny replied softly, turning her head to kiss his cheek gently. "But we've got to keep the family we do have close."
"I know," Jethro said quietly, closing his eyes briefly. "Just makes me realize how close I can come to losing you every day."
Turning, Jenny captured his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.
"Do not think like that, Leroy Jethro Gibbs," she said forcefully, her green eyes blazing. "You will not lose me-you can't lose me. And you mean too much to me Jethro-you can't think like that. Yes, we both have dangerous jobs. That doesn't mean we have to think about losing each other every day."
"Jen, Pacci was killed during a cold case-I got shot in NCIS headquarters! I can't stand the thought of you being hurt, Jenny," Jethro said, his own hands coming up to cup her cheeks, his forehead pressing against hers. For the first time Jenny noticed the fear shadowing her husband's eyes, and she swallowed.
"Jethro, you can't live with the thought of me being hurt at work," Jenny said softly, shaking her head. "It's the risk that comes with being an NCIS agent-and we both knew that when we signed up for the job. But every night when we come home, we're just Jenny and Jethro-and you need to remember that. I need you to remember that."
Jethro swallowed, hugging her closer, burying his face in her curls. Jenny hugged him back, pressing her nose into her neck, her lips brushing his collarbone lightly, a mere whisper against his skin.
"I can try," Jethro said softly into her hair, his arms tightening around her. "For you, I can try. But I'll always be scared of losing you Jenny."
"I know you will, Jethro," Jenny whispered, tucking her head into his shoulder. "I wish you didn't have to but I know you will."
But tonight, they could revel in the fact that they were both safe and together. And Jenny would desperately try to prove to her husband that that would happen every night.
