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Gibbs sighed again and sped up a little to keep up with the car in front of him, Mike's driving even worse than his, and a brief smile flashed over his face as he thought of how Jenny was faring. She had never liked his driving; it made her ill even though she didn't have motion sickness, so sooner or later she was bound to have Mike stop so she could throw up. The vindictive part of his mind greatly enjoyed thinking about that, but the part of him that acknowledged how much he loved her told him to stop being a bastard. They had stopped off at a gas station on the way to this 'insurance policy' that Will had left for them at the diner, he had decided to buy a few drinks while he was there, knowing that the diner, being in the desert and not renovated would more than likely not have water inside. Always be prepared, he thought happily, envisioning Jenny's face when she realised that she would have to ask him for one of the bottled drinks he had bought, since neither she nor Mike had had the presence of mind to buy some themselves. He was going to enjoy this trip. His smile was quickly wiped off of his face however when he remembered that this was a serious situation.
Svetlana Chernitskaya was alive and seeking revenge. She had already killed Will and was now after Jenny and him. Well he was tempted to leave and let her deal with her own mistake by herself, she should have known better to leave her target alive. She had lied to him, to both him and Will that night when they had all reported success. If she had just told him he could have helped her before someone got hurt, but no, she had decided to run away and keep it to herself and now because of her selfishness Will was dead. Gibbs gripped the steering wheel harder, wringing it angrily. He really hoped he got rid of all his aggression in the car, even if his steering wheel is completely bent out of shape. If not, the frustration that was building inside him might cause him to explode in a flurry of activity, causing him to strangle Jenny, or push her up against the nearest wall, table, counter, hell, he'd even take her on the floor. Where did that thought come from? He was angry with her; she had walked all over his feelings for the last time! He was not going to give in to the temptation of letting her in again. He was not going to give her another chance to have a life with him. He was not going to imagine her naked body wrapped around his, rolling around with him until she was on top and in complete control of him. He was not going to think about running Mike off the road so he could drag Jenny from his car in to his, so he could have her on the back seat.
Arousal coiled inside him and he felt his groin become tight, the air in the car hotter and more stifling than it had been just a few minutes ago. The car bumped suddenly, nearly catapulting him out of his seat and he realised he had driven off the road, his concentration temporarily migrating south. He spun the wheel, taking the car back on to the road, muttering angrily under his breath about evil fantasy women, and then he pressed down the accelerator, quickly catching up to Mike and the Devil woman.
--
Mike followed the directions Jenny had given him, reading them out from the little paper the girl Sasha had given her, the otherwise silent journey seeming to take forever. The desert just seemed endless and he had to admit, the heat was beginning to get to him. There was also the small problem of Jenny's hostility which radiated from the passenger side and was almost enough to make him consider driving with his head out of the window, just to be as far away from her as possible when she explodes. The sight he had walked in on had been a little shocking at first, he had been gone only a minute after all, but he was beginning to realise alerting them to his presence had been a terribly bad thing. As soon as he had done so, Jenny had sprung away from Jethro and they had become openly aggressive towards one another. Jethro had at first stood still like a statue, a strange haunted and pain filled look on his face and Mike had to admit, the thought of 'what the hell is wrong with you? Kiss her!' had definitely passed through his mind. Jenny on the other hand had worn a look of such tormented devastation that he had been ready to disembowel Gibbs before he even really knew what the hell was going on between them. She had quickly slipped behind what he knew to be a professional mask, in an attempt to keep it together and hide from Gibbs what his reaction had done to her.
Mike may not be the best person to consult when it came to relationships, but he did know how to fix problems in the bluntest and most straightforward way possible. He was going to sort these two out if it was the last thing he would ever do. He smiled to himself sadistically, when they found this insurance policy he would take off in his car so they had to share one on the way back. His grin widened and he looked over at the other side of the car, straight into a pair of inquisitive green eyes. He did his best to smother his grin and looked straight ahead at the road ahead.
"What?" she asked, a little testily.
"Nothing, nothing, why?"
"Why were you smiling?" she asked again, not to be put off the trail for an answer to her question. He sighed and wondered at his plan, was he really going to sentence Gibbs to a lifetime in her company? Hell yes! He was just as stubborn and infuriating and they deserved each other.
"Is it against your new NCIS rules for someone to smile at you?" she fell silent, the dig that her position in NCIS made the Agency somehow less than what it was in his day, just because she was a woman, being taken to heart. She usually let such comments pass over her head, but she had suffered such a blow to her self-esteem and trust that she couldn't ignore it. Mike felt a little voice in the back of his head telling him he might have gone a little too far, but he squashed it. Jethro would have her feeling better in no time.
--
Jenny looked out of her window as the diner finally came into view and tried to stop herself from giving into the despair she was feeling. Everything she wanted from life she had achieved, or so she had thought until she had reached the top of her career and realised that she was empty inside. Her lonely, cold house was too depressing to return to in the afternoon, so much so that she stayed at the office for far longer than she needed to. She had no one to share it with and the only real chance at love she'd had was with Jethro, until she walked away. She deserved this, the desperation to be with him, to not be able to think of being with anyone but him and the deep need to have his children. She deserved to have all of it thrown in her face as he rejected her and that was what he had done.
She exited the car and walked swiftly inside the run down diner, the dusty interior sparsely furnished with old furniture and strange pictures. Mike was right behind her, and she somehow hoped Jethro would decide his time would be better spent staying outside so she could mope in peace. Her hopes were dashed when he entered the dusty atmosphere moments later.
"Well, this isn't what I expected."
"Did you think he would give you written directions on how to complete your job?" Jethro scathing words cut her deeply, but she refused to let him see it. She carefully kept her face neutral and turned away from him. His phone began to ring just then and everyone froze for a moment, anticipating an attack, before relaxing and moving away to give him the semblance of privacy.
"Yeah Gibbs."
"Boss? Where are you?"
"Why are you calling me DiNozzo?"
"It's the Directors rental; it was involved in an accident."
"Well she wasn't in it." Gibbs said dismissively.
"No boss I know, but William Decker's girlfriend, Sasha was. She's dead." Gibbs stared at Jenny; his expression telling her what he was hearing was not good. "Where are you, boss?"
"We are fine DiNozzo, enjoy your break." He hung up and slipped his phone into his pocket. "Sasha is dead. How many more people are going to die, Jen?" he walked to the other end of the diner to brood in silence, leaving Jenny and Mike to sort out the secret message.
