TEN.

Cross-Jurisdiction, Part II.

"That's her ex?" Tony made a face as he watched Violet and Lindsay sitting together on the other side of the room from Danny and Don, "I don't see what's so great about him."

"You wouldn't." Abby grinned as she and Kate sat with Tony, waiting for Gibbs to update them.

"What does that mean?" Tony raised his eyebrows.

"It means you can't stand the thought of Violet being with any guy that isn't you," Kate said, shaking her head.

Tony had to force himself to scoff, as what Kate had said was completely true… not that he would ever admit it.

"No." Violet shook her head at Gibbs and Mac, "I won't. Choose somebody else, anyone else, but just don't choose me for this." She looked from Gibbs to Mac and back again, "Please, don't make me do this."

Gibbs glanced at Mac, who gave a small sigh, "Violet, I know you don't want to do this with him, but you two are… well, you're trained to read situations, and he can protect you better than anyone, and you two have… had chemistry."

"That was a long time ago, Mac," Violet said seriously, her blue eyes flashing, "He's different, and so am I."

"Violet, don't make this difficult." Mac said in a serious tone.

Violet crossed her arms over her chest, sulking slightly, "Fine." She turned on her heel and walked over to her desk, sitting on the edge beside Lindsay.

'So, Mac told you, huh?" Lindsay looked at her younger sister apprehensively.

"Yup." Violet sighed, "I can't believe this, I mean, it's hard enough just to see him, but no, I have to pretend I'm married to him too? Did I piss God off in some past life?"

"Violet, it's only for a couple of days, you've been through worse."

"Unfortunately I can't think of anything worse right now," Violet grumbled, shaking her head.

Lindsay put an arm around her younger sister's shoulders, "Look at it this way, V., this could be your chance to tell him how you really feel."

"I guess so." Violet nodded, but she didn't sound any happier.

"Violet, you and Don should get going, the formal dinner and dance starts in a couple of hours," Stella Bonasera said, walking up to the two Monroe girls.

"What time is it?" Violet asked, making a face.

"Four." Stella responded.

Violet sighed deeply, "Why me?"

Lindsay nudged her, "Go on, Violet, it's only gonna be worse if you put if off and get yourself all worked up about it."

"I guess you're right," Violet nodded, and got up, reluctantly, walking towards the window where Don was standing.

She cleared her throat, "Are you ready to go?"

He turned around with the same weak smile on his face that he'd had before, and nodded, "Yeah, let's go."

Violet and Don walked to the elevator, and after, the car, in an awkward silence, with only the sounds of Violet's favorite Journey CD filling the car.

"So, we're staying at the Washington Court Hotel," Don said as 'Don't Stop Believin'' finished playing.

"Really?" Violet raised her eyebrows, "That's like, the nicest hotel in all of DC."

Don nodded, "Well, they go out of their way to make the Marines comfortable, right?"

Violet nodded and Don continued, "We have new identities."

"Okay?"

"James and Serena Dumont."

"Serena? Seriously?" Violet made a face, "Why the hell, out of the two middle names I have, would they choose Serena?"

Don shrugged, smiling faintly, "Anyways, we have to make up our own stories, because all NCIS provided us with were names, and fake ID's."

"Funny, I seem to remember those words coming out of your mouth one other time, but there was no agency and it was a little less legal." Violet said as she turned her blue Mini Cooper off the highway, grinning slightly.

Don actually grinned at this piece of information and said, "Yeah, I seem to remember an incident like that too."

Violet grinned as she pulled into the parking lot of the Washington Court Hotel and waited for a valet to come over to the car, "We can make up our stories once we get settled in."

The valet appeared, and opened Violet's door for her, and Violet got out of the car. Don got out a few moments later, just in time to catch how the two pimply teen valets were looking at Violet.

"Can we get your bags, miss?" The taller of the two asked.

"Well, we don't have any—" Violet began, but the trunk popped open and revealed two suitcases, "Sure, thanks, the name's—" Violet looked blankly at Don, who supplied, "Dumont."

"Right, Dumont," Violet nodded.

"We'll bring them up to your room," The shorter valet said, looking slightly dreamy.

"Thanks," Violet smiled and then she and Don walked into the hotel, "You're evil," He informed her.

"Why am I evil today?" Violet asked, putting her sunglasses on top of her head.

"Those poor unfortunate teens think they have a shot with you, and you're "married"."

Violet grimaced, "I don't date younger men, anyways,"

Don almost laughed but resisted as they walked up to the front desk. A perky blonde greeted them, "Hi, welcome to the Washington Court Hotel, my name's Brie, how can I help you?"

"We'd like to check in," Violet said.

"Name?" Brie smiled.

"Serena and James Dumont," Don replied, "Here for the Marine Reunion."

"Ah, yes," Brie nodded, "You two have one of our Presidential King rooms, number 707." She handed each of them a key card, "Please enjoy your stay, and if you need anything, or have any questions, don't hesitate to call the front desk."

"Thank you," Violet smiled, and then she and Don made their way to the elevator. Once inside, Violet shook her head, "Serena."

Don had to smile a little bit at this. He was happy to see that Washington hadn't changed Violet at all, but seeing her again, brought up a bunch of emotions and issues he hadn't addressed yet.

"So, wanna explain how we have luggage?" Violet asked as they entered one of the Presidential King rooms.

"Well, Stella made me go shopping with her, because she didn't know what you had for clothes, and what of ours would match, and stuff like that…" Don responded awkwardly.

"Oh?" Violet raised her eyebrows and said, "And just how did you know I didn't gain 300 pounds since I moved to Washington?"

Don shrugged, "I didn't know, but I was pretty sure you hadn't."

Violet smiled slightly, before saying, "I hope you aren't planning on using the bathroom to glitz yourself up, because I'm probably going to need the next two hours to actually make myself pretty."

Don shook his head, and then said, "Okay, so I'll save the shower for after."

Violet was about to say something when her cell phone started ringing, "Monroe."

"Hey, Violet, whatcha doing?"

"Tony? Well, let's see, Don and I just finished having sex and we were about to go for another round."

"What?!" Tony sounded like he was choking.

"It's a joke, DiNozzo," Violet said, "What do you want?"

"Well, I wanted to inform you that Gibbs, Mac and I are coming for a visit in a couple of hours,"

"Super, I'll make sure to make myself scarce."

"Don't be like that, Violet," Tony said, "You should be all excited that someone's coming to save you from being alone with the ex."

"Tony,"

"Okay, okay, shutting up now."

"Good. See you after."

"Bye." Violet closed her cell phone and rolled her eyes.

"Who was that?" Don raised his eyebrows.

"Tony," Violet shook her head, "You know, that spiky haired idiot I work with,"

Don pursed his lips before saying, "Shouldn't we work on our story?"

"I was gonna shower first, but sure," Violet said, nodding.

"You can shower first," Don said fairly.

"Thanks," Violet sighed as she walked into the bathroom. She'd thought that seeing Don again would be hard, but she never thought it would hurt this much.

When Violet opened the bathroom door, she as wrapped tightly in a white terrycloth robe, with her dark hair hanging down her back.

She sat down and grabbed a brush out of her large bag, before saying, "Let's get to work, Flack."

"Okay," Don nodded, "So, we're sticking to where we're from originally, so that would be Bozeman for you, and Queens for me."

Violet nodded, as she dragged the brush through her hair, "And we obviously live in DC now."

Don nodded, "Obviously." He paused before saying, "How did we meet?"

"Through friends," Violet responded, Don raised his eyebrows, and she said, "Why bother lying? We did meet through friends. We can just leave out the part about how I was dating your best friend, when you first fell in love with me."

If Violet didn't know any better, she could've sworn she saw Don blushing. He cleared his throat, "Do we, uh… have kids?" He asked, looking slightly hopeful, which was strange considering the circumstances.

"Oh, God, I hope not."

Don looked incredibly hurt, and Violet silently cursed herself for her big mouth, "Don… I didn't mean it like that…" She paused, "I just meant… I wouldn't be a good mother, not even to an imaginary kid."

"That's not true, Violet." Don mumbled, "You'd be a great mom."

Violet snorted, "Because I had such a great example, right? My mom taught me close to nothing about being a good mom, and I suck with kids. Also, I work a job that takes me around the world, and keeps me out until early hours of the morning. I would be a terrible mother." She smiled at him weakly, "But you, Don Flack, would be a great dad, and are certainly not the reason why I don't want kids."

Don also smiled weakly, and said, "I still think you'd be a great mom."

"Then you are just as crazy as you were six months ago." Violet said in a kind voice.

Hearing Violet talk like this, Don couldn't help but smile, "So, what's your job?"

"Tree surgeon."

"What?"

"I was kidding." Violet said, making her way to the bathroom to start working on her hair. "Travel agent, dance instructor… Ooh, trophy wife."

"V., honestly?"

"Honestly? Hm…" She stuck her head out of the door, "I have no idea."

"Well, what did you want to be when you were younger?" Don asked.

"You already know, you don't have to ask." Violet said, looking embarrassed.

"Professional ballerina." Don smiled, "Sounds good."

Violet rolled her eyes, "Fine. How long have we been together?"

"Five years," Don responded, without hesitation.

Violet bit her lip as she looked at herself in the mirror, and then she said, "Sounds good to me." Her voice was weak, but she hoped he didn't notice.

"Okay."

"That's basically it, right?" Violet asked.

"Yeah. You can focus on yourself, now."

Violet smiled slightly, "Thank you."

At 6:30, Don was in the process of watching an old James Bond movie, and he could hear Violet in the bathroom, listening to music as she got ready.

There was a knock on the door, and Don opened it, finding Gibbs and Tony standing on the other side.

Don let them in, and Tony said, "Where's Violet?"

"Getting ready." Don replied.

Gibbs nodded, "Suit?"

Don pulled on his suit jacket, and Gibbs said, "I'll look after your colors."

Tony made himself comfortable, and 10 minutes later, Gibbs finished, just as the bathroom door opened to reveal…

A very nicely put together Violet. She was wearing a periwinkle, full-length, v-neck dress. Her dark hair was in a messy up-do, and she was wearing silver jewelry, and dark blue eye shadow, with dark red lipstick.

Both Don and Tony gaped at her speechlessly, but Gibbs nodded at her, "You look lovely, Monroe."

Violet beamed, "Thank you."

Okay, I'm up early for work today, so I figured why not update again? Thank you for the reviews, please keep it up! (: