A/N - I'm very sorry guys that I didn't get this update to you last week, school and everything's been a little hectic and writer's block decided to pay me a visit. I promise you will get an extra long update next week, I have it all planned out and it looks like a big chapter, so if I get enough encouragement in my reviews it should be up in a week's time. I'm afraid my beta has some internet problems and is unable to beta for me at the moment, but she's promised to catch up when she gets the chance, so for the moment please ignore any horrible mistakes. In case you couldn't guess, the chapter is linked to the episode Smoked.
Enjoy.
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He was on his way in, or that was at least what he'd told her when she'd called him, they had less than 8 hours before this plane landed and she…they needed to have a game plan ready and burnt to memory
The lab was awfully quiet compared to usual and in Ziva's opinion was strikingly odd; she was currently describing just how much she wanted to decapitate Tony, and possibly McGee too, for the way he was playing around with the latter's book. However she seemed to be feeling that she was no longer speaking to the Goth, it was more like she was talking at her. Something was on the other woman's mind. "…so, it doesn't really matter anyway cos I've already put Tony down that same chimney that we found our serial killer in. I hope you don't mind, I'm thinking of putting McGee there too, he did after all start this whole thing in that book of his."
"Yeah," Abby was sat, turned slightly away from her, her chin resting in her hands and her eyes focussed on the same bleak spot of paint they had been for the past few minutes…"sounds like a good idea."
"Abby. You seem distracted, is there something you want to talk about? Maybe something I can help you with?" Ziva was becoming concerned; it was very unlike the other woman's very bubbly and talkative-to-the-point-of-irritation character to be so, well, she couldn't really describe it, except it was abnormal, and it was quiet, scarily so.
"I'm not…well…" It immediately clicked for the Goth that Ziva could be just the person to ask; she was upset, although she would not let it show, she'd hoped that Jenny…no, the Director wasn't her friend, or more to the point, the Director no longer saw her as a friend…regardless she'd hoped the older woman would've understood why she'd told Ducky, instead Abby knew she was being avoided. "You and the Director, you two are friends aren't you."
"I guess you could say we are."
"And she trusts you?"
"Trust was necessary for us to be partners and look out for each other." Ziva was bemused - she did not see quite where this conversation was going or what the enigmatic reference to Jenny had been about. She latched onto the other woman's every word in an attempt to decipher the clues as to what this was all about. Perhaps Abby knew about whatever had been going on in her friend's private life?
"What happens if you betray that trust?"
The Israeli drew a breath in shock, she knew better than most people that you would never cross Jenny Sheppard if you could avoid it. She herself had never broken a promise to her friend, never given the woman any reason to doubt her, but she'd known people who had…
Abby was thrown by the lack of response Ziva had given her, perhaps there was no coming back from this, what if Jenny never spoke to her again, she'd found a good friend in her, almost a mother figure – she always went to Jenny or Gibbs when she wanted some guidance, what if she'd really lost a friend when all she'd been trying to do was help. She was concerned now.
"Ziva?"
"I've seen her hold grudges before, but you're a good friend Abby, give her some time and she'll…what do you say…cool down."
Abby remained silent as she processed the other woman's words. "She screamed at me Ziva, she told me that 'I had no right to do what I did', but I thought I was helping her. I promised that I'd keep her secret, but I had to tell Ducky, I had no choice. And now she's been avoiding me all day…" Her words drifted into a rambling that left Ziva unsure what to do; eyes to the floor, the Goth looked as if she wanted to cry a river of guilt. There must be something really serious going on with her Jenny.. How could it possibly have skipped her notice? Of course she'd noticed something…but clearly not enough.
"Abby, I promise you, Jenny will be okay once she's had some time to think, and she won't hate you – I know it."
Abby met Ziva's eyes. "You sure?" The latter nodded.
&Stones&
A loud noise bounced through the office as the door was thrown wide open, swung back on its hinges and the door handle impacted with the wall. Apparently Agent Gibbs was back to storming into her office, the notion had her in shock – he had after all been avoiding her these past few weeks. Jenny cursed silently; she really didn't need him here if he was just causing trouble, she had far more important issues to deal with than him right now. Gently she ran her fingers across the underside of the desk, and chastised herself for being so superstitious, at least she could be thankful for the desk between them, because she would need to do far more than just touch wood to keep her stomach hidden.
Like an unwelcome tornado he arrived, as announced as the door made him, and tore into her organised plan for the afternoon; in his stead arrived the reason for his anger – today it was apparently nothing she'd done. In his grasp was an ominous sheet of paper and from the smug look on the second man's face – that paper had everything to do with everything.
"Agent Fornell…Gibbs, what can I do for you today?"
Said piece of paper was thrust into her hands, and items of her office furniture designed to be sat at, not on, were misused enormously. Her eyes grazed like a mere touch over the letter, keeping her conscious mind in the room with its other two occupants. Her attention found itself on one of them in particular; Jethro had seated himself to her side and she was hyper aware of how he studied her. His eyes moved down towards her stomach and she pulled herself flush with the table.
"So, Agent Fornell, how are the FBI treating you?" It was clearly a rhetorical question from the way that she continued. "Obviously they haven't found anything to do – are the cases not good enough for you, or do you just prefer to steal ours?" There was a sense of malice in her voice that was surreptitiously hidden, strangely predator-like and both men picked up on it.
Fornell shook his head innocently; he knew how to play with these two. "Oh Director, I don't know what I can say, it must just be all the superior company you keep over here." He shot a look at Gibbs and then bullet-fast moved his eyes back to the Director. It caught his attention that she had made nothing of his comment on Gibbs.
"I'm sure we know all about that." She looked back to the letter, "These are very clear-cut orders Fornell. 'NCIS is to turn over the Bright case to the FBI by end of business today.' Who'd you have to sleep with to get these?" Jenny cast a poignant look at him, as much as she was enjoying this, she didn't need the inconvenience or, for the matter of fact, a nosy Gibbs in her office.
"Director, please."
His 'innocent' response had her smirking. "Now, NCIS makes more progress in a few days than the FBI did in years, now I can see how that could be just a little embarrassing."
He shrugged his shoulders in response and looked across to the other occupant of the room who, it appeared, was observing everything with just a little too much diligence to not notice. "No hard feelings Jethro?" It seemed that all of Gibbs' previous irritation had diffused – now he was looking smug. Fornell was confused, Gibbs had something up his sleeve, and if so, what had this whole charade been about?
The older man shook his head. "Not at all Tobias. I've got something to show you before you go though." As he was beckoned by Gibbs' finger he had a feeling he'd been set up.
Tobias seemed to get the message, but as Jethro looked towards the Director it seemed she hadn't and had no particular urge to leave her desk. "You might want to see this too." Once again, she had him curious, she seemed more rational today than she had been before, but there was still something there; she'd flinched, almost an erratic motion, when he was watching her and it was clear that it made her uncomfortable, this woman never ceased to confuse him somehow. He mentally noted it and continued to watch her for clues.
&Mosaics&
When Fornell put those ridiculous glasses on, Jenny resisted the urge to laugh; as clear-cut as those orders had been, this was a clear-cut joke on Fornell's behalf. She concentrated on the FBI agent, unable to meet the Doctor's eyes or the pair that belonged to the agent who was so intensely watching her.
She felt herself under scrutiny from everyone in that room, even Fornell seemed aware that something was ever so slightly strange – it was as if all 3 men were having an unspoken conversation about her; the prickling sensation of her nerves ran the length of her body putting her further on edge and a slight blush crept, a tiger disguised through tall grass, onto her cheeks and caught her off-guard. Jenny pulled her jacket around her and crossed her arms tighter across her stomach. The way her senior agent was watching her had her stomach relentlessly beginning to coil – she tried to ignore it.
In front of her she could see Gibbs' game being played out, Fornell as unsuspecting as ever and predictable too. The crinkles on the cool white sheet of paper held between her fingers were slowly becoming greater in number as she played out each one of moments of discomfort onto the feather-light object. The outburst from Fornell drew her attention:
"Woah, how did he die doctor?"
"Do you see the little black dots?" Ducky was showing Fornell where to look, but he caught the Director's eye, trying to at least bring a smile to her face at the FBI Agent's struggle.
"Oh yeah
"He was stabbed, repeatedly and fatally…"
"With what, a safety pin?" Even that she had to smirk at. She hazarded a look at Jethro and saw that he smiled at her – it was brief, and slight, but it was a smile. A shiver lingered on her skin a moment to long and she knew it was the way his eyes caught her in that moment. She tossed the sensation away, unable to afford such a free moment. The shiver was still there, as hard as she brushed it off with her thoughts it was lightly under her skin, as slightly as her hair brushed over her neck it was there. Get a grip Jenny. All it had taken was one look and he was under her skin, a frustration built in her blood and tensed her body – these erratic hormones were driving her crazy.
"Somebody killed your serial killer, Fornell." Gibbs spoke, and her stomach twisted ever so slightly.
"On a marine base…which means…it is still our jurisdiction." Jenny spat out the sudden emotions in her body and laced them into her sarcasm; into her fingers she poured everything she needed to rid herself of to relax and tore the paper with her frustration alone. If the smug look on her face was anything to go by, she'd more than enjoyed that, if not needed it – the look on Fornell's face only fuelled her sheer amusement.
The two agents made straight for the door in their usual style, Jenny tried to go with them. She did not want to be in a room alone with Ducky right now, not until she'd decided what to say to him; as she was called back she regretted putting those heels on that morning, she'd have made a better escape otherwise. She tried not to notice, but she couldn't help but register the looks she got from the other two agents as they left.
"What can I do for you Doctor Mallard? I am quite busy and I do have a lot of work to get done." Never before had endless reams of paperwork seemed so enthralling – she so badly did not want to have this conversation.
"If you cannot work that one out then I think we're all in big trouble, don't you?" He nodded towards her stomach, to her shaping bump. Jenny could not help but let her fingers rest there for a moment before raising her eyes to meet those questioning eyes of the Doctor. "My dear, why don't you take a seat?"
"Doctor…" He raised an eyebrow at her address and she let the formality slide, "Ducky, there's really nothing to be said. You shouldn't even know, so we'll just leave it at that, and I'll be gone." Stubbornly she had not taken the seat, instead like a child cowering from a confrontation with a parent she backed towards the Autopsy door. She turned away from him.
"The child is Gibbs' isn't it?"
Rocks grew out of nowhere, clamping her feet into the ground and covering her only exit from this place of truths, a surge of guilt washed over her at the situation she'd put Ducky into before it was replaced by a defensive that soared from ceiling to floor in front of her. It was built of as many excuses as she could think, of anything that would make a good offensive. Silence fell around her, as finally prepared as she could be, she did not want to make the first move. Jenny cursed herself that she should have been able to deny that accusation in mere seconds flat, instead her silence had spoken, if not screamed volumes of truths.
"It is alright Jennifer. I have no intention of telling him – it would be unethical of me." Something in his voice told her he didn't approve, perhaps that ironically, he thought it unethical of her not to tell Gibbs.
When she found her voice all of her previous concerns returned; there was something about staring the truth in the face, something about hearing it out loud that made her feel like it was back to being her taking on the Grand Canyon of the world. "How can it be alright Ducky? You must be able to see this?" She pointed aimlessly, but he nodded his affirmation that he could notice her bump. "I don't want to tell him, I don't want to see the look on his face. I don't want to tell anyone, I don't want to be looked at differently, I want to stay exactly where I am now!"
"I know you do Jennifer, but you have to tell him. Can you imagine his reaction if he has to work it out for himself, if he knew he was one of the last to know? You have to tell your bosses and you must look after your body and you must have a good long think about how you're going to raise a child. And finally you need to stop being so hard on Abigail, she did what she had to do, and I'm bloody glad she did."
Jenny's eyes fell to the ground in shame. Her old friend was always right when it came to putting things in perspective. She nodded her head in acknowledgement.
"Have you even been to have a preliminary scan done?" Ducky's tone was softer now; this was his concern for her coming through.
Jenny struggled to find her words. Badum;Badum;Badum. That sound was back in her head at just the thought of it. The black and white image flickering across the screen, moving around, as real as any baby she'd ever seen, and in the centre of the image the tiny white heartbeat flashing over and over – the image burned forever to her retinas. "I tried to…I…almost had an abortion." She'd said it.
"Oh Jennifer, I had no idea."
&Stones&
Packing her bag each evening was always the most uneventful part of the day. It was a thought she'd often mulled over at this time; by the time she'd left for the day most people were already gone – except Gibbs, he was after all an exception to most rules. She never left before Tony – that was something she promised herself – she'd witnessed some of the things that had been done to McGee's desk and possessions if Tony was there after he'd left and she was not going to give him an invitation to do the same to her.
Same as always Gibbs was at his desk doing paperwork, the two younger male agents had gone for the night and Ziva was packing her bag, except something was different tonight, the Director who was usually locked away in her office at this time had just stepped off of the elevator and made her way across the catwalk. Gibbs seemed tuned to notice too. The Israeli looked up, if she was honest, the woman who walked before her was not the Director today, but in every way she was Jenny – she looked vulnerable and had clearly been shaken by something – from the way his gaze intensified Gibbs had noticed too.
The older woman appeared to slip a hand to her spinal column and was tracing circles against her tired lower back muscles; Ziva concentrated a little harder, from what she could see the Director was walking differently, nothing so different, but there was something twigging in her mind and telling her something was different, awkward perhaps. The woman brought her other hand flush against her stomach, rubbing it in a motion Ziva could only describe as strange. Surreptitiously turning towards Gibbs she saw that he was half watching Jenny, aware of the company in the room with him – that was possibly the only reason he wasn't being more obvious. She looked back; Jenny was gone – disappeared back into the dark depths of her office.
Turning her attention back to what she was doing she put her last items into her back and in the back corner of her eye noticed the elevator doors behind her opening to reveal a male figure. Glancing she saw Agent Fornell arriving with two coffee cups, clearly one was not for her. Ziva grabbed her backpack from the desk she nodded goodbye to Gibbs who returned her action and repeated the same action as she passed Fornell on her way out. She took one last look back at the catwalk before getting into the lift, all the time mulling over in her mind what on earth was going on with Jenny.
&Mosaics&
The silence held a long time.
"I got to tell you Jethro, that was, that was, it was…" Fornell struggled to find a word to describe how unpredictable, horrific and seriously unbelievable the Bright case was.
"Mhmm"
"How is God's name could we have missed that?"
"I don't think God had much to do with it, Tobias."
Both Agents mulled over their thoughts. The only noise in the dimly lit empty squad room was the slight splash of coffee as it tossed like waves in their cups.
"You know what's really got me freaked out…?" Jethro looked to the other agent in response to his question. "If her husband's body hadn't gotten hung up going down that chimney 5 years ago she'd still be out there." Tobias paused to take a long sip of his tepid warm drink: "We'd never have caught her."
"I can do you one better than that, Tobias." A small grin crossed his face at the competition.
"Nah. You can't top that one Jethro."
"What was the toe doing in her husband's stomach?" Fornell gave a look that told tales of what he really didn't want to know and nodded his head in agreement. He leant back into his chair and took a very long drink of his coffee to contemplate that one – his friend mirroring his actions the other side of the desk.
"You got me there."
The room fell silent again. Gibbs had the distinct feeling that wasn't all Fornell wanted to say, he turned his head to the side and looked across at his FBI friend, Tobias definitely had a slight smirk on his face. "Something else Tobias?"
"I was wondering, it's something that's been bugging me these last few days…what's up with your Director?"
If he had been drinking at that moment, Jethro was sure he would've choked on his coffee; he honestly had very little idea what was going on with the woman, but he was glad to see he wasn't the only one that noticed; perhaps it was not just him that she was acting strangely around. "What makes you ask?"
"Just something I thought I'd noticed she seemed…perhaps a little bitchier than normal." He was clearly choosing his words carefully and treading just a little more diligently around the issue.
Gibbs caught the short chuckle in his throat; a smirk plastered to his face. He could just imagine how she would react if she was a little more 'in control' and she heard that. "Don't let her hear you say that, not if you want to get out of here entirely intact." He pondered the question a little further. "You could definitely say that, but I don't know what it is that makes you think I know anything about it?"
There was something in the way that Fornell looked at him that said he might disagree given the chance. Jethro tipped back the last of his coffee and cradled the cup in his hands, studying his friend and deciding he was intrigued on what it was he thought. "Spit it out, Tobias."
Fornell's smirk was decidedly cheeky, and that same cheekiness was present in his tone. "I thought that maybe you two were closer than that?" He was fishing, and both he and Gibbs were fully aware of it.
Gibbs let out a good laugh at that one and shook his head. "We're not going there; I'm not giving you anything on that one, Tobias. Believe entirely what you want."
Fornell's smirk was back. "I knew it." His accusation was full of amusement; Gibbs just shrugged his shoulders, internally, he was having the very same debate with himself – the woman was simply confusing and infuriating all at once.
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A/N - Thank you so much to all of you who are still putting up with the story, I appreciate it. It would definitely help me writing my next chapter if I had the moral support of REVIEWS!! So say what you want, I love to hear from you all, and remember, you're more likely to get a chapter next week if you R&R - cos seriously this one looks like a lot of work. Baby Revelation on its way in the near future.
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