A/N: Another thank you to xxhiphuggersxx! This ended up going in a rather surprising direction. I hope it doesn't disappoint too much. Once again - thank you so much for the awesome reviews and feedback. I obviously can't get enough of it.

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Gibbs headed back to his desk, Julia tucked comfortably on his shoulder. Tony, McGee and Ziva shared worried looks when they saw only Col. Wolcott and Mildred following him. All eyes looked up at the catwalk towards Jenny's office.

Gibbs saw their expressions. "What? Is the case solved already and no one told me?" They shook their heads and turned their attention back to their computer screens. "McGee, take the colonel down to Abby's lab, introduce them and find out what she's learned so far."

"You got it, Boss."

Gibbs settled down in his chair, rubbing his daughter's back as he looked up at the director's office, trying to keep his face from showing apprehension.

Jenny leaned back in her chair and locked eyes with Hollis Mann. "You and I need to talk."

"Director, I know you must be mad -"

"Why don't you let me tell you how I feel rather than you guess," Jenny stated forcefully.

Hollis swallowed, a bit taken aback but nodded.

Jenny took a deep breath. "I realize you used to be at this building a lot, in this office in fact, but familiarity should go only so far. It's one thing for Agent Gibbs to use my office for a private call when I'm not here. You should have waited outside, and you certainly shouldn't have brought inside a colleague I've never met. You put me in an awkward position and probably off on the wrong foot with your replacement. I don't appreciate that."

"Of course, you're absolutely right. I will be sure to explain to Colonel Wolcott."

Jenny nodded. "I appreciate that. I would also appreciate if you would return to calling him Agent Gibbs instead of Jethro."

Hollis looked at her confused. "Was I doing that?"

Jenny's anger increased, as did the volume of her voice. "Yes, you have and damn it, he's my husband! This is the workplace. You should be calling him Agent Gibbs."

Outside, Elizabeth's mouth dropped. She picked up the phone and called Tony. "There was a tiny bit of yelling. I didn't know that the director is married to Agent Gibbs. You could have warned me!" she whispered.

Tony smiled to himself. "Where would the fun have been in that, Liz?" He looked down at his list, pointed to Ziva and snapped his fingers before rubbing them together, indicating money. Ziva raised her hands in victory.

Gibbs didn't know what was going on but he glared at both of them, sensing it was needed. He kissed Julia, still sleeping against his shoulder, and then looked back up towards his wife's office.

Jenny sighed. "I don't get it. You used to call him Agent Gibbs when you two were having the affair. Why Jethro now? It feels disrespectful. If you want to call him that when I'm not around, that's one thing but please refrain in front of me."

Hollis sighed. "You're right." She shook her head. "I didn't even realize I was doing it. But I will certainly stop. Contrary to how it seems, I don't want to upset you."

"Well, on that score, for future reference may I also suggest you not pick up someone else's child without their knowledge." Jenny could see the other woman was pretty angry at herself.

"I realized after seeing your expression that it was a bad idea, but I really thought I was helping."

"Colonel…"

"Are we really talking Director to Colonel or is it more Jenny to Holly at this point?"

Jenny swallowed and then nodded. "Holly, I get that you thought you were helping. Let me give you some insight into where I'm coming from."

Holly shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she waited for Jenny to continue.

"I became pregnant obviously pretty late in the game. I was deathly afraid I was going to lose the baby in the first trimester. I then spent the next two worried she would have birth defects." Jenny noticed the shock on the other woman's face. "I was convinced the tests could hurt her so I didn't have them. I risked everything to protect my child for the nine months she was inside me. She is our entire world."

Holly nodded, rather surprised by Jenny's candor.

"I just had an incredibly frustrating day. I came back to my office to find my husband's ex-lover holding not my 8-year-old, not my 1-year-old, not even one month old but rather my infant daughter who is only 17 days old," she said, her voice cracking.

The colonel was incredulous. "Why are you back at work so soon? Jenny, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see you are overwhelmed. You're probably exhausted. Are you up every few hours with her?"

"Every couple, actually."

"Oh, Jenny. Why are you already back at work?"

Jenny leaned her head in her hand, stroking her temple in frustration. "I didn't have a choice. I had intended to take three months and even then come back part time but things happened with my replacement."

Holly nodded. "I definitely know how that goes." She looked at Jenny sympathetically. "I have to ask - you have the house, the husband, the child, the powerful job - why do you seem so threatened by me? It's pretty obvious you don't have any reason to be."

Jenny sat for a minute, thinking about what the colonel was saying to her. "I'm not threatened by you. To be honest, it has nothing to do with anything in the present. But seeing you, brings up all the bad memories of the way Jethro treated me back then - not that I was blameless, but still... It was probably one of the worst times in our relationship."

"Well, he can be a bastard," she said matter-of-factly, making them both laugh. "But I hope you don't think I was anything but respectful to you back then. Frankly, I thought the two of us had a lot of fun at his expense." Jenny smiled knowingly at the memories. "Of course, I only had my suspicions about you two from the way you were treating me."

Jenny looked at her quizzically. "How was I treating you?"

Holly relaxed, leaning back against the chair. "Oh, come on. You always found ways to show me you knew him better. That whole metaphor of acquiring the taste for bourbon, when you meant him…" Jenny smirked. "Or the time in MTAC regarding Sharif, when you made it clear to me you thought he wasn't fine…"

"But you insisted he was."

Hollis rolled her eyes at the memory. "And you turned out to be right."

Jenny looked away, wistfully. "But you were the one who got to comfort him."

"And then he never called me again! If we hadn't been thrown together on another case…"

Jenny looked at her, surprised. "He really was a bastard."

"I know!" Both women laughed. Holly smiled. "So you're not really angry with me. You're angry at him, but because you can't get mad at him for something long ago…"

"Oh no, you've done plenty to piss me off lately." Both women smiled. "But there may be some truth to what you're saying."

"I wish you weren't breastfeeding because I'd take you out for a drink. Seems like you could use one."

Jenny let her head hit her desk. "You have no idea how badly."

Hollis laughed.

Jenny got up and took a bottle of water out for herself from the mini-fridge. "What can I get you?"

Holly smirked. "How about scotch?"

"My father would highly approve." Jenny poured a glass and handed it to the colonel. They both moved to the couch. "I can bet you everyone on Jethro's team, including him, are staring up here wondering if we're killing each other."

"Please tell me he treats you well. He was horrible with me. The only way I knew we were even going to be seeing each other for a while was because he started a long project fixing my bathroom pipes."

Jenny almost spit out her water. "That's hysterical. And so Jethro. Then at least. Yeah, he's pretty incredible now. Do you know about my 'death' and entry into WITSEC?"

"Only the barest of details."

Jenny nodded. "Well, it had been a year since everyone thought I had died. Of course, the way we left things, I didn't think he'd even care. Our relationship had deteriorated so much. But we ended up on the same plane. He was told by my handler that he couldn't see me again after the plane trip, so knowing it was our only chance to say what needed to be said - well, the walls fell down like never before."

Holly's eyes widened. "That must have been incredibly overwhelming for you both. Wow."

"It was. Needless to say, we try to never forget how close we were to losing each other. It's made us both more communicative, more giving. It's funny, I'd almost forgotten what he used to be like."

"Until I, the giant walking reminder, showed up," Holly said, shaking her head.

Jenny tapped her on the arm. "It's okay. Again, if I wasn't so darn hormonal and tired, I probably would have handled things better. But I can't tell you how much I've appreciated being able to talk like this. Thank you."

Holly handed her back her now empty glass. "I'm very glad we were able to clear the air. I suppose I should get back to work."

Both women stood up. Jenny shook her hand. "Let me walk you back downstairs. I really don't want to miss their expressions."

"I imagine they'll be priceless."

They walked out the door, noting Elizabeth's wide eyes. They smiled as they continued down the steps. "You know, Holly, we should talk again about your future unless you're pleased with retirement?"

"I suppose I am up for a discussion, but we'll worry about that after this case is solved."

Jenny smiled. "It's a date then." Both women noticed the team's mouths hanging open, especially Jethro's.

Jenny walked over to him and took Julia into her arms. "Don't you all have a case to solve?" She winked at Holly before heading back up the stairs.

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A/N: For those of you who wanted a more explosive confrontation between the women, I highly suggest you read Jollymonkee5613's Secrets Uncovered. That will probably satisfy you more than this did.