Note: sorry I have been a bit slow to update – I am a little stressed with my school at the moment. But I have 2 more chapters to go, so I hope you enjoy this.
Jack wakes up by the sound of Gibbs talking with someone outside. The sunlight is bothering her sleepy eyes, so it takes her a moment to adjust to it. She sits up and looks over at the door. The door is slightly opened. Just enough for her to see Gibbs is sitting on the front step of the cabin but not enough to see who he is talking to. She gets up and puts on the first piece of clothing she can find, which is Gibbs's grey NIS-hoodie and her black leggings. She walks over and slightly opens the door. To her big surprise, Gibbs is talking with someone on video chat on an old laptop. On the screen is an older man in a dark army-green uniform. Gibbs looks up at her and smiles.
"morning."
He moves a bit to the side to make space for her to sit down next to him.
"here she is, Colonel," Gibbs says and pushes the computer over to Jack. Jack looks confused at Gibbs when he hands her the laptop and then stands up. She then looks at the screen and now recognizes the man on the screen. He was her superior officer when she was deployed in Afghanistan. His name is Colonel John Murry.
"Morning, Lieutenant." Colonel greets.
"Colonel, sir," Jack says, surprised. She is very self-aware of her appearance when she sees her former commanding officer on the screen.
"you are a sight for sore eyes, Lieutenant. I heard you are doing great in your new life as a civilian."
It makes Jack smile that her former superior refers to her as a civilian now. She hasn't spoken with many from her time in the army since she retired. So it is a pleasant reunion for her.
"yes, sir. I am great. What can I do for you, sir?"
"Actually, it is what I can do for you, Lieutenant." Jack looks confused at the Colonel. "I received intel that Captain Hopkins was supposed to spend the weekend on leave, but he was called on last minute to attend a classified meeting. My apology on behalf of the army for interrupting your weekend plans, Lieutenant."
Jack has always had the most profound respect for the Colonel. He was one of the officers who came to visit her when she was back stateside after her rescue. The Colonel looks up behind him when a person approaches him.
"Sir." The man behind the Colonel says. The Colonel stands up.
"you got 15 minutes, captain." The Colonel says and walks away. The captain looks back at the Colonel as he leaves the room. Then the captain looks down at the computer screen.
"Jackie?" he says and sits down, and Jack can now see his face.
"Jeremy? I thought you were on a classified op."
"I am. Well, I am preparing for it." captain Hopkins explains.
"How did you arrange this?" they both ask at the same time, and then they start laughing.
"you first." The captain says.
"I didn't arrange this," Jack says and briefly looks back at Gibbs, who is occupying himself with something in the cabin before she turns back to the computer screen.
"well, I didn't either, but it was a pleasant surprise," Jeremy says with a sweet smile to Jack and makes her smile too.
"so how are DC and NCIS? I still can't believe you left us for the Navy?" he says, exaggerating the word Navy, and it makes Jack laugh.
"the navy is great, and it was a friend of mine, who is NCIS, who got me the job actually."
"yeah, the guy who rescued you, right?" Jack just nods silently. Jeremy notices the sad expression on his friend's face immediately.
"so." He chirps to change the subject. Jack looks up at him with a smile. "any cute NCIS guys I should know about?" he asks. At the same moment, Jack notices on her own video feed that Gibbs is standing behind her, and she looks up at him. He hands her a cup of steamy coffee, and she mimics thank you to him with a sweet smile before she turns back to Jeremy on the screen.
"as I was saying? Who is the guy I should be concerned about?"
"you sound like King." Jack jokes and takes a sip of her coffee.
"well is was one of the men I respect most in my life, and he can approve of this new guy of yours, so can i."
"he would definitely approve," Jack says with a smile and looks into the cabin where Gibbs is. It seems like he isn't paying attention to her conversation with her friend, but she can tell he is.
"Listen, Jackie. I'm sorry I couldn't come to DC, and I didn't give you an explanation."
"It is okay. I figured it out. It wasn't your fault." Jack says with a bit of disappointment on her face, but she is trying to force a little smile as she is taking a sip of her coffee. The captain looks confused at her.
"of course, it was. Well, kinda." Jack looks confused at him, so he elaborates.
"a friend of mine, captain Hope, he was supposed to attend the classified meeting. His wife, who is pregnant with twins, went into labor 2 weeks before time. I offered him to take the meeting so he could be with his wife and his kids. So, I guess it kinda was my fault, Jackie."
"I don't blame you. You are a great friend.
"I try my best." He says, trying to sound as humble as possible before they both start laughing as his malicious attempt to look modest.
"I promise you, Jack, as soon as I am back, stateside ill come and see ya and ill meet that good guy of yours. Okay?" Jack nods.
"deal."
"now go and spend some time with that good-guy of yours."
"Are you giving me orders, captain?" Jack asks.
"you bet ya. You deserve it, and it has been a really long time since I last saw that smile on your face." Jack looks back at Gibbs in the cabin and catches his eyes for a moment before she looks back at captain Hopkins.
"is that your special guy who is there behind you?" Jeremy asks. Jack nods and smiles. She isn't even trying to hide how happy she is and how in love she is.
"yeah, he set this up for me so I could speak with you. we are spending the weekend at his cabin."
"then what the hell are you doing talking to me?" Jeremy asks. He sounds almost accusatory.
"I am chatting with you, whom I was actually supposed to spend my weekend off with."
"are you serious?" he asks accusatory, and Jack looks confused at him. "why the hell didn't you cancel my trip?" she seems utterly confused at him. "why would I cancel our plans?"
"Are you seriously saying you would rather spend time with me then with a guy who can put that smile on your face? you are crazier than I thought, Jackie." Jack just looks surprised at him and doesn't know what to say. "and I know you are really crazy, but this goes beyond your normal crazy." It makes Jack laugh.
"a guy who sets up a secure video chat for you so you can chat with me doing a weekend alone with you. Now that is a keeper. Don't you dare screw it up."
"I don't intend to," Jack says with a sincere look on her face while she looks down at the perfectly made cup of coffee that Gibbs handed to her earlier. He knows exactly how she likes her coffee, even though he often teases her about it being a cup of sugar with a hint of caffeine.
"I know you are damn stubborn and proud, but please… don't mess it up with your stubbornness." He pleads with his soft eyes that melts away her urge to protest against him, calling her stubborn.
"I'll try not to," Jack says with a promising smile.
"Okay, now go and spend some quality time with that special guy of yours while I go out and keep the world safe, and we will talk in a few months, and I will need to hear all the details."
"no, you want."
"you know I am an excellent interrogator, right?" he says determinedly.
"And you know I was special-trained psych ups and an NCIS special agent, right?"
It amuses Gibbs how it sounds like Jack and her friend are equally determined to be right.
"Okay, I'll see ya soon, Jack."
"Stay safe and be smart." She says with so much sincerity in her voice, but Gibbs also detects a hint of worry.
"hey, you know me,": he chirps to clearly try and lighten the mood.
"exactly," Jack says. He nods
"I will." The captain says before he hangs up. Jack shuts down the laptop and closes the screen down. She gets up and takes the computer inside.
"how on earth do you get connected to a video link when I can't even get cell reception out here?" she asks surprised and hands Gibbs the computer.
"sat phone. McGee set it up…" Gibbs places the computer on a small wooden crate in the corner. "Oh, and you are welcome, by the way." He comments sarcastically as she walks outside the cabin. Jack is left inside the cabin alone with a smile on her face. She takes a moment to process it all before she walks outside the cabin. Gibbs has started to chop some wood. Jack walks over to him, and after he has swung the ax, Jack approaches him. She takes the ax from him his hand.
"you want to do…" he doesn't get to finish his sentence before her lip's crashes into his. Her hands are quickly roaming around in his hair, and after he quickly recovers from the surprise attack, his hands are quickly capturing her and holding her closer to him. When they finally break the kiss for much-needed air, all he can do is just look at her with a smile on his face.
"thank you," she whispers before she walks away from him. He looks back after her. She looks back over her shoulder.
"I thought you were chopping wood?" She says with a teasing smile when he is just standing there completely taken outback by her surprising act. Anyone can rarely surprise Gibbs. Based on the surprised look on his face and that he is just standing there. He is just looking after her confirms to her that she accomplished her mission. It amuses her.
Note: King was one of Jack's team-members (probably the unit-leader since he was the one who died first in Afghanistan according to the flashbacks in s15e24). I figured that he was perhaps someone Jack respected and loved, and his approval of a guy would mean the world to her. That is how I like to think it based on the way she feels guilty about her teammates' death – let me know what you think of this.