Note my apologies for the late update. Real-life got seriously in the way, but I have one last chapter to go, so please enjoy this, and I will update as soon as possible.
Cabin – midnight
Gibbs wakes up by the sound of the door to the cabin being opened. He then reaches over and feels that the other side of the mattress is empty. He gets out of the warm, comfortable blankets and growls when his feet hit the cold wooden floor. He opens the door to the cabin fully and catches a quick glimpse of Jack before she disappears down the little slope towards the lake. Gibbs grabs a hoodie and puts it on before he walks, barefoot across the open area in front of the cabin. He stops at the top of the slope when he sees Jack. She is sitting down on the grown on the edge of the lake. He walks back into the cabin and grabs a blanket that is still warm from when they were sleeping. He quickly puts on a pair of shoes before he makes his way out of the cabin. He walks down to the lake where Jack is seated on the ground. Her knees are bent to her chest as she is hugging her legs while she is looking up at the almost full moon and the bright sky filled with shining stars. Gibbs places the blanket around Jack's shoulders as he sits down. She is only wearing one of Gibbs's t-shirt and a pair of leggings. Gibbs sits down next to her. She never looks at him but just continues looking up at the sky.
"273," Jack says. Gibbs looks confused at her and waits for her to explain herself. "that was how many times I saw the moon on the sky when I was captured in Afghanistan. 273 times did I watch the moon over the desert. The moon looks different over there then it does here. So much clearer over there. And it seems so closer over there and bigger." She continues to look up at the sky. "I used to leave the base at night if I couldn't sleep. I would go right outside the base. There was a little quiet spot where I would sit and look at the stars and just let my mind wander off to a different place." A small cautious smile forms on his lips. "King sometimes found me out there. It wasn't allowed to leave the base, but he knew why I did it, and he didn't report me." she places her head down on his shoulder. "the last night before we got captured, I snug out there too. King came out to sit with me. I saw a shooting star that night. I made a wish based on a silly conversation we had had earlier in the day."
"did you wish come true?" Gibbs asks, almost whispering. A smile filled with sadness comes upon her face.
"for 18 years, I have thought it would never come true, but after today. I actually think it finally is." Jack lifts her head from Gibbs's shoulder to look at him. "thanks to you." she says with a smile. Gibbs just returns the soft smile she has on her face and gently pulls a part of the blanket up over her shoulder that was slipping down. She is holding the corners of the rug in her hands, and she wraps part of the coverage over Gibbs's shoulder as she leans her head back down on his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her and holds her closer to him.
"King, he could read people within seconds of meeting them. He could always tell if someone was a good character. Long before I could. He always looked out for me. not just as my unit leader and as a fellow brother in arms but… he really deeply cared about people."
"he sounds like a great man." Gibbs places a kiss on top of her head.
"you would have liked him." Jack has a small smile on her face. "he was always the one to look out for me when it came to guys I dated. Not in like a fatherly i-am-going-to-beat-him-with-a-baseball-bat-kind-of-way."
"that is your dad's job." It makes Jack chuckle.
"yeah, it is." She says with a hint of sadness in her voice. "I think it wasn't so much King looking out for me but more…" she doesn't know how to explain it.
"that you needed his approval?" Gibbs guess.
"Yeah, I guess so." Jack's voice is so filled with sadness when she speaks tonight, but for the first time since Gibbs sat down next to her tonight, he actually detects a slid hint of joy in her voice. "today when I spoke with Jeremy. He asked me about you… he said that if King would approve, so would he." Jack stops talking and looks up at the sky for a while before she continues. "I have had several boyfriends over the past 17 years. None of which I have told about what happened in Afghanistan or about Faith and her father. Every time it ended after no more than 2 months. I always blamed myself that no guy would want to be with me because I was too damaged or because of my scars on my back, but… today." She looks at Gibbs for a brief moment, and he detects a sweet smile and so much love in her eyes when she looks over at him before she turns back to look up at the sky again. "I think I constantly had King's voice in my head. Would he approve? Somehow, I think I always knew that those guys I were dating back then. He would tell me they weren't right for me."
"if they wouldn't be with you just because of your scars or your past, then they definitely weren't right for you, Jack." He says and places a kiss on the temple. A soft smile comes upon her face.
"that is exactly what I have been thinking all day. That was exactly what King would tell me."
"he sounds like a smart man."
Jack nods. "he was. Today when Jeremy said, "if King would approve of you." I didn't think for a second before I said he definitely would. For the first time in 18 years, I didn't doubt for a second what King would say. I just knew." Jack looks over at Gibbs after a moment. He is just looking at her while he listens.
She chuckles a little shyly and looks down. She has suddenly become self-aware of how much she is opening up to him about her unit.
"you must think I am weird. That I rely so heavily on someone's opinion on my life even 17 years after he died."
"I don't," he says with an almost whispering voice and a calm look in his eyes.
"do you have someone you rely so heavily on?" Gibbs nods as Jack looks a bit surprised when she didn't expect him to say yes.
"My mentor at NIS. Mike Franks. He basically taught me how to be an agent."
"he must have been one hell of an agent? When he trained the NCIS-legend Leroy Jethro Gibbs." It makes them both laugh, and Gibbs nods.
"he sure was." Jack notices how the expression on Gibbs's face changes again, and he looks out over the lake where the night sky is reflected on the clear water surface.
" He was the agent investigating my wife and daughter's death. He died in 2011, but I still rely heavily on his words and everything he taught me."
They sit for a while in pleasant silence, just enjoying the view of the sky and the stars. Jack leans closer to Gibbs when she is starting to feel cold, and Gibbs pulls her closer to him.
"I could stay here forever," Jack says after a while. "Hmm…" Gibbs mumbles into her hair.
"I used to think that, too, when I was sitting outside the base in Afghanistan. At that moment, when I was alone and just looking up at the sky. None of the guys being goofy or making fun of me. it was just me."
"why would they make fun of you?" Gibbs asks. He sounds offended on her behalf that someone she worked with would make fun of her.
"because that is what family do. They tease each other. Like Nick and Ellie does to me now." A cautious smile comes up on Jack's face.
"I used to be this naïve little girl back then. I had this perfect dream of what my life would be like once I got back from Afghanistan." Jack looks out over the lake for a moment before she continues to speak. "King once told me that a perfect relationship only involves 3 things. Trust, love, and respect." Jack looks up to meet Gibbs's eyes.
"Stark thought he could show us that we don't have that. That we don't trust or respect each other."
"he only saw one tiny little glimpse of our personalities that day in the interrogation room. Our relationship, partnership, and friendship go much deeper than just our stubbornness."
Jack sits up straight and looks at Gibbs with a stern look. "so, you finally admit you are stubborn."
"I said our stubbornness. As in you are stubborn."
"Nope, all I heard was you admitting you are stubborn. Which you are." She says, determined but also with a smile on her face and leans back down against him. Gibbs just has an amused smile on his face. He doesn't mind Jack calling him stubborn. Gibbs knows deep down that she is right. He is stubborn.
Gibbs places a kiss on her forehead, and it makes her snuggle closer to him. She takes his hand in hers, and he notices how cold her hand is.
"We should go back up to the cabin. you are cold." He says concerned.
"Yeah, I know." They get up, and he wraps the blanket around her shoulders to keep her warm, and it makes her smile seeing how caring he is for her.
"you never told me how you pulled that off with Jeremy. He was in a classified briefing, and I couldn't even get in touch with him."
"I have an old friend who is an army lieutenant colonel. I called in a favor."
"why?" Jack asks and receives a questioned look from Gibbs. "why what?"
"why would you do that for me?" she asks as they reenter the cabin.
"you deserved to know the truth, and I saw how excited you where about he was coming to visit and how upset you were when he canceled. And I noticed the perplexed look on Vance's face when you accused him of being the reason captain Hopkins canceled."
"oh, boy. Leon." Jack says troubled remembering that she accused her friend and boss of screwing up her personal plans.
"he will get over it," Gibbs says and starts making the fire.
"well, it doesn't really matter because I don't have a job anyway."
"come on. You really think Vance is going to let you quit?" Gibbs says with a disbelieving look.
"Naah… maybe not." Jack sits down next to him in front of the now small going fire. Gibbs places a kiss on her head as he stands up and walks outside to get some more firewood.
"How did you notice I was excited about Jeremy coming? Only briefly mentioned to Bishop."
"come on, Jack. The whole office knew it." Gibbs laughs and places some more wood in the fire.
"I only mentioned it to Bishop. He is just an old friend."
"you didn't make it sound like that." He laughs.
"what do you mean?" she asks, confused.
"Really?" he says, looking at her with a raised eyebrow." The way you talked about him to Bishop and the others you definitely gave them the impression he was way more than just a friend."
"no, I didn't." Gibbs looks at her with a disbelieved smile, and Jack knows she has been caught. Maybe, when she has to admit it to her self, trying to make Gibbs just a tiny bit jealous, but she sure isn't going to admit it out loud to him. She looks over at him, and he is looking right through her; they both start laughing.
"Okay, maybe I did make it sound like a little bit more."
"Sorry to disappoint you. it didn't work on me."
"why would I want you to think Jeremy was more than just a friend."
"you have a terrible poker face, Jack. But I am not the jealous type, so it didn't work."
Gibbs sits down next to Jack.
"who says I was trying to make you jealous?" she says in a suspicious tone but at the same time with a mischief smile on her face.
"then what were you trying to do?" he asks in the same tone and leans closer to her. It is only a matter of time to see who breaks the staring contest that they just started first. Ultimately it is Jack who looks away from him, and it amuses Gibbs. He knows he can get her when he is leaning his head closer and closer to her but just leaving a tiny little teasing inch of space between them. Just enough to drive her crazy. She looks away from him to try and control the urge to kiss him because she wants to explain something first.
"it is a good thing that you are not." She finally says, and Gibbs leans back from her to give her some space and si she can explain for she wants to say. She is sitting with her side to the fireplace and looking directly at him. He turns to face her, and she is looking straight into his blue eyes. "you have nothing to worry about. Jeremy and I joined the army at about the same time. I was the first person I came out to in the army, and he was the first person I told about what happened with Faith's father."
"He seems like a really great guy. I am pleased you have great friends like him," he says, almost whispering with so much love and care for her as he leans closer and kisses her. He leans over her and places a hand in her hair as they lay down on the floor while continuing to kiss each other passionately. She puts her hands on his face and makes him stop kissing her for a moment.
"But also a little bit happy he and I are no more then just friends, right?" she asks, and it makes them both laugh.
He just smiles and leans down and kisses her on her neck
"I'll take that as a yes." he stops kissing her and lifts his head just enough to look into her eyes.
"I didn't say that."
"you didn't deny it either." Say says determinedly. Once again, their stubbornness comes out, and it makes them both laugh.
"you are so bullheaded stubborn." He says with a laugh and kisses her.
"So are you."
He doesn't comment on that but just continues to kiss her.
Note: I hope you enjoyed it. I know both Jack and Gibbs are former military, so I thought It would make sense that they both have a person whose opinion they rely heavily on. Gibbs obviously relies heavily on Mike Franks. I never really liked Franks – he is too much of a cowboy for me, but do I like to think that Gibbs relies heavily on his professional and friendly opinion and I thought about who Jack would rely on. It wouldn't be Leon since he seems more like a close friend, and he is also her boss. So, I thought it would be someone she served with.