As Jennifer Shepard entered the antechamber of her office a few moments later, she realized that someone was already waiting for her.
"Good morning, Jennifer, I was just about to see you. Do you have a minute for me, my dear?" Ducky asked and gave her a friendly smile.
Uncertain about whether she wanted to hear what he had to say she nodded. What could it be?, she thought and looked intently at him. There was only one subject that required the elderly M.E. to come up to her office first thing in the morning, the examination at the hospital.
"Of course.", She confirmed with a small nod and opened the door to her office.
"How are you?", Ducky asked and closed the door behind him.
He took one of the chairs at the conference table and rolled it over to Jenny's desk. He waited patiently until the redhead sorted through everything she needed for the day and powered up her computer. She still seemed exhausted, but her color was a lot better than the day before, and the dark rings under her eyes had almost disappeared.
"Did Jethro come over yesterday?"
"Yes, we talked a little more and I fell asleep at some point."
"I want to talk to you about something, it's of great importance."
Jenny tensed up at Ducky's words, he sounded extremely strict, and his face already told her that she wouldn't like whatever he had to say.
"I spoke to SecNav on the phone and talked to Cynthia just before you arrived, and I also exchanged a couple of words with Jethro.", he began calmly, but did not change his facial expressions. "We all came to the decision that you, until you are reasonably well again, should take it a little easier, and maybe not do everything yourself."
She swallowed hard. He had what? Talked to the SecNav? To her assistant? Her eyes grew wide and if she hadn't already been so pale because of the nausea, she would certainly be now!
"We have greatly reduced your appointments, pushed most of them to the afternoon and limited their length. For the time being, morning appointments have been cancelled and the slots are only available for meetings of the utmost urgency.", Ducky explained.
"You told the SecNav about..."
"No, no." He shook his head. "I simply explained to him that you aren't in the best place health-wise, and that you will need a little time to recuperate."
She sat silently in front of him. She didn't know how to react, what to do or think. The fact that things were simply decided behind her back and without her input overwhelmed her.
"You will have a baby soon, you have to start thinking like a mother, Jennifer. You are not well, and we have to take some measures until you feel better again."
It didn't matter. Ducky could talk and explain it to her, but she certainly wasn't going to jump up and down in joy. His words held a spark of truth, she would be a mother and of course the nausea brought her to her knees every so often, so she had to find the time to relax at some point, but she didn't just want it all decided for her.
"It is in your best interest Jennifer, for you and your baby. Once you are through the first trimester, the chance of you miscarrying the baby will decrease dramatically. However, for the time being, I don't think you want to risk losing your child."
Of course not! A miscarriage was the last thing she wanted to think about.
"It's not that far away. In five weeks at the latest the nausea should have subsided, and you should get better again, your body simply needs the rest, and you have to give in.", he paused for a moment. "Give yourself some time to rest, you know you're too tired to work ten hours or more."
Jen looked at her counterpart, her emotions warring with each other. She sighed deeply, put her elbows on the top of her desk, and put her head in her hands. Ducky was right about everything he had said, she thought.
"You were pretty shaky on your feet yesterday, exhausted. Why don't you stay home for a few days?"
"I can't, Ducky."
"Leon Vance."
She shook her head in the negative. It wasn't as easy as everyone thought. Her work at NCIS was demanding, and if she showed any weakness — if she told the SecNav about her pregnancy... Jenny already saw herself cleaning out her desk.
"I have a lot of work to do here. I have my obligations and first I have to make sure that Jethro sees Ziva as part of his team.", the redhead explained.
"You know him, he's rough with every newbie."
"Yes, but with Ziva it's something else. He's so cold, he doesn't give her a chance, and if it were up to him, she wouldn't even be able to look at me." She took a little break before she continued, "I can't leave her alone with him."
"He holds himself responsible for leaving you alone that night, for giving Ari the chance to snatch you. The whole time when the team was desperately trying to find you, he was going stir crazy."
"But that was Ari and not Ziva.", she emphasized.
"Maybe he feels differently about that. You didn't see him, Jennifer."
"What are you saying? Do you think the same?", she asked, her tone annoyed as she leaned back her head, closing her eyes.
"No, I trust you when you say Ziva would never betray you, and you know I'm always of the opinion that a person deserves a second chance.", he said. "I'm just trying to make it clear to you that you were the least aware of all the hustle and bustle, and you couldn't see Jethro with your own eyes."
"Ziva was with me last night to hand in her resignation before she even started to work here, and do you know why?"
"Jethro.", he sighed.
"Not just him, his entire team including Abby Sciuto." Frustrated, the physician shook his head and concluded that it could not go on like this. He had to talk to the Special Agent, tell him that he couldn't keep putting obstacles in Jenny's way.
Jethro entered Jen's office, a cup of hot coffee in his hand, and stopped abruptly when he saw the scene in front of him. The redhead was asleep on the couch in her office, wrapped in a blanket and completely unaware of the other people in the room. He would have almost called it endearing.
To his left stood Stan, Jen's driver, carrying a takeout box that apparently constituted Jenny's lunch. To his right was Cynthia, holding her phone in her hand. Everyone in attendance wanted or needed something from her, but no one dared wake her up.
He grinned a little. Normally he would jump at the opportunity to tease her a little and wake her in front of her little entourage, but he knew how important it was for her to get some rest.
"SecNav is on his way over and wants to talk to her.", Cynthia explained as Gibbs looked over at him.
"How long will it take him to get here?"
"He should get here any moment."
"Can you stall him?", he asked.
"I'll try."
With a nod Gibbs turned his head back to Jen. Behind him, he heard the door to her office being pulled close and now turned his attention to Stan.
"She wasn't doing too well on the way here, the nausea was still pretty strong, but she didn't want to go home.", her driver said with a shrug.
Noticing Gibbs' questioning stare he continued, "She told me, I kind of figured it out because my wife went through the same thing at the beginning of her pregnancy.", he explained. "I told her I'd bring her a little something to eat, so she wouldn't starve. Apparently the nausea makes it hard for her to keep anything down, and not eating anything is rather counterproductive for the development of the unborn child."
Silently they looked at the sleeping woman. How right Stan was, he thought, and couldn't prevent a little smile. For a little moment everything seemed to stand still again. She was simply the most beautiful woman in the world, and he couldn't wait to hold their little baby in his arms — even if it was still six months away. He would protect her, and help her carry the baby to full term.
"Treat her well, pregnant women are... very special, they need a lot of understanding.", Stan said and put the white takeout bag on the conference table next to him.
"If only you knew.", Gibbs muttered quietly and waited patiently until Stan left the room.
"Where's Gibbs?" Tony asked nervously.
"With the director, why?"
"We have a small problem here.", he murmured and showed McGee his latest results.
A photo of a middle-aged man was displayed on the large plasma screen. He wasn't with the Navy, instead he worked as a civilian office clerk in a little shop in Georgetown. He had lost his wife some time ago. Nothing unusual, per se.
"What am I supposed to see?", McGee asked and studied the picture in front of him.
"Scott Forbes, he's been phoning our murder victim a lot in the last few days, even on the night of the murder.", Tony said and pressed some keys on his keyboard. "Eight months ago, he was involved in a fatal car accident, and the other driver didn't survive it."
McGee still looked a little lost. He wasn't quite sure where this conversation was going or what Tony was trying to explain to him.
"Look at the name of the passenger who survived."
The Senior Field Agent zoomed in on the entry and enlarged the name. "Jennifer Shepard." McGee read out loudly and finally understood what Tony wanted to show him. "The director?"
Dr. Mallard was sitting at his desk, writing up the autopsy report on the current murder case. His thoughts had been with Jenny all day. She wasn't the most easygoing woman on her best of days, and she didn't seem particularly happy about the pregnancy. And then Gibbs? He had to talk to him as soon as possible. A lot of things had to change; maybe he would be able to convince him to take a couple of days off and get out of the city with Jennifer. Some physical and emotional distance to everything that was going on in DC and at NCIS would probably do both of them a world of good.
The sound of heavy footsteps coming closer tore him out of his thoughts.
"Mr. Palmer?", he asked and signed the report at the end.
"No."
"Jethro, I'm glad you're coming by.", Ducky said and turned to Gibbs.
"I wanted to talk to you anyway."
"About the case?"
"About Jennifer.", he answered.
A soft sigh escaped Gibbs' throat. He knew that Ducky meant well, but it annoyed him that the pathologist constantly interfered with his and Jenny's relationship. In his presence, he felt like a complete idiot.
"We've been through this, Duck."
"And yet you haven't learned how to be supportive of her and her pregnancy."
An eye roll was his only answer.
"Be a helpful, and don't keep putting stones in her way."
"I'm not putting any stones in her way."
"Then accept Ziva as a member of your team, you don't know what a big burden you'd be taking off her shoulders."
"Did you forget what happened?", he asked angrily. "Did you forget that you were the one who sewed her head back together?"
"No, but you know very well that Ziva David is not to blame for that!"
"I don't trust her, I can't trust her unless it's confirmed Miss David didn't work with Ari." Ducky's gaze was steely, almost icy. "But didn't Ziva shoot her brother to prove to you that she wasn't in cahoots with him?"
Gibbs ground his teeth. In his basement, Ziva had decided to help him and act against Mossad to save Jenny's life. How could he forget?
"She killed Ari and helped you save Jennifer, I think she deserves a chance."
"Is there anything else about me or my team you don't like?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.
"Do you think you can keep Jennifer away from the office for a week or more? It would be good not only for her but also for your relationship. She should take a break from all the sleepless nights and the long days at the office."
"I can try, but I doubt she would agree."
"Or should I talk to her? You know, any stress this early in the pregnancy hurts not only the mother but also the child. A lot of pressure and a high stress levels lead to miscarriages and I doubt the two of you could ever recover from that."
Jethro nodded.
"That's not going to happen, I'm taking care of her and there won't be any miscarriage. I am here and this time I can prevent something from happening to my child and its mother, I have learned from this mistake."
They didn't know that Jenny, out of sight, was leaning against the wall around the corner from where they stood, listening to their conversation. The redhead had come to talk to Ducky, but had stopped when she recognized Gibbs's voice. When the doors to autopsy opened, the two didn't even notice her presence. Had she known what she would hear, she would never have come down. He had a family? What had happened to both of them? Did they break up and break off contact or did they die?
"I learned from Shannon and Kelly because they showed me how important it was to have a family. I should not have gone to Kuwait, I should have stayed with them to prevent their death, but I left them alone.", he said softly, and she could feel his pain.
"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have done anything for them, but you can now do something to make Jennifer's pregnancy as comfortable as possible. You can be with her and show her what she means to you."
"I've got nothing else to do, Duck."
It was still quiet around both men for quite a while, and they did not see Jen leaning against the wall, desperately trying to get their feelings under control. Jethro had had a family and both were dead. Her bad conscience threatened to overcome her; she had treated him so badly all this time, even though he wanted to do everything he could to win her back. Why had she been so stubborn? He didn't deserve it, she thought and leaned her head against the wall.
Sorry it took me ages to post a new chapter :(