Note: I LOVED s18e01 – it has felt like forever since the last episode of season 17. It is so good to have it back on tv. So, this small scene is set post-episode. I felt like there could be more to the interaction between Gibbs and Jack than just the one scene before the explosion.

Gibbs's House

"what was that about?" Jack asks the moment she steps into the living room. Gibbs is sitting on his couch, having a beer and enjoying his dinner. He is just looking at her with utter confusion. "last night." She clarifies, but it doesn't seem to help Gibbs to understand. She drops her purse on the chair. "the moment Palmer came out of the building." She says, but Gibbs doesn't seem to understand. She sighs heavily and drops down on the couch.

"you are the most clueless man I have ever meet." She says and looks over at him. It doesn't seem to bother him. he casually takes a sip of his beer. Before he places the beer back on the table, Jack grabs it and takes a drink.

"you want one?" he asks when she places his empty beer bottle back on the table.

"Nope." She casually says and hands him the empty bottle. He shrugs, places the bottle back on the table, and continues to eat his steak.

"How is Emily?" Jack asks after a while. Gibbs looks over at her while continues eating.

"she is okay," Gibbs says casually. He gets up and walks to the kitchen to get another beer since Jack emptied the one he had.

"you know it often happens that people with addiction problems act out." She says casually and takes off her boots and bends her legs under her.

"so that is what this is about?" he asks and sits down again. "that I won't tell you what happened to my eye?"

"I just don't understand why. If you and Fornell are going cowboys on the opium ring, let me help."

"It is safer for everyone that you stay out of it," Gibbs says, concerned, and takes a bite of his steak.

"so, you are going, cowboys," Jack says and sits up. "I knew it."

"then why did you ask," Gibbs says, a little annoyed.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" she asks back.

"Sometimes, the best way to protect people is by keeping them in the dark."

"best for who?" Jack asks. Gibbs can feel her staring at him. she is leaned back casually against the couch. Gibbs is leaning forward over his plate to avoid her stare.

"Stop it, Jack." He pleads, annoyed.

"stop what?"

"whatever it is that you are doing." He insists.

"okay. but careful what you wish for." She says, determined, and gets up from the couch.

"what does that supposed to mean?" Jack asks after her. she has walked to the kitchen to grab a beer for herself.

"what I am doing is something that a lot of people try to do, Gibbs." Gibbs just looks utterly confused at her once she reemerges from the kitchen. "care, Gibbs." Jack explains in an obvious tone. She sits down next to him again. "some people actually tend to care about you. I get concerned, and so does your team when you disappear without a word and show up again wounded."

"it is just a black eye," Jack says casually, like she is overreacting.

"yeah, it is this time, Gibbs. And next time, it might be a bullet wound."

"you are overreacting, Jack."

"It is called caring Gibbs. Something that you don't let anyone do for you. It freaks you out that some people actually tend to care about you. That is why you are shutting me out."

"People get hurt when they care about me, Jack." He finally admits. The pain in his voice is unexpected for Jack. He looks down on the floor. She sits up next to him and places her hand on his.

"I know that, but that still doesn't explain your behavior last night." She says with a soft voice while holding his hand.

"what behavior?" Gibbs asks, completely clueless.

Jack looks down and signs. "You and I." she explains, but he continues to look utterly surprised. "You changed the subject and moved away from me the moment Palmer spoke to you."

"I didn't change anything. You asked me how I got the bruise. I told you." Gibbs explains.

Jack signs heavily and let's go of his hand. She pulls her hair away from her face with her hands and looks annoyed with him. "it took you 2 years to figure it out, or so I thought. You still haven't a damn clue about what is going on." She sounds so frustrated.

"figure what out?" he asks, confused. Jack looks up at him with a look that says, 'are you kidding me?' but he doesn't seem to be messing with her. he really seems to have no clue what she is talking about.

"Why do I even bother. You are as terrible at expressing your feelings as a 5-year-old." She says and is about to stand up, but he grabs her hand. She looks down at their now intervened hands. She looks just as clueless as he has done since she entered the house. She realized what is going on the moment she notices the smile on his face. He has known the whole time what she was talking about. He was just messing with her.

"I'm not the only one terrible at expressing feelings." He says with a smile. She looks annoyed at him and pushes him playful on the shoulder as she drops back down on the couch.

"you are so annoying." She says but also begins to laugh with him. She can't stay mad at him when he is looking at her with that boyish smile. She gets annoyed with herself that he has such a great poker face that she can't tell if he is messing with her or not. Maybe Torres was right that she can't read Gibbs because they are so close to each other. But she is never going to admit that to Torres or anyone else.

"so why did you change the subject yesterday?" she asks once she is snuggled comfortably up against him with his arm securely around her.

"because you have asked me to." He simply responds. Now it is her turn to be utterly confused. "you told me Torres, Bishop, and McGee is gossiping about us, so I figured you didn't want Palmer to add to that."

Jack nods and smiles.

"Thanks." She says and places a soft kiss on his cheek before he snuggles in close to him again.

Last night when he had changed the subject rapidly and removed her hand from his cheek and then told her to leave for him to talk with Palmer, she had felt hurt, but now it all makes sense. she did mention to him a couple of weeks ago how Torres and the others were gossiping about them. Jack didn't think Gibbs took it seriously. He had just laughed about it and told her to let it go. He cared much more deeply about her than she thought.

Note: I LOVE when Gibbs pretends to be absolutely clueless, but he actually knows exactly what is going on. Like Gibbs did to Jack in s17e3 in her office when he acts like he has no clue what she is talking about when she says, "it is the elephant in the room," and he then turns around and calls her out. I wanted to play a bit with that. Please let me know how that went. Mark Harmon is amazing at playing those scenes, so there is a lot of pressure here.