The writing might seem a little uneven between these chapters, and that's because I'm alternating going through and re-editing chapter by chapter (starting with this one) and working on the new one. I was very rusty when I started this story, but I've learned a few things since then :)
And in response to TivaFurious: I don't have any plans to include Ziva in this story, no. I love Ziva but don't feel like contriving a reason for her to be here at this point would add anything to the story I'm trying to tell here.
I'll be following the order of when people joined the team, so Kate's next.
Sleep had taken far too long to come for Jenny that night, and when it had finally claimed her, she'd tossed and turned in fitful bouts.
Their conversation the night before weighed heavily on her mind, and now it was midday and she was still holed up in bed.
Jethro had had a wife and daughter, and they'd died.
Reality felt like it had warped. Really, it explained a lot about him, but if anything, knowing only made it worse.
His issues had a cause now, they even had names, and it had her questioning what it meant for the future. To say that his response when she'd brought up feelings before she'd left didn't inspire confidence was an understatement.
Her alarm clock began blaring and she rolled onto her stomach and smacked the button to make it stop.
She'd never thought of Gibbs as a father before, and now she didn't know how she could possibly have missed it. He'd always been so gentle and understanding when there was a child involved, seemingly having a sixth sense for what they, and it all made sense. She'd been looking at a caring father.
She slumped back onto her pillow and tried to ignore the pang of emotion that hit her. She felt so deeply, profoundly sorry for him, and now she was worried that she might never measure up to a pair of ghosts, though she didn't know that for a fact, and she supposed he deserved a chance to prove her wrong.
She missed him, she missed everything they had together, and being back in the same city as the man was only serving to heighten her sense of separation.
And then there was her father. A man long gone whose opinion still seemed to matter.
He'd been unhappy when she'd joined NCIS. The expectation had been that he'd use his connections and she'd get some cushy job on the hill, but when the time had come, the idea had bored her.
He was Army, and he'd seen war, so the idea of his daughter being associated with the Navy sent him into a rage. He'd gone from yelling, to trying to talk her out of it to refusing to speak to her. He had paid for some of her tuition, dammit, so he had a say in what she did with it. She had no doubt that when he died, he'd been rolling in his grave.
Since then she'd become a field agent with a gun and everything, fallen in love with her boss, gone on a risky covert ops mission in Europe with said boss, slept with said boss, got shot, and become pregnant by said boss.
His death had her immediately requesting a field assignment, because field experience, because field experience would help get you to the top, and you could do all kinds of things from the top including, but not limited to, hunting amphibians.
If her father had been rolling then, maybe he was spinning now.
That had been her plan: rise to the top (preferably fast tracked), clear his name, and eliminate 'The Frog', only she had not counted on life getting in the way, especially not so spectacularly.
Suddenly seeking justice for her father seemed less important and slid quietly into the back seat.
She had never been able to shake the hurt or the searing injustice of it all, but in Paris she'd oh so briefly considered giving it all up for Gibbs, only to have that resoundingly dashed, but even without him, the prospect of becoming a mother had given her something unexpected: Something to hold onto that wasn't avenging her father.
She groaned, rolling herself out of bed and ran a hand through her hair before staggering towards the bathroom.
She had a doctor's appointment in an hour; one where they would be discussing things far outside her comfort zone, and for that she was going to need one very long, very hot shower.
The appointment had gone off without a hitch, and she was sent on her way armed with a print detailing the very surreal contents of her uterus, which was grainy, monochrome and far more human than she'd expected.
She turned the key in the ignition and rested her hands on the wheel as she deliberated her next move. She could either go home to nobody, or she could go to Gibbs and tell him that everything was fine. After a moment's pause, she chose the latter and maneuvered her way out of the parking lot. She started to laugh, only to tamp it down a block later when it began to take on a hysterical edge. This entire situation was insane, and she was starting to think she might be too.
When she arrived she took a moment to gather herself. His house showed no obvious signs of life, but that wasn't unusual. She let herself in, not bothering to knock, and trod the familiar path to the basement.
Gibbs was pencilling a mark onto the piece of wood he'd been measuring. He paused when he heard a floorboard creak above him, only to smile as he recognised the gait. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about her, or the fact that she was pregnant. It should bother him, he thought. He'd certainly spent enough time avoiding fatherhood with his ex-wives, yet the thought of this felt oddly natural.
Sure enough, a moment later the woman in question started down the stairs. He put down his pencil watched and her descend, the stairs creaking as she did.
She seemed hesitant, maybe a little self-conscious, and ever so slightly bigger around the middle; something he only noticed because of his intimate knowledge of how it had been before, and this fact stunned him into staring.
Jenny smiled and raised an eyebrow at him, "What is it, Jethro?"
"You're bigger."
She ducked her head and flushed pink, his observation clearly catching her off guard.
"Everything okay?" he asked. Her appearance in his basement wouldn't have been unusual a year ago, but the territory they now found themselves in was completely uncharted and there was a whole slew of things that could possibly go wrong.
"Everything's fine. I just stopped by to give you this," she replied, holding out an envelope to him, which he took after a moment's hesitation. The last letter from her had been filled with floral language explaining why she was gone and wasn't coming back, and weeks later, that ink had barely dried.
He made short work of the envelope. flipping the flap open to peer at the contents. It was no letter and he sucked in a breath of air as he realised what he was looking at. Good to her word, Jen had been to see a doctor and had come back with a souvenir. He carefully slid it out of the paper and studied the grainy black and white print. It was tiny, it looked kind of like an alien, but there on film was the unmistakable form of a baby.
"You're more than eight weeks." Gibbs observed gruffly as he noticed the numbers at the top.
"A little over ten weeks. It's only an estimate, but they took measurements."
He nodded. He remembered how it went. He hadn't been there for much when Shannon had been pregnant with Kelly, but he'd been there for this part. "How are you feeling?"
"A little queasy now and then, and I can't stand broccoli." Jenny said, smiling wryly.
He laughed at the absurdity of a personal vendetta against broccoli in anyone older than the age of 12, especially given Jenny had happily eaten said vegetable and others off of his plate more than once while in Europe. He stared at the woman in front of him and she held his gaze with her own. She was beautiful, breathtaking even, and he'd missed her. "You wanna go for dinner?"
She checked her watch. "Jethro, it's 3pm!"
"How about we go for hot chocolate, then dinner."
She pursed her lips at him before she smiled in a way that lit up her entire face. "Hot chocolate?"
"You can't drink coffee."
She laughed. "That sounds nice."
He grabbed his jacket and slipped his arm through hers but was unable to stop himself from pressing his lips to her cheek. He allowed his lips to linger, and he breathed in the smell and warmth of her, and for a moment it was like they'd never left Paris.
He felt her breath hitch. "Jethro..." she whispered, and she looked at him with a cryptic smile. It would only be a tiny reach and a little bit of a stretch to turn her head and kiss her, but he didn't press his luck. She'd left him after all, and he had no idea where the boundaries were.
He was still screwed, only for the first time since '91, there was the ghost of a sense that might be okay with that. There would be penance to be done later, and he would have to convince
"Hey, did you hear Diane shacked up with Fornell?"
Jenny laughed, and that gloriously throaty sound followed them up the stairs. "She what?"
Jenny lasted a whole day at home before she decided she'd had enough of taking time off. There was nothing to tidy, Noemi had taken care of that, and she didn't have any hobbies. This only left thinking and sleeping, and she'd had more than enough of both.
This time her arrival at NCIS was delightfully mundane. She breezed through the lobby safely wrapped in her usual business attire, right down to the heel, and her pack contained only a pair of sensible shoes. The cup of sweet tea she was carrying didn't hurt either, caffeine be damned.
When the elevator delivered her to the squad room, she noted with no small amount of satisfaction that there was no sign of Gibbs or DiNozzo.
"Morning, Pacci." She said and flashed a smile at the neighbouring agent as she walked past.
He looked confused but smiled anyway. "Heya, Shepard. You back now, are you?"
"I am."
"Lucky Gibbs," he said with a wide grin.
She allowed herself a small and kept walking while she weighed up her options for seating positions. A cursory glance had her deciding on the desk next to Gibbs. It was not only closer to him, but further away from DiNozzo, which as far as she was concerned, could only be a good thing.
She stowed her pack behind her new desk and sat down, reclining languidly in the chair, and taking a sip of tea as she waited for the men to arrive. She didn't have to wait long before Tony came in, striding blearily towards his desk.
Jenny smirked. "Good morning, Agent DiNozzo," she said before he'd had a chance to notice her.
To her satisfaction he squawked in surprise, recoiling as he realised just who it was that had scared him.
He took a second to compose himself. "So, what can I do for you, 'Jennifer'?" he asked, pronouncing her name with more sarcasm than the rest of the question.
"Nothing, Agent DiNozzo." She purred and pursed her lips, feeling satisfied that she had him on the back foot yet again.
He narrowed his eyes and attempted some kind impression of a bad cop. "Are you sure about that?"
"Very."
An awkward beat of silence followed, and she watched his expression battle between uncomfortable and pissed. "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked testily.
"Waiting."
"For..."
"Gibbs." Jenny retorted indulgently, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah, because he seemed so happy to see you last time-"
He was cut short by Gibbs's hand meeting the back of his head as the other man entered the bullpen and Jenny shot a smug smile in DiNozzo's direction.
"Hiya boss. Someone here to see you," Tony said, wincing as he rubbed the place Gibbs's hand had connected.
"I can see that, DiNozzo."
Gibbs then turned his attention to Jenny. "What are you doing here, Jen?"
"Reporting to work," she retorted smartly.
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "You're four days early."
"I got bored."
"Fine." Gibbs said before turning back to DiNozzo, which caused the younger man's mouth to hang open. "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, this is Special Agent Jenny Shepard."
"Guess that makes me the bottom of the food chain, then."
"Uhuh."
"Great." Tony muttered, just loud enough for Gibbs to hear.
Gibbs glared at him. "What was that, DiNozzo?"
"I said 'Great to have her working with us', boss!"
Jenny pinned Tony with a knowing stare.
Gibbs rolled his eyes and continued. "She'll be assisting us with desk work and crime scenes that have already been secured"
Tony looked at Jenny and narrowed his eyes and was clearly trying to put the pieces together as to why that might be the case. "Is this special treatment a girl thing, or...?"
Jenny thwacked a stack of files down on her desk loudly and Gibbs gave him a hard stare.
"Right, I guess I'll never ask that question again." Tony said to no one in particular before turning his attention back to Jenny. "So, what do I call you: Jen?"
"Jenny."
"Well then how come he calls you Jen?" Tony asked, pointing to Gibbs with his thumb.
Gibbs looked between the two as Jenny tilted her chin downwards and glared at Tony while DiNozzo bit his fist to stop god-only-knew-what coming out of his mouth.
He sighed. He was happy to have Jenny back again, on the team or otherwise, but he was starting to get the feeling he was going to have to spend time babysitting Jenny and DiNozzo both to keep her stress levels down and to stop her from killing his newest agent.