AN: I love every single one of you.
Tony was squinting blearily at his computer screen when Gibbs walked in carrying a customary cup of coffee. He looked around to see if Jenny would also materialise, but she wasn't there.
His eyes flicked to the time in the bottom right corner and back to Gibbs. "She okay?" He asked, not bothering to specify which 'she' he was referring to.
"Yeah, Shepard will be in later." Gibbs said as he went and put his coffee on his desk.
Tony nodded absently and went back to staring at his screen and marveled somewhat vaguely at the fact that he wasn't even the least bit mad at Gibbs's blatantly preferential treatment. He'd never been given a sleep-in and never expected to, but it didn't matter. He respected Gibbs, and he felt oddly protective of Jenny, which was strange in and of itself when he thought about it.
Gibbs was still staring at him expectantly, waiting to see whether Tony was going to update him on the case, but the silence stuck. "You find anything, Di-No-zzo?" Gibbs asked, drawing out the syllables of his name.
"Not a whole lot. We got more organics than Whole Foods, and enough vitamins to start some kind of hippy drug store - Abby's running tests on all of them now. I figure if he was poisoned it was probably in one of those bottles; the guy was a total health freak."
Gibbs was inscrutable as he processed this, and his expression didn't change as he moved onto checking out Tony's dishevelled appearance. "Did you get any sleep?"
Tony looked up and frowned at the unexpected question. "Uhh, yeah, a little. Abby has some sort of futon down in her lab; it's surprisingly good."
Gibbs allowed himself a little smile. "Go take a shower and grab something to eat: Meet me back here at 0830."
"Sure, boss." Tony said before attempting to surreptitiously sniff his shirt for anything that might have caused Gibbs to tell him to go wash but detected nothing.
Gibbs smirked at his confusion and watched him gather his things and leave. DiNozzo had pulled more than his weight in the last twenty-four hours and he owed him at least the time to eat breakfast.
He sat himself down at his desk and pondered their case. None of it made sense, but they had nothing, and the implications if they got it wrong were huge. They had to be missing something, and it was going to bother him until he figured out what it was.
Jenny ignored the furtive glances and hushed whispers she was attracting as she entered the building. Word of her 'condition' was getting around, and the fact that she was beginning to look the part wasn't helping matters.
She stabbed the elevator call button with her finger and crossed her arms as she waited, paying little attention as Fornell appeared beside her and pressed the button again himself.
"Agent Shepard," he greeted, nodding in her direction.
"Agent Fornell," she replied and kept her face carefully neutral as she waited for the other shoe to drop, because it was Fornell and it always did.
"Do all of Gibbs's agents start this late, or just ones he's screwing?"
"How is Diane?" she retorted smartly.
Fornell grimaced; his relationship with Jenny had always been uneasy. He'd worked with Gibbs's team a few times in the past but had so far not settled into any easy kind of rapport. Of course, it hadn't helped that when they'd met, he'd asked loudly if Gibbs was shopping for his next ex-wife. Gibbs was fine, he could deal with Gibbs; they showed no respect and held no grudges, but Shepard was something else.
Jenny smiled at him in a way that made him uneasy. "Did you know, she once hit Gibbs over the head with a golf club? There was blood everywhere."
She watched with great satisfaction as Fornell swallowed hard, and any further retort he might have had was cut short by the arrival of Kate.
"Good morning," she said, looking between Jenny and Fornell and whatever she'd just interrupted.
"Agent Todd," Fornell said, nodding with air of mock sageness, while Jenny merely smiled politely.
An awkward silence settled over them that was broken when the elevator finally arrived.
"So, Diane's your wife?" Kate asked and turned to smile toothily at Fornell. These people apparently had no concept of separating business and pleasure and she was intrigued.
"Yes, she is," he replied with no small amount of chagrin.
Jenny's face lit up with incredulity. "Ha, since when? I presume someone had a shotgun."
"Since we're having a baby; maybe you and Gibbs should try it."
"Well good luck," said Jenny, "you're going to need it."
A stunned Kate looked from Fornell to Jenny "You know his wife then?"
"She's Gibbs's ex-wife," Jenny said, smiling sweetly at Fornell.
"Oh, right," Kate said, as if it made perfect sense, "so that explains the golf club. Kate smiled at her and kept her tone deliberately light. "How long have you worked with Gibbs?"
Jenny narrowed her eyes, wary at this new line of interrogation. "Four years."
Fornell laughed humourlessly. "Agent Shepard here was his junior agent; his trainee."
"I'm his partner." Jenny said firmly.
"And NCIS are okay with this?" Kate asked, getting to the point that had baffled her the most since the beginning. She'd dated colleagues before, hell, she was doing so right now on the down-low, but it was most definitely against the rules.
"Well, they weren't exactly thrilled, but it's not against policy and in case you're wondering, no, it wasn't planned." Jenny added dryly.
"I, uh, wasn't going to ask." Kate said, feeling suitably chastised.
Fornell chuckled softly behind them, and the uncomfortable silence settled back over them until the elevator chimed and the doors opened once more.
"After you, ladies," he said and stretched his arm out towards the exit.
Gibbs looked up as the trio entered the squad room. His eyes settled on Jenny, who gave a barely perceptible nod.
"Morning, Jethro." Fornell said, greeting his counterpart. Not sure how you pulled off that whole body-snatch routine, but my boss was so pissed he was almost impressed."
"Well that's easy, Tobias." Gibbs retorted, grinning widely. "Got balls."
Fornell laughed, while Kate gave a long-suffering sigh and rolled her eyes. "Was it worth it?" She asked, looking pointedly at Gibbs.
He smirked and shrugged. "Gotta ask Abby."
"And she is?"
"Forensics."
"Right." Kate said, her brow furrowing in confusion as she laid eyes on the woman in question, who was tottering towards them wearing dark makeup and ludicrous black platform boots, and Ducky was close behind her.
Abby was clearly amused. "What? She said, looking Kate dead in the eye, "Never seen a goth in a lab coat before?"
"No, I haven't." She said, but by this point Kate was barely able to believe that any of these people worked for the government.
"What have you got, Abby?" Gibbs asked
"Well…" Abby began with a dramatic flourish before launching into a full report on her findings.
Jenny half listened to their findings and glanced at Tony who was slumped in his chair; her gaze then settled on the cup of coffee over on Gibbs's desk, at which point she was momentarily distracted by the fact that she found the idea of drinking it quite appealing.
Fornell was frowning as he listened to what Abby was telling them. "So, what you're saying is that there's no evidence of foul play?"
"Well no, other than it being odd that he stroked out, not at all."
Ducky shook his head beside her. "I'm afraid that my examination also turned up very little."
Kate's attention was still on Abby. "Did you test all that food you bagged and tagged?"
"Yup, all negative. I mean, that stuff will kill you, but it'll take, like, thirty years. Do you guys in the Secret Service ever think about throwing yourselves in front of the president's diet?"
Tony snorted loudly and the others laughed.
Fornell pointed to Abby then to Gibbs. "I want my people to check your results."
"Sure, Tobias. You and Agent Todd will be receiving copies of all our results."
He nodded and turned to leave, but not before stopping in front of Tony's desk.
"Hey DiNozzo, how's your butt?"
Tony flashed him an unconvincing smile. "Still bouncing on the beltway."
Fornell beamed with satisfaction and he continued on his way.
Jenny was watching Gibbs from her place at her desk. Technically the case was over, but something felt off, and she could tell he felt it too.
"You think something's still up." she stated, her eyes scanning the set of his face.
Gibbs shrugged. "Doesn't feel right."
Kate glanced between the two of them. "You're more than welcome to come on our next flight if it'll help settle your stomach."
His eyes lingered on Jenny for another beat before he replied. "I'll pass."
Kate shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said before taking her leave.
"That's not like you, Jethro," Ducky remarked, though he was pretty sure he knew the reason
Gibbs's gaze settled on Jenny once more. "Got more important things here."
A broad smile spread across Ducky's face and he gave Abby's sleeve a gentle tug. "Come on Abigail, we have work to do."
As they wandered off Abby's voice could be heard on the other side of the dividers. "That's so sweet!"
Jenny froze and Tony coughed awkwardly. "So, uh, what do we do now?"
"Run everything we've got again, we're missing something, and tell Abby to do the same." Gibbs said, sitting down at his desk before abruptly getting up again. "I need a coffee." He growled to no one in particular.
His statement was met with silence and Jenny raised an eyebrow at him. He jerked his head towards the elevator, and she stood up to follow. Gibbs stopped at Tony's desk. "You want anything?"
"You know," he said, looking momentarily thoughtful. "I could really use a muffin."
Jenny could feel Gibbs's unease as they walked and watched his face as he mulled over their now all but closed case.
"Do you regret not going?" She asked, squinting a little as she looked up at him.
"Nope. Put duty before family last time, not doing it again." Gibbs said, squeezing the hand she had nestled within his. He wondered, not for the first time, what Shannon and Kelly would think of Jen and this situation. Shannon and Jenny were very different people, but they'd have probably gotten along if they'd met in different circumstances, and Kelly had always begged them for a sibling.
"Are you okay?" Jenny asked, looking at him in concern having noticed the faraway look on his face.
"Just thinking about Kelly; she always wanted a baby brother or sister."
This time it was Jenny's hand that squeezed his. "I'm sure she'd have been a great big sister."
"Yeah. She would have."
"You want anything?" Gibbs asked as they neared the coffee cart.
"Coffee, thanks."
"Thought it made you sick."
"Not today apparently. Do you have any idea how close I came to stealing yours off your desk this morning?"
Gibbs laughed quietly. "You want it strong or girly?"
"How about strong and girly."
He smirked and went to order and returned with two cups of coffee and a brown paper bag.
"Here, guy says this was some kind of 'latte'. Put sugar in it as well."
"Perfect, thank you" Jenny said and took it from him, taking a long sip.
He fished a muffin out of the bag and handed it to her. "Gotta eat," he said by way of explanation.
Jenny pursed her lips at him in jest. "You know, I can feed myself."
Gibbs shrugged. "Well if you don't want it…" he said and attempted to snatch it from her, shoving it and her hand towards his mouth.
"Hey!" Jenny snatched it away from him, but not before he took a bite.
"Thought you didn't want it."
Jenny elbowed him playfully in the ribs before sobering. "So, what do you think happened to the Commander?"
"Murder."
"Well that's obvious, but how?"
"Gotta be poison."
"Abby's pretty much tested for everything; think she missed something?"
"Had to. Fit the pattern of any terrorist groups you know of?"
"Well a Navy Commander dying of what looks like nothing while carrying the football isn't a lot to go on. Did you find out if there was anything different about the backup plane?"
"Yeah, the locks. They're older, use keys. It means something, but I don't know what."
Jenny's expression was grave. "It's hard to know for sure, but those who know think Al-Qaeda is up to something, and if anyone had the balls to go after Air Force One it's them. Is it wrong to be glad you didn't go?"
Gibbs stroked her thumb softly and leaned in to kiss her on the lips, relishing the fact that he was allowed to be close to her once more. He'd made the right choice, but he felt oddly selfish. Duty to country had come first for so long that it went against his instincts not to put himself on the line.
No sooner had they begun heading back to base, two squad cars screeched to a halt across the street from where they'd been standing.
They shared a glance and Gibbs held out his hand proffering her the paper bag.
"You going to go and see?"
"Yeah. Give that to DiNozzo," He said. "I'll call if it's anything."
"Great," Jenny muttered as she watched him jog across the street. She was getting used to being left behind, but she'd be lying if she said she liked it. She rested a hand gingerly on her belly. She was still getting used to this whole pregnancy thing and knowing it was alive in there doing whatever it was a foetus that size did, but some days it may as well have been an alien life form. It was hard to imagine what their lives would be like as a family; it all seemed so nebulous and far away no matter how she looked at it, though in reality it was right here.
The one thing that wasn't nebulous was the fact that they couldn't go on like they were. She needed a more predictable job, and Gibbs needed a team that was firing on all cylinders, which meant that they were going to have to talk to Morrow.