"What kind of proposition?"
SecNav gives her a small smile, waving his hand dismissively, "Wipe that worried look from your face, Jennifer. You're not in trouble."
She shifts uncomfortably in her seat, "You'll have to pardon me Sir, its not every day I come into work to find my boss waiting for me in my office."
He nods, "I know my visit was sudden, but I didn't want to waste any time with this."
"With?" She inquires.
He clears his throat, "We've been reviewing your progress as Director. Internal budget spending is down, wait time
on cold case files are down, pending cases are being tackled and solved at twice the rate in comparison to previous years, staffing under you in consistent, HR complaints are down. To be frank, Shepard, you're doing a damn good job."
She would be lying if she said a tinge of pride didn't flow through her. She makes it a point to be humble when it comes to the things she has accomplished, and the notion that her achievements are being discussed so openly thrills her a bit.
"As much I love to listen to my own accomplishments, sir, I assume your reasoning for being here spans beyond just singing my praises." She says, straightening her posture as she sits.
He chuckles, "Right, of course. We 're here to discuss an offer."
"We?" She says, glancing to James, who hadn't yet said a word.
"We." He affirms, "Deputy Director Monroe here is moving his talents elsewhere, taking up a position in the CIA under a need to know department-"
She understood; she was not on that list of a need to know.
"-And we'd like you to take on the position of the FBI's Deputy Director." He finishes.
Of all things she had been expecting to hear him say, that was not one of them.
"Sir," She says after a moment of silence, trying her best to wrap her brain around what had just been said, "Are you sure my place is the FBI?"
SecNav takes a deep breath, leaning back against his chair, "To be very honest Shepard, you're a hell of an asset to this agency and I don't necessarily want to give that up, but if you feel that your talents would be better explored under the FBI, I won't stop you. The hope would be that you can help reform their crime division with the same success as you have ours."
"This is an awfully big offer to spring onto someone first thing in the morning, Sir. I've spent my entire career here, I don't think that's something I can give up on a dime."
He smiles at her, "Of course not."
"I won't be leaving for another month," James says, finally breaking the veil of silence he had been hiding behind, "And I wouldn't expect you to make a decision like that without a proper time table. There are a lot of things to consider, and we recognize that."
"End of the month," SecNav says, "And we need your final decision."
The Deputy Director smiles at her, "It's not a bad gig, Director." He tells her, "You get to dip your toes into a lot of case work and dictate a lot of what the agency does. The LA office isn't bad either."
The location name catches her.
"I'm sorry," She says, "LA?"
"The Deputy Director job is located in California." SecNav says.
Oh.
"Still here?"
She hadn't even flinched when the door to her office had opened. This late at night, there was really only one person it could be. Cynthia had long since left, and the only people there were the late night skeleton crew.
"We've been through this before," she says, "And I doubt you've learned what Doppelganger means yet."
He quirks up an eyebrow, "You don't looked pissed this time, so no."
"Mmm," she hums, "I'm just finishing up a few things, my meetings ran later than expected."
"You want dinner?" He questions.
She matches his inquisitive look, "Trying to woo me Jethro? I thought the coffee you were leaving me for weeks was your attempt."
He snorts, taking a few steps closer to her desk, "Don't need to woo you."
She gives him a smirk, "So all the coffee was for, what? Fun?"
He shrugs, "You like coffee."
"Careful there Agent Gibbs," She says, "People will think you're going soft."
"Are you gonna finish up your work or am I getting take out alone?"
"Tempting offer," She tells him, straightening the stack of papers in front of her, "Are you buying?"
He flashes her a grin, "I'm not the one on a Directors Salary, but I think I can spare the change. Chinese?"
Despite herself, a wide grin spreads across her. She spends most of her days mentally kicking herself when she's around. Perhaps its the newly reignited relationship between them, or the fact that she's essentially making up for lost time, or maybe she's just infatuated with him that she finds herself swooning over the way he looks at her.
She has to remind herself some days that she is a grown woman and not a love sick teenager.
"I could go for Chinese." She tells him with a smile.
After setting aside the papers she had been working on and straightening up the few folders scattered around her desk, she flips off the lamp she had on, grabbing her purse in the process.
When she looks up, he's holding her coat up for her with a smug grin.
"Very gentlemanly of you, Jethro." She remarks, making her way towards him.
"I'm not always a bastard, Jen."
He holds open the coat, gently helping her slide into it before pressing a kiss to the back of neck, and she can't help but hum in delight.
"Not office appropriate." She mutters, buttoning her coat.
"Don't see anyone here." He counters, spinning her around so he can face her, "Live a little."
She offers him a smile, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss against his lips, "Home, get Chinese on the way, and then I will live on the edge."
He raises his eyebrows with a surprised look, "Gonna stay up on a work night Jen? You must really be wooed."
She rolls her eyes, ushering him out the door, "Let's go, Agent Gibbs."
When the cold air of the night hits her, her mind wanders to the sunny streets of LA, and for a moment she thinks about the job offer, of moving to a bigger agency across the country, and just how accomplished her career would be if she took the job.
But when she looks at the man walking beside her, his hand pressing lightly against the small of her back, her mind wanders back to the day on the plane.
What was she going to do?
A/n: Big decisions to be made here by Jenny, stay tuned to see how this all plays out. R&R.
- Ali