There were a few things that Donald 'Ducky' Mallard knew to be true.

He knew that Jimmy Palmer was a promising but at times frustrating medical student.

He knew that Abby Scuito was one of the brightest women he had ever met.

He knew that Tony DiNozzo was a much better agent than people gave him credit for.

And he knew that, despite what both parties would like to have him believe, that Jethro Gibbs and Jenny Shepard would never fully be done with one another so long as they both worked under the same roof.

When the delicate silence of the early morning is shattered by the sound of the doors behind him opening, he needn't turn to see his visitor. There was only one person he knew who possessed the innate ability to appear when he was in the thoughts of another.

"Ah, Jethro," he says, setting down the stack of papers he had been shuffling through to properly greet his guest, "Bit early for you to be visiting."

"Personal visit, Duck."

He pushes his glasses farther up on the bridge of his nose, blinking as the man in front of him comes fully into focus, "Hmm, yes, I gathered as much. What can I do for you?"

Gibbs drums his fingers against the steel table at his side, jaw clenching as he does so. There's a far off look wandering around in his eyes; a vulnerability that Ducky doesn't recognize and it worries him.

"Jen's leaving."

He blinks, a bit dumbfounded by the statement.

"I beg your pardon?" Ducky says, because he needs be assured he had heard correctly.

"Jen," he repeats, "She's leaving."

His voice is cold and crisp: the sound of a man writhing in acceptance of circumstance.

"I'm going to need you to elaborate Jethro."

Gibbs takes a few hesitant steps around the room, blue eyes scouring over the metallic drawers and table tops, "FBI offered her a job. Deputy Director out in California. She's takin' it."

"Hmm," Ducky says, "And I take it by the scowl on your face we're not happy for Jennifer?"

In an instant, the glare Gibbs had been wearing was redirected to him.

"She burned a lot of bridges and climbed a lot of ladders to be director of this agency, and you're telling me she's just gonna throw that out the window for some hot shot office on the other side of the country?"

It was only then - when the slightest quiver in his voice broke through - that Ducky understood what was happening.

"Jethro," he says lightly, "Are you and Jennifer together?"

"No." The answer came to quickly; a fatal flaw that revealed more than it hid, and Gibbs knew it. He had been caught, and it was all Ducky could do to suppress the urge to gloat. It was an inevitable course of action that he knew his old friends would take.

But now was not the time to toot his own horn.

"Oh Jethro," he muses, "Are you really going to let that woman go just like that?"

"I'm not-" he abruptly pauses, quietly inhaling in what Ducky knew was an attempted to curve his bubbling frustration, "She's the one who wants to leave Duck, I'm not the one throwing all of whatever we're doing away. Not my choice whether she stays or goes. You know Jen as well as I do; she's stubborn."

Ducky can't hold back the snort that follows his statement, "As opposed to you?"

The glare returns, "Not talking about me."

"You're implying that Jennifer ended your relationship, then?"

There's a hesitation to Gibbs movements, "She tried to peddle out something about long distance. I know her, that job is going to be the priority in her life."

He raises his eyebrows, "You're not happy for her?"

He knows he's walking a dangerous line: toying with Gibbs words in attempts to unearth his deeper feelings, but it's a necessary evil he feels he needs to breech.

"I never said that."

"You implied it."

Gibbs sighs, resuming his pacing around the room, "She's a hell of an agent. Hell of a director, too. I'm not saying she doesn't deserve what she's getting, but I can't do that again. Being away from-" he swallows thickly, "-Shannon and Kelly was hell. I don't want to be separated like that again. She doesn't get that."

He knows there's more to Gibbs' series of thoughts, but Shannon and Kelly was one line he knows not to cross.

"When does she leave?" He settles on, because it's as safe of a question as he can think of.

"End of the month."

"I see. So you're the one who put an end to your relationship then?"

Ducky had been on the receiving end of the infamous Gibbs glare enough times to cultivate an immunity to it; he may scare the likes of Tony and McGee, but he was far from afraid.

"Ain't that simple."

"Is it not? Jethro, I've known her just as long as you have. If there is one thing that I am certain of, it's that that woman loves you, and that she carries that weight of leaving you all those years ago with her every day. Now, until you are ready to have a conversation with her like a mature adult in a serious relationship, I would advise you not to come back down here to air out your grievances."

When he hears the doors slide back open without so much as another word, he knows his point had been made.

Those two would surely be the death of him.

A/n: I don't like this chapter really at all, but I wanted to get something out while I am working on my next Jenny-centric piece. That, and I think Gibbs being able to vent his frustrations to someone other than Jenny is good to see. And update will come soon.

- Ali