Chapter 4: Count on me
A/N: Sorry, somehow I lost my ideas during the last weeks. The song is ‚Count on me' by Bruno Mars.
Jenny's smile grew wider at the thought of Gibbs in the backseat. Maybe the key to him was his daughter after all.
Saying the working atmosphere on the MCRT improved in the following weeks was a huge understatement. Jenny wasn't completely sure what exactly did the trick but the answer could probably be found somewhere between saving Kelly and pulling off the perfect headshot. But whatever it was it did wonders for everyone involved.
The tension, who had been a constant companion before, just disappeared. The ever developing trust between Jenny and Gibbs led to more solved cases, less paperwork and definitely less shouting matches. With time they got to know each other properly and learned to function as a team. At the beginning Burley and Decker had been delighted that they could stop to find hiding places whenever Sheppard and Gibbs butted heads. But soon they learned that a united front resulted in a lot more head-slaps than necessary.
From there it went downhill for Burley and Decker. The final straw had been when it came to the point where Gibbs and Jenny started to complete each others sentences. That, Burley decided, was definitely creepy.
Jenny and Gibbs didn't see it that way. They actually started to love working together, realizing how the other person could complete their line of thoughts without so much as a second guess. And eventually, without noticing, they became friends.
The first time Jenny realized something had changed was when she was sitting on an old, worn out couch in her soon-to-be partners basement, his daughters feet in her lab and a tumbler of bourbon in hand. Looking at it like that wasn't as special as you might think, but considering it was the third time that week and it was only Friday Jenny realized something had definitely changed. She hadn't felt that comfortable in someone's presence for a long time. She couldn't decide if she liked it or if it started to freak her out.
A well placed kick to her ribs brought her out of her thoughts. "Hey Miss, would you mind giving the chocolate back before it completely disappears down your throat?" Kelly's light blue eyes bored a whole in the side of Jenny's head while she realized she had been starring at Gibbs working on the boat and had completely forgot about the teenage girl next to her. Jenny lazy turned her head over to the girl, acting as if she had heard Kelly all along and had just ignored her on purpose. With a quick movement of her wrist the chocolate bar made it's way over to the other end of the couch and hit Kelly right between the eyes. With a satisfying smirk Jenny let herself fall back into the couch. "Your welcome." At that Kelly practically fumed.
That was another thing. At the beginning Jenny hadn't realized that Kelly would be a part of the package that was her partnership with Gibbs. Jenny had never been the motherly type and so she had never thought about children. But Kelly wasn't a child anymore. She was a smart and witty young women even if Gibbs still treated her like a child sometimes. Spending time with her had been weird at first but after some time Jenny had realized that Kelly brought out a side in her that she didn't even new existed. It made her feel good. Better than she had felt in years. On the opposite Jenny's presence in the Gibbs household did Kelly good. Growing up without a women around had been hard and she hadn't particular liked her fathers ex-wives. But Jenny was different on so many levels.
After recovering from the shock of getting hit with a chocolate bar Kelly wiggled her bare feet in front of Jenny's face who in return frowned. "No Kelly, not today." But Kelly just stuck her tongue out and laughed. "You lost the bet so you have to give me a massage and my feet feel extremely horrible today." Jenny groaned and started to work on the teenager's left foot. Suddenly interested in the girls conversation Gibbs stopped working on the boat and looked around one of the ribs. "What bet?", he asked while narrowing his eyes. Jenny and Kelly looked at each other and then shrugged heir shoulders. "Don't know what you mean Gibbs", they replied simultaneously without missing a beat. Gibbs snorted. He didn't like that they were talking behind his back. Little did he know that the subject of the bet had been his date from two nights ago. Kelly had given the poor women and hour before she would run for the hills. Jenny on the other hand had said Gibbs would bring her home, having in mind how amazing he looked in just a white, tight t-shirt and coming to the conclusion that no one could resist his looks. But as always Kelly had won, knowing her father far better than Jenny did. After all the women hadn't been a redhead.
After some minutes of comfortable silence Kelly bumped her shoulder lightly against Jenny's. "Hey, you up for a movie marathon tomorrow night?" Jenny smiled but shook her head. „Can't. I have a date." Automatically Kelly sat up straighter. "Really? With whom?" Jenny just rolled her eyes and noticed with amusement that Gibbs had stopped sanding his boat again and was looking just as curious as Kelly did. "Remember when your dad dragged me to the hospital a week ago because of that cut on my forehead." Kelly just nodded, remembering how persistent her dad had been. "The doctor who treated me called me a few days ago, saying he stole the number from my file and asked me out. He was cute so I said yes." While Jenny smiled slightly, Kelly squealed and Gibbs just snorted. "Call me afterwards and tell me how it went?" The redhead nodded. "Sure thing kiddo."
The next day Jenny woke up in her bedroom with a slight headache. She faintly remembered that the amount of alcohol had increased after Kelly had went to bed. But that was about it. However she didn't remember how she got home. Hopefully Gibbs had called her a cab and didn't drive himself. Looking at the clock she realized it was just after 12 and she should probably get ready. After all her date would pick her up around 4:30.
Time flew by. After a nice breakfast with a lot of coffee, Jenny went upstairs again to pick an outfit. The following hours were spend with showering, shaving, painting, straightening and curling. In fact she just finished putting lipstick on when the doorbell rang. Todd Gelfand was a tall man with broad shoulders and dark brown hair and eyes. He was handsome but inconspicuous.
All in all Jenny had a nice afternoon. Todd was nice enough to begin with but he didn't take her breath away. He was a little self-regarding and talked way to much about work. Sure, Jenny was a workaholic herself but the little free time she had was always spent wisely. So when her phone went off shortly after they were served dinner, Jenny hoped for just a second that her team got a case. She didn't like to pretend to get to know someone when she already knew that he wasn't the one.
"Shepard." In her haste to answer the phone Jenny hadn't even bothered to check the caller ID. "It's Gibbs. I really don't want to bother you but… I'm not sure what…" Jenny was confused. Gibbs stuttering? Something was wrong. He wouldn't call her on her free night unless it was urgent. "Gibbs quit beating around the bush. What is it?" She heard his heavy breathing through the line and really started to worry. "It's Kelly." Without really noticing Jenny's heart rate increased and she stopped breathing for a few seconds. "Whats wrong?", was all she could get out. Again she was met with a few moment of silence before she got an answer. "I don't know. She's in pain but she refuses to see a doctor or Ducky. She doesn't want to talk to me. I'm running out of ideas here." While he talked Jenny had already packed up her things and was on her way to the door. "I'll be there in 10." She ended the call without waiting for a reply. "You have to go?" Damn. She nearly forget her date who was still sitting at the table but to be honest he was the least of her concerns right now. "Work", was all she said and with that she was out of the restaurant and hailed a cab.
10 minutes later she arrived at her destination. Knowing the door was unlocked she stormed inside. Leaving her bag and her coat in the hallway. She jogged up the stairs taking two at a time and came to an abrupt halt in front of Kellys door. Gibbs turned around when he heard Jenny on the stairs and was momentarily stunned. All his concerns about Kelly were forgotten as he looked at his probie slash partner coming up the stairs. She wore a little black number which ended mid-tight and had a pretty impressive neckline. Her black heels made her legs impossible long and her hair fell in even waves down her back. She looked quite simply beautiful.
But Jenny was having none of this. She was too focused on the cranky teenager behind the closed door. She shoved Gibbs aside and knocked lightly on the door. "Kelly, it's me Jenny. Can I come in?" Kelly's response was quiet but noticeable. Jenny opened the door slowly, slipped inside and closed it again.
She walked over to the big bed and sat on the side, stroking some hair out of the teenagers face. "Kelly what's wrong. Your dad is worried and so am I. What's the matter? Are you sure you don't need a doctor?" Kelly shook her head but flinched when the movement caused her even more pain. "I just have cramps." Jenny needed a few seconds for it to sink in. "Cramps? But what.. oh." She noticed the open tampon box beside the bed and realized what the problem was. "But why didn't you just tell your dad?" Kelly scoffed. "He still thinks I'm 5." Jenny just shook her head in disbelieve. "He doesn't know?" The teenager laughed softly. "No. I buy my stuff by myself. At the beginning my period wasn't that heavy. But within the last year it got a lot worse and I started to be really sick sometimes. Until today I could always cover it but I really feel like crap right now. I didn't know what to tell my dad. I hoped he would call you." The older redhead let out a breath and nodded. She knew what Kelly meant. Her period hadn't been a subject she had discussed with her dad after her mom had died. She knew who difficult it was when no one got your problem. She stroke the girl's face for a few moment to calm her a little bit. "I'm going to get you a hot-water bottle, some medicine and tee. Just stay put."
She left the room quietly and closed the door behind her. She went downstairs and in the kitchen where she found Gibbs leaning against the cabinets. "Did you find out what's wrong with her?" He was extremely worried and Jenny felt really sorry for him. "Yes. Nothing's wrong with her." Gibbs looked confused. "But what's her problem then?" Jenny scoffed under her breath. She couldn't believe how unsuspecting he was. "She has cramps Gibbs." He was still looking at her confused. "It's her time of the month", Jenny tried again. Still, no reaction. "Damn it Gibbs. She's on her period." His disbelieving face was the funniest thing Jenny had seen all evening. "Why does she have her period?" Jenny couldn't believe that a man who was so brilliant in his job was so ignorant at home. So she did the only thing she could think of. The head slap that followed was hard enough to get him out of his trance. "She is nearly 16. Of course she already has her period. What did you expect? A warning in the mail?" And with that she took all the necessities and walked upstairs again, leaving a stunned Gibbs behind.
Hours later Gibbs stood in the doorway to his daughters bedroom watching Jenny laying on the bed with Kelly, one arm around her shoulders, talking to her soothingly. Kelly looked better. Still in pain but better. Gibbs couldn't begin to describe how grateful he was for Jenny in this moment. She managed the situation with such lightness it was ridicules. But watching Kelly and Jenny together also brought pain he hadn't felt in a long time. He couldn't help thinking what Shannon would have done. And for a moment he feared that the memories would be too strong to bear. But than he found Jenny's green eyes in the darkness of the room and somehow she brought him back to the present.
Jenny had seen that far-away look a few times in Gibbs eyes when Kelly and her interacted. She hadn't asked about Kelly's mother and she wasn't going to. But she knew it was something that constantly haunted Gibbs. She would like to help him but she wasn't ready to fight the demons that came with loss herself. She wasn't going to force him to open up when she knew how easy it was to just stay closed.