Chapter 5: Only Love
A/N: The song is 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' by Paloma Faith.
The first time she fully realized that her feelings towards Gibbs were developing towards a highly unprofessional direction it hit her like a ton of bricks. She seriously wasn't expecting it. And she definitely wasn't prepared for what it meant for her future.
It was the end of June and hot as hell in Washington. Even the criminals were staying inside their own homes where they had air-conditioning which resulted in no cases for the MCRT. Considering the only two left were Gibbs and Shepard you couldn't quite say 'team'. It was more like a really small gang which just happened to have the best clear-up rate in DC.
Burley and Decker had been relocated in mid June, one and a half month earlier than planned. But with Shepard and Gibbs working together as if they had never done anything else in their life there simply had been no need for them to stay.
So it was needless to say that it was calm in HQ. So calm in fact that Jenny Shepard started questioning her sanity. With nothing to do expect undressing herself layer after layer and watching Gibbs at his desk doing god knows what her mind often went to places it wasn't supposed to. So on this particular Friday morning she prayed to god that something spectacular would happen to take her mind off things. Later that day she was going to regret that wish deeply.
The day started with Jenny arriving at the office at nine a clock. Two hours later than usual. With really nothing to do there was no need to roll out of bed so early in the morning just to sit behind her desk all day. To her surprise Gibbs wasn't there when she arrived so Jenny busied herself with rearranging the things on her desk once, then twice. Just as she was about to do it a third time out of pure boredom the elevator noise made her turn around in her seat. She let out a good-hearted sigh when she spotted Gibbs with two large coffee's in his hands.
That was how they started every morning. Gibbs would bring her coffee and she would sit on the edge of his desk drinking it. They would talk about their latest case or Kelly or anything that got their interest. But today just as Jenny was about to sit on her partner's desk and take the first gulp of the dark, hot liquid their director's voice echoed down from the catwalk. "Sheppard, Gibbs. In my office. Now." Jenny cringed and Gibbs groaned. That could only mean one thing - trouble.
Taking two steps at a time they sprinted upstairs and found themselves in the director's office just mere seconds later. Tom Morrow was already sitting behind his desk. "Take a seat please." His tone left no space for arguing. Jenny thoughtfully sipped her coffee and started wondering what exactly they did wrong. But instead of saying something Morrow just handed them a white envelop each. Jenny and Gibbs exchanged a short, curious look and then opened their letters.
Jenny was the first to discover the content. "An invitation to the Washington Summer Night Ball?" But before Morrow had the chance to answer Gibbs groaned loudly and the director smirked. "It seems as Agent Gibbs is already aware what that invitation means. The ball is tonight and the SecNav is getting a little paranoid. Reelections are in October and he's going to run for office again. In his opinion that makes him a target for every criminal in DC. We already have more than enough security outside but SecNav requested 'undercover' agents inside as well. So because of that you two have the pleasure to attend tonight as a married couple. It isn't a deep cover at all so you should have no problem with your alias. You just have to discreetly guard the SecNav." Gibbs groaned again but Jenny looked mildly excited. "Do we have to? I mean why can't Pacci's team do that?" Morrow smirked at Gibbs's obvious discomfort. "Because you and Shepard got to skip weekend duty three weeks in a row. See it as payback." Now it was Jenny's turn to groan. She somehow knew they wouldn't just get a way with skipping every weekend they were planned in for. "If you have no questions, I'll dismiss you so you can get ready. I want you at the ball at 1800 sharp. No excuses, no moaning and Gibbs - a tuxedo is in order." Gibbs just looked as if he wanted to slam his head against the nearest wall - repeatedly. Jenny smiled to herself. No matter how awful that ball was going to be, seeing her partner suffering about this was more amusing than anything else could ever be.
1700 rolled around rather quickly and made Jenny realize that she should probably hurry up and get dressed if she didn't want Gibbs to get a coronary. The last hours had been spent dress shopping and showering. When she opened the kitbag she couldn't help but smile to herself. The dress was gorgeous. It was floor length, black, tight and off the shoulders. On the left side was a pretty impressive cut up to her tight and the back of the dress dipped low. It was a classic, simple dress but looked amazing nonetheless.
She had just put on the necklace her father had given her for her 18th birthday when she heard a knock on the front door. Seconds later she heard Noami opening the door and ushering Gibbs inside. She checked herself in the floor length mirror one last time and then grabbed her bag from the side table and made her way towards the stairs.
Gibbs jaw dropped to the floor as soon as he saw Jenny coming down the stairs. She had looked beautiful the other night when she had come to his house straight from her date. Today she looked stunning. Her hair fell down her shoulders in soft waves and looked like it was on fire. Her skin contrasted with the dark dress in a beautiful way. And her eyes. Her eyes shone brighter than he had ever seen them shine. He needed a moment to realize that she was now standing next to him and was smiling up at him. "You okay Gibbs?" He just gulped and nodded. For just a second he wished she had called him Jethro so it would suit the intimacy of the moment. But she was his friend and his partner - nothing more. He held his arm out for her to grab and with a quick goodbye to Noami over their shoulder they walked out of the house.
They walked up the stair to the old city hall at 1800 sharp. They were about to enter when Gibbs stopped his partner. He pulled a box out of his pocket, opened it and took Jenny's left hand in his. "You ready for this Mrs. Jones?" For a moment Jenny just starred at the two golden wedding bands in the box. When she looked up and into his eyes again she looked determined. "Sure." And with that she took the larger band from the box and put it on her partners ring finger, never loosing eye contact. He returned the favor and from that moment on they were different people. All thoughts about Kelly, work or unresolved feelings were forgotten. Gibbs let the box slide back into his pocket and pulled his wife closer by the waist. In return Jenny put one of her hands over his and leaned her head on her shoulder. Without doubt they made a nice couple.
The following few hours were spent with discreet observing and a little bit acting. It wasn't really hard for Jenny and Gibbs to pretend they were married. After all their partnership was based on trust and friendship. The only thing missing was the part where they were madly in love but pretending that there was more wasn't as difficult as they originally thought. They never stayed far from each other and there was always a fleeting touch or an intimate smile that indicated that the couple had chemistry.
It was nearly midnight when Gibbs finally had the courage to ask Jenny to dance with him. He had put it off until last minute because he wasn't sure of her answer. But she had simply smiled at him and nodded her head. They danced for a while, both positively surprised how well their bodies fitted to together, when the music changed to something slower Gibbs pulled Jenny a little closer and she put her hands around his neck. When they finally looked at each other the air around them seemed to be electric. On of Jenny's hands which had been located at the base of his neck shifted to his cheek but just when she was about to say something her posture changed. Her whole body tensed and her eyes went wide. "Gibbs." Her voice was warning and cold and had nothing to do with the feelings that were on display mere minutes before. She had shifted in Agent-Mode faster than he could blink.
Gibbs instantly reached for his weapon and turned around just in time to see one of the waiters who had had a heated discussion with SecNav's security detail pull a weapon from under his apron. And then everything went out of hand. Before either of the the agents could blink the security detail lay on the ground, blood staining his suit. Gibbs very first instinct was to push Jenny out of the line of fire because the couple stood in the middle of the dance floor, directly between SecNav and the waiter. When Gibbs was sure Jenny was as secure as she could be in such a situation he raised his weapon and turned around again. Before he could fire a single shot he stumbled backwards and was forced to the ground by a bullet to the stomach and one to the chest. Behind him Jenny pulled her weapon from her tight and fired three rounds. Hitting the gunmen in the leg, the stomach and right between the eyes before he could get to the SecNav. She didn't check if the SecNav was okay through because her only concern was the men laying by her feet. She crouched down next to him and checked him over. He was already pale and sweaty. His white shirt was stained with blood. She pressed her hands down hard on his wounds to stop at least a little bit of the blood that was seeping through his clothes. Around her everything went down in chaos but she didn't realize anything, not even that she was shouting for help. Only when her voice cracked and tears begun to form in her eyes did she notice that she indeed had said something.
When she pressed a little harder on the wounds Gibbs gasped and opened his eyes. He hissed in pain but wasn't able to move. Instead he tried to say something but the words just wouldn't leave his lips. He tried again but Jenny put a hand over his mouth. "Shut up!" She tried to sound playful and brave but the tears kept spilling over and her hands started to shake violently. Gibbs put his hand on top of hers and squeezed lightly. "Jen, tell Kelly that… that.." His voice broke again. Jenny just shook her head violently. "Don't you dare giving up on me Jethro. I need you and Kelly needs you even more. You need to stay awake." But his eyes just kept sliding close and there was nothing Jenny could do about it. "Jethro, please." Her voice cracked and she couldn't help to think what she would have to tell Kelly.
Her whole body arched and the moment she noticed he had stopped breathing her feelings went into overdrive. Without warning she realized that she wasn't just afraid that he could die. She was terrified. She was sure friendly feelings weren't supposed to feel like this.