The next morning when Jen woke up, she found herself still in her husband's arms. When she glanced up at his face she could tell he was still asleep. She did not move, she didn't want to wake him up, or maybe she was afraid that if she did wake him, he would pull away. It was just such a long time since she had felt him lying close, and she wanted to enjoy this last night they would spend together. She remembered everything that had happened last night, and she did not regret it. Frankly she was relieved she had taken the big step to ask for divorce, otherwise neither would have dared to bring up the subject.

Jen felt her husband tighten his grip on her in his sleep, and she carefully drew her hand up and down his back. She felt his muscles tense at her gentle touch, and that was enough to cause him to wake up. He blinked a few times before looking down at the woman lying in his embrace.

"Morning" he said in a hoarse voice.

"Yeah, good morning" she replied sadly, and he understood why. He also remembered what had been said last night between them, and he found himself to be all for the idea.

They still lay wrapped around each other, but Jen felt he had loosened his grip on her a bit.

"So…I guess this is it for us" she whispered sadly and felt him nod.

"Yep, but I think it's the right decision. We just don't work together anymore" he said, the tone in his voice told her he had already given up, that he just kept his arms around her because she appeared to want them there. But she also knew he was right in what he said, the crack between them had just gotten wider and wider, and now it didn't seem to be any way to mend it.

Jen rolled out from the loose grip he had on her and sat up on the edge of the bed.

"I'm gonna go take a shower" she said and walked off to the bathroom. Gibbs stayed in bed, but he rolled over on his back and lay staring up onto the ceiling. He couldn't believe he had been so blind, he obviously hadn't noticed how bad their relation really was. He hadn't even known she cried herself to sleep in the nights, he hadn't realized she was so miserable in his presence. This divorce would be the right choice; she would be free from her misery. At the same time he couldn't help but to be angry with her for not letting him know how she felt earlier, now the divorce would fix their problems.

Jen had taken off her nightgown and stepped into the shower cabin to wash up. She turned the water on to hot, and the moment the warm water started to cascade down her body, her own tears started to fall and mixed with the water. They say that just before you die, you can see your entire life pass before your eyes, but in Jen's case, flashes of her life together with Gibbs came into her vision. She saw all the meaningful moments in their time together pass before her eyes. This was really the end, the end of an amazing experience. He had taught her so much, given her more than she ever had imagined she would get, he had shown her more love than she probably deserved, but she had returned the favour.

Ten minutes later Jen stepped out of the cabin, she had to cut the shower short if she was gonna get into work in time. She wrapped a towel around her body and turned her head to the mirror. Her long red hair appeared glued to her skin, her face was red and puffy from both her crying and the hot water. She met her own eyes in the reflection, and she saw nothing. There were no emotions and no life in her gaze. Was she really ready to let go of the man she loved so deeply? Would a break-up with him cause her to not only cry herself to sleep, but putting her into deep depression? She was very aware of the fact that it had been she who had proposed they would get a divorce. But maybe she hadn't thought he would agree…maybe she had hoped he still thought they would make it. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"It's open" she called out, and after a few seconds, the door slowly opened.

"Jenny?" came Gibbs hesitant voice. A hint of hope lit in her heart at the sound of his faint and careful voice.

"Yes Jethro?" she answered softly, curious to what he had come to tell her.

He opened the door widely, and his eyes found her. He looked up and down her body, realizing water was dropping around her feet and she only wore a towel. He shook his head.

"We can talk later, you get ready first. We can take this in the car" he excused himself, and before Jen even had a chance to argue, he had closed the door behind him. Frustrated she sat herself down on the toilet lid. One the other hand, maybe it would be good for them to start fresh, maybe they just weren't meant to be together. This thought made Jen start to cry again, she buried her face in her hands and cried. How? Why? Why was this happening to them? Only four months ago she could have sworn they were the perfect couple, but now…

Half-an-hour later, they were both sitting in the car on their way to work. They hadn't spoken much during the morning; merely a few words had escaped their lips over breakfast. Jen had glanced at him now and then, and he had looked like he had a lot on his mind. She decided she would now break their silent pattern.

"You said you wanted to talk to me" she stated and he took his eyes off the road for a brief second to glance at her.

"Right, I did" he confirmed, and Jen looked at him, waiting for him to talk. He sighed before opening his mouth again.

"We should get in touch with a divorce attorney as soon as possible, you shouldn't have to suffer any longer" he said and Jen felt cold inside.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, in what way did she suffer, other than not be able to show her love to her husband?

"Well, first of all, you cry yourself to sleep, and I didn't even notice. I think that is enough proof we can't go on anymore if I as a husband doesn't even see when my wife is hurting" he explained

"Do you think we could have managed if you had noticed?" she asked in a low voice, and he considered his answer for a moment.

"I honestly don't know Jen" he finally said "If we had managed to sort out our fights, then maybe we would have had a chance to get through"

"But we could try harder" she suddenly blurted out, and Gibbs glance at her again.

"It was your idea to get a divorce" he reminded her, and she was well aware of that.

"I know it was, but it was in the middle of the night, like you said I was crying, I was upset and it just seemed right at the moment. You know what? Instead of agreeing to the divorce, you could have…I don't know…not agreed" she argued, feeling a fight coming up once again.

"And exactly how would that have helped us? I have told you over and over these past months we will be fine, but you have never believed me, what difference would it have made if I had told you so last night?" he shot back, and she could hear how the anger rose inside of him. He had a point; she had to agree with that.

"I don't know, but it just feels so hard to let go" she confessed, her voice softened and she could tell his expression did too.

"I know what you mean, but what choice do we have? I think that if we want to be happy again, we have to go our separate ways" his voice got calmer as he spoke, and Jen felt the tears burning in her eyes.

"So we really are gonna go through with this?" she tried to keep her voice steady, but turned away from his as she saw him nodding.

"I don't think we have any other choice" he replied sadly, his past divorces had never been this difficult before, probably because the whole marriage itself had been a hell, and the divorce was the only way out of it. But this time it had been a marriage he had enjoyed every last second of, with a woman he loved very much, but they just didn't work together any more.

They spend the rest of their ride in silence, Jen didn't dare to talk because she was afraid she would start to cry again, and Gibbs kept quiet because he didn't want to accidentally say something that might upset her.

They finally arrived at the headquarters, and Gibbs parked the car in his usual parking space. Jen happily got out; she needed some space from him and the tension between them. Maybe they just needed to spend some time apart in order to realize how much they needed each other. Maybe they would be able to talk this through tonight; maybe they would fix this without getting a divorce. Those were her hopes for today, but now she just wanted to be alone, take her mind off him and their marriage, and work was a very good distraction.

They both checked in and stood waiting for the elevator together. Neither had spoken since they left the car, but once they had stepped into the elevator, Jen opened her mouth.

"How about we have a talk tonight, before we contact any divorce attorneys?" she suggested, and Gibbs turned to look at her.

"A talk? About what?" he questioned, and she couldn't help but to find him to be annoying.

"What do you think? Us, of course!" she answered, her tone quite cold.

"Right, well I suppose we could. But what is the point if you are using that tone with me?" he shot back

"Sorry about that, you just don't seem to take us seriously anymore" she said as he raised his eyebrow.

"I don't? You know what, I don't have time to fight with you now" he said coolly and stepped around her to get out through the doors that had just opened on his floor.

"Have a nice day, Director" she heard him saying before the doors shut. Jen sighed and put her hand to her forehead. She had learned to live with that sometimes he could be very difficult, but she had also learned to bring out his best sides. She knew so much about him, she knew all the pain he had gone through after his first wife and daughter had died, she knew how he reasoned in different situations, she knew what he liked and didn't like, and she had figured out how to get through to his good side. But when they fought, he would sometimes deny that she knew him so well, sometimes better than he knew himself.

She stepped out and walked toward her office. She glanced down over the squad room, and noticed Gibbs was on the phone. The next second he told his team to grab their gear, they were probably running off on a case, well, she would soon find out what it is about anyway.

"Good morning Director" Cynthia greeted her as she walked past her assistant.

"Good morning Cynthia" Jen said back and went into her office. She sat down in her chair and turned on her computer. The next second, Cynthia came in with a pile of files.

"Leave them on my table" Jen said before she had a chance to explain what they were.

"Ok ma'am" Cynthia said and dumped them on the table "Is there anything else ma'am?"

"No thank you" Jen dismissed her and closed her eyes as the door closed behind Cynthia. Jen sighed and decided it was time to start working and put her husband off her mind.

The day went on as usual, except for what was going on inside Gibbs head. That was so out of the normal it could get. Today, work just couldn't make him forget Jen, and what they were going through. When the clock was almost seven, he decided to pack up for today. He looked up and saw Jen stand at the railing, and he decided to go up to her.

Jen noticed Gibbs climbing the stairs up to her. In her mind she saw a quick glimpse of him taking her into his arms and kiss her passionately, and telling her there was no way in hell he would divorce her. But as he came closer, she realized it was just a dream, he looked extremely tired and his expression was serious.

"Hey honey" she said as he stood beside her. He glanced at her and nodded as she sighed.

"How was your day?" she tried again, and this time he raised his gaze and met hers.

"It has been…complicated" Gibbs answered, and Jen understood he was not referring to the case, but to what had been going on inside his head.

"I know" she told him "Are you ready to go home?"

"Yeah, I suppose so"

"Fine, let me just get my jacket and my suitcase" Jen said and started to walk off toward her office

"I'll wait in the car" Gibbs called after her and she stopped and turned around

"Ok, be right there" she turned back and hurried into her office.

Later that evening, when Jen was cleaning up after their dinner, she heard someone enter the kitchen. She glanced over her shoulder and saw her husband stand in the doorway. Jen turned back to the dishes. They hadn't spoken much during the evening, and she understood the talk was coming up next. She knew she was right when she heard him clear his throat behind her.

"You said you wanted to talk tonight" Gibbs reminded her and Jen put down the plate she was holding.

"Yeah, I did" she reached out and grabbed her wedding ring that she had laid on the sink while doing the dishes and put it back onto her finger before she turned to face him.

"Start talking" Gibbs encouraged her, and Jen bit her lip as she avoided looking at him.

"I don't know where to begin" she stated and Gibbs sighed.

"You're the one that wanted to talk, I though you had something to say" he said rather coolly, but immediately regretted the tone of voice he had chosen

"Well, I don't think I do. I was hoping we could solve this together, as a couple. All married couples have their share of rough patches, some chose divorce, others fight to get back to what they were, or better. I just hope you'd tell me we are fighters" she shot back just as coolly.

"Maybe we just aren't…" he started

"Meant to be?" she cut him off and he nodded "Bull. We have managed damn well these six years we've been married. Everything we've done, everything we've felt, are you saying that was for nothing?"

"No, it was great while it lasted, and I'm glad we lasted so long"

"But you're ready to let go now? You know, if you hadn't been such a bastard right now, we could have had a future together!" Jen burst out angrily, causing the fury to rise in him as well.

"Oh, so it's my fault we are like this? You don't think it's because of you? Think about it Jen, ever since you became Director, all we have done, is arguing. Maybe this is your fault" he knew he sounded juvenile, but he just couldn't stand it that she was blaming him for all this.

"Or it's you who has a problem with taking orders from your wife!" she matched his anger, but softened her voice as she added "If you had a problem with me becoming Director, you should have told me"

"That's not it" he said, his voice was softer too as he finally took a step closer to her "I'm proud of you, Jenny. I'm impressed by what you have achieved, but somehow it managed to destroy our marriage"

"How did this happen?" Jen asked, her voice low and shaking.

"I don't know Jenny" he walked up to her and hesitantly placed his hands on her shoulders "I do not know"

"But we can't go on like this, we are not communicating anymore" he added, and against her will, she had to agree with that.

"I'm kind of tired, I think I'm going to bed" Jen said and withdrew herself from his hands. Her whole body protested against the action, but she knew she could not feel his touches any longer without wanting more from him, and she didn't want to be dismissed by him, which she knew he would do if she tried to kiss him.

"Yeah, me too I think" he said and together they walked out from the kitchen and up the stairs.

Jen froze the second she entered their bedroom, she stared at the bed.

"What the hell?" she burst out when she noticed Gibbs cover and pillow were gone.

"I made up the bed in the guest bedroom, thought I'd sleep there until we get though with the divorce" he said and kissed her head before he left her alone in the bedroom.

"But…" Jen whispered after him. She felt the tears threatening to start running down her cheeks. Knowing there was no way she could make him come back, she undressed herself and put on one of his old NCIS t-shirts and brushed her teeth before climbing into bed. She pulled the cover tighter around her body, she was cold. She glanced at a framed photo standing on the tiny table next to her bed, their wedding photo. The Jenny and Jethro in the photo looked so happy as they stood with their arms wrapped around each other. Jen felt alone in the bed, and once they had divorced, this loneliness would be her only company at night. As she stared at the photo, old memories re-surfaced and caused a smile to linger on her lips. This was when she realized that it was not their love or affection for each other that failed them, it was trust and faith. Jenny figured, if she just reminded him of what he believed in, they could work this out. She had finally found some hope after all, she would save their marriage. She just needed to make him remember when he had told her about the meaning of being always faithful.

Yes, will Jenny be able to save their marriage, or not? Will they find the trust and faith in each other that they need to mend their relation? Why was Gibbs so quick to give up on them?

So, please tell me what you think about this chapter. Thanks for reading and have a nice day… or night…or whatever!

Emma