Jethro Gibbs turned around, stopping in his tracks as he was made to leave the Director's office, as he heard Jenny calling him back.
"Remember Jethro, you have got plenty of leave stacked up. Even after your margarita safari." Her mouth twitched a little at the corners, fighting back her trademark smile. The one Gibbs had fallen in love with years ago.
"Trying to get rid of me, Jen?" He replied, his less than serious words covering up what he was really feeling.
"No, Jethro, if I had do you think I would've accepted the role of Director of NCIS knowing full well that you work here?" She asked, but Gibbs assumed it was rhetorical and waited for her to continue. "I just think you could do with a break, it's been an eventful year."
"That is has." Gibbs agreed. He looked properly at Jenny; it appeared to him that it was her who needed the vacation time rather than him. "You deserve a break too, Jenny." He said softly.
"And leave the agency high and dry? I don't think so, Jethro, but a girl can dream." She replied.
"Was that everything?" Gibbs asked, preparing to leave again.
"Yes." Jenny confirmed, watching as he silently left her office, shutting the door after him. She sighed, placing her elbows on the desk and resting her head in his hands. Gibbs was right, she did need a break but that wasn't possible just now. Was it?
When Jenny returned home late that evening, she found an envelope sticking out of her mailbox. Curiously she took it out and studied the envelope. It simply said 'Jen' on the front meaning it could be from one person and one person only. Going inside and out of the cold November evening, Jenny sat on the stairs and opened the envelope. When she did out fell a photograph and she wondered if it would be another one of her and Gibbs outside the farmhouse in Serbia. She was wrong. It was a photograph from their only trip that could be classed as a vacation and not an operation; when they went skiing in the alps. The picture had been taken during dinner at the hotel they were staying in. Her long red hair was curled and fell to her shoulders and she was wearing a figure hugging black dress. It depressed her to think of the toll the job had taken on her appearance. No wonder Gibbs had chosen to have a brief fling with Hollis Mann. She self-consciously touched her cropped hairstyle before letting her eyes settle on Gibbs. He was wearing his marine uniform and Jenny felt herself swoon just looking at the picture. Just seeing him wearing it made her remember why she had fallen in love with him in the first place. In the photograph his arm was wrapped securely around her waist and she was resting her head against his shoulder. It made her eyes prick with tears just to think about how in love they were and the state they were in now. She looked inside the envelope and found an note.
'Jen,
You need a vacation too. The Alps, you and me? What do you say?
Love, Jethro.'
Jenny smiled, wiping stubbornly at the one tear that had dared to fall.
As she went to the kitchen to make dinner for herself, she turned the radio on. As she took the chicken out of the fridge and began to chop up some vegetables the words of the song floated towards her and she found herself reminiscing.
Quarter moon, always makes me think of you
Are you thinkin' of me too? When you see it shine
It's kind of sad; But I'm smiling, Imagine that
Cause we're lucky to have had what we had - even for a time
Didn't we set the nights on fire
Did ever a flame burn any higher
Wasn't it so sweet? Wasn't it?
Didn't we love.
As the song ended Jenny knew that she had to go and see Jethro. Putting the dinner of chicken, vegetables and rice into two containers, she picked up her keys and headed straight for Gibbs' house. When she got there only one light was on and the front door was unlocked. Stacking the containers on top of each other, she headed inside and down to the basement where she knew he would be.
"Hey, Jen." Gibbs said, without turning around from where he was sanding the boat.
"Hey, have you eaten? I've brought dinner." She told him, putting the containers down on an available surface.
"Thanks, Jen." He smiled, abandoned his task and headed over to her. "I take it you got my message then." It was a statement, not a question.
"I did, and Jethro it's not that I don't want to come with you, I just can't. It's not possible." She explained, handing him a container and a fork.
"Surely NCIS can spare you for a weekend?" He reasoned.
Jenny sighed. "I wish. I hate that you're right, but being a field agent made life so much easier." She smiled.
Gibbs laughed too. "Just say you'll try and get the time off."
"I'll try." She assured him, as they tucked into their dinners in companionable silence.
When Jenny had gone home, Gibbs went back to sanding his boat, taking occasional sips from the mug of bourbon beside him. It was the first time since the impulsive decision that he was actually wondering whether he and Jenny going away together after all this time would be such a good idea. He pushed the doubts aside, nearly eight years had passed since they had ended their relationship and they had successfully worked together for two. Could they really just stay 'ex-partners' when they were miles away from work in a place which held so many memories.
"Jethro, I don't think this is such a good idea." Jenny mumbled from the top of the slope.
"Oh, come on Jen, we've travelled Europe hunting serial killers and yet you can't ski down one small hill..."
"Small?" Jenny replied incredulously. "It's practically a mountain!"
"You'll love it, seriously." Gibbs promised her.
Jenny sighed.
"Fine. But if I break something...you can sleep on the couch for the rest of the week."
Gibbs smiled at the memories now convinced that it was a good idea. He just hoped Jenny would fight to get the time off.
Jenny returned home in two minds, desperately wanting to go back to the alps with Jethro but also knowing it was impractical and the job should come first. She ran herself a bath, still thinking the whole situation through. When the tub was filled and the water was at the right temperature, Jenny undressed and climbed in, leaning back and letting her thoughts drift.
"Okay, I admit it." Jenny said, when she and Gibbs returned to their cosy hotel after a tiring but fun day on the slopes. "I really did enjoy that."
"I'm glad." Gibbs said.
"Don't you dare say I told you so." Jenny said, kissing him softly as they waited for the elevator.
Gibbs held his hands up in surrender. "Wouldn't dare. I'm still worried about you making me sleep on the couch!"
Jenny laughed. They stepped into the elevator as the doors opened and pressed the button for their floor.
When they entered their own suite, Jenny headed straight for the bathroom and turned the hot taps on. Gibbs smiled seductively at her.
"Room in their for two?" He asked.
"Of course." She called and Gibbs followed the sound of her voice. Finding Jenny already in her underwear bending over the tub. Gibbs breath caught in his throat, she looked so beautiful, so natural.
"Hey," She smiled, standing up and going over to Gibbs, placing her arms around his neck and leaning up to kiss him.
"I love you Jen, you know that right?" He said, his voice close to her ear.
"I love you too, Jethro." She replied, slipping out of his arms and turning off the taps. She turned back to him, her green eyes burning with desire. "But you might have to remind me."
Gibbs grinned back, shedding his own clothes and following her into the water.
It was enough to convince her. As she towelled herself dry and got ready for bed, Jenny knew that she would do whatever it took to get her weekend away with Jethro Gibbs.
Three weeks later, Jenny and Gibbs were on the way to the airport, neither of them spoke as the taxicab navigated it's way through the busy streets. It was early Friday evening and the two of them had until Tuesday morning to be back at work. Jenny wondered if just one weekend could change anything between the two past lovers, she was happy to be proved wrong though. When they finally boarded the plane, Gibbs took Jenny's hand without any prompting and she was touched that he remembered how much she hated flying. She supposed she had made it pretty obvious on the many past occasions they have been on planes together.
"Hey, Jen." Gibbs prodded her awake as the plane began to come into land at the airport. "We're nearly here."
Jenny slowly opened her eyes and yawned, she couldn't believe she had slept the whole way there. Clearly she had needed a break more than she had realised. She blushed.
"I'm sorry Jethro, I've been awful company already!"
"No, not at all Jen." He smiled, pleased that she had been able to get some rest. "I won't take it personally anyway."
He laughed.
Jenny laughed too, swatting him playfully on the arm. For the first time in a long time she felt herself relax.
"It's just like I remembered!" Jenny said, stopping outside the hotel and dropping her suitcase onto the stone steps.
Gibbs stopped behind her and looked up at the building, Jenny was right it looked just as it had the last time they had been there. Although the one obvious difference this time was that Gibbs had booked two separate rooms for them, something that hung heavily and awkwardly in the air between them. After they had checked in at reception, they waited for the elevators. The two people who had stood talking, laughing and kissing while waiting for the elevator to arrive were just ghosts now. They stepped inside the elevator car and were silent as it ascended. When the doors opened on their floor they awkwardly said goodbye. Jenny inserted the keycard into her hotel room door and pushed the door opened. She dumped her suitcase on the floor and threw herself onto the bed, inhaling the fresh scent of clean sheets and letting her tears fall.
Jethro Gibbs felt it in his gut; he had been in this room before. Nine years had passed since he and Jenny had last been to this hotel but he was sure this was the same room they had stayed in. Convinced of it, in fact. He hated to think of her in her own room, alone, further down the corridor. He knew it was foolish to expect one weekend away to change things between them. Time had passed, maybe just too much of it to ever go back to how they once were. He went into the ensuite bathroom, running the cold tap and splashing water on his face. As he reached for a clean towel he caught sight of the gleaming bathtub in the corner. Memories cascaded over him of sitting in that tub with Jenny, defrosting after long days on the slopes. He quickly rubbed his face dry and reached for the hotel room phone, dialling the number for Jenny's hotel room.
"Jen," He said when she picked up. "Are you hungry? Dinner is on me." He told her, hanging up before she could argue with him.
Jenny sighed, picking herself up off the bed and confronting her reflection. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying and her face was pale and puffy, not to mention her short red hair was sticking up in all directions. Just looking in the mirror made her wonder why Gibbs still cared for her, maybe he still saw the ambitious young redhead she used to be, the same way she saw the Jethro Gibbs from all those years ago. She went into the bathroom and turned the shower on, while she waited for the water to heat up she looked through her suitcase for something to wear. Gibbs knocked on her hotel room door just before seven, and after spraying a little perfume and grabbing an evening bag, she went out to join him.
"Hey, you look good Jen." Gibbs commented, they seemed to be slipping back into their old roles rather than the constant game they played as Director and Field Agent.
"Thanks." Was that a blush she felt creeping up her neck towards her cheeks? Surely not. She looked properly at Gibbs now; he really didn't look bad either. "So do you." She replied.
They walked towards the elevators again and were soon seated across from each other in the hotel's dining room. The waiter had brought them a bottle of their finest wine and Jenny swirled the blood red liquid in the glass as she looked across at Gibbs. The hazy light from the candles made the years disappear from his face and it was like being in a time warp.
"Something wrong, Jen?" Gibbs asked, his blue eyes sparkling across the table at her. He startled her and she quickly gripped hold of the wine glass to stop herself from spilling it.
"No," She assured him, giving him a small grin. "Just reminiscing."
He smiled back. "You know what's strange..." He began but was cut off mid-sentence when the waiter arrived to take their orders.
Jenny laughed, ordering for Gibbs when his French failed, his languages had always been atrocious and had landed them in trouble countless times.
"And for your husband?" The waiter asked Jenny in French.
"Oh, he's not my..." She said at the same time that Gibbs also protested. The waiter gave Jenny a knowing smile before taking Gibbs' order from her.
"I'd forgotten how good the food is here." Gibbs said, wiping his mouth on a napkins after swallowing the last mouthful of their dessert course.
Jenny smiled. "Coffee?" She suggested.
"I've got my own stash back in my hotel room, if you care to join me." He replied.
Jenny felt her breath hitch in her throat and the room suddenly grew warmer. She knew she should decline but to hell with it.
"Okay." She agreed, as they got up from the table. She felt increasingly nervous as the elevator sped towards their floor; she fiddled with her jewelled evening bag. Gibbs watched her, the corners of his mouth twitching close to a smile. She followed him along the corridor towards his suite, knowing that she still had time to back out and head to her own room and the paperback novel that was waiting for her. But her heels seemed to lead the way towards Gibbs hotel room as if she was destined to be there. He opened the door and stepped back to let her in. All of the rooms in the hotel were probably built with the same layout but there was something about this room, she felt it as soon as she walked inside.
"Jethro, is this..." She tailed off when she saw him nodding.
"It's what I wanted to tell you at dinner." He confirmed.
Jenny smiled. "Coffee?" She asked, eager to clear the sexual tension that was mounting. She wasn't sure she could handle another two years of trying to rebuild what they had now.
"Anyone would think you were trying to change the subject, Jen." He teased. Damn, he knew her too well.
While Gibbs made the coffee, Jenny awkwardly perched on the edge of the bed, trying to block out the memories she had of this room, of this bed, of her and Jethro together. She was reawakened from her reverie of the past by Gibbs holding out a mug of coffee for her.
"This is good." She replied.
Gibbs grinned. "What else did you expect?" He perched on the other corner of the bed and drank from his own coffee cup.
The silence seemed to stretch out between them and Jenny knew she should say something, she just didn't know that exactly.
"Jenny," Gibbs began, and she knew that he was serious; he only ever called her 'Jenny' when he was. "You know I didn't bring you out here just for a vacation, don't you? If I had we could've gone somewhere closer to home, but I wanted to bring you somewhere which holds memories for us." He took Jenny's mug from her hands and placed them both on the sideboard, out of the way.
"Jethro," Jenny began but he wasn't finished yet.
"I didn't know how else to tell you, Jen, but I'm still in love with you. I thought being with Hollis meant I could move on and date other women but I can't, whoever I end up with I'm going to compare them to you."
"Jethro," Jenny said, again, reaching out to take his hand this time.
"Being back here has already brought me so many memories, and that photograph, we had it all Jethro, and now we only have the shards of that love. I want us to try again." She said, not sure where the words were coming from. They were the sentiments she had longed to share with him since that moment in MTAC over two years ago.
Jethro smiled warmly at her. "So do I, Jen."
She leaned over and closed the gap between them, placing a soft kiss to his lips. He pulled her closer, supporting her neck with his hand. The familiar room seemed to envelope them as feelings from long ago were finally free to rise to the surface and they both realised that it was true, you couldn't run from the past forever.
Didn't we set the nights on fire
Did ever a flame burn any higher
Wasn't it so sweet? Wasn't it?
Didn't we love.
- 'Didn't We Love' – Tamara Walker.