A/N: I have creatively re-arranged the events of season 5 to suit the purpose of this story … However, like the previous chapter I have skipped over the majority of details because I wanted to focus on Jibbs. You will understand why by the end of the chapter!

*Disclaimer – don't own any of the characters, unfortunately*

Chapter 6

Over the next couple of months the two lovers had set out a regular routine. While Gibbs was working a case, or in a case's aftermath, Jenny would stay over at his house, allowing him to think and relax while working on his boat. In between cases, they would sleep at Jenny's. So far this routine was working well, and their relationship still remained a secret.

However, after working a high profile case involving the F.B.I, Jenny had been in conference with both their director and the Sec Nav for over an hour, being reamed about Gibbs' anti-sociable behaviour. She was incredibly furious about his lack of co-operation, even after she had had a heated discussion with him about it earlier that day. She was so angry that she would be spending the night at her house. Alone.

She was quickly growing tired of the conversation when one of the MTAC technicians notified her of an urgent case. She hastily excused herself from the conversation, promising to have another talk with Gibbs about his behaviour, and forcing him on desk duty for a week as punishment. She internally cringed about the upcoming conversation, but she would agree to anything at the moment. She then got the MTAC technician to bring up the details of the urgent case. A navy lieutenant had died on board a top secret navy ship. Great. Despite the fact that she could postpone her talk with Gibbs, she was now going to have to get into another dispute over the details of the top secret navy ship. She didn't want to have to deal with both at the moment. She turned to Cynthia and said,

"Cynthia, could you please notify Gibbs of his new case. Tell him and the team to go to Potomac Airport where he will be helicoptered to the Chimera."

"Yes Director," Cynthia replied. She couldn't blame the Director for not wanting to talk to Agent Gibbs at the moment, but she was suspicious about the way the two were acting of late. It was very uncharacteristic of the way they had been acting over the past two years.


Gibbs and the team, plus Ducky, had just landed on the Chimera. It was dark and quiet, but he welcomed this change of environment, despite the circumstances. He was still angry about being blind-sided by Jenny. He couldn't understand why she didn't have his back against the FBI. She knew damn well that they don't play fair. But, like usual, the blame fell on him. At least he got an out of town case to let them cool off; he didn't want to get into another heated argument and say something that he would regret. Despite the fact that the Director infuriated him, he didn't want to lose what they had. He decided to take his old approach at clearing his head; bury himself into the case.


Watching the ordeal unfold on MTAC's screen, Jenny is relieved that the team will be returning safely. Despite the fact that she knew that the team had not contracted haemorrhagic fever, she still felt uneasy. She sat, ignoring Commander Skinner's flirting, watching the ship up on MTAC's screen. While watching, something on the top left hand screen caught her eye. She watched in horror as she realised what that "thing" was; it was a missile, and it was headed straight for the ship. She watched in helpless dismay as she watched the ship explode. She sat motionless as she came to terms that everyone she loved was dead. That motionlessness then turned to fury when she realised that had the authority to sanction the hit was the Commander.

She then turned on him. At first calmly shouting about how he had killed her agents, but when he smirked and said that it was justified her emotions overtook her rationality. He had killed her lover, and their perceived family. She had never admitted it, but they were as close to a family as she and Jethro would get to. And now this idiot had ruined it. In a fit of raw emotions, she screamed at him before she stormed to her office where she eventually broke down into a heap, and started to cry uncontrollably. Her life as she knew it had changed drastically. How was she supposed to move on from this?

She didn't know how long she had been in that position, but she soon felt the presence of another. She turned to look and found Abby, also crying uncontrollably. She gathered the younger woman in her arms, like a mother would do to her child after she had been injured, and they grieved together.


Cynthia watched the scene unfold in front of her. She was just as horrified as the Director, but her reaction definitely startled her. There had to be something going on between her boss and Agent Gibbs, but what that was would she didn't know. It would be revealed soon though. In order to spare her boss some dignity, she ordered security to escort the Commander off the base. She then headed to her desk, awaiting further instructions.

Over the two years of working for NCIS, she had become good friends with her boss. She didn't want to leave Jenny, or Abby for that matter, at their time of need, but rather chose to comfort them in any way she could. But, at the same time she also felt distant. She wasn't close to Agent Gibbs or his team, so she didn't want to interrupt their grieving. She decided the best thing that she could do was go out and grab some dinner. They weren't going to be moving for a while, and food would certainly be needed. As she made her way to the bullpen, she was met with an unexpected surprise.


Gibbs ears were still ringing after the explosion. He had no idea what had happened, but he was glad that his team had just got off the ship. But happy wasn't the emotion he was feeling. He was pissed. If they weren't so efficient at escaping from the ship they would all be dead right now. He was certainly going to get to the bottom of it. What we wasn't looking forward to was the soon-to-be confrontation with Jenny. Maybe he could persuade her to postpone their conversation about the previous case until tomorrow. All as he wanted right now was some bourbon and to work on his boat.

As he and the team strode into the bullpen, the look he was receiving from Cynthia was worrying. What had happened while he was on the ship?


Jenny was still holding Abby when Cynthia came running into her office.

"Director," she said urgently, "there is something in the bullpen you must see".

The urgency in which Cynthia had come into her office, and judging by the tone of her voice, something serious had occurred. Abby also got the same vibe, quickly getting of Jenny, allowing her to get up. Jenny took the lead, with the younger women following her. She got to the balcony, but she wasn't expecting what she saw.

In the bullpen was Gibbs, his team and Ducky, all looking perfectly live. They all looked tired, but they were certainly healthy. Relief quickly filled her body once she realised that they hadn't been on the ship. She heard Abby squeal in delight next to her, before running down the stairs to engulf the team in a huge embrace. Jenny followed her, but at a slower pace. She eyed Gibbs from a distance, and he quickly disentangled himself and approached her.

She knew that her face was all splotchy from when she had been crying only minutes earlier, and the expression on his face showed that he was confused. The look of him, alive and well, set her emotions in overdrive, causing her to burst into another fit of tears. Through her sobbing she managed to say, "I saw the boat explode. I thought you were dead."

She then felt herself be pulled into an embrace. The familiar arms, wrapped around her waist. This was something that she didn't think she would ever experience again; all anger from this morning had disappeared. She reached up, touching his check affectionately before leaning up and capturing his lips. It was sweet for a few moments, but rapidly turned into a heated, and passionate kiss. The kiss itself didn't last long as it was interrupted by Abby cheering and DiNozzo's loud groaning about the amount of money he had lost through his bets.

They both broke apart, smiling at each other. They were then trapped in a massive hug from Abby, before Ducky rescued them and offered them his congratulations. The rest of the team, and Cynthia, also came over and gave their congratulations. It was only a matter of time they all thought.


Later that even, after Gibbs and Jenny managed to break free from the team and retreated to Gibbs' house, they lay in bed holding each other, fast asleep. Jenny was emotionally exhausted, while Gibbs was physically exhausted, so as soon as they arrived home, they headed straight for the bedroom to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day, in between sorting out their relationship with the Sec Nav and the rest of the agency, as well as Jenny dealing with Gibbs' punishment.

A/N: Hope you like it! The next chapter should be the last one... Also, please read and review.