Disclaimer: Still don't own NCIS.
I am crediting my idea for the flashback from the song Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver. I heard it on Glee, then I listened to the original and I thought of Jenny and Gibbs. :) Thanks to Brillows4eva for reading this. Ifanyone has any ideas as to my future chapters tell me. I am starting to run out.
He was standing in his basement and stared at the grey sheet that was covering his boat. He looked around and took in his sanctuary, and wondered where he'd go in Mexico. He needed a place to go to. He needed a place to escape. He eyed his suitcase at the top of the stairs and sighed. He emptied a makeshift glass and poured the rest of his bourbon in it and downed it in one go. Ducky had left an hour earlier, and Gibbs didn't say anything. He had gotten out of the car and made his way to his front door. When he turned, the Morgan was gone.
The clock above Gibb's stove read 4:15. It wasn't going to be easy. Leaving his team had been hard, seeing their stunned faces didn't help much. The look of sadness in Abby's eyes, and the shock written across Tony's face didn't help him. Another person, whose face couldn't leave his mind, was the one person who'd stuck by him. She made him remember. She made him remember her and his past. His memory was still shaky but there was something he knew he had to do. With that Gibbs made his way up his wooden stairs, took his suitcase, flicked off the basement light and headed out of his house; locking the door in his wake.
The taxi pulled up to a place he wouldn't have minded calling home. He had been there multiple times, and his stays had never been long enough for him to look around. But the general arrangement was known. The light in the upstairs bedroom was still lit, causing him to smile lightly. He leaned against the car for a brief moment, a position he had been in a year almost to the date. He told the cab driver he'd be back. He then found himself knocking on the front door and ringing the doorbell.
When the door finally opened, the occupant looked half confused and half shocked. "Jethro,"
"Yeah Jen," He said with a sad smile. She was dressed in a pair of black sweats and a large grey NCIS sweatshirt that looked vaguely familiar to him. He liked her in comfortable clothes. She didn't look like a woman with a mission. She looked like a woman with no worries. She seemed to glow when she was in comfortable clothes.
"I thought you were leaving?" She asked, stepping aside, allowing him to come in. She walked towards her study, and he followed.
"I was. I am in a few hours." He informed her, taking the glass of bourbon she had poured for him. She nodded and took a seat in her chair.
"Is there a particular reason why you're here, Jethro?" It didn't sound pleasant. Her question was laced with hurt and he had picked up on it.
"I didn't say goodbye." There was a small amount of tension that lingered in the air. "I told you I didn't know how Mike could quit and I walked out. It's no way to say goodbye. A letter didn't seem appropriate since you watched me leave." Jenny sighed. That one piece of information she herself tried to forget everyday was something that he remembered. He stood over her chair and pulled her up.
"Is this your version of a goodbye?" She asked, as he brought her to stand in his personal space. It made her feel uneasy. "Showing up at my house at 4:30 in the morning? You said your goodbye's Jethro. I was standing on the stairs, I watched you do it." He nodded and took the final step, standing toe to toe with her. This time he wanted to.
"No. This is."He took her face in his hands and placed a kiss to her lips. It wasn't needy, or lust filled. Just a simple kiss filled with love, that she had missed. He placed his forehead to hers, and wiped the tear off of her cheek. She let out a light laugh and smiled.
"I hate you right now," She said in a whisper. He chuckled and took her hand in his.
"I know I'm not one for apologies, but I'm saying sorry for the times I was trouble with the press, sorry I pissed off sister agencies, and I'm sorry for being such an ass ninety nine percent of the time. "He felt her smile against his cheek. They heard the cab driver blowing his horn, causing Jenny and Gibbs to sigh.
He placed another light kiss to Jenny's lips and then her forehead. "I'll be here," she said before tracing a finger along his jaw line. He smiled at the faint touch. He pulled back and nodded. He made his way back to the front door, turned and saw his Jenny. The woman standing in the doorway to the study reminded him of the woman he had fallen in love with 7 years earlier. She was beautiful, vulnerable, and in power all at the same time.. The faint smile that was on her lips was enough to make him want to stay, and fall asleep with her in his arms. It was just a little dream. He smiled and left, leaving Jenny once again.
Jethro walked through the front door quietly, wanting to surprise his family. Jenny had been in the Need to Know loop to a point. Gibbs and his team were on a case that had taken them longer to close, than anticipated. They had come up with a lead which led them nowhere. When they had brought their suspect in, she wasn't in the office. He hadn't expected her to be, but the thought of barging into her office, announcing his presence, crossed his mind. He looked at his desk, putting off doing the case reports to do them at home or on Monday. Turning off his desk light, he grabbed his jacket and headed home.
The immediate aroma of homemade pasta and sauce that lingered in the air attacked his senses, the moment he walked in the front door. He immediately noticed his kids toys spread out on the floor, leading into the sitting room. Jackson's basketball was sitting in the corner of the foyer and Christina's bear that she didn't let out of her sight was sitting at the bottom of the stairs. He side and over stepped the various clothes as he made his way upstairs. After he checked the bedrooms, there was no sign of his family anywhere. Noemi wasn't there; he knew that from the moment he walked in the door. He checked the house, making sure that the house was safe. To his surprise, the house was all locked up like he had done it himself.
He heard the sound of music coming from Jenny's study, realizing he had missed it when he first entered the house. He placed an ear to the door, trying to hear what was playing. He opened the door , trying to hear more clearly.
"So kiss me and smile for me. Tell me that you'll wait for me. Hold me like you'll never let me go. I'm leaving on a jet plane don't know when I'll be back again. Don't know when I'll be back again. Oh babe, I hate to go. "
He smiled at the sight of Jenny, Christina, and Jackson all snuggled up on the couch. Christina was on Jenny's lap, her head in her mother's chest. Jackson in at his mothers side, with a blanket tucked in his arm. This was his family. This was the woman he had fallen in love with over and over again. Small moments like this did it to him.