Chapter Eighteen – Going Forward

Jenna walked down the stairs carefully. She was thirsty again. Pausing at the bottom, she caught her breath and turned to go to the kitchen. Shocked, she stood dead still in the doorway. Gibbs had his back to her and was kissing a woman who was sitting on the counter. Hurt and angry, she wanted to know why Steph couldn't have waited until she left his house before pouncing. She took a step back, unwilling to cause a scene, knowing he'd made his choice, when brown hair caught her eye. Steph didn't have brown hair. Gibbs lifted the woman and turned to walk out the kitchen and Jenna gasped. Brenna!

Jenna sat up in bed and immediately knew that was a mistake. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

The light came on and she looked up to see Gibbs framed in the doorway. "What happened?" He looked at her pale face and was beside her in a moment. "Just lie down and breathe, Jenna. Did you sit up too quickly?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Bad dream," she managed to get out before tensing again.

Gibbs nodded in understanding, and then told her, "Relax, tensing will only make it worse."

"What happened?" Brenna asked, standing in the doorway with her hair wrapped in a towel.

"I had a bad dream."

"Then you sat up too fast?" Brenna asked.

"Mmm-hmmm." Jenna managed to reply.

Brenna sat on the other side of Jenna and took her hand. "Try to relax, sweetie. Maybe it will help."

Jenna took a few more breaths, and then asked, "Is the bathroom free?"

---

Tony took one look at Gibbs coming off the elevator, grumpy face, coffee in hand, and decided there were two ways he could deal with what he was looking at: ignore it or joke about it. He decided to joke. "You know boss, I'm pretty sure a cold shower will cure what ails you."

Gibbs sat at his desk and glared at Tony from across the squad room. "That's all I get when those two are finished, DiNozzo. What have you got for me?"

Abby grinned and said, "I've got something for you Gibbs. The DNA came back. Your suspect's the thief."

The elevator doors opened again and Daniel Carver stepped out.

"Carver, what are you doing here?" Gibbs asked. Tony narrowed his eyes. He was thinking the same thing.

"I'm looking for Abby and I've found her," he said and, with a flourish, produced a bouquet of black roses for her.

Abby grinned and took the flowers from him. "Thank you, Daniel! What's the occasion?"

"I'd like for you to have dinner with me, Abby."

Breathing in the aroma of the roses, she studied him. He really was cute; black hair cut short and hazel eyes that watched her watching him. Raising her head from the flowers, she said, "I'd like that." She turned to Gibbs. "I still have some tests running, but the DNA is a definite match, Gibbs."

"Good work, Abs. Let me know about the other tests."

"Will do," she said and, taking Daniel by the arm, left the team alone.

Tony watched the whole scene, unhappy about Daniel and not liking the look in his eyes. He was about to comment when he noticed Ziva watching him. Grinning, he told her, "Everybody's getting hooked up around here. You would think we were on the Pacific Princess."

"The Pacific what?" Ziva asked and McGee groaned.

Tony started singing the theme to "The Love Boat", much to the annoyance of many of the room's occupants.

"Captain Stubing? You're wanted on the bridge," Gibbs interrupted, pulling Tony back to his desk.

Ziva looked confused, but McGee laughed full out.

---

Brenna opened the door for Jenna and they entered the restaurant. Damien stood from the table where his briefcase was sitting open. They were shown to the table and Damien hugged them both, taking care with Jenna.

"How are you feeling, Sweetheart?" he asked.

"I'm getting there," she told him.

"And you, Brenna?"

"I'm good."

"Please have a seat." He helped them both with their chairs and sat back down. "The reason I asked you both here today has to do with business."

The two women exchanged concerned looks and Jenna asked, "DAX was cleared, right? Things are okay now?"

He smiled, "Yes, things are fine now. Thanks to the evidence the DEA and NCIS recovered, myself, the company and both of you have been cleared. However, I've decided to change things up a bit."

"How so?" Brenna asked.

"I'm glad you asked, Brenna, because this will mainly affect you."

"Affect her how?" Jenna wanted to know, worrying now about the future.

Laughing at how protective the sisters were of each other, Damien assured her, "Not in a bad way, Sweetheart." Looking back to Brenna, "I'd like to offer you a promotion. You've been with the company for years now and your talents have shown again and again. I'd like to put you as the Deputy Director of R&D."

"Deputy Director?" she echoed. "Really?"

"Yes, really. And with that title comes new responsibilities and a raise. I've had the paperwork prepared for you to look over. If you agree to everything, we can institute this change as soon as we get back to San Antonio."

Taking the paperwork from him, she told him, "I'll definitely let you know something by tomorrow."

"That's good to hear," he told her, knowing how well she weighed her options before deciding anything. "Now, Jenna, I've spoken with the doctor from the hospital and he told me that you have to take it easy because of what you went through. I asked him why he released you early if he wanted you to rest and he told me you smiled at him."

Jenna grinned.

"There, that's what I'm talking about," he pointed to her smile, "that doesn't work on me." Correcting himself, he told her, "Most of the time and it's not going to work now either. Starting today, you have two weeks leave. If you take one step in the office before then, I'll extend it. Understand?"

"What will I do for two weeks?" Jenna asked.

"Clean house?" Brenna suggested.

"Like there is really that much to do once you've gone through the house." Jenna smiled. "I suppose I could play the happy housewife and have dinner on the table when you get home."

"That would be nice," Brenna said and they laughed.

Jenna took another look at her boss and knew he wasn't kidding. "Okay, Damien, two weeks leave and then I'll be back. Do not let my office get trashed while I'm recuperating, though; deal?"

"Deal," he agreed, and then looked at his watch. Now, I have a meeting that I need to get to. I'll leave you to finish your lunch and I'll see you at the hotel tomorrow?"

"Yes, we'll be there," Jenna agreed.

Damien closed his briefcase and stood. "Have a great afternoon, ladies. Thank you."

As lunch progressed, Brenna started looking through her paperwork and let out a surprised, "Oh!"

"What?" Jenna said, wiping her mouth.

"Damien's offering me a fifteen percent raise."

"Really? Brenna, that's awesome."

"I know."

Sighing, Jenna pushed her plate aside, "I'd ask why you seem sad, but I think I know. It's going to be hard on you, isn't it? Leaving Tim and DC?"

Brenna raised her head. "Yes, but how could I stay? My whole life is back in San Antonio."

Jenna nodded, knowing she hated to leave as well. "Yeah, I know. So, when do you want to leave? Today? Make a clean break, or as clean as you can? We can drop the papers off at Damien's hotel on our way out of town."

Mulling it over, Brenna nodded. "Yes, but I'd like to say goodbye first."

"Then let's do it," Jenna said, offering her sister an arm. Brenna stood and with linked arms, they made their way out of the restaurant.

---

The guard at the front door stared at the two subdued, normally lively women walking towards him. Passing through the detectors, they offered him smiles and walked on to the elevators. As the doors were closing, they gave him a little wave to show they were alright.

Coming off the elevator, the stood quietly until Ziva noticed them and everyone looked to see what was wrong.

"Hi everyone," Jenna started. "Where's Abby?"

"About to go to dinner," Abby said from behind them, and then noticed the looks on their faces. "What's wrong?"

Jenna bit her lip, miserable, and Brenna broke the news. "We came to say thank you for all that you've done for us."

"And that we've decided to go ahead and head back to San Antonio today."

"It's been great meeting all of you, and we appreciate your hospitality, Agent Gibbs."

"And your willingness to help and believe in us through all this."

Surprised and a bit sad that they were leaving so soon, DiNozzo did what he does best. "Enough already with the thank you words. Where are the thank you hugs and kisses?"

They couldn't help it, they cracked up and rushed DiNozzo, a sister on each side, hugging him and kissing each cheek. Taking turns, they hugged a reluctant Ziva and a sad but understanding Abby. Facing the two men they weren't ready to leave yet, Jenna hugged McGee and kissed his cheek while Brenna did the same to Gibbs.

Putting them out of their misery, Gibbs intervened. "McGee, take this stuff down to Abby's lab so she can leave for her big date."

"Um… sure, Boss," he said, as he started gathering the information the team had just put together.

"Aww… thanks, Gibbs!" Abby said, running over to kiss his cheek. "Bye, everyone!"

"Have fun," Tony said wistfully as she disappeared into the elevator.

"I will," she replied, her voice throaty and full of promise. Tony's mood quickly began to plummet.

Finally having gathered everything, McGee headed toward the elevator.

"Aren't you going with him?" Gibbs asked Brenna, as if she were missing something.

"Oh!" comprehension hit, and she rushed to hop on the elevator before the doors closed.

Jenna fiddled for a moment, and then said, "I'll wait for her in the truck."

Following behind her, Gibbs walked her out.

She turned to face him when she got to the truck. "You didn't have to walk me out, Agent Gibbs. Thanks to you, I'm safe to be on my own again."

Seeing their bags in the back seat, he asked, "How will you ever get your steak?"

Ignoring his question, she threw her arms around him and squeezed until it hurt. "Thank you for keeping me safe, Gibbs."

Tipping her head up to look in her eyes, he didn't know what to say. Jenna raised up and pressed her lips to his for a brief moment and whispered, "Thank you" against them before getting in the truck and closing the door.

---

The ride to Abby's lab was filled with longing looks and sad smiles.

"You're really leaving today?" Tim asked.

"We're really leaving today," Brenna echoed. "The truck's already packed. We're heading out straight from here."

"So, what you said the other night," Tim asked, "the part about going out with me if you lived here, were you serious?"

Brenna tore her eyes from him and looked at a nondescript speck on the wall of the elevator. "I was very serious. I think, if we lived closer, we could really have something together," she told him seriously. "But I'm hoping we'll keep in touch."

"You have my email address, right?" Tim asked, as the elevator doors opened and they exited the elevator.

"Yep," Brenna said with a smile.

They lingered outside the lab, neither of them in a hurry to move from their current location.

Tim shifted some of the materials into his right hand and raised his left to brush some hair away from Brenna's face. She looked up at him, her eyes focusing first on the pleasure mixed with sadness that colored his eyes, and then on his lips.

"Brenna?"

She smiled in answer to his unspoken question, and he dipped down to kiss her.

THE END

A/N: Yeah, we know we left things kind of sad and unresolved, but we were going for realistic. There WILL be a sequel, and it will be soon. Be on the lookout!