And... the last part :) Hope you like it, because I had a few problems with it... the story is much different from what I had planned it to be originally, so I just tried to finish it. Sorry :(

Aly: Hey, don't you reveal the plot before I have posted the story! +grins+

When he finally arrived at home this evening - or night, to be correct - he had only one desire, one with five letters: sleep. The five letters he normally would long for - or the person behind them - were the reason he now so desperately wished for some rest, because this person had made a hell of his day. And because it somehow was his duty to protect her when her security detail wasn't available for whatever reasons, he obediently had followed each of her requests.

Tired, he schlepped himself downstairs - and was wide awake when he realized that something was different in this basement.

He should have listened to his wives and locked the door.

Okay, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you're deadly tired, you may be dreaming, or hallucinating, he told himself. No one except for him was able to get his boat out of his basement.

No one.

... No one...?

Not the team being away had been the revenge. But using his team to steal, no, possibly kidnap his boat had been. He suppressed the urge to kick himself. Not that he would have been able to in his state.

Frustrated, and knowing that he couldn't do anything about it right now, he lay down on the ground that was covered with sawdust, and swore to himself that she wouldn't win through with this.

Hours later, he was still tossing and turning, and as much as he longed for it, he didn't find sleep. The basement just wasn't the same without his boat, without the smell of fresh wood. And, in addition, his every muscle and bone hurt, so some softer place to lie on would be much nicer. Grumbling, he got up and half scuffed, half stumbled upstairs, falling onto his couch, and asleep. Finally.

--

He could tell that his team was cowering behind their desks when he arrived in the office the next morning. Not physically cowering of course, but definitely their guilty consciences were trying to get out of sight.

Jenny Shepard might give them orders and they will follow those - but they are still my team and they know that no one, not even the Director, can save them from punishment, he mused, adding a pleased, you've trained them very well, and mentally padded himself on the shoulder.

Yet today was, as far as the punishment was concerned, an exception. Today there were a lot more important things to do than punishing his team. There was some unfinished business - and it was between Jen and him. Not that this was something new, but at least this time, it was solvable.

Full of beans, he fell into his chair and booted his computer. There was some work that needed to be done before he would reclaim his boat. Obviously Jenny Shepard still needed to learn some things...

By chance he spotted the piece of paper, a yellow note that lay under his keyboard, only an edge visible. "Come to Ruppert Island, between Glen Echo and Brookmont. Bring the hostages with you." was the order, neatly written on it. He suppressed a grin. Yep, he liked this game, and especially that he wasn't the only one who had fun playing it.

After he had realized that Jenny wasn't in her office, he instantly left the NCIS building. Around thirty minutes later, he arrived at the in the message mentioned place. Armed with a cooling box, he slowly neared the riverside and spotted a boat. His boat. Now he only needed to find Jenny - and that wasn't much of a difficult task when in the corner of his eye, he saw someone beckoning.

With her being on a small island, or more a sandbank, he was going to need a boat to reach her; unfortunately, she had taken his, so he already saw himself swimming to her, and that wasn't exactly a very good idea. It was warm outside, but that didn't mean the water was warm, too. Quite the contrary; this water in front of him was a stream, after all, and everyone knew that it was highly unlikely that a stream's water was warm.

Jenny was watching from the island, arms crossed, and even from the distance and with his eyes, he could tell she was grinning widely. He just shrugged his shoulders in an overplayed gesture to make sure she would recognize it. Now she was laughing and pointing out to a place a few meters away from him. He reached it moments later and spotted a small rowboat that didn't look very robust anymore. But he knew it was his only chance to reach her... and he didn't want to be the loser of the game only because he showed fear of something he wasn't afraid of.

Sighing, he carefully stepped into the boat that was swaying dangerously. Normally, his boats were bigger...

It wasn't the rowing to her that was the problem, although the stream didn't make it easy for him. But instead, getting out of the boat was difficult. There was no jetty to land, so it wasn't possible to avoid getting wet a bit; his feet definitely were going to have the pleasure. Rowing till the boat was stopped by the ground wasn't an option; he wasn't even sure if it would withstand. Grumbling, he made sure the cooling box stood securely at its place; then he carefully stepped out of the boat and into the water while he tried to hold the boat into place, curiously watched by Jen.

At some point he began wondering if it hadn't been easier to just build a new boat. Of course this would have taken much time - again - but it wasn't that he hasn't gotten used to over the time. He has never finished one of the boats before - why should he start with it now?

Because he wasn't going to let her win a game he had started. No, he wasn't. It was his game. It was his fun. Well, it should be.

With his feet constantly searching for secure ground, he slowly padded forward, pulling the boat with him. Jen didn't even make a single move to help him while he was fighting with the ground that felt like bog.

Musing if killing her was an option, or if torturing her would already satisfy his wounded honor, he for a moment didn't pay attention to where he was putting his feet onto, and stepped onto something spiky.

Cursing, he jumped and lost balance, falling prone to the ground - and into the water. The only thing that landed on the dry ground of the shore was the cooling box, which Jenny picked up happily.

"I hope the hostages are in good order," she commented, walking towards a blanket that laid a few steps away, while he shot her back a death glare. Then he stood up, his front covered up in wet sand, and followed her.

--

Sometime later, they were sitting across from each other on the big blanket. He didn't even try to understand why, but Jenny had brought a fresh shirt and dry trousers for him with her. And while his other clothes were hanging over the railing of his boat, either of them was holding a small bowl with chocolate pudding.

"Are we even now?" Jethro asked, tasting the pudding, what made him hum.

"Haven't decided yet... at least you haven't had any reason to kidnap my chocolate pudding, so why should I forgive you so soon?" she responded, cleaning the edges of the small bowl with her finger and licking it with pleasure.

"Because you have your pudding back? And I have already suffered enough?" he offered and took another spoonful of the sweet mass, trying to ignore her far too seductive gesture. He wouldn't try to find a reason; she would figure out that it wasn't the truth anyway.

"Nope, doesn't work. I need something else. Anything that will compensate that I was forced to do without my pudding for around 24 hours. You little mud bath isn't enough."

"Have no idea... you?"

"Come on, Jethro, be creative!" she demanded, getting up from her place across from him and then sitting down beside him.

"You want me to be creative?" He shot her a side-glance, frowning a bit. Jen chuckled.

"Well, for a change it would be nice, yes."

"Do I have any other option?"

"Considering that I can still give you..." she began, but was silenced by his lips on hers. He kissed her slowly, seductively, and she grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. When they parted, she was breathing heavily, as was he; yet they found the air to laugh.

"Creative enough?"

"Not really, but it has qualified itself as 'good replacement'," she smiled and then pulled him into another kiss.

"Just tell me - how did you know about the pudding? You haven't interrogated Noemi, have you?" she wanted to know when they finally managed to part for more than just the few seconds they needed to fill their lungs with air again.

"Jen," he sighed, "Already in Paris you had a strong tendency to chocolate pudding late night sins. You not really have expected me to forget about them, have you? I mean, how could I forget the fuss you made when the personnel in this one certain small hotel in Paris didn't want to..."

Now he was interrupted by her, only that she did it with a spoonful of pudding she shoved into his mouth, and after that by Jen's lips that followed when the spoon had left his mouth. Together they fell backwards onto the blanket, while the boats were slightly moved by the water.

FIN

Originally, a kiss should have been the ransom for the pudding, but then I decided that I would prefer it if Jen was in the more powerful position... ;)