Author's Note: Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you had/are having a fabulous day filled with fun and chocolate :) Here's my offering for today...consider it an Easter present to all of you, for your kindness and for taking your time to read and review. Best readers ever, I tell you! By the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though I turned up the angst quite a bit.

The usual still applies: no beta reader, English is not my mother language and I proof-read this at 1.20 am, so I apologise in advance for any mistakes and typos.

A special thanks goes to MatteaAM for letting me use a scene that I borrowed from her brilliant mind. You know what I'm talking about, love.

Their goodbyes didn't take long, the kind words and looks with which Samantha Carter was addressing her making Jenny feel bad for her reaction. Colonel Carter was not at fault, after all, and Jenny did not doubt they could have been friends, under different circumstances.

Perhaps they still could be friends.

"I hope we'll meet again, director. Perhaps under less formal circumstances, so we'll get to know each other better." Carter said, almost reading her mind as she shook her hand.

The smile Jenny gave her as an answer was the first genuine one of the evening, but when she turned to look at Gibbs there was no sign of that smile on her face.

The drive home was fast and quiet, the tense silence in the back of the car making Gibbs uncomfortable, and it wasn't a feeling he was used to.

Jenny wasn't talking to him, she was hardly even looking at him, and he couldn't fathom what exactly was wrong. It wasn't like her to be jealous, yet she had looked ready to rip off Sam's head with her bare hands.

It was confusing, and he didn't do confusing.

"Maybe I should just go home and we'll talk tomorrow, Jen." He said quietly when the car stopped in front of Jenny's house.

She turned to give him a deadly glare, "Maybe you should have taken Colonel Mann's offer when you had the chance." She replied dryly, storming out of the car.

Gibbs watched after her, his brow creased and eyes glinting angrily, "What's that supposed to mean?" He flew out of the car as well and was next to her at the front door in four long strides.

Jenny unlocked the door and walked into the dark hall, slapping her hand on the wall to switch on the light and doing her best to ignore him.

"Jen?" He followed her inside and when she turned around to face him – her face a mask of anger and hurt – there was little more than a breath between them.

"What, Jethro? You think I don't know about her invitation? Do you think I didn't see the look on your face when you ended up at my door in the middle of the night?" She scoffed, "But if you regret your decision now, just go back to Hollis, don't look for a replacement. As blonde and pretty as colonel Carter is, she's not your colonel, Jethro."

Her tirade had left Gibbs completely dumbfounded for a moment, and he stared after her as she all but ran upstairs, the skirt of her dress swirling madly around her legs: a sight that would normally catch his attention, the black satin brushing her toned, tan calves, but right now all he could think about – all he felt – was the anger bubbling up inside of him.

What was wrong with her? Why would she even bring up Hollis in the first place?

"What's your problem, Jen?" He growled, once again following her into the bedroom as she ignored his question and tried to put some distance between them.

"Fuck it, Jen, stop running!" His voice rose, his tone dangerous, but Jenny did not allow herself to flinch as she started to take off her shoes without looking at him.

"What's your goddamn problem?" His hand, strong and somewhat possessive, grabbed her shoulder, trying to turn her around so that she would face him.

Jenny's reaction was immediate: she shrugged his unwelcome hand off and whipped around to fix him with her big green eyes, her look colder than ice, "My problem is that I trust you, Jethro." She started out with an eerily calm voice, and when he opened his mouth to reply, the fire seemed to seep into her tone, "My problem is that I fucking trust you!"

"Jen-"

"No, Jethro, you made a promise. You made a commitment to me – to us – and I believed you. But I was wrong, wasn't I?"

A tense silence followed her words, and they just stared at each other for what felt like hours, blue ice staring into cold green steel.

"I guess then we have a problem." Gibbs said between clenched teeth when the staring match drew to an end.

Jenny didn't answer, her hands balled into fists, every muscle in her body tense and rigid.

Gibbs nodded slowly, taking her silence as a confirmation of his statement. "I'm leaving," He then said, turning around.

Jenny scoffed, "Of course you would run away from your problems… that's your specialty after all." She saw him tense and stop, slowly turning to face her.

"Thought running away was your thing, Jen." He said calmly, "At least I'm not leaving the country and you behind, looking for something better."

He knew he had touched a raw nerve when he saw the look in her eyes, and when the palm of her hand collided violently with the side of his face, he figured that he should have seen it coming.

As his cheek reddened, Jenny stared at him defiantly, the blood boiling in her veins and her hand stinging from the force of the blow she had delivered.

Her boldness only lasted a few seconds, though, because suddenly something shifted in his eyes and made her quiver: it wasn't the first time she hit him in anger, however it was definitely the first time that she ever thought he would actually hit her back.

His arm rose and Jenny flinched, instinctively trying to take a step back and bracing herself for the blow. She could not hide her surprise when his strong fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist before she could pull her hand away completely and she swallowed hard, gasping when his left hand grabbed her other wrist tightly enough to bruise, a soft whimper escaping her lips.

Then all of the air in her lungs rushed out of her when Gibbs slammed her body into the nearest wall, holding her hands high over her head.

"Don't you ever – EVER – think that my promise to you means nothing."

His husky, angry growl, the fury in his blue eyes and his hot breath on her face made Jenny's knees buckle, and for a moment she was certain that she would have fallen, had he not held her up.

The air between them crackled, anger heaving from their bodies in waves, the tension reaching its climax before it finally snapped.

(…to be continued…)