A/n: Hey there, you guys (and girls). Here's Chapter 4 (finally)!
Things of note:
a) This occurs about a…month or so after Chapter 3. Thematically, this is after Season 3 Ep. 7 Honor Code, but before Season 3 Ep. 18 Bait.
b) J.J. is in school, spends his afternoons at NCIS. He is now officially J.J. Gibbs, the adoption papers from Social Services have gone through, etc., etc.
c) Gibbs is back at work.
d) Jenny and Gibbs are still not together, as of yet, but Jenny is spending a lot more time with Gibbs and J.J.
…I believe that's it.
Read, and enjoy!
-meg
Fist Fights and Bedtime Stories
NCIS Director Jennifer Shepard was hopelessly, and horribly bored. The same routine, day in and day out, had gotten dreadfully monotonous. Case reports, MTAC feeds, meetings with seemingly endless lines of politicians, more case reports, kissing ass to smooth things over for Jethro's team, and even more case reports. She wanted to either cry, or slam her head into her desk, repeatedly. Or, maybe, both. Yes. That was it. Crying while slamming her head against the desk. That would make her feel better.
She let out a muffled groan, her head falling to the desk of its own accord. Ouch. Maybe not so much. Slamming her head against the desk hurt.
"Director Shepard?" Cynthia's voice through the intercom on her desk prompted Jenny to sit back up, wincing as she rubbed her forehead. "Yes, Cynthia?"
"Agent Gibbs on line one for you." Jenny frowned at this, giving her phone an incredulous look. Why would Jethro be calling her on her private line? They both had cell phones. She let out a sigh, reaching to pick up the phone, her slim fingers pressing the button for line one.
"Hello?"
"Jen? It's me."
"I gathered as much, Jethro. Ah…why are you calling my private line, and not my cell?"
"I…that's not relevant right now. I…I need a, um…I need a favor."
"Okay, what do you need? Wait…you didn't piss the FBI off again, did you?"
"Ha, ha, funny, Jen. No, I didn't do anything to your precious sister agencies. I, ah…I need someone to go pick J.J. up from school. I can't, I'm halfway out to the boonies after a lead, and you…I, um…I mean, I, uh, I listed you as J.J.'s other emergency contact."
Jenny's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You did? And, ah, when exactly were you planning on telling me this?"
A heavy sigh was heard on the other end of the line. "I…I would've told you…eventually. But, seriously, Jen, I really need you to go pick him up. The principal called me. Said he got in a fight or something. Please."
"Alright, then, I'll go pick him up now. Where do you want me to take him?"
"Could you…could you just bring him back to work? I should be back in a couple of hours. I…I hate to stick him there all afternoon, but…there's not much else I can do."
"Alright, then, I'll do that. I'll make sure to get all the relevant information from the principal about what happened, too."
"Ah, thanks, Jen. You're….I owe you one. I gotta go, though, we're almost there."
Jenny laughed quietly, murmuring a goodbye as he hung up the phone. Well, now she'd gotten her wish. Her afternoon was no longer boring.
"Er, hello, I'm Jenny Shepard. I'm here to pick up Jake Gibbs? His, ah, father called, said Jake got in a little trouble at school?" Jenny smiled kindly at the secretary sitting in the school's front office.
"Oh, yes, you'll need to meet with Principal Ford first, ma'am." The secretary stood, waving her on into a well lit office, where an older man sat behind a mahogany desk. "Principal Ford, Jake Gibbs' mother is here to see you, sir."
Jenny winced, waiting until the secretary exited the office as she took a seat in front of the desk. "I'm ah…I'm not Jake's mother, Mr. Ford, just so you know."
He let out a low chuckle, standing to lean over his desk to offer a hand to shake. "James Ford, Miss Shepard. And, I gathered as much, from reading young Jake's personal file here, which it is clear my secretary has not."
"Jenny, please, Mr. Ford. You, ah, you understand about Jake's situation, then?" Jenny clasped his hand warmly, offering him a smile.
"Call me James, then, Jenny. Yes, Mr. Gibbs explained his situation to me when he enrolled Jake here. Jake…has never met his biological father, if I remember correctly?"
"I, no, not to my knowledge. Er, I'm sorry, James, but I don't exactly understand what this has to do with whatever happened to Jake today. Is he in some sort of trouble?"
"Well, no, not…not exactly. Jacob was involved in a little fight earlier, out on the playground." Mr. Ford let out a sigh, glancing down at a paper on his desk. "It seems he saw some of the elder children teasing and taunting a young girl in his grade about not having any parents. Jacob didn't take kindly to the insults and tried to get the other children to leave her alone. One of the ringleaders of the group, started taunting Jacob instead, and that's when the first punches were thrown. Jake is in with the nurse, but he's refusing to let her treat his injuries."
Jenny blinked, surprised. "Is he…alright? Gibbs never mentioned anything about injuries. Who is this….other boy? Is he being talked to? Surely you can't blame this whole thing on Jake, he was only trying to help!"
"Jake got in a fight with a second grader named Hugo Fisher. Young Mr. Fisher has a reputation as a troublemaker here, he's been suspended twice. I don't know what happened to Jake, other than that the nurse is insisting he seek some medical attention. I'm not going to put anything on Jake's record, because young Hugo has a record here already as a troublemaker, and there's a whole playground full of witnesses saying that Hugo provoked Jake into throwing the first punch. It's merely policy here to send students home after an altercation like this." He glanced up at Jenny, attempting to placate her. "We're having a talk with Hugo's parents, also. Hopefully, this time will be enough to get him suspended for good."
"Oh?" Jenny raised an eyebrow. "You've been trying to get this…boy out of your school?"
"His father is…a man with many friends high up, particularly on the school board. So far, my efforts to get Hugo out of my school have been stonewalled by the board members. This time, I think I've got the evidence enough to overrule them and go straight to the superintendent." Mr. Ford frowned, pulling a rather thick looking file out of his desk drawer. "A file here, of young Mr. Fisher's exploits at my school, since he arrived here in kindergarten. Fifteen separate complaints and I can't send this boy away from my school because his father's got half the bloody school board in his pocket."
Jenny raised her eyebrows. "Mr. Ford—sorry, James. Do you know what I do?"
"If you're asking if I know if you're Director of NCIS, yes, I do."
"Well, I also happen to know the superintendent quite well, and I view Jake as a son. I don't take kindly to my people getting hurt. Let me talk to the super, and we'll see about getting Hugo and Mr. Fisher out of the school, hm?" Jenny gave him an conspiratorial smile, leaning forward in her chair slightly to write a number down on a sheet of paper sitting on his desk. "Now that we've cleared that up, can I take Jake home now?"
J.J. sat uncomfortably in the nurse's office, tapping his foot incessantly on the floor. He hugged his right arm close to his body, glancing up nervously at the nurse every few seconds, as if expecting her to suddenly pin him down so she could tend to his injuries.
He sniffed, scrubbing at his nose with his left hand, hating the antiseptic smell permeating the room. "Ow." He had forgotten it hurt to touch his nose.
The nurse looked up, letting out a sigh. "Jake, I really wish you would let me look you over, son."
"Nuh uh. Don' need you to. Where's Jet?" He sniffed again, glancing at the door.
"Is Jet your father?" The nurse glanced down at her file. "We managed to get him on the phone, but he said he was sending someone else, a…Jenny, to pick you up."
J.J. ignored her question, staring silently at the door to wait for Jenny to come through, ready to go home. His face creased in a smile as Jenny walked in. "Jenny!" The smile shrank and his gaze dropped to the floor as Principal Ford walked in after Jenny. "Principal Ford, sir."
Jenny laughed softly, crouching down carefully in front of J.J. "J, you're not in trouble, buddy, Principal Ford just wanted to make sure you're doing okay."
"I hear you stood up to the school bully for a young lady, Jake." Principal Ford took the seat next to J.J., offering him a smile.
"Yes, sir. Am…am I in trouble?" J.J. finally looked up, hesitant.
"Nope. You're not in trouble at all."
"Then…can I go home now, sir?" J.J. stared at him, trying at politeness.
"Yes, you can, young man. Has Nurse Kirk looked you over?"
"No sir, I'm alright." J.J. quickly hopped up, carefully leaning down to grab his book bag in his left hand, keeping the right tucked into his body.
Principal Ford merely glanced at Jenny with a slightly raised eyebrow, shrugging slightly. "As you wish. I'll see you soon, Jake."
Jenny placed an hand on J.J.'s shoulder, walking out of the office with him. J.J. seemed extremely reluctant to meet her eyes, keeping his gaze focused on the ground. "Sorry I got in a fight, Jenny."
"Hm?"
"Said I'm sorry I got in this fight. Made you leave work to come get me." He looked up long enough to hand his backpack off to Stanley, carefully clambering into the backseat of the Town Car, scooting to sit against the window.
"Jake, I'm not angry with you, and you don't need to apologize. I'm not saying it's okay that you got in the fight, but, you got in the fight for the right reasons. Next time, you really ought to go find a teacher if you see someone getting teased like that. But, you went in there trying to help your friend out, and that's the right thing to do." Jenny sat next to him, reaching over to ruffle his hair slightly.
He sniffed, reaching up with his good hand to rub his nose again, wincing after the fact. "Ow."
"Are you alright?" Jenny leaned over, taking his chin in her hand, turning his face towards hers. "Ooh, Jake, we really need to get you looked at. Why wouldn't you let the nurse do it?"
"Don' like nurses, or hospitals. Can't Ducky just look at it? Or you? My mum always used to fix all my hurts."
Jenny let out a sigh, shaking her head with a soft laugh. "You're turning out just like Jet, bud. I'll call Ducky up to my office to check you over when we get back to NCIS, alright? But next time, if you get hurt at school, you let the nurse look you over, okay?"
J.J. let out a quiet grumble, nodding. The car was silent for a few moments, before he glanced over at her, voicing a question. "Jenny?"
"Yeah, Jake? What's up?"
J.J. fidgeted uncomfortably, fiddling with the zipper of his backpack, which sat on the seat in-between them. "I'm sposta write a story, for class, 'bout my mum. I…I dunno what to do. D'you…d'you think…I mean, would you or Zee mind if I wrote about you guys instead?"
Jenny blinked, surprised. J.J. looked a little worried at the expression on her face, hurriedly backtracking. "I—I mean, if not, that's cool, I'll just…I'll fin' somethin' else to write about."
"No, Jake, that's…that's fine. I don't mind at all. I just…I thought you'd rather write about your mother."
"I…it's kinda hard, rememberin' stuff about mum. Makes me sad. I like you 'an Zee, you guys make me feel happy, so I…I mean, that's why I wanna write 'bout you." J.J. kept his gaze focused on his lap, mumbling quietly.
"Of course you can, buddy." Jenny blinked rapidly for a minute, shifting over to slip her arm around his shoulders in a hug.
J.J. looked up with a small smile, turning to wrap his good arm around her middle, resting his head on her shoulder. "Thanks."
They both looked up as Stanley opened the door of the car. "We're here, Director."
Jenny smiled, helping J.J. out of the car and taking her purse and his backpack from her security detail. "Thank you, Stanley."
J.J. was already ambling away, headed for the elevator. He frowned as he noticed the retinal scanner, shifting up on his tiptoes to look at it. "Where's the button?"
Jenny laughed softly, slinging his backpack over her free shoulder as she walked up behind him, leaning down to allow the machine to scan her eye. "That is the button, Jake."
J.J. looked appropriately awestruck, giving it another glance as he followed Jenny into the elevator. "That's like the scanner in the Bat Cave! Cool." He grinned at Jenny, his hand darting out to hit the button for the bullpen.
Jenny shook her head, reaching out to press the button for Autopsy instead. "No, we're going to see Ducky, so he can look you over first."
J.J. let out a slow sigh, looking slightly put out. "I kinda hoped you'd forgot."
Jenny chuckled softly, ruffling his hair teasingly as the elevator doors opened. "Nice try, bud. Wait up here a sec, let me make sure Ducky doesn't have any visitors." After determining that there were no dead bodies laying on the tables, she nodded to J.J., walking in the room.
"Whoa. This place is cool." J.J.'s eyes lit up as the doors slid open with their customary 'whoosh', staring around at the sterile room.
Jenny rolled her eyes, setting her purse and his pack down on an empty table, looking around for Ducky. Palmer appeared out of the store-room, blinking in surprise. "Dir—Director Shepard, ma'am. Are you, uh…you looking for Doctor Mallard?"
"Well, yes, but, you could help us out too. Jake got in a fight at school, I need someone to look him over." Jenny smiled at the assistant M.E., waving J.J. over to clamber up on a table. "Where is Ducky?"
"Er…I believe he stepped out for a late lunch, ma'am." Palmer smiled nervously, grabbing Ducky's black bag from the desk and walking over to the table J.J. sat on. "So, Jake, d'you mind letting me look you over?"
"Yeah, I 'spose that's okay." J.J. waited calmly as Palmer moved around the room, grabbing a few miscellaneous things and pulling a chair over for Jenny. "Here, Director, er…take a seat."
"Thank you, Jimmy." Jenny rolled the chair around to sit out of the way, but still well within J.J.'s eyeline. Palmer slipped on a pair of gloves, moving to stand in front of J.J. "So. You got in a fight at school?"
"Yeah. Hugo was bein' mean to Katie." J.J. shifted in place, allowing Palmer to help get his jacket and t-shirt off. He winced sharply and tucked his right hand into his side again, missing the worried look Jenny exchanged with Palmer.
"Hey, Jake, can I see your hand?" Palmer gently took the boy's hand, turning it over carefully. "I think you might have broken a finger or two."
J.J. managed a half-hearted smile. "Yeah, I punched Hugo first, hit his face weird, and then my hand started hurtin', so I punched with my other hand 'stead."
Palmer chuckled, turning J.J.'s hand back over. "Well, I'll need to splint that probably, but let's take an x-ray first to be sure." He crouched down to J.J.'s level, looking over his face. "Does your nose hurt?"
"Only when I rub at it, kinda."
"Hm. Well, you've got a pretty nasty looking cut across it, and I think you might've broken it."
J.J. laid back on the table with a long sigh, gripping the edge tightly with his good hand. "Go 'head 'an fix it, then."
"What?"
"I've broke my nose 'fore, last year I got kicked in the face in a soccer game. Jet fixed it. 'Sides, it didn't hurt as bad after Jet fixed it last time. Just go 'head 'an fix it." J.J. waved his right hand vaguely, staring up at Palmer and Jenny.
Palmer glanced over at Jenny, looking a little lost for words. Jenny shrugged, waving a hand to tell him to go on. "Okay, Jake, I want you to take a deep breath for me, and close your eyes." With a muffled 'crunch', J.J.'s nose was set back in its normal position.
J.J.'s left hand gripped tighter on the edge of the table for a moment as he sucked in a breath, blinking his eyes rapidly. Finally, he took another deep breath and sat up, scrubbing a hand across his face. "Thanks."
Jenny raised her eyebrows, rolling her chair forward towards the table. "You seem to have an unusual pain tolerance, J.J."
"Broke my leg, when I was three, fell offa jungle gym." He shrugged, kicking the aforementioned leg up. "After that, scrapes n' stuff don't hurt much anymore. 'S like what Batman says: Whatever doesn't hurt ya, makes you stronger."
"Of course. Can't rag Batman." Palmer grinned, cutting out a small gauze square to bandage the cut across J.J.'s nose. "Why do we fall?..."
"So we can learn to pick ourselves back up again." J.J. completed the quote without thinking, giving Palmer a grin. "You like Batman?"
"Hm…yeah, I like him. More preferential to Green Lantern, but, I like Batman, he's cool." Palmer shrugged good-naturedly, carefully taping down the gauze over the cut. "Is Batman your favorite superhero, then?"
"Yep. I'm kinda like him. His mum 'n dad are gone, my mum's gone."J.J. allowed Palmer to put his hand on an x-ray plate, rambling away at the connections between him and Batman as the x-ray of his hand was taken.
Jenny laughed softly, leaning against the autopsy table as she watched Palmer splint J.J.'s fingers. "Is that everything, Mr. Palmer?"
Palmer looked J.J. over one last time, checking for any other injuries. "No, Director, I think that's it." He helped J.J. tug his t-shirt back over his head, carefully avoiding his broken fingers and nose. "You're all set, big guy."
J.J. smiled, ducking his head. "Thanks, Mr. Palmer."
"Oh, no, don't call me that, please, my dad's Mr. Palmer. I always go by Jimmy." Palmer helped him down from the table. "Don't listen to what Ducky calls me."
J.J. smiled wider, bumping his left fist against Palmer's extended one. "Ok, Jimmy. You can call me J.J., if ya want."
"Will do, J.J. Glad I could help." Palmer grinned, crouching down to J.J.'s level. "Now, just, don't mess with your fingers or your nose, and get Gibbs to change out that bandage on your nose later tonight, okay?"
J.J. nodded. "Righto." He looked over at Jenny. "Can we go see Jet now?"
Jenny shook her head. "Jet's out on a case right now, you're going to spend the rest of the day with me. Jet said he'd be back later this afternoon."
He grinned in reply, following her to the elevator. "Why don't this one have a scanner-thingy?"
"Doesn't, not don't, J. And, we don't need a retinal scanner here, this is just the regular elevator for everyone to use." Jenny corrected him calmly, pressing the button for her floor.
"Hm." J.J. followed Jenny out of the elevator, looking out over the catwalk. "Whoa. Why does Jet work down there? It's a lot cooler lookin' up here."
Jenny laughed softly. "Well, Jet isn't Director, so…he can't have an office up here. Besides, I think he likes it down there, J."
"Eh." J.J. walked along the catwalk to her office, smiling and waving at Cynthia. He walked around Jenny' desk and settled himself in her chair, spinning it around for a minute. "Your chair's more comfy than his."
Jenny laughed, setting his pack down on the conference table. "Hey, perks to being the big boss, bud."
He rolled his eyes, sliding back down out of her chair to walk over to the table. "Can we get somethin' to eat? I kinda missed lunch, sittin' in the nurse's office."
She nodded. "Sure. I'll have Cynthia order us some Chinese, sound good?"
Three hours later, Jenny and J.J. sat on the floor across from each other, a game board between them. Jenny rolled the die, scowling at the number that showed up. "I think this game is rigged."
J.J. giggled, rolling his eyes. "No…I'm doin' okay. S' not my fault you're a bad roller."
Cynthia stuck her head in the doorway. "Here are the drinks you requested, ma'am." She carried in two soda cans, crouching to set them down next to her boss. "I…I ah, see J.J.'s winning again, ma'am."
He promptly dissolved into giggles again at the petulant look that flashed across Jenny's face. "She's a bad roller, Miss Cynthia."
"I can see that, J.J. Ah…how many times did you win, again?" Cynthia barely withheld a laugh, her face sobering slightly as Jenny glared at her.
"Four." The corner of his mouth twitched up in a small smirk. "Jenny almost won the first game."
Cynthia bit back another laugh. "Er…right. Agent Gibbs' team just returned, ma'am."
"Oh, good. Send him up---nevermind." Jenny let out a short sigh as Gibbs walked in. "I'd ask why you didn't knock, but, the door was open, so I suppose I should have expected that."
Gibbs smirked, an unrepentant grin flashing across his face. "Hey, now, what did I always tell ya about anticipating, Jen?"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Jenny rolled her eyes as she took his offered hand, standing fluidly. "You're back earlier than you said you would be."
"The lead was bad. Took less time than I thought it would." Gibbs shrugged, turning his attention to J.J., who sat on the floor. "You wanna tell me why I got a call from your principal today, Jacob?"
J.J. paled as he scrambled to his feet, his gaze dropping to the floor between Jethro's feet. "I got in a fight."
"Excuse me?"
"I said I got in a fight, sir." J.J. swallowed, lifting his gaze to Gibbs. "Hugo was pickin' on Katie again for not havin' a mum 'n dad, and I was just tryin' to help her out…Sir."
"What did I tell you about fighting?" Gibbs let out an exasperated sigh, folding his arms over his chest.
"Er…Don't fight in front of the teachers, sir?" J.J. tilted his head to the side, looking confused.
"I…well, yeah, I did tell you that, but…what else did I tell you?" Jethro's face flushed slightly as Jenny bit back a smirk.
"Don't pick fights with people bigger than me?"
"I…well, okay, I told you that too, but…" Gibbs groaned as Jenny let out a muffled giggle. "Jake, you can't go picking a fight with someone just because they're teasing someone else. You go tell a teacher and let them handle it."
"But you told me that tellin' on someone makes ya a rotten person."
"Oy…" Gibbs let out another groan as Jenny finally lost the lid on her suppressed giggles, leaning against the desk as she laughed. "Jake, look, you can't take everything I say literally. Going to tell your teacher would be the right thing to do in that situation."
"Oh, man, I haven't laughed that hard in quite some time." Jenny shook her head, wiping a few tears of laughter out of her eyes. "You set yourself up for that one, Jethro."
J.J. still stood in front of Gibbs, his head tilted in confusion. "So…am I still in trouble? Sir?"
Jethro glanced over at Jenny before shaking his head slowly. "No, J, you're not in trouble. I…we'll talk about it later. Just, next time, you go tell a teacher, alright?" He waited for J.J.'s nod before continuing. "C'mon, it's about time I get you home."
"Can Jenny come, too?" J.J. was already headed over to the couch, grabbing his backpack in his good hand.
"I…I don't see why not. Jen, you want to tag along for dinner?"
"Alright, De La Hoya, bedtime." Gibbs sat on the couch next to Jenny, a beer gripped in his right hand. J.J. lay on the floor in front of them, watching the TV avidly.
"Je-e-et, I don't wanna! It's Friday, and I'm not tired!" J.J. rolled over on his back, looking up at the two adults as he protested. "Jenny, do I have to?"
Jenny shifted, tucking her feet up under her body as she took a sip of her own beer. "Jake, you better listen to Jet. If he says it's bedtime, it's bedtime."
The boy huffed, rolling over to clamber to his feet. "You're no fun." He further emphasized his displeasure by stomping his feet loudly on the stairs.
"Hey! You keep doin' that, and you're going straight to bed without a story, Jake!" Jethro tilted his head back on the couch with a sigh. "I'd forgotten how hard it is to get a kid to go to bed when they don't want to."
"Jet! I'm ready for bed!" J.J.'s faint shout could be heard. Gibbs set his beer down and stood, heading upstairs.
"Aaalrighty, what story am I readin' tonight? Sleeping Beauty? Cinderella?" He settled down against J.J.'s bed, pulling his reading glasses out of the bedside table.
"No way! Those are girl stories. You promised we'd keep readin' the Bilbo story, Jet. I wanna hear more of the Bilbo story." J.J. hugged a battered Sylvester stuffed animal to his chest, settling back against his pillow, staring over at Gibbs.
"Okay, fine, The Hobbit it is, then." He leaned over to scan the bookshelf, running his finger along the titles until he found the correct one. "Here we are. What chapter were we on, again?"
"Chapter 5. You started readin' it last night, but stopped a few pages in. You was readin' about Gollum."
"Ah, right, Chapter 5. Let's see… Gollum, Gollum…ah, here it is. Chapter 5." Jethro settled back against the bed again, his reading glasses perched on his nose. He flicked his gaze to the door where Jenny stood for a moment, clearing his throat. "Do I have to do the voices?"
"Yup."
"Of course…well, here goes: Gollum got into his boat and shot off from the island, while Bilbo was sitting on the brink altogether flummoxed and at the end of his way and his wits. Suddenly up came Gollum and whispered and hissed:"
He paused and cleared his throat a bit before continuing in a raspy voice, making J.J. giggle. "…'Bless us an' splash us, precious! I guess it's a choice feast; at least a tasty morsel it'd make us, Gollum!"
Jenny smiled as she listened to Jethro's gruff baritone reading the book to his adopted son.
Gibbs continued on reading the story, supplying funny voices for each different character as he went. Jenny gradually moved to sit on the far end of J.J.'s bed, tucking her legs up Indian-style, enthralled with listening to Jethro read.
"'What's the matter?' Bilbo called. 'What have you lost?'"Jethro voiced Bilbo in a slightly higher pitch than his own voice, inflecting it with a slight British accent. He abruptly changed his voice to a guttural rasp to voice the slimy Gollum. "'It mustn't ask us,' shrieked Gollum.'Not its business, no, Gollum! It's lost, Gollum, Gollum, Gollum.'" He glanced over at J.J., now sound asleep with Sylvester clutched tightly in his arms. He lowered his voice slightly, marking his place in the book by dog-earing a page. "And, that's enough for tonight."
Jenny carefully stood from the bed, following Gibbs out of the room. She waited in the hall as he carefully pulled the door almost closed, walking back downstairs to the couch. "You're a good storyteller, Jethro."
He took a long drink of his beer, ducking his head self-consciously. "I'm not that good, really."
"Fine, don't take a compliment, then, but I thought you were great." Jenny shrugged one shoulder slightly, sipping at her beer. "Kinda cute, really, with all the voices and whatnot."
Jet flushed red, taking another long drink of beer to cover his embarrassment. "Thanks." He set the empty bottle down on the coffee table in front of them. "I'm going to get another. You want one?"
"No, I better not, I've got to drive home tonight."
He nodded, moving towards the kitchen, before he paused mid-step. "You know, Jen, it's the weekend, you could…well, no, never mind." He shook his head vigorously as if trying to clear it, resuming his walk to the kitchen.
Jenny frowned, setting her half-empty bottle down as she stood, following him into the kitchen. "What?"
"I…I was saying, it's the weekend, you could, take a little break from things, stay with us for the weekend. Y'know, if you want to. If not, it's fine." He ducked his head into the fridge as he spoke. "J.J. would be thrilled, he's always asking if you can stay." His ramblings trailed off as he re-emerged from the fridge, a beer gripped tightly in his hand. He glanced at her nervously. "But, I mean, only if you want. You don't have to."
She smiled, walking over to him and hopping up on the counter. "If you wanted me to stay, all you had to do was ask, Jethro."
Jethro relaxed, looking relieved. "Right, okay." He paused, glancing at the beer in his hand, before he set it down on the counter next to her, leaning forward tentatively. He met her gaze, waiting for her to back away, his breath ghosting over her lips. Jenny blinked once, meeting his gaze once more before bridging the gap between them, pressing her lips against his, her hand coming up to wind in his short silver hair.
He broke the kiss after a long moment, their breaths mingling as he rested his forehead against hers. "Jen…I, if you don't want this, just say the word." She shook her head, giving him a bright grin as her fingers tightened their hold in his hair, pulling him closer until their lips met again.
Jenny broke away for a breath, the thin fingers of her other hand reaching for the front of his shirt. "No, Jethro, I want this. I'm not going to leave. Not anymore."
A/n: Annnnd, I will leave this chapter off there. It's getting long anyways.(And yes, I know, I'm mean, leaving all of you hanging like that XD)
Woo Chapter 4! Or, um, something like that.
Okay, a few things for you to note:
a) I'm not condoning fights at school in any way. Just based a few things off of some personal experiences.
b) The book Gibbs is reading? The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
c) Will there be more Jibbs after this? Oh, of course!
And so, there be Chapter 4. Things will start progressing faster after this. Next chapter will probably be set during the last few episodes in Season 3, thematically. Just, so you know.
Reviews are lovely… :P
-Meg