A/n: Chapter 5!
We're now delving into the Jibbs centric part of the story. This chapter is set right around Season 3 Episode 22, Jeopardy. (That's right, Jenny's gettin' kidnapped, if the title hadn't told you that already.)
This is a week or so after Chapter 4. Jenny is staying at Gibbs' house more often, etc., etc.
Read, and review!
-meg
5. Kidnapped!
"Je-e-nny, I'm booooored." J.J. lay on the couch with his head in Jenny's lap, flicking aimlessly through the TV channels.
"Sorry, Jake, there's not much on TV." Jenny ran her fingers through his hair a few times, giving him an apologetic look. "You want to put a movie in?"
"Nah. When's Jet gonna be back?" He shifted around a little, drumming the fingers of his left hand against the splinted ones of his right.
"Good question. I'm not really sure, Jake, he said he needed to go pick a few things up." Jenny did, in fact, know exactly when Jethro was going to be back, and what was accompanying him, but she wasn't about to reveal that secret to J.J.
"Hmph. Do you hafta go to work tomorrow?" J.J. moved on from his original line of questioning. "I don't hafta go to school tomorrow, why do you an' Jet gotta go work?"
"You don't have to go to school because it's a teacher workday, Jake. Jet and I still have to go to work, bud." She gently ran her fingers through his hair again, smiling briefly at the way it spiked up in places. "If we can't find a babysitter, you'll have to come to the office for the day with us."
"Can I stay in your office?" He sat up rapidly, tucking his legs under his body Indian-style. "The bullpen's boring."
Jenny nodded after a moment, thinking. "Yes, I suppose you can stay in my office, as long as I don't have any big meetings tomorrow. If I do, you'll have to head back to Child-Care."
J.J. frowned distastefully at the mention of NCIS' daycare facilities for employees with children. "You better not have any meetings, then."
She laughed softly, leaning over to tousle his hair teasingly. "I'll make sure to re-arrange my schedule just for you, bud."
J.J. snickered softly, ducking away from her teasing. He hopped up from his position on the couch, frowning at the TV moodily after a moment. "Can we call Jet, see what's takin' so long?"
Jenny tilted her head towards the front door, a small smirk playing across her lips as she heard the tell-tale slamming of a car door out in front of the house. "Actually, Jake…he's here right now. He just pulled up."
She smiled, watching as J.J.'s face lit up; the little boy scrambling off the couch in his hurry to be at the door to greet Jethro. She followed at a more sedate pace, leaning casually against the stair banister to view the proceedings as Jethro opened the front door.
"Jet! You're back!" J.J. jumped forward excitedly, stopping abruptly when he saw what accompanied his adopted father into the house. "PUPPY!" His voice rose to a near shout as he took in the small, golden furred German Shepherd-Labrador Retriever mix in Jethro's arms.
Jethro's blue eyes flashed in amusement as he watched J.J.'s reaction. He crouched down, setting the dog on the floor. "That would be what this is called, yes."
"You got me a puppy?" J.J. giggled as the puppy stumbled forward into his outstretched arms, wriggling around excitedly.
"No, we've only got him for the day." Jethro's deadpan reply caused J.J. to look up, alarmed, his arms wrapping around the dog protectively.
Jenny shook her head, moving to hit Jethro's shoulder sharply. "Jethro, don't be mean." She smiled at J.J., rolling her eyes. "Jake, Jet's kidding, you can really keep it."
Jethro shrugged unrepentantly, reaching around to slip an arm around her waist, tugging her close and kissing her cheek as he nudged the door shut with his foot. His gaze shone happily as he watched J.J. roll around on the floor with the puppy. "I take it you like him then, Jake?"
J.J. burst out laughing as the puppy balanced on his small chest, excitedly licking his face. "He's awesome!" He moved to push the puppy to the side, sitting up to stare at Jenny and Jet. "I really get to keep him?"
Jet chuckled, slowly nodding his head. "You really get to keep him, yes. He needs a name, though."
Jenny slipped out of his grasp, crouching down gracefully to play with the puppy with J.J. "What are you going to name him, Jake?"
J.J. scratched the puppy's belly absentmindedly, his brow furrowing in thought. "Hmm…I dunno. What's a good name for a dog?"
Jethro joined the other two on the floor, a small smile tugging at his lips as the puppy stumbled his way over into his lap. The smile widened as he playfully teased the dog with his hand, running it around like a spider on the floor. "Depends. Had a dog named 'Dammit', when I was a kid."
"Jethro!" Jenny leveled a glare at him, shaking her head. "Jake, don't name your dog Dammit. Jet's kidding around again."
"I'm serious! He was this kinda sandy brown mutt that followed me home from the fishin' hole one afternoon. Dad was ticked off, tried to send him away, but he just kept comin' back. Eventually, he just started responding to 'dammit'. I called him D, most of the time." Jethro raised his hands in a placating manner. "You can call him and ask, if you still don't believe me."
Jenny frowned. "Whatever. That's still no reason to name the poor thing Dammit."
J.J. giggled, shifting to lay on his stomach, resting his head on folded arms as he watched the puppy playfully bite at Jet's hand. "Didja have any other dogs?"
"Yeah. Had one named Socks, got him after Dammit ran away, and Uncle LJ had a big coon dog named Rex."
"Jethro…you're not helping the naming process at all." Jenny let out a sigh.
"What about you, Jenny? Did you ever have a dog?"
Jenny nodded. "Yeah. We had a Jack Russell named Spot, when I was really little; I think after that we had a Dachshund mix named Baxter, and then a Corgi named Sandy. I always wanted to get a big dog, but they scared Mom, so, we usually had small dogs. Dad got a big Labrador Retriever he named Duke after Mum…left." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Duke was the last dog I remember, once I went to college, Dad never really saw the point in getting another dog."
Jet's lips twitched briefly in a smirk at hearing that she once owned a dog named Duke, his eyes dancing with amusement. "What about one of your superheroes?"
"What?" J.J. glanced over at Jet inquisitively.
"I said, why don't you name him after one of your superheroes?"
J.J. frowned in thought again, finally glancing up with a bright smile. "Hey, that's a good idea!" His face fell after a moment. "But which one do I pick?"
Jenny shifted to mirror J.J.'s position, rolling over onto her stomach and pillowing her head on her arms. "That depends. Why don't you list off their names, and Jet and I will tell you if those are good names for a dog."
"Okay, well…there's Bruce Wayne, that's Batman, 'an then there's the Ninja Turtles like Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael…" He trailed off, thinking of his favorite superheroes. "Uh…There's Iceman, his name was Bobby Drake, 'an James Logan, that's Wolverine. Oooh, or Gambit, his real name's Remy."
Jet chuckled softly, teasing the dog again with his hand. "Any others?"
"Mmmm…nope. Those are my fav'rites."
"Alright…any one in particular you really like?"
J.J. leaned forward to scratch the puppy's ears, resting his chin on his fist. "I'm gonna call him Gambit."
"Gambit? Well…okay, that was easy." Jet laughed, leaning over to rub Gambit's belly. "I'll get him dog tags later today at the store. Why don't you take him out in the backyard to play for a bit, J?"
Jenny gave Jethro an inquisitive look as they both watched J.J. run off towards the backyard, followed by Gambit. She let out a squeak of surprise as he rolled over to pin her on her back, a devilish smirk on his face. "Jethro!"
He grinned unrepentantly, leaning down to press his lips against hers in a heated kiss. Jenny relaxed into it for a moment, abruptly pulling away, flattening her hand against his chest; lowering her voice to a hiss. "Jethro! J.J.'s right outside! We can't do this here!"
Jethro smirked, lowering his head to kiss her again. "He's outside, with the dog. He'll be occupied for at least the next half hour. Think you can keep it quiet?"
Jenny gasped as he slid his cool hands up under her shirt, a distinctly wolfish grin playing across his lips. She pushed hard against his chest, shoving him away. "We're not doing this here in the middle of the house, Jethro."
With an exaggerated sigh, he rolled over to get to his feet, pulling Jenny with him up the stairs rapidly to his bedroom. "Better, your highness?"
Jenny bit back a snort of laughter and trailed a teasing finger down his chest, enjoying the sound of his breath hitching. "You better hurry, Jethro, before your son comes looking for us…"
His answering growl was distinctly predatory as he pulled her close for another kiss, backing them rapidly towards the bed.
"Wow."
"Mmm?" Jethro rolled over onto his back, one arm still wrapped loosely around Jenny's waist, the other behind his head as a pillow. His heavy breathing was starting to regulate itself as Jenny collapsed against his chest.
"That was…"
"Amazing?" He shifted to his side, levering himself up on his elbow, a cheeky grin creasing his face.
"Decidedly so." Jenny smirked, tracing her fingers lightly over his torso. "Risky, too, J.J. could come in at any time."
He laughed briefly, leaning over for another kiss before slipping out of bed to pull some clothes on. Jenny pulled the covers up around herself, a playful smirk tugging at her lips. "I appreciate the peep show, babe."
"Only for you." He gave her a roughish wink, slipping his jeans on. "You better get some clothes on, I'm sure J.J. will be looking for us." He walked over to the edge of the bed, leaning down for another kiss, which grew more heated as Jenny laced her fingers into his short silver hair. Neither noticed the presence of a third in the room until a voice piped up from near the doorway.
"Jet? Jenny?"
Jenny released Gibbs rapidly, tugging the covers more securely around herself, her cheeks flushing red. "Hey, there, Jake, what's wrong?"
"Why are you in bed? Are you sick? Why's Jet not got a shirt on?"
"Ah…where's Gambit, J?" Jet rapidly intervened, walking forward towards his son.
"Outside playin'. I came to see if you guys wanted to play with us. Where's your shirt?" J.J. tried peeking around Jet's legs to look at Jenny. "Why's Jenny in bed?"
"Hey, look, J, why don't you go play with Gambit, we'll be down in just a minute, kay?" Jet leaned down, shunting J.J. back towards the stairs and closing the bedroom door, which he collapsed back against. "That was close."
Jenny's face shifted between looking alternately mortified and amused for a few seconds before she lost the lid on her giggles. "I…what are we going to tell him?" She tossed the covers back, slipping off the bed to re-dress.
"Nothin', he'll forget about it eventually." Jet grinned suggestively at her, eyeing her curves as she slipped her jeans and blouse back on.
"Jethro! Stop that, and put a shirt on." Jenny leveled a mild glare at him as she finished buttoning her shirt.
"Thought you liked me without a shirt on?"
"God, you're insatiable." She rolled her eyes, whacking his shoulder lightly as he brushed past her to retrieve his discarded t-shirt.
"Eh, you love me for it." Jet winked suggestively, walking up behind her as she stood in front of the bureau mirror, fixing her hair. He slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her back into his body, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to the side of her neck.
"Jethro, stoppit." Jenny pushed his arms away, pulling her long red locks back into a messy ponytail. "Your son is waiting outside."
"Jennnnny…" His voice was a plaintive whine.
"No, Jethro, we have to go. Out. Now." Jenny reached over, grabbing his wrist tightly and tugging him out of the room behind her.
"Stupid mutt was supposed to keep him occupied." Jet's disappointed grumblings followed Jenny down the stairs and out into the backyard.
"Jethro! Don't call Gambit a mutt! It's rude."
"Jen, Gambit's a dog. What the hell does he care?" Jethro's grumbling about the dog were silenced as the aforementioned animal bounded up, barking loudly and leaping up to paw at Jethro's leg. He grumbled under his breath, crouching down to scratch the obliging puppy's belly, a slight smile pulling at his lips.
The evening was filled with laughs and barks as the happy group enjoyed the remainder of their weekend.
"Jake, 's time to get up." Jenny leaned over J.J.'s bed carefully, shaking his shoulder lightly.
"Nooooo, Idon'wanna!" J.J. swatted vaguely at her hand, muffling his sleepy mumble in his pillow.
"Jake, seriously, you need to get up, you're coming to work with Jet and I." She shook his shoulder again, gently pulling the covers away from his body. "C'mon, kiddo. Up."
He sat up with a baleful glare, grumbling something unintelligible under his breath as he swung his legs over and hopped out of bed.
Jenny bit back a chuckle at his hair, which stuck up in the back, as she watched him disappear into the bathroom. "Fifteen minutes, Jake, okay?"
She smirked briefly at the unintelligible mumble she received in reply, turning around to walk back downstairs and into the kitchen, where Jethro stood, his silver hair still wet from the shower. "He's definitely your son, Jethro. Surly glares and grumbles are all I've managed out of him. I told him fifteen minutes."
"Hm. He'll be ready in seven." Gibbs gave her a nonchalant shrug, glaring at his coffeepot as if his stare would hurry the machine up.
"And you know that how…?" Jenny stretched up to grab to travel coffee mugs out of the cabinet, setting them within easy reach near the coffeepot, ready to be filled.
He tilted his head towards the stairs, listening. A satisfied smirk twitched across his lips as the muffled sounds of J.J.'s feet descended the stairs. "Habit."
"I see. Morning, Jake." Jenny accepted the full mug from Jethro with a smile, turning around to greet J.J. as he ambled into the kitchen, his hair still sticking up adorably in the back.
J.J. leveled a mild glare her way, shuffling over to the fridge. He emerged moments later with the orange juice carton at his lips, taking a long drink.
"Jake! Don't drink out of the carton!" Jenny admonished, moving forward to take the carton out of his hands. "Use a glass."
"Jet lets me drink outta the carton." J.J. reached over and took the juice back, taking another long drink before re-capping it and sticking the carton back in the fridge. He calmly stared down her raised eyebrow look, mumbling something that vaguely sounded like a 'hello' to his father. "We leavin' now?"
"Yup." Jet took a long sip of his coffee, heading out the front door after ensuring Gambit was safely ensconced in the living room with a few chew toys. "You got your pack?"
"Mmhmm. Gameboy, iPod, DVDs for Abby's lab, a change of clothes, two Snickers bars 'an a pack of Pop Tarts, a hacky sac, 'an my Rubik's cube." J.J. listed off the contents of his knapsack as he followed Jet and Jenny to the Challenger, clambering into the backseat.
The ride to NCIS was relatively silent and quick. J.J. had dozed off again by the time they arrived, and Jenny carefully reached in and lifted him out of the car, still fast asleep against her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at Jet, freeing one hand to sign to him. What do you want me to do with him?
"We'll take 'im up to your office for a bit and let him get some more sleep on the couch. I'll come get him around 0900, take him down to Abby's if you've got meetings." He handed her the travel mug and slipped J.J.'s knapsack onto his shoulder, grabbing her briefcase as they walked to the elevator.
After walking Jenny and J.J. up to her office, Gibbs headed back down to the bullpen, murmuring a quiet greeting to his agents as he passed.
"Hey, Boss, got a lead on Brian Dempsey's whereabouts." Tony spoke up from his desk, waving a sheet of paper in the air.
"Take Ziva, go detain him." Gibbs took a long sip of his coffee, starting up his computer. "Officer David, I want this guy ALIVE, you hear me?"
Ziva gave a nod in response, grabbing her pack and following Tony to the elevators.
"Ma-Gee!"
"Yeah, boss?"
"Go see if Abby's got anything on the location of that shipment."
"Yes, boss."
"There's nothing to tell, Ziva." Gibbs snapped his retort to her worried question as he turned to take the stairs up to Jenny's office two at a time, irritated beyond belief. How in the hell had he ended up with a problem this bad in four hours? Dempsey was dead, debatably killed by Ziva's restraining hold, and now he needed Jenny's help to figure out what to do with this damn case.
He frowned as he entered the outer office, seeing a reedy man in glasses sitting in the waiting area in front of Cynthia's desk. "She in?"
"They're still not back from lunch, and he's been here for half an hour."
"They?"
"I thought she told you. Uh…J.J. went with her. But…this isn't like her, Agent Gibbs. She's never been late for a meeting."
"Try her driver?"
"Stan's not answering his cell or pager. I've left him four messages." Cynthia gave him a worried look, glancing over at her computer. "I really don't know what else to do; I've been calling her cell phone."
Gibbs held up a finger, flipping his cell open and dialing a number from memory.
It rang a few times, and then picked up. "Agent Gibbs."
"Director." He was puzzled by her greeting and tone. She hadn't called him 'Agent Gibbs' on the phone for weeks now. It was always 'Jethro'. "We've got a problem here."
"Sorry to hear that, Jethro, we've got quite the serious problem here ourselves."
That worried him, but he pressed on. "I'm pretty sure you'll wanna hear my problem first."
"I'm not entirely sure that's true."
He heard a click, and rustling, before a cold sounding male voice came over the line, making his blood run cold.
"You really should be listening to her problem, Jethro. You're holding my heroin and my baby brother. If I don't get both back in two hours, the brat gets to watch his Mummy die, and you get him back in little pieces. I'll call back with the details."
The click of the phone sounded, before the dial tone buzzed out, a virtual death knell in his ear. He slumped against the doorway, pale, his phone slipping from nerveless fingers to fall on the floor.
"Agent Gibbs?" Cynthia's voice came to him as if from extremely far away. "Agent Gibbs, is everything alright? Did you get the Director?"
He finally managed to muster up enough energy for a whispered sentence. "Where'd they go?"
"Excuse me? I—I didn't quite catch that, sir."
"Where'd they go, for lunch?"
"Um, the Whitmore Hotel. She was supposed to meet with Senator Jessop, but he had to cancel, told her to keep the reservation. She called in at 11:45, and texted at 12:50 saying lunch was finished, they were headed back. She never checked in again."
"That's all you've got? There's not some meeting or something she could have brought J.J. along to?"
"No, sir, nothing, she should have headed back to NCIS." Cynthia glanced over at him, sounding worried. She lowered her voice slightly. "Is there something wrong?"
Gibbs stood tall again, motioning her into Jenny's office with a hand, closing the door behind him. "Director Shepard and J.J. have been kidnapped."
"I…what can I do?"
"Keep quiet."
"They're gonna be okay, right?" Cynthia's voice stopped him as he turned towards the door, his hand resting on the handle.
"They better be, or James Dempsey's gonna die a long, slow death." He wrenched the door open, blasting past the reedy man and leaving Cynthia standing in Jenny's office.
"Where'd you learn that Vulcan Death Grip, Zee-vah?"
He caught the tail end of Tony's questioning as he breezed back into the bullpen, dealing out a hard whack to the back of his Senior Agent's head.
"DiNozzo!"
"Ow…yeah, boss, sorry, I was just…"
"Shut up." Gibbs ignored the mumbled excuse, motioning to McGee sharply. "You, get over here."
Tony and McGee walked over to his desk, Ziva rotating her desk chair, waiting expectantly for his orders. "James Dempsey has taken Director Shepard and J.J. hostage. He wants his drugs, and his brother back, or they both die. We have two hours. Last contact was at the Whitmore Hotel. Driver's not responding. DiNozzo."
"On it!" Tony was already moving towards the elevator as Gibbs turned to McGee.
"Dempsey used the Director's cell."
"I'll start a trace." The computer geek turned back to his desk, his nimble fingers already flying over the keys.
"And me?" Ziva's accented voice rang out from his right, worried.
"Go get the Director's Rolodex from Cynthia, start making calls, see if anyone might have seen her and J.J. leave the Whitmore. There's got to be at least a few politicians who saw her at lunch."
"Desk work? Gibbs…put me in the field."
"No. Not happenin'."
"You need me out there!"
"NOT HAPPENIN'. I need you at your desk making calls. GO!" He walked back around his desk, heading upstairs to MTAC. "Clock's tickin' people!"
"Jenny can take care of herself, and J.J., Gibbs! She was a good agent!" Ziva's voice rose behind him as he jogged up the stairs.
"Still is."
Jenny sat, her hands tied; J.J. huddled in her lap, watching Dempsey holding the gun on them warily. He had tossed her phone soon after the call from Gibbs, and they were now pulling up to a private hangar on the outskirts of Potomac Airfield.
The man driving slowed the SUV to a stop, getting out quickly and coming around to her door, flinging it open. He grabbed J.J. roughly, his voice a low growl. "Out."
Dempsey spoke from just in front of them. "Easy there, Rudd, the kid's not one of your dates." He helped Jenny out of the car, walking her towards the hangar office.
"They wouldn't even be here if your idiot brother hadn't gotten arrested." Rudd set J.J. down, shoving him into Dempsey's grip.
"I gotta apologize for Alex, he takes some gettin' used to. Once ya get to know him, you really learn to hate him." He kept the gun pressed to her spine, nudging her forward. He released J.J. momentarily, wrenching the office door open and motioning them inside. "On your knees."
Jenny glared, moving away from him. Dempsey's eyes narrowed, and he leveled the gun on J.J. "Now." She acquiesced, watching as he moved about the room, grabbing a length of rope.
"You're wasting your time."
He snorted. "I'm just tryin' to make you two comfortable."
"I meant taking us hostage. They're never gonna negotiate."
"Oh, I wouldn't sell yourself so short." He grabbed a chair, glancing around for another.
"They're not allowed to."
"Oh, I don't know, Agent Gibbs seems pretty fond of you, and the boy." He retrieved a second chair, setting it against the back of the first. "I'm sure he'll make an exception."
"We busted your brother with five million in pure heroin, you think the Navy's just gonna give him back?"
Dempsey grabbed J.J., setting him in one chair before he leveled the gun at him again. "Stand up."
She stood gracefully to her feet.
"In the chair."
Jenny sat, her back to J.J. with her arms pinned behind her, tied as they were.
Dempsey looped the rope around both of them, talking all the while, seemingly more to J.J. than her. "I am sorry about this, kid. My baby brother, he kinda has a habit of getting us in trouble, and I'm the one who bails us out."
Jenny winced slightly as he tightened the rope. "You didn't break somebody's window with a baseball, James, you kidnapped the Director of a Federal Agency, not to mention the son of one of its most prominent agents."
"Yeah, you got a point. But look on the bright side…this'll be over soon, one way or another." He finished tying the knots and walked over to look out the window.
"Stanley?" Jenny voiced her concern for her long-time driver.
"Excuse me?"
"My driver."
Dempsey turned back to the window, his eyes guarded. "He's fine. Might be a little uncomfortable, we stuffed him in your trunk. See, I'm not a bad guy. I just want the drugs you stole from me, and my brother back." He stared at them one last time, before turning to walk back out into the hangar.
Jenny let out a low sigh, her thin fingers already moving around, trying to slip the ties on her wrists.
"Jenny?" J.J.'s voice was quiet, with the faintest hint of fear in it. He hadn't said a thing since Rudd had backhanded him for attempting to prevent Jenny being tied up, his face pale and scared.
"Everything's gonna be okay, Jake, don't worry."
"You said NCIS don't negotiate with bad guys."
Jenny cursed herself mentally for voicing that aloud earlier in her lecture to their captors. "Jake…I was just saying that to try and get him to let us go, to realize he wasn't gonna get anything out of this."
"So we're gonna get outta here?"
Jenny sighed internally, ignoring the ominous feeling in her gut, and summoned up the positive thoughts to bolster J.J. "I'll get us out of here, bud."
"Promise?"
"I promise, Jake. Besides, you know Jet's doing everything in his power to find us and get us back." She wriggled her hands again, rejoicing internally as she felt the first few loops of rope around her hands slip. "We'll get out of here okay, promise. Just one thing, Jake. If I tell you to get out, to run away without me, you have to listen to me, okay?"
She heard a very small 'okay' from the other side of the chair, and returned to working free of their bonds.
Gibbs jerked the phone from his belt as it rang, cutting through the silence of the NCIS garage. "Yeah, Gibbs."
"Boss…we've got a problem. I'm at the Whitmore, found the Director's car. Uh…"
"DiNozzo! Spit it out!"
"Stan…Stan's dead. They shot him."
He had to fight to keep the phone in his now nerveless hand. "And Jenny…J.J.?"
"No sign of 'em, Boss. The kidnappers must've switched cars, killed Stan and hid her car down here with the rest of the government issues."
"I…alright, I'll send a team out, you get back here once they secure the scene." He shut the phone with a 'snap', sinking down against one of the cement pillars in the garage, his head in his hands.
"Jethro." Ducky's accented brogue broke through his thoughts.
"He's got both of 'em, Duck."
"I know, Jethro, but you can't lose hope. You'll find them, I know you will." Ducky crouched slightly to look his friend in the eye. "But, sitting down here in a parking garage is doing Jennifer and Jake absolutely no good whatsoever. You need to go co-ordinate with Agent Yates, and find them."
"I can't lose them, Duck. I—I can't do that, not again." He looked up, his voice hoarse.
"You won't." Ducky stood up, holding out a hand. "Come on, up you go."
Gibbs took the offered hand, regaining his feet and composing himself. "You found a cause of death for Dempsey yet?"
"No. You'll get my report when this is finished." Ducky clapped a hand on his shoulder. "What I have so far is inconclusive. Now, go co-ordinate with Agent Yates, and find Jennifer and Jake."
"If I didn't know any better, Duck, I'd say you were tryin' to tell me what to do."
"Oh, no, Jethro, I wouldn't dream of doing that." Ducky let out a short chuckle, guiding his friend back to the elevator.
"Nice plane out there. G-3, right?" Jenny carefully maneuvered the sliver of metal towards her with her heel, keeping a wary eye on Dempsey.
"I wouldn't know."
"Range: 4100 nautical miles, unless you risk re-fueling…but, you don't look like the European type to me." She paused, finally trapping the metal under her foot. "I'm thinking more Mexico or the Carribean."
Dempsey turned around to look at her, thoughtful. "Mexico would be nice. My baby brother's always wanted to see Cabo."
"Maybe you can take him there…in thirty to forty years."
Rudd flung the door open, storming in. "Where's your pilot, Dempsey?"
"I told you, he's on his way!"
Rudd glared, turning his gaze towards Jenny and J.J. "What the hell?! You've got them right in front of the window!"
Jenny cursed mentally as Rudd strode over, dragging their joined chairs further back in the room. "I tried to tell him."
"No one's gonna see her!"
"That's a dangerous assumption! Who knows how many people saw you stuff us in the back of your car? You've kidnapped the head of a Federal Agency. They take that very seriously."
Rudd turned to Dempsey, irritated. "Look. I know you're tight with your brother, mate, but you are not thinking!"
"She's just messing with you!"
"Well, she's doing a good job of it." Rudd gestured to the two of them. "How exactly do you see this thing working out? We should have just shot her, like that damn driver, and dumped the kid."
"I gave NCIS two hours! They've only got 58 minutes left. Just relax."
"We're gone as soon as your flyboy shows up."
"We're not leavin' without my brother!"
Rudd snapped, lunging forward to pin Dempsey against the wall. "IT'S YOUR BROTHER'S FAULT WE'RE IN THIS MESS! Now I've gotta explain to my bosses how you lost our product and you don't have the money to pay for it!"
"I'm gettin' it back!"
Rudd released him, stepping back and smoothing his suit down. "Yeah? Good luck with that, 'cause I'm not sticking around to find out." He walked back out of the office, slamming the door.
"Looks like you have a difficult decision, James. It's either him, or your brother."
"AAAARGH!" Dempsey howled in anger, kicking the wall of the office.
Jenny wiggled her hands slowly, working the last few loops of rope off of her hands. "His name was Stanley."
"What?!?" Dempsey had taken to pacing around the office, glaring at the cell phone in his hand.
"The man you murdered, in the parking garage, James."
He stopped his pacing, turning to stare at her. "I didn't kill your driver." He looked almost apologetic. "I tried to stop it."
"Good. Then you still have a chance to get out of this." She tilted her head slightly, hearing the sounds of the jet sitting in the hangar starting up. "Which is more than I can say for your boss out there."
"He's not my boss. He's a business partner."
"Well I'd keep an eye on your business partner, if I were you."
"Yeah? Why's that?" Dempsey tensed as the sounds of the jet engines warming up rang throughout the hangar.
"'Cause it sounds like he's about to leave you."
Dempsey sprinted out of the office, shouting something vague.
Jenny frantically went back to working on their bonds. "Jake."
"Y—yeah?"
"I've almost got these ropes loose. Once I get them off, I want you to get out of here and go hide. You understand me?"
"B—But…I—I can't leave you here!"
"Jake. Answer me. Do you understand me?"
"I…"
"Jake."
"O.K."
Jenny slipped the last loop of rope off them as the door flew open. "Jake, go!"
Rudd stormed into the room, cocking his gun. She waited until he stood close enough before standing, her arm snapping out in an automatic disarming blow. J.J. wriggled out of the ropes, running around Jenny and Rudd's fighting forms as he headed for the office door.
The simultaneous roar of two gunshots silenced the struggles in the room.
"Jenny!"
"Ma-Gee!"
"Yeah Boss?"
"You got anything for me?"
"Abby and I managed to narrow down Brian Dempsey's spending habits, and she found some—"
"McGee! Let me tell him!" Abby whacked his shoulder sharply before turning back to Gibbs. "I found fire suppressant foam in the shoe goop. McGee managed to narrow it down, there's only one airport in the area that used the foam recently, Potomac Airfield."
Gibbs nearly sank to the ground in relief. "We got a hangar number?"
"Working on it, Boss." McGee was still typing away furiously at his computer. "I'm searching for planes scheduled to take off."
"Alright. Call me when you've got the number, McGee. Let's go, people!"
Cassie and Tony immediately jumped into action, suiting up in tactical gear. Gibbs turned to go, spinning back at the last second, looking at Ziva, who sat at her desk. "Hey. HEY!" Ziva glanced up, surprised. "C'mon!"
"Boss, it's Hangar Three. That's the only hangar on the airfield with a flight registered to leave today. We're sending you the coordinates."
Gibbs gave a guff acknowledgement before he closed the phone, walking back over to where Cassie, Tony, and Ziva stood. "Hangar Three. We'll go in pairs, Ziva with me. Cass, you go with To—" The rest of his order was cut off by the ringing of his cell.
He jerked the phone off of his belt, snapping it open. "WHAT, Ma-Gee? You get the Hangar wrong or somethin'?"
"D—Dad?" J.J's quiet voice issued out of the earpiece, hitting him like a sucker-punch to the gut.
"J.J.? Where are you? Are you okay? Where's Jenny?"
"We're both fine, Jethro. We're at Pot—"
"Potomac Airfield, Hangar Three. We know. You're…you're alright, Jen?" He waved the others off, sinking to the ground wearily next to the sedan.
"Honestly, Jethro, we're fine. Look…we'll wait out in front of the hangar for you, I assume you're already on the way."
"We'll be right there, Jen. Keep—make sure you guys stay safe." He let his head fall back against the car as he closed the phone.
"Boss?"
"They're aright. That was Jen."Gibbs opened his eyes, standing back up. "Let's go."
J.J. and Jenny stood outside the hangar when the blue NCIS issue sedan pulled up. Gibbs climbed out of the front seat, staring at his son and girlfriend as if they were apparitions. "You're okay?"
J.J. sprinted forward, launching himself into Jethro's arms, where he tucked his head into the crook of his father's neck. Jethro stared at Jenny over J.J.'s head, visibly checking her for injuries.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, giving him a reassuring nod. "I'm fine, Jethro, my shoulder hurts a bit from my fall, but that's it."
"Dempsey?"
Jenny jerked her head over her left shoulder, towards the hangar office, mouthing 'he's dead' to Jet. "Rudd's in there, too."
"C'mere." He motioned with his free hand, reaching out to take her hand when she approached. He pulled her in tight for a hug, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders. He pressed a chaste kiss to her temple, murmuring softly against her skin. "I thought I lost you two."
Jenny gripped the lapel of his jacket tightly in her hand, leaning her head against his shoulder, playfully nudging J.J.'s head with her own. She rubbed her free hand up and down J.J.'s back slowly.
"Er…boss? Director?" Tony's voice sounded tentatively behind them. "Everything alright?"
Jenny collected herself, stepping back slightly and turning to face DiNozzo. "We're alright, Agent DiNozzo." She stepped closer, leaving Jethro with J.J. for the time being. "I—Dempsey and Rudd…their bodies are in the office. Can you…J.J. doesn't need to see any more of that. We need a team here to take care of the scene."
Tony nodded. "Cassie and I can take care of it. Ziva can escort you guys back to NCIS."
Jenny managed a half smile, setting her hand on his shoulder briefly. "Thank you, Tony."
Nearly six hours later, after countless interviews and phone calls, the yellow Dodge Challenger pulled up in front of the Gibbs home. Jenny climbed out of the passenger seat carefully, a sound asleep J.J. held in her arms.
"C'mon, let's get him to bed." Jethro unlocked the front door, catching an excited Gambit with his foot before the dog lunged out the door. Jenny stepped around them both, heading for the stairs. "Oh, Jethro, we forgot all about Gambit, poor thing's probably starving."
"He's fine, Jen, I called my neighbor a few hours ago, had her daughter come over to feed him and let him out. He didn't even chew anything." He clicked his tongue at the dog, motioning up the stairs. "C'mon, boy, time for bed."
He followed Jenny upstairs, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder when she went to duck into J.J.'s room. "He'll have nightmares, it's better if we keep him with us for tonight."
Jenny nodded. "He still needs to get changed."
"Here, I'll take him; you go get ready for bed."
Jet carried a still sleeping J.J. into the bedroom a few minutes later, the boy now clad in Batman pajama pants and a plain grey t-shirt, the ever-present Sylvester squished between his body and his father's.
He climbed into the bed after stripping down to his boxers and undershirt, reaching over to pull Jenny and J.J. closer, setting one each on either side of him.
Jenny was nearly asleep, her head resting against his shoulder, when she heard a plaintive whine from somewhere near the end of the bed. Jethro let out a long sigh, muttering under his breath. "C'mon, Gambit, up." The dog appeared at the end of the bed, padding up to ensconce himself firmly next to J.J.'s feet, laying his head on Jethro's thigh. Jethro turned a mild glare on the pup, his eyebrow raised. "Don't get used to this, mutt."
Whack.
"Ow, what the hell, Jen?"
Jenny grinned against his shoulder, her hand rising up to pat his face patronizingly. "You big softy."
A sleepy mumble from the other occupant in the bed silenced both. "If you two don' shut up, I'm tellin' Tonio 'bout how I caught you this weekend kissin', an' that Jenny had no clothes on."
J.J. grinned to himself at the silence, snuggling further into his father's embrace with a contented sigh. Everything was all better, now.
Annnd, done. Dang that was long.
Yes, I am skipping Hiatus I and II, I'm not gonna mess up the poor kid any more than he already is.
I'm debating nixing the whole Grenouille storyline, too, or at least making Jenny less of a crazy, manipulative b****. But, I figure, what with Gibbs' white knight complex, there's no way he'll just let her go AWOL and run some op on her own if they're all lovey dovey dating and stuff, so we'll see.
Read and review, please! Tell me what you think!
Oh, and I might do a one-shot about Tony finding out that big secret J.J.'s threatening with. Maybe.
-meg :P