For: Jajibuba
From:fashiongirl97
Title: Dancing Among Memories
Rating: K+
Have an absolutely lovely Christmas, and I hope you enjoy!
There was something about Christmas, something that was often classified as magic. But it was something she liked to think was a feeling caused by those we have loved and lost in time, watching down on us. That it is the only time of year that we can truly feel their presence and their well-wishing towards us. That it is God's Christmas present to us all, for all of eternity, to be able to feel their presence - even if we don't know that it is that which we feel.
And yet, even thought Jenny had lost so many people over the years, which would therefore result in one of the strongest 'magical' presences... There was something about Christmas that had now become more bitter than sweet. Every year she would try to make the occasion better. And it wasn't even as thought she had had no one to spend it with since her father died - she had. But there was always a slight vacancy within the festive period which she never managed to fill. And within NCIS she wasn't the only one, Gibbs was the same. The last couple of years he'd had Diane, but as of January their marriage had dissolved. But even though he had had someone, it still felt as though he'd been alone and yet covered in the memories of another lifetime.
This last year had been an eventful one; Marseille in particular had been filled with enough events to satisfy the whole year. Yet since then Jenny and Gibbs had established a relationship - if you want to call it that - which primarily was physical. But both knew that in time, that would just be something they told themselves to try and ignore the fact that the physical flame was just a cover for the emotions that were burning below.
They'd made no plans for a Christmas together - and that was probably a good idea considering that work had called at the last moment. A ball that was being held for the SecNav and agency Directors, had been planned to be guarded by the Secret Service. However since there had recently been a whopping hole blown in their security, the sister agencies had been dragged in in an attempt to mend the rift or at least cover it. So, that was the reason for Jenny and Gibbs spending Christmas Eve together - but not in a way either one of them had really wanted.
So now Jenny Shepard was stood in her bedroom of the Georgetown house that had belonged to her family for so long. And as she looked at her reflection she sighed. Her aim had been to spend both Christmas Eve and Day wrapped in her pyjamas and a big fluffy blanket watching soppy movies that she loved. Of course she would feel obliged to heat up the miniature Christmas dinner that Naomi would have made for her the day before. And every year she would enjoy it. Afterwards she had hoped she would find Jethro on her doorstep with a bottle of bourbon. For her, that was as close to a perfect Christmas that she knew she could get.
But instead, she was stood looking in the mirror as she checked over her outfit for security detail. She wore a black pencil skirt which hit a few inches above her knee. Her blouse was baby blue, crisp and one that she had bought a couple of weeks back after a run in with a suspect had left her old one grass stained and irreparable. Then on top she had a short black blazer which accentuated her hips making her look like a perfect hourglass figure. Her legs were clad in barely-there opaque black stockings and patent leather black stilettos. As per usual her lips were covered in bright red Yves Saint Laurent lip stick, and like the rest of her makeup, it was perfectly applied. She'd spent the little time she'd had softly curling her hair into the way that she knew Jethro always loved. Large soft ringlets that curled away from her face and bounced off her shoulders.
Sighing softly, the red head walked over to her dressing table. She picked up a small silver bracelet and matching necklace which her father had given to her years before. Once the clasps were securely fastened around her slender wrist and neck, she holstered her gun at the base of her spine so that it was hidden from sight, and picking up her knife she strapped that around the top of her thigh – rule #9.
From within her room she heard the sound of cars driving past her window and the winter's breeze passing by her window and tickling all the naked trees. The sound of life outside meant that Jenny couldn't help but feel a little withdrawn. The last thing she wanted was to be sat in a room where there would be festive spirit everywhere and anywhere. And she would simply have to stand there and watch. . .
Leroy Jethro Gibbs pulled up outside of Jenny's townhouse. There was a large wreath hung on the front door. Pine branches all woven together into a circle and tied at the top with a big red bow. It was accessorised with pine cones dipped in gold glitter and dotted all around it. Yet it was the only sign of Christmas that was visible from the house, the rest of it was dark bar one window upstairs which he knew belonged to Jenny's bedroom.
Opening his car door he stepped out onto the street. The ball was to start at 7pm, but they had to be there by 5pm, in half an hour. So he knew they were pushing it, but then again with his driving they'd be there in five minutes. Leroy Jethro Gibbs made his way over to the front door, feeling the cold winter's breeze caught in his black woollen trench coat as he knocked on her door.
His knocking made her smile to herself when it reached her ears. It was exactly half past, on the dot. Precisely when he had said that he that would be there. So with one last look in the mirror, she fluffed up her hair and made her way down the stairs. The black heels clip clipping on the solid stained wooden floors that lined the majority of the family house. When she opened the old heavy door, she saw him stood there dressed just as smartly as Jenny had expecting. And the red headed agent smirked softly to herself, because she always forgot how good he looked in a suit until she saw him. And then she'd find herself wanting to wangle out of the security detail. When they caught each other's eyes, neither one of them said a word. Instead she just opened the door slightly wider so that he knew to come in. And the silver-haired man did just that. He walked in, as he always did, and she felt a schoolgirl-like wave of butterflies flutter across her stomach. It would never matter how many times they kissed, what this job made them act like or how old they got, she'd always be attracted to him.
"Coffee?" she asked, even though the redhead was well aware of the fact that they didn't have time. Gibbs simply smirked and took her hand, pulled her closer to him and kissed her passionately on the lips. Miraculously, he managed to not smudge the red lipstick which they were coated in. Jenny however, was well aware where things were heading and yet as soon as his lips were on hers, she forgot all the things that were telling her she would late, and linked her arms around his neck so that her long fingers could run themselves though his salt and pepper hair.
Jethro was doing a good job of distracting the redhead from the matter of security detail - he knew that. But he was also doing an awfully good job of distracting himself too. Something that, he had to admit, he was quite proud of. The MCRT leader's hands rested softly on her hips, and neither of them was particularly bothered by the offer of coffee she had prompted only moments earlier. And when they parted, eyes sparkling with lust and desire neither one of them was going to even attempt to disguise.
"We should get going; Marrow said we had to be there by 1700," she said with a smile on her face. But her partner just kissed her again, effectively silencing her feeble attempt at an argument. And it didn't take long for her to give into the kiss and promptly respond.
It was a good ten more minutes before Jenny and Gibbs finally emerged from her town house. He had a smug smirk on his face as he locked the wooden door behind them. Meanwhile she pulled her curls out from the neckline of her purple pea coat, simultaneously thanking the gods for the cold winter that had greeted her. The cool air hit her slightly flushed and warm checks, making them turn rosy for a different reason now. So, by the time she checked her appearance in the visor mirror of his car whilst they drove off, no one would know any different.
Ten minutes later they walked into the venue for the ball. It had only taken five minutes longer than he had expected because they'd decided to stop off at their joint favourite coffee shop. So as they walked in, her heels clip-clopped on the tiled flooring and both of them held paper cups of coffee. The warmth seeping into their freezing cold pink hands. As they walked, they didn't stand especially close, but they stood closer that 'just friends' would do.
"We were beginning to think that you two weren't going to turn up," said Tobias Fornell as he emerged from the main ballroom and the swarm of techs all fitting cameras into every corner and crevice of every room that someone important could find their way into. The FBI agent eyed the pair cautiously with a smirk at their matching coffee cups slightly enviously. He hated these things as much as the next man.
"Someone would end up dying if we left this in charge of the FBI," Gibbs said smirking as he took another sip from the white cup. Meanwhile Jenny stood there watching the conversation between the two agents. The way they would dig at each other, and pick on the other constantly. And yet there was something about them which she envied. Because their relationship contained a closeness she'd never seen before.
"Well at least we turn up on time, NCIS gone part-time then?"
"Nah, figured we'd let the monkeys do the monkey-work."
"You two really are nothing more than a pair of little boys!" said Jenny, smirking, before going to find whoever was in charge. Behind her she could feel two pairs of eyes on her as she walked. Both of them directed towards her ass, and as she went she couldn't help but smirk to herself.
"There something I should know Gibbs?" asked Fornell with regard to Gibbs' relationship with his redheaded, leggy partner.
"Nah Tobias, something I should know about you and Diane?" he replied, a smirk on his face as he walked away. The FBI agent just shook his head, there was no chance that they were just friends. You didn't work with someone who looked like that and go on boiling hot stakeouts and remain just friends. Or if you did you weren't interested in women.
It was long gone midnight by the time most people had left the ball. Jenny had hardly seen Gibbs since she left him laughing with Fornell in foyer earlier that night. She'd spent the evening watching over the people, envying those women in the long dresses and dancing. Tom Marrow had spoken to her, as had a few other Agency Directors, and she was thankful that nothing had kicked off even though the Secret Service had nearly blown it with their security breach. And as the evening had gone on she'd had to even fight off a few politicians with wondering eyes and wondering hands – something she was glad that Gibbs had not been around to see otherwise she was pretty sure that something would have kicked off - big time. And that he would be well and truly out of a job.
Now though, the ballroom was pretty much empty apart from a few divorced politicians who were well and truly drunk and avoiding going home, and agents who were taking full advantage of the open bar and free food. Jenny made her way over to the bar, and was waiting for the bartender when she felt someone behind of her. Spinning her head she found herself met with those perfect cobalt eyes that haunted her so much at night.
"Hey," he said, and she simply smirked back, spinning her body so that she was facing him.
"Hey," she said, trying to resist the urge to kiss him then and there. Knowing that if she did everything would fall down around their feet. They may well be together, but their relationship was still too fragile to withstand the sticks and stones that would be thrown at them if they were to go public. So kissing would not be advisable right then. "You and Tobias finished your argument yet?"
"Decided he was too much of a fool to argue with if he thought sleeping with Diane was a good idea," Gibbs replied, eyeing her outfit with wandering eyes.
"If I remember rightly, then you were the one who married her," Jenny replied with a much similar smirk on her lips.
"Yeah, and I am not denying I was a fool Jen."
Thankfully, before their argument became as serious and loud as the ones they were known for in NCIS headquarters, the bartender butted in and asked what they were wanting to drink. "Two bourbons, neat," Jenny stated, knowing that Gibbs would be feeling ever so slightly smug at the fact that he had been the one who managed to change her drinking habits to the paint stripper he preferred to drink. Moments later, two glass tumblers were placed in front of them, and the pair took them with a silent nod of thanks.
They remained silent, standing there and watching over the people who were dancing away and laughing in small groups. But the silence that spread between them was not an awkward one by any means. Jenny and Jethro liked silence, it reassured them and they thrived in it. The bourbon burned softly at the back of her throat, but it was a burn that she was used to and strangely liked. It reminded her that she was alive and awake. Soon both tumblers were placed back on the bar and Jethro's gaze turned to her.
He took her hand, and smiled at her shocked expression, before leading her over to the dance floor that had emptied steadily as the night had turned into morning. Jenny was still slightly confused when they stopped dead in the centre, just as the song changed to something slower. It was as if the Gibbs and the DJ had planned it. And whilst she knew he could surprise her, she also doubted that he would do this, romance was not exactly his middle name. He took her other and slowly they began to sway.
Her face beamed with a smile. She loved to dance, she remembered when she was a child she would stand on her father's feet and they would 'dance'. Now, as they swayed – and although it wasn't quite dancing – she felt as though she were being transported back in time.
Jenny's eyes were glazed over with memories as he looked down at her. But as she blinked, brought back to reality, and looked up, she smiled. "Thank you," she whispered, knowing that Gibbs had known that she loved to dance and that was why they were here.
He wanted to kiss her then and there, wanted to capture those bright red lips with his own. But he knew better than to do that. It would have reached the Director before the kiss was even over. So instead he simply whispered, "Merry Christmas Jen".
The redhead looked up, and blinked slowly, as though taking a photograph of the moment, and storing it firmly into her memory. "Merry Christmas Jethro." And although it was a time of year that neither one of them particularly liked, the smiles on both of their faces, were honest and true.
And as they danced, from the side of the room Tobias Fornell caught the pair, and shook his head once more. He may well be a fool for dating Diane, but he was certain that Leroy Jethro Gibbs was even more of one for letting himself fall in love with his partner. There was definitely something going on with them two – that was blindingly obvious.
It was early morning by the time Jenny and Gibbs finally arrived back at her town house. And as they walked in the front door, Gibbs turned around and kissed her. Tongues duelled for dominance and they kissed just as they had wanted to all night.
As many children awoke that morning, brimming with excitement at the thought of what Santa had brought, Jenny and Gibbs fell asleep, curled up in front of the fire and under an old blanket. It may not be the typical Christmas, but it would be the best one by far, that either of them had had in what felt like a lifetime.