Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A.N.: Thank you to alix33, itzcheeseball, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, jstapny, black widow mistress, Twilight Trekky and MissJayne for reviewing!
A.N.2: jstapny, I looked up epidural haematomas and I was just too scared to include it in this story, the risk factor (of death) was too high for Jenny and then Emily would have to have been moved somewhere else. It was worrying reading how I had written her reaction to waking up after unconsciousness and then reading the information on the haematoma though, very worrying.
Tony glanced again at his phone, wondering what was taking Jenny so long to respond. She had contacted him first about this mission; surely she wouldn't ignore his need to be included in any and all discussions about it, would she? He was the one putting his life on the line here, even if at the moment he was temporarily off of La Grenouille's radar. The nature of the mission meant both he and his cover, which was not made to stave off any in depth examination, would soon be under intense scrutiny; he should be the first to know about any changes to the mission.
He looked over at Jeanne's sleeping form, his emotions torn between guilt over his deception and fear over the moment when she would find out he wasn't who he was pretending to be. She would find out, Jenny had assured him of that when he had taken the mission, but in his arrogance, he hadn't thought it would matter to him. He had just been in it for the novelty of a serious undercover mission, the circumstances of which were new to him. The importance of the mission, and how much respect he would gain from his team mates for completing it, had blinded him to the very real danger he was in, not from bullets flying through the air, but from the woman worming her way into his heart.
He flicked his cell phone closed and tossed it on the couch next to him, returning to bed for the moment to revel in the closeness he shared with Jeanne, the only woman to make him feel this way. Whatever this had begun as, it had turned into something special, a real love, something he had subconsciously desired for a long time, but his mind had overridden his subconscious and he had spent his time turning himself into the shallowest of creatures in an attempt to stave off dangerous thoughts like commitment and family. Jeanne made him want those things though, she ignited a need inside him he hadn't thought he was capable of, and that scared him.
He loved Jeanne, but the more he realised that, the harder it became to go to work, knowing that someone there was just as important to him, if not more. Even though he was keeping his relationship with Jeanne as quiet as he could at work, people were noticing his uncharacteristic behaviour, and they were getting worried. Ziva watched him at work like a hawk, the wrist band from the hospital giving her undue cause to worry for him. She hadn't figured out that he wasn't sick yet, that he was just dating a doctor, perhaps she just didn't want to, but when she did he would have to resist her interrogation technique, to keep the mission safe.
He sighed heavily and snuggled further up with Jeanne. He hated the secrets he had to keep, it almost felt like his life was one huge lie, but it had to be done. It hurt him to do it, and he knew it would hurt the others to find out, but he hoped they would forgive him. He had no choice, only Jenny could give him permission to talk about it, and she was dead set on keeping to Gibbs Rule Number Four. He was a little shocked that she was suddenly letting Gibbs in on it, but if it gave him another person to talk to, he didn't mind being kept out of the loop. He closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, hoping that by morning he would be in Jenny's office, being told what the hell was going on.
Jenny opened her eyes hesitantly, the light from the window temporarily dazzling her, making her squeeze them shut again and roll over on to her stomach. Her headache had dissipated during the night, so she didn't feel hung over, but light sensitivity seemed to be in full force. It was a miserable day outside by the sounds of it, the rain pelted the window, and the wind whistled outside her home. Her alarm hadn't gone off yet though, so she silently promised herself she wasn't getting up until it did. She spent too much time at work as it was; the last thing she wanted to do was to get in early.
The scent of coffee wafted towards her and she took an involuntary deep breath, savouring the delightful smell. The scent alone seemed to be conspiring to wake her fully from her dozing, which was the last thing she wanted right now, so she groaned and then snuggled further into her pillow, throwing one arm over the side of her face in an attempt to block everything out. When her arm connected with her head though she cringed, pain lancing through her and she recoiled, pulling her head off of the pillow and sitting halfway up.
She looked around the room groggily, her bleary eyes narrowing when they landed on the figure of a man by her bed. She blinked away the blurring, fighting the light to keep her eyes open until she focussed on him, already knowing who it was, but the confirmation was comforting. Jethro watched her carefully, bringing his mug of coffee slowly to his lips and then setting it down on her bedside table next to another steaming mug.
"Is your head still hurting?" he asked lowly, in case she was badly hung over, but she smiled and shrugged, holding her quilt up around her shoulders to ward off the chill in the room.
"No, well only if I touch it, the headache is gone." She answered him softly, running a hand through her messy hair. She winced when she encountered the knots that sleep and the crusty blood had left in her hair.
"Good. I got some coffee for you here." He said in a normal conversational tone, lifting the mug from her table and proffering it to her. She smiled at him and wrapped her cold hands around the mug, absorbing the heat it emitted gratefully.
"Thank you, Jethro. How long have you been sitting there?" she asked, hoping that he hadn't been there long. Ducky had spoken to him before he had left, had he told him to watch her through the night? That thought left an uncomfortable guilty feeling in her stomach, and she lowered her eyes to his person, in an attempt to guess if he had gotten any sleep. His clothes were wrinkled, but he hadn't laid down anywhere, that was for certain.
"A while." He answered vaguely and her stomach plummeted.
"Did you get any sleep?" she whispered aghast, and he inclined his head to pacify her.
"Some, but I woke up with my neck in a bad position." He admitted, patting the bed in front of him. Jenny shook her head at him fondly.
"Jethro you could have shared the bed with me." She said gently, taking a sip of the hot beverage in her hands. He stayed quiet, an amused smile on his face and she chuckled at him. "Seriously, I can keep my hands to myself. I promise you." she told him, barely constrained laughter forcing its way out in her tone as he crossed his arms and nodded sagely. She shook her head and drank some more, revelling in the path the heat traced as she drank it, warming her from the inside out.
"I'm fine; I have less sleep at home most nights." He said, watching her wrap her quilt more securely around herself. "I'll go turn the heating on." He said, getting up from beside her bed and walking out into the corridor. The moment he did so a sharp high pitched scream erupted from the hallway, so Jenny placed her coffee on the table and dashed out into the corridor as quickly as she could.
Emily was pressed back against the wall, her hands covering her eyes so she couldn't see and Jethro was trying to calm her down, but nothing he said seemed to work. Jenny rushed forwards and wrapped her arms around Emily, stroking her hair soothingly and silently asking Jethro to back away with her eyes. He did so reluctantly, not really knowing what he had done wrong and Jenny helped Emily to calm down.
"I left the room just as she was about to walk in. I guess she wasn't expecting me to leave your room and I scared her." he said apologetically, and Jenny smiled comfortingly at him.
"It's not your fault Jethro." she said softly, and then she turned her attention back to Emily. "Emily sweetheart, it's alright, you can open your eyes. It's just Jethro, you aren't afraid of Jethro are you?" she asked gently, brushing away the young girls tears. Emily opened her eyes and looked past Jenny, confirming what was being said to her. She shook her head, flushing with embarrassment at her reaction to him and then hid herself in Jenny's arms. "Were you coming to see me?" Jenny asked her softly, and Emily nodded, and then huffed in frustration, beginning to anger herself with her fear. Emily looked over at Gibbs, seeing him floundering on the sidelines and she felt bad for screaming at him.
"I'm sorry Uncle Gibbs. I don't know what's wrong with me." She said, breaking down in to tears once again. He moved closer to her slowly so he didn't startle her, careful to make a certain amount of noise after scaring Jenny last night.
"It's perfectly fine Emily. After what you have been through, I'd be more worried if you didn't react at all." He said gently.
"Why?" she asked, innocently peering out from Jenny's arms.
"It would mean there was something wrong with you mentally, but you are reacting, which means there is nothing wrong with you." he said, kneeling on the floor in front of her. She looked at him a little sceptically, narrowing her eyes slightly and he nearly laughed. That look was pure Diane.
"Really?" she asked him, and he smiled and nodded.
"Really." He confirmed and then got up from the floor and pointed over his shoulder. "I'll go turn the heating on now." He smiled at Emily and caught Jenny's eye before turning and disappearing down the stairs.
Jethro walked into the kitchen and sighed tiredly. It had been a long night, but he had kept his vigil over Jenny just in case problems should arise. He realised that Ducky thought she was fine, but he wasn't sure. He had been wary of leaving her alone in case she had just gone back down the stairs to drink some more. When he had finally allowed his eyes to close he had purposefully slept in a bad position to increase his chances of waking up early, so he could set himself at ease and watch her sleep.
She'd had a rough night, tossing and turning and muttering in some sort of nightmare, and when she had finally awoken she had thrown her arms around him and cried herself back to sleep. It was evident this morning that she didn't recall the nightmare or waking up, and he found himself wondering if this was a regular occurrence. It would certainly help to explain how tired she seemed even though Noemi had told him she goes to bed at a decent hour every night. He sighed and flicked on the heating, thinking about both Jenny and Emily.
It wasn't just Jenny he was worried about, it was Emily too. It had been difficult seeing Emily like that, he had known her since she was a small child. When Diane had started to show her true colours, Tobias had begun to bring the baby around to see him just to spite her. Jethro had watched in envy as his friend had raised his daughter, who had always looked so surprisingly like Kelly it had hurt. Watching her recoil from him, scream even, had been hard to bear but damage like this didn't disappear overnight. She was doing remarkably well for one so young, but even the slightest set back could be devastating to her.
He was trying to limit the amount of contact he had with her so he didn't negatively impact her recovery, but accidents like bumping into her in the corridor were unavoidable. He was glad she was beginning to talk to him though, that was a step in the right direction and hopefully it signified that she was coming to terms with what had happened. He sighed again and wondered if Tobias had sorted out Diane's funeral yet. He could help him with that at the very least. He nodded to himself and set off back up the stairs, hearing a beeping noise coming from Jenny's bedroom. It was her alarm clock, which meant it was nearly time for work.