Here we are, just finished a brand new chapter :)

"Jethro, I understand what you're saying, but give her a chance.", she spoke calmly to her agent, letting her gaze drift over the open-plan office.

The gray-haired man leaned against the railing next to her, also watching the team, shaking his head slightly. She could understand him? Then why didn't she understand that Ziva was superfluous? At least he couldn't understand that...

"Jen, she almost killed my agents the day before yesterday."

"How?" the redhead asked worriedly, eyeing him sternly.

"On her way back from the crime scene to NCIS.", he muttered sullenly, keeping his eyes downcast.

Her lips curled into a small smile, knowing she had left a little something out for him.

"That's on me I'm afraid, should have warned you, her driving takes some getting used to.", she apologized, turning her head to face him.

"She has no experience in police work or investigative procedures, Jen."

"Neither did I when I first started working with you.", she tried to remind him, giving him a meaningful look.

"With the difference that you learned quickly."

His lips curled into a grin as he thought of their undercover assignment in England.

"So will Ziva.", Jenny said softly, placing her hand on his back.

"Not like you.", Gibbs added, and couldn't help but smile meaningfully.

"I hope so."

Jennifer smiled at him, feeling him lean in close and whisper in her ear; "See you later.", before unobtrusively pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"Call me if you need anything!", he called to her while still running down the stairs.

Nodding, Jenny watched him go. She herself hadn't really understood what had happened in the last two weeks. Not only that she was now in charge of NCIS, but much more the fact that she never really wanted to see Gibbs again, or at least didn't want to have any private affairs with him, and was now well on her way to a renewed relationship with him. You couldn't really call it a relationship, could you? Sure, he confessed his love to her and cared for her more in the last days and not to forget their night together after he came back from Indiana. Not much else happened in the last two weeks, though. Gibbs would drop by her house from time to time, bringing something to eat or coming early in the morning to take her to work. But what was it between them? She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Jennifer?", someone asked a little louder, and when this person touched her on the arm, she flinched slightly.

Dumbfounded, Jenny looked at the man next to her, having not even seen him coming or even heard him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.", Donald said softly, coming to stand beside her, "What's on your mind?"

Shaking her head slightly, the principal rubbed her forehead and forced herself to smile.

"Never mind, Ducky."

"Are you really okay?"

Lovingly, he stroked her upper arm, eyeing her anxiously and noting rather quickly that she seemed very tired. His fear that a whole, long day at work would be too much for her was just now coming true. She wasn't ready to give 100% again.

"I'd feel a lot better if you'd all stop mothering me, stop looking at me with such pity."

"We just care.", the older man replied, letting his gaze slide around the room.

"You don't need to, there's no need for that."

Nervously, she drummed her pen on the folder in her hands.

"What you experienced, what happened to you, was traumatic, and it takes time to process it properly."

"How am I supposed to process something I have little to no memory of?"

A soft sigh escaped her throat and she turned her head to Ducky. The pathologist looked at her thoughtfully, knowing how to help her, but for that she had to be willing to cooperate.

"I can help you, but of course, only if you want me to and feel ready for it."

She shook her head dismissively; "I don't actually want to remember that, Ducky."

"I know that, yet it's playing out in your subconscious, and that's one of the reasons you can't sleep."

Dumbfounded, she looked at him; "How...?"

Dr. Mallard smiled at his young boss before giving her an answer; "Your eyes reveal a lot more than you'd probably like, and your posture also shows me pretty clearly that you're already more than worn out and actually craving rest, not another six hours in your office."

She didn't answer him, turning her head away from him again and back to Gibbs and the others. Why should she remember that night? She didn't want to, but she knew there was a spark of truth in Ducky's words. Of course, she was tired during the day and just didn't feel at home in her body, felt so powerless and drained. But that it was so obvious, she didn't know.

"Jethro!"

The Marine raised his head. That voice...it couldn't be, it couldn't be. His ice-blue eyes immediately traveled up to the gallery, and his rapid heartbeat slowed a bit when he saw Ducky engaging the redhead in conversation. As long as she was distracted, he could take care of the latest problem.

"Stephanie...", he said, less than pleased, and got up from his office chair.

With quick steps, the team leader walked up to the red-haired woman, gently took her arm and pulled her with him to the window wall.

"What are you doing here?" he asked tensely, eyeing her thoroughly.

"I wanted to talk to you.", Stephanie said calmly, smiling at the man across from her, wanting to reach for his hands, but he quickly pulled them away.

"Stephanie, we have nothing to talk about. We're separated.", the Marine reminded her of their divorce hearing in a few weeks.

"That's why I came. Since I can't find you at home and I can't find you anywhere else, I had no choice but to come here."

Impatiently, Leroy Jethro Gibbs stood in front of his wife, not wanting Jenny to see them both together – wanting to avoid getting anything wrong, not wanting her to get upset.

"Stephanie, best you go back, you and I have nothing more to talk about.", Leroy repeated his words, gently pushing the woman towards the elevator.

"Jethro, please, give me five minutes.", she begged him and stopped him by putting her hands on his chest and stopping close to him. "Let's talk about this issue again reasonably, just give us another chance."

In her eyes the federal officer recognized a glimmer of tears, sadly she smiled at him.

"Stephanie...", he said softly, trying to put some distance between them.

"Why are you giving up on us so easily?"

"Stephanie, we both know we can't save this marriage anymore. How long have you and I tried? How many times have we both pulled together and tried to fight for our love?"

"Gibbs...", she whispered more hotly, standing close to him again. "I love you.", she gasped, her voice choked with tears.

The redheaded woman swallowed down the thick lump in her throat, feeling a thousand butterflies flutter in her stomach as Gibbs brushed the tear from the corner of her eye. She couldn't understand how he still wanted her divorce after all these years. Her heart still beat for him, she truly loved him and when he touched her so tenderly... she couldn't help but let her feelings take her by surprise and pull him into a gentle kiss.

As quickly as that kiss came, Gibbs ended it.

"You should go.", he said curtly, turning away from her.

The senior field agent didn't get far, though; his eyes immediately noticed Jenny watching him from the gallery, exactly what he wanted to avoid. But not only Jennifer had been watching this spectacle, Ducky, who had just had a conversation with her earlier, was also giving him definite looks.

"Quandary, boss, huh?", he could hear Tony say. "The beloved and the wife.", Anthony added.

The look that hit the young agent, DiNozzo could feel that headbutt before it even happened.

"I'm going to go help Abby.", Tony muttered quickly and hurriedly walked to the back elevator.

While McGee hid behind his computer screen, Tony already having made his escape, Ziva sat behind her desk, eyeing Gibbs with a critical gaze. It could not be forgotten that Jenny was a close friend of the Mossad-Officer, and the dark-haired one knew very well about Jenny's feelings towards Gibbs.

Silently, he leaned against his car, waiting patiently until she finally came out of her meeting. He sent her driver away without further ado, saying that he would drive her back to NCIS. Of course, he suspected that she would not get into the car with him, but he was willing to take that risk.

Not even five minutes later she came out of the DOD, but she was not very happy to see him. Her look spoke volumes and when she noticed that her official car was not in the parking lot as she had thought, but Gibbs instead, she realized why.

"Where's Stan?", she asked, annoyed, stopping in front of him.

"Sent him away."

Of course, what else. Rolling her eyes, she looked at him. No way would she get in the car, Jennifer preferred to walk back to the office. She just couldn't stand his closeness, felt betrayed and used - just like back in Europe. But most of all, she felt hurt, didn't understand why he was putting her through this pain again. Had he learned nothing at all? Did he care so little about her?

"Jenny, now come on, be reasonable!", he shouted after her when he noticed that she just walked past him.

Leroy knew he definitely couldn't bring a scene like the one he had at their reunion in the abandoned parking lot of NCIS headquarters here. So he had to get to her another way. Without thinking twice, the special agent got into his Dodge, driving after her at walking speed.

"This is ridiculous, get in the car now.", he said firmly, driving slowly alongside her. "What will the others think?"

"Now you care?", she asked quietly, walking closer to his vehicle. "You didn't care if anyone saw you earlier either, if I could see you.", she croaked the latter more hotly.

"Why do you think I came? Let's talk properly, please."

She shook her head, heaved a deep sigh.

"I really don't feel like talking to you right now... Just gives me more of a headache.", she muttered.

"Okay, we don't have to talk, but please get in the car and at least let me drive you back to the office."

With narrowed eyes, Jennifer looked at him. He was up to something, she knew that, but this meeting had tired her so much, she didn't even want to get upset or use up her energy in any other way right now. Her workday was still long and she needed her remaining energy. So, more or less willingly, she managed to get herself to get into the car.

"Jenny, I..."

"Stop it.", she said quickly, buckling her seat belt, "Can you just drive to NCIS and leave me alone?"

Tired, she leaned her head against the window, closing her eyes. She had no strength to talk, already longing for her bed, so she could finally forget about this awful day.

"Do you want me to stay here?", asked Ziva cautiously as she was taking her jacket from the clothes rack.

"No.", she answered quietly and stood leaning against the wall next to her, holding her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"You know anyway if you need anything then..."

"Then I'll be in touch.", Jenny cut her off, smiling at the young woman.

The young Israeli nodded, put on her jacket and opened her friend's front door. Before she left, though, she took one last check-up look at the redhead, really wanting to make sure she was okay and could really leave her here alone. What had happened at noon today had of course left its mark on her, not only did she hide in her office for the rest of the time, she also didn't let Gibbs get close to her at all, and it wasn't just Ziva who had noticed that. The team as well as Ducky had a very special eye on Jennifer and Gibbs today. Since Ziva was her friend and had worked with her for some time, she knew of her feelings towards the team leader, but she wasn't the only one watching every action between the two, the other agents in the office were doing the same. The two tried to deny it, not wanting to draw attention to themselves, but they didn't really succeed. At least neither knew how the agents in the office looked after both of them or started whispering when they came or went together again.

"Watch out, you've got company.", she murmured softly.

Gibbs' car, of course, did not escape the Mossad officer's notice. It was also only a matter of time before he would show up here. Jenny had made it more than clear that she didn't want to see him.

"Sure, you don't want me to stay here?"

"No, I'll be fine.", Jenny replied and said goodbye to her friend, watching her walk after her to her car.

It wasn't long at all before Gibbs got out of his car. Inwardly, she could scream with rage, but she was able to control it surprisingly well – but had promised this to Ziva as well as Ducky.

"Wait!", he said louder as she was about to close the door, but he had put his foot in between and was slowly pushing the large wooden door open with his hand.

"What don't you understand when I tell you I don't want to talk to you?", she asked, annoyed, looking at him sternly.

"We should talk about what happened in the office, though, Jenny."

"I disagree, there is nothing to talk about. You've clearly shown us what's between you. What more do you want to talk about?"

"Just about that.", he said softly, pushing her a little further into the house, not wanting neighbors to overhear what the conversation was about; "It's not what you think it is."

"It's just like DiNozzo said...", she began to speak, keeping her gaze icy. "The mistress, that's obviously me and your wife."

He shook his head, already preparing to speak, but she was faster.

"It's like that time, Jethro. The two of us, together, letting our emotions get the better of us, being careless, and then your wife comes along."

Her eyes shone, her voice trembled, and she took a step back as he came closer.

"What was her name again? Stephanie, was it?"

"Jenny.", said Gibbs sternly, closing the front door behind him.

"What was it like this time? Professionally, you weren't gone this time, was she? Is that why you spent so much time at my place, to distract yourself again, that your wife isn't available right now, but I am?"

The pain in her voice was clear to hear. Her eyes slightly red and the easily discernible bags under her eyes showed that her day had been far too long and her body language told how much she longed for her bed, but instead she stood here arguing with Gibbs.

"It wasn't like that and if you...", Jethro started to speak again, but she interrupted him again.

"I don't even want to hear it, Jethro..." she interrupted him again; "I can't do this again."

Like it? Hate it? Let me know