Jethro x Dana

"May I come in?"

Gibbs looks up from his boat, and smiles when he sees Dana Stratton in comfortable dark blue jeans and a thick yellow turtleneck at the top of the stairs leading to his basement.

"Sure," he says.

She slowly climbs down the steps, eagerly looking around the haven he had created for himself. The tools were hazardously hanging from hooks under the wooden cabinets against the walls, and several jars, each full of different types of screws, bolts, nuts and nails of different sizes and uses adorned the top of the workbench. The light from a single naked bulb struggled to illuminate the room, giving a faint idea of its dept.

The smell of recently cut wood filled the air, and the dust of the freshly sanded boat created a fine mist in the air, giving an almost ethereal look to the room.

She approaches the boat, and slides her hand with well manicured hands, with a deep chocolate color on its nails, over the unvarnished wood.

"You cancelled dinner, and you haven't called lately," she looks at Gibbs, "I was worried you might be avoiding me."

Gibbs smiles, "I wasn't avoiding you, I was busy."

Dana nods, and looks around the basement until her attentive gaze returns on the figure of the ex-marine who entered her life and stolen her piece of mind. He is studying her as attentively as she is studying him, and she sees that he's in his comfortable jeans and bright orange pullover. An ever faithful jar of something she can't identify is being used as a glass, sitting on the workbench, and she would bet her month salary that the liquid sloshing in it is bourbon.

"We are both adults, Jethro," she folds her arms, "and we can be honest with each other."

"I'm not lying," insists Gibbs.

"I'm not saying that you are lying," Dana shakes her head, half heartedly, "I just don't think you are telling the whole truth." She approaches the man, and stares him in the eye, "I have no intention of putting any type of pressure on you, nor I have any illusions of becoming Mrs. Gibbs number five," she sees the surprise on his face, as she reveals how many wives he had correctly, including Shannon, "don't look so surprised, I do work for the Secret Service."

"Look, I'm not looking for the great love of my life, because I had it already. I spent twenty years side by side with the man who I will love until the day I die, and nothing will probably change that," she sighs, and looks at him in the eye, and says sincerely, "but I like you, Jethro, and I like your company. I'm seeking a companion to share some moments, and sometimes, late at night, talk or something else more … invigorating. I don't want to be one of those widows who are buried with their dead husbands, leaving only an empty shell behind."

Gibbs studies Dana's face, and stares into her eyes for a moment, and sees the sincerity in them.

"And I don't think you want to do that either." Gibbs stares at her, and she fidgets a little and decides that enough is enough, time to retreat, but she still has something to say. As she reaches the stairs she stops as she supports her hand on the rail.

"Contrary to what you might have thought and what you might have felt, you didn't die with Shannon or Jenny, Jethro. There's so much more to live. You are still very much alive." She lowers her head to her chest, and gathers her thoughts for a while. She starts climbing the stairs.

"You know here to find me."

Gibbs looks around the basement, at his tools and his unfinished boat, a work of love but also a byproduct of his obsessive personality. He could stay and keep on sanding the boat, or…

"Stay."

She pauses for a moment, doubting what she had heard. She turns to him, her hands holding the rail of the stairs in a death grip.

"What did you say?"

"Stay." Another pause. "Don't go."

A pink tongue humidifies suddenly dried lips.

"Jethro, you know what will happen if I stay."

"I know."

"Yet still…."

"Yes."

"I'm not looking for a Prince Charming or a husband number two, I had it already, it will be…"

"Yes."

"Pure and unabridged lust."

"Yes."

"Yet you still want…"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes." He growls his answer now.

She smiles, and climbs down the stairs faster than he could have imagined that she was capable of and walks towards him, until she is standing before him. There is an awkward pause, as each studies the face of the other, but any awkwardness that might exist quickly evaporates into thin air as he grabs her by her waist and brings her body against his, and proceeds to kiss her deeply.

They exchange kisses until they are breathless, and pause for a moment. They gaze at each other again.

She lifts one of her hands and touches his face. He closes his eyes briefly at the contact.

"I don't have time nor patience to wait for maybes, Jethro. Whatever I can get now, whatever you can give me, now, I will take it. No ties, no commitment, no pressure. I just want to know that, if I need you, if I can count on you."

"You can count on me, you know where to find me."

"Yes, I do."

They kiss.

And words became unnecessary after that.


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