A shorter but important update for you all :)
Thanks for the reviews so far.
Jenny sipped nervously at her bourbon. She glanced over at the clock on the mantelpiece, it was already after nine. Her lips pursed, they hadn't agreed on a time, but she felt like she'd been waiting forever. A horrendous thought suddenly occurred to her, what if she'd hallucinated the entire meeting, maybe everything was piling on top of her and she'd finally flipped.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep voice emanating behind her. "I hope you haven't been waiting long?"
She turned and smiled when she saw Henri, his eyes gleaming and his dark dishevelled hair raked back from his forehead. "I was beginning to think you were just a figment of my imagination. Her smile deepened slightly. "I suppose you still could be," she joked.
He moved closer to her. "If that was the case," he told her quietly, his voice holding a note of amusement. "You'd have an extremely over-active imagination."
Laughing lightly, Jenny felt herself relax slightly. It had been so long since she'd had a light-hearted conversation with anyone, and she hadn't quite realised how much she'd missed it. "Would you like a drink before we talk?" she asked.
The smile slid from his face, and he nodded. "I think I'm going to need one. A neat scotch if you have it."
"Of course," Jenny replied. Swiftly handing him a glass. Once he took it she wriggled her fingers slightly, and he looked at her questionably. "Cramp," she told him, shrugging nonchalantly.
His face fell further. "Do you suffer from it a lot?"
"I've been tired recently," she told him, frowning in confusion at the sudden topic of conversation. Deciding to steer the conversation in a different direction, she asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"
Henri gestured towards her sofa. "Please, sit."
She did so, and he sat beside her, staring at her hands for a moment before finally looking up into her eyes. "Last night I wasn't completely open with you, I missed out some vital details that you need to know."
Jenny's eyes widened almost imperceptively. "Such as?" she asked calmly, taking a sip of her drink.
"I did not tell you why your." He coughed and amended himself, "Why Eloise's death was my fault. I did not tell you everything that the seer told me."
Jenny's voice quietened as she asked, "What didn't you tell me, exactly?"
"That Arnaud cursed you."
Staring blankly at him for a moment, Jenny tried to reign in her chaotic thoughts. "Cursed me," she repeated. "How? And why?"
"Arnaud and I were close friends, and so he knew exactly how to hurt me, and he knew that the best way to make me suffer was to make me live without you. I did not realise how bitter he was, and so when he came into his new powers he made his way back to the keep and placed a powerful curse on you. Your death was my punishment."
Jenny gave his hand a light squeeze. "You're not responsible for his actions, it wasn't your fault. Anyway, it's in the past now so-"
He stopped her. "But it isn't. The curse did not end when you died, it carries forward into all of the lives you'll ever live. In each life you'll die prematurely from an incurable disease."
Her hand slipped from its place on his, and Jenny clamoured to her feet, feeling as though the walls of the room were closing in on her. "That's not possible," she whispered.
"I'm afraid it's the truth. You may not see it yet, but you're already showing signs, that is why I decided to finally appear to you." He shook his head. "You have no idea how much I wish this wasn't the case."
"What signs?" Jenny demanded indignantly, her mind racing.
Henri sighed resignedly, "You are tired, your muscles ache and spasm, and you have been clumsier than normal."
"I haven't been sleeping well," Jenny snapped at him.
"There is more to it than that, and deep down you know it."
Jenny licked her lips desperately. "Why would you tell me this?" she demanded to know. "Why let me suffer any longer than I have to?"
He moved in front of her, his hands curling around her fore-arms. "Because I can save you this time," he told her.
She swallowed nervously. "How?"
"By making you like me, immortal."
For a long moment, Jenny just stared at him, then she shook her head, shoving him away. "You could be lying to me. This could all be a trick."
"You're right," he admitted. "It could be. Which is why I will not change you here and now. I want you to believe me, to know for sure that I'm telling you the truth. Which is why I'm going to leave you alone for the next few days. I have business elsewhere and it will give you a chance to confirm what I have just told you." Cupping her chin, he tilted her face so that she was looking at him. "I would never lie to you, or trick you. This has to be your choice, I will not force it upon you. I love you too much for that."
Jenny pulled away slowly, her eyes still locked onto his. "I think you should go now," she whispered.
"You are understandably upset, if you want I could stay with you?"
"No," she shook her head. She might not want to be alone, but in all honesty it was not his comfort she wanted, and he didn't need to know that. "No," she repeated. "I need time to think. You should go and take care of whatever it is you need to take care of."
"I will come back," he told her firmly.
She nodded. "I know."
His hand reached out to brush her cheek, and she let him. Closing her eyes though, she pictured someone else standing their in his place. She felt his touch fade, and when she opened her eyes he was gone, and she knew that he was no longer watching her.
Gibbs stared up at the frontage of Jenny's elegant townhouse, his fingers tapping agitatedly off his steering wheel. His eyes focussed on the dim light emanating from what he knew to be her study's window. He glared at it. Something was wrong with her, her behaviour today had been undeniably odd and for a moment in Abby's lab, utterly terrifying. He'd never seen her so unresponsive.
His gut was churning constantly, and had been for the last few days. None of this felt right, there was an undercurrent to the whole situation that he just couldn't quite figure out, and he hated that.
Letting out an annoyed sigh, Gibbs stepped out of his car, and made his way to the front door, nodding a greeting to Jenny's night security as he passed. He immediately made his way to the study, and was surprised to find her asleep on her sofa. Moving quietly closer, he knew that he should wake her, that she'd be stiff in the morning if she stayed there. "Jen," he whispered softly, his hand running over shoulder. "Jenny, wake up."
Her eyes obligingly fluttered open, and she stared at him for a second, mumbling questionably, "Jethro?"
He leaned closer, nodding, and much to his surprise, she leaned in closer still, pressing her lips to his.
Gibbs jumped slightly, but then relaxed as he felt her fingers curve around his collar, tugging him closer. With one hand round her waist, he angled himself so that he was almost on top of her. Stroking the edge of one cheekbone, he felt her tongue run along his bottom lip, seeking entry that he promptly granted.
Her kiss was greedy, and he responded in kind, it had been so long and he'd almost forgotten how easy it was to lose himself in her. This kiss though was different to all the others though, it held almost a desperate edge to it, a ferocity that even in their more emotional moments together, they had never equalled.
His hand cupped a breast through her top, kneading it gently, causing a whimper to eek from her lips. She in turn nipped his bottom lip gently, and he growled deeply.
The noise seemed to pull her back to reality, and she pulled away, staring at him with wild eyes. "You're really here," she whispered.
Gibbs gave a nod, unsure what he could really say to such a statement.
Jenny stared at him in what was obviously growing horror and dismay. "I didn't…..I mean we shouldn't have…this shouldn't have happened." She clamoured unsteadily to her feet, pushing him away when he attempted to help. "Don't," she mumbled. "Just go," she told him, before heading towards the stairs, not once looking behind her.
Jenny pushed her bedroom door shut and leaned heavily against it. She shouldn't have done that, but when she'd woken to find him there, she hadn't been able to believe it. Deep down she'd known she wasn't dreaming, but she wanted him, wanted to draw some comfort from him. She shook her head, it was stupid and she shouldn't have done it. Staring out of her window and into the night, all Jenny wanted was normality, instead she appeared to be in a nightmare that she couldn't wake up from.