Blinking her eyes open, Jenny winced as the rays of light eking through the window hit her eyes. Letting out a low groan and shutting her eyes in an attempt to block out the light, she pulled at her covers and tried to pull them up over her head, only to find that they wouldn't budge. Confused she opened her eyes as she twisted onto her side, and stared in confusion as she took in the sight of Leroy Jethro Gibbs sleeping next to her, only he was lying on top of the covers, explaining why she hadn't succeeded in her earlier task.
Letting out a small huff of disbelief, Jenny tried to remember exactly how this had happened. And then everything flooded back to her. Her illness, Henri, his offer, her acceptance of it and finally Jethro appearing, his concerned face peering down at her as he'd roughly shaken her awake, his voice harsh.
Had it worked? Was she now healed? She didn't feel as weary and achy as she had on waking in recent weeks, but that wasn't necessarily indicative of her being cured, of being immortal. Holding up her hand she looked for tell tale tremor that had plagued her recently - something that until two days ago she'd put down to being tired and overworked - it wasn't there.
At that she let her lips curve into a smile, a small wave of hopefulness washing over her. She looked back over to where Jethro lay sleeping and took in the frown that creased his face even as he slept. Reaching out, she brushed her hand slowly over his shoulder, calling his name softly, "Jethro, Jethro wake up."
His eyes shot open, his hand grabbing her wrist. He stared at her for the briefest second and sat up abruptly, his wide eyes running over her. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his hand pressing against her forehead, relief rushing over him as he realised she no longer felt like an icicle.
"I'm fine," Jenny replied, offering him a small smile. "You didn't need to stay."
Gibbs stared at her, unsure how to answer that. Last night he'd been convinced she was really unwell, she'd been deathly pale and freezing to the touch. When he'd got her on her feet she'd been unsteady and he was certain that she wouldn't have been able to so much as stand without his support. Then when he'd finally got her into her bed, the covers pulled tightly around her, she'd fallen asleep almost immediately. He'd wanted to call Ducky, but every time he'd so much as muttered the suggestion her eyes would blink open and she'd protested. So he'd uneasily stuck to her wishes, but had consistently checked her temperature, as well as waking her regularly to make sure she was still coherent until he'd been convinced that her condition had been improving. He wasn't even sure exactly when he'd finally succumbed to his own exhaustion and fallen asleep, but he knew that it couldn't have been long, as he distinctly remembered the early morning sun beginning to filter into the room.
His eyes ran over her once more, taking in the healthy glow to her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes that had been missing over the last few months and continued to feel himself relax. Although as he continued to stare he felt his gut twist, something was still going on, he could feel it. The hand that had previously been on her forehead slipped down, the thumb caressing her cheekbone for a brief second as he studied her intently. The as he felt and heard her take in an almost stuttered inhale of breath, he realised what he was doing and abruptly pulled his hand away. "I should get back to work," he told her as he quickly got off the bed.
Jenny blinked confusedly for the briefest of moments before muttering, "Yes, you still have that case."
"Mmmmm," he mumbled. And then as though another thought had just struck him, he turned to look at her again. "Are you sure you're feeling better?"
"Positive," she replied.
"Maybe you should get Ducky to check you over, just in case," he suggested.
Knowing that he wasn't going to let the issue drop, and knowing she had to talk to Ducky anyway, Jenny nodded. "I'll do that," she told him.
"Good." He nodded decisively, adding, "I'll see myself out, before disappearing out her bedroom door.
As he moved swiftly down the stairs, Gibbs cursed himself, what the hell had he been thinking? He had been less than a second away from kissing her. Which was a bad idea for a number of reasons, the main one being that he didn't have a clue what was going on with her right now and the other biggish concern being that she had some lunatic stalking her, and even if she denied it, that had to be affecting her in someway. So the last thing she needed right now was him pawing at her, even if it was becoming more of a desperation for him.
He paused as he reached his car door, a thought suddenly hitting him. He hadn't told her that the necklace was missing again. Letting out an annoyed growl, he wondered if he should turn back and let her know. He quickly decided against it however, because God only knew what he would do if he headed back into her bedroom. No, it was safer to tell her later, at work.
Leaning against a tree, Henri watched as the silver haired man -Jethro, she'd called him- drove away, finally. He'd stayed all night, looking after Jenny while her body re-charged, taking over the role that he himself had planned to do.
Henri's face creased into a frown. He'd seen this Jethro before, but he'd seemed as though he was nothing more than an irritating Agent she had to deal with. Now he wasn't so sure. Last night his concern had been more than that of an employee for their boss, and the way he'd cared for her had hurt him to stand and watch, until he hadn't been able to take it anymore, and safe in the knowledge that Jenny was safe, he'd left.
Now however he was back, he still wasn't sure of this guy's place in Jenny's life but there was time to find that out. And in the meantime she still needed his help to adjust to her new life.
Jenny heard the front door slam shut and let her head fall back against her pillows as she frowned up at the ceiling. Jethro confused her, that was a definite, sometimes he still appeared to care for her - demonstrated by his actions last night - while other times he blatantly ignored or disregarded her. She let out a low groan, she hated this, hated the way things were between them now and she wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to fix it.
Although, if the change had worked then maybe it was better not to try and fix it, after all she would have to walk away again at some point and never see him again, maybe it was better if he did hate her. At that thought she felt as thought someone had twisted a knife in her stomach, the thought of leaving him again truly, physically hurt her. But if she'd remained human she would have had to do the same, because there was no way she was going to let him watch her weaken and waste away. She had absolutely no desire for him to remember her like that. No it was better this way. It had to be.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sudden appearance of Henri, he appeared out of thin air and offered her a small smile. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Better than I felt in a long time." She looked at him hopefully. "Did it work then?"
"Well you can see me right now, so yes."
Jenny felt a small rush of relief, she wasn't dying anymore, she wasn't going to waste away, becoming a shell of herself. She looked up and met his gaze. "So what happens next?"
"I thought we could go hunting tonight, I could show you how best to use your new skills."
"That's probably a good idea," Jenny agreed. "I take it I'm ok to go into work today? I'm not dangerous to anyone?"
Henri gave a small smile, a small sound of amusement escaping from him as he shook his head. "No, as long as you hunt regularly you're safe."
"Good," Jenny replied. "Well I better go get ready for work."
Henri nodded again. "I'll see you tonight then."
Slipping through the doors to Autopsy, Jenny noticed that Ducky was so involved in what he was doing, he hadn't heard her enter. She coughed lightly, causing his head to jerk up. He offered her a sad smile as he got to his feet. "Jennifer my dear, how are you feeling?"
"I'm ok, Ducky." When she took in the almost doubtful look on his face, she added, "Honestly, I really am fine. I just wanted to ask you something."
"Anything I can do, I'll happily do it," he told her.
"I want to arrange to get a second opinion on my diagnosis."
Ducky nodded. "A wise choice my dear. However," he eyed her carefully. "I have seen your results and I don't want you pining all of your hopes on this second opinion."
"I'm not," she replied honestly. "But if there's the slightest chance that the diagnosis might have been wrong then I need to follow it up."
"Of course." Ducky let out a sigh. "I will look into some specialists for you, and arrange for an appointment."
Jenny smiled, and squeezed his hand gratefully. "Thank you, Ducky."