"No, no, no!"

At 3:30 am, Gibbs was awakened by Jenny's thrashing against him, trying to get free of his hold. He ran his hand over her hair, hoping to calm her, only to have her lash out with her hand, trying to hit him. He shook her, "Jenny!"

"No, get away, get off of me! No!"

The fear and desperation in his wife's voice brought out every one of Gibbs' protective instincts. "Jen, wake up!" He raised his voice and felt her still. He shook her shoulder gently until she opened her eyes.

"Jethro?" Jenny was so tired and groggy and she couldn't shake the cloud of apprehension that surrounded her as she woke up. "What's wrong?" Then she remembered. "Oh."

"Shh, shh," he placed a kiss on her cheek. "It's okay babe, you were having a nightmare."

Jenny ran her hands over her face and nodded. "I remember." She laid her palm against his cheek. "Sorry I woke you."

Gibbs shook his head. "That's what I'm here for Jen, to chase all the bad dreams away."

For a moment he forgot that this was no ordinary dream he had saved her from and he leaned in, brushing his lips against hers. Jenny jerked away abruptly. He winced at the pain that flickered on her face.

"I'm sorry Jen, I wasn't thinking."

Jenny pressed a hand to the corner of her mouth and closed her eyes for a second. "They're just...sore." She looked into his eyes, apology written in hers. "It'll be a few days before you can do more than hold me Jethro." She looked away again. "And I don't know how much longer after that for more."

Gibbs could see her discomfort and he understood. It was no secret that they loved being married, loved the freedom of having access to each other whenever they liked. And they greatly enjoyed all the perks. But just because he couldn't do any more than hold her right now didn't mean he loved her any less.

"Jenny, you don't have to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong."

Jen shook her head sadly. "But I did, didn't I? I refused your offer to walk me to my car, I brushed off my security detail, I failed to use the skills I learned as an agent about paying attention to my surroundings. Maybe if I had been, I'd have gotten the chance to defend myself or scream for help. As it is now...I'm nothing more than damaged goods for you and it is my fault."

"Now hang on just a minute," Gibbs protested, leaning up on one elbow. "True of false: you would've called for help if you had the chance?"

Jenny rolled her eyes at her husband. "True."

"And true or false: if you had any way to stop him from hurting you, you would've done that too."

"True," came her grudging answer. "What's your point Jethro?"

"My point Jen, is that if you could've stopped this mess, you would've. This is not your fault. It's the fault of the dirtbag currently sitting in lockup and if there wasn't people around to watch that interrogation, I probably would've strangled him with my bare hands."

Jen chuckled. "Yeah, I figured you might."

He looked deep into her eyes, weaving his fingers with hers and bringing her hand to his lips for a kiss. "And I have never, nor will I ever think of you as damaged goods. Do you understand?"

Jen smiled faintly. "Yes sir."

He pulled her into a hug. "Don't call me sir."

Gibbs rolled over and felt Jenny slide a bit closer, using his chest as her pillow. "G'night Jen," he breathed softly.

She traced her fingers in slow repetitive motions across his chest. "I don't want to go to sleep," she confided. "I don't want to go back there again."

Gibbs ran his hand up and down her back. "Do you remember that day in Paris when you wanted to know all my secrets?"

Jenny nodded against his chest. "Yes. It was like pulling teeth. You're a man of few words Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

"Uh-huh. But I told you a few anyway, right?" Another nod. "But there's one I kept." He lowered his voice even further. "When I was younger, never mind how old, I had my first big crush." Gibbs kept talking softer and softer, watching as Jenny's eyes got heavier. "I saw this picture on day, in a big city newspaper. A beautiful young teenage girl posing after a dance recital. She was quite the accomplished ballerina."

Gibbs watched a small smile play on his wife's lips but couldn't tell if she already knew the ending or not. "I don't know how I could tell from a grainy, black and white newspaper picture, but somehow I just knew that long, gorgeous hair was red. I've always been a sucker for redheads you know." Jenny laughed softly, she knew better than some.

"Anyways, I guess they didn't want the whole world to know her name because there was only initials under the picture. For years I pondered that girl's identity and you know what? Ten years later I got this probie assigned to my team, green as the hills and full of fire and passion. I always thought she looked familiar. One day I figured it out. But it was strange, because I'd just always known the girl in the picture's name was Jenny. So how about that? My first crush became the love of my life and my beautiful," he checked just to be sure, "sleeping wife. G'night Jen," he whispered in her ear. "Sleep well."