Upon arriving at home and having Noemi insist on putting her to bed, Jenny fell asleep within minutes. She didn't dream, she didn't think, she was simply lost in the sweet oblivion of rest.
Gibbs could not afford to quit working the case, but he did take an extended coffee break a couple of hours later, just to check on her. When he walked in the door, Noemi poked her head out from the kitchen. Frowning, she wiped her hands and came towards him.
"Senor Gibbs, what is wrong?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. How's she doing?"
Noemi followed his gaze upstairs. "She has been sleeping since she arrived home."
"That's good." He looked down at his watch and up towards the bedroom where his wife lay. "I think I'll just go check on her."
The housekeeper raised her eyebrows. "Very well. But do not wake her."
Gibbs smiled. "Yes Ma'am."
Slipping off his shoes and moving slowly upstairs, Gibbs pushed the half closed door open a little farther so he could see into the room. When he saw Jenny laying on their bed, curled up and sleeping, he had to smile. Tucked into one of her arms was Carebear, her teddy from Abby. And on his side of the bed, sitting and watching her, was Jenny's stuffed panda LJ, that he'd bought for her the night they played Paris. He shook his head, even that seemed like years ago instead of merely a week and a half.
He walked softly to the edge of the bed, and laid his hand gently on Jenny's face. She barely stirred and for that he was grateful. Whether she woke up as herself or in the state she had been when he'd found her in the office, Gibbs still wasn't sure what he would say. Regardless of what he wanted, things had changed for them. If she was willing, maybe tonight they could just enjoy being in the same house together - watch a movie, sit on the couch and read, just something so they didn't get any further away.
Stroking her long, red hair, Gibbs pressed the lightest of kisses to her temple, then turned around and made his way back downstairs. They still had a murderer to find and it was going to be another long day.
NCIS
Jenny shifted on the bed as she awoke, slowly sliding out of the restful sleep she'd been having. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find herself at home in bed. Strange. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on her office couch, how did she get home? She shook her head slowly, still feeling the pressing of the headache against her forehead. At least it wasn't as bad as it had been. Looking down, Jenny smiled at the sight of the teddy from Abby - what had she called him? Oh yes, Carebear - cuddled in her arms. LJ was staring at her from Jethro's side of the bed and Jenny could only assume Noemi, who had worked for her for years and knew her love of stuffed animals, had put him there for comfort.
Finally sitting up, Jenny pushed down the light blanket covering her. The clock said it was after three o'clock in the afternoon, how long had she been sleeping? It bugged her, not remembering exactly what had happened. Visions of the mission in MTAC going wrong flashed in her mind, and Jenny recalled having to retreat to the bathroom to get her control back. But something must've happened after that, because her memory went no further.
A knock on the door made her look up. It was her housekeeper.
"Senora, como estas?" Noemi asked, concern written in her eyes.
"Fine Noemi," Jenny answered automatically, before thinking about it. "Well, better anyways." She looked around. "What am I doing at home?"
Noemi frowned. "You do not remember?"
"The last thing I remember is being in my office."
"The agents, they bring you home after lunch. Then you sleep. I do not know why."
"Did Jethro bring me home?" Jenny asked, thinking that would make the most sense.
"No," the other woman shook her head. "But he came by to check on you."
Jenny's eyebrows arched. "Whatever happened must've been bad, if Gibbs was worried enough to leave the case to come and see me."
"He loves you," Noemi reminded her boss.
Jenny's mouth curved into a small smile. "Yes. Well," she slid out of bed, "I suppose I should get up now."
"Sit, sit!" Noemi insisted. "I will bring you a tray."
"Noemi," Jenny rolled her eyes, "I do not need to stay in bed. It's only a headache, I'll be fine."
Noemi shrugged, knowing better than to argue with the strong willed redhead. "I will warm your food up in the kitchen then."
Jenny shook her head. "Thank you Noemi, but I'm really not hungry." She held up her hand when the housekeeper seemed about to protest. "Not you too Noemi, please. But I would love a cup of tea."
"Si Senora," Noemi sighed, giving up for now, "I will bring it to the library."
"Thank you."
Half an hour later, Jenny was sitting on one of the couches in the library, her feet tucked up beside her, staring out the window and nursing her cup of tea. Everything about today felt strange, from the way she'd felt when she woke up this morning to whatever had happened after she left MTAC. Thinking back to her appointment with Kristyn Monday afternoon, Jenny suddenly remembered the strange thought that had popped into her head when the therapist was talking about her needing friends to talk to.
Call Rachel. Jenny shook her head. Rachel Wayne, her roommate from college. It had been years since they'd seen each other, but back then they had been best friends. Rachel was a naturally happy person, with an unbridled enthusiasm for life and a flair for all things unexpected. It had been a sharp contrast to Jenny's tight laced, button downed ways, her driven personality, and stubborn focus on a then almost unattainable goal. But they'd been good for each other, balanced one another out. Jenny had made Rachel study and read her textbooks once in awhile, and Rachel had dragged Jenny out of their room, sometimes unwillingly, to go find something to do other than homework.
They would go to the cafeteria if Jenny was being particularly stubborn, just to get something to drink and for a change of scenery. On days when Jenny was feeling brave, they would go dancing at the club on campus and shamelessly flirt with all the guys that so much as looked at them. Sometimes they just lay on their beds in the close quarters of the dorm room, talking about their lives, about love and hopes and dreams. It had been so hard to say goodbye to Rachel when they'd graduated, though the two had promised to keep in touch.
And they had, sort of. Rachel was a little flighty and sometimes sent Jenny only half finished emails or quickly scrawled letters. Jenny had looked forward to their infrequent phone conversations and the times they planned to get together that had never happened. But they'd lost touch once Jenny joined NCIS and spent several years in Europe working with Gibbs and then Ziva.
It had only been over the last couple of years that they'd started getting back in touch. At first it was an errant email that had arrived in Jenny's inbox months after it had actually been sent. Once they'd exchanged addresses again, since they had both moved from the last time, letters occasionally appeared in their respective mailboxes. It had become a bit of a routine - one email a month, one phone call every couple of months, letters two or three times a year. Slowly the two friends began to catch up on each other's lives.
Rachel knew that Jenny had gotten married to the man she'd first heard about a couple years back. And Jenny knew that her friend was now living in Indiana. But no matter how many times they'd talked about finally seeing one another again, they just hadn't been able to coordinate schedules to get together. It was a disappointment for Jenny, but often she was too busy to think about how nice it would be to have a close friend again. Until now. And now it wouldn't just be nice, now Jenny needed a friend. She allowed herself to hope that Rachel could fill that spot.
Because, once she began thinking about and remembering the past, it came back to her, something that had happened during their junior year. Nearly twenty years ago, but Jenny could still see the night that Rachel had stumbled into their room, bloody scrapes covering her arms and legs, her hair disheveled and her blouse torn - she'd been raped. Neither of them knew what to do, but somewhere in-between Rachel's tears and Jenny's awkward attempts at comfort, they'd realized this needed to be reported to the police. The worse part was that it was someone they knew, a guy from their law class. He'd been apprehended and charged only days later. After the police station, Jenny had driven Rachel to the hospital so she could get checked out.
Jenny hadn't known what to do. She'd never faced a situation where someone close to her had been hurt in that way. So she did what she could, she was there for Rachel. She listened, she talked, she comforted, she made sure her friend didn't become a hermit and stay in their dorm room 24/7. Mostly, she made it clear that what happened didn't change their friendship and that she wasn't going anywhere. And now, Jenny decided, her first concession that she couldn't handle everything by herself, she needed that favour returned.
Just as she was convincing herself to go check her email for Rachel's number, the phone rang and Jenny walked across the hall to answer it. "Jenny Gibbs." Work would call her cell number, at home she could be herself. It was probably her husband anyways.
"I still can't get used to hearing that," a female voice said with a smile. "In college it was 'Jen Shepard', and at work just 'Shepard', but now 'Jenny Gibbs'. Girl, I like the sound of that!"
"Rachel!" Jenny cried in surprise, thrilled beyond words to hear her dear old friend's voice and a little bit suspicious, wondering when Rachel had developed ESP. "Where have you been keeping yourself? I tried to call you a few weeks ago and couldn't get through."
"Oh, you know me, I'm full of surprises," Rachel laughed. "I did a 'me' thing again Jen."
"Uh oh." Jenny lifted her eyebrows. "What is it this time? Marry a billionaire? Sell everything and take off for the jungles of Africa? Join the Peace Corps?" Rachel was always doing things no sane person would even consider.
"Something much more boring than that I'm afraid," Rachel explained. "I got a job."
"An upgrade from stable girl or something less than the assistant to the VP of an oil company?" Jenny inquired. Her friend definitely had a range of usable skills. But she got bored easily and often quit a good job to tray something new or for a change of pace.
"Well, actually, it's quite normal," Rachel sounded nervous.
Jenny plopped into a chair. "Alright Rach, I'm sitting down. Spit it out."
"I got hired as a secretary in the Registrar's Office at the Naval Academy." She said it all in a rush.
Jenny frowned. "Which Naval Academy?" She sighed. "Rach, don't tell me you're moving all the way to Florida! We'll never see each other and I won't forgive you this time."
"Chill Jen," her friend laughed. "It's quite close, I promise. I decided to do something crazy and move somewhere I'd actually get to see my best friend once in awhile."
"Wait," Jenny's eyes widened. "You don't mean the Naval Academy here, in Maryland?"
"Yes!" Rachel shrieked, clapping her hands. "Aren't you excited? I just moved in last week and I've been waiting for the right time to surprise you. But my place has been a disaster and I'm only just now getting it organized."
"Wow. I'm definitely surprised. When are you coming over?"
"How's right now sound?" Rachel chuckled. "I'm sitting outside your house Jenny."
"Rachel!" Jenny yelled. "Well, get in here silly woman and let me see you!"
Dropping the phone, Jenny raced for the door, throwing it open. A blur of brunette and colour hit her almost at full speed and the two friends wrapped their arms around each other for a tight hug.
"Gosh, I've missed you Rach," Jenny breathed when she pulled back. "It's so great to see you."
"Ditto," Rachel laughed, trying not to cry. "So, can I come in?"
"Definitely. Coffee?"
"Ugh," Rachel's face wrinkled. "No way. I don't know how you drink that stuff. Tea?" she asked hopefully. "Unless you're stocking lemon-lime Koolaid."
Jenny shook her head. "Only you would still be drinking something ten year olds have out grown. But tea we can find."
"Hey," Rachel shrugged. "What can I say? I have discerning tastes."
"There are other words for it," Jenny said dryly, leading the way into the kitchen.
She ran water into the kettle and got out tea fixings. She and Rachel dressed up their tea the same way, and couldn't possibly drink it unless it was 'perfect'. Rachel leaned on the edge of the counter, watching Jenny. She couldn't be happier to see her college roommate again and even though the two hadn't seen each other in years, Rachel knew something was off with her friend. She waited until they were settled at Jen's kitchen table with hot mugs of tea. Rachel blew on hers and took a cautious sip. Never patient enough, she inevitably burned her tongue.
"So, what's new with you?" she asked slowly.
Jenny couldn't hide the shadow that closed off her eyes. "Oh, umm, you know...just keeping busy with work and all that."
Rachel's eyes narrowed. Jen's eye twitched when she lied, it always had. Playing Truth or Dare in college had gotten way more interesting after Rachel figured out Jenny's tell. "Something going on with you and Jethro?" she asked, trying to make it sound like a normal question instead of a fishing expedition.
Jenny stirred her tea absently and wouldn't look at Rachel. "No, not really. I mean, we have our good and bad days like the rest I suppose, nobody's fault."
"Jennifer Marie," she said in a soft voice, "I know when my best friend is lying to me, even if it's been fifteen years. Now tell me."
The gaze Jenny directed at her friend was so broken and full of pain that Rachel's heart skipped a beat. She reached over to put her hand on Jenny's. She flinched and Rachel began to wonder...and hope she was wrong.
"Do you remember 'the act' from our junior year?" Jenny asked so quietly that Rachel could barely hear her. That's what they'd always called it, 'the act', and it was life before and after. A stupid question really, not that one could ever forget something like that.
Something in Jenny's tone and body language warned Rachel before the words came. She put a hand to her mouth, struggling to hold back the tears that sprang to her eyes, feeling her stomach recoil at the thought.
"Oh Jen," she whispered hoarsely, "no. Not you too."
Jenny nodded slowly. "About three and a half weeks ago."
Rachel's eyes narrowed and expression hardened. "Not Jethro..."
Shock registered in Jenny's face and she shook her head vigorously. "No! Of course not! Rachel, don't think things like that."
"I know he's a great guy and all Jen, but after surviving 'the act' I kind of stopped giving men the benefit of the doubt," Rachel responded darkly. "So, who was it? Someone you knew?"
"No." Jenny closed her eyes and held the bridge of her nose between her fingers, wondering if she really wanted to tell the story one more time. "I was kidnapped and held for forty hours before they found me. And," she laughed to keep from crying, "it's been a really long few weeks."
Rachel was stunned. Once was life altering enough, but to be held for that long, she knew Jenny had been hurt more than just a single time. "Oh hun," she sighed, knowing that now it was her turn to be the friend who walked through the darkest days, just as Jenny had for her in college. "I know it won't fix anything Jen, but can I give you a hug?" Her friend nodded and Rachel got up and held her while she cried.
Everything was in turmoil, but even still Jenny breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, someone who understood. Not a clinical psychologist who tried to have all the answers. Not a hurt and unsure husband who just wanted to fix it. But a friend who had been there and knew what it was like, knew that no words could fix the hurt or replace the innocence that had been lost. Jenny said a silent 'thank you' in her heart for Rachel. Surely God had known she needed her friend today.