Their news didn't arrive until around 10am. The doctor came down the corridor, walking towards them with purpose that they knew that this visit was intended for them.
Standing to greet the doctor, Tony asked what was happening.
"So we have been treating Miss Shepard's injuries overnight. She has given me permission to discuss her injuries freely with you as I understand you are investigating her disappearance."
Tony's nod allowed the Doctor to continue.
"She had several broken ribs, lacerations across her entire body and deep bruising. She was also violated brutally and needed several stitches internally in her vaginal canal."
Both Ziva and Abby winced. The group had been clinging to the hope that Jenny had managed to escape that final indignation despite what they had seen on the video footage, but the confirmation that their boss had been violated in the worst way hurt both women intensely, and they both felt even more for Jenny.
"Is there anything else we should be aware of?"
"When Miss Shephard was discovered she was unconscious I do believe. It took her over two hours to regain consciousness once she arrived her but her head wound has given us a cause for concern, hence the reason for our delay in allowing you to visit with her. Hopefully she will be fine but we cannot tell until we give her an MRI scan later this afternoon. She seems to have suffered no permanent damage however and has full cognitive capabilities."
"Good, that sounds..."
"I know that this all sounds like a lot and, honestly, Miss Shephard does not look at her best at the moment. However, she will recover from her injuries, hopefully completely, within a six-week period. Which, all things considered, is pretty miraculous. Miss Shephard is one lucky lady."
"Nah, she's a fighter. Literally. You never want to get on the wrong side of her I can promise you."
The Doctor smiled softly at the group continuing.
"If you wish, you can come along to her room now. Although I can only allow two of you to join Mr Gibbs-"
"Just Gibbs."
"Sorry, just Gibbs, there are seats outside that you can wait in which are closer to her than you are currently and you can keep a closer eye on what is happening."
"Thanks very much Doctor, this means a lot for us. The team has been missing Jenny for a long time and I think everyone just wants to be as close as they possibly can right now. We don't want her to disappear on us again."
"I can see that you're all close. I just hope that you can all support each other and Jennifer through this."
"Oh we will," vowed Abby, her passion making the others smile.
When they arrived outside Jenny's private room, the doctor left them.
"OK, girls, you want to go in first?" said Tony.
"Do you not want to visit with her?" asked Ziva, unsure of why Tony would volunteer to let them go first.
"Ziva, Jenny's just been through a horrific experience, and the worst of it was perpetrated against her by men. And whilst Tim is the biggest softie, we are both of the male species. And I think we'd be best to make sure that she's cognizant of her surroundings before we steam in and make the whole situation worse."
"Oh Tony, there is a heart under all that sleaze," teased Ziva, although in truth she was touched that he would think of their friend's own needs so carefully.
"Hey now, don't you be getting all slushy on me Ziva, I need my big, bad Mossad assassin to help me kick some ass later on."
"Yes Boss," teased Ziva before turning to Abby and gesturing that the taller woman should proceed into the room.
Inside the room, Abby stepped up to the bed and let her eyes analyse what she could see of their former boss.
Even though she was injured and hooked up to several machines, Abby was pleased to see that Jenny didn't looked dwarfed in the bed like people so often did.
Instead, Jenny was sat up in the bed, her back supported by several pillows whilst her left hand was held by Gibbs.
"Jenny, you're OK! Well, not OK, but you're not dead. As in you didn't die in the shoot-out the first time, and now you're back here, in our lives, not that you'd died this time around if you understand me."
Jenny laughed as Abby tailed off, wringing her hands nervously.
"Oh I've missed you Abby, come here!" Jenny held her free arm out, gesturing Abby to come forward.
"Are you sure? I mean I don't want to injure you, and you have got a couple of cracked ribs and I'm rubbish at careful hugs."
"Abby, I've gone almost 4 years without an Abby hug, I think my body will heal better having had one."
Abby didn't need any more prodding and quickly stepped up beside the bed and wrapped her arms around the diminutive redhead.
She held on tight for several moments before stepping back, and both women had tears shining in their eyes.
Abby smiled at Jenny once again before stepping to the side, allowing Ziva to move forward and take her place.
"Shalom Jenny, I am pleased to see you are in one part."
"Piece Ziva," Jenny automatically responded and then smiled at the grin she saw on Ziva's face, knowing it was her friend's unique way of bringing a little cheer to the situation.
"I hear that it is thanks to you, both of you that I am here," said Jenny, indicating that Gibbs had clearly been filling her in on what had happened in the events preceding her rescue.
"It was mainly Abby and Gibbs' efforts that led to your emancipation," said Ziva.
"Hey now, I thought we had this discussion before, don't play down your own abilities and contributions. If Gibbs gave you praise, you should know by now to take it with both hands and not let go until he Gibbs slaps you again."
"That is true," laughed Ziva, looking at Gibbs who merely shrugged at their teasing.
"But I feel I need to give my own praise as well Ziva, Abby. Thank you so very much for everything. If it wasn't for you, I would most likely be on my way to a miserable life as a sex slave somewhere. And before you say it wouldn't have happened, they gave me some very detailed descriptions of what they planned on doing to me before they sold me on. Apparently women of my calibre do very well on the black market and I likely would've been bought by some Prince or Senator to be kept in a locked mansion as their plaything."
Both Abby and Ziva shuddered at the matter of fact tone Jenny used to describe the possible outcome, but, watching Jenny, they could see that she had come to accept what had nearly become her fate.
Changing the subject from the slightly more morose, Jenny asked, "where are the boys?"
No-one needed to ask who she was referring to. Gibbs looked to the two women with the same question in his eyes, looking ready to jump up and hunt the two men down if the answer was not satisfactory.
"The Doctor would not allow any more than two of us to visit with you at any one time," began Ziva, "but they also wanted us to test the waters with you. We are aware of what happened to you whilst in captivity and they didn't want you to feel threatened or uncomfortable about their presence."
"Threatened by McGee and DiNozzo, that'll be the day," Jenny snorted, "that was very sweet of them and I understand it is good standard operating practice but we all know, particularly you Ziva, that I am not a standard victim."
"Indeed." Ziva knew to what Jenny was referring but she did not know where the others stood with such information so kept her answer short.
"And I know you're all trying your best to not get kicked out of the hospital, but I want you to go and find the guys now and bring them in here, I need to talk to you all."
Ziva nodded before turning and stepping back outside the room.
Turning to the chairs, she could see both of her friends sat there, waiting for some news. Both men looked up when she approached them, curiosity burning across their faces.
"She wants to see you," was all that Ziva needed to say for the pair to bounce to their feet and follow Ziva back into the private room.
"Tony, Tim, I'm glad to see you."
"You too Director," said Tim automatically.
"I haven't been Director in several years Tim, it's Jenny now. Although I haven't been in Jenny in a long time either."
"Yeah, you were Kat? What was Kat like then?" asked Tony, enjoying being able to tease the redhead once again.
"Well Kat was a Pilates instructor and surfer."
"No way! Although you do look extra fit at the moment Jenny, I will give you that."
"Tony..." growled Gibbs from his seat and Ziva slapped Tony across the back of the head as a courtesy of Gibbs who seemed unwilling to move from Jenny's side to inflict the move himself.
"Yep boss, shutting up," said Tony, remembering why he hated Ziva's head slaps more than Gibbs'.
"I wanted to thank you both for what you did today. I already thanked the girls but I needed to tell you personally that I am so grateful for everything that you did. Particularly you Tim."
Tim looked a little stunned at being singled out.
"Gibbs has been talking to your substitute back at headquarters and they were reviewing the footage. I know how horrific that must have been and you no doubt viewed it with professionalism and supported Abby at the same time."
Abby moved to stand beside Tim and threw her arms around his neck.
"Yeah, thanks for that Timmy, couldn't have done it without you."
"Just... doing my job, but thank you."
The room fell into a moment of silence before Tony turned to Gibbs.
"Gibbs, we secured the scene and rescued the girls but we found paperwork which indicates that the guys we caught were just the middle management. There were emails with orders that they were to execute and the operation traces back several years. I think this is something we need to turn over to the FBI now."
"Agreed, this is way out of our jurisdiction now. I'm sure Fornell will love this case when we hand it to him on a silver platter. Shame really that we'll have to see him again."
"Jethro stop," chided Jenny softly, "we all know that the pair of you are friends these days more than anything else. Besides, both of you have a common loss I do believe at the moment."
"How did you know?"
"I may have been unable to communicate with you all, but that doesn't mean I couldn't read the papers online and see what was happening in my old stomping ground. But it also told me about Diane... and Mike. I'm sorry Jethro that he's gone."
"Yeah well, it's his fault really that we found you."
"What do you mean?"
"He knew you were alive. He told me himself when he died. He wouldn't give me a name but I worked out it had to be you but just didn't see how. Then the first message came through. I knew that it wasn't a hoax then and there."
"I'm glad. I can't imagine what might've happened if you hadn't believed it."
"I don't want to imagine."
Gibbs and Jenny had focused in only on each other, almost entirely forgetting the presence of the other four members of the team in the room. Abby grinned as she watched the pair bond once more but she then turned and hinted to the others wordlessly that they should leave. The four traipsed out of the room as quietly as possible, trying their best not to disturb the tender moment occurring inside.
However, their exit was not as subtle as they had wished.
"Think this is them hinting something to us?" asked Jenny, her eyes sparkling.
"Maybe."
Jenny just laughed at Gibbs' reluctance to answer more thoroughly before sobering with a thought.
"You know; I really did miss you. There were so many times I almost picked up the phone and called you, or jumped in a car and drove to your house and sat waiting in your basement for you to return. I just missed seeing you all the time, sharing coffee, rubbing each other up the wrong way-"
"Constantly."
"Perhaps, but it was still something we did together."
"Well hopefully it's something that we can do again together now."
"I doubt I'll get my job back as Director Jethro," said Jenny, knowing full what he meant but testing the waters as to how he felt.
"I didn't ever date the Director Jen, I dated Probie Jenny. And that's the woman that I want to do all those things with again, if she'll let me."
Jenny was speechless, which allowed Gibbs to continue.
"You know, the one thing I noticed about Kat's place that let me know that it was your place immediately was that it was you who lived there. The place was decorated with Paris in mind. Images of the Eiffel Tower, the blend of tea that we drank in Paris, the striped bedsheets. I knew then that you didn't forget me, much like I hadn't forgotten you. On my desk, there's photos of us from the past several years, before you disappeared. Abby put them there one day and I realised then that, even though you were gone, I missed you as much as I missed Kelly and Shannon. And I realised then the mistake I had made in letting you stay 'on the job'."
"Jethro, I hate to admit it, but you were right, we never should have stayed 'on the job'. If I hadn't insisted upon it, I can only dream about how happy we would've been together."
"Maybe not. maybe this separation has been what we needed to make this last this time. II certainly hope so."
"You... you do?" Jenny couldn't help the hopeful note that entered her voice.
"Jen, I only have to ask one thing."
"What?"
"Are we 'off the job' yet?"
Jenny didn't bother to reply, instead carefully wrapping her arm around Gibbs' neck and pulling him towards her, their lips connecting again for the first time in years.
Gibbs almost moaned as he felt the softness of Jenny's lips before he pressed them tighter together, the long-lost passion reigniting as their embrace continued.
It was only when the door to the room opened softly that the pair pulled apart, Jenny blushing prettily whilst Gibbs' smug grin was firmly plastered across his cheeks.
Gibbs looked up to see Tony stood in the doorway, cringing already at the berating he was about to receive.
"What is it Tony?" asked Jenny quickly, knowing Gibbs' temper just as well as Tony.
"We just heard from the FBI, they want to interview Jenny as soon as possible, make sure they can catch any remnants in the city now before they all go to ground."
"They'll be long gone by now DiNozzo, and Fornell knows that. He just wants to cause trouble like normal."
"Jethro, we can't put this off. When I was there, the things I heard from the other rooms... I don't even really want to think about it all, it scares me to think how bad I could've had it."
"Jen, they raped you. I don't see how it could've gotten much worse?"
Jethro was amazed at Jen's empathy despite her own horrific ordeal but she continues to speak to Tony.
"Tell Tobias that I will be ready for an interview in 30 minutes' time if he is willing to deal with taking the interview here with Jethro present. I will not have any other agents present, just the three of us and a tape recorder if necessary. I will also acquiesce to Jethro's request that I get rest after that so he will have to make it quick. Make sure he understands this Tony."
"Yes Ma'am... I mean Direc-... I mean, Jenny."
"Not your Boss anymore Tony. Although hopefully you will consider me a friend."
"Of course Jenny, and I'm sure I'll also consider you my boss' girlfriend before too long," he added cheekily, ducking out of the room as Gibbs glared at him stonily.
"Oh come on Jethro, like he means anything by it. I'm pleased to see that the team seemed to have bonded even more since I've been gone."
"They bonded because you were gone Jenny. You were the glue between them all before but, when you 'died', they still needed each other and learnt how to rely upon each other."
"And a little more I would say."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Gibbs sharply.
"Oh come on, Tim and Abby? You're surely not that oblivious to the pair of them."
"They better not. He knows better," growled Gibbs, a realisation dawning over him.
"So I guess I probably shouldn't mention that I believe that Tony and Ziva have grown infinitely closer as well?"
"Does no-one respect Rule 12 anymore?" asked Gibbs, throwing his arms up in frustration.
"Jethro, how can you expect them to follow such rules when you yourself don't hold up an exactly stellar example? I mean, come on, even when we worked together, it was clear that Rule 12 was not being enforced."
"Rule 12 was created because of you Jen, not for you."
"Yeah well, your team tried to follow that for long enough. I'd suggest it might be time to find a new number 12. Maybe… treat your other halves perfectly or you'll have to deal with the wrath of... Mum and Dad?"
Jenny's eyes twinkled as Gibbs just groaned as he remembered Abby's nickname for the pair of them.
"She's never going to forget about that now, I hope you realise. We're going to be called Mum and Dad for years."
"What's so wrong with that?" asked Jenny.
"How about... I'm their boss, you used to be my boss and they really should show us some more respect than that?"
"Jethro, I tend to find that people have more respect for their family than they do their colleagues. I take such affection as proof that they really do actually like us and care about us. I certainly would've been proud to call any one of them my child."
Jenny cursed herself as she said her final words, her brain finally kicking in.
"I'm... I'm sorry Jethro, I wasn't thinking."
However, Gibbs didn't immediately respond.
"You know, I didn't even realise that the team had really become my surrogate children until now," said Gibbs softly. "When I lost Kelly I thought I'd never feel such an emotional attachment to someone again. But the team, they've kinda filled that gap."
"I'm glad Jethro. I had hoped you'd notice that before now but it seems that your brain wasn't quite willing to compute that possibility, which is a fair point. But now, now I think that the team still need you, emotionally as well as in your capacity as team leader."
"How did you suddenly come to be so philosophical Jen? What happened to my stubborn, fiery Probie?"
"She taught Pilates and Yoga for 4 years." Jenny laughed softly at that, seeing a grin on Jethro's face.
"Yoga huh? So you're pretty flexible then?"
"I've always been flexible Jethro."
"Oh I remember, but it has been a while since I've tested that flexibility."
"And it will be a while still before you do again."
Jenny rolled her eyes as Gibbs seemed to wince as he remembered her injuries.
"Jethro, come on. I don't need you walking on eggshells around me, it'll be bad enough with the rest of the team doing so, never mind the person I'm planning on spending a lot of time with."
"Oh are you?"
"Well, the doctor told me that I'm not allowed to be by myself for the next week, just in case any of my injuries worsen. And I sure as hell am not staying here when there's now, hopefully, a place for me back in Washington with you."
"Jen, you don't even need to ask. Of course you're coming home with us... with me."
Jenny smiled softly as Gibbs leant forward and once again their lips connected. This time, although the passion was still there, they held it back, instead taking comfort from the once familiar movements and enjoying the closeness they were now feeling and rediscovering the joy of their intimate connection.