A/N: I know I said in A quiet Christmas that that one was supposed to be my last story of 2023 but with it being New Years Eve today I've decided to give all you beautiful Angels an early present to welcome 2024 ! Enjoy, Angels.
This is a tag to the season 5 episode Lost and Found. What if Jethro's answer was different to the no he gave Jenny when she asked him to stay with her? This is my take on what would have happened if he said yes to her. Enjoy, Angels.
"Once upon a time I'd have asked you to stay and I wouldn't have taken no for an answer." Jen says to him as he grabs his coat, putting it on. The word 'no' is on the tip of his tongue, then he sees the loneliness in her green eyes she's tried to hide, but he knows her too well so he takes off his coat again and puts it back.
"I can stay a while longer." He tells her. He can actually stay all night but he's not about to tell her that because there's no off the job for them. There's no one for him at home, waiting for him, except a boat and a few bottles of bourbon.
Jen nods and walks back into her study, turning off the jazz music Carson had had on while reading and picking up the empty cup of hot chocolate she had made him. "You okay, Jen?" Jethro asks quietly as Jen walks out of her study and into her kitchen where she begins tidying up the dinner plates and other kitchen utensils that have been left out. She closes the dishwasher door after pressing a few buttons and leans against the counter, looking exhausted.
"God, Jethro, what are we doing?" She asks as she looks at him, he frowns in confusion. "I don't know what you mean, Jen." He says to her as he starts making some hot chocolate of their own. Jen sighs as she moves away from the counter.
"I know I said no to off the job but I'm seriously considering rescinding that rule." His former partner says, causing him to turn around and stare at her.
"W…why are you rescinding?" He asks her as the kettle whistles. Only Jen can make him stumble over his words like that. He pours the water into the two cups, over the hot chocolate powder before adding milk and mixing it all together before adding whipped cream and marshmallows into Jen's and handing it to her. She takes it with a smile before putting it down on the island, she's smirking at him.
"I'm rescinding because over these last three years of being back in your life, as your boss, have brought back up all my buried feelings for you. I've never stopped loving you, Jethro, those past 6 years I was away from you, I buried my love for you, but now it's overwhelming me and I can't ignore it any longer." Jen explains as she looks at him and picks up her chocolate beverage, taking a sip of it.
He's holding his cup tightly in his hands, unable to form a sentence. He doesn't know what to say in respect to Jen's revelation of her still loving him. Contrary to what she believes, he loves this redhead woman in front of him, even if he's never said the words out loud to her but he'd given her a chance for another go at their relationship and she'd said no.
"Why now? Why are you telling me this now, tonight? You've had plenty of chances to tell me this over the last three years but you're choosing to tell me tonight, why?" He demands as he puts down his drink on the island with a quiet thud as not to wake Carson up. Something must be going through her head, worrying her, scaring her, if she's telling her this particular revelation tonight. Jen places her untouched drink beside his and folds her arms over her chest, a frown on her face.
"Because I'm sick of looking at you and remembering what we had in Paris, London, Serbia, Positano, and everywhere else we went together and remembering how I destroyed it, how I broke it, how I left!" She exclaims quietly, she wanted to shout at him but she refrained because of the nine year old boy currently occupying her guest bedroom.
Gibbs sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose. Yes, she left him in Paris with nothing but a letter in her coat and didn't contact him for six years, and when they did see each other again, she said no to trying again but she didn't destroy anything they had, she just made it hurt for a while. He releases his nose before walking the two feet to where she's standing and wraps her in his arms. "You didn't destroy anything between us, Jen." He whispers in her hair. Jen sighs. They stand like that for several minutes before he pulls back slightly and looks into her green eyes. The loneliness he saw in them only twenty minutes ago has all but evaporated as if it were never there. In her eyes now is love for him, he supposes it's always been there but he's never seen it until now.
To hell with no off the job. His brain thinks as he presses his lips to hers. Jen immediately kisses him back, her arms going around his neck, her legs hooking around his hips as he lifts her up onto the island behind her, kissing her as passionately as he dares with a nine year old in the house. Her arms move from his neck and trail down his shirt clad back.
"Jethro." She says against his lips, effectively stopping their kiss. Jethro smiles at her. "Yeah, Jen?" He says as he kisses her throat.
"I love you." The Director says in a low voice as she tightens her legs around his hips. The throat kisses stop as he stares at her, a smile plastered onto his face.
"I love you." He echoes before kissing her lips again.
Jenny smiles as Jethro kisses her again before pulling away for the final time, he sighs as he looks at her. "I should get going." He says as he lifts her off the island. She pouts and opens her mouth to tell him that he can spend the night. He shakes his head as if he's reading her mind.
"If I spend the night, it'll end up with us doing things we shouldn't with a nine year old present. I've waited eight years to have you back in my arms, Jen, I can wait a few more days." He says as he takes a hold of her hand, lacing their finger together and walking out of the kitchen to the foyer where his coat is. He breaks their fingers away from each other as he puts his coat on and opens the front door, the cold night air wafting into the warm house. Jenny smiles slightly when he kisses her softly on the mouth. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jen, sweet dreams tonight." He says, Jenny smiles. "I'll be dreaming of you tonight, Jethro." She reptiles cheekily as she watches the love of her life exit her house and walks to his car, looking over his shoulder at her. She shakes her head in silent laughter as she closes the door on him, locking and leaning against it as the last half an hour catches up with her:
He helped put Carson to bed.
She asked him to stay.
He said yes.
She started to clean up her study.
He followed her to the kitchen.
She started to clean the kitchen.
He asked if she was okay.
She told him she was starting to reconsider the no off the job rule she had placed over them three years ago.
He asked her why now.
She admitted her feelings to him.
He hugged her.
She said she had destroyed everything between them.
He kissed her.
She kissed him.
He lifted her onto the island when she wrapped her legs around his hips.
She said 'I love you' to him.
He said 'I love you' to her.
He said he should go.
She tried to get him to stay.
He told her no, that staying the night would lead to sex between the two of them, that he's waited 8 years to have her in his arms and he can wait a few more days.
She followed him to the foyer where he put on his coat and gave her a kiss goodnight, telling to have sweet dreams.
She said she'd dream of him.
He walked out of the house
She watched as he looked out his shoulder at him.
He gave her one last smile.
She closed the door and locked it on him.
What did all that mean? Were they back together? Did those kisses they shared in her kitchen mean anything? Was he going to ask for a transfer after they found Carson's father? Was he going to tell SECNAV and have her fired for kissing her employee? Would tonight change the relationship they had built over the last three years?
These questions spin in her mind but she can't bring herself to properly think about the repercussions of tonight with Jethro because she's glad he said yes to staying for a little bit longer, even though she could see the word 'no' was about to come out of his mouth before looked into her green eyes. Her eyes have always had a way of conveying what her lips can't, especially around Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
The redheaded Director is glad he had a different answer for her. "I love you, Jethro." The woman whispers to herself as she traces her lips with her fingertips, still feeling Jethro's lips on her own.
A\N: This is what I wished would have happened in this episode if he had said yes! Were the writers trying to kill us with this scene, hell the whole JIBBS relationship?! This one is short, just until I get back into the groove of writing JIBBS again. Enjoy this Angels and have a safe and happy New Year.
