"Faith! Dinner!" Jack called from the kitchen as she set the lasagna on the table. She was just sitting down when Faith ran into the kitchen and skidded to a stop next to the table. In one hand she was clutching the pink stuffed dog that Jack had given her at breakfast. She kept her other hand hidden behind her back until she slid into her chair, then she hid it under the table. The awkwardness of Faith's movements caught Jack's attention and she warily asked, "What are you up to?"

Grinning, Faith proudly announced, "I got you a valentine!" She pulled her hand out from under the table to reveal a small, heart-shaped box of candy and a piece of red construction paper. As she placed the items next to Jack's plate, she explained, "I got the candy when I went grocery shopping with Mrs. Evenson, but I made the card."

"You did? That's so sweet." Jack picked up the card, which read, "Happy Valentine's Day! Love, Faith." Underneath the childish scrawl, there was a drawing of Jack and Faith surrounded by dozens of hearts and flowers. It was evident that Faith had spent a lot of time on the picture. Jack was touched by the thoughtfulness and couldn't stop herself from reaching across the table to tenderly stroke her daughter's cheek. "It's beautiful, Faith. I love it. How about we share the chocolates for dessert?"

Faith's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really. You have to eat your broccoli though."

Wrinkling her nose, Faith gagged loudly, but, despite her distaste for Jack's choice of vegetable, she handed over her plate without argument. While Jack served the lasagna and broccoli, Faith glanced at the empty chair where Gibbs sat when he joined them for dinner. She thought it was weird that he wasn't spending Valentine's Day with them. Unable to think of any reason for his absence, she turned to her mother for help. "Hey, Mom, why didn't Gibbs come to dinner? Isn't he your valentine?"

Jack gave Faith back her plate. "He's busy," she answered, even though she knew the statement wasn't entirely accurate. Gibbs seemed to be avoiding her and, when they did see each other, he was even less talkative than usual. She was becoming increasingly worried about him and what his strange behavior may mean for their relationship, but she didn't want to risk making Faith aware of her growing concerns by allowing the current conversation to continue. Unfortunately, before she could change the subject, Faith was already rattling off a new set of questions.

"When's he going to stop being busy? Are you going to have Valentine's Day then? Did he get you a valentine?"

"I don't think we're going to celebrate. Plus, Gibbs is definitely not the kind of guy to send a valentine."

Faith shook her head and made a tsking sound with her tongue. "Doesn't that make you sad? I think I'd be sad if I had a boyfriend and he didn't give me a valentine."

"How can I be sad when I'm spending Valentine's Day with you and there's chocolate for dessert?" mused Jack. She forced herself to smile in an attempt to hide her desperate desire to talk about literally anything other than Gibbs and Valentine's Day, but Faith wasn't fooled by her mother's efforts and looked back at her with a smirk and a cocked eyebrow that was so reminiscent of Gibbs that Jack was temporarily struck speechless. When she found her voice, she stammered, "Oh, just, uh, hush and, um, eat your dinner."

NCIS NCIS NCIS

The morning after Valentine's Day was rough for Jack and Faith. They woke up late, Jack spilled her coffee on the way out the door, and Faith realized she forgot her lunch when they were already halfway to school. After doubling back to the house for Fatih's lunch, Faith was late to school and Jack was very late to work.

As Jack rushed into her office, she barely avoided crashing into Gibbs and, in the process, nearly dropped her fresh cup of coffee and the stack of files she was carrying. She tried to tamp down her annoyance by convincing herself that it was just the stress of the morning that was responsible for her bad mood and not the fact that Gibbs was standing in her office acting like it was no big deal that he'd been ignoring her for weeks. In the end, she failed. With a frustrated growl, Jack snapped, "What are you doing here, Gibbs?"

Gibbs' brow furrowed. "I brought you the Harrison report," he replied as he took the files from Jack, then followed her to her desk and set them down next to the report. "Just needs your signature."

"Great. I'll get to it later." Jack started shuffling through the files, waiting for Gibbs to leave. When he didn't move, she looked up at him. "Need something else?"

"Are you okay?"

Jack sneered at him. "Perfect."

A flash of red among the files caught Gibbs' eye. "New drawing from Faith?"

Scoffing, Jack pulled out the paper and held it up for Gibbs to see. "It's a valentine."

"Oh. Jack, I didn't even know it was Valentine's Day."

"Really?"

"I wish I'd thought about it."

"Hmm. You know, Gibbs, if you're done with me, just tell me. There's no need for whatever game this is that you're playing."

"What are you talking about?"

"For weeks, you've been avoiding me. You won't talk to me. Hell, you can barely stand to be in the same room as me. If you want to break up, just say so. I'm a big girl. I can handle it."

"That's not what I want."

"Then, what do you want? You'll have to tell me because I'm a little lost here."

Gibbs hated how desperate Jack sounded with her voice teetering on the edge between maniacal laughter and a sob, especially since he didn't know how to respond. He was tempted to leave and take some time to figure it out, but knew if he did, he better not plan to come back. Instead, he stayed and they stared at each other from opposite sides of Jack's desk while an awkward silence hung over them. Eventually, the tension was broken by the ringing of Gibbs' cell phone. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at it. "We'll talk later," he said just before he turned his back on Jack and answered the phone.

As he walked away, Jack muttered, "Sure, we will."

NCIS NCIS NCIS

After Gibbs left Jack's office, he and his team spent the rest of the day in the field. Initially, Jack presumed he would be back to see her before she left to pick up Faith. When that didn't happen, she hoped he would stop by her house when he was done with work. However, as the hours ticked by, that hope began to fade. At midnight, she finally gave up waiting for him and went to bed.

Jack was nearly asleep when she heard a soft tapping at her front door. For a moment, she considered ignoring it, but, since she had spent all day waiting for Gibbs and he was the only person who would have the audacity to show up unannounced in the middle of the night, she grudgingly crawled out of bed and shuffled to the front of the house. She had barely opened the door when Gibbs said, "I'm sorry."

Jack's jaw dropped. "I thought apologies were a sign of weakness."

"Not between us. I am sorry, Jack."

"For what?"

"For screwin' things up between us. I'm an idiot, but I'm not stupid enough to want to break up with you."

"Then why have you been acting so weird?"

"This month's the anniversary of when I lost Shannon and Kelly. I don't like to talk about it, but I should have told you."

"Do you want to come in? We could talk now."

Gibbs shook his head. "Not tonight."

As he started to back away, Jack quickly reached out to grab his sleeve and pull him closer. "Do you want to come in and not talk?"

"Yeah."