Late at night, actually well past midnight, he quietly opened the bedroom door as he could see light before entering the house. Slowly, he took away the files that were lying next to her and put everything together in a pile. He placed them on the open space of her nightstand and flicked out the small light.

She couldn't help it, she had promised him not to take on so much, and now he was putting away one file after the other. He couldn't understand it, she had already discharged herself early against the doctors' advice and no sooner was she home and he out of town, she started working? Shaking his head, he drew the curtains in her bedroom, so she could at least sleep a little longer tomorrow.

"What time is it?", he could hear her ask softly.

"A little before two in the morning.", he answered at the same volume and walked back to the bed, sitting down at the edge of it. "I thought you were resting?"

Tiredly, she rubbed her eyes, glanced at the clock to make sure she hadn't misheard, and realized he was right. But it was so late, and he was only coming now? Besides, she remembered him saying he would call her as soon as they were on the plane.

"I did.", Jen murmured softly, looking at him. "I've been in bed all day, just killing some time in the evening.", she tried to talk her way out of it, but seemed to hit walls.

"Working is not resting.", Gibbs corrected the woman in front of him.

"Why didn't you call?", she asked, quickly changing the subject. "Were there problems with the flight?"

"Delays."

She nodded, sat up slowly in bed, ran her fingers through her hair. Silently, she looked at him, sitting close to him, their bodies separated by only a few inches. There it was again, that comforting feeling in her stomach, indescribable, and he was within reach, just in front of her, but that little voice in her head kept her from following her heart. It felt like she was trapped inside her own head, trying in vain to finally give in to those strong feelings, the longing to be near him.

"I don't want you to put yourself through too much, Jen.", Leroy said softly, playing with a strand of her hair, wrapping it around his finger before stroking it behind her ear.

"Not going to happen.", she panted more hotly, kissing his lips greedily.

Slowly, she pulled him closer by his tie, deepening the kiss without thinking twice about it, and when he gently pushed her down into the soft bed, she wrapped her arms around his neck. A soft sigh escaped her throat as she felt his lips kiss her neck and his rough fingers tenderly touch her stomach.

"Jen...", he said softly, stopping just in time before they would get to more, "You need rest..."

"Had it all day.", she replied just as softly, stealing another kiss from his lips.

Slowly, he stroked his fingers over her arm, while he put his other hand on her naked thigh. Thoughtfully he stared at the wall in front of him, but yesterday he wanted to take it easy with her, not to rush anything and certainly not to burden her much, and now? One thing could not be forgotten, however, the initiative for this kiss also went from her, not from him. But then why did his thoughts not let him sleep? Was it really because he was nursing a guilty conscience, still not having told her about Stephanie and his divorce? But he would still tell her about it, wanted her to hear it from him and not let anyone tell her something false. But now was not the right time, first she had to recover, and then he could talk to her. Hopefully...

Four weeks had passed since that night. Four weeks in which Jennifer Shepard had to rest at home, more or less voluntarily. The ceiling gradually fell on her head, she couldn't stand it at home anymore and the few files she had with her had already been finished for five days. That's why today she was all the more pleased to finally have a regular daily routine again and to get out among people, to talk to them and to breathe different air than the one at home.

"Ready to go?", she could sense his voice.

Was she done? After all, she had been standing in front of her box for a good twenty minutes, taking a thoughtful look inside. Currently, she had decided on a pair of black pants with matching blazer and a dark blue blouse, but really she was not satisfied with it now. She didn't even want to think about her hair, but with the wound on her head, it was even more difficult to wear a decent hairstyle without everyone seeing the scar immediately.

"You're beautiful no matter how you look.", he spoke softly in her ear before wrapping his arms around her stomach.

She smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes for a moment.

"You're sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, really.", she confirmed to him and separated from the embrace.

Silently she went to her mirror in the bathroom, tugging at her hairstyle, hoping to have covered everything well. Still, she wasn't really satisfied with it, because no matter how well she hid it, she still saw it every day, and it would keep her busy for quite a while.

"Get him.", Gibbs ordered, taking a sip of his coffee.

"You're not coming at all?" asked Tony in surprise.

Silently, Gibbs raised his head, gave his agent significant looks, and actually thought this question was over. Judging by the looks of his agent's face, however, the question remained unanswered.

"I'm busy.", Gibbs replied sullenly and walked around his desk, coffee mug in hand, taking a seat in his chair.

His eyes followed the red-haired director who had just come out of MTAC, in her hand she held a black folder and even before she made her way back to her office, his eyes didn't miss her bracing herself against the railing.

"Do you think she was right to come back to work already?"

Silently, Gibbs watched her. He would also prefer that she continue to take it easy, but Jennifer Shepard could be extremely stubborn. For him, however, it was immediately clear, should she get worse or complain of feeling unwell – he would drive her home immediately.

"What did the doctor say?"

"That she needs plenty of rest, not to overdo herself, and to take the medication to make the edema go down regularly, so she doesnt need surgery."

Both agents stared up at the gallery, but Jenny hadn't noticed either of them – how could she? She was busy trying not to let on too much that her circulation, still not fully regenerated from the long bed rest. She had to get back into a proper daily rhythm before she could fully concentrate on her work again. This was more difficult than expected.

"Tony!", shouted McGee to his partner.

With an unambiguous motion of his head, Gibbs finally gestured for the senior officer to go and arrest their suspect.

As soon as Tony and McGee left the floor in the elevator, Jethro rose from his chair and headed for the stairs, coffee mug in hand, taking two steps at a time to get to the top faster.

"Hey.", he said, stopping beside her, handing her the mug.

"Can you read minds?"

Silently he smiled, leaned against the railing and eyed her thoroughly. From below, it was a little harder to see her eyes; after all, they revealed a lot more than she probably would have liked. Still, Gibbs didn't want to rush things; she should talk to him on her own if she wasn't feeling well.

"Had a meeting?"

She shook her head; "No, but I had a little more peace and quiet here... Was able to concentrate better."

"Don't you think it was all a bit rushed?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine, I can handle it.", she murmured and joined him in walking to her office.

"You know we can leave anytime, you just need to say the word," Leroy reminded her of their conversation this morning.

She nodded, setting her folder on the desk and placing the cup right next to it before changing the topic of conversation.

"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"And that would be?", asked Gibbs curiously, looking at her expectantly.

"Ziva came to see me four weeks ago, after you and I spoke on the phone," she cautiously started this conversation; knowing his opinion towards the young woman. "We were talking about her job at NCIS, to be exact, at..."

"Her job at NCIS?", Gibbs abruptly interrupted her. "What job, at NCIS?"

"Ziva David is assigned to the MCRT."

With narrowed eyes, Gibbs looked at her, unable to believe what he just heard. Why? Had she forgotten everything that had happened? What Ari did to her, and then she wanted Ziva on the team? He couldn't understand that, didn't want to.

"Ziva is a good agent.", she said.

"With the difference that she's not an agent, Jen."

"Then she'll be a good agent, trained by the best. You.", she said sternly, propping her forearms on her desk. "I trust her."

"Need I remind you what happened four weeks ago?", asked Gibbs suspiciously, leaning over the desk, looking deep into her eyes. "What Ari did?"

"Wasn't it Ziva who helped you find me? The one who shot Ari?"

Her memories of the night in question were still very sketchy, only fragments were stored in her mind, but of their conversation at the Washington Medical Center, Jennifer remembered that one pretty well. Gibbs just needed to be convinced himself that Ziva was one of them and not a Mossad spy.

"Why are you just deciding this behind my back? I don't need anyone new on my team, I have two capable agents."

"I didn't realize I needed your permission to make changes in my agency."

Sternly, Jenny looked at him, knowing she was in the right. She didn't even have to inform him, after all, this information only served as a collegial reference. Ziva David was good, and she trusted her with her life, Gibbs would just have to realize that himself.

"Jenny.", he said softly and walked around the desk, turning her chair towards him and propping himself up with his hands on the two armrests. "Please, trust me. Ziva doesn't bring experience as an agent, she's not fit to be a federal agent... She is a Mossad officer, trained to kill and spy."

"Ziva saved my life back in Cairo. She's damn good at what she does, give her a chance."

The redhead looked deep into his eyes, immediately noticing that her words weren't just bouncing off him, and he was really trying to think about it. After all, she understood his mixed feelings when it came to integrating Ziva into the team, of course she also didn't forget that Ari shot Kate, but Ziva couldn't help that either and that was his big hurdle in finding this decision good.

"Do it for me.", Jen whispered hotter, looking at him pleadingly.

It was so hard to trust her, sure, Ziva helped him find Jenny and for that he would be eternally grateful, yet he couldn't forget who had trained her. His gut told him nothing good, but looking into those beautiful green eyes, how could he refuse her anything?

Smiling, Jethro regarded the petite woman before him before slowly leaning down to her, stealing a kiss from her lips.

"I need to see the director."

"Do you have an appointment?", Cynthia asked the young woman in front of her, who only confirmed with a delicate nod. "Name?"

"Ziva David."

Cynthia nodded silently and looked at Director Shepard's schedule in her computer, but the name just mentioned did not appear in her schedule. After searching the list twice and still not finding an entry under that name, Cynthia turned back to the lady in front of her.

"You're not on her schedule.", she said.

"I have an appointment though, maybe she forgot to put it in," the young Israeli said; "Can you look again?"

"I've been through the calendar three times now, Miss David, you're not in it."

"She there?", she repeated her initial question.

"Yes, but I can't let you in now...", Jenny's secretary started to speak, but stopped her sentence when she realized what Ziva was doing; "You can't just go in there!", she called after her.

"Miss David!"

The young woman stood up from her office chair, sighing softly. After all, it was enough when Agent Gibbs did it, but she was used to it from him by now, not from visitors though. With quick steps, she followed her, but did not reach her in time to stop her from going into the Director's office.

"Director Shepard, I'm insanely sorry, she just passed me by...", she tried to explain the situation to her boss and Jennifer reacted differently than Cynthia thought.

"This is my fault, I told her she could come and just forgot to let you know."

"Told you." Ziva addressed Cynthia Sumner.

She merely nodded, closing the office door as she left.

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