So I can only apologise that I haven't updated this in what feels like forever. Thank you very much for all the reviews/follows/favourites however as this and my friend's encouragement has given me a great incentive to get this finished. Hope you enjoy. x

A Week Later

"Jethro, are you home?" Jenny asked as she began to descended the stairs into his basement.

A grunt was her only answer as she found Gibbs underneath his boat, both hands busy sanding the inside of this latest project.

"You know, it'd be nice to spend a night here that doesn't result in me ending up covered in woodchips."

"You don't have to come down here."

"Jethro, you don't even have a television set upstairs."

"Neither I do."

"Jethro..."

With a sigh Gibbs finally came out from under the boat, placing the sanding blocks on the ground beside him.

"Jen, what else are you wanting to do? I've made several suggestions-"

"All of which are on the doctor's no-go list for another fortnight. You know as well as I do Jethro that we'd both rather be in bed right now but that's just not going to happen right now."

The slightly insecure tone in Jenny's voice reminded Gibbs of what had happened and he immediately felt like an ass.

"I'm sorry Jen, I don't mean to be pushy..."

"I know you don't Jethro," Jenny moved towards her boyfriend, a label that felt bizarre for both, and sat on the ground in front of him, "and I would much prefer to spend our time like that as well but we'll be able to do all of that soon enough I'm sure. Then you'll be wanting time away from me."

"Never." The sincerity almost made Jen want to cry.

"Thank you Jethro. That means a lot." Gibbs reached forward and softly lifted Jen's chin, seeing tears about to fall from her lids.

"Let it go Jen." Jen shook her head, smiling softly.

Gibbs was worried about Jenny. Gibbs knew that the façade was back in place but he still couldn't tell how much damage had been done by her time held captive. They spent almost all the time he wasn't in work together, the only time she wasn't at his home was when she went back to the Georgetown townhouse to sleep. Gibbs had repeatedly offered a bed in his house but, other than that one night, Jenny continued to reject the option, muttering something about being unable to resist temptation. He didn't know if that was aimed at him or her.

When Gibbs did not respond, Jenny merely shook her head in amusement before moving over to his decanter and pouring some bourbon into an empty mason jar. Seeing that Gibbs already had a glass on the side, Jenny moved to sit on the new beanbag she had acquired for Gibbs' basement when she needed somewhere comfortable to relax.

When Gibbs finally put his sanding blocks down a few hours later, he felt his heart flutter a little as he saw Jenny had fallen asleep on her oversized beanbag, the glass of bourbon in front of her empty as the light from the television flickered over her features. Instead of waking her, Gibbs refilled his glass before sitting on his stool, his gaze switching between the TV set and his sleeping charge. He was glad to see that she had finally relaxed, her body lying limp in the cushion. As much as she was loathe to show her emotions outwardly, her body had told Gibbs all he needed to know. She was constantly held tense, as though anticipating an attack, her skin was pale, showing she had seen little sunlight in the past few weeks and the skin under her eyes was slightly purple, showing her lack of sleep. Gibbs had tried everything he could to get her to relax but the only time he had seen her looking anything like her old self was when she was in the training room at NCIS headquarters with Ziva. The women had begun to once again train together, and Ziva was more than happy to help her friend, knowing from personal experience that Jenny felt an urge to make sure her personal defences were the best she could possibly be at that point. The pair trained together until both were lying on the mats breathless four days a week when Ziva was not busy with casework, something which Gibbs was trying to ensure, knowing how much the sessions were helping Jenny.

Their fights had also garnered quite a notoriety in the gym, and they often had an audience as they trained together. Many of the agents at NCIS were ecstatic to discover that their former Director was in fact still alive and kicking, quite literally. More often than not there were always several agents around to witness the bouts between the two women. Indeed, that week Ziva had posited the idea that Jenny should try and adapt her training to fight against others within the agency that she trusted, and the previous day Jenny had fought against two of the younger agents from the JAG department, a male and a female, and had most definitely won.

Gibbs was disturbed from his musings however by movement from Jenny. her face had suddenly contorted into a frown and she seemed to be finding it difficult to breathe. As Gibbs stood and placed his glad on the worktable, she began to thrash around and the cries that began to fall from her lips broke Gibbs' heart.

"No! Please! JETHRO!"

Gibbs hurried to Jenny's side, finally resolving to wake her up.

"Jen, come on, it's just a nightmare, you're safe. Wake up."

But Jen didn't respond, instead seemingly to fall further into the hellish dream that she was surrounded by and she fought against invisible attackers.

Knowing the only way to wake Jen, Gibbs' grimaced before drawing his hand back and smacking Jenny around the back of the head. Jenny's eyes shot open and she sat upright, her hand moving to cradle the back of her head and tears suddenly bursting from her eyes as she tried to get her breathing under control.

"Jen, it's OK, you're OK now." Gibbs' soft voice finally caught Jenny's attention and she turned to look at him, her breath coming in soft sobs.

"J...Jethro. I'm sorry."

"Why? Jen, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"I'm supposed to be OK, I'm supposed to be strong, I'm not supposed to cry."

"That's bullshit Jen and you know it. You're allowed to be upset; you were raped for fuck's sake."

"But I'm here. I'm not permanently injured, I'm not still out there. I have my friends and family; I should be grateful."

"Grateful for these things yes. But that doesn't stop you from being hurt. That doesn't stop you from being a vict-"

"Don't. I'm not a victim."

"Not this again. Jen, you are."

"I'M NOT! I will not be branded a victim!"

"Why not Jen? What's so wrong with it? How is it different from being a victim of robbery or assault?"

"IT JUST IS!"

Gibbs realised that the pairs' voices had begun to rise in argument, and they were almost shouting at each other.

Trying to calm the volatile situation down, Gibbs shuffled closer to Jenny, trying to pull her into his lap but she refused to budge, the tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"How often are you having these nightmares?" he asked, blunt and to the point, knowing it was the only way to get Jenny to respond.

"This is the first."

"Liar."

Jethro knew all of Jenny's tells and she had set off every single one with her answer. It upset Gibbs that she wasn't willing to let him help her.

"I'm not lying."

"Jen, there's no way in hell that you have not had a nightmare before now. Is that why you refuse to stay over? Because you've been waking at night."

Suddenly all of Jenny's actions began to make sense to Gibbs. He realised then that she was hiding her suffering from him and everyone else.

"Jethro, nothing is happening. I was sleeping in a different place and it must've set me off."

"Jen, why won't you let me help?" pleaded Gibbs.

"I don't need help! I don't have any problems! I just want to get on with my life and forget this bullshit ever happened! I WANT TO BE ABLE TO LIVE MY LIFE WITHOUT NIGHTMARES AND WATCHING MY BACK CONSTANTLY AND BEING SCARED SHITLESS EVERY TIME SOMEONE OPENS A GODDAMNED DOOR!"

Gibbs listened as Jenny began to scream, hurting that she hadn't shared any of this with him before but glad that she was finally able to just let it all go and let out the pent-up emotion that had been bubbling beneath the surface for weeks.

"I'm fine Jethro I promise you."

"Jen, I've never seen you look this tense before, not even when you were Director. This isn't good for you. You need to relax."

"Says the one who has the record for overtime in NCIS."

"I'm driven in certain cases yes but this isn't being driven. This is being pig-headed and not getting help when you clearly need it!"

"I don't need help, I'm fine!"

"Anyone who's dealt with you in the past month would say otherwise. You've been irritable, tired, nervous, twitchy, judgemental. We all know why but it would make people understand you better if you weren't to present this bloody martyr facade all the time!"

"Oh so I'm a martyr now? Nice to know what you think of me! That I clearly need a cause to crucify myself for or I have no point in living."

"With the way you're being all defensive right now, I'd say yeah. You're certainly not trying to heal from this and move on. You seem to want to stay stuck in this cycle of nightmares and limited communication, with the occasional burst of violence."

A hand cracked across Gibbs' face as Jenny finally lost her temper at him.

"You know what, fuck you Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I thought you were the man for me. I thought you wanted us to be together as much as I did but I can see that you just miss your old sparring partner and bed warmer. Well guess what, I'm not her anymore, and I doubt I ever will be again. I have baggage, and plenty of it, and if you're not willing to deal with it, then I'm not willing to deal with you."

Jenny stood up and hastily grabbed her shoes and handbag which lay on the floor beside her, before turning and marching up the staircase. Gibbs simply let her walk out of the basement and listened as the front door slammed, only then letting out a defeated sigh. He knew he'd pushed her too far and they'd taken a step backwards. He could only hope that by letting her calm down a little and going to see her in a couple of days he was doing the right thing.

He didn't know however that Jenny was still sat in her car outside, the tears pouring down hr face as she tried to work out how to fix the mess that was her life and, more importantly, herself. She was distraught that Gibbs had just let her walk out of the house and leave, she was angry with him for bringing up such memories, she was frustrated with herself that she couldn't shake her nightmares, and she was terrified that she was going to lose everything, again. Finally starting the engine, Jenny drove home, feeling for the entire ride like she'd left a little bit of herself behind, but too proud to go back. When she finally let herself into her old family Brownstone, she hid herself away in her study, pouring herself a generous measure of bourbon, unaware that the cause of her heartache was doing the exact same thing exactly where she'd left him.