Chapter Fifteen

Over the next few weeks Jenny continued to build back her relationships with her coworkers. It was a long and bumpy road but she had made some progress, albeit little. However, there was one agent she hadn't been able to do anything about and his name was Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

She'd been getting treatment and it was definitely helping. So, though she knew she'd never live the long life she'd dreamed of, she was thankful for what she had now. The amazing people she worked with that had slowly wormed their way into her heart. She thought it amazing that just a few years ago these wonderful people were strangers to her. And just a little while ago they'd been strangers again. Because she'd shut them out and pushed them away in fear. But now, she was back to being Jenny. Not Director Jenny, not the cold, unfeeling Jenny but the probie, the coworker, she was simply Jenny. And they'd started to realize that. Ziva was the first to melt. After they spent a whole night watching Christmas movies and Jenny had opened up to the Israeli for the first time in a long time, Ziva realized what Jenny had been trying to tell her. Slowly, Tim and Tony had warmed up to her and Abby had all but outright said she wasn't mad at the red head anymore. She knew that was a good sign. But Gibbs…

It was the end of the day and, surprisingly, she'd finished all of her work so she didn't have to take any home with her. Gibbs hadn't spoken to her since that day in her office. She wondered what he was thinking about.

In all honesty, Gibbs was completely and utterly pissed at Jenny. However, it was because he was scared. And because Gibbs wasn't good with words or emotions for that matter, his concern and fear and worry came out as anger. He wondered why she didn't trust him enough to let him in. He could have helped her through it. Instead, Jenny, being the most stubborn woman he knew, decided to face it alone. Then, alone in his basement with a bottle of bourbon he wondered why he hadn't reached out to her. He'd known that something was wrong but he hadn't done anything about it. So instead of doing something to fix his predicament he was down in his basement wallowing in his own self-pity and anger. That was until he heard his front door close softly. Setting down his bourbon he listened and heard the soft click of heels on his floor. Mentally preparing himself he took a deep breath and waited.

She walked down the stairs cautiously. She didn't want him getting mad at her again. Maybe if he just saw it from her point of view…

He looked up at her as she made her way down his stairs. She wasn't looking at him. He poured her a drink. She shook her head as she walked up to him. "Can't have any alcohol remember?" He set the glass down embarrassedly and watched as she sat down on his couch. She was in her work clothes. Hesitantly he started sanding his boat again and watched as she unclipped her hair and ran her fingers through it. Neither said anything for a long time. "I know you're mad at me." She admitted and she cut him off before he could say anything. "And I think I know why. So I just came over to try and tell you things from my point of view." He sighed and cut her off before she could start.

"Jen, you've been trying to tell me what you think for weeks now and I just haven't been listening. And that's my fault. I've been a bastard to you even after you explained and apologized when you didn't need to." He paused and got up to sit next to her. "So I want to apologize to you." She frowned and hesitantly watched him as he continued. "Because I knew that there was something else going on when you started to push us all away but I didn't do anything about it and I was a bastard too." He said, setting down his sander and she just stared at him. She honestly didn't know what to say. Something inside of her clicked and she felt like this was the beginning of something new. She felt like now that that was out there things could be different between them.

"You never apologize." She commented, stunned. He smirked and took his hand in hers, stroking his thumb across the top of her hand reassuringly.

"Only for you—because I always seem to be an ass around you." She chuckled softly and rests their foreheads together. She closes her eyes and smiles contently.

"I'm so sorry, Jethro." She said softly and he was about to protest, telling her she had nothing to be sorry about, but she did. "I was an ass too and don't tell me otherwise. I was acting out of fear. And I'm just going to tell you now that that is exactly why I never let myself be scared." She said with a dry chuckle and he furrowed his brow. "I overreact. It's a painful fact. And I'm working on it. And I completely understand if you want to be furious at me—for a long time. But you have to believe me on this: I did it out of love—completely and utterly stupid—but out of love none the less."

He felt his breath hitch in his throat as she kept their foreheads together. "I love Abby and Ziva and Ducky and Tim—hell even Tony. They're like family. But listen here Leroy Jethro Gibbs." A small smile graced her lips as she cupped his face in her hands. "I love none of them as much as I do you." She whispered gripping him a little tighter. And despite how angry he'd been he leaned forward and closed the distance between them, letting their lips meet. He kissed her softly and lightly, to let her know that she was forgiven. And she seemed to understand.

He was mad at her but he'd forgiven her. He was mad that she hadn't told him and mad that she didn't let him help her but somehow he found it in him to forgive her. She was a strange woman. She was fickle and stubborn and insane and didn't know how to let go but she always did things for the right reasons. And when she didn't, she—eventually—figured out the right thing to do. And this was it. He smiled against her lips and she pulled away, tears running down her cheeks. "I shouldn't be getting so emotional." She commented, quickly wiping away the two lone tears that had spilled over. He knew it was her form of another apology and kissed her forehead.

"I love you Jenny. And I think if you give the team some time, they will again too."

. . .

EPILOGUE

She didn't receive sympathy for the sake of sympathy. She worked for it. And she eventually won back everyone's trust and respect. Ziva caved first and Abby caved last, not that it really surprised her. She didn't use any puppy dog eyes or made herself seemed too weak or vulnerable. She said what was true and over long weeks and months assured them that she wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon.

She continued to get regular treatment and it seemed to be helping and successfully keeping her symptoms at bay. And however good and nice and dandy her life seemed again the reality was that she was living with a potentially life threatening disease that—without proper treatment—could cause a real problem. And sometimes it scared her half to death. Sometimes it scared Gibbs half to death. They were just beginning to become—something—again and were both scared yet excited at what the future might bring. She occasionally had an episode where she would pass out or get way too dehydrated, maybe a bad nose bleed, but she was thriving.

She took advantage of the life she'd been given and took more time off of work and used up all the vacation days she'd accumulated over the years to take a trip around the world—mainly Asia since she'd already seen far too much of Europe in the 90's with a certain NCIS agent. She'd managed to drag Jethro along with her for the majority of the trip and even took a few days to invite the team to share a weekend together in Tibet with her.

She was still sick, she knew that. But she was enjoying the extra years her treatment was adding to her life. And she was glad she had Jethro there by her side to keep her from doing anything too rash. She was thankful for that—for him, for her life.

a/n: Though it may have been a little abrupt I liked the ending. And I just wanted to say that I'm really happy that a lot of people liked this story and thank you all for reviewing and following and adding this story onto your favorites. It means a lot.

Finally, I know this story was strange and slightly out of character so I appreciate you all sticking with it. I'm a fairly new writer so as a story I'd say this was a fair success haha ;). Happy reading.