Epilogue

"Boss?" DiNozzo called, carefully lifting their victim's jacket.

Gibbs looked up. In his thoughts he'd been in his basement again, reliving the night two weeks ago when she had walked out on him for a third time, even after he'd broken one of his rules for her and apologized.

"Boss?" He forced himself to focus on what DiNozzo was saying.

Taped to the inner part of their victim's jacket were several small bags filled with a white powder. "I don't think this is baking powder," his second in command joked as the elderly special agent knelt down next to him.

"Tag and bag and bring it straight down to Abby when we get back to the Yard, I want to know where this comes from," he ordered gruffly just as McGee called out to draw their attention.

"What have you got, McGee?" he asked.

"Fake ID, boss, but professionally made. He's either a very elaborate drug dealer or a mole someone sent undercover to look into the ring."

"He's got a SIG, but the serial number is scratched off so it could be either way," DiNozzo reported as Ziva snorted quietly behind him.

"He looks like a very ordinary drug dealer but he's just a tad too ordinary in my opinion. I'd say he's a mole and got discovered, that's why he's got that hole circle in his forehead," she explained.

"Square, Ziva, he's got a hole square in his forehead."

"Same difference," she said a little petulantly, "he's been sent undercover."

Gibbs swore lowly under his breath, looking at Ziva and DiNozzo. "Whatever, this means we've got a joint investigation and I've got no desire to work with either sister agency at present."

They didn't have to wait long once they were back in the squad room until the doors to the elevator opened and a familiar redhead, followed by six men in black, stepped out.

"Shalom, Jenny," Ziva greeted as she got up and kissed her friend on the cheek.

"Shalom, Ziva," their former director replied before she turned to the other three agents in the bull pen. "Special Agents Gibbs, McGee, DiNozzo, these are CIA Agents Owens and Miller," she introduced two of the men as the other four – her security detail – stepped away to the windows.

"Agents Owens and Miller were working with your victim – Agent Bayer – he was our man on the inside of a Columbian drug and smuggling ring," Jenny explained, careful not to make eye contact with Gibbs.

"Your man on the inside on domestic soil? Aren't you overstepping boundaries here, Assistant Director?" her ex-lover asked sarcastically.

"No, Agent Gibbs," she replied promptly, "as Agent Bayer was in Columbia until yesterday when he contacted us to report that he had been tasked with bringing about five kilo of cocaine into the states as a prove of his loyalty. We had clearance for this operation from someone way up the food chain, close to the president. However, before he could report back to us at Langley, we lost contact, obviously that must've been when he was murdered." She stopped briefly, clearing her throat. "You can see that the case should belong to us, Special Agent Gibbs, so I would ask you to hand over all documents you have concerning your latest case."

"Well, what about the fact that he was found with a Navy ID?" Gibbs asked, unwilling to just concede this victory to her.

"That was merely his undercover identity, we needed an explanation why he would be in Columbia at that time and the USS Lynden B. Johnson happened to be near the Columbian coast at the relevant times," she gave back, enjoying her small triumph, a smile playing on her lips.

"DiNozzo," he called, mentioning for his loyal St. Bernard to come over. The half Italian jumped up from his chair, crouching down next to his boss.

"DiNozzo, tell Abby to hand our evidence over to Assistant Director Shepard's agents. As for the Assistant Director, bring her down to the holding cells on the second floor."

"To – ah – lock her up, boss?" he asked, his voice doubtful.

"What do you think you should do with her down there?" Gibbs asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Kinky," was all DiNozzo answered, a grin spreading over his face.

"What the hell are we doing here, DiNozzo?" she asked sharply.

"What do you mean, Ma'am?" he asked back, trying to keep his nerves down as he thought about what he was about to do.

"You might not be aware of this, Special Agent DiNozzo," Jenny replied with a slight edge to her voice, "but I started working in this building years before you even set foot into it for the first time. I know that there is nothing on this floor but a few holding cells that aren't used for official purposes anymore so I would like to know why you are leading me down here."

"Gibbs wanted me to show you something, Director – ah Assistant Director," he corrected himself, throwing open the door to one of the cells and mentioning for her to go in before him.

The redhead looked surprised but went in anyways, squinting hard at the wall in front of her, trying to discern why she'd been led down there as she heard the door of the cell click into its lock.

"DiNozzo?" she asked angrily. "What is the meaning of this?" Jenny turned around and stormed back to the exit of the cell, furiously shaking the bars. "Let me out of here!"

He looked apologetically. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I'm only following orders."

"This is an order, Agent DiNozzo, let me out of here, now!" she responded, a hint of desperation crawling into her voice as she continued to try to open the door. "I might not be the director of NCIS anymore but I've still got the power to fire you faster than you can blink," she threatened him.

"You won't get any service for your phone down here so I'm not too worried at the moment," he answered more cockily than he felt.

"DiNozzo!" she yelled angrily, her face becoming almost as red as her hair as Gibbs suddenly showed up behind his agent.

"DiNozzo," he ordered, "get out of here."

The half-Italian didn't wait for his boss to reconsider and fled down the corridor.

"Jethro, what do you want?"

He grinned but didn't answer her as he pulled a key out of his pocket and came closer to her cell. "I think I should let you stew in there for a little while longer, you still seem pretty aggressive to me."

Jenny opened her mouth but closed it again right away, swallowing her angry reply. "Let me out of here, now," she commanded between gritted teeth.

Gibbs shrugged his shoulder, silently assessing her for a minute more before he came another step closer to her.

"And if I do that?" he asked.

"I might refrain from suing you and this entire agency," she answered icily.

"That's not a good enough argument," he said as if seriously negotiating about setting her free.

She sighed, silently hating herself for giving in. "What do you want then?" the redhead asked.

He was quiet for a moment, contemplating how forward he should be. "A kiss for a start."

She snorted, her eyes narrowing threateningly. "If you don't let me out of here soon, I might castrate you as soon as I get a hold of a knife."

"I might just leave you in here then," Gibbs replied teasingly.

She looked at him, her eyes narrowing even further. "Okay, you'll get your kiss. But first I want to know what you did this for."

He nodded, coming closer and sticking his key in the lock. "You told me you would break me out of prison," he said. "That that is how much you still love me."

Jenny nodded almost dumbly, her eyes closing for a second before going comically wide, as if she could scarcely believe where she thought this was going.

"Well, I've come to break you out of prison because as it turns out, that's how much I still love you, too."

He turned the key in its lock, swinging open the door. The redhead was still staring at him as if she hadn't comprehended yet what he'd said.

"I love you, Jen," he repeated and watched as a smile spread over her face, a smile he hadn't seen for almost six and a half years that promised him everything they'd had in Paris, Serbia, and Prague.

"I love you, too," she murmured. She lay her lips upon his, promising him a better ending to their love story the second time around, an ending for which they'd always break each other out.

- THE END -

Thank you to everybody who stuck with this story! I hope you liked the ending and it wasn't too sudden :)

Please leave a final review, they mean a lot to me!

Also, this was totally inspired by a Castle episode (I think this much is obvious by now) so I just wanted to mention this at the end as to not be accused of plagiarizing.