A/N - so yes, we're back with the promised Christmas fic. And this time its a Morgan and Ellie collaboration.

Disclaimer: regrettably we don't own them, though frankly they never wrote Jen this well!

Adeste Fideles

Part 1

"You see," Abby said as she wound her arm through Gibbs' and leant into him a little, "I told you it would be fun."

Gibbs wasn't sure that a two-day scientific conference and award ceremony qualified as 'fun' but he didn't tell Abby that – concentrating instead on steering her and their luggage through the busy airport so they could check in and get on the flight back to DC.

He might not have chosen to spend two days like this, but Abby had been in her element and he had enjoyed seeing her receive the award, get the recognition she deserved. And at least this way he knew that she was safe.

It wasn't just that he was over-protective when it came to Abby, though he was; she was due to testify in a high profile case between Christmas and New Year, and a few threats had been made in her regard. He'd left the team to sort it out, and it appeared they had, but he hadn't wanted her to be away from NCIS alone.

He was anxious to get back now though. To find out how much of a mess DiNozzo had made in his absence, and to have Abby safely ensconced in her lab.

She was quiet while they waited in line, which was unusual – she'd been cheerful over the last two days, having energetic conversations about things he couldn't even begin to understand. This was one of her favourite seasons, which had added to her happy mood – though the incessant Christmas music was already driving him crazy and there were still a few days to go until the holiday.

"Have you finished your Christmas shopping Gibbs?" Abby asked.

"No," in truth he hadn't started it yet and from the way she shook her head at him he guessed she knew that. But he wasn't the biggest fan of the holiday season and his plan was to spend it working, as he did most years, so he didn't have to dwell on what he'd lost.

He looked over at her and realised that she looked pale and a little clammy, "Abby – you OK?"

"Just feeling peaky – I think I've got flu. I want to go home Gibbs."

"Won't be long now," he told her gently, rubbing her back.

But it wasn't that simple.

Gibbs reined in his anger with some difficulty, not pleased to learn that the flight was overbooked and that there was only one seat available. The airline staff were not being all that helpful, offering only to put one of them on the next flight – which wasn't for four hours. There was no way he was putting Abby on the flight without him and he didn't want both of them to have to wait four hours.

"This isn't good enough," he said firmly, "we're federal agents and we need to get back to DC."

If it had been DiNozzo he would have pulled out the hand cuffs and claimed he was a travelling with a dangerous prisoner. But he wasn't going to do that with Abby, especially now that he was worried about her.

So, he stood his ground, intimidating the airline staff with his stare – though that didn't help produce a seat. He was vaguely aware of a stir around him, of people turning to look at something. But he didn't pay any attention, firmly stating his case, making it clear that they needed to get back to DC and that he expected the airline to find the seats they had booked.

During the stand off a young woman stepped up to the counter, Gibbs took in her suit and hoped that she was some kind of manager – but her words made it clear that she wasn't.

"The Senator would like to know if there is a problem?" The airline official's eyes had gone wide. She stammered out a response, explaining that the flight had been overbooked – that there weren't enough seats for these passengers. Gibbs took the opportunity to look in the direction of the commotion.

"Is that who I think it is?" Abby asked, craning her neck to see.

"Depends who you think it is," he replied.

"Gibbs! You have to know who it is – she's been all over the news for weeks." ZNN was on in the bull pen all the time, the election had been impossible to ignore and during it the woman standing ten feet from them had been catapulted to national attention.

The Junior Senator from Maryland, who'd entered the Senate within months of the President Elect and robbed him of the title as youngest Senator, had been touted as a possible candidate for Vice President. She'd lost out on that – though her speech at the convention had been brilliant, or so everyone said.

But the friendship that had formed between two young freshmen Senators had endured and, if you believed the press, Jennifer Shepard was just about to be offered a very senior role in the new administration. If you wanted to you could read acres of newsprint about her character – her strengths and flaws. Gibbs really hadn't been paying attention, but the coverage was impossible to ignore.

Which did nothing to stop Gibbs from believing that her entourage was the reason there were no seats available on the flight.

Jennifer Shepard's instincts had served her well over the years, though the more people who surrounded her the more difficult it became to exercise them.

The airline staff had fawned over her, allowing her to add to the team travelling with her because she suddenly needed an extra detail. She wasn't going to pretend not to understand what that meant. But as she waited to board the flight she became aware of the commotion at the check in counter and those instincts kicked in.

The extra seats she'd obtained seemed to be preventing someone else from flying – which wasn't what she'd intended. It had the potential to be a PR problem and when her aide returned with the news that the man who couldn't get on the flight was a Federal Agent she knew that wasn't a story she wanted reported.

She was about to dispatch her aide to deal with the situation when she turned and, just for a moment came face to face with the man whose seat she had apparently stolen. Their eyes met for a split second and though she wasn't a fanciful woman she could have sworn there was a surge of electricity at the connection.

Her detail moved and the contact was lost, but she felt as though she had been sent reeling by what had just happened. She told herself sternly that he wasn't that good looking and, even if he had been, she was too old to be knocked for six by a pair of striking blue eyes.

But she didn't send her aide to deal with it.

"Stay, Melvin" she said as the most senior member of the detail made to overtake her as she made her way to the counter.

"Ma'am?"

"You heard me" she said. "I don't want to draw more attention to myself than is strictly necessary."

The man nodded and stepped back, but she knew he wasn't quite happy about it. Briefly she wondered how much more of this she could take. Sometimes the thought of how much security around her would tighten if she accepted the new position was enough to make her consider refusing it. She looked around her as she made her way to the counter. People huddled together. Students, grandparents, young families. All going somewhere where they were cherished for the holidays. She saw people stare and admire her and as she smiled back at them she was engulfed by emptiness. She was sure they had no idea that she would trade her lifestyle for just a sliver of what they had in a heartbeat. But it didn't bear thinking about. She had a job to do and it was worth the personal sacrifice. Had to be worth it.

"Excuse me" she said as she reached the counter.

The young raven-haired woman practically jumped out of her skin when she saw her, and the Senator smiled warmly at her even as she gently displaced her.

"I'd like to speak to the person in charge" she said to the wide-eyed woman who had been dealing with Gibbs.

"Y-yes Senator" the woman stuttered, picking up the phone.

Jen looked up at Abby and Gibbs and nodded at them while they waited. They didn't have to wait long.

"Senator Shepard ..." A man hurried forward. "Is there a problem?"

Jenny looked at him for a long moment.

"Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" she asked at length.

"Of course, Senator. This way. I trust that all the - "

Gibbs watched them walk away. He was momentarily distracted by the way her coat undulated as she moved; but she turned her head – checking on the whereabouts of her detail he assumed – and their eyes crossed for a moment. The contact took him by surprise. The first time their eyes had crossed a few minutes earlier he thought he'd been imagining things. But there was no mistaking it this time. The intense green struck a chord.

"Gibbs ..." Abby whined, "I wanna go home."

He turned back to the counter clerk, but she was ready for him.

"Please take a seat and wait, Agent Gibbs," she said before he as much as uttered a word. "You're first on the waiting list. As soon as something becomes available I'll call you. If no seats free up we might be able to ask if anyone will give up their seat and take the next flight. I'll have to double-check with my supervisor."

Gibbs was about to reply when Abby tugged at his sleeve.

"Lets just wait" she said.

And the way she said it had him pulling her into his side and leading her to the nearest seat.

"I feel like crap. But you don't need to tell me that."She looked at him a fraction of a second later."Do I look like crap?"

Gibbs smiled indulgently and was about to answer when the Senator walked past them and he was momentarily distracted again.

Abby slumped against him.

"Okay, so I feel worse than crap" she admitted. "I feel like a runny dog poop that got left out in the sun on a paper plate."

Gibbs closed his eyes against the image. When he opened them the woman from the counter was standing in front of them with a wide smile on her face.

"We found you a seat Miss Sciuto" she said as she handed them both boarding passes. "Boarding starts in about twenty minutes."

Abby let out a sigh of relief and slumped against Gibbs again.

"How're you feeling?" he asked, rubbing her back.

"Better, now that I know we're going home" she admitted. "What seat number have you got?"

Gibbs looked at his pass and told her.

"We're not sitting together?" she said, bemused.

Gibbs looked over at her pass and then his eyes cut to the counter again.

"The hell we're not" he said, as he got to his feet.

Halfway back to the counter he stopped and turned back round to Abby.

"Let me see that" he said, holding his hand out for her boarding pass.

She handed it over.

"You're in business class" he said, a little theory forming in the back of his head.

"Really?" Abby's face lit up. "I've never flown in Business Class. My uncle Ed has, though. Actually he flew in First Class. He raises turkeys. One time he raised the Thanksgiving turkey that got the pardon from the President. Did you know that that turkey gets to fly first class to Southern California to be the Grand Marshall in a parade?"

She looked up to find that Gibbs was no longer standing in front of her. A quick scan of the area told her that he was heading for the Senator.

"Can I help you?"

Gibbs looked at the man who had stepped into his path.

"Just want to have a word with the Senator." he replied.

"That's impossible."

Gibbs' eyes narrowed.

"When can I talk with her?"

"That's hard for me to say, Agent ... Gibbs" Melvin said as he peered at the badge Gibbs was flashing in his direction. "As you can see the Senator's busy" Melvin replied, moving to block her from Gibbs' view when he showed no signs of backing off.

Gibbs looked round him. The Senator was looking through papers, seemingly oblivious to everything else around her.

"Interrupt her."

It wasn't a request, and Melvin drew himself to his full height as soon as he picked up on the undercurrent.

They stood there until a female voice broke up the face off.

"It's alright Melvin. I'm sure Agent Gibbs isn't planning on shooting me."

They looked over to find her peering at them over the rim of her glasses.

"Or is he?"

She motioned for Gibbs to join her as she gave the documents to her aide.

"What can I do for you?" she asked as he towered over her. "Not staying long enough to sit down?"

There was something in her tone that Gibbs wasn't quite used to hearing. Amusement.

He thrust Abby's boarding pass at her.

"Unacceptable" he said.

Jen took the pass and turned it over in her hand.

"And why's that?"

She placed the pass on her lap, crossed her hands over it, and waited. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Abby hovering anxiously a few feet shy of Melvin.

"Need to know."

"The ticket's already paid for Agent Gibbs." she said slowly.

"Using taxpayer's money to cover something up isn't something I think you want to brandish right now."

Jen's smile faded for a moment.

"I didn't use taxpayer's money" she said softly.

"Hah! You want me to believe you paid for this yourself ..?"

He sensed her hesitation and went for the jugular.

"So it has nothing to do with the fact that this wouldn't look too good in the press .."

Jen lowered her head for a moment and folded her glasses.

"It has a lot to do with it" she said carefully. "But Miss Sciuto got bumped off because of me, and it was the right thing to do. Besides that, it's Christmas. Consider it a gesture of ... good will."

Gibbs snorted, but her next words brought him up short.

"I would say what's important is getting her home. I don't know if you've noticed, but she doesn't look very good."

That threw him for a loop, because he wasn't sure when she'd had the chance to notice. She'd been pretty much on the phone all the time or with her head buried in papers since she'd arrived.

He was about to answer when her aide stepped up.

"Phone call for you, Senator" she said, handing over a cell phone.

"Who is it?" Jen asked, placing her hand lightly on Gibbs' jacket and motioning for him to wait.

"Senator Modine."

Jen drew in a breath and took the phone.

"Jeremiah .." she said, very conscious of the fact that the man in front of her was watching her intently. "Yes, we're boarding in a few minutes. Yes, we're still on for dinner. I'd rather meet you inside the restaurant, if you don't mind. See you in a few hours? Bye."

She closed the phone and returned it to her assistant before turning her attention back to Gibbs. It didn't escape her that he looked away as she did so. She held up the pass again.

"This isn't really what's bothering you, is it?" she asked gently. "It's not the fact that she's in Business Class per se."

Gibbs didn't answer.

"You're never more that a few feet away from her. So .. you're either guarding her, or you're making sure nothing happens to her. Is she a felon?"

Gibbs raised his eyebrows at her.

"I need to know who I'm ... consorting with" she said with a smile. "I can't afford any surprises."

Something about the way she said it, or perhaps the fact that she'd picked up on what was really bothering him, made Gibbs' annoyance come down a notch.

"She's not a felon" he said with a small smile.

"Good" the Senator said as she got to her feet. "Then my detail will watch out for her as they watch out for me."

She signalled her aide over and handed her the boarding pass.

"Get this changed. I want Miss Sciuto in the seat next to mine."

She looked at Gibbs for approval, and was rewarded with a tight nod.

"Perhaps you'd better introduce me" she said as she stepped a lot closer to him than he was expecting.

TBC