Chapter 9

"Is that the last box?" Gibbs asked Jenny as she shoved another brown, cardboard box into the boot of his car.

"Yeah" she nodded, her hands going to her hips, Gibbs couldn't help but think how irresistible she looked in her skinny jeans, white vest top that had ridden up by her carrying boxes from the house to the car.

"You don't have a lot of stuff" Gibbs observed, seeing there was only a couple of boxes of her stuff.

Jenny shrugged her shoulders "I left all the stuff I cared about in D.C, don't have much I want to keep from witness protection" she admitted looking back at the small house she'd lived in for the past year or so.

Gibbs saw where she was looking and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder "You okay?" he asked her, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

The redhead smiled at the softness in the man stood behind her "I'm fine, just happy to leave this place" she admitted, she'd been lonely here, her only company had been Bear, she loved her dog, she did but when she spoke to him, she never really got an answer.

"You're not going to miss it at all?" Gibbs asked, knowing the beautiful nature around it, the fields, the garden, were all beautiful. Home didn't have the same natural beauty.

"Maybe the tranquillity, the nature" Jenny suggested "But we'll be back" she assured him.

"Yeah, it'll be a nice home away from D.C" Gibbs nodded, Jenny had decided that maybe they needed a house away from it all ,to relax, to just be them, so she'd decided to keep it as a holiday home sort of thing.

"Going back to D.C will make my life so much more interesting" Jenny told him as she turned around to face him.

"Really?" Gibbs asked her, he felt bad, she was the one making the big change to be with him, she was making a sacrifice for her safety for him, he wasn't sacrificing much other than sharing his bed, his home with her and her dog.

"Yeah, I mean my life here was pretty boring before you and my dad showed up" she told him, that day she'd opened her front door, she'd felt a mixture of things, worry, confusion but also love and happiness.

Jasper had left three days ago, eager to get home to Susan, to tell his wife of his discovery of his daughter, of how she wanted to meet her step-mother and he wanted nothing more than for the two women he loved to meet and once Jenny was settled back in D.C they would come from Arizona to see them.

"We should get going, I invited the team over" Gibbs reminded her, his team would be waiting for them to return, waiting to see Jenny again.

"Yeah" She nodded, excited to get home, to see her family again. She kissed Gibbs before letting him go and he got in the car.

She then turned to German Shepherd who was sitting on the front porch, basking in the sun, his tongue hanging out of his mouth "Come on Bear" the redhead called to him and the dog came running, she ran a hand through his fur, hoping he would like D.C, he knew he would be spoilt by Abby and get to make a friend with Jethro (Tim's German Shepherd).

Jenny opened the back passenger door and let the dog get into the car before she went to the front passenger seat and slipped in.

Just as Gibbs started the car he leant across the car and grabbed Jenny's hand, entwining their fingers before squeezing her hand, they were together and nothing was going to separate them.

….

Four hours later, they pulled up outside a familiar house, butterflies began to take flight in the depths of Jenny's stomach, she wondered if the team would hate her, she'd caused them all so much pain, so much grief, they'd given her respect and she'd given them nothing in return.

"It'll be fine" Gibbs assured her.

"How can you be sure?" she asked him "They probably hate me, I caused them so much…" she began but Gibbs silenced her by putting his fingers to her lips.

"Gut feeling" he assured her with an ever so charming smile, making her feel better, she could always trust his gut. "Come on" he encouraged her before slipping out of the car.

The redhead took a deep breath before getting out of Gibbs' car and letting Bear out of the back letting him go and sniff around the front garden.

"JENNY!" the redhead spun on her heels to face the front door where a familiar bubbly Goth came running out and tackled the redhead in a tight hug, one which almost blocked the redheads windpipes but she didn't mind.

"I've missed you so much, I mean we all have, especially Gibbs and then your dad show's up, he is so cool, so sweet and so interested in all of us and so obviously proud, oh and before I forget, you're a really snappy dresser and a way better director than Vance I mean you….." Abby rambled on until Gibbs stopped her.

"Abs let her go" He almost chuckled as he started to take Jenny's small number of boxes out of his car.

"Sorry" the Goth almost cringed noting Jenny looked a little out of breath.

"It's okay, I missed you too Abby" Jenny assured her with a bright smile, the butterflies gone, she was no longer worried.

The bubbly women then noticed Bear walking around on the grass, "Hey, who's your friend" Abby gushed going to approach the dog.

"His name's Bear" Jenny told her as she watched Abby stroke the dog and hug him, before Gibbs came up behind the redhead "You want to help me with the boxes?" he asked her

Jenny smiled "I dunno, you seem to be doing a pretty good job" she teased him before pecking him quickly on the lips before letting him pass and go into his house while she went to the car and grabbed the last box before closing the boot of the car.

She then walked into the house, a house that was her home, in the past years it had always felt like home, always made her feel safe but now, as it was full of the man she loved ,the family she loved it made her feel even more at home than ever.

….

Three years later….

Gibbs sat at his desk, watching the director up on the catwalk, waiting for the meeting they were having to end.

His eyes followed them, he was sure they could feel his eyes on them but he didn't care, he couldn't not look at them, he sighed when he saw the director end the meeting, the person he'd been watching made their way down the stairs and then towards him.

"I felt you watching me" Gibbs smiled when his wife of two and half years spoke to him, in such a bossy, Director Tone that he hardly heard anymore.

"Well I have to make sure that Director Vance is treating you with the respect you deserve" Gibbs told her.

They'd gotten married six months after Jenny's return to D.C after Gibbs had been stuck in a shootout and ended up almost bleeding out but managed to get to hospital in time. Both Jenny and Gibbs had realised how short life was and so the first chance they got they went to a registry office and got married with the team and Jasper and Susan, small and simple just how they liked it.

"He always treats me with respect, it's like an unwritten code between the current director and the former one" Jenny told her husband with a smile, she looked around the bullpen, Gibbs' team were on a lunch break so they were alone.

"I still miss you being director" Gibbs told her as she came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest.

"Yeah, you miss getting away with things" she whispered in his ear before kissing him just below the ear. Jenny had been offered her old job back but declined and instead she helped Vance and the rest of NCIS when they had hard cases or needed her expertise, the rest of the time she had another job to do.

Not long after they'd gotten married Jenny had found out she was pregnant, two years ago she'd given birth to a beautiful baby girl and they'd called her Carolyn Anne Gibbs. After both of their mothers. She had dark auburn hair like her mother but bright blue eyes and stubbornness like her father.

"Daddy Mummy" They turned to find Jasper and Susan walking into the bullpen both holding one of Carrie's hands in each other their own.

"Hey Carrie" Gibbs picked up their daughter "Were you good for your grandparents?" He asked her.

"Of course, she's always an angel" Susan assure her sort of Son in-law.

Jenny and Susan had hit it off as soon as they met, meaning Jasper was beyond happy, this week they were visiting from Arizona and had taken Carrie out to see the sights of D.C.

"Hey Gibblet" Tony greeted the mini redhead with a smile as he and the team walked into the bullpen, the redhead jumped from her dead's lap and over to the team were they all bundled around her and all spoiled her.

Jenny leant against Tim's desk and watched it all unfold, she looked around at the agency that was all once hers and looked and what she had now:

Now she had a husband, she looked at Gibbs while he watched Carrie laugh and giggle making him smile.

she had a daughter, Carrie looked over at her mother and smiled, her blue eyes shining bright like her father.

Jenny had her dad back, she noticed Jasper was leaning against Tony's desk, he had a hand around Susan's waist and she leant against, she also found out she had a lovely step-mother.

she also had a huge non-blood related family, she looked at Gibbs' team, all laughing and having fun.

Then there was also the chance of a new arrival, if the nausea and the fact she was late were any indication, she thought as she rested a hand on her flat stomach unconsciously.

"Jen" the redhead turned to find Gibbs had somehow sneaked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, his hands resting on top of hers.

"Mmm" Jenny replied as she leant her head against his shoulder.

"I love you" he whispered into her hear, sending shivers down her spine.

"I love you too" she replied with a smile before turning slightly in his grasp and kissing him lightly on the cheek.

What was hers now was far better that what she'd once had.

….THE END….