It's just one more day,

[agent_littlered]

Characters: Jenny Shepard- agent_littlered  and open
Location: Deck 05
Date: First day?
Rating: PG-13 She uses language... Foul language...

Comments

[agent_littlered]

She raised her eyebrows, stepping away from him slightly and looking up at him, slightly confused. He looked different from the last time she'd seen him... "The what? The Elegante?" her brow furrowed slightly. "And yeah- I can't believe I'm alive either." She was really rather confused... She shook her head and heaved a sigh. The one time she could have really used a cigarette and her lighter wouldn't work. "I don't suppose you have matches on you." She grunted, looking up at him when she noticed he was inspecting her closely- much like he had years ago- in Paris- or when she'd first become the director. It was endearing, but she was still upset at him for saying no that night. She supposed she had it coming, but that was too bad. "Jethro- What's with you?" She asked, crossing her arms hesitantly and tilting her head in curiosity.

[lrjthrgibbs]

He frowned, looking at her in confusion. Matches? He had checked his pockets repeatedly and knew he had no matches. "No matches." He was surprised that she still wanted to have a cigarette when she had been dead for two years. He reached up slowly to touch her cheek, since the skeptical part of his brain was convinced she was an illusion. He wasn't used to having second chances. No matter how badly he may have wanted them in the past. She was here now, though. "I regret saying no to you two years ago." He was still kind of hurting from her rejection in Paris. It was his way of getting revenge on her for leaving, and it had been selfish and petty.

[agent_littlered]

"What are you talking about? Two years ago?" She frowned, "I said no to you two years ago." She corrected, "You only said no to me- a few months ago." At least, according to her calendar. She moved her face slightly away from his warm hand, wishing she could just lean into him. But no, she couldn't do that- not yet. How was she sure he wasn't just a hallucination from the cancer she'd had? She folded her arms, tilting her head at him again. "Please, explain yourself, Agent Gibbs, you're giving me a headache."

[lrjthrgibbs]

"Jen, you died in 2008. It's 2010." What she was saying oddly made sense. If she had died and come here somehow right after dying, the diner would be the last thing she remembered. "Leon's in charge, he sent Tim, Ziva, and Tony away. Got 'em back, but it was a hell of a fight." He leaned against the wall and sighed. "Ziva went back to Mossad, got captured by a terrorist cell. She nearly died." He watched her reaction and wished that he had died with her, that Svetlana had put a bullet in his head.

[agent_littlered]

Her eyes widened slightly, and she nodded as she listened to him speak. She was intent on his words, nearly gasping at the mention of Ziva nearly dying. She felt a pang of guilt. She missed her old friend. But surely it hadn't been two years. There was no way. "No, it hasn't been two years... God, it's barely been a few hours..." She lowered her gaze to the floor, then looked up to the ceiling. "Hasn't it?" She asked, shifting slightly as her anxiety spiked again. She looked back at the door to the room she'd woken up in, "I.. I need to sit. Please- Come with me. I need to hear more." She said quietly, "There's no way it's been so long.." She turned and grabbed the door handle, looking over her shoulder. "If you walk away from me this time, it'll be the last time." She pushed the door open and stepped inside, holding it for him.

[lrjthrgibbs]

He shook his head. "The last thing you remember was being in that diner in LA, right? I saw that crime scene. Investigated your death. It damn near broke me." He had never been more honest with her. She deserved that much, at least. "I'm not walking away this time." Here, they weren't Director and Agent, or team mates. They were just two people who happened to know each other. He followed her into her room and sat down on the bed. "What else do you want to know?"

[agent_littlered]

She closed the door, taking the little communicator- phone- thing- on the bed side table. She let out a slow breath, clearing her phone, cigarettes and lighter off of the bed and setting them on the bed side table as well. She sat down, a foot away at best and watched him intently, "What do I want to know? Jethro, what happened? To me? To you- To Mike- Everything." She cringed visibly when he said the case had nearly broken him and the way he spoke made her drop her gaze. She never knew she could feel so ashamed of dying. If it was really that year- at least according to him- there had to be so much she had missed.

[lrjthrgibbs]

He sighed and looked down at his hands. There was so much she didn't know, and it would take a long time to explain it all to her. "Mike took out Svetlana. I was ready to die." Too much loss did that to a person. "SecNav put Leon in charge, and he reassigned my team. McGee went to Cybercrimes, Ziva went back to Mossad, and Tony was assigned to the Regan. He told me about how you had set this in motion, but I know you, Jen." He trusted her. "I managed to get McGee and Ziva back. Leon was punishing Tony because he followed your orders. But I got him back." This was the most he had talked in a long time. "Then, Tony killed someone Ziva was close to in self defense and she forced me to choose between them. I couldn't, so she went back to Mossad. Then she was captured. We thought she was dead. Tony, he saved her. Crafted a perfect plan and we got her out. She's a US citizen and a full-fledged NCIS Agent now."

[agent_littlered]

She held up her hand, to stop him from talking. "Okay, no more. I can't. I can't listen to this right now." She said quietly, rubbing her temples. It occurred to her- once more- that her headache was no longer really existent. She leaned back on her hands and looked over at him, this setting was reminding her of a stakeout they'd been on once. Only difference was they were on a ship- and they had freedom to come and go as they pleased. She opened her mouth to speak a few times, before she finally found the right words. "I don't mean to make this all about me- but have I really been dead for two years?"

[lrjthrgibbs]

He nodded slowly. "It really is 2010. At least, for me." He looked at her, then noticed what this reminded him of. "This makes me think of Marseilles. That cramped little apartment, watching people for days on end as we noted who boarded that Lebanese trawler." He gave her a small, sad smile. "Our very first time. God, I can't believe that was over ten years ago."