[RP for dc_knight]

[on_jennys_terms]

It's late when Jen finally ends up at home.  She's tired.  Her fingers ache.  And if it were Friday night instead of Thursday, she'd already be halfway to drunk.  But she sighs as she drops her bag by the door and wanders into the study.  She rifles through the mail that was left on the desk, though nothing catches her eye as being immediately

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[dc_knight]

Heather jumps a bit when the phone rings. She's keeping it with her, screening his calls, mostly to keep the team back in DC from exhausting him. That he's letting her do it is a sign that he actually appreciates the gesture.

She's tired tonight. James has a cold and it means he can't really be with Daddy and it's lead to tired temper tantrums. Leroy is exhausted and sore. But more than the overarching issues they're dealing with, she misses Jenny right now. Jenny's never been a caregiver, but just having someone to distract her through the harder times of this would be nice. Caroline is becoming a good friend, but she's not her sister. But when she sees the caller ID , she stops. If Jenny is calling to be bitchy, she doesn't have it in her. But, if it's important, it can't just go to voice mail. So, with a sigh, and with more emotion in her voice than she realizes, she answers.

"Hey, Jenny." If anyone told her that her voice broke on the second syllable of Jenny's name, she'd deny it.

[on_jennys_terms]

She shouldn't be surprised when Heather answers, but for some reason, she is. Maybe because it's the first time she's called. Having her sister answer his phone makes it all that much more real. And it really drives the point home. She almost feels like hanging up now, but then she'd look foolish. 'Oh yeah, wrong number, sure.' It makes the hole in her heart ache that much more. It doesn't help that she has no idea what to say to Heather. She toes off her shoes and tucks her feet under her as she curls into one corner of the couch.

"Hi," she says with a slight, soft sigh. There's no fight in her tonight.

[dc_knight]

She can hear the sigh, the exhaustion from the other side of the country and the caretaker that she is takes over for a moment. In that moment, for that moment, all the anger she has from the words her sister flung at her fades. She remembers how hard it was to hear Jenny gush about "Jethro" and talk about how perfect he was. She has an idea how empty Jenny feels right now.

"How are you?" She asks, rising from her desk after putting the project she's working on on hold. James is asleep on the couch and she tucks his blanket a bit tighter around him and moves into the kitchen so she can talk for a moment before bringing the phone up to Leroy. Any chance she can get tonight.

She knows the question is probably futile, that Jenny will give her textbook "Fine" and revert back to being angry, but she's going to try. She made her choice and she isn't going back on it, but she loves her sister and wants to try.

[on_jennys_terms]

"I'm alright." It's one step above her stock answer, but it's still bullcrap. She decides there's no way she can (or wants to) have any kind of continuing conversation without a drink in her hand. She should have thought of this earlier, before she got comfortable on the couch, but things just sort of happened. She unfolds herself and wanders back to the study. Realizing she's been silent a few seconds longer than she should have been, she says, "How are things there?"

[dc_knight]

Heather stares at the liquor cabinet but decides against it. She needs a drink but will wait until she's done with Jenny. The "all right" and long quiet bothers her, but she can't exactly expect instant friendship, especially after their last meeting. So she answers the question. "Getting better. Leroy's going crazy. They need to do some physical therapy; he lost some range of motion." She leaves off herself and realizes how natural it is for her to do it. Does Jenny even care how she's doing? The thought process doesn't make her angry, just sad.

[on_jennys_terms]

Jen tucks the phone between her shoulder and ear as she pulls a glass and a bottle down. She noticed Heather didn't say anything about herself. Her question may have been one of those obligatory small talk questions, but she specifically phrased it the way she did because she wanted to include everyone in the house. "What about you and the boys?" she asks, pulling the stopper from the bottle, whichever bottle it was that she grabbed.

[dc_knight]

"Well, I've had better months," the words rush out a bit in a sadly funny tone. She sucks in a breath and shakes her head. "I'm good, honestly. Better than I've been in a long time, Jenny. Despite ... everything." The everything isn't just Leroy being shot, but the divorce and the custody battle, and losing her sister in the process. "James has a cold but he's so happy down here. Daniel ... I get him on the weekends right now. He's upset but he's dealing. I miss him, but I have to let him deal with this in his own way, you know." She pours herself a glass of water and curls up at the table.

[on_jennys_terms]

She sucks in a soft breath as she thinks about how happy James is, happy the boy is with his father. And the thought nearly guts her. She pauses in pouring the drink and presses her fingers to her eyes, but Heather keeps talking and her sisters voice pulls her back to the conversation. "Kids are resilient. He'll adjust." She finishes pouring the drink and replaces the stopper. More silence as she makes her way back to the couch.

[dc_knight]

Heather sighs. "You're right. I know. I just want him here. We both do." Again silence, but at least this time they aren't yelling or snarking at each other. "How's ... I didn't get his name. Your boyfriend?" She knows she should go upstairs and give the phone to Leroy. He isn't asleep unless he fell asleep reading. But she doesn't want to give up this connection to Jenny.

[on_jennys_terms]

Happy for the shift in subject, she answers, "Alex. He's well," but she doesn't need to into detail about the hoard of family about to descend on them or how he's upstairs drugged into a coma for various reasons. And he'd object to the term boyfriend. But that's a separate issue. Then it hits her that she and Heather aren't snapping at each other yet. They're actually having somewhat of a decent conversation. Jenny wonders if it's a comment on how broken down she is tonight.

[dc_knight]

"Good." Heather responds quietly. The small talk suddenly seems done, but not empty. Maybe, she hopes, something happened tonight. Someway they could talk again without snarking and snapping. There's still a lot to be said, a lot they both have to be angry about, but she's not angry right now. Right now she's tired and misses her sister and if it took them both being exhausted to have this conversation then she'll thank the exhaustion. "Um ..." she wipes at a sudden stray tear and takes a shaky breath. "Did you need to talk to Leroy?"

[on_jennys_terms]

There's a heavy silence as Jen hesitates. She almost tells Heather 'no', that she doesn't need to after all. But her masochistic streak wins. She needs to hear his voice. "Yeah. Please. If he's awake, of course," she says, giving herself a way out without being obvious. If she's honest with herself, she could hang up now, content with just having talked with her sister. As much as she doesn't want to admit it, she misses Heather as much as she misses Gibbs. She can feel the tears welling in her eyes and downs her drink to break the spell.

[dc_knight]

The please almost makes Heather ask what's wrong and how she can help, but she has an idea of some of what's wrong, though her instincts tell her that there is so much more boiling beneath the surface. But they aren't going to touch on it in this conversation. "Yeah, he was awake when I came down here earlier and I left him with one of his classic thrillers so unless the meds have knocked him out ..." she's rambling and stands up, heading for the stairs. She takes them slowly, just listening to Jenny breathe. Before going into the bedroom, she stops and leans against the wall. "Jen ... call again, okay. You know ... I'll always answer."

[on_jennys_terms]

"I know," she answers, even if she's not sure when, if ever, she'll call again. It just hurts too much. Though she's not sure what part of all this hurts more--the two of them together or living what's left of her life without them. She falls into silence, listening to her sister's breath and just waits with her heart in her throat.

[dc_knight]

Heather holds on for a moment longer, listening to her sister's breathing. She loves her so much and she just doesn't know how she can know Jenny is dying and not be there with her. But she can't move this any faster than Jenny wants to. Tonight was a step. So she moves into the bedroom.

Leroy is sitting up, still reading. He glances up and smiles when she walks in and she takes the hand he holds out to her. Fingers link and squeeze and he tilts his head, wondering about the phone. "It's Jenny," she says, holding it out. His expression is as surprised as she knows hers was earlier and he takes it with his free hand. Not wanting to be away from even the thought of her sister, Heather settles on the bed, leaving her fingers linked with Leroy's.

"Hey, Jen." He is truly surprised, and glad she called. Clearly it's not a business call. Heather wouldn't stick around in the room for that.

[on_jennys_terms]

He sounds good and she just wants to cry. It's been so long since she's felt like this, since she's felt anything, really. For whatever reason--maybe it's just simple exhaustion--the wall of numbness she's had up for months is just sloughing off, leaving the raw parts exposed to the air. She remembers this feeling. She'd hoped she wouldn't. "Jethro," she responds softly, giving her empty glass a glance. She should have had the forethought to bring the bottle--whiskey, she realizes--over with her.