NCIS: Best Shots

Chapter Thirteen: I Love You

When the night has come

And I'm all alone

And I have some time to breathe

So much damage done

I guess nobody won

Is it too late to make you see

NCIS Director Jenny Shepard turned the key in the lock and let herself in to her large house. The dark interior of the house was lit by pools of moonlight, but those faded when the redhead made her way to the study and flicked on the lights.

She poured herself a glass of bourbon, sat down in the chair behind the desk, and took a swig. Away from the high pressure of her job, the late hour and the fact that she was alone meant Jenny had some time to breathe. So much damage had been done lately, what with the Le Grenuiolle mess. Still, nobody had really won—she would get him at another deal. She wondered if it was too late to make Jethro see . . .

I love you

Oh darlin' yes I really do

I love you

Oh darlin' yes I really do

Parishad never really left her or Jethro, Jen thought. She realized with a shock that she still loved him, even though she'd thought she'd moved on.

Sighing, Director Shepard drained her glass and ambled off to her bed where she slept for the next five hours.

I know very well

How it got this way

I was drifting on my cloud

There isn't much to tell

Except you've gone away

Darlin' now I'm reaching out

The next morning, she was back in the director's chair, still mulling over Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Jenny knew very well how they had become so distant. When they'd returned from their undercover op in '99, she'd been drifting on her cloud and working hard as a field agent. Eventually she'd earned the title of Director of NCIS. Except that Gibbs had gone away, there wasn't much to tell.

Seized by a sudden impulse, she pressed the button that connected her to Cynthia and said, "Bring Special Agent Gibbs up, Cynthia."

"Yes, ma'm," her secretary's voice replied over the intercom.

A few minutes later, Gibbs walked in., his ice-blue eyes flaming. "Yes, Director?"

"How's your case going, Jethro?" she asked.

"As well as can be expected." Then he abruptly changed the subject. "How are you, Jen?"

I love you

Let me show you how I really do

I love you

Oh darlin' you gotta know it's true

"Fine," she lied. Just let me show you how I really love you.

As she zoned out, Gibbs couldn't help smiling. "What are you thinking about?" Director Shepard snapped when she noticed.

"Paris," she replied.

She surprised him by saying, "Me too."

I wish that I had you now

The way that I had you then

Darlin' I'd take you and hold you and kiss you

Over and over again

They drifted into silence again, Jethro remembering the bedroom in Paris and Jenny wishing she had him now the way she'd had him then. She'd take him and hold him and kiss him over and over again. The NCIS director was sure her former partner and lover was thinking along similar lines—and he was.

Maybe we can try

To get back to that place

When passion made us wild

No more alibis

Standing face to face

You will see it in my eyes

"Maybe we can try to—," Jenny began, then stopped. "Forget it."

Gibbs snapped out of his memories. "What were you going to say?"

"It's nothing," the redhead insisted, feeling her ears start to turn as red as her hair. No way was she going to say what she had been thinking: that they could try to get back to that place when passion made them a little insane.

The director stood suddenly. "I'll walk you out," she offered.

Standing this close to him, eye-to-eye, she felt certain he saw what she felt for him in her eyes. To hide it, she walked around him and opened the door for him.

Before Gibbs left, he turned back and said so quietly she wasn't sure she heard him properly, "No more alibis, Jen." He was gone before she could respond.

I love you

Oh my darlin' you know it's true

I love you

Let me tell you how much I really do

Oh darlin' you know I really do

Oh darlin' yes I really do