Only With You
- Chapter 6 - Meeting the Characters -

"Looks nice," he commented. She nodded taking in the rustic looking lodge with the mountain in the background.

"Lots of place to walk to," she pointed out the little forest glade in the distance. "Duke will love it." He pulled into the valet portion and was greeted with McGee dressed in a bellboy outfit. Jenny smirked slightly before she got out of the car, poor McGee.

"Why don't you check in dear," Jethro said to her. She nodded, smiling sweetly to McGee before going into the lodge.

"Jenny darling!" Jenny turned to spot Christine Colmen coming straight up to her.

"Hello."

"I'm so glad you arrived, a few of the couples had to cancel, they were afraid the weather would be to difficult to drive in."

"Oh it was a pleasant drive," Jenny said.

"And where is your husband?"

"Ah getting the bags, and Duke, our dog."

"Wonderful, this is Arielle and Derek, one of the couples joining us, they have their dog Max with them."

"So nice to meet you," Jenny greeted the couple. "Jenny Tibbs."

"Ah yes, the scientist."

"Yes," Jenny answered hesitantly. Jethro where the hell are you? "Well I should check in and..."

"Oh dear, that's all been taken care of," Christine assured glancing around, spotting McGee in his bellboy uniform. Jenny had no doubt he been sent by Gibbs to make sure she was all right. "You there, Timothy isn't it?"

"Yes ma'am how can I help?"

"She's in suite 1408, please help her with her luggage."

"Of course, ma'am." Jenny nodded leading him back outside. She spotted Gibbs standing by the car with Duke, making it look like he was busy on the phone. Jenny took the phone from him.

"He'll call you back."

"But Director..." Jenny hit end, hanging up on Tony.

"Jen..."

"Jethro, we're in Suite 1408, this young man will be bringing the bags up, I thought we could bring Duke and get him settled and then go down. Dr. Colmen is here already," Jenny informed.

"Of course," Gibbs glanced over at McGee who nodded fractionally and got the bags from the car. He then led them to up toward the suite, Gibbs keeping Duke on a tight leash. The suite was large, with a separate bedroom, bathroom and seating area. McGee brought the bags into the room scanning the room as he went. He came back out giving a brief nod.

"Everything's clear."

"Thank you McGee," Jenny said turning to go into the bedroom taking Duke with her. Gibbs walked him to the door.

"She doesn't leave your sight tonight, got it?" Gibbs ordered.

"Yes Boss."

"Good, and McGee..."

"Yes Boss?"

"Tell DiNozzo, he has till we get back to get rid of the betting or else." McGee gulped.

"I'll get on that Boss." Gibbs closed the door as McGee left, just as Jenny was returning to the room.

"Nice place."

"The rooms will help, Duke?"

"He's settled."

"Shall we?" He gestured toward the door.

"Room key?"

"Have it." She nodded and they left the room, leaving Duke behind to guard it. They wandered down toward the main area, where Jenny had found Christine earlier. Just as they were about to enter area, Gibbs felt Jenny lace her arm through his. It was a casual touch, one they had used in the past, and he sucked in the deep breath but didn't do anything. He was supposed to be married to her, linked arms was a common occurrence. If anything he tightened his arm closer to his body, holding hers there. She didn't react one way or another, so he assumed it was okay. They wandered into the area and Christine again came right up to them, Jenny immediately noticed the woman's flash of irritation as she noticed their linked arms.

"Jenny, so glad to see you found your husband."

"Yes, it was a long drive, he needed to rest a minute."

"Wouldn't miss this for the world, would we dear?" Jethro added feeling Jenny jab him with her elbow.

"Of course not."

"Well Jenny has already met one couple so come and get introduced," Christine said, trying to get Jethro to follow her. He did, but only when he was sure Jenny was staying at his side. "Arielle, this is Jethro, Jenny's husband."

"Nice to meet you," Arielle greeted. "My husband Derek."

"How do you do?"

"Nice to meet you both," Jethro replied.

"And where is your dog Jenny?" Arielle questioned. "I wanted him to meet my Max." She held up the tiny dog carrier where a Chihuahua peaked its head out. Jenny looked at it for a minute, is that a dog or a rat?

"Duke is a German Shepard, we'll probably bring him out tomorrow. He's resting."

"Oh a big dog," Derek commented sounding more interested than his wife.

"Yes what a lovely specimen they are," Arielle remarked. "Derek."

"Coming dear." The couple left and Jenny glanced over at Jethro who was obviously holding back laughter.

"Jethro?"

"I was expecting a sheep dog," he said. "Not a rat."

"Jethro," she scolded in between her quiet laughter. She cleared her throat and wiped the smirk off her face as another man came over. Jenny was fully aware of the fact that Jethro had tightened his hold on her a fraction.

"Hello, I'm Russ, Christine was just mentioning that you were the newest couple."

"Yes, I'm Jethro, this is my wife Jenny."

"Pleased to meet."

"You too," Jenny returned hesitantly. She did not like this guy. She couldn't explain it but she didn't want to spend another second with him. She watched Gibbs out of her peripherally vision but he showed no outward signs of unease and was talking up a storm about military techniques. She placed her free hand over the arm that was holding hers, shifting her hand slightly to get his attention. He noticed but didn't skip a beat in the conversation instead glancing over at her as if to gauge her interest. He could see the hidden worry in her eyes and knew she wanted out of the situation.

"Well we should probably mingle," Gibbs suggested. "I think my wife's eyes are glazing over. Weapons training is not appealing to her."

"Of course," Russ responded, earning a promise to have a drink with him later. Gibbs steered Jenny away. She relaxed the second they moved and he was about to ask her what was wrong when a beautiful brunette walked straight up to them.

"Hello, I just saw you talking to Russ, I'm his wife Lynna."

"Hello," Jenny greeted.

"You must be Jenny and Jethro, Christine was just telling me about you."

"Oh yes, that's us," Jethro answered.

"Jenny, I would love to talk about your research sometime during this vacation."

"Of course," Jenny promised. "We were just heading for a drink."

"Ah excellent, bar tender is a good guy." She walked away and over toward her husband. They said nothing as they went to the bar, Jethro ordering them both a glass of bourbon. Jenny sat on the bar stool, Jethro standing right in front of her, in a position that would appear like a couple exchanging their own secrets.

"So..." Jenny began.

"You don't like Russ."

"No I don't, and I can't explain it either," She informed.

"You don't have to, its your instinct, I don't like him either."

"You don't like him, because he spent more time starring at me, than you."

"That too," he agreed. "His wife was..."

"Aggressive."

"Yea, think it was a warning?" She shrugged not sure what it was, just knowing she did not want to be anywhere near Russ again. "I'll have a drink with him, see what he has to say."

"Ziva's report said that the couples attending were all at the last few retreats, the ones with our dead couples."

"So we could be looking at any one of them, not just the good doctor."

"A few couples called up and said they couldn't make it, something about the weather," Jenny informed.

"You don't believe it?"

"Three couples have been killed, I wouldn't want to be next."

"You think someone knows it has something to do with this?"

"If they do, they aren't going to say anything, we'll keep an eye out for warnings or something." She glanced around the room again noting the appearance of all the couples. "You know for a woman who takes couples only over forty, we're still easily the oldest ones here."

"I am, I'm not so sure about you."

"You think some of these women are older than I am?" She asked incredulously.

"Easily."

"You're kidding," she inferred.

"No way," he pointed to Arielle. "She's easily older than you."

"How would you know?"

"Plastic surgery." Jenny looked the woman over again.

"Well I don't suppose those could be real."

"But this could work in our favor."

"Oh really?"

"Yep, think you can still put your hair up?" She fingered the edges.

"I could try."

"Good." He said nothing more watching the room, sipping his bourbon in concentration. She had no idea what the request was about, but she supposed she could try and twist up her hair. It would take some work, but she could probably handle it. She watched two more couples come in and estimated that counting them there were five couples, Christine, and her assistant. She noticed McGee lingering on the edges of the room and raised an eyebrow. Whichever way he moved, she knew she was in his line of sight. She glanced over at Jethro who didn't appear to notice, but she was fairly certain he did. Which probably means he told McGee to do it, great. Her pondering was interrupted as Christine called attention to herself.

"Hello everyone, I'd like to thank you all for coming, we have some new guests this evening with us, Jethro and Jenny Tibbs from DC," Christine gestured to them, and Jenny smiled sweetly as Jethro stood beside her. "And as always Serena and Darien are here with us, showing us that is possible to work through these bumps in the road. Dinner will be in an hour, so I ask you all to go and get ready. We'll be in the main dinning room."

As Jenny watched the success couple, she could detect something in the way they each looked at Christine, something different in each of their eyes, but it was strong whatever it was. She filed it away for future thought and slid off the bar stool slipping her arm back through Jethro's and letting him lead her back to their suite. Once they were on the stairs and away from the fray, he turned to her.

"So, the success couple."

"There's something there, between them and Christine."

"Who's sleeping with her?"

"I'm not sure," Jenny replied. "Thoughts?"

"I can't tell, Russ and Lynna though, they didn't seem very happy with Serena and Darien."

"There's one theory I guess, kill of the competition to be like the success couple," Jenny concluded.

"We didn't consider that."

"No we didn't." They reached their room Jenny going to grab her dress for dinner to change in the bathroom. Before she left she looked at him a second, "Jethro, there is one other thing?"

"Yea?"

"How can you give advice on marriage, if you've never been married yourself?" Jenny inquired.

"Talking about Christine?"

"She doesn't have a wedding band on, but I feel like we're missing something."

"I'll tell the team to look into it."

"And while you're at it, tell McGee to keep a lower profile." He said nothing, not happy that she'd noticed, but not really surprised either. He found a pair of slacks and a dress shirt along with a blazer, forgoing the tie and getting dressed. He knew he would be done before Jenny as he heard the water turn on. He didn't want to leave her, or rather leave her without Duke at the very least and so he called desk service asked if they could send up a bellboy, McGee arrived as he was expected to.

"Something I can do Sir."

"Would you be able to see that he gets some exercise?"

"Sure thing."

"And McGee, if he picks up anything..."

"Got it Boss."

"Tell Ziva I want background on the good doctor and anything she can find on the success couple, and the guy Russ and his wife."

"Anything else?"

"Get Tony to answer his phone."

"Right Boss." McGee left with Duke on the leash. Gibbs sat down and dug out his weapon checking it, and deciding to wear his backup. Jenny came out moments later, trying to pin back a tiny curl that wouldn't cooperate. He took in her appearance and smiled briefly, of all the women the team could have chosen, they picked her to be his wife...there are worse things that could happen.

"When your finished," she sighed distractedly.

"Finished with what?" he asked innocently. She glanced up at him, smirking slightly as his eyes still hadn't reached her face. "You want to take a purse or something?"

"Why?" She asked grabbing a shawl.

"A weapon for starters."

"I have a weapon." He looked her over again.

"Where?"

"Wouldn't you love to know," Jenny muttered amused. She was perfectly aware her muttering wasn't that quiet and judging from his lack of response he had heard clearly. "We going?"

"Yea, we're going," he responded a minute later, following her slowly, trying to keep his eyes above her waist. He hadn't been this distracted by a woman in years at least, well okay not years, probably November when she wore those jeans...he cut of his thoughts as they turned the corner and she slipped her arm through his. He had gathered that this was about the whole thing she would do to keep in with their cover of a married couple. They entered the main dining room and Gibbs was fully aware that they everyone present was looking at them. They were not the last couple to arrive but the room was not empty either. It was a tiny boost to his ego, just has it had been years ago when whole restaurants would turn to look at her. As he looked at her, he was sure she was completely oblivious to the attention; except for the tiny half grin she was sporting.

"I need a drink," she mumbled. He led her toward the bar and they got their drinks before sitting at the large round table. There were three couples at every table, Jenny found their card at the table with Arielle and Derek and another couple they had not met. The table beside them had Russ and Lynna, Serena and Darien, and Christine and her assistant. Jethro was every inch the gentleman getting Jenny's chair for her and pushing it in a little. She tried not to act to surprised, just acted as if it were an everyday occurrence. She could tell right away that Arielle's opinion of her had changed.

"Jenny what skin care do you use, you're positively glowing," Arielle inquired.

"Uh generic."

"And where do they sell that?"

"CVS," Jenny answered trying not to show amusement at the woman's lack of knowledge. Jenny could see the fake smile, and then the look of disdain flash into the other woman's eyes. She tried to reason it out that perhaps done up Jenny looked younger, and that bothered her, or perhaps it was her husband. Derek was nothing much to look at, he was averagely built, dark black hair speckled with grey, and faint brown eyes. Arielle was of fairer, with blonde hair that was obviously died, and faded blue eyes. He did some Naval storage thing; she was a stay home wife, active in the wives club or something.

"You know Jenny I was just telling Maria that you should join our book club," Arielle continued. Jenny gathered that the other woman at the table was Maria.

"You would enjoy it," Maria explained. "Most of our husbands are gone for long periods of time, it helps pass the months."

"Ah well I'm afraid you'd have to count Jenny out," Jethro interrupted. "She's the one that travels."

"Oh," Arielle commented.

"Not as often as I used to," Jenny countered. "But I do go away for a few weeks at a time."

"How do you manage being without her?" Steven, Maria's husband asked Jethro.

"Work," he answered. "All my paperwork is done early."

"It must be nice to get out of the daily grind," Arielle remarked.

"Well in a way," Jenny responded. "There are certainly reasons to stay home, as well."

"You know, Steve and I had similar problems we were both traveling to much, we started trying to travel together, it works," Maria said gently to Jenny, smiling sweetly to her. Jenny knew it was meant as friendly advice and smiled back, nodding. The talking ceased a moment as the waiters came by to take orders. Jenny had steak, Jethro chicken, both knew they'd switch their vegetables as Jenny despised cooked carrots and loved asparagus. They were turning back to their drinks when they heard the distinct sounds of a quiet argument.

"I told you not to eat fish," Arielle snapped.

"Arielle, its halibut, they have it all over the world."

"You said..."

"And you said you would let it go once and awhile."

"You don't ever listen anyways." She got up and Derek sighed getting up a moment later to go after his wife. Maria and Steve looked stricken and whispered to each other a moment. Jenny turned to Jethro, noticing his inability to hide a smirk.

"I thought we had issues," Jenny teased softly.

"A fight over fish?" he questioned in amazement.

"She's spoiled, he over indulges her, think it would be inappropriate if I went over and smacked her?"

"Probably, but then again I suppose it crosses them off the list," he said quietly aware of the ears.

"We could always ask them to the trout, the whole trout, and nothing but the trout so help them Cod." He choked on his bourbon and she smirked taking a sip of hers.

"God Jen, that was awful."

"And people say scientist don't have a sense of humor," she sighed. They sobered up as Arielle and Derek returned to the table. Silence descended on the table till they heard a clinking of wine glasses.

"I'd like to make a toast," Christine announced. "To all of our couples here, taken the first step to a happier marriage. And I have some excellent news to share. As a group, we've all shared our difficulties, we'll just recently some of those difficulties have been solved Russ and Lynna are to finally have a child. Congratulations to them!" There was a chorus of good wishes, Jenny sneaking a glance at Jethro who seemed undisturbed by the news. She excused herself to wash her hands and entered the bathroom carefully scanning for people. To her surprise she found Maria.

"Maria?"

"Oh Jenny," the woman sounded surprised to see anyone else. It didn't take Jenny long to spot the tear tracks.

"Something the matter? Should I get Steve?"

"Oh no, no, don't bother him with this."

"Something I could do?" Jenny tried. She was not one for girl talk, but she hoped perhaps that if one person in this group opened up, it might be easier to find out who the murderer was.

"No, no. It's just the announcement, rather a sore topic."

"Oh Russ and Lynna."

"Man's a cheating bastard, she's not much better, and yet they get..."

"A child?" Maria nodded through tears.

"It's mostly why Steve and I are here, we wanted kids, and waited to long and then...its just been impossible and every chance has been taken away, the fighting just...he was in a car accident, almost died. That was when I knew we had to fix this, we couldn't just be two people living together anymore, we had to get back our marriage," she explained, before wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry, I..."

"Don't be, I'm a good listener," Jenny smiled.

"And your story?"

"Oh we...just can't seem to get out of a rough patch," She sighed; fully aware they had not discussed it. "The deaths...we knew the Rothmans, acquaintances really, but after that we just...didn't want that to happen."

"Death is a powerful motivator."

"It is," Jenny agreed, knowing that it was something that motivated them both and had turned them into the people they were.

"You have children?"

"No, no we don't."

"Want them?"

"It's not a matter of want, I work ridiculous hours, he's not much better."

"But that's not to say you don't want them."

"Some of the people he works with, they're like our kids."

"Not the same though is it?"

"I suppose not," Jenny conceded smiling faintly. "Well Jethro is probably ready to bolt from the table, or he's eaten my steak." She offered the other woman her hand and she accepted. The two went back in, not really drawing attention, except from Jethro who had been getting worried. The two women sat down just as dinner was served and the couples focused on their food. Jethro took the opportunity to try and get Jenny's attention.

"Want the asparagus?" he asked trying to gauge her mood.

"If you don't."

"You know you can have it," he said. She nodded still not turning to meet his eye. He put his fork on her plate to try and steal a piece of steak but she caught him.

"Hey," she protested turning to glare at him.

"Taste delicious," he commented. She promptly went to steal his asparagus and he let her. When she turned back to her plate, he tugged on the tiny curl that was falling from her do. She turned her to glare at him, but the glare faded as she noticed his worried expression.

"What?"

"Everything alright?"

"It's fine, I'll tell you later," she promised. He nodded knowing he would hold her to it. Dinner was kept quiet and evening activities were forgone as most had driven long distances and were exhausted. They were told an itinerary would be in their rooms when they returned and so the couples dispersed. Jenny saying the goodnights and that they had to check on the dog. By the time she was done, Jethro had gone to the room and fetched Duke for his walk meeting her at the entrance with her coat. She slipped into it and slipped her arm through his as they led Duke off for the walk. She knew they would walk toward the glades where they were sure to be uninterrupted in talking to the team. They reached the glade just as the cold air was starting to get to her.

"Cold?"

"No, its just windy."

"Yea." He let Duke of the leash to do his thing. "So what happened at dinner?"

"Jethro, can we not talk about this here, just call the team and let's go."

"Already talked to the team. They've got nothing new, but Abby found a lead on the good doctor's husband. She's tracking it now and thank you so much for setting up a Caff-Pow account for her." Jenny smirked.

"Anytime," she replied. "So if you already talked to the team, why are we still out here."

"Duke."

"Yea okay, but still."

"What happened at dinner?" She sighed knowing he wasn't going to let this go.

"I think we can rule out Maria and Steve, unless Lynna and Russ die next."

"Why?"

"They're here because they couldn't have kids."

"What?"

"They wanted kids, waited to long, and now, its not as easy as it might have been years ago, she was just upset."

"She tell you anything else?"

"Russ and Lynna are both cheaters, overall she doesn't seem particularly fond of them."

"I've gathered that from a few other people too, but the team hasn't found anything," he replied. He called Duke back to their side and they went back in. They were just getting to their room when they heard something from down the hall. Jenny glanced at Jethro and he looked down the hall judging the distance. He opened the door letting Duke in. "In."

"Jethro!" She protested.

"Now Jen." She did as she was told and heard the door lock behind her. She pressed her ear to the door listening.

"Ah Jethro right?"

"Yes, Darien, isn't it?"

"Got it in one, your wife's the red head yes?"

"Yes, that's Jenny."

"Lovely woman."

"Thank you."

"Well I probably shouldn't keep you from her, till tomorrow."

"Good night." Jenny backed away from the door hearing the retreating footsteps and the key in the lock. Jethro entered with a puzzled look on his face.

"I can take care of myself you know."

"Yea," he responded distracted.

"Jethro?"

"Do you have the hotel plans McGee brought up?" He asked keeping his voice down. She nodded getting the things out of her case, spreading them out on the table. "See, knew there was something off."

"What?"

"Why would Darien be coming down that hall when his room is on the other side of the lodge?" Jenny stared at the plans.

"He wouldn't unless he was somewhere else first," Jenny concluded.

"Exactly, and look who our neighbors are." He pointed at the names.

"Russ and Lynna, Steve and Maria are across from us, and Arielle and Derek, oh what fun."

"So any one of the women, or men, I suppose."

"Rule out Maria."

"Jenny..."

"Trust me Jethro, she couldn't do it. She loves her husband," Jenny defended and he sighed conceding.

"Why don't we look at this tomorrow?" He suggested not wanting to get into a fight. She nodded going to get ready for bed. As she finished up in the bedroom he read the itinerary. "Spouse games, we have a session, and then free time till dinner. After dinner it's a group session. Group session?"

"All the couples talking together."

"Oh goody," he mumbled. "Says to bring a photo album."

"It's next to my laptop bag," she called back. "Jethro you mind if I take a bath? Sitting in a car is not helping my back."

"Suit yourself," he replied. He heard the water running and the door lock shut. He was just moving to familiarize himself with the album when he spotted the Cosmo magazine sitting innocently in the outside pocket of her purse. He glanced toward the door and figured he had a good a half hour to get through it. I can't believe I'm doing this; he slapped the back of his head and opened the magazine. 67 New Blow-His-Mind Moves, he read, this has potential. And as he read it he noticed the hand written notes beside each number. Done, Done, Done, Done, haven't done, not flexible enough, done, done, done, not done, should try. The list went on and on as he read, as he reached each done item, he thought back briefly over their relationship to see if he'd been the lucky recipient. He was happy to know that for all of them he had. He read through the other ear marked pages, spending a few extra minutes looking at the tips for him section. Ditch the generic compliment, I can do that, he thought, momentarily stopping to check and make sure she was still in the bath. He bypassed the fight section, because to come out of fight in love, you had to be in a relationship and he didn't have any of those currently, at least in his real life, minus Jenny, a little voice tacked on. He ignored that picking up the sounds of her getting out of the bath and the water draining.

He quickly moved off the bed, putting the magazine back where he found it and then going back into the main room to give her space. He ignored the flare of jealousy at the dog who lay on the floor next to the bed, in full view of the bathroom. He went and flopped down on the couch turning the TV on flipping through channels looking for something that didn't require much thought or perhaps that did, and would distract him from the memories he had recalled. He supposed it wouldn't help that he'd be sleeping next to her. She came out of the bedroom, running a hand through her wet locks and he used all his self-control to focus on the TV and not her.

"You going to bed or staying up?" She inquired.

"What are you doing?"

"I should do work," she sighed glancing over at her laptop.

"You're on vacation Jenny, no work allowed," he reminded, in a slightly whiny voice. She nodded in agreement.

"In that case I'm going to enjoy that fact that is only ten thirty, and I get to sleep, night."

"Night Jen," he called after her retreating form. He sighed disappointed in himself, when she walks away, that's when you're supposed to go catch her, he repeated to himself. It had been sort of something they always had done, if she'd walked away to go sleep by herself, he always got up and caught her, making sure she didn't sleep alone. Coward, he scolded lightly before getting up and trudging to the bedroom. He glanced at Jenny to find her already sound asleep, a content smile on her face. He slid into the bed on his side looked down at her and smiled himself. Why exactly was I angry with DiNozzo for picking her? Should thank him, he thought amused as he fell into a peaceful dream world. In his dream he caught her, and held her, and never let her go.

Chapter 7