The Corset
- Chapter 2 -

It only seemed like minutes to Jenny, but in reality it had been another hour and a half of Gibbs' driving when the car finally rolled to a stop and Gibbs had to wake her up. She drifted off to sleep and he had been pleased. As much as he enjoyed her awake, asleep all her defenses went away and he could study her for some uninterrupted time. It was a lovely way to spend a drive, glancing over and staring at her. He didn't want to wake her but he was afraid she might wake up if he tried to carry her into the cabin. The cabin was dimly lit as he hadn't been there in quite some time. He knew the park ranger came up and looked over it and there was a friend he'd called after she fell asleep who'd gone and cleaned it up and put some basic food in the house. They could go grocery shopping later. He knew a good fire would keep the place warm and she would have nothing to complain about, except maybe the single King size bed.

"Jenny...Jen." She turned toward his voice her eyes fluttering open.

"What?"

"We're here," he said getting out of the car. He watched her look around her surroundings, her eyes going wide.

"This is your idea of safe?"

"We're in the middle of nowhere, no one would ever think to look for you here."

"So you're just going to leave me here?" She was not the stay on her own in the woods type.

"No, I'm going to stay with you."

"What?"

"Just think, you can't outrun me so therefore you can go wherever you'd like around here and there's lots of fresh air and open spaces. When was the last time you read one of those trashy paperbacks you like so much?"

"They aren't trashy and what do I need fresh air for?"

"C'mon Jen, you'll scare the deer if you keep yelling."

"Deer?"

"Jen you're the one who said you'd been camping, and I don't ever remember having this much trouble with you the last time I took you here," he replied. She gave him a confused look before following him into the cabin and the memories began to filter back. A weekend, near on a decade ago where they'd been back in DC briefly and had wanted to go find their solitude again. He'd taken her away to this fishing cabin, and they'd spent the entire time bed and...Okay that memory needs to shut off right now. At least this will help with the dieting.

"So how long?"

"A few days, until they tell me to bring you back," he answered. "We can go grocery shopping tomorrow. Wasn't exactly expecting to be up here."

"Right..." she sighed, it wasn't exactly how she'd been planning on spending her next few days. "Well it could be worse."

"Don't say that Jen, you'll jinx it." He carried in the bags and dumped them in the bedroom. "You remember where everything is?"

"Yes," she called back rummaging through the cabinets checking on supplies. He watched from the doorway of the kitchen as she fell into her agent training.

"Do you want something to help you sleep?" He asked holding up a bottle of bourbon and a pill bottle that looked familiar.

"No. No, I'm sure I'll be fine," she responded hoping she sounded sure. She went to enter the room her eyes falling on the large bed in the bedroom before moving to her suitcase to grab a brush.

"I'll sleep on the couch," he said causally catching her eye movement. She turned from the mirror in the bathroom.

"You're not sleeping on that couch Jethro."

"You're not either."

"Jethro you're taking the bed."

"You know you're back can't handle the couch."

"I'm smaller." He rolled his eyes before walking towards her and grabbing her about the waist picking her up. He dumped her on the bed.

"You're staying on the bed."

"Jethro!"

"I'm not going to sleep Jen, I'm going to protect the house."

"Don't be ridiculous, I know for a fact those alarm still work. There's no way any would get into the house before we knew about it."

"You're not sleeping on the couch," he repeated.

"Neither are you."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"Don't hog the covers."

"I don't, you hog the sheets."

"I do not!" She glared at him and he knew she was tempted to pull the ex-wife card. He knew he tended to steal the sheets but really it was only with her and it was only because she liked the sheets and therefore if he hogged them it meant she was closer. He wasn't planning to get himself castrated in the near future and so that wasn't going to happen.

"Left or right?"

"You pick," he said knowing she would pick the left. She picked the right and turned it down watching him closely to look for any sign of irritation. After she turned down the right he hadn't moved and so she went to the left and turned it down to and slid in turning on her side to the edge of the bed.

"Next time just pick." He said nothing as he pulled the sheets and comforter up over him hiding the grin. "Jethro."

"Hm?"

"Don't snore."

"I don't..." She picked her head up and he knew her hand was resting on the pillow. "Fine!" And so with as much space between them as possible the two tried to go to sleep.

Trying being the very key word as for about two hours they lay there pretending to be asleep until finally Gibbs could tell that Jenny's mind and body were losing their fight and her breathing evened out. As soon as it did he turned to face her and used the moonlight to trace her figure trying to figure out if things were as bad as the team had said. It wasn't that he didn't trust his team, it was more that he didn't want to believe she'd let someone control her so much. She shifted closer to him apparently seeking out his warmth as she shivered slightly in her sleep. He wrapped an arm around her and was surprised at just how thin she was. It was more than just a few pounds.

"Jenny," he sighed. What are you doing to yourself? He got up once he was sure she wasn't going to wake up and moved to the suitcases. He opened her bag and found some odd thing sitting on top. He wasn't sure what it was but it looked like something that might be found in a langerie shop. The fact that it seemed to be made out of some kind of bone was a little confusing. Corset. That's what they call it, he determined. That has to be painful. He studied the object pulling it close and watching the difference in sizes. As he studied it some more the pattern seemed familiar at the bottom and he quickly realized it matched the lines on her stomach. Why would any woman wear this? Let alone Jen... What ever the answer was he was sure he wasn't going to like it. As he figured it out he realized he'd have to get her to wear it and soon it, and then get rid of it permanently. After that it would be slowly giving her more food, making sure she ate it, and putting a figure back on her.

He did go to sleep that night, if for the sole fact that he found himself lying in the bed the following morning with Jenny's small figure curled around him stealing body heat. He certainly didn't remember her getting that close. He carefully unwound himself from her, hoping that she was exhausted enough not to be disturbed. He got up and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before glancing back down at her. Her arms was seeking out the lost source of warmth and he smiled slightly as she frowned in her sleep. There had been lots of things he missed about their past, but this, her asleep in the early morning hours was one of the one's he regretted losing the most.

He left the room to see about gathering something for breakfast, like coffee, and then on to check the outside of the house. He surveyed the place taking great care to look for anything that might have been disturbed. The dock from the house onto the lake was still in good condition he was happy to see, and it seemed like there were fish still swimming. He sat down on one of the wooden chairs he'd built, his feet going up on the railings and watched the sun rise over the lake as he sipped his morning coffee. He let his ears adjust to the sounds of the woods waking up and listened for anything that might be out of place. The creak of the French doors being pushed further open caught his attention and he waited for the light steps he knew would follow. Sure enough just seconds later he felt Jenny's presence beside him. He kept his eyes closed and felt her kneel next to him, her hands resting on his one arm.

"Jethro," she whispered softly.

"Hm?"

"Bastard you are awake," she snapped getting back to her feet and pushing the chair forward so he legs went flying of the railing to steady him.

"Hey!"

"Here I was worried that you'd fallen into the lake and you're just drinking coffee. Unbelievable!"

"I made you some," he protested happy that he'd put his into a travel mug with a spill proof top. She glared and it was the first time he noticed she was dressed for work, but she was already half way down the dock when he tried to comment. "Jen!"

"What?"

"Did you have anything other than suits in that bag of yours?"

"Yes, I was hoping we were going back to work soon," she replied moving back into the house, he followed and found her mixing her own coffee. "But I take it that's not happening."

"No, its not."

"When?"

"I don't know."

"Not a good enough answer!" She moved back to the porch and sat down watching the lake.

"Jen this is for your own protection," he reminded.

"Maybe I don't want to be protected!" She bit back refusing to turn and look at him.

"Yea well I do, and therefore you're staying put till you come to your senses."

"What?" He gulped and realized that his old habit of saying what he really wanted to when he was pissed had finally reasserted itself.

"Nothing," he called over his shoulder as he moved off toward the end of the dock again.

"You son of a bitch! There isn't any emergency!" She shouted after him.

"Oh there is," he called back. He could hear the angry click of her heels against the boards and wondered as so many did how on earth she could walk so fast in them.

"What is it?"

"The team is worried about you, Abby told me to fix it. I'm fixing it." He could sense that she was right behind him.

"Fix what exactly?" She demanded, she'd deal with the team later.

"This!" He spun around to quick for her to follow and grabbed her waist painfully, the bone of the corset digging into her skin and she felt her heart accelerate as it tried to keep her lungs fought for air.

"Let go of me Jethro," she tried to order but knew it came out as a plea.

"You're going to kill yourself if you fight," he reminded.

"I'm going to kill you," she snapped through barred teeth. She brought her knee up just barely missing parts he wanted to keep. It still was enough force to require him to let go of her and as she caught her breath she pushed out with both her hands intent on just pushing him away. In her rush though she'd forgotten how close they'd moved to the edge of the dock, the place they'd often dove off of, and her push had sent him falling backwards. He in his interest of self-preservation had grabbed on to her, only realize that she had not the strength nor the weight to keep both of them upright and so they both went tumbling the five feet into the lake. Gibbs came up first rather surprised and not happy to find the water was so cold. Jenny came up a second later gasping for her.

"Jen!" He grumbled angrily as he swam toward the ladder.

"Don't blame this on me!" She bit back as she too went to swim but found she couldn't. Something was stuck on her leg. "Jethro!"

"What Jen? Got another idea to get us hypothermia?" He retorted before turning when he didn't hear a response. The lake was clear, Jenny was no where to be seen. "Jen?" He glanced at the water waiting for her to grab him at the waist but nothing. "Jenny!"

Now he was going to panic, the reminder of his time trapped in a sinking car was slowly coming back and he dove down searching for her, his eyes stinging in the water. He felt a disturbance and so a long black thing object swimming towards him. Water moccasins. Fantastic. He tried to avoid it and kept swimming in the midst of the seaweed he found her. She wasn't moving and he ignored the burning in his lungs as he grabbed her trying to pull her back to the surface. He finally realized that her heel had disturbed a water snake who had wrapped itself around her ankle in defense. He freed her and pulled her up as fast as he could. He swam for the shore next to the dock and pulled her out of the water.

"Jenny? Come on Jen?" he pleaded with her cold, wet form. He placed his fingers to her throat and felt a faint movement. She had a pulse. He pulled off her jacket and button down shirt trying to figure out what was constricting her until he found the corset. Laced tightly as she could probably get it. He didn't have the patience to undo and took his knife from his pocket and turned her on her side. He slashed through the laces and pulled the material from her body. Her body convulsed as she coughed up the water she'd swallowed. As awful as the sound was, it was the greatest thing for him to hear. "Jenny." He wrapped his arms around her and held her till the water was coughed up. She then collapsed against him and he carefully lifted her up and carried her back up to the cabin. He went into the bedroom laying her down onto the bed before quickly starting to get her out of the wet clothes. "I'm sorry Jen," he whispered as he carefully slid off her pants trying to ignore the sight of her long silky legs. He found the sweatshirt she had been wearing the night before and slipped it over her before moving her to the pile of blankets, cushions, and pillows he tossed in front of the fire and wrapping her in extra blankets. He changed out his wet clothes quickly and put on some dry sweats before returning to her side and pulling her to him to keep her warm.

"Jethro," she mumbled after a few moments as the fire warmed her.

"Jen, hey come on wake up!" he encouraged shaking her slightly. Her eyes fluttered open. "Hey, does anything hurt?"

"My stomach."

"Yea...I'm...I'm sorry Jen," he said after a long moment. As angry as he had been with her, as worried, and as scared he knew most of this was his fault. If he hadn't grabbed her so hard, she wouldn't have fought back.

"What?" She whispered, her eyes opening wide. He said nothing but looked away as she tried to meet his eyes. "Jethro look at me." He wouldn't so she forced him, shifting in his arms until she could.

"Jen..."

"You just saved my life," she reminded.

"It wouldn't have been in danger if it weren't for me," he replied.

"You mean me, I pushed you into the water, it was only natural you reach out and grab the closest thing."

"I shouldn't have hurt you," he said in a way that she knew meant he was struggling with the fact he had.

"Which brings us to the main part of our argument," she sighed. "Why exactly did you grab me?"

"I thought you might listen," he explained. "I've been trying to figure out how to talk to you about this for a day and a half. That's why I dragged you out here."

"What is this?"

"You or actually the fact that you wasting away." She raised an eyebrow and pulled the blankets tighter around her. "The whole team knows."

"What?"

"Well I mean...Ziva said you've been on some exercise binge, and Abby and Cynthia along with Noemi both claim you aren't eating, Ducky was worried that you'd apparently lost so much weight. And DiNozzo...well he personally thought you looked a little frail."

"What?" This time her voice had turned into a deadly growl. He didn't say anything knowing she was gearing up for a good dress down. "First of all my private life has nothing to do with any of you or the agency! If I happen to want to get into shape that is no one concern but mine and Ziva should know better than to go blabbing to you. Secondly..." The secondly was cut off as his hand muffled her mouth.

"It is my concern Jen, you've barely got anything to you and that stupid contraption you were wearing almost killed you!"

"What contraption?" She inquired hoping to deny everything. He got up and went into the bedroom grabbing the damn thing. She gasped at the ruined laces. "Jethro! That was a hundred dollars!"

"That's what your life is worth to you?" He snapped. "A hundred dollars? This thing almost killed you!"

"Give it back!"

"No!" He grabbed his wallet off the counter and dug in his wallet and found the ten twenties he needed. "Here, two hundred, so your life plus interest, guess it means it belongs to me now and I'm telling you, you're never wearing something like this again!"

"No one tells me what to do," She stated. "You don't own me."

"Yea well tell that to that bitchy gossip writer."

"What?"

"If no one tells you what to do why are you letting what she wrote dictate your life?"

"I have an image to maintain!"

"And its worth your life?"

"It is my life!"

"That has to be the worst way to live a life. Dictated by what others think you should like, when there's nothing wrong with the way you looked originally."

"I choose to look the way I want."

"You let your job run your life, but that's your MO isn't it?" He reminded coldly. She froze in place at his words before regaining her ability to move. She stepped closer to him and slapped him hard across the face before turning and going back into the bedroom slamming the door closed and locking it. "Ouch," he muttered. Not that I didn't deserve it. Approximately a second after the words had left his mouth he had realized what a spectacularly bad idea they were and that on the getting her to trust him and listen to his reasoning scale he was doing a piss poor job. He slowly walked over to the bedroom door knowing it was still locked. He pressed his ear against the door and felt his heart drop in his chest. The soft whimpers were all he could hear but knew that she was probably muffling her cries. It still meant she was crying. Still meant he had caused the tears. He really didn't like the way that made him feel. "Jenny."

"Go away."

"I'll be at the grocery store, do you want something in particular?"

"Leave."

"Okay." He did as she instructed and left but he didn't make it past the front seat of the car. He sat and stared at the window. He'd had high hopes for this trip. Getting her to admit she might be wrong, getting her to eat, and then bringing her back safe and sound. That was all gone now. She wasn't likely to speak to him after this and he wouldn't be surprised if she swiped the keys in the night and drove herself back to DC. He didn't know how long he sat there starring out through the windshield but it must have been quite some time as Jenny appeared in the doorway dressed in jeans and a pullover. The way it hung loosely on her made his stomach churn, but he didn't have much time to process as she opened the passenger door and got into the car.

"You going to drive or do I have to?" She inquired after five minutes of silence. He slid the key into the ignition and started the car. Grocery shopping was completed in silence as was the drive back. He carried in most of the bags as she put the food away. He got some more wood for the fire and after stoking it sat down at the kitchen table to catch his breath. She placed a coffee mug in front of him and sat down across from him with her own.

"They care about you Jen," he said breaking the silence after a while.

"I know they do. I care about them."

"They were just worried that something might have happened, something incurable."

"Ducky would have known."

"Yea well he wasn't so sure about that, and quite honestly neither was I. You're too good at keeping secrets," he replied.

"I had a good teacher," she responded ready to step this up to a fight if that's what he wanted.

"It's not healthy for you."

"And suddenly you're an expert?"

"After almost a decade, yea."

"Six non consecutive years."

"And six in between," he agreed trying to hide the bitterness. "You used to not care about things like that. You knew the effect you had on people. It never bothered you that you weren't the depressed half of the world who thinks they should be the size of a model."

"People change, their likes and dislikes change too," she replied before going back to her coffee. Perhaps it was the sadness tinged in her voice when she said it, but he could swear he understood her motives after that. She was afraid, and everything made perfect sense after that. Jennifer Shepard did not like to admit fear, and she would do everything in her power to hide the fear.

"The article scared you."

"What article?" He gave her a good Gibbs glare, that she rolled her eyes at refusing to concede.

"The article where that stupid gossip columnist suggested something that wasn't true."

"This is what your investigation has deducted?" She inquired sarcastically.

"I'm not finished," he answered with a small smirk. "See either a) she suggested something that was a touchy subject which I'm guessing is only part of the reason, but we'll get to it, or b) she made a comment about something you had not noticed yourself and you panicked worried that everyone would be drawing the same conclusions. Grant it they aren't very good conclusions if you were trying to stay out of the spotlight, but they're logical ones."

"Brilliant reasoning Sherlock," she mocked her attitude coming out as she built up her walls. She hated that he was so good at his job.

"I'm going to go with option B and in response to this you would throw yourself into anything that would fix the problem. You were always passionate about whatever you did, and I'm guessing this was nothing different. You started running with Ziva, working out later, working more, eating less. And when those normal tricks failed to give you the results you wanted, you took more drastic actions," he informed holding up the ruined corset. "You cared very little about the sacrifice to your health and sanity, willing to do whatever it took. That's when you went from passionate to obsessive."

"You think I'm obsessive?" She questioned amused.

"I know you're obsessive about a lot of things, your appearance had never been one of them."

"Well like I said things change."

"You said people change."

"Same difference."

"No, its not. The things changing I agree. People changing not so much," he paused trying to see if she was listening at all before continuing. "You know you asked me if I thought you looked fine, and I said you did, but that's not necessarily true."

"Oh really?" She commented trying to hide her anger.

"You're not fine Jenny, you've never been fine or plain. You've always been a beautiful woman and you used to know that. I don't know where you forgot it, but you apparently did. Perhaps it was because no one actually gives you compliments, mainly because you really don't want to hear what DiNozzo thinks, but its not so easy to ignore you as you seem to think." She opened and closed her mouth a few times unsure of what to say to that revelation and finally just starring into her coffee cup. "And right this minute its hard to ignore the fact that you need to eat to get that figure back."

"You're going to make me eat?"

"I'm not going to force you into anything Jen, I'm not stupid. You can lead a horse to water, you can't make it drink, but you can make it so tempting that they comply anyway despite their stubbornness."

"Did you just compare me to a horse?"

"No, I was quoting some old saying," he assured trying to hide the smirk. He stood up and walked around the table gathering things before leaning down behind her and whispering in her ear. "Besides if you eat, you're going to have to figure out a way to stay in shape right?" She nodded trying not to enjoy the feel of his breath on her neck. "Good, I happen to know the best way to burn calories and convince you of exactly what you do to people."

He stepped away and went about busying himself around the kitchen apparently oblivious to the fact that her heart had sped up to incredibly fast speeds. On the one hand she had a very good idea of what he was suggesting and in turn was terrified and on the other she rationalized that this was Leroy Jethro Gibbs and if there was one thing he was good at, it was surprising her. He shooed her out of the kitchen, warned her not to wander off and turned back to the food. She sat down on the porch with the door open listening to him work and did exactly what he'd suggested, read one of her trashy paperbacks. A few hours later she was still flipping pages when the aroma caught her nose. She sat up trying to glance into the kitchen without attracting attention but she didn't see anything, but felt her sun being blocked. She turned to find Gibbs standing beside the chair.

"Up." She got up irritated that she obeyed so rapidly and followed him into the kitchen where the table was set and Steak Au Poivre sat waiting for her.

"You made steak."

"Brilliant observation Jen, sit." He pulled out her chair for her and she sat down waiting as he did as well. "Eat." She took a small bite and was surprised to find it was almost as good as their usual restaurant. She ate steadily surprised at how hungry she really was. She could feel Jethro watching her and knew that it was just a matter of time before he either gave her more food or poured her a drink. She cleaned her plate and stole his left over asparagus polishing that off too. She finished the water he'd placed for both of them and then stood up to help clean up. It wasn't very long until she felt unsteady and the idea occurred that he might have slipped her a sleeping pill.

"Ah Jethro..." she said gently. He turned to find her paler than normal and looking quite green around the gills.

"Jen? Are you okay?"

"I...no." She bolted to the bathroom and a second later he heard her throwing up. He sighed grabbing a towel and running it under cool water before entering the bathroom. Jenny was leaning over the toilet looking more miserable than he'd ever seen her. He knelt beside her pulling her hair back off her neck his other hand rubbing her back lightly, putting the cool damp cloth across the back of her neck. "I don't usually do this," she mumbled after she stopped for retching. He continued rubbing circles on her back.

"I think it was the fact that you ate all your dinner and you haven't eaten anything in a while. She just hung her head over the toilet for a bit longer until she felt better. He could see the color returning to her. "You know it probably didn't help that you swallowed half the lake too," he tried to tease and she smiled faintly before it faded. "C'mon I think you need a nice shower to relax in." He turned the water on, set it to an agreeable temperature and helped her stand up. "I'll get you a towel and some clothes." She nodded turning away and waited for him to leave before shedding her clothes and stepping under the hot water. The darkened shower curtain was enough for her to only blush slightly when she heard him knock again. "Putting your clothes on the counter and your towel on the rack."

"Jethro..."

"Jenny? You want anything else?" he asked and it sounded almost as if he would go searching for it if she asked.

"No, no I'm fine. Thank you," she replied softly.

"Welcome." He closed the door and left her to her shower hovering near the door listening for any sounds of distress. When he heard the water shut off he waited for a few more minutes before going into the main room to wait near the fire. She appeared in the doorway a few minutes after that and he looked up his breath catching as he watched her walk closer, using her fingers to comb through her still wet hair. "Feel better?" He asked.

"A lot actually," she sat down into the piles of pillows he was lounging on.

"Good, want anything to drink?"

"No...I think I'm good." Jethro watched as she starred at the flames attacking the wood in the fireplace. Almost as if she was in a trance of some sort, Jethro grabbed her arm gently and pulled her down into the pillows to lie down. "Omf."

"You okay?"

"Wasn't expecting that."

"You need to rest Jen," he told her. She nodded curling towards him happy that he didn't seem to reject her if anything he pulled her a little closer. "Jenny..."

"Hm?" He took her wrist in his hand studying the bones that were so prominent.

"I think its going to take at least a week to fix this."

"A week?"

"Well yea...I'm not going to let you out of my sight until I know you're back to normal and then Ziva is going to deal with that gossip columnist."

"Jethro...what did you tell her to do?"

"Nothing Jen, relax."

"You took me out here just to do this," she asked sounding a little surprised.

"Well I figured if you relaxed a little you would realize that you were destroying your health and then you'd want to eat some more."

"Perhaps I was overzealous in the exercising, but I did need to loose some of the weight." Gibbs tightened his hold on her wrist and bit down the urge to shake her.

"Jenny you're just fine the way you are."

"Says you."

"Says me and the entire population of males that are straight and probably some that are gay," he replied. "Ask DiNozzo." She glared at that before turning back to stare at the fire. "Fine...I said I wasn't going to resort to this unless there were no other options."

"Resort to what?" She asked pulling away slightly. He got up and went into the bedroom getting something out of his bag before coming back into the room and sitting back down. He handed her a stack of newspaper clippings as well as magazine cutouts and headlines, along with one complete magazine. She flipped to the magazine and found the headline of America's Sexiest Women Alive. He was looking fairly guilty that he had to own up to having a copy of something she could only describe as Tony's favorite magazine next to Playboy Bunny. She flipped to the cover article and ran down the list. There at number twenty one was her name along with quite a few images. "How come I haven't heard about this?"

"Uh well..." he was not going to admit that he'd confiscated all the copies of it in the agency as well as had a few conversations with most of the men there as well.

"This seems like something DiNozzo would find out."

"He did."

"I wonder how Cynthia escaped hearing about the bet."

"There wasn't a bet."

"Anthony DiNozzo didn't place a bet on this? Now I'm just disappointed," she sighed.

"He tried to."

"And you put an end to it?" She guessed with a smirk. "Oh Jethro...that's actually quite flattering," she replied. "Still I'm surprised I even made it into the top 25." He just sat there starring at her.

"You're kidding right?"

"Well I mean there is Angelina Jolie Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts...the list goes on."

"Alright fine so you want to see the non-celebrity list. The list of women who hold jobs besides being an actress or a singer."

"There's a revised list?" He flipped the pages for her until they got to the revised list. There at number one was her name.

"See why DiNozzo wasn't allowed to place bets?"

"That is an awful picture of me," she informed glancing at the photo array. "How do these people get these photos?" She wasn't sure how anyone had gotten a photo of her leaving NCIS in a shimmery green dress that she vaguely remembered turning up at Jethro's house in.

"It won't be happening again," he assured using his ‘you really don't want to know why' voice. "Those photos also won't be replicated anytime soon."

"What did you do?"

"I did nothing. The photographer was the unfortunate victim of a robbery that NCIS investigated. "When it was discovered he'd staged the whole thing to get NCIS attention, it was decided that instead of pressing capital charges he would just trade us something. That was the trade."

"Uh huh..." She didn't buy that for a second. "Still this article came out last year. Things change." She looked away back at the fire and it turned into a mistake as Jethro pinned her to his side. "No fair."

"You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met."

"That's saying something coming from you," she retorted seemingly not concerned with her new position.

"You know I should've just done this from the start," he sighed.

"Done what?" He brought his lips down on hers and silenced her. He took possession of her mouth and she fought for possession of him. Not that it really took much for him to surrender, it tended to happen when she did things like that. They broke apart only when air was essential. Her bright green eyes were the first thing he saw again, the flush to her skin turning them more of an emerald color. He'd been leaning over her slightly and brushed the stray hairs out of her face, his thumb rubbing her cheekbone as she turned into the touch. "What was that for?"

"Honestly...I should have done it months ago," he answered. Her eyes widened at that. When she'd first started as Director that had been time when she suspected he had a less than pure thought of her and that time she'd shoved him against the window her fleeting thought had been that he was going to kiss her. This time however she hadn't been expecting it.

"Why didn't you?"

"You had a gun in the drawer next to your hand," he informed. "I thought it would have been a good way to get the idea that there was something wrong with you out of your head."

"You don't think there is?" She asked quietly shifting slightly.

"Jenny..." he paused trying to figure out what to say next. "You remember the first day you were Director."

"A little hard to forget."

"Yea...you remember what you said..."

"I said a lot of things."

"Yea that part about not changing a bit."

"You said why should we start lying," she recounted stiffing as the unpleasant memory ran through her.

"Exactly. The thing is you haven't changed, at least not in appearance."

"I don't think that's true."

"Okay you cut your hair, but that only revealed the fact that you still have that tiny little scar on the back of your neck from that brawl we got into."

"That's not all of it," she replied looking away. She felt his hand trail down and squeeze her side lightly.

"You're still ticklish here," he added on tickling her slightly as she let out small giggles that couldn't be repressed. "And you still have these two adorable dimples when you smile," he said tapping her cheek slightly.

"And I look like a pregnant shrimp," she replied.

"Well I don't know what pregnant shrimp look like, but if you mean the fact that your four pack went to a six pack to rival Ziva's than okay."

"I don't even have a two pack."

"Says who?" He asked placing his hands on her abdomen. He knocked his hand against it. "Ouch."

"Ha ha...funny Jethro."

"Well I wouldn't actually hit you to find out, feels the same to me," he assured before sitting up slightly. "Your calves are just the same as always...must be from wearing the heels all the time," he guessed. "Flip over."

"What?"

"Flip over," he pushed her slightly to her side and she settled on her stomach. "Let's see...you're back still has freckles," he traced the small dots along the back of her neck and she scrunched her shoulders. "And you're still ticklish there."

"You're enjoy this aren't you?"

"Shush..." he told her putting pressure on her back with his hand. "You still have the knot right..." She winced. "There." He rubbed it slightly figuring he might as well do something useful. She relaxed at the touch and he took the opportunity to study other things.

"Stop starring at my ass." He looked down at her startled and his hand stopped for a second before he continued. She hadn't budged.

"It's a nice focal point," he replied. She rolled to her side when she felt his hands leave. "Which I wasn't done looking at," he grumbled. She raised an eyebrow at him and withheld the urge to laugh.

"I'm sorry to disappoint," she responded sarcastically.

"Hm...you could never be disappointing," he reassured his eyes quickly trailing down her figure. "You know...I bet you still have that tattoo." His hand trailed along her side to rest on her hip.

"I plead the fifth."

"Hm...we'll come back to it then. Let's see..." he leaned down and kissed her again, softer this time, almost as if he was just trying to whisper to her. "Still taste like strawberries and something else that I never figured out...and you still wear that perfume."

"You still smell like sawdust and taste like bourbon and coffee."

"Coffee! That's it. A dark blend of coffee, that's what it tastes like," he seemed very proud of himself and in truth he was, that had been bothering him for almost a decade. She looked at him suspiciously but said nothing more. "Is this working by the way?"

"Working?"

"Hm...convincing you that you don't need to loose all this weight just to be beautiful cause if its not..." She put her hand over his mouth silencing him.

"I'm not sure, try kissing me again," She suggested shyly glancing away. He did as she suggested, kissing her slowly and deeply drawing it out as long as he could and only letting her breathe for seconds at a time. She responded to the kisses wrapping her arms around his neck as she felt his pull her closer to him. He rolled them slightly so she lay atop him and slid his hands just under her top. He felt her hands in between them on to his chest. He rolled them again so she rested gently on her back surrounded by pillows and blankets. Her one knee bent to keep him rest on top of her enjoying the feel of his weight against hers. She arched up as he drew her shirt up and over her head tossing it away from them as his quickly followed. He pulled away from her lips smiling slightly as her bright smile spread across her lips. Jenny felt his lips begin the path of torture down her neck and over her chest. He skipped over the place she wanted and pressed kisses to each of the marks on her stomach.

"No more corsets Jen," he whispered against her skin.

"Okay," she agreed deciding she would never even touch one again at least not a real one. "Jethro..." Her voice left her as his hands reached up to her breasts gently cradling them. She arched into his touch.

"Hm...and of course these haven't changed," he teased gently as he pressed kisses to her breasts, gently taking the pebbled nipple between his lips. He smiled at the sound of her whimper when he pulled away.

"Not fair," she said when she got her breath back. In retaliation Jethro felt her hands travel down to his pants and under the elastic.

"Jenny...that's not fair." He used her own actions against her and felt her hips buck towards his at his first touch. He slid the pants of her legs as she did the same, the rest of the clothing following quickly.

"Jethro..." Jenny pleaded. Jethro paused before giving her what she wanted and just watched her for a moment. "Jethro...please." She wrapped her legs around his waist trying to draw him down.

"Jenny..." he slid slowly into her letting her adjust to the fit. He watched her eyes close briefly as her head fall back into the pillows in pleasure. Her eyes fluttered open to reveal emotions she couldn't express out loud and he knew it was reflected in his own eyes. He leaned down kissing her passionately before pulling away and holding her gaze. "Beautiful," he whispered reverently and watched happily as she blushed.

"If you say so."

"I do, and I'm going to keep proving it to you for quite some time."

"I think I can live with that," she assured not wanting to loose this again. She moved against him and he finally began to move within her. He knew it would be long, it had been almost eight years since the last time they'd moved together and that kind of passion tends to burst all at once. The moans and pleas that fell from her lips were enough to let him know that this would be over just as quickly for her and as he shifted, she screamed his name. She reached her arms up again and wrapped them around him pulling him into a kiss that sent everything into a free fall over the edge of pleasure and muffled his scream. He collapsed on top of her completely spent and smiling the same wide grin she had spread across her own lovely lips.

"Jenny," he kissed her lightly again as they came down from their mutual high. He went to move off her and she tightened her grip with her legs.

"Stay."

"Okay, but I don't want to crush you," he replied rolling them so she could rest on top of him and they could remain joined. He was glad she had told him to stay, he wasn't quite ready to leave her warmth. He knew this could never be a one time thing. He couldn't stay out in the cold for that long again. He grabbed a blanket from the pile and tossed it over them as they rest in front of the fire. "So...want to stay for the week?"

"Hm...sound delightful," she agreed.

"And when you make me drag you back to your office?"

"Oh I've been meaning to tell you Jethro, I don't think my heat is working," she said looking quite seriously. "I get so cold in my office and now my house too."

"Well we wouldn't want you to freeze," he assured. "You can stay with Ziva." She hit him lightly on the arm.

"Well then I'll just have to go back to running five miles."

"Hm...I thought we just covered the best way to burn calories."

"Well perhaps we should have a repeat, just in case?" She suggested shifting slightly.

"Jenny..." he warned feeling his body respond to hers. "I think we can keep this up...every morning instead of running what do you think?"

"Think its the best idea you've had in awhile," she assured.

"Good."

"I think this magazine is going to get framed," she said kissing him lightly as she reached for it. "Makes up for all the gossip."

"So long as they don't make a reprint."

"Why not?"

"Jenny, honey, as thrilled as I am that it's going to get you to stop wearing that horrible contraption if they keep publishing these kinds of thing I'm going to have every man in the DC area coming after you."

"They can look all the want Jethro, you'll be the only one to touch," she promised kissing him to seal the deal.

"Good."

"Course I will have to tell Cynthia I don't want to know about the Sexiest Male Agent In NCIS contest ever again."

"The what?" he asked confused.

"You heard...you've won for at least nine years in a row. Probably more."

"Hm...well then. Bet DiNozzo is quite unhappy," he chuckled. "Just as well I don't know any other redheads in the agency."

"Oh really?"

"Hm...I wouldn't want to have to break any hearts," he sighed. She raised an eyebrow. "Well I'd have to tell them I'm quite happily taken."

"Good," she responded. He reached to the side of her and grabbed the ruined corset from the ground.

"So...is there a way to wear these comfortably?"

"You just told me you hated it."

"Oh I do believe me," to prove his point he tossed it into the fireplace and watched gleefully as it burnt. He thought about it a minute trying to erase the image of Jenny's breast being offered up with that thing around her. It did have some uses he supposed. On the other hand, he felt her shift again him, this was so much more preferable.

"So what about it?

"Nothing, absolutely nothing. I'm burning all the ones you have."

"Okay," she agreed leaning down to kiss him again. The kisses soon progressed and they quite forgot the burning piece of clothing.

THE END