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English
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Part 1 of Code of Honor
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Published:
2009-01-22
Completed:
2011-09-29
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30,877
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12/12
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Code of Honor

Chapter 7: In Your Arms

Chapter Text

After she had fallen asleep, Gibbs subtly slipped out from under her, making sure she lay correctly and not hurt her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then softly left.


Lieutenant Hallie Kingston was never a woman of gossip. Her eight-year-old son was admitted to the hospital after needing an emergency appendectomy a week prior, and was slowly getting better. She was sitting by her son's side when a boy was brought in. His arm was in a cast and there was a bandage on his other arm. She had heard the nurses talking, and concluded that he was in a car crash. She didn't really pay much more attention, until his legal guardian came in. She thought that had been weird, until a young woman wearing all black with platform boots and a man wearing suspenders and a bow tie came in. They stayed with him as the man, Agent Gibbs she heard, left. The woman was a really light soul and the man had an accent. For a while Gibbs and the other man left, and the man came back first. Then Agent Gibbs came back, and the woman and man left again.


"How is she?" Zach asked as soon as he woke up to find Gibbs in a chair beside his bed.

"She was awake for a while. She's gonna be ok," Gibbs said and saw as Zach slumped down a bit. And then he straightened and crawled off the bed.

"Where you going?"

"Bathroom," he replied simply and dragged the IV pole behind him. Gibbs grabbed his cell phone and called.

"DiNozzo," Tony answered.

"Tony, what've you got?" he ordered.

"We got the cars to the garage, McGee stayed to inspect the tread-marks and such. Ziva took the witness' statement, and he's in NCIS Conference room, willing to help out. Now me and Ziva are digging into the background of the dead guy."

"So, you've got nothing?" Gibbs asked irritated.

"That would be correct ," Tony said flat-out.

"I'll send Abby to help with evidence of the cars."

"Okay... eh, boss, how are they doing? I saw the damage to the Director's car, it was pretty bad," Tony asked, hesitantly at first.

"They're both okay, they should be just fine."

"That's good news boss."

"Yes. And Tony?"

"Yeah boss?"

"Find that other driver!" he said in an angry voice, before ending the call. Zach walked back into the room.

"I wanna see Jenny," he stated, but Gibbs shook his head.

"No, not today, tomorrow."

"What room is she in?"

"Three-four-oh-seven." Zach yawned lightly, and as Gibbs looked out the window, he noticed it was already dark.

"You gonna go to sleep, kiddo?" he asked as Zach went back under the covers. He nodded. Gibbs looked around the room and noticed that the other boy, the eight-year-old was already asleep, and the ten-year-old was getting there. Zach yawned and put his head on the pillow.

"When you fall asleep, I'll go home and grab some things for you, okay? Anything specifically you want?" Gibbs asked softly, but firm, so Zach wouldn't fall asleep while he was talking.

"My iPod. I left it on the table in the living room. And can you bring the pillows from my bed? These are lumpy," he commented, making Gibbs nod.

"Goodnight Zach," Gibbs said softly, allowing him to fall asleep.

"Don't forget Jenny's things," was the last thing Zach said before falling into a deep sleep. Gibbs had to smile at his words. He got up and stood by the door, looking back for a while and then leaving.


Gibbs was a man on a mission. He didn't want to leave the hospital, but he had to get some clothes for Zach and Jenny. First he raced home and bounded up the stairs, grabbing his old duffel bag. The first thing he stuffed in it was the two pillows Zach used from the spare room. He opened some drawers and took out the clothes Zach would need for staying in the hospital a few days. He also grabbed his sweater, because hard as he tried, Gibbs saw Zach shiver in coldness when he got out from under the covers. He put his toothbrush and toothpaste in a Ziploc and threw it in the duffel bag. He saw a stack of movies in the corner and took the top three and put them in the filling bag. When he got his pajamas, he concluded that he had everything, he just had to snatch the iPod from the living room and he was done.

In a moment of brightness, he decided to take a bag with him, knowing he was gonna practically live in the hospital the next few days. So he quickly gathered some clothes and put them in another bag. He took the two bags downstairs and put them in the car. He walked back and picked up the iPod and then he left.

He drove across town to Jenny's house. He searched through his keys and found the key with the label 'Jen Shepard' and opened the front door. He breathed in deeply, loving the way the house smelled like the cinnamon shampoo she used, vanilla (from her candles) and another faint smell. A smell he knew all too well, it was her personal smell. He couldn't describe it, but it was overwhelming and it was one of his favorite smells in the world, in a tie with how she smelled after sex, but that was not something he was gonna think about now.

He went up the stairs and found a duffel bag similar to the one he owns, albeit bigger. He walked into her closet, and the bag was filled with sweat pants, shirts, sweat shirts and a sweater. He looked for a decent pair of shoes under the mountain of heels, finally having located a pair of flats and a pair of flip flops, which he put in the bag. He blindly grabbed underwear for her and then walked to the bathroom. He packed the most obvious things: toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush, her glasses and her lotion. He wasn't sure if he should take any cosmetics with him, but he saw a small travel-bag and he took that. And then he moved on to the hardest part. What was she gonna do? He knew she liked to read, so he took the small pile of books next to her bed, but that was about it. She didn't really have much free time on her hands nowadays and he honestly didn't know what she would do with her time except reading. Except he vaguely remembered that she once told him that a person could not read books the whole way. He decided to try and look in her study, maybe finding something there. And he did. He saw two portable DVD players (wondering why she had two in the first place) and smiled. Perfect. One for Zach and one for her. He saw her laptop case and took that, but she would have to promise him she wouldn't work, something he knew was gonna be a big debate. He saw a few DVD's and took those, too.

Well, if she wanted something specifically, she would just have to ask him, he decided, because it was useless trying to figure out something for her to do. He quickly thought back to what Zach said and had an epiphany. He ran back up the stairs and into her bedroom, picking up her two, throw pillows and stuffing it with the rest of the stuff in the duffel. He smiled and went back downstairs and left, locking up behind him.


Gibbs entered the dark room softly and immediately knew something was off. When he neared, he saw the problem. Zach was not in the bed. He checked the bathroom, but found it, too, empty. He walked back out and to the Nurses' Station.

"Where's Zach?"

"I just checked the rooms, I think he's in the bathroom," the nurse said to him.

"It's empty." He had a fleeting thought and his gut agreed. He thought it was wrong—he was just there—but knowing from past experience, he went there anyway.


Jenny was sleeping soundly, when she felt the covers being pulled back. Thinking it was Gibbs, she moved a little to the side to give him more space, and was pleasantly surprised by someone much smaller. Zach, she thought. He pulled the blankets back over them and snuggled up to her. She slowly woke and her suspicions were confirmed; it was Zach. She passed her hand through his hair as he slowly drifted to sleep.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, this time revealing Gibbs.

"Hi," she said, letting him know she was awake.

"You should be sleeping," he berated lightly.

"I was, but I just keep getting interrupted." She smiled lazily. He went over and sat down on the side Zach wasn't occupying.

"Can we talk?" she said.

"You want to talk now?" She nodded.

"There won't be any other time, there's a lesser chance we'll get interrupted." Gibbs slowly nodded and let her continue. "I'm not sure I made the right decision six years ago," Jenny said and Gibbs stiffened slightly. "Career-wise, it was a good judgment."

"But," Gibbs said, filling it in for her.

"I never even listened to my heart until it was too late."

"And now?"

"My heart still wants the same thing, but I'm too scared."

"Why, Jen?" he asked, intrigued.

"I'm afraid that I'll hurt you again," she said softly, breaking away from his steely gaze. For a moment, Gibbs was frozen by her words. "And why would you even want to take me ba—."

"Don't ever say that, Jen, because it's the furthest from the truth," Gibbs growled lowly.

"No, Gibbs, I'm serious. There's no guarantee I won't hurt you again. I don't want you to get hurt, and I know you did just by my little get-up-and-leave act this morning," she said with firmness in her tone. "So sorry if I don't want to dive head first into this."

"That's true. But I think that once you've taken the plunge, we'll be okay," he said and she quieted down and calmed just by hearing him talk about it. "I think we both know what damage it's done, and what we can do to prevent it. Because Jen, I still want you and I'll never stop loving you." Tears welled up in her eyes, not just because of his last words, but because he was opening up to her, he was raw and bare and vulnerable and trusting her not to hurt him a second time.

"I'll do my best," she said. He pressed a kiss under both her eyes and then kissed her. "I love you, Jethro Gibbs."

"Thank you," Gibbs said and if that arm wasn't in the sling, she would've mock-punched him.

"Jethro!" she said half-heartedly.

"I love you too, Jennifer Shepard." He sat back and watched her with a smile. Her hand disengaged itself from in Zach's hair and grabbed Gibbs by his collar, roughly pulling him to her, sending his lips crashing against hers in a heated kiss. His hand buried itself in her silky red curls as he tilted her face a bit up. When they pulled away, he hung his head in the crook of her neck, pressing a small kiss to her collarbone.

"I'll be right back," he promised and reluctantly left, returning ten minutes later.

"Where did you go?" she whispered, as Zach stirred a bit.

"To tell the nurse in the Children's Ward I found Zach. He had just wandered off; it was probably his plan all along." Gibbs shrugged. Jenny turned on her good side, so there was still space behind her for Gibbs to slip in, and he did. He lay firmly behind her with an arm around her waist. It was tight, but all three fit in the bed and soon the only sounds to be heard were those of peaceful sleep.