Work Text:
The NCIS Christmas party was a huge success. Not surprising; they always were. What wasn't surprising either, was the fact that teams tended to stick together. Oh, there was mingling, of course, but for the most part, people stayed with who they knew.
Right in the middle was the group known as Team Gibbs. They were all there - Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, Tim. Also included in that group was Ducky, Abby and Jimmy. The last three may have worked with all the teams but everyone at NCIS knew they were on Gibbs' team.
On the walkway over the main floor, a lone figure stood watching. Jenny Sheppard stood looking down at the people who worked for her. She knew that, with very few exceptions, every one of them excelled at what they did. Her eyes drifted to the one team that outdid them all. The one team she knew best.
There was a time when she would have been included in that group, when they would have welcomed her, but that time had passed. Too many things, bad things, had happened for that to happen anymore. Oh, they'd be polite, she was the Director after all, but that would be all. The final straw was something she wasn't supposed to know about.
Jethro and Tony were lovers and, from the look of things, had been for a while.
Oh, they hadn't told her, although she was sure the team knew. You could see it if you knew what to look for. At the moment, Jethro had his hand on the small of Tony's back. There were the small smiles they gave one another. The eyes that lit up when they saw each other. Jethro was a little more relaxed, although he still lived up to the second B in his last name during a case. Scuttlebutt had it that they tended to leave work at the same time when they weren't on a case although they took separate cars. Jethro cared for and worried about all his team, especially when they were injured, but it was a near meltdown if it was Tony. He'd hold it together until Tony was at the hospital then he would explode. Ducky was usually the only one who could get him to calm down.
Up until that moment, Jenny had harbored a secret hope, a hope that perhaps, one day, she and Jethro would get back together, pick up where they had left off in Paris. They had been good together and she was sure the love she felt went both ways. That was eight years ago and, from the look of things, Jethro had moved on. She had originally told him there would be no outside of work but it hadn't taken long for the feelings to return just as strong as they had been before. She just hadn't been sure how to approach him.
Now, it was a moot point.
Jethro and Tony were good for each other, she could see that. She couldn't deny that or the fact that Jethro deserved some happiness in his life. She had just hoped it would be with her. That wasn't to be so she would have to deal with it and move on.
She wiped a lone tear from her face and pasted a smile on her face. It wouldn't do for the Director of NCIS to be anything but her best on this night. She walked to the stairs and down to join the party.
FIN
"I Still Miss Someone"
At my door the leaves are falling
A cold wild wind has come
Sweethearts walk by together
And I still miss someone
I go out on a party
And look for a little fun
But I find a darkened corner
because I still miss someone
Oh, no I never got over those blues eyes
I see them every where
I miss those arms that held me
When all the love was there
I wonder if she's sorry
For leavin' what we'd begun
There's someone for me somewhere
And I still miss someone.