Work Text:
“Hey,” Jubal turned to see Kristen catching up to him.
“Hey, you all good?” He asked, as he waited for the elevator.
“Yeah, you heading home?” She asked.
Jubal nodded - it had been a long day for them all, he was happy to finally be heading home.
“Can you give this to Dana, please?” She asked, before she saw the look of confusion on his face. “I wanted to say thank you to her when I graduated the academy, but she told me to wait until I became an official agent, which is apparently after my first case,”
Jubal chuckled and nodded, taking the envelope off Kristen.
“You did well today, Dana would be really proud if she was here,” he hesitated for a moment, “she’s proud regardless.”
Kristen smiled. “Well, that’s just to say thank you. She didn’t have to put in a good word.”
Jubal didn’t say anything, he knew he could give her multiple reasons as to why Dana did what she did, but it wouldn’t make a difference now, she was an agent and that was all that mattered.
“Have a good night, I know you missed her today,” Kristen said before turning to walk away.
“Don’t work too late, Kris.”
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He walked through the front door, closing it quietly.
Stepping further into the entryway he spotted Dana, sat alone at the kitchen table, mug of tea in one hand and a book in the other.
“Hey.” Jubal was quiet, leaning against the kitchen doorframe.
He would never tire of seeing Dana’s smile after a long day.
“Hey,” Dana said, putting her book down. “how was your day?”
“As well as can be expected.” Jubal took a seat next to her, handing her the envelope Kristen had given him in the office.
“Kristen asked me to give this to you, said it was some kind of ‘thank you’ for the academy.” He explained with a smile.
Dana nodded a little, taking the envelope, but putting it down, turning to look at Jubal. “I’ll open it later. You look like someone who doesn’t want to talk about work.”
He couldn’t argue with her, she knew him too well. They knew each other too well to lie, to make things up, to pretend to be okay.
“I missed you, today.”
Dana put her hand on top of his, “I missed you too.”
“But,” he said upon seeing the flash of guilt in her eyes. “We’ll get used to it and I am sure you will make a wonderful housewife. The kids are more excited to have you home than they are to have a dad with the FBI.”
Dana chuckled. “They just like that I can take them to school when they miss the bus and that they get pancakes for breakfast, I am sure it will wear off,” she paused. “The downside is, I now know what constant fear feels like.”
Jubal shook his head lightly, using his free hand to cup her cheek. “Since when do I leave the JOC?”
She knew that, but it didn’t stop her worrying. It didn’t stop the fear she felt, the clock watching or the sleepless nights.
“It was just me and Eleanor for fourteen years, and then you come along and now I’m all emotional.”
Jubal leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “You could still take down the bad guys, I’m sure.”
There was a moment of silence before Dana spoke up again. “You want something to eat? I decided to be a housewife and on day one I have failed.”
Jubal shook his head, “No,” He stood up, gesturing for Dana to do the same. “I want to spend some time with you before I get called back to the office.”
Dana blushed ever so slightly, which she was certain Jubal would notice. She smiled as he led her through to the living room, sitting on the couch before pulling her down next to him.
Dana waited a few minutes, letting her head fall against his chest before she asked him again.
“So, do you want to talk about your day?”
She felt his arms wrap a little tighter around her.
“You don’t mind?” He asked, and she could imagine the hesitation in his face.
“I’ve done two loads of laundry, changed bedding and stared into the backyard for the last ten hours, if you don’t talk about your day, we’ll be sat here in silence love,”
Jubal wanted to make a comment - he didn’t care if they were sat in silence or sat engaged in a conversation about astrophysics, he just enjoyed having her close to him.
“Well, the new boss isn’t nearly as nice to look at,” he said, a smile on his face.
Dana slapped him lightly on the arm, “Jubal,”
“What, come on, we both know that’s what you’re interested in, and I am confirming that, she’s definitely not you.”
“She’s a good agent,”
“I am sure she is, but I am just putting your mind at rest,”
“I trust you, so, I don’t need my mind putting at rest, besides, if you really did go there, I don’t think they would ever find your body,”
Jubal laughed, “I know that was supposed to be a threat, but you making threats is oddly very sexy.”
Dana sat up, looking at him. “It’s not a threat, it’s just,” she shrugged. “Okay, maybe it was a threat,”
Jubal pulled her into another hug.
“I know you want to know how my day was, and I know you hate being out of the loop, but I promise you, I’m okay, and if I’m not okay then I will let you know.”
Dana smiled although he couldn’t see it.
“I’ll be here,”
“I know you will, it’s what gets me through the day.”
Dana cuddled further into his side, that was all she needed to hear to put her mind at rest.
----------
6 weeks later.
Dana looked at the clock on the oven. It was just past ten. The kids had long gone to bed, although she was sure that at least one of them would still be awake.
She picked up her mug and took a sip of her now cold tea. She knew she should be getting to bed, getting some sleep, but something didn’t feel right.
She’d seen the news. A shooting at a school in Brooklyn, she knew the FBI would have been sent, and she knew it would be a case that haunted them all.
“Mum,” She looked across the room to see Eleanor stood in the doorway, “Dad still not home.”
Dana smiled, it had only been a few months since Eleanor had referred to Jubal as ‘dad’ in a heated argument they’d had about sleepovers and since then, it seemed to have stuck.
“Not yet, sweetheart. I’m sure he’ll be home soon.”
Eleanor took a step further into the kitchen. “Do you think he’ll be okay? We all heard about the shooting.”
Dana sighed a little. “I think it will affect them all. But you know they’re trained and they’ll all be offered therapy if they need it. But I’m sure he’s worried about you three.”
Eleanor nodded. “I wanted to wait up so I could give him a hug,”
Dana looked back at the clock again, with a small smile at Eleanor’s act of kindness, “Why don’t you wait for a little while, and if he’s not back by eleven, then I’ll tell him as soon as he gets in.”
Eleanor nodded with a smile, sitting down next to her mum at the kitchen table.
It was twenty minutes later when Jubal finally walked through the door. The first thing he saw was Eleanor. She was stood quietly at the foot of the stairs.
“Hey, love, you should be in bed.”
He spotted Dana out the corner of his eye.
Eleanor nodded, “I know. I just, I wanted to give you a hug.”
Jubal smiled, putting his bag down before walking towards the teen, pulling her into a hug when he was close enough. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t know what to say, but he could tell by the looks on both hers and Dana’s faces that what had happened today had gotten to them.
“You should go to bed, okay. You’ve got swim practice tomorrow morning,” he said before kissing her forehead.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Eleanor admitted.
“I’m a lot better now I’ve seen you. Now, get to bed.” Jubal tried to keep his tone light.
“Night, love you both.” Eleanor made her way up the stairs hearing both her parents say ‘goodnight’ and ‘we love you’ before she got to her bedroom.
Jubal waited at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, waiting to hear the click of Eleanor’s bedroom door before he turned to Dana.
“Hey,” Jubal said quietly.
“Hey,”
“I’m not okay.” Jubal couldn’t stop his voice from breaking as he finally let his work persona slip.
Dana nodded, taking a few steps towards him before hugging him. She didn’t have any words, nothing to make this better.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, neither of them speaking, just stood in the hall with their arms around each other.
Maybe she wasn’t at work, maybe she couldn’t see how he was feeling before he put it into words, maybe she wasn’t the first to know, and the first to check up on him, but she was always going to be there.
At the other end of the phone, when he got home, when he needed her.
“I missed you,” Jubal admitted quietly.
“I missed you too, but you’re home now.” Dana told him with a smile.
“Yeah, come on, we should go to bed.” All he wanted to do was make the most of being home.