TITLE: Five times Tony thought of Miss Benoit
RATING: PG
TIMELINE: early season 4
SPOILERS: all of season 4
SUMMARY: five drabbles, five instances when Tony thought of her before everything changed.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: first time writing NCIS, though I have a longer fic in the works and an idea for a sequel and a comanion piece for this one. I guess we'll have to see just how crazy RL is going to get here over the holidays. Reviews very welcome :)

Disclaimer: NCIS is property of CBS and D.P. Bellisario, I'm not making any profit.

1

The first time he saw her picture he thought: well, this is going to be easy. He said as much to the Director. For all they knew she didn't even speak to her father anymore. Jenny looked at him that special way she had picked up since Gibbs had retired, and told him not to underestimate the assignment. To which he replied that he was perfectly aware of the risks of undercover work, and that he was up to the task.

"This is long term, Agent DiNozzo. You still have to be seeing her after three weeks."

Not a problem.

2

The night after "initiating contact" with Jeanne Benoit he went home alone. In his experience usually chatting up a beautiful girl involved the opposite, so his brain decided to get creative and provided him with a Technicolor and sound-surround dream of his own version of the kamasutra, starring Miss Benoit.

Being attracted to her wasn't going to be a problem, though. I'm a professional. I can handle this. He was just going to leave the dreaming (and the day-dreaming) out of his report. It wasn't relevant.

In the morning he took a cold shower and went to work as usual.

3

"It appears you've managed to become good friends with Miss Benoit, Tony. Excellent work."

Tony smiled, but the praise made him feel like a kindergartner who had proved he could play well with others. Even if Jenny was the last figure that sprung to mind when he thought of a kindergartner teacher. It's not as if I haven't been friends with women before. I was friends with Kate.

"And Miss Benoit told her poor, orphaned friend Tony that she has the greatest dad in the world, who likes to surprise her and come up and visit out of the blue."

4

The obscure, European films were easy. Restraining himself from casually sliding his hand a little further south when it rested on her shoulder was getting increasingly difficult. Especially because Jeanne had started to take his arm and put it there in the first place. She was sending him all the signals, many of whom he had never witnessed before just because he used to always anticipate them.

He liked watching movies with her, even the snotty ones professor DiNardo would like.

Maybe her dad is not going to show up again. Maybe he'll get killed before he has a chance.

5

He asked Jenny for advice, but he might as well had asked a pre-recorded message. Was it wrong to sleep with a woman he found attractive and charming and intelligent and funny if she didn't know who he really was? I'm a professional.

Eventually he was going to have to tell her. He imagined that he could ease into it, once her father was out of the picture. He had made le Grenuille disappear off the face of the Earth many times in his head. It could happen.

Jenny pretty much sent him off with a "go get her, tiger".