AN: I was thinking of crackers and cheese yesterday and this popped into my mind. Hope you like it.

The door clicked open and the alarm beeped as she placed the last piece of gruyere on the wooden platter. Jenna licked her fingers and turned to the open bottle of Merlot that was breathing on the counter. Horatio's glass was filled by the time he entered the kitchen. She handed it to him as he greeted her. "Hi," he said and placed a kiss on her lips. Jenna picked up the tray and led the way to the living room where she deposited it on the coffee table. "What do we have here?" he asked.

"Dinner," she said with a flourishing gesture to the display of meats and cheeses.

"Cheese and crackers? You cooked. I'm impressed," he said.

"Hey! Be nice. That is a pretty nice charcuterie."

"Charcuterie, huh? Fancy."

"Alright," she said, "enough. It's been a bad day. That's all I had energy to pull together tonight."

He reached for a couple of pieces of cheese and tossed them in his mouth. "Rough day?" When the reply was her nodding head and slightly haunted look in her eyes he added, "Want me to cook you something more substantial?"

"No. I'm not really very hungry. Sorry if you wanted more."

"No worries." He removed his jacket and tossed it aside. Lifting his wine glass with one hand and tugging her wrist with the other, he pulled both on them onto the couch. "This is perfect." A satisfying swig of wine preceded the bite of salami that she placed on his tongue. He closed his eyes for a moment enjoying the mixture of tastes and textures, but the tension oozing off his girlfriend dominated the room. Looking down at her, he kissed her mouth again then said, "What happened?"

While she always preferred whites to red, she enjoyed the taste of wine that lingered on her lips from his. "No," she said. "Not yet." She shimmied away from him to the opposite end of the couch and opened the drawer of the side table. He watched her remove a red lipstick and slowly apply it. Horatio used to think that Jenna was careless when he found tubes of lipsticks in random spots throughout the house. It didn't take long for him to realize they were placed in strategic places so she never had to go far to find one. Never a lipstick man, his attitude towards the cosmetic changed when he discovered his lover's ambition.

By the time he found his voice, the lipstick had been applied with perfection and she was fiddling with his belt. He placed his hand on top of hers in a half hearted attempt to halt her actions. "You don't have to do this, Jen. You've had a bad day."

She pushed him away and continued her task. "It relaxes me." She stopped her hands for a second and looked up at him through the hair that had fallen over her face. "Please, Lieutenant," she said. "Don't make me beg."

"Oh, my God." His voice was a murmur as he ran his hand over her head and allowed her to continue.

A bit later, he leaned back against the couch trying to steady his breathing and tracing Jenna's jawline with his fingers as she lay with her head in his lap. When he trusted his voice, he spoke. "You are amazing."

A smile pulled a her lips and she sat up and locked eyes with him. "I love you," she said.

The expression in her eyes worried him. "I love you, too," he said. "Come here." He drew her up so that she straddled his lap and kept looking through her, trying to decipher what he saw. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'm scared.".

He blinked, confused. "Of me?" He moved his hands up to hold the sides of her face.

"Please," she said, "try not to be mad." Her eyes were wet with threatening tears. "I'm going undercover. Tomorrow."

His blue eyes darkened and his hands dropped to rest on her hips. "Jenna," was all that he could get out.

Now feeling the need to spill all the details as fast as possible she said, "It won't be for long. I may be done in a day or two. It's a drug and prostitution ring we've been working forever. There will be eyes and ears on me the whole time. It's a quick in and out operation. It's the only way."

"No," he said. "It's not the only way and there will not be eyes and ears on you the whole time. That's not possible. Find another way."

She removed herself from his lap and sat on the other end of the couch. "There's no other way. We've exhausted all our other means. And you have no say in this. Everything has been arranged. I go in tomorrow night." She knew his history with undercover work, his brother's story. She knew his fears, but she had to do this. "I know you're worried, Horatio, but everything will be ok. Wilkes will be close. He won't let anything happen to me."

"You're going in as a prostitute? As bait?"

"Yes."

"It's too dangerous."

"This is my job. It is what I am trained to do, Horatio. Everything has been planned down to the tiniest detail."

"You can't predict everything."

"We can come close," she said. "This isn't my first trip to the rodeo. I know what I'm doing and I have great back up that I trust - that you trust. And you trust me, and my skills, and my instincts." His arm leaned over the back of the couch, his fingers reaching towards her. She entwined her fingers in them. "I'll be alright. I promise."

"You can't promise that," he said. "You don't understand. Undercover changes people."

"You'll help me. You won't let it change me." She moved close to him once again and nestled into his side. "You'll be there for me."

He buried his face in the top of her head and tightened his hold on her. "I will. But I don't like any of this."

"That has been noted," she said, and closed her eyes.

Thanks for reading. Please review.