A/N: I decided to write a little something about when Jenny and Gibbs started working together. Here's my take on their history. Will be several chapters.

November, 1997

Gibbs hurried up the stairs to the Director's office. He was clutching a cup of hot coffee in his hand, which was the reason why he was late for the meeting. He flew past the assistant who was sitting outside Tom Morrow's office; she knew he was expected by the Director. He gave the door a quick knock before he wrenched it open.

Two sets of eyes turned toward him when he entered. He didn't get a proper look at the other visitor until he had closed the door behind him and then turned around to lay his eyes on her. He raised one eyebrow as his eyes wandered up and down her body. She was neatly dressed in black pants and a forest green blouse. He met her eyes as he took in her features; she wasn't looking too bad. Her long red hair caught his attention when she shook it back over her shoulders. He changed his previous thought; she was beautiful.

The redheaded woman carefully eyed up the newcomer. 'Cute' she thought and hid a smile. His bright blue eyes pierced through her green ones, making her feel strangely exposed. She let her gaze travel over his face and his silver-grey hair. She briefly wondered who he was.

"Ah, there you are" Director Morrow seemed pleased that Gibbs had finally made it. Gibbs took his gaze from the mysterious redhead and greeted Tom Morrow.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late, Director"

"Well, at least you're here now" Tom answered and rose from his seat behind his desk. "Like I told you before, Agent Gibbs, you will be assigned a new agent" he continued and gestured toward the redheaded woman. Gibbs turned back to her.

"Special Agent Gibbs, meet Special Agent Jennifer Shepard" Tom introduced them.

Gibbs reached out his hand to greet her while he did his best to hide his surprise, he had known the Director had talked about signing him up with someone new, but he never would have guessed it would be someone like her. But now as he met her gaze over the handshake, he saw a fire burning in the green eyes of hers, and he realized she was tough.

"Jethro" he introduced himself, the corner of his mouth rose in a slight smile.

"Jenny" she replied, looking amused. She looked down at their still intertwined hands. "Can I please have my hand back, Jethro?" she asked politely while struggling to keep laughter from her voice as he wasn't late to withdraw his hand.

"I'm sure you two will find a way to get along" Tom continued "Jethro, Shepard is one of our newest agents, I trust you to take good care of her"

"I will" Gibbs assured the Director as he glanced at Jenny, who was leaning casually against the table in the middle of the office.

"So why don't you two get acquainted while waiting for further instructions?" Tom suggested and Jenny nodded for an answer. "Dismissed" he finished and sat down in his chair again.

Gibbs walked over to the door and held it open for Jenny, who grabbed the coat and bag she'd left on the table, and walked out before him.

"Thought I'd show you your desk, Jen" Gibbs said as they walked together toward the stair that would take them down to the squad room.

"I'm pretty sure I asked you to call me Jenny" she pointed out as they began to descend the staircase.

"My mistake" he replied with a smirk as he glanced at her. "So, first real day on the job, right?" he asked, trying to have a conversation with her. She nodded.

"Yes, just finished my training to become an NCIS special agent" she answered as she secretly admired the looks of her new boss. Though he was surely older than she was, he was no doubt quite attractive, she just hoped he was nice, but so far, it had gone very well, except his little mistake of calling her Jen.

"Kinda figured that" he was still smiling as he turned his head to look at her

"Sorry" she apologised.

"Don't apologise, it's a sign of weakness" Gibbs simply stated without turning to look at her. But he came to an abrupt halt when the clinking of her heels had stopped.

"What was that?" she asked suspiciously where she stood like frozen on a step. He turned around to face her.

"That was one of my rules" he explained, the tone in his voice slightly sharper than before.

"Rules? I never heard of any rules…" Jenny began, frowning. She was cut off by Gibbs smile. She stared at him, trying to get him to talk. He stared back. For several seconds their eyes were locked together, neither wanted to be the first one to look away. Jenny refused to show her new boss any sign of weakness, but she found this challenge to be extremely difficult. There was such an intensity in his gaze that she literally had to force herself to not let her gaze wander away. Gibbs was secretly amused by her stubbornness and her will to not let him intimidate her. It was obvious she was having a hard time to keep the eye contact. He tried to make his gaze even more intense, and it must have worked, because Jenny finally looked away, defeated. She cleared her throat.

"What kind of rules?" she asked again, though her voice was shaking slightly; she did a great job in remaining calm after the tough match that had just been played out between them.

"My rules" he replied "It's my job to teach them to you, to make as good an agent as possible out of you. If that's what you want?" he answered, testing just how devoted she was to become a good NCIS agent. Without looking at her, he turned around and hurried down the stair. He didn't hear any clinking from her high heels, so he assumed she'd taken him more seriously then he had thought she would. Then there came a quick series of clinking of heels, and the next second she was next to him. He came to a halt by the wall of windows. He glanced down at her shoes. Yes, the heels were as high as he remembered them.

"How the hell did you learn to walk so quickly in those heels?" he asked in disbelief. Jenny wasn't smiling as she answered with a simple word "Practise". Gibbs smiled slightly, but her expression remained serious.

"What the hell did you mean with 'if that is what I want?'. Of course I wanna be a good agent, and according to Director Morrow, you're one of the best!" she burst out angrily.

"One of the best?" Gibbs asked lightly, teasingly, heavy on the word 'one'. The expression on the fiery redhead's face told him this was no time to make jokes.

"I was just testing you. Wouldn't want a probie who isn't committed to the work on my hands." He stated and gestured for her to come with him. With her mouth still slightly open in surprise and fury she followed him the short walk to his office. He stopped in front of the desk next to his and reached over the computer screen to fetch something. Jenny stood waiting patiently for whatever he was doing. Shortly afterwards he straightened up, holding a dark blue jacket and cap in his hands, both with the letters NCIS on them in white. He offered them to her.

"Welcome to NCIS, special agent Shepard" he sounded quite formal as he said it, and Jenny had a hard time keeping the smile off her face. Her lips curled up in a smile.

"Thank you, special agent Gibbs" she replied as she held onto her new clothing. Gibbs smiled back and picked up the cap and pressed it down onto her head.

"Suits you, Jen" he said with a little laugh as he turned away from her and took his seat behind his desk.

"I assume I'm just gonna have to get used to being called Jen" she said lightly and tilted her head to the side as she spoke and gave him another smile.

He looked at her, her red curls hung down from underneath the cap, the sweet smile still on her lips. Yes, his first impression of her had been right; she was a beautiful, fiery redhead.

To be continued…

Btw, if anyone knows which number the rule "Never apologise, it's a sign of weakness" is, will you please tell me, because I'm not sure about that one! Thanks.

And thanks for reading and please review!!

Emma