A/N: Set up a little here. Time period wise, this falls after Criminal Minds "…A Thousand Words" (5/5/10) where SSA Agent David Rossi first calls Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia 'kitten' and after Criminal Minds "Exit Wounds" (5/12/10) Alaskan trip where Penelope Garcia sees her first victim die before her eyes and not through her computer screens. Time period wise for NCIS would before Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto goes down to Mexico to teach the forensics class that leads to finding out about Special Agent Jethro Gibbs past in "Obsession" (5/4/10) and before "Borderland" (5/11/10).

I'm playing a little loose with the time periods here as I'm placing this in before Obsession and before Abby leaves for Mexico on NCIS and after Exit Wounds for Garcia on Criminal Minds.

CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS/ CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS/ CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS

"You have reached the office of the Supreme Ruler of all things Bright and Beautiful, what new awesomeness do you need from me today?" Penelope quickly responded to her line.

"Red?" the voice came from her speaker, brisk and questioning.

"Yes?" pausing in her motions, she focused on her open line. She knew that voice, but it had been a while since she had heard from him.

"You don't sound happy to hear from me. Has it been that long?" The slight smile in the voice could be easily heard by her and she leaned back in her chair, twirling a ringlet of hair around her finger as she listened.

"Ah, my sexy Silver Ace, it has been that long." Penelope shook her head, catching glimpses of her red hair shaking about her head as she did. "Not that I'm not glad to hear from you, Jethro, but, you know, you only call me on holidays. Though, you could always call more, if you wanted, cause you have one of those voices. Jethro, just once, could you say that line from that Presidio movie? I swear you sound just like him, and it would sound so sexy, - "

"Red." His somberness called a halt to her ramble as surely as if he was in the very room with her. "I need to ask a favor."

"Jethro, there's no favors between us." Penelope straightened back in her seat. Leroy Jethro Gibbs did not ask for help lightly.

"I need you, Red."

A shiver ran up her spine at those words in spoken in his voice. "Oh, honeycakes, if all you needed was me, all you had to do was call." Taking a breath, she continued, knowing her daydreams weren't a true reflection of why he had called. Too much time had passed for that to be the reason he was calling her up. "Jethro, what do you need? I'll help you any way I can, you know that."

"How good is your team? Are they as good as you say they are?" The questions were quietly given. There was a pause and Gibbs' voice got deeper with his next question, "Are they as good as you are?"

Penelope's concern increased. Jethro did not call FBI for help. If he was going to call anyone here, he would have called Fornell first. "What's going on, Jethro?"

"Why don't you come visit, Red?"

Closing her eyes tightly, she shivered again. Damn marines. Rossi's voice sometimes had the same affect on her. "Do I need to bring friends?"

"I'll speak to Fornell."

"You know I don't answer to Fornell."

"Yeah, but that old bastard knows which strings to pull and I don't have the patience to deal with politics."

"What about your director? You and the Missus Shepard work out your differences?" Penelope was actually curious about that. She knew Jethro had used their friendship in those days to put space between him and his ex. Even with as much control as Jethro Gibbs had you could always feel the tension rocket up a notch when both of them were in each other's presence.

Beginning to twirl a strand of red hair between her fingers again, Penelope realized she should have known. Only once before in her life had she gone red and she had ended up with Leroy Jethro Gibbs back then. It was only fitting that the new hair color would bring him back into her life again.

(flashback)

She remembered days of picking up Jethro in that lovely BMW rental. Coming into NCIS that one time, she had known as soon as she saw the red-headed Director up on the catwalk above the offices why Jethro had wanted to see her inside his workspace. And she had thoroughly enjoyed all the flirting, the touches, and the kisses that year. Going out to eat. Friendly cookouts behind Jethro's house where both of them talked about childhoods past and only the happy memories. Fishing. Lord, that man in shorts and an open shirt. But, Jethro had been her sanctuary that first year back in the states. And maybe she had been his for that brief time. Oh, there had been no hanky-panky, no matter how hot the flirting had gotten. She had slept in the guest room of his house; he had slept on the couch. Except for those times she had noticed a certain look in his eyes and had curled up next to him on the couch with the excuse that he kept the nightmares away. He had known that it wasn't her nightmares that the cuddling was keeping at bay, of course. Yet, he still curled around her, letting the night and the quiet ease them both into a dreamless sleep.

Running from England, she had known that she would have to go off grid to hide. Too many years of hacking, dancing on the edge of discovery, but never quite slipping over the edge into doing something irretrievably wrong. She had gotten too daring. Her boyfriend, Ollie, had known just what challenge to issue. And she had taken up the hurled gauntlet. Not stopping to think about how seriously others might misinterpret their actions. And, while she might not have had anyone to worry about being hurt by her actions, Ollie did. So, she had taken the blame. And with her freedom on the line, she had dyed her hair, changed her appearance, grabbed her stuff, emptied her accounts of cash and ran. Doing a fast shred and dump on her own pc, which still had the power to bring tears to her eyes, and dropping her phone before boarding the plane, she had kept her head down and left England.

Sitting beside one Leroy Jethro Gibbs and noticing the sadness in his eyes that frantic day in the airport, she had been unable to keep from trying to cheer him up. Finding herself unaccountably telling him the short story of what she had been doing in England, in an odd third person kind of way that both of them accepted as truth, she had managed to put a lopsided smile of the handsome man's face. Working to keep that smile on his face had led to her retelling some of the tricks she and her friends had pulled at Caltech. Of course, only the truly visual and outstanding ones could be discussed. She had found that Jethro had an adorable aversion to technology.

He understood more than he let on though, the tricky Marine. Half of what he pretended not to know, he put on just to make her laugh she had come to understand. She had raised her head from the lowered tray in front of her that held rows and groups of peanuts and crackers that she was using to help explain the rewiring of a circuit board that her and a friend had undertaken to see him grinning at her. He had reached out and snatched a few peanuts from her tray with the comment, "It all looks like Pac-man to me, Red." That grin had her dissolving in giggles.

"Ace, don't be mocking my game unless you're ready to play." Her voice had come out throatier than she intended but he had taken it in form. From there on, she had relaxed even more. They had talked and flirted all the way back on the flight. Landing had been interesting as she could tell the airport personnel were looking for someone at airport security. But, Jethro had looped an arm around her waist, flashed a badge at the gate and they had walked rapidly through a scanner and left the building. The badge had her speechless till he had asked if she had any luggage. Stuttering a negative, Jethro had whisked her through the terminal. For a moment panic had overrun her mind till he had settled her inside the back seat of a taxi instead of a cruiser. When he slipped into the other side of the back seat, she had murmured, "I have a highly active imagination, my sexy silver Ace, you want to tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing going on. Just helping a lovely lady out, Red." Giving directions to his house, the sexy man sitting across from her had leaned back and closed his eyes as the taxi left the airport. "I'm heading home, but I'll pay for wherever you need to go once I get out."

Watching the lines in his face, Penelope found herself actually saying words she didn't think she would have normally revealed, "What if I'm looking for a place to hide off the grid for a little while, Jethro?" Her voice had been soft. He had introduced himself during their flight, but she had yet to give him a name. "Do you know someplace like that?"

Rolling his head to look at her, "Whatcha' asking for, Red?"

Penelope felt herself flush from head to foot. "Nothing like THAT! I mean, you're really sexy and everything. That smile you have alone is enough to curl my toes. But, I'm just getting out of a relationship; I'm not wanting to get back into one. Especially with someone that has more relationship issues than I do. But, I mean, Wow, if I was, you would be the one. Cause you are it in the one night stands department. You are the complete package. Controlling, husky voice, kick ass grin, those blue eyes, those fingers of yours just-"

With one of the aforementioned digits held against her lips, Jethro waited as she drug her eyes back up from where they had been taking a slow perusal down his form. His lips kept their crooked grin as he met her blushing gaze, "Have you lied to me about anything you told me on our trip?"

Parting her lips to answer, she felt the finger Gibbs had pressed to her lips increase their pressure slightly. Shaking her head slowly back and forth under his hand she kept her eyes on his probing ice blue stare.

"Then you can stay with me." Letting his hand drop, Jethro relaxed back against the seat. Her stories on the plane, even though they had been shared trying to entertain him, had struck him as being true. And he had known that she was running. He couldn't not help. Not if his gut was telling him that she needed help. Besides, he was a detective. He would find out who she was and what she was running from later.

"You don't mean that. You just met me." Penelope almost whispered in her shock.

"Red. Do you need a place? A safe place?"

Gathering her courage, Penelope nodded.

"Then stay with me. No expectations." His voice sounded tired. Raising his head as the taxi slowed, he looked back at her. "But you need to make a decision now, Red."

(end flashback)

"Different Director now, Red." His voice gave nothing away as he made that emotionless statement, but having been a past witness to the Gibbs withdrawal and remembering the heat and bond between Gibbs and his director, Penelope was able to draw her own conclusions.

"Oh, Jethro. I'd offer my condolences if I knew you'd accept them." No matter the time that had passed, Penelope still felt her heart squeeze for Jethro Gibbs and the numbering losses he had suffered.

"I'll speak to Fornell and he'll work out with Director Vance what needs to be done. " Gibbs voice went on as if a shift in the conversation had never occurred.

"We have to be invited in, Ace." Penelope tapped her pen rapidly against her desk as she spoke, letting Gibbs route their conversation back to their earlier discussion.

"You sure as hell didn't learn that from Fornell." Gibbs' voice was wry as it ghosted over the line to her.

"Yes, Tobias wasn't a man that waited for an invitation, was he?" Reminiscence was in the air as Penelope thought about her two past acquaintances. She fondly remembered a few passionate daydreams that she had said bye-bye to that involved the two dominant men upon her moving from DC. "How soon do you need us?" Penelope's voice was brisk as she got down to the details that her team would need. Finishing her notes, she added, "We'll be there if we can get it approved."

"Red? Come by the house first?" Jethro's voice added the question before she could say goodbye.

Penelope paused, "Ace, is there something else going on? I won't have my team coming in blind." Her voice hardened. Even for Jethro she would not knowingly let her family head unwittingly into a bigger threat than they were aware of.

"Well, don't get your knickers twisted. I've got an idea. Rule 27, Red."

"There are two ways to follow someone. First way, they never notice you." The words were pulled from her memory, almost unknown but never forgotten.

"Second way, they only notice you." A pregnant pause brought silence over the line as past memories for both threatened. "I might have an idea on how you could help me with that."

"I'll see if JJ approves the plan and leave her to brief the team and head out early. Do I meet you at the house?"

"Yep."

"Front door still open?"

"Yep."

"See you soon, honeycakes, let this Goddess work." Hanging up, Penelope reflected on what had turned out to be one of the best decisions she had ever made. Second only to her decision to apply to the BAU. Jethro had been her rock. Her year staying with him while she found her way had been wonderful. And, as she always said, things always happened for a reason. Through meeting Jethro, she had met Tobias Fornell with the FBI. It had truly been the step on the right path to her present.

She never regretted her decision. Hacking into the CIA for Jethro was something that Jethro's agents would never have been able to do. Not in time. Not with what they were looking for and as deep as they needed to go. Or as high up as he would need to go. Using Agent McGee's computer one day while coming in early to meet Jethro, she had ran the hack using some of her old codes, opening up a back door for the agent to find later. If he was careful, it was hidden enough that it would be available for awhile before the CIA would every suspect it was there, never mind be able to find it.

It had become too much for her heart to bear. After seeing Jethro becoming tighter and tighter every night, never sleeping. Sitting up to watch him work on his boat every night. Some nights watching him falling asleep downstairs propped on the wooden struts before getting up to shower and head in to the office. Eating nothing except maybe a sandwich and drinking the coffee she had made for him. She had gotten sick herself watching him and not being able to help. That one move had brought the FBI to her door. Or rather, to Jethro's. Luckily, Fornell had liked her. Or else, he had really trusted Jethro. Because Tobias had went to bat for her, and the FBI had made her an offer she couldn't refuse. She would have never found the family she had now if it had not been for Jethro.

Like those rules Jethro was always quoting, the one most important, that she took to heart, 'you do what you have to do, for family'. And, even if it meant facing off against her personal silver haired Ace, then that would be what she would do. No matter how sexy he was. She would present everything to the team and see if they agreed with his request. Then she would drive out to meet Jethro and find out what the mystery was. Whether her BAU family came or not, she'd be going. Because this was Gibbs, and he was family also.

CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS/ CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS/ CM/NCIS/CM/NCIS

A/N: This is in answer to a challenge request for a crossover fic. I love Criminal Minds and I've found a recent fascination with NCIS. I'm hoping I don't totally alienate fans of either show, but, I've found Jethro Gibbs and David Rossi whispering in my ear to do a past story. Something to give a little more backstory to Penelope.

I'm using the 'mysterious redhead' from the earlier seasons of NCIS to represent Penelope's first stay with Gibbs. No one on NCIS really ever knew who the redhead was and she was phased out soon after. Plus, if I remember correctly, Gibbs dated (or at least would flirt with) a couple of women during the time she would pop up on the seasons and I can't see Gibbs really messing around on someone he was actually involved with. So, Penelope's past friendship is my answer to who the 'mysterious red headed woman' was on the earlier episodes.

So, hope you enjoy this preview. This will be multi-chaptered and involving both teams.

Share the reviews and what you think. I appreciate them! KK