Author's notes:
In Legend (Season Six), Callen (of NCIS:LA fame) and Gibbs talk about that first mission to Serbia. We know that Jenny and Gibbs shacked up in a Serbian farmhouse for a while, but that was clearly a different op. Since there was a first mission and Callen was a part of it, one assumes he must have been on the team. In my vision of things, Callen replaced Stan Burley once the scene shifted to Europe.
A few things to facilitate reading - just in case they're needed.
Some very simplified history first. In 1992, four republics broke away from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia amid a wave of ethnic tensions. Between 1992 and 2003 the Federal Republic of Yugoslvia (FRY) existed – made up of Serbia and Montenegro (the other two republics). However, the FRY was not recognised until 2000. In 1998, when this story is set, the ethnic clashes between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo were already widespread. NATO would move in soon after.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, Bill Clinton was under scrutiny for his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
USS Saipan - a helicopter assault ship. Tarawa class. The primary mission of such a ship is to land and sustain Marines on any hostile shore. So we're talking a vessel twenty stories high, air and surface assault capable, and able to accommodate approximately 5,000 people. With a well-deck that holds amphibious craft. Such ships are also pretty much floating hospitals. With operating rooms and mortuaries, as well as blood banks, trauma and orthopaedic departments, and x-ray capabilities. Although the Saipan was decommissioned in 2007, she was deployed in the Adriatic Sea in July of 1998.
MEU(SOC) stands for Marine Expedition Unit (Special Operations Capable). They are the people who get sent out to do TRAP missions. Which translates into tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel.
The NBC are defence specialists in nuclear, biological and chemical matters. They also provide individual protective measures and first aid for Marines and Sailors.
7N1 – a type of ammunition used in sniper rifles.
Dragunov – a type of Russian sniper rifle.
Potus – abbreviation for the President of the United States.
Pat, Captain James Calhoun, and Dr. Queenie Gruber of the NBC are original characters.
A bar in Naples, Italy
July 19th, 1998
"Hey Jenny."
"Hey Sam," she said as she passed him by.
"Hi Jenny."
"Mark." She smiled at him too.
"What took you so long?" an annoyed voice said as she slipped onto a bar stool.
"Hey Jennyyyyy ... buy you a drink?" another male voice called along the counter.
"Only if you make it two," she called back, indicating her friend.
"You betcha. Get the ladies whatever they want," the man said to the bartender. "And make it a double."
"God, is there any one of these guys that you haven't laid?"
"Haven't laid any one of them," Jenny said with a roll of her eyes.
"Not for lack of them trying," Pat said with a flare of her nostrils. "So what took you so long?"
"Leak under the kitchen sink."
"Did you call Gibbs to come fix it?"
"Callen fixed it."
"I woulda called Gibbs."
"He's my boss, Pat, not the maintenance guy."
"Oh he can do maintenance on me any day of the week," Pat replied as she checked her appearance in the mirror behind the bar.
Jenny shook her head.
"I swear, if I had five bucks for every woman who's asked me to set her up with Gibbs -"
Pat laughed.
"Just remember I'm first in line."
"How likely is it that you'll let me forget it? All you ever do is talk about Gibbs."
"Can you blame me? He's the best looking man to hit these parts in a while."
"What are all these guys?" Jen asked as she looked round the bar in disbelief. "Chopped liver?"
"I said man. These are boys on a port of call with one thing on their mind."
Jenny snorted into her drink.
"And what exactly do you want to do with Gibbs? Hold his hand?"
Pat smiled wickedly.
"I was thinking more like hold his – oh, hey Will."
Jen looked up to find William Decker standing very close to her.
"Buy you girls a drink?" he asked as he waited to place his order.
"Maybe later," Jen said.
"We've got a table if you want to join us."
"Who's we?" Pat asked as she craned her neck in the direction he was indicating.
"I'm with Pacci. Sorry Pat, no Gibbs tonight."
"Did you tell Pacci?" she hissed when Decker had walked away.
"No, you told Pacci. Two weeks ago. When you were very drunk."
Pat shuddered for a moment, and then shrugged.
"Bet Will's cursing me right and left," she mumbled as she glanced over to where the two men were sitting.
"Huh?"
"You know he's sweet on you, right?"
"According to you everyone's sweet on me, Pat."
"Everyone is."
Jenny huffed as she pushed Pat's glass closer to her.
"I'm going to the ladies' room. Drink up. I want to go somewhere else."
Decker's eyes followed Jen as she made her way to the back of the bar and then he addressed his companion.
"You've worked together for a while," he said slowly. "Got any tips for getting onto her good side?"
"If I did I wouldn't share them."
Decker put his glass down and looked closely at Pacci.
"You're not joking," he observed.
"She isn't just going to fall into your bed like every other woman round here."
"You guys must be lookin' after her good then."
The sound of Pacci's glass hitting the table top was loud despite the cacophany in the bar. But his voice was even.
"We've got enough problems without you stirring the pot."
"Has to be hard working with a woman like that and keeping your hands to yourself."
"Not as hard as you would think."
"She's got you all wrapped around her little finger."
"That's the scuttlebutt, is it?"
"I like her."
"You like anything in a skirt, Will."
"Nothing wrong with liking women. But there's something special about this one. A man would have to be made of stone not to notice."
"Oh we notice. We just don't hold her looks against her."
"She got something goin' with Gibbs?"
"No."
"Good, coz I'd hate to go treadin' on any toes. What?" he added when Pacci gave him a disdainful look. "The way you guys look out for her you'd think I needed his permission to ask her out for a drink."
"He's grouchy when something big's going down."
Decker polished off his drink.
"Tell me about it," he muttered. He was about to say something else when his phone went off. "This thing is starting to piss me off," he said as he reached into his pocket.
All traces of humour bled from his face as he listened to what the person at the other end was saying, and he was up and out of his chair even before the conversation had ended.
"Get Shepard. Playtime's over," was all he said to Pacci before he headed for the exit.
Naples Headquarters, a few hours later
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Gunny?"
"Russian," Gibbs said as he turned the glass jar round and round in his hand under the watchful gaze of Captain James Calhoun.
"That a 7N1?" the man asked.
"Maybe. But we're looking at any type of rifle chambered for 7.62x54R. Best guess, a Dragunov. They haven't been imported into the US since ninety-one."
The other man rose from his seat and paced round the room; his frustration palpable.
"We were boarding transport when he got scragged."
"Long range sniper hit. You couldn't have seen this coming. The Drag's maximum effective range is one thousand three hundred metres. Whoever did this was a pro. "
"Still no guarantee that the shot was taken by the Russians."
"Standard issue for their forces."
"And a crapload of others."
"We'll get to the bottom of it."
The MEU team leader suppressed a smile.
"Just make sure I don't have to come extract your hide as well."
"This wasn't your fault," Gibbs said when the smile didn't reach the man's eyes.
Calhoun kicked a chair out of his path angrily.
"We had him, Gunny."
"Not your fault," Gibbs repeated with a bit more emphasis. "He was dead the moment he finished brokering the deal between the guerillas and whoever was supplying the weapons."
"Yeah, well he died on my watch," Calhoun spat. Composing himself seconds later. "When are you heading out?"
"As soon as Decker has everything in order."
"Right."
As soon as he'd left the room, Gibbs turned to the other three people in the room.
"Shepard and Callen, get some rest. What's on your mind?" he asked Pacci as soon as the other two had shuffled out of the room.
"You're sure they're ready for this?" Chris asked carefully.
Gibbs bobbed his head as he scooped papers off the table.
"They better be."
Callen's eyes were wide and bright as they made their way down the corridor, and when Jen placed a hand on his arm he stopped and looked at her.
"I would take Gibbs very seriously," she said. "Get some rest."
Just shy of three days later she was wishing she'd taken her own advice.