A/N: I just love Jibbs so I had to write another fanfic. I will not be able to update daily as I did with "A Picture Tells a Thousand Words" but please check out that story if you need something to hold you over. My favorite part of the Jibb's relationship is their unspoken understand of each other. Through the sexual banter I feel they connect in a much darker way. I will try to express that in this story. The story takes place mid-season 5 when the writers could have done so much with this story line and instead went in the complete opposite direction and sent it down the drain. FYI – I own nothing except a three and a one year old (hence the strong need to escape via FanFics)

Reviews are welcome.

Chapter One: The Foot Massage

It had been a really long day and Jenny Shepard was exhausted. To top it all off, the new shoes that she absolutely fell in love with at first site were killing her feet. They did look amazing but it was going to be a short lived relationship. She needed heels that she could spend 12-15 hour days in and she barely made it through today without running home to get another pair.

It was a shame about the heels, they were light blue and gray platform heels that looked amazing with her light gray skirt suit and her blue satin blouse. The shoes now lay under her coffee table, the suit jacket hung over her office chair, and she sat on the couch in her office with her aching feet curled under her. She should just go home, it was 7pm anyway and the files she was reviewing could be done from the comfort of her study but she was actually dreading putting the heels on to walk to the parking garage.

She was reviewing the forensic report on Gibbs' team's latest case. It was fast approaching the "cold case" status if they didn't get another lead soon. While she was reading the report her mind started drifting to the strange relationship that she and Jethro had landed at. It seemed that over the span of a few years they had been all and then nothing to one another. Nine years ago they had the most passionate relationship she had ever had with anyone. Maybe it was enhanced by the mystic and excitement of being under cover on black-ops together but since she walked out on Jethro in France, she had never, never felt the same passion for any other man.

There had been plenty of guys in between, some getting as far as leaving a toothbrush at her place, but physically and mentally she had never found an equal to him. For years that didn't matter, her primary focus was her career and then when the opportunity presented itself, avenging her father. Men were something she could worry about later. Now, however, was later.

"The Frog" was dead and she had risen all the way to the top of NCIS. Instead of feeling satisfied, she was left feeling empty and alone.

When she first was appointed director, she and Jethro had fun with flirty banter at work. In the beginning, she was pretty sure he would jump back in with both feet if she let him but she needed to create some boundaries so she could excel at her position without the rumors and innuendos concerning her relationship with one of her agents. Then he returned from his Mexican mid-life crisis and she was in way too deep with avenging her father's death. Tony's undercover opp exploded in her face and that flirty banter between then turned to anger and mistrust.

Of course, there was the little problem of Colonel Hollis Mann as well. Jenny never realized just how much it would bother her to see Jethro happy with another woman. Somehow in her head, he either needed to be moody, abrasive, and alone or happy and content in her company. It hurt to see him laugh and flirt with someone else. Now Mann was retired and living in Hawaii, she thought maybe now it was time to extend the proverbial olive branch to Jethro.

He had come by the other night, Jenny was watching a little boy whose father Gibbs' team was investigating and they didn't want him to end up in social service. Gibbs came by to check on them and Jenny told him "a few years ago I would have asked you to say and I wouldn't have taken no for an answer." She was feeling him out, trying to decide exactly where they stood and whether he would be open to returning to their sexual charged confrontations.

His resounding "no" made it pretty clear where they stood. She just didn't know how much it would hurt her. It was like they were now simply co-workers. Everything from the past was gone. She knew it was her fault, and that made it hurt all the more.

Her door suddenly burst open and who walked in but the man himself. At least he hadn't starting knocking on her door, then she really be depressed. He looked over at her office chair and finding it empty, he scanned the room. His face expressed pure shock when he was her curled up on the couch.

"you ok?" he asked.

"Feet hurt" she replied as she picked up one of her new heels and held the ankle strap by her index finger in front of her face.

He grunted in acknowledgement. That is the other thing she liked about him, they could have an entire conversation with looks and grunts. Crap, now she was thinking about how he grunted during sex and she was having problems maintaining eye contact. She threw her head back on the couch to look at the ceiling as she said "What can I do for you Jethro?" She rolled her neck to the side as she watched his expression.

He just kind of looked at her. She recognized the look. His case had hit a dead end and he needed a new pair of ears. He summed it up in one word "Cunningham" he said with exasperation. Only Jethro could sum up a paragraph of feelings in one word. Cunningham was a navy seal and the murder victim in the latest case. The forensic evidence had led nowhere.

Jenny motioned to the seat on the couch next to her and said "start from the beginning."

Jethro was grateful for her help, he did, however, come here as a last resort. While he enjoyed her company and still missed her as a field partner, her company also brought up too many old wounds. First, she walked out on him in Paris, and second she lied, kept secrets from him, and ran one of his team members over the coals during her relentless pursuit to avenge her father's death.

If he took a broader view of her behavior he would of course see that she acted exactly as he had done in the past and that just made it all the more unpleasant to be around her. He couldn't even justify his anger because he was being a hypocrite. He had walked away from more than one relationship post Shannon for little or no reason and he had also kept far greater secrets.

Jethro took his seat next to her legs as she unfolded them, rearranged her position and placing her feet on is thighs. He looked over at her, giving her the "what the hell" look. She responded with "usually you come with food when you want my advice but I will gladly exchange that for a foot massage."

He rolled his eyes in annoyance but grabbed the foot closest to him and began running his thumb down the arch of her foot. She closed her eyes and repositioned herself on the couch so that her head rested on the arm of the couch. He started to summarize the evidence in the Cunningham case.

"Victim was found in an alley with two stab wounds to his side. The alley was not the primary crime scene as no blood splatter was found. We have no murder weapon. The wife has motive, as they had a volatile relationship, but she is 5 foot 2 and 100 pounds soaking wet so even if she stabbed him, she still needed an accomplice to move the body"

He moved his hand to encase her foot and he rubbed a little harder with his thumb along the sole of her foot. He continued to go over the little forensic evidence they had gathered as he worked his thumb along the bottom of her foot.

She was listening but with half an ear as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his hands on her foot. One of the things that Jethro had above all men was really strong fingers and hands. Years of hand tools and fine wood working left his fingers strong yet gentle. She started to remember the things that his fingers could do to her and that, combined with the pleasure of him stroking her foot caused a small moan to escape her lips.

He stopped rubbing and stopped talking and simply glared at her. She could feel his stare through her closed lids. When she opened them he looked at her with a cocked head an expression that said "someone is enjoying herself"

"What!" she snapped at him. "They really hurt and you are making them feel better!"

"Jenny, are you even listening to me?" he asked

"Yes, Jethro, Just don't stop" she said and laid her head back down on the arm of the couch.

He pursed his lips to suppress the grin that was overtaking his face. It has been some time since she uttered those words to him. As the words left her lips she immediately wanted to pull them back. She couldn't resist the sexual nature of her teasing but this time, she actually didn't mean for it to come out quite like that. She opened her eyes and glared at him saying "you know what I mean!"

He went back to focusing on her foot as she picked up the case where he left off. Jenny interrupted "So, what we need to find out is who Mrs. Cunningham's person is?"

Jethro looked up at her confused. Jenny opened her eyes and saw the bewildered look on his face. She explained "You know, the person she would call to move the proverbial dead body?" Jenny explained

"Well, she's a woman, you tell me. Who would you call to move a body?"

The both looked at each other and were silent for a few seconds, contemplating who each would call and then in unison they said "Ziva" with a smile.

"Since, I assume the background check on Mrs. Cunningham didn't reveal any Mossad Assassin ties, I would move on to ex-lovers?" Jenny said

"ex lovers?" he asked. This time as he rubbed her foot, he snuck his hand all the way up her calf and brought it back down to her heel in one smooth motion. The gesture was intimate but brief and they both carried on as if it hadn't occurred.

"Jethro, if Diane or one of the other former Mrs. Gibbs landed, for argument sake, a seven iron in just the right spot and killed their husband, who are they going to call to help them handle the situation?"

He gave her an evil eye at her reference to Diane almost killing him all those years ago and he thought about her questions. As he did he occupied his hand with rubbing up and down her Achilles. Then he had seamlessly moved from massaging her foot to working on her lower leg. Still, neither made reference to what his hands were doing as they continued their conversation.

He realized she was right. Diane would call either him or Tobias. Instead of simply saying good idea or nice work, he decided to have a little fun with her "Jenny, just how close did you and Ziva get in Cairo?"

She smirked at the jealous tone in his voice "Don't worry, Jethro, you are second on my list." He gave a close lip smile as he started to massage her calf. With his left hand on her calf he flipped open his phone with is right and pressed on of his speed dial numbers. She could hear DiNozzo answer on the other end.

"I want you to track down Maria Cunningham's former boyfriends and have McGee search her phone records for any contact with an ex- lover." He listened to DiNozzo's response and continued to squeeze her calf. She was starting to pray that he didn't walk out now that he had a new angle to work on the case.

"I don't know, DiNozzo, call her family, friends, co-workers and get names. Have Ziva check out the army wives she hung out with. She had to talk about one of her exes with someone!"

"Got it, boss, on it" she heard loud and clear through the phone.

He flipped his phone closed and tossed it on her office coffee table. "What else you got?" he asked.

She lifted her brows as she said "One leg, one lead."