A/N: Here's the third chapter of From Panama with Love. Hope you enjoy. Reviews, favorites, and follows are welcomed and appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Chapter Three:

Bar Talk

By GallaudetLurker

Two days later, Jethro found himself at the bar in the Blue Tavern, sitting at the same seat as last time, and clutching a cold bottle of beer instead of his usual whiskey. As he smiled politely at the flirtatious barmaid who kept batting her eyes and flashing her cleavage, Jethro wondered what he'd been thinking, coming here.

It was a Monday afternoon. Unlike the past weekend, the bar was fairly tranquil and cool, a welcome change from the raucous, sweltering cauldron that it had been previously. The PA loudspeaker was playing some soft music that he couldn't find it within himself to identify, much less listen.

After leaving the bar that Saturday night, Jethro had taken several deep breaths to clear his mind and bring his uncharacteristically roiling emotions under control. Once he managed to do so, he went back to his hotel, and turned in early for the first time in years. When he woke up in the morning, he found himself sporting a particularly painful morning wood, and after a cold shower to alleviate his problem, he'd began remembering the dreams he'd had. All of them which involved a certain brunette he'd seen the night before.

Which he didn't need at this time, at all. He had outgrown that when he went into the Marines long time ago. Apparently not.

Gnashing his teeth, Jethro went to work on a joint case with Junior FBI Agent and friend Thomas "Tobias" Fornell to get his mind off the brunette, and it worked. For the rest of that day, and the next, he was able to keep his thoughts of the brunette at bay.

However, it all came flooding right back, threatening to overcome the metaphorical dam he'd erected in his mind, when Tobias suggested that they spend the night out and chose the Blue Tavern of all things. He should've protested and suggested another venue, yet his damn mind had to go all sentimental on him and he wordlessly went into the bar with his friend.

After a round of whiskey and beer, Tobias had excused himself and went to the restroom, and so Jethro was left to his thoughts, which inevitably turned to the brunette that he couldn't stop thinking about, no matter how hard he tried. He'd wondered if something was wrong with him when he found that he wasn't as aroused by the curvaceous barmaids as before.

As he took a swig of his beer, Jethro instinctively turned his head to look at the front area where the wet T-shirt contest was held, where he'd seen the brunette for the first time—

Jethro let out a groan as he snapped his head back to his beer. This was getting to be annoying, acting and hoping like some lovesick teenager that the brunette was going to be there.

Fat chance.

His bluish-gray eyes connected with the blue orbs of the red-headed barmaid, who gave him a flirty smile and winked. There was yet another indication that something was seriously wrong with him when he felt little feelings of arousal – and redheads were his particular favorite, especially since they had easily aroused him with as much as a wink.

He was being ridiculous, he told himself grimly as he took another, longer swig of his beer and slammed it on the counter.

"Okay, what gives?"

Jethro blinked, snapping out of his thoughts, and turned to Tobias, who had returned to his seat next to him, quirking an inquisitive eyebrow at him.

"Huh?"

"Something has been bothering you all day, Jethro," Tobias said matter-of-factly as he raised his beer to his mouth and sipped it. Jethro gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulder, even although his gut clenched as if in agreement with his friend's statement. Not that he would voice that aloud, of course.

"Got a lot on my mind, Tobias," he said simply. It technically wasn't a lie, given that he did have a lot on his mind, even if it was centered upon that of a single, certain young hazel-eyed woman.

Tobias smirked. "Do tell, Jethro."

One end of Jethro's lips twitched into a lopsided smile. "Work," he said as simply, tilting his head slightly. This time, it was an outright lie.

Tobias gave him a disbelieving look and let out a chuckle. "That, I find hard to believe. You forget, I've worked with you a few times, and you have never been bothered about your work as much as you are right now. And not to mention, you're pretty much ignoring all the pretty women who've been hitting on you all day. There's something else there, isn't it?"

Jethro sipped his beer, enjoying the bitter sensation going down his throat, as he mulled over his next words.

"If by 'something else' you mean my work, then yeah," Jethro replied cryptically, eliciting a snort from Tobias.

"When you're evading my questions like that, that's when I know that something's definitely off," Tobias said with a smirk as he looked at Jethro. "So, who's the lucky lady?" He asked casually as he drank his beer.

Jethro blinked as his heart gave a brief lurch at the thought of the hazel-eyed brunette that passed his mind, and turned to his friend. "What makes you think that I'm thinking about that?"

"Are you?" Tobias inquired, his dark eyes searching his bluish-gray orbs, silently daring him to lie.

"What do ya think?" Jethro said, inwardly wincing at how he sounded, and looked down at his nearly-empty beer that he held in his hands.

Tobias grinned. "Someone definitely caught your eye, that's what I think," he said knowingly. "And now you're trying to deal with it in your own way. Which never work out, by the way. I've seen it before with Shannon."

Jethro grew somber as he thought of his deceased wife and daughter. Shannon and Kelly. His twin lights in his life. Not a day passed over the past three years that he didn't think of them, that he didn't mourn their passing, that he didn't wish he came to a lively house full of laughter instead of the silent, forlorn one that he would be coming back to after this trip was over.

Seemingly sensing the change in his friend's mood, Tobias patted Jethro on the back, his face sympathetic, his eyes holding a hint of regret for bringing Shannon up like that. Knowing well about his friends' attitude on apologies, however, Tobias opted to say something else.

"Jethro...everyone deserves a second chance."

Despite himself, Jethro's lips curled up in a smirk. "Did you get that from a fortune cookie?"

Tobias gave him a mock glare, although his eyes was full of mirth. "I'll let you know that it was a very delicious cookie."

"I'm sure, considering all the possible places you got it from," Jethro laughed, feeling his somber mood lift a little as he drained the rest of his beer and set it down on the countertop.

"I'm serious, though. Everyone deserves a second chance, and that includes you." Tobias said seriously after a momentary pause. "If this mystery lady is the second chance, you should go for it."

Jethro exhaled out a sigh. "You're still on that?" He asked exasperatedly.

Tobias grinned cheekily. "Of course! Friends gotta look out for each other, after all."

Jethro rolled his eyes. "Some friend you are," he muttered, prompting Tobias to laugh and slap him on the back.

"So, this red-head lady, she—"

"Brunette," Jethro blurted out before he even knew what he was doing, and he mentally gave himself a particularly hard head-slap, several times over. Never before in his life had he wished for the floor to open up and swallow him whole as he was right now, if the expression on his friend's face was any indication.

Tobias looked like both his birthday and Christmas had come early this year, and that he'd won a multi-million lottery with a cheerleading team and a pot of leprechaun gold on top. "Brunette?" He said, intrigued as a wide grin came across his gaunt face.

"So our little Jethro finally moved on to brunettes," Tobias said proudly as he put his arm around Jethro's shoulder. "And about damn time, too."

Jethro let out a groan as he shook Tobias' arm off. "It's not that—"

"Oh, don't give me that crap!" Tobias cut him off. "You've been so focused on redheads – not that there's anything wrong with them, of course – that you've missed out so much with all the brunettes and blondes out there who would've been willing to spread their legs for you!"

Jethro closed his eyes in exasperation, as he fought to stop his diabolical mind from conjuring the brunette laying on a hotel bed, her waiting legs spread—

"Tobias!" He growled, pinning the 'Glare' on his friend, who looked completely unaffected.

"What? I'm just stating the facts," Tobias said innocently with a shrug of his shoulders. Jethro mumbled something about getting new friends.

"The hell you are," he grumbled as he asked the barmaid for another bottle of beer. With a giggle, she acquiesced and got him the beer, her curvaceous hips swaying seductively the entire time.

"See, that's what I was talking about," Tobias pointed out. Jethro blinked and raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. "What?"

"That barmaid practically eye-fucked you as she gave you that beer, and you pretty much ignored her. You must've got it bad for that mystery lady of yours."

Jethro wisely chose not to reply to that as he popped open his bottle and took a particularly long swig.

This was going to be a long evening.

A/N: I'm still not satisfied with how this turned out, but hope you like. Once again, reviews, favorites, and follows are welcomed and appreciated.