A/N: First, let me say that I feel so bad that its been so long since an update. Work and everything else is just keeping me very busy. So I hope the wait was worth it and the good news is I have the next chapter almost done so it will be up asap. Again, sorry for the wait.


Gibbs stood at the window of the small office, watching the men run their obstacle courses and march in unison around the base. He dipped his head slightly, flashing back to his days as a Marine.

"Gunnery Sergeant Ryan McNeil," a voice came from behind him as he heard the door shut. He turned and was faced with an older man who reminded him a little of Mike, but not so scruffy. "Major Bernett," he continued, dropping a file onto his desk.

The man sat and flipped through the folder before leaning back in his chair. "Please, sit." He waved his arm to the chair across from him and Gibbs reluctantly sat. "You're orders are from Washington. I've been reading up on your file. It's very impressive I must say."

Gibbs nodded to him. "Thank you, Sir."

"You were transferred in to take Wallace's position, here are your papers," the Major slid a folder across the table to him. "I'll escort you to his office." The Major stood and waved his arm to Gibbs as he followed him from the office. They left the building and walked around the base to another establishment.

For the most part, Wallace's things were still around the office and Gibbs felt a familiar pang in his chest at remembering the little girl the man had left behind.

"His family will be by to pick up his things, so just clear a spot for yourself. Anything else I can do for you, Gunny?" The Major stood in the doorway.

"No, Sir." Gibbs stopped and thought for a moment. "Was there anyone on base close to Wallace? You know, so I could pay my respects."

"Avery Johnson was among some of his friends. Probably his closest. Oh, there is one more thing. Wallace had a dog that was very close to him and the girl. Up until a week ago we were planning on getting rid of it, but upon being informed of your transfer, your superiors instructed that you take the dog."

"Sir?" Gibbs asked, his eyes darkening slightly.

"Take it up with your superiors. But that was an order." Gibbs sighed as the Major opened the door and a large German Shepard ran in.

"Meet Ben. We've been keeping him on base until we figured out what to do with him. I hope this doesn't put you out any." The Major nodded to Gibbs without waiting for a response then disappeared out the door.

The dog hung by the desk, a low growl emitting from him. Gibbs rubbed his faced roughly, glaring at the dog. What the hell was this all about?

"What do you want?" Gibbs huffed, turning his attention to the box holding some of Wallace's items. He picked through a few different hats, some medals and a few pictures he was sure the Sergeant had kept on his desk.

His phone began to ring and answered gruffly. "Gibbs."

"Boss, SecNav wants a telecom with you. Can you get to a computer?" McGee asked.

"Yah McGee, give me a minute." Gibbs stood and sidestepped the dog now lying next to the desk; he began to growl again as Gibbs sat.

"Boss… what was that?" McGee asked.

Gibbs ignored the question and booted up the computer. "Set it up, McGee."

He heard McGee begin to type vigorously on his laptop and without warning a screen popped up onto the computer. The Secretary of the Navy sat in front of him and Gibbs had to hold his tongue.

"Gibbs, I see you've found Wallace's office. Find anything important?" Gibbs sat back in his chair slightly, rubbing his neck. It bothered him that SecNav was handling most of the investigation and he himself was not being informed of everything.

"Forgive me Sir, but I don't know what is going on here and if you expect me to do my job to the fullest, you're going to have to brief me on this in more detail. What was Wallace involved in?"

SecNav turned and was heard telling a few people to leave the room. "I can't tell you everything, Gibbs. This is a telecom, not the best way to share information." He paused for a moment and leaned forward. "Shipments from South East Asia have been coming in to the base where Wallace was stationed. Where you are now. Wallace was originally stationed in Florida, but we transferred him in."

"What kind of shipments, Sir?"

"The kind that people will kill over. Wallace expected heroin distributions, but it goes much further than that. Our men were being killed in South East Asia and some on the home front also."

Gibbs shifted his feet and heard the dog get up and begin to growl again. He heard SecNav chuckle slightly. "Explains the dog," Gibbs said.

"I see you've met Ben. He is a trained drug dog. If there are shipments of heroin coming from out of the country, someone in the states is there to retrieve it. This is bigger than what we originally thought. Find out who is behind this, Gibbs."

"Will do my best, Sir." Gibbs slammed the laptop shut and stood, gathering a few things before looking down at Ben. He walked past him and opened the door, turning back to glare at the growl that came from him.

"Let's go," he said, jerking his head out the door for the dog to follow. He didn't. "Hey!" Gibbs yelled and the dog reluctantly followed behind him, keeping a good distance.

"Avery Johnson." Gibbs said as the corporal saluted him, standing in front of the squad.

"Johnson!" The corporal yelled and a young man quickly ran over to them, saluting them both.

"The Sergeant has a few questions for you," The corporal nodded to Gibbs then left them alone.

"Sir, what can I do for you?" The young man asked.

"I hear you were one of Wallace's closest friends," Gibbs said, trying to lay off the investigative tone in his voice.

"Yes Sir, he spent most of his time with his little girl but once in a while he would get a chance to come out with us."

"Did he have any issues with anyone?" Gibbs asked.

The man shook his head, and then looked up at Gibbs with unsure eyes. "Well a couple a guys tried to rough us up at the club a few nights ago."

"Where was that?"

"Downtown. Josh was edgy that night for some reason and when we left, they followed us outside. Kinda got the impression that Josh knew them, but I wasn't sure."

"What gave you that idea?"

"He was scared of them. Usually a couple of guys try to rough up a few Marines, they're the ones that end up scared."

"Thank you, Private," Gibbs nodded to him and watched as the young man ran off to join his squad.

He headed back to the SUV and saw the dog standing there. "Didn't I say, wait in the car?" The dog tilted his head to the side and just looked at him as Gibbs kept walking. The dog hurried to catch up with him and jumped right into the car as soon as Gibbs opened the door. He sat on the front seat looking at him.

"Move. Git." Gibbs waved his arms to the other side of the vehicle. The dog just stared. He walked around to the other side of the car, watching as the dog hopped out and followed him. Gibbs opened the passenger door and the dog jumped back in. He smiled triumphantly.

"Oh come on," he growled, watching as the dog panted on the window on the driver's side.


Jenny curled her legs under her as she adjusted herself on the couch, snuggling her nose deeper into the oversized sweatshirt she found in Jethro's room. The house was far colder than it had been the day before and she realized she hadn't brought anything to prepare for it, so she went through his room and found something comfortable. Besides, it smelled of him and that was just as comforting.

"Director, Ma'am, I just emailed the files to you. This is all Abby and I were able to dig up about the base. I have a good feeling someone with upper ranks knew about this," McGee said.

Jenny sighed and rubbed her forehead slightly. The little orange light on the laptop began to blink, signaling the near end of its battery life.

"Good work McGee, Abby," she nodded at them.

"Where's Gibbs?" Abby asked, trying to scan what she could see of the rest of the house for him.

"He went to the base earlier this morning to talk to Major Bernett. McGee, tell Tony and Ziva I want a report on the girl by 0900." With that she shut the laptop, hoping it may save some of the battery power until they were able to hook up the rest of their equipment.

She got up and threw some more logs on the fire just as the door swung open and Jethro entered a scowl on his face. Jenny looked at him curiously, wondering what he was so angry about when a dog ran through the door behind him, jumping on the couch right next to her.

"Jethro?" she asked, slightly confused.

"Wallace's K9," Gibbs explained, throwing his hat onto the table, heading for the stairs. He stopped and looked around, noticing there was more furniture than when he left that morning.

"Movers finally showed this afternoon," she said, watching his eyes move across the room, but continuing quickly about the presence of the dog. "And why do we have Wallace's dog?"

"The Top Secret mission Wallace was assigned to was to find out where and what these shipments are coming into the states. Ben," Gibbs waved to the dog as he began to look around at the random items in the living room. "Is a drug dog," he continued.

He expected her to be mad. To blame him for something; for bringing the dog into the house, maybe. He wasn't happy about it himself, but then he heard her began to speak to the dog. He turned around to find Jenny kneeling on the floor next to Ben, scratching and petting him.

"Glad he likes someone," Gibbs growled.

"He doesn't like you because you probably don't talk to him nice. Dogs can sense those things," she smiled down at the dog. "So what else did you find out today?"

"I'll explain later," he removed his jacket, letting it slip to the floor. "I need a shower." Jenny watched from the bottom of the stairs as he discarded pieces of his fatigues before disappearing into the bathroom. One thing was for sure; she was not picking up after him.


"Put it back," she mumbled dryly as she inspected the reduced fat soy crackers in the dry foods section. She didn't even have to look at him to know he was throwing some sort of junk into their cart.

Feeling his eyes on her, she glanced at him without moving. "So, what, you get to pick all the food in the house?"

"No, but we're not going to get a bunch of crap either, Jethro," he stood there, watching her. A small smile crept up his lips.

"Temptation too much for ya?" She glared at him and turned back to the crackers she was looking at, examining the fat and calorie content when she heard another item being thrown into the cart.

She leaned over the cart when he began to walk further down the isle and pulled out the Oreos and Chips Ahoy he'd thrown into it. He stopped at the end of the isle and picked something else out. "Heads up!" he yelled as a huge bag of chips came flying her way, landing in the cart.

She pursed her lips, and walked by him pushing the cart quickly around the corner. "What are you doing?" he asked following her.

"Trying to lose you in the grocery store," she gave a fake smile to the two women standing at the end of the isle, conversing with one another. She turned the corner to enter the produce section and was pleased to see that Gibbs had meandered off somewhere else. Vegetables were not his forte.

Jenny picked through some apples, trying to remember what Jethro liked if he even had liked them at all.

"I like the green ones myself," a man said from beside her. Jenny averted her attention to the younger looking man next to her; he looked a bit like Tony. She gave him a small smile, noticing the fatigues he was wearing.

"I like them all," she admitted, picking up a few different assortments. He laughed and handed her a bag, holding it open for her as she dropped the apples into it.

"I can tell. Looks like you had a bit of trouble deciding."

"No, actually I'm unsure of what kind my husband prefers," she said, shocking herself at how easily that word, when it was referred to about Gibbs, rolled off her tongue.

The man's expression changed slightly as if hearing the word husband disappointed him. "I don't see a ring," he said, glancing down at her finger just to be sure.

She bit her lip, cursing herself for forgetting to put it on, when she felt two arms slide around her waist; a familiar touch but hands that she hadn't felt touch her like that in so long. Even before Jethro had put his arms around her, she knew in an instant he was behind her. The young man in front of her stood taller and had an expression on his face that she didn't think she would ever forget.

"Sarge! Sir!"

"At ease, soldier. You're at the grocery store." She heard him laugh in her ear and it made her heart jump a little.

"I like the red ones," he whispered in her ear as he pulled away slightly, looking at her bag filled with a bunch of different kinds. "I see you've met my wife, Private." Gibbs looked back to Jenny and nodded. "Private Anderson, this is my wife, Jeremy."

"Nice to meet you, Ma'am." The Private focused on something on the ground, feeling embarrassed to have been putting the moves on his Sergeant's wife.

Jenny smiled and winked, reassuring him that it was taken lightly. "I need to get back to base. Sir, " the private nodded to Gibbs and shook Jenny's hand. "Pleasure's all mine, Ma'am."

She watched him walk away quickly as Gibbs stepped in front of the cart, standing inches in front of her. "He knows something," he spoke softly to ensure that she was the only one who could hear him.

"What makes you think so?"

Gibbs shrugged and glanced around the store. Jenny snorted and looked up at him. "Because he was hitting on me?"

His head whipped around to glare at her. "Seemed a little nervous and no I wasn't aware."

"Do you know how I can tell you're lying?" she stepped closer to him, repeating his actions to her a time before when they were standing in her study. She cupped his check and patted it roughly. "You're nice."

"That makes absolutely no sense."

She held up the bag of apples he had taken and tied shut for her. "Your secret is safe." She tossed the apples into the cart and went to the vegetables.

"Tonight we'll check out Wallace's hangout," he said, following her with the cart. He couldn't remember doing this for any of the wives he was married to. Come to think of it he didn't know if he ever entered the grocery store with them. He stopped abruptly as Jenny stopped to pick out some asparagus.

Jenny nodded and placed some various vegetables in the cart. She looked up at Gibbs and smiled sweetly. "Is there a problem, honey?"

"Yah," he said gruffly. "Where's all the stuff I put into the cart. And where's all the meat?" He noticed numerous amounts of vegetables and fruits and some low-fat, low-calorie cardboard cracker looking things, whole wheat bread and bran cereal.

"We don't need Oreos. We're going to eat healthy," she replied.

"Yeah if you wanna be cleaning your digestive track every ten minutes," he scowled.

"Stop complaining. We're not done yet."

"Fine. But I draw the line at tofu."


"This is it?" Jenny asked as they pulled into a parking spot across the street from the bar. Loud music blared from the inside, thumping everything within a few yards of the place. The streets were fairly clean of any debris and the buildings looked newer but the area gave Jenny a funny feeling.

She glanced around and noticed a few men standing on the basketball court connected to the parking lot behind them. They were eyeing her as she stepped out of the SUV and she knew they would be watching her every move. She thought for a moment if they really looked that out of place but upon seeing the other vehicles parked along the street, she noticed some pretty high-end cars.

Jenny pulled her skirt down some more, or at least attempted to. She cursed Jethro for insisting she get a skirt a little shorter than she would have originally liked. "Ready?" Gibbs asked, coming around to stand in front of her, blocking her view of the men in the court.

"You're not serious." She looked him up and down, laughing at the blazer he was wearing. "You have to give that up sometime. I can't go in there looking like this while you look like that." She adjusted her low-cut blouse and smoothed out her skirt again, tossing her hair slightly.

He handed her his blazer and she tossed it into the car, and then turned back to him. She rolled the sleeves of his loose button up shirt up to his elbows, then unbuttoned the top two buttons. She licked her hand and reached for his hair when he took a step back. "Come here," she ordered.

"No," he shook his head.

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close to her and licked her hand again, forcing it into his hair to mess it up a little. She smiled at her handy work and, taking a step back to look at him. He rolled his eyes. "Done?"

"Don't give me that look," she smiled and looped her arm through his, tugging him across the street. "I think it looks sexy."

Grinning, he let her pull him through the door into the dark bar, where neon lights were the only significant source of lighting. She leaned in close and whispered to him. "What are Marines doing in a place like this?"

He tilted his head, smiling slightly as if he just remembered a past time. "Superior officers would never look for a Marine in a place like this." He looked around, trying to spot any members of his squad.

"So these young men come to a run-down slum like this just to get away with something," she flipped the hair out of her face and snuck up to the end of the bar with him to order a drink.

Jenny knew they or at least Gibbs could not be spotted here just for the exact reason Gibbs had explained. A superior officer could not be seen in a bar on this side of town because such an officer would not be aware of a place like this. And for that reason she wondered how he knew of it.

"Kinda taking a risk coming here, aren't you?" She asked, sipping her drink as he stepped beside her near the wall. There was an overabundance of people in the establishment, between the dancers and the pool tables and the entire bar seats taken, there was no room to even stand.

She noticed Jethro looking at her. "Any familiar faces?" she asked, smiling as if they were having a different conversation.

He shook his head, taking a swig of his beer. Jenny knew he liked it but would have preferred bourbon. But she remembered what he had told her years ago when she was just his Probie; never order a usual to keep those who watch you on their toes.

"The pool table. Avery Johnson. Spoke to him this afternoon and after some digging Abby found a credit card transaction from Wallace's account that led us here." She was impressed that he hadn't missed a beat yet.

"Here alone," she commented.

They both knew that wouldn't be for long, he was probably waiting to meet someone and until they found out who and for what reason, they would have to act like they fit in. Just as they had ordered their second drink four men walked in, two taking a seat at either end of the bar and one who walked over to Johnson with his bodyguard behind him. Jenny turned her back to them, pulling Gibbs closer as she pretended to take a picture of them on her phone but holding it over her head to snap a picture of the trio by the pool table.

She quickly sent it to Abby and faced them again. "How did you get so good at your job?"

Jenny snorted and slipped her phone back into her purse. "Don't flatter yourself. I worked without you for years."

"Mhm," he tilted his beer bottle to his lips again as he heard a few familiar voices behind him. He stood closer in front of Jenny, facing her to hide his face from the three Privates who walked in the door.

"They're headed this way," he said softly.

Jenny watched as the men ordered their drinks from the bar, and then went to a pool table. "Should have grown a mustache," she commented.

"Right. You didn't like the first one."

"I never said that," she said as she sipped her drink again. "Was just …itchy."

"So it's a good thing I didn't grow one," he murmured.

She raised her eyebrow. "I don't have to deal with it anymore."

He narrowed his eyes and shrugged. "You know, in case I have to kiss you."

The bar was filling up by this time and with still no place to sit and fewer space to stand in, they were now leaning in a dark corner near the wall. There were couples near them and Jenny couldn't help but take notice to one couple in particular who were making out next to them.

Gibbs was still standing in front of her with lack of anyplace else to go. "Stop looking around. You're making us look suspicious," she grinned, leaning up to speak in his ear.

He gave her a lopsided smile, getting a whiff of her scent as she got closer to him. She played with the lapels of his shirt, finally flipping his collar up. He looked down at her narrowing his eyes. "What?" she asked, innocently.

"Are you having fun changing my style?" he asked.

"I would never attempt to change your style. I'm just spicing it up," she said sweetly.

"I think it's a little more than that."

"How do you figure?"

"You licked your hand and ran it through my hair," he complained.

Her response was caught in her throat as she felt herself being thrust forward, her hands bracing themselves against Jethro's chest. "Watch it," she heard a voice say from behind her. Jenny turned her head to look at the young punk who was holding his hands out, showing that his drink had splashed slightly onto his shirt.

"You bumped into her," Gibbs spoke up before Jenny had a chance to reply, causing the kid to turn around and come back.

"You say somethin old man?"

"Yah, I said you should watch where you're going," she felt herself taking a step back as Gibbs took a step towards the man. She pressed her hands more firmly against his chest, stopping him.

"We're sorry," Jenny said to the young man as she grabbed Jethro's hand, leading him in the other direction. "For supposed to be keeping a low profile, you're sure making it difficult for us to not stand out."

Jethro knew Jenny was right but for some reason when it came to her, he seemed to look at things differently. He knew without a doubt that he would risk blowing the whole mission if it came to defending her. It wouldn't be the first time he would risk doing it and he was sure it wouldn't be the last; as long as they were in this job together.

"Too late, we've been made," he commented, looking around as he noticed people looking in his direction. Despite the amount of people crammed into the bar they had made a scene and the men at a certain pool table had begun to look in their direction.

The young man whom they had a previous confrontation with was now speaking with the three at the pool table, pointing in their direction.

"Come here," she grabbed him by the shirt without warning, forcing him to trust her and look away and felt her back make contact with the wall. He slammed against her, putting his hands onto the wall to prevent hurting her and felt her hands wind through his hair as she pulled his face forcefully down to her own, capturing his lips.

He responded instantly, coaxing her mouth open with his tongue. They immediately fell into a rhythm that was completely their own but that hadn't been felt in a very long time. Jenny forgot where she was at in that moment, the feel of his lips on her sending her into a trance where it was just the two of them, everyone else forgotten.

She ran her leg up the back of his and felt him cup his hand under her thigh, holding it against his waist, causing her to moan at the sensation. It brought her back to where they were and she pulled her head back slightly, taking a breath as they continued to give each other open-mouthed kisses.

"Are they still watching?" he mumbled against her lips, letting her leg fall back to the ground. He released her lips and kissed the corner of his mouth, giving her a chance to look.

She forced herself to open her eyes, keeping her hand locked in his hair as he moved down her neck. "Umm…" she tried to focus as she looked around the room.

He grinned, knowing he was driving her crazy. Not only had she saved their asses and the mission, she gave him a chance to put his hands and lips on her; something he had wanted to do for a while.

He heard her breathing start to get heavier as she tried to focus and the fact that he was the reason she couldn't gave him a sense of pride. But he needed her to so he let up slightly, murmuring her name. "Jen," he said in a sing-song voice, teasing her but trying to snap her out of it.

Gibbs knew that if it were taking her this long to give him an update she didn't spot them in the bar. He found the sensitive spot on her neck that he knew drove her wild and just for old times sake he nipped at it, darting his tongue out before scraping his teeth lightly across it.

Her head fell back against the wall as she neglected to hold back yet another moan. "I think they left," she breathed, lifting her head as she placed her hands on his chest to push him back, needing to stop him before they got out of hand and because it seemed like the thing to do. There was no need to act anymore for they weren't being watched.

After all, they were acting, weren't they? She shook her head and fixed her skirt, running her hand through her hair. Upon searching the bar with a clearer look, she concluded that she didn't spot them and it was time to go.

"They're gone," she spoke again in a more controlled voice. Grateful the bar was dark enough to hide the flush that fell across her face, Jenny grabbed his hand, not wanting to give up the act if they were being watched and pulled him toward the door.

She dipped her head, shielding her face against the cold rush of air as they made their way out of the bar, wishing she had worn a coat when she felt Jethro come up behind her. He pulled her against him, wrapping his arm around her as she snuggled into his side, the warmth of his body welcoming. As they reached the car he opened the door for her. She climbed inside and took a deep breath.

The ride home was silent and it satisfied her as she didn't know what went on between them at the bar, unsure if he was acting or if she even was. Well, she knew there was a line that was crossed; especially on her part.

The car came to a halt and she lifted her head from the window and got out, following him to the door. She shivered as they entered the house, still without electricity it seemed colder inside than outside.

"Go get warm in your bed," he nodded upstairs. "I'll get the fire going."

She yawned and placed a hand over her mouth as she watched him begin to light the fire. Leaning against the door she knew as well as he did that what happened was going to be discussed because neither of them would admit to anything other than acting. Maybe she was fooling herself, expecting something more from him.

"Goodnight," she whispered to him.

"Jen," he said, causing her to turn on the stairs to look at him. "Thanks for covering my ass."

She laughed and shook her head. "Didn't I owe you one anyways?"

"Think we were even a long time ago."

She snorted and headed to her room, donning his USMC sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants she had stolen from him also, deciding he wasn't getting either back ever and snuggled under the covers in her bed.

She bit her lip, flashing back to the bar. They might be able to write that off as acting but deep down she knew Leroy Jethro Gibbs had kissed her with a passion she had felt before.


Next Chapter will be up soon and it's what everyone has been waiting for! TBC