Chapter 4

She knocked on the yellow door, the place smelled of rotten trash and old street food. Windows were broken. Wall paper was scraped off the wall. Bricks were out of place. When he warned her that he wasn't that well off, He wasn't kidding. James opened the door to see Jenny standing there smiling.

"I was wondering when you were gonna show up." James said. His blonde hair was all over his face. Jenny revealed a take-out bag from behind her back.

"I thought you might like to have some dinner with me." Jenny stated. James smiled. Jenny was definitely going to miss working with James at the coffee shop. He had become a genuine friend. He closely looked at the iconic Chinese food label on the bag.

"How did you know I love Chinese?" James questioned smiling. Jenny laughed.

"Most people I know love Chinese James. Can I come in?" James moved out of the doorway and gestured for Jenny to come in. The inside of the house looked to be more damaged than the exterior. Carpet was broken, cans of food were all over the floor and the house seemed to be infested with flies.

"Its not much… but its home." James spoke as he shut the door. Jenny felt very sorry for James.

"How did it get so bad?" James wiped his blonde hair out of his face.

"Bills… Taxes. Debt." He replied. James grabbed some old carboard boxes for Jenny and him to sit on and another one to put their food on.

"I'm sorry." Jenny stated sadly. James looked at her oddly.

"For what?" Jenny sighed.

"For living like this." Jenny said as she gestured around the room. "Everyone at least deserves to have a proper mattress to sleep on." James nodded.

"I've never needed much… just a shelter and a job. Somehow I make ends meet." James took a swig of his beer.

"You need another job, Jamie. The folks at the coffee shop pay us like crap. Bills will only get bigger and bigger." James shook his head.

"It's hard enough working at the coffee shop. How on earth would I be able to find another job with easy hours?" Jenny took a bite out of her fried rice.

"Or you could just quit altogether." Jenny said plainly. "That's what I'm doing." James looked at her in understanding.

"You don't like it anymore?" James asked. Jenny laughed.

"I never did. Do you remember the first day I worked there? Where that bitchy girl told me I'd never be anything more than a girl? I wanted to punch her in the face." Jenny spat. James laughed.

"Natalie is always going to be a piece of work… That's just who she is." James admitted. Jenny nodded.

"I can't wait until she murders someone, and I get to wave my Special Agent badge in her face." James smiled at her proudly.

"So, you are working for feds now? That's awesome!" James stated enthusiastically. Jenny smiled.

"Got the job today." Jenny admitted. James gave her a pat on the back. She took another bite of her Chinese. "Couldn't have waited soon enough to have gotten out of that hellhole."

"Well… its going to be different there. Working on my own and all. But at least you'll be happy." James advised. Jenny smiled. She was always surprised by how kind-hearted James could be.

"Your one of the kindest people I have ever met James…" Jenny admitted as she smiled at him. "Don't stop being you." James took a bite of his food.

"I never intend to… Is that why you came over here? To tell me your leaving?" Jenny nodded.

"Its for the best… Just promise me one thing." James looked at her blankly. "That you will one day find a better job." Jenny asked. James looked into his food.

"I'm not like you Jenny, I can't whisk myself from one job to the next… Its hard." James admitted defeatedly.

Jenny nodded. "Life is hard. But it keeps going… and you don't realise what you have missed until it is too late." James nodded. Jenny's cell phone was ringing. James noticed she declined the call.

"You could have taken it you know? I wouldn't have minded." Jenny put the cell phone back in her pocket.

"It was just Jason… My boyfriend." James nodded.

"Is he a fed too?" James asked. Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Anything but… He is a junior cop at the police station." Jenny revealed.

"Is he good to you?" Jenny shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of soda.

"So far yes… in the last 24 hours." James looked at the wall blankly.

"Keep yourself safe Jenny." Jenny took his hands in her own.

"You too James. I will be fine. I have a gun remember?"

By the time Jenny got back to her apartment it was 21:00. Jason wanted to spend the night again, but Jenny was so tired and all she really cared to do was to fall asleep. She walked into her apartment to see Jason waiting up for her on her favourite sofa. Reading a book about cars.

"Hey, I was wondering when you'd be back. I missed you." Jason said as he walked up to her and kissed Jenny on the cheek.

"I was uh… stopping by an old friends house. We got caught up chatting." Jenny admitted. Jason raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"Who was it?" Jenny looked at him oddly. She supposed she was going to have to get used to sharing personal information with Jason.

"James. He worked with me at the coffee shop for a while." Jenny said as she took her heels off. Her feet were killing her. She sat down on the one-person sofa while Jason sat on the other sofa.

"I should probably ask how it went today." Jason spoke. Jenny nodded.

"I am now Special Agent Shepard." Jenny said happily. Jason smiled.

"Good job honey!" Jason stated interested, he gave her a peck on the lips.

"I am really tired though and I just really want to go to sleep." Jason nodded and let Jenny go and get ready for bed.

Thursday, June 5th, 1975

Jethro had felt much better getting a good night's rest with plenty of sleep and felt much more energized for the day. He walked into the bullpen holding a cup of coffee. He had visited the coffee shop again in the hope that he would spot the redheaded woman he was so desperately intrigued by, but there was still a no show from her.

Jethro walked into the bullpen and was surprised to see a redheaded woman sitting at Roland's desk reading a magazine. His heart skipped a beat when he realised that it was the woman from the coffee shop. Her hair was neatly positioned into a high bun and her bangs were hanging quite high. She had a white blouse on and black pants. She looked beautiful.

Jenny was reading a magazine when she felt the stare of a man, she looked up from her magazine only to recognise a familiar face. Except she had no idea where she had seen him. Then it hit her. He was the marine from the coffee shop. Jenny nervously gave him a smile.

Jethro had no idea what to do. He put his gear under his desk and walked over to the desk. He could see she was wearing her police badge. "Can I help you?" Jethro asked intrigued. Jenny nodded.

"Are you Special Agent Mike Franks?" Jenny asked unsure. Jethro laughed.

"Uh… I could be if you wanted me to be." Jethro smirked. Jenny was not impressed. She was more of the 'Get to the point' kind of person.

"And who are you?" Jenny asked annoyed. Jethro smiled and walked back to his desk.

"Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs… May I ask who you are?" Jenny stood up from the chair and walked over to Jethro.

"Special Agent Jenny Shepard. I'm new, and I have been assigned to your team." Jenny admitted. Jethro raised his eyebrows in surprise. The woman he had a major crush on was working with his team. He was spellbound by this woman.

"I thought I saw you working in a coffee shop." Gibbs stated. Jenny smiled.

"So, you do know me." Jenny flirted slightly. She could she the smirk developing on Jethro's face.

"What I find interesting is that you were working as a barrister… and now you're a federal agent?" Gibbs asked confused. Jenny shrugged her shoulders.

"If you get to know people agent Gibbs, you will find that people like to get ahead in their careers." Jenny spoke sarcastically. She sat on Gibbs' desk. "I also worked as a cop for a year, which is how I got into this job in the first place."

"Yeah… you worked as a cop. Doing paperwork." Jethro snarked. Jenny looked at him a little pissed off.

"Do you prefer to be called Agent Gibbs or Agent Git?" Jethro stared her down. She did have a sense of humour he realised. He was starting to feel teased by Jenny. "Don't make assumptions of what I did or didn't do Gibbs. How would you feel if I said that you worked as an astronaut?" Jenny teased. Jethro laughed.

"I… Uh… wouldn't know." Jethro remarked. Jenny smirked.

"Listen, I am assuming that you are the senior agent here and I am the probationary agent. You're going to be my mentor. How does that sound?" Jethro smiled and leaned back in his chair and laughed. This could have easily been the best day in his life. Jenny looked at him like a lunatic.

"Working with you… should be uh… no problem." Jethro reassured. Jenny raised an eyebrow.

"No problem?" Jenny questioned suspiciously.

"No problem." Gibbs reiterated. Jenny walked around the bullpen.

"Aren't you supposed to be working on an investigation or something?" Jenny questioned.

"No." Jethro said plainly crossing his arms.

"Well… what are you working on then?" Jenny asked curiously folding her arms.

"His field report." Mike Franks walked in holding a case file. He eyed Jenny up and down.

"You must be Special Agent Franks." Jenny said holding out her hand. "I'm- "

"Special Agent Jennifer Shepard." Franks spoke as he shook her hand. "I've heard some interesting things from the director about you." Mike retorted. Jenny laughed.

"Yeah, like what?" Jethro asked joining in. Franks shot Jethro a glare. He went back to writing his field report. Jenny smiled.

"He is an untamed beast." Franks announced. He led Jenny to the empty desk opposite Gibbs. "This can be your desk." Jenny sat down and logged onto her computer. "Where the hell is Roland?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Probably drowning in his sorrows." Gibbs retorted. Mike went around the back of Gibbs and slapped his head. "Getting back to work boss." Jenny smiled. Mike left the bullpen.

"That happen a lot?" Jenny asked. Gibbs sighed.

"Only every single day." The redhead smirked, and Gibbs gave her a death stare.

"You do realise… that could happen to you as well."

"Oh please… Mike Franks would never hit a woman." Jenny said knowingly.

"You never know…" Gibbs announced.

"The only reason you get hit is because you have a mouth on you and you don't finish your field reports." Jenny snarked. Gibbs smiled.

"Did your mama ever tell you that you have a mouth on you?" Gibbs asked intrigued. Jenny sighed looking at Gibbs.

"Only every single man I've met." Jenny said sarcastically.

"You have a boyfriend." Gibbs stated.

"Question or statement?" Jenny retorted.

"Both." Jenny got up from her seat and got up close in Jethro's face. He could smell her Gucci perfume and almost had the chance to look down her blouse. He felt her body heat radiating off her. Jethro got a good look at Jenny's eyes. They were a soft mix between blue and green, but they tended to resonate more towards green.

"Wouldn't you like to know." She said quietly. Their quiet moment was interrupted by Mike Franks walking into the room saying that two bodies had been found buried in the woods.

"I guess its your lucky day…" Jethro stated grabbing his gear while Jenny did the same. "We don't get to go into the woods that often." Jenny rolled her eyes knowing fully well that Jethro was baiting her.

They arrived at the scene of the crime a little less than half an hour later. They hiked through bushes of thorns and spikes. The bodies were apparently quite deep within the forest. It was like a field day for Gibbs who was still quite in shock that 'Jenny' his secret crush was now a part of his team. That didn't happen every day.

When they finally reached the site, the team was greeted by two police officers who Mike hadn't met before. "Two Male Naval Officers 'Esmai Ryan' and 'Kieron Hunt'. Found buried by those kids over there." The officer pointing to the two teens sitting on a log. Mike jotted the names down in the notebook.

"Jenny, you go and take their statements. Gibbs go and photograph. Don't touch the body until Ducky gets here. And Roland you- "Mike realised Roland wasn't here. "Damn… where is Roland? He said he'd meet us here." Franks said frustrated.

"Path was a little difficult to navigate boss." Roland arrived carrying his backpack.

"Where the hell have you been?" Franks asked pissed.

"Boss, I'm sorry I had a dentist appointment that was running late. I came here as fast as I could. What do you want me to do?" Roland replied a little out of breath only to be glared back by Mike.

"What did I tell you about making appointments during work Johnny." Roland gulped. Franks slapped the back of his head.

"Won't happen again boss." Franks nodded.

"Field sketches." He ordered. Roland got to work sketching the scene and noticed the redhead talking to the kids by the log, he walked over to Jethro who was taking pictures of the bodies.

"What's her story?" Roland inquired gesturing to Jenny who had her back to the two men. Jethro laughed.

"Meet your new partner." Jethro said sarcastically. Roland looked at Jethro and then back at Jenny.

"She's- "

"Yeah. Jennifer Shepard. Prefers Jenny. Made that clear in the truck." Jethro made clear. "Just warning you, we don't want any hard feelings toward each other." Roland was pretty good at reading between the lines and knew when Gibbs was extra happy.

"She isn't… that… Girl?" Roland asked trying to be discreet. Jethro smiled.

"Hmm." Roland mouthed wow.

"I knew there was a reason you were beaming today." Soon enough Ducky arrived at the scene. He was accompanied by medical student Amrit Cortez who was from Spain.

"Sorry we are late Franks, it was a very arduous journey through all the rose thorns." Ducky explained. "Ah, I see that we have two bodies here. Well, we only bought one gurney with us. Mr Cortez would you do the favour of getting the extra Gurney?" Amrit sighed and headed back through the bushes.

"Hey boss!" Jethro called. "Come take a look at this." Jethro was gesturing to the jewellery and rings hidden within the soil. Franks eyed them up carefully.

"Do you think that a woman was involved?" Roland questioned. Franks shrugged his shoulders.

"They don't appear to be very modern… you could call those ancient. They look like they've come from the age of the Vikings." Franks exaggerated. "Bag and Tag."

Ducky was examining the body of Naval officer Esmai Ryan. "Well, if I had to estimate a time of death for this young man here. I would have to say that he has been dead for more than a month. His skin is infested with all sorts of insects and bugs."

'Know how he died?" Franks asked. Ducky sighed.

"Hard to say Mike, but it looks as though on his skull that there is a dent. Indicative of a blow to the head or falling on something." Jenny walked over to Franks with her notebook in her hand.

"Kids say they were hiking, when one of the kids tripped and exposed a part of the body. They hadn't seen anybody or heard anybody around at the time." Franks nodded. Ducky looked up to see the mysterious redhead.

"Oh, hello my dear. You must be the Jennifer Shepard I have been hearing about. Pleasure to meet you." Ducky exclaimed.

"And you must be?" Jenny questioned.

"Ducky. The medical examiner. I admire your courage for joining our team. The boys can get a little bit feisty." Ducky whispered the last part. Jenny smiled.

"Thankyou. I still have to observe one of your famous autopsies." Jenny said regretting the words. Ducky laughed.

"Oh, my dear you can observe this one if you like." Jenny nearly spewed at the idea. She could hardly look at the bodies properly without gagging. She definitely had to toughen up and get used to seeing dead bodies. Jenny looked at Roland with her hands on her hips who eyed her back.

"I'm Jenny." She said proudly. Roland smiled.

"Roland Johns." Jenny walked over next to him and stared coldly at the bodies.

"Yes, well I've heard a lot about you." Roland looked at her while Jenny began to grin.

"You have?" Roland asked feeling betrayed. "You mean they talk about me behind my back?" Jenny laughed. Jethro looked at Roland like he had hit a woman.

"Don't be so daft little J. Of course, we talk about you." Jethro retorted.

Ducky had invited Jenny to come down to Ducky's lab to watch the autopsy of one of the bodies to which Jenny so desperately regretted. Body parts were splayed open. There was what looked to be a rotted liver on the scale and the room stunk of a foul odour from the bodies. Jenny wondered how Ducky survived on a daily basis.

"So, Jennifer. What do you notice about these lungs?" Ducky asked her. Jenny felt nauseas just looking at the lungs. But she wasn't stupid, she could tell clean lungs from dirty lungs.

"Did he… suffocate? In the dirt?" She asked queasy. Ducky nodded and smiled.

"Yes, my dear. He did. Which tells us that- "

"He was alive when he was buried." Jenny stated. Ducky was very proud.

"You are very intelligent Jennifer. Sometimes not even our greatest agents can ever figure that out. I remember once when I met a young girl back at medical school a few years ago. She seemed do mentally retarded that she couldn't even figure out the water in lungs indicated drowning. Of course, she didn't pass her exam. I often wondered how somebody so ridiculous as her could even consider my profession as a job." Ducky looked up to see that Jenny had left the room. "Ah, but even the greatest agents have some of the weakest stomachs." He said to himself.

Jenny had raced into the bathroom outside autopsy and had emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl. She felt terrible for leaving autopsy so abruptly but felt much better having an empty stomach. She washed her face at the sink and rinsed her mouth with water. She was lucky she had a spare peppermint in her pocket. She walked back into the autopsy to see that Amrit and Ducky had finished stitching up the body of Naval Officer Esmai Ryan.

"Wow, your finished already? I was barely gone 20 seconds." Jenny asked amazed. Ducky smiled at her.

"No need to continue further. We already know his cause of death." Ducky explained he walked over to Jenny who was beginning to walk out of the room. She suddenly turned back around again.

"Ducky, got any advice for dealing with this whole feeling nauseous thing?" Ducky looked at her oddly.

"You're not…" Ducky gestured to her stomach.

"Oh, no. no. Not at all." Jenny explained. Ducky nodded. "I am not good with guts and blood… you know so far."

"Oh, Jenny you will get used to it. I felt the same way when I first started out. Don't let it get to you." Ducky said as he patted Jenny on the back.

"Enjoy autopsy?" Jethro asked as Jenny walked into the bullpen. Jenny looked pale and weak and was still sucking on a peppermint. The brown-haired man smirked as Jenny ignored him and pretended not to listen to him. He could tell she had been sick. She frowned as she felt his smug gaze on her.

"Something you need, Special Agent Gibbs?" Jenny asked frustrated. Roland at the other desk turned away from the two agents trying to hide the fact that he was smiling. Jethro shook his head and continued doing research on the dead Naval officers. Jenny got to work as well researching the lives of Kieron Hunt and Esmai Ryan but found that she kept being interrupted by Gibbs' stare.

Gibbs couldn't concentrate, he was still having a field day being with Jenny. He was surprised actually that she ended up spewing all because of a dead body. She didn't really seem like the type to get sick to Jethro. He watched as she typed and typed. Occasionally looking up and frowning, obviously irritated that she was being stared at. However, that was Jethro's specialty.

"Want some advice?" Jethro stated. Jenny glanced over at him blankly. "Coffee helps." Jenny shook her head and smiled.

"Are you telling me that coffee helps with gag reflexes?" Jenny asked in a flirty tone. Jethro smiled internally. He leaned back in his chair still looking at her.

"Only if its good coffee." Jethro stated nonchalant. Jenny nodded. "Of course, that should be easy for you. You work at a coffee shop."

"Not anymore." Jenny said coolly. Jethro looked at her a little defeated.

"But you make great coffee!" Jethro exclaimed standing up. Jenny looked at him oddly.

"Geez, its not like I'm going to stop making coffee. I have a full-time job now don't you see?" Jenny stated holding out her hands like she was catching rain drops. Jethro sauntered back to his seat still eyeing up Jenny.

"Got anything on our two dead bodies?" Mike asked holding a coffee and walking into the bullpen. Jethro stood up again as well as Roland. Jenny took the hint and stood up too.

"Hunt and Ryan worked in the navy together for 2 years, sources say that the two were close." Gibbs stated.

"Their commander says that at the beginning of last month they both took annual leave for unknown reasons. They were meant to return back to their posts on Monday." Roland said reading off his notepad.

"Roland, I want you working on tracking all bank statements, credit card transactions. Hotel Reservations. Everything. What have you got Jenny?"

"The two were both engaged to woman. Hunt was intent on marrying a Jeanne Simmons and Ryan was going to marry Kelsey Griffiths." She explained.

"Got an address?" Franks asked.

"Yeah." Jenny replied. Franks nodded.

"That's good work. Jenny take Gibbs with you to interrogate those two women. Bring them in if you have to."

"On it boss." Gibbs stated proudly while Jenny rolled her eyes. This was going to be a fun trip…

The ride to the women's homes was relatively quiet, there was no flirting. No joking around. Gibbs and Jenny were just happy to be in each other's company. Jenny sat in the passenger seat with her elbow resting on the window sill, while Gibbs was driving slowly. He wanted to ask her a million things. From the food she liked to eat and didn't like to eat, to how many men she had dated.

He already knew that she was in a relationship. Part of him wanted to meet the guy to see if he was treating her right, but the other part of him didn't want to know about her secret lover. For jealously and envious reasons. He had only properly known her for a few hours and he already felt very protective of Jenny. Its like she was his wife. Except she wasn't.

Jenny was entranced in her own thoughts too. She thought about her relationship with Jason and how he acted as a jealous boyfriend the previous night. Truthfully, Jenny did love Jason and she believed that he loved her as well. But what annoyed her was how attached he seemed to be. He disagreed with a lot of what Jenny wanted to do in her life and part of her was struggling to say this to Jason. She didn't realise she was frowning until Jethro interrupted her out of her thoughts.

"Everything all right?" Jethro asked casually. Jenny nodded and turned her head towards the window.

"Just thinking." Jenny stated. There was a moment of silence between the two. He wanted to know her thoughts. To be able to read her like an open book and comfort her if she was hurt.

"About what?" Jethro asked. Jenny sighed and looked towards the windscreen. She smiled.

"About being engaged… and then having your fiancée murdered. I couldn't live like that. Feeling guilty and hurt… losing the love of your life." Jenny said sadly. Jethro nodded and took a sip of his coffee. He knew what losing the love of his life felt like. Losing Shannon and Kelly was a hard battle for him to comprehend. It was coming up to their 2-year death anniversary. Shannon was only 21 when she died, and Kelly was barely a year old. He contemplated telling Jenny about his first wife, but then decided not to. He didn't want to bring up the past and he certainly didn't want Jenny to feel sorry for him. Jenny noticed that Jethro was awfully quiet. "What are you thinking about?"

"I would feel the same way." Jethro admitted. It wasn't a lie. Jethro didn't want to lie to Jenny. He just didn't want to talk about some things with her. Some painful things… Jenny wondered what Jethro was hiding from her, then the thought occurred to her that he may have a girlfriend. Or even a wife…

"I often wonder how people can be so ruthless… and so indignant. Heck… I wonder why I even decided to do this job." Jenny said with ire in her voice. Jethro could see that the day had been a real eye opener for her.

"Yeah, why did you decide to take this job?" Jethro asked intrigued. Jenny stared blankly out the window and sighed.

"Because I can't imagine myself doing anything else." Jenny stated. It was the truth. Ever since her kidnapping as a child, all Jenny wanted to do was to catch the bad guys and put them behind bars. She felt angry all the time thinking about all the cruel people in the world. "At some point you realise that there are some jobs you're meant to do and some you're not." Jethro nodded. "And you?"

Shannon and Kelly's deaths were the original reason why Jethro joined NIS. "Same reason as you." He stated. Jenny looked at him like she was looking at a brick wall. She was beginning to realise that he was a hard person to open up and read. She knew that there was something he didn't want her to know and that concerned Jenny…

A/N: I will be on holiday for the next month and will not have access to a computer. However i will be writing chapters in my journal over Christmas so expect there to be a few chapters ready to read by the time i get back. Thank you so much for reading!