They were mere minutes into their flight across the country when Jenny started to regret her choice of seating.
"So uh, things must be pretty bad if you'd rather sit next to me than Gibbs," Tony said, flashing a self-satisfied grin at his travel companion.
Jenny gave him a tight smile in return that conveyed exactly what she thought of this conversation, but Tony was unperturbed.
"What's going on between you and him anyway?"
"You mean besides the obvious?" Jenny deadpanned, arching her eyebrows as she glared at him in displeasure. He was, she noted, less scared of her than he used to be and was showing no sign of shutting up.
"Well see it depends on what you mean by obvious, because right now it's more obvious that you're pissed at him than it is that you're pregnant."
Jenny let out an impatient huff of air, and her eyes took on a steely glint. "Everything's fine."
"Come on, what did he do?" Tony said, having decided to push his luck for as much mileage as it would give him.
Jenny's only response was to turn and glare out the plane window.
"Okay, what didn't he do?" Tony watched as her posture became even more rigid and figured he had hit a nerve, but that wasn't about to stop him. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but he found her demeanour and wish to be away from Gibbs kind of concerning. His prickly boss and the boss's almost equally prickly girlfriend, and yet here he was. "He didn't dump you, did he?"
Tony was unprepared for the depth of the pain he saw when she turned her now furious eyes on him once more.
"My relationship with Gibbs and what has or hasn't happened between is is none of your business, so why don't you do us both a favour leave me the hell alone!" Jenny hissed; her expression now downright dangerous.
Tony winced and started to ramble, eager to escape the uncomfortable. "Look, I'm sorry, I was just a little concerned, I guess. Gibbs will come around, 'cause I mean, if there's anyone he's gonna come around to anything, it'd have to be you."
Her eyes were just plain sad now, but her lips quirked up into the barest hint of a smile. "Thanks, DiNozzo," she said softly, holding his gaze meaningfully for a moment in an attempt to try and add weight to her gratitude.
Tony watched her as she turned her attention back out the window. As far as he was concerned whatever the boss had done, he should probably try and un-do it.
He felt bad for the crazy lady; you had to be crazy to have a thing for Gibbs, and it wasn't just one-sided. He'd seen the way Gibbs looked at her.
Hell, Tony wasn't even sure he liked Jenny, but when you put her and Gibbs together, they worked, they were good in ways he didn't fully understand, and hadn't the man himself mere weeks ago taught him that you shouldn't waste good? With a baby on the way, it's not like this shit was exactly optional.
He looked again at the back of her very-red head and a decision was made: he was going to find a way to remind Gibbs about rule five, and he was probably going to get head-slapped into next week for his efforts.
Conversation done with it was quiet, too quiet for his liking. Tony squinted at Jenny, smiling as a new, and admittedly slightly sideways, topic popped into his head.
"Hey, what colour are your eyes?"
Jenny shot him a look that was a frown and raised eyebrows all at once. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"Nothing, but they were kinda green before, and now they've got the whole grey thing going on."
Jenny smirked at him, as amused as she was bemused at his typically DiNozzo way of defusing a situation. "Depends on the lighting."
"Oh, that's kinda cool."
A beat of uncomfortable silence passed, and Jenny rummaged in her hand luggage, clearly searching for something.
Tony grinned at her and rubbed his hands together. "What are we going to talk about now?"
"Nothing," Jenny said, pursing her lips. "I brought a book."
The moment they set foot on the President's plane it became clear that whatever ruse Gibbs had been planning to wrangle jurisdiction with wasn't going to work, as just inside the jet's entrance they found the County Coroner duking it out with none other than Fornell over just whose jurisdiction this mess fell under.
"This is who you've been waiting for?" Fornell exclaimed, incredulous. "Who called NCIS?"
"Well y'know, Tobias, that is the body of a naval officer over there." Gibbs shot back wryly.
"Funny, Jethro. That fact is negated by this being Air Force One, as you well know."
The small, brunette, presumably Secret Service agent who had been watching the whole exchange from the nearby seat rolled her eyes dramatically as she stood up. "It's not Air Force One, Agent Fornell. When the President left on the backup plane, it became Air Force One. This is now alpha foxtrot 29000."
"Don't get into this pissing contest, Agent Todd," Fornell said, pressing his mouth into an irritated line.
Fornell turned his attention back to Gibbs and his team and paused when he saw Jenny, narrowing his eyes.
"Agent Shepard, I thought you were off to the Middle East."
"Change of plans," she retorted icily.
"Really, because I heard that was one hell of a promotion."
Jenny tilted her head down in answer and clenched her jaw: A reminder of the opportunity she had just passed on was the last thing she needed. She grabbed a bag of gear from Tony and stormed off in the direction of the body on the floor behind them.
"Where are you going?" Fornell demanded.
"Crime scene photos." She hissed as she passed him, and he didn't dare challenge her.
"What was that all about?" Fornell asked Gibbs.
Gibbs shrugged and instead of answering and changed the subject. "How is Diane anyway?"
Fornell grimaced, not quite sure what he was in for. "We're having a baby."
Gibbs let out a bark of laughter which caught Fornell off guard.
"What? I expected you to be more upset.
Gibbs, still grinning, shook his head and jabbed his thumb in the direction of Jenny. "Nah, so's she."
Fornell frowned as he tried to figure out if Gibbs really meant what he'd just implied. "Well then, how come she's back on your team? Oh Jethro, you didn't…"
Gibbs's mouth twitched into a grin of confirmation.
"You did! Wait 'til Diane hears about this one."
"Wait until Diane hears about what?" Jenny snapped, having appeared silently behind Fornell.
He had the decency to wince as he wondered whether she'd learned that off Gibbs or if she was just that good at sneaking all on her own. "Well we were just talking about your-"
But he was interrupted by Agent Todd. "I'm sorry, is anyone going to maybe do their jobs? One minute you're arguing about who's got jurisdiction, then you're all having one great big interagency gossip session. We need to find out what happened here, the president's life is at stake.
"Oh, I'm sorry, who are you?" Tony said sarcastically, not liking how they were being spoken to.
"Agent Kate Todd, Secret Service." She snapped, flashing her ID in his face.
"Oh look, she's like you." Tony said grinning smugly at Jenny.
"Funny," she snarked back, raising both eyebrows as she did.
"The FBI has jurisdiction over everything on this plane." Fornell interjected, ignoring their exchange.
Gibbs paid no attention to him either, instead turning to the Secret Service Agent. "So, what actually happened here?"
"When the Commander returned from lunch, he had an equilibrium problem, and his grip was too weak to hold his briefcase."
Ducky looked at her with interest. "Did it happen gradually or was the onset sudden?"
"Sudden. He started to convulse and then he collapsed; the president's physician thought it looked like a stroke."
"Seems kind of young for a stroke," Jenny said, catching Gibbs's eye more out of habit than anything else, a move that halted both of them for a split second before they remembered the task at hand.
A hint of a smile graced Jenny's lips as she saw the trace of an idea flash cross Gibbs's face.
Here we go.
"Hey Fornell," he said, "You can have the body if you sign the release forms."
"Well why didn't you say that before."
Ducky caught Gibbs's eye and then turned to the Coroner. "You said the forms were in your car, didn't you Elmo?"
"Er, yes, that's right."
"Well let's go then." Fornell scrutinised the carefully composed faces of the NCIS team in front of him, sensing trickery in the air. "You're not about to take off on me, are you Gibbs?"
"Would I do that?"
"I don't know, would you?"
"Guess you're going to have to find out."
Fornell cast one last suspiciously resigned look at Gibbs before following the coroner off the plane.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs called out to his junior agent.
"Yeah Boss?"
"Go show the pilot your credentials and get us the hell out of here."
Tony headed for the front of the plane before he noticed Jenny smirking at him and pointed to the staircase beside her. "Cockpit's up there."
"I knew that."
"They won't take off without my permission!" Kate called after him, wishing for the umpteenth time that NCIS would just disappear.
"Well go give it to them," Gibbs drawled, looking at her like she should know better.
"Why should I, what's in it for me?" she challenged, equal parts exasperated and curious about what this brazen asshole could possibly be bringing to the table.
"Joint investigation, I lead."
"Why are you in charge?"
"I do believe that's a dead naval officer." Gibbs deadpanned, refusing to give any ground.
"Who died on Air Force One after having lunch with the President."
"DiNozzo, escort Agent Todd off the plane," Gibbs said, looking past Kate at the younger agent.
"How's that going to work, you can't take off without me!"
"Hey Jen," Gibbs said, turning to the redhead standing nearby taking photos of the scene.
"Mm?"
"How are you at hijacking planes?"
"Well I haven't done it recently but I'm sure I could think of something," she said, smiling indulgently.
Gibbs smirked at her before turning to locate his other team member. "Tony!"
Kate gritted her teeth. She was getting nowhere here, and as loathe as she was to admit it, part of her wanted to see what this guy would do next. "Wait, fine! Your team, but only because I don't want to delay us more by having to shoot you," she hissed.
"Hey,Tony, go shut that door will you?" Gibbs said with a self-satisfied smirk.
Kate gave him a look that could kill before heading for the stairs to give the Pilot the all clear for take-off.
Gibbs looked up and located Jenny standing a short distance away. "Better sit down, Jen," he said, stating the obvious they both knew.
"And why's that?"
"Plane's about to take off."
"Chauvinist," she retorted, narrowing her eyes at him, though her voice held no venom.
Gibbs smirked before sitting down in the seat next to her. "We need to talk," he told her seriously.
"What, now?" Jenny said, shooting him a look of disbelief.
Gibbs shook his head. "Later."
"You actually gonna talk this time?" Jenny asked, meeting his eyes in a challenge.
Gibbs fought the urge to deflect and avoid committing to a certainty; she wasn't messing around, and there weren't many chances left. "Yeah."
She searched his eyes guardedly but was unable to glean much.
Kate's eyes were drawn to their pair as she came back down the stairs; they were cleared for take-off. She wondered if any of what Gibbs and the FBI agent were talking about was true and how that even happened, though she supposed it wasn't any different from the fact that she was sleeping with Major Tim Kerry, and fraternising with a colleague was a Secret Service no-no - something she would almost certainly be fired for if she was discovered.
She watched with interest as Gibbs and his female agent stared intently at one another; whatever had happened there, there was something going on between those two.
She sat down next to Agent DiNozzo who was in the middle of buckling himself in, but his attention was also on the other pair, and he was grinning at them.
Gibbs shot him a questioning look "What, DiNozzo?"
"Well y'know boss, lately I've been thinking a lot about rule five."
"And why's that, DiNozzo?"
"Well just, y'know-" Tony gave up on words and instead looked pointedly between Jenny and Gibbs and then back again, grinning, and unafraid.
Gibbs smirked in spite of himself. "You finished?"
"Yup, that's about all I've got to say."
"Good," said Gibbs.
Jenny's head was bowed but the tops of her cheeks raised upwards in a smile.
Kate frowned in confusion, wondering whether this was some strange NCIS rulebook thing and wondered what it had to do with the relationship between Shepard and Gibbs. She turned to Tony. "What's rule five?"
"Well, Katie-"
Kate narrowed her eyes. "That's Agent Todd to you, Special Agent DiNozzo."
"-rule five is 'you don't waste good'."