AN1: Any NCIS I've ended up watching in the past few months has been both Kate-less and Jenny-less. However, Sasha Alexander has a new show on TNT with Angie Harmon so I got a mild kick in the ass to write another conversation. The show is great by the way and I will try not to mix up the characters. Please let me know if I am. Or, you know, if I've completely lost their voices altogether.

AN2: I probably haven't disclaimed anything in a while. I own nothing. There, disclaimed.

199?

Kate was getting closer to the Presidential detail; she could feel it. She had asked several times to fill in on some high security posts when other agents were unavailable and she had recently applied for and received a merit promotion. Cause for celebration, she thought. After sitting at the bar for a half hour, she heard the door swing open and turned to look. She was surprised to see Jenny walk in with a small limp in her step.

"I took a round to the thigh during an op in the Czech Republic," Jenny said in response to Kate's questioning look. "It's not like it's life threatening. Totally my boss' fault."

"He's back to being your boss now?"

"Eh, bad habit. He likes to hold it over me any time I slip."

"It has nothing to do with any, hem, bedroom activities that you still call him 'boss'?"

Jenny glared while taking a moment to get herself situated and order her usual. "He miscounted our targets when scouting the location we were taking out. Told me I was clear. I had a bad feeling about it, but he is the senior agent. All of a sudden, I'm on my back on the ground with a rather big guy pointing a rather big gun at me."

Kate listened on in horror.

"Then the guy just fell over. My partner got a clean shot through the side of his head from across the room."

"That's a difficult shot."

"He was a sniper in the Marine Corps," Jenny said proudly.

"And yet he got you shot."

Jenny smiled. "He made it up to me. Several times over. Turns out there are a lot of things you can do even when laid up with a bum leg." Jenny took a drink.

Kate looked concerned. "Should you be drinking? Aren't you taking something for your leg?"

"Bourbon's the best pain killer there is."

"He really has rubbed off on you, Jenny. Do you drink anything but bourbon now?"

"'Course not." Jenny looked at the bartender and tapped the bar to get another drink. "There's nothing nearly as delicious. Here, try."

Kate took a sip and grimaced.

"It's an acquired taste. Much like spending time with my partner. As you've noticed, he can be quite... infuriating. There aren't many agents who last with him as a boss." Jenny looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe that's why they sent us undercover. We don't have to interact with other agents frequently and most of what we do is off the radar."

"So why have you lasted so long?"

"My stubborn side made me stick around long enough to appreciate his approach to the job. Took a little longer to appreciate him some other ways."

"Are you sure it wasn't the "other ways" that kept you around long enough? Not that you would ever admit it."

"So I hear you got a promotion," Jenny replied, quickly changing the subject.

Kate smiled. "I'm a profiler, remember. Don't think I don't know what you're doing. Avoiding the truth is never a good thing."

"So now you're a psychologist too?" Jenny snarked.

"I'll indulge you in your denial. Yes, I got a promotion. Things are going very well."

"And the extra curriculars?" Jenny inquired.

"None to speak of. Apparently no one can acquire the taste for a woman who carries a gun."

"Get yourself another agent to play with."

Kate laughed. "You have such a way with words, Shep. Does your partner know you're just playing with him?"

Jenny looked sheepish. "I've acquired a bit more of a taste for him than that."

Kate just shook her head. There was no way this was going to end well.

2003

Kate didn't even need a week at NCIS to realize exactly why there was an empty spot on Gibbs' team. Infuriating wasn't the half of it. And Jenny was right about Gibbs' style being an acquired taste; after a few months, she realized there was no one she would rather work for.