Sep 24
Count me your friend from this time forth. – Mark Twain, Roughing It
Gibbs was not entirely sure when he had become friends with Jennifer Shepard.
He knew he had been attracted to her from the moment he had met her. Redhead, beautiful, legs that went on forever, someone who stood up to him and challenged him. But he had been married at the time and he did not want a female Probie on his team, definitely not one as attractive as she was.
She had been determined to prove herself though, and barring the odd mishap he couldn't help but admire her. Throwing up in Autopsy had given him material for a week, until she had asked him sweetly about what had happened during his first autopsy. Interpreting his suspicious silence correctly, she had offered to go and ask Ducky.
He had rapidly dropped the subject.
They had found themselves spending more and more time together. She had no problem in working the long hours he demanded from his team, she came up with ideas faster than her other teammates and she was prepared to work her way into the ground.
He had admired her tenacity. While he usually had to force some of his team to follow up every lead, she would do it without prompting and would often find something. He may have relied on his gut but her intuition was good.
Somehow the late nights at he office and the sheer amount of time spent together during the day had translated into a friendship. A friendship he did not plan to give up for anything.