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I have nothing," Tony declared in disgust, leaning back in his chair and running his hands through his hair, he glanced over at McGee.

"Yeah," the younger agent agreed miserably.

Sitting bolt upright, Tony exclaimed, "You have something!"

McGee looked startled at the yelp, and shook his head vehemently. "No. I meant yeah I had nothing too, I was just agreeing with you that there was nothing, not saying that-"

"Shut it!" Tony told him, his hands moving round so his fingers could massage his temples. "We can't have nothing, there has to be something!"

Ziva glanced up from her computer screen, glaring at the man across from her. "It is not like we haven't been looking, it is that there is nothing to find."

McGee frowned. "How do you manage to break into a house and not leave any trace."

"The back door was open," Tony snapped back childishly.

Rolling his eyes, McGee continued, "Yes, but the lock must have been picked. Hector says the man he saw wasn't wearing gloves, how do you pick a lock and not leave fingerprints if you're not wearing gloves?"

"Maybe he took them off once he got into the house," Ziva suggested.

"No fingerprints on the files that he touched either though, and why would you take your gloves off? That's a stupid mistake to make, and looking at this the one thing this guy isn't is stupid," Tony pointed out.

"What bothers me," McGee told them, "Is how he got out of the grounds. The hedges surrounding Director Shepard's garden are at least ten feet, and there was nothing to suggest that he went through them."

"Look," Tony snapped again. "We know the questions, what we need are the answers. We can't tell Gibbs we didn't find one single thing that gets us any closer to finding this guy. So what do we do?" Both Ziva and McGee stared blankly at him, before McGee's shoulders edged up in a shrug. Tony sighed and flopped into the back of his chair again. "Helpful guys, real helpful."

Jenny glanced up as the door to her office was thrown open, and Gibbs strolled in. She managed a faint smile at his behaviour for once, it was a sign of normality in a situation that she was rapidly losing control over. He stopped in front of her desk, his blue eyes flashing angrily at her. "Why," he ground out. "Is Hector out there instead of in here with you?"

Sighing, Jenny rolled her eyes and stood up, her hands planted on the desk in front of her. "Because, Agent Gibbs, I don't need someone staring at me while I stare at a computer screen all day."

"He's supposed to be protecting you."

"Yes, and if I go anywhere then he'll come with me. But I don't see how it makes a difference if he stands out there rather than in here. There is only one way into this office and that is through that door."

"You are meant to have someone out there as well."

Jenny snorted. "That sounds like overkill to me."

"It's a sensible precaution considering some lunatic broke into your house last night."

Gibbs watched as Jenny's spine stiffened at the mention of the events of the previous night. After a moment of tense silence, her tone was measured when she finally replied, "Regardless of that incident, I am not in need of a babysitter. Hector can do his job just as well without me having to put up with him staring at me all day long. It is not up for discussion, I've made my decision."

She watched as Gibbs eyes narrowed even further, but before he could press the point any further she asked, "Are you any closer to finding out who this is?"

His jaw clenched momentarily before he gave one single shake of his head. "No," he answered gruffly. "Just came from Abby's lab. There were no fingerprints of anyone unexpected on either the door knob or on any of the files he moved. We also now know he's not an employee, but as a precaution we also had Hector look at all the photos of any support staff, temps or staff from outside agencies who've worked here in the last three months. He wasn't amongst them."

Gibbs only just caught the flash of distress that ran across Jenny's face before she caught herself. "Has your team found out anything?"

"No," he replied shortly. "I overheard them a few minutes ago deciding how best to tell me."

Jenny managed a small yet genuine smile at that. "No doubt they'll resort to drawing straws to decide which one has to tell you that."

"It'll be Dinozzo," he told her.

"Always so sure of yourself," she teased.

He gave a small chuckle, glad that at least for a moment she'd been able to find something to smile about. After a moment, she sat back down. He inclined his head towards the door. "I should go put them out of their misery."

"Of course," she nodded.

"If you need anything-"

"Hector's right outside," she finished for him.

"That wasn't what I was going to say." He almost laughed at her look of surprise over getting that wrong. "If you need anything just call me."

Her lips twitched into what was almost a smile, she didn't know what, but she felt better knowing that he cared. "Thank you, Jethro."

He shrugged. "Just doin' my job."

The faint smile fell from her lips, and she nodded briskly. "Of course. I'm sure you can see yourself out, Agent Gibbs."

As he walked to the door, Gibbs felt like kicking himself for his last comment.

Ziva's gaze ran along the catwalk, stopping on the agent guarding the door leading into the Director's outer office. "At least we know she is safe here."

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "Did you see the security on at the doors today? This place is locked up tighter than Fort Knox."

Ziva turned to look at him and frowned. "What does Fort Knox have to do with our security?"

Tony shook his head in despair. "It's an expression, we use it to describe…you know what," he sighed. "Never mind. My point was that this guy is going to have to be Houdini to get in here today."

"Yeah and that's what the Director's detail thought last night. Now you three better have something good if you're just sitting around chatting," Gibbs barked, appearing like some sort of hellish mirage behind Tony.

Tony craned his neck to look up at his irate boss. Swallowing slowly, he replied, "We couldn't find anything."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't reply, instead he headed straight for his own chair and dropped into it.

He rubbed tersely at his forehead. He didn't like this, something with this case was off. Tony was right though, there was no way anyone was getting near Jenny today. But this didn't make him feel any better, after all this guy had pulled off two break ins that should never have been able to happen, and everyone in the agency knew it, putting everyone on tenterhooks. Scuttlebutt was at all time high, with speculation running rife.

Not only had it prompted a step up in Jenny's personal security, it had also caused the building's security to tighten it's belts, having taken the incident yesterday as a personal insult.

All guests were to be escorted at all times and the sign in sheets were vigorously scrutinised, with anyone who didn't have an appointment or someone in the building able to give just cause for them being there being turned away. But still, his gut still churned uncomfortable. He gave his head a quick shake, he was being ridiculous. Tony was right, this guy wasn't getting near Jenny today. No way, no how.

Jenny stretched in her seat, and pushed her chair back from her desk as she rubbed at her eyes, which felt odd from the hours she'd sat staring at her computer screen. She was exhausted and the coffee just wasn't cutting it. Unsurprisingly she hadn't slept last night, what with Jethro's team wandering around, her detail staring at her as if afraid she would suddenly vanish and the fact that knowing someone had been watching her sleep had just freaked her out more than a little bit.

Glancing at her clock, she saw that it was already after three. She let out a hiss of breath as she stood up, making her way towards her private bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. Pushing the door shut, she turned cold tap on full blast and stared in the mirror. She almost let a groan at the sight of herself, her skin was pale and the shadows under her eyes stood out even more in comparison. Cupping her hands under the tap, she splashed her face, shivering as the freezing water hit her skin. Turning off the tap, she sighed, it hadn't really worked and if possible she looked even worse.

Patting her face with a towel, she frowned as she heard footsteps originating from her office. She shook her head, it would either be Cynthia or Hector, she was being paranoid. Sighing, she threw the towel to one side and stepped outside again. On seeing no one was there, she shook her head again. Definitely paranoid.

Heading in the direction of her desk, she took in the sight of a small wooden box sitting on her stack of files and she felt her heart start to thump against her ribs. She took a couple of deep breaths, he couldn't have possibly been in here. There had to be a rational explanation. Knowing she shouldn't touched it, she stepped away from the box and towards the door. Pulling it open she saw her actions gained her immediate attention from Hector. He frowned at her in concern. "Is everything Ok Ma'am?"

"I was just wondering who was in my office a few minutes ago."

Hector frowned at her. "No one. Why?"

"Another gift has been left at my desk." Jenny took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. "Could you phone Agent Gibbs and tell him to come up here."

He nodded, his skin turning paler at the implications of yet another inexplicable security breach. He turned to Cynthia, who immediately picked up the phone. On seeing that Jenny was heading back into her office he followed her. His eyes travelled over to her desk, taking in the small wooden box. He nodded towards her sofa, "You should sit down Ma'am."

Jenny didn't reply, instead heading straight towards her decanter of bourbon. Hector's voice stopped her. "You shouldn't touch it, just in case….." he trailed off

Nodding, Jenny stepped away from the cabinet but she found she couldn't sit, she couldn't just do nothing and wait.

As it turned out she didn't have to wait long, Jethro appeared only seconds later. "What's the problem?"

"Another breach," Hector grunted.

A dark frown descended on Gibbs face. "How?"

Hector shook his head. "I have no idea," he admitted grimly.

Gibbs turned towards Jenny. "Jen," he prompted.

She didn't look at him as she replied, "I went to freshen up, I thought I heard someone in here but I dismissed it. I was only gone about two minutes, but when I came out, that box was sitting on the desk."

"And it's not been touched?"

"No."

"I'll get some gloves and an evidence bag and take it down to Abby."

"Any idea what could be in it?" Hector asked.

Jenny shook her head, while Gibbs replied, "We're not taking any chances, I'll tell Abby to open it in one of those container things."

"Very technical," Jenny murmured under her breath.

Ignoring her, Gibbs nodded towards the bottles on her cabinet and continued, "We'll take any open containers as well."

Jenny nodded. "I'll come with you."

"No," he replied sharply.

"I want to know what's in that box, and I don't want to sit around up here and wait."

Gibbs eyed her for a few moments before relenting. "Fine." When he saw that Hector was about to protest, he added, "But you have to stay with me at all times."

"Agreed."

Abby smiled as Gibbs walked into her lab, the smile rapidly falling from her face when she saw not only the expression on his face, but also that Jenny was behind him. Her gaze fell to the evidence bag in his hand "What do you have for me?"

"Need you to tell me. It was left on the Director's desk."

Taking it from him, she headed towards one of the incubators. "I'll open it in here, I don't want a repeat of that plague incident."

Gibbs nodded as Abby placed it inside and pushed her hands through the gloves. She ran her fingers along the edge of the box until she came to the golden clasp. "This thing looks old," she commented as she flicked it open. A small gasp escaped her as it fell open. "Oh Wow!"

Both Gibbs and Jenny stepped forward to take a closer look. Abby picked the necklace out of the satin lined box, holding it in her gloved hand. Two thirds of the chain was made out of thick silver, until it reached a shining emerald on both sides, followed by what look like diamond before both side met on a heavy silver cross, the metal making it up twisting like vines, an indent sat in the centre of the cross, and it was filled by yet another gleaming emerald. "This is stunning!" Abby breathed out.

Jenny frowned at it, she'd never seen it before, and yet it felt so familiar to her. She tried to concentrate on that feeling, but it was like it was hidden in a haze. So instead she tried to focus on the question Jethro was asking her.

"Have you seen it before?"

Despite the feeling of familiarity she couldn't rid herself of, Jenny shook her head. "No."

The young Goth ran her finger tip along necklace. "Well there isn't anything on it, no trace of powder. It looks-" she squinted at it. "Old." on catching the exasperated look on Gibbs face, she clarified, "I mean really old. I don't know too much about jewellery, but I do know that up until the 14th century stones weren't cut, similar size stones were collected and polished. And if you look at these stones they're all different sizes and slightly differently shaped. This could be worth an absolute fortune."

"I need something more useful than that, Abs" Gibbs pressed her.

"Of course. I'll run the usual screen for prints, but if this is the same guy I doubt he's going to have left any this time. I think our best bet is to try and trace the necklace, it's most likely one of a kind. I have a couple of contacts in the antique business, I'll get in touch."

"Don't try to trace it, do it," Gibbs growled.

Abby saluted him. "Yes Sir!"

Rolling his eyes, he herded Jenny out of the lab. "You alright?"

Jenny nodded. "Yes."

Gibbs opened his mouth to reply, when his cell phone interrupted them, chirping happily. He answered it, snapping, "Gibbs." He listened carefully for a few moments, and then hanging up, he looked back at Jenny. "Body of a Petty Officer's been found in an alleyway just off Virginia Avenue." He sighed irritably, "I need to go."

Jenny nodded somewhat distractedly, her mind still on the necklace. "Of course."

"I'll take you back up to your office."

They walked in silence, with Gibbs watching her closely, her mind was obviously elsewhere, and her behaviour was starting to concern him more and more. As they approached Hector, he told her, "If I can I'll come round later tonight."

"You don't have to."

"I know."

Jenny gave him a small smile, and squeezing his elbow lightly replied, "Thank you, Jethro."

As Gibbs walked away, he couldn't help but curse the timing of the case. He didn't want to leave her, he was worried and he wanted to stay with her. He knew this was worrying her, but he also knew she'd never let that show to anyone else around her, and that was adding another layer to the tension surrounding her.

He frowned, the moment he could get away from this case he would, dismissing his overwhelming need to be close to her as natural concern for her situation.

As it turned out, it was several hours before Gibbs felt the case was stable enough to be left for the night. His team had been up the night before and they needed to sleep. He on the other hand, had driven straight to Jenny's. He paused at the front door, nodding a greeting in the direction of the night's detail. Heading into her study, which was pitch black, he was somewhat relieved to realised she must be upstairs sleeping. It reassured him slightly, the last thing she needed now was to be fighting exhaustion on top of everything else.

Settling down onto the sofa, he closed his eyes and let sleep claim him. He wasn't sure how much later it was that his eyes opened again. What he was aware of was the sound of someone moving around upstairs. Reaching for his sig, he moved stealthily in the direction of the noise.

Jenny's eyes snapped open as she heard footsteps. She sat bolt upright, her eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness of her bedroom. Pushing the covers from herself, she looked around the room. Hitting the bedside lamp, she saw that her door was still firmly shut and there was no one there. Getting to her feet, she walked towards the door leading to her en suite, checking that that too was empty. Screwing up her eyes, she shook her head. There was no one there she told herself.

Leaning against the wall, she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her head jerked back up when she saw her bedroom door open, and she let out a sigh of relief as she saw it was Jethro.

He in turn lowered his gun. "You ok?"

"Fine. I just….I thought I heard something."

His eyes scanned over the room and paused on her right pillow. "What side were you sleeping on?" he asked.

"Left, I always do." Her eyes followed his, and she let out a horrified gasp as she took in what he'd seen. She moved closer shaking her head as she stared at the familiar necklace. "No. No, that's just not possible. She glanced up at him almost desperately. "Jethro, how could….." she trailed off.

Moving closer, Gibbs wrapped an arm around her, lowering his head to hers. "It might be a duplicate."

She nodded. "Yeah," she replied hopefully.

She watched him closely as he pulled out his cell, his free hand still staying on her arm, and for some reason she found the slight contact unbelievably comforting. Concentrating on keeping her breathing steady, she focussed on his words, listening as he first alerted her security to begin searching the grounds and the house and then checked with Abby as to where she'd left the necklace in the lab. By the time he was talking to the night security and asking them to check it was still there, her eyes were shut as she awaited the answer.

She re-opened them when she heard him say goodbye. Glancing up at him, she saw the strain in his face, and knew the answer. "It's the same one, isn't it?"

He nodded. "There's no sign of it back at NCIS."

Jenny reached for it, picking it up she was shocked by her reluctance to hand it over to Jethro as she had originally planned. Her grasp around it tightened momentarily, before she finally handed it over.

Taking it from her, he tucked it into his jacket pocket. "I'll arrange to have it taken back to the lab. We'll need to find you somewhere else to stay as well."

"No!" Jenny shook her head. "I've already told you that I'm not being forced out of my home."

He stared at her incredulously. "Jenny this is the second time this guy's gotten past your security and into the house. The entire house and grounds need to be checked to figure out how he got in. You can't stay here!"

"Yes I can."

"Well you're sure as hell not staying in s room."

Jenny found that she actually agreed with him on that point, staying in this room made her feel a bit uncomfortable now. "I'll move into one of the spare bedrooms."

"I'll have to check it first, make sure it's secure."

"Ok."

He walked her to one of the bedrooms at the back of the house, and she leaned against the door jamb, watching him as he checked the windows. He stopped in front of her and her breath caught slightly as his eyes travelled over her. "You sure about this?" he finally asked quietly.

"I'm a big girl, Jethro. I'm not running away."

"I'll be downstairs, if you need me."

She nodded, her eyes locking onto his. Gibbs hand grasping around her arm, calloused fingers brushing against her soft skin. He had just leaned closer when he heard the murmuring voices of Jenny's detail downstairs, and coming back to his senses, he pulled away. "Night, Jen," he mumbled softly, turning away.

She watched him go, and then pushed her door shut softly. Turning around, Jenny found herself starting into a pair of dark eyes.