A/N: So think just pre-introduction of Jenny Shepard on the show. I took a few liberties, but hey its fanfiction. I do not own anything recognizable... but oh how I wish I did.

He had heard she was coming back into town but he wasn't sure he would believe it until he actually saw the red head himself. It had been so long since they had last parted. If he didn't know himself better he would swear he was nervous. Nerves? Nah couldn't be. The team had gotten done with the case fairly early tonight so he decided to stop by the old bar. He couldn't remember the last time he was here.

The place hadn't changed much. In fact he was pretty sure it hadn't changed at all. Even the bartender looked the same. As he sat down at the bar the bartender slid a glass of bourbon up to him. He looked at the glass & then gave a questioning eye to the bartender. The bartender just shrugged and said with a smirk, "you are not an easy man to forget."

Jethro nodded thanks to the bar man and sipped his drink. When the door chimed as it was opened again he looked straight ahead into the mirror on the opposite side of him. The chime caught the attention of the bartender as well. His smirk got a little bigger as he saw who was coming through the door. "Hey, lawman, didn't there used to be a redhead that came in here with you all the time?" If possible, Gibbs eyebrows went into his hairline. The bartender chuckled, "She was even harder to forget." At this Gibbs slightly glared at the man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~

A million and one things ran through Jenny's head as she walked up to the door of their old bar. She had always liked this place- it was warn in & close enough to the Navy Yard that if they ever had to go back for something they could but far enough away most from the Navy Yard stayed away. It was the only "their" place she had continued to frequent after the ill fated Europe trip. She had kept in touch with Matt the bartender whenever she was in DC. When she found out she was coming back for good she had her spy at the Navy Yard drop a hint & told Matt to call if he came in. He could be so predictable sometimes.

She stood outside and looked through the door at the man at the bar. He physically hadn't changed a whole lot- his hair was a little bit shorter, a little more grey, but she could tell he was still in impeccable shape. Her hand faltered on the door knob as she reminded herself the whole reason she had talked herself into this 'accidental bumping into' tonight. She needed to know that 'they' were okay with one another. She knew quite a few years had passed, and her spy had mentioned that he had gotten married again- and divorced again- since their split. It sounded like he was fine, but she had to make sure.

"Buck up Jennifer, what's the worst he could do?" She rolled her eyes at her innervoice and muffled under her breath, "shut. up." And with a breath she grabbed the door and purposely strode through attempting to look more confident than she was currently feeling while hearing her innervoice antagonizing her again- "fake it til you make it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~

He watched in the mirror as she walked across the bar. He could hear the clip, clip of her heals she had always insisted on. The one time he had asked her why, she had rolled her desk chair over in front of his, very pointedly leaned across his desk, and got so close to his ear he could feel her words. "Because. I. Like. Them". For a moment his brain went foggy as her words settled in. He had missed her sitting back in her seat and pulling her foot out of one shoe. Just as his mouth was registering that his brain had wanted him to say something he felt her foot toying with his pants leg and moving purposely upwards. With a quick hand he caught her foot before it could become to dangerous. He watched the smirk break across her face and then glared as he registered her words. "Besides, I can't really do that with boots on." It dawned on him right then that Jennifer Shepard was going to be trouble.

As she continued to walk she caught his face in the mirror. For a moment she thought he was watching her. But there was something about his eyes. It was like he was here but he wasn't. And then she saw his lips twitch. She stopped walking for a moment and studied the image she saw. "Is he smiling?" She heard her innervoice. "No, can't be..." There was something about his look that made her feel playful. She started walking faster and when she came up behind him she gave a wink to Matt and covered his eyes. "Guess who," she said, with her mouth right at his ear.

His eyes being covered caught him off guard and jerked him from his memory. But as her words hit his ears he instantly relaxed. The tone in her voice wasn't one he had heard in a long time. He decided if she wanted to play, then he would to.

Matt was down at the end of the bar watching the interaction with the two. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but he definitely wasn't expecting a teasing game between the two. He bit his lip and kept watching.

"Lets see, is it Amanda?" Jethro supplied while keeping his voice completely neutral.

She was almost certain he knew it was her so she was a little taken aback at what she had just heard. "How about no."

"Oh, okay. Is it Stephanie?" He felt her tense as he said the name. "Guess she knows about that," he thought to himself.

"Seriously?"

When he heard the tone of her voice he new exactly how to end the game. "Oh I know, its Diane." The punch was harder than expected and he nearly laughed out loud at the tone of her voice.

"Oh my God I know that word did not just come out of your mouth. Did you hit your head or something?" When she noticed his chest moving from repressed laughter she punched him again.

"Always had a hell of a right hook Jen." His voice had lost its teasing tone.

She took a seat next to him and signaled down to Matt. "Always been a bastard, Jethro."

Matt shock his head as he slid her drink to her. "Good to see you Jen."

She saw Gibb's ears perk at the familiar greeting. And then she laughed at the glare she got when she gave him an explanation- "What? I have friends."

They sat there drinking drink after drink. When they were somewhere around the third or fourth she decided she was tired of the silence. "I heard you got married again."

Her voice made him look up. "I heard you got shot again."

She rolled her eyes at his statement. "Yes, I see how those correlate."

The two got silent again. "Well this is going grande," Jenny thought to herself.

He took a minute to look at her and then it was finally him who broke the silence. "Why are you here?"

It was the topic she was dreading so she decided to deflect. "I like the bar."

"You never could take anything seriously." He was snide in his remark and it set something inside her off.

"Me not take anything seriously? You were the one who couldn't commit to anything other than your fucking boats!" Her voice got louder and louder.

"I wasn't the one who took off and only left a note." He turned and faced her. And with that action world war 3 had begun.

Matt watched both horrified and amazed at the couple in front of him. "Hey guys," he tried in between the smattering of words he could make out. "Hey, you two," he tried again. When he realized that wasn't going to work he blew the airhorn he kept behind the bar. "HEY!"

The obnoxious sound and Matt's voice caught them off guard. "WHAT?" was shouted in unison.

"As much fun as it is watching you two rip each other's head off, my insurance goes up if there is a homicide on the premise." The two emotionally charged stares at him nearly made him shiver. "So, one of you needs to go."

Jethro sat back down at his seat, stared straight ahead, and sipped his drink. "Fine!" they heard as Jenny hastily grabbed her things mummbleing under her breath. Matt winced at what she said as she stormed out the door. "Stubborn Fucking Bastard!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~

Jethro didn't stay at the bar long after she left. He just didn't want to be the one who left first. He walked into his house and down to the basement. He didn't feel like working on his boat. He was sitting at his work bench looking at a picture when he heard her walk in.

She didn't know why she was surprised when she found his front door unlocked. The only time he ever locked a door was when he didn't want to be disturbed. The scent of the house overwhelmed her for a minute when she walked in. It smelled the same as before- uniquely him. She walked over to the basement door and started down the steps, hesitating on each one.

"Never knew you to hesitate, Shepard." He didn't look up.

"Figured you would be working on your boat, Gibbs." The accusing tone was gone.

She walked over to where he was sitting and glanced down at the picture. The captured scene nearly made her smile. "It wasn't all bad" she whispered.

He caught himself before he shook his head no. Looking straight at her with a little more force in his voice he asked the only question he wanted an answer to. "Why are you here?"

His voice took her by surprise. "I need to talk to you."

Her answer caught him off guard. "You want to talk now? Why? So you can feel less guilty when you jet off again? Why are you here?"

His words stung. "I didn't just jet off. And don't act like you were so innocent!"

Tempers were rising. He stood up and took a step towards her. She instictly took one step back. "You left a note that said 'I'm sorry... I can't... I need to think about me.' Always looking out for number one weren't you."

She could feel the heat rising to her head. "Me? What about you? Maybe if you would have pulled your head out of your ass I would have considered you to be best for me!"

Her words felt like a sucker punch to the gut. He took another step towards her as she took one back. "I LOVED YOU DAMNIT!"

She stopped cold and took another step back. "No."

His voice started lowering as he took another step forward. "Yes."

Tears came to her eyes as she took another step back. "No!"

His voice was almost quiet as he pinned her to the wall. "Can't run now Jenny."

She closed her eyes trying to stay in control. "No! You never said it."

"I thought I showed you!" His voice started rising again.

"How? N-" but before she could finish the word he had captured her mouth with his. He slid down her jawline & captured her ear. "Like this," he said in a whisper that gave her chills.

As his mouth found her pulse point his hands found the hem of the shirt. She instictly lifted her arms as he slowly took it off her. Her hands went to his shoulders and pushed off his somehow already unbuttoned shirt. They slid down the wall and he traced the line of her body with first his finger and then his mouth. He was determined to show her how.

~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~

The next morning she opened her eyes. While the turn in events surprised her she was more surprised with how she felt about it all. She grabbed his discarded oxford and slipped it on then put her head back on his chest content to listen to him breathe. She felt him tracing a pattern on her leg so she looked up. "Hi."

He was pretty sure his mind was playing tricks on him when he felt her weight next to him. He cracked open an eye and still wasn't convinced it was real until he heard her speak. "Hi back."

They lay on the blankets in silence a little longer. His tracing pattern was soothing. She propped her head up on her hands on his chest. "I could get used to this again." He quirked his eyebrow at her. "We still have a lot to work on though."

At this he rolled his eyes. "I thought we did pretty good."

She smacked his chest and with a little sass said, "That we were always good at."

His witty retort was silenced by an alarm going off. As she flopped her head back down on his chest she let out a sound that somewhat sounded like her saying coffee.

With his hands behind his head he watched her make her way to the stairs. "So did we ever figure out why you were here?"

She put a little more sway in her hips as she went up the stairs. She shot him a coy look back. "Oh by the way, I'm going to need my shirt back."

She laughed as she was getting close to the final steps. As she shimmied out of the shirt and dropped it replyed. "Thats okay it would get wet in the shower. And oh by the way, I've been transferred to DC."

A/N2: The End. I didn't want to spoil the story by giving a big long explantion of how it came about... so I put it at the end :) This story was the product of insomnia, the song "Look Good In My Shirt" by Keith Urban being stuck in my head, talks on twitter to MatteaAVA who was the inspiration for the bartender, and that saucy look between Gibbs and Jenny at the end of Kill Ari 2. I changed up a few things... I tried to make it seem like it was taking place literally days before Jen announces she was director. I hope you like, please review, please review, please review :) Oh, PS It was Beta'd. I suck at spelling. I tried to catch it all but if you notice something & it bothers you that much just let me know :)