Thanks for reading! With extra big thanks to Esquinzo for your review! x

The sun had gotten to her. That and the painkillers. It was the only explanation. The sun and the painkillers and the faint throbbing from her ribs that never seemed to go away had gotten to her and temporarily robbed her of her sanity. Because Jenny wasn't an oversharer. She worked covert operations, had become a master at evading questions she didn't want to answer and there was no way that anybody else, any other time would have been able to do what Jethro had done last night.

She didn't like that he'd read her so openly. Neither of his agents had any clue she was injured, of that she was sure. But Jethro did and had, if she knew him, known by the end of that car ride from the airport.

His attitude had changed since she'd confirmed it. He'd offered her a hand to help her stand the evening before, and when they'd walked back to the house he had matched her pace, instead of striding off as he usually did. And now, as she moved around the kitchen making her morning coffee, so early the sun was barely up, his eyes tracked her movements, watching as if she were prone to fall over any moment.

"Jethro? Do you remember what I did to Stan in Nova Scotia?"

Her tone was mild, almost conversational but she didn't turn to face him, instead listening for the rustle of movement that suggested he'd leant backwards, probably with that almost-smirk on his face that occasionally made her want to throw something at him. "Yeah."

"Good. Keep looking at me like that, I'll do it to you. Twice." She gave him a sweet smile, and took her coffee to the desk. Murderer running around or not, she still had a job to do.

As the sun rose fully into the sky, so did Tony and Kate. The former stumbled downstairs, looking for all the world as if he were still mostly asleep. His partner, however, now seemed unaffected by the time change, albeit almost painfully young with her wet hair hanging about her shoulders.

The shot of wistfulness that hit Jenny had her hurriedly turning back to the laptop and the photos that had been uploaded the previous night. Some faces she recognised instantly, whether it was from previous photos or persons of interest. Others were new, and those she sent to be run against facial recognition.

"Jenny? It's time."

She glanced up at Kate, taking in the coloured blouse and slightly messy bun. She would pass as a tourist, she thought, and took the proffered earpiece. "Good luck."

Kate left first, and then Tony followed. Playing the parts of exploring holidaymaker and distracted businessman enjoying the opportunity of some sun. One inside the café, one outside. Both waiting.

Jenny kept half an ear on their murmured chatter while she continued to work. She didn't need to do more than that- Jethro concentrated enough for the both of them, jaw tense as he sat rigidly at the kitchen table.

The sun continued to rise higher in the sky, the clocks counting seconds and minutes until it was closer to lunchtime than breakfast, and Kate eventually spoke up. "I've been here for too long. I'm beginning to attract odd looks from the staff."

"Pull out," Gibbs ordered. "We'll try again tomorrow."

There was a murmur of acknowledgement, some rustling through the earpiece as Kate presumably got up and left. Jenny glanced at the man behind her, and could practically see the tension vibrating off him. "They did say he doesn't come every day," she offered. "Tomorrow might be different."

He glowered at her. "Or he made you. And now we've lost him again!"

"Jethro!" But he was already gone, stalking out the door and Jenny resisted the urge to sigh at him. This case had always gotten to him, not as much as others she'd seen but enough to stand out. And for the first time, she wondered if it had been a good idea to call him.

She turned back to her laptop, staring blankly at the screen and it was only a few minutes later that Kate slipped into the house. "Where's Gibbs?"

"Taking a walk. DiNozzo?"

"Took the long way back, just in case. He'll be right behind me."

She hummed in acknowledgement, not looking up properly but neither did Kate move, hovering behind her. "Is something wrong, Agent Todd?"

"No," came the instant reply, and then slightly surer- "No. It's just… he's different with you."

Now, Jenny turned around, quirking an eyebrow and Kate went pink. "Gibbs, I mean," she explained hastily, tripping over her own words. "He treats you differently. I've never-,"

"Kate." Jenny took pity on her. "Jethro and I, we worked together a long time. He treats me differently because we've had different experiences together."

"I'm not jealous." Kate barely kept the scorn from her tone. "More… curious."

There was a long silence, the kind that had Kate squirming where she stood, regretting having ever opened her mouth while Jenny looked at her with a considering sort of expression, eyes far too knowing for Kate's liking. "As I said," she murmured eventually. "We worked together for a long time. A lot of it was spent undercover, pretending to be different people. It's just life, Kate. I'm sure he doesn't treat you and Tony the same."

Kate opened her mouth to scoff, but faltered. Because Tony was head-slapped so often even he had lost count, whereas she… well, she couldn't deny that she was on the receiving end of a softer approach. Outwardly treated the same, but when you looked closer there were minute differences, ones that could simply be put down to methods adapted for different personalities but ones that existed all the same.

In the time it had taken her to consider and realise this, Jenny had gained an amused smirk, turning around to her work just as Tony arrived back. He gave Kate a curious look at the sight of her standing in the middle of the room without an obvious reason, and she gestured silently to the stairs. He leered at her, she elbowed him and eventually they ended up in the small bedroom they'd reluctantly shared the night before. "I asked Jenny about why Gibbs treats her so differently."

Tony's eyes practically popped out of his head. He dropped down onto one of the small single beds, and when Kate sat opposite him, their knees were an inch away from touching. "What did she say?"

"That they worked together for a long time. And that a lot of it was spent working undercover together."

Tony's face immediately lit up with an expression of glee. "Undercover. Allowed to be people you're not, trapped out in the cold with only each other to rely on, dodging danger and discovery at every day. The tension and attraction spiralling until one day, a close call is a little too close and the pressure explo-"

"Tony."

He grinned, leant closer. "Tell me I'm wrong. She is a redhead."

For once, Kate couldn't. There was just something about the way Gibbs looked at Agent Shepard, something about the way he spoke to her. There was a sort of casual familiarity in their body language, almost similar to that he had with…

"Ducky."

Tony shot her a look that clearly meant he was questioning her sanity. "What?"

"Ducky," Kate repeated, sitting up straighter. "He's known Gibbs for ages. If anyone would know about him and Agent Shepard…"

Tony grinned, and grabbed his phone.

Downstairs, Jenny was seriously questioning the current state of the agency and its training, based on how the two agents thought they were being sneaky. Was that really what passed for competence now? Not only were they indiscreet in getting upstairs, she could hear their voices, which had admittedly been inaudible at first but then had gradually grown louder and louder, until now, if she'd cared to, she would have had no problem in listening to what they were saying.

She was being bitchy. She knew she was. But she was tired, her ribs ached, her previously broken wrist was throbbing and to top it off, she'd found herself thrown into close proximity with the lover she'd left behind. She had a right to be a bit bitchy.

Speaking of former lovers, Jethro had finally returned, entering the house as if nothing had happened. A glance at the clock in the corner of her screen told her he'd been gone an hour- exactly how long had she been sat here brooding? She frowned, turning back to her laptop only to realise she had pathetically little more to do, at least until Ziva came back.

Movement to her left had her jumping- Gibbs would have ended up on the wrong end of her weapon, if she'd been carrying it. As it was, her hand leapt to the knife on her belt, only to fall away when she realised who exactly had skulked so close. Without a word, he slid a cup of coffee onto the desk, and walked away.

Jenny smiled.

NCIS

She couldn't breathe. She wasn't prone to panic, but she couldn't breathe. The cloth over her face, the water… she arched and writhed, trying to escape but all that succeeded in doing was to harshly remind her of the rope tied around her broken wrist, of the fact she was pinned in place and completely helpless. Around her, she could scarcely hear the laughter and jeers, the rapid-fire order that suddenly meant she had access to air once again.

Until she didn't. She moaned at the feeling of the fabric returning, no longer too proud to beg but she didn't think her words were even audible, not when the breath was once again stolen from her lungs and her head pounded, vision going black until-

"Jenny!"

There was someone hovering over her, and Jenny lashed out instinctively. She had no chance of escaping, even if she managed to succeed in breaking out of her binds and by some miracle flee the compound she was in, the wounds inflicted to her feet ensured she wouldn't get far. But maybe she could hurt some of them. She hit, and scratched, aiming for any part of their body she could reach. Her elbow connected with something relatively solid and she heard a grunt, too high pitched but she didn't notice.

"Jenny, wake up!"

She couldn't breathe. Except she could, and she sucked air in even as the voice penetrated the haze around her and she suddenly realised she wasn't being harmed but constrained.

"Jenny! You are safe. Just breathe. It was only a dream."

She gasped in a breath, and she was in a bed, being carefully held but not by rope at her wrists and ankles and throat, but by arms and legs wrapped around her. "Ziva?"

She heard the small sigh of relief she knew the other woman would deny. "Yes. You were dreaming."

Jenny sagged against her, felt her heartrate begin to slow. "I'm sorry."

Now, more aware, she could recognise where she was. In the bedroom she was sharing with Ziva, illuminated only by the moon from the window, the heat far less than it would have been in the desert. Her ankles were not tied, but tangled in bedsheets, and her wrist was throbbing from a barely healed break rather than a fresh injury.

"Are you going to hit me again if I let you go?"

Jenny's eyes widened. She scrambled upright and Ziva let her go, an amused expression just barely visible on her face. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" She scanned the other woman worriedly, saw no outward injuries. That was good- last time, Jenny had bruised her ribs so badly she'd had trouble lifting her arms for over a week.

She looked tired though, and Jenny couldn't deny the wave of guilt at the realisation. Dark smudges under her eyes, far too pale for being on an island in the sun, especially with her complexion. She was exhausted, which was probably the reason for her finally coming home.

While Jenny had been surveilling her, Ziva had scoffed, moving to the side so that she had settled cross-legged on her side of the bed. "Of course I am." She waved a hand in response to Jenny's question. "Although that should probably be my question to you."

Her partner scowled. "Jethro," she muttered murderously. "He got me talking about it. The nightmares had all but stopped otherwise."

"You told him?"

"He guessed." She would have scowled deeper if she could. Ziva frowned at her, clearly wondering how that was possible and she could only shrug. "I told you he was good."

"This is the man who jumped on a plane mere hours after you called him after four years." Ziva was smiling slyly, eyes dancing with mischief and this time, Jenny meant to hit her.

"Shut up."

"I do not know any man who would do such a thing for me. Apart from maybe my brother, but I do not believe he adds up in this conver- oh!" Ziva laughed as she batted away the pillow Jenny tossed at her, politely pretending not to notice that the force was far less than it would have been.

"Counts," Jenny corrected as she flopped backwards against the bed.

"Hm?"

"He doesn't count, not add up. At least, I think that's what you mean."

Ziva waved a hand, lowering herself to lie next to her. Once upon a time, she and Jenny had awkwardly danced around each other, thrown into being partners and needing to trust, but neither really knowing the other. It had taken the better part of a bottle of vodka shared between them before they had both loosened up, and then several sparring matches before they allowed themselves to truly relax around the other. And now they were here, Jenny thought. It was odd, the relationship that developed with a partner. They had both risked their lives for each other- she wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Ziva. She had seen the Israeli drunk for the first time since- according to Ziva- her teen years (not that they were very far away for the younger woman). She had given her stitches, had her own wounds tended in return. They had shared clothes and a razor, had seen each other sleep deprived and miserable but also deliriously happy. Ziva had told her of her mother and sister, the grief that had propelled her. Jenny had spoken of being an orphan, of knowing that if she died, there would be no one left who would truly miss her.

One night, when Jenny had woken with Jethro's name on her lips, she had found herself telling her of her life before. Of a man who had started off her boss and mentor and become so much more. Ziva had listened, and looked thoughtful. "In Mossad, we are encouraged to keep… entanglements?... in house," she had revealed quietly. "It is less messy. Less chance of betrayal, and the knowledge that both understand duty is placed above all else. It is not like this at NCIS?"

Jenny had laughed bitterly. "No. Dating the boss is… more than frowned upon. It would have damaged my career, even when he was no longer technically my boss. Just returning to the states with him would have slowed my progression. And staying with him? I think that could have broken me, eventually."

Ziva had said nothing, but had reached out to squeeze her hand. Jenny had appreciated the gesture, even if she knew the other woman didn't understand.

She mimicked the gesture now, sliding her fingers through Jenny's and giving her a small smile through the dim light. "When did you get back, anyway?" Jenny asked, suddenly realising the woman definitely hadn't been in the room when she went to sleep.

"Not long. I had only just come in when you started to moan."

The matter-of-fact tone this was delivered in did nothing the help the flush of embarrassment the words provoked. Jenny pushed it away, tried to keep her own voice light.

"You didn't end up with Jethro pointing a gun at you, did you? I did warn him you'd be keeping odd hours, but he's a marine through and through."

There was an uncharacteristic silence. "No," Ziva said eventually. "No gun."

Jenny lifted her head. "Did he wake up?" Another silence, this one longer. "Ziva?"

"Lo."

She stared at her, puzzling out this strange reaction. Ziva had- oddly- averted her gaze, apparently finding a spot on the wall very interesting. Jenny frowned. If Jethro hadn't reacted to her entering, hadn't even woken up… "Ziva, did you come in through the window?"

The expression on her face said it all. Jenny burst out laughing, muffling giggles which only grew worse as Ziva took on an odd expression of embarrassment and defiance.

"Zivs, why?"

She shrugged. "Why not?"

That did it. Jenny buried her face in the pillow, shoulders shaking. It wouldn't have been quite this funny in the light of day, but in the middle of the night, after the tension of the nightmare… she couldn't stop.

Ziva huffed, crossing her arms but before she could think of climbing out of bed Jenny had snaked an arm out, hugging her around the waist. "Ziva David, don't ever change."

I always thought that Ziva and Jenny were probably closer in their past, before Jenny became her boss. Let me know what you think! x