Crimson Lead Bar, Washington D.C. 199?
Special Agent Jenny Shepard spluttered, slamming the now-empty bourbon glass down on the counter, furiously glaring at her partner.
"You think this is funny?" her outraged tone was barely discernible over the loud announcer on the TV above. She dragged her sleeve over her mouth, trying to get rid of the lingering taste. It had been barely enough liquid to coat the bottom of the glass; the only reason she had indulged Gibbs to try his blasted drink in the first place.
"Yeah, Jen." Gibbs leaned back against the counter, signaling for the bartender to refill his own glass, a smirk dancing on his face.
She poked his ribs. "Bourbon? Really?"
He shrugged playfully. "Thought you could handle it."
Shooting him a vindictive look, she fluttered her eyelashes at the bartender who approached, bottle in hand. "I'm so sorry for the mistake," she simpered. "He actually wants one of those." She pointed down the bar to a girl who sipped an obnoxious fruity drink.
The bartender gave her a sharp nod and disappeared between two other workers.
"What the hell was that?"
Jenny folded her arms over her chest as she faced her silver-haired partner. "Revenge," she said sweetly, cocking her head up at him.
He glared mutinously at her.
Her eyes widened in mock surprise. "What, the great old Leroy Jethro Gibbs can't handle a girly drink?" she gasped, placing her hand delicately on her chest. "Why, I never knew."
"Jen," he growled.
The bartender slid the drink in front of Gibbs, who eyed it distastefully. Jenny merely snickered, gesturing for the man to refill her own drink. If Gibbs wanted to trick her into drinking bourbon, she'd show him. The bartender poured the amber liquid into her glass. She swirled it around as she faced Gibbs.
"Drink it," she nudged, before lifting her own drink to her mouth. Dark blue eyes bore forcefully down on her, but she had faced the 'Gibbs-stare' too many times to do anything but hold it.
She pointedly took a gulp of bourbon, forcing her expression to remain neutral. He hadn't moved, eying her contemptuously. She slid the drink closer to him. "I'm sure you can handle it." She patted his chest in a placating manner.
As she drew her hand away, he moved into her space, pressing her against the counter. Jenny swallowed heavily, trying to ignore the scent of sawdust invading her senses as he reached for the drink.
Meeting his eyes, she hoped she didn't convey how off-kilter she felt with him so close. He leaned even closer to her, his face inches from her own. She willed her eyes to stay locked on his, but couldn't help the slight hitch in her breath. Suddenly, he withdrew, bringing the fruity drink up to his lips as he did so. There was a triumphant gleam in his eyes as he downed the beverage.
Damn it, the bastard knew the effect he had on her. Jenny glared at him, finishing off her own glass.
"Suppose you were right, Jen."
She lifted an eyebrow.
He smirked at her. "Could handle it."
She rolled her eyes at the pleased expression that settled on his face. She took a seat at the bar, bringing the bourbon to her lips once more.
"Gonna use the head."
She started, not expecting him to lean so close to her. Scowling at his antics, she shook her head as he winked, retreating to the wall where the bathrooms were. She gulped down the rest of her bourbon, finding herself enjoying the drink now that she was more accustomed to the taste, not that she'd ever admit that to him.
Someone slid into the seat next to her and Jenny surreptitiously glanced at the figure. It was a pretty woman who looked to be around Jenny's age, give or take a few years. What had Jenny raising her head was the red hair of her companion.
"Buy you a drink?" the woman asked, raising a haughty hand to flag down the bartender.
"I won't refuse." Jenny responded, slightly wary. Something seemed to tell her that this woman was not necessarily some stranger.
"Another bourbon?" the woman inclined her head at the empty glass. She might as well stick it to Gibbs even more and learn to actually like the damn drink. At Jenny's nod, she reported the order to the bartender, ordering a glass of wine for herself. It seemed to fit the sophisticated lady with her satin blouse and blazer.
She thanked the bartender after he filled her glass with the amber liquid, and raised it to her mouth once more. The woman beside her swirled her wine before taking a sip, scrunching her nose.
"They never let the wine sit long enough here," she said, pursing her lips.
The comment didn't surprise Jenny. Not the standard in which the woman seemed to hold her wine to, nor the inference that it was not her first time in the bar.
"You're probably wondering who I am." The woman faced Jenny, stretching out a well-manicured hand which she shook firmly.
"Jenny Shepard."
"Diane Sterling."
Jenny's brows furrowed slightly. Diane. The name sounded familiar but she couldn't place it right off the top of her head.
"I'm sure you've heard Leroy mention me."
Jenny's eyes widened. Diane, the ex-wife. No wonder the name sounded familiar. She was sure she'd have put two and two together if the name had been said in a growl. She took another sip of the bourbon, wondering why one of Gibbs's ex-wives had approached her.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to steal your man." Diane's lip curled. "I've had enough of the bastard. And anyway, I'm here with someone else." She jerked her head to the far corner of the room. Jenny glanced over, noticing a certain FBI agent and couldn't hide the smirk that morphed across her face.
"Jethro isn't my man." She meant to say Gibbs, but couldn't stop herself from making some kind of claim on the blue-eyed agent.
Diane scoffed. "Don't fool yourself. You're getting no judgment from me, I fell for the charm as well. I saw the two of you."
"You sure you're not jealous?" she asked skeptically.
"Oh, I'm sure. Although I've got to say, Leroy certainly knows how to pick them." Diane eyed Jenny's red hair. "But I'm not doing that hellscape again. I'm here to warn you from making the same mistake I did."
Jenny lifted an eyebrow as Diane sipped her wine.
"Don't think you can fix him. You won't be able to."
"I'm not trying to fix him. He's not broken." Jenny snapped.
Diane hummed noncommittally. "I wouldn't be too sure about that." She set her wine down, fixing Jenny with a serious look. "I'm not trying to get into your business. I'm just doing what I wish someone else would've done with me before I got in too deep."
"I don't know what you're trying to do. Gibbs and I aren't even in a relationship."
"Yet." Diane seemed to have caught on to the word that Jenny deliberately left out. The tension that surrounded them from the moment they met had only grown. They were leaving in a couple days for Europe, undercover, and Jenny had never been an idiot.
"Look," Diane leaned forward. "Leroy is a great man, I'm not denying that. But he's never going to let you in. You'll only destroy yourself trying."
Jenny took in the vulnerability that made its way across the other woman's face. She respected Diane's willingness to be so open with a stranger, even if she found the whole situation unnecessary. She'd been around Gibbs long enough to pick up on the slight tells that he was holding something back. But it wasn't like she cared about that, they all had their secrets, and if he didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't push him.
She understood there were things that you couldn't speak about.
Giving Diane a short nod, she lifted the bourbon up again, one eye on the door to the men's room. Gibbs would be coming back soon and while there was nothing wrong with what she was doing, she rather him not catch her talking with his ex-wife.
"Jenny, just-" Diane hesitated, holding her wine in one hand as she stood up. "Just be careful. Leroy will care, in his own way, but it's not going to be enough. And you know you deserve better." A faraway look appeared in her eyes. "It will break you because he's not going to be the one to make the decision. You'll want to stay, you really will. But nothing will change and he'll never let you in. Not enough." She smiled; it wasn't pleasant, rather strained; forced.
Jenny said nothing, turning Diane's words over in her mind once before discarding them. As the woman turned, she reached out and squeezed her hand once before saying goodbye. A gesture, not of thanks, but of respect. She watched Diane walk back over the dark corner and sit back down, not entirely sure what she made of their whole interaction.
The warning didn't surprise her. She heard a lot of gripping from her partner regarding his ex-wife to piece together a bit of what happened. She tugged her bottom lip with her teeth as she turned back to her bourbon.
Jenny supposed that it could very well be her own arrogance in the way she was dismissing the warning, but she was Gibbs's partner; she understood the job, something Diane apparently never did. She also understood that there was something deeper, some part of him that he tucked away behind walls she didn't think would ever come down. She had her own.
There were several moments where she questioned her own judgment. She was a junior agent, one with high aspirations, and getting involved with her boss was definitely not the best idea. She could sympathize with how Diane must've felt, regardless of how the divorce went down, if she decided to warn her about getting involved with a certain blue-eyed agent.
She felt his presence behind her before he sat down, blue eyes flickering to the glass in her hand. She looked up in time to see his characteristic smirk.
"Oh, shut up," she pushed him playfully, all thoughts of the conversation with Diane gone from her mind.
A/N: Back with another story! There will be eight chapters (all of which are written), so I'll post one a day. ALSO, CAN WE TALK ABOUT NCIS: ORIGINS?! I'm obsessed!