Roll to Me

Summary: What if Jenny had been Kate's replacement? How will this effect the way Gibbs' team works and how will Jenny cope with both his and Tony's advances? Jibbs Slight Jony.

Chapter One: Jenny Was A Partner Of Mine

The atmosphere was subdued as the remainder of Gibbs' team returned from the funeral of Caitlin Todd in Kentucky. Little was said between them on the flight back to NCIS in the agency's private jet. On the outward journey they had laughed and reminisced about their memories of Kate but now the reality of their loss was really starting to set in. When they arrived back at NCIS Gibbs told his team to take the rest of the weekend off and to come back rested and ready for work on Monday morning. Kate may be gone and their team left in tatters but life at NCIS had to move on without her. Jethro Gibbs was also about to find out that life had a way of catching up with you too.

Gibbs spent most of the weekend working alone on his boat in his basement with a steady supply of bourbon for company. As he sanded and smoothed the wood of his boat, Gibbs' mind wandered to the women he had lost in his life. Of course, there were Shannon and Kelly whom no amount of bourbon could make it bearable to remember. After losing the two people who had been his whole world, Gibbs had searched for love in failed relationship after failed relationship. And then there was Jen. Gibbs had met Agent Jennifer Shepard on an undercover mission in Paris and with her he had found the kind of love he had thought it was impossible to ever feel again. This was to be short lived too, though. The distance between them and the job always seemed to get in the way. Gibbs always wished that he had tried harder to make it work but the lack of contact over the last six years seemed to suggest to him that Jenny disagreed.

First thing Monday morning Agent Gibbs was summoned to the Director's office. He was pretty convinced that already the head honchos would want to hire a replacement for Kate and he wasn't wrong.

"Good morning, Gibbs." Fornell greeted when Gibbs arrived at his office.

"Tobias," Gibbs replied a little cautiously.

"I trust you understand that you're here to discuss a replacement for Agent Todd?"

Gibbs nodded, his guts churning a little at the thought of having to look across the bullpen at another face other than Kate's. He waited silently for Fornell to continue.

"I'd like you to meet Agent Shepard."

It couldn't be her, Gibbs told himself, Shepard was a common name but Jethro Gibbs did not believe in coincidences. Time seemed to slow as he waited for his new team member to appear. Into the room stepped a petite woman, her long red hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She wore dark blue slacks and a white blouse. She looked a little older than when Gibbs had last seen her but the years had been kind to her and he was aware he had aged too. However, when Jenny's face broke out into a nervous smile and then her trademark grin, Gibbs saw the same woman he had worked with, seduced and fallen in love with.

"Jen?" He asked incredulously, the pet name sticking in his throat.

She stepped forward, closing some of the space between them. "Agent Gibbs." She offered him her hand to shake. The same intensity was there between them, like two chemicals waiting to react.

"So you'll be working as part of my team then?" Gibbs asked as they made their way down to the squad room.

"That would be the general idea." Jenny replied. As they walked she studied his facial expressions, as they had always been able to read each other so well. "I know you must feel like I'm taking Kate's place, and I'm sorry about that, it's always hard when a team loses a member." Her green eyes bore into those of her former partner, neither of them looked away. "For whatever the reason."

When they arrived at the bullpen Tony and McGee looked up from their desks and exchanged glances, neither of them had expected to see Kate replaced so quickly.

"Agents DiNozzo, McGee." Gibbs introduced and the two agents approached their boss and the new recruit. "This is our new team member, my ex partner, Agent Jenny Shepard."

Tony and McGee shook hands with her.

"What exactly do you mean by 'ex partner'?" Tony asked her but was silenced by a headslap from Gibbs.

Jen couldn't hide her smile. "It's nice to know some things never change!"

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