"So, Maggie, what took you so long?" Noah asked with a teasing glint in his eye.
"What are you getting at?" she asked without even pretending to try to figure out to what he was referring.
"Who's the new guy?" he asked flirtatiously.
Maggie smiled. Somehow he always knew. "No one you know," she said cryptically.
"We could change that," he suggested.
"I don't think so," she responded definitively. He laughed.
"So he doesn't know…?" Noah fished.
"He knows," Maggie disagreed.
"What's his name?" he continued to torment her.
"Diamond, that's enough," Gibbs interrupted. "Can we focus?"
"Sorry, boss," he said, tossing a smirk in Maggie's direction. Gibbs smacked him in the back of the head.
"No you're not," Gibbs said with a sideways smile. "Jen, there's really no need for you to go to the scene with us," he said. "I'm not sure why you're here in the first place."
"I'm here because the triple homicide involves the high-profile daughter of a friend. He called me right after the call came in on the hotline," she said smartly. "And the last time I checked, I didn't need your permission, Agent Gibbs."
"Fine, you're with me," he said to her. "Diamond, David; bring the sedan. DiNozzo, McGee, Sullivan; bring the truck and equipment. Ducky and Palmer are still gathering gear and will meet us there. Abs…"
"I know, I'll wait; but hurry so I can work my magic," she said with a big smile.
"Come on Jen, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked scornfully once they were alone.
"It's not what you think, Jethro," she began to explain. He gave her a look that showed he didn't believe her in the slightest. She blushed. "He was helping me paint…"
"Obviously," he said, motioning to the paint spatters in her hair.
"I thought it would take his mind off Kate," she explained. "Not that I owe you an explanation."
"No, you owed me an explanation after Paris," he said pointedly.
"Look, I didn't ask you to cover for me," she began.
"I know, Jen," he said with a smile. "I'm not upset anymore, just making a point."
She met his eyes, her expression softening into first amazement and then confusion. "You really aren't" she said, surprised. "What's changed?"
"People change, Jen," he responded with a shrug. "It just doesn't bother me anymore."
"But there's been this undercurrent of tension between us since I came here. Sort of a thread of something undefined and unresolved. It's like it's just gone," she said, reasoning things out.
Again, he shrugged, making no comment.
"I never thought… unless…," she gasped, "Jethro!"
"What?" he asked.
"You're in love?" she whispered.
"Of course not," he scoffed.
"But you are seeing someone," Jen fished.
"Your point, Jen?" Gibbs asked shortly.
"My point is that this thing between us had always been like an elephant in the room. It didn't subside when you've seen any number of women since I took this job," she explained. "I think your new relationship is more than you realize."
"I beg your pardon, Dr. Shepard," Gibbs quipped. "Did you get your degree while we were out solving cases?"
She giggled, "No, but you have you admit, I'm right."
"What, just because you aren't feeling tension between us anymore?" he questioned. "That doesn't even make sense."
Jen gave him a long look. "You are intentionally being difficult, Jethro. What I'm saying is that since I came here I've felt like you have alternately wanted to choke me and drag me off to bed, and I don't feel that anymore."
"Jealous?" he asked.
"Maybe a little," she admitted. He smiled.
"Now you tell me," he joked. She laughed out loud.
The scene they came upon was particularly gruesome. The bodies of the three young girls were barely recognizable as such. Gibbs winced as he looked at the sight.
"McGee, shoot; Tony, sketch; Ziva, bag and tag; Diamond and Sullivan, talk to the people who found the bodies," he ordered. A chorus of "on it, boss" and "yes sir" sounds were barely intelligible.
Director Shepard turned her back to the scene. "I wonder what's keeping Ducky," she said softly.
"You don't have to stay, Jen," Gibbs said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She met his eyes with a steely gaze.
"I'm staying," she said through a forced smile.
"Suit yourself," he said as he walked away. Ducky and Jimmy were exiting the vehicle, gear in hand. They stopped in unison about ten feet from the bodies, their expressions immediately sobering.
"Dear God," Ducky said softly.
"What happened to them?" Palmer asked in confusion.
"It appears, Mr. Palmer, that our young victims were mutilated. There are significant portions of the bodies missing, yet the heads are perfectly intact," he explained.
"That much I noticed," Jimmy said. He suddenly gasped, "I know her!"
"Sophie McMann," DiNozzo said sadly. "Wealthy, famous, hot… She had everything going for her" he added.
"She doesn't look so hot now," Jimmy said. Everyone turned to stare. "Sorry," he apologized, realizing his comment was in poor taste.
"Let's get everything back and make sense of it later," Dr. Mallard said.
"McGee and DiNozzo have taken photos and sketches of the scene," Gibbs informed them. "You can proceed."
"Ziva, get those samples to Abby, stat," Gibbs said shortly. "Come on, people, we need to move before the press gets wind of this."
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