A/N: Someone once said, "If there's a story you want to read that hasn't been written yet, you should write it." So that's what I'm doing. For those of you who've never read my stories, this is a good place to start. WWAW is the prequel to a four story series I'm writing involving Gibbs, Jenny, and the NCIS team. I hope you enjoy it. To all those who faithfully followed APTP, welcome back! Thanks for waiting. I hope you like reading what happened "before the story" : )

A/N2: Also, I played with the show's canon a bit, putting events where I needed them to be to fit my version of the story. Hope no one minds too much. No guarantees at how often this will be updated, I'm hoping for a couple times a week or more but we'll see what happens.

Summary: After 7 years Jenny and Gibbs finally right a wrong.

Jenny Shepard stood in front of the dark house and took a deep breath. This was about to be either the best decision of her life or the stupidest thing she'd ever done. Quickly, before she could talk herself out of it, Jenny pushed the door open. Of course it wasn't locked. In fact, Jenny was pretty sure there wasn't even a lock on the door.

The house was dark and silent. Only one sliver of light was visible down the hall and Jenny moved toward it, drawn like a moth to a flame. Peeking through the cracked open door, Jenny could just see the form of a man arranging things on his workbench. Slipping out of her heels, Jenny moved softly through the doorway and lowered herself to the top step, content to watch for the moment as she worked up the courage to say something she'd kept inside for the last year. Or if one were to be completely honest and accurate, the past seven years.

As if he could sense her presence, the man looked up, an inscrutable expression on his face. She knew him well but that didn't mean he was always easy to read. The man could be downright infuriating when he wanted to be. Perhaps they had changed while they'd been apart. The question was, had they changed too much?

"Director," Leroy Jethro Gibbs said cordially, surprised and yet not surprised to see her in his basement once more.

"Jethro," she answered. He was only Special Agent Gibbs when she was particularly ticked at him. She made her way down the steps towards him. "Same boat?"

He thought about the night she'd come back with him to the house, on her first night as Director, wanting to talk to him, but he didn't have any spare time. So she talked outside the room while he changed and talked in his basement while he found what he needed. She'd been trying to talk some sense into him then, and he'd been trying to keep her out of the crosshairs.

Interestingly enough, the titles that she'd demanded earlier that day had been almost immediately dropped in favour of their familiarity with each other. Whereas Shannon was the one who had begun calling him Gibbs as if it were his first name, Jenny had never called him anything other than Jethro, with the exception of 'Boss', but that was a long time ago. And to him she had only ever been Jen.

"Yup," he said, not looking at her. "Really wanted to get this one right."

Jenny seated herself on the stool beside his workbench. "I didn't think you were coming back."

He shot her a look. "You were the one who talked me into it. Does 'when you're that good at something and can make a difference, you don't just quit' ring any bells?"

She smiled. "I wasn't sure you were listening."

"Kinda hard not to hear you Jen, you were less than a foot away."

"Well, its true. And the team is glad to have you back."

He stopped cleaning his tools and met her eyes. "Why are you here, Jenny?"

Jenny looked down, smoothing her skirt self-consciously. "Because..." she took a deep breath and focused on him, "I'm glad to have you back too."

Gibbs watched Jenny closely. Even a fool would notice she was nervous. The air in the basement was charged with something, and he was sure there was more to this than what she was saying. He took a step closer to her.

"That it Jen?"

"What?" she shrugged innocently. "Can't a woman just visit her old partner to say hello?"

Gibbs took another step and shook his head. "It's never been like that with us Jen. We were never just partners."

Jenny fiddled with her watch, keeping her eyes off his, but she knew the second he invaded her personal space, because every one of her nerves started screaming. She tensed and looked up, trying to play it off.

"Something I can help you with Agent Gibbs?"

He moved closer, his breath setting fire to her skin as he whispered in her ear. "Jethro, Jen."

"Jethro." She turned to face him, trying to read his eyes. They were dark and she knew that look. He still wanted her. It was Paris all over again and they were so close to starting a fire. One touch and it might all be over. They would get lost in the physical aspect and she'd never get a chance to say what she came here for.

Gibbs could read all the emotions in her face as if Jenny were writing the words in a book for him. Her breathing had accelerated, her whole body was tense, and she probably wanted to be in his arms so badly she could taste it. He lifted his hands, wanting to touch her. They should've known this would happen, that they could only stay away so long.

"Wait," Jenny breathed, a second before he would've touched her and ruined everything. She got off the stool and took a deep breath, putting several inches between them.

Gibbs was intrigued but he'd never been one for games or patience. She needed to spit it out and let him kiss her or get out of his basement so he could think again. He'd never been able to focus with her that close. His hands dropped to his sides. "What are you doing here, Jen?" he asked again.

Jenny tried desperately to find the courage, but there was no time and this was her last chance to say it. She'd missed the opportunity last time, when she'd declared firmly that there would be no 'off the job'. And then that night, when a little boy missing his father was staying at her house so he didn't have to go to foster care, and Jethro had come, she'd wanted him to stay. She'd even hinted at it. But he threw her past mistakes and words back in her face and walked out the door, leaving her feeling empty, regretting everything that had changed since Paris.

She closed her eyes, focused, and opened them again. Looking into his pale blue eyes, she took a chance and jumped. "I was wrong," she whispered, feeling the wave of guilt and sadness and loss leftover from when she left Paris, and him, behind. "I wrote that stupid letter because I was scared. I had dreams for my life, ambitions, and seven years ago that was more important to me than the love I was leaving behind."

She stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest, over his heart. "You are the only man who had ever made me feel this way. And I know how you feel about apologies Jethro so this is as close as I get. The last year has been torture for me, being so close to you and knowing what we lost, what I threw away. I loved the teasing with you, all the times our eyes would meet and I would know you could still read my mind. I didn't even mind the fights, it just reminded me of when we were together."

Gibbs' voice had dropped. "We always were good at picking fights."

"Good at making up after them too, from what I remember."

He grabbed her arms, making her jump a little. "What are you saying, Jen?"

She reached up and placed both palms against his cheeks. "I want another chance Jethro. With you. For us. Will you?"

"Jen," he breathed, feeling her nearness surround him like a warm blanket. He lifted his hands to her face, searching her eyes, seeing in them the love she'd never left. For seven years she had haunted him. Three ex-wives, a few burnt boats, and no amount of bourbon could erase her from his mind, his memory, or his heart.

She closed her eyes, and a tear leaked out of each one. "I'll stay," she whispered, her heart breaking for fear that he would reject her and she would lose the only man who had ever truly loved her for more than just her body. "If you say yes, I promise I'll stay."

Gibbs remembered his broken heart, the years it took to pretend to heal, the dreams he used to have of them that would take him back to Paris when his world was right for the first time since Shannon and Kelly had died. He knew the pain, the betrayal, the anger from when she'd left him with barely a word and no warning, just the impersonal letter in the pocket of the coat she left on the plane.

But he also remembered loving her with a passion that had put everything else to shame. He remembered their months together in Paris, getting to know each other, perfectly playing their undercover roles, both in the public eye and out of it. He remembered when she would lay with her head on his chest, sleeping peacefully while he watched her dream. He remembered the softness of her skin, the warmth of her kiss, and the way she had made him feel more alive than he ever expected to be again.

He groaned softly, before pulling her face closer and capturing her lips with his. He kissed her with all the pent up passion and anger of the past several years, with the wanting he'd never forgotten and the longing he'd carried in his heart since Paris. It was a deep, passionate kiss and she responded as he knew she would, kissing him back, apologizing with her lips. He could feel the tears she shed as they slipped past his fingers.

When they finally took a moment to breathe, he pulled back just enough to see her eyes. "Yes," he whispered as she fell into his arms.

It had been exactly one week since that night in his basement and Jenny was walking on clouds. Every time she saw him, she blushed. Every time he looked at her, she read the joy in his eyes. Not that anyone else would notice, but Jenny saw the different because she knew Gibbs. And for the first time in years he wasn't wearing her betrayal like a black mark he couldn't get rid of it. Seven years and that night she went to him might have been the first thing she'd done right since walking back into his life.

Jenny couldn't believe that they were back together. They'd agreed to take things slow, to keep their relationship away from work, and just see what happened for now. So maybe he got called up to her office a little more than just once a day. And maybe they kept ending up in his "conference room" at the same time, taking full advantage of the emergency stop switch.

Some days Jenny was embarrassed by how much she looked forward to those moments. It didn't matter how bad her day was going, when she stepped into Jethro's arms, when he comforted her and also ignited a passion in her that she'd almost forgotten with his kisses, she was just Jenny and she couldn't remember the last time she was this happy. It was her very own miracle.

Gibbs brought her dinner now. About once every couple of nights when he knew she was working late. It was nice to just share the silence with him, when all of the agents had gone home and it was only them, basking in their little secret. They talked and laughed and teased. And sometimes when it came to work stuff and they still had to fight because Jethro could not get along with the other agencies and he still hated reporters, they always made it up later, away from other's eyes. Yes, it was the best of both worlds and Jenny felt like a teenager in love again. It was the best feeling in the world.