"Who's your friend, McGeek?" Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo asked once he caught sight of who McGee was having lunch with. It struck him as odd when his friend fled the NCIS building at the start of lunch without saying a word. So being the curious, or nosey, soul that he was, he followed him to a pub not too far from work.




Special Agent Timothy McGee sighed and, causally, laid his menu onto the edge of the table; he already knew what he wanted. "Did you follow me, Tony?" There wasn't anger in his voice, just resignation. He should have known better than to try and sneak out for lunch. His teammates were nothing if not nosey, well, except for Gibbs.




Grabbing a chair from a nearby empty table, Tony spun it around and straddled it, inviting himself to join the two men for lunch. "I didn't follow you, Probalious. I just happened to have a hankering for...." His eyes darted to the closed menu, looking for an excuse for him being there. "A cornbeef sandwich, and Martin's happen to make the best. So I told Zee-va that I'd bring her back one to try." He was rather proud of his excuse.




"Cornbeef sandwich?" Tim knew Tony would try anything once but cornbeef? "Uh-huh." He wasn't convinced. "So shouldn't you place you're order at the take-out window then?" He motioned passed the lottery machine and towards the large, neon, sign that clearly read Takeout.




Tony didn't even glance towards the sign. "Why would I place my order there?"




Tim rolled his eyes. "Because you promised Ziva one too?" He reminded his, lying, friend.




"Oh, right." Tony shrugged, brushing off his slip up. "I'll just order two." His attention drifted away from McGee and towards the other man. He took a moment to size him up before sticking his hand across the table and introducing himself. "Names DiNozzo, Anthony DiNozzo."




"Daniel Jackson." The other man shook the offered hand and introduced himself. "You a friend of, Tim's?" He asked once the pleasantries were out of the way.




Tony gave the blonde waitress his best smile as he placed his order. He waited for the other two to give their orders and the waitress to move off before answering. "Yup, Probie and I go way back. Isn't that right, McGeek?"




"I wish you wouldn't call me that." Tim mumbled as he felt his cheeks heat up. All he wanted was a quiet lunch with his friend, while he was in town, and Tony had to come along and ruin it.




"What? Probie? Why wouldn't I call you that, Probie?" Tony asked, innocently.




Daniel could tell that his friend was uncomfortable. "I think he was referring to McGeek." He felt bad for Tim since he knew exactly how he felt.




Tim shot his friend a grateful look. "Always sticking up for me. Somethings never change." He said, fondly.






Tony, sensing an embarrassing story, leaned in closer. "So tell." He prodded.




"There's nothing to tell." Daniel dismissed the quarry. "At least not to you." He added, stiffly.




"Moi?" Tony pointed to himself. "I'm hurt, Probie, your friend doesn't seem to like me."




"Daniel and I went to school together. He was one of three foster children our neighbors had. We grew close and since he was older, he always kept the bullies away. Even if it meant getting them to go after him instead." Tim explained, knowing that Tony wouldn't leave him alone until he got the whole story.




Tony focused on Daniel. "Foster kid, huh? What did your parents do to lose you? Drugs? Sex?" Now the conversation was getting interesting.




Daniel sighed at the other mans childishness. "They died when I was eight. My only living relative passed on custody so I became a ward of the state of New York. Six months later I was living with the Captain Wilkeson, his wife, and two other foster children." Why did this man have to pry? He was worse than Jack or even Vala.




"Ah, I see. Sorry to hear that." Tony backpedaled not wanting to tread into an unpleasant area. "So your foster dad was a Captain?" That seemed like a safe subject.




Tim frowned and prayed that their meal hurried up. A glance at his watch told him that they only had a half an hour before they had to head back to work. "Tony, could you please be quiet?" Tim begged. "You don't have to know everything about Daniel. Besides, you won't ever see him again."




Tony looked at McGee like he was crazy. "How are you so sure of that, Probie? Hm? You psychic now?"




"Because Daniel lives in Colorado Springs and only visits D.C. on official business." Tim told him, his patience wearing thin. He only had a vague idea what Daniel did for a living. He knew that he was a civilian consultant for the Air Force and had been for over ten years. He also knew that his work was classified so he never asked to know anymore. He also knew that he visited D.C. at least once a year for a meeting with some high ranking military official. It was during those trips that he got to see his old friend. He knew others things too but only because he managed to hack into the Air Force mainframe.




"Official business? You with the military, Mister Jackson?" Tony asked.




"It's actually Doctor Jackson." Daniel corrected. "And I work for the Air Force."




Tony took a moment to eye Daniel. He did look like the type but something told him that he wasn't with the Air Force. "You're a flyboy?"








Daniel sighed. "No, I'm not a flyboy. I'm a civilian consultant based in Colorado." He reached into the pocket of his jean jacket when his cell-phone started to ring.




"So he's a Doctor, huh?" Tony took this moment to refocus on McGee.




Tim wanted to bang his head on the table. "Not that kind of Doctor, Tony. He's an archeologist or he was before the Air Force recruited him. Look him up online someday, he published several papers eleven or twelve years ago." He defended his friend while he was speaking, quietly, on the phone.




Tony blinked. "An archeologist? Why does the Air Force need an archeologist for? To dig up accident airplanes?" He quipped, not able to help himself.




"I'm also a linguist." Daniel jumped back in once his phone conversation had ended. "Maybe they needed me because I speak twenty-eight languages? Well, it was only twenty-two back when they first approached me. I picked up six more over the years." He turned his attention to Tim. "I have to go Tim." He felt bad but he'd make it up to his friend later. "There's a situation back on base that requires our expertise." Spinning in his chair, he searched the dimly lit pub. Spotting who he was looking for, he motioned them over.




Looking over his shoulder, Tony blinked when three people slid from a booth not far away and approached their table. "Whoa." The first was a sandy blonde haired man wearing Air Force blues, minus the jacket that was folded over his arm. The second was a woman with jet back hair wearing all leather. Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, his eyes landed on the third and biggest of the group. He was a black man, solidly built out of nothing but muscles. His tan suit fit him like a glove as did the matching tan, high class, beanie pulled down over his head.




"Is it time to go already, Daniel?" The black haired woman asked with an accent that sounded English or maybe Australian. "What about my buffalo wings? I wanted to see how a large cow like animal could have wings!" She whined.




Tony's first thought was how much the woman reminded him of Ziva. Weird. "Friends of yours, Doctor Jackson?"




"You could say that." The sandy blonde haired man answered for Daniel. His accent was southern, no mistaken the way his drawled his words. "What did the General want this time, Jackson?"




Daniel eyed Tim and Tony before focusing on his team. "Jack's coming and apparently he has the whole base in an uproar. The General wants us back there ASAP. There's a helicopter waiting for us at Bolling Air Force Base. He informed them.




"Should be not depart posthaste, Colonel Mitchell?" The black man asked, his voice deep and soothing.




Colonel Mitchell turned towards Teal'c and nodded back towards their booth. "Tell the waitress to pack up our meal." He pulled a money clip full of bills out of his pants pocket and tossed it to Vala. "Pay for the meal and leave a good tip. And I know how much is there so no stealing!" He called out after her and Teal'c.




"I'll call you, Tim." Daniel said in way of an apology as he stood and followed his team over to their table.




"Come on, Probie." Tony stood, ready to dig out money for his meal but stopped. Daniel had laid down enough to pay for all three meals and a handsome tip. "I'm in the wrong line of work." He mumbled as he motioned towards their waitress to box up their food, including Daniel's. Once they got their boxes, they left and headed back to NCIS. "I met someone today right up your alley, Zee-va. He knew more languages than even you do." Tony told her as he plopped a container of food onto her desk. "You can thank me later." He whispered, suggestively.




Gibbs stalked towards their desks and before they could sit down and eat, they were ordered to gear up; they had a dead Marine in Georgetown.




---




That night when everybody had gone home, except for Tony and McGee; both were finishing reports. Tony decided to take his friends advice and look up one Doctor Daniel Jackson. He drummed his fingers on his desk as he waited for the google search to load. Once the search was complete, he clinked on the top link and started to laugh. "Your friend thinks aliens built the great pyramids in Egypt?" He asked once he caught his breath.




Tim finished what he was typing before looking at Tony. "A couple months after that paper was publish, Daniel disappeared. He just went poof." He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "When he resurfaced, almost two years later, he was working for the Air Force. On what? I have no idea, it was classified then and it's still classified now. I do know it has something to do with NORAD or the military base under NORAD." He wasn't stupid. He knew a cover story when he heard one. "He disappeared a couple years later and was reported KIA, which was odd considering he's just a civilian consultant, a desk jockey. A couple days his status was changed to MIA, recovered. A couple years after that he was reported KIA, once again. A year later it was changed to MIA, recovered. He isn't the only one that this has happened to. I've found several people associated with NORAD that has been listed as KIA then later MIA. I even read where he and another man was kidnaped in Central America by a band of guerillas. Our government didn't pay the ransom and yet Daniel and his partner, Doctor Lee, were recovered, safe and sound."




"Mild mannered Doctor Jackson is black ops?" Tony asked, not believing it. It was like something out of one of his movies or even a tv show. "Interesting, how very interesting." He rubbed his chin. "Come on, Probie. Let's go get something to eat. Pizza's on me." He stood, gathered his things, and herded a protesting McGee towards the elevator. They never saw the lone figure hovering on the stairs, a figure that had heard everything they said.






Director Jenny Sheppard waited until the elevator doors were closed before retreating up the stairs and into the room that held MTAC. "They assume that Doctor Jackson is black ops. Your secret is safe, General O'Neill."




"Good." General O'Neill smiled. "I would hate to inconvenience you by having to make one of your Agents disappear."




"Just one, General?" Jenny asked with a raised brow. "Would you really make him disappear?"




General O'Neill's smile turned sincere. "Yes, Daniel vouches for Special Agent McGee, so he's untouchable. But Special Agent DiNozzo is not. Just watch him for us, Director. If he starts digging without McGee around to censor his moves, give me a call. And we'd only make him disappear if he wouldn't stop."




Jenny nodded her understanding. "I'm glad NCIS could be of help to Homeworld security." A small smile tugged on the corners of her lips. "Next time you talk to John, tell him that I miss him and hope to see him soon."




"I'll see to it that your brother gets home for Christmas. Think of it as a thank you for what you did." General O'Neill's smiling facing disappeared from the screen as he ended the link.




"I'll hold you to that, General." Jenny whispered as she gathered her things from one of the front chairs and left for the night. She was secure in knowing that all was right with the world.