Close to Washington D.C.
Tuesday, 17th May
01:47 o'clock
It was a wonderful night in the middle of spring. The dark sky with thousands upon thousands of sparkling stars covered the rural scenery just outside of Washington. In this place lush green meadows and pastures completed the picture and not concrete or blocks of glass and stone buildings. The nature was still untouched and one could admire the many different kinds of animals. The deer on the edge of the two-lane street ate grass to satisfy his hunger as a loud noise made it look up. Headlights approached at a racing speed and showered the surroundings in a bright light. An engine howled and broke through the pleasant silence with a roar. Shortly after, a sports car shot only a few centimeters from the position of the frightened animal that fled into the meadow.
Inside the car there was loud music, so that a normal conversation was barely possible. The only lighting came from the dashboard and shown the driver in an eerie light. It was a man in his mid- 40's whose hair had already turned gray, but he was nevertheless attractive. His eyes were blue and his slim, well-trained body was in an expensive suit. He focused his gaze back on the street and whistled quietly the song which blared from the radio. The fact that he would have nearly collided with the deer didn't seem to impress or rattle him.
However, the passenger clutched the leather seat in horror and had the feeling his heart would jump out of his chest any minute. He was younger than the driver, had brown hair which gleamed in the weak interior lighting and his green eyes looked fearfully at the street. In contrast to his pal he wore normal jeans and a checkered shirt whose upper buttons were open and showed an athletic chest. A silver ring in the right earlobe completed the picture.
"James, why are you driving so fast?!" he roared and closed his eyes when the car approached a curve and briefly tilted. The other man grinned broadly and turned down the volume, so that he could better talk to his friend. "Don't be such a coward, Manny ", he said and laid an affectionate hand on the thigh of the younger man. "Besides, I thought you wanted to get to the hotel as fast as I do." For one second he looked away from the street and saw that his partner had a look of desire in those beautiful eyes. A promising sparkle lay in them that sent a shiver down his back and told him that he couldn't wait much longer. The feathery touch on his leg caused all his blood to shoot into his loins and he sighed appreciatively. The fingers walked higher and lay down on his splendid piece. "If you continue that way, I don't think I can wait to get to the hotel."
James grinned and took away his hand to lay it on the steering wheel again. If he was honest, he couldn't wait much longer, either, but he didn't want to pounce on his friend in the car. The narrowness in it would hinder him and, besides, he preferred a soft bed where they could let off steam properly.
To distract himself from his erotic thoughts, Manny asked: "When are hey going to contact us?" Wednesday afternoon", came the prompt answer. "I can already smell the money that we are going to get from this sweet deal and then we can afford that nice small house in Tuscany." The thought of the villa that they had discovered a few years ago while on vacation in Italy, made them both smile. Just imagining the gratifying future prospects the younger man bent over to the driver's side and laid a wet track down James' throat with his tongue. James closed his eyes appreciatively for a moment – a big mistake.
When he had a clear view again, a deer appeared once more in the floodlights, only this time it was not on the edge of the street, but in the middle of the roadway. "Shit!" He roared and steered to the left. Because of the high speed of the car, the tires lost contact with the ground and the vehicle spun. As a result Manny was thrown against his friend. Before they both noticed what was wrong, the car slammed into a tree. Glass splintered and metal twisted. The deer had escaped when it heard the loud bang and left behind a completely destroyed car and two bloody corpses.
Washington D.C.
Tuesday, 17th May
14:56 o'clock
"You can't be serious, Jen!" roared Gibbs so loud that the windowpanes of the office nearly jangled. His face reflected more terror than fury as he tried to digest the words that had reached his ears a few seconds before. His mood sank to the deepest low there could be, which had already lain in that morning at an all time low, because he had noted that it was the anniversary of his wedding with ex-wife number two. The instructions just given to him by Madame Director made it even worse.
"Calm down, Jethro ", she said with a gentle voice. "I should calm down!?" The senior field agent bent forward and supported himself with both arms on the desk so that he could bring his face near to that of his former lover. She awaited him seemingly fearless, even if she didn't really feel that way. A lump formed in her throat and she had to swallow violently to deal with him.
"You require that two of my team members pretend to be these men!" Only with effort he reined in the volume. He tapped a forefinger on one and then the other picture. "Well, I rather thought that you would be one of two to go undercover and then you can choose…" "Forget it, Jen! Find another team to do this!" She sighed and thought of surrendering, but she had to push on with her assignment and talk Gibbs into this.
When she was informed of who the two men were who were brought to Ducky in pathology, she had known that this would not be an easy case. She had thought an undercover mission was a great idea and would save many lives, and besides this was the only possibility to find the clients and to arrest them. Jen had anticipated that Gibbs wouldn't be eager, but his extreme negative reaction surprised her.
"That's not possible", she answered and got up and went to the bar. If there was a time she needed a strong drink, it was now and it would help her survive this conversation. Why must he be so upset? Well, in a way she understood him, this wasn't an easy undercover mission, but he had worked worse cases in the past. "And why not?" asked Gibbs as he leaned against the edge of the table, looking down at the pictures of two dead men laying in a completely destroyed sports car.
"Because your team is the best and you know that as well as I do." She took the glass of whisky and drank a large gulp. The alcohol burned in her throat and warmth was spreading in her stomach. "And you guys have experience with undercover missions." The senior field agent faced the red-haired woman. "Yes, but we have no experience as homosexual gunrunners." His voice oozed with sarcasm. For a brief moment he closed his eyes and had the picture of one dead man, who had a frightening resemblance to himself, although one could ascertain clear differences by looking more closely. But it still shook him, to think of acting in such a way, as if he liked men. And above all, who would he choose? Tony was definitely a ladies man, but was a pro where undercover missions were concerned. And McGee was a probie and started to stutter if he threw a bad look at him. But then it crossed his mind that the second dead man looked a little like DiNozzo, in the size, stature and eye color. Only problem was that the thought of walking down the streets, hand in hand with his agent, made him sick.
"This is our only chance to find the clients. And just think what those weapons could do if they are sold before we can get our hands on them. They are just waiting for terrorists who murder innocent people, you know that, Jethro." Jen looked at him sharply and sat down again in her chair. Gibbs knew that Jen was right. But, could he manage to act in such a way, as if he liked men? Maybe exchange kisses? Then he thought of all the children who could die by those weapons, or their parents, thus leaving the little ones as orphans. Sighing he made a decision and turned around to face Jen "I …" he began, however, she interrupted him.
"Don't think that you are going to talk your way out of this Jethro. If you don't do this voluntarily, I will make it an order. And you know what happens if you ignore an order." "I have to look for a new job", he answered cynically. "But if you would have let me finished, you could have saved your threat." Jen closed her mouth tight and then her eyes, not trusting what was about to be said.
"What I wanted to say was that I will take the undercover mission." Surprisedly she moved her eyebrows upwards. She hadn't really expected him to say that. "I am relieved to hear it," she said and crossed her hands on the tabletop. Internally she had known that Gibbs would agree, in the end, but not that it would happen so quickly?
"If I do this I am going to do it my way, and I'm going to choose who I go undercover with." "I wouldn't expect anything less from you. And, who will you choose?" Jethro briefly closed his eyes. Certainly, he would hate himself for this later. "Agent DiNozzo. He resembles the other man almost to a tee. I'm going to have to talk to him about this first. And believe me, it won't be easy to persuade him, particularly since he is so taken with the female gender." Contentedly, Jen leaned back in her chair and smiled. "I know you will wangle this."
The senior field agent's response was to gather the photos and to leave the office slamming the door behind him. He had known that this was going to be a bad day. In comparison with the mission, his wedding anniversary with ex-wife number two was child's play. Taking big steps he hurried past Cynthia and almost ran to the stairs that would take him down to the bullpen. On the upper landing he stopped and looked at Tony who had his feet propped up on his desk and was on the telephone.
"What have I gotten myself into?" he murmured and slowly put one foot before the other. He stopped as he headed toward his team. Before he could talk to DiNozzo he needed a big cup of coffee… maybe even two. He would use the short coffee break to consider what he should say to convince his agent to play a couple with him. ‘What did I do to deserve this?' he thought and decided to lay the blame on his wedding anniversary.
To be continued...
Story Notes:
This is my first Tibbs story, it is not as perfect as I would have wanted it to be, but I hope you enjoy it.
The story is written from Tonys POV, but Gibbs' thoughts don't miss out.
This is the translation from my German story "Nur ein Auftrag???" so that all of you can read it.
Thanks a lot to Karen who helps me to translate the whole story.
The translation is in progress, so it could last awhile before I add a new chapter.
Now I wish you a lot of fun while reading!
Author's Chapter Notes:
Two homosexual gunrunners die in a car accident. To find the informants, Gibbs and Tony slip into the roles of the two men. A mission that isn't easy for both of them.
Chapter End Notes:
This is my first Tibbs story, it is not as perfect as I would have wanted it to be, but I hope you enjoy it.
The story is written from the point about Tony, but Gibbs' thoughts don't miss out.
This is the translation from my German story "Nur ein Auftrag???" so that all of you can read it.
Thanks a lot to Karen who helps me to translate the whole story.
The translation is in progress, so it could last awhile before I add a new chapter.
Now I wish you a lot of fun while reading!
The story is written from the point about Tony, but Gibbs' thoughts don't miss out.
This is the translation from my German story "Nur ein Auftrag???" so that all of you can read it.
Thanks a lot to Karen who helps me to translate the whole story.
The translation is in progress, so it could last awhile before I add a new chapter.
Now I wish you a lot of fun while reading!