Chapter Eleven
“And this has nothing to do with the fact you attacked a restrained prisoner, with the fact you attacked a man without being provoked or having a reason, and have yet to charge the man? Do you assume just because you found out who the man really is, and I’m going to assume that it was actually a member of your team who made the discovery, that I will overlook your actions?” Morrow was furious; furious at Franks for putting him in a tenuous situation; furious at the FBI for letting their ops cross; even a bit furious at the connection even he could feel pouring from Brooks and Abby.
Mike shrugged, hating being dressed down in front of Fornell and the others. “Not here, Tom,” he said, knowing it was more of a plea than anything else. An uncharacteristic plea on his part.
“But we will, Mike. Before the day is done I want to see you in my office for a full debriefing on what transpired here today.” His tone allowed for no arguments, called for no debate and instead only the complete truth.
Mike nodded jerkily. Morrow was gonna hand him his ass over this.
Jet blinked a few times and gave Tobias a look, not sure how to play this.
Martin Fletcher had his driver race him over to NCIS headquarters and he barely nodded at the two agents at their computers and Sacks and Blumenthal standing nearby. When he strode inside the interrogation room, he faltered slightly at the sight of Jethro’s bruised face, giving Tobias an angry glare.
“Morrow,” he said more formally than he spoke in their phone conversation. “NCIS personnel, Special Agent Fornell.” He paused for a long moment, then gave Jet a small smile. “Special Agent Gibbs. Morrow, think we can get my man out of cuffs and handle this a little more civilized?”
“Special Agent?” Mike growled. “He’s a fed?” When the FBI agent nodded, Mike stalked out of the room to get DiNozzo and McGee. They could all stand charges for assaulting a federal agent and they needed to know this new development.
“Well put, Fletcher. Officer David. Would you please release Mr. Brooks so that we can get this straightened out?” Nodding her agreement, she moved to free the suspect.
As Ziva went to uncuff him, Abby stood up and moved by the door, knowing her time inside the interrogation room was short. It was becoming overly crowded and there were too many people of too high a rank for her to be needed much longer. Once they were done questioning her, she’d have to leave. And then, more than likely, she’d never see Jet again.
Why would he come find her? She used a stun gun on him, got him arrested, beat up. Really great first impression. In the little time she had left, she just watched him, memorizing his face, before she had to go to her lab with only a few memories.
He removed the cuffs himself, it was faster. Abby was trying to escape and she was most important right now. Soon as the cuffs clattered to the table, he took her arm and pulled her to the corner where the cameras didn’t have the direct line, the area where she’d kissed him.
“FBI,” he said quietly, sadly. “Deep undercover. Couldn’t break cover unless I was given orders. Wasn’t what I wanted to do, lying to you. Tell me this is still real…because it is for me.”
Now that Jet Brooks and Leroy Jethro Gibbs had collided so violently, he was reeling, not sure which one he needed to be. He’d been Jet Brooks for months and months now and coming back to earth as an agent was disorienting at best. For some reason, she was his lifeline right now.
“Tell me this is real, Abby.”
“You don’t need to explain yourself, Je..Lero…What do you go by? What do I call you?” she asked, still stunned by his admission. Looking up at him, her eyes wide and dark from shock and a bit of sadness, she said, “You don’t need to explain yourself. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
When he made his declaration, she whispered, “This is real to me. About the only real thing right now. When you’re done, when it’s all over, and if you still think this is real, come and find me. I’ll be in my lab, just a few floors below us. It’s pretty easy and everyone knows where I am…and if you still want me, if it’s still real…” she let that hang in the air, not wanting to pressure him.
“Not Leroy,” he said, shaking his head firmly. “Jet is fine. I’m used to answering to that.” And it seemed a bit more modern than Jethro. He nodded at what she said, wanting to go further but knowing he couldn’t yet. Not now when all the eyes in the room were on them.
He angled his body so that he was blocking their view and he signed a few of the words she had earlier. Longing. Bond. Connection. He wouldn’t turn away until he had some sort of a response from her.
“Jet,” she whispered, smiling. Watching his hands, her smile softened even more, remembering their time together before all hell had broken loose. Signing back, she tried to let him know she understood. Real. Together. Find me.
He nodded, hoping she knew that he wasn’t looking at her as only an assignment. She was so much more than that. “Until later,” he whispered, knowing things were going to get intense. “Feisty princess.”
“Secret agent,” she shot back. With his body still shielding them from prying eyes, Abby put her hand over one of his. Caressing the knuckles, she let him know she’d be waiting. As he turned to leave, she gave him one last smile in goodbye. Abby could only hope that when things got settled, he’d be able to come and find her.
Calling out, she said, “Director Morrow? If you’re done with me, can I go back to the lab? I still need to run facial recognitions on the captures from tonight, in case I can match one of them up to the drug case.”
“Go ahead, Sciuto. Just don’t get lost on the way to your lab, missy,” he teased. No matter how much trouble she got in, or how much trouble she was, Abby would always be a favorite of his. Her vivaciousness and joy of life were the opposite of most of his daily dealings as the director of a major investigative agency.
“I won’t, Director. And thank you,” she said, before she left, looking at Jet one last time before disappearing through the interrogation room door.
It was almost like a physical blow when she left the room. He felt like a teenager again, and it was a distraction he didn’t need. He let his eyes drift over the knowing smiles of Ziva and the doctor, the sternness of both directors, the enigmatic kind of half smile of Tobias and he drifted over to stand next to him.
“Hell of a handler, letting me get beat up,” he said, teasing slightly, nudging Tobias’ shoulder with his arm.
“You’re the one who made ‘contact’ with their undercover agent,” Fornell teased back. Teasing wasn’t always natural for Tobias, but he had a good rapport with the man and was comfortable with the interaction. “You sure chose a good one. Yeah, she’s gorgeous, but she happens to be the darling of NCIS. You couldn’t have picked a quicker way to get the shit beat out of you.”
Jet grinned. “Should have seen the emerald necklace she had on. Every man’s eyes were on her. I was sure she’d be marked and wanted to spend a little time with her first then observe her from a distance.” He shrugged.
“Then her bulldogs stormed in. At least they got me out of there with nobody noticing. Cover should be completely intact.” He felt his expression softening. “She looked spectacular in that dress. You wouldn’t even picture her in that after seeing her in what she was just wearing.”
Gibbs wasn’t a man who fell in love"or lust"easily. He didn’t let anyone in. Jet Brooks was even more distant in his personal relationships. So why was this woman getting so thoroughly under his skin?
“Yeah, I’m sure it was her necklace that made you want to spend some time with her. And not the body in the dress, or the emerald eyes, right?” Tobias laughed. The look on Jet’s face was priceless for a man living his life as a confirmed bachelor for the last dozen or so years. If Abby was half the girl he knew her to be, she’d have the hardened FBI agent wrapped around her finger before too long.
Tobias continued speaking. “And the Director’ll probably want to put you back undercover as soon as possible. So, if you’re cover is intact, it’ll be less of a headache for us in the long run. They may be cowboys, but NCIS does know how to run an op successfully.”
“She isn’t a redhead,” Gibbs pointed out. Toby knew all about his penchant for redheads. Toby had married one who had broken Gibbs’ heart first. They’d barely known each other and Toby hadn’t taken his warning advice that she would break his heart, but at least the other man had a beautiful little girl who had come out of his disastrous marriage.
Jet was trying to deflect. He knew this girl meant a great deal to him already and he wasn’t going to let Toby use that knowledge. But he knew what his expression read and from his friend’s reaction, it wasn’t a secret.
“My cover better be intact,” Jet growled. “Worked too damn hard to get inside and accepted, Toby.”
“So, maybe you can break through past habits after all, Jet.” But he let the matter drop. He knew how much the past had ripped his friend apart. In fact, they shared some of that past. So if he could somehow find some happiness with the strange Goth girl from NCIS, Tobias wasn’t going to force the point.
“We’ll have to hammer out some points on our op versus theirs. But I think the way they handled it, you’ll be covered.”
“Hope so. They were subtle when they led me out. Has to be worth something, Toby.” He ran a hand over his jaw and face, sighing. “Gonna bruise up pretty badly. Gonna have to cancel going to Sunday’s benefit at the art gallery. Couldn’t explain this away as airbag damage from a car accident, could I?”
Jet felt a little more comfortable now that he had someone he knew nearby. A couple of someones. Fletcher had been a friend of his CO who had offered him a job if he had some training after the Marines. He’d taken some classes, gotten his degree in criminal justice in just over twenty months, and started at the FBI right afterward. Fletcher was a good man, a close friend.
And Tobias had become a good friend in time as well.
Looking over the marks on Gibbs’ face, Fornell shook his head at the damage Mike Franks had done him. Laughing, Tobias offered, “You can always say that you hooked up with a girl whose boyfriend took offense. That he decked you for stealing his woman.”
Considering the explanation, he said, “In fact, that might make a really good excuse for your leaving the party. Were you seen with Abby? Could anyone make an ID if they saw her again or say they saw you leave with her?”
“That isn’t done in those circles, Tobias,” he said, affecting a cultured accent and lessening his words with a wink. “I didn’t leave with her exactly. We drifted away into a corridor. Then she left alone and two of her friends led me out. Don’t know if we were seen. Don’t know what her cover ID is. Someone would have background-checked her. We need to coordinate and see how screwed I am, Toby.”
Tobias grunted in amusement, saying, “You do that too well sometimes.” Hitting Jet good naturedly on the shoulder, Fornell looked over at their bosses. “I think that’s the idea behind our Directors. See them conspiring over there?” He said, gesturing to the two older men. “I think once we sit down and get this out, we’ll figure out a way to unscrew you.”
“I’m a chameleon, Toby. But sometimes I forget who I am.” It was a rare moment of vulnerability. Jethro often needed a few weeks to come down from an undercover op and this was the equivalent of having cold water splashed on him. He was jittery and anxious, a state that was rare to him.
He pulled in a deep breath. “Need some coffee, Tobias. And my own bed for a change would be nice, but that can’t happen.”
He was out of sorts in a lot of ways, and it wasn’t just meeting Abby that had knocked him off his game.
“Well, I’m pretty sure we can find you a cup of coffee, and hopefully a good one. As for your own bed, can’t help you with that. Unless Fletcher gives you the night off to regroup and even then, you know the old saying. You can never go home again. Not ‘til the op is over, anyway.” He almost said something crass about staying in Abby’s bed, but Tobias knew that Jet already had a rough enough day as it was. If he gave Jet even more crap about Abby, his colleague might be pushed beyond his limits.
“Penthouse is great, better than a humble civil servant like me can afford.” But it was sterile. No woodworking projects around, no nosy but well meaning neighbors, no pictures of his family. He had some books around, but just like the clothes, they were things his persona should enjoy. Not him. The Lexus he drove was great but it wasn’t his. He much preferred his Jeep Cherokee, which was a little long in the tooth but drove fine.
“Getting sick of being someone else, Toby. Miss the range, miss a lot of things.”
“Hopefully, if we can work this out, we’ll be able to close this op sooner rather than later, even with NCIS’ help. The Director will give you some time to come down, Gibbs. He generally does. Then you can have your own bed. And maybe you’ll be able to explore that odd chemistry you have with that even stranger girl.”
He arched a brow at Toby. “Think I lost my mind, don’t ya? There’s something about her, though. Something between us…” Jet ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “Gonna need some time off after this one.”
This op had come shortly after a very long term one, over two years in duration. They’d broken a domestic slavery ring wide open but he’d had to go in real deep and he hadn’t been given more than a week to recover. He needed that down time, especially now.
“I’ve always thought you lost your mind, the way you throw yourself into these undercover ops the way you do. Honestly, it’s almost like you don’t wanna know the person you are, so you get your kicks from pretending to be someone else. I’d think it was time to figure out who Jethro Gibbs is, with or without the help of a Gothic scientist.”
Patting his friend on the back, Tobias said, “Now let’s go get us some coffee before the politics of this joint op bite us in the butt.”
~*~
“DiNozzo! McGee!” Mike slapped their shoulders and motioned them over to the alcove where he’d been talking with Fornell earlier. That slippery bastard had known and that pissed Mike off. At least in this alcove, he wouldn’t let Sacks and his friend hear everything. They lingered like a bad smell by Ziva’s desk.
“FBI director is here. Brooks…Gibbs, is one of theirs. A special agent just like us. Come on, we gotta face the music, boys. Least you didn’t deck him in interrogation like I did.”
Tim felt his heart drop to his stomach. “He’s FBI, Boss? How’d I guess that one?” he asked stunned. “Wait, you hit him? When?”
“In there. Interrogation. Decked him, knocked him out.” He gave Tim and Tony a smile. “Gonna hang for this one, boy. Least I won’t hang alone.” He let out a bitter chuckle and walked ahead of them back to interrogation.
Tony let out a sigh and edged closer to Tim. “Crap. FBI. And their director is here? Bet Brooks sang like a canary to Fornell. You’ll be okay, Tim. I’ll take the rap. I knocked his head, you just pulled your weapon. Breathe, Probie. Breathe…”
“Not gonna take the blame alone. Your actions can be explained away, even as an accident. My pulling a gun and threatening the life of the suspect? Yeah, not so much.” Tim was a bit disappointed in their boss, treating their poor behavior like a joke. They all knew better. But something about that man and his behavior with Abby had set them all off.
Tony clapped a firm hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Senior field agent. Let me take the blame,” Tony said. With Franks so brittle, they couldn’t count on his support. “Let me, Probie. Gotta feel useful here.” Tony pulled in a deep breath, aware that his hands were shaking a little.
“You’re more than useful, and you know it. Just because I know which keys to hit on a computer doesn’t make me the investigator you are, Tony.” Tim knew the two of them were a united front; united against what, he still didn’t know.
Tony gave Tim a grin. “Thanks, I think, Probie.”
“Question is, did we wander into their op or did they wander into ours?” Small distinction but it could make a difference.
“Or,” Tim added. “Are the ops even related at all?”
“Yeah. Guess we’d better go find that out and see how deep and how brown the creek we’re in is.”
“On your six, Tony,” he said hesitantly. Tim knew that no matter how much Tony teased him or gave him a hard time the two of them would always get each other’s back no matter what.
Tony slung an arm around McGee’s shoulders. “Side by side, Probie. Like brothers in arms walking into war.” He didn’t cheapen the moment with a movie comment, though he was tempted. They ducked into Observation and checked things out before announcing their presence.
~*~
Fletcher arched a brow at Morrow and looked around the room. “Got a conference room we can commandeer? And all copies of anything involving my man here. We have some things to work out, Tom, and our men and women need to be included.”
“Anything you need, Martin. It’s the least we can do. And I’ll make sure our men and women cooperate fully.”
“As will mine. Fornell, Sacks and Blumenthal can go back to the office. You stay. Morrow, I need your people in this room and whoever collared Gibbs. And I need you to destroy any evidence of this interrogation.”
“Right, Sir,” Fornell called out, already heading out of the room to find his two agents. He’d send them back to FBI headquarters, but he had plans to run, plans to make sure the op didn’t go any farther south than it already was, thanks to NCIS.
Blumenthal looked up when Fornell walked out. “Is it our man?” As Interpol liaison, he didn’t answer directly to anyone but Fletcher, but he and Fornell had cultivated a respectful relationship. They were both men who wanted answers and trusted in the op and the man inside. Jet was damned good and Sebastian hoped he hadn’t been compromised.
“Yeah, it is. He got himself mixed up with an op the NCIS agents are running.” Shaking his head, he said, “You and Sacks will be going back to headquarters to run it from our end. I’ll be working here with the NCIS agents,” he added, rolling his eyes. “Be ready to roll at my or the director’s orders,” he finished with a dismissal.
“Coffee and takeout first,” Sebastian commented quietly to Sacks as they slipped away. It was going to be another very late night.
~*~
Martin pointed for everyone to leave the interrogation room. After they’d filed out and he and Tom were alone, he picked up the file folder and handed it back to Morrow. “Let’s keep the humiliation of my guy to a minimum. He doesn’t need to be reminded of that.”
Grabbing the folder from his friend, Tom shook his head. “No, no he doesn’t. So, what do we do with your agent now? Do you send him back into the field? Or wait to see if the smoke is clear? He’s welcome to wander around NCIS until we clear this up. But I wouldn’t recommend he leave even to go back to his undercover op, until we have the situation under control.”
“Let’s debrief them all. I need to know the specifics of your op and you need to know the specifics of mine. Maybe we can work together to get some answers. You’re doing the bad drugs at exclusive parties, I’d assume. We’ve been working long-term on the jewel thief. Both perps travel in the same circles. If Interpol steps back we might just be able to make this a joint op.”
Martin let his mind play over the information. “Tom, he’s been undercover for over a year. I cannot let this op go down. Jet is very well placed in society circles in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and DC. My man is the best… I’m willing to place him with one of your agents if she has the chops and chemistry with him.”
Tom considered this. “Do you think you’ll be able to get Interpol to back off? We could keep them in the loop; send them the information, but only the reports, no actual involvement.”
Fletcher nodded, “They’re running the majority of the investigation overseas. Paris, Nice, Monte Carlo. They’re working with us for the American side of things, not managing us. Blumenthal is the man on Tobias’ team for this op but they’ve stayed out of our problems. And with a pseudo military bent, they can’t be involved by law.”
Working through the problem in his head, Tom started talking out loud. “Ziva has more experience, but her interactions in that crowd were minimal. She stuck out in those situations as a foreigner. And yes, Abby is already established, having blended in well enough to fool even your agent. But are you sure this is the best course to work both of our ops?”
“No,” Fletcher said, stark honesty in that word. “But I think we have a damned good opportunity with two people who have chemistry. I haven’t seen your girl out in the field, but I know Gibbs in and out. He’s infiltrated many places for us. He can handle most any situation and could help with hands-on training.”
Listening to the other director’s plan, Tom narrowed his eyes as realization hit. “So, basically, you want to put Abby back into the field with your agent. You want to put my best forensic scientist, who doesn’t have enough experience to back her expertise in the field? Am I right? I’m sure the chemistry is there,” he snorted, having seen the interaction between the two. “And I’m sure your agent could help her if she got overwhelmed again. But do you think that is the best course of action?”
Martin sighed, seeing Morrow poke holes in the idea. “Your girl has no training in the field. She could be trained…” He’d already seen the other woman, the actual field operative, and was sure she’d be extraordinarily beautiful undercover, but she had the look of a woman hardened by circumstances.
“Why don’t we talk to your senior agents and mine? Franks, Gibbs, Fornell, you, and, me. Bring the girl in as well. Then we can debrief the rest of your people.”
Tom sighed. “I agree on the chemistry part, and it would be a shame to pass that up. But my concern first and foremost is Abby’s safety. If your agent can help to guarantee that her safety will be a top priority for him, than I don’t see it being a problem. But I agree, let’s sit them down. Then one of us, or your agent, can go down and talk to her, see if she’s willing. I won’t have her in a situation she doesn’t think she can handle, Fletcher.”
“Agreed, Tom. Get a conference room. And some menus. Sounds like it’ll be a late night and that assistant of yours can order us some food. Treat from the FBI, as long as Gibbs’ cover is intact.”
“Sounds good, Martin. And I don’t see there being a problem with your agent’s cover. And since he was more than likely seen leaving the party with Abby, having her with him will probably aid in keeping that cover intact.”
Picking up his cellphone, he dialed Cynthia’s office extension. “Cynthia, I need you to order some food for us. Looks like we’re in for a long night. You don’t need to stay around after it’s been delivered. But the FBI director and two of his agents, plus Franks, his team, and Abby will be staying behind. And Ducky may or may not be in the building. If you could check for me and order the food, I’ll owe you one.”
“You do, Director,” Cynthia shot back. “Italian good?” She knew a place that would deliver several pastas and an antipasti platter at a moment’s notice. As she waited for the director to answer, she texted Mellody and asked her to make reservations for two at Café Atlantico. They might as well take advantage of their evening.
Cynthia hummed ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’ and rummaged in her desk for her going out clothes. Oh yes, she and Mellody could have a fabulous evening.
“Perfect Cynthia. Just charge the bill to NCIS. And make sure you order enough. I’m not sure how much the FBI guyss eat, but you know our boys can put away a good amount when under the gun.” Calling over to Martin, he asked, “You and your boys like Italian food? Will that work for you? Cynthia has a place in mind that’ll probably be quick and will definitely be good. Thoughts?”
“Yep, that’ll do. A little food will help calm things down a bit, Tom.” If only their wives were as easy to manage as their agents some days. “No dietary needs or restrictions for us. We’re good with Italian.”
Martin had seen Gibbs pack away pasta and Fornell was Italian.
~*~
After they had been dismissed, Ducky and Ziva made their way down the hallway a distance from the FBI men, close enough to keep an eye on them, but far enough away that they wouldn’t easily be overheard. Ducky eyed Ziva, who had been quiet throughout and touched her arm. “At least our Abigail hasn’t found herself interested in a criminal,” he said for her benefit.
“Always finding the silver lining, Ducky?” Ziva said, smiling at her friend. “Abby cannot always have such bad luck with men, yes? One of them had to turn out decent - eventually.”
Ducky wasn’t so sure about that and just shrugged. “I suppose, my dear. What is your read on him now?”
“It has not changed. He is still an honorable man, a gentleman to Abby, a pugilist like myself. But I do not know enough about his character or his position undercover to make more assumptions.”
Ducky nodded, giving Ziva’s hand a slight squeeze. “I’m going to duck back to Autopsy unless Director Morrow requests my presence. Good luck and keep Mike in line, my dear girl.”
“I will, Doctor. You should probably go home if you can. I have an idea that it will be a very long night,” she teased, smiling at him.
He gave her a wink and a nod. “Very well then. You’ll telephone me if anything of interest happens.”
~*~
As Tom held his phone conversation, Martin moved out into the hallway and down the passage where Gibbs and Fornell were standing side by side. “You okay, Jethro?”
“Yeah, just a little banged up.”
“Okay…tell me if you want to go after this legally,” Martin said, squeezing his shoulder.
“No need, sir.”
“Keep us appraised if anything changes,” he said .Martin nodded and walked back into the interrogation room and Tom. He stood next to the other director, waiting for his friend to end his conversation so that they could move things along.
Getting off the phone, Tom turned to his friend. “Okay, we’re on for Italian. God bless Cynthia. Since I hired her, my life of paperwork has been reduced dramatically. All the problems I had before have been smoothed out. She’s a gem. And I bet you feel the same way about your Mellody. I’m thinking about sending Cynthia on a trip somewhere. Maybe when this is all over, we can gift both girls with a vacation somewhere.”
“Might be worth exploring,” Martin agreed with a nod and a smile. “They’re pretty damned valuable and if you’re like me, Tom, we don’t tell ‘em enough.”
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.