Chapter 16
“Director, I beg your pardon, but you’ve only given my team 24 hours to solve this case. You can’t expect us to work miracles.”
“Gibbs, this is out of my hands. Your team is the best I’ve got and I made that clear, but you have to look at it from my position. The Sec Nav and Sec Def are both breathing down my neck wanting results and wanting them now. They’ve already raised the threat level to orange. With this being leaked to the media people are starting to panic. We have no idea what kind of timeframe we have to work within and these terrorists are who knows how many steps ahead of us.” Vance took a moment to survey his lead investigator. “Look, I know you don’t play well with others. Never have. Never will. But this is serious, Gibbs. You have to just accept this and deal with it. You and your team have been up all night working on this and still have no idea where to find this cell. We’re bringing in another team to work with you.”
“Leon, just give us a little more time. Abby and McGee are searching through Sergeant Abild’s computer right now to see what they can find. Tony and Ziva are checking out a lead on a mosque that may be tied in somehow. We just need some more time,” Gibbs was half pleading, half demanding.
The Director stood up to look Gibbs straight in the eyes, “It’s a done deal, Gibbs.” He reached over to press the intercom button on his phone and spoke to his secretary. “Send in our guest please.”
It only took a moment before the door to his office opened and the head of the team Gibbs had just been told would be pairing up with his own and basically taking over his case entered the room.
“Special Agent Gibbs, I’d like to introduce you to Special Agent West of the DOD’s Terroristic Crimes Investigative Unit. Her team will be working alongside yours and she’ll be taking the lead on the investigation.” Vance suddenly went silent as he observed the demeanor of the two agents.
Agent West remained standing near the door, seeming relaxed, but her face showed just a hint of apprehension. He was well aware that Gibbs’ reputation for being difficult to get along with and rather off-putting preceded him, not only within the walls of NCIS, but among other agencies they had worked with as well. Everyone seemed to know Gibbs and dread working with him, despite satisfaction with the results. It was always the same, FBI, CIA, DOD, NSA, ICE, DEA, ATF. You name the letters in the alphabet soup and someone there knew Gibbs and didn’t like him.
Vance turned his attention to his most senior agent and source of many frustrations in his directorship. Gibbs was standing perfectly still, mouth hanging slightly agape, a look of shock on his face, something Vance had never seen before. He could only attribute it to the incredible attractiveness of Agent West and the fact that she was a redhead, something that even Vance was aware of Gibbs’ fondness for. He also thought it could have something to do with the fact that this other agent was not just an attractive woman but a very young looking one at that. Director Vance had read her file and knew how old she really was but could only assume that Gibbs would take her for the late twenty-something that she appeared to be. He already had a feeling Gibbs was going to have a problem taking orders from her.
The Director cleared his throat loudly bringing both agents’ attention to him. Gibbs turned to face the Director’s desk and she stepped forward, coming to stand alongside him. “Agent West is a highly capable Lead Investigator, Agent Gibbs. I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but I will. She’s a Harvard graduate, worked in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Unit at Quantico for…”
“I know,” Gibbs cut him off. “I’m well aware of her qualifications and credentials. It just took me by surprise when I saw her. I thought you’d bring in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Unit. I didn’t even think about the DOD’s TCIU. I have no problem working with Em. We’ll be fine.”
Em smiled and blushed a little, realizing he had just given away too much about them by calling her that. She was well aware that he had wanted to keep his private life private at work and unless he had suddenly changed his mind without telling her, he was about to give himself away.
Vance glanced at Em then turned back to Gibbs, giving him a long hard look. “I take it you two know each other well. Perhaps on a more personal level. Is there something I need to know, Agent Gibbs?”
“Seeing as how it is personal, I don’t see how it’s any of your business, Leon,” Gibbs said defensively, his voice slightly raised.
Trying to stay calm, Vance glared at him and in a sharp tone of warning, replied, “If it’s going to affect this investigation then it is my business whether you think it’s personal or not. I don’t really care if the two of you are sleeping together outside of work so long as you can work together as professionals and get the job done on my time. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Gibbs replied flatly.
“Good. Now, Agent West, are you sure you can lead this team and give orders in light of your personal relationship with Agent Gibbs?”
She just smiled an almost wicked smile that caught Gibbs attention out of the corner of his eye causing him to raise an eyebrow, curious as to what she was thinking. “Director Vance, if you read my file completely you should know I’m not the kind of woman who’s easily manipulated or controlled. I have no problem taking the lead and cracking the whip when necessary. You have no cause for concern with me. Agent Gibbs will not give me any trouble at all, you can be sure of that.”
Her direct, unwavering response satisfied Vance and he dismissed them from his office.
Once out of the office and past Vance’s secretary, Gibbs leaned in close to Em’s ear and whispered, “Crack the whip, huh? So you like to play rough sometimes?” and smacked her playfully on the ass before they came into view of anyone else.
“Jethro, you’re incorrigible,” she exclaimed with a small giggle just before they entered out onto the walkway overlooking the squad room.
He looked down and saw Ziva and DiNozzo staring up at them with what appeared to be mixed looks of shock and horror that he couldn’t figure out. “Looks like DiNozzo and Ziva are back from following up on a lead we got on a mosque nearby the base.” Eyeing McGee’s still empty desk he commented, “McGee must still be down with Abby working on the vic’s computer. Where’s your team?” he asked as they walked down the steps side by side.
“Since this was so close I left them at the office to come, meet with your director and you, find out what you and your team have so far and decide what resources you need from my team. I don’t want to crowd you out of your space by bringing in everyone if they aren’t needed or if they can do part of the work from our offices. I’ll assess as we go and make decisions as I see fit,” she replied, finishing just as they reached the bottom of the steps.
Meanwhile, Tony and Ziva were trying to restrain themselves from reacting at the sight of the mysterious young redhead Gibbs had been sneaking around with now casually descending the stairs in the middle of NCIS as if she belonged there. They had no idea what to make of it. The same thought was on both of their minds. How could Gibbs bring her here in front of everyone and act so natural?
She was far closer than she had been in the restaurant, and they could see her quite clearly in the bright light. Today she was looking very professional in a chocolate brown pantsuit with a fitted v-neck lavender blouse in some soft looking fabric. The dark red tresses of hers were flowing in loose waves down her back and over her shoulders just like that night they had first seen her.
She wore a serious expression as she spoke to their boss, but it made her full lips look no less sensuous or her wide-set bright eyes with thick long lashes no less appealing. She appeared to be wearing the type of sensible shoes that Ziva herself often wore, rather than high heels, bringing her height just about eye level with Gibbs. The only jewelry she seemed to be wearing was a gold chain with a small pendent dangling from it that Ziva guessed was the one Gibbs had given her that night.
Gibbs noticed that Tony and Ziva were staring at Em seeming to judge every little thing about her as they entered the squad room as if they knew something about her he didn’t. He tried to ignore their odd behavior, in favor of finding out if they found anything, then moving on to introductions and explanations. “What did you two find out at the mosque?”
Ziva was intently examining Em with deep interest, almost a hint of jealousy, and did not immediately respond to Gibbs query.
Pulling himself together more quickly, Tony answered. “Nothing really, Boss. We spoke to the cleric there and showed him Abild’s photo. He said he had been there when he first converted and seemed to be a very devout Muslim, taking the peaceful word of the Koran very seriously. However, his behavior changed over time and a few months ago, he stopped coming. The cleric had no idea if he was worshiping at another mosque. He was not familiar with Halawani and showed no signs of recognition at the mention of his name.”
Tony had tried to keep his eyes off the young woman with Gibbs while he was speaking, but found her incredibly distracting. His eyes just kept wandering to her repeatedly despite his best efforts. He was just dying to know who she was and wanted Gibbs to explain himself. As far as he knew, Director Vance hadn’t declared it ‘Bring your hooker to work day’.
The intense examination from Ziva and wandering eyes from Tony had not escaped Gibbs’ notice and he felt angry with his team members for being what he considered rude to Em before he had even introduced her. He felt the urge the head slap them both, but refrained himself. What he really wanted to do was wrap his arms around Em and hold her, feeling that she would likely be embarrassed by the strange attention his team was giving her.
Em, however, was quite used to harsh judgment by agents and law enforcement officers all around the country whenever she came into an investigation and took over. She knew she looked far younger than her true age, which always threw people off. Her looks also garnered attention and assumptions as well. It had long ago lost its effect on her.
Gibbs finally spoke. “I should probably introduce you to Special Agent Emerald West of the DOD’s Terroristic Crimes Investigative Unit. Director Vance has just informed me that she will be taking over as Lead Investigator on our case. She’ll be coordinating the effort between us and her own team at the Pentagon, possibly bringing in some of her people here to NCIS. You are to follow her lead just like you would my own. She’s the boss on this one.”
Tony and Ziva both looked like Gibbs had just pulled a gun on them. Ziva said nothing at first and all Tony could manage was a weakly questioning, “Boss?”
“Not me for this case. I’m just Gibbs. She’s Boss,” he replied, pointing at Em. “Special Agent West, this is my senior agent, Tony DiNozzo and our probationary agent, Ziva David.”
“Nice to meet you,” Tony managed, still caught off-guard.
Ziva was shocked but awash with a sense of relief that Tony had been completely wrong about this woman. Finally connecting Gibbs’ words to her brain, she reached her hand out to Em. “Welcome to NCIS. I look forward to working with you.”
Em took Ziva’s hand in hers. “Thank you, Agent David and you too, Special Agent DiNozzo. I’m sure we’ll get along great working together. I’m not too much of a hardass, just don’t believe anything my team tells you,” she added jokingly.
Tony laughed. “You don’t slap the backs of their heads do you?” Em shook her head ‘no’ and Gibbs glared at him. “Great to know. You can call me Tony if you want. We’re pretty casual with each other around here.”
“All right, Tony. You can both call me Em. That’s what my whole team and everyone who knows me calls me.” She turned to Ziva. “Should I call you Ziva or do you have another preference?” she asked politely.
“Ziva is fine.” Pausing for a moment, she added, “I love your necklace. It is very unique. Where did you find it?” She was sure it was the necklace from the restaurant although she did not understand why Gibbs would have given her a golden flip-flop with diamonds. There had to be some meaning she was unaware of and she knew it.
Em reached her hand up, fingering the pendent with a smile. “Thank you, Ziva. It was a gift.”
“From anyone special?” Ziva inquired further.
Sure she was blushing at this point, Em answered, “Yes, very special. It’s from the man I’m in love with.”
“Come on, we should probably go down, check on Abby and McGee, and introduce you to them,” Gibbs said to Em, holding out his arm for her to take, which she did, and he led her off to the rear elevator, wanting to get her away from Ziva’s questions before they became even more personal.
Once they were out of earshot, Ziva immediately turned to Tony. “I cannot believe how wrong you were about her, Tony. You had us all believing Gibbs would pay a woman for sex and companionship. What would make us think that to be true? She’s in love with him!” Not waiting for him to answer her, she went on. “Abby and McGee are going to be caught by surprise as well. Should we warn them?”
McGee had shared the pictures he took with the whole team. All of them knew what she looked like and upon laying eyes on her would have the same immediate shocked response Tony and Ziva had.
“No, they’re going to find out in just a couple of minutes, but we should probably warn Ducky. No telling how long she could be in the building before he sees her.” Tony looked at Ziva who grinned at him and they both raced to their desks to try to get to their phones to call Ducky first.
Just before the elevator reached the floor for Abby’s lab, Gibbs flipped the emergency switch, bringing it to a halt, dimming the lights. “I apologize for the way they were behaving up there, looking at you like that and all. To be honest, they’ve been acting really strange around me for the past couple of weeks, and I have no idea why. Yesterday Abby gave me a St. Rita medallion to wear. Said she’s the patron saint of the lonely and that she thought I needed it. I don’t know what gave her that idea. So before we get down to her lab, I just wanted to warn you she’s been acting weirder than usual and remind you what I’ve told you about her. Don’t be freaked out.”
Em just laughed. “Don’t worry, Jethro, your team’s behavior won’t faze me. I’ve been treated worse by far less impressive people. Yes, I remember everything you told me about Abby. If you recall what I told you about Lily, Phoebe, and Ethan then you’d know one simple cheerful Goth forensic scientist is not going to seem unusual to me.”
Gibbs recalled their many conversations about their teams and remembered Em describing Lily, her data analyst, as an ‘endearing punk rocker with short spiky hair that could be any color of the rainbow any day of the week’. She once referred to her two forensic scientists, Phoebe and Ethan, as ‘a preppy blonde valley girl who believes the only color clothes come in is pink’ and ‘a brooding dark Goth covered in tattoos and piercings’. He smiled and flipped the emergency switch. Dealing with Abby would be a cakewalk for Em.
Entering the lab, music blasting from the stereo, Darren stood guard near the door, and Gibbs gestured a brief greeting to him. Abby was at the workstation in the center of the room wearing a white short sleeved blouse, super short red plaid skirt, today with a few chains wrapped around the waist, three inch platform Mary Janes, and white thigh high stockings with black bows on the backs. She was busily tapping at the keyboard in front of her as computer code scrolled up the screen before her eyes.
On the other end of the workstation sat McGee staring at his own computer monitor, typing furiously at his keyboard, dressed professionally in brown pants and a cream-colored button down shirt, his tan jacket hanging on the back of his seat as he worked.
“Hey, have you found anything yet?” Gibbs yelled out over the screaming noise that Abby considered music.
They both jumped in their seats. Abby grabbed the remote and turned off the stereo as she and McGee turned around to face Gibbs, jaws dropping when they spotted the young redheaded woman standing just a little too closely to him. Neither of them knew what to say. They couldn’t imagine why she was here. There was no explanation for why Gibbs was acting as if everything were completely normal and simply inquiring about the case.
“Can either of you speak?” Gibbs asked impatiently.
McGee and Abby both watched aghast as the young woman reached a small hand up to Gibbs arm as if to calm him from his obviously growing frustration, and he immediately took a deep breath to relax. It was absolutely inexplicable behavior from Gibbs.
In a more conversational tone of voice, Gibbs spoke again. “Abby, McGee, I’d like to introduce you to Special Agent Emerald West of the DOD’s Terroristic Crimes Investigative Unit. Director Vance has put her in the lead of our investigation. She’s going to be coordinating the efforts between teams, possibly bringing in some of her own people from the Pentagon to work with us if needed. I need you to understand that she’s the boss and everything goes through her on this case. I’ll be working with her, but every decision is ultimately up to her.” He turned to Em to make introductions. “This is my forensic scientist, Abby Sciuto and Special Agent Tim McGee.”
Em smiled warmly at both of them. “Nice to meet you both. I look forward to working with you and hope we have a chance to get to know each other better. And feel free to just call me Em. I’m pretty casual with my team and wouldn’t want to be any different with any of you. I’m sure we’ll all get along great.”
Neither McGee nor Abby said a single word. They didn’t greet Em in any fashion. Abby wasn’t being her usually friendly self and for that matter, McGee, who could usually be counted on to be professionally courteous hadn’t managed to be even slightly personable. All they did was sit and stare for what seemed like an eternity to Gibbs.
The looks on their faces told him something more than just processing the idea that Vance had brought in another team to help and a temporary new ‘boss’ for them on this case was going on. He could almost see the gears spinning in their minds as they both sat there silently staring between he and Em as if confused.
Suddenly a huge smile spread across Abby’s face and she crossed the short distance to Gibbs in a leaping run, throwing her arms around him in a death-grip hug, completely taking him by surprise.
“Oh, Gibbs! I’m so happy! You’re not lonely!” she exclaimed joyfully.
“Abbs, what are you talking about? What is going on?” he managed to choke out, barely able to breathe in her tight hold.
She let go, standing in front of him, still so excited she was bouncing up and down with energy. “You and Em, Gibbs. You’re not lonely like everybody thought because she’s your girlfriend. I was right and they were all wrong. I knew it, Gibbs. Deep down, I really did. I swear.”
Gibbs felt cornered. He hadn’t intended to tell anyone of his relationship with Em. Now Vance already knew and here was Abby stating it as if she knew too. Either he had to lie to her in front of Em and deny it, possibly hurting Em in the process, not even knowing what proof she was basing her information on, or he went against his own nature and opened up about his private life to his team. He couldn’t even look at Em for some silent indication of her own feelings about Abby’s actions without giving them away for sure.
He looked at the ceiling, taking a deep breath as he did so. Em would understand if you lied. She knows what it’s like to be in your position. He closed his eyes for a moment. But you’d never forgive yourself for denying her to anyone. Exhaling slowly, he looked at Abby, who was still bouncing in front of him, waiting for him to say something. “You’re right, Abbs. I’m not lonely. I haven’t been for a while now.” Slipping an arm around Em’s waist and pulling her close to him, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, much to the shock and amazement of McGee and the absolute delight of Abby. “I’m in love with Em. I’m not lonely at all.”
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