They arrived at NCIS headquarters 30 minutes after receiving Gibbs voice mail. Tony had been called in due to a computer problem, which he found out on a subsequent message left by McGee. The
reports that had been sent on the server last night had disappeared and needed to be reentered. Tony had assured Vin and Ezra that it wouldn't take long at all since he had saved a copy of his report prior to sending it to the online server, one copy to the hard drive at work and another to a password protected secure flash drive. Mel and Ezra had suggested this method of storing his reports since they had much more computer knowledge than he did. It was a little costly because the job did not cover the cost of the flash drive since it was considered a nonessential yet expensive piece of equipment, but it more than paid for itself in a situation such as the current one. His coworkers would have to either retype the hard copies they had submitted or totally recreate the reports from memory. All Tony had to do was boot up his computer insert the drive and copy the file. Simple, easy, and quick. Even though he was the last to the office he would likely be the first out and that would irritate Kate no end, a definite plus. Tony was almost gleeful in anticipation. He was surprised that McGee didn't use something similar. Maybe he did and Tony didn't know about it. This would allow him to spend time with his cousin instead of in the office.
Upon their arrival in the bullpen Gibbs was in rare form. When he noticed Tony he called the younger agent to his desk and gave him an unprovoked head slap.
That was followed by "Where the hell were you this morning DiNozzo? Kate called you McGee went to your apartment, no answer on the phone, and you weren't home."
Tony yelped and rubbed the back of his head. He sighed, a typical day at NCIS, well that's what Ezra wanted to see.
"Boss, I stayed the night with some of the ATF guys." Gibbs had not looked up from his work other than to head slap Tony. He had not seen the two ATF agents accompanying his lead agent.
He continued to look down as he answered "No Tony, no you didn't. You want to know how I know that? Cause I spoke with the Agent in charge this morning and he said you hadn't. That they hadn't seen you since you left here yesterday. We have one of their agents here trying to fix their reports that were also lost on the report server and he also said you didn't stay at their hotel last night. So where were you DiNozzo and this time I want the truth."
"Boss I ---" Tony started but was cut off by a clipped annoyed southern voice. The accent thickening in his anger.
"Mr. Gibbs, I don't know if you recall from our meeting yesterday, but I am Special Agent Ezra P. Standish, Agent DiNozzo is my cousin. We did not stay with my team last night; I wanted some privacy to discuss some business with my cousin. Lord knows I could never get any privacy with my teammates lurking about. As I didn't want to be a bother or a burden to Tony, we stayed in a hotel rather than have him shelter us in his home."
Gibbs had looked up at the new voice and saw a very annoyed southerner speaking to him and then glanced away pinning Tony with his glare. "That still doesn't explain why I couldn't get hold of him on his cell phone."
"Boss," Tony said quietly, "I was in the gym this morning and took a long run afterward. I didn't take the phone with me; I had no place to put it."
The statement was true for the most part. The initial call had come while he was still working out. The subsequent calls from had come in the middle of the discussion the three men had this morning after Tony had almost left them at the hotel. His phone had been left in the bedroom and none of them heard it. When they left to start their day the Tony was going to call Abby to join them,that's when he noticed the missed calls and voice mail messages. When Tony heard the messages he knew that he was going to get hassled by Gibbs. The head slap was par for the course, the least of the punishment he should expect.
Gibbs looked at Tony his intense blue eyes boring into the younger agent's green ones. "Don't let it happen again" Gibbs grunted at him as he looked back down at his paperwork.
Tony quickly sat at his desk and started up his computer wanting to get out of the office and be able to spend some time with his cousin and Vin as soon as possible.
Gibbs left the bullpen area without telling anyone where he was headed. Taking advantage of the opportunity now that Gibbs had left, Kate looked over at her coworker and decided to tease him a little.
"Gee Tony, we thought you were out on a hot date and that's why we couldn't contact you." Kate said smiling one of those smiles that say she is one up on Tony.
Kate stood up and walked over to stand next to Ezra. He and Vin had been standing next to Tony's desk while Tony was trying to reenter his report to the system. Vin had taken to slouching against the prefab walls of the bullpen cubicles. Looking around he took in the entire surroundings noticing their teammate JD working on his laptop in the same area Team Seven had been assigned yesterday. Vin figured he was doing something to fix the computers.
Kate continued conversationally to the two men, trying to embarrass Tony, "He gets called constantly at work by his conquests."
Ezra looked at the woman in surprise. "Do tell" Ezra drawled in his southern accent. Vin stood beside his new lover, fascinated by Tony's female coworker. Watching the drama unfold as a witness to a car accident watches, in horror, but unable to look away. Vin knew Ezra well, there was more going on here than meets the eye.
"Oh yes, hmm let's see there's Mary."
Ezra smirked and thought to himself: Tony's "Mom". Vin looked at his lover, the smirk letting Vin know that there was a subtext here, one that Kate was unaware of.
"Melissa"
His "sister" the one he went to NY for.
"Sara"
Almost cousin and his "brother's" girlfriend.
"Joanie"
Siobhan's daughter in law
"Theresa"
Siobhan's daughter
"Gina"
David's wife.
"Mia"
David and Sara's sister.
"Marie"
That one brought out a huge smile as she was Tony's daughter.
"Emily"
Another smile since this was his own daughter. Vin had continued to watch Ezra, he knew several of the names Kate had mentioned. Vin had met them on their trip to New York. He could see that Ezra was subtly teasing his cousin, but at the same time humoring Kate, although the profiler was unaware of this.
"Tina"
Which was really Tima short for Fatima, Sara, David and Mia's mom, an aunt of sorts.
Kate continued to name woman who called Tony. Most names Ezra could place as members of their extended family mostly relatives of Mary who call him on occasion too. The few he did not recognize, most likely the ones Tony actually dated. Then some of them he knew for a fact were men's names but the way they were shortened it wouldn't be obvious. Those were his male lovers, not many but if he were caught it could be a problem. Two of the names mentioned gave him pause. He would have to revisit this topic with Tony in a more private setting. He did give Tony a hard look at the mention of those names. A look that promised there would be a discussion at a later time.
Ezra complimented himself on a job well done; teaching his cousin to hide in plain sight and use what he had on hand to create an illusion about his life, smoke a mirrors. The illusion of a womanizer. Ezra wondered how deeply any of these coworkers really looked at Tony. They seemed not to truly know him at all.
Completely conned, Ezra was amazed, the woman was supposed to be a profiler for goodness sake and she was completely conned. Tony had her completely conned. He didn't date even a quarter as much as he had led her to believe. Plus she had no clue he was bisexual. Ezra was impressed by Tony's acting ability.
Not only was Ezra impressed by Tony's acting abilities his opinion of Tony's teammates took a definite decline. Kate was gleeful as she tried to embarrass his cousin. Her obvious feelings of superiority easy to read. He knew that Tony thought that his team felt he was the weakest link. The one without a fancy skill or useful degree. It was astonishing to Ezra that Tony was unaware how valuable a commodity his undercover skills actually were.
Good undercover operatives were very difficult to find. Ezra was good and he knew that his disastrous childhood was the main reason he was so good at his job. Surprisingly Maude was his initial teacher telling him from as young as he could remember to put on the "show".
He remembers teaching Tony all of what Maude taught him in the year he lived with the DiNozzo's, thinking that possibly that knowledge may spare Tony a beating at some point.
When they met again in their teens Tony actively emulated his older cousin. He kept at it until pretending, the smoke and mirrors, became second nature.
Tony had trained to be an undercover agent nearly all of his life and these people thought he had no talent? The thought just boggled Ezra's mind.
It was ironic, the only member of the NCIS team which had caught the attention of Larabee was Tony. Not the FBI trained profiler, not the MIT degreed computer expert. No the Ohio State Phys Ed major who had been honing his skills all his life.
During team 7's surveillance of the pawn shop, JD, as the surveillance expert had filmed his performance thinking Tony was another gun dealer they would be arresting. They reviewed the tape as a team an hour or so after it was recorded. As soon as Ezra saw Tony, he told his team who Tony was and what agency he worked for.
Chris, heck the whole team was impressed by Tony's abilities. Most of team seven had done some type of undercover work at some point in time. They respected the intricacies involved for someone who made it a specialty, who excelled at it. Tony clearly excelled at it. That was why Larabee had spoken to Gibbs about Tony possibly transferring to the ATF.
Ezra smiled broadly at Agent Todd and said, "Tony always was one for the ladies" He took her hand and in a very southern gesture kissed it before gently handing it back to her. Mocking her yet she being blind to it all.
Tony had started banging his head against the top of his desk as soon as he realized what Kate was doing. She thought she would embarrass him this way. It wasn't that he was embarrassed more like worried about some names being mentioned like the wives of some of the men that he had contacted but did not want Ezra to know about. Or his father's executive secretary who still called occasionally. Or the one time Marie's mother called him here, at NCIS, looking for money. Best for Ezra and through him the rest of the family not know about those contacts. Thankfully she had not mentioned any of his contacts' names, however, she did mention both his ex's name and his father secretary. He knew by the look Ezra had given him that they would be discussing this in the very near future.
Gibbs returned to his desk demanding answers from McGee as to why the reports were not posting correctly.
"Uh—B-boss um I don't know why. I have spoken to the IT people and they can't give me an answer. I have tried to read the code for the software but it is proprietary and well encoded and could take quite a long time to break the encryption. The IT people are calling the company who wrote and installed the program to send a specialist but it is a weekend and they aren't sure how long it will take to get someone here to fix it. The company is not local." McGee had jumped when Gibbs initially started talking to him. Tim had been listening too intently to Kate teasing Tony and Gibbs caught him by surprise.
"Why are we using a company that isn't local for something like this?" Gibbs growled at McGee. He hated technology and this was a main reason why.
"Uh well boss I checked them out online. They are a relatively new business but they have some major clients. Every Federal Agency uses their software and Canada and Great Britain do as well. Most of the PD's of the major cities do too."
As McGee was talking JD Dunne walked over to the desks of the NCIS agents. He had been back in the area that the ATF agents used after yesterday's bust. He was looking at computer printouts scratching his head and muttering to himself. He had noticed Vin and Ezra standing in the bullpen and wanted Ezra's opinion about a what the printouts were telling him.
In all honesty he didn't come to NCIS today to try and retrieve the lost reports for his team. As Team 7's computer specialist he made sure that they all gave him a secure digital copy after each assignment. The whole team's report was on a flash drive in his carryon.
Chris had sent him to NCIS to see if he could figure out what was the problem they were having with the report server and the software. Chris knew that JD owned the company that installed and cared for the system that all of the Federal Agency's used.
The program grew out of a project Chris had given JD to aid team 7 in filing their paperwork in a more concise and timely manner. JD took the assignment but would only do it if he was able to do it on his own time since then he would own the copyrights and any patents.
Once the programming was ready Ezra approached JD about startup capital. The company was called D&S Secure Computer Solutions. They were fast becoming the premiere company for law enforcement computer issues. JD employed several full time employees and a few part timers. He used Melissa as a per diem when the company had a need and she had the time. JD had actually considered offering a similar position to both Abby and Tim after talking with them last night.
As JD walked over to Ezra, Tim continued with his report to Gibbs. "According to their website they have a less than 24 hour turn around with service calls no matter the distance even for their foreign clients. They have someone onsite in 24 hours or less."
Gibbs glared at McGee "Oh so the website says that… I guess we should just take them at their word then huh?"
Tim started stuttering again "Uh… N-n-no b-boss I called some of the other local agency offices that use their software and they said that 24 hours is long, they usually have someone on site much sooner."
Tony was grinning at his desk with his head buried in his work. He knew who owned the company. Hell he had invested in it at Ezra's request. JD didn't realize it but all of his investors were private. No bank was involved. Ezra had all of the family invested in the company, all of them. Wait till Gibbs finds out that kid, JD, owns the company that he is complaining about!
Meanwhile JD was showing the computer printouts to Ezra. JD, while the computer expert for the team, did rely on other opinions at times, and Ezra was the most computer savvy of the rest of his teammates. Ezra was also familiar with the program in question so he would know where the errors were, nearly as well as JD.
JD stood next to his teammates and watched them. Both Vin and Ezra seemed to be in a really great mood. A much better mood than he was. JD had been looking forward to going home. They had been on this assignment for nearly three weeks. Casey was home with their twin boys and she was 7 months pregnant with their next child, a daughter. He had hated leaving her and after this assignment he was not going to take any more out of town assignments until he came back from his paternity leave. He had already cleared it with Chris. Now something was interfering with those plans.
If he was reading the printouts correctly the problem was that NCIS had only purchased and installed the basic package but were using it for medical/autopsy reports and for forensic results even though the basic application only supported case reports.
It appeared that someone went in and wrote some new code in his program! That was causing the degradation of the system until now it had shut down. He could fix it. Ezra could fix it, but he was pissed that someone had dared to change his proprietary software.
He couldn't believe it even though the printouts were clear. He wanted Ezra to confirm it for him.
"Hey Ez, hey Vin. Ez, can you come over to where I am set up over in the other work area? I want your opinion on something."
He handed Ezra the printouts he had been reviewing and the three set out for the other work area. JD noticing yet again how content they looked and how close Vin was sticking to the southerner. Relaxed and…happy… that's it they are happy. JD grinned thinking that maybe the 2 of them finally got their act together. The whole team had watched them dancing around one another for the past year at least if not longer. He hoped they had. Then pretty much the whole team would be paired off and in a relationship. Chris had Mary they had been married almost 2 years now. Buck had finally asked Inez to marry him and the wedding taking place only 6 months ago. Nate and Raine had been married for almost 5 years now. He and Casey had been married for over 3 years themselves. The only one not in a relationship being Josiah, but the team profiler seemed happy nonetheless.
Ezra seemed to rarely date since coming to Denver. JD assumed it had something to do with the wedding ring he wore. No one on the team had ever asked him about it. Ezra was very private by nature and tended to freeze people out of they asked questions he didn't want to answer. As skittish as Ezra was when he first arrived in Denver the team was too afraid he would leave if they pushed him too hard.
After a time it was easier to just not broach the subject. JD had a sneaky suspicion hat Ezra's true story was similar to Chris' story, a terrible loss of his wife if not a child. It was why he personally didn't press the issue. Somethings were not meant to be brought out in the open.
Vin had not dated, as far as JD knew, since Charlotte Richmond had nearly destroyed him and his career. Using him for information and then discarding him when she realized the team was wise to her scam, and they were giving Vin false information which he unwittingly leaked to her. It was Ezra with his contacts in all areas both legal and illegal who identified Charlotte as a mole. The team still wasn't sure how he did it.
At the time it nearly cost him his friendship with Vin. The Texan blind to his love's faults, angry with the southerner for interfering in his life. That was when Ezra truly became a member of the team. He still didn't always hang out with all of them or go to all the team functions but the other 6 knew he would move heaven and hell for them. Even if doing so would cost him their friendship.
Once Vin realized what Charlotte had been doing to him, he forgave Ezra though their relationship was still strained. Eventually, over time, the two men became close once again.
JD and Ezra with Vin trailing behind moved to JD's laptop which was set up on one of the empty desks. He had logged on to his company's web site to review the exact licenses that had been purchased by the NCIS IT department.
"I think I have figured out the problem Ezra" JD said showing him the printouts and the files on the original order online. "It will be easy to fix just time consuming." He sighed, "I can't stay and fix it myself, Casey needs me at home."
Both Vin and Ezra nodded in agreement about that. So far this pregnancy Casey had had no issues but when she had the twins she was ill for most of her term and was on bed rest for 6 months. The whole team rallied around the Dunnes at the time and none of the team wanted to keep their youngest from his family any longer than necessary.
"What about Taylor he could come out here and…" Ezra started to talk thinking about the current employee roster and who might be available to take the job.
"No he is on a job for Scotland Yard remember? He was thrilled to be traveling overseas for the first time."
JD sighed he was likely going to get stuck doing it. Ezra could in a pinch but he knew the conman didn't feel comfortable working that end of the business. "We really need to hire more Part Timers or Per Diems, even more fulltime staff." JD sighed, "I wish Mel was back to work I would ask her to do it in a heartbeat. She is the absolute best at this work. She even made some modifications to the script that I would never have thought of on my own. She is brilliant. I bet she could even figure out who messed with the code and trace it back to the source." He sighed again knowing that he was going to be away from his family for at least the rest of the weekend an would possibly need to take some time off from work on Monday to get it all done.
"Mr. Dunne don't be so hasty. Melissa is currently cleared for work but has decided to forgo returning to the NYPD. She is currently weighing her options in the private sector."
JD's eyes gleamed at that. He would love to bring her on as another tech and programmer. Her skills were at least as good as his and she had a fresh perspective which showed in her code.
Ezra grinned at the look in JD's face. "No Mr. Dunne she is looking for something corporate and more math oriented, but she is at loose ends now and I am sure that she would love the challenge of fixing this system. Plus she could torment Tony. For that alone I am sure she would take the job. I'll call her and see, but first you need to talk to the director the head of the IT department and I think Gibbs and possibly McGee or Abby to translate. Gibbs seems to be the one that everyone is running scared from here. I also think it would be a good idea for her to try to trace the changes in the code to see who tampered with it. It is possible that this was done deliberately, to either save the agency the extra money of the upgrade or for someone to pocket the difference. Mel is skilled at forensic computing."
JD smiled at that. He had heard the comments Gibbs made to Tim. Of course at the time the man didn't know he was making them to the CEO and the CFO of the company he was discussing. Time to reintroduce himself to Gibbs. Hopefully it will just be a case of a misguided employee, instead of someone stealing from the government.
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