Mel had waited until the plane cleared of the other passengers before attempting to leave the aircraft for herself. The airline had wanted a porter waiting for her with a wheelchair, but she had refused. The walking would be good for her. She was sure to miss out on at least a few physical therapy sessions if the computer problem was even one-tenth as complicated as Ezra had described it.
Mel slowly made her way through the terminal. As she walked, she took her cell phone out of her briefcase. She had called back NCIS with her flight information and had been lucky enough to get through to her sometimes boss JD. He had hinted that there was something she would find very interesting going on with Ezra but refused go into specifics. The nerve of that man to tease her!
Mel knew what she hoped it was. She hoped that her brother and the cute cowboy he lusted after had finally both come to their senses and fucked each other’s brains out. The sexual tension radiating off of the two of them when they were together in NY after she was injured was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Mel knew that Ezra had not been in any serious relationships since his wife died, and she really wanted him to be happy. The interactions she had seen between the two men made her more than sure that they would be happy together.
Unfortunately, she was also sure that they wouldn’t see that for themselves, not without a little push. She was more than willing to be the one to give them the shove, but her mother had made her promise to stay out of it.
More likely and quite honestly, almost as satisfying would be Ezra going head to head with Tony’s boss, or some of his coworkers. Mel had never met the man, and already she didn’t like him. Gibbs caused Tony to cancel more trips home for holidays, to cancel more vacations than he had ever done before.
Tony didn’t say much about his partner, the one who came from the secret service, but Mel could read between the lines. From the little her brother did say, she knew that the female agent liked to tease Tony. Abby, however, had been a fount of information. When Tony brought her to NY in October, Mel and Abby had become close friends. Abby told her more in passing about the relationship between Tony and -- What was her name again -- Oh! Right Kate! then Tony ever had. If Mel didn’t like Gibbs on the little she knew of him, Mel really disliked Kate on what evidence she had gathered. She could tolerate Tony’s boss cause, though he seemed to be an ass about it, he was only getting Tony to do his job. Kate just liked to humiliate Tony, making him squirm in full view of others without taking the same treatment in return.
Mel had been ready to put all of it down to teasing -- until Abby had told her about the big joke with Tony kissing the transsexual suspect. She knew that after what had happened in Peoria that Tony would have been very upset with even a whiff of homosexual or bisexual activity was attributed to him… freaked would probably be a more accurate term to use. He would never knowingly open himself to that type of scandal again, not unless he was positive that the person who he did confide in wouldn’t turn on him. Kate just didn’t fit that bill.
Mel dialed her cell phone; she needed to find out where Ezra was. He was bringing her to the NCIS offices. Once she spoke to him, they made arrangements to meet in the baggage claim area.
Mel made her way to the baggage claim, steadfastly ignoring the appreciative looks her attire garnered from the men she passed. She had dressed this way deliberately--for one reason, and landing a date was not it, though the glances and stares did bolster her ego and self confidence.
As she entered the baggage claim, she easily spotted her brother in the crowd. Not many people in the crowd were dressed in designer threads. Mel could tell the minute Ezra saw her, his eyes immediately smiled then narrowed. He strode towards her, determination evident in his brisk pace. Oh boy, she was in trouble-- she just wasn’t sure if it was due to the way she was dressed or some other reason.
Ezra pulled Mel into a tight hug once he reached her. It had been just under a month since he had last seen her, not long considering the lives they led but long enough that he was glad to see her all the same.
Mel soaked up all the love and affection that was put into the hug. It was always good to see one of her brothers again. This time would be a bonus, two for the price of one. She pulled back from the hug smiling, which dimmed slightly when she noticed her brother was scowling at her.
“What’s wrong, what’s with the frown?” she asked him not wanting to assume it was her clothing, not wanting to give an explanation for her outfit if it wasn’t necessary.
Ezra had stepped back to arms length after the hug ended. He pointed glanced at her cane and then her injured leg and said, “Don’t you think it would have been easier to utilize the wheelchair that was waiting for you on the jetway?”
Mel had the good grace at least to blush. She hated wheel chairs, the connotation that went with them, that you were sick or injured always upset her. The feelings of privilege that also went a long with their use also left her feeling uncomfortable. While her family was wealthy, her parents had always made sure their children knew that didn’t mean they were entitled to special treatment. It had been so ingrained in her that having someone else push her through the airport had left her feeling very uncomfortable so she had foregone the use of the chair.
She wasn’t about to tell Ezra that however. “I needed the exercise after the flight or my leg would have stiffened up too much.” She told him instead, and while not the primary reason for declining the use of the chair, it was a valid reason all the same.
They made their way to the area that the luggage for her flight was being released to. She gave him the claim stubs, and he directed her to sit and wait for him as he collected her bags. She had paid for an extra bag to come through giving her 3 checked bags which she told him to look for. His only response was to raise his eyebrow. He raked over her body and clothing with his eyes, those same eyes promised he would be questioning her about her choice in apparel soon.
Ezra quickly collected the bags and got them outside the terminal. He didn’t want her to walk to the car so he left her again in a seat with the luggage and went to go and retrieve the car. He still was upset that she had walked through the airport instead of using a wheelchair; he accepted the reason she had given him, but he knew her too well to know that that wasn’t the only reason, or even the primary reason for not using the service. He had hoped that she would show enough sense not to reinjure herself. Now he wasn’t so sure that she had that sense. Ezra knew that he and Vin wouldn’t be able to stay in DC the whole time that Mel would be working on fixing the problem with the NCIS computers. Thankfully, he could leave her in Tony’s capable hands. Even though Tony had been Joe’s friend first and they were still close, definitely closer than Joe and Ezra, Mel and Tony were close too. It might be because she was a woman. Tony always was a sucker for a pretty face.
Ezra would just have to tell Tony to keep a closer eye on her than usual. Actually, he might not have to say anything at all. His younger cousin almost always picked up on these things without any guidance from Ezra.
Ezra brought the car around and got the luggage and Mel situated in the car. Then he started his interrogation. Mel always had a reason for acting the way she did, even dressing in certain ways to fit the situation. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why she was dressing just this side of whorish when going to meet Tony’s boss and coworkers. It was likely to shock them. Ezra took it in stride knowing his sister and her moods.
JD wouldn’t care if she showed up to work in daisy dukes and a midriff baring halter top. To him, she practically walked on water. He had always been impressed with her and her computer skills, but after she dressed down their boss Chris Larabee, JD had followed her around like a puppy.
Tony was likely to laugh it off and possibly flirt with her. That actually might be Mel’s plan. No one save Abby knew that Tony was practically another sibling to Mel. She might want to have Tony flirt with her and rile up the rest of his team"Lord she was trouble with a capital T. Well, she had never lied to him in all the years he knew her. He might as well determine what her intentions were.
Mel was sitting in the passenger seat waiting for the other shoe to drop. She could see her brother sitting there trying to reason out why she had dressed so provocatively. She knew the reprieve wouldn’t be long. Ezra had wonderful skills at reading people and reasoning through their motivations. It was one of the skills he had that made him such a good agent, especially a good undercover agent. Tony shared many of Ezra’s skills, which is why he also excelled at undercover ops. It was also why Mel had never been any good at keeping things from either of them. They both read her far too well, better than her other brother or her parents. She thanked God for that and for the fact that their other cousin, Ryan, who she also loved dearly, also was not so skilled in reading her.
She was also thankful that now that they had grown up and were leading their own lives, they lived in different cities. If she lived in the same city as either Tony or Ezra, she wouldn’t have any secrets left.
So she waited for him to ask, and she didn’t have to wait for too long.
“Is there a reason you look like a reject from a porno?” Mel winced, she had not expected him to be quite so forward.
“I do not!” She said hotly but subsided at his raised eyebrow.
“I’m surprised Mary and Moha let you out of the house, never mind on a plane wearing that outfit.”
Mel blushed; her parents were not around when she packed and left. She had called and told them about the job that Ezra had called her for, but she had not seen them before leaving the house.
“theyweren’thome.” She mumbled.
He looked at her with a question on his face, “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you. Could you speak up a little.”
“THEY WEREN’T HOME.” She said loudly, but without yelling, annunciating every word clearly.
Ezra didn’t fail to notice that she had yet to answer the original question. “Fine, they didn’t see you; it still begs the question -- why are you dressed this way?”
“It’s better than beating her to death with my cane ok?” she said testily.
Ezra was slightly confused. “Beating who to death with a cane?” Somewhere the conversation had gotten away from him and ended up in the twilight zone.
“That Kate person that Tony works with. Do you have any idea what she does to him?” Actually, Ezra didn’t; Tony rarely spoke about his coworkers. Though the southerner had met Abby and he liked her, they didn’t have the same rapport that Mel had with the goth lab rat. Ezra was positive that most of Mel’s information about Tony’s teammates was gleaned not from the man himself, but rather second hand from Abby.
Mel didn’t wait for Ezra to answer. “I knew that if I did come here and beat her to death with my cane Tony would be mad, and I figured you wouldn’t be happy with me either. Not to mention Tony’s boss and then since she is a federal agent, there would be the federal charges involved, and I just figured it was too messy -- so I decided to go with plan B.” Mel babbled out. Ezra was used to her talking like this when she was agitated or upset. He figured he would just let her talk herself out. It usually worked out better that way.
When no further explanations were offered, Ezra decided to prompt her. He really wanted to know what plan B was. And especially if plan B involved clothing similar to the type that Mel was currently wearing, it was sure to be an interesting plan if nothing else.
“Plan B?” He questioned with the raising of an eyebrow and another glance at her clothing.
“Yes Plan B.”
She did not elaborate so Ezra was forced to ask, “What does Plan B entail exactly?”
Mel sighed, “With what little Tony has said about her, I think she is sexually repressed. I am sure that she thinks that a woman who dressed to promote her -- erm assets -- could never be smart. Never as smart as she herself is. I plan to prove her wrong and rub her nose in it. I’m sure the minute she sees me, she will dismiss me. In fact, I am sure of it; she will see herself as better than me and won’t be afraid to show me that in the way she acts towards me."You know what you always told me Maude had drilled into you about appearances being the only thing"Well appearances can also be deceiving, and I plan on deceiving Kate long enough for her to get enough rope to hang herself.”
Chapter End Notes:
Heavy with OCs this chapter. Mel shows up and it is mostly interaction between Mel and Ezra seen here.