Their discussion had stopped after Mel’s declaration, the silence dragged on until eventually Ezra looked over at his sister and noted she was sleeping. He wasn’t surprised, no matter what she said the trek from the airplane to the baggage claim area was long, especially when walking with a cane and a still healing leg.
He went back over in his mind the things that Mel had said about Kate. Ezra had had minimal interaction with the female agent, but the little he did see of her, he reluctantly had to agree with his sister. Kate had been absolutely thrilled at the prospect of embarrassing Tony to Ezra this morning, wanting to show that Tony was little more than a slut or walking hormone. He would have expected more team unity. On his own team, even Nathan, who didn’t particularly like Ezra, would not have acted in a similar manner.
He also remembered the altercation between the two NCIS agents the night before. He had not spoken to Tony about it, but he had heard what Kate had said to Tony about kissing the transsexual suspect. Apparently from what Mel said, this was not the first jibe Kate had given Tony about the same topic. He knew as well as Mel how sensitive that topic was to Tony.
Ezra still wasn’t happy about the way his sister was dressed, but he had to admit her plan was cunning. He had taught her well, and she had been an apt pupil. He shook his head because the only one in the family who had not been able to utilize the lessons he had given had been Ryan. His younger cousin tried, but he was too trusting and innocent to really pull off a con the way the others were able to effortlessly.
The next few days were sure to be a wild ride.
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Ezra let Mel sleep through stopping at the hotel. He didn’t have to check in and just left the bags with the bellhop with instructions to bring them to the suite as soon as possible. When he was about a block away from the Navy yard, he gently started calling Mel’s name and placed a hand softly on her knee. Mel woke slowly and took in her surroundings; she quickly realized that she had slept through the ride from BWI and even the stop at the hotel. She noted that the car was pulling into the garage for NCIS HQ and started to gather what she needed to bring into the building with her.
After clearing security, Ezra took Mel down to Abby’s lab. It was where they had set up initially though now with more personnel they might need to find more workspace.
JD, Abby, and McGee were working on different aspects of the problem when they arrived in the lab. JD stood up and hugged her tightly as soon as he saw her. They had not seen each other in person since she had been shot and nearly killed. He was thrilled to see her looking so well after the incident.
“Good to see you Mel. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.” The words were innocent enough that Ezra had no clue that JD was referring to himself and Vin and their new relationship. Mel looked at JD and knew this had to be part of the secret the man alluded to when they talked earlier… She couldn’t wait to talk to him.
Abby had also gotten up and made a move as if to hug her but a slight shake of Mel’s head forestalled the effervescent lab rat. Abby quickly remembered that they weren’t supposed to know each other. They would have time to catch up outside of NCIS, both of them would make sure of it.
Ezra smoothly stepped forward to cover the lab rat’s gaff, introducing Mel to the two NCIS personnel.
“Mel, this inpatient person is Abby Scuito.” He broke off allowing them to shake hands and exchange pleasantries. “And this,” he continued, “is Agent Timothy McGee.”
“I’d like you both to meet Melissa Kendall, She has several degrees with a masters in Computer Science and a PhD in Mathematics. She is currently working as a freelancer for our company, though I know JD would love to bring her aboard as another partner.”
Mel glowered at her “brother”. She had no interest in working in his company full time -- too much chance for him to interfere in her life.
“Pleasure to meet you. So what have you found out so far?”
Mel took a seat and placed her cane in easy reach. She took off her jacket and McGee’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. Abby had a much more subdued outer reaction, but inwardly she was filled with glee. Whatever was going on -- this was gonna be good. JD looked at her clothing once and then continued on his work. He knew something was up, but it wasn’t his business, and quite honestly Mel was so good, he didn’t care if she came to work naked as the day she was born as long as she kept producing the same results.
JD explained where they were in the project. He wanted her to approach it from a different angle. He knew NCIS needed this system operational ASAP. He placed her to work on reviewing how corrupted the files were, if they could be fixed or if the best solution would be to scrap the whole thing and reinstall the software from scratch.
The four of them set to work as Ezra wandered back to the bullpen to see if he could find out what was happening with the rest of the investigation.
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