Stairs were bad for his knees, or so his physical therapist kept reminding him. Gibbs ignored her. He knew how important it was for him to greet his agents on the way to his office, and he did it every morning without fail, taking the elevator to the second floor and walking through the squad room instead of riding directly to the third story.

This habit of his also gave him the opportunity to glance at the "Most Wanted" wall. Looking at the wall was bad for his soul, or so Dr. Taft kept reminding him. Gibbs ignored him, too. He needed to see the once-familiar face that now adorned it.

How could he have been so wrong about Ellie Bishop?

As he did every morning, he put his former protégé out of his mind and got to work.

He was expecting a call from Special Agent Alex Quinn at 7:35 AM on the nose. She had missed her check-in last week, but he had decided not to worry quite yet; Quinn had turned into one of his best undercover operatives, and he didn't want to blow her cover unless he was certain she was in danger. If she missed her check-in today, however, he would have to take action.

"Morning, Director," his secretary said as he walked by. "Reports are on your desk, and SecNav is on line one."

"Thanks, Susan," he replied, accepting the steaming coffee mug she held out to him. He closed the door to his office and picked up the phone. "Leon."

"Gibbs. I know it's first thing in the morning–"

"That's never bothered you before."

"–I just wanted an update on Project T."

Gibbs checked his watch. "I should know more in about ten minutes. I'll give you a call." He hung up the phone and sat down to read through the stack of reports from his secretary. Susan was perfect; she knew how much he loved coffee and hated computers and small talk. They got along splendidly.

Caught up in a report about a recent attack at a naval base, Gibbs didn't notice that 7:35 came and went. It wasn't until Susan patched through another call from SecNav that he realized what time it was. "You said you'd have information for me," Leon said, a touch of irritation in his voice.

"I was expecting to hear from our agent," Gibbs replied. "This is the second check-in she's missed. I'll get McGee and his team on it."

"Bring her back safe, Gibbs."

The director seized the Project T file from a drawer and headed for the stairs. Physical therapist be damned – he couldn't wait for the elevator when his agent's life was on the line.

Hello again, NCIS fandom! Remember those nice, happy, uplifting-of-Bishop stories that I've written previously? This is not one of those. I was totally a Bishop fan until season 14 episode 16. What the hell? Is Bishop not going to get, I don't know, arrested or at the very least fired? Because she committed several very-big-deal kind of crimes. I know that Gibbs has done similar things, but he was very much alone when he killed his wife and child's murderer. Bishop was surrounded by a very supportive team who were very much on her side, and she still chose to make those decisions.

I feel quite certain that this is NOT going to be where the show goes with Bishop's character, but I saw a review that stated that Bishop was quite possibly the darkest protagonist the show has seen thus far. So this is my vision of Bishop's future if she continues down the dark path she's on. Please let me know what you think in the comments below! I'll update shortly!