Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS in any shape or form. But I do own my OC.
Title: Naval Criminal Investigative Service - Book 1
Author: slexieotpforever
Summary: She had always wanted more from life than just Secret Service. She wanted her life to be worth more than just that of one person. She wanted to save people - plural. And yet, protecting the President of the United States is a privilege and an honor. How could she turn that down? Then someone gave her something to turn it down for: NCIS.
A/N: Okay, so, I thought I'd try my hand at writing an NCIS fanfiction. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!
This will start in 1x01 Yankee White, right at the beginning of the episode.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service - Book 1
Chapter One
Yankee White
The young woman watched as everyone aboard the plane stood up and straightened their postures, just as the leader of the most powerful nation in the world stepped inside.
"Bobby, those baby backs from Papa Joe's make the flight?" the President asked one of the staff members as the young woman made eye contact with her friend briefly, before they both quickly fell in step behind the President.
"Yes, sir, Mr. President, they were flown in from San Antonio ten minutes ago, sir," the man in question responded with a small smile.
"Good. Let's have an early lunch," the President said, pointing his finger at the staff member in a friendly gesture.
"Yes, sir, Mr. President," he nodded as the President turned around, wrapping his arm around one of the male Secret Service agents' shoulders.
"I love the baby backs from Papa Joe's,"
"I know, Mr. President," the man nodded with a small smile as the two women fell in step beside them.
"Wasn't Major Kerry supposed to be handling the Football on this one?" President Bush asked, turning his head to look at his female agents.
"He came down with the flu, Mr. President," Annabelle informed, and the man nodded understandingly.
"Uh, this is Commander Ray Trapp, Mr. President," the male agent introduced, gesturing to the handsome young man in a white uniform with black hair and brown eyes. "He's new on the detail,"
"Have we met, Commander?" the President asked, reaching out to shake his hand.
"Yes, sir. On the Abraham Lincoln, Mr. President," the man responded with a small smile.
"Ah, Lincoln. You know, that trip to the Lincoln was the best day I've had on this job?" the President reminisced with a small smile, looking pointedly at his agents, who all smiled, before turning his gaze back onto the commander. "Why don't you join me for lunch?"
"Be my pleasure, Mr. President," he nodded.
"Good. I look forward to it," the President said with a small smile before disappearing further into the plane with his male agent, as the two women lingered behind.
"Lunch with the boss on your first day," Annabelle spoke up, her eyes on the President's back.
"You're destined for stars on those shoulders, Commander," Special Agent Caitlin Todd spoke up for the first time, turning her head to look at the man with a smile before walking away, with Annabelle following her after offering the man a small, kind smile.
"Agent Baer, Agent Wyatt, Agent Todd, would any of you like anything to eat?" one of the staff members asked as he stepped up to stand in front of the three agents in question.
"No, thank you," the male agent, Agent Baer, answered gruffly.
"I actually wouldn't mind a sandwich," Annabelle said, looking up at the man, who nodded before looking at Agent Todd questioningly.
"I'm fine, thanks," she smiled kindly.
"Very well," he nodded, before walking away.
"I'll be in the Comm getting an update from Backhoe," Agent Baer suddenly spoke up, standing up from his seat as he did so. "Keep an eye on things down here,"
"You expecting a problem, sir?" Kate asked, looking up at her superior.
"Expect problems, Agent Todd," the man replied, turning around to face her. "And with a little luck, you'll never lose a president,"
"You know..." Annabelle spoke up once their boss disappeared upstairs, turning to face her friend. "If we keep going on like this, you're gonna have to get me committed for paranoid psychosis,"
"Going on like what?" Kate asked, laughing slightly as her eyes stayed on the folder in her hands. Annabelle opened her mouth to answer, the corners of it turning upwards, but didn't get a chance to answer as she heard something hit the floor behind her. The two women simultaneously turned their heads, only to see Commander Ray Trapp staring down at his hand in confusion, as his briefcase lied on the floor beside his feet. Feeling eyes on him, he turned his head, and smiled a bit nervously as he looked at the two women.
"I fumbled in my first Army-Navy game, but... I recovered the ball," he said, picking up his briefcase and placing it down beside a chair behind him, "Ray Trapp," he introduced himself, extending a hand.
"Annabelle Wyatt," Annabelle introduced herself, shaking his hand politely.
"Kate. Todd," Kate shook his hand as well, offering his a polite smile.
"Eating with the President was... a bigger sweat than... making a night, night trap," the man spoke, beginning to breathe heavily and clearly sweat as he sat down, alarming the two agents the tiniest bit.
"Are you alright, Commander?" Annabelle asked after exchanging a brief glance with Kate, both leaning forward slightly, when Commander Trapp suddenly began convulsing, falling off his chair, apparently having a seizure, "Slammer, Rosefern, medical emergency, section one," Annabelle spoke into the mic hidden in her sleeve, before quickly following Kate, who was already by the commander's side and placing hands on his neck as foam began to form in his mouth.
"What's wrong?" Agent Baer asked, running down the stairs, his eyes widening as he saw his agents on their knees beside the convulsing man.
"I don't know," Kate shook her head, just as medics ran over from the other side of the plane.
"What do you got?" one of them asked as they dropped down on their knees beside the Commander, Annabelle and Kate both quickly standing up and getting out of their way.
"He's not breathing!"
"No pulse,"
"Give me the bag,"
"Oh, my God," Annabelle suddenly breathed out in realization as she turned to look at her superior. "He just had lunch with the President,"
"Oh, my God," the doctor breathed out.
"Let's go," Agent Baer placed his hand on the man's shoulder, ushering him to where the President was as the other medics attempted to revive the commander, "Alright, you two stay with the Football," he ordered, glancing at the two women, who quickly nodded, hands on their hips as they watched the medics.
"Anna," Kate suddenly spoke up and Annabelle turned to look at her, quickly nodding as the woman jerked her head towards the commander's briefcase. Picking it up gently, she made her way back to their seats, with Kate close on her tail.
"Chest compressions. Let's check the pulse. There's no pulse, let's get his shirt off," the medics began to cut the commander's shirt off, and Annabelle and Kate shared a fearful glance as they both saw his open, dull eyes, with no life in them whatsoever.
"And just like that, I'm not feeling very hungry anymore," Annabelle said quietly with a nervous chuckle, her eyes never leaving the Commander.
"If J. Edgar Hoover was alive, I'd tell him what I'm telling you - this body is in Wichita County, and as a county coroner, I have jurisdiction. No one moves it until the M.E. says they can," Annabelle leaned her head on her hand, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation as she listened to the ever-fruitful argument from where she and Kate were sitting, rolling her eyes discreetly.
"Your jurisdiction doesn't supersede the FBI on Air Force One,"
"It's not Air Force One, Agent Fornell," Kate suddenly spoke up, looking at the FBI agent as she stood up, "When the President departed on the backup plane, it became Air Force One, this is now Alpha Foxtrot 29000," she informed.
"Don't get into this pissing contest, Agent Todd," Agent Fornell said.
"Yes, Kate, please don't," Annabelle spoke up from where she was still sitting, looking up at the people surrounding the body in annoyance.
"Listen to your friend," Agent Fornell said, pointing his finger at Annabelle briefly before turning his gaze back onto Kate. "As you pointed out, the President's gone. It's no longer a Secret Service problem,"
"Okay, look, this could be a natural death," Annabelle spoke up, standing up from her seat and moving to stand beside her fellow co-worker, "Or it could be a botched attempt to murder the President. Until we know which, this is very much our problem, no matter how much you and I may wish otherwise," she said, looking Agent Fornell in the eye.
"Uh, I don't give a damn which one of you is boss, you ain't moving this body until the M.E. says you can," the coroner spoke up again, making Annabelle roll her eyes as she turned to look at him.
"You talking about me, Elmo?" a male voice suddenly entered the conversation as an older man with glasses and a bow tie stepped onto the plane, with two other men behind him. One was around his early 50s, Annabelle guessed, though still very handsome with a haircut that resembled that of a marine's and striking blue eyes. The other was the youngest of the group, only a few years older than Kate, it seemed, with short, light brown hair and green eyes. Just from the way he carried himself, Annabelle could see that he was quite the ladies man, though she wasn't surprised considering his physical appearance.
"Hello, Ducky. How'd you like those steaks I air-expressed you?" the coroner greeted the older man pleasantly, making Annabelle raise her eyebrows.
"Ah, delicious," the man, Ducky, answered with a Scottish accent, taking off his coat as he stepped towards the body.
"He air-expressed him steaks?" Agent Fornell repeated as he leaned down to speak into Annabelle's ear, making her shrug and hake her head, her eyebrows only travelling higher and higher up her forehead.
"It's a big state," Kate said, turning to look at Agent Fornell dryly. "Look how long it took him to get here,"
"Uh, Agent Fornell here is FBI, Agent Todd and Agent Wyatt, Secret Service, Ducky, they're fighting over this body like three hounds over a T-bone," Elmo said as Ducky knelt down beside the body, after throwing his jacket at one of the men accompanying him.
"Hounds? Really?" Annabelle asked dryly, but Elmo only shrugged.
"Well, it's our T-bone for the moment," Ducky said, looking down at the commander's body.
"All these LEOs are contaminating a potential crime scene," the man with a marine's haircut spoke up as he put on a pair of latex gloves.
"Ah, yes, my assistant's right," Ducky nodded. "Everyone who boarded in Wichita will have to evacuate the plane,"
"I'm not going anywhere," Agent Fornell said.
"We flew in on it," Annabelle informed, gesturing to herself and Kate.
"Very well, you three can stay, but everyone else must deplane," Ducky said.
"Alright, you heard the M.E., let's move it, boys," Elmo spoke up, and all the police officers who had been standing around the body began to make their way towards the exit. "Ducky, what do you think?"
"There's no outward sign of trauma," Ducky replied as he began his examination, leaning over the dead body.
"He was stricken after having lunch with the President," Kate informed the man.
"Yeah, how is the President?" the youngest man of the three-man group spoke up for the first time.
"He's fine," Annabelle replied. "His physician cleared him to fly on to L.A.,"
"What happened?" the former marine asked this time, turning his head to look at the two women.
"When the Commander returned from lunch, he had an equilibrium problem, and his grip was too weak to hold his briefcase," Kate answered.
"Did he gradually become ill, or was it sudden?" Ducky asked, standing up slowly.
"Sudden," Annabelle replied. "He started to convulse and collapsed, it all happened in a matter of seconds,"
"The President's physician believed that the Commander had a stroke," Kate supplied.
"Kind of young for a brain fart," the young man with green eyes commented, making Annabelle bite her lip to stop herself from smiling. It was definitely inappropriate but it was the first thing in hours that had made her want to smile.
"Look like a natural death to me, Elmo," Ducky sighed, turning to face the coroner. "They can leave with the body as long as they sign releases,"
"Why the hell didn't you say that?" Agent Fornell asked, looking at the coroner.
"Couldn't. Like I said, it's the M.E.'s decision," Elmo said defensively. "Release forms are in my car,"
"Let's go," Fornell nodded, "We can work out jurisdiction with Washington on the flight to Andrews," he turned to the two Secret Service agents, who nodded, their eyes lingering on the former marine, who was now kneeling on the floor, attempting and failing to look like an M.E.'s assistant.
"Uh, Ducky? About those soft-shell crabs?" Elmo spoke up as Annabelle and Kate slowly made their way towards the exit.
"Uh... uh, you'll have them by the weekend," the older man responded.
"Ten-four, partner," the coroner grinned before stepping off the plane, with Annabelle and Kate following him down the steps slowly.
"Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks that this smells fishy," Annabelle suddenly spoke up once they reached the bottom of the staircase.
"You're not," Kate said, coming to a halt beside her.
"Soft-shell crabs..." Annabelle murmured to herself, before her and Kate's eyes widened in realization. Without a word and relying solely on silent communication, the two agents quickly made their way back up the steps, hands on their weapons, "Who the hell are you, people?" Annabelle demanded, cutting Ducky off half-sentence, "You are no M.E. Assistant and, by the way, you won't find a soft-shell crab within a thousand miles of here," she said, shifting her eyes from the former marine to Ducky as she spoke, her voice bordering on hostile.
"Sorry," the medical examiner said, glancing down.
"NCIS," the other man said, pulling out his badge and showing it to the two agents.
"Naval Criminal Investigative Service," Annabelle nodded to herself. "Should've known,"
"Yep. We flew down here from Washington to take over the examination,"
"First the FBI tries to muscle in, and now NCIS," Kate nodded in annoyance.
"Yeah, well, I do believe this is a dead naval officer," the man said.
"Yeah, one who died on Air Force One after having lunch with the President of the United States - whom, by the way, it's our job to protect," Annabelle said, walking around to stand beside the body as Kate remained by the exit.
"Ah, okay, we can share jurisdiction," the NCIS agent said, standing up to walk over to stand on the other side of the body. "You can be on my team,"
"Your team?" Annabelle and Kate both repeated.
"Why should you head the investigation?" Kate challenged.
"You ever worked a crime scene, Agent Todd? Either of you?" the man asked.
"We are Secret Service agents,"
"I thought not," the man said with a grin, before kneeling down beside the body again.
"Well, don't dismiss me like that! Okay, I earned my jock strap, we both did," Kate said angrily, moving to stand in front of him.
"Yeah?" the man asked, standing up again. "Does it ever give you that empty feeling?"
"What?"
"Your jock strap,"
"No," Kate replied with an icy smile, as Annabelle remained quiet. She may not have liked the man's attitude, but he certainly knew how to read people. "Like certain species of frogs, I grow what I need,"
"Gibbs! The pilot won't take off till the Secret Service chicks give us the..." came a voice from the staircase behind them, and the young man with green eyes appeared, jumping over the last couple of steps and trailing off as he noticed the two women. "...thumbs up,"
"Well, I hate to break it to you, Agent Gibbs, is it? But I think that just made it our team," Annabelle finally spoke up, making Gibbs turn his head to look at her with a small smile on his lips.
"No, I think it means I just have to hijack Air Force One," he said. "Tony, escort Agents Wyatt and Todd off this aircraft and close the hatch,"
"You're not serious," Kate said as Annabelle glared at the young man - Tony - as he attempted to grab her arm.
"I highly suggest you don't even try that," she said, her hand falling to the gun in her holster.
"You sure you know how to use that?" Tony asked with a small, cocky grin, jerking his head to the weapon, and Annabelle sent him a sickly sweet smile.
"Want to find out?"
"Okay, okay!" Kate suddenly called as Gibbs began to make his way to the top deck, making him stop in his tracks, "Your team. But only because I don't want to delay us further by having to shoot you," she said, making Gibbs smirk as they shook hands, before coming back down the steps.
"Welcome to the team," Gibbs smirked a little as he looked at Annabelle, who breathed in as she took her hand off her weapon.
"Well, then..." she began, exchanging a glance with Kate before looking between Gibbs and Tony. "Let's get this show on the road,"
"Did you have to literally slam a door on the FBI's face?" asked the director of NCIS, Director Morrow, looking at Agent Gibbs incredulously.
"There were more of them than us," Gibbs simply shrugged, looking at the screen where Director Morrow's face was shown as he sat in the plane's tech room.
"There's always more of them than us. Did you ever hear of interagency cooperation?"
"Yes, sir. I got the Secret Service agents in charge at Wichita to agree to share the investigation,"
"Willingly?" Morrow asked, skeptically.
"Well, we could use a little backup when we land at Andrews," Gibbs said with a small smirk on his face.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. We're spread a bit thin, but we've got no agents,"
"If the FBI gets this body, we won't see an autopsy report until after they leak it to the Washington Post,"
"Then make sure they don't get it," Morrow ordered. "Will these Secret Service agents stand up to the FBI?"
"I don't know," Gibbs shrugged, before a small smirk formed on his lips, "They've got balls. Both of them," he said, making the director chuckle.
"Are you starting the autopsy?" Annabelle asked in disgust from where she sat next to Kate, her eyes on the tool in Ducky's hand, which he pushed into the dead commander's side.
"Goodness, no," the doctor replied. "I'm just taking his liver temperature. To corroborate the time of death,"
"The President's physician declared him dead at 20:32 Zulu," Kate informed, standing up and taking out her notepad as she verified the written words.
"Yeah. It never hurts to double-check," Ducky said as Annabelle stood up to walk over to Kate, only to be stopped by a hand on her arm.
"Excuse me," Tony suddenly cut in, "You'll both need to stand clear so I can take measurements for my crime scene sketches. Thanks," he grinned sweetly.
"Sketches? You've taken a dozen photos," Kate furrowed her brows in confusion, neither she nor Annabelle moving from where they were standing. Tony's eyes wandered between the two agents for a second before he leaned down to pick a magazine off of one of the tables, and held it in front of the two women's faces.
"Tell me her measurements," he ordered, and Annabelle raised her eyebrows as she looked at the attractive blonde woman in a bikini.
"You're pathetic," she stated, glancing up to meet the man's eyes briefly as Kate scoffed from beside her, also looking at the cover.
"No, I'm serious. Can you tell if she's five-foot-four and a 34C or... five-foot-seven and a 36D?" Tony asked, before turning to look at the Secret Service agents with a cocky smile, "You can't. Not from a photo. That's why we do sketches and take measurements. Thanks," he said, before gently yet firmly, and a with a cocky touch, pushing the two women back a few steps.
"I got 19:15 Zulu, that's nearly an hour earlier," Ducky suddenly spoke up, his brows furrowing in confusion.
"Well, then you miscalculated," Kate said.
"Or... maybe the President's physician did," Annabelle spoke up after a second of thought, her brows furrowed as she looked at her friend.
"Yeah, I'd be more willing to go with that theory," Tony said, just as Gibbs came downstairs after having contacted the director of NCIS.
"What's the problem?" he asked, immediately noticing the looks on everyone's faces.
"There's apparently a discrepancy between my time of death and the President's physician's," Ducky informed him as he stood up from his position beside the body.
"All yours," Gibbs nodded. "Enough sketches, Tony. Agent Todd and Agent Wyatt are gonna give you a floor plan,"
"Uh, no, they won't," Annabelle stated, immediately moving to follow Gibbs as he began to walk away, with Kate hot on their heels.
"What can you two tell me about Commander Trapp?"
"We can't give him Air Force One floor plans, they're top secret," Annabelle said, ignoring the man's question and still following him farther into the plane.
"Come on, I saw this in a Harrison Ford movie,"
"Well, that's Hollywood speculation, you're asking for the real thing," Annabelle snapped as they rounded a corner.
"Isn't the President's head down here someplace?" Gibbs asked, seeming to be ignoring their excuses as much as they were ignoring his questions.
"No," Kate answered, sharing a brief, annoyed look with Annabelle as Gibbs continued to wander around the plane.
"No, this is in the movie! Yeah! Harrison was sitting right here," Gibbs exclaimed, gesturing to a chair by a big table as they entered yet another room.
"We can't risk those plans getting out on the Internet," Kate snapped, finally managing to pull Gibbs to a halt.
"NCIS does not leak," he said calmly. "These plans get out... you can shoot DiNozzo,"
"Is that a promise?" Annabelle asked, making Gibbs give her a smirk as he began to explore once more.
"Actually, I think I'm destined to shoot you," Kate said, her eyes narrowing.
"What about Commander Trapp?" Gibbs repeated his question from earlier.
"We only met him this morning, he just received his Yankee White clearance and was Major Kerry's backup, the Major has the flu," Kate informed, more than a bit exasperated as she and Annabelle continued to follow Gibbs around the plane.
"We'll have to get a navy doc to verify that,"
"He's got it," Kate snapped.
"But, by all means, go ahead and waste a doctor's time double-checking like your Ducky," Annabelle said, her tone full of sarcasm as Gibbs suddenly stopped in front of a cabinet.
"This is where the terrorists got their weapons in the movie," he said, continuing with his movie reference and beginning to type in a code that he, undoubtedly, also got from the movie.
"Oh, that is as ridiculous as the President's escape capsule," Kate rolled her eyes.
"Did everybody switch planes with the President?"
"The press was put on a separate plane," Annabelle said as Gibbs opened the door to yet another room. "Everyone else boarded the backup except three stewards whom we put in the press cabin, and us, obviously,"
"What'd you keep them for? To make coffee?" he asked, opening the curtains that separated the press cabin from the rest of the plane.
"Okay, you know what? We may not know the finer points of investigating like, oh, I don't know, sticking needles in livers and measuring swimsuit models, but I think we know enough to hold the stewards who prepared and served the President's lunch," Annabelle snapped, beginning to get a bit fed up with the treatment she and Kate received from both NCIS agents.
"Mm, okay,"
"You want to question them?" Kate sighed.
"No, they're not going anywhere, we've got a crime scene to investigate," Gibbs said, beginning to walk once again and leaving the two women to follow him. "Rule number one: never let suspects stay together,"
"Well, we didn't consider them suspects," Kate shook her head.
"Then why'd you hold them?" Gibbs asked, not waiting for an answer as he pulled out two pairs of latex gloves from his pocket, handing both women one. "Put these on,"
"What's the point?" Annabelle asked, looking down at the gloves as she took them from Gibbs gingerly. "Our fingerprints are already all over this aircraft,"
"Rule number two: always wear gloves at a crime scene,"
"I believe I know why there's a discrepancy in the time of death," Ducky called as he heard the three pairs of footsteps, looking up to meet the eyes of the three agents. "Now, since the Commander had lunched with the President, I'm sure the President's physician rushed to evaluate his condition. He also called Trapp's time of death,"
"Yes, uh, once he was sure that the President wasn't in medical danger, he returned, and..." Kate spoke, before trailing off suddenly.
"He was gone nearly an hour," Annabelle continued, the same realization dawning on her.
"I'm sure the autopsy will show that Commander Trapp expired almost immediately," Ducky said.
"I owe you an apology, Doctor," Kate said, offering the man a small smile.
"Actually, I think we both do," Annabelle said, grimacing guiltily as she remembered her words to Gibbs just a minute prior.
"Oh, please, it's 'Ducky' to my associates," the man said with a kind smile, making the women's smiles grow. "I'm just relieved we straightened it out. It's inconsistencies like this start conspiracy theories. It reminds me of a, a case in New Orleans. A jealous wife shot her husband off a Mardi Gras float, right under the clock, at the corner of Basin Street,"
"Aw, Doc, give it a rest," Gibbs said as Kate and Annabelle both smiled at the energy and passion in the older man's voice. He was definitely quite the story teller. "They've got work to do,"
"Oh, I-I'll tell you the rest of it later," Ducky said as the two women stood up, beginning to follow Gibbs once again.
"Looking forward to it, Ducky!" Annabelle called over her shoulder with a smile, pulling on the latex gloves.
"Rule number three: don't believe what you're told. Double-check," Gibbs said, halting at the door of another room to look down at the two women briefly.
"Should we write these rules in our Palm Pilots or crochet them on pillows?" Kate asked sarcastically as she and Annabelle followed him into the President's office, both stopping in the doorway at the sight before them.
"Oh, no, I draw the line at him sitting in the President's chair!" Annabelle snapped, glaring at Tony, who grinned at her in return.
"He's not using it," he shrugged innocently.
"Gibbs," Kate looked at Tony's boss expectantly.
"You've finished taking pictures, start bagging and tagging," the man ordered.
"Just waiting for you, boss," Tony nodded obediently, before getting out of the chair reluctantly, smiling back sarcastically as Annabelle sent him a sweet smile.
"Bagging and tagging what?" Kate asked, rolling her eyes at the younger man before coming to stand beside Gibbs in front of the President's desk.
"Well, to start with... everything," Gibbs answered, gesturing to the food still on the President's desk. "The President was sitting there?"
"Well, it's a pretty good bet," Annabelle replied. "Since it is his desk,"
"Okay, to maintain the chain of custody, take the item - in this case, Commander Trapp's lunch - place it int he evidence bag... seal it... record all pertinent information... initial... across the seal. Keep it cool," Gibbs said, doing exactly what he was saying as he explained the process, bagging Commander Trapp's lunch and labeling it before handing it over to Tony.
"Hey, you okay?" Annabelle whispered to Kate, noticing her friend closing her eyes and holding the bridge of her nose. "You're looking a little pale,"
"I'm fine," Kate replied, shaking her head as if to keep herself awake.
"Okay," Gibbs turned to them, oblivious to the small conversation, "Why don't you try it?" he asked, handing each of them an evidence bag. Annabelle sighed and took it from him, though immediately dropped it as Kate suddenly covered her mouth, clearly about to throw up, and running out of the room.
"Kate?!" Annabelle called in concern, quickly running after her friend.
"Whoa! Wait a minute!" Gibbs yelled, running after the two women, with Tony close on his tail, "Hey! Wait! Wait a minute! Whoa! Stop!" he yelled, running ahead of Annabelle and managing to grab a hold of Kate's arm, turning her around, "In here, in here!" he ordered, placing the evidence bag underneath her chin, and Kate finally took her hand off her mouth, vomiting into the bag just as Tony and Annabelle caught up with her and Gibbs.
"Can I rinse now that you got your evidence?" Kate asked in disgust as Gibbs sealed the bag with her vomit and labelled it, while Annabelle looked at her friend in concern.
"Yeah, sure," Gibbs replied nonchalantly, making Kate roll her eyes as she disappeared into the bathroom, "Log it. Go find Ducky," he ordered, handing Tony the bag.
"You think she's got whatever killed the Commander?" Tony asked quietly, concern seeping into his voice.
"You better bite your tongue, DiNozzo," Annabelle snapped quietly, before knocking on the bathroom door, "Kate? Can I come in?" she called, opening the door and entering the bathroom upon received a muffled 'yeah,' while Gibbs ran a hand over his face as he sat down, looking out the window.
"No temperature," Ducky informed from his seat at Kate's feet as she lied on one of the couches, her head resting in Annabelle's lap, "I think it's a stomach virus," he said, and Annabelle let out an inaudible sigh of relief. Oh, thank God.
"I know it is," Kate spoke up, shaking her head slightly, before freezing in thought for a second and turning to look at the medical examiner. "Did you use that thermometer on cadavers?"
"Would you rather I used a liver probe?" he asked in a light tone, bringing a small smile to Annabelle's lips.
"Why are you so sure it was the flu?" Gibbs spoke up for the first time from his spot behind Ducky, his eyes focused on the sick Secret Service agent, who sighed.
"It's the same symptoms Major Kerry had," she answered after a second, her voice a bit hoarse.
"Did you work together recently?" Ducky asked.
"No," Annabelle shook her head, ignoring the small glare her friend sent her.
"Well, if you didn't work together, then how..." Ducky trailed off as realization dawned on him, and Annabelle just barely managed to hold in her laughter at the look on his face. "Ah,"
"Did you think I was a virgin?" Kate asked dryly, making Annabelle turn her head so that no one would see her smile.
"I'd hoped not," the man replied, before moving off the couch and walking away as Annabelle and Kate both chuckled in amusement. Annabelle then turned her head to look at Gibbs, thinking he'd follow Ducky and let Kate rest, but the man simply continued to stand where he was, leaning against the couch and looking at Kate with a small smirk on his lips. The older of the two Secret Service agents then noticed his gaze and turned her own onto him, but he didn't look away. Instead, his smirk only grew.
"Would you two like me to leave?" Annabelle spoke up after a few seconds of the two simply staring at each other, and Kate looked up at her friend with a glare - which only resulted in a shrug of shoulders - before turning her head to look at Gibbs again.
"You gonna lecture me about sleeping with people you work with?"
"Nope," the former marine replied simply, yet continued to stare, and Annabelle began to feel a little uncomfortable as Kate only returned his stare.
"Agent Wyatt, Agent Todd, Agent Baer's on a secure line for you," a technician's voice echoed through the speakers.
"Oh, thank God," Annabelle sighed in relief, more than happy to get away from whatever the heck her and friend and Agent Gibbs were getting up to.
"Oh, shut up," Kate rolled her eyes, before slowly sitting up and swinging her feet around so that they would rest on the floor, remaining in the position for a few seconds and she breathed in against the oncoming nausea.
"Hey, you okay?" Annabelle asked in concern, watching as her best friend paled once again.
"I'm fine," Kate answered, though her voice was way too quiet for the statement to be believable.
"Kate, I can take this call by myself," Annabelle tried to persuade, and Kate turned her head to look at her.
"I'd have to be dead," she stated dryly before standing up and walking away, leaving Annabelle to simply purse her lips as she nodded.
"Of course you would," she muttered, before also standing up and following her friend, just barely hearing Gibbs' laugh as she walked away.
"We made a deal with NCIS to share the investigation, sir," Kate spoke through the phone which was held between her and Annabelle, the two women standing closely together so that they could both hear the response.
"You're not senior enough to make deals, Agent Todd. We're working this with the FBI," Agent Baer snapped.
"Sir, with all due respect, these NCIS agents aren't going to just turn the body and all the evidence over to the FBI," Annabelle spoke up, tilting her head to make sure she was heard loud and clear.
"Let's go," they heard Agent Baer say as a car honked, which made it clear to them that the President was now leaving his conference. "NCIS had no right to use a local coroner to delay your departure,"
"Sir, you have to see it from their side," Annabelle shook her head, knowing she was beginning to walk on dangerous ground.
"Agent Wyatt, shut up and listen!" the man snapped, making Annabelle sigh in frustration as she shared a look with Kate. "I'm giving you and Agent Todd a direct order. That's our aircraft, everything living and dead on board is under Secret Service control. Turn the body over to the FBI at Andrews, or the only presidential detail you'll get will be walking Spotty!" And with that, the call ended.
"Great," Annabelle said, before sighing and resting her hands on her hips as Kate put down the phone. "What do we do now?"
"I have no idea," Kate muttered, shaking her head and closing her eyes briefly, before sharing a look with her friend, the years of silent communication being once again very useful. The two women headed out of the tech room, and walked down the stairs, before stopping abruptly as they eyed the floor.
"Where's the body?" Annabelle spoke up, looking down at Gibbs, who sat in one of the chairs as if nothing was wrong.
"I don't know," he shook his head, and Kate scoffed out a laugh, making him laugh as well.
"You move it to the aft ramp for a fast escape?" she asked, not expecting a reply as she walked over to the couch where her jacket was lying, quickly putting it on.
"It, it won't work, Gibbs," Annabelle shook her head, chuckling humorlessly as the first word came out of her mouth, and walking to sit down next to Kate, who made herself comfortable on a couch a few feet in front of Gibbs. "We've been ordered to turn the body over to the FBI at Andrews. Game over,"
"You could stall them until we get it off," he suggested nonchalantly, making Annabelle laugh quietly despite her better judgement.
"No. We can't," Kate replied instead. "We won't defy a direct order. I'm sorry, Gibbs,"
"Never say you're sorry,"
"What, is that a rule, too?" Annabelle asked in amusement.
"I... you don't have to crochet that one," he laughed, and Annabelle - once again, against her better judgement - followed, while Kate smiled, biting her lip so that she wouldn't laugh as well.
"Folks, please fasten your seat belts, we're beginning our descent into Andrews at this time," the pilot's voice echoed through the speakers, and Annabelle took in a deep breath as she shared a look with Kate before fastening her seat belt, her eyes flickering to meet Gibbs' one more time.
"Special Agent Gibbs has been operating under my direct orders," Director Morrow stated, his voice calm and collected.
"Agent Wyatt and Agent Todd were also operating under orders," the director of Secret Service stated, his face clearly shown on the screen in front of Director Morrow.
"As was Agent Fornell," the director of the FBI said, his face next to Secret Service's leader.
"And the problem seems to be that my man succeeded where your three didn't,"
"Huh. Tom, this is no time for turf wars. Not after 9/11. And especially when the President's life may be at risk," the director of Secret Service said seriously.
"I like to think this is not about turf, Mark. Rather that we all believe we have the right people for the job. We shouldn't be agency directors if we didn't,"
"You're offering a shared investigation?"
"I am," Director Morrow answered with a small smile.
"Who leads? Your man?" the director of the FBI asked, his tone dry.
"We do have the body,"
"My neuropatholgy exam indicates that our victim succumbed to a cerebral embolism, here in the parietal lobe," Ducky reported as he stood in front of Gibbs, Tony, Annabelle, Kate, Abby Sciuto, and Agent Fornell in Gibbs' bullpen, showing the result of his exam on the big screen. "I also found a number of clots, most of them centered in the renal artery,"
"Isn't that unusual?" Kate asked from where she stood next to Annabelle, who stood next to Agent Fornell.
"Oh, not at all, in most cases of arterial thrombosis, clots will develop over a period of minutes or hours, spread to the rest of the body," Ducky explained.
"But what caused them to develop in a healthy, young aviator?" Gibbs asked from where he was sitting at his desk.
"Abby?" Ducky turned to Abby - NCIS' young, goth scientist.
"Well, I did a fibrinogen test," she said, clicking the remote to change the screen to a picture of what looked to Annabelle like molecules. "The procoagulant numbers were high, but they weren't off the charts,"
"Any drugs that might have induced clotting?" Fornell questioned.
"Well, yeah. But none of those popped up. I only iso'd epinephrine that was injected when he got 'jouled and juiced' on the plane," Abby replied.
"No vitamins, herbals?" Tony asked from where he was sitting at his desk.
"Well, the guy was an organic freak. I mean, he probably whizzed green. But none of that'll cottage-cheese your blood,"
"Did you test the food that he ingested on Air Force One?" Annabelle asked with the tiniest bit of laughter in her voice at Abby's way of phrasing her findings.
"Everything that was bagged and tagged," Abby answered, clicking the remote again to display a list on the screen, "There's ribs, coleslaw, barby sauce, it was all negative for toxins. I mean, that stuff will kill you, but it'll take, like, 30 years. Do you dudes in the Secret Service ever think about throwing yourselves in front of the President's diet?" she asked, Annabelle could hear Gibbs' chuckle as she herself lowered her head with a smile on her lips.
"So, you're both saying he wasn't murdered," Fornell summarized.
"No, however freakish and tragic, it apparently was a natural death," Ducky shrugged.
"I want my people to check your results,"
"Of course, you and Agent Todd and Agent Wyatt will be receiving copies of all our tests,"
"Does it for me," Fornell shrugged.
"Thank you, Ducky," Annabelle offered the older man a kind smile, which he eagerly returned, before proceeding to head out after Agent Fornell, who suddenly stopped in front of Tony's desk.
"How's your butt?" he asked, and Annabelle's brows rose up her forehead as the younger man smiled in fake cheerfulness.
"Still bouncing on the Beltway," he replied, making Annabelle bite her lip so that she wouldn't laugh out loud as she began following Agent Fornell out of the bullpen.
"Kate?" Gibbs suddenly called, making Annabelle stop in her tracks as she watched the man offer her friend a piece of gum. Sharing a brief, confused look with her friend, Kate stepped forward, while Annabelle moved to stand next in front of Tony.
"They seriously put you in a body bag?" she couldn't help but ask, looking at the man incredulously, referring to the stunt NCIS pulled in order to keep Commander Trapp's body out of FBI's reach.
"Well, it worked," he shrugged, offering her a charming grin, to which she chuckled in amusement.
"When's the President returning?" Gibbs spoke up from behind her as Kate took the gum he offered her.
"Uh, tomorrow, noon," Kate replied. "We're flying back tonight to rejoin the detail,"
"Mind if I tag along?" he asked nonchalantly, only to receive matching looks of unamusement. "Please?"
"You can," Annabelle nodded with a small smile after a second of silent communication between her and Kate, "Your Sig Sauer can't. We have a rule: no weapons on Air Force One unless you're Secret Service," she said, fully expecting Gibbs to change his mind. To her surprise, the man simply stood up and took off his holster, emptying his gun and putting it away in a drawer in his desk and locking it securely, "Wow, you must really want to come," Annabelle muttered as her eyes widened slightly, before heading out beside Kate, with Gibbs following behind as he put his jacket on.
"Keep looking," he said quietly to his scientist and medical examiner, and Annabelle heard Abby's voice as they stopped to wait for the elevator.
"Wow. Gibbs said 'please,'"
"Good to see you again, Major. Always good to see you," President Bush said with a small smile as he boarded Air Force One, clapping the man on the shoulder with a small smile, before turning to his three Secret Service agents. "Well, folks... that was a job well done,"
"Thank you, sir," Agent Baer nodded, and Annabelle resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The only thing this man had done was make the investigation harder to carry out, and yet he was all for taking the credit.
"What do you say we head home?"
"Absolutely," Agent Baer nodded, and Annabelle smiled a real, genuine smile for the first time since boarding the plane. There was nothing she wanted more at the moment than to curl up on her couch with a book and a glass of wine.
"Alright. I agree," the President quipped with a small smile, forcing a chuckle out of Kate. He then made his way further into the plane to take his seat, and Agent Baer proceeded to follow him, only to be stopped by Annabelle's voice.
"Sir, with all due respect... I must say I'm surprised that you didn't object to Agent Gibbs flying with us,"
"He's here because his gut is still churning, isn't it?" the man asked, and Annabelle shared a brief look with Kate before looking back to her superior.
"I suppose you could put it that way, yes," she replied, her brows furrowing just the tiniest bit at the worried frown on the man's face.
"Well, so is mine," he said before finally following the President, as the two women remained where they were left. Now that they had heard those words from the man himself, it was even harder to ignore their own worries.
"Expect him to drop?" Annabelle couldn't help but quip dryly as she looked up at Gibbs, who had been staring at the major eating his lunch for the past full minute while drinking his coffee. The man, however, ignored her (if one were to exclude the smallest of eye rolls he threw at her), and walked back over to the two agents, his eyes settling on Kate as he watched her eat the meal they were served.
"I see you're over the flu,"
"24-hour bug," Kate replied, wiping her mouth with a napkin as Gibbs settled in the seat beside her, with Annabelle in the seat in front of them. "Tim got over it yesterday,"
"Tim is Major Kerry, by the way," Annabelle clarified with the tiniest of smirks, and Kate couldn't help but roll her eyes at her best friend.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he already figured that out, Anna, but thanks," she quipped with a sarcastic smile, to which Annabelle simply smiled sweetly as Gibbs watched the two with amusement. For all the experience he had with women, those two were a breath of fresh air - there was no other way to put it, "I met him for a drink yesterday," Kate suddenly spoke up again after a few seconds of silence, her expression now serious. "I told him we had to stop seeing each other,"
"Why the hell would you do that?" Annabelle couldn't help the words that tumbled out of her mouth as she stared at her friend incredulously. She knew Tim. She liked Tim. And it had been a long time since she liked one of Kate's love interests.
"Well, I mean, we hadn't been dating a long," Kate replied with a bit of a defensive tone in her voice, "I mean, we knew each other on the detail for a couple months before we started... dating," Her words were directed to both Annabelle and Gibbs, but then her voice turned a bit more vulnerable than Annabelle knew Kate would have liked. "You know, when you're on the job 24/7, how else do you get to know someone?"
"Church," Gibbs said, and Annabelle could not help the laugh that bubbled in her throat as Kate smiled to herself at the sound.
"No disrespect, but I somehow sincerely doubt you're the church type," the younger of the two Secret Service agents said while chuckling, and Gibbs allowed a smile to form on his lips as a small chuckle escaped his lips.
"Annie," Agent Baer suddenly appeared, speaking to a woman a few rows behind Kate and Gibbs.
"Yes?"
"The President's ready to see you," he said, and the woman nodded eagerly, quickly standing up and following the man further into the plane. Annabelle looked up only two seconds later as Gibbs suddenly stood up, halting inches away from her seat as he watched the two people's backs.
"Where are they going?" he asked, his eyes never leaving his target.
"Oh, uh, the President promised ten minutes to each member of the press on board," Annabelle replied. "Since we kicked them off in Wichita, he's playing catch-up,"
"Three years before 9/11, Clancy wrote a book where a terrorist hijacked a commercial jetliner and crashed into the Capitol," Gibbs spoke up again, now turning on his heel to walk over to stand next to where Kate was seated, his eyes on the rest of the press and staff. "In the Harrison Ford movie, the terrorists were reporters,"
"Gibbs..." Kate practically sighed as she closed her laptop before standing up, with Annabelle joining her as they looked at the NCIS agent. "Everyone on board has been vetted by us for years,"
"Except you, that is," Annabelle added.
"Well, in the film, the terrorists got their credentials from a Secret Service turncoat," he said, before walking past them as the two women remained where they were, staring after him a bit dejectedly.
"If I hear the words 'in the movie' one more time, I swear..." Annabelle trailed off with a hint of annoyance, and Kate nodded in agreement. They had both begun to view Gibbs as a quite wise man, but this was beginning to get bit ridiculous.
"Loosening up your dress code, Kate, Anna?" Leonard, one of the reporters, suddenly spoke up from beside Annabelle, having walked up to them as they stared after Gibbs, his eyes also on the man's retreating back.
"He's not one of us," Kate answered, slightly irritated.
"We all gonna get our 15 minutes of fame?" he inquired, and Annabelle resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"It's ten, Leonard, and the President's doing his best so just sit down, will you?" she said, making the man raise his hands in mock surrender as he, nonetheless, obeyed.
"There's something different about this plane and Air Force One," Gibbs said as he turned in a circle slowly, looking around the plane.
"This is Air Force One," Annabelle said, not bothering to remove her eyes from her laptop.
"You know what I mean," Gibbs said as he finally walked back to sit down beside Kate, who was also, once again, on her laptop.
"There are some minor differences," she said, following Annabelle's example and not bothering to look up from what she was doing. "29000 is newer and has some minor updates,"
"Like what?" Gibbs asked, leaning in with interest sparkling in his eyes, making the two women sigh.
"The rear-loading hatch is bigger on 29000," Annabelle began.
"Mm. Extra lavatory forward, locks are digital on 29 and keyed on this," Kate continued, while Gibbs nodded thoughtfully.
"Special Agent Gibbs, you have a teleconference call in Comm," the voice of one of the stewards echoed through the plane, and the former Marine stood up.
"Kate, Anna, I want to know every difference on this plane, no matter how small you think it is," he practically ordered as he walked away to take the call, and Annabelle turned her head to look after him.
"A please... would be nice," she called, though her voice faltered as she realized that he was most definitely not going to say 'please.' "Or not,"
Annabelle's brows furrowed as he looked up, expecting either Gibbs or Kate, or both, to come back, but neither did. Kate had left not long after Gibbs after they quickly gathered the info on every difference between the plane they were currently on and the one they were on two days before, planning to show it to him, but it had been a couple minutes since Annabelle saw either one of them, and something was beginning to smell fishy to her.
Making sure to log out of her laptop, she put it on the empty seat beside her and stood up, beginning to make her way to the Comm, where she suspected they must have gotten stuck, but she froze in her tracks just before reaching the stairs as her eyes landed on Kate's laptop, which appeared to have been carelessly thrown there.
"Excuse me, Major?" she spoke up, her voice tight, looking at the dark-skinned man, who immediately stood up as she addressed him. "Have you seen Agent Todd?"
"Yes, ma'am," he nodded, but didn't elaborate, which frustrated Annabelle even more.
"Well, where is she?" she asked, raising her voice the tiniest bit before silently scolding herself.
"Uh, Agent Gibbs dragged her into the bathroom, ma'am," he answered with a bit of a stutter, jerking his head towards the bathroom located a few feet behind Annabelle.
"Thank you," she nodded, not necessarily finding the information strange seeing as the bathrooms were practically the only places where one could have a private conversation.
"It's occupied!" she recognized Gibbs' voice from inside the bathroom after knocking on the door.
"It's Wyatt, let me in," she demanded, and was about to knock again, harder, after receiving no response, but the door opened just as she raised her hand again, and her arm was grabbed before she was dragged into the bathroom, just barely managing not to crash into Kate, who was sitting on the closed toilet, "Whoa, what the hell?!" she yelped, before managing to regain her balance and backing into the wall on Kate's right as to avoid practically hugging either her or Gibbs in the very closely confined space. Annabelle always believed the bathrooms on planes to be too small for even one person, let alone three. "What is going on, what are you two doing in here?"
"Having a conversation," Gibbs replied nonchalantly.
"Yeah. I can see that," she remarked, her voice sarcastic. "What I would love to know, however, is why this conversation is taking place in a bathroom with less than six square feet of space,"
"We needed privacy," Gibbs shrugged nonchalantly again, and Annabelle stared at him incredulously before turning to look at Kate, expecting her to back her up, only to falter at how pale Kate had suddenly become.
"You okay?" Annabelle questioned, her worry rising. "You're not sick again, are you?"
"Tim's dead," Kate spoke up, finally raising her eyes to look into Annabelle's, only for the latter to widen.
"What?"
"He's dead," Gibbs repeated. "He stroked on a street in Georgetown,"
"Commandeer Trapp was apparently poisoned with Australian snake venom," Kate spoke up again, making Annabelle swivel her head to look at her. "And so was Tim,"
"How?" the youngest of the three asked, her eyes moving between her best friend and the NCIS agent rapidly.
"Dry cleaner laced their uniforms with poison," Gibbs answered. "Must be an Al Qaeda sleeper,"
"T... Tim must have recommended his dry cleaners, he..." Kate trailed off, still breathing heavier than normal from the news of her ex-boyfriend's death.
"What?" Gibbs and Annabelle both prompted, one more gently than the other.
"Yesterday..." Kate began, before trailing off again as a sob escaped her lips. "Yesterday, he... Tim told me that they had a drink and that he gave, he gave Commander Trapp tips like that,"
"Well, they gotta be after the President, what does killing the ball carrier give them?" Gibbs asked, his words coming out in a rush.
"Nothing," Annabelle shook her head helplessly. "If somethings happens to one, another aide steps in,"
"And another plane," Gibbs spoke up again after less than five seconds, nodding to himself. "This plane. They forced the President to fly his backup,"
"But security's exactly the same," Annabelle shook her head as she glanced at Kate, both still very much confused. "What is so special about this plane?"
"You just answered your own question," the man said. "Security may be the same, but the plane isn't. And I'll bet security isn't either until the President's on board. Al Qaeda has to have planted something on this plane,"
"Well, it can't, it can't be a bomb, they would have detonated it by now," Kate said, and Annabelle nodded in agreement, desperately trying to think of something that would make the whole scenario clearer.
"You said the locks were different," Gibbs spoke up again.
"Yeah, 29 has digital and this one has keys," Annabelle said, and her words seemed to have lighted a bulb in Gibbs' head because his eyes widened in alarm.
"The Armory," he spoke up as realization dawned on him. "The Armory, they-they have keys to the Armory. They copied the movie, they've vetted a reporter!"
"Oh, that would take years!" Kate snapped as she began to put her earwig back in, and Annabelle closed her eyes briefly, mentally slapping herself for not putting her earwig back in after it had fallen out when Gibbs pulled her not so gently into the bathroom, and did the same.
"So did setting up 9/11," Gibbs said, already opening the bathroom door as Annabelle tried to get out of his way.
"Son of a... There's a medical emergency in the press cabin," she reported as soon as her earwig was back in as they all stepped out of the bathroom.
"It's a diversion. Cover the President," Gibbs said, already moving to the press cabin, and the two women shared the smallest of nods before simultaneously reaching for their guns and racing to President Bush.
"Nobody gets past you," Annabelle ordered the major as they ran past him, who immediately stood up and snapped to attention.
Not a minute later, Annabelle and Kate heard multiple shots.
"Stay here," Annabelle ordered, leaving no room for hesitation as she left Kate in front of the door that lead to the President, and rushed outside with her gun drawn, only to see Leonard on the floor with multiple bullet wounds on his body and one in his head, a gun very much like the ones they stored in the Armory beside him, and Gibbs with his gun in his hand, walking toward them and kicking the weapon away. He then walked up to Annabelle, who lowered her gun after making sure there was no more imminent danger, and held out his gun - which, Annabelle immediately noticed, had also been taken from the Armory - to her with a smirk/smile on his face, "Kate, it's all clear," Annabelle raised her arm to speak into the microphone hidden in her sleeve, her eyes still trained on Gibbs.
"I heard you quit, Agent Todd," Annabelle and Kate both turned around at the oh-so-familiar voice as Gibbs jogged up to them, falling in step as they continued walking away from Air Force One and the tens of police, FBI, and Secret Service cars.
"Happy news gets around fast," Kate remarked dryly, "Yes, I resigned. And I wasn't the only one," Gibbs looked over at Annabelle with the smallest hint of surprise in his eyes.
"You, too?"
"Oh, please," Annabelle waved her hand. "Kate was the only one who kept me sane in this job, do you honestly think I'd be able to keep going without her? If I hadn't quit now, I guarantee you I would have within a week,"
"Anyway, it was the right thing to do," Kate spoke up again, though the smile on her lips at Annabelle's words was very much visible.
"Yep. Pull that crap at NCIS, either one of you... I won't give you a chance to resign," Gibbs said as he kept walking after the two friends had stopped, both of their heads snapping up to stare after him as they shared a look of confusion and slight bewilderment.
"Is that a job offer?!" Annabelle finally decided to bite and call out, but was very much ignored as Gibbs got in a car and kissed the red-headed driver on the cheek in greeting, before speeding away, and Annabelle turned her head to look at Kate instead. "That was a job offer, right?"
A/N: I thought it would be interesting for Kate to have a best friend from before she joined NCIS. I've seen a lot of NCIS stories, but I've barely seen any OC ones, and I haven't seen any in relation to Kate. I thought this might be interesting, an OC who has history with one of the characters.