Diagnosis
Six thirty in the morning both did and did not bring out the best in his team, Jethro Gibbs decided, watching as they individually made their ways towards him.
Sipping from the takeout container of coffee he held, the NCIS agent leaned against the driver's side of his car, feet crossed at the ankles as he surveyed the team's approach. He regarded his worn work boots as he waited.
Tim reached him first, and immediately launched into an uninvited explanation of his commute, his voice apologetic and unsure. "Boss, I would have made it fifteen minutes earlier, but I thought since I will have to teach, I should show up to the job with a briefcase."
Sure enough, he pointed at the brown leather satchel dangling from his left hand.
Gibbs pursed his lips, and McGee took that as a signal to continue. "Also, Boss, I started thinking that I should refresh myself on some of the current teen vernacular, so I did a google search…."
"Not another word," Gibbs ordered, taking an additional swallow of his coffee.
Though a bit hurt that he could not share more of his morning's preparation, Tim nevertheless fell silent.
His boss took that opportunity to scrutinize him. Of the three, Tim's ability to pull off his role today did concern Gibbs. Dressed in a starched white button down shirt and black dress pants, Tim had added a pinstripe tie and black blazer to complete his ensemble. With his light brown hair still wet from his shower, he resembled the manager of a bookstore, Jethro decided.
Abby reached him next, and her exuberance practically radiated from her. Dressed in a modest black dress and flat shoes, she had foregone her usual pigtails and let her dark hair fall freely to her shoulders for the day.
Twirling like a runway model, she grinned, "Well, will I do?"
Motioning the scientist to him, Jethro kissed her cheek and reassured her. "Oh yeah, you will most definitely will do, Abbs."
"Watch out!" cautioned Tony, the last to approach. Half running, the senior field agent had brought a football which he tossed from one of his outstretched hands to the other as he jogged. Grinning, he feinted running into Gibbs, then swivelled at the last second to fall dramatically against the car and yell, "Touchdown!"
Gibbs grinned at the unbridled exhuberance. Tony's theatrical flair could appear at a moment's notice, and coupling it with his innate physical prowess always provided entertainment.
Examining the younger man's clothing, he nodded his approval. Tony had chosen khaki slacks and a jade green semi- turtleneck pullover.
He would do.
Gibbs set the coffee onto the roof of the car and the group instantly fell into formation in front of him. He felt a twinge of pride that he had taught them to anticipate. This morning they did it well, faces sober and expectant.
"Okay, you three, get in there and get to work. Remember that no one besides some of the school's administration knows you are actually enforcement."
Turning to McGee, he added, "Tim, come back to the house with Tony and Abby this afternoon and give me your sit rep."
Tim nodded seriously at the invitation, and Abby clapped her hands together. "You can join us for supper, Timmy, and we can be a little family."
At that, his expression reflected his doubt. He licked his lips nervously.
"There is one condition, though. You can follow us home for the evening meal, McMoocher, if you make it the whole entire day with the pack of teen aged hounds set to hunt you," Tony teased, raising his eyebrows.
"Stop scaring him, Tony," ordered Gibbs. Then, pointing towards John Tyler High School, he directed, "Remember, we want to wrap up this investigation within the week. Get straight to work when you get to the school."
Not waiting for them to comply, Jethro Gibbs yanked open the driver's door and got back into his car, cranked, and then headed to NCIS.
This operation, a covert one, had come about when suspicions arose that the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) department at the high school currently ran a hefty drug business along with the standard drills and maneuvers. Jethro Gibbs, a retired Marine, considered that an unforgivable, personal breach of military ethics and public trust which he planned to remedy.
Thus, NCIS had decided to infiltrate the school in the guise of substitute teachers, and the John Tyler administrators approved the plan, and swiftly made arrangements for the substitutes to replace three regular teachers for a few days.
Abby danced around her lab when informed that she would take over a chemistry position. Tony proved just as enthusiastic about his role as performing arts teacher and part time football coach.
Tim, however, approached his job- that of a technology teacher- with more than a little fear. The past few days had found him worrying over the curriculum, the students, and the current state of the school's technology.
Because of the intelligence shared from the school itself with the agency, Gibbs decided that the team would focus on upper level students, rather than upon freshmen or sophomores.
By the time the morning bell rang at the school that morning, all three agents stood on duty by the doors of their classrooms. None of the school's teachers knew about the ruse, though the administration had coordinated the operation. So when the teachers and students noticed the substitutes, they expressed curiosity about the real teachers, which the stand ins satisfied with the agreed upon, rehearsed, fictitious stories.
In truth, the three they replaced had been ordered to keep low profiles. They had learned something about the operation, but not all.
The three NCIS agents had classrooms on different halls of the school, a deliberate move made to maximize their encounters with both faculty and students. Unfortunately, since the three followed school schedules, checking in with NCIS and their boss would not prove realistic during the schoolday's hours.
Comparing notes would take place in the evenings.
So by the time the three showed up at the House of Gibbs several long hours later, their leader impatiently waited their sit reps. Until he could process what they had found, he could not plot his next plan of action towards the ROTC.
The front door opening and not closing alerted Jethro that the pseudo educators had returned. Lowering the heat under the pot of bubbling chili on the stove he went out to meet them.
Tony fell against the sofa as Jethro approached, sinking into the cushions with a dramatic sigh and closing his eyes. Nevertheless he murmured graciously, "Uh, something smells delectable, Boss. What did you make us to eat?"
Gibbs glanced from Tony to Abby, who had kicked off her shoes and curled in the chair facing the entry. "Wow, I think I can put a new definition to exhaustion. Can we eat in the living room just this one time?"
Before he could respond Tim spoke from where he stood in the doorway. "We earned our paychecks today, Boss."
Shaking his head sympathetically Gibbs nevertheless demanded, "Who left the front door open?"
"Not I," Tony immediately responded, tilting sideways so that he could prop his head on the sofa arm. "Baby Girl probably did. You know how she acts like she was raised in a barn some days."
Abby scowled but did not respond to the taunt. Instead she pointed to McGee, "Timmy, how about shutting the door since you appear to be the only one not sitting?"
Tim nodded eagerly and hurriedly returned after completing his mission.
Gibbs regarded all three and spoke firmly. "Ok, everyone go wash up and get to the kitchen. We need to eat, and you need to fill me in on your activities. The assistant principal stopped by about half an hour ago and we made a decision that it will behoove us to make a couple of adjustments to the plan."
He turned to leave the room and McGee quickened his step to follow behind him. "Did we do something wrong, Boss? Did we mess up?"
"McGuilty may have some suspicion that he mishandled his role, but I performed superbly," Tony announced, easing up from the sofa and then stretching lazily.
"Let's eat, and then find out the details," Abby contributed, smiling at Tim. "Go ahead and use the restroom to clean up so that we can have turns, too."
Tim hastened upstairs to the bathroom, and within ten minutes all four agents sat in front of steaming bowls of chili and crusty Italian bread, sharing their high school operations.
Abby had already pinpointed a possible mule amongst her students, a young man who appeared as a veritable Pied Piper around his classmates and could certainly serve as a drug middleman.
Two students activated Tony's spidey sense, one male and one female, and he described both to his dinner companions. Though in separate classes, he had honed in on them because of their frequent requests to leave the room for one thing or another, and added that they had spent most of their class time monitoring who passed the corridor door.
Tim shook his head sheepishly and wiped his mouth before coughing softly. "Uhm, well, I had my hands full all day and found it pretty difficult to conduct as much surveillance or investigation as I wanted."
"Timmy," Abby scolded. "Our mission was to make an inroad into the school drug trade. What in the world did you do instead of what you were supposed to do?"
Quickly assessing his partner's demeanor, Tony spoke sharply in Tim's defense, "Leave him alone. He got in there and no one ratted him out."
"I just do not understand…" the Goth continued.
Gibbs interrupted, "All right, let me update you on what the vice principal shared this afternoon when she visited."
Pushing his chili bowl to the side, he wrapped both hands around his coffee cup. "The drug of choice at the school is Xanax, a prescription medication that targets anxiety and panic because it sedates. However, doctors prescribe it sparingly because of its very high addiction rate."
"Wow," Tim whistled. "Then business will boom at John Tyler. Selling it to the kids and then getting them addicted means a steady stream of revenue for the dealers."
"Those teens will gravitate towards it because of the mood altering effect," Tony rubbed his temples, then rested his elbows on the table and steepled his hands.
Jethro confirmed, "Correct, so the quicker NCIS makes the bust, the better. Our duty is to those kids."