Timothy McGee was feeling awful. One of his friends was being sent out to sea, and the other sent to her home in Israel. His boss was no longer his boss, and he had just come from the funeral of a woman he had greatly admired. Right now, Tim was angry with Leon Vance, the newest Director of NCIS.
BBBRRRIIINNNGGG
Tim looked at the phone, seeing Dad, displayed, he answered it.
"Hey, Dad, you ok?" Tim knew he sounded tired, and he was, physically and emotionally.
"Tim, Phil called me. Why are you being transferred to Cybercrimes? You are a field agent." Admiral William McGee was outraged that his son was being treated this way.
"No idea, Dad. I got the order from Director Vance himself. But I'm going to fight it. There is no way I am sitting in a basement on a computer all day." Tim was not angry enough to resign, but definitely angry enough to request a transfer.
"That's my boy. Tim, remember, never argue with the boss…"
"Always debate him and have the better argument." Tim had been told this saying by his grandfather when he was a young boy. "I know, Dad, but I just don't know what to do for the best. Ask for a transfer, resign, move to a different agency. All of that would mean giving up my career. And I am not prepared to do that. Six years at two colleges, and six years on the job. I am not going to let it go to waste." William McGee heard his sons pain over the call, and decided to give the lad his support, love, and a swift kick at the same time.
"Tim, moving is something you are used to. You lived in seven country in fifteen years when you were growing up. Each time, you came out of it stronger and smarter. You speak English, French, Greek, Japanese, Italian and Spanish." William McGee had moved around different countries with his family, and immersed them all in the communities and cultures. While they attended the International Schools in order to maintain a steady education, he also had them learn from the people on the streets. "You are a qualified field agent and a published author. Your dream was to be an NCIS Special Agent on a Major Case Response Team. You have lived your dream, and that dream has come to an end." William McGee had always told his children the truth, and rarely did he sugarcoat it. He was not about to start now. "If you don't want the Cybercrimes job, you tell Vance. If he won't reassign you to an MCRT, then you look what other jobs there are. But you have never settled for second best, and you are not about to start now. Understood, Sailor?"
"Yes, Admiral," Tim was smiling, both from the pep talk and his dads nickname for him.
"Now, get a shower, and get to bed. Be up early in the morning, dress smart and sharp, and you knock Vance down the way you did Troy Costenaro. I just wish I could see it. Night, Tim."
"Night, Dad." Tim ended the call, feeling a lot better after the phone call than before it. Tim headed for his bedroom, taking off the suit he had worn for the funeral, and picking out one of his others, a suit he wore for restaurant dinners with his editor. He headed for the shower, thinking his way through his argument. He would not be sent to the basement, nor would he be sent to some out of the way field office. Tim wanted a new challenge, he just had to find it.
William McGee was sat at his office in the White House. When the Secretary of the Navy called him and told him what had happened, the highest ranking man in the United States Navy wanted to march into Leon Vances office and give that man a good seeing to. However, with restraint being the better part of valor, William had kept his head, giving his son time to get home. Will had seen how upset he was at the funeral, and decided to give him a couple of hours to get his head around the news.
William McGee detested nepotism, as well as doing favours for the children of his friends. In the six years Tim had been with NCIS, he had not once pulled any strings to get him better assignments, or tried to get his first born son a promotion, even though he could have done so. Right now, he felt like breaking that rule, but knew Tim would hate him for it.
Instead, he pulled up the interagency and interdepartmental government website. While he had access to it, Timothy did not. If he told Tim what jobs were available, he would be breaking government protocol. However, there was no protocol stopping him from calling these agencies and telling them his son was looking for a change in his career.
Will made the decision to wait until Tim had had his meeting with Vance, and see what Tims future held. If he was still assigned to Cyber Crimes, he would make some calls, if Vance reassigned him to a position beneath his experience and paygrade, more calls would be made. If Vance transferred him to a new MCRT or to a position more suited to him, then William McGee would stay quiet.
The next day, William McGee made was making phone calls.
When Tim made his way up the staircase to the Directors office, he was in possession of certain facts that made his transfer even more suspect. Tim was seething with anger, and wondered if the new Director had a personal vendetta against him. He hoped his father had not angered the man previous to his arrival in Washington, and that as Vance couldn't punish the Admiral, he would punish the son, instead.
"Good morning, Special Agent Timothy McGee. I would like to speak with the Director, please?" Tim was speaking to a woman he had never met before, Cynthia Sumner having taken some personal leave. Tim was not surprised, knowing the woman had served under Jenny Shepard for nearly eight years, both here in Washington and in Paris before that.
"The Director is a very busy man, and cannot see you right now." The woman had not even looked up from her computer. "Come back later." This was spoken as a command, rather than a request.
"I appreciate that the Director has many demands on his time, but it is imperative that I see him right away." Tim wanted to get this over with, if he had to report to Officer Holdsworth, he knew he would never get out of there.
"Well, unless it's National Security, you can't see him." Still, her eyes were glued to the screen. Tim had had enough of this, and decided to channel his dad. Taking a breath and squaring his soldiers, Tim leaned down, placing his hands on the desk.
"I'm sorry, but perhaps I failed to introduce myself. Special Agent Timothy McGee, Cyber Crimes Unit, here to see the Director. I know you are new here, so let me explain something to you." Tim had remembered his dad doing this on base in Naples, Tim must have been about eight years old at the time, but those words had stayed with him. Now, it as his time to use them. "When someone wants to see the Director, the normal procedure is to buzz him and see if he will allow the person in to see him," Tim kept his gaze levelled at the womans eye level. "If I was to go away now, and what I needed to tell him impacted a case being worked on, or an ongoing operation, and it was affected in some way, I will inform the Director of this conversation. You can explain to him why he was not told this information. My guess is his anger would be directed at you, not me."
With these words, the newest PA of the Director of NCIS, looked away from her computer, and pressed the intercom. Two seconds later, they both heard the Directors voice.
"What is it, Pamela?"
"Sir, Special Agent Timothy McGee to see you," Pamela looked at the young man, seeing his anger radiating from his eyes.
"Send him in."
"The Director will see you, Special Agent McGee." Pamela said, hoping to not see those green fireballs of Agent McGees fixate on her again.
"Thank you," Tim snapped, striding into the Directors office. Tim saw the man he was truly angry at, and decided to let rip, rather than play it quietly. "Director Vance, with all due respect, but why have you practically demoted me and promoted Daniel Keating?"