STARSTRUCK
By Larabeelady
He jumped a bit as his personal cell phone vibrated on his belt. Picking it up, he saw the caller's name and smiled. "Kevin, my man, what's up?"
"Tony, Bro. I just hit town and wondered if you were free for lunch?"
"You're in town? Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Are you here on business?"
"Wasn't sure I was gonna be able to make it, so didn't want to say for sure. But Trevor is performing in the USO show that's taking place tomorrow. So here I am."
"Great! Yeah, today would be good for lunch. We're on cold cases, so we won't get any call outs. Where were you thinking?"
"Klein's Steakhouse," Kevin said, naming a nice restaurant not too far from the Navy Yard. "Can you and your team make it?"
"Me and the team?" Tony asked.
"Yep. And it's my treat. I'd like to meet these teammates you're always talking about. Especially Gibbs. So can you make it?"
"Well, I'll certainly ask them all. What time?"
"12:30?"
"Perfect. See you then." Tony hung up the phone, then looked at his two team mates who were at work today, Ziva having taken a couple of personal days off to visit a friend in New York city. "Boss, Probie, we've been invited to lunch at Klein's this afternoon."
"By who, Tony?" McGee asked.
"One of my frat brothers, Kevin Murdock, is in town on business. He wants to meet the team mates I'm always talking about. And he's springing for lunch."
McGee smiled to think that Tony talked about him and the others to his friends. "Sounds good to me, Tony. I love Klein's and I'd like to meet your frat brother."
Tony grinned, then turned to Gibbs. "Boss? You'll come, too, right?"
Gibbs looked closely at his SFA and could tell that this was important to Tony. He grinned. "Sure, I could do Klein's. I'm always willing to dig into a good steak," Gibbs said, watching Tony's eyes light up.
"What kind of business is your frat brother in, Tony?" Tim asked.
"He's a talent agent. One of his clients is performing in the USO show tomorrow night. So that's why he's here."
"Wow," McGee said, impressed. "Who's his client?"
"Trevor Addison."
Tim's eyes widened. "The country singer?" Tony nodded.
Gibbs thought a moment. "Isn't he the one that does that Marine song? The one you had me listen to?"
"Yep. That's him. That song is up for Song of the Year at the County Music awards this year. Kevin's totally stoked about the nomination." Tony grinned slyly. "Admit it, Boss, you like that song."
"Yes, DiNozzo, I admit, I like that song. That first part reminded me of my first day at Parris Island," Gibbs said, running his hand over his 'high and tight' haircut.
Tony laughed. "I'm gonna go down and let Abby, Ducky and Jimmy know. We're supposed to be at Klein's at 12:30, so I figure we'd leave here around 12:15?" Gibbs nodded, motioning him on his way. He hurried off toward the back stairs. McGee and Gibbs both turned back to their computers, but their thoughts were on the upcoming lunch.
/
Tony took the stairs down to Autopsy. Seeing Ducky and Palmer talking quietly at the desk, Tony headed over.
"Ah, Anthony, good morning."
"Morning, Ducky. Hey, Gremlin," he joked with Palmer.
"Hey, Tony."
"What brings you down this morning, lad?" Ducky asked.
"An invitation to lunch today."
"Oh?" Ducky inquired.
"Yep. One of my frat brothers is in town on business. We're being treated to lunch at Klein's."
"Wow, Tony. It sure is nice of your frat brother to treat us all to lunch," Jimmy said.
"Indeed," Ducky commented.
"Well, he wants to meet my team mates. So, you guys in?"
"I will, for sure," Jimmy said. "I love their yeast rolls."
"Yes, indeed, Anthony," Ducky told him. "I would very much enjoy meeting one of the young men you attended college with."
"Cool! Kevin's looking forward to meeting all of you, too, Ducky. I tell him about you guys all the time. Gotta run, go see Abby. We'll meet in the bullpen at 12:15."
After Tony left, Jimmy turned to Ducky. "I'm kind of surprised that Tony would talk to his frat brothers about us, Dr., enough for one of them to want to meet us."
Ducky smiled gently. "I am not surprised at all, Mr. Palmer. His fraternity brothers were, and still are, a huge part of Anthony's life. As are we here at NCIS. It actually makes perfect sense that he would keep his brothers updated on his job and the team mates he works with every day. And I know that Jethro has meet most of Anthony's brothers when they have visited."
Tony left Autopsy and headed towards Abby's lab. When he entered, he found her doing some tests in the lab, while dancing to the music blasting from her stereo. He just stood watching her for a minute, getting a kick out of her dance moves. Eventually, she noticed him standing there. "Tony! Not that I don't enjoy visits from one of my favorite guys, but what are you doing down here? I thought you guys were on cold cases today."
"We are. But we're all going out to lunch at Klein's. One of my fraternity brothers is in town, and we're meeting him there. He's very kindly offered to treat us."
"I finally get to meet one of your frat brothers?! Awesome! I can ply him for information about you in your college years."
Tony was confused. "You never met Steve when he and Kate dated?"
"No, I never got a chance, sorry to say."
"Well, you'll like Kevin. He's a cool guy."
"Hey, if he's a friend of yours, he must be. How long is he in town for?"
"I'm not sure. He's got a client that's performing in the USO concert tomorrow night, so I'd assume through that, at least."
"A client? What does he do and who's the client?"
"Kevin is a talent agent. And the client is Trevor Addison, the country singer. So, can you make it?"
"I wouldn't miss it! Trevor Addison, huh?" Abby moved over to her computer, quickly searching the singer's name. Clicking on one of the links that came up, she let out a wolf whistle. "Wow! He's a hottie."
"If you say so. He's not really my type." Tony laughed as Abby stuck her tongue out at him. "So we'll all meet in the bullpen at 12:15, then head over, okay?"
"I'll be there with bells on."
Tony smiled and walked out of the lab. Then he quickly turned around and stuck his head back in. "Hey, Abby, while you're searching him out, listen to his Marine song. You'll love it."
Abby quickly did another search on her computer. Turning down her stereo and turning up the volume of her computer speakers, she listened to the song Tony recommended. Hearing the words, she smiled. That song was SO Gibbs!
/
After gathering in the bullpen, they piled into two cars and headed out to the restaurant. When they told the hostess who they were meeting, she led them to a private banquet room, gushing about having such a famous guest. Tony was confused and just shrugged his shoulders when Gibbs threw him a questioning glance. Kevin was big in the music world, but not 'famous' by any means. Once through the door and into the banquet room, Tony headed straight for the man sitting at the table.
"Kevin!"
The man smiled, standing up. "Tony! Man, it's good to see you." The two men shared a quick hug. Then Kevin looked around at the others. "So, this is the team! Finally, I get to meet them."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, don't believe everything they tell you about me. Just the good stuff. That you can believe."
Kevin grinned at him and replied, "You must forget that I already know most of the bad stuff, Sex Machine." He looked at the group that had come in with Tony. "Let me see if I can figure out who is who." He moved to Gibbs, holding out his hand. "You must be Gibbs. Tony was right. You look just as I would imagine a Marine to look. Tony's told me a lot about you. Said you're the best boss he's ever had."
"Well, I'm glad he feels that way, cuz I know I can be a bastard at times. And it's nice to finally meet you, Kevin. Tony's told me about you, too. Something about several kegs of beer and a wading pool…?"
Kevin laughed out loud while Tony snickered in the background. "Ah, yes. Those were the good old days. Thankfully, the campus police officers had a sense of humor." He turned to Tim. "You must be McGee, the computer whiz. Tony says you can make a computer sit up and beg."
McGee blushed at the compliment. "Well, I don't know about beg. Whimper, maybe."
Kevin had to laugh at that. "I like you, McGee. Tony said I would." He turned to the older man with the kind eyes. "And you must be Dr. Mallard."
"Ducky, please. It's a pleasure to meet one of Anthony's friends. I do hope you will be willing to regale us with stories of his collegiate shenanigans."
"Hey, wait just a minute," Tony interrupted.
Kevin leaned close to Ducky. "We'll figure out a time to get together," he mocked whispered. "Share stories about our mutual friend." Ducky nodded with a serious face, then grinned at the man. "But seriously, Ducky, Tony tells me how you're always looking after him. Thanks for that."
Ducky nodded. "I try to keep them all healthy and in one piece."
"Good enough." Kevin then turned to the young man with the glasses. "You must Autopsy Gremlin. Palmer, right?"
"That's me," Jimmy said, shaking Kevin's hand.
"Good to finally meet you after the couple of times we've talked on the phone."
"You, too."
"Wait, you've talked before?" McGee asked.
"Yeah. A couple of times I've been to Tony's for dinner. Kevin's called while Tony was busy cooking, so he asked me to answer the phone in case it was Gibbs calling about a case."
The others nodded. All of them had been to Tony's for dinner many times, too, and knew when Tony got busy cooking, he didn't have a hand free if the phone rang. They had also answered Tony's phone in those cases.
Kevin turned to Abby, reaching out for her hand and kissing the back of it. "And this beautiful lady must be Abby, NCIS's genius forensic Goth." Abby giggled and gave Kevin a hug, much to the man's surprise.
"Tony talks all the time about his frat brothers. It's so nice to finally meet one of you. You'll have to tell me all about Tony during his college years. I bet you have some good stories about him."
"Indeed I do. I'll let you know when Ducky and I get together." He turned to Tony. "I think we're missing someone, aren't we. Where's the ninja chick?"
"Ah, Ziva is out of town for a couple of days. I'm sorry you won't be able to meet her."
"Hey, it'll give me an excuse to come back and harass you."
"Oh, like you need an excuse to harass me," Tony joked. "Speaking of harassing, are we going to be harassed during lunch? The hostess was going on and on about the 'famous' guest. When did you become famous?"
Kevin snorted. "She wasn't talking about me. I have a little surprise for you."
"Kevin, what did you do?" Tony questioned, not really worried. Kevin was one of his best buds and any surprise from him would be okay.
"I didn't actually do anything. But I was with Trevor when I called you. He remembers you from when you visited me in Nashville last year. Heard that I was meeting you and your team for lunch and tagged along. That's the famous guest the hostess was referring to."
"Trevor Addison is here?" Tony asked. "And he remembers me?" Tony was stunned. He had met the singer last year when he accompanied Kevin to the studio while Trevor was recording his latest album. They had talked a little. Trevor had seemed intrigued about Tony being a 'navy cop', but the man met so many people that Tony couldn't believe Trevor actually remembered him!
"Yep. He should be back in just a minute. One of the servers mentioned that the chef was a huge fan, so Trevor is in the kitchen visiting."
"You mean we're having lunch with that gorgeous cowboy?" Abby asked excitedly. The others all seemed impressed, too.
"No gorgeous cowboys around," a deep voice interjected with a distinct southern drawl. "I hope I can stand in as a substitute, though." The group turned around to eye the man at the door. He was very recognizable, as the man was not only a very well-known singer, but did a lot of charitable works, many aimed at those serving in the military. Such as the USO tour happening tomorrow. He was tall, standing about 6'4", with long black hair tied in a ponytail. He was wearing a cowboy hat and boots with his blue jeans and black t-shirt.
"Trevor, you remember Tony, right?" Kevin said to the singer.
"Yep. Good to see you again, Tony." Trevor shook Tony's hand.
"You, too, Mr. Addison."
"Please, it's just Trevor." He looked around the room. "So, is this the team you were talking about last year?
"That's them," Tony said with pride. "I work with the best group of folks at NCIS." Tony made the introductions, saving Abby and Gibbs for last.
"I'm so thrilled to meet you," Abby gushed. "I confess, I didn't know much about you until this morning, when Tony mentioned coming to lunch. But I heard your Marine song, and I just love it. It fits Gibbs so well," she said, grabbing Gibbs' arm. "He was a Marine."
"I'm glad you like the song, Abby. It has special meaning to me." Trevor turned to Gibbs as Tony introduced them.
"Trevor, meet Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, my boss, and a former Marine Gunnery Sgt."
Trevor held out a hand. "Thank you for your service, Agent Gibbs. It's an honor to meet you."
"And you, as well. And it's just Gibbs. Thank you for your support of the troops. You do a lot for them, and it's appreciated."
"What I do is very little compared to their service and sacrifice. This country wouldn't be what it is today without the men and women of our armed services."
"Amen to that," Kevin said. All nodded.
"Well, let's sit down and order," Kevin said. "I, for one, am starved."
Lunch was a very pleasant and lively affair. Trevor asked each of them about themselves and told them a bit about his career and family. Kevin tossed in some stories of him and Tony at college and Gibbs added some of him and Tony as a two-man team.
After lunch, Abby asked to have pictures taken with her camera phone of everyone with Trevor, Kevin with Tony, etc, etc. She was going on about how she was going to show these pictures to everyone.
"Abby, you do realize that Ziva is going to kill us all, don't you?" Tim said. "Trevor is one of her favorite singers. When she finds out she missed meeting him, there's gonna be hell to pay."
"Ziva?" Trevor asked.
"One of our other teammates," Tony explained. "She's out of town right now, visiting with a friend in New York City. And Tim is right, she's gonna be mad. And since she can kill us twelve different ways with a paperclip, we're in trouble."
"Twelve different ways with a paperclip?" the singer asked with a raised eyebrow. "What is she, an assassin?"
"I call her ninja chick. She's former Mossad."
"Well, we can't have her mad at y'all," Trevor said. "When is she due back in town?"
"Late Sunday evening," Gibbs replied.
"Hmmm. Well, what about next weekend? I'm doing a show in Philadelphia. Would she be willing to travel there for a concert?"
"Oh, yes. Definitely," Tim said.
Trevor turned to Kevin. "Can we see about getting this, Ziva, was it, some tickets for the Philly show? And some tickets for these folks for tomorrow night?"
"We can absolutely do that, Trevor. I'll get on it as soon as we get back to the venue."
"Oh, man, Trevor, Kevin, that would be awesome!" Tony exclaimed. "She will love it. And so will we. Thanks so much."
Trevor waved it off. "It's the least I can do. You all do so much for our country and our men and women of the Navy and Marines."
The group exited the banquet room, and of course, Trevor soon got mobbed by fans wanting autographs and pictures. He was kind and patient with all the onlookers, smiling and joking. Some diners were in uniform and Trevor made a special point of shaking their hands and thanking them for their service.
Tony and the others stood by for a few minutes more, talking to Kevin, who would need to wait until Trevor was finished. "Tony, I'll have the tickets delivered to your office by the end of business today. And I will see you tomorrow night at the show."
"Sounds great, Kev. Thanks again. I can't believe he's giving us tickets and getting tickets for Ziva. That's so great. She'll be so surprised."
"He does this sort of stuff all the time. His staff and I are used to it." Kevin laid a hand on Tony shoulder as he turned to the others. "I'm really glad I finally got to meet you all. Tony talks about you so much, and he's so proud to be working with all of you."
"Well, we're pretty proud to be working with him, too," Gibbs said with a smile. "He's a great agent. I keep having to chase other agencies away from trying to recruit him."
"No worries there, Boss. I'm pretty happy where I'm at." He turned to Kevin. "We better get back to the office. Thanks again for lunch. Are we gonna be able to spend some more time together before you leave?"
"Tomorrow is gonna be pretty busy, but of course, I'll see you at the show. I have a late flight out Sunday night, so I have Sunday morning and afternoon free."
"Awesome. We'll talk tomorrow, but plan to spend Sunday together."
Kevin nodded as Trevor finished with the last of the fans. Goodbyes were exchanged all around, and the group headed back to the office.
/
It was nearly quitting time when Tony received a call from the security guard downstairs. "A-agent D-d-diNozzo? Umm, sir, there's someone down here to see you," the young man stammered.
"Eddie, settle down. Is there a problem? Do you need me to come down there?" Gibbs lifted his head at Tony's question. If there was trouble, Gibbs would be ready to back Tony up.
"Um, T-t-trevor…Trevor Addison is here. Asking for you!"
"Okay, okay, calm down. I'll be right there." Tony hung up the phone and looked at Gibbs. "I guess Trevor decided to deliver the tickets himself. Eddie says he's downstairs."
"You better go meet him. Bring him back up here. If Vance finds out that he was in the building and he didn't get introduced, he'll get pissy. I'll let him know." Gibbs picked up the phone to call Vance.
"Gotcha. Be right back, boss." Tony hurried toward the stairs, not wanting to wait on the elevator. A few minutes later, he came back, Kevin and Trevor with him.
"…and this is where we work," Tony was saying.
"Dang. This paint color reminds me of my granny's pumpkin patch," Trevor said. "And the glare off that skylight is ridiculous." This last statement had Gibbs laughing out loud, something most of his colleagues had never heard before. Tony just looked at him and smirked.
"That last part is word-for-word what DiNozzo said the first time he ever came here," Gibbs explained as all eyes turned to him.
"Gibbs, what was so urgent?" a voice inquired.
"Got someone for you to meet. Trevor, Kevin, this is our boss, NCIS Director Leon Vance," Gibbs said. "Director, this is Tony's friend, Kevin Murdock, and Trevor Addison."
"Mr. Addison, Mr. Murdock, it's a great pleasure to meet you. Welcome to NCIS." Leon shook hands with both men. Soon, he and Trevor were talking and Leon introduced Trevor to some of the other agents and staff. As had happened at the restaurant earlier, Trevor was soon approached with requests for autographs and pictures, which he willing agreed to. Eventually, he asked Vance for a tour of the building, to which Vance enthusiastically consented. Kevin had known this would happen, used to this with almost all his clients, although some were not as gracious as Trevor. He moved over to where Tony and Gibbs we both leaning against Tony's desk. He handed Tony an envelope.
"Here you go, Tony. Tickets for your entire team and a guest each for tomorrow." He then handed Tony another large envelope. "And these are the tickets for Ziva, along with an autographed picture for her. Hopefully, that will curb her from getting out the paperclips."
Tony held tight to both envelopes. "Thanks, Kev. You have NO idea how much this is going to mean to her. I can't wait to see her face Monday when she opens this."
"Glad to help, man." The men talked for a bit, since Kevin had to wait for Trevor. Eventually the rest of the team wandered into the bullpen, except Abby, who was currently showing off her 'babies' to Trevor as the Director continued the tour.
Tony waved the envelope around with their tickets for the concert the next night. "Kevin and Trevor got tickets for each of us, and a guest. So decide who you each want to take."
"I'll be coming by myself, Tony. Not really seeing anyone right now that I'm interesting in taking," Gibbs said. "So someone else can have the extra ticket."
"I, too, shall be attending alone, Anthony," Ducky mentioned. "I have arranged a nurse for mother. So there is an additional ticket."
"What about offering them to Vance?" Tim suggested.
Gibbs shook his head. "Vance and his family are already going, as guests of SecNav."
Tony thought for a moment. "Hey, Boss, you think Fornell and his daughter might like the tickets?"
Gibbs smiled at his SFA. "Yeah, I think he probably would, Tony. Why don't you give him a call?"
Tony nodded. He would do that in a few minutes. He could see the Director and Trevor returning from the tour. Soon, Trevor and Kevin had left, the entire building was talking about the visit and Vance was whistling as he returned to his office. Tony smiled at Gibbs in thanks, knowing his boss was correct in understanding how upset Vance would have been to have missed meeting the celebrity. Especially since Trevor apparently agreed to offer up lunch with himself as a prize in next month's NCIS charity fundraiser and silent auction benefitting the agency's Widows and Orphans fund.
As Gibbs returned to his paperwork and Tim was busy on the phone inviting Delilah to the concert tomorrow, Tony sat down at his desk. He placed the envelope with Ziva's tickets and picture in his drawer and locked it, then looked up Fornell's number. Everyone around him was smiling at the unexpected visit. This was turning out to be a banner day at NCIS.
/
Monday morning
Ziva exited the elevator with a frown. She had taken a couple of personal days to visit with her friend, Rebecca, in New York. She had enjoyed a wonderful few days and came to work this morning in such a cheerful mood. But upon entering the building, she had come to find out that her favorite singer, Trevor Addison, had apparently made an appearance at NCIS while she was gone! Everyone was talking about it and showing pictures that they had taken with the man. She went from cheerful to upset in seconds. It just figures that she would have to be out of town at the wrong time.
She went to put her bag down and noticed the brightly wrapped package sitting in the middle of her desk. She looked around, noticing that Gibbs, Tony and McGee were all there, all watching her. She looked back at the package. "What is this?" she asked.
"A gift for you, Ziva. Open it." Tony said, his eyes shining brightly. Too brightly, Ziva thought to herself, her eyes narrowing. This must be some prank of Tony's.
"It's not a prank, Ziver," Gibbs said softly, seemingly able to read her thoughts. "Open it. I guarantee, you'll be glad you did."
So Ziva opened the package. Inside, she found an autographed picture of Trevor Addison, framed and ready for hanging. It was signed, "To Ziva, the ninja chick of NCIS. All the best, Trevor." She smiled, realizing that her team mates had not forgotten her. She lifted the picture out of the box and underneath found two large laminated cards. The cards each had a picture of Trevor Addison, with a date stamped on them, and the word 'VIP' in bold print. Ziva looked closer and realized the date was for this coming weekend!
"What are these?" she asked softly, almost afraid to hope.
"Those are two VIP back-stage passes for Trevor's concert in Philadelphia this weekend. He was sorry to have missed meeting you. These will get you and a guest back stage at the concert. You'll get to meet him and his band then."
"I do not understand. Not that I am not thrilled. I am. But why me?" So Tony explained about his frat brother's visit, their surprise lunch with the singer, the USO concert and how the tickets for her had come about. And then Ziva did something no one at NCIS would ever forget. She squealed like a teenage girl as she hugged the passes to her chest. "Oh, thank you, Tony, thank you. This is wonderful! Oh, I cannot wait. What will I wear? I need to buy a new outfit." And the men of Team Gibbs just watched as their tough, unflappable ninja turned into a giggling school girl. All three men breathed a sigh of relief. There would be no danger from paperclips today.
THE END
Author's note—this fic was inspired by the Trace Adkins song, Semper Fi. If you haven't heard the song, it's well worth a listen. Every time I hear it, I think of Gibbs.