Disclaimer: Not mine. But I can usually predict the murderer before the show's over.
A/N: Now new and improved! I'm constantly editing. I have about 9 different versions of Cate's introduction. But this one's my favorite. Short. Sweet. Simple.
DaughterChapter One"Your new agent, Gibbs." Director Leon Vance said, sliding the file across his desk toward the older agent.
"What part of my team are you reassigning now?" Leroy Jethro Gibbs replied coldly.
"No one."
They sat in silence for nearly a minute before Vance sighed and jabbed a finger at the still closed folder.
"Just give her a chance, Gibbs."
Gibbs' icy stare was unrelenting.
"You worked with her father ten years ago. In San Diego. With me."
"Spencer." Gibbs grumbled.
"She's better than him." Vance reassured him, "Just finished the basics at FLETC. Smart kid."
"Why me?" Gibbs cut him off.
"Richard requested she be assigned to your team."
"And you can't overrule him?"
"It's a favor. For an old friend."
Gibbs grinned.
"He used the 'I-took-a-bullet-for-you' card, didn't he? Some things never change."
"She's coming in from Georgia tonight. Just look over her file, Gibbs. Please."
"Well, since you said 'please'." Gibbs teased, snatching up the confidential file and exiting the office.
The sky was darkening. DiNozzo was dozing in his chair while Ziva read Israeli newspapers online and McGee played Solitaire. Friday, 4:47 PM. They hadn't had a case since Tuesday.
"Go home." Gibbs ordered as he entered the bullpen. Tony jerked awake and fell out of his chair, yelling, "On it, Boss!" as he hit the floor. McGee and Ziva snickered.
"Go!" Their boss ordered again, pointing at the elevator.
"Night, Boss."
"Have a good weekend, Gibbs."
"See you on Monday."
He waited until the three agents had crowded into the elevator before he switched on his desk light and opened the Spencer girls' file.
The photo was not what he had expected. Richard Spencer was a large man, tall and rather bulky. His daughter was petite with hair somewhere between mousy brown and dark blond. The only characteristic they seemed to share was their large, dark eyes. On Rick, they seemed menacing, but on the girl – she just looked frightened.
Her transcripts were nearly as impressive as McGee's, completely covered with AP and Honors classes. They were all A's, except for two A-'s in freshman Geometry and junior English.
Her college, he discovered with a little help from Google, was a tiny public liberal arts college in Sarasota, FL. She'd majored in Sociology and Psychology. There were no grades, just written assessments. They were more helpful than any single letter grade to an investigator.
Quiet. Strong-willed. Analytical. Always sees the big picture. She was an academic. There was nothing to display any desire to become a LEO.
New were her results from FLETC. She excelled in covert surveillance, paper work, and interviewing. Passable in legal, tactical and evasive driving. Barely passed firearms. He wasn't surprised.
The elevator dinged as he closed the file folder. The girl stepped out. She was dressed for traveling – jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. Her hands were buried in her sweatshirt pocket and her shoulders were hunched. He wasn't an expert on body language, but she clearly didn't want to be here.
"Up here, Cate." Vance called from above. Gibbs' gut tightened. Kate? He'd ignored the girl's first name, referring to her as 'Spencer' in his mind.
He flipped her file back to the first page.
Catherine E. Spencer, it read. Something else made his gut contract painfully.
Born November 24, 1983.