So I've drifted back to my first love…. You'd think after this long I'd have run out of Jibbs material!

As usual, I don't own a damn thing!

-NCIS-

Kate Todd had a bad feeling about this sting from the beginning.

They'd gotten the tip off from some low-level dealer that one of the vice teams had busted. He'd been trying to save his own ass. Spilling all the secrets he thought he knew.

That's how they'd ended up in a bar in Miami. About to stop a shipment of stolen arms entering circulation.

Or rather, how Gibbs and Tony ended up in a bar in Miami while she and McGee stayed outside in the surveillance van.

She knew Abby would have the covers solid. DiNozzo and a few agents from the local field office in their early thirties were over by the pool tables. Gibbs was posing as a buyer, sitting by the bar with his bourbon. There were at least three other potential buyers in the bar. Not that they had a clue who, or where, they were.

And of course, DiNozzo was chasing tail. Of course he couldn't take his eyes off the woman singing in the corner. Her short blue dress split to mid-thigh acted like a homing beacon.

God, he's such a pig. Kate couldn't help herself. She rolled her eyes when he broke away from the group as Blue Dress' set finished to ask her if he could buy her a drink.

Now that Tony was closer, Kate got a better look at the girl. She was tall. Solid. Olive skin and delicate features. But she had a glint in her eyes that suggested she could handle herself against men like DiNozzo. This girl was so out of his league.

All in all, this wasn't an unusual situation. But she couldn't shake the feeling in her gut that something wasn't quite right.

They had five minutes until Gibbs was due to be called to the meet. Their intel told them it was happening in one of the upstairs rooms of the bar.

"DiNozzo, get back into position," Kate snapped into her headset when she checked her watch a few minutes later. Three minutes to go. He did love to play it close to the wire.

"Ah leave him alone," Gibbs muttered, hiding his words behind his tumbler, "Dressing rooms are upstairs."

Kate rolled her eyes again, looking to McGee for support but the younger agent only shrugged, "Of course that's his plan."

Tony was far too busy trying to guess the girl's accent - badly, and she hoped that his ignorance was a front - to remember that the dressing rooms were across from where they thought the meet was taking place.

"One of these days, I'll stop being surprised when I see a marine with bourbon."

Kate froze when she heard the feminine voice drift over Gibbs' mic. Glancing down at her watch, her stomach clenched. One minute to the meet. Gibbs needed to get rid of his admirer and quickly.

She could see why a section of the female population found him attractive. Hell, she had when they'd first met. In a your-friend's-hot-dad, kind of way. But his silver fox charm was the last thing they needed right now. Gibbs didn't look at his companion. Instead, he kept his gaze fixed forward as he downed the remainder of his glass. For real.

Kate and McGee could only see what was reflected in the mirror behind the bar. His companion was a redhead. Of course. She looked like she was about ten years younger than him - maybe thirty four, thirty five. Her hair was curled around her shoulders and collarbones, left bare by the emerald green halterneck. Whoever she was, she was fixing Gibbs with a warm smile and a knowing look.

For a moment, Kate swore that she saw pain in Gibbs' reflection. There there was nothing, like he had thrown up every wall they'd ever seen and then some. Whatever had flashed across his face was gone by the time his empty glass hit the counter.

He turned to look at the newcomer with a laugh, "Let me guess, your old man drinks scotch."

"What can I say, the Colonel taught me well." His companion leant on the bar next to him, nodding to the barman before returning to Gibbs with that smile.

The way they spoke...it was almost rehearsed. Like this wasn't the first time they'd said those words to each other. There was an inflection in the way they spoke, like there was an inside joke the others were oblivious to.

Kate and McGee's view tilted as Gibbs focused on her neck - it was too high to be her chest and too low to be her face. They couldn't see anything out of the ordinary - the thin straps of the halterneck and a delicate gold pendant.

Gibbs however, added lightly, "Nice necklace."

"Oh, this old thing," the woman smiled and touched it briefly, sentimentally. Her tone betraying her words, "It was a gift, a lifetime ago."

McGee reached up to cover his mouthpiece and turned to look at Kate, "Have we just bumped into an ex-wife?"

Glancing back at the screen, Kate copied McGee's precaution before she responded, "I have no idea." Kate looked at her watch again before removing her hand from the mic, "Get rid of her Gibbs, we have less than thirty seconds."

"It's a little crowded in here," Gibbs mused, standing from his stool and grabbing his jacket. Kate wasn't sure where he was going with this, maybe he was going to offer her his chair? She didn't expect the words that came next, "Fancy a smoke?"

"Gibbs, what the hell? Where are you going? You don't even smoke!" Kate snapped as Gibbs offered his arm to his companion and headed towards the smoking area. "DiNozzo, do something!"

At least this time, DiNozzo took her order seriously. He pulled out his cell, looked at it and began making his excuses. Blue Dress fixed him with a knowing smile - as if she saw right through him - but both McGee and Kate missed the way her eyes drifted to the exit Gibbs had taken before she leaned in to give DiNozzo a kiss on the cheek.

Kate was too busy shouting at Gibbs to notice anything. "Gibbs, talk to me. You haven't used the duress or abort words, so what the hell is going on." Covering the mouthpiece again, she turned to McGee, "Find out who she is."

"Already searching." McGee's fingers were flying over his keyboard, and he barely looked up to answer Kate. After a few seconds, his laptop dinged. McGee frowned, looking back to the screen, "Boss? Do you know her? All I'm getting is the name Lisa O'Malley and an alert to contact NCIS."

Gibbs and Lisa were in the courtyard now. Despite the nature of the bar being rather questionable, the location was prime real-estate. It was nestled away in a corner off the main strip. The courtyard was paved and edged by planters with various bushes. Soft purple lights shone down from the side of the building. It was almost romantic.

Gibbs reached into his jacket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes as they headed to a table in the far corner. Kate frowned. This was new. He offered one to the redhead, who readily accepted and leaned in for a light. Then he lit one himself.

Pulling out a seat, he sat as he casually observed, "I thought we quit."

Lisa smiled as she joined him at the table. "Yet you still carry a packet. Can't imagine you need makeshift detonators much now you're stateside."

"Sometimes you just need an excuse for fresh air." Gibbs shrugged easily, "Your big brother know you're back stateside?"

When Lisa didn't respond, Gibbs shifted so that his arm was draped over her chair and his lips were brushing her ear. "I'll take that as a no."

All Kate and McGee could see from his camera was red hair. Tony's vantage point at the doorway was slightly more useful. It looked like Gibbs was making a move on the redhead. The way she leaned into his embrace suggested familiarity. Kate's frown deepened. It was starting to look like they'd stumbled into someone else's operation.

But as for how this woman knew Gibbs...all bets were off. The talk about detonators was enough to tell them it was more than classified.

"He's avoiding my emails." Lisa studied the cigarette in her hand - she hadn't touched it since the first draw. Neither had Gibbs. "You should know he only cares when there's something in it for him."

"Should there be?" Gibbs murmured running his hand along her arm, still too close to be considered professional, "Because I have a meeting I should be getting to and I would hate to have him on my ass."

"This isn't a meeting it's a credit check." Lisa let out a hollow laugh as she shook her head minutely, "And I've already told them you're good for it."

Back in the van, Kate let out a sigh of relief. If nothing else, this outing hadn't been a complete waste. Now she had a bigger task at hand. Why were they allowed to run this sting when there was clearly someone from their side under.

"And when do I get my merchandise?" Gibbs reached forward to stub out the cigarette in his hand, signalling the conversation was over. Through Tony's camera, they could see he was slow to remove his arm.

Lisa pushed back and stood, opening her clutch to rummage through it. "You need to make good on that promise you made in Albuquerque."

This time it was McGee who broke the silence on the comm. "Uh Boss, whoever she is, she knows the abort word. Do we take it?"

Gibbs didn't react to the sudden voice in his ear. If they'd surprised him or broken the moment there was no outward sign. Instead, he rose from the chair and stood face to face with Lisa. He paused for a moment, tapping the packet of cigarettes against his empty hand, "If I remember correctly, what I said in Albuquerque required you as an active participant."

Kate jumped into action when she heard the command. "All units stand down! I repeat all units stand down. Begin pull out procedure alpha and watch out for tails."

Chatter began over the line as the agents still by the pool table began to chat about calling a cab after this game.

Gibbs and Lisa began walking back towards the bar. When they were a few steps away from the doorway, Lisa stopped searching her bag and pulled out a hotel key card. She held the card out in front of Gibbs as she stopped, causing him to walk straight into her hand.

Reaching up to grab the card, Gibbs didn't look anywhere near Tony who was now less than a foot away. Lisa reached into Gibbs' jacket and pulled out his cell. She let out a chuckle when she saw it and shook her head, possibly the first genuine move they had seen from her all night. She pressed a few buttons then began typing away before she handed the cell back to Gibbs. "Meet me there in an hour. But no security this time."

Lisa threw a smile at DiNozzo that had him turning to go back into the bar. Once they didn't have a physical audience, she turned back to Gibbs and smiled sadly.

Reaching up, she wound one arm around his neck while the other circled around his wrist. He took the hint and moved to rest his hands on her waist. They looked the part, but with her subtle movement, she'd covered the wire. Now they were truly alone.

Gibbs could already hear Kate blowing up in his ear but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Lisa - it seemed that was what she was going by now - leaned in. This time it was her lips brushing his ear. Pure torture. "I wish I'd kept my coat for nights like this."