Author's Note: Unfortunately, I do not own NCIS, or any of the characters/actors [though if anyone can tell me how I can own Michael Weatherly -purrrrs-]. Kristi and Agent Scott are mine, however, as is the idea of the story. Steal this, I break your fingers. –silly grin- Enjoy!
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"Get her away from the door!" Kristi turned her head, frowning and wide-eyed, as the officer grabbed her about the waist and pulled her from the door.
"What? No! Let me go!" she hollered, wriggling in his arms to get free. He shook his head, ignoring her pleas to be released until they were safely behind the squad car. He grabbed her wrist, and cuffed her to the handle inside the passenger door, sighing.
"You have to stay put," he said, as though that would calm her down. Shaking her head and violently ravaging her already disheveled near-black hair, Kristi yanked sharply multiple times at her wrist, somehow hoping something would give – the cuffs, the handle. Her eyes lifted over the top of the car, and she could see through the window into the bank, where a masked man was pacing with a semi-automatic weapon clutched in his hands. His torn and filthy wife-beater was covered by a similarly filthy flannel top, and his jeans were torn at the knees, and looked to be a little too small – the cuffs barely reached the top of his faded tennis shoes.
Kristi reached over from beneath her blankets, pressing her fingers into the Snooze button to silence the alarm that had barely begun to screech. After a second of silence, she clicked the switch from Off to Radio, pulling her arm back under her blanket as the DJ's voice filled the room. For a minute, Kristi kept her face buried in her feather pillow, not wanting the day to start yet. But as the DJ announced that it was ten passed the hour, she heaved a sigh, and shoved her hands into the mattress. Lifting first her butt, then her back, and finally her head, Kristi kneeled on the bed for a brief moment before making her way off the mattress and into the bathroom through the doorway at the foot of her bed.
At thirty years old, Kristi had already spent eight years in the Marines, two of which she'd spent in college, as well as three years working high-risk jobs between the Marines and a local police department – she'd always joked it was easier to work in the Marines. She grew up in Southern California with her mother, a housewife, and her father, an Army Sergeant, but after her mom left, the family moved to upstate New York, where Kristi took care of her brother, and her dad worked various Army jobs. Now, Kristi lived in a two bed, one bath apartment in Alexandria, less than twenty minutes from the job she was getting ready to start.
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The building loomed in front of Kristi, and as she stopped at the gate, she gulped, and sighed, flashing her license at the guard.
"You need clearance," he said, fumbling with his papers. As Kristi sat quietly for a moment, waiting for him to return his gaze to her, she couldn't help but smile – it was incredibly apparent that he was new to the post.
"I start today – I haven't received my identification yet," she explained, saving him the hassle of checking in the papers. "Last name, Reis, first name, Kristine," she said, leaning into her door a little in her attempt to help him. He looked up at her, before nodding, and moving back inside for a second, coming back out with a sheepish grin.
"Sorry about that, Ms. Reis. You're right – and they're expecting you. Go ahead in," he said, taking a step back to lift the arm. A smile on her lips, Kristi waved a thank you, before driving through, watching the arm lower again behind her. She turned down the aisle, braking her car for a moment to let a car back out, before taking its spot.
"Okay Kristi…you can do this. You've had new jobs before - this won't be any more difficult than those," she muttered to herself, before finally shutting off the car, gathering her things, and heading inside the building.
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"Good morning, Ms. Reis!" the cheerful voice sounded from behind the desk. Kristi looked over, a little surprised anyone would know her name before she introduced herself, but smiled.
"Good morning….Sarah," she said, reading the name on her nameplate.
"Agent Scott will be down in a minute to show you around. There's coffee, and water, if you're interested," Sarah said, her voice sounding just as peppy as she looked, her lips spread into a wide grin. Kristi smiled back, and thanked her, making her way to the table to her left. Once she'd laid her bag and jacket in the nearest chair, Kristi pushed her dark blonde hair from her face, and poured a small cup of coffee.
It had barely touched her tongue when she flinched, and forced herself not to visibly gag upon the liquid she'd tasted. Glancing around, Kristi set the cup down, and added cream and sugar, hoping it would help. When she gave the same reaction to a second sip, Kristi peered around her, and leaned down, setting the cup, coffee and all, into the trash can.
"I'd rather not drink anything than drink that poison," she muttered to herself, picking up her things again.
"Not the best tasting in the world, I know," a male voice sounded gently over her shoulder. "But Sarah enjoys it, and since she's up front," he said, trailing and shrugging as Kristi turned around, somewhat surprised. "I'm Jonathan Scott," he said, extending his hand for hers. Smiling, she took his and shook it, nodding.
"Kristine Reis…but you can call me Kristi, or Kris – everyone else does," she replied, pulling her hand back from his grip to brush her hair off her face. Jonathan nodded his head.
"Sure thing, Kristi…Come on, I'll show you around while we get your ID taken care of," he said, motioning to Sarah to do just that. He paused, though, and held out his hand for Kristi's things. "Let me put those behind the desk for you – so you don't have to lug them around," he said, taking them as she held them out, and slid them by Sarah's feet. "You can pick them up after we place you," he added, and led her down the hall.
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His fingers drummed along the top of his desk as he bobbed his head a little from side to side. He had his eyes glued to the computer screen, barely blinking, as he watched the video playing on his screen while the sound from it filled his ears through his ear buds. Ziva glanced over her desk without moving her head, and then glanced at the other desk, raising an eyebrow at Tim. He did the same, before looking at Ziva, and shrugging. She smirked slightly, and dug out a piece of paper from her drawer, balling it up and tossing it over her computer and his, nailing him right in the forehead. Tony jerked backwards, yanking the buds from his ears, and looked over at her, then at Tim, and then back.
"What was that for?" he asked resentfully. Ziva snickered, and shrugged slightly.
"To stop you from making noise. Shouldn't you be working?" she asked, returning her gaze to her own monitor.
"For your information, Ziva," he said, over-pronouncing her name, "I am doing my morning routine. Just so happens someone emailed me a video," he finished, fumbling with his buds to put them back and finish watching. Gibbs passed behind him, his palm smacking against the back of his head and causing Tony to flinch, before setting his coffee and newspaper down on top of his own desk. "Morning, boss," Tony spoke, rubbing his fingers against his head for a moment before sitting up straight again.
"Get to work, Tony," was all Gibbs replied, stuffing his paper in the top drawer of his desk before taking his coffee and rounding the corner to head up the steps. Tony's eyes met Ziva's over the monitor, then Tim's as he turned his head, before he glanced over his shoulder to watch Gibbs enter MTAC. He sat still for less than a minute before shoving the buds back in, and hitting Play again, smirking as the sound started up.
"One of these days, Gibbs isn't going to just smack him in the back of the head," Tim chuckled, shaking his head. Ziva, laughing lightly, agreed, and reopened her email on the screen.
The elevator behind Ziva dinged, and the doors opened. For a moment, as Tim watched, no one stepped out. He raised an eyebrow, about to point it out to Ziva, for Tony was lost in his email, when Jonathan stepped out, glancing over and putting his hand up to keep the doors open.
"This is the next floor," he said, extending his other hand for Kristi's. She smiled, and took it, stepping off the elevator. As the doors closed behind them, Jonathan released her hand, and motioned. "This way…" Kristi turned, following him down the hall as he talked. He paused, though, by Ziva's desk.
"Agent David," he said, smiling. She glanced over her shoulder, and smiled in return.
"Good morning, Agent Scott."
"This is our newest recruit. Kristi Reis," he said, leading her around the short wall so they could see her. Ziva stood, as Kristi turned to her.
"Welcome to NCIS, Kristi. I'm Ziva David. That is Tim McGee," she said, pointing over to Tim's desk. He smiled brightly at her, and waved.
"Morning, Kristi!" She couldn't help but chuckle, and smile back, giving a small wave.
"Good morning, Tim," Kristi replied, glancing at Ziva as she extended her arm to point across at Tony.
"And that slug over there who is paying no attention i-"
"Tony?" Kristi asked, raising an eyebrow, as she turned to see him. In an instant, Ziva and Tim were looking at each other curiously and confusedly, before Tim hopped off his chair, and moved to Tony's desk, tugging the buds from his ears. Tony jumped, and turned around, frowning.
"Hey! Who taught you manners, Probie?"
"Who taught you?" Tim replied, grabbing the back of the chair and turning him towards Kristi, who still stood, surprised. Tony sat quietly for a moment, looking at her, a frown still on his lips. Ziva and Tim glanced at each other, eyebrow raised, as Jonathan stepped around the wall to stand closer to Ziva and Kristi.
For a couple moments, no one said anything, and Tim suddenly wasn't sure if he should have done what he did. Carefully, he backed away from the chair, back towards his own desk, just in case Tony decided to turn and hit him. As Jonathan cleared his throat, Kristi's face suddenly became a light pink, and she blinked a couple times, looking down at her feet.
"…Good morning, Tony," she replied, stepping back one step. He cleared his own throat, glancing at Jonathan, before looking back at Kristi.
"Good morning, Kris," he replied, hesitating for a second before pushing his chair back around his desk. Jonathan looked around at the four for a moment, before taking a breath.
"I just told Ziva…Kristi is our newest recruit," he said slowly. Tony nodded, glancing at his computer before looking back up.
"Cool…eh…she's a good person to have around," Tony replied, finally, and Kristi bit down upon her bottom lip before turning her attention back to Jonathan.
"Can we keep going now?" she asked in a faint voice, where he almost didn't hear her at all. Darting his dark blue eyes from Kristi to Tony, Jonathan finally nodded, and led her back around the desks. She looked over her shoulder, and smiled to Ziva and Tim. "It was nice to meet you both," she said, but merely glanced at Tony before they disappeared behind the stairs.
Within a second, Ziva and Tim were standing around Tony, an expectant look on their faces. He didn't look up, however – he merely kept his eyes on his monitor for a moment, before releasing a sigh, and looking up.
"Can I help you two with something? Or are you just trying to burn a hole in my skull?" Ziva opened her mouth to question, but Tim shook his head, raising an eyebrow.
"What kind of a greeting was that for our new agent?" he asked, a small smirk on his face.
"Wipe that smirk off your face, McGee, or I'll wipe it off for ya," Tony answered shortly, shaking his head and not actually answering the question.
"C'mon, Tony, you have to admit it – that was definitely not something you do," Ziva said, as Gibbs bounded down the steps, coffee still in hand.
"What wasn't, Ziva?" he asked, not stopping as he rounded the corner to his desk. Ziva and Tim hopped back to their own desks, and looked over.
"Jonathan Scott just introduced us to our newest agent – turns out, she and Tony know each other…but he isn't talking, and he just acted very…un-Tony," Tim explained, shrugging. Gibbs paused, looking around at the three agents – two of whom were actually looking at him – before raising an eyebrow and looking at Tim.
"And this is the biggest news of the day because….?" Tim glanced at Ziva, before shrugging and shaking his head.
"Sorry, boss," he said quickly, moving back to sit in his desk. Gibbs, smirking slightly, pointed at Tim.
"McGee, get the car. Ziva, DiNozzo, grab the gear – we got a dead Marine," he replied, grabbing his own jacket and rounding the corner towards the elevator. Ziva and Tim were up in less than a second, grabbing their things and booking it. Tony, however, sat still for a moment, glancing up as Gibbs and Ziva passed by his desk, before closing his computer windows and grabbing his own bag to follow behind them.
