When people would say the name "McGee," they thought of me, Gibbs' little monkey who was still climbing the totum pole. Truth is, I climbed that sucker way back when. Gibbs greatly approves of me, and me and Tony always wonder which of us is REALLY his right hand man. So, I'm about to tell you the case that put me right up there with DiNozzo.
Normal office morning, right? Nah. I had come in early to finish paperwork, and Tony got there with Ellie a few minutes late. I knew it was them, because when I heard the elevator door beep, I heard arguing.
"No! I wanted to finish my paperwork before the day started," Tony whined.
"Sorry. I needed coffee," Bishop said, waving the paper cup in his face.
I looked up, slightly amused.
"How's the carpool going?"
Tony made a disgusted noise, and Bishop fake smiled. "Lovely, Tim."
I didn't hide my laughs. Those two fought like a brother and sister. As they came to their desks, I quickly slid my finished paperwork into a file, sticking them in a drawer. Soon Gibbs would be here, and he and I had kinda gotten "Intot it." Well, I turned over his coffee.. yes, AGAIN. He had looked at me, and wagged his finger.
"McGee, Rule 23!"
"Yeah Boss. I'm sorry."
"McGee-"
I cut him off quickly. "Rule 6. Never say you're sorry - It's a sign of weakness."
He nodded, and then motioned to the mess I had made. "Clean it up."
So, I quickly went into the break room, got paper towels, and came back. Why did I have to do spill it? Again... I reached his desk, and started mopping up the mess. I could be such a screw up sometimes.
Anywho, back to the case day. Gibbs came busting in like usual, coat trailing behind him. He had that signature Starbucks coffee cup in his right hand, and dropped it into my trash can beside my desk. I kinda made one of those faces I do when I'm taken aback. The one where I open my mouth a little, and furrow my brows? Yeah, that one.
Well, he walked to his desk, pulled out his creds and gun, and looked up.
"Waiting for a cue? Grab your gear!"
Okay, I was nervous now. Why so snappy? I walked to my gun drawer and pulled it open, sticking the SIG-Sauer P228 into the holster at my hip. I shoved my creds into my pocket, and followed Bish and DiNozzo to the elevator. We all piled in, and there was an awkward silence.
"What's the case?" Bishop asked, testing the waters.
"A Marine was found dumped into a river."
Obviously, Boss was even less talkative than usual. I didn't want to push limits, ya know? I kinda sat there until we reached the cars.
"Who's-"
Gibbs pointed to the car in the back, and made a "Come here" motion to Bishop with his finger. Okay, me and Tony, him and Ellie. I clambered into the car, stuffing my back pack into the floor boards by my feet. DiNozzo, who had just gotten in, looked at me. He kinda wiggled his eyebrows, and I swung my head around.
"Somethin' on your mind, Tony?"
"Cat got yout tongue, Timmy?" he asked, drumming his fingers together.
I shook my head, and thought hard about what was really bothering me. Boss always read Tony in to ANYTHING before me. Hell, he read Ziva in before me. I love Ziva, but c'mon, really? DiNozzo was really his right hand man, and that left me where? Stuck in between Senior Field Agent and the little fat faced Probie who didn't know a thing in the world about field work. Truth is, I've grown a lot. I'm confident, and not even the Probalicious any more. The spotlight falls on Bish for that one.. Nahh, I love Bish, but it's nice to let the Probie title fall on new shoulders. So, after what seemed like hours of contemplation, but was only a minute or perhaps less, I looked at Tony.
"Does Boss really... Like me?"
"McGee!" If I had ever heard Tony's voice squeak, it was then. He was driving now, and he reached out with his right hand to touch my shoulder. I knew it was an act, but I let him carry on. He proceeded to pat my shoulder, laugh a little, the grab the steering wheel with both hands. I looked at him like, "That's it?" and he turned to look at me, a toothy grin in place.
"And here we goooo," I groaned.
"'Course he does."
Woah now, no sarcastic comment? No movie flashback? No irrevalent lectures? Where is Tony and what has this Doppleganger done with him? I couldn't help but laugh a bit, and then fixate my eyes on the road. Wow. Maybe he really didn't like me. But I'd been here for 13 years. Was I going anywhere.
NOPE.
It wasn't long before we pulled into the crime scene. Ducky was on the way, and Gibbs stepped out of the dark blue/black car quickly. He flashed his creds, headed to the body, and kneeled down. I flashed my creds as well, and saw something on Gibbs' face I hadn't seen in a long, long time. He looked deeply saddened. Like, depression saddened. When Diane had been shot by Sergai, he was saddened, but not like this. I hadn't seen this since Mike Franks' and his Father's deaths. Honestly, it kinda scared me.. A lot. What was so important? Who was this?
So, I still manned the camera. Gibbs had told me I was good with it, so hey, why not? I snapped pictures of the body, which was a Marine, about the height of myself and the age of Gibbs. In his hand was a blood soaked napkin, also wet from the water. He had been tightly sealed, but some managed to get through. Soon after I was finished up with photos, Duck-Man and Jimmy rolled in.
"What a fine morning!" Ducky piped, and Gibbs shook his head.
"It got less fine when I got a call saying we had a dead Marine, Duck."
Ducky nodded, and walked down to the place of the body, where I was standing. He carried his small field kit, and Palmer rolled the gourney.
"Poor fellow," Ducky said, examining him closely. "Mr. Palmer, help me extract this piece of paper. Seems to be something of an Ink splatter on here.."
Palmer bent back the stiff fingers, and Ducky gently pulled it out. "Save this for Abigail," he said, that familiar smile creeping up his lips. Gibbs never even asked for a TOD. Not even a cause. He always asked both. He wouldn't even let me run my AFIS scanner on him, saying he knew who he was. It's odd for Boss to break procedure, butI guess not unheard of. So after we had the body in the M.E. van, DiNozzo and I crossed back over with Ellie and Gibbs. Ellie looked concerned, and Gibbs was wearing a die hard expression, somewhere between mortally pissed and that saddened face.
"Boss, we're heading back now?" I asked, speaking to him the first time all day.
"Yep."
I nodded, and walked off towards the car me and Tony had arrived in. That's when I heard my name, and I winced. Gibbs was calling me to ride with him. I had gotten super comfortable with him, but today, of all times, I wasn't. I turned slowly, and Bishop walked past me, mouthing "Good luck." And there the nerves got worse.
"Bishop!" I hollered.
She stopped. I held up the camera, and she smiled, walking over to get it from me. "Good stall," she said, giving me a thumbs up. I simply gave her a look, and honestly, I'm not sure exactly what the look said. She smiled, almost enjoying my agony.
"Tim!" Gibbs yelled.
"Did he call me Tim?" I wondered in my mind, walking to the car. "Here, Boss."
He motioned for me to get in, and I did. My mind was reeling. I mean 100% spinning. Boss could probably see the wheels turning as I sat there, staring at the dash-board. As he started to pull off, we were following DiNozzo. We kept that course for maybe 5 minutes. Neither of us had spoken, and when he suddenly veered away, I decided I'd ask.
"Boss, where are we?"
"A back road just outside Maryland."
"Why?"
He slammed on brakes, pulling over into a red dirt patch.
"Uh oh..."
"I'm reading you in," he said simply.
"Why not in front of the others? I'm sure they already know," I said, irritation present in my voice.
"Damnit Tim, I wanted just you to know."
"Oh. Okay, let's hear it."
"The Marine back there," he started, licking his lips. "He was with me in Desert Storm. But the thing is, he isn't actually a Marine."
"That's why you wouldn't let me use the AFIS scanner," I said, nodding.
"Yeah. Anyway, he was an American Missionary over there. A few Iraqi people had him held hostage. Well, he was a fellow American, and we weren't about to let him be tortured to death. We simply recovered him, and claimed him as our own. The CO had some ID made to push him off as a Marine. It was wrong, it broke code. But I'll damned if I was going to let him die. So we smuggled him back, and he was just a forgotten man. I kept in touch, but I hadn't heard from him in a few weeks here recently," Gibbs was fighting his emotions about the whole situation, and honestly, I can't blame him.
"What about his church?" I asked, curious about whether they knew.
"Assumed he was dead. Can't blame em, really. He was from way down south in Mississippi. When I brought him to D.C., no one ever really asked."
I nodded, thinking it all through. It was a good deal to take in, but I was a trained Federal Agent. I knew how twisted things could be. Gibbs had done the right thing in my opinion, but I bet Vance wouldn't think so... We sat in silnece for a moment before I turned to Gibbs.
"Why me?"
"You're just the man for the job, Tim," he said, smiling. And with that, he drove off.
Back at the office, I wondered what he had meant by, "I'm the man for the job." It was another case. What made me so special this time? Well, whatever the reason, I wasn't complaing. I was happy that I could take matters into my own hands. Anywho, I rode up in the elavator, and when the doors opened, I sauntered out, actually feeling happier than I had in awhile.
"McGee, where did you go?" DiNozzo asked, looking up at me.
"Back roads."
"Thank you, Sherlock," Was all I received in return, and I smiled. I needed more details to work things out, but I knew Boss'd tell me what I needed to know. He always did. Well, I guess he did.. I got the feeling he wanted me to dig into this case, but the level of leads was zilch. I didn't know how he expected me to lead this, considering the others didn't know the circumstances.
Speaking of which...
"Whaddaya got?" the familiar words rolled out, and I bounced up from my chair. That's when Tony decided he was the star, taking the clicker from me in a childlike manner.
"Boss, I did back-round-"
"No, I don't need it. Anything else?" he asked, shooting a warning glance to Ellie and Tony.
"No, Boss. We don't have any leads."
A curt nod, amd he pointed at me. "Abby's lab. Go."
I walked into Abby's lab, and the music was way, I mean WAY up. "Abbs!" I called, and she came out, shutting it off.
"Oh Tim, we have news," she said, smiling.
"Let's hear it."
"Well, the piece of paper Ducky pulled from his cold, dead hands," here she goes crazy with hand motions, "Had, or HAS a name on it. A big, fat, juicy name that's right up our allies, Timmy." She walked to her monitor, pressed the space key, and there I saw it. It shouldn't have been that big of a deal, but this guy is early 60's, and probably no more computer savvy than our very own Gibbs. I didn't bite my tongue.
"The HELL is a Marine doing with a cyber terrorist name?"
"And that," she said, clapping her hands together, "Is where we begin."
I had left Abby's lab to talk to Gibbs. I walked to the Bull Pen, then back down to Autopsy. I eventually gave up, headed back to my desk. Ellie and Tony were sitting, and I raised a brow at how quiet they were.
"Everything okay?"
"Just dandy," they said in unision.
"That was rehearsded," I thought.
"Seen Boss?"
They never answered before I saw him coming from Vance's office. And I'm telling you, 'pissed' was written all over his face. Oh well, I had to ask him about the case. I didn't even have the victim's name. I waited for him to come into the Bull Pen, and I gave him another one of my looks. The one that screams, "I'm nervous, but I need to talk with you." It's where I raise both brows, nod my head to the side, and put a hint of question on my face. He understood, and walked past me to the elevator. I followed.
"Boss," I said, once inside. "Abby read what the piece of peper said. It's a well known Cyber terrorist name. Any idea as to why he'd have it? And Boss, his name. What's his name?"
"He couldn't work a phone. I don't know why he'd be having a cyber terrorist on there. And his name? Yeah, his name is Louis Calder."
I nodded, and thought about it. I didn't have a single idea why he'd be involved with the CT. (Cyber Terrorist.) The elevator dinged, and Gibbs started strolling off.
"Thanks, Boss!"
He raised his hand and continued to walk, and I pressed the level to Abby's lab. Time to start diggin'!
I walked into Abby's lab, looking around. She was nowhere to be found..
"Abs? Aabbbsss?"
"Timmy!" She sprang from being one of her rolling tables and rubbed her hands together. A smile curled at her dark red, almost black lips.
"What's got you so excited?" I asked cautiously.
"Why didn't you tell me you're runnin' this Op?" she teased, and gave me a hug. "The others don't even KNOW about Gibbs' connection with the Calder fellow. Gibbs picked you," she said, poking my shoulder. I honestly couldn't believe it myself, but I was pretty happy.
"Yeah. Now let's actually 'run this op.' "
The next few hours were filled with codes, Firewalls, Trojans, Back Door Entrances to sites, and so many false links that it made mine and Abby's heads spin. Each time we thought we may get into something important, a site popped up that could make DiNozzo blush.. Yeah, let your mind run with that one. After three grueling hours, and six Caf-Pows later, we actually got something. A very, very small something.
"He last hacked about..." Abby trailed off, de-crypting something, "An hour ago. It was in the Metro area."
"That's great, but why did Calder have his name? I don't get it," I said, completely defeated.
"Let's compare Calder's life with a few of his hack victims."
"Brilliant!" I said, slinging an arm around her shoulder.
Well, that meant we needed a few more names. I knew we could manage it, but honestly, I had other duties. I guess I was head honcho though.. Anyways, we continued to back trace his steps and de-crypt every file we could find. This time it was quicker, because I had a pop-up blocker. No more of those links that took me to terrible sites, thankfully. When we gathered three names, and Abby ran backround.
"First person is Talia," she paused, making a face at the last name, "Talia Smitton-wessen-Heimer," she joked.
"Abby..."
"Sorry. Her last name is Smithion. Anywho, early 40's, two kids, not married, some immidiate family. Mother, Aunt, and some cousins. Simple girl. Alright, next is Daisy Hales. Kinda vintage, huh? She's in her 50's, 5 kids, no immediate family."
I raised a brow, and propped my chin on my fist. "These two are women with children. That doesn't give tons to go on."
"Fear not, McGee!" Abby said, perking up. "I give you Liam Calder! Brother of our dear Louis."
"Now we're talkin'!"
I read Liam's back round, and I wasn't impressed. He had been to prison many times, he had one kid, and was a heavy drug and alcohol abuser.
"Mr. Calder has quite the prison history," I said, glancing to Abby.
"And Louis Calder was a squeaky clean Missionary," she replied.
"I'll ask Boss about a brother. Thanks, Abby," I said, giving her a side hug and striding from the room.
(I know this story isn't that good, okay. I just spent tons of time writing it, and my told cousin told me to post it for the heck of it. It's not even complete. :P No hate, I'm aware it's crappy! I'm just nursing my broken heart, because we don't have TV and I already watched all the NCIS seasons on DVD. I won't be able to watch anymore until the current season that's still running comes out on DVD's, so may as well write about to still stay in Spirit. (: Once again, no hate. I'm fully aware it's crappy!)