Disclaimer: The author does not claim the rights to the non-original characters mentioned below. They belong to the minds behind Fox's Bones and CBS's NCIS.
Tony DiNozzo bit back another yawn, wondering, not for the first time, how his boss could manage to stay awake and coherent as they pulled another all-nighter trying to finish their paperwork.
"McGee!" Ziva's angry shout broke through the silence of the nearly empty office. Tony glanced over to where the fourth member of the team, Timothy McGee, was sitting, head resting on his keyboard, asleep. She crept over to his desk, determined to wake him up. "McGee!" Ziva shouted again. His head shot up.
"I'm awake, Boss." At this, both Tony and Ziva started to laugh. "Who died?"
"Very good, Agent McGee." Came Gibbs' voice from behind the team. "Dead Lieutenant." He looked at them, astounded that they hadn't caught on by now. "Grab your gear!" He said exasperatedly as he took a sip of coffee from the ever-present cup in his hand.
Tony, still exhausted from lack of sleep, was hit in the chest by the keys that Gibbs tossed his way. After picking them up, he said, "I guess I'm driving." He was left to follow the laughter coming from his teammates.
When they arrived at the scene of the crime, an apartment in DC. They eased open the door, nodding to the agents guarding it. Ziva quickly got to work taking photos, and Tony and McGee swept the area for clues. Gibbs simply stood back and watched. They heard voices and looked up, surprised to find a man and a woman arguing as the stepped over the threshold of the apartment. Gibbs quickly rose from his perch on the windowsill and walked over to the couple.
"Excuse me, Sir, Ma'am." He acknowledged the pair. "This is a crime scene, I'm going to have to ask you to either leave or show some identification." At this the man reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge.
"Special Agent Gibbs?" He asked, Gibbs nodded. "I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth, FBI and this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan of the Jeffersonian Institute." He indicated the woman standing next to him. "Agent Fornell told me to meet up with you. He said that you already knew we were joining you and your team." He glanced at his notes, "Agents DiNozzo, David and McGee?" He asked. Ziva, upon hearing her name, came over to join the group.
"Hi, I'm Agent Ziva David, NCIS" She said introducing herself. Tony, not wanting to be left out, grabbed McGee and hurried over to the rest of the team.
He held out a hand to Booth and said, "I'm Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo and this is Special Agent Timothy McGee." He then saw Brennan and glancing at her appreciatively asked, "And who are you?"
"As my partner told your boss, I am Dr. Temperance Brennan. I work at the Jeffersonian Institute." She said primly.
"And she knows four different kinds of martial arts." Booth added for good measure. At this, Tony winced.
"Well, I know that you and Ziva will get along great!" He said with mock cheer, worried about the outcome of that liaison.
"I don't understand." Brennan interrupted turning to Booth for an explanation. He merely shrugged in reply, leaving the explaining to the NCIS team.
"I came to NCIS around 5 years ago as Mossad's NCIS liaison officer. I also spent two years in the Israeli army." Ziva told Booth and Brennan.
"In other words," Tony interjected.
"You don't want to get on her bad side." McGee finished.
"That's enough out of you," Gibbs said smacking all three of their heads. As they rubbed the sore spots he turned to Booth. "So, why are you here? She's Navy, my jurisdiction."
At this Booth laughed, "Fornell said that you'd be territorial." Gibbs face didn't betray any emotion. "While we agree that she is Navy, she is also a consultant for the FBI. We propose a joint investigation. What do you think?"
"We, of course, will use my lab for the autopsy and evidence processing." Brennan was quick to add.
"I don't know," Gibbs replied, shrugging, "I have a very capable team back at the Yard. They might feel a little left out if we turn over everything to you. Then what would the point of a joint investigation be?" At this, Booth turned to Brennan, his eyes begging her to acquiesce to Gibbs' request.
"How about this, Agent Gibbs. The members of your team may come to the Jeffersonian to assist." At this Booth shot her a thankful smile. "We must, however, be based at the Jeffersonian for I am sure that our lab is much better equipped." At this Booth cringed, Gibbs smiled and Tony chose to butt in.
"You better not let Abby hear you talking about her 'babies' like that!"
"I don't understand." Brennan replied, "We never brought up the subject of children." At this, Tony looked a little puzzled, not sure how to reply. Booth saved him.
"I'm assuming that this Abby," He turned to Gibbs for confirmation of the name, "is their lab tech and she is fond of her equipment so she refers to them as her kids. Am I right?"
"That is correct." Ziva confirmed. "Now that you've finished duking out jurisdiction, where is this body going? Tony, McGee and I have finished documenting everything."
Booth glancing at Brennan asked, "Do you want a minute with the body, Bones?" As she got ready to reply, she was stopped by Tony's next comment.
"Bones, I like it. Can I call you that?" He asked.
She simply said "No," and turned to the body before adding "Only Booth is allowed to call me that." At this Booth smiled.
"So you got anything," Booth asked, "Bones?" He was sure to add at the end.
"TOD is currently indeterminably, though with the state of decay I would estimate 2-3 weeks ago."
"2-3 weeks? How'd you guys miss her?" McGee asked Booth. Booth decided to get a little defensive.
"I don't know about you, but we have a big agency, we have a lot of people working for us, and we don't keep tabs on every person who decides to drop by." He said.
"Booth, it's okay, Agent McGee was merely asking a question." Brennan tried to placate her partner. "I'm done with the body, so we can get it sent back to the Jeffersonian." She then turned to the NCIS agents, taking control of the situation. "You do know where the Jeffersonian is, right?" She asked, they nodded. "Meet us there with your tech and your M.E. if you still want them to help. Come on, Booth, we need to get back to the lab." She practically dragged him back to the car.
After they had left, McGee turned to Tony and said "They're obviously together."
At this, Ziva laughed, agreeing she added "We're lucky they didn't start kissing right there!"
Tony, too joined in on the teasing "How long do you think they've been together? With him letting her boss him around so much, it must be at least a couple of years!"
"What do you mean?" Ziva asked, "You let me boss you around and we're not together." At this Tony fidgeted uncomfortably and the rest of the team was silent.
AN
Well, hello there! It's me again. I apologize to those among you who were hoping that this was another chapter of Booth's Line Gets Crossed, but this story's been begging to get written for a while, so I figured I could at least indulge it. I'm a firm believer in the traditional relationships (i.e. B&B, Tiva, McAbby, Hodgela) so you can look forward to that. In terms of the timeline, this story takes place before Angela's pregnancy, SPOILER Franks' death /SPOILER, and Bones and Booth's departure from the lab.
I hope you enjoy this new story. Unfortunately, this might mean that I have a little too much on my plate, so expect weekly updates for this and BLGC instead of biweekly from both… You've been getting spoiled :D:D
For any more info or just to get in touched, I can be found on Twitter (under the same username). I can't wait to hear from you!
As always,
Love,
Eva
Copyright E. G. R. Warren 2011