The walls of the interrogation room rang with the snarling sounds of discontent. Special Agent Mike Franks stormed up and down upon the well worn carpet in a bout of sheer rage. Hardened, seasoned and downright arrogant though he was, Probationary Agent LJ Gibbs was rather quailing in the man's wake. It hadn't seemed like a big deal at the time. Hell, at the time, it hadn't seemed like a deal at all. Now however, in the clutches of what appeared to be an insane with rage boss, it seemed like a hell of a big deal. He swallowed as subtly as possible as Mike launched into a fresh tirade about his actions, complete with wild and vigorous hand gestures. A slight sheen of froth was appearing at the elder agent's mouth, and Gibbs was becoming legitimately concerned about the prospects of a cardiac incident.

He wisely kept his mouth shut as his muscles began to strain. Even with his training, the "to attention" pose he'd been forced to keep for the last half hour whilst Mike ranted was beginning to rankle. He wasn't as young as the average probationary agent and his body was letting him know it. Not that he dared show it. He barely blinked as the remnants of Mike's lunch came dangerously close to his nostrils. Apparently, screeching like a banshee from afar wasn't cutting it anymore. Franks had decided to voice his displeasure at an upfront and personal level. "Do you have any idea how damned moronic you are, probie? Do you have any idea how close you came to having that thick skull o'yours knocked clean off your shoulders?"

At that moment, Gibbs just couldn't help it.

"Actually, Boss, I do. I was about three centimetres from having my thick skull knocked clean off my shoulders. That's assuming that the average wind speeds we were encountering didn't change. By my reckoning, we had about five minutes before the speed would have changed to a degree that it mattered. Direction is a bit trickier, but all in all, I say I had about three centimetres to spare." With that, he averted his gaze back to attention over Mike's head and snapped his mouth shut. He was a sniper; he was one of the best. No matter how much Mike ranted and raved, he knew he hadn't been in imminent danger. He wasn't some twenty-something without a clue. He was a damned gunny, and he knew what he was going.

Franks gaped.

"Why you arrogant little-"

The short, sharp knock at the door interrupted them. Shooting a look that just spelled death at his newest headache; Franks stomped over to the door and conversed with the unwelcome visitor in low tones. Gibbs took the opportunity to breathe freely. It was his fourth day on the new job and so far…things weren't exactly going swimmingly. Things weren't even floating, actually. He was finding it extremely tough being at the bottom of the totem pole. He was finding it inordinately difficult to adjust back to being treated like a know-nothing simpleton. He was desperately grateful for the distraction from Kelly and from Shannon, not that any distraction was truly effective, but…all in all, it was tough. And Mike Franks, damn him to hell, sure wasn't making it any easier. Gibbs silently vowed that if ever had a team of his own in years to come, he would never treat them like Franks treated him.

The guy even whacked him upside the head.

Who did that?

It was barbaric. It wasn't even done in the military.

As Mike continued to argue with whoever was at the door, Gibbs quickly appraised the situation without the hindrance of a raging bull directly in his face. Ok, fine…technically he'd disobeyed a direct order. That was true. But if he hadn't, chances are Franks wouldn't even be alive to be a grade A pain in the ass. He hadn't cleared the scene to the degree that Gibbs would have liked, and when Gibbs had helpfully brought that to his attention, he'd whacked him. Upside the head. Like some breed of Neanderthal that lacked the basics of opposable thumbs. And then, to add insult to injury, he'd placed him on door guarding duty. The best sniper he had, and he put him on door guarding duty.

He'd had an eerie feeling about the scene, had the feeling they were being watched. Franks had disappeared into the main outhouse building of the abandoned factory, so he couldn't relay his suspicions. Not that it would have mattered, he would have just been told to shut his hole anyways. And ok, he shouldn't have left his post. But his gut was telling him to and his gut was never wrong. And yeah, sure, maybe it wasn't the best protocol to sort of creep up on your boss' six. Sure, he got that. But if he hadn't, then Franks would be the one whose thick skull would be severed from his shoulders. He'd strolled right into a cartels workhouse, with one very offended cartel member hidden from sight but watching intently.

Gibbs' nostrils flared.

He'd saved that smoking, snorting and shouting dragon from imminent death and this was his thanks? A half an hour or more blistering lecture? His nostrils quivered with ire. It was outrageous. If that were one of his men back in the Corps, he'd have hung a damned medal around his neck. Not kicked his ass from here to Nantucket. All in all he decided as he concluded his appraisal, he'd acted within reason and for the benefit of all concerned. If it weren't for him and his gut, they'd be taping their badges black on behalf of Mike Franks. Just as he was allowing that comfort to coat him, the door suddenly slammed shut and his newbie boss was to his chagrin, looking madder than ever. Clutching a piece of paper like a grenade in his hand, he came to a screeching halt in front of his probationary agent, with homicide burning in his eyes.

Waving it dangerously close to Gibbs' left nostril, he arched a terrifying brow.

"Care to explain this, probie?"

Scanning the paper as quickly as possible, the bottom of Jethro's stomach fell out.

Well damn.

…

A/N: An idea that's been in my head for a while! I intend for this to be a sort of when Gibbs met Franks deal, that leads through their relationship to a when Gibbs met Tony kind of a deal. I always loved the Mike/Gibbs relationship, so I've decided to explore it a bit! Hope you enjoy! (I'll be updating Father, Forgive Me soon for those following that.

_Inks

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