The bullpen was silent. Everyone had gone home except for the team. McGee sat behind his desk, staring at a blank screen, and Bishop sat cross-legged on the floor beside McGee's desk. She shuffled the papers on the floor in front of her, re-analyzing the case files. McGee checked his cell phone for the fifth time. No calls, no texts.
"I'm sure they're fine, McGee," said Bishop, distractedly.
"They should have been back by now. She's dangerous, Bishop. Who knows what could have happened?" said McGee with wide eyes.
"She's not dangerous, McGee. Her file said she was emotionally unstable not dangerous."
"Same thing."
The elevator dinged, and McGee stood to get a better look at who it was.
Tony entered the bullpen, looking battered. His right eye was red and swollen.
"Tony, where's Gibbs?" asked McGee, anxiously.
"He's fine, McWorrywart. He's bringing her up now," said Tony.
"Alone? I thought she was emotionally unstable?" asked McGee.
"She wanted to be alone with him. And she was pretty unstable before we caught her. It took a while, but she calmed down in the car," said Tony, he touched his eye and flinched.
"What happened to your eye?" asked Bishop.
"She hit me."
"She did that?" laughed McGee.
"Well, it was dark in the warehouse and she came out of nowhere..."
The elevator dinged, and Gibbs entered the bullpen pulling a handcuffed woman with dark hair along with him.
"Dinozzo!" barked Gibbs. "Take her to interrogation."
Tony grabbed the woman's arm and escorted her to interrogation. Gibbs waited until they were gone before he spoke. "McGee, I need you to look up Operation Escargots."
"Snails, Boss?" McGee asked, confused.
"Do it, McGee."
Gibbs had a small scratch on his face that stretched from his cheekbone to his lips.
"What happened to your face?" Bishop asked.
Gibbs ignored her question, not wanting to discuss it, and headed to interrogation.
The interrogation room was dark. One dim light hung above the table, illuminating it. A woman sat at the table. She looked toward the one-way mirror in front of her and frowned at her reflection. Her black hair was long and curled, and her green eyes seemed to thrive in the darkness of the room beneath her long lashes. She wore white dress slacks, and a black long sleeve button-up shirt. She had manicured nails, and wore pearls around her neck. She showed no signs of recently being in a brawl except for her busted lip which was still bleeding. She certainly didn't look emotionally unstable.
The door opened, and Gibbs strode in carrying a file, and a box of tissues. He set the tissues, and the folder on the table, and sat down.
"The tissues are for your lip," Gibbs said, quietly.
"Thanks." The woman grabbed a tissue and began to dab the blood away from her lip. Once the blood was gone, she laid the tissue on the table. Gibbs picked up the tissue, and put it into a clear evidence bag without breaking eye contact.
"DNA," explained Gibbs.
The woman laughed. "I should have known."
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Elizabeth Marshall-"
"What's your real name?" Gibbs interrupted. "Not your alias." The woman smiled.
"Dawson Montgomery. But you should already know that. Didn't you look up Operation Escargots like I asked you to?" asked the woman.
"My people are working on it."
"No!" hissed Dawson. "I only want one pair of eyes to see that file, Gibbs. Only one."
"Why?" Gibbs asked.
"Just because."
"Why? Gibbs repeated. The woman sighed.
"Because there are things in that file about my past that I want kept quiet. Surely you can understand that? We all have our secrets."
Gibbs looked at her for a moment. He did understand. He understood wanting to keep your past quiet more than anyone. He pulled out his phone, and called McGee.
"Hello?"
"McGee, have you found anything on Operation Snails, yet?" Gibbs asked.
"Nothing came up, but the system says there's a file in annex titled 'Operation Escargots'. I was just about to go check it out," explained McGee.
"Don't bother. Send me the information, and I'll go get it."
Gibbs hung up the phone and looked at Dawson for a minute. He could see the sincerity in her eyes. She really wanted that file to be kept secret.
"I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, Dawson. Don't abuse that," ordered Gibbs, as he stood to leave.
"Wait!" called Dawson just as Gibbs reached the door, he turned to look at her. "Can you promise that you won't let anyone else see the file?"
Gibbs left interrogation without responding.