"I want her gone, Director." Special Agent Gibbs blew into NCIS Director Tom Morrow's office with his usual display of deference and respect. Which is to say, very little to none at all.

The Director sighed. He knew that his position at the top of this agency would require patience and delicate political maneuvering, but handling Gibbs was like disarming IEDs - high risk, high reward. Unfortunately, sometimes they blew up in your face no matter what you did.

To put it mildly, Gibbs just didn't work well with others. He terrified most of the probationary agents and alienated many of the veterans with his attitude. But, not only was he a brilliant and intuitive investigator, Gibbs had a nose for finding the best (and worst) in people, even if they didn't see it in themselves, and he excelled at weeding out the bad apples.

Case in point.

"You're referring to Agent Blackadder?" the NCIS director asked rhetorically, raising a jaundiced eyebrow at his senior agent. "I did read your report."

"I told you the day you put her on my team that it was only a matter of time before she blew it. She got personally involved in the case and almost got us all killed."

Morrow coolly folded his hands on the desk. "Gibbs, much as I respect your intuition, are you sure you're not overreacting? You know as well as I do that's one rule you have your own trouble with. Which number is it again?"

Gibbs glowered. "You know full well she joined NCIS to get revenge for her brother's death. She let that get in the way of the job. Blackadder is so focused on payback that she is a danger to the team. I want her gone," he reiterated forcefully.

"I had hoped," Morrow replied slowly, "that you would have been able to work with her. You know what she's feeling better than most, Jethro."

Gibbs's glare grew icy. "She needs to get her head screwed on straight. I can't do that for her, Director."

"And what are you going to do for personnel in the meanwhile? You're already short a man. If I get rid of Blackadder, it'll just be you and DiNozzo. It's called the Major Case Response Team for a reason, Gibbs."

"You could always recall Stan Burley," Gibbs replied dryly, spreading his arms in faux-helplessness.

"Burley's fine where he is as Agent Afloat. Five years of working for you is more than enough, anyway. At least you finally stopped calling him 'Steve.'"

"Hey, sometimes being a former senatorial aide went to his head."

Director Morrow sighed again, pondering this irritating, pain-in-the-neck former Marine gunnery sergeant. "Okay, Gibbs, I'll get rid of Blackadder. Chris Pacci can pick up the slack until you get a new permanent agent. Don't abuse him."

Gibbs departed with a bare nod; Morrow could tell that he was at the very least satisfied with the outcome of the brief interview. He did, after all, get what he wanted. He usually did. And Pacci, while not an incredibly imaginative agent, was loyal and dependable. For this, Gibbs actually respected him and they worked fairly well together. If it weren't for Pacci's chronic ulcers, he would probably be on the MCRT.

Morrow grimaced. Now he had to figure out what to do with Blackadder. He knew that Gibbs was right about her mentality. What a waste of good material. He could probably move her to another office or position with less action, though there was a high probability that she'd just quit in frustration. Maybe he could send her back to the FBI.

What a waste...

Author's Notes: At the end of "Meltdown," Special Agent Blackadder is responsible for blowing the cover of her team. Gibbs is not pleased, to put it mildly. By the first episode of NCIS, "Yankee White," Blackadder is nowhere to be seen and is never mentioned again.

Gibbs's Rule #10: "Never get personally involved in a case." According to episode 7.21 ("Obsession"), it's the rule with which Gibbs "always had the most trouble."

Chris Pacci's ulcers were mentioned in episode 8.22, "Baltimore." Since Pacci seemed to be one of the few agents that Gibbs respects, I figure that his ulcers were probably the reason he was working cold cases and not the high-stress work that the MCRT does. Too bad for him.