Premiere
By Liss Webster
The gentle pomposity and gilded grandeur of the presidential reception was shattered as half a dozen federal agents came rushing into the huge reception room, guns drawn, caps pulled down over their foreheads. The leader, a tall man with silvery hair and a tense expression, rattled out a series of low-voiced instructions to his team, then ran up to the podium, where the President was standing, mouth open in astonishment even as Secret Service agents clustered around him. He nodded respectfully, then turned to the microphone, unfazed by the stalled autoprompt below him, or the shocked faces turned upwards.
"I'm just saying," said Tony DiNozzo, in a piercing whisper, "that Probie could have, y'know, let us come up the red carpet or something."
"Just because you wanted to… to stroke Harrison Ford, Tony, does not mean that McGee was going to let you."
"I wasn't going to stroke him, Zee-vah. I just wanted to meet the guy. Is that so wrong?" Tony's expression in the darkened auditorium was pleading and oddly innocent. Ziva was not impressed.
"McGee was afraid you would receive a restraining order. Anyway, we are nothing to do with this film."
"Nothing to do… Ziva, have you even read Timmy's book? It's nothing but us!"
"Nobody else knows that, Tony. So be quiet!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to have to ask you to vacate the building," the silver-haired man stated brusquely, gesturing towards the grand double doors which led to the main corridors of the White House. His agents were already stationed there, with the youngest one, hair pushed carelessly back, already tapping quickly into his laptop. As the guests left the room, corralled by Secret Service, the young man looked up from his laptop.
"Like McGee's hair ever looked that good," Tony moaned, grabbing popcorn out of the box on Ziva's lap.
"His hair is not so bad," replied Ziva, withdrawing the popcorn to a safe distance. Tony pouted.
"It should be
somewhere in this room. I've triangulated the signal – it looks
like it's coming from that side." The young man waved a hand, and
at the senior agent's nod, the other two people began searching for
the bomb that so threatened American democracy. Even as they
searched, the young agent's fingers didn't stop, carefully making
his search algorithm ever more sophisticated, till he let out a cry
of exultation. "Under the panel – yeah – that one!
Careful!" The female agent, long dark hair falling round her
beautiful face, carefully prised off the oak panel to reveal a
ticking bomb behind it. "Merde!" she whispered, crossing
herself. "I'm not familiar with this type of mechanism," she
confessed. She turned to her partner. "You?"
"I am familiar with many types of incendiary device. This plot is unconvincing."
Tony took advantage of Ziva's pique to steal the popcorn, then winced as Seann William Scott's cocky face filled the screen
Agent Tommy
grinned. "Hey, I'm used to the babes going off like a rocket, but
this? Not so much!" His response earned him a slap on the head from
his superior. "Not the time!" "No, Boss. Hey,
Probie! Get over here!"
"See, that would never happen!" This time Ziva said nothing.
The
young man did as he was bid, carefully laying down the laptop. "It
looks like a typical fuse used by a radical sect," he said, gently
fingering the brightly coloured wires. "I think if I…" he
prised a small plastic cap off part of the bomb, twiddled a couple of
wires together and neatly disconnected a third. The clock stopped.
Democracy was saved. "Good work, McGregor," said the
leader. "You're a credit to us all!"
"Well, that was a pile of crock!" complained Tony DiNozzo, as they trailed out of the cinema. "I should sue McGoo. McSue McGee. Do you think I can do that?" Before Ziva could reply, the two of them were caught in an avalanche of teenage girls.
"Oh my God, that Agent Tommy was, like, so totally hot!"
"I love him! I would, like, completely have his babies."
"OK, you, me, LJ comm tonight!"
They moved on. Tony stood still, a contemplative look on his face.
"This film is not so bad, now?" asked Ziva. Tony grinned and slung an enthusiastic arm around her shoulders.
"This film rocks!"
