Tony smiled all the way to Interrogation. Callie fumed. Once inside, Tony sat in the chair, while Callie perched on the edge of the table.
"So," Tony began, a little too much good cheer in his voice for Callie's likes, "I take it from your reaction, you didn't know about your involvement when you came to my apartment yesterday?"
"Don't you think, if I had known for one minute I was going, I would have said something?" She bit back.
"Well, that does it for me. If I had any doubts, it cleared when Vance selected you."
Callie gave DiNozzo an exasperated stare, "Well don't get too comfortable. I guarantee you Gibbs is up there right now making it very clear as to why I'm the worst possible choice."
Callie jumped as Gibbs said, "You think so, Harris?"
Before they could get into the battle of wills Tony could see brewing, he made his comment, "I'm going, Boss."
"Figured you were, DiNozzo. Besides, it's a compliment you're being paid. Even I know that." Gibbs answered.
Tony nodded at the comment. With a quick glance at Callie, he added, "She knows the rules, Boss. She won't let me down." And he was out the door before either Callie or Jethro could comment.
Gibbs saw Callie surprise at Tony's comment. "What? You didn't think he'd feel that way?"
"He doesn't know me."
"Yeah, well, I do. And I trained you. That's what Tony knows and that's all he needs to know."
"Tell me, honestly," Callie cornered, "you were on your way in here to give me a list of reasons why I shouldn't go. That was, until Tony basically said he wasn't going without me."
Gibbs smiled. Already the two agents understood each other – their body language, eye contact, the unspoken words – key components for any undercover operation. Jethro wasn't surprised at the quick rapport. Tony and Callie shared similar backgrounds and both had Gibbs' as their main teacher. Since he knew Tony wouldn't listen, he gave his lecture to Callie.
"No, I wasn't on my way in here to tell you why you shouldn't go. I was on my way in here to read you both the riot act on how you should behave. But, like Tony says, you know the rules. Either one of you screws up, you'll both answer to me."
Callie leveled her gaze at Jethro, "I can do this, Gibbs. I won't let him do something stupid."
"Callie, with DiNozzo, doing something stupid is an everyday occurrence. Just keep him and yourself from getting killed, okay?"
Callie smiled, "Okay. When do we leave?"
"Senor and Senora DiGuardino, your room." The young bellboy opened the door with a flourish. Callie and Tony both followed. Tony was impeccably dressed in a suit and tie of expensive quality. Callie was dressed expensively, as well, with a provocative amount of cleavage and leg visible.
"This will be lovely, Juan. Thank you." Tony spoke the comment in fluent Spanish, handing the young boy a generous tip as Juan put down the bags. Callie continued to wander around the room, the bored, rich American wife.
Once the door closed behind them, Callie turned. Dislodging a small panel from the bottom of her suitcase, it dropped to reveal several high tech gadgets, including a sweep for listening devices.
"Check the bed for bugs, dear," Callie spoke dryly. "You know how I despise crawly things." Tony smiled as he pulled back the covers and Callie began running the device around the room. Once they were confident that it was secure, Tony unpacked the laptop.
Dropping the character pretext, Tony said, "I forget you're a better looking McGeek."
"And that means?" Callie answered as she continued to connect the computer and secure their line and com connections.
"It means, Callie," a voice said as their equipment came on line, "that you'll be doing all the heavy lifting on the gadget end."
Tony and Callie both smiled at Tim's exasperated voice.
"Nice to hear ya, probie!" Tony yelled.
"You do know I can see you, right?" Tim's reply was droll.
Tony smiled broadly into the camera watching as Abby and Gibbs joined the picture.
Callie sat back, shaking her head.
"Remember, Harris, you could have stayed here." Gibbs smiled.
"And let Tim dress in drag? I don't think so." Callie smiled at McGee's "et tu" look.
Gibbs smiled and then got serious, "You two set then?"
"Yeah, Boss, think so. We talked on the flight, came up with a few ideas. One of them is for Callie to play dumb about her knowledge of the language. She might hear something I'll miss if they think she doesn't understand."
Gibbs smile broadened slightly, "Whatever you think, DiNozzo. It's your op."
Callie had been watching Gibbs as Tony explained, knowing he liked the younger agent's creativity. She could also detect the note of pride in his answer. Gibbs continued, "What time tonight?"
"Probably after dinner, we'll make our first appearance at the bar," Tony looked back to Callie for confirmation. She nodded her agreement, content to let DiNozzo and Gibbs have the face time.
"Alright, you two, catch some quick shut eye and be sure to eat before you head in tonight." The firm was tone, the hint of concern unmistakable.
"No problem, Boss." Tony answered.
"Oh, and DiNozzo?"
"Yeah, Boss?"
"Don't let Callie drink tequila. Got it?"
Callie's gasp of shock combined with disbelief and disgust was audible. Gibbs only smiled as he disconnected the com link. Tony turned to Callie with a wolfish smile.
"Yes, Agent Harris? Something I should know?"
"He is such a jerk sometimes." Callie muttered to herself, knowing Tony wouldn't let it go. She got up from her seat and began putting things away around the room, refusing to answer.
Tony pulled off his suit coat and hung it on a nearby chair. Kicking off his shoes, he dropped back on the rumpled bed, plumping pillows to get comfortable. Callie kicked off her shoes as well and started packing their equipment back into a small bag to make it less noticeable.
"I'm waiting."
"Fine." She huffed again and turned to face Tony, her cheeks bright red. "We were on an op in Spain. Malaga to be exact. I was supposed to be Jenny's college aged sister. Well, I went out with the son of one of the marks Jethro and Jenny were watching. We had this great dinner with lots of wine and then he took me to this little bar with a band and we started doing tequila shots."
"How long had you been doing undercover work?" Tony interrupted.
"This was maybe my second or third time to work with the two of them." Callie clarified. "About twenty shots later into the date, I decided dancing on the table seemed like a good idea."
Tony smiled, imagining a younger Callie, three sheets to the wind, doing what a young, college coed on a trip to Spain would really do, "Jethro didn't seem to agree. He came through the bar, Jenny in tow, yelling at me like the kid I was, and dragged me off the table."
DiNozzo's chuckle started to grow, "And?"
"And, he and Jenny grounded me like I really was their kid or something. I mean, I wasn't allowed within one foot of anything alcoholic not to mention within spitting distance of the young man."
"And?" Tony prodded, knowing there was more.
"Well, I found out that I didn't know what sick was until the next morning when everything came back and came back up." She smiled ruefully, "Lord, they gave me a tongue lashing like you can't believe and me hung over…" She shook her head at the memory.
Tony laughed, "And it's a lesson you haven't forgotten is it?"
"No. One drink's fine." Callie spoke seriously, then broke into a broad grin, "But half a bottle of tequila with a good looking Latino male is wrong." She giggled at Tony's disgruntled look.
"Let's get some rest. It'll be show time soon enough." Tony answered, shaking his head. They both got quiet and began preparing, mentally, for the events about to unfold.