Chapter 4

It was October, and the wedding was fast approaching. Everyone was busy, so Gibbs was surprised to see Leo waiting for him at his desk when he got back from dealing with Vance over former NCIS Agent Kip Klugman.

"You okay?" he asked the younger man.

"I'm fine, but I need a favour," Leo said.

"I'm listening," Gibbs said.

"Ginger Savannah Pickering," Leo said. "Date of birth, March twenty-second, nineteen-ninety-four. Said she was attending Georgetown University, taking the nursing program."

"Bishop?" Gibbs asked the agent, who was at her desk, catching up on some paperwork.

"Searching," Ellie said, already typing in the name and information. "This her?" she asked, throwing up a driver's license on the plasma. The person was a young blonde woman with a very white smile and blue eyes.

"That's her," Leo said, nodding.

"What about her?" Gibbs asked.

"She's my ex-girlfriend. She dumped me about two months before I met Dabi. I wasn't exactly heartbroken over it; I would have called her a Barbie doll, but that would have been an insult to the doll."

"Meow-ch," Ellie said. Gibbs laughed.

"Anyway, I ran into her last year, just before I found out about Dabi and the junkie that DiNozzo had to shoot. She wanted to hook back up, I said no chance," Leo said. "Ran into her a few days ago, told her I was getting married."

"She didn't get the message?" Gibbs asked, seeing where this was going.

"Nope. She's convinced I'm only marrying Dabi out of pity, because she saw us signing, or because Dabi's good in bed (that's an assumption on her part, because I never said a word), or because I'll get a sizeable chunk of the bakery when I divorce Dabi later," Leo said. "I nearly poured my drink on her over that last one. Then I find out she reached out to a couple of mutual friends and was asking about the wedding location."

"You think she'll show up at the wedding," Gibbs said.

"I do, and I don't trust her," Leo said. "She's got a streak of vanity a mile wide and seems to be firmly convinced that no other girl will be good enough for me the way she was."

"So why did she dump you?" Ellie asked.

"Apparently she got bored with me, because I was getting heavily into my studies at the time and wasn't paying enough attention to her. But now she says she made a mistake and wants to get back with me," Leo said. He laughed. "Not a chance. She was a good romp, especially when she'd had a bottle of wine, but otherwise she was eye candy. I realized that after she dumped me and I felt relieved instead of upset."

"What do you need?" Gibbs asked.

"Pass her face around, and if she shows up at the wedding, kick her ass out," Leo said. "I won't have that crazy witch disrupt one of the most important days of my life."

"If you show me the guest list and their contact information, I can create a wedding BOLO to send to certain people," Ellie offered.

"Do it," Gibbs said. "Send it to me, and I'll pass it on to a few friends. Is Ginger going to be a troublemaker?" he asked Leo.

"I don't know, but I don't trust her. I've seen her go Drama Queen to the max when she doesn't get her way. One of the reasons why I was glad to see the back of her," Leo said.

"So, potential troublemaker, unhealthily obsessed with the groom, possible threat to the bride," Ellie said as she typed. "Tendency to channel Naomi Campbell, hissy-fits included?"

"Oh yeah," Leo said. "I once saw her go ballistic because her non-fat whatever whatever soy latte didn't have the right amount of foam on it. Diva with a capital D. She's like a plastic plant: pretty to look at, but not much good for anything else. When she told me she was taking a nursing program, I nearly choked on my coffee. The last time she took care of anything living, it was a cactus, and she managed to kill that."

Both Gibbs and Ellie winced.

"Coming your way, Boss," Ellie said, hitting a key.

"Are you going to tell Dabi?" Gibbs asked Leo.

"I have to. I have a feeling Ginger is going to try and show up at the bakery and cause problems for Dabi," Leo said. "Can you send me a copy of that BOLO? That way I can pass it on to the bakery staff and Owen, make sure she's labeled as a possible threat."

"Just need your email address," Ellie said. Leo gave it to her. "Coming your way," she said.

"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate this," Leo said. "And I just thought of something; I need to see AJ in the morning and have a prenup done up, one that protects Dabi and the business, because if she and I divorce and there's no prenup, I get half her share of the bakery, and I don't want that. If I sign a prenup, in the event that we divorce, I can make sure I get nothing from the business."

"Depressing, but smart," Gibbs said, sending the email to Fornell, Vance, and Special Agent Dwayne "King" Pride, whom he knew was going to be at the wedding, along with Agent Sonja Percy.

"It's a way of protecting her, and giving Ginger the bird," Leo said. "If I have to, how hard would it be for me to get a restraining order on her? One that keeps her away from the bakery and us."

"Depends on what she does, but she can be changed with trespassing," Gibbs said.

"Sounds good to me," Leo said. "I have zero tolerance for her kind of bullshit, and the faster she realizes that, the better."

Gibbs grunted in agreement. His computer chirped; it was Fornell. "Fornell says he and Emily will be on the look-out for Ginger. If she tries anything, she's going to have a problem."

"Excellent," Leo said. "Thanks, guys. I really appreciate this."

"Yeah, no problem," Gibbs said. "As long as you let Dabi know what's going on."

"I will. I promise," Leo said. "Oh, word of warning: Dad found us a wedding officiant who signs. He's an old buddy of Dad's, and a comedian. I spoke to him for about half an hour today, and my ribs are still sore. Seems he finds the idea of a Halloween wedding very interesting."

"That's what I'm getting from a lot of people," Gibbs admitted.

"And do you remember the Ghost Hunters crew? Zander, Adam, Bryan, and Jay? The ones who got Dabi to do that lockdown at that haunted barracks?" Leo asked.

"I do," Gibbs said. "They coming?"

"They're coming, and not only are they going to tape the wedding for us, but the owners of the mansion have agreed to a special Halloween tour, which will allow them to do a Halloween special for their show," Leo said.

"Sounds like this wedding is going to be a blast," Ellie said.

"Oh it is, it is," Leo said, grinning. "I'm being told there's going to be a haunted house section for the kids, and the staff at the bakery are working on something special for the cake. And that's not including the treats on the side."

"I think I'm going to have to make sure my skirt has a few extra buttons in case I need to loosen it," Ellie said.

Leo laughed.