Chapter Two
An Unlikely Alliance
The drive to the crime scene was not very long, seeing as though it was just a few miles away from NCIS headquarters. Special Agent McGee looked around in awe as he entered what was left of the apartment, showing his credentials to the local police as he stepped in. He noticed Gibbs looking forward intensely, stopped in his tracks. He shifted his gaze to match that of his boss,' and noticed the man who was already surveying the crime scene. Bishop, who had just entered the building, noticed Gibbs and McGee staring at the man.
"Um, who's he," Bishop asked McGee.
"Don't know. Boss?"
Gibbs studied the man silently instead of answering McGee. The man looked about Gibb's age, wearing a military like suit that McGee didn't recognize. It looked like it was part of the US Military, but it was unlike any uniform he'd ever seen. A body suit that had clung to every inch of the man's body, it was fitted with holsters for many different weapons, including, but not limited to firearms, explosives, and even blades. His brown hair was long and messy, but neatly tied by a long, gray bandana.
Gibbs stepped forward toward the man, presented his badge, and announced, "NCIS Special Agent Gibbs."
"Secret Service." The older man's voice was raspy, as if he'd screamed too much and could barely talk. "Special Agent Pliskin. We're on assignment issued directly from the President. My boss has already spoken to Director Vance. NCIS is no longer investigating this."
"And your boss is," Bishop wondered aloud.
"The President."
Gibbs considered this for a moment. He flipped out his phone and dialed NCIS Director Leon Vance's number. After the end of the call, Gibbs turned toward his team. "Grab your gear."
"You mean we're just leaving," Bishop asked.
"Nope," Gibbs said dryly. "We've been ordered to work with Agent Pliskin here on this case."
This news seemed to surprise Pliskin more than McGee or Bishop. "Excuse me," Pliskin mumbled before leaving the room. McGee immediately began inspecting the charred room, while Gibbs left to look for Tony. Bishop could hear Pliskin talking angrily to someone over the phone, but couldn't hear enough of the conversation to know what it was about. She'd suspected it had something to do with NCIS working with them, given how he seemed to react.
"Eavesdropping, Ms. NSA," Tony said cheerily, snapping Bishop out of her trance.
"No, I, um, never mind," she mumbled before beginning to take photographs of the area.
Pliskin reappeared after a few minutes, apparently finished with his call. "Find anything," he asked bluntly.
"There appears to be a charred laptop over here," McGee said as he photographed. "Looks pretty bad, I doubt we'll be able to salvage anything from it."
Both Gibbs and Pliskin shot McGee the same look of impatience. "I'll take it, then," Pliskin said. "I've got an analyst who could salvage computers straight from an apocalypse."
Gibbs turned toward Pliskin, glaring intensely. "NCIS will handle the evidence. Our analyst is pretty good, too."
Pliskin took the bait. "Either NCIS handles the evidence, and Secret Service gets the body, or we share the evidence, and NCIS can have the body."
Gibbs smiled. "Fine, but your analyst comes to NCIS and works with mine."
Tony, McGee, and Bishop had all stopped working to watch Gibbs and Pliskin engage in what Tony would later call the Epic Pissing Match of the Century. Noticing, Gibbs and Pliskin looked at the three, who quickly began collecting evidence again.