Chapter 6: 'Ex' Marks The Spot

The elevator dinged its familiar tone and Ziva exited as soon as the doors opened, heading for her desk. But just as she began to round the corner, she spotted something amiss. She saw Tony DiNozzo's backside. The Senior Field Agent was hunched over something rather close to the floor, and was intently fiddling with it, which had his posterior stuck up into the air and the tailored stitching of his designer trousers prominently on display.

Recognizing a rare opportunity, Ziva immediately slipped into stealth mode and snuck up silently behind him until she was mere inches away…

"What are you doing?" Ziva demanded loudly, startling the hell out of Tony and causing him to whirl around, nearly losing his balance. He struggled to quickly get his feet back underneath himself, and then narrowed his eyes at the intruding familiar female, immediately recognizing the knowing smirk on her face…

"Nothing! And… don't do that!" He spat defensively. Ziva muffled a slight giggle, but then resumed her intense scrutiny. Tony took a deep breath before continuing. "What? What are you looking at?" Tony asked, trying to sound as non-committal as possible. But his attempt to play it off was met with a very skeptical sideways smirking glare. The tension mounted.

Ziva broke her piercing glare and glanced down for a second, and spotted a familiar item. It was an NCIS crime scene backpack, no doubt loaded with the proper and required gear, and apparently now also with a little something extra, courtesy of Tony DiNozzo.

The elevator dinged again, and McGee strolled onto the floor. He halted immediately when he saw Tony and Ziva both standing still and staring each other down. Something was going on, but he had no idea what. So he approached cautiously, and was then able to hear their conversation.

"That is Agent McLaren's gear," Ziva said accusingly to Tony. "What were you doing with it?" She paused, and raised an eyebrow in question.

Tony smiled in response. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on, Tony," Ziva finally said, exasperated. "The woman has barely been here 24 hours, and you are already planning some sort of childish prank?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that really how your brain works? Because it is… disturbing."

"No," Tony replied slyly, deflecting her focus to something else. "What's disturbing… is having some newbie getting in to the office before Gibbs."

Both McGee and Ziva looked around. And they both had to admit, it was something quite out of the ordinary. "OK," Ziva replied. "So perhaps you have a point…"

"So… where is he…?" McGee interjected tentatively, his eyebrows knitting in suspicion.

"Getting coffee," came the off-hand reply. They all looked towards the sound, and caught sight of their boss as he strode quickly into the bullpen with a huge carry-out tray full of large plastic-topped Starbucks cups in his hand. They watched with quiet fascination as Gibbs distributed the giant cups of steaming hot java onto everyone's desks.

Their eyes all followed him as he went and sat down at his own desk.

He realized that he was the object of their curious focus and looked up, his gaze catching every one of them.

"Is there a problem?" He asked flatly.

They all answered 'no' very quickly, and then scattered for their desks. But one desk was still pointedly empty.

"Where's McLaren?" Gibbs demanded.

"Um, her gear is here boss, but…" began Tony, but he was shortly interrupted…

The elevator dinged and a man wearing an oversized baseball cap pulled down on his head and donning dark sunglasses exited onto the floor. He strode hesitantly towards the bullpen, and Gibbs caught sight of him quickly, cutting off Tony as he stood up to head the stranger off.

"Can I help you?" Gibbs asked, stopping the man in his tracks.

"I'm looking for, um," the strange man replied in a deep baritone voice. He looked down and consulted a small note in his hand. "An Agent… Gibbs?"

"That's me," their leader replied.

"Oh, well, good. Uh, yes, Sir. Actually," the man continued, "I'm looking for Emily McLaren. She works here now. The front desk said to ask for you, Sir. Said that you're her new boss? Is she available for a moment?"

Before Gibbs could answer, Emily emerged around the corner from the break room with a huge mug of coffee in her hand. When she caught sight of the man standing there, she halted momentarily in her tracks, and nearly dropped her coffee mug on the floor.

"Kevin?" She asked loudly, her face blanching. It was only her second day here. She definitely did not need this.

She set her coffee cup down on her desk as she quickly approached the man. "What are you doing here?" She asked him nervously.

The man sighed heavily. "Don't get all worked up, Em," he said patiently. "Look. You live… on a boat. A boat… that is no longer docked at the Harbor Point Marina." He pulled an envelope from his pocket and held it out in front of her. "So, my lawyer didn't know where to send your alimony check. Thought I would drop it off… so it's not late."

Emily's expression softened. She nodded and took the envelope from his hand. "Thank you," she said, with a slight smile. "Appreciate it."

The man nodded. He paused, and there was an awkward silence. "You look good," he said.

"Aw, Kev," she said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "Don't start. Thanks for dropping off the check. Now would you please… just… leave?"

The man huffed and shook his head as well. "Jesus, Em," he said with a smirk. "If I had a goddamn nickel for every time I heard you say that…"

The small smile left her face and Emily leveled a serious stare at him.

"OK, yeah, yeah," he said, backing up. "Oh, I know that look. Alright. I'm going, I'm going." He put his hands up briefly and then started for the elevator doors.

As soon as the door slid shut, Emily turned to Gibbs.

"I am really sorry about that," she said to her stoically silent boss. "And it will not ever happen again."

Gibbs knew exactly how she felt. He had been embarrassed how many times by one of his ex's? But he kept those inner thoughts to himself.

Tony had watched the man the whole time, his eyes narrowing as the guy disappeared into the elevator.

"He looks familiar," Tony said aloud, not sure if anyone was really listening to him. "Very familiar. I swear I've seen that guy before. Hey, McLaren," he said turning to her. "Who was that guy?"

"My ex-husband," Emily shot back, annoyed.

Momentarily derailed from his memory search, Tony seized on the new topic. "Did I hear him say you live on a boat?" Tony queried.

"Yes. I do," Emily replied with a sigh. "A 45 foot Morgan Ketch."

That got Gibbs' attention instantly, but he didn't show it. A Morgan Ketch. And a 45-footer? That's a damn nice boat… he thought to himself.

After a brief pause, McGee leaned over. "That's a sailboat Tony," he said sincerely.

"Yeah… Thanks there… Mister McNautical," DiNozzo fired back. "I knew that."

The bantering came to an abrupt halt as Gibbs' phone rang. He answered it, and a few seconds later, he was reaching into his desk for his gun and shield.

"Grab your gear," came the familiar command. "Dead Marine in Norfolk. McLaren, you're with me." Gibbs was already halfway to the elevator, but Emily snatched her backpack from the floor and caught up with him quickly.

"With you Sir…" she said, then cringed slightly. "I mean, with you…" she corrected. She took a short, frustrated breath. "Still working on the 'Sir' thing, Sir," she said, cringing again as the elevator doors slid shut and everyone could hear her. "Still… working on… that."

Knowing it would be near impossible for a Marine not to say 'Sir,' he almost grinned. Almost.

"Understood," Gibbs replied flatly.

"Nothing personal McLaren, but I swear I've seen your ex somewhere before," Tony said. "I never forget a face. And no offense, but he sure looks like one really creepy guy."

"What? Oh, come on. He's not creepy. He's alright… really," Emily answered. "But… there's a reason I live on a boat."

But before any more questions could be asked or answered, the elevator doors slid open and they were all now focused on the awaiting crime scene. The other 3 agents branched away and hurried off towards their own car, leaving Emily and Gibbs together.

And as the two of them approached a gleaming black Dodge Charger, Gibbs tossed her the car keys…