DiNozzo watched the teenager spin idly on the chair behind his Boss' desk, paperwork sitting on legs that were curled up half under him. The boy chewed on the pen as he twirled, one foot pushing against the cabinet behind him, pen in his mouth.
The boy was totally different to that of his own character, playing the eccentric gay with almost an ease that disturbed the man. Alex had always appeared to be the ladies man, getting on easily with almost all the girls in the office that he'd met last time he'd visited. It was unnatural.
On the other side of the room, Ziva typed away, replying to her emails as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. One thing she could deduce was that he had a certain, profound skill in disguises, adapting to the change easily in a way that let him be there but not. No doubt the Alex underneath the Michael facade was still there, checking the room as most turmoiled or on duty agents do, but she could not quite catch him doing so.
Alex, on the other hand, bit the pen almost harshly, aware of the scrutiny of the two agents whilst he waited for McGee to return with his coffee. He knew what he presented was off for them, so their curiosity was well founded.
With a sigh, he spun himself again, pulling out his phone and flicking through it absently, presenting the image of a nervous man. The person he had created was 27, young enough for his looks to be plausible at the least whilst still making sense for him to be in such a relationship with the Sergeant.
Easily, he booted up the Internet, riding on a secure server before attempting to open his emails. There, halfway through, was the threat he had received a few months before, and which had been re-sent each week.
Not bothering to read it, he deleted it from his inbox, before closing the Internet down and resulting to playing on tetris. The high pitched tune grated its way across the room to the other agents.
Ziva shuddered at the noise, hitting her keyboard a little harder than necessarily. Across, DiNozzo raised his eyebrow at the movement, carrying on despite this with the work they were doing.
There was a starling beep from Alexs phone, and he frowned, standing up and moving to the bathroom as he answered.
"What?"
"I'm sorry to have to contact you at this time but-"
"What happened to the promise of independence from any country till this has been carried out?"
"Something's come up. I have permission to speak to you from all the participating countries."
Alex closed the door behind him with a snip, locking it before pulling out a key ring and pressing a side button on it.
"Well get on with it then." He spoke whilst checking the camera in the corner for any power.
There was a sigh and a ruffle, as though the man on the phone had shifted in discomfort. "There has been a threat against you."
Alex raised his eyebrows. "That's it. Your calling me to tell me, that someone has threatened me. Again, if you don't mind me pointing out. Why the hell are you jeopardising this fricking mission to tell me something that happens on an everyday occurrence!"
"Because they know about the operation."
There was a beat of silence before he growled. "I thought you found your mole."
"We did, but-"
"Obviously, you didn't. Find him, and stop endangering me. God knows you don't need to call me to do that."
"Alex-"
"Goodbye." He cut the man off, hanging up before he could get a word in otherwise.
Alex ran his hand through his hair as he looked at himself in the mirror. There was a polite knocking, and Ziva called out through the door to him.
"Michael? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah." He slipped out quietly, pulling the door closed behind him as he stood face to face with her. "Just a surprising phone call."
She raised her eyebrows. "One you were not supposed to get?"
He shrugged. "You know how it is. Communication is a last resort for most cases."
"Hm." She followed him back to the bullpen where he sat back in his seat, smiling at McGee who had left him the coffee.
Across the room, DiNozzo sighed, crumpling up paper and throwing it across the room to the bin. McGee watched him, the two missing the moment when Gibbs spotted them.
It took them a while to notice the glares they were getting. Gibbs slapped DiNozzo up the back of the head, before turning to Alex.
"Have you finished filling in the forms?"
He shrugged, smiling a little. "I've done what I can."
He nodded, taking the forms off him and handing them to McGee. "Sort them out. Michael, with me."
Rising, Gibbs led the way to the elevator without speaking. The two stepped in, Alex surprised when the man made no move to switch it off. Instead, they headed out, walking towards the main gate where they had entered.
They were quiet as they stepped out onto the street, ignoring the direction of the busy traffic. Five minutes passed, before leading them to a park full of children taking advantage of the sunny weekend. Gibbs headed towards the one empty bench in the shade.
He didn't speak for a second, instead opting to look round carefully whilst Alex stretched.
"How long do you think Red Hawk will take till it blows over?"
Alex shrugged. "Depends. The Secretary's part is only for the first portion. The minute he hands over the codes, the minute I step in as the dominoes fall, so to speak."
"So minutes."
"Less really, but more as the time period between then and now spreads. It all falls upon when SecNav thinks is right. He has to guess when it will have the strongest effect."
Gibbs nodded again, taking this into account. "So you don't know."
"Haven't the foggiest."
Gibbs felt his lips tug into a small smile, and he glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eye, remembering just how he had been entranced by the kid the last time he was here. He'd changed; his eyes a little older, a little darker; face more profound, cheek bones definite; shadows that hung around him in the light of day, invisible, but there.
"How long will it take before you have an idea about who is after NCIS?"
There was a pause, where he turned his head to the sky as the wind ruffled his hair slightly. "I couldn't say. It mainly depends on if anyone finds anything conclusive any time soon, but it seems unlikely."
"If you had to guess?"
He paused again, still not looking at the man. "A week before anything comes up, another before we'll be able to move in against the group working against you."
"Group?"
Alex shrugged. "In my experience, this kind of thing comes from an organisation. A single person would not be able to orchestrate this without leaving a personality behind. A group means there is no single mind, no single action behind it, but a collection which overlays. If it were simply one person, we would have found out about it long ago."
"You sure?"
"Yes. People are less likely to give things away if there are a few at the top. One person doesn't inspire enough fear."
Accepting this reasoning, he gazed around the park a little more. Alex nodded to himself.
"Do you want me to start work on it myself? I can ask around."
"What about SecNav?"
"I'll leave him to you for now."
Gibbs nodded as Alex stood, heading off easily. "Back here in two hours. Then it'll be time for Ziva and DiNozzo to be on duty."
Alex raised his hand in assent as well as farewell, gliding away from the bench without effort. The crowd of people swallowed him from apparent sight, leaving Gibbs alone on the seat without a care.
The bar was dirty, Alex first thought as he strode up to the counter. The bar man gave him a hard glance, before picking up a tea towel that had seen better days, and wiping at his hands.
"You're not from round here."
He sat himself on the stool and leant across, ignoring the quiet of the pub. "Doesn't matter." He said, changing his accent subtly. "Y'ave to travel further than home t' get what ya want."
He pulled a cigarette out as the man across the counter pulled out a glass. He frowned. "You can't smoke in here."
With a shrug, he put it back into the pockets of his hoodie, slipping the lighter into his jean pockets. "I hear ya know some people."
"Depends on what you want."
He shrugged. "Information. Need to know who's workin' on a bigger scale."
The man looked at him before nodding his head at a table in the back, shrouded in shadow. "You want Dave. He'll know something if anyone does."
Alex nodded, standing up and handing the man some money, before moving away to the corner he indicated.
The man at the table was big, was the first thing Alex decided. His hair was dark, and he held himself confidently, staring at him unabashed as he neared the table and slid into the chair.
"What do you want?"
"Lookin' to find out 'bout the big op going down."
The man waited as he pulled a wad of cash out his back pocket and laid it on the table. He scoffed, reaching for it, pausing as Alex pulled it away with raised eyebrows.
"Information first."
He growled. "How do I know you're not going to walk out on me?"
"The fact that this place is centred around ya' business, and each of the men in this room works for ya'. I wouldn't get to the door without a bullet hole in me."
Dave leant back with a small smile. "You're better than I thought kid. What's it you're after?"
"Wanna know who's after NCIS."
He was quiet for a minute, where Alex flicked at the cash absently. He sighed, before sitting up.
"Word is, its from the inside. Some organisation's funded it, working with the smaller group that's in it. They plan on tearing it apart here, before carrying out simultaneous attacks across America against NCIS. They want it to fall, and fall hard."
Alex nodded, spinning the money in his hand. "Any names? Faces?"
He shook his head. "They use code. I know there are three on the inside, possibly four, and they're called Rocket, Textbook, Toolkit and Teacher. They refer to the larger group as V."
Alex let out a sigh, mumbling about taking someone down. The man waited patiently before speaking again. "The entire thing moves next Wednesday. Or so they plan."
He nodded, pulling out a number card and handing it over with the money. "There's more where that came from if you find any more out."
Dave slipped the money into his jacket with a nod. "You got a name?"
"Cub." He replied as he walked away, slipping out into the dank alleyway in the backstreets of the city before heading back towards the park. He was late, and Gibbs was going to kill him, information or no.
(A/N) Well then, looks like the clocks ticking! Who do you think will find the inside group first? R&R!
