Disclaimer: same as Chapter 1.
Author's notes:
- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher and poet. His book Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future was first published in 1886.
- Confucius (551 B.C. – 479 B.C.) was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician and philosopher.
- To None, Guest and Lisa: thank you for your reviews!
Chapter 35: A session – part 3
A few days later…
"Please state your full name and rank for the record."
"Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS," answered the silver-haired man seated in front of three review board members. Unlike Tony, he had paid no mind about his appearance; his clothes were clean, for sure, but he had opted for the casual style he wore every day instead of the suit-and-tie dear to his Senior Agent. He had not bothered to go to the barber's shop for a vain attempt to de-dramatize his buzz-cut hair and he had his best 'cut-the-crap' face on, the one that used to scare Jimmy Palmer out of his mind – until his youngest son had left for Afghanistan.
His departure had certainly had given Jimmy a confidence boost; in fact, a few days ago he had openly said to Gibbs that he did not deserve to have a good agent like McGee, even though the Team Leader was glaring at the young man in full force. Ducky had later expressed his regrets for his assistant's attitude but ex-Marine had just brushed off the incident as he had more important matters in mind; besides, Jimmy was telling the truth and blaming his frankness would be hypocritical from lie-hater Gibbs. He had never thought the Autopsy Gremlin had it in him, though!
Gibbs had not followed the advice he had given to Tony and he had come without a legal representative – according to his rule no. 13: "Never, ever involve a lawyer". After three divorces, he had had his share with lawyers and besides, it would have been pointless for this review board. If everything went according to his four-steps plan, the session would be cut short and Gibbs would: A) keep his job, B) protect his team from further damages and C) be free to make some urgent phone calls. The evening before, he had received a message in his voicemail from an unidentified man, mumbling like he was speaking from the other side of the world. Gibbs could not be sure, but the voice sounded like Burt Butler's, the ex-military-turned-mercenary. Butler could have his picture in the dictionary, next to the word 'Unscrupulous' but he was ressourceful and could find information in the middle of a conflict, in exchange of cold hard cash.
Gibbs turned his blue eyes towards the three men looking at him from across a table cluttered with files and papers, just like for the previous session. The Team Leader's strategy was drawn; his adversaries were standing in front of him; it was time to move into action...
One of the agents, a balding man with glasses perched on his long nose, spoke:
"Agent Gibbs, these persons are Agent Walken and Agent Franklin; I am Agent Clifford. As you are aware of, allegations have been made against you about…"
"Let's get a move on, shall we?" interrupted Gibbs while thinking: "Step One: disconcert the adversary".
Clifford he frowned at the silver-haired man who had so rudely interrupted him. The thin, blonde Agent Walken squirmed lightly on his seat whereas Agent Franklin, a man of Asian ascent, remained impassible.
"Agent Gibbs, in case it has escaped your attention, we are not suspects in one of your murder investigations. If you opt for this kind of attitude, we will add "Insolence" to the long list of allegations made against you," said Agent Clifford severely.
"Not insolence, merely stating the truth. None of us want to be here, so why waste time?"
"Yes, well, unfortunately you are not the game master here. This review board session will last as long as its members will decide, while you are bound to stay on this chair and answer until we've run out of questions. Is that clear?"
Gibbs barely repressed the urge to roll his eyes. He was playing Clifford like a marionnette on strings and the agent was not even aware of it.
"Yeah."
"Good. Now, could you tell us for how long you've been working at NCIS?"
"About twenty years."
"What were you doing before joining NCIS?"
"Marine Gunnery Sergeant, Scout Sniper and military police non-commissioned officer. Honorably discharged after the Desert Storm operation."
"What your duties at NCIS are?"
"Team Leader. MCRT."
"Would you care to elaborate?"
"I lead federal agents of the Major Case Response Team, investigating Navy-related murders."
"And what are those persons composing your team?"
"Special Agents David, DiNozzo and McGee; forensic scientist Sciuto; M.E. Doctor Mallard and his assistant, Palmer," said Gibbs in a monotonous voice.
Agent Clifford's frown deepened even more; the ex-Marine seemed to be bored out of his mind by the session and acted as if he was force to tell his life's story to an unresponsive drunk in a seedy bar. Agent Walken faked to look at papers disposed on the table to keep a bit of composure as Gibbs' nonchalance somehow unnerved him, but Agent Franklin did not even blink. Unlike his colleague, he was not impressed by Gibbs' reputation but he nonetheless respected his military career and he sensed that, somehow, the short answers were part of a hidden agenda.
"And what is the organization chart of your team, Agent Gibbs?"
"DiNozzo is Senior field Agent; McGee was Junior Agent until Agent David was added to the team. She had a Mossad liaison status until she chose to quit and I hired her immediately afterwards."
"So, Agent McGee should have become Agent DiNozzo's partner after Agent David replaced him as the Junior Agent of your team, correct?"
Gibbs did not like where this conversation was heading, but for his stragegy's sakes he answered nonetheless:
"Yeah."
"Now that's odd, Agent Gibbs; according to our sources, Agent David was partnered with Agent DiNozzo to work on the field shortly after she has arrived at NCIS. In fact, it has been confirmed you often relegated Agent McGee to surveillance and computer data-retrieving while DiNozzo and David do the heavy work. It was a very strange move from your part, since Agent McGee was way more experienced than Agent David as a field agent and therefore, he would have made a better partner for Agent DiNozzo."
"I put my agents where they are the best!" growled Gibbs. "McGee is a genius when it comes to computers; he can crack codes, find clues through the Internet, and detect a car via satellite in a blink of an eye. We would be blind without him!"
"And once he has given you all the needed data to arrest the culprits, he has to sit back and leave the spotlight for your favorites like a good subaltern; otherwise, the consequences would be severe. Am I right, Agent Gibbs?" asked Agent Clifford.
The ex-Marine's eyes turned into blue icebergs.
"Not true."
"I beg to differ! It is, in fact, the main allegation that has been made against you. Agent Franklin?"
"According to this declaration made by a NCIS agent who will remain anonymous: "It is a well-known fact that Agent Gibbs uses favoritism to lead his team and the main benefactors are Agent DiNozzo, Agent David and forensic scientist Sciuto. If you don't belong to Gibbs' club of favorites, then you can be shot and killed by a terrorist for all he cares. In fact, it has happened more than once in the past for Agent McGee: he has been put in mortal danger many times and yet, Agent Gibbs has never bothered to ask how he was faring. On the other hand DiNozzo, David and Sciuto benefit from his full attention whenever they get a paper cut – especially Sciuto!"
Gibbs kept his tough-as-nails face on, but Agent Franklin – who was pretty good at reading expressions – caught a glimpse of emotion in the unblinking blue eyes. Strike one for the review board!
"What do you have to say to this, Agent Gibbs?"
"I don't listen to scuttlebutt and neither should you," answered Gibbs as Step Two: "Back off to give adversary the illusion of gaining ground" sprung inside his mind. He would have to be more loquacious for the next questions, to give the board members the illusion that he was losing control whereas he was in fact leading them right where he wanted them to be.
Agent Walken mopped his forehead with a paper tissue; he was suffering for a nasty bout of stomachache and interviewing the most feared Team Leader of NCIS did not improve his condition at all. He longed to go home, swallow some medication and be fussed upon by his wife, but considering Gibbs' attitude this review board session could take hours! The ex-Marine had noticed his discomfort, though, and he was resolute in using it to his advantage.
"Well, maybe you should have, Agent Gibbs; you'd have been aware that, in spite of your team's impressive crime-solving record, your reputation within and outside NCIS is of, and I quote, "an absolute bastard", "a jerk" and "the worst boss on Earth". Do you realize other agents advice probationers to avoid you like the plague, and to never volunteer in case a position opens in your team?"
"That's good, because no position will open in my team anytime soon! I only work with the best and I have the best, so why should I bother training probies?" said Gibbs with a hint of deliberate arrogance.
"Well, it appears you had to deal with probationers a few times in your life, Agent Gibbs, namely Agents DiNozzo, David and McGee. Unless I'm mistaken, these persons started their careers at the bottom of the food chain like everybody else – including you. What's intriguing, however, is their evolution within your team. DiNozzo has been promoted to Senior Agent whereas his clownish attitude, blatant disrespect towards Agent McGee and occasional vandalism should have earned him numerous reprimands on his record and thus, prevented him to acquire a senior status. Agent David is proficient with weapons but her social skills leave a lot to be desired – in fact, it has been reported many times that she threaten co-workers as well as suspects with bodily harm, which is against the NCIS rules and regulations as noted in section 2, rule 2.3-1: "Extorting confessions from suspects by using physical violence, threats against the suspects' families, psychological blackmail or psychoactive drugs is strictly forbidden.""
"What the Hell do you want us to do, handle suspects with kids' gloves?" said Gibbs. His temper was getting the better of him but it would also serve Step Two. "Time is the essence when investigating murder cases; we have to find out if other victims are targeted or the guilty party is trying to flee the country, or is involved in drug or weapons trafficking. We are dealing with matters that could threaten national security, for crying out loud! That's why I put pressure on my teammates to the maximum as we cannot afford to waste time with niceties and yes, sometimes we can be rough on suspects but it isn't for the fun of it."
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you," interfered Agent Franklin.
"Says who?" shot Gibbs back.
"Says Nietzsche, the German philosopher."
Gibbs huffed in disdain; he was already deep in reading "The Analects" by Confucius, following Penny's suggestion and he found it difficult to understand the old Chinese guy. He could not bother trying another philosopher for the time being!
"It is a well-known fact that Agent McGee had to endure Agent DiNozzo's taste for bullying and boasting; in fact, Agent DiNozzo has constantly ridiculed Agent McGee, tried to take the credit for McGee's hard work to increase his personal glory and, last but not the least, has deliberately removed him from the competition to be granted a mission in Iraq. How elegant! The living embodiment of a federal agent! Is it true you consider Agent DiNozzo as your surrogate son and worthy successor?"
"None of your business!" barked Gibbs as he thought: "Step Three: use anger while faking having lost ground".
"I beg to differ, it is our business," said Walken, speaking for the first time. "For your information, Agent DiNozzo's attitude at work gives a poor example of your training. In a nutshell, your philosophy appears that in order to be a good federal agent you have to be rude, inconsiderate and disrespectful – which is the exact opposite of NCIS'."
"Yeah, well, I don't give a damn about this. Tony may goof around, but he's loyal and efficient."
"He's certainly loyal to you since you are his mentor, and also to your favorites, Agent David and Miss Sciuto. When it comes to Agent McGee, though… That's another story."
Gibbs' first reaction would have to jump over the table and strangle Agent Walken just for the principle of it, but it would not be a wise move since it would destroy his plans and Tony's disastrous review board was still fresh in everyone's mind. The ex-Marine was not concerned by the outcomes for his own career but Tony had to be protected – being demoted was bad enough and the young man did not need a sacked boss on top of everything.
"Strike two for the review board," thought a sardonic Agent Franklin.
"Agent David seemed to have bettered her attitude towards Agent McGee, but out of her own initiative and not because she has been advised to do so by you or Agent DiNozzo," said Clifford. "She is also known to have earned your respect early on by her proficiency with knives and her Mossad training, which are things you could easily relate to as a military man."
"In fact, Agent Gibbs, you seem to respect only persons with military or police experience, which may help to explain why Agent McGee doesn't belong to your very exclusive club of favorites," finished Walken."
"Say that again?", shouted the silver-haired man.
"Agent Gibbs! Keep your temper at bay!" exclaimed Clifford.
A moment of uneasy silence followed, with Gibbs looking daggers at Walken (nearly causing the board member to vomit, due to stress and his stomachache) while Franklin inwardly counted the seconds before the upcoming explosion and Clifford was getting ready to defend his colleague. Then, Gibbs threw caution to the winds, put his stragey on 'hold' for a minute and growled dangerously:
"Tim McGee is an equally important member of my team and if you try to twist my words, you'll find them shoved down your throat!"
"We'll see about it later, Agent Gibbs," continued Agent Clifford, obviously annoyed by Gibbs' outburst. "Right now, we have the matter of Miss Abigail Sciuto to consider."
Gibbs' expression turned murderous, making Agent Walken to groan softly from his stomach in turmoil.
"What about her?"
"It has been reported that you greatly favor her, Agent Gibbs – a bit too much for the comfort of other NCIS agents. Speculations about you two being romantically involved have flown over the years throughout the agency, until it has been established that she has replaced your deceased daughter in your affections…"
"Careful," growled Gibbs.
"And thus, Miss Sciuto seems to think that she is allowed to do as she likes in this agency, making a mockery of the NCIS rules and regulations in general. She has requested a laboratory all for her, whereas the agency's rules state that forensic scientists should always be partnered in teams of two persons to the minimum, in case an accident should happen in the lab – a computer can short-circuit, a screen can explode, an experiment with chemicals can go wrong. But Miss Sciuto obviously considers having an assistant as a personal insult, since she has steadfastly refused to have one…"
"Stop right here! Abby did ask for an assistant in the past, but every time her demands had been turned down for budget reasons. And then, Director Shepard assigned her that bastard Charles Sterling, who wanted to frame Agent DiNozzo for murder before trying to kill Abby! It's no wonder why she is suspicious of new people at the lab!"
"Lame excuse, Agent Gibbs! It happened years ago," countered Agent Clifford. "Miss Sciuto should have recovered from it by now so she seems to be a lot less 'tough' than her sexy Goth attire suggests her to be. If she's still shaken from the Charles Sterling incident, then she should ask for help from the agency's psychiatrist instead of barricading herself in the lab and turn it into a discotheque, complete with loud music, wild dancing and colored lights, which greatly annoy the other scientists who would rather have some peace and quiet in their workplace. Then again, why would she be assigned an assistant since she does have an unofficial one with Agent McGee, doesn't she? Whenever her workload is too important, she orders him to give him a hand and you, of course, approve of her bossing about one of your subalterns."
"Careful again," said Gibbs, clenching his jaw.
"Why, are you going to say this is untrue?"
"You are wrong in your conclusions. McGee helps Abby because he's the only one in our team who has the right brains to understand forensic problems and not because she has ordered him to do so. He has a B.S. in bio-medical engineering and he knows science almost as well as Abby. As Team Leader, it is my responsibility to encourage solidarity between my teammates!"
"So the agent you disregard the most is used by your lab rat as her lackey, by your Senior Agent's as his whipping boy and by you as a mean to an end, how convenient! But what's strange is, whenever Agent McGee requires assistance neither you nor your subalterns are around to help him."
"We have each other's six out in the field anytime and…"
"No, Agent Gibbs, that's not true," interrupted Franklin firmly. "We have documentation proving that you have neglected Agent McGee's needs many times. He has been tasered twice in a day and you haven't sent your man to the hospital, in spite of his sufferings and the possible consequences on his health after having been hit by an electroshock weapon; you forced him to drive a dog to NCIS' headquarters right after the said beast has mauled him, and you didn't even bother to ask a doctor to treat his wounds; you forced him to collect evident in a pool filled with polluted water and infected by mosquitoes – against all kind of HAZMAT safety regulations; you have been lucky this agent has come out of your criminal negligence unscathed, otherwise this agency would have been sued for all its worth by his relatives!"
"Are you denying that you have overlooked Agent McGee's health and security over the years, Agent Gibbs?" asked Clifford.
"No, I don't," answered Gibbs, carrying out his Step Four: "Make a 180 turn and sweep adversary off its feet."
A few seconds of stunned silence followed the ex-Marine's answer. Clifford's glasses almost slipped off his long nose while Franklin narrowed his almond-shaped eyes. Only Walken let out a soft sigh: maybe his prayers for an abbreviated session had been answered, after all.
"You don't?" repeated Clifford.
"Nope," said Gibbs, returning to his previous monosyllabic state while thinking at the same time: "Step Four: let's them have their fun and the sooner I get out of here, the better. I have to contact Butler and make some phone calls in order to know if Kort has left for Afghanistan!"
"So, you admit haven't been up to the task to protect Agent McGee from both danger out in the field and hazing from agents under your command?"
"Yeah."
"Are you aware it means that your leadership skills are questioned?"
"Yeah."
Clifford and Walken exchanged a worried look, while Franklin thought:"Well, well! The Old Dragon has managed to hit a home run before we could go for a third strike! Who would have imagined it? He has pulled the rug from under our feet, a good move - now we have no other choice than to deliberate, since he has apparently accepted the allegations made against him!"
"Ahem! Well, in that case, Agent Gibbs, the board members can take decisions about your case right now, avoiding us to endure a second session," said Clifford.
"Fine for me," answered the laconic Team Leader.
The three review board members conversed with each other for a moment in a low voice, giving the ex-Marine a moment of peace to make a mental list of people to call about the CIA's agent. Kort had vanished right after his dramatic appearance in the basement and attempts to locate him had failed – especially with Tim out of DC and Abby on the bench for the moment, depriving Gibbs of their fantastic technological knowledge. Even Director Vance and his bigwig allies had not been able to track down the rogue and that was no reassuring news; Kort had expressed an unhealthy interest towards Tim and Gibbs knew it could only spell trouble for his youngest, who already had his hands full with managing a secret project in a war-torn country. This frustrating situation innerved Gibbs to the max and he was in a hurry to finish with this review board nonsense, so he could do some real work! Finally, the three agents finished their private conversation - Walken seemed very eager to end it - and Clifford took the floor:
"Well, Agent Gibbs, we have to admit you have surprised us by your acknowledgement of having inadequately led your team and your negligence towards Agent McGee. We have appreciated this act of good will and, out of respect for your military career and your work at NCIS, we won't ask for a revocation…"
"Do you honestly think I care about your appreciation, you bunch of time-wasting, pen-pushing bureaucrats?" thought the unconcerned silver-haired man.
"However, we do ask that you will follow a series of workshops for three months to improve your leadership, which has been gravely lacking in the light of those allegations made against you. This probation period will last for three months and then, you will attend another review board session which will determine if you have indeed benefited from this measure, so you could be fully re-instated in your functions. Your salary, health insurance and pension plans will be maintained during this probation but you will not be allowed to take up new murder cases…"
"Shake a leg, man! I have calls to make!" grumbled Gibbs inwardly.
"…especially since Agent DiNozzo is also on probation and you are missing a forensic scientist for another month, plus Agent McGee will be absent for five months or so. We hope you understand you have been granted a big favor, Agent Gibbs, and that you will employ your time to re-consider your past actions and improve your general attitude, but be aware that a single infringement to the review board's decisions will result in your immediate sacking, are we clear?"
"Yeah."
"Then this session is finished. Good day, Agent Gibbs."
The ex-Marine got up on his feet and left the room in a hurry, unaware that Agent Walken let out a huge sigh of relief. As on clue, a quote from Confucious came to Gibbs' mind: "The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones".
A smile came to his lips: the review board had indeed been kicked out of the way like a peeble; his four-step plan had worked and he was free to carry on with his secret investigations, braving Vance's interdiction in the process but Gibbs did not care about it. He would find the whereabouts of his youngest son and monitor Tim's movements from afar, even if it meant hiring Burt Butler and his disreputable associates for information!
TBC…