The newly formed, LA-based team met up the next morning in the suite being shared by Chuck and Sarah. Chuck, as he had in Hungary, had ordered room service ahead so that by the time Devon and Ellie arrived, there was an assortment of pastries, muffins, bagels with a couple types of cream cheese, fruit, juice, and – of course – the ever-important carafe of coffee. The four of them sat around the table discussing their plans for the day and settling on starting with the Smithsonian Museums before continuing on to the National Mall. Whatever they didn't get to that day would be seen the next morning before they met their plane at the private terminal of Washington-Dulles International Airport.
"Oh, before we take off," Chuck interjected as they were clearing their places and stacking their dishes and cutlery on the service cart, "We do need to get your emails set up for the project. For safety's sake, we might want to come up with cover aliases for you and potentially code names. Do you two have any preferences as to names?"
Ellie and Devon shared a look as they thought, "Would it be okay if our aliases were married?" Devon inquired, "You know, save some confusion once we tie the knot?"
"I don't see that being problematic," Sarah shrugged.
"I've always liked the name Lisa," Ellie shrugged, missing the amused looks on Chuck and Sarah's faces. "What about you, Devon?"
"I dunno, Babe, I never thought of it before," Devon hedged.
"Aren't there any names you like that you wouldn't mind answering to?" Sarah prompted.
"The guys at the frat used to call me 'Carter,'" Devon shrugged, causing Ellie to roll her eyes.
"As in Cart-her away in the morning," Ellie explained to her brother and Sarah, "Before we met, Dr. Lothario over there was the king of one-night stands."
"Really?" Chuck arched an eyebrow at his soon to be brother-in-law.
"Not really something I'm proud of, Bro," Devon hung his head, embarrassed, "But all that stopped the day I met you sister, I swear."
"I know, Dev," Chuck assured him, "So Carter would work, any thoughts on a last name?"
When Devon hedged again, Chuck tried another tactic, "Okay, where is your family from, or where did you grow up?"
"I was born in Woodleaf, NC," Devon shrugged, "We lived in Covington Heights for years until my parents moved us to Chicago the summer before seventh grade."
"Covington, that could work," Sarah suggested, and Chuck nodded his agreement, "Alright, it's nice to meet you, Doctors Lisa and Carter Covington."
"I'll get to work getting you set up in the system so we can get your credentials made up before we have to fly back home," Chuck spoke as he set up his laptop, "This should only take a few minutes and then we can set about taking in the sights."
True to his word, Chuck had them fully registered in the servers for the CIA, NSA, and their cover jobs along with established with active, secure email that was through the cover corporation, and had received confirmation that the newest medical consultants' credentials would be ready to pick up the following day, all within the span of about fifteen minutes. Not bad for all that needed to be done to firm up their aliases with the companies, Chuck smirked to himself over the covers he'd established for them and looked forward to seeing their reactions.
"Alright!" He shut his laptop down and clapped his hands, "Whose ready to play tourists for the day?"
The others simply laughed at his antics and pulled on their coats, Sarah tossing Chuck's to him, and headed downstairs to hail a taxi and head to DC proper for the day.
They had started their day at the National Air and Space Museum where Ellie and Awesome, while finding the various planes, space craft, and other various items on display interesting, their main entertainment came from watching Chuck, and more surprisingly, Sarah geeking out over the various displays and exhibits. While many of their interests over lapped when it came to the various aviation and space-travel exhibits, Chuck was especially fascinated with the model of the original Enterprise, and the Moon Rover. Sarah, on the other hand practically dragged them over to see the Kitty Hawk Flier and through the exhibit on the history of the Tuskegee Airmen. It was early afternoon by the time they had seen all the exhibits on display, so they found a nearby hole in the wall serving pizza by the slice to enjoy a quick lunch before continuing on with their day.
The Museum of American History was much the same, however they all had their moments. While they enjoyed and found nearly everything in the building interesting, Chuck was especially drawn to the exhibits focusing on technology, music and pop culture letting his nerd flag fly the highest when they came upon the display of R2D2 and C3PO. Sarah was, to Ellie and Awesome's great surprise, obsessed with the displays featuring toys from the classic teddy bear to the various play-skool toys that were on display, however every time thought they noticed a melancholic look on Chuck's face, it was quickly gone as he guided his girlfriend from display to display. Neither knew that her interest stemmed from the fact she was essentially robbed of her childhood by her father's cons.
Ellie and Devon found the exhibits focusing on health and science very interesting, but Ellie was more drawn to the exhibits focusing on recent history such as the lunch counter from Greensboro. She was also excited when they found the patch from Julia Child's in-home cooking school, and the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz. Devon was fascinated with the various sports memorabilia, even so far as bonding with Chuck over a baseball signed by Babe Ruth.
By the time they were done exploring the museums, it was getting late. Sarah suggested a nearby Mexican restaurant that she remembered was in the area where they could sit, enjoy a good meal, and revel in all they had seen at the museums. She had received a call from headquarters about mid-way through their day informing her that Devon and Ellie's credentials would be ready by 8AM the next morning and of the updated departure time of their ferry flight back to Burbank the next evening, which gave them enough time to visit the National Mall before heading home.
They were happily exhausted from their day when they arrived back at the hotel and made their way up to their rooms for a restful night's sleep.
The two couples met in the lobby the next morning, dress comfortably for their day of walking through the various sites of the National Mall and towing their luggage behind them. Once they checked out of their rooms, they hailed a taxi and Sarah gave the address for the CIA's headquarters. Upon arrival, she asked the cabby to wait while she ran inside. Choosing to only bring her ceramic knives and badge with her, there was nothing to set off the metal detectors at the security checkpoint. Once clear, it was a short walk to the security office where the packet containing Ellie and Devon's credentials were waiting for her to pick up. When she emerged from the building, she hopped back into the cab, handed the envelope containing Ellie and Devon's credentials to them, and directed him to make his way to the private terminal of the Washington Dulles Airport.
All four of them exited the vehicle once arriving at the airport and pulling their luggage from the cab's trunk. Sarah showed her credentials to the woman at the desk and was given an escort for herself and her group toward a small, secure, storage area where they could leave their bags until it was time for them to take their flight back home. There was an on-call transport service available that would take them over to the main terminals where they proceeded to board the bus that would take them to the Reston station where they would board the metro rail to L'Enfant plaza, the closest stop to the National Mall.
To their surprise, there was more to see at the National Mall than just the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Luckily, they had about five or six hours before they needed to make their way back to the airport to meet up with their flight. They took their time exploring the sites, pausing in reverence at the various war memorials along the way. They still had a couple hours before they needed to go back to the airport and hailed a cab to the National Cemetery to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They watched in awe at the silent watch kept over the grave by the Sentries of the Army's 3rd Infantry Old Guard before making their way back to the National Mall once more.
By mutual agreement, they decided to stop by the Shake Shack to grab a late lunch before meandering back to the Metrorail station to make their way back to the airport. As they were walking, a child sitting on a bench, crying and alone, caught their attention. Chuck and Sarah immediately began to scan the area looking for anyone in the near vicinity that could potentially be a parent of the child, but no one seemed as if they'd lost someone or cared about the child on the bench. Not wanting to overwhelm the child and figuring he would respond better to a female stranger it was decided that Ellie would confront the child.
While Devon, Sarah, and Chuck kept a look out for any frantic parents, Ellie quietly sat on the bench beside the child who she could now see was shivering. "Hello," She spoke softly.
The little boy's head shot up, his bright green eyes meeting Ellie's, surprise replacing the sadness and fear he had been displaying just a moment before, "Hi."
"My name is Ellie," She began, knowing simple statements were probably best at this point. "What is your name?"
"Tommy," The boy spoke softly.
"Where are your mom and dad?" Ellie pressed.
"My mom died a long time ago," Tommy sniffed and wiped a tear from his face, "I came with my dad. We were reading the names on the wall and when I turned around, he was gone. I couldn't find a park ranger and Dad always told me that if I get lost to stay where I am, and he'd fi-find me."
"That's very smart, Tommy," Ellie agreed, "But you must be cold, how long have you been sitting here?"
"I dunno," The boy who couldn't have been older than six or seven shrugged, "Long time."
"Well, first let's get you warmed up," Ellie suggested and turned toward Devon, "Dev, give me your coat."
Devon turned saw the shivering boy and quickly slipped of his coat, handing it to Ellie who then wrapped it around the boy's shoulders. "Thank you," Tommy gave her a smile.
"You're welcome," Ellie gave him a maternal smile, "Do you feel okay meeting my friends? We want to help you find your dad, okay?"
Tommy nodded and Ellie signaled Devon, Chuck, and Sarah to come closer. "This is Tommy," She introduced the boy to the three other adults, before pointing to each one of the adults in turn, "This is my fiancé, Devon. He's a doctor like I am. Do you mind if he looks you over? You said you've been sitting out here a long time and we just want to make sure you aren't sick."
"Okay," Tommy nodded again and patiently sat while the affable male doctor gave him a quick once over.
"Looking good, little Dude," Devon smiled at the boy before turning to his fiancée, "It's a good thing it's not colder today. No hypothermia, just cold, but we should probably get him inside and warmed up soon."
"No," Tommy shook his head, "I have to stay here, or else Dad can't find me."
"Tommy, we are going to do our best to help you find your dad," Ellie assured him, "But if you stay outside any longer you could get sick, and I'm sure your dad would prefer you to be healthy and safe, which means going inside somewhere. Are you hungry? We were just about to go get some hamburgers."
Tommy's eyes widened and his stomach growled, answering Ellie's question for him. "I'll take that as a yes to the hamburgers," Ellie chuckled. "Do you want to come with us?"
Tommy looked hesitantly at the four adults with him. Noticing his reluctance, Chuck squatted down on the ground in front of the little boy, getting on his level. "I know you're scared, and I bet your dad has taught you about stranger danger and that you shouldn't trust or go with an adult you don't know who isn't a policeman, a park ranger, or something like that, huh?" When Tommy nodded, Chuck have him a soft smile and reached into his pocket, withdrawing his credentials and nodding for Sarah to do the same.
The boy looked in awe at the tall man and the blonde who was with him when they opened their wallets, displaying their CIA IDs. "You're spies?!"
"No," Chuck shook his head, "But we do help them catch the bad guys."
"Cool," Tommy grinned.
"We are really good at finding people," Sarah added, crouching down beside Chuck, "What is your dad's name?"
"Staff Sergeant Thomas Winters," Tommy reported, "He's a marine."
"Okay," Sarah nodded, "Does he carry a cellphone, and do you know his number?"
"Yeah," Tommy nodded and rattled off the phone number, which Ellie punched into her phone.
As Sarah and Chuck continued to talk to the little boy, Ellie called his father, groaning when the voicemail answered. "Good afternoon, Sergeant Winters, my name is Dr. Eleanor Bartowski. Please do not be worried, you son, Tommy is just fine, a little cold, but fine. We found him near the Vietnam Memorial wall and are trying to get a hold of you so we can reunite you with your son. Since it's getting cold out, and we're all a bit hungry, we're going to head over to Shake Shack to get a bite to eat and warm up. You can reach me at (818) 555-9743. Please give me a call back so we can get Tommy back to you." She hung up the phone and gave a small head shake to her brother, who nodded.
"Looks like your dad didn't hear his phone, bud," Chuck shrugged, "I know my sister mentioned going to get something to eat, so let's go do that while we wait for your dad to call Ellie back. Okay?" He rose to his full height and held out his hand to the little boy who took it, his small hand disappearing within Chuck's own large one. When the boy held up his other hand to Sarah, she met Chuck's amused look before shrugging and taking the boy's hand.
Devon scooped up his coat, which had fallen off Tommy's shoulders and shrugged it on again as he and Ellie followed the other three over to the burger joint. They were quickly seated as they seemed to have arrived during the lull between the lunch and dinner rushes for the establishment and handed menus by a brunette waitress in her early 20's who told them she would give them a few minutes to decide. When she returned they ordered a hotdog with ketchup for Tommy, ShackBurgers for Chuck, Devon, and Sarah, with extra pickles on Sarah's a Chick'n Shack for Ellie and three large orders of fries to share along with root beers for all of them since, due to the hour, Ellie and Sarah were hesitant to give Tommy caffeine.
To anyone looking, they looked like a family, out to eat with a favorite aunt and uncle. Tommy was currently seated between Chuck and Sarah with his big green eyes and sandy blond hair making him look like he could be related to any of the four adults at the table. Their meal had been consumed and Tommy was coloring on the back side of his placemat with some crayons the waitress had brought him. Every so often, Ellie would check her phone, but had received no response from Tommy's father, she had made a couple more attempts at calling the man only to get voicemail every time.
Noticing Ellie's concern growing deeper, Sarah excused herself to the bathroom and asked Ellie to join her. Once the ladies were in the hall leading to the restrooms Sarah turned to the older woman, "Still can't reach Staff Sergeant Winters?"
"No, and I only get his voicemail when I call." Ellie sighed, "I mean, it's entirely possible he dropped his phone somewhere, but you'd think that if his son was missing, he'd at least try to call his voicemail in case the kid was found. I'm worried something happened to him."
"Me too," Sarah nodded sadly, "His dad is a Marine, so technically his disappearance is of concern to the Marine Corps and would be investigated by NCIS. Let me give Kate a call and see if her team can meet us here."
"Alright," Ellie nodded, "I don't know about you, but I actually do need to use the facilities, so while you're calling your friend, I'm just going to duck into the ladies' room."
Sarah nodded her understanding as she scrolled through her contacts to the section marked 'T' and pressed call. "Hey Kate, it's Sarah… yeah, I'm still in town at least for a little while longer. Our flight leaves in about three hours. We ran into a bit of a situation that we could use our help with…"
When the women had returned to the table, they found the men had decided to dessert for the table. The adults were all given shakes, strawberry for Ellie, chocolate for Sarah, black and white for Devon, cookies and cream for Chuck, and a single dip scoop of chocolate custard for Tommy. The waitress was already passing out the cup of custard to Tommy and distributing the tall shake glasses and mixer cans to the appropriate adults when they returned. Not wanting to alarm Tommy, the women quietly informed the guys what was going on and were met with nods of understanding.
After Tommy had finished his treat, Chuck took him to the men's room to clean up as he had managed to get some of the chocolate dessert smeared across his cheeks. It was, frankly, adorable and Chuck could just imagine his and Sarah's kids looking much the same some time in the future. He sat Tommy up on the counter and wet a paper towel before gently wiping the chocolate off the boy's cheeks. "Alright, all cleaned up. Since we're in here, do you need to use the bathroom?"
"Yeah," Tommy admitted.
"Alright," Chuck nodded and opened the stall doors, making sure they were clear before holding one open for Tommy, "I'll be right out here," Chuck assured the boy and shut the door of the stall to give him some privacy. A couple minutes later, Chuck heard Tommy flush the toilet. He waited until Tommy emerged from the stall and boosted him up so he could wash his hands before they returned to the table.
When they arrived back at the table, they found that four more adults, three men and a woman, had joined their group. Ellie and Devon were quietly conversing with an older gentleman a bit shorter than they were with kind eyes and a grandfatherly demeanor who was nodding along with them. Sarah was speaking with the other three, most of her interactions were directed at the woman with dark hair and the older man, clearly the leader of the group with a greying military high and tight haircut and bright blue eyes.
Sarah noticed Chuck and Tommy's approach and waved them over, "Agent Gibbs, allow me to introduce my partner, CIA Special Agent Charles Carmichael, and this is Tommy." She laid her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Chuck, Tommy, this is Special Agent Gibbs, and his team Agents Kate Todd and Tony DiNozzo."
"Are you spies too?!" Tommy's eyes widened.
Sarah looked uncomfortable for a moment, as Chuck tapped Tommy on the shoulder, "We're not spies, Bud, remember? We just work with them."
"I heard Sarah say you are agents," Tommy pointed out, a challenging look on his face almost as if to say I'm young not stupid.
"Okay, fine, you caught us," Chuck sighed as Gibbs and his team chuckled, "But you can't tell anyone, alright."
"Okay," Tommy nodded and turned back to Gibbs. "So, you're not with the CIA?"
"No, we're not," Gibbs shook his head, "We work for NCIS, do you know what that is?"
"Yeah," Tommy nodded, "Dad told me that you are the good guys."
"That's right," Gibbs nodded, "I'm a Marine just like your dad and we take care of our own."
"Ooh Rah!" Tommy grunted, causing Gibbs to grin.
"I like you, Son," Gibbs nodded approvingly. "I think its always best to be honest, so here's the deal. Since your dad is a Marine, my team is taking over the search for him, which means you need to come with us until we can find your dad."
"Why can't I stay with Chuck, Sarah, Ellie, and Awesome?" Tommy's eyes got misty.
Chuck crouched down and turned the boy to face him. "Tommy, we have to go home. We don't live here; we were just on vacation and Ellie and Awesome have to get back to work tomorrow. Kate is a friend of Sarah's and wouldn't work with someone who wasn't a good guy. Besides, let me tell you a secret, Sarah and I also work with a Marine back home, and he is one of the best guys I know. I bet your dad would really like him if they ever met, and if Gibbs says he's a Marine, he's a good guy too. He'll take care of you until they are able to find your dad."
"Okay," Tommy nodded with a sniff, "I'm going to miss you."
"I'm gonna miss you too, Bud," Chuck gave the boy a soft smile, "Tell ya what, Ellie gave your dad her number. When Agent Gibbs finds your dad, have him give Elle a call, maybe we can all meet up again for a visit when you're on break from school or something. Sound good?"
"Uh huh," Tommy nodded and threw himself into Chuck's arms, nearly knocking him over at the force of the impact. It was soon apparent the boy wasn't about to let go, so Chuck pulled him close and stood back to his full height.
Gibbs didn't miss the soft looks that were directed toward the tall agent by the women in their vicinity. It was clear that this man was something special, and if the looks the CIA agent was giving him were any indication, he would be well rewarded once they got to where they were going that evening.
"Is this our young mister Winters?" Chuck and Sarah turned at the sound of the English-accented voice.
"Yeah," Chuck nodded, "He's having a bit of a hard time right now."
"I don't doubt it." The man nodded, wise blue eyes evaluating the small form still clinging to the tall CIA agent. "I know your sister, Eleanor and her young man already have evaluated the boy, but I do need to give him a look-over for my own documentation."
Chuck nodded and whispered something in Tommy's ear. The boy nodded against Chuck's neck and relaxed his hold a bit. The older man gestured to a nearby table with some chair and waited for Chuck to take a seat, Tommy, in his lap as the older man pulled out a seat and faced them.
"Good evening Tommy," The older man gave him a grandfatherly smile, "My name is Donald Mallard, but my friends just call me Ducky."
"Like the cartoon?" Tommy perked up, "Donald Duck."
"Very much so, only I would like to think I have a much cooler head than my fowl and animated counterpart," Ducky joked, "I'm a medical examiner, which I just a fancy way of saying that I'm a doctor who works with an investigative team such as NCIS. Jethro and I have been friends for a great many years."
"'Jethro?'" Tommy giggled, "That's a funny name."
"It is isn't it?" Gibbs shrugged, "I was named for a good friend of my father's who saved him when they served together. My Pop calls me Leroy, but I don't much like it, Ducky is the only one allowed to call me Jethro, I'm Gibbs to everyone else."
Tommy nodded, "Okay, Gibbs."
"Good man," Gibbs nodded, "Get on with it, Duck, these folks have a plane to catch."
"Right," Ducky nodded, "I'll make this as quick as possible. Tommy, how old are you?"
"Six and a half, I'll be seven in April," Tommy stated.
"You are a very brave young man," Ducky nodded, "I'm sure losing your father was quite scary."
"It was, but Ellie and Captain Awesome and Chuck and Sarah found me," Tommy explained.
When Ducky looked to Chuck for clarification, "Awesome is Devon." He shrugged, "It's a nickname on account of the fact he uses the word to describe everything he does from sky diving to white water rafting, free climbing… flossing. Ellie hates it, but Devon actually likes it, so it stuck."
"Having met the man and hearing his way of speaking, I see how one might start to call him that," Ducky nodded before turning back to Tommy, "I have to ask, although I'm sure I already know the answer, but you didn't run away, did you?"
"No, sir," Tommy shook his head vehemently, "We were just reading the names on the wall and when I turned around, my dad was gone."
"I see, and no injuries recently?" Ducky saw the confused look on the boy's face until Chuck broke in.
"He's just asking if you've gotten hurt in the last few days," Chuck explained, "Did you fall down or get hurt somehow?"
"I fell off my bike and scraped my knee," Tommy shrugged, lifting his pant leg to reveal a bandage just below his patella, "But Dad put some Neosporin on it and a Band-Aid, so it doesn't hurt anymore."
"Doctor Woodcomb, erm Devon, said that you were quite cold when they found your earlier," Ducky continued, "How long were you sitting outside?"
"I don't know," Tommy shrugged.
Ducky nodded, "Do you mind if I do a quick exam just to make sure you haven't caught a cold?"
Tommy nodded and sat patiently as the older doctor pulled out a white wand with a ball on the end. He ran the ball over Tommy's head until it let out a quick beeping sound. The doctor checked the reading and nodded, a small smile on his face indicating that the reading was within normal range. He then felt under the boy's jaw along his neck and smiled, "Well, you seem to be a healthy young man," Ducky pronounced. "You don't seem to have suffered from your time out of doors, other than a little chill, which is to be expected in this weather."
"Is he good Duck?" Gibbs asked.
"Right as rain as they say," Ducky nodded, "He's a healthy little boy by my estimations."
"Great," Gibbs nodded, "Tommy, we need to get back to the NCIS office so my team can keep working on finding your dad. You need to say goodbye to Agent Carmichael and his family."
"Okay," Tommy nodded.
"I'll take him around," Chuck assured the greying NCIS Agent before setting Tommy on the ground and taking his hand, leading him to where Ellie and Devon had joined Sarah in chatting with Kate and Tony. "Hey guys, Tommy is going to go with Gibbs so we can head home."
Ellie gave the boy a sad smile and crouched down, gathering the boy into a hug, "Alright, Sweetie, you be good for Agent Gibbs, do everything he says." She admonished the young boy much as she used to when Chuck was around the same age and she was a young teenager.
"Yes'm" Tommy nodded solemnly and gave her a hug back.
Devon held out a fist, which Tommy bumped, "Stay awesome, little Dude."
"Okay," Tommy smiled at the larger than life doctor before turning to see Sarah.
"Hey Kiddo," She gave him a soft smile, running her hand through his short hair, "It was nice to meet you. I hope you find your dad and can come see us again soon."
"Me too," Tommy nodded and held his arms out to her, giving her a hug when she bent down to him.
"Alright, Buddy," Chuck caught the kid's attention once more, "It's time for us to go." He gave the boy one last hug and led him over to where Gibbs stood with the rest of his team. The whole group exited together, while Gibbs got Tommy situated in the back seat, Sarah and Kate exchanged a brief hug and promises to call to talk and follow up on Tommy soon. Gibbs gave the command and the teams quickly exchanged handshakes and the NCIS team loaded up in the navy-blue sedan, Kate and Tony in the back seat on either side of Tommy, and Ducky in the passenger seat with Gibbs driving. Tommy waived to the four who had saved him as the car eased into traffic and down the road.
Once they were out of sight, Sarah hailed a cab, knowing that there wasn't enough time to catch the train back, and gave the cabbie their destination as the four of them loaded up into the car to catch their flight. The trip back to Burbank was filled with excitement over their new endeavor, Ellie and Awesome having already received the medical files from the Agent X trials and reviewing them as the plane leveled off, but also all feeling sad for Tommy and hoping that his father could be found soon.
Since their pilots had waited for them, the flight was a little late taking off and it was nearly 10PM by the time they arrived back to Casa Bartowski-Woodcomb. Chuck didn't want Sarah to have to drive more that night, and insisted she stay over, not that it took too much convincing on his part. The next day they would officially start their new mission, which, if all went well, could not only help the agencies make improvements to the Intersect, but potentially free Orion, Frost, and Winterbottom – code name Lupus - to return home to their families.