Chapter 3

"Director McGee! We're going to be late!" Paul shouted from the living room. He'd gotten to the apartment early to pick Tim up, but his charge was still getting ready. A minute later, Tim came out into the living room as he finished tying his tie.

"I'm so sorry, Paul... I can't believe I forgot to set my alarm last night."

"It's all right... we have to get moving, though. You have a 9 AM meeting, and it's already 8:30."

Tim grabbed his wallet and the keys to his apartment.

"Let's roll."

The drive to the NCIS Rome office was only ten minutes from Tim's apartment. Paul pulled into the parking garage. He pulled the SUV into a parking space with a plaque on the wall that read Reserved - Director of Cyber Crimes.

"Wow... I've never had my own parking space before."

"Perks of being Director," Paul said with a wink. He turned off the ignition. "Don't get out until I come around. For your own safety."

Tim nodded and Paul got out of the car. Tim opened the door a few second later, when Paul rapped on the window.

"I'll take you to your office, then I'll show you where you have to go for your 9 AM meeting."

"Sounds good."

They boarded the elevator, and took it to the top floor. When they got off, Tim noticed that it looked very similar to the top floor in the D.C. office. Paul led him down the hall through French doors, into a large area. To the right was a couch and arm chair, suitable for a waiting area. To his left, a young woman sat typing behind her desk.

"Director McGee, this is Laura Faucette, your Secretary."

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Faucette," Tim said, extending a hand. She shook it and sat back down to continue her work.

"Laura will keep track of all your meetings and appointments, and keep you on your toes," Paul said. "Your office is right through those glass doors."

Tim walked ahead of Paul, and pushed the frosted glass doors open.

"Wow... this is... amazing!"

The office had cathedral ceilings, with distinctly Roman architecture about them. There were bookshelves lining the right wall, and to the left was a large window, overlooking the city. Tim's desk was in the middle.

"I hate to rush you, Director, but your meeting is in five minutes."

Tim set down his bag next to his desk.

"I guess I'd better get going."

Paul showed McGee to the conference room down the hall from his office, and left him to his first meeting as Director of Cyber Crimes.

Later... 2:00 PM

Tim trudged tiredly into his office and fell down into his chair. He'd only been Director for five hours, and he'd done nothing but sit in meetings all day. He'd checked with Laura upon arriving back to his office, and she informed him he had a two-hour gap in his schedule. He was elated, and thanked her profusely before retreating to his office.

He took out his cell phone and started flipping through his pictures. He stopped on a picture of Abby.

I wonder what she's doing right now?

On an impulse, he dialed her number.

"Hello?"

Tim smiled. She sounded like she'd been asleep.

"Hey Abby."

"Tim! It's so good to hear from you! I've missed you!"

"I've only been gone for 24 hours," he said with a chuckle.

"I still miss you, and so does everyone else."

"I'm coming back... I'm not staying in Rome forever."

Tim heard another voice in the background, and what sounded like the phone changing hands.

"Probie! How's Rome treating you?"

"It's great, Tony. My office is bigger than Vance's. Don't tell him I said that, though."

"My lips are sealed. So how is your first day as Director of Cyber Crimes?"

"All I've been doing is sitting in meetings... I finally have a gap in my calendar before my next one. How's it going with Gibbs?"

"He looked at your desk this morning to get an update from you on our latest case, and forgot you weren't there."

"That's his way of missing me, I guess."

"He won't admit it."

Tim's desk phone rang.

"I have to go... my phone is ringing. I'll call you guys later, okay?"

"Bye Probie! Keep in touch!"

"Will do." Tim hung up his cell phone and answered the ringing desk phone.

"Speci- I mean, Director McGee."

"Director, I need your approval on a new piece of software we're going to install on every computer in the building. It will help us sort information in a more concise manner, to make searching for information faster and easier."

"Excuse me, but whom am I speaking with?"

"Oh my gosh I'm sorry! This is Agent Giardino, from the IT department."

"Okay. Can you get a report together on this new software, and bring it to my office? I want to see what it looks like before we put it on anyone's computer."

"Yes, Sir. Right away."

"Great, come up and see me when it's finished."

Tim hung up and sat back in his chair. He wondered how Vance hadn't had a nervous breakdown doing his job. It was only his first day as Director of Cyber Crimes, and he was more exhausted than he'd ever been in his life.

Later... 2100 hours...

"Director."

Tim jolted awake and sat upright at his desk. Paul was standing next to him.

"Huh? Did I miss a meeting?"

Paul chuckled.

"No... come on, I'll take you home."

Tim got up and picked up his things, and followed Paul to the elevator. They rode down to the parking garage, and Paul exited first, to ensure the coast was clear. He gave Tim the go-ahead, and Tim followed him to the SUV. Tim got in first, and Paul went around to the driver's side. As he put the car in gear, someone appeared in the rearview mirror, standing behind the car.

"Stay here."

"What's going on?"

"Just, stay here."

Paul got out, taking his gun out of the hip holster as he did so. Tim watched Paul approach the stranger. As he got closer, the stranger ran off. Paul rushed to the car.

"What the hell was that?" Tim asked.

"I'm not sure, but I'm calling this in. I want to know who he is and how he got on base." Paul grabbed his phone and hit a speed dial. "This is Agent Forsythe. I just chased away a suspicious person loitering around the Director's car. He ran off toward the parking garage entrance. 6'5, medium build, blonde hair. I want him detained, and I want to know what moron let him on base!" Paul hung up and threw his phone into the center console. He put the car back in gear and backed out of the spot.

The ride home was quiet. Tim could tell that Paul had his eyes open for suspicious activity. After the stranger on base, Paul was on high alert. Tim wanted to ask him about the whole thing, but thought it better to leave things alone.

When they got to Tim's apartment building, Paul got out first, and, gun drawn, went around to let Tim out.

"Paul, you can relax now... the front gate told us that they caught that guy. Everything is fine."

"Let's go upstairs. I want to explain some things to you, Tim."

They walked together into the building and rode the elevator in silence. Tim let them into his apartment, and Paul went into the kitchen without a word. Tim followed him.

"Paul, what's the matter?"

"Tim, I take my job very seriously. When even the smallest of things happens, it's my job to make sure you are out of harm's way. That guy behind the car today could have had a gun, or accomplices waiting to ambush us. I have to take every precaution when it comes to your safety."

"I'm sorry, Paul. I shouldn't have taken that so lightly."

"It's not your fault, Tim. Everyone at the entire Agency has been on high alert since Director Thomas was shot."

"How is he, by the way?" Tim asked.

"He's healing. By some miracle, the shooter didn't hit any fatal organs. Do you want to know why he was shot, Tim?"

"I'm going to regret this, but why?"

"His security detail was supposed to stay with him when he went off-base to go to an inter-agency meeting. His personal bodyguard stepped away to use the men's room, and left Director Thomas alone in the lobby. In the two minutes he was in the men's room, the shooter managed to get into the lobby and start shooting. When he came out, the Director was already on the floor."

"Wow. They didn't tell us any of that back in Washington."

"They won't. You have to have high security clearance to know what happened."

A thought occurred to Tim, and before he could stop himself, he spoke up.

"Paul, were you that Agent assigned to his detail?"

Paul averted his gaze, but brought it back up to his Boss.

"Yes. I was lucky not to be fired. I convinced Vance to give me another chance, and when we got word that you were coming from Washington to step in for Director Thomas, I vowed to myself that I would never let that happen again."

"I have complete trust in you, Paul. You're doing a hell of a job already. I mean, you chased away a random intruder that ended up just being some junkie off the street that wandered onto base... the Field Agent in me wanted to get out with you, but you made me stay in the car. You're doing a phenomenal job."

"Thanks, Director."

"Please, call me Tim. I've been hearing 'Director' all day."

Paul laughed.

Tim looked over at the TV, and the ridiculously comfortable-looking sofa.

"Do you want to hang out and watch TV? You have to show me how to get the English-speaking channels."

"Sure. Thanks."

Tim went and found the remote, and turned on the TV. He and Paul found a movie in English, Die Hard With A Vengeance.

"My friend Tony loves this movie," Tim commented as the movie started. When Paul didn't respond, Tim looked over to find his new friend sleeping on the couch. Tim turned off the TV and decided to call it a night. He went into his bedroom and got ready for bed. Tomorrow was a new adventure, and he wanted to be ready.

TBC...