A few days went by and the team was still desperately free of any case that hadn't gone cold like five years. Tony was insufferable, behaving like a grounded child, Gibbs was obviously in a bear-like mood only appeased by coffee runs or his interactions with their favorite lab tech. Ziva was hitting any object that didn't seem to cooperate with her, that included her computer and phone, the printer, her keyboard and occasionally the remote. Tim, stuck in the madness, was suffering in silence as often.
"I can't believe it" complained Tony,"All criminals in DC suddenly choose to live an honest life how is that even fair to us," he asked rhetorically, "nobody thinks of how this stupid 'no crime policy' affects us ?" he finished.
"You're right DiNozzo, how inconsiderate of innocent people to not be brutally murdered, robbed or threatened for your entertainment." growled Gibbs.
"Boss, you know that's not what I meant" cried Tony.
"It's not what you mean that matters Tony, it's what's coming out of your mouth." explained Gibbs, "We are all bored out of our mind, but if it means that we worked well enough for innocent Marines and their family to be safe in the country they're fighting for, then I'm pretty sure none of us will mind doing paperwork for a while. Plus, we finally have time to concentrate on killers that actually got away for far too long. Never forget all of you, "he said now talking to his entire team" behind each cold case, there's a person who has been unfairly taken away from her or his family and loved ones waiting for justice to be served." he finished solemnly.
His team was stunned, watching their boss, thinking of all the times they complained or tried to escape from their unpleasant tasks, now very ashamed.
Their leader was a rather taciturn guy, not needing many (or any, really) words to communicate exactly what he wanted. But when the man decided to talk, damn was he good at it.
It was impossible to miss his eloquence; the expressions and tone he used would make anyone stop whatever they were doing and hang on every word.
It felt like a brick wall for them, they had been selfish, disrespectful and worse of all, had disappointed their mentor.
"Sorry, Boss"
"I'm sorry Boss"
"I apologize Gibbs" said the three agents sadly.
"Good" was the only response they got before going back to work to their respective work.
At his desk, Gibbs took a sip of his coffee when he thought of Cassidy's email, it was a good time to give her an answer as he finally knew his whereabouts for the weekend.
The team wasn't on call this week so he could have lunch or dinner with her, he never thought he'd have that type of plans with Paula Cassidy.
Sure, it was just to ask him about the work as a team leader and how to perfectly fulfill her position but still, he had rarely interacted with only her and had to admit he was curious.
He opened his emails, clicked on Cassidy's name and started typing surprisingly fast for a man who was known as the less capable agent around technology.
Hey Paula,
Didn't expect you to join a team at the HQ even less leading one. We're not on call this weekend so what we do is up to you really. Just let me know at least the previous night and be sure to know what you want to ask beforehand so we can both save some time.
Call if you need.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Sending the email, he closed the tab and opened a holiday request for another team's agent. The protocol was to fill in a request, submit it to the team leader who then transferred it to him for a final answer.
One of the agent had a wedding to attend to and even if he personally hated those, he could understand the wish to be present to witness a couple of friends tying the knot. He wrote his approval and printed the document to sign it.
He added the completed form to the pile of things he had to give to the director and went on with his tasks.
He opened a file on his computer and studied the buildings plans he had received from the FBI. Because yeah, another part of his job was to plan, coordinate and lead the different security details NCIS teams were involved in, whereas it was with or without other agencies. And if anything was to happen, it was also his job to read, check and sign all the incident reports and follow up on the consequences.
He really hated working with the other big letters, but sometimes it was inevitable and he preferred to cooperate with different kinds of idiots in suits than being short on security and have a politician or worse an innocent die on his watch.
This mission was a good example, in a few weeks there would be the Admiral Felton's Birthday Party.
Every year the man threw a big party at a new chosen was more of a bal really and Gibbs mostly saw it as an excuse for all the DC elite to dress up, talk about politics and eventually reconnect with otherwise busy friends. The last part, he could understand but the others were what made those events a pain in his ass.
He didn't care about dressing up and would gladly pass on being stuck in a room filled with hypocrisy and make-believe.
But the Admiral was Navy so it was not only his job to assure that the event would go peacefully, but also a personal reassurance to know the man would be in his own capable hands for the night.
His team often joked that he was a control freak; the reality was that he knew he was among the best at his job and often prevented tragedies no one else saw coming. He was driven by a strong sense of duty along with his values and managed to think out of the box (which was clearly a plus when they had to deal with psycho killers or smart terrorists). Knowing all that and the fact that their situations were more often than not a matter of life or death, he couldn't really bring himself to let just any agent from any agency in charge.
So here he was, studying another set of plans and schedules, trying to think of all the possible flaws and weaknesses that could be exploited to harm the event or kill the Admiral and what it would take to prevent them all.
His method for those missions was always the same.
First, he'd take in all the info about the places where the security detail and alleged target would have to be, check several potential routes and look for all the security cameras and traffic habits in order to prepare for what they would or could encounter on the roads. Then he'd determine how many agents would be needed, from what agencies and how many vehicles should be prepared.
The next step was the longest, he'd have to prepare a full plan detailing every agent's position and movements. The Admiral had not received any specific threats lately but given his rank and his career, he had his fair share of ennemies and that night was also an occasion for unknown ones to make a move.
But it wasn't all, Gibbs would set out two or three backup plans in case someone tried to attack the Admiral, the cars or the building he would be in. Those plans had to be completely different from the first, yet as efficient and flawless. He would have to find unpredictable courses of action that would confuse any attackers and get them lost.
Over the years, he had seen stupid criminals try and fail to take down his "package" as they often were referred to. But even if his plans had proven their efficiency, he strictly refused to use the same ones. After all someone could be smart enough to have thought of a way to bypass one of his security strategies.
He knew he would have thought about it, and eventually with enough time, he might have been able to find an idea and try it, even more if the agency in charge was the "FBI don't care about the safety of the people I'm supposed to protect", since it was so easy to get pass their guard.
Finally, he would hand pick all the agents deployed for the mission based on their skills, resistance to stress full situations and of course loyalty. He never had any problem with the agents he chose, but there were a few times when the director had tried to listen to the other agencies' recommendations on the matter and let's just say that those were the times when he had to use his back up plans.
His ability to predict a large amount of scenarios and solutions was, after all, very similar to the best NSA analysts.
He heard his agents share thoughts about one of their cold cases and something caught his attention.
"Ziver, what did you just say about the victim's lawnmower.." he asked, already convinced that it was just a matter of time before they brought another man behind bars.
There was still so much his team didn't know about him..
