JF16
ICYMI:
Muffulettas are large, round sandwiches filled with Italian deli meats, cheeses, and homemade olive salad. Muffuletta typically comes in a whole or half size. A whole muffuletta will feed 4 people with an average appetite making it a great option for sharing. A very popular dish for lunch in New Orleans.
Pompano en Papillote—a pompano filet cooked en papillote, i.e. in a sealed parchment paper envelope, with a white sauce of wine, shrimp, and crabmeat.
Jambalaya—a dish of rice and meat (often a combination of andouille sausage, chicken, and shrimp) cooked with vegetables and Creole spices.
Bananas Foster—a dessert made from bananas and vanilla ice cream, with a sauce made from butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum, and banana liqueur; often served as a flambé.
Doberge cake—a cake with many thin layers, separated with dessert pudding or custard[23] (often half chocolate and half lemon), and with a glazed outer frosting
"My brother." Special Agent in Charge of the NOLA office answered his work cell phone, warmly to Gibbs. Gibbs was sitting in his blue truck in his assigned spot on the Navy yard. He had just dropped Tim of at JB-AB and had sat in his truck and watched SecNav's plane take off with Tim onboard.
"My Brother." Gibbs replied in a friendly, happy voice. "How are you, Pride?"
"Really Good Gibbs, the sun is shining, drinks are flowing, and the music is playing." Pride answered and Gibbs could hear the happiness in his voice. "Say, I'm getting a tech agent from DC on a case. Anyone you know?"
Gibbs couldn't help it, he grinned to himself widely. "Well yeah, that's why I called. You're getting my agent, Tim."
"McGee? He's a field agent, not cybercrimes." Pride answered his friend. "Don't get me wrong, he's a great agent, going places that boy, but we both know that field agents aren't the best with the tech. They're like us, they're old school."
"Yeah, not that one. He's my brightest by a country mile. Graduated magna cum laude from Johns Hopkins with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a master's in biomedical engineering and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's in computer science and master's in computer forensics from MIT, by the time he was twenty-one. PhD in Justice and Criminology from Georgetown U eight years ago. He's a genius." Gibbs bragged to his pseudo brother. "Damn fine field agent too. Going to be Director of our agency someday, Dwayne."
"Well, that explains why SecNav's on her way with him." Dwayne joked, before turning serious. "Give it to me straight, you made half that BS up to intimidate me. Don't forget, I've met your boy, McGee before. he's a field Agent, a good one, has the potential to do better."
"Nope," Gibbs chuckled. "Every word is true."
"Explains why Tobias Fornell was happy to keep him in DC during the investigation. Does he ever try to poach McGee?"
"Try, yes. Tempt McGee, nah. That boy is as loyal as they come. Tobias wanted a chance to see what it felt like to be McGee's boss." Gibbs told his brother straight up. "Besides, McGee's got no plans to leave DC any time soon."
"He got himself another philly, now? I remember you saying he lost his last girlfriend in the attack on the Conrad Gala." Pride asked. He recalled the conversation, as soon as they had heard about the attack on the Conrad Gala, he had called Gibbs to make sure he and his team was ok. He had heard the upset in his brother's voice when he said an agent of his was injured in the drone strike.
"This one's a little closer to home, Pride. Does not work in Law enforcement or intelligence." Gibbs told him, taking a deep breath. "She calls me, Dad. Pride. Tim is stuck on my Kelly. Kell on him, too. They're stuck on stupid around one another. He's a good man, Pride. One of the best. He's, my people."
"If he's your people, Gibbs, then he's my people, too. I got his six." Special Agent Dwayne Pride told his long-time friend.
"Just make sure you don't cross paths with an Admiral John McGee, his old man."
"The Admiral's a piece of work then?" Dwayne guessed.
"Understatement of the century, my brother." Gibbs told him, not giving his long-time friend any details. "McGee is the best of the best, take care of him."
"He's one of yours, I give you my word, he'll be OK."
Gibbs disconnected the call. It wasn't often he and Pride had such a lengthy phone call, especially about work. But he promised himself, not for Tim, but for Kelly that he would be OK.
Tim settled into his seat on the Gulfstream, looking relaxed and carefree, ready for his three-hour flight. He knew he had a goofy smile on his face, he couldn't help it. By the time, they were ready to take off, Tim had head slapped himself and pulled himself together.
Tim knew he needed his head in the game and not back home on Kelly. He felt guilty for indulging himself in that kiss. He knew he gave as good as he got, unwilling to admit, even to himself that he would miss Kelly's daily presence in his life while he was away.
He shouldn't have let Kelly get by him like that. He was also miffed that she hadn't listened to him. He had only told her the day before that he wasn't ready to make a move yet, that he was still grieving Delilah.
From the SecNav Sarah Porter's seat on the Gulfstream, she could see Agent McGee clearly. She was always curious about the young man beneath the agent and beneath the brilliant mind. New Orleans had been out of her way, but she had a day spare in her itinerary and hadn't been the to the New Orleans office before.
She observed the wan grin and watched the young man refocus himself, the way she had seen Gibbs do to Agent DiNozzo, a few times before and only once before to the young man. She had to admire his work ethic there, even if he wasn't technically on the clock for another hour. She had read his books, when she had run his background before they had first met and discovered his identity. She found out that he was Gemcity. She hadn't realised he was the author, and the young man hadn't given her any hints, either.
As soon as they were allowed to use their electronic devices, Tim was on his laptop with a cold case open. It was a cold case that he had worked, his first year aboard the Navy yard as part of the MCRT. A case he knew inside and out, and had been focussing on for the last year, in his spare working time. He had also sent Kelly an email to her personal email address, not her work email telling her that while he enjoyed the passionate and toe-curling kiss they'd shared, he still wasn't ready to have it go any further.
Tim received a reply within five minutes, from Kelly, with an apology for the kiss and an explanation that she was seizing the moment. The tone of the email read as regretful, that she would hate for something to happen to him because his mind was focused on her, not on the case. That she could definitely wait for him to return to DC. that she missed him already and hoped he would be back soon.
Seeing Kelly's email, made Tim grin widely. She had been apologetic and realised that she had acted impulsively and knew she shouldn't have done it. He made sure o reassure her that although the timing was wrong, he enjoyed the kiss and wouldn't object if they did it again soon. But when he was ready.
Landing at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans, Tim gathered his bags and was surprised not to be greeted by someone from the NOLA office, but rather to be ushered into the back of a black SUV with SecNav and have her security personnel in the front seat. "I apologise for ordering the SSAIC and SFA of the NOLA office to not meet us, but this may be my only opportunity to see the New Orleans Field Office for myself. I know SSAIC Gibbs and SSAIC Pride go way back, and I have no doubt that Gibbs called his friend to make sure you were met at the plane. " Sarah Porter said to Tim, once they had cleared the base and were on route to NCIS NOLA HQ.
"I have no doubt either, Ma'am." Tim smiled at her. "Gibbs is protective of his people and would make sure that someone was there to meet their plane. He's good, like that."
"So, it's not because of the budding relationship that you and the young Miss Gibbs have?" Sarah porter asked, disarming him with her warmth a little.
"Hardly" Tim argued softly. "Kelly and I are just friends, Ma'am. Good friends, but just friends, nonetheless.
"Agent McGee, may I share something personal with you?" At his affirmative nod, she continued. "My now, ex-husband and I were just friends for many years before started seeing each other and eventually we'd. We had a successful marriage and relationship. It may have ended now, but we still shared twenty years of happy times before we drifted apart. We were friends for a long time before we were married. Our relationship was a successful one, not because we're divorced now, but because we knew when enough was enough and didn't let it turn into a bitter ending for our daughter Megan."
Sarah Porter took a deep breath, the next part of what she had to say was harsh, but necessary. "What happened to Miss Fielding was tragic, truly tragic and while you've been in my thoughts and I assume, everyone else's, too. Now might be the time to start looking forward to the future and what you want out of life. From what I have heard about Miss Gibbs; she is a strong and fiercely independent woman, who isn't afraid to go for what she wants in life. She's smart and according to my sources; the two of you have a lot in common. I also have it on good authority that she is the kind of woman that you like that you're attracted to."
"Have you been speaking to Gibbs?" Tim asked with a small, embarrassed chuckle, wondering how the hell the Secretary of the US Navy and USMC knew that about him. Knew about the type of women he liked.
"No, Tim. I met a woman recently. A female Professor at a faculty fundraiser for the expansion of the Women's Studies Program at Columbia, where my daughter will attend school in the new year." Sarah told him, sending him a sideways glance.
"Professor Langston?" Tim guessed and at her grin, he knew he was right. "Professor Penelope Langston is a formidable woman. She's smart, intuitive and -"
"It's easy to see why you're attracted to women like her. She's your grandmother, she raised you." Sarah interrupted him, finishing his sentence. "She's a force to be reckoned with."
"If she ever hears you refer to her as a grandmother, you will meet your reckoning, Ma'am." Tim explained to SecNav. "We call her Penny, ne er dare call her a grandmother. Ask Gibbs or Tony what happens if you do."
"Well Penny had some great things to say about you, too. She mentioned your father too, and your grandfather and great-grandfather. I didn't know your family was Navy royalty, Tim." Sarah posed her next question delicately. "Should Admiral John McGee ever ask me about his son?"
"We've never met, and you don't know anything me." Tim finished with a tight-lipped forced smile. "If you don't mind. As long as he stays on the West Coast, I'll happily keep on my coast, with the exception any work I have done or happen to undertake with the LA, OSP team."
"Yes, Leon told me that you have a good working relationship with them."
Pulling up out the front of the oldest Louisiana courthouse in the state, SecNav's security detail turned around and smiled at them. "It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the NOLA office is in the back of this building."
"Gibbs says, if we enter by the side street we don't have to walk through the courthouse." Tim told Carson, one half of the SecNav's security detail. "That the NOLA agents use that as their own personal entrance /exit, through the courtyard."
Carson agreed that they would do a block, conducting a risk assessment. "Are you armed, Agent McGee?" Carson asked. He had known Carson since he was a rookie on the MCRT, he was a good agent. At Tim's nod, Carson gave him the detail. "Ma'am we'll check it out, listen to McGee. He's in charge."
Carson and his partner exit the car and look over the perimeter while Tim unholsters his weapon and keeps a look out. Six minutes later, Carson gives them all clear, and they head into the NOLA office through the side entrance.
"Ma'am, welcome to New Orleans. Pleasure to have you here." Pride introduced himself and his team to the Secretary of the Navy in his usual gruff Louisiana bayou twang. "I'm Agent in Charge; Dwayne Pride. This is Agent Christopher LaSalle and Agent Meredith Brodie. Call me Pride. Hey Agent McGee, welcome to New Orleans."
Sarah Porter shook the offered hands of Pride and his team before Brodie took her on a tour of their office.
Tim shook Pride's hand too, as he did with LaSalle. "We gotta get some grub into you, boy. You're nothing but skin and bones." Chris LaSalle told Tim, looking the man over. "Got orders to watch your back. MaGee, we're gonna treat you so good, you ain't never gonna wanna leave." The twang in LaSalle's voice was definitely different, slightly. If Tim had to guess, he'd bet Chris was born and raised in Alabama.
"Highly doubt that." Pride roared with laughter. "McGee's got himself a beautiful philly just waiting for him back in DC. If you listen to the scuttlebutt." Tim smiled at that. Pride had definitely spoken to Gibbs.
Pride, Brodie and LaSalle briefed Tim and the SecNav on the current case that had bought him all the way out of DC to the NOLA office. They were on a task force, working a case with the FBI. Sarah Porter nodded along at the briefing of the current project. It was a refreshing change for her, not to read about the case second or third hand, but to be briefed directly by the agents on the ground. This was a luxury she seldom had and when she did, it was usually Gibbs and the MCRT team.
"OK I'm going to need a 2TB RAM, a quad 9 core processor, 4 HDMI cables, top of the line graphics card, XTR sound card, Bluetooth card..." Looking around the room, Tim stopped speaking. Everyone was looking at him with the same eyes glazed over look, that Gibbs gave him when he began explaining the techs, in detail. "I'll stop. Assuming the FBI are controlling the surveillance?"
"Yes, Tobias Fornell from DC is heading up the FBI task force." pride told Gibbs. "You remember him? From when I was in DC?"
"Oh yeah, we know each other well. We actually go back a long time." Tobias said, strolling into the briefing. "Hey Tim." Tobias offered his hand to Tim.
"Fornell." Tim greeted the man, taking the offered hand. "Long time no see, didn't know you were going to be here."
"Didn't tell that boss of yours, wasn't sure what he knew about the case. Lately though, he doesn't have much to say about work. Lots to say about you, though." Tobias warned him. "Just watch your back, getting involved with a Gibbs. It can be like quicksand."
"Thanks for the tip. Is Sacks or Grady on this taskforce? They'll know what I'm talking about with requisitioning the parts I need." Tim explained, looking at both Pride and Fornell.
"Get me a list, I'll send Grady. He can have it all for you, in two hours. Even if we have to cannibalise the FBI NOLA CCU for them." Fornell joked with them, before getting Grady on his cell phone and Tim rattling off what he needs.
Sarah Porter had been impressed that the FBI had been willing to take computer parts from their own CCU for Agent McGee. Catching her surprised look, Tobias Fornell reintroduced himself to her. "Ma'am, I'm not sure if you remember me, I'm FBI Senior Agent Fornell. Let me clear up your confusion for you, Madam Secretary. Agent McGee has a stellar reputation; both within your agency and in law enforcement, in general. He is known for many things, but perhaps he is most renowned for his unrivalled computer skills. Our CCU team at the FBI are always amazed at the new things he's constantly working on. When Tim McGee asks our techs for a favour, they ask how they can help. He has garnered their respect and admiration."
"Here, I was actually thinking it may have been because of Gibbs." Sarah commented lowly, dropping her voice just low enough for Tobias to hear.
A huge belly laugh sounded out of Fornell. "It's in spite of Gibbs."
Within the allotted two hours Grady had all the parts that Tim had requested, delivered to the NCIS NOLA office. SecNav had bid the team goodbye and good luck, reminding them she would be following up with each of them, when the case closed.
Another hour later and Tim was booting up the computer and formatting it to his standards, before installing all of his programs including his prototypes that Vance had given him permission to use for both the case and to take from the CCU, where it was being beta-tested.
As his long, nimble fingers flew across the keyboard of his laptop at warp speed, while he waited for the programs to install on the desktop. LaSalle and Brodie looked on amazement, both of them considered themselves to be great with computers, in comparison to Pride. But Pride was a pro, in comparison to Gibbs.
"He's good." Meredith Brodie commented, impressed, watching McGee install his programs, while Fornell and Pride were in a heated discussion about the pros and cons of heated Muffuletta versus deli-style.
"Good, seems like an understatement there. Is he writing a program?" Chris LaSalle asked Brodie. "What? There isn't a program already made that he can just you know, Download and install?"
Pride and Fornell stopped what they were arguing about when they heard Agent LaSalle's comment to Agent Brodie. "I can't see Gibbs liking that." Pride agreed with Chris, keeping his voice hushed.
"Known McGee a long time, Pride. Since he was a case agent in Norfolk, twelve years ago. If he is writing a program in the middle of a case, it's because the program he needs for the case doesn't exist. When he's on a case, he's much like his mentor, Gibbs. Like a dog with a bone, he won't give it up till the job is done."
"I can hear you all, you know." Tim commented, letting them know they weren't as quite as they thought. "Got questions, just ask. I can multi-task. I work with DiNozzo."
"You're writing a program right now?" Pride asked, letting his surprise shine through.
"While I load two of the programs I wrote recently on to the system, yeah. They're currently being beta-tested by the NCIS' CCU in DC. One program will look for financial anomalies, the other will look anomalies in the phone records, both landline, cell, as well as texts messages. I am putting together a program to search for and identify if they use any repetitive catchphrases; in both their social media and their online vlogs."
"What's a vlog?" Pride asked and the rest of the room rolled their eyes while Tim continued tapping away, typing a lightning-fast speed creating a program to save them hours of manpower.
With Tim's workstation, finally set to his liking; Pride called time for dinner and insisted that LaSalle, Brodie, Tim and Tobias join him for some jambalaya or pompano en papillote for mains and banana foster or doberge cake for dessert. Fornell had been to New Orleans a couple of times and had once dated a girl from the deep south, he knew what he liked and didn't like.
Tim smiled to himself. When he and Abby had briefly dated, all those years ago, she had introduced Tim to many dishes native New Orleans and Pride had mentioned one of his favourite foods that Abby had introduced him to pompano en papillote. As soon as he had heard he was coming to the NOLA office, he was hopeful he'd get to eat it again.
Dinner was lively, swapping and sharing stories of their various cases, having decided to get carry out and eat at the office so they could speak freely without worrying what the public might overhear. As the evening drew to a close, they agreed to meet at 0800 in the morning and Tobias took Tim to the hotel where they were both staying and let the younger man check in.
As soon as they younger man was safely in his room, Tobias ordered two beers be sent up to his room. as soon as the beers arrived, he gently padded across the hall in his sweats and rapped his knuckles on the MCRT agent's door. Tobias smiled when he saw that Tim had changed into his sweats too when the door suddenly opened. Wordlessly, Tim let him into his suite, mid phone call. "No Kell, I promise it's not too dangerous." He waited before speaking again.
"That's great, I'm sure you and Ellie will have a great time. I can't wait to hear all about it."
...
"Ballroom blitz classes on the third? If I'm back, sure. Are Jake and Ellie joining us?"
...
"The flight was good, nothing to mention."
...
"Yes, I am in a hotel. It's a nice room."
...
"Kell, I have to."
...
"No not dinner, I have already eaten."
...
"Yes, I promise I really have eaten."
...
"Yes, I know I am still recovering from that."
...
"Night Sunshine. Me too."
...
Tim finally disconnected the call. "Sorry Fornell, Kelly can be hard to get off the phone." He grinned to himself. Kelly had told him how much she missed him and couldn't wait for him to get back, that she was counting the days.
"All good, Tim." Tobias handed him one of the two beer bottles he had bought over. "So, you and Kell? Ballroom dancing with Ellie and her husband. Sounds like a double date."
"Not a date, we're just friends. Dancing is something we both enjoy, and we have been taking classes. Ellie and her husband sometimes join us." Tim explained to Gibbs' best friend. "I get you and Gibbs are close. Practically brothers, making Kelly a surrogate niece for you and you want to look out for her, but we are just friends."
"If you say so." Tobias said cryptically. "I was actually going to say; when you're ready, go for it." He grinned at Tim widely, knowing it would throw the JFA a little off his game. "Kelly's a great girl, go for it. If Emily was the same age as Kelly and you two were as close as you are with Kell. I'd be happy if you decided to want more than friendship. Besides you and Kelly have some stuff in common too. Gibbs was always so afraid that the two of you would accidentally meet. Not because he thought you would hurt her or scare of her, but because he thought you two might possibly be attracted to one another."
Tim tried hard not to blush. He knew he was definitely attracted to her and that she was attracted to him. He was willing his brain not mentally replay this morning kiss, blow by blow and urging his body not to react to the delicious memory that the kiss invoked in him. "I am still getting over Delilah." Tim told Fornell.
"I'm sure you are." he replied to the younger man seriously. He could see that Tim was struggling to contain his composure and wondered if maybe they already knew they were attracted to each other. Truthfully Gibbs hadn't said much, since the night that the Conrad gala was attacked, and Tim was missing. Gibbs had been desperate for answers, so desperate he had even called Fornell to get information on Tim's whereabouts. Tobias had hated disappointing his friend, but he had been on a case in New York and wasn't at the Gala drone strike sight. "Although, judging by that smile you're trying to smother, perhaps you're almost ready to move on."
"Good night, Tobias." Tim said, using the gruff FBI agent's first name to relay the importance of shutting down his questioning. He wasn't ready to go there.
"Night Tim." Tobias said softly, patting the young man on his arm. "You know, you should use my first name more often. I like it, it's ballsy and gutsy, something that will drive DiNutso crazy, too. Especially since, I think ... maybe ... Kelly and You ... Tim, even from your end of the conversation I heard; she cares about you. Maybe you should think about how deeply you care for her."
The following morning, Tim was restless. He hadn't slept well, but he was rested well enough and by 0800, Tim had already put three hours in on the case and made more headway than the NOLA office had made in the three weeks they had already had this case before he had been called into assist on the task force.
"Ready to get to work?" Pride asked the room. Tobias had two lackeys with him, both on laptops, the NOLA team were at their respective desks and Tim was at the spare desk, by Pride's desk.
Another two hours had passed and all that could be heard through the room was the tapping of keys on keyboards, the lifting and sipping of coffee mugs and the occasional phone ringing. "GOTCHA!" Tim declared, and soon realised the whole room had eyes on him. "Right; Meet Laurance Webb. 58 years old, born in New Orleans, lived here his whole life with the exception of eighteen months in '98 and '99 when he lived with his sister in Dallas at the dissolution of his marriage and during consequential divorce period. Currently lives in Gentilly and works as a guest lecturer in physiological anatomy at the University of New Orleans. He was Army CID and best of all, there's a current RO against him from a minor. A seventeen-year-old Amy Abrhams, for stalking and harassment. He broke his RO last night and NOLA PD have him in custody."
"LaSalles, Brodie, take the FBI with you and go get this clown from NOLA PD. That's good work, Tim." Pride said, as the designated agents left the office to office to retrieve their suspect that they had been chasing. "Tim, you're probably wondering why I didn't send you."
"Kind of." Tim admitted. "If it's about that last case were worked together when I got KO'd ..."
"It's not. Both Gibbs and Director Vance told me about your ribs, you're still not back on full duties yet from the attack on the gala." Pride had lowered his voice, not letting his voice carry. "Can't put you in that kind of risk, sorry. But you better brush up because you and Tobias are going to break this guy in interrogation."
Once they had Laurance Webb in interrogation and sweating it out, Tobias Tim went over the game plan between them, before both donning earwigs and entering. Tobias took the lead, after he pulled rank on Tim. Gibbs had told him, time and time again, that McGee was a competent interrogator, but Tobias couldn't see the mild-mannered man getting answers from a man who was refusing to talk.
"Look Webb, we've got you. DNA places you with her when she killed." Fornell told their suspect. Tim could see that Fornell was getting to the end of his rope and was losing patience with the man. They had been interrogating him for three hours and the man before them hadn't said a word.
But neither had Tim. Tim hadn't so much as fidgeted, looked at the file in front of him. He had barely blinked. Truth be told, both Fornell and Pride were beginning to be concerned with Tim and LaSalle couldn't believe Tim had just sat there, not doing anything. Just imitating a statue. It wasn't the behaviour of a trained interrogator like McGee supposedly was. Suddenly Tim lunged at Webb, grabbing his arm and roughly bringing it behind him then slamming it down on the steel table with such force it reverberated throughout the room. Tobias had jumped, as had the agents behind the glass, they certainly hadn't expected Tim to make a move like that. Keeping his voice low Tim demanded the truth.
Soon Laurence Webb was singing. He was spilling his guts about the murder of the three schoolgirls that had prompted the formation of this taskforce, as well as four more they didn't know about in and around New Orleans and six, they didn't know about from his time in Dallas. The smell of urine became evident, and Tobias looked down at the alleged perpetrator, seeing that he had soiled himself in shock at Tim's unexpected move. Tobias demanded he write it all down. With a look of defiance from Webb, Tim put his best imitation of a Gibbs glare and Webb was confessing every sin he had ever committed.
During the two further hours it took for Webb to write his confession out Tim didn't move. He just continued to glare at Webb, mentally disarming the man. When he was taken to lock up and the cleaner had entered the room, only then did Tim move and gather his file and leave the interrogation room. "A little warning would have been nice." Tobias groaned, patting the younger man on the back. "Where the hell did you learn that?"
"Besides Ziva's subtle influence and watching Gibbs for the last eleven years in interrogation, I was the top of my class at FLETC and in my Justice and Criminology PhD." Tim smiled at them, shaking his body again. His body was tense from barely moving.
"The Israeli ninja, I should have known." Tobias smacked himself in the head. "Wait, you didn't say training, you said influence."
"I did. It's something I have had up my sleeve, waiting to use for a special dirtbag. Webb qualifies." He looked at the agents closely before walking over to their board. "This girl." Tim taped the photo of the seventeen-year-old, Amy Abrhams. Except for that scar here, on her cheek, she looks identical to my sister; Sarah." Tim opened his wallet and pulled out the most recent phot he had of his sister Sarah, pinning it to the board. "What if it was your sister or your daughter? Webb is deranged."
"No arguments here, MaGee." LaSalle's said softly, looking at the photos. "That's some serious doppelganger stuff, right there."
"Oh yeah." Pride agreed, coming closer to compare the images of the two girls.
