Tropical Nightmare- Chapter 8: Replacement not needed(Gibbs´ POV)
Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!
Summary: Tony and Kate are sent to Argentina for an undercover mission, but they have to take a detour.They are bound to find out that atropical island can be a real nightmare -at least if you´re on your own out there...
Additional note: I usually don´t write 1st-person narrator, but it seemed to fit rather well for this little story as the POV changes with each chapter.Also, the use of present-tense is wanted here, eventhough it may seem a bit odd. I hope it´s still readable.
-------------------------------------------------
It´s the fifth time I´m called up to Shepard´s office during the last weeks. I know exactly what she´s going to tell me, it´s been the same every time. I decide not to listen to her again, ranting about my so-called lack to cooperate. I´ve tried, I really did, but no matter who they send me, I know that they can´t replace Kate and Tony. I know I´ve been complaining about both of them -mainly to Abby and Ducky though. It´s a constant argument that´s going on between them, but for some reason they were the best I ever had on my team. I´ve been in this job for almost 20 years now, but I never had the opportunity to work with someone who was like these two.
I keep thinking about the past two years while Director Shepard keeps telling me off about the latest replacements. I just nod, tell her that I´ve tried to bind them into the actual case and leave the office again. There will be two new agents here tomorrow, but I know already that they are not going to last. In my mind, I can hear Kate scolding me for making life so hard for those agents, but I can´t help it. McGee is working on something, he looks up as I come back from the office, but he doesn´t say a word. He hasn´t talked much during the last weeks.
"Any news on the case, McGee?" I ask, mainly because it´s so quiet around the bullpen right now. He just shakes his head and concentrates on the screen again. I know it´s no use to try and get him into a conversation. "It´s late already, see that you get home. There´s supposed to be a thunderstorm coming tonight." I tell him and he looks a bit surprised. There´s no objection from his side and he leaves a few minutes later. For a moment, I ponder if I should go home as well or stay here for yet another night. I don´t remember when I last slept in a bed, but it must have been at least a week now.
I sit down at my desk and close my eyes for a moment. I can see my three agents, arguing about something stupid. It makes me smile. I see Tony, relaxing with his feet on his desk, but everytime I try to get him for not doing anything, he has the answers to just about everything. I see McGee bustling around me on a crime scene, tripping over my coffee. He must have had nightmares for weeks afterwards, at least that´s how he looked. I see Kate, sitting at her desk with her sketch pad. She´s such a gifted artist -Abby has one of her drawings in her lab. I don´t know if Tony has the drawing Kate did of him, but I doubt it. For some reason, she refused to let me see my drawing.
I sigh and open my eyes again. Rain is falling against the windows on either side of the building. I´m not in the mood to get soaked, so I just decide to stay here. I pick up my phone and punch in the number of the Chinese take-out. Ducky would kill me if he knew -he´s been after me lately, lecturing about how bad it is for the health to pull nightshifts and eat junk food, but I really don´t care. I wonder if Kate and Tony are somewhere on an island. If they are, they would surely be glad about such junk food. At least I think they would.
For a long time, I just sit there and think out some scenarios for them. I know that there´s a pretty good chance that they didn´t survive the crash at all, but somehow I´m still trying to deny that possibility. They could be stranded on some deserted island, if they are lucky. They could still be drifting over the open sea on some raft. The scenarios get darker with every one I try to make up. In the end, I decide to get my mind off these things. I walk over to Kate´s desk. Usually, I don´t touch anything that is not mine, but right now, I´m curious and I must admit that I miss them, her most of all.
Her sketch pad lies under a bunch of files. I open it and immediately, I have to smile. The first picture is the one of Tony. She drew him, like she sees him. I like that for some reason. Next page is missing. I know that´s the one she had Abby drawn on. Next page is about two people. I´m a bit surprised, but then I realize just how much truth there is in her drawings. She did that when McGee had just started here with us. The picture shows me, yelling at him while McGee resembles a snail with his face on. There are tiny, sharp teeth in my mouth. I only notice those fine differences when I look closely. I close the pad and put it back. For a while, I wonder if I´m really so awful. I always try to be fair and lead the team efficiently. No one ever taught me how to do that in NCIS. I tried doing it my way, but suddenly, I´m not sure that´s the right way after all.