Chapter 1.

The bullpen was much more crowded than usual and the three NCIS agents were blinking in surprise at the quick and efficient way this… team… was taking possession of their desks and personal artifacts as if they owned the place. When upon their unexpected arrival the cute blond had asked Tony if they could 'set up' he hadn't quite expected this. And she was very attractive, so what could he do!? Now his teammates were blaming him for giving permission…

"Tony! Do you even know who these people are and what they're doing here?" – Tim whispered incredulously while a no-nonsense brunette effortlessly rearranged his workspace to make room for an enormous map that she then unfolded, covering his notes about the case they were working on with it entirely.

"Ahm… She said her name was Jennifer… something. JJ for short."

"And?" – Ziva pressed in annoyance, trying to push a huge laptop out of the way of her breakfast but the dark-skinned guy with the crew cut and biceps like a wrestler's who had placed it there in the first place kept shoving it back.

"And… they were from… some three-letter government agency I don't know and can't remember." – He admitted sheepishly. – "But did I mention she asked very nicely looking at me with those beautiful blue eyes…?"

Ziva rolled her eyes and Tim seemed even more worried than before.

"An agency you don't know? How is that possible?"

"I've no idea…"

A man about Gibbs' age but with far less 'military' stance appeared holding a take-away coffee in one hand and a cell phone in the other. He strode confidently to Tony's desk, sitting down and placing his cup on top of Tony's favorite James Bond 'A Martini. Shaken not stirred' mousepad, still talking to whoever he had on the other side of the line. The senior field agent opened his mouth to warn the man not to leave any mess when he noticed something that made him lose his voice: a kid, seemingly no older than 20 or so, dressed in a knitted vest like some old-fashioned grandfather that hadn't left the apartment for ages and was just a tiny bit crazy, stepped out of the elevator and looked around in awe. He was so out of place with his unnatural amount of messy light brown hair and owlishly blinking eyes that even those NCIS agents who were busy working at other parts of the room looked up to study him as if he were some kind of yet undiscovered new specimen. Certainly this… apparition… with the horrible messenger bag couldn't belong in a high security government building, could he? This level of attention directed at him seemed to make the boy uneasy and he hurriedly tried to join his friends but in his hustle he tripped over a trash can and would have fallen facedown into a screen hadn't the strong-guy caught him by the arm with a well-practiced movement without even looking up or making any effort to do so.

The kid mumbled something that vaguely sounded like 'thank you' (actually, more like 'thky') and quickly sunk into Gibbs' chair no less as if afraid if he remained on his feet he'd really end up sprawled out on the floor.

"Guys, this place is amazing! I've always wanted to see what it's like inside. Did you know that it has a room where all the secret things happen? It's called MTAC and you can only unlock it with your iris if you're in the database, otherwise you can't get in. And there's an Autopsy downstairs, I mean, really: they are actually keeping and examining bodies here! And a Lab that would probably make Garcia shriek in happiness and-"

"We get it, Kid. It's great."

"No, no, wait: there's more! Did you know that NCIS operates in approximately 191 locations, in more than 41 countries? That's amazing! These agents are on all Navy aircraft carriers and even with amphibious task forces and-"

"Yes, Spence. We know that, too."

So, the boy's name was 'Spence'? That was Tony's thought before 'Spence' continued without missing a beat.

"Navy ships visit non-Navy ports, working with domestic and foreign counterparts to identify and mitigate security threats. NCIS also conducts protective service operations for senior naval officials and visiting dignitaries."

"That's amazing." – Said the brunette clearly sarcastic but the boy didn't seem to mind or notice.

Tim mouthed to Ziva:

"It's like he's reading it from the leaflet we hand out at the Academy."

Muscular-guy chuckled next to them and muttered 'oh, you have no idea' under his breath but they couldn't be sure it had been addressed at them.

"The best part is: NCIS personnel often provide law enforcement and security force training, share "lessons learned" in behavioral assessment, host seminars on Cold Case resolution… Guys, what are we doing here!? They don't need us, these people are professionals…"

Finally, a valid question, prompting Tony to at last take action as the senior agent in the room. He stood up taller and addressed the one he thought must be in charge: the oldest man sitting at his desk, sipping coffee, and – having finished the lenghty phone call – reading his morning paper.

"Khm… Excuse me sir but I need to ask: who are you and what are you doing here?" – His voice was clear and steady. At least he hoped so but all his forced confidence disappeared when the man ever so slowly looked up at him above his reading glasses and studied him silently for what seemed like at least 15 seconds. – "Ahm…" – Tony, who didn't like stretched silences at all, tried again. – "It's just that I believe I didn't catch your names…" – Nobody had told him their names except for 'JJ' and they all knew that.

The older man finally put down the paper and his cup to speak not to him but to the blond called 'JJ'.

"Didn't you tell him who we were?" – He asked without accusation in his voice. He sounded more amused than anything, to be honest.

"I did." – She said with a smile. – "But he seemed to be focused on… something else."

Ziva gave Tony a glare that could send weaker men running from the building hysterically screaming for their lives and Tim snorted so loudly that the kid called 'Spence' whipped his head toward him so quickly Tony was sure it must have hurt his neck.

"I was… preoccupied with the case we're working on." – The senior field agent defended himself and hoped he wasn't as red in the face as the heat he felt.

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." – The Mossad liaison groaned before extracting her hand to the nearest newcomer. – "I'm Ziva David."

"Derek Morgan. That's Elle Greenaway…"

The brunette gave a friendly wave.

"Hi!"

"… Jennifer Jareau…"

The beautiful blond smiled kindly.

"Just call me JJ, everyone does."

"… Jason Gideon and Doctor Spencer Reid. Our unit chief is upstairs with your boss, his name is Aaron Hotchner but everyone only calls him Hotch."

Tim's eyes became like saucers.

"Wait a moment. You must have mixed it up. Surely he's-" – He pointed at Gideon. – "… the 'Doctor' and he's-" – He turned to Reid. – "… he is… whatever he is. An intern, I guess…?"

"An intern!?"

"Calm down, Kid. No, man, I wouldn't get my teammates wrong. That one here has three doctorates and some more BAs in… whatever. I can't remember that."

"It's PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering and BA's in Psychology and Sociology. Oh, and Philosophy is in progress but I came to Quantico before I could finish. But I will. Eventually." – Reid supplied matter-of-factly. He actually didn't even seem to be bragging he was just… innocent and honest. Yeah, maybe these were the best expressions.

The NCIS agents blinked for a few seconds, trying to fully grasp what they'd been told.

"So, you're some kind of prodigy?" – Tony asked in awe. – "And I thought McGeek was the worst with… all the stuff he has. I forget what they are."

Tim rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"It's a Bachelor in Biomedical Engineering and a Master in Computer Forensics, Tony. It's not so difficult to remember."

"Then maybe I just don't care, Probie." – Tony hissed, angry at being called out like that in front of strangers.

In reality, he had no idea what these degrees meant but it didn't matter since the boy called Spencer seemed impressed enough for the both of them.

"Wow!" – He gasped. – "Did you go to MIT?"

"Yes, for the Master's."

"WOW! I used to audit a few classes there, they were all awesome!"

Tony and Morgan rolled their eyes in unison, having found a common ground at last: exasperation with their respective genius.

"Well, the two of you should like each other then." – The senior field agent sarcastically said. Both ignored him and went on comparing notes about different colleges and professors they both knew.

"McGeek?" – Gideon repeated the name that had been used before, having a feeling it wasn't entirely authentic.

"In reality, it's McGee, sir. Timothy McGee."

"He's our probiatory agent."

The five visitors looked at her questioningly and Tony sighed.

"She wanted to say: probationary. She's from Israel." – He announced as if it explained everything.

"Israel? Not from Mossad, are you? Well, it figures we'd need a liaison, there's been a bilateral relationship between Israel and the United States for ages and we work together in a lot of ways, although there's espionage against each other as well which I believe can be considered normal, seeing-"

"I'm Anthony DiNozzo Junior." – Tony interrupted the boy quickly, not wanting to have a whole history lesson on foreign relations right now. – "I'm the senior field agent on this team."

Ziva had by now seemingly lost her patience altogether.

"So, now we know each other's names and you obviously know where we work. But where are you from?" – She addressed the elephant in the room.

"Why, the FBI. I told that Agent DiNozzo as well."

"FBI? Tony, you said it was an agency you didn't know. How can you not know the FBI?"

"Shut up, Probie." – Tony groaned in irritation.

"The FBI? What the inferno is the FBI doing here?"

"She means 'hell'. And I second the question."

Before anyone could open their mouth to reply, Gibbs' angry voice could be heard from somewhere over them as he was striding down the catwalk.

"Gear up, DiNozzo. We're going to be working with the BAU on that one."

"On it, Boss!" – The senior field agent answered automatically without even thinking for a second. Turning to the living and breathing encyclopedia of a kid who was currently being ushered from the team leader's seat at that moment by a murderous-looking Gibbs he asked: - "So, what's a BAU and how do we get one?"