Sadly I own none of Harry Potter or NCIS. I decided to post this because I spent like the last 4 hours writing it because I couldn't sleep. It's my first really long chapter because it is based around an episode. I will probably rewrite most of the show's episodes but make Harry have a pretty significant role in them for the most part.
So I know that Gibbs is supposed to be mentored under Franks, but I sort of skipped over that. And another thing I just realised. By skipping over that time, I have no idea on how to incorporate the whole thing between Jenny and Gibbs. Maybe the met before he and Shannon got married? I don't know and I really need your guys' help!
Chapter Three
Gibbs ran a hand through his hair, staring at the man across from him. "NCIS? Are you sure that I would be able to work here? I mean, I do have Harry to look after." Thomas Morrow folded his hands and leaned forward.
"Gibbs, you need a job close to home, correct?" The former marine nodded. "Then take this one. You can have your own team, and your son can even spend days with you here when you aren't working on a case." The director slid a paper across the desk towards the other man and threw a pen over to him. "All you have to do is sign." An hour later, a smirking Gibbs left the office. While he had told the director that he had had a son, he'd never told him that he was only 2 years old. This would be fun.
Three Month Later
"Harry, get back here right now!" Loud laughter echoed through the basement as Gibbs chased his son around the room. Scooping him into his arms, the agent placed a kiss onto Harry's black locks. "And where did you think you are going with that, little man?" He plucked the sander out of the three year old's hands.
"I just wanted to hwelp you make the 'oat!" Harry said.
"You're too little, bud." Harry's his bottom lip poking out as if he was about to cry.
"Well, I'll tell you what. When you turn five, you can start helping me, okay?" The little boy's green eyes lit up and he wriggled in his father's arms, bouncing up and down. Gibbs laughed and placed the boy on his hip. "But right now, it is time for you to go to bed." Harry frowned but before he could say anything, the phone rang. He walks around the skeleton frame of his boat to the phone mounted on the side wall and answers it. "Yeah. Gibbs." His agent, Tony Dinozzo's, voice came through the phone.
"A Navy commander carrying the Football on Air Force One just carked in the air." Gibbs checks his watch.
"Where'd they land?"
"Wichita, Kansas. The President's transferring to the backup bird. I booked us on a 15:00 United flight out of Reagan, stops in Dallas before going on to Wichita. Whatcha gonna do with the squirt?" Gibbs sighed and looked down at the child in his arms.
"I'll see if Abby can watch him until we get back. The sitter can't be in until Monday so I guess he'll just have to stay in headquarters with us." He pulled on his jacket and started walking up the stairs, grabbing Harry's jacket on his way out of the house. "And really, Dinozzo? That's the best flight you could come up with?"
"It's a Saturday, Gibbs. Now, if we had a private jet-"
"We don't. Ducky's buds with coroners across the country. See if you can't get one of them to hold the body until we can get there." The ex-marine buckled his giggling son into his carseat.
"Alright. See y'all soon." Gibbs hung up. Looks like he was going to Kansas.
"Abs, thanks again for watching him." The forensic scientist took Harry out of Gibbs arms and sat him in her chair.
"No problem, my silver haired fox." The special agent glared at her and she raised her hands innocently. "But really. He's welcome down here anytime. He's so adorable!" Abby ruffled the kid's hair. Gibbs chuckled.
"Yes well, you've never tried to put him down for bed. Do you still have that futon down here?" She nodded. "Good. Well, in a couple hours he'll go out like a light, so if you could just put him down there. Make sure he has his animals," Gibbs pulled out three stuffed toys, a stag, wolf, and dog. "If he doesn't have these he will wake up in the middle of the night, usually with nightmares. If that happens, talk to him about it and comfort him until he goes back to sleep. Oh and-"
"Gibbs! He'll be fine! I used to babysit kids all the time when I was younger, I know how to do it. Now go or you'll miss your flight!" He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"I know. Let me just say good bye and I will be on my way." He kneeled in front of Harry and pulled him into his arms. "Be good for Abby now, you hear? I love you and I'll see you later, alright?" Harry nodded and gave him a slobbery kiss on the cheek.
"Bye-bye, Daddy! Luv you!" Gibbs smiled down at his little boy, taking in his camo pajamas and messy hair. He never knew if it would be the last time he saw his son when he went to work. He stood up and walked out of the lab.
"Thanks again, Abby! I owe you a Caf-Pow!" Abby laughed.
"You will owe me more than that by the time this day is over, Gibbs!" She called as he waved over his shoulder, before turning back to the boy spinning in her chair. "Alright, little man. What do you want to do tonight?"
Gibbs and Tony jump off an escalator behind a couple of flight attendants. The latter is weighed down with several bags, while the former just has one small bag and his ever-present cup of coffee.
"FBI, CIA, DEA, ATF, even NYPD have private jets." Tony whines.
"At 36 cents a mile. You wanna drive?"
"It's humiliating." They stop talking when they arrive at a Security checkpoint. Tony puts his bags down on the ground and Gibbs lays his single one on the conveyor belt. Gibbs turns to look at the security guard.
"We're LEOs." The guard smiles.
"Capricorn." Tony rolls his eyes.
"LEO, short for Law Enforcement Officer." He hands the Security Guard the paperwork for their weapons, while Gibbs shows him his badge.
"You new at this," He leans over to read Security Guard's name tag. "Dennis?" Dennis nods.
"First week." The senior agent chuffs a laugh while Dennis checks out the badge "N.C.I.S... never heard of it." Gibbs leans over and whispers to Tony.
"That's embarrassing."
"NCIS? Anything like "CSI"?
"Only if you're dyslexic." Tony said sarcastically.
"Okay. You can go ahead and go around the, uh, metal detector, but your bags have got to go through the scanner."
"Wait a minute, you're letting us take weapons aboard but you want to scan our bags?" Gibbs frowned. That couldn't possibly be safe.
"Well, you've got permits for the weapons but you don't for the bags." Dennis said nervously, shuffling on his feet. Tony starts piling the bags onto the conveyor belt.
"We really need our own jet."
"Dennis! Those bags are mine." The two agents whirl around to see Ducky walking towards them from the other side of the security gate. The guard smiles.
"Ohh! Why didn't you tell me you were subbing for the Doc? You've got a bag permit." Ducky stops in front of them.
"Move it, men." Gibbs looks over at Tony as they gather the bags to follow their medical examiner. Ducky turns and starts walking away, smirking. "We don't want to miss our flight."
Air Force One was currently surrounded by emergency vehicles, lit up on the tarmac only by the various flashing lights of the vehicles. Inside the plane is an assortment of official personnel, from Secret Service to FBI to State Troopers to Airport Security to the County Coroner's office. A Kansas local with a "CORONER" jacket on is stalling the proceedings.
"If J. Edgar Hoover was alive, I'd tell him what I'm telling you. This body is in Wichita County, and as County Coroner I have jurisdiction. No one moves it until the M.E. says they can." The coroner said.
"Your jurisdiction does not supersede the FBI on Air Force One." The FBI agent, Fornell, argued.
"It's not Air Force One, Agent Fornell." A women dressed as a secret service agent walked forward and the people cleared a path for her. "When the President departed on the backup plane, it became Air Force One. This is now Alpha Foxtrot 2900." Fornell rolled his eyes.
"Don't get into this pissing contest, Agent Todd. As you pointed out, the President's gone – it's no longer a Secret Service problem."
"Look. This could be a natural death, or it could be a botched attempt to murder the President. Until I know which, it's my problem." Agent Todd said placatingly.
"Uh, I don't give a damn which one of you is boss. You ain't moving this body until the M.E. says you can." The coroner crossed his arms and stare defiantly at the agents. Ducky walks onto the plane followed by Tony and Gibbs.
"You talking about me, Elmo?" The coroner, Elmo, noticeably relaxed.
"Ducky! How'd you like those steaks I air-expressed you?" Ducky smiled.
"Ah, delicious!" Fornell leaned over to the secret service women.
"He "air-expressed" him steaks?" Agent Todd shrugged.
"It's a big state. Look how long it took him to get here." She said. Elmo pointed out all of the players. "Uh, Agent Fornell here is FBI. Agent Kate Todd, Secret Service. Ducky, they've been fighting over this body like two hounds over a t-bone." Ducky chuckled.
"Well, it's our t-bone for the moment." Gibbs knew that if they were going to do anything with the body they had to get these agents out.
"All these LEOs are contaminating the potential crime scene." Dr. Mallard nodded.
"Oh yes, my assistant's right." Gibbs had to keep himself from snorting at the thought of him being an Me's assistant. "Everyone who boarded in Wichita will have to evacuate the plane."
"I'm not going anywhere." Fornell said.
"I flew in on it, I didn't board here." said Kate, folding her arms. Ducky sighed.
"Very well, you two can stay. But everyone else must deplane." Elmo clapped his hands together and began to usher everyone out.
"Alright, you heard the M.E., let's move it boys." Once the others were out, he turned back to the remaining people. "Ducky, what do you think?" Ducky leans over the body, examining it.
"No outward sign of trauma." Kate stepped up.
"He was stricken after having lunch with the President." Tony smiled.
"Yeah, how is the President?" She rolled her eyes.
"He's fine. His physician cleared him to fly on to L.A." Thoughts began to run through Gibbs' head. If someone could be poisoned on Air Force One, of all planes, than there was no way that Harry would be going on planes anytime soon.
"What happened?" Both Kate and Fornell look askance at Gibbs's softly-voiced question, but Gibbs just stares placidly at them. After a moment, Kate answers.
"When the Commander returned from lunch, he had an equilibrium problem and his grip was too weak to hold his briefcase."
"Did he gradually become ill, or was it sudden?" Ducky wondered.
"Sudden. He started to convulse and just collapsed. The President's physician believed that the Commander had a stroke?" Tony looks up from his notes.
"Kinda young for a brain fart. The only thing weirder than that would be if Harry just suddenly keeled over." Gibbs glared at him, shutting the younger agent up instantly, much to the confusion on Fornell and Kate.
"Looks like a natural death to me, Elmo. They can leave with the body as long as they sign releases." Ducky said.
"Why the hell didn't you say that?" Fornell said angrily after he rounded on the Coroner, who shrugged.
"Couldn't. Like I said, it's the M.E.'s decision. Release forms are in my car." Gibbs watches as turns to the secret service lady.
"Let's go. We can work out jurisdiction for Washington on the flight to Dallas." Kate glances at Gibbs before leaving. The look on her face is inscrutable. The coroner turns back.
"Ah, Ducky… about those soft-shell crabs?" Kate pauses behind Ducky and Elmo at this exchange, throwing another odd look Ducky's way. Gibbs can tell she's figuring out that things aren't exactly as they seem but she leaves after Fornell anyway.
"Ah, you'll have them by the weekend." Ducky replied.
"Ten-four, partner." Elmo said as he left the plane. Once alone, Ducky sighs in relief and Gibbs takes over command of the crime scene. Quietly.
"Tony, go hot. Show the pilot your credentials, get us the hell out of here." He ordered. Tony starts down an aisle, but Gibbs calls him back. "Hey!" He points upwards. "Cockpit's on the top deck.
"I knew that, Boss." Tony said cluelessly. Gibbs smirks as Tony climbs the stairs. The grey-haired agent crouched down beside the body.
"Enjoy playing my boss?" Ducky nodded.
"I did, rather." He sighed.
"What do you think happened, Duck?" The elderly medical examiner looks over at Gibbs shocked.
"Good God, Gibbs, I barely met the deceased!" Gibbs stood up, running his hand through his hair.
"I think DiNozzo's right. Naval aviator, stroking at his age?"
"He could have been born with an aneurysm. They're timebombs in the body. I remember this young promising basso-profundo in London. He was only 27 when he keeled over, in the middle on an Notaro aria—" Suddenly, Kate storms back onto the plane, her hand on her holstered weapon at her hip.
"Who the hell are you people?" She turns to Gibbs. "You're no M.E. assistant," she looks at Ducky, "and there's no soft-shell crab within a thousand miles." Ducky hung his head before staring up at Gibbs.
"Sorry." Gibbs pulled out his badge.
"NCIS. We flew down here from Washington to take over the investigation." He watches as Kate drops her hand from her weapon, seemingly exasperated.
"First the FBI tries to muscle in, and now NCIS." Gibbs shrugged.
"Yeah, well, I do believe this is a dead naval officer."
"Who died on Air Force One, after having lunch with the President it's my job to protect." He bit his lip.
"Okay, we can share jurisdiction. You can be on my team." Kate frowned.
"Your team? Why should you head the investigation?" Gibbs took a step closer to her.
"You ever worked a crime scene, Agent Todd?"
"I am a Secret Service agent." He smirked.
"I thought not."
"Well don't dismiss me like that! Okay, I earned my jock-strap.
"Yeah, does it ever give you that empty feeling?" She looked up at him, confused.
"What?"
"Your jock-strap."
"No. Like some species of frogs, I grow what I need." Kate smiled brightly. Gibbs smirks back, impressed and enjoying the exchange. Before he can respond, Tony interrupts, scrambling down the stairs.
"Gibbs! Pilot won't take off until the Secret Service chick gives us the…" He sees Kate and pauses. "...thumbs up." Now it's Kate's turn to smirk at Gibbs.
"I think that just made it my team." Gibbs shook his head, remembering a movie he had seen a while back.
"No. It means we'll just have to hijack Air Force One. Tony, escort Agent Todd off this aircraft and close the hatch." The secret service agent looked at him incredulously.
"You're not serious. Wait!" She chases after Gibbs as he walks up the stairs. "Okay, okay! Your team, but only because I don't want to delay us further by having to shoot you." She offers her hand to seal the deal, they shake on it. Perhaps, Gibbs thought, she won't be so bad.
Outside the plane, Fornell is running up the steps to the hatch when Tony suddenly appears in front of him.
"Damn-it, Agent Todd, let's get this show on the road!" Tony smiles down at him sheepishly.
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry. We, uh, overbooked the flight." He closes the hatch, leaving a stunned FBI agent behind.
"What the hell are you doing?" As the plane starts to taxi away, Tony looks out a window and waves at the thwarted FBI agents. Fornell yells at the people on the ground.
"What's going on? Stop! Fornell and the two agents behind him run back down the now abandoned staircase to confront Elmo, the County Coroner guy. "Alright, do you know what the hell's going on?" The coroner shrugged.
"Guess Ducky decided to take the body to Washington." Fornell frowned.
"Why did your Medical Examiner take the body to Washington?" Elmo smirked.
"I never said he was my Medical Examiner," he said, slyly. Then the jets kick into high gear, and everyone flinches from the blast of air.
"Then who the hell's Medical Examiner is he?!" Fornell says, throwing his hands up into the air.
"Ducky? He works for NCIS."
In the air, Gibbs is in the Comm. speaking with the NCIS Director, Tom Morrow, over video conference. "Did you have to literally slam the door in the FBI's face?" Tom asked. Gibbs shrugged.
"There were more of them than us."
"There's always more of them than us. You ever hear of interagency cooperation?" The director said wryly. He nodded.
"Yes, sir. I got the Secret Service Agent-in-Charge at Wichita to agree to share the investigation." Tom looks surprised.
"Willingly?"
"Well, we could use a little backup when we land at Andrews," said Gibbs, ruefully. The director shrugged.
"Eh, that's what I thought. We're spread a bit thin, we've got no agents, not even probies, unless you count your son," he said annoyed. Gibbs ignored that last comment and turned the conversation back to the case.
"If the FBI gets this body, we won't see an autopsy report until after they leak it to the Washington Post."
"Then make sure they don't get it." The director looks pointedly at the agent, who nods. "Will this Secret Service agent stand up to the FBI?"
"I don't know. She's got balls."
Kate is sitting in a nearby chair watching Ducky insert a thermometer into the body's liver. "Are you starting the autopsy?" she asked incredulously. The doctor looked up at her shocked.
"Goodness, no. I'm just taking his liver temperature to corroborate the time of death." Kate consults her PDA.
"The President's physician declared him dead at 20:32 Zulu."
"Well, it never hurts to double check." The thermometer beeps. Tony steps up beside Kate, pen and paper in hand.
"Excuse me, you'll need to stand clear so I can take measurements for my crime scene sketches, thanks." She looks at him bemused.
"Sketches? You've taken a dozen photos." Tony picks up a magazine, "Exotic Resorts", with a bikini-clad model on the cover.
"Tell me her measurements."
"You're pathetic." Kate said, rolling her eyes.
"No, I'm serious. Can you tell if she's (looks at magazine) 5'4" in a 35-C, or 5'7" in a 36-D? You can't, not from a photo. That's why we do sketches, take measurements." He pushes her back out of the way. "Thanks." Ducky frowns as he looks as the temperature from the thermometer.
"I've got 19:50 Zulu, that's nearly an hour earlier."
"Well, then you miscalculated." Gibbs comes jogging down the stairs.
"What's the problem?"
"There's apparently a discrepancy between my time of death and the President's physician's."
"Log yours." Ducky bends down to do so. "Enough sketches, Tony. Agent Todd's gonna give you a floor plan."
"Oh, no, she won't." Kate walks off to follow Gibbs. Ducky moves over to speak with Tony.
"I thought your photo analysis was brilliant, Tony. But wasn't 36D a bit of wishful thinking?" Tony looks at the magazine again.
"You think?"
Gibbs and Kate are meanwhile walking down an aisle, arguing. Well, Kate is.
"What can you tell me about Commander Trapp?" Kate jogged to keep up with him.
"I can't give him Air Force One floor plans, they're top secret."
"Come on, I saw this in a Harrison Ford movie." She scoffed.
"Well that's Hollywood speculation, you're asking for the real thing." Gibbs looked around a corner.
"Isn't the President's head down here someplace?"
"No."
"Now this was in the movie!" Gibbs looks around the conference room he just walked into and points at the the chair at the head of the table. "Yeah! Harrison was sitting right here." Kate tries to continue arguing with him.
"I can't risk those plans getting out on the Internet." The NCIS agent frowned.
"NCIS does not leak. These plans get out, you can shoot DiNozzo." Kate looks at him unamused.
"No, I think I'm destined to shoot you." Gibbs smiled, ignoring the slur against him.
"What about Commander Trapp?" Kate sighed and gave up trying to argue with him.
"Only met him this morning. He just received his Yankee White clearance and was Major Kerry's backup. The major has the flu." Gibbs walked away, still exploring the plane.
"We'll have to get a Navy doc to verify that."
"He's got it." She throws her hands up in frustration. "But go ahead, and waste a doctor's time double-checking like your… Ducky." Gibbs stops in front of cabinet, with a keypad lock on it.
"This is where the terrorists got their weapons in the movie." He starts to play with the keypad.
"Oh, that is as ridiculous as the President's "escape capsule"!"
"Anybody switch planes with the President?"
"The President was put on a separate plane. Everyone else boarded the backup except three stewards who were put in the Press cabin." Gibbs looked at her like she was crazy.
"What'd you keep them for?" He opened the curtains to Press cabin and waves at stewards. "To make coffee?"
"I may not know the finer points of investigating like sticking needles in liver or measuring swimsuit models, but I do know enough to hold the stewards who prepared and served the President's lunch." Kate said. Gibbs nodded his head, slightly impressed.
"Hmm, okay."
"You want to question––?" He shook his head.
"No, they're not going anywhere. We've got a crime scene to investigate. Rule number one, never let suspects stay together." Kate sighed exasperatedly.
"Well I didn't consider them suspects."
"Then why'd you hold them?" He passed her some latex gloves. "Put these on."
"Why? My fingerprints are already all over this aircraft."
"Rule number two, always wear gloves at a crime scene." Even Harry knew most of his rules already, and he was barely three! By this point, Gibbs has managed to steer them back to the crime scene area. Ducky is kneeling beside the body when they approach.
"I believe I know why there's a discrepancy in the time of death. Now since the Commander had lunch with the President, I'm sure the President's physician rushed to evaluate his condition. He also called Trapp's time of death."
"Yes, once he was sure the President wasn't in medical danger, he returned and…" She trailed off as she realized what he was getting at. "He was gone nearly an hour."
"Yes. I'm sure the autopsy will show that Commander Trapp expired almost immediately." Kate looked down.
"I owe you an apology, Doctor." Ducky chuckled.
"Oh, please, it's Ducky to my associates. I'm just relieved we straightened it out. It's inconsistencies like this to lead to conspiracy theories. It reminds me of a case once in New Orleans. A jealous husband shot his wife off a Mardi Gras float, right out of the clock at the corner of Bourbon Street." Gibbs sighed.
"Ah, doc, give it a rest. She's got work to do." Kate smiles at Ducky and gets up to follow Gibbs.
"I'll tell you the rest later!" Ducky calls after them as they leave.
"Rule number three, don't believe what you're told. Double-check."
"Should I write these rules in my Palm Pilot, or crochet them on pillows?" Gibbs nodded.
"Pillows. I'm sure my son would love to see them someday."
"Harry Sage Gibbs, get back here this instance or no chocolate tonight," Abby shouted into her seemingly empty. She smirked as a shocked voice screamed out no, and sure enough, seconds later, a small body barreled into her. She leaned down to pick him up, having to keep back her laughter as she took in his tears.
"Pwease, no, I pwomise to be good!" Harry buried his head in her neck as Abby sat down on the futon and he cuddled into her.
"Aw, it's okay, Har. You can still have your sweet, just don't tell Daddy, okay?" At his eager nod, she reached up and pulled a mug of hot chocolate off of her desk, holding it to his lips as he drank it. "Now, next time you run off without telling me, you won't get it, okay?" Harry nodded before blinking sleepily and leaning back into Abby. That is how the director found them when he came down into the lab a few minutes later. He saw Harry in her arms and sighed.
"How did I know that he would be here?" Abby scowled up at Thomas Morrow.
"Why do you have a problem with that?" He nodded.
"As a matter of fact, yes. Don't you have work to be doing?"
"Nope." At his unbelieving look, she sighed and pointed at her computers. "Really, I don't. The DNA and fingerprints for the other cases are still being processed and Gibbs hasn't gotten back to me about anything from Air Force One, so I can think of nothing I would want to do more than snuggle with a toddler." She laid Harry down on the futon and covered him up with a blanket, placing his animals in his arms before turning to stare her boss down. "Now, unless you needed me to run something for you, or are really so cruel as to kick out a 3 year old onto the streets after you called in his father on his weekend off, then can I show you to the door?" After pushing a flabbergasted director out of her lab, she sighed and leaned against the wall. Sometimes, she really hated that man.
Gibbs and Kate walk into another room. Tony is seated behind the desk, twisting the phone around in his hands. A television is playing in the background.
"Oh no, I draw the line at him sitting in the President's chair." Kate said, indicating Tony. The aforementioned agent looks at his boss.
"He's not using it."
"Gibbs!" Kate objected. Gibbs rolled his eyes.
"If you're finished taking pictures, Dinozzi, start bagging and tagging."
"Just waiting for you, boss." Tony jumps up from the chair.
"Bagging and tagging what?"
"Well, to start with…" Gibbs pointed at the lunch on the desk. "Everything. Was the President was sitting there?"
"Pretty good bet, since it is his desk." Kate said sarcastically. Tony passes Gibbs an evidence bag. Gibbs starts instructing Kate on proper investigative technique.
"Okay, to maintain the chain of custody, take the item – in this case, Commander Trapp's lunch – place it in the evidence bag." He does so, seals it, the folds it over to write on the label. "Seal it, record all pertinent information, initial across the seal." He then passes the filled evidence bag to Tony with a "Keep it cold" order, knowing that he would've otherwise forgotten to do so. Tony hands him a new evidence bag. Gibbs turns to Kate with it. "Okay, why don't you try it? Kate gets queasy, throws a hand up over her mouth, and runs out of the room. Gibbs follows with the evidence bag. "Oh, wait a minute! Hey, wait! Wait a minute! Whoa! Stop!" He corners her against the bathroom door, turns her around, and shoves the open evidence bag in her face. "In here, in here…" She vomits into the evidence bag. Gibbs seals and labels it.
"Can I rinse now that you've got your evidence?"
"Yeah, sure." Kate gives him a disgruntled look, opens the door to the bathroom and disappears inside. Gibbs finishes labelling the evidence bag then hands it to Tony.
"Log it. Go find Ducky." Tony looks slightly disgusted at the puke-filled bag.
"You think she's got whatever killed the commander?" Gibbs just shakes his head, having no answer. Tony leaves, Gibbs sits down and looks out a window at the clouds passing by, thoughts of his son occupying his mind.
Fornell sat in a small, corporate plane, holding his phone up to his ear. "If NCIS does the autopsy, they'll control the investigation. You want that?" Agent Baer's voice can be heard over the speaker.
"Commander Trapp was a Naval officer, they have every right to do the autopsy."
"Dammit, Bill, they're bush league. We have assets those cowboys can only salivate over!"
"Don't underestimate NCIS." Baer warned. Fornell scoffed.
"Oh, they're good, at making drug busts and catching sailors who've jumped ship. But an attack on the President?"
"The President's doctor thought that Commander Trapp had a stroke."
"Maybe he did, but if he was poisoned… You want to put the man's life in the hands of retread cops and ex-MPs?" Baer sighed.
"If you withhold so much as a comma out of the report…" he threatened.
"You'll get copies of everything before the ink dries." Fornell promised.
"I'll order Agent Todd to turn the body over to the FBI at Andrews, but I can't control NCIS."
"With us joined at the hip, all they can do is watch. And bitch." Fornell hangs up the phone. "We're back in the ballgame."
Ducky is examining Kate, who is lying stretched out on a couch. "Low temperature. I think it's a stomach virus."
"I know it is. Did you use that thermometer on cadavers?" The doctor laughs.
"Would you rather I use the liver probe?"
"Why you so sure it was the flu?" Gibbs asked from his seat. Kate sighs.
"It's the same symptoms Major Kerry had."
"Did you work together recently?" Ducky inquired.
"No." His eyebrows furrowed together.
"Well if you didn't work with him, then how…? Ah!" Ducky blushed as he answered his own question.
"Did you think I was a virgin?"
"I'd… hoped not." He replied, embarrassed. Ducky leaves and Kate chuckles. Gibbs just sits there watching her. She gets comfortable, staring back at him.
"You gonna lecture me about sleeping with people you work with?"
"Nope." She nods slowly. Gibbs keeps looking at her. Before anyone can say anything else, someone calls for Agent Todd over the intercom system.
"Agent Todd, Agent Baer's on a secure line for you." Kate sighs and slowly, painfully, sits up.
"You want me to take that call for you?" Gibbs asks. She laughed.
"I'd have to be dead." She leaves and Gibbs nods to himself, laughing. Meanwhile, Tony is sitting in an empty office using the desk to interview the flight crew.
"And how long have you been on Air Force One?"
"Five years, sir." The crewman replied. Gibbs walks in and heads straight for the bathroom, pulling his zipper down on the way. Tony wraps the interview up.
"Alright. Well, thank you very much, Chief Steward."
"Yes, sir." The steward leaves and Gibbs questions Tony from the bathroom.
"What'd you get?"
"Ah, food security's very tight. Incognito purchases, randomly selected stores. No one knows their buying for Air Force One." Tony replies. While Tony is talking and Gibbs is peeing, Ducky enters the room. Tony motions for him to be quiet, pointing at the bathroom, and grabs a camera. Ducky quickly snaps a picture of Tony sitting behind the desk, then they switch places so he can do the same for him. Tony is giving Gibbs a verbal report the whole time. Once done, they both retake their places and act as if nothing at all happened. "Stewards usually prepare all the food, but today the President had ribs and coleslaw flown in from a smokehouse in San Antonio. So they only reheated them and served them."
"Anybody else have ribs?"
"No." Ducky decided to make his presence known.
"Gibbs, if the ribs were poisoned, then how come the President wasn't affected?" Gibbs walked out of the bathroom.
"Maybe he's used to Papa Joe's barbecue. If you two are through taking pictures of each other, maybe we can move that body out. And next time you guys decide to mess around someone's desk, try to be a little quieter; Harry could have done a better job than you two." Gibbs leaves and Tony and Ducky look at each other shocked that they had gotten caught.
In the Comm., Kate is arguing with her boss over the phone and losing.
"Agent Todd, shut up and listen. I'm giving you a direct order. That's our aircraft, everything living and dead on board is under Secret Service control. Turn the body over to the FBI at Andrews, or the only presidential detail you'll get will be walking Spotty." Agent Baer hangs up on her and she forcefully puts the phone down, releasing a huff of frustration. The motorcade pulls away. Kate walks back downstairs to the crime scene, but the only one there is Gibbs. Not even the corpse.
"Where's the body?" She asked.
"I don't know." Gibbs replied innocently. They both laugh, knowing he's lying through his teeth.
"You move it to the off-ramp for a fast getaway?" Kate inquires. Gibbs just grins and drinks his coffee. Kate puts on her coat and takes her own seat as the plane is coming in for a landing. "It won't work, Gibbs. I've been ordered to turn the body over to the FBI at Andrews."
"You could stall them until we get off." He offered, making her sigh.
"No, I can't. I won't defy a direct order. I'm sorry, Gibbs."
"Never say you're sorry." He laughed, remembering their earlier conversation. "Ah, you don't have to crochet that one." Kate smiles, but Kate can tell that she'd not happy with the situation. Then the Captain's voice comes over the comm.
"We are coming in for a landing, please fasten your seat belts and turn off all electronics."
Later in Agent Fornell's car
"Why'd you let NCIS have the evidence they bagged on the plane?" The driver asked. Fornell chuckled.
"Since we have the body we control the investigation. If a few ribs and coleslaw saves some face, what's it hurt? If the food was poisoned the President would—" Suddenly, a cell phone rings. Both FBI agents look around. The driver checks his cell to be sure.
"Not mine, sir." The phone rings again. Fornell checks his cell as well.
"Not mine, either."
"Hello?" Both agents look back at the body bag where the voice came from. Tony is inside it, with his cell phone pressed to his ear.
"We're in the clear, you can get out of the body bag." Gibbs' voice can be heard coming from the phone. The FBI SUV slams to halt in the middle of the road, forcing a driver behind them to serve. Car horns honk. Tony grimaced.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm not sure I want to." Elsewhere, a white van is driving down another road. Gibbs and Ducky are in the back with the real body of Cmdr. Trapp.
"Fine. You've got to search Commander Trapp's apartment tonight." Dinozzo groans.
"Oh, Gibbs, come on! It's 1:00am."
"Agent Axle is trailing you to pick up the body bag when the FBI tosses it." Tony laughs.
"That's funny, Gibbs, real funny. Especially since— Aaahhh!" Tony trails off as the body bag containing him is dumped out onto the road. Gibbs just calmly hangs up and turns back to look at Ducky.
"I guess they found him," he said, smirking.
Abby ran around her lab, processing the clothes Commander Trapp had been wearing when Tony came in carrying a box.
"Abby?" He calls.
"Yeah?" She replies quietly.
"Find anything on his uniform?" She sighs.
"Not yet." Tony smiled.
"Well, I think I found how he was poisoned." He takes the box of evidence bags and starts laying them out on the countertop. Abby follows him. "This guy had enough vitamins, herbs, and organic food to open his own health market. If he was poisoned, I think you'll find it laced into one of these."
"So what are you gonna do while I'm finding poison in a health snack?" Tony yawned.
"I'll wait." She laughed.
"Normally, I would allow you to crash on my futon, but I'm not at all sorry to inform you that it is already taken." They turn to look over to the corner where the futon is laid out. Fast asleep with his thumb stuck in his mouth was Harry, his three toys tucked under his arm. "You would not believe the amount of adorable pictures I have gotten tonight."
"Yes well, all I really want right now is to catch some shut eye." Abby laughs and nods to a cabinet.
"Blankets and pillows are in the third drawer and you are just going to have to make due with the floor." Tony sighed happily.
"Bless you." He said, pulling out the covers.
"What are you, my priest?" He looks up at Abby.
"Curse you?' She laughs and Tony lays down to take a nap under a table.
Gibbs calls after Agent Todd as she is leaving the briefing and hands her a piece of gum. "Kate. When's the President returning?"
"Uh, tomorrow. Noon. I'm flying back tonight to rejoin the detail."
"Mind if I tag along?" Kate waffles.
"Please?" Gibbs asks childishly. Kate smiles smugly.
"You can. Your Sig Sauer can't. We have a rule: no weapons on Air Force One unless they're Secret Service." Kate pops the gum in her mouth. Gibbs shrugs and takes off his sidearm, tucking it away in a drawer. He puts on his coat and follows Kate out.
"Keep looking." He says to Ducky and Abby as he passes them. Abby looks amused.
"Wow. Gibbs said "please".
On the Air Force One
"Good to see you again, Major." The president says to Baer. "Always good to see ya. Folks, that was a job well done.
"Thank you, sir." Baer replies.
"What do you say we head home?" Baer nods.
"Absolutely."
"Alright. I agree." The president said. Kate walks up to Agent Baer.
"Sir? I'm surprised that you didn't object to Agent Gibbs riding with us?"
"He's here because his gut is still churning, isn't it?" Kate frowned.
"Yes, sir. I suppose you could put it that way."
"Well so is mine." Kate nods, equally as concerned, as she watches Baer walk off after the President. Air Force One takes off, once more.
"Annie." Baer says. A tall blonde women with a notebook stands up.
"Yes?"
"The President's ready to see you." Annie follows Baer out of the Press cabin, past where Gibbs and Kate are seated. Gibbs gets up to watch them curiously.
"Where they going?" Kate barely looks up.
"The President promised ten minutes to each member of the Press on board. Since we kicked them off at Wichita, he's playing catch up."
"Three years before 9/11, Clancy wrote a book where a terrorist hijacked a commercial jetliner and crashed it into the Capital." He looks into the press cabin. "In the Harrison Ford movie, the terrorists were reporters." Kate sighs.
"Gibbs, everyone on board has been vetted by us for years. Except you.
"In the film, the terrorists got their credentials from a Secret Service turncoat." Gibbs walks away. Kate sighs. A man from the Press cabin walks up beside her and watches him leave.
"Loosening up your dress code, Kate?" The man asks.
"He's not one of us.
"We all gonna get our fifteen minutes of fame?" Kate shuffles him back to his seat.
"It's ten, Leonard, and the President's doing his best."
Several Hours Later
A journalist starts going into convulsions and drops to the floor. Secret Service agents rush to his side.
"Medical emergency, Press cabin." Agent Baer leaves from escorting Leonard to race to the Press cabin. Leonard ambles along behind him. The same three medics from before come running.
"Captain, is this the same thing Trapp had?"
"It appears to be." A female medic checks respiration.
"He's not breathing."
"Start CPR."
"Do something!" Baer cries.
Leonard, meanwhile, walks over to the cabinet Gibbs had remarked on before when comparing the plane with the movie. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the key to unlock the cabinet. Inside are weapons, and he arms himself with an automatic.
In the bathroom Gibbs had pushed them into, Gibbs and Kate start to figure some things out.
"You said the locks were different." He said. Kate nodded.
"29 has digital ones, this one has keys." Gibbs' eyes light up in realization.
"Armoury, the armoury. They have keys to the armoury. They copied the movie. They've vetted a reporter." Kate frowned.
"That would take years." She puts her earwig back in.
"So did setting up 9/11." Gibbs retorted. As they exit the washroom, Leonard sees them and ducks down side corridor before they can see him. Kate listens to the intercom chatter.
"There's a medical emergency in the Press cabin." She said. Gibbs shook his head.
"It's a diversion. Cover the President." They split up. Gibbs goes back toward the Press cabin, Kate to the President. She draws her weapon as she approaches. She looks at the ball carrier.
"Nobody gets past you." The Marine Football carrier plants himself in the middle of the aisle, a determined blockade. Leonard waits until Gibbs has passed by before going back out into the aisle. Gibbs makes his way to the armoury and grabs a handgun. Leonard approaches the Marine guarding the hall, who moves to intercept him.
"Sir, stop right there. Stop right there, sir!" Leonard pretends to look confused.
"What's happened?"
"Freeze!"Gibbs is now behind Leonard, pointing his gun at him. Leonard halts. "Get your hands in the air." He slowly spins around.
"Sure. Someone yelled for a doctor." As Leonard turns, he starts firing the automatic on an arc toward Gibbs. The only thing going on in Gibbs' head is Harry. Memories of chasing him around the yard, tucking him at night, giving him kisses, and most importantly, his little boy's laugh. The way his green eyes light up when he smiles. Gibbs wonders what would happen to him if he were to die today. As the bullets ricochet around him, Gibbs does not flinch, but fires once into Leonard's chest. Leonard falls onto his butt, alive and no longer firing, but still with his finger on the trigger of the automatic. Gibbs shoots him twice more in the chest and head. Leonard keels over, dead. Kate and everyone else shows up to see what happened. Gibbs walks past the body up to Kate and hands her his appropriated weapon with a smirk.
Later outside Air Force One in a parking lot.
"I'm gonna be doing paperwork for a week." Groans Baer. Gibbs laughs.
"Oh yeah, me too."
"Agent Todd told me about her and Major Kerry when she tendered her resignation."
"Are you accepting?" The NCIS agent asks.
"Of course, she broke the rules." Baer holds out his hand for Gibbs to shake. "Well, thank you, Special Agent Gibbs."
"No sir, thank you." Gibbs smiles. Kate is seen walking despondently away from the plans. Gibbs comes running up to her.
"I heard you quit, Agent Todd." She nods.
"Happy news gets around , I resigned. It was the right thing to do."
"Yup. Pull that crap at NCIS, I won't give you a chance to resign." She looks at him shocked.
"Is that a job offer?" He doesn't reply, just winks at her before climbing into a cab and yelling over his shoulder to be at headquarters in no less than three hours.
Kate leaned back in her chair stunned. She surveyed her new workplace. In less than 5 hours she had protected the president from an assassination attempt, been fired from Secret Services, and got a new job as a special agent for NCIS; if that wasn't crazy she didn't know what was. She looked across the cubicle to the man sitting at his desk in front of her.
"Hey Dinozzo." He didn't look up from his stack of paperwork.
"Hmmm." She propped her elbows onto her desk and rested her head in the palm of her hands.
"What makes Gibbs tick?" Tony looked up at her shocked before pushing out from under his desk and walking over to sit on the corner of hers.
"Well, now that's any easy question. You want to know what pushes Gibbs everyday? What he lives for?"
"Yeah, I do."
"That little boy over there." Tony nodded towards the elevator. Kate watched as Abby stepped out with a young black-haired boy in her arms. The toddler jumped out her hold and ran as fast as his legs could carry him up the stairs, right into Gibbs, who swung him around the air before pulling him into a tight hug. She listened as the kid laughed and told his Daddy all about his day.
Maybe there was more to Gibbs that she had originally thought.
Thank you to everyone that reviewed my last chapter - I would personally thank everyone, but to be honest I am about to pass out at my computer.
Please read and review - Helpful criticism is appreciated.
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