Chapter 2

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was no stranger to surprises. In his line of work, you came to expect it since that made the difference when catching the suspect. Same went for the current case his team was working. He knew something was up the moment McGee's queries into the number on the card turned to lead them to a sort of dead end. The kind of dead end where it was flagged and one of the alphabet agencies started the stonewalling. He had brought the matter to Vance when he went to appraise him of the situation and the director said that he would look into it.

It seemed that it paid off since Gibbs had been summoned to the director's office. It was progress since he was determined to solve the murder of a dead Marine and there was nothing that irked him more than someone killing a fellow Marine. He made his way up the stairs to the floor where Vance's office was, noting his team doing their jobs, though something seemed a little off with Ziva. He couldn't put a finger on it but figured that DiNozzo was at it again with the pranks and the teasing. At this point, he was ready for something to get the ball moving again. Nothing did that more than having information at hand even if it had to be working with another agency. He was prepared to do that, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw when he entered the office.

Gibbs knew the man. Knew him well since how could one forget the man that pulled a weapon on you as part of his cover for an op that ended up joining his investigation? That left an impression on Gibbs and had the UC transferred to his team. It wasn't to be long though since…

"Gibbs."

Gibbs blinked and stared at Ray Salazaar. The man was standing there looking like he was worn down, but not backing down in his stance. There was surprise on his face as well and it seemed that neither of them had expected to see each other again. He walked forward deliberately and replied, "Salazaar."

Ray looked at Gibbs. It was obvious that there was tension there. How much of it was from his recent activities was probably not the case, but he didn't put it past Gibbs to have some idea of what went on. The other part was because of his self-imposed exile. Being polite, he said, "Been a long time, Gunny."

"Too long, Skipper."

Vance had been watching the exchange between the two and one had to be blind not to notice that the pair of them knew each other. It surprised him a little but then again maybe it shouldn't have. In either case, it was time to set the ground rules. "Well, I see you know each other."

"We, should, Leon," Gibbs replied, "He was on my team once."

Vance looked at Ray and the man replied, "A long time ago. When I was doing undercover work."

"Then this should make things easier," Vance replied, "Gibbs, I am reinstating Agent Salazaar to full field agent status."

Gibbs didn't bat an eye as he countered, "And how will this help with our investigation?"

"A question best answered at MTAC. Follow me." Vance left the office, not bothering to check if they would follow. He knew they would follow. Without question was another story but one that had interesting results.

Gibbs would have followed Vance directly but paused and gestured for Ray to go first. It allowed him to walk side by side and enable him to talk to an old friend, "You didn't call."

Ray twitched his lip slightly, wanting to smile. He replied, "Just got the call today. At the airport."

"Still could've called."

"You know me."

"I know. How are the kids?"

Ray grinned slightly, knowing that this was probably confusing the hell out of Vance since he wasn't married, and he didn't have kids. "Loud as ever."

"Should move."

"But I like it." Ray looked at Gibbs and gave a grin.

Gibbs allowed a slow smile to form. It turned into a full smile as he said, "It's good to see you, Skipper."

"Likewise, Gunny."

"Glad to see that there won't be an issue," Vance entered, as he paused at the security pad to MTAC. He looked at the two men standing there. He turned to open the door and gestured them to go inside. He followed them and looked at the technician seated at the terminal, receiving notice that they were coming online. "Now see if you can convince someone else."

Ray stood by Gibbs and looked at the screen. It had been awhile since he had been in MTAC. That had been fun on some level since no one noticed him. He blinked as the main screen went on and a familiar face came on the screen. It made him want to stand at attention, but he kept his at ease posture and he started to smirk when he heard, "Is that him?"

"Special Agent Ray Salazaar…" Vance gestured at Ray.

"Secretary of the Navy, Clayton Jarvis," Ray finished as he stepped forward. He kept a straight expression as he looked at the man that wanted to speak to him. "It's been awhile. The last time I saw you was before your appointment. Since then, the Navy's been in good hands." It was being polite, but he did have respect for the man.

"I'm surprised you remember," Jarvis countered with a serious expression on his face. He folded his hands over the folder on his desk. "Just as I was surprised to what led to this."

"Well things have a way of turning out as they do," Ray continued, wondering why Vance wasn't taking the lead. "I'm not one to carry a grudge. Just carry on."

Jarvis looked at the man and nodded, "Good." He opened the file and queried, "I assume you know why you have been recalled to duty?"

"Director Vance appraised me of evidence recovered that may have relevance to my knowledge."

Gibbs wanted to smirk at how Ray responded. The man could play politics but also make it clear that he wasn't one to stand it. He had forgotten how the man used to talk to commanding officers when they worked a couple of cases before the op that sent his friend away. He glanced at Vance and the director shot a look back at him.

Jarvis looked at Ray and asked, "Have you been in any contact with the team that had been deployed on Operation Dead Zone?"

Ray blinked but it didn't faze him. "As I told the director, no, I have not."

"Good, because you are going to be working this case."

Ray blinked at that in surprise. He was expecting resistance to the idea. At least a token one since SECNAV seemed to have a liking for him. This was downright surprising, and it had him thinking to think the worst. He ventured, "That I understood because it is to pick my brains on an operation that had been deem classified, but details elude me."

"Your contact information had been found on Corporal Rawlings' body from that op."

"Which I find to be unlikely since all participants were threatened with treason if it was ever mentioned or we talked to one another and I take that kind of condition seriously." Ray looked at the screen like he was talking to Jarvis in person.

"I agree," Jarvis replied.

Gibbs decided to fill in a little more, "Corporal Rawlings was working for R&D on weapons development. We suspect that he caught wind of Leland technology being stolen and sold. The card could be coincidence, or he took it off of someone you once knew and they are involved."

Ray listened to the explanation. It was a good one. There was just one thing wrong. "That's all well and good for an explanation, but there is one flaw in that. That contact name was one I was issued after I was tapped from JSOC." He looked at the three men looking at him. "I was codenamed Rook, mostly from a chess reference. The JJ was more of a joke."

"All the more reason for you to be reinstated." Jarvis waited until Ray was looking at him. He leaned forward and continued, "I don't doubt that you followed what you were ordered to. I want you to find out who it is. If it is a coincidence that they are using the name that you have been tagged with or if it is someone related to that operation."

"And if they know about Dead Zone?"

"Then we'll take care of it," Vance said.

Ray turned to look at the director, Gibbs and finally Jarvis. A few years ago he had been called in by Director Shepard and she offered to get him back in. He had been dubious about that since he had been burned before. He only accepted what she offered because she strong armed him into it. If there was a thing he liked about Jenny Shepard, it was the fact that she knew how to back you into a corner. He suspected she did the same to Gibbs and his hands were tied because he did have a strong sense of duty and following orders even if he loosely interpreted them at times.

This was an opportunity that seemed too good to be true. Too good in that he would be able to interact with Gibbs' team more freely and he could see people that he couldn't see previously because it had been too risky. That was the reward, but the question was whether or not he could go through with it, go down that path of memory lane to a time that was just… He wanted to take it at face value, but he knew he couldn't. He would do the job, if only to put a few ghosts to rest. He looked at the expectant faces and nodded, "Alright."

"Good," Jarvis replied as he sat back. "Find out who is responsible and put this operation to bed, Commander."

Nothing more was said as Jarvis signed off. Ray stared at the blank screen as it dawned on him the implications of this assignment. It was quiet, too quiet for his liking, so he offered, "Well that was interesting."

Gibbs didn't say anything but gave Ray a look. He looked at Vance who said, "Well, that's it."

Ray raised his brow at the pair of them. "Anything else?"

Vance looked at Gibbs and then at Ray. "He's all yours Gibbs. Just make sure he has the qualifications before he handles any evidence."

Gibbs gave a slight look as he turned towards the exit. He gestured for Ray to follow. Ray hesitated and looked at the director before he followed Gibbs out of MTAC. He didn't say anything as he pulled alongside Gibbs and kept pace to the elevator. He didn't look at anything in particular but he followed along silently.

"Are you okay?"

Ray looked at Gibbs as they entered the elevator. He gave a slight smile, "As well as can be, Gunny." He looked at the door of the elevator. "I'll admit I didn't expect this when I was called into the office. Pretty used to living in a state of limbo."

Gibbs didn't say anything. He knew that there was more to it than what was being said. He had a feeling that his old friend knew things and probably had done things that he couldn't talk about. There were some instances that he was certain there was more going on than meets the eye but when he went to poke and investigate, there was nothing or lack of evidence despite what he had seen. Like when Vance gave him, McGee and DiNozzo permission to head to Somalia to rescue Ziva. That was a job that… went differently from planned. "Doesn't mean you can't talk."

"I know," Ray admitted, "Just felt less of a risk."

Gibbs shot Ray a slight look and got one in return as the elevator dinged their floor. Nothing more was said as they walked down the halls to go do what was necessary. Each mulled on their thoughts about the events that just happened and thought about how best to go about solving the case at hand with the hand they had been dealt with.

Ziva could use a little distraction. Bringing Abby evidence was good enough, but she wasn't ready to head back to the bullpen. She would be plagued by her thoughts over what just happened. She was still trying to process it even though she should have expected something like this. It worried her. It worried her as she carried down the evidence along with a Caf-Pow she managed to get down to the lab.

Abby was busy was busy at her computer, trying to break into Corporal Rawlings' work computer that had been collected along with a few other things, but it was difficult. Major Mass Spec was working on something else, but it was clear that there was a line of frustration on the Goth's face as she tried another means of cracking the password and came up empty. She really needed her Timmy to work his magic since he was better at the hacking into the computer thing. She was frowning in concentration when Ziva came in. Automatically, she said, "Still working on it."

Ziva came to stand by Abby to get a good look. She saw the frustration as she put the Caf-Pow in front of the Goth and asked, "Should I call, McGee?"

Abby turned to look at Ziva and gave a smirk. She noticed that there was something off about the Israeli woman. Not the kind of thing that would make DiNozzo think that it was a guy or something he would tease her with. It was something different. She took a sip of her much needed sustenance and replied, "Gibbs has McGee working on something else. So, I'm gonna keep at it until I crack this little bastard." She raised a fist in mock anger at the computer for good measure.

Ziva couldn't help but smile. There was something about the perky Goth that just put a smile to her face. Sure, there were a few quirks that took time to getting used to and Abby could hold a grudge at times, but she was very loveable. It was no wonder that everyone on the team had their own means of affection for her. She held up the box of evidence she had brought down.

"What have you got for me?" Abby eyed the box like a kid getting a present.

It was a rhetorical question so Ziva didn't say anything. She watched as Abby started looking at the evidence she pulled out. She tried to decide if it was a good idea to bring up his arrival. She knew that he missed working there, but it seemed presumptuous on her end to assume that Abby would know him. She also didn't have all the facts. He was there, and it was obvious that he had been summoned. He had made himself known to DiNozzo and McGee, but that only increased her worry. And now she was worried about his appearance at NCIS.

She and Ray had met after she had been attached to Gibbs' team per Director Shepard. Actually, they met way before that. She just didn't figure it out at the time until after a couple of meetings. He had come out of nowhere during a case as backup. It was a drug bust gone bad, and they were shooting it out. She had been pinned down and was in danger of being hit. Then he appeared.

He appeared and managed to draw fire. It allowed her to apprehend their suspect, but not before she got a fairly good look. It made her think that she saw a ghost. It was brief, but she saw him again later. He came to her much like those spy movies that DiNozzo liked; it was at night and hiding outside her apartment window. There wasn't any reason she could find to call it in and she wasn't really afraid. Not of him.

Since then he would appear and help out. Each time, he would drop by and they would talk. It was when she figured out the ghost from the past. And he was willing to help when he could. He would be one of the contacts she would appeal to. He was dependable, and she cared for him. She also worried for him since sometimes he appeared, and it looked like his cover could be compromised. Much like when she was rescued in Somalia.

Remembering that and what happened between them caused her to intake her breath a bit. It was enough to have Abby notice and look at her and ask with concern, "Are you okay, Ziva?"

Ziva looked up and saw that Abby was looking at her. She had to cover and replied, "I'm fine. Just thinking about the case. Something just had me thinking and I'm… going to go… look into it."

Ziva knew she was completely out of character when she left Abby's lab, but she was in danger of talking about him and, while she could tell the team most everything, Ray was simply someone that she couldn't. Not after what she learned and remembered of him. Also, the adamant way he had of insisting that no one know about him… She got the feeling that there was a lot tied into that and it wasn't her story to tell, but his. It was better to leave, and she did, bumping into DiNozzo. She offered a token apology and continued towards the elevator.

DiNozzo had come down with a Caf-Pow for Abby since he didn't see that Ziva brought one down for the perky Goth scientist. He frowned when Ziva bumped into him, apparently distracted and offered an absent-minded apology. It had him suspicious and him wanting to be his usual self and find out, but he had more pressing matters and turned towards Abby, "So anything from the first set of evidence?"

"Still trying to crack the password on the laptop Corporal Rawlings used but…"

"Need McGoo?" DiNozzo offered the drink.

Abby took the proffered drink with her usual smile and took a sip. It turned into a smirk as she replied, "McGee is busy with whatever Gibbs has him working on. And I can do this. I don't need to run to him every time I have a problem."

The truth was that Abby was out of ideas on how to crack the encryption on the computer. It was a secret section that wasn't standard for Leland Biotech employees, even for someone like the corporal. It told her that there was more to the corporal than meets the eye; that he was working on something that the biotech company didn't want to talk about. If that was the case, she knew that Gibbs would be on it and make them fess up and she would have the science to back it up.

DiNozzo looked at Abby as she moved about, trying another encryption trick that came to mind. He thought about the strange guy that he was certain was an agent since he wasn't sporting a visitor's badge. He knew that Abby made friends with just about anyone. Maybe she heard something that he didn't. Plus, it might give Abby the distraction she would need to in order to come up with what she needed to crack the computer if she was determined not to ask McGee.

Making a decision, he ventured, "Abby, do you know of anyone supposed to be paying a visit today?"

"You mean like Fornell?" Abby glanced at DiNozzo as she continued to work. She noticed the look on his face and figured something happened in the bullpen. There were few things that could put that look on his face and she had a vague idea.

"Something like that, but not Fornell," DiNozzo replied as he shifted around and looked about her lab.

Abby smirked a little as she said, "Haven't heard anything."

"Not even if it was one of Gibbs' friends?"

"Nothing." Abby shrugged her shoulders. Her mind was putting pieces together, but it was mostly conjecture at this point. She had to learn more. "Why?"

"For starters, McGoo decided to let someone sit at my desk and make himself comfortable."

"And we know that is just awful," Abby teased, knowing that it would just encourage DiNozzo to talk a little more. She was now intrigued. A break was needed if she was going to figure out the encryption. This was fun, and she could still keep busy.

DiNozzo fell for it, "He looked like he could be Gibbs' twin, but younger. Had that knowing but not telling look." He frowned a little as he thought about the guy that he had met earlier. "And he was very familiar with the layout of the place. He knew to go to the director's office without an escort. That is not normal. Not normal at all."

Abby tried to keep it in as she looked at her samples. She asked, "Blazer?"

"Yeah. Complete with t-shirt, jeans, and shoes made for running." DiNozzo was looking out the window and frowning. "And he said he was keeping my seat warm."

"And McGee was okay with him there?" Abby turned to look at DiNozzo like it was a casual question.

"McGee let him sit in my seat when there was a perfectly good seat that nobody was using next to him. It was my seat," DiNozzo blurted out, clearly annoyed. "And then he walked through the whole place like he owned it. It was like Gibbs walking through. Not to mention that it looked like he was trying to see through Ziva."

That is so like him. Abby turned to hide the smirk. She knew who DiNozzo was talking about and was up in arms about. She could feel the energy building up, making her want to go running up to the bullpen and see for herself. It had been way too long since she last saw him. He hadn't set foot in the building since he had been sent away. This was just too good.

"You know something."

Abby turned to see DiNozzo looking at her with a look of suspicion. She was having too much fun with this and gave a mischievous smile, "When did you figure that out very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo?"

DiNozzo gave a wry expression as he looked at her. "You know who it is?"

"I may," Abby replied with a smirk. She went back to the computer and started trying another encryption code breaker. "I've met quite a few agents here at NCIS. Some are more memorable than others."

"But are any of them that could pass for Gibbs' twin with dark hair and a totally unapologetic manner?" DiNozzo looked at the Goth who was smirking at him and looking like she was going to burst in excitement. She had to know who it was that had made himself comfortable.

Abby knew that DiNozzo was bursting with curiosity. She could have gone easy but decided to keep going, "No. Nobody I know."

DiNozzo knew it was a lie, but he wasn't going to call her out on that. Not if he wanted to leave the lab alive since he didn't doubt that Abby could commit murder and not leave evidence behind. He gave her a wry look and turned to leave the lab. He figured he would find out sooner or later about their surprise visitor.

Abby watched him leave with a smirk on her face. She waited until DiNozzo was gone before rushing over and grabbing her stuffed hippo Burt. She gave him a good squeeze and the dart came out. She jumped up and down on the balls of her feet and said in a loud whisper, "He's here! He's really here!"

A/N: Ray's presence is known and there is speculation and worries abound. Stay tuned for next time.