Adventure is Out There

Chapter 1

"Come on! Let's go." I mumbled as I tried to make it through the terrible D.C. traffic, "Ugh! I have a meeting with the director of NCIS in less than ten minutes! Can we not speed things up?" My hands pounded against my steering wheel.

Horns honked and the angry faces of people flashed by. I shook my head in frustration. This was it, I thought. I was finally going to be a NCIS special agent. I could hardly wait. Most twenty-seven year olds never get in, but with my background and my dad being a highly decorated Naval Commander, there was nothing standing in my way.

I cringed at the thought of my father and released an angered sigh. Finally, I made it out of the traffic and headed for the NCIS building. I pulled into the parking lot and grabbed my portfolio. I took a deep breath and stepped out of my Mini Cooper.

I got my security badge from the front desk, and then headed up to the fourth floor in the elevator. The doors opened and I stepped off. Passing by rows of desks, I made note of the people and their faces. I quickly climbed the steps and smiled at the secretary.

"He's expecting you, Ms. Hart." The secretary nodded.

I, with all the confidence that I could muster up, opened the door. I was surprised to see that there was another person waiting with the director. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting? Your secretary told me you were ready for me."

"Oh no! This is the head of the NCIS agents, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He'll be your boss, so I thought it'd be good for you to meet him." Director Vance said.

I took Gibbs's hand. He was a strong man, slim figure, graying hair, and smart blue eyes. "Ms. Hart, I served with your father for a very long time. I'm quite surprised that you are doing this. I know that he never wanted his daughter in the military."

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs, but my father and I never saw eye to eye and this was my decision." They all sat down.

"Charlie always was a hard head." Gibbs nodded, "and It's just Gibbs. Vance, I think she'll be fine. She's got enough wits and brains for it, and she'll be able to deal with DiNozzo and McGee."

"Will you start today? Normally, we would enforce mandatory training, but your recommendation was very satisfying." Vance asked.

"If you would like me too." I answered.

"Welcome to the team!" Vance shook my hand, "Here's your badge, everything you need will be at your desk, and you will get your assigned handgun in a little bit. Do you need a holster?"

"No, sir. I have one with me." I replied.

"Vance, I should go introduce her to the team. Abby will need some time and Ducky." Gibbs said, leading me to the door.

It closed behind them and I raised an eyebrow, "Ducky?"

"Ducky is our medical examiner and Abby is our forensic scientist."

"Boss, we got a new lead on the case." A tall man with sandy blonde hair and gentle features nodded towards the Screen.

Gibbs looked and said, "McGee, this is Lacey Hart our new special agent. Lacey, this is Timothy McGee. Fill her in on the case. Where's DiNozzo?"

"Yes, boss. He... uh... well..." McGee stuttered.

"I'm right here, Boss!" The supposed DiNozzo called, coming in from the elevator. "I was talking with Abby and she said..."

"What did Abby say?" Gibbs questioned, "DiNozzo!"

"Oh! Yes, Abby. She said she wanted to tell you herself." He quickly replied, still focusing on me.

"DiNozzo, you have wandering eyes." Gibbs said, slapping the back of DiNozzo' head.

"Right, boss!" DiNozzo went to his desk.

"Oh, yeah. Your desk is right here, Agent Hart." McGee quickly walked over to the desk across from DiNozzo.

"It's Lacey. I prefer not to be called by my last name." I forced a smile.

"Okay, since we're on a first name basis you can call me Tim. Here's the case we've been working on." Tim handed me a case file.

"Thanks. I'll start it right away." I nodded and looked around at my blank cubicle. Tomorrow I would bring in more pictures, but for now, I hung up an old photo of my fiancé and I.

"I have to say, I'm surprised you joined our team. I would have thought that your dad wouldn't allow it." He said quietly.

I looked up from the file, "You know my father?"

"Yeah, we've worked a few cases with him." Tim stated.

"He doesn't know, about me taking this job, I mean. Either way it was my decision and he's always had a problem with those so it doesn't really affect me anymore." With that being said Tim walked back to his own desk.

I flipped through the file, but I got the feeling that someone was looking over my shoulder. I turned to see if my instincts were right and came face to face with a beautiful gothic woman. "Um, Hello."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare at you, Gibbs told me you were here and I got so excited that I just had to see you in person. Like you're so amazing and you're my role model. Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable. Wow, you're gorgeous." If there were a competition for speed talking, this girl would win.

"Am I missing something?" DiNozzo chimed in.

"Tony! This is Lacey Hart. You know Commander Hart's daughter and the first girl to ever train with and find Nagasaki. She's like the coolest, most prettiest trained killer ever!" The gothic girl spoke.

"I'm not a killer." I bit my lip, "I don't just kill people for sport. I was a contract hit-woman for the government."

"Okay, so she's like the most prettiest trained defense mechanism there is and ever was. By the way, I'm Abby." She held out her hand.

I took it and said, "Hi, Abby. I think you are the first person in a long time to ever compliment me. I appreciate all your kind words, but I'm just another girl. I'm actually really surprised you know who I am, my identity is a closely guarded secret."

"Our Abby has her ways of finding out secret identities." Tony grinned.

"And besides you're much more than just another girl! Well, come down to forensics soon if you want to chat!" Abby left as fast as she had come.

DiNozzo had his sights back on me, "So you're the infamous Lacey Hart?"

"I guess so." I shrugged, going back to the case file. DiNozzo shook his head and gave me a smirk. I ignored him and focused on what I had in front of me.

The case file was simple. A Lieutenant Commander Greg Jefferson had been stabbed to death and found in the park early yesterday morning. I scanned the crime scene photos looking for anything that might lead to our killer.

I paused on the one showing the lieutenant's body. Something didn't sit well with me. "Hey, Tim, could you pull up the crime scene photos?" My eyebrows furrowed as I kept staring at this shot in particular.

"Sure, which one?" Tim questioned.

"The shot of the Lieutenant Commander's upper torso." By now I had peaked the interest of Tony. He got up from his desk and walked over to the plasma. The picture popped onto the screen and I scrutinized it more. "Hm... Zoom in on his left hand?"

"What are you looking for?" Tony asked.

I bit my lip, "Does the Lieutenant have a wife?"

"Noooooo." Tim said, dragging out the word in suspicion.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's an indentation on his left ring finger. Certainly he's married." I raised a hand to my mouth and scrutinized the picture longer.

"You're right. Duck just confirmed it." Gibbs stated from behind us all, "Lacey, find out who the wife is and why we didn't see her as next of kin in the first place. McGee, Abby could use a hand on the DNA sample found under the Lieutenant's finger nails. DiNozzo, you're with me."

Everyone dispersed and I was left standing in the middle of the squad room. I had never been one to sit down and locate someone on a computer. I was always just given information to carry out my orders. Certainly, I had hacked into government databases before, but that's was a long time ago. Things were different for me. I was different.

I shrugged off my looming sadness and jumped into the work. As it turned out, tracking down a classified marriage certificate wasn't that hard. The Lieutenant and his wife met on a mission. Apparently they fell in love and wanted to marry, they both were high targets and so their marriage had to be kept under wraps. I printed out the certificate and the file on the classified marriage. Hopefully, Gibbs wouldn't ask how I had located the documents.

I closed the printed papers into the dead Lieutenant's file and ventured down to autopsy. I waited silently in the elevator until the doors opened into an empty space. I walked out of the elevator and found a set of sliding automatic doors. They opened upon my movement and I was met by two curious stares.

"Oh my! You must be our new agent! Come in, please!" Said a dapper looking older man, "I am Dr. Donald Mallard, but everyone calls me Ducky."

"Hi," I smiled, "Lacey Hart." I took his hand and shook it.

A squeak came out of the younger man and I turned his way. "Ah, yes, this would be James Palmer. He assists me in autopsies. He's rather speechless at the moment, I'm afraid." Ducky smiled and leaned in close, "I think he finds you quite beautiful and refreshing from the other three who usually visit us down here." With a wink, he turned back to his workstation.

I couldn't suppress a laugh any longer, "It's nice to meet the both of you! I was wondering if I could look at the autopsy report for our dead Lieutenant Commander? It wasn't in my file."

"Of course! I was just finishing up with it!" Ducky handed me his report and I skimmed over the details.

"Fifteen stab wounds? Do you think this could be a crime of passion?" I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the significant murder method.

The room became quiet as we all thought about this. Ducky cleared his throat and said, "I do think it could be. The stabs on the chest are very quick and not concise at all. I suppose it could have been done in the heat of the moment."

I looked up, "Yes, but what moment?"

"That remains the mystery, my dear girl." I left autopsy a little while after that and while in the elevator my phone rang. I pulled it out and answered it.

"Agent Hart." I stated.

"Did you find the wife?" Gibbs voice questioned.

My eyes widened, "Ah yes, are you all back?"

"We have been, for over thirty minutes."

"I will be right up, what I found I need to tell you in person." I said.

Gibbs seemed slightly irritated, "Clocks ticking, Hart." With that he ended the call.

I wanted to kick myself. My first day at NCIS and I was already making my boss mad. I breathed deeply and waited for the doors to open on my floor. It was silent except for the hum of the elevator and finally the doors slid open. I hurried off and found an expectant team waiting for me.

"What do you have, Hart?" Gibbs demanded.

"Right, boss, McGee could you pull up those files I sent you?" The screen illuminated with the copied classified files. "Lieutenant Commander Greg Jefferson was married to a highly decorated Army medic, Grace Alexander. They met on a mission a few years ago, but because of them being high targets on terrorist hit lists, their marriage was kept under wraps. All marriage documents were classified. Grace Alexander is currently on leave and staying at their home in Virginia."

"McGee, come on. We're going to take a trip to Virginia." He stated, heading to his desk to grab his keys.

"Wait, Gibbs, there's something else." I stated. He turned, giving me his full attention, "I went down to see Ducky. That's actually where I was coming from. I was looking at the autopsy report and the fifteen stab wounds caught my attention. That's a large number, boss, and with the wedding ring missing..."

Gibbs nodded at me, "You think it was a crime of passion?"

I shrugged, "It's hard to say what it could be, but questioning the wife is our best chance."

He started to leave, McGee following him, "Hart, good work!"

A smile spread across my face and excitement bubbled in my stomach. Maybe I wouldn't screw this up after all.

"What's got you so happy, Hart? We haven't caught the murderer yet." Tony's eyebrow quirked.

"It's Lacey, DiNozzo and I don't know, I'm just glad I did something right." I bit my lip, trying to suppress my grin, "My father said I would be a failure at anything outside of being a teacher."

He stared at me in disbelief, as if what I had told him opened up a can of worms he hadn't expected me to, "I see, but it looks like you've proven him wrong a lot."

I nodded my head and sat down at my desk searching for any other angles there might be on this case. I was feeling like I was on a roll and I needed to continue this. I threw myself into my work and waited for Gibbs to come back. Nothing; I found no other angle that made sense.

I dropped my head into my hands, "Why is it taking them so long?"

Tony looked up from his pile of work and laughed, "This is definitely your first case."

I glared at him just as I heard the elevator doors pop open. I bolted up and watched as Gibbs stepped out. He was leading a handcuffed Grace Alexander. I looked at Tony and he was just as surprised as I was. Gibbs passed us and nodded his head at me.

"She confessed to the whole thing after we found the knife in her sink. Said the Lieutenant Commander was cheating on her and deserved it." McGee stated.

"Wow, your hunch was right!" Tony said. I shrugged, not really pleased with how the case turned out. I had a lot of respect for the Army and Grace Alexander slandered their name by murdering her husband. "Paperwork time!"

"No, DiNozzo, everyone go home. It's been a long day. The paperwork can wait." Gibbs walked into the bullpen and nodded at us all.

"Thanks, boss! I might just be able to make our Valentine's reservations with Delilah!" Tim grinned and grabbed his gear; he left quickly.

I raised my eyebrow, "Delilah?"

"His girlfriend." Tony winked and I rolled my eyes, "You coming, Lacey?"

I shook my head, "I think I'm just going to get a head start on the paperwork."

"Hart, go home. Spend some time with your loved ones. That's what today's about right?" Gibbs questioned.

My face fell and I tried to cover it up, "Right, boss. I guess I am coming, Tony."

We got into the elevator and he pressed the button for the ground floor. "Any special plans for the night?"

"Not really, probably just some dinner and a movie." I shrugged, trying not to go into much detail, "What about you?"

"Quiet Valentine's are nice. Me? I've got a super hot date!" His smirk filled the entire elevator and I found myself rolling my eyes again. The elevator opened and we both went our separate ways. Maybe this year, Valentine's Day wouldn't feel so lonely. Today had been a better day; I felt like I could fit in with the team and maybe I was valuable to them. I felt like I belonged somewhere for the first time in a long time.


I hope you all have enjoyed this first chapter! Let me know what you think! :) The next chapter is in the works!

Until then,

Theatrefreak10