*Chapter 2*

At NCIS Headquarters, Gibbs is up in the Director's office being briefed on the new addition to his team. While Gibbs is talking with the Director, Tony and Ziva are sitting at their desks working. Ziva can tell Tony misses McGee.

"You miss him don't you, Tony." Ziva observed as she's been noticing how Tony occasionally looks at McGee's empty desk.

"I don't miss Tim." Tony stated. "He was a bit shaken up after what happened three weeks ago. That's understandable. I mean… Being stuck in a situation like that and unable to see what's going on, I'd be scared too. But the decision to resign was in haste since he wasn't in his right mind. I bet Tim will be stepping off that elevator in no time."

Ziva chuckles slightly.

"What?" Tony wondered what the chuckle was for.

"Come on, Tony. We both know you miss McGee." Ziva said. "If you didn't, then you wouldn't call him by his first name. Besides, for the past three weeks you've been looking at his desk as if reminiscing."

"Alright, maybe I miss him a little bit." Tony said. "He grows on you after a while."

"That he does."

After a minute, Ziva gets up and leaves the bullpen in order to bring paperwork down to the legal department. With Ziva gone, Tony looks across the way at McGee's desk. He reminisces about the countless practical jokes he's played on McGee over the years. The jokes were always fun. But a while back, Tony was prepared to not marry Jamie unless McGee was present at the wedding.

"Hello…?" The woman standing in front of Tony's desk said to get his attention.

"Yes?" Tony snaps out of trance and looks up at the beautiful woman standing there.

"I'm supposed to report to Special Agent Gibbs." The woman stated. "This is where I can find him, right?"

"He's in the Director's office at the moment. What's this about? Maybe I can help."

"Oh, I'm sure you can." Samantha smiles flirtatiously at him. "My name is Samantha Cole." They shake hands. "I'm reporting for my new assignment. We'll be working together."

The first thought to go through Tony's head is that this woman is McGee's replacement. That Tim is really gone and not coming back.

"Is that my desk?" Samantha points to the empty desk to the side.

"Yeah… I guess so." Tony said hesitantly as he's still in shock over the replacement.

Samantha Cole walks to her desk and sits down. She tries to open the drawers but they're locked.

"This desk is locked." Samantha said.

"Hold on." Tony said as he stands and opens the file cabinet to get the key. After finding the key, he walks to the desk and hands it to her. As he gives her the key, their hands briefly touch. The smoothness of Samantha's hand is amazing. "Wow, your hand is really smooth."

"Thank you." Samantha said with a smile. She places the key into the upper right drawer. "This key isn't working."

"That drawer has always been a pain-in-the-butt." Tony leans down, across the front of Samantha and takes hold of the key. "You have to jiggle it a bit."

With Tony's body directly in front of her, Samantha dismisses the drawer in order to check him out.

"There we go." Tony said as the drawer opens.

"Tony!" Ziva exclaimed.

Tony becomes slightly startled by the shouting of his name. As he pulls back in order to look at Ziva, his arm inadvertently rubs against Samantha's chest without realizing it.

"If there's anything else I can help you with, just let me know." Tony said. He walks away.

"Wow..." Samantha muttered softly to herself as she practically drools while watching Tony walking away.

Tony approaches the windows where is Ziva is waiting.

"Who is she?" Ziva asked.

"She's apparently Tim's replacement." Tony replied.

"McGee's truly gone." She said in a sad manner. There's a brief moment of silence between them. "You should stop flirting with her."

"I wasn't flirting."

"Gibbs would not see it that way."

"I was just helping her out."

"Are you sure you weren't flirting?" Ziva asked. She waves in a friendly manner to the new agent. By the way the new agent looks in the direction, Ziva could definitely tell. "Yeah, you flirted."

"I love my wife." Tony stated.

"I know you do. But by the way she's looking at you, I'd say you certainly did flirt."

The two of them look toward the new agent. The expression on Samantha's face said it all. Tony turns back.

"Oh no…" Tony realized what he inadvertently did due to being in shock over McGee. "I'm totally screwed."

"Want me to tell her you're gay?" Ziva receives a glare from Tony. "Only trying to help."

Gibbs exits from the Director's office and walks down the stairs. Ziva and Tony enter into the bullpen and sit down at their desks. Seconds later, Gibbs enters into the bullpen. Samantha stands up.

"Special Agent Gibbs, I'm…" Samantha begins to say as she holds her file out for him.

"I know who you are." Gibbs said.

"I look forward to working with you, Agent Gibbs."

"Let's get one thing straight, you don't work with me. You work for me."

"Understood."

Gibbs takes her file. He walks to his desk, drops the file in the trashcan and leaves the bullpen. Samantha sits back down.

"He doesn't like me." Samantha said as her observation.

"It's not that he doesn't like you, it's…" Ziva begins to say.

"You're right, he doesn't like you." Tony stated.

"What Tony meant is that you didn't arrive at the best time. We recently lost a member of the team three weeks ago…" Ziva begins to say.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Samantha sympathized. "I was unaware one of your team members died."

"Tim's not dead." Tony said as he looks up from his desk. There's a brief pause. "He resigned."

"Agent McGee's resignation came as a shock to all of us." Ziva said. "And we were unaware of a replacement until you showing up."

"I need to speak with Gibbs." Fornell said as he approaches. "Where is he?"

"He was here a second ago." Tony answered.

"Get him back here." Fornell demanded. "It's urgent that I speak with him." He looks at Samantha. "Agent Cole, what are you doing here?"

"I work here." Samantha responded.

"Taking a step down the food chain will be a nice addition to your resume." Fornell said sarcastically.

"Hey!" Gibbs exclaimed to get Fornell's attention.

"We need to talk, Gibbs." Fornell said.

"Conference room." Gibbs said as he motions for Fornell to follow.

Gibbs and Fornell walk to the elevator.

"You used to be FBI?" Tony wondered.

"Yes." Samantha answered.

"Maybe you were right, Tony." Ziva said. "Gibbs does hate her."

"So Gibbs doesn't like FBI." Samantha commented.

"Not particularly." Tony replied.

"Great…" Samantha said.

Inside the elevator, Gibbs flips the emergency stop switch. The elevator stops.

"What do I owe the visit, Tobias? You want your agent back." Gibbs said. "You can have her."

"I know you don't like the fact that McGee is gone. He was a good agent. But you should give Agent Cole a chance. She's a very good agent, Jethro. You're lucky to have her." Fornell said. "We tried to get her to stay with our agency, but she didn't want to."

"I thought you were here for a reason."

"There's a situation we need your help with."

"What situation?"

"A prisoner broke out of our custody fifteen minutes ago."

"Another one." Gibbs chuckled slightly. "First Shawn Benson and now… Oh man…" He shakes his head. "The FBI has a knack for losing prisoners lately."

"This prisoner broke himself out off custody, Jethro." Fornell stated. "The four agents escorting him are dead."

"It's not my problem, Tobias."

Gibbs flips the emergency stop switch. The elevator starts moving again. Fornell now flips the switch. The elevator stops.

"It was Apocalypse, Jethro." Fornall said. "His escape is a complete disaster. And we need your help."

"How do you expect me to help?"

"You have experience with him."

"I was undercover as a guard for roughly three days, Tobias." Gibbs said. "I didn't stand a chance when I actually went up against him. He almost killed me with a stove. I can give you a copy of my report, but that's about all I can do because it's not my problem."

"I didn't want to have to bring this card out. But you leave me no choice, Jethro." Fornell said. "We're still sorting out the mess from The Last Place on Earth. Thanks for the extra work, by the way." He started. There's a brief pause. "We have video surveillance and testimony from a guard that you aided the prisoner in the murder of the prison Warden. I don't know what happened or why you were there. I don't care to know. But if you ask me, the Warden got what was coming to him." He said. "With exposing the prison you really pissed off someone in the FBI, Jethro. That person is pushing for an investigation." He continued. "The FBI is willing to make both disappear for your cooperation." There's a brief pause. "Jethro, has a friend I'm asking you to help. As an agent, I'm telling you to help or I'll be forced to take you into custody. You would be in custody until we can determine if the evidence is more than circumstantial. And I don't think you'd want to risk that."

"I guess I have no choice."

"You really don't."

"There's still something you're not telling me, Tobias."

"We're to apprehend the prisoner by any means possible." Fornell stated. "Your help I don't mind. It's the help of the other person my director wants that I have a problem with."

"Oh no…" Gibbs sighed in disbelief. "Tobias…"

"My director's exact words; to catch a psycho, you need a psycho." Fornell said in reference to Gibbs' brother Jared. "He'll be working directly with the FBI. So he'll have minimal contact with you and your team."

"You be careful of him, Tobias. He's not to be trusted."

"You think I want to work with your brother? If I had my way, the deal that exonerated him from all the murders he committed would've never happened. I would've thrown the book at him."

"Don't be afraid to shoot him if he screws with you." Gibbs said. He flips the emergency stop switch. The elevator moves again.

"I'll plea temporary insanity."

"And I'd vouch for the amount of stress you've been under."

"It's good to know you have my back, Jethro."

The elevator door opens. They step off and walk toward the bullpen.

"What's up, Boss? The FBI needs our help finding Waldo?" Tony joked. Samantha covers her mouth to refrain from laughing at the joke.

"No." Gibbs replied. "They need our help finding Apocalypse."

Tony's eyes widen. His facial expression changes to that of shock over the seriousness of the situation. The recollection of how frightening Apocalypse is sends a shiver down his spine.

The situation is as serious as it comes. An extremely dangerous psychopath escaped from FBI custody and is loose on the streets. Until Apocalypse is apprehended, no one in the D.C. area is safe.