Chapter Two: Competition

Jordan rested her arms on a partition in the NCIS building. Their flight had been uneventful, thank goodness. She was waiting for Woody and Nigel to return with the evidence, and for the agent to show up. Special Agent Gibbs…he was already down low on her list of favorite people, and now he was late to their appointment.

"Hey, Zee-vah!" Someone shouted to her, his face inches from the back of her head.

"Excuse me?" Jordan asked. She turned to face him. He was tall, macho-looking…but more like he was trying to hard.

His face changed to confusion. "Oh, sorry…I thought you were my partner," he apologized. His eyes traveled slowly up and down Jordan's body; he seemed to like what he saw. "I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, but you can call me Tony," he said while holding out his hand. "Maybe you and I could grab a bite to eat later?"

Jordan smiled, and was about to reply when she felt someone place his hand on the small of her back. She looked up and saw Woody, with his "protective look" all over his face. She looked back at Tony. "Sorry," she said, flashing her engagement ring. "You'll have to find someone else."

At that moment, an older man walked around them and gave Tony a sharp smack on the back of the head.

"DiNozzo, with me!" he said gruffly without stopping.

"On your six, boss!" Tony answered and quickly followed the older man.

Jordan took this opportunity to have a private chat with Woody, who was still looking jealous. Moving a few feet away, she cupped his cheek with her hand.

"Woody, you don't have anything to worry about," she said softly. "I'm all yours…there's no way I would drop you for some cocky player." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Okay," he said. "I guess I've got to get over the jealousy thing." He kissed her back, this time on the lips.

Jordan laughed. "Yeah, big time. You've already won—it's the other guys who should be jealous," she said.

Woody smiled.

Jordan thought for a moment. "Just don't go all alpha-male on me, okay?"

Before Woody could answer, Nigel appeared with two large boxes.

"Thanks for the help, you two," he said, pulling a face. "Well, I suppose we should get this over with…the sooner we start, the sooner we can go home."

The others nodded and walked into the bullpen. The older gentleman was at a desk, and Tony was standing next to it.

Nigel walked right up to them. "Is one of you Special Agent Gibbs?"

"That would be me," the older man replied.

"Good," Jordan said. "We're the people from Boston that you requested. I'm Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, this is Detective Woody Hoyt, and criminologist Nigel Townsend." She indicated each of her friends as she said their names. Tony's eyebrows shot up into this hair when he heard Woody's name, but he wasn't foolish enough to make a comment in front of Gibbs.

"You bring the evidence?" Gibbs asked.

Nigel held the boxes up higher. "No, I just like carrying large objects around for the fun of it," he answered.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Gibb's face, but it disappeared quickly. "Good," he said. "Follow me. We'll drop those off at the appropriate place and I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

After stopping at the break room to pick up a drink called "Caf-Pow," Gibbs led the team to a downstairs laboratory.

Facing a computer screen with her back to the door was a tall woman dressed all in black. A large spider tattoo on her neck was noticeable because her hair was done up in pigtails. As soon as Gibbs got close to her, the girl ran up, through her arms around the agent, and excitedly began slurping the drink.

Nigel moaned softly and touched his heart. Woody and Jordan saw this and smirked.

Woody punched him lightly in the shoulder. "If you try anything with that chick, Kate will skin you alive and then seal you in one of her mummy-coffins," he said.

Nigel's expression rapidly switched to one of sheer panic.

Gibbs turned toward the crowd, which had gotten noticeably bigger since they entered the lab. Two other people plus Tony had joined Gibbs and the Goth.

"Okay," Gibbs started. "You've met Tony. These two are Special Agent Tim McGee and Officer Ziva David. Abby is our forensic scientist, so Mr. Townsend will be working with her."

The Brit stepped forward. "It's Nigel," he said, holding out his hand. He had apparently forgotten about Woody's warning because he gave Abby his most debonair smile.

"You both have one hour to find me something conclusive on this dirtbag," Gibbs barked, while heading back to the elevators.

The three members of his team followed. Woody and Jordan glanced at each other before hurrying to catch up.

"Is he always like that?" Jordan asked Tony.

"Pretty much, yeah," he replied.

Gibbs and Jordan were once again in the elevator, this time on their way to Autopsy.

Woody had been left with the other agents, having had an equally impossible task placed upon them.

"Rule Number 12," Gibbs said as the elevator descended.

"What?" Jordan asked.

"Never date a coworker."

Jordan looked at him incredulously. "What I do with my life is none of your business."

Gibbs shrugged. "Just an observation."

The elevator dinged, much to Jordan's relief.

Inside the autopsy room were two people…and older gentleman ME and his young, geeky-looking assistant.

Without preamble, Gibbs began. "Dr. Donald Mallard, Jimmy Palmer...meet Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh."

Dr. Mallard smiled kindly and shook Jordan's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear," he said in a strong British accent.

Jordan liked him immediately. "Hello, Dr. Mallard. Well, shall we get started reviewing the autopsies?"

"Exactly what I was thinking…and you can call me Ducky," he replied. Jordan smiled at the nickname.

Neither of them noticed that Gibbs had left the room. As they spread out the files, Ducky began explaining the procedures to Jordan…with some digression.

"You know, I have an acquaintance who is also lady ME named Jordan. Before we met, I thought that "Jordan Hampton" was a man…of course, I wouldn't make that assumption again. It reminds me of the time…."