Author's Note : A short chapter, I admit, but I do want to keep the story going.
Chapter 15
"And you would be?" Gibbs asked, his hand ready to grab his gun. He could see that Tony was in the same ready position. A man dressed all in black stepping of the shadowy woods had a tendancy to look a little suspicious.
"You can call me Jim. I'm the organizer of this event. We're always willing to welcome newcomers."
"Event?" Tony asked.
"Oh, don't be coy." Jim said, smiling. "But I can understand. We're still in the open, more or less. Come on…we're all meeting up at the barn."
He narrowed his eyes at the dogs.
"We don't usually allow animals." He said.
"Athena and Aphrodite are harmless…and well trained." Gibbs explained.
"Ah…bitches…how appropriate." Jim laughed at his own joke.
Tony shrugged at Gibbs.
"Come on, we'll miss all the fun if we stand here."
Jim led the way down the path towards the barn where the two agents had planned on going all along. Apparently, it wasn't as 'deserted' as Gibbs had first guessed.
"Ziva…you can stop touching me." Tim said quietly.
"Not until you say I can be cuddly." She declared.
Tim was torn. If she was cuddly, he shouldn't be this tense. If he lied, she'd stop touching him…but he'd be lying.
"I'm sure that some find you cuddly."
How did get suckered into this conversation again!
"Very diplomatic of you Timothy." Ziva removed her arm from Tim's shoulders. "For that, I shall stop. But if you show any signs of relief, I will resume my position."
Tim nodded slowly, his eyes wide.
Ziva dug into her pasta with gusto.
Jim led Gibbs and Tony into the barn. Music was playing loudly and while the lights weren't plentiful, there was enough for the two agents to quickly scan the room.
"Boss…there are no women here!" Tony whispered.
"I can see that Tony." Gibbs replied.
Men seemed to be huddled in groups ranging from 4 to 10. All in all, there were at least 50 men present in the barn. Some sitting on bales of hay. Some sitting on blankets. Others preferring to stand.
"Any ideas on where to start?" Tony asked quietly.
"I'm trying to figure what's going on here first." Gibbs said in a monotone voice.
"No white robes, so I guess that rules out KKK. Some form of militia group?" Tony mused.
"I was thinking that, too, but there are no weapons present." Gibbs conceded.
"Planning meeting? No weapons reduces the risk of arrests if anyone comes around."
"Someone like us, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked amused.
Jim approached them with three bottles of beer and another man.
"This is Bob." He introduced the taller man to the agents. "This is…uhh…I didn't catch your names."
"Gibbs…DiNozzo." The older man replied. It didn't take a genius to realize that using false names at a resort wouldn't do much to support their cover.
"Yeah, I saw your names on the guest registry. I work in the laundry room. NCIS agents…good cover, separate rooms." Bob offerred up.
Tony, lifting his beer bottle up to his mouth, stopped half way.
"Cover?"
"Yeah." Bob chuckled. "NCIS especially. I mean, it wouldn't look too good if you were sharing a room. So how long have you two been going out?"
Gibbs and Tony looked at each other in horror.