Disclaimer: I do not own Intelligence, NCIS or their characters. This story is for entertainment purposes only and means no copyright infringement. Do not publish without my explicit consent.
AN/ I know that Intelligence was cancelled but I still have a few stories that I wanted to write. I just hope that there will be people who will read them.
AN 2/ The entire pneumonic plague plot is closely inspired by the NCIS season 2 episode SWAK.
Past meets present
Dawn was approaching and the first rays of sunshine were making their way through the cracks between the drapes when the cell-phone laid on the bed stand buzzed. The sound, however unpleasant, did not disrupt the unusually profound and blissful sleep of the couple lying in bed in a mess of entangled limbs. The man's arms were wrapped around the woman's body keeping her back pressed against his chest, his face buried in her hair, his lips almost touching her scalp. His left arm was pinned under her neck and the fingers of her left hand laid upon his. His right hand allowed him to maintain her pressed against him without giving her any option but to remain where she was. However, as the fingers of her left hand were intertwined with his so that even if he wanted to try and remove his hand from her stomach, she wouldn't allow him. Calm and assured that the other wasn't going anywhere, they could allow themselves to drift off in a deep and restful sleep. Thus, the sound of the buzzing cell-phone did by no means cause them to wake up but only to stir, slightly reposition and pull each other closer, if that was even possible.
Whoever was on the other end of that line, however, was very persistent. After the owner of the first cell phone refused to answer, they tried the second. Unfortunately for the sleeping couple, that cell wasn't set on silent mode and the high-pitched sound if its ringtone pierced through the night leaving the couple no other choice but to answer it.
After a few seconds, the man reluctantly pulled away from his lover and looked around in order to identify the source of this so violent disruption of what was set to be a perfect night. The phone, obviously still on the side pocket of the woman's coat, lay on the floor, on his side of the bed, and, to his great annoyance, continued to ring with persistence.
"I'll get it." He reached for the phone and picked it up. "What happened to putting it on silent?"
"I got distracted." He smiled. But as he was about to press the answer icon, she stopped him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you unless you have a very good explanation as to why you're answering my phone in the middle of the night?"
"Good point." Gabriel agreed and handed her the phone.
"Agent Neal." Riley answered. "Oh. Don't worry. I spoke to him last night. I'm sure he's fine. He probably tossed his phone somewhere. I'll check on him right away." She remained silent for a second, listening carefully to whoever was on the other end, probably Lillian. "Understood."
"What's up?" Gabriel asked as he continued to lay kisses on her shoulder.
"C-DOC in an hour." She said, tossing her phone on the night stand and started to get up. Gabriel, however, had other plans.
"An hour you say. If you drive and I chip the traffic lights, that gives us enough time to…" He started saying with a smile reaching for her.
"Get a shower." She interrupted him, putting her index finger on his lips thus preventing him into talking her into being late for work. "Separately." She added before he started getting other ideas. "I suggest you keep yours cold."
"Why are you such a buzz-kill?"
"If I recall correctly it was your brilliant idea to keep this a secret." She teased him with a smile. For now, it was ok but not for long. At first it maintained their relationship exciting but now it was actually starting to slow them down. Still, to be honest, Riley sometimes hid behind this secrecy because she didn't want to admit that she was the one slowing them down with her unease with long-term commitment. Or so she felt.
"Only because I didn't want you to lose your job." They both knew that if anyone was getting fired for consorting with a fellow officer, it would be her. Gabriel was still too essential for Clockwork. Oddly, he felt the same way as Riley. He wondered whether it was the secrecy that prevented them from moving forward or his doubts and insecurities. But until those were at least a little bit settled, it was best not to include other people in their discussions. Setting aside his doubts, he leaned toward her and pecked her lips. "Ok. I'll make coffee while you're in the shower."
The next twenty minutes were spent in a dance rehearsed to perfection. Once Riley was out of the shower, Gabriel handed her a carton cup of coffee and she left for her perimeter sweep despite his disapproving look. While she was out, Gabriel took a shower, got clothed and made the bed, reminiscing about the previous night. After all, with what they did for a living, he and Riley rarely got the chance to have a quiet evening at home enjoying each other.
Just as he was done, he heard Riley step in the apartment telling him that the coast was clear and handing him a bare claw that she had gotten for him. She changed the bakery and the breakfast every day without a specific scheme to avoid anyone detecting a pattern. They left the apartment, got into the car and drove off to Angel's Bluff. With the reduced traffic at that time of night, they would be at work just in time. Especially since Riley drove.
Anyone else might have missed it but Gabriel knew Riley sometimes better than she knew herself: she was pissed. She was just as pissed at he was about their interrupted night. She had been just as eager as him to get away from Cybercom if just for a day, to enjoy being in a steady relationship for the first time in a very long time. That, in itself, was new territory for Riley. While Gabriel, although loving his job, has always been inclined to dream about ignoring a call calling in sick in order to have some fun (even when he had been married to Amelia), Riley had always respected orders and the idea of not going to work, even when she was sick, hadn't even crossed her mind. That is until now. And Gabriel had noticed that change. It didn't happen very often but he was, sometimes, forced to be the voice of reason and convince her that she has to go to work instead of staying in bed with him. She didn't really need convincing and she never actually thought about blowing off work, but he could see that it bothered her not to have time for a personal life.
As they were both angry for being called at work in the middle of the night, they drove in silence. Finally, they arrived at the Cybercom gates and Riley pulled down the window allowing the guard to sneak a peek inside the car. Seeing only her and Gabriel, he nodded and made a sign to his buddy inside the booth to open the barrier. Riley drove to the underground parking garage and parked the car.
"Wow. Somebody got some last night." Nelson greeted them in CDOC a few minutes later.
"What?" Gabriel looked at him with surprise. He was usually better at hiding things but the previous night had been so perfect that he wished it hadn't ended. And besides, there was something about today that made him want to hold on to Riley and never let go. "What makes you think that?"
"Nothing really." Nelson continued. "You just have that 'I just got laid' look on your face. Or was it this morning?"
"Tell me you didn't call me at four in the morning just to find out if I was alone in bed." Gabriel tried to dodge the bullet. But he was tired and quite frankly didn't want to be there.
"Avoiding the question…"
"And suggesting work." Jameson added. He was all about respecting his co-workers' privacy but a little teasing usually didn't hurt anyone. Usually. "Means it's serious."
"Or… It's someone we know." Nelson continued his monologue. "It's someone we know isn't it?" Gabriel wanted to answer thought that it was better to leave Nelson make suggestions and then forget about the whole thing. "Could it be Megan Shaw from the CIA? No, she just got engaged. Don't tell me that it was Susan Andrews from the Security division. You know that Riley can't stand her." Then an idea seemed to be coming to his mind. An idea the Gabriel seemed to recognize and that he didn't like at all. "Don't tell me it was …"
"Lillian should be done with the DNI any minute." Riley said matter-of-factly as she entered C-DOC. "Nelson, don't tell you who's what."
"He's trying to figure out who Gabriel got lucky with last night." Jameson looked up from his computer. Gabriel noted that Riley remained perfectly calm her reaction not even suggesting that she was the mystery woman.
"But he's being secretive." Nelson added.
"I'm being secretive?" Gabriel noted. "You're the one afraid to tell your own father that you're going ring shopping."
"Hey! You don't tell people until I propose." Nelson protested. Gabriel's plan seemed to be working. "It's part of being my best man. I'm this close to giving the job the Jameson." Gabriel beat himself up a little bit for attacking Nelson. He was better than that. And maybe that reaction would cause them to be even more suspicious. Be he needed a subject change."And for your information, I told him yesterday, got his blessing and even got mom's ring."
"Congratulations, Nelson." Riley smiled at him. "You're a lucky guy."
"Thanks you, Riley." Nelson turned to her and, unfortunately that gave him an idea of how continue the previous conversation. "Say Riley, you stick to Gabriel like a fly on a jar of honey. What can you tell us about this mysterious date?" Even though he knew that Riley could handle herself, Gabriel got a little worried. It's not like he didn't want to tell his best friends about them. They both did. They were past the point of figuring out what they meant to each other. They were both in it for the long haul and they knew it. But they still needed to figure some things out before they made it public. One of them being what they would do about Riley's job. And he felt very guilty that, because he hadn't pay attention to his facial expression, he might jeopardize that on the anniversary of their first meeting.
"I could have done without the metaphor, Nelson, thank you very much." For anyone who didn't know Riley as well as Gabriel did, she would have appeared perfectly fine. Gabriel, however, knew better. The arms in the pockets, the head positioned slightly to the back and the a little more frequent blinking all indicated that she wasn't at ease. "As for Gabriel's date, if there ever was one, that's protector-protectee confidential information. I'm afraid that I can't help you." That's it. Give him a taste from his own medicine.
"You're no fun." Nelson commented.
"She wasn't hired to be fun." Lillian said as she entered C-DOC, followed by Dr Cassidy. "And as much as you enjoy discussing Gabriel's love life, we have more pressing matters to tend to." She looked at Dr Cassidy, who started typing, pulling up something on the plasma screen.
"What is that?" Nelson asked with disgust in his voice.
"Genetically modified Yersinia pestis." Cassidy said with a grave expression.
"Pneumonic plague?" Nelson asked. Cassidy nodded.
"A CIA agent opened a letter containing particles of Y pestis and is now fighting for his life." Lillian explained.
"How did that happen? All federal mail is scanned. How did it survive the radiation?" Riley asked.
"The particles were laid on a wet napkin for preservation. In order to preserve the particles from the radiation, the person left a kiss with a red lipstick containing 72% of lead both on the inside and the outside of the envelope." Cassidy explained pulling up a photo of the envelope on the plasma.
"Femme fatale?" Jameson suggested. "Could it be directed at the agent who opened it?"
"It wasn't. It was simply addressed to the CIA." Lillian motioned toward Cassidy who pulled up a picture of a letter on the plasma screen.
"Nice calligraphy." Nelson noted.
"'If you are reading this and have not initiated biological attack procedures, I suggest you do so immediately since the powder dispersed contained genetically modified Y pestis, aka pneumonic plague'." Gabriel started reading. "'It was rendered impervious to antimicrobials.'"
"Basically, no cure for the plague known to mankind would work." Cassidy explained. "It sends us back centuries."
"Since you will be wondering, there is a cure, which, if administered within thirty two hours of infection, will eradicate the disease. I will be glad to provide it once you call off your assets overseas. You want a cure, call back all the agents you have sent overseas." Jameson finished reading.
"How long…" Riley started to ask but Lillian interrupted her.
"Fifteen hours ago." She said. "The CDC just confirmed that the particles are indeed pneumonic plague an hour ago."
"Pulling up labs doing research on plague." Gabriel said and started browsing…
"No need." Lillian stopped him. "There are three labs doing this kind of research at the moment. There's Technomax in Chicago. Even though the letter was posted from DC, we're not excluding it just yet. There's Alphapharm in Baltimore. But, their research focuses on bubonic rather than pneumonic plague."
"Which leaves the most likely candidate." Dr Cassidy typed in the computer and a logo popped up on the screen. "Johnson's Pharmaceuticals." Both Lillian and Dr Cassidy looked at Gabriel with a concerned expression.
"Ok. Johnson's Pharmaceuticals." Jameson started reading from the screen. "Created in 1981 by Michael Johnson. Primarily focused on bacteriological research. Became one of the main labs in the field on the west Coast in the 90's. It concluded several government contracts since '02. Basically uncle Sam's specialist on bio attacks."
"Then why attack the government?" Gabriel asked.
"And why now?" Riley added.
"Oh God." Jameson read something and immediately looked at Gabriel. "Last December, Johnson's Pharmaceuticals appointed a new CEO – William Hayze." A heavy silence fell upon the room.
AN/ So would this story be something that you'd be interested in reading? If it