A/N: A short note this time: Edvina's hangover cure was suggested to me while I was out there, but I didn't try it. Oh, and the Bar Tirana does exist, and looks very similar to how I've described it. Enjoy, and don't forget to review!
Tony kept smiling until McGee, looking harried, left with Gibbs. Only then did he collapse back on his bed and hide his aching head under the pillow. Groaning softly, he promised himself he would never, ever drink that much raki again. The hotel telephone rang, jarring his head until even his eyeballs ached. Eyeballs – that brought up unpleasant images.
"What?" he asked, a little more sharply than he had intended.
"What did you do? Get out the wrong side of bed this morning?" Kate's voice sounded unnaturally chirpy, Tony thought darkly. "You wouldn't have a hangover, would you?"
"I'm fine, it's just Probie snores like a chainsaw," he replied, managing to push himself into a sitting position. The room spun for a moment, but he kept talking, careful not to alter his tone. "Why are you ringing my room Kate? Wouldn't want to be thinking about the possibilities of you, me and a hotel room with Gibbs out of the way, would you?"
"Tony!" Even down the telephone, Tony could see the horrified look. He grinned: maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all. "If you could get your mind away from sex for just a second, you'd remember we have some actual work to do. Edvina and Isak are meeting us in ten minutes in the lobby. We need to canvas the bars, see where our corporals went."
Despite protests from most muscle groups in his body, and the insistent throbbing behind his eyes, Tony was only ten minutes late for their meeting. Dark glasses hid his eyes, and he had pulled on his warmest turtle neck to try to prevent the shivering, but he felt like death warmed up. Really needed to stop drinking that much raki, he considered.
"Sorry, I got held up," he offered, and because of the look on Kate's face, he added, "There was the pretty girl in the elevator, and damned if we didn't get stuck between the floors." Kate rolled her eyes, but Isak and Edvina laughed.
"In Kosovo, it's considered a bonus if you show up on the same day as the meeting," Isak said.
Kate looked incredulous, but shook her head, and left it at that. "We should split up; cover more ground. You know Gibbs will want a result by tonight."
"For once I agree with you Katie," Tony grinned. "Edvina, why don't you come with me and Isak, you take Kate out. I am the Senior Field Agent," he reminded Kate as she opened her mouth to object.
He walked slowly down the road with Edvina, having decided that each group would take one of the three main streets, and then they could meet in the middle for lunch. She shot a sly glance at him. "Too much raki?" she asked innocently.
He started to shake his head, but found it made his vision swim. "Yeah," he conceded. "It's strong stuff."
"Then we must start off with a, what do you call it, hangunder cure?"
"Hangover."
"Yes, that too." Edvina led him to a bar, where she was greeted like a long lost friend. "Ardien, this is Tony, one of the Americans I was telling you about. And he has a hangover." She glanced quickly at Tony, to see if she got the word right, then nodded to herself.
Ardien, a handsome young man with a bright smile, clapped Tony on the shoulder and laughed. "I'll get you Edvina's cure." He disappeared into the kitchen.
"Come here often do you?" Tony asked the interpreter.
"All the time. I like my alcohol."
Tony frowned in confusion. "So you're not Muslim then?"
"I am."
"But you drink alcohol, and wear, well, lovely clothes, but revealing ones." Edvina's top today was cut low, while her jeans were skin tight.
"I am Muslim, I'm just not very good at being a Muslim," she replied, laughing. Edvina seemed to spend a lot of time laughing, Tony realised. Ardien emerged, carrying a tall glass with a milky fluid in. Tony eyed it suspiciously, so Edvina said, "It's fine, trust me."
Deciding that he might as well, as he couldn't possibly feel any worse, Tony took a deep breath and downed the glass. At first taste, it seemed to be just milk, watered down a bit. It tasted a little strange, but that was all. Then the taste of chilli hit the back of his throat and he gasped.
"Good, yes?"
"What the hell is it?" Tony wheezed.
"Goat's milk with a hint of chilli," Ardien replied. "Edvina's secret recipe."
"A hint of chilli? I think I've permanently burnt the back of my throat!"
"But you feel better, yes?"
Tony started to say no, but realised with a shock that his headache had gone, or at least dimmed in ferocity, and he was feeling a lot more energetic. "Actually, I do feel better. Not bad, Eddy, not bad. Now, we'd better get to work."
"Eddy! I am not an Eddy!"
Kate tried to hurry Isak along, but the Kosovan seemed to know every other barman they spoke to, and had to stop for a chat. They made slow progress, and had little luck in finding where their corporals had spent their night. The final bar they checked before breaking for lunch was the Bar Tirana, a small bar, lit by red lamps that made Kate feel as though she had stepped back into the Cold War. She expected to see spies in big overcoats nursing vodka and hiding in corners. Instead, it was empty except for a barman polishing glasses behind the bar.
"Who's your pretty friend Isak?" he asked in English.
"I'm Special Agent Kate Todd, NCIS," she said, holding up her ID. "Have you seen either of these men in the last few days?"
She handed over the head shots of Smithson and Franklin. Caleb Smithson had memorable eyes – officially blue, they were actually almost violet, complimented by the fair complexion and blond hair, shaved to the standard Marine stubble. Jed Franklin was less memorable, dark eyes, dark hair, no distinguishing features. Kate doubted she'd even realise Franklin was in the room, he was so bland.
Unlike most of the other barmen, this one took a second look at Smithson. "He's familiar. Couldn't say when he was here though." He said something in Albanian and Isak nodded.
"He said he was here for Mother Teresa Day the other month, and he's seen him a couple of times since."
"What about Franklin?"
"No, not that I remember."
It was a start, Kate thought, as she and Isak made their way to meet the others for lunch. Tony and Edvina were already at the restaurant, and had ordered a bottle of red wine. "Feeling better then Tony?"
"Much," he replied, grinning at her in his usual way. As always, it irritated her that he was always so….Tony, but she was beginning to see Abby's point. He had a way of getting under someone's skin. Kate knew she'd never admit it, and certainly not to Tony, but she did like him. And he wasn't as dumb as she made out. She'd die before admitting it though, she thought, sitting down and pouring herself a glass of wine.
"Did you have any luck?"
"A few people remembered Smithson at one point or another, but no one saw Franklin."
"Same as me," Kate sighed. "Something's not right about this. How can two friends go out together, but no one sees one of them, and then they get killed on different nights?"
"As Abby would say, this is hinky." Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Gibbs hates it when things get hinky."
"What's hinky? Is it like hunky?" Edvina asked brightly. Kate and Tony exchanged looks, then started to laugh.