A/N: So here's the scoop. I apologize for not updating stories at a faster rate but work has been insane. Really insane. So these updates are going to be a little slow and I'm very sorry about that, but as it is, work is leeching over into my spare time. So I'm just sneaking in a few minutes here and there to write. But I will keep updating. Just slowly. Also, the nomination ballot is up for the 2012 Profilers' Choice awards. The link is: www. fanfiction topic / 74868/ 69379386/1/. Just take out all the spaces, but if that doesn't work for you, just go to the Criminal Minds Forums and go to "Chit Chat on Authors' Forum". There are a lot of talented authors out there with great stories so show your appreciation for these folks and nominate them! Now on with our story!
"Hotch didn't say why he wanted us all at NCIS HQ?" Morgan asked Rossi as he and the rest of the team rode the elevator up.
The older man shrugged. The BAU leader had called him to gather the entire team, sans Garcia who was still back at Quantico, and meet him at the Naval Yard. "He just asked us to pack up all we had on the case and bring it over."
Morgan snorted. "That, does not sound good for us. We probably have to hand over the entire case to those Navy yahoos."
"Morgan!" Emily barked in a sharp tone. "They are not 'yahoos'. Gibbs and his team are experienced investigators with a stellar record."
"Look, Prentiss, just because you got along with them on one case, a case where you were the guest, doesn't mean they're capable of handling something like this one," Derek shot back. "They're all bluster and brawn, guys," said the man who was considered and definitely looked like the brawn of their team. JJ, Emily and Reid rolled their eyes at this. Morgan saw it. "I'm serious! I swear that NCIS woman was going to put me in a headlock!"
"Which you probably would have enjoyed," Reid piped up. "And she only got really angry at you when you thought you could flirt your way onto the crime scene."
"Morgan, you didn't," Emily sighed.
"Sure he did," Reid chortled. "'Help out a fellow agent here, beautiful lady.'"
JJ made a gagging noise and Emily sighed again. "Morgan, you shouldn't have done that with Ziva. She's not going to fall for that type of stuff and would consider it insulting. You're lucky she didn't shoot you."
"Well, we can't all be NCIS' darlings who get lingerie as presents," Morgan sniped back.
"That's enough!" Rossi barked out as Emily flushed angrily. He turned to glare at the other occupants in the elevator. "I don't know why we're here or why we're bringing all of our materials on the case, but I do know that we are not going to embarrass ourselves, Hotch or the Bureau by this childish behavior. Morgan, keep it zipped and for once I don't mean your pants."
His speech ended just as the elevator dinged the doors opened up. They stepped out of the elevator and with Emily leading the way, walked towards the center of the large room they found themselves in to where a small group of desks were gathered directly under the skylight. They paused a moment as the three NCIS agents squabbled back and forth.
"Tony!" Ziva called out for the fourth time, her voice getting progressively louder and more exasperated. "If you do not get moving, I would hate to see Gibbs' reaction when he finds out you have done nothing on getting more information on this case."
"Yeah," McGee chimed in as his hands flew over his keyboard as he furiously gathered financial, phone and whatever electronic records he could find on Commander Hill. "You know he's never in a good mood after a meeting in Vance's office. And add Agent Hotchner to that mix…"
"And that is the difference between me and you probies," Tony replied in a bored tone from his reclined position. He was sitting as far back in his desk chair as it would allow, his eyes closed and feet propped upon his desk. "When you become a senior, very special agent like myself, you learn how to get the most vital information as quickly as possible. The wheat instead of the chaff, the milk instead of the curds-"
"The bull instead of the shi-," Ziva began to say.
"Emily!" McGee called out in surprise. He stood up and greeted the pretty brunette who was leading a group of other people towards th em, some the NCIS agent recognized.
Ziva and Tony stood and turned around to see Emily and the rest of her BAU team coming towards them.
"Hello," Prentiss greeted the NCIS agents. She made introductions. "Agents Rossi, Morgan, Jareau and Reid, meet Agents DiNozzo, David and McGee, members of Agent Gibbs' team."
"We've met," Morgan muttered as he looked at Ziva from lowered brows.
Ziva bared her teeth at him in a facsimile of a smile. The FBI agent had tried to flirt with her to get onto the crime scene. She hated when men tried to do that. It was insulting, although sometimes amusing.
"Dave Rossi?" McGee asked as he came forward to shake the older profiler's hand. "The author?"
"That's me," Rossi replied.
"Wow, I really admire your work," McGee gushed. "You know, I'm a writer too and I've had a book published. Just a work of fiction though. It was pretty popular. Deep Six. I wrote it under the pseudonym Thom E. Gemcity."
"Never heard of it, kid, but I don't read a lot of fiction," Rossi replied.
"So, Em, are you here to pick up what remains of Agent Hotchner after Gibbs gets through with him?" Tony joked as he came forward to give the woman a hug.
"Tony…" Prentiss sighed.
"Hotch can take on anyone," JJ replied stoutly, taking an instant dislike to the three NCIS agents. Morgan was right. They were brash and arrogant.
"JJ," Emily began.
"Huh, you obviously don't know Gibbs," Ziva huffed out.
"But we know Hotch," Reid piped up.
"Mr. Got A Bug Building Condos Up His Butt?" Tony chortled. The BAU team were not amused by the description, albeit fairly accurate one, of their boss. Though Rossi's lips did twitch slightly. "Trust me, he doesn't stand a chance against Gibbs. The man eats bureaucrats for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Occasionally, he'll snack on one for lunch or gnaw on a bone now and then. He might be a functioning mute, but that quietness might be due to the mouthful of bureaucrat he's usually chewing on." His grin started to fade when he saw everyone staring over his shoulder. "He's behind me, isn't he?"
"Surprised you didn't hear me crunching on someone's bones, DiNozzo," Gibbs' cold voice floated over Tony's head.
Standing on the landing that just overlooked the bullpen Gibbs and Hotch were looking down at the two teams gathered below. The older man spun on his heel and swiftly went down the remaining stairs and walked between the gathered groups, splitting them much like Moses parting the Red Sea. In his hand was a cup of hot tea, the steam visible to everyone and the tag from the teabag bouncing with every step he took. His team members looked at each other with raised eyebrows. What was Gibbs, whose blood was actually black coffee, doing with a cup of tea?
"Hotch, what's going on?" Rossi asked as the BAU team leader trailed after Gibbs.
"We will be running a joint investigation with NCIS," Hotch said in a tight voice.
"Boss?" Tony queried.
"Yeah, that's what's going on. It came from Sec Nav," Gibbs grumbled out.
"Have introductions been made?" Hotch asked, looking at Emily since she was the common denominator between the two teams. When she nodded her head, Hotch turned to Gibbs. "I'll contact our tech analyst to send over all the electronic information we have on the previous murders."
"Send it to McGee. I want to know what we have on Laura Hill," Gibbs said. "Report!"
The BAU members watched as the three NCIS agents immediately snapped to attention and stumbled over each other to report their findings much like eager puppies falling over themselves.
"Laura Hill was a Commander in the US Navy," Ziva began. "She has never been married. Her parents live in San Francisco. She was an outstanding officer. Her current position at the State Department has her acting as a liaison with the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and the Intelligence Department within State."
"Boss, Commander Hill's phone and financial records show no unusual activity," McGee reported. "Except for calls to a cell phone number I'm still trying to trace."
"So you're telling me you have nothing," Gibbs griped. He looked around. "Does anyone have anything useful to add?"
"I guess it's up to me again," Tony sighed in a much put upon voice. He picked up a piece of paper. "Watch and learn probies…" he also turned to say over his shoulder to the assemble FBI agents, "and assembled guests." Only Rossi and Emily didn't roll their eyes. Tony cleared his throat. "Friends and colleagues have said Commander Hill was a good worker who kept to herself and was focused on her career. However, over the last few weeks they started to suspect she might be seeing someone on the down low. One friend believes it might be a diplomatic attaché with the Italian Embassy that she had worked with on a project a few months ago."
"Why keep her dating quiet?" JJ asked.
"If she was a private person, it simply could have been her wanting to keep her private affairs that, private," Rossi replied.
"Huh, I can understand not wanting your nosy co-workers to know everything about your business," Ziva huffed out with a pointed look at Tony.
"Boss, if it's someone with the Italian Embassy, it might be why I'm having trouble tracing the cell phone num ber!" McGee explained.
"Back off McLateComer," Tony snarled at the younger agent, offended he was trying to horn into his moment in the spotlight. He paused. "It would be harder to trace a diplomatic attache's cell phone number, boss."
"Yeah think, DiNozzo?" Gibbs growled out. "What else you got?"
"Boss, I got us a lead, a mysterious boyfriend," Tony began.
"Yeah, that's all you've got, a no name, maybe boyfriend," Gibbs replied. "I want a name. Now!" The NCIS agents scattered back to their desks to try to find out more about Commander Hill and Gibbs turned on his heel and began to leave when Hotch's voice cut through the room like a whip.
"Agent Gibbs!"
Gibbs sighed a martyred sigh and turned around to look at the FBI agents who still stood there, holding their boxes of materials, waiting to be shown where they could sit. Irritation flared up inside of Gibbs. Six people. Hotchner traveled with a damn city. How could Gibbs conduct an investigation if he had to trip over so many people?
"We should set up and brief your team on the previous murders," Hotch continued.
"Yeah, we'll why you guys set up, my people and I are going to find out all we can about the current murder. Evidence sometimes has a way of deteriorating and leads disappearing with time so we need to get moving. It's what investigators do."
Hotch stiffened at the implication. While it was true that the BAU typically became involved after the fact and had nowhere near the forensic training as Gibbs and his team, it didn't mean they were novices. "I understand that, but unless you want us to set up here," Hotch eyed Gibbs desk, "With that as our main landing point, I suggest you find us a small room."
"Emily," Gibbs turned to the brunette. "Can you show them the room you were in last time? You can use that."
Hotch's eyes narrowed at this. While it wasn't an order, he didn't like Gibbs making any demands on his people, especially Prentiss who might find her loyalties divided on this case. Hotch would not tolerate any of that.
"Uh, sure," Emily replied, noticing the tension in the room had just suddenly elevated.
"There, you have your room," Gibbs growled out. "I'm going to autopsy to see what Ducky has found out."
"Agent Rossi and I will come with you," Hotch replied coolly. He turned to his team. "The rest of you get set up and we'll give Agent Gibbs and his team a briefing." He turned to Gibbs with a wolfish smile. "Our briefing might take a little longer since we have more information to share."
Hotch's dig at the NCIS' team's lack of details on Commander Hill's case did not go unnoticed. Gibbs returned the younger man's smile with an equally lethal one of his own. "Look forward to hearing it, especially since you haven't caught the killer yet."
Hotch flushed darkly and his eyes burned with anger. Emily darted suddenly between the two men. "I do have to say that Ducky is one of the best ME's I've ever worked with so if there's anything to be discovered on Commander Hill's body, he would be the one to find it. I'm sure he's waiting for you now."
Gibbs and Hotch continued to glare at each other, but the former Marine nodded his head sharply. He handed the cup of tea he had been holding all this time over to Emily. "Drink. You sound a little raspy. That should be cool enough now." Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked off.
Hotch and Rossi followed him, the BAU leader giving Prentiss an inscrutable look as he passed while Rossi merely smiled at her and raised an eyebrow. Emily simply sighed and shook her head. She took a sip of the hot tea that had been laced liberally with honey and felt it soothe her aching throat. She hadn't said anything but as the day wore on, she was feeling progressively worse.
"Oh boy, the boss' favorite is back," Tony teased, but there was no malice in his tone. "You know, Em, this just means when Gibbs is in a cranky mood, we're sending you in. Oh, wait, he's always in a cranky mood! Guess that means we'll leave to deal with him all the time."
Ziva and McGee chuckled and Emily even smiled. However, her smile faded when she saw the looks on her team members' faces. They wore expressions of surprise mingled with disapproval. She walked over to them and said, "Come on, I'll show you the conference room."
Silently they followed her further into NCIS' offices until they found themselves in a fairly comfortable room that had a large window, a conference table, a white board and several well worn chairs. Silently they worked, unpacking their boxes and setting up their materials for the briefing they would be giving. Occasionally, one of the others would give Emily a sidelong glance, but she studiously ignored them. Finally, Morgan couldn't keep quiet any longer.
"Okay, just what is going on between you and Gibbs, Prentiss?"
Surprised by this sudden outburst she turned around to gape at him. "Pardon?"
"Em, Gibbs is not the kind of guy who just suddenly brings you tea without you asking for it," JJ replied. She looked curiously at her friend. "What is going on between you two?"
"We're friends and beyond telling you that, it's none of your business," Emily replied in a cool and irritated tone.
"It is if it interferes with our work," Morgan replied in a dark tone.
"What are you talking about?"
"We need to know where your loyalties lie, Prentiss," Morgan continued. "Us or NCIS."
She gaped at her partner and then turned her attention to Reid and JJ. While both of the younger agents looked uncomfortable, they too appeared to be siding with Derek.
"I don't believe you guys!" she hissed out. "First off this is a freaking murder investigation that we're all trying to solve! There are no sides except finding the bastard and putting him away! Second, I will not stand for anyone questioning my integrity in any way!" With that she stomped out of the room leaving three very ashamed agents in her wake.
Emily stalked down the hallway, not really paying attention to where she was going, but just wanting to work off some of the anger and hurt she felt. Soon she found herself in a quiet spot where she could put her burning cheek against the cool glass of a window that looked out over the parking lot of the Naval Yard. Tears prickled her eyes as she thought about what Morgan had said to her and JJ and Reid's silent agreement with him. If they could look at her with suspicion and doubt over something like this, what would they say if they knew about other things in her past?
For the first time in a while, she felt very much alone.
"Emily?"
Prentiss looked up at the feminine voice and into the face of a smiling Abby Sciuto. The forensics expert's smile faded when she saw Emily's face and she did exactly what Emily needed at the moment. Without saying a word, Abby stepped forward and hugged the older woman. With an arm wrapped around Emily, she led her towards a back hallway. "Come on, whatever it is, you can take a moment in my lab. No one will bother you there."
A/N: Yep, a little hint there about Doyle and why Emily didn't share anything about her past with her team.