Chapter Two:
The next morning, Emily and JJ were the last to arrive, with the exception of Agent Gibbs. They were settling themselves around the desk they were both sharing when a steaming cup of non-NCIS coffee was placed suddenly under Emily's nose.
"I believe I owe you this?" Gibbs said, smiling down at her.
She smiled, wordlessly saying thank you as the members of the NCIS team looked at her speculatively. JJ snickered beside her and Emily kicked her quietly beneath the desk.
JJ straightened and tried to pin a sober look on her face. She must have succeeded because everyone looked away. Emily took a long sip of the coffee and tried to ignore the laughing eyes of the evil blonde elf sitting beside her. She knew she shouldn't have told JJ about having coffee with Gibbs. But the blonde had still been awake when she'd snuck into the hotel room at nearly one a.m. and had demanded answers.
The awkward moment passed after what felt like an eternity to Emily when Gibbs demanded a status report from his people.
"Abby's finished with the grand total of three samples we gave her, boss. Absolutely nothing useful. And that's it. Unless the feebies have something new to add?" DiNozzo looked at Morgan with a smug look on his handsome face. The two really grated against each other's nerves.
Gibbs reached over and thwacked the back of Tony's head. He ignored the startled looks of the BAU team and ordered, "You've got four hours, DiNozzo. I want something substantial, got it."
"Yes, boss," Tony said, rubbing the back of his head. "Can I have a Special Agent to go with me? Just so I don't get into too much trouble? You know I am not good under pressure." He eyed JJ and Emily hopefully before looking to the Special Agent in Charge.
"Special Agent Reid will accompany you, Agent DiNozzo." Hotchner told the younger man.
Everyone ignored McGee and Ziva's laughs at the almost crestfallen look on Tony's face. They knew him so well.
"Morgan, you and Rossi will head out to the base and ask around. Those women have to be connected somehow." Hotch said. "JJ, I need you to stay here and dig for anything you can find, help Garcia and Ms. Scuito. I need you to keep everyone in contact. Agent Gibbs? Emily and I will be visiting the last crime scene, if you and the rest of your team want to accompany us?"
"Sure thing. But we'll take my vehicle." Gibbs said, his tone ironic. He hadn't liked the SAC jumping and giving his people assignments.
"Not a problem, you're more familiar with the streets around here." Hotch said, as the members of his team looked at him suspiciously. He never spoke that rudely to local agents—unless they deserved it.
His team could sense that for some reason, animosity ran between the two men in a way it hadn't yesterday. Gibbs and Hotch hadn't exactly been friendly yesterday but they'd been courteous and professional. Today, they were downright hostile toward one another.
Everyone started off toward the NCIS garages, strangely silent, as they watched the interplay between the two team leaders.
Rossi—who probably knew Hotch better than anyone else on the team—was probably the only one with a clear idea of what was bothering the younger man.
He'd known how Hotchner felt about Emily for quite a while. If you looked closely enough when Hotch watched her, it was hard to miss. He'd never called him on it, of course, but he knew it was there. Sometimes, though, he wondered if Aaron knew how he felt.
Gibbs led Emily and SAC Hotchner to his van, before turning to one of his team-mates. "Ziva, you're driving. McGee, you're in the front. I don't want you puking on my seats again."
"But boss, I never, that was—" McGee began, not knowing what Gibbs was talking about. Why would the older man want to sit in the back with SAC Hotchner? It was no secret that Gibbs hated feebies.
Ziva elbowed him sharply. "Come on, McGee. Don't tell me you don't want to sit next to me? You will hurt my emotions."
"Feelings, Zi. It's hurt my feelings." McGee said with a resigned sigh. At least if he was in the back, he could close his eyes when her driving got too terrifying. In the front, he would be expected to keep his eyes open to navigate.
"Whatever. That is what I said, was it not?" Ziva asked, jerking the van out of the garage with a sharp left turn that had the occupants in the backseat shifting hard into one another.
Emily carefully extracted her arm from where it had landed in Gibbs' lap. She somehow wound up sitting directly between the two team leaders and she could feel the tension wafting off of both men. It was not going to be a pleasant ride, that was for sure. At least not for her.