Molly was guided through the bullpen towards the elevator by Leroy's hand on the small of her back. She had decided that she was going to call him by his first name since no one else seemed to call him that and she wanted to make sure she stood out in the crowd. She looked around taking in all the busy agents when she heard a loud voice from above her. "Molly, you really were not going to walk through my building and not stop to say hello were you?" Molly turned and saw Leon headed down the main stair case from the mezzanine.
"Absolutely not." She hugged him when she got to him. Gibbs took this opportunity to grab his coat off of his chair. "In fact, I was just in your office and your assistant told me you were in MTAC and could not be disturbed. Since I was told by Leroy that was a restricted area I decided to leave you a note." She patted him on the cheek and smiled. "I am stealing your agent for an early lunch. It will be quick. I promise to return him to his desk ASAP."
"Have you been introduced to Gibbs' Team?" Leon nodded at the three agents sitting at their desks. He took pleasure in knowing that introducing Molly to the team would be uncomfortable for Gibbs since he was so big about keeping his private life private.
"I have not. However, I bet you won't even have to tell me who is who." She turned to McGee's desk first. "You must be Special Agent Timothy McGee. I have heard that when it comes to technology, you are the one the criminal needs to stump and you have yet to meet your match." Timothy sat up straighter and smiled. Molly tuned to Ziva next. "Special Agent Ziva David. I owe you a thank you. Leroy tells me that your keen senses and skills learned in your years at Mossad has prevented many perpetrators from getting the jump on your team and has saved their butts more than once." Ziva bowed her head graciously. "Finally," Molly turned towards Tony's desk. "Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."
Tony stood up and walked towards Molly. He had a huge smile on his face. He could not wait to hear what Gibbs had been saying about him. The boss man rarely sang anyone's praises other than the usual "good work". He was excited that the team was hearing what Gibbs really felt were their strengths. "And what did Boss have to say about me?"
"Something about having to head slap you so many times he is afraid he may cause brain damage." Tony's face fell as the rest of the team looked away from Tony to hide their smirks. "No I'm kidding Tony. I am told that while everyone's skills on the team are needed it is refreshing to know that someone still believes in following their instincts and working a case with good old fashion police work." Tony smiled and sat back at his desk.
"Can I get lunch now Leon or do we start Show-and-Tell next?" Gibbs looked over at his superior. He and Molly had only been seeing each other a month. He would have introduced Molly to the group eventually. But it was more fun to keep them guessing for a while. It kept them on their toes and was one of the few pleasures he got in life. He was annoyed that Leon took it upon himself to ruin his fun.
"Molly I will catch up with you later. Jackie wants to have you over for brunch one of these days." He nodded at Gibbs.
Gibbs began to once again guide Molly to the elevator. "Do you know how many head slaps it's gonna take to get his ego back in check?" he asked Molly loud enough so DiNozzo could hear it as they entered the elevator.
Tony looked at the Director. "So she knows who we are, and she knows Gibbs, and she clearly knows you and the wife…. Are we allowed to be included in the loop? Clearly she isn't here to talk to Gibbs about a case."
"You are correct there DiNozzo. She is no case. She is Molly Rydell, Press Secretary to the White House." Vance had watched as the couple boarded the elevator.
"She's dating Gibbs?" Tony laughed in disbelief. "She is so..." Tony searched for a word. "young and, well, blond. What is she? Maybe 35?"
"I will tell you what she is. She is the one female on earth I would say could truly hold her own with Gibbs. God help him. He will be eating out of her hands before he knows it." Leon turned and headed back up the stairs.
"McGoogle!" Tony turned towards McGee whose hands were already working the keys. Tony knew before McGee said anything that he was already one step ahead of him. Tony was so proud of his probie.
"On it Tony." McGee got up and stood in front of the plasma screen as Tony and Ziva meet him there. Tim clicked through the screens. "Molly Rydell, Press Secretary to the White House. She is 32 years old. She is single, never been married and zero children. Grandfather was Navy. Father died of lung cancer two years ago. Mother died one year ago from a brain aneurysm. No siblings. She grew up in Chicago. She has a double BA in both Communications and Journalism and a Masters in Communications. She has been working for the President since his first campaigns for local office. For her loyalty all these years she was rewarded by becoming the youngest Press Secretary in US History. She currently lives in Georgetown."
"I would say Gibbs is stealing the cradle a bit is he not?" Ziva asked looking back between the two men on either side of her.
"Robbing Ziva. Gibbs is robbing the cradle." Tony corrected Ziva. "And I say Good for Him!" Tony emphasized his approval with a nod of his head to Tim. "But am I the only one who finds the irony in the fact that Gibbs is dating someone with a Masters in Communication?"
All three were back to work when Gibbs returned thirty minutes later. He had a bag in hand. He planted it on Tony's desk. "Lunch." He said as he replaced his jacket at his desk.
"Thanks Gibbs." Ziva made her way to Tony's desk. She began to remove sandwiches and chips from the deli down the street.
"Don't thank me." Gibbs shrugged.
Tony grabbed the note that was stapled to the bag and read it aloud. "It was so nice to meet you all. Hope you will join me some weekend for a lunch at my home in Georgetown. Set it up with Leroy. Enjoy Lunch. Molly."
"Please pass on our thanks Boss." Tim said as he took his lunch back to his desk.
"She lives in Georgetown huh Boss? Nice neighborhood." DiNozzo crumpled up the bag and threw it into McGee's trash without looking.
"Well yeah DiNozzo. Didn't McGee add that into his presentation for you when you had him look her up while I was gone?" Gibbs said this as he placed his gun in his drawer of his desk.
Tony stopped mid bite. Of course Gibbs would know about that. Why wouldn't he? He knows everything. "He must have skipped that part Boss."
Tony looked out the window as the Tahoe made its way through the city. It wrenched his gut when they drove past the Navy Yard. "Gibbs is gonna be pissed," he mumbled under his breath. There was no doubt in his mind that the boss was on his way for them as soon as he could figure out where they were. He was just hoping he could figure out a way to get them out of this mess before Gibbs had to save them himself.
"Tony, it's not your fault." Molly patted a hand on his thigh. "The Secret Service is supposed to put any driver hired by the car service we use through strict scrutiny. If this guy got through without sending up a red flag then how were you supposed to know something was wrong?"
"Gibbs would have known." Tony ran his hand over his face.
"Leroy helped me into the car Tony. He had no idea. If he had any bad feeling he would have never let me get into that Escalade. You know that. Beating yourself up is not going to get us out of this mess."
"You're right Molly." The voice came from the front seat. "Only the release of the information we want is going to get you out of this."
Molly suddenly became angry. Her abdomen was tightening at regular intervals every 10 minutes or so. She had been abducted by some conspiracy theory nut. She had no idea where they were headed and she was pretty sure the nut's plan was not to send her, Tony, or her baby home alive. She was scared. She did not do well when she was scared and that just made her plain angry. "You know what nut job?" Tony's head snapped up to look at her. "Half the information you want released only exists in your fucked up mind. The other half is classified for a reason. The President is not going to risk American lives just so you and your warped clan can-"
"Molly!" Tony threw his hand over her mouth. He knew that the chances of them getting out alive were slim. If the "nut job" was planning on releasing them he would have never allowed them to see his face or allow them to see where their destination was. He would never chance that they would be able to lead the authorities back to him. He also knew that if Molly pissed the guy off that slim chance would shrink to no chance. "With all due respect, you need to shut up. You want to talk about getting us out of this mess? You running your mouth is gonna hurt that way more than me beating myself up. I am not gonna take the chance that you get hurt and I get Gibbs' boot up my ass because you had to shoot off at the mouth. Do I make myself clear?"
Molly's eyes showed nothing but fear. She nodded the answer to his question since he still had his hand over her mouth. When he was sure she was willing to comply he removed the hand from her mouth. "Sorry. I am used to using my words in political war. Guess that's useless this time."