Cassie stood there, riveted to the spot, having just listened to the introduction given by the Dean of Students, or head of Faculty, or someone. She was having a hard time concentrating right now. On the other side of the curtain, was six hundred graduates and undergraduates, all here to listen to her and Tim speak about NCIS. Cassie felt her mouth go dry, her heart rate increase, her blood was pounding in her ears. She noticed Tim moving towards her, and she turned and faced him.
"Cass, this is going to be great, I promise. If you get stuck, just look at me, ok?"
Cassie didn't trust herself to speak, she just nodded. The next thing, the stage curtain pulled back, revealing the faces of the students. Cassie wondered how she never passed out. She saw Tim moving to the edge of the stage, but it wasn't her friend Tim she saw. It was Interpol Liaison Timothy McGee, the one who gave briefings to agents halfway round the world. The one who gave orders to complete strangers, the one who went toe to toe with agency directors, and sometimes won. Then she knew thats who she would have to be, Senior Field Agent Yates.
Tim raised his hands for silence, looking around the lecture hall, and he could see he had every student demographic there. He wondered how many of these would apply for FLETC, and how many would wash out. Today, his role was not to worry about the future, but to influence the present. He knew that some of these students were already applying, others were unsure, and others that had never even considered it. It was these last two groups who were his target audience, the ones whose experience of the federal agencies was what they had seen on TV and in the movies. He only hoped his influence was felt in a good way.
"Good morning, I'm Tim McGee, NCIS. For the gentlemen in the audience, the lady behind me is Cassie Yates, NCIS. Agent Yates asked me to pass on a message to you." The audience looked at Cassie, wondering what the message was. "She's carrying a loaded sig sauer and she's not afraid to use it." This had the girls in the audience giggling, and the men looking slightly worried. All thoughts of flirting with the hot agent evaporated in that split second. "Ladies, I am also packing" Tim wiggled his eyebrows at this "But I will keep my weapon sheathed for today, I hope." Cassie was amazed, Tim rarely flirted, let alone used innuendo like this. But she had to admit, their audience was laughing, they looked relaxed, and more importantly, like they wanted to be here. "Todays talk is about the life an NCIS special Agent. We will talk about NCIS generally as well, for those of you who do not wish to be a field agent. If you have questions, we will try to answer them throughout the session, if we can. First up, this is NCIS Headquarters, Washington DC." With that, the first picture came on. "Home to most of NCIS operations, such as intelligence and cybercrimes, but also to the MCRT. Major Case Response Team." The second picture came up, showing Stan Burley, Jim Nelson, Bryn Fillmore and Lily Hardy.
"This is what most special agents aim for, these guys investigate everything. Fraud, Drugs, Kidnapping, Terrorism, and Murder. Both myself and Agent Yates have been part of an MCRT, Agent Yates still is, holding the position of Senior Field Agent, making her second in command of the team." Cassie had been listening to Tim, who was talking with confidence, keeping eye contact with the students, moving around the stage. As Tim had begin talking about the MCRT, she moved forward, ready to take over. At the mention of herself, Cassie took a breath, knowing she was up.
"We investigate even more as well. Our nickname is "Navy Cops". Its true. Any crime committed by, or to, Navy and Marine Personnel falls under our jurisdiction, it overrules even the FBIs authority." Cassie saw some disbelieving looks on some faces. These were people who didn't know much about federal agencies and the roles they played. "We also investigate crimes committed against navy families, such as husbands and wives, along with dependents, such as children.
"Unlike the FBI, our authority does not stop at Americas border," Cassie continued. "If crimes are committed abroad, our satellite offices are allowed to investigate these crimes on foreign soil, such as cases for the teams in Rota in Spain or Naples in Italy."
"Before you ask, yes, you can get stationed abroad, as well as around the United States. Agent Yates and I have been posted to Washington DC and Jacksonville, my boss has been in Rhode Island and Italy. I know people that have been to Singapore, London, and Australia."
Cassie and Tim were both watching the audience at this announcement, watching the students whisper to teach other, all seeing a different side to the job they do. This was Tims idea, no telling them what they can't do as agents, no telling them the boring details, just an overview of the job, showing them a potential future, one that didn't have them sitting in the J Edgar Hoover building.
"NCIS is a global intelligence agency as well as a Federal investigative service. My role here in Jacksonville is as Interpol Liaison, gathering intelligence on organized crime all over the world. I talk to people from the Directors of FBI, CIA and NSA, as well as police officers from countries Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Australasia." Some the kids looked shocked at this, they never thought of global crimes, they all thought of Interpol when it came to that.
"Agent McGee, here, is being modest. Over the past three years, he has organized operations and takedowns on every continent, as well as ocean. He liaises with FBI, CIA, NSA, National Reconnaissance Office, and Homeland Security on a domestic level, and the same with most foreign countries." Cassie saw Tim blush with this admiration, and saw most of the students looking at Tim with hero worship. Tim did not take this lying down.
"Agent Yates should also be recognized. She has solved murders, rapes, thefts, fraud cases, as well as worked on counter-terrorism and international investigations." It was Cassies turn to blush now, wishing she had kept her mouth shut. "Agent Yates is also much more experienced than myself when it comes to undercover missions." Cassie was now the focus of attention, with a quite a few of the female students wondering if they could do what she had done.
"NCIS and FLETC can teach you so much of the job, other parts will come from your studies here. Every mission, every assignment, we have undertaken needs something no one can teach you, it is something you need to find yourself. Commitment." Tim let this work hang in the air, Cassie waited with the students. "COmmitment to your studies, commitment to your oaths, commitment that no matter what happens, you see your mission through to the end, whether it be undercover in a drugs ring or watching a takedown of people traffickers. Without it, you will never make it to where we are today."
Cassie knew at this point every talk today would go well. Tim hit them hard with this, it came out of nowhere. Cassie realised he had everyones attention, and only those with the commitment to be where she was now, would carry on hoping to be an NCIS agent.
A few hours later, Cassie and Tim sat on a lawn outside the JJ Daniels hall, having just finished their second talk of the day. Cassie was amazed both talks went as well as they had, the sign up sheets for further information were full, the volunteer from the ROTC program were taking further names. Cassie was eating her half of the greek wrap while Tim munched on a muffin that was left over from the breakfast box. Looking at Tim, she noticed what all the women in audience, and a few of men, had saw. A well dressed very handsome man in a very powerful job. Cassie had wondered a few times what it would be like to be married to Tim, if he would be as good as a father as he was a friend and mentor to the younger agents. If he would stay the same man, or turn into an idiot like her brother had done. Stephen had two children he only saw on weekends, because after the birth of his second child he had regressed to his college days, going out drinking and partying instead of being at home with his now ex-wife. Cassie hoped the man she married did not turn out like that.
"Still think I overreached?" Tim asked Cassie, a big smile on his face.
"We've got two more talks to go. The jurys still out." Cassie was watching the students watching them. "So, those four girls keep looking over at you, probably can't decide of the suit makes you gay or rich, possibly both. The guys to their left are wondering if I'm free and single."
"We could act like a couple and prove them all wrong." Tim said, keeping his eyes on the students behind his shades, his face facing slightly away from them. "Not too sure how I feel about our first kiss being in front of gawping undergrads."
"So how do you imagine our first kiss then?" Cassie said teasingly, having gotten over her crush on the green eyed man more than two years previously.
"Probably after a nice meal, maybe on a walk, starry night, maybe music playing," McGee said, smiling.
Cassie had imagined what that would be like before, and it was just so Tim. She thought of Tim as a romantic hero, a cross between a knight in shining armour and a noble gentleman, having codes of chivalry and conduct, certain rules to obey when courting his maiden. Smiling back at him, she said, "Well, we're just going to have to find you a woman to do that with, then."
"As long as she isn't in this college, I'll be fine with it." Tim said, laughing, knowing that some of the girls he could see where debating whether to try to talk to him now, or wait until he was alone.
Cassie and Tim continued sitting on the picnic blanket for the next twenty minutes, placing silly bets on the students, seeing if any would come over to talk to them. Only one young man did, and Tim and Cassie both saw the potential in him. He looked physically fit, confident in his approach towards them, and didn't care of peoples opinions of himself. The way he was being looked at by his peers suggested he was either crazy, had a death wish or was trying to suck up. After asking his questions, they realised he was neither.
"Hi," he said reaching them. "I really enjoyed your talk but was hoping to get some more information from you."
"Sure, what do you need to know?" Cassie asked, gesturing for him to take a seat on the blanket.
"I'm a forensics major. Is there any particular field of forensics I should pay more attention to? Should I look at adding other labs to add to my course?"
"For our forensics specialist, most of them specialise later on," Cassie said. "Ballistics, DNA, fingerprint analysis, chemical compositions, they make up the majority of the work. Previously, most of the forensic guys had computer skills as well. They aren't needed as much now, with most teams having a cyber technician assigned to the team. So, best advice, get the best degree you can, and look at expanding your specialist fields once you are in. NCIS will help train you in certain fields, or identify fields for improvement."
"The best thing to do, if you can," offered Tim, "is applying for a summer internship with NCIS. You don't get paid a wage, but we do provide housing, along with a living allowance for the time you are with us. This way, you can get a feel for the job, see if what you know or don't know is relevant for the job. Come back here, study harder, and apply if you still want your name, by the way."
"Lucas, Lucas Brierly. Seriously? There are internships at federal agencies?" Lucas seemed shocked at this.
"Not sure about the CIA or NSA, but the FBI has them available in certain areas. NCIS has them in nearly every area apart from the MCRTs, CTOC, and counter terrorism." Tim said, having met several of the interns in Washington
"How do you apply for it?" Lucas asked eagerly.
"Here," Tim passed him his notepad and pen, "Give me your email address, I'll get the details sent next week."
"Thanks. By the way, your talk beat all the others. The FBI guy put me to sleep. Seriously, my roommate had to wake me up." Lucas said, blushing with embarrassing as he did so. Tim and Cassie both laughed at the comment, knowing they had done much better than their sister agency. "It was good talking to you." Lucas said, standing up.
Cassie watched as he moved away, unperturbed by the looks from his fellow students, and the comments following him. Well, he has the guts to come speak to us, do any of the rest of you, Cassie thought.
Ten more minutes of idle chit chat between the two of them, and the afternoon sessions were beginning. Tim helped Cassie up, and grabbed the blanket, putting the remaining food and drinks in the coolbox.
"I'll take it back to the car later," Tim said.
"Chicken." Cassie knew what he was up to.
"Self-preservation," Tim rejoined. "If I walk through that Valley of Death," Indicating to the large groups of young women between him and the porsche, "I'll never get back here for the rest of the lectures." Cassie laughed, knowing he would be hounded there and back if he went to put the cool box away.
Heading back inside, neither knew their lives would be forever altered in less than nine hours.