Who's Bet: FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell

Summary: NCIS stole his crime scene. How will Fornell get payback?

Spoilers: Season 1, Episode 1, "Yankee White"

Author's Note: First of all, let me say that I am so so so so sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up (and please nobody remind me that it's a sign of weakness to apologize, sometimes apologies are called for) I wish I had a good excuse, but in all honesty, this chapter just did not want to agree with me. I'm not sure how it turned out, so again, sorry. I really wish I could have given you guys a fantastic amazing chapter to make up for the long hiatus. Hopefully next chapter I'll be able to get done sooner, and it'll be better.

Tobias was still pissed. He was pissed that he got scammed. Twice. By the same son of a bitch. First he let NCIS on Air Force One without once looking at their credentials to make sure they were who they said they were. M.E. assistants. What Medical Examiner—a local one no less—needed two assistants at a crime scene? He should have known better.

But then, he actually let them run off with the body! The body of all things. And throwing that punk kid onto the beltway was only partially satisfying. It would have been better if he discovered the switch himself. No, the damn kid answered his phone—while in the body bag—and had a pleasant conversation with that bastard boss of his. That was just another failure on Tobias' fault, which made tossing him less fun.

It just got worse after that. He had to cede jurisdiction to NCIS, because they got the body. So now he and his partner, Frank, were on their way to NCIS headquarters to find out what they already found out. Even though Tobias was on the scene first. Damn thieves and conmen.

"Agent Todd had to help them," Frank said, just as annoyed as Tobias. "There's no other way that they'd get the body off the plane."

"Her boss ordered her to deliver the body, and as far as she knew, she was."

"Yeah right." Frank rolled his eyes. "That old guy probably screwed her brains out. After that she would have agreed to anything."

Tobias actually laughed out loud at that. "How bad is your eyesight getting?" He laughed even louder when he saw Frank's confused look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That old guy isn't into Agent Todd. He likes 'em a bit… scummier." There really wasn't any other way to describe it, at least not for Tobias.

"Huh?"

Tobias rolled his eyes. For a second he couldn't remember why Frank was an FBI agent. Maybe he should transfer to NCIS. "The man's gay, Frank!"

Frank scoffed. "No way."

"And he's got a thing for that agent of his. The one we tossed on the beltway." And boy did he look scummy. Tobias thought the boy—because really, he couldn't have been that old—would be better suited at a frat party than a crime scene. His hair had too much gel in it. Like he used an entire bottle of sticky crap just to make his hair look messy. Tobias didn't really understand young people and their ways.

"You think those two are…" Frank took his hand off the wheel to flick his wrist.

Tobias chuckled. "If they aren't already, they will be soon."

Frank shook his head. "I was watching the kid. He had his eyes glued to Agent Todd's ass."

"If I told you to climb into a body bag so I could steal a body off a plane, what would you do?"

"I'd tell you to piss off."

"Exactly! But this kid just goes voluntarily? Gets tossed out of a car and still follows the guy! Nobody has that kind of blind loyalty." Especially when it was so completely undeserved.

"I still don't believe that the two of them are bumping uglies."

Tobias tilted his head in agreement. "Maybe not now, but I guarantee you, they will."

They pulled up to the gate at the Navy Yard. They had a meeting with those NCIS bastards to find out what they found out about the dead Commander. Frank turned away from the wheel as the guard checked his I.D. and gave him a speculative look. "Why you so hell bent on that old guy being gay, Tobias? Are you trying to come out to me?"

Tobias barked out a laugh. "Even if I was gay, I'm not that desperate, Frank." His smile turned devious. "But you gotta admit, if they do end up screwing someday, that'll be great payback."

The guards handed back their badges and identification cards. They started driving closer to the Agency. Frank quirked an eyebrow at him. "How do you figure?"

Tobias shrugged. "Just that fraternizing between a team leader and his subordinate is against the rules. If Director Morrow happened to discover that the old geezer was giving it to that annoying scummy kid, then he'd have no choice but to fire 'em."

Frank rolled his eyes. "Director Morrow agreed with that old geezer to steal a body right out of our hands. And the freaking plane!" He huffed. "Somehow I doubt he'd fire those two just because he found out they were sleeping together."

The older agent rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine, maybe not fire them, but he'd at least have to transfer one, or both of them." His smile brightened as he leaned back in his seat. "What I wouldn't give to see the look on their faces when Morrow tells them the great news."

Frank smirked as he stopped the car. "I still don't see it."

Together they climbed out of the vehicle and started heading for the building. "And that is precisely why I'm senior agent on this team."

They walked in the building and flashed the security guard their badges. They quickly got their visitor's passes and headed for the elevator at the other end of the lobby.

It wasn't until they were inside the small metallic box that one of them broke the silence. "How much do you wanna bet?" Frank asked.

Tobias chuckled. "What am I betting on? Whether they're sleeping together or whether they're going to?"

"Whether they are. How much do you wanna bet?"

"Hundred bucks."

The elevator dinged just before it opened.

The two walked out, Tobias in front. He could still hear the smile in Frank's voice. "You're that confident?" He called after him.

Tobias just smiled. "Frank, if you can't see it maybe you should consider transferring to NCIS." At that moment he bumped into somebody. He started to mutter an apology when he saw who it was. A young woman, probably around thirty years old. She was wearing a lab coat, which meant she actually worked here. What was so shocking about that? Well, she certainly didn't look like a person who belonged at a federal agency.

Her hair was black, like she dyed it in printer ink. Her lipstick was black. Tobias spotted at least one tattoo on the back of her neck—a spiderweb, no less. And to top it off, she was wearing a dog collar.

What the hell kind of people did NCIS employ?

"You must be Agent Fornell," the woman said with a bright smile. Tobias was actually expecting her to pull out a knife and stab him to death.

He was hesitant to answer, but eventually he drawled out a simple, "yes."

Her smile brightened. "I'm Abby Scuito. I'm the forensic scientist here."

Also unexpected.

"Really?" He couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.

Her smile turned into a smirk. "Yes," she drawled out, mocking his earlier response. "Is that a surprise, Agent Fornell?"

He shook his head. "No." It was a complete lie, but he was hoping she wouldn't catch it.

"Uh huh." She started walking. Tobias noticed she was going in the same direction that he was, so he followed.

"So, um, what are you doing up here, instead of down in the lab?" Or lair. Whichever she preferred to call it.

"I'm presenting my findings to you, Secret Service and Gibbs."

"Who?" He never bothered to get any of their names.

"The lead agent? Assigned to the case? He stole your body?"

"Oh." The old bastard.

"So what were you two talking about when you came in?" She asked as they neared a wide open floor. Four desks sat in every corner. At the moment, only two were covered in clutter. The other two were completely empty. The scummy punk must sit at the desk with the… Mighty Mouse stapler on it.

What kind of grown man had a Mighty Mouse stapler?

Tobias smiled. This could be fun. "We were just discussing the likelihood that Agent Gibbs is engaging in a sexual affair with his agent."

He expected her to look a little shocked, possibly disgusted. Hell, he'd take betrayed. But he certainly didn't expect her to burst out laughing. "You're a little late to the party, fellas."

Tobias stared back blankly. "Are you saying that you know those two are sleeping together?" If that was the case, Frank owed him a hundred bucks and he owed Director Morrow a little chat.

She groaned. "Unfortunately not yet. But we are waiting with bated breaths. Just about everybody has a bet about when its gonna happen." She looked behind Tobias' shoulder. He turned around to see the two agents in question walking towards them. They were accompanied by their medical examiner. As far as Tobias was concerned, he was just as much of a bastard as the other two. "You know, if you two want in on the office pool, you should talk to Director Morrow when this is over. He handles everybody's bets."

Tobias swiveled around to stare at the woman again. He couldn't for the life of him believe that the Director of a federal agency would condone this kind of behavior.

The three men strode into the bullpen. Gibbs and his scummy punk agent sat in their appropriate desks, completely ignoring that they had company.

Frank strode up next to him, but Tobias was staring at everybody in the room. He still couldn't wrap his mind around this. This was insanity. And broke all the rules in the book. And nobody had an issue with this?

"I believe you owe me a hundred bucks," Frank whispered in his ear, smugness in his voice.

Tobias groaned. Tomorrow, he was asking for a new partner.

Next bet: Director Jenny Sheppard