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I don't own Harry Potter or NCIS.
A few months later Ryan was getting ready for his first mission out of the training center. He'd gathered info and done a lot of training within the computer systems, performed surveillance, and his team had run several training scenarios, but he had never been in the field alone.
His first mission was fairly straightforward. He was to meet a contact that was an undercover agent from another agency and exchange some information. He wasn't given much information, but he knew what his contact looked like and what to say when they met at the armory display at the Tower of London. He had his earwig in and the microphone that would let his team leader hear their conversation so it was time to go.
Dressed up as a university student out to study the history at the Tower of London, Ryan had on jeans, sneakers, and a hooded sweatshirt under his coat. He also had a notebook and a backpack with a wolf on it. The backpack was what his contact was to know his identity by.
After paying for entrance and making his way through the display of the crown jewels, taking occasional notes as he went in order to keep his cover, he finally made his way to the armory building.
There were several levels to the armory so Ryan headed toward the second level where all of the horse armor was held. It was a very distinct area of the building so his contact wouldn't have trouble finding him. He stood in front of a display depicting the armor of a horse in the time of Queen Victoria for a few moments, taking notes as if he was truly interested.
A few moments later he was joined by a man a few inches shorter than himself, wearing jeans, a sweater, a fanny pack, and a camera. The ideal outfit for a tourist during March in England.
"You know, they don't teach about the horses much in English boarding schools." He heard a warm voice say, noticing the Scottish accent immediately.
"They didn't teach about them in Scottish boarding schools either." He answered, recognizing the opening phrase of his contact and answering with the predetermined phrase to let the man know he was the correct person.
Both men were quiet for a moment before Ryan moved to the next display, his contact moving a moment later to join him.
"I guess it's good that we don't use horses anymore, it would take a lot longer to move things. I mean, I could move my whole flat to France in a matter of hours if I took the train under the channel. A horse would take a lot longer, weeks even. Might as well load it all up on a frog." Ryan answered. Giving the man some of the information he required.
"Yes well I don't know if frogs can hop between England and France, but I do believe they make themselves quite at home in America. I saw a documentary the other day that was quite disturbing with the amount of frogs that have made their way to the U.S., I'm not sure how they would make the move though. It's not as if they can simply hop over the pond." His contact answered as they moved together to the next display, one holding weaponry used to defend the old castle.
Ryan, pretending to take notes on the new display, was actually writing information for the man he was talking to.
"Yes well, I'm not sure how frogs would be getting to America, but I feel that we have digressed. I believe we were talking about the horses originally. It's a good thing they had armor when they were used in wars, they frequently were targeted in attacks. Can you imagine if the military still used horses in battle? A soldier on a horse would be easy for a sniper to take out. Plus, it's not like they can move more than one or two people at a time. It would be obvious to the opposing army that someone was approaching, stealth would be very difficult on a horse, even the frogs would notice." He said with a grin.
"Yes well, if one was trying to be stealthy, they would have to find another way. A horse would never do when approaching an enemy. Especially if you had even four people. That many horses would be too obvious. What kind of project are you working on anyways?" The older man asked while they moved together to the third level.
"Oh it's a project for my university. Basically I'm looking at some of the old ways that they defended the Tower of London and if there were any ways around those defenses, what could be a way to defeat it in today's society."
"That sounds fascinating young man, I would enjoy reading your completed project. Would you mind sending me a copy once you're finished?" Ryan's contact asked with a grin, reaching for his pen and writing some information out before handing him what appeared to be an email address.
"I will, my paper is due on the 23rd, so it will be a few weeks, I'll give you my information as well just in case you don't hear from me." Ryan said handing the man the page he had been writing on a few moments earlier.
"Well I won't take up any more of your time, it was nice to meet you young man. Oh, would you happen to know where the crown jewels are located from here? I remember reading an article about the jewels worn by Queen Elizabeth. It was simply fascinating, her crown alone weighed over twenty pounds. That was nothing compared to the king's crowns over the years, oh what a headache they would induce." The man continued.
After giving him directions to the crown jewels, Ryan completed his circuit of the armory and went to one more exhibit before leaving to join up with his team.
"Hey Ryan, good stuff you got there. Nice job getting the info about La Grenouille to him. Seems that they have four undercover agents and are planning to go to France to investigate more about the weapons from 'The Frog' that have been making their way to America. What did he give you?" His team leader Charlie asked after he had gotten in the van they were using for surveillance.
"A piece of paper with a name and an email address. I'm thinking the name is probably the password and he wants us to check the email inbox for info." Ryan answered, knowing the man wouldn't have just given him his actual email address.
"Good work guys, lets get back to headquarters. Ryan, sorry but you'll have to take the tube so you can be seen leaving the area. We have no idea if La Grenouille or whoever is helping him has eyes out right now." Charlie said, patting his youngest agent on the back.
Ryan nodded, putting on his scarf to keep the chill away and went to get a cup of coffee on his way back to the office.
Meanwhile in a London hotel room…..
"Hey Duck, good job. Sounds like La Grenouille's got eyes out everywhere if the kid's warning is anything to go by. They're moving stuff pretty quickly between England and France but it sounds like they think it's taking a bit longer to get it to America. Did you get anything else? How are we gonna get into France undetected?" Jethro Gibbs asked his friend and fellow undercover agent.
"Well the boy did give me this paper, I believe maybe they have a plan for us." Ducky answered.
"Well, what does it say Dr. Mallard?" Jenny Shepard, the only woman in their undercover group asked impatiently.
Gibbs grabbed the paper from Ducky and studied it for a moment before smirking. He liked the way their contact thought.
The paper had a train time for the next day as well as a first name and promise for a diversion. By the first name it said "loves cinnamon rolls". Gibbs could only assume that the name was someone that would get them through customs quickly and unnoticed, the diversion would draw attention away from the group. He was impressed, MI6 was coming through for them, but he would wait until they made it to France undetected before he commented on it to anyone but himself.
"Alright, Decker and Ducky, you saw the info, make sure you get your ticket for the train and go through this Bruce when you go through customs. Either bring a cinnamon roll or mention them or something to let him know you're one of the four we told them about. Wear your earpiece and sit wherever on the train. Be prepared, but we'll trust their diversion. Jenny and I are supposed to be a married couple so we will see you at the meeting place in France if we don't meet on the train. Everyone clear?"
At their nods, Ducky and Decker went to explore or have dinner. Gibbs didn't really care as long as they got to the train on time the next day. He had a feeling Ducky was going to the theater for the evening.
"Jen are you ok here for a little while? I'm gonna go get some coffee." Gibbs said, opening the door.
"Yeah, go, could you bring me something back though? I think I'll take a shower and get ready for our night out. You know we have to appear to just be any old married couple, we can't just spend our vacation in the hotel room." She answered.
"Ya think? I'll bring you a drink, plan something for tonight, you know I'll have to go along with it." He said walking out the door and making his way to the nearest coffee shop.
Gibbs walked in, breathing in the almost intoxicating smell of fresh coffee. It seemed he had finally found a coffee shop in England that served decent coffee, he would never understand English and their tea.
Going up to the counter he ordered his coffee strong and black. While he was waiting for his order he observed the patrons around him, looking up as the bell rang to admit a new face to the crowd.
He grinned as he saw who it was, quickly figuring out if he should hide or if he should just tell Harry to not say his name. He thought the kid could handle it so after his order was up he moved back and waited for his young friend to place his order and move to the other counter.
"Long time no see, don't say my name out loud, I think you can guess why." He said quietly from behind Harry, grasping the younger man's shoulder to stop him from whipping around in surprise.
Ryan froze at the voice and ran through how this scenario could work out. He hadn't told Gibbs he'd changed his name, but he had kept in contact. Gibbs knew he was working with MI6 but not what his job was. Gibbs had told Harry he would be unreachable for awhile which Harry had taken to mean he was undercover or on a mission.
Before he could decide how to make Gibbs not call him Harry, the barista called his name for his order. As he retrieved his coffee he noticed Jethro's raised eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.
"I believe my explanation would be close to your's my friend. Didn't you say you'd be unreachable for awhile?" Ryan said trying to convey the secrecy needed for his identity.
"I did. I'm thinking you figured out why and you're in a similar situation? How's school goin' these days?" Gibbs asked with his smirk coming back.
"You'd be right. School is going well, I have some tests coming up but I think I'll do well. At least in most of my classes the professors call me Ryan instead of Mr. Evans. Work is good too, always keeping me busy learning new things." Ryan said, providing his friend with his whole name.
Gibbs knew that Harry must have a different identity now, whether for work or undercover ops and that he was being trusted with this information. Wishing they could spend a bit more time together instead of just exchanging emails occasionally, Gibbs was disappointed that he had to cut their meeting short.
"I have to bring a drink back to my…wife… I'm sorry Ryan, I wish we could catch up a bit more. You'll email me later? Shouldn't be too much longer before I can get back to you."
"I need to get back to work so no worries mate, I'll email you and catch up later. Let me know if you need anything while you're here. Have a brilliant time with your wife." Ryan said with a smirk, having heard the pause when Jethro had spoken before.
They shared a manly hug and parted ways. Harry making the connection between Gibbs being undercover with an American agency in the area and the man he'd made contact with earlier in the day, decided to go back to headquarters and do all he could to ensure his friend and his team made it safely to their destination.
Gibbs ordered Jenny a drink and turned to watch Harry, or Ryan, walk out, smirking when he saw the young man had a wolf on his backpack. He knew the voice talking to Ducky earlier had sounded familiar.