AN: A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their alerts and favorites. I hadn't planned on uploading anything so quickly, but you guys convinced me :) By the way, I've seen authors respond in different ways. Is a thank you in the AN's section enough, or would you guys prefer me to send you a message?
"You're here late, Agent McGee," Director Vance folded his arms as he stared at Tim.
"I'm just finishing a few things up, sir," Tim replied, wondering what Vance wanted.
"McGee, I'd like to speak with you. In my office, please."
McGee's eyebrows lifted, curious. There was no one else in the bullpen. "Of course, sir," he stood and followed Vance up the stairs. Vance sat at his desk, steepling his hands together. He seemed to be making one last decision. Staring off into the distance, he nodded his head once before returning his gaze to McGee. "McGee, one of the guys from cybercrimes came to see me today. It seems that he feels there is a breach in our security."
McGee tilted his head, "Does he know who it is?"
Vance shook his head, one hand moving to touch a file on his desk. "He didn't know; he'd just noticed some idiosyncrasies in the system, certain files showing a record of several failed access attempts. And he was less than willing to point fingers at one of his colleagues, in case they have nothing to do with this."
Tim frowned, thinking. "I could set up a program to try and catch whoever is accessing these files."
Vance gave a quick smile; the kid was already hooked. He picked up the file and handed it to McGee. "Actually, I was hoping you'd be able to do a bit more than that. You see," Vance nodded his head at the file McGee had started to flip through, "the files that were being accessed would turn a hefty profit if they were to be sold. If you set up the program to catch this…mole, then we could very well lose the connection to any buyers." He paused before adding, "I don't want that to happen."
McGee almost shuddered at Vance's expression. "So, what if we had a middle man?"
"Go on," Vance said.
"Well, I could set up a program that would hold back the information from the hacker, but send a message that says I am interested in working with him and can get him even better intel."
Vance nodded as he thought through the suggestion. "I don't like giving out classified intel, though, McGee."
"Then we set up fake files marked as highly classified, with just enough truth to pass at first glance." Tim had that slightly flushed feeling that came with his excitement. He was looking forward to a good challenge.
"Run with it," Vance ordered. Tim nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, and McGee? This stays between us."
McGee turned back, "But Gibbs-"
"Between us, McGee. Understand?"
Tim hesitated, a slight feeling of foreboding filling him. "Yes, sir," he said finally.
AN: As always, I value your responses...