Chapter 15

"Well...this is awkward," Timothy McGee said, shifting around in his chair.

They were back in the hotel room which Alex's backup team (ie – Rose and K-Unit) had been living in. The room they were currently in had some sort of invisible barrier dividing them all up; in one corner sat Ziva, Tony and Tim. Alex, Matthew and Rose were cross-legged on the floor. All four SAS men were sprawled on the couch.

Unfortunately for them, Ben Daniels and James Olsen couldn't be withdrawn from the camp, since nothing dangerous had happened to them. So they would have to join in when the camp ended, sometime in the next few days.

Apart from the awkward shifting around in the room, there was total silence. Well, it would be total silence if you eliminated the shouts that were drifting through from the adjoining room.

"Can anyone actually hear what they're saying?" Tony asked, cocking his head towards the wordless shouts from behind the closed door.

"Not really."

"Nope."

"No."

The entire room shook their head, answering in the negative.

After the order had been given from the directors of the AIS, MI6 Mossad and NCIS which basically forced them to work together, they'd all agreed to bunk out at the hotel room booked by MI6. The most amusing thing that had happened was informing Wolf, Eagle and Shark that they'd have company. And that was saying something.

It took about twenty minutes before tempers really started to fray. Surprisingly, it had been the unit leaders who had lost it – the others were quite content with awkward silences and cold glares.

The NCIS team had watched in shock as their usually calm, cool and collected leader snapped at the twenty-year old girl. Matthew, Alex and Rose weren't quite as shocked when Desiree snapped back, though they definitely did not expect the girl to physically lash out at Gibbs.

But then again, as Eagle had said into the stunned silence following the attack, they should've seen it coming.

When Gibbs had recovered from being punched by a girl, he'd dragged her into the adjoining room, ignoring Desiree's struggles. Alex was sure that people in the lobby could've heard the door slam behind Gibbs. They'd been shouting almost nonstop since then.

"Why...what do those two have against each other?" Shark asked, perplexed.

"Dunno," Rose shrugged.

"Whatever it is, though, it probably explains rule thirty-two," McGee said.

"What's rule thirty-two?" Alex asked, curious.

"Yes, McPhotographic-Memory," Tony sniggered, "What is rule thirty-two?"

"Never trust anyone who works for the AIS."

The entire room jumped to their feet as Gibbs slammed the door open again, before stalking out. His voice was slightly hoarse after all the shouting, and there was a dangerous expression on his face. Behind him, Desiree snorted.

"Oh, so now you bring us into your stupid set of rules too?" She sneered.

Matthew caught Alex's eye; a look of understanding passed between the two boys before they both took subtle steps until they stood either side of the enraged girl, so that they could hold her back if needed.

Gibbs stared coldly at the girl. The air almost crackled with the tension that filled the room. Finally, he ended the stare-down by addressing his team.

"David, DiNozzo, get ready; we're going to interrogate Willard. McGee, you're on babysitting duty," he said. As Ziva and Tony scrambled about for their things, and Tim tossed his boss a sullen look, Gibbs turned back to Desiree.

"Hand over your weapons," he all but ordered.

"What! Why the hell would I do that?" Desiree sneered back.

"Desiree," Matthew whispered, trying to placate the girl. She merely brushed him off.

"I want to make sure you don't kill anyone while we're gone," Gibbs said.

"Why you –" Desiree moved threateningly towards the man. Alex reached out in time to snag her sleeve, gently dragging her back slightly.

"Hand them over, Swan."

"Dessi," he murmured, "Maybe you should just do what he says."

Disbelieving blue eyes caught his own, before the girl gave in. With an annoyed grumble, she pulled up the back of her shirt to reveal a small hand pistol strapped to her lower back. Removing the gun, along with the material holding it in place, she tossed the entire bundle to Gibbs, before spinning around sharply with the intention of storming back into the room.

She was stopped by Gibbs' voice.

"All your weapons," he said.

Dessi growled, before bending down and somehow producing a gun from within her shoe. That she handed to Matthew, before she rolled up her pants until they were high enough to reveal the gun strapped to the inside of her thigh. That gun was also removed, with Alex being the holder.

As she made to move away, Gibbs stopped her again.

"Even the knife, Swan," he said coolly.

Desiree shot him a sharp look over her shoulder, before pulling her shirt up to reveal the fully sheathed knife that was tucked neatly under the side of her bra. She pulled it out, holding it for a second as if saying goodbye, before also tossing the knife to Gibbs. That done, she stalked into the adjoining room before slamming the door shut behind her, leaving a stunned silence behind her.

Gibbs collected the guns which Alex and Matthew held, before putting all four weapons into a separate bag. Tony was gapping at the closed door, while Tim was gaping at the bag. Both boys were definitely in shock – the only other person they'd ever seen carrying around that many weapons was Ziva David, and at least she was Mossad.

Meanwhile Ziva, along with the rest of the room, were looking highly impressed.

Matthew frowned as Gibbs began to leave the room. "How did you know about the knife?" He asked.

"Rule number nine," Gibbs said, before stepping out.

"What's rule nine?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ziva tossed her a grim look as she followed Gibbs out. "Never go anywhere without a knife."

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Yes, I know this was a rather short chapter. But I wanted to show the "warring factions" I suppose, before we really get into it.

Anyway, what did you think of that? Was it good? Bad? Really, really bad? Tell me in a REVIEW!

Remember, constructive criticisms and ideas are all accepted.

Thanks for reading!

Love Chariots99

VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION! – I know that currently the NCIS director is Vance. However, since in my timeline this occurs a year after the BZ gas incident, Jenny Shepherd is technically still alive. SO...Do you guys want Jenny or Vance to be the director?