Six weeks before moving.
Special Agent Timothy McGee, Head of Intelligence, NCIS, a husband and father, walked through the corridors of executive power, making his way to the Oval Office. He was often called to the White House to brief the President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and/or the National Security Council but this evening was different. The staff were all hyper-energized, still in the election honeymoon phase. Anna Elliott had been returned to the White House with an increased majority, and had brought a Democratic Congress with her, and a split Senate. Her Cabinet was mostly intact, with only two Secretaries resigning. Tim wondered why he had been summoned, as he walked into the outer office.
"Good evening, Special Agent McGee for the President." Tim looked at the woman sitting at the desk of the executive assistant. Unlike the assistants in NCIS, this woman was not a trained security agent, but a woman who controlled who got to see the most powerful woman in the world. Training in how to shoot a Sig Sauer would make her twice as dangerous as she was.
"The President is in the residence, Agent McGee. Denise will escort you up," Marcia West was a woman who had seen Presidents, Prime Ministers, Chancellors, and even Kings and Queens pass through this office, and while they were impressive, it was the Special Agents and Police officers she had the most respect for. They volunteered for a life of service, and spent most of their lives under constant threat. Politicians for the most part had the most serious threats when they were in high public office, the agents and law enforcement officers had it the minute they put the badge on.
"Thank you." Tim was confused as he followed the woman called Denise out of the french doors and on to the Portico that surrounded the White House. This was the preferred way for the President to get from the Residence to the Oval Office. Several minutes later, Tim was standing outside the elevator to the Residence, wondering what was happening.
"Agent McGee, please, the President is ready for you," Denise said, as much in the dark as the agent regarding this meeting.
"Thank you." Tim was hoping the President had good news for him, or was hoping for an update on several ongoing cases. He began sorting out his thoughts, mentally double checking current operations around the globe he was monitoring. He had no idea what the President was going to ask him. When the doors opened, Tim stepped out of the elevator, almost walking into Aaron Elliot, the first First Gentleman the United States of America had ever had.
"Agent McGee, it's good to see you again." Aaron Elliot had his almost permanent smile for the agent, stretching his hand out.
"You too, Sir." Shaking his hand, Tim recalled the husband of the President. He had met the man several times, and was surprised by the mans memory, he seemed to recall facts about people and places with almost perfect clarity.
"How are Cassie and Todd doing? Is he sleeping through the night yet?" Aaron and Anna had sent the youngest McGee a collection of Agatha Christie novels, knowing that Todds parents were keen readers, and that his father loved mystery novels, both reading and writing them. Tim had smiled when he opened the gift, Cassie had frowned. The books were written in German, meaning Tim would have to teach him the language in order for him to read the christening present sent by the President of the United States of America, and her family.
"They are both great," Tim was talking about favourite subject. "He goes down about seven, and is up about five. Me and Cassie both normally got up at six, so we are taking it turns right now, so at least one of us gets a lie in." Tim had taken a month off when Todd had been born, using up his parental leave, as well as some of his annual leave. "I have already thanked the President, but your gift for him was truly special, thank you." Tim had been truly touched by the books.
"Think nothing of it. Anna had mentioned it in passing, and presents should be as unique as possible. Clothes he would have grown out of, but Agatha Christie never grows old." Aaron was a huge fan of the authors works. "Have you ever seen the production of The Mousetrap, Tim?"
"No, Sir, I haven't." Tim had never seen any of the authors works, except what he had seen on television.
"Anna and I saw it in London last year, on her state visit. Did you know the show is the longest running play in the history of the London theatre world? It has been going for more than sixty years, and is still in its initial run, never having closed." Aaron was a font of useless trivia, it made him great at making small talk, able to entertain or distract someone at dinner parties.
"Really?" Tim was intrigued, wondering if he and Cassie could take it in in a few years. Tim wanted to show Todd, and hopefully his future children the cities of the world. "That's impressive."
"Isn't it? Anyway, have a seat, Anna is just talking with the German Chancellor, she won't be long. I'll leave you here, help yourself to coffee. Give Cassie my best, won't you?" With that, Aaron Elliott left the agent alone, his thoughts as his only company. Aaron hoped the young man took the job, knowing he would be very good at it.
Tim sat on the sofa, pouring himself a cup of coffee, looking out of the window, overlooking the city. Tim thought it was one of the best views in the city. He enjoyed the silence offered to him, never having much of it anymore. While he loved his son more than he thought possible, his screams would take some getting used to.
"Tim, I apologise for keeping you." Anna Elliott stepped out of her study, clutching a large mug of tea. "The Chancellor and I were just catching up."
"It's fine, Ma'am. To be honest, I was enjoying the view." Tim found it best to always be honest with Anna Elliott, even if it meant upsetting her. He knew the woman hated people trying to suck up to her.
"Let me guess, the silence was nice too," She smirked.
"Yeah, something like that," Tim admitted.
"You and Cassie will begin to treasure those moments. The baby will be asleep, the tv will be off, the phones aren't ringing, and the two of you won't even talk, incase you ruin it."
"Speaking from experience, Ma'am?" Tim asked, knowing she had three sons, all grown up now.
"A lot of it. It's amazing now, the silence is easy to find. Once you have three kids, all wanting different things at the same time, while screaming at each other, you and Cassie will look at each other and think Why did we have kids?. This doesn't make you bad parents, just exhausted and loving ones." Anna laughed at this, knowing her own mother had said something very similar to her many years ago.
Tim laughed along with her, getting to know the President a little more, something she did when she was alone with one of her favourite intelligence employees.
"I suppose you are wondering why I got you in here, especially at night."
"Yes, Ma'am." Tim hoped he was not up for transfer.
"I got you in to let you know of a few things. First, I have less than four years left in office. For the next two years, we have a Democratic House and a split Senate. This means I am more than likely able to get most of my campaign pledges pushed through with ease. It also means I can get my cabinet secretaries confirmed, along with most my political appointees." Tim wondered why he was having a lesson in American Government. "Second, I have made some changes to the foreign policy of this country. As you are well aware, I used to be the Under Secretary of State, before being made Secretary. I travelled a fair bit and pushed for closer relations with Europe and the European Union." Tim was aware of the Presidents former career, having talked to her in that role once before. "For the first four years of my Presidency, I struggled with my foreign policy, having to settle on career diplomats for most of the ambassadorships, with only the UN Ambassador, and a few important countries being my own personal selections."
TIm had no idea where this conversation was going, with him being Law Enforcement and Intelligence, not a State Department employee.
"Right now, our foreign missions are in some disarray, with the US being represented by inexperienced ambassadors and staff. One of these is the EU. We work closely with most of the countries in the EU, France, Germany, Italy and the UK are four out of the seven countries in the G7, and France and the UK sit with us on the UN security council. Most of Europe is part of NATO, and our peacekeeping missions, both through the UN and NATO, are reliant on these partnerships." Tim was getting worried, his chess skills telling him he was being set up for a new job. "Thanks to your three years at the CTOC, your time as the Interpol Liaison, you have a great relationship with most these countries, especially the UK, France, Germany, and Spain. Tim, I was going to ask you to take a post with the National Security Council, to be responsible for international cooperation between ourselves and foreign intelligence agencies, building closer relations." Tim now knew what his real job offer would be. "After speaking with certain members of the NSC, I realise you would end up having blazing rows with trying to get our people in line, rather than our allies. Instead, I want to you take up the post of US Ambassador to the European Union."
And there it was, the job offer. Tim was amazed by the offer, thinking that the President would want him to join the NSA or DOD, not once had he thought it would be joining the State Department.
"Ma'am, I'm not a politician, or a diplomat. I wouldn't have the first idea how to do the job," Tim told her, shocked that he had been selected for the role.
"Tim, you are being too modest. Don't forget, I have read your file. You built up a very close relationship with Interpol, GCHQ UK, the BND and BfV in Germany, DGSE and Police Nationale in France. Jerome told you about the compliments you have received from some our allies. You have been talked about at nearly every meeting I've had over the last six weeks regarding the NSC, CIA, DOD, FBI, NCIS, State and Justice. You are in high demand."
"But, why?" Tim exclaimed, astonished at what the President was saying. He hadn't done anything special. "All I have been doing is my job."
"You do more than that and you know it." Anna Elliott did not like this part of TIm McGee, the part that didn't see how extraordinary he was. "Tim, I doubt there is any other department head in any agency that bakes cakes and cookies for his staff. If I asked, I doubt a handful of department heads could say they have an employment satisfaction of ninety eight percent." If the President had commissioned a report on it, NCIS Intelligence would be leading the pack of departments by a fair margin. "You have transformed NCIS Intelligence over the last three years. Productivity has increased by more than thirty percent since Gloria Tainer retired. You have retained almost eighty five percent of the staff, and added more than thirty people to the department. That increase cannot be attributed to the new staff alone, or the existing staff. It came from the changes you made when you took over, and the changes you have continued to make."
"But who would take over from me? You've made it sound like I'm irreplaceable there." Tim knew he was not, he had been training all the section heads to step in to cover him at a moments notice, and also had two people in each section ready to take their bosses place when necessary.
"Paula Cassidy, Vera Strickland and Ric Balboa are the frontrunners for the post. Both Spec Ops and the CTOC have candidates to step up to cover them, or to transfer over to the National Counter Terrorism Centre to cover Vera." Anna Elliott had taken more of an interest in NCIS than her predecessors, Jenny Shepard having pushed the agency onto a similar footing with the CIA, and Timothy McGee using navy and marine assets to get their operations done in a quicker timeframe than their CIA and FBI counterparts could. "The CTOC and SpecOps won't suffer from any of this, with plenty of people more than qualified to step up and cover." The President knew she was asking a lot of the man. "Take some time, speak with Cassie and your family. I know it would require a massive sacrifice on your part. Giving up your home, your job, and if Cassie decides to move with you, she will have to give up her job as well. We could use her over there, I have no doubt about it. I'm sure we could find her a liaison post with Interpol over there, somewhere." The President had put a lot of thought into this, Tim McGee having been her first, last and only choice for the post.
"Is there no one else that could the job?" Tim asked, not wanting to uproot his family.
"There are plenty of people who could do the job, Tim, but none as good as you. The EU Ambassador will represent this country to both the European Union, and all its member states. You would be a frontline representative of this country in a similar way the way you were at the CTOC." This had been one of the main reasons for her choice. "Tim, I was informed of one of your rules, I believe it is "Don't waste good", and, you Tim, are very, very good. The Chancellor of Germany just asked me who I was thinking about for the post, I told him no decision had been made. He told me that he would choose someone who was not in the State Department, but who was well respected by members of his law enforcement teams. Even the German Chancellor wants you there. As the unofficial leader of the Eurozone countries, you have his endorsement. The Senate would approve you, probably with a ninety percent majority. Just think about it and let me know, please."
Tim looked at her, wondering what Cassie would have to say about this.