- Night time, 2:00am -
The man took a very quick look at the bag, emotionless. The other one in front smiled, with even less emotion.
"You don't have to play tough, ya know."
The younger man raised his chin, not willing to lose time.
"You asked me to come for something, didn't you. So tell me where I'm supposed to bring that bag and leave me out of it."
The other man's fake smile disappeared instantly, the guy not playing.
"You're done when I decide it. I hope that's something you haven't forgotten."
"How could I..." he grinned without hope, grabbing the bag before heading outside.
- NCIS headquarters, daytime, 9:30am -
The ding of the elevator revealed two agents, both lost in the middle of a conversation.
"Oh come on, Ziva, you're not gonna tell me you got the time to run from your place to your job after that crazy tequila night..."
"Oh, so that's why the sunglasses are for, Tony..." Ziva laughed, trying to take them off his nose. "I thought you were trying to play another character of one of your stupid movies..."
Tony clumsily got rid of her hand, his head aching like hell.
"Back off, David."
"Alcohol is nothing but something you can control, Tony. You know, in Mossad, we have a training that..."
"...involves killing kittens while jumping from an airp..."
The man got interrupted instantly by a punch in his stomach, the woman mad. Her lips then sensually approached his ear and started whispering, the man ignoring her thoughts.
"In Mossad, Tony, we actually treat kittens better like men..."
Tony slowly raised both eyebrows as he saw her smile, somehow scared, but still extremely curious.
"Ah yeah...? And what do you mean by treating..."
"We're not in Mossad anymore, Ziva" a neutral voice suddenly reached both agents, Gibbs quickly heading to his desk, his usual cup of dark coffee in hand.
"Of course, we're not" they said altogether, hurring to their own working spaces.
"Anything new?" Jethro asked.
"Yes, Gibbs" Ziva answered straight away. "Abby just told me she got something from the airport security cameras, it's not a lot, but it might be enough for facial recognition, this time. Results should come in a minute."
Gibbs logged in and revealed an angry face, looking around.
"This is taking too much time!"
"We're gonna catch him, boss" Tony promised as he stood up. "Them. I mean...whoever they are."
"We're gonna find them, Gibbs" Ziva confirmed with more confidence, approaching the older agent.
Jethro sighed as if to silently confirm, looking angrier than ever. It'd been three weeks. Three weeks had passed since they'd been looking for these guys, the same who'd been bringing dirty money in the US Navy. And now they might have a lead. A small chance, maybe, but still one. Luckily, soon they would hear Abby run into the bullpen, it will exasperate him, probably, but at least that would be the sign that there's finally an answer...
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!"
All faces immediately turned in her direction. Was she getting excellent at mind reading?
"What do you got, Abbs?"
"No, Gibbs!" she instantly retorted, her dark high heels moving frenetically next to him. "It's not a normal 'Gibbs', I am talking about!"
"Then what is it, Abby..." he insisted, exasperated as expected.
Her face seemed so sad and full of misunderstanding, even Gibbs himself couldn't really tell what was exactly going on. Wasn't he supposed to know her so well?
"There must be a problem with facial recognition, there's no other way, Gibbs!" she continued.
"What was wrong with the security cameras?" Ziva wondered.
Abby swallowed with difficulty, looking anxious and excited.
"It's McGee, Gibbs!"
Tony reflexively approached a little closer.
"What do you mean, by 'it's McGee'?"
Abby immediately grabbed Tony's hand and walked to Gibbs desk without even asking for permission. Ten seconds later, the information she'd been running from her lab appeared of the older agent's screen, revealing a blurry black and white face.
"Well, maybe it's not..." Tony tried, bewildered.
But that wasn't blurry enough, everyone could tell. Ziva instantly pointed a finger at the screen, seriouser than ever.
"Alright, either McGee is trying to send us a message by revealing his identity, or he's become really bad at hiding."
Documents along the desk suddenly flew away as Gibbs frustration reached a higher point, the man not believing his eyes either.
"Gibbs..."
"What I would really like to know, Ziva...is why a federal agent has been carrying illegal cash last night at the airport, when he's supposed to be home!"
Abby instinctively grabbed Tony's arms as she heard him get mad, silently trying to understand what could have happened just a few damn hours ago.
"Wait, there has to be some explanation, boss" Tony said the nicest way possible. He looked at his watch, then at Jethro. "It's still early, maybe the man's just a little late. If McGee had really taken this airplane, there wouldn't be a chance for him to be here on time..."
"He took a day off, DiNozzo!" Gibbs brusquely said.
"What do you mean by that? Did he call you this morning, or..."
Jethro deeply exhaled and took a look at his watch, too, silently overwhelmed.
"No, DiNozzo..." he suddenly calmed down, still looking extremely scary, though. "McGee called me yesterday evening, saying he felt very sick and wouldn't be able to come to work today! And I believed him..." he added to himself as his hand clenched into a fist, almost whispering.
The bullpen had never seemed so small. With everyone walking and stopping, wondering and overthinking, it was as if there would be no progress at all. What could they be thinking about anyway? McGee couldn't be responsible for this...could he?
Something suddenly popped in Tony's head, the man a little bit more hopeful.
"The last address we'd found was in Afghanistan, boss, there's no chance for McGee to be there without anyone knowing at NCIS. His face would be everywhere."
"But they have another one in Marseille, Tony."
Both older federal agents looked at Ziva with worries in the eyes. For a second, they had forgotten that part.
"Try to call him. Now."
"Do we grab our..." Tony wondered before Gibbs face confirmed his thoughts. "Of course, we do."
"You'll call him in the car. Let's go!"
The elevator was almost closed when both Tony and Ziva entered it. It was also a matter of seconds before Gibbs started the car after they accessed it, the man already focused. If McGee had really brought illegal cash into a foreign country, he certainly had presented a fake passport. But that couldn't be, right? There must be an explanation to this all. Maybe he was truly sick, or maybe he wasn't, but as long as they hadn't the proof that someone with his face had headed to France that very same night... Yeah, he wasn't believing his own thoughts, but somewhere in the middle of this huge mess, there was still a chance. A chance for McGee to be innocent...and alive.