Hey readers - Here we are with the next chapter : )
Now I'm gonna be honest with you guys, I'm not too sure what I think about this chapter. I was seriously struggling to get motivated to write it, so I don't think it's my best work. I tried my hardest with it though, so hopefully you guys will still enjoy it : )
Aside from that however, I would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited and followed this story. The support you guys have shown to it continuously blows me away, and I really appreciate it, so please keep it up : )
Please remember that NCIS does not belong to me : )
I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
Silver War - Part 3
The tension in the squad room was practically palpable, and an awkward silence quickly descended over every member of the MCRT team. A silence which none of them felt quite brave enough to break just yet. Any idiot would be able to sense the white-hot anger that was almost radiating off of the silver haired federal agent that was in charge of the team, and Kate couldn't help but feel remarkably small in that moment. She was barely even able to bring herself to look at Gibbs in the eye, and she just wished for the ground to open up under her feet and swallow her whole. The look on the face of the man who had become like a second father to her wasn't helping either. Anger aplenty, there was also a strong helping of - dare Kate think it - hurt mixed in there. Hurt that Kate had kept such vital information about the running of their little team to herself. That she hadn't trusted him enough to be able to share it with him.
It was an expression that only served to increase Kate's guilt tenfold.
Lowering her gaze down to the ground in shame when the man's angry stare became too much for her to withstand anymore, the dark haired young woman suddenly felt an intense rush of anger course through her system, aimed at the new director of NCIS. She had outright warned the red haired woman of this very scenario playing out, and she had been assured that things wouldn't progress to this point. A promise that Jenny had failed to keep. Kate suddenly had to work extremely hard to keep a dark scowl from emerging across her delicate features, and she quickly pushed some rather uncharitable thoughts about the other woman out of her mind. Her own bitterness about the situation wasn't what was important right now.
Dealing with this mess before it could spiral out of control was.
As such, Kate timidly opened her mouth, but to say what, she had no idea. To offer up some kind of explanation maybe, perhaps even apologise, despite Gibbs' rules about those. But it was no use. Words simply failed her in that moment, and Kate honestly had no idea what she could do or say that could possibly make this situation any better. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately depending on your perspective, somebody else in the bullpen stepped up to help her out.
"Special Agent Gibbs" Ziva greeted the silver haired man tersely, walking over to stand in front of him, almost as if waiting for inspection.
Behind her retreating figure; Kate, Tony and McGee were all left gaping in astonishment at her back. They had all seen the righteous anger in the man's posture and expression, even if it wasn't completely obvious to anybody that didn't know him quite so well. Either way, Ziva was an incredibly brave lady for wanting to talk to the silver haired federal agent when it was clear he had just descended into an absolutely foul mood, and the three federal agents suddenly felt an increased respect for the beautiful Israeli woman that would soon be joining their number.
"Ziva" Gibbs said with what was supposed to be a polite smile, but ended up coming out rather like a pained grimace.
The man's mind was racing with questions. What was this woman, who was such an obvious reminder of the painful past, doing here? What did Kate know about her even being back here? How did Kate know about this before he did for that matter? And most importantly of all; why the hell hadn't his agent thought to say anything to him?! Oh... she'd better have a damn good reason for this!
Knowing that getting angry at this stage of the game would get him nowhere however, Gibbs forced himself to take a deep breath to try and remain calm. In a rare show of self-restraint, the man forced his face into a more neutral expression.
"What are you doing here?" the seasoned federal agent asked politely, although he had been in the job for so long now that he realised that he probably wasn't going to like the answer.
Ziva didn't disappoint him.
"Looking forward to being a member of your team" the beautiful Mossad Operative replied smoothly, unwilling to allow her voice to waiver despite how nervous she felt in that moment.
As if to emphasise the truth of her statement, Ziva quickly held up the folder in her grasp containing the official paperwork that marked her new position as the Mossad/NCIS Liaison Officer. She couldn't help but notice the look of outright anger that immediately appeared on the man's face, and it didn't take her long to put the pieces together as to why that was. After all, there was only one person at NCIS who had the authority to assign a new person to Gibbs' team.
Jenny Shepard.
Looking positively murderous by this point, Gibbs just impatiently snatched the folder out of Ziva's hand. Then, without even sparing the poor woman a second glance, he briskly marched off in their direction of the staircase with all the grace and charm of a thundercloud sweeping across the nation, without uttering so much as a single syllable.
Kate couldn't help but cringe as he stormed off. That had gone about as badly as expected. He hadn't even looked at her, and despite knowing that she had brought it on herself by allowing herself to be talked into the director's secret, the female federal agent couldn't help but feel a little hurt by the blatant coldness. A soft sigh slipped past her lips as she miserably turned to her pile of paperwork. If she was going to get a rollicking off her boss later, she might as well do something to try and appease the man.
A heavy sigh that sounded just as thoroughly miserable as Kate currently felt pulled the female federal agent out of her rather depressive thoughts.
"It would appear that we have our answer" the beautiful Israeli woman frowned and shook her head, her shoulders slumping in a rejected manner, "He didn't know. I feel very much like a donkey's butt".
Both Tony and McGee, who had nervously been watching as Gibbs made his way up the staircase and to the landing over their heads, both turned to her with startled expressions on their faces. From her own desk, Kate also gave the other woman an odd look for her choice of words.
"A donkey's butt?" McGee repeated, sounding thoroughly confused.
"I think she meant 'horse's ass', McGee" the senior field agent shrugged his shoulders at the other man, unable to think of any other plausible explanation.
In the middle of the bullpen, Ziva nodded seriously at them both.
"Yes" the beautiful Mossad Operative and supposed newest member of their little team nodded her ascent at the Italian man's statement, "That, too".
Kate couldn't help but allow a soft groan of dismay to slip past her lips, and she quickly covered her head with her hands, already feeling a particularly nasty migraine building up. The female federal agent honestly had no idea what Gibbs was going to say when he finally did stop to talk to her, and it was making her feel incredibly nervous. Only one thing was for absolute certain in that moment however.
This was not going to be a good day.
It hadn't taken Gibbs very long to catch up with Jenny, and by the time that he found her sitting in the shadowy room that was MTAC, the silver haired seasoned federal agent was practically bristling with rage. He couldn't believe that Jenny would be so... intrusive, as to just add a new member to his team without even consulting him about it first. Deep down he knew that as the Director she had every right to do that, but for Christ's sake! This was his team. He had always, always, been allowed to operate under the liberty of picking his own people, and Jenny believed that in less than two months on the job she now had the right to go and mess with that?! Oh, Gibbs was beyond the point of anger. No. He was positively furious.
As such, he burst into the darkened room, and ignoring the startled looks that some of the technicians in there gave him, he stormed over to the row of chairs where Jenny was sitting, observing an ongoing operation on the big screen in front of her. The red haired woman glanced up at him and smiled warmly, obviously missing the overtones of anger in the man's expression.
"Something I can help you with this morning, Special Agent Gibbs?" Jenny asked pleasantly, which unfortunately had the reverse effect of making Gibbs even more irritated with her if that was at all possible.
"Yeah. I've got a personnel issue" Gibbs retorted bluntly, causing Jenny's smile to falter slightly. It would appear that she was finally catching on to the fact that he was less than pleased with her right now, "You know anything about that?"
It didn't take Jenny very long to put the pieces together, and a soft sigh slipped past her lips as soon as she did so.
"I take it Ziva arrived a few days early?" she had been meaning to talk to Gibbs about this for a couple of days now, having hoped to avoid a situation like this. Then Jenny paled slightly as she realised that not only had she brought Jethro's wraith down on herself, but also upon Special Agent Todd as well. Damn it! This was really gonna take some damage control, "Right. Before we get into this, I'm going to need a refill".
Fuming by the sheer gall of the woman, Gibbs all-but flung himself down into the seat next to her before snatching her coffee cup and pouring half the contents of his own into it. He then thrust it back towards Jenny, who actually had the nerve to look amused.
"That was sweet..." the red haired woman remarked with a air of humour, one which Gibbs did not appreciate in the slightest, "Not necessarily sanitary".
God this woman could infuriate Gibbs when she wanted to.
"What is she doing here, Jen?" the silver haired man practically snarled at the new director, not in the mood to play any verbal sparring games today. Not when he had just learned that one of his own teammates had betrayed him by keeping a secret for her.
Jenny sighed deeply, before she gave him the same line that she had given Kate several days earlier.
"If we're going to fight a global war on terror, we need to work closely with our allies" the red haired woman said, as if it were as simple as that. Gibbs wasn't buying it for a single second, and he had no quams about letting that be known.
"Well that sounds good" he replied in a tone that practically oozed with sarcasm, "Put her on somebody else's team".
"I want her with you, Jethro" Jenny shot down his protest in flames without any hesitant.
Gibbs could sense that this wasn't an argument he was going to win, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying. He had been a federal agent at this agency for a bloody long time now, and he reserved the right that he should be the one who hand-picked his own people. He depended on them on a daily basis with his very life on the line after all. It should be his choice, not Jenny's.
"Mossad trained her to spy and kill, not to investigate crime scenes" Gibbs pointed out to his old flame, before he leaned in close in order to whisper in her ear, "Send her to CIA".
Jenny threw him a withering look, and Gibbs knew right there and then that she wasn't going to budge on this decision.
"Just to be clear, this is not a request or a debate, Agent Gibbs" she told him bluntly. Gibbs tried to give her his best stare in response, one which broke practically everyone who came into contact with it. When it didn't appear to work in the slightest however, the silver haired federal agent hung his head and sighed.
"And you really think that her and Kate will be able to work together on a daily basis? Because that's what you're expecting here Jen" he pointed out to her, before a dark look descended across his face, "Oh, and thanks for getting her to lie to my face for god knows how long by that way. I really appreciate that".
Jenny sighed deeply, having wondered how long it would be before that aspect of this came up.
"Look Jethro, this was not the way I wanted you to find out. I promise I was going to tell you before Ziva arrived" Jenny said, starting to get a little defensive despite herself, "And before you go off on one about me telling Special Agent Todd before you, I only did that out of common kindness. I know what Ziva's brother put Kate through, but you can't hold her responsible for Ari's crimes!"
"He tried to kill Kate!" Gibbs exclaimed, outraged that Jenny seemed to be making light of that.
"And as unforgivable as that is, he also paid a steep price for it" Jenny reasoned, and even Gibbs wasn't able to argue with that particular detail. Jenny took another deep breath before she continued, "As for Special Agent Todd, don't you dare give her a hard time Jethro. She was only following orders I gave her, and since I outrank you as far as this agency goes, she was right to follow them. Plus, she also made a point of telling me that she was deeply uncomfortable about keeping this information from you, and that she wasn't going to lie to you if you outright asked her, orders or not. That woman's loyalty to you is commendable, not to mention unquestionable. So if you want to be angry with someone Jethro, be angry with me".
"Oh trust me, Jen" Gibbs spat darkly through clenched teeth, "I am".
"For what it's worth, I am sorry that you found out like this. That was never my intention" Jenny spoke the words with such sincerity that not even the furious Gibbs could deny that her apology was anything but genuine, "But I truly believe that Ziva will be a major asset to your team if you let her".
"Mmm" Gibbs groused under his breath, and Jenny could tell that he wasn't convinced, "Anything else you want to change about my team while I'm here?"
Jenny sighed again, but held firm in her decision.
"Look, if anything, you're lucky to have her" the new director of NCIS tried to reason with one of the best agents that the agency had ever had, "She's one of the finest agents I ever worked with in Europe".
Gibbs' scowl only grew in intensity. Ziva's skills were not the issue here, and Jenny bloody well knew it.
"Why didn't you ask me first, Jen?" the silver haired federal agent was having to work very hard to keep his temper in check.
"And what would you have said?" Jenny arched an elegant eyebrow at him. When Gibbs made no efforts to reply, the red haired woman took that as answer enough, "Exactly. Number eighteen; it's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission".
Gibbs didn't even bother trying to refrain from scoffing out loud at this point.
"Oh, that's real nice" he drawled sarcastically at an act of what Gibbs could only construe as Jenny sticking the knife in further, "Using the rules I taught you against me. Nice touch".
The reply that Jenny gave to that particular accusation was really rather simple.
"I learned from the best, Jethro" the red haired woman told him earnestly, hoping that her old friend would eventually come to see the same qualities in Ziva that she herself did, "I want Ziva to as well".
Knowing that the battle was well and truly lost by this point, Gibbs huffed indignantly but stood up from his chair and made to leave the room. It was only as he was approaching the door that Jenny called out him again, causing the silver haired man to pause where he stood. He didn't bother turning around to face the new director though.
"I meant what I said before Jethro" she told him in a voice so stern that it almost rivalled his own, "Don't you dare take this out on Kate. You two have been through too much together for her to deserve that and you know it".
Gibbs didn't even grace those words with a response. He simply continued on his way out of the room without so much as a backwards glance. The silver haired federal agent was only certain of one thing in that moment.
He had a lot of serious thinking to do.
Meanwhile, back down in the squad room, Kate was finding it incredibly difficult to concentrate on the paperwork in front of her. A heavy scowl appeared on the young woman's pretty features when she realised that for the fourth time in less than ten minutes, she had made a mistake. Groaning, Kate quickly brushed the form to one side before pulling out a blank one, deciding that she needed to shred the original and start again. It wasn't exactly an enticing prospect. Try though she might to focus on the job in hand however, it simply wasn't easy for Kate to pull her thoughts away from not only the guilt she felt in not telling Gibbs the Director's secret, but also how the man in question was currently getting on with their new director. She couldn't help put grimace as horrible mental images of the two of them having an all-out screaming match assaulted her mind repeatedly. She also couldn't help but wonder what she could possibly say to Gibbs when he would inevitably returned late to chew her out. Kate wanted desperately to apologise to the man that she thought as a second father figure, but she knew his rules about apologies. Gibbs strongly felt that they were a sign of weakness, and with the foul mood that he was no doubt currently in, Kate highly doubted that he'd be willing to make an exception in this case.
Once again, she couldn't help but feel a way of bitter resentment crash over her. She did not appreciate the position that the new director had put her in, and Kate vowed to herself there and then that if Jenny Shepard ever came to her with a secret again, she was going to tell her to go to hell, regardless of whether she wound up being fired for it or not.
Needless to say the poor woman's mind was practically buzzing with thoughts, and so it didn't take very long or much effort on anybody else's part to prove to be a distraction for the female federal agent.
"You want something to read?" the voice of her partner proved to be one such distraction.
Looking up from the tedious task in front of her, Kate saw that her partner was studying Ziva with an almost hawk-like interest on his face. The beautiful Israeli woman in question was leaning against one of the windows looking out over the city, covering her impatience well, but not quite good enough to fool a trained profiler such as Kate. It was clear that she wanted to know Gibbs' verdict, and she wanted to know it now.
"What do you have?" Ziva replied to Tony's question, looking hopeful that he might actually have something which could take her mind off its recent troubles.
In response, Tony held up what Kate could only describe as one of his sleazy men's magazines for Ziva to inspect. The female federal agent scoffed and shook her head. That was so typical of her partner that it wasn't even funny.
"G.S.M. It's a men's magazine" the handsome Italian man explained, a Cheshire cat grin quickly blossoming across his face, "Most women find it objectifies them".
"That's probably because it does" Kate couldn't refrain from chiming in. Tony flashed her one of his charming grins, in response to which Kate simply rolled her eyes.
"See what I mean" he remarked to Ziva, who looked amused at the banter between the two of them. Kate scoffed but refrained from commenting further, but not even she could hide her surprise when Ziva suddenly opened her handbag and pulled out an identical copy of the magazine which Tony held in his grasp.
"I read it on the plane" the Mossad Operative informed them, smoking at the web at both Tony and Kate were gaping up at her in incredulous astonishment, "I especially like the article on page fifty-seven. In my experience, it works every time".
Kate couldn't help but scoff again in fond exasperation when Tony began flicking through the pages of his own copy of the magazine with an almost frantic urgency to his actions. When he found the article that Ziva was referring to, his eyes widened in obvious shock.
"I... I always thought that was urban legend" the handsome Italian federal agent stammered out. Across from him, Kate wrinkled her nose in distain.
"Urgh! I don't wanna know" the pretty federal agent grumbled in obvious disgust, wishing that there would hurry up and change the subject to something a little less... sexual, "I really don't wanna know!"
"That makes two of us!" a new voice suddenly chimed into the conversation.
Glancing up from their various positions all scattered around the bullpen; Kate, Tony, Ziva and McGee all saw that Gibbs was marching down the stairway and heading in their general direction. In a matter of seconds, Ziva had quickly stuffed her copy of the magazine back into her handbag, and was striding over to meet the silver head federal agent. She was clearly trying to keep her expression neutral, but there was also no denying that there was a glint of hope in her beautiful eyes.
"What's the verdict?" Ziva asked the man before her wearily.
Gibbs just gave her that piercing stare of his from his intense blue eyes. Over in the bullpen, Kate couldn't help but feel a wave of sympathy for the other woman as the silver haired man kept her squirming for a couple of long, torturous moments.
"Pack your trash" was the simple response that he eventually gave.
Ziva's face fell and her shoulders slumped in obvious disappointment. The beautiful Israeli woman was quick to cover up any feelings of hurt however, and she hastily schooled her features into a mask of professionalism.
"Not a problem" she swallowed hard, but the disappointment was practically palpable, "Most of it doesn't arrive until next week. Nice seeing you again, Tony. Kate. McGee".
Ziva then turned and slumped off in the direction of the elevator. Kate couldn't help but feel quite bad for her, despite the fact that she had initially been unsure about the prospect of working with Ziva on a daily basis. Nevertheless, the pretty federal agent was quite surprised when Gibbs immediately hurried after the Israeli woman, racing to join her inside the elevator as Ziva stepped into it.
The doors slid shut behind the two of them, granting them a moment of privacy. Ziva looked up at Gibbs in sheer bewilderment.
"I told you to pack your trash, Ziva" the silver haired federal agent said, not unkindly, but still a little more coolly than the situation warranted, "I don't remember giving you permission to leave yet".
The confusion on Ziva's face simply multiplied tenfold.
Sighing, and just wanting to get this conversation over and done with as swiftly as possible, Gibbs turned and hit the emergency stop switch, bringing the elevator to a grinding halt and dimming the lights. He turned to face the beautiful Israeli woman head on, wanting to gauge her reaction to his next set of questions.
"You requested this assignment?" the man worded it as a question, although he was already fairly certain of the answer.
"I did" Ziva gave a simple nod of her head in response.
"Why?" Gibbs immediately followed up with. Because that was the part of this he was struggling with the most. Why would Ziva of all people want to join their team after everything that Ari had done to them? Gibbs was in no way, shape or form sorry that that bastard was dead, but he had still been Ziva's brother. So just... why?
Ziva's entire posture seem to stiffen, and she averted her gaze as she eventually answered the inquiry.
"I had to get away from Mossad for a while" she said, but both her tone and her expression made it clear that she wanted to say nothing more on the subject. Respecting her wishes, Gibbs quickly asked another question.
"Do you believe what Ari said about your father?" the silver haired man asked softly, remembering that fateful night down in his basement all too clearly.
"No" Ziva answered a little too quickly, before she wilted slightly and amended her answer, "Yes. Maybe".
"Your brother was a Svengali, Ziva" Gibbs reminded her gently. The beautiful Israeli woman let out a little bitter laugh.
"Like father. Like son" she said without humour.
"Does Mossad know you killed Ari?" Gibbs asked her suddenly, genuine curiosity lining his tone.
"No. They believe your report" Ziva quickly assured him, and Gibbs looked relieved on her behalf, "Only you, Special Agent Todd and I know the truth. For that I thank you. I'm grateful to her too, especially when you consider what Ari almost took from her".
Gibbs couldn't help but allow his expression to darken at the mention of his female agent, something which Ziva immediately caught on to.
"Please do not be too hard on her Gibbs" she said gently, and when the silver haired man in question glanced down at her in surprise, Ziva continued with a kind smile, "I do not believe it was an order that she found easy to follow, and I may not know her very well, but I do know that Kate is fiercely loyal to you. It was a heavy burden for her to bare".
Gibbs sighed deeply, since deep down he knew that that was the truth, even if he didn't want to admit to it right now. So in typical Gibbs fashion, he quickly changed the subject
"I trust you Ziva. You know that" he told her honestly, and Ziva looked rather touched that he had admitted such a thing to her, "But when we leave this elevator..."
"You start kicking my butt" the Israeli woman nodded her understanding.
Gibbs couldn't help but let out a little moan at her immediate presumption. He had no idea where everybody seemed to get this idea from that he was some kind of impossible monster to work with.
"I don't kick butt!" he complained, and he would categorically deny that his voice was little more than a whine in that moment.
Ziva smirked in obvious amusement, but said nothing. Scowling in annoyance, Gibbs quickly flipped the switch which activated the elevator again and sent it back to the floor of the squad room. The doors opened and they both stepped out, walking back to the bullpen, their expressions all business.
"Miss David will be with us for a while" Gibbs announced to Kate, Tony and McGee, all of whom had been watching the pair inquisitively whilst also trying, and failing miserably, to be discrete about it. Gibbs turned to Ziva before pointing towards a spare desk just outside the bullpen, "That'll be your desk".
And that was all he said before he marched off to go and sit behind his own.
Ziva stared after him for a moment, a little nonplussed by that less than stellar welcome, especially considering the moment there just had together in the elevator. Obviously thrown, Ziva then turned to face Tony.
"He's a tough one to read" she remarked casually.
"You'll find most NCIS agents are like that" the handsome Italian senior field agent replied, his tone a little smug, "It's our training".
"Is that a fact?" Ziva didn't bother trying to refrain from rolling her eyes at his lack of modesty.
"Mm-hmm" Tony nodded his head at the newest member of their team seriously, "We never let the other people know what we're thinking".
From her position behind her own desk, Kate had to work extremely hard to hold back a derisive scowl. She could scarcely believe that Tony had just come out with that, or he actually seemed to believe it. That man didn't even have the faintest concept of a mental filter, and told her literally everything that popped into his head, whether Kate wanted to hear it or not. The fact that he'd actually been able to say that with a straight face was really quite amazing to her.
"Right now you're thinking of doing page fifty seven with me" came Ziva's witty response.
Tony looked utterly flabbergasted, and Kate couldn't hold back a snort of amusement which she hastily turned into a cough when they both turned to look at her. Needing a distraction from the amusing scene which had just played out in front of her, Kate was in luck, and she turned to stare at McGee who was slowly approaching Gibbs' desk with a sticky note in his hand.
"Boss, we have a situation at the Smithsonian Museum" the junior field agent said as a means of opening the conversation.
"What?" came the rather gruff reply.
"Well, it's kind of complicated..." McGee stammered out in his usual nervous manner whenever Gibbs seemed to be annoyed, "But there may have been a murder".
"May have been, McGee?" Gibbs frowned heavily at the younger man, clearly in no mood to be given the run-around today.
"Yeah, well they have a Union soldier who was dug up from a battlefield in Manassas" the youngest member of the team hastily began to explain, not wanting to push the boss' buttons when he was so obviously in an irritable mood, "And now they think that he may be a Marine".
"It was the Civil War, McGee" Gibbs pointed out bluntly, not seeing the point that the man was trying to make, "Marines fought on both sides"
"Right. Yeah, I know" McGee was getting a little flustered, and as a result he wasn't explaining this as well as he could have been. The young man took a deep breath before trying again, "But this Marine had dog tags. They didn't exist back then. I know that you know that, being a Marine".
"Get to the point, McGee!" Gibbs was quickly losing patience and that frustration showed.
"Well, they think that this Marine was killed recently" McGee hastily got to the main point, "And somehow buried in a way... they can't quite explain it... but in a hundred and forty year old cast iron sarcophagus".
From her position over behind her desk, Kate jaw dropped wide open in horrified bewilderment. Even after all of her time at NCIS, there was always something left that could surprise her. But a man buried in a sarcophagus was definitely a new one on her.
"Dressed as a Union soldier?" Gibbs asked to clarify, the surprise evident on his face as well.
"Basically, yeah" McGee nodded his head in confirmation.
Clearly taking aback by this latest development in what was already proving to be a rather unusual day, Gibbs wasted no time in springing straight into business as usual.
"Gas the truck, McGee" the silver haired man instructed the younger male in front of him simply, before turning his attention to his senior field agent, "DiNozzo!"
"Yeah, boss" Tony was quick to answer his superior officer's call.
"I've got a murder in your area of expertise" the seasoned federal agent announced. Tony's grin widened like a cat who'd got the cream, before he turned his attention back to Ziva
"This happens a lot, me being a Senior Field Agent and all" he gloated smugly to the beautiful Israeli woman who was now officially their new Liaison Officer.
"I'm sure it does" Ziva replied dryly, working hard to sound as bored and unimpressed as possible.
"What do we got, Boss?" Tony turned back to face Gibbs, who looked impatient at what could only be construed as a pitiful attempt at flirting, "Multiple homicides?"
"No" Gibbs quickly shook his head.
"Gang related?" the handsome senior field agent hazarded another guess.
"No" Gibbs denied once again.
"Defenestration?" Tony suggested, although it was clear that he was only being half serious. Gibbs smirked as he decided to just give him the answer.
"The Civil War" he announced with an air of amusement.
Tony's face fell, and Kate couldn't help but stare at her partner in obvious bewilderment. Why would the Civil War be an area of expertise for Tony of all people? After all, unless it came to films, he wasn't a history buff. Just what was that all about?
"I can hardly wait" Tony said flatly before Kate had a chance to consider the matter any further, the sarcasm heavy in his tone, "That's my favourite subject".
As the three federal agents all hurried to fulfil their usual tasks when preparing to leave the NCIS headquarters building to go and investigate a crime scene, Ziva wasn't sure what she ought to be doing. As such, she immediately stepped up to Gibbs' desk and stood at attention.
"What about me?" she inquired, wanting to be proactive in trying to prove her worth to the man before her.
Gibbs considered her for a moment, before he evidently reached a decision and stood up.
"You're coming along strictly as an observer" he informed Ziva in a tone of voice which brooked no argument, before he held out his hand expectantly, "Hand over all your weapons".
Ziva certainly didn't like the sound of that, and she had no qualms about letting that feeling be known.
"Is that really necessary?" the beautiful Mossad Operative that was now their new Liaison Officer asked sceptically, but when Gibbs just stared her sternly, she realised that he wasn't going to relent and so she begrudgingly gave in, "Right".
Ziva dismantled the gun she had strapped to her belt before handling both the weapon itself and the pack of ammunition over to Gibbs. He put them away in his desk drawer.
"And your backup" he instantly demanded, and Ziva had to work very hard to school her face into a neutral expression.
"What backup?" she asked innocently. Gibbs wasn't fooled. Not. One. Bit.
"Left leg" he said simply.
"Oh" Ziva chuckled guiltily, looking rather caught out that he had managed to spot her secondary weapon when she had hidden it so well, "That one".
The Israeli woman quickly rolled up the leg of her trousers and removed the second gun she had strapped to her ankle. With an almost sad expression on her face, Ziva handed it over to Gibbs as well.
"And the knife concealed at your waist" the silver haired seasoned federal agent continued.
Ziva just stared at him, a little disturbed now. She couldn't figure out how he kept on doing that. Nobody had ever been so talented at spotting her hiding places for weapons after all. Frustrated beyond belief at this point, the Israeli woman handed over her blade as well. To her immense surprise however, Gibbs simply flipped the knife over in his hand, before holding it back out for her to take. Not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ziva quickly retrieved her weapon and put it back in its sheath at her waist.
"You can keep this" Gibbs smirked at her knowing, stepping out from behind his desk and walking past Ziva, "I just want you to know that I know".
Clearly very thrown by the whole encounter, Ziva was just left to stare after him as he marched off in the direction of the elevator; Kate, Tony and McGee all hurrying after him. After a moment of further deliberation, the new Liaison Officer raced after them.
Needless to say, this was going to be a very interesting experience for all of them indeed.
The journey to the Smithsonian Museum from the NCIS headquarters building was incredibly uncomfortable for poor Kate, as she had not been able to escape Gibbs' ire even on the drive over to their potential crime scene. After she had finished doing her usual task of the inventory for the large white van they took to the scene they needed to work on, Kate had been about to climb in through the passenger side door when Gibbs had suddenly appeared behind her in that uncanny fashion of his, and stopped her in her tracks with a sharp bark of 'Special Agent Todd! With me!' The young woman had naturally been very weary, and even a little bit fearful, having fully expected Gibbs to have ordered this arrangement so that he could use the opportunity to chew her out for keeping secrets without an audience. It was therefore with the small amount of churning nerves that Kate got into the passenger side of one of the black agency cars, Tony and McGee flashing her sympathetic looks as she did so, whilst the silver haired federal agent himself climbed into the driver's seat. Then they were off and away. But it turned out that Kate had been wrong. Epically. It hadn't taken very long for Gibbs' true motivation for this transport arrangement to transpire.
And it most definitely was not to talk.
If she were ever to look back on this moment later on in her life, Kate would have chided herself for not seeing it coming earlier. They rode in absolute silence. Gibbs hadn't so much as opened his mouth since getting into the car and setting them on their journey, and whenever the anxious Kate managed to muster up the courage to try and initiate a conversation, to try and explain herself or maybe even apologise for keeping the director's secret, Gibbs did not react too kindly. In fact, no sooner would the first syllable pass by Kate's lips would the silver haired man at her side slam his foot down on the accelerator, sending the car tearing off up the road for a moment, before he just as quickly slammed his foot on the brake pedal, bringing them to a jarring halt and forcing poor Kate to turn her attention to preventing herself from slamming into the dashboard. It was enough to stave off any kind of conversation between the two of them, and by the fourth time that Gibbs had repeated this behaviour, Kate quickly cottoned on and stopped trying. The female federal agent quickly pieced together what all of this was about. Punishment. This was just a small part of her punishment for not being open with Gibbs about the information that she had learned. He was giving her the silent treatment, which in and of itself made a twisted kind of logic. She hadn't said anything to him, so why should he say anything to her? Honestly, if Kate didn't know that she had brought this on herself, despite the fact that she was only following orders, she might have called the man she viewed as a second father figure out on his sheer childishness. As it was though, the dark haired young woman just sank back in her chair and stopped trying to talk. It would do her no good after all.
Needless to say, it made for a very uncomfortable car journey, and by the time that they arrived at the Smithsonian Museum, Kate was more than a little relieved to get away from her irate team leader.
Perhaps Gibbs had decided to take mercy on her, although the female federal agent highly doubted it, or perhaps he was just tired of being in her presence now, which somehow seemed more likely. Either way, the silver haired federal agent immediately sent Kate away upon arrival at the museum, sending her off with Tony and McGee - along with Ziva who was still only there in an observer capacity only - to go and question the team who had opened the sealed sarcophagus, as well as the camera crew filming the whole affair. Kate highly doubted that any of them would be able to tell them anything more about this little mystery, but she didn't dare point that out to Gibbs. Not with the diabolically foul mood that he was in right now. So instead, she meekly scuttled off to go and carry out his orders, just pleased to be away from the man for a while.
That left Gibbs by himself, and he was quickly escorted by a member of the museum staff to their Anthropology lab. He was joined by Ducky and Jimmy a few minutes later, and they all looked around the room in wonder.
It was surprisingly dark for a laboratory, with the only source of lighting in the room coming from a couple of large spotlights, as well as a television screen embedded in one of the walls. There were also several cameras in the room that presumably had been left abandoned when the room had been cleared, after the museum had raised the alarm that a potential crime had been committed, and they had been instructed to leave the scene undisturbed. The main focal point of the museum's laboratory however had to go to the gigantic cast iron sarcophagus in the centre of the room. There was a small table set up next to it lined with tools, presumably for the anthropologist to examine their discoveries. Their attention was quickly drawn to the sarcophagus which was the main reason for their visit to the Smithsonian Museum today, and it wasn't long before Ducky sent Jimmy away to go get the equipment they needed to transport the poor man back to NCIS the headquarters. Once his assistant was gone, the wise old man then leaned in for a closer look, and it didn't take a psychological profiler to see the keen interest plastered all over the Medical Examiner's face.
"According to his dog tags, the young man is Warren Sorrow, U.S.M.C" Ducky observed as he squinted down at the metal chain around the poor man's neck.
Gibbs nodded, jotting down a few notes in his notepad, before he cut straight to the heart of the matter in his usual blunt fashion.
"How long has he been in there, Duck?" the silver haired federal agent wanted to know. The Medical Examiner looked thoughtful for a few moments before he replied.
"He's remarkably well preserved. Could be months or even years. We'll know more when we get him home" was the response that eventually crossed by Ducky's lips, despite it obviously not being the one that his old friend had been hoping for If the expression on the federal agent's face was anything to go by. It was then that another thought struck the Medical Examiner, and Ducky was quick to give voice to it, "You know, in the nineteen seventies, grave-robbers raided a Southern Colonel's cast-iron casket. They took his weapon, his jewellery, and for some strange reason, the poor man's head. When the local authorities found the hundred year old decomposing corpse, they assumed he was recently decapitated. They opened a murder investigation".
Ducky couldn't help but chuckle at his own last few words, but unfortunately Gibbs didn't see the humour in it. Nor was he particularly in the mood to hear any of Ducky's anecdotes today.
"This guy's still got his head. We're not local cops" the silver haired federal agent retorted bluntly, clearly in no mood for his team's usual quirks or banter today, "I want to know how he died".
Ducky opened his mouth to reply, but before he could utter so much as a single syllable, a new voice suddenly chimed into their conversation.
"I can help with that" a female voice said. Gibbs and Ducky both looked from their work to see a middle-aged blonde haired woman wearing a clean white lab coat striding towards them. She was fairly attractive, and flashed both of the two men a warm smile in greeting. When her gaze fell upon Ducky however, a small gasp of surprise slipped past the blonde haired woman's lips, and her pretty eyes widened in shock, "Doctor Mallard! Well... how nice to see you again!"
Ducky stared at her, suddenly feeling rather bemused. This woman knew him? How? And where could he possibly have met her before? The Medical Examiner tried racking his brains, but he wasn't coming up with anything at all, and considering just who he was, that was quite... unusual. Not wanting to appear rude however, Ducky quickly plastered on a polite and charming smile.
"Yes. It is" he said smoothly, obviously trying to cover up the fact that he had absolutely no idea who the woman standing before him was and how they knew each other, "How are you?"
Apparently his recovery of the situation wasn't quite as smooth as he would have liked however, for the woman's smile widened in amusement as she seemed to sense his growing perplexment.
"Doctor Elaine Burns" the woman introduced herself, but even being provided with a name wasn't enough to jog the Medical Examiner's memories despite all of his best efforts, "We met in Hawaii almost... wow, eighteen years ago. The conference on identifying P.O.W remains in Vietnam?"
The Medical Examiner hid it superbly, and it was only because Gibbs knew him so well that it was obvious to the silver haired federal agent that his old friend still had absolutely no idea who this woman was. Ever the gentleman however, Ducky quickly give this Doctor Elaine Burns his warmest smile.
"Yes, of course" he said as if it was all coming back to him now, though in reality nothing could be further from the truth, "How wonderful to see you again".
His little performance seemed to be enough to convince Doctor Burns that he remembered her now, and she grinned slyly at him.
"I still have that pukka shell necklace you gave me" the blonde haired woman said with a fond chuckle.
"Yes, quite the keepsake, aren't they?" Ducky gave a polite laugh as well, still searching his memories, but for the life of him he simply couldn't remember this woman, nor any pukka shell necklace that he had supposedly given her. It was really rather frustrating, not to mention a little alarming. After all, if there was one thing that Dr Donald Mallard prided himself on, it was his impeccable memory.
At his side however, Gibbs was much less concerned about Ducky's lapse in memory, and was far more interested in getting back to the reason they were all here in the first place.
"Do you have information on how this man died, Doctor?" the silver haired federal agent asked, pulling Doctor Burns' attention back to himself, much to the relief of Ducky.
"Ah, yes" Doctor Burns nodded seriously as she got back on track. She took a remote control from the pocket of her lab court and aimed it at the television on the wall. In a matter of moments, the image on it was replaced by that of an X-ray image of what appeared to be a human skull. There was a small round spot on it about the size of a marble. The three people in the room all gathered around the television for a closer look, "We took the liberty of imaging the corpse before we knew for sure we were dealing with an actual homicide and not just some sick hoax".
Gibbs immediately rounded upon her as he registered her words, and he did not look happy or impressed.
"Meaning you disturbed my crime scene?" the silver haired federal agent demanded to know, his disapproval coming through clear in both his tone and expression. The smile on Doctor Burns' face cooled by several degrees.
"As a forensic anthropologist, I can assure you my examination was strictly non-evasive" she told him bluntly, and Gibbs held up his hands in a pacifying manner, although there was no denying that he also looked slightly relieved. The Doctor then pointed at the small round spot on the image, "There. Now I've seen several images like this in the past, but you can't be certain until you get it out".
"Get what out?" Gibbs asked, looking a little confused as he studied the image before him. That didn't look like any kind of bullet he'd seen at any crime scene before.
This time the federal agent was the one that Doctor Elaine Burns smiled at.
"In my opinion" the blonde haired woman shrugged her shoulders at him, but there was also a keen confidence in her eyes that she was right in her superposition, "It's a musket ball".
Well... whatever Gibbs had been expecting to hear, it most certainly had not been that.
And there we have it : )
Like I said, I really don't know how I feel about this chapter, but I just wanted to get it done, so hopefully it turned out okay. I know that Kate wasn't in it as much as she normally is, but I tried my hardest to incorporate her as much as possible. Beyond that however, I don't have an awful lot to say, other than I'm hoping to get my motivation for this story back soon ; )
And I think that's just about it from me for this week, so thank you for reading this chapter and my story in general, and I really hope you're enjoying it. Please also consider leaving a review as I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on how I'm doing so far, and like I said before, please also keep those suggestions coming in as well : )
Until the next time, keep on reading : )