Montezuma Part 1/2
Title: Montezuma
Author: daughtershade
Fandom: Magnificent 7 (ATF AU)/NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: None
Prompt: The two teams have to work together on a case.
Summary: A murder of a Marine Corporal brings Gibbs and the NCIS team in conflict with Denver’s ATF special unit Team Seven.
Author notes: I want to thank settiai for asking for this prompt because it let me write in TWO fandoms that I love, but have never written in.
This takes place sometime during NCIS Season 5, the current season, but there aren’t any real spoilers. There is mention of fallout from the season opener “Bury Your Dead” but nothing specific. Also there is a slight mention of events from the Season 4 episode “Dead Man Walking”.
As for the Mag7 boys, of course I have to give a nod to Mog who originally came up with the ATF universe and was kind enough to let everyone else play in it. The only episode spoilers that could be considered for Mag7 is a mention of the Season 2 episode “Lady Killers” all-be-it a modernized ATF version of it.
I have also alluded to a previous friendship between the NCIS character Dr. Donald Mallard (AKA Ducky) and the Magnificent Seven character Judge Orrin Travis. This is meant as a nod to Man from UNCLE fans since the characters are played by David McCallum and Robert Vaughn respectively. They were, of course, the two main actors from MUNCLE.
The title of this fic not only references the Marines’ Hymn, but also the more common use of ‘Montezuma’s Revenge.’ Both of which seemed apt for the meeting of these two teams.
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For reference, I made Magnificent Seven and NCIS guides with extra information for newcomers along with character photos and such.
I have also created a wallpaper to go along with the fic. You can get it here.
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Montezuma
“I know a guy,” the man said with a very untrustworthy smile.
Normally that would be an issue, but in a gunrunner untrustworthy was practically a recommendation. The military grade weapons were a problem. Ezra hadn’t heard of any new players in town and now this Grant, ‘please call me Tony,’ fellow had dropped into the middle of his undercover operation without so much as a how-do-you-do. He knew that somehow he had to get word out to Chris and the others without arousing Mr. Lichtermann’s suspicions.
Ezra had been working his way into Lichtermann’s organization for the past five months. Difficult didn’t begin to describe the ordeal. The German was extremely paranoid about new hires. It had taken all of Ezra’s considerable skill to get as far as he had. Fortunately, Lichtermann appreciated underlings with a hint of intelligence. Ezra had shown his skill with numbers and had become somewhat of a negotiator. The German glanced over at him, and Ezra pulled his attention away from the smiling salesman.
“Bennett, take care of it,” Lichtermann said moving away to take a phone call.
Ezra nodded and stepped forward. He frowned at the crate of four M249 SAWs staring back at him. They were large machine guns mainly used for suppression fire. Formidable weapons once Mr. Grant provided the firing pins. Ezra hated to think what would happen if they managed to get onto the streets.
“Nineteen,” Grant said, the large grin never leaving his face.
Ezra smirked and replied, “My dear sir, we both know that this…box of joy is only worth at best fifteen thousand. Try again.”
“Eighteen.”
“Sixteen.”
“Deal.”
There was something suspiciously off about Mr. Grant. Ezra couldn’t describe what it was exactly, but there was a definite feeling in his gut. Perhaps he’d been spending too much time with Vin. Ezra turned to look the man in the eye.
“This guy you know, can he provide you with more?”
“More?” Grant asked.
The tone was perfect, but everyone has their tells. The involuntary widening of the iris and the faintest clench of the jaw gave Mr. Grant away. Ezra smirked on the inside. I have you now. Why does the thought of doing more business bother you, sir? Perhaps like myself you are not what you appear to be.
****
“I don’t like this,” Ziva said dropping the field glasses from her face for the third time. Tim pursed his lips at the statement and didn’t look up from the files he was going over in the back seat.
“I don’t care. Tony can handle himself, Ziva,” Gibbs snapped and went back to watching the warehouse.
“We are too far away and without him having a wire we will not know if he even needs us until it is too late. It is reckless.”
“You’re just mad Gibbs didn’t send you,” Tim muttered.
“I have experience in espionage. Tony is…Tony.”
“He also happens to be an experienced Senior Agent, so do me a favor and quit yammering.”
Tim looked up in time to see the scathing look Ziva tossed their boss across the car. Thankfully, she knew enough to stay quiet after what was most definitely an order. He knew they were all just worried about Tony and taking it out on each other, but it couldn’t be helped. The Lichtermann syndicate out of Denver was the only link they had in the murder of Corporal David Miralles. Tony had come up with the idea of sending someone in as an arms merchant. With their access to weapons it was easy to set something up that Lichtermann wouldn’t be able to resist. The problem was the crime boss’ notorious cagey streak. They had to provide some pretty hefty weaponry even to get an audience with the man. Abbey had done an excellent job setting up an alias for Tony. They expected to get a hit on Tony Grant’s record before the final meet. Lichtermann was no fool.
Tim looked over the files that Fornell had provided them about Lichtermann’s associates, all thanks to some of Gibbs’ special brand of persuasion. The two had been growling at each other all week and it was only after one of their infamous elevator sessions that Fornell offered the information. Tim was worried what exactly Gibbs had traded for the goods, but he wasn’t going to ask. The only issue was the new guy on the list. Elliot Bennett’s folder was pretty slim compared to the other goons that Lichtermann had working for him. He had a background as a stock trader before some questionable dealings had gotten him kicked off Wall Street. Somehow no charges seemed to stick so Bennett had walked. He was definitely white collar all the way. Tim just couldn’t see the connection to Lichtermann. The mystery man had apparently appeared in Denver five months ago and his rise in the syndicate was unprecedented. Tim let out a deep breath.
“What is it, McGee?” Gibbs asked.
Tim looked up and met the older man’s blue eyes in the rearview mirror. He hadn’t realized that he was being watched. Then again, most things didn’t get by Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
“This Bennett guy. I can’t figure him out. He’s in a completely different league than Lichtermann.”
“Even made men have to have financial advice now and again. Hell, they probably need it more than us. After all, Uncle Sam’s always watching, wanting his cut.”
“I somehow doubt that these are loyal tax paying citizens, Gibbs,” Ziva said from under her binoculars.
“True enough.”
Tim explained, “It’s just that the file is awful thin for someone running with these type of guys. Are you sure this was all Fornell had?”
“No, McGee, I’m not. I’m lucky he didn’t want to come with us.”
“Yes, that would have been a trial, being trapped in a car with a grumpy old agent. It would be intolerable,” Ziva replied dryly, still not taking her eyes off the warehouse.
Tim ducked his head to hide his smile at the icy glare that she received in response from Gibbs.
*****
Nathan did another quick survey of the bar without seeing his target. His eyes automatically landed back across the table to Josiah who was watching a soccer match on the big screen behind Nate’s shoulder.
“Settle down, brother. He’ll show,” Josiah comforted without bothering to look away from the screen.
Nathan took another sip of his diet cola. The yuppie sports bar wasn’t his type of place, but they’d agreed that he and Josiah fit in more than say Vin or Buck would have. It was the type of place that Elliot Bennett would fit in exactly, which was the whole point really. Ezra had picked out the place when pulling together his cover. He’d gone so far as to make himself noticed as a regular well before working his way into Lichtermann’s organization. Nathan had to admire Ezra’s dedication to detail. It’s what made him the best. While the two of them would probably never see eye-to-eye on everything, he could never fault the Southerner on his undercover work. He just wished that Ezra didn’t feel the need for a front in his personal life as well. Josiah with his psychology and profiling experience had assured Nathan that Ezra was probably more open with the six of them than he had been with anyone else, but they couldn’t expect the man to throw away a life’s worth of defenses easily.
“There he is,” Nathan said refocusing on the door.
Ezra took a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. While he hadn’t looked directly at their table, Nathan was sure he knew they were there. Josiah had given the slightest of nods at his statement, and continued watching the game. They’d give it a while. After a drink or two Ezra would leave any information he had gathered in the furthest bathroom stall for one of them to retrieve. The need for such elaborate drops was all due to Lichtermann’s suspicious nature. Being the new guy on the block, Ezra was still occasionally followed. Having foreseen this, Ezra had set up the bar. He would stop by on his way home a few times a week. It seemed casual, but wasn’t. There was an elaborate schedule that made the stops seem random or inconsequential, while still allowing Team Seven to keep track of their agent. The drawn out nature of the assignment was a worry to all of them, especially Nathan. He hated whenever any of the team risked themselves. Ez lived for the thrill of the con, but he wasn’t alone anymore. He had six brothers nervously awaiting the return of one of their own.
Ezra headed for the restroom after only one drink. It was a sign that something was up. Nathan kept his head down and tried to keep his eyes off the man so as not to draw too much attention. After he’d left the restroom, he said something to the hostess that made her laugh and was out the door. It was a quick stop. Nathan frowned into his soda. Josiah cracked his neck and rose to his feet.
“Take care of the tab,” he said in his deep booming voice and headed for the restroom.
Nathan signaled their waitress. He waited outside in the cooling night air for Josiah to join him. The pair headed for Nathan’s X-Terra and back to the Federal building. The office was pretty quiet until the elevator doors opened to their floor. A loud bellow could be heard beyond the glass door that led to the Denver ATF Team Seven office. Josiah tossed Nathan a look as they stepped through.
Buck stood next to his desk with his arm stretched above his head. Nathan couldn’t see what the tall man was holding, but it obviously belonged to JD who was hopping at Buck’s side trying to retrieve it.
“Buck! Come on, Buck! Give it back!” JD said and started swearing under his breath. The shorter agent didn’t have a chance. Neither agent seemed to notice their arrival, but Vin, who was sitting at his desk with his feet propped up on the corner, nodded his head at them in greeting. Nathan smiled back. Josiah reached out and poked a finger roughly into Buck’s side causing him to bend in two. JD took the opportunity and grabbed the closed fist and started trying to pry it open. Chris Larabee stepped out of his office in time to see the scuffle.
“Will you two knock it off! Conference room, gentlemen,” Chris barked.
Nathan followed their leader ignoring the argument behind him that Josiah had found himself dragged into. Vin got to his feet and gave Nathan a concerned look.
“How’s Ezra?”
“Something’s up. It was a one beer night and he didn’t stay long. I want to see what he left us.”
They both took their seats with the other three quickly filing in behind them. Josiah tossed a small troll doll onto the table. It had bright purple hair sticking straight up and someone had written Buck’s name on its protruding little belly in black marker. Chris stared down at the toy as if would jump off the table at any moment. He shook his head slightly but didn’t comment.
“What do you have?” he asked.
Josiah reached into his coat and pulled out a piece of small notepaper. Nathan leaned over and saw Ezra’s perfect penmanship. The profiler glanced over the notes before he started to read.
“New player. Tony Grant. 4 M249’s possibly more. Not what he seems. Final deal Logan St & 18th Ave. 11PM Monday.”
Buck whistled at the mention of the SAWs. JD looked up at Chris and got a nod. He left the conference room to run Grant’s records.
“’Not what he seems.’ Sounds like Ezra is getting nervous,” Vin commented.
“Ol’ Ez don’t get nervous,” Buck replied.
“He was in and out quick at the bar tonight. That’s not a good sign,” Nathan added.
Chris crossed his arms and said, “I wonder. If he’s a gun dealer, ‘not what he seems’ would mean what?”
“You think he might be a cop, pard?” Vin asked, catching Chris’ line of thought.
“DPD wouldn’t be able to get SAWs.”
“Fibbies, wonderful,” Buck growled.
“Josiah, check downstairs with the FBI see if they’re running any operations right now.”
“If they’ll admit to it,” Nathan said.
“Buck, when JD gets those records about Grant, go over them with him. Use a fine tooth comb. We don’t need any surprises right now. Ezra’s about handed us everything we’ll need to close down Lichtermann’s operation. We’re too close for screw-ups.”
****
Abby blinked into the web camera waiting for a response. After a moment her monitor showed Tim fussing with the laptop. She could hear Gibbs’ indistinct grumble in the background. Ziva crossed behind McGee and disappeared out of frame.
“Hey, McGee! Can you see me?” Abby asked waving to the camera.
“Hey Abs!” Tony yelled from somewhere beyond the camera.
“Hey, Mr. Grant,” she replied with a grin.
A hand slapped the back of McGee’s head and he quickly moved out of the way. Gibbs sat down in front of the computer with his ever present cup of coffee.
“What do you have, Abby?”
“The trace and blood samples that Ducky pulled from the body still haven’t matched anything in the system. I’ve used the military and criminal databases and zip. Sorry, Gibbs. I do have some interesting information though. I got a hit on Mr. Grant’s record.”
“That’s not much of a surprise. We knew Lichtermann was an operator.”
Abby raised her finger and posed for the camera in her best Sherlock Holmes impression and said, “Ah, but the record was hit twice!”
“Twice?” Tony’s voice asked.
“I traced the IPs. The first directed to an open wireless network in downtown Denver.”
McGee leaned into frame behind Gibbs and said, “Lichtermann.”
“Exactly. The second IP originated out of the Denver Federal Building. I slammed into their firewall hard when I did the trace.”
“Federal building?” McGee asked.
“You think Fornell’s keeping tabs on us, boss?” Tony asked, leaning into frame behind Gibbs from the other side. His head butted up against McGee’s and Abby tried not to giggle at the three men peering back at her through the net with similar contemplative looks.
Gibbs answered Tony’s question without taking his eyes off the camera. “Fornell already knows about our operation. He wouldn’t need to look up the record. You have anything else, Abs?”
“I checked with the Federal Building’s Sys Admin. He wasn’t going to give anything up without a warrant, but I sweet talked him into tracing the request. He isolated it to the Denver ATF.”
“Way to go, Abby!”
“Putty in my hands, Tony. Putty in my hands.”
A slim hand reached out and grabbed Tony’s ear pulling him out of frame. After some yelps and one smacking noise, Ziva leaned in and took Tony’s place. She said, “Now why would the ATF be interested in Tony?”
Gibbs rolled his eyes and replied to her over his shoulder. “Because we just offered Lichtermann heavy weapons. They must have someone inside.”
“Bennett,” Tony replied popping up over Gibbs’ shoulder like a gopher making his boss and Ziva lean back to avoid his head.
McGee agreed, “That would explain his file, boss.”
“You sure, Tony?” Gibbs asked.
“He unnerved me. I think he knew I was a cop. He’s an underling and when he looked at me with those piercing green eyes, it made me sweat more than Lichtermann and all his goons put together.”
Behind the two of them, Abby saw McGee and Ziva exchange a look over the ‘piercing green eyes’ comment. They both ended up shaking their heads at their teammate’s antics. Abby smiled.
“He wouldn’t have unnerved me,” Ziva muttered.
“If he is under, boss, he’s been there a while,” McGee said to the back of Gibbs’ head, “If we go after Lichtermann, we could blow his cover.”
“Or he could have the information we need about Miralles’ death. Abby, see if you can get some info about the ATF out here in Denver. And sweet talk that guy again, I want to know who in their division is pulling Tony’s rap sheet.”
“You got it, Gibbs! Bye guys! Tell Ducky I said, hi!”
She heard several goodbyes before the line disconnected. Taking a big sip from her Caf Pow, she started typing.
****
JD stared at the monitor with a frown. Pulling Grant’s information hadn’t been too difficult, but there was something off about it that he just couldn’t put his finger on. The sheet was too clean. Something he had learned about Federal databases is that they were messier than people would like to believe. The crawlers pulled information from many different sources and not all of it was accurate. Buck had already left for the evening on a date with some girl whose name JD hadn’t caught, but Buck had given a description of her, most of which involved the use of cupped hands. He smirked at his roommate in absence and looked around the office. Josiah and Nathan had gone home already. Vin wasn’t around, but his computer was still on which meant he was probably still in the building. Chris’ office was dark, lit only by his desk lamp. It was a sign that he wanted to be left alone, or that he was taking a nap on the couch. The naps were something that JD had never caught him at, but was assured by Buck occurred.
“After all,” Buck had said, “he just wants us to think he runs on bad coffee.”
JD really wished that Ezra wasn’t undercover. Normally, late at night when everyone else was home or walking around the office like zombies, Ezra was in his prime. He also had a keen eye for detail that had helped JD out more than once while doing research. Thinking about Ezra reminded him how long it had been since he’d last seen the man. JD sighed and hoped that they wrapped the case up soon. No one liked having a member of the team out of touch for too long. Team Seven had a reputation. No matter how clean an operation, trouble always seemed to find them. This op had been relatively quiet and now that it was drawing to a close, JD couldn’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop. He just hoped it didn’t drop on Ezra.
With another sigh, JD started checking the log reports for the database and noticed something unusual. While the records for Grant were indeed flawless they had apparently all been updated recently and at the same time. He frowned. No record should have such time stamping unless it had all been recently generated or placed on file in one big batch.
JD glanced back at Chris’ door wondering if his suspicions were enough to warrant knocking and possibly waking up his boss. When his eyes flickered back to the screen he was surprised to see a flicker and then a message window pop up.
hello. aren’t we nosey?
“Chris!” he yelled staring at the prompt. Within moments Larabee was out of his door and across the room. “Look at this! I was just going to tell you what I found when this popped up.”
“What is it?” Chris asked.
“It’s a message window. Someone’s inside the network. I just figured out that all of Grant’s files were all updated recently at the same time.”
“Someone just put them into the database.”
“Yup. Looks like Ezra was right. Tony Grant may be a cover.”
“When is he not right?” Chris replied with a touch of annoyance in his voice.
JD grinned and asked, “What should I do?”
“Talk to them. I want to know who it is. Is there a way we can trace it?”
“Terry down in IT can. If I try, I’m afraid I’ll break the connection or tip them off.”
“I’ll call. You keep them talking.”
JD watched him walk back toward his office. Turning to face the monitor, he stared at the blinking prompt a moment before typing a reply.
I’m paid to be nosey.
who isn’t?
How’d you get onto the network? I’m impressed.
it’s not like denver is the pentagon.
I doubt you’ve hacked the Pentagon. It’s a bear.
tried have you? :P
I promised my boss that I wouldn’t anymore. He keeps getting threatening phone calls.
you mean chris larabee?
JD’s hands froze over the keys. It was scary that the nameless person on the other end already knew who they were talking to. Slowly he let out his breath. It was obviously someone in law enforcement, most likely on the federal level. They’d easily have access to Team Seven’s files if they were able to insert Tony Grant’s record with little difficulty. He was probably talking to another Fed.
He’s not the kind of person that responds well to threats.
sounds like my boss. we should totally do lunch. are you cute? you sound cute.
That depends on if you’re a girl or not. Please tell me that you are, or I’m about to be wicked freaked.
ha. yes, i’m a girl. what, you think girls can’t use computers too?
Now you sound like my girlfriend. I should have picked up on it earlier.
girlfriend? poo. i see you finally got terry to ping me. guess i’d better go now. ttyl.
The connection abruptly cut off. JD frowned at the last message. He looked over to see Chris hanging up the phone in his office. Quickly, he jumped to his feet and headed over.
“She cut off the connection,” he explained, “and she knew who Terry was.”
“That jibes with him. He said some NCIS forensic specialist was tracking some activity earlier and she seemed interested in our office. I guess this Abby person must have been who you were talking too. Now what’s NCIS doing involved in all of this?”
“They’d definitely have access to SAWs. That’s Marine Corp issue. They can’t be after weapons because Lichtermann hasn’t had any access to military grade stuff inside the country that we’ve uncovered.”
“I’m going to call the Judge. He should be able to get more information out of NCIS than we could.”
“I don’t think you should call now, Chris. It’s after one,” JD replied looking at the clock.
Chris wiped a hand across his face and said, “You’re right. It’s so late, it’s early. Go home. I’ll talk to Travis in the morning. I hope for Ezra’s sake we get some answers soon.”
****
Orin stepped out of the elevator into a dark hallway and took his bearings. In his many years as a Judge he’d never had reason to access this part of the Federal Building. The morgue was alien to him. He saw the aftermath of it in M.E. reports and crime scene photographs, but he had never visited the place in person. The directions his secretary had received were easy to follow if a bit more involved. The hallways in the basement were full of twists and turns and they reminded him more of a rabbit warren than the slick offices upstairs ever did. Orin paused at the metal wrapped swinging door. It was pockmarked and scratched attesting to the many gurneys that had slammed past its gate. Carefully, he swung the door inward to a rather brightly lit, tiled room. It resembled a large shower room aside from the big metal table in its center. Small square refrigerator doors lined the far wall giving an even greater hint to the room’s use.
There was a high wooden table against one wall. It sat underneath a hanging light with two stools pulled up to it. The old wood looked alien in the metal and tile room, but despite this the table looked scarred and well used. A short man in a white coat was bent over it mumbling to himself. His back was turned to Orin, but his identity was unmistakable.
“Ducky,” Orin said softly, and as he guessed the room carried his voice well.
The man turned from the table, pushing up his glasses until he could get a good look at his visitor. His face brightened in recognition and it wasn’t long before Orin was enveloped in a hug. He smiled back at his old friend and as usual tried to ignore the faint smell of formaldehyde that clung to the man.
“Orin, my God, it’s been ages! How’s Evie?” Ducky asked enthusiastically.
“She’s as spry as ever. I keep asking her when she’s going to run off with a younger man, but she just says she’s put up with me so long she doesn’t have the strength,” Orin replied with a chuckle.
“It’s good to see you. I’ve been meaning to take the time to go by your office, but unfortunately I’ve been rather busy this trip.”
“So I’ve come to understand. In fact, I’m afraid I didn’t come down here for a social call, old friend. I need to know what NCIS is doing in the middle of one of my cases.”
“Your case? I’m here to examine the body of a murdered Marine. I hardly think that should have anything to do with…” Ducky trailed off and his bright eyes got a knowing look. “You’re in charge of the ATF operation that Jethro and Abby have been telling me about.”
Orin squinted at this and said, “Team Seven reports to me, yes. One of their agents, a young man by the name of Ezra Standish, has been undercover for months now and we’re very close to shutting down one of the major weapons importers in the Northwest. We, along with the RCMP, have been trying to close this hole in the boarder for years. Now your agents show up at the last minute, and they may jeopardize everything.”
“Orin, a young Marine is dead. His family and his country deserve answers. That’s why we’re here.”
“I’m not criticizing your job, Ducky, just your timing.”
“You need to explain to Jethro what’s going on. He’s not going to back down on this case, no matter how important your operation.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Perhaps there is some way we can be of assistance to each other. The sharing of information can only help.”
Orin gave a skeptical grunt. He knew that Ducky meant well, but the man had obviously never met anyone as stubborn as Chris Larabee before.
****
Vin was taking his time typing out a report on his scout of the address for the meet that Ezra had supplied them with. It was an empty office building west of St Luke’s. There was a big hotel across the street that would make it easy for the guys to do surveillance on the place. Buck and JD were going over the phony cover information about the seller again. The kid had already explained his midnight chat in detail with both him and Buck. The ladies man had starting teasing JD over his internet girlfriend. Vin was upset that he had missed the whole thing. Josiah and Nathan weren’t coming in for a while yet since they were pulling Ezra watching duty again later that evening. Tired of typing, Vin peered over his shoulder to see Chris giving his own monitor dirty looks. The elevator bell pulled his attention away from their leader. He could hear two voices arguing in the hall as they approached the propped open door to Team Seven’s office.
“You stabbed him,” a young man said matter-of-factly over his shoulder. Vin could tell it was obviously and old argument by the tiredness of his tone. It seemed out of character with the boyish face.
“Why must you say it like that?” a young woman asked following him into the room. Her dark hair and flashing dark eyes gave her an unusual look, but it wasn’t her beauty that Vin noticed. The fluid way she moved was a dead giveaway that she could handle herself. He had a brief moment of worry over what would happen when Buck laid eyes on her.
“Because you stabbed him,” the young man repeated flatly.
“It isn’t as if he needed that kidney. You can live a perfectly normal life with just one,” the woman argued.
Vin raised his eyebrows at that. An older man stepped into the office behind the younger pair and his eyes scanned the room like a professional. He immediately wrote off JD and Buck who had yet to notice their entrance, but his eyes locked with Vin. The former Army Ranger rose to his feet to meet the trio and he forced himself not to straighten his stance at the older man’s gaze.
“Can I help, ya?”
“I want to talk to whoever’s in charge,” the older man asked.
“That’d be me,” Chris said coming up behind Vin’s shoulder.
The man opened a badge and flashed his ID. The two behind him followed suit.
“What does NCIS want from us?” Chris asked.
“I want to talk to you about your man in Lichtermann’s camp.”
Vin’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything. Chris gave a mean looking grin and replied, “You’d be Grant’s boss then?”
“Special Agent Gibbs. This is Special Agent McGee and Officer David.”
“Travis said you’d be coming,” Chris replied and nodded his head toward the conference room.
Vin casually walked behind the agents with Buck and JD bringing up the rear. Officer David stood with her back to the wall. Gibbs immediately took Chris’ chair at the head of the table with McGee taking the chair to his right. Vin tried not to grin at the sound of Chris’ teeth grinding. He hadn’t been sure what the conversation with Travis had been about that morning, but the whole time he’d been typing up his report he’d heard the low sound of Chris’ voice coming from the office. That was never a good sign. Whenever Larabee was powerful mad he had the tendency to rumble like an old grizzly bear. Buck had taken to occasionally calling Chris’ office ‘The Cage.’ Ezra, of course, hadn’t helped the image any when he had left a raw piece of meat on the man’s desk after one of their more successful prank wars.
“Travis said you’re here about a Marine’s murder. While I appreciate your need to find the bastard that did it, you’ve got to understand what’s at stake here. Hundreds if not thousands of lives are on the line if Lichtermann stays in business. He’s bringing in more guns than we’ve even been able to track. His connections reach as far as Miami and New York. He’s the linchpin in taking down the whole network. No one has gotten as close as we have. If you’ve been talking to the FBI, and if you’re smart you probably have, you know that they’ve tried several times and came up empty.”
“I don’t give a damn about Lichtermann other than someone in his organization is probably responsible for Corporal Miralles’ death. I was hoping your man inside might be able to shed some light on that,” Gibbs said meeting Chris’ steely look with one of his own.
Vin leaned back in his chair and watched the man. Where Chris’ gaze was hot like the sun, Gibbs’ was as cold as permafrost. They were definitely two sides of the same coin. Vin had always trusted his gut more than anything. It had saved his life on the streets growing up and more than a few times when he was with the Rangers. While Gibbs was imposing, and obviously former military, Vin would bet anything that he was a good man to work for, just like Chris was a good man to take orders from. Speaking of Chris, Vin glanced over at him after Gibbs’ announcement he could tell the tension in the room had bracketed up a few more notches.
“We don’t contact Ezra. He contacts us. If you did your homework, you know Lichtermann is paranoid. Ezra’s conditions are the only reason we’ve succeeded where others have failed.”
Vin’s eyes raked over Officer David and Agent McGee before he looked back at Gibbs and said, “If Ezra knew something about your Corporal he would have let us know already.”
“Perhaps he hasn’t been asking the right questions,” Officer David said quietly. “He is after arms, yes? Why would he ask about murder?”
“He wouldn’t unless he wanted to get himself shot, darlin’,” Buck said giving her his patented you-know-you-like-it smile.
Officer David’s face was neutral but somehow it still came off as a sneer. Vin smirked and shot a look at JD who shared the silent joke. Chris crossed his arms, ignoring the three of them, and stayed focused on Gibbs.
He said, “You’re just going to have to wait.”
McGee cringed and looked back and forth between the two before replying, “He doesn’t like waiting.”
“Well then you’d better hope he’s not too old to learn new tricks,” Chris said his eyes never leaving Gibbs’ cold blue ones.
Agent Gibbs got to his feet and gave a smile with no warmth. He asked, “That’s the way you want it?”
“That’s the way it is.”
Gibbs cocked his head and then with quick, efficient movements he was out the door. McGee and David followed the latter lingering a bit at the door.
“You’re making a mistake,” she said.
“I’m protecting my agent. You should do the same for your own. Lichtermann isn’t stupid. He’s going to wonder where those SAWs came from same as we did.”
****
She’d had five drink offers and two wannabe pick-up artists and still hadn’t sighted her target. Thankfully, after she had dissuaded the last hopeful with a painful thumb twist it looked as if most of the bar was giving her a wide berth. Ziva adjusted the folds of her dress hoping the gun rig strapped to her thigh was concealed. They had lucked out when Abby had pulled the reimbursement receipts from the open case file. Apparently, two members of Team Seven had been enjoying non-alcoholic drinks on the government’s dime fairly regularly. Gibbs had guessed it was the contact point for the undercover agent. So far, she hadn’t seen anyone that she recognized from the Team Seven personnel files. Ziva was hoping that Standish’s contacts were the two that they hadn’t yet seen.
She sipped her ginger ale while scanning the room. Movement caught her eye as the door opened. He wasn’t very tall, but Tony’s description had been correct. His green eyes were piercing. They singled her out as something new almost immediately. Ziva smiled demurely. Despite the activity of happy hour, there remained a free seat at the bar next to her. Bennett, or Ezra Standish as they now knew him, sat down next to her.
“Good evening,” he said politely and motioned to the bartender.
“The usual?” the bartender asked and moved away when he received a nod.
“You must come here a lot,” Ziva said.
“Occasionally. Their wine list could use some improvements, but it’s passable.”
As if in response to his words, the bartender set down a glass of chardonnay.
“I don’t suppose I could offer you a drink, Ms…..” he trailed off.
“David, but please call me Ziva.”
“I’m Elliot Bennett, Ziva. That’s a lovely name. Israeli?” he asked motioning to the bartender again, but Ziva waved him off.
“Yes, how did you know?”
“The pronunciation of the last name and the hint of your accent was a clue. It was a lucky guess. You’re a long way from home.”
“So are you, from your accent.”
“Touché, madam. I don’t mean to sound cliché, but I’ve never seen you in here before.”
“I’ve never had reason to be here before.”
She could see why Tony was bothered by the man. Tony was by nature an expressive person, and though she’d never admit it out loud, he also had a good eye for people. Standish was frustrating because his face gave absolutely nothing away. Her answer had been provocative, but she had no way to tell if it had hit its mark.
Standish offered his glass and toasted, “To good reasons.”
Ziva raised her ginger ale and smirked. The movement of the door caught her eye again as two men entered the bar. Both were very tall. The black man’s eyes locked onto Standish’s back and quickly looked the other way. The older white man with him ignored the bar completely and headed for a back table near the television screens. Ziva recognized them as the other two members of Team Seven, Jackson and Sanchez. Standish must have seen something in her face because his eyes slid to the mirror behind the bar to check the room. When his attention was directed back on her it felt like a laser. He realized that she had recognized his teammates.
“What brings you to the fine state of Colorado?” Standish asked.
“I’m looking for someone.”
“My dear, aren’t we all.”
Ziva smiled a predatory smile and replied, “Yes, but my someone doesn’t want to be found.”
“Really? And why would someone not want such a lovely woman as yourself to find them?”
“I’m not sure. Perhaps they’re claustrophobic.”
Standish quirked an amused eyebrow at the comment. It was the most honest expression she had seen on his face so far. The tension that she had felt between them after his friends had entered slowly eased.
“I find that a lot of people I meet are plagued by that affliction,” Standish said taking a drink from his glass.
“I’m sure you help them face their fears.”
“I try,” Standish replied and ducked his head slightly with a real grin that was completely different from the fake ones she’d been seeing since his entrance. “Are you just visiting Denver?”
“Yes, I’m hoping to go back to Washington soon.”
“I’ve never been a fan of the capitol. Too much politics, not enough action.”
“And the traffic is murder.”
She knew she had tipped him off when he looked back at her out of the corner of his eye. He turned away from his drink and faced her fully.
“Still, Virginia is nice. I used to go to Prince William Forest Park a lot. It’s pretty out there.”
Ziva took a moment to think. She knew that she had heard of the park before. Then it hit her. Tony and she had passed the large park in Quantico on the way to the Marine base for cases. He was trying to see if she was FBI.
“I wouldn’t know I don’t get out there much. I do get a nice view of Anacostia Park across the river.”
“I do despise downtown.”
“The air is much clearer here,” she said.
“That depends on where you live I suppose.”
“Some places are worse than others. My friend David Miralles had a very bad reaction to the air here.”
She watched him with interest. He didn’t show much of a reaction other than a soft thoughtful look behind his eyes. After a moment he gave a slight frown before replying, “I’m sure a lot of people have allergies that can be problematic. I suppose careful research into remedies is the only answer. Also, with it being so windy lately, there might be more sufferers. Well, I’ve taken enough of your time, I really must be going. If you’ll excuse me, Ms. David. It has been an enlightening chat.”
Standish stood after laying some bills on the bar and hurried out of the door. Ziva frowned at his untouched wine. She looked up into the mirror and her eyes caught with Jackson’s dark ones at the back of the room. When the bartender arrived to take the money, Ziva paid her own tab and slipped out of the bar before either of them could approach her. She walked half a block before getting into a dark sedan waiting at the corner.
“Well?” Tony asked.
“He thought I was FBI,” she huffed.
Tony grinned and replied, “He used to work for them according to his sheet. Abby said that there were some doubts about him taking a payoff or something, but no charges were ever brought. That’s how he ended up out here.”
“I don’t think he’d ever take a bribe.”
“You so sure? Undercover agents sometimes get in over their heads,” he said sourly.
Ziva knew that he was thinking about Jeanne. Tony had developed a certain tightening of his face lately that gave away when he was thinking about her. She wanted to say something to comfort him, but Ziva was no good with such sentiments. As with the other occasions when she’d seen the look, it passed in silence. After a moment, she replied.
“He’s too smart for that. Anyway, I don’t think he knows anything about Miralles, but when I brought the name up he looked curious. He left in a hurry afterward. I think maybe he’s going to find out something. He could provide you with the information at the drop.”
“That’s if he knows I’m a cop. McGee said that his team doesn’t have any contact with him.”
“He knows, Tony. I’m pretty sure he tipped off the rest of Team Seven about you even before we contacted them.”
“So now we wait,” Tony said with a sigh. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and gave a sly grin. “You really do look good in that dress.”
Ziva buckled her seatbelt as the car moved out onto the street.
“Of course I do,” she said.
****
Buck paced around the office in a fury, his cowboy boots making a racket against the floor. JD was typing away at his computer ignoring the show. For a moment Buck considered kicking the trash can across the room to wake everybody up, but he knew Chris would be down on him like an angry hornet’s nest if he did.
“I can’t believe them! What if someone had seen her? Ezra could be filled full of holes right now!” he yelled.
“Calm down, Bucklin,” Vin said coming out of the break room. “No one around here knows who she is. From what Josiah said, it probably jus’ looked like he was trying to pick her up.”
“I don’t know, Vin,” Nathan said, and Buck could tell he was fretting without even looking.
“Brother Vin is right. Having Special Agent David at the bar last night made perfect sense from their standpoint. No one would likely realize that she was an agent, and they got to ask Ezra about their case. I doubt it put Ezra in danger. An observer would be more likely to notice Nathan and myself since we’re there every time Ezra is,” Josiah argued.
“Well how’d they even know about the bar?” Buck asked. “Maybe they compromised Ezra that way!”
“I doubt it. Abby probably picked it up from our case notes or something. She’s had access to our system at least twice that we know of, and probably more than that,” JD added.
“Oh, Abby is it. You two are all buddy-buddy now,” Buck said mockingly.
JD squirmed and said in all one breath, “Well, since she hacked us I thought it was only fair that I returned the favor, but she caught me, and well we started talking again, and she’s really nice, Buck.”
“Wonderful, JD’s got himself a new girlfriend that probably looks like a bulldog’s behind and weighs about three hundred pounds, meanwhile Ezra’s black and blue in a gutter somewhere wondering why we aren’t helping him.”
“Ezra’s fine,” Chris said coming out of his office. “This morning Denver PD rolled by that restaurant that Lichtermann likes to do business out of and they pegged ‘Bennett’ going inside. I talked to Judge Travis about NCIS and he’s going to get in touch with their director see if we can get any action. For now the meet between Lichtermann and their agent is still on. Vin, I want to go over your recon for our surveillance again. Everybody else get out of here. Take the morning to rest we’ll have to set up early this afternoon at the hotel. Leave your phones on.”
Buck crossed his arms and fumed while everyone else made to leave. Vin had already moved into Chris’ office but his friend stayed. Buck met the eyes of the man he trusted more than anyone else in the world.
“It’ll be alright, Big Dog. Don’t lose it on me now.”
“I haven’t liked this case from the beginning, Chris. You know it’s too much a risk. They dug the last two cops that tried to get into Lichtermann’s organization out of the desert. I know Ez is good, but something about this thing has got my wind up.”
“I know. I wasn’t happy when Travis gave us the case either, but Ezra convinced me he could do it. This will be all on my head if something goes wrong.”
“It’s not your fault he’s a stubborn ol’ Reb.”
“Between him and Vin it’s a wonder every hair on my head isn’t grey.”
Buck smirked, “I wouldn’t worry about it. I think Mary wouldn’t mind a man who’s a little distinguished.”
Chris frowned, “Get out of here.”
Buck chuckled and grabbed his coat. Everyone else was gone. He knew that JD had plans with Casey since she didn’t have classes on Mondays. As he waited for the elevator a thought came into his head. Pulling out his cell phone he paged through the many contacts.
“Hello Darla darlin’ it’s Buck…. Why I’m as rascally as ever. I know I haven’t called in a while, but can you do be a big ol’ favor? Well, I’m pretty sure I can free up some time in return. Uh huh. I’ll bet. Listen there’s a group of agents in from Washington with NCIS. No, honey, it’s the Navy. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I need to know where they’re staying and since you have access to that hotel registry database I figure it wouldn’t take you long to track them down. No, I’ll wait. It’s probably under Gibbs, two bees. Yeah, I think I know where that is. Thanks, Darla. You’re a life saver. I’ll call you later this week and we’ll have dinner. Bye.”
Buck slipped the phone back in his pocket and got on the waiting elevator. It didn’t take him long to reach the hotel where the agents were staying. The first door he tried opened to a short man with glasses.
“Can I help you?” he asked with a slight accent.
“I’m looking for Officer David.”
“And you are?”
Buck flipped open his badge, “Buck Wilmington, ATF.”
“Ah, well I believe that Jethro and the others went to get something to eat, but I do think Ziva is in her room. It’s the one across the hall.”
“Thanks….”
“Call me Ducky. Tell Orin I said hello,” the man added closing his door.
“Orin…I’d forgotten the judge had a first name,” Buck muttered while knocking on the door Ducky had indicated.
It opened forcefully to the beautiful agent in mid-sentence, “I told you Tony that I wasn’t interested in-“
“Hello to you too.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I just want to ask you a few questions, without cornering you in a bar, although if you’re interested in a drink I can oblige you.”
“I don’t think so,” Agent David said starting to close the door.
Buck jammed his foot into the crack before it could shut. Ziva gave him a look and pushed harder. Buck winced, but didn’t move.
“Listen, lady. After that stunt last night, you’re not exactly on my Christmas card list either, but I want to talk to you.”
“Why? You know why I was there, and I did warn Larabee about Gibbs.”
“We haven’t talked to Ezra directly in five months. I just want to know how he is,” Buck gritted out as she leaned heavily on the door.
The pushing ceased and the door was pulled back. Ziva looked at him sharply gauging his intent. Buck didn’t even try to look honest, because women always seemed to look right through that. He did let her see his worry, though, and that must have done it because she stepped aside for him to enter.
“Thanks,” he said shaking his foot a bit before moving over to sit in the chair by the window.
“He’s very guarded, your Standish.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if he had any friends before he met us.”
“You two are close?” she asked, sitting on the bed.
“Not exactly. Ezra doesn’t really let people close. I guess of any of us he’s tight with Vin and I think he kind of admires Josiah. I did try to talk him out of doing this case, but he can be awful stubborn.”
Buck watched her reaction to this and wondered if the description didn’t hit home. Something made him think that Ezra wasn’t the only guarded and stubborn one. While she was quiet and considered his words, Buck took the chance to really look at her. She was stunning. The dark hair and eyes were an immediate draw. Her skin was sun kissed and flawless. And he didn’t even want to get started on her lips. She had an edge about her, an air of toughness. Buck did so love a challenge. After all, it was what kept him coming back again-and-again to Inez despite her rebuffing. Though now that he was really looking at Ziva, there was something about her that kept him from wanting to try. There was a deep sadness there. It reminded him a bit of the female bounty hunter, Kate Stokes, that they’d run into on a case a while back. The woman had a lot to deal with tracking down her ex-husband Del Spivak all while trying to protect her sister who got mixed up in Spivak’s robbery ring. She had lived hard and it showed. Ziva, while not as dark, had obviously seen a lot in her time as well. There was something about a woman in trouble that Buck just couldn’t resist, whether they wanted his help or not.
“He never broke character, always speaking in code. He would make a good operative,” she said finally.
“Ezra does all right where he is. Where we can keep an eye on him.”
“The six of you ground him, keep him safe?” she asked.
“We try. Sometimes he doesn’t make it easy on us.”
“Life is nothing without a challenge.”
Buck chuckled and replied, “You can say that again. I’m worried that now that you’ve let him know what’s going on he’s going to try his damnedest to find your killer. He could be getting himself into more trouble than he’s already in, and considering our team that’s a lot of trouble.”
“Stopping these guns is more important than one murdered man?”
“No. But keeping Ezra from joining him? Yeah.”
“You’re very loyal.”
Buck tilted his head and said, “I bet Ez liked you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You two seem a lot alike. Plus, he appreciates someone sharp that he can test himself against. You play cards?”
“Not really.”
“Shame.”
There was a knock at the door and before Ziva could say anything, the door opened. A guy that Buck hadn’t seen before entered holding a large brown paper bag that obstructed him from view.
“I know you said not to get you anything, but Gibbs was giving me the eye and McGeek was whining and I ended up getting you an Italian sub-“he paused, setting down the bag when he saw Buck.
“Oh.”
“Tony, you’re supposed to wait after you knock, and how did you get my room key?” Ziva snapped.
Buck realized that he was looking at Tony Grant and did a quick assessment. He wasn’t horrible looking, but nowhere in Buck’s league. He could see the appeal to a certain type of woman. The quick false smile that slid over the man’s weasely face, made Buck give a false one in return. Buck knew one thing for sure; he was going to hate this Tony guy.
“I didn’t realize you had company, Ziva.”
“I could have been undressing,” she snapped.
“More’s the pity,” Buck said, and got two pairs of angry eyes flipped towards him.
“What’s he doing here?” a sharp voice said from the doorway. Buck glanced over to see Gibbs holding a drink tray with the man from earlier and Agent McGee behind them.
“He wanted information about their agent since they haven’t been making direct contact with him,” Ziva replied.
“Whose fault is that?” Gibbs said stepping into the room.
Ziva threw her hands up in disgust and said, “Oh please, everyone come right in.”
Before she knew it, the others had appropriated her room for their group lunch. Ziva took one look at the sub that Tony had brought for her and immediately handed it to Buck.
“Thanks. Have you scoped out the meeting point yet?” Buck asked.
Gibbs paused in the middle of a bite and looked over at him. He guessed that the look was supposed to be intimidating, but after the Navy and having Chris for a best friend it washed right over him.
“We’re going this afternoon,” Agent McGee said quickly and received a quelling look from both Gibbs and Tony.
“We’re setting up at the hotel across the street tonight. This might go a lot smoother if we were all on the same page.”
“Your boss think so?” Gibbs asked.
“Chris can be a might protective. Hell, we all can. I don’t suppose you’d be any different,” Buck said and slipped a look at Tony who was busy eating a calzone.
Gibbs gave a small smirk, and Buck knew he’d made his point. They all tucked into their food and the one that had introduced himself as Ducky started in on some story that Buck lost track of about five minutes in. When Gibbs had finished eating, he got to his feet and headed for the door. The others had gotten pulled into Ducky’s conversation and didn’t pay him much mind. Buck saw him tilt his head out into the hallway in invitation, so he got up to follow. He was pretty sure Ziva was watching him leave. At least he knew she had a nice view.
Buck followed Gibbs across the hall through the first door he had knocked on. Once they were inside Gibbs crossed his arms and waited. Buck leaned back against the door.
“You planning on a bust? Because it won’t work. Lichtermann doesn’t show up for the buys. That’s why he’s been so hard to pin down. You’d just end up nabbing some of his flunkies and probably Ezra.” Buck explained.
“We were, but I got a call from my director a few minutes ago. We have to find some way for Tony to get out of the deal, because your ATF superiors aren’t going to let us go through with the bust, and we sure as hell aren’t letting those scumbags get those guns.”
“You could just have him not show up.”
“And miss a chance for your guy to slip Tony the information we need?”
“That’s if he knows anything. If there is something, he’ll find a way to get it to us.”
Gibbs snorted in disgust, “When? In a week, a month, a year?”
“We’re close.”
“Not close enough for me.”
“We’re not saying that we don’t want to help you. We just can’t do it overnight.”
“We both know the guns are going to take precedent. You’re the ATF it’s what you do.”
“You’ll have a better shot of getting your guy if we work this together. Any more stunts like last night and Ezra pays the price and you lose your chance to get what you want.”
Part 2
Author: daughtershade
Fandom: Magnificent 7 (ATF AU)/NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: None
Prompt: The two teams have to work together on a case.
Summary: A murder of a Marine Corporal brings Gibbs and the NCIS team in conflict with Denver’s ATF special unit Team Seven.
Author notes: I want to thank settiai for asking for this prompt because it let me write in TWO fandoms that I love, but have never written in.
This takes place sometime during NCIS Season 5, the current season, but there aren’t any real spoilers. There is mention of fallout from the season opener “Bury Your Dead” but nothing specific. Also there is a slight mention of events from the Season 4 episode “Dead Man Walking”.
As for the Mag7 boys, of course I have to give a nod to Mog who originally came up with the ATF universe and was kind enough to let everyone else play in it. The only episode spoilers that could be considered for Mag7 is a mention of the Season 2 episode “Lady Killers” all-be-it a modernized ATF version of it.
I have also alluded to a previous friendship between the NCIS character Dr. Donald Mallard (AKA Ducky) and the Magnificent Seven character Judge Orrin Travis. This is meant as a nod to Man from UNCLE fans since the characters are played by David McCallum and Robert Vaughn respectively. They were, of course, the two main actors from MUNCLE.
The title of this fic not only references the Marines’ Hymn, but also the more common use of ‘Montezuma’s Revenge.’ Both of which seemed apt for the meeting of these two teams.
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For reference, I made Magnificent Seven and NCIS guides with extra information for newcomers along with character photos and such.
I have also created a wallpaper to go along with the fic. You can get it here.
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Montezuma
“I know a guy,” the man said with a very untrustworthy smile.
Normally that would be an issue, but in a gunrunner untrustworthy was practically a recommendation. The military grade weapons were a problem. Ezra hadn’t heard of any new players in town and now this Grant, ‘please call me Tony,’ fellow had dropped into the middle of his undercover operation without so much as a how-do-you-do. He knew that somehow he had to get word out to Chris and the others without arousing Mr. Lichtermann’s suspicions.
Ezra had been working his way into Lichtermann’s organization for the past five months. Difficult didn’t begin to describe the ordeal. The German was extremely paranoid about new hires. It had taken all of Ezra’s considerable skill to get as far as he had. Fortunately, Lichtermann appreciated underlings with a hint of intelligence. Ezra had shown his skill with numbers and had become somewhat of a negotiator. The German glanced over at him, and Ezra pulled his attention away from the smiling salesman.
“Bennett, take care of it,” Lichtermann said moving away to take a phone call.
Ezra nodded and stepped forward. He frowned at the crate of four M249 SAWs staring back at him. They were large machine guns mainly used for suppression fire. Formidable weapons once Mr. Grant provided the firing pins. Ezra hated to think what would happen if they managed to get onto the streets.
“Nineteen,” Grant said, the large grin never leaving his face.
Ezra smirked and replied, “My dear sir, we both know that this…box of joy is only worth at best fifteen thousand. Try again.”
“Eighteen.”
“Sixteen.”
“Deal.”
There was something suspiciously off about Mr. Grant. Ezra couldn’t describe what it was exactly, but there was a definite feeling in his gut. Perhaps he’d been spending too much time with Vin. Ezra turned to look the man in the eye.
“This guy you know, can he provide you with more?”
“More?” Grant asked.
The tone was perfect, but everyone has their tells. The involuntary widening of the iris and the faintest clench of the jaw gave Mr. Grant away. Ezra smirked on the inside. I have you now. Why does the thought of doing more business bother you, sir? Perhaps like myself you are not what you appear to be.
****
“I don’t like this,” Ziva said dropping the field glasses from her face for the third time. Tim pursed his lips at the statement and didn’t look up from the files he was going over in the back seat.
“I don’t care. Tony can handle himself, Ziva,” Gibbs snapped and went back to watching the warehouse.
“We are too far away and without him having a wire we will not know if he even needs us until it is too late. It is reckless.”
“You’re just mad Gibbs didn’t send you,” Tim muttered.
“I have experience in espionage. Tony is…Tony.”
“He also happens to be an experienced Senior Agent, so do me a favor and quit yammering.”
Tim looked up in time to see the scathing look Ziva tossed their boss across the car. Thankfully, she knew enough to stay quiet after what was most definitely an order. He knew they were all just worried about Tony and taking it out on each other, but it couldn’t be helped. The Lichtermann syndicate out of Denver was the only link they had in the murder of Corporal David Miralles. Tony had come up with the idea of sending someone in as an arms merchant. With their access to weapons it was easy to set something up that Lichtermann wouldn’t be able to resist. The problem was the crime boss’ notorious cagey streak. They had to provide some pretty hefty weaponry even to get an audience with the man. Abbey had done an excellent job setting up an alias for Tony. They expected to get a hit on Tony Grant’s record before the final meet. Lichtermann was no fool.
Tim looked over the files that Fornell had provided them about Lichtermann’s associates, all thanks to some of Gibbs’ special brand of persuasion. The two had been growling at each other all week and it was only after one of their infamous elevator sessions that Fornell offered the information. Tim was worried what exactly Gibbs had traded for the goods, but he wasn’t going to ask. The only issue was the new guy on the list. Elliot Bennett’s folder was pretty slim compared to the other goons that Lichtermann had working for him. He had a background as a stock trader before some questionable dealings had gotten him kicked off Wall Street. Somehow no charges seemed to stick so Bennett had walked. He was definitely white collar all the way. Tim just couldn’t see the connection to Lichtermann. The mystery man had apparently appeared in Denver five months ago and his rise in the syndicate was unprecedented. Tim let out a deep breath.
“What is it, McGee?” Gibbs asked.
Tim looked up and met the older man’s blue eyes in the rearview mirror. He hadn’t realized that he was being watched. Then again, most things didn’t get by Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
“This Bennett guy. I can’t figure him out. He’s in a completely different league than Lichtermann.”
“Even made men have to have financial advice now and again. Hell, they probably need it more than us. After all, Uncle Sam’s always watching, wanting his cut.”
“I somehow doubt that these are loyal tax paying citizens, Gibbs,” Ziva said from under her binoculars.
“True enough.”
Tim explained, “It’s just that the file is awful thin for someone running with these type of guys. Are you sure this was all Fornell had?”
“No, McGee, I’m not. I’m lucky he didn’t want to come with us.”
“Yes, that would have been a trial, being trapped in a car with a grumpy old agent. It would be intolerable,” Ziva replied dryly, still not taking her eyes off the warehouse.
Tim ducked his head to hide his smile at the icy glare that she received in response from Gibbs.
*****
Nathan did another quick survey of the bar without seeing his target. His eyes automatically landed back across the table to Josiah who was watching a soccer match on the big screen behind Nate’s shoulder.
“Settle down, brother. He’ll show,” Josiah comforted without bothering to look away from the screen.
Nathan took another sip of his diet cola. The yuppie sports bar wasn’t his type of place, but they’d agreed that he and Josiah fit in more than say Vin or Buck would have. It was the type of place that Elliot Bennett would fit in exactly, which was the whole point really. Ezra had picked out the place when pulling together his cover. He’d gone so far as to make himself noticed as a regular well before working his way into Lichtermann’s organization. Nathan had to admire Ezra’s dedication to detail. It’s what made him the best. While the two of them would probably never see eye-to-eye on everything, he could never fault the Southerner on his undercover work. He just wished that Ezra didn’t feel the need for a front in his personal life as well. Josiah with his psychology and profiling experience had assured Nathan that Ezra was probably more open with the six of them than he had been with anyone else, but they couldn’t expect the man to throw away a life’s worth of defenses easily.
“There he is,” Nathan said refocusing on the door.
Ezra took a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. While he hadn’t looked directly at their table, Nathan was sure he knew they were there. Josiah had given the slightest of nods at his statement, and continued watching the game. They’d give it a while. After a drink or two Ezra would leave any information he had gathered in the furthest bathroom stall for one of them to retrieve. The need for such elaborate drops was all due to Lichtermann’s suspicious nature. Being the new guy on the block, Ezra was still occasionally followed. Having foreseen this, Ezra had set up the bar. He would stop by on his way home a few times a week. It seemed casual, but wasn’t. There was an elaborate schedule that made the stops seem random or inconsequential, while still allowing Team Seven to keep track of their agent. The drawn out nature of the assignment was a worry to all of them, especially Nathan. He hated whenever any of the team risked themselves. Ez lived for the thrill of the con, but he wasn’t alone anymore. He had six brothers nervously awaiting the return of one of their own.
Ezra headed for the restroom after only one drink. It was a sign that something was up. Nathan kept his head down and tried to keep his eyes off the man so as not to draw too much attention. After he’d left the restroom, he said something to the hostess that made her laugh and was out the door. It was a quick stop. Nathan frowned into his soda. Josiah cracked his neck and rose to his feet.
“Take care of the tab,” he said in his deep booming voice and headed for the restroom.
Nathan signaled their waitress. He waited outside in the cooling night air for Josiah to join him. The pair headed for Nathan’s X-Terra and back to the Federal building. The office was pretty quiet until the elevator doors opened to their floor. A loud bellow could be heard beyond the glass door that led to the Denver ATF Team Seven office. Josiah tossed Nathan a look as they stepped through.
Buck stood next to his desk with his arm stretched above his head. Nathan couldn’t see what the tall man was holding, but it obviously belonged to JD who was hopping at Buck’s side trying to retrieve it.
“Buck! Come on, Buck! Give it back!” JD said and started swearing under his breath. The shorter agent didn’t have a chance. Neither agent seemed to notice their arrival, but Vin, who was sitting at his desk with his feet propped up on the corner, nodded his head at them in greeting. Nathan smiled back. Josiah reached out and poked a finger roughly into Buck’s side causing him to bend in two. JD took the opportunity and grabbed the closed fist and started trying to pry it open. Chris Larabee stepped out of his office in time to see the scuffle.
“Will you two knock it off! Conference room, gentlemen,” Chris barked.
Nathan followed their leader ignoring the argument behind him that Josiah had found himself dragged into. Vin got to his feet and gave Nathan a concerned look.
“How’s Ezra?”
“Something’s up. It was a one beer night and he didn’t stay long. I want to see what he left us.”
They both took their seats with the other three quickly filing in behind them. Josiah tossed a small troll doll onto the table. It had bright purple hair sticking straight up and someone had written Buck’s name on its protruding little belly in black marker. Chris stared down at the toy as if would jump off the table at any moment. He shook his head slightly but didn’t comment.
“What do you have?” he asked.
Josiah reached into his coat and pulled out a piece of small notepaper. Nathan leaned over and saw Ezra’s perfect penmanship. The profiler glanced over the notes before he started to read.
“New player. Tony Grant. 4 M249’s possibly more. Not what he seems. Final deal Logan St & 18th Ave. 11PM Monday.”
Buck whistled at the mention of the SAWs. JD looked up at Chris and got a nod. He left the conference room to run Grant’s records.
“’Not what he seems.’ Sounds like Ezra is getting nervous,” Vin commented.
“Ol’ Ez don’t get nervous,” Buck replied.
“He was in and out quick at the bar tonight. That’s not a good sign,” Nathan added.
Chris crossed his arms and said, “I wonder. If he’s a gun dealer, ‘not what he seems’ would mean what?”
“You think he might be a cop, pard?” Vin asked, catching Chris’ line of thought.
“DPD wouldn’t be able to get SAWs.”
“Fibbies, wonderful,” Buck growled.
“Josiah, check downstairs with the FBI see if they’re running any operations right now.”
“If they’ll admit to it,” Nathan said.
“Buck, when JD gets those records about Grant, go over them with him. Use a fine tooth comb. We don’t need any surprises right now. Ezra’s about handed us everything we’ll need to close down Lichtermann’s operation. We’re too close for screw-ups.”
****
Abby blinked into the web camera waiting for a response. After a moment her monitor showed Tim fussing with the laptop. She could hear Gibbs’ indistinct grumble in the background. Ziva crossed behind McGee and disappeared out of frame.
“Hey, McGee! Can you see me?” Abby asked waving to the camera.
“Hey Abs!” Tony yelled from somewhere beyond the camera.
“Hey, Mr. Grant,” she replied with a grin.
A hand slapped the back of McGee’s head and he quickly moved out of the way. Gibbs sat down in front of the computer with his ever present cup of coffee.
“What do you have, Abby?”
“The trace and blood samples that Ducky pulled from the body still haven’t matched anything in the system. I’ve used the military and criminal databases and zip. Sorry, Gibbs. I do have some interesting information though. I got a hit on Mr. Grant’s record.”
“That’s not much of a surprise. We knew Lichtermann was an operator.”
Abby raised her finger and posed for the camera in her best Sherlock Holmes impression and said, “Ah, but the record was hit twice!”
“Twice?” Tony’s voice asked.
“I traced the IPs. The first directed to an open wireless network in downtown Denver.”
McGee leaned into frame behind Gibbs and said, “Lichtermann.”
“Exactly. The second IP originated out of the Denver Federal Building. I slammed into their firewall hard when I did the trace.”
“Federal building?” McGee asked.
“You think Fornell’s keeping tabs on us, boss?” Tony asked, leaning into frame behind Gibbs from the other side. His head butted up against McGee’s and Abby tried not to giggle at the three men peering back at her through the net with similar contemplative looks.
Gibbs answered Tony’s question without taking his eyes off the camera. “Fornell already knows about our operation. He wouldn’t need to look up the record. You have anything else, Abs?”
“I checked with the Federal Building’s Sys Admin. He wasn’t going to give anything up without a warrant, but I sweet talked him into tracing the request. He isolated it to the Denver ATF.”
“Way to go, Abby!”
“Putty in my hands, Tony. Putty in my hands.”
A slim hand reached out and grabbed Tony’s ear pulling him out of frame. After some yelps and one smacking noise, Ziva leaned in and took Tony’s place. She said, “Now why would the ATF be interested in Tony?”
Gibbs rolled his eyes and replied to her over his shoulder. “Because we just offered Lichtermann heavy weapons. They must have someone inside.”
“Bennett,” Tony replied popping up over Gibbs’ shoulder like a gopher making his boss and Ziva lean back to avoid his head.
McGee agreed, “That would explain his file, boss.”
“You sure, Tony?” Gibbs asked.
“He unnerved me. I think he knew I was a cop. He’s an underling and when he looked at me with those piercing green eyes, it made me sweat more than Lichtermann and all his goons put together.”
Behind the two of them, Abby saw McGee and Ziva exchange a look over the ‘piercing green eyes’ comment. They both ended up shaking their heads at their teammate’s antics. Abby smiled.
“He wouldn’t have unnerved me,” Ziva muttered.
“If he is under, boss, he’s been there a while,” McGee said to the back of Gibbs’ head, “If we go after Lichtermann, we could blow his cover.”
“Or he could have the information we need about Miralles’ death. Abby, see if you can get some info about the ATF out here in Denver. And sweet talk that guy again, I want to know who in their division is pulling Tony’s rap sheet.”
“You got it, Gibbs! Bye guys! Tell Ducky I said, hi!”
She heard several goodbyes before the line disconnected. Taking a big sip from her Caf Pow, she started typing.
****
JD stared at the monitor with a frown. Pulling Grant’s information hadn’t been too difficult, but there was something off about it that he just couldn’t put his finger on. The sheet was too clean. Something he had learned about Federal databases is that they were messier than people would like to believe. The crawlers pulled information from many different sources and not all of it was accurate. Buck had already left for the evening on a date with some girl whose name JD hadn’t caught, but Buck had given a description of her, most of which involved the use of cupped hands. He smirked at his roommate in absence and looked around the office. Josiah and Nathan had gone home already. Vin wasn’t around, but his computer was still on which meant he was probably still in the building. Chris’ office was dark, lit only by his desk lamp. It was a sign that he wanted to be left alone, or that he was taking a nap on the couch. The naps were something that JD had never caught him at, but was assured by Buck occurred.
“After all,” Buck had said, “he just wants us to think he runs on bad coffee.”
JD really wished that Ezra wasn’t undercover. Normally, late at night when everyone else was home or walking around the office like zombies, Ezra was in his prime. He also had a keen eye for detail that had helped JD out more than once while doing research. Thinking about Ezra reminded him how long it had been since he’d last seen the man. JD sighed and hoped that they wrapped the case up soon. No one liked having a member of the team out of touch for too long. Team Seven had a reputation. No matter how clean an operation, trouble always seemed to find them. This op had been relatively quiet and now that it was drawing to a close, JD couldn’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop. He just hoped it didn’t drop on Ezra.
With another sigh, JD started checking the log reports for the database and noticed something unusual. While the records for Grant were indeed flawless they had apparently all been updated recently and at the same time. He frowned. No record should have such time stamping unless it had all been recently generated or placed on file in one big batch.
JD glanced back at Chris’ door wondering if his suspicions were enough to warrant knocking and possibly waking up his boss. When his eyes flickered back to the screen he was surprised to see a flicker and then a message window pop up.
hello. aren’t we nosey?
“Chris!” he yelled staring at the prompt. Within moments Larabee was out of his door and across the room. “Look at this! I was just going to tell you what I found when this popped up.”
“What is it?” Chris asked.
“It’s a message window. Someone’s inside the network. I just figured out that all of Grant’s files were all updated recently at the same time.”
“Someone just put them into the database.”
“Yup. Looks like Ezra was right. Tony Grant may be a cover.”
“When is he not right?” Chris replied with a touch of annoyance in his voice.
JD grinned and asked, “What should I do?”
“Talk to them. I want to know who it is. Is there a way we can trace it?”
“Terry down in IT can. If I try, I’m afraid I’ll break the connection or tip them off.”
“I’ll call. You keep them talking.”
JD watched him walk back toward his office. Turning to face the monitor, he stared at the blinking prompt a moment before typing a reply.
I’m paid to be nosey.
who isn’t?
How’d you get onto the network? I’m impressed.
it’s not like denver is the pentagon.
I doubt you’ve hacked the Pentagon. It’s a bear.
tried have you? :P
I promised my boss that I wouldn’t anymore. He keeps getting threatening phone calls.
you mean chris larabee?
JD’s hands froze over the keys. It was scary that the nameless person on the other end already knew who they were talking to. Slowly he let out his breath. It was obviously someone in law enforcement, most likely on the federal level. They’d easily have access to Team Seven’s files if they were able to insert Tony Grant’s record with little difficulty. He was probably talking to another Fed.
He’s not the kind of person that responds well to threats.
sounds like my boss. we should totally do lunch. are you cute? you sound cute.
That depends on if you’re a girl or not. Please tell me that you are, or I’m about to be wicked freaked.
ha. yes, i’m a girl. what, you think girls can’t use computers too?
Now you sound like my girlfriend. I should have picked up on it earlier.
girlfriend? poo. i see you finally got terry to ping me. guess i’d better go now. ttyl.
The connection abruptly cut off. JD frowned at the last message. He looked over to see Chris hanging up the phone in his office. Quickly, he jumped to his feet and headed over.
“She cut off the connection,” he explained, “and she knew who Terry was.”
“That jibes with him. He said some NCIS forensic specialist was tracking some activity earlier and she seemed interested in our office. I guess this Abby person must have been who you were talking too. Now what’s NCIS doing involved in all of this?”
“They’d definitely have access to SAWs. That’s Marine Corp issue. They can’t be after weapons because Lichtermann hasn’t had any access to military grade stuff inside the country that we’ve uncovered.”
“I’m going to call the Judge. He should be able to get more information out of NCIS than we could.”
“I don’t think you should call now, Chris. It’s after one,” JD replied looking at the clock.
Chris wiped a hand across his face and said, “You’re right. It’s so late, it’s early. Go home. I’ll talk to Travis in the morning. I hope for Ezra’s sake we get some answers soon.”
****
Orin stepped out of the elevator into a dark hallway and took his bearings. In his many years as a Judge he’d never had reason to access this part of the Federal Building. The morgue was alien to him. He saw the aftermath of it in M.E. reports and crime scene photographs, but he had never visited the place in person. The directions his secretary had received were easy to follow if a bit more involved. The hallways in the basement were full of twists and turns and they reminded him more of a rabbit warren than the slick offices upstairs ever did. Orin paused at the metal wrapped swinging door. It was pockmarked and scratched attesting to the many gurneys that had slammed past its gate. Carefully, he swung the door inward to a rather brightly lit, tiled room. It resembled a large shower room aside from the big metal table in its center. Small square refrigerator doors lined the far wall giving an even greater hint to the room’s use.
There was a high wooden table against one wall. It sat underneath a hanging light with two stools pulled up to it. The old wood looked alien in the metal and tile room, but despite this the table looked scarred and well used. A short man in a white coat was bent over it mumbling to himself. His back was turned to Orin, but his identity was unmistakable.
“Ducky,” Orin said softly, and as he guessed the room carried his voice well.
The man turned from the table, pushing up his glasses until he could get a good look at his visitor. His face brightened in recognition and it wasn’t long before Orin was enveloped in a hug. He smiled back at his old friend and as usual tried to ignore the faint smell of formaldehyde that clung to the man.
“Orin, my God, it’s been ages! How’s Evie?” Ducky asked enthusiastically.
“She’s as spry as ever. I keep asking her when she’s going to run off with a younger man, but she just says she’s put up with me so long she doesn’t have the strength,” Orin replied with a chuckle.
“It’s good to see you. I’ve been meaning to take the time to go by your office, but unfortunately I’ve been rather busy this trip.”
“So I’ve come to understand. In fact, I’m afraid I didn’t come down here for a social call, old friend. I need to know what NCIS is doing in the middle of one of my cases.”
“Your case? I’m here to examine the body of a murdered Marine. I hardly think that should have anything to do with…” Ducky trailed off and his bright eyes got a knowing look. “You’re in charge of the ATF operation that Jethro and Abby have been telling me about.”
Orin squinted at this and said, “Team Seven reports to me, yes. One of their agents, a young man by the name of Ezra Standish, has been undercover for months now and we’re very close to shutting down one of the major weapons importers in the Northwest. We, along with the RCMP, have been trying to close this hole in the boarder for years. Now your agents show up at the last minute, and they may jeopardize everything.”
“Orin, a young Marine is dead. His family and his country deserve answers. That’s why we’re here.”
“I’m not criticizing your job, Ducky, just your timing.”
“You need to explain to Jethro what’s going on. He’s not going to back down on this case, no matter how important your operation.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Perhaps there is some way we can be of assistance to each other. The sharing of information can only help.”
Orin gave a skeptical grunt. He knew that Ducky meant well, but the man had obviously never met anyone as stubborn as Chris Larabee before.
****
Vin was taking his time typing out a report on his scout of the address for the meet that Ezra had supplied them with. It was an empty office building west of St Luke’s. There was a big hotel across the street that would make it easy for the guys to do surveillance on the place. Buck and JD were going over the phony cover information about the seller again. The kid had already explained his midnight chat in detail with both him and Buck. The ladies man had starting teasing JD over his internet girlfriend. Vin was upset that he had missed the whole thing. Josiah and Nathan weren’t coming in for a while yet since they were pulling Ezra watching duty again later that evening. Tired of typing, Vin peered over his shoulder to see Chris giving his own monitor dirty looks. The elevator bell pulled his attention away from their leader. He could hear two voices arguing in the hall as they approached the propped open door to Team Seven’s office.
“You stabbed him,” a young man said matter-of-factly over his shoulder. Vin could tell it was obviously and old argument by the tiredness of his tone. It seemed out of character with the boyish face.
“Why must you say it like that?” a young woman asked following him into the room. Her dark hair and flashing dark eyes gave her an unusual look, but it wasn’t her beauty that Vin noticed. The fluid way she moved was a dead giveaway that she could handle herself. He had a brief moment of worry over what would happen when Buck laid eyes on her.
“Because you stabbed him,” the young man repeated flatly.
“It isn’t as if he needed that kidney. You can live a perfectly normal life with just one,” the woman argued.
Vin raised his eyebrows at that. An older man stepped into the office behind the younger pair and his eyes scanned the room like a professional. He immediately wrote off JD and Buck who had yet to notice their entrance, but his eyes locked with Vin. The former Army Ranger rose to his feet to meet the trio and he forced himself not to straighten his stance at the older man’s gaze.
“Can I help, ya?”
“I want to talk to whoever’s in charge,” the older man asked.
“That’d be me,” Chris said coming up behind Vin’s shoulder.
The man opened a badge and flashed his ID. The two behind him followed suit.
“What does NCIS want from us?” Chris asked.
“I want to talk to you about your man in Lichtermann’s camp.”
Vin’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything. Chris gave a mean looking grin and replied, “You’d be Grant’s boss then?”
“Special Agent Gibbs. This is Special Agent McGee and Officer David.”
“Travis said you’d be coming,” Chris replied and nodded his head toward the conference room.
Vin casually walked behind the agents with Buck and JD bringing up the rear. Officer David stood with her back to the wall. Gibbs immediately took Chris’ chair at the head of the table with McGee taking the chair to his right. Vin tried not to grin at the sound of Chris’ teeth grinding. He hadn’t been sure what the conversation with Travis had been about that morning, but the whole time he’d been typing up his report he’d heard the low sound of Chris’ voice coming from the office. That was never a good sign. Whenever Larabee was powerful mad he had the tendency to rumble like an old grizzly bear. Buck had taken to occasionally calling Chris’ office ‘The Cage.’ Ezra, of course, hadn’t helped the image any when he had left a raw piece of meat on the man’s desk after one of their more successful prank wars.
“Travis said you’re here about a Marine’s murder. While I appreciate your need to find the bastard that did it, you’ve got to understand what’s at stake here. Hundreds if not thousands of lives are on the line if Lichtermann stays in business. He’s bringing in more guns than we’ve even been able to track. His connections reach as far as Miami and New York. He’s the linchpin in taking down the whole network. No one has gotten as close as we have. If you’ve been talking to the FBI, and if you’re smart you probably have, you know that they’ve tried several times and came up empty.”
“I don’t give a damn about Lichtermann other than someone in his organization is probably responsible for Corporal Miralles’ death. I was hoping your man inside might be able to shed some light on that,” Gibbs said meeting Chris’ steely look with one of his own.
Vin leaned back in his chair and watched the man. Where Chris’ gaze was hot like the sun, Gibbs’ was as cold as permafrost. They were definitely two sides of the same coin. Vin had always trusted his gut more than anything. It had saved his life on the streets growing up and more than a few times when he was with the Rangers. While Gibbs was imposing, and obviously former military, Vin would bet anything that he was a good man to work for, just like Chris was a good man to take orders from. Speaking of Chris, Vin glanced over at him after Gibbs’ announcement he could tell the tension in the room had bracketed up a few more notches.
“We don’t contact Ezra. He contacts us. If you did your homework, you know Lichtermann is paranoid. Ezra’s conditions are the only reason we’ve succeeded where others have failed.”
Vin’s eyes raked over Officer David and Agent McGee before he looked back at Gibbs and said, “If Ezra knew something about your Corporal he would have let us know already.”
“Perhaps he hasn’t been asking the right questions,” Officer David said quietly. “He is after arms, yes? Why would he ask about murder?”
“He wouldn’t unless he wanted to get himself shot, darlin’,” Buck said giving her his patented you-know-you-like-it smile.
Officer David’s face was neutral but somehow it still came off as a sneer. Vin smirked and shot a look at JD who shared the silent joke. Chris crossed his arms, ignoring the three of them, and stayed focused on Gibbs.
He said, “You’re just going to have to wait.”
McGee cringed and looked back and forth between the two before replying, “He doesn’t like waiting.”
“Well then you’d better hope he’s not too old to learn new tricks,” Chris said his eyes never leaving Gibbs’ cold blue ones.
Agent Gibbs got to his feet and gave a smile with no warmth. He asked, “That’s the way you want it?”
“That’s the way it is.”
Gibbs cocked his head and then with quick, efficient movements he was out the door. McGee and David followed the latter lingering a bit at the door.
“You’re making a mistake,” she said.
“I’m protecting my agent. You should do the same for your own. Lichtermann isn’t stupid. He’s going to wonder where those SAWs came from same as we did.”
****
She’d had five drink offers and two wannabe pick-up artists and still hadn’t sighted her target. Thankfully, after she had dissuaded the last hopeful with a painful thumb twist it looked as if most of the bar was giving her a wide berth. Ziva adjusted the folds of her dress hoping the gun rig strapped to her thigh was concealed. They had lucked out when Abby had pulled the reimbursement receipts from the open case file. Apparently, two members of Team Seven had been enjoying non-alcoholic drinks on the government’s dime fairly regularly. Gibbs had guessed it was the contact point for the undercover agent. So far, she hadn’t seen anyone that she recognized from the Team Seven personnel files. Ziva was hoping that Standish’s contacts were the two that they hadn’t yet seen.
She sipped her ginger ale while scanning the room. Movement caught her eye as the door opened. He wasn’t very tall, but Tony’s description had been correct. His green eyes were piercing. They singled her out as something new almost immediately. Ziva smiled demurely. Despite the activity of happy hour, there remained a free seat at the bar next to her. Bennett, or Ezra Standish as they now knew him, sat down next to her.
“Good evening,” he said politely and motioned to the bartender.
“The usual?” the bartender asked and moved away when he received a nod.
“You must come here a lot,” Ziva said.
“Occasionally. Their wine list could use some improvements, but it’s passable.”
As if in response to his words, the bartender set down a glass of chardonnay.
“I don’t suppose I could offer you a drink, Ms…..” he trailed off.
“David, but please call me Ziva.”
“I’m Elliot Bennett, Ziva. That’s a lovely name. Israeli?” he asked motioning to the bartender again, but Ziva waved him off.
“Yes, how did you know?”
“The pronunciation of the last name and the hint of your accent was a clue. It was a lucky guess. You’re a long way from home.”
“So are you, from your accent.”
“Touché, madam. I don’t mean to sound cliché, but I’ve never seen you in here before.”
“I’ve never had reason to be here before.”
She could see why Tony was bothered by the man. Tony was by nature an expressive person, and though she’d never admit it out loud, he also had a good eye for people. Standish was frustrating because his face gave absolutely nothing away. Her answer had been provocative, but she had no way to tell if it had hit its mark.
Standish offered his glass and toasted, “To good reasons.”
Ziva raised her ginger ale and smirked. The movement of the door caught her eye again as two men entered the bar. Both were very tall. The black man’s eyes locked onto Standish’s back and quickly looked the other way. The older white man with him ignored the bar completely and headed for a back table near the television screens. Ziva recognized them as the other two members of Team Seven, Jackson and Sanchez. Standish must have seen something in her face because his eyes slid to the mirror behind the bar to check the room. When his attention was directed back on her it felt like a laser. He realized that she had recognized his teammates.
“What brings you to the fine state of Colorado?” Standish asked.
“I’m looking for someone.”
“My dear, aren’t we all.”
Ziva smiled a predatory smile and replied, “Yes, but my someone doesn’t want to be found.”
“Really? And why would someone not want such a lovely woman as yourself to find them?”
“I’m not sure. Perhaps they’re claustrophobic.”
Standish quirked an amused eyebrow at the comment. It was the most honest expression she had seen on his face so far. The tension that she had felt between them after his friends had entered slowly eased.
“I find that a lot of people I meet are plagued by that affliction,” Standish said taking a drink from his glass.
“I’m sure you help them face their fears.”
“I try,” Standish replied and ducked his head slightly with a real grin that was completely different from the fake ones she’d been seeing since his entrance. “Are you just visiting Denver?”
“Yes, I’m hoping to go back to Washington soon.”
“I’ve never been a fan of the capitol. Too much politics, not enough action.”
“And the traffic is murder.”
She knew she had tipped him off when he looked back at her out of the corner of his eye. He turned away from his drink and faced her fully.
“Still, Virginia is nice. I used to go to Prince William Forest Park a lot. It’s pretty out there.”
Ziva took a moment to think. She knew that she had heard of the park before. Then it hit her. Tony and she had passed the large park in Quantico on the way to the Marine base for cases. He was trying to see if she was FBI.
“I wouldn’t know I don’t get out there much. I do get a nice view of Anacostia Park across the river.”
“I do despise downtown.”
“The air is much clearer here,” she said.
“That depends on where you live I suppose.”
“Some places are worse than others. My friend David Miralles had a very bad reaction to the air here.”
She watched him with interest. He didn’t show much of a reaction other than a soft thoughtful look behind his eyes. After a moment he gave a slight frown before replying, “I’m sure a lot of people have allergies that can be problematic. I suppose careful research into remedies is the only answer. Also, with it being so windy lately, there might be more sufferers. Well, I’ve taken enough of your time, I really must be going. If you’ll excuse me, Ms. David. It has been an enlightening chat.”
Standish stood after laying some bills on the bar and hurried out of the door. Ziva frowned at his untouched wine. She looked up into the mirror and her eyes caught with Jackson’s dark ones at the back of the room. When the bartender arrived to take the money, Ziva paid her own tab and slipped out of the bar before either of them could approach her. She walked half a block before getting into a dark sedan waiting at the corner.
“Well?” Tony asked.
“He thought I was FBI,” she huffed.
Tony grinned and replied, “He used to work for them according to his sheet. Abby said that there were some doubts about him taking a payoff or something, but no charges were ever brought. That’s how he ended up out here.”
“I don’t think he’d ever take a bribe.”
“You so sure? Undercover agents sometimes get in over their heads,” he said sourly.
Ziva knew that he was thinking about Jeanne. Tony had developed a certain tightening of his face lately that gave away when he was thinking about her. She wanted to say something to comfort him, but Ziva was no good with such sentiments. As with the other occasions when she’d seen the look, it passed in silence. After a moment, she replied.
“He’s too smart for that. Anyway, I don’t think he knows anything about Miralles, but when I brought the name up he looked curious. He left in a hurry afterward. I think maybe he’s going to find out something. He could provide you with the information at the drop.”
“That’s if he knows I’m a cop. McGee said that his team doesn’t have any contact with him.”
“He knows, Tony. I’m pretty sure he tipped off the rest of Team Seven about you even before we contacted them.”
“So now we wait,” Tony said with a sigh. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and gave a sly grin. “You really do look good in that dress.”
Ziva buckled her seatbelt as the car moved out onto the street.
“Of course I do,” she said.
****
Buck paced around the office in a fury, his cowboy boots making a racket against the floor. JD was typing away at his computer ignoring the show. For a moment Buck considered kicking the trash can across the room to wake everybody up, but he knew Chris would be down on him like an angry hornet’s nest if he did.
“I can’t believe them! What if someone had seen her? Ezra could be filled full of holes right now!” he yelled.
“Calm down, Bucklin,” Vin said coming out of the break room. “No one around here knows who she is. From what Josiah said, it probably jus’ looked like he was trying to pick her up.”
“I don’t know, Vin,” Nathan said, and Buck could tell he was fretting without even looking.
“Brother Vin is right. Having Special Agent David at the bar last night made perfect sense from their standpoint. No one would likely realize that she was an agent, and they got to ask Ezra about their case. I doubt it put Ezra in danger. An observer would be more likely to notice Nathan and myself since we’re there every time Ezra is,” Josiah argued.
“Well how’d they even know about the bar?” Buck asked. “Maybe they compromised Ezra that way!”
“I doubt it. Abby probably picked it up from our case notes or something. She’s had access to our system at least twice that we know of, and probably more than that,” JD added.
“Oh, Abby is it. You two are all buddy-buddy now,” Buck said mockingly.
JD squirmed and said in all one breath, “Well, since she hacked us I thought it was only fair that I returned the favor, but she caught me, and well we started talking again, and she’s really nice, Buck.”
“Wonderful, JD’s got himself a new girlfriend that probably looks like a bulldog’s behind and weighs about three hundred pounds, meanwhile Ezra’s black and blue in a gutter somewhere wondering why we aren’t helping him.”
“Ezra’s fine,” Chris said coming out of his office. “This morning Denver PD rolled by that restaurant that Lichtermann likes to do business out of and they pegged ‘Bennett’ going inside. I talked to Judge Travis about NCIS and he’s going to get in touch with their director see if we can get any action. For now the meet between Lichtermann and their agent is still on. Vin, I want to go over your recon for our surveillance again. Everybody else get out of here. Take the morning to rest we’ll have to set up early this afternoon at the hotel. Leave your phones on.”
Buck crossed his arms and fumed while everyone else made to leave. Vin had already moved into Chris’ office but his friend stayed. Buck met the eyes of the man he trusted more than anyone else in the world.
“It’ll be alright, Big Dog. Don’t lose it on me now.”
“I haven’t liked this case from the beginning, Chris. You know it’s too much a risk. They dug the last two cops that tried to get into Lichtermann’s organization out of the desert. I know Ez is good, but something about this thing has got my wind up.”
“I know. I wasn’t happy when Travis gave us the case either, but Ezra convinced me he could do it. This will be all on my head if something goes wrong.”
“It’s not your fault he’s a stubborn ol’ Reb.”
“Between him and Vin it’s a wonder every hair on my head isn’t grey.”
Buck smirked, “I wouldn’t worry about it. I think Mary wouldn’t mind a man who’s a little distinguished.”
Chris frowned, “Get out of here.”
Buck chuckled and grabbed his coat. Everyone else was gone. He knew that JD had plans with Casey since she didn’t have classes on Mondays. As he waited for the elevator a thought came into his head. Pulling out his cell phone he paged through the many contacts.
“Hello Darla darlin’ it’s Buck…. Why I’m as rascally as ever. I know I haven’t called in a while, but can you do be a big ol’ favor? Well, I’m pretty sure I can free up some time in return. Uh huh. I’ll bet. Listen there’s a group of agents in from Washington with NCIS. No, honey, it’s the Navy. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I need to know where they’re staying and since you have access to that hotel registry database I figure it wouldn’t take you long to track them down. No, I’ll wait. It’s probably under Gibbs, two bees. Yeah, I think I know where that is. Thanks, Darla. You’re a life saver. I’ll call you later this week and we’ll have dinner. Bye.”
Buck slipped the phone back in his pocket and got on the waiting elevator. It didn’t take him long to reach the hotel where the agents were staying. The first door he tried opened to a short man with glasses.
“Can I help you?” he asked with a slight accent.
“I’m looking for Officer David.”
“And you are?”
Buck flipped open his badge, “Buck Wilmington, ATF.”
“Ah, well I believe that Jethro and the others went to get something to eat, but I do think Ziva is in her room. It’s the one across the hall.”
“Thanks….”
“Call me Ducky. Tell Orin I said hello,” the man added closing his door.
“Orin…I’d forgotten the judge had a first name,” Buck muttered while knocking on the door Ducky had indicated.
It opened forcefully to the beautiful agent in mid-sentence, “I told you Tony that I wasn’t interested in-“
“Hello to you too.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I just want to ask you a few questions, without cornering you in a bar, although if you’re interested in a drink I can oblige you.”
“I don’t think so,” Agent David said starting to close the door.
Buck jammed his foot into the crack before it could shut. Ziva gave him a look and pushed harder. Buck winced, but didn’t move.
“Listen, lady. After that stunt last night, you’re not exactly on my Christmas card list either, but I want to talk to you.”
“Why? You know why I was there, and I did warn Larabee about Gibbs.”
“We haven’t talked to Ezra directly in five months. I just want to know how he is,” Buck gritted out as she leaned heavily on the door.
The pushing ceased and the door was pulled back. Ziva looked at him sharply gauging his intent. Buck didn’t even try to look honest, because women always seemed to look right through that. He did let her see his worry, though, and that must have done it because she stepped aside for him to enter.
“Thanks,” he said shaking his foot a bit before moving over to sit in the chair by the window.
“He’s very guarded, your Standish.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if he had any friends before he met us.”
“You two are close?” she asked, sitting on the bed.
“Not exactly. Ezra doesn’t really let people close. I guess of any of us he’s tight with Vin and I think he kind of admires Josiah. I did try to talk him out of doing this case, but he can be awful stubborn.”
Buck watched her reaction to this and wondered if the description didn’t hit home. Something made him think that Ezra wasn’t the only guarded and stubborn one. While she was quiet and considered his words, Buck took the chance to really look at her. She was stunning. The dark hair and eyes were an immediate draw. Her skin was sun kissed and flawless. And he didn’t even want to get started on her lips. She had an edge about her, an air of toughness. Buck did so love a challenge. After all, it was what kept him coming back again-and-again to Inez despite her rebuffing. Though now that he was really looking at Ziva, there was something about her that kept him from wanting to try. There was a deep sadness there. It reminded him a bit of the female bounty hunter, Kate Stokes, that they’d run into on a case a while back. The woman had a lot to deal with tracking down her ex-husband Del Spivak all while trying to protect her sister who got mixed up in Spivak’s robbery ring. She had lived hard and it showed. Ziva, while not as dark, had obviously seen a lot in her time as well. There was something about a woman in trouble that Buck just couldn’t resist, whether they wanted his help or not.
“He never broke character, always speaking in code. He would make a good operative,” she said finally.
“Ezra does all right where he is. Where we can keep an eye on him.”
“The six of you ground him, keep him safe?” she asked.
“We try. Sometimes he doesn’t make it easy on us.”
“Life is nothing without a challenge.”
Buck chuckled and replied, “You can say that again. I’m worried that now that you’ve let him know what’s going on he’s going to try his damnedest to find your killer. He could be getting himself into more trouble than he’s already in, and considering our team that’s a lot of trouble.”
“Stopping these guns is more important than one murdered man?”
“No. But keeping Ezra from joining him? Yeah.”
“You’re very loyal.”
Buck tilted his head and said, “I bet Ez liked you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You two seem a lot alike. Plus, he appreciates someone sharp that he can test himself against. You play cards?”
“Not really.”
“Shame.”
There was a knock at the door and before Ziva could say anything, the door opened. A guy that Buck hadn’t seen before entered holding a large brown paper bag that obstructed him from view.
“I know you said not to get you anything, but Gibbs was giving me the eye and McGeek was whining and I ended up getting you an Italian sub-“he paused, setting down the bag when he saw Buck.
“Oh.”
“Tony, you’re supposed to wait after you knock, and how did you get my room key?” Ziva snapped.
Buck realized that he was looking at Tony Grant and did a quick assessment. He wasn’t horrible looking, but nowhere in Buck’s league. He could see the appeal to a certain type of woman. The quick false smile that slid over the man’s weasely face, made Buck give a false one in return. Buck knew one thing for sure; he was going to hate this Tony guy.
“I didn’t realize you had company, Ziva.”
“I could have been undressing,” she snapped.
“More’s the pity,” Buck said, and got two pairs of angry eyes flipped towards him.
“What’s he doing here?” a sharp voice said from the doorway. Buck glanced over to see Gibbs holding a drink tray with the man from earlier and Agent McGee behind them.
“He wanted information about their agent since they haven’t been making direct contact with him,” Ziva replied.
“Whose fault is that?” Gibbs said stepping into the room.
Ziva threw her hands up in disgust and said, “Oh please, everyone come right in.”
Before she knew it, the others had appropriated her room for their group lunch. Ziva took one look at the sub that Tony had brought for her and immediately handed it to Buck.
“Thanks. Have you scoped out the meeting point yet?” Buck asked.
Gibbs paused in the middle of a bite and looked over at him. He guessed that the look was supposed to be intimidating, but after the Navy and having Chris for a best friend it washed right over him.
“We’re going this afternoon,” Agent McGee said quickly and received a quelling look from both Gibbs and Tony.
“We’re setting up at the hotel across the street tonight. This might go a lot smoother if we were all on the same page.”
“Your boss think so?” Gibbs asked.
“Chris can be a might protective. Hell, we all can. I don’t suppose you’d be any different,” Buck said and slipped a look at Tony who was busy eating a calzone.
Gibbs gave a small smirk, and Buck knew he’d made his point. They all tucked into their food and the one that had introduced himself as Ducky started in on some story that Buck lost track of about five minutes in. When Gibbs had finished eating, he got to his feet and headed for the door. The others had gotten pulled into Ducky’s conversation and didn’t pay him much mind. Buck saw him tilt his head out into the hallway in invitation, so he got up to follow. He was pretty sure Ziva was watching him leave. At least he knew she had a nice view.
Buck followed Gibbs across the hall through the first door he had knocked on. Once they were inside Gibbs crossed his arms and waited. Buck leaned back against the door.
“You planning on a bust? Because it won’t work. Lichtermann doesn’t show up for the buys. That’s why he’s been so hard to pin down. You’d just end up nabbing some of his flunkies and probably Ezra.” Buck explained.
“We were, but I got a call from my director a few minutes ago. We have to find some way for Tony to get out of the deal, because your ATF superiors aren’t going to let us go through with the bust, and we sure as hell aren’t letting those scumbags get those guns.”
“You could just have him not show up.”
“And miss a chance for your guy to slip Tony the information we need?”
“That’s if he knows anything. If there is something, he’ll find a way to get it to us.”
Gibbs snorted in disgust, “When? In a week, a month, a year?”
“We’re close.”
“Not close enough for me.”
“We’re not saying that we don’t want to help you. We just can’t do it overnight.”
“We both know the guns are going to take precedent. You’re the ATF it’s what you do.”
“You’ll have a better shot of getting your guy if we work this together. Any more stunts like last night and Ezra pays the price and you lose your chance to get what you want.”
Part 2