Inter-agency Nightmare 1/?
A new h/c bingo mini challenge has started. This time it's for a crossover and I was given four prompts. I roughed out the plot before I realized that I could use any combination of the prompts, and I've managed to include all four. Not sure how long it will be, but it's due at the end of the month. The crossover is NCIS/Stargate and the prompts are - Apocalypse, Corporal Punishment, Fighting, Interrogation.
Inter-agency Nightmare
Gibbs stepped into the smokey bar, pausing a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dim light His old buddy from his days in the Corps was hunched over at a table in the corner. Being the middle of the day, Gibbs caught the bartender's eye and pointed out the coffee pot as he went by. Nodding, the other man poured a cup and set it on the table as Gibbs sat down.
"Dickerson, been a while."
The other man looked up, his eyes bloodshot and tired looking. "I need your help, Gibbs. I think something's happened to my boy."
"Bobby?" Gibbs briefly flashed on the curly haired boy with skinned knees that would chase Kelly around the yard whenever the unit got together.
"He wanted to make his own way in the world, not follow his old man's footsteps, so he went Air Force instead of the Corps. Been stationed in Colorado at the Mountain for the last eighteen months."
Gibbs leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "Why do you think he's in trouble?"
"He's been calling at least once a week ever since his momma got sick, but the last two weeks - nothing. He even missed her birthday last Friday."
"You try calling him?"
"He's not answering his cell, hasn't returned any emails, missed his regular skype session with his sister. I even tried calling his CO. Bobby will be pissed about that, but I didn't know what else to do, Gibbs."
No matter the branch of the military, every young man knows that if your parents feel they have to call your commanding officer, you're going to hear about it. "What did he tell you, Rob?"
"Nothing. It's been a while since I've been in the Corps, but I still recognize an officer that's stonewalling. Something's going on at that base and it has something to do with Bobby."
Over the years, Gibbs had heard some pretty wild rumors about the base buried deep inside a mountain in Colorado, including some unexplained deaths, but he wasn't going to tell the distraught father about that. "There's a few Marine Corps security units there, but not enough to give me a direct line of communication." He held up his hand to stop Dickerson's argument before it could even start. "But, I will see what I can find out."
---NCIS---
It was a day of cold cases and paperwork which allowed Gibbs an afternoon of tackling the problem, but by the end of the normal workday he'd exhausted his resources and was no closer to finding out anything. As the rest of the team said their goodbyes and filed out, he held up a file folder and called out to one of them. "McGee, need you to stay a minute."
"Yeah, sure, Boss." Tim glanced over at his teammates who snickered as they continued on to the elevator. The young man was so obsessive about his paperwork, it was a rare day he was called back for an issue with a file and they enjoyed the look on his face. Glaring at them one last time as the elevator door closed, McGee turned his attention to the file Gibbs was handing him.
Tim was mentally reviewing the cases they'd closed recently as he opened the file. "Is this about my expense report on the Hernandez case? This... this isn't one of my reports. Is this a new case, Boss?"
"Not our jurisdiction, but..." Gibbs thought about the risks he was asking the other man to take and shook his head. "Never mind, McGee, this is my problem."
Ignoring the outreached hand, Tim continued to study what Gibbs had put together. "Why isn't the Air Force conducting their own investigation? There's no indication that he went AWOL, but if there was some sort of training accident, why the cover-up?" Tim finally looked up. "Who is he, Boss?"
"His dad and I were in the Corps together. Bobby is just a year older than Kelly." Gibbs' voice was low and Tim had to strain to hear it. "Rob and I used to joke that we'd be in-laws some day. He's a good kid, wouldn't take off, not while his mom's battling cancer."
Realizing how personal this was to Gibbs, McGee returned to his desk with the file. "Their security is pretty tight, it will probably take me a while and I'm not sure how far I can get without attracting attention."
"Whatever you can do, McGee - and, Tim?" Gibbs waited until he looked up, shocked at the rare use of his first name. "Thank you."
---NCIS---
Gibbs would never admit it to another living soul, but he loved watching McGee work. The younger man reacted so intently when given a puzzle to solve with his computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard. There was nothing Gibbs could do to help the search, but if McGee was going to pull an all-nighter helping a friend of Gibbs', then the least Gibbs could do was to stay and support him.
Several hours into the search, Gibbs left for a short while, bringing back dinner for the two of them. McGee gave an absent nod, his nose almost touching the the screen as he studied the encryption he was working through. It took the waving of a fresh cup of coffee under his nose that brought McGee's attention away from his work long enough to eat while his programs ran.
"Oh, thanks, Boss."
Gibbs smiled and patted McGee on the back. Yeah, he loved watching the younger man do what he was so good at. "No problem, eat while it's hot."
Sometime after 0300, Tim sat up straight, staring at his computer. "Oh, crap."
Gibbs had been dozing, but jumped to his feet. "What have you got?"
"Trouble." McGee was frantically trying to back out of the system he'd landed in, erasing his tracks as quickly as he could.
"Talk to me, McGee."
"He's part of a major top secret project. Presidential eyes only kind of project."
"Shit." Gibbs realized quickly that he'd asked McGee to commit what could be classified as treason. "Can you get clear?"
McGee hadn't broken a sweat doing this since the first time he'd hacked the CIA under Gibbs' orders, but he was sweating now. "Working on it."
Forty minutes later he sagged back in his seat and rubbed his face.
"Well?"
"I think I got out clean. If not, I left a circular trail that leads to nowhere - I hope.
"You hope?"
Raking his fingers through his hair, Tim stood and started to pace. "Their system, I've never seen anything like that, Boss. It was like a hybrid of standard government security protocols and something totally foreign." He thought about the files he'd seen and paled at the implication. "Actually beyond foreign."
Gibbs had to literally step into McGee's path to get him to stop. "What did you find?"
Tim shook his head. "I don't think I should tell you, Boss. No point in both of us going down for this."
"I'm the one that asked you to do this. If anybody is going down, it will be me. I'll make sure of it, Tim, so tell me what you found."
Again with his first name and McGee caved, looking around. "Not here, your office."
Gibbs didn't say a word, just led them to the elevator. Once they were between floors and he'd flipped the emergency switch, he turned back to McGee. "Now talk."
Tim's mouth opened and closed several times before he found the right words. "The Air Force has somehow acquired the technology to open wormholes to different planets in the galaxy."
"Planets?" Gibbs stared at him in shock.
"Populated planets, Boss. Aliens. And some of them I think we're at war with. Your friend's son was either killed or captured on the other side of the galaxy."
Gibbs was still staring. Part of him was convinced that McGee had somehow hacked into someone's bizarre science fiction novel and part of him... "Holy crap, McGee."
Now it was Gibbs' turn to pace as he shoved his fingers through his hair. Finally he stopped in front of McGee, a worried expression on his face. "If somebody were to specifically search your computer, could they find any traces of what you did?"
"Possibly." Tim chewed his lip and looked up when Gibbs grasped his shoulders. "My focus was on wiping the trail between the two agencies, Boss, but I still need to scrub my system."
That's what Gibbs had been afraid of. He remained in front of McGee, absently rubbing the other man's shoulders. "Okay, that's what you're going to do next, whatever you need to do to remove every trace. Scrub it, wipe it, replace the hard drive and take a sledgehammer to that one, whatever it it takes. Then you're going to be glued to me until we're absolutely sure you're in the clear. You got it?"
"Okay." Tim tried to look confident, but he couldn't hide the fear in his eyes.
Gibbs pulled him a little closer, resting his forehead against McGee's. "It's going to be all right, Tim." They stood like that for a few more moments before Gibbs straightened and flipped the switch to get the elevator moving again.
It was less than an hour to the start of the normal working day before McGee was satisfied that nothing was left to find anywhere. He looked up and nodded at Gibbs when the elevator doors opened. He looked over, expecting to find Ziva arriving early, or possibly Tony. Instead, what he saw were several Air Force officers and a handful of MP's.
"Oh, crap."
This entry was originally posted at http://emerald-green37.dreamwidth.org/17907.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Inter-agency Nightmare
Gibbs stepped into the smokey bar, pausing a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dim light His old buddy from his days in the Corps was hunched over at a table in the corner. Being the middle of the day, Gibbs caught the bartender's eye and pointed out the coffee pot as he went by. Nodding, the other man poured a cup and set it on the table as Gibbs sat down.
"Dickerson, been a while."
The other man looked up, his eyes bloodshot and tired looking. "I need your help, Gibbs. I think something's happened to my boy."
"Bobby?" Gibbs briefly flashed on the curly haired boy with skinned knees that would chase Kelly around the yard whenever the unit got together.
"He wanted to make his own way in the world, not follow his old man's footsteps, so he went Air Force instead of the Corps. Been stationed in Colorado at the Mountain for the last eighteen months."
Gibbs leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "Why do you think he's in trouble?"
"He's been calling at least once a week ever since his momma got sick, but the last two weeks - nothing. He even missed her birthday last Friday."
"You try calling him?"
"He's not answering his cell, hasn't returned any emails, missed his regular skype session with his sister. I even tried calling his CO. Bobby will be pissed about that, but I didn't know what else to do, Gibbs."
No matter the branch of the military, every young man knows that if your parents feel they have to call your commanding officer, you're going to hear about it. "What did he tell you, Rob?"
"Nothing. It's been a while since I've been in the Corps, but I still recognize an officer that's stonewalling. Something's going on at that base and it has something to do with Bobby."
Over the years, Gibbs had heard some pretty wild rumors about the base buried deep inside a mountain in Colorado, including some unexplained deaths, but he wasn't going to tell the distraught father about that. "There's a few Marine Corps security units there, but not enough to give me a direct line of communication." He held up his hand to stop Dickerson's argument before it could even start. "But, I will see what I can find out."
---NCIS---
It was a day of cold cases and paperwork which allowed Gibbs an afternoon of tackling the problem, but by the end of the normal workday he'd exhausted his resources and was no closer to finding out anything. As the rest of the team said their goodbyes and filed out, he held up a file folder and called out to one of them. "McGee, need you to stay a minute."
"Yeah, sure, Boss." Tim glanced over at his teammates who snickered as they continued on to the elevator. The young man was so obsessive about his paperwork, it was a rare day he was called back for an issue with a file and they enjoyed the look on his face. Glaring at them one last time as the elevator door closed, McGee turned his attention to the file Gibbs was handing him.
Tim was mentally reviewing the cases they'd closed recently as he opened the file. "Is this about my expense report on the Hernandez case? This... this isn't one of my reports. Is this a new case, Boss?"
"Not our jurisdiction, but..." Gibbs thought about the risks he was asking the other man to take and shook his head. "Never mind, McGee, this is my problem."
Ignoring the outreached hand, Tim continued to study what Gibbs had put together. "Why isn't the Air Force conducting their own investigation? There's no indication that he went AWOL, but if there was some sort of training accident, why the cover-up?" Tim finally looked up. "Who is he, Boss?"
"His dad and I were in the Corps together. Bobby is just a year older than Kelly." Gibbs' voice was low and Tim had to strain to hear it. "Rob and I used to joke that we'd be in-laws some day. He's a good kid, wouldn't take off, not while his mom's battling cancer."
Realizing how personal this was to Gibbs, McGee returned to his desk with the file. "Their security is pretty tight, it will probably take me a while and I'm not sure how far I can get without attracting attention."
"Whatever you can do, McGee - and, Tim?" Gibbs waited until he looked up, shocked at the rare use of his first name. "Thank you."
---NCIS---
Gibbs would never admit it to another living soul, but he loved watching McGee work. The younger man reacted so intently when given a puzzle to solve with his computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard. There was nothing Gibbs could do to help the search, but if McGee was going to pull an all-nighter helping a friend of Gibbs', then the least Gibbs could do was to stay and support him.
Several hours into the search, Gibbs left for a short while, bringing back dinner for the two of them. McGee gave an absent nod, his nose almost touching the the screen as he studied the encryption he was working through. It took the waving of a fresh cup of coffee under his nose that brought McGee's attention away from his work long enough to eat while his programs ran.
"Oh, thanks, Boss."
Gibbs smiled and patted McGee on the back. Yeah, he loved watching the younger man do what he was so good at. "No problem, eat while it's hot."
Sometime after 0300, Tim sat up straight, staring at his computer. "Oh, crap."
Gibbs had been dozing, but jumped to his feet. "What have you got?"
"Trouble." McGee was frantically trying to back out of the system he'd landed in, erasing his tracks as quickly as he could.
"Talk to me, McGee."
"He's part of a major top secret project. Presidential eyes only kind of project."
"Shit." Gibbs realized quickly that he'd asked McGee to commit what could be classified as treason. "Can you get clear?"
McGee hadn't broken a sweat doing this since the first time he'd hacked the CIA under Gibbs' orders, but he was sweating now. "Working on it."
Forty minutes later he sagged back in his seat and rubbed his face.
"Well?"
"I think I got out clean. If not, I left a circular trail that leads to nowhere - I hope.
"You hope?"
Raking his fingers through his hair, Tim stood and started to pace. "Their system, I've never seen anything like that, Boss. It was like a hybrid of standard government security protocols and something totally foreign." He thought about the files he'd seen and paled at the implication. "Actually beyond foreign."
Gibbs had to literally step into McGee's path to get him to stop. "What did you find?"
Tim shook his head. "I don't think I should tell you, Boss. No point in both of us going down for this."
"I'm the one that asked you to do this. If anybody is going down, it will be me. I'll make sure of it, Tim, so tell me what you found."
Again with his first name and McGee caved, looking around. "Not here, your office."
Gibbs didn't say a word, just led them to the elevator. Once they were between floors and he'd flipped the emergency switch, he turned back to McGee. "Now talk."
Tim's mouth opened and closed several times before he found the right words. "The Air Force has somehow acquired the technology to open wormholes to different planets in the galaxy."
"Planets?" Gibbs stared at him in shock.
"Populated planets, Boss. Aliens. And some of them I think we're at war with. Your friend's son was either killed or captured on the other side of the galaxy."
Gibbs was still staring. Part of him was convinced that McGee had somehow hacked into someone's bizarre science fiction novel and part of him... "Holy crap, McGee."
Now it was Gibbs' turn to pace as he shoved his fingers through his hair. Finally he stopped in front of McGee, a worried expression on his face. "If somebody were to specifically search your computer, could they find any traces of what you did?"
"Possibly." Tim chewed his lip and looked up when Gibbs grasped his shoulders. "My focus was on wiping the trail between the two agencies, Boss, but I still need to scrub my system."
That's what Gibbs had been afraid of. He remained in front of McGee, absently rubbing the other man's shoulders. "Okay, that's what you're going to do next, whatever you need to do to remove every trace. Scrub it, wipe it, replace the hard drive and take a sledgehammer to that one, whatever it it takes. Then you're going to be glued to me until we're absolutely sure you're in the clear. You got it?"
"Okay." Tim tried to look confident, but he couldn't hide the fear in his eyes.
Gibbs pulled him a little closer, resting his forehead against McGee's. "It's going to be all right, Tim." They stood like that for a few more moments before Gibbs straightened and flipped the switch to get the elevator moving again.
It was less than an hour to the start of the normal working day before McGee was satisfied that nothing was left to find anywhere. He looked up and nodded at Gibbs when the elevator doors opened. He looked over, expecting to find Ziva arriving early, or possibly Tony. Instead, what he saw were several Air Force officers and a handful of MP's.
"Oh, crap."
This entry was originally posted at http://emerald-green37.dreamwidth.org/17907.html. Please comment there using OpenID.