Inter-agency Nightmare 2/?
Colonel Jack O'Neill was not having a good week, let alone a good day. The negotiations on P3X-518 had gone to hell and three members of SG-5 were now being held hostage, the local inhabitants convinced that the humans were responsible for some technology that had been causing problems on the planet.
The problem was that not only were they not responsible for it, they couldn't sort out exactly what 'it' was. They'd been able to figure out it was some sort of alien computer, programmed to randomly attack the natives to keep them in line. Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to hack into the computer or deduce anything about the weapon system it controlled. Now, they had a security breech here on Earth. For the thousandth time Jack wondered why he didn't just take his well-earned retirement. Of course, the answer to that was a certain anthropologist with a brilliant mind and a wicked mouth who wasn't ready for retirement and needed Jack at his side to keep him safe.
He looked over at Carter, his second in command on the team, who was tapping away at her phone, in communication with Daniel and Teal'c, the other two members of their team. The civilian and the alien members of the team had stayed behind at the mountain while the military half of the team had flown out as soon as they discovered somebody asking questions about one of the hostages held on P3X-518. "Well?"
"We might be able to contain the situation, Sir. Gibbs is former Marine Corps, he served with Airman Dickerson's father."
O'Neill did feel for the families who were left wondering why their loved ones weren't calling home, he really did, but as the leader of SG1 he had orders to follow and a bigger picture to look at. "Then let's hope he didn't run this through channels, Carter."
Two MP's were stationed at the entrance, while the rest continued upstairs with Carter and O'Neill. The guards were shocked, but outranked, as the Air Force swarmed the building.
"He better be here, Carter." Jack leaned over to look at the picture on her phone one last time, seeing a man about his age. From what he'd learned about the man already, under different circumstances, they might have been good friends.
"According to the main gate, he's been here all night, Sir."
The elevator slowed to a stop. "All right, let's do this." He put on a pair of mirrored sunglasses as the doors opened and he strode out, Carter to his left, MP's flanking them to either side.
He recognized Gibbs instantly from his picture, but there was something about the other man with him that caught O'Neill's attention. Their arrival didn't surprise him, but it did frighten him. Curious, Jack let them talk first. It was Gibbs, stepping in front of his younger counterpart, that spoke first.
"I'm the one you want."
Jack glanced over at Carter, mentally urging her to play along. "Not so sure about that." Wanting to see how much he could rattle the younger man, Jack stepped around Gibbs and tapped his fingers on the first thing he reached - a computer tower. "Isn't that right, junior?"
Tim froze, not knowing what to do.
"So, Carter, what do we know about green eyes, here?"
Daniel had already sent her a brief bio on each of the team. "Timothy McGee, degrees from John Hopkins and MIT."
Jack let out a low whistle. "Pretty fancy degrees for a wanna-be FBI agent, Bucky. How come your boss is so hot to protect you?"
Tim tried to project a calm that he was definitely not feeling. "It's just the way he is."
Standing in back of Colonel O'Neill, Gibbs was silently seething. He'd been so focused on protecting McGee that he'd reacted like a rookie, accidentally putting McGee directly in the line of fire. While he tried to figure a way out, O'Neill continued to ask questions about McGee. "So, what kind of degrees does Bucky here have?"
Carter had been shocked by the answer, herself. "Bio-engineering and Computer Forensics."
"Computers? That's interesting." O'Neill thought about it for a minute. If he'd been in Gibbs' shoes, he would have asked... "So, kid, you try to get into our system after your boss struck out with his questions?"
There was one thing about Timothy McGee that all his friends knew - he couldn't lie worth a damn - so he didn't. "Prove it."
The younger man was reminding him more and more of Daniel Jackson and he looked over at Gibbs, letting a bit of humor show through. "Kid's got big brass ones, I'll give him that." Jack turned back towards McGee, but kept his eyes on Gibbs, using the mirrored lenses of his sunglasses to cover his actions. A flicker of pride and something more crossed Gibbs' face before the stoney expression returned.
"Oh, we will. Don't you worry about that." Jack nodded to the MP's and they moved close to take the two men into custody. When Gibbs tensed, Colonel O'Neill leaned closer. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. What will it do to your agency if the two of you are dragged out of here in handcuffs and publicly charged with treason? What will it do to Timmy-boy's career?"
Outmaneuvered, at least for now, Gibbs nodded his acceptance and McGee stood. Shoulder to shoulder, they walked to the elevator, the MP's surrounding, but not touching, them. Once in the elevator, Gibbs laid a comforting hand on Tim's back and they looked at each other, words unnecessary.
I'll get us out of this.
I know. I trust you, Boss.
---NCIS---
Vance screeched to a halt, not bothering to shut off the engine or even shut the door. One of the guards came out to meet him. "They're already gone, Sir. The Air Force just came in and scooped them up."
"Damn it." The Director of NCIS dug around in his pocket, but he didn't have any toothpicks. "Gibbs, what in the hell have you gotten yourself into now?"
He took a few steps back towards his car, then stopped and spun around. "Wait a minute, 'them'? Who did Gibbs get tangled up in this, DiNozzo?"
"No, Sir, it was Agent McGee."
Vance swore once again and pulled out his phone, telling Abby to come straight to the bullpen when she arrived.
---NCIS---
Singing along with the music on his iPod, Tony danced his way off the elevator. He wasn't late, but he'd cut it close as usual. Ziva was standing in the middle of their desks when he came around the corner. "Well, good morning, Officer David. It's a beautiful morning, isn't it? And if we don't catch a case today, it's going to be a beautiful weekend."
When she didn't respond right away, he looked around the bullpen, noticing several absences. "Where's the Boss and Probie? And where's the Probie's computer?"
The Israeli woman shook her head. "I do not know, Tony. Did you notice that the guards downstairs were very distracted this morning?"
He'd been busy with his new recordings of Bond music and they'd just waved him through. "Didn't pay much attention to be honest."
Before he could question her, Director Vance leaned over the catwalk railing. "DiNozzo, David, need you both in my office."
Nothing was said until the office was secured, which made the absence of Gibbs and McGee even more ominous. Vance had a toothpick clamped firmly in his teeth and it was already frayed.
"Sir?"
Vance started speaking before DiNozzo could say anything else. "Sometime yesterday, Gibbs started a personal investigation into a missing airman. The airman was apparently working on something top secret and Gibbs' questions attracted the wrong attention. Early this morning, Air Force security arrived and took Gibbs and McGee into custody. They have not been formally charged, but the investigation is for treason."
"No way. There's no way in hell that the Boss would commit treason and McGee..." Tony swallowed hard at the thought of the kid he'd trained facing something like this. "You know McGee's purer than the newly fallen snow."
The Director did know, unfortunately it wasn't that simple. "I know, but in this case, just asking the questions is something that certain people consider treason."
"Why McGee?" It was the first time the Mossad liaison had spoken since they'd arrived in Vance's office. "If it was Gibbs that caught their attention, why did they take McGee, too?"
"And where's his computer? Did they take it?"
"No. The only reason they would have taken McGee is if they thought he was involved. I've got Miss Sciuto going through his computer to see exactly what Gibbs has gotten them into." Vance leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. "Right now I don't have a clue how we're going to get them out of it, whatever it is."
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