NCIS - Butterfly Effect (PG, Gen) [1/3]
Title: Butterfly Effect
Fandom: NCIS
Character(s): Team. :)
Genre: Drama, action, friendship
Pairing: Gen
Spoilers: Up to 6x16 (Bounce)
Disclaimer: NCIS doesn't belong to me, this is solely for fun. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: An unsanctioned 'team building trust exercise' in three parts.
--
Butterfly Effect
Part I:
“Of all the most stupid, ridiculous, idiotic--.”
“Ziva.”
“-imbecilic, moronic, hypocritical--.”
“Ziva, could you just.-“
“-misguided, self-sacrificing--.”
“Ziva!”
“What?” The female Mossad agent stops pacing immediately, executing a neat turn as she whirls around to face McGee. “Do you agree with him?”
Abby glances from Ziva back towards Tim. “Of course he doesn’t. You don’t, right McGee?” It’s a little presumptuous of her to assume that, maybe - but they’re running out of time and what little they have to spare is not being spent on niceties.
“Of course I don’t!” He replies indignantly. “But --.”
“We are his team, yes? All for one and one for all; Three Musketeers, no? Yet time after time again, he tells us nothing, insists on going off alone - does he not think we would provide willing back-up?”
“It’s not you, Ziva. It’s him.” McGee is the only one to jump as Tony’s face appears on the video feed from M-TAC - Ziva is too tightly wound to lose even the slightest bit of instinctual control to a flinch, and Abby is used to people flitting in and out of conversations by way of a webcam.
Tony’s face is serious and determined - he drops his usual carefree demeanour when Gibbs goes Rambo on them, adjusting as the heavy weight of responsibility for the team settles comfortably over his shoulders.
“After Kate --,” Tony begins awkwardly, before trailing off. There’s a noticeable pause as he tries to say it - she deserves at least this; she deserved so much more - but even now, almost four years after the fact, he cannot say it aloud. “After Kate, he started doing things more on his own. Calling Mike Franks, because he didn’t want us involved.”
Abby picks up where he leaves off. “He can’t bear to see another one of you guys hurt.”
Tony doesn’t bother voicing his opinion of Mike Franks. Not only did the guy knock him unconscious with the butt of a gun, he seems Gibbs’ new go-to guy whenever things get sketchy, veering into the territory of not-quite-agency-approved.
It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate the sentiment - the idea that Gibbs is trying to protect them - but he thought they’d established by now that Tony isn’t going anywhere, and that’s something Gibbs will just have to accept.
McGee suffers from an imbalance in confidence - too little when he’s dealing with new situations full of unfamiliar territory, too much when he’s on familiar ground and looking at things from a narrow point of view.
Abby is loyal - almost to a fault. While he appreciates the pain she was in after Gibbs had run off to Mexico, her demeanour during Gibbs’ absence had not boosted Tony’s confidence over the whole team-leadership thing that had been dumped in his lap by the Director.
Ziva is competitive, to the point where everything is a debate. Everything is a fight. She adopts an offensive stance when they’re on new topics; lashes out when she’s forced onto the defensive.
Tony is well aware of his own faults. He is a goofball in the extreme - while most of the time, his jokes serve to lighten the mood; they occasionally veer into the distracting sort of petty, sniping banter that creates a rift in the team’s harmony.
They’ve been through a lot as a team. From the holiday celebrations to the post-case hangovers, they have seen each other through thick and thin.
Gibbs, for all of his wisdom on cases - is prone to thick-headedness in the personal arena. He may think he’s protecting his team by keeping them in the dark and going off on his own; but he should know by now that they have their priorities straight - team before career.
Also -- if he thinks that ditching the cell phone would keep them from tracking him down, he’s seriously underestimated Abby.
“He’s turned his cell off and didn’t take an agency car, but there’s a tracker in his medic alert bracelet. Boss-man’s location coming right up.”
“Feed the trace into M-TAC, Abs,” Tony asks. He is stuck upstairs, as the burden of temporary Director-ship has been passed onto him in the absence of both Gibbs and Vance.
“Already on it.”
They watch the screen as the trace narrows in on a specific location. “He’s…”
“…right here.”
They spin as one. Gibbs meets all of their stares head-on, sparing a glance towards the webcam where Tony is watching the scene unfold.
The trust, approval, and utter determination shining brightly in each of their eyes is what lets Gibbs know he made the right decision in coming back.
That and the message McGee left on his phone. Their youngest agent is a hell of a speaker when he’s passionate about something.
The corner of his mouth twitches up in a smile as he holds the CAFF-POW out to Abby, who is too dumfounded to accept it at the moment.
Ziva is cognizant enough to accept the obscenely caffeinated drink and set it down beside their scientist.
“Gibbs.” Abby is the first to break the silence, lighting up at the reappearance of the wayward soul they’d been discussing possible methods of tracking down.
He allows them a minute to get over their surprise before he starts dishing out orders.
“Tony - campfire in five.”
Gibbs has started calling his conferences with Tony that; a nod to Tony’s time as team leader, and reinforcement of his complete confidence in his Senior Field Agent’s abilities.
“On it, Boss.”
Gibbs gives a respectful nod to DiNozzo who attempts a smile before cutting the connection. “Tim - I need you to find an address.” He hands their computer-savvy agent a slip of paper, which McGee accepts before slipping into the back room of Abby’s lab to work on it.
“Ziva,” he addresses the young woman, who seems to jerk up and focus on him even more intently. “I’m going to get Abby to look up building plans - I need you to work on an entry plan.”
She nods solemnly. Besides him, she has the most experience in purely tactical situations like the one he is proposing.
“Abby,” he calls out next, saving his scientist for last. She raises an unapologetic eyebrow, daring him to object to the actions he surely overheard them discussing before his dramatic appearance. His brief smile widens. “In the medic alert bracelet? Good work.” He kisses her on the cheek before taking his leave to go and meet Tony.
-
"I need you outside receiving."
"By the time we get down from receiving, it’ll be over."
"I want someone I know there."
"That’s the same as saying someone you trust. Someone you can depend on."
(1x16 - ‘Bete Noir’)
-
Gibbs rides the elevator up to the bullpen, where Tony quietly steps on. They wait until the elevator is between Abby’s lab and Ducky’s domain before flicking the emergency stop.
“You know what I’m going to ask of you.”
“Boss, it’s not that I don’t want to, but--.”
“Tony. Do you trust me?” Gibbs cuts off the rambling with a simple question.
“That’s not fair, Gibbs.”
“Not what I asked.”
It’s not a fair question because there is only one answer. There has only ever been one answer. Gibbs knows this because Tony knows this.
DiNozzo doesn’t answer, meeting Gibbs’ intense gaze readily. Tony may be a rambler, but he quiets when things get serious.
Tony breaks eye contact first. “Hey,” Gibbs draws the Italian’s attention again, lightly tapping Tony’s chin to gently pull his head back up. “You got this?”
His actions have the desired effect. Tony straightens up, his posture morphing into something intense and determined. “I got this, Boss.”
Gibbs gives an approving nod - he’d never expected otherwise - and sets the elevator back into motion once more.
-
McGee’s first interaction with Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ team came in the form of a phone call, reporting to the Major Crimes Response Team that a body had been found on the base at Norfolk.
-
“I’ve heard stories about Special Agent Gibbs.”
“Only about half of them are true. The trick is figuring out which half.”
(1x07 - Sub Rosa)
-
Over the following months, he’d worked a few more cases with them - each time, getting a small chance to delve into the psyche of actual field agents doing actual investigative work. Each time, getting to see how the pieces went together instead of cracking codes for his employer at Norfolk.
Just when he thought he was going to be stuck behind a desk forever; only getting glimpses into the career of his dreams, Gibbs had thrown a curve-ball his way.
-
“I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you. You’ve just been promoted to a full-time field agent.”
“Really? That’s incredible! What’s the --.”
“You belong to me now.”
(2x01 - See No Evil)
-
A team like theirs is nothing if not a collaboration.
They are each other.
He has taught them electronic tips and tricks beyond the basics instilled in them at FLETC and on-the-fly working cases. They have taught him more than how to investigate - they have taught him how to be worthy of the title ‘Special Agent.’
He hadn’t seen the changes at the time; hadn’t noticed the marked difference until Director Shepard had died and he’d moved down to the sub-basement, working alongside shadows of himself from days past.
-
“He made it very clear to me that I couldn’t talk to anyone except for him.”
“Wouldn’t have stopped you in the past.”
“Well, it’s not the same. We were a team. I would give this up in a heartbeat to be working with you and Ziva again.”
“And DiNozzo?”
“Yeah, him too.”
(6x01 - Last Man Standing)
-
They are their experiences.
They are each other.
The Tim McGee of today is not the one who called Special Agent DiNozzo, Senior Field Agent on the Major Crimes Response Team six years ago. Whether he has changed for the better or for the worse is not for them to decide.
He is darker now - more cynical, more haunted - but his team tries their best to fill the gap where his innocence used to lie.
They are a family made up of dysfunction bridged by good intentions.
-
“I’ve never hit a woman before, but if you come at me with that thing, I will drop you.”
“They come in here shooting; you’re in the firing line, same as us.”
“Shoot me up, slice me up - it doesn’t matter, okay? Because I’m done.”
(6x12 - Caged)
-
All of their patch jobs, all of their best intentions - somehow, some way, it manages to be enough.
McGee has faith in these people.
He will back them up here, regardless of the repressions to his career.
Gibbs returns to the lab without Tony in tow, but he is calm and has the determined look of someone who has organized his thoughts - a state which makes Tim suspect his Boss has been to see Ducky, since the two often bounce ideas off each other.
Gibbs drapes himself across the back of McGee’s chair, the way he often does when Tim is engaging in not-quite-agency-sanctioned activities. “3071 Tipple Road, Boss,” McGee states casually as he glances over his shoulder at his Boss. He will never like someone looking over his shoulder while he’s typing, but he’s learned to deal with Gibbs doing it. He offers the address up freely, but needs more information on what Gibbs is planning to do with it.
To get said information, he casually follows Gibbs back into the main portion of the lab where Ziva has grabbed a marker and is sketching her ideas on a set of building plans. Out of courtesy for her teammates’ ears, Abby has plugged in headphones and retreated into her own little world of heavy bass and intense science while she works.
-
“Enter the central hub, retrieve Domino, extract without leaving a trace.”
“Boss, it’s an impossible mission.”
“I suddenly see myself dangling from wires.”
“Our leak, our responsibility. Use any resource. Don’t let out specifics. I want to hear a plan.”
(6x08 - Cloak)
-
Ziva walks them through her entry plan for what looks to be an abandoned warehouse. Of course - that’s the cliché in situations like this, right? To some degree, Tim gets it - abandoned warehouses are perfect for the bad guys’ lair. But it offends the writer in him that these people are so predictable.
“Is this where Petty Officer Hannah Fairlyn is being held?” McGee questions. This case comes as a relief in many ways - they’re dealing with a kidnapping of a Navy officer, instead of the death of one; but as always, there is a certain time stigma attached to them.
They’d gotten a break in the case when they’d learned of a warehouse in the possession of Fairlyn’s ex-boyfriend - their prime suspect-- only to learn they were not the only ones interested in it. In fact, they had been ordered by the Directors of both the FBI and CIA to avoid it at all costs, as they were working a sensitive joint undercover operation around it.
It was at this point Gibbs had disappeared. When Mike Franks had made an appearance in the office, the team had realized that Gibbs was preparing another one of his solo missions - something they simply couldn’t stand for, after the fallout from similar scenarios in the past.
After events like those on the dock with Maddie Tyler - Tim will always remember arriving on the scene at the docks with Ziva, just in time to see a soaking-wet Tony collapse next to his Boss - this is one thing Tim cannot stand.
For once, he had thrown caution to the wind and let loose on Gibbs for not trusting his team in the form of a phone message. Gibbs has free reign in so many ways - the benefit of a prodigal combination of experience and natural wisdom - but self-sacrificing solo missions are something Tim will never support.
“It is likely,” Ziva offers up when Gibbs makes no move to respond.
“Then what’s the importance of the address you had me find?” McGee questions. He’s determined to learn everything about the situation before going in - determined to make sure this doesn’t go down like the failed Domino stint that Tony is still tight-lipped and sore over, nor like the fallout from that, which resulted in the death of Agent Lee.
“The Petty Officer has a step-brother,” Gibbs explains briefly. “Let Tony know we’re going to pay him a visit.”
Tim’s eyebrows knit in confusion, as he tries to piece the peaces of the puzzle together. Ziva is looking at McGee intently now, too - she must understand what Gibbs is getting at here, as well.
“I - oh.” He cuts himself off awkwardly. “Oh.”
As simply as that, he gets it. They will be paying Fairlyn’s step-brother a visit, for sure - but Tony can also use this as a perfectly valid cover to keep the other agencies in the dark up until the time when their team can enter the warehouse.
This is why Abby has plugged in her headphones - what she doesn’t hear, she can’t betray if asked later.
Gibbs has never been one to respect agency protocols or boundaries before - especially not when a life could hang in the balance.
TBC
Navigation:
Part I / Part II / Part III
Fandom: NCIS
Character(s): Team. :)
Genre: Drama, action, friendship
Pairing: Gen
Spoilers: Up to 6x16 (Bounce)
Disclaimer: NCIS doesn't belong to me, this is solely for fun. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: An unsanctioned 'team building trust exercise' in three parts.
--
Butterfly Effect
Part I:
“Of all the most stupid, ridiculous, idiotic--.”
“Ziva.”
“-imbecilic, moronic, hypocritical--.”
“Ziva, could you just.-“
“-misguided, self-sacrificing--.”
“Ziva!”
“What?” The female Mossad agent stops pacing immediately, executing a neat turn as she whirls around to face McGee. “Do you agree with him?”
Abby glances from Ziva back towards Tim. “Of course he doesn’t. You don’t, right McGee?” It’s a little presumptuous of her to assume that, maybe - but they’re running out of time and what little they have to spare is not being spent on niceties.
“Of course I don’t!” He replies indignantly. “But --.”
“We are his team, yes? All for one and one for all; Three Musketeers, no? Yet time after time again, he tells us nothing, insists on going off alone - does he not think we would provide willing back-up?”
“It’s not you, Ziva. It’s him.” McGee is the only one to jump as Tony’s face appears on the video feed from M-TAC - Ziva is too tightly wound to lose even the slightest bit of instinctual control to a flinch, and Abby is used to people flitting in and out of conversations by way of a webcam.
Tony’s face is serious and determined - he drops his usual carefree demeanour when Gibbs goes Rambo on them, adjusting as the heavy weight of responsibility for the team settles comfortably over his shoulders.
“After Kate --,” Tony begins awkwardly, before trailing off. There’s a noticeable pause as he tries to say it - she deserves at least this; she deserved so much more - but even now, almost four years after the fact, he cannot say it aloud. “After Kate, he started doing things more on his own. Calling Mike Franks, because he didn’t want us involved.”
Abby picks up where he leaves off. “He can’t bear to see another one of you guys hurt.”
Tony doesn’t bother voicing his opinion of Mike Franks. Not only did the guy knock him unconscious with the butt of a gun, he seems Gibbs’ new go-to guy whenever things get sketchy, veering into the territory of not-quite-agency-approved.
It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate the sentiment - the idea that Gibbs is trying to protect them - but he thought they’d established by now that Tony isn’t going anywhere, and that’s something Gibbs will just have to accept.
McGee suffers from an imbalance in confidence - too little when he’s dealing with new situations full of unfamiliar territory, too much when he’s on familiar ground and looking at things from a narrow point of view.
Abby is loyal - almost to a fault. While he appreciates the pain she was in after Gibbs had run off to Mexico, her demeanour during Gibbs’ absence had not boosted Tony’s confidence over the whole team-leadership thing that had been dumped in his lap by the Director.
Ziva is competitive, to the point where everything is a debate. Everything is a fight. She adopts an offensive stance when they’re on new topics; lashes out when she’s forced onto the defensive.
Tony is well aware of his own faults. He is a goofball in the extreme - while most of the time, his jokes serve to lighten the mood; they occasionally veer into the distracting sort of petty, sniping banter that creates a rift in the team’s harmony.
They’ve been through a lot as a team. From the holiday celebrations to the post-case hangovers, they have seen each other through thick and thin.
Gibbs, for all of his wisdom on cases - is prone to thick-headedness in the personal arena. He may think he’s protecting his team by keeping them in the dark and going off on his own; but he should know by now that they have their priorities straight - team before career.
Also -- if he thinks that ditching the cell phone would keep them from tracking him down, he’s seriously underestimated Abby.
“He’s turned his cell off and didn’t take an agency car, but there’s a tracker in his medic alert bracelet. Boss-man’s location coming right up.”
“Feed the trace into M-TAC, Abs,” Tony asks. He is stuck upstairs, as the burden of temporary Director-ship has been passed onto him in the absence of both Gibbs and Vance.
“Already on it.”
They watch the screen as the trace narrows in on a specific location. “He’s…”
“…right here.”
They spin as one. Gibbs meets all of their stares head-on, sparing a glance towards the webcam where Tony is watching the scene unfold.
The trust, approval, and utter determination shining brightly in each of their eyes is what lets Gibbs know he made the right decision in coming back.
That and the message McGee left on his phone. Their youngest agent is a hell of a speaker when he’s passionate about something.
The corner of his mouth twitches up in a smile as he holds the CAFF-POW out to Abby, who is too dumfounded to accept it at the moment.
Ziva is cognizant enough to accept the obscenely caffeinated drink and set it down beside their scientist.
“Gibbs.” Abby is the first to break the silence, lighting up at the reappearance of the wayward soul they’d been discussing possible methods of tracking down.
He allows them a minute to get over their surprise before he starts dishing out orders.
“Tony - campfire in five.”
Gibbs has started calling his conferences with Tony that; a nod to Tony’s time as team leader, and reinforcement of his complete confidence in his Senior Field Agent’s abilities.
“On it, Boss.”
Gibbs gives a respectful nod to DiNozzo who attempts a smile before cutting the connection. “Tim - I need you to find an address.” He hands their computer-savvy agent a slip of paper, which McGee accepts before slipping into the back room of Abby’s lab to work on it.
“Ziva,” he addresses the young woman, who seems to jerk up and focus on him even more intently. “I’m going to get Abby to look up building plans - I need you to work on an entry plan.”
She nods solemnly. Besides him, she has the most experience in purely tactical situations like the one he is proposing.
“Abby,” he calls out next, saving his scientist for last. She raises an unapologetic eyebrow, daring him to object to the actions he surely overheard them discussing before his dramatic appearance. His brief smile widens. “In the medic alert bracelet? Good work.” He kisses her on the cheek before taking his leave to go and meet Tony.
-
"I need you outside receiving."
"By the time we get down from receiving, it’ll be over."
"I want someone I know there."
"That’s the same as saying someone you trust. Someone you can depend on."
(1x16 - ‘Bete Noir’)
-
Gibbs rides the elevator up to the bullpen, where Tony quietly steps on. They wait until the elevator is between Abby’s lab and Ducky’s domain before flicking the emergency stop.
“You know what I’m going to ask of you.”
“Boss, it’s not that I don’t want to, but--.”
“Tony. Do you trust me?” Gibbs cuts off the rambling with a simple question.
“That’s not fair, Gibbs.”
“Not what I asked.”
It’s not a fair question because there is only one answer. There has only ever been one answer. Gibbs knows this because Tony knows this.
DiNozzo doesn’t answer, meeting Gibbs’ intense gaze readily. Tony may be a rambler, but he quiets when things get serious.
Tony breaks eye contact first. “Hey,” Gibbs draws the Italian’s attention again, lightly tapping Tony’s chin to gently pull his head back up. “You got this?”
His actions have the desired effect. Tony straightens up, his posture morphing into something intense and determined. “I got this, Boss.”
Gibbs gives an approving nod - he’d never expected otherwise - and sets the elevator back into motion once more.
-
McGee’s first interaction with Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ team came in the form of a phone call, reporting to the Major Crimes Response Team that a body had been found on the base at Norfolk.
-
“I’ve heard stories about Special Agent Gibbs.”
“Only about half of them are true. The trick is figuring out which half.”
(1x07 - Sub Rosa)
-
Over the following months, he’d worked a few more cases with them - each time, getting a small chance to delve into the psyche of actual field agents doing actual investigative work. Each time, getting to see how the pieces went together instead of cracking codes for his employer at Norfolk.
Just when he thought he was going to be stuck behind a desk forever; only getting glimpses into the career of his dreams, Gibbs had thrown a curve-ball his way.
-
“I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you. You’ve just been promoted to a full-time field agent.”
“Really? That’s incredible! What’s the --.”
“You belong to me now.”
(2x01 - See No Evil)
-
A team like theirs is nothing if not a collaboration.
They are each other.
He has taught them electronic tips and tricks beyond the basics instilled in them at FLETC and on-the-fly working cases. They have taught him more than how to investigate - they have taught him how to be worthy of the title ‘Special Agent.’
He hadn’t seen the changes at the time; hadn’t noticed the marked difference until Director Shepard had died and he’d moved down to the sub-basement, working alongside shadows of himself from days past.
-
“He made it very clear to me that I couldn’t talk to anyone except for him.”
“Wouldn’t have stopped you in the past.”
“Well, it’s not the same. We were a team. I would give this up in a heartbeat to be working with you and Ziva again.”
“And DiNozzo?”
“Yeah, him too.”
(6x01 - Last Man Standing)
-
They are their experiences.
They are each other.
The Tim McGee of today is not the one who called Special Agent DiNozzo, Senior Field Agent on the Major Crimes Response Team six years ago. Whether he has changed for the better or for the worse is not for them to decide.
He is darker now - more cynical, more haunted - but his team tries their best to fill the gap where his innocence used to lie.
They are a family made up of dysfunction bridged by good intentions.
-
“I’ve never hit a woman before, but if you come at me with that thing, I will drop you.”
“They come in here shooting; you’re in the firing line, same as us.”
“Shoot me up, slice me up - it doesn’t matter, okay? Because I’m done.”
(6x12 - Caged)
-
All of their patch jobs, all of their best intentions - somehow, some way, it manages to be enough.
McGee has faith in these people.
He will back them up here, regardless of the repressions to his career.
Gibbs returns to the lab without Tony in tow, but he is calm and has the determined look of someone who has organized his thoughts - a state which makes Tim suspect his Boss has been to see Ducky, since the two often bounce ideas off each other.
Gibbs drapes himself across the back of McGee’s chair, the way he often does when Tim is engaging in not-quite-agency-sanctioned activities. “3071 Tipple Road, Boss,” McGee states casually as he glances over his shoulder at his Boss. He will never like someone looking over his shoulder while he’s typing, but he’s learned to deal with Gibbs doing it. He offers the address up freely, but needs more information on what Gibbs is planning to do with it.
To get said information, he casually follows Gibbs back into the main portion of the lab where Ziva has grabbed a marker and is sketching her ideas on a set of building plans. Out of courtesy for her teammates’ ears, Abby has plugged in headphones and retreated into her own little world of heavy bass and intense science while she works.
-
“Enter the central hub, retrieve Domino, extract without leaving a trace.”
“Boss, it’s an impossible mission.”
“I suddenly see myself dangling from wires.”
“Our leak, our responsibility. Use any resource. Don’t let out specifics. I want to hear a plan.”
(6x08 - Cloak)
-
Ziva walks them through her entry plan for what looks to be an abandoned warehouse. Of course - that’s the cliché in situations like this, right? To some degree, Tim gets it - abandoned warehouses are perfect for the bad guys’ lair. But it offends the writer in him that these people are so predictable.
“Is this where Petty Officer Hannah Fairlyn is being held?” McGee questions. This case comes as a relief in many ways - they’re dealing with a kidnapping of a Navy officer, instead of the death of one; but as always, there is a certain time stigma attached to them.
They’d gotten a break in the case when they’d learned of a warehouse in the possession of Fairlyn’s ex-boyfriend - their prime suspect-- only to learn they were not the only ones interested in it. In fact, they had been ordered by the Directors of both the FBI and CIA to avoid it at all costs, as they were working a sensitive joint undercover operation around it.
It was at this point Gibbs had disappeared. When Mike Franks had made an appearance in the office, the team had realized that Gibbs was preparing another one of his solo missions - something they simply couldn’t stand for, after the fallout from similar scenarios in the past.
After events like those on the dock with Maddie Tyler - Tim will always remember arriving on the scene at the docks with Ziva, just in time to see a soaking-wet Tony collapse next to his Boss - this is one thing Tim cannot stand.
For once, he had thrown caution to the wind and let loose on Gibbs for not trusting his team in the form of a phone message. Gibbs has free reign in so many ways - the benefit of a prodigal combination of experience and natural wisdom - but self-sacrificing solo missions are something Tim will never support.
“It is likely,” Ziva offers up when Gibbs makes no move to respond.
“Then what’s the importance of the address you had me find?” McGee questions. He’s determined to learn everything about the situation before going in - determined to make sure this doesn’t go down like the failed Domino stint that Tony is still tight-lipped and sore over, nor like the fallout from that, which resulted in the death of Agent Lee.
“The Petty Officer has a step-brother,” Gibbs explains briefly. “Let Tony know we’re going to pay him a visit.”
Tim’s eyebrows knit in confusion, as he tries to piece the peaces of the puzzle together. Ziva is looking at McGee intently now, too - she must understand what Gibbs is getting at here, as well.
“I - oh.” He cuts himself off awkwardly. “Oh.”
As simply as that, he gets it. They will be paying Fairlyn’s step-brother a visit, for sure - but Tony can also use this as a perfectly valid cover to keep the other agencies in the dark up until the time when their team can enter the warehouse.
This is why Abby has plugged in her headphones - what she doesn’t hear, she can’t betray if asked later.
Gibbs has never been one to respect agency protocols or boundaries before - especially not when a life could hang in the balance.
TBC
Navigation:
Part I / Part II / Part III