Disclaimer : First, let me say that I don't particularly like crossovers. Just not my thing. However... I've had a fair amount of airport time
recently. Those who know me know that my
brain and airport time tend to combine in weird ways. So, you've been warned. Continue at your own risk :-) RLK
Sweet!
By
R. L. Keller
Special
Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs dropped the telephone receiver back into its cradle on
his desk at NCIS Headquarters. “Grab
your gear,” he called out the usual line to his team. Used to the routine, Agents Timothy McGee and
Anthony Dinozzo, and Officer Ziva David, grabbed their backpacks and headed for
the elevator. “Dead body at Norfolk on
the sub dock,” Gibbs added, to let them know where they were headed.
As
they all piled in and Ziva hit the button for the parking garage where they
would pick up their rig, Gibbs smacked Dinozzo on the back of the head. “What's that for?” Dinozzo demanded, staring
at his boss.
“Just
getting a head start,” Gibbs told him dryly.
“Seaview's in port.”
“Oh,”
Dinozzo said, dropping his glare as well as lowering his head slightly. “Thank you, boss,” he added softly.
As
McGee grinned broadly, David sent him a curious look. “Who is see-view?” she asked, her soft
Israeli accent sounding out the strange word.
“Not
who,” McGee told her, still with a slight grin despite the glare Dinozzo was
sending him because of it, “what. She's
a private submarine owned by the Nelson Institute of Marine Research.”
David's
eyes lit up. “Oh. I know that submarine. It has those weird windows, yes?” McGee nodded.
“But if it is a private sub, why is it at Norfolk?”
“The
Institute does occasional work for the Navy,” it was Gibbs' turn to
answer. “So she's allowed to use Navy
ports.”
“And
this is a problem for Tony because...?” David asked.
Dinozzo
once more ducked his head as it was Gibbs' turn to smile softly before he
answered. “The sub's owner is retired
Admiral Harriman Nelson. The man's got a
short fuse at the best of times, but Dinozzo holds the world's record for the
shortest amount of time taken to tick him off.”
The elevator reached the garage and the four headed for their car. Gibbs nodded at Dr. Donald Mallard, NCIS's coroner,
as he and his assistant climbed into their van, preparing to follow. Ducky, as he was known affectionately, waved
a hand back.
“And
just how did you do that?” David asked Dinozzo all too innocently, getting back
to the story.
“None
of your business,” Dinozzo muttered, trying to end the conversation.
But
Gibbs continued to explain. “We were
working security along with several other teams at a charity event hosted by
the SecNav's wife. Big
splashy affair. I think half of
DC was there.” A slight grin returned as
Dinozzo started turning red. “The place
was barely controlled chaos. Conversations going on all over the huge hall. Not cacophony, but you couldn't really hear
what was going on more than about ten feet away.” Ziva nodded that she understood. “All of a sudden Tony decides that he
recognizes a serial rapist/murderer in the group.”
“He
matched the sketches and description,” Dinozzo tried to defend himself. “Even Kate said so,” he named the team's
former member, killed in the line of duty.
“So,
instead of trying to find out who the guy was first, or even getting any
backup,” Gibbs continued as if Dinozzo hadn’t spoken, “Tony here wades through
the crowd until he's standing right behind the guy, pulls his weapon, and tells
him to walk quietly to the nearest exit.”
“I
gather events did not go exactly as planned, Tony?” David again spoke,
innocence now mingled with a hint of smugness and humor.
Dinozzo
didn't say a word so Gibbs continued.
“The group included Admiral Nelson and the SecNav himself. Instead of moving, the man turned and glared
at Tony, and Nelson bellowed when he saw the gun. Instant silence, all over
the room.”
“Man,
there had to be nearly a thousand people there,” McGee interjected, “and
instantly you could hear a pin drop.”
“McGee,”
Dinozzo threatened. Unfortunately it had
absolutely no effect, since Gibbs was directing the conversation.
Gibbs
flipped his head in a gesture all three were familiar with. “Turn's out the guy was Seaview's CO, Capt.
John Philips.” There was a choked-off
snort from David. “Yeah,” Gibbs
agreed. “Took Tony awhile to talk himself out of that mess.”
“Think
positive, Tony,” David told him.
“Perhaps Seaview will be docked far away from where we will be.”
Gibbs
shook his head. “Only one dock at
Norfolk is set up to handle subs, and that's the one we're headed for.”
“Oops,”
David said, but there was no hiding the humor behind that one word.
“Sweet,”
McGee added gleefully.
* *
* *
“What's
all the commotion out there?” Admiral Harriman Nelson asked his XO, Lt. Cdr.
Charles P. Morton as he entered Seaview's Observation Nose. Before Chip could answer, Nelson looked
around. “You know, I've been thinking. What would you say to redesigning Seaview and
putting the Observation Nose one deck up?”
The
blond looked up from the mound of paperwork he was arguing with. “Straight off the Control
Room, sir? You don't think that
would be a distraction to the Conn crew?”
“Humm. Hadn't thought
of that angle.” He shrugged, and
nodded out the submarine's unique windows to the activity across the dock in
the Norfolk Naval Shipyards, where Seaview was tied up for some repairs.
“Lee
walked over to the office a little while ago,” Chip named Seaview's skipper,
Cdr. Lee Crane. “I expect him to stop
and see what's going on when he comes back.
Everything was quiet, then about 0745 all hell
broke loose next to where the Wenatchee is docked. A couple of our crew said that they tried to
find out, as they came back from leave, but the SP's chased them off.” He grinned ever so slightly. “Lee doesn't chase so easily.”
Nelson
returned the grin but nodded once more outside, where several vehicles were
pulling up. “Whatever it is, it would
appear to be serious. NCIS has just
arrived.” They watched in silence a few
minutes, until another vehicle showed up on the dock. “Now that definitely has my curiosity
piqued. That's the NCIS coroner's van
from DC. Humm.” He sent Chip a quirky grin. “I wonder how hard the SP's would try to
dislodge a nosy 3-star Admiral?”
Chip
gathered his mounds of paperwork into a single stack. “Think I'll go along and help you find
out. If you don't mind, sir,” he added
quickly.
“Not
a'tall, Chip, not a'tall,” and the pair headed topside.
As
good a mood as Admiral Nelson appeared to be in, Chip was unprepared for the
snarl that came out of his mouth as they neared the scene on the other side of
the dock from where Seaview was tied up.
But it only took him a moment to figure it out – one of the NCIS agents
was the idiot that had tried to arrest Capt. Philips one night as a
rapist/murderer. He was just about to
consider his escape routes – Nelson showed every sign of imminent explosion –
when a voice broke into his thoughts.
“Dinozzo, go help Ducky.” Chip
recognized the voice as belonging to Special Agent Gibbs. A former Marine, the man was tough as
nails. But Chip also knew him to be
extremely good at his job.
“That's
what Ducky has Palmer for,” whined Dinozzo.
“Did
that sound like a request?” Gibbs spoke slowly and succinctly.
Chip
saw Dinozzo look up from whatever he was doing, abruptly blanch when he caught
sight of Nelson, and quickly head for the back of the van. Gibbs gave the departing back a quick grin
and held out his hand. “Good to see you
again, Admiral,” he greeted Nelson.
“It
would appear to be for a rotten reason,” Nelson shook the man's hand.
“Yeah,”
Gibbs agreed. “Not sure what we have
yet. Ducky?” he addressed the man, now
bent over a body partially hidden from view between two of the pallets sitting
on the dock loaded with boxes of supplies apparently for the Wenatchee.
But
before the coroner could answer, Dinozzo's voice was heard, still out of sight
behind the van. “Move along,” he ordered
someone, also out of sight. “Nothing of your business here.” Chip could hear a soft reply but not the
actual words, and Lee stepped into sight.
Chip hadn't seen him walk up, although he had
to admit that he'd been distracted during Nelson's and Gibbs' short
conversation by the other member of the NCIS team. Slender and dark-haired, she had a bit of an
exotic look when she'd turned from where she'd been taking pictures as he and
the Admiral first walked up. She'd sent
him a smile, which had broadened briefly when Gibbs ordered Dinozzo away, but
she'd quickly gone back to her job of documenting the scene.
As
Lee ignored another order from Dinozzo and continued to walk forward, Nelson
called out. “Lee.” Dinozzo had stepped out from behind the van
and reached out a hand as if to grab Lee.
At Nelson's call he stopped dead.
Chip started to grin, but the expression turned to surprise as Lee
spotted the woman.
“Ziva,”
he stopped walking and said in an amazed voice.
“Lee,”
she stopped taking pictures and stared at him.
“What
are you doing here?” they said at the same time, then both grinned broadly and
gave each other a quick hug before suddenly realizing that they'd become the
center of everyone's attention. Even
Dinozzo took a few steps closer, although still hugging the side of the van.
“I
gather you two know each other,” Nelson told Lee blandly but his eyes were
sparkling. It was very un-Lee-like to
show that much emotion in public – even if it had been only a very brief
moment.
Chip
wasn't even trying to hold in his amusement at Lee's momentary discomfort before
nodding. Gibbs, too, was sending the
pair a curious look. “Officer Ziva
David,” he made the introduction to Nelson, the accent on the second syllable
of her last name.
“Commander
Lee Crane, Seaview's captain,” Nelson returned the favor. Chip saw Dinozzo turn slightly green and
retreat a couple steps, but still watch the pair intently.
“Ziva,
ah, Officer David, and I met on an assignment,” Lee started to explain, “just before I was assigned to Seaview.” He turned back to David. “You're working with NCIS now?”
She
glanced quickly at Gibbs, but answered.
“I have been assigned as liaison between Mossad and NCIS.” She hesitated a second. “It is a long story.” She sent him a smile and a shrug.
“Where's
Captain Philips?” Gibbs asked Nelson quietly, but not so quietly that the whole
group didn't hear.
The
Admiral hesitated ever so slightly.
“Killed in the line of duty,” he answered gruffly. It was still too new a mental wound to come
out easily. “Mossad?”
It
was Gibbs' turn to shrug. “As Ziva says,
it's a long story. Ducky?” he got back
to business. Memories of losing Kate
Todd were still too fresh in his memory as well.
“As
you already know,” Dr. Mallard finally got a chance to answer, “I.D. on the
body says that he's Gregory Salazar, a civilian mechanic working on base.”
“Fingerprint
match confirmed,” Agent McGee added, holding up the small hand-held devise
designed just for that purpose.
“At
a quick glance, I'd say he was killed by being in the wrong place at the wrong
time,” the doctor quipped. At Gibbs'
instant glare, he continued. “Which was, by my estimation, approximately four hours ago. It would appear that he was smashed between
these two pallets.”
“Not
an accident,” was Gibbs' matter-of-fact conclusion.
“Not
likely,” Mallard agreed, “given that the forklift driver then rather obviously
backed off to set the pallet down before leaving.”
Gibbs
turned back to Nelson. “COB on the
Wenatchee found him when he and a couple of his men came out to start loading
the supplies aboard. The pallets were
already here. Nobody saw a blasted
thing.”
“Tough
one,” Nelson commiserated. But it got
him back to Seaview business. “Lee, what
did you find out?”
Lee
frowned. “Not much, sir,” he
muttered. “Seems the
lieutenant in charge of assigning work crews has his hands full at the moment. I gather he thinks that Seaview is low on the
priority pole. I tried to tell him just
to release the parts and we'd do our own repairs.” He shrugged.
“Didn't get very far. I was hoping maybe you could call someone
higher up the food chain.”
Nelson's
amiable expression turned instantly black as Lee was explaining. “Consider it done,” he growled, turned on his
heel, and headed for Seaview.
Chip
looked at Lee. “That wouldn't have been
a Lt. Graybill, by any chance?”
Lee
nodded. “Met him before?” It was Chip's turn to nod. “Who's in the radio shack?” Lee asked softly.
“Sparks,”
Chip confirmed. “Thank heavens. He's used to the Admiral's....” He glanced at the NCIS team, who were all
listening attentively. “Conversations,”
he finished tactfully.
Gibbs
grinned ever so slightly. “Anyone care to make a wager on how fast your supplies show up?” he
asked.
Chip
choked off a snort and Lee said to the agent.
“Known the Admiral awhile, I gather.”
“Long
enough,” Gibbs confirmed. He nodded in
David's direction. “Assignment?” he
asked.
Lee
hesitated and sent Chip a quick look.
The blond frowned but said nothing.
“I get loaned out to ONI occasionally,” Lee finally answered softly.
Gibbs
nodded and turned his gaze on David. “It
was not long before I was sent here to...” she hesitated.
“Help
Ari,” Gibbs finished the sentence in a growl.
David merely nodded. Gibbs glared
at her a moment before seeming to get himself back under control and abruptly
moved closer to Dr. Mallard, leaving Chip, Lee and Ziva standing somewhat by
themselves.
Lee
turned back to Ziva. “Ari?” he
asked. “Ari Aswari?”
Ziva
nodded, an unhappy expression on her face. “It was not a good time.”
“That's
an understatement.” Now that Nelson had
left and Gibbs seemed occupied with Dr. Mallard, Dinozzo had walked
closer. Chip saw David briefly glare at
him before dropping her eyes. Dinozzo
turned to Lee. “So, what does 'getting
loaned out to ONI' mean?”
“Tony,”
David admonished, “it is none of your business.
How have you been?” she turned to Lee, trying to dismiss the other
agent. “I have wondered where you
were.” She smiled somewhat seductively.
Lee
smiled shyly back. “And
I, you. I was sorry that I had to
leave so quickly.”
“Leave
where?” Dinozzo once more interjected, walking to position himself almost
between the two. Lee and David moved off
a few feet, closer to the edge of the dock, in an apparent attempt to get away
from the obnoxious agent and continue a private – hopefully –
conversation. It wasn't to be; Dinozzo
went with them, and Chip walked a cautious few feet closer himself. While Lee might have shown deference to the
supply lieutenant, Chip figured that it was just Lee's way of not knowing quite
how far he could rock the boat, so to speak, since he was so new aboard
Seaview. But Chip, who had known Lee
since they were roommates at Annapolis, also knew that Lee's dark Mediterranean
complexion masked a dark, slightly evil temper when pushed too far. If Dinozzo didn't leave him
alone... Well, Chip wanted to be
close enough to enjoy the show!
(Hebrew) You appear to have healed from your
wounds, David told Lee, with a casual glance up and down Lee's tall, lean
body.
Chip
buried a grin as Lee looked decidedly embarrassed by whatever Officer David had
said. But his expression turned to one
of surprise when Lee answered in the same language. ( ) It
wasn’t as bad as it first looked.
Chip assumed that it was Hebrew and had no idea that it was a language
Lee spoke. But then, he had to remind
himself that after they left Annapolis Chip and Lee hadn’t spent that much time
together. With Lee having been called on
to run errands for ONI – which Chip did not approve of, but knew that there
wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it – Lee could, and probably had, picked
up all sorts of talents that Chip wasn’t aware of.
“English,”
Dinozzo ordered the pair. “It’s not
polite to keep secrets from your partners.”
David
gave her head a quick shake, and smiled at Lee.
( ) Tony believes that he needs to know
everyone else’s business.
Lee
ignored the other agent as well. ( ) And
you haven’t yet shown him the error of ill-manners?
David
chuckled softly. ( ) Gibbs
disapproves of his agents killing each other.
“Ah,”
Lee answered with a smile in his voice.
“You
still haven’t told me where you met Ziva,” Dinozzo once more addressed Lee.
“Classified,”
Lee told him, never taking his eyes off the woman. They both kept the enigmatic, slightly
amused, expression on their faces.
“I
have top level clearance,” Dinozzo insisted.
“I
do not think you come even close to Lee’s, ah, Commander Crane’s, level of
security, Tony,” Ziva told him.
Dinozzo
snorted. “I rather doubt that, Ziva,” he
put emphasis on her name. “I’m a highly
trained field agent for NCIS. Crane here
is just a glorified sub driver.”
“You have no idea what you are talking about, Tony,” David’s tone had turned impatient. Dinozzo’s only indication that he even heard her was to move to stand even closer to Lee. She continued to Lee. ( ) About Gibb’s rule against killing my fellow agents – I may have to test that rule in the very near future.
Lee
sighed. ( ) There’s
an idiot in every crowd. It caused
David to laugh, and Lee joined her.
“Don’t you have somewhere else you need to be, Commander?” Dinozzo made the title sound ever so slightly derogatory.
Both
Lee and David took another step away from Dinozzo. “Not really,” Lee told him lightly, although
he was still looking at David, and she at him.
Chip thought that he detected a slight nod of heads exchanged between
Lee and David, and noticed that they were moving slowly closer to the edge of
the dock, facing each other as they stood parallel to the water. Dinozzo, as he moved, was now almost facing the
water, his back mostly to Chip. Chip had
to instantly get his expression under control.
This was getting interesting!
“Under
present circumstances,” Chip added, wanting to needle the disgusting Dinozzo
even further, “staying out of the Conn is probably a really good idea, at least
for the next bit of time.”
Lee
sighed again. “No joke,” he breathed.
“You’re
interfering in a crime scene investigation,” Dinozzo changed tactics, and once
more moved to get between Lee and David.
“Tony,
the crime scene is way over there,” David pointed to where Gibbs was watching
Dr. Mallard and his assistant put the body, now in a body bag, onto a
gurney. Agent McGee was standing halfway
between the two groups, apparently trying to keep track of both conversations.
“Then
that’s where you and I should be.”
Dinozzo reached out a hand and tried to grab David by the arm.
“Tony,
you are being a, a,” she struggled for the term she wanted, “a donkey’s rear,”
she finally settled on with a flip of her hand that took her arm out of
Dinozzo’s grasp.
Lee
grinned broadly. “Horse’s ass, Ziva,” he
corrected her softly.
“Yes,
that, too,” she agreed. McGee chuckled,
and Dinozzo sent him quick glare.
But
Dinozzo also apparently decided to switch tactics and turned slightly toward
Chip, while still trying to keep his main focus on Lee and Ziva. “What happened to Capt. Philips?”
It
gave Chip the opportunity to move several steps closer before answering. “Like the Admiral said, he was killed in the
line of duty.”
“Why
didn’t you get the job?” Dinozzo frowned
when both Chip and Lee grinned at that question.
“Didn’t
want it,” Chip answered truthfully, still smiling softly. He realized that the expression was confusing
the pushy NCIS agent, and that made Chip smile even more broadly.
“You
don’t mind working under this baby-face?”
“Tony,”
David admonished him.
But
once more both Chip and Lee grinned. As
Lee waggled his hand at the woman, waving off her disgust with her fellow
agent, Chip’s grin broke into a soft chuckle.
“I put up with Lee as my roommate all four years at Annapolis.” He shrugged and sent part of his grin in
Lee’s direction before continuing to Dinozzo.
“I can handle pretty much anything he can dish out.” He chuckled louder as Lee sent him an
ever-so-quick frown, but Lee’s expression returned quickly to one of subtle
humor.
( ) He
is not usually this obnoxious, Ziva told him.
( ) Is
he at least a competent agent? Lee asked.
He’d picked up on Admiral Nelson’s angry glances toward Dinozzo and had
every intention of asking Chip about it later.
( ) He has his uses, Ziva admitted.
“English,”
Dinozzo ordered, turning his back to Chip.
The
move coincided with a whistle from the top of Seaview’s Conning Tower. All four turned in that direction, but Chip
inexplicably stumbled slightly. In
catching his balance he somehow managed to elbow Dinozzo hard enough to send
the agent stumbling a couple of steps forward, toward
the edge of the dock. And in trying to
stop her partner from getting too close to the water David inadvertently shoved
him even harder, sending the man headfirst over the edge.
“Oops,”
she told both Lee and Chip.
“Dinozzo,”
Gibbs yelled, walking over. “Get your
butt out of the water.”
“This
is not my fault,” Dinozzo tried to defend himself.
“That’s
what you get for standing too close to the edge,” Gibbs yelled back with a
glare. He glanced at the other three,
all giving him totally innocent looks.
Chip
waved toward Seaview, where COB Curley Jones was trying to get his two
officers’ attention. “Looks like we’re
being paged,” he said to Lee. “Good to
see you again, Agent Gibbs. Officer
David, a pleasure to meet you.” He
glanced at Lee. There was no doubt in
either’s mind that Chip was going to pester his old friend for more information
about the Mossad officer and how Lee had met her.
Lee
let out a sigh, already gearing himself up for that conversation. Dinozzo had been an irritation, but the blond
was downright bulldog-persistent when he wanted information. “Agent Gibbs,” he put out a hand and shook
Gibbs’ proffered one. “Ziva,” he nodded,
“I’ll give you a call the next time I’m in DC.”
“I
would like that,” she told him brightly, and laughed outright as Dinozzo
finally pulled himself out of the water. “I am sure that we can arrange for more
peaceful surroundings.” She glanced at a
totally bedraggled Dinozzo and chuckled softly.
Lee
nodded, a huge grin on his face, and he and Chip headed back to their own boat.
Dinozzo
started to say something, glanced at Gibbs, and wisely shut his mouth.
“Sweet,”
Agent McGee was heard to say brightly.