UPDATE: 5/4/2013 - Thanks very much for all the reviews. I appreciate your feedback and thoughts. To those who didn't like many aspects of my story, I'm sorry you were disappointed. I have tried to respond to all the signed reviews and personal messages, but I can't reply to the authors of the anonymous reviews. It's a story. Just a story. I'm sorry if you didn't like my characterization of DiNozzo or if you think I'm wrong about Gibbs or Vance or Abby or Ziva. I don't remember proof of O'Neill's service, whether he went to the AFA or enlisted or what. I chose to write what I did. As for Gibbs, well I remember a few times where he pushed to be read in on things that they really didn't need to know about. It's just a story and I thank everyone who reads it or has already read it. I'm okay with all the comments. Hopefully they will make me a better writer. :)

Story title: Top Secret Valor

Summary: When Gibbs and the team investigate a marine's death, an Air Force Lieutenant General becomes a person of interest. To complicate things, SecNav Jarvis pressures Vance who pressures Gibbs to get information about a secret program.

Crossover story: NCIS and Stargate SG-1. (SG-1 because Jack is more recognizable with it than SGA or SGU. And none of them have new episodes.)

Timeline: It's Feb-Mar 2013. NCIS is right where they are in the series. SGC is still at Cheyenne Mountain. O'Neill has an office at the Pentagon and is in charge of everything Stargate related; the gate, all the bases, people, the ships, aliens on Earth, etc. Everything.

Category: general, kind of a mystery as Gibbs learns more

Rating: K+

Warnings: A few spoilers for a few episodes, mostly SG eps. There shouldn't be any adult themes, bad language or violence.

Note: O'Neill's history, medals and ribbons in this story are a little different from the Stargate series. (SG-1, Atlantis, Universe) Other service records, history and things might be different too. Original characters are mine, but anybody can use them. Just keep them honorable.

Disclaimer: I own nothing NCIS or Stargate. I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit.

And finally, all mistakes are mine.

Gibbs hesitated at the top of the stairs. His knee throbbed, his stomach growled and he recognized the beginnings of a headache. It was late in the day, and in just 45 short minutes, three-quarters of an hour, not that long at all, he had hoped to be out the door and on his way home. That was not going to happen now. He'd been in Director Leon Vance's office receiving his latest tongue lashing when a call came through from the SecNav. After a short explanation that wasn't really an explanation at all, and with a look that screamed 'We aren't done' and 'Don't ruffle any feathers,' his boss sent him on his way to collect his team.

Shifting his weight on his feet and then leaning heavily on the handrail, Gibbs looked down into the bullpen where his three agents were at their desks. Over the years the ability to read people had given him an edge, but he didn't need that skill to see that his agents had checked out before quitting time. Ziva David, perched on the corner of her desk, was talking on her cell phone. She was smiling coyly while her fingers combed playfully through her hair, and she was obviously pleased with the person on the other end of the call. Moving smoothly to her chair, the lithe brunette leaned back crossing her legs and nodding. She'd turned out to be a first class agent, but Gibbs knew he needed to talk to her about picking up bad habits from the others, especially from DiNozzo.

Tim McGee was using his computer. His fingers were clicking madly on the keys; his eyes fixed intently on whatever he saw on the screen. File folders on his desk were all closed and neatly stacked, so Gibbs was pretty sure he wasn't doing anything work related. He remembered a snippet of conversation between McGee and Abby and guessed that the kid was playing a computer game. Gibbs resigned himself to talking to him too. Looking at his senior field agent, Gibbs clenched his jaw until it hurt, and then got some satisfaction from squeezing the banister tightly with his left hand. Both hands had been stiff in the cold weather, the left thumb especially painful, and he made a mental note to stop by the drug store on his way home as he looked down.

Counting down the 44 minutes to quitting time, Tony DiNozzo was playing too. He'd grumbled all day about the tedious work and it had been nearly impossible to keep him at his desk, let alone focused on cold case work. Yet there he was, completely fixated on twirling several pens between the fingers of both his hands. The folders that he should have been going through were scattered on the floor. Maybe they'd been in a neat pile, maybe not, to make room for the 14 or 15 different colored pens he wasn't playing with at that moment.

Gibbs shifted his gaze to others in the office area. Everyone was busy working, looking and acting professional, and disappointment hung like a storm cloud over him. His team did good work, on occasion great work, but they had gotten lax and sloppy, and their office work habits needed improvement. Gibbs took a moment to control his emotions before using his cell phone to call Ducky. Then he descended the stairs, noticing the twinge in his knee every other step.

Four agents, though they were working, were instantly aware of his presence and glanced up at him, but three agents, his agents, were oblivious. On another day he probably would have growled at them, maybe even smacked their heads, but this day, this day he knew they would be as thrilled about the late in the day assignment as he was. It wasn't fitting punishment for their office behavior, but it was a start, and for a moment he didn't have much regret about having to alter his own plan for the evening, except the drug store. He came out from behind the partition near DiNozzo to make his presence known and announced, "Saddle up. We're going to Arlington."

Pens flew from DiNozzo's hands, ending up on the flat carpet as his chest flattened against the desktop. His face fell in disappointment, but was it the assignment or dropping the pens? Having Gibbs in his field of vision made his brain snap and he responded by loudly stammering, "Ar…Arlington, Boss?"

McGee's head jerked up spectacularly and his fingers were suddenly motionless above the keyboard. Seeing DiNozzo spread across the desk made him smile, and with surprise in his voice he asked, "What's in Arlington?"

Ignoring the questions and with a long, hard look at Ziva, who was still on the phone, Gibbs handed a piece of paper over to McGee saying, "Confirm that address."

Ziva didn't need another look from Gibbs to know it was time to end her call, which she did so quickly before catching Tony's eye and mouthing 'What?' The two agents were quickly out of their chairs and near McGee's desk when Tony whispered "traffic" and made a face, while Ziva muttered back, "I have a date."

Gibbs heard Ziva and Tony and glared at them, almost as if daring them to say anything else. They were bothered enough to look guilty, so he quickly retrieved his weapon from his desk and was back at McGee's side before the kid was finished with the address search.

McGee's ears had perked up with the comments, but knowing Gibbs wouldn't be happy, he dipped his head a little and kept working. He didn't have a clue that he was being like DiNozzo when his brain touched on quizzing Ziva about her date. Back on task and after a few more keystrokes he mumbled, "There's no name associated with it." He tried a different database of property records listing homeowner information and a reverse directory and then mumbled some more. Finally, knowing it would be mere seconds before Gibbs barked at him, he announced, "The property is leased by the US Government." He could feel Gibbs glowering at him and the pressure was tremendous so he quickly clarified. "Boss, I don't have access to the records to confirm who lives at that address."

Gibbs had a feeling when Vance gave him the assignment and then the address. It confirmed to him that he should always trust his gut. It was time to bail out McGee and get the team moving. All he needed was Vance coming to the bullpen to find out why they hadn't left yet. "Wheeler, Ronald S., Marine Corps."

Confused at first or maybe just a little surprised, McGee hesitated. Gibbs noticed and without wasting any time he repeated the name. "Wheeler, McGee, Ronald S."

Tim snapped to and in only a few seconds declared, "Here it is." Gibbs didn't move, but both Tony and Ziva leaned over and tilted their heads to get a look at the screen. McGee ignored them. "Ronald S. Wheeler, 57, stationed at the Pentagon."

Before Tim could say anything else, Gibbs asked, "What department?"

Tim was ready, having anticipated the request for more information, and he was good at opening multiple windows in the browser. "Uh, it doesn't say."

Anticipating the next request, Tim transferred the information to the plasma and started adjusting and rearranging the windows of information. "Uh... he's a two star general. Assistant director of... something... and his record of assignments and postings is almost non-existent."

Tony jumped in with, "How can that be?"

Tim added, "He's not listed on the official Pentagon personnel roster."

All four were looking for his name from the Joint Chiefs down to the Defense Intelligence Agency to everyone listed under the Secretary of the Navy. His name wasn't anywhere to be found. The contact list for the Department of Defense popped up separately and they all scrutinized it. No Ronald S. Wheeler was listed.

Ziva stated what she thought was obvious. "He does not exist."

Tim read to them from his computer screen. "Boss, he's a Distinguished graduate of the Amphibious Warfare School, the School of Advanced Warfighting and graduated from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. And he has a Masters of Science Degree in National Security Strategy and Management."

Tony was officially curious now and muttered, "What's so secret about this non-existent guy?"

"McGee?"

The one word question, just his name, reminded the younger field agent that his boss was counting on him. "I tried searching all the Pentagon personnel records, boss. His name doesn't come up at all."

Gibbs stared at the plasma and asked, "How did you know he had an office in the Pentagon if his name doesn't come up anywhere?"

Tim hadn't thought of that, not yet anyway. His hands roamed over the keyboard hoping to get back to the screen where he saw the initial information. He could feel the others staring and glaring at him, but some results can't be rushed. Finally he found it.

"Just says Pentagon. No office number or anything else."

Gibbs knew they needed to get going, but the assignment was really starting to churn his gut. "Mailing address?"

Click, click, click and Tim put it up. Gibbs stared at it, noticing there wasn't a department or office number, just the zip code.

Tim, Ziva and Tony watched Gibbs stare at the screen. For all their years of experience they still had trouble making the leaps that Gibbs seemed to accomplish regularly and with little effort.

"Something you want to share with us, Gibbs?"

Tim and Tony stared at Ziva like she had two heads. How dare she question Gibbs the Great while he was thinking.

"Yeah, Ziva." Gibbs turned to look at the three and asked, "Why does a Marine two star have his official mail going to the Department of the Air Force?"

Tony, Tim and Ziva were caught completely by surprise with that bit of information and just stood watching Gibbs study the plasma. Tony couldn't help thinking of the film "Ghostbusters." Marines and airmen together had to be right in there with forty years of darkness, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together and mass hysteria, but he didn't voice his musings.

McGee was still trying to bring up information when he asked, "Uh, Boss, why are we investigating General Wheeler?"

"Because he died... at GW Hospital." Gibbs continued to look at the information. The man had an awful lot of awards and commendations for a guy with such a thin service record. It was obvious it had been redacted. Gibbs couldn't see anything telling who Wheeler reported to, but it had to be someone. He was glad to be on good terms with the Commandant because he might need to ask about Ronald Wheeler; who he was, what he did and why the guy was buddy-buddy with the Air Force.

Tim quipped sarcastically, "We're investigating a death at a hospital and it's not Bethesda?"

Tony opened his mouth, but Ziva quickly asked, "Then why are we going to Arlington?

Gibbs looked at his team pointedly. "He collapsed at home and was transported to the hospital where he was DOA."

McGee couldn't help thinking aloud. "So... he wasn't murdered?"

Gibbs responded sarcastically, "Apparently not, but don't know for sure."

Ziva understood and delivered an explanation. "NCIS looks into all deaths of active duty Marine Corps and Navy personnel."

Gibbs had just about had enough. "Yeah, NCIS does, but that doesn't mean we do."

All deaths were looked into, but not usually by Gibbs and his team. Unless there was something unusual or sinister or questionable about the way they had died. Ducky and other NCIS medical examiners reviewed death certificates, performed autopsies when necessary, and agents gathered and recorded all the basic information. Lots of military personnel died in hospitals everyday and most of the time there was nothing that needed investigating.

A whine came from behind Ziva. "But why us and why now?" Gibbs peered around her and caught the eye of his senior field agent. He didn't need to say a word as Tony's mouth snapped shut, he stood a little taller and mumbled something that sounded like sorry.

Tim sensed the tension and jumped in with, "He's survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters."

So, a marine, a son, a husband and father. Gibbs grabbed his coat and started for the elevator. "C'mon, let's go talk to the family."

tbc

Thanks for reading. Reviews are very much appreciated.