Gibbs' POV

I walk into the squadroom early, carrying a bag. The only other person here is Kate, who's sitting at her desk, drawing something in her sketchpad.

"Afternoon Gibbs." She says, not looking up.

"Afternoon." I answer. I toss a folder on her desk. "Here."

She starts flipping through the folder, looking over the documents. "My name is…" She reads over it, then looks up at me. "Kerry Bishop."
Flipping through the folder, she starts talking, probably not even aware she's talking out loud. I sip my coffee, listening to her.

"Hmm, we've been married for ten years, no kids, no pets, we met when you were stationed in Pensacola, I worked as a secretary, but stopped working when we were married." She looks up at me, realizing that she's talking out loud, and turns a delicate shade of pink. "You're a little old to be marrying me." She comments.

I shrug. "You're not that young, Kate."

She looks away, as Tony finally decides to make an appearance.

"About time, DiNozzo." I say, deadpan.

"I try, boss, I try."

"Where's McGee?"

"I don't know where Probie is, I'm not his keeper."

I glare at him, and he says. "Sorry boss."

McGee rushes in. "Sorry boss, I was delivering something to Abby in the lab."

I nod, without saying anything. Then I start talking. "All right. DiNozzo, McGee, Kate and I are going undercover for a few weeks, up to a month. The two of you will be staying here and providing back-up."

"You and Kate are going undercover?" DiNozzo asks, amused.

"Yes, the director has ordered that the two of you remain here. However, I want you to continue looking for the bastard."

"You mean Ari?" asks DiNozzo.

"No." I say deadpan. "The tooth fairy. Yes, DiNozzo, I want you to get that bastard in here!"

"On it boss." Tony says.

"If any cases come up, Tony, you're in charge. I don't want either of you to slack off because I'm not here- I'm looking at you DiNozzo." I glare at Tony, who looks like he wants to stick his tongue out at me.

"McGee!" I call, and he immediately pays attention. "Yeah boss?"

"I want you to tell me if DiNozzo gets lazy, got that?"

"Yeah boss."

I turn to Kate. "Go home, don't pack too much, and be here by 0600 tomorrow."

She nods. "Got it, Gibbs."

"Not my name now, Kate." I remind her. "Understand…" I try and remember her name. "Kerry. You got it, Kerry?"

"Yeah." She says. "See you."

"See you tomorrow." I reply, sipping my coffee.

She stands up, checking her watch. "I promised I'd go see Ducky down in Autopsy, so I'll see you tomorrow. DiNozzo, if you touch my desk while I'm gone, I'm putting a bullet through your head when I get back."

"Duly noted." DiNozzo comments, not looking up.

I walk out, leaving the three of them behind. I know that I'll see Kate tomorrow, so I don't bother saying good bye to the other two. But before I head home, I do however, say good bye to Abby. Then I'm out the door, hoping to get a few hours to work on my boat.

Kate's POV

It's early the next morning when I arrive at the Navy Yard, dragging a suitcase behind me. Gibbs is waiting at his desk, sipping his coffee. He doesn't say anything, but nods at me. "Morning, Kerry."

"Morning Avery." Is my tentative answer. So this is where it begins.

"Our flight leaves in an hour. Let's roll."

I look over my desk, making sure that nothing is out of place. I will make good on my threat of shooting Tony if he touches my desk.

XXXXX

Because of Gibbs' driving, we arrive half an hour before our flight leaves, and heading through security, I see Gibbs smirking. But he doesn't say anything, and I've learned by now not to ask.

The IDs we've been given by Director Morrow are accepted, and all we get are customary nods, as we wait for our flight. Gibbs pulls out his laptop, and starts working on something. I sigh, pulling out my book of crossword puzzles and a pen. I'm struggling to fill them in, when Gibbs, not even looking up, says. "We're boarding in a minute."

"Got it Gi- Avery." I mutter, looking away at my mistake.

Sure enough, the next minute, the announcement comes over the loudspeaker that the plane is now boarding. We get up, finding our seats on the plane. I relax, so used to being on planes. Thank God it's not the plane we took out to Columbia. God, that flight was a nightmare. This however, this is more reminiscent of Air Force One. Gibbs falls asleep ten minutes into the flight, leaving me to wonder: how late was he up working on his boat this time?

Speaking of Air Force One, a sudden memory hits me hard, a reminder of when I first met Gibbs.

"Look, don't dismiss me like that, okay? I earned my jockstrap!"

He stands up, scanning me with those watchful icy blue eyes. "Yeah? Does it ever give you that empty feeling?"

"What?" I ask, caught off guard.

"Your jockstrap." Is he serious? Apparently yes.

"No." I say firmly. "Like some species of frogs, I grow what I need."

He's amused by me, but I am wary of him.

I smile to myself, pulling out a book. I don't even look at what I'm reading, I just mindlessly read, wondering what everyone is getting up to back in Washington. After a while, my eyelids grow heavy too, and I fall asleep next to Gibbs. Later, I wake up, deciding to check the files, but when I look through my bag, they aren't there.

"Looking for these?" A voice asks from beside me. I whip around, surprised to find Gibbs holding up the file. Sighing, I sit back in my seat, looking over his shoulder.

"Do you need something Kerry?" He asks, but not in the biting tone one would expect of Gibbs. No it's a softer, gentler tone. I've never heard it before.

"I just wanted to see the file." I say, not looking at him.

He nods, handing it over. In a low voice, he mutters. "Our prime suspect is Evan Wright, Petty Officer second class. Works in the motor pool on the base."

"Other suspects?" I ask, my tone matching his, as I look over the file.

"By the looks of it, a computer geek, Duncan Marshall, Petty Officer second class, and another worker in the motor pool, Roland Smith, Petty Officer second class."

"Interesting." I comment.

"Not quite protecting the President, but…" Gibbs shrugs.

I roll my eyes, not quite missing the Secret Service just yet. I look through the files, nothing out of the ordinary. Marshall, Wright and Smith all seem to come from normal family backgrounds.

Gibbs sighs. "Look, Kerry, I've already looked over the files. Aside from the fact that they're suspects for a smuggling ring, they're clean. Their backgrounds are clean too."

"Sorry Avery." I mutter.

"Rule 6." Is his retaliation. Now I can't stop myself from rolling my eyes. Him and his stupid rules. Well… Rule 12 makes sense I guess.

"So what's going to happen?"

"I'm going to work security, and you, Kerry, are going to be staying at home, making some friends, and figuring out what you can about these men, and their families."

I try not to act disappointed. "I won't be working?"

"Sorry, Kate." He says. "It was the best Director Morrow could do under the circumstances. But you're in a valuable position to collect Intel."

"Okay… Avery."

"Attention, this is your pilot speaking, we will be landing shortly. I hope you enjoyed your flight on Oceanic Airlines." comes over the loudspeaker.

As we start to descend into sunny Hawaii, Gibbs- Avery turns to smirk at me. "Welcome to our new life." He says casually.