Series Precis: This is a look at how things might have gone if the MCRT had to face the consequences of ignoring protocol, procedures and the rule of law. In this universe, Tom Morrow holds his agents accountable and delivers well earnt smack downs and consequences when they screw up.

This series consists of tags from season 2 episodes, each tag is a stand-alone vignette. At the end of each tag everything will revert to canon norms again.

There will be crossovers with characters appearing in guest and often minor roles in selected episodes from shows. There are numerous minor characters from the show and I also use OCs.

Author Notes: This series, like the first season, focuses on tags, mostly one-shots for each episode in Season Two. The idea came about while I was watching these early episodes because it struck me, yet again, that for a police procedural drama, there are an awful lot of times when procedures, even laws are ignored. I started writing the first series before the start of 13th season. As I begin this new series in early 2020, I still can't help wondering if the writers had been focused more on making sure that protocols and procedures were observed (including the chain of command, as opposed to going for cheap laughs in those first couple of series) how would it have impacted on how the show,? How would the team have evolved?

Warnings: Since I'm mostly focusing on the faux pas and failing to follow procedure, don't expect there to be a lot of warm and fuzzy team moments. Although Tom isn't as opposed to handing out 'good jobs' when they're warranted as Gibbs, so there might be a few sappy moments coming up. *Spoilers ~ Terminal Leave*

Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me – if they did, I'd make sure they observe the law and accepted procedure a darn sight more than they do on the show. These tags are purely for entertainment purposes and as such I don't make any money from them.
My Goal in writing this series is that I hope at the end of each tag to leave readers wondering how these endings might have changed canon. Feel free to share.

Final point, I already have seven tags written for this series (apart from Lost and Found, which was penned in the last couple of weeks) some were written as far back as 2016. I tend to write tags as I receive inspiration, not sequentially. Over the years, my style has changed quite a bit, so when you read these previously written tags, you'll probably notice the difference in style and maybe wonder why.

Series 2: There's Always Tom Morrow

Episode 01: See No Evil

Title: Lost and Found

Characters: Tom Morrow, Delores Bromstead

Delores Bromstead, Assistant Manager of NCIS' Department of Human Resources carefully read through the statements before checking that the appropriate form, the C304 had been completed correctly. She wanted there to be no mistake, no sweeping this under the carpet due to a technicality. Not that Delores made those type of mistakes, but she was willing to admit she was nervous. She knew she was taking on a formidable foe, but this was a matter of principle. She couldn't, she wouldn't let this issue go, even though she was highly aware that it would probably be career-ending. Well, so be it!

She understood that when you crossed a line once, it became much easier to do it again. So how many times could you turn a blind eye to rules and regulations before you lose your soul?

How many times could you ignore the law before you found yourself on the extremely slippery slope of corruption? To someone who was as morally black and white as Delores, where right was right and wrong was always wrong, she believed that once was all it took. Not just for an individual but for a team and the whole damned agency to shift its moral centre and make it just that little bit easier the next time.

And Bromstead knew, as sure as the sun will rise each day that there would ALWAYS be a next time in law enforcement. Criminals or high-placed officials were constantly on the lookout for corrupt individuals willing and able to manipulate the law for their personal gain. It was the nature of the beast.

Sighing as she glanced at her Longines white gold bracelet watch (a birthday gift from her partner several years ago) to check on the time, she knew she had to go. Donning her jacket, she picked up her voluminous file and left her office, headed for the elevator to take her up to the executive level for her appointment with the director. No one observing the tall, thin middle-aged administrator would suspect that she was in any way nervous about the upcoming meeting.

Delores was aware that she wasn't well-liked by many of the NCIS employees. She was seen as an insignificant bureaucrat, delighting in enforcing a bunch of pettifogging rules and regulation, unappreciative of the seriousness of their work, merely basking in her own importance. She heard the scuttlebutt – she was a frigidly bitter pencil pusher or alternatively she was a sex-starved spinster whose only release was making field agents' lives a misery. She'd even heard one disgruntled probationary agent, taken to task for his sloppy timesheets, suggest that in her off-duty hours she moonlighted as a leather-clad dominatrix wielding a riding crop on naïve client's asses.

Delores had snorted with amusement at that particularly colourful and creative scenario. The truth was that Delores' and her partner, Roger had a normal healthy sex life and in her time off she competed in field archery. Currently, her ranking was seventh in Virginia. Not that she'd ever share her personal life with her colleagues – she was a private person.

As she exited the elevator and strode into the director's outer office, his personal assistant smiled at her. "Hi Delores, the director is on a call. It shouldn't be too long."

The administrator smiled back at Cynthia Sommers. "How are you doing, Cyn? Any fun plans for the weekend?" she asked, making small talk to distract herself from the difficult meeting which lay ahead.

Sommers chuckled sardonically, "Oh yeah, I'm cleaning out the fridge and defrosting it." She said. "And you?"

Delores had a tournament in Maryland, but she wasn't going to mention that, so she said, "Cleaning out my wardrobe and donating stuff to Goodwill." The HR assistant manager rolled her eyes at the thought of so much exhilaration.

Cynthia smiled. "Exciting lives we lead, hah?" she joked before her phone rang and she picked up the receiver. "Yes, Director, Ms Bromstead is here. Yes, Sir."

Looking into Delores' face, she nodded her head as she gently hung up the phone. "Director Morrow will see you now, Delores," she informed her.

As Delores acknowledged the order calmly and headed toward the door that led to Director Morrow's inner sanctum, Cynthia wished her luck. The administrator was momentarily caught by surprise. Did she know what the meeting was about? Did she know how importantly Delores regarded the outcome of this meeting? Did she know about the letter that she'd prepared last night and was ready to tender, should the meeting go the way she feared it might.

Realising that it was impossible, she chided herself. She hadn't told the director the nature of the grievances, just that she'd received a number of serious complaints about an employee. There was no way he would know who or what, therefore Cynthia was probably picking up on how tense she was while waiting to be called into their meeting.

Knocking resolutely, she opened the door after being invited to enter. Looking at Morrow, seated at his desk, writing, he flicked a glance at her cordially, before returning to his leather-bound book which Delores realised was a calendar. He quickly finished writing in it and Dolores' keen eyesight noted that it was for two weeks hence. Closing the book and slipping it to the side, he gave the assistant HR manager his full attention, sizing her up swiftly.

Exhaling, he asked, "Do you want to do this here," he gestured towards his desk, "Or at the conference table, Ms Bromstead?"

She thought about it for several seconds before replying politely. "I think because of the amount of material, it might be easier to do this at your table, so we can spread out, Sir."

He sighed, probably understanding from her statement that this was serious and or complicated. Of course, he likely knew that already. Minor infractions did not usually require the head of the federal agency to get involved in a complaint unless it was serious. Standing up, he accompanied her over to the table and took a seat catty-corner to the administrator.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, an invitation to enter and Cynthia appeared, carrying a tray filled with refreshments. She bustled around placing a water jug and glasses within easy reach. She added a cup of strong black coffee beside Delores and a cup of earl grey tea with a lemon segment beside the director, along with half a dozen plain cookies. Somers flashed each of them a bright smile before taking her leave. Both Delores and Morrow's thankyous accompanying her discreet retreat.

As the director and his manager sipped their respective poisons careful so they didn't burn their mouths, Morrow waited patiently for Delores to begin. Realising it was never going to be easy, she steeled herself and began. Opening up her file, she extracted the first page of the C304 complaint form outlining the charges and pushed the form across the table.

Tom Morrow slipped on his reading glasses and looked over the form, remaining expressionless. "Two accusations of battery? Those are serious allegation, Ms Bromstead. Who are the complainants? The victims?"

Delores shook her head minutely, possibly unaware of the nonverbal cue. "No Sir. The victims refused to make an official complaint. They claimed it as was just a joke."

Withdrawing another form from the file, she checked it briefly even though she knew it was completed correctly before passing it to him.

Raising his eyebrows at the complainants' identities, he said mildly, "Two very steady agents, not given to exaggeration or leaping to the wrong conclusions." He stated tersely.

Delores nodded her agreement. Ric Balboa had been a supervisory special agent for four years now and Andrea Nichols was the senior field agent for the financial fraud unit. She was often accused of being a little too unimaginative, needing to become more of an abstract thinker. It was unlikely she had rushed to judgement and Agent Balboa was a straight shooter. He wasn't in the habit of making complaints against fellow agents. The integrity of both agents was why she had taken their complaints so seriously.

Wincing slightly because this was not something that could in all good conscience be swept under the rug, he made eye contact with the assistant manager. "You investigated the two incidences, I take it?"

Delores stared right back. "Yes, Director Morrow, I did."

"And were you able to find any other witnesses?"

By the tone of his voice, Delores was unsure if he was hoping there was or hoping there wasn't further corroboration.

Having already anticipated his response, she had a list of names which she duly passed across to him. He nodded his thanks and studied the list gravely.

"And these employees corroborate Agent Nichols and Balboa's accounts of the events?"

"They do, Director."

He shook his head. "Anything else you wish to add, Ms Bromstead?"

Delores nodded. "Yes, I secured video security footage of both incidents."

She handed over a flash drive and Morrow loaded it to play the footage up on his plasma television screen. Delores knew that although it was in black and white and a bit fuzzy, it clearly showed both incidents. The first incident showed Special Agent Caitlin Todd reaching down, grabbing someone who seemed to be hiding under her desk, grasping him roughly by both ears. The footage showing her appearing to drag him out from under the desk. The slightly pudgy young male, who Morrow had no trouble in identifying as Special Agent Timothy McGee from the field office at Norfolk Naval Base, looked both scared and uncomfortable.

Todd then appeared to bawl him out, although since the video footage was sans sound, he didn't know what they were saying. Still the young man looked like he was about to fill his pants.

Morrow stopped the tape and looked at Delores, appraisingly. "Do we know why McGee was hiding underneath Agent Todd's desk?"

"According to my investigations, he claimed to be fixing the computers."

Looking confused, he asked, "Don't we have specific people for that?" he asked bemusedly.

"Yes, but due to the air-con breaking down, the contractors refused to proceed until the cooling was fixed."

"I was aware of that fact. So why was an NCIS agent crawling around on the floor and under desks?"

Delores shrugged. "Probably trying to curry favour with Special Agent Gibbs. He got a spot on the MCRT, during this case, so I guess it worked." The assistant manager of HR observed ironically.

Still, Tom mused, even if Agent McGee wasn't engaged in doing something legitimate and just being creepy, Todd shouldn't have hauled him out by his ears. Even criminals are presumed innocent until proven guilty. And what she'd done certainly seemed to fit the definition of battery, although he'd need to get a formal opinion from Legal.

Morrow nodded ruefully before clicking the tape to move it forward. Gibbs arriving and apparently interrogating Todd and McGee.

Once again Morrow stopped the tape. "Tell me Gibbs reprimanded Agent Todd and wrote her up?" He pleaded.

"Unfortunately, no. He told Agent DiNozzo to put his shirt on because it was offensive to him. He did want to know why McGee hadn't returned to Norfolk and when Special Agent Gibbs learnt that McGee was updating the computer network, he was pleased and actually praised him."

Something about his assistant manager's tone clued in the director. "And that is a problem, because?"

Delores pursed her lips before responding. "Aside from him failing to remonstrate or discipline Agent Todd, you mean?"

He acknowledged her point with a wince.

Delores smiled grimly at his response. "Yes, Director, it's a problem alright because it violates the terms of the contract which NCIS signed with the company who'd tendered for and won the government contract to perform the work. It also violates a number of occupational health and safety regulations, which is why the company refused to proceed with the work in the first place," she stated tartly.

"The company is threatening to sue NCIS for allowing non-unionised staff to carry out non-approved work. It's a mess! Kathryn Russetine is planning on briefing you on the situation later today after she'd had a chance to consult with Legal," she explained, irritated.

Morrow grimaced, grateful for the heads up – he was so not looking forward to cleaning up that particular mess. Contractual disputes and Union blockades – he didn't need that shitstorm. Refocusing his attention back on the battery charges, he picked up the remote and reactivated the black and white tape.

Gibbs was talking to Agent Todd. Meanwhile, DiNozzo and McGee were having a conversation when Todd walked past Agent DiNozzo and he doubled over in pain.

Stopping the footage again for clarification, he looked at Delores. "Is this the attack in question"

She nodded. "That's it."

"What just happened?"

"Agent Todd elbowed DiNozzo in the ribs, Sir," she explained. "And if you're wanting to know what caused her to attack him, according to Agent McGee, DiNozzo was inquiring as to the type of undergarments Agent Todd was wearing," she said, disapprovingly.

"And Gibbs didn't step in and discipline either agent for this incident?"

Looking furious, she told him. "No, Sir. Like the incident with McGee, he studiously ignored it. He was more invested in beating his cell phone into submission." Delores said, sarcastically.

Rolling his eyes, Morrow asked acerbically, "How many cell phones did Jethro "rebooted" this month?"

"That was his third," she responded, aggravated since the budget that was allocated to restocking Gibbs cell phones each month was an obscene amount of money for such a small agency like NCIS, who had continual budgetary constraints. In her opinion, the situation was a total travesty. It galled the frugally minded administrator that everyone pandered to the massive, yet super fragile ego of the man-child who reigned over the agency like a petty tyrant.

Morrow stared at the frozen screen. "Is there anything else of significance on the tape that I should see?"

Delores nodded decisively. "Keep watching for a few minutes more."

Wondering what else he was going to see; Morrow directed his attention to the slightly grainy film. The three agents swung into action. What was apparent almost immediately, was that DiNozzo was wincing and rubbing his right wrist and several minutes later, he was still rubbing his right side. That was indicative that he was in some degree of pain.

He was confused. "Did Agent Todd's elbow caught Agent DiNozzo's wrist or his chest?"

"Both," was her parsimonious rejoiner.

Sighing, the director looked at Delores getting straight to the point. "Did either man indicate that she hurt them?"

Delores shook her head. "On the contrary, Sir. As I said before, they claimed it was just joking around. And yet, DiNozzo's physical reaction gives a lie to that assertion, as does McGee. Their reactions appear to be genuine, Director, so I concluded they were subsequently lying to protect Todd."

"Perhaps they were afraid, to tell the truth."

"Or too embarrassed," Delores commented dryly.

Sitting quietly, Tom contemplated the situation cautiously. He knew damned well why the Human Resources Department had brought this to his attention. If it had been any other team but the MCRT, then HR would have investigated and meted out punitive actions by now. In all probability, they would have started a criminal investigation, since both attacks appeared to Morrow to fit the definition of a felony.

However, it was the worst kept secret that Gibbs had TPTB in his back pocket. Morrow thought that it must seem to the rest of the agency as if Gibbs was above the law. The problem was that Gibbs' influence when it mattered, trumped his own. Particularly when it came to matters regarding his own team, he did seem untouchable.

Smiling cynically, he asked. "Hypothetically, what would your recommendations be, Ms Bromstead?"

Delores pursed her lips in thought. "It is my understanding that Agent Todd has committed one count of assault and battery against Special McGee and another count of battery against Special Agent DiNozzo. As she is still within her probationary period until the end of the month, ideally, I'd like to see her terminated and facing charges to send an unequivocal message to staff that this behaviour will not be tolerated," she stated wryly.

Feeling like there was a but at the end of her statement, Tom steepled his right and left index fingers together, "Why am I sensing a but here, Ms Bromstead?"

"Because of Special Agent Gibbs and his head-slapping, specifically of Agent DiNozzo, which also constitutes battery, at the least. But this is old news," Delores stated dryly since the HR department had been baying for blood for months about this issue. Unsuccessfully.

"And when Special Agent McGee was informed that he'd been assigned to the MCRT, agents Todd and DiNozzo delivered a joint head slap to McGee as Gibbs looked on and said nothing. He smirked."

"Special Agent Gibbs condoned it?" Morrow asked, angrily. "What am I saying, of course, he did."

"Which is why I think that it would be problematic to focus solely on Todd's assault and battery without addressing the genesis of the problem."

Tom looked resigned. He could see where this was headed, unfortunately.

Sighing she muttered, resentfully, "And we know that's never going to happen."

Delores withdrew an envelope with Director Morrow's name on it and passed it across to her boss resolutely. He frowned at the plain white envelope addressed to him as if it might bite him.

"What are you doing, Delores?" He asked, his voice filled with a sense of foreboding. He was no one's fool and could recognise a gamechanger when he saw one.

She said formally, "In all good conscience, Sir, I cannot turn a blind eye to Gibbs' blatant disrespect of the law. Today it's assault and or battery of other agents. What's next?" she asked rhetorically.

"We both know it's a slippery slope when it comes to corruption and it could inevitably lead to Gibbs or his team ignoring procedures, for example, collecting evidence that results in a wrongful acquittal or even worse, convicts an innocent person. What about questioning suspects and not bothering to read them their Article 31's or their Miranda Rights so that they get a conviction, Sir.

"Where does it end? Revenge killing? Turning a blind eye to crimes committed because the suspects are friends or family of agents. Agents handing out rough justice because they believe that since they carry a badge, they should be above the law and be judge, jury and executioner?"

Delores felt sick at the thought and glancing at the director; he was looking just as unhappy as she was feeling. So maybe he was listening. She hoped so.

"I may not be an agent, but I fervently believe in the justice system, Director Morrow. It isn't a perfect system, but it is better than the alternative, therefore I can't work for an organisation that allows an agent to flaunt the law. No one is above the law – and I won't, no I can't turn a blind eye to this situation any longer."

Morrow was hanging his head, but he lifted his head to lock eyes with the fervent administrator, obviously thinking she was done and searching for a response. Unfortunately, she hadn't finished twisting the knife into him just yet.

"At the end of the day, I need to be able to look at myself in the mirror and not feel disgusted at my hypocrisy in working in law enforcement and ignoring the law. Since nothing is going to change with regard to Gibbs flaunting and ignoring the laws of the land, it's time for me to leave."

Tom appeared to be very moved by her impassioned call-to-arms and it had left him feeling incredibly ashamed. Although he had tried to rein in his lawless head of the MCRT, he'd always gotten shot down by SecNav and his motley mates.

Yet Delores was right if you condoned Jethro attacking his own agents - felonies in the eyes of the law they'd sworn to uphold, where did it stop? And make no mistake, looking the other way and letting him get away with breaking the law was flouting the law. It was also true that if you ignored one crime, it made it easier to overlook the next crime.

The administrator had spoken the truth; no one should be above the law. Her wakeup call, about where ignoring Gibbs' numerous transgressions could lead, was enough to shake him out of his lethargy – which he needed.

Maybe he hadn't tried hard enough. Perhaps he should take a leaf out of his gutsy co-worker's playbook.

Pushing the resignation letter back towards her, he said, "Do me a favour, Delores. Don't submit that. If I'm going to fight for the justice system and the integrity of NCIS, I'm going to need principled people to stand by me.

"So, let's talk about how we handle this toxic work culture of physically attacking agents which have been allowed to fester on the MCRT. Let's figure out a solution."

Delores stared long and hard at the director, having witnessed a myriad of emotions on his features while she'd delivered her impassioned plea. She'd seen shame, anger, remorse, resolute conviction and she hoped genuine commitment. The HR manager was silent as she considered her future before she shrugged. What did she have to lose-except the last of her faith that the law and justice were inviolable?

Leaning forward, she extended her hand and picked up her resignation letter, looking at the director square in the eyes.

"If you are truly serious about wanting to address this, then I'll have your back, Sir. But please, don't let me down." She implored him gravely.

One week later:

The DC office was buzzing with a series of bombshell announcements regarding the personnel of the MCRT. The previous notification of Probationary Agent Timothy McGee's assignment had been rescinded only days after he'd been assigned to the team. Apparently, it was due to his unauthorised rewiring of the computer network in the bullpen. Scuttlebutt around the office was that he'd been doing busywork, trying to impress Gibbs because he wanted a highly coveted spot on the team. A strategy which appeared to have been effective, since Gibbs had announced later that same day that McGee was joining the MCRT.

Gibbs clearly didn't see anything wrong with McGee messing with the computer networks since he'd praised him, saying it would get him promoted. However, the IT company who'd won the contract to install a new computer network had not been as easily impressed. They'd sued NCIS because McGee carried out unauthorised work, claiming that the agency was in breach of their contract. Which was why conventional wisdom deemed McGee had been specifically sent to the IT department, since it as common knowledge that he'd been desperate to become a field agent. There were numerous betting pools flourishing on how long his banishment might last since it was seen by most to be a punitive transfer.

Special Agent Caitlin Todd, the MCRT psychological profiler had been charged with three counts of battery against federal agents and was currently on suspension, pending the outcome of the charges. Everyone knew that if she was convicted, Todd would be facing immediately termination. As there were numerous witnesses to the alleged offences, plus the security feed from the bullpen, being found guilty looked to be a foregone conclusion. Considering she was still officially a probationary agent with several more weeks to run on her probationary period, she could have been terminated immediately. So, most people thought she was being treated with kid gloves.

Few people believed she would escape without a criminal record though, which would destroy her law enforcement career. Still, considering the stuff-ups she'd managed to squirm out of during her probationary period culminating in her permitting a witness/suspect to blow up a building and kill two people, many people believed that her removal was long overdue. Catlin Todd's abrasive disposition and her superior attitude, presumably due to her former job as a Secret Service agent hadn't won her a lot of friends at NCIS, either. Except for NCIS' forensic scientist, Abigail Sciuto – the pair were as thick as thieves.

The team's SFA, Special Agent Tony DiNozzo had also been officially cautioned for one count of battery for his head slap of Probationary Agent McGee, in concert with Agent Todd after the announcement of his short-lived assignment to the MCRT. However, it had been decided in consultation with the FBI and NCIS' HR officials that due to his supervisor having inflicted numerous head slaps on him in the last year (which had gone unpunished by the agency) that he should receive an official reprimand and it would be entered on his official jacket.

In additional, DiNozzo must attend compulsory classes on appropriate methods of communication between workmates. Plus, Agents DiNozzo and McGee would also be required to attend mandatory psychological counselling since they'd both been physically attacked by their teammates.

Yet as monumental as all these announcements and changes to the status quo were to DC staff, perhaps the biggest bombshell was Agent Gibbs had been relieved of command of the MCRT. This was supposedly due to allegations of multiple attacks (head slaps) on his senior field agent. Pending further investigations into his team management practices, Special Agent Gibbs had been reassigned to the USS Enterprise as the agent afloat. The current agent afloat, Stan Burly was being recalled, TAD to the MCRT.

Gibbs seemed to have gotten off quite lightly compared to the other members of the team. No big surprise to anyone; Gibbs was renowned for ignoring rules - except for his own rules and ignoring laws if they got in the way of his solving a case. So to most people, this demotion was astonishing news since Gibbs was seen as Teflon™ coated, i.e. nothing stuck to him, because of his friends in high places. The fact that he'd been demoted was HUGE!

Not only was it the talk of the agency in the DC office and beyond, but all the other alphabet agencies were abuzz with the news, too.

~oO0Oo~

Tom Morrow had arranged to meet Delores at midday for a catchup. Right on time, he heard a brusque knock on his door.

Steeling himself for the conversation ahead, he called, "Enter."

As Delores opened the door, Tom Morrow was packing items from his desk into a box.

Tom smiled. "Thank you for coming, Ms Bromstead. Come, take a seat," he told her, leaving off his packing and returning to sit down behind his desk.

Looking calmly resolute, he began speaking. "I asked you here partially to talk about the pending personnel changes. I'm sorry for not reading you in prior to my public statement, but I couldn't run the risk that anything might be leaked beforehand."

Delores' frown suggested that she found it a rather odd statement, but she didn't ask. Probably eager to know how he'd accomplished so many changes. Changes that had been blocked so many times before.

Morrow couldn't blame Delores for her curiosity. The HR department had been complaining for many months about all the breaches that had been occurring on the MCRT, without getting any satisfaction. While Gibbs had always been a cowboy when it came to procedure, Special Agent DiNozzo had usually managed to contain Gibbs' volatility. Well, until investigating the attempted assassination of the POTUS on Air Force One when he'd endangered Agent DiNozzo's life and kicked off the current level of madness.

He couldn't help shaking his head when he thought about it. It had been such an egregiously negligent incident – ordering him to impersonate a corpse. It had resulted in DiNozzo being thrown out of an autopsy van, still inside of a body bag onto the Beltway into oncoming traffic. It should have resulted in immediate censure. Instead, DiNozzo's brush with death had been swept under the rug by TPTB, caught up in a round of testosterone-driven self-congratulatory chest-thumping for Gibbs having saved the life of the POTUS. Apparently, not all lives were regarded as equal.

Morrow thought about the infantile level of one-upmanship which Gibbs and FBI agent Tobias Fornell engaged in whenever they worked together. Yet it was their callous disregard for Tony who'd been a pawn in their sicko game which had the director really seeing red whenever he thought about it. That pair were a threat to the people around them.

Delores obviously got impatient with his wool-gathering, because she asked him, "How did you manage to demote Special Agent Gibbs, and implement all the other measures, Sir?"

Smiling at her, he replied somewhat flippantly, "I took a leaf out of Gibbs' rulebook and adopted his Rule 18."

Delores looked puzzled. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with all of Gibbs rules, apart from never apologise and never be uncontactable," she said with undisguised scorn. "So, what is number 18?"

Ignoring her question, he continued, "Plus, I receive a timely complaint from a civil rights lawyer and his wife, who just happens to be an investigative journalist. Can you believe it? They made a formal complaint about Gibbs. They claim that he used undue force when arresting Captain Mike Watson at the bank and that Gibbs threatened and intimidated him, even though he made no attempt to resist arrest."

Delores looked sick at the news. He had to hand it to the assistant manager. She'd absolutely called it. So, were there other rules and regs which were being ignored by Gibbs or the MCRT?

While he was pondering this depressing scenario, Bromstead had apparently noticed he'd avoided answering her question about Rule 18. Seeing her intense scrutiny, he decided to just tell her what she wanted to know.

Sighing, Tom said, "Okay, so Rule 18 is that it's better to seek forgiveness than ask for permission," Morrow told her solemnly, although there was a twinkle in his eyes.

He could literally see the horror and panic descended on Delores as she realised that he hadn't received permission from SecNav for the changes to the MCRT. And he saw the penny drop when she stared at the box of his possessions. Now his packing made perfect sense to her.

"They've fired you?" she asked, appalled at what she'd set in train, but Tom knew she couldn't continue to turn a blind eye to the lawlessness of the MCRT.

He shrugged. "No, not yet but I'd say that will be the most likely outcome. But with Gibbs currently being investigated by IA for the excessive force allegation, plus there's CCTV footage as well, it can't exactly be swept under the rug. Would you like to see it?" he offered, knowing that HR would normally be informed before now, but he'd deliberately been keeping details close to the vest.

After watching the footage in silence, Delores exclaimed at the end of the clip, "Wow. Special Agent Gibbs really does seem to think he's bulletproof, doesn't he? Getting physical with the suspect out in the open when the Captain was clearly already handcuffed and offering no resistance. He's a time bomb waiting to go off."

Tom looked saddened even as he agreed with her. "Out of control and expects to be shielded by people sworn to uphold the law," he said sadly. "If this is how he acts when he's in a public place and has two special agents there, you have to wonder how he would have acted if he'd been on his own." He mused sadly.

There was silence as they pondered the imponderable. It was clear to Delores, who was a highly experienced HR manager, that with the combination of this excessive force charge plus the battery charges for head-slapping Agent DiNozzo, he was in a massive amount of trouble. Finally, it seemed like he was going to be held accountable for his actions.

Tom cleared his throat and said, "I also asked you up here because I wanted to thank you, Delores, for giving me a kick in the pants and reminding me about why I went into Law Enforcement in the first place."

The administrator looked overwhelmingly guilty. "Why are you thanking me, Director? To all intents and purposes, you've lost your job, Sir."

Tom smiled sadly, "That's probably true. SecNav is not happy with me, but then Gibbs decided to use excessive force in front of two highly principled people who wouldn't be silenced. Those two defenders of truth and justice forced NCIS to take action and I salute them. If I do lose my job as I expect, I can leave here with my integrity restored.

Again, they were both were silent as they contemplated the future before Morrow resumed speaking calmly.

"You reminded me of the oath I took to uphold the laws of the United States, Delores. I was so frustrated when my attempts to do my job were thwarted, so I felt impotent. When you offered me your resignation in protest, I realised we each have the power to do what's right.

'Even when it seems to be just too hard, too scary, too little too late. We all have individual power IF we have the courage to stand up for what's right, like you did, Delores."

The emotionally introverted administrator felt herself going pink with embarrassment. But it seemed Director Morrow wasn't done with her yet.

"You know, somewhere along the way, the power which I believed I had as NCIS director, corrupted me. I've spent so many years out of the field that I was persuaded that I was indispensable to the future of the agency, just because I was top of the heap. So... I let things slide that I shouldn't have because I was worried that if I rocked the boat, I would lose my job," he said, feeling ashamed.

"I forgot that the most important people are not those who are management but the ones working at the coal face. You reminded me that my job was to protect them, not protect my job," he told her gratefully.

"You reminded me that I could be better than I was. You were prepared to stand up for your principles. To stand up for our agents and NCIS. You stood up for the doctrine of justice for all, for victims of crime, and for the brave Marines, sailors and their families who we represent. Thank you for being my moral compass when I'd lost my way.

I want you to know that you are a hero and it's my privilege to work with you," Morrow told her solemnly.

"YOU, DELORES BROMSTEAD, ARE MY HERO."

The End

End Notes:

From time to time when researching and writing these tags, there are episodes that have a lot of procedural errors. Sometimes I can combine all of them into the one tag but there are times when that isn't possible, and I'll admit that I find it frustrating. This is absolutely the case in See No Evil.

The big elephant in the room is that Gibbs sent the two green rookie agents, Todd and McGee to check out Captain Mike Watson's home to confirm his wife and daughter had indeed been abducted. During this scene, I saw a number of disturbing lapses that were never addressed.

First, they made a visual determination from the car (seemingly via naked eye and a set of binoculars) that the house wasn't under surveillance, which seemed to me to be a pretty questionable method? No really, how did they know that? It was extremely naïve of them and downright negligent. If they were wrong, e.g. if there had been more than one kidnapper or the property was being monitored electronically, their assumption could easily have gotten the hostages killed.

Problem 2 -They failed to treat evidence, (Sandy's cardigan) in an appropriate manner. It should have been bagged and tagged so it could be checked for any trace evidence (hair, skin cells, or foreign particulates) transferred to the clothing from the perp/s. They also should have been wearing gloves while handling it.

Problem 3 -The whole breaking into the house by going through an open upstairs window farrago was ludicrous. In a 'nice middle class' neighbourhood like the Watson's home, someone who saw them breaking in would have called the cops to report them and they'd have arrived on scene with lights and sirens blazing. (See my previous comments about potential consequences for hostages if the house was under surveillance.)

Problem 4 - The perps could easily have been keeping an eye on the property, either physically or digitally to make sure that the cops/FBI hadn't been contacted. (An example of this situation was the case in the 3.18-episode, Bait.) The rookies should have assumed that the property was being watched by the perps until such time as they had definitive proof that it wasn't. Agents Todd and McGee could have gone in undercover (cleaners or tradespeople) or at least, gone in much less publicly.

Problem 5 - Even if they determined that there was no digital monitoring of the property, that wouldn't have been definitive. The perps could have been monitoring the Watson's house from a neighbouring property. They could have even been holding the hostages there for all they knew.

Problem 6 - Cate was so patronising about Tony's means of gaining entry to a terrorists' hideout during the episode 1.07 – Sub Rosa, but if ever there was a case where exigent circumstance applied, then surely it was in this situation and also in the Sub Rosa scene. Seasoned agents would have very discreetly broken a window at the back of the house to gain entry not climbed in a second-storey in the front of the house.

For anyone who doesn't know, the definition of exigent circumstances is circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to believe that entry without a warrant or permission was necessary to prevent physical harm to the officers or other individuals. They had probable cause to believe that Sandy and Julie Watson's lives were in danger, needing to enter the property to verify that and collect evidence.

The fact is that having Todd and McGee entering the Watson's home via the second storey by her standing on McGee's shoulders, while he has his eyes shut in terror, so he won't see her underwear. was simply playing for cheap laughs. It wasn't smart writing for a police procedural and totally unnecessary. Not to mention that Todd forcing McGee to exit the same way they'd come in was dumb. Her method of entry wasn't the result of differences between girls and boys, as Cate told Tim, it was the difference between experienced, competent agents and badly trained rookies, working without proper supervision.

Frankly, I found the comment to be extremely insulting. It was misogynistic to females and patronising to males. Way-to- go writers! All they needed to be inclusively offensive across the gamut was to throw in a comment about the transgender Commander Voss and some typical homophobic comments.