Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.
Series: The first in my 'Tate' series – it needs a name, if anyone has any ideas. This is a repost of my original story, except these will be in order and I'll finish it before posting the sequels. I've got the DVD box-set for Seasons 1-6 now, so I can do that XD
Spoilers: Yankee White; words in bold were taken from the episode.

Right, here's the bit for those of you who haven't read this before; I am a diehard Tate fan. I have no problem with Tiva, in fact I have written Tiva stories. I do not review Tiva fics and bash or criticise the pairing, so please show me the same courtesy on here. This story will be a series of one-shots and will be purely friendship - if that's what you want to see - or pre-Tate - if you'd prefer to stick with that. If you can't read Tate, then you're welcome along for the ride, just don't look too hard.

Yankee White

Secret Service Agent Kate Todd hated joint jurisdiction. She hated working with the FBI. And she hated Agent Fornell.

The man talked to her like she was a child and she was just taking some deep, calming breaths, lest she snap and prove him right, when the ME finally arrived, greeting the coroner cheerfully, despite the late hour.

The ME – Kate thought she heard the coroner refer to him as 'Ducky', probably because of the name 'Mallard' on his jacket – had two assistants, both older than her, but one significantly so. He seemed more on the ball, donning rubber gloves and commenting on the body and scene while his younger counterpart seemed in awe of their surroundings, only pointing out that Commander Trapp was too young too suffer from a 'brain fart' – Kate had suppress a derisive snort at that; he'd been quite attractive, too, until he opened his mouth.

She caught Fornell's eye and he rolled his eyes; apparently, he was in complete agreement for once.

To her relief, the ME agreed that Trapp had died of natural causes and Kate followed Fornell off the plane to sign the release forms.

"Oh, Ducky," the coroner said as they left, "about those soft-shelled crabs …"

"You'll have them by the weekend." Dr. Mallard told him.

"10-4, Partner." The coroner led them towards the truck. "This way, Agent Fornell, Agent Todd."

Kate had just reached the truck, when something hit her. Wait a minute. We're in Kansas.

She turned sharply on her heel and hurried back inside the plane. The youngest of the men had disappeared and she rested a hand on her sidearm out of habit. "Who the hell are you people? You're no ME's assistant. And there isn't a soft-shelled crab within a thousand miles."

Dr. Mallard at least had the grace to look sheepish. "Sorry."

The non-assistant held up his ID, bearing a shield. "Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. We flew down from Washington to take over the investigation."

Kate sighed. "First the FBI tries to muscle in, now NCIS."

"Yeah, well, I do believe this is a dead Navy officer." Gibbs pointed out.

Okay, so maybe he had a point there. But two could play at that game. "Yeah, who died on Air Force One while having lunch with the president it's my job to protect."

Now it was Gibbs turn to side. "Alright, we can share jurisdiction. You can be on my team."

"Your team?" Kate repeated. "Why should you head the investigation?"

Gibbs straightened up to face her. "You ever worked a crime scene, Agent Todd?"

The answer was no, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "I am a Secret Service agent."

Gibbs smirked and turned back to the body. "I thought not."

"Hey, don't dismiss me like that!" Kate scowled. "I earned my jockstrap!"

"Yeah, does it ever give you that empty feeling?" Gibbs asked.

"What?" Kate frowned.

"Your jockstrap." Gibbs elaborated.

Kate narrowed her eyes. Great. A chauvinist. "No. Like some species of frog, I grow what I need."

Admittedly, it wasn't the best come-back or example, but it worked. Sort of. He stared at her for a few minutes, clear he wasn't about to back down, and Kate sighed inwardly, wondering if it would have been easier to deal with the other agent.

"Hey, Boss! Pilot won't take off 'till the Secret Service chick gives us the thumbs' up."

Maybe not.

Still, it gave her what she needed and it was her turn to smirk. "I think that makes this my team."

"No, I think it means I have to hijack Air Force One." Gibbs disagreed. "Tony, escort Agent Todd off this aircraft and close the hatch."

"You're not serious." Kate saw 'Tony' move closer out of the corner of her eye and slipped past him. "Wait! Alright. Your team. But only because I don't wanna delay us further by having to shoot you."

Gibbs nodded and shook her offered hand. Satisfied that at least she wouldn't get left out or have to deal with the FBI for the flight back, Kate turned on her radio. "Okay, we're good to go."

"DiNozzo, get the doors and then start shooting the scene." Gibbs ordered. "And stop staring at Agent Todd's butt."

Kate turned quickly enough to see Tony's eyes snap back up and he gave her a grin before going to do just that.

"Just hit him any time you feel the need." Gibbs told her. "A lot of people do."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Kate muttered.

As Kate walked away from Air Force One for the last time, she felt none of the sadness she thought she would; it felt right, although she had no idea what she'd do now.

"I heard you quit, Agent Todd!"

Kate smiled humourlessly as Gibbs caught up with her. "Happy news gets around fast. Yes, I resigned. It was the right thing to do."

"Yup. Pull that crap at NCIS and I won't give you a chance to resign."

Kate stopped in her tracks as Gibbs ducked under the traffic barrier and headed for a silver sports car that had just pulled up. "Is that a job offer?" She called.

Gibbs ignored her, greeting the redheaded driver with a kiss as he got in.

To be fair, Kate realised, it was a stupid question. That wasn't a job offer; that was a job demand. She unlocked her car and got in.

That was when it hit her.

"If I join NCIS," she murmured aloud, "I'll be putting up with DiNozzo on a daily basis. One case was bad enough."

Kate sat there for a few minutes longer, weighing up her options, before making a decision. Not taking Gibbs up on his offer meant, at best, going back to law school.

And that was not an option.

At least, not if she wanted to keep her sanity.

And Tony DiNozzo, from what she had seen, although an arrogant, pig-headed, chauvinistic womaniser, did have his good points. He was loyal almost to a fault and a good investigator. And she doubted Gibbs would keep him around if he was always like that.

Hell, she knew she could act bitchy when she had to deal with other agencies; maybe it was just that.

Aside from anything else, she was almost certain that DiNozzo wouldn't go against Gibbs, and since he'd warned her about intra-Agency dating, he must have warned DiNozzo, which meant that any flirting wouldn't mean anything and she didn't need to feel guilty about hurting him if he pushed it too far.

Her phone rang and she pulled over again; she didn't like driving in the dark anyway, let alone while she was on the phone.

"Hello?"

"Agent Todd, this is Director Morrow with NCIS."

"Good evening, Director." Kate greeted.

"Special Agent Gibbs has a vacancy on his team …" Morrow trailed off. "He's already hired you, hasn't he?"

"Not in so many words." Kate admitted.

"Don't worry; just the way he works. Are you interested? I could use someone to keep him and DiNozzo in line."

Kate couldn't help laughing. "You know, yesterday, Agent Gibbs told me I could hit DiNozzo when he got too annoying. Does that offer still stand?"

Morrow chuckled. "Be my guest. Maybe you can get him to show the reason Gibbs hired him a little more often. You in?"

Kate smiled. "I'm in, sir."

AN: Review please! And give me suggestions for a name for this series (On Your Six, Conspiracy, A Circumstantial Twist, Stand By You, Dead and Buried) - I'm rewriting and reposting in order this time, so hopefully it'll make more sense – to me as well as you.