Lost Too Much

LOST TOO MUCH Chapter 17

The other agents returned to the USS Arlington to finish the operation that they had been working on, for the past four months. Agent Nassir saw the sadness in Agent Gibbs' eyes when he entered the conference room. He knew that there were other agents involved in the case that he was working on, but he had no idea of their identity. He wondered if the men Gibbs had taken to interrogation were NCIS agents. As he entered his cabin he found his handler sitting on his bed. He hadn't seen him in three weeks, he was surprised to see him.

"Jack, what are you doing here?" His eyes reflected the sadness over what had transpired earlier that morning, but seeing his handler pulled him out of it.

"The risks have soared, my friend. I'm told to tell you who else on this ship is here for your backup. We almost lost two agents this morning." Jack's grey eyes bore the concern for Michael.

"Cromwell attacked one of our own, another agent killed him to save the other agent and himself. Director Vance thinks it's too risky for you to not know the identities of the others for this case, Mick."

"Cromwell was in on this?" He hadn't suspected Cromwell. His suspects were higher up the chain, Ensign Roger Davies and Lieutenant Lewis Jackson.

"It looks that way. Cromwell attacked one of our own, who were following his suspects, O'Leary and Cary. You know them?" Jack stood, ready to leave. It was always important to keep his visits short.

"Yes I do. You want me to watch them?" Jack nodded.

"Be careful." He left Nassir and headed upstairs to his office. He was the onboard NCIS agent who was delivering information between Director Vance and the agents on board. He knew the ship like the back of his hand, moving about undetectable was a breeze. But even as he walked up a couple of flights of stairs and down some corridors, towards his office, he felt eyes watching him. Fear for all of them grew within Jack's gut. He needed to call Vance fast. They all needed to get out of there ASAP.

Navy Yard

Ellie Bishop poured over the notes from their now closed case. With the USS Arlington leaving port in ten hours time, they had no cause to return to the ship and help the undercover agents onboard. O'Leary and Cary were too cocky for their liking. Even Gibbs appeared to be on edge from it all. She was aware that Gibbs knew one of the agents onboard, but the rest were strangers. Yet, he treated them all as one of their own. But today, Gibbs was more curt than normal in his approach with his team. His frustrations were vented onto all of them around him. They understood the reasons behind it and really wanted to help. Abby had filled her into what happened over a year ago, with Gibbs' friend and daughter. Gibbs' behaviour made perfect sense to her. She picked up her laptop and files and left their open office for a quiet room. She found one vacant and slipped inside. She needed to focus to find what it was that had been niggling at her since the beginning of this case. Vance had stressed that this case was now closed for them, but it never was when more agents were in danger.

Timothy McGee entered Abby's lab and wasn't surprised to find Tony down there. "You too?" He raised his brow in question.

Tony nodded. "I love the boss, but I can't think with all that negative energy pouring out of him."

"Well then you can make yourselves useful, if you're going to hang out down here. At least then if Gibbs finds you down here, you are seen to be doing something productive."

Both agents nodded and followed Abby's directive. She handed them a laptop each.

"We're tapping into USS Arlington's security system, for starters." She looked at McGee. "If we can't be on board to help our men stay safe, we can at least be another set of eyes to help warn them."