Undercover

Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

            “Hey, Sam,” G called out as he entered.  “Someone I want you to meet.”

Tony trailed behind the other agent, feeling awkward and out of place. 

            “I don’t want to G,”  Sam responded shortly as his partner walked into the room.

            “Sorry, you’re kinda got no choice.  He’s already here,”  G said lightly.

            Sam, sitting on the couch with one leg bandaged and propped up, shifted to glare at the men walking in.

            “Sam, this is Agent Tony DiNozzo, from DC.  He’s helping out here for a little while.  Tony, this is Sam Hanna, my partner,”  G introduced.

            “Hi, Sam.  Nice to meet you,”  Tony held out a hand for the other man to shake, hoping he wouldn’t break it.  The SEAL grudgingly grasped it for a second, his glare never lessening.

            “Sure,”  he grunted, and Tony felt his hopes plummet.  Clearly Sam didn’t like him at all, despite the fact that they had only met a minute before.

            “Be nice, Sam,” G lightly chided.  “He’s not going to be so easy to scare off.  He works with Gibbs, and, unless I’m mistaken, worked with him as a two man team for a while.  And managed to survive and continue working with him.”

            Apparently Sam wasn’t so dead set against Tony as it had first seemed, as he cracked a slight smile at the uncomfortable agent. 

            “Well I suppose that’s one redeeming quality, although the real test will be whether or not you can survive working with G. Without killing him, I mean,”  Sam said, completely deadpan.

            “Meh, I’ve already done that.  He doesn’t seem all that bad, but maybe he’s gotten worse over time,”  Tony smiled.”

            “Hey!”  G protested.  “No ganging up on me!”

            “Bit late for that now,”  Tony returned, sharing a quick grin with Sam.

            “All right, all right, I give up,” G threw his hands in the air.  “I’m going to get your pain meds.  Play nice, boys.”

            The second G was out of earshot, Sam’s smile dropped.

            “When did you two work together and why does he trust you so much?”

            “Uh…” Tony mumbled, a bit surprised by the sudden change of attitude. “We worked an op together seventeen years ago, before we were NCIS.  And he probably trusts me because we were stuck undercover together in Columbia for six months.”

            “Can he still trust you?  People change a lot in seventeen years, and I’m not having my partner getting injured or killed because you’re dirty or an assassin,” the other agent said, glaring harshly.

            “I’m not either of those things, and I have no hidden agendas whatsoever,” Tony muttered, trying not to let his disappointment show through. 

            “Prove it.”

            “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”  Tony asked angrily, glaring back.

            “He took a bullet in the gut for me once,”  G said, reentering the room and handing Sam some pills and a glass of water.  “And I trust him, Sam.  That should be good enough for you.”

            “Fine,” Sam grumbled, but his glare did somewhat soften.

            “You said that you wanted to talk to me.  What’s up?”

            “What’s your current case about?” Sam asked.  Tony inwardly smirked at the not so subtle deflection, but G didn’t seem to agree with his internal assessment of the comment.

            “No, Sam.  You are not helping with the case.  You probably shouldn’t even be out of the hospital.  And if that’s all you wanted to talk about, we have to get going,” G said sternly, turning to leave.

            “But-” Sam started.

            “Bye Sam.  Deeks will be over later.”

            “Fine.  Take care of yourself.”

            “Will do,” G smiled back at his grumpy partner as he and Tony left the building.

            Back in the car, Tony breathed a sigh of relief.  “Well, that went better than I expected.”

            “In other words, he didn’t kill you?”  G asked, glancing over at him.

            “Yeah basically,”  Tony replied, jumping slightly when his phone rang.  He cursed under his breath when he saw the caller ID.  “It’s Gibbs, sorry.” 

            “Yeah, Boss?”  he asked, hoping that he was in a better mood than earlier. 

            “When is your flight back?”  Gibbs demanded angrily.  No suck luck then.

            “Eh- it’s not?”  Tony said hesitantly.

            “Why the hell not!” 

            “I’m supposed to be out here.  Director’s orders,”  Tony reminded.

            “To hell with the director’s orders!  Get your ass back here ASAP or don’t bother coming back!”

            “Gee, are you sure you want to say that, Boss? Cause the last time you said that I ended up getting drugged, kidnapped, and locked in a sewer system,” Tony said flippantly.  G glanced sharply at him, but Tony flicked a hand at him to mean ‘later’.

            “Does it sound like I give a damn, DiNozzo?  Get. Your. Ass. Back. Here,” Gibbs growled.

            “No can do, Boss.  I suggest you talk to Vance,” Tony snapped, losing his patience and hanging up.

            G looked over at him again, this time with concern evident in his blue eyes.

            “What was that about?”  he asked.

            “Gibbs isn’t very happy that I’m still out here.  He wants me back in DC right away, and apparently I’ll be fired if I don’t.  But since I’m out here on director’s orders, I’ll also be fired if I leave,”  Tony sighed.

            “I can talk to the director if you want,”  G offered.  “Tell him that we’ll be able to function a man down.”

            “Thanks, but no thanks.  Now that there’s a possible cartel tie-in, I should probably stay here in case we need to go under.”

            “True, and I can’t say I would like it if you headed back so soon,” G said, turning his attention back to the road.  They drove in silence for a minute, both men lost in their thoughts.

            “Hey,”  G said quietly, almost hesitantly.  “If Gibbs does fire you, I’m pretty sure we could convince Vance and Hetty to let you transfer here, if you want.”

            Tony blinked, shocked by the sudden sentiment.  “I-” he cleared his throat.  “That’d be great.  Thank you G,” he said earnestly.