Shazia Malik was not having a good day. She'd looked at five houses and not one of them was suitable. She arrived at the sixth and last house. The landlord was waiting for her as she pulled up. He looked frustrated. "You look like I feel," Shazia commented as she got out.
"You're the fifth viewer I've had today," The landlord replied as they entered. "One turned up late, two never arrived and the other said they would take it, went away to sort a few things out, and then phoned up to say they'd changed their minds."
"Well I start my new job in a week's time so I need a place to stay," Shazia informed him as he showed her around. "And of all the places I've seen today, this is ideal."
The more she looked, the more she liked what she saw.
"How soon do you want to move in?" The landlord asked her.
"As soon as possible, today if that's ok."
"That's fine; I've just got some paperwork for you to sign."
Once everything was sorted out, Shazia drove back to the hotel to pick up her belongings. Checking out, she then headed to a supermarket to pick up some supplies before returning to the house.
She organised her belongings and then had something to eat. Although she wasn't due to start work for another week, she decided to pay NCIS a visit the next day to see if she could start earlier or, if not, at least find out who she would be working with.
The next morning she was up bright and early. She made a short phone call, had breakfast and then headed out.
Showing her ID to the guard at the NCIS building who waved her through, Shazia parked up and went inside. Preferring the stairs to the elevator she went up to the third floor.
As she walked through a couple of agents spotted her. One of them called out. "Hey there, never seen you before, are you new here?"
"New to the building, but not to the agency," She replied, once again showing her ID. "Special Agent Shazia Malik. I just transferred here from Colorado."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Agent Stuart Balboa by the way, and this Agent Dwayne Wilson. So you're the one Gibbs and DiNozzo were arguing over."
"Oh, great," She rolled her eyes. "I haven't even been here five minutes and I've already got guys fighting over me."
"I don't mean in the romantic sense, I mean whose team you would be on."
"Gibbs, I've actually heard of, but who is DiNozzo?" She listened as the two explained who he was. "Sounds like he hits on any woman he sees."
"And then some. He'll probably try it on you too."
"It wouldn't be the first time. Anyway I need to get going, I've got a meeting with the Director. It was nice to meet the two of you." When Shazia arrived outside Vance's office, the secretary informed her that he was ready and waiting for her.
Nodding her thanks, she knocked on the door. "Come in. Ah, Agent Malik, I must admit I was surprised to get your call. I wasn't expecting you for another week."
"I managed to get everything sorted a lot quicker than I'd anticipated."
"Well, what can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if it would be at all possible for me to start immediately and not wait another week, or if not, at least find out who I'll be working with."
"Well you've got two choices actually," Vance informed her. "Agent Gibbs has expressed an interest in having you on his team, but so has Agent DiNozzo. They couldn't come to an agreement so they decided to leave it up to you."
After a few moments of thought, Shazia made her decision. "I choose Agent Gibbs team." And she explained her reasons why.
"Gibbs isn't actually here today, but he should be in tomorrow. So if you'd like to start then, that won't be a problem."
"Thank you Director, tomorrow will be fine."
"I'll see you in the morning then."
