Chapter 11
Mac and Tony both walked out of the Mexican sun and into the bar while McGee and Billy stayed outside on her orders.
“I can’t believe your pilot came through, Mac.” Tony shook his head in shock.
“Well, he is pretty reliable, even if he only got us 3 planes.”
“Which meant you had to fly one of them. I am never going in a plane with you again.” He gagged, the nauseous feeling sharply returning.
“Hola.” Mac greeted, ignoring Tony. She carried on the rest of their conversation in Spanish.
“Hola.” That barman returned her salutation and returned to wiping the bar down. The dim light was a drastic contrast to the eyeball burning Mexican sun outside. The bar was practically deserted, apart from the overweight barman and what seemed to be a few ‘regulars’ who seemed to be drunk even at this hour of the day. The barman’s dirty hair was matted over his forehead and his filthy apron hung limply around his neck.
“Soy la Agente Especial Sciuto y este es el Agente DiNozzo, trabajamos para la NCIS, Una Agencia Federal de los Estados Unidos,” I am Special Agent Sciuto and this is Agent DiNozzo, we work for the US Federal Agency NCIS she flashed the sweaty Mexican man her ID.
“NCIS quiere decir Servicio de Investigación Criminal Naval, por sus siglas en Inglés.” It stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Tony chimed in, also in Spanish, from Mac’s side.
“Nos preguntabamos si usted había visto a este hombre?” We were wondering if you have seen this man? Mac placed Ramirez’s headshot on the bar, avoiding the puddle of beer.
“Ah, si señora.” Ah, yes ma’am. He nodded, bringing the glossy copy closer to his eyes.
“Sabe usted donde se el encuentra ahora?” Do you know where he is now? she asked, showing off her fluent knowledge of the dialect.
“No, lo siento. Pruebe mejor en la cantina, al fondo de la calle. Pasa mucho tiempo allí.” No, sorry. You might have better luck down the street in the cantina. Spends a lot of time there. He ran his eyes up and down Mac’s body.
“Gracias.” Thanks she thanked, nodding her head in a recessive manor, avoiding the passes he was making at her.
“Hey, Señorita, quédese a tomar un trago, es cortesía de la casa.” Hey Miss, stay for a drink. On the house. He winked unattractively at her.
“No, muchas gracias!” No thanks! Tony smirked defensively at the unpleasant ‘gentleman’, placing a protective, warm hand on Mac’s lower back, steering her towards the door.
“Any luck?” McGee questioned desperately.
“Sorry Tim,” she shook her head, replacing her sunglasses over her eyes. “But he said check out the cantina down the street. Hangs out there a lot.” She and Tony started to walk, McGee in tow and Billy scrambling to catch up.
“You speaking Spanish Mac,” Tony started, eyeing the female, “Very hot!”
“DiNozzo, not the time.” She sighed, landing a hard punch in Tony’s arm. He let out a muffled squeal, accompanied by a little laugh from Mac. Tony and Mac eyed the open sign and he opened the door a crack. “McGee, you know the drill. Stay out here with the gremlin.” She nodded, despite his pouting. A bell rang as Mac closed the door behind her.
“Hola, puedo servirles en algo?” Hello, how can I help you? a pretty, young waitress approached them. The spoke thick Spanish with a sultry accent coating her words. The light in their new position was much better than the bar. They could both see clearly and needed no assistance from squinting to make eye contact.
“NCIS.” Mac once again flashed her badge.
“Ah, I know why you are here.” She switched to English.
“You do?” Tony asked surprised, furrowing his brow.
“Si. Senor Gibbs!” she called between the partners. Mac and Tony spun in shock to see their mentor’s head snap up from the bar and stare towards them.
“Whoa” Tony whispered at Gibbs’ scruffy appearance.
“You’re telling me.” She whispered back, as Gibbs’ met hers.
“That’s not why we are here.” Tony asked, tearing his eyes from Gibbs and resting them on the pretty hostess, unlike Mac, whose eyes were fixed on the older man.
“Its not?” she asked, not expecting the twist.
“No.” Tony fished his hand into Mac’s pocket, despite her protests and slapping, and pulled out the glossy.
“Tony, I am gonna…” she never finished, but pointed to Gibbs. With a nod from him, she started off towards the older man and sat on the barstool beside him.
“This is why we are here.” Tony showed the picture to the woman. “Do you know him?”
“Si. That is Eduardo Ramirez.” She bowed her head.
“Yes. Do you know where we can find him?” Tony asked her with a smile.
“Si senor. Eduardo and his ‘friends’ come in every lunchtime around 1 o’clock. Well, he hasn’t this week, but I heard he got back into town this morning.” She looked a little uneasy, as if nervous to give information about the gang member, and why wouldn’t she be?
“One? That is in half an hour!” panic rose in Tony’s voice. “Thank you.” He calmed back down as not to frighten her. Tony placed the picture in his own pocket and gestured for McGee and Billy to enter.
-----------------------
“Hey Boss, long time no see.” She spun on the bar stool to look deep into his blue eyes.
“Sciuto.” He grunted, turning back to his beer. His hair was longer than she had ever seen it, flopping untidily down over his cobalt blue eyes, although they still stood out as much as ever. He had a lot of stubble, not enough to classify it as a beard, but if he did not shave soon, he was well on his way.
“Tell me something Gibbs, how come I had to hear your moving back here from Jen?”
“I didn’t know you knew at all.” He raised his eyebrows at her.
“Please, I know everything.” She joked and Gibbs presented her with a smile in response.
“How you holding up Mac?” he asked, grin in his voice.
“Ah, I’m fine. This case is depressing but other than that.” She said in a ‘but what can you do?’ tone.
“Yeah I heard.” He turned to face down again.
“So, you living it up here in Mexico?”
“If by ‘living it up’ you mean booze and sleep? And if you add in building a boat then pretty much.” He took a swig of his drink.
“Nothing different with you then.” She smiled, and when he narrowed his eyes at her, she simply stuck her tongue out in his direction. Gibbs subtly raised his right hand and connected it roughly with the back of her head. “I deserved that.”
Gibbs turned his attention once more to the woman and nodded his head, with a simple
“Yup” to justify it. “Hey, are you thirsty?” he mentally Gibbs-slapped himself for being rude, drinking away while she was sitting there empty handed.
“Um, I little bit.” She was taken aback by the very un-Gibbs-like gesture.
“David!” Gibbs called over Mac’s shoulder to a man she assumed worked here.
“Yeah. What is it Gibbs?” he said in English, what would have been normal if Mac had not recognized the voice instantly. It was the voice that had screamed her name in pleasure so many times before. The Scottish, although tinted with Irish, accent rang out, contrasting to all of the Spanish speakers in the cantina.
“A drink for the lady.” He lowered his voice. “Mountain Dew I presume?”
“You got me.” She sighed, her eyes drifting shut and head resting on the bar.
“1 Mountain Dew.” He held up one finger just to clarify. “You alright?” he asked concerned, placing a gruff hand on her back.
“Not particularly.” She moved, bringing her head up to face her old friend. Dave had not changed at all. His longish hair still fell over his deep brown eyes, and he still blew it away with a sharp breath as he always had. As handsome as ever, he stood at 6’ 2”. David was well built, a muscled man and what appeared to the naked eye as an athlete. His eyes connected with hers and he was as shocked as Gibbs had ever seen anyone.
“Shit Gibbs.” She muttered under her breath so only he could hear.
“What’s wrong Mac? Ex boyfriend?” he joked, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah.” She nodded, “But that is not the problem.” She turned to her ex-boss as David advanced at great speed. “I kinda forgot to tell everyone I wasn’t dead.” She bit her lip and screwed up her face. “I am screwed,” she shook her head. “And not in a good way.”
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