Cate came up to the secured interrogation room, where Lin was being held until they could safely get her to a safehouse. She found the woman looking over the six photos of the funerals, the ones Tony had pulled from the bank. "Hey. I, uh, brought you something to eat."
Lin nodded in thanks as Cate set down the plate. She'd gone for soft, blander foods, having heard from Webb and Ducky not to give the Major things that would upset her stomach.
Cate sat down at the table across from her. "You - you want to tell me about those photos?"
Lin shrugged.
"You take 'em?"
"No." Lin sighed. "No, they were sent to me."
Cate's brow furrowed. "By whom?"
"I don't know. Hopefully somebody I blew up this time," Lin replied, looking down at the photos.
Cate sat back and watched her carefully. Her profiling instincts told her that Lin was now serious, but a little voice warned her that Lin was an undercover agent who most likely had several different faces. The major had sported a huge smirk on her face when she and Tony had returned from getting coffee. In addition, Gibbs was obviously infuriated; Tony had taken one look at their boss and looked like he was ready to run. From the look on Lin's face, she'd managed to get Gibbs that angry all by herself.
Cate had to admit she was curious about what the major had done. Tony refused to ask Gibbs, seeing how annoyed he was. Gibbs in turn had refused to answer any of her questions, just pinning her with a piercing, unreadable gaze before he left the room. It was at that point she noticed the major's smirk grow even wider.
At the same time, Cate had a gut feeling that right now, for the first time, she was seeing the real Kate Lin - the one that her brother and her sister-in-law had described.
"What happened?" Cate asked softly.
"These" she pulled out two of the pictures "are two of the nine Marines for whom the ransom was supposed to be." She pushed the photos over to Cate, keeping her eyes on the photo the entire time. "Corporal Jefferson has a baby girl," she said quietly. "She was born just the week before he died."
At that, Cate looked up immediately, her eyes flickering to the Marine's face. Although the woman kept staring at the photo, Cate could see her expression and was shocked to see the pain there. She had seemed so hard and uncompromising before, but now, it was different.
The woman suddenly seemed to sense that the NCIS agent was watching and quickly collected herself. She pointed out another photo. "This one was Cmdr. Michael Theron. He and I were assigned to bring a Chinese scientist who was defecting out of Beijing. I was undercover for five months prior." Cate watched her carefully as the Marine continued quietly. "It was going well, you know. I grew up speaking Mandarin at home, can speak it without an American accent. They'd gotten me a voice coach, and I developed a Beijing accent. For five months I passed as a native, and everything was going fine."
She snorted derisively. "I used the formal term for 'one' instead of the regional term," she said. "That was it. That's all it took. Blew the whole works. They dug deeper and figured it out." She stopped, and for a long time the two women just sat in silence.
For an intelligence agent, Cate thought to herself, the major was carrying a load of guilt, all built in seven or so years. She'd be crushed in just seven more.
The Marine shook her head, as if she still couldn't believe it. "Cmdr. Theron and I were almost to the embassy with the scientist when they found us. He was providing covering fire, and I had the scientist. We made it in; Theron didn't."
"I doubt that was the only thing," Cate immediately replied, trying to comfort her. She straightened up in shock when she saw a pair of dark eyes look up at her, the weariness evident. "I mean," she said slowly, "I - I don't think you screwing up a word got him killed."
Lin acknowledged her statement, but Cate knew that didn't change anything. After the Suzanne MacNeil case, she'd gone through that same self-blame. Still did. It wouldn't have mattered if anyone had said anything to her to make her feel better - she wouldn't have. She knew what it was like to make a mistake and have it cost lives, and really, whatever was said never really helped all that much.
"I had to bring home his body to his parents and his fiancee," the Marine finished quietly. "She was a Navy doctor. She told me that's how they met, at Bethseda. He, uh, had been hurt. He had been on an assignment." She fell silent for a moment, then finished quietly, "Like the one we had been on."
They sat in silence for several minutes, and Cate didn't say anything. What were you supposed to say to something like that? She finally leaned forward. "Major," she said gently. "Major, do you know who this man is?" She pointed out the mystery man in the pictures.
Lin looked at the photos. "Most likely just a mourner."
"He shows up in all six," Cate replied, keeping her eyes on the major as she spread the photos out in front of her. "Does he have something to do with the photos?"
"Well, he can't be taking them," Lin replied, looking up. Seeing Cate's look, she shrugged. "Maybe he's somebody working in the department. Without having pictures of him at some funeral not tied to me, I don't know. It's kind of a bad habit, I suppose, but some people attend the funerals of these people, pay their respects out of duty."
Cate sat back, watching her carefully. "This is really bothering you, this assignment."
"Two of the nine are already dead," Lin replied sharply, turning her intense gaze back on the other woman. "First they're tortured. Then they're shot in the back of the head, execution-style, and then chopped up and sent back in a crude wooden box. We've had Dover seal the caskets so the families don't see them. The rebels have been threatening to do this to a Marine every two weeks we don't get the bail money. You tell me why I shouldn't be bothered by this assignment."
Cate winced visibly.
"Well?" Webb asked, holding the cell phone to his ear. "Don't worry, it's secure. And NCIS can't trace it."
"I talked to both Gibbs and Todd," came Lin's voice over the line.
"What did you do?"
"Blackmailed Gibbs. You know how he is. He'd never let somebody else's reputation be tarnished, especially for him."
Webb chuckled. Gibbs wasn't that hard to figure out. "Nice. I don't think he'd agree any other way." He paused. "DID he agree?"
"I doubt it." There was a pause. "Hopefully he's been thrown off-kilter enough, though, to miss us getting Agent Todd and Director Morrow to agree. I've got a meeting with Morrow this afternoon, and I'm going to need you to talk to him, too."
"Will do. What about Todd?" Webb waited for an answer, but there was no response on the other end. "Kate, what did you say to Todd? She's the key, here."
There was a long silence. Webb pressed the phone more tightly to his ear, trying to keep out the noise of the streets. "Kate, are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm still here," came an unusually tiny voice.
"Will Todd do it?"
There was another long pause. "I think so."
Webb was about to hang up - he got what information he needed - but when the other agent at the other end made no move to do so, he stiffened. "Kate, are you all right? Where are you?"
"I'm fine. I'll go now." *click*
"Gibbs!" Cate protested as she followed him around the corner, coming into one of the back rooms in autopsy. "I can do it. I can."
"Well, you're not." Gibbs slammed down the papers he had to give to Ducky, making the older man jump. Gerald looked at Gibbs and then Cate, his mouth slightly open, his earphones to his CD player sitting in his hand, forgotten.
"Gibbs, there are seven Marines who will die if we don't do this pickup. They'll - "
"They'll die because somebody else killed them," Gibbs retorted. "We are not directly responsible."
Cate's mouth fell open in shocked protest. That didn't sound like Gibbs. "Gibbs! It's just a pickup!" she exclaimed as she continued to follow him.
Gibbs finally stopped what he was doing and turned around to stare her down. "NO." The emphasis shocked her for a moment, and she stopped and fell silent.
When he turned around and continued to head out, he saw Lin just sitting in a chair in a hidden corner of the autopsy room, looking at him smugly. She raised one eyebrow and smirked, then reminded in a low enough voice so only he could hear, "Yao yan."
The agent narrowed his eyes at her, knowing full well what she had said and meant. He stalked to her chair, and leaned down so he was nose to nose with her. "You say one thing," Gibbs replied in a deliberate, low voice, "and I will hunt you down and rip your throat out."
Cate opened the door and stepped into the director's office, about to head straight for Morrow's desk when she saw Gibbs already sitting in one of the chairs. She stopped, and when she resumed her trek across the carpet, her pace had slowed considerably. "You called for me, sir?" Cate asked as she approached.
"Have a seat, Agent Todd," Morrow replied. "I'll cut to the chase. I understand there is some disagreement between you and Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo concerning the Lin case."
"Yes." Cate nodded firmly. If she was going to lose her job at NCIS, she might as well go out with dignity this time. At least it was a case conflict with her boss, and not something personal, like dating against regulations.
"Well, explain."
Cate looked surprised for a moment. "I thought...Agent Gibbs had already told you," she replied, a little nonplussed.
"I want to hear what you have to say."
Cate paused a moment, gathering her thoughts. "I believe that the assignment Major Lin was on at the time of her supposed death to be one of the utmost importance. We, however accidentally, set back the progress she was making in finding who was sabotaging the pickup of the ransom money. I think that I can adequately fill the role of the agent who should be conducting the pickup, the role the major was intending to do herself until she was discovered to be...well...undead."
"This is a CIA matter."
"Sir, there are nine Marines, and two are already dead. This makes it a NCIS matter!"
"You do understand the risks in this undertaking, do you not." Morrow folded his hands and sat back in his chair.
"Major Lin has been very clear that there are still, she is guessing, at least two rogue agents who betrayed her but whom the CIA has not yet found and swept. Mr. Webb, reinstated deputy Director of Operations - Counter Intelligence Center, has confirmed her statement."
"You are not an intelligence officer, nor have you been military-trained," Morrow said doubtfully.
"No, I have not. But I have been a Secret Service agent and I speak Serbian, sir, a requirement that eliminates several agents from this job," Cate insisted. "In addition, right now I am only one of two women who know that Major Lin is alive, and Abby is certainly not cut out for this." She leaned forward earnestly. "Sir, to risk contacting another female agent outside of the small circle that knows about the Major's being alive is to risk botching this assignment! Again."
Morrow pursed his lips, tapping a pen against the notepad. Gibbs continued to sit there with an unreadable expression on his face.
Cate tried one last appeal. "Sir," she said quietly, her voice softening. "Sir, two families have already gotten coffins - sealed, by Dover, so the families won't see the fact that they've been chopped into pieces. There are seven more, and they are going to be tortured and killed one by one until something is done."
Gibbs sat up, his brow furrowing. "Lin didn't tell me this."
"Most likely because it wouldn't change your mind," Morrow said, saying out loud what all three were thinking. He knew that Gibbs would do the assignment without a moment's hesitation if he were the one the intelligence agents wanted. But he wasn't - they wanted Todd - and so Gibbs was being a bear. "Both Major Lin and Mr. Webb did tell me, though."
He then sat back in his seat and looked at the woman in question, eyeing her critically. He could tell that she was a little intimidated, but to her credit she held his gaze firmly. Morrow almost chuckled to himself. Jethro had been right when he said she had balls; he knew now why the silver-haired agent had hired her.
Morrow knew that Cate had left the Secret Service under less than ideal conditions. She had made mistakes there and at NCIS, but no more than those made by some of his other agents. She had proven her ability to profile and do it well, especially for somebody who had spent most of her time on a non-criminal detail. She was quite a catch, and Morrow was certainly worried that she would be killed on this assignment. That would be a loss for the agency.
It would be a big loss for Gibbs' team, too. DiNozzo was a good agent and neither Gibbs nor Morrow were about to let him go, but it was difficult to find somebody, especially a woman, who didn't complain every other week about the ex-cop's comments. They hadn't heard a peep out of Todd about DiNozzo since she came. If she were killed, Gibbs would have to start all over.
Morrow rubbed his hand over his face. "You can go." Both stood up. "I will make a decision by tonight. Jethro, could you stay a moment."
Cate looked between the director and her supervising agent, then nodded and left.
Morrow looked up at the older agent, who was standing in front of his desk. "I see no reason why I shouldn't allow her to do this. I have assurances that both Clayton Webb and Kathryn Lin are...on the up-and-up and clean. Even if we were to disregard the urgency of the case, this assignment would only help Agent Todd's standing in Washington." He stopped and looked at Gibbs expectantly.
Gibbs did not respond.
Morrow continued, "Even without Director Webb and Major Lin actually telling me so, I knew this assignment is only going to enhance Agent Todd's reputation within NCIS and among the Washington agencies in general. This job is only available to those with a extremely high security clearance, which is why Major Lin was slated to do the same assignment twice. There were very few people with her qualifications and security clearance. The major might irritate you, but she's good. And both she and Director Webb think Agent Todd can do this."
"Sir." Gibbs finally spoke. "Agent Todd already has Yankee White clearance. How much higher do you want hers to go?"
"Yankee White's different, you know that," Morrow replied. "She doesn't have your clearance, so obviously she can still move up. In addition - " the director shrugged " - Cate has the linguistic abilities."
"She's not trained for this kind of thing, sir. Major Lin herself has been working in the field for several years and she considers this assignment very dangerous. I don't think we should just give in to Major Lin, even if Cate is qualified."
Morrow looked up at the man. They stared at each other in silence for several minutes. "Is there something I should know about, Jethro?" he hinted.
Gibbs stared back unwaveringly. "No sir."
The director frowned. "You know you can tell me. Did Major Lin or Director Webb say something to you? Threaten you?"
Well YEEEEAAAH, but it wasn't as though he could tell Morrow what Lin had said she'd do. "No, sir," Gibbs replied.
Morrow sighed. "Nothing is wrong?" he asked for confirmation.
Gibbs paused for a moment, then finally said, "I just prefer my agents transporting body bags, sir, not being transported in them."
Morrow sighed. "Look. I don't like it either, but Director Webb, Major Lin, and Agent Todd have presented incontrovertible arguments."
"It's still your call, sir."
"And I am unfortunately inclined to say yes to the three of them," he replied. When he didn't get a response from the agent, he sighed. "I'll give you my decision tonight."
x x x x x
yao yan: rumor (Mandarin)
x x x x x
Chapter End Notes:
Part One is a crossover between "NCIS" and "Without a Trace." ("Nine Lives, Part I") Originally posted to FF.net 3/21-4/2/04