Technicalities

{Chapter 02}

It had been about an hour, maybe longer, before I was practically running out of the elevator and into a large bright orange room. Cubicles and filing cabinets filled the lower level of the space while people seemed to be rushing along the upper level. My eyes darted from face to face as people passed me by in the cramped entrance, a couple of the men bumping into me roughly and glaring when they stumbled. I wobbled some and turned my head in their direction, opening my mouth to make a snide comment. A slew of insults wrestled on my tongue, but none of them came forward when a flick of dark brown hair from the corner of my eye caught my attention. A pale woman wearing a blue long sleeved, diamond patterned sweater and khaki work slacks. A smile tugged on the corners of her lips as she sized me up with her bright brown eyes, almost as if she were questioning why I was there.

"What couldn't get enough of us?"

"I was told to report for duty, Caitlin."

She wrinkled her nose and slowly made her way back to the desk she had been standing in front of. I followed just as slowly and stopped, giving a certain casanova the deadliest bit of side eye. The sound of a throat clearing caught my attention, and I hesitantly glanced at the source of the sound. A man in his late forties to early fifties was sitting behind the desk staring up at us with narrowed ice blue eyes. I had apparently interrupted the debriefing of the case upon entering the bullpen, and suddenly, I felt like a child waiting for my parents to pick me up from the principal's office. The man handed me a file and looked at Caitlin with a silent warning not to walk off again.

"Glad you could join us, Short Stack."

The voice was smooth and warm, not too deep or gravelly, but soothing enough to match the toothy grin. Bright green eyes were watching me with amusement, and it took a lot not to swing. Anthony DiNozzo was a giant flirt and a common irritant in my day.

"Not like you gave me much of a choice, DiNozzo... Look, as fun as all of this is, I was supposed to return to work tomorrow. So why am I here?"

"You were supposed to be back today."

The voice of the older man was deeper in his throat with a slight edge as he spoke. Nothing to really write home about, but it fits the man very well. It was enough to shut me up just about instantly if it meant he spoke more.

"The USS Foster left Roosevelt Roads Naval Station two days ago. It was en route to Norfolk. A body was found here in the Bahamas."

"Was the body I.Ded?"

I flipped through the file curiously, humming mostly to myself as I read the notes. I really was my fathers' daughter getting interested the minute a case started getting discussed. Gibbs raised a brow and leaned back in his chair while I got stares from my teammates. I wasn't scheduled to be back today, but my gut told me they knew I was getting at least a bit stir crazy even if I didn't want to admit it.

"Nineteen year old seaman Russell MacDonald. He was assigned to the USS Foster. It left Roosevelt Roads."

"That's Puerto Rico! I love Puerto Rico!"

"You been there a lot, Tony?"

Kate glanced at Tony with a raised brow, clearly shocked that he could pull off that kind of vacation.

"No! That's the thing! I've always wanted to go! Ever since I was a kid! I just..."

He trailed off slowly when we all looked at him with raised brows. He looked down like a kicked puppy, and I rolled my eyes. I crossed my arms and held the file, turning my gaze back to meet Gibbs.

"Did anyone hear or see anything?"

Kate continued questioning Gibbs while simultaneously nudging into me, hiding her smile behind her hand.