"Gibbs is going mad looking for you two." McGee told us when we entered the pen a little later after the drive back up to the agency.
"We weren't gone that long were we?" I asked, looking up at Tony for an answer. Time hadn‘t really been something I was focused on.
"Two hours and nine minutes exactly." Ziva said with a smile, after glancing down at her watch.
"Damn." The two of us said at the same time.
"What took you so long anyway?" She asked us as she sifted through some paperwork on her desk.
"Tony ran into one of his ex girlfriends." I said simply, throwing her a knowing look. They knew the stories from the Casanova himself and she nodded in total understanding, unable to hide the smirk on her lips.
"And then Taylor had one of her little anger moments. I had to calm her down in the parking lot before we got back in the car." Tony added, determined not to take the entire blame for our tardiness.
"DiNozzo! Connor!"
The two of us froze and looked at each other. "It's too late to hide under the desk isn't it?" I asked him.
"Where the hell have you two been?" Gibbs asked stopping in front of our desks, coffee in hand.
"Well, you see boss--" Tony began.
"Save it. Abby found semen linking Petty Officer Saunders to the murder scene. Apparently he's working some medieval charity fair today with some other officers. I want you down there and I want you to bring him back here before the afternoon is over." Gibbs held up a photo of Saunders.
We looked at it and I picked up my gun and my jacket. Tony took the photo, folding it so it would fit in his pocket.
"Now get to it!" Gibbs hollered at the two of us.
As we were leaving I swear I heard Ziva mutter something along the lines of; "Gibbs is up to something hinky with those two."
*Tony's POV*
We arrived at what I guessed was supposed to be some sort of local carnival. I could see some of those travelling rides in the distance and balloons and children were everywhere we looked. There were people dressed in ridiculous costumes that were supposed to make them resemble court jesters, knights and medieval royalty. To me it looked tacky, but there was something in Taylor's green eyes as she discarded her jacket in the back of the car.
We moved through the gates and began to look around for any signs of naval officers. Everyone here though only reminded me of clowns, but Taylor loved it all.
"Fair maiden!" I raised an eyebrow at this stranger in front of us as he moved closer, his eyes fixed on my partner. He was apparently supposed to be a knight, his fake armour clanging as he walked. He had messy blonde hair that fell into his face and hid his rather blue eyes from us. He took Taylor's hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it gently. I had to stop myself from gagging. "May I ask what a beautiful maiden like yourself is doing amongst the presence of commoners such as myself?" His phoney British accent made it even tackier.
"I'm working. And do not frown upon yourself like you do. You are no commoner, kind sir."
I couldn't believe it! Taylor was actually flirting with this guy! The same woman who I had seen disarm a guy in the blink of an eye was now smiling a lop sided smile and was acting completely unlike the Taylor Connor I knew; aside from the natural British accent.
"Why, the triquetra."
The knight had spotted the new tattoo Taylor had on her shoulder blade. You could just see it from her black vest top. She'd got it done about a week or two ago. She went with Abby when the Goth was getting a new tatt herself. I swear the more time those two spent together the more alike they became.
"The triquetra isn't just a pretty symbol, the links represent--"
"--the mind, body and spirit being united as one." Taylor finished, the smile fixed on her face.
"Ah, so you're not just a pretty face either." He moved closer to her this time and for some reason I felt my blood boil.
"Save it tin boy. We're working. Have you seen this man?" I held the photo between him and Taylor, breaking whatever enchantment he was trying to bestow on her.
"I am afraid not, but if you find yourself in need of a white knight, just shout." He kissed Taylor's hand again and stepped back slightly.
"She has a gun. She can look after herself." I hissed at him and he took it as his cue to leave. Taylor still wore that half goofy smile on her face as we began to move again. "I can't believe that is your type!" I said to her, my anger for the knight still present.
"My type? You mean a nice guy who doesn‘t want to spar with me and who actually sees me first and foremost as a woman and not an agent? What can I say, I guess I still like to be shown that chivalry does exist." She shrugged.
"Chivalry?"
"I didn't expect you to understand. You must bed a least one new girl every week." Her words cut deeper than I think she intended them to.
"That was harsh Connor." I told her honestly, not liking the picture she had painted of me in her mind.
"I'm sorry Tony. I didn't mean it. It‘s just that there‘s a lack of men willing to jump in front of a bullet for me the second they realise that I can fire one too. It‘s nice to have the rebuilt even if it‘s only at a fair."
"Well Tay, if it helps, I would jump in front of a bullet for you." I said honestly.
She was one of my best friends; you would have done the same...
Right?
"Really?" She seemed pleasantly surprised.
"Yeah." I smiled.
She smiled, whispering a soft thanks and we continued moving through the crowds.
"So, why is that whole thing so appealing to you? I mean, you kick ass and then you turn to mush at a false knight! I don't get it."
"I'm a woman, which means I was once a little girl and like the majority of little girls I grew up on fairytales and myths of knights in shining armour. I guess part of me still craves for all that, the same way I did when I was six." She explained, laughing slightly and looking across through the crowds
I smiled down at her and my mind was having a moment of its own, warning me about what I was doing to myself. I had to admit; ever since that knight came onto the scene I was feeling a little funny about Taylor. It was probably because I'd never seen her like that before...flirting and girly
Yeah, that was it.
I didn't actually feel jealous at all.
No way.
"Tony. Is that our guy?" She pointed to a guy in a ridiculous sailor suit that brought back creepy memories of my youth.
"I think it is. Let's go." I consulted the picture in my hand and then began to jog towards him, Taylor close behind me.
"Petty officer Saunders?" He looked up at us, with a confused expression on his face.
"Who wants to know?"
"NCIS." I showed him my badge.
His eyes widened and he took off, knocking some barrels over to try to slow us. Pathetically, it stalled me, but Taylor merely leaped over them and took off at full speed after him.
She wasn't a girl to underestimate.
Saunders tried to throw her off his tail but failed every time. She may have been a young agent but she was by no means inexperienced. She could fire a gun, defend herself, fight off even the strongest of officers, speak three other languages beside English, not to mention she could sign and she could devise the best of plans in a split second, and she could scare even the toughest of men in interrogation.
And this woman wanted chivalry? There was no room to give her it when she was just a strong woman in a man’s world.
By the time I reached them, Taylor had wrestled Saunders to the ground and he was currently laying with his face pressed in the mud as she read him his rights and cuffed him. Some of her hair had fallen into her face and it made my stomach feel funny.
It was something I ate.
She dragged him to his feet and pushed him along as she made her way from the fair. I smirked at the petty officer who was currently glaring, the left side of his face caked in mud. I also noticed that he had a slight limp that wasn't there when he took off before. Taylor was composed and it scared me even more. I used to think Ziva was the wrong kind of woman to cross but after meeting Taylor and working with her--well she made Ziva look tame.
I knew there was more to Taylor than meets the eye and part of me was intrigued to find out what that was, but then she never spoke of her past so I wasn't sure if it was something that I should bring up with her. I'd never mention it in work-NCIS agents are like gossip vultures. But then, to ask her outside of work, I'd have to go out with her to someplace and then it would be like a date. That would break rule #12 and that meant Gibbs would have my head. Taylor would probably get away with it. There was something there too. Although Gibbs treated her like the rest of his agents, there was some underlying look in his eyes when he spoke to her-kind of like the way he looks at Abby. I didn't know anything about that either, but I'd been around Gibbs long enough to know that he cared about his newest agent.
I think Taylor had a way of making people care about her, no one could resist.