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As she prepares for Leroy Jethro Gibbs's visit to Los Angeles, Lara Macy isn't sure what she should be feeling right now.
She's been the Special Agent in charge of the Office of Special Projects for nearly a year or so since Director Vance chose her for the job, having finally gotten the green light to get OSP up and running. They're the East Coast counterpart to the main Washington D.C branch of NCIS and although they might only be new, OSP is equipped with the latest technology to help them capture or track down any criminals who are unlucky enough to cross their paths.
Unlike anyone who might be relaxed or easy-going, Macy doesn't take her duties lightly for a second because she's a former member of the Military Police so she expects results all the time. She runs a very tight ship, making sure that all the cases that they get are wrapped up with a string on top. Her Agents are also the best, experts in their respective fields and also skilled at going undercover as well as operating in the field. Despite only being a year old, OSP is already beginning to make a name for itself and they've gotten a lot of funding from Congress thanks to Vance's efforts.
But with the news that Gibbs is on his way here, Macy can't shake off the nagging feeling that tells her something bad is going to happen.
She only hopes that it doesn't involve her or her team.
Unfortunately, bitter experience has also taught her that a statement like that alone is only wishful thinking itself.
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Gibbs arrives in Los Angeles a few hours later, accompanied by a member of his team, Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee.
Needless to say, Macy's already done her research.
Ever since Vance told her Gibbs was coming, she's devoted to what free time she has to finding out everything and anything there is to know about Gibbs's team. She now knows their backgrounds, their previous employments and what kind of skills they bring to the job.
She also knows about Special Agent Kate Todd, the former Secret Service Agent who died five years ago after being shot in the head by a rogue sniper, Ari Haswari who also happened to be the half-brother of Ziva David, another member of Gibbs's team and who's also part of the Israeli Mossad.
But Macy is mostly curious about Agent McGee. Given that he was originally assigned to the Naval Base at Norfolk, Macy can't understand why Gibbs chose him to be a permanent member of his team. Sure, he's skilled in computers and technology but he has all the markings of a Probie, namely someone who should probably be put on desk duty instead of going out in the field.
But he must have had something that made Gibbs pick him.
Like it or not, Macy also hopes McGee will be able to handle OSP's technology here as well.
When the two Agents themselves finally reach the OSP offices, Macy's too busy having a conference with Vance about a terrorist group in the Horn of Africa to go out and give them a greeting so she sends Kensi out as the welcoming committee. She's too focused on the job at the moment to greet her visitors and besides, she and Gibbs aren't exactly the best of friends at the moment.
Well, they haven't been for nearly twenty years.
And unsurprisingly, once Gibbs and McGee get into the office, the atmosphere between herself and Gibbs is as icy as ever with the two of them exchanging cool remarks while trying to hide their resentment from each other, a move that doesn't go unnoticed by the rest of the OSP staff.
Macy's also annoyed by Gibbs trying to stamp over her, to take charge of the investigation. But she's been running OSP since the beginning so this is her show. Needless to say, she's always impatient and eager to get the whole thing going so she doesn't have any damn time for Gibbs's childish games so he'll just have to swallow his pride and help her regardless.
If he's got a problem with her authority, then Macy doesn't care at all.
The job always comes first.
Nothing else.
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A day or so later, what began as a simple case with the death of a Marine has since grown into something much, much bigger.
Namely the possibility of a terrorist cell operating here in Los Angeles and it's OSP's worst nightmare come to life.
Macy's just stunned by the revelation but she quickly gathers her wits together and begins snapping out orders for her Agents to capture a member of the terrorist cell, alive so that they can be interrogated and questioned. But the plan quickly goes out the window when it's discovered that Michael Rivkin, a foreign spy with the Israeli Mossad is in LA.
Unfortunately for her, he's also had his sights set on the terrorist cell and instead of leaving them alive, Rivkin is killing them off one by one, using the method of putting them to "sleep" to disguise the fact that he's murdering them.
Macy is furious.
She can't believe that something like this is even happening in her own city no less. She finds herself under intense pressure, hoping and praying that her team will catch a break and that they'll be able to get a living, breathing terrorist to arrest instead of another corpse.
Rivkin, on the other hand, seems to be one step ahead of them.
By the time they've managed to get a lead on another suspected terrorist, Rivkin's come and gone, leaving a single body behind in his wake. However, despite the setback, it's not a total loss as Macy has managed to get a FISA warrant from Vance which gives them the right to arrest Rivkin and deport him once he's caught.
However, Rivkin's gone into hiding and Macy fears that he's still in L.A, waiting to finish the job before returning to Israel.
In the end, they finally do caught a break, managing to stop Rivkin from killing the final terrorist, the owner of a garage in downtown Los Angeles although there's a lot of gunfire and shouting involved but thankfully they've all managed to live for another day.
When Kensi shows up on the camera, telling them the place has been secured, Macy can finally begin breathing again.
As to Rivkin's whereabouts, she has a fairly certain idea as to who's confronting him at the moment.
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From her place at the top of the stairs, Macy silently watches as Gibbs and McGee say their goodbyes to the OSP staff before leaving for the Red-Eye which will take them back to Washington D.C. She's glad that the whole case is finally over and that Gibbs is getting out of her hair again because it's been long enough.
She also had to put up with Gibbs breathing down her neck and also questioning everything that she does.
She's in charge of the OSP and she's gone through a lot worse before. Director Vance wouldn't have chosen her for the position if he hadn't felt any confidence in her or had the knowledge of knowing that Macy herself would do a good job and bring the OSP up to the standards it has today.
She also likes to think that she's done a pretty good job of avoiding both Nate and Callen's questions because at the end of the day, they're her superiors and she's their boss.
So hopefully this whole thing will be put to bed for good.
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Once Gibbs has finally left, Macy is in her office, relaxing and enjoying a long-overdue mug of coffee. She's glad that she's gotten through the two most challenging, physically draining and emotionally exhausting days of her career so far and she hopes that the visits from Gibbs will be few or not happening at all in the future.
She only needs a good, long sleep and a shower and then she'll be back up to full strength again, ready to tackle the challenges that await her and her team. They're all in the bullpen at the moment, finishing up the last traces of paperwork for the case but Sam and Callen aren't there, having submitted their reports beforehand which means that they're already back out on the street.
Macy smiles.
Her two Senior Agents have always preferred being out in the field rather than being confined to a desk. It's their nature and they cover each other's backs whenever the time calls for it. She's glad to be in charge of such a wonderful and skilled team that goes to the limit to get the job done.
She also hopes that she'll be able to keep the job for a long time.
Suddenly, her phone rings, interrupting her deep ramblings and Macy, abandoning her mug, leans over in her seat. With a finger, she presses the button, letting it go to speaker. She's too damn lazy at the moment to pick up the receiver so this is the best option available for her.
''Yes?''.
''Mace, we got a big problem''.
She sits up, alert, her eyes widening in shock. ''Sam? What's happening?''.
His response is direct and straight to the point. ''G's been shot''.
And with that, Macy's once-perfect and happy world gives a last gasp before succumbing to the poison that Gibbs unknowingly brought with him. It then promptly shatters into a thousand pieces and Macy's on her feet, alert, ready for action, her gun already sheathed. She then takes a quick breath.
''I'll go tell the others'', she says. ''Just wait for me at the hospital''.
''You got it'', Sam replies and hangs up.
As she heads out to the bullpen, her stomach tightening, Macy knows that things are about to get a lot much worse for everyone at the OSP.
Namely, her.
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Sure enough, several days later, Macy's worries become a harsh reality as the axe finally comes down on her career.
Having spent the last few days divided between visiting Callen at the hospital and running a lead for his attackers, she's now back at the OSP office, having a video-conference with Vance when he gives her the news that due to the nature of Callen's shooting, she's being reassigned to a task force in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.
Macy is speechless.
After all of her work and years of loyalty towards NCIS, she's been sent to another country as part of some group. She can't believe this. Everything she did was in the best interests of OSP and somehow, it doesn't seem to be enough. It also feels like she's been betrayed, stabbed in the back by an unsuspecting figure.
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Her team, correction former team are nowhere to be found.
Macy just sighs heavily, wishing that they'd be able to come to her aid and support her cause for staying here but she's finding out the true meaning of their loyalty and no matter how hard she tries to protest, Vance's orders are final and set in stone with the marking on the papers permanent.
She silently watches as the building, the same place where she once stood, giving orders to her team who carried them out without question is reduced to nothing but blank walls and doors as everything in sight is being packed up in boxes and then removed to be taken away to the new location, a place that Macy doesn't even know the location of.
She's not surprised.
After the recent mess of the last two days which has ended with Callen's shooting, it seems that those two crimes, though probably not connected to each other, gave OSP and its personnel the perfect chance to saddle up and move to a newer, much more secure place.
As she packs up the last of her belongings, Macy looks around the office for the last time, feeling tears gathering in her eyes.
She wishes she could have stayed on a bit longer.
Now, though, everything's gone to Hell and she's out on her, in the cold, cut off from everything and everyone she knows.
And it hurts so much.
So much so that Macy believes the pain may never go away.
Fin