It took a few days before the team was able to get any progress on the Mikaelson family situation. After LaSalle was forced to return Cole to the prison and word got out that Nick was indeed still alive, it hadn’t been as safe as they anticipated for him on the inside.
It took several calls back to D.C. for Pride to finally get Director Vance to put his weight behind things and help a good agent and the siblings who provided an extraordinary amount of information on their own family and those who they had dealings with. Of course, he had to endure his lectures about not working and being on medical himself. The man could not go back to his friend without having an answer.
Dwayne wasn’t stupid. Myriam’s history and his style would be too much of a high risk to continue working together as a team long term in New Orleans, and there was no way their bosses would allow that. Even if she did follow their rules better than he did.
By the time Vance called LaSalle back personally with the verdict, he was still on the phone when prison security had personally escorted Cole Mikaelson all the way to the NCIS office. The man had been extremely busy in previous days, and as Chris confirmed that he’d pass on the orders, he thanked the director for his assistance as he scrambled to his feet as he got his first look at the agent’s brother since he’d met him days earlier.
“You look like shit,” he said.
“Thanks. I feel like it, but I’m out apparently. Doubt my sister had a hand in it. She hates my guts,” Cole shrugged, pretending to act unfazed. “I’ll live. I’m tougher than I look.”
Chris nodded, narrowing his gaze. “Actually, it’s partly because of her. More because of her return to New Orleans which drew your brother back to town, so it made him not so dead.”
Cole smirked. “Figures. So all that for nothing to keep her safe from Daddy Dearest.”
“Eh, our bosses still think that it’s a good idea for y’all to keep a low profile. Though it might be best if you head out of town,” he replied, grabbing the papers that finished printing from the fax and slipped them into a folder. “So whaddya think? Ready to go home? Gotta pitch your sister her new assignment.”
The agent’s brother looked back at him curious. Despite his bruised and beat up appearance that might compete with his sister at the moment, he wasn’t sure if the agent was indeed playing a clean game. “What’s the deal?”
LaSalle shrugged. “Your sister is awesome, and all, but her on our team with Pride is not a good thing for… appearances sake. Or from a political point of view. So with Pride on the mend, they’re anticipating him returning soon, so she’s being reassigned.”
“No offense but the guy had been shot up,” Cole pointed out. “He didn’t look like he should be working any time soon.”
“He’ll be back before you know it. Pride doesn’t tend to be kept down long. It’s not the first time he’s been shot,” Chris assured the man. “In fact, we’ve tried keeping him down but… the man always finds a way.”
Rubbing his wrists, Cole shrugged and chose to keep silent as he followed the agent out. He knew he shouldn’t have been surprised as he led him on foot right to his family home just a short distance away. “I would have thought she’d gone somewhere else considering how she felt about the family.”
“I’m sure that y’all have some happy memories here in New Orleans as well, maybe that’s why she went home?”
“That can be up to debate,” Cole muttered as he inputs the security code he last remembered and was surprised that it took. “After you.”
The Mikaelson brother could not help but be amused at how the agent seemed to be already familiar with the layout and know his way through to the family area of the abattoir.
“Hey King,” Chris greeted as he spotted the man. “I got your girl’s new marching orders. I think she might like it.”
“Hell, if you think she’ll like it, I might take it instead!” Pride smiled widely before acknowledging Cole. “Welcome back to the real world, how does it feel?”
“It’s a little strange and surreal,” he admitted. “Nice not hearing how much people want to kick my ass every day.”
“In my experience, there is always someone that is interested in beating your ass,” Nicholas responded as he descended the stairs slowly, his face devoid of emotion as he stared at his brother.
“Nick,” Cole greeted him with an even tone in his voice.
He nodded before looking at the agents. “My sister is awake and in one of her charming moods. I left her to attempt to dress, as she has declared she’d had enough of her bedrest.”
“I’ll go up in ten minutes,” LaSalle said after giving it a moment of thought.
“What for?” Nick demanded.
“I have her new orders,” he said as he held up a file. “I’m pretty sure she’ll love it.”
Exasperated, the man shook his head. “Can’t your agency give her a chance to breathe? You can give it to her when she comes down. No doubt she will attempt to do so, despite our protests to her unnecessary movements.”
“Haven’t known her for a long time, but she’s a stubborn woman,” Chris nodded. “Fine, I’ll wait, anything I can get you, boys, while I go out to grab a bite to eat?”
“She’s got food here. The kitchen was well stocked, much to my surprise.”
“Oh, could you get some beignets?” Cole piped up.
Nick blinked at his brother. “We are speaking of Myriam. It’s coffee and beignets in her blood.”
“Well, I don’t know that. Do I? It’s you who’s been keeping an eye on her, I’ve only been the messenger!”
Nick rolled his eyes and started for the kitchen. “She hasn’t changed all that much since she was fifteen.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” Chris laughed as he shook his head and headed out of the courtyard.
“The most important thing that she was safe until now, right?”
“Her choice of career was not by my influence,” Nick sneered. “If I had my way, she’d be in the middle of nowhere doing something safe. Perhaps a desk job in an office.”
“Fat chance,” Cole snickered. “She was the wild one. She’d be bored out of her skull if she’d be chained behind a desk or snap customers in half if she’d work in a shop.”
Pulling juices and milk out of the fridge, and the pastries from where Myriam tended to store her baked goods, Nick set the food on the counter before starting a pot of coffee. “I think I did okay with my limitations. She would have found something to satisfy herself as well.”
Cole grabbed a beignet and bit into it, leaning against the counter as he savored the taste. “So what’s next? We can’t stay in New Orleans, are we going to follow Myriam to whatever dump they’re sending her so we can keep her safe from daddy dearest?”
Nick sighed as he leaned both arms onto the kitchen island. “I see no other reason but to follow her. She’s made her stance quite clear that she doesn’t want us separated now that she is aware of the truth. Damn near shot me over it. Do not get me wrong, she is pleased with the result, but she is very pissed with our handling of all this back then.”
“She was fifteen and our responsibility, we did what we did best,” Cole replied as he finished his beignet and grabbed another one. “But it’s good to know that she doesn’t want us separated. I’m merely afraid what her punishment will be.”
“I’ll put ground glass in your meals,” Myriam replied as she leaned against the door. “I smell coffee, is it done yet?”
Nick looked over at the maker and smirked. “Almost. Perhaps by the time you crawl yourself across the kitchen, it will be. You should have stayed upstairs until someone could help you down.”
“Go fuck yourself,” she replied as she pushed herself step by step to her liquid gold. She glanced at the plate of sweets that she was certain she had more. “Did you leave any of the good ones for me, asshole?”
“Likely not,” he nodded. “Forgive me?”
She rolled her eyes and limped over to the cupboard to get a mug out. “Sure. When you go and get me more, I think I want some cream filled ones this time.”
“Well, your friend from the team announced that your new orders already came in. You better enjoy all the beignets you can get because they might not have ones of this quality where they want to send you,” Cole remarked as he took a bite of a third.
Myriam turned and gave him a confused glare. “Why the hell would they reassign me already? Pride is still on medical, and it’ll only take me a week on Motrin before I can go back in the field. I’ll be fine behind the desk in the meanwhile.”
“How the hell should I know? That agent seemed more than happy when he received the information and was eager enough to get me here so that he can give it to you,” Cole argued.
“LaSalle is always an eager puppy, I wouldn’t worry too much about him,” Myriam replied. “No, I guess that Pride is already back on his feet when he shouldn’t be, and they want me out of the city and off his team despite being a man down.”
Nick still failed to see the reason behind her supervisors’ way of handling things and shook his head. Shaking his head, he pulled the mug out of his sister’s hand and gestured Cole over to help her. “I’ll carry your coffee and food into the other room for you. Allow Cole to help you before we have to force you to the emergency room against your will.”
“I’m fine!”
“Bullshit,” Cole coughed as he made his way over and offered a charming smile. “Come now! You have to introduce me properly to your friends before they run us out of town after all.”
Myriam continued to scowl at her brother as he attempted to help her into the sitting area of the courtyard. She found herself surprised at everyone that was present, having expected her brothers and knew about Gregorio. However, to see Pride, Loretta, and Patton was more than she was prepared for. “What are you all doing here?”
“Hanging around, waiting for you to stop being so damn stubborn,” Patton replied with a frown before grinning at the glare he received. “Don’t be like that girl! You know we only got love for ya! Be happy they wouldn’t let me come up there to kick your ass into gear because I was ready to.”
Her eyebrow rose at his threat. “Right. And I’d push your chair right back down the stairs.” Turning her attention back to Dwayne, she never lowered her irritation. “What’s this I hear about a transfer already? You’re in no shape to be going back. I’ll be back to duty by the end of the week, guaranteed. You still have a few months, easy,” she complained as she glanced over his posture and expressions of discomfort.
“Transfer? But you just got here,” Loretta repeated, confused as she was hearing the news for the first time herself.
Dwayne looked at his friend, thinking for a moment as he was confident that she was there when Chris arrived before announcing the news. Perhaps she had stepped out. “Were we that out of it in our talking that I missed you leaving the room?”
“Evidently,” she responded, bemused by his lack of attention to his surroundings.
“Don’t you all have a job to do?” Myriam asked as her brother helped her to sit down, while she was fully capable of falling into that chair herself, thank you very much.
“Sure, we do. But we can also take some time for a break to be here for you. Now despite HQ’s shitty timing, I’m curious as to where they are trying to shove you. I’m sure you couldn’t have possibly pissed them off that fast,” Patton replied.
“Oh, you know very well what I’m capable of,” Myriam chuckled and held out her hand. “Alright, hit me with the bad news.”
Pride passed the file over to her brother with a smirk. As Cole handed it to Myriam, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh. “You do know that you will always have a home here, no matter where they send you.”
“I know,” Myriam nodded. “But I wouldn’t have come here if you wouldn’t have been in trouble, you know that, right? Granted, I never felt more at home than in New Orleans, but it’s… I don’t know,” she shrugged.
“It’s the family drama,” Cole waved it off. “We just put it past us and move on. You didn’t want to be wherever I was with what you thought you knew at the time.”
“Sucks to be the baby of the family,” she muttered as she opened the file, revealing her new orders. “Aw man,” she groaned.
“What? Where are they sending you?” Cole asked.
“The worst place ever,” Myriam replied with another groan. “I mean… I’ll likely have to refuse. I can do that, right?”
Pride shrugged. “Sure, but you know how that usually ends up. Probably back at DC or afloat.”
“Eh,” she shrugged. “I guess I’ll be hauling my ass and my brothers off to Hawaii.”
“What?! Why would you be upset about sunshine and bikinis?!” Cole questioned, flabbergasted.
She saw the look on her brother’s face and started to laugh. “Gotcha. But seriously, it’s a boring post.”
“Perhaps it’s boring to reward you,” Pride said as he laughed. “Boring is good. Besides, you’ve worked harder than anyone I know, and you deserve boring. Normal.”
“For getting my ass kicked?” she scoffed before remembering what Nick had told her of his travels. Looking the documents over further, she let out a sigh at the intended itinerary dates.”I hope we don’t have any trouble. There’s a lot of work to do for the move, and we have to find somewhere to live.”
“Oh, I have a friend on Hawaii who has great condos for rent, beachfront and all,” Loretta said after a beat.
Nick immediately dismissed the idea and hoped that the NCIS on Hawaii wasn’t anywhere near Honolulu. “Thank you miss Wade, but I think we’ll manage.”
Myriam turned to eye her brother who joined them. “Let me guess. You already have a place there?”
“We had to put the family money into something,” he shrugged. “So we have a few homes around the world.”
“Legit ones?”
“Of course! You can look at all the paperwork for it if you wish. I did turn over a new leaf, I am now an artist and paint,” Nick replied, slightly offended.
“You always painted,” she scowled.
“I use real paint now, not blood of our enemies.”
“Nick,” Cole rolled his eyes at him.
“What?” Nick replied sheepishly. “It’s easy to get the blood of your enemies, just some fisticuffs, and a syringe will do the trick.”
Myriam looked off thoughtfully. “I don’t know. Blood does have a certain hue to it that you can’t mimic in the paint.”
“Alright, alright,” Loretta laughed, slightly unnerved by the siblings, but also knowing that this simply was how they rolled. “Just let me know if we can do anything to help. When are you expected to show up in Hawaii?”
Myriam immediately frowned again. “End of next week. Not much time so they had to have had this in play and pending for a while,” she shrugged, tapping the folder on her armrest. “Makes me suspicious of why they want me in Pearl of all places. I thought they had a good relationship with the state task force.”
“Maybe they want you to be the bull who goes up against 5-0?” Gregorio shrugged. “I heard rumors back at the FBI that NCIS on the island are pussies and allow 5-0 to take control.”
“That is a horrible, horrible idea,” she sighed. “If they want to foster a better relationship with them, you send someone like DiNozzo and McGee. Not me. I live to piss people off.”
“Yeah well, DiNozzo is retired, the last thing I heard and McGee is a father of twins, and his wife is in a wheelchair – no offense, Patton, so… sending Kensi and Deeks to do the fostering would be… unwise,” Pride laughed. “Those two are always butting heads.”
She shook her head. “I’ll kill Deeks myself. The guy is more annoying than my brother!”
“Hey!” Cole and Nick replied.
“Regardless, you two have a lot of packing to do for me because I can’t move well and be lifting heavy shit – no. Plus we have crap to order because Cole’s been in jail, so he needs clothes, and Nick will be my errand bitch,” she decided with a sarcastic smile.
“All legally,” Pride said as he stared the brothers down from his chair. “No more shenanigans or I will personally put you behind bars.”
“But of course Agent Pride,” Nick responded as charmingly as possible. “Now that my siblings and I are reunited, everything is intended to be on the up and up!”
“We solemnly swear, Agent Pride, we won’t be causing trouble. Unless it happens to find us,” Cole nodded.
Dwayne’s head leaned back as he glared at the younger man. “Yeah. That’s what makes me nervous. Trouble always seems to find your family in one form or another. But if I’m going to try to be in desk duty shape any time soon, I better get home. You all come to see me before you leave. You hear?”
“Yes, of course, we will. You go rest,” Myriam smiled at him as he slowly made his way out, patting her on her shoulder as he passed with Loretta. Raising a brow at the remaining team members, she frowned. “I don’t suppose there is any way of convincing you that you can go?”
“Well, you were kidnapped and took a beating. We think it’d be safer if we’d stick around,” Chris smiled at her.
“We are perfectly capable of defending ourselves, LaSalle. Go home.”
“It’s not so much you that we are concerned about,” he pointed out. “We don’t know what your old friend might have planned for you, especially now that she knows you’re a federal agent.”
Myriam’s face began to redden with fury. “Why the hell would you out my position in this city like that?! Do you have any idea the type of cover that my family name would provide NCIS?!”
“Hey, it was the only way to find you, you know! And don’t worry, Pride and Loretta will talk her into resigning for this. She knows that if something happens to you now, she’ll be the first person we look at.”
She still wasn’t happy, and she shifted her glare over on her brother. “This bitch was your little pet. I told you back then that she was a climber.”
“I’ll fix it!” Cole scowled.
“No, you will not,” LaSalle said. “Please, leave this to us so she can get what’s coming to her. Don’t do anything stupid while you’re in town, got it?”
Cole’s eye twitched, and Myriam’s head cocked to the side as she narrowed her eyes at the agent. “Yeah, sure. Not a thing,” she replied, flashing a glare at her brother. “No one will do a thing while we’re in town.”
Chris smiled then and nodded. “Good, now that I’ve done my duty as an Agent, I’ll be heading off, and I’ll take Tammy with me. Make sure you rest, Myriam.”
“And Patton! My brothers and I have enough to do with my forced move!” she complained.
“Come on, P,” the agent said as if he was talking to a dog. “Come on, boy! You’re being kicked out! Leave the siblings alone.”