Over the following two weeks, time flew as fast as the siblings packed up what they wanted to have sent to the house that Nick assured would be ready for them. Myriam wasn’t so confident but gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Before they left, they shared a drink at Pride’s bar to say their goodbyes and the dinner had been on her mind as she stood in the living room of the property, staring at the inground pool. It was far more than she expected and while it was beautiful, she narrowed her eyes at Nick whenever he walked passed.
“When do you plan on going to visit your offices?” Nick questioned upon his return from dropping a box off in her room.
“I considered taking a trip out today, or tomorrow. Paperwork wanted me to check in ASAP, but I’ll go when I’m good and ready,” she answered.
He nodded and handed her a set of keys. “I took the liberty of setting up a vehicle for you once you announced our impending move here. I thought about many of your hobbies and thought you might make some use of the features. Do take care of it.”
She looked at the keys with curiosity and headed for the garage to find a brand new black Jeep Renegade sitting there. It was undoubtedly an excellent truck to go off-roading and get into areas many others can’t while being small compared to other SUVs. Smiling, she grabbed her equipment and decided it was time to visit the office.
When she arrived at the naval yard, Myriam showed her badge at the gate and made her way over to the Navy side of the base to the offices to check in. She wasn’t a fan of military bases at all and all the regulation around it. Which is why she had loved New Orleans, and perhaps Los Angeles, although she’d never want to work with Kensi and Deeks, again.
Perhaps it was hypocritical. Deeks was as far from regulation as you can get. She got along with Hanna. Along with that note, she thought about her brothers and if she would report them if she knew if they stepped out of line. She wasn’t sure as she had only just gotten them back and knowing just how much they’d done to protect her. She’d fallen down the grey rabbit hole, and perhaps that was why she’d been sent out to the islands where she’d be bored out of her ever living mind.
Something else to consider; can she trust her brothers not to do anything illegal?
As she walked into what she assumed to be the NCIS field offices, she was taken aback. Immediately, Myriam knew she would be spending as little time as she could there. She never thought she’d miss the disgustingly orange walls and skylights of DC. Even her occasional trips through other offices were pleasant compared to this. Or, perhaps she would be so much in charge she could get the whole place redecorated.
What a dump.
She looked around at the agents who seemed to be sitting around, doing nothing. “Excuse me. Who’s in charge?”
“Ah, until our new boss arrives, that has to be me,” a guy sloppily raised his hand, not looking up from his computer monitor.
“Hi, I’m special agent Rosalie Hale,” a young woman said as she got up from her desk with an outstretched hand. “Don’t mind my partner; he’s an idiot. What can I do for you miss?”
Myriam frowned, staring at her hand before looking back at her. “Yeah, no. I asked for who’s in charge. Because you all are incompetent and Director Vance wouldn’t put up with this. I don’t know why the hell I’m being punished by being sent here to suffer from lazy, FLETC bottom feeders.”
“Are you Myriam Mikaelson?” Hale realized. “You were supposed to arrive last week.”
“So what if I am?”
“That makes you our boss, Ma’am.”
“Excuse you?” Myriam sputtered. “My orders were for this weekend and said nothing about supervisory roles. I have some assholes to kill in DC…” she said under her breath as she looked around. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze landed on a red-headed male that had his legs up on his desk. “Well, if I’m boss then one person is packing his bags and reporting to Quantico. The three of you have this day to prove that you’re good enough to stay. Clean up this pigsty; I’m going to explore this building.”
Before she walked out, she took several photos with her cell phone and glared at the staff. Outside the office, she leaned against the wall. “I hate Hawaii,” she mumbled to herself before texting her former boss about how much she hated him as well.
Moments later, her phone rang, and it was Vance on the phone. “Sir, with all due and the utmost respect, I hate you.”
“Excuse me?” Vance replied, slightly hesitant. “Gibbs told me to call you, what’s up, agent Mikaelson?”
“I hate this posting. Why in the world would you all send me to Hawaii? These people here are the laziest slobs. To the point that makes Tony DiNozzo look like Agent of the Year over Gibbs,” she hissed. “If you saw this office that I just walked in!”
“Several agents have quit over the last few months or asked to be transferred because of the so-called competition with Hawaii’s finest,” Vance said, still not understanding what she was talking about. “I thought it’d be a nice gesture to send you to Hawaii for all the work you’ve done over the last few years, not complaining about anything. Sun, sea, sand and the easy life. With a permanent promotion on top. On top of that, I’m sure you can hold your own when it comes to 5-0 always willing to pick up our cases.”
Sighing, Myriam looked around for potential eavesdroppers. “I’m not concerned about the locals. I can deal with them and jurisdiction disputes. What I won’t tolerate are lazy agents who are more than happy to hand off cases to spend the day at the beach and a dirty office because of lack of interest in their work. I’m already going to send one moron back to Quantico offices for HR to deal with. He was taking a siesta when I walked in at 10:00 am. That leaves two agents until the end of the day to survive. Can you redline a stack of files for replacements for me?”
“Hawaii is your playground now, Myriam. You can do whatever you want, within reason. And of course, I’ll prepare some candidates for you to choose from.”
“Oh, I will have very justifiable reasons to ship them out, Director. I’ve never recommended for something this in the past. Then again, I haven’t been this….” she growled out her frustration to avoid releasing any expletives to the man. “I’ve worked with difficult agents before, but I don’t know if I can with these people this time without complaint. I’m sorry.”
“That’s alright. You build your team around you if you don’t like the ones you’re working with. And when you have good reasons, I will agree with you and grant you that. Now, if there’s anything else you need, let me know.”
“Just agent files. And if you can see if Hetty might have anyone she might have her eye on that she’s been keeping under wraps. Bring someone from outside.”
Vance laughed then. “How about you ask her yourself?”
“Pfft. I’ve got agents to piss off today and offices to clean up from candy wrappers and loco moco containers. I may need to call a hazmat team in. It’s that disgusting. You’d think it’s my brother’s room from high school. I’ll check in with you when something changes Director.”
“Send the bill to me. Good luck, Agent Mikaelson, do keep me posted.”
Hanging up, Myriam bit her lip as she debated how she was going to go about dealing with the agents in the office. The redhead male was without a doubt going back to the mainland. She was reasonably sure she was going to get rid of the blond female, Hale. She just needed a reason that Vance would buy. The other guy in the office, she didn’t know his name, was also in debate.
Making her way back over to the office, she grew more pissed as she found Hale back at her desk playing computer games. “I thought I said to start cleaning this place,” she commented, walking in. Going over to the sleeping male, she gave him a head slap. “Go pack your bags. You’re going to Quantico. I’ve already informed Director Vance, so there is no room to argue. I’ll have your paperwork signed by the morning.”
“But I like it here! I had a late night last night, that’s all!”
“You’re at work. Not a hotel,” Myriam replied. “That’s what PTO is for. You should have called out if you weren’t up to working if there was a case that came up. Now, you, what’s your name?” she asked, turning to the other agent who seemed to be the only one working as they had started to put things in boxes.
“Jon Sheppard, ma’am,” the agent replied. “My apologies if I made a bad first impression, I was finishing off paperwork on the sailor I caught with drugs yesterday, I was in my zone.”
Myriam blinked as she stared at him, still stuck on his name. “Jon Sheppard?”
“Jon. Not John. And that was a character. I’m real, ma’am,” he laughed, shaking his head. “I get that a lot, sadly.”
“Huh. Maybe I’ll keep you around for the puns,” she muttered. “Well, if you were actually doing work, unlike these two, then I won’t fault you. What excuse do you have about the state of this place?”
“Oh no, I was finished. And no excuses, ma’am. I have been out of the office a lot, looking for work and usually finding it, while Rose and Cullen remained behind.”
“Shut your mouth, Shep,” Cullen warned him as he was packing his belongings. “Just because you were our temporary leader, doesn’t mean we have to listen to you.”
“And that,” Sheppard said as he pointed at the fired agent. “Is kinda hard to work with when you have no actual power to do something about it.”
Looking over at Rosalie, Myriam found the agent rolling her eyes at them and had continued whatever she was doing on the computer. Going over to take a look, she discovered that the gaming was over and the agent was now online shopping. Annoyed, Myriam rounded the desk and yanked the power cable out from the wall.
“Hey! I have sensitive material on this computer!” Rosalie complained.
“This is federal property. I gave you orders to clean this office and was ignored more than twice,” Myriam calmly responded. “Do you want me to give it to you in writing or shall they come to you through Director Vance because guaranteed, if it comes from his desk, it’ll be on a pink slip, and you’ll be reporting to unemployment. Make me repeat myself one more time, and you’ll be going with your friend to the mainland.”
“I’ll be filing a grievance against you!” Rosalie huffed, grabbing her purse and walking out to an amused laugh from Myriam.
“Well, that was much easier than I expected,” she commented. “Two agents I’ll have to replace.”
“Hey, at least we have a semi-decent forensics tech,” Sheppard chuckled, shaking his head. “I think that you are the right person for this post, ma’am.”
She glared at him like he’d damn lost his mind. “I fucking hate Hawaii. Vance is insane to put me here. The Governor is gonna beg him to take me off this post by the end of the year.”
“Ah, you’re gonna love it here. I hated it too when Vance put me here. I asked him why and he said because of all the work I’d done for NCIS didn’t allow me to have a life, so he put me here. And I’m telling you, the people are nice. The food is good, and the surf is always great.”
“I’m from New Orleans. I don’t surf. I like my gumbo and po boys and alcohol and Mardi Gras,” Myriam deadpanned. “I don’t do sun. I may as well be a vampire. Oh shit. The first year I’ll be able to be allowed in New Orleans after all the drama in my family, and now I have to miss Mardi Gras. I hate my job!”
“Who says you have to? They celebrate Mardi Gras over here, too.”
She blinked at him and sighed. “You’ve never been to New Orleans Mardi Gras, have you?”
“I have,” Sheppard nodded. “On one of my dad’s business trips. Must have been… I don’t know… I think I must have been about 17. Worst experience ever. I got lost, then beaten up by a bunch of lowlifes and ended up in the hospital with a knife sticking out of my back.”
“Yeah well, there are some shitty areas you want to stay out of, true. However, if you stayed in the French Quarter, that’s where it’s the best, and the party gets the craziest.”
“Hmm,” Sheppard seemed to think before a wide smile appeared on his face. “I might put in PTO so I can experience the Mardi Gras in New Orleans then.”
“Then go visit my friend’s bar. He’ll take care of you. When you go, I’ll give you the address,” Myriam smirked. “Anyway, let’s finish getting this place cleaned up so that I can send the boss before and after pictures and I can get started on my reports for Hale and Cullen.”
“Okie dokie,” Sheppard replied and turned to get back to cleaning, making the agent look back at him with amusement.
~o.O.o~
Myriam had messaged her brothers to meet her for dinner at the Tropics Bar and Grill. After the long day, she was tired and wanted a drink or more. As she sat waiting, she started with ordering herself a bottle of wine. A simple glass was not going to suffice.
Sitting back in her chair, she looked around, taking in the atmosphere. She would be reluctant to admit aloud that it was lovely there but she still much preferred the nightlife in New Orleans. Hawaii to her was the vacation. She did not want to live the vacation.
She noticed a small group of people who didn’t look like tourists sitting at a table and they were all carrying. They didn’t seem like the type of people her brothers would like to hang out with, and the way that the one with the muscles was carrying himself, she figured they were law enforcement. Five-Oh.
Sighing, she casually returned her attention to her menu. At least now, she had an idea of who she’d be dealing with. Picking up her phone, she texted Agent Sheppard, asking him what he knew about the team and his impressions before following up with demanding where her brothers were.
Slightly baldy, Hawaiian shirt kind of guy is from New Jersey, and his name is Danny Williams. He may look stupid, but he’s not. Then there’s the boss, usually well dressed in a buttoned shirt and short sleeves. Tattoos on his arms, muscles. He’s a former Navy Seal. Steve McGarrett. He loves taking our cases from under our noses. – Shep
Myriam glanced up at the table again after reading the message. Can’t wait until we get to meet them in the field formally.
I’m confident your dick is bigger than theirs, boss.
So I’ve been told. She smirked and set her phone down.
“What are you smirking about?” Cole sat down next to his baby sister. “Don’t tell me. You have a lover already?”
“Work-related. Nothing you’d be interested in,” she replied.
“Oh, but I’m very interested in your job, darling,” Cole purred.
She looked back at him. “You are interested in how my new partner at work and I are looking forward to when we have to tango with sister agencies?”
“Yes,” Cole nodded. “Tell me all about your day. I’d love to hear all about it. Did you get to kick some ass?”
“Time to time. Sometimes I even get my ass kicked,” she reminded him. “Where’s Nick?”
“Parking the car,” Cole shrugged. “He bought a beaut of a car for himself. A freaking vintage Ford Mustang.”
Myriam rolled her eyes. “Of course he did. He got me a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk. I ought to kick his ass. I’m willing to bet he’s going to make you get your own. You two haven’t tried killing one another all day while I was at the base, have you?”
“Sweet sister, I’ve been at the beach all day. Relaxing with a couple of beers. Enjoying my freedom, thank you very much.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and sat back, nodding slowly before letting him be. Glancing back at the other table when another person joined them, she studied them a little more in silence as they waited for their brother. “So what else have you found out? Any good take out around the house? I doubt Hawaii has po boys or gumbo.”
“Well, Nick went out to hire some staff for our home, including a chef who hails from New Orleans and has extensive knowledge of the French and Cajun cuisine, also some Italian food,” Cole said as if it was the most normal thing in the world for them. “Seeing as we have a big home, I doubt we’re going to keep it clean by ourselves, so he hired some cleaners, a gardener, a pool cleaner… I managed to stop him from hiring personal drivers and personal shoppers.”
“Thank the fucking lord,” she muttered. “I don’t think I’d be able to deal with fish every damn day. He’s overdoing it sometimes. We can do things for ourselves. I think he’s too much like our father in some ways. Spoiled.”
“Nick feels like he has to make up for a lot of things towards the both of us, though. And he’s right. We left you alone to keep you safe, and a little bit of luxury will make him feel a bit more like the older brother. Taking care of us, his younger siblings,” Cole shrugged. “We’ve been granted a new life, dear sister, we want to make sure it’s a damn good one.”
“I get it. I do,” she replied. And she did. “But did we have to do this all in Hawaii? I could deal with San Diego a lot more. Hell, Naples is nice! You’d like Naples!”
“Well, once you get transferred again, let’s hope you have a choice and then we can go there,” he smiled at her.
“Sorry for being late,” Nick said as he rushed in. “I couldn’t find a parking spot.”
“It’s alright. I already ordered a bottle of wine, and I’m sure we’ll be getting another before the night is over,” she greeted as she stood to hug her brother. “You may select the next one considering the wonderful car you got me. It rides like a dream.”
He chuckled as he sat down, lifting the bottle from the bucket to inspect the label. “You always enjoyed the sweet ones,” he noted.
“It’s hot and humid as hell here. I needed to cool off. Besides, I have my work cut out for me at the office. I’m not looking forward to going in on Monday when the fun begins. As it is, I have to go in to submit orders to have two people back east formally,” she sighed as she took a large sip from her glass.
Nick took his seat and immediately took to the menu. “Let me guess. Your colleagues already got under your skin? What have you planned this time to torture them? Shall I arrange a boat? You can dump them in the ocean with the sharks.”
“Nah. That might be more your style out here,” she smiled. “I’m having two sent back to the east coast. You should have seen the fit!”
“Well that doesn’t sound like fun,” Nick mumbled as he looked at the menu. “Did Cole tell you? I hired a New Orleans chef for us.”
Myriam sighed with pleasure. “Yes, he did. Of all the extravagance you’ve done, that is one I’m most pleased about. I don’t think I could go without some traditional gumbo. Oh, I wonder if how his jambalaya is? When does he begin?”
“He starts on Monday.”
“Perfect. I could use something at home when I get back from the office,” she replied as she looked over his shoulder briefly before focusing on her menu again. “So, the ribs sound good. As does the ribeye steak.”
“Can I have the beer can chicken?” Cole picked up.
Nick smiled and rolled his eyes. “Get whatever you want. I’ll have the brisket and order a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, the Vintner’s Reserve,” he requested as he stood. “I’m going to go to the restroom.”
Myriam nodded as she still debated on what she wanted to eat. The other table with the local LEO’s had gotten relatively boisterous, drawing her attention once more. Looking up from her menu, she only watched through her lashes as the as three oversized men sat with the two that her agent described, as well as who appeared to be two younger officers. An older man joined them that they seemed to know well and was well received.
“What is it?” Cole quietly asked beside her.
“Dunno. Local LEOs,” she murmured. “Just stay out of trouble and watch yourself around them,” she warned.
“Hey, didn’t Nick have a run in with a local cop when he was here years ago? Saved his life or something?”
She glared back at him in annoyance. “Yeah, but drugged him with his and your favorite cocktail to make him forget the encounter. So it’d be hit or miss if it worked. There’s a chance he may remember fragments of him if they ran into one another, so I have no idea who the cop is, and Nick won’t tell me who for plausible deniability.”
“You think it’s why he headed to the john?”
Myriam frowned, looking over at the other table for a moment and turned away to set her head in her hand to face her brother. “Perhaps you’re right. And sadly, that’s a conversation for home and certainly not here,” she whispered. “He was certainly far more nonchalant than I would think he’d be about a brushing encounter. Maybe he had to use the facilities?”
Cole shrugged. “If he’s not back in five minutes I’ll go after him and pull his head out of the toilet.”
“I vote to drown him in it.”
“Now that’s an idea!”
Luckily, Nick did arrive back within five minutes, and the siblings enjoyed their meal and wine before returning home. Myriam couldn’t wait for the weekend to start to get some rest, and she dreaded Monday; no doubt Vance would have sent over the files for the new Agents, and if there was a case, it was going to be just her and Sheppard.
She so hoped they wouldn’t have a case on Monday.