New Jobs and Surprises
NCIS
“Is Granger actually going to tell Pepper what we are doing?” Genevieve asked as she sipped her tea.
“That seems like that would be counterproductive” she added.
“Usually we don’t do that-but since it’s not an official assignment-it might be beneficial to have someone inside to help you” Hetty said. “But I am sure between Owen, Vance and SecNav will come up with something” she added.
Jen glanced at her phone for the tenth time in twenty minutes until Hetty couldn’t take it anymore.
“Oh for god sakes just call Bruce and I can have someone come pick him up! Hell I’ll even go pick him up if it’ll stop you from looking at that phone again” Hetty snapped.
Jen burst out laughing “I am sorry-I’ll stop. The meeting is almost over and I am sure he’s going to go to the lab for a while-I probably won’t see him for a couple more hours” she said.
Nell came over to them in fast pace “Hetty-excuse me for interrupting-but umm we found one of them” Nell said.
“Found who Ms. Jones” Hetty asked for clarification.
“One of the Russian spies from the photo. I’ve alerted Sam and Callen and they are in route to get him” she said excitedly.
Owen walked up “Did I hear you right-you’ve found one of the Spies?” he asked.
“Yes sir” Nell said. “Mr. Callen and Mr. Hanna are in route now” Hetty supplied.
“Good-Good Job Ms. Jones” Granger said.
“Thank you sir” Nell said then made her leave.
“Genevieve we’ve decided not to tell Ms. Potts much about the mission-for obvious reasons” Granger said.
Jen sighed and fought against rolling her eyes “So I am just supposed to call her and ask for a job?” She asked slowly.
“Yes” Granger said.
Jen sighed “Owen Pepper and I have a bit of a history. We are trying to do better but she’s never trusted much and I seriously doubt she’s going to just give me a job out of the goodness of her heart” Jen said.
“We have a plan B in the works but try-put all those years of undercover work to use” Owen said.
Jen looked at Owen with a raised eyebrow “Let me call Pepper and see what she says” she said reaching for her phone.
Pepper was hanging up the phone as Tony walked into her office without knocking.
“What’s with the look-who was that?” Tony asked.
“That was Genevieve. She was wondering if we have any job openings” she replied slowly.
“Wow really?” Tony asked.
“She says she’s bored and figures since she’s going to be around-she might as well get a part time job” she answered.
Tony blinked at her waiting until Pepper finally asked “Should I give her a job?” “Well I am honestly surprised she called you. I kind of offered her a job months ago and she acted like she didn’t want it. This is something that would have probably happened anyway-since they are a package deal now. It’s just happening sooner than expected” Tony rambled.
Pepper looked at him “This might work out in our favor-Cassandra is going on an early maternity leave because of the health of the baby. Genevieve can replace her-we needed a temporary replacement anyway” Pepper replied with a shrug.
Tony nodded “That sounds great-who’s Cassandra again?” he asked making Pepper roll her eyes.
“Cassandra is assistant head of the Grants department. She and I came to work here at the same time” Pepper said staring at Tony.
Tony’s mind went back all those years ago trying to come up with a face. He can remember meeting the skinny strawberry blonde that followed behind Obie with her head held high-sadly he couldn’t come up with a face of any other women.
“Well if you think that’s a good idea-I am on board” Tony said after a few minutes of thought.
Pepper stared at him “Ok are we going to lunch or not? I have a meeting in two hours so we need to leave now” she said reaching for her purse.
“Yes Dear” Tony said helping her into her coat and headed toward the elevator.
The elevator opened revealing Bruce who smiled when he saw Pepper and Tony.
“Hello Pepper-Tony” Bruce greeted.
“Bruce I didn’t realize you were still here” Pepper said with a smile.
“Oh I had to touch base with some of the interns after the meeting” Bruce said breezily. “Are you two going out?” he asked.
“Yep Pep and I are going to lunch” Tony replied.
“Good have fun” Bruce said.
“Where are you off to?” Pepper asked.
“Well Jen is coming to pick me up and well-not sure what we are doing after that” Bruce said with a chuckle.
“That’s nice-tell Jen she can come in tomorrow and we can talk about a possible job and signing the hiring paperwork” Pepper said reaching for her phone.
“What?” Bruce asked turning to look at her.
Pepper looked at Bruce with a raised eyebrow “She called me today and asked if we could employ her part time” she stated simply.
Bruce looked between the two in silent confusion. This was news to him-he didn’t know Jen wanted to work at Stark Industries. He wondered if it had anything to do with why Jen had to be at NCIS earlier than usual this morning.
“You mean she didn’t tell you?” Tony asked seeing Bruce’s face.
“I’ve been busy today Tony-and anytime we are alone drama happens. I am sure it’s something she had been thinking about and decided to call Pepper today since she was in LA” Bruce deflected-hoping he could stop any more questions.
“But why didn’t she tell you before today” Tony asked.
“I am sure she didn’t want to get me involved-a conflict of interest” Bruce said as the elevator stopped and Happy stood there waiting for Pepper and Tony and- luckily-Genevieve was nowhere to be seen.
Happy smiled at Bruce and went to open the door for Pepper-Tony stood there staring at Bruce.
“Do you not want her to work here? Pep’s on the fence-I think she’s just doing this for you and the fact that we need to replace Sandy“ Tony said.
“Casandra-not-Sandy” Bruce corrected automatically. “I would love Jen to work in the company if that’s what she wants to do. Tony you need to go-Pepper’s waiting” Bruce said shooing him toward Happy and the waiting car.
“yeah-ok see ya later” Tony said as walked toward the car.
Bruce waved at them as they drove off and smiled to himself as Jen pulled recklessly into the parking garage a few minutes after Happy dove off. He climbed in the passenger seat and leaned over to kiss her.
“Sorry I am late-I forgot how bad traffic is here” Jen said when he leaned back.
“That’s fine-I wasn’t waiting long” Bruce said. “Good-again- I am sorry I left NCIS later than expected” She said as she pulled into traffic.
“Did you being late have anything to do with this part time job at Stark Industries?” he asked mildly.
Jen looked over sharply at him “man he already told you?” she replied in annoyance.
Bruce chuckled “Only because we rode down in the elevator together” he said. “Does this have anything to do with Callen coming to get you this morning?” he asked.
Jen kept her eyes on the road “yes but that’s all I can say at the moment” she said apologetically.
Bruce smiled grabbing her hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss it “That’s fine” he said. “Don’t worry I won’t tell Tony either” he adds.
“Thanks-I appreciate that” she said with a smirk.
“So what are the plans tonight?” Bruce asked.
“Not sure exactly-Hetty keeps hinted about eating with us” she replied.
“That’s nice. Is that what you want?” Bruce asked.
Jen smiled “Kind of hoping for some alone time for just us” she admitted.
“That hasn’t worked out lately has it” Bruce said.
“Not lately” She replied sparring a glance at him.
Bruce grabbed her hand “It’ll calm down soon-I am sure of it” he said.
Jen just smiled and squeezed his hand in response “I hope so” She said quietly.
NCIS
Jen and Bruce walked into NCIS and was met with silence.
“You look relieved” Bruce said with a chuckle.
“Honestly I am was afraid there would be more people and staring involved” she said leaning into him.
They paused when they heard yelling coming from upstairs. “Should we be worried?” Bruce asked.
Jen looked around “Well no one is running and there’s no alarms-so I think we are ok” she said looking up the stairs. “Let’s go check it out” she said tugging him up the stairs.
Bruce sighed looking around “Are you sure that’s wise?” he said quietly.
“Don’t worry they don’t normally interview the prisoners here” she said kissing him on the cheek as they reached the top step. “They’re probably watching Callen and Sam interrogate whomever via live feed” she said.
Bruce looked confused “where do they normally interrogate them then?” he asked.
“Boat shed” she whispered as they neared the ops center. Hetty, Eric, Nell, Deeks and Kensi were all inside staring at a screen. Jen rapped on the doorframe to get their attention. All of them turned with different looks of surprise on their faces.
“Mind if we join the party?” Jen asked smiling sweetly.
Hetty looked at her watch “Oh bugger-I didn’t realize what time it was” she said.
“It’s ok-we made it through the lunch rush traffic faster than expected” Jen said.
“Without incident?” Hetty asked amused.
Bruce opened his mouth but paused when Jen touched his arm “She’s talking about my slight case of road rage” she said.
Bruce chuckled “oh right-how could I forget that” he teased.
Hetty smiled “Mr. Beale, Ms. Jones Ms. Blye and Mr. Deeks this is Dr. Banner” Hetty said making the introductions.
“Pleasure” Eric said nodding toward him.
“Nice to meet you Dr. Banner” Nell replied with a pleasant smile.
“Sup” Deeks said with a head nod.
Kensi smiled and waved “hello” she said.
“Bruce, Mr. Beale is my tech operator, Ms. Jones is my intelligence analyst, Ms. Blyth is one of my agents and Mr. Deeks is a liaison with the LAPD connected with this office” Hetty continued with a professional smile.
Bruce smiled and nodded as Hetty rattled off the introductions “It’s nice to meet everyone” he said quietly.
They quieted when Callen came into screen and started talking to the man in Russian. The man shifted in his seat and the arm of his sleeve rode up to reveal a metal arm.
“Does he have a metal arm?” Nell asked.
Sam asked him what happened to his arm-the man replied since the asset has defected they needed a new one.
“Who is the asset?” Deeks asked.
Jen and Bruce shared a look. Jen causally leaned toward Bruce.
“Call Nat” she barley breathed in his ear.
Bruce glanced at her his eyes cutting over to make sure the others were preoccupied. When he decided they wouldn’t notice him he nodded and slipped out. He walked down the hallway checking for cameras and slipped into the bathroom-locking it- pulling out is phone and calling Natasha.
“Hello Bruce” Natasha said as she answered.
“Hi Nat-we might have a problem” Bruce said quickly.
“Oh?” she asked.
“I am here at the NCIS office in LA. They’ve captured a Russian man with a metal arm. When Sam asked what happened to his arm his response was the asset defected and they needed a new one. You might need to tell Coulson-or Fury” Bruce said.
Natasha cursed in Russian “Ok I’ll call Coulson first. Call me later tonight if you find out more information” she said.
Bruce smiled “How about tomorrow” he said.
“Have plans tonight do you” Nat teased.
“Maybe-hopefully” Bruce replied with a chuckle. “I might have a plan forming” he added.
“Ok I am sure calling me in the morning will be fine” Natasha teased again.
There was banged on the door. “Come on” a voice yelled from outside. “I’ll call tomorrow Nat-bye” Bruce said quickly as he hung up. Thinking quickly he flushed the toilet-turned on the water for a second then unlocked the door- coming face to face with an angry older man. “Sorry” Bruce said “thought I was going to be sick” he added as he started walking back down the hallway.
Natasha dialed Coulson’s number as soon as she hung up with Bruce.
“Natasha” Phil said as he answered.
“Bruce just called me. Apparently there is a man in NCIS custody that has a metal arm and the only thing he said was since the asset defected they needed another” she said without preamble.
“Where?” Coulson asked.
“He’s in LA at the moment” Natasha replied.
Phil cursed “I’ll call Fury-keep me posted” he said.
“Of course. Bruce Is supposed to call me in the morning with more information” she said.
“Good-call me in the morning then” Phil said as he hung up.
Natasha hung up and looked up as Clint walked in. “Was that Doc who called you? What did he want?” he asked as he plopped down next to her on the couch.
“We might have another winter solider” she said looking at him to see his reaction.
Clint slowly turned to her studying her expression “Of course we do” he said after a few minutes. “Does Boss know?” he asked.
Natasha gave him an unimpressed glare in return making him chuckle. “Course he does-sorry. Um How do you feel about that?” he asked looking at her again.
She just gave him a blank stare making Clint touch her face. “Stop-you don’t have to tell me-but I know that must be weird for you. Just want to make sure you’re ok-even though I know you can handle it yourself” he said in a rush.
Natasha looked at him “Is it ok not to know how I feel?” she asked.
Clint smiled and bravely pulled her closer to him “Of course it is” he said.
“So what’s going to happen now? The guy didn’t SAY anything” Jen asked once the interrogation was over.
Hetty turned then noticed Bruce was gone “Where’d Bruce go?” She asked.
“He had to go to the bathroom” Jen replied.
“I didn’t hear him leave?” Hetty countered.
“He’s a master at being unnoticed” Jen fired back simply staring at Hetty.
Hetty just shook her head-but kept silent “Well we can’t exactly keep him here we have no evidence” she said.
Deeks spoke up “Can’t we detain him for suspicion? Or the fact that he has a fake passport?” he replied.
Hetty nodded “Perhaps” she said.
“If you do detain him-you know Ross will find out. Is that going to spur him or frighten him?” Jen asked.
Hetty nodded “That’s my worry” she admitted then seemed to realize what time it was, “Goodness-go home. You’ve been here all day. Go have dinner-have a nice night out-or in-whatever you prefer. I’ll make you two breakfast tomorrow” she said as she came up and hugged Genevieve.
Jen looked down at her and blinked “You can just tell me to leave if you want to hear what you are about to say” she teased.
“Leave I don’t want you to hear what I am about to say” Hetty parroted back with a smile.
Jen laughed as Bruce walked in taking in the scene with a raised eyebrow “Did I miss something?” he asked cautiously.
“Hetty’s throwing me-well us-but mostly me-out” she said.
Bruce chuckled “well I am sure it’s for your own good” he said.
Hetty smiled “See Dr. Banner is a genius” she said. “I’ll see you both in the morning” she added watching them leave.
Deeks raised his hand “Umm what was that?” he asked once they had left the room.
“I didn’t want Dr. Banner to hear what I was going to ask next” Hetty said with a shrug. “Have we found any indication where Brian Banner is yet” she asked.
Eric made a sound of disgust as he typed a few commands “No-it’s driving me nuts. With all of our resources I can’t seem to find him. He just disappeared off the face of the earth-it’s so frustrating!” he moaned.
Hetty nodded “I know it is-everyone slips up eventually. Keep it up” she said encouragingly.
“How long are you planning on keeping this from them?” Nell asked.
Hetty stared at the red head then smiled “As long as I can” she said.
“What about that guy with the metal arm?” Kensi asked-changing the subject.
Hetty looked at the screen in thought “I need to some research-this asset sounds familiar to me-I just can’t remember where” she said.
Jen followed behind Bruce as they walked into the house-she had been quiet most of the ride back.
“You’ve been quiet-are you ok?” Bruce finally asked coming up behind her.
Jen looked back at him “I am worried-this new man with the metal arm isn’t good. The fact that something is going on around us that no one is telling us about is starting to annoy me” she admitted.
Bruce sighed “Well Hetty said she’s coming in the morning-you can ask her then” he said leaning in to kiss her gently.
Jen smiled “Have something planned do you doctor” she asked against his lips.
“I might” he replied as he kissed her.
“Then by all means I am all ears” she said.
“I think a demonstration would be-mutually beneficial” he said causing Jen to bust out laughing.
“Really? Has that line work for you before?” she gasped as she laughed.
Bruce laughed “Hush-I was trying something different” he chuckled. “Now don’t kill the mood” he added kissing her again.
Jen tried to stop her giggles but failed “Ok I’ll stop-show me this demonstration Dr. Banner” she said.
Bruce growled “Oh I’ll show you” he said as he lifted her up and carried her briskly into the bedroom-making her laugh as he bounced her on the bed and slammed the door behind them.