Chapter Text
Travis stepped out into the cold night air. Some would call him a renascent spy. In fact, most of the MCRT knew him as Trent Kort.
That wasn’t his real name, of course. Trent had served his purpose and had died when his CIA cover was discovered to have sold secrets to Russia in 2002. Of course, he hadn’t actually sold secrets to Russia.
That was just the cover the CIA had made for the Trent Kort persona. Now, he was Travis, Travis Dennis. Travis was another CIA role, of course.
It would take some time for him to get used to introducing himself as Travis. He’d been Trent for so long that it would be hard not to introduce himself as Trent. He would manage, of course.
He always did. He had managed when he went from Patrick to Trent. He would manage Trent to Travis.
He had a new mission now. One that hopefully wouldn’t involve any pesky NCIS agents that might actually recognize him. One that definitely involved Christmas.
He wasn’t sure he was on board with this whole Christmas mission. People got weird and a touch more unpredictable around Christmas. Still he was a good CIA agent and would do his best to complete the mission.
Why Travis had an undercover job of being a mall Santa was beyond Kort though. It was a great way to blend in around Christmas time, but you also stood out for the same reason. He was still in DC, so any NCIS agent could stumble across him in their off time.
Sure, he looked different, but some of the agents were good and would recognize him anyway. Or they would if they actually got a good look at him. Still it was a great cover for passing information back and forth.
Everyone wanted to sit on Santa’s lap. Kort frowned at the thought of kids being involved for passing information. He hadn’t had a great childhood, but purposefully ruining Christmas for kids still bothered him.
That’s when Kort realized that something was up in the planning of this mission. Special Agent Bishop had just joined the end of the line with two adorable children. Bishop didn’t have any children and Travis couldn’t help feeling like this was a setup.
Was Bishop here in her role as NSA or as a NCIS agent? It could be either. Even though she’d become a full time NCIS agent, you never actually left the NSA.
What did Bishop have to do with his mission? Where did the children come from? Travis had more questions than answers.
He would find out eventually, though, as the line moved and Bishop and the children drew ever nearer. His assignment claimed that he was to pick up clandestine info from a number of CIA informants of varying nationality. Travis couldn’t help wondering though if the CIA were trying to burn him for some reason as he was definitely a very visible target as the main Santa in the mall.
Only time would tell, however, and it would all depend on how Bishop and the children acted once they got to the front of the line and it was their turn to sit on his lap. He thought he was prepared for every scenario, but he wasn’t prepared for Bishop to step up to him and give him a kiss on both cheeks. He’d never considered a relationship with her.
Why was she kissing him on the cheeks? He hoped she didn’t want a relationship with him. It was too dangerous for him to do more than one night stands given the CIA could terminate his cover at any time and give him a new one.
“Ew. Mommy kissed Santa Claus.”
“Mommy?” Travis mouthed to Bishop.
Bishop shrugged in response and directed her children to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what they wanted. As the children babbled about spaceships, aliens, and various other children toys that they wanted, Bishop used hand signals to warn Kort that he was in danger. Travis didn’t understand why she was doing this.
Hadn’t he made enemies out of NCIS by supposedly selling secrets to Russia? When Travis proposed this question via hand signals, Bishop’s response was a smile and a word, McGee. What did the NCIS geek have to do with this?
Bishop gave him information on a spot to meet after his shift for further discussion. Travis had to admit he didn’t know if he trusted her enough to actually show up for the meet. On the other hand, if she’d wanted him dead he would already be dead.
He was too curious about what was going on and had to at least check out the meeting spot after his shift as Santa was over. He still wondered why a CIA agent was using Santa as a cover in the middle of DC. The place Bishop had suggested was isolated, which would be good for a secret meeting, but bad if they were trying to kill him.
He still had a few hours before the meet, so he went back to his place and turned his laptop on with the intent of trying to figure out if the CIA was out to get him or if this was a NCIS trap of some sort. Instead, he found an email from McGee with coded information on how to access a secure server.
He checked out the server to make sure that it wasn’t a trap before logging in. He stared in shock at the information he found on that server. Messages from every member of the MCRT team including DiNozzo and Gibbs.
There was also a ton of information. Travis couldn’t help being impressed. They’d managed to uncover the CIA portfolio for Trent Kort and realize that it was just a cover. They’d even dug up some information on his real identity, though they hadn't yet linked that identity to his Trent Kort cover.
The one he’d almost forgotten he had as the last time he’d gone by that name was a good thirty years ago. Then there was the information on his new identity. Far more information than he had about his new identity.
Travis pulled open a couple of the messages from the team and was surprised to find that they were friendly or at least professional. Why did none of these people hold grudges against him?
Now, Travis knew he had to make the meet. If this was the kind of information they could give him online who knew what information they would be able to provide in person. He needed to know.
He may have dedicated his life to the CIA, but he still looked out for himself first and foremost. He wasn’t just going to be a CIA patsy who would sit and play Santa like a good target. Travis glanced at his watch and realized it was almost time for the meet.
Being careful to make sure he wasn’t followed or tracked even by the CIA, Travis arrived back at the meeting place. Bishop was waiting for him as was McGee. Travis glanced around to see if there were any other surprises.
“It’s just us.” McGee assured.
“What’s going on?”
“That’s what we want to know. The firefight, your death, your supposed dismissal from the CIA, it all seemed too pat. So I did some digging and Ducky managed to get a hold of the body and discovered it’s DNA didn’t match yours.”
“So you discovered that it had all been a CIA op and that I was still alive. Why contact me now? Aren’t I still a worm in your eyes?”
“You’re definitely slimy, but you have to be for your job.”
“Is this some sort of weird love-in? What’s with all the compliments?”
Bishop snorted. “I told you he wasn’t the kind of guy to play nice, McGee.”
Travis turned to McGee and raised an eyebrow. ‘What’s really going on?”
“Look. You’re a bastard and slimy, but you’re not a bad guy. When we uncovered information that made it appear that the CIA was planning to have you assassinated to get rid of you for good, we had to warn you.”
“So you just decided to go out on a limb for someone you hardly know and don’t trust?”
“Tony vouched for you. Gibbs vouched for you. When I dug into your past I realized you really weren’t as bad as you made yourself out to be. Most of the dirt in your profiles is CIA planted or things you had to do to keep your cover intact.”
Travis started laughing. “I’m not a good guy, kiddies. I’ve killed enough people to know that.”
McGee glared. “We’re trying to help you.”
“Thanks, but I don’t need your help.”
McGee walked up to Kort, who stood his ground, but eyed McGee with suspicion. Next thing Travis knew he was being kissed on the lips. McGee was a surprisingly good kisser too, however, Travis pulled back relatively quickly. “Are you saying you have a crush on me?”
“That too.” McGee smirked and stepped back.
Travis narrowed his eyes. “What else did you do?”
“Just ensured a little security.’
Travis frowned. That sounded ominous. He hadn’t felt anyone else touch him when McGee had kissed him, but he’d definitely been taken by surprise. It was entirely possible that they’d managed to place a tracker on him or something. “To what purpose?”
“You’ll find out.” McGee winked.
This wasn’t normal behavior for the geek. He was normally shy and nervous not the self confident man that stood in front of him. What had happened to change him this much?
“Is that all?” Travis felt the absurd need to get away. These two agents didn’t pose a threat to him, but his fight or flight instinct was kicking in and he’d learned never to ignore it.
“Oh and this.” Bishop handed Kort a secured envelope.
Travis nodded, accepting the envelope, and heading for the door closest to him. None too soon as a loud explosion was heard. Bishop and McGee glanced around and hightailed it for an exit as well.
Travis didn’t know whether the explosion was meant for him or the NCIS agents, but he wasn’t going to stay around to find out, either. He headed for his current apartment, but didn’t go straight there. He didn’t want to lead anyone to it even if he had many other boltholes he could use if that one became compromised.
No use in being foolish and exposing himself to unnecessary risk. He needed to get home and start digging into what was really going on. Was the CIA really selling him out?
Was that just part of the cover for Travis Dennis and they had a new role in mind for him? Was he getting dragged into an NCIS scheme of some sort? What the hell was up with McGee?
Last Travis knew McGee had been dating Delilah. How did he jump from Delilah to kissing him? Or had the kiss really just been a diversion to place whatever security McGee had hinted at.
Before he went to his apartment, he needed to check for trackers. If McGee had placed one on him then Travis needed to know who could use it to track him and possibly get rid of the tracker. He had some safety measures at his apartment for trackers, but he still had to be careful and not foolish.
Picking up one of his bags of toys that he had hidden throughout the city, Travis pulled out a tracker finder and quickly ran it over his body. It didn’t pick up anything. Travis frowned.
Had McGee been lying about the security? Had it been a bluff? Or was it not a normal tracker that had been planted?
Travis sifted through the bag that had actually been placed when he was going by Trent Kort. He knew he had put the tech that he wasn’t supposed to have in here somewhere. Aha!
He pulled out the long pistol shaped thing which always made him feel like he was shooting himself when he used it. There were no bullets in it. It just used a beam kind of like x-ray technology to scan whatever area it was pointed out.
He’d discovered it during a black op many years previous and had palmed two of them with no one any the wiser. He disliked using it as he didn’t understand how it worked, but desperate times called for desperate measures. This one was able to notice the tiny tracker that McGee had somehow slipped inside him.
Travis couldn’t help being impressed. He would never have expected McGee to have the guts to kiss him to deliver a tracker. The tracker wasn’t in his mouth, but Travis assumed that’s how it had originally been implanted.
It had slipped into his bloodstream by now, though. The thing was tiny and very hard to detect. It would also be difficult to remove, so Travis wasn’t about to try. It wasn’t standard government issue.
Travis was pretty sure that it was something that the NCIS lab rat, Abby, had cooked up. Chances were the only people who could track it would be the MCRT. Travis hoped he wasn’t making a mistake, but he’d worked with Gibbs before and while the guy was a bastard he wasn’t anyone’s pawn.
Nor was he the kind of guy that would just screw over someone for no reason. Travis put everything back in the bag and found a new hiding place for it. He continued on to his apartment and immediately started using his contacts to try to find out the truth of what NCIS had told him.