“A Friend in Need” ��" Epilogue

“What are you grinning about?” Maria, the assistant manager of the spa asked her best masseuse, Alonzo, who was looking out the window.

“Mr. Barker,” Alonzo replied. “He was just in for his daily massage, and I was watching him as he walked back to his place. He got out there just in time to run into Mrs. B, who must have been in town shopping, cause now he’s loaded down with bags, and she’s walking along beside him empty handed, talking his ear off.”

Maria came over to the window to have a peek. “He doesn’t look as if he minds too much. He’s grinning ear to ear. Newlyweds,” she said with a chuckle.

“Are they newlyweds?” Alonzo asked her. Despite the fact he’d given Mr. Barker a massage almost every day since he and his wife had arrived three weeks ago, he still didn’t know very much about the man. He was always courteous, and more than generous with his tips, but he wasn’t what one would describe as chatty.

“They must be ��" older man, pretty young wife ��" they’ve already been here three weeks, and Philip, in booking, says they’ve leased their villa for four months, with an option to extend if they want. He must be retired; we get lots of rich Americans here, but they usually only come for a week or two. They seem to be settling in, and look at the way he spoils her. That woman is always shopping, and he doesn’t seem to mind. She has to have been in every single shop in Cebu by now. Bet he’s glad they didn’t decide to stay in Manila ��" she could have shopped there for a whole year, and never gone to the same store more than once! She seems to find something to buy at every place she goes in to. Do you know, the other day I was taking a walk and saw the delivery truck from that new electronics store outside their place, and they were delivering all this fancy computer stuff?! Most people make do with just a laptop.”

“Maybe she does her work over the internet,” Alonzo suggested. “Even if he’s retired, she’s still too young to be. For all we know, she could be the one who’s making all the money.”

“She’d have to have a pretty good job. That villa they’re staying in costs twelve thousand American dollars a week, and that’s just the beginning of what they’re spending,” Maria said, envy creeping into her voice. “They go out to eat almost every night, they’re renting a car, and we both know the kind of charges he’s accumulating here at the spa.” Shaking their heads over the spend thriftiness of the rich, they both looked back out the window and watched as Mr. and Mrs. Barker disappeared down the path that led to their private abode.

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“So, how was your morning?” Peter asked Sylvia, as they climbed the steps that led to the front door of their rental, which was named the Riverboat Suite. It was a two-bedroom cottage built on stilts over flowing water, beautifully shaded with spreading acacia trees. As he opened the door, Peter took a moment to look around in appreciation. The cottage wasn’t something he would have picked out, if left completely to his own devises, but he couldn’t deny the charm of the place. It was an amalgamation of the traditional Filipino style of architecture, with some early Japanese influences thrown in for good measure. The flooring was bamboo, and the pagoda shaped roof was slated in nipa leaves. The master bedroom featured a private Jacuzzi, and views of the glorious waterfalls that emptied into Mogambo Springs, the body of water after which the spa was named. The furnishings were casual, most of the furniture was rattan, but the tropical print cushions were made of the finest cottons and silks, and the colors were muted and tasteful. The rooms, although not palatial, were more than adequate in size, allowing them plenty of room to entertain, should they ever desire. They had converted the second bedroom into a study/office, and had equipped it with all of the computer equipment Sylvia was accustomed to using. They’d chosen that room, not wanting to mar the vintage Filipino charm of the rest of the cottage with the ultramodern electronics.

It was Sylvia who had stumbled across the resort on the internet, when she’d been researching places for them to settle down for awhile. The Philippines was perfect for their needs. Over 90% of the population spoke English, and more importantly, the Philippines did not have an extradition treaty with the United States. It had taken them four days to leave the States after the kidnapping operation had blown up in their faces. They’d first taken a leased boat down to North Carolina, and from there they’d chartered a private jet and flown to Dallas. Shedding both the jet and the identities they’d used in Texas, they’d chartered yet another jet and flown to Hawaii. Once in Hawaii, they’d assumed two other identities, complete with passports, and had flown to Hong Kong. From there it had been a short flight to the Philippines. It was amazing how easy it was to move around, leaving no real trail, as long as you had plenty of cash to pave your way; and cash was something Peter and Sylvia had in excess. Since all of their partners were now guests of the FBI, there was no longer any need to share any of the money they had collected from the ransoms, so Sylvia and Peter were now millionaires many times over. Actually, as sad as Peter had been knowing that Richard would never get to spend another day as a free man, Peter couldn’t quibble with the results of his incarceration. Having both the money, and Sylvia, made up for any lingering regrets he might have felt.

“I need a day off from shopping,” Sylvia said with a grunt, as she collapsed on the sofa in the living room and slid her shoes off so that she could massage her aching feet.

Peter dropped the bags, and laughed as he sat down beside her, pulling her legs up onto his lap so he could rub the soles of her feet for her. “You might be the only woman in the world who is bored with shopping, which just proves that you’re special. I think you can afford to take a couple of days off. Everyone here now looks at us as just another silly, rich American couple, with more money than sense, and therefore not worth a second glance. What do you say we just hole up here for a few days, order room service, and work on reinforcing the notion that we’re newlyweds who can’t get enough of each other?”

“Do we have to work on that? I thought it was true,” Sylvia said with a seductive smile, as she wiggled her toes at Peter.

Peter leaned over to kiss her, letting the kiss move from light and flirtatious to something more intense, filled with promises of things to come. “I could spend forever here with you, and not need anything more,” he told her when he finally pulled away. “Let’s take this to the bedroom, why don’t we?”

Sylvia gave him one deeper kiss, and then stood. Holding out her hand to him to help him up, she said, “Forever together, yes ��" forever here, no. Once we’re sure it’s safe, we’re going to buy that estate you dreamed about, maybe in the south of France. Then, who knows, maybe we can even talk about having a family of our own. This is paradise, but I think we’d both get bored with it eventually.” As Peter stood and wrapped his arms around her, she continued, “I know you’ll miss your daily massages, but I think I can make that up to you. I might not be able to provide you with the same variety of types the spa has, but you can’t get one here from a naked masseuse, which is something I’m willing to offer. I’ll be more than willing to warm up your aching muscles,” she told him as she led him to the bedroom.

When they were done with their lovemaking, they lay wrapped around each other, basking in the afterglow. “I hate to get up,” Sylvia murmured into Peter’s chest.

“Then don’t,” he told her, tightening his hold on her.

“I have to,” Sylvia sighed. “I need to crank up the computers and do my daily check on what’s happening with the search for us by the FBI and NCIS. It’s been a little over a month now, and they still haven’t gotten even a whiff of us. I’m betting they’ll stop looking soon, and we’ll be free to go where ever we want. NCIS has already stopped looking for us with any regularity, and as far as I can tell, the FBI only has two people working on it now. They can both run traces for Peter Phelps and Sylvia Cooper from now until hell freezes over; they aren’t going to find anything. We just need to have them stop screening arrivals and departures from all the larger international airports, and checking immigration reports. Then we won’t have to move around like fugitives.”

“We are fugitives,” Peter reminded her with a small chuckle. “A regular Bonnie and Clyde.”

“Yes, but Bonnie and Clyde got shot to death, and I don’t intend to have that happen to us,” Sylvia pointed out, as she tilted her head up to kiss him lightly. “This won’t take me long. Why don’t you stay here and take a short nap. Maybe by the time I’m done, you’ll be ready for a Jacuzzi, and then an encore performance,” she said saucily, then she stood and walked over to grab a peach silk robe from the vanity chair that sat across the room.

Peter lay in bed and watched her appreciatively, a contented smile on his face.

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In the back of a bar in Washington, D.C., not far from the Naval Yard, Tim McGee and Abby Sciuto sat nursing a beer, Abby scanning the crowd and McGee fidgeting in his chair, looking slightly put out. “Okay, I waited all day to find out, so now tell me what this is all about?” McGee demanded of Abby.

“Not until the others get here,” she said firmly, and drew her hand across her lips, as if zipping up an invisible zipper.

“At least tell me who else we’re expecting, then maybe I can figure it out for myself if you’re not going to say anything more,” he grunted in frustration.

“I don’t have to, Mr. Impatience, here they come now!” Abby said brightly, as she stood, and put her thumb and middle finger up by her mouth, and whistled loudly.

Ziva David and Courtney Krieger, who had just entered the bar, looked around and laughed when they spotted Abby, who was now bouncing up and down, pigtails flying, waving manically at them. “Hey guys, over here,” she called to them.

A waitress followed Courtney and Ziva to the table, and after she’d taken their order, the new arrivals sat down. “Alright, is this everyone?” McGee asked Abby. When she nodded, he then demanded, “Then spill!”

“You don’t like just sitting here, having a drink with me?” Abby said, clutching at her chest as if she were mortally wounded. “Since when am I not good enough for you?”

McGee rolled his eyes. “That’s not it, Abby, and you know it. Tomorrow’s Tony’s first day back, and I had planned to stay late to get all the paperwork caught up, so he didn’t have to deal with anything from old cases ��" kind of a fresh start.”

“Aw, that’s sweet, Timmy,” Abby gushed, as she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

“Not really. I just don’t want him bitching at me, first thing,” McGee said, embarrassed that he’d been caught out doing something nice for Tony’s return.

Abby slugged him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t ruin it, Buster,” and she glared at him. “Actually, part of the reason I called you all together was to talk about Tony. Like McGee said, tomorrow’s Tony’s first day back, and I feel like we need to do something really special.”

“Abby, I am not sure Tony will be comfortable if we make a big deal over it. He is still not completely healed, and you know that he does not like for others to see him in anything but the best of light,” Ziva cautioned.

“I know that, but we can’t just ignore it, either. I was thinking that maybe we could take him to lunch, or something small like that,” Abby suggested.

“That should be fine,” Ziva nodded in agreement, “but why did you want Courtney here? There is no guarantee she will be free to have lunch with us.”

“Ah ha, glad you asked! She’s actually here because of the second thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Abby told them. “We all know that Gibbs has been kind of unGibbs like lately, since he’s been so busy with helping Tony. He’s been pretty much just showing up, doing what he needs to do to solve the current case, and then hurrying home again. He hasn’t had a lot of extra energy, or interest in focusing on much else, but with Tony coming back to work, that’s going to change. I know Gibbs. Pretty soon, the fact that Phelps and Cooper are out there somewhere, enjoying all that money, while Tony’s back here, still trying to deal with what happened to him, is going to start eating at him. It’s going to bother Tony, too, even though he’ll never say anything about it. Normally, Gibbs would make a big deal about it, and insist that more effort be put into finding them, but I don’t think he’s going to do that this time. He’s too worried about helping Tony move past it.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” McGee agreed. “He doesn’t like it when it gets brought up around Tony, you can tell just by looking at him. He never says anything out loud, but his stare says a hell of a lot.”

“Exactly my point!” Abby said. “Gibbs doesn’t feel like he can push on it. That’s where we come in. I know we spent a lot of time looking for them that first week after they got away, but none of us have done much about it lately. We’ve all sort of just dropped it, and concentrated on all our new cases. I heard even the FBI has scaled their search way back, isn’t that right Courtney?” Abby looked over at the Bureau agent for confirmation.

“We had to,” Courtney answered. “There are just too many other cases that need attention, ones that we actually have leads for. They’ve only got two people on it now, and they aren’t even working exclusively on the case.”

Abby was nodding vigorously. “That’s where we can come in. I’m suggesting that between the four of us, we should be able to find something. We’re the best there is! It doesn’t have to huge, although that would be great. It just needs to be a significant enough clue that when we take it to Gibbs, the FBI, and maybe even NCIS, will be willing to assign more people to working on the case on a full time basis.”

“How do you propose we do that, Abs?” McGee said in frustration. “We’ve already taken a crack at it, and the FBI’s been working on it for over four straight weeks. What are we going to add, and when are we going to this?”

“That brings me to my plan. We aren’t going to add anything. That’s the problem. Everyone has just been trying to build on what has already been done. We’re not. We’re going to start all over, think outside the box. Hell, we’re going to deny there even is a box! We’re going to look at everything we know about Phelps and Cooper with fresh eyes. There’s a clue there somewhere ��" there has to be. It’s just been missed, and I’ll bet no one has gone back, and started from the very beginning. Even when we were working on it before, we didn’t re-examine what had already been discovered, we just looked for new information, monitored the same accounts over and over again, kept running traces on their names. We never really profiled them, got inside their heads. So we’re going to do it now, for Tony and Gibbs.”

“When do you propose we do this? Morgan isn’t going to agree to let me come back over here to work on it, not now that my shoulder’s completely healed,” Courtney observed.

“You’ve all heard of the Breakfast Club, right? Well, we’re going to be the Happy Hour Club. We’re going to meet after work, when no one is watching. Together, we’re the perfect team. Courtney can get us access to anything we might need from the FBI. Ziva, you can tap all of your super secret Mossad sources. Timmy, you can think like a writer ��" analyze their characters, help shape a profile, and I can use my research and computer skills. We can do this, guys, I know it. We have to do this. Much as I hate to say this, I think Gibbs is wrong. The way to get Tony past this is not by ignoring it, or pretending it didn’t happen. The way to get Tony past this, is by finding Phelps and Cooper, and making sure they pay for everything they did to Tony, as well as all the other people that were killed or hurt because of them. You know Tony. If that doesn’t happen, a little part of him will always think he’s to blame, that there was more he could have, or should have done. And Gibbs won’t move past it either, although he probably doesn’t even realize that that is an issue. He can’t stand when someone hurts one of the team, and Tony’s a lot more than just that. Eventually, he’s going to get mad, real mad, and that won’t be good for anyone, including Tony. So, are you with me? Are we going to become the Happy Hour Club?” she asked, looking around at each one individually.

“Only if I get to be Judd Nelson,” McGee said.

“Are you kidding??? You’re the perfect Anthony Michael Hall. Ziva has to be Judd Nelson, she’s the toughest. Courtney can be Ally Sheedy, ‘cause she’s cute, but smart. And, of course, I get to be Molly Ringwald ��" stylish, but different!” Abby declared.

McGee rolled his eyes, “So who’s Emilio Estevez?”

“The jock? Think about it Timmy. Who could that be? What about Tony? See, its perfect!” she announced triumphantly.

“Yeah, and we’re all going to be in detention for real if Gibbs gets wind of what we’re up to,” McGee huffed, as Courtney laughed.

Ziva, who had been listening to all of this with total incomprehension, finally gave up and asked, “I do not understand any of this.”

“What are you doing on Friday night?” Abby asked her.

“I do not know. Why?” Ziva asked, even more confused.

“Movie night at my place, then you’ll get it. Why don’t you all come over? We can have our first brainstorming session after the movie is over. Since it’s almost Halloween, let’s say that 80’s hair and clothing are optional, but strongly encouraged,” she said enthusiastically.

“I still do not understand,” Ziva said, frowning at the others.

“Oh, believe me, after Friday night, you will,” Courtney promised. “Whether you want to, or not.”

And so, with that, the Happy Hour Club was formed.

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This is the end of part two of what has become a trilogy. It started out with what originally was intended to be a short little story about how Tony met Gibbs, way back in Discovered Undercover, and has just grown and grown. Part three will deal with all of the issues brought up in this story, including the evolution of Tony’s and Gibbs’ relationship, as well as the continued search for Phelps and Cooper. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to this story. You make it more fun!!!