Author's Notes: I like the idea that the NCIS and Stargate Universes are the same.

1: This whole story is from the POV of the NCIS team. They are looking and evaluating every action and emotion. That is their job. Cops don't see people the same way civilians do. Their job is to look for criminals. After a while all they see is criminals. It flavors all their perceptions.

2: This story is specifically dealing with the grief of the Atlantis team. There are 5 stages of grief and loss: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Most of the Atlantis team has reached the acceptance stage. Talking about Lt Ford is painful, but possible. But LtCol Sheppard is still stuck in denial and anger. He blames himself and refuses to give up that last bit of hope. We are not meant to see the Atlantis team at their best. It wouldn't be an angst story if they were perky.

3: Jon isn't doing anything with the Atlantis computers that Sheppard and the rest of the Atlantis team couldn't do. The Atlantis team just hasn't had the time to play with the computers in between jumping from crisis to crisis. Jon does. Think about that one friend that you know who seems to know all the computer shortcuts while you struggle to figure out how to double space without hitting the return button twice. Jon is that annoying friend to the Atlantis team. It's not that they can't do it, they just have better things to do than play with the default font settings.

8/9/2021 – Minor edits to spelling and grammar. No story changes.

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Chapter 1 – The Invitation

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs stared at the envelope on his desk in silent confusion. It was an elegant invitation to the White House for lunch. That fact alone had stopped him in his tracks.

It was well known that Jethro didn't 'do' politics. He was pretty sure that the SecNav had banned him from all political functions on the basis of self-preservation, providing of course, that they could force him into attending. He was absolutely sure that Director Jenny Sheppard both appreciated his frankness and detested his lack of political savvy. In fact, she often ran interference for him when he was 'required' to attend a formal function. And after his attendance at the last conference ended with an arrest, well, most of the politically savvy elite were more than happy to let him stay home.

Yet, these basic facts didn't support the evidence in the form of one golden envelope with his name elegantly scrawled on it. Worse yet, he couldn't recall a single incident, good or bad, that would justify calling him onto the president's carpet. Hell, the only incident that even came close had happened under the last administration.

"Good Morning, Boss. I brought your favorite... coffee," Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo greeted, pausing as he took in the glare that Jethro was sending to the envelope. While he was curious about the envelope, his well-developed sense of self-preservation kept his mouth shut. No need to make himself the target of Jethro's anger.

Jethro continued to scowl at the envelope for several more minutes before he realized that he had been staring at it for far too long. He snatched the coffee from DiNozzo on his way up to the Director's office, pointedly ignoring his team as they exchanged worried glances. Hopefully, this didn't concern them. If he had anything to say about it, it wouldn't concern him either.

Jethro stormed into the director's office, breezing past the secretary before she could open her mouth to speak. He tossed the envelope in front of Director Sheppard as she was perusing her email. He didn't bother elaborating. The invitation really did say it all. Jenny would understand the subtext.

Jenny cocked her head sideways as she took in his silent scowl, "And good morning to you too, Jethro."

"What the hell is that about?" Jethro asked vaguely, while gesturing at the envelope.

Jenny picked up the envelope and pulled out the invitation. She carefully read the inscription, quirking an eyebrow as she took in the contents. She placed it back in the envelope and turned to look at Jethro. "I don't know. I haven't heard anything on the grapevine about awards and I don't think you've done anything recently to piss off the President... Unless, there's something you'd like to tell me?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Jethro replied, glaring out of her office window.

"I can make some calls..." Jenny offered.

Jethro nodded curtly in acceptance.

"Okay, I'll let you know as soon as I know anything," Jenny stated handing him the envelope back and dismissing him.

Jethro stomped out of the office, hoping something would interrupt his lunch date with the President. Anything would do… well, maybe not anything. There must be a cold case file somewhere that needed reinvestigating. The kind of investigation that had to be done today… at noon…

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