— The story and any possible original characters are mine. NCIS, its own characters and canon aren't. —
To make things easier for you, this is the order of the stories in the series:
Intro: "He's A Good Boy"
Part 1: "Ghost Games"
Part 2: "Ghosts Chasing Me"
Part 3: "Ghosts From The Past"
Leo
The engine was roaring, the radio was on and he was singing along with it. Frank Sinatra. Can't go wrong with that. Changing gears, he almost closed his eyes, just enjoying the speed. Only a moment later he was thanking whoever was watching over him, for not letting him close his eyes. He barely even had time to hear another car coming from somewhere behind him. Not to mention seeing it. Driving faster than a race car the vehicle went around and then past him, nearly pushing him off the road, and disappeared from his sight soon after.
Letting the car horn show just how pissed off he was, he cursed the fact that he didn't even have a chance to see the plate. However if he'd ever see that car again, the driver was going to have a little chat with one Anthony DiNozzo Junior... Throwing out few profanities, which would have made even his father blush, he let out a deep sigh. If nothing else, he was thankful that he wasn't a passenger in the other car. Hell would freeze over before that would happen.
"Jethro! Slow down! You almost got that other driver killed!" Donald Mallard—Ducky to his friends—glared at his old friend, NCIS Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
"Seemed to be doing just fine to me."
Ducky tutted. "And your poor agents. They do not seem to be doing just fine at all."
Glancing at their unlucky backseat passengers, Gibbs was amused and he grinned. His newest Agent, Vivian Blackadder, was looking positively green. His older Agent, Brent Langer who had been part of his team for a few impressive weeks, he was looking just as green, but at least he wasn't holding on to the car seats for his dear life the way Vivian did.
"Jethro, I understand that we are in a hurry, but if we crash, we are not going to make it there anyway."
"You ever seen me crash, Duck?"
"Plenty."
"When there's other people in the car with me?"
"Jethro..."
After few long seconds, Gibbs finally dropped the speed. It was nowhere near enough by normal standards, but for Gibbs it was slow enough. He heard two collective sighs of relief coming from the backseats.
By the time they made it to their destination, the younger agents scrambled outside the car, not getting outside as fast as they would have liked. Once they did, they rushed to the trash cans farther away to throw up. Or Vivian did and Langer kept her hair out of the way, while trying to keep himself from adding his share in the bin. The battle was finally lost at the thought of going through a car ride like that again when they had to return home. It would take a good while before they would join their boss and even then it was on shaking legs.
Ducky seemed completely unfazed by the car drive, but that didn't stop him from frowning and shaking his head at Gibbs' amused half smirk. There was evil and then there was Gibbs; stubborn old mule, who would play nice only when it suited him. "No wonder you cannot keep any of your agents working with you for more than a few weeks at most. Do you have to make it harder for them to stay?"
"Don't need people who can't even follow my rules." Gibbs shrugged and walked away before he had to hear more of Ducky's lectures. He wasn't fast enough.
"Rules that you forget when it suits you, Jethro."
"Ducky..."
They walked closer to the flashing lights, coming from the two police cars, and crowd of curious onlookers with their cameras out.
"Take those cameras from them!" one of the detectives was yelling at someone, with colorful profanities thrown in the mix.
Stepping to the crime scene, the agents and Ducky were stopped from moving forward by that same Detective. "This is a crime scene! Back off or I will have you arrested! It'll be a tight fit, with you all in one holding cell, but I'm sure you'll love it!"
Taking out his badge, Gibbs showed it to the man. "NCIS. I believe the victim is a Marine, which makes this our case."
"Try again. What is NCIS?" Before they could answer, the Detective was screaming again at someone, "No smoking at the crime scene, you bonehead!"
Gibbs was not looking happy and just as he was about to open his mouth again, another voice spoke, a young man, full of mischief and youth, "It stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. They're Navy cops, boss." He had his Detective badge clipped on his belt.
"DiNozzo..." the older man growled.
Gibbs, his agents and Ducky watched as the very young looking Detective talked to the older one, the man who they had thought was one of the detectives, but seemed to be the head of the Baltimore PD instead. The kid looked way too young to be a Detective. How old was he anyway? In his early twenties? The man looked like he should be in college, playing sports with his friends and having the time of his life, instead of doing this kind of job that could eat up the time to even have a life.
Turning around to look at the small group of people who were standing there awkwardly, the kid smirked with odd gleam in his eyes. "Which one of you was driving the car?"
"I did," Gibbs answered with a questioning eyebrow.
"Thought so." The young Detective held out his hand, which Gibbs took in his. "Anthony DiNozzo. Detective. Just call me Tony."
"NCIS. Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Just Gibbs."
"Ah..." Tony grinned and then went to greet the other three.
"Donald Mallard, but call me Ducky. I am the medical examiner."
"Vivian Blackadder."
"Brent Langer."
"Hey!" Gibbs barked, getting the attention, for a moment anyway. "What is this?" He held out the piece of paper, which Tony had slipped in his hand while they shook hands.
Tony chuckled. "That. Is your speeding ticket, Agent Gibbs. Next time don't try to kill a cop on the road."
"Oh my... It was you? You didn't get hurt, did you?" Ducky sounded worrying, but not for Gibbs getting any trouble though.
Tony stared and then flashed his movie star smile, although there was odd flash of danger in his eyes. "Nope, but was a little too close that I did."
"I apologize, dear boy..."
"Oh, it's not your apology I need to hear."
"The boss never apologizes so you'll die waiting." Vivian snorted and then flinched when Langer elbowed her.
"Why am I not surprised..." Tony muttered. He noticed how Gibbs put the paper in his pocket with a dark look on his face.
"DiNozzo!" That was his own boss again, looking beyond miffed. "Explain to me why did you call these people here?"
Tony smiled, but this time his smile looked chilly and he moved closer to whisper, "Call it a little payback for what you did to my partner. You know he did nothing wrong—everyone knows it—and yet you fired him."
"I could get you in big trouble for this, DiNozzo," the man threatened with a snarl.
Tony smiled again that chilly little smile that made your skin crawl. Turning around to face the crime scene again, his face was sunny again. Only then did the boss notice that the agents had used the chance and got into work. "See you next week, boss. When my little break is over."
"This won't end here, DiNozzo. You know that."
"Yeah, yeah. Have fun with the NCIS!" Tony cheered and walked away, ignoring someone calling his name. As much as the crime scene was calling for him, what his body needed however, was rest. Eternity if possible.
"Anthony! Good grief... I am terribly out of shape..." Ducky gasped for breath when he made it to the car, just as Tony was opening the door.
"Doctor Mallard? Can I help you with something?" Tony looked cautious.
"Ducky, young man."
"Right..."
Digging something out of his pocket, Ducky gave it to Tony. Pain killers. "I believe you need these."
Tony stared, completely in shock and awe at the same time, thinking he had hid it perfectly for anyone unaware of his situation to notice. "How did you..?"
"I have good eyes for such things, young man. The way you move around, to name a few, but I'm sure I am only one of the few people who would notice it. I do hope we did not cause that."
Lifting up his shirt, Tony revealed his bandaged torso, gingerly touching the middle of it with his fingers. "Nope. Don't worry about it."
Ducky looked relieved, but then he studied the bandaged area with slightly narrowed eyes, as if he was trying to see the wound. "May I ask what caused it then?" It sounded more like a demand, rather than a question.
Pulling the shirt back down, Tony studied the small bottle he was given. He was happy to notice it was one of the few meds he was willing to take. Dry swallowing few, he tried giving the bottle back to Ducky.
"No. Keep it. I have another one with me. I always have one or two with me, just in case. For emergencies," Ducky added, seeing the bemused look.
"Well, thank you for... these. As for the wound... Well, you know. Just another day at work. Looks worse than it is, really."
Ducky tutted. "You must be as bad as Jethro."
Taking out his business card, Tony handed it to the old man. "If you need some help that I could offer. Just don't show it to other people. I like my privacy."
"I will keep that in mind, Anthony." Ducky smiled gently as put the card away.
Saying goodbye, they both went on their way, not knowing just how soon they would meet again.
"Finished making friends with him?" Gibbs muttered irritably as soon as Ducky returned to the crime scene where he had abandoned his work for that moment.
"Jethro. He is a nice young man."
"A nice young man who wrote me a ticket."
"And we all know it's nowhere near what you deserve, Jethro."
Shrugging, Gibbs pointed to the body. "Ready to get back to work now?"
Looking toward where he had last seen the young Detective, Gibbs hoped they would never meet again. That overly bright smile and the kid's whole appearance was screaming trouble, which he did not want to deal with if he had to work with the person. Sadly though, his current agents weren't from the brightest side either...
Throwing one last glare toward the 'boss' and the people with him, Gibbs was pleased to notice that they were finally left alone. Then it turned out to be not such a good deal after all since as soon as they left, so did all the cops keeping the crowds from doing what they pleased. It had to be a little payback from the bastard... Only after Gibbs threatened to shoot anyone stepping on the crime scene and once the last cameras had been taken away, they got the much needed space to do their work.
Cursing the city of Baltimore, and his own boss for sending him there, Gibbs put his agents to work, yelling his orders when they didn't seem to be able to think for themselves.
"Jethro. I believe we have a problem..."
"What?" They didn't need any more problems.
"We need to move the body before the storm hits."
Looking up at the sky, Gibbs only now noticed how dark it had suddenly become. They were in a hurry or the evidence on the crime scene would be soon gone.
