A Team of One

A/N: When Gibbs is called in to investigate a murder of a Petty Officer at a popular Baltimore Night Club, he's teamed up with local Detective DiNozzo. But he's never worked with someone like Tony DiNozzo before but an unlikely pairing could be the start of a long-term relationship.

Gibbs was told that the stabbing of Petty Officer Kris Parrie at Night Time Bar would be an open/shut case. But he was to investigate it with a local detective team… That was something Gibbs didn't feel the need to. He told his appointed Senior Field Agent to keep an eye on things in the Squad Room.

Mirandah Kyte nodded her response. There was always something to occupy the minds. There was still an open case and paperwork that needed doing.

"Good," Gibbs said to the gray haired woman. Her gray hair made her look older than she was Mirandah always joked that working with a man like Gibbs sent her prematurely gray. Some people thought it was funny.

Xxxxxxxx

Baltimore PD

Detective Tony DiNozzo rubbed his temples. He regretted finding out that the murder victim was a Petty Officer. Straight away there was a call and they had been informed that an Agent from some Federal Agency was coming to take over the case. God he hated feds.

"Here," his partner and friend, Gordon Cale placed a steaming hot cup of coffee in front of him. "You okay?" Gordon asked with a slightly Scottish accent.

"Practicing for Are You Okay Day, Gordon?" Tony smiled brightly and took a drink. "Hate outside interference and even more so when it's a fed," he concluded.

Gordon knew Tony got along with just about everybody except for Federal Agents, Drug dealers and a couple of members on the Baltimore PD. At times, Tony's refusal to play within the Department's Law got him into unofficial hot water with the bosses and others. It was Tony's 'Untouchable' trait that made him endure Tony's nuances while others would've kicked him to the curb… Something that's obviously been done so many times before.

"Hey… Julie's having a cook up tomorrow. You know, getting rid of all freezer and fridge stuff. And she wouldn't mind filling your freezer up with some meals," Gordon told him.

Tony considered this and leaned back. He was known as a man who could virtually live on pizza and beer. "You want me to come around early and help?" Tony offered. Julie Cale never said anything and been nothing but nice, he still felt guilty for taking freebies.

"No," Gordon shook his head quickly and enthusiastically. "Though there might be some trash work for us," he smiled. His nesting wife had rearrangements on her mind. Julie had the ideas… It was at times left to Gordon and Tony to execute.

"I'll see what I can do," Tony said. He saw the look he was receiving. "Well I have a session in the morning and we don't know how this case's going to work out," Tony said. He hated therapy sessions at times but if he wanted to keep his job, the sessions were needed.

"Didn't know that was coming up. I'll let Jules know that you may be late," Gordon replied.

Xxxxxxxx

Late Evening

Gibbs had entered the desk area and looked around. He was given a brief description of the young Detective he would be working with. The first thing he noticed was the expensive looking clothes. Gibbs usually did his shopping at K-Mart or Wal-Mart but noticed that Detective DiNozzo liked the more expensive brand names.

"Detective DiNozzo," Gibbs called out.

Tony wasn't going to go running to the man like some loyal mutt.

"Detective Tony DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked again louder. He saw the man he assumed was the Italian man he was after. The blonde haired man pointed in his direction. "DiNozzo!" Gibbs bellowed. This time the people who were working jumped slightly.

"I'm your huckleberry," Tony said. His back was turned and therefore Gibbs couldn't see the smile on his face. "Agent Gibbs?" He asked.

"About Kris Parrie?" Gibbs didn't feel like spending too much time in the Baltimore area.

Tony looked through the cabinet. "Here's the preliminary autopsy report… Of course we're waiting until tomorrow when a more in depth autopsy can be performed by a coroner," he explained.

"Tonight," Gibbs said. Patience was clearly not one of his strong points.

"Special Agent Gibbs isn't it? In the past week we had three drug overdoses, two murders… Three including the dead Petty Officer. Then we got the everyday running of the place… So our coroner's been a tad busy," Tony explained.

"There'll be no argument about me bringing in my own Medical Examiner," Gibbs said as he glanced through the report. It was basic of course.

"I'll have to run it by the Captain… I don't think," Tony began saying.

"Did it sound like a question to you, Detective DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

Tony shook his head.

"I want to check out where Kris Parrie was killed. Where's everything you have so far?" Gibbs asked. He reached out and took the notebook and flipped through it. Compared to the smoothness of NCIS… These Baltimore Boys were amateur hour.

Xxxxxxxx

Night Time Bar

Tony and Gibbs walked down the busy street with their eyes forward. Gibbs didn't comment on anything that was going on and Tony had seen it all before. Due to the lack of parking on the Main Stretch part, the two had to walk a block or so.

They knocked on the door. The bar slash hotel looked odd having the outside lights turned off at this time of the evening. Tony knocked on the door.

"Ah, Detective DiNozzo," the Owner, Brent Staker allowed them to walk through.

"Thank you, Brent," Tony said as he shook hands with the owner. Gibbs made a mental note that Tony referred to the owner by the first name. Baltimore had a bad reputation and so far, his opinion about it was unchanged.

"We have come to look over the crime scene again," Tony said to him. "This is Special Agent Gibbs from NCIS… Naval Criminal Investigative Services," Tony had remembered that from the fine print of the silver haired man's ID.

"Sir," Brent was a little distrusting of any Law Enforcement Newcomers. "Well as was stated, the man was stabbed on the dance floor or close to it… And bled out here," Brent and Tony led Gibbs to the dance area.

"Nobody noticed anything until… When? He was dead on the floor?" Gibbs asked.

"Apparently," Brent answered.

"Kinda like Flying High… A 1980 movie Directed by Jim Abrahams and David Zucker. Starring Robert Hays, Robert Stack and Leslie Nielson… There was a nightclub scene where everyone was dancing and this guy was dancing with a woman… He was stabbed in the back. The guy's moving around in pain trying to show people there's a knife in his back and the girl thinks they're dance moves so she begins mimicking his moves," Tony began a longwinded reference.

"Was Petty Officer Parrie a regular visitor?" Gibbs asked. Tony noticed that he didn't have a notebook out.

"On occasion I've seen him around but he often doesn't come in too often… Unless…" Brent stopped himself from continuing.

"Unless?" Gibbs asked.

Tony nodded in his direction. "We're both here to find out who was responsible for the stabbing," he said. Sounding like he was giving permission to help. That was another thing that Gibbs made a mental note.

"You know… We are a nightclub/hotel. A lot of people from firefighters to servicemen come here often to prowl for women that are willing to help them relieve some saved up energy if you know what I mean," Brent said calmly.

"A whorehouse?" Gibbs asked.

"Fuck no," Brent was taken aback by the accusation. "We do not employ prostitutes nor do we encourage it. But say if someone wants to bed a woman they meet in this club, we just rent the room and before you ask… Yes, we make good money out of that," Brent added. He didn't feel like he had anything to cover up or regret.

"Have you received or known of any complaints from fiancées, wives, lovers or family members?" Gibbs asked.

Tony was annoyed. He had expected the Fed to take charge of the investigation but it was annoying when Gibbs was doing so.

"Not that I'm aware of. In the dim lights and all the moving around it's hard to see if there's any married or engaged people. But it isn't our fault if someone strays," Brent responded.

Gibbs pulled out a camera from his pocket and took a photo of the bloodstain.

"We haven't cleaned it up yet," Brent said.

"Good," Tony was the one who responded. "Agent Gibbs… I have sketches of the crime scene back at base," he said.

"We need a list of all personnel that was working that night and surveillance cameras. Hope you don't mind long hours and a long day, Detective DiNozzo," Gibbs almost smiled.

Tony checked his watch. It was almost ten pm. Usually he never worried too much about time as a homicide detective often brought about long, late hours. "Actually…" Tony said slowly.

"What?" Gibbs snapped.

"Just saying that I have an unbreakable appointment early in the morning. One I can't afford to be late for," Tony said.

Gibbs didn't say anything.

"If you have a problem with it… Take it up with my captain," Tony said defensively.

"Here you are," Brent finally came back. "Oh and Tony… I got a carton of cigarettes you ordered. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get hold of these. Ever thought of switching to a more popular brand?" Brent asked as he held out the carton.

"What? For me?" Tony asked in a confused tone. He never smoked.

"You're not going to say no, now?" Brent said with annoyance.

Tony sighed and read the receipt before checking his wallet.

"If you don't have the money… You can always pay me the next time you come in," Brent said.

Tony turned and looked at Gibbs then back in his wallet. "I have it. You know the rules about free merchandise," Tony said. He looked at the carton and shook his head before placing on the inside of his jacket.

"Never figured you as a smoker, Detective DiNozzo," Gibbs said as they left the Night Time Bar.

"They're not for me… They're for a friend," Tony told him.

Gibbs thought that that was a weak excuse. Usually, he was able to tell when someone was lying to him but this was confusing. Such an age old excuse accompanied by a flat even tone made him think.

Xxxxxxxxx

Therapist's Office

Tony always looked around the office before he sat down. Evelyn was a young, accomplished Therapist and he slowly found himself trusting her. Even if it was a forced relationship at first. It was good to talk with someone who was paid to keep confidentiality.

"Good to see you're in early," Evelyn smiled in a friendly manner.

"Well it's going to be a busy day or two," Tony answered. He figured that would mean finishing earlier. It was obvious that Agent Gibbs was pretty pissed about it.

"Strange to see you here. Usually you use any excuse to cancel a meeting," Evelyn said as Tony shrugged.

"Guess… Wait I understand that. I know you hate the word guess. I understand why I may need it at times," Tony slowly admitted. "Well," even with a few therapy sessions it was still difficult to know where to begin.

"Well… We've often discussed that your different personalities have certain triggers. Like Kyle Franklin comes out when your temper reaches boiling point," Evelyn began the session.

"Yeah he's like the Incredible Hulk of the real world. At times though I'm really worried that Kyle can and will hurt or kill someone," Tony stated. That was a major concern.

"So far, none of your Alters have done anything that you would be horrified over… From what you've said they haven't stolen, robbed or murdered," Evelyn wrote down some notes.

"One of them smokes," Tony said. "Found out that an Alter smokes a hard to get brand. Got a fair idea who it was as well. Don't think it was William since from what I've heard is pretty straight laced nor May… Doubt she would do that either," Tony explained and that narrowed it down to Kyle.

"How did you go with the assignment of finding new triggers?" Evelyn looked through some notes of the previous session.

"William comes out when there's an old fashioned case or when there's a power failure. Kyle… It seems comes out when the proverbial blood boils or at times to impress people. But May… I still have no clue. Though has something to do with kids or family. I don't know," Tony shrugged his shoulders.

"Right… You mentioned about impressing people? Does this include the Cales? You've mentioned the Cale family on many occasions," Evilyn asked.

"I am certain that they like May a lot especially the kids. Honestly I think the kids love William because of his curiosity and apparent enthusiasm for anything that's new, which is just about anything, so they get to show him a lot of stuff," Tony said. Honestly he was still surprised that Julie allowed him anywhere near the kids.

"Do you know that that's how they feel or do you just think that?" Evelyn asked. Sometimes Tony had a habit of assuming that what he thinks is fact.

"Ah," Tony let out. "I don't know… The kids they talk about my alters a lot," he said.

"Why do you feel that is?" Evelyn asked.

"Me? I feel that I'm a bore to the kids. Well I must be since the only interesting stuff I can't share with children. It's not exactly PG-13 if you know what I mean," Tony responded. The rest of the session was more of discussing what Tony knew about the Alters versus what he believed. Differentiating between the two was always a difficult task for Tony.


A/N: Just a story that's begging to be written and it's indulging myself as well.