The Package
A package on Gibbs' desk leads the team to an unusual crime and Tony is more involved than he realizes.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, hard as it is for me to admit it. Wish I did, though.
My second tormenting-Tony story! Please read, let me know if you like it (and even if you don't, but be kind). Oh and this story is dedicated to my sci-fi-geek buddy Alex (a.k.a Ozlex), upon whom Lexi is based.
Hope you enjoy!
Super-em
Chapter One
Tony leaned forward on his desk, eyeing the small brown parcel sitting on Gibbs' desk.
"Do not even think about it," Ziva said, reading his thoughts.
Ever since Tony had opened the unaddressed envelope over a year ago, the envelope which had infected him with the plague, caused the evacuation of the entire building and damaged his lungs, Gibbs had insisted that all mail not specifically addressed to a team member be forwarded straight to him.
With a sigh, Tony was resigned to agree with Ziva. Gibbs would not be too pleased to return from his meeting to find Tony unwrapping the parcel. With his luck, it was probably full of anthrax anyway.
"DiNozzo. Do you really have nothing to do or do ya just feel like wasting time?"
Tony winced in anticipation of the slap he would receive from Gibbs, who had obviously finished his meeting with the Director. Sure enough it came, and with an "Ouch!" Tony got back to work.
Gibbs stopped and stood in front of the parcel on his desk.
"Where'd this come from?" He asked suspiciously, looking at the team. Knowing DiNozzo, it was just as likely to be filled with gummi worms as a joke as it was genuine mail.
"The mail-boy delivered it a few minutes ago, Boss." McGee said without looking up from his computer as he typed busily.
Gibbs looked around the floor, spotting the mail-boy in question in the far corner.
"What's his name?"
"Andrew," Ziva offered.
"HEY ANDREW!" Gibbs shouted across the agency floor. Andrew looked over, quickly wheeling his trolley back as Gibbs summoned him.
"You deliver this?" Gibbs pointed to the parcel. Andrew nodded, not daring to speak. Gibbs was a scary, scary man.
"Where'd it come from? Was it dropped off or messengered?"
Andrew shook his head. "A-a-arrived with the regular m-m-mail." He stuttered, quickly becoming flustered.
Gibbs spoke slower. "Was it scanned and passed through the detectors?"
Andrew nodded.
"Thanks." Gibbs said, waving Andrew away. Andrew scuttled into the lift to return to the safety of the ground floor, shaking from his encounter.
"Was that really necessary, boss?" Tony asked, walking over to see what was in the box as Gibbs began unwrapping the string and paper. Gibbs stopped, looking up at him.
"Do you have a deathwish, DiNozzo?" He asked, his eyebrow raised.
"No boss."
"Well you coulda fooled me, because we could've just opened up another box of the plague. And I don't know about you, but I'm not sure your lungs could cope with another infection."
Gibbs stopped, realizing he'd gone too far, speaking more harshly than he'd intended. DiNozzo had only asked a question, probably just trying to make conversation and he'd shot him down. Tony looked down at the floor as Gibbs frowned, opening the cardboard flaps of the box.
"Ziva, call Ducky. McGee, call Abby. We need them up here, now." Gibbs said quietly, breaking the silence of the room. Intrigued, Tony leaned over to look in the box. He immediately wished he hadn't.
OOOOO
"Ah, Jethro, how are you this morning?" Ducky asked as he stepped out of the lift and into the bullpen. Abby followed closely behind, having arrived in the other lift.
"What's happening, Gibbs?" She asked, seeing Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee and now Ducky crowded around Gibbs' desk.
Gibbs pointed to the box.
"Oh, my." Ducky said, looking closer.
"Is that what I think it is?" Abby said, wrinkling her nose.
"It is, my dear."
Pulling on a pair of latex gloves, Ducky reached into the box with one hand, pulling out a human toe.
"I can't tell you much, Jethro, but it was severed cleanly, indicating a smooth, very sharp object was used. No bruising or markings to indicate the toe was removed post-mortem."
"So for all we know, she could still be alive. Abby, I need you to run a DNA match, McGee, try and trace the parc-"
"Gibbs, did you say 'she'?" Ziva interrupted. "How do we know the toe belongs to a female?"
Ducky rotated the toe so Ziva could see it clearly. The nail was painted bright pink.
"Ah." Ziva said with a nod.
OOOOO
"Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs!" Abby spun on her chair excitedly as Gibbs entered the lab, a sheet of paper flying from her hand. She'd put a rush on the DNA test, but it had still taken 7 hours to find a match. By now it was dark outside. McGee had traced the package back to a local post office, but was unable to trace it any further. Abby had been unable to find any prints on the box, apart from those belonging to Gibbs' and Andrew the mail-boy. Tony had called all of the local hospitals and clinics checking for patients missing a big toe. Ziva had rung around to all of the autopsies, labs and independent M.E.'s within the DC area in search of a corpse missing a toe. They'd both come up with nothing.
"Whadda ya got, Abs?" Gibbs asked, leaning on her desk.
"It took many hours and many Caff-Pows – you owe me one, by the way, Gibbs," Abby said, still waving the paper excitedly, "but I got a DNA match on the toe."
She stood, smiling expectantly at Gibbs.
"And?"
"What, no 'Good job, Abs'?" Abby pouted.
"And?" Gibbs asked, growing impatient.
Abby sighed. "Fine, spoil my fun. I went through just about all of the databases in the system, and I finally got a hit on the blood donors registry. The toe belongs to a Miss Alexandra Henridge."
OOOOO
Tony sat up suddenly in his chair. "Say that again name again, boss?"
"Alexandra Henridge. What, are ya deaf, DiNozzo?"
"I've got the address, Gibbs" McGee said, scribbling it down on his notepad. He ripped off the page, handing it to Gibbs.
Gibbs took it, grabbing the keys out of his top drawer and tossing them to Ziva.
"Gas the truck."
Tony leaned over to look at the note, frowning.
"101 Albert Street. That's Lexi." He muttered.
"DiNozzo? You planning on joining us?" Gibbs raised his eyebrows at his paling senior field agent.
"Lexi Henridge. She's my girlfriend, boss."
OOOOO
Gibbs glanced over at Tony. He was uncharacteristically quiet, sitting silently in the far side of the truck, swaying with the motion of the vehicle as Ziva swerved and cut across the lanes of traffic. Tony held his phone in this hands, glancing down at it every few moments as if willing it to ring. Gibbs frowned. Tony had already called four times, each time going straight to the answering machine.
"Tell me again, Tony." His voice was gentle. It unnerved Tony.
"Lexi's a flight attendant. She works six days on, three days off."
Gibbs nodded. He knew all of this. In fact he felt like he already knew Alexandra, the way Tony spoke about her all of the time. Quite possibly the longest relationship Tony had ever had, at least since he'd been working at NCIS, although he'd never told them her name. Three months together and still going strong. Gibbs glanced across at Tony again. This girl must be special. Tony didn't hang on to any girl for more than two weeks unless he had genuine feelings for her.
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"A week ago, before she left for her shift. She got back yesterday, we were supposed to have dinner tonight."
"And when did you last speak with her?"
"Last night." Tony said without needing to think. They called each other every night.
The car stopped, and Tony looked out of the window as if he just realized the truck was moving.
"Lexi's apartment." He said to himself, climbing out of the truck and pulling on his NCIS jacket.
Gibbs lead the way, barging into the lobby. He barreled past the guard on the way to the lift, a flash of his NCIS badge earning a nod of the guard's head as he stood back to allow them through.
"Fourth floor, boss." Tony said grimly from the back of the elevator. His fingers gripped the handle of his gun as he watched the numbers light up above the door of the elevator.
She's not dead. She's not dead. It was a mantra, repeating itself inside his head. She couldn't be dead. He couldn't even think about it, Lexi was so full of life, so feisty. It didn't make any sense. Why would anybody hurt her. And why would they cut off her toe, sending it to NCIS without so much as a note.
It was a message to him, he knew it. It had to be, somebody out to hurt him who decided to do it the coward's way and target the person he loved. Tony's train of thought skidded to a halt. He loved her, he really did. And he didn't even want to think about losing her.
The elevator pinged, indicating that they'd arrived. Tony led the way down the hallway. He knew it well, even after only three months. Between his work hours and her flight schedule, they barely had any time to spend together, but when they did have time, they spent it well.
Tony stopped suddenly in front of a door, 414. Gibbs stepped in front of him, banging on the door with his fist.
"NCIS, Federal Agents." Gibbs called, trying to look through the peephole.
No answer.
"Allow me," Ziva said, taking a pin out of her hair. Her hands twiddled around the lock for the briefest of seconds and the door popped open. Ziva stood back, satisfied. Tony pushed past her, his gun held at the ready. Gibbs followed, sweeping the rooms of the apartment.
"Clear." Tony called from the bedroom.
"Clear." Gibbs said, looking around the kitchen. The apartment was empty. Tony came out, looking around the apartment in dismay.
"Mail's on the table, so she definitely came home yesterday." McGee pointed out, looking around the living room.
Tony nodded. He knew that, he'd spoken to her last night, when he'd been stuck late at work.
"Ziva, McGee, check with the neighbours. See the last time they saw or spoke to her and ask if they heard anything unusual over the past 24 hours." Gibbs ordered, flicking through the stack of mail. Ziva nodded, leaving the room with McGee.
"DiNozzo, what time did you call her yesterday?"
"2100 hours, boss." Tony said, hands deep in his pockets.
"She have any enemies? Ex-boyfriends, anyone with a grudge?"
Tony shook his head. "Not Lexi. I never met a person who didn't like her. She's still friends with nearly all of her ex's."
"What about you? Pissed any people off lately?" Gibbs asked, opening the fridge.
Tony snorted. "Are you serious, boss? I can think of about four people in the past two days."
"Only four? I can think of double that, DiNozzo. What about previous cases. Any crims you put away been released recently?"
Tony thought. "I'm not sure boss. I don't really make a habit of checking."
"You should. Look into it as soon as we get back to base." Gibbs was about to say more but was interrupted by Tony's cell phone ringing.
Tony pulled the phone out of his pocket, checking the caller I.D. He frowned.
"Its unlisted." He flipped open the phone.
"DiNozzo."
"Tony?" A timid, very familiar voice. He could hear the fear.
"Lexi? Is that you? Are you okay? Where are you?"
"I-I don't know. They just grabbed me on the street this morning. They… I don't…" Lexi's voice was drowned out by her sobs.
"Lexi, stay with me. I'm gonna find you, ya hear me?" Tony said, his heart pounding.
"Tony, I lo-" The phone cut out. Tony held it up to his ear a second longer before lowering it. He stared blankly at it.
"Tony?" Gibbs said, stepping closer.
"They've got her. Some bastard's got her." Tony felt the anger rising. The thought of somebody hurting Lexi, somebody touching her, somebody cutting off her toe. He wanted to throw the phone against the wall, wanted to smash it into a million little pieces. His fingers clenched tighter around the phone, but he felt Gibbs hand softly touch his arm.
"Don't. Abby's gotta trace the call location."
Tony nodded. Gibbs was right.
"We'll find her, DiNozzo. We'll get her back. At least now we know she's alive."
Tony nodded again, relinquishing his grip on the phone and putting it back in his pocket. He was going to get her back. And somebody was going to pay.
TBC