DISCLAIMER: Characters and situations borrowed from Dark Angel and NCIS. No profits made.
A/N: Five weeks after Max's "death" in the S1 episode, And Jesus Brought a Casserole.
Unless you've read Concurrent Jurisdiction, this one may take a bit of explanation: Tony DiNozzo (NCIS) is Logan's cousin, and still with NCIS in 2020. The cousins have always been close, even if they had been geographically distant from each other in the past several years. This story begins a few months after Tony came to Seattle due to the circumstances raised in Concurrent Jurisdiction. By the end of that story, we've learned that Tony knew about Lydecker and Manticore from a 2009 assignment for NCIS, and that he realized Max is an X-5, all of which he revealed to Logan. Also, by the time he left to return to DC, he had figured out that Logan is Eyes Only – but has not told anyone that he knows.
My sincere thanks to Mari83 who once again served as sounding board, sleep-deprived eager reader, cheerleader, and therapist. Thanks so much for once again easing my posting anxiety! Also thanks to those who maintain DarkAngelFan (dot) com and the episode transcripts there – so useful for "research!"
Designation? What Designation?
I.
It had all started with a phone message – or, rather, it was how Tony DiNozzo was pulled into events and back to Seattle. He'd been out in the field since very early that morning and when, close to midnight, he came back to NCIS, he discovered a phone message e-mailed from the central operator. He'd had a call from a woman named Cindy McEachin, who needed him to call as soon as possible, day or night. He wracked his brain but knew he didn't know the name – until he recognized her area code as Seattle's...
Cindy ... he realized immediately, with the location. Max's friend, Original Cindy ...
The fact that she was calling, rather than Logan or Max, raised a immediate, irrational fear in his gut...
He grabbed his cell phone, heading to the elevators and out the door as he dialed, both for some privacy and a sudden feeling of claustrophobic fear and helplessness that the District was so far away from Seattle...
"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line was uncertain, emotional. Maybe she was reacting to the phone number, too...
"Cindy – it's Tony DiNozzo. I got your message..."
"Oh, Tony..." her voice was now full of pain and emotion, "I'm sorry to call an' all, but I didn't know what else to do..."
The sound of it, coupled now with her words, made DiNozzo's blood run cold. He forced himself into the emotionlessness of his autopilot investigator mode and said evenly, "Cindy, it's okay, I want to help. What's happened?"
"Max ... " she started, and was silent for another moment before she continued. "Max is dead," she managed, as Tony felt the words cut through him, "an' Logan is torn up over it, he's getting worse by the day..."
Not injured, then, himself, Tony presumed for the moment, in a guilty, emotional rush of relief. "Tell me what happened, Cindy," he pressed, turning his collar up against the wind as he stood outside in the nighttime chill. Oh, but without Max...? Logan must be devastated...
"It's complicated," she hedged, "but Max was killed – shot – an' Logan has been like a zombie – no food for days, no sleep the first week, and then hell-bent on finding the people who killed her. He still ain't eatin,' he still ain't sleepin,' an' I know he ain't lookin' after himself like he should, all that goes on with a body that's been shot like his was. He's livin' on coffee and adrenaline and just don't care what happens to him, he's all about finding..." she hesitated, as if she suddenly realized she might be saying too much, "about finding who did this to her..."
Tony grimaced to himself, new threads of fear for his cousin tightening his chest – the threat of Manticore's cold willingness to exterminate anyone getting in their way ... and the threat of this latest pain and loss forcing Logan so far over the edge that he'd hunt Lydecker or die trying. "Manticore," he breathed. It wasn't a question...
Cindy paused, slightly, before responding, tentatively, "you know about them."
"Yeah, I do," he said, heavily. Logan, don't do this ... he closed his eyes slowly, sickened by the news.
"Then you know they're some serious motherfuckers and you know if Logan thinks he can go after 'em he's as crazy as he's lookin' these days. And he's starting to think that maybe Max isn't dead after all – here she dies in his arms, shot through the chest, and the man is starting to think she just walked it off and is in hiding, somewhere ... or worse..."
"Cindy, how long ago was Max shot?" Tony asked abruptly. Until that moment he had assumed it had just happened...
"Nine weeks yesterday..."
Nine weeks... Tony's gut took another hit to learn that he hadn't heard from Logan by now with such painful, tragic news. He'd have called if he was handling things okay, he knew...
"Tony, he ought to be gettin' on with things by now," Cindy's concerned voice pressed him, "at least the basics – not gettin' all crazy and more delusional every day."
"You're right." Tony started walking again, but now back inside the building, back to his desk. "Look, Cindy – I'm glad you called. I'm going to do whatever I can to wrap up a few things here and get out to Seattle at the very first chance I can – I hope it won't be more than a day or two. Can you keep an eye...?"
"Been doin' it – some of us from work – me, Sketchy, the other guys – we've been sort of taking turns dropping in on him, you know, checking in when we're out on runs in the area. Max would kick our asses if we didn't watch out for her boy..." The woman's strong voice suddenly quavered again, reminded of her loss.
"She would," DiNozzo agreed softly, "but thank you from me too, for looking out for him. I'll call you when I know how soon I can get there – we'll work something out." He ended the call and immediately went to work wrapping up loose ends, delegating assignments and cross-checking field comm lines before preparing, at 3:42 a.m., a formal leave request, filling in the appropriate "family emergency" information. He knew how Gibbs felt about family and knew that his rare request would be honored. Luckily his work was in between major assignments and could be carried by the senior agent on his team if he was away for a few days.
Running upstairs to Gibbs' office, he left the request form on his secretary's desk, with a note asking to see him as soon as he was available. All that accomplished, rather than going home for the night, he settled back in at his desk to wait for Gibbs, as he did, sending an e-mail to the FBI's SAC in Chicago to call in a favor and dialing up highly classified, supposedly encrypted files relating to Manticore that he'd managed to gather over time...
II.
DiNozzo walked down the corridor though Sea-Tac's security and out into the arrival area where he was surprised to see the woman he remembered as Original Cindy waiting there for him – with a tall, baby-faced policeman standing next to her. She looked relieved to see him, her recent loss still clear in her eyes.
"Hey, Cindy," Tony came close and, in the circumstances, gave her a hug, knowing she needed it, knowing it might fortify him. He pulled back to look at her, looking for some indication of what lay ahead. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah, sugah, a lot better with you here, to look out for Logan. The boy needs someone to get through to him, and you two bein' so close..."
Tony just nodded, and not feeling glib enough to say anything reassuring at the moment, nodded toward the officer. "Who's your friend?"
"Friend of a friend," she managed a wan smile, rueful embarrassment coloring her cheeks. "I wanted to come pick you up, but most of us common folk don't have ready access to wheels the way your cousin does. So ... I got desperate-- an' I called a mutual friend." She smiled a toward the officer, who held out a hand to Tony.
"Officer Jason Elco, sir. Detective Sung said to send his regrets that he couldn't come himself, and to tell you if you need anything at all while you're here in Seattle..."
Tony's face relaxed in appreciation, and he offered his hand in return. "Thank you, officer ... for the ride, and for bringing Original Cindy." Logan's little posse again, Tony realized. Thank God he has them all...
"My pleasure, sir..." the young cop tipped his head slightly, squeaky clean and eager to help out a federal agent. "Are we ready to go?"
Tony glanced down to Cindy, who nodded. "All set," Tony confirmed, adjusting his carry-on more comfortably on his shoulder as they set off through the airport. "I'll try to give Matt a call myself too, but tell him I appreciate him sparing you – and his invitation to call if needed."
"I was going off duty anyway, sir, glad to help." The cop seemed genuinely sympathetic. "The detective said you both might use a bit of help..."
Original Cindy snorted softly, trying to summon a bit of humor to lighten the mood. "I know that's right, when Original Cindy has to call the po-po for help..." she muttered, but her smile didn't last. It was just too hard, with all that had gone on. Tony's look to her was an understanding one.
"Not a bad idea." He encouraged, "Matt's come to the rescue before, as I understand it."
"That he has..." Cindy nodded... and fell silent.
They both did. The silence was awkward, but it was even more awkward to discuss what had happened with the officer in the car with them. Cindy had already filled Tony in on everything she knew when he'd called her back to say he was on his way; Logan was still mourning, shell-shocked; not eating, maybe compromising his health. He never called, never let me know that he'd lost Max, Tony worried again. He would have hoped that his cousin would call him with such news, even if he did tend to withdraw into himself at times like this, when he lost his parents, when he'd been shot ... yet their recent visits had brought the cousins closer than ever, and DiNozzo had hoped that his cousin would turn to him let him help, instead of shutting down...
He must not have said anything to Bennett or their Aunt Margo, either; Tony was certain that if Bennett knew, either from his mother or from Logan himself, he would have phoned. Cindy said that even the people at Jam Pony don't know about what happened, he reasoned, maybe because Manticore was involved? Why did Logan insist that Cindy not tell the others the truth – because of some safety or security concerns? Or because he was still holding some insane hope that Max wasn't really gone?
DiNozzo again sorted through the stunning events that he'd learned in the eighteen hours since Cindy had first called – from his own assault into government files using a combination of his security clearance and a talented hacker on the NCIS staff, he found that Manticore was still indeed alive and well and had developed not one but two facilities on the outskirts of Seattle in the past few months. One, apparently, had been breached and shut down very recently, an old silo at the municipal line. The other, about an hour outside of Seattle long on the books as a VA hospital, carried a good deal of recent activity relating to personnel changes, funding requirements – and security provisions.
That in itself would be enough to raise suspicions. But add to that the flurry of intel and additional security in the facilities over the past few months, all thrown into hyper-drive by the public outing of Manticore by an underground, cyber-vigilante based in Seattle called Eyes Only...
And now, as Tony headed back to Seattle with the bike messenger and a cop with whom she'd hitched a ride, Tony wondered if Cindy also knew, as he did, that his own cousin was Eyes Only. DiNozzo had figured it out on his own and had never even admitted to his cousin that he knew. Even as Logan skirted the edges of sanity he had managed to pull off an Eyes Only hack, telling the public about Project Manticore and what their very own government had been doing for the past two decades...
At least for now, Tony wouldn't get close to spilling the beans about Eyes Only, in case Cindy wasn't in that deep on all the facts. Either way, they were spinning their way across Seattle to see Logan, now on the 'enemies' list' of an awakened and deadly Manticore. Not for long, if I can help it, Tony vowed, because no matter whether this is outside the box or not, even if Gibbs fires me for going off on my own mission with unauthorized use of government resources – this has to be done. For Logan ... for the public, at large ... for all the living, breathing products of these demented experiments ... for Max...
To be continued.