A/N: Well, I could say it's the long awaited sequel to A Rose By Any Other Name, but I don't know how many folks were actually waiting for it. It is the sequel though! I finally figured out a few storyline issues that I have been wrestling with. For those who don't know and wonder what is going on, you don't have to read A Rose By Any Other Name, but it wouldn't hurt. This is my Criminal Minds/NCIS cross-over universe. Rose took place right after "Demonology" for CM and is in the middle of Season 7 for NCIS, Ziva is back with the team but before the Pedro Hernandez issue took up a lot of their attention. In Rose, Emily consulted with NCIS and created a bond with that team, especially Gibbs. There was some interaction between Gibbs and Hotch with neither man coming away with a favorable impression of the other. This story takes place in Season 5 of Criminal Minds after Foyet (so yes, Haley is dead and Hotch is a single father) but the NCIS time track is about the same in that the Pedro Hernandez issue hasn't become an issue, i.e., Abby knows nothing about Gibbs involvement with Hernandez. This is a much darker story than Rose, so be prepared for that. Now, on with the show!
"The perfect woman is a higher type of human than the perfect man, and also something much more rare."
Friedrich Nietzsche
It was a cold night that the lack of moon and starlight seemed to make all the chillier. It was a night where even the regular nocturnal scavengers decided to remain in their hidden nests and dens. The cold seemed to have frozen the city in a dark crystal, the city holding its breath waiting for something to occur. And when there was movement, a flicker, it shattered the brittle stillness of the winter air into many shards of cutting glass.
Had anyone or thing been around to see it, they would not have been able to discern if it was a man or a woman or to the more fanciful, if the dark figure was even human. It was an indistinct blob that appeared to have a large humped back and a strange gait. The shadow moved awkwardly, a labored walk as it shuffled towards the dense vegetation that lined the pathway. It paused and then with a soft grunt, it unburdened itself of the object on its shoulder. The dark blanket unfurled and a startling flash of white appeared from within the woolen folds. Leaves and small twigs crackled as the white object tumbled over several times before settling into a nest of vines and low bushes at the bottom of the slope it had just rolled down.
The shadow observed its work for a moment and then, moving much more freely than it had a minute before, melted back into the cold dark.
The night was still once more.
The older man carried himself like a former military man. Officer Kelsie Malone could see the gray hair peeking out from his dark cap that had the words NCIS emblazoned across it. The younger NCIS agents followed in this man's wake, practically trotting to keep pace with his fast walk. She knew who he was. She had heard some of the other cops at the station talking about him though she had never met him before. The description was generally, "Gibbs can be an asshole, but he's a straight shooter."
She straightened her back, unconsciously tugging on her jacket to make sure it looked neat. Stepping forward, she nodded at Agent Gibbs as he paused before her.
"Gibbs, NCIS," he snapped out in a crisp voice.
Malone nodded. "Agent Gibbs, I'm Officer Malone. I'm the one who called it in. If you would follow me."
"What have we got?" Gibbs asked as he walked beside the tall, lanky officer. His sharp eyes glanced around their surroundings. They were in Rock Creek Park on a cold winter morning. It was the type of chill that went through all the layers of clothing you had on to pierce your skin and settle deep into your bones. Gibbs, however, seemed impervious to the elements, moving as he always did with his brisk stride. Neither sleet nor rain nor snow, mere weather did not deter or slow Leroy Jethro Gibbs. It wouldn't dare.
"What makes you think this is a NCIS case?" Gibbs asked Malone as he peered down the embankment. He could just make out the body below.
"The victim is female, between the ages of 30 to 40. Tall, thin and brunette. She was only partially clothed, but what clothing she was wearing was part of a Navy uniform." Malone pointed to one side where part of the foliage was obviously broken and trampled upon. "A man was walking his dog this morning. Dog got away from him and ran into those bushes and found…" She gestured down the small slope off the side of the path.
He couldn't see her face. The body was face down but he could make out her general shape and coloring. The slender body, the pale skin and the dark hair struck a familiar chord with Gibbs. The woman's general appearance reminded him of Emily Prentiss.
Since the FBI profiler worked with him on a case, the two had become quite good friends. Gibbs knew she had also become close in varying degrees with the members of his team. Abby and Ducky adored Emily and he knew the feelings were returned. She wasn't as close with the agents on his team, but he knew she had had drinks with Ziva a few times, gone to the movies with DiNozzo and had attended several book fairs with McGee.
Gibbs himself had made it a point to try to have dinner with Emily at least once a month, sometimes more frequently. He had helped her out with a few minor home repairs, especially when she moved into her new apartment. For her birthday he had built her a small table for a corner in her living room when she complained about not being able to find anything suitable.
Yes, he and Emily Prentiss had become close. He wasn't sure why, but he had been drawn to the woman when he first met her and found herself to possess a warmth, a compassion and a sensitivity rarely found in the violent profession she had chosen. When he told her he considered her family, he had meant it and he had kept her close like he did all his family members, maybe even closer. While she had proven herself a capable, strong agent, Gibbs just couldn't shake the feeling that there were times his powerful Emily could very vulnerable and fragile.
Gibbs shook his head. This woman obviously wasn't Emily. But just like he couldn't help but sometimes see bits of Kelly in little girls or Shannon in redheads, he sometimes saw Emily in victims who bore a passing resemblance to her. It might be because it was her job to hunt down the monsters who would do such things and a part of Gibbs worried that one day, a monster might catch her.
"DiNozzo, McGee! With me. Ziva! Talk to the dog walker!" Gibbs didn't bother to see if his orders would be followed, so well trained were his team. Carefully, he made his way down the slope, taking an alternative path to avoid disturbing any potential evidence. He made his way to the body and knelt down. A moment later, McGee and DiNozzo joined him.
"DiNozzo, photos." A voice from the path above called out and Gibbs looked up. Dr. Donald Mallard and his assistant, Jimmy Palmer waved at him. With a head tilt, Gibbs indicated the path they should take to get down to the body. A minute later, the Medical Examiner and young man were with the NCIS men.
"Good morning, gentlemen," Ducky murmured as he knelt down beside the body.
"Nothing good about this," Gibbs responded in a grim tone.
"No. You're completely right. There's nothing good about this situation," Ducky agreed. He took the liver thermometer Palmer handed him and took his reading. After his initial examination he nodded at McGee. "Go ahead, Timothy. Use that fingerprint identifier gadget of yours."
The young agent knelt down and gently picked up one of the victim's hands. He took her index finger and held it to the screen of a small device he pulled from his jacket pocket. The machine beep quietly, acknowledging that it had taken a successful scan of her fingerprint and began to run through the entire database of active and inactive military personnel.
DiNozzo continued to snap photos. Ducky and Palmer examined the body. Gibbs examined their surroundings, looking for any clue the killer might have left. McGee's device let out a definitive beep indicating a match had been found.
"Commander Laura Hill," McGee reported. "She was assigned to the State Department."
"Gibbs!"
All the men's head snapped to look up at the path where Ziva had called out the team leader's name. She stood there, clearly blocking two men's way. One was a muscular African American man. His companion was taller, but thin and gangly. The thin man looked no older than a college student and he looked like one with a messenger bag slung across his body.
Gibbs frowned, the men stirring a feeling of familiarity within him. Gibbs rose from his crouched position and made his way back up to the path where Ziva glared at the two newcomers, refusing to move at all.
"Who are you?" Gibbs barked out.
"Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid, FBI, Behavioral Analysis Unit," the dark skin man replied.
Morgan and Reid. Emily's teammates. Now he knew why they looked familiar. He had seen photos of both men in Emily's apartment.
"What's the BAU's interest in our case?"
"Our case," Morgan replied stiffly. "She's a victim of a serial killer we've been chasing. Metro was supposed to call us, but it looks like someone screwed up."
Gibbs glanced over at Malone who blushed and ducked her head. She had jumped the gun. She saw the Naval uniform dress shirt and immediately called it in as an NCIS case. She wasn't even aware that Metro had been working with the BAU. The communication in the department wasn't always the greatest.
"Just tell us what you have so far and we'll take it from here," Morgan continued.
Even on a good day Gibbs didn't like giving up a case to anyone when it involved military personnel. Handing over a case that he felt was already his was not in his DNA to do. His heels digging in, Gibbs gestured towards where Ducky was still examining the body. "My Medical Examiner, my case."
Morgan bristled. "Did you not hear me? This is already our case."
"How do you know it's the same killer?" Ziva interrupted.
"Female, in her 30s or 40s. Slender and brunette." Morgan recited.
"Your Medical Examine will probably discover that several holes have been drilled into her skull," Reid piped in. "We think the unsub was attempting to give her a lobotomy. There'll also be signs of repeated sexual assault."
Ziva made a sound that was between disgust and anger and came out in a feral growl. Gibbs had an equally disgusted look on his face, but it was marked with determination. If there was some animal out there doing this to women, he wasn't going to stand by and do nothing.
Morgan was getting frustrated. He knew exactly who this man was. He recognized Gibbs from the video conference they had last year when Emily was consulting with NCIS. He knew Prentiss had become good friends with the NCIS agents but the rest of the BAU had no reasons to interact with that particular agency. Until now.
"That is a Navy officer down there," Gibbs bit out sharply. "Which means she's one of mine. You can run your own investigation, but Commander Hill is our case."
Morgan's mouth opened, but before he could say anything, Gibbs had spun on his heel and walked away. Ziva smirked at the two men, continuing to block their path. For a moment, Derek considered simply walking through her, but a lifetime of training and lectures by his mother and an extended brigade of aunties taught him to show more respect for women. Besides, he couldn't risk tarnishing the BAU's reputation by engaging in a scuffle with another agency's officers at a crime scene. He would need to call out the bigger guns. He gestured for Reid to follow him.
"Are we just leaving?" the younger man asked his colleague as they walked back to their Yukon.
"No. I'm just calling in reinforcements." Morgan pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. After a few rings it was answered. "Hotch? We've got a problem."
