Author's note: I'd been binge-watching NCIS for a while when The Everlark Games challenge was announced to be crossovers. I'd been considering this one for a bit and took this one as the sign that I needed to just dive right in. It got me third place in that challenge! It was definitely a fun one to write.
Much thanks to my bestie writingbutunpublished who helped me get this whipped into shape. She watches a lot of procedural crime dramas, so she helped me polish out a few of those finer details.
Happy reading!
Reasonable Doubt
It was a very slow day. Katniss and Gale had made a few routine stops, but mostly had driven the same route over and over. They stopped for lunch at a small delicatessen they ate at often. Gale's wife Madge begged that they keep their burger eating to a minimum and Katniss obliged a little more easily than Gale.
"Your turn to buy." He said as she parked the patrol car.
She sighed. "Fine."
The old woman behind the counter called a greeting when Katniss stepped through the door and started throwing together the order before Katniss even made it.
Katniss slid into the driver's side of the car just as her phone rang. Mumbling an apology to her partner, she handed over the bag of food and the drinks as she pulled it out of her pocket, "Hey, Little Duck! How's it going?"
"Oh, not bad." Prim said. "Just wanted to ask if you'd considered what we talked about."
Katniss eyed Gale before she asked "Is it even okay for us to work together?"
Prim sighed. "I've told you. We won't really be working together. I'm an ME, you'll be an agent. And even if that were the case, we could figure it all out."
Dispatch came over the radio and Katniss paused to listen as a voice called out an assault and kidnapping. "Sorry, sis, gotta go. Work beckons. Love you." She hung up the phone and headed to the address.
Gale called in that they were on their way, giving their information and getting a few more particulars.
She pulled into the driveway to find a woman standing just outside the front door with a phone to her ear. An ambulance pulled in right behind their squad car. The woman hung up and ran toward the EMTs as they removed the stretcher from the back, talking anxiously.
Katniss and Gale stepped out of her squad car and followed them inside.
"I got the woman. You find out the status of the victim." Katniss said, getting the woman's attention. "I'm Katniss Everdeen, Bethesda PD. Can you tell me what happened?"
The woman looked over her shoulder at the bloodied man the EMTs attended to, calling out his status and answering Gale's questions. "I came home from shopping. My husband was out. My son's gone."
"What's your name?" Katniss asked.
"Annie. Annie Odair. My husband is Finnick. Our son is Brendan." She twisted her hands as she continued to watch the EMTs load her husband.
"How old is your son?" Katniss asked as she jotted down notes.
"Seven." She followed the stretcher outside, snagging a picture off the front table. "We took these just a couple weeks ago."
Katniss took the photo. The husband was in a uniform. "Mrs. Odair, your husband's Navy?"
Annie nodded. "A lieutenant." She watched the EMTs anxiously.
Katniss wrote down some more notes. "Do you remember what your son was wearing?"
Annie watched the ambulance. "He usually wears character shirts. You know like Ninja Turtles and Batman. I don't remember what it was today. Jeans. Always jeans." She pointed to the ambulance. "Can I go with them or do I need to stay here?"
"You go with your husband." Katniss said kindly. "Gale, do you want to go with her? I'll stay here and follow the rest of this."
"Sure." He followed the woman into the ambulance. "I'll keep you posted, Catnip."
"Thanks, Gale." She took out her phone and dialed NCIS.
Peeta followed Haymitch and Johanna toward the house. It was already taped off and a police officer walked out to greet them. They all showed their badges. Haymitch introduced himself, "I'm Haymitch Abernathy." He pointed to the other two. "Johanna Mason and Peeta Mellark."
The woman reciprocated before she led them inside. "Katniss Everdeen, Bethesda PD." She said quickly.
"Everdeen?" Peeta asked. "Like Prim?"
Katniss nodded. "My sister. She's a big fan of yours."
Peeta blushed slightly. "Well, she knows her stuff, so we're a pretty big fan of hers."
Johanna gave Katniss an appreciative look and nudged Peeta. He shook his head quickly and stepped toward the middle of the room where there had been a slight struggle.
"What do we got?" Haymitch asked, kneeling over a blood pool.
Katniss quickly opened her notebook. "Annie Odair came home from shopping to find her husband Lieutenant Finnick Odair knocked out and their seven-year-old son Brendan gone. No note. No call yet. I sent my partner with her to the hospital to keep an eye on that end."
Haymitch nodded. "Jo, you get to the hospital. Peeta and I will work here."
"On it, Haymitch." She paused a moment to give Katniss one more appreciative look before she walked out.
Katniss, seeming not to notice Johanna's appraisal, asked Haymitch, "How can I help?"
Haymitch eyed her. "You put out the Amber Alert yet?"
"I did." Katniss said.
"Good." He turned to Peeta. "See what you can find and get it to Rue fast."
"Sure thing, Boss." Peeta took his kit to the spot of blood on the floor where Finnick had been found.
Haymitch turned back to Katniss. "What else do you know?"
"I talked to a neighbor who came over when we were putting up the tape." Katniss flipped a page in her notebook. "She said she saw a dark van driving slowly past the house a couple days ago. She said it looked weird, but they never caused any trouble, so she didn't call anyone. It had some sort of company written on the side, but she lost her glasses, so she couldn't read it. She saw it again today."
"No license plate then?" Haymitch asked, dejected.
"None." Katniss said, closing her notebook.
"You didn't talk to anyone else?" His tone was a little accusatory, but Katniss tried to shake it off.
"I was busy getting the scene secured and waiting for you to show up." Katniss said defensively. Her phone rang and she saw Gale's name. "Please excuse me, I need to take this. It's my partner." She walked away.
Peeta stood as she walked away and met Haymitch. "Looks like this baseball bat is the weapon of choice. I'll bag it."
Haymitch nodded. "Call Rue. See if anyone around here has a security system. Everdeen says a neighbor saw a dark van."
"So she with us, boss?" Peeta asked as he finished cataloguing the bat. His tone was casually curious.
"For now." Haymitch said shortly. "Take her with you to interview neighbors." He knelt down to examine the blood stain some more. "I'll finish up in here."
Peeta nodded. "Sure thing, boss." He walked out just as Katniss put her phone away. He asked, "Everything all right?"
"My partner says there's still no ransom call." She sighed. "And Mrs. Odair claims to have no idea who would do this."
Peeta asked, "And the status of the lieutenant?"
"Stable." She scrolled through the pictures of his wounds Gale sent. "He was hit once hard in the back of the head. A lot of force. And when he went down, it appears he hit a table or a wall."
Peeta shook his head. "I feel for the wife. Where do you put your worries? You kidnapped son or your injured husband?" He looked around. "Haymitch wants us to talk to the neighbors."
Katniss nodded. "On it." She pointed to the house on the left. "Mags Jacobs came over. She saw a van a couple days ago and again today. All the other houses are closed tight, but I've seen curtains moving around."
"Well, let's see if any of them talk." Peeta took the lead.
Most of them swore they didn't know anything and had completely missed the van. All of them had been home at the time, but came up with myriad excuses about not seeing or hearing the commotion until the ambulance arrived to take Finnick to the hospital. One more conversation with Mags gave them no new information.
"Someone has them scared." Katniss pointed out.
"Yeah." Peeta said. "But who?"
Katniss followed Peeta and Haymitch into the lab where a young woman clicked away at a computer. Catching a quick glance at her, she reminded Katniss a little of Prim, if not for the dark skin and hair. Was there some "type" they looked for in the science positions?
She held out her hand and introduced herself. "I'm Rue."
Katniss slipped her hand into the offered one and opened her mouth, but she was interrupted by an exclamation ay the door.
"Katniss!" Prim said happily from behind them.
Katniss turned. "Hi, Little Duck!" She wrapped her arms around her sister and then pulled away. "Sorry." Katniss said to the room as she composed herself.
"What do you have, Rue?" Haymitch asked the other woman, the original gruffness gone just for this young woman.
"The baseball bat is the assault weapon, but it wasn't the only one." Rue clicked around and pulled up an image.
Prim stepped forward. "That's a stab wound. I just got off the phone with the hospital and it's shallow. Maybe a small pocket knife. Was one recovered?"
"No." Haymitch said. "Still looking over the area."
Katniss asked, "Has anyone found a security camera or found out about that van?"
Rue shook her head. "All the houses have elaborate alarm systems, but no cameras."
Peeta sighed. "And no one's talking."
"Any prints on the bat?" Haymitch asked.
"We've isolated three sets of prints." Rue clicked around on the computer. "All three belonging to the family."
"How do you know that?" Katniss asked.
"Annie Odair is former Navy. She got out shortly after their son was born. Her prints as well as Lieutenant Odair's are on file. The other prints are a child's so that would rule out anyone else." Rue opened up another screen, a picture of Brendan Odair playing baseball. "And that's the same bat."
Katniss nodded.
"Keep looking." Haymitch ordered as his phone rang and he walked out of the room to answer.
"Little Duck?" Peeta asked Prim with a teasing smirk.
The ME smiled. "An old nickname from when we were kids. It just stuck."
Haymitch stepped back in the room. "Got a body for you, Ducky."
"Ducky?" Everyone asked.
Haymitch smiled and shrugged. "Blame it on your sister. Let's go."
Everyone but Rue followed Haymitch out the door.
A dark van sat on the side of the road, a logo for a cleaning company on the side. They got out and Peeta started taking pictures. "This must be the van the old woman saw."
"And all the other people didn't admit to seeing." Katniss said. She followed her sister inside and found a man with dark hair and a trim beard dead.
"ID says Seneca Crane." Katniss said as she went through his pockets. "No credit cards. Only cash."
"I have a knife, boss." Peeta said. It was on the ground just outside the van. He took several pictures before taking out an evidence bag.
"Get it to Rue for prints." Haymitch said. "What do you got for me, Ducky?"
Prim made a confused sound. "Time of death is about four hours ago." She looked up. "When did the call come in?"
"Three hours ago." Katniss said. "This isn't good."
Haymitch shook his head. "Not good at all. We need those prints. And I need to talk with the wife." He pointed. "Peeta, you stay here with Prim. Finish gathering evidence and help her get the body back to autopsy."
"And what about me?" Katniss asked.
"You're with me." Haymitch led the way back to the squad car and Katniss drove to the hospital.
Gale and Johanna walked over as Katniss and Haymitch got out of the elevator. Gale nodded a greeting to the superior agent and then turned to Katniss.
"Hey, Catnip." Gale said. "Still no word from the kidnappers and Mrs. Odair's starting to…" He looked over his shoulder.
Annie sat beside Finnick's bed with her hands tangled in her hair, rocking back and forth.
Johanna explained, "She's been like that for a while. They're trying to get someone up here for a psych consult."
"She's in no state to give an interview." Katniss pointed out.
Haymitch grumbled a string of curse words. "Someone needs to get her some help." He turned and jammed his thumb on the down button of the elevator. His phone rang and he put it to his ear. "What is it, Rue?" He turned and looked at Annie again.
She'd stopped her rocking and was now just sitting limply, staring off into the distance. Slowly, Finnick's arm reached out and touched her. She immediately snapped out of her trance and stood over him.
Gale called to the nurses, "Hey, he's waking up."
The nurses surged into the room and started taking vitals. Katniss stepped closer.
Haymitch hung up his phone. "The knife they found has Annie Odair's prints all over it."
Katniss turned her head sharply. "So we have to arrest her?"
"I'm afraid so." Haymitch said, no regret in his voice.
Katniss nodded. It was one of the hardest parts of her job.
Johanna pulled out her cuffs, a giddy look in her eye. "I'll do the honors."
Gale said, "I'll stay here a bit longer and see if I can get a statement from the lieutenant."
Johanna made the arrest and Katniss reluctantly followed the others out the door. This didn't feel right at all. Katniss knew when a person was faking and Annie Odair wasn't. She knew it in her gut.
Katniss stood with Peeta and Johanna on the other side of the mirror while Haymitch conducted the interview in the next room.
"She didn't do this." Katniss said with certainty.
"How do you know?" Peeta asked.
Katniss shrugged. "At the hospital, just before her husband woke up, she was on the verge of some sort of breakdown."
Johanna shook her head. "That doesn't mean anything. I've seen plenty of criminals with more convincing breakdowns."
Peeta typed on the computer inside the room. "There's a history of mental illness. Just before her son was born, she was hospitalized with a severe anxiety attack. She's medicated for it."
Johanna brought their attention back to the interview.
On the other side of the glass Annie said, "I take medication for my condition."
Haymitch nodded. "And did you take your medication today?"
"I missed it. I had to get my refill today." She closed her eyes and took several steadying breaths. "You have no idea how hard this is for me."
Haymitch let out a long breath and took a sip from a cup at his side. "So why would your fingerprints be all over a murder weapon when you swear you were at the pharmacy at the time of the murder?"
Her eyes popped open, the green almost like acid as she looked at him. "I don't know." Her voice was full of despair. "And you're wasting your time on me. You have to find my son and the men who hurt my husband."
Haymitch opened a folder and slid it in front of her. "So what are these?"
"What are they?" Katniss asked.
Peeta put his finger over his lips. "Watch and see."
Annie looked over the pictures Katniss couldn't see from so far away.
Annie sighed. "Finnick and I have a healthy sex life. None of the things we do are illegal or against the navy code of conduct. We checked." She snapped the folder shut. "You probably should look at Snow."
"Snow?" Haymitch looked over his shoulder and Peeta turned to the computer and started to type.
"Coriolanus Snow." Annie clarified. "He runs the network. I've seen him once or twice. He talks to Finnick a lot. Everyone likes Finnick. But my husband and I are a package deal. And it upsets a lot of people. Most of the time they roll with it, but they can be a little cruel when they don't want to deal with me. There was a fight the last party we attended. Finnick broke a guy's nose and a few priceless artifacts. That time someone wanted me and not him."
"So you think that would piss someone off enough to take your son?" Haymitch challenged.
"I don't know. I just need you to find my son." Annie said desperately. "That's all I know. Can I please go back to my husband?"
"Until we check out your story, you're staying put." Haymitch picked up the folders and left. He showed up in the other room just a few seconds later. "What have you found?"
Peeta sighed. "A lot of bad stuff, boss." Peeta pointed to the screen. The picture showed a scene of plush couches and chairs. "Snow runs all sorts of sex parties from the tame to the…not-so-tame." He clicked on a new picture of a very harsh looking S&M dungeon. "He's also into prostitution. Including…" He paused on a picture of girls who were barely of legal age.
Haymitch downed the contents of his cup and crushed it in his hand. "Get that bastard."
"I'm on it." Peeta said. "Shouldn't be too hard to find." He printed off an address. "He owns the whole building. Lives on the top three floors."
"Take Katniss and Jo with you." Haymitch said. "I need to talk to the director." He stepped out of the room.
Katniss asked, "What do we do about Mrs. Odair?"
"Let her stew." Johanna said.
Peeta sighed. "I'm with Katniss. I don't think she did this."
Johanna gave him a hard look. "Her prints are all over the knife."
"They could be planted." Peeta said. "Someone with this guy's reach has to know someone who could do that sort of thing."
Katniss stepped in. "We should go talk to this Snow guy."
The agents stared each other down another minute before they headed out of the room, Katniss on their heels. She listened as they chatted about the case.
Peeta had his phone out looking at something. "This Snow guy is really shady." He showed Johanna his phone. "And he's linked to a lot of recent arrests. So he must be getting cocky and sloppy."
Katniss piped up as they entered the elevator. "If what Annie Odair says is true, then maybe he's setting people up that upset him. Weeding out the people that wouldn't be loyal."
Johanna grinned. "That is very insightful." She moved closer. "Ever consider a career change?"
Peeta laughed. "You do know that you can't date her, Jo, right? You know Haymitch's rule."
Johanna gave Peeta a hard look. "Don't talk about Katniss like she's not here. And you don't know if she'd even be into it." She turned to Katniss with a seductive smile, "But I'd be into it if you were."
Katniss laughed awkwardly. "Um, I'm mostly straight."
"Mostly?" Johanna stepped closer. "I like the sound of that. Want to go for a drink sometime?"
Katniss struggled to find a response, but was saved when the elevator stopped.
Johanna laughed and practically skipped out of the elevator.
Peeta held Katniss back just outside the elevator. "Please don't mind Jo. She likes to see how far she can go to shock people."
Katniss chuckled. "I don't usually have people who ask me out on the job. Not seriously anyway. Was she being serious?"
Peeta shrugged. "Hard to tell sometimes." He took off after Johanna and Katniss jogged after him.
"He's big in the porn industry, apparently." Peeta had said from the passenger seat as they drove. He was still researching. "This guy has his finger in a ton of pies."
"You mean his dick?" Johanna asked. Katniss snorted from the back seat and Johanna looked over her shoulder. "Look at that, Peeta, I made her laugh."
They drove past a large building with a sign that read, "Snow Industries." Several girls, very scantily clad, hung out a window calling seductively to men in suits on the street while a cameraman filmed them from below. There was probably someone in the room with the girls, too.
"What do you think it will take to get in on that action?" Johanna asked as they walked up to the scene.
"The loss of your day job." Katniss mumbled.
Peeta gave her a smile as he fished his ID out of his pocket. He flashed it at the man behind the camera. "Very Special Agent Peeta Mellark, NCIS. This is my partner Johanna Mason. And this is Katniss Everdeen of Bethesda PD. Do you know where we can find your boss?"
The cameraman looked around and then pointed up. "On the third floor directing the ladies."
"Thanks." Peeta walked around him, looking over his shoulder as Johanna paused to hand over a card.
"Call me sometime." Johanna said with a grin and a wink.
They stepped into the building to find an empty lobby. A calm-looking secretary sat at a desk in the middle of the room. "How can I help you?"
Johanna flashed her badge and said, "We're looking for Snow."
Looking around cautiously, the woman reached underneath her desk and Katniss quickly pulled her gun.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Katniss said as she leveled her weapon on the woman.
She lifted both her hands up. "I was just about to let you into the back room. There's a special button to unlock it. He always uses the elevator only accessible by his special key. He hasn't come down all day." She slowly lowered her hand and pushed the button. They heard a soft click. "He's usually on the top floor."
"Thank you." Peeta said, walking around the desk.
The three made their way through the door. They located the elevator the receptionist had told them about.
Peeta nodded, "Katniss, you stay here and keep an eye on that elevator. Call if he comes down."
Katniss nodded and stayed put, her weapon at the ready.
Peeta's phone started ringing as he started up the stairs. He put it to his ear and said, "Hello, boss." A shocked look crossed his face and he nodded. "Okay, sure. We're on our way."
"What is it?" Johanna asked.
Peeta headed out the front door. "Someone dropped the kid off at the front gate of the Navy Yard. He had a note."
Katniss holstered her gun and followed. "What did it say?"
Peeta gave the secretary a card. "We'll be in touch." He hurried out. "Haymitch didn't say. Rue is analyzing it."
Katniss had to part from the NCIS agents to make it back to the hospital. Her superiors said they had to leave the rest of the investigation to the federal agents. Lieutenant Odair would be all right, as far as they could tell.
Gale slid into the passenger side of the car and smiled. "That was definitely one of the most boring days I've had in a long time."
Katniss smiled. "Sorry. My day was pretty exciting."
"So are you going to change your profession after all?" He asked, a little worry in his voice.
She shook her head. "Why would I give up spending my days with you?"
He chuckled. "Good." He looked out the window. "So Madge called me while I was sitting there staring at the guy in the bed."
"Oh? How is she?" Katniss turned into the police station.
"Great." Gale turned with a large smile on his face. "She said she thinks she's pregnant. She wants me to pick up one of those home tests after work."
"That's great, Gale." She said as she pulled out the log book to write down some information on their car. "I hope she is so you can stop stressing out about it."
He chuckled and stepped out of the car. "Do you ever want kids?"
She shrugged and led him into the building. "Never really thought about it."
They zoomed through the last hour of their shift filling out paperwork. It always hurt Katniss's pride a little when a job she took on had to be passed over to the federal agents. She wouldn't get to find out the ultimate outcome unless it made the news.
Katniss made her way to her apartment and started making supper just as someone started knocking. She usually ignored it at this hour, but something told her to answer. She looked through the peephole and saw Peeta, the NCIS agent, standing there.
She opened the door just a crack. "Hello, can I help you?"
He smiled, his blue eyes dancing. "I'm sorry to seem creepy. I asked Prim for your number and she gave me your address instead."
"Okay…" I'm going to kill her. She looked over her shoulder to the kitchen. "You want to come in a minute? I'm cooking supper."
"Oh, I won't keep you then. I just wanted to let you know that the kid is okay and we got the guy." He stepped back. "If you want, I can try to get you a copy of the report."
"Um…" She waved him in. "No, come in and tell me about it. Have you eaten yet?" What am I doing?
He followed uncertainly. "Not yet, but you don't need to share your meal."
"I can make it work." She had split a meal with even less more than once.
"So it turns out that Snow used a couple of his underlings to take the kid and then the other one, the one that died, was thinking about running." Peeta explained as he took a seat at the bar. "They planted Annie Odair's prints on the knife."
"Oh really? But you got him?" She flipped her steak. "And Mrs. Odair is free?"
He nodded. "Snow will probably get the guy out of it."
"And you can't pin any of it on Snow?"
He shook his head. "Nope."
Katniss sighed and checked her potatoes. "That sucks." She drained the water and took out her potato masher and went to work. "So what's next?"
Peeta shrugged. "Trial for the surviving kidnapper."
"And the boy's okay?" She asked.
"Not a scratch on him." He said. "And the latest news on Lieutenant Odair is that he will make a full recovery."
"Good." Katniss took down two plates from the cabinet and divided the steak and mashed potatoes among them. She pulled out a bag of lettuce from the fridge and poured it into a bowl. She slid it in front of Peeta along with a couple different dressings. "Do you want a glass of water?"
"That would be great." He took some of the salad onto his plate and poured some ranch dressing on top. "Thank you for sharing your meal."
She smiled. "You're welcome." She handed him a glass of water and sat down beside him. "I was mostly really curious about the outcome of the case."
His face fell and he hid it quickly by looking down at his plate. "This one was pretty easy. Even if we can't catch the real culprit."
Katniss asked, "Do you have any that weren't so easy?" She took a bite.
"Oh, plenty." Peeta grinned. "But that's for another day. I want to get to know you."
She smiled and shook her head. "This isn't a date."
"I never said it was." He grinned. "But we can call it a date if you want."
"I don't date." She took a sip of her water.
"And why is that?" He challenged.
She shrugged. "A lot of reasons."
They ate in silence for a while. Peeta broke it by asking, "Is it because of your job? Because it's dangerous?"
"A little bit, yeah." She said. "Did Prim say anything about our family?"
He nodded. "Your dad was killed on the job."
"Yeah." Katniss said. "It broke our mom. And I don't want to do that to anyone."
"I get it. I do. But you should know that your sister thinks the world of you. And respects what you do." Peeta leaned close. "And I can see you're good at your job."
"Thank you." She finished eating and stood quickly to put her plate in the dishwasher.
He followed her with his plate. "Thank you for supper." He headed toward the door.
She stopped him. "Will you keep an eye on my sister?"
He nodded. "We do have an opening so you can do that yourself."
She shook her head. "Thank you, but I like where I am. And if your boss isn't a fan of coworkers dating…"
He smiled and nodded. "Would you like to come to my place sometime so I can cook for you?"
She thought about it a moment and then nodded. "I'll call you."
"You don't have my number." He opened the door.
"I'll get it from Prim." She assured him.
He chuckled and stepped out the door. "Sounds good."
She closed the door after him and sent a text to her sister. I'm going to strangle you! Why would you give him my address?!
Prim's response came quickly. Lol. Was it the worst thing ever? He's such a sweet guy.
Katniss sighed as she sat down on the couch. He is sweet. And I'm going to need his number so I can call him.
She could practically hear her sister squeal in the moment she sent the message. Katniss still wasn't ready, but she knew if she didn't take this step, she never would. And she'd liked the time she'd spent with Peeta.