Hello folks.
Warnings: this will be a dark story. The team will face some tough times. Kidnap, assault, torture, rape, shootings, murder, maybe a happy ending...
Disclaimer: I'm only going to do this once! We all know it's not mine! If it was I wouldn't be writing on here now would I?
This story is set straight after the opener of season 8!
Broken Souls
Chapter 1
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was soaked to the bone. It had been raining for well over three hours now, and was showing no signs of stopping. The drains were starting to block with the volume of leaves and grime being washed from the streets in the constant downpour. He watched his three agents darting around the crime scene before him collecting their evidence, snapping photos and taking measurements as quickly as they could so as to take shelter from the never ending rain.
"Boss," Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo jogged to his side. "I got all the measurements." Gibbs turned to him, hiding his amusement at his agent's obvious want to retreat to the warmth and dryness of the car.
Tony took note of the slightly raised eyebrows and expectant look. "So...now I'll go help McGee with the search." He turned, slightly deflated, and headed back to the body.
Gibbs looked at the victim's battered face. It was barely recognizable from the picture on the ID card they had found in his wallet. Lance Corporal Patrick Ashbury would be fifth badly beaten body in autopsy this month.
Ziva David, now a fully-fledged NCIS Special Agent after recently becoming a US citizen, finished questioning her witness. She headed towards Gibbs, leaping over a rather large puddle in the process. Gibbs couldn't help but give a small smile at her agility.
"What do you got?" Gibbs asked her as he lifted his coffee cup and took a sip.
"Our victim entered the bar at around 2130; he ordered a beer and seated himself at the far end of the bar away from the other patrons. He did not talk to anyone but the waitress said that he kept looking at his watch and checking his cell. She said that it looked as though he were waiting for a call."
"How'd he end up out here?"
"The waitress did not see him leave, but McGee checked the call log and our victim did receive a call at
2210."
"How long between the call and him being found?" Gibbs drained the last of his coffee, folded the cup and slipped it into his pocket to recycle later.
"The waitress says she put out the trash at 2300 exactly. She does it at the same time every night." Ziva flipped the wet notebook closed and turned in time to see Tony stumble backwards over a trash can lid. He fell to the ground, backside first, into a rather large puddle. His face twisted as the rain water soaked through the seat of his pants to his underwear.
"Damn it, Probie." As he climbed to his feet gingerly, his wet trousers clinging to his butt, Tony kicked the trash can lid back towards the junior agent who was elbow deep in the garbage.
"Sorry, Tony." Timothy McGee held in his snigger but could not hide his amusement. "Everything's bagged and tagged, Boss." He called to Gibbs.
"All yours, Duck." Gibbs turned to Doctor Donald Mallard.
"Most kind, Jethro." He and his assistant, Jimmy Palmer, wheeled the gurney under the crime scene tape and over to the victim. "Anthony, I have a spare suit in the van if you would like to change?"
"I'm good, Ducky." Tony replied quickly. "But thanks for the offer." Tony remember all too well the embarrassment of having to wear the medical examiners spare jumpsuit the last time he had been soaked on a crime scene. He suppressed a shudder at the thought of the crotch that had nearly cut him in two.
"I think it is a good look on you, Tony." Ziva smirked.
"Why, thank you, Zee-vah!" Tony directed all his annoyance into the over pronunciation of her name. They all trudged back to the NCIS issue Dodge Charger. Ziva had already settled herself in the front passenger seat by the time the others reached the car. McGee opened the passenger door behind the driver and slid in.
"You better not make my seats wet, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he himself climbed into the driver's side. Tony, muttering to himself, took of his windbreaker and tied it around his waist. He grimaced as he sat down, the cold, wet fabric of his trousers pressing against his skin.
By the time they had arrived back at the Navy yard the rain had relented to a light drizzle. They exited the lift into the bullpen, Tony trailing behind heaving the three heavy boxes of evidence in his arms.
"Get those down to Abby." Gibbs said as he seated himself at his desk.
"Hey, Boss, you think I could go dry out?" Tony asked him hopefully. He could feel his still damp underwear clinging to his backside. Gibbs gave him a look of pure amusement before nodding at his senior agent, giving him the go ahead to change. "Thanks, Boss." He dropped the evidence boxes unceremoniously onto his desk and turned, narrowly avoiding knocking over Tim on his way to dry clothes.
"I shall look at Lance Corporal Ashbury's history and service record." Ziva announced as took a seat at her desk.
"And I'll access his phone and bank records." McGee added as he proceeded to tap away on his keyboard.
Gibbs shut the top draw of his desk after checking his service weapon and badge, before he looked up and noticed that Tony had left the boxes of evidence on his desk. Sighing, he headed back round his desk and retrieved the boxes and headed towards the elevator. Juggling the heavy boxes in his arms he used a knuckle to push the call button. When the car arrived and the doors opened he stepped in and rested the boxes on the handrail along the walls. The doors opened again seconds later and he was hit by a wall of noise and a large grin.
"Can I help?" Abby offered, gesturing to the boxes. Before Gibbs could tell her that he could manage just fine she whipped the top box away and headed back to her lab. Gibbs, relieved of some of the weight he was carrying followed suit. Abby had already deposited her box on the metal work top and watched as Gibbs walked through the threshold of the lab, limping slightly. "Knee bothering you again? I have a couple of those adhesive heat pads left if you want one."
Gibbs gave her a winning smile. He was never one to show his emotions or discomfort, but Abby knew him too well. A few months earlier he had jarred his old knee injury taking down a suspect. Ducky had told him he had done no further damage and Abby had been quick to mother him, supplying him with pain killers and heat pads to help with the bruising. She had stopped by his house later that evening with a large tub of ice cream, coffee flavored, which she explained was, in her books, the most effective pain killer. He had indulged her by trying a few mouthfuls before leaving her to finish the tub whilst she watched him work on the boat in the basement. He had prescribed himself a large measure of bourbon, his personal favorite pain killer.
"I think I'll survive, Abbs." Gibbs affirmed, quickly signing the chain of evidence before handing the papers to her. Abby gave him a knowing look as she flipped the lid of the first box of evidence. Gibbs retreated out of the door before she could begin to badger him further, heading back to the bullpen.
As he strode out of the elevator he saw Tony lounging in his chair with his feet propped upon the desk, a satisfied smile on his face. "You comfortable, DiNozzo?" He inquired of Tony with his usual note of sarcasm. Tony shot straight up in his chair, his feet falling to the floor with a dull thud and started typing furiously at his keyboard.
"Yes, Boss..." He faltered at the look the leading agent gave him. "I mean..."
"What do we know about our victim?" Gibbs asked of his team, cutting off his senior agent.
"Well, Lance Corporal Patrick Ashbury was stationed at Quantico; he served as the master at arms on the base. Currently on leave he wasn't scheduled to return until this Friday." McGee pulled the Corporals service picture and record up onto the plasma screen. "He has an exemplary record; his CO says he's the perfect recruit. Never absent, never late."
"Any problems in the brig?" Gibbs returned as he looked at the display on the plasma.
"None that I can see from his service record and his CO didn't mention any." McGee replied. Gibbs was silent for a moment, staring at the man's picture. The team noticed the cogs turning and waited each unaware that they were holding their breath slightly.
"McGee, the other victims, the beatings, put 'em up." He raised his chin slightly indicating the plasma screen.
"Think they're linked, Boss?" Tony questioned, rising from his chair and moving to stand beside his mentor, as McGee typed the command into his computer and four faces popped up on the screen joining Ashbury's. Gibbs remained silent, staring intently at the men's faces, his eyes slightly narrowed.
"They're all enlisted." McGee pointed out.
"Yeah, but different forces, three Marine, two Navy." Tony voiced.
"They were all beaten to death, very messy in my opinion, I would have simply..."
"Find out if any of them knew each other," Gibbs cut off the end of Ziva's sentence as he retreated round his desk and retrieved his gun and badge from his desk draw and clipped them to his belt. "And if there are any similarities in their deaths." He stalked out of the bullpen and back into the elevator. To the team there was no doubt where he was headed.
Forty minutes later Gibbs strode through the door of Abby's lab, holding his hand behind his back. He stealthily stepped up behind her and whispered in her ear. "You got anything for me, Abbs?" Abby gave a small start and turned to find herself almost nose to nose with the lead agent.
"Depends." She squinted at him. "Do you have something for me?" She cocked an eyebrow at him, cheekily. Smiling, he maneuvered his arm from behind him and presented Abby with her most desired beverage.
"And people say you don't know how to please women." Abby ginned at him, jokingly. Gibbs raised his eyebrows in warning; the smile on his face however gave away his amusement. Abby was the only member of the team who could get away with saying such things to him.
She slipped the straw of her Caf-Pow! between her dark painted lips and took a series of long sips of the ice cold, caffeinated beverage. After a few moments of silence broken only by her slurping, she looked up at the agent, his eyes locked on hers, his eyebrows raised.
"Evidence, Abbs?" He asked soft but pointedly.
"Oh, yeah." She offered apologetically, turning to the work bench behind her. "I don't really have much for you yet 'cos I just got started, but I can tell you that I have fiber and hair samples running, I'm just waiting to lift some prints," She pointed to the large Perspex box on the furthest wall of her lab. Inside
Gibbs could see a number of items lying under a cloud of gaseous superglue. "And I'm waiting on blood samples from Ducky to run by Major Mass Spec."
Gibbs picked up an evidence bag containing the latest victims Service ID card, looking again at the young man's face. Abby noted the pensive look etched on his face.
"What you thinking, Bossman?" She asked raising the straw of the Caf-Pow to her lips once more.
"Compare anything you get with the last four cases I brought you." He softly replaced the evidence bag back on the surface of the metal work bench. "See if there's anything hinky." He gave a gentle tug on one of her braids as he walked past his loyal lab rat.
"Anything for you, Gibbs."
The doors to autopsy emitted a soft hiss and they slid open, the airtight seal breaking, allowing Gibbs entrance into the morgue.
"Ah, Jethro, right on time, as usual." The medical examiner said glancing over his shoulder briefly before returning his eyes to the body occupying the slab in front of him.
Joining Ducky and Jimmy at the mortuary table, Gibbs watched his old friend's skilled hands as they removed the Lance Corporals stomach and placed it in the bowl of the scale hanging to his left. "Ten ounces exactly, Mr. Palmer." Jimmy made a note of the organs weight in the victim's autopsy report.
"What can you tell me, Duck?"
"Well," Doctor Mallard said as he stepped back from the autopsy table and crossed the room to the light boxes on the far wall. "The Corporal suffered an extremely server beating, but you already knew that."
He gestured towards the x-rays held under the clips. "A total of seven broken ribs, a fractured Ilium, Humorous, Radius, Ulna, Patella, Mandible. The cause of death was one of these." He pointed a bloody finger to an x-ray of the victims head, Gibbs followed the Doctors finger to a series of black, jagged cracks that were scattered across the skull. "Repeated blunt force trauma to the head causing depressed skull fractures. The broken bones were displaced inwards, nicking his vertebral artery." He turned back to Ashbury's body as he continued. "Death would have been relatively quick after the damning blow."
Gibbs let out a small sigh. The list of injuries and cause of death was the same for each of the other cases his team had been assigned.
"You, too noticed the similarities, I take it." The ME pondered after seeing the resigned look on Gibbs' face.
"Yeah, you find anything on the body, Duck?"
"I have a few samples for Abby here." He affirmed as he turned to the slab behind him. "Splinters of wood, similar in colour to those found on the other victims," He indicated the first evidence jar. "A swab of a substance I found on his right cheek," He motioned to the second jar. "And this." He held the last evidence jar aloft for Gibbs to look at. Inside was a small clear plastic bag which contained a fine white powder.
"Cocaine?" Gibbs queried.
"Most likely, but Abigail will confirm that for us." He placed the evidence jar back on the table. "I have a few more samples to collect then Mr. Palmer will deliver them upstairs."
Nodding his thanks at Ducky, Gibbs turned and headed back out of autopsy.
"Timmy!" Abby clunked around the partition dividing the bullpen to stand in front of McGee's desk.
"Where's Gibbs?"
"Uh...he's down in autopsy." Tim told her.
"I found something." She bounced on her heels several times. "You remember that piece of paper found in Corporal Lopez' pants pocket?"
"You were trying to raise the image that had been washed away." Tim recalled.
"Yeah." She placed an evidence bag on the desk in front of him. Inside was a rectangular slip of paper. At the top, in faded ink, was an intricate letter S with a snake coiled around its bends.
"It's a credit card receipt." McGee stated, looking at the print below the emblem.
"Yup." Abby said happily. "And it links to all the other victims." She placed a further four evidence bags next to the first. Each one held a receipt from the same place. "The dates on the receipts each tally with the DODs."
"They all visited the same place on the night's they died." Tony chipped in. He and Ziva had risen from their desks and moved to stand either side of Abby.
"Which was?" They were all startled by Gibbs' sudden appearance behind them. Abby turned to face her leader.
"A gentleman's club on K Street Northwest. Club Skins."
