Thanks for reading the prologue and progressing to the next chapter. Makes me feel special. Anyway, here's the required crap. I don't own NCIS and all this stuff. But I do own my character. Yadda yadda yadda. Now read on!
Chapter 1
The buzzing of Tony's nose plucker was driving as much a hole in Ziva's head as it probably was in Tony's nose. She looked up from her computer screen for the fiftieth time that morning to see Tony looking into the small pocket mirror in his hand and flaring his nostrils at it.
"Do you mind?" Ziva demanded, glaring at him.
"No, do you?" Tony didn't look up from his mirror.
"Yes, I do" Ziva replied indignantly, slamming her hand down on her keyboard, "It is distracting. Why must you clip your nose hair here?"
"My electricity has been cut off. Kinda didn't pay on time" Tony replied, finally turning off his nose trimmer and dumping it in his open drawer full of everything but the kitchen sink. He kicked it shut while he turned to face Ziva properly, "I blame the computers"
"It's not the computer's fault. It's always up-to-speed" McGee interjected as he walked in, holding three coffees, "Coffee, anyone?"
"Oh, yes, please" Ziva sighed in relief as McGee handed her a cup full of steaming cappuccino, "I was up to 10 last night and woke up at 5. A get-me-up is what I need"
"Pick-me-up, Ziva" Tony corrected her as McGee gave him his cup, "Thanks, McGee. Why are you so late?"
McGee shrugged as he walked past Tony's desk towards his own. Tony then turned his chair to face McGee's desk and watched him as he booted up his computer, "Well, are you going to share you with the class, McGeek?"
"It's really none of your business, Tony" McGee replied, not looking away from the computer screen.
"Ah. So it's either something embarrassing or something which you think isn't worth mentioning" Tony speculated, laying back casually in his chair, "Did you upgrade a level in World of Warcraft? Or were you spending all morning talking to your geek buddies on chat?"
McGee rolled his eyes, "For your information, Tony, I was late because I recieved a phone call from my publisher this morning"
"Ooh" Ziva put down her coffee and looked at McGee expectantly, "Go on, McGee, what did she say?"
McGee sounded solemn in his reply, "She told me that Rock Hollow is doing well. So well, in fact, they want an extract of the next novel in the next three weeks"
Ziva clapped her hands in glee, happily looking at McGee, "That's good news, isn't it, McGee?"
When McGee didn't reply straight away, the happiness in Ziva's manner dampened a little, "Isn't it?"
McGee sighed, "It would be... if it weren't for the fact that I'm suffering a bad case of writer's block"
Ziva's eyebrows narrowed, her face now puzzled, "Is that very painful?"
"Writer's block isn't a real medical condition, Ziva" Tony explained, still looking at McGee, "It's something that authors get when their imagination begins to stale, which is happening to McGee"
"It is not" McGee glared at Tony before looking over at Ziva, who was still sitting in confusion, "When an author cannot think of a story or think of a way for a story to continue, that is called writer's block. It's a mental, artistic thing"
Ziva went 'Oh' and nodded, a look of realisation dawning on her face while thinking about it.
"Writer's block. The enemy of the bestseller" Tony said as he stood up and walked around his desk, fixing up his jacket and tie as he does, "Many traumatising events can cause writer's block: betrayal, death, divorce. A perfect example, 'Secret Window'. Johnny Depp's character suffered writer's block after he discovered his wife was having an affair"
"How did he cure it?" Ziva asked, curious.
"Killed the wife and the lover"
They all froze and stood to attention as Gibbs entered the room. Their silver-haired no-nonsense boss, holding his regular cup of coffee, headed straight for his desk and grabbed his coat, "Let's go"
"Where to, boss?" Tony inquired as the team picked up their ever-ready bags and followed Gibbs to the elevator.
"Abandoned warehouse lot in Baltimore" Gibbs informed them as they entered the elevator, "Dead marine discovered hanging by two teenagers late last night"
"Hanging where?" Ziva asked, still a little confused by the previous conversation
"By his neck" Gibbs replied matter-of-factly as the elevator doors closed on them.
A crime scene was already set up as the team pulled up in their SVU out the front of Warehouse 35 around an hour later. The front of the warehouse was already taped off, with the local authorities surrounding the general warehouse area and warding off curious teenagers that obviously heard the story from their friends. Ziva eyed the gathering crowd as they headed up to the taped off scene.
"How come they find this so fascinating?" Ziva demanded.
"They're teenagers, Ziva. Their lives are full of school, sex, bullying and parties" Tony explained, waving at a group of cute girls who were giggling and giving him the one over, "Give them any chance for hormone-driven fun and they'll take it. What's more fun than finding out that your friends discovered a dead body?"
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked at him without turning around.
"On your six, boss" Tony replied as Ziva and Tony hurried after him. When they reached the tape, a short, stout man in a police officer's uniform approached them. He had a large, bushy moustache which reminded Tony strongly of Tom Selleck from Magnum P.I. He stood with the air of a pompous authoritarian who thought it was his God-given right to rule over people.
"NCIS?" he asked, wiggling his large bushy moustache in their direction.
Gibbs eyed him with his famous stare, replying dryly "Yes, sir"
"Constable Johnson. Your body men are already here, informed us that you'd be right behind them" the constable gestured behind him, moving slightly to reveal Ducky and young Palmer examining their victim, who was dangling 2 feet off the ground with a piece of rope around his neck.
"Thanks, constable. We'll take it from here" Gibbs didn't meet eye contact with him as the team ducked under the tape and headed towards the pair standing around the body. Palmer was fiddling with their tool bag while Ducky was walking around the body, searching for all signs of trauma to certify time of death. Tony and Ziva walked off to gather evidence and take photos of the area while McGee and Gibbs headed straight for Ducky.
"What do you have, Duck?" Gibbs asked, standing behind Ducky.
Ducky sighed, "Ah, Jethro, I'm afraid that you and your team may not be really required here. All the trauma we can find seems to be consistent with the hanging"
"Seems to be a clear-cut case of suicide" Palmer interjected, still fiddling with the lock of the tool kit.
Gibbs watched on silently as McGee pressed the dead man's thumb on the screen of his portable I.D device. A gift from the Coast Guard Investigative Service, McGee loves using it, even though it's main grim purpose was to identify the remains of dead marines. Suddenly, it emitted a beep, indicating that it had found a match.
"OK, boss, we got an I.D" McGee announced, reading from his I.D device, "His name was Lieutenant Kristopher Jones, Kristopher spelt with a K. Born 15th May 1973 and joined the Navy right out of university. Hmmm, that's funny"
"What is it?" Gibbs asked flatly.
"Lieutenant Jones wasn't a US marine" McGee informed them.
Tony flashed away on his camera, taking some of McGee to look intimidating, "So what is he? Federal agent? Undercover spy? Ooh, how about an undercover hitman?"
"Wrong on all counts, Tony" McGee replied, slightly irritated, shoving the camera out of his face, "He wasn't even a U.S citizen"
"Then where is he from?" Palmer asked, confused.
"Australian Navy Corps"
They all turned to see a new figure enter the scene and walk up to them. It was a girl, a young girl, only a teenager. She was small in stature, but was built from workouts. She wore black combat boots, black business pants with a band shirt and a thick black jacket. While she dressed for her age, she walked and stood like someone much older. Her strides were determined and confident. It was difficult for them to make out her face as it was hidden underneath a hood. McGee walked forward a step to confront her.
"Sorry, no civilians allowed here. I know this all looks exciting, but you really aren't allowed here" McGee explained politely.
"I'm no civilian" the girl replied sternly. Suddenly, her hand came up and ripped off her hood, revealing her face. She had bright-red long hair done up in a practical high ponytail. Her small oval face exerted an authority which would usually be on the face of a person many years older than her. The feature about her that sent shivers up McGee's body was her eyes: greyish-blue windows of steel, which looked like they could stare down a raging bull. They observed all the individuals in the scene with an objective, analytical gaze.
"Hey"
With the exception of the girl, who didn't even move, they all glanced by her to see Constable Johnson stride up to her. His moustache bristled at the fact she had gotten past his security and him, a clear violation of his authority.
"Miss, can you leave? This is a crime scene" the constable demanded.
The girl replied without turning around, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Really? I didn't see that. The bright yellow tape, officials in uniform and the dead body only hinted at it, but thank you for clearing up that dilemma, sir"
She rolled her eyes. She clearly didn't tolerate pompous fools, Tony thought as he grinned to himself. The constable walked up to her, his face now a light pink with humiliation, and twisted her around to face her.
"Now, see here, Miss-"
But he didn't get past it as she grabbed his arm and kicked him around, twisting it behind his back and putting her foot on his back, forcing him to kneel on the ground. Ziva, Gibbs and Tony hovered their hands over their guns, ready in case she does something drastic, but they really weren't too keen on defending him. The constable spluttered and groaned under her force.
"Listen, sir" the girl growled, "You touch me like that again, I swear, I'll snap your arm so fast you'd think you'd just had it chopped off. Got it?"
With that, she let go of him and threw him to the ground, leaving him there to rub circulation back into his arm and crack his back, while she turned back to the team. Tony felt the respect for this girl rise as she pulled out her wallet and flashed a badge at the NCIS team.
"My name's Junior Special Agent Skye Baxter, from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Australia" she explained, showing all of them the badge to establish its genuinity.
"But you look no more than 17" Ziva argued as she walked forward and took the badge from her, looking at it, "That's impossible"
"No, it's not. And I'm 16, but thanks for the flattery" Skye replied with fake happiness. Suddenly, she walked forward and grabbed the portable I.D device off McGee. Before he could protest, she pressed her thumbprint on the I.D device. After a couple of seconds, the device beeped and Skye handed the machine back to McGee. McGee stood and read it in shocked silence for a second, while Skye looked at him in bored expectation.
"So, you gonna read it out or stand there looking reminiscent of a guppy fish?" Skye asked, sounding slightly irritated at the silence.
McGee shook himself out of his shock and read out what was on the screen, "Name: Skye Jennifer Baxter. Rank: Junior Special Agent. Trained in martial arts, shooting, knifeswork and interrogation. Promoted to fieldwork in 2006"
"At 12?" Ziva was shocked as she went over the badge, trying to find some sign of it being fake.
Skye shrugged, "I'm a fast learner. You should know all about it, having worked with Mossad, Agent David"
Ziva stared at her as Skye took back her badge and pocketed it, "How-"
"I'll explain later. Now what have you learnt so far?"
They all watched after her, their expressions of shock and intrigue. All except Gibbs. He was shocked, of course, but he was too composed to show it. He just watched her with an expression of mild surprise and observed her movements as she moved around the body. He noticed her body stiffen as she saw the face of the dead marine and saw her eyes sadden as if she had come to terms with a fear.
Ducky was the first to come out of his silent stupor and began to explain it to her, "It seems like an open-shut case of suicide, Miss Baxter. Nothing much to investigate"
Tony cleared his throat and interjected, "His name was-
"Lieutenant Kristopher Jones. Born May 15th 1973" Skye interrupted, continuing on in a matter-of-fact tone, "Winner of numerous medals for services to his country. Saved a mate in Afghanistan, almost cost him his life and leg"
Gibbs raised an eyebrow, "And you know all this because?"
"He is the whole reason I travelled to the United States" Skye replied, pulled her jacket around her tighter, "Lieutenant Jones was on a mission from the Naval Service, some confidential bullshit, and he was supposed to check in 5 days ago. When he didn't respond after 3 days, they sent me to track him down. I sort of knew what to expect"
"You knew he was suicidal?" McGee asked, horrified.
Skye raised an eyebrow, "Suicidal? This is murder"
A small pause followed, broken by a cough by Palmer, before he said, "Didn't you hear Dr. Mallard, Miss Baxter? This-"
He was cut off by a steely glare from Skye, which cause him to gulp and shut up. When he backed down, Skye spoke, "I know what Dr. Mallard said, Mr. Palmer. Suicide? No. Never. Ridiculous"
Skye stood back a bit and pointed at the victim's face, "Have any of you bothered to take a look at our victim's face?"
They all followed Skye's finger to Lieutenant Jones' face, taking in his pale white face with his bright blue eyes buldging out of his skull.
Tony shrugged, "What about it?"
Skye rolled her eyes, "His eyes! I may be young, but I'm no fool, Agent DiNozzo. Suicide victims seem almost at peace when they die, regardless of how they die. A suicidal victim would welcome death like an old friend. Their eyes are closed, waiting for death to take them. Now tell me what's wrong with this 'suicide'?"
Ducky looked up at the dangling body and spoke slowly, "His eyes are open in horror and fear, maybe an essence of surprise like he was... taken from behind"
Gibbs looked upon the lieutenant's body with a platonic interest, "So the lieutenant was murdered"
Skye took her eyes off the bodyguard and looked at Gibbs, shoving her hands in her pockets, "Well, Agent Gibbs, this means that your team and I will be seeing a lot more of each other"
"What?" Tony raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"I was sent to find Lieutenant Jones. I found him dead. It's my duty to discover the cause of death and, if murdered, bring the murder to justice" Skye said flatly, looking directly at Gibbs while she is saying this, "If it means working with you, so be it. I have no issue with it. But I'm not going anywhere without the body of the lieutenant"
Gibbs paused for a minute, looking at her. Slowly he walked over to her, in a stride which would have intimidated the others, but not Skye. She stood tall, as tall as her small stature could allow, and faced him with a gaze which battled his for dominance. When he was right next to her, he stood over her easily. But Skye refused to back down.
"What if we have an issue with it?" Gibbs asked her in his soft but cold voice which would have scared his toughest opponents.
Skye glared right back at him, "Well, this oughta be fun for all of us"
Thanks for reading. Now that you've met Skye, I shall establish her character more. This'll be good.
P.S- I know NCIS is a purely American institution but- how do i put this politely- I don't care. Glad we got that straightened out.
Review pplz!
