DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS NOR DO I OWN ALEX RIDER. WHY? BECAUSE I AM SIMPLY A LOWLY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WITH A FUTURE THAT PROBABLY DOESN'T INCLUDE WRITING FOR PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES.
PREVIOUSLY ON NCIS (haha, my little joke that probably no one understands, so why am I typing this?):
The team is assigned a case involving a beaten and shot Gunnery Sergeant Matthew Wilson. Ziva receives a call from Alex, who is wounded (stabbed by the same man who killed Wilson). She brings Alex back to NCIS headquarters, where Ducky patches him up. A composite sketch is drawn up, but it doesn't match anyone. Another lead leads the team to the Marine's ex-wife, Juliet Roberts, who reveals that her boyfriend, Boris Lynch, was the one to send the threatening emails to Wilson.
EVERYBODY DIES
II
"Convenient," Ziva said as she entered the observation room once again, "he lives directly across from Wilson."
"Looks a little like the sketch too," McGee held up the drawing, comparing it to the real Boris Lynch.
"Nah," Tony tilted his head, "his nose is way too big."
The door opened and Gibbs strolled in, looking as confident as ever.
"His glare is on point today," Tony whispered loudly.
Ziva looked at him oddly, "It is his glare, is it not?"
Gibbs tossed the folder onto the table, not bothering to sit, "Where were you today at around nine?"
The man at the interrogation table didn't look like he was easily intimidated. He had long, greasy hair and tattoos up his arms. A scruffy beard completed his look.
"Now why would Juliet Roberts date a guy like him?" Tony wondered aloud.
"I was home," Lynch ground out, "like I am every Saturday morning."
"No alibi?" Gibbs leaned on the table, looming over Lynch.
The man hesitated before answering, "No."
The hesitation was enough for Gibbs, who could pick up a lie a mile away, "Are you sure about that?"
Lynch hesitated again.
"I asked you a question!" Gibbs hit the table, suddenly shouting in the man's ear.
"Okay!" Lynch took a hand and ran it through his greasy hair, agitated, "I was with another woman! Andrea Sullivan. You can check with her."
"I will," Gibbs growled, backing away from the man.
In the interrogation room, McGee went to work.
He turned his attention onto the folders and what the folders held. He spread out the pictures of the emails, "Care to explain these?"
Lynch took one look at the emails before spilling, "They weren't real threats! I just wanted to scare Wilson off, that's all."
Gibbs stared at the man for a few minutes, his eyes piercing Lynch's own.
"Oh, I love this part," Tony grinned, rubbing his hands together.
Ziva crossed her arms, "As do I."
"You live across the street from Wilson. Did you ever get into any fights?"
Lynch shook his head fervently, "No, no. Hell, he didn't even know where I lived. I always had my eye on the bastard, though. Videotaped his every move."
"Alibi checks out," McGee told Ziva and Tony. "He's telling the truth. Kind of. There were two other women there."
"Disgusting," Ziva made a face.
"We'll need those tapes," Gibbs said, standing up straight.
"Yeah, yeah," Lynch looked nervous, "Listen, you won't tell Juliet about..."
Gibbs ignored his statement and walked out.
EVERYBODY*DIES
"Ziva… I'm so bored!" Alex whined over the phone. He was in one of the conference rooms, a guard outside his door after spending the night at Ziva's house.
"Sorry, Alex," Ziva said into the speaker as she watched the videotapes on the plasma, "Just a precaution. Besides, you never know when we might need you again."
"Well, hurry up and catch the guy, will you?" Alex moaned, "I'm supposed to go back to the UK tomorrow."
Ziva snorted and hung up.
"What do we got?" Gibbs strolled in, coffee in hand.
"Lynch was telling the truth, boss," McGee offered, "The video is timestamped and at the time of the murder you can hear..." He didn't finish the sentence. Ziva made a face.
"We can't get a good look at the killer's face, but we see how Wilson was killed," Tony supplied. "Poor guy. He was beaten up for at least half an hour. Then beaten some more after he was down."
"Fast forward the tape," Gibbs ordered.
McGee obliged, typing in something quickly.
"Stop!" Ziva pointed at the plasma, her eyes fixed on another figure that had appeared, "Who is that?"
It was the back of someone's head.
"Fast forward more."
Tony came to stand next to Ziva, crossing his arms and glaring at the screen.
"Stop!" Ziva said again, "Can you zoom in on his face?"
More typing. The image zoomed in and was digitally enhanced a moment later.
Fair hair and a pair of brown eyes. A decidedly handsome face of a twenty-ish year old man.
"Isn't that…?" McGee's question was met by stunned looks.
"Our witness," Gibbs finished, "DiNozzo. Interrogation room. Now!"
"Gotcha, boss," Tony was quick to leave. He evidently didn't want to be there when the man was angry.
Gibbs advanced on Ziva, his ice blue eyes blazing, "a friend, huh?"
"A friend," Ziva told herself quietly as Gibbs strode off, probably to talk to Abby. She sighed, "a friend..."
EVERYBODY*DIES
"We know you were at the scene, Rider!" Gibbs shouted, "You were with the killer and Wilson!"
The man didn't say anything, his eyes fixed on the mirror in front of him.
"I don't think I've ever seen the boss so angry," Tony commented.
Ziva didn't say anything, her arms crossed in a defiant gesture.
McGee wasn't in the room. He was with Abby, attempting to access Alex's phone and emails.
"What were you doing there?" Gibbs continued shouting. It had been nearly an hour and neither of the interrogation room's occupants had relented. "Tell me!"
Alex spoke up for the first time, his eyes still fixed on the mirror in front of him, "I would like my phone call now."
Gibbs slammed the table with his palms, before storming over to the door. Addressing those in the observation room, he snapped, "get him his damn phone call."
"You are right," Ziva said as Gibbs exited the room, "He is overly angry."
"Yeah… he's like Godzilla," Tony stroked his chin, ready to quote someone. Gibbs entered the room before he could, his face very dark. Tony wisely did not continue.
The three of them watched as a telephone was placed in the interrogation room.
Alex quickly reached for it, dialing a number that seemed to be too long.
"What is he doing…?" Gibbs asked, mainly to himself. He made his way closer to the one-sided mirror.
There was a moment of silence as Alex waited for the other person to pick up.
"Joe? It's Alex."
Pause.
"There's been a little… situation. I kind of need your help."
Another pause.
"Am not! And besides, I played by the rules this time."
A longer pause. The man in the room looked sheepishly at the table, "That was one time and no one got hurt."
Another pause.
"I'm at NCIS."
Alex grinned at something the man said.
"Okay. See ya, Joe."
Just as Alex hung up, Gibbs cell phone began ringing. The silver haired man looked down, frowning. He put his phone to speakerphone.
"Boss, we got something," McGee sounded excited.
Abby interrupted him, "We got into his phone! Gibbs, you should have seen the amount of protection he has on this thing! I had to cash in a few favors from-"
"Abby," Gibbs chastised, looking much more at ease.
"Right," Abby got back on track, "These numbers are way too long to be phone numbers, but it looks like they are. Alex called them a bunch of times over the past few days. They're untraceable, but he has them saved under weird names. Like, one is called 'Bank' and another is called 'Peppermint'. Those are the two that call the most."
"And?" Gibbs pressed on.
"And, Gibbs," Abby sounded pleased with herself, "I got into his texts. It looks like we've found ourselves a spy."
Gibbs paused before saying, "Thanks, Abs," and snapping close his phone.
He advanced on Ziva next, anger written plainly on his face, "When were you planning on telling me, Officer David?"
Ziva didn't back down. Instead, she met the man's glare evenly, "Spies are meant to be hidden. I could not give away his cover."
"Even while compromising our investigation?"
"Yes," she answered honestly, "I owe that man more than you will ever comprehend. He has saved my life more times than I can count."
The two had a staring contest for a long moment, where Tony backed away, not ready to feel the boss' wrath.
"After this case, David," Gibbs said softly, but very dangerously, "we will have a long talk on why I shouldn't send you back to Israel."
EVERYBODY*DIES
"Everything said here is off the record," Joe Byrne had sent in another field agent that Alex knew well. Agent Grant Fisher. Alex didn't particularly like Fisher, but then again, Alex didn't like many people.
"Off the record," Gibbs confirmed, not looking very happy about it.
"Agent Rider was on a very sensitive operation for a joint CIA-MI6 mission," Fisher said softly, as if someone would overhear them.
The cameras and microphones had all been turned off, and the only occupants in the room were Alex, Fisher, Gibbs, and Ziva.
Alex sighed, throwing his feet onto the table, "I was on an undercover mission with an organization called SCORPIA. They had previously been… dismantled, but a few months ago, the intelligence agencies got a warning that SCORPIA was forming here in D.C."
"A COBRA meeting was called, and it was decided that MI6 and CIA would cooperate in one of the largest covert operations ever recorded," Fisher continued, "We have around seventy field agents undercover in SCORPIA and countless more in the cyber unit working."
"The man who killed your Marine," Alex sounded dangerous, "is ex-CIA Mark Porras. I was assigned to be his partner in SCORPIA. Our third mission together was to interrogate Wilson, but the beating up thing was just Porras' idea of fun."
"Fun?" Gibbs didn't sound very happy with that.
"I decided that it was probably the best to act then. The idea was thatI'd interrogate and dispose of Porras, then frame Wilson for killing him. It was the perfect setup," Alex continued, "but as you saw, Porras stabbed me."
Ziva looked suitably annoyed, "Is Porras still alive?"
Alex shook his head, "No. I killed him and hid his body. Contacted SCORPIA too. They think I'm on the run from you guys. I said I'd get back to base in a week, once I finished dealing with you."
"Base?" Gibbs questioned.
"A big one just in this area," Fisher piped in, "We've been catching dozens of them, but most of them found a way to kill themselves before talking."
"And how can we help?"
Alex shook his head, "Just stay out of it. There's no need for you to get involved."
"Dammit, Rider! Tell me what I can do!" Gibbs sounded like he was interrogating Alex again.
Alex scoffed, heading to the door, Fisher close behind him, "Case closed, Gibbs. Take another one."
The two left, slamming the door shut behind them, leaving Ziva and Gibbs alone.
A/N: I know... too many line breaks... but like I said: I wrote it, so I'm gonna post it. Anyway, school is starting on the first of September for me, so it looks like I'm going to be pretty busy. ENJOY THIS WHILE IT LASTS.
-Alice x (for BTS, follow me on twitter at dalekchung)
