"Some girl came in last night, punched me straight in the eye," Tony responded, gently touching the swollen skin to check how bad the damage was.
Ziva bit her lip, forcing her face to stay serious; "A girl?" She questioned, a smile creeping its way onto her lips.
"Hey! She was a very strong girl!" DiNozzo exclaimed, his pitch rising as he defended himself. Whoever this girl was, she wasn't normal. No dainty woman like that blonde could punch like that. Whether that was simply the denial taking over his mind was another question.
Ziva turned her head; a smile still plastered on her face, and found Ducky wandering over to them from down the stairs. He didn't say anything, or look up. His face was pale, and from the looks of things, he had been up all night. The poor man seemed extremely worried about something.
"Ducky?" Ziva questioned, glancing over at the doctor, she knew something was wrong. Ducky never behaved like this, he was always smiling; he always greeted the team members. Never did he say nothing.
"Oh, Tony, Ziva, good morning," He stated in greeting, the tone of his voice indicating that he had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed them, and yet his eyes still avoided contact. He reached for the coffee Ziva was holding and took one long gulp.
"Hey, Ducky, did you by any chance see a girl in here last night, perhaps with a bruised fist," Tony asked, hoping that the punch did some damage to the girl who had knocked him out.
"DiNozzo, what's this about a girl?" Gibbs' voice came into focus as the team leader appeared in the room, taking the coffee from Ziva.
"She was in here last night, and she punched me!" Tony stated, gesturing to the painful bruise on his face.
"Actually, I did see a girl last night," Ducky announced, his voice coming out very calm for such a worried expression that plagued his face.
"You did?" Gibbs questioned, slightly surprised at the doctor's comment.
"Yeah, and I think we need to talk about it, something happened, something I can't explain..."
"Alright, what is it?"
"Come down to the morgue," Ducky instructed, knowing that it would be easier to explain after showing them the body, or lack of body.
Although it all felt rather strange with Ducky barely speaking and the silence inevitably falling over them, they still followed, hoping that this small journey would give them some answers as to what was going on. Once they had all arrived on the bottom floor, and inside the chilling room of the morgue, Ducky wandered over to what appeared to be a small pile of dust.
"Ducky?" Ziva questioned, her tone filled with an edge of apprehension. This whole thing had felt way too weird, what exactly was the doctor trying to tell them.
"The girl came down here, she held some form of a wooden stick; got a bit of a fright when I approached her but then I saw something..." Ducky's voice trailed off, evidently from the shock and uneasiness of retelling the tale.
"Duck, talk to me," Gibbs reassured, his voice softer than usual, hoping to comfort his old friend.
"The man got up, the dead marine. He just stood up; and then the girl ran over to him and eventually stabbed him, straight through the heart with that wooden stick. Then there was nothing. He turned to dust. That pile over there. I'm sorry Jethro but I hadn't started the autopsy yet so we have nothing,"
"Wait, the dead marine stood up?" Gibbs asked; putting emphasis on the word dead; it was just that what the doctor was telling him didn't seem right, or logical, or realistic.
"Yes, that is what I saw,"
"Er, Ducky, he was dead though," Tony stated, the words falling out slowly, as if that would help him understand better. It certainly didn't make Tony feel better, he couldn't find one simple explanation for what Ducky had seen, and that took his confusion to a seriously high level.
"Don't you think I know that?" The doctor's volume rose, shouting wasn't something he liked to do, but sometimes it was necessary. It wasn't as if he could explain what had happened, it just happened, that was it.
"Ducky, calm down. It's just a bit unrealistic that's all, are you sure you weren't dreaming?" McGee questioned, glancing down at the pile of dust uneasily. If he were dreaming then where did the dust come from? Where was the dead body of the marine he saw only yesterday?
"I wasn't dreaming! The proof is all around us, the dead body is gone," Ducky stated, and then pointed down towards the pile of dust, "And how would you explain that?"
Gibbs avoided the statement from the doctor, and decided to move the conversation on further, they clearly needed to do something about this whole situation. "Hey, Duck; do you know who the girl was?"
"I think I can draw up a sketch of her face,"
"Good, as soon as you have finished give it to Tony. DiNozza, when you get it, run it through the system. I want to know who this girl is!" Gibbs explained, a slight amount of anger falling through his voice. He didn't enjoy people beating up his team, or frightening his friends, and he definitely didn't enjoy them tampering with his evidence.
Another voice came into focus, the familiar face of Abby appearing alongside it, "Hey, what's going on down here?"
"Our victim, er, died, again, kind of..." Tony tried to explain, but managed to fail, the words just didn't sound right, and they had no realistic explanation.
"Huh?"
"He apparently turned into dust?" Ziva interjected, retelling the story just as the doctor had done. It was all they had right now.
"Like a vampire?" Abby asked; clear enthusiasm in her voice. That was exactly what they needed, Abby jumping to crazy theories over the complex situation.
"Now that you mention it-" McGee began, glancing over at the forensic scientist.
"McGee! Don't even finish that sentence; this is a real case not some movie. I need you to find Greg, ask him if there's any more bodies, got it?"
"Yes, boss," Tim responded, jumping straight back into professional mode, but not before slipping a smile at Abby who hadn't stopped smiling since he had began to agree with her; they did love their little theories. And after all, it did make sense, well only in the whole not making sense way.
.
The Summers' home was the general meeting point between the Scooby gang, being the largest of the homes they all had, and belonging to the most people, now that Willow and Tara had moved in. It was a very cosy home, the colours were all warm and inviting, and it had a comfortable feel about it. It was the perfect place for unwinding from a hard day or night, or simply for just hanging out.
Giles wandered through into the already full living room, where Buffy sat with Xander, Anya, Willow, Tara and Dawn. "So, did the marine turn out to be a vampire?" He questioned, watching for a response from the blonde.
"Yeah, he was, not anymore though. Hey, Xander, can you pass the chips?" She asked the man, reaching across the sofa with her hand, aiming to grab the bowl that Xander passed over.
"He's dead then,"
"Oh yeah, he's dust,"
"Excellent, did anyone see you?"
"This guy at a desk but don't worry I took care of him, oh, and the doctor," Buffy responded, her tone casual. She leant back against the sofa cushions nonchalantly, placing another chip into her mouth before giving the bowl back to her friend.
Giles raised his eyebrows, still staring at the blonde who seemed rather dismissive about the whole situation, "What happened to the man?"
"Knocked him out," Buffy stated, glancing up at her watcher for the first time since he came in and smiled quite proudly.
"And the doctor?"
"He was shocked, but I doubt he'll tell anyone. No one in this town does, they do that whole purposely forgetting thing, guess it comes in handy,"
"Just try to be careful. Are you on patrol tonight?"
"Yes, I'll fight the bad guys and give you info if I find anything unusual," The blonde responded, smiling at her watcher and turning her attention back to the chips which had found their way to the end of the sofa, far away from her. "Chips, please?"
.
Tony paused from typing, watching as the new information popped up on his screen. He had finally received a result from the search on the sketch of the blonde; he couldn't wait to find out who she is. "Hey, boss!" The brunette called over at the team leader who had timed his entrance perfectly. It was a Gibbs trick, no one knew how he did it, but he always appeared when there was information to be shared.
"Found something?" Gibbs questioned, wandering over towards the main screen, soon being joined by McGee and Ziva as they waited on the news.
"Yeah, the I.D on our mystery girl, it took a while but the sketch found a match," Tony informed, resuming his typing against the keyboard so that the photo of the beautiful blonde was transferred onto the main screen. "Name's Buffy Anne Summers, born in Los Angeles, moved here about five years ago. She's twenty-one years old, and... That's strange," He murmured, as his eyes moved down the information in front of him.
"What is it, DiNozzo?"
"She has a death certificate, from a few months ago. But then there are records of a workplace after that,"
"Do you think she's using the I.D as a cover?"
"No, you can access her school photos through her life; they're all the same woman. Might just be a mistake,"
"Maybe, we'll definitely find out; any criminal records?"
"There's a few interesting things on her record. She was in a mental institution when she was fifteen for a couple weeks, claiming vampires were attacking her. Expelled from Hemery High School in LA, burned the school gym down. There's been a couple suspected robberies but there were no charges filed, suspected for a murder when she was seventeen but there was no evidence so the charges were dropped, then another murder suspect when she was eighteen, but someone else was behind it so the charges were once again dropped. She was expelled from Sunnydale High after running away; she was let back in though. There's also some form of classified government military record from a couple years ago, but I can't access it,"
"Well she certainly is an interesting character; what's the address?"
"1630 Revello Drive,"
"Ok, DiNozzo, you're with me; we'll check it out. Ziva, McGee, try and get access to the military record, I want to know what's in those files,"
.
Gibbs drove the car along the quiet road until he reached 1630 Revello Drive. There were two cars already parked in the driveway, so he parked alongside the curb before he and DiNozza moved out of the vehicle, standing up and stretching their legs. They wandered up towards the front door, knocking firmly against the wood. Tony found himself resting his hand on the gun behind his jacket, the usual routine, until it swung open revealing a man, around the age of mid-forties.
"Hello, is Miss. Summers here?" Tony questioned, as Gibbs subtly peered into the house behind the man, only out of the corner of his eye.
"She is," The man responded, "Do you mind if I ask what this is concerning?"
"I think it would be better that we speak to her first," Gibbs cut in, leading the man to call for the blonde, who then happily walked up towards the door, wondering what Giles wanted. Her smile soon faded once she recognised Tony, something that both the investigators noted in their minds.
"I'm special agent Tony DiNozza, NCIS and this is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs," Tony stated, lifting his badge from his jacket pocket and holding it open for the man and woman to see, "We need to ask you a few questions?"
The uneasiness was evident in her tone as she responded with a simple okay, opening the door wider so that they could walk into her home. They followed her into the house, Gibbs taking a swift glance into the living room where a few of what he guessed were her friends peered through the house at them, wondering what the commotion was all about. DiNozzo and Gibbs sat down on the dining room chairs, opposite to where the blonde and the man were now sitting.
"Miss. Summers, we have evidence to believe you were in our NCIS headquarters yesterday, is there anything you would like to say about that?" Tony queried, taking charge of the questioning. It was how they worked at the beginning of an investigation; Gibbs would study the way they acted, Tony would get the answers, that is until Gibbs really wants to intervene, then it would get more serious.
Buffy shared a glance with her watcher, clearly uncertain of what to say, she really didn't want to have to fall into this kind of situation. She didn't think that it would have worked out that way. She took another look at the brunette opposite her, taking in the sight of the bruised eye; it seemed like it hurt, a lot. "Yes, I was there,"
"So, you're admitting to trespassing into a federal building"
"I guess,"
"Where you assaulted an agent, and tampered with evidence, a body to be exact?" Gibbs interjected, feeling a slight anger rise up inside of him; she'd admitted to trespassing, did she really think that it would go unpunished? What was this girl playing at?
"I didn't assault or tamper with anything," The blonde defended, trying her best to work the lies easily into her tone, she just hoped it came off convincing. By the look she received, she was sure it hadn't.
"We have two witnesses putting you at the scene, the agent beside me who's sporting a very nice bruise, and a pathologist, who watched you destroy the body,"
"What body?"
"The body of a dead marine; someone who we needed to perform an autopsy on so that we could catch the killer; the family deserve closure, do you disagree with that?"
"Of course not, but I didn't do anything!"
"You just admitted to trespassing, so stop messing around and give us some answers," Gibbs stated, his volume rising to intimidate her, he wasn't sure if it was working completely, although she seemed to be growing very nervous.
Buffy shared another look with Giles, the uneasiness overwhelming her. There was no way out of this. Not one she could see anyway. She could try telling them the truth; she had done so before in extreme cases. Giles wore a puzzled expression, although he tried his best to hide it, Buffy knew him too well. She knew he was thinking the exact same thing as her. They couldn't very well let a slayer go to jail; well not one that deserved it anyway, she corrected in her mind, remembering that Faith was currently in prison, doing her time for the murder she committed. Before the blonde even had a chance to respond, the sound of footsteps came into focus, the face of her sister appearing at the edge of the dining room. Her long brown hair hung loosely down her back, and she stared at the investigators with big green eyes, wondering mostly what was happening.
"Buffy, is everything alright?" Dawn questioned, her voice laced with innocence, concern falling through the cracks.
"I'm fine, Dawn. Just go back into the living room," Buffy told her, sending a reassuring smile at her sister, one that everyone could probably recognise as fake. The blonde was in no mood to smile, she was more worried about what was happening, she simply didn't want her sister brought into this. Dawn nodded, returning the smile before disappearing back through the house, finding her way back into the living room and telling the group everything that she had seen.
Tony's voice brought the blonde back to reality, her attention soon turning over to the two investigators, "Well, do you want to explain your actions?"
