A Reader Warning...This is a spoiler based story...DO NOT READ ...if you do not want any spoiler for season nine.
Title: The Mission
Disclaimer: I'm just having fun with the characters...No offense and no profit being made from my little stab at what will happen in the first episode of season nine.
Okay, I was surprised by some of the questions, but I am a spoiler hog, so first, Rachel Cranston is Kate's sister (A Man Walks Into A Bar) and Stratton is the new FBI guy, who just might be a bad guy, he will be a recurring character like Kort. And yes, Tony will have trouble remembering what happened, either traumatic amnesia or trauma induced amnesia.,we will see. If EJ is killed I could see that the traumatic amnesia would be caused by this very event. Let's get started!Flashbacks will be italicized.
Bethesda Hospital
Progressive Surgical Trauma
Room 4
When Gibbs arrived back at the hospital he saw Ziva standing in the hallway in a pair of blue scrubs. She looked exhausted and pissed all at once.
"How's Tony?" he asked , concerned that Tony's condition had worsened.
"Sorry Gibbs, but he is driving not only me nuts but the staff as well." she stopped to take a breath, her hands in the air, her hands curled into fists, her face pinched in anger, the Mossad trained assassin was definitely put out by his lead agent.
"I need to go home, I need a break." she punctuated the word break, as she walked down the hallway towards the exit sign, but still so frustrated at her partner that she yelled down the hallway, "And tell him next time Gibbs to puke on someone else!"
Gibbs couldn't help but to crack a grin, DiNozzo was being DiNozzo. He opened the door and walked inside, He spotted his agent sitting up in a chair, a nurse assistant was redoing his bed, his soft restraints dangling off the siderails. "Piss off Ziva much?" he asked as he walked over to get a better look at his agent.
"She told them to restrain me boss. She said I was being uncooperative." his voice rather animated and more Tony-like.
"She's just worried about her partner DiNozzo." he commented and then took a seat across from his friend.
There was a few minutes of silence, the assistant finished her job, Tony was already cleaned up. She gave her patient a rather suspicious look, as though he might attempt something else, she looked upset. " The nurse will return in a while to reconnect his IV fluids and to check on her patient." she gave a fake smile and retreated out of the room with haste.
"Pissing off the staff never works Tony."Gibbs looked over at his agent, his sunken eyes, pale skin from blood loss, deep cuts to his arms, and the swelling and bruising on the left side of his face was a stark contrast to the white bandage that wrapped around his head.
Tiny shrugged his shoulders, he hated hospitals, needles and being kept in the dark, Gibbs had answers, he needed to know what they were, or did he really want to know.
Gibbs knew that pushing Tony wouldn't be wise so he started slowly, he wanted to see what Tony remembered and go from there, slow and easy.
"What do you remember DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he pulled out a notepad and pen.
"Taking notes boss?" his voice sounded tired, not so Tony.
" Getting older." he responded, hoping that he hadn't thrown a curve ball to his second.
Tony nodded in understanding, hell, that might have worked for his memory problem, taking notes, maybe he did. He couldn't remember, he was having a Gibbs post ship explosion problem, but he didn't have all the emotional baggage that his boss carried, or did he?
" I have nothing boss." he rubbed his face with his right hand, he definitely needed a shave.
"What is the last thing your recall Tony?" Maybe they could start where Tony could remember, the last event he had a recollection of and then move forward.
He closed his eyes and attempted to concentrate on exactly what he recollected, and he must have been quiet too long because his boss spoke first.
" You were read in on the Black Ops Program." he wanted to know if Tony remembered any of the information, wanted to see his senior's reaction.
Tony looked distressed at the statement, confused as if he had never heard of the Black Ops Program or even remembered why Vance would allow him such information, the man hated him, evidenced on more than one occasion, " No, I don't remember, why would I be read into something so top secret?" he asked, the question was reasonable but right now he didn't have all the answers. Hell, he didn't have any answers.
"DiNozzo, tonight we found two bodies and your service weapon." Gibbs pondered how much he would tell Tony, not wanting his second to go into shock like he, himself, had before, too much info could cause his senior to break and he would not allow that, not as long as he had any say. He would go slow with the information.
Tony shook his head, the pain returning, edging up the numerical pain scale as he attempted to recall using his weapon.
"Special Agent Simon Cade was a victim, but he had been shot with the other victim's weapon." he wanted Tony to know that he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, EJ had killed her own man.
Tony was shaking his head, attempting to remember but something was blocking him, like a brick wall, he just couldn't remember. "Who was the second victim?" he finally asked but the pained expression on Gibbs face worried him, " Who boss?
"Special Agent Erica Jane Barrett." he replied, he couldn't lie to him, he had been lied to in the past,knew what it felt like when those you trusted withheld information, he couldn't lie to Tony. He would make sure his agent didn't fall apart, he wanted to assure his agent that he had someone there who understood, himself.
Unshed tears filled his eyes but he remained stoic, his face appeared tense, a look of pain so deep that it had to reach down into the man's soul, the pain could not only be seen in his eyes but in the way his whole body tensed up, Gibbs could swear he could see the man's pulse beat in his neck.
"EJ's dead?" What had his boss just said or had he just imagined him saying her name, what the hell had just happened?
"Agent Barrett, according to Ducky and verified by Abs, died from a single gun shot wound to the head, with a Bravo 51." Gibbs continued speaking, continued watching Tony, making sure he was doing fine, making sure the man didn't fold within himself.
"A Kate, she was killed with the same rifle that Ari killed Caitlin with." his voice was low, he spoke it as if he was just thinking out loud, no emotion, just the pain that loss could bring, it was etched on his face.
"Yes." Gibbs answered, seeing the pain of the loss starting to grip his friend, watched as he started to break down in grief. EJ was after all the first woman Tony had let inside since Jeanne. He could just guess and he would probably be correct, that Tony had loved her.
Tony bent over and buried his face into his hands, attempting to hide the pain he was experiencing from his boss but it hurt, the news was shocking, she was dead. He let out a guttural cry and slid to the floor, Gibbs was guiding him with strong arms, void of the comforting words, Tony knew he was there, it was enough.
His agent was in pain and all he could do was just there and allow him to grieve and to make sure he did not fall apart. Gibbs grabbed him and held him, placing his arm around his second, pulling him close, wanting to stop his second's pain, it was all too familiar.
All Tony could hear was her voice, his body shook with tremors but he held in the tears, he would grieve another day, he just wanted to remember what had happened, he had to remember.
Warehouse on Timberlake
McGee continued to look for clues, looking for anything that would give them a clue to who had killed Agent Barrett. They had surveyed the area more than once and each time came up with nothing. Whoever killed EJ policed his brass.
Tim climbed down off the scaffolding, and entered the area above the area where EJ's body had been found, they were missing something, and he felt he needed to figure it out, isn't that what Gibbs had taught them, what Tony had engrained into him during his early Probie days?
He had to figure out why his gut was screaming at him, why he felt there was something he was missing.
He again shined the flashlight around the darkened area, even during the day the area was like night inside of the abandoned building. He would stay here all night if that is what it took. He would find the clue that was evading him.
Bethesda Hospital
Progressive Surgical Trauma
Room 4
Gibbs, Abby, Ducky, Ziva and Palmer had come and gone. It wasn't lost on him that Tim had not been there but if the Probie had learned anything from him in the past seven years it was that you don't give up until you find the answers you are looking for, he was probably still at the warehouse. where they had found EJ's body. The thought of his friend dying in such a placed caused the tears to sting at his eyes again, he had almost broken down earlier, but now he was determined to find the answers. He had find the answers that eluded him.
The other team members seemed more worried that he might attempt to do something stupid. He looked up at the round clock that hung over the white information board and wondered if the night staff had come on yet. His warden should have left by now, Nurse Agatha must have been a bulldog in another life or a Doberman Pincher, could have been a Pitt Bull, yeah, definitely a Pitt Bull.
He had a plan, a plan that had to go smoothly. He had to leave and find answers but he knew Gibbs would have thought of that and he probably had a guard stationed outside of his door, or Vance had, or possibly even the Sec Nav, it didn't matter, there were other ways out besides the door that stood closed at the moment. The monitors could give him away if he disconnected them so he had to be clever, had to be able to leave the room and escape.
He decided that the straight forward method would have to do, he needed to leave and to leave now. He sat up in the bed, a sudden wave of dizziness hit and he had to stop and let it pass, this wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed in his head, but he had to give it all he had. "Damn, I hate head injuries!" he cursed as he stood, monitors still intact.
It was a moment of brilliance when he had asked Palmer to bring him a pair of sweats , his running shoes from work, clean underwear and a pair of socks included. Now all he had to do was to get them on without setting off the alarms or falling on his ass.
Within minutes he had managed the feat and he walked, well, rather stumbled over to the window and looked out, he was on the first floor, how lucky was that, he thought to himself as he lifted the small window. His plan was to make it around to the Emergency room and catch a ride with one of the paramedics, he knew most of them, hell, they all had treated him at some point for one thing or another.
His feet had no sooner hit the ground than he heard a nurse yell something, it was inaudible but he was sure it had something to do with his escape, and he knew his time had just ran short, he had to move and move fast.
He stumbled to the back where the Emergency Room entrance was and there to his amazement was an old friend, he knew he shouldn't take advantage but he was a desperate man on the run. Gibbs had taught him well, to take advantage of whatever resources that were available, Gibbs might regret teaching him that now as he made his way over to the ambulance bay to hitch a ride.
NCIS
It was getting late, it was almost eleven . He rubbed at his eyes, unaware of when it was that he slept last, but the whole team was still in motion, attempting to find clues as to what had happened to their own, he needed Tony to remember, his mind still replaying the doctor's words from earlier in the day, the Cat scan of Tony's head showed no brain damage, no reason for the amnesia, so whatever happened was more traumatic than physical, he had to figure out a way to help his second.
A motion from above him caught his attention, it was Vance, it was if the man was watching him, wanting answers to what had happened to Tony, but hell, the man probably knew more than he did at this point but he was working on changing that.
"I've called Rachel Cranston to assist Agent DiNozzo, maybe she will be able to shed some light as to what is going on with our agent." Leon Vance spoke, wanting Gibbs to know he was working on the problem too.
"They didn't seem to work to well together last time Leon, I even think he figured out she was Kate's sister, I'd be surprised if decided to talk to her," he was finishing up, ready to join Tim again at the warehouse, his man had not left the scene. He grabbed his coffee and started for the elevator, but he stopped and gave his boss a pained look, "I'm still trying to figure out why in the hell you allowed Tony to be used. Would you like to enlighten me yet? "
Gibbs words stung, if the man really knew him, then he had to realize that he had nothing to do with DiNozzo being a part of a black op operation, so he just stood there and looked down, one never knew who might be watching, there were spies everywhere, so he didn't speak.
"Guess not." Gibbs mumbled and made his way to the elevator, he took a drink of the cold coffee and hoped they would find some answers soon.
As he made his way to his car his cell rang, he quickly answered it,"Gibbs." he opened the door and pushed his tired body behind the wheel, listening intently, and then he let out an exasperated, "He did what?" He disconnected the call and threw the phone to the back of the car, his damned second was just like him, dammit!
TBC
Thank you fro the reviews, keep them coming, makes me want to write more...I know I usually don't beg so but this time...I am. Thanks again for reading and giving me your time.
