A/N: Oh wow. I'm so glad this story is getting such good feedback. Thank you all so much! Keep it up! As for when the Doctor shows up, patience my dears. All good things come to those who wait...
Rose jumped when Gibbs entered the room. She had been laying her head down on the table, trying to sleep.
"What time is it?" Rose asked.
"Nine pm." Gibbs said handing her a coffee cup. Rose looked at him. That was new.
"Thanks." Rose said taking a sip.
"We confirmed your identity with the DNA and fingerprints you gave us, Miss Tyler." Gibbs said taking a seat.
"What else you find out?" Rose asked.
"What makes you think I found out anything?" Gibbs a asked.
"You're treating me like a person for a start." Rose said.
"Rule 51. Sometimes you're wrong." Gibbs said.
"So you believe me about the Doctor?" Rose asked skeptically.
"Didn't say that." Gibbs said.
"But you're not dismissing it as a lie neither, are ya?" Rose asked.
"I'm keeping an open mind." Gibbs said. Rose was about to say something else when the lights flickered again.
"Did you see that? Something's up with the lights." Rose said looking around.
"Mmm." Gibbs grunted.
"Something's wrong. I've noticed the lights flickering every twenty minutes." Rose said.
"And what's wrong with flickering lights?" Gibbs asked.
"I've spent three quarters of my life around aliens. And you don't spend that much time without developing an instinct for these sort of things. A gut feeling, yeah?" Rose said.
That was good enough for Gibbs. He stood and pulled out his cell phone and dialed Tony.
"Dinozzo. Have you noticed anything up with the lights?" Gibbs asked.
"Now that you mention it Boss I have. What happened? Director Vance forget to pay the electric bill?" Tony joked on the other end.
"Have McGee and Abby check the lights." Gibbs ordered.
"Shouldn't maintenance do that?" Tony asked.
"Did I stutter Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"Checking the lights Boss." Tony said before they hung up. Gibbs headed for the door and walked out. But Rose was confused when he left it open.
"Yo. Tyler. Ya want an engraved invitation?" Gibbs barked from the hall.
"All you had to do was ask nicely Special Agent Gibbs." Rose said getting up and walking out. She smirked as she fell in step with him.
"That was nice." Gibbs added. Rose followed him back to the bullpen where Tony and Bishop looked surprised to see her.
"What do we got?" Gibbs asked.
"Um? With the lights or with the suspect that's standing right there that you told us to check out Boss?" Tony asked.
"The lights Dinozzo." Gibbs said.
"Right. McFixit is checking the electrical, Abby's running point in her lab." Tony reported.
"Good. Let me know when you find something." Gibbs said going to his desk.
"And when will that be Gibbs?" Bishop asked. Gibbs didn't reply. Instead he looked to Rose for the answers.
"You'll know it when you see it Special Agent." Rose said.
"Right. Of course we will." Bishop nodded.
"Whatever it is." Tony muttered.
"Um. Can I go to the loo? This is my first time out of interrogation." Rose asked, tucking her hands in the back pockets of her jeans.
"Bishop. Go with her." Gibbs ordered.
"You can just tell me. I can find it myself." Rose shrugged.
"You are still a suspect for trespassing on government property." Gibbs said.
"But if it helps all visitors require an escort." Tony added.
"Right." Rose sighed.
"This way." Bishop said standing up to lead the way.
"Agent Gibbs doesn't warm up to people quickly does he?" Rose asked Bishop.
"Sorry...he's a bit...prickly..." Bishop said.
"So if he doesn't trust me why is he checking out the lights on my hunch?" Rose asked.
"If I had to guess, Rule 39. 'There's no such thing as coincidences'. Gibbs has these rules for everything. Still trying to learn them all." Bishop said.
"I take it you haven't been with NCIS long?" Rose asked.
"Few months. I was a NSA analyst when Gibbs hired me." Bishop replied.
"I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name?" Rose asked.
"Ellie Bishop. Sorry...Special Agent Ellie Bishop." The other blond corrected herself as they came to the bathroom. Bishop had to admit to herself that for someone that was either nuts or lying, Rose seemed sincere. There wasn't any erratic behavior or attempts to convince everyone of her story. Rose was acting like a person telling the truth and having the confidence that they would confirm said truth. But aliens? Really?
Bishop was so lost in thought, she almost didn't smell the gas fumes.
"You smell that?" Bishop asked.
"Yeah. I think it's coming from the men's room." Rose said.
"That's odd. This building isn't on a gas line. Hello? Anyone in here?" Bishop asked knocking on the door. When she received no reply, she carefully pushed open the door. Her eyes widened and Rose gasped behind her.
There was Agent Simmons. Dead on the men's room floor.
Rose stood on her tiptoes to peer over Tony's shoulder as he took pictures of the scene. McGee dusted for prints and Bishop commented,
"Well at least we didn't have to go far to the crime scene."
"Never thought we'd say that again." McGee said.
"Again?" Rose asked.
"Yeah. Few years ago when Ziva started working here, she was still adjusting to the whole 'ask questions first, kill later' concept. Suspect had a brain aneurism after Ziva punched him in the throat." Tony explained.
"Ducky ruled that the brain aneurism was a preexisting condition Tony." McGee said.
"But unofficially he was never sure if our little Ninja assassin didn't help it along. Ahh...good times." Tony said. Rose noted the bittersweet smile on his face. Just then, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Rose turned her to see Ducky with his medical bag,
"Well it looks like you get to see me at work in my other speciality Ms. Tyler."
"Wish I didn't have to Dr. Mallard." Rose said as Ducky pushed past her to enter the crime scene.
"Nor I my Dear. I hate it when I find a colleague on my table. Oh Thomas, who did this to you my boy?" Ducky sighed as he knelt beside the body. Gibbs came up to the door besides Rose, having just met with the director and coordinated with the Naval yard MP's.
"Bishop said she and Tyler smelled gas. That what killed Simmons, Duck?" Gibbs asked as Ducky did a liver probe.
"I won't know for certain until I get him downstairs, but I think it's safe to rule out Carbon monoxide poisoning. His complexion is pale and blue not ruddy and eerily lifelike as is the case in carbon monoxide poisoning victims. I once worked a case where the wife tried to kill her husband with carbon monoxide. Unaware of how the victims look postmortem, she was so convinced he was still alive, that she confessed to the crime!" Ducky told them.
"Duck..." Gibbs interrupted.
"Oh. Yes. Well as I was saying, there is only a hint of gas fumes in the air. Even if Thomas had been gassed, the concentration in here would be more noticeable. And the liver probe puts time of death between midnight and one am. No visible signs of trauma or self defense wounds." Ducky said examining the body.
"Means he was surprised yeah?" Rose asked. The agents looked up at her insight in slight surprise.
"But by who?" Bishop asked.
"Tony, get a list from the MP's. Find out who was on the yard at the time of the murder. Bishop pull surveillance videos. McGee, you figure out what's happening with the lights yet?" Gibbs asked.
"Well I got pulled upstairs to process the scene..." McGee began. But at Gibbs glare, he quickly added, "But I will get back to working on that."
"Keep me posted." Gibbs said pulling Rose out into the hall.
"Back to interrogation?" Rose asked with a tired sigh.
"No. MTAC. Someone from UNIT wants to talk to you." Gibbs said. Rose furrowed her brow, her confusion only slightly lessened when Gibbs led her to a room up the stairs named 'Multiple Threat Assessment Center'. A quick retina scan later and Gibbs led her into a darkened room with computers and small monitors to one side, and a few rows of chairs facing a large monitor that made up one wall of the room. And on a video conference overhead, was a very familiar face.
"Martha!" Rose cried rushing down the ramp to stand before the screen, taking in the beautiful black woman's features.
"Oh my gawd! Rose! Is that really you?" Martha Jones asked.
"I take it you two know each other, Dr. Jones?" Director Vance asked, stepping from the shadows, chewing on a toothpick.
Martha cleared her throat,
"Yes Director. We do. I was the Doctor's companion after Rose got stuck in the parallel universe the first time."
"Dr. Jones and Mr. Smith was just verifying your story Miss Tyler." Vance said.
"Mr. Smith?" Rose asked. A handsome black man with a three day beard came into view over Martha's shoulder.
"Hey Trouble." He greeted with a big grin.
"Mickey!" Rose smiled at the other familiar face.
"I can't believe you're back." Martha shook her head.
"Honestly Dr. Jones I'm still having trouble believing any of this. Who does UNIT say this Doctor is?" Vance asked.
"Just what Rose told you Director. He's a time traveler. And an alien." Martha replied.
"And he's saved the universe and whole of reality more than anyone knows." Mickey added.
"Have you seen him?" Rose asked.
"Not for four years." Martha shook her head.
"Oh." Rose nodded disappointed.
"Sarah Jane saw him last. About three years ago. He regenerated Rose." Mickey told her. That news surprised but didn't sadden Rose. She meant what she told John. No matter the face, she would love the Doctor. She just hoped he would love her back.
"May I ask Director, what is Rose doing at NCIS?" Martha asked.
"The dimension cannon sent me here by mistake." Rose answered.
"Maybe." Gibbs spoke up.
"What do you mean, Agent?" Martha asked, asking for a name.
"Special Agent Gibbs, Dr. Jones. And I don't believe in coincidences. I think Rose ended up here for a reason. A reason that has to do with the dead NCIS agent we found in our men's room about an hour ago." Gibbs said stepping forward.
"He was murdered?" Mickey asked.
"We are investigating it as a murder until we prove otherwise." Gibbs said.
"My gawd." Martha shook her head.
"We can be in Quantico in two hours." Mickey said.
"How?" Rose asked.
"We moved to New York a few years back. Work for the East Coast branch of UNIT now." Martha said.
"Wait. Both of you?" Rose furrowed her brow. Martha and Mickey exchanged a smile before holding up their left hands, their wedding bands on prominent display.
"Oh my Gawd! You're married!? To each other?!"
"After the planets in the sky, we just sort of...clicked." Martha shrugged.
"We have a lot to catch up on then." Rose said.
"See you in two hours Dr. Jones. Mr. Smith." Vance said before signaling to the MTAC tech to cut the feed.
"You really think my being here is no coincidence?" Rose asked Gibbs.
"Rule 39." Vance said.
Gibbs nodded,
"This 'dimension cannon' thing. How does it work?"
Rose lifted up her wrist and pushed back the sleeve of her jacket. On her wrist appeared to be a watch, but it featured a variety of buttons and digital counters with a large yellow button making the face.
"I was never good at the technical side of things..." Rose shook her head.
"That's okay. Gibbs still uses a flip phone." Vance half-joked.
Rose smiled as Gibbs shot his superior an unamused look, then she explained,
"But basically it tears a small hole in the fabric of time and space, and acts like a magnet pulling a person through the Void until you're in another dimension. It's a bit of a crap shoot to get to the one you want, (believe me, I've been to dozens of parallel universes trying) but once you have the coordinates it's just a matter of turning the device on and plugging them in."
"Does it still work?" Vance asked.
"No. It only had enough power for one trip." Rose shook her head.
"Still. Teleportation. This is tech that every terrorist in the world would love to get their hands on. Ms. Tyler I'm going to have to insist that we lock this up in my office safe." Vance said.
"Personally I was going to destroy it but as Gibbs said, I'm still a suspect so I don't have much choice do I?" Rose replied taking the device off her wrist.
"Considering the circumstances, I think we can drop the charges. Can't we Agent Gibbs?" Vance asked taking the dimension cannon from Rose.
"Sure." Gibbs said, looking his director in the eye.
"But don't leave the building right?" Rose guessed.
"For your own protection." Vance insisted.
"It's really creepy down here Abby..." McGee said as he talked to Abby on his cell phone. He was in the sub basement of the building, weaving his way through the cinder block walls, industrial pipes and flickering lights.
"You're a big bad federal agent McGee. Besides. It's just a basement." Abby reassured him, while running tests on Simmons clothes.
"Then why didn't you come down with me?" McGee asked.
"Are you kidding? It's scary down there." Abby said.
"Abby..."
"And I had to process evidence for Tom's murder. Just think of it like you're living out a first person shooter game McGee."
"I forgot my gun upstairs." McGee said.
"You are so screwed." Abby shook her head. McGee rolled his eyes as his flashlight found a large fuse box.
"Okay. Here we go. Main fuse box for the building." McGee said unlocking the box. He looked over the contents, not noticing a blue mist form behind him.
"Anything hinky?" Abby asked.
"No...everything looks..." McGee said shutting the box and then turning around. He gasped then stumbled to the ground in fright.
"McGee! McGee!" Abby cried over the line. But McGee was too busy staring wide eyed at the humanoid blue mist figure floating above him.
"Pity us..." It said in a childlike echo.
"Whu...what?" McGee swallowed.
"Pity the Gleth." It said. It started to move towards McGee, it's eyes glowing red when it was interrupted.
"McGee! Gah!" Tony shouted as he bounded down the stairs and tried a light switch, only to get zapped by an electrical discharge. McGee watched as the creature shrieked then disappeared into a wall socket.
"What the heck was that thing?" Tony asked.