Home is Nowhere
Summary: Gibbs never really appeared to care a wit about his senior field agent…until Tony disappears one night without a trace. A mysterious assailant wants revenge, and this time it looks like it may be too late.
Disclaimer: I don't own Navy NCIS.
Chapter four: Now the World
The next morning, being suspended from the field, the team found themselves working on cold cases. It was around nine o'clock, when the director made his way down the stairs. Behind him, a young man trailed closely, dressed in a suit with a back pack slung over his shoulder. Suddenly, the team knew who this man was – the director's choice of replacement.
Gibbs stood, an angry frown on his face. Morrow, however, cut him off before he even had a chance to speak.
"Special Agent Gibbs, this is Special Agent Liam Chase. He is going to be filling in temporarily as your senior field agent." He turned to the man behind him. Chase looked to be about late twenties, he had long-ish blonde hair and dark brown eyes. "Agent Chase, this is Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Caitlin Todd and Timothy McGee. I trust you'll get him settled, Jethro?" Gibbs nodded curtly.
"Good." Morrow said, inclining his head. "I'll leave you to get acquainted then."
Gibbs stared intensely at the kid, almost smirking as he began to sweat slightly under the three intense gazes.
"Uh…hi?" He offered, holding out his hand. When no one reached out to shake it, he let it fall limply back by his side. "Okay then…" He ran a hand through his hair, glancing away from their staring.
"Hm." Gibbs grunted, before turning on his heel and striding towards the elevator. "What are you waiting for, McGee?" He asked, without turning. "Get him a desk." With that, he stepped into the elevator and disappeared from sight.
"Uh…I guess you can have that one." McGee said awkwardly, pointing to the desk at the end of the row. Chase nodded silently, before moving over to the desk. He placed his backpack on the table, before turning back to the other two.
"I heard about your team mate…" He said softly. "I'm sorry.
Kate nodded slightly in acknowledgement, before taking a seat at her own desk and returning to work.
"Thanks." Tim muttered, before doing the same. They worked in silence for a good hour, with the new guy just sitting there with nothing to do. Eventually, Gibbs returned, Abby close on his heels.
"What are you doing, Chase!" he barked, striding over angrily. "This is not a holiday. If you wanted a holiday, you should've worked at a post office." He growled, before dumping a pile of papers on his desk. "Read those." Chase reached over to take them. "Not now!" Gibbs snapped, walking off. "Get your gear, we have a case" He tossed the keys to Kate. "Gas the truck."
…NCIS…
Tony shivered in the cold, dark room, rubbing his hands up his arms. White had discovered a new method of driving Tony insane – locking him in a small, freezing room with no windows. He barely even came down to chat anymore, Tony had counted six days since his last visit. There was a barrel of dirty, suspicious looking water in one corner that he was forced to drink form, and a bucket in another corner for…other purposes. Food was another matter. He was lucky to get an apple or a muesli bar whenever White visited – which wasn't all that often anymore.
"You're going insane." He muttered, his voice harsh and scratchy.
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Prove it."
"You're talking to yourself, for one." He said smugly.
"There's no one else to talk to." He pouted, crossing his arms.
"You're answering yourself, for two. Gibbs would agree with me."
"Who cares?"
"I do."
"You don't."
"I do."
"Is this what my days have come to?" He finally sighed wearily. "I'm arguing with myself."
"Anthony."
"Great." He thought out loud. "Just what I need."
"How are you today, Anthony?" White asked smiling widely.
"How do you think I am?" He muttered under his breath. "Just peachy." He said with a wide beam.
Suddenly, White held a photo up in front of his face. "Do you know who this is?" White asked softly.
Tony studied the photo for a moment, before shaking his head. "Nope."
"His name is Liam Chase." White grinned. "He is the man that your precious Gibbs has replaced you with."
Tony's mouth went dry. "No…" He muttered to himself. "He wouldn't."
"He did." White answered, dropping an apple into Tony's lap before walking toward the door.
"Wait!" Tony rasped. White turned slowly, gesturing for Tony to speak. "How…how long has it been?"
"Five weeks tomorrow." White said with a smile. "Trust me. They've long forgotten you." With that, he left Tony to his thoughts.
…NCIS…
It was a Friday night, and the team was stuck doing reports. They'd had a fairly straight forward suicide case that had actually turned out to be suicide – it was one of the few cases that they'd been able to wrap up in a day.
"What was that neighbours name again?" Kate asked, raising her head to glance at her two co workers.
"Uh..." McGee glanced down at his own paper.
"Jared Dawson." Chase muttered, without pausing in his writing.
Kate nodded slightly, barely acknowledging the man. Chase sighed, shaking his head. He was sick of this team – the lot of them acted as if he'd killed their old team mate, rather then replaced him. After a few moments, he looked up to see Todd glaring at him. He threw down his pen with a sigh, turning to face her.
"What is your problem with me?" he snapped angrily. "This…Anthony DiNozzo. He must have been some special guy." He muttered, shaking his head.
Kate sighed, rubbing her temples. "I'm sorry. It's just…hard." She sighed, glancing away.
Chase nodded, before lifting his pen again.
McGee was the next one to break the uncomfortable silence. "Why were you reassigned?" He asked, without glancing up from his report.
Chase shrugged. "My team leader retired. There were only three of us on the team – Agent Harrison was a probie. Not a very good one either. She was dropped and I got reassigned. To you guys." His tone was slightly resentful, making Kate twinge guiltily.
"Look, I'm sorry." She said, standing up. "I think we got off on the wrong foot." She walked over to her desk and held out her hands. "Truce?" She offered, smiling slightly.
Chase nodded quickly, taking her hand. "Truce." Kate returned to her desk, picking up her pen. They worked silently for a few moments.
"He was a special guy." Kate said finally, glancing towards Tony's untouched desk. "I guess you don't really appreciate what you've got, till you've lost it." She sighed.
Tim nodded slightly from his desk. "Never thought I'd miss being called Probie." He muttered with a rueful smile.
"I never thought I'd miss his constant prying into my social life – reading my emails, listening in on phone calls…" She sighed. Suddenly, the elevator doors opened to reveal Abby. She had her farting hippo clutched in her arms and she looked like she'd been crying.
"You okay Abby?" Kate asked, standing with concern.
Abby nodded, sitting down behind Tony's desk. She folded her arms on the desk and lay her head on them. "I miss him." She whispered finally, hugging the hippo closer.
"Yeah I know." Kate murmured, rubbing Abby's back soothingly. "We all do."
"Gibbs…" She hiccuped slightly. "Gibbs told me that we'd find him."
"We…we still might Abby…" Tim said comfortingly, inching closer.
Abby shook her head. "It's been six weeks. We haven't had a photo since the third week."
Chase looked away form the scene as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He opened it, glancing at the number. "Identity withheld." He frowned, before pressing the green button.
"Agent Chase." He said softly, walking a few paces away from the others so as not to disturb them.
"Go to the abandoned basketball court behind your house at three A.M. Come alone." The voice was toneless – Chase definitely didn't recognise it.
The phone hung up with a beep. Chase pulled the phone away from his ear, frowning at the blank screen.
"Who was that?" Tim asked, walking over.
"Wrong number." Chase said shortly, walking back to the desk. After all, it probably had been.
Probably.
