August, 2007
"After Jana and her team got to Anacostia Park, we handed over the information we did have and then let them take over." Tony's words regarding the Merkl shooting were a near echo of Ziva's from a few hours earlier, but the jury was still eagerly hanging on to every detail. "We got back into the MCRT vehicle and drove back to headquarters."
"And was that your last involvement with the case?" Annemarie inquired. Tony shook his head emphatically.
"Oh, no," he answered. "A couple of days later, Director Shepherd came down to Autopsy, where we were going over some results with our M.E., Dr. Mallard."
"That would be Friday, January 13?" The question drew a quiet murmur of chuckles around the courtroom, including one from Tony.
"Yes, that's correct," the agent replied, still smiling.
"What did she say?" Annemarie asked.
"She said that she needed to see the four of us up on her office immediately, and that it was imperative that we not be seen going up in the process."
0
January, 2007
Director Shepherd wasn't the only person waiting for them when they arrived upstairs. Seated around her conference table were Jana and the rest of her team, Jack Skinner, Chris Scott, and Holly Grant.
"Have a seat," Director Shepherd said quietly.
"This about the vigilante case?" Tony asked.
Jana nodded. "Director?"
Jenny pressed the powerpoint trigger and a list of names popped up on the screen. Jana stood up. "We know he's after people acquitted of military victims. These are a list of everyone accused of killing military personnel within the last year and who were either acquitted, or had their charges dismissed."
Gibbs stared at the screen. "Long list," he remarked.
Jana grimaced. "Yeah." Jenny pressed the trigger again, putting up another list that was slightly shorter. "These are all of the cases from that list that had some type of controversy attached to the verdict."
Gibbs shook his head. "Still a long list."
Jana sat down again. "We need to draw him out before he strikes again," she said frankly.
"And you've got no way of predicting his next target," Tony said unnecessarily.
"His last killing was six weeks ago," Jack said quietly. "The one before that was a week-and-a-half."
"And before that it was two months." Jana's voice was terse. "But look at this." Another page on the screen. "This was a notification from the power company addressed to Colonel Merkl. He'd just moved into his current residence last week. From Florida, where he'd been living the last two years."
"Three of his other victims had also relocated to D.C. within a week of their deaths," Holly added. "Including the first two, one of whom had been tried and acquitted in San Diego."
"And remember the three month gap we had?" Jana smiled for the first time in the meeting. "It was broken by the death of Lee Miller, suspected of killing an NCIS agent in Onslow County."
"I remember that one," Tony said thoughtfully. "I was in Raleigh for a law enforcement conference and the case was all over the news. When we weren't at the seminars, everyone was watching the coverage in the hotel lounge."
"She'd moved here four days before her body was found," Jana told him.
Gibbs smiled slightly, the little smile he reserved for those moments he knew the dirtbag he was chasing was all but signed, sealed, and delivered. "Looks like your killer could hardly wait for the opportunity to make sure his justice was served," he said softly.
Jana's eyes sparked with intensity. "All we need is a high-profile case with twelve people too dense to do their job properly, and he'll be on it faster than my dog when I drop a pretzel. Or what he thinks are twelve dense people."
"Agent Heiden has requested permission to conduct a sting operation, and given the circumstances, I have granted it," Jenny said. "But she doesn't want someone from her team so that it can't be directly linked to the case. So." She paused and looked Gibbs, McGee, Ziva, and Tony each in the eye. "I'm issuing a direct order for one of you to commit murder."
Understanding smiles broke over the four agents' faces.
0
August, 2007
"So you were already undercover at the time of the confrontation between yourself and Special Agent Gibbs on January 27, 2007?" Annemarie asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Tony answered. "That confrontation was part of the assignment." Over her shoulder, Tony could see Parnell's defense attorney, practically salivating at the thought of questioning the agent on the lapse of judgment that had led to that confrontation. Annemarie beat him to it.
"So the error you made in not requesting the search authorization was also part of your assignment."
Tony resisted the urge to grin at the defense attorney as he replied, "There was no error. That statement was made up purely to maintain my cover."
"What, in fact, did happen with the Connor case at trial?" The prosecutor was covering everything, giving no opportunity for the defense to come back and slander the agents' characters. It felt like the Army of the Dead coming to the rescue of Gondor on Return of the King and Tony was enjoying every second.
"There was no Connor case."
0
January 2007
"We're going to have to come up with a good reason for why an NCIS agent would kill another agent," Chris Scott remarked.
"Does it have to be another agent?" McGee asked. "It could be something from our personal lives."
"Too bad none of us are married," Ziva observed. "That would make it the easiest."
McGee nodded. "Someone we're dating?"
"We do that, we have to involve Civilian authorities and other people, and there's more chance of the op being exposed," Jenny answered. "No, we keep this in-house."
"And simple." Gibbs' voice was matter-of-fact. "Stressful case like this and someone makes an asinine mistake that blows it."
"None of you would kill over something like that," Chris protested.
"This isn't us," Gibbs answered. "It's an artificial persona, just like any other undercover op, only the person happens to have the same name and job as we do in real life."
Ziva nodded in agreement. "As Mossad, I'm an outsider," she said quietly. "People will be more likely to believe it of me."
Gibbs shook his head. "You've been a suspect twice within the last year, Ziva. We're going for a high-profile case; those real cases will be dredged up in the media." He looked over at Tony and McGee. "That goes for all of you. None of you need that crap hauled out again." Turning to Jana, he said, "I'll do it."
"We should have the case have something to do with children," Tony spoke up. "Everyone's stress levels always run higher when they work those—we're more likely to make a dumb mistake because we're emotionally involved, and we're going to take any mistakes that are made much harder."
Ziva glanced quickly over at Gibbs, worried about his reaction. Tony's comment had been made in innocence, since neither he or McGee knew about Gibbs' late wife and daughter. Jenny, Ducky, and Ziva had all had to find out as part of the job, but the two younger men had not. The Director had been clear on the matter: Until Gibbs chose to share the information, it would stay that way.
However Gibbs was nodding his head, indicating that he agreed with Tony's assessment. So was Jenny. "We can use the sensitive nature of NCIS investigations to ban media from the courtroom, and I've got a friend at the D.A.'s office. She can fix it so that nobody realizes a trial isn't actually in progress. All you'll need to do is be seen entering the building."
"And oblige reporters with a few less-than-discretionary quotes?" Jack said with a grin.
"I'll be there each day to give an 'official' NCIS press release, but yes, candid quotes from the witnesses when they've finished testifying will be encouraged," Jenny answered.
"We're just going to need to find someone to be there for the shooting to handle checking the body for a pulse and calling my team in," Jana said. "And I'd rather they're not NCIS. Anyone know someone who'd be willing to witness a death?"
McGee grinned. "I know of several people in my writing group who'd jump at the chance."
"You should pass their names on to FLETC," Jack quipped. "They're always looking for eager volunteers."
"You can trust their discretion?" Jenny asked. At McGee's nod, she said, "All right. I'll brief Abby and Ducky, and we should be ready to start putting the op into play on Monday. One last thing." She made eye contact with each of the eight agents. "Because of this person's choice of targets, there is a distinct possibility that our killer is either JAG or NCIS. This may come down to having to arrest one of our own. I trust that you are all prepared for that situation?"
There was a moment of silence before Tony said quietly, "I think we've all been thinking about that possibility off and on for the last year."
"You know, if this guy is NCIS," Chris commented. "Will he or she really believe the idea of Gibbs being a killer?"
Gibbs gave a slow smile. "They may not now," he answered. "But they will by the time we're done."
August, 2007
"Will the defendant please rise?"
Parnell stood up with his attorneys as the foreman turned to face him. In the first row behind the prosecutor's table, eleven of his former co-workers sat alert. "This court finds the defendant...guilty!"
0
"Well now," Jana remarked, as she walked with Gibbs down the hall to the squadroom. The lights had been switched to the dim evening settings and nearly all the desks were deserted. "Maybe now life can finally start getting back to normal."
"At NCIS?" Gibbs grinned. "I don't think life has ever been normal."
She chuckled. "That's true." They rounded the corner by the main staircase and she shook her head. "Oh for goodness' sake." Gathered in Gibbs' team's desk area were all six of the other agents from the Parnell investigation, plus Abby and Ducky. "I thought I told them they could go home for the night."
Gibbs shrugged. "So did I."
"There they are!" Abby looked over from where she was sitting on the edge of Tony's desk as the two supervisors approached.
"What is this, some type of victory celebration?" Gibbs asked, trying to hide a smile.
The lab tech shrugged. "Something like that. Except Tony can't seem to get into it." She nodded at the agent behind her, who was searching frantically through his desk drawers. Gibbs raised his eyebrows, before walking quietly back to the barrier and leaning his head over.
"DiNozzo!" The younger man jerked his head up with a yelp. "Are you missing something?"
"Um, no, Boss," Tony stammered. "I was just cleaning out my desk."
Abby smirked. "He's looking for Lynnette's phone number." The other agents were gathered by Ziva's desk, watching in obvious amusement. "For some reason it wasn't in the personal effects that were recovered at the 'crime scene.' "
"Cute, Abbs." Tony made a face at her before glancing over at McGee. "Any chance you've got a directory for the members of your Writer's Group, Probie?"
"Sorry, Tony," McGee replied. "Lynnette already told me you won't be caught dead with her."
Gibbs was the first to get it and start chuckling, followed closely by Jana, Ducky, and Jack. A couple of seconds later Ziva burst into a fit of giggles. Tony just stared at them. "I never said anything like that," he protested.
"Exactly, Tony," Ziva managed to get out. "She's saying you won't be caught dead with her."
"But the saying is..." Tony broke off as Abby slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Oh, Tony." The lab tech's voice was full of mock sympathy. "What a way to get shot down." Ducky gave a muffled snort. "What?"
A/N: The summary quote popped into my mind as I was climbing into bed one night, and I lay awake until four AM trying to find a feasible way to make it work. I hope I succeeded.
