Well, I know that the last chapter was all about Dennis and his family, but I just want everyone to know that while Dennis is a main character in the story, the focus is mostly on Gibbs and Tony. So, consider the last chapter a bit of an interlude, the next few chapters is mostly about the case. Though I'm still not done, so I don't know what's going to happen next. Well, I hope you enjoy.

Nine

Jethro didn't like being woken up in the middle of the night. He usually got to sleep late—many late nights building his boat—so when he actually fell asleep, he liked to stay that way. Now, here he was, at yet another crime scene. And he had to arrive in a cab. Next time he headed to another city for a case, he was taking the sedan with him.

DiNozzo and Morgan looked terrible. Not just tired, but he sensed that they were a little freaked as well. Morgan worse than DiNozzo. He couldn't blame them. They may work a lot of cases, but it was unlikely they'd ever personally been targeted by a killer before.

"What've you got?" He asked as he stepped closer to them. Neither of them spoke, they just handed him two separate sheets of paper, already bagged and tagged. He tried to read them, but with his eyesight, and with the lack of light, it was damn near impossible.

He looked up and glared at the two younger men. Morgan spoke first. "The first one says, 'one, two, three, what do I see?' It was stuck to my windshield."

"The second one says 'five bumbling cops, looking for me.'" Jethro tried looking at the notes again. "It looks like they're written in blood, but we'll need a forensic tech to confirm." Jethro nodded.

"We're not waiting until tomorrow. We're heading back to D.C. tonight."

DiNozzo shook his head. "I'm not really sure that's a good idea."

"Whoever these guys are, they targeted you two personally. It's safer getting you out of the city."

Morgan shook his head. "I'm not going."

Jethro almost groaned. "Detective Morgan—"

Morgan turned to him, his eyes blazing. "This is my mother's house, Agent Gibbs! The bastards know where she lives, and if you think for even a second that I'm going to leave her here after this, you got another thing coming." He turned and headed towards the house.

A younger woman was waiting on the porch. He couldn't really see what she looked like, but from what he could see, she sort of looked like Morgan. Jethro assumed she was his sister.

"It's an Italian thing, Gibbs, I doubt you would understand."

Jethro turned to him with a quirked eyebrow. "Morgan's Italian?"

DiNozzo chuckled. "Right, like you couldn't tell."

Jethro shook his head. "What does that have to do with this?" He asked in a gust of air. DiNozzo had that effect on him.

The younger man shrugged. "It's this weird code about family. Overprotective, overbearing, Denny's family is the epitome of an Italian cliché. Except for the mafia thing." He paused. "Although, there is a rumor that his great grandfather made a man disappear once. They never said exactly what happened but—"

Jethro reached up and smacked him in the back of the head again. This one was much harder than the last two. "Our killer may very well be personally targeting you and your partner, and you're sitting there telling stories and making jokes?"

DiNozzo's smile fell. "Everybody copes with things differently." He shrugged. Jethro stepped into his personal space and stared directly into his eyes. He could see the fear, and pain. "When do you wanna head to D.C?" He asked, trying to get the older man out of his personal space.

Jethro backed up. He was satisfied with what he saw. He actually would have been more worried if DiNozzo had been blank. "I need to talk to Morgan's family."

DiNozzo shook his head. The fear had intensified. "They didn't see or hear anything."

"Rule number three DiNozzo."

He rolled his eyes. "Right, never believe what you're told. Double check. But Gibbs, I am begging you. Please, do not talk to Denny's mom. She was in her room when we left."

"So she'll confirm—"

"She's a paranoid schizophrenic." That stopped him. Jethro stared at him, completely confused. DiNozzo rubbed his eyes. "She takes her meds. Under normal circumstances she does just fine, but," he trailed off. He looked at the house, a hint of emotion in his eyes. "The pills aren't perfect. There's still a trace of that insanity in her." He looked back to the federal agent. "You start talking to her about her son and adopted son possibly being targeted by a serial killer, and I don't know what she'll do. But I guarantee it won't be pretty."

Jethro listened patiently through his speech. Once again, he found his heart going out to Detective Morgan. He couldn't imagine what it had to have been like, watching his mother suffer like that, with no way of helping her.

But he did have to comment on one thing. "Adopted son?"

DiNozzo rolled his eyes. "She treats me like a son. And I'm not dumb enough to complain."

Jethro's mouth quirked into a small smile before he pushed it down again. "Alright, fine, I'll leave her out of this. What about the girl?"

"Ley, Denny's little sister. She's fine, she's a cop too." DiNozzo started heading towards the house. Jethro was slow following. Events from the day came rushing back.

"Patrol cop?"

DiNozzo turned back to him like he was insane. "She's twenty-five, I'm too young to be a detective, you think she's old enough?" Jethro smirked again.

DiNozzo turned to them and frowned. Jethro rolled his eyes. "What? She not pretty enough for you?" The younger man snapped out of his thoughts and turned to the fed.

When they reached the porch, Morgan was nowhere to be found, but the girl was still there. Her arms were crossed to block out the cold.

She was pretty, her hair was dark brown, cut somewhat short, but pulled away from her face. She had high cheekbones and pretty eyes. Her skin was darker, but with a red undertone.

She turned to him and held out her hand. "Officer Morgan. You must be Agent Gibbs."

He looked her up and down. He tried to imagine her in a uniform. Couldn't see it. "Nice to meet you." He said as he took her hand. He got right down to business. "Where were you when Detectives DiNozzo and Morgan found their notes?"

"I was inside, with my mother. I only came outside a few minutes ago when I saw they hadn't left yet." She stepped further into the doorway. It was pretty damn cold out, and she didn't have a jacket. Jethro, on the other hand, was still relatively warm in his NCIS jacket.

"You notice anything before that?"

She shook her head. "I was in the kitchen most of the afternoon. It has one window, and that's pointing to the neighbor's bathroom. Not exactly a great view." DiNozzo chuckled. Officer Morgan ignored him and focused back on Jethro. "Agent Gibbs, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is going on? What's the case that you're working on?"

"You don't know?"

She shook her head. "I heard the basics of the crime scene from a friend of mine, Tony and Dennis wouldn't elaborate." She turned to glare at the other man. Jethro noticed that DiNozzo actually cringed. He blinked. Every time he glared at the younger man, he just smiled or made a joke. But he actually cringed at this little girl?

Jethro sighed. He didn't say anything. Officer Morgan rolled her head around, suddenly frustrated. "The three of you are in complete cop mode, and I wanna know why it's happening outside of my mother's house!" She yelled.

Jethro watched her, as she shouted. He wasn't sure if she could handle it. But after a while, he noticed that while she was afraid, she was still strong enough to handle it. He nodded. "We believe there are two, possible serial killers. They may be targeting your brother." Officer Morgan's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" Jethro handed her the notes. DiNozzo went on to explain how they were found on their cars. Officer Morgan stared down at the notes for at least five minutes. Her hand was shaking, but Jethro doubted it was from the cold.

"Ley?" DiNozzo asked. She didn't tear her eyes from the paper in front of her.

"Why?" She finally looked up. The fear was still evident, but now she was all business. "Jack the Ripper liked to taunt the police, but he sent full letters to them, this… I don't know what this is. But why do it?"

"It's a poem," Said DiNozzo. "My guess is it isn't done yet."

"You think you'll get more?"

DiNozzo nodded. "I'd stake my pension on it."

Officer Morgan quirked an eyebrow. "You have a pension?"

DiNozzo shrugged. "Not a particularly large one, but I'm still young, it'll grow."

Jethro shook his head. "You have your gun, Officer Morgan?" She turned back to him, she still had a terrified look on her face.

She nodded. "It's inside." Jethro nodded. She tensed. "Am I going to need it, Agent Gibbs?"

"Probably not, but you should always be prepared." She nodded. "Detective DiNozzo and I are driving up to D.C. now. In the morning, I expect your brother to follow." She nodded again. Jethro took a step back, planning to leave. "Tell him to pick up Burley on his way out." He swung around and strode down the path to DiNozzo's car. The younger man hesitated to say goodbye before he followed.

They were almost to the car before Jethro turned to him. The glare was back full force. It was the glare he used in interrogation to make murderers cry. DiNozzo rolled his head in exasperation. "What is it with you and the damn glares?" He seethed. He kept his voice low, not to disturb anyone in the area, particularly the family he just left. "You got a problem with me, then tell me, but don't give me a damn look and expect me to know what I did wrong!"

"I wanna know, right now, if I can trust you." Jethro kept his voice low as well, but it added more to the effect. Quiet, his words came out as a growl. "You and your partner were targeted for a reason. What the hell would that be?"

"I don't know, I just got the letters, they haven't been checked out yet."

"Anybody have a grudge against you?"

"Plenty of people. I'm a cop, if people didn't have a grudge against me, I wouldn't be doing my damn job!" He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger and sighed heavily. "If anything, we were targeted because we're the cops on the case. Like Ley said about Jack the Ripper. Whoever this guy is, he's taunting us. And he's not done yet."

"I figured that."

"Which is why it's a bad idea to leave the city tonight. If they're not done taunting, they're not done killing. We leave, who knows who they'll take next."

"NCIS has better resources than Baltimore."

"So you keep saying."

"And I need to hear in person what they found out. And sooner better than later. We leave now, he can be back in Baltimore by five o' clock. With more information so we're not flying blind. That gonna be a problem?"

DiNozzo let out a puff of air. "Yeah, a little, if you don't stop treating me like a damn subordinate! This is a joint effort, and I've proven today that I can do this damn job. I'm not Burley, I'm not Langer. I don't work for you! On this case, I'm working with you, and I'd appreciate it if you acted like it."

"You done?"

DiNozzo chuckled. It was a bitter sound.

He shook his head, but otherwise didn't say anything. He tossed the keys to Jethro and climbed in on the passenger's side of his car. Jethro climbed behind the wheel. Within a few short minutes they were pulling onto a main road that led to the highway.

The car was quiet. Neither man was willing to speak. Jethro sighed. He knew there was something off about those two. And finding those notes just made him more suspicious. Why were they left on their cars? Taunting the police wasn't that uncommon of an occurrence, but this was more than just a simple middle finger in your face. The two detectives on the case were personally targeted. Jethro had a feeling that the two of them were more involved in the case than they've let on. He just had to get them to crack.

Jethro turned to his passenger, surprised that he managed to stay quiet for such an extended length of time. His mouth quirked up when he saw him slumped against the window, fast asleep. He knew the man was young, but seeing him asleep, in that position, he looked even younger. And oddly vulnerable. His brow was creased. Whatever he was dreaming, it didn't seem to be very pleasant.

*~*

All he heard were blood curdling screams from every direction. They deafened him. He tried to focus his gaze on one particular person, but no one stayed still long enough. He saw Denny, staring at him. He was terrified. But terrified of what?

Something grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around. What he saw made him shriek.

Tony jerked awake with a yelp. His dream was still fresh in his mind. The blood, the empty eye socket. It took him a second to settle his stomach. He wanted nothing more than to just vomit.

"Hey." He jerked his head to the left. Gibbs sat behind the wheel of his car. He was staring at him with a look of worry on his face. "You alright?"

It took a second for Tony to remember the events of the day. Then another thirty to find his voice. "Yeah," he said with a nod. "Just a bad dream." He leaned his head against the window. He was no longer tired. Fact he was wide awake.

"Ya have a lot of those?"

Tony chuckled. "You trying to shrink me now, Gibbs?" The older man was silent. Tony looked out the window and watched as the scenery whizzed by. He stared at the railing at the side of the road. At this angle, and these speeds, it looked like the metal didn't have any legs. Like it was just floating along next to them.

"How much longer till we reach Washington?" He asked, still not taking his eyes off the rail.

"About ten more minutes."

Tony nodded but didn't say anything else. He was still shaken by the dream. "Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked, genuinely curious. Gibbs quirked an eyebrow at him. "Had to have been a pretty boring ride so far."

"I figured it'd be the only quiet time I'd have till the case was solved."

Tony chuckled. "You trying to tell me I talk too much?"

"That shock you?"

The younger man shrugged. "Silence is deafening." Gibbs spared him another look. Tony couldn't blame him. His last statement was a bit of an oxymoron. "Silence consumes you, forces you to think about things you don't want to think about. It's awkward and—"

"And sometimes comforting." Gibbs cut him off. Tony rolled his eyes but, regardless, didn't say anything else.

He sat back in his seat, ready to smack himself silly. He was revealing far more to this man than he ever wanted. He told Gibbs things that he never talked to Denny about. The two of them never even talked about his mother's schizophrenia. Or how afraid they were for her, that one day the medicine would stop working. Or that the shaking would become so unbearable she wouldn't be able to function on her own anymore.

The strange thing was that Denny would probably actually want to talk with him. Gibbs couldn't care less. So why was he so willing to divulge his secrets?

Oh god, he didn't trust Gibbs, did he?

For the record, no my mother is not a schizophrenic, although I'm convinced she's suffering from early onset Alzheimer's. Well, once again, please review and let me know what you thought.

Bob