Thanks to my beta Kristen! Only the epilogue to go, and then onto Shades of Darkness!

Chapter 10: Manslaughter

Timothy McGee stood in Observation with Ziva and Tony. They were waiting for Gibbs to begin the interrogation of Petty Officer Parker.

At the start of the stakeout the previous day, the Director had handed him something that would trace any radio signal within a mile radius. She claimed it was Lily's, and he might find it useful.

When the spooky voice had woken him up, McGee had immediately turned it on and begun the trace. Lily had kept whoever it was on the line until he had located the signal. The minute everyone else had left, Gibbs had sent his team to knock down the door of Petty Officer Parker's home, where the signal had originated. A warrant had found a lot of interesting equipment in the house, which was all being transferred to Abby's lab.

McGee currently felt very tired. He had managed a few hours of bad sleep in the hangar, and exhaustion was kicking in. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep for a few more hours. He didn't even mind if it was at his desk. Hopefully Parker would crack quickly, and they could all leave.

Tony and Ziva looked as tired as he felt. Tony looked as though he was a zombie, and was resting his head against the glass in an attempt to stay awake. Ziva was hiding it better, but her fatigue was showing in her eyes. They no longer glimmered.

Whereas Gibbs looked as refreshed as always. From what McGee had managed to pry out of Ducky, Gibbs had not slept at all the previous night. He guessed the copious amounts of coffee that his boss consumed were keeping him awake and alert.

The Director was also fairly alert, although this probably had something to do with the fact she had been run off her feet for most of the day. McGee had learnt the hard way that working flat out meant you did not have time to be tired. That, coupled with the copious amounts of coffee she drunk, led to her being able to function.

For the moment.

He had also learnt the hard way that you tended to crash when you stopped for a few minutes.

For now, he contented himself with rubbing his eyes and dreaming of a coffee.

Abby was her usual hyperactive self when he had bumped into her earlier. It probably had something to do with the four Caf-Pows she had already drunk. She had told him about Lily's flying visit. McGee wasn't so sure the visit was flying as he had seen an exhausted Director running round at the same time as a more refreshed one. It only made sense if both of the sisters were still in the Navy Yard.

He wondered if the constant desire for caffeine was linked solely to the Navy Yard. Or was it linked to federal agencies? He wondered if anyone had done a study on it and decided to find out.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs threw open the door to Interrogation and stormed in. He was secretly pleased when Petty Officer Parker jumped out of his seat.

It was always good to catch someone off guard. It set the tone for the rest of the interrogation.

He settled into his chair, and slammed the pile of folders he was carrying onto the table. Parker visibly flinched. Most of the files were unconnected to the death of Seaman Fincher, but Parker did not know that.

Petty Officer Parker looked as though he had just turned thirty. He had blond hair, cut to regulation length. He was dressed in casual clothes, because Tony and Ziva had arrested him and bought him straight in. Jeans and a T-shirt seemed to pass as casual nowadays.

Gibbs was looking forward to the Interrogation. He'd had a bad day, waiting for his team to give him answers when he was not able to get any himself. He had failed to pry information out of Lily. He had failed to find out what was wrong with Jenny.

This was a chance to even the scales a little. This was something he was good at. This was a chance to burn off some of his frustration.

"Petty Officer Parker," he growled. His first step was to continue to scare the guy. He had been waiting in Interrogation for the last three hours so was already on edge. Any further delay would make the man panic.

"Who are you?" a visibly nervous Parker asked.

"Special Agent Jethro Gibbs," came the reply. "You are in a heap of trouble."

"I didn't do anything," Parker quickly told him.

"I haven't even told you what you're in here for," Gibbs pointed out, enjoying the fleeting look of panic cross his opponent's face. Caught him out once already.

"I wouldn't be here if you didn't think I did something," Parker countered, still looking nervous.

Gibbs opened one of the files and began to leaf through it. "Petty Officer Nathanial David Parker, first class. Assigned to the USS Ronald Regan. Docked ten days ago, on leave since."

"That's correct," Parker confirmed.

"Have you ever heard of Seaman Fincher?"

"He's… the guy who died two nights ago? In a disused hangar on base?"

"Correct," Gibbs agreed. "Know anything about that?"

"Only what I've heard via scuttlebutt."

Gibbs shrugged his shoulders. "Tell me."

Parker leaned forward, conspiratorially. "He saw a ghost and died from fright," he whispered.

"You believe that?"

Parker leaned back in his chair. "Scuttlebutt starts off with a grain of truth and takes everything out of proportion. This time, I reckon it's spot on."

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

"Yeah."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "You honestly believe in them?"

"Lots of people see things in that hangar."

"See things or hear them?"

Parker considered. "Mainly hear."

"All of them hear things. Want to know why?"

"I would."

"Because someone installed a radio receiver and broadcast speaker in that hangar. Someone broadcast 'ghosts' into there."

"And you think I did it?"

"One of my agents traced the radio signal to your house. The warrant we got found the necessary equipment there."

"Look," Parker pleaded. "I'd heard the place was haunted and I just wanted to have a little fun."

Gibbs pushed back his chair and stood up. "Your 'little fun' is ending with a charge of manslaughter."

Abby danced around her lab, checking up on all of her babies. None of them required any special attention so she went back to her computer.

She began to check her email. Lots and lots of spam. One from McGee telling her that Parker had been charged. Five from Tony keeping her up to date with all the latest gossip. A short email from Agent Wofford saying that she was going to be doing a charity skydive and would anyone sponsor her? Abby sent a quick email back agreeing to donate some money.

Why would anyone want to jump out of an airplane? The Goth shuddered at the thought. It might be for charity, but it was scary. What if the parachute failed? You would hit the ground at terminal velocity, and – splat! Autopsy would be the next stop.

At least Ducky took care of the dead. He talked and acted as though they were simply asleep. One of these days, the Goth expected one of Ducky's bodies would talk back to him and the doctor would not bat an eyelid. The only reason she suspected it had not happened already was that Ducky would have mentioned it in one of his stories.

The elevator dinged and someone walked into her lab. Abby whirled.

"Lily!" she cried.

It was obviously Lily, which was saying something. Most of the time, it was impossible to tell the sisters apart. At the moment, Lily looked like a zombie while Jenny was alert from all the coffee she had drunk. Why Lily hadn't been able to get some coffee was puzzling Abby, but she chose not to ask. CIA agents had a lot of secrets, and they might get mad if they were asked to reveal them.

"Hey, Abs." Lily gave a weak smile.

"Sit down," Abby ordered, shoving a chair in the direction of the redhead.

Lily sank into it gratefully.

"Long day?" Abby asked.

"I've had longer."

"I forgot! Earlier, you said you hadn't slept. Why not?"

"Can I just not sleep?" Lily groaned.

"No! You're a special person!" Abby gave Lily a bone-crushing hug.

"And that means I must be able to sleep?" Lily croaked.

"Yes!"

"LJ has problems sleeping. Why do you think he works on his boat so much? Can't breathe."

Abby let go abruptly. "You shouldn't have problems."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine. When I get particularly stressed, I can't sleep. Jenny has the same problem, although she's sleeping at the moment. I need to dig my valium out again."

"You take valium?"

"Only to help me sleep. I really need to get some sleep tonight. My boss is demanding that I run a stakeout tomorrow, and he's running short on agents. I have to do a triple shift. Twenty-four straight hours! If I didn't like my boss, I'd kill him."

"Arbourne? He's like Gibbs. All bark, no bite."

"Are we talking about the same guy?! LJ is a pushover, Arbourne isn't. I might leave a dead pig in his office just before I go on duty. He'll be fuming, but he won't be able to wring my neck for a whole day."

The lab fell silent for a few minutes. Abby wandered around, checking up on her babies again.

Her eyes fell onto her evidence table, onto the equipment Parker had been using to haunt the hangar.

"This stuff is really sophisticated," the Goth mused. "I wonder where he got it from."

Lily's face split into a wide grin. "Ask no questions and I'll tell you no lies."