Title: MIA: Missing In America
Summary: NCIS is called in to what should be a simple case: find a missing Marine. However, the case is quickly complicated when it is discovered that the missing Marine is the best friend of two other Marines, one of whom has been dead for a month and the other who is still missing.
Pairings: None/Canon and PruCan if you squint, and GerIta if you want to read it that way. If I managed to write it right, that is.
Warnings: Language, UST, possible Out of Character moments, and random references to other fandoms that the Audience may not understand. Apologies for bad accents. Apologies for misuse of Languages. Mentions Alcohol. Set after Jenny Shepard's death, but before Eli David's. This is a Triple crossover between NCIS, NCIS: LA, and Hetalia: Axis Powers.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners. I simply play with them for my and your amusement.
Authors Note: Merry March, all. Have a chapter. This story is not dead, I actually plan finish by June, but deadlines are evil and life is so we'll see how that goes. Short chapter is short, but again, best place to cut it. Next chapter should be longer. Let the bumpy ride begin.
Chapter 10: Scuttlevine and Grapebut
"I don't believe you." Callen said as they hopped out of the car
"Why not?" Sam asked and Callen shot him a look. "You want me to believe that there is a bar where your drink costs a buck and allows you to smash your glass in a fire place?"
"You know," Sam said thoughtfully "I think you're just jealous"
"Jealous?"
"That I found it and you didn't."
"Not jealous. Just can't believe there's a place like that in Jersey"
"Its not. Not anymore. Moved down to the Keys a few years back" Sam commented as he and Callen stopped at the edge of a quickly forming crowd outside the house they were looking for. "Wonder what happened here?"
"You didn't hear?" a woman's voice piped up from next to them. "It's been on the news for a couple of hours"
"No, I haven't. I don't listen to the news while I drive." Sam said as they turned to look at the woman who had spoken.
"S'all cool. Anyways it started with a guy," The woman paused as if thinking about something then continued, "As it normally does. Anywho this dude was special because he lived on this street. All the tourists drive by here, and as such the neighbors are rather nosy, but for a good cause. 'Cause stuff gets broken into a lot down here. Who knew? So they, the neighbors that is, heard the sounds of fighting and called the cops 'cause the guy lives alone you know? Then there was a twang and next thing they know their neighbor is stumbling outta his house with a couple of arrows in 'im. One of 'em called the police; then the media noticed and that's when things started getting hectic."
Sam and Callen shared a look, then turned back towards the brunette. She noticed the look, "What? 'S what happened."
Sam shook his head "We believe you, just…"
"How did you find all this out?" Callen said, interrupting his partner
She waved a hand flippantly. "I live in the area. When I've got the time, I come down here and people watch. It's interesting. Other than the fact that a guy died, which is really sad, this probably makes the second strangest thing I've seen on this street."
"What's the first?" Sam asked.
"Bunch of dudes singin "Hey there Cthulhu" and freaking all the mundanes by chasin 'em around while dressed in green robes."
Both men blinked. There was no real response to that. "You said he was dead?" Callen asked looking at the slowly growing crowd.
"Mmhm. Paramedics pronounced him dead just before I escaped the throng of lookie-loos and found you two wandering in."
"You were here when it happened, right?"
"Yeah"
"Did you see the shooter?"
"Shooter? What shooter?"
"The one who shot the arrows"
"Nope. Not a thing. Course it coulda been a figment of the dead guys's imagination."
"What do you mean? "
"I mean, that there may be no other shooter. The dead guy could have shot himself.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well scuttlevine says"
"Sorry what?"
"Ya' know, Grapebutt?" They shook their heads
"No?"
"No."
"Hmmmm, Oh. Grapevine! Or Scuttlebutt. Whichever. Whatever. Doesn't matter really. Point is, they thought he was insane."
"How come?"
"He was rather paranoid and a member of some strange new age religion. The neighbors thought he was escaping persecution of some sort. Whatever it was, he's not from around here. He had a few gatherings occasionally but he kept it quiet so no one really cared."
"I see. Who came to these gatherings?"
"No clue. People from his religion maybe? They were quiet folk. Didn't much care for attention." She paused and peered up at them, "Heeeeeey… You two are cops right?"
"Sort of. We needed to talk to the man who lived here, but it appears that we won't get the chance. Thanks for filling us in though Ms?"
"Oh sorry, didn't I give you my name? I'm Sam. Samantha Franklin-Walsh" She moved to stick out her hand, but the watch on her wrist gave a soft beep. She looked at it with a grimace. "Aw man dudes, sorry t' run out on ya like this but I gotta jet. Hope you get your info. Hang loose 'n all that." Samantha said, and jogged off with a small wave. The two agents watched her go in utter confusion.
"I don't think she was just a local or a lookie loo" Sam commented as she disappeared around a corner
"You picked up on that too? There is no way she should have known all that." Callen said.
"Another thing, did you notice that she wasn't really a redhead?"
"Yeah. Her roots looked blondish" Callen said as he turned back to the house. "Come on. Lets go make nice with the local leos and see if they've found a file. "
"Ah" Deeks exclaimed as he rolled down the windows of the Cadillac.
"What are you doing?" Kensi asked
"Smell that fresh seaside air Kens!" Deeks proclaimed happily
"What are you, a dog?" Kensi muttered as she turned to look out the window. "And what fresh air? All I smell is decaying fish" A car rumbled past, belching smoke and cutting her off. "And car exhaust." She coughed.
Deeks hummed thoughtfully. "Wonder where he's going in such a hurry."
Kensi shrugged. "Who knows? You sure you know where you're going?"
"Yes. I told you. Its right across the street from a surf shop I frequent. Speaking of which, I need more sex wax."
"And?"
"And we're already down here. Mind if we make a 5 minute detour after we've checked out the apartment?"
Kensi shrugged. "I don't see why not. That the apartment?"
Deeks looked up and pulled into a parking lot. "Yep. Hey, did Sam and Callen actually tell us anything about the guy?"
"No, but Eric sent us a file"
Kensi and Deeks stared at the apartment. The door was open, and it was a mess. The damage was practically identical to Puava's house. The feeling of Déjà vu was not overwhelming though since here there were no holes in the walls. A pile of papers were scattered about on top of an end table that had managed to avoid the destruction. Kensi picked one up and flipped it over as Deeks walked further into the apartment. " Deeks, this is one of the photos from that file. Martin Lee was definitely involved with the group."
"No kidding. Look at this stuff." Deeks said pointing towards the kitchen, where a large box of iodized salt stood on the table next to a garlic clove necklace and a glass bottle marked with a cross.
"What is in that bottle?"
"No idea" Deeks said uncorking it. "No color or smell" He dipped a finger in and put it in his mouth. "Just water. Nothing special… Unless it's supposed to be holy."
Kensi just shrugged and surveyed the destruction that had once resembled a living room. "I don't think we'll find anything else useful in here. Did you see any security cameras on the way up?"
"No" Deeks replied, "But the surf shop? It's got a couple of street facing cams as a result of a burglary a couple years back."
"Lets go get that footage then. "
"G!"
"Yeah?"
"You think this is a folder like Kensi was talking about?" Sam asked grabbing a file off of the top of filing cabinet.
"I don't know, but I hope so. I don't want to go through that cabinet. What's in it?"
"Looks like a bunch of photos, and some miscellaneous papers."
"Well then, lets see"
"…"
"Isn't that…?"
"Yeah. You call Eric and I'll call Kensi. We need to alert DC."
Small bells jingled as Deeks pushed open the door to the surf shop. "Be with you in a moment!" a voice called out from the back of the store. Deeks smiled and walked past the racks of clothes and kitschy doodads at the front towards the actual surfboards in the back.
"You do know that's not what we're here for right?" Kensi asked as she trailed in behind him.
Deeks shot her a mournful look. "Yeah, I know. That's where he keeps the wax though."
"Go get your wax" Kensi said making her way over to the proprietor who had just come out from the back room.
It was difficult to not look at the boards and not want one Deeks realized as he wandered over towards them. He spared a glance at his partner who was talking to Nick. Yeah, he had a few minutes. Deeks looked up at the various boards on the wall. It wasn't like he needed a new one, Deeks thought, trying to convince himself. After all, his current board worked fine. And he didn't have the money anyways.
A soft chuckle interrupted his thoughts. "I know that look."
"And what look is that?" Deeks asked, grabbing a package of wax.
"The look of a guy who wants what he can't have."
"Yeah. Sounds about right." Deeks turned around to look at who he'd been talking to. A young man with shaggy, sandy blond hair, a leather bombers jacket, and blue eyes behind wire-rimed frames stared back at him. "AJ?" Deeks questioned.
"Marty?" a smile broke out on AJ's face making the man seem much younger than he was. "DUDE! I haven't seen you in forever! Where've you been hiding man?"
"Eh, I've been around. Got a new job up the coast so I haven't had as much time to make the drive all the way down here. But what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Well man, how're you doing? Last I heard, you'd gone off to Afghanistan. When did you get back?"
AJ looked up at the ceiling in thought "We got back, about a month ago I think. They haven't told us when we're shipping out again so I've been spending my time looking for a job and surfing."
"How's that working out?"
"Dude, the surfing is amazing. I've caught some truly wicked waves. The job hunt is meh. Not having much luck, but in this economy who is?"
Deeks didn't get a chance to answer as a new voice cut into the conversation "Did you find your wax?" Kensi asked, coming up from behind him.
"Yeah." Deeks held up the bar in his hand. "You find out what you wanted about those surf lessons?"
Kensi shot him look. "Mmhm."
"Cool. Just let me pay and we can go." Deeks turned to AJ "Sorry man, gotta run. Good luck, alright?"
"Yeah man. Catch you later."
Kensi and Deeks walked off towards the counter. "So what's up?"
"Callen called. They found another folder and its huge. They need to brief us and D.C."
"Guys what is up with this lockdown?" Abby demanded as she strode into the bullpen. She had evidence waiting outside. Crucial DNA Evidence that could identify a pedophile. Evidence that was decomposing as they spoke, because of some stupid lockdown. "No really. What's up with the lockdown? I have evidence that can't get in because of it." She paused and noticed everyone staring at her. "What? Do I look like a tourist again?" The agents in the bullpen shook their heads. "You want to know part of the cause of this lockdown?" Agent Stills said to Gibbs while her partner, Agent Carter just stared
"Please"
He didn't answer but pointed strait at Abby who asked "Me?"
"No not you." He flapped a hand at her "The bird." He tapped a finger to his forehead
Abby rolled her eyes. "What bird? I don't see a bird. Are you calling me crazy?"
Ziva shook her head. "You are not crazy Abby. There really is a bird on your head."
"A chick or a fledgling by the looks of it" Was McGee's comment as he tried not to smile. Tony on the other hand walked slowly closer peering at the bird nesting in her hair. He didn't say anything for a moment then nodded.
"What is it DiNozzo?"
"Its Beldishmitt's chick boss."
"His what?"
"He had a bird on his head when he was getting coffee, but it wasn't there when he came in. It must have gotten lost."
"Who's bird?" Abby asked, very confused
"Beldishmitt. Current suspect. Metalworking artist from Germany, living in Canada. Young, 23- 25 maybe. Albino, likes leather?"
"He's a suspect?"
"The only one at the moment. Why? You see him?"
"Yeah. They shoulda been pointing at me Gibbs!" Abby suddenly exclaimed as the team traded looks. "I told him how to leave!"
That got everyone's attention. "What do you mean? When was this?"
"10-15 minutes ago, I saw him. A man fitting that description came wandering through the garage."
"And you let him go?"
"I'd never seen a picture of this suspect. I thought, Giles Johnson, was a baby agent. He looked lost and had a badge, so I told him how to leave."
"McGee check the footage."
"Working on it, boss"
"This is just great" Tony remarked slumping back into his seat. "Our one suspect has vanished and what do we have to show for it? A baby bird. What are we going to do with a baby bird?"
"Well, it can stay with me." Abby offered "until you guys find him again." She reached up, had closing gently around the ball of feathers. "Aren't you cute? I'll take care of you." she crooned then looked up again "It's the least I can do while you track him down."
"Thanks Abbs."
"Gibbs?"
"What McGee?"
"It appears to be no use boss. Beldishmitt's gone. I have footage of him entering the garage and exiting the building, but then he just disappears. None of the nearby cameras picked him up. And they need us up in MTAC"
"Why?"
"They found something in LA."
AN: So what could LA have found? What is the deal with this bird? Will Gilbert be back to claim it? How important is surfing to this story? What kind of coffee did Gilbert order? Is Samantha Franklin-Walsh really blond? Why were there people singing 'Hey there Cthulhu'? And who is this AJ? Tune in next time to find the answers to these questions and more in the next thrilling adventures of Gilbert and Matthew, Nations on a Mission! (Kudos to you if you can figure out what this is based off of)
And in all honesty, I think that last question is fairly obvious. This chapter was betaread by the wonderful Ktwontwo. We have an agreement, I give her plot bunnies and she reads my things. Go check out her stories, they are really good.
Also, if anyone truly cares, I finally had time to go back and fix all of my previous typos that you all thankfully pointed out. Thank you again for that and please continue to keep doing so.
Now for my standard end of the Authors Note. If you like it, please leave a review. If you didn't, please tell me why not. If you have questions ask away. If you found a typo or accent mistake please point it out so that I can fix it.