Chapter 10:

Within 24 hours of their request to the relevant police departments, all of the case files and evident arrived at NCIS. Now it was time to get down to serious business.

McGee and Bishop took the files, interviews and other paperwork related items up to the squad room and started working on a case each. Ducky and Palmer grabbed the autopsy reports and returned to autopsy to study them and Abby started to go through the physical evidence to see if there was still any trace or DNA after all this time. With the advances in these areas, previously disregarded evidence could be swabbed for DNA, particulates could be run through the mass spectrometer, and fingerprints lifted and run through the national database.

"What do you want me to do boss?" Tony asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"You do not look, touch or even breath on this evidence," Gibbs said. "We can't risk any slimy defence attorney saying you planted evidence, or worse, the DA saying you removed it if we can't make the link." Tony just nodded. He knew it was the right thing, but he didn't know what he was going to do now.

"Um, there is one thing you can do?" Abby said as she approached the men.

"Yeah, what's that." Tony asked hopeful.

"Open you mouth so I can take a swab. If I can get a familial match on any DNA then we can make the case."

Not exactly what Tony was hoping for, but he nodded and opened his mouth while Abby took a swab with the long cotton bud before closing the lid on it.

"Is there anything to test that against Abby?" Gibbs asked.

"Um, yeah, there are a couple of things that I might be able to get something off but after all this time there is no guarantee. I was also going to run Tony's profile against all the standard databases to see if we get a familial hit, and I was going to run his prints to see if they ever got his prints from a crime scene."

"OK, let us know how you go."

Abby saluted before turning on her heels, "Yes Captain, My Captain."

"So I just sit and wait?" Tony asked.

"Yep. As far as I am concerned you are our prime witness, and from this moment, you are under witness protection … by me."

"Great … looking forward to it." Tony said with very little enthusiasm.

The team worked diligently and it wasn't long before Abby had some evidence.

"Ok, so like I said, I ran Tony's DNA through to see if we could get any sort of familial hit and not only did it match evidence from the murder of Wanda Thomason … well Hampson I guess because Thomason wasn't a real name so she was never really Wanda Thomason …"

"Abby!" Gibbs interrupted her.

"Right, so apart from that file, there were two other hits as well, one was from the suspect in the murder of Susan Mendleson and another from the case of Julie Brooks."

"So another two cases … this just get better and better," Tony lamented.

"Gibbs, there is more. But I think maybe I should speak to you about it first," Abby said shooting looks Tony's way.

"Wait, you aren't kicking me out …" Tony protested.

"Just give us a minute Tony, go wait in there," Gibbs said indicating Tony should head into the soundproof ballistics lab. Tony wanted to protest but knew by the look on Gibbs face it was pointless. He stormed in, shut the door behind him but stood at the glass door, arms crossed, with a look on his face showing he was unimpressed.

"What is it Abby?" Gibbs asked.

Abby turned her back on Tony so he couldn't accidently see what she was about to tell Gibbs. "That familial match I got on Julie Brooks, it wasn't on the suspect; it was on her." Abby handed Gibbs a copy of the print out. "Julie Brooks is Tony's mother."

Gibbs crooked his finger to indicate Tony could exit his glass prison cell.

"Take a seat Tony," Gibbs said, indicating one of Abby's stools. The look on her face was one of unbridled excitement, but laced with tentative fear. This wasn't going to be good. What have they found out about Senior now, not that he should really refer to him as that he supposed, it was more habit from his imagined life as Tony DiNozzo?

Gibbs handed Tony a photo of a young woman, looking to be about the late 60's or early 70's based on the dated clothing she wore. She had brown hair, eyes that looked like they sparkled, and a smile that instantly made you like her.

"Does this woman look familiar at all?" Gibbs asked him.

He looked at the photo again, there was something vaguely familiar about her but he couldn't actually remember ever having met her.

He shook his head, "No, what did my father do to her?"

"Killed her" Gibbs said matter-of-factly. "Tony, Abby got a hit off of your DNA with her. It would appear that this woman is your mother."

Tony eyes widened at the news, again he looked at the photo of the woman, willing for some sort of recognition. There should be shouldn't there? It was his mother, surely some part of him would recognise her … it had too. But the longer he looked at the photo the more he came to realise that he didn't recognise her, and he never would.

"You have her smile," Abby said coming up behind him and hugging his back, her chin resting on his shoulder.

"Who is she?" Tony asked, a slight hitch in his voice indicating his emotional turmoil.

"Julie Brooks. She was 26 when she died."

"My father?"

"It looks like it, same MO as the others," Gibbs told him.

"Wow, he couldn't even let the mother of his child live." Tony looked up from the photo and into Gibbs eyes, "Promise me we will put him away forever."

Gibbs nodded, "That's the plan."