FREEZE FRAME 3 – Six Degrees
SUMMARY: – Six Degrees of Separation. Gibbs, his team, and G. Callen hatch a plan to rescue Marley's uncle, Nic Hanson. Marley and Rye offer their advice and expertise in more ways than they should when they get involved with the rescue. Gibbs's and Gill's romance is cemented. Third in the Freeze Frame series.
DISCLAIMERS: I do not own NCIS.
Previously.
Chapter 11
I'd Rather Be A Sparrow Than A Snail, Pt 2
FREEZE FRAME: Cut To mid shot of Gibbs and Gill standing together arm in arm, smiling. One of Arlington National Cemetery's hill sides can be seen behind them. Marley is standing in front, looking up at them and laughing. Convert black and white. CUT.
Things were really buzzing at headquarters. There were a few loose ends to clear up, including the girls and Ziva filing out incident reports with help from Tim and Tony.
Earlier Gill and Gibbs had arrived at the hospital to be with Marley before they discharged Nic. He left the hospital in a body bag, accompanied by Ducky. Tom Burton had returned to re-hab and would meet up with them all again at Nic Hanson's service. Both Rye and Marley were discharged into Gibbs's care and taken to headquarters, where a whole lot of paper work, along with several reports were done, finalizing both cases involving the Hanson's.
While Marley and Nic, along with Gill and Gibbs, sorted out Marley's witness protection authorities and guardianship details, Rye sat, not too comfortably, at Tony's desk typing out her account of events at the warehouse. Ziva was sitting opposite, typing out her report, when Tony arrived with sodas for both of them and a cushion for Rye.
Both of them ignored Tony as they typed furiously away. "Yes," they chorused and jumped up to punch the air.
"No, I was the first to finish," said Ziva.
"Oh, no, you weren't," contradicted Rye.
"Tony, you decide."
Tony looked from girl to girl.
"No, I think I will decide," called Tim. "Print off on my count."
Ziva and Rye threw each other a determined glare then slouched over their key boards.
"On your mark, get set, go," called Tim.
Tim marched to the printer and pulled the warm papers from their tray. "And the winner is… Rye."
"A cheer rises from the crowd and to our first place recipient; One cushion presented by champion Special Agent Tony Di Nozzo."
Before Rye could take receipt of her well earned trophy, Gibbs snatched it from his hand. "No cushion, check her spelling first."
"Gibbbbsss," whined Rye.
Gibbs rounded his desk chuckling.
"This case done and dusted yet, Boss?" asked Tony.
"Just about."
"Mc Gee?"
"Boss?"
"Summary?"
McGee grabbed hold of the remote and started flicking up various images, as he added a commentary about the people, the places, and the motives behind both cases involving Rose and Nick Hanson. Connecting the dots was Tim's favourite part about a case. Not only because it meant it was all over, case closed and put the box away, but because it allowed him to exercise his quick mind and always gave him a heap of material for his next novel.
Rye had moved around to the front of Tony's desk and was listening with great interest. "So these cases weren't really connected?" She queried.
"Yep, that was…" started Gibbs.
"Co-incidence?" smirked Ziva, hoping to call her boss out on one of his rules.
"No, six degrees of Kevin Bacon," quoted Rye.
"Yes, really bad luck," scowled Tony sincerely.
"But, not bad luck for Gill and Gibbs," scoffed Rye.
"How so?" asked Ziva.
"Well, there's the co-incidence that Gibbs and Gill were 'ALONE' at the lake house," teased Rye.
Gibbs glared at the teen. Rye shrunk a little, but held firmly onto the sides of her cushion.
Gibbs rounded his desk once more, sat down, and started to clear the paper work from his desk as the team continued to rib each other. It was their way of off loading the tension that often silently built up during difficult cases.
"Only because, Tim was in hospital, from poison Ivy on account of you, Tony," accused Ziva.
"What? No, Tim. I didn't have anything to do with the poison ivy."
"You wait, Tony. Gibbs's prank curfew is officially up," he smirked.
"Not until after the service, Mc Gee," said a nonchalant Gibbs.
"Can I have that in writing, Boss?" pleaded Tim.
"Yep, type it up and I'll sign it. My signature's just about on every other piece of paper churned out of this place today."
"Huh, get used to it, Boss. Besides the case sign offs, now that you are officially a parent, there will much more, like…report cards…" joked Tony.
"Medical forms," added Ziva.
"Field trip forms", informed Rye.
"Phone bills," nodded Tim.
" Bail bonds," smirked Tony.
"Nothing new to this parent and you kids," quipped Gibbs and bounced a smirk of his own right back at his top field agent.
"Very funny, Boss, but you won't be laughing when the credit card bills come in."
"Credit cards? Twelve year olds don't have credit cards," stated a confident Gibbs.
"One with over twenty million does."
"McGee, you fixed all that up with Nic, didn't you?" inquired Gibbs.
"Yep. The Cameron Family Trust no longer exists. There are several off shore accounts for Nic to access and one trust here for Marley. It's an educational trust to be used for just that until she is twenty five. This will be administered by NCIS, and authorized by you, Boss, and co –signed by Gill."
"So where is Gill?" asked Rye.
Gill suddenly appeared from the hallway and strode into the middle of the bullpen. "Here, Rye, ready to go home?"
"Huh, yeah, I rang Cheetah. He's coming to pick me up".
Tony started to chuckle. "Good ole Cheetah, grrrr," he mocked.
"Shut up, Tony," scowled Rye.
"No, he's not. I'm driving you home and personally delivering you to your grandmother, this time," announced Gill.
"But, Gill..."
"Both of us are driving you home. Don't worry, you can bring the pillow," taunted Gibbs.
Rye pursed her lips, clearly annoyed at the turn of events. "What about Marley?"
"She is staying here while we drop you off and head out for a bite to eat," answered Gibbs.
"She and Nic need to spend a little more time together," added Gill.
Rye dropped her head, then quietly asked, "Is Marley okay?"
"Yes, Rye, she's fine. The two of you will see plenty of each other on our nights at the house," smiled Gill.
"That will be cool. Marley tells me Zach is a real hunk," winked Rye.
Tony raised his eyebrows. "Oh, what about poor Cheetah," he pouted. "Dumped?"
"It's platonic, besides he's a child," she retorted.
Gill smiled and grabbed Rye around the shoulders. "Come on, let's get you home."
Gibbs grabbed his car keys from his desk drawer, tossed them in the air, and almost skipped around his desk.
Ziva and Tony gave each other a knowing and self-satisfied smirk before snapping to attention at Gibbs's next orders.
"Everybody finish up and get some rest. Di Nozzo, stay until Abby is ready to go. She is with Ducky and Franks; they still have some work to do on the undercover details. I don't want anyone heading out of here by themselves tonight. We'll be back in about three hours."
"You think there may still be a threat, Boss?"
"No I don't, but humor this parent until all you kids are home."
"We are home, Gibbs," a very sincere Ziva said softly.
Cut Away to conference Room.
Marley and Nic are sitting on the sofa, chatting and laughing about their lives and about the times Nic has missed over the last eighteen months.
"I'm sorry you had such a rough time of it, Marley. I tried to get word to you and Rose, but it was just getting too risky."
Marley twisted the hem of her t-shirt. "It wasn't too bad. Good thing about bipolar, sometimes the reality is best forgotten. Besides, you were reported missing in action; I always felt that you were just that, and we'd find you."
Nic pulled Marley in close and kissed her head. "And you did just that. Not much fun though, for a while there."
"Nope, nor after. Gibbs wasn't too happy with me."
"How about that? Are you happy about Gibbs taking on that role on a more permanent basis? You know his watch and his methods."
"Yeah, really it's all cool. His team are too. Plus, he is in love with Gill," she stated as matter of fact.
Nic didn't argue. If there was one thing he knew about Marley, it was her uncanny perception and intuition about people. "I have all the confidence in the world with those two. Honestly, I wouldn't leave you anywhere I didn't think was right. But, more than right, I think it will be good for you, a chance for you to live a more normal and safer life."
Marley laughed. Before Gill and now Gibbs, the one person she could trust, the one person she knew was a safe bet, was her Uncle Nic. "Don't know about normal, but I feel safe. And I trust them… I love them, really, I know it sounds dumb, but..."
"No, it doesn't. It sounds perfect. You deserve perfect, Marls. Rose was…"
"Mom was a beautiful person, Nic. She was a great person, who had a disease, a chronic illness. It was hard work, but not all bad. We had a great relationship. One time we even got to go to Disneyland, just for two days. Rose was cutting a doco and some of the text footage was crap. So the producers let us go with a crew and do some shooting. We spent the day filming, and then the crew and I did a few of the rides, fast tracked and all. Rose never stopped smiling for a whole day."
"Yeah , I can really imagine that. Rosie had a great smile. She loved you heaps, you know."
"She did, Uncle Nic. Most of the time she had her stuff under control. But since you went missing, well, she had a few more episodes and the medication wasn't really working for her. I tried to stop her from drinking. I usually didn't have to worry too much, because she hardly went out. When she started going to the "Island" I thought it was a good thing, you know, make other friends and stuff, and she did. Some of the girls there and Rick the barman were great, even looked out for her. Just that Ray; he turned out to be an asswipe."
"Hey, language," he scolded tapping her thigh.
"Yeah sorry, but there's no other word for him. He killed Rose."
"You're right, he's an asswipe."
Marley smiled and leaned in close, resting her head on Nic's chest for a while before laying her head down on his thighs and let him gently caress her head.
"I see her face sometimes, still." Said Marley quietly and then began bitting one of her nails.
Nic continued to rub her shoulder with one hand and gently removed her fingers from her mouth with the other.
Marley turned and looked up into the kind face of her Uncle. "It was a scared face, Nic. But it didn't know me. Her eyes didn't know me, when she died, so scared."
"She's not scared any more, baby; she was just scared for a moment. Think of it as not her, not the real Rose, not scared anymore. Remember her laugh, her smile."
"Yeah, she had a great laugh," sighed Marley.
"You have her laugh."
"I know."
"Oh, you do, do you," he sneered and then attacked her ribs with his long wiggling fingers.
"Stop it," she giggled, slapping his hands away.
"Never." He grabbed her and started a full body attack.
Within minutes both lay back against the sofa, exhausted from their rambunctious wrestle and belly laughs.
Nick ran his fingers through the mop of short hair on Marley's head as she turned and smiled.
"You be good, now. Keep up with all your school work. I'll be in touch as often as I can. But give me a month. The director is going to set up some comm links, so if you stay out of trouble and pass their strict security policy you get to see and talk to me in a month."
"Oh, I'll pass. I have contacts," she said statically as she wriggled and raised her eyebrows.
"Huh, you look like Groucho Marx when you do that," he laughed.
"Yeah, I learnt that from DiNozzo," she announced with pride.
"Yep, you'll pass. Come on, Abby is going to work her magic on my looks for my new identity."
"Maybe she can give you big bushy eyebrows and a thick moustache. She has some purple hair dye. She can make you look like a Goth. Na, maybe she can make you look like Kevin Bacon or Elvis Presley. You know some say he really isn't dead, that he went undercover. Hey, he probably looks like you, now," she teased.
"A very old looking me, then. Don't wish that on me."
"Hey, I know, you should get her to give you a tattoo. Can I have a tattoo?
"No."
End flashback : ( return to prologue scene, Nic's Funeral Service)
Fade in to white fog with sound effect…"READY, AIM, FIRE, READY, AIM, FIRE."
Continue Fade out to Arlington Cemetery. Present time.
As the echo faded another order was ground out, "PRESENT ARMS" On cue another marine lifted his bugle and played Taps.
At the end the honor guard's commanding officer continued "ORDER ARMS, PORT ARMS, RIGHT FACE, FORWARD MARCH." Marley had not expected any of that. Little did she know that both Vance and Hetty had insisted upon it. Still, it was very jarring, hearing the rifle shots when all they had heard before was the preacher's words and a soft song. The suddenness of the sound, made her and even those who had witness the salute before, jump, leaving all with an overwhelming feeling of honor and pride.
One of the officers marched over to the child who stood between Gibbs and Gill and bent down to officially hand a folded American flag to her.
Marley's tears flowed and she turned away, planting her face into Gibbs stomach, more timid and sad of the symbolic finality, than scared. "No, I don't want to."
Gibbs bent at the knees and lifted Marley's face to his. "It's okay, baby. It's an honor. Nic is honored. It doesn't mean the end. He'd want you to take it and keep it forever. Hey? Little Sparrow?"
Marley nodded wiped her tears and turned back to the officer, cueing him to continue with a smile and her outstretched arms. He placed the flag in her hands, saluted, and then turned on his heels, as Gibbs, Marley and Gill returned the acknowledged salutation.
Marley waited as they lowered the coffin into the ground before turning and slamming herself into the two figures that now stood behind her. Gibbs picked her up, cradling her in one arm as she buried her head in the crook of his neck and sobbed. Gill leaned in close to both of them. Brushing past Gibbs, she kissed Marley and fondled her hair, only realizing at that moment that Marley had re-applied the purple streak in the front. Marley smiled, contented and turned her head to look over Gibbs's shoulder. Gill took the opportunity as she retraced her movements past Gibbs's smirking grin to kiss the lips that had formed on them.
Marley watched as the crowd slowly dispersed and dwindled to a few lone figures which included Ducky. He stood next to a tall gentleman, with grey hair, whiskers and a gravelly voice.
"Don't worry, Ducky. You tell Leroy, it's about time. And that little girl, I got her six too," said Mike.
Ducky laughed and walked slowly with Mike Franks to a stretch Hummer with black tinted windows parked on top of the hill. He got into the back and closed the door. Ducky stayed and watched as it pulled away from the curb.
The team also watched the exit of the mysterious vehicle and then tracked Ducky as he walked towards them, returning to their ranks. Marley, staring back at them, turned as a response to Abby's sigh, to see Gill and Gibbs still in their embrace and ensuing kiss.
"Get a room," she recommended.
Gibbs didn't move his head or release his lips. Instead, he just threaded his other arm between their bodies and flicked his open palm on Marley's backside.
"Ow, Gibbsss. Hey, let me down, you're squishing me."
Gibbs dropped Marley, and she took off to meet up with the team, while he and Gill walked over to Vance and Hetty. They stood beside their vehicle with Callen, also watching the stretch Hummer pull away.
Marley ran up to Ducky, clutching the folded flag. "Hey, Ducky, was that the man who is helping Uncle Nic?"
"Yes, it is."
Marley looked down at the cushioned flag of the United States and ran her hand over it slowly. "Gibbs said I should keep this, even though… well that Nic should be still honored."
"Yes, Gibbs is right, and so should Rose. Your Rose is worthy of the honor."
"Do you think so? She didn't die for her country and, really, either has Nic."
"But they both do not exist in the same way, and that's for the good of many."
"Rose talked about death, in some serious moments, to me and to Uncle Nic. She wanted to leave her body to science, so they could look at her brain and try and figure out Bipolar; maybe to help others with the condition."
Ducky took Marley by the hand and walked towards the gravesite. "Yes, it was a shame that her wishes could not be fulfilled. I'm afraid the bullet caused too much damage to her brain, but her body serves just an important purpose here."
"Do you think the bad guys would really x-ray Uncle Nic's grave. Really check to see if there's a body in there?"
"They might. It's been done before. Vance and Homeland Security don't want to take that chance. And well, if there has to be a body, it's Rose who deserves this honor. Don't you think?"
"Yeah, she was always a hero to me anyway. She loved me; she kept me when she could have given me away, when it was too difficult. She tried real hard all of my life. I'm glad she's here, at least I can visit. Grandpa and Grandma are buried in Kentucky."
The team soon joined them. Ziva bent over and placed her hand on Marley's shoulder. Marley turned inwards taking Ducky's hand with hers and clasped it to her chest.
Ziva smiled, "Whenever you want to come here…"
"Any time," meant Tony.
"Day or night," pledged McGee.
"Rain or shine," sang Abby.
"We would be most honored to escort you," concluded Ducky.
Tony bent down to face her. "Got it, kid," he grinned and held up his flat palm to initiate a high five.
"Got it," retorted Marley and with a determined expression slapped his palm so hard that it snapped back and smacked his forehead.
"Hey?"
Abby giggled, then holding her lace parasol in the air. "Arise, lady Gibblet!" She announced, as the rest of the team applauded.
Cut away to interior of Hummer.
Mike Franks shook is head, but smiled at the faces in front of Him. Dead Men Don't Talk were a motley looking crew.
Nic Hanson laughed at the ex-agent's expression when he entered the hummer. "Great cover, Franks," smirked Nic.
"It's just until you're out of DC, Hanson."
"No really, I'm mean great idea. These guys, I hear, were very much a part of my rescue."
"Yeah, the little Goth had us all decked out, wired up, and rocking," laughed Gyro.
"Now we get to smuggle you dudes out of the country."
"Yep, ahh …" spluttered Mike trying to remember their names, "Bear?"
"Menace."
"Menace. You guys are doing a real service."
"Our pleasure," quipped Molkron, "as long as we don't have to fit you into a sound case. My baby needs protection too."
"This has been the most exciting tour ever," grinned Big Johnny.
"You never know we may have to call on you again someday," suggested Nic.
"Yeah, no problems. Abby has our number," smirked Gyro.
Bear added, "says she might have a personal gig for us in a month, after we get back from our L.A tour."
"Should be cool, we owe her one."
The band all nodded.
"Yeah, some sort of wedding she's planning," explained Molkron
Franks laughed. "Perfect, oh, I'd love to see the groom's face, if it is who I think it is."
Nic joined in before sobering. "What about my cover, Franks?"
Mike Franks handed over a satchel. "Ah, yes, Gavrilovich Volkov. Here's your new passport and background information."
"Pretty ruthless family we Volkov's, killing each other off like that."
"Yes, Gavrilovich, Ivan's brother and the cause of his demise. We're posting it out there as a revenge killing under a family code of honor for the death of his son and wife. Gavrilovich was the original money man until he contacted Callen's friend Kolcheck, wanting to get out. He'd turned up on Kolcheck's doorstep in a pretty bad way. Ivan had him hit, or Thorn, probably by Roach. Gavrilovich wanted out. His wife was ill, and he didn't want his son in on any of the business. He'd been behind the scenes of the Russian mafia for years. Thus, he's knowledge and has a connection with Callen's informant. But as far as intel on both sides is concerned, the story out there is that you were not killed and have been in hiding waiting to extract your revenge."
Nic acknowledged the details of the story, absorbing it, and committing it to memory. "Everybody and anybody who knew Ivan will be glad to be rid of the man and his extortion racket. He has been the bane in their sides holding them all to ransom," he added.
"You'll be well appreciated by them, a hero. With Ivan stopped, the return of their money, and the new off shore account, you will not have to start all over again to infiltrate the operation. We have a man meeting you in Singapore. You will stay in hiding for a week, just to make sure no one suspects."
"I think we're pretty safe. Callen and I are pretty sure that only Braum, Thorn, Ivan, and young Iisakkii know that Gavrilovich is really dead. None of them actually broadcasted it. And other than Iisakkii and his sick mother, there were no other living relatives."
Franks turned to the quietest band member sitting opposite him. "Well, what about you, kid? You got something big going down with all that purple hair?"
The young man looked up under his brow, and touched with the stiff purple hair standing up on his head. "Yes, Abigalk says it will be a realistic look for rock band and your Doctor Mallard; he did eggcellent job on my shoulder," smiled Iisakkii.
"Sorry about your old man, kid," apologised Nic. "Callen discovered Ivan was responsible, but he was the mastermind behind bigger nightmares that we needed to end."
"My father was a criminal, Mr Hanson. I am happy never to live as an Volkov again. You are welcome to his name, if it will do any good."
"It will," said Nic, "but the information that he got to Kolcheck has been invaluable. We've been on this for two years thanks to that information. He didn't want this life for you, and he may not have wanted this life for himself. Do not be too hard on him".
"Porheps as a father, anyway. I'm a glad I did not know of all this when I was a boy."
"Well, I guess you got your wish, kid. You get out of that pre condoned life and get to follow your dream," said Franks.
"Da, but I do not know if my skills are up to these fine musicians. Besides, I play violin and am pretty good on bass cello."
"Hey man, that's so perfect, we put that together with some of Gyro's ramped amps, it's going to create a whole new dimension," crooned Animal.
"Yeah," said Dan aka Gyro, "now all you gotta do is find a burning call name."
"What about, Chekov, like the Russian boy genius from Star Trek?" suggested Big Johnny.
"Na, it doesn't blend with the rest of us," complained Molkron. "You're part of the 'Dead Men Don't Talk' product now, kid."
"Yeah, yer call sign got have a bit of bite in it," emphasized Animal.
"I was thinking, porheps, 'Snake.' It is fitting. It is very kool Amerikaan name, da?"
"You mean perhaps," corrected Bear.
"Yeah, it fits in with all of us," agreed Animal.
Iisakkii beamed like a school kid. "So, Snake it is then lead bass for Dead Men Don't Talk. "
Animal clapped him on the back. "Second bass, kid, but the only bass cello, and yeah, one of us."
"Actually," said big Johnny, "he's one Dead Man that can talk."
"Ya mean sing," corrected Menace.
"Hey, wait a minute, ya can sing can't you kid?" panicked Gyro.
"By the look of you guys, does it really matter?" quipped Franks.
Cross fade back to Marley, as she hums I'd Rather Be A Sparrow Than A Snail.
The Hummer had completely disappeared around the last of the avenue's bends as the team made their way to their vehicles. Gibbs and Gill motioned for Marley and Ducky to join them, so they too could depart.
"It seems it is time for us to leave, Marley," quietly spoke Ducky. "Everybody is coming back to my house for a delightful meal and celebration."
"That sounds great, Ducky, but can just I have a moment by myself."
"Of course."
Ducky walked over to his Morgan, pausing for a moment next to Gill and Gibbs.
Marley turned and surveyed the surrounding Arlington hills and the hundreds of small while crosses that dotted its various slopes. She could see the large entrance gates in the distance to the left and watched the Hummer completely exit the park and wind its way down the road that would take it to the freeway and Dulles airport.
Marley subconsciously waved, then looked back to where Gill and Gibbs patiently waited arm in arm.
"I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail. Yes, I would if I could, I surely would…" she hummed. She was surrounded by those who would rather fly than take life too slow. She now knew why people would take risks, so that many could have the opportunities to fly, then land to feel free and the earth of home beneath their feet.
Marley felt lucky to have had Rose Louise Hanson as her mother, proud to have an uncle like Nic and very blessed to have found Gibbs and Gill, who had now found her.
Hmmm and each other…. She mused…. "I'd rather be a hammer than a nail," she sang, then ran off giggling and straight into Gill's and Gibbs's embrace.
"What's so funny?" asked Gibbs.
"US!" she shouted.
"Us?"Gibbs looked at Gill and then back down at Marley. "Yep, Us…" he chuckled.
FREEZE FRAME: Cut To mid shot of Gibbs and Gill standing together arm in arm, smiling. One of Arlington National Cemetery's hill sides can be seen behind them. Marley is standing in front, looking up at them and laughing. Convert black and white. CUT.
TBC
Epilogue
Tricks and Treats.
A.N. Since starting this story I have actually visited Arlington. An amazing place… the atmosphere, the serenity of the long lawns and all the little hills along the sides.
I hope you all weren't confused by the flashback. You should have recalled some of it from the prologue, and then the second chapter started with one week earlier. I wanted to try another production element the show has used to tell stories. Special thanks to Harliquinn for helping me edit this chapter.
Please review, I'd like to better my personal best, but I'd also like to know if my resolutions worked. Whaddya think?
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