A/N: The information about the Naval Station Norfolk comes from Wikipedia.

Chapter 12

"You stupid fucking bitch! Lt. Debra Suddth is supposed to be dead! I will ruin you, you miserable, no-good little whore! You will kill her by midnight tonight and it will be on the news by tomorrow morning, or I swear, bitch, I swear you will never, ever set foot on a ship again!"

In the lab, Ziva, Tony, Tim, Abby, Gibbs, and Julie listened to the message on Seaman Lindstrom's voicemail. Then Julie turned to Gibbs and said, "I take it your little stunt yesterday worked."

"Oh, the one where I called asking you where you were and mentioning Lt. Lawrence was looking for you?" Gibbs asked.

"Mm-hm," Julie said. "From the way she's swearing, she is not a happy woman."

"Do we bring her in, boss?" Tony asked.

"Where was the cell when the call was made?" Gibbs asked.

Abby's fingers danced across the keyboard and a moment later a map of Norfolk appeared, along with a red circle, indicating a cell-tower and the range. "Near the RLSO at the Naval Station Norfolk," she said.

"You know she'll claim her cell was stolen and that she didn't make the call," Tim said. "All we have is circumstantial evidence."

"We have the gun," Tony said.

"Which does not have her prints on it. We do not even have the box the gun was originally in," Ziva pointed out. "Bobby Soto claims Seaman Lindstrom gave him the gun."

"A gun that went missing from the NCIS evidence vault," Tony pointed out.

"Anyone could have taken it," Ziva said. "We do not actually see Lt. Lawrence take the gun, just enter the vault."

"What about the fact that she accessed the records of Seaman Lindstrom and the PFC Sorreson case?" Tim asked.

"Someone could have used her access code," Ziva said. "You're a hacker," she pointed out to Tim, "you know how easy it is to get information like that, especially if you know what you're doing and looking for."

"And Seaman Lindstrom?" Tony asked.

"She could be lying to protect herself and salvage her career," Ziva said. "After all, she has been arrested before for stealing."

"What do you think, Gibbs?" Abby asked.

Gibbs was listening but he was also watching Julie, who was getting a gleam in her eyes. "What I want to know is what you are thinking, Suddth." he said.

"What I'm thinking may or may not be admissible in court, but it would be fun to try," Julie said, studying the map of Norfolk. "How's your history of Naval Station Norfolk?"

"Are we talking history class here?" Gibbs asked.

Julie started grinning but it was not a nice grin. "Did you know the station has been in use since 1917? Today, the station is home to five Carriers, six Cruisers, five Frigates, nine Amphibious Assault ships, eight submarines, fifteen Military Sealift Command ships, and twenty-two Guided Missile Destroyers. It's considered one of the world's biggest stations. Unfortunately, when you get ships and men and alcohol, especially in the early days of the Navy, well, things happen. As it was, more than a few murders have happened on the docks, as well as a few accidents." She moved, hands behind her back and, pitching her voice low, continued. "The worst accident took place on September 17, 1943. A NAS department truck was pulling four trailers loaded with depth charges on the taxiway between NAS and the NOB piers. Each trailer was designed to carry four aerial depth charges, but to save time, two additional charges were loaded on top of each trailer. To make matters worse, they weren't properly chained down."

"Oh jeeze," Abby said, wincing, seeing where this was going.

"One of the charges slipped loose and became wedged between the trailer and the ground," Julie said, continuing. "The friction of being dragged against the road caused the charge to begin smoking. An alert Marine sentry spotted the smoke and notified the driver who immediately stopped the truck and ran to a nearby fire station to get some help and find a way to cool the charges down, but it was too late. An Assistant Fire Chief was killed in the first blast and by the time the charges finished exploding, eighteen buildings and thirty-three aircraft were destroyed, and forty people died, with over four hundred people injured."

"Ouch," Tony said, wincing.

Julie dropped her voice to a whisper and rested her chin on Tony's shoulder. "It's said that just before the clock strikes midnight, especially on clear nights, when there's very few ships at the docks, that it's really not very safe to wander down around some of the older piers. That things have been known to happen there." She moved behind Tim, who eyed her suspiciously. "People claim to have heard whispers that have no source and shadows that have no form. They say that on a cold night, when there's a full moon and a clear sky, a mist appears out of nowhere and moves against the wind. Those who believe, claim the mist comes from the September 17 1943 explosion, when the souls of all those lost in the explosion, continue to wander, confused, angry, and very unhappy because of one stupid mistake."

"The Fog," Tony said, shivering.

"Which one?" Julie asked, familiar with the movies. She grinned.

"What about the explosion?" Gibbs asked, wondering where this was going.

"We could get Lt. Lawrence on circumstantial evidence," she began before her face turned ugly, "but I don't want that."

"What do you want?" Gibbs asked.

"I want that bitch to confess and if I have to scare the crap out of her, I will do so," Julie hissed.

"What do you have in mind?" Gibbs asked, seeing where this was going.

"I'm thinking let's tell Seaman Lindstrom the truth, have her make a call to Lt. Lawrence to meet her at the docks, and we raise Lt. Debra Suddth from the dead," Julie said coldly.

Abby's face lit up. "That is seriously freaky! I like a lot!"

"Count me out," Tony said, holding up one finger.

Tim grinned mischievously. "What's the matter, DiNozzo? The idea of a haunted pier give you the heebie jeebies?"

"Heh," Tony said, glaring at Tim. "You're not the one who had to do a radar check on a supposed-to-be-dead Marine in the middle of the cemetery in the dead of the night."

Tim and Abby sniggered and Julie grinned. "How badly did Gibbs scare you?" Abby asked.

"Enough that I though he was going to join the old lady and her poodle in her grave," Gibbs said deadpan. "What do we need, Suddth?" he asked.

"Debbie's uniform and the usual assortment of video gear, plus if Abby could kindly create a sound track of whispers, it would be a big help," Julie said. "And maybe, depending on the weather, a fog machine."

"After the way you did my nails, your wish is my command!" Abby said cheerfully, bouncing on her heels.

"Your nails?" Gibbs asked, confused.

Abby thrust her fingers under Gibbs' nose and wiggled them. He caught her hand and studied her nails. They had been nicely done, Abby-style, he thought. The nails had a black base with alternating roses and skulls and crossbones skillfully done. Both of Abby's index fingers had faux gems for the skull's eyes. "Nice," he said.

Julie reached in to her sweater and and pulled out her dog tags, beginning to fiddle with them. A gleam in the metal caught Gibbs' attention and he gently caught the tags. She froze but allowed him to take a closer look.

"Are you sure Burnham told you that the symbols on the tags mean strength and faith?" he asked, studying the symbols.

"Yeah, I am. Why?" Julie asked.

"Abby, pull up the Chinese symbols for strength and faith and compare them to the Chinese symbol for I love you," Gibbs said, letting go of the pendant. Abby did so and Julie's eyes widened. The symbols were very different and the I love you symbols matched the ones on her pendant.

"I don't understand; John wouldn't have gotten something like that mixed up," Julie said, confused.

"Maybe he's trying to tell you something without actually telling you something," Tony suggested.

"He gives you his service number with the letter B after it, that's pretty specific," Gibbs said.

"If he's interested in me as more than a friend, why hasn't he asked me out or something like that? Why this and why the fudge about the symbols?" Julie asked.

"Speaking from experience?" Gibbs offered. Julie nodded. "Us Marines are pretty good at being willing to put our lives on the line for those we care about, but when it comes to our hearts, eh, that's a different subject."

"Been there, done that?" she asked, glancing at him. He nodded and she nodded thoughtfully.

Then Gibbs' cell rang. "Yeah, Gibbs." He listened to the voice on the other end of the line for a moment then said, "Sure, sweetie, here she is." He handed Julie the cell and said, "It's Erica; seems she was looking for you and you don't have your cell with you."

Curious, Julie accepted the cell and moved to a quiet corner. As she did, Tim pulled up a satellite map of the Naval Station Norfolk area on the plasma. "Okay, here are the ships and the piers," he said, marking the various locations on the map as Tony and Gibbs moved to the plasma.

"Screw the ships and screw Lt. Lawrence," Julie suddenly snapped, tossing Gibbs his cell and moving rapidly towards the elevator. "Adam McIver is drunk and beating the crap out of his wife again. Erica is hiding at my place."

"Let's go," Gibbs said. "DiNozzo."

"Call Metro, get somebody over there ASAP," Tony said, already getting out his cell.

"Abby!" Gibbs called.

"I'll start working on that plan!" she called cheerfully. "McGee, I could use your help!"

"Boss?" Tim asked.

"Stay with Abby," Gibbs said as the elevator opened and they stepped in. "By the time I get back, I want a plan in place to catch Lt. Lawrence!"

"Got it boss!" Tim said.

Tony was fairly certain Gibbs broke every road rule there was in his desperation to get to Julie's apartment. Everyone had stopped by their desks and grabbed their weapons and badges; Julie had grabbed a black webbed utility belt she admitted she wore when she was wearing a dress for situations like this. Before Gibbs had even parked, Julie was out, keys in hand, and running for the main entrance of the building. Metro was coming but there were reports of a massive traffic jam that was impeding their progress.

Even before they arrived at what Tony assumed was Adam McIver's apartment, they could hear the yelling. The team took position on either side of the door, weapons out, with Gibbs and Julie in the lead. On Gibbs' nod, Julie pounded the door and yelled, "Federal agents, open up!"

"Fuck off!" a male voice yelled angrily.

"I take that as a 'no'," Ziva said.

"That's the polite version," Julie quipped.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said. Tony nodded, and moved in front of the door. With a grunt, he kicked and the door slammed forward. Having done this many times, in one form or another, all four agents poured inside the apartment.

"Federal agents!" Gibbs yelled.

"Get down on the floor!" Ziva yelled.

A scruffy, unkempt man froze as he was about to strike a sobbing, bruised woman who was cowering against a couch, blood running down her face. The stench of alcohol permeated the room and the team spotted numerous bottles and cans of beer scattered about the apartment.

"Back off!" Tony yelled.

"Get out of my house!" the man yelled.

"Adam McIver, you're under arrest for aggravated assault," Julie began, reaching for the cuffs on her utility belt and putting her gun away as she carefully approached the man.

"Fuck you, bitch!" Adam yelled. His fist suddenly shot out and he caught Julie with a punch in the face that snapped her head back and sent her staggering. She shook her head, seeing stars and held up her hand to stop the NCIS agents from assisting her. She touched her mouth and her fingers came away with blood. Then she caught the sneer on Adam's face. That did it. Everything she had kept bottle up over the last few days, ever since she had lost her sister, exploded to the surface in a mindless rage.

The next thing Gibbs knew, Julie had lunged at Adam and struck him viciously in the face. He went down and she followed, landing blow after blow on the man's face, rage on her face.

"Get off my husband!" the woman yelled, trying to lunge at Julie, but Ziva got there first and hauled Anna away, kicking and struggling.

It was Gibbs who grabbed Julie and hauled her out of the apartment and in to the hallway. "Get in to your apartment," he snapped. Breathing hard, she did as she was told, hands shaking as she unlocked her apartment door. Then, fairly staggering, she made her way to her couch. "Stay there," he commanded, removing her gun from its place at her hip, more as a safety precaution than anything else, as Erica tentatively peeped out from Julie's bedroom, wearing what looked like a large sweatshirt with Garfield on it.

"Is my mom okay?" the little girl asked, coming forward, having heard the shouting and the yelling.

"She'll be okay, but she's going to need medical attention," Gibbs soothed. "Is there any ice in the fridge?" he asked, seeing the bruising on Julie's face.

Erica nodded and ran to the fridge to get a gell pack from the freezer, which she wrapped in a towel and gave to Julie, wincing at the bruise on her face. "Did my dad do that?" she asked sadly.

"He did, but Julie made sure he didn't get a chance to do it again," Gibbs said. "Stay here and keep an eye on her. Your father is under arrest for assaulting a federal officer as well as resisting arrest."

Erica nodded as if having expected something like that. She went to the kitchen and began to make coffee, obviously familiar with Julie's kitchen.

Satisfied that Julie was in good hands for now and away from Adam, Gibbs went to check on his team. Tony and Ziva had successfully cuffed a very dazed and bruised Adam McIver and paramedics had arrived and were now treating the battered couple. Metro had also arrived and were eying Adam with disdain and caution. Ziva was standing nearby, keeping an eye on Adam and his wife, both of whom were protesting loudly.

Tony came over to Gibbs and said quietly, "The father has been cuffed and a breath analyzer test says he's well above the legal limit, about 0.11 and reaching. Seems this isn't the first time they've been called out here to deal with these two. How's Erica?" He and Ziva had been apprised of the situation on the way over so both knew about the little girl and her relationship with Julie Suddth.

"She's safe for now; hiding in Julie's apartment," Gibbs said. "I don't think the mother, Anna, is in any shape to try and look after her and with Julie in protective custody, she's not any better."

"Social Services?" Tony suggested. Gibbs nodded. Tony nodded. "I'll make the call."

"And I'll talk to Erica," Gibbs said.

"FBI isn't going to be too happy with her," Tony cautioned. "Our friendly neighborhood Mr. McIver is already screaming about aggravated assault and police brutality. Any idea what caused Julie to attack like that?"

"Repressed emotions," Gibbs said. "Grief, anger, you name it. She's hurting and she's not handling it well."

"Looks like she did a little Wolverine on him, attacking like that," Tony said, referring to Hugh Jackman's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

"Ticking time bomb," Ziva said, coming up to them. "And Adam McIver got caught in the blast."

"How is our fine, upstanding citizen?" Tony asked sarcastically.

"Sore, but he'll live," Ziva said, shrugging. "I think his problem has more to do with the fact that he was beaten by a woman than the fact that he was beaten."

"Could be," Gibbs said. One of the Metro officers approached him and said, "We're ready to leave."

"You know what we're booking him for?" Gibbs asked.

"Resisting arrest, assaulting a federal officer, aggravated assault, child endagerment, spousal abuse, shall I continue?" the officer asked.

Gibbs grinned. "Nah, that pretty much sums it up. Get him out of here."

"And the wife?"

"Child endangerment?" Gibbs suggested.

"Good enough," the officer said. "Let's go, ladies and gentlemen."

Satisfied, Gibbs headed back to Julie's apartment to check on his charge. She was still on her couch and talking quietly to Erica, who had cuddled up to her. As he watched them, he made a judgment call. He decided it was time to place a call to a certain Master Sergeant Marine and get Jule the hell out of the area for a while. They could manage without her for a few hours and he strongly suspected it was time John Burnham fessed up to Julie Suddth about the dog tags she wore.

"Julie," he said, moving to sit beside her. She looked up at him, eyes haunted and rimmed with tears. Again she was fiddling with her tags. "Get changed; put some street clothes on. We can manage without you for a few hours. I don't want to see you back at NCIS until 2100, got that?"

"I thought I was under protective custody," she said.

"You are; you're going with Burnham," he said. "Take a break; forget about everything for a while."

"What do I do about getting him to tell me the truth?" she asked.

Gibbs smiled. "Give me a few minutes with him and I'll see what I can do."

"And Erica?"

"She'll be okay. As for Adam, Metro is going to be hitting him with numerous charges. You may have to face your supervisor if Adam charges you with aggravated assault or anything along those lines," Gibbs warned her. "However, I'm thinking mitigating circumstances. You may get suspended for a time."

She shrugged. "That's fine; I could use the time off."

He nodded. "I'll let Fornell know, see what he can do."

"Thanks." He rubbed her shoulders gently and stood up. Then she looked up at him and asked, "Hey, Gibbs?"

"Yeah?"

"Does it ever get better?"

He shook his head. "Not always better, but sometimes easier."

"Better than nothing, I guess."