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.
Nic Hanson has gone undercover again with a whole new identity. To keep Marley safe in the future Nic Hanson is declared officially dead. Marley is put into a witness protection type program that is to be monitored by NCIS with Gibbs and Gill as her official guardians. Gill, and Marley have become part of the Gibbs family.
A.N. This chapter has really given me some grief. One I have a very sore arm. And what I had envisioned as a prank for Tony ended up being quite difficult to write. I'm not a 100% happy with it, but hey, Epparog ( FF1 ) was such a good prank on McGee, it's hard to beat. I've decided Tony is the King of Pranks.
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Tricks and Treats. (A little late, I know)
FREEZE FRAME: Cut. Close up of a scared Tony leaning back on the bed as five life size dolls come towards him. Cut away to mid shot of Marley sitting on the bed in the next room with a remote control, sniggering. Convert Black and White. CUT.
Fade into Ducky's Dining Room.
Marley, Ziva, and Abby chatter while setting the table for a late supper. Tim and Ducky emerge from the kitchen and place large casserole dishes on the table. Gill and Gibbs arrive.
"Ahh, Jethro, Gillian, you're here. I hope all that packing has left you with a healthy appetite."
"Sure has, Duck, everybody here?"
"Yes, Marley insisted upon it. Well, nearly, we are just waiting on young Anthony."
"Marley insisted upon it? Really, Ducky, she's one of the little people. You're in charge. Don't let her rule the roost."
"It's no problem at all, Gillian. Marley has something planned, I believe. Besides, seeing that you will be my boarders for a while it's very nice to have the company and something to do."
All three smiled as they moved into the dining room.
"Please let's at least start, I can put a plate away for Anthony. Nothing worse than cold lamb shanks dry roasted in Mother's special mint jelly and kiwi fruit."
Gibbs held out a chair for Gillian and sat opposite Ducky at the head of the table. They all then took their seats and started filling their plates from the variety of serving dishes Ducky had prepared. Marley, sitting at the right of Ducky, shook her head at the Brussels sprouts. The ME ignored the child, and placed two on her plate.
"I can't thank you enough, Ducky." said Gill, "I really hope we won't get under your feet. As soon as I find a bigger apartment and…"
"And organize the new house for the program," added Ducky.
"Then sell Rose's apartment. I'm sorry, Ducky, but it was just too much to relocate everyone at once."
"Yes well my dear, Jethro is thorough. All three places were under watch, it is best you move."
Abby bounced in her seat. "Perfect though, three days at Gibbs's, four days here."
"Well, I think it's great. I love it here, and at Gibbs's I get the gang and the tree house, and when the new duel care house is done, I'll have three bedrooms." Marley cheered as she tried subtly to transfer one of her Brussels sprouts to Abby's plate.
"Let's hope we get that new house. Alistair was putting a bid in for it today. But I must admit I've done enough moving today, to last me a life time. I'm not looking forward to that shifting."
"Well, there is plenty of time for that. At least everybody is safe. I get to have some good conversation and someone to cook for again," smiled Ducky as he added another two Brussels sprouts to Marley's plate.
Marley screwed up her face. "Hey, Ducky, we better leave some of those for the others. I hear they're Tony's favorite."
"Where's Tony, anyway?" asked Gill.
Marley, Tim, and Ziva all looked at each other, then burst out laughing.
"He shouldn't be too long, Boss," stuttered Tim.
Just then there was a knock at the door. Ducky stood up, placing his napkin on the table. "Continue eating, people, while it's hot," he suggested, then shuffled over and opened up the beautiful engraved double doors to find a young police officer standing there with one very sad and sorry looking Tony Di Nozzo, dressed in only a ….
"Officer? Anthony? What on earth happened to you and where are your…"
Gibbs looked at the four faces sporting smirks two feet wide. "Care to explain," he scowled.
Everyone started to talk at once, while Marley took the opportunity to redeposit the extra two sprouts back on Ducky's abandoned plate.
Fade out, fade into Flashback: 3hours earlier.
Marley ran, hanging on to her raincoat hood as the rain pelted down. She quickly made her way to the car parked across the road, flung open the back door and hopped in.
"All set?" she puffed after removing her hood and shaking off the few drops of water that had collected on the ends of her bangs. "You should have seen his face," she exclaimed to the front seat passengers. "Where's Ziva, she make it through in time?
"Yep, you did well, Grasshopper," exclaimed Abby.
"Boy, you are really getting into this movie reference thing," giggled Marley.
"Yes, we've heard enough of them from Tony over the years," scowled Tim.
"Yeah, but King Fu, not the Hitchcock or Spielberg reference that we are used to," said Marley.
"Doesn't matter, I will have extracted my revenge. Wahaaaaa," cackled Tim.
Abby looked at her partner in crime, well actually her blackmailer. "Don't do that again, Tim. Or I may just have to forget this whole retribution thing and go with the hour long Ducky lecture about the hazards of pranking, then the three hour long analogues and references to either Greek mythology or the gruesome details of some really bad, bad, serial killer."
"Okay, Abby, just as long we scare the pants off Tony, I'll be happy."
"So yeah, literally," said Marley cupping her hand over her mouth to smother her rising snicker. "Trouble is he may not be scared. I mean, you guys have seen real life scary things."
"But not supernatural, scary things that Tony thinks he doesn't believe in. Though, we should be adding a few physical discomforts too. After all, each one of his pranks on me had me either electrocuted and shaking for an hour or scratching my skin off."
"Don't worry, Tim, I added a little surprise to Marley's idea with the Psycho scene."
"So while I was out playing the midget psychopath from 'Don't Look Now' in my little yellow rain coat, did you get everything else set up?"
"Yep, we should have vision soon," said Abby, tapping away at her lap top in the front seat. "And Ziva is already to go and Timmy, here as well."
"Yeah, Tim, you really look the part. Who'd of thought Tony could be so freaked out by little kids in yellow raincoats and mothers…"
"Not just any mother, Marley. Anyway how did you get around all those places this afternoon?"
"Huh? Oh half the Semper Fi gang helped me out on that one. Gibbs and Gill started unpacking the apartment this afternoon Some stuff is going into storage, some to Gibbs, and some to Gills. They left me at Gibbs's fixing up my new room, then the gang came over. They think the gang and I were in the tree house. Anyway, I still managed to make it to most of the route spots. I couldn't resist seeing his face."
"Careful, Marley, you could have been caught out."
"Na, ended up being even better. We started tag teaming. So every time he'd chase one of us, another would turn up in another spot and turn him around. I'm sure he thinks he is either imagining things or we are disappearing and re-appearing like little yellow ghosts."
"Wait a minute. Does Gibbs know where you are, now?" frowned Tim. "I don't want him worrying about you. He'll skin both of us alive."
"Yep, I left a note saying that Abby was taking me back to Ducky's for dinner, so I've got plenty of time left. Besides they'll want a bit of alone time… they can't get enough of it." She giggled.
Abby sighed with a contented expression before getting back to the task at hand. "What about headquarters this morning?
"NCIS headquarters was easy. Michaels helped set up a friend from legal as a suspect and sent Tony in to the viewing room to observe his interrogation technique. Michaels had him believing they were interviewing a suspect in a missing person's case, and that the woman was crazy, saying that her dead daughter had come back and killed the husband. I stayed out of sight of the window, in the near corner, then slowly edged my way around the room. I gave it a couple of minutes before I turned around and came up behind Michaels; had my head covered with the hood. When I heard Tony banging on the glass trying to warn Michaels, I took off quick and went to the ladies, and stuffed the evidence. I rounded the corner in time to see Tony burst into the interview room, screaming at Michaels and the lady. But neither of them would admit to seeing the crazy kid in the yellow raincoat. Michaels just stared at him."
Abby laughed and rubbed her hands together. "We'll get the footage of that later," she promised.
"Too bad you can't get imagery from the viewing room, as well," said Tim.
"Or, the rest of us playing around with his nerves."
"I hope it works. If he's jittery enough the other gags should tip him over the edge," said Abby as she punched away on the lap top that rested on her lap. "I just hope we don't go overboard. You know there are heaps of situations where pranks have really backfired."
"Including his, Abbs. Don't back out on me now. I've spent a fortune, plus this is your get out of jail card, remember?"
"And Marley's, she was really the genius behind the GPS prank.."
"Hey, no way, Abbs, you can't put all that on me. Besides, I've spent a lot more time setting this up, too. For you Tim, just for you, Tim, my favorite… remember Scooby." Marley's fake smile hadn't fooled any of them.
Abby giggled. "Not to mention, you are really enjoying this."
"Yep, co- coordinating the others was easy. I missed Jessica's scare, but Ben got him when he stopped off at the video store. Anyway, he's been seeing this kid everywhere he looked for the last half hour. I think me standing outside his window just as it started to rain finally unnerved him. So when do we start with the rest of it?"
"Okay, I've got vision," yelled Abby, "let's get this show on the road."
Zoom into to lap top screen and merge into mid shot of Tony's apartment with him standing at the window.
Tony scrubbed his face as he moved from the window. It had been a weird day. That was the fifth time he could have sworn he'd seen a kid in a yellow rain coat hanging around. It had given him the creeps. It had started at headquarters, when he could have sworn he'd seen the same figure in the interrogation room come up behind Michaels. He'd laughed at himself, then thinking that his overactive imagination and the case Michaels was working on reminded him of a movie plot. One too many movie references must have finally taken its toll. He had to admit, it had been a totally hectic and dramatic four weeks and fatigue was surely taking its toll. After tidying up some reports on a Saturday morning, he was finally glad to be able to head home for a relaxing afternoon before heading off to Ducky's for a late night team dinner.
Kids in yellow raincoats had given him the creeps after seeing that movie. Of course he had been just a kid himself at the time .It had been one of those late night Halloween sleep over at Boukie's place where a group of twelve year olds who were too cool not to watch the line up of scary movies. Bourkie had insisted on every kid horror film he could think of, Chucky, Bride of Chucky, Friday the 13th, Kujo, The Exorcist, oh, and Pet Cemetery, where the dead kid comes back … brrrr… No wonder he didn't like little kids. The fright night went on, but at least there were a couple of classics thrillers, like Psycho and Vertigo that cleared the gore factor.
Tony shook himself, and headed for the bathroom. He had a little time to kill so a nice cold beer and a soak in a hot tub would do the trick, shake off his nerves and the chill of the rain he'd been caught in at the video store.
He ran the tub, and poured in the scented gel balls Abby had given him earlier that day. Well, they weren't scent ball, he was no girl, but Abby had insisted he try them out. The small dissolving shells would add a good dose of Epson salts and Arnica oil to the tub, which was sure, Abby had promised, to cure his aching body. She added a little bit of lavender bubble bath to disguise the smell of the arnica; plus he liked bubbles, but he wasn't going to tell Abby that.
As the tub filled he stripped and got in. He took a swig of his beer and placed it on the floor before closing his eyes and sinking down into the warm depths of the water and ticklish purple bubbles.
It wasn't long before his sixth sense had him spring open his eyes. He searched the room with a uncomfortable notion that someone was watching. When no one could be seen, he tried to relax a little and now wished he had put on some soft music.
It was as if someone was reading his mind and, almost on cue, a loud sound was heard. He recognized the tune immediately. It was the score from Psycho's shower scene. It never ceased to unnerve him. He had it once as his ring tone, but it was loud and whenever his phone rang everybody jumped, including him. It was no different this time. He jumped and sat back up against the tub, springing his eyes open wide, only to be suddenly faced with several floating eyeballs in the tub staring back at him
Tony screamed. Jumping out of the tub, he ran buck naked into his living room, where he was faced with the black and white image of the same shower scene on his large TV screen.
He started to laugh, "Oh, Abby, very clever. You have had your fun, now… Wait you're taping this, aren't you? He panicked and ran back to the bathroom to retrieve a towel. It wasn't until then that he noticed his form in the full length mirror on the back of the door. From his ribs down he was purple, even his p…
"Abby, you are dead…" he screamed.
Zoom out long shot to frame of lap top and then to the car interior.
Above the laughter in the car Marley's pleading could be heard."Tim, let me see, let me see." She begged squirming and trying to remove Tim's hands from her eyes.
"Not yet, Marley."
Ziva suddenly jumped in the front seat and slid in next to Abby. "You well to go, Tim?"
"Good to go, Zive," corrected Tim.
"Wait, he's still looking for a towel," warned Abby.
Ziva scanned the imagery on Abby's lap top. "Look there, I left the replacement towels on the breakfast bar."
"He'll get to that in a minute. He's searching for one in the bathroom," narrated Abby.
"Well, he won't find one, nor any of his clothes, including the ones he took off. I nearly got caught gathering them up. How did he look when the eyeballs popped up?" asked Ziva excitedly.
"Scared out of his mind, screamed like a girl," exclaimed a vision impaired Marley.
"Tragic. Don't worry, I've got it all on file," sniggered Abby.
"Can I open my eyes now?" asked Marley.
"Yep, he's found the towels…"
All sets of eyes went to the screen. Tony could be seen tearing open a brown laundry package on the breakfast bar. His back was towards the camera and Abby took a moment to capture a still photograph of the senior agent's purple butt.
"I'm going to send this off straight away to my lab. I'm running out of memory." Abby hit upload. Then they watched Tony frantically pull out a fresh towel and wrap the small bath towel around his waist barely covering his credentials.
Zoom back out to mid shot, then crawl in and push in with a split screen. Interior of car on the right, MTAC left.
Leon Vance is sitting in the theatre chairs speaking to the SecNav while they wait for an incoming transmission from USS Bunker Hill. The screen flutters.
"Mitchell, have we got vision yet?"
Director Vance looked up at the screen and pulled his toothpick out. "Ahh, here it is. Sorry about the wait, we had a big case on here yesterday and the staff had been streaming a covert and retrieval operation live." He said, sitting up straighter.
"Where were you streaming live from Leon, and why am I looking at a rather large but tight purple ass?" asked Jarvis.
Vance just stared at the 26 foot screen, his toothpick dropping out of his mouth.
Stretch left pane to push right frame out, returning full screen to the interior of the car.
"Oh, he is going to have so much trouble keeping that on. Well done, Ziva."
"Thank you, I will make a grand prank star yet."
"It's prankster, Zive," said Marley.
"Oh, I know, but I thought the movie reference was clever, did you not?"
"Nope, I just thought you made a mistake," replied Marley honestly.
"Okay, we are ready for stage three. Tim you ready?" asked Abby.
"Ohhh, I think so, but I don't like this bit too much," he faltered.
"Come on, he's not going to recognize you in that outfit. Plus it's not like he isn't going to figure it all out in the end. It's payback, Timmy, remember?"
"I remember, but I just don't want to get caught like this."
"Don't worry; Scott's waiting for his cue. He's with us on this…"
"Alright, I'm ready."
"Okay, wait for the cue. Ziva will make the call in five minutes, that will give you time to get up there."
"Got it!" Tim went to the trunk of the car. He checked the area for a moment, hoping to God that nobody was watching. He pulled his prop from the trunk and took off running as fast as his tight plaid skirt and heels allowed him.
Cut away Ducky's dining room Present time.
"Ahh, yes well, just one moment please, officer," they heard Ducky's voice from the door.
The girls hid their giggles when Ducky appeared in the room. "Jethro, would you be so kind as to come to the door. An Officer Peters wants you to identify one Agent Anthony Di Nozzo. It seems he does not have his badge on his person, and very little else for that matter."
All except Gibbs sniggered, but stopped immediately as Ducky's gaze meet theirs. "Quickly, if you wouldn't mind, Jethro. The poor boy is going to freeze to death."
Gibbs quickly joined Ducky, and then returned within minutes with both Tony, purple from the chest down and dressed in only a small white bath towel, and the police officer in tow.
Gibbs walked over to his jacket, which had been placed on the back of the chair, and pulled his ID badge and showed it to the officer. " Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS, and this is my senior agent, Anthony DiNozzo. And you are?"
"Officer Scott Peters," said the young man, who then checked Gibbs's ID badge.
"Uhmm, thank you, sir."
Out of the corner of his eye Gibbs caught Abby's smile and the little wave she gave the young officer. Gibbs had to give it to them, they had really stitched Di Nozzo up. How many others were in on their prank? Hopefully, no harm done, except for a shivering Di Nozzo.
"Sir, well, um, things seem to be in order. I will leave the gentleman in your charge. There will be no charges laid. The little old lady was quiet reasonable once she had calmed considerably."
Marley snorted into her hand, and Tim had to elbow her to stay focused.
"Yes, very well, come, Anthony. We will find you something more suitable for you to wear and warm you up a little," said Ducky.
Tony eyes were glued menacingly to his team mates as Ducky encouraged him to move. "Ducky, can I stay here the night?"
"Of course, my boy."
Ducky lead Tony, clutching the sides of the small towel around his waist, up the stairs, , while Gibbs saw the police officer to the door.
Gibbs returned to the dining room.. "Tell me that's the last of the surprises," he questioned with a straight face.
"It's the last one boss, really," affirmed Tim.
"I hope so, because I've had three missed calls from Vance this afternoon."
"Oh don't worry, Gibbster, nothing's happened at headquarters. Except for this morning, but that was like a little tiny weenie thing. Michaels was in on it. Just a little payback for the Halloween party thing, years ago. You know, when Tony spiked his drink with a herbal colon cleanse, then added super glue to two glasses Tony got him to hold for him. Which made it really hard for the guy to get his fly down once all the action happened …?"
"Abbs, okay, yes I heard about that one."
"Oh, I'd like to hear more on that too, but finish today. What happened next, after he got frightened by the eyeballs and ended up purple?" excitedly asked Gill.
"Gill," scolded Gibbs, "don't encourage them."
"Oh come on, Gibbs, you cannot possibly tell us that you haven't wanted one of Tony's movie references to turn around and chomp him on the ass," said Ziva. "I, for one, have found his stupid analogies confusing."
"Only because you haven't seen the films, Ziva," smiled Marley.
"Fine, I want the details, I think…"
"Ya think!" quipped Abby.
"Abbs!"
"Imitation is the highest form of flattery, Gibbs."
Gibbs smirked and made his way back to the table, and sat down then called Marley over.
"So, while we were running around all day moving furniture, you and your friends were running amuck around town."
Marley nodded, "yep in little yellow raincoats. Don't worry, Gibbs, we were safe."
"Maybe, but only till Di Nozzo thaws out." He laughed.
"Well, let's get the rest of the story, while Marley finishes her dinner," said Gill.
"I finished," she said pointing to her plate. "Go ahead, Abbs." Marley twisted and sat herself between Gibbs and Gill while Abby continued.
Fade out to interior of car. Marley is in the back seat, leaning forward to look at the laptop screen Abby has on her lap. Ziva is sitting next to her in the passage seat.
"You ready, Ziva? McGee should be in position."
"Yes, have you got that voice modifier on your Scarp program?"
"Skype, Ziva, yep ready to go: 'Sexy Damsel in Distress no. 1'. Okay ringing through."
The three in the car watched the imagery of Tony, now in his living room trying to stretch a rather small towel around his waist, and then adding a safety pin to the sides to hold it up. Suddenly, the theme from Jaws could be heard, and Tony turned, searching for his Iphone. It sat on the breakfast bar vibrating, and Tony rushed to pick it up.
"Hello 911, I have an emergency. Please my mother, she's old and has dementia. She's crawled out onto the window ledge. I don't know why. She said something about her son and a woman, but she hasn't got a son. She only has a daughter. Ohh, sorry I'm rambling. Please help, its two stories up. She is going to fall, please help me. I cannot reach her. Get an ambu…"
"Ma'am?"
"Get one of those things here quick. I live at 244 West Lake Drive, Apartment 3B.
"Ma'am, this is not 911. You have called the apartment three doors down from you…
"Oh shit, oh shit, please can you help… look out the window. Please, a little old woman is on the ledge. Please…"
"Listen, hang up now. Call 911 again. I will try and reach her from here. I'm in apartment 1 B."
"Okay, I'll be right there "
"No wait, call…"
Ziva suddenly hung up the phone. Tony threw his phone onto the sofa and ran to his window. He swung open the double French windows, igniting a howl and high pitched scream that followed, what looked like the body of a little old woman in a plaid skirt plummet to the paved area below. He watched the body hit the pavement. Before any further details could register in his mind, he ran for the door and scaled the stairs to the courtyard below.
However, Tim was faster, and arrived in time to hurl his stuffed stunt double into the bushes and start to pick himself up with a groan and a wobble, as Tony arrived in an absolute panic.
"No, stay still," yelled Tony."You may have broken something," he called, reaching for the elderly woman, who had started to stagger towards the courtyard gates.
Tony grabbed her. "Wait, your daughter is coming. Please, just sit down. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were so close to my windows, please. Oh my God, how did you survive that? Please sit down…" he rambled.
"You pushed me," accused Tim, using a rather convincing but shrill falsetto.
"No, well, yes, but I didn't mean to. Please…"
"Oh, I don't feel so good…"
"Right, right, yes, please let me help you."
"Oh my, I'm going to be sick."
"Here sit down, you've had a big fall. How you survived it is unbelievable. You should be dead. But, you know, I'm happy because, you know I didn't mean to…"
"Get your hands off me, young man," the old lady screeched hitting him hard with her handbag.
Tony jumped back in surprise. "Ma'am, I'm only trying to help…"
McGee was playing his part well. Now what were the lines he was supposed to say? God, it was hard to concentrate in these damn tights. "I said get your dirty hands off me, Norman. You won't succeed you know. I've seen you with that girl; that girl that you were watching, watching eyes, everywhere. Tsk, tsk, you're a naughty boy, Norman Bates, leaving your old mother like that."
"Norman Bates? Are you crazy, lady?" said Tony as he quickly turned the old woman around. She was quite a sight, now that he had finally got a better look at her. Norman Bates? Yep, she was quite the image of the decrepit mother from that movie, with her pastry face riddled with wrinkles and a grey bun sitting on top of her head. Then the shirt and plaid skirt with the wrinkly brown tights stating to pool around her ankles. Yet, there was something familiar about the woman. Her body language, for one, suggested someone more athletic, which made sense as she had obviously fallen from a good twenty feet above them. But, she seemed younger. No, this was too…
Tim sensed Tony reclaim his senses and intuition. They knew that would be the case. However, the small camera he had hidden on the front of his handbag had gotten most of the footage they desired. Abby was going to have a field day editing and uploading it, for Tony's panicked face and actions were priceless. Tim wanted to laugh now and call 'gotcha', but, no, he had one more thing to do.
"Help, POLICE, this man is trying to attack me! Help POLICE, help me!" he screamed.
Tony stopped, stood up straight, still oblivious to his attire, and grinned."Nice one, McSqueal, you nearly had me. My God, you really went to all this trouble? How did you do the fall… ahh no..," Tony twirled on the spot and slapped his own head. "The stuffed dummy falling off the building trick. Really, McUnoriginal, we did that in the nineties."
"HELP, HELP!" yelled McGee, while backing away.
"Ma'am?" Officer Scott Peters ran towards the pair. "Ma'am, over here," he waved. "I have him covered," he said, drawing his weapon and aiming it at Di Nozzo.
"Officer, no really, this is just a gag. This man is really . . . ."
"Get your hands above your head, NOW!" shouted the officer. "Ma'am, are you alright?"
Tim moved behind the officer, who stood unwavering. His eyes and gun were firmly set on Tony.
"Oh, I feel much better now that you are here, Officer. This half naked man tried to kill me, you know. And now, he wants to . . . well, you don't need to be told what sort of animal magnetism my appearance could evoke in a monster like him. Ohh, is that a real gun, Officer?"
"No ma'am, I'm only a rookie. Traffic is usually my assignment, but I was on my way home when I heard you screaming. This is a Taser, a new one, very powerful and effective."
"Ohhhh, how interesting," Tim looked up, staring into to Tony's face with a smirk that could block out the sun.
"Look, Officer, I know how this must look. This was part of their plan, really." He said pointing to his attire, or rather the the lack thereof. "They stole my clothes, and…"
"He's purple, Officer. He's half naked, and he tried to kill me. I don't think he is all there. Shouldn't you call for back up?"
"Now, McPyscho, very clever, but not funny anymore. Tell the policeman who you really are, you've had your fun."
"Oh, Officer, please, he is making me feel quite uncomfortable," a flustered Tim proclaimed, in his falsetto voice.
"Okay, Nutso, the lady has a point. Turn around and put your hands in the air," ordered Scott.
"No come on, surely you can see … he's a guy… look." Tony moved towards the pair.
"No, no, keep him away. He'll try to put his hands up my skirt, he's tried it before."
"Oh, you are too much, McGee. I bet this guy isn't a real officer either," he laughed. Tony ran towards the pair, determined to at least get Tim's wig off and reveal this was, indeed, all an elaborate prank.
Scott Peterson aimed and fired. An experienced hand at this, he hit his mark, as ordered by the pretty Goth lab technician he had run into at the courthouse. Tony hit the ground, none too ceremoniously either, holding his backside and shrieking in horror before passing out.
Cut away to Ducky's dining room.
The crew at the table were laughing, including Gibbs. However, they were not so confident when they saw Ducky enter the room.
"It seems my lecture on the dangers of Tasers will be definitely scheduled for next week. They are not toys, people, and I am surprised you would have used it after the last time. Timothy, hardly a fitting role model for Marley, either I might add."
"Don't worry, Ducky, Scott had it on so low it…"
"He passed out, Abby."
"I think he just got himself worked up, Ducky. Besides, it was a well deserved lesson," defended Tim.
"He is alright, Ducky, is he not?" asked Ziva, now a little concerned.
"Yes, he is fine." Ducky walked back to his spot at the table. "He will be joining us shortly. Oh, I see everybody has finished their meal. Perhaps we'll take desert and coffee in the lounge, it's a little more cozy in there." He smiled looking down at his plate. "Though it seems a little close in here, too. My Brussels sprouts appear to have procreated while I was gone." He stared at Marley.
Marley jumped from her chair."Good idea, the living room is perfect. I've got a surprise for everyone."
Abby jumped and down. "Oh I know, I know, well sort of…"
"How do you know, Abbs?"
"Not telling, Gibbs."
Gibbs smirked at the excited young Goth as they all made their way into the living room. Tony appeared before Marley's return. He was dressed in a clean pair of slacks, a little short in the leg and a lot tight around his butt, and a cashmere pullover in tan, not his best color.
"Anthony, sit. You look so much better. How do you feel?"
"I'm fine, Ducky, though the purple dye will not come out."
"Give it a couple of months."
"Months!"
"I beg your pardon. No, sorry, I meant only days," said Ducky with a straight face that suppressed the snigger that threatened to evolve at the desperate look on young Anthony's face.
"Come on, Tony, you have to admit it was a pretty good payback. Tim ended up in the hospital both times after your pranks," accused Abby.
Tony screwed up his face, then appeared to relax a little. "Hmmm, the movie references were funny and the eye balls scared the crap out of me… Psycho Timmy was a laugh until the policeman shot his Taser at me, and I was escorted HALF NAKED, HALF UNCONSCIOUS out of my apartment block for everyone to see," he upsurged, while gesticulating wildly with his hands.
"Ohh, you know, we didn't get that bit on film," pouted Abby.
"Film? Oh no, you are not going to upload any of that. Besides, Timmy was dressed as an old lady. He was wearing tights and all," desperately bargained Tony.
"That won't bother us, will it, Tim? No one is going to recognize him anyway," countered Ziva.
"But it's our little guarantee, our bargaining chip. We won't upload it if you leave it as square, no more pranks." smirked Tim.
"That's the worst… that's the worst punishment of all, Mc…Mc… McMeanie… Okay deal, but I'm telling you, anyone gets any footage of that I'll…"
"Do not worry, Tony, what stays on prank camp goes on prank camp," nodded Ziva.
"Ahh, Ziva, that's," interrupted Gill.
"Good, Ziva, we get the picture," snarled Tony.
Gill and Gibbs sat on the sofa watching the quasi sibling banter go on between the team.
"I hope Marley doesn't get too many ideas, you lot. She starts school next week."
"Marley get any ideas? She was practically the master mind behind the whole thing," announced a proud Abby.
"Yes, it was she who thought of most of the pranks," added Ziva.
"Except the Taser, I wanted that in," beamed a revengeful Tim.
Gibbs shook his head once and then smiled at Gill. "Oh boy. You sure you want her attending school? She might be best still doing home study."
"There is only a month until summer vacation, so her start this late is basically familiarization. But, yes I think it will be good for her to experience school. Besides, with the duel care program it will be easier knowing she is somewhere safe while I'm there or at work," explained Gill.
Just then Marley came back into the room with a bundle of gift wrapped boxes and envelops.
"What's this?" asked Gibbs.
"Well, I finally got to get those gifts for everyone."
"Wait a minute, you still don't have access to your trust fund?" asked a suspicious Gill.
"No, well not now, but I did, there was a little window of opportunity, that and mom's accounts."
"But Marley, that was for your education, firstly…"
Marley scowled and almost stomped her foot, "well firstly, Gill…"
"Hey!" warned Gibbs.
"Sorry, Gill. Uncle Nic approved of some of this stuff; he said I could get you all a little something. Plus, there's plenty left for my college fund."
"That's right, Boss. I set the funds up with Nic, they are security tight. Marley can't access them until she's twenty five, except for educational purposes and those payments have to be authorized and signed off on by you and Gill," clarified Tim.
Marley pleaded, "You gotta let me do this, please. It's my way of saying thank you, from me and Rose and Uncle Nic, please. There is enough money in the trust. There's enough money in the trust to educated a thousand kids, Gill, please?"
Gill called her over. Marley put the gifts down on a side table and moved over slowly. Gill pulled her to her. "Listen, it will be my pleasure, all of our pleasure, to accept a small thank you gift. You didn't have to do any of this, though. Especially for me, I have a gift in you and I was very lucky to have known Rose." Gill smiled and kissed her forehead. "So, go on then."
Marley squealed with excitement and practically skipped back to the side table. "Okay, who's first?"
"Me, seeing as how you tried to topple me off my prankster throne," suggested Tony.
"Ahh, Tony, na, no one could do that. We gave a pretty good try, though. Here you have two. Open this one first, then leave this one, till I cue you."
"Oh very well, very dramatic, Spielberg are we?"
"Yup, drum roll please."
Tony opened the fist small box and pulled out a key. He looked puzzled for a moment until he read the key chains emblem, Thomas Magnum NCIS aka DiNozzo. "Huh? Cute kid, I like it."
"It's real you know."
"What the key chain?"
"No, the car. I had it delivered it's around the side… look."
"What the…" Tony ran to the front door and out onto the porch with others following to the side of the large house. There parked in the driveway was a red classic 1981 Ferrari 308 GTS. "Marley, no way. I can't accept this."
"Yes you can. Tony, you saved my life twice! It's cool, Tony. One of Rose's friends worked on that show. They used to auction the cars off every second year for charity, except for the cut aways and the damaged ones. They auctioned them off to the cast and crew. Mom's friend bought two .He fixed them up and resprayed them. He's had them for years. I told him all about you guys and how you caught Rose's killer. I told him that Tony was a big fan and that I wanted to give him something special, so he let me buy one."
"You mean it's a real Magnum PI car?"
"Yep, now whose next, oh Tim." Marley took off into the house meeting them all back in the living room.
"Marley?" questioned Gill.
"Gill, it's okay. It's Tim's turn now."
Tony sat down, too stunned to protest, while the others watched Tim take his gift from Marley.
Tim hesitated to open the large box, hoping that Marley had not been too extravagant. Secretly, he thought it cute, her wanting to do give everyone just what they would have wished for. However, he wasn't sure Gibbs was going to let Marley spend this much money.
Gibbs saw both Gill's and Tim's concern. He looked at Gill and lifted his hand, as Gill looked to him. "It's her money. I'd say Nic sanctioned it." He then leaned close to Gill and whispered in her ear, "don't worry, I'll check it out." A relieved Gill relaxed, as Gibbs gave Tim his signature nod of approval.
Tim undid the accompanied card first. Not all the gifts had cards, Marley hadn't bothered with one for Tony. She figured he'd be like one of those kids who just went for the prize. Tim read the card in silence and smiled, then looked at Marley. "Thanks, kid, you are one in a million."
"No, I thank you, Mc Gushy," she giggled.
Tim laughed and opened his box. He lifted out a large velvet cape, with hidden pockets housing a number of different game controllers, from wizard wands to guns with sights, each a different tool for a different Level of Lords of Power and Magic. Tim had already made master level in his favorite game, and was well on the way to grand master. However, it wasn't enough to get the score on the game; the world wide game only allowed three grand masters every two years. They could only be won and fought for at the bi-annual convention held this upcoming year in Sydney, Australia. But one had to get a personal invite; invites that were rare and very unique.
Tim continued through the pockets. His eyes lit up when he pulled out a shiny silver sphere, the size of a tennis ball. A small button, when pressed had the ball spin in the agent's hand. It suddenly unfolded, to not only announce his invitation, but the ball was also the controls needed to fight for the title. Tim was elated. "Marley, how did you do this? There are only twelve invites every two years to this competition. It's almost impossible…"
"Almost, Tim, I know you'll win. The tickets are in the box, too. Of course, you'll have to take the time off, but if you put in for it now . . . . They have a NCIS agency there, too, so maybe there can be an intelligence exchange. Abbs has contacts there. I'm sure…"
"Marley, this would have cost…"
"Stop. Do you like it, did I get it right? Tim, you're the Scooby; the one with the brains. We wouldn't have been safe without you. Of course, I wouldn't have been caught out too many times either if it wasn't for you. But, hey, I'm over looking that. Plus, you're not the only one who can hack… oops…Delete that last bit."
Marley eyed Gibbs, who eyed her right back. She pretended to be unphased and quickly went back to the pile of gifts.
"Okay, Abbs, here."
Abby pulled at the ribbon that was wrapped around a neat, thin package.
Marley started to cry. She quickly rubbed the tears away before continuing, "I tried to write a card, Abby, but I just couldn't say it right. I know the guys got that sound board for you, it's all paid for too, but well it wasn't special enough."
"Aww, hey don't cry, Gibblet, you'll make me cry."
"They're happy tears, Abbs," said Marley.
"Oh well in that case, bawl like a baby," Abby said, then excitedly opened her gift. "Oh wow, wow weee, this is soooo cool. I… I…."
"Oh my, Abby is speechless," noted Ziva, Abby nodded and passed the gift on to her friend."What is so… Oh it's a CD, Dead Men Don't Talk. I do not understand."
" Read it," instructed Abby.
"It's a song. Dead Men Don't Talk have written a song about Abby 'The Goth Is Her Own Crime Wave."
"My own song!"
"Not only that, you own the song, Abbs. You own the rights," explained Marley. " Every time it gets used, every time they sell an CD, or an album with that on it, every time they perform it you get 50 % of the profits, 30% goes to the sisters and their work in the schools, the other 20% is admin. But the guys are going to sing it on every tour from now on. And when they get back to DC in six months, they'll perform it there as well. We have already booked the super box. Abbs, you'll be a special guest."
Abby jumped up squealing and ran to Marley. "What an awesome present. I'm going to play it now."
"No, not now please, Abigail. While I appreciate those young men's help and their talent, I'm sure the best place to play that will be your lab," begged Ducky.
"Aww, Duckman, really you should broaden your tastes. You don't know what you're missing."
"He is not missing anything. He's next." Marley grabbed the gift box labelled Our Favorite ME and went over to the elder. She handed him a card.
Ducky opened it and, after reading it silently for a moment, read it to the pensive group that surrounded him. Dear Ducky, thank you for looking after all the people who don't have a voice, all the people who died. You talk to them, you reveal who they are, and you give them the dignity of their humanity. It leaves those who loved them with, not only justice done, but allows our memories peace. Thanks, too, for letting me be a real kid. I hope I wasn't too much trouble. Love ,Marley Rose.
Ducky pulled Marley in close and pulled her onto his lap. He said nothing, but wrapped his arms around her and continued to pull at the ribbon and unwrap his gift. He then lifted a small, leather bound book out of the box. It was very old and written on it in old script was "Le Avventure di Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi."
"Pinocchio,' translated Ziva.
Ducky surveyed the antique."Yes, an original publication of 1883. Marley, however did you get your hands on one of these? It is very rare."
Marley turned and kissed Ducky. "Not as rare as you, Ducky. You made me a real boy, girl, kid. I used to feel like nobody's child, Ducky. Not anymore. I know you like a lot of old things, and well, I know you like the Greek stuff better, but I thought…"
"It is perfect," he smiled.
Marley beamed, "This is sooo cool. Giving presents is so much fun. I'm doing this every…"
"Only once," said Gibbs.
"Right, on it, got it. Now for Ziva," bubbled Marley. She pranced to the table and then returned to proudly deliver a large box to the pretty ex-mossad agent.
Ziva opened her card first, and frowned at Marley's cryptic note. 'You deserve to be the belle of the ball.' She opened the box and pulled out the most elegant ball gown she had ever seen. The winter white taffeta and tulle skirt was a classic.
"It's based on the one Grace Kelly wore in Rear Window," announced Marley.
"Isn't it cool," Abby jumped up, it's copied it from one of Edith Head's sketches. Though Grace's bodice was black, the gun metal bodice is much more contemporary and edgy, don't you think?"
"You will look beautiful in it, Ziva," commented Gill.
"Stunning," whispered Tony.
"It is beautiful, Marley, I hope I have a ball to wear it to soon. I have done a few undercover events, perhaps another will come up soon."
"Not this one, Ziva. You're going as you, check out the invitation."
Ziva picked up the gold edged card that sat underneath the fine tissue paper of the dress box."Renaissance Debutante Charity Ball. Oh, Marley, I am a little old for a debutante ball."
"Not this one, it's a revival charity Ball. You never got to go to a prom or make your début. Either did a lot of these people, for whatever reason. It's a ball dedicated to a lot of hard working women."
"Hey, I've heard of that. It's really expensive, I heard a thous…" started Tim.
"Doesn't matter, Tim," scowled Marley. "All proceeds go to charity, Ziva. Each year it's a different one. This one goes to the research of Bipolar. You'd be helping people like Rose, Ziva."
"Oh well, I cannot refuse then, but I will have to take some dance lessons."
"They have some classes leading up to it, just the rehearsal for presentation part, though. The president will be receiving the debutantes this year."
Ducky stood up and walked over to Ziva and took her by the hand. "May I?" he asked. Ziva stood, clutching the dress to her petite frame. Ducky then held her hand high, laid his hand gently around her waist, and slow waltzed her around the room. "I would be happy to give you lessons, my dear."
The team smiled at the scene in front of them, including Tony, who caught Marley's nod and cue. He opened his second envelop, and chuckled softly to himself. He then put it back in his gift box with his keys and stood up and tapped Ducky on the shoulder. "Cutting in," he said.
Ziva blushed for a moment, as did Tony, when he caught the sound of a small intake of air she took in. "Besides the waltz, Ziva, I do a pretty mean tango." He suddenly side marched turned and twirled her then folded into a drop back. He held her there for a brief moment.
"You drop me Tony, and I will have your bal…"
"Ah uh, I will never drop you, Ziva."
The room erupted with laughter again.
"You will have to wait until the night to find out who your escorts are," added Marley.
Tony snapped his head up, "Escorts? As in plural?" he frowned.
"Yep, but it's a surprise," added Abby.
"You help organize this one, Abbs? asked Gibbs.
"That I did. Miss Ziva David is to have two charming escorts to the ball. Nothing like a bit of competition to make things a little interesting," smirked Abby.
Tony turned to Gibbs. "Boss, I think we should vet them. I mean, you never know what…"
"Oh how exciting, two Prince Charmings," swooned Gill.
"Oh you never know, they could end up a couple of fugly sisters,." laughed Tim.
"Only if you're going, McFu.."
"Di Nozzo!" warned Gibbs.
"Yeah, enough, Tony, don't worry," Marley winked. "Now, only two more presents to go. Gill . . . Mom, Here, this is for you."
Gilled eyed the rather large envelop suspiciously, "Marley?"
"Mom, Uncle Nic definitely approved of this one. He helped me organize it."
"But, Marley, it may look contrived with Children's Services."
"I don't know what that means. Besides, really, it's not just for you this one. So if you're worried about people thing you've hacked into my trust account, don't."
Gill pulled out a thick file. There, amongst a pile of legal documents, were the deeds to a five bedroom house in the same suburb that Alistair and Gill had been looking at for a new duel care home.
"It's the property, it's the same property. But Alistair was putting a bid in for this house today."
"Yeah, well, it was all signed and sealed last week. Alistair knew. It's been signed over to the Program. Both you and Alistair are administrators for it. No more renting facilities and trying to fund that side of the Program. And because it's a non profit organisation, taxes are exempted."
"Exempt."
"Yeah, you don't have to pay anything. Just the household bills."
Gill looked concerned."Marley?"
"Uncle Nic wanted this. If it wasn't for the Program a lot of kids, including me, wouldn't get the break they need. Wouldn't get to feel … normal, I guess."
"Marley, this will help so much, not just with the fiancés and the funding. But it means a permanent home for the Program. So many more children in special families like yours will benefit. You and Nic have been very generous."
"No worries, just keep Rye off my side of the room."
"You can both have a room of your own now. This place is huge."
"No way, Rye needs an annoying little sister to keep her out of trouble," quipped Marley.
Tony laughed, "Oh boy, Gill, double trouble."
"Hmm," agreed Gill.
"No, we aren't any trouble at all. You needed our help with the rescue," Marley teased.
"Huh! Your help got your butt busted, and well deserved, too," laughed Tony.
Marley walked up and stood in front of Gibbs. "All is forgiven. Right, Gibbs?"
"Right, Marley."
"Even though, I broke your tape?"
"But, not my memories."
"Well, then do I have a surprise for you." Marley ran back and retrieved the last of the boxes, then stood in front of Gibbs again. "Here, Gibbs…Dad."
Gibbs took the box. "What, no card?"
"Nope," beamed Marley.
Gibbs opened the box and lifted out a key chain. A small four inch by four inch plastic photo frame attached with a chain and an old looking key. Marley leaned over and pressed a little red navigation button on the frame. Instantly, a video image appeared. There on the screen was a very young and giggling Kelly being held by her little pink bike seat by a very young Gibbs.
"They found it, Gibbs," whispered Marley.
Abby jumped up and down. "It ended up in my lab with evidence from the warehouse.
"Abby fixed the tape, Gibbs. You still have all of it. She made a DVD. She made ten copies, so you can wear them all out, Gibbs."
"Then Marley took a few frames and made a little MP4, which is when you compress the frame bit. It makes it easier to transfer files, plus it doesn't have to be very big to play on something as small as a LCD key ring. Now, if it was going to somewhere like MTAC it needs to be really huge, otherwise you know it pixilates. Though I can usually fix that by changing the settings, especially good if you want to send a photo via text. Look, see here Mitchell sent me an attachment this afternoon. Gee, I must have missed that. I wonder what it is. He's just labelled it MTAC 4.15pm. Oh, it looks like a …. Ahhh." Abby suddenly went pale.
Gibbs looked confused. "Abbs? Everything okay?"
"Yes, sure why wouldn't it be. Sure it is. I'm sure it is. It could be alright… I think." "Abbs!"
Gibbs smiled, "I get it." He pulled Marley over and sat her on his lap. "It's the best, Marley. Thank you."
"There's more, Gibbs. The key. It's the basement key to the safe house at the lake. Uncle Nic put the deed in your name. It's flagged with my file. You'll get the front keys eventually, but I like this key. It's an old friendly looking safe key, like the ones that unlock big bolts and chains, Gibbs. It's like a freedom key. We can all go there for family holidays, all of us."
"Your new family," said Ziva.
Marley looked at Ziva and nodded. "Yep, my new family. Whatta say, Gibbs? It's okay isn't it?"
Gibbs thought for a moment."How big is the basement?"
"Big enough to build a carrier, Gibbs," exaggerated Marley.
Gibbs laughed and placed the key chain back in its box. Marley leaned over and showed him how to turn the video off. "See easy," she said, "you can put all your keys on that, Gibbs, new and old."
Gibbs kissed her head. "Hey, what's this," he said as he picked up a piece of paper. There written in a child's script were the words, Rule # 52, sometimes it's alright to throw out rule number 10 ; never get personally involved in a case.
Fade out to black, long shot of the moon through a bedroom window. Pan down to a close up of Tony in a restless sleep.
Tony stirred at the whispering sounds that emitted around the room. A child's giggle woke him, and he lay there trying to get his bearings. He remembered going to bed at around midnight after a fireside talk with Ducky. Gill and Marley took up another two guest rooms, and Ducky had offered Tony the third.
He was laying in the large king bed with its fresh crisp sheets and the window slightly ajar to let in some fresh air. He relaxed again feeling familiar now with his surroundings, mentally noting the layout of the room, the wardrobe and bathroom that adjoined two of the guest bedrooms. Good, he thought, and settled back to try and sleep.
As soon as Tony closed his eyes, the whispering started again, along with the giggles of small children playing. It creeped him out. He didn't know why. Really, it seemed like some nonsensical plot of a B grade horror flick. There it was, whispering again, then a growl followed by a raspy laugh, not innocent and childlike at all. He wondered if there was some animal outside his window adding to the strange night sounds of suburbia.
Tony got up and went to the window, taking a moment to peer into the garden below; perhaps a squirrel or some other nocturnal creature was hunting around down there. When he could see nothing, he closed the window and drew the curtain to block out the bright full moon. Deciding to hit the head before making himself too comfortable, he made his way to the bathroom, which, if he remembered, lay somewhere ahead of him, next to the closet.
In darkness, he opened the door, but jumped when he once again heard the whispering. "Pissh pssshhh wisppering heee hee."
Tony reached for the light switch just inside of the door frame and flicked it on. The sight of a tiny figure dressed in a yellow raincoat had him screaming and he backed out immediately. The figure turned, stiffly and walked awkwardly towards him, laughing in that raspy voice. He went to kick out at the thing, when another four appeared behind their leader. They were dressed in little denim overalls with checked shirts. Their wide, round, freckled faces wore evil grins as they all headed towards Tony with their arms out. "Come to play with Chucky," they chanted.
FREEZE FRAME: Cut. Close up of a scared Tony leaning back on the bed as five Chucky dolls come towards him. Cut away to mid shot of Marley, sitting on the bed in the next room with a remote control, sniggering. Convert Black and White. CUT.
THE END.
A.N. There is another story planned for Marley, keep your eyes out for Freeze Frame 4 or author alert. A big, big shout out to Harliquinn, for edits and the positive thumbs up, not to mention for sticking with me.
I had always planned on the Chucky reference for this prank, as one of the many. Unfortunately the chapter got too long for some of my other ideas. But I couldn't help but keep the Chucky reference after finally getting a look at Engage pt 2 last week. I don't know if we will ever get a reason as to why Tony could be so scared of little kids, but I did mention in one of the first chapters of this story that Tony was afraid of little kids in yellow raincoats because of the movie Don't Look Now. This is one answer maybe…LOL. I can't think of a plausible answer at all really. I appologise for the bad formating. My docuement uploaded with all the sentences running into each other again. I hope 've I fixed them all.
