Chapter Twelve: Shifting Tides
"You know, Abs," Fornell teased, "if we'd of had access to your files, we coulda put the pieces together too but I had the decency not to hack NCIS's database."
"I was just doing what I had to do!" Abby replied with no apology.
The mood in the hotel room was downright giddy after they'd been able to put a name and a face with the bad guy that had been tormenting them. After a series of phone calls, Fornell and Patterson—his Homeland Security counterpart—had some of their people researching Braydon Kaiser, another group on the way to question his parents and a third group headed for Braydon's house to execute a search warrant and pick him up on the off chance he'd been foolish enough to hang out at home. It wouldn't be long before they tracked down every former teacher, friend and acquaintance and dug up every file and record of anything that had anything to do with their twenty four year old suspect.
Once the tasks had been divided up and the teams sent on their way, Fornell had sent Mathers out to one of the finest steakhouses in DC to pick up some dinner. They were still a ways from closing the case but it seemed appropriate to celebrate the small victory. They were still in the middle of their celebration when Fornell's phone started ringing. Expecting nothing but good news, he snatched it off his belt and brought it to his ear, answering the call with a smile on his face and laughter in his voice.
"This is Fornell."
"It's Patterson," the voice on the other end of the line said. He didn't sound anywhere near as jovial as Fornell did. "Kaiser booby-trapped his apartment," the man reported. "We've got five agents heading to the hospital with serious burns."
"Son of a bitch," Fornell cursed angrily. "I'll be right there."
The moon reflecting off the snow covered ground really brightened up the night sky. The bedroom of the hotel room had curtains but nobody had closed them. It could've been that they were enjoying the view of the city lights at night or it could've been that no one cared. Gibbs was enjoying the view as he sat up, wide awake in the middle of the night while Jimmy and Abby slept soundly in the other bed in the room and Tony slept next to him.
Tony was once again shirtless and his upper body wasn't covered by any of the bedding. The small burn near his nipple had almost faded completely while the gouge near his groin where the screw had been sticking out of his body still looked deep red in color and painful. The man was guarding his broken clavicle but the sling was on the nightstand next to them while he slept.
Tony's belly dipped below his hips, leaving the waistband of his underwear not sitting flush against his body. The man was losing weight and he didn't need to be. The stress of the situation, the not eating and not sleeping were taking their toll on Tony—on all of them, really, and it bothered Gibbs that they had to go through that. It bothered him even more that he couldn't do anything to protect them, to offer them safety and security and peace of mind so they could eat and drink and sleep like they normally did.
Eight people lay in the morgue because of Braydon Kaiser and countless more, including five FBI and Homeland Security agents were in the hospital because of his actions. Gibbs wondered how many more would be hurt before they brought the twenty four year old in and got justice for his victims. The man had no conscious and no regard for human life. He was the most dangerous kind of criminal law enforcement faced and Kaiser was a prime example of why. Maybe the kid would make it into a criminal justice textbook for future police officers and investigators to study. Maybe behavioral psychologists would attempt to make sense of the nonsense that was Braydon Kaiser's mind. If Gibbs had it his way the boy would disappear into eternity. He'd earned no legacy at all. Then again, if studying him could save lives in the future, maybe there was a tiny positive that could come out of everything they'd gone through; everything they were still going through.
"Come to bed," Tony mumbled against his pillow.
Gibbs smiled as a hand flopped into his lap. Apparently Tony hadn't been sleeping as soundly as he'd thought. "I'm here," he replied.
"Come down here with me," Tony pleaded. "I sleep better when you're here."
"Liar," Gibbs goaded playfully as he eased himself down onto his back. It did feel good to lie down.
"It's the truth," Tony told the man, "and it scares me."
"Why?" Gibbs asked. He pulled the blankets up, covering both of them as he scooted closer to Tony without thought or reason.
"I think it's because I'm not used to relying on other people like that," Tony answered. "Now I'm relying on you and what if you disappear."
"I'm not going anywhere," Gibbs told him.
"It's still scary," Tony whispered.
Gibbs pressed a kiss to Tony's head before burying his nose in the man's hair and settling in for sleep. "I'm scared too, Tony," he admitted quietly, "but we'll figure this out together."
Tony didn't have any idea what time it was but it was still pitch black outside, or as pitch black it could be when the ground was covered with snow. He sighed heavily, not meaning to be so dramatic but smiled when a strong hand slipped across his belly and came to rest just above his hip on the opposite side.
"Can't sleep either?" Gibbs asked.
"I don't know what's wrong with me," Tony answered. "I'm tired but I can't sleep." He yawned as if to emphasize the point.
Gibbs moved his head over to Tony's pillow and brushed his nose against Tony's cheek. He brought a single finger over to Tony's chin and turned the man's face towards him. After rubbing noses, he pressed a kiss to Tony's lips.
"Mmm," Tony hummed. "Is this what you wanna do instead of sleep? 'cause I can guarantee you it's gonna have the opposite effect of making me tired. In fact, somebody's already starting to wake up."
Gibbs answered with a hesitant open mouthed kiss that soon turned possessive when Tony made it clear he was receptive. Tongues mingled together as breathing deepened and soon the two were taking turns mapping out the other's mouths as hands explored faces and necks, muscular arms and torsos.
With nothing and no one to interrupt them, the making out continued. Their hands stayed busy as their mouths explored jawlines and necks, each of them taking turns kissing and being kissed. When Tony buried his face against Gibbs' neck and started gently nibbling, Gibbs knew if he didn't stop them that they'd end up doing something would not only be awkward with Jimmy and Abby in the bed next to theirs but that they'd both regret. He wrapped his arms around Tony and held him close, whispering the man's name to get his attention. Tony raised up on his good arm and placed another kiss on Gibbs' lips before they both drew back slightly, foreheads still touching as they tried to slow their breathing.
"God, Tony, I wanna keep going," Gibbs moaned quietly.
Tony ran his tongue over his kiss swollen lips and closed his eyes, trying to etch everything that had just happened into his mind so that he'd never forget it. For once the excitement in his body overshadowed the pain he felt and he would've done just about anything to keep it going.
Gibbs tilted his head and stole another kiss before pulling back again, knowing how close to the point of no return he was.
"I love kissing you," Tony whispered, resting his fingers lightly against Gibbs' chest.
Gibbs ran his fingers down the side of Tony's face, wanting to do so much more but knowing they needed to stop immediately. He was so turned on and knew Tony was as well. It wouldn't be hard for either to persuade the other to keep going but it wasn't the time or the place. Despite knowing what needed to happen, pulling back was one of the most difficult things he'd ever done.
"I'm never gonna be able to sleep after that," Tony said.
"Let's go see if there's something on TV," Gibbs offered. Dawn was starting to break to the east. It wouldn't be long before everyone started to stir anyways.
"You already know how to sweet talk me," Tony teased.
Both men slipped out of bed and Tony grabbed the comforter and dragged it along behind him to the living room. The two sat down side by side on the couch and Tony spread the blanket out over both of them before tucking himself against Gibbs' side and resting his head on the man's shoulder while Gibbs flipped channels, looking for nothing in particular. He stopped on an old black and white western when he heard John Wayne's voice and settled in against Tony.
"This is nice," Tony mumbled. Much to his surprise he was finally starting to feel tired despite all the excitement.
"Mm-hmm," Gibbs hummed in agreement. He rested his head on top of Tony's and both of them sat quietly staring at the TV screen even though their minds were on each other and what had happened in the bedroom. They weren't the type who talked about their feelings and discussed everything that happened. Both realized that might have to change in the future but for the time being they were perfectly content watching John Wayne.
"More explosions rocked the nation's capital yesterday evening," the local news anchor reported. "Three bodies were found early this morning after firefighters put out the blaze. The bodies are believed to be Cathy Pritchett, the realtor who never came home last night and Hunter and Georgia Marshall, a young couple believed to be interested in buying the home that exploded. The cause of the explosion is yet to be determined. We're working to get a statement from law enforcement as to whether this one is related to the other explosions in our area in the past week. We can't say for sure but, well, we'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. More on this story as it continues to develop."
"We should wake them up," Abby whispered.
"I don't know," Jimmy replied. "Fornell would've called if that explosion was related to our case."
"Come on, Jimmy," Abby complained. "You don't need a degree in forensics to know they're all related. Gibbs would want to know."
"I'm still not convinced we should wake him up though," Jimmy argued quietly. "We're not allowed to investigate this case in any official capacity and he's hardly been sleeping since all this started. What's the harm in waiting till they wake up to tell them?"
Both Abby and Jimmy stood back and looked down at Gibbs and Tony, still curled up together on the couch under the blanket from their bed, sleeping soundly. Abby opened her mouth to say something else but a knock at the door had both her and Jimmy frozen in terror. Gibbs was up and hurrying towards the door in a split second and Tony was grabbing for his weapon and preparing to back his partner up if need be.
"It's Tobias," Gibbs reported tiredly as he unchained and opened the door.
Tony relaxed his stance and let his weapon drop to the table as the adrenaline high slowly dissipated.
"Forget to brush your hair this morning, Jethro?" Fornell asked, checking out the man's bedhead. "And what's with you, DiNozzo?" Tony was only wearing a pair of briefs.
"Just got up," Gibbs grumbled, combing his fingers through his hair.
"It's after 8," Fornell said in shock. His friend never, ever slept that late. "You're not dying, are you?"
"Despite Kaiser's best efforts, no," Gibbs answered, "I'm still alive and kicking. What's going on?"
"If you just got up I'm guessing it's safe to assume you haven't seen the news this morning," Fornell guessed.
Gibbs turned back towards the TV and caught sight of Abby and Jimmy looking very guilty. He was guessing they already knew about whatever bad news Fornell had for him that morning. "What happened?" he asked, cringing at the thought of another attack and more mayhem.
"There was an explosion near Stafford, Virginia last night," Fornell reported. "Any of you own property out there?" He looked at the group, all of them shaking their heads.
"Kaiser?" Gibbs asked.
"Has to be," Fornell replied, "but we can't figure out why. A realtor was showing a house to a young couple. All three of 'em are dead."
"Who owned the house?" Gibbs asked.
"It was bank owned," Fornell answered. "We're working on getting the records now to see who owned it before them." As if right on cue, Fornell's phone started ringing and he stepped out of the room to answer it.
Gibbs turned towards Abby and Jimmy, waiting for an explanation.
"We were gonna tell you," Abby said defensively. "We were having a debate about whether or not to wake you when Fornell knocked on the door. I wanted to. Jimmy didn't."
"That's not necessarily true!" Jimmy cut in. "I just wasn't convinced waking them to tell them would do any more good than waiting until they woke on their own to tell them."
"Have any of you ever owned property out in Stafford?" Gibbs asked. "Have your relatives? Friends? Any connection at all?"
The group shook their heads as Gibbs tried to figure out why Kaiser would blow up a house that had no connection to them. So far everything he did seemed to be part of a bigger plot but the explosion in Stafford felt like he was going off script and Gibbs didn't like it one bit. Was he targeting another team or agency? Was he pissed off because he couldn't find them and blowing up random buildings on random properties?
"I think we caught our first break," Fornell said excitedly as he reentered the conversation once his phone call had ended. "Bank records show the property belonged to Reese Kaiser. Payments weren't kept up and it was foreclosed on shortly after he went to prison."
"But why would Braydon blow his brother's house up?" Jimmy asked.
"Unless he was hiding out there," Tony said, catching onto Fornell's excitement, "and he wasn't expecting the realtor and young couple. I bet he didn't have a choice. He was discovered and he had to blow up that house."
"And now he's on the run," Abby said.
"How bad's the house?" Gibbs asked.
"I'm on my way out there now," Fornell answered, "but the fire department's less than a mile from the home. I heard they got the fire under control quickly. Hopefully this little theory is right and little brother left behind some evidence for us."
As much as Gibbs wanted to demand Fornell take him along, he knew the FBI agent would never agree to that and it would just waste precious time. "Keep us updated," he said instead, even though it killed him.
"As soon as I know something, you guys'll know something," Fornell replied.
The group headed down to the first floor of the Embassy Suites to check out the free hot breakfast the hotel boasted about every opportunity they got. There was a beautiful spread of fresh fruits and juices, hot and cold cereals, donuts and bagels with all the fixings and a buffet with pancakes and waffles, bacon and sausage, eggs and hash browns; not to mention a choice between light, medium and dark roast coffee with a healthy selection of creamers and different types of sweeteners.
Tony's eyes were bigger than his stomach and he returned to the table with two plates while Gibbs didn't get anything more than a cup of dark roast coffee. Abby grabbed a banana and some peanut butter to go along with her glass of fresh squeezed orange pineapple juice while Jimmy's plate had pancakes and sausage links drowning in syrup.
"Sit down, Gibbs," Tony urged. "You standing over us is gonna draw attention."
Gibbs looked around the room before reluctantly sitting. Tony was right and even though they'd caught the tail end of breakfast and the room was emptying out, they didn't need any undue attention.
"Help me eat some of this," Tony said, handing the man an extra fork. "I got too much."
"I'm not hungry," Gibbs muttered. All he could think about was Fornell at the house and what they'd found. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked to make sure he didn't miss a call.
"Fornell's not gonna call and ask you to come help, Boss," Tony said. "You might as well eat."
"I shoulda insisted on going with him," Gibbs said regretfully.
"You know as well as I do that wouldn't have worked," Tony said.
"I'm glad you're here," Abby told the man. "It makes me feel safe."
Gibbs offered Abby a genuine smile before putting his cell phone on the table and reluctantly taking the extra fork Tony was still holding out to him. He couldn't help but wonder if Tony had gotten too much on purpose. Was it the man's way of taking care of him, of making sure he ate?
After breakfast the group took their time making their way back to the room. None of them were in a hurry to get back and be stuck there for who knew how long. As they wandered the vacant halls headed nowhere in particular, Gibbs' phone alerted him to a new text message and, still without his glasses, he passed it to Tony to read to him.
"It's from Fornell," Tony reported. "All it says is jackpot."
"That sounds promising," Jimmy said.
The phone made the same noise again and Tony navigated to the new message. "Fire department did good work," he read. "Sifting through a mountain of evidence. Call you when we have something concrete." Tony flipped Gibbs' phone closed and handed it to the man. "A mountain of evidence? We got him, Boss."
"I hate sitting here doing nothing," Gibbs grumbled.
"We're not doing nothing," Abby said. "We're healing."
Gibbs looked at her skeptically, an unimpressed smile on his face. "We're doing nothing, Abs."
"Okay, so we're doing nothing," Abby admitted, "but Braydon's on the run. He's got nowhere to go. We interrupted his evil plan and now we have the upper hand."
"That makes him even more dangerous, Abs," Gibbs told her gently. "We're not out of the woods yet." He didn't want any of them getting careless and ending up getting hurt by Braydon again. It was important they all continued to watch their sixes and watch out for each other but Abby was right, they had interrupted his evil plan and now they had the upper hand. It was their turn.