Disclaimer: NCIS is not my creation or property- I own all the DVDs though.
AN. I had some time this morning before my train, so one last surprise update of another 2 chapters! I'll try and post while I'm away, I promise :) thanks to all who alerted and reviewed.
And also, I introduce a case in this chapter... which I kind of suck at writing no matter how many episodes of NCIS I watch. I'm sorry!
Chapter 12
Sure enough, Ziva and McGee couldn't resist teasing Tony consistently over the next few weeks. They had gone out for drinks one night with Jemma, Tony, Abby and Palmer and had made a genuine effort to get to know Jemma.
Ziva often needled Tony about the age gap, especially when they celebrated Jemma's twenty-ninth birthday with her a week after first meeting her. McGee just found it amusing that Jemma had "turned you into some hero from a trashy romantic comedy." This doubled once Abby let slip out Jemma's fascination with musical theatre and Wicked, and that Tony had taken her to see it for their three-month anniversary.
Abby hadn't given up on her idea for Team Gibbs to see the show together, and it finally happened in early March. Ducky and Palmer had needed little convincing to come along; and between Abby and Jemma, Tony didn't have a hope of getting out of it, so it was a good thing he had seen the show previously and liked it.
McGee, Ziva and Gibbs were a little more reluctant, but none of them proved to be able to stand up against Abby's puppy dog eyes and pouting lips, not even Ziva.
So they had gone and seen the show in New York, keeping all of Jemma's traditions as they went. Tony had made fun of McGee for a week when he had shrugged afterwards and said "it wasn't bad", but then had been caught playing the soundtrack on his iPod at work the next day.
Abby had adored it, despite the music not being her usual taste- you'd never hear "Defying Gravity" being blasted through her lab. And Gibbs had said nothing, but Tony had a sneaking suspicion his boss had enjoyed it too.
Two weeks after their trip, the team was called to investigate the assault and rape of a Naval Petty Officer Second Class, Kara Murphy. Gibbs and Tony exchanged a heavy glance as they arrived at the scene- they both hated these types of cases.
Ziva had been sent to the hospital with McGee to collect her statement and the evidence from the rape kit, whilst Gibbs and Tony checked out the scene.
The young Petty Officer had been coming home late and night, and had been attacked when unlocking her front door.
"Wonder why she didn't see her attacker?" Tony mused aloud as he took photos.
Gibbs pointed up at the porch light, reaching a hand through the ajar front door and flicking a switch.
"Light doesn't work."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Blown bulb, or removed bulb?"
He carefully removed the cover, and the agents saw that the bulb had indeed been removed.
"Attack was planned in advance…. Reckon she knew her attacker, Boss?"
Gibbs shrugged. "Maybe. We'll see what Ziva says after she gets the statement."
After searching the porch for any evidence, Gibbs gestured for Tony to follow him inside. The house was small and clean, there was nothing out of place or that seemed suspicious to either Gibbs or Tony.
They were just leaving when Gibbs' cell phone rang.
"Yeah, Gibbs….. ok, Ziva."
He hung up without saying goodbye, a trait which annoyed all the team but they were more than used to, and turned to Tony.
"Ziva and McGee got the statement and the evidence. They'll meet us back at the squad room."
Tony nodded as he opened the passenger side door. "Reckon we have time to grab some food on the way back?"
Gibbs only stared at him for a moment over the car roof.
"Or not," Tony said hastily and Gibbs rolled his eyes.
When they arrived back fifteen minutes later, Ziva wasted no time in delivering her report to Gibbs.
"Petty Officer Murphy claims she does not know whoever it was that attacked her. He was wearing a black ski mask, and she did not recognise the voice. She has a boyfriend who is stationed in San Diego, Chief Petty Officer Brian Dowell," she said, bringing his picture up on the plasma screen. "They have been together for two years."
"I gave the physical evidence to Abby," McGee spoke up. "She's still processing it all. Anything at the house?"
"The porch bulb was removed," Tony replied. "So it was definitely a planned attack. But he didn't enter the house after he attacked her, so robbery wasn't an issue. Does the boyfriend know what happened?"
McGee nodded. "Yeah, he's flying over to be with her. Kara said he was pretty upset when she told him."
Tony inwardly cringed at the thought of what Brian Dowell would be going through at that moment. He hated to imagine receiving a similar phone call about Jemma.
"She say anything else, Ziver?" Gibbs asked.
"She did mention an incident that happened in a bar a few nights ago," Ziva answered. "She was out with a friend for drinks and a man struck up a conversation. She told him she was in a relationship and he backed off. When she got home, she found her wallet was missing from her purse. She reported the theft to the police, but she did not believe the two incidents were related."
"She mention the bar?"
Ziva nodded. "Yes, it is in Alexandria."
"Go talk to the staff, see if they remember anything," Gibbs ordered. "DiNozzo, go with her. McGee, contact metro, see if they got anywhere with the purse."
Tony obediently jumped up to follow Ziva.
"Ask for Jim Cooper at Metro," he told McGee hurriedly. "Mention my name."
McGee didn't question that, he was more than used to Tony having random contacts in all areas of law enforcement… and then some.
The police report was no help. The bar staff were slightly more helpful. The woman that Ziva and Tony talked to had worked the night that Kara had been approached and she remembered the Kara after seeing a photo, and the man in question.
"He was creepy," she told them bluntly. "When the girl told him she had a boyfriend, he kept trying to get more info about him out of her. Like he thought she was making it up to get out of talking to him. And he only drank appletinis. He had about seven, I think."
"Do you remember what he looked like?" Tony asked and she sighed thoughtfully.
"Mid-thirties… short. Barely over five feet. Blonde hair…oh! He drove a red Jetta," she added in recollection.
Ziva frowned. "How do you know that?"
"Someone came in and said there was a red Jetta in the parking lot with its lights on," she explained. "We made the announcement and he ran out. We thought it was funny… mean, it's kind of a girly car, you know?"
Tony nodded in agreement, whilst Ziva looked at him in exasperation. She had heard Tony's spiel about 'chick cars' and 'guy cars' before.
"When you made the announcement, was there a plate number with it?" Tony asked.
The woman grimaced. "I'm not sure. I can check with Lisa- she took the message," she offered. "We usually write these things down on our hands so we don't get it wrong. And it takes forever to come off. She might remember."
"That would be helpful, thank you," Ziva replied and the woman ducked off to make the call.
When she returned, she was apologetic. "Lisa's pretty sure it started with LBZ, but she can't remember the rest of it."
Tony smiled. "That's great, thank you."
Ziva pulled out her cell as they left the bar. "I will get McGee to run the partial plate and put out a BOLO."
Tony nodded. "Ok. Hey, want to stop and grab some food on the way back?" he asked hopefully, guessing Ziva would be more likely to agree than Gibbs.
She didn't answer, already on the phone. Tony listened to her side of the conversation as she gave the information to McGee. He watched as she paused for a moment, her eyes flickering towards Tony, and she smirked slightly before agreeing to whatever McGee had said, bid him goodbye and hung up.
"McGee has a message for you from Gibbs, that you are not to stop for food on the way back," she grinned at him and Tony pouted.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd swear he was bugging us," Tony grumbled.
Ziva grinned teasingly. "What makes you think he isn't?"
Tony snorted. "Please. Gibbs and technology? How long have you been working here, David?"
Ziva only laughed.
McGee's search turned up a name, a civilian named Roger Blake. But the address they turned up was invalid, so they spent the rest of the afternoon trying to track him down.
Ziva was frustrated by their lack of results. "We cannot find him anywhere! He is self-employed, not using his credit cards…."
"The BOLO will turn something up soon," McGee assured her.
Gibbs could see they were running out of leads and decided to give the team a break, especially as it was nearing dusk. "Let's call it a night. Start fresh in the morning."
Tony didn't waste any time arguing, he and Jemma had plans to see a movie. "Sounds good to me."
Ziva and McGee were quick to follow, all three bidding Gibbs goodnight on their way to the elevator. Gibbs made no move to leave just yet, he was happy just to sit in the empty bullpen and organise his thoughts.
He couldn't help but reflect on how things had changed in recent months. He was happy for Tony that he had found someone like Jemma; after the whole mess and heartache that had come with Jeanne Benoit, he definitely deserved it. And everyone seemed to be making Jemma feel welcome, Abby had already dubbed her an honorary member of Team Gibbs.
And Tony would still come by for dinner once in a while, or drop in to chat as Gibbs worked on his boat. Sometimes Jemma would be with him, and Gibbs enjoyed talking to the young teacher. She had told him about her father's death, and he had even briefly mentioned Shannon and Kelly to her.
Gibbs wasn't sure just how long-term the relationship would be between Tony and Jemma. He could tell his Senior Field Agent loved her, but also knew Tony still struggled with commitment issues. He remembered how close he had been to overcoming those issues with Jeanne, they were even going to live together, but suspected the aftermath of that had set him back.
Sighing inwardly, he closed his computer and stood up. Time to go home and work on his boat. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.