Thursday

Chapter 13

At the beginning of the work day, the team is in the bullpen trying to figure out where the bomb is located and if there even is a bomb or if the whole thing is a hoax. With Gibbs being unable to properly read his brother Jared, thus far, it's been a major problem in regards to proceeding with the investigation. At the moment, Gibbs isn't in the area because he's up in MTAC; so it's just Ziva and McGee in the bullpen. Tony finally arrives. Ziva looks up at him as he enters into the bullpen.

"You look angry." Ziva recognized.

"Until late last night, friends were calling me to make fun of me." Tony approaches and places his hands on Ziva's desk and leans over a bit.

"Why would your friends make fun of you?" McGee wondered. "Other than the fact of you being you, of course."

"Probie…" Tony looks across the bullpen toward McGee. "Are you kidding me?! How can you not know or even remotely not figure out why?!"

"Uh… Because it's hard to keep straight the amount of stupid stuff you do." McGee grins.

"Funny, McGeek." Tony turns his head to look back at Ziva. "You sent a formal letter to all of my friends which included the YouTube link of me up on stage during the Last Vader Standing competition!"

"All I did was upload the videos to the website." Ziva stated.

Tony turns his head and glares at McGee.

"Don't look at me. I didn't do it." McGee defended himself.

"Then who did?!"

"I did, DiNozzo." Gibbs stated as he walks in and smacks Tony on the back of the head. He walks to his desk and sits down.

"I don't believe that. You hardly know how to use email, Boss. You're so technologically illiterate…" Tony begins to say as he notices Gibbs glaring at him. "I'll just go sit down."

There's a minute of silence as Tony sits down. After sitting down, a probational agent enters into the bullpen. He approaches Tony's desk.

"I did what you requested of me, Special Agent DiNozzo." The Probational Agent stated.

"Huh?" Tony is confused.

"I received an email from you about writing a letter…"

"Just stop right there." Tony looks to Ziva, then McGee. Both of them look away and pretend to work. He looks back to the agent. "Are you a secretary?"

"No… I'm…"

"A probational agent who was manipulated into doing something stupid that you've should've never done in the first place. You want to know one of the reasons why we call you newcomers' probies. Because we're agents… Not secretaries!"

"I just thought…"

"That I'd put in a good word you?! Get out of here."

The probational agent walks away. Ziva and McGee try to hold their laughter in.

"Ha-ha… Very funny." Tony said. He notices three people step off the elevator; one of which is FBI Agent Tobias Fornell. "We're busted, Boss. Looks like you're going to have that pissing contest after all."

The three men enter into the bullpen and approaches Gibbs' desk. Gibbs looks up at the men.

"We need to talk, Gibbs." Fornell stated.

"I'm sure we do." Gibbs agreed.

Gibbs and Fornell walk to the elevator. They step inside. Gibbs flips the emergency stop switch. He turns to face Fornell.

"You're going to bitch at me about jurisdiction over the suspect, aren't you, Tobias?"

"In a way, yes… But not how you may think, Jethro." Fornell answered. "The two agents I came in with… One works for the CIA and the other is with Homeland Security."

"This doesn't concern them."

"Actually, Jethro… It does."

"What's going on here, Tobias?"

"Yesterday, invaluable Intel was sent to the FBI. This morning… We infiltrated two terrorist cells…"

"I don't understand what this has to do with Jared."

"The Intel which was sent to us was from your brother. The letter inside stated we can find him here. It also stated the knowledge of knowing about other terrorist cells."

"Al Qaeda?"

"This terrorist organization has no affiliation with Al Qaeda. It's a new organization made-up of various types of anti-Americans. We want to completely take the organization down before it grows. Your brother gave us two terrorist cells and vouched of knowing the location of many others…"

"You're going to give him a deal."

"You have to realize something, Jethro… There's a lot at stake here. The two cells we infiltrated… They had enough firepower to…"

"What's the deal, Tobias?"

"Every murder he committed and admits to with a written statement of the act will be expunged. Whatever evidence is ever found to link him to the murders he admits to… That evidence will never be able to be used against him."

"You're giving him a clean slate." Gibbs acknowledged what Fornell is saying.

"This isn't my decision, Jethro. This comes from higher up the chain of command. I only came because I'm the only one willing to speak with you about this."

"He murdered five hundred and twenty people!"

"If I had my way, I'd give him the lethal injection myself." Fornell stated. "But the knowledge he possesses will save thousands of lives if not close to a million."

"Five hundred and twenty plus families are looking for answers… For closure about who murdered their loved one. But that information will be labeled as classified… Sealed, locked away and they'll live the rest of their lives not knowing. Five hundred and twenty lives taken and he gets to walk a free man..." Gibbs said. "This is bullshit, Tobias!"

"Don't you think I know that, Jethro." Fornell agreed. "At the moment, we have FBI teams in all major cities prepared and ready to strike. But we need to give them the locations. The two cells we infiltrated already… We've detained reporters and witnesses in order to keep this under the radar. We can't detain them forever. We need those locations before the other cells are tipped off." He added. "The only time we have is now. We have to take them down before they scatter. It's a crappy deal which your brother doesn't deserve, I get that. But we have no choice."

Gibbs turns to the elevator wall. He punches the wall.

"I know it must be frustrating…" Fornell begins to say.

"You don't know a damn thing, Tobias!" Gibbs shouted.

"What I do know is, you have a daughter who loves you very much. Don't let this eat you up inside to the point where the relationships with her and the people you know crumble into ruins."

"If it wasn't for Jamie, I probably would've snapped already. She's been my sanity through this, Tobias."

"I suggest you continue talking with her, Jethro." Fornell stated. "Don't keep her in the dark. And don't hold back from her. Ever since she came back into your life, you've been happier. It's actually a good thing to see, Jethro." He pauses for a couple of seconds. "I should get to the interrogation room because they've probably already started without me." Fornell flips the emergency stop switch. The elevator continues moving.

"One thing, Tobias… There may be a bomb at either a Marine or Navy base. It's unclear whether or not it's a hoax."

"The deal won't go through until he gives up the location, if there is one, alright Jethro."

"That works for me."

The elevator door opens. Both Gibbs and Fornell step off the elevator.

"It's always a pleasure speaking with you, Gibbs." Fornell said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "I thoroughly enjoy being ridiculed by a bastard."

"Blow it out your ass, Fornell." Gibbs stated to help put on their show.

"That's mature of you, Gibbs."

Fornell walks to the interrogation room where the two men he came in with are already speaking with Jared Lucas about the deal and the locations to the terrorist cells. Gibbs walks to the bullpen and sits at his desk. The team remains seated at their desks, looking at each other. None of them know what to say.

An hour passes.

The three men, along with Jared Lucas come out of the interrogation room. Before going to the elevator, the four of them walk through the bullpen. Gibbs stands up as his brother walks by with an evil smile. Jared Lucas stops and walks to the front of his brother's desk. The brothers stare each down. Fornell and the other two men are standing near the window, watching the brothers.

"It was nice seeing you, brother." Jared stated. "I wish we had more time to catch up on old times."

"I'm sure we'll get another chance." Gibbs said.

"By the way… There was no second bomb. The bomb which was found was just a way of making sure you kept me here. I allowed you to arrest me. I had two intentions throughout this planned meeting. I only did all of this because I want you to recognize my work and I wanted to force you to remember the past… A past you've run away from."

"Writing our last name across America with victims was a nice touch."

"I couldn't resist doing something that was never done before." Jared grins in a sinister manner. "But like I said yesterday… Tomorrow… Which is now today… I'm going to walk out of this building a free man and there's nothing anybody can do about it." He said. "As much as I enjoyed belittling, humiliating, degrading and humanizing you in front of your colleagues… I must bid you adieu because I've been cooped up here for far too long and need to smell the fresh scent of freedom."

Gibbs says nothing. Jared Lucas walks away. Once at the elevator, Jared turns to face his brother who is still standing in the bullpen.

"Jethro…" Jared tries to get his attention. Gibbs turns and looks to him. "Semper Fi." He said in order to mock his brother one last time before leaving.

Jared Lucas chuckles evilly as he turns and steps onto the elevator.