Two updates in less than 24 hours? The ideas must really be flowing? I figure, if I got it written, might as well post it, right?
Here we go! Chapter 14! Enjoy :-)
I DO NOT own NCIS or anything related to it…but I'm claiming Tony and Kate's babies Arissa Caitlin, Alexander Anthony and Aiden Todd DiNozzo. I really like their names!
Tony and Kate woke up the next morning to life as usual. Alex chased Aiden into the kitchen where Kate fixed breakfast.
"Morning Mommy!" waved Aiden.
"Morning baby!" smiled Kate, placing their plates of French Toast on the table. "You ready to eat?"
"Yeah!" said Alex, hopping in his chair
"Mommy the lady on the TV say in going to snow today!" said Aiden.
"Did she?"
"Yeah! Does that mean we no have to go to school today?"
"No, you have to go to school but you may not have to go tomorrow if it snows enough."
"I hope it snows all the way to the ceiling!"
"We couldn't leave the house if it snowed that much."
"I know that way we no have to go to school!"
Kate laughed. "Eat your breakfast!" Kate walked to the bottom of the stairs. "Rissa!"
Arissa came running down. "I'm right here, Mommy!"
Kate took notice of her daughter's bedhead appearance. "Rissa, didn't I tell you to brush your hair?"
"Granddad rushed me out the bathroom before I had a chance to."
Tony walked down and noticed his daughter's appearance. "Stick your finger in the light socket there, sweetie?"
Arissa looked at her father, not amused by his joke.
"Your father kicked her out the bathroom before she could brush her hair! I'm telling you, Tony if you don't handle your father, I will! Come on, let's go do your hair," Kate took Arissa by the hand leading her back upstairs.
Tony walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table with his sons for breakfast. Tony, Sr. walked into the kitchen with a worried look on his face.
"Morning, Junior. Morning boys," said Senior.
"Morning!" replied Alex and Aiden.
"Dad, did you kick Arissa out the bathroom?" asked Tony.
"She was taking too long in there!" said Senior.
"She has to get ready for school!"
"Well, I need to get ready for the day as well."
"Oh yes! You have to be oh so put together for protective custody! You're going to work with me. No one will be looking at you. If Arissa is in the bathroom, you leave her be! This is her house now yours!"
"Whatever, Junior! Look, I don't know about going to work with you. I really have work to do."
"You were the one who asked for protective custody and that's what you are going to get. You're going to NCIS with Kate and I and you are going to sit there while we figure out this case! Geez, you act like not working is going to kill you."
Arriving at work, the team focused their attention on the records and surveillance video provided by the UPS Store that shipped the envelope to Tony's father. Insistent that he needed to get work done, Tony, Sr. took over Tony's computer and desk focusing Tony to share with Kate.
"According to the company's records, Brick shipped out the package at 1:47pm and looking at the surveillance video, this has to be the man who sent it," said Kate, pausing the footage to show a blurry image of a person standing at a counter.
"Are you sure that's a man? Looks like it could be a woman?" said McGee.
"No, that's a man," said Ziva, squinting her eyes at the screen.
"Maybe, it's a he-she?" joked Tony.
"Oh, kind of like that one you tongued that time?" replied Kate.
Tony, Sr. head popped up from behind the computer screen. "You tongued a he-she, Junior?"
Tony cut his eyes at his wife. "I didn't know it was a he-she…I thought it was a she…Look, it was a long time ago, Dad! Do your work!"
Kate laughed, playfully nudging her husband.
"We should get this down to Abby. Maybe she can clear up the image enough to run it through facial recognition?" said McGee, removing the video and heading for the elevator.
Gibbs and Jenny came down the steps.
"You find anything?" asked Gibbs.
"The video is too blurry to make out a face so McGee took it down to Abby to see if she can clear it up," explained Tony.
Jenny looked out the window. "It's starting to come down out there."
"Any chance we can go home early?" asked Tony, flashing Jenny a flirty smile.
"You have a case to solve, Agent DiNozzo."
"Yeah, but it would be a shame if Kate and I got stuck at the office because of the weather. You know we do have three small kids at home."
"I am well aware of that, Tony. I will keep an eye on the weather and if things start to get bad, I'll consider letting you leave early."
Tony, Sr. got up and approached Tony. "Junior, I need to go meet a client, you mind dropping me off?"
"You're not going anywhere," replied Tony.
"It is very important, Junior. It won't take long, I promise! I just need to work something out. If we leave now, we can be back before the storm gets too bad."
"Dad, I'm working!"
The morning progressed as the snow outside continued to fall. Waiting for Abby to finish with the surveillance tape, the team went about doing busy work or anything to pass the time. Tony and Kate sat on the window ledge watching the snowfall.
"I bet the boys are going to drive us up a wall about going outside to play in the snow," said Tony.
"To be summer babies, they love winter," replied Kate. "Remember the first time we took them out in the snow?"
Tony laughed. "You had them and Arissa bundled up so tight they could barely walk! Arissa wanted to make a snow angel but all she could make was a star because she couldn't move her arms or legs with all the layers you had her in!"
"You used to love the snow when you were little, Junior," said Tony, Sr. still working at Tony's desk. "Remember the time we went skiing in Aspen? We took that picture at the top of the mountain."
"You're talking about the trip where you left on the ski lift to talk to that snow bunny?" replied Tony.
Tony, Sr. turned his attention back to the computer screen.
"Wow! Skiing in Aspen? Must have been nice?" asked Kate.
"The perks of being a DiNozzo, we can enjoy the finer things in life!" chimed in Senior.
"Maybe Arissa and the boys will get to enjoy those perks one day?"
"Oh, the boys definitely will!"
Kate glared at Tony.
Jenny walked in. "I just hear on the news that they are closing the schools early. If you need to, one of you can leave early to get your children."
"Thanks, Jenny," said Kate.
"No problem, the federal government is shutting down at three o'clock anyway so it's no big deal!"
"Want to flip a coin to see who goes, Tony?"
"No, you go get the kids. I'll stay here. I don't want you driving in this later," replied Tony.
"I'll go with you, Kate," said Tony, Sr.
"Oh no, Senior. I think it's best you stay here! With your son! In protective custody! Away from me and our daughter!" said Kate through gritted teeth.
"But I really need to meet with this client!"
"You're not meeting with any client today! Can you just sit over there and relax. Tell your client you have to meet with them some other time."
"But I'm on a deadline!"
"So have it pushed back!"
Senior let out a frustrated sigh. "Is it okay, if they pop by the house later?"
"Sure, whatever."
Tony walked Kate to the garage before returning to the Bullpen where he was forced to sit with his father waiting for three o'clock to come around. Tony entertained himself by shooting paper basketballs into Kate's trashcan while Senior wandered around the Bullpen.
Gibbs rushed into the Bullpen followed by a naval officer in dress blues. "Is Abby finished with that tape?"
"No, Boss. She is still working on it," replied Tony.
"The program we found in Senior's house was a fake!"
"What?"
"We were running the program this morning and realized that the program had been manipulated. Someone made a duplicate copy and sent us a fake," said the naval officer.
"I need to know who sent Senior that package. Whoever it is, they probably still have the real program. We need to get to Abby's lab," ordered Gibbs.
Downstairs Tony, Gibbs and the naval officer entered into the lab to find Abby working away at her computer.
"Abby, tell me that you enhanced that footage," asked Gibbs.
Abby turned around smiling. "You're right on time, Gibbs! I was just about to play it! It's nice to see that our ESP is…"
"Not now, Abbs! I need to see the footage!"
Abby played the footage. "Well our mystery person is definitely a guy!"
"Can you make out the face?"
Abby clicked her mouse, zooming in on the image. "Only a little. The brim of his hat is blocking part of his face."
"I need you to do better than that, Abbs!"
"What's the emergency?"
"Bogus software! That's the emergency! Whoever that is, made a manipulated copy of the software and sent it to Tony's dad! He still has the real one!"
"Wow! This must be one smart guy to manipulate naval software."
"Not smart enough. I need to know who he is!"
"I can try to lighten the shadow."
Tony walked up to Abby's plasma screen, studying the image. "Um, Boss! You don't need to identity the guy."
"Why not?"
"Because I recognize someone else in the footage," Tony pointed to a blonde, woman standing behind the man. "That's Amber."
Gibbs walked up to the screen. "Amber? As in your father's business partner, Amber?"
"Yeah."
"What is she doing there?"
"Sending a package?" replied Abby.
Tony and Gibbs continued to watch the screen as Amber approached the counter.
"Abby, zoom in closer on what she is handing the clerk?" ordered Gibbs.
Abby did as he was told.
"Looks like a flash drive," said Tony.
"Find out where she sent that flash drive!"
Tony opened a file on Abby's table that contained the records from the shipping store. "Boss, Amber sent that flash drive to my dad."
Gibbs' eyebrows nearly touched from the anger that rushed through his veins as he rushed out the lab heading to the Bullpen followed by Tony and the naval officer. Upstairs, Tony, Sr. was making his way back to Tony's desk from the bathroom, nervousness and worry written all over his face.
"Junior, I really need to go meet with this client," begged Senior.
"You're not going anywhere! Sit down!" Gibbs forced Senior into Tony's chair. "The same day you received that package from Brick you also got a package from Amber that contained a flash drive! Where is the flash drive?"
"I don't know what you are talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Senior! Where is it?"
"I don't know? I asked you to have Junior go get it from the house!"
Gibbs looked at Tony. "Did you ever go get that flash drive for your father?"
"Yeah," Tony reached into his desk drawer and pulled out the flash drive.
"You didn't you send it to, Amber?" asked Senior.
"I was a little busy trying to find out who was framing you!"
Gibbs took the flash drive and handed it to the naval officer who plugged it into Kate's computer.
"This is the real defense software, sir!" said the officer.
"Oh no," sighed Tony, Sr.
"Something you want to tell us, Senior?" asked Gibbs.
"I had nothing to do with that! I swear!"
Gibbs studied Senior's face. "Now is not the time to hold back information, Senior!"
Tony, Sr. swallowed hard. "I think I may be in trouble here."
"What's going on, Dad?" asked Tony.
"The reason I wanted to leave is because Amber is going crazy about that flash drive! She was supposed to have it days ago but now I know why she doesn't!"
"She's looking for this?" asked Gibbs.
"Yes! And she's not playing around about getting it either!" Tony, Sr. pulled out his phone and dialed up his voicemail, putting it on speaker:
"Tony, the games are over! You may think that you are pulling a fast one on me but I will have the last a laugh! Now either you get me that flash drive or you might just end up like your friend, Howard! I'm sure your son would love to investigate your murder!" The female voice stopped with a click.
"When did she send you that?" asked Gibbs.
"This morning."
"Have you spoken to her since then?"
"Yes, she said that if I didn't get the flash drive to her by this afternoon that she would be focused to come get it herself! If I doing show up to meet her with that flash drive she's going to kill me."
"That's why you're in protective custody! When were you supposed to meet her?"
"She told me to meet her at 2:15."
"It's 2:30 now! Where were you supposed to meet her?"
"She was going to meet me."
"Meet you where?"
"I told her that I gave the flash drive so she told me to be at your house."
"My house? This woman is threating to kill you and you told her to meet you at my house!"
"You weren't willing to take me anywhere else to meet her!"
"Right, so have her come to my place! You don't know what she has on her mind! She could…" Tony's eyes grow wide. "Kate!"
"What does she have to do with Amber wanting to kill me?"
"Kate is at home with the kids!"
Gibbs rushed to his desk to grab his gun. "Call Ziva and McGee, tell them to get their asses over to your house now!"
Jenny walked in. "Jethro, what's going on?"
"We have a situation at Tony's house!"
WTF is going on? Senior's really done it now! He has some psycho chick going to Tony's house while Kate and the kids are there? Seriously? What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)