This one is not connected to any particular episode. There is a period of almost a month between "Chained" and "Black Water" during which Christmas would have occurred, and I just couldn't resist the temptation. How might our favorite team have spent their 2004 holiday?
There is a very simple case included in this story, mainly included to drive the other events, as writing case-related stuff is really not my strength.
So, Merry Christmas…in July!
"Comfort and Joy"
It was 1:00pm on Christmas Eve, and three of the members of the MCRT could no longer pretend to not be eavesdropping on the increasingly loud telephone conversation taking place at the desk of its fourth member.
"Look, Pam, as I already explained to you – I have to work! We're on call tomorrow. There's no way I can drive to New York with you tonight. I need to be nearby if we get called out on a case…."
The voice on the other end of the phone was becoming louder and more agitated by the minute.
"I'm sure once you get there and see your family, you won't even miss me….But…Okay, Pammy, listen to me, I'm certain your parents will understand…I mean, we've only been seeing each other for a month…"
Tony abruptly winced and moved the telephone receiver away from his ear as the agitation turned to shrieking. Even Gibbs stopped what he was doing and stared with blatant interest in the direction of DiNozzo's desk.
Gingerly moving the receiver back to his ear, Tony quickly stated, "Pam, I've got to go to a meeting. We'll have to finish this later, "and abruptly hung up. He rested his head in his hands for a moment in frustration before his partner predictably chimed in.
"Sounds like you've really outdone yourself this time, DiNozzo," Kate said smugly.
Frustrated, he barked back, "Oh, c'mon, Kate. Even you have to admit that taking a guy home to meet the parents after a month is rushing things just a tad."
"Oh, I didn't mean that. I meant that she sounds like a real nutjob. Good thing you rescued that poor guy who was gonna marry her from a lifetime of listening to that. So very noble of you."
He shot her a look of annoyance before noticing that his boss was staring at him. Gibbs' unspoken "I told you so" was even more troublesome than Kate's blatant sarcasm.
He now recalled with a touch of guilt how the older man had reacted when he'd discovered Tony was seeing Lieutenant Pam Kim. "Kate said she told you she was engaged. You really want to get involved with someone who was that quick to dump her fiancé?" Of course, the unspoken ending to that statement had been, "Have you forgotten how that felt when it happened to you?" Thankfully, Gibbs had allowed that statement to merely hang in the air between them, understood but unspoken. However, he had decided to add, "You sure this isn't just a rebound thing for Cassidy's benefit?" That question had cut Tony to the quick. Of course it was a rebound thing. What was he supposed to do, sit around and feel sorry for himself?
And now Gibbs was giving him that look and he was desperately avoiding having to meet the other man's eyes. Fortunately, Kate continued.
"Well, at least one of us is happy to be working Christmas. I guess that's something, anyway."
Tony suspected if he'd read his boss correctly that there were at least two of them that were not exactly heartbroken to be on call for the holiday, but he kept that observation to himself. Even the Probie, who had mentioned that if they didn't get a case he would be driving down to Norfolk the next day to at least have Christmas dinner with his family, had been lacking a certain amount of enthusiasm when he'd mentioned the possibility. Tony suspected it had something to do with the fact that his father would be there this time.
But Kate, whose family was in Indiana, would have no such opportunity to make it home for Christmas dinner, and even though they'd known they'd be on-call for months, she had become increasingly despondent as the holiday had approached. And the one friend she may have felt comfortable spending the holiday with was out of town. Abby had left the day before to spend the holiday with her brother and his family, and while the two of them seemed to be as different as night and day from everything she had said about him, she always looked forward to spending time with them. Added to that had been her glee at the possibility of being there for an extremely rare white Christmas in New Orleans.
Kate was happy for her, of course, but also slightly jealous. In an effort to inject some holiday cheer into what was proving to be a disappointing season, she had made a batch of peppermint brownies for Christmas Eve. As the MCRT sat around trying to find things to do to keep them occupied that afternoon, the brownies were a welcome treat.
As the day finally wound down and they left for the evening, Tony had caught Gibbs' eye. While nothing had been said, both men had planned to show up to the office the next day, case or no case. Tony had heard rumors that Gibbs spent every Christmas in the office, even when they were not on-call. In past years, the younger man had always found a way to be out of town for the holiday, treating himself to a mini-vacation somewhere to help him forget the fact that his father was always too busy living the good life to be bothered with attempting to see his own son during the season of cheer. But with them all being stuck here in DC, and in light of his growing friendship with his boss during the past year, it seemed right somehow to spend his holiday with the other man. Even if it meant working cold cases.
So they exchanged a brief look, communicating a message understood only between them. See you tomorrow.
As Gibbs arrived home from work that Christmas Eve, he was surprised to find a brown package sitting outside his door.
He didn't have many friends, and those he did have were not big on exchanging gifts for the holidays. He hadn't spoken with his father in years. With deepening curiosity, he picked up the small brown package and brought it inside.
Since he'd already received small gifts from Abby and Ducky, he wondered if it was possible this one could be from DiNozzo. There was no return address on the package.
He sat down on his couch and tore open the paper. Then he stared dumbfounded at the contents. Yes, this could definitely be from DiNozzo, but if so, he was certain it hadn't actually been intended for him.
Shaking his head, he sat the box on his coffee table.
What on earth was he going to do with a jar of Honey Dust?
Tony had just sat down on his couch with a bowl of popcorn to begin his annual tradition of watching "It's a Wonderful Life" when his cell phone rang.
Great. It's Pam.
He very much wanted to just ignore it, but if he did that she would simply continue calling every five minutes until he answered. Better to just get it over with.
Injecting a fake smile into his voice, he answered, "Hello, beautiful."
"Tony, I really miss you. Really, really, really…" She was slurring her words quite a bit and he could tell she'd been drinking. At least if she was drunk, maybe she'd be more mellow.
"I miss you too," he lied.
"No you don't. You don't care about me. If you did, you'd be here. I'm sooooo lonely, Tony…."
"I'll see you in a couple of days. And you've got your family. Aren't you happy to see them?"
"Yes, but it's not the same without you. Can't you please drive up after work tomorrow?"
He took a deep breath. "I told you, I have to be right back at work on Monday. It wouldn't make sense to drive all the way up there for just one day."
He heard a long, tortured sigh on the other end of the phone in response. In an effort to turn around the conversation, he asked in his sexiest voice, "Hey, did you get my present? It was in a brown box. I didn't put my address on it cause I wanted to surprise you."
Pam stared at the bottle of Jack Daniels in front of her, aghast. She had never imagined Tony would send her such an unromantic gift. "That was from you?" she asked in horror.
"Yes it was," he said proudly. "Can't wait 'til you get back here so we can enjoy it."
"What? You are unbelievable! I can't believe I broke up with Shaun for you," she said tearfully.
There was only one thing worse for Tony than dealing with an angry woman. A crying one. "Aww, Pammy, don't cry. Look, we'll get together in a few days when you get back, and you'll forget all about this, ok? Just…try to have a Merry Christmas."
He could hear her crying even harder just before she hung up on him. He usually got a much more positive reaction to the Honey Dust. This couldn't go on much longer.
Wearily beginning his movie, he came to a realization.
I have to end this. So I can start my New Year as a free man.
It was 5:00am when Kate's cell phone rang. Her family knew better than to call her that early, even on Christmas. Which could only mean one thing. She looked at her caller ID. DiNozzo.
"Tony, if you aren't calling to tell me we have a case, I am so going to murder you, and I mean it this time!"
"We have a case."
"Oh." Surprisingly, it felt like good news. At least she wouldn't sit home alone all day. Then she felt guilty. "Tell me it's not a murder on Christmas."
"Hopefully not. Shondra Michaels, wife of Petty Officer Ryan Michaels, currently on leave, called to report him missing early this morning. He ran out to the store last night and never came home."
"Why are we investigating this? Do they suspect foul play for some reason?"
Why was Kate making him think so hard before he'd even finished his first cup of coffee? Couldn't she ever just accept anything without question? "His wife is concerned because he's been receiving some strange emails recently. They thought it was just a joke or a mistake, but now that he's missing she's afraid it's more. Boss wants us all to head to the house to question her."
After jotting down the address on a notepad, Kate reluctantly rolled out of bed, knowing this could prove to be a very long Christmas Day.
The house was quaint, modestly decorated for Christmas. When Kate, Tony, and Gibbs had all arrived separately at the home, they rang the doorbell and were greeted by Shondra Michaels and her 2-year-old daughter, Kyla. The child was still dressed in her Santa pajamas, sleepily hanging on to her mother.
"Thank God you're here. Please come in," Mrs. Michaels invited.
As they entered, Kate noticed the wealth of still-unopened Christmas presents around the tree, and the stocking hung over the fireplace with Kyla's name on it. At least the child was still young enough to be unaware of what was transpiring. Still, Kate thought with sorrow, if her father had been murdered, the child's entire future would be changed forever.
"Can I get you anything?" the distraught woman offered.
"No, thank you," Gibbs politely answered on behalf of himself and his agents. "We need to ask you some questions about your husband, Ms. Michaels."
"Of course. I'll tell you anything you need to know."
They took their seats in the living room, the three agents on the sofa and their hostess in a chair, Kyla sitting on her lap.
"What time did your husband leave last night and where was he going?"
"He left about 7:00. I needed a few things and almost everything was closed already. He was going to stop at the convenience store down the street for me and he never came home. I started calling his cell phone around 8:00 and always got his voice mail. By 10:00 I was frantic. I called all of our friends but no one had seen him. So I called the police."
Kate chimed in. "Ms. Michaels, you told the police that Ryan had been receiving some odd emails recently. Tell us about those."
Shakily, the other woman responded. "About two weeks ago, Ryan showed me a strange message from an email address we didn't recognize. The subject line said, "I know what you did." When he opened it, the rest of the message was blank. We assumed it was just a prank. But, he got a couple more messages after that, too. One of them said, "I'm coming for you" and another one said "Did you think you'd get away with it?"
"Did you report them to anyone?" Tony asked.
She sighed. "Unfortunately, no. We still thought it was a mistake or a prank. I mean, Ryan's a very good man. He's never been in any trouble and we couldn't come up with anything he might have done in his past that would warrant messages like that."
"How long have you been married?" Gibbs asked. As nice as she seemed, the spouse was always a suspect until ruled out by the evidence.
"Just over three years. We had Kyla a couple of years ago, and Ryan was so excited to be here with us for Christmas. Agent Gibbs, there's no way he would have missed it voluntarily. Please, you have to find him."
"Can you think of anyone who may have a grudge against your husband, ma'am? Anyone at all, no matter how insignificant it may seem," Tony pressed.
"No, no one. I'm sure you hear this all the time, but really everyone loved Ryan. He didn't have any enemies."
Standing up, Gibbs offered, "Thank you, Ms. Michaels. We'll do everything we can. We need to take his computer with us so we can investigate the emails."
"Of course. I appreciate it Agent Gibbs. And I'll be happy to answer any more questions you think of. Please, just find Ryan."
She stood little Kyla on the floor to see her guests out, but the little girl toddled straight over to Agent Gibbs and offered him the remnants of the cookie she'd been holding in her tiny hands. Gibbs smiled as he only did when confronted with children and gently patted her head before turning to leave. Kate followed first, and finally Tony with the computer.
Tony caught a sight of his boss' face as they walked back to their vehicles and he knew. There was going to be no rest for them until Petty Officer Ryan Michaels was found.
Agent McGee was at his desk typing furiously when the rest of the team arrived. As they approached the bullpen, Tony started looking around. There was Christmas music playing.
"Well, good morning to you, Tiny Tim," Tony teased.
Gibbs gave the younger man an odd look, and McGee stuttered, "Uh, Boss. I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon. I'll just…turn off the music," he said and he stood up.
"No, McGee. Leave it," their boss surprisingly directed. "What've you got?"
Kate and Tony exchanged a smile. Maybe their boss wasn't totally a cross between Ebenezer Scrooge and The Grinch after all.
McGee too was surprised, but quickly recovered and shared the information he'd recovered after a few hours of researching Petty Officer Michaels' background.
"Petty Officer Second Class Ryan Michaels is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, where both of his parents and his younger sister still live. He was an average student and joined the Navy shortly after graduating high school five years ago. Married Shondra Ellis three years ago and they had Kyla Michaels approximately two years ago. He has a pretty clean record since joining the Navy. I only found one thing of interest. Right after graduating from high school, his best friend, Brian Shaw, got into some trouble and was apparently convicted of armed robbery. He did time and was released about six months ago. During the investigation, Ryan Michaels was questioned by the police and provided some critical information that led to Brian Shaw's arrest. As far as I can tell, they haven't had any contact with each other since."
"That's good work, McGee. DiNozzo…"
"BOLO's out on Michaels' car. I'll trace his cell phone records. Probie," he said, taking the computer over and setting it down on his colleague's desk, "need you to trace the emails."
"Kate," Gibbs ordered.
"I'll find out what I can about Brian Shaw's current whereabouts."
Gibbs walked out, no doubt to make a coffee run, while his team set to work. As the Chipmunks started to play, Tony smirked and looked over at the Probie.
Feeling the other man's eyes on him, McGee quickly pleaded, "Please don't say it, Tony."
Gibbs strolled in with 4 cups of coffee, much to his team's surprise, and a bag of cookies. After he'd made his rounds and distributed both to his team, he asked the familiar question. "What've you got?"
"Tony's on the phone with the Norfolk PD. I think they may have found Ryan Michaels' car, Boss," McGee offered.
"Any luck tracing those emails?" Gibbs inquired.
"Almost there."
"While we're waiting, I found something interesting on Brian Shaw," Kate added. "He was released from prison in July. He moved into an apartment in a low-income area near Norfolk. He was depositing modest checks once a week, presumably from his parents. It looks like it took him a while to find a job, but about a month ago he took a job at a gas station. And get this, Gibbs. It's about 3 miles from the Michaels' home. Coincidence?"
"Don't believe in 'em," the boss said confidently.
Tony hung up the phone. "Norfolk PD found Michaels' abandoned car about a half hour ago. His cell phone's in it, turned off." He pulled up a map on the screen and showed his teammates the location. Kate gasped when she saw it.
"Kate?" Gibbs inquired. "You got something?"
"Shaw had a girlfriend for a brief period of time during the fall. She lived with her mother, but they both moved out of the area last month. However, the mother still owns the house, and it's not very far from there. Electricity's turned off. It's likely no one lives there. If Shaw knows that…."
"It would be a familiar location for him and also a great place to hide," Gibbs finished for her. "McGee, where are you with tracing those emails."
There was a brief pause. "Just got the trace, Boss." The younger man nodded gravely. "They came from Brian Shaw."
They all immediately sprung into action, donning their bullet-proof vests and other gear. They were going to that house, but what they would find there was still a mystery. They could be walking into a body dump or a hostage situation. Or, they could be just about to take a murderer by surprise. Worst of all, maybe they'd be walking into a dead end.
Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst, Gibbs issued the order. "Let's go!"
They parked about half-a-block away and very stealthily got out of their cars, guns drawn. There was no one stirring outside, everyone likely enjoying their Christmas Day blissfully ignorant of the potential that a horrific crime had been committed just down the street.
Gibbs and Tony quietly approached the window, standing on either side while Kate and McGee stood by. Tony very slowly moved to peer in through the slight opening in the curtain. With a tiny surge of relief, DiNozzo identified a lone gunman and a very-much-alive Ryan Michaels, tied to a chair.
Moving back to his prior position, he whispered to his boss. "Michaels is tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Shaw is just to our right with a gun pointed at Michaels. Looks like he's talking to him but I can't make out anything."
Gibbs gave the next order. "We're going in through the back door," he indicated to his team. Kate and I'll go right, Tony and McGee will go left. Quietly. We don't want to spook him."
Tony tried the door, praying it would be unlocked by some miracle. It wasn't. Gibbs pulled out his lock pick and had the door open in seconds. They crept in according to their boss' orders and began to hear the conversation taking place between the two men.
"Why don't you just let me go, Brian? I won't say anything and you can get out of town. Start over somewhere."
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Brian Shaw looked around in a panic. "It's all your fault. All of it. I thought you were my friend."
"I was your friend. I didn't know you were planning to rob a convenience store when I saw you take off with those other guys. All I told the police was that I had seen you with them earlier."
"That was enough! You should've just kept your mouth shut." Shaw began to pace the room. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a job when you have a record? The best I could do was a gas station, and that was just because the owner was too dumb to do a background check. And my girl? As soon as she found out about my background she took off. You destroyed my life!"
"No, buddy," Ryan Michaels said defiantly. "You did that all on your own. First the drugs, then the gang. I tried to help you, you know. If you screwed up your life anyway, that's on you. If you're gonna shoot me, just do it already."
Brian Shaw pointed his gun and seemed to be considering it when DiNozzo's voice rung out. "NCIS! Drop it, Shaw!"
The suspect still had the gun trained on his ex-friend, but now noticed out of the corner of his eye that there was an agent to his right and one to his left, with two other agents behind them. Still, he refused to drop the gun.
"I said drop the gun, Shaw," Tony repeated. "Don't make us shoot you!"
The gunman hesitated a moment and then turned the gun away from Ryan Michaels and towards himself. At this point, Gibbs took over the conversation.
"You don't want to do that, Brian. Let us help you. You haven't hurt anyone yet."
"I can't go back to prison. You don't understand what it's like."
Knowing it was a risk, Ryan Michaels joined the conversation. "Listen to them, Brian. Let somebody help you. Think of your parents. They don't deserve this. Or Emily. Gosh, she must be all grown up now. I'm sure she doesn't want to lose her big brother."
At this, Brian Shaw broke down in tears, lowering the gun just enough for DiNozzo to quickly disarm and then handcuff him.
Meanwhile, Gibbs and Kate began to free Petty Officer Michaels from his bonds. The Michaels family would be having a happy Christmas after all.
Once the Norfolk PD arrived to take custody of Brian Shaw, Gibbs prepared to escort Ryan Michaels back to his family. However, McGee approached him with a question.
"Boss, since I brought my car and we're already in Norfolk…."
The Lead Agent already knew what the young man was going to ask and was quick with the answer. "Go, McGee. Enjoy the rest of the day with your family. We'll see you Monday."
"Thanks, Boss!" he responded excitedly. "Hey, Merry Christmas, guys!" he called over to Kate and Tony.
Gibbs turned his attention back to the matter at hand. "C'mon Officer Michaels. Let's get you home to that little girl of yours."
With a beaming smile of relief, Petty Officer Michaels eagerly responded, "I can't wait, sir!"
It was a beautiful scene when Ryan Michaels stepped out of the car and into the driveway of his home. Shondra and Kyla had both rushed to meet him, all three of them embracing and Kyla exclaiming loudly, "Daddy!"
Kate, Tony, and Gibbs observed the scene from a safe distance. Tony noticed Kate wiping away a few stray tears. She's such a sap, Tony thought.
If he rubbed at his own eyes a couple of times, it was merely because he had terrible allergies which had obviously chosen this moment to begin attacking him a couple of months prior to the actual start of his prime allergy season.
As DiNozzo glanced over at Gibbs, he noticed an odd expression on the older man's face. Something that could only be described as sorrow was mingled with just a touch of what Tony may have sworn was anger had they been in almost any other situation. But given that they were presented with a case that had ended so happily, and on Christmas at that, Tony brushed away the possibility as ridiculous. The boss just doesn't wear his emotions the same way as other people, he told himself.
Leaving the family to enjoy what was left of their day in privacy, the three agents got back into the sedan.
They had driven a couple of minutes when Gibbs made a very subtle, and quite unexpected, suggestion. "I've got some steaks back at the house."
Grinning, Tony said, "I'm in, Boss." Then turning to his partner in the back seat, he asked, "How about it, Kate?"
After the day they'd just had, how could she say no? Besides, she didn't have anywhere else to be. "Sure. Why not?"
"How's your steak, Kate?" Tony asked cheekily as the three agents sat around Gibbs' very modest table, remnants of a cozy fire still burning in the fireplace where he'd grilled their steaks a few minutes earlier, much to the female agent's amazement.
"Delicious, I must say." Kate's unspoken reaction to their boss' home had been a source of great amusement to her partner, though he gave her credit for mostly keeping her observations to herself. She went on to say, "Although, this is the most unique Christmas dinner I've ever had." She paused to take another swig of her beer.
"I don't think I've ever seen you drink beer before, Kate," Tony teased.
"There are still lots of things you don't know about me, DiNozzo," she offered temptingly while Gibbs sat across the table smirking and silently observing his two agents.
Tony had opened his mouth to offer a response when interrupted by Gibbs' cell phone ringing. The Lead Agent glanced at the caller ID and then shared the caller's identity with his guests. "It's Abby."
"Hey, Abs."
"Merry Christmas, Bossman. Guess what?" the forensic scientist asked excitedly.
Gibbs smiled and asked indulgently, "What?"
"We got snow! It's the first time in 50 years! Isn't that amazing?"
"That it is."
"How is your Christmas? I hope not too boring."
Glancing over at Kate and Tony he truthfully answered, "No, Abby, definitely not boring. Kate and Tony are here. We had a case today but wrapped it up and was able to send McGee home in time for dinner."
"Kate and Tony are there? Oooh, put them on speaker! I want to wish them a Merry Christmas!"
Gibbs pulled the cell phone away from his ear and stared at it in consternation. Speaker? How do you do that?
"Need help with something, Boss?" Tony offered.
Embarrassed, Gibbs admitted, "Abby wants to be on speaker…"
Tony grabbed the phone and pressed a few buttons. Putting the phone on the table, he said, "Abby? Can you hear me?"
"Tony! Is Kate there, too?"
"Merry Christmas, Abby," Kate responded while Tony glanced over to his boss with a teasing pride. Gibbs shot back his Watch it, DiNozzo expression, but without much heat behind it.
After exchanging holiday greetings with their favorite Goth, the three agents had gone back to enjoying the rest of their quiet but comfortable dinner. Once again, it was interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone, this time Tony's.
Glancing at the name, Tony quickly silenced the phone and tossed it aside, trying to avoid the curious glances of his dinner companions.
"It's Pam Kim again, isn't it?" Kate asked, while Gibbs simply raised his eyebrows.
Reluctantly, Tony admitted, "Yeah, she doesn't accept 'no' very well. I'll call her back later." It was a decision DiNozzo would regret later, as he would in fact forget to call her back, and would subsequently find himself ashamedly calling his boss on Monday morning to indicate he would be just a bit late due to having to clean the egg off of his car.
But for now, Tony was feeling completely satisfied. They'd wrapped up a case and gotten a mostly happy ending for once, and now he was spending Christmas with two of his favorite people, though he'd never admit that to Kate unless under serious duress.
And though she was missing her family, Kate also felt surprisingly satisfied with the ending of this particular holiday. Her partners were really not such bad company, after all. She picked up her almost empty beer bottle and proposed a toast. "Merry Christmas, guys."
Gibbs silently picked up his own bottle and toasted, while Tony, doing the same, looking at his teammates and returning the toast, offered his own, "Merry Christmas."
Then, looking at Kate, he added, "And here's to many more."