Devotion Chapter Twenty Four

Twenty minutes later, Gibbs walked into the bullpen with his ever present cup of coffee.

He found Kate and McGee going over information on the plasma near Tony's desk.

He took a long drink as he stood behind them, listening to their exchange.

Kate noticed him first.

"Gibbs! When did you get here?"

"Just arrived"

"How's Tony?" McGee and Kate asked in unison.

"He's taking care of business…what have you got?" He nodded at the screen as he took another sip of his coffee.

Kate frowned. She would call Tony herself as soon as she could.

McGee looked from Gibbs to Kate. Kate seemed miffed at Gibbs as she remained silent.

McGee figured he'd start. He clicked the remote which took him back a photo. It captured the overview of their crime scene two days earlier.

"Boss, Balboa asked me to run a search on similar murders. We found there have been three others with the same M.O. over the past five years. Since our crime scene is the first involving navy personnel this is the first we've seen of it."

"The scenes were very similar. Two victims, gutted like animals, their internal organs were then scattered around the room. The weapon used to disembowel them was some form of sword or a sickle or scythe. The rest were executed with a bullet to the head. A different gun was used each time."

Kate jumped in at that moment "These other murders were in Metro's jurisdiction. We talked to the officers and Detectives involved and they all confirmed that it was gang related but none of the killings were ever solved. They had a lot of leads but just couldn't get enough evidence to arrest and convict."

Gibbs looked pissed as he said "Do they have any idea which gang or gangs may be involved?"

McGee shook his head in the affirmative as he clicked to a new photo.

"Los Muretos MC…the gang leader is Hect….."

"Hector Zegarra." Gibbs finished for him, and then added "AKA The Reaper."

Kate and McGee looked at each other in shock as Kate muttered to herself:

"A reaper is known to use a scythe."

Gibbs looked troubled as McGee asked:

"How do you know him Boss?"

Gibbs sighed as he crumpled his empty cup. This situation had just become more complicated.

Gibbs thought of Tony and his run in last night with Hector Zegarra. It was bad enough that Tony had been attacked by that bastard Zegarra but to find out now how many deaths he may be responsible for made Gibbs cringe.

"Let's go for coffee. I'll fill you both in on the way."

Gibbs tossed his cup in Tony's waste bin before he headed for the elevator, his curious Agents at his side.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The three Agents received their coffee orders and found a table in the back of the coffee shop.

As Gibbs sat with McGee and Kate explaining the events of last night, Tony was relaying the same story to Steve back at his home.

"Jesus Tony! Gibbs sure gave me a watered down version! Do you think Zegarra will come back?" Steve sounded nervous and when he looked around the room, Tony felt guilty.

"I doubt it but hey, if it makes you nervous, bro, let me get you a hotel room."

Steve was quiet for a minute and said "Nah…I want to stay."

Tony smiled and asked "Would you like a gun?"

Steve laughed "I would love a gun!"

Tony motioned for Steve to follow him. They entered Spence's office and Tony opened the gun safe.

"WOW…"Steve said taking in the various weapons.

"Can I?" He asked Tony as he pointed at the open safe.

"Help yourself." Tony said as he stood back giving Steve complete access.

Steve's eyes scanned over the large cache of firearms.

Whistling with surprise, He pulled out a rifle just to admire it.

Steve turned the rifle over and checked it at various angles.

"Is this an authentic Winchester?" he asked

"Yep…Spence bought it at a "Gun Show of the West" last year. It is an 1866 Winchester "Yellow boy" lever action rifle. He paid a small fortune for it."

"It's a beauty!" Steve said somewhat in awe, as he handed it back to Tony.

Tony chuckled and said "Spence was so excited to find it he was like Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" getting his Red Ryder BB gun."

Tony placed the rifle back in the safe as Steve pulled out a Glock 19 handgun and got a feel for it in his hand. Satisfied, he handed it to Tony and said:

"I'll take this one."

"You have chosen wisely." Tony joked as he made sure the handgun was fully loaded and then he set it on the desk. He closed the safe and turned back to Steve.

"Do you feel like getting started?" He asked Steve as he pointed to a stack of files on the desk.

Steve moved behind the desk and sitting down, agreed "Might as well."

He pulled the stack of papers towards him.

Tony positioned the gun to Steve's right for easy access.

"I'll go put on another pot of coffee, Bro…be right back."

Tony returned a few minutes later with a mug of coffee fixed the way he knew Steve liked it-black with 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Steve had retrieved his laptop and Tony noticed he was reading something from an online law library.

Tony set the coffee next to the gun and then took a seat across from him.

Steve looked up and said:

"Thanks Tony….so tell me exactly what is it you want me to help you with?"

Tony explained what had transpired at the Spencer estate and told Steve what he had found in the paperwork. He also shared that he had a feeling he would need to move soon.

"Steve…I don't give a shit about the money or the house, not really, there are a few items of Spence's I would like to keep as well as things we received or bought together. I also want to be able to honor Spence by having a funeral. I want to see if there is anything in the law that would override Linda's authority regarding his burial. I am hoping there may be something under Domestic Partnership law or….I don't know….that's why I called you in!"

Steve recognized his friend was depressed and frustrated. He hoped he could work it out for him.

"I'm going to go over what I can and then I'll have some questions for you. Give me an hour or two…will that be okay?" Steve asked

"Whatever you need…you're doing me a favor bud."

Steve took a sip of his coffee and got back to work.

Tony looked at his friend. He was always amazed at Steve's level of focus and concentration. Steve had been the same way when they were in college.

Tony looked at the gun Steve had selected and made a decision. He knew Steve had handled guns before but Steve had never killed anyone. He didn't want his friend to have to worry about the possibility he may have too. Tony also worried if Steve was faced with the situation, would he hesitate in pulling the trigger? That could cost Steve his life and Tony couldn't live with that.

He couldn't take that chance.

He went out to the living room and powered up his lap top. He Goggled "home alarm companies D.C." and thought about Spence.

Spence had never wanted to have a home alarm system. He felt they had enough security with a safe full of firearms and years of experience between them to defend their home. Tony shuddered, thinking about how long "The Reaper" had lain in wait for him. Tony wondered if he was already in the house when he got home. If they had had an alarm perhaps last night would not have happened. Maybe Zegarra would have not even tried.

Tony knew an alarm system was only a deterrence. If someone wanted to get to you they would.

He wanted Steve to have some peace of mind and give them a little edge in case that loco bastard tried again.

He spent the next hour researching different home security companies. He was drawn to one in particular because of their mascot. The company was called "Protect Your Nest". The mascot was a blue bird in a nest. Basic enough but this blue bird was very different.

Tony smirked as he thought how the bird was drawn to look like John Belushi's character, Captain Wild Bill Kelso, in the movie 1941. The advertisers even added a stubbed cigar hanging from the little bird's beak. A scarf, flight helmet and machine gun rounded out the image. Tony was sold.

"Just another victim to clever advertising" he thought, as he picked up the phone and dialed 555-NEST.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kate and McGee had both paled when Gibbs explained how violent Hector Zegarra was. Gibbs had told them everything he had heard including Zegarra's threat to sodomize Tony and kill him.

"Do you think Tony is still in danger?" McGee asked as the three of them walked back to NCIS headquarters.

"As long as Zegarra is on the loose I think so. This guy is bent on hurting people close to Spence and Joe Alvarez."

Gibbs phone rang.

"Yeah, Gibbs"

McGee and Kate watched as their boss listened to the caller. His expression remained neutral.

After a few "uh-huhs" and a "thanks" Gibbs abruptly hung up.

"That was Metro. They found Zegarra's van but no sign of Zegarra. They pulled in a lot of his fellow gang members but no one is talking." Gibbs said as he silently wished he could have had a crack at interrogating some of them.

Back in the bullpen, McGee and Kate continued working on their joint case with Balboa, as Gibbs met with the Internal Affairs representative. Gibbs was not pleased that it took almost two hours to file the report regarding Tony's stolen sig.

Gibbs then met with Director Morrow and briefed him on the current situation. Morrow granted him a few days off rotation since his team was still working with Balboa. Morrow understood Gibbs and knew his best Agent would be working independently to try and get these murders solved.

Gibbs returned to the bullpen to let Kate and McGee know what he would be doing for the next few days. He advised them to keep him informed as he headed towards the elevator. He needed to see Ducky and Abby before he headed out.

He was pleased to find both of them together in autopsy.

"Jethro!"

"Hey Gibbs!"

Gibbs nodded at their greeting and said "I'm glad you two are here together, saves me a trip."

Gibbs was conveying all the information he had regarding the other murders and the possible tie to Hector Zegarra when he got a call.

Ducky and Abby glanced at each other as they watched Gibbs face go from neutral to furious.

"I'd like my M.E. to be kept in the loop! Yes, his name is Doctor Mallard and he will be contacting you in the next 24 hours."

When Gibbs snapped his phone shut Ducky asked "What is it, Jethro?"

"That was Metro. The C.I. that worked for Joe and Spence, He was the one who let Metro know Zegarra was seeking revenge against them, Well, they just pulled his body out of the Potomac. His throat has been slit from ear to ear."

Abby and Ducky looked horrified as Ducky said:

"Oh my."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The "Protect Your Nest" sales person was extremely helpful. Tony was very impressed. Together they worked out the perfect system and negotiated a good price in less than an hour. The best part was they could have a contractor out that afternoon and have everything installed in a few hours.

Now he just had to wait.

Tony checked on Steve's progress.

Steve was busy reading and interpreting as he viewed the online law library.

He was so pre-occupied he didn't even realize Tony was watching him. Steve was chewing on his pencil between taking notes and looking at the computer screen.

"How about some lunch, bud?" Tony inquired

Steve was startled but recovered quickly.

"I could eat!"

"So I see." Tony said as he nodded towards Steve.

Steve furrowed his brow and then looked at the pencil in his hand. It looked like a beaver gnawed on it. He set it down and looked sheepishly at Tony asking:

"What do you have in mind?"

"How about Chinese?" Tony said with amusement in his voice.

"Sounds great!"

"I'll call it in. Everything going ok?"

Steve stood and stretched. Tony could tell his friend was tired.

"I don't know much about Domestic partnerships so reading law and statutes are consuming most of my time but I'm still digging. Did you and Spence have anything in writing outlining a domestic partnership? I didn't see anything in the files I looked through?"

The smile fell from Tony's face as he looked down to the floor. Steve could see Tony looked defeated.

"No, we have nothing in writing Steve. I'm sorry…this whole thing is probably a waste of your time."

"You throwing in the towel already, DiNozzo?" Steve asked curtly but without anger.

Tony looked up into his friends face as Steve added "Or are you giving up on my abilities to "shyster" my way to a sound conclusion?"

Tony laughed loudly at Steve's reference to his own frat nickname. Tony had christened him "Shyster" the day they met when Steve disclosed he was a pre-law major.

"Hell no, I'm not giving up! You need to get back to it then…" Tony waved Steve playfully back towards the desk.

"I'll call in the grub and bring you some lunch when it gets here! Oh, I have a contractor coming over in a hour or so….gonna install a home alarm system….wanna make sure my shyster lawyer has no opportunity to sue if he can't get a decent night's sleep!"

Steve snorted as he sat back down at the desk. He reached into his briefcase and pulled out some headphones. He plugged them into the laptop and selected his playlist.

Tony smiled as he heard the beginning of some Elvis Costello song emanating from the headphones right before Steve put them on. Steve then dismissed him with a rude gesture of his hand.

Steve could not hear Tony's hearty laughter as it trailed behind him into the next room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Steve was still deeply involved with his research when Tony set down two small cartons of Chinese food, a set of chopsticks, some napkins, soy sauce, a fortune cookie and a cold bottle of water 45 minutes later.

Steve gave Tony a thumbs up for "thanks" right before Tony left the room.

Tony had just sat down on the couch to eat his food when his doorbell rang. Unexpectedly, the contractors from "Protect Your Nest" were early. Tony spent about 30 minutes going over what he wanted and giving the men a brief tour of the house. As they got to work Tony picked up his now cold Chinese food and headed into the kitchen.

The microwave dinged at the same time the doorbell chimed.

"Shit!" Tony thought to himself as he headed for the door.

"Will I get a chance to eat today?" he wondered as he looked through the peep hole and saw a man he did not recognize. The man was in a rumpled suit, heavy set with a horrible comb over and he looked put out. Tony could see the company truck for "Protect Your Nest" in his driveway. The image of that bad ass bluebird covered the whole side of the truck.

Tony was unable to see past the man to verify what he may be driving.

Since he wasn't Hector Zegarra and Tony had a gun nestled in his sweater pocket, he opened the door.

"May I help you?" Tony asked the man.

The man said nothing just handed Tony his card.

It read:

"Walter "Wally" Marvin, Esquire"

Tony looked up into the man's eyes trying not to laugh.

"Esquire?" he asked as the man cleared his throat and stepped to the side.

Tony lost his smile. He would have lost his lunch if he had eaten it.

Linda stood there with her hand on one hip, while her other hand pointed to the company truck.

Her sunglasses covered her eyes but Tony could see her lips were pursed and her face looked pinched as she screamed at him:

"WHAT IN FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO MYYYYYYYYYY HOUSE PRETTY BOY!"