In the Presence of Mine Enemies Chapter 36

Fornell burst into Gibbs home in a huff.

Gibbs truck was in the drive way so he knew he was home. He also knew he would find his friend in the basement.

He stomped down the stairs saying "God Damn it, Jethro this had better be fucking important! I have Emily this weekend and had to leave her with my neigh…"

He stopped speaking. He looked around the room.

The boat Gibbs had been building was hacked to pieces. Large splinters and chunks of wood were strewn about the room. Gibbs stood off to the right, an axe in one hand and a bottle of bourbon in the other. He took a large swig from the bottle and held it out to Fornell.

Fornell didn't move just waved his hand around the room and said "What the fuck brought this on?"

Gibbs drew in a breath to calm himself. He took another drink and set the bottle down on the workbench next to him.

"Gideon Stiles"

Gibbs saw Fornell go white as a sheet. Fornell stepped over the scattered wood and approached his friend, deep concern on his face. Fornell took in Gibbs red rimmed, fear filled eyes and knew there was much more to the story.

"I am pretty sure the fucker has Tony." Gibbs said and turned away

Fornell picked up the bourbon and drank deeply. He put his hand on Gibbs shoulder and said quietly

"How can I help?"

He would try to help Gibbs anyway he could but Gibbs had told him all about his crazy high school friend.

Fornell knew in his heart that if Stiles had DiNozzo, he was as good as dead.

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Tobias Fornell helped get a very drunk Gibbs into bed. He placed a call to Dr. Mallard and filled him in on everything that had happened. He heard Ducky gasp when he mentioned Stiles name. Seems Gibbs had shared that part of his life with Ducky as well.

Ducky said he would be right over.

Fornell called his office and ordered a search for everything the FBI could possibly find out about one Major Gideon Stiles. He then called Diane and asked her to pick up Emily from his neighbor. He could still hear her bitching as he hung up.

By the time Ducky had arrived, Fornell had a local address for Gideon Stiles. He ordered a warrant and waited for it to be signed. It could be awhile as it was a Sunday. Leaving Gibbs in Ducky's care, Fornell decided to head over to the Stiles address on his own.

He approached the residence with care. He knocked on Stiles door and as expected there was no answer. Tobias Fornell looked at the view of Arlington Cemetery. He walked towards the wall. He noticed a Samurai sword on the ground. That was interesting. He put on gloves and picked it up. As he was heading back towards his vehicle something caught his eye. It looked like a small dart.

"Is this from a dart gun?" he thought reaching down to grab it. He bagged the dart and put it in his pocket.

He looked for an office for the apartment complex but found none. He put the sword in his trunk and knocked on another apartment door and asked the tenant for the landlord information. Securing the information he headed back to Gibbs. It was going to be a long night.

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The warrant was signed at 6am Monday morning. Gibbs accompanied Fornell and his Agents as they bust in Stiles door. After clearing the apartment of possible danger, Fornell had his Agents wait outside as he let Gibbs survey the seen.

Gibbs looked around with a trained eye. No obvious signs of struggle although there was a sword sheath discarded on the floor. Gibbs knew about the Samurai sword and the dart Tobias had found. Abby would run tests on them later.

There were two coffee mugs on the coffee table. Gibbs bagged them for Abby. He then noticed the yearbooks. He picked up the one that said Stillwater Coal Miners 1976. He opened it and looked through it. He saw his senior picture and thought where did that kid go?

He threw the book down. If Tony was here is this why he came? He remembered what Angelina had said. Tony told her he was not having lunch with a friend but that they shared a mutual friend. Gibbs was pretty sure that friend was him. What was Stiles angling for?

Gibbs opened drawers around the room. He pulled out a stack of photos and what looked like dossiers. They were on each member of his team. Tony, Kate and Tim were separate from Ducky and Jimmy. He also found a picture of Shannon and Kelly. It was an original.

That fucking bastard has been in my house!

He looked around so as not to be seen removing evidence. When he knew he was good he took that photo out and put it in his pocket.

So, Stiles was trying to get to Gibbs by targeting his family. That is what his team was to him. They were all his family.

If Stiles had wanted to hurt Gibbs he had already. The sheer agony of not knowing how Tony was being treated, if he was still even alive, was torture of the worst kind.

Gibbs needed to keep it together. He had to meet with the Director and the Lt Colonel at 9am. He hoped the SecNav was a no show because Gibbs didn't know if he could keep his hands to himself. That dick had been the catalyst for all of this. It was a domino effect in action.

He thanked Fornell for his help and headed out with the evidence for Abby. Fornell gave Gibbs the landlord information for McGee. The FBI would complete the investigation of the apartment.

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Gibbs met with the Director at 8 am and gave him a sit rep on the Stiles situation. Director Morrow was very sympathetic and volunteered any resources that the FBI may need to help recover Agent DiNozzo.

At 9 am they went together to Conference room number 1 to meet with Dr. Peters.

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The Doctor sat alone in the room. Gibbs was relieved. Director Morrow introduced himself and Agent Gibbs.

"Is Agent DiNozzo here?" She inquired

"He is on Administrative leave Dr. Peters"

"I am sorry to hear that. I have given it a lot of thought and I wanted to apologize to him."

Gibbs and Morrow both raised their eyebrows at that declaration. They both figured they would be in for a hell of a fight with the Lt. Colonel.

"However ZNN found out about Cassie is irrelevant. My baby is dead and not coming back. The person to blame is the one that killed her."

"We are working her case, Dr. Peters. We will do our best to get justice for Cassie." Gibbs stated

She nodded and stood up. Gibbs handed her his card and said "If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me. We have additional questions for you but we will have to get back to you next week if that is ok?"

Dr. Peters stared at Gibbs card while Gibbs was talking. She shook her head in agreement at the end of his sentence.

Gibbs and the Director looked at each other as Dr. Peters stared at Gibbs card. Gibbs shrugged and the Director said "Is there something wrong Dr. Peters?"

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs…..I know this name." She looked at Gibbs and said "I know I have never met you before today, Agent Gibbs but your name…"

Her eyes got wide and she said "I remember how I know you! I actually used a report you wrote up on a fellow Marine during a disciplinary action that had him relieved of duty."

Gibbs felt his gut come to life.

He asked quietly "Do you remember the name of the Marine Dr. Peters?"

"Major Gideon Stiles. That man was a menace, Agent Gibbs. He was one that had slipped through the cracks for much too long."

Gibbs nodded as Dr. Peters left the room. He felt sick.

That report has cost your Daughter her life….and it may have cost Tony his life as well.

A/N-Whew! 5 chapters in one day! It is almost 9 pm here in Las Vegas. Thank god that hellish sun has left the sky. Of course it is still like 100 degrees here. Time to pop open an Arrogant Bastard Ale! So my reading peeps…keep letting me know you are out there! More chapters tomorrow! Many thanks to all of you! Cheers!