Chapter 55
Thanksgiving Day
Boston
Driving around downtown Boston, Danny Todd turned off the radio, looking for a restaurant open late Thanksgiving morning that was close to headquarters.
Work kept the Senior Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston office here in town. So, as much as Danny wanted to visit his family, phone calls would have to suffice.
The first was home to Indianapolis, where his parents and his two brothers (and their own families) were having dinner. Not only were there the usual greetings and catching up, there were also questions about his, and his sisters' well-being and safety.
No, we couldn't get there in time for Thanksgiving because she's under protection and I'm working.
Yes, we can probably do Christmas in Indy.
Yes, I'll call Julie.
Yeah ma, I know she called you.
She's working too, pop.
Rachel can't get away because of that case in Miami; I'll call her.
No, Gibbs doesn't want Kate to leave D.C.
Yes, Director Morrow wants her in Indy if at all possible.
Yes, Morrow trumps Gibbs.
Yes, Kate is safe.
Yes, I'm safe.
Danny hung up, 30 minutes later, still seeing nothing open besides fast food and gas stations.
After calling in to work to see if his presence was needed at the moment - it wasn't - Danny called his oldest sister, Dr. Rachel Cranston, a psychologist working in Miami.
"Mom cried and cried, but I have to stay here," Rachel explained. "I'm working with the Miami-Dade County police on a horrible case. Three dead people, and a father whom we're unsure whether he's insane or not. The guy in charge, Horatio Crane, insists I stick around because I can offer 'insight' into this guy's personality."
"What's it like working with this Crane guy?"
"Nicer than Gibbs." Rachel met Gibbs three weeks ago, after Gibbs and Morrow decided to have Kate Todd put into "protective custody", and Gibbs demanded to know as much as he could about Kate's family and background.
"Promise me you won't let him get her killed," Rachel said to Danny.
"Well, the Bureau's involved and too many people inside his own agency are involved," he answered. "Gibbs couldn't hijack this thing if he wanted to."
Danny's next call was to Los Angeles and to his sister Julie, Kate's twin, who was in her apartment.
Julie perhaps was the wildest and most difficult of all the Todd children to manage, partly out of rebellion.
She eventually settled down and, with the help of Henrietta "Hetty" Lange and others, became a respected NCIS undercover agent.
"Oh, Danny," Julie whined. "I'm stuck here. Stuck on this op. I wish I were with you and the rest of the family, and I know you do too."
"Try to look on the bright side: it's warm and sunny in L.A., Thanksgiving on the beach," Danny replied. "Boston? Cold, damp, rainy, and I still can't find a decent restaurant open."
"For your information, dear brother, I'm in the city, the nearest beach is miles away, and I don't have time to eat anything other than stale popcorn and whatever's in the kitchen or in the machines," she replied.
Finally, Danny called Kate, who was in Washington at Gibbs' house, preparing to leave for her team's Thanksgiving dinner.
"They - well, Abby - made this thing up big," Kate explained, as everyone rushed to get out the door and to Ducky Mallard's house on time. "Abby wants to make it like home...which is sweet of her, but it's not like..." Kate's voice trailed off.
"...not like home, is it?" Danny said. "Hey. I'm in the same boat you're in...and so are your sisters..."
"I know," Kate said.
"And I know you and Julie aren't quite on the same page," he replied. "You and Rachel aren't bosom buddies. But life's too short, and it's Thanksgiving. Call them up. Talk to them, like you did mom and dad...you driving there?"
"No. Stan's driving me and 'Rizzles'."
"Who?"
"Stan, Stan Burley, the new senior agent. And Rizzles is Abby's pet name for Jane and Maura."
"Ah. So you have no excuse-"
"Danny...it's not that easy-"
"Call them. You're not THAT mad at them...admit it. You want to talk to them."
Kate stood in her room, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
Danny was right. Life was too short to hold grudges.
Central Boston Federal Medical Center
Charles Hoyt laid in his bed, dying, completely silent other than his intermittent pleas for Jane Rizzoli to come to his side.
The killer saw only the FBI agents, two at a time, rotating every four hours, in his room.
Only now did he realize that the feds weren't going to allow him his dying wish.
So he wept, and cursed, and shut up when the nurses and agents demanded to know what was going on.
Somewhere in Boston
Thanksgiving meant nothing to Paddy Doyle.
The crime lord was on the run, his lieutenants pulling in every favor to hide him from Boston Police and the FBI.
He wasn't wondering if and when he should give himself up; his men were too busy figuring out how to keep him hidden.
Paddy wasn't going to hand himself over, now, not when his girl was in hiding somewhere because of a goddamned psychotic terrorist.
Paddy knew he'd done some henious things in his life. God knows what Sean and Max Cavanaugh might do to him if they ever found out his role in the death of Sean's family.
But Paddy was no terrorist. If anyone was going to kill somebody from Boston - like that detective woman who everyone was saying was his daughter's lover - it'd be him. Not the psycho.
And by god, no one, not the psycho, not the feds, were going to take his daughter, his Maura, away from him and get away with it.
Suburban D.C.
Ducky Mallard's house
Ducky's house - or was it a mansion? - was more than sufficient to accomodate the dozen or so people gathered there for Thanksgiving dinner.
Everything had gone rather smoothly, so far, except for the moment when Ducky's mother, Mrs. Victoria Mallard, was introduced to the guests.
And she blurted out something wholly inappropriate.
"I want to look at your knickers!" she said to Jane, causing almost all conversation in the room to stop.
"And hers too!" pointing to Maura - who stood next to Jane - and to Kate Todd, whom, over in the other room talking to her sister Rachel, didn't hear the exchange.
"Uh, er...excuse me?" Jane said.
"Your panties!" Mrs. Mallard insisted. "One can tell a woman's intentions by the panties she wears...so pull them DOWN!"
Tony DiNozzo had something to say, but seeing Gibbs walk up next to him made him opt to keep his observation to himself.
"No," Jane said, arms crossed.
"No?" Mrs. Mallard replied. "No...what?...who are you again?"
Ducky was besides himself, half shocked, rushing over to pull his mother away before something really crazy happened.
"Mother!" Ducky said, gently grasping his mother's arm. "These women are our guests. They are here to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with us. Please, come along."
After showing his mother to her seat at the kitchen - where she asked Stan Burley if he was a bagpipe player and offered to give him lessons - Ducky explained that Mrs. Mallard was in the early stages of dementia.
That led Maura and Ducky to a lengthy interchange on dementia, including its history and causes.
A very lengthy interchange.
"...a much broader clinical concept until the end of the 19th century," Ducky concluded.
"The definition began to be narrowed down-" Maura began, before she was interrupted by Jane.
"Maur," Jane said, repeatedly, five times. "Perhaps you can tell the table about Bass."
"You mean Dr. William M. Bass, the forensic anthropologist?" Maura asked.
"I mean your turtle," Jane replied, walking towards the dining room.
"Jane. How often have I explained to you he's a tortoise?"
"Turtle."
"Tortoise."
"No. Turtle. Big turtle."
"Jane. His size has no relation to the fact that Bass is a tortoise-"
"Ladies."
Gibbs had a way of ending rambling conversations. With Tony it involved a slap to the head, whereas around women, the Marine needed only to politely interject himself into their conversation.
"Dinner."
Shortly afterwards, Gibbs; Jane; Maura; Frankie Rizzoli; Kate (who promised to call Julie back); Tony; Stan; Paris Summerskill; McGee; Paula Cassidy; and FBI agent Fritz Howard - there to help watch over the group - sat with Mrs. Mallard and Ducky to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.
Washington
At Gibbs' house, three men were inside, and two more agents outside patrolling the premises.
The three men were enjoying their own Thanksgiving of sorts - turkey, dressing, the traditional fixings of the holiday, and bottles of beer, while the Detroit-Green Bay game ticked towards its conclusion on the nearby TV.
"I told Jethro to bring back some food," FBI agent Tobias Fornell said to his fellow agent, Brent Langer, and to Gibbs' former boss at NCIS, Mike Franks.
"If the men don't eat it all," Franks replied. "They better. There ain't much left in the kitchen. Somebody's gonna have to make a grocery run tonight or tomorrow."
"Good luck with that on Black Friday," Langer said.
"I wouldn't get in that mess if they gave me a million dollars," Franks mused, as he drank down the remnants of his first bottle.
Boston
Max Cavanaugh's house
Family was precious to Sean Cavanaugh, although the Boston Police lieutenant wasn't apt to openly express that to even the closest of friends and family.
After losing his wife and son in a fire years ago, the holidays became difficult for the bachelor, but he always made time to spend with his brother, Max, a retired cop.
On Thanksgiving and Christmas, work usually got put on the shelf, but not today.
Sean wanted his niece, Jordan, to take over for Maura Isles as chief medical examiner until Maura returned to Boston. He had to ask her, first, and get a 'yes' before he could take the next step of nominating her to the chief of police; he would then nominate her to the governor, who would have the final say in the process.
And Sean Cavanaugh wasn't about to take no for an answer, even with Jordan's history of 'crossing' authority figures and inserting herself into cases with homicide detectives.
"Jordan," Sean began his pitch. "I'm aware of your history and your reputation. I'm also aware of your performance and what you bring to the job."
"Yes," Jordan said.
"I've talked with Macy numerous times, including last night. I talked with your father-"
"Yes."
"-who told me how capable and qualified you were."
"Yes."
"I guarantee you the chief will sign off on you, and his word will go a long way with the governor, especially after the debacle with Pike."
"Yes, Sean."
"And I don't want Papov and nobody else wants him either."
"Yes!"
"...wait. You're saying YOU want Papov? And you're not interested in-"
"No. Yes. No. Yes...uh, I mean no I wouldn't want Papov either. And yes, I want the job."
Sean realized Jordan had accepted the offer, and he grinned.
"Jordan, that's great!" he said. "And's it's not just until Maura comes back. She's still the M.E. after all, you're the second in command, and running things while the feds have got her and Jane-"
"Yes, I'll take the job, on one condition," she interjected.
That surprised Sean.
"Uh, alright," he said. "What's the condition?"
"Woody gets his old job back."
Woody is Woodrow Wilson Hoyt, a former Boston PD Homicide detective with a stellar work reputation, and Jordan's boyfriend.
Woody had the misfortune to have the last name of the infamous Charles Hoyt - whom he wasn't related to - but which caused a bit of discomfort in the department with detective Jane Rizzoli, to the point where they were unable to work together. Woody opted to leave Boston for a similar job in Milwaukee, but Jordan explained he "hated it there."
"That thing with Hoyt will still be there," Sean explained. "And Jane's going to come back eventually."
"You should have remembered that before extending the job offer," Jordan countered.
She's right, Sean thought.
"It's not like we can go a detective down for too long," Sean said. "I'll talk to the chief. I'm sure we can get him back on the force, if he wants it."
"Oh, he'll come back," Jordan assured Sean, then reached out to hug him. "Thank you!"
Jordan ran into the living room - where her father and others were watching the start of the Dallas game - and screamed and hollered in celebration of her new job.
Sean placed a phone call.
"Vince? She accepted...the governor has to sign off, but I'm sure he will...that means Woody Hoyt's coming back...I'll smooth it over with Jane...and I'll tell her myself."
Boston
Maura Isles' home
Tommy Rizzoli tried to steal a minute or two to watch the Indianapolis-Atlanta game on the high-def screen in the living room.
And Angela Rizzoli was having none of it.
"Tommy!" she yelled, from the kitchen. "Help me set the table. Everyone will be over any minute now."
Indeed they were, starting with Detective Vince Korsak, Detective Barry Frost, his mother, and her partner (both of whom gave Frost advice regarding relating to Jane and Maura as a couple) and Maura's adoptive mother, Constance Isles.
They were followed by Lt. Sean Cavanaugh, his brother Max and his niece Jordan; Giovanni Gilberti - the first person Jane and Maura came out to - and Jane's criminal informant, Rondo.
As promised by the FBI agent in charge of the Isles house, dinner was provided by the Bureau and it was a great spread.
The company was even better, if bittersweet due to the absence of Jane and Maura.
Thanks to technology, however, along with a little bending of the rules, Jane and Maura both would be there both in spirit and in high-definition.
After dinner at Ducky's, Gibbs took Kate, Jane and Maura back to the Navy Yard; with the blessing of Director Morrow, Kate spoke with her family in Indianapolis; her brother Daniel in Boston; and her sister Julie in Los Angeles via video feed.
The same technology - set up in the bullpen where Gibbs and his team worked - was used to stream Jane and Maura to everyone at the Isles house for over an hour.
Black Friday was spent on the case involving the dead Naval officers from the car wreck near the Pentagon the day before.
Author's note: First off, I want to thank you for reading and for following along as long as this story has gone on thus far. I greatly appreciate your time and your interest.
From here on out, the story will undergo a series of time-jumps.
The next chapter is set two weeks after Jane and Maura's arrival in Washington, around an AU version of Forced Entry, the ninth episode in Season Two of NCIS.
The next few chapters skip ahead to Christmas Day and New Years, and then into early January, and quickly into early May, setting the stage for the AU versions of Twilight and Kill Ari.
I'm looking at 15-20 more chapters tops in this story.
