Body Count
Meanwhile, in the Renaissance Mayflower hotel ballroom, the annual ball for the Joint Armed Forces was in full bloom. Director Vance was in attendance under orders of SecNav, who also would be attending and wanted to share his misery with someone else.
He glances around, as he clearly feels the eyes of someone burning on his back. For some reason he can't fathom the source of his restlessness.
"Something wrong, Leon?" Jacquie Vance noticed her husband's unrest, and she knew he had been under a lot of stress this week, with the aftermath of the shootings and the TV repercussion for NCIS.
He smiles faintly to his wife. "Nothing to worry about." He takes her hand and squeezes, but despite his reassurances, he doesn't let go of her hand for the rest of the night.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Two SUVs and a Porsche speed down the freeway, towards Connecticut Ave. As the SUVs were equipped with red and blue lights, no police car dared try to interfere with them.
In the first car, Faith drives while Ziva rides shotgun, with Tony in the backseat. Gibbs is in McGee's Porsche with Joy while, in the other car, Temp drives the second SUV while Hope is franticly typing on her laptop, as her snoop team went through the last hours of data recorded on her electronic surveillance.
Ducky and Palmer decided to check on the McGee siblings and drove to the hospital where Sarah and Timothy were taken, they would report their condition to Team Gibbs as soon as they had any news.
The three sisters driving started a conference call on speakerphone, to discuss their next move.
"Faith," Joy calls out "contact Uncle Jack and tell him about what happened tonight, he'll want to know what happened."
"Hey Joy," Hope calls back, as she reviews the videos from the surveillance, "you look good naked."
Joy glances at Gibbs, who smirks at her. "Your sister, not mine."
"Did you find what we need?"
Hope gives a girly shout, and, "Yep, enough evidence to make him burn."
"If you need one of them alive," offers Tony, "I left one cuffed to my kitchen sink."
"Faith."
"Yes, Gibbs."
"Send someone from your team to collect the dirtbag, we might need his testimony."
"Consider it done."
"We'll need a warrant to arrest the commander," says Temp. "Any judge mom might know on the guest list tonight?" She looks at Hope, who starts pulling the guest list off her laptop.
She grins. "Three judges are mom's bridge buddies, and Judge Northon is in attendance."
"Temp," calls Joy.
"Yep."
"You cover that."
"Ok."
The three sisters disconnect. They take an exit that leads them to the hotel. Gibbs looks at his agent. Her hands are holding the wheel so tight that he can see the tendons under her skin.
"Buchanan." Gibbs stares at his profiler, but she keeps staring ahead, lost in her own mind.
"BUCHANAN!" He yells louder. She glances at him. "What's the plan?"
"Plan? There's no plan. We arrive there, we find him and arrest him, that's the plan." She smiles a little. "Brilliant in its simplicity."
Gibbs stares straight ahead, watching the SUV driving before him. "You can't simply walk into a Navy party and arrest a Commander, you have to have a plan."
She glances at him, but keeps quiet. Gibbs tries to gather more information. "What did you see?" She glances at him again for a moment before she turns her eyes back to the road, but Gibbs can clearly see she had become wired than before. "What were they doing to McGee?"
Joy stays silent, following the flashing red and blue lights of the SUV ahead. Gibbs was starting to open his mouth to ask again, when he heard her saying something, but he couldn't discern the words.
"What?"
Joy stares ahead, and repeats, "They were hurting him, Boss."
"How?"
Joy gulps, and blinks repeatedly trying to dispel the images forever burnt on her mind. "Two were holding him down on the floor, and he was crying and screaming Sarah's name, and the other had …" Joy feels a shiver running down her body, she struggles to keep talking, but the memories are making her feel physically sick, bile starts to burn her throat. After a second she tries again, "he had…" she glances at Gibbs, then back at the road, "he had lowered his own pants and Tim's and was preparing himself to… to…" she can't continue, and she starts shaking again. She struggles to transform her disgust into fury, she will need plenty of fury to finish this night.
Gibbs had closed his eyes as soon as she started explaining. "I will beat him to a bloody pulp this time," he growls.
Joy smiles thinly at Gibbs. "You would beat him, I might kill him." Gibbs looks at her, and he hears the seriousness in her voice. "That's why I need you there, to ensure I won't touch him."
Gibbs stares at his agent, not saying anything.
"Boss," she says softly, "I've killed eight men tonight, and left the ninth bleeding to death in my house." She glances at him. "And given the chance, I won't hesitate to reach ten."
Gibbs considers for a moment what his agent just told him, before saying, "You can count on me."
