AN: This is a Flashpoint/NCIS crossover that has been in the works for years. I just never had the time to bring it to life. It's still in pieces right now, but I have a clear ending and will update as frequently as possible. (There were just too many canon details about Paula Cassidy's life to ignore, quite honestly, to have let this plot go.)
Twin Theory
Sunday, June 24, 2012
If NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo had things his way, he wouldn't have been working the tips hotline that weekend. Two days earlier, the atmosphere around the bullpen had been thick with tension for a few hours when several bombings rocked their Canadian neighbours in Toronto. Frantic questions about the Friday attack buzzed everywhere, including ones concerning the possibility of similar and imminent attacks occurring on U.S. soil.
"What's going on?" Tony remembered asking Tim when phones started ringing and the energy in the room became more electrified.
"Our neighbors to the north in Toronto," McGee uttered with understated urgency. "Looks like a terrorist attack."
"Has there been any uptick in terrorist chatter for our Canadian allies?" Gibbs asked the junior agent.
Tim shook his head in the negative. "None, Boss."
"Homeland Security is monitoring the situation," Ziva said, her words terse. Bombings always had a personal, negative effect on her whether she tried to deny it or not.
"NTAS* hasn't issued anything yet, since there's no credible threat against the United States, but I'd hazard a guess we're on elevated status," McGee concluded.
By early afternoon, NTAS had indeed released information declaring the Canadian situation was domestic in nature and that the appropriate authorities were handling the situation. Nevertheless, the bullpen had one TV monitor pulling a broadcast feed from one of the Canadian national networks, allowing the agents to see firsthand the deadly carnage wrought by multiple detonations throughout the city.
With the Toronto situation resolved, Tony hoped the kooks would stay off the phones for the rest of the weekend. It was a relief all-round that the bombs had been the work of a lone wolf and not some foreign terrorist or sleeper cell bent on destabilizing the peace and freedoms enjoyed by members living in the free world. He kept his internet browser open on a few Canadian news sites, checking the pages each time there was an update.
On Saturday, personal accounts of the day came out along with grim pictures of destroyed buildings. City Hall, in particular, had suffered considerable damage, but the injured mayor was expected to make a full recovery. The heroes of the day were also being mentioned: all those first-responders who had put their lives on the line to rescue trapped civilians; those who disarmed bombs, and those who paid the ultimate price, including two yet unnamed Strategic Response Unit officers.
Tony read about the selfless SRU Sergeant Gregory Parker: the man who tracked down a bomb that had been planted right inside Fletcher Stadium, the site designated for treating mass casualties. Parker, who had faced down the lunatic bomber—getting shot several times in the process—was now in critical condition. The identity of the bomber was soon publicized, a twenty-something male named Marcus Faber. Specifics about his death were not yet available, though reports stated Faber's rampage was ended by a member of the SRU; a mandatory investigation by the civilian Special Investigations Unit was pending.
By Sunday, the updates were not rolling in as frequently, but there was another important update, this one presenting profiles of the two slain SRU cops. Tony felt an instant bond with these officers even though he had not known them personally; the law enforcement brotherhood was borderless. He read their names—James Gallagher and Donna Sabine—and how their service ended abruptly when they walked into what was being described as a trap deliberately set by Faber to kill police officers.
Tony's breath caught in his throat as his eyes fell upon the image of Constable Sabine. He sat in stunned silence for several seconds, trying to overcome the jarring sensation that crashed upon him. Tony read the caption below the woman's picture three times; took in the distinctive uniform of the Toronto Police Strategic Response Unit; double-checked that the source of the image was courtesy the Toronto Police, but he still had difficulty processing what his eyes beheld. This picture could not be of some person named "Donna Sabine"; this was a picture of a ghost from his past.
To be sure he was not losing his mind, DiNozzo called out to McGee. "Probie!"
"What is it, DiNozzo?" Tim answered back guardedly.
"Who's this a picture of?" Tony asked, deliberately cropping the image so it was neck-up—no identifying tags to give away her name or profession. Tim turned to look.
"Paula Cassidy," he replied without hesitation.
Ziva overheard the question and answer. She came to see for herself, taking in the image from a more analytical angle. "Yes… but something is different." Turning to Tony, she asked: "Did you do something to this picture?"
"What do you mean?"
"Paula Cassidy died five years ago," Ziva stated the fact. "This picture… it is as if you took an old one of Paula and put it through that… age-enhancing program. This is what Paula would look like today, if she were still alive."
Tony appreciated Ziva's critical eye, and he could see the truth of her words. "So, we agree this is Paula?" he asked, seeking consensus.
Tim got a quizzical look on his face. "Yeah," he said slowly, blinking several times. "Why, what's going on?"
Fully convinced his eyes weren't deceiving him now that both Tim and Ziva came to the same conclusion he had, Tony relented. "This is the last NCIS picture of Paula." He slid the image of the deceased agent to the right-hand side of the screen. As Ziva said, the image on the left—that of SRU Constable Donna Sabine—did seem slightly more mature. "The hairstyle is different, too, obviously," Tony added. "In any case, that's not Paula on the left."
"If this one on the left isn't Paula, then who is it?" asked McGee, confusion still scrawled across his face.
"Constable Donna Sabine of the Toronto Strategic Response Unit," replied Tony, revealing the full image from the news article. "And she was killed on Friday in those bombings."
By their silences, Tony knew his team mates' shock was just as genuine as his own.
"A lookalike?" asked Tim, gaping at the pictures now with newfound fascination.
Tony shrugged. "Pretty damned identical lookalike," he commented dryly. "Perhaps. But here's the thing: Paula was born in Toronto to U.S. ex-pats..."
By now, Agent Gibbs joined the small gathering but for the moment said nothing.
"Paula wasn't adopted, was she?" Tim queried, jumping to the next logical question he could think to ask.
"Not that I know of," answered Tony.
"I would have bet $100 that was Paula Cassidy. Damned uncanny." Gibbs finally spoke.
Tony gave his head an unconscious shake. "I would have, too. This can't be a coincidence that someone looking exactly like Paula was living in Toronto. I gotta do something..."
"Like what?" asked Tim.
Tony turned to Gibbs. "Boss, if it's okay with you, I'd like to place a call to Paula's mother in California."
"Yeah, do it," Gibbs said. "My gut's telling me something's hinky about this, too."
Tony was already looking up the contact information for the mother of his deceased friend and fellow agent. After three rings, a warm voice answered. "Hello?"
Tony identified himself and asked if he was speaking with D.J. Cassidy. "This is she," the woman replied. "I remember you, Agent DiNozzo, from Paula's funeral; it's been a long time. What can I do for you?"
After exchanging the customary pleasantries, Tony jumped right into the reason for his call. "We have an… unusual situation here, and I was hoping you could help clear up a few things."
"Of course, Agent DiNozzo."
"You've seen the news about the bombings on Friday in Toronto?"
"Oh my, yes. What a terrible situation," D.J. replied. "To be honest, it brought back some very painful memories. I've had to tune it out."
"I'm sorry for that," Tony said, then asked: "Does the name 'Donna Sabine' mean anything to you?"
"Donna Sabine?" D.J. repeated. "No. Should it?"
Tony heard no guile in the woman's voice. He paused for a moment before speaking again, glancing at the computer monitor once more. The identical blue eyes of both deceased women seemed to bore a hole into his. "Mrs. Cassidy, I'd like to send you a picture of someone," Tony resumed the conversation. "Do you have email?"
"Yes," D.J. said. "I'm in the kitchen right now; but let me go to the den to turn on my laptop… I mainly use it to Skype with my grandchildren."
"You have Skype? That'll work, too," Tony said hastily. "I can send you the image file and we can talk on camera about it."
"All right, sure. I'll be right back."
Tony waited, drumming his fingers on the desk.
Presently, D.J. returned. "I'm here, and I'm signing into my account." She gave Tony her Skype I.D., and the agent quickly called up the account. The large flat screen in the bullpen came to life with the image of the older woman, seated in what appeared to be a cozy office.
"Good morning again, Agent DiNozzo," she said cheerily. "It's nice to see you."
"Likewise," Tony replied. He took in D.J.'s features, noticing not for the first time how much of her looks seemed to have been passed on to Paula.
"Now, what's this about?"
Tony clicked on the file he had just saved containing the image of SRU Constable Donna Sabine. "Mrs. Cassidy, I'm sending you that picture I spoke about."
"Okay, I see the file in the chat window. I'm opening it," D.J. said.
"Can you identify this woman?" Tony asked, purposely not giving any pre-warning. He wanted to judge her cold reaction. Tim, Ziva, and Gibbs were also watching closely.
There was a small intake of air as D.J. looked at the picture she had just opened. "This… this looks like my daughter. This looks like Paula. But it's not any photo of her I've ever seen. I-I don't understand," she stammered. "It's like Paula, but it isn't. I mean, it can't be Paula, can it? W-Where did you get this?"
"This is a picture of the woman I mentioned earlier: Donna Sabine," Tony said. "She was a constable with the Toronto Police Service. She was killed on Friday in those bombings."
"Killed!" exclaimed D.J. "In Toronto?"
Tony plunged ahead with the next question. "Mrs. Cassidy, can you think of any reason why a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Paula would have been in Toronto?"
D.J.'s face had gone noticeably pale. She swallowed. "I-I don't know what to tell you, except…"
Tony didn't hesitate. "This is a difficult question for you, and I'm sorry to ask it. There's nothing in Paula's NCIS file indicating she wasn't your biological daughter, but… was Paula adopted?" Even as he asked it, Tony knew it was the least likely answer, but just because Paula happened to look like D.J. did not guarantee maternity.
"No, she wasn't adopted. Paula was my biological daughter," D.J. was adamant. "I gave birth to her."
"Then I think you can guess my next question," Tony said. "Did Paula have a twin?"
D.J. closed her eyes. She drew a long breath before replying. "It's been so long… Yes, Agent DiNozzo, Paula had a twin sister. But that baby was stillborn."
"Stillborn?" echoed Tony. He was not expecting that response.
"Yes. It was a difficult birthing. The doctor had to do an emergency C-section," D.J. explained. "When I woke up afterwards, the head nurse on the ward had to tell me one baby hadn't survived. But Paula was going to be okay."
"That's it? That's all they told you?"
"What else could they say?"
"Did you see the stillborn infant?"
"No, Agent DiNozzo. I remember I was so groggy from the anesthesia… I did ask, but I was told it wasn't possible; the hospital had already taken care of disposing of the remains. 'Medical waste', they called it. Broke my heart, but my attention quickly turned to Paula. She was alive. She was fussing and needed me."
"I see," Tony said, his mind absorbing all the information he was hearing. Though it seemed like the twin theory was at a dead end, he refused to believe it was a coincidence Paula and Donna were almost identical in appearance.
"Agent DiNozzo," D.J. started, anxiety heavy in her voice, "I don't know what to make of this woman who looked like my Paula. Your questions, though… They're raising in my mind some very disturbing possibilities."
At once Tony appreciated her candour. She was astute, already thinking along the same lines as he was. "Okay, so you took Paula home, and that was the last you ever had anything to do with that hospital?"
"Yes, exactly. My husband was transferred from Toronto back to the 'States a few months later. We never returned to Canada. And to be quite honest, I never wanted to go back there. Too much sadness associated with the place after losing that twin."
"That's understandable," Tony uttered. "But I know what we're both thinking, Mrs. Cassidy, and that's the possibility the twin you thought you lost... that twin actually survived…"
D.J. nodded. "And that twin was this 'Donna Sabine'. Is there any way you can look into this? I have to know. I need to know…"
Tony stole a glance at Gibbs. The older man gave a slight shrug as if to say he did not know if any kind of investigation into the matter would fall under the purview of NCIS. "Let me consult with the director, Mrs. Cassidy," he said guardedly.
"Please, will you let me know as soon as possible? I don't think I'll be able to rest until I know for sure."
"Of course," Tony replied. They ended the Skype call with the promise that he would keep her apprised of the situation.
Director Vance was not in the office that Sunday. While Tony was loath to contact the man at his home, he felt this was important enough to warrant an interruption at his residence. Leon was surprisingly not upset to be disturbed. Tony carefully laid out the reason for his call, ending with the request to open an investigation into the true identity of one Donna Sabine.
"Director," Tony said, hoping to shore up his case, "NCIS investigates crimes involving the Navy and their families. Paula Cassidy and Donna Sabine may now both be deceased, but if Constable Sabine was Paula's twin—and I believe that to be highly likely—then we're talking kidnapping, and there's no statute of limitations for k–"
"You don't have to quote to me this agency's mandate, or the law regarding kidnapping, Agent DiNozzo," Vance interrupted with a touch of exasperation.
"If you won't approve it, I will take my vacation time and go up to Toronto to investigate by myself," Tony said solemnly.
There was a moment of silence on Vance's end as he weighed Tony's words. He was not fond of ultimatums; however, he also could not help but think of the circumstances surrounding Agent Cassidy's heroic death. Jenny Shepard had been NCIS director at the time; nevertheless, Vance was quite aware of how Paula gave her life to save those of DiNozzo, Gibbs, and several imams. There was a debt owed, and Tony was somehow seeing this as his way to repay it.
"Go," Leon finally said. "Find out what you can. I'm sure the SRU/Toronto Police Service will also be very keen to know if a crime was committed against one of their officers, even if it was over 42 years ago. If you uncover something worth the MCRT's involvement, I'll approve the rest of the team, too."
Tony breathed out in relief. He had not been at all sure Vance would okay this side mission, but now he could be on his way. "Thank you, Director," he said.
"You have 72 hours to find that 'something', DiNozzo," cautioned Vance. "That's all I'm willing to give you. The 'crimes affecting family' connection you cited is a tenuous one, but I get that this is personal for you."
"It is, sir," Tony admitted, slightly surprised Vance had intuited that from their brief chat. "Don't worry: I'll make every hour count."
"See that you do."
"Abby, I have a rush job for you," Tony announced.
The woman in the lab coat and garish goth makeup peered up at him from a lab bench where she was conducting some sort of experiment Tony could not identify. "You and everyone else, Tony," she crooned with a half grin.
"I think you're going to get a kick out of this one."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Check your email," Tony said. "I've just sent you two pictures. I want you to run a facial recognition on them to see if there's a match."
Abby hopped over to her computer to open the documents. "Paula Cassidy?" she said after opening the image documents. "Why am I running a scan on pictures of Paula?" She sent a suspicious look at Tony to see if he was pulling her leg.
"Because that one," Tony said, pointing to the picture of Donna Sabine, "is not Paula."
"You're joking," Abby said, spinning back and scrutinizing the images in much the same manner the others on the team had. "That is so weird! Who is she if she's not Paula?"
"She was Constable Donna Sabine of the Toronto Strategic Response Unit," replied Tony, pointing to Donna's image.
"'Was'?" Abby repeated, having picked up on Tony's use of the past tense. She fixed her gaze on him again.
He nodded. "Donna Sabine was unfortunately killed on Friday in those bombings."
"Double-weird," Abby sighed, with a sad shake of head. "I mean, after all, that's how Paula…"
"I know," Tony murmured, not needing Abby to remind him of how Paula met her fate. "So, I need to know what your scan turns up. I'm heading to Toronto tomorrow to dig into this. Paula was born there. I spoke to her mother a little while ago; it turns out Paula was twins, but Mrs. Cassidy was told one of the twins was stillborn."
"And you think somehow that twin really wasn't stillborn, and Donna Sabine was that twin?" Abby asked slowly.
"Exactly," Tony affirmed. "If we get a match, I think we can make a pretty good case that the hospital staff lied to Mrs. Cassidy."
"Which means you've got an old kidnapping to investigate," Abby chirped, fully understanding the importance of the rush request. "I'm on it, Tony."
"Thanks, Abby," he said fervently. "Let me know when you have something."
TBC
*NTAS—National Terrorism Advisory System: "In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) replaced the color-coded alerts of the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) with the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS), designed to more effectively communicate information about terrorist threats by providing timely, detailed information to the American public."
-Department of (US) Homeland Security site