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Ducky and Tim were both right, the DNA was already in Codis but only as evidence in a previous unsolved crime, still it gave them a place to start. Tim called the local precinct who'd handled the case and asked for all the case notes to be sent. Technically it could now be considered an FBI case as well since the original crime was in upstate New York, but they all knew Gibbs wouldn't hand it over to them and Tim was prepared to hold onto it so long as they could solve it.
"Report," Gibbs barked.
"Ducky confirmed that Hopper's had recent anal intercourse, perhaps eighteen to twenty-four hours prior to death and the lack of significant trauma seems to indicate that it was consensual, though nobody seems to know his lover's name, the DNA recovered is in Codis as evidence in an unsolved case in upstate New York, rape with violence, the male victim survived but unfortunately has no memory of the day of the assault, the local LEOs are faxing me the case notes within the hour. Unfortunately, it hasn't been converted to electronic record and they warned me that their cold cases are kept in secondary storage so it might take a while for them to find it," Tim reported.
"Would it be quicker to go and get them?" Gibbs asked.
"I don't think so boss, it's a six and a half hour drive each way and we'd still have to navigate an unfamiliar filing system to find the case file," Tim replied hoping desperately he wasn't going to be sent to collect the records.
Gibbs grunted, but it seemed Tim's hopes were fulfilled so long as the fax came through today. He breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps if they hadn't come by the end of the day he could have Hadrian or one of the elves pop him to Rochester to be there when they opened in the morning to collect the information and then pop him home for a morning off while he pretended to be driving back from collecting the case notes. Unfortunately for Tim the records were faxed over about an hour before the end of the day, spoiling his plans for the next morning and the whole team's hopes of being able to leave on time. They looked through the notes and Tim quickly set up searches for the current locations of each of the suspects and the other males that were questioned as either persons of interest or witnesses.
"I can see why the case went cold, they had nothing," Tim said disappointedly.
"Especially without a witness statement, do you think the victim really had amnesia?" Tony asked, suspiciously.
"It's impossible to be certain but the medical report states he had a head injury that could be consistent with post traumatic amnesia and the last few hours prior to the injury is often permanently lost. But why would the poor man fake amnesia, surely he wanted his attacker caught?" Ducky said.
"I know but if this is related to our case then it was likely he was in a relationship with his attacker and he denied having a current significant other or love interest or being non-heterosexual," Tim replied. "There is also the fact that he deleted all his social media sites and packed up and left town almost as soon as he got out of hospital, and has moved three times since then. He's running."
"There's no mention of the man taking up running, and why would that be significant?" Ziva said in confusion.
"Is he living anywhere near DC?" Gibbs asked, ignoring Ziva's lack of modern language useage.
"No, according to Rochester PD, the last address they have on him is somewhere called Surfer's Paradise, Australia," Tim reported. "Not taking up running for exercise Ziva, running away."
"You couldn't get much further from upstate New York if you tried," Ziva commented. "He's definitely trying to get away from something."
"Or someone," Tony added.
"Most of the searches for everyone involved are probably going to take all night, Boss," Tim said hopefully.
"Tony report." Gibbs barked.
"I've got nothing boss, Hopper is so clean he probably squeaked. He was a credit to the Navy up until the moment of his death, and his phone and computer are clean, if he was involved with anybody, then he must have used a burn phone to contact them," Tony reported.
Tim frowned thoughtfully and moved across to Tony's computer. "My computer is maxed out on searches for the witnesses and suspects for the Rochester case," he said when Tony glared at him.
"What are you doing?" Tony asked.
"If we're assuming that he was using the phone to contact a lover, not to run an illegal deal then he probably kept it on most of the time. If I run a series of searches to find what phones were in close proximity to Petty Officer Hopper's phone at different times and locations, we may get lucky and be able to find one in common and identify the burn phone he carried and from there hopefully I can run a search on what numbers that phone was calling," he said with his fingers flying over the keyboard. He quickly got a result and jotted down the numbers before saving the data and starting another search, this time for a time the Petty Officer would be in Norfolk after finishing his duty shift. Jotting down a second column of results he started following Hoppers cell phone until he was downtown running errands and then ran another search. "I think I may have something," he said trying to run a search on the common number to find who they'd called.
"Report," Tony barked in imitation of Gibbs who was just entering the bullpen.
Gibbs decided against slapping him on the back of the head until he'd heard McGee's results.
"This number belongs to a prepaid cell phone that has been in close proximity to Hopper on the Norfolk naval base, here at the Navy yard and while he was out in town. I will need to run several more searches and get the same common number for the results to stand up in court but either this cell phone was his or it belonged to his partner or best mate who also worked the same shift at Norfolk and was in DC with him, or to a navy personnel who was stalking Hopper. Given the security on the base and the fact we interviewed all of his colleagues who stated they didn't know he was at the Navy Yard, it's probably Hopper's. But he didn't have the second phone on him when his body was found."
"And it wasn't at his apartment," Ziva added.
"DiNozzo, David, search the area around the crime scene again. Find that phone!" Gibbs ordered.
"McGee, make sure whatever you did will stand up in court and find out who he was using it to talk to. Use my computer as well if you have to. I'm going for coffee."
"On it Boss," Tony said swiftly heading out to follow orders in spite of the fact that it was finishing time for the rest of the teams in the bullpen and would be fully dark outside at the poorly lit crime-scene.
"Wait a minute Tony. I'll see if I can find it's general location," Tim said setting up yet another search.
"It was at the crime scene last time it was on, I can't pinpoint it closer than that because Hopper had his other phone turned off for at least the hour before he was killed, so I can't tell you where they were in relation to each other," Tim reported.
"Can you turn the burn phone on remotely?" Tony asked.
"I don't think so, it's one of the oldest models on the market, and even if I could it's doubtful the battery would still have charge," Tim said frowning. Something about this model seemed familiar, then he realized that it was the same model Hadrian used, magical hardening not yet able to deal well enough with touch screen technology. He needed some privacy to call Hadrian to see if there was a way to find out if it was a wizards' phone and if they might have added a magical way to trace or turn on the phone.
"That doesn't make sense the Petty Officer was a real tech geek from the stuff he had in his apartment, he even had that gizmo you were going on about last week," Tony commented.
Tim looked at the model of phone Hopper used as his main phone and had to agree. Hopper couldn't have been a wizard a phone like that wouldn't last more than an hour or two in Hadrian's hands, though his team said that he was an extreme example of what magical interference did to electronics. "I'll keep trying and call you if I get anything," Tim said.
"Let's get going before Gibbs gets back," Ziva said and the two of them ran for the stairwell.
-o0o-
Tim hurried outside where he could talk without being overheard.
"Hi Tim, is something wrong? Are you on your way out of town for the case?" Hadrian asked resignedly.
"No, the crime scene is actually here at the Navy Yard Barracks," Tim replied. "But I think the victim might have had a wizard phone, it's the same model as yours but it's missing. He probably wasn't a wizard though given his other phone was the latest model iphone. I wanted to know if there is a magical way of finding the phone?"
"I could try to use the point me spell but it would have to be the closest magical phone for me to find it," Hadrian said thinking.
"Well we know where the body landed, that would be a good start but Tony and Ziva are already out there looking, is there a way to turn a magical phone on?" Tim replied.
"I'm not the person to ask. Give me the number and I'll see if I can find out," Hadrian offered.
Tim gave him the number. "I'll keep trying to search for it. Hopefully this will work, or Tony and Ziva will find it anyway."
"Good luck, love you," Hadrian said disconnecting before calling Clancy and explaining the situation and Clancy managed to stand far enough away not to be noticed by wither of the two NCIS Agents as he flooded the area they thought the phone was in with a low powered spell designed to turn on every phone within 50 feet."
Clancy warned Tim that it might only last a few minutes but that was enough for Tim to ring the number in the hope Tony or Ziva would hear it while he tried use his computer to pinpoint the location.
-o0o-
"We're never going to find it out here," Tony complained shivering. "We'd be better off coming back in the morning."
"Do you want to go back to the bullpen and tell Gibbs you're giving up" Ziva asked incredulously.
Tony just shook his head and continued looking through the snow drifts. All of a sudden he heard a faint ring tone that didn't belong to either he or Ziva. He moved towards the sound, away from the location they'd found the body and he and Ziva started urgently pawing through the snow. The phone rang again and again.
"Who do you think is so desperate to get hold of Hopper?" Tony asked.
"What if his lover doesn't know that he's dead? He could be trying to contact him," Ziva said.
"Or he's the killer and realized that if the phone is found, the fact that he stopped calling his boyfriend at the same time as he died it would make him look guilty," Tony suggested. "One thing we know, this brand has an amazing battery life if someone's been ringing him all day."
Eventually they found the phone and answered it. "Hello,"
"Good you've found it. Gibbs said you can drop it off for me on your way home. I'll meet you downstairs," Tim said.
"Tim you could have rung my phone," Tony complained.
"And how would that help you find this one. I couldn't get it to stay on long enough to trace unless it was in use, I'm just glad the battery held up enough for me to turn it on and make it ring," Tim replied.
"Is that suspicious, that it lasted so long?" Tony asked. "Do you want me to bring you a coffee?"
"No thanks. There's still some in my thermos and Hadrian makes better coffee than anything you can get around here at this time of night on a public holiday. But you're right about the battery. The original phone wouldn't have lasted this long but Hopper's obviously altered the internal workings to install the sleep mode and to make the phone more waterproof for it to have survived in the snow though we're lucky it has frozen instead of starting to melt," Tim said feigning disinterest.
"Yeah, but if he managed to invent a battery that lasted that well he should have patented it. I'll stop by the electronics store and pick up a charger on my way to work in the morning and we'll test the battery life tomorrow," Tony said.
"There's no proof that he did it himself," Tim replied dismissively.
Tony and Ziva tiredly handed over the phone to an almost equally tired looking but warm and dry McGee and headed to their separate homes for a hot shower and some much needed sleep. Tim opened the phone and looked at the call history before starting yet another series of searches on Gibb's computer to try to identify and locate the frequently called numbers before heading home himself.
-o0o-
Hadrian met him at the door with the time turner again but Tim chose to only turn back a couple of hours. His team mates would be too suspicious if he turned up at work looking well rested after a second very late night working. Hadrian transfigured his clothing into pyjamas, casting a gentle cleaning charm on him and the clothes and they tumbled into bed and Hadrian held him while he slept.
-o0o-
Tim's searches bore fruit overnight. The most frequently called number was also to a prepaid cell phone but while they'd run into a dead end trying to trace the actual purchaser of either phone, the location beacon on that phone hadn't been disabled either and they were able to use it to pinpoint where it was and therefore the user. The location unsurprisingly leading them to the base housing near the dump site. They weren't able to get enough of a fix on the phone to identify the room but Tim monitored the location of the signal throughout the day using the cameras in the building to keep surveillance trying to match the movements of the phone with a particular resident leaving and entering the building. Eventually the phone was on the move and the team hurried to follow Tim's directions to intercept the man.
The only problem was that there was a group of three off duty junior naval officers walking towards them, not one, and that was easily solved.
They stopped all three for questioning and they were polite but not forthcoming on their movements, and Tony sent a quick look at Tim.
Tim pulled out his phone and sent a group text to Tony and Ziva, he didn't bother texting Gibbs. 'Ringing his cell now.'
Immediately after that, one of the officers' phones started to ring.
Tim nodded and Tony immediately moved to detain the officer before turning to the other two.
"Thank you gentleman, you can go, this is the man we need to speak to."
The cornered man pretended to misunderstand and leave with his friends only to have Tony increase his grip on the man's upper arm. "You can assist us with our enquiries or we can arrest you for suspicion of murder and hold you while we investigate your entire life, speak to your friends, family, colleagues, commanding officers all the way back to your joining the navy, your classmates and teachers in college and high school, your postman, drycleaner, greengrocer, the staff at your favourite bars and restaurants, past boyfriends and just about everyone else in your life," Tim said bluntly.
The junior officer paled.
"Let's start with your name rank and position," Tony said almost conversationally. "I'm afraid Tim here doesn't trust people who try to hide their sexual orientation. He thinks that coming out of the closet improved his life so much he can't understand why everyone doesn't do it."
The officer paled even more. "You can't do that! You can't out me to everyone!" he said panicked.
"This is a murder investigation, identifying the murderer takes first priority," Ziva said. "The fact that the victim was in a homosexual relationship and had recently spent time with his lover is integral to his death."
"I didn't kill him!" the officer protested.
"Then perhaps you'd like to come back and give us a DNA sample and your finger prints to prove that," Tony said cheerfully.
The junior officer backed up. "Don't you need a warrant?" he asked.
"Only if you don't want to give them up of your own free will," Tony agreed as Ziva slapped the cuffs on him.
"You're coming with us for questioning and we can hold you for 48 hours while we collect enough evidence to get a warrant for your DNA. We can talk to an awful lot of people in 48 hours and the lack of co-operation with our investigation will be noted in your personnel file and mentioned to your CO," Tim said cheerfully. They escorted him to a holding cell and left him there to sweat while they contacted his commanding officer to explain his absence and check his duty roster for Christmas day and then obtained permission from the person in charge of base housing to search his residence.
His residence showed definite signs that there had been a second person spending significant amounts of time there until recently. All of the left side of the drawers and cupboards in the bedroom and bathroom were empty thought there were traces that showed that they hadn't been cleaned since they were emptied. They also found condoms and a brand of lube designed specifically for anal use in the bedside drawers on the right. The room had been cleaned but a forensic search found a second source of DNA in the shower drain, which matched Petty Officer Hopper and the predominant DNA found in the room matched the sample found inside their dead Petty Officer.
Gibbs had Tim start the interrogation and it did not take long for the happily married agent to break the suspect, but the case left a bad taste in his mouth. Here had been two men who seemed to have been very much in love until the need for secrecy destroyed their relationship and Officer Steadman had lashed out in anger when his lover Petty Officer had declared his intention of coming out of the closet and wanted his boyfriend to openly acknowledge their relationship.
"He joined the other's tiredly as Gibbs finished charging Officer Steadman and moved him back to lockup to await his transport
"Do you ever regret coming out of the cupboard?" Ziva asked.
"It's referred to as the closet not the cupboard, Ziva," Tony corrected.
"No Ziva, even with all the trouble with the Admiral, I can't imagine making a different choice. I'm grateful for the life I have with Hadrian, and I'm glad that I don't have to try to hide it from my friends and family," Tim replied. "It was easy to hide my preferences I didn't have someone special, but as soon as Hadrian and I became serious it started to irk me that I couldn't be open about what I was feeling. I didn't want Hadrian to come to think I was ashamed of him or our relationship, or to have the slightest doubt that I would choose him over my friends if it came to it. I can understand Petty Officer Hopper's position. It isn't nice or easy to be someone's dirty little secret. After a while it ends up hurting in ways you didn't expect, even if you do agree with the reasons your lover wants it kept secret. And with Teddy in our lives and Rosie on the way it would have hurt them too when they were old enough to notice."
"Yeah it's a pity we can't arrest DADT for this murder. It was the real cause," Ziva said sighing.
"No, it wasn't. DADT might have caused a lot of misery in both these men's lives and may have contributed to the argument but it was Officer Steadman's decision to use lethal force against the man he claimed to have loved. Even then it might have been declared manslaughter if he hadn't redressed and dumped the body," Gibbs said.
"But why the Santa Suit?" Tony asked.
"It was one thing that didn't tie Hopper to Steadman, it was new, Hopper had brought it to wear to a party the night he was killed, but never worn it and it had been in its plastic packet and shopping bag the whole time it was at Steadman's apartment. He couldn't guarantee any of his other clothes wouldn't have trace evidence of him. It never occurred to Steadman that we would check for DNA inside him even though there was no indication of rough or forced sexual contact. He thought that Hopper was as fully in the closet as he was," Tim explained.
"From a redressing point of view the Father Christmas Suit is a good choice, the costume was designed to be worn over an awkward home made fake stomach so it wasn't supposed to fit well so it's less obvious that he was redressed after death," Ziva said.
"But you picked it up anyway," Tim said smiling.
"Hopefully DADT will be revoked soon," Ziva said.
"Not with men like the Admiral in charge of making the decision," Tim snarked back. "And in the short term it's probably going to lead to an increase in homophobic crime until everyone gets used to it."
"Stop borrowing trouble, McPessimism" Tony said, though he was horribly aware that Tim was being realistic in his assessment of what would happen when DADT was revoked. He wondered if they'd get enough warning to ensure that they had as many agents as possible on hand to deal with the first few months.
"Reports on my desk before you leave for the weekend," Gibbs ordered. "Steadman wants to speak with you privately McGee but it's up to you. Make sure you record the conversation in case he tries to use it in court."
Tim nodded and went back into the interrogation room, Gibbs watched over him from observation while the others all put their heads down to finish their work in the hope of getting an early start to the weekend.
"Did you really mean it that you came out to the whole of NCIS without being fired or harassed about it?" Steadman asked.
"I wouldn't say there hasn't been any snide comments here or there but my team and the Director have been very supportive. Honestly I get more grief for being married to a Feeb than because he's a man not a woman," Tim replied.
"A Feeb?" Steadman asked confusedly.
"An FBI Agent," Tim explained.
"And his team and family are okay with it too?" Steadman asked.
"Sure they are," Tim said getting up to leave. "Most of your friends would've been happy for you too if you'd given them the chance."
"Agent McGee. Any relation to Admiral McGee, you kind of look like him?" Steadman asked. "I bet he doesn't accept you being gay."
Tim turned and looked the junior officer directly in the eyes. "Admiral William McGee was my grandfather and he accepted the person I was. He passed away before I came out but I firmly believe he'd be happy that I had someone worth loving and a family of my own. Admiral Thomas McGee virtually disowned me at eighteen when I refused to join the Navy. I didn't lose much when he actually disowned me for being gay. You're right there will be people that aren't happy if you come out but the people that mattered supported me and a lot of those closest to me weren't as surprised as I thought they'd be."
-o0o-
Hadrian was in the kitchen cooking dinner Daisy was mapping and Rosie and Teddy were in the playroom with Tollie when Tim returned home and he went from one to another kissing and hugging each child before joining Hadrian.
"Everything all right?" Hadrian asked.
"Yeah, we solved the case so I have the weekend off. We should go out and do something," Tim suggested, hugging Hadrian.
"Was your killer a wizard?" Hadrian asked.
"No sign of a wand or anything magical on his person or in his apartment on base but his burn phone and the victim's both have the same feel yours has. I wonder how they came to have them," Tim replied.
"I'll send an email to Clancy to follow that up," Hadrian replied. "I was just glad they did so I could help."
"Enough work, what are we going to do with our weekend off?" Tim asked.
"We could use the time turner to extend the days off and go to the beach house," Hadrian suggested.
"We could but after this case I'm not in the mood for hiding things, I want to go out in public and revel in the fact that we can tell the world we are a family," Tim replied.
"It's too cold for a picnic but we could take Rosie and Teddy skating tomorrow, and perhaps breakfast at IHOP," Hadrian said, wrapping his arms around Tim.
"Yeah I'd like that," Tim said.
"Is there a reason you feel the need to go out and celebrate?" Hadrian asked.
"The case got to me. It was the boyfriend. They got into a fight about telling their friends, coming out of the closet. Hopper loved him so much he wanted to share it with his friends and family, and instead of being happy that he was loved, Steadman was so afraid of admitting who he was, who he loved that he lashed out and killed the man he loved. I just want to go out and remember that we don't need to hide. That the world isn't that homophobic and unforgiving," Tim said.
"In that case lets go skating Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow I'm going to take you out for dinner we will go to Le Diplomate," Hadrian said.
Tim laughed. "You're never going to get a table for tomorrow night," he said.
"I'll get a table somewhere with five stars," Hadrian promised.
"I bet you can't," Tim said.
"What are you going to bet?" Hadrian asked amused.
"If you get a table at any top 100 ranked restaurant in the tristate area, this Saturday Dinner on such short notice, then I will fulfil whatever sexual fantasy you can come up with afterwards," Tim promised.
"And if I don't?" Hadrian asked interested.
"Then I have a couple of ideas for what we could do," Tim said trying to sound nonchalant.
Hadrian laughed and hugged his husband again. "Or we could try your ideas tonight and mine tomorrow," he suggested, pressing himself against Tim.
"You trying to welch out of our bet," Tim said teasingly.
"Never," Hadrian said. "Just saying that you don't need to win a bet for me to want to fulfil your fantasies, or to lose to know that you fulfil mine."
A/N: Thank you to Ghostisreading, lilly-flower15, sandipi, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Reader Ethiriel, caged21hearts, Tetradical, McPenname, DarkRavie, Firehedgehog, mooneysfate, Tinshaw, Melikalilly, xDarklightx, mother oracle, Millie072, Rori Potter, mayawene, Rainbow2007, catspaw439, charlotte1217, Fallow55, Blosiom, DullReign82, 777angeloflove, sillygabby, buterflypuss, knuckles 8, starie78, delia cerrano, Sakya, acherongoddess, DS2010, aisa.32, Asagao-Chan, serenityselena, mithrilandtj, Village-Mystic, autisticAnthropologist, mizzrazz72, The View From Up Here, charm13insomnia, TheCauldron, nintschibintschi, Vladimir Mithrander, Silvermane1 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.
