Disclaimer:
NCIS and all its characters belong to CBS and Donald Bellisario – I'm just playing in their sandbox. I promise to return all the toys when I'm finished. This is just for fun and no profit is being made. I wish it did belong to me, though – I would've played up the bond between Gibbs and Tony a lot more.
Chapter One
Trouble… Again
How did he always get himself into these messes? It wasn't like he went looking for trouble – trouble just seemed to always find him. Between the Chief's daughter in Peoria, the mob in Philadelphia, and now his fellow Detectives in Baltimore, it seemed he always had someone accusing him of something shady. You'd think he was one of the dirtbags rather than a cop.
He supposed he was just special like that.
Homicide Detective Anthony DiNozzo stood in front of his Captain's desk, his partner on one side, and a very irate fellow detective on the other. Of course, his partner was no less irate. Ironically enough, the only one who didn't seem all that upset with him at the moment was the man in charge.
Go figure.
"For the last time, my homicide has nothing to do with their homicide. I have a suspect in custody, and once I finish with the interrogation, I will more than likely have an arrest," Detective Chuck Barnes said hotly.
Tony thought he could actually see steam coming from Barnes' ears. The innate territorial wars amongst law enforcement were a given, whether it was inter-agency or in-house, but Tony could never tolerate when it interfered with actually catching the criminals.
"And despite your suspect, both our vics have been strangled," Tony said flippantly, casually leaning against his captain's desk without giving the slightest hint of the frustration he was feeling.
"There isn't an Only-One-Murder-Method at a time allowance, DiNozzo," Tony's partner, Detective Mike 'Dunny' Donovan said wearily, having been over this several times already. The kid was barking up the wrong tree and just making more work unnecessarily.
"I'm aware of that, Dunny," Tony said, more than a little stung by the lack of back up from his own partner, although knowing he should be used to that by now. "CoD isn't the only similarity, and you know it. Victims are both males – in fairly decent shape – not your typical MO for strangle victims."
"I'm done listening to this. It's not my fault DiNozzo doesn't have any leads on his case. Mine's a domestic dispute, and I'm not interested in any more of his hijinks," Barnes said, glaring at Tony.
"Hijinks?" Tony asked, a wide, toothy grin blossoming across his face. "Who says hijinks?" He wondered if Barnes had discovered the fact Tony had superglued his bottom desk drawer shut. That had been two days ago, though, and there hadn't been the usual uproar in the squad room. What did Barnes keep in there that he didn't look at for two days during an active murder investigation? Maybe he ought to quit complaining about Tony's detecting methods and work on reorganizing his desk.
"Enough," Captain Losordo sighed, clearly losing patience with his sniping detectives. "Barnes, see if your suspect has any connections to their case, and report your findings back to me. In the meantime, DiNozzo and Donovan, work your own case."
Barnes nodded to the captain, and glaring at both Tony and Dunny, left without another word.
"Cap," Tony began again, but Captain Losordo held up his hand.
"For the moment, his case has all the markings of domestic violence, so I don't want to hear any more unless you have a concrete lead."
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that serial killers are much rarer than in the movies, kid?" Dunny asked, annoyed again at being paired with such a young partner. An experienced detective wouldn't always be looking for ridiculous scenarios, he'd know how to work a case.
"Oh, thanks for that piece of brilliance, Dunny, but just because they're rare doesn't mean they don't exist," Tony said, already knowing he'd lost the battle but unwilling to cede defeat in the war.
The captain sighed, pressing his hands to his temple as if fending off a headache. "Don't forget, you're supposed to be in court day after tomorrow for the Macaluso trial. I want that one wrapped up, so look sharp. Dunny, you go with him – make sure he gets in, testifies, and gets out without any complications."
"I don't need a babysitter," Tony said, yelping indignantly. He'd been taking care of himself for a long time, and there was no way he'd trust anyone to have his back better than he could do it himself, anyway. He forcefully pushed down the memory of his former partner in Philadelphia – the one person he had allowed in – and look how that turned out.
"Tony, I'm not sure you don't need a babysitter on a good day, never mind one where you're testifying against a mob boss. A mob boss whom, I might add, is extremely hacked off at you," Captain Losordo said. "I want this wrapped up and Macaluso in prison before he can do any more damage."
Dunny frowned, taking an unconscious step further away from his partner. He'd worked the case, but behind the scenes entirely. During the entire undercover op, he'd managed to keep his name and face out of the line of fire of the mafia family – and he'd prefer to keep it that way.
"Seriously, Cap, DiNozzo's right on this one. It's a waste of resources. He could just go over with the DA," he said hopefully.
Tony rolled his eyes. Sure, now his partner had his back – when it meant getting out of something else. Typical.
"The DA will be there all day, and I want DiNozzo back here and in one piece. You go with him," the captain said firmly. "Dismissed."
Dunny and Tony left the captain's office in silence, returning to their desks in the squad room. Tony saw Barnes casting dark looks from his own desk on the other side of the room. Tony beamed at him, making Barnes scowl even deeper until he turned his back.
"Did you get the tox report back from the Forensics lab yet?" Dunny asked.
Tony looked through his in-box, but there was nothing from the lab. "Not yet. They must be backlogged again."
"I thought you were on good terms with the lab monkeys? Go see if you can push them along," Dunny said, trying to get the kid out of his hair for a while. He was giving him a headache.
Tony rolled his eyes. Everyone was on better terms with the lab monkeys than Dunny, who had no patience for most people, never mind the geeky science nerds downstairs. "I am, but I can't go empty handed. I'll be back with the report," he said, intending to go to the corner bakery for some cookies. The lab techs were always much more accommodating on full stomachs, and he had sympathy for the lousy way Dunny and the others treated them.
Tamping down on his frustration with Dunny, Tony hurried from the squad room, a spring in his step for the chance to go outside. The squad room had become stifling of late. He was usually a happy guy, preferring to focus on the good rather than the bad he saw on a daily basis. It was getting harder and harder to do that of late. He flirted shamelessly with some of the pretty girls he passed, calling greetings to several of the storeowners and a couple uniformed officers on patrol. He was desperately trying to keep his thoughts from straying to the upcoming Macaluso trial. He wished his captain had never brought it up. It had been over a year ago that his undercover operation had come to its bloody conclusion with mob boss Mike Macaluso in custody. His furiously shocked expression at realizing his man was actually an undercover cop still worked its way into Tony's nightmares. He wasn't looking forward to the trial.
Of course, some good had come of it on top of getting the man off the streets. Tony's role and his talent for undercover work garnered a commendation in his file and more requests for his services. He'd even had an offer from the FBI, whose fault it was the whole thing had blown up so spectacularly in the first place.
Tony didn't think he wanted to be a Fed, and he certainly didn't want to work for the agency that had nearly got him killed. When he'd first accepted his position in Baltimore's Homicide Division, he'd thought he'd finally found a place to belong. That idea had been quickly shattered, and he tried not to think about how much that had hurt. Assigned to a partner whose sights were more set on retirement than active police work, Tony and Dunny had butt heads almost instantly. Since the aforementioned FBI had classified a lot of the information about the Macaluso case along with his undercover work with another mob boss in Philadelphia where he'd worked previously, most of the Homicide Division thought his detective status at such a young age had been bought and paid for by his rich daddy.
It couldn't be further from the truth, but he wasn't about to share the ridiculousness of that situation with any of them. He tolerated the put downs and barbs, smiling good naturedly, and continued with a stellar close rate on his various cases. Instead of endearing him to his fellow detectives, it had only alienated him further.
Except for Captain Losordo, who was the only one who seemed to appreciate Tony's work ethic. That wasn't exactly true, Tony thought fairly. There were a few others who'd come around, but not enough to make his job any easier. He was used to things not being easy, however, and no one looking at him from the outside would ever know the demons that haunted his psyche.
Forcefully dragging his thoughts to his current open case, Tony went over the facts. He had a strangulation victim, a homeless junkie who nobody missed. A sadly common occurrence on the streets of Baltimore. He knew the tox report would come back positive for heroin at the least, but he wondered if it would have any kind of sedative. Strangling someone took time. It was wasn't a quick, instant death as you'd find with a gunshot. Strangulation took rage – and intent. It was personal.
His junkie wasn't any kind of prime physical specimen, but he was a fairly young man – mid-thirties – and not so abused by drugs that he couldn't have fought back. There were no defensive wounds on the victim, however. Not a one. It didn't sit right with Tony. Still, since the man had been an addict, maybe he'd been too far gone or unconscious and unable to fight back.
When Barnes had come across another strangulation victim – another male – again with no defensive wounds, well, that screamed connection to Tony. Still, Barnes' victim had been arrested for dealing rather than using several times in the past. That didn't mean he'd never sampled his own wares, however. What he did have was a raging encounter with the woman he was seeing with many witnesses to their fight earlier the same evening.
Open and shut as far as Barnes was concerned since the woman had threatened to kill the victim numerous times during their exchange.
Tony had seen the corpse, seen the bruises in the shape of fingerprints on the man's neck. It wasn't a woman's hands who'd made those marks. Tony would bet his career on it.
Of course, most of his co-workers would be happy to see him lose that bet, so he couldn't count on any sort of allies there. If his suspicions were true, there'd be another body within a few days' time, then someone else might be willing to acknowledge the pattern. He hated the fact it would mean someone else had to die for it to happen.
/* /* /* /*
He watched silently, waiting for the area to clear as the encroaching darkness spread across the evening sky. He needed time and space to ensure his plan happened without a hitch. The air was cooler than it had been. October winds were beginning to show the fangs that would fully develop over the coming winter. He pulled the coat around him, patiently awaiting the docs to clear. He flexed his fingers with his gloved hands. If he shut his eyes, he could envision wrapping those fingers around an unsuspecting throat, squeezing the very life from his unresisting victim.
His body stirred with the memory – the power of the act being the ultimate climax. He wanted to feel it again, but he had to be patient. The waiting was the foreplay, making the final act all the more powerful.
He'd eliminate anyone who got in his way this time, and those who'd ruined his life were going to pay. There was another gathering tonight regarding his future, and he was certain yet another fool would object.
By the next day, he'd have a new specimen with whom to toy.
CoD – Cause of Death
MO – Modus Operandi
Vics – victims
Op – operation
DA – District Attorney
Author's Note
Hello to any of my old Harry Potter readers that might've clicked the link out of curiosity. I'm dipping my toes into a new fandom, and I have no idea if anyone even still reads it. Unfortunately for me, I discovered NCIS twenty years too late.
I LOVE it, though, but I prefer the old characters. My favorite element was the father/son dynamic between Tony and Gibbs. This story wouldn't let go, so I decided to give it a shot. I know the show eventually did a Tony meets Gibbs story, and I did like what they did, but this idea was already formulated, so I wrote it anyway.
Everything from here follows canon the same way, except for the elimination of Wendy. I had no trouble believing that Tony had his heart broken before, but I felt the writers really dropped the ball in their execution of that storyline, so there's no Wendy here. Who knows? If I can pull this off, maybe there's another NCIS fic my muse and I can work on making the Wendy storyline more consistent.