Title: Shaitan

Author: Redwing/CSIphile

Disclaimer: I don't own them…but ohhhhh if I did. SVU belongs to Dick Wolf/Paramount/NBS, NCIS belongs to Donald Bellasario/CBS/whoever, no infringement is intended and I am making no money on this. I wish…I wouldn't need my real job.

AN1: I will be updating weekly on Tuesday nights, right after NCIS is on…it's a nice reminder for me to do it. Otherwise, my posting would be rather random, and then this way you guys have something to look forward to….at least I hope. Also, any stupid errors (like ribbons and name plates in the wrong place) are all mine, though I hope there aren't too many of them.

AN2: Now our NCIS buddies make an appearance. Someone asked what NCIS was, it's a CBS show on at 8 pm on Tuesdays (you really should watch, it rocks!) the short version is it's about naval investigators who investigate crimes in all branches of the military. There are three of them, Gibbs is the man in charge, Tony has been there for 2 years, former cop, and Kate who was a secret service agent but was recruited by Gibbs in the first ep. I think I explain their characters pretty well, but if any non-NCIS viewers are confused, just let me know and Ill try and clear any confusion up.

AN3: Thank you, thank you for the reviews, I SO appreciate it! Raindrop, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought this was a good idea for a crossover, and thanks for letting me run with it! Goodness, you guys are good; you'll see the similarities between the characters brought out. It was rather fun to actually realize how much the two shows have in common.

Chapter 2: And It Only Gets Worse

Washington DC

3 AM

His phone rang twice on the night table before he rolled over and picked it up with a harsh "Gibbs." He'd had a long couple weeks and was hoping for a full night's sleep. They all were, but Gibbs has a feeling that a 3 AM phone call meant no one was going to get it.

Quickly he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up, turning on the light and grabbing the pen and paper he kept next to the phone. He scribbled some notes down, giving an occasional "Uh huh" to the person on the other end.

"Yep…thanks."  Sighing he closed the phone and stretched his tired muscles, he had only gotten to bed…he squinted at the clock…four hours ago. Which for the past three weeks was probably the most sleep he had gotten at one time.

Yawning, he reopened the phone and made three calls. Tony first. Gibbs knew that the younger agent would take the longest to get moving. He made the mistake only once of calling Kate first, quickly learning that the female agent had the admirable ability to get up, dressed and be out the door in half the time as Tony. Sighing, he relayed the information he had as quickly as possible, reminding Tony they would leave without him. Next he called Kate.

"Todd," she answered in a pretty clear tone, no sleepiness evident. Gibbs was surprised, they have been working almost non-stop the past week, he figured she would be sleeping.

"Kate, suit up, we have another one."

"Jesus, Gibbs," she muttered.

"I know," he said softly. Kate seemed to have taken the case to heart, and it worried him. "We have a 6 AM out of Reagan to New York; meet you at the usual place in an hour."

He heard her let out a long breath. "Yeah, ok…ok," she replied distantly.

"Kate…," he started, but was unsure what to say to reassure her.

"One hour, Gibbs. I'll be there," she said and hung up the phone, solving the problem for him.

"Dammit, Kate." He muttered as he punched speed dial four.

"Dr Mallard." This time the voice was thick with sleep, Ducky's accent even heavier than usual.

"Ducky, it's Gibbs."

"Jethro. What time is it?"

Suddenly it occurred to him that Kate didn't ask the time, but Ducky and Tony both had. She had been wide-awake when he called. Cursing silently, he scrubbed his hands across his face; she was going to be the death of him one day.

"It's three, Duck. We have another one."

"Ohhh, Jethro. Where?"

"New York. A Doc Warner called it in."

"Ohhh yes. Melinda, lovely woman."

"You're on standby if we need you. Can you let Abby know also in the morning?"

"No problem."

"Thanks. Night, Duck."

"Good night."

It didn't take Gibbs long to take a shower, make a cup of coffee and grab his overnight bag from the bedroom. The overnight bag that had only just been unpacked and repacked the day before after their return from Detroit earlier in the week. He had been sure that their suspect was done; it had been 5 days since the last murder. Giving his house a quick once over, Gibbs locked the door behind him, wondering, not for the first time in recent weeks, when he would be back.

After parking in long term at Reagan, he made his way to the Northwest counter to find Kate standing there. She was staring off into space, her overnight bag on the ground between her legs. She was dressed casually in jeans, a long-sleeved green shirt and tennis shoes, carrying a lightweight camel-colored coat, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, the bangs hanging slightly in her face.

He approached her, and she finally turned to him, giving him a small smile as he reached her.

"Morning," she said.

"Not really," he replied and noticed the black circles under her eyes, that she had tried, rather unsuccessfully, to cover with make-up.

She just nodded silently, looking down at the floor. An uncomfortable silence stretched as they waited for Tony to arrive.

"Detroit to New York, not much of a leap. But its been 5 days…" she said

"Yeah," Gibbs sighed and took another drink of his coffee, staring at her over the rim.

She tilted her head at him, "What?"

"Why weren't you sleeping when I called?" When she paused before answering, he continued, "And don't tell me you were, cause I know better."

She had the grace to look guilty. "I…"

Her reply was cut off by Tony hollering Gibbs' name across the terminal. Gibbs gave her his best 'we will discuss this later' expression before turning to the younger man and chastising him for being late.

Tony gave him a perplexed expression and looked at his watch, "I'm not, boss. I'm five minutes early."

"Whatever. Let's go," he barked and they all walked to the ticket counter, Kate lagging behind some.

Because of the early hour on a Saturday, the terminal was relatively empty and they got through security and onto the plane with no problems. They hadn't been assigned seats since the plane was only half booked and the flight attendant told them to sit wherever they wanted. They all walked to the row in front of the mid-plane exit, where there was a little extra leg room and the seats reclined. Kate went first, sitting by the window on one side of the plane, while Tony had, predictably, sat in the window seat across from her.

Easily Gibbs seized the opportunity, Tony would sleep most of the hour flight, so he slid into the aisle seat near Kate, leaving a seat between them. She merely gave him a look before turning back to the window, watching the sun start to peek over the horizon.

Gibbs turned and looked at Tony, who had quickly made himself comfortable and was starting to drift back into sleep. Buckling his belt, he sat back and drifted off himself as they took off. The next thing he became aware of was the feeling of someone reaching across his body, invading his personal space. Snapping his eyes open he saw the flight attendant's hand pulling back over him. Obviously she had been handing something to Kate.

Blinking a few times he manages to croak out, "coffee," before the flight attendant got too far. He turned to look at Kate, who was sitting in her seat, one foot tucked under the other, a file open in front of her, a bottle of water in one hand and pencil in the other.

Glancing at Tony, he saw the agent was still sleeping, curled against the window. "Kate, what are you doing?" he asked and leaned toward her slightly.

"Reading," she said with a 'what does it look like' tone, never turning to look at him.

"No kidding," he sassed back and was rewarded with a small smile.

"I'm just going over the files, there has to be a connection between these women besides being all Marines."

"Find anything?" he asked as a cup of coffee was handed to him. "Thanks."

"Not yet, but I'm trying." She continued to stare intently at the page in front of her, nibbling on the eraser of the pencil.

"Is that what you were doing when I called instead of sleeping like I ordered you to?" He gave her his best stern look, there is nothing Gibbs hated more then when his agents defied an order. Especially an order he gave them for their own good.

Now she looked at him, her expression indescribable. "Gibbs, you can't tell me when to sleep."

"Oh, you bet your ass I can. When you're so exhausted you aren't thinking straight, you're no good to me or anyone. When you're so tired your reflexes are slow, that puts me and Tony in jeopardy. And it puts yourself in even more danger." His voice had started strong, but by the end of his speech, it was softer as he considers his own words.

She sighed and put her head back on the head rest. "Gibbs…we should have this guy by now. If I hadn't…."

"Kate, it doesn't matter."

"Yes! It does matter. If I hadn't let him get away, two women would still be alive." She turned her body toward him.

"Kate, no one blames you. It wasn't just you in that alley. It was me and Dinozzo, too," he tried to reassure her.

"You didn't screw up," she hissed.

"You didn't, Kate. It was ALL our jobs. Look, you're tired, we all are. Stop blaming yourself, no one else does."

She closed her eyes and nodded slowly. She might accept his words, but Gibbs knew it wouldn't change anything, she would kill herself trying to find this guy now. Without a word he stretched across her, grabbing the window shade and pulling it down.

"Gibbs! What are you doing?"

He looked at his watch and then at her, "We have thirty minutes before we land." He scooped up the file and closed it, putting it between them. "You are going to get some sleep." Standing, he opened the overhead bin, grabbing a blanket and pillow.

"Gibbs…"

"This is non-negotiable, Kate." He handed her the items. "Close your eyes and at least try."

She gave him a nasty look but untucked her foot and reclined, putting the barely there pillow under her head and the itchy blanket over her body. She curled toward him and said, "You're a bastard."

"Yeah, I've heard that before. Go to sleep," he admonished. "Or at least close your eyes and pretend."

She made a "hrumph" noise but closed her eyes, a few minutes later her breathing slowed and he knew she was sleeping. Sighing, he stared at the top of her head, determined not to fall asleep himself, his need to watch over her overriding the tiredness in his bones.

SVU

9 AM

Elliot looked across the desk at his partner. After they had ID'd the victim and found out NCIS was on its way, they had knocked off for the night, since there was literally nothing they could do but wait.

She was still recovering from her stabbing three months ago. Olivia was never one to admit to not being 100%, but Elliot could see it sometimes. She still got short of breath on occasion, and when she stretched wrong he could see the discomfort flit over her face. Though, all in all, she had been a pretty good patient, her doctors were impressed with her recovery and put her back on active duty three weeks ago.

Their relationship has been put on hold, however, until his divorce was finalized. Despite the fact that it had been amicable so far, Kathy was asking for nothing but joint custody of the twins and the house. Elliot had agreed, moved out, and all that was left was the paperwork. Even the kids had taken it well, with the exception of the occasional outburst. Despite the ease with which they are dissolving a nearly 20 year relationship, Elliot didn't want to rub it in her, or the kids, faces, his relationship with Olivia. So he and Liv had agreed to put it all on hold - for now.

"Where the hell are they? Even the FBI doesn't take this long."

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him, "What? You're excited to hand the case over to a bunch of overworked, detective rejects?"

Now its his turn to raise an eyebrow. "Wow, Liv. Repressing some anger I see. I was just commenting on their lateness."

She sighed and waved her hand, "Sorry, sorry. I'm just anxious, we've never held onto a case so long. Our killer could be halfway to Canada by now."

"Cragen told us to wait. We wait."

"I know. It's just…"

Just then three tired looking strangers appeared outside the doorway. Elliot nodded and Olivia turned to look herself.

Two men and one woman stood talking to Cragen who was shaking hands and nodding. Elliot couldn't hear them speak through the closed door, but he immediately picked out the leader, the older man with graying hair, he had an air of authority around him. Elliot also felt something familiar about him, a way of standing…something. Pursing his lips he turned his attention to the other agents. The brunette was cute and stood beside the older man, almost his equal, but not quite, the younger man standing slightly behind the other two, mostly looking tired.

Elliot quit analyzing the trio as they walked through the doors, and he and Olivia stood, coming around the desks to advance on the visitors.

"Elliot, Olivia, Special Agents Jethro Gibbs, Kate Todd and Anthony DiNozzo. They are from NCIS." Turning his head he addressed the NCIS agents, "Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler. Our other two detectives are out canvassing and will be back later."

A quick round of hellos was said, the SVU detectives noticing the tiredness on all their faces. But it wasn't just being tired, they had the look of a group that was just worn down.

"Is there somewhere we can do a short briefing on what you have? I'd like to do that and give you our information before we find a hotel." Gibbs asked.

"We can head up to the crib, but let me make a quick call."

With that, Cragen picked up Elliot's phone and barked a few short orders into it.

"Lt. Casey is going to get everyone checked into the hotel down the street, they know us down there so it won't be a problem. They'll sent someone for your bags."

Gibbs raised his hand. "Really, Captain that's not necessary."

"Yes, it is. All in the name of interoffice co-operation."

He looked at the other man and nodded. "Thank you then."

That job completed, the group moved up into the loft area, Elliot and Olivia sat on the couch with NCIS seated in chairs across from them. The detectives quickly relayed the information to them, theirs being the short end of the story. Gibbs immediately picked up on some interesting facts while the two detectives spoke. One being that the two had been partners for a while. There was a level of familiarity between them that Gibbs saw infrequently. They completed each other's sentences or picked up new ones perfectly in-sync, without loosing momentum. What he really liked to see though, was their captain sitting back, listening to them talk, but never interjecting. Trusting his detectives completely with what they knew. It took years to gain that level of confidence.

During the briefing Gibbs didn't really learn anything new; same MO, same signature as the last eight victims. Regardless, he paid rapt attention; you never knew when something would appear. The smallest thing could solve a case. He could hear Kate typing in her Palm Pilot, making notes on things that interested her and that she should focus on in the reports. Gibbs had tried his own hand with the little device, but had become frustrated with it in a weeks' time. Since then, he had relied on Kate and her PDA and the old fashioned way of paper and pen.

The detectives finished their report and Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. Gathering his thoughts, he stood and started speaking.

"Lt Col Allison Williams is the ninth victim in a string of rape/murders of Marines since August 31st. It started in Denver at Lowery AFB, with two similar killings two days apart. Originally the local NCIS agents handled the investigation, which yielded next to nothing. No witnesses, similar dump job near a major intersection, no fibers, no DNA, just two dead Marine officers. Similar wounds on the chest, the women had been beaten and raped for what the ME approximated was 24 hours before being strangled."

Gibbs started pacing slightly. "He abducted them off-base, using a sedative to gain control before abducting them. Post-mortem the symbol is carved into their skin, for what reason we are still unsure, the FBI psychiatrist thinks it's our perps way of marking them, of making them his."

Elliot waited as Gibbs paused slightly, he could practically feel the anger radiating off the older man in waves.

"Four days after the second Denver victim, another body turned up just outside McConnell AFB is in Wichita. Same MO, same everything. Only this time no one realized it was a naval officer and local authorities started the investigation without alerting anyone. When two days later victim number two showed up with her naval ID Wichita made the connection with vic one and alerted their NCIS, who then made the connection with Denver over teletype and we were called in to take over. But by then it was too late."

Gibbs stopped walking and leaned against the table in the room. "Our guy had moved onto Wright Patterson in Ohio. We barely touched down in Kansas and had time to gather evidence, before we were leaving to investigate victim number 5. That was September 12th, predictable on the 14th a second vic turned up, same as before, nothing. No trace, no clues. Three days later, and right on time, he made an appearance in metro Detroit at Selfridge AFB. Two vics there and now we are here, with victim number nine to this guys credit."

Gibbs paused and let it sink in with the group; he could see something churning in their minds. Olivia was the first to speak up.

"Wait…your first vic in Detroit would have been…" she seemed to count in her head. "The 17th, making the second on the 19th. Today is the 25th, we found the body yesterday though, the 24th. That's five days."

Gibbs nodded, impressed. "Yeah, I know. Not sure why there is such a big gap. We were sure he was gone to ground when the 22nd came and went with no reports. That or he was getting sneakier."

Kate spoke up. "This guy is pretty consistent. It's the same vic every time. Female, Caucasian Marines between the ages of 25 and 35 and between 5 feet 2 and 5 feet 6 inches tall, all have brown hair of varying lengths. The profile we've been working on with the FBI specialist is a white male between the ages of 35 and 50, highly intelligent and well-educated. Probably former law enforcement, likely former Marine who was passed over in favor of a female or was rejected by a female officer. Possible disciplinary problems with employers or the government. He could have been a former crime scene worker at one point, which would explain the lack of evidence. Its honestly not much to go on, mostly because we have little to work with."

Elliot nodded, but Olivia spoke. "We have a FBI psychiatrist here who might be able to help."

"Great, can't hurt," she responded.

For a moment everyone was silent while they digested the information.

"Every time there is nothing to work with? No clues? No trace?" Cragen asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "We have no idea where the killings took place, only the dump locations. One exception being Detroit. We found a pubic hair that didn't belong to the victim. Ran it through every database we had…nothing. And a white cotton fiber in Des Moines…not exactly helpful."

Elliot considered this. "So he was in and out of the Marines before they started collecting DNA in '94. And he wears white t-shirts like every other guy on the planet."

"Pretty much."

"And you've never come close to him?" Olivia asked.

Elliot watched as Kate visibly flinched in her seat and Gibbs looked over at her. Olivia had hit a nerve obviously; the anger that he felt from the older man was matched in intensity in guilt from Kate.

"We got pretty close in Detroit, but he made us," was all Gibbs said, but Elliot knew there was more to the story. "Can we get a look at the scene where she was found?"

"Yeah, no problem," Cragen said and they all stood.

With little discussion the group headed down, and Gibbs realized their bags were gone. He had to give them credit around here, they were very friendly. More so than anywhere else.

"Where are we headed?" Gibbs asked and looked at a large map of the city pinned to a bulletin board.

Olivia walked over and placed a finger on the corner of Seventh and Lexington. "Right here."

"Liv, we can switch, you can drive with them." Elliot turned and addressed Kate who was standing next to him. "And one of you can ride with me."

"Done." Gibbs said. "Tony, you're with Elliot."

"Got it boss."

Gibbs tilted his head slightly and realized that was the first time Tony had said something since they landed. A record for the young agent, but not a bad thing.

tbc……………………