Title: Shaitan
Author: Redwing/CSIphile
Disclaimers: Me no own, but wouldn't it be nice? Tony, Gibbs and Elliot all in the same room? I might faint.
AN1: I know, I know, I'm a day late. But I have a really good excuse! I was on vacation and only flew back yesterday, and just didn't have time to prep this bad boy. My apologizes, wont happen again. ;-)
AN2: Ohh thank you, thank you for all the reviews, I so appreciate it, you have no idea. Please, keep it up! I generally don't comment directly on reviews, but if you say something that catches my interest, I'll respond, especially if you are confused about something.
To those who have never seen NCIS, you really should. It's an EXCELLENT show, I can't say that enough. Its nothing at all like JAG, it's already better at the end of its first season. 8 PM at Tuesday on CBS. Give it a shot.
I wish I could nail Tony; he's not exactly hard on the eyes. Hmmmmm tips, not a bad idea, put a little link…I mean, I would never do that CBS and NBC, cause it's wrong. Heh.
AN3: IMPORTANT: It came to my attention recently that I had my bases confused where the women where killed (goes to show you can't always trust the internet). So to make it clearer, I'm going to change the locations and update the first three chapters to reflect that. But until I do that the new bases are (in killing order) Camp Pendleton in CA, Fort Leonard Wood, MO, Parris Island, SC and the 'near miss' is in Newport, RI instead of Detroit. The reason for their being in NY will be explained later.
Chapter 4: Downtime
The three NCIS officers rode the elevator up to the third floor in silence. After the doors opened, they turned left as they had been instructed by the front desk. Looking at her key, Kate kept an eye as the numbers went by before getting to hers - 317. Watching the other two, she noticed that Gibbs stopped at the door next to hers in 319 and that Tony was across the hall in 318.
Just as Kate and Tony opened their doors Gibbs voice stopped them, "Be ready to leave here at 6:00 PM."
Both responded in the positive and entered their rooms. The first thing Gibbs noticed was the connecting door into Kate's room. His bed was on the right side, oddly the same wall as the door; he imagined Kate's room was a mirror image of his, her bed on the same wall as his. Looked like their rooms would be the meeting place, if needed.
Gibbs continued to scan the room; his bag was setting on top of the queen bed. There was a small desk by the window and a reasonably good sized bathroom with a human sized tub in it. Ohh, Kate's gonna love that, he thought.
In her own room, Kate opened her bag and pulled out fresh clothes. She had already scoped out the room and noticed both the connecting door to Gibbs' room near the head of her bed and the full-sized tub. Grabbing the bag off the bed and setting the clothes on the small desk, she pulled the drapes shut and set the alarm for 5 PM. As much as her head was spinning to work, her body had hit the wall and she needed rest to be functional. Stripping down to a tank top and underwear she laid down, pulling just the comforter over her body and fell into a deep sleep.
Unfortunately, her dreams were nothing close to pleasant. It was always a different dream, but with the same plot. The perp gets away because of her and in most versions of the dream, he goes on to kill dozens more women while she sits, unable to help. In every dream, she was practically frozen in place as she watched him butcher the next victim, then the next and the next, each one more horrific than the last.
In this one, however, she was the victim. She could see him approaching her slowly, licking his lips like she was prey to be devoured. She struggled against unseen bindings, unable to escape, unable to do much of anything except watch his hulking figure come closer. After what seemed like an eternity, he got within a breath's distance and she could smell the stench of death on him, she struggled more, panic flowing through her. She could hear her heart beating in her ears; a sick feeling was crawling up her throat. Kate looked up into his eyes, which were staring at her, challenging her to stop him …
When a sudden blaring had her sitting upright in bed, gasping for breath and sweat pouring down her back.
It took Kate a minute to figure out it was the alarm and she rolled over, shutting it off. For a moment she just sat in the dark, allowing her drenched body to chill in the cool air of the room. After several minutes she was practically shivering, so she got up and grabbed her clothes. Eyeing the tub, she plugged the drain and filled it with water, sinking into the warmth when it was full.
Tony rolled over in his bed, thinking that tomorrow would be a bad day: interviewing the victim's family. Normally that was done as soon as possible, but NYPD had been told to hold off and informed the family of the delay. Tony almost wished they had gotten to it today, then he wouldn't have to dread it for tomorrow.
Tony didn't hold out much hope, every interview had gone the same, yielding nothing. And as the clocked slipped away, so did the chances of finding this guy before he killed his second victim in New York. Sighing, he looked at the clock and decided to get up. Better to be early then risk Gibbs' ire.
At six o'clock sharp all three doors opened and the refreshed agents headed down in the elevator once again. Tony and Gibbs had both worn jeans and long-sleeved shirts and carried jackets. Kate had on a pair of khaki pants with a lightweight pink sweater and carried a coat.
Getting to the curb, Gibbs realized they were a mere three blocks from the station house. Deciding their attire was sufficient, he turned to the other two, who were talking about something inane. "Let's go. We're walking."
Tony had looked at him, then at Kate, and back at Gibbs, "Walking?"
"Yes, DiNozzo. Get moving."
"Yes, boss," Tony gave his best attempt at a salute and fell into step with Gibbs, leaving Kate to walk slightly behind the other two.
Silence reigned until Gibbs spoke up, "We'll find him."
"What?" Tony asked him, distracted from his close inspection of the city lights in the fading twilight.
"He's here, and this time we are going to find him."
Again silence fell over them and five minutes later they were at the doors to the precinct. As Gibbs opened the door a laughing Olivia appeared, Elliot not far behind. He watched them with curiosity, his instincts telling him there was more to this relationship than just "partnership".
Olivia sobered slightly upon seeing Gibbs, "Ahh, excellent. Ready for some good food?"
"Absolutely!" Tony called out.
"Fin and Much are going to meet us there in a bit," she said. "It's only a couple blocks. Are you okay with walking?"
"We walked here," Gibbs replied and followed her lead.
Idle chatter filled the air. Elliot and Olivia were careful to include the rest of them and refrained from asking terribly personal questions.
Olivia seemed to take a keen interest in Kate, who had been quiet the whole time. "So, Kate. Tony's a Baltimore cop, Gibbs here is a Marine, what about you?"
Gibbs watched Kate pale slightly; she never did like to discuss the reasons behind her departure from the Secret Service. "I was in the Secret Service."
"Impressive. Why did you leave? It's quite a jump from protecting the President to crawling around looking for evidence."
Kate opened her mouth and closed it once before answering, "Tell me about it." She paused again, "Gibbs offered me a job after I worked with him briefly and I took it. Only slightly better hours."
Olivia nodded thoughtfully. There was something else behind this, but she knew better than to go digging now. These weren't perps, they were trained investigators and would resent her trying to dig for answers in a second. "How do you like it?" she asked instead.
"It's different, but I'm enjoying the challenge," Kate answered quickly, but her voice turned morose. "Until now anyway."
Again Olivia nodded, this time understanding her meaning fully. It's great when you catch the bad guy, but when you don't …
They arrived at the bar and Elliot held the door open as they all entered. Gibbs looked around, it was like every other cop bar he'd been in. Small, but cozy, dark paneling covering the walls from floor to ceiling, except behind the bar where a large mirror was centered on the wall behind the twelve foot bar. On either side were tall, but narrow, shelving units holding an extraordinarily large selection of liquor.
Elliot led the group to two small tables pushed together to make a larger one for them all to sit at. Instinct guided the group, Elliot and Olivia sitting next to each other on one side, leaving two seats open for the missing detectives to Olivia's right. Gibbs sat across from Elliot and Kate from Olivia, Tony sat on the other side of Kate.
The waitress arrived quickly, and greeted Elliot and Olivia by name. They responded in kind and Elliot quickly put in an order for a pitcher of beer. Gibbs had nodded in agreement with Elliot's decision, as did Kate and Tony. One glass of beer wouldn't do any harm, and they all needed it.
Elliot chuckled and upped the order to two pitchers. He heard his partner sigh loudly and he winced. He'd forgotten again.
She spoke over him, her voice light, "Liz, I'll just have iced tea."
"Yeah, I figured, Olivia," the waitress winked and left to put the order in, leaving menus behind.
Elliot leaned over and spoke in low tones, "Sorry."
She smiled wanly at him and spoke equally low, "It's okay, I'd like to forget too, but I have the scar."
She watched him wince again and immediately felt bad. She resisted the urge to reach up and touch his face but that wouldn't be a good display in front of their visitors. Turning their attention back, they saw the three of them trolling the menu, apparently oblivious to the goings on across from them. But Elliot had a feeling very little got by Gibbs.
He watched as Gibbs leaned over and said something to the other brunette, who merely gave him a look. Gibbs smiled slightly, but backed away from her.
Quickly the waitress returned with two pitchers of beer and an iced tea which she handed to Olivia. Even faster food orders where taken and again she disappeared.
"No beer for you, Olivia?" Kate questioned as she poured her own glass.
"No," she paused as if debating how much to reveal. "I'm good, thanks."
Kate nodded and passed the pitcher along. More idle chit chat continued, the detectives getting to know each other. Elliot and Gibbs had quickly formed a bond through their experiences in the Marines.
"Gunnery sergeant, huh? How long were you in?" Elliot asked as he took a long drink of his beer.
"Sixteen years. The last four as an MP."
Elliot chuckled, "Yeah, I can see that."
Gibbs merely shrugged. "How long for you?"
"One shot and I was out."
Gibbs eyes rose, "That short?"
"My wife got pregnant with our first shortly after I got in, I decided to do one stint, get college paid for and become a cop."
"You're married then?"
Gibbs watched something dark cross the other man's face. "For another couple months, we are seperated. We were married twenty years and have four beautiful children…."
Tony had apparently overheard their conversation and spoke across Kate who was deep in conversation with Olivia. The two women had found a fast common ground. Being women in a mostly male world, and succeeding at it.
"Hey, boss, maybe you should take pointers."
Kate's head had immediately popped up and looked at Tony at the same second Gibbs turned his head toward the younger man, "Hey DiNozzo, maybe you should shut up."
Tony merely smiled at him and raised his eyebrows.
Olivia watched with amusement, and leaned across the table to Kate, "Are they always like that?"
"Yes," came her simple response.
"I don't wish I was you," Olivia chuckled.
Tony had apparently heard the conversation between the women and leaned into Kate, speaking to Olivia, "Why not? You'd miss out on all the fun."
"Fun?" she asked and Kate groaned.
"Yeah, I'm a fun guy to be around; you just haven't been exposed enough." Kate recognized the tone of his voice. He was hitting on her.
"Is that right?" Olivia's face was covered with amusement, but her retort was cut off when two other men approached the table.
Kate looked up; one was dressed in all black, from head to toe, even sporting a long coat in the mild temperature, and was reed thin. The other resembled a well-dressed thug, his attire also black, but with an electric blue shirt under his suit vest.
Olivia looked up and smiled at them. The black man sat next to her, and the other chose to move a chair to the head of the table, probably so he could see the whole table.
Olivia took charge of the introductions, "Detectives John Munch and Odafin Tutuola, these are NCIS Special Agents Jethro Gibbs, Kate Todd and Tony DiNozzo."
Yet again another round of 'hellos' were said, this time most of it involved Fin pronouncing his name again and informing them to call him "Fin". The waitress reappeared and took their food orders, promising to have them out shortly.
Munch had been eyeing Tony since he sat down and finally leaned over to the young agent.
"Do I know you? Your name is familiar."
Tony smirked and put down his glass, "I was in Baltimore Homicide after you left."
"Ahhhhh, right! I heard about the cop that had aced the Detectives' test the first time around," Munch's voice was loud enough to cause both Kate and Gibbs to stop their respective conversations and turn to look at him.
Tony visibly flinched and glanced down the table at his co-workers, wondering if they actually heard. The expression on Kate's face was enough. They had.
Gibbs was the first to speak, his face neutral, "You aced the Detectives' test?"
"Ace is probably to strong a word …," Tony started but was cut off by Munch clapping his back.
"He tied the previous high for a first timer," the older man had a huge smile, while Tony just looked pained.
"Really?" Gibbs asked and stared directly at his underling, not saying anything else, which Tony knew was a sign for trouble.
The four NYPD watched the conversation with confusion, unsure what the big deal was. Light conversation resumed shortly thereafter, and before long Munch and Fin's food arrived. Everyone finished their meals and little was said aside from commenting on the excellence of the food. Both Gibbs and Elliot kept an eye on their respective partners as they ate.
Elliot watched as his partner ate half her sandwich before pushing the plate away.
"Liv …," he warned.
"I'll get it to go, El," she said and picked at the fries. "I'm full. Really."
He eyed her suspiciously, but nodded. Her appetite hadn't really come back, and the doctor said it probably wouldn't until she was fully off the medications in the next week.
Glancing at the table, and realizing no one was watching, he slid one hand under the table and squeezed her thigh. "I know, I just worry."
She smiled and repeated his motion, covering his hand with hers. "Thank you."
He smiled and pulled the hand back before anyone noticed, picking up his hamburger and finishing it off.
Once the plates had been cleared away and glasses of water brought to replace the beer, Elliot got down to business. There was one thing he was curious about. "So, you said you got close in Newport. How close?"
tbc………………………………I know, it's a lame place to leave it, but if I get some happy reviews, perhaps you'll get another chapter sooner.