Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or any of their characters, plots ect… If I did, Twilight would never have happened. I am in Twilight Denial…. I do however, own Tiana, as well as anyone else you don't recognize….
Chapter Twenty One
After Tia had stormed from the bullpen in a huff, Gibbs scooped up her file and tossed the keys to Kate "Get the sedan Kate, I'll meet you in the garage" Gibbs ordered and stopped in front of Tony's desk as Kate holstered her gun "Where are we going boss?" she asked automatically, not really expecting an answer "Brookview Military Academy, to interview one of Tia's instructors" Gibbs answered briskly and turned to McGee "Contact Special Agent Cassidy and have her report to me no later than tomorrow morning" Gibbs ordered and when he turned to leave he found DiNozzo standing in front of him "Don't you have work to do, Agent DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, feeling his patience start to stretch "If you're going to interview one of Tia's teachers I'm coming too" Tony informed his boss defiantly and out of the corner of his eye Gibbs noticed McGee also preparing to leave the office. Too tired to argue, Gibbs gave in "Fine, but keep your mouth shut" Gibbs ordered reluctantly and followed his team downstairs.
An hour later, with his brain pounding violently in his skull from the childlike bickering of his team, Gibbs escaped the hell-like confines of the car and observed the picturesque scenery of Brookview Military Academy for a few minutes before striding purposely across the manicured lawns, following the signs to the administration building. With his team following him, wary of his mood, Gibbs approached the nervous young receptionist and flashed his badge "Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. I need to speak to one of your instructors, a Major Pierce" Gibbs announced after a quick glance at his notebook and the young woman typed something into her computer "Major Pierce is conducting field exercises sir, may I direct you to Colonel Stewart's office instead?" the receptionist offered cautiously. Tony stepped up to the desk, subtly edging Gibbs out of the way and glancing at the nametag pinned to the young woman's chest before flashing his most charming smile, causing the young woman to blush "Jenny is it? I'm Special Agent DiNozzo, and we really need to talk to Major Pierce about one of his students. So would you mind just pointing us in the Major's direction, it's really important" Tony asked sweetly and flashed his smile again. Jenny looked up at Tony for a minute and then she smiled shyly "If you don't mind waiting a few minutes, I can have one of the students escort you to the Major's location" Jenny offered and Tony nodded "That would be great, Jenny" Tony assured her before ushering the team outside to wait.
"That was smooth, Tony" McGee admired a minute later and Tony shrugged "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, Probie" Tony shrugged nonchalantly as a teenage male student approached and saluted "Good afternoon sir!" the boy greeted, causing Gibbs' lips to twitch ever so slightly "If you will come with me, sir, I will escort you to Major Pierce's location" the boy said as he motioned to an official looking military jeep "How old are you, kid?" Tony asked, slightly unsure about letting a kid drive "I'll be eighteen in two months, sir" the boy said and Tony, as well as McGee and Kate, felt themselves relax. "How long have you been a student here?" McGee asked as the team settled themselves in the jeep "Since I was nine, sir" the boy answered and started the jeep, effectively cutting off any further questions.
The jeep bounced merrily across a few fields before stopped sharply next to a large olive green tent where a middle-aged man wearing standard field issue camouflage gear stood, looking annoyed "What are you doing here, Alex?" the man asked, consulting his clipboard "Sir, I was instructed to bring these civilians to your location, sir" the boy, Alex, replied sharply. Gibbs flashed his badge "Special Agent Gibbs, Agents DiNozzo, Todd and McGee, NCIS. We have a few questions about one of your students" Gibbs informed Major Pierce who sighed "Alex, you take over from me while I talk to the Navy cops" Major Pierce instructed and Alex nodded and accepted the clipboard from the Major who then led the team of agents into the tent.
"Have a seat" the Major motioned to a group of chairs facing his 'desk', a battered card table. As the team sat down Major Pierce rested his feet on his desk and eyed Gibbs warily "So which one of my kids is in trouble?" he asked wearily and Gibbs handed a copy of Tia's licence photo to the Major, who started laughing. "Allysia Bradbury? You managed to catch Ally Bradbury doing something illegal? Well I have to say I'm surprised, and just a little bit disappointed as I thought I'd trained her better than that" Major Pierce leaned back further in his chair and watched Gibbs "Someone was shooting at General Bradbury outside his home two nights ago, and he thinks Allysia had something to do with it" Gibbs admitted and Major Pierce winced "Well he would. No offence Agent Gibbs, but there's a long list of people who would like to shoot General Bradbury for what he did to Ally when she was a kid, and I'm one of them" Major Pierce admitted and Tony looked up from his palm pilot suddenly "You knew what he was doing to her and you didn't do anything?" Tony asked incredulously and Major Pierce sat up straight and rubbed his hands over his face "Look you have to understand that this happened fifteen years ago, things were different back then. What a man did in his own home was his own business, and nothing I could have done would have changed how General Bradbury treated his daughter. I was brought into this school on General Bradbury's recommendation, to run the program that Allysia was eventually placed in, and when I took my concerns to the school director I was informed that if I wanted to remain in command of the program then I had to overlook Allysia's so-called clumsy-ness. So I did. I'm not proud of my actions Agent DiNozzo, but I was only a Master Sergeant and I wanted to stay with the program, with my kids" Major Pierce defended. "Tell us more about the program, Major, and Allysia's place in it" Kate requested and earned a genuine smile "The program was developed about six months before Allysia was placed at Brookview. Most of the kids placed here before that were either kids whose parents couldn't control them or kids whose parents were in the military, who wanted a stable education. The idea for the program came about when a few of the higher ranking parents, including General Bradbury, thought that their kids should start their military training early. Give them an advantage in their future military careers as well as to provide them with some more...specialised training" Major Pierce admitted and Kate looked up from her notes "What about Allysia? How did she fit into the program?" she asked "Allysia thrived in the program, within her unit. The program initially started with twenty four kids, three units of eight. Most of the kids developed at least one area of expertise, except for Allysia. She excelled at everything, she just soaked up whatever training we threw at her" Major Pierce looked almost proud as he tapped Tia's photo absently "What about her training? Was there an area she seemed to specialise in?" Gibbs asked and Major Pierce grinned "Like I said, Ally was top of the field in almost everything, but there were a few areas where she really seemed to shine. Allysia was trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat, stealth invasion techniques as well as standard weapons training that branched into arming and disarming explosive devices. If Ally had been able to sit still she probably would have beaten the pants off of marine snipers twice her age. We tried to challenge Allysia by teaching her counter-intelligence procedures and advanced computer operations but she just seemed to thrive under the pressure" Major Pierce informed the team proudly "What about her target accuracy?" McGee asked and Major Pierce smirked "Let me put it this way: Allysia Bradbury would not have missed had she been aiming at her father, no matter what the range. Now if that's all, I have kids to train" Major Pierce informed them and stood up, indicating the end of the interview.
Outside, Major Pierce took his clipboard from Alex and ordered the young man to escort the agents off campus. The young man didn't say anything, but about halfway back to the administration building he suddenly stopped the vehicle and turned to face Gibbs "Is there a problem?" Gibbs asked softly, dangerously. Alex just stared fearlessly at Gibbs "What's wrong with Ally?" he demanded and in the backseat Tony leaned closer "Why do you ask? How do you know Ally?" Tony demanded and Alex shrugged "When you start school here, you're assigned a buddy. Ally was mine. After six weeks the buddy program is supposed to end, but Ally took me under her wing, so to speak. She is my friend, so I have the right to know if she's in trouble" Alex told Tony and glared defiantly. "Settle down there, soldier. In our opinion Ally isn't in trouble, we just have to prove it to her...father" Gibbs said and instantly Alex relaxed "That's okay then" he said and turned back to start the jeep, and drove sedately back to the administration building.