A Dare, Or Something More Sinister?
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS... I'm just taking the characters for a spin!
Author's Notes: Thank-you all for the reviews, I'm glad you all like it... as always a few more wouldn't go unnoticed! Please!
And of course, again a gigantic thank you to Kate for her great inspiration and fantastic work!
Kate woke to the sound of her alarm going off and groaned. She sleepily slapped the clock until the noise turned off. Turning over, she stared at the ceiling and rubbed her face, she thought of calling in and saying she had caught a cold and couldn't come into work. Kate sighed and got up, heading for the shower.
When she turned up to work, she hoped Tony and McGee had already turned up. But when she walked into the bullpen, she only saw Gibbs working at his desk. He looked as if he had stayed all night, once again pulling an all-nighter. Kate turned on her computer and sat down without a work. She wouldn't be the one to break the silence.
Gibbs looked up when Kate had entered, then looked back at his work, but kept his attention on Kate as she began her work. He inwardly sighed, today was going to be awkward, this is why he made up rule 12.
The two worked in silence until Tony entered; they both looked up when he walked into the bullpen, glad for the interruption. Tony stalked to his desk and threw his bag by the filing cabinet, making a big band. Gibbs raised his eyebrow and took in Tony's appearance, it must have been raining, the young man was soaked through.
"Ok, I have another goddamn rule, one of my own; never trust bloody rental cars" Tony said, then added "or tow trucks"
"Car trouble, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked
"You have no idea…" Tony groaned, he looked at his clothes and shook his head, "Ah, this dry cleaning bill is gonna kill me" he picked up his bag and looked at Gibbs, "Ah, boss, can I hit the showers? I can't feel my toes"
Gibbs nodded and Tony walked off, leaving Kate and Gibbs in silence again
10 minutes later, the elevator dinged again and McGee walked out. Gibbs decided it was definitely raining, McGee's pants were soaked from the knees down. Gibbs cocked his head on the side, "You're late McGee" he told the younger man in an even voice
"Yeah, sorry boss. The bus was an hour late, then it broke down" McGee said as he turned on his computer, "We had to wait knee-deep in a puddle of water. The whole of Watson Street is flooded, drains are blocked." McGee sat down and took off his shoes which were filled with water, "Then another bus went passed, going the same way, so we caught that one. As we came to Welsh Avenue – two blocks from here – the brakes failed and locked up, the bus driver collided with the bus in-front of us. No damage, we wouldn't have been going faster than walking pace" he sighed and looked up as Tony entered. McGee looked back at Gibbs, whose expression had darkened somewhat
"I don't want you to catch buses anymore, Tim, you need to find alternative transport" Gibbs said
All three agents stopped what they were doing and stared at Gibbs, he never called McGee 'Tim'
"Like what? Take a taxi? I don't have enough money" McGee said when he eventually found his voice
"No, not a taxi! Definitely not a taxi" Gibbs replied, his eyes widening slightly as a chill ran up his spine
"But that leaves nothing else, I don't have a car" McGee stated
"So buy one. DiNozzo can help" Gibbs told him
"Me?" Tony asked, still stunned
"Yeah, you" Gibbs replied, exasperated, "You know something about cars don't you?" Tony nodded, "So help him find one"
"Why can't you?" Tony asked carefully
Gibbs glared at him, "Because, DiNozzo, I know about boats".
Further conversation was stopped when Gibbs' phone rang. Gibbs answered his phone in his usual gruff manner, then sighed and motioned for them to get their gear, he hung up and told them there was another body. Gibbs told McGee to stay at the office and go through the gear from the second body, and to change into some clean clothes, he didn't want him getting hyperthermia.
Tony had a sense of deja-vu as he sat in the chopper. He looked at Gibbs who had bags under his eyes and looked tired.
"You pull an all-nighter again, boss?" he asked
"What makes you think that, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked
"Well, for starters you're wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday" Tony replied
Gibbs put his head on the window and closed his eyes, "Something wrong with that?" he asked
"Not at all boss" Tony said, smiling. He looked at Ducky and saw the concern in the older man's eyes.
The crime scene was ostensibly the same. The body looked in better shape than the other two and the slit on his neck didn't look as deep. Gibbs glanced at Ducky, who was kneeling beside the body, which had been identified as PO Burns.
"Impossible to say, Gibbs. The man was beaten, his throat was cut and he was put in the freezer. But he couldn't have been in there for more than a day. Look at the coloring here" Ducky pointed to a patch of skin and shook his head, "Such a waste of life"
Gibbs nodded in answer, "Time of death?"
"I'm not sure, Jethro" Ducky replied in a far-off tone of voice
Gibbs put away his note-pad and told him to call if they found anything. He walked to where Kate and Tony were taking pictures and bagging and tagging evidence.
He grumbled, then said he was going to interrogate Brown again, and then anybody else he thought might know something
Gibbs found Brown in his cabin. Brown looked up from his book and raised his eyebrows.
"Problem?" Brown asked
"Yeah, why was your blood found in Srg Dowling's cabin?" Gibbs asked, getting straight to the point
"I cut myself whilst I was sharpening one of my knives. Jane took me into her cabin and applied first-aid" Brown replied, holding up his hand, which was bandaged
Gibbs raised his eyebrows "Chef?"
"Yeah, head chef here. I like playing with my knives"
"What was your relationship with Srg Simpson?"
"You asked me that yesterday"
"Well I'm asking again"
Brown sighed and got up from the bed, "Want coffee?"
"No, thank you"
"Ok" Brown said, heading to the cafeteria. Gibbs followed and heard him order a Latte. Gibbs smiled, his coffee suited his personality
Brown looked back at Gibbs and saw the smile, "What's so funny?"
"I can tell a lot about a person's character by their coffee" Gibbs replied
Brown frowned, not understanding. Brown picked up the coffee and went back to his cabin
"Latte, interesting choice" Gibbs said flatly, indicating to the cup in Brown's hand
"Yeah, I used to drink a stronger coffee until it caused stomach ulcers, put me on some medication and told me to drink a weaker coffee"
Gibbs nodded, "So, your relationship with Srg Simpson?"
"Purely professional" he replied, a little too quickly
"Right. What about PO Burns?"
Brown frowned, "What happened to him?"
"He's dead"
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that"
"Were you close?"
"No, never really liked him. But I'm not the one who slit his throat" Brown replied, taking a sip of his coffee
Tony looked at Kate as the chopper disappeared into the horizon
"So, wanna get something to eat?" he asked
"As long as you're buying" Kate replied, walking off the heli-pad
Tony smiled and followed her, "Try not to get knocked out this time, Kate" Tony said as they walked into the cafeteria, "I don't wanna get left alone with Gibbs"
Kate nodded and got a far away look in her eyes
"So, what's going on between the two of you anyway" he asked
Kate frowned, "Nothing"
"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Tony asked, smiling
Kate rolled her eyes and told him to just order the damn lunch. They sat down and discussed the case over lunch. Kate believed the perp must have gotten distracted because the attack hadn't seemed complete, and was less severe than the other two. She stated that there seemed to be a degree of detachment with this murder. Tony agreed and told her his theory:
"Ok, so as I said the first time we came here, it was some kind of unresolved sexual issue. I hold to that statement. The second guy was killed to take the heat off the guy – make it look like a serial murder or something, not a personal killing" Tony explained
"That's what I said" Kate told him, "What about this guy?"
"He found out. Our perp had to kill him" Tony replied
Kate nodded, "Yeah, probably. That or the perp decided he enjoyed killing those men…"
"Maybe"
They ate the rest of lunch in silence until Tony's cell rang
"DiNozzo" he answered. Kate could here Ducky on the other end.
"Anthony, have you seen Jethro?" Ducky asked
"No, he went to question a few people. Why?"
"He's not answering his cell. Our marine, PO Burns isn't dead…"
"What!" Tony asked standing up, looking at Kate, "Why? How's that possible?"
"You can't pronounce a person dead when they are cold, he wasn't dead. Tony, you need to listen to me, when he woke – before he lost consciousness he said something, I believe it's a name – 'Brown' – does this mean anything to you?"
That's it for chapter 14... I hope you like it! Please review, pretty please!