Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply, NCIS is owned by other people, no copyright infringement is intended, no money is being made.
A/N: Many thanks go to my beta Rinne, for her patience; ZivaFan and ResearchGeek for their suggestions
Chapter TwoGibbs and DiNozzo were at FBI Headquarters when Gibbs got a call. He listened tersely for a moment, then said, "We'll meet you at the scene."
"We've got another one," he said, in answer to Tony's and Fornell's questioning looks. "Let's go." Tony followed Gibbs out the door, with Fornell close behind.
The petty officer was young, pretty, and appeared to be barely into her twenties. She had curly red hair, fair skin and a sprinkle of freckles across her nose. Her eyes were beautiful, large pools of green, framed with long lashes. DiNozzo could imagine them sparkling with laughter. Instead, they were dull and clouded, staring blankly at nothing. The young woman's body had been found in a wooded area, covered by a few leaves. There appeared to have been no effort to conceal the corpse.
"Boss, look." Tony was crouched down next to the body. Gibbs joined him and looked at what the younger agent was pointing out.
"She's wearing a wedding ring," observed Gibbs.
"Do you think the killer's branched out?" Tony asked.
"I hope not."
Officer Ziva David and Special Agent Timothy McGee were collecting evidence from the scene, while Tony took photographs of the body and the overall scene and any evidence that the other two agents uncovered.
Gibbs walked over to Doctor Donald Mallard who was crouched next to the young woman's body. "Time of death, Ducky?" he asked.
Sitting back on his heels, Ducky sighed. "From the liver temperature, I'd estimate this young lady has been dead for no more than 24 hours," he said. "Jimmy, let's get her home to see what ended this poor girl's life."
The ME and his assistant carefully loaded the young woman's corpse into the van and headed back to headquarters.
Abby Sciuto was bouncing around her lab, processing evidence from the latest murder that had been brought down to her by Agent DiNozzo. Tony sat on a stool, off to the side, watching the young lab technician, but not really seeing her. His eyes swept the room lazily, thoughts whirling around in his mind.
"What's the matter, Tony?" asked Abby, her brow furrowed with concern.
"Does our perp sound familiar, Abs?" Tony sat, staring at nothing in particular.
"You mean like someone coming back for revenge, or someone from another case?"
Tony shook his head. "No, I mean does the profile and description we have on this guy sound like anyone we know?"
Abby's confusion was growing. "What are you talking about, Tony? Are you okay?"
The young agent switched his gaze to Abby. "Think about it, Abby. The witnesses said he's in his early to mid-thirties, tall, dark haired, handsome; he's charming and seems to have a way with the ladies; he comes to a bar or club alone, but never leaves alone; he seems to favor younger, less-experienced women. Who does that sound like to you?"
"He's not you, Tony."
"No, really Abby," argued Tony, "except for the women ending up dead, this guy has my dating habits."
"So? That's a pretty important distinction, you know, the not ending up dead part."
"Yeah, but really, how different am I? I mean, look at how easy it was for Chip to frame me for murder. If you hadn't been so persistent and found his sweat on the carpet fiber, I would be in prison right now."
"You would never kill someone and dismember their body, Tony," Abby argued. "You're one of the good guys."
Tony was silent for a moment, before finally saying, "You know, Abs, I look at this case, at the victims and the promise of their lives cut off so early. I look at the description of our suspect, read his MO, and I think, 'That could be me'."
"What is it about me that makes me not go that extra, extreme step? What's the difference between the suspect and me? Is there a difference, or am I one or two steps away from becoming as callous as he is?"
For the first time in a long time, Abby was at a loss for words. She'd never seen Tony like this, so brooding and introspective. Tony was always joking around and laughing, seemingly in love with life. She had no idea he could be so dark and cynical. This was a side of him that scared her, it was so foreign.
Tony blinked at Abby, as if just realizing she was in the room with him. He shook himself and gave her a grin that didn't quite make it to his eyes. Hopping down from the stool, he gave her a quick, tight hug.
"I better get back to the squad room," he said, releasing her. Seeing her concerned frown, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek and said, "Don't worry, Abs, I'm okay. Just thinking, and you know how dangerous that can be with me." Winking, the agent turned and left the lab, leaving Abby standing alone. Sighing, she picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"You don't think I mean anything bad when I hassle you, do you, Probie?" Tony's expression was genuinely concerned, stopping McGee from giving a sarcastic reply.
"No, Tony, I don't," he said. "I know you're just playing around and that there's nothing malicious to it."
Tony nodded, but still appeared worried. "I think you're shaping up to be a great agent, you know that, don't you?"
McGee smiled. "Yeah, Tony, I think I get that, at least most of the time. I get annoyed when you pull rank, but at least you're not just picking on me."
"I'll stop that," Tony said solemnly. "It's a carryover from my fraternity days. We haze people on the police force, too; it's not right..."
"God, Tony," McGee interjected. "I don't know what I'd do if you stopped giving me a hard time. I'll be honest, most of the time I really enjoy the back-and-forth sparring we do. You're a fun guy, Tony, don't get all serious on me."
Tony looked pleased. "You think I'm fun?"
McGee looked around and, seeing no one nearby, he leaned toward Tony. "If you ever tell anyone, I will deny saying that, and unless you've got a hidden tape recorder on you, you can't prove I ever did," he said in a low voice.
"I heard you," Gibbs rounded the corner, "and I'll keep that in mind the next time you start whining about one of DiNozzo's pranks."
"I don't whine," whined McGee. "I don't suppose you heard Tony telling me I'm becoming a good agent, did you?"
"Nope." Gibbs sat down at his desk and began going through his e-mail, smiling at the disgruntled huff coming from the young agent.
The team fell silent, each member going over the evidence of the murders.
"This isn't right, Boss," Tony said.
"What's wrong?"
"The victim's older than the others. She looks young, but she's definitely older and more experienced. Plus, she's still wearing her wedding ring, so the killer couldn't have mistaken her for a single woman."
"She could have told him she was wearing the ring to scare off the creeps. She could have just acted naïve," argued Ziva.
"There's also the fact that she was killed somewhere other than the dump site," countered Tony. "Plus, she's not missing her underwear. The MO's off just enough to make it feel wrong."
"But it matches just enough to throw us off the track," continued Gibbs.
Tony nodded. "It has the details that were published in the paper and leaked from the police reports, but not the stuff that was kept secret by the FBI. I think this is a copycat."
Gibbs nodded in agreement. "We're now looking for two killers. We work this one alone. Tony, you head up this investigation. You and McGee will work on Petty Officer Turner's murder, Ziva and I'll work with Fornell on the Elkins murder."
"Boss, I think I may be able to get into the head of the Elkins killer," argued Tony.
Gibbs shook his head. "You're not separating yourself from that case enough, DiNozzo. You're identifying too much with the perp."
"Yes, and maybe I can work out his next move."
"No, DiNozzo," interrupted Gibbs. "You're starting to doubt yourself."
"Abby talked to you," accused Tony.
"Yeah, she did," agreed Gibbs, "and I've come to a few conclusions on my own. And I've concluded that you're going to work on Petty Officer Turner's case."
Tony started to argue some more, but the glare Gibbs gave him made him close his mouth and nod.
To be continued…