[Escaped: 1]
...
3rd Person POV:
Ziva leaned over McGee's desk with a grimace as she inspected his face. Claire stood beside her, biting down on her thumb, staring at him with worried eyes. This was bad, very bad.
"It's really not that bad, McGee." Ziva told him, her voice going up a pitch. Claire shot her an incredulous glance.
"You know for a spy, you're a horrible liar." McGee grumbled.
"Ziva's right, you can hardly notice…but.."
"But?" he asked, picking up on agent Lee's hesitance.
"I wouldn't let agent DiNozzo see it if I were you." She finished.
"Would let me DiNozzo see what?" Tony asked, marching into the bullpen. The girls quickly scattered and Tony started putting away his gear at his desk. He eyed them all critically.
"Nothing.." McGee mumbled. Tony frowned at him.
"Why are you mumbling McGee?" he asked curiously.
"I'm not mumbling." Tim insisted, purposefully making sure his lips covered his teeth as he talked. This caused it to come out muffled. Tony turned fully towards the man and smirked deviously.
"Well you either said 'mimes aren't rumbling' or 'I'm not mumbling' and I don't see any mimes." Tony pointed out, slowly making his way over to McGee's desk. McGee glanced up but said nothing. Tony turned to Ziva who averted her eyes. Glancing at Clarie, she mimed zipping her lip, not looking up from her paperwork. This left only one person, who he knew would answer.
"Agent Lee." Tony called, still eyeing McGee.
"Why is Agent McGee mumbling?" he asked. McGee shot Lee a wary look. Silently begging for her to keep her mouth shut.
"He overbleached his teeth sir." She promptly answered. They all grumbled, shooting her an accusatory glare. Lee gestured to Tony with a shrug. She already had trouble fitting in with the team, she didn't need anything else to add to the plate. Tony pursed his lips, clasping his hands together in delight.
"Apparently, he fell asleep while wearing his bleaching tray, sir." Lee continued.
"You don't watch FRIENDS do you? Same thing happened to Ross. You could have learned from our friend's mistake. But you chose to read instead." Tony chuckled, his delight in McGee's blunder obvious to everyone. McGee glowered, and covered up his mouth with his hand.
"Let me see the damage." Tony ordered, eyeing the man. Tim scoffed and rose his brow incredulously. Like he would be stupid enough to do that. Tony pouted, glancing around to see that no one was going to back him up on this.
"As team leader people, I need to be aware of any condition that might affect an agent's ability to perform his or her duties." Tony announced loudly, throwing his arms out to the side as he tried to justify his inquiry.
"What does having embarrassingly white teeth have to do with performing his duty?" Ziva asked.
"You said it was not that bad." McGee muttered, glaring at Ziva.
"She lied." Claire told him pointedly. McGee wasn't amused. Tony quickly bent down and stared intently at the side of McGee's head.
"Open up your mouth."
"No"
"Let me see the chicklets"
"No"
"Let me see them"
"No." McGee held firm, making sure to open his mouth as little as possible.
"Open. Your…Gibbs?" Tony stood up abruptly, staring wide eyed at the man that was swiftly heading towards the stairs. The team watched as Gibbs headed towards the director's office, not bothering to greet any of them.
"What is?.."
"I have no idea." Tony answered Tim's unspoken question.
...
Claire's POV:
We all stared at the office where Gibbs had disappeared to. Why was he here? Tony turned to me, his eyes speaking volumes. How will we find out what he's up to without Gibbs finding out? I pursed my lips thoughtfully.
"You know….Cynthia is right outside the door." I mused, glancing down at Tony's office phone. We all locked gazes before scrambling over to dial Cynthia's number. Tony sat at his desk, allowing the rest of us to crowd around him. We waited for her to pick up.
"Director Shepherd's office." She answered, her voice sounding distracted.
"Cynthia, we need a favor. What is Gibbs here for?" Tony quickly asked.
"How should I know that?" Cynthia questioned.
"How about listening in by the door or speakerphone?" I suggested.
"No I don't eavesdrop on the Director's conversations." She quickly countered. We all rolled our eyes.
"Come on Cynthia, don't tell me you don't eavesdrop. Every assistant eavesdrops." Tony insisted.
"He's coming." Ziva warned, her eyes catching sight of Gibbs. Tony quickly hung up and we all tried to act inconspicuous.
"Hey Gibbs, just visiting the neighborhood or…taking your desk back…" Tony asked, but was ignored as Gibbs went right past us without a word. Tony gestured for the team to join him on the other end of the bullpen. Lee stood but he waved for her to stay put. We all eyed Gibbs as the man silently sat at the spare desk and began writing on the board beside it, taking a call on his cell. This was weird, even for Gibbs.
"Ok I've got an idea, maybe he lost his memory again and forgot he quit his job." Tony suggested, the four of us still staring at Gibbs.
"Wouldn't he be sitting at his old desk then?" McGee countered.
"If he wanted us to know what he was doing, he would have told us." Ziva pointed out.
"Oh yea because he would never expect us to figure it out for ourselves." Tony whispered sarcastically, reminding her off all the times Gibbs wanted us to do just that. Gibbs hardly told us anything flat out. Before she could retort the Director made her presence known.
"Gibbs is back for temporary reassignment. The Paulson case." She briefly explained, heading into the office are. We followed after her as our powwow was apparently broken up.
"Paulson?" Ziva inquired.
"Petty officer Dereck Paulson knocked out a bank. Killed two of his accomplices, the money was never found." I quickly told her, leading her over to my desk where I quickly pulled up the files. Guess we had to get reacquainted with this case, and Ziva had more to catch up on than we did.
...
3rd Person POV:
Abby was down in her lab, reading over some reports for the Paulson case while holding a skull sucker in her mouth. Her picture of Gibbs was still plastered all over every screen in the lab.
"Anything good?" Gibbs asked standing next to her.
"Yea, it's just some jail appeal from the guy. He really knows his forensics." Abby told him before freezing as the Caf-pow was set down next to her. She slowly looked over and beamed at him, launching herself at him in a hug.
"I knew it! I knew it!" she cheered. Breaking out of the hug she went over and took down the photos.
"Won't need these anymore now that you're actually here." She told him with a grin.
"I knew you'd come back." Abby insisted, hugging him once again.
"I'm not back." Gibbs told her gently.
"Of course you're back, I can feel your badge." Abby rolled her eyes fondly. She quickly pulled away, eying him.
"That is your badge, right?" He gave her a deadpan stare and pulled it out of his pocket to show her.
"You are back." Abby affirmed with a nod.
"The reinstatement is only temporary Abbs. Until I can find Paulson." He explained, stepping aside to look over her evidence. Abby pursed her lips, very unhappy with that explanation.
"We'll see about that." She muttered and quickly tapped on the keys to bring the pictures back up.
"So what can I do for you temporarily reinstated Agent Gibbs?" she inquired.
"Can you test the contents of Paulson's cell." Gibbs requested.
"What am I looking for? Oh right, anything to help you find him." she answered her own question.
"I want to know what he was up to before he escaped." Gibbs confirmed.
"Unless the four of you have any other suggestions?" Gibbs asked, looking straight at the security camera that he knew the others would be watching.
...
Upstairs Tony, Claire, Ziva, and McGee all glanced at one another in shock. How did he know? Tony winced and clicked the mute off so he could talk.
"Hey..we..we were just eavesdropping like little girls but we do have suggestions." Tony began, snapping his fingers at McGee. Gibbs grinned in amusement, causing them to shrink in embarrassment at being caught, not that he could see them.
"The prison records showed that only one person ever visited Paulson in jail." Ziva began.
"Mickey Stokes, 72, former navy sailor." Claire fist bumped Tony, glad they had the info ready to go. That would have been even more embarrassing.
"And since Paulson has no family, we can assume that he'll try to contact Mickey." McGee tacked on.
"And I have an address." Tony finished triumphantly.
"Tony, Ziva, Clarie you're with me…McGee.."
"McGee..stay here and.."
"Help Abby." The two men clumsily overlapped their sentences. Tony clenched his jaw and glanced at the screen.
"Process Paulson's belongings." Tony muttered once it went silent again, gaining back his control. He was back to this tug-o-war game with Gibbs over leadership once again.
"And gargle this, before the rest of us go snow-blind." Gibbs quipped, holding up Abby's Caf-pow. McGee frowned, a bit put out at the suggestion. Claire snickered, patting the man fondly on the back before following the group down to the car garage.
...
Tony drove the car to Mickey Stokes' house, Claire riding passenger and Gibbs in the back with Ziva which was odd for all of them.
"Gibbs seemed awfully quiet in the car." Tony pointed out, eyeing the older man as he hustled up to the door without them.
"It's not like you were giving him a chance to talk Tony." Ziva quipped. Tony shot her an offended look.
"Are you nervous he's going to want his old job back?" she inquired, staring at him intently.
"No, I was just bringing him up to speed on the latest protocols." Tony defended.
"What took you hotshots so long? He's been waiting over an hour." An old man announced as he opened the door for the agents. Instantly all four pulled out their guns and rushed the house.
"I'll take the back." Claire murmured, dashing towards the backside of the house.
"Hey, shoes off!" the man protested, frowning as the rest of them searched his house. After a series of clears they all came back to talk to the man.
"Where is he?" Gibbs asked.
"Well I never said he was here." Mickey Stokes pointed out, handing Gibbs the phone from the pocket of his bathrobe.
"Gibbs." He answered.
"I wasn't expecting to hear your voice, I heard you quit." Paulson mused on the other line.
"Retired." Gibbs corrected.
"At your age? That's quitting" the man corrected.
"How about you turn yourself in and you can tell me about this in person." Gibbs suggested.
"Turn myself in for what? I'm an innocent man." He retorted. Tony gestured down to the set of handcuffs that were broken on the table. He glanced around with a frown, wondering where Claire went off to. It wasn't a large house and she had yet to return.
"Try broken record." Gibbs suggested.
"So, you're not going to reopen my case?" Paulson asked.
"We both know what I'll find if I do. So why don't you tell me what you really want." Gibbs told him.
"I already have it agent Gibbs. Oh, and tell your agent sorry for me." Paulson answered smugly before hanging up the phone. Gibbs lowered the phone as he stared out the screen door.
"So, what does he really want?" Tony inquired.
"Our car." Gibbs pointed out sourly, staring at the vacant curbside. He turned and glanced around, taking mental note of his team.
"Where's Claire?" he asked in concern. Why would Paulson ask him to apologize? He assumed it was for Tony at first but now that they were missing one… At the tone of Gibb's voice, Tony quickly took off towards the backdoor. Making his way outside, Gibbs following after, they heard the sounds of muffled cursing from some wooded area a few yards back.
"Claire?" Tony called, increasing his speed. Tearing through some bushes, he found her leaning against a tree as she rubbed at her eyes furiously.
"Son of a bitch!" she growled in pain, tears leaking out. Tony frowned in concern and hastily went up to her, grabbing her shoulders as he tried to figure out what was wrong.
"You alright, what did he do?" Gibbs asked standing nearby as Tony had her covered.
"That asshole threw a mess of sand into my eyes once I had him pinned. Can't see a damn thing!" she growled. Tony quirked his lips at her cursing and gently pried her hands away from her eyes. She grimaced, clenching her eyes shut reflexively as tears continued to flow. She flinched when Tony slowly tried to lift one of her eyelids to inspect the damage. Her eyes refused to open in reflex and more tears continued to flow.
"We're gonna have to flush that out." Tony murmured, already guiding her towards the house. Gibbs watched them with a minute grin, but Tony was too preoccupied to notice. Claire continued muttered obscenities and threats under her breath as they maneuvered her back to the house. Tony bit his lip, trying not to snicker at some of the things she was saying.
"That was so cheap and unfair. Who throws sand anymore?! Please tell me that you grabbed him." she whined, managing to open her eye for a second to look at Tony.
"Sorry he slipped off with the car." Gibbs told her, sympathetically. Claire pouted.
"I hope I'm the one who grabs him then…if he's gonna fight dirty I will be more than happy to oblige." She growled irritably. Tony winced, glad he wasn't going to be on the receiving end of the inevitable beatdown. Gibbs chuckled, opening up the door for them to walk through.
...
Tony's POV:
Ziva started taking photos in the den where Paulson's stuff was. We lost the car but there was still some things we had brought with us to the house.
"They appear to be close." She mused, snapping a newspaper clipping of the Mickey and Paulson together.
"They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." I commented. Ziva turned taking a picture of me by surprise. I blinked dazedly as the flash messed with my eyes.
"Meals on wheels. Looks like Paulson was a volunteer." I explained for her. She frowned in confusion, mulling the idea over in her head.
"He volunteered to put…meals on wheels?" she asked, frowning at the phrase. I continued sifting through Paulson's clothes and looked at her with a wry smile.
"They bring food to the elderly, Ziva." I elaborated. She nodded, snapping another photo of me. I sputtered in surprise as once more the flash effected my vision.
"We already have one half blind agent, we don't need another one." I growled in displeasure.
"Shut up Tony." Claire called from where she was with Gibbs, talking to Mickey. I smiled teasingly at her. She narrowed her red eyes at me before getting back to her task.
...
In the sitting room Gibbs was leading the interview with Mickey while Claire sat in, seeing as her usually keen eyesight was of no use right now.
"Of course, I helped him. Dereck was like a son to me. I was the closest thing he had to family. What would you do if it was your kid in trouble?" Stokes inquired. Before Gibbs could answer agent Fornell, who was the man instigator in going after Paulson, made his presence known.
"I would tell him to give himself up, before he got hurt." He answered.
"Well I'm glad you ain't my old man Fornell. Shoes off." Mickey ordered sternly. Fornell frowned and looked down to see Gibbs with sock clad feet. He glanced over to the side and saw another three pairs of shoes by the door.
"Well I certainly wouldn't let him steal my car." Fornell pointed out to Gibbs, reluctantly slipping off his shoes.
"I didn't Fornell, it was DiNozzo's car." Gibbs pointed out, the two men looking to me. I frowned sourly at the reminder before taking the bag of clothes out to Fornells car. Sure, now he acknowledges that I was in charge.
...
3rd Person POV:
"He just wants you to reopen his case. You've been reading my letters the last 4 years. You, bozos got the wrong guy." Mickey insisted.
"He took advantage of you Mickey. He only brought you food because it was close the bank he was casing." Fornell told the man.
"You wasted your life savings defending the wrong guy." Gibbs added.
"Hey not my computer! I got an online date tonight." Mickey hopped up in protest as Ziva carried it out. Mickey sighed, turning back to the older agents.
"Where is he Mickey?" Fornell asked.
"He doesn't know." Gibbs whispered, standing up next to Fornell. Gibbs gestured for Claire to follow as he lead the way into the kitchen, Fornell right behind them.
"You sure? Wanna arrest him for aiding and embedding?" Fornell suggested. Tony joined them in the room, standing by Claire as they listened.
"Well he did shelter Paulson and gave him money." Claire imputed with a shrug.
"I say we use him as bait. Give Mickey a pass and put a man on him in case Paulson comes back?" tony suggested, becoming slightly nervous as the two men looked at him critically. Gibbs and Fornel shared a look and turned to Tony, crossing their arms indifferently.
"You're the boss." Gibbs told him. Tony grinned at him sardonically, pulling his cell out to answer a call. Hanging up shortly after, he sighed.
"DC metro just found our car a half mile from here. The only thing missing was my laptop." He informed them.
"And every file we had on Paulson." Gibbs added.
"I told ya, he just wants to work on his case." Mickey told the group with a grin, having walked over with Ziva.
"Except he's had all his case files since the trial." Fornell pointed out.
"Perhaps our files had something his didn't." Ziva suggested.
"They do." Claire confirmed, turning to Mickey, her arms crossed over her chest.
"A list of the witnesses who testified against him." Tony elaborated, staring at the man sternly. Mickey looked at them in surprise.
"He's not a threat to anyone. He's on the run and unarmed." he defended.
"Do you keep any weapons in the house?" Ziva asked.
"Great, now you're going to pin another crime on him?" Mickey asked in disbelief. Ziva raised her brows, staring him down pointedly. The man sighed in resignation.
"Just my old Colt." He admitted.
"Where is it?" Gibbs asked him. Tony followed the man to the box where he kept his weapon. Tony and Ziva watched as Mickey opened the case to reveal that it was empty.
...
Back at the lab, Abby and Agent Lee were sorting through piles of evidence. Lee through the paperwork and Abby handled the more material objects.
"Paulson could be after any one of a dozen witnesses. I've never seen a convicted felon file so many appeals. It's an abuse of the system." Lee rambled, frowning as she skimmed over the files.
"Were all entitled to our day in court." Abby mused.
"Not according to Agent Gibbs. I've been going over his case files, he seems to prefer a more….biblical approach to things. If you ask me the agencies better off without him." Lee commented. Abby slammed the bag of clothes down on the desk. Agent Lee jumped and turned to see Abby glaring down at her as she towered over the small agent, especially in her platform shoes.
"I like you Agent Lee, so I'm gonna pretend like you didn't say that. NCIS is lucky to have Gibbs back." Abby told her sternly.
"Except he's not staying." Lee pointed out quietly.
"You do realize…."
"That you can kill me without leaving any forensic evidence behind? Yea, you mentioned that." Lee nodded.
"Good then that's settled. He has to….right Gibbs?" Abby frowned sadly, looking over at the man who had barely made it through the door. Coffee in one hand and a Caf-pow in the other. Abby's sly smile dropped when he didn't say anything. She rolled her eyes, turning back to bring up his photo on her screens once again. She didn't smile as he dropped off her signature drink.
"What have you got for me Abby?" Gibbs asked her quietly.
"I found Paulson's fingerprints on the gun case and on Mickey's computer." Abby told him, leading him to the computer that had been set up once more.
"And he also visited over a dozen people search sites. We think he was looking for someone." Lee chimed in, looking over her shoulder.
"Yea I gathered." Gibbs deadpanned.
"No names yet but we're using the FBI's mainframe to decrypt the search log." Abby explained to him. Just as she finished, a small pop up window appeared telling her that it was completed.
"Oh, you always did have really good timing." She mused solemnly. As she leaned down to type in some codes a small video screen with an older lady popped up.
"Mickey? Where the hell is Mickey you tramp?" the woman growled.
"Mickey isn't here." Abby told her sternly. Shaking her head, she quickly set about to take her off.
"It's Mickey's online playmate. She keeps tunneling through my firewall." Abby sighed. As the video cut off, a list of search titles came up.
"Russel Nash." Gibbs read off.
"Apparently he's…"
"The only accomplice Paulson didn't kill." Gibbs finished for lee as she opened up a file.
"Well he should have. Nash coped a plea and testified against Paulson. Paulson got life and Nash walked in 18 months. Skipped out on his parole, hasn't been seen since." Lee read off for them, pursing her lips.
"Well since the money was never found, maybe Paulson is looking for Nash because he thinks Nash has the money." Abby suggested.
"Or Paulson is looking for something a little more….biblical." Gibbs pointed out, looking down over at Lee.
...
Up in the bullpen Ziva was taking a phone call while McGee was sitting at his desk, sipping on a caf-pow while listening to something with his headphones. Claire was off at her desk, bringing up some files regarding the Paulson case.
"Thank you I'll let agent Gibbs know, and I'll see you Saturday." Ziva hung up with a grin, causing Claire to glance over at her curiously but didn't comment. McGee promptly tore off the headphones.
"Hey, was the FBI able to warn all the witnesses?" he asked the girls.
"All except for one." Ziva nodded. Claire looked over and her lips quirked in amusement at how McGee was sucking down the caffeinated drink with gusto.
"McGee, how many of those have you gone through?" she inquired watching as he sucked down some more of the drink. McGee frowned, setting it on his desk roughly.
"This is my fourth, how do they look?" he asked, sending her a toothy smile. Claire winced and Ziva hummed a groan. It wasn't any dimmer than before.
"Maybe you should switch to blueberries." Claire suggested. McGee nodded and put the straw back in his mouth.
"Anything good on our tip hotline?" Ziva inquired, referring to what he had previously been listening to.
"Is there ever? Half our callers don't know what a tip is." McGee muttered. Claire laughed, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Sometimes a tip hotline did more harm than help. Unknown to them Tony's phone was on speaker.
...
The man himself was hiding behind the stairs, listening to the group's conversation on his cell.
"When do you think he's coming back?" Tony heard him ask. He bit his lip, just knowing this was going to pop up sooner or later.
"Who's coming back?" Claire asked. He heard the distinct sound of Ziva scoffing.
"Gibbs" McGee told Claire pointedly.
"He isn't coming back. Weren't you listening earlier. He said it was temporary." Claire explained.
"No not Gibbs, I think it's just a matter of time." McGee countered.
"I don't know but let's just say that I'm getting sick of the…campfires." Ziva groaned. Tony narrowed his eyes in annoyance. She would be the one to whine about that.
"Well get used to them. I think it's a pretty good idea." Claire defended. Tony grinned internally, just imagining the glare Claire was leveling Ziva with.
"It's not something we do. It shouldn't be forced upon us just because Tony is in charge." Ziva grumbled.
"Hey, Gibbs isn't here so get over it. Tony is the boss now, so we follow orders. It doesn't matter what your personal preference is." Claire shot back icily.
"Why are you always taking Tony's side in these discussions?" McGee inquired curiously.
"Why aren't you?" Claire countered instantly. Tony grinned fondly. At least someone was covering his back while he was absent. Gibbs swiftly made his way around the corner after visiting Abby and paused when he spotted Tony with a smile on his face.
"Taking a little break DiNozzo?" Gibbs inquired, coming to stand behind him.
"I think you know exactly what him doing….Agent Gibbs." Tony whispered knowingly. After hearing all he needed to, Tony hung up his cell.
"Showtime." He muttered, striding over to the work area.
...
Claire's POV:
"Well regarding the whole camp fire thing, I wouldn't let tony hear you say that." McGee pointed out, looking to Ziva. I had made him uncomfortable when calling him out on his lack of defense for Tony. Despite what the two said, they were becoming friends and McGee needed to uphold his end of that. Tony would defend him in a second.
"Don't let Tony hear what, Agent McGee?" Tony asked, making his way past him to his own desk.
"I was just telling him that the FBI was able to…."
"Warn all the witnesses from Paulson's trial except for one?" Tony finished for Ziva with a cocky grin. Ziva stared at him in shock, as did I.
"That's right…the only one they couldn't find was.."
"Russel Nash." Gibbs finished as he suddenly appeared by the cubicle wall. We all turned to him in surprise. That was just freaky.
"I have much to learn still, master." Tony grinned over at the older man. Gibbs smirked in amusement. Obviously, that was something between the two of them.
"Campfire!" Tony announced. I grinned deviously as Ziva rolled her eyes in annoyance. McGee and I quickly raced our rolling chairs to the front of Tony's desk with a grin. I cheered triumphantly as I was the first to arrive. Tony grinned in amusement at our little competition that we had developed ever since the Campfire sessions started. We all waited for Ziva to make her way over, pushing her chair instead.
"There you go. It's sort of a new thing I do. I find it focuses the group better than…you know just shouting across the bullpen." Tony explained for Gibbs, setting up his little recorder on the desk. Gibbs stared at him silently.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that." Tony muttered quickly before spinning around and pulling up files onto the big screen.
"Let's focus on Russel Nash." He began.
"The inside man."
"He worked for the bank that Paulson knocked over."
"Our only missing witness." Ziva, McGee, and I bounced between one another, Tony opening and shutting his mouth as he couldn't get in a word.
"According to Abby he's the one Paulson's after." Gibbs chimed in from the spare desk where he propped his feet up and was texting on his cell.
"We find Nash.."
"We find Paulson." McGee and Ziva tag teamed once again. I hid a laugh behind my hand as Tony sighed in exasperation at not getting a chance to contribute. Poor baby. He slowly lifted the recorder to his mouth.
"Campfire over." He muttered, clicking it off. Tony glared good naturedly at me as I bit my lip to keep from laughing at him.
