[Faking It:2]
sorry for the major delay in this story. My life is kinda in the fast lane right now, leaning little to no time to work on my stories. Thanks for sticking with me and hope you enjoy.
...
3rd Person POV:
The next morning everyone was watching interrogation from the bullpen. Nicholai held up a middle finger to the camera as if knowing that Mike Franks had joined them that morning. Quickly his lawyer beside him yanked his hands down and began talking with the man fervently.
"Same to you Nicholai. Who's that with him?" Franks inquired, watching the interaction.
"Marty Allen, his lawyer." Tony supplied as he leaned against the desk by the monitor.
"I hope he's not a good lawyer." Franks muttered, earning a grin from Claire. Gibbs set down the phone, slipping by the man to take a seat at his desk.
"Enjoy your tour?" he inquired dryly. Franks grinned.
"Oh yeah, this place is like a video arcade." He marveled looking around at all the new gadgets.
"You've got more technology in one room than we had in every office across the whole damn country." He continued as Tony and Ziva returned to their desks.
"Careful, your dating yourself there, Franks." Claire teased. The man turned and grinned at her.
"You can call me Mike sweetheart, and don't worry I can still keep up with the best of them." He teased back with a wink. Claire chuckled in amusement, taking notice of Tony pursing his lips in displeasure. Gibbs ignored them as he clicked on his computer while holding the phone up to his ear.
"Back in my day if I wanted to interrogate someone I would take them into the broom closet with a telephone book." He drawled with a slight grin, pulling out a cig from his coat pocket.
"Yea well no broom closet, no phone directory…..and no smoking." Gibbs lightly scolded, taking the cig out of the man's mouth and holding it out to him. Mike took the cigarette with a distasteful frown.
"Well that's three reasons why I left just in…time.." Franks trailed off as his gaze was drawn to the other end of the room. Over by the windows, Jenny Shepherd had appeared with a man following behind.
"Special Agent Gibbs, may I have a moment?" she asked, but made it obvious that it wasn't really a question; more of a demand. Gibbs slowly put down the phone while he and Franks stared at them silently.
"Good luck gunny." he muttered as Gibbs walked over to join the duo.
"You know that guy?" Claire asked lowly as the older man perched on the edge of her desk. The look he was giving made it obvious that Franks didn't like the stranger with Director Shepherd.
"Yea….like a rat knows a snake." He muttered, staring over at the man who was looking back just as intently.
"Who is he?" she asked on behalf of the others as they tried to subtly watch the interaction in the corner. Not that they were trying to be nosy or anything…just wanting to be well informed.
"Roy Carver, homeland security. Here on behalf of Pochenko no doubt." Mike explained sourly as his eyes narrowed. They all watched as Gibbs and Mr. Carver coolly faced off with one another, their expressions speaking volumes to how they were both trying to gain the upper hand and keep Pochenko. Madame Director watched from between them, trying to remain diplomatic. After a few moments of tense silence Gibbs turned to look back a Mike, who had stood and crossed his arms questioningly. Gibbs licked his lips, evident that he didn't like what was about to happen.
"Ziva, get Pochenko." He ordered tensely. Ziva bit the inside of her cheek but stood anyway, shooting Tony a look which he returned. Tony picked up the phone to call ahead on her behalf. Claire looked up at Franks, who's gaze had dropped to the floor in disappointment. They all knew there wasn't much they could do without proper evidence, but it didn't make this any easier to swallow.
...
Once Ziva had brought Pockenko down, Carver began talking with him. All the while Pochenko was grinning smugly at Franks who was now hunched over behind Tony at his desk.
"If he walks out now, you won't ever see him again." He muttered lowly, eyeing the arms dealer.
"Any evidence you have won't be worth spit." Mike added pointedly. Tony clenched his jaw, frowning at the duo.
"We haven't got enough evidence to even clear our throat. We can't charge him with anything." Tony countered sourly. Mike stood, realizing he wasn't going to be able to get any backup from the young man. He straightened his coat and made his way over to where Carver was signing some paperwork concerning the transfer with Director Shepherd. Claire eyed him skeptically has he strode over, sharing a curious frown with Tony.
"Director, may I draw your attention to an NIS case code named Sunburst." Mike easily inquired. Carver's head shot up at the name.
"Which dealt with serious accounts of arms smuggling by this man, Pochenko." Mike continued, everyone in the room watching the interaction intently.
"I'm aware of the case Mr. Franks." Jenny countered coolly.
"As I recall, that file was lost." Roy Carver pointed out.
"I made a copy, Roy." Mike told him with a grin.
"Jake Vale was the key witness, he's dead. you don't have anyone to testify." Carver countered, his face dropping a little.
"I was the case agent, I'll testify." Mike eagerly told Director Shepherd.
"Serious enough charges for you Director Shepherd?" Gibbs innocently inquired from behind her. Jenny nodded minutely, and tilted her head to make eye contact with Ziva.
"Take him back into custody." she instructed. Pochenko and his lawyer began making rapid protests as Ziva reached for the man and began cuffing him once more. The director swiftly turned and snatched the paperwork out of Mr. Carver's hands.
"I'm sorry Mr. Carver, NCIS is not through with this man." She halfheartedly apologized while Franks watched with a grin.
"Homeland security looks forward to viewing the file." Carver coolly told them, displeased with this sudden turn of events.
"This is an outrage." Mr. Allen, Pochenko's lawyer, cut in as Tony stood to help control the raging Pochenko.
"I strongly protest due to poor mistreatment of my client." He shrieked, but was ignored. As Tony and Ziva dragged the struggling man away, Pochenko began screaming angrily in Russian at Franks who was still grinning.
"What did he just say?" Director Shepherd inquired, already having a pretty good idea of what was being shouted.
"He said you're a dead man, Mike." Claire informed, her and Gibbs shooting a look at the man. Franks shrugged, the smug grin still plastered on his face.
...
Claire's POV:
"We're taking Pochenko's threat to kill Mike seriously so right now this is who we have to worry about" Gibbs informed all of us, as we were gathered around the screen by Gibb's desk. The threatened man himself was sitting in Gibb's chair, looking amused at the whole situation. I shook my head in amusement, he wasn't fazed at all.
"McGee?" Gibbs signaled for Tim to take the lead on information regarding the man in the photos he was showing.
"Archadi Machilovish Kobatch." McGee introduced, now reading off the file he had pulled.
"In the late 40's he served with Pochenko in the Sped Snaz. That's the soviet special forces. First Afghanistan then Chechnya." he listed off. Tony stood behind Franks, chewing on some gum as he listened. Standing beside him, I could hear Tony popping he gum in his mouth rapidly. It quickly grew annoying within the first few seconds. I slowly turned to glare at him. Tony paused before grinning sheepishly at me and chewing like a normal person….silently.
"In 1990 Archadi executed 3 clerks in payroll office because they could not pay his men. Then he shot the colonel who came to arrest him. Been dealing arms ever since." McGee summarized, handing the papers to Gibbs.
"I want a 24 hour protection detail. DiNozzo you're team leader." Gibbs announced, passing along the files.
"You're in safe hands Mike." Tony assured.
"I've seen your hands DiNozzo, they don't impress me." Mike quipped in his gravelly voice. Tony shot me a deadpan look as I snorted quietly at the retort. I quickly glanced away, the files in my hand suddenly looking very interesting.
"I don't need babysitting, Gunny. I can look after myself." Mike protested to Gibbs.
"After spending 4 months in that crap hole you call a house out in Baha? I find that highly debatable." Gibbs shot back, paying no mind to the offended look Franks shot him.
"Safe house boss?" Tony inquired.
"Yup, mine." Gibbs answered, not looking up from his work. Mike looked between the two of them, frowning as the conversation continued around him.
"Make yourself at home Tony." Gibbs added.
"Won't touch a thing boss." Tony assured wryly, knowing that Gibbs was fully sarcastic in that offer.
"Boss, Ducky found a bullet." McGee piped up, hanging up his desk phone. Gibbs quickly made his way towards the elevator, the rest of us following after. However, just before I left the office area I glanced around and noticed that Mike was no longer with us. Turning around I quickly spotted the retreating man and rushed over towards him, yanking him back by the collar of his jacket. Franks grunted in surprise and reluctantly followed behind me, grumbling under his breath.
"You know, I like my women feisty." He quipped as we began to join the rest of the team. I rolled my eyes but grinned none the less.
"Then you're going to love me." I joked, making sure to keep a half a step behind him just in case he decided to bolt again. Franks chuckled, heading into the elevator and me following close behind.
...
Down in autopsy the we were all lined up, leaning against an empty autopsy table.
"It's very interesting where bullets can end up, I once found a slug in a woman's knee when she was shot in the chest." Ducky rattled on as he washed up and headed our direction. Tony and I shared wary glances, not overly excited to find out where the bullet had ended. If Ducky was setting up his stories this meeting wasn't going to be pleasant….once he eventually got to the point. Gibbs contained a sigh, obviously following my train of thought.
"See, the bullet entered her heart, was pumped down through the aorta, into the iliac and on down to the femoral artery. Extraordinary." Ducky explained. He glanced up and was met with varying expressions. Tony had his lips pursed in mild disgust, McGee slightly interested, Ziva was staring blankly, while I was frowning uncomfortably, just wishing he would finish already.
"So, the bullet is in his knee?" Tony assumed as to why we were hearing this story.
"No, no heavens no. That's much too easy and anyway it would have shown up on the x-rays." Ducky quickly dismissed.
"So where is it?" Ziva inquired.
"I have no idea, none at all." Ducky answered….What?...
"You said you found it." I pointed out with a frown.
"Well I have but I just don't know where. I can however, tell you how." Ducky elaborated, walking over to the body on the table.
"It was Abby who gave me the idea when she said that she would be sick to her stomach if she ever lost evidence. Sick, that's the key word." Ducky began. We all waited patiently for him to continue.
"So I had Abby run some tests of material I got from his esophagus. We found traces of protein pepsin, along with all sorts of other things such as sulfide, oleic acids…" as Ducky continued listing off compounds, our stares morphed into confused expressions.
"…but the smoking gun so to speak was the presence of Triticum durum." Ducky announced and made his way to another table.
"Pasta?" Ziva asked in surprise. I glanced over, mildly impressed.
"Specifically spaghetti, cooked with garlic and olive oil." Ducky nodded as he looked over the chart of compounds.
"Spaghetti io-e-oil as the Romans used to say. Very nice with a glass of Sangavesi." Ducky told us with a wistful smile before jolting out of his musings.
"Anyway, anyway, when the bullet lodged in his stomach he became sick. What you may call, projectile vomiting."
"He puked up the bullet?" Tony deadpanned.
"Yes, and when you find the puke you'll find the projectile." Ducky informed us easily. I grimaced as the implications fully dawned on me.
"So…you want us to look for a dried up pile of vomit?" I asked warily.
"Yes and I'll need a generous sample so I can positively compare it to the sample form the victim." Ducky grinned, as if none of that task was disgusting.
"Of course you do." I muttered under my breath. McGee turned his head, his lip quirking in amusement.
"Oh and of course I'll need the bullet." Ducky added, moving to pat Tony on the shoulder as he grimaced in distaste, much like the rest of us. We all looked up warily as Gibbs approached, no doubt ready to deal out that task. He stood in front of Tony and I, the two of us wincing. Please no, please no.
"Claire…." Oh this is it, I'm on puke duty…
"…stay here and run some searches for me." I slowly let out the breath I had been holding.
"Ziva….McGee get onto it." He looked between them.
"Well boss we have it narrowed down to a few city blocks." McGee told him nervously.
"Vale was still on foot when he was shot or he would have gotten sick in the car." Ziva added.
"So somewhere near a garage or a parking lot, that narrows it down." McGee nodded thoughtfully.
"Then go." Gibbs made a shooing motion with his hand. Tony and I shared a low high five before he eagerly patted the unlucky two on the shoulder as they walked past, beaming that he wasn't chosen for puke duty. I smiled, looking over to see what Frank's reaction would be to all this when the frown dropped off my face. Gibbs paused beside Tony and leaned in towards him.
"Where is Mike?" he asked pointedly, voicing what I had noticed. Tony's eyes widened as he bolted up from his position, spinning around wildly to find the missing man. He faced Gibbs, his mouth gaping for an explanation.
"I thought you were supposed to be protecting him." Gibbs glowered.
"I was…I mean I…he was right here." Tony stuttered as he jogged to catch up with Gibbs and I in the elevator.
...
Reaching our floor, Tony instantly bolted towards the office.
"He couldn't have gone far boss." He assured.
"Don't count on it" Gibbs muttered, glancing around. I followed after Tony to check our bullpen area.
"How do you lose a grown man." I muttered teasingly. Tony huffed, running a frantic hand through his hair.
"I swear he was standing right next to me!" he groaned. I chuckled at his distress and lightly reached out to grab his hand in comfort.
"It'll be fine. We'll find him." I softly assured him. Letting out a breath Tony sighed, smiling slightly.
"Why don't we split up, I'll go the left and you head right and after we circle the offices then we can meet back here." I laid out for him. Tony nodded before squeezing my hand and bolting down the hallways, shouting for Franks. As I turned to check my designated section, a tuft of smoke caught my eye behind the stairs. I grinned, knowing that the search was over. Calmly walking around the corner of the stairs I was met by Gibbs and a disgruntled Franks, now that his cigarette had been confiscated. Franks huffed out a growl.
"So much for privacy." He halfheartedly glowered at me. Before I could retort, Tony came bounding around the corner, sagging in relief.
"I found him!" he shouted to the room, spotting Mike standing off to the side of the stairs. Franks smirked in amusement as Tony had yet to notice Gibbs and I along the wall beside him.
"Nice work DiNozzo." Mike dryly commented. Tony's grin dropped, and he whipped his head to the side, just now taking notice that we were leaning against the wall. I bit my lip while Gibbs nodded at him silently. Tony chuckled in embarrassment.
...
3rd Person POV:
Tony was patrolling around the outside of Gibb's house, keeping an eye on the perimeter as Mike Franks was inside. As he slips by into a small side ally, he turns and spots his charge outside smoking on the back patio.
"You're supposed to be inside the house, Mike." Tony scolds.
"Nice catch, I must be getting sloppy." The man retorted thoughtfully.
"Well I smelled the cigarette smoke." Tony pointed out sarcastically, nodding towards the object in Mike's hand.
"I can smoke inside if you want." Mike suggested, knowing full well what the answer would be.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Tony dismissed.
"Nope." Franks agreed. Tony's head shot to the side as he heard a twig snap. He frowned, not spotting anything and picked up his cell as it began ringing.
"Oh, hey boss we were just talking about you." Tony greeted.
"Claire are you online?" Gibbs asked first off.
"Online and en route to the safe house." Her voice chimed in, Tony noted the sound of the car in the background as she was driving to relieve Tony from his shift.
"We've got a security problem, time to go off script. Where's Franks?" Gibbs asked, the other two keying in on his urgent tone.
"Well he's right…" Tony began but froze as Mike had disappeared. He quickly pulled out his gun and slipped up the side of the house.
"Mike?...Mike?" suddenly a hand shot out and pistol whipped Tony in the back of the head, sending him clattering onto the pavement.
"Tony?...DiNozzo?...Tony!?" Gibbs shouted, hearing the clatter and no response.
"Claire.."
"On it." She quickly cut him off, stepping on the accelerator as she sped down the streets towards the safe house.
...
Arriving outside, Claire threw the car in park before darting towards the house. Drawing her gun as she ran towards the back she quickly glanced around, moving quietly to listen for any intruders that might still be around. She saw Tony sprawled out on the patio. Dashing over she quickly checked for a pulse, sighing when she found it. He was fine just out cold. Pushing aside her worry she made her way inside, knowing she had to clear the house before she could dote on the man outside. Finding it completely empty she went back outside to rouse him. She knelt down and rolled him over, tapping his face lightly.
"Tony? Tony can you hear me?" Claire gently called, not wanting to be loud in case he had a concussion. Tony groaned pitifully, his face twisting into a frown. Claire grinned down at him fondly, feeling sorry for his pain.
"Come on hon, I need you to open your eyes for me." She cooed, kneeling down closer to his face. Tony blearily blinked his eyes, trying to find the source of the noise. Claire grinned, seeing his eyes focus in on her.
"Hey, how's your head?" she inquired, lifting up his eyelids to check his pupils.
"Pounding a little right now." He admitted with a wince. As she continued to check him over, Tony grinned up at her goofily.
"What's the matter with you?" she inquired, staring down at him in amusement.
"You're pretty." He chuckled, clearly happy with himself. Claire blinked, her amusement still evident.
"Oh honey you must have hit your head hard to be spouting stuff like that right now." She snickered. Tony pouted.
"Can you kiss it and make it better?" he inquired, blinking up at her innocently. She grinned, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead.
...
Claire's POV:
At the house Tony was getting the back of his head checked by a female paramedic while Gibbs and I stood by, watching the other agents comb over the area for any evidence we could use to find Mike.
"Did I lose any hair?" I heard Tony ask teasingly, getting the woman to giggle.
"No." she assured as she checked his hairline for cuts. I already did that but whatever, she wouldn't take my word for it. Something about wanting to do her job right, but I didn't buy it.
"How is he?" Gibbs asked her, taking the girl's attention off of Tony.
"He'll live."
"Well I've been hit harder boss….by you." Tony weakly quipped from his spot on the stair. Gibbs glanced around the yard.
"How many where there?" he asked, turning to Tony.
"I didn't see, got taken out pretty quick from behind." Gibbs turned to me.
"I arrived at the house in less than 30 seconds. But by that time, they were already gone." I added.
"With Mike?" Gibbs added, kneeling at eye level with the Tony who sighed. He hated disappointing Gibbs.
"It must have been two teams. One to take me down and one to grab Mike." He suggested. Meanwhile Gibbs reached up and lifted his eyelids, double checking for any sign of concussion in concern. I smiled inwardly at how much Tony was getting fawned over by all these people.
"Whoever did it, they were good. Sorry boss." Tony muttered. Gibbs simply nodded.
"So why grab him when all they had to do was kill him?" I inquired.
"He was holding evidence."
"Where?"
"He wouldn't tell me." Gibbs answered pointedly.
"Well I guess you didn't hold a blowtorch to his eyeballs to find out. These guys will." Tony muttered with a frown. Gibbs turned to answer the phone, keeping it brief before hanging up.
"Jenny?" Tony inquired worriedly. At the use of the director's first name Gibbs frowned thoughtfully while I gave him a curios glance. Tony never used her first name in front of Gibbs. The man slowly knelt down to Tony's level, Tony paling as he realized what he had said.
"Jenny? Just how cozy did you two get while I was away?" Gibbs inquired with a serious undertone. Tony chuckled and grin, pushing away his nervousness. I guess everyone but Gibbs was aware of how often Tony was called into the Director's office while he was in Mexico. Gibbs grinned along with him, none to amused.
"Boy that knock to the head must have been harder than I thought because now I'm saying crazy things that I don't even understand." Tony redirected, still chuckling nervously.
"Do you think she's single?" Tony inquired nodding his head towards the paramedic behind him. I shot Tony a deadpan stare, getting him to pale even more. Gibbs nodded thoughtfully.
"He's fine." he assured the woman who frowned as he left.
"For now." I warned lowly. Tony turned and grinned childishly up at me.
"I just keep digging myself into big holes today don't I?" he pointed out. I nodded.
"More than usual."
...
3rd Person POV:
Back at NCIS, Tony waited outside the interrogation room where Pochenko and his lawyer were in discussion once more. They had called the lawyer back so they could have another crack at Pockenko but the man took longer than they would have liked to arrive. Gibbs swiftly made his way towards the door.
"Hey, what kept him?" he asked Tony, who straightened up off the wall.
"Business" He muttered the excuse that was given him. Gibbs scoffed.
"God, I hate lawyers." He muttered sourly as he entered, Tony holding the door for him and shutting it once Gibbs was inside. Both men turned their attention to Gibbs who sat across from them. Mr. Allen was the first to speak up.
"I demand that you release my client agent Gibbs. You've got no grounds to hold him, your key witness has disappeared…you have no case." The man smugly pointed out. Gibbs nodded minutely.
"You're right I don't have a case against your client….for arms dealing." The tone instantly put Nicholai on edge as he stared at Gibbs warily. Gibbs pulled up a small vial to show them.
"But I do have one for murder." He added, as the missing bullet was displayed to them. Both Nicholai and Mr. Allen shifted in their seats, facing away from Gibbs to have their own discussion. Meanwhile Gibbs turned away from them to send a look towards his agents in the observation area.
"We deserve a medal." McGee muttered sourly to, voicing his displeasure at taking on puke duty.
"That look is as close as you're gonna get Probie." Tony informed him. McGee nodded in agreement as Tony wasn't wrong. Claire leaned in towards Ziva.
"You made McGee do the searching right?"
"Of course." Ziva assured with a mild shutter.
"Good. I would have done the same." Claire assured with a grin. The two of them shared a smirk as their attention was drawn back to the next room.
...
In interrogation, Gibbs regained control of the conversation.
"Nicholai you have a choice. You can spend the rest of your life in prison or you can cut a deal." Gibbs informed the man, getting his head to perk up from where it had been resting in his hand.
"And you can tell me where to find your friend, Archadi." Gibbs inquired, letting the man think about his options.
...
Getting the information from Pochenko, Gibbs and Tony led the raid as they busted down the door to the house they were directed to. The agents quickly cleared the house, before lowering their guard and surveying it. On the tables were a variety of cigarettes and vodka.
"Smokes from Russian cigarettes. Archadi hasn't been gone long." Ziva pointed out. McGee quickly took place by the landline and began hooking it up to his computer to trace the calls.
"Come on double time." Gibbs muttered anxiously.
"Ok we're on. 10 calls made in the last day, 3 in the last hour and a half. first was to a cellphone, Barty Allen."
"Business my ass." Claire muttered with a growl, knowing that had been what the man was actually doing while they waited on him to arrive.
"Second was to merchant bank. And the last was to a hotel by port 7, El Executive hotel, room 7." Mcgee listed out.
"Mexican hotel. Names and numbers McGee, starting with the hotel." Gibbs ordered as he led Tony and Ziva out of the house and off towards the hotel.
...
Claire's POV:
"Are you sure?" I asked over the phone as we pulled up by the hotel.
"Yes, the manager said that room 7 was under the name of Camilla Charro but it wasn't a woman. It was some old guy." McGee relayed. Yup that sure sounded like Franks. I told Gibbs before promptly hanging up and sliding out of the car. Making our way to room 7 we quickly swept the small hotel room, again finding it empty. On the nightstand was an ashtray full of cigs.
"Frank's brand." Tony muttered. I watched as Gibbs picked up a Cantina menu, eying the small figure drawing underneath it.
"You three split up and cover this floor and the lobby, I'll take the rest of the lower level." Gibbs quickly instructed before taking off. Something felt a little off about this, but we didn't protest. Gibbs and Franks worked on their own wavelength and often it was better not to ask questions. After clearing the upper levels, Tony and Ziva and I met back up in the lobby. However, before we could compare notes we heard gunshots coming from inside the Cantina. Knowing Gibbs was in there, and most likely Franks, we quickly made our way over, guns drawn.
"Boss?" Tony called out from the other side of the door.
"Clear." Gibbs announced, his voice a little tense. The three of us entered eyeing Frank and Gibbs as well as the two Russians dead on the floor. It was oddly convenient.
"Secure the room." Gibbs ordered, before following Franks outside. The task didn't take us very long and soon we were left to wait for the others to arrive. I glanced out the window to see Gibbs and Franks talking. Sighing I took a seat at the bar.
"Anyone going to say anything about how we conveniently found Archadi and his associate dead? At the same time finding Franks?" Ziva piped up in the silence. Tony and I shared a glance.
"Nope." I told her, eyeing the set of beers that were left on the counter. I reached over and grabbed the newly opened one, smiling a little to feel that it was still cold. Ziva eyed me with a frown.
"Technically our case is done and I would hate to waste cold beer. Care to join me?" I offered, sliding one over to Tony who I knew would take one. Ziva continued to frown. However, I wore her down with my pleading eyes and she joined the two of us at the bar. The case had ended a little differently than we had anticipated but all in a days work I guess
