Once A Hero: [pt 2]
...
3rd Person POV:
"I love window shopping. How about you?" Jeanne Benoit hummed as she stood next to Tony at a small coffee stand. Tony glanced around and squeezed out a smile.
"Oh yea.." he sarcastically agreed. Jeanne grinned in amusement and smacked his arm, giving him a knowing look.
"Only when I'm with you." Tony admitted with a grin.
"Cold?" she asked, rubbing her hand up and down his arm. Tony tried to unclench himself as he only had on his overcoat and it was quite chilly out.
"It's invigorating." He insisted. She gave him a grin.
"Chilly."
"Freezing." He nodded with a chuckle.
"Oh poor Tony, I dragged you out here to go window shopping. Next time maybe you should choose." She hummed, leaning up to press a kiss right next to his lips. Tony made himself relax as he watched her lips come near his face. Internally he sighed when she didn't reach his lips. Quickly getting back into the proper mindset he put on one of his trademark grins.
"Hot tub." He quickly suggested.
"I know something else we can do to stay warm." Jeanne suggested, eyeing him heatedly. Tony paused.
"Really….I wonder what that could be." He purred. They were distracted as the man handed them their coffees.
"Coffee?" Tony inquired as they turned to continue down the street. Jeanne hummed in disagreement.
"No, dancing." She supplied. Tony nodded thoughtfully. Much better.
"Dancing. Dancing would make you warm." He agreed, putting his arm across her lower back.
"Then tonight we dance." Jeanne grinned. Tony winced, looking down at his watch.
"Tonight…" he muttered with a wince. Jeanne's grin dropped.
"Don't tell me you have to work." She sighed, looking up at him with disappointment.
"Tonight…dancing. Tomorrow, work." Tony clarified assuredly. He smiled when Jeanne's pleased expression returned. She placed her own arm around his back as they walked.
"You don't seem too happy about that." She pointed out teasingly.
"I'm worried." Tony admitted.
"Worried? About what?" she asked. Obviously his real answer…Gibbs…wasn't an option to tell her.
"Well we're going dancing tonight and I haven't got a thing to wear." He answered teasingly. Jeanne laughed.
"Has anyone ever told you, you're an idiot." she asked fondly, grinning up at him.
"Yea my boss and my best friend….all the time." He grinned goofily. Jeanne laughed once more, glancing back towards the street. She never noticed Tony's smile dip a little as he thought on that last statement.
...
Claire sighed tiredly as she blinked hard, her eyes burning at how long she had been staring at the computer. Sliding her chair away she glanced around the bullpen. Abby was out getting the hair sample micro analyzed by someone who actually had the machinery, McGee was down in her lab working on forensics, Tony was still MIA, and Gibbs was somewhere in the building. This left only her and Ziva in the workroom.
"I'm going to get some coffee from the break room. Want anything?" Claire asked, standing up and looking over at Ziva. The Israeli shook her head as she was still talking to someone over the phone. With that Claire set off in search of caffeine. Walking past some of the legal department storerooms, a hand shot out from a closet and yanked her inside. With a yelp Claire turned in the dark room and tried to rid herself of the hands frantically reaching all over her.
"Wh…"
"Shhh it's just me! I've been waiting for you forever, it's been too long." The voice nervously rushed out in what seemed like an intent to be seductive. Claire's eyes bugged out at the voice.
"Palmer?!" she asked incredulously. The hands froze. Suddenly the light turned on in the closet and Jimmy stared in mortification and fear as Claire stood in front of him, just as bewildered.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, slapping his hands away from her butt where they had frozen. Jimmy turned beet red and started sputtering.
"I was trying to be romantic." Claire blinked, totally lost.
"What?"
"I..I..I mean I thought you were someone else."
"….what?" Claire stared at him in utter confusion as Palmer pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'm so sorry, please don't say anything about this!" he urged pleadingly.
"Why are you hiding in a closet….waiting for someone?" she asked him. Jimmy bit his lip, unable to come up with a decent lie.
"Are you hooking up with someone in the office?" Palmer scratched the back of his head and refused to look at her. She raised her hands up.
"You know what….I don't really want to know." Claire quickly dismissed and turned to walk out. Just before she opened the door she turned around to look at him sternly.
"Just so we're clear…..I don't know what the hell just happened here…..but let's never discuss it or have a repeat. Okay?" Jimmy nodded fervently.
"Of course! Thank you!"
"Please don't thank me. It was traumatizing enough Palmer." She grimaced, walking out of the closet and on towards the break room. That was so weird. Who could he have possibly been waiting for?
...
Claire's POV:
Tony had finally returned from wherever he actually went to. As soon as he came into the office from his 'appointment' he promptly sat down in his chair and kicked back for a nap. When Ziva asked he claimed it was 'Doctor's orders'. Of course none of us bought that but we didn't say anything against it.
"How does a homeless guy, staying illegally in a hotel order room service?" McGee asked aloud as he looked over the crime scene photos on his computer.
"This wouldn't be a trick question would it, Probie?" Tony asked, his eyes still closed.
"No." McGee assured.
"He calls room service." I scoffed and rolled my eyes at Tony's answer. I raise my hand up to my ear like I was holding a phone.
"Yes, room service. This is the homeless guy staying illegally in room 607. Yes, that is the room shut down for maintenance. I'd like to order some breakfast." I dramatically conversed. Tony's eyes cracked open and he glared at me tiredly. With a grunt he straightened himself up and leaned on his desk more alert.
"Definitely a trick question." Tony muttered, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.
"It's just a tricky answer." McGee corrected.
"Somebody brought it to him." Tony suggested with a heavy sigh. McGee pursed his lips.
"That's not very tricky. I'm going to talk to Ducky." He muttered, getting up and leaving. Tony muttered mockingly, screwing up his face as the man left.
"Geeze what's eating you today?" I asked, frowning at him. Tony looked over at me but didn't respond. He closed his eyes for just a second before Ziva stormed over and loudly plopped a set of VCRs onto his desk. Tony jumped and stared up at her in alarm.
"What is with everybody today?" he whispered, picking up one of the VCRs to read the label.
"Hallway Camera D….." Tony's eyes flicked around thoughtfully.
"The title needs work, who's in it?" he asked, looking up at her.
"Hopefully the Asian guy who booked the room." She answered. With an understanding nod, Tony turned to pop it into his small TV behind the desk. I stood up to join them in watching the tapes.
"It looks like the doctor kept you…."
"Busy waiting room." Tony quickly cut her off. I frowned as she eyed him suspiciously. Why did she care so much? Brushing it off as just her being nosy I sat on the corner of Tony's desk just behind him.
"There's a lot of sleeping sickness going around. Or lack of sleeping sickness." Tony elaborated as he set the film up. Ziva took a seat on the opposite corner of the desk.
"Ducky thinks our victim is a Chinese national. Probably in the country less than a few weeks." Gibbs announced as he suddenly appeared behind us.
"Well her fingerprints drew a negative on the immigration database. So she's here illegally." I pointed out.
"Probably smuggled in for the sex trade. Asian, cute, underage." Ziva chimed in.
"It's a gold mine. Pimp pays cash, sets her up in a room during a nice big convention. He feeds her clients." Tony added.
"And then one of them kills her." I finished with a frown.
"Sergeant Wright doesn't fit that profile." Gibbs retorted.
"Wright didn't need to pay to get into the room, he had a magic key." Ziva countered. We all turned to look at her. Ziva sighed, realizing we weren't on board with her idea.
"He saw an opportunity and he took it. Perhaps because of his mental state he lost control, and afterwards regret and then he took his own life." She clarified.
"It fits the facts, boss." Tony winced in reluctant agreement.
"Only the facts we know DiNozzo. Any word from Abby?" Gibbs asked, turning to me. I shook my head.
"Nothing." At least nothing relevant. She did rapid text me, I knew because of the typos, about how amazing the mass spec guy was. But nothing to do with the case so I didn't feel the need to divulge.
...
3rd Person POV:
While Gibbs had gone down to talk with McGee in Abby's lab, Claire received a phone call from the woman herself. Gibbs had called a meeting back up in the bullpen to discuss the two new discoveries. The hair was not Sgt. Wright's and the 'Help Me' note came from another room. He didn't write it but instead received it.
"So the hair isn't Sergeant Wright's. But the saliva definitely was. DNA match. He was kissing the girl." Ziva commented as she perched on the edge of her desk. Tony walked over to join her, glancing over across Gibb's desk at Claire who had quickly taken a spot next to McGee.
"There's more than one reason to kiss a girl." Claire pointed out.
"There is?" Tony shot back in amusement. She stared at him blankly and turned her face away. However, Tony caught the quirk of her lips as she turned. Gibbs glanced between the two of them and picked up the phone to dial Ducky on speakerphone.
"Autopsy"
"I've got a question for you." Gibbs began.
"I can't guarantee I've got an answer."
"The bruising on the girl's sternum….could it be from CPR?"
"Very likely…it's actually most probable when you weigh in all the evidence." Ducky mused. Claire shot a pointed look at Tony who nodded approvingly.
"It would explain how Wright's saliva got on her corpse. I'll have to confirm that but yes, the could be your answer."
"This means Wright wasn't trying to kill her. He was trying to save her." Claire pointed out, pleased with the new theory.
"Let me know when you get a confirmation." Gibbs instructed Ducky before hanging up.
"So, we're looking for someone with an anthrax vaccine." Tony began the new discussion.
"Instead of one suspect we now have half a million, all of them military." Ziva pointed out dryly.
"Maintenance guy?" Tony suggested.
"Fixing a leak in the kitchen. Chefs were tripping over him all day." McGee countered.
"That scratches Romero." Claire muttered thoughtfully.
"After 9/11 anthrax was sent through the mail. Most people at risk were vaccinated. Pentagon officials, senators, congressman..." Ziva thought aloud.
"So everybody at the reception." Tony frowned.
"And people who open their mail." Gibbs added with a grin.
"Like an aide…" Claire breathed in realization.
...
Later that day NCIS had taken Mr. Nelson, the congressman's aide that they had talked with at the reception, into custody. Claire sat across the table from him while Gibbs prowled around the room.
"Yes, I had an anthrax vaccination along with everyone else at the Hill. They were troubling times." Mr. Nelson answered easily.
"They still are." Gibbs shot back.
"After you delivered the briefing papers to Nordforce Systems, what did you do?" Claire asked, fiddling with her pen.
"I delivered the papers and then I walked down the hallway, towards the elevators. That's where Wright attacked me." Nelson pointed to his still busted up face for emphasis.
"Nordforce Systems suite was right next to the elevator." she deadpanned. Mr. Nelson's face dropped.
"You want to try this story again?" she suggested teasingly.
"Do I need a lawyer?" he asked skeptically.
"Only if you're feeling guilty." Gibbs answered. Nelson shifted in his chair.
"You were walking towards the elevator, not because you were coming from Nordforce Systems, but because you were coming from a room further down the hall." Claire told him sternly.
"No."
"Actually, yes! You were coming from a room where an underage girl was killed." She shot back instantly, her voice raising.
"And you think I'm responsible?" Mr. Nelson sputtered incredulously.
"If you're not, then you won't mind giving us a hair sample." Gibbs explained, leaning on the table next to him. Mr. Nelson scrunched up his face in confusion.
"The killer left a calling card and we think your name is all over it." Claire hummed, watching his reactions.
"This is outrageous! I was attacked by a violent, unstable man." He shouted, again gesturing to his face.
"If you're looking for a murderer, you should be looking at him and not me." Nelson insisted. Claire grinned.
"So….you're refusing to voluntarily give us a hair sample. If you are, we can just get a court order." She told him with a sinister grin.
"I didn't kill anyone." He growled at her before leaning back in his chair. At that moment the door of the room flew open, Tony standing in the entrance way.
"Boss…" he asked, giving the two of them a look. Something had come up. Claire and Gibbs followed Tony to the big screen downstairs where Tony had pulled up the surveillance videos.
"8:17, they're all reacting to the same thing." Tony paused it on the timepoint mentioned.
"Wright's body stopping in for breakfast." Claire answered sarcastically.
"Andy Nelson may have killed the girl, but he didn't kill Sergeant Wright." Tony continued, zooming in on one of the men by the entrance doors. The man himself stood in shock, watching with everyone else at the body fell to the table below. Claire pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Okay….so new plan. Andy killed the girl so he may have seen who killed Wright without knowing it. Or maybe he does know, that's quite a scandal to be discovered." Gibbs nodded along silently with her and followed as she led the way back to interrogation. This time Gibbs was the one to enter while Tony and Claire waited in observation.
"I want to make a phone call." Andy requested, narrowing his eyes at Gibbs.
"Lawyer?"
"Someone much more powerful." Mr. Nelson countered threateningly.
"Your boss? Underage, illegal, dead. You really think your boss wants to talk to you?" Gibbs asked, walking around him before sitting down in the empty chair.
"Did you kill her before or after you pushed sergeant Wright?" Gibbs asked quietly.
"I didn't kill her. I didn't push sergeant Wright. I was on the ground floor when he jumped." Nelson insisted.
"He went to the room, he tried to save her. You attacked him."
"No."
"You raped her….you killed her. You threw sergeant wright out the window…." Gibbs continued talking, watching as the man began shaking and flexing in anger.
"I never saw Sergeant Wright!" Nelson shouted. Claire grinned from behind the glass. Bingo.
"Then how did he attack you?" Gibbs asked quietly. Andy Nelson began tearing up but tried to push it back as he realized he had been found out.
"She hit me with the lamp. I was just trying to stop her. I had to explain this somehow so I said…that Wright attacked me." He answered quietly.
"Who took you up to her room?"
"No one. I um….I met him outside the hotel and I paid him. He gave me the keycard to the room."
"A regular client or new girls every time?" Gibbs asked.
"Different girls. I ran into him upstairs at the elevator. I told him she was dead. He went up." Mr. Nelson admitted.
"Name…." he remained silent.
"Name!" Gibbs shouted aggressively. This time he got an answer.
...
Claire's POV:
Once we got the name and arrested the bastard upstairs McGee pulled up everything he could find on the pimp.
"David Chen, importing company." McGee pulled the photo.
"Kept himself clean, no misdemeanors, no felonies. Nothing to indicate that he was part of a sex trade involving underage girls." Ziva summarized the business history she was reading.
"Have we got enough to arrest him for murder?" McGee asked.
"No physical evidence. It's his word against Neslon's." Ziva dismissed.
"Then let's go kick his door down and find some evidence." Tony suggested.
"We do that Tony and we lose those girls." Gibbs countered gently.
"We might have lost them already. Slave traders move their girls all the time. They can be on their way to Vegas now or dead." Ziva pointed out.
"What about sending someone in undercover?" I suggested.
"I'll do it." Ziva quickly volunteered. Gibbs glanced at both her and I thoughtfully. He shook his head.
"No, we need someone closer to home." He told us.
"DiNozzo. Get me $25,000."
"Check or plastic?" he asked.
"Cash." Tony nodded.
"On it." He agreed before taking off across the room.
"Claire. Find Lee." I nodded before taking off to the last place I knew she had gone today.
...
"Jimmy! Ducky!" I called, stepping into autopsy. I paused, seeing that it was completely empty, which was weird for this time of day.
"Hello?" I called again. I walked over towards Ducky's desk when the door to the backrooms opened up and Palmer nearly had a heart attack at the sight of me.
"Claire! What…what are you doing here?" he asked nervously. Not that I could blame him as our last meeting was super weird.
"I was wondering if you knew were Agent Lee was?"
"Wh…why I would I know where she was? I haven't gone anywhere with her." he asked in confusion.
"You were the last one to see her?..." I pointed out.
"Right….well I signed Sergeant Wright's medical records the brought and then she left." Palmer explained, walking to the other side of the room.
"Well that was a while ago, did she say where she was going?" I asked, following him over.
"No, I've been in there all day." He gestured to the doors he had just come from. I frowned.
"The bathroom?" I asked skeptically. Jimmy paused and stared at me as if surprised I knew where that door led.
"Yes….I have a gastro-intestinal challenge." He winced, holding his stomach.
"Sorry about that. Wouldn't Ducky have something laying around to help with that?" I suggested.
"I drank it all." My eyes widened in alarm.
"Why would you do that?!" Palmer shrugged uncomfortably and walked over to wash his hands. I stood next to him by the sink.
"I didn't think it would hurt anything and I didn't want to be in there all day." He explained.
"TMI Jimmy." I grimaced.
"So what do you need Lee for anyway?" he asked, still scrubbing his hands.
"We have a sex trafficking case we need her help with." I briefly explained.
"OH THAT IS SO AWFUL!" Palmer shouted dramatically.
"Why are you yelling?" I asked, eyeing him warily. He was being so weird and twitchy.
"It…its just awful..." he weakly explained. I blinked and stared at him intently.
"Did those doors just open when you yelled?" I gestured to the automatic doors just behind me. Palmer blinked and swallowed.
"I don't think so." He whispered. I bit the inside of my lip, debating how I was going to go about this.
"Do I want to know?"
"Not really."
"Okay…..I'll just pretend today never happened as a whole. It keeps getting weirder. No offense Jimmy but I hope I don't see you for a while." I insincerely apologized as I backed up towards the doors.
"Understood." He nodded before quickly scurrying off to do something else.
...
3rd Person POV:
"It's just she's never been undercover boss." Tony explained as he followed Gibbs out of the elevator.
"She's a highly trained NCIS special agent." Gibbs countered. Tony's face screwed up.
"She's more probie than even Probie." He retorted incredulously.
"She's got excellent backup." Gibbs pointed out. Tony frowned.
"Me?"
"Ziva." Tony huffed at the dig and hung back while Gibbs approached agent Lee who was now dressed for the part. Director Shepherd joined the group.
"You are causing quite a stir on the Hill. Underage dead girls and congressional aides make people nervous." She mused, looking at Gibbs.
"Good." He muttered.
"Well she looks the part. Just like a…" McGee trailed off thoughtfully.
"Whore?" Ziva asked seriously. Everyone turned to look at her.
"…a Cortesan." McGee corrected. Ziva nodded.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Claire asked worriedly. Lee nodded.
"I saw the girl in autopsy….yea, I'm ready." She hesitantly assured, steeling herself. Claire grinned.
"Okay, McGee." McGee nodded and turned to explain everything for Lee.
"So there's a radio transmitter and GPS built into the lining of the briefcase. The pressure hook on the handle is connected to the lining. Lift the handle to turn it off if they sweep for bugs and just turn it back on when they're finished." McGee demonstrated.
"Chen's going to be suspicious of everyone. Particularly if someone like Agent Lee shows up. We need something else McGee." Director Shepherd chimed in. McGee just grinned.
"I've got just the thing." He pulled out an ornate headband for Lee to wear that contained a backup camera. With a last-minute check, the agents filed out towards the elevator to set up the sting.
...
In the back streets where Chen set up his operations agent Lee was standing by the warehouse doors. Gibbs and Ziva were in the car nearby while Tony and Claire were spread out all around the building.
"DiNozzo."
"In position boss." Gibbs remained on the phone as Chen passed by them with a large man in tow. As he had a conversation on his cell in Mandarin, he paid no attention to the agents nearby.
"Target has entered the building" Gibbs relayed. With a nod Ziva signaled Lee to approach the doors he had just gone through.
"GPS is locked on."
"MTAC is standing by Agent Gibbs." McGee and the director came in over the lines. Everyone waited and listened as Lee confronted Mr. Chen and told him she was looking for her sister. Lee had switched off the bugs and everyone waited.
"Tony, Claire if there's no contact after 30 seconds we're going in." The duo confirmed the order as everyone waited in silence for her to turn contact back on.
"15 seconds…..20 seconds…..25 seconds…." Just in time for the cutoff Lee turned the communications back on and they listened as she began bargaining for her sister. Using all of the information Ducky was able to get from the body Lee could accurately describe where the girl was taken from, giving her story more power. Claire grinned proudly as Lee held her ground and verbally gave the man a run for his money. Everything was going smoothly…..up until everything went fuzzy on the feed as Chen led her into another room.
"Talk to me McGee."
"Working on it boss." Everyone sat in silence as they waited for something to happen. Finally MTAC got something.
"She turned on her backup camera. They're in a screened room, there's interference." McGee relayed to the rest of the team.
"DiNozzo, Claire cover the exits we're going in." instantly everyone jumped into action, heading into their designated entrances. Ziva and Gibbs went inside and cleared the area, not finding any sign.
"DiNozzo, Claire anything?"
"Nothing boss, they didn't come out this way."
"Nothing here." Gibbs and Ziva continued their search as the feed showed glances of them going underground through a tunnel. Grabbing sight of a building sign they locked in on the address.
"25 73rd street North West" Director Shepherd gave them the location just as Ziva and Gibbs found the trapdoor.
"Tony, Claire go get the other end of that tunnel"
"Meet you in two minutes boss."
"One and a half." Claire contested. As they ran, she caught sight of Tony through small openings across the buildings and they headed off towards the address. Spotting a truck next to a loading dock they met up and Tony took the lead. Just as Lee was being manhandled towards the truck he stepped out of hiding.
"Federal Agents!" he shouted, holding his gun up towards the man holding her. Chen swiftly drew his own gun and aimed it at Tony.
"I don't think so." Claire countered, coming up on his side. Chen glanced around and Gibbs and Ziva joined in from behind. Everyone held their positions as Lee took out the large man holding her and took him to the ground. Tony walked over to help and kept him down with his foot. Lee grabbed her own gun and held it up at Chen who was now completely surrounded.
"Put the weapon down." Gibbs instructed. Chen reluctantly held his hands up and set the gun down. Ziva rushed over to cuff him.
"Nice work Probie." Tony complimented, shooting Lee a grin.
"Where are the girls?" Claire asked.
"They're in the truck." Lee told her. The two of them holstered their guns and went over to unlock the back. Inside they found dozens of terrified girls who whimpered at the sight of all the people with guns. Chen muttered something scathingly in Mandarin.
"The bum tried to be a hero." Lee translated.
"Brian Wright. Sergeant Brian Wright. Bronze star, Purple heart. United States Marine Corp. He was a hero." Gibbs listed off, glaring at the man. Turning away he joined Claire who was already in the truck, helping the girls out with soothing words.
...
Claire's POV:
Once everyone had been taken care of with the trafficking ring we all headed back to finish out some paperwork for the case.
"Good work tonight. Don't stay here too late, you've earned it." Gibbs commented as he slung on his jacket to head out. He was rarely one of the first to leave so him already heading out meant that we could put off some things for tomorrow morning. We all nodded as he headed towards elevator. Out of the corner of my eye I watched Tony wait in his seat until Gibbs had disappeared. Once the doors closed on the elevator, he checked his watch and jumped up grabbing his things.
"Well it's been a long day. I will take the boss's advice and head out." he quickly dismissed himself and headed out. I watched silently, already knowing he was off doing something for the director. I didn't comment and just watched as he left, never looking back. Whatever he was getting into, it had drastically picked up since he broke it off the other day. If it was taking its toll on his life now I could only imagine how it would be later down the road. I had to get to the bottom of this. It would just take some time.
