[Driven: part 2]
...
3rd Person POV:
Entering Seabrook's building Claire and Ziva pause to look over the space, taking in the large whiteboard in the living room. It sat behind a long desk space that was completely covered with computer monitors and folders upon folders of documents. Claire walked over towards the board while Ziva was in the kitchen. The sound of the front door turning caught their attention and they both flinched, reaching for their guns. However, they quickly dropped their stance as Tony's face came into view. He grinned carelessly at them, scanning the space as well.
"Looks like she did a Trading Spaces with John Nash. Russell Crowe played him in a Beautiful Mind, the Ron Howard movie about the insane mathematician." Tony summarized as he walked through the very immaculate house. Other than the corner that was littered with papers and math equations.
"What kind of tests are you getting done?" Ziva blurted, spotting the hospital band on his wrist. Claire whipped around and glared at her. What had they just talked about? But on the other hand…..he was getting tests done enough that he warranted a band? She shook of the thoughts, focusing back on the task at hand.
"Why? Are you worried about me?" Tony teased.
"You're keeping a paper bag filled with crap in your desk. What do you think?" Ziva shot back. Tony stared at her, dropping his bag to the ground.
"I think you should go and check the bedroom." He deflected, giving her a blank stare. Ziva stared back at him, not buying the story.
"That is, unless you want me to come and help you." he added with a teasing grin, dramatically snapping on his gloves. Claire rolled her eyes, watching silently as Ziva left the room.
"I'll go help." She sighed, heading that direction.
"Oh kinky." He hummed. Claire pursed her lips and turned to stare at him unamused.
"Unless you would rather go?" she suggested, holding her hand out invitingly. Tony winced, looking at the direction Ziva had left. She knew he would rather not resume the interrogation. Claire was being polite and saving him from the confrontation. After a beat of silence a grin settled on his face.
"You know I wonder if offering to take me to the bedroom constitutes as a sexual harassment." Claire scoffed.
"You wish." She shot back.
"Tony, Claire. Get in here. I just found Jamie Jones." Ziva called, prompting the other two to follow her in. On the bed, tied up in a spread eagle position and gagged was the man they were looking for. Claire quickly turned her head away, realizing he was naked.
"Oh college flashbacks." She winced, rubbing her temples and looking anywhere but the naked man before her. Tony stared down at her incredulously.
"Are being serious right now? You?" he asked, ignoring the man who was grunting in frustration at his lack of freedom. Claire shrugged.
"It was one time." she defended with an impish smirk. Claire leaned in closer to whisper.
"And you aren't one to talk Mr. Handcuffs." She teased. Tony turned red and cleared his throat.
"Alright buddy let's get you out of here." He quickly brushed past her to help Ziva untie him once she had thrown a sheet over his bits.
"I'll go and check if we have any extra jumpsuits in the car. I don't think Gibbs would appreciate him showing up in a sheet." Claire commented before heading that direction.
...
Back at NCIS Tony and Claire were watching Jamie Jones stew in interrogation. The man anxiously rubbed his hands together and ran them over his head repetitively.
"What do you think?" she asked, glancing at Tony who stood next to her, back to the window.
"Well, you saw the video of him assaulting Lieutenant Seabrook." Tony hummed.
"Doesn't explain how he ended up tied to her bedposts, with a ball gag in his mouth." Claire countered.
"Well have you ever heard of accomplices?" Before she could retort Tony's extra cell rang. Claire watched him intently as he answered, quickly schooling his features. She couldn't help but think about everything Ziva had pointed out to her. Could she truly trust Tony to be honest with her? Or was he hiding something else? She bit her lip repeatedly as she evenly listened to his side of the conversation.
"Tony." He answered, wandering around the room.
"Am I catching you at a bad time?" Jeanne hummed on the other end of the line.
"Uh, what can I do for you?" Tony answered, aware of Claire's gaze on his back.
"Tomorrow night I was thinking sushi. There's a great new place in Georgetown." She explained.
"Okay."
"Oh, don't sound so excited." Jeanne teased.
"I'm at work. But right, got it, okay." Tony quickly ended the call. Claire bit her lip hard; did she dare pry? Her eyes quickly flit between his hospital band on his wrist and the cell in his hand. The visual stimulus became too much for her. In a split second decision, she reached over before he could close his phone. Tony grunted in surprise, trying to jerk his arm back. Claire tightened her grip and pulled, ultimately sliding them close to each other.
"What part of inappropriate touching don't you understand?" he whispered, watching her eyes scan the screen. Claire frowned and glanced up at him worriedly.
"Uni Hospital? Why are they calling you? Did you already get results back?" she asked skeptically. Tony grinned tightly.
"I'm pregnant. McGee's gonna be very proud." He deflected jokingly. Claire frowned at him.
"Tony. I really don't want to pry…"
"Good then don't." Tony quipped, shifting away from her. Claire closed her eyes in frustration. Tony looked over and noticed her reaction, his gut clenching unpleasantly. He hated this. Claire was getting too close.
"It's nothing. I'm sorry I've been so secretive about this. It's just a very private matter that I don't want to discuss." He told her quietly. Claire loosened up, looking over at him to determine if he was lying. Tony smiled slightly at her to ease her suspicion. Suddenly an alert went out in the building, followed by a voice indicating where it had come from. The duo bolted from the room towards the evidence garage where they knew McGee and Abby where.
...
Claire's POV:
"Come on, come on." I muttered anxiously, checking my gun quickly as the elevator descended. Tony and Ziva gave me a look as if finally reached the garage level. With a nod the three of us lead the security guards out into the room. Guns at the ready we spotted Abby who was coughing in the chair with Gibbs and McGee surrounding her.
"Boss. Evidence cage called in an emergency." Tony explained, looking over the scene worriedly.
"It was me, DiNozzo. Stand down." Gibbs assured, holding a hand out to us but never taking his eyes off Abby. We put their guns away and left the security team to turn off the alarm. Making my way over I startled, looking at the broken window of the AI car.
"You attacked the car?" Ziva inquired, eyeing the same thing I was.
"Car tried to kill Abby." Gibbs countered.
"What?!" I quickly rushed over to look over the woman in the chair. She still seemed a bit pale. Abby patted my hand lightly, signaling for me to calm down.
"I think there was a short. When I tried to unbuckle my seat belt, it pinned me back at the windows shut, and the engine started. It triggered all the doors in the car to lock. And then the whole cabin filled up with exhaust." Abby explained. I frowned thoughtfully. That all seemed a bit precise for a short.
"A few minutes more I would have been singing hymns with my angels right now." Abby added.
"Abby, I'd have noticed before then." McGee quickly assured.
"Then I would have hugged you, McGee." Abby grinned, her voice still a bit croaky. McGee clenched his jaw and shook his head. He was already blaming himself for nearly killing Abby.
"So Lieutenant Seabrook was killed by a malfunction?" Tony inquired.
"No, can't be. In a car like this there's way too many variables. Those specific actions in that sequence had to have been programmed." I shook her head adamantly.
"It was deliberate." Gibbs determined.
"The lieutenant was set up to look like suicide." Ziva added in agreement.
"I think it's time we had a heart-to-heart with Jones, boss." Tony suggested. We all looked to Gibbs who was glaring at the car.
"How'd he do it?" No one answered.
"It's not a damn quiz, McGee. Find out!" Gibbs snapped, pointing at the car angrily.
"I'm on it." McGee nodded quietly, not needing any prompting. We all were staring to take this personally now that one of our people had been attacked.
"What'd you say to Jones?" Gibbs asked, looking at those of us who had collected him.
"Nothing. He's been asking about Lieutenant Seabrook. Acting like she's still alive." Tony answered. Gibbs narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. After a beat he reached for Abby.
"Come on. Ducky's checking you out." he ordered, helping her walk to the elevator with Ziva on the other side. Tony sprinted to get the door for them.
"I'm fine." Abby insisted.
"It's not a request, Abby." McGee watched worriedly as they headed off with her. Hanging back I patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey, it's not your fault. If you still feel like you need to redeem yourself then find how this happened. If anyone can do it, it's you." I assured. McGee remained silent but his eyes softened ever so slightly at the encouragement. With a nod I took off towards the stairs, not willing to miss out on this interrogation.
...
I was able to meet the group in the bullpen, falling in with Tony and Ziva. Gibbs was on the warpath and everyone quickly jumped out of his way. Tony opened the door for the two of us as Gibbs walked into interrogation.
"This is not good." He muttered, following us into the room. I was inclined to agree with him. In interrogation Jamie jumped to attention the moment Gibbs entered.
"Look, this is all just a big misunderstanding Agent Gibbs. All you have to do is call one phone number, man." Jamie insisted as Gibbs paced around the room.
"Lawyer?" Gibbs hummed, slamming a notepad and pen on the desk beside him.
"No, Ronnie." We all frowned in confusion. Even Gibbs paused a beat to turn and look at the man.
"Look, I know what I much look like back in her apartment, but…" Gibbs quickly pushed the man back down when he tried to stand.
"Lieutenant Seabrook's your girlfriend now?" Jamie blinked in confusion.
"Yeah. Look, we worked together for a few years. We started dating maybe six months back." Jamie explained evenly.
"Dating?"
"Yeah." Gibbs's eye twitched. He turned and switched on the TV in the room, showing the video feed we had of Jones assaulting Seabrook. Jamie licked his lips and stared down at his hands.
"What's that look like?" Gibbs asked quietly.
"It's a stupid game, man. Only when we're alone." Jamie explained just as quietly.
"You like games, Jones?" Gibbs asked, standing over the man. Jamie visibly bristled.
"We're just role-playing all right? It's not like we're freaks." He defended, exhaling sharply before continuing.
"Come on. Am I going to lose my security clearance over this?" Jamie stood up again and this time Gibbs grabbed him by the collar and pushed him onto the table. Everyone in the observation room shifted anxiously.
"You almost killed one of my people today." Gibbs snapped. Jamie stared at him like he was crazy.
"What?"
"That damn Humvee you used to kill Lieutenant Seabrook."
"Ronnie? What are you talking about?" Jones asked, bewildered. I frowned at the scene, Jones really didn't know. Gibbs yanked the man up and changed the screen.
"Ronnie is downstairs, Jones. On a steel slab." Gibbs shouted, pulling up a photo of the woman downstairs on the table. Jamie froze staring at the screen, his eyes tearing up.
"This is one of her jokes, right? Is she behind the glass huh? Because if you are, Ronnie this isn't funny!" Jamie shouted at the window. He breathed heavily, staring at the mirror in anticipation. His demeanor plummeted when he only received silence as an answer.
"Ronnie?" he called quietly, walking over to look at the screen. Gibbs watched silently, his aggressive attitude completely vanished.
"Tell me that's not real." Jones sobbed. We all remained silently, respectful of the grief Jamie was showing. If he didn't do it then we had to look elsewhere.
...
3rd Person POV:
Up in the office Claire watched Tony at his desk curiously. Despite the ongoing case she couldn't get her mind off the whole hospital ordeal. She blamed Ziva. That woman was so damn nosy, and it rubbed her the wrong way. Was she right to try and stay out of his business? Should she press it more? Her inner ramblings were cut off by the sound of Tony's desk phone going off. She watched his expression drop a bit as he answered, talking in low tones. Ending the call Claire watched as he bounded up the stairs to the MTAC. It just reminded her of the whole errand running for the Director thing he was still hiding. Claire sighed heavily and rubbed her temples. Standing up, she headed to the break room. She was not caffeinated enough to deal with all this.
...
"You wanted to see me?" Tony questioned, walking over to sit next to the director in MTAC.
"You have plans tonight, Tony." She informed, still watching the screen. Tony frowned in confusion.
"Actually, no. Tomorrow I'm going to a…"
"It wasn't a question." She cut off. Tony watched her silently, waiting for his instructions.
"We've had these three under observation ever since you tagged their bags at the airport. They made reservations for dinner tonight here. The reservation is for four." She explained pulling up the restaurant information.
"I wanna know who they're meeting with."
"Excellent. I've always wanted to try the food at this place but it's a little outside my price range." Tony nodded.
"Mmm. You won't be inside. We couldn't risk them ID'ing you as the baggage handler from the airport." He nodded thoughtfully.
"So, what's the plan?"
"We're going to take a more covert approach on this one." She hummed, staring at him pointedly.
"Oh. Did I ever tell you covert's my middle name?" Tony informed her with a grin.
...
Across the street from the restaurant Tony stood, guitar in hand and decked out as a ragged street performer. He strummed the instrument absently as he sang in a reggae-type manner. His eyes were glued to the targets sitting at the table, the window giving him a direct view.
"In my perspective I see the people from the big jet plane. The woman looks teutonic, she drinks a vodka tonic. And two bald men sit with her….waiting for a fourth." Tony rasped, ignoring the people standing around and listening to his performance.
"They're not going to order the man course. Until that person come." A stray dog sits behind him, howling along. Tony frowns and turns back at the dog.
"Hey. Everybody's a critic. Amscray, get out of here." He quickly shoos the animal away. A couple of women walk past, Tony's eyes following them and scanning from the shoes up.
"Keep your eyes on the prize, Tango-Eight. I may even let you keep the money you're making." Jenny scolded from MTAC as she watched the video feed from his glasses.
"Oh, sorry. I just do what I can." Tony responded, back to singing.
"You're not going to sing the whole thing are you?" The director drawled in amusement.
"I've gotta do what I gotta do, I'm just a man." He answered seamlessly. A new figure caught his attention and he quickly turned his camera towards the restaurant once more.
"Oh, speaking of man…another man walks through the front door, wearing a polka dot scarf. Will he join the table? I don't know Yes, he does and greets the pretty lady. What do they say? Who knows? He's sitting at the table with the other people from the plane."
"Stay steady on the target, Tango-Eight. I want his photo." Jenny instructed, waiting for the camera Tony was wearing in his glasses to focus in and take the photo.
"They are having a conversation. A heavy, heavy conversation. That man talk, talk, talk a lot. He talk, talk, talk a lot." One of the men at the table turned and stared Tony's directions curiously. Instantly Tony's senses went on high alert.
"Jenny, I think I've been made? Do you see what I see?" He asked her via made up sone lyric.
"Relax, Tango-Eight. I'm sure he's just checking his reflection in the glass." Jenny quickly dismissed. However, Tony watched the man nervously. He was staring way to long to be looking at a reflection. He was positive he had been made…so why wasn't she doing anything about it? Tony continued his charade as long as he had to, trying to ignore the sinking feeling. He was starting to regret not bringing anyone else in on this secret.
...
The next morning Tony sat in his desk chair, jacket draped over his head as he laid on the desktop.
"You all right?" Ziva inquired with a frown, watching him intently.
"Define alright." Tony grumbled.
"Find out the results from the medical tests yet?" she asked innocently. Tony lifted his head and glared at her.
"Not yet."
"So what time is the Azeon team supposed to get here?" he asked, looking at his watch.
"40 minutes ago…" Claire pointed out with a frown. Tony bolted up, slipping on his jacket and looking around wildly.
"You fell asleep. Gibbs and Jenny are in her office now, stalling them." Ziva added with a chuckle. Tony stared at them with wide eyes.
"And you didn't think to wake me up?!" he asked. Claire shrugged.
"You looked like you had a rough night. Besides Abby, McGee, and Jones needed the extra time to finish putting Otto back together." She explained. Tony frowned. Had he really looked that bad?
"Looks like they're done." Claire muttered, watching the stairs. Abby, McGee, and Jamie Jones joined everyone in the bullpen. They watched silently as Gibbs and the Director led the two scientists down to the evidence garage to inspect Otto. Not even five minutes later they all came storming back up.
"Everyone listen up, now." The director snapped, striding to the center of the room. All the agents stood around her.
"We have let a robot killer Humvee loose on the streets of Washington." She informed them heatedly.
"Well actually ma'am it's a second generation…."
"I don't care what it's called. Find it. Fast." The director interrupted McGee's rambling, shooting the team a scathing glare. They remained silent as she walked off. Gibbs silently turned to his team.
"BOLO, on it." Ziva called, rushing to her desk.
"We'll take the Beltway." Tony added, dragging Claire along with him.
"Abby and I will see if we can access Otto's system remotely." McGee suggested.
"I think I may be able to help with that." Jamie quickly joined the two as they left. Gibbs nodded silently, pleased with their choice of tasks.
...
Claire's POV:
Abby sent us the address of where the Humvee had parked and like a shot we all headed that direction. Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva in one vehicle while Tony and I were already in ours. We both pulled up to the spot of woods at the same time. Silently we dispersed, guns at the ready. The boys surrounded the car while Ziva and I opened the doors to check inside.
"Clear." She announced, allowing McGee to run up and check inside the gas lid. He pulled out the small port to reveal that the SD card, that to contained the killer program, was missing. Someone had beaten us here and taken the evidence.
"They took our chip boss." McGee informed, walking back around to grab the laptop that was left in the seat.
"When I told you to piece this back together, I didn't mean piece it back together with the only evidence we have on the killer." Gibbs pointed out sourly.
"I didn't." McGee quickly assured. Curiosity piqued, we headed over to look at what McGee was fiddling with on the laptop.
"We put in a copy, Abby has the original. Otto has 5 cameras; I'm hoping one of them got a picture of our guy." McGee explained as he went through Otto's systems. He quickly pulled up the photos, each one only showing the woods around them.
"We'll we're definitely dealing with someone on the inside, they knew were all of Otto's camera's were." Tony pointed out.
"The only picture I got was this." McGee pulled up a blurry image of a partial silhouette.
"That's not helpful at all." I pointed out.
"She's right. That think takes worse pictures than you do." Tony added.
"They went through a lot of trouble to get the chip back. Why?" Gibbs asked, prowling around the vehicle.
"Well like you said, it's the only evidence we have." I pointed out.
"They know we can link it to them. How?" Gibbs continued.
"Well there weren't any prints on the surface. The program is in assembly language, I'm not sure." McGee answered thoughtfully. Gibb's cell rang. We all watched quietly as he answered, his brow furrowing thoughtfully. He abruptly hung up and headed for the cars.
"Boss?" Tony questioned.
"Abby back-traced the server, the killer is online at Azeon now. Let's move." Gibbs barked. We scrambled to catch up, piling into our designated cars.
...
At Azeon we had gathered all the scientists in the garage, making sure we had all our suspects present for the reveal.
"Are you sure about this Gibbs?" Dr. Pike inquired, watching at McGee went to work on one of the computers.
"You sure about this McGee?" Gibbs asked instead.
"Well Abby gave me the IP address for the computer used to access Otto. I'll know it when I find it." He assured. Tony and I kept watch of the scientists, looking for any body language that may point to guilt. People tend to get nervous when they are close to being found out. I glanced over at Jamie Jones who had joined us.
"Which one of them was it?" he asked tightly.
"We're working on it. But don't do anything brash when we find out." I warned. He didn't respond; just turned to stare at the men and women in the room.
"Boss, the IP address matches this one." McGee called once he found the station he was looking for. Dr. Pike turned to look at Torsten.
"Engler." He accused, looking at the man who stared in shock. Jamie bolted forward and got in a punch before we could grab him.
"Hey, what did I just say!" I snapped, throwing the man away from the scientist.
"You bastard you killed her! What's a matter you couldn't share the limelight!" Jamie snarled, pushing against my efforts to keep him back.
"Why would I kill Seabrook?" Torsten asked, wiping at his nose. Tony helped the man up before pinning his arms back to arrest him.
"You were jealous of Ronnie from the moment you met her." Pike accused.
"Jealous of her! If anything she was jealous of me. I demand to know what proof you have against me." Torsten protested. Gibbs held up the small SD chip.
"A flash chip?" Torsten asked in confusion.
"It was used to kill lieutenant Seabrook." Tony informed.
"The one you took was a copy." Ziva added. The man in Tony's grasp shook his head.
"Let me…..let me see the code. Everyone here has their own specific style. If you let me see it I can tell you with absolute certainty who wrote it." He explained.
"As can I Engler. May I?" Pike announced, holding out his hand for the chip. I stared at the man curiously. That's right…..as the head scientist he had access to everyone's files. When the man's back was turned Gibbs shot me a nod. I quickly followed him into the room. We all watched as Pike walked over to Torsten's station and easily accessed the computer. After some work Pike turned around.
"You're mistaken Agent Gibbs. This chip is blank." He explained. I rose a brow at the claim.
"Let him go." Gibbs told Tony.
"Boss?" Tony inquired in confusion.
"Let him go." All the scientists stared at us in confusion.
"He's the one who found Seabrook, if he had wanted the chip back he could have taken it then." Gibbs pointed out as explanation. Tony quickly un-cuffed Torsten. McGee and I herded Dr. Pike into the circle.
"Dr. Pike. The only thing you deleted off of this chip, were my photos." Gibbs hummed, plugging the SD card into his digital camera. The older man paled.
"She thought of you like a father!" Jamie snapped, Ziva grabbing onto him to keep him back.
"I told her to take the morning off, Jamie." The man quickly explained, before turning to his colleagues.
"It was an accident. I would never…never." Pike insisted.
"Then who was supposed to drive Otto that morning?" I asked curiously. Obviously, it had been intended for someone.
"Me." Torsten realized with a jolt. He turned to glare at the older scientist. Taking precautions, I stepped forward and put my hand on Torsten's chest to keep him away.
"You senile old fool. You were trying to kill me." He growled lowly.
"I did it for all of us. He owns half the company. If Otto wins that race, we would have been stuck working with him forever. No one deserves that you smug bastard." Pike explained, sending a hateful glare at Torsten as he was led away in handcuffs. Pike continued to shout obscenities as the man as he was led off. I looked up at Tony thoughtfully.
"If red light is sexual assault then what color would be murder…" I asked curiously. Tony pursed his lips in thought.
"Uh…how does black light sound?" he suggested with a teasing grin. I grinned back.
"Works for me." Tony chuckled, leading the way back to our vehicles. Another case closed.
