Family:[part 1]
...
3rd Person POV:
Ziva smirked as she watched McGee silently fume while the elevator doors opened before them.
"It was a simple question, McGee." She hummed in amusement. McGee rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, one I would expect from Tony, not you." he groused, shooting her a pointed look.
"I'm just being curious."
"About when I lost my virginity?" he deadpanned. Ziva shook her head in disagreement, pointing her finger at him.
"No, you misunderstood. I was not asking when you lost your virginity, but if you lost it." She corrected with a small grin. The two coworkers wordlessly branched off to their own desks. Frowns crossed their faces as they registered the oddity. Slowly turning they spotted Tony furiously finishing paperwork at his desk, not even acknowledging them.
"What's wrong with this picture?" Ziva questioned aloud.
"Do you mean, beside from Tony being here before us…And actually working?" McGee quipped smugly.
"I can hear you; you know." Tony replied, not looking up from his task. McGee grinned and sat down, only to realize one more off piece.
"Where's Claire? She's usually one of the first ones here." He questioned, noticing her absence from across his desk.
"Don't know." Tony muttered, clenching his jaw and purposefully not looking up at her empty desk. Ziva examined the man across from her quietly. It was very unlike him to not care about Claire's presence…..that and to actually be serious about his paperwork. She spotted a small card sticking out amongst the files on his desk. Recognizing it from Jeanne's apartment she was reminded of the dilemma Tony had let slip while she was with him. Walking towards his desk, Ziva softened her voice.
"I am here if you would like to talk." She told him stiffly. Emotions and feelings weren't always her thing, but she was willing to try. Tony slowly looked up at her, his tongue poking his cheek irritably.
"About what?" she pursed her lips.
"I know how much you cared for her…..for both of them…." Tony schooled his features.
"I'm fine, Ziva." He insisted, trying to get back to work. Ziva wasn't buying it.
"All right. But I thought maybe you needed a little cheering up." He looked up at her thoughtfully.
"If I needed cheering up I would put Super Glue on McGee's keyboard." McGee's head shot up to look at the man with a glare.
"You put superglue on my keyboard." He huffed, holding up the large black keyboard now stuck to his fingers. Tony's lips quirked and he turned to look up at Ziva innocently.
"Well, you got me. I was sort of saving it for a rainy day." He admitted with a small chuckle. Ziva shook her head in mock admonishment.
"Did it help?" she inquired skeptically. Tony was about to answer when a snicker interrupted his train of thought. Claire stood on the other side of the bullpen watching McGee with a small grin.
"It's not funny." Tim insisted, trying to pry the plastic off his fingers.
"Oh yes it is…..Tony?" she inquired, smiling at the scene unashamedly.
"Yeah." He grunted. Shaking her head she proceeded to her desk, setting her bag down and setting up for the day. Tony glanced away from where he was watching. Ziva rose her brow.
"It didn't hurt." He finally answered, looking quite pleased with himself. McGee growled as he put his shoe atop the keyboard and pulled as much as he could without hurting his fingers too much. It didn't budge. Just his luck Gibbs strolled in, coffee in hand, and merely glanced at the struggling agent before walking past.
"Boss, Tony…"
"I know." Gibbs cut Tim off. He quickly reached into a desk drawer and pulled out some solvent, walking it to McGee's desk.
"Are you ever gonna learn, McGee?" he inquired pointedly. McGee flushed sheepishly.
"Grab your gear. We've got a petty officer in a hit-and-run." Gibbs ordered, heading towards the elevator. McGee watched with wide eyes as the rest of the team grabbed their gear. He gently grasped the solvent with his pinky but it did no good. His hands were still stuck together on the keyboard.
"Uh….guys? Little help, please." He called.
"Come on, McGee it's your turn to drive." Claire called, being the second to last to exit. McGee scowled and shuffled after her and the rest of the team.
"Guys come on!" he pleaded, running to make it inside the elevator cab before it shut.
...
...
At the crime scene Tony was taking photos of the evidence markers. Tire tracks left on the asphalt, the crashed car, and the dead petty officer. Gibbs knelt down to open up the man's wallet.
"Hit-and-run. It's a felony now, but in DiNozzo's Guide to Women, a way of life." Tony quipped thoughtfully.
"In this case, death."
"How'd he end up over here?" Tony continued, glancing at the body that was beside the mangled car off the bridge.
"Good question DiNozzo."
"Least he went out looking sharp."
"Yeah, but when he dressed this morning I doubt he was aware that the end was nigh." Ducky imputed as he joined the two by the corpse.
"When people choose not to wear seat belts they rarely consider their own mortality. If they did they would definitely wear their seat belts." He rambled. The man's brow furrowed as he examined the broken windshield on the damaged car.
"You know I would have thought with that kind of damage, he would be all the way down there." he suggested, pointing down the ravine.
"Did anyone move the body Jethro?"
"Someone did." Gibbs commented, standing up and walking around the body.
"Well, the police said they didn't touch the body after they ID'd him. The report indicated he blew that stop sign over there." Claire butted in, walking over and joining the conversation after getting the report.
"….swerved to avoid another car…and he went through the windshield when he hit the bridge?" Tony finished with a bit of confusion. The placement certainly didn't pan out. As Ducky moved his clothing, pieces of it tore apart easily.
"Hello." He muttered, tugging on the breakaway tux.
"This just keeps getting better." Tony muttered, coming over to photograph the discovery.
"I'm going with stripper." Claire hummed.
"This is not an uncommon way for young servicemen to complement their incomes." Ducky pointed out, tugging the top off and handing it to Tony. Claire smirked in thought.
"I remember when I first got out of college, I did some undercover at a local club and I used to…" she trailed off as she realized her boss and Tony were staring at her intently.
"Used to what?" Tony inquired. Claire cleared her throat and turned away from his gaze. Thankfully another piece of evidence redirected the conversation.
"Oh, my." Ducky muttered, pulling out fragments from the large gunshot wound on the man's abdomen.
"Shotgun, close range." Gibbs commented, holding a hand out to collect the pieces.
"Our hit and run just became a shoot-and-scoot." Claire muttered with a frown.
"But there's no visible damage to the head. I do not believe that this gentleman made that hole." Ducky told the investigators, glancing between the man and the car.
"If he didn't make it, who did?"
...
...
Off to the side, McGee and Ziva were examining the tire tracks near the stop sign and looking for more evidence.
"The more I think about it, the more I can't believe we fell for it. Tony with a girlfriend." McGee muttered aloud as he searched. Ziva pursed her lips thoughtfully as they gathered at the back of the NCIS van.
"I believe he had real feelings for her, McGee." She pointed out offhandedly.
"Well, I don't doubt that. See what she looks like?" Ziva scoffed.
"Sounds like you wish you had the assignment." She muttered in annoyance.
"Yeah, I don't know why the director didn't give it to me to begin with." He shrugged. Ziva's mouth dropped in a silent scoff as she stared at him.
"Still talking about the probie losing his virginity?" Tony cut in from the other side of the van. He shot them a small glare, reminding them that he was still in earshot.
"Guys I found something! Down here." Claire called from down the ravine. After following the likely trajectory, she found the body of a young woman that certainly looked like she had been thrown through a car windshield. McGee scurried down the ravine to snap photos as the others gathered around the top of the drop.
"This is more like it. She has a smashed cranium, lacerations, and possible multiple fractures." Ducky elaborated scanning the body in the ravine.
"I think we've found our human cannonball." He mused. Claire looked up at Gibbs who was at the top.
"I think the state police definitely had it wrong. Petty Officer Munoz didn't blow that stop sign." She commented.
"No, he was in the other car. He got run off the road by the guy who did." Gibbs agreed.
"Then got shot for his trouble." Tony added. Ziva emerged from the other side of the ravine where she had been searching for a trail.
"No footprints. Her companion took off in Munoz's vehicle and left her here to die." She told them sourly.
"Who does that?" McGee muttered.
"Clearly someone in a rush." Claire answered.
"Rush to where?"
...
...
Back at NCIS.
"Well, we know where Petty Officer Munoz was in a rush to." DiNozzo announced as he and Ziva walked into the bullpen. Claire and McGee watched from their desks as Tony plugged in an SD card to put up on the big screen.
"We spoke to his roommate. Munoz was throwing a surprise party for one of his friends who just arrived from Iraq." Ziva added.
"But he was late coming back from the Chelsea Girls School class of '57, 50 year reunion. And I got the pictures to prove it." Tony hummed in amusement and opened up the files. His smiled dimmed and he shuddered as they scanned through photos of Munoz having bills shoved down his shorts by elderly women. Amongst other things.
"My god….It's like Cocoon meets Dirty Dancing." He muttered in mild disgust while still progressing through.
"This bring back any memories, Claire?" he asked pointedly, shooting her a smug grin. McGee and Ziva whipped their heads around to stare at the women incredulously. She shrunk down into her desk chair a bit.
"It was just an undercover job…that also paid some bills…" she explained with a shrug. Looking back at the photos she winced.
"But yea, it kinda does." Tony snickered at her perturbed expression before looking back at the screen.
"I wonder if Ducky has dreams like this. Gibbs probably isn't too far behind." he continued. Everyone tightened their lips as a looming figure stopped behind Tony.
"He's standing behind me, isn't he….Sorry about that boss." He winced, feeling Gibbs lean in close.
"Gonna be in your dreams one day too, DiNozzo." He whispered tauntingly. Tony's eyes widened, very confused as to what to make of that little tidbit.
"Well maybe Petty Officer Munoz danced with the wrong woman and was run off the road by a jealous ex-husband." McGee suggested, getting back on track with the case.
"What? In his motorized wheelchair?" Claire inquired skeptically.
"This is pretty simple. We're looking for a bad guy who got into an accident and then he carjacked, Munoz because he wanted to get out of dodge. I put out a BOLO on Munoz's truck….We got a few more leads to follow but my gut tells me that Munoz had a terminal case of wrong place, wrong time." Tony concluded easily. He paused at the silence that answered.
"Unless your gut told you something else, boss….."
"The girl." Gibbs asked instead. Claire shook the file in her hands and stood.
"We got a hit on the prints." She announced walking over and snatching the remote from Tony, pulling up her own files on the screen.
"Heidi Campisano, 25, though this picture is three years old….Pyramid schemes, internet fraud, bogus rare coins." Claire read off for them.
"She's a con artist." Ziva hummed.
"Was….Dropped off the radar about three years ago."
"I'm guessing since she's laying in our morgue it wasn't too legit." Tony tacked on thoughtfully.
"The car hers?"
"No. Car is registered to Nicholas Barnes." Claire answered. Gibbs nodded and started walking off.
"DiNozzo!..." he barked, causing the man to flinch and chase after him.
"Claire you too." The woman froze momentarily before following along as well. Ziva watched her take off with a small frown. It was clear that she wasn't very comfortable with the idea of being alone with Tony and Gibbs.
...
...
After a very silent car ride, the three agents arrived at a run down mechanic shop. After entering the facility the older man in charge led them to a locked backroom.
"Nicky! Get your ass out here." He called, kicking on the wooden door.
"Ran into the bathroom like a little girl when he saw you guys pull up. This is about Tiffany, right?" the man asked turning towards the investigators. Tony shared a curious glance with Claire.
"Tiffany?"
"Yea, his girl." The man elaborated with a shrug before calling for his son once more.
"The name's not Tiffany." Claire explained.
"Oh really? You don't say? I told him that girl was no good. He didn't listen to me." The flush of the toilet alerted them to Nicky's upcoming presence. The young man slowly opened the door and looked around at the agents.
"Well, there's some Navy cops here, wanna ask you a few questions. You remember what I told you about telling lies." His father warned, pointing his finger. Nicky said nothing but walked past the agents towards his own toolbox. The three followed.
"Something wrong?" Gibbs asked as the man pulled out a rag, wiping his hands off.
"Nope."
"Just had to pee all of a sudden?" Tony quipped. Nicky glanced at him with a small frown.
"Figured you wanted to ask me about Tiff. Didn't really wanna talk about her. Is that a crime?"
"No, but murder is." Gibbs told him.
"Oh, murder. Perfect." The father barked from where he stood under a car. Tony stepped forward and held up a picture of Munoz.
"You know this guy?"
"Nope." Nicky stared at the photo before glancing up at Tony easily.
"He was shot and killed today. Your car was found at the scene, wrapped around a bridge." Claire imputed, watching the man's body language from the side. Nick sighed.
"Not my car. I gave it to Tiff, she said hers was stolen." He explained, his eyes sad.
"Oh, tell them what else you gave her." his father prodded. Nicky didn't respond.
"Ten thousand bucks….tell them why…..Oh, for an operation. What kind? He didn't even ask." His father continued on. Claire watched silently as the young man's lip quivered while he stared hard at the toolbox in front of him.
"He also didn't ask how she was. Car wrapped around a tree and all." Tony added, staring down at the man. Nicky licked his lips.
"I hope she's dead." he muttered.
"She is." Gibbs confirmed. Claire watched the man barely flinch. Without another word he walked over to one of the cars, fiddling under the hood.
"If you'd like us to arrest you now, Nicky, that can be arranged." Tony told him sternly. Nick's father instantly came forward.
"Hey. Now wait a second….just hold on right there. My boy ain't guilty of anything except for being an idiot. And that girl Tiffany, or whoever she was, she was playing him and a couple other guys. He spoke up to her about it, and she ran off. That was about a week ago." He explained. Claire frowned, her gaze going back to Nicky who remained under the hood. His jaw clenched.
"She said she loved me. You don't lie to someone you love." Claire and Tony stiffened up, unwilling to make eye contact with one another.
...
"You would tell me if something was wrong right?"
"Alright this disappearing act is getting old, Tony. You want to keep things a secret, fine but now I'm starting to get heat about it and it's not ok."
"Why haven't you told Claire about it yet? Tony, it's been months."
"I don't know if I can believe you anymore."
"What other explanation is there Tony?! What is wrong with you?"
"I need time to learn to trust you again and you…..you need time to figure out what you really want."
...
"DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked, watching the man's eyes glaze over in thought. He startled and glanced between Gibbs and Claire blankly. Claire furrowed her brows at the flurry of emotions flickering across his face before they disappeared.
"Sorry boss." He muttered, paying attention once more.
"I ain't seen her since she left." Nick told them.
"Anybody see you this morning?" Claire inquired.
"Well, he was here with me all day. I got about a half a dozen customers who can vouch for that." His father chimed in again.
"Names." Gibbs requested. He glanced at Claire pointedly. She wasn't the only one picking up on the fact that his father was answering all the big questions.
"Sure. Like I said, my boy's an idiot but he ain't a killer." The man nodded, walking off to find the list.
"Now a girl like that, playing with people's hearts, you track down some of them jilted lovers. I guarantee you'll find out who done her in."
"Oh, I can't wait for you to make those calls." Claire pointed out. Tony started his eyes widening.
"And why am I the one to do that?"
"Why not?" she pressed. Tony sighed heavily, narrowing his eyes. Might as well take the hit.
...
...
Claire's POV:
After learning that Heidi had been beaten to death right after giving birth, everyone kicked things into high gear. Now there was a newborn out there who most certainly was in trouble. Tony had gotten the list of names associated with 'Tiffany' in the past year and was making phone calls all morning. I admit it wasn't my best moment to push that task on him but I really didn't want to be the one making those calls. Turns out listening to it wasn't very fun either. After the fourth call I had to relocate.
"Hey, Abs. Hope you don't mind if I invade your space and use one of your babies." I announced walking into Abby's lab.
"Sure….why?" she inquired, blinking curiously as she sucked on a Caf-Pow. I grinned bitterly.
"Hard to concentrate while Tony's calling Heidi's former victims….the word 'liar' and romance is a very sensitive subject at the moment." I admitted. Abby nodded in understanding, allowing the subject to drop. The sound of slurping caught my attention. Turning around I watched Abby set down her finished Caf-pow and instantly start on the next full drink in what turned out to be quite a long line.
"I thought you quit." I pointed out, staring incredulously at the line of heavy caffeine. Abby turned to face me innocently.
"Claire, there is a baby missing that might need medical attention. I need to be at the top of my game." She insisted, taking another long drink. I rose my brow skeptically.
"You're gonna spend your game in the bathroom."
"I already thought of that. I'm upping my salt intake to increase my body's water retention." She announced, setting down a jumbo bag of 'Salt-O-Rama- snacks.
"Of course, you are…." I muttered in amusement. Only Abby would take it to this extreme. Shaking my head, I logged into my account and started pulling up my files once more. However another distraction came up. Abby's continuous crunching.
"Should I relocate again?" I muttered curiously, shooting her a pointed look. Abby waved the thought off instantly.
"Of course not! You are more than welcome." She beamed, missing my hint. Her face dropped into a thoughtful frown.
"So, what do you have for Gibbs?" she inquired. I looked at her curiously.
"Nothing….Why are your gibbsy-senses tingling? Is he on his way here?"
"No. He's here." Gibbs announced, walking up behind us.
"And talking about himself in the third person. I like it." Abby mused with a grin.
"Ducky said you had something." Gibbs told her.
"Don't you wanna see what Claire had first?" she suggested. I shot her a warning glare. Thankfully Gibbs didn't take the bait.
"I came down to see you."
"Abby was able to recover amniotic fluid from the dead woman's clothing." Abby began, talking about herself in third person as she showed Gibbs her finds. I rolled my eyes, watching my search engine do it's job and hopefully yield results.
"You got the baby's DNA." Gibbs inquired.
"Abby's running it now." She nodded.
"You can't use it to find the father, but when we have a suspect Abby can test it and see if he is the father." Abby continued with a grin.
"Nicholas Barnes." Gibbs told her.
"Abby already ruled him out, not the same blood type."
"Good work, Abby." The duo turned to look at me. I glanced at my records that were still running.
"Um….I'm still running Heidi's records….there's so many of them that it will take a while to have anything substantial shake out." I admitted. Gibbs continued to stare until a beep caught his attention.
"Well, there you go." I announced, glad something came up in time. I pulled up what looked like checks with large amounts listed on them.
"There are four sizable deposits made to her account recently. All of them came from an Adrian Nelson." I read off.
"Maybe that's another boyfriend she conned." Abby suggested.
"We'll let you know when we get back." Gibbs hummed, gesturing for me to follow. With a small nod towards Abby I followed the man out of the lab.
