Corporal Punishment: [part 1]
These snow days finally gave me some down time to work on writing. It's been a while but I hope you enjoy!
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3rd Person POV:
In the bullpen McGee quietly enjoys his Iron Fist comic when the sound of quiet karate noises interrupts him. Tony chopped the comic out of his hands, holding his arms up in a striking pose. Tim stares up at Tony in exasperation while the older man grins. Claire glances up from her paperwork before promptly ignoring his antics.
"Come on, Iron Fist, hit me with your best shot." Tony eggs, batting at the comic once more.
"Would you be careful please? This is a number 14. It's the first appearance of Sabretooth." McGee explained, ignoring Tony's gestures to his abdomen.
"Oh!" the comic is batted back down.
"Does that make you wanna hit me?" Tony inquired.
"It's really tempting, but I think I'm gonna pass."
"Maybe Ziva will do it." Claire chimed in as the woman joined them. Ziva paused, eyeing them skeptically.
"Maybe Ziva will do what?"
"I've been working on my six pack. You know, abs." Tony explained, flexing as best he could while watching Claire out of the corner of his eye. He had spent so much time eating junk and wallowing in his feelings with food that it was time for a lifestyle change. And if he was gonna try and win her back, the failing dad bod was most likely not gonna cut it. Claire and McGee gave him a skeptical glance.
"You and Abby have been drinking?" Ziva questioned in confusion.
"No, abdominals. No more beer gut for me. I've been training hardcore getting the core hard." Claire raised her brow in amusement. Ziva eyed the area as if trying to spot it through his shirt while stalking towards him.
"To match your head." McGee quipped. Tony pursed his lips, turning to look down at the man.
"You're just afraid that if you hit me as hard as you could, I'd feel like I was being tickled with a feather."
"I will take a swing at your six pack." Ziva nodded, coming to her decision. Tony's grin faltered at how serious she was.
"Well…its more like a four pack and there's one little stubborn one that…." The other three stared at him as he babbled. Tony shook himself out of it.
"Never mind, just do it."
"As hard as she can." McGee reminded.
"As hard as you can." Tony clarified, looking pointedly at McGee.
"You know that's how Houdini died." McGee pointed out calmly. Tony eyed Ziva.
"You killed Houdini?"
"It is possible, I do not remember all their names." Ziva shrugged, prepping herself to strike. Claire smirked.
"Okay hold on." Tony requested. He slowly blew out all the air in his chest before clenching tightly.
"Okay do it." He whispered. The other three watched as he closed his eyes, screwed up his face and prepared for pain.
"Escaped mental patient." Gibbs announced, walking into the bullpen.
"Exactly what I'm thinking boss." McGee chuckled, staring up at Tony in amusement.
"Bethesda Naval Hospital. Attacked an orderly, busted up the place. Come on, let's go." Gibbs clarified, not even asking what his agents were up to. McGee shot up but before Ziva could follow Tony tapped her on the shoulder to gain her attention.
"Hey, come on. I don't need the rescue." He insisted, tensing up again.
"Seriously, give me your best shot, right now." Ziva reared back and struck…stopping an inch from his torso. Tony yells in fear, not realizing until a second too late that there was no contact. Ziva laughed.
"Oh, yeah. Not bad." She chuckles, patting him on the belly condescendingly.
"Not as good as Gibbs though." She teased, tapping his cheek. Tony frowned as Ziva left. His relief was short lived as Claire passed by and quickly reaches out; Landing a punch to his gut. Tony instantly bends over in pain, holding himself tightly.
"What was that for?" he looked up at her incredulously.
"You said you wanted someone to hit you."
"Yea but I wasn't ready for it!" Claire shrugged.
"I just wanted to see what the fuss was about." Tony eyed her skeptically.
"You just wanted a reason to swing at me." He corrected knowingly.
"Maybe. I've had a lot of pent-up energy." He blinked up at her, trying to straighten himself.
"Feel better?" Claire nodded her head thoughtfully.
"Yup." She chirped heading off to follow the team.
"I'm fine by the way." he called after her, wincing as he hurried to catch up.
...
At the hospital the team was showed the padded room Corporal Damon Werth had been held in. The attending explained his issues with PTSD and the measures they had taken to try and help him. In the end Werth had torn through his straitjacket barehanded and attacked the attending on his way out. While McGee and Gibbs checked inside the hospital, the other three were outside sketching and taking photos. Tony had taken up a spot on the curb, giving his speech to no one while the girls continued on with work.
"All right, listen up, people. Our fugitive has been on the run for 90 minutes."
"It has been three hours, Tony." Ziva corrected, rolling her eyes. Tony continued, ignoring her.
"Average foot speed over uneven ground, barring injuries, is four miles per hour."
"He's not on foot, he's in a car." Claire corrected, watching as Tony's eye twitched in irritation. He still continued.
"What I need from each and every one of you is a hard-targeted search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, firehouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in the area. Our fugitive has a name, and it is…"
"Corporal Damen Werth." Gibbs interrupted.
"Hey, the Tommy Lee Jones speech?...Every time we have a fugitive, really?" McGee frowned at Tony.
"Wait so this isn't a recent thing? How many times have you rehearsed this?" Claire piped up, watching the man curiously. Tony didn't meet her eyes and shrugged.
"It's not just a fugitive, Werth took a hostage." Gibbs corrected.
"Who?"
"Dr. Adrian De La Casa. BOLO out on his car. De La Casa is one of the attending psychiatrists on the ward. Had the graveyard shift." McGee explained.
"Involved in Werth's treatment?" Claire inquired. McGee nodded.
"Might help his chances. He knows who he's dealing with." Ziva pointed out.
"At least someone does. What does De La Casa think of Werth?" Tony gestured to the file in McGee's hands. McGee turned to the page he needed.
"Well, 'patient exhibits paranoia, delusional fantasies, hyperactivity, tendency towards violent outbursts.'"
"What does Werth think of De La Casa?" Ziva imputed.
"Doesn't say." The agents turn as a black car pulls up beside them. A suited man with a Bluetooth headset on steps out of the car.
"I think I'm staring at the man in charge right now." He commented as Gibbs approached.
"You are?"
"I'm gonna find out what Corporal Werth's status is."
"So are we." The man quickly held up a hand, silencing Gibbs as he finished what was now clearly a conversation on the headset.
"Apologies. Senator Hawkins." He gestured to the headset after hanging up.
"Ray Vincent, Senator's public affairs. You're Gibbs?" the silence was enough answer for the man to push on.
"You need to work fast. This could be a potential PR disaster."
"That's always my primary concern." Gibbs agreed sarcastically. Vincent sighed, taking off his sunglasses to make proper eye contact.
"You see the thing is, in three days the senator's scheduled to give Corporal Werth the Silver Star. Your missing marine's a hero." He explained.
"Well, we'll be sure that he's back and ready for the ceremony by then, you know PR first." Claire offered bitterly. The man nodded his thanks, not picking up on the falsity of her statement.
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Claire's POV:
Back at NCIS each of us were throwing ideas on how to best find our missing marine. Tony stood up in front of the big screen, voicing his theories aloud.
"When you're dealing with a guy on the run, you've gotta climb inside his head. Think his thoughts." He dramatically explained, staring at the photo.
"What would he do?...Where would he go?"
"Did a one-armed man murder his wife?" McGee added unhelpfully.
"Would he dress up like a clown and join a traveling circus? Like Jimmy Stewart in The Greatest Show on Earth." Tony continued.
"Do any of your ideas come from reality?" Ziva chimed.
"Sure, just not your reality." Tony snipped.
"Or anyone else." I countered in amusement. Tony shot me a look over his shoulder.
"Could you try to zero in on Werth's reality?" Ziva requested in frustration.
"In Tony's defense, since he came from a mental ward maybe non-linear thought is the way to proceed. He may not be in the same state of mind he normally would be." I pointed out.
"Maybe he was accused of a crime he didn't commit and is trying to promptly escape to the Los Angeles underground." Tony stared at McGee in slight disgust.
"He's not the A-team, McGee." He shot back.
"Might be. Aside from the medical incident that delayed his career, Corporal Werth is your poster boy for the Marine Corps." Tim reminded, pulling up his file onto the screen.
"Performance evals?"
"Rapid improvement in every facet since he enlisted four years ago. Strength, speed, stamina, mental acuity, everything." McGee explained.
"Wow, impressive improvement." I muttered, reading over the numbers. It was almost inhuman how quickly and effectively he improved at everything.
"Steady promotion up the ranks. Due to make sergeant." Ziva added.
"The only time Werth has been away from the Marines was to go to England for a joint training exercise with the British SAS." McGee explained to Tony who was still staring hard at the screen. Tony wrinkled his nose at the idea.
"That was his vacation?"
"How did he do?" I inquired curiously. Must have been worth his 'down time'.
"He aced it." Gibbs chimed in, following behind Vincent who was glued to his phone.
"I have to brief the senator and then try to run interference with the media. You'll update me every half hour, yes?" he grinned glancing around the room. None of us offered an answer as that was definitely not happening.
"The clock is ticking on this, people…Sophie. Yeah, let the senator know that I just met with NCIS…" he picked up another conversation as he led himself out the door. He was in for a shock if he thought we would just roll over and follow his every whim.
"The suit fill you in on what happened in Iraq?" Tony asked as Gibbs fully joined our circle.
"Werth's unit was ambushed and captured. He was being tortured when he broke loose. He killed his interrogators and carried all three of his men to safety."
"Wow." Ziva muttered what we were all thinking.
"Leathernecks nicknamed him Corporal Punishment." Gibbs added.
"Seems pretty fitting." I pointed out. Gibbs nodded, walking back around his desk.
"What else you got?" he inquired.
"Werth's life. Locations of interest. Boot camp at Paris Island, stationed at Quantico, then LeJeune before shipping out overseas." McGee rattled off the first part of our research.
"Family?"
"Unmarried, no siblings. His father is retired SAS, mother a behavioral therapist. They live in Michigan." I added in.
"Senator Hawkins' home state. Friends in the area?" Gibbs continued.
"I don't think he had any friends outside the corps, boss." Tony offered. Gibbs proceeded onto the next piece of this puzzle.
"Dr. De La Casa?"
"Navy Captain, resides in Reston, Virginia."
"But he works at Bethesda." I pointed out thoughtfully. Tony pointed, picking up what I was thinking.
"So he'd have to take the Dulles Toll Road every day. So he would have a Smart Tag. MaGoo?" he pointed to McGee as a prompt to start doing his thing.
"Scanned on 267 yesterday. Again, this morning, entering Virginia." I read off what was showing up on the screen.
"Tried to triangulate De La Casa's cell, but it's either switched off or Werth's laying low in the countryside out of range." McGee explained.
"Wait. Smart Tag just entered The District." I stood, spotting the next little blip that flashed on the screen.
"Try his cell again." Gibbs ordered, McGee already dialing away. Surprisingly after a couple rings someone picked up.
"Hello? Who is this?" We all went silent as the deep voice answered on the other side of the line.
"Gibbs, NCIS. I'm looking for a Dr. Adrian De La Casa." Gibbs calmly answered.
"Well look harder." The line went dead as Werth hung up. McGee quickly pinged the location.
"Northwest D.C. If he leaved his cell on I can get an exact location."
"Do it on the way." Gibbs ordered as we all gathered our stuff and booked it out of the building.
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3rd Person POV:
Werth's cell led the agents to a warehouse district on the outskirts of D.C. Silently Ziva led the way, flashlight in hand. Each agent took their position and walked through the dark hallways. On the floor they spotted an abandoned cell, presumably Werth's. In the open garage nearby they found a car sitting in the dark. A loud banging from the trunk caught their attention. Checking for any wires on the outside Gibbs gave a silent nod to Tony who lifted the trunk. A pin released and spotlights flooded the room, causing the agents to rapidly spin in order to find what may be waiting for them. A beat of silence revealed nothing.
"Just lights." Ziva commented aloud.
"For what?" Claire asked, but no one had an answer. Instead, they turned their attention to the man bound and gagged in the back of the vehicle. Gibbs reached down to lift off the duct tape.
"Dr. De La Casa?"
"Yes. I thought you were him coming back." The man grunted, accepting the help to stand up.
"Where'd he go?" De La Casa shook his head.
"I don't know. He did something with my laptop and disappeared." He explained.
"What's with the lights?" Tony inquired, glancing around once more.
"Boss?" McGee called spotting the setup on the table behind the lights. Using De La Casa's laptop Werth had attached a video camera and was recording the interaction, using the lights to see those inside.
"Now he knows what we look like." Tony muttered, stating the obvious. With that Gibbs reached forward to turn the camera off. Tony quickly turned and scanned Claire's face. She leaned back with a frown.
"What?"
"I was just checking if you looked that rough in real life." he snickered teasingly. Claire grit her teeth and shoved him in admonishment.
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Back at NCIS Ducky and Gibbs sat down with Dr. De La Casa to get his statement on the situation and what happened with Werth. Tony stood by the door with new information when Gibbs stepped out, startling him.
"Oh, hey boss. McGee managed to…..blah blah blah, computer geek stuff, and he figured out that the video feed was being accessed from a public site a few blocks from the garage." Tony explained, handing Gibbs the map of the location.
"While he watched us?"
"Yep, that is exactly true." Tony nodded.
"The last files accessed on De La Casa's laptop were…."
"Patient logs." Gibbs cut him off. Tony frowned, staring at the man curiously.
"Yeah, how did you… uh…three names in particular…"
"Whitney, Stone, and Heatherton." Gibbs cut off again, earning a strained grin from Tony.
"Ohh. Well, that's kind of creepy that you could…" the man quickly checked the back of the file, as if the answers were on the back.
"Whitney and Heatherton were treated and released for wounds sustained in combat. Transferred to LeJeune for redeployment." Tony pressed on.
"Stone?"
"His injuries were the most severe. He's undergoing rehabilitation physical therapy at Walter Reed."
"Werth is on his way there." Gibbs explained.
"Is he gonna break out of one hospital just to break into another one…I'm gonna go warm up the car." Tony quickly bolted from the look Gibbs had given.
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Learning that Werth was exhibiting PTSD in thinking he was still back in the desert and needed to rescue his teammates once more. Figuring Stone was the closest one to 'save' they headed over to LeJeune to try and intercept him before the situation got worse. Stepping into the main rehab gym the agents quickly scanned before breaking off into groups.
"McGee, David. Perimeter." Gibbs gestured and the duo took off. Gibbs, Conners, and DiNozzo continued on through the group of rehab patients that were working with their trainers. The group was led over to Stone who was walking shakily on his new prosthetic leg.
"That's it, Nate. Don't be afraid to put all your weight on it." His trainer encouraged.
"It feels weird."
"It'll feel less weird once you get used to it."
"PFC Stone?" Gibbs inquired as the man looked up.
"Yes, sir."
"Call me when you're done." His trainer nodded, letting Stone sit down on a bench nearby.
"Thanks, Karen." The man nodded, turning his attention back to the agents.
"You heard from Corporal Werth?"
"Got him in a brig in Bethesda. They won't even let me in to see him." Stone answered with a worried frown.
"Hmm. He broke out this morning." Tony explained.
"Good. He's not a prisoner. Shouldn't have been treated that way in the first place."
"He may try to find you. We think he's already on his way here." Claire explained, still glancing around for the man just in case.
"Hope he does. He saved my life. I'd give it right back to him if he needed it. Because of him, I might even be able to return to combat." Stone stated proudly. Gibbs almost smiled.
"You do that, Devil Dog." Stone grinned and stood up.
"Hoo-rah." He nodded, recognizing a fellow Marine in Gibbs.
"Corporal Werth doesn't realize that he ever left. He thinks you're in trouble." Gibbs continued explaining, knowing he now had Stone's cooperation.
"Corporal wouldn't hurt me." Stone insisted.
"We know. But what we're worried about is if he would hurt someone who got in the way." Claire pointed out. Stone paused, nodding thoughtfully.
"What do you want from me?" Before he could answer Gibb's phone rang.
"Gibbs, Werth is here." Ziva told him quickly, however when the man turned, he found a gun pointed at him with Werth on the other side.
"I know." The older man muttered, prompting Tony and Claire to turn as well. Ziva and McGee quickly joined from behind Werth.
"Drop your weapons." The man demanded. The three agents at gunpoint easily complied.
"Kick them away." Again they complied.
"You don't wanna do this, corporal." Gibbs warned calmly. Damon ignored him, his body tensed.
"Nate, come on. We're getting out of here." He ordered, not looking away from Gibbs.
"I'm okay, corporal. I'm safe." Stone insisted, keeping a careful eye on his friend. Damon shook and pointed his gun at Claire.
"Stop moving." He gritted out.
"We're not." Tony insisted in confusion. Damon jerked his head behind him.
"The other two." McGee and Ziva looked at one another.
"PFC Stone, get up now. That's an order." Damon barked. Stone hesitated but with a nod from Claire he shakily stood, walking around the agents in front of him. Werth faltered when he noticed the prosthetic.
"Your leg." He whispered, his head twitching.
"I left it in the desert. Remember? You carried me out on your back." Stone reminded; his face filled with concern. Damon shook his head, body trembling.
"Corporal, you're safe now. You and your men. You rescued them. We're here to help you." Gibbs spoke up, instantly getting Werth to point the gun at him with laser focus.
"Trust him, Damon. He's a grunt." Stone spoke up. Damon's face contorted in conflict.
"He's one of us?" he asked. Stone nodded.
"Have to take you into custody. You understand that?" Gibbs pressed quietly. Damon nodded almost like a child who knew they were in trouble.
"Mm-hmm."
"Put it down." Gibbs whispered, slowly stepping forward as Werth lowered his weapon. McGee began inching forward from behind.
"McGee, back off." Before Gibbs could finish McGee had slapped a set of cuffs on Werth setting the man off. Instinctively the man power kicked Gibbs in the chest, sending him across the floor.
"Boss." Tony grunted, trying to keep him from hurting himself more after the impact. Werth quickly turned on McGee, flipping him over his shoulder. Tony stepped up to try and subdue the enraged marine, earning a headbutt to the face.
"Tony!" Claire shouted nudging the falling man so he landed on the mats. Werth turned to Ziva who still had her gun trained on the man.
"Damon, what are you doing? Damon!" Stone shouted, trying to get through to his friend. He kicked the gun out of Ziva's hands and she retaliated with a kick to his chest. Claire stood to intercept Werth before he pounced back on Ziva, hoping a double team would work.
"No, don't shoot him, don't shoot him." Stone tried to interfere, but Claire stopped him with a glare and a nudge back onto the bench.
"Sit down." She barked, leaping forward and body slamming Werth off balance. Ziva lunged, blocking his upward kick and shoving him hard towards Claire who was waiting. Claire reached out trying to grapple one of his arms down but Werth spun, knocking her off balance before delivering a crack across her temple with his elbow. Claire dropped to the matt, her head throbbing wildly. Meanwhile Ziva took a punch to the face before managing to push the man away with her foot. Claire tripped him from below and Damon toppled down onto the mats. The second he dropped McGee, Gibbs, and Tony jumped on top to keep the flailing man on the ground. Gibbs scrambled over to finish cuffing Werth to a bolted table, watching with a frown as the veins and muscles bugged out of Damon's skin from how much he was resisting. As he started to calm down Damon's unseeing eyes blinked furiously up at the sky, Ziva's brow furrowing as she helped Claire stand back up.
