Close Encounters of the Fictional Kind
Chapter 18: Accused Part I
The snow was heavy on the interstate while Elise and Marie sat in the back seat of Elise's cousin Tony Dinozzo's car that he'd borrowed from work. His normal Shelby Cobra wasn't big enough to hold all three people as well as the two girls' luggage. "Are we almost there?" Elise asked worried about how the snow seemed to be thickening and visibility was dropping.
"It's gonna be a bit longer. Didn't really plan on the freak blizzard here."
"I didn't think D.C. got blizzards," Elise replied.
"Of course we do! Just not as often as you Minnesotans."
It was just then that Tony's cell rang, an innocuous buzzing sound, and Tony reached down to grab it. "Should you really be answering that with the weather this way?" Marie asked.
"It's work. I've got to take it. Dinozzo," he said answering the call. He made a few sounds of affirmation and as well as a grumble of protest before saying, "I'll be there shortly." He hung up and tossed the phone to the seat next to him before looking in the rear view mirror at the girls. "Looks like you're gonna get to see NCIS headquarters earlier than planned. I've been called in."
"Really? That's so cool! Has there been a murder?" Marie asked looking entirely too excited at the prospect of a person being murdered.
"No, no, nothing like that, just a meeting to go over emergency procedures for severe weather like this."
"Well that's no fun," Marie slumped back. "No time to drop us off? I was hoping for a nap."
"Nope! Boss said immediately."
With that, he took the next exit, fishtailing slightly with the slippery roads. NCIS headquarters wasn't really that far away and they made it there shortly. Tony parked the car in a garage, saving the girls from having to tromp through the heavy snow. "Come on you guys can wait in the bullpen. I'll call Abby; she can babysit you."
"We don't really need a babysitter," Elise grumbled.
"I didn't mean it like that!"
"I know," Elise said after a moment.
With that he led them through the security checkpoint and down the hall to an elevator where they went up. When the doors opened, they saw an open room separated only by low thin cubical walls and filled with desks and filing cabinets. Several people were milling about and one in particular, a young woman with black pigtails and a lab coat over a plaid skirt, black fishnet shirt and tank top and some serious looking combat boots approached the two girls as they stepped out of the elevator. As she got closer they noticed a large tattoo peeking out from her lab coat collar. It looked like a spider. "Hey! I'm Abby. Tony said you wanted a tour."
Elise glanced over at her cousin who shrugged absently. She shifted her gaze to Marie who looked as excited as a kid in a candy store. "Come on, I'll show you my lab first," Abby addressed them and they left their coats and scarves with Tony before stepping back in the elevator with her as Tony went to join Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee. On their way down the lab Elise turned to take in the goth girl's appearance once more and asked, "Don't you need to be at the meeting too?"
"Nah," she waved a hand absently. "Boss will catch me up later."
Elise shrugged, noting that it wasn't her problem anyway. Marie on the other hand was nearly bouncing with excitement as the elevator ground to a halt and the doors opened revealing a hallway that would lead to the lab. They passed several doorways before arriving in the brightly lit room. "And these are my babies!" Abby exclaimed gesturing toward the equipment.
She proceeded to tell the girls about each individual piece of equipment, what its name was, what it did, and so on and so forth. Halfway through her introduction of Major Mass Spec, Marie's cell phone went off and she quickly glanced at the screen then back up at Abby and Elise. "Is there someplace I can take this?" she asked.
"Yeah, back in the hallway, first room. It's an interrogation room that should be empty."
"Thanks," Marie ran off toward the room.
Her phone call only lasted about ten minutes and when she returned, Elise asked, "Who was that?"
"That? Oh, um, that was… Rose," Marie replied.
"Oh, okay," Elise nodded. Rose, was Marie's friend from high school and the two still kept a close relationship.
"Right," Abby said and continued her tour of the lab.
A half hour later, they'd finished the tour and were headed back up to the bullpen. "Thanks for the tour, Abby," Elise said.
"No problem, guys, it was a pleasure!"
When they exited the elevator, the bullpen looked to be a very active place. McGee and Dinozzo were typing away in a flurry on their computers while Gibbs and Ziva whispered quietly. The minute Gibbs noticed their return he moved toward Abby and asked for a report of some kind. "Oh, yeah, it's down in the lab. I'll go get it."
She rushed off, leaving Elise and Marie in the bullpen. The girls moved over to Dinozzo and Elise peeked over his shoulder at his computer. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Nothing much, just preparing. There's going to be a lot that needs done after this blizzard lets up."
"So we're staying here until it does?"
"Have you looked outside?" he asked gesturing toward the windows.
Elise looked up then to see that while they'd been down in the lab, the storm had intensified and it was now white out conditions. It didn't look like anybody would be going anywhere anytime soon. "Whoa… that's awful," she commented.
"You're telling me," Tony agreed before going back to his work.
Suddenly Gibbs' phone chirped and he flipped it open. "Gibbs," he answered.
In the silence that suddenly filled the room, they could all hear Abby's voice say, "Boss, you need to get down here… now."
Eyes wide, Elise and Marie tagged along at the back of the group as everyone rushed down the stairs in the back. As soon as they reached the hallway, they could see why Abby had called them down. One of the doors in the hall was open and a dark substance was staining the floor. "Is that what I think it is?" Elise asked Tony.
Tony nodded not taking his eyes from the sight of the dark red liquid. "Blood."
o O o O o O o
NCIS (c) Donald P. Bellisario & Don McGill