*Chapter 13*
Down in Autopsy, Ducky is working on his current guest. He pulls the needle with the thread attached as he's sowing the gash closed on Lewis' head. The doors slide open and Gibbs enters.
"How's the patient?" Gibbs asked upon entering.
"Unlike all the other guests I talk to, this one talks back." Ducky said.
"I always knew one of them would, Duck." Gibbs said. He looks to Lewis. "You saved that boy."
"Is he alright?" Lewis asked in concern.
"Josh is a little shook up from being thrown into the air. But he's fine." Gibbs answered. "He'll walk out of here with his mother because of you."
"That's good." Lewis is relieved the child is okay.
"All done." Ducky said. He cuts the thread. "I suggest you take it easy for a couple days." He notices the look in Lewis' eyes. "But I've seen that look in a person's eyes before. You're going to ignore my suggestion."
"I'm good to go." Lewis stated as he looks at Gibbs.
"I should've given you backup." Gibbs said. "Ziva will be going with you this time."
"After this escaped prisoner is apprehended, you need…" Ducky said.
"Once he's in custody or dead, I'll take it easy for a couple days." Lewis said.
"And that's doctor's orders." Ducky stated.
"Sure thing, Doc."
Up on the third floor, two sets of people are waiting inside of interrogation rooms. One set being Taylor and his mother who Tony and Samantha are watching from the observation room.
"I'm thirsty." The technician stated. "Either of you want anything?"
"No, I'm good." Samantha said. "Thank you anyway."
"Wait, you can't leave…" Tony said. The technician leaves the room.
"We're finally alone." Samantha smiles flirtatiously.
She approaches him. He backs away until he can no longer do so. With his back against the wall, Samantha doesn't stop. She presses forward. Tony puts his hand up; between his face and hers. Samantha's lips press against his hand.
"Playing hard to get, eh." Samantha said.
"I'm really not playing." Tony stated as he maneuvers to the other side of the room. "Look… You're a beautiful woman. But I love my wife. And we don't have an open relationship. We really don't." She places her hand onto him. "Ahh…" He backs away.
Samantha eventually corners him. She wraps her arms around Tony's neck and tries to kiss him, but he pulls his head as far back as he can. Then she wraps one leg around his waist. The technician returns. He stops in his tracks as both Tony and Samantha turn their heads in his direction.
"I'll come back…" The technician said as he turns around to leave the room.
"Wait! Don't close that…" Tony begins to say. But the door closes and he's alone with Samantha again. "…Door." He finished his sentence.
"Alone again." Samantha said with a smile.
Tony manages to squirm his way to freedom. Seconds later, Gibbs enters into the observation room. The two both them stand innocently as if nothing happened.
"Samantha…" Gibbs looks to her. "You're conducting this interview. Go…"
"Yes Boss." She said.
As soon as the door closes behind Samantha, Gibbs smacks Tony on the back of the head. The technician returns; he enters into the room and quickly sits down in his chair.
"Hello." Samantha said as she enters into the interrogation room. "I'm Special Agent Cole."
"Nice to meet you Agent Cole." The mother greeted her.
"Am I in trouble?" Taylor said in concern that he might have done something wrong.
"You're not in trouble, Taylor." Samantha assured him. "We just want to ask you a couple questions, is all… It would really help us."
"Okay…" Taylor said. There's a brief pause as he looks behind her at the two-way mirror. "There are people on the other side, right?"
"Yes there are." Samantha replied. She could tell Taylor is still slightly worried so she stands up and walks toward the door. "I'll show you how the two-way mirror works. Come here…" She motions for him to follow. Taylor stands up and walks to her. "On the other side of the two-way mirror is another room. It's the observation room where my boss or anyone can observe the room we're in. What I want you to do is turn the light off. Just flip the switch down. Go ahead…"
Taylor flips the switch. The lights go out. Now, Gibbs, Tony and the entire observation room is visible due to it having the only lighting.
"Whoa…" Taylor is amazed by how cool it is. He turns the light on and turns it off again. "That's neat!"
"I know, it is." Samantha agreed to the neatness of the two-way mirror.
"How are they?" Taylor asked.
"I'm Special Agent Gibbs." Gibbs introduced himself as he presses a microphone button. "I'm Agent Cole's boss." He added. "The person standing next to me is Special Agent Tony DiNozzo…"
Tony starts making funny faces.
"He's funny." Taylor laughed.
"Tony is the team goofball." Samantha said. She flips the switch turning the lights back on. "I can arrange a tour of NCIS after we're done talking. Would you like that?"
"Yeah!" Taylor exclaimed in excitement.
Samantha and Taylor sit back down at the table in the middle of the interrogation room.
"She's good." Tony said. He receives a look from Gibbs. "I meant good as in good interrogation technique. Not that I admire it or anything. I don't admire it… Or her. I'm just saying she recognized his anxiety and calmed him down. That's what I meant by good."
"DiNozzo…" Gibbs tries to get his attention.
"Yes Boss?"
"Shut up."
"Shutting up, Boss."
They look back toward the interrogation room where Samantha is already in the process of getting information from Taylor.
"After leaving the deli, I…" Taylor begins to say but stops.
"It's okay, Sweetie." The mother said to ease his anxiety from the asked questions. "Tell the nice agent what you know."
"I walked to McDonald's." Taylor finished. "I bought French fries."
"Oh, I love French fries. They're so yummy." Samantha commented. "But after you left McDonald's, what happened?"
"I love French fries too." Taylor stated. "Umm… I was walking to mom's work. I stopped in front of an alley. I saw something shiny and I went go see what it was." Taylor said. "After seeing the shiny object I turned around. And that's when I bumped into the man. I offered him French fries."
"I've seen that man before." Samantha said. "He's a bit scary."
"He was scary at first."
"Did you see anyone else in the alley?" Samantha asked. "Or was it just you and him?"
"No… It was just me and him."
"What happened right after you bumped into the large man? Did he say anything?"
"He didn't say a word." Taylor said. "I intro… In… I don't know how to say that word."
"Introduced…"
"Yeah, that's the word." Taylor said. "I introduced myself. He still didn't say a word. I thought he may think my name is a girl name. So I started to explain it's not." There's a brief pause. "Then we sat on the car and shared my French fries. I was telling him about the kids who keep making fun of me. They call me Taylor Swift."
"I'm glad none of the children were hurt. But those snotty little brats deserved to be scared out of their minds." The mother stated. "They're always making fun of my boy for no good reason."
"Well, I doubt they'll ever make fun of Taylor again." Samantha commented.
"He would've never hurt them." Taylor stated. "He scared them for me so they would stop making fun of me. He's nice… He's a good listener… And he's my friend." There's a brief pause. "I don't understand why the man at the park shot at him. He didn't do anything wrong."
"We have the information we need. Thank you." Samantha said as she stands. "If you sit tight here for a couple minutes, I'll send an Agent in to give you a tour around the building."
"Did I help?" Taylor wondered.
"Yes…" Samantha said. "Yes you did."
Samantha exits from the interrogation room where she's immediately met by Gibbs and Tony.
"I know how to takedown Apocalypse." Samantha stated.
"He connected with the boy due to the similar situation of being made fun of as a child." Gibbs said.
"Yes." Samantha said. "It's the first real human connection he's felt since… Well… Probably ever. But most likely he doesn't realize why he felt it. And that's what we need to exploit."
"Its crazy how this kid thinks Apocalypse is his friend." Tony commented. "He really has no idea how lucky he is to be alive."
"And he has no idea what Apoc is truly capable of." Samantha added.
Samantha enters into the next interrogation room where Josh and his mother have been waiting. Gibbs and Tony enter into the observation room in order to watch.
A couple minutes pass and it's nearing the end of the interview.
"When I saw him toss my Josh into the air, I freaked out as any mother would." Mrs. Potter said. "I was scared for my child. But I didn't know what to do. I saw that other man catch my son. Then that monster attacked him. It was at that point where what he did to my son fully set in. I was so angry. So I slammed on the gas pedal."
"And that's when you ran him over." Samantha said.
"Yes." Mrs. Potter said. "But he got right back up. How the hell is that even possible?!"
"Apocalypse suffers from a condition where his brain doesn't perceive pain the way it should due to signal misfiring." Samantha stated. "Let's say you or I was to be stabbed in the stomach with a knife… On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most painful… That stab wound would definitely be a ten. But for Apocalypse… It would be a two… Three at most… Which to him is hardly anything at all."
"Oh my God…" Mrs. Potter said in surprise as she realizes he hardly felt being run over.
"It's not just his strength that makes him very dangerous. It's his perception of pain." Samantha commented. "He can take a hit and keep going."
After the final interviews are done, both sets of people are escorted to the elevator where they meet. Tony watches from his desk. The mothers basically ignore each other as they try to civil about the whole thing.
"I'm sorry, Taylor." Josh apologized for his own behavior. "I'm sorry for making fun of you all the time." He holds his hand out.
"It's okay." Taylor said as he accepts the apology and shakes Josh's hand.
"Do you want to come over and play Mario Kart?"
"Sure." Taylor replied. He looks up at his mother. "Can I go to Josh's house to play Mario Kart?"
"Yes you can."
"I'm Special Agent Manny." An agent introduced himself. "I'll be taking you and your son Taylor on the tour around the building." He looks to the side at the other set of people. "You're welcome to join if you want."
"Oh no, I don't want to impose." Mrs. Potter declined. She doesn't want Taylor's mom to feel uncomfortable.
"Join us, Margaret." Taylor's mom said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Alright then…" The agent said. "Since we're here on the third floor, this is where we'll start."
As the agent starts giving them the tour of NCIS, Tony can't help but smile at the irony. Apocalypse kills people emotionlessly. But he managed to help a child without the intent to do so. None of the children were hurt. It would've been a different story if Lewis didn't show-up at the park when he did. But now, the boy who always made fun of Taylor actually apologized and invited him over to play a video game. And earlier in the day, the team found out the two people Apocalypse killed and stashed in the dumpster were convicted kidnappers. It's ironic that the best thing to ever happen to Taylor was bumping into Apocalypse. The boy really has no idea how lucky he truly is.