Chapter 6: Guilt Trip/Road Trip
Author's Note: Okay, I hadn't originally planned to put this part at the beginning, but it just seemed to fit. This all just came to me in a hurry, I thought I had writer's block, guess I just wasn't working hard enough.
Oh, and, ha ha, you'll never guess the killer!...Actually, if you paid enough attention, you might...
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, duh. If I did, this would be an actual episode, not a fanfiction.
I own Brice Talbot, Turner, and Wright.
I don't own Little Rock, Maumelle, Mayflower, Conway, Menifee, Morrilton, Atkins, Russellville, Hector or Retta.
I don't own any of the colleges in this chapter.
...But what if I owned all of that?...Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!!
The Killer
Fire has a rather poetic quality to it, the killer thought as he flicked on and off the Zippo lighter in his hand.
Both of his parents had been killed in a car accident earlier this year, this lighter was all that he had left of his parents.
He was all alone, his parents were dead and his brother had been sent away to camp.
His brother was a Marine, and he'd give his left arm to be one, too, but the chances of that had always been slim.
He had a bad knee, he had undergone 7 surgeries by his 11th birthday.
There were times when he couldn't believe what he had done.
He had killed a man.
He was holding his best friend hostage in a ATV trailer he was pulling behind his truck.
The killer glanced down at the fire pit he had built and sighed, there was no wood in it, he had to go collect some or he couldn't eat.
He took the lighter and lit the top right corner of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette he held in his hand.
He tossed the newspaper into the pit and watched as fire consumed the headline: "Federal Investigation Begins in the Case of the Dead Marine"
Yesterday, he had driven up the highway to a small town and stopped at the store to resupply and get a copy of the newspaper.
He returned to the campsite, dropped some food into the trailer and re-hitched it to his truck.
Once the sun set, he left the campsite and drove on.
He found an abandoned barn in a secluded area and pulled the truck and trailer into the dilapidated building.
He dropped his head into his hands and sighed.
He turned on the radio, hoping to find something to cheer him up and managed to find a station playing a song he recognized.
Mama, I just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and blown it all away
Mama, Oooooh
Didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time tomarrow
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters
Too late
My time has come
Sends shivers down my spine
Body's aching all the time
Goodbye, everybody
I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, Ooooooh
(Anyway the wind blows)
I don't want to die
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all
He debated doing the Elvis-thing and shooting out his radio, but he hasn't yet formed his plan as to what he would do if the Feds catch him.
He might need all the ammo he can get, he might just give up, instead.
So, he just shut off the radio and cried.
Gibbs and McGee
Brice Talbot was tall, thin and dark complected.
He had dark hair and dark eyes.
Brice looked like the type of person who had been an athlete in school, maybe a runner or a basketball player.
He was young, but looked strong and thick-skinned.
Probably the son of a farmer.
He led Gibbs and McGee out to a forest green Parks' Service SUV.
They put their suitcases into the back and Gibbs climbed into the front seat, with McGee in the seat behind him.
Brice started the vehicle and they left onto interstate 440 into Little Rock.
"So, like I said, I'm Brice Talbot, you fellas never told me your names," Brice said.
"Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Gibbs."
"Okay, Gibbs it is," Brice shrugged.
"I'm Tim McGee. You can call me McGee or Tim, I don't care."
"Tim. Okay, now that we know who we are, you got any questions?"
"Yeah. Tell me about the scene," Gibbs demanded.
"Well, ya see, the truth is, I wasn't at the scene. I was just sent to pick y'all up from the airport," Brice confessed.
Gibbs grunted and shook his head.
"Okay, I'll take that as a 'no'," Brice sighed.
He put the car on Highway 65/167 in Little Rock and drove just south of downtown, in complete silence.
Once the car was on Interstate 630, the Wilbur Mills Freeway, the Arkansas State Capitol building came into sight and McGee asked, "Was that designed after the U.S. Capitol building?"
"Yeah, it's a one-third scale replica of the National Capitol," Brice replied, turning to look at the building, "They've used it in several movies as a stand-in for the real Capitol. Some of those scenes looked awful, but it made a pretty good scene-setting shot.
McGee nodded.
They passed a big green wall with light posts around it.
"What's that?" McGee asked.
"That's Ray Winder Field. The Travelers used to play baseball there, but now they've got that big, new field over in North Little Rock. Dickey-Stephens Park, that's what it's called. It's over one hundred years old, it's a national treasure! And now it's just setting there," Brice sighed and hung his head, then pointed to a stadium behind the baseball field, "And that's War Memorial Stadium, the Razorbacks play football up there every once in a while. Oh, and here's the zoo, they're remodeling that. It'll be really nice when it gets done, maybe I'll come up here, bring my nephew."
The car turned onto Interstate 430 and they drove for a little while, through the outskirts of Little Rock, then across a part of the Arkansas River that had been dammed to form Murray Lake.
Once in Oak Grove, Brice took the exit onto Interstate 40 and started north.
They passed a sign that said, 'Maumelle Welcomes You'.
The silence was suddenly too much for Brice and he turned on the radio.
I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away!
How long?
How long must we sing this song?
How long?
How long?
'Cause tonight
We can be as one
Tonight
Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead-end streets
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall!
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
All right let's go!
And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won?
The trenches dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart!
Gibbs shot a warning glance at Brice, who obviously missed it.
The car drove past a sign that said, 'Welcome to Mayflower', and Brice kept cruising down the interstate.
Brice changed the radio station.
I'll tell you what yo wanna know
But boy you better listen close
People gonna tell you lies
Don't let it come as a surprise
They approached a larger city, a sign read, 'Welcome to Conway', another sign read,
'The University of Central Arkansas Welcomes You to Conway.
Go Bears!', another sign said,
'Welcome to Conway
Home of Hendrix University
Go Warriors!', the last sign read,
'Central Baptist University Welcomes You to Conway'.
Brice drove into the city and kept going, the interstate winded west and they left Conway.
Brice switched the radio station again and Gibbs grunted.
Brice ignored him.
It wasn't me that started this whole crazy Asian war
But I was proud to go and do my patriotic chore
And, yes, it's true that I'm not the man I used to be
Oh, Ruby, I still need your company
It's hard to love a man whose legs are bent and paralyzed
And the wants and the needs of a woman you're age, Ruby, I realize
But it won't be long, I've heard them say, until I'm not around
Oh, Ruby, don't take your love to town.
They passed a sign pointing out the Menifee exit.
Brice reached down to switch the radio station and Gibbs grabbed his wrist, "Just drive."
"Okay," Brice said, putting his hand back on the steering wheel.
Kody sat down on the avenue
He tapped his feet to the humming of the highway
He watched the light shine down on the broken glass and thought
I don't got no reasons, yet
There it is and there it was
It was clear to all of us
We kept this hat of broken dreams
And we pulled them out, when we needed them around
So please hand me a bottle, I think I'm lonely now
And please give me direction, I think the hurt set in
And I don't feel nothing yet
"So...Agent Gibbs...anything that I need to know about this case?" Brice asked, pointedly.
"Have you got us patched through with the state police?" Gibbs asked.
"Yeah, there's a guy waiting for you at the district office, a trooper," Brice answered, "Anything else?"
"Nope," Gibbs replied dryly.
"Good," Brice responded just as flat.
They passed a sign that said,
'Welcome to Morrilton
Home of the Devil Dogs and U of A- Morrilton'
"Not much to see out here is there?" McGee asked.
"Not like what you're used to," Brice laughed, "Lots of hills, it's really pretty in the fall. When the leaves have changed color."
McGee nodded as if he was imagining the flame-colored foliage.
Save some face, you know you've only got one
Change your ways while you're still young
Boy, one day you'll be a man
Oh, girl, he'll help you understand
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
As the car drove down the interstate, the scenery began to change.
The trees, that had been budding with blossoms and leaves, had morphed into twisted skeletons impaled with debris.
Shortly after the debris-thrashed trees began, all trees stopped.
A path of nothingness stretched about a mile wide and went perfectly straight as far as the eye could see. In the middle of said path, was a large building.
There was no exterior left to the building, it had been peeled off like a banana.
In spots, the layer of insulation could be seen, in other spots you could see into the large empty building.
Near the building was a bare concrete foundation slab.
"What happened here?" McGee asked, awestruck.
"Tornado. February fifth. That building, there, it used to be a pretty nice church. But that tornado made quick work of it, not much left now...And this was only an EF3, by the time it got to Clinton it was an EF4. That sucker kept goin' for 123 miles. Damn, I can't even imagine what it was like here when it hit," Brice answered, "You get storms like that up in Washington, Tim?"
"No..."McGee replied, turning pale at the very thought of a storm of that magnitude.
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing th sea out
See the Bedouin fries at night
See the oil fields at first light
See the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
A beautiful day
Soon, they passed a sign that said, 'Welcome to Atkins'.
They drove through the town and passed beside a large hill.
At the top of the hill was a gigantic white sign with a big, red razorback hog painted on it and at the top it said 'Go Hogs Go!' then at the bottom it read 'Atkins'.
Brice said, "Okay, we're getting close to where we'll be parting ways, mmkay? So, when we get to Russellville, I'll take you guys by the hotel, we've arranged an early check-in so that you can put your stuff up. There's a rental in the parking lot and you can follow me. The dead Marine was camping near the Bayou Bluff Camp Grounds, near Retta, on the Illinois Bayou. So we'll head up to the Bayou Ranger District Office in Hector. It won't take very long to get there from Russellville. That good?"
"That'll work," Gibbs grunted.
"Do you not like me, Agent Gibbs?" Brice asked, impatiently.
"Don't know yet. Guess we'll find out, Ranger Talbot," Gibbs said, flatly.
They passed a sign that said, 'Welcome to Pottsville'.
Brice pushed his luck and changed the radio station again, Gibbs did nothing.
Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah
No change, I can't change, I can't Change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
They took Exit 91 past a sign that said,
'Welcome to Russellville
Home of the Cyclones', and a green and yellow sign that said,
'Arkansas Tech Welcomes You to Russellville
Go Wonderboys and Golden Suns!'
They entered the city and Brice drove to a hotel and pulled up in front of the office and said, "I'll wait out here."
Gibbs exited the car and before shutting the door barked, "McGee, stay here."
"What? Does he think I'll take your stuff and run off? What's his deal?" Brice asked, almost sounding angry.
"He's Gibbs, that's just how he is," McGee shrugged.
Gibbs returned to the vehicle and said, "Drive around to the side door. We're in room 215, McGee, second floor."
Brice pulled into a parking space next to a side door and pulled out his cell phone as Gibbs and McGee unloaded their luggage.
Gibbs swiped the key card and pulled open the door and led McGee to an elevator.
McGee made a mental note that the emergency switch in the elevator was behind a metal door, best if he could keep Gibbs on the other side of the elevator.
The elevator dinged and they exited.
Gibbs led down a wide hallway to Room 215.
He swiped the key and the light on the handle lit up green and Gibbs opened the door.
They walked in and McGee put his suitcase on one bed and Gibbs put his on the other.
Gibbs took the bed nearest the window, McGee took the one closest to the alarm clock.
No sooner than Gibbs had entered the room, he left it and walked back to the elevator with McGee on his heels like a silent hunting dog.
When they got back to the parking lot, Brice was standing between his SUV and a silver SUV.
"Hey!" he waved them over and tossed Gibbs the keys, "This is your's. In case we get separated, we're gonna get back on I-40, take Exit 34 when you get to Atkins, then get on Highway 105 past Oak Grove and on into Hector, by then I'm sure you'll have caught up."
"And there are people at the district office that will know more about the case?" Gibbs asked, pointedly.
"Yeah, my boss, Turner's up there, and the first Ranger on the scene, Wright, and the family that found your Marine, they're up there. The State Trooper should be up there, too, don't know who that is, though," Brice answered.
"So why are we standing around, Talbot?" Gibbs demanded.
"Okay, then. Let's go," Brice said getting into his car and Gibbs and McGee got in theirs.
Okay, the songs in this chapter are:
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
Daddy's Eyes – The Killers
Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town – The Killers (The First Edition cover)
Kody – Matchbox 20
Smile Like You Mean It – The Killers
Beautiful Day – U2
Bittersweet Symphony – The Verve
Yeah, Morrilton's high school mascot is the Devil Dogs and Arkansas Tech's men's mascot is the Wonderboys and the women's mascot is the Golden Sun.
The damage from the February fifth tornado before you get to Atkins is based on the damage to that area that we saw on our way back from Hector a few weeks ago.
That's the best way I could describe the scene that I saw.
It was horrific and scary and it put you in awe of nature's power.
The experience was very humbling.
Oh, and Brice shares my opinion on the treatment of Ray Winder Field, it's one of the oldest ballparks in America and they're just going to tear it down!
Let's see here...Tony and Ziva will talk to the teachers at Judson Hill in the next chapter, then I don't know.
Maybe the chapter after that will be when Tony and Ziva have to deal with sharing a room, maybe they'll talk to Justin's mom (Justin's little brother is a character that I really liked writing for, he's based on the little step-brother of the guy that I'm basing Justin on), or maybe Gibbs and McGee will go to Hector and meet the rest of the Park Rangers and the State Trooper.
What do you guys think? When (not if, when) you review this, put in your review if you'd rather Chapter 7 be about:
Tony and Ziva's room
Justin's mom and Frank
Gibbs, McGee and the Rangers (hee hee, that sounds like a band name!)
The next chapter will be Tony and Ziva.
Now, review!
Freddie Mercury wants you to review!
Bono wants you to review!
Brandon Flowers wants you to review!
Rob Thomas wants you to review!
My cat, Addy, wants you to review!
...Please?