Deep Lacerations: Chapter 2
NCIS Special Agent Tony DiNozzo grinned to himself as he stepped out of the elevator, early for work for the first time in almost a month. It wasn't that there was anything specific keeping him from getting in on time; he just wasn't a morning person. Not today. If the darkened desks were any indication, he was the first to arrive. His grin turned slightly devious as he thought about what he had in his bag and his plans to surprise his fellow agents when they arrived.
He placed his bag on the floor behind his desk, taking a seat as he turned on his computer monitor, getting things ready before exacting his revenge on McGee and Ziva for their prank in the lab the other day. Nobody messes with Anthony DiNozzo, he thought, smiling again.
He reached over to turn on his desk lamp and almost jumped in surprise at what he saw in his peripheral vision. "Who are you?" he demanded as his heart rate slowly returned to normal.
The woman leaning against Special Agent Gibbs' desk slowly turned to face DiNozzo, giving him a moment to study her in more detail. Her thick, straight reddish-brown hair was tied in a neat ponytail; her tall, athletic figure was accentuated by a dark green button-down shirt and well-fitted dark brown slacks low on her narrow hips. He could make out a badge attached to her belt, but couldn't tell which department or agency it belonged to. "I'm waiting for Special Agent Gibbs," she finally replied.
"That didn't really answer my question," he said, giving her a wide grin. "Let me start. I'm Special Agent DiNozzo, but you can call me Tony."
She smiled slightly, an expression that didn't quite meet her light brown eyes. "Sonja Gracy," she introduced with a small nod. "I'm to be filling in for Special Agent McGee for the next few months."
DiNozzo frowned. "Filling in for McGee?" he echoed. Gracy frowned as well.
"You mean you didn't hear?" she asked. "He broke his leg on Saturday and is on a three month restriction from field work. I believe I was told that he will be down in Cyber Crimes for that time?"
"He broke his leg?"
"Agent DiNozzo," Gracy said firmly, "if you insist on repeating everything I say, it's going to be a long three months."
He grinned and gave a short chuckle. Before he could say anything else, he noticed his partner stepping out of the elevators and heading their way. "Good morning, Tony," Mossad Officer Ziva David said. "You are unusually prompt today."
"Yeah, well," he stammered, his voice trailing off. He tilted his head toward Gibbs desk, where Gracy was still standing.
"Who are you?" David asked, almost accusingly, her dark eyes narrowed.
"Sonja Gracy," the newcomer repeated. "I'm filling in for Special Agent McGee."
"Ah," Ziva said with a nod. "The broken leg has side-stepped him, yes?"
"Sidelined," DiNozzo corrected automatically. "And how did you know about the broken leg when I didn't?"
"Because I am his friend, Tony. After your comment—"
"I get it," Tony interrupted, annoyed. "Where is the boss, anyway?"
"Right behind you, DiNozzo," Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs said, smacking his senior field agent in the head. He barely gave Gracy a second glance. "Grab your gear. Dead body at Annapolis." He was already heading for the elevator before anyone got the chance to respond.
"Sir?" Gracy called after him. "Do you want me to come?"
He finally turned and faced her, an almost confused expression on his face. "Who are you?"
She gave a small, exacerbated sigh, her first showing of emotion. "Doesn't anybody read their email around here?" At everyone's blank looks, she changed the question. "Doesn't anybody send email around here? My director told me that your director would have this squared away."
"Your director?" Gibbs echoed.
Gracy unhooked the badge from her belt and held it up. At that distance, all Gibbs could see was the gold, but it got the point across. "Army CID. Your director thought Agent McGee's injury would be a good opportunity for a short-term liaison position."
Gibbs studied her for a moment before he spoke. "Well, then, grab your gear and come liaise."
"CID? Really?" Agent DiNozzo asked conversationally as he slowed the NCIS truck to a stop at a red light.
"That is what the badge says," Agent Gracy replied dryly.
"Am I the only one around here who actually works for NCIS anymore?" Gibbs reached around Ziva to smack Tony on the back of his head.
"I'm still here, DiNozzo."
"Well, I meant…Sorry, boss." Officer David chuckled at the sheepish expression on DiNozzo's face, a sound that was cut off abruptly as she was thrown forward in her seat after Tony stomped on the accelerator.
"You're a liaison as well?" Gracy asked Ziva. She nodded, but Tony answered for her.
"She was the original liaison. Although, now that I think about it, she doesn't liaise much. She pretty much just works for us and makes vague threats about involving Mossad." Ziva rolled her eyes at him.
"So you're Mossad?"
Ziva nodded. "Shalom," she said with a slight smile. "Officer Ziva David."
"Nice to meet you," Gracy said with a small nod before turning to Gibbs. "I'm sorry if my presence here came as a surprise. I would have done a better job introducing myself if I had known that you weren't aware I would be joining you."
"Don't apologize," Gibbs said gruffly as DiNozzo slowed the truck to a stop at the gates of the United States Naval Academy. "It's a sign of weakness."
"Hmm," Gracy murmured, handing her ID card over to DiNozzo to give to the guard. "I remember a kindergarten teacher telling me that it takes a lot of strength to apologize."
"If you want to go teach kindergarten and fill the lives of children with brightness, don't let me stop you," Gibbs commented dryly. "We're here to investigate murders and piss people off. Apologies aren't in our job descriptions."
"I'll keep that in mind, sir," Gracy said, just as dry as she replaced her credentials. Neither agent said anything further as DiNozzo followed the guards' directions to the crime scene.
"What've you got?" Agent Gibbs barked at the first person he saw as he stepped out of the truck. The young midshipman's eyes widened in fear.
"Uh, sir, I don't know anything, sir," he stammered.
"Then get me someone who does!" Gibbs snapped. DiNozzo and David watched the encounter with interest as they prepared their gear.
"There seems to be a bee in his hat," Ziva commented softly enough that her boss couldn't hear.
"Bee in his bonnet, Ziva," DiNozzo corrected. The Mossad officer frowned.
"Why would Gibbs be wearing a bonnet?"
"It's just an expression," he said with a sigh. "I thought you would have understood that concept by now." She rolled her eyes as she headed toward her boss, who was conferring with a naval officer.
"We don't know who he is," the officer was saying. "A little after 0530, a pair of midshipmen were doing PT on their own, running the campus loop when they came across our friend." He gestured toward the body. "They contacted the base MPs immediately and stuck around to make sure no one else stumbled over our body until the authorities arrived."
Gibbs nodded. "Sounds responsible."
"Both first-classmen," the officer replied with a nod. "And both in the top third of the class. They'll make fine officers."
"They touch anything?"
"They both denied it."
"We're going to have to talk to them."
The officer nodded and tilted his head toward a small crowd of officers and MPs. "They've both been under constant supervision since the MPs arrived. They both complained of the cold and were escorted back to the dorm—separately—to change into cold weather gear, and then escorted right back here."
"Do you suspect them of anything?" Gibbs asked with a frown. The officer shook his head.
"We just didn't want there to be any question about the accuracy of their statements. Gibbs nodded before turning to face his team.
"DiNozzo, sketches. Ziva, bag and tag." He frowned as he studied the CID liaison, suddenly aware that he didn't know her name. "Agent…"
"Gracy."
He frowned. "Gracie what?" he barked.
"Special Agent Sonja Gracy," she snapped back. "What do you want me to do?"
"You ever process a crime scene before?"
She rolled her eyes. "No, Agent Gibbs," she said sarcastically. "I'm the only special agent with the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command who doesn't know how to investigate."
He ignored her comments. "Photos," he snapped before turning back to Ziva and Tony. "I'll go talk to the midshipmen who found the vic." He turned and walked away without a second glance, leaving the three younger investigators by the truck.
"Is he always like this?" Gracy finally asked. Tony and Ziva looked at each other before turning back to the CID agent and speaking in unison.
"Worse."