"Temporary Arrangement"- Chapter 3

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"Well, it's nice of you to finally join us, Agent Bernard," Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo scolded the young agent, as she walked into Autopsy.

"I had something I needed to do, Anthony," she replied, glaring at the Senior Field Agent. "What do you got, Duck?"

"My assertion that she was beaten to death is very much correct," Dr. Mallard told the agents. "Lieutenant Capizzi has broken bones and bruising all over her body. But here, at the back of the head, is the blunt- force trauma that caused a subdural hematoma, thus killing her."

"Ouch," Charity commented. "Find anything else?"

"Well, I don't know if it's significant, but she has a rather unique tattoo on her left shoulder," Ducky explained. "It appears to be in a foreign language."

"My area of expertise," Charity replied. "Mind if I take a closer look?"

"Not at all, my dear girl," Ducky said.

Charity cautiously leaned over the body, and read the words permanently etched onto the lieutenant's shoulder blade. " 'Non c'è giorno, ma oggi.' It's Italian; it translates to 'No day but today'."

"What could that possibly mean?" Tony asked.

"It's a reference to the musical 'Rent'," Palmer told him. "It premiered on Broadway in 1996, and closed in December of 2008. It was made into a movie in 2005." His audience stared at him, rather surprised by his knowledge.

"Are you a 'Rent-Head', J.P.?" Charity asked.

He let out a sigh. "Yes I am, Charity. I portrayed a character named Mark in a summer production of it a few years back. But yeah, 'no day but today' is the overall theme in the show."

"Does it mean anything in our investigation though, Palmer?" Tony asked.

"I can't be entirely sure, Tony," he admitted. "She could just be a fan of the show. I guess you'll find out when you search her place."

"Gibbs and McGee are there right now," Charity said. "Anything else?"

"Well, we sent her clothes and personal effects up to Abby to test," Ducky told her.

"I know the drill now," she said. "She'll call us when she has something. Thanks, Duck, J.P."

"You're welcome," the men chorused.

Charity and Tony left Autopsy, and went into the elevator to head back to the squad room. They stood shoulder to shoulder, Tony eyeing the young agent curiously.

"What?" she asked, annoyed.

"Did you talk to Ziva?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied curtly.

A moment passed. "And?" he prodded.

"You should do the same," she told him.

"Look, it's not like I didn't mean to not tell her," Tony tried to explain. "We've just been so busy…"

"I want to believe that," Charity said, "But all it takes is a phone call, or a visit. All of five minutes. Were you afraid of what her reaction might be?"

The senior field agent lowered his head. "Yeah, I guess I was."

"Well, I can tell you that I told her about my house rules, and where I stood on that issue," she assured him. "She knows we're just friends."

"Are we still friends?" he asked coolly.

She smiled. "I suppose we are, Tony. Actually, you're more like my big brother; a general pain in the butt, and often irritating, but I do care about ya."

"Which makes you my little sister," he retorted. "A little uptight and prissy, but really kind-hearted and sweet."

"That was… almost kind of nice, Tony," she admitted. "I am your friend, and I want to be Ziva's friend. And I want you two to be… well, whatever makes you happy. Just be happy at her place, okay? And please, talk to her."

Tony gave her his hundred- watt grin as the elevator dinged open. "Deal, sis."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hello," Special Agent Timothy McGee answered his i-Phone as they pulled in front of the apartment building. "Okay, thanks." He hung up. "That was Ziva- she went through the DMV records, and found out Kara-Lynn Bell drives a silver 2003 Toyota Prius."

"That's good, McGee," Special Agent Jethro Gibbs said. "You see it around?""There it is," Tim observed. "Looks like the roommate's home, Boss."

"Well then, let's go check her out," Gibbs told his junior agent.

"That was sort of funny," McGee said.

"What was?" Gibbs growled as they went to the front door.

"You said 'check her out', which is funny, 'cause she works at a grocery store…," McGee stopped mid-sentence, realizing that his boss had not cracked a joke. "I'm going to ring the doorbell now."

"Please do," the older man ordered.

A young woman with curly blonde hair and green eyes answered the door. "Can I help you?" she asked in a slight Southern accent.

"Are you Kara-Lynn Bell?" McGee asked.

"Yes, I am," she replied. "Who are you?"

"NCIS," Gibbs stated as flipped open his ID. "Special Agents Gibbs, and McGee. We have some questions about your roommate, Lieutenant Melissa Capizzi."

"Well, she's not here," Kara-Lynn told them. "In fact, I haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon. Are you trying to find her?"

"Don't have to," Gibbs replied. "She died last night- she's in our Autopsy room."

"Oh, my gosh!" Kara-Lynn exclaimed, clutching her chest. "How did it happen?"

"That's what we're investigating, Miss Bell," McGee told her. "We would like to take a look around, see if she left anything behind that could help us."

"Yeah, sure," she agreed. "Come on in. Her room's at the end of the hall."

"Thanks," Gibbs said as they walked through the house.

"I can't believe Mel's dead. How did… how did it happen?" Kara-Lynn asked.

""We're still working on it," McGee told the distraught young woman. "Is there anyone that had problems with her, like from work?"

"No, sir," she answered. "Everybody liked Mel."

Agent McGee's right foot slid on the hardwood in hallway, but he caught himself before he fell. "Geez, McGee," Gibbs growled. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," he said, then wondered, "What was that?"

The agents crouched down to take closer look. "Looks like some sort of cleaning product," Gibbs said as he stood up to face Kara-Lynn. "Did you clean recently?"

"No sir," she replied as they opened the bedroom door. The room appeared typical of a twenty-something, except for red specks on the cream-colored carpet. Tim pulled out a Human Blood Indicator test, and swabbed a speck to test it. The test came back positive. "What are y'all doing?" she asked as they led her out of the apartment.

"We're bringing you in for further questioning," Gibbs told her.

"I swear, I don't know how that blood got there," she tried to explain. "My boyfriend took me to my class, and I didn't get a ride home until after eleven."

"We'll need to talk to him," Gibbs demanded. "McGee, have Charity get the tow truck to bring in the Prius."

"Yes, Boss," he obeyed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Abby," Agent Ziva David wondered aloud to her forensic scientist friend, "What do you think of Charity?" She has just told Abby what the young redhead had said to her, regarding the temporary arrangement with Tony, after the bubbly Goth gave her a big "welcome back" hug.

"She's very smart," Abby admitted. "She has mad foreign language skills- she even knows sign language!"

"I will concede that she has me beat in the number of languages she knows," Ziva said, "But has she been a good field agent?"

"She's doing okay," she replied. "Some of the icky stuff made her nervous at first."

"What about her personality?" the young Israeli prodded. "I mean, she does seem… nice."

"She is nice," Abby explained, "But she also has a fun, clever side. Like, sometimes she doesn't seem like a missionary's kid."

"Her parents are missionaries?" Ziva asked, intrigued. "Where?"

"They travel all around the world," Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo said as he strode into the lab. "They're in a place a couple years at a time. Currently, they're in Argentina."

"Why did Charity not become a missionary?" she wanted to know.

"I asked her the very same thing shortly after I…" Tony paused, then asked Abby, "Can I borrow Ziva for a second?"

"Of course," Abby replied, "But bring her back."

"I will, Abs."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ziva followed Tony into the elevator, arms folded. The doors closed, and he flicked the emergency switch.

"Look, Ziva," Tony began, "I know I have some explaining to do…"

"You certainly do," she replied. "Why didn't you tell me about this… this 'temporary arrangement'?"

"At first, I just decided not to worry you," he admitted. "Then, too many days passed by… I was afraid of what your reaction might be."

"You are hardly ever afraid, Tony," she said. "Why now?"

"Over the last few weeks, Charity and I have developed a very… unique relationship. Not a romantic one, though."

"Charity told me that," Ziva said. "What you have is a friendship, yes?"

"Sort of. We have a lot in common in some ways. Both only children, with difficult parents, and independent streaks. We both had to deal with loss early on in life…"

"You have, what I think you call, a kinship," she concluded.

"Yes! Exactly," Tony exclaimed. "She's like the little sister I never had. Whereas you, you're Ziva. You're my partner, my friend, my undercover wife…," he let out a chuckle, "Maybe more, someday."

"Someday," she repeated. "But I am still upset that you didn't tell me at first."

"Can I make it up to you?" he wanted to know. "I know Gibbs says 'don't apologize', but I'm truly sorry, Ziva." He kissed her on the cheek, to affirm the apology.

"Apology accepted," she told him. "Now, about how you can make it up to me…"

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