Summary: Buffy and Ziva pick up their suspect and some new trouble is brewing in Virginia
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or NCIS, sadly
A/N: Thank you again for everyone's reviews and suggestions!! I really do take them to heart!!
And thank you again to my beta Cflat on TTH!! You have helped a ton.
All reviews are greatly appreciated, and I love constructive criticism.
Lady Ryn
-------------------------- CHAPTER 6 ------------------New Trouble
"So, Faith is interesting," Ziva said as Buffy navigated through the traffic in Norfolk to get back to Jillian's.
"That's an understatement," Buffy said with a grin. She had decided to drive when McGee has pulled her aside and warned her about Ziva's driving. She had finally taken driving courses, and her driving had gotten a lot better than when she was in Sunnydale. "She's been through a lot; we've been through a lot, though not always on the same side."
Ziva nodded. "I didn't notice any friction between you two?" Ziva commented.
"Naa, we resolved a lot of our differences over the years since Sunnydale and we've gotten pretty close. She's good to have around. My friend Willow in Cleveland works with Faith on a day to day basis and really enjoys having her around, but sometimes I think she is ready to throttle her," Buffy added with a grin in Ziva's direction.
"I can see that," Ziva said with a grin of her own. "With the whole 'I take my own orders and am better than you' vibe that she gives out. Spotted that a mile away."
"That is totally Faith, but she has been better on the 'I'm better than you' stuff lately," Buffy answered.
Suddenly, Buffy's phone rang and she fished it out of her pants pocket and checked the number before opening it. "Hey Dawnie, what's up? Everything ok?"
"Yeah, everything's good. Actually, just wanted to ask you, why is Faith sleeping on our coach in our living room? She practically attacked me last night when I walked through the door. She's worse than you when you're sleeping," Dawn answered on the other line.
"She just came in from Cleveland to do some work, and I offered to let her stay at the house. She'll actually probably be arriving there again in not too long because one of my coworkers is dropping her off. And I really hope this isn't the only reason you're calling me because I'm at work and my boss'll kill me," Buffy answered, dodging a car on the road at the same time.
"Oh no, don't worry, I wouldn't call you just for that. Well, maybe I would at another time, but not this time. Willow called, said that some of the seers have found a big demon disturbance in our area and we should be expecting some trouble, like apocalyptic trouble, possibly."
Buffy groaned, "Why couldn't this have happened last week, or any other time between the time I arrived in this city and now. All right, let Faith know when she arrives and I'll see what I can do. I'm working a case right now so I don't know the timing. But Faith can help you out, at least for now. And will you be nice to her? For my sake?"
"I'm nice to her Buffy. I kicked you out of the house so she could replace you, remember?"
"Yeah, let's not have a repeat of that either."
Dawn laughed on the other end then added, "Oh, Faith's back."
Buffy heard the door open and Faith's voice drifted over the line, "Hey Timothy, you sure you don't want to come in? The G-man wouldn't know, just a quickie, come on."
Then McGee's voice, unusually high, drifted over the line too, "No that's ok Miss Lehane, really. I should be getting back to work. Have a nice day!" Buffy then heard the door quickly slam and she chuckled.
Dawn also proceeded to chuckle and said, "Well, looks like Faith has already got a friend on your squad. Well, good luck on that case!"
Buffy smiled and answered, "Thanks Dawn, and be careful, ok?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be careful, don't worry. I grew up with you, remember? Later."
Buffy heard the line click, then she closed her cell phone and put it back in her pocket. "My sister," Buffy explained to Ziva's questioning look. "Big ant problem in the kitchen," she then added to explain the conversation. "Dawn's afraid of ants and Faith has always been good at that bug exterminating thing," she finished with a grin.
Ziva chuckled as Buffy then pulled into a parking spot outside of Jillian's. The two of them then got out of the car and walked into the bar.
"Ah, Special Agent Summers, Officer David, what can I do for you this time," the manager asked when he spotted them walking over.
"We are looking for a man that was here the night that the vic was killed. He got into a fight with him that night," Ziva said as the manager shook his head, "Hispanic, around six foot, muscular…."
"Oh, yes, I know him, Carlos Ramirez, I think. I remember looking at his driver's license when we carded him." The manager then walked to his computer and started typing away. "Yeah, Carlos Ramirez. A regular here. Yeah, he got into a fight with the Corporal and security had him thrown out. You said someone spotted him going back to the room where the Corporal was killed?" The manager asked as he looked between the two of them.
"Yes. You said he was thrown out?" Ziva asked the manager.
The manager nodded his head, "Yeah, we don't deal with trouble makers here. Bad for the business."
Buffy nodded then said, "Well thank you again for your time. We will contact you if we have any more questions." Buffy and Ziva then headed out of the club and back to their car. "Well at least we have a name," Buffy said with a sigh and Ziva nodded.
"Let me get a hold of McGee, see if we can get an address," Ziva said as she pulled out her cell and dialed McGee's number.
"Hey McGee, you back at the office? Ok, great. Could you tell Gibbs we got a name for our guy and could you see what information you can get on him? His full name is Carlos Ramirez," Ziva said to him over the phone. There was a long pause as she heard McGee talking to Gibbs then typing on his computer. She then heard him say he got it and then he relayed her the address and Gibbs's directions. "Great, thanks. We'll head there now and bring him in for questioning." Ziva then closed her phone and turned to Buffy. "The address is the Coral Dr. Apartments in Downtown, room 35."
Buffy nodded, then waited a little while longer in silence then added, "Well, that's great, but I'm not a walking navigation system and I just moved here. How do I get there?"
"Oh, sorry, just head downtown and get off on the Coral Dr. Exit and keep going south. It'll be on your right," Ziva told her. Buffy nodded, tuned the car around to go the other direction on the highway and floored it, the car lurching.
They finally reached the apartments and Buffy parked the car in the street, hitting the curb a couple times in her attempts to parallel park, and the two of them headed to room 35. Ziva knocked on the door as they waited. The door finally opened and they were faced with, as Faith described, a six-foot Hispanic man who was a lot more than just muscular. He could easily have been a bodybuilder. "Can I help you?" he asked, his voice deep with his Mexican accent showing through.
Buffy looked up from her 5'3 height and pulled out her badge and showed it to Carlos. "My name is Special Agent Summers, and this is Officer David. We're here to ask you to accompany us to NCIS headquarters to answer some questions about the murder of a certain corporal the other night."
Carlos narrowed his eyes at the two women then nodded. "Fine, but I would like my lawyer there."
Ziva nodded at him and said, "That will be fine."
Carlos grabbed his wallet, keys, and cell phone and followed the two women down to the car and got into the back seat. He took his cell phone out and started speaking rapidly in Spanish to his lawyer the whole way. There was silence between Buffy and Ziva, and when they pulled up at NCIS headquarters, they saw Carlos's lawyer waiting. He was another bodybuilder type, but looked more Spanish than Mexican with his pale skin and dark hair.
"This is going to be fun," Buffy muttered to Ziva as they stepped out.
"Oh, you have no idea," Ziva answered.
------------------------- END CHAPTER 6 ------------------------------