A/N: For disclaimer, view profile or previous chapters. Betaed by the wonderful The Congressman who is an avid EO writer on here, if you love EO you should definitely check him out.
Layla Brown knew something wasn't right when Detective Stabler and another man darkened her doorstep, only a few hours after the former and his female partner left.
"Mrs. Brown, it's Detective Stabler again; I have NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo here with me. We need to talk to you again if that's alright," Elliot said once the front door opened.
"NCIS? What happened to my son?" Layla asked, immediately concerned when the Agent flashed his credentials.
"I think it's best if we discussed that inside Ma'am," Tony said soberly.
Layla stepped back to allow the LEO's into her house and guided them to the living room, sitting down in an armchair. "Give me the bad news Gentlemen," she said with a heavy sigh.
"Your son and his friend Josef were killed on Sunday, sometime mid-afternoon Ma'am," Tony said gently. Over the years he had found the way to say it in the most compassionate way was as quickly as possible, no beating around the bush but with a gentle, empathetic tone. "Is there anyone who can come stay with you? A friend or a relative perhaps?"
"No, my son was all I had," Layla said sadly, a tear cascading down her cheek even though she was trying to be stoic. "I was so proud the day he was commissioned into the Marines following in his father's footsteps. Not once did he blame the Marine Corps or the United States for his father's death but instead he saw it as one of the greatest things he could ever do. If he was going to die he'd do so honourably in service to God and Country," Layla told them with a hint of pride glinting in the sorrow.
"Ma'am, were you aware your son was gay?" Tony asked softly.
"Call me Layla, Anthony, and yes I was aware; he told me when he was 15. We were both aware of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy the military put in place have so we kept it under wraps so he could serve. He didn't like it but understood why it had to be in place."
"According to his C.O, he had recently told his unit that he was gay. His friend had also spoke up about it at the same time. Did he mention anyone giving him any trouble over it?" Tony asked as gently and direct as he could; the poor lady was in enough pain as it was.
"He never told me but have a chat to Dante Firego, his partner until he deployed. They separated on what seemed like good terms to protect Jar while he was in the Corps, since most of his Marine comrades would be uncomfortable serving with someone who was gay. They were good people but they do live in close quarters quite intimately you understand."
"We do Layla," said Elliot, remembering his time in the service. The policy wasn't in place due to prejudice but more to prevent sexual tension inside units, the same reason women didn't live in the same quarters as men.
"Anyway, Dante lives three houses south with his younger sister whom he takes care of. She was badly burned in a house fire and suffered brain damage when a beam hit her on the head, poor girl," Layla confessed.
With that information, Tony and Elliot stood to leave. "If you think of anything else or remember anyone who might know more, another friend from here or a disgruntled ex-boyfriend for example, give me a call or call detectives Benson or Stabler. Whoever you feel most comfortable talking to," Tony told her handing Layla his business card.
Layla took it with a sad smile, tears welled up in her eyes, standing to walk them to the door. Saying the customary goodbyes, Elliot and Tony left, heading a few houses down the street to see Dante.
As they were walking out of the path and onto the sidewalk, Tony pulled out his cell and called Abbey.
"Hey Abs, I need you to do a check on Dante Firego. He was Brown's boyfriend before joining the Marines; he lives three houses south of Layla's home. Let Gibbs know if you find anything as well as myself please." Here Tony paused, listening to Abbey talk.
"Yeah, I was about to say the same thing. Gotta go Abs. Bye," Tony replied before hanging up on the happy goth. He turned to see Elliot raising an eyebrow at him. Tony smirked to himself and continued walking to Dante's home.
*NCIS* *L&O:SVU*
As they barrelled down the highway, Olivia swore never to complain about Elliot's driving ever again. She had agreed that Ziva could drive as she knew the way better than what she did, though had she have known what kind of a driver Ziva was at the time she would have fought tooth and nail for the keys.
"Pull over!" she ground out through gritted teeth, her hand gripping the door handle and leaving imprints in the leather cover.
Glancing sideways and realising that her passenger's olive skin was now a deathly pale, Ziva complied with a smirk, cutting across three lanes of traffic to reach the shoulder. After running to the treeline to throw up, Olivia held her hand out for the keys with her 'Badass Benson' face on.
"As I wish to make it to DC in one piece, I'm driving," Olivia said in her 'I'll bust your balls, Perp!' voice. It was enough to scare even Ziva into handing over the keys (the Israeli made a mental not to copy that tone when she needed to question a suspect later). It took them an extra hour to reach the D.C Naval Yard but they reached it one piece and Olivia hadn't revisited another meal. Getting a visitor's badge from the security desk, the two ladies went to see Abbey with all the evidence from Layla's attack.
"Abbey, this is Detective Olivia Benson, NYPD. Her partner is working with Tony back in New York. Olivia, this is our Forensic Specialist, Abbey Scutio," Ziva said, introducing the two ladies.
"I love your support of the Joyful Heart Foundation and No More," Abbey said excitedly and bounced up to Olivia and wrapped her arms around the New York Detective's neck. Olivia and Ziva were surprised with Abbey's bubbly nature. Olivia because a random goth that she had just met had just hugged her quite intimately while for Ziva it was because Abbey hadn't taken to her as quickly as with the detective. Shrugging, the Israeli placed the evidence on the bench and tried to save Olivia from Abbey's soft death grip.
"Come, we need to see Gibbs," Ziva stated stiffly, leaving no room for contradiction.
Reluctantly, Abbey relinquished her hold on Olivia, though her smile was still as wide as ever.
"Oh, Ryan said he would video call you around five-ish. Nice meeting you," Olivia told Abbey before walking out the door with Ziva.