FREEDOM! Sorry, I had to get that out. I finished my last exam this morning (I most likely failed it) so I am all done with school until the end of August! Happy happy joy joy. So, because of that, I should be able to finish this story in like a week or so. I don't know what I want to work on next though. A part of me wants to do a Wizard of Oz type fic, or a high school type one. I don't know, if anyone has a challenge, I'll take that into consideration to.
Ok, I just have to say this. Last chapter, I got like a really scathing review, as least in my opinion. He/She pretty much said that I was a bad writer because I was going for the old cliche of Tony gets raped. Out of a section that was like five really short paragraphs long! I know it's not really a big deal, but that really hurt my feelings, I mean, I don't know if any of you know this, but I have like no confidence whatsoever, so when people call me a bad writer I get like really, really, really upset by it. Tony didn't even get raped last chapter!
On a brighter thought, since that one is gonna start making me cry (I'm only partially kidding, I'm overly emotional right now) A lot of good one sided Tibbs moments, Singled Out, when Tony turned down the Rota position got a few votes. In Bury Your Dead, when the team goes to check out Tony's exploded car (very heartwrenching), Tony and the yeast infection scene, I also can't remember the episode. And I thought of another good one recently! The episode Agent Afloat, how the entire time Gibbs is giving Vance crap about how he wants Tony on his team, and at the end before he goes down to talk to them and he says "The team needs him, Leon." I mean, the way he said that was just so... well, kind of beggy. I mean, Gibbs was practically begging Vance to put Tony back on the team. I thought that was a good one.
One more comment, this story has officially 300 reviews! I would like to give everyone a round of applause, you are all absolutely fantastic people, and I think that 88silverkeys should also get a round of applause because without her, this fic would be nonexistant! So thank you all, and I appreciate you all sticking with me for so long.
And now, onward! Because I have to be at work by eleven, and it's 9:49.
Chapter Nineteen
Tim was elated. They may just make the director's cut off after all. They found the sniper's nest, Gibbs was on his way to check it out, he and Abby were working on every person currently staying at Millworth Farms. Tim and Abby were sharing a computer, while Ziva was next to them working on background checks on the employee names that Tony gave them that first day.
"He's a military boy," Abby bounced around. A few minutes ago, she got herself a Caf-Pow! It made an already excited Abby into the Energizer Bunny they all knew and loved.
Tim scanned the screen. Tobias Filliman. Marine Staff Sergeant, age thirty-eight. Known for his—Tim looked closer to make sure he saw right—sniper skills. According to his file, he was medically discharged after his last tour in Iraq. The guy survived a Mortar attack.
Tim looked at the picture. He was a good looking fellow with dark brown skin. "Anything else about him?"
Abby shook her head. "Haven't gotten that far, McGee, but he's still a contender!" She whacked him in the chest. He groaned in pain before going back to work.
Ziva peered over his shoulder at the man on the screen. "Cute." Tim rolled his eyes. He was about to make a comment about him being gay when Ziva spoke again. "But what is his motive?"
Tim shrugged. "Spano was blackmailing him, he didn't want to pay."
Ziva broke free of the group and started pacing around the lab. "But it doesn't make sense! Why would Spano try and blackmail a Marine sniper?"
"I don't know, but he obviously did, otherwise he wouldn't be at the farm right now."
"Are we sure about that, McGee?"
"Yes! I looked through the list that Tony gave to me of all the guests at the farm, I crosschecked them across all the photos I found on Spano's hard drive."
"And I do not remember seeing the name 'Tobias Filliman' pop up anywhere." That was met with silence. She kept going, now that she was on a role. "Why is it that the first time we even hear this name is when Gibbs tells us? Why did he not show up on your lists?"
Tim hesitated answering that. That was a good question, why hadn't they heard the name? He looked through the list pretty thoro—
He stopped. Damn it, that was a rookie mistake, he should have caught that. "Because I only checked the last year. Filliman could have had a standing reservation, or just booked early." He wheeled around and started typing on one of the computers. Abby stepped back to stand with Ziva. He pulled up the reservation spread sheet from his computer.
A few more keys were hit as he recreated his program to find the specific name. Sure enough, he was right. Tobias Filliman had a standing reservation dating back five years. He shows up the same time every year.
"So now what is his motive?" Ziva asked, stepping closer. Tim could only shrug in response.
A half an hour must have passed before anyone spoke again. At that point, Abby found out the payroll company that cut the checks for the farm. She went through searching all of the employees that she could find, starting with the ones that Tony and Gibbs had come into contact with. Ziva was doing a more extensive background check on Filliman to find a connection between him and their victims, as well as background checks on the rest of the guests that Spano was blackmailing.
Tim sat in Abby's office by himself trying to hack into every personal computer that he could. The two women would come in to give him a name and he'd start searching. So far, he made it through only two computers, Tobias Filliman and Bernie Sedgewick, the security guard. Both of them looked completely clean. Well, there was nothing illegal about what they were looking at, but Bernie had a few fetishes that Tim did not need to know about.
He was pulling up his third computer. That one was a little trickier, but he managed to get inside eventually. The months he spent in the sub basement did him some good. His hacking abilities had definitely improved, so even the tricky computer was relatively easy.
The man's desktop appeared on his screen. It wasn't a very family friendly photo, but Tim let that pass. Bernie was still creepier.
He started going through the files one by one till he found one that piqued his interest. He clicked on the little icon and waited for the screen to show up.
His jaw dropped.
"Oh no, no no no no no no, this is not good. Definitely not good." He jumped up from his seat. "Ziva, Abby!"
The two women ran in. "What is it?" Ziva asked.
"I know who did it. And I know why."
They just stared at him, Abby looked at him with anxiety, while Ziva looked annoyed. "And why is that, McGee?"
He couldn't say it. He couldn't believe it. But it fit. It all fit.
Still speechless, he waved them over to look at his computer screen. Abby arrived first, her jaw fell to the floor. Ziva managed to show a little more control, but not by much.
"No!" Abby screamed. "No, no no no no no no no!" She grabbed her phone and yanked it towards her. It was the speaker box so everybody in the room could have the chance to talk to Gibbs as well. She only hit one button, but Tim heard eleven bings before the phone started ringing.
Gibbs picked up on the second ring.
"Abs, I found—"
"Gibbs, we screwed up!" Abby yelled only inches away from the speaker. Even Tim felt the pain of that one.
"What do you mean?"
"We know who did it, who killed Keller and Spano. And we know why."
Jethro stared at the phone. He didn't know how that was bad news. It meant they could be coming home soon. "That's good work."
"No, it's not!"
"Abs, what's going on?"
"We were wrong about the motive Gibbs. It wasn't about the blackmail."
Tony felt groggy, groggier than he should have. He tried to remember what happened. Images of last night came to the forefront of his mind. He could still feel the tingle of pain over his ribcage where Gibbs bit him. But then he remembered feeling a hand run through his hair this morning. He had woken up, and…
And it wasn't Gibbs who was leaning over him.
His eyes snapped open. That was when he noticed that he couldn't move his hands. They were cuffed above his head to the head board.
"Ah good, you're awake."
Tony's eyes searched around the room, looking for the source of the voice, but the bastard stayed completely out of sight. "Where the hell are you?"
"I'm around."
"What are you doing?"
"I was watching you sleep."
That made Tony struggle more. Looks like he finally found his killer. Although, considering his predicament, that wasn't really a good thing. "What are you gonna do, try and kill a Navy Judge?"
The bastard had the nerve to last. "I already killed the Navy Judge. No, Agent DiNozzo, I have no intention of killing you. I could never do that to you."
"Well that's a relief." Tony paused. "What do you want from me?"
He finally stepped into the light. Tony got a good look at the man in front of him. He looked creepier than Tony had seen him look before. His dark brown hair was combed back. And even in the distance, Tony could see that his pupils were fully dilated.
He smiled. "You."
Jethro stood up, completely confused. Abby wasn't making any sense. "If it wasn't about the blackmail, what was it about?"
"It's a stalker, Gibbs!"
He was still confused. "You're saying that Filliman killed Spano and Keller because he was stalking me?" That was the only stalker that Jethro was aware of. But that still left too many variables.
But apparently he was wrong. "He wasn't stalking you, Gibbs. He was stalking Tony!"
"It's Millworth, boss." That was McGee. "I just hacked into his computer. The thing is riddled with pictures of Tony, some are dating back to his days in Philadelphia."
"He's obsessed with Tony, Gibbs," that was Ziva.
Jethro thought back to the time he saw Millworth. I think it might be a Marine thing. "He was in the army, wasn't he?"
"Army Rangers. He was dishonorably discharged almost ten years ago." Abby still sounded upset with herself.
"Around the time DiNozzo was in Philadelphia."
"Yeah, I got that McGee!" Damn it, how could he have been so stupid? He was so busy focusing on the stupid guests… No that wasn't true. He was too busy focusing on Tony. It made him make a rookie mistake like this. "What was the discharge for?"
"His wife found out he was obsessed with a man and she told his CO."
"He lost everything because of Tony." Jethro said that under his breath. Damn it! "What was he in the Rangers?" His question was met with silence. His anger bubbled up inside of him. They didn't have time for this. "Hey! What was he in the Rangers?"
It was Abby who answered. "He was a sniper Gibbs. Probably almost as good as you."
He already figured as much, but he needed it confirmed.
"He went after a Marine and a Navy judge," said McGee. "He knew that NCIS would run the investigation."
"He was the one who checked us in. He knew who we were, he was waiting for us."
"He knew you would go undercover?" Ziva asked.
"He called me Lieutenant Colonel Keller when I first walked in, he knew I would play along. Damn it, this bastard thought of everything!" Jethro stopped.
"Well, Gibbs, this may be a good thing. Tony's with you, you can go and arrest him, and Tony will be—"
"DiNozzo's not with me Abby." Jethro let him sleep this morning. Today was the first time the two of them haven't been together this entire mission. He went to get coffee the day after they slept together the first time, but he was only gone five minutes. Millworth wouldn't have had time to get to Tony then. But Jethro had been gone now for over an hour.
He didn't even bother to say anything as he hung up. He picked up the rifle that Millworth left behind. He supposed it would be asking too much for it to still be loaded. No matter, it was heavy, he could bash the bastard's head in if he had to.
He started running. His knees protested the entire trip down the hill but he didn't care. The feeling of fear was too overwhelming.
Please let him be alive, he silently prayed. Please don't let him die.