A/N : Sadly I own nothing pertaining to NCIS or its' characters.
Old Nemesis, New Respect
Chapter 2: Old Nemesis
Gibbs entered the house followed by his crew. Two teenagers are sitting on the stairs, holding on to each other, while the EMTs check them out.
Gibbs walks up to the first uniform he sees. "Whatcha got here?"
The officer points to the other side of the room. "The wife's been shot. The husband and weapon are missing." He then looks to the kids on the stairs. "Kids found their mother when they came home from a day camp."
Gibbs looked at the boy trying to console his sister, rubbing her back. The girls head is resting on her knees with her arms tightly wrapped around them. Her long flowing blonde hair reaching the floor as they sob uncontrollably.
Gibbs looks at McGee and Ziva and nods toward the kids. Tim and Ziva approach them gently.
"Hey, I'm Special agent McGee, this is Officer David. Let's step outside ok?"
The boy stood and took his sisters right hand and placed it on his left shoulder and led her to the porch. Ziva and Tim followed them out totally dumfounded.
"I guess by the looks on their faces little brother you did it again."
"What? Was it my blindness, my hair, or my being a boy?"
"Told you, you're too pretty to be a boy."
"You mean to pretty to be related to you!"
"That too, little brother."
The boys had gotten to the porch swing, sat down and began to comfort each other again. Giving the boys a few moments, Tim just sat there silently. Ziva left to begin questioning the neighbors for a potential witness or suspect.
"Sorry about your mom. What's your names, how old are you guys?"
"My name's Oliver, I'm sixteen. This is Kyle, he's fifteen."
"Ok Oliver, do you know what happened here?"
"No. Kyle and I just got back from football camp and found the front door open."
"How about your dad. Do you know where he is?"
"No, but he didn't do this! He may not be…" Kyle took a deep breath and paused. "He loves us, he would never have done this and left us alone."
"May not be…what Kyle?"
Kyle went silent so Oliver filled in the blanks. "He may not be the same as before. Dad suffers from PTSD, mostly nightmares, never violent."
"How does he handle them? Has he ever hit you or your mom?"
"Never! If he gets frustrated he has a gym in the garage. The hanging bag gets a good beating though." Kyle seems to be his dads' biggest defender.
"Yeah, if he's out there we leave him alone. Usually makes an appearance after about an hour."
"He'd give kisses and hugs and "I love you". Then he takes some medicine and sleeps. He's so exhausted after going a few rounds with the bag."
"Til the night tremors wake him again, then it's back on the bag."
"Do these night terrors happen often?"
"Depends on what you call often. They can last for two weeks, every night. Then nothing for like a month or two."
"Do the doctors know what triggers these nightmares?"
"Not really. He drinks a little. A loud noise will sometimes put him on edge."
"He's not a drunk, Ollie!" We won't even watch the news if he's in the room. A war report would get him to start pacing in circles."
"So your dad's a veteran?"
"Yeah, wounded last year in Kabul. That's why we're in D.C.
"Dad goes to Walter Reed for services."
The EMTs exit the house and walks up to Tim and the boys.
"Ok guys, I'm going to let the EMTs take you to the hospital and get checked out. I'll meet you there."
"But we're not hurt," the boys spoke at the same time.
"Just a precaution son."
"You sure you're going to be there Agent McGee?"
"Call me Tim. Yeah I'll come by." He handed Oliver his card. Tony and Gibbs are still with the body collecting evidence and taking measurements when Tim walked in.
"Hey, boys are on their way to the hospital for eval."
"Boys?"
"Yes Tony, boys."
"But, the long beautiful, wavy blonde hair…?"
"Boy, Tony." Tony took a family picture off the mantle to examine it a little closer.
"Whoa, he's…uh…um"
"I know, too pretty to be a boy. That's what his brother said."
"No, no, no he looks like a mini-me McGoo, hippie version, of course." Gibbs snatches the photo out of DiNozzos' hand and places it back on the mantle.
"Timmys' been a naughty boy!"
"DiNozzo!"
"Yes boss."
Tim started looking through the photos on display to get a better feeling for the family dynamics. Gibbs walked up behind him.
"They look like the kind of family that did everything together. Although, dad doesn't appear in some of the pictures."
"Probably done while he was deployed."
"Looks like mom tried to keep it as close to normal as possible, I guess."
"Yep military moms and wives are a special breed McGee."
Of course it took Tony to acknowledge the trophy case.
"Kids have as many trophies and medals as dad. Hey, how does a blind kid get one football?"
"According to the plate DiNozzo he was a kicker."
"Co-captain, cheerleading, really? Bet he looked gorgeous in that tiny little skirt." A smack to the back of the head was the answer he received.
"Ow!" The two men noticed how quiet McGee had gotten.
"McGee?"
"Tim?"
"Um, yeah boss. I…I know this man."
"The marine, how?"
"Neil Kispert. I kinda broke his hand in high school."
"Do tell, McBully." The look Tony got from Gibbs told him it was time to get serious.
"Actually quite the opposite Tony. He took a swing at me, I ducked and he hit the locker full force."
"Ouch."
"What became of him right after school?"
"Don't know. Rephrase that, didn't know. He graduated the year I was a sophomore." The three of them walked out while talking to meet up with Ziva.
"Any luck Ziva?"
"No one saw or heard anything, gentlemen." Gibbs observed one particular neighbor watching their every move and nodded in his direction. The man, in turn, nods and back.
"How about him?"
"Donald Peters. He's lived next door for five years. Wife deceased, and he has two sons."
"Talk to the boys?"
"They're at their grandmothers' for a week."
"There's something squirrely about Mr. Peters. Check it out."
Tim and Tony looked at each other, questionably mouthed the word "Squirrely?" and followed Gibbs and Ziva to the vehicles.