A SOLITARY ACT
CHAPTER 4
RATED M FOR LANGUAGE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER.
Trying not to flinch as the heavy metal doors clanged shut behind him, NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo - now known as Corrections Officer James Magnum (a mix of his two favorite cinematic heroes, James Bond and Magnum, P.I.) - kept his eyes forward, looking where he was going. He had to admit, it was quite different being on the law enforcement side of the slamming door sound. It had never bothered him until he'd been charged with murder and did some time in the joint. He still thanked God everyday that Abby Sciuto, Forensic Scientist Extraordinaire, was on his side, and proved him innocent.
Arms by his side as he walked, he kept bumping into his penitentiary-issued side arm at his waist. He usually wore a shoulder holster at work, but that could be dangerous in the pen. Straps would give inmates something to choke you with in a riot situation. He'd have to learn not to show his awkwardness with it on his belt.
"This is H Block, our long-term solitary women's unit. This will be your primary station on every shift." Shift supervisor Rita Hanson opened the door to the block. "Male CO's are basically just back-up here in the women's pen. All transfers, routine checks, searches and the like, are all done by our female CO's. All the other blocks have a full staff of round the clock female officers, but, H Block being more of a lock-down situation, there's generally only 2, maybe 3 females on the night shift." She led him down the hall. "It gets re-e-eal quiet in here at night. Hope you like to read."
Tony smiled easily. "I'm sure I can find something to occupy my time."
Rita rolled her eyes. "No doubt," she huffed sarcastically. As they came toward the end of the row, they could see a cell search going on. The cell's occupant, a washed-out blonde, wiry, older woman was cursing the female CO searching her cell.
"You got no cause to be doin' this!" She yelled. "I ain't done nuthin' wrong, and you know it, dyke-bitch!"
The male CO in charge of the prisoner rapped her in the back with his nightstick. "'Ey, chill out, Doris. Why not make it easy on yourself and just tell us where the stuff is. None of us wants to do a strip-search this time of night."
Doris just snarled at the man. "Fuck you, pig! I ain't got nuthin. You can look all night long, but you won't find nuthin, cuz there ain't nuthin to find."
Small, personal items were being tossed out the open door. "Your celly back on C Block told us about the pills you had smuggled in, Doris," the female CO yelled from inside the cell. "That's one of the reasons you'rein the Hole. And you know me, Doris. I'll interrupt your beauty sleep every night until we find it."
The older woman snickered. "Go right ahead, queen bitch. You can't find what ain't there." Another whack to the back with the nightstick almost knocked the breath right out of her.
Tony - rather, James, had seen enough. "'Ey, man. There's easier ways to get what you want out of these skells."
The male CO gave 'James' a snide look. "You think you can get something outta' this ol' broad?" He looked at his female partner in the cell. "Then she's all yours, officer," he said.
'James' walked over to Doris. "'Ey sweetheart," he smiled, the DiNozzo smile on full-power. Touching her lightly on the arm, he turned on the charm. "Tell ol' Jimmy, here, the truth. You hidin' anything you know you're not supposed to have?"
Like most women, Doris fell prey to the DiNozzo Charm Spell. "I don't got anything in here, man. It's all back on C Block," she grumbled. "Although that bitch roomy of mine back there probably sold it all already, seeing as she was so hot to rat me out."
Giving her the patented raised eyebrow, 'James' made her look in his eyes. "You lyin' to me, Doris? I don't wanna be disappointed…."
"Truth, CO. Go raid her rack, you'll find the baggie for sure."
With a last look in Doris' eyes, 'James' could tell she was telling him the truth. "You won't find anything here," he told the other officers. "Doris is telling the truth."
The two CO's looked at each other. The male laughed. "Just because she says there isn't anything to find? How'd you rank officer, Officer? She's in prison for a reason, she isn't losing anything by lying."
With a wink at the older inmate, 'James' smiled. "Nah, Doris wouldn't lie to me. None of 'em can," he admitted cockily.
The female CO, having torn the sparse cell apart, gave 'James' the benefit of the doubt. "There's nuthin' here, Sully. I'll radio over to C Block, have her crib over there tossed." She waved Doris back into the cell, slamming the door behind her, undoing her cuffs when she stuck her hands through the food slot. Without a word, she and the male guard, Sully, turned and left.
Rita just shook her head. "I can see now why you were transferred here from the state pen. You don't make lots of friends, do ya'?" She turned and followed the other 2 officers out.
Making sure he couldn't be seen or overheard, Tony took a letter out of his shirt pocket and handed it through the food slot in Doris' cell door. "Thanks for your help, Doris. This came for you from your granddaughter."
There was a small sniffle from behind the solid metal door. "Thank you, Agent…"
"Officer," Tony quickly corrected. "Officer Magnum, Doris." And with that, Tony walked out of H Block, secure in the knowledge that thanks to Doris' help, he'd made a good showing with Officer Mike Sullivan. Next step - befriend the prick and get him to bring Tony in on his nightly routine. Thinking ahead to taking Sullivan down, Tony couldn't help the small smile on his lips.
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After an informational breakfast with DiNozzo, who'd just gotten off his very first 11pm-7am prison shift, Gibbs made his way to NCIS. He stopped off at the lab to see Abby before going up to the bull pen. "Abbs?"
The happy goth forensic scientist turned from her computer. "Almost finished, bossman. Give me an hour. I want to make sure McGee and Ziva's aliases can stand up to even the most rigorous of background checks. But their credentials are good to go, fresh out of the laminator." She hands Gibbs several forms of picture ID for both Ziva and McGee. "Although, I gotta say that I think the glasses are a little too much on McGee. He looks even nerdier than he really is. Maybe if he went for wire frames instead of the thick black ones. I mean, I know he's supposed to look all professional and everything, but he looks so….anal. Well, more anal than usual….maybe that comes with those glasses frames….."
Gibbs smiled and gave Abby a peck on the cheek, and made his way up to the bull pen. He tossed Ziva and McGee's ID badges on their desks as he passed by.
"Hey, boss," greeted Tim. "Did you talk to Tony this morning? How'd it go?"
Sitting at his desk, Gibbs turned on his computer to check his email. "He's in." He smirked. "He always said he does his best work at night."
McGee and Ziva were looking over their alias' ID and licenses. "Awww man," McGee whined. "I knew those glasses were too much. I look like a stick-in-the-mud."
Ziva walked over and looked at his new ID. She looked confused. "You are not dirty in any of these photos, McGee."
"It's an expression, Ziva," explained McGee. "It means someone's prudish or no fun. Lacking a sense of humor."
"Well, then, yes, the new McGee does look rather muddish." Seeing that he'd taken that as an insult, she hastily continued, "I am not all that pleased with my new look, either, McGee. See? I look very schlub, yes?"
Looking at Ziva's alias' photos, he saw that she looked very plain-Jane-ish. "I think you mean 'drab,' Ziva. The new you is kind of plain. A schlub is a lazy, oafish kind of person."
Ziva smirked. "Ah! Like Tony, yes?" She and McGee shared a smile, just because they could get away with saying those kinds of things about Tony because he wasn't there.
Gibbs hid his smile at his junior agents' conversation. "Be ready within the hour. Abby's just double checking your backgrounds. And McGee…. You only need to wear the glasses to read." He smirked at the younger man's fist-pump in the air. "Are you two going to be able to be in the same room together?" he jokingly asked McGee, who just smiled.
Seeing this, Ziva needed to ask, "Why would we not be able to be in the same room? We are both working on the same side, are we not?"
McGee explained for her. "My alias is a Harvard University graduate. Yours graduated from Yale University."
"So? They are both excellent schools, yes? Bush league schools?"
"Ivy-League schools, and yes, they're both excellent universities," McGee said patiently, "it's just that there's a huge rivalry between Yale and Harvard - they're both highly regarded universities, they both have the crème de la crème students….there's an imagined competition between them to see which is the better school, academically and on the ball field."
Ziva nodded in understanding. "So my alias has a better education than yours, then," she teased, and snickered when McGee almost fell for it.
"'Ey! Bobbsey Twins!" interrupted Gibbs. "Go get changed, I'll meet you down with Ducky in 30 minutes." He shook his head as he watched the two agents walk away, wondering between themselves who the 'Bobbsey Twins' were. Some days, he wondered if he was too old for this job.
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Walking into autopsy 30 minutes later, Gibbs did a double-take. If he didn't know these were aliases, he almost wouldn't have recognized his two agents. Ducky's finishing touches really brought the characters to life.
"Ah! Jethro!" Ducky turned as Gibbs walked in. "May I introduce Timothy MacDonald, Assistant Attorney to the general counsel of NCIS," he gestured to McGee. "And Sela Davis, Attorney at Law," he grandly pointed to Ziva.
He couldn't help the smirk. His junior agents were right - their aliases were drab fuddy-duddies! Plain, boxy suits in shades of gray and beige, hair severely and conservatively styled, hefty-looking briefcases, and sensible shoes.
Ziva tugged at the ridiculous bow on her blouse's collar, trying to loosen it a bit. "I cannot believe there are people that really dress like this voluntarily," she griped. "I feel ridiculous!"
McGee scratched at his neck where the collar of his cheap, woolen suit coat rubbed uncomfortably against his skin. "I will never tease Tony about his suits again," he grumbled. He and Ziva both froze, like deer in the headlights. "Ohhh, boss. Please tell us that Tony won't be anywhere around to see this," McGee begged.
"He's home sleeping after working all night. Get up to Abby's before I call him myself….." the young agents fairly ran for the elevator to go up to the lab. With a chuckle, Gibbs followed. "Good work, Duck!" he called over his shoulder. After a quick trip to finalize their new identities with Abby, Gibbs was off to the prison with two of NCIS' newest attorneys.
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Somewhere across town, a cell phone chimed the arrival of a text message. A drowsy hand grabbed up the phone and opened it, opening up the photo message. Hysterical laughter rang through the darkened apartment, as it did for the rest of the day whenever the pictures - now printed off the phone into 8X11 glossy pictures - came into view.
A/N - Just kind of a filler chapter, all the characters finding a way into the prison to help poor Linnea, who we'll see again in the next chapter, I think. Please, please, PLEASE review if you're reading this! My low self-esteem could really use the boost! THANK YOU to all the new favoriters and alerters who just discovered our little story - each and every one of you makes my day!
A/N 2 - Still own - and receive - nothing from anyone who has anything to do with NCIS in any way, shape, or form. Bummer, dude!