Yes. I know. I am a terrible person. The bottom of the barrel, should be ashamed of myself, worst of existence. I'm aware. You don't have to tell me. You can either apply that to that fact that it's been… a long time since the last update or the ending. Whichever. I'm sure it will work either way. Whatever makes you all happy.
On a lighter note-
Thank you so much for everyone who dropped a note about my short story. It's amazing to see all support and love that you have given me. You are all incredible! I couldn't believe that amount of comments that mentioned that. It completely made my day, thank you so much. I know I seldom respond to reviews individually, but I want you all to know it is not out of disinterested or a lack of caring. I read them several times over and always consider the suggestions you all toss at me. They mean a lot. I just wanted to shout out a thank you to everyone who takes the time to review. You truly do make me smile and brighten my day.
P.S. This is NOT the end of the story. Don't freak out. We have quite a bit left. I know it seems like it's moving slow, but we're getting somewhere. All of this is important. I know you're going to be ticked I left it there. I really am sorry. It just just had to happen like that.
P.P.S. (This is totally just me blathering on, skip on to the story if you don't care. I'm assuming however if you're still reading by this point, you're going to keep going. Good on you. Way to be persistent. I would have given up on me ages ago. Or at least stopped reading after the third sentence. I tend to keep going in the author notes. Sorry. I should work on that. )- So I had to explain to someone why I don't drink. I have an entirely serious answer to this, one that I hold quite firmly to and had influenced a lot of my morals and I could have told them why I really don't but have you ever had someone who is just so obnoxious and pushy that you want to smack them upside the head and tell them to learn how to be a person? It was one of those moments. So I went on a five minute completely improvised speech about how the Pink Elephant scene in Dumbo scared me off of drinking and drugs. Because seriously, if I didn't have a real reason, that would do it. That scene was messed up. That and the Willy Wonka tunnel scene. You know the one. If you don't, watch and you'll never look at Gene Wilder the same away again. If you don't know Gene Wilder… go away and learn how to be a person. This is important!
Anyway. I'll be quiet now. Story Time!
Tobias leaned over Tony's shoulder as they watched the footage.
"So, run this by me again."
Tony narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chest while their victim paced back and forth across the stage.
"They just didn't check their footage. Whoever killed him already cleaned up their mess, but they didn't bother to check for security video. There was no sign of break-in, no evidence of a tussle. They had no reason to look at the video."
Tobias sighed and ran his hands over his head.
"So this man was caught on tape, and probably wouldn't have gotten caught, cause no one checked the footage."
Tony shrugged. "We don't know that he's on the tape yet."
The men fell into silence and watched the John Doe continue to walk back and forth.
"Why on earth is he even at a Greenhouse? And still wearing the Navy dress? I thought we established he wasn't Navy?"
Tony turned to Tobias, raising an eyebrow and smiling. "I don't know Tobias, how about we sit here quietly, watch, and find out."
Tobias dropped into the seat next to Tony and bumped him with his shoulder. "You sound like Gibbs."
Tony's eyes dropped and he turned back to the screen. "Thanks."
Tobias moved slightly so that his shoulder was brushing Tony's, and stared forward at their still waiting John Doe. "Tony… I didn't mean..."
He waved his hand but Tobias could see the tension cording through his shoulders.
"It's fine. I know what you meant."
Tobias looked away and took a deep breath. Well, he had screwed this up nicely. "He shouldn't have done this to you."
Tony swiveled in his seat and looked at him curiously. "Done what?"
"Left you."
Tony leaned back in his chair and pushed his hands through shaggy hair.
"Tobias, he didn't leave me. He didn't leave any us. That's what the others aren't getting. What if you were in his shoes? If you suddenly woke up to find that Emily was gone. That strangers were standing outside your door waiting for you to jump up and be someone who you don't know. And there isn't a single recognizable face. I don't blame him for leaving. I've never blamed him for leaving, because he didn't abandon us Tobias. He didn't know us. How could he leave who he didn't know?"
Tobias blinked in surprise and took a deep breath and squeezed the bridge of his nose. He hadn't thought of that. But looking at Tony, tired and sick and putting his life on the line by doing the most foolish undercover mission he had ever heard, he found that his sympathy for Gibbs was greatly overshadowed.
"And yet somehow you're still alone."
Tony didn't say anything but some of the tension leaked from his posture, his shoulders curling forward. Fornell winced and rubbed his forehead in self rebuke.
"Not alone Tobias."
Tobias raised his eyebrows.
Tony smiled quietly, his eyes focused back on the security video.
"I've got Jimmy. Paul. And for some bizarre reason you keep showing up and force feeding me."
Tobias smiled and relaxed in his seat. "Emily likes you and she'd be pretty unhappy if I let you starve."
"I'd hate to face the wrath of your dog painting little girl."
Tobias snorted and rested his head on his hand. "She told you about that?"
Tony nodded, the edges of his lips twitching up.
They let the quiet fill the room and watched the screen.
"Who's Paul?"
Tony coughed deeply into the crook of his elbow. "The custodian."
"The...right." The assistant medical examiner, a custodian and a random FBI agent. Perfect.
"We got something."
They leaned in and saw how the man turned towards something unseen. His arms were gesturing and he was saying something.
"Drugs." Tony mumbled.
"What?"
Tony tapped the man's face. "I can't make everything out, but he definitely said drugs."
Tobias looked at him with appreciation. "You read lips?"
"Someone's coming in."
A man walked into the edge of the screen, a bottle held in his hand.
Tobias wrinkled his forehead. "Prescription drugs."
The two men bartered back and forth, the man with the pill bottle obviously holding the upper hand. He started to storm away but the John Doe grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him back. He was yelling now and swung his fist at the man. The unknown man attacked back and they grappled back and forth. John Doe wrestled the pill bottle from him and ran off screen. The other man leaped from the floor and snagged a wrench from a nearby toolbox, chasing after him. No one came back on screen.
Tobias whistled low between his teeth. "Well… I suppose you have a suspect. Now you just have to figure out who he is."
Tony took a deep breath and then closed his eyes at the light headedness it caused.
"I know who it is. I need to talk to the Director."
Xxx
"I need you to transfer the case."
Jenny raised and eyebrow and leaned back in her chair.
"I'll bite. Why?"
Tony pressed a picture against her desk. "Our murder suspect? We have hard, circumstantial evidence that he committed the murder, but no absolute proof."
"So what's the problem? I'm sure if the evidence is tight enough he'll just confess."
Tony shook his head and tapped the photo. "He works with Jean. Same shift, same department, same hospital. I'm certain that's where the drugs came from. We'd have to investigate the hospital pharmacy and the risk of her seeing me is too great. You need to give this to someone else."
Jenny stood and walked around her desk. As she came closer to him, Tony resisted the urge to step away. "You can't send Agents McGee and David in to retrieve him and check out the pharmacy?"
Tony shook his head. "No."
Jenny frowned, her mouth in a hard straight line. "You need to have better control of your team."
Tony controlled the instinctual retort, keeping his response respectful. "It's a process ma'am. We're all still adjusting."
Jenny stepped closer to him, pressing into his space. "It's been two months. Finish adjusting. And solve your case."
"Jenny, this man knows who I am," he shook his head, sorting his faces. "knows who Professor DiNardo is. If I go in there to get him..."
"Then send in your team."
Tony swallowed back the words pressing against his lips and paced past her to the door.
"And Agent DiNozzo?"
He didn't look at her but paused with his hand on the knob.
"Yes Director?"
"I expect results from Benoit. Soon."
He didn't respond but ensured that the door shut with a satisfying snap. Tony stormed down the steps and into the bullpen but both Ziva and McGee were gone. He leaned against his desk and growled deep in his throat. A cough rattled up, heavy and hard and painful, making him instantly regret the action.
He couldn't go to the hospital.
But he couldn't wait. This man was dangerous. And with Jeanne.
That was not acceptable.
Jeanne.
He pulled his phone out and dialed McGee.
You've reached Agent McGee. I can't get to my cell right now, but if you leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Xxx
Tim reviewed the tape once more, guilt welling in his chest. Tony was asleep at his desk, the time stamp boldly proclaiming it to be 4 in the morning.
This was the third time in one week he had seen this happen.
Tony's time sheets that he had "borrowed" from the human resources files had revealed more of the same. He was always here.
Finishing paper work. Chasing leads. Revising Ziva and his own sloppy work.
Doing their jobs.
McGee grabbed his hair and pulled, how could he have let this happen? How did things get this out of hand.
He was about to pop out the tape when he saw some unusual movement. Tony was coughing. Hard. Hard enough to wake himself up. He sat up, shook his head and popped a pill from what looked to by a Tylenol bottle. This was only a couple nights ago.
Tim thought back to the past couple times he had seen Tony. He was pale. Thin. Terribly tired looking.
He was sick.
McGee lurched to his feet.
Tony couldn't get sick. Not after…
Damn it.
He pulled his coat off the back of his chair and cleared the computer before slipping out of the security room. He ran to the elevator and slammed the button. He had to find Tony. Jumping into the tiny box he heard the familiar jingle of a voicemail notification.
One Missed Call-DiNozzo
He hit the button so quickly the phone almost clattered to the ground.
McGee, I know who our killer is. He's been peddling drugs from Monroe University Hospital. A Doctor Kyle York. I'm… damn it…. I'm headed there now. I… oh this is a bad idea… the voice trailed off and the voicemail abruptly ended. Tim looked at the timestamp. He had missed Tony's call by about 30 minutes. It was possible he could still make it to the hospital.
He dialed him back and the ringing echoed in the metal box.
You've reached Agent DiNozzo. Sorry I missed you, I'll call you back asap. If this is an emergency call the NCIS mainline 202-555-1991.
McGee felt worry clutch his gut. Something was wrong.
The elevator opened at the bullpen and he ran to the desks to grab his bag. Looking down at his phone he collided directly with a man standing in the middle of the room.
"Sorry but I have-" He looked up and the phone slipped out of his hand.
Xxx
Tony kept his eyes sharp as he kept a quick pace down the hallway. The pharmacy was just around this corner. He was almost there. With no sign of Jeanne.
Doctor York was standing at the counter, smiling brightly at a pharmacist.
"Doctor York?"
The man turned and looked at him in surprise. "Mr. DiNardo? Hello. Are you looking for Jeanne?"
Tony grinned at him. "No actually, I was trying to find you. Can I borrow you for a minute?"
He shrugged and waved goodbye to the woman at the counter. "What can I do for you?"
Tony kept his voice and posture casual. "I'm hoping you can help me with something."
"I can try."
"A good friend of mine, Timothy, has contracted AIDS. It's been very upsetting. His wife Ziva is just beside herself. I heard that there are some new drugs that are supposed to help. Do you know of anything? Something you could recommend?"
Doctor York's face fell, and Tony could see the edges of guilt gnawing away at the concern.
"Oh that's too bad. I'm afraid research in HIV still had a long way to go. They are bringing out new techniques and trials everyday, but nothing that is a definite cure."
Tony allowed his smile to turn to pleading, his eyes to widen. "Doctor York, please. Is there anything? Even if it's still in testing. They're…" he leaned in and whispered, "money is not a problem. They are willing to do anything."
Doctor York sucked in his cheeks and nodded slowly. "Come with me."
He led Tony out the door and into a side alley. "We need somewhere to speak privately."
Tony pointed to the back lot. "My cars right there. We can sit and talk."
He nodded eagerly and followed Tony to the vehicle. They climbed in and Tony locked the doors.
"I may be able to do something. But it'll cost them."
Tony's smile dropped away completely. "Yeah. It'll have a pretty heavy price won't it?"
"Excuse me?"
"Did you know his name?"
"What?"
Tony shook his head. "You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent..."
Doctor York gapped and Tony snapped on handcuffs and rattled off the rest of the Miranda rights.
Doctor York lapsed into silence and Tony pulled the car away, still tense and on edge.
That could have been worse.
So why did he feel like it was only beginning?
Xxx
"Look, I didn't mean to hit the kid. But he stole, that's enough reason right? And you're a teacher, is this a citizen's arrest? Do you even have the right to do this? Look, it was self defense, or a righteous killing or whatever. I was justified."
The doors slid open and Tony pulled Doctor York into the bullpen.
"Finally." He muttered. This had to be the stupidest doctor he had ever encountered. He had confessed half a dozen times over in the elevator trying to defend his actions and the security footage had it all. This case was almost over.
If he could only figure out who the John Doe was.
Tony waved over another agent and passed over York. "Take him to a room please."
The agent nodded and started to pull York away.
"I'm telling you, it was an accident."
Tony looked him in the eye. "The kid is dead. Explain to me how exactly that fits with the Hippocratic Oath?"
York paled and went quiet, allowing himself to be pulled away.
Tony sighed and walked to his desk.
His desk that someone was sitting on.
"DiNozzo."
Tony froze and stared at the man sitting on his desk like he owned it.
Like he still owned it.
"Gibbs."