"DiNozzo, got anything for me?" Gibbs looks over at Tony, who had been doing the bagging and tagging this time around. On this recent case, three weeks after the full moon, there's a murdered marine-goodness, this happens so often-who had been found dumped into a ditch on the side of the road. There's a few bruises and one knife wound in the back, which of course Tony had made a remark about a stab-in-the-back.
Tony looks over to see Ziva questioning the man who found their marine, McGee off looking for more clues; Ducky and Palmer had yet to arrive. "Ah, yeah boss. Lemme try and figure out what it is." He leans down and sniffs, and wrinkles his nose. "Smells kinda fishy. Like, as in actual fish. Maybe a pier, maybe a seafood restaurant.." He sniffs again, seeing if he can identify any other smells. "There's lotsa smells here, I just.. don't know how to tell them apart. Only been a dog for a month and a half."
Gibbs just smiles and shakes his head. "Fish, huh. Y'sure you can't pick up anything else?"
"Well.." Tony looks the man over, noting his clothes, hair, shoes, everything. "I do smell.." he pauses. "..Tartar sauce, yeah, that's it!" He grins triumphantly. "It must've been at a restaurant."
"I can't smell either. How long ago did he eat there? Before he died, or days ago?"
"Ah, you know I can't date smells yet, I told you!" He shakes his head. "For a dead guy it smells noticeable enough, so I'm guessing it was one of his last meals."
"All right. Good job." He turns to McGee, who is walking back, holding a knife in his gloved hand.
"Boss, think I found the murder weapon," he announces, holding it up for Tony and Gibbs to see. "It was laying right at the edge of the search radius. If it had been any further, I would've missed it."
"Awesome. Abby'll confirm it," Tony says. He holds open a bag for McGee, who drops it in. "Nothing else to report, Probie?"
"I didn't find anything. I think Ziva's done too," he comments, Ziva walking over to see if there's any updates.
Tony holds up the bag and points to McGee. "He murdered the marine," Tony says with a grin. Ziva just rolls her eyes.
"Tony, can you not be serious for once in your life?"
[That happens enough on the full moon,] he thinks to himself glumly. "Now, if I was serious, coming to work every day would be boring and you know it."
She shakes her head, though she knows it's true. "Where is Ducky? This isn't that far from NCIS."
Gibbs whips out his phone to call, shaking his head as he gets the news, and turns to speak when he hangs up. "Flat tire."
"Ooh, cliche comes back to bite us," Tony remarks.
"They'll be here in half an hour. Tony, see if you can inspect the body any more."
Tony nods and walks to the corpse to inspect it fully. After about ten minutes, he calls Gibbs over; of course, McGee and Ziva follow. "Boss, there's.. a clicking sound. It's a steady click but it's really really low."
McGee listening intently, but.. "I..don't hear anything."
"'Course not, McDeaf. I have better ears than anyone here."
"Better than me?" Ziva leans down to where Tony is, listening to every sound, the absence of anything, and frowns. "Tony, there is no clicking sound."
Tony sighs and looks up at Gibbs, who gives a little shrug. "DiNozzo, don't your meds elevate your senses?"
"Yeah.. they do, boss." Tony's amazed yet again at Gibbs' ingenuity. "What do you think the clicking is?"
"Bomb, bug, watch, pacemaker.." Gibbs makes a list of what it could be, and McGee stares at him.
"I don't care what those drugs do, he can't hear any of those. Nobody can, o-only animals could hear that well."
Tony grins. "Bark bark." He heads over to the body to listen again, closer this time. "Hey, Boss.. what does a bomb sound like, really?"
"Never heard a silent one, so I wouldn't know. Back up in case it is one."
Ducky and Palmer drive up slightly earlier than predicted. Ducky walks up with his bag, offering greetings to all. "Ah, is this our unlucky man?"
"Yeah. We found a stab wound in his back, and the knife a ways into the forest. Somebody dumped him here, headed into the forest and got rid of the knife. We found a few footprints around the body, but no indications on anything but shoe size." He motions to the marine. "The way he's laying; we think the murderer laid him there. Tony hears clicking under or inside him, so watch for a bomb or a pacemaker."
Ziva looks at Gibbs. "If there is a bomb, let me check first. I do not think we should risk Ducky finding it."
"No, not a chance. Back up, I'll check." Tony walks over to the body, but Ziva stays where she is.
"Why should you check for the bomb and I should not? I Have probably taken more hits than you, and I can identify bombs much better than you."
"Ziva, I'm fireproof. Go, back up."
"But Tony-"
"Ziva, back here," Gibbs says. "Let Tony check."
Everyone backs up to allow Tony to check under the man. Tony focuses; he soon feels himself a little more..energized; he then leans down and slowly, carefully starts to turn the man over. Just as he gets the man on his side, the body rolls over onto its back. "Hey! Look, there is a bomb." He looks at it. "It looks like a pressure sensor.. it didn't go off, must be defec-"
He's cut off by a sudden blast, small but powerful enough to throw everyone off their feet.. and toss Tony, like a ragdoll, several car-lengths away.
None from the team can even get a word out, for how the wind was knocked out of them when they landed. Ziva is the first up, looking around at the others-then noticing the absence of Tony. Her heart squeezes until she spots him in the road.. but laying there, unmoving. "Tony!" She gets up and runs over to him, finding his clothes almost completely burnt off.. but surprisingly, only what looks like a mild sunburn. "Tony..?" She spots that he's breathing and her heart jumps. "Tony, are you awake?"
Gibbs and McGee appear at Tony's side just as the man opens his eyes and looks around. "What.. was... holy crap, that hurt.."
Shaking his head, Gibbs grins. "You really are fireproof, aren't you," he comments, and reaches a hand out to help Tony up.
Tony takes it, and in moments, he's standing, but sore and limping. "..Mostly." He groans and pulls off what's left of his shirt, thankful that his boxers weren't vaporized in the explosion. "Any idea.. why there was a bomb under the marine?"
"To hide evidence?" McGee.
"On a pressure trigger? Don't think so." Gibbs.
"..The marine was only bait, we were the target," Tony realizes. "They're going after our team.. or somebody in it."
Ziva looks at Tony in concern. "How do we know who?"
Gibbs answers. "We don't."
"Two days," Tony groans, sitting at his desk. "Two days to the full moon."
"Relax, Tony. You're in control now."
"You don't know what it was.." he quiets when he spots McGee arriving with Ziva, round two of their temporary buddy system. It was put into place a day ago, after attempts on the life of Ziva, then Tony, then Palmer. Even with trajectory and timestamps, Abby still can't find anyone on any cameras around the city. McGee rides with Ziva, Tony rides with Abby, Ducky rides with Palmer, and Gibbs has chosen to ride alone.
"Morning Tony, Boss," McGee greets them, sitting down at his desk to begin. Ziva just waves, looking mildly annoyed.
"Somethin' wrong, Ziva?"
"McGee would not let me drive."
"Wise decision, Probie!" Tony congratulates McGee. "Now, I will go see if Abby has anything new for us. McChauffer, Ziva.. morning." He tips his coffee at the two and heads toward the lab, Ziva catching the combination serious and glum look on Tony's face as he turns and leaves.
"Tony, welcome back. The bullets used in the attacks were from sniper rifles, but they were from different guns, I checked. My guess is this guy wants it to seem like different shooters.. or maybe he's trying to throw us off his track. Or maybe he has a collection of guns and just likes playing with them." She pauses, looking at a spacing-out Tony. "I'm pregnant."
"You what?" Tony looks at her in extreme suprise.
"Oh, you are paying attention." She smiles.
"Uh, yeah, sorry.." He looks at his coffee cup and twirls it in his hand, feeling the liquid slosh around, aided by gravity. "Abby.. two days left. Where will I change? What can contain me?"
"I thought you could control it now." She looks up at him with a mix of worry and pity.
"See, I don't know. When I changed.." He sets the coffee down and takes a deep breath, recalling the painful memories of the shapeshifting. "There was pain. Mind-numbing pain, like your flesh is on fire, your bones are all snapping and splintering into billions of pieces. Ever break a bone? That, times a million." He leans on Abby's table, trembling a little. Just the memory of the pain is causing him to relive some of it. "My mind.. the pain was making me go /insane/. I lashed out and..spazzed, not really paying attention to what I was doing, just trying to make the pain stop. It.. the instincts of the wolf were overwhelming. It felt the pain I did, and drove it into madness.. mix that with its hunger and instinct to kill, you have a rabid, raging animal on the loose." He puts a hand to his head, gaining a headache. "Add to the list, frickin' bulletproof.. Abby, I don't trust myself."
Abby stares at smooth, suave Tony.. weak, trembling, and.. crying. His mindset and retelling of the transformation are breaking her down, and all she can do is go to him, take him in a tight hug and console him. "I trust you, Tony. I'll help you.. we'll find a place to keep you safe."
"You mean.. keep everyone safe from me." He grins a little. "Thanks, Abby." He stays there for a minute before she releases and he wipes the wetness from his face. "Crap, crying? Now I can't go back up for a while." He looks around. "So.. what was the update on the case?"
"Tony! You weren't paying attention!" She crosses her arms indignantly.
He grins sheepishly. "Sorry, Abbs.."
"Time to call Gibbs and update him," Abby replies, opening up her connection with Gibbs. Tony ducks into the corner to stay off-screen. She proceeds to explain all of her findings.
"Don't think that'll help, but thanks, Abbs," Gibbs says to Abby over their connection. "Still got Tony in there?"
"Yeah, Gibbs. He's helping me right now," she lies, for the sake of keeping Tony's pride inflated.
"That right? Good, keep him occupied." Gibbs turns off the connection and faces his remaining team. "McGee, I wanna know who's trying to take us out. Start with Tony, find out all enemies he has, anyone who has even a grudge, and track the movements they've been making for the past week. Yes, I know it will take a long time. Ziva, you do the same thing, except you're doing checks for Jimmy. McGee, if you finish first, you take Jimmy's case and Ziva, work on yourself." He sighs.
"Boss.. everyone?"
"Yes, McGee! Everyone!" Gibbs gets up to head down to autopsy to check on Ducky and Palmer. [Gotta find out who's after us.]