"You should call Gibbs to have him ask about the blood bags again," Bella forced herself to remind her partner as she weaved the heavy traffic on Interstate 95 towards Washington, D.C. at the last leg of their journey.
"You should never ever bother Gibbs during an interrogation," Tony reminded her of the code that their boss endeavored all his team members to abide by with a slight scowl. He knew that they ought to ring him, but didn't want to be the one to actually do it.
"I know, rule 22. Knowing Gibbs, he had already finished by now. In case he is still in, he can just ignore the call and get back to you later if it's interrupting anything, but he will want to question Bates about this again," Agent Swan insisted, not wanting to get on the bad side of the usually crabby senior agent, even if interrupting him might just produce the very same outcome.
DiNozzo made a face, as if someone was pulling his teeth, but dialed anyway. The brunette driving just tuned the conversation out and hit the gas pedal even more, wanting to make the round trip as fast as possible. She had a date with the gang at 8 PM after all.
"Whoa, slow down… are you trying to kill us?" the usually easygoing agent exclaimed as he grabbed the armrest and the handhold above the door for his dear life when he ended the call and noticed the speed they were going at.
"I'll have you know that there is practically no one you would be safer with as a driver," Bella huffed indignantly, but she could relate to his fears. Or at least her human self could have.
"At least switch on the sirens, so we don't get a ticket," Tony pleaded although that ticket would have been taken care of in a matter of minutes once he called his buds up at the station. If in fact, he wanted to let his reckless partner off the hook.
"Your wish is my command," the vampire chuckled, pushing the appropriate button on the dashboard to have the Dodge Charger light up with pretty blue at the top of the windshield, at the same time the siren started whooping, instantly parting the traffic in front of them.
They made it to the Navy Yard in record time, barely over an hour instead of the two it should have taken. DiNozzo scrambled out of the car as soon as she parked it and breathed heavily as he clutched his knees. Bella ignored him but couldn't help the pleased smirk that crept up on her face.
She threw the strap of the cooler with their samples in it over her shoulder and grabbed the box containing the dialysis machine and other larger pieces of evidence from the trunk. The female agent made her way to the elevator to drop the contents of it off at the lab, but not before going to the drinks machine for the favorite caffeine fix of her favorite girl. She briefly wondered if this should have been impossibly heavy for her to carry based on her slight frame, but she had long proven to her colleagues that she wasn't as fragile as she seemed at first glance.
Even before the sliding doors could open, the blaring beat of death metal and the stench of garlic greeted the vampire. With an amused smile, she decided to play a little prank on their forensic scientist. Stealthily she made her way behind her.
"Let me have a taste of you, Abigail," Bella whispered into her ear, just loud enough to be heard over the music, making the Goth girl jump in fright. An impressive feat, given that the vampire was a whole six inches smaller than her friend even without the platform boots Abby usually wore. But her clumsiness had been a thing of the past for the last five years, so balancing on her tippy toes was not a problem anymore.
"Jeez, Bells, don't do that to me!" Abby clutched at her heart dramatically, but recovering moments later to envelop the female agent in a bear hug, squishing the garlic string around her neck against Bella. "Especially not when we have this freaky vampire case."
"I thought you liked this kind of stuff. You even sleep in a coffin," the brunette laughed out once she was released from the other girl's hold. Good thing garlic was only a carefully planted myth to draw the attention away from vervain that was the real threat to her kind. Quickly glancing around, she noticed another few garlands of it hanging around the lab.
"Yeah, in fiction! I don't want real vampires lurking around, sucking the blood and life out of everyone," Miss Sciuto scoffed with wild hand gestures to make her point. That stung a bit, Bella thought, but she quickly hid the hurt look from her face. It wasn't the tattooed girl's fault that she didn't know that the person she practically regarded as her best friend was one.
"Well then, you are in luck. I just brought you all the physical evidence that should prove that this wasn't done by a vampire, only a psychopathic nurse having access to a portable dialysis machine," Agent Swan offered with a tight smile, placing the box and cooler on the metal desk to unpack all the bags that contained their findings.
"You got here really fast. Tony only called an hour ago that you were on the way," Abby mused as she looked at her wristwatch, pulling back her white lab coat that concealed most of her black lace get-up that she adorned today.
"I was doing 150 most of the road. The hospital isn't allowed to use the remaining blood in their reserves until we confirm that none of it is the victim's," she revealed the reason for the urgency.
"How did Tony handle you at the wheel?" the raven-haired scientist smirked at her friend, having had experienced said crazy driving skills before.
"He almost shit his pants," Bella divulged with a bit of glee. It was rare that she could one-up the senior field agent. "Anyway, these 34 are the hospital samples, and these over here are the ones we collected at the suspect's apartment," she explained pointing to the groups of objects, getting back to business.
"Alright, I'll start with those and hopefully will be able to give them the all clear as soon as possible," Abby nodded seriously, grasping the severity of the hospital situation, meanwhile eyeing the extra-large Caf-Pow in Swan's other hand.
"Almost forgot, this is for you too," the brunette smirked as she handed the Goth's favorite drink to her, she instantly sucking on the straw to get her fix. Swan hadn't forgotten at all, but it was wise to play down just how good her memory was sometimes.
"I haven't earned it yet," the raven-haired girl hesitantly admitted.
"But you will in a sec. Anything on the tox reports and samples from the body?" the agent inquired with a fond smile at the predictable reaction.
"Swabs from the nose area and lungs did show signs of diethyl ether having been inhaled," the scientist started to rattle off her findings after turning to her computer and placing the Caf-Pow beside the keyboard, with a few commands pulling up the reports on the wide-screen. "Nothing surprising on the tox report, Sheridan had drunk about a glass of wine right before his death, alcohol levels are consistent with that. Even though Ducky couldn't find any syringe marks, I had enlisted Major Mass Spec to check specifically for the verbena in the tissue samples, but he wasn't injected with it for sure. Also ran the stomach contents in case it was squirted into his mouth and didn't have the chance to be absorbed yet, but nothing."
"It could be unrelated," Bella tried suggesting, in case this detail could somehow be forgotten. She wished that she had never discovered that damned syringe under the bush or had the forethought not to announce it to the rest of the team before touching it.
"There is no such thing as a coincident!" the Goth girl reminded her of Gibbs's 39th rule.
"When I lived in Mystic Falls many girls used verbena to ease their menstruation pain as an herbal remedy," she offered as a lame excuse, careful to use the same term for vervain as the forensic scientist did.
"Yeah, but you would drink it in a tea, not inject yourself with it!" Abby pointedly told her.
"I don't know, I never used it," the agent shrugged nonchalantly. "You'll figure it out," she tried reassuring the scientist but actually hoping that wouldn't be the case.
"Damn right I will!" she pumped her fist in Rosie the Riveter style to show off her enthusiasm for the challenge.
With everything taken care of Bella headed for the sliding doors, eager to get back into the car and make the drive back to Mystic Falls before Klaus noticed that she was gone and her secret advantage that she couldn't be compelled even by an Original was revealed.
"Bella!" the forensic scientist called after her suddenly, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around. "Don't make any plans for tomorrow!" she winked at her, hinting at some sort of plans she had made for themselves for her friend's birthday.
"I'm not sure we will back from Mystic Falls by tomorrow evening yet," Bella apologetically told her as the sliding doors behind her opened, someone stepping in.
Another lame excuse. This case was as good as closed.
"We are not going back, Gibbs is on the way with Bates," Tony informed her, sounding quite relieved by that fact.
"He is satisfied that he is our guy?" Agent Swan asked him with a small frown. She was perplexed that the compulsion and what it was making Joey say had their boss fooled too.
"Yeah, apparently he deliberately lied about the blood bags ending up at the hospital because it would have made him more notorious if we couldn't verify that, than the truth of selling them on the black market. He isn't willing to reveal who he sold it to though," DiNozzo shook his head disbelievingly.
Even now Niklaus Mikaelson could throw a curve at them. All these points made it even more believable that Joey really did do it.
"Not even Gibbs could break him?" Abby joined him in the incredulity. Rightfully so, their team leader was famous for cracking even the toughest cookies, so this was absolutely unheard of.
"Nope," the male agent affirmed, stressing the p at the end.
"Wow," the Goth gaped, astounded.
"All we need is you and Ducky confirming the murder weapon, and he is put away for life," he assessed the current standing of the investigation.
"I'm on it," the forensic scientist huffed at the implication that she wasn't working fast enough, already fiddling with the hospital samples to feed the DNA data into her computer for comparison.
"What's that smell by the way?" Tony crinkled his nose in disgust.
"Garlic," both girls said in unison, causing DiNozzo to frown further, catching onto the reason behind the preemptive measures. His mother went through a phase involving Louis XV that inspired the decor of his room and also gave him nightmares about vampires.
"I'll be upstairs," Bella told them, effectively detaching herself from the conversation.
Once in the elevator, out of earshot and sight, the female agent got her personal phone out and rang Jeremy – thanking her quick thinking that she actually saved his contact info the last time they met. She informed him that she might be late getting back and that they should find another, hopefully secure, meeting place as the Salvatore house was possibly compromised, promising to reveal everything else once she got there.
"What's up with her?" Abby shot a worried glance towards the direction her friend had disappeared to.
"Dunno, ever since we heard the case was in Mystic Falls she had been weirding out on us. Did she tell she lived there five years ago?" he inquired curiously. The forensic scientist had been the closest with their youngest team member, she would have told her if anyone.
"No… not a word…" she shook her head, deep in thought about that revelation as she got back to her samples.
"Hey, you guys are back," McGee looked up when he heard the elevator chime and saw Bella getting out.
Seemed like Tony needed quite some time to recover from the adventurous car drive and hadn't come up to the bullpen yet. Well, he also got a call from Gibbs so he might have just decided to take it in the garage in case they were to get on the move again quickly.
"Gibbs will be here too in an hour or two as well," the female agent informed him as she sat down at her desk, firing up the computer.
Swan checked on the federal records for their previous cases and found that there was a report from CGIS notifying them that they had freed the missing kids and that the case was closed. That at least made her smile a bit. Some things she was able to do right after all.
She then accessed the national register for births and deaths to check on Elena. Just as the agent had assumed she was listed as dead. Bella was so immersed in it that she didn't even notice Tony coming up behind her on the right and peering over the space divider wall, having a perfect view of her screen.
"Is she your friend who passed away?" he solemnly asked, then noticed the last name and made an educated guess. "Jeremy's sister, right?"
Bella snapped her head to him, half furious for the snooping, half grateful for getting caught looking at the info because it would make her reasons all the more believable when she requested her leave from NCIS.
"She was adopted by the Gilberts, but yes," Bella revealed somberly with a nod, turning her head back to the screen. The picture of her in the database was from around the time she had known her, probably from her driver's license that she had gotten when she was seventeen.
"Were you close?" Tony probed as he rested his elbows on the low wall, carefully watching the profile of her face.
"I know it might seem weird given that I only lived there for barely over a month. But she was like the sister I never had to me," she admitted with a fond smile, catching DiNozzo by surprise that she so willingly divulged that personal information without much prying.
"Why didn't you guys keep in touch?" the nosy agent went further, getting gutsy by the previous easy success. Swan sighed, her face set in a scowl over whatever she remembered.
"It's complicated but to make it short, in our group of friends I sort of dated a guy who was secretly in love with her but couldn't have her because she was his brother's girlfriend at the time, and he was just fooling around with me to take his mind off of her. When I found out I decided to leave. The whole thing just became really awkward," the female agent conceded the selective truth with a sigh.
Yes, always a good idea to pin everything on an impossible love triangle – or quadrangle in this case. Even if Damon and she were never really that involved. I mean, a lot of friendly talk and one kiss could hardly be considered dating, at least seriously enough to warrant such a reaction. Also, that wasn't the betrayal that made her flee, but that's an entirely other can of worms that – if she could help it – would never come to the attention of anyone at NCIS.
"Ouch," Tony sympathetically offered with a grimace. If someone he thoroughly could relate to embarrassing moments revolving around relationships. Just take Jeanne Benoit for one example, but Ziva David and their parting before she left NCIS could be another. He hadn't heard from or sought out either of them since, but for entirely different reasons.
Their conversation was cut short by the elevator arriving on their floor again, Gibbs stepping out, escorting a cuffed Mr. Bates to the interrogation room here. The team knew full well that he would be back in a second for an update, so all three of them gathered around the widescreen, McGee pulling up the information they had collected so far on it and handing the remote to DiNozzo.
"Talk to me," the team leader was back shortly as expected.
Tony started off with all the information they knew about their victim, background, the basic timeline for his death then switched to the suspect and everything they discovered in Charlottesville, plus from the interrogations. Tim continued with their findings from the personal laptops and the interviews with the fellow officers. There was still no prior connection between the petty officer and Joey Bates, nor any evidence for the homosexuality, but from what they had so far it seemed like a crime of passion and opportunity. Bella then went on to reveal what she learned from Abby, informing Gibbs that all they were waiting for was the processing of the final physical evidence that they had brought in and Ducky's confirmation that the dialysis machine was indeed the murder weapon.
Without a word, Gibbs stalked off from the bullpen, probably to autopsy and the lab.
"I still don't get why Joey gave himself up," McGee commented to break the silence.
"He is crazy, don't try and understand what goes on in his mind, McGeek," DiNozzo huffed as he plopped down in his desk chair, resting his intertwined hands on the back of his head. "Bella, you were the one who he said the most to on his reasoning. What do you think he meant with that Yancey quote?"
"Maybe he believes in some divine guidance, and giving himself up was the only option for him. Or had a momentary lucidity in his crazy as you put it and his conscience dictated that he should because he was aware that he would do it again otherwise," she offered her take on the matter, standing there bereft in the middle of the bullpen with crossed arms. Klaus had really thought this out, feeding that line to him, although she didn't know that it was a quote from something before this. But it was meant for her, she was sure of it.
"Let's just hope he doesn't come to his senses again and have his lawyer – that he will ultimately get assigned for the trial – to go with the temporary insanity defense," the senior field agent remarked darkly, straightening up to start working on his report on the case.
Finding that a good idea, Bella walked back to her desk to do the same so that she could get out of this place faster.
About an hour later Gibbs returned with fresh coffee in hand.
"Go home everyone, the case is closed," he told them as he sat down at his desk. Abby must have processed everything already, and Ducky gave his final autopsy report on the cause of death and.
Swan glanced at the clock, seeing that it was past 7 PM already. All in all a day and a half probably counted as record time for solving a murder.
"Gibbs…" the brunette tentatively started, turning with her chair towards her left to face him. She was aware that the other boys' eyes were all on her, curious about what she wanted to request.
"I know. It's fine," the team leader told her flatly without looking up from his computer.
"You know what exactly?" Bella unsurely checked.
"That you need time off. How long?" Jethro said, glancing her way.
"I'm not sure, a week at least. I'll keep you posted," the female agent revealed, catching from the corner of her eye DiNozzo's surprised expression. He must have thought that she would be back in a day or two after visiting Elena's grave, maybe spending some time with Jeremy and her other friends to mourn the loss.
"Just remember, rule 28." When you need help, ask. He conveyed his support with that simple statement.
"Right, I'll keep it in mind," Swan frowned a bit as she turned back to the computer, filing her now finished report in the appropriate systems before turning it off.
What else had Gibbs deduced to refer to that rule? Truthfully she was doing just that, only she was turning to people who actually had a chance at doing something. No federal agency or rouge sniper could help her now. Yes, she knew about some of the questionable things their gruff team leader had done to get back at people who had hurt his family or those close to him. In a way, it was sweet that he considered her to be in that inner circle.
"See you later," she offered to them as she picked her bag up and made her way to the elevator, not looking back in case her face revealed that there wouldn't be a later. She was never coming back. She would just keep extending her leave until she could then send in her formal resignation once it was far removed enough in time from this case.
Without her supersensitive hearing, she wouldn't have heard Tony getting up to follow her, or the hushed conversation at ensued.
"Rule number 12, DiNozzo," Jethro warned the agent who sprung to his feet from his desk.
"I don't understand, Boss. The job is done, we walked away."
Bella could just imagine the senior field agent's confused face that went with that statement. She had to bite back a chuckle.
Gibbs looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Damn, that's number 11, I always get these two mixed up. I would never date a coworker, Boss. Trust me," Tony sincerely told Gibbs once he got the message sorted out.
But the team leader just kept looking at him unimpressed.
"Technically Ziva wasn't working here anymore at the time when we…" he embarrassedly revealed but cut himself off before going TMI.
Bella's eyes went wide. She had heard the name of the well-known Mossad agent before who worked here for many years as her predecessor, but never in a million years would she have thought that the assassin and Tony got intimate before she had returned to Israel. She really wished for the elevator to hurry up already and kept nudging the button impatiently.
"Go," Gibbs nodded his head to the right, giving his blessing to DiNozzo, right when the elevator finally arrived.
Agent Swan got in, quickly pushing the button for the ground floor and the one to close the doors faster, but Tony sprinted to it hastily enough to squeeze in before the doors shut, closing them off from the orange colored space outside.
DiNozzo hit the emergency stop button that Gibbs always liked to utilize when he wanted to have a private conversation with someone, halting the elevator between floors, the lights dimming to an eerie bluish-grey hue.
"What are you doing?" the brunette asked indignantly, looking up at her much taller partner.
"What's going on, Bella?" he asked bluntly, searching her face for answers.
"It's none of your business," Bella huffed. Maybe it was a mistake to start opening up to the man right before she was going to ultimately cut herself off from them.
"You are my teammate. Here at NCIS, we have each other's backs, so it is well damn my business if you are in trouble," Tony tried to plead with her better judgment and have her ask him for help, even if Gibbs wasn't willing to take such a direct approach with the girl.
"I'm not in trouble, I have personal stuff to take care of," she denied the allegations even though she didn't know yet the extent or details of what Klaus intended to do with her. She had her hunches though.
"Involving Mystic Falls," the light-brown haired man guessed, given that all this nonsense started with that town.
"Involving my friends, who need me and whom I have unjustly left behind before. Now, bugger off," the female agent angrily turned the elevator back on, uncomfortable silence enveloping them during the rest of the descent.
Bella could see the hurt look in her partner's eyes at her harsh words, but it was better this way. She couldn't afford to let them get involved. She cared too much about her friends here to allow that. The three years at NCIS had undoubtedly been the longest time she had spent in one place. In like ever. They had always moved around as a child because of Renée's flighty personality, uprooting her basically each or every other year.
Then when her mom finally settled down with Phil, because his job involved constant traveling as a minor league baseball player, she moved to Forks to allow her mom to go with him on his trips instead of staying at home with her in Georgia and to try and find a stable point in her life. Only to flee two and half years later from there too because of the stupid cold ones who shook her existence up. Ever since then her life involved traveling, Mystic Falls came and went, turning out to be only a pit stop at the time despite her intentions. The police academy and her job at MPD were only a few months to a year too.
So all in all the Major Case Response Team at NCIS had become the longest standing connection in her life besides her parents. And for this very same reason, because they had become like a family to her despite it appearing otherwise, a clean break was the best. It's for your own good, Tony.
When the elevator doors finally opened, she swiftly walked toward the exit and the parking lot where her personal car waited for her, never glancing back, leaving an utterly baffled Special Agent DiNozzo behind.