FREEZE FRAME 4: Dead Man Talking
DISCLAIMERS: I do not own NCIS.
WARNING: Corporal punishment of a minor and maybe a young adult in this chapter.
Previously On NCIS:
SecNav has taken an interest in the murder case of Patrick Devlin. Henry Lau Quing has been under investigation for arms trading, most likely through his export company he owns with Angus Devlin. SecNav strongly suggested that Marley meet with the Devlins, keeping them in touch with the investigation and hoping they may also entice Lau Quing back to the States, where they can arrest him.
Marley meets the Devlins. However, she presents herself as a petulant and rebellious teenager, hoping the Devlins will want nothing to do with her. Gibbs is not impressed with her behavior or the idea, as the Devlins could easily contest custody of Marley on the grounds that she is not being raised well enough. While Gibbs is not happy with SecNav's interference or their motives for involving Marley with the Devlins, he does sympathize with Patrick's parents, especially Lilith.
CUT to mid shot of Gibbs with Marley tucked under his arm. He is in mid-stride as he heads towards the door. Marley's legs are captured; frozen in the process of several desperate kicks, while her facial expression is frozen in surprise. Convert black and white. CUT.
Chapter 9 : SNAFU – Situation Normal, All Fouled Up.
FREEZE FRAME: CUT extreme close up of Gibbs hands holding a letter. The top reads Dear Patrick... Convert black and white CUT.
Cross Fade to Abby's lab. Close up of Abby looking at her computer screen, she has been watching the footage in the conference room. Cut back and forth from a close up of Abby and the image on the screen as she talks to herself.
"Oh no, Marley, what did you do?" Abby bit her lip while her eyes traveled from the expressions on Lilith and Angus Devlin's faces. Angus looked like he'd eaten something sour. Lilith, on the other hand, looked shocked and at the same time a little sad.
Suddenly the frame showed Gibbs' face, eyebrow raised in recognition of the green light on the camera mounted at the door. He dropped his gaze and glared into the camera. Abby could see he had a firm grip on Marley under one arm.
"Oops, busted," she whispered.
Gibbs's expression changed slightly. It was as if the man could read Abby's mind. Marley stopped wriggling for a moment and craned her head to see what had delayed Gibbs. Abby could see Marley's wide eyed expression of surprise, consolidating Abby's own fears that her snooping and involvement with Marley's makeover had been deduced by a very clever Gibbs. "Really shoulda known better," she chastised herself.
With his free hand Gibbs signed and mouthed… CORNER … NOW! He then continued on his way, with a panicked and wriggling Marley still under one arm, out the door.
Abby nearly jumped out of her skin and immediately went to switch the monitor over, when Lilith Devlin caught her attention. The women pulled a trinket or pendant of some kind out of her large tote bag and caressed it. Lilith then looked over at Gill.
Abby read the woman's lips. 'I suppose this was a silly idea, really. I doubt Marley is going to want this.' The clear picture and the body language of the woman tugged at Abby's heart. "Damn, damn, damn, why'd she have to be so nice?"
Cut away to the corridor, just outside the conference room. Long shot of Gibbs and Marley.
Gibbs dropped Marley on her feet and grabbed hold of her shoulder. "The first thing I'm gonna do is wash that gunk of your face." He growled before putting his hand in his drill pants pocket searching for his handkerchief. Instead he pulled out the note pad sheet with Marley's sticky gum folded in it. He shook his head, grabbed Marley by the arm and marched quickly towards the bull pen.
"Gibbs…Dad… Okay, listen, I just had this idea…" babbled Marley, trying to keep up with Gibbs's angry strides.
Gibbs ignored her. "McGee," he bellowed as he rounded the partition.
All three agents jumped. Ziva and Tony, who had been looking over their files getting ready for the interviews scheduled for the morning, moved to join Gibbs. They were surprised to see an almost unidentifiable Marley held firmly in his grasp.
"What the…" Tony started to ask.
"Marley? You look like a mini Abigail, a real crisp of the old block."
"It's chip, Ziva…"
"Oh, like in french fry?"
"No, as in wood … Like splinter."
"Sphincter?"
"What… No…"
"Enough!" shouted Gibbs. "McGee, hand me your wet wipey thingies you have in your top drawer."
"Boss? I don't have…"
"You keep wet wipes in your drawer, Mc Sanitized?" laughed Tony. "Baby wipes…"
"Cut it out, Di Nozzo," snapped Gibbs, cuffing Tony up the back of the head. "Mc Gee, wipes, now," demanded Gibbs, holding out his free hand.
Tim pulled out his top drawer and blushed as he handed over a new plastic pack of wet wipes.
"Good, now get down to Abby's lab and finish off her analysis of Rose's journal," directed Gibbs.
"And if Abby's not standing in the corner when you get there, you have my permission to personally drag her there."
Marley's eyebrows shot up. "No, but Gibbs, Abby didn't…"
"Marley, adding lies? You know where that will get you," he clearly warned the twelve year old. "DiNozzo, which of the interrogation rooms are free?" asked Gibbs.
"For the next half hour, all of them, Boss."
"Won't need that long," growled Gibbs, as he headed towards the corridor.
Nobody asked any questions. They weren't the best investigating agents around for nothing. It was obvious Abby and Marley had put their heads together and came up with some sort of ruse here. Tim jumped up and rounded his desk, heading for the elevator. Tony and Ziva turned to go back to their desks.
"Boss is sure mad," stated Tony. "I'd love to know what Marley said." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. He suddenly grimaced as he pulled at a piece of note paper that was stuck to the hair on the back of his skull.
Ziva burst into fits of laughter when a long string of pink bubble gum was drawn with it.
"What the…"
Cut away interrogation room one. Long shot as Gibbs enters with Marley in tow.
Gibbs moved over to the table and slapped down the packet of wet wipes, before he sat on the edge of it. He pushed one chair out with his boot, turned it around and planted his foot on the seat. In the next movement he pulled Marley over his bent knee, and landed one very hard swat to her backside.
"Ow, hey, you said we…Ow, ow," Marley yelped as another two smacks assailed her barely protected bottom. Deciding her words were having no effect, Marley tried kicking her legs and wriggling out of Gibbs's line of fire. However, her feet were off the floor and her heavy three inch thick high tops were difficult to get airborne. Gibbs pulled her in tighter towards his midriff and laid a volley of unrelenting paddles before she gave up on that idea and threw her one free arm back, laying her palm face up to protect her rear end.
"Move your hand," growled Gibbs.
"No please, Dad, listen. I just wanted to scare them off me. I …Ow!" Gibbs slapped at her palm and Marley pulled it away, instantly shoving the smarting finger tips into her mouth. The sting subsided some, though within seconds a new fire was ignited on the seat of her pants as Gibbs landed another three hard wallops.
"Owwwwwwwwww…Okay… Ok…aaaay," Marley wailed, I'm so…rry."
Gibbs stopped smacking, but still held her firm. "What are you sorry about, Marley?" He lowered his head closer to hers and tilted it to look into her tearful eyes.
Marley used her hand to wipe away her tears. "My… fingers and butt are… on fire, Gibbs." She sniffled. "For one, I'm sorry… that I'll ne…ver be able… to sit down again," she sobbed. "And two, probably ne…ver play the piano!" she snapped, trying to regain some of her earlier bravado.
"You don't play the piano." Gibbs tried not to laugh as he landed another hard swat.
"Owwwwwweeee, but I might have… wanted to learn," growled Marley.
Gibbs shook his head. "Marley, how can you be a smart a… alec, while you are over my knee?" He landed another slap. "Now, why do you think you are getting this spanking?"
"Ow…Because… I sw…ore?" cried Marley.
"More than that Marley,!" Gibbs tipped her a little more forward and gave her backside another three short but sharp swats. "You wanna trey and tell me agin, why you're here?"
"Ahhh, owwweee, no… I mean…Gee Gibbs, I can't think…" she sniffed, "a kid can't answer questions when she's lying over someone's knee…" She scrubbed at her tears once more and took a huge breath. "The blood isn't going to my… brain."
"I can see that," smirked Gibbs, noticing the pinkish colour of her skin peeking through the rips in her shorts.
"I'm scared… I'm not gonna… get it right… Please Gibbs, I'm just sorry I made you mad. I was trying to turn the Devlins away, not you…" A fresh round of tears started. "I don't want to lose you," she sobbed.
Gibbs flipped Marley up and stood her on her feet. He stood up, grabbed her and swung her around to sit on the edge of the table, where he could meet her eyes.
Marley winced then grimaced when her backside hit the hard surface of the desk. Tears mixed with black eyeliner, continued to roll down her cheeks.
"Listen here, knucklehead," said Gibbs as he grabbed the wet wipes and pulled a sheet free. "You can't turn me away from you." He wiped her tear stained face, then roughly started to try and remove some of the thick make-up. "I'm mad that you went off half cocked on this hair brained idea. And I am disappointed that you would think that we would easily give you over to anybody, no matter what legal rights they may think they have, or how nice they are."
Marley fought against Gibbs's face scrubbing technique then grabbed his wrist, stopping him so she could speak. "So you're mad… at me for not…not telling you what I was going to do?" asked a sniffling Marley, sounding a little relieved.
"Yes, it's the trust thing again, isn't it?" said Gibbs staring with grim concern into her watery round eyes.
Marley nodded and dropped her head in shame. Gibbs lifted her chin. "It's more than that. You should have thought about it a little harder, Marley." He grabbed a fresh wipe and went back to wipe the tears from her face. "I don't know if you noticed or not, but while you were being rude and disrespectful, that lady in there, Lilith Devlin, did not turn a hair. She just stared at you, Marley. There was unconditional acceptance as soon as you entered the room in this get up, before you even opened your little potty mouth," finished Gibbs as he threw the now soiled wet wipe on the table.
He put his hands on his hips, examining the fresh face of the child that now stared at him with tears still in her huge, albeit cleaner, eyes.
"She was pretty nice. I felt so mean."
"You were mean. Not one of your finest hours, little lady," sighed Gibbs.
Marley's tears spilled over and she scrubbed at them with her sleeve. "I thought if they didn't like me… they… they would just give up any ideas of trying to get to know me… or take me away from you guys. I didn't… think it would hurt their feelings so… so much, Ohhh, " Marley sobbed and then took a breath, trying to quell her hiccup's.
"I don't think you hurt their feelings so much as shocked them. At this stage they just wanted to see you, know that you were safe and being raised well."
"Tell them I'm safe, and well. You are raising me well," Marley pleaded.
"They may not see it that way now."
Marley's face dropped. "Dad, no…" She nodded again with a hitched sob. "So, that's why you're… really mad."
"Yup."
"Oh, I'm such a…"Marley burst into uncontrollable sobs.
"Knucklehead," Gibbs lifted her up and stood her on the chair then pulled her into his chest. He rubbed her back trying to comfort her. "It'll be alright, shhh don't be scared. We can fix this."
"SNAFU," Marley mumbled into Gibbs's shoulder as he continued to rub her back.
Gibbs kissed her on her head. "Not so fouled up. Come on, we better make this right. You need to go up there and talk nicely…" he said and swatted her backside as a final reminder, "and apologize. Maybe, they'll pay for the piano lessons," he chuckled.
Cut away conference room.
"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. and Mrs Devlin. Really, I don't know what's gotten into Marley. She is a very caring and well behaved child normally. Though, she has had a lot of disruption this past month. I'm sure the acting out is just a little symptom…"
"Acting out!" interrupted Angus Devlin. "The girl needs discipline."
"What are her guardians like Miss Riggs? Is she happy with them?" asked Lilith.
"Yes, of course she is, very happy, and they are very happy with her. I can assure…"
Lilith's eyes brightened. She turned to her husband, ignoring Gill's assurances "Angus, perhaps we should enquire with the director. Marley needs consistency. She may be acting out because she doesn't feel safe or secure. We could…"
Angus frowned. "Lilith, you may be biting off more than you can chew."
"You mean WE, Angus. She's our granddaughter."
"Please, Mr. and Mrs Devlin. There is no need for concern. Marley is still having counseling sessions with me. We've come a long way, but I wouldn't suggest disrupting her life right now."
"But, Miss Riggs…"
"No, Lilith, listen to the counselor. She is best equipped to deal with the child's problems."
Mrs. Devlin was not happy with her husband's stonewalling. "Well, could we at least meet her guardians?"
"Yes, you can, in due time," said Gibbs as he came into the room with a fresh faced Marley. "But, Marley has something to say first."
"I'm sorry for being so rude and unfriendly, Ma'am, Sir. I pretended to be a … a… knucklehead."
"There was no pretending that," quipped Gibbs.
"I mean, I was pretending to be a rotten and rebellious teenager. I'm sorry. It was mean of me. It's just that I really like where I am, and I didn't know what you were really like. I've lived here with my mom all my life and, well she's gone and that was really hard, but I'm doing real good with Gill and… I mean; in my counseling and everything. I was scared you would want to take me away. I had a set of grandparents. And I have a great set of foster parents. I love them. I was scared. I'm so sorry." Marley looked at Lilith and Angus with sincerity and then up at Gibbs, hoping he approved of her apology.
Gibbs tried to ruffle her hair, but his fingers got caught in the stiff purple mousse, causing Marley to screw up her face as he tugged to get free.
Lilith laughed at the child's expression. "You know you look like Pat…" She stopped. "Sorry Marley. I accept your apology and, believe me; I do not want to take you away. I just wanted to see you. I hope one day you will want to know more about us. I can wait for whenever you're ready. We didn't mean to frighten you. Your guardians must be very special people for you to go to so much trouble."
"They are, Mrs. Devlin."
Gill made eye contact with Gibbs and smiled.
"Please, Marley, will you so me one favor?" asked Lilith.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Call me Lilith."
"Okay, Lilith."
"Your mom must have been a real special person too, Marley. I'd love to hear about her one day. She would be very proud of you. So would Patrick."
"I'm sorry Mom didn't tell me anything about your son, Mrs Devlin. I don't mean to be rude, but I guess I can't imagine him as my dad."
"That's understandable, Marley. Patrick would have liked you. He meant to look after your mother and you," added Angus
"Thanks, Mr Devlin. He sounds like a nice man."
Gibbs arched one eyebrow, before turning to the couple. "We are going to have to finish this up for now, Mr. and Mrs Devlin. I have other interviews to conduct."
Lilith looked disappointed, but nodded in resignation.
"Miss Riggs, why don't you go down to the cafeteria with Marley and Mrs Devlin. Get something to eat and drink, spend a little less formal time together," suggested Gibbs.
"That's a good idea. We have about half an hour before Marley is to be picked up. Mrs Devlin?"
Angus went to stand up.
Gibbs held up his hand. "I'd like to have a word with you, Mr Devlin." Gill looked quizzically at Gibbs.
"Why don't you three head down there. Angus can join you later."
"That would be lovely," smiled Lilith.
Gill stood up and joined the women at the door, taking Marley's hand as she went past. Marley nodded and squeezed hers in return then let go. "Here, Lilith, I'll show you where it is." Marley held out her hand.
Lilith Devlin happily took it and left the room.
Gill took a quick glance at Gibbs, raising her eyebrows in surprise at Marley's kindness. Gibbs winked at her. Gill took a huge relieved breath as she exited behind Marley and Lilith Devlin.
Angus waited until the door was clearly closed behind them. "Agent Gibbs, you have some further questions?"
"Yes, I have. You knew of Patrick's…indiscretion. When did he tell you?" Gibbs asked bluntly.
Angus Devlin looked surprised, wondering what he had said to have motivated Gibbs's question. Though it was not inferred as a question, instead a statement as if it were a known fact. "I didn't. He didn't tell me…not until … I didn't know Rose. It just that Patrick was a good boy. He would have done the right thing, Agent Gibbs."
"You knew of Rose, when? Her name has not been mentioned here. You were the one who stopped the investigation ten years ago, why?"
Angus Devlin stood up and paced behind his chair before turning back to an unfazed Special Agent Gibbs.
"Sit down," ordered Gibbs.
Angus stopped pacing immediately and stared back at Gibbs. "I knew when I first saw that photograph." He paused again and sat down. He placed his arms on the table and clasped his hands together before taking a resigned breath. "Patrick had talked about this Rose. He and Arielle had an argument about three months before he went missing. It was a tiff, but he had talked about Rose and his buddies. Daniel and Patrick had liked Rose and another girl that they all seemed to go out with. Then Patrick had met Arielle, and he stopped pursuing this girl. He'd called the night before he went missing. He wanted to talk, he didn't say about what. When I saw that photograph I pretty much guessed what had gone on."
"Why did you stop the private investigation?"
Angus tapped his hands on the table. "For Lilith and for Arielle. At the time…It seemed to be a complication that neither of them needed."
"What about now, Mr Devlin?"
"Are you asking as Agent Gibbs or Marley's guardian?" Angus asked, almost squaring off against Gibbs.
Gibbs raised his eyebrow.
"I saw how you looked at her, Agent Gibbs. I saw how she looked at you. You're the loving parent she is afraid of losing."
"So what about now, Mr. Devlin?"
"I see that it was wrong, perhaps, at least to not have taken up the search again, especially now that Arielle has moved on. And Lilith needs this. But Agent Gibbs, she doesn't need to be heartbroken again."
Gibbs nodded. "Did Arielle ever find out?"
"Not to my knowledge. We haven't kept in touch much since we moved. I know she has married, but Henry hasn't given me many of the details. He was weary of discussing her marriage to Lilith. Lilith found it hard to let go, but Henry is protective of both Lilith and, of course, especially Arielle."
"Do you know the whereabouts of Henry Lau Quing? We would like to speak with him."
"Not at the moment. We have a scheduled meeting next month. He contacts me via e-mail or cell phone. I'll check the movements I know about. But, he will catch up with Arielle before he meets with me."
"If you hear from him, I'd appreciate a call."
"Of course, but I'd like to know how you came to have custody of my granddaughter?"
"First, Mr Devlin, she may be your biological granddaughter, and I am more than happy that she get to know you, even have you be a part of her life… if she wants it. You are right; I'm her guardian, and it's become more than a protection order. And second, it has nothing to do with Patrick's case. Her sealed files and protection orders are a totally separate matter. It is in Marley's best interest that the protection orders stay that way."
"I'm very happy to support that, Agent Gibbs, though Patrick's case must present some sort of conflict of interest."
"None… Not unless you were a suspect."
"Am I, Agent Gibbs?"
Gibbs paused, then chose not to deny or affirm Angus question. "There's no conflict of interest. We need to speak to Henry Lau Quing," He simply stated.
"Very well, I'll have my secretary send you the itinerary I have on file for Henry. Now if you are finished, I would like to meet up with my wife. Take her to lunch and try to subdue her excitement a little without breaking her heart."
Gibbs internally flinched a little at that, though feigned his neutral face. "That's fine. If I have any more questions, I'll contact you."
"Yes fine, at The Belvedere. We should get back around two pm. Thank you, Agent Gibbs." Angus Devlin held out his hand.
Gibbs stood and shook it before watching the man exit.
Crossfade to Abby's lab; Mid shot of Abby standing in the corner. She is dressed in baggie orange work overalls. She is humming and playing with a toy. Zoom out to long shot that includes Tim at Abby's computer trying to enhance the text of a scanned document.
"Abby! Will you stop bouncing those balls, it's distracting." Tim said tersely. "Gibbs is going be here soon, and he won't be impressed. You're supposed to be standing there thinking about what you have done wrong."
"I don't need to think about it, Timmy, though I'm not totally to blame here."
"You can explain that to Gibbs. Now quiet, at least if you have some of this puzzled solved, you may just neutralize his wrath."
"What have you got so far, Tim?"
"Nothing; the pages that were torn from the journal have left an imprint on the scanned pages you have, but each layer is weaker than the next. The imprint of the last page is clearing a bit, but I'd say there were at least three pages torn from the journal. I can make out a reference to Patrick and Nic… wanting to tell you…sorry and I understand…"
"I wonder why Rose ripped them out. Perhaps she was going to send a letter with the photograph of Marley." Abby thought out loud.
"She obviously changed her mind," stated Tim quietly, concentrating as he highlighted slabs of text and created layers for the program to enhance separately.
"Hmmm, I wonder." Abby started playing with the small paddle and rubber balls attached to it. She tried to keep the three small balls in the air at the same time, while she thought on Rose and her dilemma thirteen years ago. "Maybe she did send them…" Bounce, pat, bounce, "If she decided not to send them, then why didn't she just keep them as a journal entry?" Pat, pat, bounce, "No, I think someone destroyed those notes… Then again," Abby bit on her bottom lip, as she continued to play with the toy. Pat, pat, bounce, bounce, pat, bounce…
Tim shook his head. "She may have removed them because she didn't want Marley snooping," chastised Tim. "The kid is pretty good at that."
"She's not the only one," quipped Gibbs, snatching the toy from Abby's hand.
Tim swung around in surprise, though no more surprised than Abby. She quickly dropped her hands to her side and swung her nose back into the corner, spying Gibbs's profile with her peripheral vision.
"Boss, how…I didn't hear you come in?" frowned Tim.
Gibbs kept his glare directed at Abby, trying not to smirk at her obvious nervousness. "You got anything there yet, McGee?"
"No, Boss, it's going to take a while. The program is rendering the imprint from the missing pages in Rose's journal. We're pretty sure they reference Patrick."
"Fine, go take a break."
"Oh? Perhaps I could try and speed up…"
Gibbs didn't say anything. He just turned his head and gave Tim the silent directive… GO!
"Taking a break now, Boss, good Idea … yes…" Tim mumbled as he quickly exited Abby's lab.
Gibbs looked Abby up and down, noticing the orange jump suit she was wearing. "You been down in the garage, Abbs?"
"Oh, no, well yes. I just needed to check archives, Rose's box, just in case the pages were there," stuttered Abby.
Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "From the box over there, the one that's been there since yesterday morning, Abigail?" he stated pointing to said box with the paddle with its elasticized spheres bouncing around.
"Ohh, that's where it is… I thought…"
Gibbs held up the small paddle and ball toy. "What's this?"
"A promotional marketing toy, Gibbs. Isn't it neat? It came with my 'Science Monthly' see…" Abby took the toy from Gibbs's hand and demonstrated the game. "See, the face of the paddle has the orbit rings around it, our solar system. The little balls represent the two closet planets to Earth and the Sun. You have to hit them and try and get all three in the air at once. The Earth ball is the biggest one of course. Mercury and Venus are smaller; Jupiter and Mars are bigger…" Abby knew she was babbling. She always did when she was nervous and 'Gibbs' bossy papa bear expression made her extremely nervous. "Ahh…But, I mean five balls, Gibbs, would be impossible to keep in the air at once. Actually, three is pretty hard, especially being so close together. And if Uranus was there, well it is big too, so the paddle would be unbalanced. Neat gimmick, hey? We could probably get some made for NCIS. Though I don't know what we would have the ball represent or what we could really use them for… I guess…"
"I do," Gibbs yanked the rubber bands holding the three balls off from the paddle, and landed a particularly hard whack on Abby's orange clad posterior.
"Ow…" You would; dumb toy dumb toy. I shoulda know better; Gibbs knows everything, except the name of a good barber. She groused to herself and rubbed at her smarting backside.
Gibbs frowned, and pushed Abby's hands out of the way, then tapped the paddle lightly, this time on the seat of Abby's overalls. "Science Monthly?" He enquired noticing the square padding that somehow Abby had managed to stuff into the back of her pants. "You hiding it from anyone in particular, Abigail?"
Abigail, heck! Abby fiddled with her hands. "Ahh…Yes, Gibbs, that's exactly what I'm doing. Tim is always taking my copy before I get a chance to read it, and well, Tony would have pilfered that toy, which I'm thinking wouldn't have been such a bad outcome, right now. You know how he is with gimmicks. . Between him and Tim, I wouldn't have even got…"
Gibbs held out his spare hand.
Abby grimaced, undid the front of her overalls and retrieved the magazine. She slid it through the opening and handed it to Gibbs with a full pout on her cute lips.
Gibbs took the magazine in one hand and whacked Abby's behind with the paddle firmly secured in his other one. "Sit while you can, Abigail."
Abby scurried over to one of the high backed stools and sat down. "I messed up, didn't I, Gibbs?"
"Yup."
"I couldn't see what Marley did or said, but I guess it was pretty bad. That lady, Lilith, she looked pretty nice and all. I just wanted to help Marley, Gibbs. We don't want to lose her either. She's been good for you, and Gill's been good for you, and it's nice for you to have a sort of family again. I don't think I've seen you so happy…"
"You're family too, Abbs, you know that."
"Oh… Oh, I know that. That's why I helped her." Abby explained, brightening some, feeling Gibbs's forgiveness already for her and Marley's stunt. "Marley's like my little sister, though sometimes I'm the aunt. Either way, she's family. We all are and well…"
"There's always room for more family, Abby."
"I guess. But you have to earn it, Gibbs."
"You two weren't going to give them a chance. The only thing anyone earned was a spanking for causing not just a moment of sadness for the woman, but now…some complications."
"Serious?" asked Abby, while chewing on her bottom lip.
"Could be, Abby. Having Marley misbehave, swearing and hostile could have provided them with a very sound argument for having her protection order jeopardized, or at the very least the guardianship reviewed."
"Oh no, what did she say? I just helped her with the outfit and all. I didn't tell her to swear or to be rude. I just suggested she could be a little distant and sort of mope…"
"Mope, not so much, distant, no. Rude, disrespectful and cruel, YES! The get up you designed wasn't a real issue. It's not with you, so why would it be with Marley? Though I will strip the hide off both of you if she gets any piercings or tattoes before she's old enough…"
"What's old enough, Gibbs?"
"Old enough not to be put across my knee for it, Abigail!" With that Gibbs pulled Abby off the stool and swapped places with her. In one fell swoop, he flung her across his lap and started assailing her upturned backside with a volley of paddles.
"Gibbssss, I have tattoos and I'm too old to… Oww, Gibbssss!"
"Do the crime, do the time, Abigail. Family consequences, Abigail: In this family you'll never be too old…."
Fade out to white and the shadows of Abby's kicking feet reflected on the metallic elevator doors in time with the echoes of Abby's yelps.
Fade into to the elevator doors of the bull pen, pan towards the bull pen's work area where Gill is standing with her back to the elevator, telling Tim, Tony, and Ziva about Marley's first encounter with the Devlins. The group is giggling at Gill's animated recount.
"Honestly, you should have seen Gibbs's face, the gum…"
"Half of which is still in my hair," groused Tony.
"The nose piercing, the swearing. Really I should have spoken up, but I was seeing where she was going with it. Then Gibbs's face, when she said cocksu…"
The team's laughter suddenly stopped. Gill's eyes went wide then she squeezed one almost shut. "He's behind me, isn't he?"
The team nodded silently just as Gibbs's hand slapped the back of Gill's head, "Yup!"
"Gibbs, we need to talk. Everything is good now. Lilith had a delightful morning tea with us. I'm sure everything is fine on that front."
Gibbs placed the broken paddle and ball game on the desk beside him. "We'll talk tonight. Seems to me though, you should be sent to bed early with Abby and Marley."
Gill looked confused, and Gibbs smirked. "Abby is spending the night. She and Marley are grounded. Marley get away?"
"Yes, Chelsea picked her up. She will drop her off about six."
"Good, we'll have a moment to talk, then." Gibbs cocked his head and gave Gill a smug wink.
Gill blushed and quickly moved to Gibbs's workstation, while the team gathered around Gibbs in front of the plasma screen.
"Report, Di Nozzo. How did the interviews go?"
"Good. We interviewed them all except Fitzgerald, of course. We videoed the interviews; they went over pretty much what we already knew. They all admitted to witnessing the fight and they all knew what it was about. They were protecting Nic Hanson, even though they knew his alibi was tight. They all had him leaving for the hospital after midnight. There a pretty tight group, so they felt they were not only protecting Nic, but Patrick's reputation as well as Arielle's. There was one interesting discovery, Boss…" Tony flicked the remote on for the LCD screen and the image of Daniel Fitzgerald appeared just as the ping of the elevator sounded.
Gibbs turned around and watched a young thirty something Asian woman step out from its doors. The attractive woman was flanked by two children, small boys around the age of five. The women searched the area and moved towards Gibbs and the team, not taking her eyes off the image on the screen.
"Daddy!" the small boys chorused and ran up to stand in front of the screen looking up with excitement at the image of their father.
The woman moved timidly towards them. "Agent Gibbs?" she asked.
"Yes."
"My name's Arielle…"
"Lau Quing," finished Gibbs, and then looked at the screen and the two excited little boys. "Arielle Fitzgerald, should I say?"
"Yes, Agent Gibbs. I know you are investigating Patrick's case. I have some things of Daniel's and Patrick's that may help, including these."
Arielle handed over a plain envelope. Gibbs opened it and slid out the missing three pages of Rose's Journal.
FREEZE FRAME: CUT extreme close up of Gibbs hands holding a letter. The top reads Dear Patrick... Convert black and white CUT.
TBC Chapter 10- Boondoggle
A.N. Sorry this late guys. I hope it reads well. It should Harliquinn betaed for me and as always did a superb job, but I did bang my head over the weekend, leaving me with a small concussion and a nasty hole on my noggin. So any mistakes are the ones' I've missed.
Now; add to your clues.
Angus Devlin knew of Rose's pregnancy long before Lilith, more than likely before Patrick died. His comment alluded to the fact that he had discussed it with Patrick. Yep Gibbs is suspicious. Angus also stopped the private investigator.
Arielle Lau Quing married Daniel Fitzgerald; Patrick's flat mate and member of the 8 bells poker gang. Remember also that one of Daniels poker chips was missing.
Arielle has Rose's missing Journal pages.