#17

AU stories for NCIS episodes. Each is independent from all the others since this is based on the possibility of parallel universes and multiple timelines…. many, many of them. Later on some may seem to follow something that happened in an earlier AU episode story but it's probably coincidence unless I say otherwise in the beginning. Again, these are AU scenes/stories which means a character may die in one story and be alive in the next one.

This is #17 - a short alternate universe story/scene for season 1, episode 17 - The Truth is Out There

The original episode aired on February 10, 2004.
The dialogue in some of this is from the episode.
Rating: K+
Category: general
Warnings: Can't think of any
Disclaimer: Borrowing characters. Just borrowing. No profit.
And finally, all mistakes are mine.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he answered the phone, after stepping away from the crime scene.

"Masters here, there was a call on the tip line. They wanted to report something that happened."

"Okay, on the phone or in person?"

"They wanted to leave the information anonymously but I convinced them to talk in person. They sounded scared or at least very nervous."

"Did you get a name and call back number?"

"No, but I know where they'll be at 1400. Said please don't give them away."

The team had just finished with Master Chief Nutter and the four left of the five musketeers would arrive to work at 1400. That was not a coincidence and it convinced Gibbs that one of the men had information about the death of Petty Officer Chris Gordon.

They'd talked to the man who found Gordon, Nutter, his section chief, Darin Spotnitz, the night club kid, Antwane Mann, who worked the door. They'd searched his room and Abby and Ducky had made good headway on the rest.

At 1520 Gibbs sent Tony and Kate to Pax River to pick up Gordon's buddies.

The four men were ready to be interviewed. Or interrogated. Gibbs had told Kate and Tony about the call and they'd listened to the recording.

"I'll talk to these guys and see if one of them tells me he called the tip line call. And I think I'll recognize his voice."

"We'll be in observation listening and will probably recognize it too," Tony informed.

Bowman was first and midway through his answer to the second question, Gibbs was positive he was the tip line caller.

"We drove to the club after hearing about it from a guy on the Eisenhower, sir."

"Why all the way to Alexandria?"

"We were bored with the clubs around Lexington Park. We knew everyone there and wanted to meet some new people. Plus we heard this guy Darin Spotnitz threw some awesome parties."

"Petty Officer Bowman, did you make any phone calls between the time you left the club and reported to work?"

He looked relieved but didn't answer.

"The call was recorded. We can get a voice match."

"I… who is listening, sir?"

Just my team. Your buddies can't hear us and they won't know anything about what is said."

"I want to tell you about what happened to Chris."

"Tell me or can it be one of my team?"

"Uh, any of you I guess. Please don't tell my friends. None of us wanted Chris hurt let alone killed. The pressure to keep quiet about it all has been awful."

Gibbs left to talk to Kate and Tony. It was decided Tony would get the story from Bowman. Gently. It was obvious he was distraught about the whole thing and wanted to tell the truth. Kate would continue observing the other three while Gibbs asked them questions.

Gibbs went to question Petty Officer Morgan and Tony sat down with Bowman.

Bowman took a deep breath and spilled about the practical joke, about recording it, about Wong and the car, the girl, about hiding the body, about making the pact to stay quiet, about getting their story straight, about lying if they were asked questions. All of it.

"As you predicted, boss. Morgan, Carter and Wong are sticking to the story," Tony admitted.

"Why don't we confront them, tell them we know the truth," Kate wanted to know.

"No, we're not doing that," Gibbs ordered. "We're going to protect Bowman as long as we can."

They put out an APB on Wong's car and arranged to check Chief Nutter's car just to make sure they weren't missing anything.

"Let's go talk to Antwane Mann and see if he confirms what Bowman's said," Gibbs told them.

Mann confirmed the five were there and that Wong had left with the girl, not Gordon.

"We still don't know about the $40K. Bowman insists he didn't know about it and doesn't think any of the others did either. Bowman told us where everyone was when it happened. We're lacking physical evidence from the parking lot. Let's go back there and see what we find."

Later they talked about the case in Abby's lab. They discovered the bank video and confirmed Wong knew about the money. They'd found the girl and confirmed Wong knew it was Gordon dressed up. It was Wong who pressured everyone into the cover up. They didn't have his car. They didn't have the recording. They'd searched all the rooms but didn't find it. Thanks to Bowman they knew what kind of device had been used so it was time to fake it.

In the end, Carter and Morgan forfeited 50% of their pay for two months and were restricted to base for 60 days. Bowman got a verbal reprimand for going along and not putting a stop to it in the beginning. In a typical carrot and stick world, he was praised for alerting NCIS and telling the truth. The admiral told all three that he'd decide in six months if they'd earned the right to stay in the navy.

Bowman told Morgan and Carter what he'd done and while things were frosty, all three admitted they thought they could salvage their friendship in memory of their friend Chris Gordon. Wong was found guilty. His car was never found. The tape was never found.

End

Thanks for reading.