And fair reminder to people, if you're going to review be polite and if you've got nothing nice to say, don't bother or I will block you. I've 0 tolerance for people who can't be bothered to be respectful. Yes, I'm not military. No, I don't care and I've got the right to write whatever I want however I want to write it. You don't like that? Get off my page and out of my stories. I've done my best with what info i can dig up, sorry I can't be bothered to suddenly enlist and figure it all out first hand. Deal with it.
"The secret is to keep your front shoulder in as long as possible," Gibbs said, standing in a batting cage and adjusting his stance. "Both eyes stay level on the pitcher. Weight is back and you track the ball… and you wait. It's all about concentration."
He swung when the ball came flying out of the machine and hit it across the fenced-in area, stopping to see if Morgan was impressed. She stared at him with a frown, brows furrowed and gaze bouncing toward the machine as Russell lay on the other side of the fence, ears perked but chewing his own tennis ball.
"Yeah, I don't like baseball," she informed him, having told him this when he suggested they go out and try it but he'd pointedly ignored her.
"Just give it a shot," he suggested, waving her into the batting cage and she sighed but stepped in. "If you really hate it that much, then we'll do something you like next time."
She glanced at him, holding a helmet and giving him a once over. "Promise?"
He cracked a small smile. "Whatever you like."
She hummed, turning away and pulling the helmet on over her head. "Bouldering."
He winced, noting he should have expected something a bit more physically intensive but gave in easily with a soft sigh. "We'll trade back and forth. 'Til we find something we both like. How about that?"
"Fine by me," she said, moving into position and Gibbs gave her a once-over.
She'd copied his stance pretty well, though he noted that she was standing a bit stiff and more like she was about to enter a fight than hit a ball. So, he moved toward her, clasping a hand around her elbow and making her stiffen further as she shot him a look.
"Your stance is good but you need to relax a bit. Slightly bend the knees, hands together, knuckles lined up," he corrected, his chest pressed up against her back and smirking at the heated flush that was trailing up her neck. "Concentrate."
"You're making that difficult," she grumbled, making him chuckle and press a kiss to the side of her neck before she swatted at him in embarrassment.
Since she'd decided to give dating a shot, he'd gone out of his way to mess with her. Little pushes of affection that often made her turn red or stumble over her words. Not enough to push her away and he would always listen if she asked him to stop but she hadn't yet and that made his heart swell. He stepped away as she wanted though, moving over to the button for the machine.
"Fast or slow?"
Morgan thought about it for a second before humming. "Fast. Just to see."
He nodded and hit the button, sending a ball flying out that Morgan watched without moving as it hit the back of the fence.
"You've got to swing to hit it."
She shot him an annoyed look and turned back to eye the machine before the next ball came and she swung. The ball hit the bat with a sharp "ping" and flew across the pitch. She continued to hit them after that, easily picking up on how to do it before Gibbs's phone rang. Morgan hit one more ball before stepping back and eyeing him as he answered, stretching her arms.
"Yeah, we'll be right there," he replied, hanging up and waving for Morgan to come along. "We've got to move. We just lost two NCIS agents."
"Shit," Morgan cursed, abandoning the batting cage and whistling for Russell to follow as they took off back to the car.
Gibbs drove quickly to headquarters, leaving Morgan behind so he could go meet with the Director about what happened. She wasn't bothered in any way and just herded Russell up to the bullpen where McGee and Ziva were waiting; Tony having not arrived yet.
"Do we have any info?" She asked, pulling off her zip-up hoodie despite the chill.
A few minutes in a batting cage wasn't exactly a workout but the adrenaline of hearing about two dead agents had her running a bit warm. McGee nodded and pulled up a couple of photo IDs.
"Do you know them, McGee?" Ziva asked, seeing on his face that he might and knowing he was more likely to know them than they were.
"Jim Nelson and I went to FLETC together. I was at his wedding two months ago," McGee admitted as Tony stormed in from the elevator and dropped down at his desk.
"This better not be another recall drill. I had floor seats for the Wizards this afternoon."
"Two agents are dead, Tony," Morgan bit out a bit harshly, shutting up his complaints instantly as Ziva explained a bit further.
"It's Agent Cassidy's team out of the Pentagon, Tony."
"They were attacked," McGee said as well, making his expression fall.
"Is she okay?"
"She survived."
"Her men weren't as lucky," Ziva pointed out.
"Well, what the hell happened?" Tony asked but Morgan caught sight of Gibbs and immediately started grabbing her things.
"That's what we're going to find out, DiNozzo. Grab your gear," he said as he walked past the bullpen for the elevator, but when the others didn't move, he raised his voice. "Grab your gear!"
That got the others moving and Morgan caught up with Gibbs in the elevator first. She said nothing about his shout, knowing he was frustrated and furious with what was happening. She knew comforting wouldn't work because she'd been in this position before. She'd lost a team in Afghanistan to an IED and while she always tried to keep her distance from people, especially back then, it didn't make the frustration and guilt any better. So she understood Gibbs's temper. It was the Agent who would still be at the scene whose temper she was more worried about.
"Flags of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia," Ziva noted, taking pictures of the scene as Morgan kept a close eye on Russell, holding a set of evidence tags as he searched through the rubble. "What type of store was this?"
"McGee's working on it, Ziva," Gibbs said, eyeing Ducky as he looked over the bodies of the two NCIS agents who'd died inside.
"Their deaths were almost immediate, if that's any consolation, Jethro," Ducky informed him, getting a gruff response.
"No, it's not, Ducky."
"No, it never is. All our agents' wounds appear to have been caused by shrapnel."
"Ball bearings and nails," Morgan chimed, shooing Russell from a scattering of them and sending him off to find other parts of the bomb. "Homemade."
"All emanating from the central point of the floor," Ziva pointed out as Ducky looked over the bottom half of a third victim.
"This man appears to literally have been at the heart of the explosion."
"He was sitting on the bomb?" Tony questioned as Gibbs shot him a look.
"He was the bomb, DiNozzo."
Russell let out a bark and they all turned to Morgan as she marked another item, photographed it, and lifted it up. "Electrical wiring."
"Explosive amputation of legs, arms, and head," Ducky noted as Tony frowned in understanding.
"A suicide bomber."
"I don't suppose any of you have seen the head?"
"Still looking for it, Ducky," Ziva replied as Morgan gestured upward.
"Probably up in the rafters. I'll have Russell check once we've cleared the room."
"Why blow yourself up in an empty store?" Tony asked and before Morgan could say anything against it, Paula Cassidy stormed into the room with a bitter shout.
"It wasn't empty, Tony!"
She put a hand to her head and Morgan shot Gibbs a look, knowing that having the only surviving agent here was probably a bad idea.
"She insisted on being part of the investigation," McGee explained to Gibbs briefly. "I talked to the landlord. He said he'd just rented this place to a non-profit group. He's pulling the paperwork, calling them now."
"It's my fault. It's my fault," Cassidy cried as Tony tried to comfort her.
"It's not your fault, Paula."
"You weren't here, Tony! I killed my team!"
"Cassidy, outside. Outside. Take it outside," Gibbs ordered, leading her out. "DiNozzo, find me that missing head."
He walked out with Cassidy and Morgan sighed before glancing upward with Tony.
"Well, it's a drop ceiling. So I think it's probably wedged up there somewhere."
"I'll grab a ladder," Ziva offered, bringing one in and helping Tony steady it as Morgan unhooked Russell from his long line and waved a hand at the ladder.
He hurried up it eagerly with Morgan following to give him the extra boost up onto the wood beams above.
"You knew him," Ducky noted, having seen McGee staring at one of the dead agents for a while, looking solemn.
"He was a good friend of mine. I hate seeing him like this. It's almost like…"
"It could have been you," Ducky said in understanding as Gibbs returned from his talk with Cassidy.
"It almost was, McGee. We were supposed to work the hotline this weekend."
Tony looked sick. "Boss, you're serious about that?"
A shout came from outside and the group turned to see two men fighting with the officers standing guard outside.
"What happened here!"
"Hang on! Hey! Calm down!" Gibbs ordered, giving the two a stern look. "Who are you?"
"We work here," one replied as the other glanced inside in worry.
"For the Muslim Coalition for Peace."
Gibbs waved for the officers to let them in and the men looked at the corpses and destruction in concern.
"Yazeed, was he… was he in here?"
"We were supposed to help him paint this afternoon," they explained as a bark came from above and Morgan's voice called out.
"Found it."
There was a shift and the head fell down from the rafters as Morgan sighed.
"Sorry. Russell rolled it."
"Allah, preserve us," one of the men gasped at the sight as Gibbs looked over at them.
"Do you recognize him?"
"Yazeed Fahad, our chapter president…"
The two men—Abdul and Jamal—were taken to interrogation once the team finished up with their part of the crime scene. According to them, their group was meeting with a number of religious leaders on Friday to speak about condemning the violence in Iraq. What's more, upon meeting with Abby and Ducky, the team was informed that Yazeed had called twice that day and yet had also been dead at least twenty-four hours before the bomb went off. It was conflicting information that didn't make sense and the lack of conclusive answers was putting some people on edge.
"Swabbed his apartment. Not a trace of explosives," Ziva informed the team in the bullpen. "He was a former sailor. President of the Muslim Society for Promoting Peace. Tony checked out his friends. Their alibi holds up. They were at a restaurant when—"
"Are you going to make a point soon?" Cassidy pressed, interrupting her, and while Ziva wasn't bothered, Morgan was.
"She already did," she replied shortly, giving Cassidy a look as the woman bristled like an angry cat.
Before the two could start anything, Ziva changed the image on the screen to show the figure who walked into the shop before it blew up.
"Who did you see entering the building yesterday, Cassidy?"
"I'm not convinced that it wasn't this guy. I mean, how do we know that Ducky didn't make a mistake?" Cassidy accused and Ziva glanced at Tony.
"Tony?"
"Because Ducky doesn't make mistakes, Paula," he replied as Morgan spoke up again, typing away on her computer and not looking at Cassidy.
"For all we know, it was someone going out of their way to dress like him. If he's the head of this peace group, then framing him as a terrorist bomber would ruin any potential future discussions." She glanced over at the disgruntled Cassidy and nodded toward the screen. "Big coat to hide his figure, beanie to cover his hair, sunglasses to hide his face. Just because he and Yazeed both have a beard doesn't mean they're the same person and you shouldn't assume as such just because you want the killer dead this very moment."
"Even if he did die the day before, that doesn't mean he wasn't involved," Cassidy argued and Morgan shrugged.
"If there's three dogs in a yard and one dead chicken, are we going to blame all the dogs or just the one that killed it?"
"We don't even know what his cause of death is," Cassidy pressed, grabbing at straws. "I mean, for all we know he could have committed suicide."
Ziva scoffed. "A suicide bomber who commits suicide before his bombing? I mean, that doesn't make any sense!"
"You're grasping at straws," Morgan replied, snapping open an energy drink. "Instead of taking out your anger on the first person you see, why don't you do your team the justice they deserve and find the actual person who killed them instead of wildly pointing fingers at every Israeli who walks in the door."
"Frost," came the sharp snap of Gibbs, drawing her mildly annoyed gaze over to him. "Knock it off. DiNozzo."
"Yes, boss," Tony said, standing up from his desk and eyeing the women in the room.
"Leave and take her with you," Gibbs ordered, pointing at Cassidy.
"That works for me," Ziva said, shooting the woman a glare.
"That works for me too, David," Cassidy said, going out of her way to pronounce her name wrong.
"David," Ziva corrected as they started to leave.
"Re-evaluate the crime scene. Do not come back until you figure out how the guy she saw got out before the explosion!" Gibbs called after them before turning to the two remaining women in the bullpen. "Are you getting soft on me, Officer David?"
Ziva glanced at the elevator for a second before moving toward his desk. "Look, I know what she's going through. Sometimes you need to find something or someone to focus your anger on. It's your only relief."
"Of course, the drawback is, you know, that they tend to hate you for life," Gibbs pointed out.
"If it helps her get through it, I can live with that."
Gibbs eyed her before leaning back in his seat and looking over at Morgan. "And you, Morgan?"
Morgan rolled her eyes, drinking from her can and setting it back down on her desk. "I'm doing the smart thing and pointing out that she's screwing herself by not focusing on what's right. If she wants to point fingers at every potential connection, then she'll condemn an innocent person instead of the one who should be punished." She glanced over at Ziva and Gibbs. "It's disrespectful to the dead."
Gibbs couldn't help but crack a small smile at that, dropping it quickly as his phone rang and pointing at the two women. "Don't cause any fights."
Ziva smiled a little with a roll of her eyes, stepping away from his desk and giving Morgan an appreciative nod as Gibbs stood.
"Abby's got something."
What Abby had confirmed was that the phone call had come from Yazeed's workplace; two on Sunday and one on Friday. This was their chance to find someone other than Yazeed as a suspect, though it meant going to his workplace and taking voice samples of all the men there. Gibbs chose to split up the team even further, having Morgan stay back at the base while he took McGee and Ziva with him to interview all the men. She didn't mind as much as she had the last time and was frowning lightly at her computer as she tried to work out what could have happened.
To her, it was painfully obvious this was a setup to prevent peaceful relations with several countries. Framing the head of the group as a terrorist bomber was a swift way to not only interrupt possible peace negotiations but also smear his reputation. Morgan had gone through all his things, anything she could dig up on him online or through his workplace, and was seeing none of the typical signs of betrayal. So she changed tactics and started looking into his workplace and how he could have possibly called after he had already died. She was growing more and more frustrated with that, not knowing enough of the technical jargon to be of much use, and went to try to find people who would want to stop the peace talks.
Of course, half the planet had reasons to stop them, and quite a few people were involved in the talks themselves or surrounded Yazeed. After a while, she'd grown tense and angry enough that Russell had taken notice and got up from his bed to pointedly shove his nose against her thigh. She hadn't noticed it at first but then he did it again and soon barked, startling her and making her flinch. She clenched her hands tight, fight or flight instincts kicking in for a hot moment in her daze before forcing herself to relax. It had been a while since she'd pushed herself into such a frenzied state but this situation was hitting a little close to home.
She may have been new to NCIS but having people in the field die made her uneasy. As Gibbs had said, it could have been them and would have been their team if it weren't for their shift getting changed. Add that to her semi-recent dealing with Sharif—yet another terrorist who liked to toy with bombs and ruin peace—and her past Army experience with those in the Middle East, and she was just generally in a bad headspace today. Russell caught on to that well enough, bumping her thigh again with his nose and she sighed.
Opening a drawer, she pulled out a half-empty pack of cigarettes and got up, waving Russell along as she grabbed her cell and took him outside. She let him go to the restroom and play around on the grass for a minute, lighting her cigarette and taking a much-needed break. The nicotine helped her relax a bit, though she idly noted she needed to cut back further if she was ever going to get back to quitting completely like she had been before Sharif. She'd only had a couple since then but a couple was too much in her eyes and she considered tossing the rest of the pack in the trash, only to jump when it was taken from her hand. She tipped her head back to spot Gibbs as he raised a brow and tossed her pack into the trash.
"Thought you quit," he lightly questioned, taking the cigarette from her lips and snuffing it out as well.
It was a gentle move that Morgan hadn't expected and her gaze quickly shifted away as her stomach swooped and she cleared her throat.
"Working on it," she muttered as Russell came bounding back over to get pets from Gibbs.
"Come on. Back to work," Gibbs lightly urged and she nodded and rose from the bench to follow him into the elevator. "Hit a dead end?"
"Multiple," she answered, not exactly thrilled about it. "Just got frustrated. Needed a break." She paused, quiet for a moment before rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "Sorry… For what happened to those agents."
"It happens," Gibbs said, not coldly or sharply; it was just matter-of-fact. "Though, I appreciate it."
His hand bumped hers, grasping it for a moment to give a reassuring squeeze before releasing it as the doors opened and Morgan blinked at the sight of the labs. She'd thought they were going back up to the bullpen but Gibbs lifted a recorder, silently reminding her that he'd been interviewing people and they needed to hand the tapes over to Abby. McGee and Ziva were already in the lab with her; the latter giving Morgan a raised brow and a knowing smirk that she pointedly ignored as Abby got to work on the recordings.
"Sorry, guys. None of these voices match our caller. Are you sure this was every male employee?" Abby asked once she'd finished and Ziva nodded.
"All but one, Abby. Yazeed Fahad."
"Who couldn't have made any calls because he was dead at the time," McGee added.
"We don't have a voice sample of his anyway," Abby muttered but Ziva passed her a DVD.
"Yes, we do. This is one of his training DVDs."
Abby smiled and popped it in, taking some time to get the audio where they needed it before looking at the group.
"All right. Are you guys ready to give this a shot?"
"Thirty minutes ago, Abs," Gibbs said lightly and McGee stepped in to try and explain only for Morgan to smack his arm.
"We don't need to know the technical stuff, McGee. Just play the audio."
He sighed but nodded as Abby explained the display.
"Okay, Yazeed's DVD audio is on the top and the caller's is on the bottom. We have eight keywords from each soundtrack."
"And if Ducky was right about Yazeed's time of death…" McGee mumbled.
"This has been a whole lot of work for nothing. Okay."
They played the two and the computer brought up the confirmation.
"That's an exact match. Yazeed made the phone calls," McGee said as Ziva frowned.
"But how is that possible?"
"I never thought I'd say this, but Ducky was wrong," Abby replied as Gibbs started for the door.
"Yazeed was still alive when Cassidy's team walked into that building."
No one was convinced though as they moved to the bullpen; least of all, Morgan.
"Evidence cannot tell you two completely contradictory things at the same time, McGee," Ziva argued as Morgan grunted in agreement, eyeing her screen again as she tried to work this all out.
"No, it can't," McGee agreed. "Except when it does."
"It doesn't make any sense."
"Or perhaps you need a fresh pair of eyes," the Director said as she stepped into the bullpen to join them. "What do you have so far?"
Ziva changed the images on the screen with a heavy sigh. "Yazeed Fahad, a former American sailor, called our tip line to warn of a pending terrorist attack. Yazeed said to meet here, a building with only one way of getting in and out."
"That we know of," Morgan added, earning a look from the Director as McGee continued.
"Agents Hall and Nelson followed him into the building."
"Both of them died seconds later when Yazeed activated his suicide vest," Ziva said.
"Or someone did for him," Morgan chimed in again.
"According to Ducky, he had been dead for a day," the Director reminded them.
"How can that be?" McGee pressed.
"Well, you can blow up a dead man, McGee."
"True," Ziva cut in. "But Abby has proof Yazeed was talking to Cassidy seconds before the explosion."
"Someone mimicking his voice?"
"Audio forensics say it's an exact match," McGee countered.
"And there's no other way out of the building?"
"Tony and Cassidy are there trying to make sure," Morgan answered.
"When faced with a situation like this, the solution's obvious," the Director chimed as Gibbs walked in, dropping off a fresh, cold energy drink on Morgan's desk and moving to his with a fresh cup of coffee; neither acknowledging the brief glance the Director sent them.
"Well, one of them's wrong."
"I was going to use the term 'mistaken,' but yes."
"So we have to choose between Abby and Ducky?" McGee said with a grimace and the Director glanced at Gibbs.
"So, which one are you leaning toward?"
He looked up at her and cracked a small smile. "My money's on Morgan."
She hadn't even been listening and the Director glanced at her before turning back to Gibbs with a raised brow. He just continued to smile, working on updating his paperwork as she soon left, giving Morgan's frustrated expression a small look himself. While the case was obviously taking its toll on her, seeing her work as hard as she was to get the right answers was part of what endeared him to her in the first place. He made sure to make a mental note to take her out for drinks when it was all said and done. She deserved it, especially if she helped crack the mystery they were stuck dealing with.
After a while though, Gibbs finally got a call from Tony letting him know they might have found what they were looking for and would be returning to deliver evidence to Abby. He decided to check in with Ducky until then and see if he'd found out anything new with the head he'd been given. Morgan glanced his way and started to get up as well, but he waved her off.
"Keep digging. I know you're looking for something. Ziva, with me. McGee, drop in with Abby when you're finished."
Ziva nodded, getting up instead as Morgan frowned lightly but returned to her search on the computer. McGee got up from his desk only a moment later, leaving her on her own though it didn't take long before her phone rang.
"Frost," she muttered as Gibbs hummed on the other line.
"Ducky says the mouth of the head was filled with latex and removed afterward. He was suffocated long before the bomb went off."
"And Abby?" Morgan asked idly, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she shifted where she was looking for connections back to the company Yazeed worked for.
"Heading there now. Tony should be there. I'll update you when we know more."
Morgan grunted as they hung up and continued to look into the Kertek Computing company. Anything that might use latex or voices or recordings and she finally hit the jackpot. Her body went tight, not even noticing her phone ringing as she read over the reports again and again, doing her best to figure out what some of the technical jargon meant. She got a general understanding of it after some time and then jumped when someone cleared their throat. Gibbs was standing at the front of her desk, coat on and ready to head home for the evening, surprising Morgan who glanced at the small clock in the corner of her screen.
"You good, Morgan?" Gibbs asked, drawing her attention again and she nodded, awkwardly clearing her own throat and starting to gather her things as Russell dropped his head on her lap with a small whine.
"Sorry. I just… thought I found something."
Gibbs perked up at that. "Well? You can't just leave me with that, Morgan."
"I'm not sure what it's saying exactly. It's a lot of technical stuff that McGee will need to go through but I think it will explain how both Ducky and Abby are right."
Gibbs hummed, thinking of what he could do. "They're gone for the night so we can bring it up tomorrow. We need to see if Abby got prints off of what Tony brought in anyway."
"What'd they find?" She asked, getting up and picking up her bag as Russell perked up and picked up his tennis ball to carry with him.
"Secret door connecting the building to the next one over. They found the same lens from the sunglasses the guy entering the building was wearing."
"Not Yazeed then."
"Nope."
They took the elevator down and he glanced over at her curiously.
"Dinner?"
"Hm?" She asked, having been still thinking about the case.
"My place. Beer, food," he offered again. "I'm giving you a lift anyway. Might as well stay over."
She sighed lightly as they stepped out into the parking garage. "I feel like getting a new apartment was a waste if I'm going to end up spending all my time at your place."
He cracked a smirk. "You could just move in."
She shot him a glare for that teasing comment as they reached his car and climbed in. It was too much too fast and they both knew it so neither one pushed it further than that. Instead, they settled into a comfortable silence, grabbing takeout on the way to Gibbs's home, picking up some food for Russell, and settling down in his basement to eat, drink, and clean their service weapons in peace.
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!" Abby called out as Gibbs and Morgan stepped off the elevator the next day. "We got a fingerprint match off the piece of mirrored sunglass lens that Cassidy and Tony found."
Abby brought up the images on the screen as Morgan dropped her things and made sure she was ready to move out as Ziva looked at the ID photo.
"Salmar Umar. We interviewed him yesterday at Kertek Computing."
"I've got two fulls, a right index, and a forefinger, and I've got a partial on the left thumb," Abby rattled on as the team grabbed their things and went back toward the elevator. "I've also got his home address and a couple of his uncles that lived in…"
"Morgan found something for you to look at McGee," Gibbs said as the elevator doors closed, silencing what was left of Abby's rant.
"Really?" He questioned, turning to Morgan in surprise.
"A possible explanation for how Yazeed could be dead and also having made the calls," she explained. "Found it last night but it doesn't all make sense to me. It's technical programming. The most I understood was it's a voice program for the disabled."
"Oh. Okay. Well, depending on the software they're using and how it all connects…" He trailed off at seeing he was getting a side-eye from Gibbs. "Right. I'll, um, look at it once we're back."
The team and Cassidy were soon at the computing building and heading up toward the main lobby where the company was situated; Gibbs quietly giving orders as they moved quickly down the hall.
"Low and slow. McGee, take the rear exit, and don't spook him. We take him alive. Find out if he's working with anybody else. I don't get an answer from you, Cassidy, I'll take your weapon from you right now," he warned her before they walked in and she scowled.
"Alive. Alive. I've got it. I've got it."
He gave her a sharp look and glanced at Morgan. "If this goes sideways—"
She nodded, unclipping Russell from his leash and giving him the silent command to stay next to her. "I'll send Russell past the cubicles. He's low enough that he shouldn't get spotted until he's right on him."
"Safety is top priority. Him too."
She nodded with a small quirk to her lips, glad that Russell was just as important to him as he was to her, and they headed into the room.
"Oh, Special Agent Gibbs. Has there been some development?" Selom, the company president asked as they walked in; the rest of the team looking over the cubicles for their target as Gibbs smiled politely.
"I need to ask your employees a few more questions."
"You already cost me a full day's work yesterday," Selom argued lightly before a door opened behind them and Umar stepped out.
"Damn it," Gibbs muttered when the man saw Cassidy and hurried into the next room. "NCIS! Everybody get down!"
"On the floor! Now!" Ziva added to his commands as the team drew their weapons, found cover, and waited.
Umar fired the first shots and Morgan let out a whistle to Russell, who hurried past her toward the shooter, staying low to the ground.
"Hold!" Gibbs called out, hoping to take the man alive without them firing their own weapons but he also knew that the cubicles weren't exactly bulletproof.
Russell moved then, launching up and grabbing the gunman by his arm, and the team moved into action with Morgan taking the lead. Cassidy was closer though and gunshots were fired as Morgan rushed around the corner. The team stopped as they found Umar bleeding on the floor with multiple wounds to his chest and Cassidy hovering over him. Morgan pulled Russell back, checking him over immediately as Gibbs knelt to see if Salmar was alive or not. With no pulse found, he turned his heated glare to Cassidy who tried to plead her case.
"He was going to shoot the dog," she muttered, though everyone knew it was also her own wants that ended up with the man dead.
Gibbs let out a sharp breath through his nose and turned to Morgan as she went over every inch of Russell. "He alright?"
She nodded slowly, eyes raking his black fur along with her fingers before looking over the body and seeing where Umar had been grabbed. She didn't want to defend Cassidy for her possible revenge on the man but shot Gibbs a look.
"It was a bad angle. Russell grabbed him by the arm without the gun."
It would explain how he could have turned to try and shoot Russell and why Cassidy fired at him, but it still left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth as they called for the body to get picked up.
"We had no choice, Gibbs. If we had not acted, he would have shot someone," Ziva offered in support as he frowned.
"We had a choice. I could have left her back at NCIS," he said, giving Cassidy a sharp look, knowing that Umar might not have run if he didn't recognize her. "He was carrying this. I want to know why."
He put on some gloves and handed McGee the laptop the man had.
"Yup."
He then searched through the man's pockets and passed Ziva a note. "It's Arabic. Read it."
"A covenant from Mecca, sponsored by the Muslim Coalition for Peace. The flyer for the conference on Friday. Do you think he was planning on attending?"
"I doubt that, Officer David," Selom said as he stepped over to join them. "Umar was quite vocal about his feeling toward Shiites. He used to argue quite a bit with Yazeed on how they were destroying Iraq."
"Well, that would have been nice to have known that yesterday," Gibbs replied as Selom shifted uneasily.
"People have a right to their own opinions, Agent Gibbs. His were usually ignorant and colored by his own prejudice. Still, I can't believe that he'd…"
"He would kill over them?"
"Gibbs," Morgan called out, drawing his attention. "That program I mentioned? It's panned out."
The group headed over to where McGee was playing a recording of Yazeed's voice and Morgan gestured toward Umar's laptop.
"It's that program I was looking into last night. The voice one for the disabled."
"V.S. Twelve," Selom confirmed. "It's still in development. It's a vocal simulation. It allows disabled people who can't talk to converse in a natural-sounding voice."
"It's like Stephen Hawking," McGee clarified for Gibbs. "You type and the computer says the words."
"Yes, but ours uses a three-D model of the vocal cords to resonate cavities in the head creating a lifelike sound. Umar was our main programmer."
Ziva glanced over at them. "Would explain how Yazeed was making phone calls from the dead, right?"
"But I don't see how he could have done it. It would have required a CAT scan of Yazeed's throat and mouth," Selom muttered, not knowing the truth behind how Yazeed died and the latex that had been used to suffocate him.
Once the team was back at headquarters, Cassidy, Tony, and McGee joined Abby as she worked through the program that Umar had used but there was still one issue.
"The guy that I saw was not carrying a laptop and typing. I would have definitely noticed that," Cassidy pointed out as the others walked in.
"Means he wasn't working alone," Gibbs replied.
"Hey, Gibbs. Why no Caf-Pow?" Yazeed's computer-generated voice asked, earning a raised brow from Gibbs as Abby winced. "I'll shut up now."
"Your team was set up but they weren't the target," Gibbs continued, looking back at Cassidy as Morgan explained.
"It was Yazeed they were setting up. They want to ruin his peace conference. Frame the leader as a suicide bomber and it would be the biggest way to ruin his reputation and send a threat to those involved."
"But luckily for us, Yazeed lost his head… literally," Ziva pointed out but Cassidy shook her head.
"Well, we don't know that it didn't work. At this point, who's going to show up to this thing?"
"Oh, you'd be surprised, Cassidy," Gibbs hummed as Ziva nodded confidently.
"We're not the only ones who refuse to bow down to terrorism."
"They're going ahead with the conference anyway?" McGee questioned in surprise.
"Yazeed's been cleared and made a martyr almost," Morgan pointed out with her arms folded over her chest. "Literally died for his cause. It would be disrespectful not to go through with the conference."
"But we only got one of them," Abby said in concern. "What if someone else tries to stop it?"
"We kill them, Abby," Ziva said bluntly, earning looks as Tony cleared his throat.
"We catch them. That's the preferred term."
"I like hers better," Cassidy muttered, and Ziva walked out with Morgan to head back upstairs and get started on gathering information on who would be at the conference.
"So, have you and Gibbs finally figured things out?" Ziva asked as they settled at their desks and Morgan pointedly didn't turn her way.
"Figured what out?" She muttered, knowing exactly what Ziva meant but ignoring it.
"Are you dating?" Ziva questioned bluntly, drawing her gaze momentarily. "I mean, you two were at each other's throats and then you were avoiding each other and now he's bringing you drinks, taking you home, coming into work with you—"
"What does it matter?" Morgan replied a little sharply. "Nothing has changed. Work hasn't changed and whether or not we are… dating will not affect how things are done here."
Ziva held her hands up in surrender. "Just saying. If you are, I'm glad."
Morgan stopped what she was doing, facing Ziva with a confused frown as the woman smiled over at her.
"You're good for each other. Not that I have any say in anything but still. It's nice seeing you two not so uptight about everything."
"I'm not… uptight," Morgan muttered, making Ziva chuckle.
"Right, right."
Morgan scowled but went back to work and once Gibbs had a meeting with the Director, Jamal, and Abdul the team was gathered in the bullpen to start splitting up work.
"Sheik Abu Talid Yusef, the senior Sunni Cleric in attendance," Ziva started, bringing up the photos. "He's yours for the day, Tony. Sheik Ali Bashir, the senior Shia cleric is Cassidy's. And...the most senior cleric at the conference is Imam Abdul Al-Maliki."
"He's mine," Gibbs said as he walked in and moved toward his desk. "Ziva floats between all three, depending on the situation. Morgan is stationed outside with Russell."
"The quickest way to stop the conference is to target one of these men," Ziva pointed out.
"Well, we're not going to let that happen."
"Boss, what about me?" McGee asked, having not been added to the list of guards and Gibbs handed him a sheet from the printer.
"Yeah, right. I almost forgot. Names of everyone attending. Run them down. Look for any links to terrorist groups."
"Um… there looks to be over three hundred names here and the conference starts in less than six hours."
"Yeah, well? Why are you still standing there, McGee?" Gibbs said, ignoring his complaint.
"Right…"
"We pick them up at their hotels one hour before?" Ziva asked, seeing Gibbs picking up his keys already.
"No. A little change in plans. We pick them up now for a field trip. They want to hold a ceremony for Yazeed and Cassidy's team."
"What kind of ceremony?" Cassidy questioned and Gibbs gave her a look.
"Memorial."
"Where?" Tony asked as Gibbs passed Cassidy the keys.
"Where they died."
Morgan took off after him, meeting him in the elevator first with Russell. "We're setting them up?"
"Well, it's a good opportunity. To know Yazeed was there when he was—"
"It had to be an inside job," Morgan agreed, seeing the others starting to catch up. "Surprised the Director agreed."
"Her idea."
Morgan snorted at that and the team soon gathered and took their places once they arrived at the scene. Morgan was placed outside the doors with Russell to keep an eye on both rooms as Tony and Cassidy went to check one room and Ziva checked the other. Gibbs gave the street itself a walk through and with everything in the clear, the memorial setup began.
"How long is this supposed to take, boss?" Tony asked as the men moved in to set up a table and chairs.
"Longer than if you helped them set up, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, sending them off. "When this thing starts, I want you out front with Morgan, Ziva."
"What about me?" Cassidy asked and he turned to her.
"I didn't bring you here for security."
"Look, I know I screwed up at Kertek Computers."
"Then, say a prayer for your team, Cassidy. We'll take the heavy lifting on this one," Gibbs told her lightly, turning away but giving her a look. "And if Morgan hasn't said it yet, I will. Thank you, for keeping Russell safe. Don't know what she'd do without that dog."
Cassidy glanced over at him, seeing the fondness on his face. "Are you two…"
He looked over at her with a raised brow and she sighed.
"Sorry. None of my business."
They went quiet as everyone in the room got settled and water was poured as Abdul started to speak.
"This was Yazeed's dream, to show the world that these terrorist groups do not speak for us. We thank you for making it a reality."
Gibbs's phone rang and he picked it up, before hanging up at McGee's words and rushed for Abdul. "Put your hands on top of your head," he ordered, grabbing the man who looked at him in shock.
"Boss?" Tony questioned.
"It's one of them, DiNozzo. The prints found on Umar's laptop match the painting gear," Gibbs explained but Abdul spoke up in confusion.
"What laptop?"
"Where's Jamal Malik?" Gibbs asked, realizing the man wasn't there and after patting down Abdul, seeing he was clean.
"He was here a minute ago!"
Gibbs cursed and reached up to his radio. "Ziva! Morgan! It's Malik! Find him!"
"Behind you!" Tony shouted as the secret door opened up to reveal who they'd been looking for with a bomb strapped to his chest.
Cassidy took one look and tackled the man back into the other room, struggling to get the trigger off him as the door closed and Tony called out. She wasn't the only one though, as Russell had rushed in and grabbed the man's arm with Morgan right behind him.
"Allahu Akkbar!" Jamal shouted as Morgan and Cassidy locked eyes.
Morgan grabbed Russell and pulled him off with a sharp command to leave the building; making the dog take off out the door before she reached over and took Cassidy by the wrist. The trigger was pressed and Cassidy was yanked to her feet as the bomb went off.
Tony cried as he slammed his fist on the closed wall between them before Gibbs turned at the sound of barking. His eyes went wide and he bolted from the room, turning the corner where Ziva was holding Russell as the dog barked at the burning building.
"Ziva! Where's Morgan!" Gibbs shouted, fearing the worst and Ziva struggled to speak before her grip slipped and Russell took off into the building.
Gibbs hurried after the dog, squinting through the smoke and debris clouding the air as he followed the sound of Russell's barking. He spotted the dog first before hearing coughing and hastily dropping to his knees. Cassidy was alive, choking on the ash and dirt on the ground and pinned by a familiar body.
"Ziva!" Gibbs shouted, hoping he could be heard through the crackling fire burning further back, thankfully well away from the two women on the ground. "Tony!"
The two were quick to enter and Tony was quick to help Gibbs move a heavy slab of concrete that had fallen on Morgan.
"Ambulance! Now!" Gibbs ordered and Ziva nodded, already calling as they shifted a broken piece of plywood off the women as well.
Gibbs reached over and checked Morgan's pulse, relief flooding through him when he found it before looking at Tony. He nodded, not needing to be ordered as the two of them carefully lifted Morgan as steadily as they could and removed her from the building while Ziva helped Cassidy get onto her feet.
"S-She saved me," Cassidy choked out, coughing smoke from her lungs as she was helped to the curb where Ziva went to check her ankle.
"She does that," she muttered, giving Gibbs a worried look as he gave Tony orders and the man hurried off to get something from the building next door. "How is she?"
"How do you think?" He spat harshly, obviously concerned as Russell whined at his side and stayed as close to Morgan as the dog could.
Tony returned and laid the tablecloth over Morgan's back, pouring the pitcher of water on it to try and help cool the burns and injuries there. Ziva looked at Cassidy who was eyeing the scene with wide, terrified eyes, still in shock.
"It looks broken," she said, informing the woman about her ankle that was beginning to swell.
Cassidy didn't care though. "How did we get out? Did he—"
Ziva shook her head, hearing sirens approaching. "Impossible. You got lucky, I think. You were further away from the blast and there was a table or a shelf on top of Morgan. It would have provided some protection when the bomb went off."
"I didn't even see a table," Cassidy murmured as the ambulance pulled up and paramedics scrambled out, approaching Gibbs as he informed them of what injuries he could. "She just… threw the dog and pulled me away. She saved my life. Oh, my God. S-She saved my life."