Chapter 1
Agent Emma Jordan was outraged. Walking from her closet to the open bag on her bed, "I can't believe the FBI is just handing this case over to NCIS." She said to her best friend and partner, Drew Toscani. "They don't know what they are doing. They don't know what this guy is capable of and they're just going to turn this case over to some Navy cops?" She sighed and zipped her suitcase closed.
Grabbing her bag and her purse, she headed for the door. Drew grabbed her keys from the table by the door. "You aren't going to want to leave your car parked at the airport. I'll drive you."
Emma looked at Drew seeing understanding. "Thanks."
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Emma sat back as the plane took off. Closing her eyes, she thought about the scene at her boss' office.
Flashback
"It's the same M.O. Charlie!"
"We don't know it's him, Emma."
"That's bull and you know it." She told Charles Madison. "I was this close to him 18 months ago and then he dropped off the radar. Nothing has matched his M.O. until now. Our own profiler told you he would resurface. We have to take this case."
"I'm not taking this case, Emma. You'll have to deal with it. You have a partner that relies on you."
Emma put her head on her hands and mumbled, "I have a partner that's taking her vacation this week."
Charles looked at her. "So why don't you take some of this unused leave you have?"
Emma peaked at him from over her fingers. "Me? Take vacation?"
"Yes you, Emma. Take a vacation. I don't think you've ever seen Washington DC, have you?"
Emma raised her eyebrow. "DC huh? You're right. I've never seen the capital."
Charlie picked up the phone. "Why don't I go ahead and get your paperwork ready for you to sign?"
Emma rose from her chair. "I appreciate that Charlie. See you soon?"
"Be careful though, Emma. It's dangerous this time of year."
"You got it boss." Emma said as she walked through his door to sign her leave paperwork.
End Flashback
The plane touched down and Emma opened her eyes. She had been going over the case history in her mind figuring out what she would tell NCIS Director Shepard. Getting her bag from the overhead compartment, she filed off the plane with the other passengers.
Hailing a taxi, she gave him the name of her hotel then changed her mind. Her bag was a weekender and she could shoulder it while at NCIS. Asking the driver to take her to the Navy Yard, she watched the buildings fly by still working on what all to tell Director Shepard.
When the driver pulled up at the guards, Emma rolled down her window and produced her ID. They searched the car top to bottom and looked through her clothes. Finding nothing suspicious, the guards raised the bar and let them in. She walked in the building and met yet another guard. This one offered to keep her bag downstairs while she was shown up to the Director's office. She handed it over and walked with her escort to the elevators. At the ding, the elevator doors slid open once more and she was led through a squad-room. She could feel people staring at her but the one that made an imprint on her mind was the man at the first desk she passed by. He was older with silver hair and obviously the team leader. He was talking with a woman that didn't move as Emma nearly brushed her. The woman was blonde and wore an Army uniform. The others she classified by first sight as well. The tech, the foreign agent and the playboy. Tech because he was typing away at his computer and not paying attention to what was happening around him. The foreign agent because of the accent she heard before the woman slammed her phone down. And the playboy because he looked up at her and grinned a "hi there, busy later?" smile when she passed him.
Finally she was introduced to Cynthia, the Director's assistant. Now all that was left was to explain her line of reasoning to the woman and hope she hadn't flown all this way in vain.
Author's Chapter Notes:
With a serial killer appearing in DC, NCIS gets some help whether they like it or not.