Tony was humming softly to himself as he stepped off of the elevator. Tossing his bag on the floor by his desk, he surveyed the room. McGee was sitting at his desk, most likely finishing the report that Gibbs had dumped on them the night before. Tony knew he should feel bad about making the Probie do all of the work, but his date had been planned for a week, and there was no way Anthony DiNozzo would cancel a date with a co-ed.
Looking at the desk across from his, he was surprised to find that Ziva was not there. It didn’t take him long however to figure out where she had gone.
“Your date must have gone well last night, yes?”
Starting, and spinning around, he found himself face to face with the very person he had just been thinking of. Flopping back in his chair and putting his feet up, he focused on her question.
“What makes you say that Zee-Vah?” He his own special pronunciation of her name just to annoy her.
“You were humming, and usually that indicates that you are happy, no?”
“Maybe. Or, maybe I just have a song stuck in my head.”
“What song DiNozzo?”
“Nothing Boss.”
Ziva flopped down in her own chair, unconsciously mirroring Tony’s own posture. Gibbs Stopped behind his desk long enough to grab his gun and badge from the drawer, before he headed for the elevator. Realizing that no one was following him, he shouted over his shoulder, “Are you waiting for an invitation?”
“On your six boss.” Scrambling to grab their gear, they rushed to join him, silently fighting to be the first one in the elevator.
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Fighting to remain upright in his seat, Tony turned over his left shoulder to look at Gibbs, who was driving with his usual look of serious determination firmly set.
“What’ve we got this time boss?”
With his usual bluntness, Gibbs turned to answer Tony. “ Dead Marine wife.” He turned his eyes back to the road just in time to swerve the big NCIS truck around a slow moving mini van. As the van took a sharp right, Ziva lost her balance and ended up half laying across Tony’s lap. Helping her sit back up, he couldn’t let the opportunity pass him by, “Ziva, how many times have I told you, not at work.” He earned himself an elbow to the ribs for his efforts. The familiar gesture sent a jolt through him. It was just a brief sense, and a flash of another pair of eyes before his, but it was enough to throw him off track. He didn’t think he would ever get used to that feeling. It had been almost three years, and he had still not forgotten her eyes. If he was completely honest with himself, he probably never would. Most of the time he could put it to the back of his mind, but little things like Ziva using Kate’s usual form of retribution would bring it all flooding back. Luckily for him he had become fairly adept at hiding it.
As the truck came to an abrupt halt outside of a house roped off with crime scene tape, there was a crash and a muttered curse from the back. Throwing open the doors, they piled out, grabbing the gear from the back. As they ducked under the crime tape, McGee continued to mutter under his breath. Catching the door key that the Marine Sergeant in charge of securing the scene, Tony turned back in time to watch Ducky berating poor Palmer for getting them lost once again. “You would think that after all of this time, you would have taken the time to learn how to navigate Mr. Palmer.”
The baffled M.E.’s assistant knew by now that it was no use trying to argue with Dr. Mallard, and turned to pull his kit out of the back of the morgue van, “Yes Doctor.”
Walking towards the house, they caught up with the rest of the team. As tony opened the door, the smell hit him like a wave. Blood, mixed with the sweetish rotting smell of decomposing flesh. Although he had been coming face to face with scenes like this for years now, the smell was one thing that he would never get used to.
Stepping to the left and into the living room, Ziva stopped dead, confused by what she saw. The dead woman was laying on her side between the coffee table and the sofa, her face covered by her auburn hair. There was not a drop of blood to be seen, so where in the world was that smell coming from? Turning to face the others, Ziva raised her hands in a ‘you’ve got me’ gesture. Not saying a word, Gibbs stepped over the body and into the next room. His team followed, exchanging bemused glances. Passing through the doorway, they stopped in their tracks again, but for an entirely different reason this time around. There was blood spattered everywhere, bits of flesh and other body parts were strewn about the room. Covering her mouth with her hand, Ziva stepped up to Gibbs side.
“I thought only one was dead?”
Turning his back on the massacre, he spoke to his team at last, “There is only one PERSON dead. If you look closely, you will see that these are the remains of at least one animal.”
Ducky, followed by Palmer, pushed past the others and into the room.
“You would be correct Jethro. If I am not mistaken, these are the remains of two canines. Do you know if the family had any pets?”
Pulling his notepad out of his pocket, Gibbs began assigning tasks. “McGee, pictures, DiNozzo, measure and sketch, Ziva, you’re with me, lets go talk to the husband. When you two finish, bag and tag everything.”
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His head in his hands, Lance Corporal Brian Finnegan looked every bit the part of the grieving husband. His dark hair was tousled from running his fingers through it, and his eyes bright with unshed tears. During his interview with Ziva and Gibbs, he had to keep pausing and put his hand over his eyes to gather himself again. Used to this, they would give him a moment, and then continue with the questions. Seated around a picnic table in the front yard, Ziva and Gibbs began with the easiest questions.
“Where you the one who found your wife Lance Corporal Finnegan?”
“No ma’am.” At this, Ziva shot him an angry glare, her dislike for being called ma’am rearing up again. Slightly abashed by her glare, he continued, “I left the house at 07:30 this morning for work. I... I haven’t been inside yet. I couldn’t bear to have the last time I see her be looking like, well, not alive.”
“Who found your wife then Lance Corporal?”
“My neighbor sir, she and Aidan go out running every day after the bus picks Colleen up for school. Or, I guess, they went running”
At his words about the bus, Ziva looked at him questioningly. “Colleen?”
Eyes never leaving his hands, the Lance Corporal answered her quietly, “Colleen is our daughter. She’s 4 and in Kindergarten, goes to the afternoon class. She went to pre-school, and they said she was ready for Kindergarten even though it was a year early. The bus picks her up at about 12:15, and-” Gibbs cut him off before he could continue, “Where is your daughter now Lance Corporal?”
A confused look on his face, he replied, “She’s at school. I thought it would be best to leave her there, I thought all of the confusion would scare her. I was going to pick her up from school today anyway; we were all going to go out to a movie…” He trailed off, tears threatening to fall again. The questions continued along the same lines for some time, the answers coming slowly, and painfully, and then, “Do you have any pets Lance Corporal?”
The question from Gibbs, seemingly out of the blue, brought the conversation to a halt. “Pets sir? Umm, yes?”
Nodding slightly, but not looking at the Lance Corporal, Gibbs continued, “What kind of pets do you have?”
“Excuse me?” Lance Corporal Finnegan asked, his confused look returning, “What does that have to do with anything?”
Gibbs eyes still did not lift to meet the other man’s. His voice remained calm, with just the slightest overtone of impatience, barely perceptible, but there all the same. “Just answer the question Lance Corporal.”
Noting the change of tone, the Lance Corporal complied, “We have two dogs. A Border Collie, and a Black Lab. Now, are you going to tell me why you wanted to know or not?”
Finally looking at the other man, Gibbs’ voice softened a little, “I’m sorry to say that at least one of your dogs was killed as well.”
When he heard this, the Lance Corporal’s face drained of color, his hand rising to cover his mouth again. Standing, Gibbs placed his hand briefly on the man’s shoulder, then turned to the house, leaving Ziva to follow, confused in his wake.
“There are other questions we should be asking him, no?”
Not bothering to slow down, he gestured for her to catch up before answering, “There’s something that’s been bothering me since he mentioned his daughter. I want to check on it before we do anything else.” Finding Ducky in the living room, helping to load the body onto the gurney, he stopped and opened his note pad again. “Duck, you got a TOD for me yet?”
Coming around to join the others by the door, Ducky considered for a moment before answering, “Well, Jethro, liver temp was 92.3, so with the room at ambient temperature, unless she was running a fever, which is entirely possible, and I won’t know for sure until I get her back-”
Cutting Ducky off before he could get to far into one of his usual rants, Gibbs re-iterated, “TOD Duck.”
Looking slightly ashamed, Ducky faltered to a stop. Looking between Gibbs, Ziva, and the body, he continued, “Well, I would say that she died between 3 ½ and 4 ½ hours ago. As I was saying, I won’t know for-” He stopped short again, because Gibbs had moved past him and into the kitchen, to find Tony and McGee still hard at work on the tasks he had assigned them. The scene was grizzly, and there was no place that was entirely safe to look. The guys looked up as Gibbs rushed in, followed by Ziva, who was no less confused than she had been when they had left the Lance Corporal.
Ignoring the looks his team was exchanging, he brushed past them, only pausing to find a safe place to step, and made his way to the fridge. Looking over it for a minute, he pulled a sheet of paper off, and headed out the back door. As the others tried to follow, he turned around long enough to tell them to stay, and to get back to work.
When the door had closed, Tony turned to Ziva, “You know what that was about?”
“I have absolutely no idea. We were talking to the Lance Corporal when he got up and left quite suddenly. It almost looked as though he had sat on a porkuswine.”
Grinning at her, he couldn’t resist pointing out her mistake, “It’s porcupine Zee-Vah.”
With a muttered “Whatever” she turned to grab a pair of gloves and help with the bagging and tagging. Several long, gruesome minutes later, Gibbs returned, his calm demeanor gone, replaced by pure anger.
“Colleen Finnegan never showed up at school today. We have a missing child.”
Eyes by Willow_Eris
Author's Chapter Notes:
It had been almost three years, and he had still not forgotten her eyes. An AU season 5 story with the return of someone they thought they would never see again.