McGee arrived at his desk, a police file displayed on the plasma screen which he studied intensely. This distracted Tim enough that he did not notice Luis sat behind Tony's desk.
"You must be Agent McGee." Luis smiled, trying to hold back a laugh as McGee jumped and turned to look at him. "Luis Puchalski. Newly assigned to Gibbs' team."
"Oh right, yeah. Gibbs said some people were coming to help out."
"I'm sorry about Agent Todd." Luis offered his condolences.
"Who’s the creepy guy?" Seb's voice carried across the bullpen as he walked down to where Luis was. McGee looked mildly offended as if the comment was aimed at him.
"And this is the other new addition. Sebastian Fletcher." Luis waved a hand in Fletcher's direction.
"Kyle Boone?" McGee read from the file displayed, attention firmly set on the screen.
"He’s an infamous serial killer." Luis sounded vaguely irritated at the two junior agents' ineptitude. "Terrorised the District in the nineties."
"Twenty two women went missing and five bodies were found." McGee continued to read the factoids that appeared on the screen.
"Guy only made one mistake." Luis waved the file at McGee who took it.
"He killed a Petty Officer." McGee read now from the page.
"This Gibbs guy caught him?" Fletcher asked picking up a stapler from Luis' desk with one hand and a hole-punch with the other only to start juggling the two objects.
"He’s scheduled for execution on Saturday." Tim looked up from the file with wide eyes, made wider when he saw Seb's antics.
"He wants to talk to Gibbs before they flick the switch. Got a call half an hour ago from Shepherd, Governor of Virginia is waiting to video-conference with Gibbs in MTAC."
"Why does he want to speak to Gibbs?" McGee asked, having not found the answer in the file.
"He claims he’s going to tell him where the bodies are." Luis placed his hands behind his head in exaggerated nonchalance.
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"Hey Ducky." DiNozzo greeted the ME.
"You look much improved Anthony." Ducky commented and it was true, in the week since Ducky had seen Tony he had improved greatly. Looking alert from his position in the hospital bed, sitting up with the help of the raised back while reading a trashy magazine.
"You wouldn't have said that last night." DiNozzo grinned. "They took me down for an MRI, almost passed out six times while they tried to get me into the thing."
"Disorientation is normal." The older man sat next to the stricken agent.
"Yep, been given that lecture already." The words contained no malice, just a simple statement of fact. "And the one about how they need to keep prodding me every five minutes."
"How are your incisions?" Ducky asked, changing the subject.
"The ones on my stomach itch." Tony lightly stroked one hand across the bedsheets which along with the thick armour of a TLSO vest covered one such healing wound. "The staples in my back aren't exactly pleasant but I guess the painkillers are taking care of most of that. They're gonna take them out in a few hours."
"How is the pain?" Ducky enquired.
"It's better than it was, I'm just bored Duck." Tony looked down at the magazine he was now rolling up in his hands. "Got nothing to do but laze around here."
"Once you've healed up a bit then you'll have plenty to do." Ducky knew that Tony would be considerably restricted, that was the idea behind the TLSO vest. It would stop Tony from injuring his healing spinal column.
"How was the funeral?" Tony asked out of the blue. "Luis came by, said you were all there."
"It was a lovely service, I'm not one for religious gatherings. More about the people left behind than those who have passed." Tony nodded along before a yawn split his face. "I should let you rest." Ducky stood, he leaned over softly patting DiNozzo's hand. "I'll see you soon."
"Yeah Duck, see you." Tony smiled and watched the older man leave before he threw the magazine onto the bedside table and fumbled with the bed controls, lowering the bed he readied himself for another nap.
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The elevator dinged open and Gibbs stepped into the bullpen, turning towards where his team area was situated. Sipping from his cup of coffee he noticed a familiar face and a not so familiar juggler. He was about to enquire as to why they were there when he noticed the other familiar face on the plasma screen.
"What the hell is that doing on my screen?" Gibbs' voice burst through the relative calm of what was evidently his new team.
"Governor of Virginia is waiting to speak to you in MTAC, Kyle Boone wants a meeting." Luis ignored the harsh attitude of Gibbs. This earned him an even harsher stare from the senior agent which he met. McGee looked scared as the two agents silently battled, Fletcher just continued to juggle actively ignoring the testosterone fight off to his right.
"Stop playing with my stationary." Gibbs eventually said turning and grabbing a stapler in midair, slamming it down on the desk and stalking off to MTAC.
"It's good to be back ." Luis sighed as Gibbs disappeared out of sight.
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Gibbs stood in MTAC, the large dominating screen was currently occupied by an empty office. "I was told by your Director that you would be personally interviewing Kyle Boone this afternoon, Agent Gibbs." The disembodied voice was soon accompanied by an arm placing a mug onto the desk and then followed by the Governor himself.
"Director Shepard was misinformed, Governor. Talking to Kyle Boone would be a waste of time." Gibbs stated, pacing across the floor.
"Possibly. But if there’s even a chance that he would reveal to you the location of his victims, we have to take it." The Governor finally sat behind the desk, looking directly into the camera lens which made it seem like he was attempting to stare down Gibbs.
"He’s had ten years to think about it. Why the change of heart now?" Jethro sipped from his cup, surprised that it had not yet been drained. With the way his morning was going he'd be considering turning to Abby's Caff-Pow darkside.
"In my experience, men facing eminent death tend to re-evaluate the course of their lives. Most seek forgiveness." The Governor removed his glasses following his statement.
"Trust me, Sir. Boone had a lot of interests. Forgiveness wasn’t one of them." Gibbs shook his head.
"How can you be so sure?"
"I spent five months interrogating him." Gibbs was unwavering in his resolve.
"That was a decade ago. People change."
"People, Sir. Not Kyle Boone."
"Are you refusing to meet with him?"
"I’m refusing to entertain a homicidal maniac who tortured and killed twenty-two women, Sir. I have played that game before. No matter what Kyle Boone says in the next few days, come Saturday, Sir, you’re going to make sure he fries." Gibbs was adamant, he turned to leave MTAC.
"We all owe you a debt of gratitude for bringing him to justice, Agent Gibbs. But uh… you leave me little choice. I am sorry." His voice carried through MTAC reaching Gibbs as he exited the command centre.
"Sir! We’ve got a high priority transmission coming through for you in MTAC." A female technician shouted from the doorway to MTAC, looking at Gibbs mid descent of the stairs back to his team.
"From?" Jethro asked looking up to the tech.
"Secretary of the Navy." Gibbs did not look happy with this response. Jen must have told the Governor how to get leverage.
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"How do you do that?" McGee asked, looking over at Luis while he waited for his computer to boot up.
"What?" Luis' head turned in the direction of the junior agent.
"Stand up to Gibbs!" Tim's arms flew up almost in exasperation.
"My first day out in the field a guy we were bringing in got away from me. I ran him down with my car and Gibbs gave me shit for it. I broke his nose."
"You broke Gibbs' nose?" Seb asked, McGee looking too stunned to speak.
"He was yelling and I was annoyed, I'd got the guy and he was pretty much in one piece so I didn't see the problem. So I punched him."
"You punched him." Tim regained his power of speech.
"He never really probied me after that." Luis shrugged.
"So if I punch you then you'll be less of an asshole?" Puchalski's head snapped to Fletcher.
"No, and don't punch Gibbs either." Puchalski knew it was stupid to give Seb any more ammunition. He was irritating enough as it was.
"Telling stories Puchalski?" Gibbs asked, having crept up unheard as usual. Unlike most Luis did not jump out of his skin or have a sudden sense of doom.
"What's the verdict? Do we roll out?" Luis asked looking up and turning to where Gibbs stood
"We don't, I do. I'll be gone all day." Gibbs walked to his desk grabbing all his essentials and heading to Sussex State Prison.
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"Hey Abs." McGee said walking into the lab where the goth forensic scientist was looked up at a picture of their absent agent DiNozzo on her computer screen.
"Timmy!" Abby spun around, pigtails flying.
"The new agents arrived. One of them has serious history with Gibbs."
"Oooo." Abby hopped in place, excited by the news. She was the biggest gossip whore McGee had met, that included Tony.
"Yeah, Luis Puchalski and Sebastian Fle-" Tim was interrupted when Abby almost bounced through the ceiling.
"Lulu!" Abby squeaked. "Has he still got the short hair or has he grown it out because I always thought that he'd look good with longer hair. Not that he didn't look good with short hair but it was very military-ish, you know?"
McGee stared blankly.
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"We moved Boone to Death Watch on Monday." The prison warden escorted Gibbs to the area of Sussex Prison that held the serial killer. "That’s when he decided he wanted to talk. We do things a little different here in Virginia. The condemned get a choice: lethal injection or death by electrocution. Boone is the first one to choose the chair."
"He deserves worse." Gibbs commented, his history with Boone was not a very good one. A suited man stood off to the side and as they approached he moved towards them, a hand thrust out in greeting.
"Special Agent Gibbs? I’m Adam O’Neill, Kyle Boone’s attorney. I really appreciate your coming. I uh… I understand you’re reluctant to, but I truly believe that my client’s intentions are sincere here." O'Neill stood before Gibbs, trying not to shrink under his gaze.
"The day I arrested your client, we found two human female tongues in his refrigerator." Gibbs pushed passed the lawyer but he simply tagged along.
"I’m familiar with the case, Agent Gibbs." Adam ground out.
"Really? Are you familiar with the names of his victims?" Jethro asked acting nonchalant.
"Mister Boone wants the chair for his crimes. I’m the one hoping to get him life in prison." The lawyer looked up into Gibbs' eyes pleadingly
"Good luck with that." Gibbs laughed off the statement and moved passed the lawyer.
"Right this way, gentlemen." The warden gestured through an open door.
"Well actually, against my advice, Mister Boone has elected to meet with Agent Gibbs….alone." O'Neill stayed where he stood.
"There will be a guard out here if you need him." The warden let Jethro know. Gibbs passed through the door only for it to be closed behind him and locked. Looking ahead there was another closed door, behind that the cold dark eyes of Kyle Boone.
"Nice to see you again, Jethro. I wasn’t sure if you’d come, but here you are." The dark eyes looked up lazily from Kyle's position sitting against the far wall.
"You’ve got two minutes. Start talking." Gibbs checked his watch.
"You know, you look almost the same. Except the hair. When did it go gray?" Boone stood and walked towards the door Gibbs was locked behind. His head tilting to the side inquisitively.
"Where are the bodies?" Gibbs ignored the attempts at conversation.
"I guess they showed you my souvenirs?" Kyle smiled.
"There weren’t twenty in that jar." Gibbs smiled back disdainfully.
"Your point?" Boone asked, brows raised in question.
"I always thought you were padding your count." Jethro shrugged
"Oh Gibbs really? Baiting me? Denigrating my rep? Come on. You know that approach never worked on me Jethro." Kyle laughed.
"A minute thirty eight." Gibbs said looking down at his watch again.
"Can’t we just chat for a bit? Catch up?"
"They say it can take up to four minutes to die in the chair. Me personally? I’m hoping it takes a lot longer." Gibbs had a sadistic smile on his face, the execution of this monster would be just as satisfying as the demise of Ari Haswari.
"You really have changed. The old Gibbs was never this abrupt."
"You’ve got less than a minute."
"And what about NCIS Special Agents Caitlyn Todd and Anthony DiNozzo? Can we talk about them? Cut down in the prime of life. Sad, so sad." Boone shook his head in faux sadness.
"See you Saturday." Gibbs turned and walked to the door that had been to his rear, motioning for the door to be opened.
"Come on, Gibbs. I was just having some fun with you. You can’t leave. You’re here because you’re following orders like a good Marine. Right, Gunny? I’ll tell you where they are. Where they all are. There’s more than twenty-two, Jethro. Lots more."
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"Where is he, Timothy?" Ducky rushed into the bull pen looking around.
"Uh who?" McGee asked, looking up from an email.
"Gibbs, damn it! I need to speak with him regarding Anthony." Ducky continued to look for the grey haired agent.
"Sussex State Prison. Interviewing Kyle Boone." Luis butted in.
"SECNAV ordered him to." McGee explained.
"Well who’s with him?" The older man asked.
"No one." Puchalski stated
"Have you any idea the effect that psychopath had on Gibbs ten years ago?" McGee shook his head. "He should not have gone alone."
"Ducky, it’s Gibbs. He's a big boy, he can take car of himself." Luis scoffed.
"You didn’t have to live through this the last time." Ducky snapped, and everyone could sense a lecture coming, even Fletcher who didn't know the man. They were luckily spared by Luis' phone ringing.
"Puchalski. Where? Yeah, got it. We’re on our way." The blonde agent put the phone down and reached for the bag that was stashed to his left. "Boone family farm. Let’s roll!" Making his way from behind the desk, bag slung over his shoulder he stopped next to Ducky, placing a hand on the ME's arm. "The difference between ten years ago and today, Ducky? He has some very competent agents at his back. Excluding Fletcher of course."
"Ten years ago, Gibbs was a very different man." Ducky revealed. "He was… he was a lot like you Luis, and Tony."
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Jenny knocked briefly on the hospital room door before opening it and walking through.
Tony lay flat on his stomach, a nurse hovering above covering a scarred area with iodine.
"We are in the middle of a procedure miss." The nurse looked up at Shepherd.
"Special Agent DiNozzo." Jenny smiled down at the agent. "Jenny Shepherd, Director of NCIS."
"Nice to meet you Director." Tony's reply was garbled slightly, his chin resting on arms folded underneath him.
The nurse, at the introduction continued. She picked up what looked like pliers from a tray beside her. Jenny sat on the chair right next to the bed, level with Tony's head.
"Gibbs seems quite adamant to have you back at work as soon as possible." Shepherd looked over at the nurse, clicking and clinking with each staple that was removed from Tony's back.
"So are you here to tell me that I don't have a job to go back to?" Tony winced as one staple came out.
"Of course not. I was just here to let you know that NCIS will cover the costs of all your medical expenses, it's the least we can do."
"Um, thanks."
"I know that field work might not always be possible for you now but you still have a place on Gibb's team."
"Okay."
"Hey Tony that's me done, there's a little bleeding so i'm just gonna put a dressing on your incision." Tony nodded in understanding then looked up at the Director.
"Sorry, I have just been expecting someone to come and tell me i'm unemployed."
Jenny stood and gave Tony another smile. "If you need anything let me know." She turned and walked to the door. "You and agent Todd saved a lot of lives, you are an asset to NCIS whether you are walking or not."
"It was nice to meet you Director."
"And you DiNozzo."
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"What've we got?" Luis asked when he jumped down from the truck. He was followed by the other two agents. He looked around the area, it was very remote the area dominated by the small farmhouse which had obviously seen better days.
Gibbs approached the group and looked at Fletcher, head tilted sideways."You’ll do." He produced a mask from one pocket and handed it to Seb. "Put this on. McGee?"
"Yeah, Boss?" McGee stepped forward
"You might want to wear kneepads." Gibbs looked over to Tim briefly before turning and walking to the farmhouse
"Do you know what the hell we’re doing?" Seb asked McGee as they watched Luis follow Gibbs' lead and walk towards the rickety house.
"Following Gibbs’ lead?" Tim answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world
"On what?" Fletcher asked confused as they too moved to follow the other agents into the home of a jailed serial killer.
"Don’t know." McGee shrugged.
"You don’t know and that doesn’t bother you?" Seb asked incredulously.
"You get used to it." McGee stated as they walked through the front door. The place smelled musty and there were cobwebs scattered everywhere.
"This place must have been gone over a dozen times. There’s no way there’s any bodies in here." Luis said looking around what appeared to be a sitting room but there was no furniture to speak of.
"I’m not looking for bodies." Gibbs stood in front of an old fireplace.
"Then what are we looking for?" Luis asked.
"Proof. Boone swears it’s here. The only place we didn’t look is inside this chimney." Gibbs pointed from where Seb and Tim stood to the fireplace and realisation dawned on Fletchers face, he was the most scrawny of the four and he realised that he would be up in the chimney.
McGee was on all fours in the middle of the fireplace, only Fletchers shoes visible as he banged around in the chimney.
"I think I got something. No. That’s just a dead bird." Seb'd voice traveled out to Gibbs and Puchalski. "Oh, that’s disgusting, i'm gonna need a decontamination showever after this."
"I’ll bet this wasn’t in the brochure when you signed up for NCIS, Probies." Luis laughed looking over to Gibbs who had a slight smirk on his face.
"Okay. Oh, no. I got it. It’s right here by the flue. I got it! I’m coming down. Looks like a book." A book then fell, bouncing to the floor narrowly missing McGee's head. As the two junior agents struggled to extract themselves from the fireplace Luis leaned over and picked up the book.
"There must be thirty pages there." Puchalski said as he flicked the book full of pictures open. Each photograph containing a tortured woman.
"More." Gibbs stated.
"What’s carved into their backs?" Luis asked referring to the heard shape that appeared at least once on each page.
"That’s his calling card."
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The Return by tdawg
Author's Chapter Notes:
Set during Mind Games (3x03). Gibbs and his new team deal with Kyle Boone. Tony receives a few visitors.