Chapter Four
Another week had passed and they were no closer to finding the killer. However, Aza was now out of the hospital, but on strict orders to take it easy. She also couldn't return to her home yet, so she was staying with her brother. And she still had to have an agent with her at all times, so the easy solution was to bring her to NCIS.
She was sitting at Tony's desk, on his computer typing away very rapidly. Tony was leaning on the front of the desk trying to see what she was doing, Ziva was watching from her desk curiously, and McGee was watch from his in amazement. She really was computer savvy. Aza stopped and then looked up. "What?" She asked and smiled.
"Oh, just wondering why you're in my chair, using my computer." Tony replied.
"Well, I was told to take it easy, so I'm sitting, and well, I was a little bored and your computer was just sitting here asking for me to log in." She told him smartly. "You all go downstairs to Abby's lab and leave me up here, what else am I supposed to do?"
Tony walked behind the desk, grabbed the chair, and rolled her over to McGee. "You entertain her." He said and then went in search of another chair.
"I'm not a child, you know, I can entertain myself." She said annoyed. She then looked a McGee who was trying not to laugh. "Hey, I've been sitting in a hospital for two weeks, and now I have to sit here. I would much rather be out with my camera doing something productive. But I can't because someone wants to kill me."
Ziva stood up and walked over. "We've all had someone want us dead before." She patted her shoulder. "You get used to it after awhile."
Aza laughed. "This is definitely not something I want to get used to." She then looked at McGee. "So, Tim, what's this you're looking at?"
"Well, this is a list of possible suspects that we could pull up for you to view." He explained. "It's just a little difficult, because this guy left nothing, we can't even trace the bullet that he shot you with."
"Well, that just sucks." Aza said bluntly. She was looking over the list of names. She didn't know the guy's name so she didn't know why she was looking but she felt that maybe she should be. She spotted a name that looked odd amongst the rest. "Bruce Lee? What the hell? Is this for real?" She pointed at the name laughing.
McGee shared a little laugh with her and clicked the name. They both stopped laughing, when a cold face was brought onto the screen. Aza felt her blood run cold. "Oh my God, that's him!" She gasped.
McGee's eyes widened. "Tony, Ziva!" Both agents rounded the corner, and came to his desk. "I think we've found our murderer."
Tony looked to Aza whose face was pale. She was still staring at the screen. It had to be him, she had never reacted like this to any of the others. He slowly rolled her back to his desk, and then knelt in front of her. "Good job, sis… don't worry, we'll get him." He told her quietly, and squeezed her hand.
Gibbs entered the bullpen. "We got anything yet?"
"Actually boss, we do. I'm putting out a BOLO for our suspect now. A Mr. Bruce Lee." McGee told him. Gibbs raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything.
Tony looked about ready to burst. "Bruce Lee?"
"Yeah, we thought it was a joke, so we clicked it, and Aza confirmed him."
Aza was still sitting at Tony's desk staring into space. Gibbs stopped in front of her. "Mrs. Patton, is there something wrong?"
"My husband was a criminal, please call me DiNozzo."
Everyone except Tony looked up in shock. Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "Well, is there something wrong, Ms. DiNozzo?"
Aza sighed. "No, I just hope this gets solved so that man's family will finally have peace… and so I can go home." She smiled at Gibbs. Then she frowned. "I wonder why he did it."
"It could be anything, Ms. DiNozzo, but we won't know until we find him."
Nodding, Aza looked back to the screen, then to Tony with a smile. "Do you think his name's fake?"
Tony laughed. "It's a big possibility! I can tell you I have never met a Bruce Lee."
"Please, after the Bruce Lee movies became popular, everyone was naming their child Bruce Lee." Gibbs said, way out of character for himself.
Everyone looked at him. "Well, boss, I guess you have met a handful of Bruce Lee's then?" McGee asked.
"Too many for my tastes."
Everyone took that as an end to the conversation. Tony once again rolled Aza out from behind his desk and rolled another chair behind it, and then began working. McGee was currently putting out he BOLO on their suspect, and Ziva had begun her work as well. Aza sat in between Tony and McGee, looking around. Well, she thought, this is going to be a boring day.
She then sat up suddenly ignoring the pain in her chest. "Tony, what's today?" She asked quietly.
"Tuesday, why?" He answered not looking up.
"No, I mean the date."
Looking up, Tony tried to read her face. "June twenty…third." He finished realization hitting him.
Aza began blinking rapidly, a sure sign she was trying to hold back tear. She breathed out shakily. Tony stood to comfort her, but she stood up and headed quickly to the bathrooms. Their conversation caught Ziva and McGee's attentions. Tony mumbled under his breath and kicked his desk.
"Tony, what's so important about today?" Ziva asked. "Is this when her husband died?"
"No, he was a scum bag." Tony replied quietly. "This is the day Aza's daughter died." Two pairs of eyes settled on him but neither person said a word. "Right after her husband died, she found out that she was pregnant. She had a few complications, but made it to full term. When the baby was born though, she was having problems. Aza got to hold her once when she was alive. She died that same night. Aza refused to believe it, and demanded that they give her, her baby. When I arrived, she was crying over the baby's body. It had finally sunk in. I-I didn't know what to do afterwards, we had a small funeral, but afterwards, she wasn't the same. It's most likely the reason she quit her job. Today's the one year anniversary of her baby's death."
Both of his teammates were close to tears for the woman they had grown close to over the past couple of weeks. Tony walked away, ignoring Gibbs' questioning as to where he was going. Barging into the women's bathroom, he didn't care if there were others. Luckily, there weren't, and Tony found Aza in the last stall. He slowly pushed the door open, and found her with her knees to her just. She wasn't sobbing, but tears were rolling down her cheeks.
Tony said nothing. He just sat in the floor next to her, and pulled her into his arms. He slowly stroked her hair as she cried into his chest. Why couldn't his sister catch a break? She lost her husband almost two years ago, she lost her baby a year ago, and she about lost her life two weeks ago. And if you really thought about it, she had lost her life. When her baby died, she couldn't bear to go on, so she lost the job that she loved, and began working at a hotel. She then witnessed a murder, and now she had to be under constant surveillance just to stay alive.
"Why Tony? Why my baby? Why didn't she even get a chance to live?" Her lips trembled, and the pain in her eyes was killing Tony.
"I don't know, sis. I don't know why these things happen. Why did Mom die when you were only one? Why did Kate get killed instead of me or Gibbs? These are answers that no one can answer. They can give you scientific facts, but not ever answer your question. They told you that Trinity had a hole in her heart that was almost as big as it was, but that doesn't answer why you're baby?" Tony pulled her closer to him, trying to will her pain away.
The door opened and Tony heard two sets of footsteps coming towards their stall. He looked up and found Gibbs and Director Sheppard. Both had looks of sadness on their faces, signaling that the other two had filled them in.
"DiNozzo, do you mind if I talk to your sister for a minute?" Gibbs asked quietly. "I believe we share a common loss."
Tony nodded slowly, and whispered into Aza's ear. "He knows where you're coming from, he lost his daughter too, maybe you can help one another." He stood up when she nodded, and Gibbs took his place.
Gibbs studied this young woman's sad face. He knew how it felt to lose your child, to wish that it had been you instead. He however didn't know how it felt to know that your child never even had the chance to live. To have them taken out an hour after they arrived. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, as he would with Abby or Ziva. "Aza, my daughter was seven years old, when she was killed in a car accident caused by a Mexican drug dealer. She and my wife were murder, and I wasn't even in the country. I had seven years with my daughter, so I have nowhere near the understanding of what you are going through, but I do have some. Kelly has been dead for eighteen years, and there is still not a day that I do not miss her." He stopped to recollect himself. It was still hard for him to talk about it. "You didn't even have time to get to know your daughter before she was taken away. It is, in my opinion, the cruelest thing, for a parent to have to bury their child. No parent should have to. But just know that it will always hurt, but you are still young, and you can still have more children while still cherishing your first child. I never tried again because I had also lost my only true love. But from what I've heard, you weren't exactly in love with your husband when he passed." He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm going to give Tony the rest of the day off, go to the cemetery, take some flowers, and just talk to your daughter. You'll be amazed at how much better it will make you feel."
Aza looked up and gave Gibbs a watery smile. "Thank you so much. For everything."
Gibbs just leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek just like he always gave Abby. He then stood and helped her off the floor. She then hugged him. "You know, if I could have chosen my father, I wish he would have been like you. Kelly was very lucky to have you." She then kissed his cheek and walked over to Tony, who led her from the bathroom.
Jenny was waiting at the door. Gibbs walked towards her. Giving him a sad smile, she squeezed his hand. "That's was a very good thing you did in there, Jethro. I know it was hard for you, but you really helped her through it." Then throwing away any rule or principle, she wrapped her arms around him, and just held him for a moment. "Anyone who has the chance to have you in their life is lucky. You truly are an extraordinary man, Jethro."
A/N: Ok so I hoped you all like this chapter! I know a lil sad, but I will make it all better! So, I've had a little of all my pairings but Abby & her mystery man! Who will it be? Please review!
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