Title: Innocent Blood
Chapter 2/6 - A chip off the old block
Genre (general, hetero or slash) Gen/Action
Pairing/Characters: Ensemble
Disclaimer. I don't own the NCIS characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.
Many thanks to FatCat for all her Beta'ing work.
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Previously on NCIS
Jimmy Palmer was found shot in the Parking Garage.
Security monitors revealed that Tony had been the last person to leave around the time of the shooting...but also showed that Abby's former assistant Chip had been with him.
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Gibbs stormed past the Director's receptionist, ignoring her efforts to tell him that Director Shepherd was in a meeting.
"Just when the hell were you going to tell me that Chip Stirling had been released on parole?" he practically yelled at her.
"Jethro..." Shepherd started to say, but Gibbs didn't let her finish.
"He framed DiNozzo for murder, attacked Abby in her own lab. Some judge lets him walk out of jail and you didn't think that maybe it was worth a mention? You didn't think my people needed to be warned? Jimmy Palmer nearly bled out in the parking garage. Tony's been abducted, just *when* were you going to tell me?"
"She didn't know, Gibbs."
Gibbs whirled around to see Fornell sitting behind him. "You knew?"
Fornell shook his head. "Somebody screwed up on the paperwork. F.B.I. didn't get notified either. Believe me Gibbs, I'm just as pissed about this as you are."
Gibbs shook his head, "No Fornell, no you're not."
Shepherd cleared her throat, causing both men to look at her. "Ziva filled me in on what Abby found on the security monitor." Gibbs didn't need his famous 'gut' to tell him that Jen felt that *he* should have been the one keeping her updated.
"What's the progress on locating Agent DiNozzo?"
"There's a BOLO out on his car," said Gibbs, "But Chip's no fool, if he's planned this as carefully as the last time, he won't be fool enough to stay in Tony's Mustang for too long."
He paced back and forth for a few seconds before continuing, "What about that other guy that Chip had a beef with? That Medical Examiner, Stewart?"
Fornell and Shepherd exchanged glances before Fornell spoke, "Stewart is dead. His assistant found him hanging up in his morgue freezer this morning. Since he's still part of an active F.B.I. investigation, we got notified...eventually."
"We believe that Chip must have killed him first and then gone after Tony," said Shepherd.
"Ya think?" said Gibbs.
"Jethro, I know you're concerned about Agent DiNozzo, but maybe you need to take a step back. That's why I've asked the F.B.I. to assist yo..."
"Tony is *my* agent, and I will find him," said Gibbs, barely managing to keep his anger under control.
"That wasn't a request," snapped Shepherd.
Fornell interrupted, "Gibbs, I think maybe we should pool our resources, maybe discuss matters in the conference room. Director Shepherd, I'll keep you posted."
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Stopping long enough to order McGee to get all the information on Stewart's murder, Gibbs stormed towards the elevator.
Once inside the elevator shaft, Gibbs punched the emergency stop button, hard.
"You know, one of these days you're gonna punch that thing so hard it'll break and we'll be stuck here all day," said Fornell, calmly.
"Dammit Tobias, Tony's *my* agent, I'm not about to let the F.B.I. march in here and screw things up!"
"We're not *that* incompetent Jethro. Look, I'm certainly not about to get into a pissing match with you over jurisdiction. How about we just find DiNotzo and worry about who gets the credit later, okay?"
"Okay." Gibbs leaned back against the wall. "What the hell sort of judge lets a guy like Chip out on bail anyway? They should have thrown away the key."
"Believe me Gibbs, if it had been up to me he wouldn't have been seeing the light of day for a *long* time. But he got some public defender to argue that he hadn't actually hurt anybody, just hacked up a corpse, and the judge fell for it."
Gibbs looked at Fornell in disbelief, "Didn't hurt anybody? They should have been charging him with attempted murder. Have you forgotten that he attacked Abby with a knife?"
"As I recall, she handed his ass to him on a plate. Ironically, it seems that that was one of the arguments used in the bail hearing. That if a chick lab tech could take him out so easily, he obviously couldn't be considered a threat."
"Tell that to Jimmy Palmer," snapped Gibbs as he pushed the start button.
"Any word on him yet? He gonna make it?"
Gibbs sighed wearily, "I don't know."
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Ducky didn't know either. He paced up and down outside the trauma room door, growing more and more concerned by the minute. The paramedics had managed to stabilize Jimmy on the way to the hospital, but he had been still unconscious as they wheeled him into the ER. Ducky had been blocked from entering the trauma room by an overly officious nurse who insisted that he wait outside, "There's a relative's room down the hallway, you can wait there."
"I'm a doctor, not a relative," said Ducky, his usual charm failing him. "I'm not going to faint at the sight of blood, dammit!"
"A doctor huh? What's your specialty, Trauma? Surgery? Because anything else isn't gonna help him right now."
Ducky sighed, "Pathology...I'm a medical examiner."
"Well honey, if you don't want that kid in there to end up as one of your patients, then I suggest you stay out of the way and let the doc's do their job, okay?" She smiled at him, not unkindly and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll make sure that
you're notified as soon as there's anything to tell, Doctor..."
"Mallard," replied Ducky. He gazed in through the glass panel of the door, watching as a flurry of medical personnel worked on Jimmy's motionless form.
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"McGee," bellowed Gibbs once he was back in the bullpen. "Report!"
"Uh Boss, I got on to the police department. They're faxing over a copy of the crime scene report from Stewart's murder."
"Any word on Tony?"
"No, but Boss, Stewart..." Tim swallowed hard.
"What is it McGee?" Gibbs didn't have time to coddle his agents at the best of times and this was definitely not the best of times.
"Their preliminary report...Stewarts cause of death. He didn't...didn't freeze to death." Tim looked as if he was about to throw up. "His legs were cut off and he bled out..."
Gibbs stopped in his tracks, for once lost for words.
"Wow, that's one sick puppy we're dealing with," said Fornell. "But look on the bright side."
Gibbs looked at him, "There's a bright side to this?"
Fornell shrugged, "Least we know he's probably not gonna just shoot DiNotzo and toss his body out onto the beltway."
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Ducky paced up and down the corridor. It seemed like an eternity before a nurse came out to him. "Doctor Mallard? He's asking for you."
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Ducky stood by the side of the trauma bed and reached for Jimmy's left hand.
"I'm here my boy," he said.
The doctor in charge had told him he could have two minutes, "And that's only because we're waiting for them to clear an O.R."
Maybe it was the white cover on the bed or the bright lights of the trauma room, but Jimmy looked even paler than he had done in the parking garage. His eyes flickered open at the sound of Ducky's voice. "Doc...Doctor Mallard..."
Ducky squeezed his hand, "It's all right Jimmy, you're at Bethesda, you're safe now."
"I...I have to tell you...Tony...he..." Jimmy seemed to fade a bit but managed to continue speaking, "Trouble..."
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Jimmy hurried through the parking garage, an NCIS issue cap in his hand that he'd found while clearing out the M.E.'s van. He'd seen Tony's initials on the inside tag and knowing how protective the agent was of his headgear, Jimmy felt it better to return the lost property as soon as possible. He'd been heading up to the bullpen when Ducky had told him that Tony was already on his way out, so now he rushed to catch up with him before he left.
Rounding a corner, Jimmy saw Tony standing beside his car with his back to him.
"Tony!" he called out, "Glad I caught you." But Tony didn't move, and it wasn't until Jimmy got a bit closer, the hat held up for Tony's attention, that he realized that Tony wasn't alone. A figure with a hood pulled over his head was standing in the shadows in front of him, and it wasn't until Jimmy got a little closer that he realized the figure was holding a gun with what looked like a silencer on it.
"Tony?"
"Just turn around and walk away, Palmer," said Tony, in a voice as cold as ice. "This doesn't concern you, so just beat it, *now*!"
Jimmy stood there open mouthed, uncertain as to what to do, and then the hooded figure shifted slightly, the movement bringing him just far enough out of the shadows for Jimmy to see part of his face, "Chip?"
"My name is *Charles*," snapped Chip, pointing the gun towards Jimmy.
The distraction was enough for Tony, and he launched himself at Chip, knocking him to the ground and trying to wrestle the gun away from him. Jimmy didn't know what to do, but he rushed forward to help. He only got a few steps before there was a sudden popping noise. Jimmy felt like somebody had punched him in the shoulder, spinning him round. He could see a small flower of blood appear on his shoulder, growing rapidly in size as he fell towards the ground.
"Jimmy!" gasped Tony, seeing him fall. He had been trying to get the gun away from Chip, but he couldn't break his grip and had barely managed to aim it away from himself before Chip had been able to pull the trigger.
This time it was Chip who took advantage of the distraction. While Tony was still looking at Jimmy, Chip wrenched back control of the gun and slammed it into the side of Tony's head knocking him flat on his back.
Chip staggered to his feet, pointing the gun at Tony. "Get into your car, *now*!"
Tony pulled himself up into a sitting position and slumped against the side of his car, "What are you gonna do if I refuse...shoot me? If you'd just wanted to kill me you'd have done it already."
"Yeah, I'll shoot you...and then I'll go over to Palmer and put a bullet through his brain. You want me to do that, huh DiNozzo? Cause I don't exactly have a lot to lose right now." He waved the gun around.
"Okay, okay," Tony held his hands up in capitulation. "I'll co-operate...just let me check on Jimmy first, and then I'll do what you want."
"No, dammit, leave him there," snapped Chip. "I'm taking you back where all this started and you're gonna pay for ruining my life!"
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to be continued
Author's Chapter Notes:
Jimmy's been shot, Tony is missing, and Chip is back.