Ryan approached his boss who was standing in the hallway. No one liked to have the feds involved in an investigation. Ryan was sure that the news that he had to give his boss would not be welcome. Although, if it helped them solve the case then maybe it would be worth it.
"Horatio," Ryan called to his boss as he walked up to him.
"Mr. Wolfe, was there something you needed? I trust you had no trouble picking up your cousin from the airport."
Ryan grumbled in Italian, under his breath, about interfering cousins and needing to stay home, out loud he answered, "No, no trouble at all. What I needed to talk to you about is the case. There has been a new development and I need you to come to the layout room. Actually I think you'll want everyone there."
"What's going on Mr. Wolfe?"
Ryan looked Horatio in the eye. "I have reason to believe that the murder we are investigating is part of a multistate serial killing spree. I am having some of the evidence from one of the other cases placed in the layout room I would like to see what you and the rest of the team think."
Horatio gave Ryan a hard stare. A serial killer case is a very serious thing especially if it was multijurisdictional as Ryan seemed to think it was. "Ok Mr. Wolfe. Gather the team would 30 minutes be enough time to have the presentation ready?"
"It should be… I need to tell you H that if this is a serial killer case there is a good chance that the feds will be involved…"
Horatio cut Ryan off, "I am well aware that the FBI generally get involved in these cases once state lines are crossed Mr. Wolfe."
Ryan nodded his head "I wasn't talking about the FeeBees Horatio. Some of the earlier victims were in the Navy. NCIS is most likely on the way here already or will be shortly."
"YOU notified them Mr. Wolfe?"
"No, no I didn't. The source that informed me that this was a case of serial killing did… It's complicated I will explain once the layout room and presentation are set up ok?"
Horatio looked at his newest CSI. He knew the young man always tried to do his job to the best of his abilities but sometimes he was his own worst enemy, Horatio hoped that this did not turn out to be one of those times. That the rest of the team didn't resent the intrusion of whomever NCIS sent to work this case.
Ryan left Horatio after their exchange and quickly located Delko and Calleigh informing them of the meeting to take place in the layout room and its purpose.
Ryan went back to Tony to assist him in downloading the files and setting up in the layout room. Tony had never used the equipment in there so Ryan showed him how to use it. They were just finishing up as the CSIs started heading in.
Tony's phone rang and he noticed the ID said it was Gibbs. He knew better than to ignore that call regardless of whatever else he was doing.
"DiNozzo"
"We'll be there in 5 hours Miami International on Delta flight 456. Don't be late."
As Tony was answering the phone went dead, "OK Bo…" Tony was used to it by now. Tony closed the phone and put it away. He turned to face the Miami CSIs. He knew the local LEOs never liked when the feds came in, and tried to take over. He really hadn't planned on this when he made the trip down here. He was aware that Ryan didn't always have the best relationship with these people, Tony just hoped he wasn't about to make it worse.
He really hated this part of the job. Generally when they were working with another agency Gibbs was the one to do the initial contact. All Tony had to do was gather evidence, maybe work with a new partner or a case. One thing was certain he wasn't going to get into a jurisdictional pissing contest. That he would leave to his boss once he got here. Gibbs did the alpha male thing all too well, more than happy to be the one to establish NCIS's dominance in any investigation. Tony was more than willing to let Gibbs do the jurisdictional shuffle. It was bad enough he was the one bringing the feds here. He didn't need to make things any more difficult for his cousin.
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Ryan's coworkers filed into the layout room. Other than Horatio, none of them had been told anything other than they needed to discuss a new development in the ongoing murder investigation. Eric saw Ryan's cousin already in the room and was about to object, the man had not handled the first set of photos he had been exposed to very well, he didn't need to see anymore even if he was trying to prove something to Ryan. At least that was the only reason Eric could think of for someone to subject themselves to a sight that obviously bothered them.
Once everyone had entered the room Tony straightened up nearly coming to attention as he generally did when giving Gibbs a report or update on a case. He cleared his throat and he began to speak.
"Hello, I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, but please call me Tony." He said trying to put everyone at ease. "I'm with NCIS, which stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. I am also Ryan's cousin. I came down here for a vacation quite honestly."
Tony turned toward Eric and addressed him. "Ryan said you noticed my reaction to the crime scene photos you were reviewing earlier. You were correct I did react to them, but not for the reason you most likely thought."
Tony returned his attention to the group at large. "Five years ago I was working homicide with the Philly PD, we had a string of killings, bodies positioned after death, expensive champagne, broken Waterford crystal toasting flutes." Tony has described the scene of the Miami murder to a T.
"Due the family commitments at the time I was unable to see the case through to its conclusion. There was never an arrest in the case. We found evidence that the killer had struck earlier in Ohio approximately a year before the killing started in Philly. The pictures and notes you see before you are from my personal files. There are notes about the case in Philly. Some notes about what went on in Ohio. I was lucky to obtain copies of the crime scene photos from the murders in Philly."
The CSIs looked through the photos that were spread out before them.
"I had one of my friends, someone I work with back in DC, go through my files to scan and send this via email so I could share it with you guys… unfortunately my boss caught her."
"He looked over the file and he noticed similarities to an old open NCIS case, from about 4 years ago. That was before I started there, so I don't know anything about that investigation. They should be bringing any information with them."
"Honestly I'm on vacation. My plan had been to spend some time with Ry, go clubbing, get a little drunk… maybe get a little lucky…" His green eyes twinkled and he smiled a patented DiNozzo smile at the beautiful blond he had yet to be introduced to.
"Personally I blame Ryan… he should have never brought me here." Tony's eyes were twinkling again in amusement, a grin on his face. His expression telling Ryan he was being teased.
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Eric grimaced the feds, the God damned feds. They always, without fail, screw things up. Eric glared at Wolfe, the least the younger man could have done was warn them. Knowing the feds they will probably take credit for the case and the arrest, making us do all of the work. He absolutely despised them.
To think I was concerned for this idiot. And Oh No, he didn't just flirt with Calleigh!
******************************************
Ryan watched the proceedings, he saw Eric with his temper barely being held in check… lord, that didn't bode well. If he was like this now, just wait till Gibbs got here and started rubbing everyone the wrong way. Thank goodness Tony was here. If his cousin had gone on vacation somewhere else and NCIS had gotten wind of this case… He didn't want to think about dealing with Gibbs without the buffer of the older man's lover nearby.
Ryan was standing in his typical contemplative pose one arm over his abdomen the other elbow resting on top of it with one hand over his mouth. Then he saw Tony flirt with Calleigh. He bowed his head and covered his eyes, rubbing them while shaking his head. Tony hadn't done anything objectionable or overly suggestive so he wouldn't call his cousin on it. He knew Tony's behavior now that the NCIS team was coming was going to be a little more outrageous than it would have been otherwise. He had a reputation to maintain after all.
******************************************
"First I think we should get to know one another, then, I really need to be briefed on what you have on your case so far. I also need to tell you that the next victim if the killer holds to pattern will be male. We only have 4 hours until my boss gets here so we really need to get started."
Horatio Caine looked up at that last bit. "Male?"
"Yes," Tony referred to his notes. "The profiler on the case back in Philly felt the killer was obsessed with the ritual of Marriage. The first vic in Philly was a female and the second a male. The same set up with the champagne and flute, like a wedding night."
Tony steered the conversation towards introductions. He needed to know who he was working with first and their strengths.
"I already know Ryan obviously, and I met Eric Delko when he came with Ryan, to pick me up at the airport. " Tony looked expectantly at Ryan. He knew his cousin had better manners than this; they had been drilled into both of them while they were still in diapers.
Ryan flushed slightly but took the hint and introduced the other members of the team to Tony.
Horatio gazed intently at Agent DiNozzo. He was sure he had heard that name before but he couldn't place where at the moment. He tilted is head and shook the younger man's hand, "Agent DiNozzo.
Tony responded with a firm shake and, "Please call me Tony."
"Tony" Horatio agreed.
Which pissed Ryan off no end. Here he was with the team over 6 months and he was still called Mr. Wolfe. Tony is here less than 6 hours and he had Horatio calling him by his first name.
Ryan introduced Tony to Calleigh next. Tony actually behaved himself. He charmed the southern woman, for sure, flirted with her, of course, but did not do anything overly objectionable and for that Ryan was grateful. In fact it seemed like they were getting along rather well. They were reviewing the case together and Tony said something that made Calleigh laugh.
Eric came up to Ryan while the younger man was looking at his cousin interact with Calleigh. "So Wolfe, did you plan this with your cousin? I mean it's awfully suspicious. He's here a few hours and suddenly we are going to have feds crawling out of the wood work."
Ryan looked at Eric a little startled. "Huh what do you mean?"
"Come on you mean you never discuss work with your cousin?"
It was true he did often call Tony or Ezra and Vin for that matter, heck he used many of the contacts he had in law enforcement when he felt it was warranted, for a fresh perspective or new insights to a case. Tony's brain was wired differently than most other people he knew. He thought of things in terms of movies often times. He was also amazingly perceptive in spite of that, or perhaps because of it. He had not discussed this particular case with Tony because the older man had been avoiding him. That was something they had yet to discuss. No, Tony didn't come to Miami because of this case, but he didn't come here purely for a vacation either.
"You know what Delko you are right I do discuss stuff with Tony. Being in a similar field he understands a lot of what I do at work without explanations." Ryan thought to himself that if I had some more support from this team, I could hash out ideas here instead of having to go elsewhere. Luckily for Ryan he did have elsewhere to go. He regularly called Tony Abby and even Ezra or Mel when he needed advice or a sounding board about a case.
"Tony's been a cop with three different police forces and now with NCIS so he has quite a bit of experience to draw upon not to mention contacts and resources that quite frankly I'm envious of. I'm not ashamed to say I ask him for his opinion sometimes. This particular case however, I never had a chance to speak with him about. He just closed a case in DC yesterday and when he has an active case it's almost impossible to get a hold of him. His boss is a real bastard. Runs them into the ground." Ryan grinned thinking of Eric dealing with Gibbs and his demands. "You'll understand once the rest of the NCIS team arrives." Ryan started to walk away.
Eric grabbed his arm and asked, "You've met them?"
Ryan studied Eric, "Yeah, went on a trip to DC around this time last year met his team got a tour of the building… Look I didn't compromise any cases, I was working patrol then…"
Eric had apparently gotten over his anger at Ryan for "bringing the feds into the case"… or maybe he just believed him now that it was just a coincidence. He waved Ryan off. "No I was wondering what they are like."
"Well I already told you his boss is a bastard, tells everyone he meets exactly that, proudly too. The team has a profiler seems good at her job, Kate Todd, didn't spend too much time with her. There is a new member who I didn't meet his specialty is computers, Tim McGee." Ryan started smiling, "the agents don't do their own forensic tests the way we do here. They have a tech who works with several teams at least that's the way it is supposed to work. Gibbs pretty much keeps Abby all to himself. She usually doesn't travel with the team though so you may not meet her unless they do a video conference. She is pretty much a Jill of all trades."
Eric interrupted him then, he vaguely remembered a snippet of conversation from the ride back from the airport. "Your cousin mentioned an Abby when the two of you were talking in the hummer. Something about a paper…"
Ryan rubbed his forehead. He had not planned on telling any of the people in the lab about the article unless it was published and then only if they happened to read it and ask him about it. Abby was after him to do at least one published article now that he was working as a criminalist instead of patrol. She had approached him while he was still in patrol and he flat out refused, now however he could see why he needed at least one article. So he had finally agreed, as long as she was the senior researcher listed for the article.
"Yeah she needed some help with a research project, so I agreed to help her. She has some very interesting views on the field of forensics." Ryan smiled as he chuckled internally, thinking that to Abby Science is a Religion.
Ryan was about to explain to Eric about Ducky and how he carries on conversations with the cadavers, in a way that wasn't too different from Alexx, actually, when Tony interrupted him.
"Ry, I was telling your beautiful coworker here, about my team. I was about to discuss Ducky but I wanted to ask your ME something first. You want to call her up here?"
Ryan was suspicious of Tony. He had a mischievous gleam in his eye.
Ryan looked at Tony with a questioning look on his face. "Sure Tony any reason why?"
Tony was the picture of innocence a sure sign to anyone who knew him he was up to something. " I need to ask her some questions about the Post on this case, compare it to what I know about the Philly cases."
Ryan went to call Alexx and Eric moved to join Tony and Calleigh at the pictures and notes. Tony and The two CSIs briefly continued to review the case file. Tony out of nowhere started asking questions about the Miami ME, he was leading them somewhere.
"Our ME may come too, Gibbs usually insists he come. Ducky is unique, but don't let him tell you a story or you will be there all day and in the end be left wondering what the point was."
Ryan had rejoined the group at this point and watched his cousin. He found them betting on whether Alexx knew Ducky. Ryan had never broached the subject with her but after the stories that Ryan had heard from Tony Ryan would be surprised if she didn't know the older doctor.
Alexx entered the lab and Ryan introduced her to his cousin. "Alex this is my cousin Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Tony Our ME, Dr. Alexx Woods. Alexx, Tony recognized similarities between our current murder and a serial murder spree from when he was with the Philly PD 5 years ago."
"Dr. Woods, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Ryan talks about you quite a bit." Tony poured on the charm, as he shook her hand. It was not difficult in the case of the beautiful ME. Not only was she beautiful, but she had taken his cousin under her wing, treating him much more kindly than any of his other coworkers. "And please call me Tony."
Alexx glanced toward Ryan as she took Tony's hand. "Yet he has never mentioned you…"
Tony's smile dimmed somewhat and he said as he extracted his hand from the ME's. "We tend not to talk about family very much."
" I need to ask you some questions if you don't mind, My boss will be here soon and if I don't have a comprehensive report ready for him … I really don't want to think about how he would react."
Alexx stood there looking at the young man before her, she could tell he was a charmer, but there was something underneath, something a little like what she saw so openly in Ryan's face. If she wasn't careful this one too would end up as one of her boys. She could see how he tries to hide his caring nature but no one is so good that they are able to hide that from Alexx Woods for very long. She did however decide to play along… for now at least.
Alexx gave Tony a considering look, "So Special Agent… Are you with the FBI." she nearly sneered the words.
Ryan winced. As much as he knew that the FBI were no one's favorite federal agency around here, Tony and Ryan had reason to hate them. The way they treated Ezra and the lackadaisical way the investigation into his wife's death and Ezra's shooting were more than enough reason for both men to treat agents from that branch of the federal government with suspicion.
Tony actually shuddered, "God no. I am with NCIS now. Apparently between the time I worked in Philly and when I started at NCIS this guy went after some sailors and killed them in the same manner." Again Tony turned on the patented DiNozzo charm, smiling at Alexx. "So, my boss will be bringing down our team. They should be here shortly, which reminds me, I need to ask you something."
Tony looked at Ryan's coworkers, then back at the ME. "Do you know a Dr. Donald Mallard?"
Alexx had thought she was brought up here to be questioned about the autopsy she preformed. "Ducky? Honey, everybody knows Ducky."
Tony grinned and collected his winnings; Ryan's coworkers would be paying his next meal.
Alexx glared slightly at Tony, "Did you need me for something?" She wanted him to realize she had work to do, that he couldn't use her to win bets with her colleagues.
Tony turned serious, he liked levity to lighten situations and to help him charm his way to information. Information from witnesses and suspects alike. His personality had people opening up to him and he used that aspect of himself frequently in his work.
Most of Tony's team didn't realize he could also be serious. He didn't really get it, when the situation warranted it, he could be and has been deadly serious. He guessed his mask was so good they just didn't notice the times he slipped it.
Tony proceeded to ask the ME several questions about the autopsy findings. After he was finished his thanked the beautiful doctor for her time, charming her as he did often with beautiful women,. Ryan just smirked and shook his head at his irrepressible cousin,
Time was against them and Gibbs would be arriving soon. Tony asked Ryan to see if his boss could spare some vehicles to pick the NCIS team from the airport.
Tony continued to work with the rest of the CSIs while Ryan found Horatio. A shadow stopped at the door of the layout room and stilled. Tony moved from where he was working and without a word to Calleigh or Delko went to the person who was standing in the doorway.
Eric sized the newcomer up. He had never seen him before but he looked like a typical Feebee. Suit Tie. Practically straight out of the FBI handbook. From the looks of it DiNozzo knew him and didn't seem too happy to see him. Eric didn't think too much else of it. For all he knew it could be a member of the NCIS team that DiNozzo didn't particularly get along with, he dismissed it from his mind and went back to work, this case was looking to be the most complicated one they had come across in a long time.
Tony had sensed someone at the door to the layout room. He had thought at first that it was Ryan returning with news about how Tony was going to get the NCIS team. Tony was unprepared for the person who was standing there.
DiNozzo wasn't stupid. He knew the FBI would assign people to this case. He didn't expect however to see the one Agent he had been trying to avoid for the past month.
Tony strode out of the room and up to the FBI agent and growled in a fair imitation of Gibbs "Fornell, What are you doing here?"
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.