Flames Burn Out
Author: A'serene
Category: Crime, Hurt/Comfort
Rating: P13
Spoilers: Through Season 5
Contents: Two dead women are found in D.C., both looking remarkably similar to the other. The team investigates and other similar murders begin to pop up from over the years, including a case in Cairo, Egypt and the one that is the earliest back, in Paris.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, but if this strike doesn't end soon I'm going to take over writing...
A/N: I don't really know places in DC very well so the street names are made up.
It was pitch black out; the only light came from the headlights of the car and the two trucks parked at the corner of the street. The passengers got out, well aware of what was required of each one of them and only one marched ahead. Leroy Jethro Gibbs had his small MAG-light in one hand, coffee in the other. It was just about four in the morning and it was the first case his team had had in a week. He didn't mind the lull but Tony and Ziva's constant bickering was starting to irk him, at least know they would be busy.
Gibbs approached the taped off area where two local cops stood guard. He flashed his badge and they let him pass. A work light had been set up near the body and cast it into an almost divine glow. If it hadn't been for the blood pool, the female could have just been sleeping. However it wasn't the ironic tranquility that caught his attention, it was the hair. It was beautiful, most likely silky, and as red as faint flame. He heard the sharp intake of breath beside him and knew Ziva had caught up to him and was seeing what he refused to see.
"Oh God," he heard her mutter. Those were Gibbs' thoughts exactly, until he blinked. It can't be, he assured himself. She's asleep in her bed at home, however the little voice in his head reminded him that it wouldn't be the first time she went out alone. He knelt next to the body, trying to be positive that the curves were in the wrong places and the height had to be wrong. He leaned over to see the face and the vacant brown eyes.
"It isn't," he said gruffly. Ziva nodded and backtracked toward the entrance. She needed to warn the team that while the victim may look similar, it was not the Director of NCIS. Gibbs listened to his team while he glanced around trying to find some unseen clue. He was sure the street was familiar and looked toward the corner to find the street sign. Shandon Drive, he read. All right, enough coincidences.
"Jethro, would you mind stepping away from the body," Ducky called out breaking his train of thought. He moved slightly.
"McGee crime scene photos, DiNozzo process, Ziva door to door, and get me a copy of the woman's ID."
"On it Boss," came the answer as the team split up, Gibbs followed Ziva.
"You going to take half the street," Ziva inquired in mild humor.
"Just one house," he answered walking with her down the street. Ziva accompanied him as far as the elegant townhouse before realizing where they were. The worry from earlier returned.
"I don't suppose this is a coincidence."
"I don't believe in coincidences." Ziva nodded crossing the street to and beginning her door to door. Gibbs walked straight up to the door of the townhouse and pulled out his phone before ringing the doorbell. He dialed the familiar number and listened to it ring twice before a tired voice answered.
"Shepard." Her voice pushed away his fear.
"You mind coming to answer the door."
"Jethro?"
"Expecting someone else?" He quipped back. Silence. "Don't turn on the lights," he warned. He heard a yawn and something akin to a grunt.
"Jethro, it's four in the morning."
"I know, now come answer the door." He heard her muffle a curse and minutes later the door opened slightly and he was met with Jennifer Shepard, Director of NCIS in her pajamas and robe. Cute flannel, he smirked.
"There better be a terrorist attack," she grumbled.
"Get dressed and get your stuff," he told her entering the house and closing the door behind him. She stood in the entryway with her hands on her hips.
"It's four in the morning!" She restated.
"Get dressed Jen, or we'll go for a walk with you dressed like that."
"In your dreams," she muttered moving up the stairs. Oh you usually like silk in those, he grinned slightly as he watched her disappear. "How did you get here anyway?" She called from a room at the tops of the stairs.
"Walked." She emerged in jeans, a sweater, and sneakers. Not the usual Director attire, much better than the usual.
"You walked? From your house?" She clarified in shock.
"From the crime scene, now lets go." He went to open the door but she slid in between him and it and blocked the door.
"Crime Scene?"
"Come on, its not that far." She knew he wouldn't tell her anything more than that till they were going. She opened the door and pulled her coat tighter around her. She locked the door and felt Gibbs fall into step beside her, his hand on her lower back.
"So this crime scene is within walking distance of my house," she began.
"Yes."
"And this resulted in you waking me up at four in the morning to come out in the cold when I was most likely better off in the house," she commented slightly annoyed in his thought process. Sure she was more than interested in the crime, and she would love to be out in the field, but he was usually the one not allowing it.
"You weren't better off in the house."
"Why not?" he didn't answer and she began to worry. There were plenty of reasons; it could be a death threat to her, or someone she knew or a neighbor or something that would force him to put her safety in his hands. "You know I'm just going to find out about it anyway, so you may as well tell me."
"You have a twin sister?" He asked. She wrinkled her brow in confusion.
"Jethro, you know I'm an only child," she answered.
"Well then, you have a twin."
"A twin?"
"Our victim..." he trailed off as the memories came back.
"Looks like me," she concluded with a sigh. Great, just fucking great. "Don't suppose the fact that my house is around the corner is just a coincidence."
"I don't believe..."
"I know," she cut him off. They were approaching the car and trucks and could see Tony and McGee. The two men stated quiet at the Director's mysterious appearance. Ziva was leaning against the car door obviously finished with her task and nodded to both of them.
"Morning Director," she greeted.
"Ziva." Gibbs opened the car door and gestured for Jenny to get in, she stood still and glared.
"Ziva, she doesn't move from this spot," Gibbs commanded. He walked off yelling something at DiNozzo while Jenny silently fumed. Ziva observed the situation. Blind as bats, she thought.
"You don't want to go over there, Jenny," she assured. "He froze up." Jenny's eyes widened at she glanced over to see her friend nodding. It wasn't so much that she knew without a doubt that the 'he' was Gibbs; it was what she said. Gibbs never froze, never.He thought...it was me. Ziva's phone ringing dragged her out of her thoughts and she watched her friend's face cloud over.
"Gibbs!" Ziva called out, and a moment later he appeared. "There's another body in Shandon Park."
"Get the next team on it," he ordered.
"Gibbs I was told it relates to this one," she informed. Jenny watched her old partner closely and was surprised when he told her to get in the passenger seat.
"Ducky, head to Shandon Park, another victim. DiNozzo, McGee finish this scene then bring the truck over. Ziva get in the car." The Mossad officer slid in the backseat behind Jenny and was silent as Gibbs drove off. He easily did sixty the entire way and a ten-minute drive took barely five. He got out followed by Jenny and Ziva and they moved toward the new taped off area.
This body was positioned the same as the other, as if she was just sleeping. Under the lamplight Gibbs could easily see the knife cut down the back, not deep enough to kill but a clear marking. It was how he knew, the same person killed this woman and the first, and he appeared to have a thing for red hair. He felt more than saw Jenny freeze beside him and wished he'd made her stay in the car. When he turned and followed her line of sight he found it resting on a knife laying next to the bench. Ziva also noticed.
"Jenny," Ziva said gently, hoping to snap her friend out of it.
"It's the same," the older woman whispered. Gibbs was instantly on full alert.
"Same what?" he asked, but she appeared not to hear him. "Same what, Jen?" This time he stepped in front of her blocking her view of the blade. She looked up at him in shock but quickly looked away, almost as if she couldn't meet his eye.
"Ziva, that case in Cairo, the girl from the bar. It's the same blade we found at that scene," Jenny explained.
"You didn't catch him I take it," Gibbs remarked. She glared at him.
"He wasn't ours to catch," Ziva informed remembering the case. "Jenny and I found the body. The police investigated."
"I knew there was something different," Jenny said quietly.
"Ziva start processing," Gibbs ordered leading Jenny away. "Jen, this girl in Cairo, was she a redhead too?"
"Brunette," she answered but paused. "But she was naturally a redhead, maybe he just likes red hair."
"In which case you're going back to the Navy Yard, and getting a protective detail."
"Jethro, I'm hardly the only redhead in DC or Virginia," she reminded irritated. He gave his famous Gibbs stare. He could not believe she was taking this so lightly! Two women are dead near her house and have more than a passing resemblance to her, and she doesn't see the problem? Gibbs stopped at that thought. Or does she? He studied his former partner closely. She was shaken, his well-trained eye could easily detect that, but there was something else, something he couldn't identify. He leaned slightly closer and she flinched. It wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone who did not know her well, but he knew her intimately and not once, even when they were fighting, did she ever flinch away from him.
"Jen." She cocked her head to the side but did not move her eyes to meet his. He sighed; something is definitely wrong. "I'll take you to the Navy Yard. You should be fine in your office."
"I think we've established this has noting to do with me." He wasn't so sure they had but decided to let it slide.
"The media is going to be all over this place come normal hours," he said and heard her sigh.
"I'll get details from the victim in Cairo." Gibbs noticed the NCIS trucks and waited for DiNozzo and McGee. The two approached and gave a polite greeting to the Director.
"DiNozzo, help Ziva finish the scene. McGee you go back with Ducky and take the pictures, compare them to any unsolved rape and murders worldwide."
"Should I call Abby?" McGee questioned. Gibbs gave him the 'What do you think?' look. "Calling Abby, Boss." Gibbs nodded and led Jenny back to the car.
"You want to stop for coffee?"
"That would be nice." They were silent for the entire drive, even when they stopped for coffee. He watched her walk up the stairs to her office and knew he'd been up in a few hours to check on her. He sat down trying to map out the case but found a plan evasive. Every time he closed his eyes it was Jenny he pictured, under the spotlight appearing asleep until the blood drops fell. Perhaps it was the fact that the two victims looked a little like her, he tended to associate all children with his Kelley so it made sense he would do the same thing for Jenny. Except he knew Jenny was alive and well, so why did her dead green eyes haunt him?
---
The park was still cold even though the sun had begun to rise. Ziva was being thorough but her mind drifted to a warm bed that had her name on it. Tony's thoughts were along the same line, although the bed was certainly not unoccupied, he would have been thrilled to go back to head quarters, but he was stuck processing. Judging by Gibbs' mood this was something important and he knew he couldn't screw. To keep his mind occupied though he asked Ziva the question that had been bugging him.
"Ziva, how did the Director get here anyway?"
"Gibbs picked her up."
"He never left with the car?" Tony pointed out.
"He walked."
"So the Director was close by?"
"Her house was on the same street as the first victim, Gibbs was just being cautious."
"How did he know it was her house?" Tony questioned hoping for an accidental confirmation of what he steadfastly believed.
"I don't know," Ziva replied. Well that's not entirely true, she thought.
"Didn't he stop by when she had that Carson kid?"
"I believe so."
"Maybe that's when he found out."
"Maybe," Ziva agreed hoping that would be the end of it. The last thing she needed was to speculate on her Boss and her friend's relationship. She was more concerned with how they were going to cope. Ziva knew Jenny was locking herself down and she wasn't sure it was just a reminder of the case in Cairo that had caused it. There has to be more.
"He could have also stayed there," Tony suggested somewhat amused. Ziva glanced over at him, wishful thinking. She sighed as Tony continued to hypothesize Gibbs' relationship with the Director's house.
---
McGee had called Abby when he'd gotten in the truck with Ducky and Palmer. She was not happy but he promised her a caff-pow and she told him she'd be there when he got there. So when the truck pulled into NCIS he went straight to the lab.
"So what's so important?" Abby greeted with a yawn.
"Two murders," McGee answered.
"In one night? Where?"
"Shandon Drive and the park."
"Nice neighborhood," Abby commented. "So why does Bossman think this guy is global?"
"The Director."
"She was at the crime scene?" Abby questioned. She was sure Jenny would never get up for something like that, unless she was already up because someone else had to go to the crime scene.
"Gibbs brought her and no, I don't know anything else." Gibbs brought her huh, nothing else need be said Timmy.
"She here?"
"Yea, Gibbs is keeping an eye on her."
"Why?"
"The victims they...well look for yourself." Abby pulled up the crime scene photos and could understand why McGee was unable to explain.
"That's creepy," she whispered before focusing herself. "Okay so going world wide," she announced clicking away at the images. "Details?"
"Rape and Murder, positioned like sleeping, the mark down the back, knife that was found at the second scene," McGee rattled off as Abby entered the descriptions. Hits began to pop up immediately.
"Okay...there are two other cases here in DC, one last year and one the year before. Last years is about five miles from Bethesda and the earlier one is about ten miles from here."
"Any others?"
"Cairo, Egypt, a possible in Russia, Miami, a few in California, New York, this guys really gets around. All are unsolved."
"I'll call G..." A caff-pow was placed in front of Abby.
"Gibbs!"
"What have you got Abby?"
"A lot, here are all the places, all rapes and murders," Abby began.
"There random in place, though the last four including these two have been in DC," McGee continued. Gibbs studied the map filled with the dots until another popped up.
"Abby?"
"This is a possible match, according the report the victim survived. It's the earliest one back," she informed.
"Where?"
"Paris, 1999," McGee replied.
"Name?"
"Name appears to have been removed, no charges ever filed, no suspects."
"Evidence?"
"Rape kit, clothes from the night, the knife," Abby listed. She clicked on the more info button. "Gibbs, the name hasn't been removed, it's inaccessible." McGee took another look.
"We'll need security clearance."
"I'll get it," Gibbs responded leaving. He turned half way through the door as a thought struck him. "There a picture of the victim?"
"Not of the Paris one, but there are of the others." Abby pulled them up and exhaled after a moment. All of the women looked incredibly similar. Hair color varying shades of red, two were dyed brunettes but the red roots peaked out, and all had varying shades of eye color.
"Boss do you think..."
"McGee I want background on all of them!" He barked before leaving. He entered the elevator and hit the button for MTAC and then the emergency stop. He didn't know what to make of it all. All of the photos reminded him of just one person and he swore that Jenny would not be let out of his sight unless she was under lock and key. He tried to organize the places in his head but he too felt it was random, unless, he thought, they're following someone else. That made him even more concerned because he knew Jenny had been to all of those places. Or this could have nothing at all to do with her, but his gut was steadfast and his gut had never failed him before.