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Veritas
By : Kali
Category: Stargate: SG-1 > Stargate Atlantis
Views: 4569 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0Disclaimer: Kali & muses do not own any of Stargate or NCIS, nor make any profit from this work; we just borrowed them for the sake of this fanfiction. - Chapter List
Disclaimer:
The author does not own any of NCIS or Stargate, only borrows them for the sake
of this fanfiction. No profit is made by
the writing of this story.Warnings: Anything one
expects to see on Stargate or NCIS, expect it here; also, slash in the form of
Jack/Daniel, and John/Rodney; het pairings include Tony/Ziva, Gibbs/Jenny.If you dislike such things, or are underage, do not
read!~*~*~*~*~*~
Beta credit goes
to Emergency70! Everyone thank her for
helping Kali to get this out.Chapter
VNCIS Headquarters
1400 hrs.
Ziva,
Tony, McGee, Abby, and Ducky stood around the plasma screen TV, watching the
news report about Jenny Sheppard’s home and the fire that destroyed it.“I
find this whole mess very distasteful.”
Ducky shook his head, turning away.
He knew it couldn’t be helped, but he still wished such necessities
needn’t exist in their world. He saw
Jethro grab the remote from his desk and turn the screen off, the frown on his
face not quite hiding the knowledge and guilt from the doctor over that fire –
someone who knew Gibbs for too long and too well to be fooled. “Jethro...”“Leave
it be, Duck.” Gibbs warned, though not
without gentleness. “It’s done, and
she’s gone. Let’s get back to work.” That was clearly aimed at his team of agents
– who scurried away to their desks to try and look busy.Abby
left them to it, heading back to her lab muttering something about a date with
Major Mass-Spec (the name she so colourfully dubbed one of her many high-tech
forensic analysis gizmos). Ducky sighed
and decided he wouldn’t pester his old friend until later, perhaps over a
bottle of his best scotch that he’d been storing for just such an occasion.Gibbs
sat at his own desk, reaching for the files left on it that contained potential
cases – please God let there be something in one of them for his team – and
pretending he didn’t notice the concerned and curiously questioning glances
Tony, Ziva, and McGee kept shooting at him.He’d
only nixed three of the files when Vance’s voice called out from the walkway
above the MCRT bullpen, “Agent Gibbs!”Gibbs
stood, even as he looked up at the new Director. “Yes, sir?”“My
office.” Vance ordered, moving away from
the railing outside the door to MTAC and disappearing from view.“Boss?” Tony inquired.
“Don’t
know.” Gibbs answered, striding past and
heading for the stairs.Up
in Vance’s office, Gibbs closed the doors at the man’s nod and stood in front
of his desk attentively. “Something come
up?” He asked.“I’m
sincerely hoping not, but that’s probably a pipe dream.” Vance glowered. “I talked to an Air Force General requesting permission
for a Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and three associates to be allowed onto
the premises. The main gate just
informed me of their arrival. The
General said Sheppard is here to speak with the agents involved in his cousin’s
case.”Gibbs
just barely managed to hide his surprise.
He hadn’t expected the man to come asking questions – at least not so
soon. Not after the emotional response
the officer had shown at the funeral.
“Really. Well if Jenny was
family, then of course he’d want to know what happened.”“Oh
sure. But what’s tripped my alarm bells
is that the Air Force have been nosing around the Pentagon asking a lot of
questions about this whole situation.
They have no reason to be doing so, and I have to wonder if this Lt.
Col. Sheppard is here for himself or for the Air Force.” Vance eyed Gibbs, very plainly not amused. “I don’t know exactly what the woman was
into, and frankly I don’t think I want to.
But SecNav is beginning to get impatient with all the poking into Naval
business. He wants to know why they care
so he can chew out the appropriate parties.”“Well
with all due respect to SecNav,” Gibbs drawled, “I can’t tell him anything he
doesn’t already know. That mission was
top secret. SecNav would have to be read
in on the mission by someone farther up the food chain than himself, as he
wasn’t SecNav when the mission happened.
One of the Joint Chiefs, perhaps?”“Can
you at least confirm that the mission was through this agency?” Vance asked, scowling at Gibbs’ lack of
cooperation.“Leon,
I’ve never worked for any other
agency than NCIS and you know it.” Gibbs
scowled right back. “I know damn well
you’ve read my uncensored file by now.”Snorting,
Vance picked up his phone when it buzzed.
“Yes, Cynthia?” He spoke to his
assistant.“Lt.
Col. Sheppard and his party are on their way up, sir.”“Thank
you.” Vance hung up. “Bring them up to the conference room,
Gibbs. Let’s find out what’s going on.”On
that, Gibbs could agree. “Ten minutes at
the most, sir.” He assured, heading for
the door.~*~*~*~*~
A
bored Tony was surfing the internet when the elevator doors chimed and out came
John Sheppard and his entourage – minus the PR guy, Jackson. Tony clicked off the browser and stood up,
moving on an intercept course. Ziva
looked up, about to ask where he was going, when he spoke.“Special
Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Can I help
you?” He introduced himself, pouring on
the charm with an easy smile as he extended a hand and took in the civilian
clothes the group had changed into.“Agent.” Sheppard nodded and gripped the offered hand
briefly but didn’t actually shake. “My
friends and I are here to speak to your Director about the death of my cousin.”Tony
was about to respond, glancing at Ziva (who’d come up beside him), when Gibbs’
voice from on high interrupted. “Tony,
take our guests to the conference room.”
To Sheppard, he continued, “Special Agent Gibbs, Colonel. Director Vance will be with you momentarily.”If
Sheppard was surprised that he knew his rank – and thus his name – he gave no
sign of it. Neither did any of the
others, though the frowning Dr. McKay frowned a bit more. Sheppard just inclined his head in
acknowledgement and looked back to Tony.“On
it, boss! Follow me, Colonel.” Tony led the way, shooting a quick look up at
Gibbs as he passed by the stairs on the way to the other elevator.“Ziva,
McGee.” Gibbs leaned over the rail a bit
and motioned for the other two team members to join him. “With me.”
He waited for them to climb the stairs and led them to stand near the
door to MTAC. “Vance says the Air Force
is poking around about the situation. We
don’t know why. Be aware of that when
we’re in there talking to this guy and his friends.”“We,
boss?” McGee inquired, curiously.“You
two and Tony are invited to the party, McGee.
I want the three of you to watch the other three, try to figure out what
part they have in this.”“You
do not believe that they are with the Colonel for support as his friends?” Ziva discerned.“Not
entirely, no. Something’s off.” Gibbs admitted. “Tell Tony.”“Yes,
boss.” McGee pulled out his iPhone and
sent Tony a quick text message, even as he walked.“Come.” Gibbs led them to the conference room, where
Vance and Tony were waiting with Sheppard and company.~*~*~*~*~
“Agent
Gibbs, Agent McGee, Officer David...this is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard,
Dr. Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, and Ronon Dex.” Vance made the introductions as if his people
didn’t know already. “Col. Sheppard,
Gibbs is my most senior and trusted agent, and is our Major Case Response
Team’s supervisor. His team, here,”
Vance indicated the others, “also includes our Medical Examiner, Dr. Donald
Mallard, and our Forensic Lab Technician, Abigail Sciuto.”Sheppard
nodded at them all in greeting, though he and McKay had both focused on Ziva
simultaneously.“Officer?” Rodney repeated.
“David.” Sheppard studied her, a spark of interest
showing in his otherwise neutral expression.
“As in Mossad Director Eli David?”If
Ziva hadn’t been as good as she was, her surprise would have shown in as
startled look. As it was, she barely
reacted, just smiled tightly and gave a small nod. “My father, yes.”Gibbs
shared a side-glance with Vance, filing away the info that Sheppard was
familiar with foreign intelligence heads.“Huh.” Was all Sheppard said. Gibbs noticed there was only mild confusion
on Teyla and Ronon’s faces. McKay just
looked indifferent, now that the apparent mystery was solved for him.Vance
cleared his throat and opted to get to the heart of the matter. “Col. Sheppard, please accept my most sincere
condolences on behalf of the agency and SecNav.
Mr. Davenport asked me to convey his apologies for not attending the
funeral this morning.”John
looked at him, face blank, obviously not taking the words for more than face
value, however, as he merely nodded and said, “Thank you, sir,” quite
coolly. Vance responded in kind.“I
was told you wished to speak to us about the unfortunate circumstances
surrounding Ms. Sheppard’s death. I’m
not sure what we can tell you, however, that I suspect you already know.” Vance raised an eyebrow questioningly, taking
a seat at the head of the table. Gibbs
sat down on his right, across the table from Sheppard (who was on Vance’s
left).“I
know only what I was told when I was recalled from my assignment.” Sheppard stated. “They said my cousin had recently been
murdered in a shoot-out north of LA, and that it wasn’t on a mission. I want to know why Jenny was there, how she
ended up in a gun fight, and everything your investigation has revealed. And then,” Sheppard’s voice grew quieter and
dropped from cool to frigid, “I want to know what happened to Jenny’s home.”Vance
nodded, as if this was totally acceptable and there was no hard edged threat in
the officer’s tone. “I certainly
understand your desire for answers, Col. Sheppard. And I’ll be quite happy to allow Gibbs and
his team to answer as many questions as possible. However, I must warn you that there are
answers we cannot give you due to the top secret status of a past mission Ms.
Sheppard was involved in that is connected to her death. I’m sure you understand.”Hazel
eyes hardened and stared right at Vance, the green-gold glinting like shards of
glass in the bright lights of the conference room. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it
abruptly when McKay dropped a hand on his forearm and squeezed.“We
would like to hear what you have to say.”
McKay said, his expression far from pleased but his tone still calm and
neutral. To the tense man beside him, he
murmured, “Let’s just hear them out first, John.” He only removed his hand again when Sheppard
gave a sharp nod of assent.“Perhaps
if you could start from the beginning.”
Teyla’s reasonable, calming voice settled over them all, some of the
tension in everyone’s form easing away.
“Why was Jenny in LA to begin with?”“She
was attending the funeral of a former colleague.” Gibbs answered. He glanced down the table at Tony and
Ziva. “Agent DiNozzo and Officer David
went with her as her escort and security detail.”Tony
had to work really hard not to flinch as those hard green eyes flicked to him
and then to Ziva. There was something
about this guy that Tony had never encountered before – not even in the hardest
of the war-weary soldiers he’d met – and for once it actually scared him a
little. One thing was certain, though,
and that was that Sheppard knew death on a level not even most soldiers did –
and the guy was only a pilot! Tony was
torn between really wanting to know what his assignment was and where, and not wanting to know at all.“We
did our duty.” Ziva spoke up quietly
when Tony said nothing and Gibbs looked over at her. “Tony and I...we don’t know what happened at
the funeral, but Jenny was suddenly telling us that we were no longer required
as her escort and to enjoy the remainder of the day for ourselves, however we
wished. She took the rental car and left
soon after.”“We
went back to the hotel.” Tony finally
put in, not looking at anyone but rather staring at a fixed point on the table
in front of Sheppard. “I got Ziva and I
another rental, and convinced her to come out with me. You know, see the sights of LA and all... Ziva was reluctant. She didn’t like that Dir. Sheppard was off
somewhere unknown, alone, and felt we should remain at the hotel in case
something came up. I...disagreed.” And he wasn’t sure he’d ever forgive himself
for ignoring his – and Ziva’s – instincts.
“I talked her into it, even though...I, too, had concerns.”“They
did what they were ordered.” Gibbs
interrupted, shooting both his team members a long look. “Fact is, they have reason to have been wary
of getting involved in Jen’s personal business.
Particularly DiNozzo. She’d
gotten him burned before. It wasn’t
their fault, what happened to her, and the truth is that no matter where they’d
been, it wouldn’t have helped Jenny with her situation. She separated herself to protect them.”“From
what?” McKay demanded before Sheppard
could. “What was she involved in?”“It
was a mission from nine years ago.”
Vance interjected, cutting off whatever Gibbs had been about to
say. “You know NCIS is not only an
investigative agency but also deals with intelligence/counter-intelligence,
among other things. It was a mission
such as this Ms. Sheppard was involved in, and as such, we cannot divulge
anything about it as it remains classified, though we can say that the reason
she ended up in that diner was because she was following leads left behind by
Agent Decker – the man whose funeral she attended.”“Leads.” Sheppard echoed.
“Yes.” Gibbs confirmed, ignoring Vance’s hard
stare. “We’ve since discovered that
Decker had collected some sensitive information and documents relating to that
old mission, and hid them as what he referred to as his ‘insurance
policy.’ The final lead to those
documents was supposed to be in that diner.
Decker had purchased the place, intending to renovate it after he retired
and go into business.”“Agent
Gibbs.” Vance stopped him, his
expression growing darker.“What? Come on, Leon. It doesn’t hurt to tell them that much. It doesn’t compromise the classified status
at all.” Gibbs stared right back. Neither man appeared to be about to back
down.“And
these documents or whatever,” Sheppard asked slowly, eyes flicking back and
forth between them, “were they recovered?”“Yes. They’re safe.” Gibbs answered, turning back to
Sheppard. He thought of Mike Franks, by
now safely back home in Mexico with the file containing the documents Jenny had
died for. He decided to call Mike when
he got home and tell him to burn the damn things and destroy them.“I
don’t suppose you can tell us what was in them, either.” McKay made a face, glowering at the room in
general. “Well, fine then.” He didn’t wait for anyone to confirm his
statement. “What about the house? There were some glaring inconsistencies that
demand explanation.”“It
was to cover up Dir. Sheppard’s death.”
Vance interjected smoothly. “We
could not let it be known that she was in a shoot-out and had essentially gone
rogue.”McKay’s
eyes narrowed, the blue vivid and shrewd.
He wasn’t buying it. “And the
body?”“There
was none. We just fed the press a story
of one.” Vance looked at Sheppard. “I assure you that she was truly the one you
buried today, Colonel.”A
sharp nod was his acknowledgement, but the man still remained dark and grim.“Were
there any other questions?” Vance asked
of them. Teyla and Ronon both looked at
McKay – who appeared to be bursting at the seams with questions but was
refraining – and McKay looked at Sheppard.
The Colonel shrugged.“Plenty
of them, sir. But at this point, I doubt
you’d answer them. There was one,
though...”“Yes?”
“Her
estate. Even though there’s obviously
very little to deal with now, I’d like to know if there’s someone handling the
rest of it or will I need to hire a lawyer?”“I’m
dealing with it, Colonel.” Gibbs assured
him, his business-like tone softening just a little. “When she became Director, she gave me copies
of all her estate documents, and her will names myself and Dr. Mallard as her
Executors. If you wish, we can make an
appointment for you to look it all over for yourself.”Sheppard
shook his head, suddenly looking weary but oddly relieved. “No, Agent Gibbs. If she trusted you with the job, that’s
enough for me. I only wanted to know if
anyone had taken care of that or not.”“If
you’re certain.” Gibbs shrugged. “Leave me with your contact information when
you leave, in case she left anything for you.
I admit I haven’t had time to look at it all yet, myself.”Sheppard
nodded, then frowned to himself. He
glanced at McKay. “Rodney?”“Uh...I’m
sure General O’Neill or Daniel would make sure you got it.” McKay replied, frowning back. “It’d be on the next supply run, I
imagine. Want me to text him – them –
and ask?” He dug out a Blackberry and
waggled it.“Yeah.” Sheppard agreed.
“Now
that that’s settled,” Vance leaned forward, lacing his fingers together in
front of himself on the tabletop.
“Perhaps you would answer a couple of questions for us, Colonel.”The
Air Force officer’s gaze sharpened and went decidedly neutral. “About what, Director Vance?”“SecNav
is getting rather impatient with the nosiness of the USAF concerning this
matter.” Vance drawled, noting the rapid
rise of tension and the way not only Sheppard focused on him but also the other
three. “A lot of questions are being
asked, and the concept of classified doesn’t appear to register with your
people, Colonel. Why are they so
interested in something that has nothing to do with them?”Sheppard
smiled, leaning back in his seat with deceptive casualness – and it wasn’t an
entirely friendly sort of smile. It had a
distinctly predatory edge to it, and his three companions tensed visibly. “If they are, it’s way above me, sir. Rest assured, they must have a good reason
for it, if they are making a nuisance of themselves. And if I was a betting man, I’d guess their
reasons are just as ‘classified’ as your own.”Gibbs
fought not to smile. He liked this
guy. He played at the politics much the
way Gibbs himself did. It was a bonus
that it was pissing off Vance, too.At
that moment, a young woman opened the door and poked her head into the
room. “Excuse me, Director...SecNav is
on the line for you, sir.”“On
my way. Thank you, Cynthia.” Vance got up and frowned at them all. “We’re not done yet, so stay here.” He ordered before striding out, not waiting
to receive agreement.Sheppard
scowled and pinned Gibbs with a pleased frown.
“He does know he can’t give us orders, right?”“Probably. However, he’s used to being obeyed.” Gibbs smirked. “Don’t worry.
He’ll soon be disabused of that.”McKay
snorted. “Whatever. We should go, John. We’re obviously not going to get answers
here. We’ll just have to go over their
heads.”“If
you could do so, you would have done it already.” Tony pointed out, playing with a pen.McKay
glared at him. “Actually, we haven’t yet
because we were trying to be nice
about it. John is Jenny’s next of kin
and they were quite close. No doubt if
their positions were reversed she
would be the one demanding answers of us.”“Rodney.” Sheppard spoke his name quietly, but firmly,
and the scientist turned toward him, ready to launch into a debate. “No, McKay.
It’s fine.” He met Gibbs gaze
solidly. “You knew Jenny well?”“Yes.” Gibbs answered, curious to know where this
was going. He elaborated. “When we were both still active intelligence
agents, we worked together often over the years. She was my partner. She had guts, and was very intelligent – and
ambitious. I respected her. More, I liked her.”Sheppard
nodded. “Then I’ll do you the courtesy
of warning you that we’re not going to go away until we get the answers we
need. Whether or not she knew it, she
was involved in something much, much bigger than a little espionage. Honestly, I doubt either Jenny or this Agent
Decker guy really had a clue.”Gibbs
frowned thoughtfully, mulling that over.
He nodded once.“Tony,
Ziva, McGee.”“Yeah,
boss?”“Gibbs.”
“Yes,
boss?”“I
think we should all have a private wake for Jenny tonight. Potluck.
My place. Go tell Ducky and
Abby.” Gibbs’ gaze never left
Sheppard’s, not even when his team got up from their seats and filed out of the
conference room quickly. When they were
gone, Gibbs reached into his wallet and pulled a business card out. He flipped it over, wrote down his home
address, and slid it across to Sheppard.
“You and your friends are welcome to join us, Colonel. I think we have a lot to talk about.”“John.” Sheppard palmed the card and tucked it into
his jacket pocket. “Please.”Gibbs
nodded. “Let me deal with Vance and
SecNav, John. I suspect there’s more politics
than anything else going on with them, and that bullshit tends to get in the
way of getting anything important done.”This
time his smile was genuine and amused.
“Gibbs, you have no idea.”“I’m
beginning to see that.”“Can
we go now?” Ronon wondered, eyeing Gibbs
with interest. Anyone who got on John’s
good side was worth keeping an eye on in his books.“Yeah.” Gibbs pushed himself up out of his chair and
shook Sheppard’s hand. “Vance would
attempt to keep you here and badger you mercilessly for answers, but we know it
wouldn’t go anywhere and we have no valid reason to detain you.”“Nope. You couldn’t keep us anyway.” John grinned and something about it made
Gibbs certain he wasn’t even joking.
“Thanks, Gibbs. Oh, what time
tonight?”“Hmm...around
1800?”“Sounds
good. See you then.” John ushered his team toward the door. “Let’s go, people. We’ll see ourselves out.”Gibbs
followed, stopping at the railing and watching them from above as they
disappeared into the elevator. Once gone,
he made his way to Vance’s office to deal with the fallout of letting the
Colonel go against orders. Thankfully,
Cynthia was more than happy to let him through, her expression somewhat pinched
as she waved him by. Gibbs wondered just
what Vance had done or said to aggravate the assistant so obviously. That was usually his fault.The
new Director had just hung up his phone as Gibbs walked in. “Gibbs!
What are you...” Vance stopped himself, narrowed his gaze, and growled,
“You let them go, didn’t you?”“Yes,
I did. In case you hadn’t noticed, Leon,
we were getting exactly nowhere with them.
Attempting to hold them was absolutely pointless and you know it. Playing hardball wasn’t going to work, so I’m
doing it the other way.”“And
what way would that be?”“Sympathy
and a conversation held in confidence in a completely informal setting. I’ll find out what he’s after, Director.” Gibbs assured, stressing Vance’s title but
also coloured with his own displeasure with Vance’s tactics. “I’ll let you know.”With
that, he turned on his heel and marched out before Vance could say anything.He
stopped at Cynthia’s desk on the way by.
“Hey, Cynthia.”“Agent
Gibbs.” She returned the greeting with a
small, sad, and tired smile. He guessed
she’d been running herself ragged trying to keep on top of the
change-over. “Can I help you?”“You
doing alright?” He asked quietly. Now that he thought of it, had she even been
given a chance to say goodbye to Jenny?
He knew they’d gotten quite close in the short time Jenny had been
Director.“Yes,
sir. Just...have to get through the
day.”Gibbs
nodded. Yeah, he got that. “If you need anything...”“Thank
you, sir. I’ll be fine.” Cynthia smiled a bit more then sighed. “Sir.
I suppose I ought to give you this.”
She pushed away from her desk, bent, and lifted a file box from the
floor. Letting it rest on the edge of
her desk, she looked up at Gibbs. “I
cleared out Jenny’s personal belongings before...before Vance came. I didn’t think she would want anyone else
touching her things.”Swallowing
hard, Gibbs took the box. “Thank you,
Cynthia. I appreciate that you had the
foresight to do it. I’ll take care of
this.”Cynthia
just nodded, looking very much like she wanted to cry. She watched Gibbs leave, box in hand, before
returning to her work.~*~*~*~*~
“Well
that was a perfectly useless waste of
time.” McKay huffed, settling into his
seat next to John as the Colonel pulled out of the NCIS parking lot. “We got nothing new or useful out of that.”“Yes
we did.” John contradicted him. He rolled his shoulder, feeling the tension
bleed away now that he wasn’t trying to keep up his facade of the emotionless
soldier.“What? What did we learn?” Rodney stared at him, thinking over the whole
confrontation rapidly. “Oh! They confirmed there are documents!”“Exactly. Hopefully tonight we can get more out of
Gibbs.” John wasn’t going to hold his
breath, though. One look at the man and
John saw ‘Marine’ practically stamped on his forehead. Not only that, but he was a thoroughly
trained federal agent and investigator.
Just call Gibbs Fort Knox because the guy could probably keep secrets as
well as the famous treasury building could keep gold secure.“I
don’t trust that Vance guy.” Ronon
rumbled from behind Sheppard.“Me
neither.” All three of the others
responded simultaneously. It made John
grin a little. Sometimes they were all
so in sync it was scary.“We
were being evaluated.” Teyla added her
own impressions of the meeting, a frown marring her otherwise serene
features. “The younger agents...they
were paying more attention to Rodney, myself, and Ronon than you, John, or to
the conversation.”John
shrugged and nodded. “It’s not like we
weren’t doing the same.”Teyla
inclined her head. “That is true.”John
kept driving, navigating the D.C. streets to get back to O’Neill’s. “It was fairly obvious they’ve looked us
up. And I think we’re safe in assuming
they know far more than they’re telling, as well as that they know we know more than we’re telling.”“So
this impromptu wake is a set up.” Rodney
stated flatly. “Great.”“To
an extent, yes. But since we know that,
we can use it to our own ends, Rodney.”
John pointed out.When
they arrived back at the General’s home, Rodney went upstairs to get his laptop
from their room while Teyla and Ronon accompanied John to inform O’Neill of the
results of their trip to NCIS.John
had just finished telling him about the wake when Rodney bustled back in with
his laptop.“I
was thinking that since they looked us up, it’s only fair that we look them up in return.” Rodney booted the computer and glanced back
and forth between John and Jack. “Unless
you’ve already done that.”Jack
shook his head. “Didn’t really think it
was necessary until now.”“Do
it, Rodney. I want to know all about the
NCIS team before we go there tonight.”
John stated decisively. He didn’t
like flying blind into situations.“Give
me half an hour, General, to get it all.”“Would
you mind terribly if I invited myself and Daniel along, Sheppard, or would we
cramp your style?” Jack asked, raising
an eyebrow at the younger officer. John
frowned at him.“Now
how would I refuse you, sir, if I was going to?
I can’t say no to a General, particularly when he’s my CO.”Jack laughed.
“Yeah, I’ve been there a few times myself. But seriously, John. I’d like to meet this Gibbs guy myself. And both Daniel and I are good at getting
information out of people before they realize they’ve said anything. Not that I don’t believe any of you aren’t
capable, mind you, just that...”“You’re
bored, aren’t you Jack?” Daniel rolled
his eyes from his seat on the sofa, his own laptop open and resting in his
lap. “You’re tired of sitting at a desk,
you’ve lost patience with the official ‘un-official’ inquiries, and you want
action.”Jack
huffed, slouching in his desk chair.
“Thank you, Dr. Jackson, for maligning my character as a high-powered
General.”“Whatever. You even used me as an accomplice – without
asking me, by the way.” Daniel promptly
ignored him and the near pout.John
blinked, a bit startled at the linguist’s complete disregard for the General’s
status, even borderline disrespect. He’d
known, in that abstract sort of way, that they were the two who started it all,
that they’d been through things together as teammates that even John couldn’t
imagine (with his own experiences in Pegasus, now), but still...“Uh...I
don’t mind if you come along, sir.” John
agreed, doing his best to pretend he was oblivious. Then he had a small epiphany and realized it
was much the same between himself and Rodney.
Shaking his head, he wondered if it was a military-scientist thing.“What
about us?” Ronon asked, gesturing at
Teyla and himself.“We
shall go to support John, of course.”
Teyla stated, folding her arms and giving him her most stubborn look.“Yes,
but what will we do? We don’t know
anything about much of anything, and this is some sort of...social
gathering?” The big guy looked faintly
confused and very uncomfortable. “You know I’m not good at this stuff. Besides, it’s not like there’s gonna be
something for me to shoot at.” He’d
lived with joining John on Earth for his father’s funeral, but there had been
food. Lots of food. He’d also been curious about John’s
planet. And then there was action when
the Replicator made its appearance. Not
that he was hoping for any such reoccurrence, of course...John
opened his mouth to tell him he could stay here when Rodney tossed out, “No,
but there will be food. And
beverages.” John snapped his mouth shut
again when Ronon brightened and nodded eagerly.“Right. I’ll go.”
Jack
grinned. “Great! So...I guess we’d better find our own
contributions to the food part of this shindig, huh?” He rubbed his hands together. “How many are we feeding?”“Twelve.” Rodney answered absently, keys clicking
rapidly as he worked.“Daniel! Let’s go grocery shopping.” Jack stood up.
“We
could just order a whole lot of Chinese food.”
Daniel suggested, reluctantly putting aside his laptop.“One,
that’s just sacrilege. It’s a wake, Daniel.” Jack huffed.
“And two, come on! Put a little
more effort into it, yeah?”Daniel
just sighed. “Anyone else want to come
along?” Ronon shrugged and followed them
out. He was curious about a store where
90% of what it sold was food.“John? Do you require my assistance?” Teyla inquired, also rising from her seat.
“Not
right now, no. If you want to go with
them, Teyla, go ahead.” John smiled and
waved her away. “I’ll stay with Rodney. You go keep Ronon from buying everything in
sight.”She
grinned, flashing him a grateful look, and hurried to catch up to the others.“Guess
it’s just you and me, buddy.” John
drawled, sighing almost with relief as he flopped down on the sofa next to the
busy scientist. He sprawled out and
closed his eyes for a moment, allowing himself to relax – well, at least as
much as he was able to.“You
alright?” Rodney glanced him over,
hiding the bulk of his concern. “It’s
been a long, rough day. No one would
blame you if you wanted to take a nap before we go play in NCIS’ sandbox
tonight.”“I’m
fine.”Rodney
huffed and, being careful of the computer, slid off the couch to the
floor. “Just lay down already.”Under
any other circumstances, John would have told him where to shove it. However, he obeyed in this instance – and
rather gracefully, Rodney thought, which was an indicator of how drained the
man was mentally and physically. After a
few moments of getting comfortable, John gave his friend a pat on the shoulder.“Thanks,
Rodney.” He murmured. Then, “While you’re hacking any number of
Federal databases...”“What? Want me to find out who really killed JFK?”
“No. Though it’d be interesting. But no.”
Rodney
pulled up another window, prepared to search.
“What then?”“Get
me the autopsy file on Jenny.”Rodney
yanked his fingers from the keyboard as if burned. “John...really,
that’s just torturing yourself!” He
craned himself around to stare at the man in shock. “Why?
We already know...”“Please.” John almost whispered it, staring right back
without blinking. Rodney swallowed,
hard, and nodded jerkily, quickly typing in the necessary parameters for the
search.“Okay. So, um...why?”
“I
want to know...exactly what happened.
The M.E.’s report is kind of like a baseball game, in that when you just
have the numbers you can recreate the whole game without having to actually see it.”
John replied, explaining as best he could. His voice hardened. “Besides
that, I don’t trust that Vance guy.
I want to know just how much of this he’s covering up.”“Right.” Rodney watched the progress on his screen,
face grim. “Though, if he’s covering
anything up in the report, we won’t really know unless the cause of death isn’t
listed as...gunshot wound to...wherever.”
He flinched a bit at having to say that to John.“Maybe. Maybe not.
We could ask Dr. Lam’s opinion on the findings.” If John’s voice trembled a bit, Rodney
pretended not to notice.“Yeah.”
There
was silence for a while, only John’s gentle, slow breathing from behind Rodney
and the scientist’s clicking keyboard breaking it up. Eventually, as he started collecting the data
he was looking for, Rodney had to get up and hook up to O’Neill’s little-used
printer to make hard copies of everything.
John stayed where he was, allowing the repetitive sounds of the printer
and shuffling of papers to lull him into a doze.He
woke up with Rodney prodding his shoulder carefully, saying, “They’re back,
John. Sorry.” apologetically because he
hated to interrupt his rest. Rubbing his
eyes free of grit tiredly, he sat up and ran his fingers through his hair.“How
long?” He asked, glancing at his watch.“Not
long. A couple of hours.” Rodney murmured back. He placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder and
squeezed. “You needed it.”“Hey,
guys! We’re back!” Daniel walked in, Teyla and Ronon behind
him. “Jack’s just putting away the stuff
that needs to be in the fridge.”“What’d
ya get?” Rodney asked, curiously.“A
couple of veggie trays and a meat and cheese tray, couple loaves of French
bread...” Daniel listed off.“And
a big piece of an animal you call a ‘pig.’”
Ronon finished, a definite gleam in his eye.Rodney
rolled his eyes. “Geeze. Okay, well, I hope you put that in the oven
right away because it’ll take time to cook.”“Plenty
of time, McKay.” Jack walked in,
clapping his hands once and rubbing them together. “So!
What’s up, kids? Were you
productive while we were out?”Rodney
handed him two file folders he’d poached from O’Neill’s desk, thick with
paper. “Knowing your dislike of modern,
twenty-first century technology, General, I made myself at home in your desk
and put together hard copies for you.”
Jack blinked, looking mildly disconcerted about having someone other
than himself (or Daniel) in his personal desk, but nodded and said only,
“Thanks, McKay. Though I assure you I’m
quite capable of using a computer.” The
last he said with a scowl.“Yes,
yes. And by the way, you’re the only
person I know over the age of, say, eight who as a yo-yo, a slinky, and one of
those little bouncy-ball toys you can get in a dollar store.” Rodney smirked at Daniel’s burst of laughter,
and Jack’s totally unrepentant shrug.“They’re
classics, McKay. Fun is fun. If you had my job, you’d take fun where you could
find it, too.”“No
doubt.” Rodney agreed easily. He wouldn’t want the General’s job for all
the tea in China.“So
what did you find, McKay?” Ronon asked,
settling down in an armchair that was almost too small for him.“I’ll
start with the Medical Examiner, Dr. Donald Mallard. He’s well educated, with both a medical
degree and a forensic pathology degree.
He recently added a Masters in forensic psychology to that. He was born in Scotland, emigrated with his
mother after Vietnam to the States. He’s
worked for NCIS for many years now, as their Chief Medical Examiner and
Forensics Expert here in D.C.” Rodney
summarized his findings. “From what I
can see, he’s meticulous, careful, and has high moral and ethical
standards. If he participated in a
cover-up at all, he’d have done it with extreme reluctance, and probably only
after Vance or Gibbs gave him a good enough reason for it.”“Huh. Eton.
And a stint in the British military as a doctor, I see.” Jack added, skimming through papers as Rodney
spoke.“Eton?” Teyla asked.
“It’s
a prestigious college in Great Britain.
That’s where generations of their nobility and royalty have gone for
further education.” Daniel explained,
leaning over Jack’s shoulder to read, too.“Carson...was
from Scotland, too.” Rodney added
softly. Teyla smiled sadly, nodding her
understanding.“Next?” John pushed along, not wanting to dwell too
much on their missed friend and doctor.“Abigail
Sciuto. NCIS forensic and evidence
specialist. Basically, she’s their lab
tech.” Rodney continued. His tone turned vaguely, grudgingly
impressed. “And she’s another highly
educated person – though not as smart as me.
She’s still young, so...”John
bumped his shoulder with his own.
“Aww...that’s high praise coming from you, Rodney.”“Yes,
well...” Rodney flushed, shooting his friend a glare. “She majored in three subjects from Louisiana
State University, earned a Masters in both criminology and forensic science
from Georgia State University, and is listed here as fluent in sign
language. Both her parents are legally
deaf.”“What
about the young guy on the team?
McGee? He’s the one who was with
Abby and Dr. Mallard at the funeral when the y came over to offer condolences.” Daniel wondered.“Actually,
it seems like NCIS has been competing with us for recruitment of highly
educated people.” Rodney commented
dryly. “Timothy McGee is their Junior
Agent, mostly as their computer and tech specialist. He’s got a biomedical engineering degree from
Johns Hopkins University, and his Masters in computer forensics from MIT.”Jack
barked out a laugh. “Geez, and if his
life isn’t exciting enough, he’s a well-known crime novelist. Damn, I’ve read his books!”“Thom
E. Gemcity.” Rodney rolled his eyes,
nodding. “How...original.”“He’s
good, McKay Very entertaining. Don’t knock him ‘till you’ve tried it.”“Next!” Rodney ignored O’Neill’s huffy glare. “Anthony DiNozzo, Senior Agent. What he lacks in the other’s education he
makes up for in field experience as an investigator. He’s a graduate of Ohio State University, and
he’s been a cop with several different forces in the several major cities all
over the country, serving mostly with the homicide departments. He’s also fluent in Spanish.“Then
we have Ziva David, Mossad Liaison Officer – a position created for her by
Jenny Sheppard.” Rodney snuck a glance
at John. The slight smile made Rodney
wonder if she’d done something similar for him.
“You can all appreciate the effort and difficulty I went through to get
this information, by the way, since I got not only the NCIS files but the
Mossad ones, too.”“You
hacked Mossad? McKay!”
Jack growled.“What? It’s not like they’ll ever know I was there,
and should some miracle occur and they do find a breach, I guarantee they’d
never trace it to me.”“It’s
done, Jack. Can’t do anything about it
now anyway.” Daniel soothed. “Keep going, Rodney.”Warily,
Rodney flipped the page and continued.
“Ms. David truly is Mossad Director Eli David’s own daughter, as she
said. She did a stint in the Israeli
army before joining Mossad. As you can
imagine, her life’s been pretty violent and intense. She’s...a scary, scary woman. A female Ronon.” Rodney quipped, grinning at the big guy, who
blinked at him curiously.“She
looked pretty tiny, to me.” Ronon said
disbelievingly, but shrugged, since really, most women were much smaller in
size than himself but even more ferocious.“Why
such a violent life, Rodney?” Teyla
asked.“Israel
is in a part of our world that’s been fought over by various peoples for all
kinds of reasons...pretty much forever.”
John explained softly. “Pride,
greed, revenge, power, resources...but the usual excuses are made on religious
grounds.”Ronon
raised an eyebrow, and Teyla’s eyes widened.
“What is so special about this country that so many would fight and die
over it?”“Religion
does strange things to people on occasion.”
Jack rocked back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling in
contemplation. “I’ve seen enough of it
in my lifetime – not just here, on Earth, but across the galaxy. Hell, the Ori wand their followers are a
perfect example.”Daniel
sighed. “It’s a long and complicated
history, Teyla, the gist of which is that several of our major world religions
believe that the area composing Israel is Holy for whatever reason, and because
of this each believes they should e the ones in control of it because it is
obviously theirs by sacred right – as their religion is the only ‘true’ and
‘correct’ one, not any other. These
days, however, it’s not really the general populations who advocate this but
the fanatics and militant governments who continue to use it as an excuse to
gain power and dominion over not just that little piece of land but over all the members of their religion, too,
everywhere in the world.”John
looked over at the beautiful alien woman who’d become one of his closest
friends. “Those of us on Atlantis,
Teyla, are the best of our world in most cases...”“Except
certain people who shall remain nameless or known as Kavanagh.” Rodney muttered darkly.“...But
here, back on Earth, we’re not nearly as united or civilized. It’s unfortunate, but true.” John continued.Teyla
shook her head, and Ronon shrugged. “No
one’s perfect, Sheppard.” The Satedan
stated. “It isn’t like everyone in
Pegasus is united, either. Everyone’s
got their own problems.”“Yeah.”
“So
why was the position created for her, Rodney?
Or didn’t it say?” Daniel
inquired, drawing them all back onto track.“No. At least, not the whole story, I’m sure. The notes in the file only gives ‘to further cooperative efforts in the Middle
East between the United States of America and Israel against current and future
terrorist activities’ as an excuse.”
Rodney quoted for them. “Other
than this, there wasn’t much else to know...oh!
She does speak several languages fluently, which isn’t much of a
surprise, really.”“Last
but not least...” Jack flipped open the
other file folder, pulling out Agent Gibb’s information.“Leroy
Jethro Gibbs. Special Agent-in-Charge
and Major Case Response Team Supervisor.
He was a Marine scout sniper as a Gunnery Sergeant, retired honourably
when his time was up with the Corps shortly after the...” Rodney paused,
swallowing hard, “...untimely deaths of his wife and daughter.”“Jesus.” Jack flinched and handed the papers to
Daniel. “Murdered. While he was deployed overseas.” Daniel paled and dropped a hand on the older
man’s shoulder, squeezing in support, knowing Jack was thinking of Charlie.“That’s
horrible!” Teyla’s eyes went very
wide. “Did they find the one who did
this?”“I
don’t think so. There was an
investigation, but the case went cold.”
Rodney cleared his throat. “Um,
needless to say, he retired and went to work for NIS – now NCIS – and spent
some time as an active intelligence agent before taking on the investigator
side of it. He’s been remarried three
times, and subsequently divorced three times.”“His
investigation record is pretty darned perfect.”
Daniel added, handing it all back to Jack. “The whole team’s is. I think we’re going to have to be extra
careful of what we say around them, if we want to keep them from getting too
curious about the programme and us.”“Ya
think?” Jack drawled sarcastically.~*~*~*~*~
Gibbs
looked around his kitchen, shaking his head at himself and wondering why on
Earth he’d volunteered his place for
a social event like a wake – even if it was just an excuse. The kitchen counter and the small table were
piled with trays and dishes of food, as well as the stacks of plates, napkins,
utensils, and plastic glasses. Frowning,
he dug out a large green garbage bag and got it ready for garbage disposal
later, for clean-up.He
could hear his people’s conversation from the living room where they’d all
gathered. Tony, Ziva, McGee, Abby, and
Ducky had arrived almost all at the same time, and had filed into his small
house with an easy familiarity that spoke of their comfort level with each
other and Gibbs’ welcome.Glancing
at his watch, Gibbs noted the time.
Their guests would be here any minute now, give or take, depending on
how hard they found navigating the city.
Gibbs cracked open a couple more beer bottles and took the four bottles
out to his team. He handed one each to
Tony, McGee, and Ziva – keeping the fourth for himself. Ducky had a tumbler of scotch, and Abby
wasn’t drinking alcohol, but did have a glass of cola.“Thanks,
boss.” Tony said, taking a swig. “So what’s the plan here?”“We
weren’t going to get anywhere at the office with them.” Gibbs dropped down on the sofa next to
Abby. “Especially not with Vance being
so antagonistic, DiNozzo. Even if the
Air Force is nosing around in Naval
affairs, no crime has been committed and our new Director seems to have
forgotten that. I’m just curious to know
what they’re looking for.”“So
are Leon Vance and SecNav, I presume.”
Ducky surmised, swirling the amber liquid in his tumbler around
absently.“Yeah,
Duck.”“Why
are they so hot to know?” Abby asked.“That
I don’t know, Abs.” Gibbs shrugged,
taking a gulp of his beer. “I’m hoping
to find out an answer that will satisfy everyone tonight from Sheppard. You all leave him to me. Otherwise, this is a farewell to Jen.”“Ten
four, boss.” Tony agreed, saluting with
his beer bottle. The others all nodded.“Gibbs,
they are here.” Ziva informed him from
her seat at the window. “And there are
two others with them.”He
raised an eyebrow and went to open the door.~*~*~*~*~
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