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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
Completed:
2009-08-15
Words:
59,215
Chapters:
34/34
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Raining in Baltimore

Summary:

Summary: On a cold November morning Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs travels to Baltimore when two recent murders appear to tie in with his current case. Offering a joint investigation, Gibbs has to work with a young Baltimore Detective called Anthony DiNozzo.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Notes:

Fandom: NCIS
Genre: General
Rating: FRT
Characters: Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo
Disclaimer: NCIS and the characters portrayed in this story do not belong to me and no copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Text



Raining in Baltimore
by Starbucks Sue

It started to drizzle just as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs reached the outskirts of Baltimore. The mild and sunny October had given way to a cold and wet November and by the time he reached the Baltimore Police Department the drizzle had turned into a steady rain and Gibbs was glad that the PD had an underground parking garage.

He showed his badge at the desk and made his way up to Homicide, feeling fortunate that he knew the Homicide Captain. He’d known Jim Hale in the Marines and knew that he was unlikely to have a problem taking over the cases; the similarity to the recent murders he’d been investigating was too close for them not to be connected.

“Gibbs.” He recognized Hale’s voice as he entered the bullpen and crossed quickly to shake the other man’s hand, realizing that the front desk must have pre-warned the affable Police Captain of his arrival.

“Good to see you Hale, pity it’s not under better circumstances; sorry about Riley he was a good man.”

“That he was. Here, come into my office. Coffee, or is that a daft question?” Gibbs grinned as the coffee was handed to him without waiting for his answer.

“So what have you got on the case so far?” Gibbs asked, taking a seat.

Hale returned to his desk. “Petty Officer Carson’s body was found early Thursday morning; he had no id on him or dogtags, that’s why we didn’t contact your team straight away. Riley and his partner had been working on another case but we were short a few officers last week because of the flu so Riley and DiNozzo investigated this one too, for some reason Riley decided to go it alone, his body was found Friday morning. Cause of death in both cases was identical, our forensics are so backed up though that they still haven’t managed to process the evidence bagged and tagged from Carson’s murder, let alone Riley’s, hence the fact that we’ve only just got the fingerprint match confirming he’s Navy, once we contacted NCIS we discovered that the circumstances surrounding the deaths were a perfect match of the murders you had earlier this week.” Hale stopped and sighed, frustration obvious on his face.

Gibbs nodded almost to himself; this would make it even easier.

“So what do you say to a shared investigation, NCIS has the capacity to process all evidence straight away, I’ll take over the case but I’m willing to work with Riley’s partner.” He offered.

“I was hoping you’d say that. DiNozzo’s a good kid but this has thrown him for a loop. He’s putting up a good front but he and Riley had been working together for the whole two years that the kid’s been with Baltimore, this is the first time he’s lost an actual partner and to cap it all, he’s been getting some stick from the guys in the department, accusations that he was slacking off and allowed Riley to go it alone that night instead of backing him up, he won’t give me any names though, seems to think he deserves what he’s getting.” Hale sighed before continuing. “Jethro don’t take the kid at face value, he may come over as an overgrown frat boy but he’s a good kid, a hard worker and as tenacious as a dog with a bone. Knowing you you’ll see through him straight away and I think he’ll respond well to your tough love, taking him back to Washington will get him out of the hot seat for a while, give everyone a chance to calm down.” He finished with a sad grin.

“You sound like you’re trying to sell him to me.” Gibbs was amused, the sales pitch had interested him he had to admit, he trusted Hale’s judgment and he was in need of a new team. Stan Burley had recently been promoted to Agent Afloat, Brent Langer had defected to the FBI as soon as his probationary period was over and he was left with Chris Pacci who was currently off with the flu that was sweeping Washington and who would be taking up a new position as Team Leader of the Cold Case Squad at the beginning of December.

Hale looked him straight in the eye. “To be honest, I’m expecting him to quit after this. He’s been burned before, he lasted two years at his first posting in Peoria and then at Philly it was only eighteen months, he had a really bad experience there. He’s been here almost two years and I’m pretty sure he was getting ready to leave as soon as Riley retired, I won’t be surprised to find his notice on my desk the day the case closes.” He stopped and mulled over his next words. “If you like him and he wants to join you; you can keep him.”

“I’ll see how it goes. Have you got a vehicle that can transport the bodies and evidence back to DC or shall I call my ME up here?”

“No need for that, I can arrange the transport. If you want to see the crime scenes while you’re here I’d recommend you don’t let the kid drive, DiNozzo’s not taken a break since he got the call about Riley’s body, don’t think he’s eaten or slept and his left hand’s pretty beaten up where he tried to shove it through a brick wall. Shocked us all that did, he’s usually a pretty laid back kid, not known for a temper, he’s half Italian though so he can get pretty passionate about things. I’ll go get him.”

Gibbs mulled it over, he was definitely interested now, if Hale thought enough of this kid to recommend him then Gibbs knew how serious he was.

He wasn’t left alone for long; Hale came back a few minutes later with a younger man trailing behind. Gibbs winced internally at the look of the young detective, the exhaustion showing plainly on his face. He stood as the duo entered the office.

“Special Agent Jethro Gibbs this is Detective Anthony DiNozzo, known as Tony. I’ve told him he’s seconded to you for the duration of the investigation and he’s to report and answer to you. All I ask is that you keep me updated. I’ll go and sort the paperwork to get the evidence to the Navy Yard. Good to see you again Jethro.”

With one final handshake he walked out of the office, leaving the two men to themselves. DiNozzo looked at Gibbs, the uncertainty obvious on his young face.

“So how’s this going to work?” He asked at last, dropping his eyes finally from the penetrating blue gaze of the older man.

“We work together as partners. As I told Hale, our labs can get on with processing the evidence immediately. I’d like to go and see the crime scenes just to get a feel of where the murders took place, then if you want to pick up what you need for a few days we can head back to DC.

“I want in on everything to do with the case, not just the last two victims.” The younger man looked Gibbs straight in the eye, determination clear on his face. “I want to be part of the whole investigation.”

Gibbs quickly masked his feelings of surprise; he was pleasantly surprised that the younger man had the guts to stand up for what he wanted. Something told Gibbs that Anthony DiNozzo was a force to be reckoned with and Gibbs realized that he was already relishing the challenge.

“You’ve got it. Truth is I need a partner anyway, mine’s off with flu and he’s got it pretty badly so I’m on my own for the moment and I’m not going to say no to any help you’re willing to give.”

The younger thought about it for a moment and then nodded, despite his obvious exhaustion it was clear to Gibbs that he wasn’t going anywhere until he’d come to a decision.

“Fair enough; there’s some stuff I need to grab, reports and notes and then we can get going.” DiNozzo turned on his heel without waiting for an answer and Gibbs noticed him sway a little as he started to move, he reached out to steady the younger man but backed off when DiNozzo jumped at his touch and then looked both scared and horrified at his reaction before the mask quickly slipped in place.

“Sorry, I guess lack of sleep and too much caffeine has made me a little jumpy.” He exited the office quickly and Gibbs followed in his wake, not wanting to let the younger man out of his sight. Already he found himself feeling protective of the obviously exhausted young detective, perceiving an underlying vulnerability that the younger man was trying very hard to conceal.

Following Tony through the bullpen he stood quietly, allowing the younger man to gather his thoughts whilst collecting up whatever he needed to take with him. Finally the detective picked up his backpack and stood up.

“Captain said I should let you drive, he’s going to get my car back to my apartment himself it’ll be safe enough there for a while and I don’t think I could drive with this anyway, it’s a stick shift.” He waved his bandaged left hand in the air before leading the way out of the bullpen. “Did you want to grab another coffee before we set off, there’s a Starbucks just round the corner.”

Gibbs grinned to himself; maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as he’d thought after all.

 

end part 1