Chapter Text
Anthony Dinozzo yawned as he forced himself to pay attention to the words that were blurring on the computer screen. The Navy Yard had been absolutely dull over the last month. There were few cases. They worked a break- in by a Navy brat the week before. That had been as much excitement as they have had lately. It’s not that Tony was wishing for a murder or a case of espionage, but this was ridiculous. Gibbs had assigned the group cold cases while they eagerly waited for their Boss' cell to ring.
Tony shook his head to stay awake. It was three in the afternoon and there was only so much coffee he could drink. He looked around and wadded a piece of paper together. He put it in his straw and as McGee walked by, he spit it at him and laughed.
"Tony! That wasn't funny the first hundred times you've done that today!" McGee answered in an angry voice, as he wiped the offending paper from his forehead.
"Lighten up, McGoo. I'm bored!" Tony whined as he stood and walked over to his colleague. "There's nothing to do." Suddenly he flinched as he felt the sting of a head slap as Gibbs waltzed into the bullpen.
"Nothing to do, Dinozzo? So you've found something on our missing persons?"
Tony rubbed his head as Ziva and Tim snickered. "Um, no, Boss; nothing so far."
Gibbs stood in his face and growled, "Then I guess you still have work to do." He looked at the others. "All of you!" He sipped his coffee and sat down with an annoyed look on his face.
Gibbs smirked slightly as he watched his three agents jump at his tone and got back to work. They had so few cases of late, that he assigned them all different areas of cold cases. Ziva was looking into unsolved murders, Tony missing persons, and Tim was working on a database to track those that were stealing money from the military. Gibbs knew that on occasion cold cases could find new leads, but even he was feeling a bit stir crazy at the lack of new calls coming in. Maybe the world was getting a little safer.
*
As Tony sat at home that night, he couldn't help but think of a few of the missing persons he had come across that day: three in particular. He was not sure if they were connected, but he felt something was hinky. Two were Marines and one was Navy. They were all roughly the same age. One, a female, had disappeared when she was on leave from the San Diego naval base. The two men had disappeared six months apart from Virginia and D.C. Again, both while they were on leave. Something in Tony's gut told him that these cases were connected. Both men at some point had served in the same regiment. They had their commanding officer in common, Tony thought as he sipped his beer. Seemed like a good place to start.
*
The next morning, Tony had phoned Gibbs and told him he was going to follow up on a cold case lead. He expected his superior to growl at him, but he had surprisingly received an attaboy from his Boss. Tony couldn’t manage to wipe the smile from his face at the compliment. Even after so many years under Gibbs, the smallest acknowledgement of a job well done made Tony’s day. Tony thought maybe he should analyze why that was so important to him, but as usual, he ignored it and moved on. Perhaps one day he would discuss it with his therapist.
As he made his way to the Marine Base, he hummed to himself. It was a beautiful autumn day in DC and he was feeling happy. He loved his job and his team. Life was pretty good right now.
*
Tony sat down outside the office of the commanding officer. After some time, the secretary stood and walked up to him. “Colonel Jennings will see you now, Agent Dinozzo.”
Tony nodded. “Thank you, Ma’am.” He followed her into a large office. The officer placed the phone down and stood with a smile. “Special Agent Dinozzo.” He said warmly as he shook Tony’s hand.
"Colonel Jennings.” Tony replied. “Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”
The older , balding gentleman directed Dinozzo to a table and motioned for him to sit. “Anything for NCIS.” He took his seat. “What can I do for you today?”
Tony cleared his throat. "I am looking into the disappearances of two of your men." Tony opened the files. “The first is Petty Officer Jeremy O’Malley and the other is a Petty Officer James Washington.”
The Marine thought for a moment as he looked at the pictures of the men. He looked up and gruffly spoke. “They were labeled as deserters by the regiment.”
“Originally, yes Sir, but we are beginning to reconsider that theory. They both disappeared on leaves and neither of them returned. Also, there is a naval officer from San Diego, a woman, who follows this pattern as well.”
“Pattern?” The Colonel asked.
Tony nodded. “Disappearing on an authorized leave; and there was no trace of them since. None of the three have any real family to inquire about their whereabouts.”
“So NCIS is reopening the investigation?”
“Yes, Sir.” Tony replied.
“How can I help then, Special Agent Dinozzo?”
“Did you know them personally?” The agent asked.
“No. I am in charge thousands of Marines, Agent Dinozzo. I wish I could personally know each and every one of my soldiers, but that is impossible. I am afraid I won’t be of much help. But if you need to speak to any of my Junior Officers, please let me know. I can arrange any meeting you need.” The Marine stood. “Will there be anything else?”
Tony’s eyes narrowed slightly at the obvious dismissal. “Um, no.” He held out his hand. “Thank you for your time, Colonel.” Tony walked out and as he made his way to his car, he couldn’t stop his gut from churning.
*
Tony had meant to mention his hunches to Gibbs, but they got a major case that afternoon. There was a murder of a naval wife. The manhunt lasted for the next five days and it turned out that her husband, an officer, was the perpetrator. It was a stressful time, but they caught their man. After reports for the case were written, Gibbs excused the entire team. Tony stayed behind wanting to make notes about his cold case, but Gibbs insisted that he go home and rest. They had the weekend off. Anything else could wait until Monday.
*
Tony spent a quiet weekend at home. Abby had wanted him to go clubbing with her, but Tony just did not want to. Perhaps he was becoming more boring as he aged, but the club scene and random dates were not appealing to him of late. So, he watched movies and ate takeout. On Sunday morning he dressed and was about to set off on a run through Rock Creek Park. He noticed a dark car parked across the street but did not think anything of it. He turned the music to his Ipod on and slipped his headphones in his ears. As he began to run, he did not see the car speed up and stop suddenly. Two large men got out and were able to grab Tony. The senior agent struggled and was suddenly rendered incapacitated as they tazed him. Once they got him inside the car, Tony was unable to fight as he felt a needle pierce his skin. Within a few moments, he was unconscious.
One of the men removed his mask as he wiped the sweat from his face. He tapped on an earpiece in his ear. "Target acquired."
TBC...