Chapter 5
“I’m sorry Miss, but I can’t let you through and Special Agent Gibbs isn’t answering his phone,” the security guard said sympathetically. Elizabeth huffed and took a sip of her tea to calm herself. She should have known better; Tony was right. While she had had little trouble getting into the compound and finding a parking space, she wasn’t allowed past the security checkpoint at the entrance of the building.
“Try Special Agent DiNozzo, then,” Elizabeth replied. The security guard looked at her sceptically but nevertheless dialled the number. Elizabeth didn’t even try to listen in; it would have been futile anyway, as the guard was speaking softly and quickly to make sure that she didn’t hear him. She waited until he hung up the phone before making any indication to remind him that she was there.
“Special Agent DiNozzo is on his way down to get you,” the guard said apologetically. “Next time, make sure they know you have to be put on the list to avoid this kind of thing.”
“Will do,” Elizabeth replied with a smile, standing off to the side so that she wasn’t in the way. She sipped her tea, waiting for Tony to arrive.
It wasn’t long before Tony was exiting the elevator, a smug smirk on his face. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, bracing herself for the “I told you so” that would eventually come spewing from him. To her surprise, Tony silently placed a hand on her shoulder and gently guided her to the elevator. Both were silent until the doors closed and Tony pressed the button to get them to the squad room.
“Okay, get it over with,” Elizabeth with a sigh.
“Get what over with?” Tony asked innocently, the smug smirk still firmly in place.
“You know,” Elizabeth replied with a roll of her eyes.
“No, I don’t,” Tony said. The smirk didn’t diminish as the elevator chimed and admitted them to the third floor squad room.
“Do too,” Elizabeth shot back as they made their way to the bullpen.
“Do not.”
“Do too!”
“Do not.”
“Do too!”
“DiNozzo!”
“Yeah, Boss?” Tony said automatically when Gibbs’ sharp exclamation broke through the sibling bickering.
“Not you DiNozzo, the other one,” Gibbs said, his steely gaze settling on Elizabeth. He stood a short distance away, a cup of coffee in one hand and a large Caf-Pow in the other. “You’re with me.”
“Uh Boss, you don’t have to do that,” McGee interjected, but was quickly silenced by a glare from the more senior agent. He and Tony gave Elizabeth a sympathetic look as she turned and followed Gibbs meekly back to the elevator. Because of his longer legs, Gibbs had a head start and the elevator doors were almost closed as Elizabeth slipped inside. Gibbs remained silent until the doors slid shut and he pressed the “B” button. No sooner had the elevator started moving, he pounded the emergency stop button, causing the elevator to stall in between floors.
“Why the hell should we trust you?” Gibbs asked, rounding on her and pinning her with a steely gaze. It wasn’t quite a full on Gibbs glare, but it would make most people pee their pants in fright. Thankfully, Elizabeth dealt with Fornell on a regular basis so it took a little more to make her wet herself.
“Why shouldn’t you?” she shot back, lifting her chin a little in defiance. “Have I given you any reason not to?”
“Everything can be traced back to your computer,” Gibbs said, his voice a low growl. “Fornell had a team go through your office with a fine-toothed comb and there was only evidence of you being in there. Coupled with the fact that you’ve been breaking the law since you were fifteen years old doesn’t exactly bolster my confidence in you. You might have Fornell fooled, but I’m not that easy.”
“Do you really think Fornell would have brought me into this investigation if he didn’t trust me?” Elizabeth asked. “Did you even read my entire file, or did you stop at the part where it says I have ten years of hacking experience? Do you even know where I got my experience or how I used it? There are many dangerous hackers out there creating viruses and raising all kind of cyber anarchy because they think it’s fun, but I’m not one of them. If you really want to get me out of this investigation, talk to Agent Fornell. I’m sure he’d love to hear what you have to say about me.”
She stared at him, meeting his gaze while trying very hard not to turn away. She couldn’t show weakness, not now, not when she was trying to make a point.
“Well, if it’s not you then who is it?” Gibbs asked.
“Hell if I know. I’m doing the best I can to find out, same as you,” Elizabeth replied. “From what I could tell, whoever is messing with the electronic records is probably one of the top hackers in the country, which means I either work with them or I track them. As soon as I know, Fornell will know and as soon as he knows I presume you’ll know.”
Gibbs stared at her once more, looking straight into her eyes. He must have seen something conveyed there, some kind of truth or passion or something, because he nodded in satisfaction before pounding on the emergency stop button again, causing the elevator to resume its trip back down to Abby’s forensic lab. Elizabeth stood in silence, not quite upset but feeling like she had to prove something, that she was loyal to her country and her agency. Fornell knew this, as did the rest of the FBI, but she felt the urge to prove this to Gibbs.
The elevator came to a full stop at the basement level that Abby’s lab was located on. Gibbs exited first and Elizabeth followed close behind, not wanting to be left in the dust. He led her into Abby’s lab, which was in full operation mode as Abby went through the evidence that had been collected from the three crime scenes.
“Morning Gibbs!” she chirped happily. Gibbs handed her the Caf-Pow, which she gratefully accepted.
“Got anything for me, Abs?” Gibbs asked.
“Well, the bullets from the first two crime scenes have the same striations, but not enough specific characteristics to match it to a precise gun,” Abby replied. “Going with that, it means that the scenes are connected. I’m still running hair samples and the bullets that were found on the scene from last night, and fingerprints are going through all of the national databases.”
“As soon as you find something, call me,” Gibbs said, turning around and heading back to the elevator.
“Looks like you’re Lizzie sitting again,” Elizabeth said with a self-depreciating grin as she approached Abby. “Knew he couldn’t be a Caf-Pow person.”
“What did Gibbs have to say to you?” Abby asked.
“All but accused me of committing this stuff,” Elizabeth replied. Abby’s eyes widened in surprise, but Elizabeth waved it off. “I’m an extremely good government sanctioned hacker, and whoever is doing this is most likely another extremely good government sanctioned hacker. Coupled with the fact that everything has been tracked back to my computer, he has every right to be suspicious.”
“But still…” Abby said, not quite sure what to say.
“Look, I don’t really want to talk about it. Can I just set up my stuff and get to work?” Elizabeth asked. Abby nodded mutely, waving her over to the couch. As she did so, the door to the lab whooshed open and a young, thin man with dark hair and glasses dressed in green scrubs carrying a plastic tub full of evidence and specimens entered.
“Here’s some more evidence, fresh from the morgue,” he said, setting the tub on the table. He caught sight of Elizabeth and smiled warmly. “Hi, I’m Jimmy Palmer, Dr. Mallard’s assistant. And you are?”
“Liz DiNozzo,” Elizabeth replied with a small smile. Jimmy looked at her curiously, cocking his head to the side. “And yes, before you ask, I’m related to Tony DiNozzo. I’m his sister.”
“Really? Because he told me he was an only child,” Jimmy replied with a shrug. Elizabeth arched an eyebrow; so Tony was passing himself off as an only child? Curious. “Oh well. Nice to meet you, Liz. See you later, Abby.”
“’Bye Jimmy,” Abby said with a wave. Jimmy smiled, waved and exited the lab. After he was gone, Elizabeth turned and headed over to the sofa, setting up her things quickly and putting her headphones on, blocking out the rest of the lab. Her tracking program up and running, she began going through the logs of the work she had done last night, trying to find some kind of signature or something of whoever had been hacking the system the previous night.
She was so caught up in her work again that she didn’t hear or sense someone coming near her until she felt a tap on her shoulder. Startled, she jumped and looked around wildly, her eyes narrowing when they fell on Tony.
“Jesus fucking Mary and Joseph, Tony, don’t sneak up on me like that!” she exclaimed, glaring. Tony’s smile fell when he saw the look on her face and heard the words coming out of her mouth.
“Something wrong, Liz?” Tony asked, concerned. His sister rarely swore, so when she did it was something to worry about.
“Do you tell everyone you’re an only child, or did you just say that to Jimmy?” Elizabeth asked, deciding that beating around in the bush was not an option, not today.
“Ummm…” Tony said, lost for words.
“It’s a simple question, Anthony,” Elizabeth said calmly. Tony was beginning to get a little frightened. Elizabeth had a long, slow-burning fuse, and she could be quite scary when angered; must be the Italian passion or something. When she reached the end of it she called people by their full first names. “Do you tell everyone that you’re an only child?”
“Um… no?” Tony offered. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and Tony cursed under his breath.
“I can’t believe you would do something like that,” Elizabeth said, blinking. “Am I really that embarrassing? Do you still despise the fact that Dad knocked someone else up and you weren’t the only kid in the family anymore? Wait, never mind, I don’t think I want to know. Just… go away and let me work.”
Tony opened his mouth to speak as Elizabeth put her headphones back on and turned back to her laptop, completely oblivious to his presence again. Abby came up behind him and clapped a hand on his shoulder, startling him so much that he allowed her to lead him to the other side of the room with no protests.
“You might want to listen to her,” Abby advised with a sympathetic look. “She’s had a rough day already, you don’t want to make it worse.”
“Could you maybe try and talk to her?” Tony asked. He was getting worried; normally he and his sister got along pretty well when they were in the same room together, despite the huge age difference. It wasn’t like her to shut him out like that. “See what’s going on?”
“Well, it’s kind of obvious, but I’ll do what I can,” Abby replied. “I need to wait for the fingerprints to come up anyway, so I’ve got a few minutes.”
“Okay Abs, thank you,” said Tony. He glanced back at Elizabeth one last time, a little surprised to see that her eyes were rimmed in red, before turning and heading back to the squad room. Abby sighed and headed back to the sofa, plopping down next to Elizabeth and causing her to jump.
“Wanna talk about it?” Abby asked as Elizabeth removed her headphones.
“Talk about what?” Elizabeth asked innocently.
“That thing with Tony just now,” Abby replied. Elizabeth looked at her blankly, as if she didn’t know what Abby was talking about. “Don’t act like you didn’t just almost blow up at him a couple of minutes ago. I know you don’t know me or anything, but sometimes it’s good to vent to someone you don’t know.”
“That’s what my blog is for,” Elizabeth replied with a sniffle.
“I promise I won’t tell Tony, or anyone else,” Abby said, crossing her heart. “And come on, a blog can’t hug you or wipe your tears away or give you advice.”
“You’ve got a point there,” Elizabeth replied with a small smile and another sniffle. “It’s just that… finding out that Tony doesn’t acknowledge me when I’m not around kind of stung, you know? I was sure that he wouldn’t talk about me much because he doesn’t particularly like our family, but I always thought he wouldn’t deny the fact that he had a sister. Kind of reminded me of how my dad didn’t want me in the first place. He never said it to my face, always playing the part of the dutiful father, but I overheard my parents fighting shortly before they split up when I was a kid. I’d always thought that Tony liked having me around, he even said so last night. Now I’m not so sure, especially because he’s been passing himself off as an only child, like I don’t exist in his world. Coupled with the Gibbs thing and the fact that someone might be framing me for all of this and I just feel helpless right now. I’ll be fine, though, just have to keep my mind on the case. I can be pissed off at Tony later.”
Elizabeth was surprised when Abby wrapped her in a tight hug. After sitting there, stunned for a moment, Elizabeth hugged her back, squeezing tightly.
“Does Tony know about all of this?” Abby asked as she released the younger girl, although she continued to rub her back.
“Like he’d believe me even if I did,” Elizabeth replied with a snort and a shake of her head. “No, I don’t think he does. He didn’t live at home when my mom and our father were fighting and I’ve never told him.”
“Maybe you should,” Abby said. “Men suck when it comes to being intuitive; you pretty much have to hit them over the head with the information you want them to know.”
“Don’t I know it. I work in an all male department,” Elizabeth replied with a roll of her eyes. She sighed, swiping a hand under her eyes to wipe the few stray tears that had managed to leak out. She knew that she had to tell Tony, even though it had the possibility of turning into a screaming match. If they had one thing in common, it was their stubbornness and their temper, which was inherited from their father. “You know what, you’re right Abby. I’ll talk to him later. Right now, I have to figure out who thought it would be a good idea to frame me up for this.”
“If you need any help, let me know,” Abby said with a smile. “I’m pretty good with the computer stuff, and maybe a pair of fresh eyes could catch something you couldn’t.”
“Thanks Abby, I’ll keep that in mind,” Elizabeth replied, smiling back. Abby looked like she was about to say something, but at that moment a machine from across the room beeped.
“Looks like I’m being summoned,” Abby remarked, patting Elizabeth on the shoulder before bouncing up and making her way to the other side of the lab. She smiled a little to herself as she continued to look through the lines of code, wondering if she could catch something, anything, that would give her some indication of who was doing this. She only hoped that Abby was having more luck with the fingerprints, because that may be the only way they could catch whoever was doing this.
She looked up when she heard the door beep, admitting someone into the lab. When she saw that it was McGee, she did her best to hide her reddening cheeks behind her laptop as she typed away, concentrating on her work.
“Hey Abs, is Lizzie down here?” McGee asked. Elizabeth didn’t hear Abby say anything and assumed that the woman had given McGee a nonverbal reply because a moment later he was sitting next to her, a paper cup with a tea bag string sticking out from underneath the lid in his hand. “Here, I brought you something to cheer you up.”
“What makes you think I need cheering up?” Elizabeth asked, although she grabbed the cup. She took a whiff of the contents, growing suspicious. “How did you know I liked peppermint tea?”
“Tony told me,” McGee replied.
“Surprised he remembered,” Elizabeth replied with a scowl, taking a sip of the tea. Damn, it was hard to stay mad at someone who remembered your favourite brand and type of tea, as well as how many sugars you took.
“You know, he’s really worried about upsetting you,” McGee remarked. “Thinks you hate him.”
“He tell you that too, or are you just that perceptive?” Elizabeth asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Well, when he came back upstairs after coming down and visiting you he was visibly distressed,” McGee replied, stumbling over his words a little as he spoke. “I asked, he told me why and was trying to figure out ways to appease and apologize to you. I told him that when my sister was upset with me, I’d apologize and do something or make something or get her something she really liked. It always seemed to work for me. I have a feeling that if he wasn’t so stressed about it, he wouldn’t have said anything.”
“Has Tony ever told you he had a kid sister?” Elizabeth asked. “And if he wants to make amends, then why did he send you down with the peppermint tea? I didn’t think I was that terrifying.”
“Well, no,” McGee replied, growing worried when he saw Elizabeth’s scowl deepen. “But he didn’t say he was an only child, either. At least, not to me. And until she was part of a case we were working on, no one knew I had a little sister.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t trust Tony with the information?” Elizabeth asked with a cheeky grin. McGee looked shocked, but Elizabeth waved it off. “I know my brother well enough to know that he would flirt with any pretty girl who was legal age. And you didn’t answer my question.”
“I think Tony’s scared of you,” McGee said. Elizabeth snorted and was about to say something when she heard the doors to the lab open. She looked up to see Gibbs and Fornell enter; Abby must have called them when she got the results from the test she had been running.
“DiNozzo, get over here!” Fornell snapped. Elizabeth quickly placed her laptop out of the way before jumping up and hurrying over to where Fornell was standing.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Does he look familiar?” Fornell asked, gesturing towards the screen. Elizabeth turned, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping when she saw whose fingerprints had been identified from the most recent crime scene.
“This has got to be some kind of mistake,” Elizabeth said softly, her hand instantly going to the cell phone resting on her hip. Fornell’s hand shot out, grabbing her wrist in a firm, but gentle grip.
“You’re not calling him,” he said firmly.
“You know this guy?” Gibbs asked, arching an eyebrow. Elizabeth knew that if she said yes, she would be digging herself deeper into the hole Gibbs seemed to think she was in. If she said no, Fornell would know that she was lying, which would make him very disappointed in her.
“Yeah, I do. His name is Joey Winters; he’s one of the guys I work with. We’re pretty good friends,” Elizabeth replied. “Although knowing him does not automatically mean I’m in cahoots with him, so you can stop that train of thought right now, Special Agent Gibbs.”
Gibbs just glared at her before turning and stalking off. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, getting the impression that she’d never be able to make amends with her brother’s boss. Oh well, it wasn’t her problem if the ex-marine had a stick shoved so far up his ass it would probably have to be extracted surgically.
Fornell grabbed Elizabeth gently by the wrist again and led her out of the lab, waiting until the soundproof doors slid shut before he spoke.
“What was that about?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.
“I don’t think Special Agent Gibbs likes me all that much,” Elizabeth replied with a shrug. “Seems to think I have something to do with all of this because I’m a computer hacker and everything has been tracked back to my workstation.”
“What did you say to him about it?” Fornell asked. He didn’t like the idea of the NCIS agent harassing Elizabeth, especially when he knew that she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Told him to talk to you about it if he had a problem with me,” Elizabeth replied with a shrug. “You don’t think I’m doing this, do you?”
“Of course not,” Fornell said, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. “I’m not any good at doing this whole reassurance thing, and I’ll deny it if anyone asks me about it, but you’re the only one of those computer people I actually trust.”
“Wish some of that trust would rub off on Special Agent Gibbs,” Elizabeth retorted with a roll of her eyes.
“Now you let me worry about him,” Fornell replied. “All I want you to worry about is helping us figure out who’s been killing the navy and marine servicemen. Got it?”
“Sure, I can do that,” Elizabeth said, feeling determined. She straightened her spine, standing proud. “Are you going to have to bring Joey in?”
“Unfortunately,” Fornell said with a sigh. “And I don’t want you going anywhere near that interrogation room; if something goes wrong, I don’t want you to see it. You stay down here with Miss Scuito and stay out of trouble. Are we clear?”
“Sir, yes sir!” Elizabeth exclaimed with a mock salute.
“Now you go in there and do whatever it is you do,” Fornell said, a small, nearly imperceptible smile on his face as he turned and headed to the elevator.
With a new resolve, Elizabeth straightened her back once more and headed back to the lab, only realizing after Fornell had left that she didn’t have the clearance to get into the lab on her own. Swearing under her breath, she was about to knock on the glass to get Abby’s attention so that she would let her back in when the elevator chimed again.
“What are you doing out here?” Tony asked as he exited the elevator. Elizabeth closed her eyes and counted to ten before turning around to greet him; she didn’t know if she was ready to deal with him yet, but then again she wanted some answers.
“Fornell dragged me out here for a talking to, and now I can’t get back in,” Elizabeth replied with a shrug. “What are you doing down here?”
“Well, I was coming down to see if McGee…” Tony began before cracking a smile and a small chuckle. “Okay, I can’t say that with a straight face. I came down here to see you.”
“Why?” Elizabeth asked, curious.
“Well, you’re mad at me and I want to apologize,” Tony replied.
“I thought sending Tim down with the tea was your way of apologizing,” Elizabeth said, quirking an eyebrow at him.
“That was my attempt at warming you up,” Tony said, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. “Did it work?”
“Well, I’m not angry with you anymore, if that’s what you mean,” Elizabeth replied. “I’ve just had a really, really tough morning and I reacted badly. Forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Tony said. “So, whose ass do I need to kick?”
“The security guard in front, although that wasn’t really his fault, and Special Agent Gibbs,” Elizabeth replied.
“What did Gibbs do?” Tony asked.
“It’s fine, it happened, it’s over and done with and I set him straight,” Elizabeth replied. “And I think Fornell’s going to chew him out too, so I’m not going to worry about it. Much, anyway.”
“No, seriously, what did Gibbs do?” Tony asked, the muscle in his jaw twitching.
“It’s nothing, I’m fine. No permanent damage or anything,” Elizabeth replied with a shrug and a smile. Before either she or Tony could say anything, Elizabeth’s phone beeped, indicating a new incoming text message. She grabbed her phone from her hip and flipped it open, eyes widening when she saw what it was. “I gotta get back to my computer; the hacker’s back. Can you get me in there so I can do what I was brought in to do?”
“Sure,” Tony said carefully. The tone of his voice told her that he wasn’t finished with asking her about what had happened, and that he would get it out of her eventually. He reached over and punched a code into the keypad and the door whooshed open.
Elizabeth quickly made her way across the room where she had been set up, but stopped short when she saw McGee sitting there with her laptop in his lap, typing madly away. Her jaw dropped open; no one touched her computer without permission. Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, Elizabeth thought, taking deep breaths to calm herself before stalking over to McGee. She wasn’t going to hurt him… much.
***
Bah, not quite sure how happy I am with this, but here it is. Sorry it took me three… no wait, four months to get out.
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.