Being Part of the NCIS Family

Twenty-Six

DiNozzo POV

About a week later, Liv and Gibbs were back at work with me, Tim, and Ziva.

"You know," said Liv one day. "It's been ages since I've actually completed a case without it being handed off to another team." With a start, I realized she was right. She had ended up in the hospital so many times, I'd lost track.
"That's my goal for the next case." I said. "Nobody's gonna finish it but us." Turns out, I had perfect timing.

"Dead Petty Officer in Norfolk." Gibbs said as he strode through the bullpen. "Grab your gear." I bent down to grab mine, and I heard Liv grunt as she picked her bag up.

"Ribs still giving you trouble?" I asked.

"Yeah." she answered, her voice tight with pain. "It'll be better soon, though, I've been hurt worse." She must've seen the worry in my eyes, because she smiled, though I still saw pain in her eyes. "I'll be fine, Tony, why are you so worried?" she asked. "I've been shot, I've been choked half to death, I've been tortured. Broken ribs are nothing."

"Coming?" called an impatient Gibbs from the elevator. Liv and I dashed to the elevator as the door closed.

"Ooww.." Liv groaned.

"You alright?" I asked. "What happened?"

"Don't sound so frantic, Tony." Liv said, her voice full of pain. "I ran into the elevator wall." I rolled my eyes.

"Still clumsy as ever, even with injuries. Aren't you supposed to be careful?" I asked. This time, Gibbs rolled his eyes along with Liv.

"Have you met me?" Liv asked. "Geez." she said, smiling in spite of herself.

DiNozzo POV
When we got into the car, Liv called shotgun, and I was about to run for it, but Gibbs shot me one of his looks, followed by one from Ziva, and another from Tim. The car ride was uneventful except for Ziva yelping every time she got squashed by me and McGee. We'd played rock, paper, scissors, and since she still didn't really understand it, Ziva lost and got the middle. Every time we hit a pothole, Liv made a small, strangled noise somewhere between a yelp and a whimper, and I could see Boss wincing in the rearview mirror. Finally, we made it to Norfolk, closely followed by Ducky and Jimmy. We did our job quickly, LIv bagging and tagging, me snapping photos, and McGee and Ziva talking to the lady who'd called in the body. Liv and I finished our jobs and went to investigate and ask around at some of the nearby houses.

"Why are you so concerned about me, Tony?" Liv asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"I'm not saying anything!" I protested.

"You're walking real slow, and you keep glancing over at me." Liv said.

"Oh."

"I'm fine, Tony, real- oop!"

"Liv?" I asked, spinning around. I was met with Liv on the ground, groaning and holding her midsection. "Liv!" I cried.

"I'm fine." she groaned. "My prosthetic gave out and I fell." I helped Liv sit up, then she rolled her pants leg up.

"No wonder." I said, seeing the problem right away. "This screw's loose, and this one's almost all the way out." I fiddled around for a minute, fixing the screws and snapping another bit back into place.

"Thanks." grunted Liv as I pulled her to her feet. She stood still for a minute, catching her breath.

"Ready to keep going?" I asked. Liv nodded. I put my arm around her waist, and Liv draped her arm across my shoulder. "No protesting?" I asked, smiling.

"Don't get used to it, DiNozzo." Liv said, grinning up at me. "Now let's get going, tiger." I shook my head, smiling, and we continued on.

When we got to the first house, Liv pushed my arm off.

"Nobody wants to see a weak Fed." Liv said, smiling. We went up the driveway and stepped up to the porch. Liv knocked on the door.
"Coming!" a young woman's voice called from somewhere inside. This was followed by some deep barks and a "Winnie! Thor! Quiet!" Liv's eyes lit up when she heard barking.

"Sorry about that." a woman said, opening the door. Two fluffy snouts stuck out next to her leg. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

"We're Special Agents Reynolds and DiNozzo." Liv said. "A Petty Officer was killed near here and we were wondering if you'd heard anything, or might know him." she continued. "Mind if we come in?"

"Not at all." the woman said. "Do you want me to put the dogs away?" she asked.

"No, it's no problem!" Liv said. The woman smiled, grabbed the dogs' collars, and opened the door for us. Once the door was shut again, she let go of the dogs. They were massive and ridiculously fluffy. "Leonbergers!" Liv said. "I've always wanted one of these!" she exclaimed, scratching behind their ears. The woman smiled.

"I always had a couple growing up." she said. "I'm Leah, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Liv said. "There somewhere we could sit?" she asked.

"Oh, of course!" Leah answered. She led us to a beautifully decorated family room, the dogs trailing behind us. Liv and I sat on the couch while Leah took an armchair facing us. The dogs sniffed around at me and Liv, but quickly learned that Liv was a good choice if they wanted attention. After a few minutes of Liv and Leah chatting about the Leonbergers, I decided to get things rolling.

"Did you know Petty Officer Reagan Farnesworth?" I ask. Leah smiles.

"Yeah. He's my best friend in the world, has been since we were six." she said fondly. "He just proposed last month." Liv and I exchanged looks. This was going to be tricky, especially since she had caught us off guard. We hadn't found a spouse, because there wasn't one yet.

"Leah..." Liv began, but Leah cut her off.

"Is Reagan okay?" she asked. "He was scheduled to head out tomorrow, he left last night to go help out on the ship." she said.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Reagan was found dead a couple hours ago, not far from here." Leah gasped, tears spilling from her eyes. Thor and Winnie were at her side immediately. "We'll need you to identify the body." Liv said gently. "His fingerprints were badly damaged, and his ID is pretty scratched." Leah nodded, a distant look in her eyes. Liv stood up and walked over to Leah. She held out a hand and Leah took it. "Why don't we go get the dogs' leashes?" she asked. "They can come, maybe they'll help." Leah nodded and stood up. They disappeared into a back hallway and came out with two leashes. The one in Liv's hand was blue, and Leah held a yellow one. They each called a dog to them, and clipped the leashes onto their collars.

We left the house and went back to where we had found Reagan. He was still there, being examined by Ducky and Jimmy. Leah started sobbing when she saw him. Liv, who had been standing near me, went over to comfort her. Leah sobbed into Liv's shoulder for a minute before drying her tears on her sleeve. The dogs circled Leah, rubbing against her legs. Leah reached down to pet them, sniffling.

"Is this Reagan?" Liv asked gently. Leah went up to the body, and the dogs sniffed around. I noticed that the dogs didn't seem terribly concerned, as I would expect if it had actually been Reagan. Leah's reaction only confirmed that.

"Oh, thank God." Leah sobbed with relief.

"Excuse me?" Liv asked.

"It's not Reagan." Leah cried. "It's not Reagan."