Just Stay (NCIS Reader X Tony)

Chapter XI: Your POV

LAST TIME

Fornell pulls you aside. "Can you stay on this case, or do I have to temporarily reassign you?" He asks.
You nod stoically. "I won't let my personal life get in the way of me doing my job," you assure him. Fornell eyes you a second before nodding, stepping back and allowing you to follow Tony and rejoin the group.

—————

You sit in interrogation with Agent Gibbs, a staring match underway. It's gone on for almost a half-hour, since you sat down, and shows no sign of stopping as neither of you look away.

Eventually, you have had enough. You turn, keeping your burning eyes on him and not breaking your gaze as you watch him, standing and walking to the mirror.

You stand there for a second, rubbing your fingers together. After a second, you turn, leaning against the window.

"So." You break the silence and Gibbs raises an eyebrow. Grabbing the file, you return to your position against the glass, flipping through it disinterestedly.

You walk forward casually and suddenly slam it on the table. Most would jump; Gibbs barely moves. You smirk, pleasantly surprised. Definitely a Marine.

"Agent Gibbs," you say lightly, sitting down. The man in question cocks his head almost imperceptibly.

"Ma'am."

"Let's see; born 1954, Marine military police starting in '76 and then a sniper, in Desert Storm in Kuwait, oof, going to skip that part, uhhh... ah yes. Wounded, got a Purple Heart. Joined NIS back in '92 after an honorable discharge, congrats Gunny. Got a job. Investigated by Agent Lara Macy in relation to the Hernandez shooting, cleared of it when it was closed. Mike Franks... you were rather close to him, weren't you? Oh yeah, you guys retired on a beach together." You glance up in the midst of summarizing his file with a sympathetic smile. "Couldn't stay out of trouble, could you?"

Gibbs smirked. "Apparently not, seeing as you and the rest of Fornell's team are here."

"Yeah, yeah, about that. Do you know why?"

"They didn't tell you?" He jokes strainedly.

"They did," you respond simply.

He stares at you a second, studying you. "No, they didn't," he responds finally.

You hum in response and grab another file, flipping through it but watching Gibbs discreetly. "Has anything gone wrong in the past few days? Anything to do with a case? Files, reports, statements, evidence gone missing?"

You watch for his reaction. At the mention of evidence going missing, a small muscle in his cheek tightened. It was so fast you wondered if it had happened--but you knew you had struck a nerve.

Rather than appear triumphant, or even let on that you know, you decide to press for more information. Continuing to look through the file, you eventually stop and look up. "So nothing?"

Gibbs doesn't respond for a second. Then, "what's in the file?"

"This one? Yeah, I'm not allowed to tell you. Although," you grab yet another folder from the stack and slide it to him, "what's this one about?"

He opens it before glancing back up at you. "You know. You've read it."

"Yes, but reading something can be very different from hearing it. For all I know, the whole thing is sarcastic."

"Yeah, well, seeing as how its a report, I have a feeling it isn't."

You lean back in your chair. "Hmm." You tap your fingers inattentively. "You know, your uncooperativeness to talk puts you up much higher on the suspect list."

The offhand comment doesn't seem to surprise him or catch him off guard in the least. He just smirks. "Oh?"

You lean forward, stilling your fingers. Drop your voice to a whisper. Do everything you can to jolt him out of whatever this was with your next comment. "And how do you think Tony or Abby, or anyone on the team or in the building who lols up to you as a father, would feel if it were to come out that Leroy Jethro Gibbs is a traitor?"

Gibbs raises his eyebrows, his eyes stormy and dark. With that, you leave, going to viewing where Fornell and the others in your team sit.

"The bluff worked," you say as you enter. Fornell raises an eyebrow. "And evidence went missing—I don't know what case, though."

Your boss gives you a nod, the closest thing you'll get to a 'good job' and a rarity at that, pride swelling in your chest. You move back to the room as two men come to lead him elsewhere.

"Wait." You stop them. "Where are you taking him?"

"Holding room with the others."

Your eyes widen at this display of stupidity. "Rule number 8: Never let suspects sit together," you quote through gritted teeth.

Gibbs looks at you with an expression of pleasant surprise. "Rule?"

You nod. "Not official, I just have my own rule book. It's simple common sense, and a lot of people have memorized it because-" you cut yourself off, realizing he and you shouldn't be speaking like this. With a sharp turn, you move to separate the other suspects and fix the whole mess.

You interrogate—or 'interview' as you are told to call it—an Agent McGee, while your coworker, Sarah, does the same for Tony and a man named Palmer. Evans, the other component of the team, interrogates Kate and someone named Ducky.

Afterwards, you all meet in the briefing room, where some very.... interesting news comes out.