solovino88
NCIS: Junon — Chapter 1

SUMMARY:

The NCIS team led by Jethro Gibbs arrives at Costa del Sol to research the crime scene. They have to deal with the ShinRA bureaucrats, the distrust between agencies, and the schemings of a nasty scientist apparently involved in the case.

DISCLAIMERS:

The usual. You know, don't pretend you don't.
That applies for you too, Square Enix and Donald Bellisario.

No JENOVA-subjects were hurt in the process of writing this chapter.

FOREWORD:

Here it is. This is the point where the crossover really begins. Let's see what do Ducky and Hojo have to say about the killings, while Gibbs faces some interagency issues... and it's not who you think.

Stylewise this is the same as the previous chapter. I've tried to improve my writing after I noticed several... um... “grammatical redundancies” in my previous excerpt. I did not expect this chapter to turn out so long, but decided to keep it to introduce most of the characters to their tasks at hand. Still, I tried to make it easier to read by focusing action flow and descriptive narration packed in groups.

Hope you have some fun reading it.

Black and white shot of the Costa del Sol beaches.

Still: McGee is sitting alongside Professor Hojo, both shaking hands, while two tiny column of smoke raise in front of them both.

Fade to black...

Four hours later...

A special military helicopter coming directly from Midgar, the defacto capital of the world, has landed in the helipad south of the docks. Three people are inside, not counting the pilot. The three of them take a look at the ground below them as the door of the helicopter opens. The one with grey hair, a NIS jacket, and a Starbucks coffee in his left hand seems to be in charge,

– Got your gear, everyone? - asks in a loud voice Special Agent in Charge, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, from Junon NCIS, as he steps off down the chopper.
– The actual forensic equipment is coming in another cargo, ETA, 4 hours. - answers officer Ziva David, a female assassin recently assigned to his team. – Until then we will be better interviewing the personnel.
– What's left of it... - second in command agent Tony DiNozzo interrupts smiling. Smile gone as Gibbs flashes back – I mean... there's not much to work with, except lots of bodies and lots of hearsay.

An even nastier look from Gibbs follows.

– We... I, should check on the terrorists who were after the Executive Board.
– Fine then. DiNozzo, let's see what can your charm get us from the Executives - contests Gibbs with a smirk. Ziva stares at DiNozzo too, and he smiles to himself uneasily.
–Mr. Heidegger was in the upper decks and he was responsible for the detail so talk to him first - continues Gibbs.
– On it, Boss. - DiNozzo went off, rushing to the Executive entrance.
– Ziva, you will come with me and--
– Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Gibbs - announced a soft voice coming from the heliport corner. A young, brunnette woman wearing blue came to him and handed him a package. – Samantha Reyes, Costa del Sol Management Offices.
– Morning, Ms. Reyes - answered Gibbs, not looking back.
– Here are the inspection files from the detachment that was sent yesterday. Each and every of the 27 ones, psychological profiles and last month's fitness and weapon testing included.

As Gibbs received the folder, he handed over the Starbucks to Ziva. She contemplates wether to drink a little but quickly dismisses the idea.
– Twenty six, Ms. Reyes - picked Ziva.

The woman stared at Ziva, then at Gibbs.

– Sorry, Ms... David? The Junon Management--
– It's 'Dá-veed'! - barks Ziva. Reyes seems to be disturbed yet she continues walking alongside the officers.
– Well, Ms. uh... Dá-veed... and Mr. Gibbs... - says Reyes as she struggles to continue, – Junon Management confirmed specifically a full detachment of 27 soldiers was sent to accompany President Shinra.
– Ms. Reyes, it seems we have a little problem of communication - said Gibbs while quickly counting the papers on the folder. – We were informed of 26 bodies, all of them registered to the Costa del Sol office.

The woman again stared at Ziva, then at Gibbs.

– No... sorry, Mr. Gibbs, there's 27 soldiers. Each one of the departures confirmed.
– Well then someone jumped on the hoard during the trip, Ms. Reyes? - barked Ziva again, eyeing the other woman.

Reyes stared back at her with a questioning look in her face. Not receiving answer she turned to Gibbs. Gibbs slowly rolled his head back and hissed in a very low voice:

– You meant “Off the board”, Ziva...

Ziva opened her mouth to protest, but said nothing. She hissed and then handed the drink back to Gibbs, who completed by returning the closed folder to Agent Reyes. He let out only a single sentence:

– Looks like someone here screwed up then, too...

The trio steered back to safety as the chopper landed off, as another chopper was reaching by, a man in black suit and a calm face about to take down.

Gibbs rushed past the woman, Ziva coming behind. They took to the docks where the ship was still stationed. After flashing their badges, Gibbs and Ziva were quickly admitted in and led to the cargo bay. Reyes had to sign a paper, took it a while. As soon as they came in, Ziva stopped and let her head draw a n almost 180º arc to examine the entire scene.

– Nice art... uh?

Gibbs flared back.

– The wall, that is.
– Enjoy the “art”, Ziva?
– Not that... I mean, the last time I saw a massacre like this was during one of my missions in Wutai.
– No kidding...
– Yeah... and besides, it takes time to carve something like that in metal.
– Unless - interrupted an english accent – you have a 2 metres long, unbreakable, legendary sword that draws no blood, that is, Ziva.
She turned back to meet the Dr. Ducky Mallard and stepped away to let him in.
– Seems to me, Jethro, that it can be completely ascertained it was Sephiroth who did this.
– From the looks of it, not the entirely of this, Ducky - answered Gibbs, pointing at the lower deck where the traces of the green ooze were still fresh. – And according to ShinRA Intelligence, the sword was left and the crime scene...
– Yet it disappeared the day after - continued Ducky.
– And it is know someone was tailing Sephiroth at least until Junon... - answered Gibbs, trying to take the lead of the conversation back.
– Not with the intention of kindly returning the sword to him - countered Ducky in a definitive manner, –, if it is that terrorist group you refer to.
– Seems like a standoff... - Reyes came in and checked the scene. She was clearly perplexed. It was obvious in all her career he had never faced something like this. – It makes no sense, the bodies are spread all over there - she pointed to her left– , and the fight seems to have been quite intense here instead.
– That's right. These soldiers were not involved in the fight.
– They were already dead... but then when did they...?
Gibbs turned to Ducky who was already walking towards one of the bodies.
– A preliminary time lapse, Ducky?
– Let's see... - Ducky clinched against one of the bodies and started checking his pockets and suitcase.

While Ducky was examining the bodies, his assistant, M.E. Jimmy Palmer, came in with some of the equipment. He went right past Ziva and directly to Dr. Mallard, who then proceeded to write some times in a notepad.

While the examiners proceeded with their work for a couple of minutes, Gibbs and Reyes took a walk around checking for clues. Ziva was back with Captain Denitz asking some routine questions. After a while, Gibbs and Reyes returned to Ducky. Ziva joined them too.

– Just in time, Jethro... - reported Ducky –... Assuming all the soldiers were dead before the battle started...
– Oh let's hope they were... - interrupted Reyes.
– Then, I would say, all these bodies - continued Ducky as he pointed to the deck, – should have a time of death in between three hours, to one hour, before the time the body over there.
He proceeded to point to the half-melted body with his head.

Reyes took mental note, whereas Gibbs let Ducky an inquiring look. Ducky leered back, to the surprise of Palmer and Reyes, who could not understand that form of communication.

– A lapse too long for noone upstairs to take notice... - explained Gibbs.
– Up to three hours? The Executives were having a lunch meeting up until half an hour before arriving - informed Ziva.
– That pretty much covers it... - insinuated Ducky.

Palmer, still crounching next to one of the bodies, raised his hand.

– Does that mean “he” did this alone, Doctor?
– Yes well done Mr. Palmer, but there is something else...
– What is...

He got no answer. Ducky went to the bodies again to continue his work, whereas Ziva took a camera and snapped anything that smelled like evidence: be it green or red, and mostly liquid.

The investigative team arranged their stuff and started a preliminary checking of the Crime Scene #1 (the cargo bay), helped by the military squad who were picking and registering the clothes, guns and badges of he officers.

As Ducky was directing the local staff so they made no mistakes labeling the evidence, Ziva ran a quick mental assortment of the location and shape of all the spills of ooze, trying to calculate the position and shape of the body from which they had been originated. The calculations were astray in her head and she decided to pick up a chalk and mark a preliminary spill radius for McGee to check later.

Gibbs, on the other hand, continued writing down some details about the scene and then took the stairs upside to talk to the Captain about Crime Scene #2, a section of the upper deck where three other bodies were found. He was about to make it to the top, when Ducky called in for him:

– Uh... Jethro?
– Yes, Ducky?
– Are you sure the detachment was composed of twenty six soldiers?
– Yes... despite them in the paper being 27.
As if on cue, Reyes crossed her arms and buffed. Ducky mumbled something and continued.
– Then we have more than one problem--
– Again? What is going on, Ducky?
– Well... - Ducky stood up and walked to the base of the stair: – if I were to be sure that no one has tampered with the scene...
– ... - a petrifying stare was all that came from the stairs.
– Right... Jethro... look... I count twenty eight uniforms.

Ziva and Reyes gazed at each other uneasily. Jethro stared at nothingness for a while, then he spoke to Ziva.

– Call McGee. Tell him to run a full Division census on the Junon base. Now.
– Sure, if you want it tomorrow... McGee is already on his way here.
– Fine... have Abby do it then.
– From Midgar? She'll have to bypass some serious--
– Ziva!
– Right, Gibbs.

That said, Jethro took upstairs, to meet DiNozzo in the corridor next to the dinner chamber, to give DiNozzo some instructions.

At the local Inn, NCIS agent Timothy McGee was checking all the equipment that had been unpacked by the military staff recently. It was easy to seize one entire floor of the three-store building for the research team, but McGee felt it was ironic: the rooms with gold class service and a nice view of the sea were for the equipment, the team was to go to field.

After a couple of minutes he took the stairs down and met the innkeeper. As he took step outside, he felt bathed by the sunlight. Taking a deep breath he took a look around.

“A nice town indeed... I expected to come to this place under very different circumstances, however...”

McGee's phone rang out. It was quickly drawn out of the pocket to the right hand.

– McGee.
– “Hey, probie”.
– What's on, DiNozzo?
– Nothing, just to... - Tony's voice faded for a while, as some berating was heard from the other side – ... Gibbs wants you to help Abby with some profiles.
– Abby? Profiles? Wasn't I going to do that?
– Yeah... well there seems the problem started back there at Junon... Gibbs suspects an inside job.
– But the flash report the Director just sent me says--
– And it's right...
– So?
McGee was met with a silence that lasted a couple of seconds. But he already knew what was to come from the other side of the phone.
– Gibbs needs your... uh... “geekiness”, to get intel from the Scientific Division... Most of the geezers there coincidentally started their vacations here two days ago.
– ...And Gibbs suspects one of them holds a grudge?
– No... he suspects one of them was the original target.
– Right then... as soon as I get to my wor--
– Excellent probie... Sent you the names... see you! - a click, the communication was lost.

McGee took off the cellphone and checked the names appearing on screen. All of them important ShinRA scientists who were spending their vacation on Costa del Sol since yesterday.

“The names... all of them on vacation here?” said McGee to himself. “What were they thinking back at base, sending all of them at once?”

As he was taking mental notes and meditating, McGee was interrupted by a loud sound from the docks. He raised his sight to the left to see the cargo ship, as well as three touristic vessels all docked there, and some small fishing boats sailing out. A strange idea crossed his mind.

“What for anyways? He only had to remain quiet and hidden until the cargo ship reached the dock, right? Then why leave things like that, I mean, with all the attention he would have snatched his target by this time.”

Now McGee took his sight to the right, to the hotel and the other facilities.

“So maybe he left... but where to? No one knows what that 'Promised Land' bashing is all about...”

While all this was happening, a van approached Costa del Sol from the south. The people inside were talking about their luck. A visit from the World Leader was not something to happen everyday, and even more as he had assumed his office only a couple days before, no reporters got complete sentences from his mouth yet., a man as bloodthirsty and despotic as corrupt and greedy his father was, if the rumours were true.

As the van took a curve, the driver noticed a strange man wearing a black coat walking down the road. He waited to reach the man and lowered his speed. The man seemed not to notice the van and continued to walk past it.

– Hey, you! - shouted the driver: – You better walk back to the port! The bridge to Gold Saucer is broke and one can only cross to the other side of the river in vehicles...!

The man continued walking past the van. The driver called a couple of times, but, no receiving answer, he lost interest and continued his route.

– That was weird. And who dresses in full black with this weather, anyway?

Down the road the strange man continued his walk, unaware of the world around him.

“Sephiroth... Must... reach... Sephiroth...”

Meanwhile, back in Midgar...

The Director of the NCIS got out of the elevator and fastpaced to the ballistic test chambers. As soon as she entered, she saw Abby Sciuto performing slug tests for one of the cases related to the Corneo Mafia.

– Abby...
– Director Shepard! - answered Abby as she turned around, an ample smile in her face. – I was about to call--
– Forget the Corneo Case, Abby... we got some more serious troubles.
– The Sephiroth case? I got the flash from Gibbs. They'll be fine - continued Abby, periodically making gestures with her arms: – , McGee is with them and, you know?, he is become quite proficient at collecting evidence so I trust him to bag every spill of blood separately, label it accordingly to our homeborn standard for evidence commission-- I mean, we have to be serious you know, because if we do not trust our work, who else is going to? -- And then, of course, they have to let ol' Ducky to have some...

Abby continued with her one-sided conversation for a while until Director Jenny Sheppard felt the urge to stop her.

– Abby...
Abby halted instantly, her smile still illuminating her face.
– There's an issue here at Junon. Gibbs suspects an inside job.
Jen noticed Abby's smile fainted slightly, yet her eyes still had that bright they have at the beginning of every mission.
– Oh damn... I mean... bad. Very bad. So they're coming back?
– No, Abby, but Gibbs wants you to run a census of the Marines Division at Junon.
Abby stood there motionless. It was obvious in her face she had understood the instructions and she was expecting something else to be said. But Jenny had already acquired some experience handling Gibbs' team.
– Now, Abby.

Abby saluted the Director, and took some of her stuff, leaving the lab hopping around like a little girl.

Jenny crossed her arms while she watched Abby leave in the elevator. After some moments of contemplation she left for MTAC, as there were other agencies already trying to dig theyr way in the case. And she was not going to let them have it without going dirty.

And they were already there. How proficient of them, laughed Jenny to her self. She took a seat in MTAC watching a live feed of a raid in Midgar's Sector Three, when she noticed the woman waiting for her come closer and take a seat by her side.

Jenny made no motion, she simply enjoyed the feed. The blonde girl at her side, obviously more than she appeared to be. Well dressed, a hair well cared, and a delicate skin. She was too young to be in a case like this, so Jen wondered if she had picked her for “other” reasons. The blonde girl was about to handle a paper -- some kind of subpoena -- to Jenny, but she answered instantly:

– As I already told your boss, if he wants this case so off-the-radar, he still has to report first to the Legal Department. You will find Ms. Lee in the second floor, you can go there right now.

The blonde girl retreated the papers, but remained sit and silent for a while. The feed from Midgar kept playing... and the two women continued watching... as the strike team found an empty warehouse. Again, bad intelligence regarding the Corneo case... This was getting exasperating. Jen, convinced enough that she was not to get rid of ShinRA Internal Affairs so easily, turned her face and smiled to the younger woman.

– Well then let me ease your stay. Cynthia - she spoke to the intercom, – bring some appetizers to MTAC, please. And two cups of coffee...

– “Right away, boss” - screeched back the intercom.
– Control, switch to Operation No. 1-5-Echo-Zulu-4, please - asked Jen to the communications officer, who instantly proceeded to issue some commands on his computer.
The screen turned black for a while, then a feed of a raid on Wall Market started playing.

– The coffee is here in a minute. Let's enjoy some “men” work, is it okay, Ms. Elena?
– Thank you, Director Shepard - answered the young girl as she nodded.

The two women reclined in their seats while the SWAT team raided the Market facilities.

At Costa del Sol...

In the police facilities, McGee was already interrogating some of the scientists sent here for their vacation packages. As would be expected from McGee, he had no trouble getting along with the scientists and picking the important information out of their talk.

Every piece of scientific knowledge in the spectrum was at some point discussed, from the most recent achievements in holographic projection, to the weird yet convenient usages for the new brand of graffiti cleaner, the cost-effectiveness relation in entropy readings from support Materia, the fake paper discussing the relation between the design of the Midgar pillars and the ancient Chocobo race tracks, the recent theory of brainwave projection using the Sense Materia, the hidden Blowfish ciphers in Act III of the famous play LOVELESS, and, of course, the jokes around the Space Program failed one decade ago, never absent in any culturally deep conversation.

After about four hours of interviews, McGee had already cleared half of the staff, and was about to call in for the next scientist, when it struck to him that he had not eaten anything ever since he had arrived. But he dismissed the idea of eating now as he was still busy trying to get his way through the server designated to the A-Security Projects in Midgar, which proved resistant against all of his methods.

McGee was about to give up and opened the next report on his desk. He read carefully, checking the name against the available information in the Agency servers. Then he found an interesting link to the Internal Affairs server with information regarding a secret project.

“This may be it... wonder what does he have to do with Sephiroth...”

McGee was about to clear the desk to call the next interview, thinking of the increasing feeling of emptiness in his stomach, when he noticed a cup of coffee appearing to his side. He was about to face the stranger to express his gratitude, but he did not have time to do so.

– Hmmm... information about me, you wanted to get?

McGee remained silent as at his side the man with round glasses, dark hair with a ponytail and a very long lab coat, took a seat at his side, a faint smile in his face.

– You better asked me first, hmmm? Internals is very protective with prospects like me, have to say, even more with all this issue... Pity for you, probie.
– Uh... 'pity'? What you mean?
– Oh, yes, Internal Affairs... very clever kids... with excess budget and lack of a motivation so they prank around with the wannabe hackers... here look at your screen.

McGee turned back to his screen to find a list of alerts growing by the minute A virus had somehow entered his system and was wiping the harddrive. Not only that, the virus was forcing the processor into overheating itself, and not before long the device shortcircuited, and the explosion of the device burned the screen too.

As McGee was clearing the smoke with a genuine surprise in his eyes, the man in lab coat stretched his hand in a gesture of salutation.

– Hmmm... it was fun to watch, huh? Hojo is my name, and it seems you wanted to talk to me, hmmm?

McGee, his mouth wide open, only manages to look back at smiling Professor Hojo and shake his hand, slowly. The screen fades to a black and white still, capturing that moment.

End of Chapter 1

NEXT ON “NCIS: JUNON”

To confirm rumours about the “Promised Land” Project, DiNozzo tries his charm with Executive Scarlet.
McGee and Hojo have a chat about the secret projects that make ShinRA's history, each one trying to outwit the other to avoid revealing information.
Ducky checks on the bodies and links their CoD with the recent attack to ShinRA HQ.
Ziva, Reyes, Denitz and Gibbs try to monitor hotels and restaurant looking for suspicious faces.
And Abby runs the census at Junon.

But when she gets the crucial piece of information that links McGee's and DiNozzo's findings, new interagency intel forces the team to question not only the evidence of the case, but also ShinRA's own knowledge about it.