We Will Be Remembered

On the Hunt

My plan was to go have dinner, but I decided to take a walk and speed-write a chapter first.

*****

"There's too many possibilities." McGee scrolled through the dozens of screen captures, each highlighting a 6'2" man of average stature.

"Did you try-"

"There's no way to narrow it down, Tony," he snapped.

"Okay, okay, sorry, McGrumpy. Didn't mean to twist your panties."

McGee flung an elbow back before he could think it through, and caught Tony right in the gut.

Ziva looked up at the sound of impact but didn't say anything. She was still in a weird mood, and McGee wasn't sure whether or not it was related to the case.

Grunting, Tony returned to his own desk and sat down heavily. No sooner than he had sat down, Gibbs stormed in with a fresh cup of coffee.

"What do you have?" he demanded.

"A lot of pain. And a bit of a grudge," Tony answered.

Gibbs ignored him, instead turning his focus to McGee.

"48 men who match the Dragon's height and stature but may or may not be him."

"Show me."

McGee went back to the top and let Gibbs scroll through them at his own pace.

"Take these and compare their gaits to the Dragon clip."

Why hadn't he thought of that?

"I'll have to refigure the program. It's going to take some time, Boss."

"Then you'd better get started. We don't have a lot of time."

No, they certainly did not.

***

Abby frowned at the results on her screen.

She'd thought that the accelerant from the crime scenes would have been your run-of-the-mill accelerant, but there was something wrong. Something was off.

And that's what was making her frown.

She couldn't figure out what was off.

The chemical breakdown seemed right, the proportions seemed right. So then what was it?

Almost as if he sensed her conundrum, Gibbs strode into the lab.

"Whatcha got, Abs?" he asked, planting a fresh Caf-Pow on the desk.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"What's this?" He gestured to the gas chromatography results still on her computer screen.

"The accelerant from the buildings."

"So tell me about it."

Abby sighed. "I can't. Not really."

"Why not?"

"Because. Something is wrong, and I don't know what it is. Each part itself seems normal, but when I look at them all together, it's just wrong."

He turned to face her, and for a moment she met his intense blue gaze. "What do you think it could be?"

She shrugged, frustration bubbling up inside her chest. "Could be an additional chemical, something not typically used in accelerants. Could be an overall imbalance in the chemical proportions. I don't know, Gibbs, okay, I don't know!"

"You'll figure it out." He kissed her forehead and then continued on his merry way.

***

It had to be random.

It just had to be.

The victims had no connections.

Not through jobs, or schools, or even the stores they shopped at. Ages were across the board, as were incomes, backgrounds, ethnicities...

Completely and utterly random.

Ziva pushed her keyboard away so she could rest her elbows on the edge of her desk and tuck her chin in her hands.

She didn't see any way to move forward.

"What's up?" Tony murmured, coming over to kneel beside her.

"I don't... There's no... These victims. They aren't connected in any way. I can't even connect one victim to another."

"I know. I've been trying to find a connection between their homes or the locations."

"And?"

"Like you said. Nothing."

"Great." She let her arms drop and put her head down on top of them.

Not even five seconds later, she felt Tony's hand in her hair. "We'll find something eventually. There has to be something," he whispered. "Every bad guy's got to slip up at some point. Every bad guy's got some method to the madness."

She wouldn't have dared had the squadroom not been empty, but she sat up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"What for?"

She shrugged. "Being you."

He grinned, just the faintest twinkle in his eye. "You're welcome."

She gasped as he pulled her chair back from the desk, and almost right out from under her.

"Come on. Let's go home." He picked up her things and held them out.

She took her coat but let him carry her bag. He didn't complain.

*****

If you haven't, check out that hilarious (and extremely weird) picture I included at the top. Interesting that I could save a draft in the future....

Anyway, be sure to vote and comment if you're liking the story.

More tomorrow!