Discovery – Part Six by Ladyholder

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10 Minutes

Art by Polaris

Monday afternoon meant that Tony was in Rabb’s office, going over the Littlefield case. The trial would start the next day, and Harmon expected that it could take almost two weeks, from beginning to end, if the other attorney tried to drag things out.

“Are you ready for this?” Rabb asked.

“Am I ready for justice to be served? Yes,” Tony said. He shrugged at the look Harmon slanted at him. “I know what the end result of the trial could be if he’s found guilty. And I’m fine with that.”

“Right,” Rabb sighed. “Are you going to be good with the defense attorney cross-examining you?”

“Not my first rodeo,” Tony reminded him. “I’ve dealt with hostile attorneys before, and I’ve survived it.”

“Oh, I know,” Rabb said. “Should I apologize for the times I tried to grill you?”

“Would you mean it?” Tony asked.

“No, not really,” Rabb said with a grin. “But I thought I’d ask.”

“Whatever,” Tony said, waiving the whole thing off. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Rabb said. “Our servicewomen deserve justice, and we’re going to get it for them.”

“Yup. So, the trial starts tomorrow at 0800?” Tony asked. “Should we show up?”

“Yes,” Rabb said. “We’ve already gotten our jury this morning, and we’ll be starting the trial in earnest tomorrow. I expect I’ll be calling on you, Gibbs, and Blackadder quickly.”

“Sounds good. Also, good luck with everything,” Tony said. He closed the folder that contained his notes and tapped it. “Chances that this is going to be a media circus?”

“Higher than we’d like since Brown is a serial killer,” Rabb said. He frowned as he leaned back in his chair and rocked it back and forth. “Add in him being a shifter and his victims being pretty young ladies? Media gold there.”

“Gross,” Tony huffed. “Well, here’s to hoping that they get our name right.”

“I can’t see why not. NCIS just trips off the tongue,” Rabb teased. “I’m going to bet lunch that they just label you three ‘Federal Agents’ and that’s it.”

“No fair,” Tony said good-naturedly. “You know the press mislabels us all the time.”

Rabb shrugged until Tony glared at him. “Alright, fine. We’ll figure something else to bet a lunch against,” Rabb allowed. “But it won’t be basketball! I learned that lesson. Shark.”

“Wow,” Tony said, opening his eyes wide and laying a hand over his heart to show his innocence. “Who, me?”

“Yes,” Rabb said with a laugh. “Anyway. You know that his attorney is going to try to trip you up.”

“I’m aware,” Tony confirmed. He shrugged once before grimacing. “My money is on the attorney trying to get me about the name differences we have in the records and how that can’t be Brown.”

“You mean the name he gave his victims was a fake name? Gee, why would a serial killer give his victims his actual name? Fake names keep them at a remove,” Rabb said, sarcasm thick in his voice. “If you do get asked, answer that the initial name NCIS had for the Unsub was retrieved from the victim’s files, and his actual name was found when all the evidence, over the course of the case, was processed.”

“Fair, and good answer,” Tony said. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alright. Tomorrow at 0800?”

“Yes. Bright and early,” Rabb agreed.

“What is your position at NCIS?” Rabb asked.

“I am the senior agent on the DC MCRT,” Tony said. He was the last member of the NCIS team to testify, and he was enjoying the show Rabb was orchestrating.

“MCRT?” Rabb asked. From what Tony could smell, he was intent on the questioning, despite his appearance of puzzlement.

“MCRT stands for Major Case Response Team,” Tony explained.

“Thank you. What was the start of this case for NCIS?” Rabb asked.

“We got a report from the Metro police, stating that two hikers reported seeing someone carrying a body and then dumping it deep in the woods. Metro investigated and found that the dead person appeared to be part of the US Navy, so NCIS was called in,” Tony explained.

Rabb slowly questioned Tony on the whole Littlefield case and how the work on that had led them to Brown. Each step was clearly explained, and the evidence discovered over the course of it was confirmed to be logged into the record. When Rabb completed his questions, he sat down and let the defendant’s attorney step up.

“Agent DiNozzo, by your own reports, you stated that you were looking for someone by the name of Smith. Why did you look at my client?” Avery Georges, Brown’s attorney, asked.

“Your client went to visit the dumping ground of a serial killer and inspected each grave. Since we had not released any information on the site, I went out and collected all the evidence that was left behind during that visit,” Tony said.

Georges stared at him for several seconds before he checked his notes. “And how did you know my client had been there?”

“We had the area under surveillance,” Tony said.

“Wouldn’t you need authorization to do that? A warrant, perhaps?” George pressed.

“The area where the graves were located is in a national park. No, we didn’t need to request a warrant since the park is public land. As a courtesy, the Park Services were informed that we had done so,” Tony said.

Georges flipped a page in the file he was referencing to a new page. “How were you certain that the evidence you collected at the site belonged to my client?”

“At the time the evidence was collected, we had no confirmation that the evidence belonged to your client. That came later,” Tony said.

“You didn’t say how certain you are that the evidence points to my client,” Georges said.

“We used facial recognition software, combined with the forensic science that was explained by Dr. Scuito, and the camera I had installed, pointing at the car park, got a picture of his license plate. All of which allowed us to trace the person we were hunting for,” Tony said, voice even. “We also interviewed the friends and family of some of the victims to see if they could recognize our suspect. They did.”

Tony breathed evenly and quickly sorted through the various scents carried on the air. Georges was both irritated and frustrated, and Tony had to think that the attorney wasn’t getting the answers he wanted. Brown was angry. Toweringly angry, and the only reason he wasn’t growling and snarling was the suppression cuffs and collar he had been fitted with.

Despite the assurance provided by the cuffs and collar, Tony was keeping a close eye on Brown. Because the man was dangerous. And he didn’t want Brown to be the first to escape the cuffs under his watch.

The rest of his time on the stand passed much the same. Tony answered everything as honestly and as shortly as possible, while Georges did his best to trip him up. From the frustration spilling off Brown and Georges, they weren’t happy with him for his behavior.

It didn’t get any better when Georges got Gibbs on the stand. And then Abby took her place, then Ducky. None of them stumbled or waffled, and all of them were calm in the face of Georges’ questions. It was a masterful performance from NCIS, and he was very proud of all of them.

The trial took three days, and Tony made sure to be there for every single one of them. It was driving Georges and Brown insane, and Tony was keeping a close eye on the suppression cuffs and collar because he could tell that the other shifter was trying to pull his fur on.

When the jury retreated to contemplate their decision, Tony kept his attention on Brown. When Georges leaned over and put a hand on Brown’s wrist, Tony sat up and watched. He shot a quick look at the bailiff and saw that the man was also keeping a close eye on Brown.

When Georges didn’t remove his hand from Brown’s wrist, the bailiff threw subtly out of the window and unsnapped the holster on his taser. Georges stiffened in shock at the bailiff’s actions before he pulled his hand back. From the anger pouring off Brown, they hadn’t gotten what they wanted out of their actions.

Tony leaned back and cast a quick eye up to check out what the judge was doing. He was staring intently at the defendant’s table as intently as the bailiff, and he had to wonder what he was thinking as he watched their behavior.

“Your Honor, the jury has come to a decision,” a bailiff announced as they walked into the courtroom.

The judge sighed before he sat back in his chair. “Please send them in, bailiff.” Tony watched as the jury walked back in and took their seats before the foreman stood up and faced the judge. “Have you reached your decision?”

“We have, sir,” the foreman confirmed. He opened the folder in his hand and glanced down at the list of charges on it before he closed it and handed it to the bailiff. “We, the jury, find Reginald Brown guilty on all counts.”

Tony could feel the tension that had been building in the room for the whole trial burst, and the release of it was almost deafening.

“Thank you, foreman. You and your fellow jurors are dismissed,” the judge said. He held his silence as the men and women of the jury left the room. Only when the door to the jury’s mediation room closed behind them did he turn his attention to Brown. “Over the last three days, we’ve all heard the evidence of your crimes, Mr. Brown. You are a serial killer. You raped and murdered your victims before burying them in a national park where their families were unlikely to find them.

“Thankfully, someone saw you and was able to let the authorities know what was happening. And those authorities, in turn, hunted you to bring you to justice. Now it comes to me. A jury of your peers has found you guilty on all charges. And with that decision, I do hereby sentence you to death. The sentence will be carried out immediately.

“You will be taken from here, and if you haven’t already, you and your attorney will have the chance to dictate a will. If a will has already been done, your execution will take place once you are prepared for it. The regional Alpha and his Left Hand have been standing by for this and will carry out the court’s decision. Do you have any questions?”

“What right do you have to do this to me?” Brown snarled. “I don’t recognize your authority at all!”

From the way his muscles were flexing, he was actively attempting to get out of the suppression devices he had been wearing. But they were holding. Tony wouldn’t vouch for them to be good for anything ever again after this, but they were doing the job right then, and that was what counted.

“While you may not recognize the authority of this court, we do have it over this case and you,” the judge said evenly. “And since it seems that you have no questions for the court… Bailiff, please escort the condemned to the execution room. Mr. Georges, does your client have a will on file with the court?”

Georges stood up, and Tony could hear him swallow harshly before he spoke. “He does, your honor.”

“Thank you. You are dismissed unless you feel that you should accompany your client to his fate,” the judge said.

“No, thank you, your honor,” Georges said. He stayed standing as the bailiff, and his second pulled Brown up and escorted him out of the room. From the way the man slumped after Brown was out of arm’s reach, some kind of tension had just left him.

“Agent DiNozzo,” the judge called. Tony stood up and stared at the judge in surprise. “I notice that you’re the only one left from NCIS here. Why?”

“Because it’s our team policy that we watch the trial through to the end, sir,” Tony said bluntly. “And I’m the only shifter on the team. I called this as my duty because of my species.”

“Understood,” the judge said. He reached out and smacked his gavel against his desk and closed out the trial. “This concludes the case of the United States Navy against Reginald Brown, the Honorable Alexander Lord presiding.”

Tony watched as Rabb reached over and offered a hand to Georges, and shook it firmly when the man gripped his. He held his peace as Georges packed his materials up and quietly left. The judge had already exited the courtroom, and there was a bailiff watching as the audience filed out. Tony stayed put and didn’t say anything when Rabb sat down beside him.

“This was justice,” Rabb said quietly. “It’s harsh. And unforgiving. But it is justice.”

“Oh, I know,” Tony agreed. He took a deep breath as the heartbeat he’d been following since it left the courtroom stopped.

As terrible as it was, it was as much justice as they could get.