Discovery – Part Three by Ladyholder

Reading Time:
13 Minutes

Art by Polaris

Tony looked up as Gibbs walked into the conference room as Kate left, quirked an eyebrow at him. “Running a bit late, Boss.”

“Emergencies don’t happen on a set schedule, DiNozzo. And it wasn’t like I asked to get pulled to take care of it,” Gibbs said. He sighed as he stared at the boxes. “Did you find any surprises in here?”

“No, everything is like I remember it,” Tony said. He waved his hand at the piles of evidence and grimaced. “It’s still a horror show, and I’m glad we got him.”

“Me too,” Gibbs said. He picked up the first file and settled in to read it. “How did Kate do?”

“She read through everything and was horrified at what happened to Brown’s victims. She also read through the profile that Aaron and his team wrote for us, and she agreed that she would have missed a lot of the things they pointed out,” Tony said. “She seemed a bit chagrined to realize that, too.”

“Huh. She can learn,” Gibbs muttered as he opened the file and started reading.

Tony sat and sipped on his drink as he watched Gibbs read the summary file and thought about everything he’d read. Brown had destroyed a lot of lives, not just his victims, but also their families and friends. Putting him in jail while he waited for the trial was only the first step.

The trial was going to be a shit show that had the chance to be a media circus. Any trial of a serial killer was sensational, but this serial killer targeted female sailors. Tony expected that the press would catch wind of the trial since it had to do with the deaths of women, and the public got twitchy about things like that. Add in Brown being a shifter, and things got even more fraught.

Since he was a shifter, there were choices that would have to be made if he were determined to be guilty. Tony thought Brown was guilty, but it was going to take a jury to determine that for the Criminal Justice System. And that’s where things would get very interesting.

Justice was what they were all aiming for, and Tony was going to do his best to bring justice to every single one of Brown’s victims.

If he was determined to be guilty, and the charges the prosecutor was pushing for were carried, Brown wasn’t going to live his life out in a jail cell. As a shifter, he was dangerous. As a bear shifter, he was very dangerous.

It was difficult for the judicial system to keep a shifter in jail. Brown was in a US Navy jail that was specifically built to hold shifters and hold them safely. Not every shifter was a danger to humanity, so there were varying levels of security for the kind of crimes they were arrested for.

“Are you okay with how this is likely to end up?” Gibbs asked abruptly.

Tony huffed slightly. “I was just thinking about the end results of this. Why are you asking?”

“I know you got shoved into this world, but are you okay with Brown being killed for his crimes?” Gibbs asked. He was staring at him over the top of the file, and his eyes were level and serious as he looked at him. He shook the file and grimaced as the paper flapped against itself. “We’ve done this enough to know what the likely sentence is for some crimes. Brown is going to be found guilty on all counts. He’s a bear shifter.”

“I know all of this,” Tony said impatiently

“And you know that the really dangerous shifters don’t get appeals. When they are found guilty, they’re killed,” Gibbs said evenly. “Are you okay with that?”

“If I wasn’t okay with it, I would have left law enforcement years ago and campaigned against the law,” Tony said. He shrugged when Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him. “Look, am I happy that someone else is likely going to die in this case? Not really. Do I want a guy who can turn into a ten-foot-tall, 2/3 of a ton killing machine, who can push through almost anything, getting free? No. And he would, because he’s smart, and a prison will just give him time to think things over and escape. And that’s not good.”

“True.”

“It’s not easy to be one of the hands that leads to someone’s death,” Tony explained. “But in this, I’m not doing it for shits and giggles. I’m not feeding any voices in my head or scratching a mental itch. I’m serving justice. And that’s going to have to be what I hold onto through this whole trial.”

Tony picked up his personal phone when it rang. He was slowly repacking the evidence boxes and playing a form of Tetris with the various items to make sure that everything fit. Kate was busy packing her own box and glanced sharply at him. He jerked his chin at her box and frowned. His calls were none of her business. “DiNozzo.”

“Tony,” Aaron’s voice was stressed, and Tony dropped the last item he’d picked up into its box before slapping the lid on it.

“Aaron? What’s wrong?” Tony asked.

“Hailey’s gone into labor, and her doctors want my Alpha here in case I lose my shit,” Aaron explained. Tony could hear the sound of a hospital on the other end of the phone, and he grimaced in sympathy. Aaron had done his best not to be a boob while his wife was pregnant and had done mostly okay. But.

Giving birth was painful. There was no way around that, and since Hailey had taken the bite not long after she’d married Aaron, she metabolized pain medication too fast for it to be of use. Which meant that Aaron needed someone there to assist him in keeping control while his wife and mate was in pain.

And since Aaron was perilously close to developing red eyes of his own with all the potential control issues that came with that, it meant that Tony had to step up. Thankfully, this event had been planned for.

“Are you two at George Washington?” Tony asked as he opened the door and put the mic on mute. “Gibbs! Pack emergency!”

“Gotcha!” Gibbs said. Tony could hear him lock his computer up before hurrying in his direction.

Tony toggled the mic back on as Aaron agreed on his location. “I’m getting ready to head out now. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Remember your breathing, and if you piss your wife off enough, she’ll rip off bits that you’re attached to.”

“Oh, my god,” Aaron said faintly. “Why are you like this?”

“Mainly because it distracts you enough that you don’t act like a twit in front of your wife,” Tony admitted. He hit the mute again when Gibbs stepped up to him. “Hailey is in labor, and I need to go support Aaron. There are still boxes to pack.”

“Got it. Go take care of your pack,” Gibbs said. He headed into the conference room while Tony headed for his desk.

“Hailey promised that she wouldn’t rip anything off,” Aaron said. He sounded distracted, and Tony flipped the mic back on as he tucked his earwig into his ear and turned it on. When it was mated to his phone, he tucked his phone away as he grabbed what he needed before leaving. “You had me on mute?”

“I didn’t think you wanted to hear me call for Gibbs,” Tony said with a shrug.

“Thanks?” Aaron said, sounding confused, before he hummed. “Right. You’re at work. Did I interrupt anything?”

“Eh. It’s been taken care of, and there’s nothing I’m needed here for,” Tony assured. With Gibbs and Kate taking care of the evidence, everything was good to go. “I’m heading downstairs now, so you might lose me in the stairwell. If we do, I’ll call you when I get in my car.”

“Okay,” Aaron took a deep breath before he broke out in a growl. “What are you doing to her?”

“I’m checking to see how dilated she is,” a female voice said from somewhere in the room.

“How about you ask her before you start touching her?” Aaron said evenly. “Just because she’s in labor doesn’t mean that you ignore consent.”

Tony snorted softly as he listened to Aaron managing his wife’s birthing experience with an iron hand. Hailey was going to have the calmest, smoothest birth that her husband could arrange. And Aaron could arrange a lot.

“Aaron, I’m almost at my car now,” Tony said as he exited the stairwell and headed for his car. “At this time of day, it shouldn’t take me too long to reach you. Do you want me to stay on the call with you while I drive?”

“No, I think I’m okay,” Aaron said. He sounded slightly distracted, and Tony couldn’t hold it against him. “Drive safe, and I’ll see you when you get in. I’ll text you Hailey’s room number and make sure that the nurses know you’re coming.”

“Sounds good,” Tony said. He smirked slightly as Aaron ended the call before laughing softly. This was going to be a very entertaining day for him.

The drive to George Washington was routine, but also fairly short. Parking was easy enough, and Tony checked his phone for Aaron’s text and saw the promised room number. A quick scan of the directory got him the directions he needed, and he headed towards the right elevator.

“Sir! You can’t come in here armed!” a security guard called.

Tony flipped his coat open to show his badge. “Federal officer, NCIS,” Tony called.

The guard huffed up to him and stopped in front of him. “Sir, you can’t bring a gun in here.”

“Actually, I can,” Tony said. He pulled his badge out of the inner pocket of his coat and held it in front of the guard. “Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS. I’m not going to leave my service weapon in my car, in a public parking lot.”

“Uhm,” the guard said as he stared at the badge. “NCIS. That’s a new one. Right. Go ahead.”

“Thank you,” Tony said. He headed for his elevator and slipped into it before hitting the button for the floor Labor and Delivery was on. When the door closed, he shook his head at what had just happened. While he got that the man had a job, there were a lot of federal agencies in DC, and he needed to know all of them since agents used the hospitals too.

As he walked out of the elevator seconds later, he tried not to listen to the sounds of women doing their best to bring new life into the world. He didn’t want to unintentionally peep in on them because it felt too much like spying.

“Tony,” Aaron said, leaning out of one room. He looked relieved that Tony was there and waved at him to hurry up.

“Aaron,” Tony said with a smile. He paused outside the door and held up a hand when Aaron reached out to him. “Before I go in, please make sure that Hailey is still good with me being in there.”

“Get in here, Tony! I need another hand to break!” Hailey called.

“Okay, then,” Tony said. He allowed Aaron to drag him into the room and smiled as he saw Hailey. She was lying on a gurney, sipping on water from a carafe. “You look good.”

“I look like I’ve been running a marathon,” Hailey sniped. She took another sip of her water and then waved at him. “Come over here and give me your hand.”

“One sec,” Tony said. He dropped his backpack by the door and shrugged out of his suit jacket before hanging it up beside the door. “Okay, I’m all yours now,” he said as he slid into the chair beside the bed.

“Good,” Hailey said. She grabbed hold of his hand and gripped it firmly as her body locked up with a contraction.

Tony took a deep breath as his hand was firmly crushed by a female werewolf who was laboring. When she finally let his hand loose, Tony shook his hand out, and he could feel the bones healing from the fractures she had given him. “You’ve got a hell of a grip.”

“You try pushing something the size of a bowling ball out through a space that starts out the size of a lemon!” Hailey panted tartly.

“I’ll pass, thanks,” Tony said quickly before looking at his packmate. “Aaron, do you want to take my place?”

“No, I think you can sit there and take the hand breaking for a bit. I’ll save my hands for when we get closer,” Aaron said with a grin. He deftly switched out the cup of ice water that Hailey was drinking from and wandered off towards the nurse’s station. “I’ll be back in a sec!”

“He wanted me down here so he could save his hands, didn’t he?” Tony asked Hailey as she fished out several ice chips from her water and crunched on them.

“Yup. And I’m less likely to go for your balls than I am his,” she admitted before wincing. “New contraction coming.”

“Right,” Tony said. He held out his hand to her and winced only slightly when she grabbed hold of it and clenched down. “Ow.”

“Wuss,” Hailey panted. “Aaron Nathanial Hotchner, I am never doing this again!”

“Should I call for him?” Tony asked as she squeezed his hand brutally.

“Nope,” Hailey said with a smile.

Tony hissed as her grip got tighter. “Right.”

“Tony.”

Tony opened his eyes and looked at Aaron. “Has the baby been born?”

“Not yet, but Hailey’s close and I’m close to losing my temper with the nurses,” Aaron said bluntly.

“Why?” Tony asked. He ran his hands over his face before leaning to the side to see Hailey. She looked exhausted, and he dearly wished that there was some way to make this easier on her. But there wasn’t, and that meant that they had to keep pushing through to get to the end.

“The last nurse to come in tried to get handsy with me and didn’t like it when Aaron growled at her before she hauled ass out of the room,” Hailey panted. “Aaron, get over here. I need to push.”

“You need to push?” Tony asked. He’d delivered a baby while on the Peoria PD, and that phrase brought back memories. “Aaron, check your wife to see if she’s crowning.”

“Crowning? Right,” Aaron said, voice numb. He went to where her gown was draped over her lap and took a deep breath. “Okay, honey. I’m going to take a look now.”

Tony ducked out of the room to check to see if there was a nurse available. There were none at the nurses’ station, and he wasn’t going to start knocking on doors to see if he could free one up. Damn it.

Turning back to Hailey’s room, he quickly entered and shook his head at Aaron when he glanced at him. Thankfully, there was a sink by the door, and Tony made sure to scrub his hands and arms well before he went to stand by Hailey’s head. “Aaron, go scrub your hands and arms. Hailey, I didn’t see a nurse when I ducked out. You’ve got the button to summon one of the, so hit it.”

“Right,” Hailey panted as another contraction hit. She scrabbled for the button and hit it as her other hand latched on to his and squeezed. “Am I really doing this without a doctor or a nurse here?”

“Looks like it,” Tony said. He kept his attention on her face and ignored the way the bones in his hands shifted and ground against themselves as her fingers flexed. “Aaron’s going to catch your baby, and everything will be fine.”

“You can’t promise that,” Hailey said. Her voice was thin and pained before she screamed softly. “Oh, fuck that hurts!”

“The baby’s head is almost out, Hailey,” Aaron said. “Tony, I need you to help hold one of Hailey’s legs.” Tony shifted slightly so he could hold one of her legs while still letting her crush one hand as she pushed. “Almost there.”

The scream that came out of Hailey almost deafened him, and Tony could feel the way she was straining as he worked to give her something to push against. He was ignoring everything that was happening south of her collarbones because there were a number of things he didn’t want to know about, and an up close and personal view of birth was one of them.

The room was silent for a brief moment before the cry of a newborn cut through the air, and Hailey sobbed once. Tony let go of her leg to move up to her head and help her sit up slightly. “Aaron?”

Tony glanced down at Aaron and sucked in a breath as he moved to place their baby on his mother’s chest. Aaron’s eyes were ruby red. “We have a son, Hailey.”

Hailey’s laugh sounded wet as she cradled their child to her breasts.