[email protected]
�Not the romantic night we had planned, huh?� Tony said sadly.
Kate tilted her head back and looked up at him. �The night was romantic. It was the morning that sucked,� she corrected him. She rested her head on his chest for a moment before pulling away when the elevator began to slow, alerting them that they were going to stop momentarily. Tony ran his hand over her hair tenderly before lowering his hand to the small of her back and leading her out into the bullpen in an entirely partnerly way, forcing himself, as always, to forget how her hot skin felt underneath her clothing.
They were forced to separate when they reached their desks, both unwilling to do so but caving to the rules, bending them only slightly by shifting their seating arrangements around until Tony had rolled his chair over and was leaning in close to Kate, ostensibly to share a view of her computer screen as she pulled up the names and descriptions of any and all missing sailors of the male persuasion in the Washington/Virginia area. She knew it was likely that the dump site was a central point, abductions and murders�and dismemberment�happening somewhere within a one to ten miles from the focus.
�How long do you think it�ll take Ducky and Abby to make ID�s?� Kate asked after hitting the SEARCH button and sitting back in her chair.
�Depends,� Tony said fairly. Kate shot him an �elaborate please� look and he started speaking again. �If the fingerprints are intact, that will speed things up. If they really are Navy, that will speed things up. And if they joined after the DNA database got off the ground, or if they consented to be added to it if they were in before, then Abby should be able to make positive ID�s within a few hours. But we still don�t have any evidence that the� parts� belong to Navy personnel. It�s possible that Ducky is autopsying the leftovers of civilians who were dressed in Navy uniforms pre-or-post.�
Kate shuddered. No matter how many times she saw evidence of the world�s evils she still couldn�t reconcile what she saw on the job with the world she lived in. Tony took her hand in his under the desk and held it tight, offering up what small amount of comfort he could while surrounded by coworkers.
�Can I get you anything?� Tony asked gently, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.
�Maybe some tea,� Kate replied. Tony nodded and squeezed her hand before getting up and heading off to get her some tea. After watching him round the corner to the break room, Kate sat back and watched her computer go through the stages of a generic search for missing persons within the Navy. She knew Tony was right about the uniforms not meaning much of anything, ID-wise. But she didn�t want to think about the alternative.
If the killer had dressed the �parts� in uniforms of officers in the IS Navy then he or she was trying to get NCIS involved, which begged the question why?.