Fic: Gone, but not Forgotten - Deskbound (Part 4 of 6)(PG-13)(NCIS/SGA X-Over) (Bridges)

[mardahin]

Title: Gone, but not Forgotten 4 (of 6) - Deskbound
Previous Parts: Part 1 - Miko, Part 2 - Bates, Part 3 - Jack
Universe: Bridges
Author: miriel
Pairing/Rating: Implied Gibbs/DiNozzo, PG-13
Warnings: Well, it's an NCIS crossover. Generally, you need someone to die to land one of those. Not, however, a major character.
Author's Notes: This is a belated birthday present for ladyholder, who wanted both an SGA/NCIS crossover, and more of G,bnF; she also ended up con-critting along the way. Now, as fair warning, this is my first NCIS piece. It's set somewhere in late 2006/2007, but the only spoilers are casting-related (since I haven't seen S3 or 4 yet). While basic knowledge of the Bridges universe in general (and G,bnF in particular) is useful, it is not essential to enjoy this.

Summary: Tony hated desk duty.

---

"I need to speak to a Lieutenant Laura Cadman."

Tony hated desk duty. Hated it with a passion. Hated being stuck in, even though he knew he was freeing up the rest of the team for legwork. Hated the injury that had him tied to the desk for the next week. Hated the fact that this was his sixth phone call, and he still hadn't been able to track down Staff Sergeant Atkins' former CO. The marine had died in a training accident, ten weeks after transferring to the Warfighting Laboratory at Quantico, and Gibbs wanted background. What Gibbs wanted, Gibbs got.

Tony sat up straighter, and clicked open his pen as the person on the other end of the line returned; something in the tone was different, promising. "Oh really? Cheyenne Mountain? Do you have a number?" He jotted down the digits, then read them back. "Thank you. Thank you very much." He dialed the new number, and repeated his query. "This is Agent DiNozzo, NCIS. I need to speak to Lieutenant Laura Cadman."

"One moment." Tony settled back into his chair again, absently doodling on the pad sitting on his desk.

There was a clicking sound on the phone, and a new voice came on. "Agent DiNozzo?"

"Yes?"

"I understand you're trying to contact Lieutenant Laura Cadman, is that correct?"

"Yeah, that's right. I called McMurdo, and they gave me your number. Who am I talking to?"

"Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman. McMurdo, ah, of course. Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, sir, but Lieutenant Cadman is currently MIA."

Tony blinked; that wasn't at all what he'd been expecting, although it certainly explained the run-around. "I'm sorry, did you say MIA? As in, Missing In Action?"

"Yes, sir."

"But she was stationed to Antarctica."

"Yes, sir."

"What happened, she fall into a crevasse?"

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"Not at liberty to-You know what? I don't want to know. What about her CO last year?"

There was a pause, and Tony could hear typing in the background. "That would be Major Evan Lorne."

Tony clicked on the relevant link in Cadman's online personnel brief. "Major Evan Lorne. Right. Where's he currently stationed?"

"Unfortunately, the major is also listed as being Missing In Action."

"You don't say. What's his excuse, bludgeoned to death by penguins?"

"I'm really not at liberty to say, sir."

Tony sighed, and scanned the major's short-file on his computer. "OK, Antarctica's a small base. What about Lorne's CO? I have a Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard?" He squinted at the screen, but no, the writing didn't change. Air Force, both of them. That was, well, odd.

"I, uh..." There was a muffled choking sound, and Tony could hear shouting in the background. Something about a General O'Neill. Before Tony could ask, however, the chief was back on the line. "Colonel Sheppard? I'm, I'm not sure that would be such a good idea, sir."

"Let me guess, he's MIA, too."

"No, no. Colonel Sheppard's just AWOL, sir."

Tony blinked. "AWOL. As in, ran off into the snow in an attempt to seek vengeance for the death of his 2IC at the hands of rabid penguins?"

"No, that was Leftenant Carmichael and Doctor Karkarova. Colonel Sheppard, well... It's a long story." Tony heard a siren go off in the background, followed by more shouting. "I'm very sorry, sir. Please feel free to call if you have any other questions." There was a click, and Tony was left staring at the phone. Great. He punched in another number from memory.

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"Atkins' COs? MIA. Every last one. Well, unless you count the one that's AWOL. Got bounced all over the place, before some guy at Cheyenne Mountain was even able to tell me that much."

Tony could hear the frown through the phone. "I thought his last posting was in Antarctica?"

"It was. You get anything from the interviews?"

"According to his current CO, there's something 'not quite right about those damn Antarctic boys', but he didn't elaborate. The best friend's giving off more mixed signals than the Andrews Control Tower, but I can't figure out what they mean. I've got Ziva and McGee out looking over the incident site again. You follow up on that unidentified number out in California?"

"Not yet."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Call me when you do. And check with Abby, see if she's got the results of the tox-screen back."

"On it, Boss." Tony set the phone down, and began hunting around for the list of phone numbers again. God, he missed schlepping around a swamp in the middle of a thunderstorm. Well, that might be stretching it, but it was close. It seemed to be getting closer every time he picked up the phone.

* * *

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"So I checked out the number, turns out its his shrink. A Dr. Katherine Heightmeyer, specializes in Combat Fatigue and stress management disorders. She's not taking new patients, I asked."

"Very funny, DiNozzo."

"Well, I thought so. Oh, you were right about something being off about Atkins; the guy's got a bunch of scars that don't match his medical record, and I'm talking nasty stuff - electrical burns, a couple of stab wounds, and a GSW. Nothing since the new posting, but also nothing over two years old. Ducky's having a field day, said he'll call you direct once he's finished cataloging it all."

"Anything else?"

"Abby found a foreign chemical in his system. Some kind of neurotransmitter. I didn't catch the details, but it's not matching anything in the database. It's driving her nuts."

"I'll bet it is. Right now, I need to you track down a Staff Sergeant Eugene Bates for me. The best friend mentioned him as a CO, but he's not on either of their records - I want to know who he is, and where they worked together. And I want you to pull the paperwork on Atkins' benefits, see if the wife is getting anything we didn't already know about."

"Why? It was a training accident, right?"

"Just do it. There's something else going on here, and the sooner we get it sorted out, the better."

"On it, Boss." There was a distinctive click, and Tony hung up. Twenty minutes later, he had the details of Atkins' death benefits, and not much else. As he leaned down to pull something out of one of his drawers, he heard someone clear their throat.

"Agent DiNozzo?"

Tony looked up warily, and found himself facing an Air Force officer. No, make than an Air Force General. Two stars. One more point to Gibbs' gut, there was definitely something strange going on. "Yes..."

"I'm Major General Jack O'Neill. I need all of your files on the death of Staff Sergeant Atkins, and I need them now."

Tony blinked, and pushed away from his desk, standing up. "Now wait just a minute-"

"Did I give you the impression that I was asking?" Tony's phone rang, and he looked down to see the lab extension flashing on the caller ID. The general must have sent somebody down to collect the data from Abby. Tony could see where this was going, and he didn't like it.

"And did I give you the impression I took orders from the Air Force?" Tony carefully slid his cell phone out of his pocket, flipped it open and sent Gibbs a 911 text message; he could only hope that his boss would get the point. There was only so far you could push some of this political bullshit, and he knew he was already treading on thin ice, but something about this felt wrong. "It's called NCIS for a reason, you know. Naval Criminal Investigative Service."

"You do now, at least in this case. Air Force and Navy are both DOD, and the Joint Chiefs have given me discretionary jurisdiction over the incident."

Tony blinked. "You're kidding, right? Since when does the Air Force care about a Marine Corps staff sergeant."

"That's classified."

"I'll bet." Tony was saved from doing some really stupid by the ringing of his cell phone. The caller ID read Gibbs, and Tony breathed a sigh of relief. So totally not his problem anymore. Thank God. Shooting the general a carefully apologetic look, and promptly turning his back, Tony flipped open the phone. "DiNozzo."

"What's going on? Abby called, said something about someone taking her evidence, and my reception cut out. Then I got your message."

"Well, Boss, I've got an Air Force General here who seems to think that he's taking over our case."

There was a pause, and Tony began a silent countdown. "Put him on the line."

Tony turned back to the general, and held out the cell phone. "My boss. You want anything from me, you convince him, first. That's how we work here."

The general gave him a long look, then took the phone. "This is Major General Jack O'Neill." He turned, walking to the end of the aisle. "I'm sorry, that's classified. No, that's not going to happen. I report directly to the Joint Chiefs. Yes, that's right." There was a pause, and Tony didn't even bother to pretend he wasn't paying attention; it wasn't his fault the general thought he was out of earshot. "I appreciate that. I, yes. I think I can swing that. No. Look, this is personal for me. No, I can't elaborate. I don't have to explain myself to you, but I give you my word - it'll be taken care of. Right." The general walked back to Tony's desk, and held out the phone. "Talk."

"Boss?"

"Give him what he wants, DiNozzo."

Tony resisted the urge to pout. Barely. It was never as effective on the phone, not that it actually worked on Gibbs. "Yes, Boss." He hung up, and put on his most saccharine smile. "So, General O'Neill, what can I do for you?"

"Well, the first thing you can do is call down to the lab and tell your analyst to un-lose her samples."

"Ah, yeah, about that..."

* * *

As had become habit, Tony stopped by the kitchen for a beer on his way to the basement. He considered it telling that Gibbs had started stocking his favorite brand, but like everything else about their relationship, he was careful not to read too much into the action. Bottle in hand, he descended into the workroom. Gibbs was kneeling, running his hands over one of the supports and doing, well, something. Tony wasn't always sure what it was Gibbs was looking at/for when working on the boat, but he knew if he asked, Gibbs would tell him. It was enough to know that the offer stood.

"Spit it out."

Tony startled, and took the last few steps down to sit on the lower landing. "Did anything about today's case seem strange to you?"

Gibbs shifted, and turned to look at Tony. "Strange is relative."

Tony took a long sip of his beer. "Oh, I don't know. The fact that the Military Appropriations Committee's pet general showed up out of the blue and confiscated all of our case notes? Or maybe the fact that the Joint Chiefs backed him up."

Gibbs stood, and picked up a glass of amber liquid on his way over to the stairs. "Tony. Let it go."

"But Boss..."

"Leave it." Gibbs' tone was sharp, and Tony looked away, concentrating instead on peeling away the label on his beer. After a moment, Gibbs sighed and took a long sip of his drink. Bourbon, by the smell. "Let me ask you something. You've been at NCIS a while now. Under what circumstances would survivor's benefits be denied to a widow?"

Tony paused in his destruction of the label, thinking through the options. "Wait, he was a suicide?"

Gibbs shrugged, and drained the rest of his glass. "Sometimes, it's better not to look too hard at things."

"That was why you asked about the wife. You knew, didn't you?"

Gibbs stood, ignoring the question. "Let's get some sleep. It's been a long day."

Tony frowned, but followed as Gibbs led the way up the stairs, killing the power when they reached the door. It wasn't until they'd reached the kitchen that he spoke again, folding his arms gently around the older man's waist. "He agreed to rule it accidental if you turned it over, didn't he."

Gibbs stilled, then set his glass down on the counter. "Atkins married her because of the child, and then couldn't see a way out. I don't approve of the choice, but no child should have to grow up knowing they caused their father's death. O'Neill agreed."

Tony opened his mouth to ask, but thought better of it. Gibbs was right, there were some things it was better not to know. And sometimes, you just had to let them go.

~ Finis ~
Part 5 - Captain Dave Kleinman

Comments

[ladyholder.livejournal.com]

This so rocks. And I thank you so very much for my present. :: Bounces ::

Ladyholder

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thanks. I'm still a little unsure about it, partially because I'm worried certain elements just don't bleed through enough to be clear, but I think I'll be letting it stand.

Whee! I have managed to throw myself into NCIS fic. Whatever is the world coming to?

[ladyholder.livejournal.com]

Right now? I am hoping for sleep on your part. Seriously.

As for me? I loved this. And Abby has to be pissed that she had to let a mystery get out of her hands. Ducky is likely pissed as well... OOOhhhhh..... :: thinks ::

Ladyholder

[ratcreature]

I liked this even though I don't know NCIS. I can imagine that any investigation coming across the SG programs would be frustrating.

I was confused by this "No child should have to know that they caused their father's death." though. He killed himself because his wife was pregnant?

[ladyholder.livejournal.com]

More, the AE guys are marking time until they can go home. And this kids got a woman pregnant and did the honorable thing, he married her. And by doing that, found that he couldn't go home (to Atlantis) again. So to take care of his child and wife, he, well..... You get the idea.

Ladyholder

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I'd been worried about how that would read. He didn't kill himself b/c his wife was pregnant, so much as he married her b/c of the pregnancy, and then killed himself.

The basic premise is that Atkins (like most of the other AE vets) got word of the secession and the proposed reconnection timetable via Miko. They knew they were going back to Atlantis in 2-3 years, or at least that the option was there. Then Atkins went and got a one-night-stand pregnant, and was stuck between two (to him) borderline unlivable situations (because while connection w/ Atlantis was guaranteed, their status as a posting for Earth troops is not).

He could go back to Atlantis, which is (at this point) the environment he's hard-wired for, except he'd be ditching the kid w/ no financial support on his end. Or he could stay on Earth, where there is every chance a forced marriage would fall apart and he'd be miserable because no one can understand why he is/does what he is/does - there are few (if any) shrinks outside the program who have clearance to know what happened to him in Atlantis.

So he took the one option he saw as meeting all the problems - he married the one night stand, thus insuring her financial stability through his pension & life insurance, and then died in a training accident, because he couldn't face 18-20 years on Earth.

*Makes face* You think I need to elaborate more w/in the piece?

[ratcreature]

Well, I didn't grasp that detailed background from the story, and would have liked more elaboration, but I have a definite preference for stories to be clear and explicit, rather than just implying things or leaving them open for interpretation. I think it is a question of taste and style, and also how present the universe backstory is for you at the time of reading. I mean, I've read the other stories, and more or less remember them, but I read a ton of SGA fanfic, so it's not as if every aspect of a series stick in my mind, you know? Maybe it comes across clearer if you read them in a single session.

[khyrra.livejournal.com]

Ooo, very cool. I love it when Jack steps in and takes over. Felt bad for Atkins, though.

This made me long for some JAG/SGA. Do you happen to know if there's any out there?

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

No JAG/SGA, I don't think. Atkins just got himself into a bad situation, and couldn't figure out how to climb back out w/out breaking his own moral tenants in the process.

This was actually originally to be a JAG/SGA, with Mac doing the initial case review in San Diego. But then I found NCIS (No, it's not like finding religion), and it worked so much better to set it near DC so Jack could pop in.

Actually, if you did find a JAG/SGA crossover, you'd probably have fun dancing around the issues they hit in the NCIS episode (like, the only one I'd ever seen before 2 weeks ago) where a cryptologist was killed - the work was so hush-hush that it was a pain in the ass getting anything sorted out. I could totally see someone knifing their co-worker over an affair or something (in the Mountain) and then everyone playing nice and going nuts b/c the dead guy's a marine and that means JAG is investigating, and there are issues b/c of crime scene location (i.e. floor 26 locker room) and "Well, what was the fight about?" "Err. How do you say "he slept with my alien girlfriend" and not break classification?" and all that.

But, dude, could be all kinds of fun. Hell, Harm's brother could get transferred to the Russian 'Gate team (Wouldn't Galina love that) ^_^ Or Webb. Clayton Webb could take over NID and *cough* clean it up. Gods, Webb could do some great things, given his position at CIA. "Webb, Harm was abducted by aliens!" "Really, what color were they?"

[fred-god-of.livejournal.com]

You would be writing thiss, right :-) <- Evil grin.

[ladyholder.livejournal.com]

I know of one... But I am not really sure if the link will work....http://www.thetenthmuse1.madbrilliant.com/JAG/JAG_SG1/trial1.htm

Let me know?

ladyholder

[fred-god-of.livejournal.com]

I liked this even though I don't know NCIS, but it's excellent to see O'Neil from the other perspective as the evil goverment agent.

I didn't see the Suicied as one hundred percent clear, but theat was mostly because I kind of got my univereses mixed together and thought he died of ATA realeted illnesses. I need to make flash card to remember what universe is what.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*G* Aah, yes, the mess that is the universes. Look on the bright side, Memoirs is officially ended come July, and Ripples by August (well, presuming I can actually start writing with any regularity again). That should help (a little) when it comes to keeping the fic straight.

And, Hell, we'll never know if ATA-related chemicals contributed to his state of mind at time of death - After all, Abby lost all of her samples ^_^ It's possible that in Bridges the more minor build-up of ATA-S leads to depression. It's SGA - anything is possible *Big Grin*

O'Neill? Knows he is doing the right thing; he views it as taking care of one of the Atlantis boys. He's head of Homeworld Security, so he gets to do that. Except no one else knows he's head of HWS, or that there even is an HWS, so to the uneducated he's just a politically appointed paper-pusher with a disgustingly high clearance and a bunch of authority he didn't have to earn.

Well, I do try to help when it comes to the Universes - I link to the main chronos when I post something! The only thing really left in Memoirs (the principle ATA-S universe) is the end of the Lorne/Novak piece, which has to be done by July 1 since I've been nominated for the SG Fan Awards

[bratfarrar]

Great crossover. It's so much fun seeing the SGC from the outside.

"No, no. Colonel Sheppard's just AWOL, sir."

Tony blinked. "AWOL. As in, ran off into the snow in an attempt to seek vengeance for the death of his 2IC at the hands of rabid penguins?"

"No, that was Leftenant Carmichael and Doctor Karkarova

This made me grin - I love Walter.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Walter = Love.

Yeah, once he really realized where things were going, he's the one who started yelling at Siler to get on the horn to O'Neill, get O'Neill to do his job and ride clean-up on this (not like O'Neill ever objects; it gets him out of meetings).

SGC really is supposed to be the impenetrable box from which no light escapes, and the only reason they didn't catch this sooner is that they had to out-source so many when they "shut down" Atlantis. Even some of those who were given the option of staying at SGC requested transfer, because it was both too familiar and too different.

And like it or not, a large portion of those coming out of Atlantis have seen things no one should have to see, oftentimes have done things no one should ever have had to do. If I ever do the companion piece to this (from Gibbs' perspective, I think - the interviews and on-the-scene situation), I desperately want to include the following few lines:

"Did you know Staff Sergeant Atkins had refused psychological counseling?"

"Well, yeah. He calls Kate occasionally, but nothing official. He didn't think the base shrink could help him."

"You yourself were recommended for counseling after your transfer."

*Shrugs* "All of us were. Stupid, really."

"Oh?"

"There's no point talking to a shrink when your security clearance is higher than theirs is. Not...not after what we've been through."

"And what, exactly, would that be?"

"If you don't know, I'm certainly not at liberty to tell you."

*Nods thoughtfully* "So tell me about Kate..."

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, my. Very nicely done. I was wondering how you would mesh NCIS/Gibbs'team's bulldog tenaciousness with the official will-o'-the-wisp that is the Stargate program. Excellent installment to the "Bridges" universe.

Glenda

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

What it really comes down to, is a lot of phone calls and a lot of run-around, with a little jurisdictional pissing on the side.

*G* Glad you liked it ^_^

[cupidsbow.livejournal.com]

I really like this series. Good job with the crossover.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

It's not quite what I wanted (I really wish I was just a little bit more familiar w/ NCIS), but I had a deadline crunch. The next NCIS piece I write will be both longer, and more in-character/depth. Well, presuming I write more NCIS.

I'm glad you're liking this; it really has turned out to be the dark cousin of Glimpses of the Edge. But still, yay! almost done! Only 2 installments left on this one, then I'm left with the random character arcs like Miko & Kate & Dahlia ^_^

Also, now that I've been dragged kicking, screaming, and cursing into NCIS, I'm going to have to go through your rec_room links for the series. *Sighs* Oh, the pain

[aella_irene]

"Colonel Sheppard? I'm, I'm not sure that would be such a good idea, sir."

"Let me guess, he's MIA, too."

"No, no. Colonel Sheppard's just AWOL, sir."

Tony blinked. "AWOL. As in, ran off into the snow in an attempt to seek vengeance for the death of his 2IC at the hands of rabid penguins?"

"No, that was Leftenant Carmichael and Doctor Karkarova. Colonel Sheppard, well... It's a long story."

This fic is glorious. You managed to hit exactly the right mix of humor, and sadness, and to wind the two different fandoms together perfectly.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*Blushes madly and does happy dance* Yay!!

Now, I just have to get around to writing the companion piece in which someone *cough*Gibbs*cough* calls O'Neill a Pansy-assed Politically Appointed Paper Pusher (behind his back). Because really, it's not like he can list "Director of Homeworld Security" on his resume...

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

"You don't say. What's his excuse, bludgeoned to death by penguins?"

You SLAY me!! lol How, how did I manage to miss this?!?! WTF?

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*Giggles* Well, I mean, really... how exactly does one go missing in action in Antarctica. You spend one night out unprotected and you're dead! It's a little ridiculous, but you work with what you've got, right?

What do you mean miss?

Glad you liked it ^_^

[shara50.livejournal.com]

That was terrific and the addititon of Gibbs?Dinozzo was great touch. Atkins was a very heartbreaking charecter.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it worked well for you. Atkins was a good man who just felt like he was out of options, and the thing is? His fellow AE vets understood, which is a mixed blessing; they didn't question his decision, just accepted it.

I'd been a little hesitant to include the Gibbs/DiNozzo as clearly as I did, but I think it worked well. Thanks for reading!