Lion Rampart – Chapter Four

Title: Lion Rampart

Author: Ladyholder

Fandom: NCIS, The Sentinel, Barney Miller, Criminal Minds

Relationships: Tony/Gibbs, Blair/Jim, Wojo/Barney

Genre: Oh, So AU and a Mystery

Warnings: Mention of murder, possible torture and I’ll add more as it comes. Expect sex, some rock and roll, the drugs are iffy and you can be certain that there will be low humor.

Notes: Yes, I am aware of what happened in the show BM. Tough. I wanted a good set of really tough characters to be decent role models for a young Tony DiNozzo and they fit. If this wigs you out, try the ‘back’ button. Both you and I will be happier.

Beta: No Beta

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

They had gotten off the elevator and Tony could feel something pulsing against his skin. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at his Sentinel in askance.

”Abby likes to have her music up to near ear bleeding levels. We managed to insulate her lab enough that the whole building isn’t rocking along with her, but the bass still leaks out,” Jethro explained.

Now that he knew, Tony could feel how rhythmic the pulse was. “Please tell me we have some way to let her know we are here without opening the door to let the noise out?” he asked.

Jethro nodded and walked down to the double doors that lead into the forensics lab. Right next to the doors, set where a typical light switch would be, was a bright red button with the label ‘press me’. The Sentinel pressed the button and Tony noticed that the lights in the lab flashed in a set pattern.

“Oh. Cool. That is helpful,” the Guide nodded and leaned against his Sentinel while they had a brief, quiet moment to themselves. The day had already been a long one and it looked to be to going longer still. Only when the constant pulse of the music’s bass had faded from their skins did Jethro open the door. Given how sensitive his hearing was, let alone that of his partner’s, Tony was grateful for the courtesy.

“Gibbs! You are early boss man. I have some stuff, but not everything,” the lab tech said, bouncing lightly in place. From what Jethro had said on the way down, the young lady before him was the lab at NCIS and Tony was deeply impressed. He knew how many people it had taken to run the Forensics lab in Baltimore, so finding only one person at a Federal Agency was… Both impressive and disturbing.

In the meantime, Tony was once again impressed at how carefully the lab tech walked the line with her clothes. There was a very definite sense of personal style, with Goth overtones, but still professional. Even with the collar. Which he thought was more of a style choice, into a declaration that she was a Sub.

(Although after working Vice, nothing freaked him out any more. So if she was, he was cool with it.)

Gibbs laughed at her antics and let her bounce. Tony could feel how genuinely amused he was at her display. The caf-pow they had picked up was carefully set on a clear spot on a stainless steel table. “Abby-girl, I need you to calm down and tell me what you’ve got.”

“What I have is pretty slick. The indications are that the wax was hand mixed, but from the level of sophistication, I would say that this isn’t the first batch that was done,” Abby shared. “Now, when this happened you identified the scent as containing raw ambergris and sex pheromones. I ran a small sample through Mr. Mass Spec and I am getting a full range of organic compounds coming up. Most of which I am having to look up to be certain of. I did however find human skin cells in and around the cup of the warmer. I have a swab of those in to get analyzed to, but from the composition of them, they look to be in some sort of fluid, one that doesn’t match the wax.”

Tony wrinkled his nose and looked grossed out. It wasn’t looking good as to what the fluid was, and Jethro would have been easily able to identify blood, so that ruled out that. And possibly plasma. Stepping forward to peer at the row of monitors the lab tech had showing the results of her tests, Tony started reading quickly. Everything relevant was there.

“I didn’t get a look at the little stone thing, but did it have any fingerprints?” Jethro asked.

Abby bounced in place again and Tony looked down at her feet in curiosity. No springs. But the Goth did have on some seriously tall combat boots with silver studs and five inch platforms. The Guide was impressed she was able to walk in the boots, much less bounce.

”I got three fingerprints, which at first glance, look a lot alike. There are several partial prints to analyze too,” she said as she walked over to one of her computers to bring up the pictures of each print.

By Tony’s mostly untrained view, they all matched. From the typing Abby was doing something and when the various fingerprints flowed over themselves, the lines synced up. Whomever it was who had handled the warmer, had left all the prints.

Abby had handed Jethro the evidence envelope containing the warmer and watched as the Sentinel turned the little stone thing over and over again. From the wrinkle to his nose, the Guide was certain that his partner could still smell the remnants of the scent it carried. As an added layer of safety to keep Jethro from being overwhelmed, Tony moved back over to place his hand against the small of his partner’s back.

Leaning forward, Tony snuggled himself tight against his Sentinel’s side and looked at the bag. Even with his nose being better than average, he couldn’t smell what was in it. Casting his memory back, Tony tried to remember the ‘flavor’ of what had been so strong earlier. It wasn’t coming up.

When a machine beeped that it had results, Abby hurried over to it, carefully pulling the results off to add to the file she had open. “Gibbs, it looks like the fluid that the skin cells were in is…”

“Vaginal fluid. Specifically the chemical combo that happens when a woman orgasms,” Gibbs announced. Tony tried to keep the revolted look off his face, but from the amused feeling he was getting from the other man, he wasn’t too successful.

“What in the hell does that have to do with a candle and the Director’s office?” Abby asked as she entered a series of search parameters into something from what Tony could see.

“Well, the base scent of the candle isn’t all that bad. It got nasty when they added the sex pheromones and the fluid, right?” Tony asked the room at large.

Jethro nodded and the Guide could tell that he was in somewhat reluctant agreement. “The base wax is very neutral and the musk is actually subtle, so is the ambergris. It would need more to be really a nice smelling thing, but yeah. Mostly okay. The pheromones are very harsh on top of that. Like whoever added it, had a very heavy hand with how they wanted it to go. If I had to guess, this was to attract mundanes. Not Sentinels or Guides.”

Abby nodded as she handed over the test results. “That would go with what I was thinking when the test results came in. I am pretty sure that sex pheromones and simmering vaginal fluids have to smell like no tomorrow when your nose is that sensitive.”

Even with seven years in various police departments and more violent and messy scenes than he really wanted to think about under his belt, Tony still reacted to that description. He was fairly certain that it didn’t show on his face, but his gut lurched a bit. YUCK. “Speaking of the vaginal fluids… Is there any way that we can match them to someone? The fingerprints, while useful, aren’t the complete proof we need on who arranged that.”

The Goth looked at another machine, whirring away in a corner. “Way ahead of you, boytoy. That will be the longest search after the fingerprints if I have to hit the national databases.”

Tony watched as his Sentinel weighed his options and then nodded. “I want to go talk to the Director’s PA. Cynthia wasn’t at her desk and I think the one who was there was from the secretarial pool.”

“I can’t believe she thought that nasty thing would get you to love her!” Tony muttered as he carried in his suitcase and juggled the sack containing what Jethro swore was the best Chinese food he had ever had outside of a little place in Hong Kong.

“Well I am fairly well revolted as well,” Jethro replied caustically. He hadn’t even known the woman and she had fixated on him for months. She hadn’t even set off his senses since he was used to being observed while at the office. “What made it worse was that she didn’t know I was a Sentinel and would notice the smell. Plus she thought I would still agree to be with her, even after we found another one of those things waiting to get doused and warmed up. Ewwww.”

“Some people really, really need to have the “Idiots Guide to Sentinels and Guides” nailed to their foreheads. Maybe that way they will actually read the damn thing,” Tony grumbled as he carefully deposited the bag of food on the obvious kitchen table. Clearing his throat, he shoved the suitcase into a corner and looked around the room. No stepdaughter, but plenty of evidence that there was a young lady living in the house with his Sentinel. “So where is your daughter?”

Jethro turned towards one of the doors in the kitchen and opened it. Leaning into the space that Tony was certain lead to a basement, he raised his voice slightly and called out; “Kelly, dinner! I got Chinese and even made sure to pick up a dozen pot stickers. Better get up here before I eat them all!”

“I don’t think so, dad! My pot stickers!” came a rather young female voice from the depths. The sound of feet pounding up the stair was expected, but they were lighter than he was used to for someone who was supposed to be twelve years old.

When his Sentinel’s daughter came into the light, Tony sighed internally. Oh. They were so, so screwed. Kelly Gibbs was a striking looking child who had the potential to be one hell of a beautiful woman. And she was such a Guide on the cusp of coming online.

“Oh, hey! You must be Tony! Dad told me about you,” she said as she bounced over to him. Stopping a bit away from him, she drew in a deep breath and held out her hand, palm up for him to grip if he chose. Smiling, Tony rested his hand over hers and extended his aura out to skim along the edges of hers. Formal introductions in the Guide 101 courses said that she shouldn’t, at the level of training she was supposed to have had, have been able to push hers back. He had a feeling she could. The mental feel of her was as fierce and wild as her father felt to him and he let his eyes unfocus to better see into the spirit world.

Sitting at her feet was a half-grown lioness. Oh. Well. When Wojo had wished him an interesting life, Tony was fairly certain he hadn’t meant this interesting!

Interlude