What Really Happens: NCIS

Chapter Twenty Six

It felt weird not waking up in my basement this morning. It felt even weirder when I looked to my left and Tony was by my side. The weirdest thing of all is that it was the best night sleep I have had in along time.

I woke up to my phone ringing because of Abby. She shared the news that A is Al Chen. I was going to share the news with the boys but of course Gibbs was her first call. She handed the phone over to Ducky and Jimmy. They commended me on how well I handled the body and the evidence. I told Ducky I missed him but there wasn't a lot he could do here since it was known Al was suffocated. The boys have been with Roy and the woman who tried to jump ship. Abby told me Ziva would call if she found anything out about Alex.

A cup of coffee takes me out of head.

"Here. I wasn't sure how you took it, so I grabbed a few sugars and cream."

I take a sip of the coffee that makes the nerves disappear. "No thank you."

Tony adds the milk and sugar into his coffee. "Thank you for staying with me last night."

"Of course. I wanted to make sure I was there if anything stirred up again."

I'm not sure where Roy spent the night, but I don't care. The wind is hardly blowing due to the storm that has passed. I walk to the edge of the ship and feel the spray of the ocean on my face. It's soothing until I look down and see the distance between me and death if I went over.

"Why did she want to die?"

"She has told us nothing besides he fact she is seeing Roy, which is against the rules."

Hearing the word rules sends a chill up my spine. I step back from the edge and Tony helps. "They both know more than they are sharing."

I stop in a memory of something Roy shared with me. "Roy said towards the end Alex, who was Al, was acting weird. I'm not sure if it was because he wasn't Alex or there was something else. Maybe you can get something with that."

We see Roy come outside and head towards us. He isn't focused on me, just Tony. He's walking with force while dodging the rope that is on the floor. I see Stan coming after him like an agitated parent.

"Your boss let me go. They have proof that I was in a meeting the time of the murder."

"With who?"

"With me." Stan pops his head from behind Roy.

Tony thinks he is needed back inside with the others and leaves me with Roy and Stan. How does his bunkmate not know the difference between his best friend and a stranger?

"I know you are probably beating yourself up already. But what could that man have done to make you think he was Alex?"

"Alex was always quick with answers. He was never opened about his life until a few years ago. I remember he would hate to bring up his family because of something they did. He never said what it was, I just knew it was something big. Then, one day he was just open about how his family problems were no more. "

Little did he know Al was talking about a totally different type of family.

"Then around that time, Danielle was stationed here, and they went way back."

Stan and I shoot Roy a look. "What are you talking about?"

"They grew up together and were friends for a very long time."

Stan and I leave him at the edge of the ship. "How could he not bring this up, especially with Danielle answering questions?"

"Rule #1 never let suspects stay together." This is perfect, I am getting told the rules by someone who used to work for Gibbs.