Camping with Gibbs 08/?
"Where are you going?" Fornell had woken to the sound of Gibbs getting up and now the man was tying his shoes.
"It's cold."
"You're cold? You?"
"No, not me."
"Then who?" Fornell knew immediately and answered his own question. "They're fine, Jethro."
Gibbs continued to dress, bundling up in his coat and gloves, without saying a word.
"You could just call them, you know." Fornell shook his head and pulled his sleeping bag tighter around his chin. "They're fine, but you're not going to get any sleep until you go check on them and see for yourself, right? Fine, just try not to let any of the warm air out, okay? It's not exactly toasty in here."
Despite Fornell's complaints, the tent wasn't all that cold, at least to Gibbs. It was the boys' nylon tent that had him worried. However, to satisfy his tent-mate, Gibbs stepped through quickly and zipped the door behind him. Once outside, he turned on his flashlight and made his way over to the other tent.
He didn't necessarily want to wake them if they'd managed to fall asleep, but he didn't want to get shot either. Calling out softly, he unzipped their tent before stepping inside. "Tony, Tim, I'm coming in."
Once inside, he found himself between two layers. No matter how curious he was, he zipped the tent closed before finding an opening between the space blankets that were circling the inside of the tent. When he made it inside, the two boys were giving him a rather sheepish look as a movie played in front of them. Tim reached out and paused the movie as Tony tucked his pistol away and then they both removed their ear buds.
Gibbs just stared at them. Dressed in comfortable sweats, they were both sitting cross-legged on their sleeping bags, a bag of trail mix on the floor between them. The tent was warm enough that they could have been wearing t-shirts and still have been comfortable.
Tony pointed to a large plastic lid that their boots were standing on. "If your boots are muddy, they go over there."
That was when Gibbs noticed the padded floor. Eyes narrowing, he bent down and felt the pads. They were only slightly cool to the touch, nothing a pair of heavy socks wouldn't take care of. Then he noticed the double layer of the pads under the sleeping bags and the side of his mouth twitched. "You boys comfy?"
Tim grinned and blushed, ducking his head, while Tony seemed to take the question seriously. He picked up his mug, they'd taken the last of the coffee and added hot chocolate mix to make mocha’s. "We're running low on marshmallows."
"Marshmallows?" Gibbs' hand actually twitched in anticipation, then he finally shook his head and laughed before pulling out his phone. It rang twice before they all heard Fornell's rough voice.
They need help?
Gibbs smiled at the trace of worry he heard, even if Fornell would never admit it. "Nah, they've got heat."
Heat? They've got heat? Holy hells, I'm on my way.
What seemed only seconds later they could hear clomping coming toward the tent. To be safe, Gibbs unzipped the tent and poked his head out. In the moonlight he could see Tobias still wearing the fur cap with the ear flaps, both sleeping bags wrapped around him and shoe laces flapping as he ran.
Gibbs got out of the way just in time and Fornell came charging through, landing in a heap in the middle of the tent as Tim grabbed their cups and Tony lifted the trail mix bag high over his head.
"Hey, look, Toby's here."
Fornell glared at Tony, then slowly looked around, taking in everything before turning back to glare at Gibbs. "I'm sitting in your tent, freezing my ass off and they're sitting over here watching a movie, drinking hot chocolate and..." Fornell's head swiveled back over to look at the computer, his eye following the cord over and out the back of the tent.
Turning back to Gibbs, the glare returned. "They've got power. How in the hell do they have power?"
Gibbs froze for a moment and Tim answered for him. "All the campsites in this section have power."
"All of the campsite have power?" He looked back at Gibbs for a third time. "Our campsite has power? Why didn't you tell me we had power?"
"Do you have anything to plug in?'
"Well, no, but that's not the point."
"Then what is the point, Tobias?"
Fornell waved his hands around, barely missing Tim. "Look at this, they have everything."
"Not everything." Tony had set the trail mix back down and was now, with a morose expression, holding the bag of mini marshmallows, empty except for a half dozen smashed marshmallows down in the corner. "We're out of marshmallows, Uncle Toby."
"Marshmallows?" Fornell gave Gibbs a 'are they nuts?' look and Gibbs just shrugged.
"Hey, hot chocolate needs marshmallows."
Fornell wasn't quite sure how he'd gotten into this conversation with Gibbs in the first place. "We got plenty of the big ones left."
"If you use those, then you end up getting marshmallow on your nose while you're drinking."
Tony's comment didn't gain him a headslap so Fornell just rolled his eyes. "Fine. What about the whip cream from last night? Is there any left?"
They all looked to Gibbs, who had taken the last can away from Tony the night before in an act of self-preservation.
There was about a half of the can left and it was in the cooler outside. Gibbs sighed and started to put his boots back on. "Anything else you guys want while I'm out there?" He noticed that Tim was still monitoring their neighbor. "How's he doing?"
"Really cold and still sitting up."
Gibbs couldn't imagine that Kyle was very comfortable. "Hide anything he shouldn't see."
Bundled up again, Gibbs ventured back out. Pulling his collar up around his neck better, he followed the now familiar path. There was nothing to knock against, so he called out as he approached the tent. "Hey, Kyle, you still up?"
"Yeah. Come on in."
Seeing Kyle sitting in the center of the tent, arms wrapped around his knees,Gibbs stepped inside, zipping the door closed before he really looked around. It was obvious that he was totally unprepared for the change in weather. "Guess you weren't expecting it to get this cold."
"All I had to do was bring my clothes. Conner was supposed to bring everything else. All I've got is the summer gear and this locked box." Just a few feet in front of Kyle was a metal box, a little larger than a shoe box with a surprisingly large lock bolting it closed.
Gibbs looked over the box, trying to do so without raising too much suspicion. According to the additional research Vance had done, Nathan Conner Moore was the full real name of their suspect and not one of the dozens of aliases he used while reserving various campsites. This campsite was reserved under the name Kyle Baker and the pieces were falling into place for Gibbs. "You and Conner full brothers?"
"No, half-brothers, why?"
"Different last name. How'd you end up with the box?"
Kyle didn't pick up on the fact that Gibbs knew his and Conner's last name. "He dropped it off the day before we were supposed to meet up here. Said he wasn't going to have room for it. Why?"
Before Gibbs could come up with an answer, Kyle's shoulders slumped. "Something about this whole week isn't right, is it?"
"I'm afraid not." Gibbs laid a supportive hand on Kyle's down-turned shoulder. "Come on, grab your sleeping bag. The boys have heat in their tent. Turns out modern does beat out old-fashioned when it gets cold enough."
Kyle eyed the box when Gibbs picked it up. "What's in that?"
Gibbs thought about the break in at the Navy research facility. The break in that was making the brass very nervous and closed-lipped. "Probably something you don't want to get caught with. We'll lock it in my truck for tonight." Gibbs led Kyle back to their camp, walking straight to his truck. "Hop in, I'm going to move this closer to the tent."
Once the truck was next to Tony and Tim's tent, Gibbs pulled an evidence bag out of the glove box. "You're cops?"
"Feds. Come on in and we'll tell you what's going on." The box was sealed up in the bag and Gibbs wrote his name across the tape before opening up a compartment in the floorboard. The box was locked inside the compartment and the truck was also locked before Kyle followed Gibbs inside the tent.
Tony had a cup of hot chocolate ready for Kyle, complete with the last of the marshmallows. Once Kyle had his gloves pulled off so he could wrap his fingers around the warm mug, Tony handed it over. "Here, this should help take the chill off."
"Thanks, man."
"No problem." Tony glanced over at Gibbs, trying to gauge how much he'd already told Kyle. Gibbs saw the look and gave a subtle nod. "So, your brother wimped out about the cold weather?"
"I don't know what's going on, but I guess you guys do."
Surprisingly, Gibbs decided to break it gently. "What do you know about what your brother does for a living, Kyle?"
The realization of how little he really knew was starting to show on their guest's face. "He's a consultant, but... I don't know what he consults about or what companies he works for. Haven't talked to him in months, then he called out of the blue and invited me to go camping with me, said he could help me. I believed him... I wanted to believe him." Kyle looked at Gibbs. "He's not really a consultant, is he?"
"No, he's not." Gibbs answered, then turned to Fornell since it was actually his case. Fornell sighed and started to explain how they'd all ended up at that particular campground.
"It's cold."
"You're cold? You?"
"No, not me."
"Then who?" Fornell knew immediately and answered his own question. "They're fine, Jethro."
Gibbs continued to dress, bundling up in his coat and gloves, without saying a word.
"You could just call them, you know." Fornell shook his head and pulled his sleeping bag tighter around his chin. "They're fine, but you're not going to get any sleep until you go check on them and see for yourself, right? Fine, just try not to let any of the warm air out, okay? It's not exactly toasty in here."
Despite Fornell's complaints, the tent wasn't all that cold, at least to Gibbs. It was the boys' nylon tent that had him worried. However, to satisfy his tent-mate, Gibbs stepped through quickly and zipped the door behind him. Once outside, he turned on his flashlight and made his way over to the other tent.
He didn't necessarily want to wake them if they'd managed to fall asleep, but he didn't want to get shot either. Calling out softly, he unzipped their tent before stepping inside. "Tony, Tim, I'm coming in."
Once inside, he found himself between two layers. No matter how curious he was, he zipped the tent closed before finding an opening between the space blankets that were circling the inside of the tent. When he made it inside, the two boys were giving him a rather sheepish look as a movie played in front of them. Tim reached out and paused the movie as Tony tucked his pistol away and then they both removed their ear buds.
Gibbs just stared at them. Dressed in comfortable sweats, they were both sitting cross-legged on their sleeping bags, a bag of trail mix on the floor between them. The tent was warm enough that they could have been wearing t-shirts and still have been comfortable.
Tony pointed to a large plastic lid that their boots were standing on. "If your boots are muddy, they go over there."
That was when Gibbs noticed the padded floor. Eyes narrowing, he bent down and felt the pads. They were only slightly cool to the touch, nothing a pair of heavy socks wouldn't take care of. Then he noticed the double layer of the pads under the sleeping bags and the side of his mouth twitched. "You boys comfy?"
Tim grinned and blushed, ducking his head, while Tony seemed to take the question seriously. He picked up his mug, they'd taken the last of the coffee and added hot chocolate mix to make mocha’s. "We're running low on marshmallows."
"Marshmallows?" Gibbs' hand actually twitched in anticipation, then he finally shook his head and laughed before pulling out his phone. It rang twice before they all heard Fornell's rough voice.
They need help?
Gibbs smiled at the trace of worry he heard, even if Fornell would never admit it. "Nah, they've got heat."
Heat? They've got heat? Holy hells, I'm on my way.
What seemed only seconds later they could hear clomping coming toward the tent. To be safe, Gibbs unzipped the tent and poked his head out. In the moonlight he could see Tobias still wearing the fur cap with the ear flaps, both sleeping bags wrapped around him and shoe laces flapping as he ran.
Gibbs got out of the way just in time and Fornell came charging through, landing in a heap in the middle of the tent as Tim grabbed their cups and Tony lifted the trail mix bag high over his head.
"Hey, look, Toby's here."
Fornell glared at Tony, then slowly looked around, taking in everything before turning back to glare at Gibbs. "I'm sitting in your tent, freezing my ass off and they're sitting over here watching a movie, drinking hot chocolate and..." Fornell's head swiveled back over to look at the computer, his eye following the cord over and out the back of the tent.
Turning back to Gibbs, the glare returned. "They've got power. How in the hell do they have power?"
Gibbs froze for a moment and Tim answered for him. "All the campsites in this section have power."
"All of the campsite have power?" He looked back at Gibbs for a third time. "Our campsite has power? Why didn't you tell me we had power?"
"Do you have anything to plug in?'
"Well, no, but that's not the point."
"Then what is the point, Tobias?"
Fornell waved his hands around, barely missing Tim. "Look at this, they have everything."
"Not everything." Tony had set the trail mix back down and was now, with a morose expression, holding the bag of mini marshmallows, empty except for a half dozen smashed marshmallows down in the corner. "We're out of marshmallows, Uncle Toby."
"Marshmallows?" Fornell gave Gibbs a 'are they nuts?' look and Gibbs just shrugged.
"Hey, hot chocolate needs marshmallows."
Fornell wasn't quite sure how he'd gotten into this conversation with Gibbs in the first place. "We got plenty of the big ones left."
"If you use those, then you end up getting marshmallow on your nose while you're drinking."
Tony's comment didn't gain him a headslap so Fornell just rolled his eyes. "Fine. What about the whip cream from last night? Is there any left?"
They all looked to Gibbs, who had taken the last can away from Tony the night before in an act of self-preservation.
There was about a half of the can left and it was in the cooler outside. Gibbs sighed and started to put his boots back on. "Anything else you guys want while I'm out there?" He noticed that Tim was still monitoring their neighbor. "How's he doing?"
"Really cold and still sitting up."
Gibbs couldn't imagine that Kyle was very comfortable. "Hide anything he shouldn't see."
Bundled up again, Gibbs ventured back out. Pulling his collar up around his neck better, he followed the now familiar path. There was nothing to knock against, so he called out as he approached the tent. "Hey, Kyle, you still up?"
"Yeah. Come on in."
Seeing Kyle sitting in the center of the tent, arms wrapped around his knees,Gibbs stepped inside, zipping the door closed before he really looked around. It was obvious that he was totally unprepared for the change in weather. "Guess you weren't expecting it to get this cold."
"All I had to do was bring my clothes. Conner was supposed to bring everything else. All I've got is the summer gear and this locked box." Just a few feet in front of Kyle was a metal box, a little larger than a shoe box with a surprisingly large lock bolting it closed.
Gibbs looked over the box, trying to do so without raising too much suspicion. According to the additional research Vance had done, Nathan Conner Moore was the full real name of their suspect and not one of the dozens of aliases he used while reserving various campsites. This campsite was reserved under the name Kyle Baker and the pieces were falling into place for Gibbs. "You and Conner full brothers?"
"No, half-brothers, why?"
"Different last name. How'd you end up with the box?"
Kyle didn't pick up on the fact that Gibbs knew his and Conner's last name. "He dropped it off the day before we were supposed to meet up here. Said he wasn't going to have room for it. Why?"
Before Gibbs could come up with an answer, Kyle's shoulders slumped. "Something about this whole week isn't right, is it?"
"I'm afraid not." Gibbs laid a supportive hand on Kyle's down-turned shoulder. "Come on, grab your sleeping bag. The boys have heat in their tent. Turns out modern does beat out old-fashioned when it gets cold enough."
Kyle eyed the box when Gibbs picked it up. "What's in that?"
Gibbs thought about the break in at the Navy research facility. The break in that was making the brass very nervous and closed-lipped. "Probably something you don't want to get caught with. We'll lock it in my truck for tonight." Gibbs led Kyle back to their camp, walking straight to his truck. "Hop in, I'm going to move this closer to the tent."
Once the truck was next to Tony and Tim's tent, Gibbs pulled an evidence bag out of the glove box. "You're cops?"
"Feds. Come on in and we'll tell you what's going on." The box was sealed up in the bag and Gibbs wrote his name across the tape before opening up a compartment in the floorboard. The box was locked inside the compartment and the truck was also locked before Kyle followed Gibbs inside the tent.
Tony had a cup of hot chocolate ready for Kyle, complete with the last of the marshmallows. Once Kyle had his gloves pulled off so he could wrap his fingers around the warm mug, Tony handed it over. "Here, this should help take the chill off."
"Thanks, man."
"No problem." Tony glanced over at Gibbs, trying to gauge how much he'd already told Kyle. Gibbs saw the look and gave a subtle nod. "So, your brother wimped out about the cold weather?"
"I don't know what's going on, but I guess you guys do."
Surprisingly, Gibbs decided to break it gently. "What do you know about what your brother does for a living, Kyle?"
The realization of how little he really knew was starting to show on their guest's face. "He's a consultant, but... I don't know what he consults about or what companies he works for. Haven't talked to him in months, then he called out of the blue and invited me to go camping with me, said he could help me. I believed him... I wanted to believe him." Kyle looked at Gibbs. "He's not really a consultant, is he?"
"No, he's not." Gibbs answered, then turned to Fornell since it was actually his case. Fornell sighed and started to explain how they'd all ended up at that particular campground.