"Harry Potter is not stupid." "You've been Harry Potter for the last three Halloweens." "At least you could be a girl, like Hermione or Ginny." "You Muggles just don't get it." "Uh, I do." "It's stupid." "Benjamin, enough." "Rachel, your costume's great." "Thanks, Mr. Curtis." "Is your mom chaperoning the school party?" "No, she has to work." "Oh, we'd be happy to give you a ride." "Isn't that right, Benjamin?" "Ugh!" "Thanks for walking me home." "It's not a problem." "We'll see you tomorrow." "Okay, bye, guys." "Your manners leave something to be desired, young man." "When we get home..." "Wait here." "Rachel." "Rachel, what happened?" "Mom." "Oh, my God." "♪ NCIS 12x06 ♪ Parental Guidance Suggested Original Air Date on October 28, 2014" "== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man" "♪ ♪" "Come on, be serious." "Hey, I have never been more serious." "There is no room for error, Bishop." "Hey!" "Listen to me." "Hey, hey, hey!" "Holyfield, Tyson-- let's knock it off before someone loses an ear." "I was just talking about Abby's upcoming Halloween party, when McGee went all Bruce Banner on me." "Yeah, for good reason-- she doesn't want to wear a costume." "What?" "Are you insane?" "God, for the love of all that is holy, probie, let's get with the program." "Abby takes this holiday very seriously." "You deviate from the plan, you pay the consequences." "Tell her, McGee." "Halloween, 2007," "I told Abby I didn't want to carve a pumpkin." "He's still waiting for the other one to descend." "It's not that I don't want to dress up, okay?" "It's..." "It's just that Jake and I can't agree on a costume." "Marriage." "Here we go." "Halloween used to be a single guy's paradise." "Now it's been twisted and co-opted into some kind of couples' thing." "You're gonna be phoning it in with Delilah." "You've got your other half." "Abby's got Ranger Burt." "Even Ducky's got something cooking." "Why don't you take Allison?" "Allison." "From tech services." "Who you went out with last week." "Oh!" "Well, that didn't compute." "That's, like, the sixth woman you've dated this month." "Yeah, that's a record, even for you." "Thank you." "I'm back, baby." "Gear up." "We got a dead body in Lake Ridge." "Whatever happened to Krista in HR?" "Ugh, too judgmental." "She never laughed at the e-mails I sent her." "That's 'cause they were offensive." "See?" "Too judgmental." "And what about Erica from accounting?" "What went wrong there?" "Cats." "Too many cats." "They were all named Mr. Darcy." "Don't you think you're being a little picky?" "Well, there's a lot of fish in the sea." "Not at the rate you've been fishing." "What can I say, McGee?" "Women find me alluring." "What can you tell me, Duck?" "Single gunshot wound to the back." "You got a time of death?" "Yeah, between midnight and 2:00 a.m. this morning." "We searched the area, boss." "No sign of a murder weapon." "And no forced entry." "Local LEOs found the back door open when they arrived on the scene." "Place wasn't tossed." "Doesn't look like a robbery gone bad." "Who's our victim?" "Victim is Dr. Valerie Barnes." "42, wife of Navy Commander Ryan Barnes." "He's stationed at Little Creek." "He found the body?" "No, that was Rachel Barnes, victim's ten-year-old daughter, when she returned home from a sleepover." "A neighbor called it in." "Well, where is she now?" "Outside." "DiNozzo, track down the husband." "McGee, the neighbor." "When was the last time you spoke to Mrs. Barnes?" "Last night, around 6:00, when she dropped off Rachel." "She had to work late, and I offered to babysit." "You're friends with the victim?" "Yeah, I've known Val for three years." "Our kids are in the same grade." "Anything you can tell us about the commander?" "Honestly, I-I don't know him very well." "He's not often around." "He's either training or on a mission." "He left for one a few days ago, and that was the last time I saw him." "Can I take my son home now?" "Of course." "Yes." "And, uh, thank you for your help, Mr. Curtis." "What's gonna happen to Rachel?" "Hi, Rachel." "I'm Special Agent Gibbs." "This is one good-looking fort." "You build this all by yourself?" "No." "My dad helped me." "Sounds like a pretty cool dad." "Did you find him?" "Is he coming home?" "Don't worry." "We will figure it out." "Please don't make me leave." "This is my safe place." "Nothing bad will happen to me in here." "If they come back, they can't hurt me." "Who's "they," Rachel?" "The people trying to kill my dad." "Okay, which costume do you like better for me and Jake?" "Popeye and Olive Oyl, or the old farming couple from American Gothic." "Neither." "Bishop, this is a chance for you to be whoever you want for one night." "So, why don't you get crazy?" "Step out of your preppy librarian, hot-for-teacher comfort zone." "Hey." "What are your other ideas?" "I don't want to say." "Romeo and Juliet." "Cinderella and Prince Charming." "Antony and Cleopatra." "Bonnie and Clyde." "How close are we?" "Smart choice." "Incoming." "Let's go." "Give me an update." "Ooh!" "Our victim is Dr. Valerie Barnes, a therapist at a counseling center in Richmond." "I talked to her coworkers." "They weren't aware of anyone Valerie was having issues with, patients or otherwise." "I want her case files." "What about the husband?" "Well, Commander Ryan Barnes is a highly decorated Navy SEAL with over 30 missions under his belt." "He's been off the grid for survival training, but I sent word to him in the field." "He should be here in a few hours." "Rachel said people were after her father." "If the commander's in danger, isn't being surrounded by a SEAL team the safest place for him?" "Well, we don't even know if he's being targeted." "Yes, we do." "Last year, Commander Barnes took part in Operation Lower Merion." "The capture of Benham Parsa." "Month after the raid, the SEALs' identities were accidentally leaked, including Barnes'." "I did an online search, came up with this." "I get the feeling that's not a dating profile." "That was a terrorist Web site." "Commander's on a jihad hit list." "McGee, I want everything on this site." "Who made it, who uploaded the photo." "Anyone who's accessed it." "I can help, too." "Where's Rachel?" "In the conference room with the woman from Social Services." "Find me something, DiNozzo." "Uh..." "Love what you've done with your lab, Abby." "Thank you." "Wait till you see my apartment." "It's my pièce de résistance." "I'm coming up empty-handed here." "Are you guys finding anything?" "Yeah, we were able to track down the third-party host for the Web site." "It's a company based in Algeria." "Which means they won't turn over their client data to the U.S." "True, but we managed to access the mainframe." "The original coding that was sent to the host came from an IP address in Silver Spring, Maryland." "Meet our sinister Web master." "Dorian Hobart." "After his dishonorable discharge from the Army in 2007, Hobart became involved in several antigovernment extremist groups." "He hops from one broadband to the other every time he logs on." "Now, we know who he is;" "we just don't know where." "The site has a message board, right?" "Let's use it." "Yeah, we build a cover, pose as an interested group." "We set up the meet with Hobart, and then we nail him." "Your cover background has to catch Hobart's attention." "Okay." "Okay, I'm Dylan Evans, former Marine sniper." "Dishonorably discharged," "I now work as a mercenary for hire." "Um..." "It kind of has to be a..." "believable cover, McGee." "And you could never pull off a "Dylan."" "How about you be Stuart?" "Clarence." "No, we stick as close to the truth as possible." "Your name is Tim Walsh." "You are an expert in electronics, specializing in... detonators." "Okay, let's hook a line and catch a terrorist," "Tim Walsh." "I could've pulled off "Dylan."" "It's just me, Rachel." "Come on out." "What's... what's that?" "Popcorn and hot chocolate." "You don't look like the hot chocolate type." "Huh." "My mom used to make the best cup of hot chocolate ever." "Little bit of cinnamon." "Mm-mmm." "Long time ago." "Did she die, too?" "Mm-hmm." "When I was just about your age." "Not an easy thing to go through." "I know you want to be strong, but it's okay to be sad." "I'm not sad." "I'm angry." "How could she let this happen?" "It's not your mom's fault." "Yes, it is." "Daddy trained us." "We knew what to do if the bad people ever came." "Your dad tell you who the bad guys are?" "No, he just told us be on alert, and I was." "I didn't see anything suspicious." "I swear, I did everything that I was supposed to do." "You did good." "I want my dad, Agent Gibbs." "He'll be here soon." "Well, I-I don't like it here." "I need my safe place." "Yeah, well..." "I kind of thought you might." "What are you doing?" "I'm building a fort." "Got all the essential fort-building materials." "We're gonna make a new safe place." "Together." "Nothing bad is gonna happen to you, Rachel." "I promise." "Do you keep your promises?" "Always." "What's the verdict, Ducky?" "Death was instantaneous." "Bullet fragmented on impact." "Shooting someone unarmed in the back is such a cowardly act." "Robert Ford comes to mind." "I think we can safely rule him out." "Anything else?" "Indeed, something curious." "Our victim suffered from an orbitozygomatic fracture." "That's the right cheekbone and eye socket." "From the fall?" "Oh, no, no, no, no." "This is an old injury." "At least ten years." "But there's no record of it in her medical history." "That is curious." "Eleanor, what a pleasure." "Sorry, Ducky." "I'm here for Tony." "Ah." "Hobart took the bait." "He set up a meeting with McGee in two hours." "Pinecrest Park." "Oh." "You know what that means." "Undercover work." "How's your plow position?" "My what?" "Breathe in, arms up." "Sun salutation." "Hands together." "Back to the chest." "And then reach back with your left foot." "Arms out." "Take your right hand, put it down next to your right foot." "Didn't know you practiced yoga." "Oh, yeah." "Balanced mind, balanced life." "I've been reading Sting's biography." "He's a Renaissance man." "Oh, please, I just ate." "I reject your negative energy, McGee." "Bogey, DiNozzo." "Your 10:00, coming down the path." "I got him." "Back down to the weapon." "You Tim?" "That's right." "Where's the sample?" "Go, go, go." "Hobart-- freeze, hands up." "Drop the weapon!" "Ladies first." "NCIS." "Put it down." "You okay, McGee?" "Yeah." "Flo-Jo came out of nowhere, Boss." "Spider?" "Keates?" "You know her?" "Um..." "Uh... well, I..." "in a... sort of..." "Yeah, she's Philly PD." "She was." "She's ATF now." "Special Agent Zoe Keates." "You want to get that gun out of my face and come over here and give me a hug?" "Nobody moves until I get some answers." "Okay." "Why don't you start by telling me what the hell NCIS is doing here." "We're here taking down a terrorist." "What the hell are you doing here?" "I'm your terrorist." "So, that's not Dorian Hobart." "That is Special Agent Marston, our decoy." "When ATF got wind that Hobart was recruiting explosives experts for a domestic terror group," "I got assigned to track him down." "What's NCIS want him for?" "Murder." "That's his wheelhouse." "Whose?" "Valerie Barnes, wife of a Navy SEAL listed on his Web site." "She was killed last night." "Well, I'm sorry to hear that." "But Hobart can't be your guy." "We captured him two months ago." "We kept the arrest under wraps in order to maintain his online presence." "Checked out any potential threats." "Why didn't you remove Commander Barnes from the hit list?" "Well, we had to maintain the site's authenticity." "If there was any indication that he or his family were in danger, we would have stepped in." "His wife's dead." "Think you missed your cue." "Okay, look here, John Wayne." "You don't come into my house and accuse me of not doing my job." "Okay, why don't we just settle down, back it up." "Like hell." "I am damn good at what I do." "I'm also professional enough to admit when I've made a mistake, but only when I've made one." "Our victim was shot with a .38." "Close range, single round, at her residence." "What does that tell you, Special Agent Keates?" "It means it wasn't done by an extremist group." "Terrorists have a flair for drama." "It's not just about killing;" "it's about sending a message." "Look, your murder's too quiet." "I think you're going down the wrong path." "I agree." "Gibbs." "Hey, McGee." "How are the ribs?" "They feel like they've been completely destroyed." "Yeah, sorry about that." "I thought you were an explosives expert." "I couldn't risk you hitting the switch." "And excessive force always was your style." "Yeah?" "You never seemed to mind." "I'm sorry, how do you two know each other?" "We were rookies together back in Philly." "When did you work in Philadelphia?" "I did a brief stint in Philly before I went to Baltimore." "Commitment was never one of Spider's strong suits." "Spider?" "That was the nickname the guys in the squad gave Tony." "You know, like in Goodfellas?" "Except you had to do more than fetch drinks and shine shoes, huh?" "And it's a wonder I didn't stay." "No, you preferred to tuck tail and run." "Look at you, same old biting wit." "Nothing much has changed, huh?" "Why mess with perfection?" "Commander Barnes is on his way in." "Let's go." "Hmm." "That's a good look on you, Keates." "Sorry for your loss." "You know, I always knew my job could cost me my life." "I prepared for that." "I never thought it'd put my family in danger." "We don't know that it did." "The two might not be connected." "Wait, a-are you saying that somebody... purposely targeted my wife?" "Think it's possible." "You know anyone she might have had problems with?" "No." "Nobody I'm aware of." "What about changes in her behavior?" "Changes?" "I don't know." "I..." "I'm gone ten months out of the year." "That makes me a damn good SEAL but not the best husband." "Or father." "You better catch whoever did this, Agent Gibbs." "Find him before I do." "Commander, the only thing that you should be focusing on is your daughter." "You let us handle the rest." "You're right." "Can I see her now?" "Sure." "Abby, you rang?" "I did." "Think fast." "Oh." "It's an aromatherapy heating pad." "I heard that Tony's... blast from the past took you down kind of hard." "What?" "She asked for an update." "What's with the dummies?" "Oh, it's Tony and Special Agent Keates." "I was setting the scene for Abby." "Body position is a universal language." "And from what I've been looking at, these two have some serious history." "Yeah, from a firsthand account, there was a definite spark." "Thoughts?" "Well, Tony never mentioned her before." "But Bishop's right-- I've never seen him act like that around someone since..." "What?" "It's complicated." "Oh." "Well, Tony's clearly trying to fill some void." "Maybe she's exactly what he needs." "Someone familiar." "I don't think a nice little push in the right direction would hurt." "I'm in." "McGee?" "If I say yes, you promise to change the subject?" "Yes." "Yes." "Exhibit A-- our lone bullet." "What happened to it?" "It's degraded ammunition." "It happens when it isn't stored properly." "Once I catalog the pieces from our crime scene and from our victim," "I'll be able to make a 3-D image of our bullet." "Sort of a ballistics jigsaw puzzle." "And if there's a bullet in the system that matches, then we'll be closer to identifying our shooter." "Don't you just love science?" "So, how long till we can go back to the house?" "At least a few days." "We'll be staying at the Admiral Heights Hotel." "Could you let me know if there's any news?" "You're sure you don't want to take that fort with you?" "No." "I have my dad." "That's all I need." "Can't thank you enough for keeping her safe." "Promise is a promise." "All right, boss, I did some digging." "The old facial fracture Ducky discovered during Valerie Barnes' autopsy was the work of none other than George Burton." "The serial killer?" "That's right." "Don't forget "enthusiastic cannibal."" "This guy's crime scene photos would make" "Hannibal Lecter shake in his straitjacket." "What's the connection?" "Well, in 1999," "Valerie worked as a forensic psychiatrist in Maryland, and Burton was an inmate." "He got loose during his pretrial evaluation, and, well, it was a close call." "Where is George Burton now?" "Serving a life sentence at Eastern State Psychiatric Hospital." "Well, DiNozzo, you just gave him his alibi." "Well, Valerie cut off all contact with Burton after the attack until two weeks ago." "Hospital confirmed she paid him a visit behind closed doors." "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise." "And, uh... and who might you be?" "I'm Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." "I do love Italian." "Okay." "He's all yours, boss." "Does, um... does the boss have a name?" "Gibbs." "NCIS." "Oh..." "That is disappointing." "How did she die?" "We are talking about Valerie, right?" "Who said she's dead?" "Come on, I can see it all over your faces." "Uh, you're thinking that I probably have something to do with it." "Which is an understandable assumption, except for the glaringly obvious." "What we're thinking is maybe you had one of your unbalanced pen pals do the job for you." "You flatter me." "I must have said it wrong." "No, I-I wouldn't have, uh..." "I-I wouldn't, I wouldn't hurt Valerie." "She's one of the few people I respected." "You have a funny way of showing it." "Well, that was an unfortunate little incident." "I, um..." "I thought that a little outburst would... would-would help my insanity plea." "But it wasn't personal." "I just..." "Listen, if I wanted to kill her," "I would have killed her." "I..." "I did not want to kill her." "Why is that?" "I told you." "I respected her." "Prove it." "Oh, what did you have in mind, boss?" "Why'd Valerie come to see you?" "She had a issue with a... with a patient whose behavior was a little bit like mine." "Another killer?" "Oh, no." "Much worse." "Another sociopath." "You do your homework, and I like that." "What kind of behavior?" "I mean, sociopaths, we, um... we just... would do anything-- lie, manipulate, anything-- to get what we want." "And anybody who gets in the way becomes an obstacle to be eliminated." "How was Valerie an obstacle?" "She went poking around in the wrong head." "When a dog turns on its owner, there's only one possible course of action:" "You put the dog down." "I ate mine." "Childhood memories are the sweetest, aren't they?" "What was her patient's name?" "She didn't tell me." "But I do know that she was scared." "Really, really scared." "More scared than she ever was with me." "Bishop." "Huh?" "No napping." "McGee, we've been over" "Valerie's patient files for hours and haven't found a thing." "We're going on the word of a convicted murderer." "It's not exactly a reliable source." "You'd be surprised." "Some of my best informants are the worst scum imaginable." "Figured you guys would be working through the night." "Brought you a little pick-me-up." "And a peace offering for you." "Apple-bran muffin." "Oh, thank you." "That's my favorite." "How'd you know?" "Ah, you fit the type:" "uptight but regular." "Thanks." "So I felt bad about yesterday." "I called some of my contacts, and they confirmed my suspicions." "There's been no chatter amongst extremist groups in regards to your victim." "Well, thank you for the Intel, but we've actually been following up on a new lead." "Yeah, our victim was a psychiatrist, so we're looking into her patients." "Hmm." "Killing to keep a dark secret." "People have done so for less." "I'm intrigued." "What else you got?" "Uh, we compiled a list of all her patients and found only six that had any sort of history of violent behavior." "Assault, domestic violence, schizophrenia," "PTSD, anger management." "Let me guess-- they all have rock-solid alibis?" "Well, three of them are at in-patient facilities, two have ankle monitors, and one has been out of the country." "The most dangerous criminals are the ones you underestimate." "I would focus in on the patients that fly under the radar." "The quietest mouse always gets the cheese." "I... don't think that's a saying." "Gotta go." "Good luck with the case." "Uh..." "Agent Keates?" "I was just wondering-- for no particular reason-- what are your thoughts on classic movie marathons and home-cooked Italian meals?" "Well, I appreciate the offer but you're barking up the wrong tree." "No, no, no, I wasn't..." "I was just..." "I..." "Smooth." "Hey, I got your 911 text." "What's going on?" "No matter what happens in the next few minutes, just remember that hug." "Oh, boy." "What's up?" "We need to talk." "Yeah..." "Words I'm never fond of hearing." "Look, I know that this past year has been hard for you." "It's been hard for all of us." "But the thing is..." "we've never talked about it." "Not once." "We don't have to." "See?" "That's the problem." "We do." "I know you, Tony." "The real you, and the fake-happy- front-you-put-up you." "Now, come on." "I..." "I am a happy dude." "I mean, I, like, radiate happiness." "That song, "Happy," I..." "That's baloney." "This whole random act of dating shtick?" "Nobody's buying it." "Okay?" "We know you're lonely, and we know why." "Ziva." "Say it." "Ziva." "Come on, I can say it." "I know her name." "Ziva." "Okay, then let's stop dancing around this whole thing, okay?" "We all miss her." "I love Ziva, but she left us." "She is gone." "And-and it hurts, and it sucks, but that's reality and you have to face it." "I have faced it." "Many, many times." "She said no." "She didn't want to come back." "That's that." "I have moved on from it." "But you haven't moved on from her." "And you can't keep putting your life on hold waiting for her to show up, because... she probably never will." "I know." "Doesn't make it any easier." "The truth is" "I miss my friend." "You have friends here, too, Tony." "Don't forget." "I know." "Thanks, Abby." "Wait." "Hold that thought." "Ballistics on our bullet?" "Yeah, and it's juicy." "The striation patterns match a round from a Colt .38" "Super that was already in the system." "From another murder?" "The police report says it was an accidental firearms discharge at a private residence." "No injuries reported, no charges filed." "Who's the gun registered to?" "Nathan Curtis." "Oh..." "This is why I don't trust my neighbors." "Are you insane?" "Valerie was my friend." "I didn't kill her." "Your Colt did." "Ballistics are a match." "What?" "I haven't seen that gun since I..." "Trust me, you want to keep talking here." "It was a year ago." "I just left the corps, and I was having trouble adjusting." "I was in a really dark place." "Firearm discharge wasn't an accident." "No." "I tried to take my own life, but the gun misfired." "That's when I went to Valerie for help." "She was treating you?" "No, she couldn't, because we were friends, but she set me up with one of her colleagues." "Where's the Colt?" "After the incident," "I didn't trust myself with the gun in the house, so Val locked it up in her husband's safe until I was ready to have it back." "Look, I swear, I totally forgot about it." "Hmm." "Like you forgot about that argument the two of you had last month?" "Witnesses report a very heated exchange between you and Mrs. Barnes outside Rachel's school." "People argue, Agent McGee." "It's not something you kill over." "Convince us." "Look, something was going on between Val and Ryan." "She was on the edge every time Ryan was around Rachel." "And when I saw bruises on Rachel," "I confronted Val." "Why didn't you report it?" "Because she swore to me I had it all wrong, that Ryan would never hurt Rachel." "And you believed her?" "She saved my life." "I owed her that much." "Gibbs." "I was following up with the Naval Special Warfare Group on Ryan Barnes's alibi." "After the team racked out at 2300, no one had a visual on him until 0300 the next morning." "Where was the training grid?" "Prince William Forest-- only 12 miles from their house in Lake Ridge." "Easy trek for a SEAL." "Take DiNozzo, bring him in." "Front desk said Rachel and Ryan checked in yesterday, but no one's seen them since." "I usually suspect the spouse, but I didn't see this one coming." "Maybe I'm getting too Zen." "Oh, this is it." "Ah..." "Big Bang Theory." "I've seen this one." "The Dungeons and Dragons with..." "NCIS!" "All right." "What are you waiting for?" "Take the door." "Really?" "Yeah." "Would you like a formal invitation?" "No, no." "I got it." "What are you doing?" "It's harder than it looks." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" "Remember when they gave you the key card at the front desk," "G.I. Jane?" "Oh." "Right." "Yeah." "Right." "Right, right." "Got it." "Clear." "Clear." "Room doesn't even look touched." "It wasn't." "No bags, no trash." "They didn't stay here." "Ryan played us." "He's gone." "Well, no hits on Commander Barnes' credit cards or phone." "He must know we're tracking him." "What about Rachel's phone?" "She's ten." "That's 16 in girl years." "Trust me, she's got a phone." "I'm on it." "BOLO's out." "Airports, rail and bus stations are on alert." "He's got at least a six-hour head start on us." "That's a lot of ground to cover." "And we cover it." "You don't think he'd actually hurt his own daughter, do you?" "I'm not waiting around to find out." "All right, I found them." "Rachel's cell phone is actively pinging." "They're stopped at a rest area on I-95 North." "Let's go!" "Send it to me, McGee." "I want to go home." "Hey, hey." "Don't worry, sweetie." "It's all gonna be over soon." "It's not wise to sneak up on me, Agent Gibbs." "I'm armed." "So are we." "Drop the weapon, Commander." "Don't make this any worse." "Worse?" "My wife is dead." "Let Rachel go." "We'll talk about it." "It wasn't supposed to be this way." "I don't know how it all got so screwed up!" "Not too late to fix things." "Yes, it is." "Commander?" "Think of your daughter." "Daddy?" "I am." "And it's time to come clean..." "Daddy!" "...for what I've done." "Daddy!" "Daddy...?" "I killed my wife." "Daddy!" "I'm very sorry, Rachel." "I'm so very sorry, sweetie." "Jethro?" "I thought you'd gone for the night." "Something's not sitting right with me, Duck." "That makes two of us." "Young Rachel Barnes' medical records." "Several broken bones, multiple lacerations, two concussions." "This child was the victim of severe abuse." "It's more than disturbing." "What is it?" "Dates in this hospital report." "They're all from when the commander was deployed overseas." "So, our killer wasn't our abuser." "It's another mystery for you to solve." "Sociopaths like George Burton, they will go to any extreme to get what they want." "Indeed." "They're impulsive, have no regard for the consequences of their actions, not to mention a total lack of remorse that makes them very skillful at deception." "Yeah, but Valerie knew that, and she did not go to the police." "She was protecting someone closer to home." "Hmm." "Her husband may be guilty of murder, but..." "Commander Barnes doesn't exhibit any clinical signs of being a sociopath." "That's because he's not our killer, Duck." "Are we gonna build another fort?" "No." "Playtime's over." "What's wrong, Agent Gibbs?" "You haven't been honest with me." "What do you mean?" "I went back by your house." "I did a little digging under your fort." "I didn't have time to bury it deeper." "I needed to get back before Mr. Curtis realized I snuck out." "Tell me what happened." "Don't look at me like that." "I want to help you." "I can't help you if you don't let me." "That's exactly what my mother said." "That she wanted to help me." "She was gonna send me to a special hospital in Montana for treatment." "I don't need help." "I hate that word." "And I hated her." "Yeah, but you don't hate your dad, though, do you?" "No." "Daddy didn't see what she did." "Things were always better when he was around." "That's why you'd injure yourself?" "So he'd come back?" "Sometimes it worked." "But he'd never stay as long as I wanted." "Unless your mom was gone." "Then he couldn't leave you." "It's her own fault." "All she ever did was make me feel broken." "Getting rid of her was the best solution." "Daddy didn't understand, either, when I told him what I did." "He'll come around eventually." "I'm his sweet little girl." "Can I have another juice?" "Tony, where's your costume?" "What are you talking about?" "I told you I was going as Bruce Wayne." "No." "You're supposed to be going as Batman." "It's the same thing." "No, not when I'm going as Robin!" "It's the Dynamic Duo." "How am I supposed to be Robin without a Batman?" "Double chin up." "Nobody puts the Boy Wonder in a corner." "Oh, this is great." "Now I'm gonna be the only one at the party wearing spandex." "Well..." "Not quite." "Whoa." "Whoa." "Hey, Sandra Dee." "Where's Danny?" "Jake's meeting us at the party." "You guys ready to go?" "Actually I have all this stuff that I still have to do, but, um... uh, I'll see you there." "Okay." "See you later." "Who knew?" "Hmm." "Very interesting." "Hey, James Bond." "You all right?" "Uh..." "I'm Bruce Wayne actually." "Oh." "What?" "Rough day?" "Rough year." "Exhausting." "Long story." "Well..." "I got time." "Why don't you just act like we're back walking our old beat again, huh?" "Oh, yeah." "Where I ramble on about nonsense and you listen patiently?" "How else do you think I got to be such a good interrogator?" "I'm kind of curious." "You've been in D.C." "for five years and you never bothered to call me?" "What's up with that?" "Hmm?" "Tony, I didn't know where you went." "One day, we were patrolling" "River Drive, and the next... you were just gone." "You just up and left." "Not a phone call." "Not a single word." "Yeah." "Forgot that part." "Well, it wasn't you." "I know." "You needed to find your own way." "I never faulted you for that." "But I deserve better." "You are absolutely right." "And I am very sorry." "It's in the past." "I'm glad you found what you were looking for." "Although it's not the most soothing shade of orange, but I guess I get the appeal." "I know." "It's like working in a pumpkin." "But it's home." "How about you?" "Did you find what you were looking for?" "I'm kind of still a work in progress." "Aren't we all?" "Well, I'll tell you what, Keates." "You and I have some catching up to do." "What do you say we take a walk?" "Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" "It can wait." "Think of it as an honorary street patrol." "Except this time, you'll do the talking and I'll do the listening." "Well, we've never done that one before." "You clean up nice, Spider." "Any chance we can leave that nickname in the past?" "None whatsoever." "Get over yourself." "Just like old times." "== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man"