NCIS: Lesson Learned

“At least ten people are I hospital after that stunt you pulled!” Gibbs yelled at Tom.

            “I’m sorry! I had to try something to kill him,” Tom countered. “Ten people in hospital is nothing compared to what he has done!”

            “That is not the point. You destroyed an entire building to try and kill one person. Kill being the key word there.”

            “So what if I didn’t actually get him? Everyone in the building was already dead,” Tom snapped. “The least I could do was attempt to avenge their deaths!”

The argument had been raging on for hours, with neither side willing to admit the other was right. The NCIS office in Newton Abbot was a small flat above some random shop along the high street, hidden in plain sight. The office itself was actually quite roomy considering five people and their equipment was supposed to be able to fit.

Tom’s desk was situated between DiNozzo’s and Gibbs’ staring straight at the door since he was the fastest and so could easily react and take any unwanted visitors out of the equation. McGee and Bishop was situated on either side of the door ready to take people by surprise should Tom fail to recognise a threat, or if he was absent on this particular day.

“I would have done it,” Bishop imputed.

            “What?” Gibbs asked.

            “Everyone was dead, the odds of hurting other people was tiny and there was a chance that Felix would have been caught beneath it,” she elaborated.

            “What about next time?” Gibbs questioned. “What about next time when there are children in the building?”

            “Then I won’t destroy the building genius!” Tom exclaimed angrily. “I’m not stupid!”

            “Says the kid who destroyed a building because he hated one person,” Gibbs countered.

            “I don’t hate him,” Tom chilled. “I feel sorry for him, I wanted to help him. I tried to help him and he just spiralled further and further into his murderous abyss.”

            “What? You knew he was a murderous psychopath and did nothing to stop him,” DiNozzo asked.

            “I’ve got at least five years of experience in trying to hunt him down and bring him and his spree to a screeching halt,” Tom stated simply. “I’ve worked more on taking him down than I have on any other case.”

            “Then perhaps it is time you step down from the case. Let us handle it,” Gibbs suggested.

            “I’ve tried that to,” Tom warned. “He follows me, as does Parsa. I can’t be removed from the case because the case follows me.”

Suddenly the door burst open and McGee ran in. “Three of the injured kids have just passed away and another two have fallen into critical condition.”

            “Now, what do you think,” Gibbs asked condescendingly.

            “That our enemies have far better technology than we thought,” Tom shrugged as he hacked into the hospital security cameras. He opened the footage and filtered out the distorted images to reveal that Penny had snuck into the hospital undetected and altered the children utilising the hospital equipment to make it appear that they perished of their wounds.

            “Lesson learned,” Tom agreed. “Don’t leave injured children in a room without a guard.” He added as he transferred the footage to the big screen.

            “Oh,” the others stated in horror as Penny looked straight at and through the camera.