Here's the 18th story in my series. If you haven't read the other stories, then I advise you to not proceed until you do. This is a series. It runs in sequence. To understand certain things (especially where Jamie came from), it's best to just start at the beginning. This series is kind of like my very own NCIS season 4. As of this point, the series consists of: story 1 A Link to the Past (comes in 3 parts)… story 2 Wrong Place, Wrong Time… story 3 Second Job… story 4 Daughters… story 5 A Personal Vendetta… story 6 Bless the Children… story 7 Eyes of the Condemned… story 8 Disturbing Affection… story 9 No Man Left Behind (story that introduces Chioke; aka Kid)… story 10 Finger Swap… story 11 Imperfect Heist… story 12 The Color of Skin… story 13 Death to the Jedi… story 14 Brotherly Love… story 15 For the Love of a Child… story 16 Devil's Playground… story 17 Forced Alliance… story 18 Firing up the Screws (current story). Hope you enjoy it.

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Author's Note: The following story is a continuation of the previous story "Forced Alliance". The events which occurred in the previous story led to the following.

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Monday

Chapter 1

Tony is on route to work after dropping Chioke off at school. The radio is on; he's listening to a local news station which is covering the scene of a recent shootout at a garage in Alexandria, Virginia.

Upon reaching the front gate of the Navy Yard, the security guard is slow to letting him in because he's also listening to the news.

"Did you hear what happened in Alexandria this morning?" The security guard asked.

"I'm listening to it right now." Tony replied.

"It's a shame that one guy was killed by stray bullets."

"Yes, it is."

The security guard finishes what he's doing and opens the gate. The car drives into the Navy Yard and a minute later, is parked.

Tony steps off the elevator onto the third floor. Ziva and McGee are already in the bullpen. They're standing in front of the plasma screen as they're watching the news. Tony approaches, remains quiet and watching the news with the others.

"We just received word the identity of six of the victims of this fatal shootout are members of the gang known as; the Crows." The news reporter stated. The reporter walks to the side. The camera follows her. "Excuse me, Sir. It's understood you witnessed everything this morning. Can you tell us exactly what happened?" She places the microphone close to the man's mouth.

"I was over there picking up a bagel when I heard the screeching of tires." The man points in the direction of the bagel shop. "I thought nothing of it until I heard an explosion, which I later found out was the garage. Then the sound of gunfire ripped through the street like it was War World III. Luckily there weren't a lot of people around at the time. People were screaming and running for cover. Unfortunately, one guy was hit by stray bullets as the two groups were shooting at each other. A getaway car with two Crow members smashed into the cleaners store over there…" He points in the direction. "I've never seen anything like it. But if you ask me; the Crows deserve it."

The reporter puts the microphone closer to her mouth. The camera is moved away from the man and back to the reporter.

"The gang known as, the Crows, for their large tattoos of a crow stretched across their backs allegedly ran the garage which is now immersed in flames. The Crows, who have recently been under federal investigation for kidnapping, extortion and even murder, fell victim to what some people are referring to as being; what they deserve. But the fatal shootout between the Crows and an unknown group claimed the life of a man as he was struck by stray bullets while trying to climb into his vehicle in an attempt to escape from the scene. In total, the shootout claimed the lives of seven men and injured a dozen others. The unknown group of assailants coordinated this vicious attack on the Crows and seemed to be highly organized in doing so. The devastation left behind by this shootout is currently under FBI investigation." She continued. "We're left with many unanswered questions. Is the unknown group of assailant's heroes or vigilantes? Will the remaining Crow members who are still on the streets, hide or retaliate to this attack? But most importantly… In a community rocked by the outburst of chaos this morning, will they continue to endure the devastation we've seen here today? Is this an isolated incident or are we to expect more? Only time can tell." She speculated. "This is Lauren McLean with CBS news…"

The plasma screen turns off. Tony, Ziva and McGee turn around. Fornell is standing behind them with the remote control in hand; the remote control he took off Ziva's desk.

"Where's Gibbs? I need to speak with him." Fornell demanded an immediate answer.

"I just got here." Tony stated.

"I'm not sure if he came in yet." Ziva answered.

"Or maybe he just stepped off the elevator." McGee replied after looking in the direction of the elevator.

Fornell turns around. Gibbs stops in his tracks since he knows the two of them will be going to the elevator for a much-needed conversation.

Gibbs and Fornell enter into the elevator. It starts moving. Gibbs flips the emergency stop switch.

"I need…" Fornell begins to say.

"I can't believe you never told me about the stipulation in my brother's deal!" Gibbs yelled. "He showed up last week and we were forced to let him work with us."

"If I told you about the stipulation it wouldn't have made much difference."

"It would've been nice to have advanced warning. We were completely blind-sided by it."

"And you would've been riding my ass like you are now." Fornell said. "Advanced warning would've only…" He begins to say but stops because he notices a strange expression on Gibbs' face. "What's so funny?"

"If DiNozzo heard you say what you just said about riding your ass…" Gibbs starts chuckling as he's finding it hard to continue the sentence.

"You're probably right, he would." Fornell chuckled. "Twenty bucks says the word, gay, comes out of his mouth."

"You're on." Gibbs agreed to the bet. The two of them shake hands on the bet. There's a brief moment of silence before it's broken. "So what do you need?"

"I need everything you have on Petty Officer Wade Benson." Fornell stated. "And I do mean everything." He notices the confusion of Gibbs' facial expression. "We have an undercover in Geoffrey Benson's organization. A year ago, he infiltrated the organization and has been trying to gather evidence. Unfortunately, it's taking much longer than expected to work his way into a position of gathering the type of evidence we need."

"I hope your story is getting to a point soon, Tobias."

"Our man overheard two others talking about going to war with the Crows."

"What does this have to do with Petty Officer Wade Benson? I told Mr. Benson who murdered his son."

"Mr. Benson doesn't believe what you told him. He believes the Crows are responsible for the death of his son Wade. He's going to eliminate the remaining Crow members."

"Because we're so familiar with the Benson's, the FBI wants our help." Gibbs said after reading Fornell.

"Nothing gets passed you, Jethro. Our manpower is stretched thin as it is. So yes, the FBI is requesting the help of NCIS."

"I'll need…"

"Here's the file on the Crows." Fornell hands Gibbs a file with accumulated Intel about the gang. "Personally, I don't care if the Crows and Benson's people kill each other, but an innocent man was killed this morning and a couple others sustained minor injuries. We need to prevent this from happening again."

"So we're being shoved into the middle of their war."

"Be careful and don't take any unnecessary risks."

"There's something you're not telling me, Tobias."

"We think your brother may have some type of involvement with Mr. Benson."

"That would explain a lot."

"There's no concrete evidence or any solid leads to suggest it, but ever since your brother was here and made that deal with us, it made the FBI put him under a microscope. How he ever knew the locations of those terrorist cells is beyond me. But with Mr. Benson's resources it would give him access to being able to find out anything."

"Like how he knows a lot about my team. But Jared working with Mr. Benson doesn't make any sense. I mean, what reason could there possibly be. Jared is a serial killer. He only cares about causing death."

"He murdered over five hundred people in a thirty year time-frame. If he is working with Mr. Benson, it's because he's up to something. And if he's up to something, I'm willing to bet it's not going to be good."

"If what you're saying is true, then that means Jared's urges are evolving."

"The only question is; evolving into what."

There's a brief moment of silence as the two of them think.

"Anyway, I'm looking into any possible connection between your brother and Mr. Benson." Fornell said. "It's all speculation right now, but I'll keep you in the loop on this one."

Gibbs flips the emergency stop switch. The elevator moves. The door opens and they step off onto the third floor.

"It would've been nice to have advanced warning about the stipulation of Jared's deal!" Gibbs shouted as the two of them walk alongside the windows. "I can't believe you didn't bother telling me."

"If I told you… You would've been riding my ass like you are right now." Fornell stated.

"Your ass is meant to be rode, Fornell."

"Yeah well, it feels like I'm taking it up the ass from you right now, Gibbs."

The two of them walk passed the back stairs. They stop behind the back stairs and remain silent so they can hear what Tony is going to say.

"Psst…" Tony tries to get McGee's attention. McGee looks to him. "Did you hear what Fornell just said?"

"Yes I did, Tony." McGee said.

"That was so funny." Tony chuckled. "I always thought Fornell seemed kind of fruity."

From behind the back stairs, Gibbs puts his hand out with the palm facing up. Fornell takes out the wallet from his back pocket as he's the one who lost the bet. The wallet is opened. Fornell takes out a twenty dollar bill and places it in Gibbs' hand.