Sheppard had phoned Myriam early Sunday morning, informing her of a currently unofficial case that he thought she might be interested in. It was something that the other two often ignored or handed off. Despite not starting until the following day, she was eager to get her feet wet after being inactive and doing paperwork since the incident with the mayor of New Orleans.
Arriving at the Kaneohe Bay Marine Base, Myriam stepped out of her truck and pulled her sunglasses on with a wince. Each day she was on the island, she began to wonder if the New Orleans legends of her family being vampires were true. Hawaii was too sunny for her. She hated on Vance.
Her partner quickly made his way over to her and as she stared back at him, sipping her coffee. “Mornin’,” he greeted. “So, it seems that a corpsman went missing a couple of days ago and declared UA.”
Myriam nodded, taking the paperwork from him to read over the reports. “So he didn’t want to do the job anymore? That’s not unheard of.”
“Family reported it to HPD, his superior, and NCIS. Claims it’s not like him, he loves his job. Actions like this are completely uncharacteristic,” Shep shrugged.
Drawing in a breath, she nodded again. “Okay, so when was the last time anyone heard from him?”
“48 hours before his shift, unconfirmed,” he answered.
Her eyes narrowed, confused about the entire situation. “Why is no one trying to find him? NCIS hasn’t officially issued this to anyone?”
“Exactly why I thought we should.”
“I generally don’t appreciate it when someone’s looking for work, but sure. Let’s investigate,” Myriam shrugged. “But first, coffee.”
He smiled as she drank and read over the files some more. “Well, it is our jurisdiction, and I thought it was being overlooked and ignored. Considering the current atmosphere, I thought it would have been looked into more seriously than it had.”
Myriam slowly nodded. “How often does it happen here in Hawaii?”
“Not very, which is why I’m leaning more to side with the family on this one. Locals go missing from time to time, and Five-0 does do a good job in finding them, but they also have military contacts,” he admitted. “Commander McGarrett has Navy resources he utilizes. No more than we already have.”
“Five-O should mind their own business and deal with the locals, Navy and Marines are our thing,” Myriam replied sourly. “His unit is on base?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then let’s go and verify our information and search his bunk.”
As the two made their way towards the barracks, Sheppard appeared distracted or unsure about something as he kept glancing off towards a set of buildings on the far end of the campus. Letting out an irritated sigh, Myriam made it clear she wasn’t impressed by his lack of sharing. “What is it that’s bothering you? Just spill it already.”
Sheppard flashed his badge as they reached the door so that they could slip in as some was leaving. “I’m not sure how familiar you are with the bases on the island, but this one hosts a JAG office.”
“And?”
“And, lawyers make me jumpy.”
She stopped and stared at him from behind her sunglasses. “You do know you work in a field that deals with lawyers pretty frequently, right? You’re bound to have to work with them now and then.”
“Are you kidding me? That’s what I have you for, right?” He smiled widely. “You’re the boss!”
Myriam gave him a dark chuckle and shook her head, turning to continue inside. “Actually, that would be why I have you and why I am the boss, wouldn’t it?”
“Ugh,” Shep huffed and shook his head. “Fine. But I won’t be nice when I have to deal with them.”
“As long as you are right in what you say, then I’ll have your back,” she shrugged and eyed the names on the doors they passed until they found the one they needed. She turned the knob, finding it unlocked and pushed it open. Her head dipped down as she peered inside.
On a passing glance, it appeared neat and organized, the way an enlisted officer’s quarters should be. Myriam toed the door open the rest of the way with her boot and stepped in, staying just inside the doorframe.
“You got gloves?” She asked Jon.
He pulled gloves out of his pocket and handed them to her before grabbing his pair. “Never leave without a backup pair, right?”
“Perhaps, but then again I’ve had the pleasure of probies to deal with the grunt work while I took on the paperwork and red tape,” she shrugged as she pulled the gloves on and began looking around.
“Ah, you can get new probies on Monday. Grunt work is fun,” Shep said with a smile on his face and started with the closet left of them.
Myriam lifted the mattress and pulled at the linen before turning to the desk and opening the drawers. “This guy was boring. Not even a box of condoms for liberty,” she muttered.
“Found a shoebox,” he said as he shook it and brought it over to the desk. “There’s stuff in it.”
“Naughty girlfriend pics?” she asked, excited. “Honestly, so far I’m just seeing a guy that skipped out on his duties.”
He removed the lid and let out a sigh upon seeing a lot of cash in it. “Well, this doesn’t look good.”
“I’d take that with me if I planned to disappear,” Myriam admitted. Keeping in mind the many ports they have on the island, she looked around at the nondescript room. “Swab it to be sure. Just a hunch, then bag it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Shep said as he took out his kit and started to collect evidence from the box, took pictures of it and put it all in an evidence bag.
She glanced around again. “Swab for prints. There isn’t much else here. We’ll go talk to his CO after this and head back to the office and get the evidence in for processing.”
Shep pointed at the door. “Someone’s coming, wanna bet it’s 5-0?” He grinned as he did as he was told.
Myriam smiled as she shut the drawer she’d been looking in and started for the door. Just as she opened it, she found the two from the restaurant reaching the room. Leaning an arm up on the doorframe, she greeted them with a smile as she blocked the entrance. “Hello, gentlemen. Is there something I help you with today?”
“Who are you?” the short one asked.
“Who are you? I was on this scene first, so I think I ask the questions here,” she responded as she pulled off her gloves and took out her identification to flash just long enough for them to see the NCIS badge and logo from her ID card.
“Steve McGarrett, 5-0,” the other one replied, showing his ID. “I wasn’t aware NCIS was called in on this.”
She gave him a blank stare for a moment, blinking her eyes as she took in the view. “Why wouldn’t we be? Missing Naval officer kinda falls under NCIS last I understood. Unless that changed since I moved around. Sheppard! Has jurisdictions changed any in the last few years that I may have missed?” she called over her shoulder as she kept her eyes on the two men.
Shep had completed dusting the area for fingerprints, everything looked too clean and joined his boss by her side. “Not that I know off, boss,” he replied before looking at McGarrett.
“We’re here because we found Corpsman Henry Tesla’s body, and we’re investigating,” the other one replied.
Myriam’s brows rose as she clapped her hands together. “That’s great! I’ll expect to see the transfer paperwork on my desk by the end of the day for the body. Thank you so much for your efforts, I promise it won’t go unappreciated, but we have a lot of work to do. You know, investigating and all? If there isn’t anything else…”
“Hold on a second; this is our case.”
McGarrett smiled as he put a hand on his partner’s shoulder. “Normally we do indeed take these cases, but I’m fine with giving NCIS whatever we have, including our dead sailor.”
“Who’s dead sailor?” Myriam corrected him.
“Your dead sailor,” McGarrett replied.
“I thought so,” she nodded.
“I hope for your sake you won’t screw this up.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and smiled. “I get you, but you have no idea who you are dealing with now. Here’s my card. I’m sure we will run into one another again. Hawaii isn’t such a big island as people tend to think,” she replied as she handed him her NCIS card and followed Sheppard out. “Laissez les bons temps rouler, Commander!”
“Lasso-what?”
“It’s French, Danny,” Steve McGarrett replied. “You’ve seriously never been to New Orleans?”
He glared at his partner and shook his head as he nodded towards the departing NCIS agents. “Alright fine, what does it mean and are we really going to let them take this case from us? Usually, they are eager to give it over.”
“This one seemed eager to handle it herself,” Steve mused. “We’ll keep an eye on them, sure, but maybe NCIS finally sent someone capable.”
“We’re still working the case, aren’t we?”
“We’re still working the case, Danny.”
Meanwhile, outside, Myriam made her way over to her truck as Sheppard secured the evidence they gathered in his car. “I’m gonna bet that they will be following us around like dogs chasing a bone,” she grinned.
“Yep,” Shep nodded, popping his p. “I’m surprised by how easy McGarrett let us keep this case.”
“I don’t think that was easy. I’ve met plenty like him. He’s letting us think we got our way. We’re going to let him think that and play along until he gets in our way,” she replied as she turned to watch the two leave the barracks. “You go take that to be processed. I’ll go talk to the CO.”
He looked over where she was watching and agreed before taking off. She lingered a little longer, watching the pair, even waving at them when she knew they were waiting before she finally got into her vehicle to head to see Tesla’s commanding officer.
~o.O.o~
Sheppard walked into the NCIS lab on the base and lifted the tote onto the counter. He slapped a rhythm on the countertop and called out. “Yo, Isa! Where you at girl?!”
The lab tech came out, appearing distracted and annoyed as she glared at the Agent. “I’m here. No need to shout. Although given the current working conditions, I may have to look into alternative options,” she commented.
He was surprised by the response she gave as it wasn’t something she typically said. “Uh, wow. I didn’t know you felt that way. Why haven’t you said something? You know things are gonna change around here for us, right? DC sent out new leadership for us.”
“Nothing’s gonna change? She fired Edward,” Isabella let out a snort as she signed the chain of command. “But as I said, I may have to look into alternative job opportunities.”
Recognition flashed in his eyes as he pulled his box back a little. “I see, well, the thing is, Isa, she was within her right to send him back to the mainland. He hadn’t been doing his job and was actually sleeping at his desk when she walked into the office. Case or no case, he’s still a federal agent and should behave as such.”
“I know, I know,” she sighed as she held out her hand for the box. “Don’t worry, just because I’m not happy that Edward has been sent back doesn’t mean I won’t do my job. Give it to me.”
Jon tapped his fingers on the sides of the tote as he eyed her, debating his options. He was confident that there was more to this sudden attitude he had never seen from the lab technician. Just something about it didn’t sit right with him. “Look, I can hold onto this for the night, and you take the day and cool off. It’s really not a rush right now,” he smiled, pulling the box away and stepped back. “I’ll check in on you in the morning, okay? Want me to bring you something? Any place you want.”
Isabella scowled as she handed him the clipboard as well. “You keep me from doing my job now? The fuck man?”
“No, girl. Just maybe you need a day for yourself. I’m just gonna take this over to lock up for the night. Maybe you should go and unwind on the beach or something. Relax. I’ll catch you in the morning,” Shep replied, pulling out of the lab with seriously bad feelings as he headed to his car with the box again.
Once he locked it in the back seat, he sighed as he pulled his phone out to call his boss, eyeing the building he just exited. “Yeah, hey, Mikaelson? We might have a little bit of a problem here at the lab.”
He could hear her let out a sigh and move around, wherever she was. “I didn’t want to hear that because the CO wasn’t much help here. Tesla was a good kid, blah blah. Joined the family in reporting him missing but also filed the UA docs. Now, what is your problem you got?”
“I don’t think you met our lab tech, but usually she’s pretty chill. Isabella seemed rather, um, upset that you sent Cullen back to Quantico,” he reported. “And I mean, she was ready to bite my head off over it. It was strange enough that I took the evidence back and I have it with me in the back of my car and now, just don’t know what you want to do. I could take it to HPD for processing, but then that could put 5-0 on our ass.”
“I’m on my way back to base and will meet with this tech. I have a storage locker I opened when my family moved here, mostly in situations like this. Just hadn’t anticipated needing it so soon. Think of it as a safe house. I’ll text you the information. Memorize it and delete it,” Myriam replied, irritated by the situation before hanging up.
Shep let out a breath as he looked at his phone, amused and pocketed it until the text arrived. He had been impressed by the extra security at the unit she secured when he went to drop the evidence off. It was indeed not standard for such facilities so he could not help but wonder a bit about the woman’s reach.
By the time he returned to the NCIS office and attempted to search Myriam out after finding her SUV parked outside, it wasn’t difficult. All he had to do was follow the screaming and sounds of items crashing down at the lab.
Bracing himself to deal with two hot-headed women, Jon slowly crept through the doorway, running a hand through his hair at the sight. Myriam was merely leaning an elbow on the counter, hands neatly folded together, looking bored as Isabella moved around the room, screaming and throwing things. Now and then, the agent would look down and inspect her fingernails and glance over at the forensic technician.
Practically tiptoeing his way over, he whispered once he was close enough. “What did you say?”
Myriam raised a brow at him. “What makes you think that it was something I said?”
He met her with a skeptical smirk. “You had no issue with sending half your team back to the mainland your first day meeting them and finding out your position here.”
She had a sheepish smile and shrugged slightly. “I introduced myself and asked what her problem was. She admitted she didn’t appreciate that her boyfriend was sent away and then disagreed with my assessment of his work ethic. I pointed out I didn’t appreciate her attitude. And then she started off like this and has been since. I haven’t even had the chance to let her know that I decided that she’s fired as well.” Myriam’s face scrunched up as she peered over at the crazy lab tech. “I don’t think she’ll take that very well. Do you?”
Sheppard’s eyes bulged at his boss. “What? What are we going to do without a tech to process our evidence?”
“I’ll let Vance know we will need one of those too,” she shrugged, watching the girl send a stack of folders across the area. “Thankfully this is all under video surveillance, so I don’t have to do much of anything other than pulling the footage and send it to him asking for a replacement.”
He looked at her, a dumbfounded look on his face before he collected his thoughts. “You must have some serious pull to be able to do this that easily.”
Myriam thought about it and shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t think so. When presented with inadequate support, what are you going to do? If they want the job done, and done right, then they need to give me the right tools. I can’t see them trying to talk their way through justifying behavior like this, which has been attempted. That’s why I’m just standing here and letting her make a fool out of herself because it only digs herself a deeper hole.”
“She does look like she needs a nap in her playpen, doesn’t she?” Shep sighed. “She’s a brilliant forensic analyst, you know. I don’t know why she’s so upset. I mean, it’s good that you’re here. You might get us back on track with shit.”
“That’s the plan. I just didn’t think you guys were this bad. It’s a shame but it’s like starting over but sometimes from scratch is a good thing,” she said, hearing movement in the hallway. “That might be the base MPs I had requested to have her escorted off until I have that discussion with Director Vance. If you want to join me, you’re welcome to, since you’re witness to this tantrum.”
The two MP officers appeared just as bewildered by the scene as Agent Sheppard had when he arrived. “Agent Mikaelson?” one spoke.
Myriam lifted a finger, acknowledging his unspoken request. “I need her escorted off the campus and have her access restricted until contact with NCIS Director Vance and HQ is made. If she gets violent with you, then I’m okay with you doing what you have to by your protocols.”
Shep tried hard not to laugh when the two MPs escorted Isa out of the building. She was raging and continuing her tantrum, and in a way, it was hilarious. However, her behavior had turned from professional to really unprofessional in a matter of days after her boyfriend got fired. “This is ridiculous,” he muttered, shaking his head.
She smiled over at him and nodded. “Yep and now imagine all this that we have to sort through,” she replied as she snapped a few photos before sending them off to Vance and requested a secure video conference at his earliest convenience.
“We kinda need two techs to work through all of this to make sure that she didn’t tamper with stuff and… fuck,” Sheppard swore before looking at his boss with an apologetic look on his face. “Pardon the language, ma’am, but this royally sucks. And I know Vance will be on my ass as well for allowing this to escalate so much.”
“I got two brothers. Fuck is the tamest you can come up with?” She laughed and shook her head. “Don’t worry about him. He won’t be on you. They should have been more professional, and your reports reflected that you made every attempt to do the work. You can’t force them to do what they don’t want to do if you aren’t officially in a position to reprimand. I wouldn’t take you seriously either. I mean, look at your hair!”