Tightrope

Phoenix looked up from the computer that he’d been set up with at the NCIS headquarters in the section near his Uncle. He was tasked to translate the emails that had been recovered from Mossad Agent Ziva David’s files. He saw Derek Morgan talking on his phone over by the windows facing away from the main area and running his hand over his head. Even with a GSW in his shoulder he was still typing with both hands, he wasn’t about to let something as insignificant to him as a gunshot keep him from actually doing something to help his uncle.

It had been three days since everything had started and still there was no progress. For even though the officers were the only ones on video entering his apartment they were being backed by several other officers. It was a whole shit show and there was already media frenzy going on since someone had leaked that a Sub had dared to come forward with accusations against Dominant Officers and staff from a local hospital. Others were stepping forward that had been attacked but went into hiding with Dominant family members.

“Find anything?” Uncle Lee came over and sat on the edge of Phoenix’s desk.

“She was definitely feeding information back to her father. It was things that she should’ve never had clearance to access as a Liaison officer.” Phoenix sighed as he leaned back. “She was also talking over plans with her father on how to undermine the chain of command in such a way as to discredit Tony.”

“What do you mean?” Gibbs perked up as he listened.

“There is mention about how she tried to get rid of him in a shipping container…and it was only a graze…” Phoenix looked at some of the emails that he’d translated.

“It was a through and through actually.” Tony spoke up as he entered the bullpen handing a coffee over to Gibbs and a large hot chocolate to Phoenix. “She also lit a pile of counterfeit money, evidence in other words, on fire compromising my lungs which she knew were scarred from a few years before.”

“What the fuck…and no one questioned things?” Phoenix looked at Tony with wide eyes and shock radiating from him.

“If there were any questions they were ignored by the higher ups.” Tony said simply pointedly not looking up above at where Jenny liked to stand watching. She’d barely gotten cleared from what had happened with Ziva. “They didn’t want me rocking the boat as it were…”

“Then ‘they’ are idiots.” Phoenix sighed as he typed some more. “There…done…” He sat back and actually enjoyed the hot chocolate that had been brought to him. He looked over at his Uncle before glancing up toward the walkway where he knew that the bitch was watching. “Who do you think will take the most pleasure from what I just sent them…Homeland, JAG, or IA?”

“Homeland is my guess…Morrow hates the David’s with a passion.” Gibbs replied his attention also keeping an eye on Jenny overhead. “He was also pissed about Sheppard being put in over Granger…” He said soft enough that Sheppard wouldn’t be able to pick up the muttering.

“Well…with what I discovered and sent off…it’s likely she won’t be there for long nor will her ‘replacement’ that she’d planned.” Phoenix muttered just as softly back before standing and slipping his arm back in his sling at a pointed look from his uncle. “You know I hate this thing…”

“Still I’d rather not have a repeat of your freshman year…” Gibbs glared with a raised eyebrow.

“What about his freshman year?” Derek asked interested in the byplay.

“The kid here got in a Dom’s face when he was attempting to command a sub in the middle of the greens…the sub wasn’t bonded to the Dom nor were they a traditional…” Gibbs said with an easy look. “Phoenix is just as non-traditional and refused to allow someone to attempt such blatant shit in the middle of the greenspace. He started following rule nine after that…”

“Bastard had pulled a knife on the other and was attempting to force them to suck them off in the middle of the greenspace even though it would’ve caused the other to be expelled while the bastard would’ve gotten a slap on the wrist due to being an alum descendant.” Phoenix muttered with a frustrated glare on his face. “He still just got off with a slap on the wrist even though I ended up with twenty stitches in my arm due to the knife he’d pulled and attacked with. He wasn’t even supposed to have a blade on campus because of the rules about being armed on campus. It’s the reason I didn’t have one to attack back.”

“Something that I made sure they allowed you to have as soon as I finished reaming out their asses for how they treated the situation. They wanted to expel you for fighting back and placing yourself in the middle of the situation…” Gibbs grumbled as he squeezed Phoenix’s good shoulder. “Now you go and stay with Agent Morgan. As soon as the day is done I’ll send Agent DiNozzo…”

“Uncle…don’t let her get him alone…” Phoenix looked at Sheppard without actually looking at her. “She’s been blackmailing him into something that could easily get him killed and using his attachment to you as a way to do so…it started when you were getting healing.” He allowed himself to be pulled into a hug. “Ziva was in line with her doing it and gave him a harder time than was appropriate during the situation, so he’d be too exhausted to fight back against it. She was also doing everything she could to block his disciplinary actions…Ziva had never been to FLETC if it wasn’t for Tony’s actions then all the cases would’ve been thrown out that she’s been a part of…Add in she’s part of the cult…”

“Shit…” Gibbs pulled back and ran his hand down his face before nodding in response before looking over at Tony, it was clear that he was exhausted just from the look of him when he thought no one was actually looking at him. “DiNozzo go with them…I want you and Agent Morgan on his six twenty-four seven…one of you in the room when he’s sleeping even at all times. We still don’t know the depth of all the issues.” He bit out before looking at McGee. “Pull me up everything possible on the Death Mark Killer…cult”

“Boss?” McGee looked at Gibbs with confusion.

“This has just become a multi-agency investigation…” Gibbs snarled as he moved to his computer where the information that Phoenix had translated had been sent at the same moment it had been sent to all the others. “We need to go back over all our cases since David joined…” He snapped as he sat at the desk looking up at Sheppard with a glare before ignoring her and for once not acting like he had no clue how to type on the computer.

Two months later:

Derek and Tony looked at Phoenix who was sitting in a purple velvet armchair that sat at an angle to the window, which had been changed out to bullet-proof one way glass so that people couldn’t see in the window even though they were on the top floor of a high apartment in the penthouse. When asked how they’d been able to afford to use this as a safe house it was explained that Rossi had arranged it for them, it was his penthouse for when he had to be in the city for book editor meetings. He’d been in protective custody for two months; they’d cleaned up the police precinct that had started the most of the case against Phoenix but when he’d been attending the arraignment he’d been shot at and brought back into protective custody. It was also clear that there was hell happening around the world as more and more of the group were revealed and those that ‘squealed’ were being silenced. Already five victims that had at first gone silent were killed when they came forward to testify.

“We’ve got more coming out of the woodwork every day…” Derek muttered as he looked back at the files in front of him and Tony, there had been members of the cult found in every major agency and in a lot of the stations around the nation. There were also several found through the MI6 and Interpol in the UK where it had all started. “I don’t know what to do to help him…”

“There’s nothing we can do but be here and support him. You know this Der…” Tony whispered clasping Derek’s shoulder before he stood and went over the window and crouched beside the chair.

“Is it bad that I just want the world to burn so that I can finally have some peace…” Phoenix asked without taking his eyes from the view out the window though it was clear he wasn’t even seeing that. “I lost my parents and godparents to the cult…and everyone swept it under the rug…blamed a drunk driver…” He gave a mirthless laugh. “Instead it was a bastard who was pissed that my father had succeeded in taking out the face of the cult…” He turned his head to look at Tony with the pain clear in his eyes. “Not only that but the bitch that caused my Papa to be in the car with us was part of it! If it hadn’t been for her I’d’ve been with him instead of the hell that I faced with my Aunt and Uncle…I’m surprised to be honest that they weren’t part of it.” He turned his attention back to the window. “I want to sleep without the nightmares…I want to be free of this weight…why do I have to be part of this…”

“I can’t tell you that angelo (angel)…” Tony whispered as he cupped Phoenix’s cheek. “Sometimes shit happens…”

“Okay Forrest Gump…” Phoenix smirked but the smile didn’t fully reach his eyes. “What can I do?” He looked over at the others.

“You know you’re not allowed…” Derek sighed as he stood up and moved to where the other two were. He was just grateful that they’d been able to work it so that Tony and he could be their mate’s guards. Those that were in the higher offices knew that there was nothing more protective of a submissive mate than their Dominant partner. “As much as we’d like to have you do so…”

“Look…I know that I’m not allowed to be part of the current case…but…” Phoenix pushed himself out of the chair and went to lean against the window looking out over the city before taking a deep breath and turning to face the two Dominants. “But I also know that there was a lot of what was written in Taggart’s journals that was never translated…or perhaps translated wrong…I know that there are several that are working on it…I just…” He took a deep breath. “These bastards are responsible for my parents’ deaths and the paralyzing of my godfather. I want to make sure that if there is something in the journal that someone might have missed that could help…” He wrapped his arms around himself. “I know deep in my bones that there was someone guiding Taggart…”

“The person behind Taggart would be dead by now…” Derek said softly.

“Do you really think that?” Phoenix cocked his head. “There are plenty of people that were alive at the time of WW2 that are still around and many still have their mental abilities…but…” He took a deep breath as he moved away from the window and toward the kitchen. “Never mind…” He went to the kitchen to start cooking something for their dinner, it was something that was soothing for him.

“You think that the person who is behind all of this was around during WW2?” Tony asked after a look at Derek with a raised eyebrow.

“I…” Phoenix looked up from where he was pulling veggies out of the crisper and finding a knife to chop them. “I think that the person saw the ‘Ideal man’ idea of the Nazi’s and has twisted it from what they’d stood for. I think that the person was either a young child or teen at the time of the war but not old enough to be in the war…Possibly a child in the same orphanage that it was discovered Taggart had been in when he was growing up. Something few know and none of those that followed Taggart knew, he was a switch that was a male carrier. He despised that side of himself…” He started slicing pulling out chunks of meat from the meat drawer and coating them in a flour and seasoning mix before putting them in a cast iron pot with a little oil to brown them. “My father speculates that he was a more submissive leaning switch…” He looked over toward where his father was standing with sorrow in his own eyes wishing he could ease the emotional pain that Phoenix was going through. “I want to be able to look through the true untranslated versions of the journals…I just feel…” He shook himself slightly as he continued preparing things for the beef stew that he was creating. “I just feel like something was missed…”

“I’ll talk to Tom tomorrow…” Tony came into the kitchen and pulled Phoenix into a gentle hold. “Don’t worry Tesoro (sweetheart/treasure/honey/darling) we’ll find some way to have you help.”

Phoenix only smiled softly at the pair before returning to his work. He knew that something had to have been missed there was no way it wasn’t if there were so many members hidden within the system on both sides of the ‘pond’ as those in England called it.

The President and the Queen were pissed when they’d been informed as well as all the heads of the other nations, though a few had turned out unaffected by it and it caused more to be checked with them.

Jenny Sheppard had been discovered to be suffering from a progressive brain tumor that was inoperable and was given months to live. She took her life before she could be arrested for the espionage and treason that was discovered when she had willingly placed a spy, that she knew was a spy, onto the premier team of NCIS as a ‘favor’ to Eli David in return for information on a CI of the CIA. She admitted that she’d been working on isolating Tony so that he’d work the undercover operation for her against the man’s daughter. Tony had laughed in disbelief when he’d heard the information wondering in what world she thought it would work since his Plague experience made him very well known to all medical personnel in the capital and surrounding areas where they’d brought in specialists and used his experience as a teaching aide, it made him even more glad that Gibbs had come back from the explosion with his mind intact and back in understanding of proper procedures.

Leon Vance was passed over for the position of Director of NCIS much to his disbelief until he was personally arrested as well. Turns out he was also in Eli’s pocket in exchange for some ‘information’ being hidden. The IA office were still attempting to work everything out with the situation that had been revealed. His wife had already served him with divorce papers.

Gibbs had been offered the position of Director, but he’d just laughed in the SecNav’s face before leaving the MTAC room and went back to working the newest case. He knew that if he was given the seat then he’d be driven crazy from having to do all the paperwork and play politics and knew that there were too many that he’d piss off for his lack of decorum.

One week after Phoenix had asked about the journals they were delivered by Derek’s team with Dr. Reid joining him at the table that had been set up as a desk for him to work on freelance translations that he didn’t have to be in person for.

“So there is talk that you think there’s more here?” Spencer said with his head cocked in a way that was honestly reminding Phoenix of a curious puppy.

“I’m almost positive…everyone read this as if Taggart were a Dom…but my father speculated that he was a switch…and there is new information that’s come out since the new investigation started with the profile that you’re teams created about Taggart that makes me think…well the orphanage he was left in was…hmmmm…very conservative and religious.” Phoenix said as he pulled on the gloves that he needed since the journals were still considered evidence. “Now…It is known that he recorded his thoughts in ancient Latin, Greek, and Gaelic but there are so many other languages, and it was such a mix-up…there were five different translators working on this but none of them had an understanding of every language used they only took one or two at most…” He shook his head before diving back in. “There has to be something more that was missed from the mashup of translations that took place. There are at least five languages as the majority in what I’ve read so far…I’m sure I’ll find more…”

“I agree…are you going to transcribe them?” Spencer asked as he pulled up the scanner that they had available to make copies of everything so that they could work on things without tampering with the journals.

“I’m going to do a complete transcription before I even begin to look through them…once the transcription is over then I’ll move on to the deep dive.”

Derek watched the pair, he was glad that Spencer was opening up to Phoenix, both geniuses needed someone that could keep up with them. He looked toward the door when Aaron stepped into the space that had been set up but made no move to interrupt the pair at the table. Tom Morrow stepped in as well since it was a Homeland and Interpol case he was here to keep an eye on things.

“What news do we have?” Derek asked quietly while making sure to keep an eye on Phoenix, Tony had been called back to the office to deal with the closing of several cases that were being called into question because of Ziva David.

“The group is turning on each other naming names in the attempt to lighten their own sentencing. The President has joined the discussions of the punishments as has the Prime Ministers for the main countries that were part of it. The head of Mossad has been arrested as well as his daughter, they decided on ‘suicide’ to avoid prison. Though we’ve got several areas keeping an eye on their accounts and such and noted that the accounts were drained leading us to believe that the suicides were faked.” Morrow sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ziva vowed revenge against Dr. Potter as she was loaded on the plane to be returned home along with Tony since he was the one that brought Dr. Potter into the office in the first place. This is going to be a shit show…”

“It already is.” Derek shrugged in response before moving into the room and leaning lightly over the pair to see what they were up to so far. He was impressed at what he was seeing, as Phoenix translated Spencer was reading through what he had. “What do we have so far?”

“Not enough but there are definitely bits mentioning a ‘Guide’ or ‘The Master’…” Spencer replied looking up briefly before diving back into things.

“Il Maestro (the master - latin) has been mentioned many times.” Phoenix sighed as he continued to translate. He didn’t look up from the journal and tablet in front of him as he continued to transcribe he knew there were others in the room but paid them no mind.  “So has ‘an treoir’ (the guide – Irish)…”

Phoenix continued with his work and ignored as many were going back and forth throughout the safe ‘house’ though it was more an apartment. Derek’s whole team was there including Garcia who was brought in and settled at the table with Spencer and Phoenix hooking up a secure network so that the translations could be shared as they were finished. Tony and Gibbs showed up around the time for dinner with news that Sheppard had opted for suicide when it came out that she was mentally impaired by the brain-tumor that it was revealed she was dealing with. Phoenix looked at them as if it was supposed to be a secret that she’d done so, he knew she’d died within moments of it happening since she’d shown up to ream him out as it was ‘his fault’ that she wasn’t able to get away with everything and that she was caught with her fingers in so many pies it was ridiculous. Phoenix had only lifted an eyebrow at her and turned away not giving her the time of day only to smirk when he heard his godfather show up and start to ream her out for daring to betray her oaths as a citizen and a member of the federal agency that she was sworn to. Sirius held betrayal of those oaths as on par with betraying the oaths of protection that were sworn for godparents. Betraying them meant that they were worse than the criminals that they hunted.

Three days of work and being pulled away for meals meant that Phoenix was getting aggravated. He was tired of being ‘protected’ he felt instead he was being kept prisoner for his ‘own safety’. Pacing in front of the windows he glared out into the street below just watching and listening to the sounds of his soulmates moving around the apartment. There was a disconnect that had happened between them thanks to this situation. They didn’t have a chance to truly get to know each other in a comfortable stable way and it was causing his temper to flare. When his temper flared so did his connection with his flames.

“Whoa!” Derek stumbled back as he entered the sitting room seeing the smoldering heat that surrounded Phoenix. “Okay…yeah…Hey Tones we need to find a way to give Nix here a break from this place…” He looked over his shoulder at Tony who’d been in the kitchen fixing a meal for them.

“Why’s that?”

“Because he’s gonna burn the place to the ground to be free if we’re not careful and proactive.” Derek replied with a smirk when Phoenix turned to look at him with his arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

“I wouldn’t risk the lives of everyone else that lives in this complex…” Phoenix sighed before turning back to the window.

“That may be Nix but…” Derek started to respond only to be met with a raised hand. “Did you really just pull a talk to the hand?”

“Perhaps…” Phoenix smirked before wrapping his arms around himself again. “Even just up on the roof for a bit would help…”

“Let’s take the meal up there and have a picnic.” Tony said as he entered with the platter of meat that he’d been preparing with olives, cheeses, crackers, and fruits. “After all it’s an easy picnic meal…”

“Sounds wonderful to me.” Phoenix smiled gently and the heat that surrounded him softened to his normal elevated body temperature.

“I’ll get the wine and beers.” Derek moved to the kitchen to grab one of the reusable bags that they’d gotten from the market that did deliveries for them, after being fully vetted by the FBI, NCIS, and Homeland. “We’ll not talk about anything pertaining to the case or what is happening with that…”

“Sounds prefect.” Phoenix moved and gathered some small lanterns and candles so that they could have light after the sun went down and he also grabbed some pillows and blankets to help with the picnic feel.

The Picnic with his mates had been what he needed to recoup after being trapped for so long in the safehouse. It made things so much easier when he returned to NCIS with Tony three days after with the translations needed to help with further cracking the ring. They were in the MCAT room, it was the most secure place that they could figure out for this so that he could talk to who he needed to without being among too many people, he was on a military base the Washington Navy Yard, surrounded by Marines, Navy personnel, and federal agents not to mention his own uncle and his two soulmates.

:Are you telling me that Taggart had someone ordering him to do all the things he’s been charged with?: M of MI6 snarled out, they’d been brought in when it was made clear that Interpol needed the assistance even though Interpol was pissed at having to admit it. :And No one caught that fact when the journals were transcribed the first time?:

“There were seven different languages found in the journals. A mixture of which were combined in three distinct passages in such a way as to all be translated in separate ways.” Phoenix stated as he sat in the chair that had been brought in for him after the meeting had been going on for the last hour. He leaned forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees and steepled his fingers. “In one such passage he writes in such a way that even with the code of the languages it would be difficult to catch the meaning if one did not have the knowledge of everything in the other journals. There was not one translator on each language that had the necessary knowledge to catch the phrasing. They simply thought it was his mind-break that caused the supposed rambling.” Phoenix looked at all the people cued in on the video screen, there was the Directors of the FBI, CIA, Homeland, and Interpol, along with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Prime Ministers of several nations, as well as Mycroft Holmes for the Queen and M from MI6. “There are many different words that were miss translated since they used the newer translations instead of those with the Ancient context. Or simply viewed as gibberish…” Phoenix sneered at the way it had been handled. “I was able to translate a large amount of them but still needed to get the translations verified by several sources. Of course I had an impetus to figure things out.” He smirked slightly before he rolled the small table which he held his notes, the journals in protective sleeves, a computer, and a small clicker so that he could move through the information that he was about to give. He ignored the Director, his uncle, and his mates that were in the room with him as he clicked through things. “To start with I’ll show what I found in the last few entries as my father and godfather were closing in on him…”

Phoenix stood and moved to the white board which had been converted to a projection screen for him. Tony moved to the computer that was on the small table and clicked a few things so that Phoenix could project on the board as well as it would allow the techs at the computers around them to share the information with those in the different offices around the world. Derek stood nearby with a firm gaze not allowing anything to happen on his watch, he’d protested actually coming in for this today since Phoenix had been up with nightmares since he finished his translations.

“Munda corpus…cleanse the body in latin…” Phoenix started as he showed the journal entry. “It is a statement that he frequently uses in his entries, he was adamant to be Il corpo e l ' anima also Latin and meaning ‘be pure of body and soul’ he mentions it whenever he has a close call where he almost died or was caught. Another phrase he uses commonly in the same entries is the Irish ‘Ná bíodh an bua ag an namhaid’ that is Let not the enemy win.” Phoenix turned to make sure the different deligates were actually paying attention. “This is where things change. He writes in the Chinese traditional” He showed a picture showing the Chinese writing ‘因為主人會生氣’

:How did no one find these?: The Chinese representative snarled.

“Ah…you see it don’t you.” Phoenix nodded in understanding. “For those that can’t read the phrase it says ‘yīn wéi zhǔ rén huì shēng qì’ for the Master will be angry.” Phoenix looked at the rest. “He often has ‘zhǔ rén’ or the Master show up in his writing in the traditional style. He also has the master show up in Latin ‘il maestro’, Irish ‘an Máistir’, Bulgarian ‘Майсторът’, Welsh ‘y meistr’, Ancient Hebrew ‘המאסטר’, and Greek ‘ο πλοίαρχος’.” Phoenix made sure passages showing each version was shown clearly. “He does the same for ‘the guide’…and the one who enlightens ‘qui illuminat’.” Here he showed the images of those phrases as well. “The way he changes them up in the writings that he used them in leaves me of the opinion that it all refers to one person, most likely an older male figure who was over him in a position of power. Someone he looked up to and longed to please. We know that Taggart was an orphan raised in a very religious orphanage in the midst of the London Blitz during his teen years. We know that he was a switch from the autopsy that was performed after the fact.” It had been amazing when it was discovered the different areas of the brain that caused one to be a dominant, submissive, or switch revealed so that it could be figured out after. “What was hidden in the autopsy that Doctor Mallard was able to find for me was that Taggart was a carrier. We know from his writing that he sees those as abominations and freaks.”

:Meaning he’d do everything in his power to suppress that part of him and do everything to hide it.: M said with a sigh.

“Exactly.” Phoenix nodded. “Now in the passages where he uses the phrase about cleansing his body it was after writing about a meeting with the master.” He pulled up the information. “It leads me, with the agreement of the BAU of the FBI’s top team as well as Agent DiNozzo, to believe that he was a more submissive switch that hated the times that he had to meet with the Master. I believe that the Master was the Dominant of Taggart.”

:Well Shit…:

Phoenix couldn’t tell who had said that in the call as he was turned away, but it did cause him to smirk. “We believe that the person was at most seven years older than Taggart. He focuses several of his quirks on the number seven and the number three. There have always been signs that he suffered from a form of an obsessive disorder, but he also suffered from a large fear of death and being abnormal. In his writing and from what was discovered when he was arrested he had the desire to be perfect and create the perfect world. One where submissives remained in their ‘place’ and the Dominants ruled. Switches he classed with Dominants though to be honest in his mind there wasn’t really the classification of switches there was only Dominant and Submissive just like in his mind there was only male or female. Anyone with ‘powers’ were to be contained and be used as servants. We know this from what we learned from him upon his arrest and campaigns. The thing that the new translations show us is that there was more to it. Not only were they to be servants they were to be culled…” Phoenix stood with his arms crossed as he spoke this part turned and facing the screen. “It was of the similar idea as Hitler…only instead of the superior man…it was the superior being…” Phoenix took a deep breath. “They see those with gifts as below everyone else an inferior group after all it would’ve been the choice of natural selection if they didn’t bring in the assistance of the Higher Beings to create children. They view it as a ‘cheat’ and ‘weakness’ to have the gifts. Plans were in place before Taggart went into prison and the ’inner circle’ was dealt with. They would’ve only been carried out if there was still someone in power to cause them to be fulfilled. For those that were left were only the foot soldiers not the elite.”

:Do you believe that it was a Nazi or sympathizer?: M asked with a tilt of her head.

“No…It is clearly written in the passages that they think that the idea that the Nazi’s had of a superior man was hogwash and they are not afraid of writing how they could’ve done things so much better. They think that the Nazi’s and Hitler were in the writing listed ‘Bloody idiots not worth the braincell they shared between them’.” Phoenix smirked as he said that. There were several choked off laughs that came from the rest. “They’re pissed at the fact that so many were killed in the War both as innocents and as soldiers. They saw it as a wasteful method since there were so many Doms and Subs killed.”

:You keep saying They…:

“Because of the way Taggart writes the statements it shows that it wasn’t mainly his ideals but something that he shared with someone. The Master as it were. Taggart only calls them the Master or one of the other names. There is never a mention of the name of the person. But with the way the movement is still growing and spreading it is highly likely that if the person is still alive they’d be 83 since Taggart was born in 1929.” Phoenix explained. “From what the different tech specialists that we have are able to figure out there are 9 possible men that could’ve been or are the Master. Only three are still alive.”

There were several who startled at that information before they looked at the new information that he pulled up for them showing three men that appeared on in different stages of health and advanced age. Tony stepped forward at this point.

“I’m the Senior Field Agent of the Major Crime Response Team here at NCIS. My names Tony DiNozzo. I’ve been with Dr. Potter as he’s worked through the journals and talked through his findings and thoughts. Now I’m here to explain the different thoughts we have on each of the remaining gentlemen as well as information we have on the descendants of the other six as it is possible with Taggart being a switch carrier that the reason he focused on three is pregnancies…this is just an assumption though there are searches going on his DNA to see if there are any matches in the system.” Tony explained as he focused on all those tagged in on the conference. “For the first subject: Albert Bancroft, born August 30, 1922, orphaned at age 7 with two younger siblings. Father was a sympathizer that was killed for treason, mother took her own life. This is the limited information that we were able to gather on him at this time. He is registered as a Dominant, while his brother was a switch, and his sister was a submissive. His sister was killed by her dominant when she fought back over her treatment by the man and the brother died while protecting the sister. No records of who the dominant was nor what happened to them. The second subject is Norman Chadwick, born May 8, 1922; lived in the neighborhood of the orphanage but was not an orphan himself. Shipped to the countryside during the war for his ‘safety’ while father was at War and mother a nurse. The third subject still alive is Theodore Whittemore, born December 18, 1920; went to the same school as Taggart and returned to teach there upon an honorable discharge from the Royal Navy due to injuries sustained in the war. He had four siblings two who passed in early age due to disease and two killed in the Blitz. His parents were traditionalists.”

:How are you able to find this information?: Mycroft asked.

“The children of these gentlemen have been creating family blogs about their families history, mostly the great grandchildren. They want to keep the family history and find out what they can about their families.” Phoenix answered as he stood beside Tony. “The children of the other six have less information on their families. Three died out within one generation…one has had only daughters and is extremely against the traditionalist viewpoint…to the point of attending protests. The other two are borderline traditionalists, they agree with some of Taggart’s viewpoints that were given out but for the majority of it seem to be more open minded.”

:What information do you have on the children of Albert Bancroft?: M asked as she made notes, obviously planning on bringing in others to help.

“There are three…two boys and a girl, the girl was killed by her dominant like her aunt. The middle boy died of unknown reasons at the age of 5, it was suspected murder, but nothing was ever found. The oldest is a registered Dominant with six of his own kids from his Sub before she passed, her body was too worn out. They were mated when he was 17 and the young woman was 14.” Phoenix explained with a sigh of exasperation at the fact that even as the times advanced there were those that brought about the mating at such a young age. “There was rumors that the oldest of his children actually belong to his father. After his sub passed he took on another and with her had four more children.”

:Ten grandchildren?: One of the Joint Chiefs asked.

“Correct.” Phoenix nodded before he moved back to the computer and pulled up the connection with Penny who was able to take over the report.

:We’ve been able to track five of the grandchildren down, they have all moved as far away as possible from their father and grandfather. They all bore signs of excessive abuse, in the oldest girl there was even signs of sexual. They’ve been in witness protection in the states as they are attempting to take down the ‘cult’ that is the grandfather and his son. They also mentioned that the grandfather likes to take first rights…: Penny explained as she was brought in on the video conference, much to the annoyance of several of the people that were part of it knowing it wasn’t as secure as they thought if Dr. Potter was able to bring someone in that easily. :The other five remain with the grandfather and father. All dominants or submissives. The grandfather moved to the US after the war, he started a business over here while staying in touch with Taggart. There were several instances where Bancroft traveled back and forth until Taggart’s death in 1981. The oldest submissive female bonded with Christopher Michaelson and had four children before passing away from complications in the birth of her youngest boy, one Robert Michaelson previously of the Criminal Psychology Department of Harvard.:

“Well shit…” Phoenix’s eyes went wide before he dropped into the chair that had been placed earlier for him.

:You know this person?: Mycroft’s eyes went shrewd as he studied the linguist through the screen.

“More than know him…I am the reason he lost his position at the department and university…” Phoenix sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I also helped take down the dean that had given him his position and the dean after attempted to further blackmail me before I had to take steps to ensure it didn’t continue.” Phoenix looked up at the screens again. “All three men were of the view that those that are carriers, Gifted, or part of the LGBTQ+ community as Abnormal’s or Freaks. Several who didn’t conform to their beliefs were forced through actions on their parts to drop the courses that they took. A large number even left the school completely.”

:The three have been on a watch list since they were all relieved of their positions.: The Directors of the FBI and CIA both shared the information that they had. :There hasn’t been any odd chatter from the three…:

:They’ve gone completely silent actually…: Penny said typing a bit more in the background. :Social media, email, phone…all silent.:

“Bloody bastards…” Phoenix muttered and then leaned into the soothing touch that Tony gave when he gripped his shoulder. He looked up at the video screen to look at everyone, M was typing something in her own computer before looking back at the screen, the Joint Chiefs were all making furious notes, but the ones that caught his attention the most were the Directors of FBI and CIA. “You knew…you said they’ve been on a watch list…it’s more than that…it didn’t just start at the time they were relieved…” He pushed himself to his feet with a snarl. Tony and Derek coming up beside him as flames began flickering around his hands. “You bloody knew! I’m done! I’ve given you what I have…I’ve put up with your ‘protection’…Now it’s MY TURN! Let them come for me…they’ll find out what it means to come after a blessed child of Hades and Hathor!” His eyes lit with the glow of a spirit talker. “I’ll make sure that justice comes let your buddies know…We know our place and it’s not on our knees!” With that Phoenix turned and stormed out of the MTAC chamber with his soulmates moments behind him, Tony gathered up his computer and cut the connection. Gibbs stayed behind with his arms crossed and a sneer clear on his face.

“Well you fucked up.” Gibbs smirked as the rest left the chamber leaving just the techs and the Director in there with him. “I have to admit I was curious how it was that there were at least sympathizers here in the states if not active participants. And how they’d gotten into the positions that they had…Penny be a dear and get to work…I want every fucking skeleton.”

:NOW SEE HERE!: The Director of the FBI snarled out. :Miss Garcia you do this and your position and deal that you made are done.:

:Nope not happening…: M spoke up with a snarl.

:By order of the Queen, Miss Garcia is now an international liaison for MI6.: Mycroft smirked in a way that he knew infuriated people. :With the help of Miss Garcia and Dr. Potter we’ve been shown several new pieces of the puzzle that was the Death Mark Killer cult…You have the permission of the British Government to release the BlackQueen once more.:

Gibbs smirked as he saw the way Penny startled on the screen looking at the rest of the people in the video call in shock. She blinked several times before seeming to shake herself out of it and let shark like smile cross her face. Few knew that her mother had been a British national that came over to the states to attend university and then fell in love with her father.

:Since this started in England with the Death Mark cult…it is only right that we let those that are dual citizens take it over.: Mycroft explained with a smirk. :We ask that NCIS and Homeland continue to assist Dr. Potter and Miss Garcia. We also ask that any information be shared so that we can help contain everything here. Wouldn’t want mass panic now would we?: He lifted an eyebrow in question. :Now I’ve a debrief to get to. Farewell.: With that Mycroft Holmes ended his portion of the call soon followed by the rest of the attendants until it was only Penny and Tom Morrow, he’d been moved up to Director of Homeland after the first purge of cult members.

:Well that became a shit show real fast…: Morrow sighed as he leaned back pinching the bridge of his nose as if fighting off a headache.

“You don’t know the half of it…Penny be ready for Nix to turn up at your office…he’s on a rampage and there will be no stopping him. I know that the Chiefs are with the President or will be shortly. It is highly likely that a very quick change over is about to happen with the heads of FBI and CIA.” Gibbs explained with his arms crossed. He looked over at Granger and got a nod. “Actually it was sent through by the Director here so that the President had the information in real time. Something Nix cooked up.”

“He didn’t find that information on blogs and such did he…” Granger stated as he stepped up beside Gibbs.

“Few know this but with the eyes flashing even more are going to learn. As he said he’s a twice blessed and he earned a gift from both his divine parents.” Gibbs explained. “He’s a spirit talker and fire elemental. It’s easy for him to find out facts when the spirits of the wronged come to him. His parents are with him at all times and help keep him from being overwhelmed.”

:Is he going to be okay working this case? I’ve already drawn up the needed paperwork to have him an officer of Homeland along with the one that is likely coming from MI6 or Interpol.: Morrow said with his arms crossed as he stood in his office watching the screen, he was a pacer and knew it so made sure he had space and a good camera that would follow him if he needed to move.

“He sees it as a personal challenge now.” Gibbs smirked. “He’s not gonna let anyone but the teams that work with his soulmates help. And maybe his dad’s former team…”

“And they are?” Granger asked from beside Gibbs.

“Tony and Derek.” Gibbs smirked again. “Meaning me, Abs, Jimmy, and Ducky from NCIS and then Miss Garcia, Hotchner, Reid, Gideon, Prentiss, and Jareau for the BAU.”

“What about international?” Granger asked again knowing that they needed to work with those in the international area so that it could be handled properly.

“Lestrade was training under James and Sirius when they were in the Yard…I know that he tends to work with Holmes’s brother from time to time and will likely have him called in on that part. As for an international connection likely will work with someone from MI6 as long as his father vouches for the person.” Gibbs shrugged. “We’ll talk later…I need to go and find out where they went so that I can head off the chaos that is a pissed Phoenix…we don’t need him setting fire to anyone that gets in his way.”

“He’d do that?” Granger yelped in shock as he followed Gibbs out, the others hanging up as they did so.

“No saying he wouldn’t…” Gibbs seemed to have a smirk permanently in place at the moment.

Phoenix was stalking through the bullpen of NCIS and out the door before anyone seemed to realize what was happening. Those that knew he was under protection were concerned until they noticed that Derek and Tony were with him. They knew then that there was nothing to keep the kid here. The few times he’d shown up between the arrest of David and the current events had caused many of the people in the main bullpen have a soft spot for the normally soft spoken Doctor. Those that didn’t learned just what a little shit he could be as he twisted their words around in ways that were both impressive and terrifying.

“I need a team I can trust…” Phoenix was snarling into the phone. “I’m not going to be left out of this investigation because I’m a blasted carrier! I wasn’t allowed to attempt to get a position in the Yard or any of the other investigative team. I’ve got all the credentials needed to be on a team and I refuse I absolutely REFUSE to be left out of this. All the investigators before this team had been a bunch of shit! You need my skills, and you need my intelligence. Just as you need the intelligence of Doctor Reid and Technician Garcia.” Phoenix turned from where he was pacing in the parking lot with flames sparking on the hand not holding the phone. “I’ll be taking up the offer of MI6…they are willing to let me work with their agents and those here of the BAU Team 1, and the MCRT of NCIS.” Phoenix snarled as he looked at those watching. “Gun qualifications…that is your excuse for not allowing me on the investigation? Well fuck you sir…I’ve been trained in firearms since I was seven by my godfather Lord Sirius Black III and then I continued my training at the side of Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs upon receiving my dual citizenship in the US. I’m trained to Marine sniper qualifications just as he taught me self-defense and knife work. Any time you want to test me sir feel free.” Phoenix then hung up the phone with a snarl and in a move reminiscent of his uncle broke it.

“You’re not supposed to be pissing people off or breaking your phones…” Tony said with a smirk as he walked up and wrapped his arms around Phoenix not even paying attention to the higher body temperature that came from a flame user. “Come on tesoro (treasure) let’s get back to the safe-house and get something to eat.”

Derek picked up his phone when he got a call from Garcia only to sigh. “So…the safe-house is compromised…”

“Shit…” Phoenix snarled as flames flared around him with a shout of frustration. To the amusement of the two with him, and Gibbs who had exited the building, he burned his clothes away and it was only thanks to the quick actions of his soulmates and uncle that he didn’t flash the world.