"Go home, Agent Todd," Gibbs murmured with annoyance as his ever-eager employee made her way past his desk. It was already 4:00 in the afternoon and technically it was her day off. For some unfathomable reason, though, she had decided to show up anyway.
"Can't, Gibbs. I have to finish these reports." She sat quickly at her desk, reading through the papers. Gibbs glared at her from across the bullpen, but she seemed unaffected by his stare.
"No, you don't. DiNozzo can do those," at his words Tony's head shot up, a horrified expression on his face.
"Woah there, boss! Unlike Kate, I actually do have a life-" he stopped when Gibbs' glare shot his way, Gibbs' eyes causing the back of his head to sting.
"-which I will gladly sacrifice to help Kate." He murmured slowly, a forced smile now on his face. Kate just laughed, continuing her work. Tony's fear of Gibbs was amusing.
"Kate, you can just go home now," Gibbs eyes were on her again, although the glare was gone. His eyes were sympathetic now, and she knew why.
Ever since she'd been taken hostage, along with Ducky and Gerald, by the mysterious terrorist, she'd had a trouble staying at her apartment alone.
She knew it was ridiculous. He wasn't coming back for her or anything, and the rational side of her brain told her that continuously. Still, there was something about being in that dark, empty apartment that brought her back to him. That man with the strange, fascinating eyes...
She was ripped from her thoughts by her phone ringing, and she answered it quickly.
"Agent Todd, NCIS."
"Hello, Caitlin," the voice whispered into the phone. Her heart stopped.
It was him.
She started making frantic gestures at Gibbs, Tony, and McGee. Tony looked at her, confused, but Gibbs grabbed his phone quickly, demanding a trace be put on her phone.
"Who is this?" She murmured, stalling for time. The man laughed, sending a quick chill down her spine.
"I think you know who I am."
And she did.
"What do you want?" Her voice was almost a whisper now.
"I am having a little get together with some friends of mine today, and I was hoping you and your team could join me," his voice carried the obvious smirk she knew he was wearing.
"Where?" was all she could manage.
"We're meeting up at the First American Bank around 4:30ish. I'd love for you to join me," and then he hung up before she could speak. She slammed the phone down, shouting,
"Gibbs, it's him!" She didn't need to explain. Gibbs knew who him was.
Everyone was moving now, frantically arming themselves and making calls.
"Something's going down at the bank in," she checked her watch, "less then 20 minutes!" Without another word, the team made their way to the elevator.
Only as the doors began to close did McGee finally say,
"Do you think this is a trap, boss?" Gibbs glanced at him, a knowing expression in his eyes.
"Oh yeah. I know this is a trap."
The elevator doors slid shut.
---- ------
Kate now stood in a corner of the bank, her eyes slowly scanning the crowd inside. She'd been assigned to watch from this far corner and she could see Tony across the room, flirting with the bank manager. McGee and Gibbs were posted outside, waiting.
But what they were waiting for, no one knew.
Kate began to skim a brochure about smart investments, her eyes still scanning the room. There were about five people inside the bank, not including the tellers and the old, slow-moving security guard by the door. He'd been informed of the situation, and he now stood at full attention, continuously glancing out the window nervously. You could tell that in all his years working here nothing like this had ever happened. She just hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid.
Kate glanced at her watch again.
4:38
She started to think that maybe this was just a distraction, something to get them away from the office. Maybe she should-
Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by the jingle of the door, signifying that someone had entered. She turned to see a tall, brutish man walk in. She watched him as he slowly made his way forward, walking past the small line straight to the teller's desk.
"I need to make a withdrawal," he murmured in a thick, Middle Eastern accent.
"Sir, you need to wait in the line," the small teller replied shakily, feeling nervous under the man's intense stare.
"I need to make a withdrawal," he said again, sounding almost robotic. The thought occurred to Kate that that might be all the English he knew. She glanced at Tony, whose eyes were also locked on the man.
Tony began a slow approach to the man, his hand slowly twitching towards his hidden gun. The man, however, did not seem to notice, as his attention was fully on the teller.
"This account. Here. Withdraw." He handed her a sheet of paper which she read quickly.
"Do you have an ID, sir?" She replied, typing the number into the computer. Kate could see the frustration growing on this man's face, and she herself started to slowly approach him until she heard it.
"Caitlin." Her name was being whispered softly from behind her. She turned slowly, praying it was been her imagination.
It wasn't.
Standing behind her was a man in simple blue jeans and a dark leather jacket over a hoodie, the hood pulled up over his head. He wore dark glasses and was sporting a splatter of facial hair around his chin and mouth. Even like that, she knew who he was.
It was him.
Without a second of hesitation, she reached into her jacket and whipped out her gun, aiming it at him. He was ready for this, though, and was on her in a second, shoving the gun up into the air above their heads. He held her wrist up like that and pushed her back against the counter.
The gun went off.
The world went crazy. The people in the bank started freaking out, trying to make their way out the front door, only to find two new men standing in the doorway sporting guns.
Kate and the man continued their struggle for the gun until, finally tired of the games, he shot a knee out, slamming it into her stomach. She recoiled, hitting the ground and letting go of the gun. He sighed over her, the gun now in his hands.
"I did not want to hurt you, Caitlin. You made me do it," she glared up at him from the floor, angry at herself for letting go. She looked over at Tony only to find that the brute had disarmed him as well, pushing him to the ground. The men ordered everyone else to the ground and approached the now extremely terrified teller. The brute returned to her and slowly mumbled, yet again,
"I need to make a withdrawal." This time she complied.
--- -----
Gibbs sat in a car directly across from the bank, his eyes locked on the door. McGee was posted around back by the only other exit, a small door in an alley. He noticed a van pull slowly into the alley McGee was in, and he sat up, watching it disappear. He thought about doing something when he noticed it.
This strange, disgusting smell slowly filled the car.
H looked around, searching for the source as the smell grew, now ravishing his nostrils and causing his eyes to water.
"What the?" His eyes soon settled on a small, grenade-like object that sat next to the open passenger window, leaking a strange gas. Someone must have walked by…
Fear gripped him as he reached for it, desperate to chuck it out of the car, but it was too late.
The gas had taken its effect on him, and he slumped over the arm rest, his fingers reaching towards the device as he slipped into unconsciousness.
His last conscious thought was about Kate.
-----------
"What do you mean there is no such account?" The man roared at the terrified bank teller, causing her to slink away from him.
"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, her hands shaking as she typed on the computer. "I s-s-swear, it says there is no s-such account!" She even turned the monitor around to show him. This just made him angrier. His eyes flew to the man who still stood over Kate.
"Haswari," He hissed angrily, "You assured us the accounts would be here!" The man, whose name seemed to be Haswari, just sighed angrily.
"Well, my friend, I seem to have been wrong." This just made the other men even madder, and they now turned their attention to Haswari. Noticing their new attention, Tony began slowly reaching towards his ankle.
"How will we finance now?" They demanded.
"Listen, my friends. This is not something to become upset about. Just demand money and they will give it to you. We have guns, remember?" His arrogant smirk remained even with a room full of angry men with guns. Kate was almost impressed.
Almost.
"Fine, fine," He turned back to the bank teller. "Give me your money, then." She jumped at his words and soon the men had themselves full bags. They all began to move towards the back door, making their way out into the alley in an attempt to escape.
Only Haswari remained, standing over Kate.
"You know, Caitlin, I've thought about you a lot recently," He smirked, pulling her to her feet. She glared at him, shirking away from his touch. His back was to Tony, so Tony fully reached for his ankle and pulled out his hidden gun, standing slowly and aiming at him. And Haswari could sense this.
And then Haswari was behind her, his arm snaking around her throat, her gun pressed roughly to her temple. She reached up desperately, trying to pull his arm away, her eyes locked on Tony.
"Take the shot, Tony." She said in a voice so calm it shocked even her.
Haswari ducked a bit behind her, his eyes locked on Tony. Tony looked hesitant, unsure of what to do. He could just barely see Haswari from around Kate's head. If Ari yanked her even a little bit…
"DiNozzo! Take the shot!" She was screaming now as Haswari dragged her towards the exit. Tony followed hesitantly, his gun still trained on them as Haswari slowly walked Kate out the back door. The other men were already outside in the van, waiting for their leader to escape.
"Perhaps we can do this again some time, Agent DiNozzo," Haswari murmured in his ever-so-arrogant voice. He slammed the door shut behind him, turning the lock roughly. Now it was just Kate and Haswari.
And the gun.
Haswari looked down at his captive, his twisted smirk never leaving his face. She could feel his breath on her neck and she fought the goose bumps now flowing up her arms.
"What to do now, Caitlin," he breathed in a low voice, reinforcing the chills on her body, "What to do…" He started walking her forward now, the gun still pressed to her head. As they walked through the alley she saw, to her horror, an unconscious McGee slumped against the wall, his head smeared with blood. She started tugging towards him, but Haswari's firm grip kept her in place.
At his approach, the van's door was flung open to allow him in. He pulled her up in after him, slamming it shut and ordering something roughly in a language she did not recognize. The van lurched forward, and soon they were racing off and away from the bank, away from the rest of the NCIS team.
Away from help, Kate thought sadly.
There were no seats in the back of the windowless van, so Haswari propped himself against the far wall. Kate sat in front of him, practically in his lap, the gun now resting on her shoulder and aimed at her throat. She was fighting to control her breathing, trying to hide her fear. Haswari's arm had dropped now and was now loosely wrapped around her waist. She fought the urge to rest her hands on his arm, so instead she crossed them tightly in front of her.
I should have listened, she thought sardonically. Gibbs said to stay home today. I should have stayed home. At this thought, she let out a soft, agitated sigh.
And that was when the others noticed her.
"What? Who is she, Haswari?" The man driving the van growled in patchy English.
"Relax. She is simply insurance," He replied smoothly, slightly tightening his grip on her waist. She held her breath. They were probably going to kill her soon.
The man let out a slew of what Kate assumed were curses before returning his attention to the road. Kate could still feel Haswari's breath on her neck, and he knew he was causing those chills she tried so hard to hide. He blew purposely now, blowing air softly on her. He smirked to himself when she twitched slightly, the chills on her arm now painfully obvious.
"Well, did we get what we wanted, at least?" Haswari, distracted by his attempts to make Kate uncomfortable, seemed to not understand his question.
"What?" The man sighed with annoyance.
"Did we get the bank numbers we needed?" He was practically growling now.
"Hm? Oh, no. I was mistaken. They were not there," he returned to his work on Kate's neck.
A loud, animal-like roar erupted from the driver.
"What? We just did all of that and we come up empty handed?!" His driving became shaky, and Kate worried that he might go up on the sidewalk and take out a few pedestrians.
Haswari just laughed to himself, resting his forehead against Kate's head. She started to move away until the gun clicked softly against her throat.
She froze.
"What are you talking about? We still managed to obtain the right amount of money we needed. Everything is alright, my friend." Always the charmer, Haswari's gentle words were able to defuse the man's anger. Gradually, the van filled with silence as they sped down the highway.
"Besides," Haswari murmured gently against Kate's ear so only she could hear him. "I got exactly what I came for." His arm tightened even more around her waist, now fully pulling her into his lap. Her heart stopped.
The phone call.
The robbery.
Using Kate as a human shield.
He'd planned it all, all of it to get the one thing he wanted:
Her.
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So I've really been getting into the Kate/Ari pair recently, which is kind of sad considering they're both… you know, dead.
But I'm not going to let that silly fact stop me (;
Still, I've had this concept going through my mind a lot recently, and I knew that if I didn't at least start writing it I would never be able to focus on any other stories, so here it is!
I personally love the concept of Stockholm syndrome, where a prisoner starts to become loyal to their captor. I don't know, I'm just big on psychological stories. So yeah I bet you can figure out what this story is going to be about.