Tru Twilight
Davis had been sick with a nasty case of the flu. He had been so excited to get selected for an exchange Medical Examiners project but now he couldn't go because of that damned cold.
Tru had made the mistake of bringing him a bowl of soup when her quirky boss and sometimes friend she loved to hate and hated to love had decided he'd send her in his place. Knowing better than to ask her, he fixed the paperwork himself and left a post it on her desk.
Tru had been furious but conceded to go. After all she'd never been to Washington before and according to Davis, Dr. Mallard was a unique medical examiner and she'd learn a lot from him. Tru only hoped she wouldn't get any requests for help by any dead people.
As if!
Davis was right. Dr Mallard, or Ducky as everyone besides her called him, was certainly unique. In the fifteen minutes since she met him he had already shared enough stories for her to share with Lindsay for years to come.
He was a funny, sort of annoying, older man in his mid sixties, with bright clever eyes, a thick accent she thought was British and a personality to match. He worked for a military navy agency called NCIS and had been Davies' professor at college. He had started sharing stories of his youth, stories of his favorite agents within the Agency, stories about Davies, talking from the moment he shook her hand and hadn't stopped. For the first time since getting in the death business she hoped someone would die!
Unfortunately someone did.
An agent called Caitlin Todd had been killed by a bullet to the brain. Execution style. The woman had been killed during a mission to avert a missile from hitting the docks, presumably by a terrorist that had held Dr. Mallard, agent Todd and his then assistant, hostages a year ago.
Tru had copied the woman's ID details on the autopsy file and had taken clippings of her nails and hair. She had noted that there was a bullet lodged on her bulletproof jacket as well.
Dr. Mallard was in the adjoining bathroom getting ready to perform the autopsy when the woman snapped her dark brown eyes open, looked at Tru and said
"Help me"
'Oh no!' was the last thought Tru Davis had before the day rewinded.
Tru woke up with a start in the passenger seat of a small car. Behind the wheel sat a man who smiled friendly at her.
"Hello there Miss Davis. You fell asleep during my most exciting story!"
the man said in a thick British accent and a joking tone.
"I'm sorry Dr. Mallard"
Tru apologized remembering the days that had brought her to DC and the death of the female agent that had cause the day to rewind. She checked her watch. It was 10am and she had less than two hours to stop it.
How was she supposed to stop a terrorist from executing special agent Caitlin Todd?
"So uh... why don't you tell me about the people you work with?"
Tru asked Dr. Mallard meekly hoping to jumpstart a story out of the strangely quiet man sitting right next to her driving through the morning traffic. she needed time to remember exactly what he had told her the 'previous day' about the operation with the terrorist, but didn't want to be too obvious and couldn't help but wonder why she only had two hours, correction one hour and forty-five minutes to save agent Todd. Usually bodies asked her for help at night and she had a whole day to try and prevent their death. But only two hours and in a strange city?
That wasn't fair!
Thankfully Dr. Mallard didn't disappoint and launched to a story about agent Gibbs who was agent Todd's boss and with a little question from Tru about arch enemies the man had spilled the beans.
The terrorist was an Israeli man was called something Tru couldn't pronounce and had bitten her tongue twice while trying.
Arriving at the Navy Yard Tru had to show her ID and the papers proving she had a right to be in the building. Dr, Mallard had held the door for her when four people exited and bumped into them. Tru recognized the dead woman immediately.
"Caitlin, Jethro, Anthony, Timothy I would like you to meet miss Davis. She is here as part of the exchange program I was telling you about. Miss Davis these are agents Gibbs, Todd, Dinozzo and McGee"
"Well hello there"
the tallest man in group greeted her with a smile that made her blush. The shorter man chuckled under his breath and the woman in the group elbowed Anthony the flirt.
"Nice to meet you miss Davis"
Agent Todd said in a friendly tone - even if her eyes appraised the younger woman determining if she was a threat or not. Agent Gibbs didn't say a word, he only stared at her for a moment before nodding and drinking from a paper cup.
"Nice to met you too"
Tru said quietly checking her watch and seeing, it was eleven am. She only had an hour. The shorter man made a move to head to the parking lot behind them when Tru realized this was her only chance. She reached out to grab Caitlin Todd
"can I ask you something?"
she gained the immediate attention of every man in the group
"can it wait? We're in a hurry"
Caitlin said quickly. Tru shook her head negatively
"It's important"
"I'll catch up"
Agent Todd said to the men in her group and watched carefully as the three agents got in a car before turning to Tru who still held her arm
"what is it?"
"I don't know how to say this so I'll just come out and say it"
Caitlin's left eyebrow rose
"You're going to die today. In one hour, you're going to be on a rooftop and you're going to die by a sniper with a bullet to the head. You're going to get another bullet on your chest first but your vest is going to stop it"
Caitlin's mouth formed a line and her hand flew to her gun
"I'm an NCIS agent. I'm always ready to die for my team and my country Miss Davis"
Agent Todd said in an icy cold, serious tone before turning around and heading to the car. Tru looked down and shook her head. she had given the woman a warning. Only time would show if agent Todd could be save d or if she was destined to die. She allowed Dr. Mallard to guide her to the autopsy where she proceeded to pace up and down anxiously while hearing story upon story from the older medical examiner.
Special Agent Caitlin, Kate, Todd couldn't help thinking over the younger woman's words. She would say Tru was a nut job but there was something in her that wouldn't let go of the warning.
'Focus Kate'
she told herself and concentrated on keeping Gibbs alive. However as Gibbs, Tony and herself ran to the rooftop her heart began beating erratically with fear.
"Shooter!"
She shouted and dove to the ground behind Gibbs feeling a bullet hit her chest.
"You're going to get shot in the chest but your vest will stop it"
Tru's voice rang in her ears. 'Oh my God it's true' Kate thought as she remained lying on the ground.
"Kate? Are you okay?"
Tony asked as Gibbs laid her on her back on the cold concrete rooftop. She groaned. She made no move to get up deciding to trust Tru. Keeping her body still she said quietly
"Ari's here. In a nearby rooftop. He's going to shoot me when I get up"
Gibbs' eyes snapped upwards and scanned the area. His gut told him to believe her. Tony took his que from their boss and knelt next to her pressing down on the would-be-bullet-wound with both hands while pretending to cry. Gibbs mimicked him and grabbing his walkie he alerted McGee on Kate getting shot and told him to alert Fornell and the others giving the younger man some code that Kate couldn't hear as she was playing dead. what felt like hours later but was in fact less than half an hour a chopper was heard as Ari Haswari was finally captured. she decided to ignore the pang in her heart at that and allowed Gibbs to help her stand.
"Protection detail is over Kate"
"You did good"
Tony said only half jokingly
"How did you know he was here?"
Gibbs asked seriously. Kate bit her lip and smirked
"gut feeling"
they fetched McGee and drove back to NCIS far slower than Gibbs drove them earlier. she told the others to go on up to be debriefed claiming she needed a moment. she slid the door of the autopsy floor quietly. Tru was pacing back and forth, her heels clicking loudly on the linoleum floor; ducky was nowhere to be seen.
"how did you know?"
Kate asked making the younger woman jump in fright. Tru whirled around and exhaled loudly seeing the older woman alive.
"you wouldn't believe me if I told you"
she said chuckling. Kate bit her lip and appraised Tru.
"wanna go for a cup of coffee later?"
"I'd like that"
"And maybe you can tell me how you knew"
"Maybe"
Kate smiled a real smile and left the room. Tru smiled back
She had her game, even when in an unknown city
THE END