Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS as it is a government agency. I do not own Ducky, Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee or any recognizable characters. Those belong to Mr. Bellisario. I do, however, own the following original characters that you do not, as of yet, know but hopefully will get more acquainted to.

Author's Note: Before you read, I'd just like to remind you that there IS violence in this story as in borderline abuse (but not to any of Mr. Bellisario's characters) by a man, murder (but not too bloody) and a type of Stockholm syndrome. I doubt that I would ever stray too far over the line of abuse or go too far into the details of the murders in this story as I do not enjoy writing it nor reading it.

This little plot bubble came to me one day as I was watching, I believe, MTV. Strange. However, I hope you will enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I pride myself in my proper grammar and spelling although grammar was and is still my worst subject. Should you find any error that irritates you to the point of not wanting to continue on in the story, please, inform me in a way that will come off as constructive criticism. However, flames will not be appreciated.

Also, I consider myself an NCIS purist. That means I and this fanfiction will have nothing to do with NCIS: Los Angeles or any of its characters. I repeat, none of the NCIS: Los Angeles characters will be making an appearance on this fanfiction.

Don't hesitate to ask me questions should you, in the course of reading, become confused. Now, read on and let your imagination soar.

Lark Chizin Pearie

Riley glanced down at the unconscious man below her, her MoD dagger grasped in her hand. "Did you finish it, yet, T?" Lance questioned, walking up to them. He kneeled down and pressed his index and middle finger to the man's carotid artery then shot up angrily. "G-ddammit, Trouble, just finish him off!" Lance exclaimed angrily pulling out his own Marauders of Darkness dagger and pointing it at her threateningly.

"I can't do it. I can't, Lance! He didn't even do anything! Shore's only making us go after him because he doesn't like him. It's not a reason to kill somebody." Riley answered with conflicting emotions in her eyes.

"Hey! Don't ever use my name in public like that, again, do you understand? When we're out here, I'm Lightweight! And don't say 'that's what she said' because it's not sexual." Lance growled and immediately the younger of the two nodded but smirked. Lance then rolled his eyes. "Do you know how much trouble we'll be in if we don't finish another mission and kill this guy? Shore's gonna beat us 'till we're black and blue, that's what. I'll take care of it this time but next time he appoints you to head the mission, you kill the damn target. Alright?" Lance demanded, easily stabbing their 'target' through the throat then wiping the blood off on the man's own clothes.

"Okay, now we have to get rid of the forensics." Riley mumbled glancing around the scene but froze when she heard a twig snap.

Evidently, Lance heard, as well, because he had stopped moving. "Did you hear that?" Lance whispered.

Riley immediately shut her eyes and listened carefully. "Fuck! There are people here. We have to get going. Come on!" Riley exclaimed then jumped up and tried to run off, slipping the dagger back into her sleeve.

"Not that way! Not that way, T!" Lance exclaimed as he took off in the opposite direction. He quickly jumped and launched off a tree onto the stone wall and looked down at the youngest member of his MoD team. "Come on! Hurry up, there's someone behind you!" Lance yelled.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Riley answered as she quickly changed direction but when she started to jump towards the tree to use its potential energy to launch up towards the wall, she felt somebody grab her. "Lightweight, go! Get Freeze and Major and get out of here. I can handle these people!" Riley exclaimed as she maneuvered out of the grasp of the mystery person.

"Dammit, Trouble, you really are trouble. Shore's gonna be seriously pissed off when we show up without you." Lance growled then ran off.

"We do not want any trouble. If you do not move, we will not hurt you," a strange woman's voice sounded. She had an accent… Middle Eastern?

"Ziva, it's just a kid. Lighten up," a man's voice said. Riley could sense him being taller than the… Israeli woman? She had always done poorly in the dialect training Shore put them through. It always resulted in her being punished.

"If you don't want trouble, I'm sorry 'cause you've got her. I'm Trouble." Riley answered with no fear in her posture or voice. She eyed the two closely and quickly and conspicuously flexed her forearm to active the trigger to drop her two daggers from her sleeve. She could hear Lance, Sabrina and Jesse discussing very quietly what to do about the people.

"Do you hear that, Tony? There are other children very near here. Most likely on the other side of that wall," the woman, Ziva, said making Riley stiffen warily. The taller man seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings but the Israeli, Riley would have to watch out for.

"Trouble!" Riley heard Sabrina call from over the wall. "Shore's calling us all back. I'm sorry but you have to figure your own way out of this." Sabrina informed making Riley grimace but accept it. It was the way of the MoD.

"Aye, Major. Just get out of here." Riley breathed but knew all three heard her.

Before Tony or Ziva knew what had happened, Riley had flung the daggers at them. Ziva quickly pushed Tony out of the way causing the dagger meant for him to graze her on the cheek whilst she expertly caught the other one by the hand. Ziva immediately whirled towards Riley with an undecipherable expression. "She's very good, Tony." Ziva informed, keeping her eyes on the child.

"I have to be… and I am." Riley answered trying to come off as smug and arrogant but only sounding young and desperate which infuriated her to no end. At least Shore's last lesson had succeeded in teaching her to hide her fear, no matter what.

Happy that she had remembered to wear gloves with grip and use unmarked daggers, she quickly ran towards the tree, jumped off it and landed on the top of the stone wall as Lance had done a few minutes before her. "I'll see you soon… NCIS." Riley informed then ran off, making Tony's jaw drop. Gibbs was going to be pissed.

Riley ran as fast as she could down the street and glanced behind her to make sure none of them were following her. Only then did she make her way back towards the Marauder of Darkness Headquarters which was simply an abandoned warehouse that was owned by the leader of the MoD's distant cousin. Shore had killed his cousin, however, and gave his identity to his second-in-command, Terror.

Walking up to the abandoned warehouse, she knocked once. After about 5 minutes, a slit opened up in the door. "Name and Number," a voice spoke.

"Riley, codename Trouble. Number 221309." Riley immediately answered.

"Operation status?" the same voice questioned.

"Operation Feather complete. Target acquired and taken care of. The scene wasn't taken care of, however. Feds showed up. NCIS." Riley reported.

Riley distinctly heard the voice sigh before locks clicked and the door opened. "Trouble, Shore's going to want to see you. Lightweight, Freeze and Major have already reported up to him. Major's going through Leadership Retraining because of you," the boy informed as Riley entered the warehouse.

"But it wasn't their fault, James. None of them. I couldn't handle my first mission as lead. It wasn't their fault and it sure as Hell wasn't Sabrina's fault." Riley spoke.

"I know. Shore doesn't care. Once a team's formed, you either celebrate together or suffer together. You might have completed the objective but you failed the mission and that's all that Shore's going to care about. And I'm not James anymore. I'm Guardian Mafia." James explained.

Riley stared at him incredulously. "But you were one of the best field agents. I thought you would rather die than become a guardian." Riley spoke.

James smirked wryly. "You know how Shore is. You can't say 'no' to him if you want to live. I guess being a guardian isn't that bad. It's just the losing my civilian name and having to work defense for the rest of my life that pisses me off a little. I loved being a field agent. You know Shore's requiring agents to know at least three languages now? I know you're fine but Lightweight's going to have a hard time. He could barely learn Spanish and nearly spent a year down in the brig learning and now he has to learn another language. Oh and he's making the Parkour training more intense now." James informed.

"I'm not surprised about the Parkour. We use it more than anything else." Riley answered then did a half-grimace, half-smirk at James. "I better go face the music with Shore now." Riley said then walked off towards his office.

When she arrived at the waiting room right outside Shore's office, she found Lance sitting in a chair with his head in his hands and what sounded like a beating going on inside the office. "Wh--what's going on? Lance?" Riley questioned, fear seeping into her being.

Lance groaned slightly then looked up and gave Riley a small smile. "You made it. Shore's pretty pissed off with us. Jesse's in there getting punished by Shore right now but not just because we were forced to leave you behind. He talked back to him and gave him attitude." Lance informed making Riley wince. Shore absolutely hated that. "Well, I'm next. Then it's you. You know we have a 50% chance of at least Level 2 Obedience Training for this, right?" Lance commented trying to make his tone light.

"Yeah, most likely. If I go in before you and tell Shore it was my fault, would you be able to get off scot free?" Riley questioned.

Lance laughed wryly. "You're kidding, aren't you? Shore's merciful to a point but the four of us? We're one team now and we get punished as one. If one of us fails, we all fail. Besides, Shore hates acts of heroism. He'll just call you an idiot, beat you 'till you're unconscious for 'insulting his intelligence' then get at me, anyways. You have to learn this stuff, Ri, because field agents live short lives and I can't always be here to protect you." Lance said seriously.

"You won't have to. I promise, Lance. I'll get better. Really fast. I just… I'm not used to this yet. I was 6 when Shore took me. I'm only just barely 8 now and I've only been a field agent for 2 months." Riley quickly said. Lance was 13 and one of the older field agents. He was like a big brother to her.

"Yeah. I hope you do get better really fast. Just remember, the less you cry and the less sounds you make, the less harsh he'll be." Lance reminded and though he knew Riley was in the most trouble, he hoped Shore wouldn't be too hard on her.

At that point, Jesse walked out limping slightly but quickly shot the other two a smile. "You're next, Lance." Jesse informed in a raspy voice and collapsed in the chair next to Lance, who quickly nodded and stood up.

Before Lance could get any further, however, Shore walked into the waiting room with his arms behind his back. He stood at a tall 6'1'' and had piercing blue eyes and dark brown hair, styled carefully. His facial features were soft and he looked almost warm and caring to anyone who didn't know him all too well. Of course, Shore was warm and caring at times to 'his children' but he could also be extremely cold and ruthless when it came to working the children.

"Riley, escort Jesse to his room and make sure he survives. Lance, come with me." Shore spoke then briskly walked back to his office with Lance in tow.

Riley immediately jumped up and walked to the boy. "Come on, Jesse. Let's go." Riley whispered, helping the child to his feet.

"It wasn't that bad this time, Ri. You'll make it through without making a sound, I know it. You're a strong kid." Jesse murmured, allowing Riley to lead him back to his room with his eyes closed. "And don't worry about what he said. I'll make it. He didn't even break any bones this time." Jesse joked as they walked down the corridor.

Nobody except members of the Marauders of Darkness knew that Shore had begun digging underground in order for more room for his 'kids'. MoD's Alpha Team, consisting of Riley AKA Trouble, Jesse AKA Freeze, Lance AKA Lightweight and their team leader Sabrina AKA Major, lived underground.

Despite Shore's seeming hatred for the government and any of their attempts at trying to control his actions, the way he set up his organization resembled the American way a lot such as his active agents were called 'field agents', his best and most successful team was the Alpha Team and next was the Bravo Team and continued going down the U.S. Military Phonetics alphabet.

"Jesse, just stop talking. You're only making it worse for yourself. And you're right. You don't have anything broken. I have to go back up to Shore's office now. If you need anything… call me." Riley said and quickly covered him with a blanket before running back to the waiting room.

"You what?" Gibbs demanded, not sure if he was hearing his agents correctly.

"We let the suspect run away." Tony answered unsurely. "But if you saw her, Boss, you would've understood. She… she was crazy. Like a little mini-Ziva but I know she was Caucasian with blue eyes." Tony elaborated.

"Mini-Ziva?" Gibbs questioned.

"Yes, Gibbs. The two killers were children. A young boy, most likely in his pre-teens to early teens and a younger girl. She looked to be around 7-9. Both Caucasian but I did not get a good look at the boy. Very well trained and very intelligent. Whoever those two are working for must be even better. There are not only two of them. I heard at least four maybe five. I would not be surprised if this is an entire organization." Ziva informed.

"They both were wearing all black. The boy had a beanie on and both had gloves. Very smart. They moved like ninjas." Tony explained.

"Boss, I got a picture of the girl and a not so good picture of the boy. And the running and jumping they were doing is called Parkour. It's a type of activity or training where you get to certain places by adapting to your environment and people well trained in Parkour can escape from almost anything." McGee said, walking up to them.

Gibbs clenched his teeth to keep his temper in control. "DiNozzo, you identify those children. Ziva, you said those kids used codenames. I want you to find out if anybody else has ever come across those kids. McGee, you find out who our victim is. NOW!" Gibbs roared before walking off.

Once they were sure Gibbs was away, Tony turned to McGee. "Man, you should have been there, Probie. They were both amazing. There was this like 10 foot tall stone wall blocking their way 'cause we had them surrounded on the other side and they just jumped off a tree and managed to get on top of that stone wall. Maybe I should learn Parker." Tony said with a dreamy expression.

"Parkour, Tony. It is of French origin. And I doubt you would be able to be a Traceur. It takes a lot of mental and physical discipline as well as months of training to able to get to the level of skill those two seem to have. It is also recommended to be of a… slender build." Ziva said looking at the man pointedly.

"And what exactly are you saying, Zi-va?" Tony asked, standing up and sauntering his way over to Ziva's desk.

She simply looked up from her work and raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm saying that it would be next to impossible for you to do what they do. They are light, fit and well trained. You are… practically the opposite." Ziva answered bluntly although very nonchalantly.

"I… am a TRAINED federal agent. I have been of law enforcement for years which requires me to be of top physical condition." Tony replied haughtily.

"Well, clearly top physical condition doesn't mean what it used to." Ziva commented whilst chuckling.

"Whatever you think, DiNozzo. Go ahead and try. Tell me how it turns out." McGee commented, not even looking up from his computer.

Tony turned towards McGee sharply and shot him a look before returning back to his desk to start running the facial recognition software though he knew it was a long shot. With skills like those, he doubt those kids had ever been caught breaking the law. He'd rather be doing Ziva's job.

"Well, I have a question. How do you know they belong to an organization? What if it's just a group of rogue kids?" McGee asked.

"Because, McGee, they worked together nearly flawlessly and their form was perfect whilst jumping." Ziva began to explain complete with hand motions. "Children are simply too impulsive and argumentative to be able to work together like that. They have someone training them and one said that 'Shore' was calling them back. That means they have a leader and they left that little girl to fend for herself with a bunch of law enforcement with guns. Whoever it is that is controlling them, he has a strong hold on them most likely with use of brain cleaning." Ziva finished.

McGee and Tony looked at each other for a moment before correcting in unison, "Brainwashing," only drawing an eye-roll from the Israeli.

"Well, either way, this is not going to be an easy investigation." Ziva stated matter-of-factly.

"How hard could it be, though? I mean, being ninjas does take it up a notch but they're still kids." Tony pointed out.

"Yes, Tony, but they are children who kill with no remorse. The older one had absolutely no second thoughts as he stabbed our victim in the neck. The little girl was hesitant. I did hear the little one sound scared. I think… that if we managed to get her back to the Interrogation Room, with a little convincing, she will tell us everything." Ziva said with complete confidence.

"But you just said that they were brainwashed by an authority figure. If he's gotten too close to them… look, I know how it is to be completely elated by a simple compliment like 'You did good'. Not personally but I did have a friend who was emotionally abused and every time we had a new male teacher, he would do everything in his power to please him. If this is how they are… desperate for approval, we'll never get anything." McGee tried to contribute.

Tony smirked over at him. "Well, would you look at that? The probies are growing up!" Tony snickered.

"Yes, well, Tony, the 'probies' outnumber you two to one." McGee added with a mock smile.

Tony shot McGee another look but suddenly he thought of something. "When we were hiding behind the trees, Ziva, they'd already killed the guy. The girl talked about cleaning up the scene so as to comb it for evidence that would prove they were there. How would two kids know what to do?" Tony questioned.

Ziva frowned and thought about it, as well. Now that Tony brought it up, she remembered the young girl's words. It only further confirmed her suspicion that there was an organization training children to be almost perfect skilled killers.

When Riley arrived at the waiting room, they were no sounds of punishment going on. Instead, calm talking was heard through the door. Slowly, she made her way across the room and took a seat by the door hoping that Lance wouldn't get into too much trouble for killing the target instead of forcing her to and not being able to clean up the forensics due to being surprised by the NCIS agents.

After 5 minutes of waiting and listening to their muffled voices, Riley drew her legs up and sat Indian style on the chair and cleared her mind. She was startled by something banging against the door and a second later, the door was flung open and Shore threw Lance out of the office.

"Shore, please. Please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to speak to you like that. Please, Shore. Please!" Lance exclaimed, attempting to scoot away from the man.

"Now, Lance, you know that I do not tolerate disobedience in any form from my children. When you misbehave, you are punished. I do not want to ever hear you speak to me like that again. Also, you only refer to me as 'Shore' when I am not around." Shore said calmly as he slowly unbuckled his belt.

"Shore… Father… I'm sorry about being rude. I will never do it again. Please, Father, please don't!" Lance whimpered.

Riley sat on the chair with widened eyes. She'd never seen him punish other kids first hand and to be honest, it was scaring her.

As if sensing her fear, Shore turned towards Riley with kind blue eyes and moved the belt behind him momentarily. "Riley, sweetheart, why don't you go wait down in the lobby for now? Lance and I have something to discuss." Shore said softly.

"Yes, Father." Riley answered, standing up. She looked at Lance, who seemed scared out of his mind, and swallowed hard. Walking towards the door under Shore's hawk-like gaze, she shot Lance a quick reassuring look before leaving the office and waiting downstairs in the main office.

After making sure Riley had obeyed him, which he knew she would, he turned back to Lance. "Lance, stand up. I do not want you cowering on the floor like a simpering brat." Shore said and immediately the young teenager obeyed. Shore whirled around and Lance couldn't help but take a step back with the furious expression on his 'father's' face. He took a step forward and backhanded Lance so hard he fell to the ground. "Did I tell you that you could move?" Shore questioned looking down at Lance with a raised eyebrow.

"No, Father." Lance immediately answered and quickly got back to his feet, shaking slightly in fear.

"When I assign a team their leader and their mission, I expect the leader to complete the objective. I do not care if you thought Riley was a 'little too green' to handle my assignment. She will do it or she will face the consequences. However, because you decided to act by yourself, you will be receiving a severe punishment. Mind you, I am fair so don't think that Riley will be receiving a lighter punishment than you." Shore began speaking.

Lance kept his eyes strictly on Shore's back. He knew if the man turned around and saw him looking away, he would be receiving a split lip. Shore paused in his speech and paused in his movement. Before Lance knew what had happened, Shore had whirled around and whipped him with the belt making him cry out in pain. The belt buckle had hit him right on his lower right back right above his kidneys. Shore had impeccable aim.

"Explain to me, Lance, why I am punishing you right now." Shore ordered.

He allowed Lance to control his breathing. "Because, Father, if you didn't punish me for my wrongdoing then I would wrongfully think I would be able to repeat my actions. Because of your correction, I will know that I am wrong and I will not do it again." Lance said shakily.

"There, son. Was it so hard not to move or cry?" Shore asked warmly, stepping forward and fixing Lance's mussed hair. "However, I did say you would be receiving a severe punishment. You are to attend two weeks of Obedience Training with…," Shore paused and looked down into Lance's eyes, pondering something, "with Terror. Do you agree that you need Level 3 Obedience Training?"

Shore watched, pleased, as Lance's eyes widened momentarily in fear though he showed no emotion on his countenance. He knew the boy wouldn't be disobeying his orders again anytime soon.

"Y--Yes, sir. I do… I do deserve Level 3 Obedience Training." Lance answered trying to keep the stutter out of his voice.

Shore then smiled down at him. "Now, you may return to your quarters for the night but you are to report to Terror tomorrow morning at 5 AM sharp. I will inform him that you will be joining your other… disobedient brothers and sisters. I have to say, though, I'm quite disappointed in you, Lance. I would've never thought a member of my Alpha team would have to be sent to Level 3 Obedience Training. You are supposed to be the elite of the elite, the one team I know I could rely on." Shore said, his smile turning into a frown.

Despite what Shore had just done to him and what he would have to go through by being sentenced to Level 3 Obedience Training, Lance couldn't help but feel his heart sink with Shore's words. "I will never give you a reason to be disappointed in me again, Father." Lance immediately informed.

"Good. That's very good, son. I have no doubt that you will, once more, make me proud after Obedience Training." Shore said reaching forward and giving Lance a brief hug that made the young teen's heart soar. He would definitely make Shore proud if he had to die to do it. "Now, leave and make sure you send Riley in after you." Shore ordered then put his belt back on and walked back into the office, quietly shutting the door.

Concluding Author's Note: As can be evident by the other stories I have written, I have quite the short attention span. I do apologize should I begin updating later and later but I do believe this story is unique since I am quite enthralled with it. I've already written the first two chapters. However, I will ration my updating so as to not have to make you wait too long in between stories.