Tossing this out to see if there's any interest. :)
Title: The evil you know
author: Cindy Ryan
timeline: after 1x4 of NCIS:NO and between 2x1 and 2x2 of the Originals
Dr. Loretta Wade steeled herself as two familiar faces entered her medical examiner's office. She hadn't wanted to do this in the main lab or via video. Loretta knew both men well and wanted to give them the respect and dignity of some privacy.
"Loretta, the DNA matches Brody's doesn't it?"Agent Dwayne Pride demanded without preamble. "That;'s what you couldn't tell us over video."
Loretta nodded grimly as she glanced at Chris LaSalle who stood solemn and quiet next to his boss. It was such a stark contrast to the younger man's normal jubilant personality that it made Loretta's heart ache. Loss of colleagues went unfortunately hand and hand with police work. She knew neither man was a stranger to it. However Loretta also know what a special niche Meredith Brody had made in the NCIS family since she arrived a few months before. She'd seen the almost instant friendship and connection Brody had formed with almost everyone she came in contact with.
"Yes."Loretta answered as she clicked on the medium sized video screen before her which was preloaded with the blood work. "And unfortunately there were no fingerprints on the ID besides Agent Brody's."
A slamming door caused Loretta to turn with a start and she wasn't surprised to find the room's only other occupant to be Dwayne. The NCIS agent glanced at the closed door sadly before turning back to face the screen.
"He's takin' this hard."Pride began as way of explaining LaSalle's behavior. "Feels like he should've been here instead of on vacation even though he had no way of knowin what was going to happen."
"You know as well as I do that just because her bloody ID was found doesn't mean she's dead."Loretta stated softly. "She's one of the most strongest, intelligent capable people I've ever met."
Pride nodded. "I think that's why it's so hard for LaSalle. He's seen her in action knows she can take care of herself. That's why he knows something had to really overwhelm her for Brody not to find her way back to us."
"There's something else I found with the ID...still have a few more tests to run but..."Wade began.
"What is it?"Pride asked grimly.
"There just wasn't blood splatter on the plastic surface of the ID, Dwyane."Loretta informed quietly."The leather part of it had been soaking in it for quite some time before it was separated from her and left where it was found."
Pride exhaled slowly and sat down on the corner of Loretta's desk. "She's out there somewhere hurt and hurt pretty bad from what you're tellin' me."
"Yes, I can give you a timeline with the amount of blood and the saturation of the leather."Loretta replied. "But even that will be an educated estimate. You know what my gut is telling me?"
"What?"Pride asked.
"That they left the ID to send a message."Loretta stated as she stood. "You and I have been doing this long enough to know if they just wanted her dead we would have the body."
"She was workin' a cold case, Loretta. Twenty years cold."Pride snapped as he rose to his feet.
"She's a good investigator we both know people don't like the past dug up. No matter how much time has passed. Whatever she stumbled on I'm bettin' is what's keepin' her alive."
"Pray that you're right."Pride said as he left the office.
Loretta watched the closed door for a long moment before she shut the screen off and returned to the lab.
Chris LaSalle had just powered up the two computers in the NCIS office and had pulled up the traffic cam video. He'd already gone over it once going from his partner's last known location. Now he was going before that. Maybe seeing if somebody was stalking her, watching her. He heard footsteps and turned to see his boss enter before looking back at the screen.
"I'll apologize to Loretta."LaSalle offered gruffly.
"No need, she understands."Prid replied. "Chris there's somethin' you need to hear. Something that Loretta found."
Chris felt his grip tighten around the remote as he met the elder NCIS agent's gaze. This wasn't going to be good but nothing about the last week had been.
Dwayne cleared his throat. "Loretta discovered that the leather of Brody's ID was saturated with her blood. It'd been sittin' in it for awhile."
"She's not dead. I'm not givin' up on her."Chris replied tensely as he felt his stomach drop.
"Nobody is"Pride stated firmly.
"That's not what it sounds like."LaSalle snapped.
"You know me better than that."Dwayne said calmly. "We're following the evidence like we always do."
"Somebody hurt my partner and that's going to be the last mistake they ever make."Chris vowed as he focused once again on the traffic video.
Dwayne placed a supportive hand on his friend's left shoulder. "We'll bring her home."
Chris nodded not trusting his voice. He'd attended his share of funerals over the years. Some for colleagues some for friends who were on the force. It was never easy even with knowing the risk came with the badge. There was no way in hell he was adding Meredith Brody to that list. She was something special; a good person this world needed more of. He'd find her no matter how long it took.
Marcel Gerrard followed the sound of a faint heartbeat through the dark streets of the French Quarter. He was taking enough of a risk just being back in the Quarter but he couldn't ignore what he was following more out of habit than curiosity. If the heartbeat was any indication the person didn't have long and would be a quick meal for him and his guys. When he rounded the corner and found the source of the heartbeat near a dumpster in an alley. Marcel was about to swoop in and pick the person up and take it back to his side of the river when something glittered in the dim light catching the vampire's attention. Crouching down by the still form that Marcel now saw was a woman he saw a badge lying next to her on the ground. The badge was alone no other id with it.
"Military cop, huh?"Marcel asked the unconscious woman. "Who'd you run wrong to wind up all alone?"
Marcel had no love for the police, never had. He respected law and order to a point. Neither had done him any good in his life time or any that followed. Marcel knew parts of the world needed people who stood the line making it a better place and that earned him his respect as well. He knew he could take the easy route and drop her at the nearest hospital and compel the staff to forget they ever saw him. On the other hand the military policewoman might be a liability. If she'd been in the Quarter long she may have stumbled onto the supernatural war and was injured that way. He had to find out what she knew before he risked her waking up in a hospital. Decision made Marcel gathered the young woman up in his arms and headed back to his side of the river.
NCIS agent Dwayne Pride glanced worriedly at his colleague Chris LaSalle. It'd been just over seventy-two hours since one of their own went missing. Pride had been second guessing his leadership abilities and decisions after Brody disappeared. LaSalle hadn't said as much but Pride knew the younger man was thinking along the same terms. Brody may not be a rookie but she was a rookie to the area. Hard to know what to look out for if you didn't know to look for the danger.
He and LaSalle had been out most of the day tracking down leads and informants. They'd also continued to investigate the case Brody had disappeared on hoping that a crack in that cold case would turn up the missing NCIS agent. Pride knew he was running on fumes and that was with a three hour nap the night before. He was almost certain LaSalle hadn't slept since he'd gotten word of his partner's disappearance. Short of a tranquilizer gun Dwayne wasn't sure there was a way to convince the former sheriff deputy to get some rest. He had to try; Dwayne needed LaSalle at his sharpest and so did Brody.
"Chris..."Pride began but LaSalle was already on his feet.
"I'm going to canvas the hospitals and twenty-four hour clinics."LaSalle stated as he shrugged into his leather jacket.
"The NOPD already did that and we've got bulletins out at the hospitals for anybody fitting Brody's description."Pride responded quietly. "Why don't you get some sleep? You've been runnin' at full steam..."
"I've done longer stretches with no shut eye. I'm good."Chris commented as he turned and left.
With a shake of his head Dwayne went to his desk and sat down. He picked up the file on the cold case and flipped through it once more. There had to be something they were missing.
"Somebody worked her over good."Josh Rosza commented with concern as he looked at the still form of the young woman tucked into Marcel's bed. "You sure she's going to wake up?"
"Her breathing's good and her pulse has gotten stronger since I found her so there's a good chance."Marcel replied as he leaned against the wall by the window.
"I know you don't want to report this but I think we need to."Josh stated as he started to pace and pulled out his cell phone pulling up a news site. "She's all over the news has been for days. Why don't I just drop her..."
"We don't know who did this to her."Marcel interrupted. "If she stumbled onto the wolves or somebody else...too risky to drop her back...not until we know what she saw."
Josh opened his mouth to protest but shut it. He'd been around Marcel long enough to know when to argue and when not to. He scrolled through the recent videos relating to the story and pulled up one from that morning's news show. A gray haired man with an NCIS hat stared out from the screen with the caption underneath identifying him as Dwayne Pride. Josh hit play.
"One of my agents, Meredith Brody, disappeared seventy-two hours ago. "Pride began grimly. "This was in the course of an investigation. Somebody saw her, talked to her that day. If you did we need you to come forward. No matter how small you think the conversation was it may help more than you think. The military is family and we take care of our own and we will bring her home."
Josh cleared the screen and pocketed the phone. He glanced over at Marcel but he was still looking out the window. He knew the older vampire had heard every word. Maybe it'd been enough to get Marcel to at least think about changing his mind.
It was almost midnight by the time Chris reached the third hospital on his list. He walked over to the nurse's station and did what had become a familiar routine. State who he was, show his badge and then Brody's picture from his cell phone. Usually he got a sympathetic smile and a shake of head and a no they hadn't seen anybody like his partner. However, this time he didn't get the usual response.
"I can't say for sure..."The young brown haired RN said as she took Chris's phone so she could look closer at Brody's picture. "But we've been trying to identify this patient that's in the ICU. She came in two days ago during third shift."
"And you think she's my partner?"Chris asked trying not to get his hopes up.
"This patient has similar hair and she's the same height and weight as your partner but that's all I can tell you. Unfortunately this patient was badly beaten her face has severe bruising and swelling that hasn't gone down yet. She's been unconscious and in and out of surgery to repair internal injuries."
"Can I see her?"LaSalle asked as he put his phone and ID back in his pocket.
"I'll take you to the ICU."The nurse replied as she walked out from behind the desk and led the way down a hallway. "For your sake I kinda hope this woman isn't your partner she's been through hell and it won't be an easy recovery."
"We take care of our own no matter what."Chris stated quietly.
The walked the next two corridors in silence. When they finally reached the glass windowed rooms of the intensive care unit Chris said a silent prayer for the other patients in the unit and for the woman who might be his partner. He crossed the space to the room the nurse pointed out and after a second's hesitation he opened the door and stepped inside.
Chris approached the bed and even as he did so he knew it wasn't Meredith. The bruising couldn't disguise the length and width of the skull. The woman's hair was the same color but was longer. Chris didn't know what to feel. He should be relieved that this wasn't his partner but he wasn't. The not knowing was eating away at him.
"Is she who you're looking for?"The nurse prompted from the doorway.
"No, it's not my partner."Chris replied with a sigh as he pushed away from the bed railing. "Thanks for your time."
"I hope you find her."The nurse stated as Chris left.
Meredith Brody awoke feeling like she'd literally been run over by a truck and then kicked a few times for good measure. There wasn't a bone or muscle that didn't hurt. The scary thing was it hurt to think. She couldn't remember why she was hurt. Meredith knew opening her eyes would answer some questions. She braced for the pain and forced them open. A large loft style room slowly swam into focus. The room was dim lit by candles.
"Take it easy."
Meredith blinked and stared at the source of the soft male voice that had given the command. It belonged to a good looking african american man who looked to be in his thirties. The man was a stranger she didn't have any means to defend herself her body hurt so badly.
"You're safe; I won't hurt you."
"Who are you?"Brody managed to ask through dry chapped lips.
"Name's Marcel, this is my place. I found you bleeding to death in an alley in the Quarter."The stranger explained. "Think you're going to be okay...get some rest."
Meredith had a million questions. Rest was the last thing she wanted. She wanted answers; the most important being why she wasn't home. Her injured body however had other ideas. The short conversation had taken almost all the strength she had.
"Why?"Brody muttered as her head hit the pillow and her eyes drifted closed.
"You're safe, I promise."Marcel replied soothingly. "We'll talk later."
Sleep overtook Meredith before she could respond.
