Author's Note: It's been a while since I've written any fanfiction, but I'd like to get back into it so any comments/thoughts/criticism would be much appreciated.
Chapter 1: Meet Arya
A slap to the head rudely jerked Tony out of his fantasies of an exotic paradise and back to reality.
"Sorry, Boss." he said automatically.
"Why don't you stop staring at the suspect and start interrogating her." said Gibbs.
"Really?" asked Tony incredulously.
"Clock is ticking." responded Gibbs, already on his way down the hall. "I want to know what this girl was doing in autopsy with our John Doe."
Tony took a deep breath. He looked through the tinted glass window into the interrogation room. It was specially designed so that Tony could see in and the suspect could not see out. So why was she smirking at him as though she could already sense his presence and his nerves?
….
Abby Sciuto was dancing around her lab with a sandwich while listening to a unique rock and roll song featuring a ukulele and what seemed like dolphin noises. Gibbs lamented her lack of taste in music but was impressed by her ability to keep her balance despite the monstrously clunky platform shoes on her feet.
"What have you got for me, Abbs?"
At the sound of Gibbs's gravelly voice, Abby responded with her usual perky enthusiasm.
"Well, I have an excellent deli sandwich that McGee got me for lunch. You can have a bite. It's turkey pastrami with extra spicy mustard. And it's weird that I like it because I normally hate spicy food. Like that one time when Tony convinced us that it was a good idea to order curry from that Indian take-out place – "
"I meant about the dead guy in autopsy and the live girl we found in there this morning." interrupted Gibbs.
"Oh, right. Well, I got nothing. I wouldn't exactly call it nothing, just an absence of evidence. As far as I can tell, the girl didn't touch anything but more likely she just got rid of her prints which means that she's guilty of something and is covering her tracks since an innocent person would never think to wipe their prints. We're just gonna have to hope that Ducky gets something useful from the body, but I'll check autopsy again in case I missed something."
"Keep looking."
"Of course, oh Great One."
Abby was the only person at NCIS who could say that and mean it completely.
"You know," began Abby, turning to talk to Gibbs. He had already disappeared. "I have to figure out how he does that." she said to herself.
…
Tony entered the interrogation room with strong, confident strides. He feigned nonchalance as he sat down opposite the suspect and reclined in his chair. Tony was attempting to project an aura of power, easygoing charm, and self-assurance. Arya surveyed him coolly.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but either way you will tell me the truth. Let's just make this as painless as possible. What were you doing in the NCIS autopsy room this morning?"
She said nothing but smirked at him slightly. Her eyes seemed to taunt him.
"Let me walk you through it." said Tony. "At about 05:00 hours, you deactivated the security cameras by causing a power surge. Then, you shot the guards with tranquilizer darts and stole one of their keycards to enter the building. Next, you went down to the autopsy room. What did you do there?"
"This sounds like an awful lot of conjecture to me." she said in a low, musical voice. "You have no proof of anything except for the fact that I somehow entered the Navy Yard this morning. You can't prove that I did anything wrong."
"Except for trespassing."
"Maybe I was looking for an agent so that I could report a crime involving a marine. Maybe I got a little bit lost and accidentally wandered into autopsy."
"And the guards just happened to be asleep at their posts, and the door just happened to be unlocked, is that it?"
"I'm so glad you see my point."
"Right." said Tony sarcastically. "So what were you here to report?"
"I went for a run at about four thirty this morning, and I saw a marine in uniform buying drugs on the corner of 8th Avenue and Fullerton Street. I figured I should let you guys know."
"What were you doing going for a run at four thirty in the morning?"
"I've always liked to get up early and work out. Exercising in the morning really jump starts your metabolism."
"Cut the crap." growled Tony. "We will find out exactly who you are and what you were doing here. Then, I will personally nail your ass."
She smirked, her red lips curving in a smile.
"What will you do to my ass?" she whispered huskily.
Tony breathed a sigh of relief when Gibbs tapped on the window. He was in way over his head with this one, but God she was hot. Tony went back to the observation room. The suspect was straight from one of Tony's fantasies (involving a dominatrix in black leather), but he could tell that if he got involved with her, he would never make it out alive.
"McGee." said Gibbs. "Your turn."
"Me, Boss?" questioned McGee nervously. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Yeah," agreed Tony, "why are you sending him in there?"
A withering glare from Gibbs shut Tony up and sent McGee scrambling to the interrogation room.
"Good luck, McGoo" mouthed Tony as McGee entered the interrogation room.
Gibbs headed back to Abby's lab. Something about this case did not sit right with him. On the way he called Ziva but there was no answer. She did come late occasionally, but not this late. Nevertheless, Gibbs wasn't worried. Ziva could take care of herself.
He smiled when he saw the bubble wrap that Abby had placed on the floor of the lab, no doubt in an effort to hear him coming.
"Tell me you have something."
"I do have something. I have lots of things but I assume you mean in relation to our case. I analyzed every single pair of rubber gloves in Ducky's garbage can, and I determined that one pair did not belong to Ducky or to Jimmy. These must have been the gloves that our mystery girl wore to avoid leaving any prints."
"Well what was she doing?"
"I'm not sure. Yet. But I will know soon, I promise. I won't let you down."
….
Gibbs and Tony watched through the glass as the subject stood up to better get a read on McGee and began walking towards him. He stood his ground as she leaned up close and surveyed his face with her head cocked thoughtfully to the side. She then murmured something in his ear that made him blush as she pressed herself against him.
"Poor McGoo is getting eaten alive." laughed Tony.
"Jealous?" smirked Gibbs.
"No." managed Tony. "So," he added hastily, "any word from Ziva?"
"Not yet, but she'll be here as soon as she can."
….
"Have a seat." McGee managed finally.
She obliged.
"So why exactly are you still holding me? You have no concrete proof of anything."
"Our forensic scientist is checking the autopsy room for evidence of what you did there. As for now, we can only hold you for trespassing.
"Then fine me for trespassing and get this over with."
"Not a chance. We can't let you go until we find out exactly what you were doing here. You could be anyone. For all we know, you stole classified information. And you will tell me why you broke into NCIS."
"And why would I do that?" she asked coyly.
"You see," said McGee, "if you did steal classified information that could be considered espionage. All I have to do is whisper the word terrorist into my boss's ear, and all of a sudden you're locked away in a deep dark hole for the rest of your life. I really don't think you want that to happen."
Tony was impressed, but the girl laughed making McGee blanch.
"Gold star!" she said encouragingly. "No, don't look so upset, you were excellent. Points for creativity and dramatic effect. That was very good, Timmy. I can call you Timmy, right? Timothy is just too formal don't you think?"
"How do you know my name?"
"It says so right here on your badge."
She dangled McGee's badge tauntingly in front of him.
"Where did you get that? Give that back to me right now!"
With minor difficulty since she was handcuffed, Arya stuffed the badge down the front of her shirt.
"Come and get it." she purred, knowing that McGee would never dare.
"I'd be happy to." answered Tony, entering the room.
"I bet you would."
"You're done McGee." said Tony. "It's the boss's turn."
"Oooh. Sending in the big guns now, aren't we?"
Tony and McGee watched from observation as Gibbs sat down in front of the suspect. They were taking bets as to which interrogation technique Gibbs would use.
He leaned in close to her face.
"Right now, my Medical Examiner is examining every inch of the body in autopsy and he will find out what you did to it."
Gibb's whisper was more threatening than if he had raised his voice.
"We found the rubber gloves you used to deal with the body. It's only a matter of time before we know everything."
She laughed softly, but Gibbs could see the flash of pain in her eyes.
"I have no doubt about that. You'll know everything when I decide it's time."
There was a knock at the door. Abby tentatively stuck her head in.
"I have something Gibbs." she said.
Gibbs stood up and made his way to the door.
"This isn't over." he whispered before he left.
"Not yet." she said with a wink.
From the observation room, Tony let out a groan. He put his hands in his suit pockets and leaned back against the wall.
"It's that thing that she does with her eyes. I can't take it."
"What? Blinking?"
"No, Mc-Clueless. It's the sexy, smoldering thing. Like Lauren Bacall in Young Man with a Horn."
Tony spun around at the sound of a chuckle coming from behind him.
"And who is this girl that has you all in a dizzy? asked Ziva.
"It's a tizzy, Ziva." corrected McGee.
"And it's irrelevant." added Tony. "More importantly, why are you an hour late to work?"
"Traffic accident." huffed Ziva. "You Americans don't know how to drive."
"Again?" wondered McGee in disbelief. "I'm surprised your insurance still covers you."
"Be quiet." snapped Ziva. "So what girl is this? The one in interrogation? Let's have a look."
Ziva peered in through the window and stepped back in surprise. Ignoring Tony and McGee's questioning stares, she entered the room.
"Arya? Ma pitom?" she asked in Hebrew. (Arya? What the heck?)
"Ziva? Be'emet zeh aht?" was the incredulous reply. (Ziva? Is it really you?)
"Yes." said Ziva, switching to English. "I work for NCIS now. I have left Israel and my father far behind."
"At least you have one," said Arya wistfully, "and he loves you more than you know."
Arya paused for a moment while Ziva stared at her searchingly.
"Ziva, I won't hold it against you for doing your job. Do what you have to do. Just know, when you dig through the dirt of the past, you might not like what you find."
"I don't suppose you will tell me why you're here?"
"All in good time, my friend, all in good time."
