AN-I would like to thank the wonderful tiggerdavis1970 for the idea behind this story. I hope it works the way you thought it would and you like it. It will be multiple chapters so here we go.
Chapter 1.
After a long day at work chasing down clues to their latest killer, Meredith Brody was tired and ready for home. As she pulled up at home she thought about a long soak in the bath and a good book to unwind. Getting out the car she went and grabbed the mail out the mailbox and went in the house, kicking her shoes off as she entered and dumping her bag on the floor as she locked the door behind her. Going in the kitchen she put the mail on the table and went to make a cup of coffee. After making her coffee, she placed it on the table and hunted around for food that was edible for dinner. Finally, she found a few bits to make a sandwich with which was a miracle going by how empty the place was. Taking her sandwich to the table she set it down and took a drink of her coffee. Sitting down she picked up her mail and looked through it. Throwing the junk mail to one side her hands stopped when she came across an envelope that had her name on but nothing else, no address, no stamps and no watermark from the postal service. It had to have been delivered by hand by someone who knew where she lived. Intrigued by who it was from she ripped the envelope open and pulled the letter out only to open it up and freeze in a mixture of shock, horror, and fear. The letter in front of her was made up of old newspaper and magazine clippings which formed the sentences. The person who sent it had spent a lot of time making it and making sure it was right. Staring at the letter her hands started to shake as she kept reading over the words.
"I have finally found you and now I will make you mine".
That was it, the total words written, but they terrified her more than she could have thought possible. She was a strong intelligent federal agent who had been trained to take down the biggest and worst society had but here she was shaking like a leave on an autumn day. Putting the letter down, she picked the envelope up and looked it over again only to come up blank. It was a plain envelope with just her name on so there were no clues there to whom it was from. Picking the letter up she tried to step back and look at it from an investigative point of view. Whoever it was from knew who she was and where she lived. They also seemed to have a thing for her so to speak. Putting the letter back in the envelope she put it on the table and picked her sandwich up, looked at it then put it back down again, her appetite had gone when she saw the letter. Picking her coffee up she finished it and got back up to make another.
Standing at the sink with her refilled coffee cup she looked over at the table and the letter sitting there. What on earth was she going to do about it? The logical thing would be to go into work and hand the letter in so they could find the weirdo that sent it, but the strong independent women in her would not admit she was terrified of a letter and ask for help. As a child, she hated seeing her parents drinking and then fighting as she felt helpless to stop it. As she grew older she tried to distance herself from them and when she went to university and chose what she wanted to do with her life she expected her parents to be happy for her. Unfortunately, that was not the case and her mother was disgusted at the prospect of her daughter going into law enforcement. After telling her, she was a young lady and should act like one which included getting married and having children she walked away and went to make herself better at the bottom a bottle of scotch.
Every chance her mother got she would remind her that she was not doing what young ladies do and she would never approve of her choice in career. Meredith spent as little time as possible at home as it saved the feeling of never being good enough for her parents. On the one occasion, she thought she had found happiness and was engaged it didn't work out due to her job which she always put first. She would never admit the way her mother treated her had left its mark on her emotional and due to that, she would never admit how weak she was when it came to her work or even her personal life come to that. She stayed strong no matter what, putting her shields up and building a wall to keep the world out.
Looking at the letter she decided it was just a hoax and she would leave it and see what happened. She didn't need to tell anyone or ask for help, tough well trained NCIS agents didn't ask for help. Putting the letter in a draw she went upstairs to run her bath. It was then she remembered she hadn't checked the doors downstairs so came back down to check they were all locked as well as the windows. It was not something she had done before, but she was freaked out by the letter and wanted to check. Going back upstairs she went to take a bath and relax with a book before turning in for the night. Tomorrow was a new day and she would see what it had in store for her.
Waking the next morning, she felt like she had never slept. It was gone 03:00 when she finally dropped off and she was tossing and turning all night. Nightmares of dark shadowy figures and letters haunted her. Getting up she padded into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, today was definitely a day to apply the makeup. She looked rough and the dark circles under her eyes showed she hadn't slept well. Once she was ready and her face was on she went and grabbed a couple of breakfast bars and made coffee, sitting at the table to drink it. When she had finished she looked around for her keys but couldn't find them. She turned the place upside down before going upstairs to see if they were there.
When she did find them she had no idea how they got where they were. Picking them up from beside the front door she quickly opened the door and turned to lock it. It was then she noticed the red rose that was sitting on the porch with a red bow around it. Picking it up she looked at it and then looked around the street to see if she could see anyone. From what she could see there was no one about. Putting it back on the porch to deal with later she climbed into the car and drove to work, determined to leave the letter and rose out of her thought till later.
At work, she did her job and all thoughts of her problem disappeared from her mind. With suspects to pick up and questions to be asked she kept her mind busy. It wasn't until they were sitting filling out the paperwork later that day that her thoughts drifted. She didn't see or hear her boss Dwayne Pride come up to her desk and place a cup of coffee on it along with a plate of pasta. Being brought back from her thoughts, she looked at the plate of food and coffee then up at her boss.
"You haven't eaten all day so don't argue plus between you and me you don't look the best so eat up and then finish that report and go home," Dwayne told her smiling at her as he walked away.
Brody nodded her thanks and started to eat her pasta. How had Pride known she hadn't eaten all day when they weren't together all the time. Shaking her head she went back to the pasta and coffee liking the fact that someone was looking out for her. Just then her partner came over and sat on the edge of her desk looking at her.
"You fancy coming to watch the game at my tonight Brody, everyone is coming over. Should be fun," Chris asked.
"No thanks Chris, I fancy an early night. Didn't get much sleep last night so I want to turn in early. Thank you for the offer though." Trying to sound as casual as possible.
Pride watched the exchange between his agents and was a little surprised. He knew Brody was a party freak and loved the idea of a get together especially with her friends yet she said no. He was going to keep an eye on her as clearly something was not right. Going back to his paperwork he only vaguely heard Chris say he was leaving and he would see him for the game. Pride nodded and looking up he saw Brody stand from her desk and walk towards him with her finished report.
"That's me done, thanks again for the food and coffee," Brody said as she passed him the report.
"Thanks and you're welcome, go get some sleep and see you tomorrow," Pride said as he watched her leave.
Standing from his desk Pride packed his stuff away and locking up, following agent Brody out the office on his way to Chris's house to enjoy the game. He watched Brody get in her car and drive away still sure there was something not right about her.
When she got home Merri got out the car and went to fetch her mail. Stopping by the mailbox she looked at it and opened it slowly not wanting to look in. Reaching inside she pulled the mail out and walked up to the house. Coming inside she made her way to the kitchen not wanting to look at the mail in her hand. She had a gut feeling there was another letter, but she tried to think it was just her mind playing tricks. Sure enough, when she got to the table she sat and looked at the letters. There at the bottom of the pile was a letter in the same writing as yesterday. Her hands started to shake as she opens the letter and read it.
"I saw you didn't like the gift I left you, maybe you will like tomorrow's gift."
Thinking back to the rose on the porch she realised she was right about being watched that morning. She thought she was just being paranoid but now reading this she knew she was right. To think someone was watching her really bothered her but what could she do? Getting up she put the new letter with the old one and put them in her bag, she would get Sebastian to look at them tomorrow but make him swear to not tell anyone. The last thing she wanted was her partner and boss looking into her personal life to find the weirdo who sent them. She would find a way to work this out without telling too many people.
Looking at the clock she saw it was late so after making herself a hot drink of milk she switched the light off and climbed the stairs for bed. Drinking the milk made her sleepy so when she finished she put the empty glass on the nightstand and switched the lamp of snuggling under the covers hoping sleep would claim her soon.
After another night of tossing and turning Brody gave up with sleep around 04:00 and came downstairs. Getting a drink of coffee she came to sit on the couch in the dark watching the sun starting to rise in the distance. If yesterday was rough then today would be worse as she had an hours sleep. Her nightmares were worse than the night before, she could now swear as she shut her eyes she felt someone watching her constantly and creep up to her. After finishing her coffee, she decided to get ready and head to work. There would be no one there and she could get some extra work done instead of sitting here terrified that someone was watching her.
Arriving at work she was surprised to see the light on as it was just after 05:30. Who would be in this time in the morning, most of them didn't come in for another couple of hours? Going in she saw Pride sitting at his desk with his feet up and a cup of coffee in his hand. They both looked at each other when she entered, both seeming slightly shocked to find someone else up at this time.
"What are you doing in so early Brody? I thought I was the only one that came in at this time." Pride asked Brody as she dropped her bag on her desk.
"Couldn't sleep so thought I might as well make use of the time. Why you in so early? Thought you were at Chris's last night for the game." Brody asked as she walked to the kitchen to make coffee.
Pride followed her into the kitchen as she poured herself a coffee before reaching for his cup and filling it before handing it back. When she passed him the cup she looked up at him waiting for an answer to her question
"Suppose I could say the same about not sleeping but it's not true. There's no hurry to go home as the house is stuck in the middle of the divorce so I just stay here now." Pride answered looking a little dejected as he spoke.
They both stood in silence drinking their coffee and pondering the ways of life. Pride stood wondering what would happen when his divorce came through. He would be a free man again but would probably be like that the rest of his life now as no one wants to hook up with a man who was a divorced workaholic with a grown-up daughter. Then there was Merri, a woman in her late 30's who was a workaholic and was now being stalked by God only knew who. They made a right pair standing there lost in thought so early in the morning light.
When they finished their coffee they went and sat at their desks and got down to work, filing away finished reports and finishing others until the rest of the team came in. Sebastian came in followed by Loretta then Chris wandered in looking very happy as usual. Watching how happy Chris was only made Merri more miserable so standing from her desk, she grabbed her bag and headed over to see Sebastian. Walking over she knew she would have to tell him something to convince him not to blab to anyone else.
Arriving at this lab she took a deep breath and went in. He was going round switching everything on and preparing his equipment for the day. When he saw her walk in he looked up and smiled.
"What can I do for you agent Brody?" He asked coming to sit at his computer.
Reaching into her bag she pulled out the 2 letters and passed them to him.
"Can you check them over for me. My fingerprints will be all over them, but I need to know if anyone else's is. Also, see if you can get any clues as to where they came from. Before you ask yes they're mine and no LaSalle and Pride don't know so let's keep it that way for now please." As Sebastian took the letters and looked at her.
"Okay I will take a look but what if I can't find anything out, what are you going to do then? " The lab tech asked knowing fine well she had no answer for him.
Merri shrugged her shoulders at the question and looked away.
"Let me know if you find anything." Walking out the door to go back to the office.
Sitting doing paperwork and finishing reports they all got lost in the conversation about last night's game and the fun they had. Merri joined the conversation just so she didn't look too out of place even though she had no interest whatsoever. Finally, about 16:30 Pride said they could wrap up and go home. Chris seems happy with the idea, but Merri just mumbled and switched her computer off. Just then her phone beeped and she pulled it out seeing a text from Sebastian.
"Letter and envelope are clean and the glue used on the letters is a common glue that anyone can pick up, sorry no help here." She read looking rather dejected.
Pride noticed the change in her when she read her text messages and swore if he didn't get an answer soon he would push for one. When she was ready to leave she exited the building shouting bye as he went, climbing in the car she drove home and parked in the drive. She didn't want to get the mail, but she knew she had to, so going to get it she flicked through it there and then finding another letter. Bringing it into the house she stopped at the door and looked around as she could swear there was a pair of eyes trained on her but she had no idea where they were. Closing the door, she went in and opened the letter.
"You really need more sleep, going to work early is not good for you. I have left you something to help you sleep."
Going back out onto the porch she looked to see what had been left but saw nothing. Coming back in she scanned the lounge and kitchen and still found nothing. Coming to a stop at the bottom of the stairs she paused. Surely not, the house was locked when she left that morning. Making her way upstairs, she slowly pushed her bedroom door open and flicked the light on. What she saw made her stomach churn and she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself. There sitting on her bed was a big teddy bear with the words cuddle me on it. Now she was really scared, this crazed person had not only taken to stalking her but had broken into her house and been in her room. Leaving her bedroom, she went downstairs and leaving the lights off she went into the lounge and sliding down the wall she sat in darkness letting her fear take control.
As Pride switched his computer off he saw Sebastian appear out the corner of his eye. Looking up he saw him carrying an evidence bag with what looked like letters in it. Walking up to Pride he handed him the bag and then seemed to struggle with his inner self before he finally spoke.
"Agent Brody brought me them this morning and made me promise not to tell anyone but since I didn't find anything I thought you might like to know what's going on with her." Stepping away slightly he waited for Pride to look in the bag and see what he meant by what he had told them.
"Did she say how long this had been going on for?" Pride asked the younger man.
Sebastian shook his head and told him how the conversation went between Brody and himself that morning. When he finished Pride thanked him for the information and told him to go home. Pride sat down and rubbed his hand over his now stubble coated chin trying to get his head around the fact she had not come to him for help. Taking his coat off the back of the chair he headed out the door to go see Brody and find out firsthand what was going on and second why she hadn't come to him first.
AN2- I have never done a story like this before so please let me know what you think of it by me leaving me some reviews, please.