A/N: Hiya, all. I want to give a big shout-out to my new beta,Esquinzo. My new beta is fantastic. I mean, reading like 5 chapters in a single night! Thanks so much. By the way, don't own anything. Lot be different if I did. (Including Kate and Jenny). Here's the next chapter. As to your reviews, along with the questions about Rizzles, Right now they are not, but sometime in the story they will. So, yeah. Review, please. TODA!
Gibbs turns to Maura and stares at her with a menacing look in his eyes. I stand up quickly, I say calmly, "I'm sure there is a logical explanation for all of this."
"Hiya, Gibbs!" At that moment, a dark-haired, bubbly Goth burst through the door. "I'm late, I know, I'm sorry… Never apologize, It's a sign of weakness, I know… Hey, it's Kate!" She picks Maura up in a giant bear hug, and Maura looks uncomfortable.
"Abs, I need you to stop strangling Dr. Isles." Gibbs pleads with her. This must be Abby, who Gibbs mentioned earlier.
She looks at him like he's gone crazy, "Dr. Isles? Are you blind? This is Kate!" She says with utmost certainty.
"Okay, everybody STOP!" I yell. "Please tell me who Kate is, and why you think my best friend is her."
I look around. Tim has tears in his eyes, and he is slowly blinking his eyes like he's trying to see through an illusion. Tony is staring back and forth between Maura and I. Abby is just looking at Maura with this huge smile on her face, albeit the tears running down her face. Gibbs is staring at his flip phone, and over his shoulder, I see a contact pulled up, by the name of Jen. I wonder for a second who Gibbs has any hesitation talking to. I am distracted though by the Israeli woman, Ziva David. She is staring at Tony, with this fiercely protective look on her face. Before I have time to ponder what is up between the two of them, my phone rings. Picking it up, I see it is Dennis, one of the security guards at the front entrance.
"Hey Dennis, what's up?" I say, my voice shaky.
"Hey Rizzoli, there's a redhead here that says she's supposed to be in the squad room with Cavanaugh. He's not answering his phone. She's the director of some Navy thing." He reports.
"NCIS?" I ask, deciding this is the worst case ever.
"Um, yeah. Can she come up? Are you with Cavanaugh?" He asks nervously.
"I am. You can send Director Shepard up." I say the last part a little louder, purposely making Agent Gibbs cringe. I hang up.
"Are you trying to get me killed?" Tony whispers.
Director Shepard walks into the room. "Jethro? If you are debating calling someone, don't get into an argument. I could hear Dt. Rizzoli over the phone when you accidently called me, good thing I was on my way here."
"Now will someone please tell me who Kate is and why you think she's my best friend?" I burst out again. My colleagues look at me with shocked looks on their faces, but I don't care. This whole 'Kate' debacle is driving me up the wall.
In a hushed whisper, Tony starts talking, "Four years ago, Caitlin Todd resigned from the Secret Service. During her final days there, she worked a case with NCIS. At the end of the case, when she resigned, Gibbs offered her a job. She was a fine agent. Her days protecting the President helped her notice the little things. After a year of being an agent, a terrorist snuck into NCIS to steal evidence. He took Ducky and his assistant at the time, Gerald, hostage. He ordered Ducky to order Abby to bring all the evidence to the morgue. However, Abby had a fear of autopsy at the time, so Kate volunteered. The terrorist, who we later found out was named Ari Haswari…" At this, Ziva chokes slightly, then sits down.
"Ari Haswari figured out this was Kate, not Abby, and got mad at Ducky for tricking him. To punish him, he shot out one of Gerald's shoulders. He took Kate hostage."
Gibbs speaks up, "I'll take this part. NCIS raided the morgue. I had Ari in front of me. I shot, but didn't hit him. I only helped his story. He escaped, leaving me nothing but a single picture we got before he shot out the camera."
Tony starts again, "Months later, Ari kidnaps Kate again to have her tell him which plane is Air Force One. She refused. He, for some unknown reason, didn't harm her." He breathes deeply and wipes the tears off his face.
Ziva pipes in, "He had a thing for Kate. That's why."
"How do you know? You joined afterwards." I ask suspiciously.
"I would know. We told each other everything. He was my half-brother." Her voice stays solid, even though she's crying. Suddenly, I feel like a jerk.
"Sorry, I didn't know." I reply.
"Back to the story," Tim cuts in, holding Abby's hand tightly. I look over at Gibbs and notice his clenched jaw. "Two years and a couple days ago, Ari helped a terrorist cell send off a rocket filled with explosives. We stopped it. Two years ago, to the day, we were tracking Ari, and it led us to this rooftop. I was on the ground, but Tony, Gibbs and Kate were on the roof."
Tony clears his throat. "Ari shot once, at Gibbs. Kate, being his protective detail, jumped in front of the bullet and caught it in her vest, When we helped her up, Gibbs took her off protective detail. I was standing there, staring at her, cracking a joke, and suddenly my face was full of blood. A bullet had gone straight through her brains. She was gone." Tony stops.
"And Ari?" Frost asks.
"Dead. I shot him when he tried to kill me in my basement." Gibbs explains. I can see Ziva's eyes boring into his skull.
"Kate's dead. Maura's alive. Why do you think they're the same person?" Vince asks.
"Here's why." Director Shepard pulls out her phone. There are two pictures on the screen. On the right is Maura. On the left, there is a girl who could be Maura's twin, except her hair is straight and a chocolate-brown color.
"Oh." Frankie supplies.
"Yeah, but there is something you can't change: your fingerprints. Can we check yours?" Abby asks Maura.
"Sure, I would be happy to clear this up." Our medical examiner replies. Abby holds out a piece of paper. Gripping it tightly, Maura presses her right index finger onto it, then hands it back.
"Alrighty then, I'll just take this down to the lab and run it against Kate's, which is in AFIS." Abby says happily.
"Okay." I can't help but notice the worry that crosses Maura's face as she says this.
A/N: Sorry for the cliffy, guys. Uh, a great Jibbs scene is coming next chapter, I think. I would tell you about it, but that would ruin all my fun. Next chapter is coming on Monday. Review, please. Thanks. Thank you, Esquinzo, once more. K