Chapter 4: Secrets

"Who is Gigi? And what's her story?" Kensi asked as the team sat in the bullpen after closing the case.

Money is the biggest motive for murder, and love, the biggest motive for self-sacrifice. This time, a doctor cut off from her family's money got caught in the middle.

"Hypothetically speaking. If I were to guess, she's a genius… with an IQ of 188. And she studied at Harvard University. She graduated from Harvard with a medical degree just before she turned 20. And I would also guess she had a twin sister that went missing in 2001, the case was never solved." Eric said quietly so no one else could hear.

"Any other guesses Eric?" Deeks asked and Nell shook her head.

"A little over a year later she fell off the grid. For the last half decade, Madeline didn't exist. No paper trail of any kind, nothing for five years." Nell explained.

"Okay so what is a Medical Examiner doing living off the grid, carrying a gun and joining our team with no apparent practical experience in her field?" Sam asked as everyone sat shaking their heads.

"It doesn't add up" Kensi stated.

"I can't be the only one to think the CIA or something might be in on this. Can I?" Everyone looked at Deeks as he continued. "Genius or no, that's a pretty good disappearing act. One person doesn't pull that off all by themselves. They would need help, I'd guess, in powerful places." They nodded

"It would make sense… but how do we prove it?" Sam asked

"You don't Mr. Hanna. Ms. Comeau is not the enemy. So I suggest you allow her to do what I brought her here to do, and you focus on catching the criminals. Are we clear?" Hetty lectured as the group fell silent.

"Crystal" Sam replied as the rest of the group remained silent simply nodding in only slight agreement. Hetty turned around and left, returning to her office as quickly as she appeared.

After a moment of silence Nell spoke up breaking the tension. "Where is she anyways?"

"I think she went to hit the showers and then go home." Kensi said with a shrug.

Gigi washed her hair as she heard footsteps enter the room. She acted as though she didn't notice that someone was looking around the room, paying extra attention to the counter where her clothes sat. The footsteps neared the shower and Callen's voice rang out "What is a medical examiner doing carrying a gun?"

"Hetty wants me to be able to assist in the field if necessary. Why does it matter?" She replied completely calm as she rinsed her hair of shampoo. "And more importantly, this couldn't wait until I was finished showering?"

"No."

"Of course not. Because you just searched through my things." She said calling out Callen.

"I don't trust you." He stated bluntly.

"That's okay." Gigi replied turning off the water "towel?" she asked and Callen threw it over the curtain. "I don't trust you either Agent Callen" she finished, stepping out of the shower and flashing him a cocky smile. "Tell me, did you find what you were looking for?" She asked scooping up the clothes and walking over to a room where she began to dry off and change.

"Well, I discovered you have expensive tastes…" Callen answered his voice trailing off as he looked toward the door, it was slightly open and he could see a small peek of her tanned skin as she changed. A moment later Gigi emerged all dressed and staring at him. He really looked at her for the first time noticing her small frame, dark hair, bright green eyes and her flawless skin. She was beautiful.

"Anything else Callen?" she asked as she approached him, making sure to get very close to him, close enough to kiss him.

"Not yet." he replied remaining collected as he stared back at her from mere inches away. Gigi leaned closer.

"So why are you still here?" she whispered in his ear, hoping he was uncomfortable by what she was doing. As Callen turned to leave she stopped him. "Trust me, or not. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere Agent Callen. You are not going to find any valuable information on your teams little supercomputer. So be sure to let me know when you have something you want to ask. Unless I make you uncomfortable…" she pushed herself past him and out the door leaving Callen standing there in slight confusion. Gigi walked upstairs and as she passed the bullpen she noticed everyone exchange glances.

"Hey, Gigi, how about I give you a ride home." Deeks offered running up to her.

"Why? So you can interrogate me or sleep with me? I have my own vehicle, thanks." She replied shortly and continued walking stopping briefly at Hetty's desk. "I have decided to stay for a while… Here's the key to the safe house." Gigi said to Hetty trying to hand her the keys.

Hetty refused. "You need a place to stay Ms. Comeau, unless we need it, you are welcome to stay there until you find somewhere for yourself to live permanently."

"Um, thanks. You might want to tell your team to cool the animosity. It's not a friendly environment." She tucked the keys in her bag and walked out the door into the warm evening air that made California so welcoming.

"Callen, where did you go?" Kensi asked as he re-joined the group in the bullpen.

"To try and figure out what her story is." Callen said ushering towards the spot where Gigi had been standing.

"And…?" Sam asked.

"Nothing. She claims that is what we will find if you look up her file too."

"Yep, a whole lot of nothing" Eric confirmed as Callen looked at him.

"She wears designer clothes and has a key to one of our safe houses. Hetty knows something. And I would like to find out what."

When Gigi arrived at the safe house she started searching her trunk for a file. When she found it she went inside, dumping her bag at the front door and kicking her shoes off. She sat down on the couch and looked around the room. The safe house wasn't poorly decorated, but it was a standard much lower than what she liked. She set the file on the coffee table and stared at it solemnly. The cover read Rivière-du-Loup Police Department, Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec. Case file: #1554846. Missing Persons: Aria Elizabeth Comeau. Missing Since: 07/17/01. "I will find out what happened Aria, I promise. I won't give up this time." she mumbled as she began to read the case file. She had read it hundreds of times but she hoped one day she would find something she missed… so she read it again and again. When Aria went missing it destroyed Gigi, and the weight of not knowing had kept her up at night, and to this day she still struggles knowing she is the only living member of her family's bloodline.