MERRY CHRISTMAS! (And Merry Christmas Eve to others, like me!)

This is the next chapter!

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Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak
: NCIS (c) Donald Bellisario
Claimer: everything else (c) me


Chapter Six: Interrogation #2: CIA Agent Bryce Larkin

After the Major Case Response Team, as well as Bryce and Emma, returned to NCIS headquarters, Ducky went to the morgue with the bodies, and the rest of the team was right to work. Gibbs went down to Abby's lab to drop off some evidence and Chuck, Casey and Sarah was awaiting the team at their desks.

"So what have you guys found so far?" Chuck inquired.

"Blood, gun residue, dead bodies, bullet casings, and a possible lead," McGee replied confidently. "And just recently, an unidentified car that was ditched on the side of the road. It might have a connection to the case, and so Abby brought it in."

Tony sighed somewhat enjoying the moment as he leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head. "Just like any typical CSI case, almost like that good episode of CSI Miami where Horatio Caine-"

Ziva thumped him on the back of the head. "That's enough from you," she cut off.

"Now… after that blood is analyzed, this may change this entire case," McGee warned.

"And why would that be?" Sarah asked.

Bryce, Emma, Tony and Ziva exchanged worried glances.

"We think there might be a chance that Lara's alive," Emma told them quietly, causing Team Bartowski to gasp before she added quickly, "We don't want to raise any hopes, but we just think there might be a slim chance. The blood seems not too long ago, just possibly just a few days ago, no more than 3 or 4."

"Ducky and Abby's still on that," Bryce agreed.

"They'll give us an update when they find something," McGee said.

Ziva looked at them. "And what if we find that the blood does belong to Agent Clark?" she asked.

"It'll turn this case upside-down," Tony answered, his eyes hard. "Then we'd have to find where she is, why she faked her death, and what is she trying to do by getting both our teams involved, if that was one of her intentions."

Would Lara actually do that? Casey thought, If she's alive… why would she not contact me? Or anyone else, for that matter. She wouldn't do something like that… would she?

Suddenly, the phone on Tony's desk rang. Picking it up, he placed the receiver to his ear and spoke with a cocky grin and a casual tone as he leaned back on his chair easily.

"DiNozzo here," he greeted.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs' voice barked gruffly, causing the senior field agent to snap up in his chair in surprise.

"U-Uh, hi boss," Tony stammered. "What is it?"

"I'm busy helping Abby in the Evidence Garage right now," he explained. "I need you to interrogate Agent Larkin about what he knows about Agent Clark. Take Ziva with you."

Tony was a little nervous, considering he wasn't on interrogation duty unless either the situation saw it fit, or if Gibbs was on the other side of the one-way glass, listening to his interrogation skills. "U-Uh… but boss, you know-"

"Now, DiNozzo!" Gibbs snapped impatiently.

"O-On it boss!" Tony responded quickly, hanging up the phone and standing up.

McGee and Ziva grinned at their teammate.

"Rough orders, Tony?" Ziva teased.

"Funny, Ziva… you got to come with me," he mocked sarcastically, looking at Bryce. "You too, Agent Larkin. We'll need to ask you a few questions about your relationship with Agent Clark."

The CIA agent grinned. "What's with the sudden formality, Agent DiNozzo?" he asked as he followed the two NCIS agents. "It's nothing big to be interrogated. I've done it before. Don't be so stiff."

Emma wanted to follow after her boyfriend and partner, but she knew that she would be told to come back anyway. Twiddling her thumbs together nervously, she asked McGee, "What can we do at the moment while we wait?"

"Well… at the moment there isn't much that you, Casey, Sarah and Chuck can do. So… I guess you can all head back to your hotels and we'll give you guys a call if we need help. After all, the hotels are just within a few blocks of here."

"Are you sure?" Chuck asked curiously.

"Yeah, we pretty much have things under control so far," he replied easily.

With a brief goodbye, the four agents left NCIS grounds and returned back to their respective hotels.

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"So…" Bryce sighed in anticipation as he sat down across from Tony, "what do you guys need to know?"

"What's your history with Agent Lara Clark?" Tony began.

"Well… as I've mentioned previously, she was one of my ex-partners, as we both worked for the Central Intelligence Agency," he explained. "We worked together on about… hmm… I'd say, 8 or 9 missions. We were partnered up for about 5 years. Then we were both reassigned."

Tony took a moment to let that information stick to him. "Did she make any enemies during that time?" he asked.

"Yeah," Bryce replied casually. "But of course, they're either captured or dead."

"Where were you last week?" the NCIS agent inquired immediately, unfazed by his definite last answer.

The CIA agent chuckled. "I'd love to tell you, but unfortunately," he said, leaning with his elbows on the table, hands folded under his chin, "but that little piece of information is confidential. If you have a problem with that, you could always just talk to my boss, Director Clark. However, I'm sure he'd be less than impressed if he found out NCIS is accusing one of his top agents of murdering his sister."

Tony blinked. This guy was trying to intimidate him! And… it was slightly working, but he kept on a brave and solemn face. "Did you ever fall in love with Agent Clark during the long time you knew each other?" he continued.

Bryce shook his head, leaning back on his chair. "Nah, she was more like a little sister to me," he responded simply. "She knew how to get under my skin a lot. Quite annoying at times, however, she always had a motive behind it that would help the both of us."

Hmmm… sounds like Lara all right, Tony thought. "When was the last time you spoke to her?" he inquired.

"Well… as CIA agents, we don't get to make a lot of social calls to each other, so I'd say about 8 months ago," he replied. "Any other questions you have for me, Agent DiNozzo?"

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Emma opened the door to her and Bryce's hotel room, walking in, her blue eyes widening as she realized she wasn't alone. Before she could pull out her gun and shout, a blunt force struck her hard in the head, knocking her unconscious almost instantly. Her body hit the carpet with a brief thump, her purse dropping from her hand.

Two men dressed in black suits stood over her. Both had sleek black hair, and while one kneeled down to pick up Emma's body and placed her in a body bag, the other pulled out his cell phone.

"Sir, the deed has been done. We will be returning back soon," he announced into the phone. "Yes, we have the subject."

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The phone rang, and McGee picked up the phone. "McGee," he greeted, "ah, yeah boss? Ducky at the morgue? Got it."

Hanging up the phone, the junior field agent hurried over to the elevator to head down to the medical examiner's working area.

"Uh… hey, Ducky, what do have for me?" he greeted.

"Well, Timothy, these men were killed exactly 29 hours ago," Ducky said.

McGee sighed, "So 3 days ago, got it." As he turned to leave, the MD's voice stopped him cold.

"I'm not finished yet, Timothy," he informed sternly.

Carefully retracing his steps, McGee apologized, "S-Sorry, Ducky. What else is there?"

"These men and woman have bruises that show that these people were in a struggle and or a fight before they were shot. These bruises are absolutely amazing, nothing I've ever seen before. Their murderer must have been a highly trained assassin, as only skilled fighters could have only caused astounding damages like these," he explained.

"Thanks Ducky!" Tim said before dashing over to the elevator in excitement.

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Back with the others, Tony and Ziva had finished questioning Bryce and returned to their desks. Bryce stood idly alongside them. McGee ran over to them and they looked up at him.

"Hey McProbie, where's Chuck, Sarah, Casey and Emma?" Tony inquired semi-teasingly.

"Oh… I sent them back to their hotels. Told them we didn't really need their help until we called," he replied casually.

Anger burned in Ziva's eyes. "You idiot!" she exclaimed in scolding, "What if Gibbs needed to talk to them and ask them questions? Maybe they would have known or recognized someone from any new suspects we may discover."

"A-Ah, s-sorry. I-I should… probably give them a call now to come back," McGee stammered, hurrying to his desk.

Bryce took out his cell phone. "I'll give Emma a call," he said, calling her cell phone via speed dial.

"Hello, Sarah? It's McGee… um… we need all three of you back at NCIS. I kinda… got in a little trouble for letting you guys go like that," Tim said shyly. "Yeah, 'kay, I'll see you guys soon."

"Hmmm…." Bryce muttered, sensing something was wrong as his girlfriend didn't pick up. "That's strange. She carries her cell phone everywhere with her in case I need to contact her. She must probably be asleep or something."

"Do you want to call back in a few minutes then?" Tony suggested.

The CIA agent shook his head. "Nah, I'll head back to the hotel and pick her up. If there's a problem and we get stuck in traffic or anything, I'll give you a call," he replied. "See you guys later."

"Bye," the three NCIS agents chimed as Bryce headed to the elevator and out of sight.

"Well… now that it's just us, let's review what we got," Tony declared.

Gibbs walked over towards them. "Well… DiNozzo, the blood that we found at the new crime scene appears to have complicated things. That blood belongs to Agent Lara Clark, our victim."

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Bryce walked to the hotel room, opening it and taking a step inside. Peering towards the bed, he noticed that it was empty and untouched. Looking down to check whether her shoes may have been removed, he noticed a pool of near-dried blood near Emma's deserted purse.

"Emma?! Emma?! Are you here?!" he called warily after he drew his gun by his side, carefully navigating around the blood as he made sure the entire room was clear.

Holstering his gun, he picked up a tissue and used it to help him pick up a note card on the night table. It read;

"To Agent Bryce Larkin,

We have taken Miss Parks with us,

And she will not too badly be further harmed.

If you wish to see her again,

Keep wishing. The only chance you will see her again,

Is when she's like a doornail.

Regards; the Silent Killers"

Dammit, Bryce swore in his head, Emma's been kidnapped, and these men won't hesitate to hurt her. For all I know, I may never see her again.


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