Title: Tessellation (7/33)
Author: Emono
Rating: FRAO
Fandom: NCIS/Dark Angel crossover, mixing CSI's
Pairing: Jethro Gibbs/Logan Cale
Series: The Not-So-Dark-Angel Universe
Disclaimer: I do not own either, why? Because I'm poor, that's why.
Summary: The boys share an intimate moment, then Ari makes an appearance.
Beta: gil_follower
Warnings: AU, fluff, back-story on characters, violence

Prompt: "Last Dance"

AN: Don't bash me, but I put the final scene of Sweeney Todd into the chapter. It inspired the entire scene, and I had to establish a relationship between Ari and Logan

Jethro stirred, something warm and sweet caressing his senses. He made a small noise, forcing himself awake enough to open his eyes. The clock read only 6:14 AM…about twenty minutes or so until his alarm went off. He might as well got up now, at least with the smell of sausage teasing his nose. Gibbs reached out, clicked off his alarm, then kicked off his covers. He threw his legs out over the side of the bed, yawning deeply before shaking himself. He got up, padding across the floor to his dresser.

He pulled on a pair of old sweats and an A-shirt, then headed to the kitchen.

What greeted him was a something he'd thought he'd never see in his kitchen. There was a young man cooking breakfast for him, a man with light brown hair and light scruff on his cheeks. A man with plaid sleeping pants and a worn, discolored red shirt. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed as well, and Jethro couldn't help but wonder if his skin was still sleep-warm. He shoved away all those inappropriate thoughts, but a few still lingered.

He couldn't deny he was attracted to Logan, he didn't want to. This was a man who knew what a bastard he could be, but still looked him in the eye. Logan was sweet, funny, and he had a habit of putting a poetic flare on his words. He had never felt such a pull to a person before, let alone a man. Sure, there had been male lovers in his past, but nothing severe enough for more than a few weeks. And all those men had been red heads, and he hadn't seen any of them again.

Well, except for Horatio Caine…now there was a man he had grown attached to. They had parted on good, mutual terms, and even resourced the other. But Horatio had completely moved on, hooking up with a marine up in New York. Both were CSI Directors, they knew each other's needs. Jethro had seen them together, they practically glowed when they looked into each other's eyes.

Yes, red heads were fun, but Logan was something different all together.

"Hey" he spoke softly, he didn't want to send the young man into shock.

Logan didn't even tense, "Hey Jethro. I thought you'd like a proper send-off today."

Jethro made his way over to the coffee pot, "Not coming along today?"

"I…" Logan idly flipped the sausage patties, recalling Jen's words and look "I don't believe the Director likes me there, and I don't wish to make her uncomfortable."

"I don't care if Jen cares" Jethro poured himself a mug "But, whatever you want. Do you need help with any of that?"

Logan couldn't find it in himself to say no, "Yes, actually. Stir the gravy for me, will you? The biscuits are almost done."

"I'm impressed" Jethro eased next to the man, doing as instructed "You went all out."

Logan blushed darkly, and Gibbs realized the man didn't have his glasses on, "You need something more substantial in your stomach, something other than coffee. Your job is difficult enough, Jet, you don't need to make it harder."

Gibbs opened his mouth to retort, then froze and his brow creased, "Logan…did you just call me 'Jet'?'

"What?" Logan looked up, a mixture of shock and horror on his face "I…I'm so sorry, Jethro. I slipped, you must hate it. I didn't mean any kind of disrespect-"

"Logan" Gibbs cut him off sharply, and the younger dropped his eyes. Jethro reached out, curled his knuckles below the man's jaw and brought those lovely bottle green eyes up to lock with his own. Logan swallowed thickly, but didn't say a word. "I don't mind, really. I like how the name sounds on your lips. You can call me whatever you wish…as long as I can keep calling you Kitten. Deal?"

"Yes."

Logan gave a grateful smile, the young man had thought he'd crossed a line. Before another word was uttered, the oven went off. His hand dropped from Logan's cheek, and the brunette gestured for him to take over. So Gibbs opened the oven and removed the tray of biscuits as Logan ladled the gravy onto two plates. Burners were turned off, then sausage was plated as well.

Gibbs stood by the oven, idly placing biscuits onto a large plate but is eyes and attention were on the younger man. Logan managed everything well, two cups of coffee and two plates on the table.

"Jethro?" Logan held out a hand, indicating he was ready for the biscuits. The older man handed them over with a quirk of his lips, and the slighter accepted. But Logan didn't realize that a drying cloth had fallen off the oven handle, and that it was beneath the heel of his socked feet. He made a sharp turn towards the table, and lost his balance. If it wasn't for Gibbs' trained Marine reflexes, all would have been destroyed.

But Jethro was quick, he wrapped an arm around Logan's waist, causing the younger man to let out a deep huff of air. He managed to get his free hand just around the plate, taking it by the momentum to set it on the floor unharmed.

But Logan had panicked, as most civilians do, and managed to make it worse. He twisted into the older man's grip, clinging onto his shoulders and bringing them both to the ground. Logan cried out softly as his back hit the floor, but his left arm was useless to stop his fall.

In the end, after the momentum left them, they found themselves in quite the compromising position. Logan was flat on the floor, blinking up at the older man. Gibbs was on his hands and knees above him, a look on his face that told the other he was wondering how the hell they got here in the first place.

Gibbs was looking down at him on an angle, for one hand was braced palm-flat on the floor while the other was curled into a loose fist so the line of his forearm took most of his weight. Their chests and stomachs brushed lightly, the air between them heating until it stifled them.

Logan's hand was still clutched in a vice in Gibbs' shirt, so he slowly released him. Bottle green eyes flickered from ice-blue orbs to the pink flash of tongue against firm lips.

"Sorry" Logan whispered, cheeks flushed.

Jethro dripped down a bit, their lips nearly brushing, "Don't be."

Logan's chest heaved at this, their chests pressing firmly for a moment. They both savored the contact, but Jethro just had to take that extra bit. He didn't dare steal a kiss, but he did let his lips trail down the man's jaw. Logan made a breathy sound when his lips settled on the receptive skin just below his ear, and the older man managed to get a single lick -one taste- of warm, nearly salty skin. This broke a soft, needy sound from the other. Then he pulled away, afraid his control would break.

Jethro stood, offering a hand, "Come on, before it gets cold."

Logan nodded, still too shocked to speak as he took the man's hand and stood. Gibbs leant down, snatching up the biscuits. They settled in for breakfast, one flushed and the other too calm. This was it, their mutual attraction had been established. Now, the question was…

Would they dance…or play the waiting game?

Logan glanced at the other man, noting how he wasn't looking up from his food.

Damn, he hated the waiting game.

»*»

~Next Day~

Logan entered Autopsy, spotting only Palmer, "Hey."

Jimmy looked up, smiling hesitantly, "Oh…hello, Mr. Cale."

Logan saw how injured the younger man looked, so he sighed and pushed up his glasses up with his unmaimed arm. Actually, his arm had felt pretty good today, so he had taken it out of the sling. His shoulder wasn't protesting, but he wasn't about to press his luck…so he left the black cast on.

"Palmer…Jimmy" Logan's heartstrings tugged as he saw the simple pleasure on the younger man's face, just at the sound of his name "I didn't mean…what I said when I first got here was rude…inexcusable, really. I was in pain and shock, I didn't want to offend you. Truthfully, I didn't even know Gerald that well. Can you try not to hold it against me?"

Jimmy's smile was brighter, "Of course not, Mr. Cale."

"Call me Logan."

"Logan" Palmer nodded, setting down his clipboard next to the DB.

Logan glanced around, "Is Dr. Mallard around?"

"Uh" Jimmy's brow creased, he stared hard at the ceiling in thought "Dr. Mallard is out with the team at the moment. They should be back soon, though."

It was Logan's turn to be confused, "Really? Huh. He had one of the body movers leave a message for me at Jethro's, said he needed to have a talk with me when I had the spare moment. The guy said that Dr. Mallard didn't have a spare hand to talk on the phone, so I had to come to him. I…just assumed that meant he was busy here with a body."

"Well, he was" Jimmy gestured with his pen to the DB on the table "But he was called out. He said he already had COD, so I took some pictures before I closed up."

Logan had an uneasy feeling in his stomach, "Oh."

"I need to run these upstairs, drop this off to Abby" Jimmy held up a file and a vile "Feel free to wait."

"Go" Logan gave him a small smile "Far be it from me to stop you."

Palmer gave him a half-salute, then went off towards the elevator. Logan sighed, walking over to Ducky's desk and leaning on it. He wondered how Jethro was, if he'd caught that serial killer yet. Probably not, but Logan wouldn't know anyways. Jethro hadn't really spoke to him since that mishap in the kitchen, just a few spare words. True, it had only been a day, but it was torture.

Yet…if he concentrated hard enough, he could still feel those demanding lips on his jaw and below his ear. Logan rubbed at the spot with his palm, a small shudder running through him. It was dangerous to lose himself in these kinds of memories, those kinds of feelings. He wished he smoked at times like these, his hands were twitching to do something…to touch someone…

The sound of a door opening caught his attention, but he didn't open his eyes, "That was fast, Jimmy. How's Abby? Still complaining that she's the only one up there?"

"Well, Gibbs does overwork his team."

Logan's eyes shot wide open, his jaw dropping. He stood there, staring dumbly at the man before him. The man hadn't changed much since their last encounter, several years ago when he was still Eyes-Only (at least actively.) Short cropped dark hair, dark eyes, a predator's grace…that cat grin. The man was close, just over five feet from when he stood. There was a gun in his belt, a knife on the opposite side.

"Eyes-Only" the man nearly purred.

Logan gaped at him like a fish, "Ari?"

"You didn't think I'd come back for you…did you?" Ari cocked his head, eyes glittering.

"Truthfully?" Logan swallowed "I hoped you were dead."

"Let's cut to the real issue, shall we?" Ari's grin faded, his fingers twitching towards his belt "You betrayed me, Eyes."

"That girl, your slave, wasn't completely human" Logan couldn't meet his eyes for more than a few seconds, the intensity there burned him "And you knew it. You used her to kill."

"And you used me" Ari stepped forward sharply, causing him to flinch "You got into my circle, gained my trust. You were my right-hand man, Eyes…and you let me down. You lied to me."

"No, no, not lied at all" Logan tried to cover it up with a nervous smile "No, I never lied. I said she took a poison…she did, she was ill. I never said that she died."

"You had me convinced she was dead!" Ari's voice rose for a moment, then went calm again "They took

her still, cold body out of my home. And you were there, Eyes, you watched the whole thing."

"She was…" Logan couldn't exactly tell the man of Manticore and the experiments, so he just went with what the man knew "She was genetically altered, she was your perfect weapon. But she was a person, she had a heart and a mind, she had feelings! You used her…and now she's free."

Ari cocked his head, squinting his eyes, "And you helped…you took her from me."

Logan kept his voice cold, "She wasn't yours to have in the first place."

Ari pounced quickly, knife whipping out. He pressed the brunette up against the wall with a quick turn, jolting his shoulder. Logan made a pathetic sound, the man's left hand pressing the knife to his throat.

"Oh Eyes" Ari growled "You're a bloody wonder. Imminently practical, yet appropriate as always."

"Everything I did, I swear it was only for the best" Logan breathed quickly, the man didn't look impressed "She would have turned eventually, she would have killed you all. I…I saved you…from a fate worse than death. Would you really have been able to stand to see your whole operation fall? I didn't destroy your mission, as I was ordered. I only…delayed you."

"So noble, Eyes" Ari dropped the knife from the man's neck, letting it slip underneath his cast and jerk up. Logan's eyes went wide when the wrap bust open, revealing yellow/green tinged skin. The knife disappeared back into his sheath. Ari grinned widely, wrapping one arm around the brunette's waist and taking his hand in the other. Some would have considered it a romantic pose, one for dance, but Ari's fist was tightly closed around his vulnerable wrist. He threw his head back and howled in pain, tears pricking his body when the man twisted the still healing bones in his grasp.

Ari began to hum, the arm around his waist forcing him away from the wall and around Autopsy in an imitation of dance. It was a waltz, but Logan was seeing everything through a red haze of pain. He was pressed close to the other man, his scalding breath in his ear humming that classic tune.

"We used to have so much fun, Eyes" Ari whispered to him, still dancing "Or shall I call you Logan Cale, now? No more aliases, hm?"

"You…" Logan gasped, fire shooting down his arm and weakening his legs "You know my name?"

"Yes, I've known for a while now" Ari kissed his cheek, pulling back and staring him right in the eyes as they moved "The history of the world, my love, is to learn forgiveness and try to forget. But you hurt me so badly, cut me so deep-"

Ari punctuated the last word with a sharp twist of the younger man's wrist, causing him to cry out.

"Two full years I've been thinking of this" Ari's voice turned to a growl "And now I find you in Gibbs' home, in his kitchen, his smell on you…"

Logan shook his head, but between the pain and those intense eyes he couldn't lie.

"You're wrong, keep him out of this" Logan choked, tears in his eyes as his shoulder started spouting off sparks of pain "He doesn't want me."

Ari's chuckle was cruel, "Oh Eyes-Only, you're so wrong…"

"I'm not him" the brunette couldn't help but be offended by the statement "Don't call me that."

Understanding flared in those dark eyes, "Yes, I can see it. You're not him, are you?"Logan clenched his eyes shut, "Not unless I have to be."

»*»

"How the bloody hell does a body disappear, Jethro?" Ducky huffed, clearly upset.

"I don't know, Duck" Gibbs replied for the third time "If I did, I'd tell you."

"I know" Ducky calmed down, standing in the middle of the bullpen as the team settled into their desks "The crime looked real, Jethro, but there wasn't a body. Why was I requested then?"

"Instinct?" Kate suggested "It was a crime scene, so they called the whole team in?"

Before someone else's two cents could be thrown in, Jimmy Palmer appeared from the stair well. He had an MP3 player in his pocket, ear buds in his ears. He nearly walked past them, then noticed them around and smiled brightly. He clicked it off, then shoved it all in his pocket. He set a file down on Gibbs' desk, then turned back to them.

"Oh good, Dr. Mallard, you're back" Jimmy gestured vaguely "You've got a guest downstairs. He's been waiting for a little more than…" he glanced at the clock "Half an hour."

"Oh dear" Ducky looked disturbed by this "Who?"

Jimmy's brow creased, "He said you requested him, Doctor."

Gibbs' gut was telling him something wasn't right, "McGee, bring up the feeds in Autopsy."

Ducky spared a glance at his assistant, "Dear boy, who's waiting down there for me?"

"You don't know?" Jimmy clicked his tongue softly in disapproval "It's Logan Cale, Doctor."

"Logan?" Jethro breathed, then glared at his subordinate "Now, McGee!"

The screen lit up with the feed, showing the stark white Autopsy room. There, in the middle of the floor, was a hunched figure.

"Shit!" Jethro cursed, almost running to the elevator. Tony and Kate were the only two quick enough to catch the doors before they shut, slipping inside before being crushed. The ride down was silent, but Gibbs was glaring at the numbers as if to make them go faster. His coworkers shared a 'crap, someone messed with someone important to Gibbs' look behind their boss's back…they knew it would be bad.

When the doors opened, Gibbs was the first out and into Autopsy. As soon as he pushed the door open, he spotted him. Logan was curled over his knees on the floor, injured arm pressed against his stomach in a pure instinct to protect it. His black cast was split open and discarded on the floor, his glasses lying a foot or two away from the tops of his knees.

"Logan?" Jethro dropped to his knees beside the younger man, running a hand down his back and hooking his fingers under his chin. He lifted Logan's face, seeing tears shimmering along his stubbled cheeks and pain in his dark eyes. "What happened? Who did this?"

"I…" Logan's breaths were quick, trying to force out the pain, trying to keep his calm "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…he was here, he caught me by surprise, I couldn't fight him…you must be so upset."

"What?" Jethro brought the man into his arms, letting the younger man bury his face in his shoulder "Tell me, Logan…tell me."

Logan could only choke out one word, "Ari."

TBC