Chapter Seven

"How is she Duck?" Gibbs asked as he stormed into autopsy, knowing that Ducky had only gotten Alexandra back a few minutes before they arrived.

"It seems he injected her with some type of sedative." He read through the file in front of him. "Abby has the scrapings she collected from underneath her fingernails. She was a clever girl; however, I doubt she saw the sedative coming. He obviously didn't want her to see his face. This means that he has taken particular interest in her or is someone from her past that she is not familiar with. This is just an educated guess Jethro, but I do not like this one bit."

"How long will she be out?" Walking over to Alexandra's sleeping form; he noticed Ducky had covered her lower half with a lab coat. She looked so peaceful lying there. "There's no permanent damage right?"

"It was enough to keep a man your size asleep for at least a day, but there is no way to tell. I would suggest you take her home and let her sleep it off. There should be no lingering side effects except maybe a migraine and nausea."

"I want to keep an eye on her until I find out if this guy is a threat or not." Jethro went to reach for her chart, but Ducky snapped it shut and put it on his desk, out of Jethro's reach causing Jethro to give Ducky a suspicious look.

"If she is going to stay here, she is going to need clothing and a blanket." Ducky suggested if Gibbs was not willing to take her to her apartment or anywhere else out of his sight.

"Any other injuries?" Jethro examined Alexandra carefully, looking for any signs of bruising. He saw a few small black and blues around her wrists meaning that at one point her assailant had held her firmly in place.

"Nothing serious that I can see, but a very interesting tattoo." Palmer commented before making eye contact with Gibbs. "I mean… I'm going now." He had briefly stepped into autopsy before realizing that he was not welcomed at the moment.

"Goodbye Agent Palmer," Gibbs shook his head, wanting to have the conversation with Ducky and Ducky only.

"Warming up to her yet Jethro?" Ducky chuckled as he leaned against the table where Alex was lying. "She looks rather peaceful lying here. Abby was just by and has decided that if Alex is to remain here than Abby will stay on the slab next to her. What I find most interesting Jethro, is that our mystery man led us directly to the suspect we were looking for. Does it sound familiar?"

"Warming up to her is not what I am concerned about Duck." He sighed. It was a rule never to get too close to anyone.

"She is someone you want to get to know." Ducky brushed a strand of her hair out of her face.

"How so?" Jethro's mind was trying to put together to pieces he was missing but couldn't figure it out.

"Because she is exactly like her mother," As Ducky blinked an image of Alex's mother flashed in his memory. She was a beautiful woman and intelligent.

"Not one of my ex wives?"

"No Jethro, or else she would have red hair since that seems to be the trend."

"You mentioned before Duck if the case reminds me of anyone. What did you mean by that?"

"Think hard Jethro…who led one of our agents to a suspected attack on the president of the United States?"

"Ari…with Caitlin."

"Precisely." Ducky watched as Jethro headed out of autopsy and towards the elevator as he made his last comment to Alex. "You are just like her."

"How is she?" Ziva asked as Tony walked in to the observation room, knowing that Gibbs would be on his way any second.

"She is out like a light." Tony looked to Ziva who showed no signs of concern.

"How long?"

"Long enough to knock Gibbs out, which would take at least four tranquilizers."

"So she will wake in a week?" Ziva smiled cheerfully. She never liked change and Alexandra signified change.

"Very funny," He shook his head. "What do you have against her Ziva?"

"When will he come in?" She tried to change the subject as they waited for Gibbs.

"He is not going in." Gibbs walked in to the observation room. "I am keeping him over night."

"What?" They both looked at him surprised that he wasn't going to try and find out who it was that had attacked him knowing that it was probably the same person that attacked Alex.

"Until Agent Castanzo wakes up, he is going to sit in that chair. It will give his memory a little time to refresh."

"But boss," Tony wanted to get the case over and solved, especially if this person was responsible for bringing more pain to the Cassidy family.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs knew that Tony was looking for answers, but the guy barely remembered his name when they brought him in and he needed medical attention which Ducky would give him after taking care of his Agent.

"Good call," Tony sighed inwardly as he watched Gibbs walk back out as he headed to Abby's lab only to find her gone while the DNA sample was running. It would be another twenty four hours before the tests resulted in anything. Turning around, he headed to where he figured Abby was most likely to be.

"Alex?" Abby waved her hand back and forth over Alex's face. "Wake up," Tapping her foot, she looked over her shoulder at Ducky as she sipped her Caf Pow.

"I'm afraid a jack hammer couldn't wake her up." Ducky sighed.

"So she's just going to lay here?" She shook her head. "Why can't we take her home? I know where she lives or she could stay at my apartment."

"Yes, she is staying here. It was not my idea. It was Jethro's idea."

"I'll stay with her." Abby walked over and hopped onto the table next to Alex. Lying down, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"I'm glad you are over your fear Abby," Ducky remembered when Caitlin was still alive and Abby had the fear of autopsy. That fear had indirectly led Caitlin to meet Ari who for some reason she thought had the eyes not of a killer but of a semi rational man.

"So am I," Abby fluffed her hippo making him fart.

"Goodnight girls,"

"Goodnight Ducky." Abby smiled as he turned off the lights and left. "You know, I used to be afraid of this after this dream I had." She ranted as Alex continued to sleep.

Alex found herself in her apartment, flipping through the final pages of her novel. She was still dressed in a pair of boxer shorts and an American University t-shirt. Why was she still feeling like she was missing something. She wasn't here a minute ago and couldn't even remember the plot of the book she was reading. Laying down the book, she looked over to the window. The sun was shining outside as she heard the knocking at the front door. Rising from the couch, she walked over to the door to her apartment and opened it.

Her uncle was standing there, a solemn look on his face. Every time he visited her it was with a smile on his face expect for now. Her heart sank even before she invited him in. All her life he had tried to shield her from harm even though he lived miles away. He stepped in and led her back to the couch. They sat there for a moment before he took her hand in his, practically the same size because she happened to have large hands for a woman. She watched his mouth as it moved, but couldn't hear the words he was saying.

She could feel her heart drop and her stomach clench as it had did when she had opened the door. Tears welled up in both their eyes and she could feel the hot trickling tears on her cheeks. He went to reach for her, to comfort her, but whenever she felt this way it was her choice to run. Rather than sitting there she grabbed her keys and ran. Instead of taking her car, she took to the pavement bumping into a few people as she ran. Her uncle chased her for about a mile before she lost him at the park.

"Alex?" Abby watched as Alex moved back and forth on the table. "Wake up," Sliding off of the table quickly, she rushed to Alex's side.

"Sleep well?" Gibbs walked in eight hours later to hear Abby's music playing in autopsy.

"I did, she didn't." Abby was holding Alex's hand as she tossed and turned on the table.

"Why?" For a fleeting second Abby noticed a look of concern in his eyes.

"She's been like this all night. I put my music on hoping she would stop." Abby shrugged, noting that the music did no good so she turned it off.

"Ducky, is this side effects of the sedative?" Gibbs asked as he put his hand on Abby's shoulder.

"No…I'm afraid this is of her mind's own doing." Ducky sighed as he walked over to check for a fever before going back over to his desk.

"Where are you going?" Abby asked as Ducky headed out of the door.

"A word with the Director." Ducky made it short before he left leaving Abby and Gibbs left alone with Alex.

They looked over to see Alex lying on the slab, still wearing her outfit from the club covered with a lab coat and a blanket Ducky had managed to find. There were stains of tears left on her cheek as she was curled up in a ball. Every so often Abby felt Alex grasp her hand tightly. His first instinct was to find out what the root reason was for her tears and subtle hints of distress, but he left it go and went back out of the room and to the elevator. Taking the elevator upstairs, he found the man in interrogation lying down on the table.

"Take care of her Ducky, I got DNA to find." Abby turned the music on low and hugged Ducky just as he walked in before she went walking back out to the elevator.

"You poor dear, you've spent years trying to outrun this." He sighed as he brushed back a piece of her hair. "She was where you are now," He wished he could forget that memory, but it burned in his memory as clear as day. Her thrashing about seemed to calm down as he spoke softly to her. Once she settled he headed back towards his desk to get her file.

Gibbs came back into the room as Ducky sat down at his desk. "I'm afraid I have no news for you Jethro."

"That's fine Duck, I got my coffee." He pulled up a chair and sat down next to the autopsy table, noticing that Alex had finally calmed down.

"Why is it so cold in here?" Alex shivered as she curled up even more beneath the blanket.

Looking around, she noted that both Gibbs and Ducky were staring at her as she sat up and dropped the coat and blanket to the side as she realized she was on a metal slab. Swinging her legs around, Alex didn't realize that the ground was a step away. Falling down to the ground, she ended up sitting on the floor with her back against the legs of the table and her legs spread unceremoniously wide open. Grabbing the blanket above her she covered herself up as her head began to pound. Seeing her struggling, Gibbs stood up from the chair and reached down for Alex. Grasping her forearms firmly, he helped her to her feet holding her against him as she swayed back and forth.

"Sorry my dear, I've grown accustom to it being cold in here." Ducky chuckled. "You will be slightly shaky for a while. I wouldn't drive anywhere for the night."

"What?" Looking up, she realized she had been lying on a metal table in autopsy.

"Abby actually finds these tables quite comfortable." Ducky remarked.

"Yeah, I would expect her to." She ran a hand through her hair. "What about the guy? The one from the alley?"

"He's upstairs in interrogation now." Gibbs expected her to follow as he went to the elevator.

"Thank you Ducky," Alex kissed him quickly on the cheek before following Gibbs.

"You're welcome my dear,"

"How did you know where he was?" They walked upstairs and into the viewing room as Ziva sat inside with the perp. She felt awkward not having a chance to shower or change.

"Did you or did you not attack this woman?" Ziva slapped the picture down in front of him as he leaned back in his chair.

"No I didn't touch that bitch," He crossed his arms over his chest. "But, she's a sweet little thing."

"You don't want to make her mad Ronald," Tony sighed, leaning back against the wall.

"Why did you do this?" Ziva continued to question him as Tony stayed in the corner of the room. Alexandra and Gibbs stood on the observation side, waiting to hear the answers as she started to remember events from the night.

"My mystery man told me. Did Abby run the DNA? I thought I got enough under my nails to be tested, but if not I was an idiot." Alexandra remembered before she looked down at her hip to look for the injection site. "He has my phone." A look of shock crossed her face.

"Yes, no hits. What did he say to you can you remember? We recovered your phone…well I found it lying next to you. Here," Pulling it out of his pocket, he handed it to her allowing his finger to drift over hers ever so gently.

"He told me…" Alex swooned slightly as the floor felt slanted beneath her feet.

"Alex." He reached out for her to steady her before she felt the floor even out again.

"I'm alright." She rubbed her head, hating being in this state. She should have known he would have knocked her out so that she wouldn't have been able to see his face.

"Come on I'm taking you home." His hand went to her elbow applying pressure to it.

"No, I want to stay." She argued.

"Fine, than tell me what happened last night." He keep his hand on her elbow just in case she swayed again.

"He told me where he," She gestured to the man on the other side of the glass. "…was and that I would see him again soon." Ignoring the fact that the person seemed to know her, she stuck to the basics.

"Did he mention anything we should be looking for?" Gibbs continued to question her as if they should be on the other side of the glass with her on one side of the table and him on the other.

"No, why?" She rubbed her head, trying to remember. "He knew you were all there and that's why he insisted to roof. All he kept saying was that he would see me again. Why?"

"Because, I found this note with our suspect." Gibbs held out the small piece of paper for Alex to read.

"I don't know him Gibbs," She tried to reassure him of that, because it was the truth.

"Apparently he knows us and especially you." Gibbs stepped closer to her, close enough for her to smell the faint aroma of saw dust.

"What's your point?" Putting her hands on her hips, she glared at him.

"I want to know who this man is and how he knows us."

"I-"

"And, I want you to lock all your doors and that is an order." He looked her in the eye.

"Yes sir," Grumbling, she rolled her eyes.

"Now go home and get some rest." He shooed her.

"But," She knew arguing with him was pointless.

"What?"

"What about the case?"

"It's closed." He watched as Ziva and Tony walked out of the interrogation room.

"What about the mystery man?" She argued. "For all we know he is setting this guy up and that he has another murder planned. Why would he pick the sibling of someone you knew personally and why would he choose me?"

"Until he is a threat we cannot do anything." He sighed, walking her out and upstairs to the desks, where she went to sit down behind hers. Shaking his head, he snapped his fingers at her getting McGee, Tony, and Ziva's attention along with Alexandra's. She felt her face flush as he looked at her making non verbal eye contact.