Week 6

Another nightmare had Brody up at the crack of dawn and searching for some relief. Now that they were half way through with Director Vance's mandatory separation she began to dream about Chris coming home. Oh, the dream would always start out pleasant enough but always ended up the same way. She had also been strangely drawn back to the dark days when she watched over him while he was in the coma, never knowing whether he was going to live or die or if he'd ever wake back up.

Luckily however the unwanted vision had occurred after Cade had already gone to work so at least she had saved herself the embarrassment of having him hear her scream like a crazy person who couldn't be comforted. Even with sleeping pills and anxiety medication she was unable to find peace. It was beginning to get downright discouraging. Was she destined go through the rest of her life like this? She hoped for Chris' sake and the sake of any future children they might have that eventually they would subside.

The patio café of the Royal street coffee company wasn't the place she needed to be this morning as she sat sipping her coffee and nibbling on a maple scone. Torturous was the only word Brody could come up with as she watched a happy couple across from her share a tender moment. She wanted to look away but there something about them that drew her to them. The man was looking at the woman so intently that Brody could see that his heart was about to explode with admiration and devotion. There was laughter in the woman's voice that may the agent certain that the couple were completely head or heels for each other.

They really love each other she thought averting her eyes as the man flicked his gaze toward her. A momentary feeling of embarrassment flooded her as she realized she had been caught staring but she just couldn't help it. Everywhere she went she was surrounded by happy couples in love. She was half of a happy couple she reasoned, trying to convince herself that her heart wasn't aching for the other half of her happy union.

Damn, she missed Chris, his strong hands knotted with hers, his brooding sexy, stare that he engaged in whenever he was contemplating a crucial move, the way his arm felt when he draped around her, and the determined look he got when they were in the middle of the case. She missed everything about him.

Today of all days was especially hard. Today was Chris' birthday. Weeks ago, she had gone out and purchased the best hunting rifle she could afford, the one she knew he had been eying before being sentenced to a voyage to the bottom sea, but it didn't make her feel any less like a horrible fiancée. If she would have been smart she would have thought to have bought it before they left for Spain and given it to him.

Chris had obviously planned in advance to find to little ways to remind her that she was loved (though she suspected that he had enlisted the help of Cade and possibly Sebastian) why hadn't she?

Last week, she had received a frilly looking shower cap with a note that said Chris knew that she was working on her fear of water with Dr. Sheridan now (which she was). The week before that he had arranged for her favorite soothing oil to be sent to her so that she could rub it on the back of her neck when she started to feel the anxiety attacks coming on, and before that, a dream catcher to trap the nightmares. Every week there was something and all though most of them were just little whatnots they were meaningful and significant to her overall well-being as to where her PTSD was concerned. He was still taking care of her without actually be there.

Her PTSD she droned as picking up the tablet she had borrowed from Patton so she could access the latest set of LaSalle's notes on the case. Even though they were straightforward and somewhat impersonal she enjoyed going through them trying to capture a feeling of what Chris was seeing from an investigator's view. He had eliminated most of the crew as possible suspects, winding his choices to just a few all of which seemed to have valid reasons to have issues with the female doctor. Now all he had to do was connect the dots. Personally, she was learning toward the L.T. Commander who had family ties to a white supremacist cult and the Lieutenant JG that Rogers had informed would most likely be put out of the Navy due to intolerance to gluten.

Her cell phone came to life with a text from Sebastian. Hopefully this meant he had something on the new case they were working.

Eyes wide with wonder she stepped into the lab for find it decorated with colorful streamers and helium party balloons. Sebastian was sitting at his computer, a paper party hat on his head, and a party blower in his hand.

"What's all this?" Brody brushed one lone straggling balloon away with her hand, making her way to the forensic scientist.

"It's a birthday party for LaSalle," Sebastian reached underneath his desk and brought out a round 9 inch cake box, flipping up the lid. The words Happy Birthday LaSalle were piped in blue in the center, with Mario characters and plastic bananas adorning the edges.

A Donkey Kong Cake? Brody raised an eyebrow before dipping her finger into the ruffled edging of blue buttercream frosting and popping it into her mouth. Although the gesture was sweet, the cake resembled something that a nine-year-old would have chosen. But then again that was Sebastian. Poor misguided soul, his heart was always in the right place, if not the best when it came to caring about his friends.

"But he isn't here." Brody said flatly as Loretta appeared with a box of plastic cutlery and paper plates.

"That's beside the point." The medical examiner smiled largely showing off her festive mood. "Just because Christopher isn't with us right now doesn't mean we can't celebrate. We all know how he loves to go all out for the holidays, so why should his birthday be any different?"

"She has a point." Pride added appearing with Percy in tow.

Brody put on a false smile as Loretta stuck a lone candle in the center of the cake and lit it before breaking out in her best rendition of Happy Birthday. So not only were they throwing a party for her absent partner they were also signing to him, not that she minded in the least.

"Merri since Christopher isn't here will you do the honors?" Loretta asked hinting that the agent blow out the candle as Pride's arm fell across her shoulder.

"Don't forget to make a wish."

Brody closed her eyes before gently blowing out the waving flame. When she opened them, Jaxxon was standing in front her, where Loretta had been standing, his hands shoved into his pockets.

"Did it come true?"

"Not yet, but I'll let you know when it does," Brody scoffed picking up on his hint of arrogance. Over the last couple of weeks she hadn't missed the looks he'd been giving her. They were the same looks she had received from Chris when they first met. Like LaSalle, Jaxxon seemed harmless for the most part, and just looking for a friend.

"You're all set agent LaSalle. Tablet's all fixed." Somehow in the middle of the ocean trapped beneath the sea with no WI-FI connection whatsoever, the agent's tablet had managed to pick up a virus that was happily eating its way through the files he had accumulated on the submarine's personnel. Blessedly, everything of importance had already been downloaded to the black box for permanent storage.

Chris thanked the computer tech that helped him send his personal message to Brody a couple of earlier. The young man had risked a lot helping him send an unauthorized video to his…uh…fiancée? The word sounded strange especially considering the way he and Brody had left things but what else was he supposed to call her? Partner didn't sound right anymore, outside of professional references.

As the young sailor left, Dr. Cyril Taft stood in the doorway of the agent's stateroom with a small wrapped package in hand.

"What's this?"

"A gift between friends." Cyril replied pushing the package into the agent's hands.

Chris looked at the quirky doctor skeptically. "This wouldn't have anything to do with it being my birthday would it doc?" Obviously the noted surgeon had taken it upon himself to go poking around in Chris' personal medical records again.

Cyril shrugged, "Not really, but who else on this floating tin can is going to get you a gift?" Some people were starting to see the agent as a threat, while others just viewed him as an extended part of the crew. Either way he certainly wasn't going to be celebrating with any of them.

"Good point." Chris tore off the brown paper wrapping revealing a handsome but three-quarters filled bottle of twenty-five year old, Kentucky Bourbon.

"It's been opened."

Cyril produced two shot glasses, handing one to Chris. "Yeah, I just don't like to drink alone."

"Neither do I," Chris quipped flashing his trademark grin. He filled the glasses and the two men toasted, tossing their glasses back. The dark amber liquid burned, warming the homesick agent's chest as it went down. Although he wouldn't admit he was starting to suffer from cabin fever; being stuck on a floating tube with no access to sunlight or natural darkness was driving him stir crazy to say the least.

"Now, that's good stuff."

"An Agent by the name of Gibbs gave it to me." Cyril picked up the bottle and refilled their glasses. "So tell me agent LaSalle, how does one deal with the nightmares that come you've been stabbed three times by the person who tortured your partner."

Chris picked his glass his eyes narrowing. "Really doc? It is my birthday."

"Indulge me a little." Cyril said, swallowing his second shot.

"I got a good woman who loves me. We take care of our issues together."

"You talk to her about it?"

"We talk about her issues mainly and somehow mine don't seem to matter. I put everything I've got into her and just keep moving forward."

Cyril shook his head, thinking of the son he and his wife had lost, "Sounds like a lucky lady."

"I'm the lucky one, believe me." Chris started to down his drink when Ensign Matthews walked into the small berthing quarters.

"Agent LaSalle, Commander Williams, requests your presence on the bridge."

"I'll be right there." Chris set his glass down, scooting past the uniformed junior officer, leaving Cyril holding the bottle.

"You like to drink alone, Ensign?"

"No sir."

"Well then hop to it. Bottoms up."

A pair of calculating eyes watched from across the bridge as LaSalle spoke to the Executive Officer, Commander Trenton Williams about a recent statement he'd given in regards to Samantha Rogers. The two evidently had known one another from college and had history.

The man who brought Samantha Rogers to her death, still couldn't believe that they had taken on an Agent Afloat in order to solve her murder. He had expected that the sub would have been grounded, detained until authorities were satisfied. But this… This made things easier, with only one man investigating instead of a team. He could easily dispose of the agent and being that they were out to sea it would months before anyone would be able to pursue the murders.

He stepped away, lowering his head as LaSalle briefly made eye-contact. For now, it would be best if he kept things low key. He still needed to get to know this agent afloat a little bit better before making his move. He'd already gone so far as to tamper with the NCIS Agent's tablet, but came up with nothing. He needed to make sure that the agent wasn't already on to him, so for now he would wait.

A/N: Oh...is our killer stalking LaSalle? And what about Jaxxon? Will Brody set him straight on his flirting?