Thanks for the reading and the encouraging reviews.

Deadly Intent

Chapter 11

G focused on finishing the report Hetty had asked him for hours ago. His mind wandered again every time he heard a sound outside. At this rate, the report would get done later not sooner.

Sam entered the dining room with hot cocoa and cookies.

"Another distraction."

"I hope a pleasant one." He smirked.

G chuckled and grabbed a cookie off the wooden serving tray. "You know you might run out of these." He took a few bites.

"Not going to happen."

"Well, there's something good about that."

Sam sat beside him. "You still uptight over Ms. Chapman?"

"Nope," he said, "all relaxed in my shoulders and back."

Kens walked into the dining room and motioned for Sam to follow her.

"You can tell me too," G said, faking a pout as he watched them leave.

Sam returned in less than two minutes. "You and I need to have a talk in the bedroom."

"They heard us making hot and passionate love and now—"

"Come on, let's go." He took G by the hand and lead him back into the bedroom.

G settled down on the bed with a cookie in his hand, lying on his side.

"Put that aside." Sam took it from him.

"You're too serious," he said, "and ruining my fun."

"You need to get serious."

"I was and you told me I was too uptight and—"

"G!" Sam settled down beside him, placing the cookie on the nightstand. "We got a major problem. Hetty has been notified."

"What kind of major problem are we—"

"Just listen to me."

"Stop cutting me off."

Sam folded his arms. "Well, listen." Sam sprang off the bed and stared at his partner. He glanced at the heavy drapes covering the window beside the bed. He refocused on his partner, staring at him. "I was wrong to call you paranoid."

"Something happened outside, and I really did hear a different noise."

"Yes. Damn."

G stood up and surrounded Sam with his arms. "It's okay."

"It's not," he said, looking down into his partner's eyes. "I feel bad about this."

"Tell me."

"She murdered the two FBI agents."

G staggered backward and fell on the bed, covering his mouth with a hand.

Sam settled down on the bed and surrounded G's shoulders with an arm. "You've got to tell me how this woman is connected you."

He dropped his hand and leaned into his partner. "I don't want to hurt you, and it's a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere, and I need to know the truth."

G pulled away from Sam and laid down on the bed, turning to his side away from his partner's scrutiny. "I… she and I were lovers."

"Makes sense."

"How so?"

"The manner in which the two agents died."

"How many hits each?"

"More than enough to kill each of them at least a dozen times over."

"A crime of passion and hurt."

"Yes, go on."

G sighed. "Everything was going fine in our relationship until she asked me to commit the crimes she had masterminded," he said. "I refused to participate in her plans."

"I'd imagine she became enraged."

He remembered back to that particular day. Enraged put it mildly. Sarah had gone from an attentive lover to a crazed woman in a matter of seconds. He had never seen this side of her. It was the first time he questioned his relationship with her. And the first time, he distrusted a lover. G had withdrawn from her afterward. That single act escalated Sarah's rage and destroyed their relationship in a matter of days.

"Yes." It was all he cared to say to his new lover. Every moment he had been on edge with Sam, believing a part of his partner had never been revealed to him. Five years proved to be a number and not reliable for a trusting relationship. He questioned himself and his own judgment.

"G?" Sam rolled his partner over to face him. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"I'm not going to suddenly blow a cork."

"Okay."

"Look at me," Sam said, grasping his lover's face with both hands and planting a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you."

"That's what they all say."

"Until they change before you very eyes… right?"

"I guess so."

"I won't."

"Trust."

Sam nodded. "I get it. I hear you loud and clear."

"She wants me deader than dead."

"I can imagine why," he said, standing and helping his partner off the bed. "I need you in the shower."

"I can defend myself."

"And if you need to run?"

"It's a foregone conclusion that's an impossibility."

"Shower with your weapon."

"I guess I have no other choice."

"It's the inner most room in this entire house with no windows."

"You're right."

"Stay here and I'll get your gun."

"How long ago?"

"During the time you heard the strange noise."

G watched his partner leave and return with his weapon.

Sam handed him the gun and extra cartridges filled with bullets. He took his partner by the hand and lead him into the bathroom. "Don't come out until I return."

"You're leaving me alone in the house?"

"Nope," he said. "I'm not leaving the house. I'm preparing it for the last time I'll ever see her alive."

G shivered upon hearing his partner's words.

The moment Sam left, his shivering escalated to hard shuddering which he could not stop. G closed his eyes for a few minutes, focusing on his breathing and hoping that would help him cope with his new reality. It did not and the uncontrollable shuddering continued.

He found himself holding his breath and had to remind himself to breathe normal. G was close to hyperventilating.

With footfall outside the bathroom door, he hitched his breath and readied his weapon, cocking the trigger and aiming it directly at the door at the same height as Sarah's head. G had memorized her height and her looks, knowing someday they would meet again. A head shot was the only way he could be sure she'd be dead after he shot her.

The door handle turned. G held his breath and tensed his body, waiting for his intruder.

Sam opened the bathroom door slowly, knowing his partner was on edge. "It's me." He closed and locked the door behind him.

G breathed out a huge sigh of relief, laying his gun on the shower seat again.

"Everything is ready."

"How does the owner of this house feel about us shooting up his house?"

"Deeks called him and he's fine with what's happening as long as NCIS foots the bill. Which they are," Sam said. "The FBI's elite team is scouring the area around here searching for Sarah Chapman."

"And no one's found her."

"They will—"

"Not." He sighed. "She killed two FBI team members."

"Security, G, not sharpshooters."

"They have to find her first." "You've got no faith in them."

"None whatsoever," he said, "besides I'd like to kill the bitch myself."

"What's got you riled up now?"

"Us waiting here in this house for her."

"You're in no condition to—"

"Kill her? Believe me I'm more ready than ever."

Sam eyed his partner.

"Well."

"There's something you're not telling me."

"Yeah, there is, and it's in my report."

"No, you're telling me now or I'll call Hetty."

"Tattletale." G made a face at him. "I was going to send it to her—"

"Either you tell me right now or I'll go get your computer and read it myself."

"Go ahead." G crossed his arms.

"You're angry with me."

"No, it's this situation of waiting for her instead of hunting her down."

"I think there's more to it than this situation."

"She started it."

"Hunting you?"

"Yes." G sat on the shower seat. His legs could no longer hold him up and he hated to admit that his partner.

"Tired?"

Damn. "I need my cane, okay, now you heard me say it."

"I think it's more than that."

"Yes, damn, I can't even stand here for too long," G said, "and it pisses me off. I'm in no condition to chase after her. And that pisses me off. Okay. You happy?"

"And?"

"She wasn't my supervisor."

"You lied to me and Hetty about this."

"I needed time to work through things in my head."

"And steer everyone in the wrong direction."

"For a while," G said, "I was going to tell everyone today."

"Who is she, G?" Sam stepped into the shower stall and loomed over his partner. "Who is this woman besides your hysterical ex-lover who's bent on erasing you off the face of this Earth?"

"Isn't that enough?" G grinned.

"This isn't funny."

"Didn't say it was," he said. "It just sounded funny the way you said that." G gazed up into his partner's face. "You angry with me."

"Honestly, yes."

"Because I—"

"You lied to me and your team and to Hetty," Sam said, crossing his arms. "I never thought you'd do something like this to stall for more time. Protecting yourself is one thing. This is something altogether different."

"I wasn't ready, damn, I'm not ready now."

"No more stalling or I dial Hetty's number and you can speak to her directly." He backed out of the shower and stood at the sink, facing away from his partner.

G stood and stumbled forward, unable to keep his balance due to his fatigue. He wrapped his arms around his partner's waist. "I need you."

"Then act like it."

He released his hands and stepped away from Sam. "I don't know how to say it."

Sam flipped on his heels and faced his partner. "No more crap!"

G startled and backed up. "She decided to use him against me to force me to go with her decision."

"When did this come about?"

"Down in the underground shelter."

"Kind of like programming or mind control or something similar."

"Yes, and it didn't work," G said. "I didn't change my mind. It frustrated her more that I refused to cooperate with her. Doing so went against everything I was and am. How could I commit a crime with her and live with myself? I couldn't." He settled down on the shower seat again. "After I refused during Jarvis's interrogation, she ordered him to rape me, hoping I'd change my mind."

"The interrogation came first and the rape second."

"The opposite of what I told you, I know, damn, had to lie. I wasn't ready to tell you what happened." G sighed. "I wasn't ready to accept what she did even after all these years. She was just a hell-bent lover who wanted her way, and I wasn't willing to go there."

"And now since you know everything about her operation, she wants you out of her life, forever."

"You could say that."

"And you wanted nothing to do with any woman ever since then."

"I swore off all relationships after her."

"Including me."

He maintained a moment of silence.

"You've acted as if you needed me," Sam said. "More like you've kept a safe distance, afraid to allow me into your life."

G glanced at the brown tiled shower floor. "Whatever feels safe."

"Makes sense." Sam sighed. "She betrayed your trust on too many levels," he said. "I hope you know I'd never rape you. I'd never make you do something illegal or anything which goes against your principles."

G kept his eyes averted to the shower floor and swallowed hard.

Sam crouched low on the shower floor and gently placed his hands on his partner's face, lifting it until their eyes met. "I meant every word I just said." He tenderly kissed his lover on the lips. "I love you."

"I'm trying to let you in." His eyes moistened.