Brooklyn Bridge – Tuesday 7:10pm

Danny stared across the murky waters of the East River. In the distance he could see the Statue of Liberty, clearly visible despite the lowering clouds that warned of coming rain. His eyes fixed on the Statue; all it was meant to stand for, freedom from oppression, the rights of the individual, hell, even freedom of speech seemed like a mockery as his mind struggled to process all he had just learned.

She moved in his arms and he tightened his hold as he felt her press her head into the crook of his neck, the dampness of her tears soaking into his jacket. He moved one hand and began stroking her hair, soothing her as he would a child. They stood like that, oblivious to everything going on around them for close to 10 minutes before a spot of rain warned of the storm to come.

'Hey'

She raised her head and looked at him; the remains of the tears she had shed were still visible making her eyes look as dark and murky as the river below them.

'It looks like its starting to rain'

She nodded but didn't make any attempt to move; instead she let her head fall back onto his shoulder again. Danny dropped a kiss onto the top of her head as the rain began to fall in earnest.

'What do you want to do?' his hand continued its rhythmic stroking of her hair. Her body was relaxed against his but at his question he felt her tense and then straighten up and raise her head to look at him again

'What do you think I should do……..I mean, from what Jacks told me this is all going to come out and Victor is coming tomorrow……………' she trailed off a helpless look in her eyes that shocked him but touched him at the same time as he realised how much trust she was placing in him.

He hesitated before answering, trying to pick his words with care; 'I think that there are a lot of ways this can all come out…………but Ellie, this is your life we are talking about; more than anyone else involved you have a right to decide how people find out.'

She stared at him, her eyes showing the consideration she was giving to his words as he continued, 'What is it you want to happen now?'

Their eyes remained glued together for a few moments more before he saw the helpless look return

'I promised Victor……………' Danny cut her off before she could say anything more

'How can you possibly think that bastard deserves any consideration after what he's done to you?'

Her head jerked as if she had been hit as she heard the anger in his words, but she continued to meet his now angry stare.

'He has a right to tell Martin………….'

'Actually, no, he doesn't. I think Martin has a right to know but I think Victor has no more right to tell him than you do and if I was Martin I'd rather hear it from you and know I was getting the truth that be force fed Victors warped version'

The rain was falling harder now but neither moved. He watched as a number of different emotions flittered across her face but he remained silent, content to allow her the time she needed to reach her decision.

'If you were Martin, would you really want to hear this from me rather than Victor?' she spoke slowly, her eyes watching his face closely.

Danny cupped her face with his hands, bending closer so their faces were only a couple of inches apart; 'Ellie you have to do what's right for you and if that involves telling Martin then tell him. All I can tell you is that knowing him as I do he'll thank you for telling him.'

Their gaze remained fixed on each other for a few moments longer then she reached a hand out and gently stroked his face; 'Danny…..I………..' she stopped and he saw an almost shocked look in her eyes before she banished it and smiled at him as she continued, '……thank you' she closed the small distance between them and kissed him softly on the lips.

He smiled at her, becoming aware for the first time of how wet they were both getting; 'so what do you want to do?'

Her eyes met his and there was no hint of indecision now; 'I want to go and see Martin'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Martin's Apartment - 8:00pm Tuesday

Ellie lifted her hand to knock on the door to Martin's apartment then dropped it again. She felt Danny slide an arm around her and hug her gently

'You OK?

She turned her body towards him and for a moment rested her head against his shoulder, welcoming the feeling of warmth and safety it gave her

'You don't have to do this you know' his voice was soft and she could feel his breath against her skin. She slid her arms around his waist and raised her face; 'no, I need to do this, but………I'm not going to tell him everything ok, just the stuff he needs to know to understand what happened; he doesn't need to know it all'

She couldn't stop the slightly pleading note in her voice as she stared into his eyes, willing him to understand. She felt his other arm slide around her as he pulled her close; 'It's up to you what you tell him, its no-one else's decision'

She stood for a moment more in the safety and comfort of his arms then straightened up and quickly reached out and knocked on the door.

It opened almost immediately and Ellie saw the shock on Sam's face when she saw them there. For a moment they all stood in silence then Ellie heard Martin's voice

'Who is it Sam?' he appeared behind her and Ellie registered that his face also showed shock rather than surprise

'Hi, Ellie needs to speak to you about something; it's important'; Ellie was relieved when Danny broke the silence. Sam stepped aside to let them in but Ellie saw the look she and Martin exchanged and wondered what they had interrupted.

'Erm, is this a bad time?'

Martin seemed to spring to life, smiling as he indicated they should sit down on the couch; 'no, sorry……..' he glanced at Sam quickly then met her eyes again, 'it's just a bit of a co-incidence, we were just talking about you'

Ellie stared at him as she slowly sat on the couch; she was about to ask what they had been talking about when something on the coffee table caught her eye. She stared for a moment then raised her eyes to meet Martins;

'I should imagine you were'; her voice was dry and at Danny's surprised look she indicated toward the photos' and saw comprehension in his eyes

Martin was staring at Danny; 'you knew?' his voice held a hint of accusation in it

'No he didn't, well, not until about an hour ago' now she was here Ellie just wanted this over with

'Are you?'

Martin's voice sounded tense and Ellie saw Sam slide her hand into his

'Am I what? What is it you think I am Martin?' she needed to hear him say it, to make sure that she wasn't mis-reading this

'Are you my sister?'

She felt Danny's hand tighten around hers and saw the concern in Sam's eyes even though her eyes didn't waiver from the intense scrutiny that Martin was subjecting her to

She took a deep breath……..

'No, I'm not your sister'

She saw the confusion in Martin's eyes and in Sam's too; she sighed

'Look why don't you sit down and I'll explain……'

'I don't understand……….you are the spitting image of my aunt Helen, your mother knew my father at the time she must have fallen pregnant with you………..how do you look so like her unless you are related to her' his finger stabbed toward the picture on the table and his voice showed the beginnings of anger

'I look like Helen because I am related to Helen……' she hesitated for a heartbeat then the words rushed from her mouth, '……Helen is my half sister'

Martin's face showed his shock, shock which only increased as he thought this through; he shook his head; '……..but, if you are Helen's half sister then…………….' He stopped, trying to get his head around what he was hearing

'Victor isn't my father, he's my brother…….Victors father…I mean your grandfather, is my father' she felt herself stumble over the words, watching to see Martin's reaction to this bombshell, but it was Sam who spoke

'Victor is your brother?'

Ellie nodded slowly, still watching Martin. His face, after the initial shock registered, had gone blank. He continued to stand until Sam pushed him gently so that he sat down abruptly on the easy chair next to the sofa

'My grandfather…………' he stared at Ellie for a moment before continuing, 'how come I didn't know………………why didn't you tell me……….more to the point, why the hell didn't my father tell me?'

'Look why don't we all sit down and give Ellie a chance to explain everything?' Danny's voice sounded calm

'Good idea; why don't I make a pot of coffee and order in some Chinese; I suspect this is going to be a long conversation' Sam moved toward the phone as she spoke, not waiting to hear anyone respond.

Whilst Sam ordered the Chinese and made the coffee Martin sat slumped in the chair, staring into space. Danny put his arm around Ellie and pulled her to him. She let him, resting her head on his shoulder while she waited for Martin to be ready to talk some more.

Sam came in with a tray of coffee;

'The food should be here in about 20 minutes,' she set the coffee on the table and went and perched on the arm of the chair. Martin looked up at her and she gently squeezed his hand. He smiled at her and then lent forward looking at Ellie

He smiled nervously; 'I'm guessing there is more to this story; are you up to telling me?'

Ellie felt some of the tension drain from her and returned his smile;

'Sure'; she took a deep breath before she continued

'My mother met your grandfather when she painted your grandmothers portrait. From her diaries and his letters it's obvious that they fell in love. Your grandfather wanted to leave your grandmother and marry my mother………….when the rest of your family found out they were horrified and put a lot of pressure on him to stay. From the letters and diaries it looks as if he was still going to leave but then she was diagnosed with cancer and told she only had a few months to live and so he stayed.'

Martin frowned; 'I didn't know my grandmother had cancer……….I thought she died from pneumonia'

Ellie sighed; she would prefer not to have to tell him the next bit but couldn't see how to avoid it; 'it appears that she didn't have cancer…………Victor told your grandfather that she did to make him stay with her and avoid a scandal'

Martin stared at her; she could see his mind working furiously as he processed all of this. Sam leant forward now

'How do you know this………' she rushed on, an apologetic look on her face, 'I mean, I'm not doubting you I'm just curious to know'

'I'd heard my mother's version at various points in my life, but when she died at the end of last year she left me her diaries and all the letters she and your grandfather wrote to each other' Ellie kept her eyes on Martin even as she answered Sam's question, 'Your grandmother confessed to your grandfather just before she died and she told him that it was Victor who had engineered it'

Martin was still silent; Ellie relaxed back into Danny's arms again, waiting for Martin to be ready to hear more

Eventually he licked his lips before meeting her eyes again; 'ok, but from the little I've seen and from your reaction every time my fathers name is mentioned I would say that there is more to all of this than you've said so far'

Ellie nodded, rehearsing again in her mind what she could tell Martin that would explain her hatred for Victor without telling him more than he needed to know.

'You know my mother was an artist……….her work was everything to her and she had never intended to get married or have children. Falling in love with your grandfather, losing him and then discovering she was pregnant 'unhinged' her for a while. She wanted to terminate the pregnancy but by the time she realised she was pregnant it was too late.'

She saw Sam and Martin's shocked reaction to her words and felt Danny's arm tighten again but she didn't stop, not wanting to lose her nerve

'My early years were spent moving backwards and forwards between my grandparents and my mother. My mother and her parents didn't get on; they were too conventional for her but they supported her when she had me and when she didn't want anything to do with me my grandparents cared for me. They tried to get my mother to assign guardianship to them but she kept refusing……..' she knew her bitterness was showing through but she kept going,

'Every now and then she would decide that she did want to be a mother, come and collect me and take me to live with her until she got caught up in another project and would forget all about me. I lost count of the number of times my grandparents had to come and get me and take me home'

She paused for a moment, taking a sip from her coffee as she readied herself for the next bit of the story; she looked up again and met Martin's eye

'When your grandmother died my mother was euphoric; your grandfather came to see her, told her about what had happened and promised he still loved her and wanted to marry her. That was when I met him, although I had no idea who he was………he was just this nice old man who gave me presents, told me I was pretty and took me to the park for ice-cream.

I remember my mother coming to my grandparents house and telling me that we were going to live in a new house and be a family……….I must have been nearly 9 at the time and I remember thinking that it was just another of my mothers promises that would never be kept. It must have been about a week later that I realised something was wrong. My grandparents told me that my mother was in hospital and that she was very sick. I found out later she had tried to commit suicide………'

'That must have been when my grandfather died of a heart attack.' Martin had a look of intense concentration on his face, 'I remember that my father seemed really angry and I didn't understand why. My mother told me that sometimes grief comes out as anger………..' he met her eyes, 'it wasn't grief was it; it was something to do with the situation with your mother wasn't it?'

Ellie nodded, waiting to see if he wanted to say or ask more, before continuing; 'Yes…….I only found out recently, apparently your grandfather told Victor what he was going to do and they had a huge row. It was during the row that he had his heart attack'

Martin's face showed the turmoil he was in as he started to better understand events from his childhood.

Silence fell, broken moments later as the buzzer sounded indicating that the Chinese had arrived.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

While Sam headed toward the kitchen, Ellie jumped up to open the door to the delivery boy. The expression on her face suggested that a moment away from all of this was welcome.

Danny and Martin remained in the living room. Martin became aware that Danny was watching him, he glanced up and met his eyes and saw the empathy in them

'You OK Marty?'

He felt as if his whole world had just tilted off it's axis but he managed a smile as he replied

'Yeah………..I think as hard as this is for me to hear it must have been infinitely worse for Ellie to live through, especially as I get the impression she's leaving out the worst bits?'

It was just a guess but the expression on Danny face told Martin he had hit the bulls eye. They stared at each other for a moment then Danny leaned forward, lowering his voice as he spoke;

'Look, there is more, a lot more, but be content with what she tells you today. You'll probably be able to persuade her to tell you more eventually but this is really hard for her to talk about'

Danny sat back as he heard Ellie and Sam emerge from the kitchen and shot Martin a warning look.

Once they all had a plateful of food Martin caught Ellie's eye; she smiled; 'you ready for some more or is that enough for now?' Martin got the distinct feeling that if he had told her that was enough she wouldn't have minded at all

'I'll hear as much as you're comfortable telling me.'

She nodded;'OK, well, like I said my mother tried to kill herself when she found out about your grandfather……….'

Her voice trailed off and she looked at Danny seemingly for support; Danny nodded encouragingly at her

'Tell him Ellie, he's not stupid, he knows better than you what Victor can be like'

She swung her eyes back to look at him, and Martin could see the apprehension in them

'While she was in the hospital she contacted the funeral home and asked when the funeral was……..Victor went to see her to tell her that she wasn't welcome. They argued and a lot of things seem to have been said, including my mother taunting him that your grandfather loved me more than him and Helen. She also seems to have threatened to go to the papers with the whole story………..' she stopped again and dropped her eyes to her untouched plate of food.

Martin watched as she pushed some noodles around on the plate for a moment before she picked her head up again; he could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes

'As I understand it Victor told her if she so much as contacted a newspaper he'd know and she'd regret it. Well, after she got out of the hospital she started to use more drugs and more alcohol and she did contact a newspaper and it appears that Victor did find out……………'

Martin watched amazed as her voice broke. She pushed the plate of food onto the table and stood up, looking at Danny;

'You tell him, I can't'; she left the room as the tears began to fall from her eyes

Danny looked as if he wanted to go after her

'Danny, tell me what?' Martin heard the urgent note in his voice, guessing that this was the reason why she hated his father so much

Danny looked at him; 'Victor arranged for Ellie's mom to be caught with enough cocaine that she was done for possession and intent to supply – she was sentenced to 5 years. On top of that child services were informed that Ellie was at risk and so she was taken from her grandparents and put in a group home. It took four years of legal wrangling before she was allowed to go and live with her grandparents again. She's seen the court papers; Victor blocked every attempt her grandparents made to get her back. It nearly bankrupted them……..'

Danny hesitated then went on in a rush; 'Martin she had a dreadful time. She was in the Collingwood Group Home for a while……………..'

Martin felt as if that should be significant but couldn't tie the name down; he was about to ask when he heard Sam's gasp

'Christ that place is infamous…..she was there?'

'Yeah………'

Martin looked at Sam; 'Do I know about this place?'

Sam and Danny exchanged looks but before either could speak he heard another voice

'It was part of the inquiry into child services in New York 10 years ago. It showed up wide scale abuse and the group home at the centre of it was Collingwood'

Martin stared at Ellie, knowing the horror he was feeling was written all over his face but she was looking at Danny

'I thought I said he didn't need to know this bit?'

Danny looked guilty; 'Sorry……..I, er...'

'No, I'm glad you told me' Martin stood up, facing Ellie, 'I'm so sorry…….'

She cut him off; 'Don't you dare apologise; you had nothing to do with this and I don't blame you at all. The only person who needs to apologise is Victor and I suspect it will be a cold day in hell before I hear the word 'sorry' leave his lips'

She didn't sound angry, rather she sounded resigned

'What happened to you after that' Sam's question cut across the silence that had briefly fallen

'My mothers lawyer had fallen for her, managed to get her paroled and then got involved in sorting things out with me. He seems to have had enough clout in the right places to counteract Victors influence and managed to get custody awarded to my grandparents just before I turned 14.'

Silence fell again; Martin looked at Sam and knew they were both trying to find the words to ask the same question. Before either of them could, Ellie spoke again

'If you are trying to ask whether I was abused then the answer is yes I was. It was physical; I was hit a few times and there was a lot of emotional abuse but not sexual…………' she looked at Danny again and Martin thought she was about to ask him to explain but instead she continued

'One night one of the male wardens came to my room and tried to rape me. I managed to get hold of the bedside lamp and smashed it onto his head………..I nearly killed him. The police were called and I was put into a foster home after that'

Her voice was monotone, almost relaxed sounding, as if it was of no significance, but Martin could see her hands folded into tight fists, so tight that the knuckles showed white.

'But why………..' Sam stopped before she completed the question, confusion showing on her face

They all turned to look at her, she sighed; 'but why did you join the FBI?'

Half a smile crossed Ellie's face; 'I know, it sounds crazy doesn't it…I think it was a sort of 'peeing in the other cats sand box' kind of thing. I'd never met Victor, but I blamed him for just about everything and it struck me that he would hate it if I joined, so I did'

Knowing his father as he did Martin could only imagine how pissed off her would have been; 'I bet he hated it didn't he?'

'Yeah; he offered to get me a transfer to NCIS or the CIA but I refused. I told him that if he did anything to me, you know forced me out or made things difficult for me I'd tell you what had happened. He knew I was serious so we agreed to ignore each other and we did, very successfully until the end of last year when my mother died. She made Victor the executor of her will'

Martin stared at her; 'What the hell did she do that for?'

A look of disgust crossed Ellie's face; 'Because she was sure that she knew best……..when she was dying she was obsessed with the fact that once she was gone I wouldn't have any family. She kept asking me to try and 'mend fences' with Victor. We argued about it. Her making Victor the executor was just her way of having the final word in the argument…….she didn't give a damn about how I felt about it.'

'So, you and my father were forced back in contact with each other and that cumulated in the argument you had with him before you came to New York?'

She nodded but the look on her face told him there was more; suddenly a thought occurred to him

'Why tonight? Why come and tell me all of this tonight. You didn't know I'd found those photo's'

Ellie looked at Danny again then looked back at him

'Jack took me to one side this afternoon to ask me about some anomalies in the file he was sent about me when I transferred……….'

'Like what?' Sam looked confused

'Well, for one thing I shouldn't have been transferred. I was supposed to be on vacation. Secondly, my file was doctored to make it look as if I had dodged an OPR enquiry and a censure. Jack investigated and was told I'd avoided them because I was having an affair with Victor'

The stunned silence that followed was broken when Ellie started laughing; 'My god you should see your faces'

'Having an affair…………with VICTOR?' Sam was laughing now too

Ellie grinned before her smile faded again; 'The reason I told you tonight is that someone has found out enough about my 'relationship' with Victor for them to believe that we are having an affair. It looks as if they are using this information in an attempt to ruin Victor's career. Whilst I don't give a damn about him, to take him down they have to take me down too and I'm not going to let that happen. The only way of stopping them is to tell the truth.'

'Who's doing it?' Martin looked as if he was struggling to take this all in

'That's what we have to find out when we talk to Victor tomorrow' Ellie saw the look on his face and smiled apologetically as she continued

'Sorry, didn't Jack tell you? Victor arrives tomorrow afternoon to try and sort this out'

A/N: OK, so now you know Ellie's secret!! Hope you thought it was worth the wait; of course we still don't know who's trying to ruin Victor…………….

I owe a HUGE thank you to the brilliant Ninz who is the only reason this chapter was able to be posted prior to 2008 (I had some serious writers block!!!!)

Thanks to everyone who has been reading this fic and also to anyone who has posted a review – I do appreciate you taking the time!