A/N: Here's the update, it was quite fun to write. Read and enjoy.
As always, reviews, favorites, follows, and constructive criticism are welcomed and appreciated.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. I don't take credit for actual dialogue used in the episode, "Under Covers" (3.08), even although most of them have been altered to fit this story. Any resemblance to dialogue from other TV shows, movies, or elsewhere is purely coincidental.
Chapter Twenty-One:
Past Doubles
By GallaudetLurker
Apparently, having knowledge of the future didn't always mean things would go his way, and he hated that. True, some of the past events (such as the cat-and-mouse game with Ari Haswari) had been resolved in his favor one way or another, but still.
Marcos Siazon had gotten away, just like the last time.
As soon Ziva received the call from Siazon, and showed his number on the screen to the glass-cam, Gibbs hoped that the crafty assassin would be apprehended much earlier. Not only would a threat be neutralized, but DiNozzo and Ziva wouldn't have to be captured and held hostage. Hell, DiNozzo wouldn't have to suffer the brutal beatings he had sustained by one of Siazon's men.
As much as he wanted to yell for them to go over to the kitchen area right away, where Siazon was undoubtedly using a payphone, Gibbs had to settle on ordering Abby to trace the call. He couldn't afford arousing suspicions, much less answer uncomfortable questions (and he was damn good at answering them – not). One can only use the gut feeling as an excuse so often. The tracing program took an excruciatingly long time to get a lock on the location.
As soon the location flashed on the screen, Gibbs immediately ordered DiNozzo and McGee to seize the man. "Check the kitchen!" he had emphasized. As DiNozzo power-walked from the dining reception room and then ran in the direction of the payphones near the kitchen area, Gibbs found himself exchanging glances with Kate, hoping that they would succeed.
So close, but no cigar. The Special Agent had checked the kitchen as well; there was no sign of Siazon.
Disappointment pooling in the pit of his stomach, Gibbs had ordered DiNozzo and Ziva to stay in their room for the night. Judging by the expression on Ziva's face, he hoped DiNozzo would make it through the night.
Entering the bullpen, he stopped by Kate's desk and placed a Lot 38 Espresso cup of her favorite coffee in front of her. "Thank you." Kate gave him a wide dimpled smile. Gibbs half-smiled at her before walking toward McGee's desk and placing another cup on it. The probationary agent, who was putting on his waiter jacket, blinked in surprise before a small smile appeared on his face.
"Thank you, boss."
"Don't mention it." Gibbs sat down at his desk, sipping his coffee. His thoughts went over some of Jenny's words last night.
"My Director side is telling me to flood that hotel with security and notify the FBI of a potential terrorist attack," she had remarked, glancing at the MTAC screen that depicted the darkened room that DiNozzo and Ziva was currently sleeping in. "But my Agent side tells me that if I do that, we lose the chance to take down an enemy cell operating inside the capital. The last thing we need for them to scatter at this crucial moment."
With that, his first instinct to contact Fornell right away to scope the hotel out during the night was placed on the backburner. Why were the simplest things so difficult sometimes?
"Um, boss?"
Gibbs turned to McGee, who was holding a small box wrapped in brown bag paper. He recognized it immediately. It was Ziva's special sunglasses that could detect invisible lasers, especially from sniper rifles a distance away. "This was sitting on my front porch this morning," the agent said as he walked over to Gibbs' desk. "It's addressed to Ziva."
"I can see that." Gibbs looked at Ziva's name scribbled on the box in marker ink. Taking the package, he got out his trusty folding knife and cut the wrapping open before tearing it away. He then opened the box, reaching through the shredded packaging paper to retrieve a pair of sunglasses and a spare set of unique-colored lenses.
"Sunglasses? What does she need it for?" Kate asked curiously.
"Knowing Ziva, she probably has it for a reason," Gibbs replied as he put the sunglasses and the lenses back into the box and capped it. "Give them a wake-up call," he ordered McGee, who nodded.
"Will do." He put on a headpiece and activated the plasma. The room appeared in view; DiNozzo was sprawled out on the bed, tangled in the sheets. Ziva was probably next to him.
"Tony," McGee called into the mic. When the Special Agent didn't stir, McGee tried again in a louder voice. "Hey DiNozzo!"
"You might want to go a little louder," Kate suggested.
McGee nodded. "Yeah. Wouldn't be surprised if he's doing that to spite me," he muttered, turning to the plasma. "Tony! Rise and shine! TONY!" At last DiNozzo stirred, batting at his ear, only to go still once again. The probationary agent let out a frustrated sigh.
"Great. DiNozzo gets to sleep in a five-star hotel, and I'm standing here, dressed up like a waiter."
"Want to trade places?" McGee seemed to jolt when Ziva stepped in front of the screen. She was already dressed up.
"You're awake," McGee stated the obvious. Gibbs and Kate exchanged looks, smirking.
"Since five." Ziva glanced at her sleeping 'husband'. "Oh my God, sleeping with DiNozzo...it was horrible, and I am putting it very lightly. He snores very loud."
Gibbs found it amusing, if not ironic, because the Israeli actually snored like a "drunken sailor with emphysema", as DiNozzo had so aptly put it. "I take it that you didn't enjoy it, Ziver?" he stood from his desk and went over to the plasma.
Ziva let out a long-suffering sigh. "It was sheer torture. Torture!"
"Well, you did say you would prefer to be tortured," Gibbs remarked, eliciting a snort from Kate.
Ziva's eyes narrowed before a small grin came across her face. "I suppose," she acknowledged before her face became serious. "Please do not pair me up with him like that again!"
"You might want to avoid playing rock-paper-scissors with DiNozzo, then," Kate said, stepping next to Gibbs.
Ziva nodded, her slightly tousled hair bobbling a bit. "Yes. I have learned a very important lesson. Never play games with DiNozzo." She then cocked her head slightly. "Though I still do not understand why paper beats rock."
"I think it has something to do with the paper covering the rock, which counts as a 'win'," McGee replied. "And I got a package here for you." He held up the box.
"My shades." Ziva leant closer to the screen, her eyes rounding a little. "I see you opened it, though."
"It was Gibbs," Kate said helpfully. He gave her a look, which she returned with an innocent smile. Ziva smiled, shaking her head.
"Can you bring them up with breakfast, McGee?"
McGee nodded. "Will do. Can you get Tony up?"
A wicked grin appeared on Ziva's face and she glanced at the sleeping Special Agent. "It will be my pleasure." She grabbed a plastic water bottle from a nearby table, held it up for them to see, and walked over to the bed with the graciousness of a panther prowling toward its sleeping prey.
"Jean-Paul, my little furry bear," she intoned as she tipped the bottle over DiNozzo's head. Immediately, the Special Agent bolted up from the bed with a yell, getting into a kung-fu stance on the mattress. "I'm in position, boss!" Ziva gave him a freaked-out look before walking away.
"Charming, isn't he?" Kate shook her head at DiNozzo's ridiculous antics, not to mention his boxers.
Gibbs gave her a smirk. "Yeah, that's why you like him," he teased playfully. Kate responded by slapping him on the shoulder.
"Don't start there, it's not funny," she warned, although her eyes betrayed her amusement. On the screen, DiNozzo was now standing next to the bed, stretching and appearing to be saying – or grumbling – something to Ziva, who steadfastly ignored him.
"Kate likes who?" the Israeli whispered.
"Gibbs, apparently," Abby cut in as she bounded into the bullpen, Ducky in tow. At Kate's glare, the Lab Rat continued: "And the rest of us too. Why wouldn't she? We're like one big happy family!"
Gibbs raised a brow at the grinning forensic scientist. "Find anything?"
"Well, I tried to find everything I could on Siazon, but I couldn't find much. His name's legit. He's divorced and has a five-year daughter, who he shares custody with the mother, who lives in New York," Abby said. "He apparently lives here in DC, but his home address is bogus, and his finances are clean."
Gibbs mulled over this information. "How clean?"
"Squeaky clean," Abby replied. "It's possible he has an off-shore account like the other assassins did, but we haven't found anything to confirm that. He's pretty good at covering his tracks, given that he's wanted in more than five countries."
Nodding, Gibbs turned to Ducky. "Anything else?"
"I thought I found everything that would help us with this operation. But it appears that I had overlooked something, something which may be very crucial," Ducky answered.
Gibbs had an idea of what it was. "Such as?" He prompted, slightly impatient.
"Markings, or tattoos, so to say. They were on the inside of the fourth digit on both of their left hands. They were almost invisible to the naked eye, and that is why I missed it the first time." The medical examiner almost looked disappointed in himself for missing something like that.
Gibbs cocked his head, and Ducky nodded before continuing.
"It was likely the sign for infinity. And that is not the most interesting part. You see, I examined one of the X-ray screens, and I found something embedded on the conjunctive layer of Sophie Ranier's left eye, two centimeters below the supra orbital notch. It was a tiny golden heart."
Gibbs lifted his brow. "Heart?"
"Yes. At first, I thought it was a speck of dirt on the X-ray sheet. Upon closer examination – and it was not easy, let me tell you – I found it had the symbol on it as well."
"And that's still not even the interesting part!" Abby spoke in, looking between Gibbs and Ducky. "The 'heart' was actually a memory chip containing two files. One had a list of the Raniers' bank accounts and assets, including a house that they had purchased in Maine a couple of weeks ago."
This only confirmed what Gibbs already knew. "Sounds like they were planning to leave the business."
"Yes. That's not all, though," Abby paused for a moment. "The second file had a list of their past contracts, listing all the details about those who hired them and the targets. Names, addresses, phone numbers, everything. Siazon was one of them."
"So...the Raniers knew they would be targeted, so they used that file as 'insurance'," Kate commented.
"Yeah, they wanted the file to be found just in case something happened to them. Hence the tattoo," Gibbs said. "It was meant to alert someone, probably an associate, that they had the file in their possession."
"And thus expose their employers and bring the contract business tumbling down with them," Ducky added. "Quite ingenious of them." At that moment, Gibbs' eyes widened slightly.
"Trott was working with the Raniers," he said in realization. "He was covering their backs, and Siazon had him tortured for information on their whereabouts and thus the file. When he refused to spill his guts, he was killed."
"And Siazon probably had Trott under surveillance beforehand," Kate added in. "And must've thought that he hid it in that boathouse, given that Trott frequented it. That's why Shull and Hollihan were there..."
"So...we're the actual targets?" Gibbs turned toward the screen to see DiNozzo next to Ziva, looking a bit surprised.
"More or less. The stakes just got higher, DiNozzo," Gibbs replied before turning to McGee. "You go."
McGee nodded. "On my way."
"You up for some action, Katie?" Gibbs stepped out of the elevator onto the tenth floor of the Continental hotel, a Sig Sauer firmly grasped in his hand.
Kate quirked a brow at his question, an impish smirk on her face. "With you? Always," she teased as she followed him down the hallway toward the west wing. Gibbs found himself swallowing as the dream flashed in his mind. Pushing them away, he glanced at the brunette.
"Good to know," he quipped as they passed by W1015, the room they were in earlier. Glancing around the corner at the end of the hallway, he slowly advanced toward the door on the left-side. The sign, W1030, was displayed on the door. As Kate walked to the other side of the door, he took position, holding his Sig up. He could hear faint voices inside.
This was the room that the FBI agents were in. Ziva's special lenses detected their laser, presumably from a sniper rifle trained on their room, and Abby was able to triangulate their location using a 3D reconstruction program, right to the exact floor and room they were in.
"We're in position, DiNozzo," Gibbs whispered into the mic on his jacket lapel. "Give it the big finish." He looked at Kate as he said this. Readying himself, he nodded at the brunette who stepped back and kicked the door open.
"NCIS!" He yelled, charging into the room, aiming his pistol at the FBI agents, who bolted from their chairs and whirled around.
"FBI! Put your weapons down!" The agents yelled, pointing their own pistols at them.
Two pairs of eyes widened. Two pairs of eyes blinked a couple of times.
For an instant, Gibbs thought he was looking at himself. The blue eyes that stared at him almost intimidated him. Almost. The hazel eyes were disconcertingly familiar. It was the doppelganger couple they had encountered several days earlier.
His mind whirling, Gibbs slowly lowered his weapon, Kate and the FBI agents doing the same.
"Well, this is certainly interesting," the brunette woman broke the exceedingly awkward silence.
"Yeah," Gibbs and his doppelganger said at the same time, and looked at each other with raised brows.
"If by 'interesting' you mean freaky, then yeah," Kate muttered, glancing at Gibbs.
Silence descended once again, and Gibbs looked at the surveillance equipment that were set up near the window facing the Barclay: a monitor displaying the 'gyrating' form of the 'Raniers' on the infrared screen, a keyboard, a laser mike recording device, a sniper rifle lying next to the desk, and a couple of binoculars and headphones strewn on the floor. An empty pizza box and soda bottles were at the corner.
"Didn't know the FBI hired voyeurs," Gibbs remarked dryly, holstering his pistol. Kate held back a giggle and the other agents let out chuckles despite themselves.
"Somebody gotta watch somebody sometimes," the man said, swiveling the hotel chair and sitting down.
"What's the FBI doing here?"
"What's NCIS doing here?" The brunette woman retorted. The sense of familiarity coursed through him, and Gibbs glanced at Kate. They really looked so alike, they could be sisters.
"I presume you're working on a case," Gibbs said, glancing at the monitor. DiNozzo and Ziva were still keeping it going.
The man cocked his head slightly to the side, looking at him for a moment. "You could say that." He seemed to be a man of a few words, Gibbs mused to himself.
"It involves assassins, so to say," Kate spoke up. The doppelgangers exchanged glances.
"Do that mean we're somehow working on the same case?" The woman asked.
Gibbs nodded. "Apparently our Directors didn't get the memo about working together."
"Pardon me for asking, but what does NCIS have to do with this?" The man asked. "Don't you guys investigate crimes pertaining to the Navy?"
"I see you know about us, that's good to know," Gibbs' voice sounded a bit sarcastic, causing the others to smile. "And yeah, if one of the assassins dresses up like a Navy lieutenant and then gets murdered in a grisly way."
"One of the assassins? You mean there's others?" The woman glanced at the monitor.
"Used to be," Kate replied. "We made some...unexpected discoveries, and sufficient to say, they weren't what we had expected."
"And speaking of which, sometimes things aren't what they seem to be," Gibbs added in. The FBI agents furrowed their brow, exchanging glances.
"What do you mean?" The man queried, looking intrigued.
"That couple you're watching?" Gibbs pointed at the monitor, which now showed two prone forms on the bed. "Jean-Paul and Sophie Ranier? That ain't them."
Now the doppelganger couple looked shocked. "What do you mean? It's not them?" The brunette looked between him and the monitor. "Assuming what you're saying is true, who had we been observing the whole time?"
Gibbs couldn't resist the smirk that quirked his lips. It wasn't often that NCIS was able to catch the almighty FBI off-guard. "Our agents. The Raniers were killed in a car accident a few days ago, so we went undercover."
"Damn..." The man muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "Guess we really didn't get the memo."
"To think that the whole time we were..." The female agent muttered, shaking her head. "Wait, the Raniers were planning a hit at the hotel, so why are your agents still pretending to be them? Did you find the identity of the target?"
"Yeah," Gibbs said with a shrug. Kate smirked.
"And...?" The other brunette prompted when Gibbs didn't elaborate any further.
"You're looking at them."
"You mean..." the man, realization dawning on his face. "The assassins themselves were the actual target?"
"More or less," Gibbs confirmed.
"That doesn't make sense," the woman muttered. "Why would an assassin target other assassins?"
"That's a good question," Kate remarked knowingly.
The other woman looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes. "Why do I have this feeling you know something that you're not telling us?" she said.
"We'll forward the information," Gibbs said flippantly as he turned around, ready to leave the room.
"Wait!" The man called out, stopping him in his tracks. "We'll have to inform our supervisor about these new developments. Is there any chance we could work together to resolve this case, since we seem to be doing the same thing?"
Gibbs thought about it for a moment. "Can't say," he replied, shrugging. "Not my decision."
"Could we go with you to your headquarters? We'd like to know how you did all this. I mean, the way you managed to catch us in the act, and that you somehow kept us in the dark, literally and figuratively...how did you do that?" The woman inquired, looking slightly impressed.
Gibbs exchanged looks with Kate. The last time around, the agents – different persons named Maya and Yussif, if he remembered correctly – had went to NCIS Headquarters, where they voiced their convictions that DiNozzo and Ziva had been making love in the hotel room, not pretending as they actually were.
"I suppose so."
The man grinned. "Thanks. Oh, before I forget, what's your name?"
Huh, this was interesting. Not a few people told him that his reputation preceded him. Even Richard Parsons, a lowly Inspector General investigator in the Department of Defense, knew about him. True, he compiled files on everybody in DC as blackmail material, but still.
"Guess you're not as famous as you think, Gibbs," Kate teased, leaning toward him. Gibbs gave her a half-smirk.
The FBI agents blinked. "Gibbs?" The woman began, her eyes widening as if in realization.
"As in...Leroy Jethro Gibbs?" The man finished, looking slightly impressed.
"Want my autograph?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.
"You're like a legend around here," the man said, shaking his head slightly. "No wonder our supervisor keeps talking about you."
Gibbs raised his eyebrows. He couldn't help but get this feeling in his gut that he knew who it was.
The man nodded at the expression on Gibbs' face. "Yeah. Agent Fornell."
Ah, that explained so much.
"We're kinda new at this, we recently joined the FBI," the woman explained. "Oh, where's my manners? I'm Probationary Agent Kathryn Stodden. You can call me Kathy."
"And I'm Jerry Hobbs."
Gibbs stared at the doppelgangers as he shook hands with them. This wasn't merely strange; it was now downright bizarre. Earlier in the year, he had thought it was interesting when he'd met a local law enforcement team led by Lieutenant John Cheney who resembled the MRCT in personalities. But meeting people who actually resembled them physically and shared similar names?
He needed coffee.
Kate shook out of her thoughts and gave them a smile. "I'm Agent Kate Todd."
"Nice to meet you." Kathy shook hands with Kate, Hobbs doing the same.
"How do I explain to the director of the FBI that we're running an undercover op in his jurisdiction without informing him?"
Gibbs had to hold back a smirk at the exasperated expression on Jenny's face as she stormed out of the office into the mezzanine. FBI Director Robert Miller could be a bit of a bastard when it came to jurisdiction, especially when other agencies intruded without informing him.
"With a smile," he quipped, sipping his coffee as he followed her. With a glance over the railing, he could see Kate and McGee conversing with the FBI agents in the bullpen.
Jenny glared. "It's not funny, Jethro!" she snapped, snatching the coffee cup and taking a long sip from it.
"Well, you're right. Interagency rivalries aren't funny. The FBI had intel that the Raniers were planning to hit their target at the Marine Corps ball, the whole time. Didn't the SecNav tell you that?"
The Director sighed, turning to lean on the railing. "No, he didn't. Nobody told me anything about that. Still, I should've thought of that."
Gibbs would've told her that she was exhausted and to take a break from time to time, but he knew she would insist on working the case to the very end. It was her greatest strength – and weakness, if her obsession with René "La Grenouille" Benoit was any indication.
"We're in this case, and are in it for the long haul. The FBI's gonna have to accept it." Gibbs took the cup back.
Jenny glanced at him, her lips curling a little. "They're not gonna like it."
"Never said they would."
"That's easy to say, Jethro, You don't have to face the FBI director to explain what you've done."
Gibbs let out a chuckle. "Yeah, makes me glad I'm not Director," he rumbled, going past her toward the stairs.
"You're not gonna fix this?" Jenny called out, and Gibbs paused on the landing, turning to her.
"I suppose I could, but then I don't want you to get fired." Gibbs half-smirked at Jenny's narrowed eyes before descending the rest of the stairs. Right at that moment, the elevator chimed and Fornell walked out, a scowl on his face.
"Fancy seeing you, Tobias," Gibbs quipped as he walked into the bullpen. Kate and the FBI agents turned around.
"What's NCIS doing at the Barclay?" The FBI Special Agent asked gruffly, following him. Gibbs turned, a smirk dancing on his lips.
"Our job. What else?"
Fornell took a step closer. "Jeopardizing our operations your specialty now?"
Gibbs pasted on an annoyed expression. "Hey, you're damn lucky we didn't blow these two away!" He gestured at Kathy and Hobbs, who looked on with raised eyebrows.
"That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't strayed into our jurisdiction!" Fornell's voice grew louder with every word, and Gibbs clenched his jaw.
"Conference room, now!" Gibbs headed for the elevator.
"So anxious to play with the big boys," Fornell sneered, falling in step next to him.
"Big boys, my ass," Gibbs spat out, all but slamming his hand on the elevator button, leveling the Glare on his FBI counterpart.
"This is going to be ugly," McGee commented, glancing at the two agents.
"Yeah, Fornell hasn't been this upset since..." Kathy said, glancing at her partner.
"...the last time we saw him, actually," Hobbs finished. Kate remained silent, looking at the two agents, particularly Gibbs.
Entering the 'conference room', Gibbs hit one of the buttons. A moment later, he flipped the emergency stop switch and the elevator bounced to a stop.
"Gum?" Fornell asked with a slight smirk, holding out a pack of gum, his gruff countenance now gone. Gibbs retrieved a strip.
"The big boys?" he said with a chuckle, unwrapping the gum and putting it in his mouth. Fornell responded with a grin before he let out a sigh and leaned against the wall.
"We really screwed this one up."
"That's an understatement, Tobias," Gibbs replied, wincing slightly at the gum's spicy cinnamon flavor. "And cinnamon gum, Tobias? Really?"
Fornell shrugged, looking a bit sheepish. "Thought I'd try something new."
"New's not your thing." Gibbs spat the chewed gum into the wrapper. "You like things used."
Fornell let out a snort. "You're still on this, Jethro?"
"Have to. It's part of the job description."
The FBI agent shook his head, smirking. "Figures. How do you propose we fix this before our Directors get in a world-class pissing match, though?"
"Joint op," Gibbs suggested without thinking. He had suggested the same thing the last time, and it had gone smoothly for the most part.
Fornell nodded. "Who's lead?"
"My team's already in place," Gibbs replied.
"Did you find out who hired them yet?"
Gibbs nodded. "Yeah. Name's Marcos Siazon. Contract assassin. Wanted in more than five countries."
"Siazon..." Fornell said, remembering that name. "The Philippines' been gunning for him ever since he made an attempt on their President's life a few years back."
"Yeah, they're not the only one. We tried to apprehend him at the hotel last night, but he got away."
"They always get away..." Fornell muttered, shaking his head. "So FBI gets operational control?" Gibbs had to chuckle at the hopeful expression on the agent's face.
"Yeah, and credit for the collar." It was the least he could do for an old friend. The memories of January 2015 flashed in his mind. Her lying on the parking lot, a bullet hole on her forehead. A teary Fornell and his daughter, Emily, at the funeral. Blinking, he pushed them away.
"Agreed." Fornell looked satisfied, apparently not noticing the expression that briefly came across Gibbs' face. The Directors get to save face and we..."
"...get the job done, as usual." Gibbs raised his cup.
"And people say we're bastards," Fornell remarked.
Gibbs smirked. "Only because they know us. Oh, and speaking of which...what's up with these agents of yours?"
Fornell mirrored Gibbs' smirk. "You like them?"
"Yeah, even more if they didn't look so much like Kate and I," Gibbs intoned sarcastically.
"Well...thought it'd be nice to have a 'Gibbs' and a 'Todd' on my team for a change," Fornell said, causing Gibbs to let out a snort. "They're pretty great at their jobs, though."
"I'm sure."
Fornell rolled his eyes. "You caught them completely off-guard, Jethro. Can you blame them for that?" When Gibbs shrugged, Fornell continued: "You know, I offered Agent Todd a position in the FBI. After Air Force One."
Gibbs raised his eyebrows. Fornell had never told him that, before and after Kate's death. "Really."
"Yeah. She did a great job in the Secret Service, and she'd resigned. It didn't hurt to ask, you know? Imagine my disappointment when I found out she had accepted your offer."
This was interesting. The job offer, well, it wasn't that much of an offer, actually. "Yep, pull that crap at NCIS and I won't give you a chance to resign," he'd told Kate that day. The way he had said it – Hell, the way he'd treated her on AFO – she would've easily declined the offer, more so when Fornell offered her a job. Had he made such an impact on her that she'd opted to work for NCIS, despite the fact he was, and still is, a magnificent bastard?
"Well, you don't waste good," Gibbs quoted Rule 5.
Fornell grinned. "That's your mantra, isn't it?"
"Among other things, yeah."
"Well, I'd hang on to her and never let go if I were you." Fornell's knowing smile caused him to shift on his feet.
"Yeah." Gibbs flipped the emergency switch. When the elevator arrived at their destination, he pasted on his usual stern expression and left, parting ways with Fornell.
Fornell was right, though. He would definitely hang on to her and never, ever let her go if he could help it.
She was his Katie, after all.