AN: I am using another Evanescence song as inspiration...yay! Amy Lee, you are the greatest singer alive! Your haunting, yet enchanting voice gets me through the day no matter the situation I happen to be in.
The rough Latin translates to: "Save us from danger. Save us from evil." Unfortunately I've heard that the Latin is not completely correct, but its in the song so there's not much to be done about it. Thanks for that translation, random YouTube user. Song is called "Whisper" by the way. The 'Latin' sounds eerie in a cool sort of way. Maybe its street Latin or something? If there's such a thing...
Disclaimer: Does Bellisarius listen to Evanescence? I wonder...hey I should call-wait no need to be a stalker...
"Why don't we just use Google Translate?" Steve asked Jewel as they stared at the note together. An hour had passed since his arrival. Tim took Abby home ten minutes ago. Tony and Ziva hung about in the lab, waiting to be of use.
"Because, that's lazy and not always reliable," Jewel responded. Daniela opened her book and sat in the rolling chair to read. Steve rolled his eyes.
"Latin is a complex language," Ziva said. "You may want to listen to him, Jewel."
"Fine. Let's see what the gods of Google have to say on the matter." Steve grinned and started typing.
Line break
Watching through the window, Hades had a clear view of what was going on inside the forensics lab down below. A man he didn't know but looked vaguely familiar was currently leaning over and squinting at something on the computer screen. Two NCIS agents playfully argued. Suddenly, the male agent swooped down and kissed the woman agent. Hades squirmed, feeling uncmfortable at the sight of all the romance. He instead focused on the only person that looked familiar: Jewel. The one who got away. The one he wasn't allowed to have. Who was he doing this for anyway? Her? Abby? He had long convinced himself that he didn't love her, but he was constantly thinking of her in ways he thought would be inappropriate to voice allowed, even to himself. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. It wouldn't change what he did next to prevent them from finding out the truth. Sniper in hand, he positioned himself so he was out of sight of any agents watching. A young girl tracked his movements carefully.
Line break
"There is a man outside the window," Daniela said, forgetting about her book for the moment. Everyone ignored her.
"Its probably some homeless guy," Tony told her. He turned back to Ziva and held her close.
"Alright...this is taking forever to type properly," Steve said.
"I see him," Daniela announced, getting to her feet and staring out the window above her head. Her eyes were trained on a shadow outside.
"Hmm, might be something else, honey," Jewel said thoughtfully. A second later, a shot rang out, shattering the window and speeding through the air. The millisecond that followed would change everyone's lives. Daniela, seeing that her mother was in grave danger, leapt out and took the shot. She fell to the floor. Blood pooled around the wound in her side, but the girl quickly got to her feet again, evidently too high on adrenaline to feel the pain. The second bullet came when she was turned around facing her mother, thinking the danger had passed. She crumpled to the ground, her spine shattered. Only thirty seconds had elapsed, scarecly enough time for Tony to pull Ziva behind him so she'd be protected from any further.
"Dani!" Jewel shrieked.
"The man got away," Ziva called, peering out the window as best she could from where she stood. Steve stood there in shock, staring at his unconscious niece on the floor.
"Call 911," Jewel said in a rushed voice, checking Daniela to see if she had a pulse. "Come on, sweetie, please be okay!" Tony whipped out his phone and dialed 911 while Steve tried to help Jewel to stop the bleeding.
"I'll call Gibbs and Tim," Ziva offered, taking out her own cell phone. Things were quiet for a minute while things were sorted out. Ducky and Palmer came in and were both stunned by the scene before them.
"I heard gunshots, but never imagined..." For once, Ducky couldn't figure out what to say. Jimmy looked nervously around the room.
"An ambulance is on the way," Tony said, putting his phone away. Ziva had already passed the news on to everyone else.
"Help me get her outside so the paramedics can pick her up," Jewel said. She was being surpisingly composed about all of this. But, then again, so was everyone else. Ducky and Jimmy carried Daniela out without another word.
"Jeez, she's heavy," Jimmy said as they left together.
"You alright?" Tony asked Ziva. She nodded and surveyed all the broken glass mingled with some of the blood.
"Both bullets are inside her so they can't be processed yet," Ziva noted, nodding at the floor before facing Tony. Steve and Jewel hurriedly left the lab, apparently eager to see if the paramedics had arrived yet.
"Zi, are you sure you're alright?" Tony said.
"I am fine. Don't worry about me. Daniela is the one in danger."
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"Where are we going?" Abby asked dully. She hadn't been told a thing.
"Daniela got shot at." Abby felt something close to shock and horror, but none of it showed in her face. Instead, she just nodded and resumed gazing out the window.
"Abs, you know you have to go to counceling this weekend, don't you?" Tim questioned. Abby just shrugged. Reactions from her were minimal these days, and he had to pay attention in order to catch them at all.
"I wish you'd talk to me...you can't hide this from everyone forever." His girlfriend mumbled something about "trust" and "nobody will understand" or something along those lines. It was quiet once more. Too quiet. Tim turned on the radio, growing ansty with the lack of life from the one he loved.
"I hate feeling like this," Abby muttered as the song came to an end. Another one immediately started.
"I know," Tim said.
Catch me as I fall
Say you're here and it's all over now
Speaking the atmosphere
No one's here and I fall into myself
This truth is driving me into madness
I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away, if I will it all away
Don't turn away(Don't give into the pain)
Don't try to hide(though they're screaming your name)
Don't close your eyes(God knows what lies behind them)
Don't turn out the light(Never sleep, never die)
I'm frightened by what I see
But somehow I know that there's much more to come
Immobilized by my fear and soon to be blinded by tears
I can stop the pain if I will it all away, if I will it all away
Don't turn away(Don't give into the pain)
Don't try to hide(though they're screaming your name)
Don't close your eyes(God knows what lies behind them)
Don't turn out the light(Never sleep, never die)
Fallen angels at my feet
Whispered voices at my ear
Death before my eyes
Lying next to me I fear
She beckons me, shall I give in?
Forsaken all I've fallen for
I rise to meet the end
Don't turn away(Don't give into the pain)
Don't try to hide(though they're screaming your name)
Don't close your eyes(God knows what lies behind them)
Don't turn out the light(Never sleep, never die)
Don't turn away(Don't give into the pain)
Don't try to hide(though they're screaming your name)
Don't close your eyes(God knows what lies behind them)
Don't turn out the light(Never sleep, never die)
Don't turn away(Don't give into the pain)
Don't try to hie(though they're screaming your name)
Don't close your eyes(God knows what lies behind them)
Don't turn out the light(Never sleep, never die)
"Servatis a periculum, servatis a maleficum..." Abby's eyes were far away. "No...not right..."
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Steve was the only calm one in the waiting room as the others fidgeted nervously. Abby of course didn't appear to be feeling anything, although she was very deep in thought.
"By the way, I got the translation you were looking for, Jewel," Steve announced suddenly. She looked at him, momentarily distracted by her worry.
"What does it say?"
"Mission was a failure. The dark angel needs to be strengthened. Must find her again."
"What does that mean?" Ziva chose that moment to speak up.
"How many people do we know dress like that?" she asked, pointing at Abby, who was quietly humming the melody of the song she recently heard on the radio.
"No," Tony whispered. Tim stood up, his fists shaking in anger.
"I won't let him take her!" Tim yelled.
"Timothy, calm down," Ducky said, arriving on the scene with Jimmy and Gibbs. "It'll be alright, I'm sure."
"But have you seen her? I mean really seen her?" There were tears in his eyes now. "She hardly speaks a word! I can't get her to eat anything! The only thing that keeps her off the edge of insanity is that medication! I can't look at her without feeling so horrible that someone so monstorous could do this to Abby! I...love...her!"
"I know you do, but getting upset won't help Abigail heal," was all Ducky said in reply before taking a seat. Jimmy stared uncertainly at the agent for a minute before joining the ME. Gibbs remained standing, ignoring McGee entirely.
"Salva nos periculo libera nos a malo," Abby whispered. Tim threw a glance at her.
"What?"
"The...Latin in that song was wrong. It's supposed to be 'salva nos periculo, libera nos a malo' but I think they wanted it to sound better."
"Where did you hear that?"
"I heard someone whisper it once when I was about to fall asleep," Abby replied, as if it were common knowledge. After she was fnished speaking, she slipped inside herself once more like nothing had happened.
"That was weird," Tony commented.
"I do find that strange, even for Abby," Ziva agreed.
"Abby can speak Latin?" Jimmy said stupidly. Gibbs walked over and gave Jimmy a good strong headslap. He nodded in understanding and ducked his head before Gibbs could do anything else. At that moment, a doctor approached them.
"Good day, I'm Doctor Geritch, and I am caring for Daniela. Would you like to hear about how she is doing?" Gibbs glared at him, as if to say 'isn't the answer obvious enough?' The doctor looked a little nervous, but otherwise did not react to Gibbs's intense stare.
"Alright, we managed to give her a bloos transfusion and the bullets came out quite easily. However, once she gets out of this coma, I'm not sure if she'll be able to walk again."
"Why?" Gibbs asked.
"Her spine was fractured." There were several collective gasps from the team.