AUTHOR'S NOTES: Reading through this story while watching the episode 'Kill Ari', I started wondering. And wondering turned into a scene with Kelly being held hostage by Ari.

Enjoy!

Bête Noire

Autopsy was still dark and quiet when Kelly entered the room. Ever since her father had declared Autopsy off limits, it had been a place of mystery and wonder to her. Inside the room, secrets would unravel and questions would find answers.

There was a body bag on a slab and Kelly started towards it when suddenly the lights turned on. Whirling around, Kelly saw Ducky coming in with his assistant, Gerald Jackson.

"Kelly," Ducky said in surprise as he hung up his hat and coat. "Does your father know that you're down here?"

"No," Kelly said, quickly, looking over her shoulder at the body bag before turning back to Ducky. "Could I watch?"

Ducky was hesitant. More than hesitant, really. Perhaps it was Gibbs' influence, but something in Ducky's gut was telling him to get Kelly out of the room immediately. And yet… Like a grandfather who could never resist a favorite grandchild, Ducky gave a small smile and nodded. "Very well, Miss Gibbs," He said, being very formal as he handed Kelly scrubs and gloves. Once she'd donned the appropriate cover, he said, "Let's see what we have, shall we?"

Kelly smiled at Ducky and unzipped the bag, freezing when she saw what was inside. "Oh, shit," she whispered as Gerald and Ducky joined her, both of the men putting a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back slightly from the body bag which contained a man who was very clearly alive… and holding a gun with a silencer aimed at Kelly's head.

"Turn off the lights," the man said, quietly as he turned to Gerald. Once Gerald did so and came back, the mystery man asked, "Are the security cameras on?"

"No," Kelly said, trying to keep her voice from shaking as the man got up off the slab. "I-I disconnected it." Seeing the gunman's disbelieving look, she went on. "I'm not… I'm not supposed to be down here."

Looking to Gerald and Ducky, the man said, "How do you alert visitors that you are conducting an infectious autopsy?"

"We hang a rotting corpse in the corridor," Ducky said, calmly.

But while Kelly had expected the gunman to strike Ducky, she was surprised when he smiled. "A sense of humor under duress. An admirable quality, doctor." But then his voice changed, growing cold and heartless. "However, when I ask a question, I want a truthful and immediate answer. So each time you lie… or I suspect you're lying…" He raised the gun and pressed the barrel against Kelly's left shoulder. "I will put a 9mm, hollow-point slug into one of the young lady's ball and socket joints."

Ducky put a hand on Kelly's arm, pulling her back and Gerald stepped in front of Kelly. "If you harm her, you'll wish you hadn't been alive in that body bag," Ducky said, his voice full of calm promise.

"She is your niece or granddaughter?" the man said, smiling coldly. "I will ask again. How do you alert people to infectious autopsies?"

"A lit, red sign in the corridor," Ducky said, simply.

"Gerald, the sign, please," the gunman said, calmly. While Gerald turned the warning sign on and locked the doors, Kelly withdrew to Ducky's desk, sitting down and watching the man closely, making a mental list of all the details she could think of as he spoke with Ducky and Gerald. Height, weight, hair, eyes, facial features… and the accent. Middle East… Cultured… elegant… Israeli, perhaps. And yet there was the smoothness of Ducky's English accent.

"Am I boring you… Miss Gibbs?" the gunman said, making Kelly jump.

"No," Kelly said, standing and straightening up, looking the gunman in the eye, trying to seem braver than she really felt. "But your business… whatever it is—is with Ducky and Gerald."

"Then why are you down here if you have no interest in the dead?" the gunman said.

Kelly caught a glimpse of Gerald and Ducky bent over another body, both too far away if the gunman decided to make good on his promise to shoot her. "I'm not supposed to be in here," she said, honestly. "But…" Trying to think of some lie she could spin as truth, Kelly's mind finally landed on her mother. "My mother was killed when I was a child. I was in the hospital when she was buried. I never had a chance to say good-bye."

"And so you are drawn to the dead," the gunman deduced, smiling. Turning to Ducky who had stopped in his examinations of the real dead body across the room, he said, "Fear not, Doctor."

"I'm not afraid for me," Ducky said, walking over to them.

"You think me so heartless that I would shoot a child in front of a parent?" the gunman asked, smiling softly. "That would be suicide. The wrath of a parent who has seen the murder of their child is something to be feared indeed. I am not so stupid." Eying Kelly, he said, "But there is something you can do for me." When he was sure he had Kelly's full and undivided attention, he went on. "Call your forensics lab and have them bring down all the evidence from this man's case," he said, indicating the dead terrorist on the slab.

Kelly dialed and waited until Abby picked up. "Hey, Ducky," Abby said, brightly.

"Abby, it's me," Kelly said over the speakerphone. "Turn the music down, okay?"

"I thought Gibbs said you're forbidden to be in autopsy," Abby said, a bit confused. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to talk to Ducky about…" Kelly eyed the gunman before going on. "I had that nightmare again. The one after Mom died. Anyway, Ducky needs all the evidence Gerald brought you last night."

"Kelly, you know I'm scared of autopsy," Abby said, her voice panicky. "I mean I can't even push the button to go down anymore. After that nightmare I had just the thought of--"

"Then get Dad or Kate," Kelly said, feeling flustered. "Abby, it's important. Just… have them leave the evidence outside. Ducky thinks the body might be infectious." When she hung up, she turned to look at the gunman.

"Who's Kate?" the gunman asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

----------

Standing outside Autopsy, Kate took a deep breath. A few minutes ago, Abby relayed the message from Kelly, along with a hidden warning. After Kelly's mother had been killed, Gibbs' daughter had started having nightmares of being autopsied, looking down at her body while her father stood nearby, next to the body of her mother.

Abby had had a similar nightmare a few months ago.

Before leaving the squad room, Kate had removed her gun holster, tucking her Sig Saur into the back waistband of her pants before getting on the elevator. Standing in front of the doors, Kate saw Kelly standing there. "You okay?" Kate asked, looking for signs that Kelly was injured.

"I'm fine," Kelly said, nodding with a smile. Looking at the box of evidence, she said, "Just leave it. I'll have ducky sign for it later." Raising her left hand and placing it over her heart, she signed four letters and said, "Tell Abby I said 'Hi'."

Kate set the box down and nodded. "Will do."

Stepping back from the door and crossing the room when she saw the gunman signal her, Kelly was suddenly surprised then the doors opened and the man stepped outside Autopsy, pointing his weapon at Kate. "Pick up the box and bring it inside… Agent Caitlin Todd."

Once inside with the doors locked again, Kate was frisked while the gunman said to Kelly, "You tried to signal Agent Todd, didn't you?"

"It was more like relaying a message," Kelly corrected. While she knew full well the ramifications of breaking the terrorist's rules, Kelly was tired of playing this game. But she had a few tricks up her sleeve and she knew that if this psycho valued honesty and directness as much as he claimed, perhaps she could throw him off a bit. "It was American Sign Language," she went on. The best way to distract a hostage taker was to get them talking about themselves but next best thing was to give them information. "Abby's parents were deaf. She taught me."

"For what purpose?" the gunman asked as Kate joined Ducky and Gerald, all three of whom were eyeing Kelly in disbelief.

"A way to talk without other people knowing what we were saying," Kelly replied.

"And how is it you are not wearing a visitor's pass?" The gunman asked, quietly.

"NCIS Security knows me," Kelly said, simply. "I've been hanging around since I was about 9."

"I see," the gunman said, interested. "Now…" Pointing his gun at Kelly, he was intrigued to say the least. She had tried to trick him, knowing the consequences. And unlike when she'd first seen him, she was no longer afraid of him. "Since Caitlin is new to the situation, please inform her of my rules."

"If we lie or he suspects we're lying," Kelly said, with more calm than she felt. "He'll put a round in my shoulder, hip, or ankle." Looking at the gunman, she said, "Ball and socket joints, correct?"

"Very good, Miss Gibbs," the gunman said with a smile.

"If you hurt her, I will kill you with my bare hands," Kate said, her voice trembling ever so slightly.

When the gunman turned to Kate, Kelly swiftly pulled the knife she had at her waist and took a swipe at the man's arm. As he turned towards her, Gerald leapt up from the floor, going to take a swing at the terrorist who swiftly shot him in the left shoulder. Turning to Kelly, the gunman said, "That was daring, Miss Gibbs… Foolish, but daring." Grabbing the hand that held the knife, the gunman pressed until Kelly dropped the knife.

"You bastard!" Kate said, angrily as she helped Ducky get Gerald onto one of the slabs.

"Such an intelligent young woman and that is all you can say?" the gunman said, as Kate ran to get Ducky's medical bag. Looking at the long gash on his arm, the gunman looked at Kelly. "I should have shot you for that."

Despite the circumstances, Kelly grabbed a towel and tossed it at the man. "To stop the bleeding."

"I'm sure to need a few stitches as well," the gunman said with a glance to his wound followed by a look to Ducky.

Kelly looked from Ducky and Kate who were attending to Gerald to the gunman. "Sit down."

"You are telling me what to do?" the gunman asked, amused. After a moment, however, he did as bid.

Kelly pulled on gloves and dug into Ducky's medical bag for a moment before pulling out stitching supplies and walking over to the gunman. "Anything for pain?" Looking at the gunman, her eyes were like ice. "Or do you think it would dull your senses?"

"There's lidocaine in the bag!" Ducky said as he managed to stop Gerald's wound from bleeding.

"Right," Kelly nodded, finding the local anesthetic and filling a syringe.

"Are you sure you know what you are doing?" the gunman asked, warily. Although Kelly could also detect just a flicker of fear in his voice.

"That depends," Kelly said, giving the gunman the shot before looking at Ducky.

"On what?" the gunman asked, seeing Ducky give Kelly a nod of confidence.

"On how good a teacher Ducky is," Kelly replied, threading a needle and going to work.

-------------------

Up in MTAC, Gibbs was fighting two strong inclinations. One was anger that Kelly had directly disobeyed him and gone into Autopsy.

The other was fear.

Complete, cold, overwhelming fear that something would happen to his daughter.

They needed eyes in autopsy. As DiNozzo reported that Kelly wasn't in visual range, Gibbs felt his gut churn.

Kelly was down there because of him. Because he wouldn't let Kelly go into Autopsy. The cameras had been disconnected, not shot… That meant that Kelly had deliberately unhooked the wires so she wouldn't be caught.

Going down to Abby's lab, Gibbs saw Abby just finishing drilling a hole in the floor to feed a camera down through. Getting a visual on the room, Gibbs saw Kate and Ducky tending to Gerald whose shoulder was bandaged and immobilized. "Where's Kelly?" Gibbs asked as the camera swiveled around.

"There," Abby pointed, seeing Kelly bandaging the gunman's upper arm.

"Feed this into MTAC," Gibbs said, as the gunman stood, walking around the room. After a moment, however, he stopped and turned to the direction of the camera and fired a shot, killing the feed. "Guess he knows we're onto him," he said, with more calm than he felt.

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Down in Autopsy, the gunman collected the evidence into a duffel bags and directed Kate and Ducky to put the dead terrorist in a body bag after changing out of the scrubs. Looking at Kelly with a charming smile he said, "You should consider becoming a doctor, Miss Gibbs."

"I've always been attracted to the idea of being a Marine sniper," Kelly replied, her tone making it clear that she wouldn't mind using this terrorist bastard for target practice.

"Stubborn to the last," the gunman said, still smiling. "Such passion and fire. I will miss you, Miss Gibbs."

"Next time I attack you," Kelly promised. "I won't miss you."

The gunman eyed her and as he spoke with the HRT over the speakerphone, Kelly finally realized who the gunman reminded her of: Hannibal Lector. Someone very suave and charming, harming the innocent only when absolutely necessary. Once finished with the call, the man raised his 9mm and seemed pleased when Kelly didn't even flinch. "I do sorely regret this," he said, sadly. "But you seem like the type to go… I believe the phrase is 'kicking and screaming'. And I can't have you alerting your rescuers before I have a chance to escape."

With a swift motion, he hit Kelly on the side of the head and when she fell to the floor, Kate grabbed a scalpel and glared at the gunman. "She will be fine, Caitlin," the gunman said, calmly. "Now… we have work to do if we're all to survive this day."

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Once Ducky, Kelly, Kate, and Gerald had been safely tucked away, Ari Haswari waited.

And as he waited, he thought. What had seemed like a simple mission had turned into so much more.

And Ari thought about Caitlin Todd and Kelly Gibbs. Kate was fiery, but cautious.

But Kelly… She was far more dangerous. And she was far more intriguing. Swift and deadly, like a tiger. Protected like a child, but clearly capable of taking care of herself.

Hidden in the shadows, Ari watched the elevator doors open and an older man stepped out, holding an evidence bin.

When Gibbs entered Autopsy, he looked around, taking in his surroundings, letting his eyes adjust to the dark. Gerald lay unconscious on a slab but was still breathing.

But there was no sign of Kate, Ducky, or Kelly.

As the doors slid closed, Gibbs heard a voice coming from the darkest corner of the room. "You're older than I expected."

As a man stepped into the dim light, Gibbs asked, "Where are the other hostages?"

"You mean where is your daughter, Agent Gibbs." Ari asked, training his 9mm on Gibbs. "Box on the floor, hands on top of your head. Then you turn around and walk back to the door."

"Not without Gerald," Gibbs said, firmly, as he walked towards the wounded ME's assistant. "And not without Kelly."

But Ari wasn't about to be intimidated. "None of the hostages will leave here at all unless you put the box on the floor, put your hands on your head, turn around…"

"And walk back to the door," Gibbs said, following the order. As he did so, he said, "Older doesn't mean deaf." Facing the door, he asked, "You want to get out of here alive?"

"I'm sure Gerald does," Ari said, quietly. Gibbs was very much like his daughter. Confident… unwilling to follow orders blindly. Both liked to assert control, even when they had none.

"Think you do, too," Gibbs went on. Slowly reaching his left hand into the evidence bin on the table by the door, he said, "That's why, very slowly now, I'm going to reach into this box and take out of here what you want."

But when Ari saw Gibbs pull the bottle of nasal spray, he knew that he'd been tricked. When Gibbs reported that the real virus was on it's way to the Center for Disease Control, Ari felt fear for the second time that day when he saw the cold look in Gibbs' eyes as the older man said, "Want to talk about whether you live or die?"

"I'd rather talk about Kelly," Ari said, calmly. "Such a beautiful young woman. Gerald took a bullet for her. And Dr. Mallard and Caitlin both seemed eager to die for her." Pulling out a gun clip, Ari asked, "Would you like a free shot at me?" Tossing the clip across the floor towards Gibbs, he said, "Agent Todd's Sig Saur is in the box to your left. The clip is from the Sig Saur. Untampered, all live rounds."

Gibbs slowly picked up the gun and loaded the clip, sensing a trap. "Why?" Gibbs asked.

"Why not?" Ari asked, wondering if Gibbs had the guts his daughter did.

Whirling around, Gibbs double-tapped Ari in the chest as Ari fired a shot at Gibbs and Ari fell to the floor, his chest hurting like hell even though the bullet-proof vest stopped the bullets. Setting off a gas and flash canister, Ari was able to slip out while the Hostage Rescue Team charged in.

--

"Boss? Boss! Hey, boss!"

As Gibbs's head stopped pounding and he sat up, he saw DiNozzo pressing a towel to the wound in his shoulder.

As Tony reported, Gibbs looked up when the EMTs came in. "Kelly?"

"She's fine," Tony said, quietly. "Bump on the head, but she'll be fine."

Slowly getting to his feet, Gibbs asked, "Where is she?"

Across the room, Kelly leaned against the body cooler as one of the EMTs finished looking her over. When she saw her father coming towards her, Kelly looked away but as she saw Gerald being taken out on a gurney and Kate and Ducky leaving the room, Kelly knew what was coming. Slowly, she looked up but when she met her father's gaze there was only the smallest trace of anger. Mostly, there was disappointment. And when Kelly gave a nod of 'I'm alright, Dad', Gibbs didn't respond, but instead allowed himself to be escorted out of autopsy.

----------

After everyone had left Autopsy, Kelly went to the squad room and sat in her father's chair. She was furious with herself, guilty that Gerald had been hurt because of her…

But the look in her father's eyes burned more than anything else. It was more than disappointment. It was a loss of trust. Something had broken between them.

And as Kelly sat at the desk long into the night, she wondered how to fix it.