(AN) Hello and welcome to the next chapter of Project Firestorm. I hope you all enjoy, and remember to Read and Review.
This chapter will mostly be a quiet one, but we do get some nice character moments between Knight, Kasie, Kensi and Audrey, and it does set up the big final battle, but that's all I'm saying for now.
Credit to DS2010 for some of the dialogue.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS; all characters and locations are owned by CBS and Belisarius Productions.
Chapter Twelve
Washington: Part Four
The next day, the NCIS agents arrived at Matt Campbell's house with an arrest warrant, but after a minute, nobody answered.
"NCIS!" shouted McGee as he kicked the front door in.
McGee and the other agents entered the house and began searching for Campbell; their guns drawn. The agents split up as they continued to search the house.
"Clear!" called out Knight as she searched Campbell's bedroom.
"Clear!" came Deeks's voice from another room.
The agents eventually regrouped in the living room.
"Campbell's in the wind." sighed Torres in frustration.
"Looks like he left his laptop behind though." said Deeks as he grinned and held up a plastic bag containing a laptop.
"Great work, Deeks," thanked McGee, "When we get back, I'll have Kasie analyse it for any more evidence."
A bit later, the agents were gathered in the bullpen, where McGee brought up info about Matt Campbell on the plasma screen.
"Matt Campbell; forty-one," began McGee in a grim manner, "No family, has multiple priors for aggravated assault, harassment and multiple hate crimes. He is believed to be the leader of the far-right extremist group Freedom For All."
"Finished analysing Campbell's laptop," said Kasie as she entered the bullpen, "He is indeed the leader of Freedom For All. All the files contained info on every attack they've ever committed."
"Good work, Kasie," said Parker, "Was there anything on what they've got planned for tonight?"
"Not everything," replied the forensic scientist, "But the file on their master plan mentioned something about how terror and chaos will tear Washington D.C. apart before the 'Great Fall' as he put it."
"That doesn't sound good." said McGee.
Knight, Kasie, Kensi and Deeks went to Kevin and Audrey's house to update Audrey on the situation.
"So, how are you going to save Kevin and Vance and stop doomsday at the same time?" asked Audrey curiously.
"McGee has suggested we split up," explained Kensi, "Me and Deeks will go to where they're holding Kevin and Director Vance, while the others will go and stop the launch of Project Firestorm."
"Good luck," replied Audrey.
"I think it's amazing how you're coping with all this," said Knight, "You've been through so much in the past two days. How do you … do it?"
"Because I know that there are people that love and care about me," replied Audrey, "And what keeps me going is that I have things worth fighting for. You know, I've been through so much Hell in my life: I've been beaten and terrorised in my own home by masked thugs more times than I care to count; I've been threatened; my family has been threatened and attacked; I've been kidnapped, tortured and raped, and Emma almost died from two horrible diseases. Then there was everything involving Thomas Jackson, who was obsessed with me. But me and my family have gotten through it all because if we let ourselves crumble, or if we were to move out of this house, then they win."
"That's a good mindset to have," said Knight, "I struggled after my team got blown up, but I've had help from friends and family."
"Same with me," replied Kensi, "One of my best friends was kidnapped and murdered by a terrorist group, I almost died in an explosion, found out that everything I thought I knew about my dad was a lie, I was shot, I was held captive in Afghanistan for a short period, I was involved in a helicopter crash that put me into a coma, and then when I woke up, I was left temporarily paralysed,, I was kidnapped and tortured, I discovered that my ex was secretly still alive after years of believing that he committed suicide, all my friends and my fiancé to be almost died in Mexico, my husband almost died in an explosion, I was terrified that me and Deeks had caught ebola, and now I've got a psycho on the loose who wants to rape and murder me because he's obsessed with me."
"That's terrible," said Audrey in shock, "Well, it seems like you have a very sweet husband."
"Yeah, he drives me crazy sometimes, but we love each other." said Kensi, smiling.
"Same with Kevin," chuckled Audrey, "Once tried convincing him to get a burglar alarm, but he feels that they're too much of a nuisance. This house has been broken into ten times."
"Wow," cried Deeks in amazement, "That's pretty brave of you to stay in the same house despite everything that's happened."
"Well, as I once told Tommy and Emma: this is our home, and we won't let anybody scare us away," said Audrey, "I actually discovered a few years ago that the first five incidents were connected. During Thomas Jackson's trial, it emerged that he would terrorise me once a year by sending random thugs to my house while I was alone with the kids. He and two of his friends were actually involved in the second incident where they wore goblin masks and Jackson terrorised me and a six month old Emma with a knife, but they weren't involved with the other ones."
"This Jackson guy sounds like a real charmer." drawled Knight sarcastically.
"Jackson took me, Audrey and Delilah hostage in the ICU ward at Washington General." snarled Kasie.
"I thought being held hostage in that dinar was your first strike?" said a confused Knight, remembering how for a while, Kasie had been fixated on how many near brushes with death she'd had.
"It still is," replied the forensic scientist, "I was only counting the times where my life was directly threatened."
Knight's phone suddenly started ringing. Jess took it out and answered.
"You might want to turn on the TV." came McGee's voice.
Knight picked up the remote from the coffee table and switched on the TV. There was nothing but coloured bars on the screen.
"Uh, what's happening?" asked a confused Audrey.
"Freedom For ll have hijacked ZNN," answered McGee, "They put a message on their website a few minutes ago stating that they had a message for the people of Washington D.C.."
The TV screen suddenly flickered before cutting to show Matt Campbell sitting in a chair and smiling at the camera.
"People of America, your time has come," began Matt in a sinister tone of voice, "For too long, America and other countries have allowed the colors, the sinners and all other scum to infest this once great country with their filth, but that won't last for long. Tonight, Freedom For All will launch wipe out the old order and start a new world order that shall return the world to its former glory. I implore all my followers to prevent anybody from stopping us: rise up and show the people of Washington D.C. who the true masters are; bring terror and chaos down upon them and do whatever you want."
The screen flickered again before cutting to the ZNN newsroom.
Over at the abandoned Navy base, Kevin and Director Vance were sat in a cell; all covered in cuts and bruises. The cell door opened and Campbell entered. "Doomsday is upon us," he declared in triumph, "But don't worry, I'll keep you two alive so that you can witness the end."
"Just think about what you're doing," begged Vance, "Is it really worth destroying everything?"
"If it helps put mongrels like you in your place then yes." replied Campbell before spitting in Vance's face.
As nightfall slowly set in, the two groups headed off: Kensi and Deeks to the abandoned Navy base; the Washington team to the launch site.
Kensi and Deeks arrived at the abandoned Navy base and saw that it was crawling with security.
"Damn, they're not taking any chances," remarked Deeks, "What are we going to do?"
"We'll just be careful." replied Kensi.
The couple began creeping on to the grounds of the base. They both looked around for any sign of cover when suddenly-
"Not one more step, pigs!" snarled a voice from behind, "Now turn around very slowly.
The two agents turned with their hands raised above their heads. A man was aiming a shotgun at them.
Over at the Dalys house, Audrey and Emma were watching ZNN. Mass-riots were already sweeping across the city. According to the reports, law and order was already beginning to break down.
"Mom, what do we do?" asked Emma nervously.
"Lock the doors, turn off all the lights and keep the blinds shut," explained Audrey, "After that we'll hide in the basement until this blows over.
"Or doomsday happens." said Emma.
"That won't happen, sweetie." assured Audrey.
The brunette got to her feet and switched all the lights off, she then shut all the blinds and locked both doors, afterwards, she and Emma raced down into the basement; Audrey taking her cellphone and charger.
The brunette's ears pricked up as she heard loud chanting coming from outside.
"Wait here," whispered Audrey, "I'll go have a look."
"No, Mom, don't." whispered a frightened Emma.
"I'll be back in a minute," assured the brunette before hugging her precious daughter, "No matter what happens, no matter what you hear, please stay hidden."
"Be careful." whispered Emma.
Audrey crept upstairs and opened the blinds just as a nearby car exploded. The three men near the car turned and spotted Audrey before laughing and whistling in delight. The three men were all tall and middle-aged. The first one had dark brown hair, the second one had jet black hair and the third had blonde hair. Audrey watched in horror as the three men raced up the driveway. The middle-aged woman yelped as the door was kicked in and the three men entered. The first man, who was clearly in charge raced over and grabbed a chunk of Audrey's hair.
"Who else is here!" barked the leader, "Is there anybody else in the house?"
"Nobody else is home, it's just me." lied Audrey in a voice quivering with fear.
"Search the house!" ordered the leader.
The second man headed up the stairs, while the third man walked down into the basement.
Emma kept herself hidden behind the laundry basket as the third man entered. The man walked over to the basket and spotted Emma, who he quickly grabbed by the arm, making her yelp, he then dragged the blonde up the stairs.
Audrey whimpered as she saw the third man dragging Emma.
"So, nobody at home is there not?" snarled the first man furiously, ignoring the begging, "You're a pretty lady and I'd hate to have to hurt you."
"Please, don't hurt us." begged Audrey in a terrified manner.
"Your daughter's a pretty thing, isn't she." sneered the third man as he gently stroked Emma's cheek, making her shudder.
"Get away from me!" snapped a horrified Emma as she slapped the third man across the face.
"Ohhh, she's a feisty one," said the second man as he approached Emma, "Let's have some fun."
"No, no, no!" cried Audrey in horror as the second and third man dragged Emma by the shoulders through to the den, "Take me!"
"Oh, I will." said the first man wickedly before gently caressing Audrey's cheek, which made her shudder, he then grabbed Audrey's arm, dragging her upstairs and into her and Kevin's bedroom, where she was tossed on to the bed.
"Now, woman, you're mine!" declared the man as he began to slowly unzip his pants.
"No, no, no!" begged Audrey as she attempted to push the man off of her.
Over at NCIS HQ, an alarm wailed, while all the office workers looked around nervously.
"What's going on?" asked Jimmy as he and Kasie entered the bullpen.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, we're on lockdown," announced Parker as he came to stand in the middle of the bullpen, "An army of Freedom For All thugs are preparing to storm the Navy yard and this building. As acting director, I ask that we remain perfectly calm."
At that moment a brick flew threw a window. Everyone listened as the angry chanting grew louder.
(AN) Ohhh, I'm evil ending on a cliffhangr. I hope you all enjoyed, and remember to Read and Review.
Next chapter will be the big climax and will feature some surprise cameos.
Until then, this is TimeLordMaster108 signing out.