Fountain of Sorrow A WYABT story
Chapter 1
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the JAG or NCIS stories. I don't own any product or label mentioned for the purposes of telling this story. Any similarities to situations or persons living or dead are purely coincidental.
Spoilers: The JAG fanfiction "Will You Always Be There?" Chapters 64 through 67. NCIS episodes, 'Bette Noir,' 'Reveille,' and 'Twilight.'
A/N: Once the story is set up, the aftermath of the season finale of NCIS, I will move to focus primarily on the characters of Dani and Gibbs as portrayed in WYABT. The other characters from the story may pass through. Some will stay awhile; others may only be referred to.
2230
Friday
May 27, 2005
McMurphy's Bar
Georgetown
Special Agent Jethro Gibbs approached a table where Special Agent Tony DiNozzo and Forensics Agent Abby Scuitto sat with his long time friend and colleague Dr. 'Ducky' Mallard. Though no one had really planned to meet here, one by one they had all shown up. Even Ducky's assistant, Jimmy Palmer had come to try and drown his sorrows and be with other people who had known Special Agent Todd and remembered her well.
Gibbs still felt numb after the incident on the rooftop that had ended in the death of a Special Agent and friend who was trying to protect him. He knew now that Kate had been the target that afternoon and that this was part of an even larger game. The target drone had more than one purpose; he and his team had been as much the target as the Navy families who waited for their loved ones on the pier.
Gibbs wanted a chance to face him eye to eye but that would have been too clean, too honest for Ari Haswan. He could see the coffee shop across the street from where he sat at the table with his team. A sense of rage and helplessness filled his entire being. It had only been a few days since he had sat at that coffee shop with Ari, verbally sparring back and forth, each man playing his own head game. He had ended the conversation asking about 'Caitlyn.' He should have known she was the target then, she had been the one who needed protection. As he looked around the table he wondered who would be the next target, he knew now it would not be him, not yet.
The conversation from the table broke into his thoughts. Abby and Tony were talking about the possibility of a relationship between Kate and Tony.
"I told McGee she was too smart for that." Tony's expression was sad as he looked at McGee sitting directly across from him.
Abby spoke up. "I don't know about that. She asked me once what I thought about you as a potential… date" Abby could not keep from smiling though she still felt raw from the memorial service.
Tony looked at her. "What did you say?"
Abby didn't want to answer; she didn't know how Tony would handle it, today of all days. "Okay…well…I told her ...no."
"What?" Tony turned his head, drawing his brow into a frown as he looked at her.
"I said 'don't do it Kate.'" Abby looked at Tony not quite sure how he would react.
Abby's answer suddenly struck McGee as very funny and he laughed out loud. Everyone at the table followed suit until Abby and Tony were leaning on each other brushing away tears as they laughed. Even Gibbs couldn't keep from smiling. After everyone settled and recovered from the joke Tony raised his glass.
"A Toast, to Kate's good judgment."
"Hear, hear" Ducky raised his glass along with everyone at the table.
"Gibbs, what is your favorite memory of Kate?" Abby looked at him questioning.
His expression turned serious as he thought of her, times when she had shown her strength and when she had shown her vulnerability. She seemed to hate that she had moments like that. What she didn't get was that everyone did. She expected perfection from herself and tolerated imperfection from others. He certainly hadn't been the perfect boss. In his minds eye he saw her looking at him and smiling as he told her that her security detail was over. The next moment she was lying in a pool of her own blood, her eyes staring unseeing at the sky above them.
"It's time for me to call it a night" Gibbs stood and looked at them all. He could not do this tonight. "See you Monday." With that he left, he could not remain and remember anymore.
As Gibbs left the bar he was being observed by another person assigned to shadow him. This person was not menacing and truly was on the same side as he. As the door closed behind Gibbs, Jack Keeter stood and put his money down on the bar.
Jack's friends from JAG had left the bar about a half an hour before the NCIS team began to file in. His 'associates' had been given the task by NCIS of keeping tabs on Special Agent Gibbs for the time being. Gibbs superiors finally accepted the fact that Gibbs was a very large target for Ari and while they wanted to draw him out, they didn't want to lose another Special Agent to do it.
"Night, Joanna" Jack gave her one of his most charming smiles.
"It was good to see you" She returned his smile. "Don't be such a stranger… stranger."
He winked at her and walked out of the door not far behind Special Agent Gibbs.
As Gibbs reached his car he got a call on his cell phone. "Yeah, Gibbs."
"I think you need to take a little ride down to Virginia Beach, tomorrow if you can." FBI Agent T.C. Fornell was keeping his promise to his friend. He promised to let him know if there were any problems with the security detail covering his ex wife, Danielle Graham.
"Fornell? What's going on?" He didn't need this now.
"She isn't very happy about the increase in her security detail in the past couple of days. As a matter of fact she ditched them yesterday and they didn't find her for over 2 hours."
Dani was still considered a target of Ari because of her connection to Gibbs, though it was in the past. His focus on her had seemed indirect to his superiors but Gibbs did not want to take any more chances, he didn't want another death on his head.
"Damn." He didn't want to deal with Dani now but didn't think he had a choice. "I'll be down in a few hours."
It was late, it would be the middle of the night when he got there, but it didn't matter. He didn't look forward to returning home tonight and he thought handling this right away might give him a small measure of peace. Even if he didn't speak with Dani until tomorrow, he would get a clearer picture of how she was being covered. He had wanted to see for himself who was handling Dani's security for some time anyway, now he had the perfect excuse.
Two and a half hours later…
Gibbs was making good time as he traveled down 64 South. He was beginning to clear his head of the events of the day. Kate's parents had been gracious to all of her co workers when they had come to pay their respects. There were pictures of Kate with the President, taken while she worked for the secret service. Mrs. Todd displayed a picture of the team at NCIS; Gibbs couldn't even remember when it had been taken. They had all made a great team, now they would never be the same again.
Her mother shook his hand as he left and thanked him. It pained him to think of it, Gibbs shook his head and huffed.
"She thanked me…and I'm the reason Kate was shot." He spoke his thoughts aloud to no one.
Mrs. Todd had told him that she knew that Kate admired him and that she enjoyed her work at NCIS. It had been all he could do to keep his composure. The rage he felt was indescribable. He intended to use every ounce of it though, when he met Ari again.
0900
May 28th
Saturday
Smith Residence
Rudee Inlet, Virginia Beach
Gibbs stood on Dani's parent's front porch and waited. Dani had moved in with her parents after her husband's death, much to her security details relief.
Jack Keeter had followed him to Virginia Beach and was observing from the next street over from Dani's parents home. Jack decided that tailing this guy was turning out to be a real pain in the ass.
Dani answered the door as though she had been expecting him. She did not smile but opened the door. "Come in." She locked eyes with him and then turned away, her expression unreadable.
Gibbs stepped inside the house and Dani closed the door behind him. She tried to be civil, though she was seething inside. She felt she was being 'managed' and she didn't like it.
"Would you like some coffee, I was just going to get a cup."
"Yeah, that's fine." Gibbs walked into the living room and sat down.
They sat on each end of the couch turned slightly toward each other. "You having a problem with your security detail Dani?"
"You could say that." She gave him a forced smile.
"Fornell thinks you're getting a little reckless." Gibbs looked at her directly. "Ditching your security detail?"
Dani looked away, not meeting his eyes. She placed her cup on the coffee table in front of her.. She was getting angrier by the moment. What was he doing here anyway, and why did she have to answer to him? She stood and walked away from him.
"Why would Fornell call you?"
"You still have a security detail. We were responsible for your security before the FBI."
Dani interrupted him. "I'm aware of that. They get more imposing by the day." She folded her arms in front of her chest. "Any idea why?" She turned around to face him.
"Yes"
"Are you going to tell me?" Dani recognized the stone wall, she already knew the answer.
"No."
"Fine, nothing to worry about then…right?" She was not going to be told what to do by anyone, certainly not by him. If she didn't need to know what was going on she didn't need protection.
"You want to tell me what's going on?" She seemed an entirely different person than she had been when he saw her at JAG two months ago. Her anger was palpable.
She look gave him a long and intense look, full of growing resentment.
"Nothing is 'going on' I just feel as if I'm in a cage, that's all. This 'security' is suffocating. I don't see why it's still necessary. They already killed my husband, what else can they do to me?" As far as Dani knew the young men involved were in prison, she had no knowledge of Ari and what he was capable of.
"It's still necessary Dani." Ari had proven he could kill any one at any time. He had seemed fascinated by his and Dani's connection. The detail would remain in place until Ari was captured or killed. He preferred the latter, if he had his way that is exactly what it would be.
"Why?" She turned to look at him. She waited for a beat and then asked again. "Jethro?" Her voice was sharp and impatient.
Gibbs decided that she needed to understand the risk she was taking, for all he knew Ari could be watching her…or them, right now.
"It could be about me."
He didn't want to tell her everything. This was not a vendetta, it was kill or be killed and he would not let her become another casualty in this. Ari had decided to make this a personal war. So be it. It would be him, not Dani or anyone else on his team.
Dani looked at him, incredulous. "That's ridiculous." She turned her back to him and walked to the picture window.
"Look…for whatever reason the same individual who linked us with the pictures two months ago, seems intent on killing people involved in my life, directly or indirectly. His focus on you was intense, even after your husband was killed. I won't have another death on my head." He stood and walked toward her.
Dani frowned and asked, "Another death?"
"Special Agent Caitlyn Todd, one of the investigators on my team at NCIS, was shot to death a few days ago. She was given the task of protecting me and she…was killed."
Gibbs expression did not change but his eyes were bright with pain, Dani had seen the look before.
Her demeanor changed immediately. "I remember her. Oh…Jethro, I'm sorry."
He shook his head, silently telling her that he was alright.
Dani saw the look in his eyes harden, burying his pain deeper, as he always had. They both remembered another time when he felt helpless against an enemy who would not show himself.
Flashback:
0655
Sunday
October 23, 1983
Beirut, Lebanon
Sergeant Jethro Gibbs stood as members of his unit were being carried out of the rubble that had once housed the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit. All sound was blocked out except for the wounded and dying Marines calling for help. He could smell the acrid smell of burning flesh and of the explosives that had been loaded into the truck bomb.
Things seemed to move in slow motion as he scanned the crowd gathered to watch the 'peacekeepers' try to recover their own. Some rushed to help, others stood and watched. The people who planned it could have been watching them right then, but how could he have even retaliated…when he to have permission to lock and load his weapon?
End Flashback.
Dani had walked closer to him and stood about two feet away. "Jethro?"
Startled he then returned his focus to her.
"Where did you go?" Dani asked him with concern.
"Look…you need to allow your security detail to stay with you, every time you leave, anywhere you go." He drew his brows down into a frown. "Do you understand?"
The old Jethro was back and arrogant as ever, she folded her arms and looked at him. She decided to give him some of his own medicine. Silence.
"Dani?"
She waited for a long moment then answered him. "All right…for now, but I'm warning you. I cant take much more of this."
"Just do what they tell you and keep your speed down. Two tickets Dani?"
"I just wanted to get away, besides I've always driven fast." This was beginning to really make her angry.
"Fornell says you had a close call a couple of days ago." He was needling her now and he knew it. He had successfully taken the focus from him to her. It still worked every time.
"Look, I've had enough…this is none of your business. Okay, I won't run away from my security detail. Whether or not I speed is none of your concern." She walked toward Gibbs and took the coffee cup from his hand. It was time for him to go.
"Got a death wish Dani?" He knew she was getting angrier by the minute and for reasons he couldn't explain he was enjoying sparring with her, though he was sure he couldn't say the same for Dani. He had gotten her attention though.
"What?" She set his cup on the coffee table while backing Gibbs toward the front door. "Its time for you to go."
Gibbs had an amused and slightly sarcastic smile on his face.
Dani continued. "Whatever 'wish' I have ceased to be any of your concern a long time ago." Dani opened her front door and motioned for Gibbs to leave.
He looked at her and repeated what he had before. "Stop fighting your security detail Dani."
"I don't need them Jethro."
"You don't know what you're talking about…as usual." Now that should really piss her off.
"And 'as usual' you have no intention of telling me what this is all about." She snapped as he appeared to completely ignore her.
Gibbs kept walking toward his car, not acknowledging her last comment. She slammed the door as hard as she could. "Bastard!" She yelled loud enough to be heard through the door and out to the street.
He raised his eyebrows as he got into his vehicle; Dani had developed more of a temper over the years, that was certain.
Ari Haswan sat astride his motorcycle on a lane just off of Pacific Avenue. He watched as Gibbs black Intrepid turned onto Pacific and started toward the oceanfront. The Special Agent was becoming more and more predictable. Ari had known he would come here eventually; the cool and detached Jethro Gibbs was being lead by his emotions, even his fear. Ari was having such a good time playing him that he would regret when the game finally ended.
He would linger a bit longer and watch his 'Dani.' She had become almost as interesting as her ex-husband. She had appeared to him to be much changed since her husband's unfortunate demise. Her appearance before had been soft and feminine and her focus primarily on her husband and her parents. Now she had an edge and hardness in her demeanor, the death of a loved one could do that…he supposed. She drove erratically, impatience and anger evident on her face; she made her protection difficult at best. He couldn't ask for a better or easier target.
He knew so much more now, much more than even Special Agent Gibbs knew. Dani's sons had returned to their duty stations. Ah…military families…sons who follow in the footsteps of their fathers, he thought sarcastically.
He looked up at that moment to see Dani pulling out of her lane onto Pacific Avenue and heading in the opposite direction as Gibbs had. Her observer had to quickly put on his head gear so as not to lose the lovely Danielle Smith Gibbs Graham in the traffic on Dam Neck Boulevard.
One hour later…
Interstate 64 North
Somewhere in Northern Virginia
As Gibbs drove toward Washington he could not get the conversation he had with Dani out of his head... What he had seen this afternoon gave him cause for concern. She seemed so much different that the Dani he had known, even different from the Dani of a couple of months ago. Her husband's death had begun to take its toll.
Even in the past, when they were at their end, she was not bitter. Now he had seen a side of her he had never seen before. It sickened him to think it had anything to do with him.
His cell phone pulled him from his thoughts.
"Gibbs."
It was Fornell. "Look, you better get back to Virginia Beach."
"What now?"
"It's Dani, she's had an accident."
"Damn it, where the hell was her security detail?"
Gibbs pushed the accelerator to the floor and made his way to the next exit, but not before observing he had someone tailing him. He had seen him on the way down last night and early this morning on his way to Dani's. Gibbs decided that if he could keep up, he would have his story before the day was over.
Princess Anne General Hospital
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Gibbs walked through the glass doors of the ER. He noticed a policeman standing near one of the rooms enclosed in glass. He saw Dani lying on a bed inside. Gibbs approached the police officer.
"You her husband?" The policeman spoke first.
"No, her husband is deceased…two months ago." He started to enter the room.
"If you're not family, you can't enter. She is supposed to be under some kind of federal protection. Who ever it is, they're obviously not doing a very good job."
Gibbs flashed his badge. "Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. She's under our protection." That wasn't entirely true, but it would get him into the room.
The policeman gave him a condescending smirk and stepped aside so that Gibbs could enter. As he approached her he could see her injuries in more detail. She had cuts and bruises on her face and a bandage on her forearm and the side of her head. One of her eyes was swollen and nearly closed.
"Dani?" She appeared awake but seemed completely unaware of him.
"David?" her voice was gravelly from medication.
As he drew close to her bedside he spoke again. "Dani…its…me."
She turned her head slightly toward him, trying to clear her vision. She recognized him and then he saw pain and something he could not name in her eyes. "Jethro."
He looked at her steadily, waiting for Dani to acknowledge his unspoken question. What could she have been thinking? Hadn't she heard a word he said this morning?
She answered him. "I know, I know, I believe you now."
"What happened?" He thought she had been speeding and just lost control of her vehicle.
"I was just driving down Dam Neck and he drove past me. He was on a motorcycle, he seemed to want to race, I thought to the next traffic light."
Gibbs blood ran cold, it was Ari. He knew it as soon as she spoke of a motorcycle.
Dani swallowed hard. "Then he kept getting too close but then he passed me…and at that moment…I thought it was over, but then he suddenly turned in front of me and disappeared down London Bridge Road. I lost control of my car after that; I think I hit a light pole."
"Did you get a look at him?"
"He lifted the visor on his helmet for a moment and smiled at me as he passed. I didn't recognize him."
Gibbs took a picture out of the inside pocket of his jacket, "Is this the man?"
Dani squinted as she looked at it. "It could be….I think so." She was still groggy.
He would bet his life it was Ari. "You should never have let him bait you. Didn't you hear anything I said this morning?"
Dani was silent; she did feel like a fool. She had been so angry at him this morning and she intended to prove that he was wrong. The conversation they had earlier made her feel that much more cornered, she felt as if she were smothering, she had to get out. Driving was the only thing that made her feel free.
She turned her head away from him and did not say another word. She wished she could disappear, she wished for David, with all her heart. Jethro was speaking to her and she could hear him, but she never answered him. She felt him step closer to her and he began to ask her again what she thought she had been doing. He stopped when he saw a single tear slip from the corner of her closed eye, into her hairline.
Gibbs knew that it was pointless to ask her anything else and if he were honest he would admit that she was beginning to get to him. Her pain was a tangible thing and he began to wish that he could do something about it. He backed away from her and stepped out of the room. Fornell stood outside the room waiting.
"I don't care if you have to chain her to a chair. Don't let her out of your sight Fornell, or you'll wish you had." Dani seemed to give off a feeling of despair, as though she didn't care anymore whether she lived or died. She wasn't going to die, not if he had anything to do with it.
Gibbs breezed by him without a backward look. He knew the person who had been tailing him since yesterday had to be here somewhere. He made his way to the parking garage and then he saw the vehicle. Gibbs clicked his keychain to unlock his door and got into his car. The familiar vehicle followed, but not too closely behind but as it drew nearer, Gibbs threw his car into reverse missing Keeter's vehicle by inches. He jumped from his car, drew his weapon and rushed toward his observer.
"Who the hell are you?"
Keeter got out of his vehicle and faced him. "You know I've been shadowing you for the last two days."
"Who sent you?" His eyes blazing with unconcealed anger.
"Your boss, you still have a security detail." Jack thought that covering this asshole was going to be a real pain.
The thought that Director Morrow had done this without his knowledge made him that much more furious.
"Stay the hell out of my way." Gibbs warned as he holstered his weapon.
Keeter stood toe to toe with him. He was beginning to hope Gibbs would take a swing at him, so he would have an excuse to deck the guy. Harm hadn't been kidding; Gibbs was not a 'friendly' guy. Jack met his gaze and did not flinch.
Gibbs turned away from him. This was bullshit, he thought. Everyone he cared about and everyone on his team should have protection, not him. Ari wasn't finished tormenting him. He had no intention of killing him now, Gibbs knew. He hadn't bled enough…yet. He got back in his car and sped away…with Jack Keeter not far behind.
TBC