Angel of Darkness:[part 1]
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Here is the season 4 finale! So be prepared for lots of angst and drama as things come to a head for Tony and Claire.
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3rd Person POV:
Tony made his way towards the hospital, jogging inside to avoid as much of the rain as he could. Homeland Security had ordered that all NCIS agents take a polygraph test at their scheduled times over the next couple of days. Therefore, no one could really go out on a job until they had been cleared. The rest of the team had gone out for drinks at one of the local bars while he had opted out, deciding to make a customary visit with Jeanne. One of the main reasons he was missing out on their outing was because of Claire. It was obvious she struggled being in the same room as him and he didn't want to put a damper on her evening. Tony knew he deserved to miss out on team outings after all he had done, and technically was still doing. He had talked with Jenny about coming clean about his relationship with Jeanne. It killed him to continue keeping this part of his mission under wraps while everything else was out in the open now. As he expected, she was adamantly against the idea.
After entering the building, Tony walked over to the elevators and waited for the doors to open. Before he stepped inside, he paused, looking over the two disheveled characters already inside. A small woman who had her hoodie over her tangled locks stood in front of a man who was just as wet as she was. Apparently, both had been caught in the rain outside. The man stiffened and watched Tony intently as she joined them in the elevator. Tony smiled at the girl politely as he reached to press his floor number but pulled back when he realized it was already lit up. The doors closed and the group stood in silence.
"Why didn't you push it?" the girl asked, pressing her fingers to her lips and swaying back and forth. Tony glanced down at her.
"It was lit."
"Oh…..I'd have pushed it anyway." He told him with a childish grin. Tony's lip quirked up as he watched her.
"And why is that?"
"To watch it light up." The man behind her set his hands on her shoulders possessively, chuckling dryly as he glanced at Tony. Tony grinned back just as tightly. Unaware of the tension in the space, the woman hummed nonsensically and reached out to press all the buttons, making them light up. The man grunted and roughly jerked her arm back down, looking away from Tony.
"Why don't you get her some help? ER's on one." Tony whispered, gesturing to the woman. Her companion blinked.
"You talking to me?" he asked theatrically, his voice rasping as he imitated the famous quote. Tony frowned seriously, not in the joking mood for once.
"Yeah, I'm talking to you Bobby." The woman frowned in confusion, turning to look up at her boyfriend.
"His name is Nick." She explained.
"Shut up, Bernie." Nick quickly shot back, his cold grin never straying from Tony.
"But he thinks that your name is Bobby. Don't you?" she asked, her lip pulling into a pout.
"No. He thinks his name is Bobby. Don't you?" Tony countered, making eye contact with the man. The elevator door opened up and Nick quickly dragged Bernie out. Tony frowned and followed them, quietly.
"You don't think your name is Bobby, do you Nick?" Bernie asked curiously.
"Shut up. Can't you see he's a cop?" Nick grunted before he dragged her over to the nurses station.
"The ER said Devon Watson was up here. They called his sister to pick him up." He told the nurse up front. Bernie raised her hand with a timid grin.
"I'm his sister." She explained before nibling on her fingernails. The nurse smiled tightly, clearly getting the same bad vibe that Tony had gotten.
"He hasn't gone into surgery."
"Surgery? For a broken leg." Nick asked with a frown.
"It's a severe compound fracture." The nurse explained.
"Put a splint on it" Nick snipped. Tony chose this moment to lean on the desk next to the duo.
"Is there a problem here Carly?" he asked the nurse politely, glancing over at the man.
"I don't know…..do we have a problem?" she inquired. Nick chuckled humorlessly.
"No, no problem. My girl is worried about her brother that's all. She wants to see him." Bernie perked up, realizing they were talking about her.
"Yea, can I see Dee?" she asked.
"That's up to Dr. Benoit." Carly informed, looking over at the woman who was already walking their way after dropping off some samples to be run. Tony watched as she locked her sights on the scraggly duo in front of them.
"This is Mr. Watson's sister, Dr. Benoit." Carly introduced.
"Bernadette, but everybody calls me Bernie." The woman grinned sweetly. Jeanne nodded, watching the girl's twitching before sliding her eyes over to the man next to her.
"And you are?"
"A friend."
"Have a name…..friend?" Jeanne pressed, slipping off her gloves.
"Nick."
"He thinks his name is Bobby." Bernie cut in, pointing at Tony. He shrugged, sharing an amused grin with Jeanne.
"Room 331. 10 minutes." She informed them. Nick practically bolted away, leaving Bernie at the desk.
"I wanted to be a doctor but um, my dad said…" Bernie rambled, but Nick quickly came back and gripped her elbow.
"Bernie, she doesn't want to hear your life history." He chuckled, steering her away from the group. The remaining three watched them enter the room across the hall with matching frowns.
"You wanna take a 15 minute break with me?" Jeanne requested with a tired grin. Tony nodded, turning to greet her as she walked around the desk. However, before they could sneak away a familiar voice called from down the hallway.
"Tony?" The man's whole body froze in terror as Claire's voice echoed through the hall. He slowly turned and watched as she walked down the corridor towards him, straightening out her shirt.
"Wh…..I….I thought you were out having drinks with everyone else?" he stuttered, stepping away from Jeanne who watched them curiously. Claire came to a stop in front of them, her eyes flickering between the two.
"No, um…..the director wanted me to update my physical before the polygraph. For some reason I wasn't allowed to just use Ducky. She sent me here." Tony swallowed thickly as he realized what was happening. Jenny had forced his hand.
"Tony, aren't you going to introduce me?" Jeanne piped up from his side, jerking him out of his mental downward spiral. Tony licked his lips, trying desperately to dampen his mouth that had suddenly gone dry.
"Uh…Jeanne this is Claire…..Claire, Jeanne." Tony introduced shakily, being sure to leave out last names. The two women shook hands politely.
"Claire as in Tony's friend, Claire?" Jeanne asked with a small grin. Claire glanced up at the man in confusion.
"Yeah, that's me." She muttered. Jeanne beamed in realization.
"It's so nice to finally meet you! I've been trying to get Tony to bring you around, but he tells me you're busy all the time. You're a cop right?" Claire blinked in surprise, watching Tony's face pale drastically.
"Um yea, technically. Nice to meet you too. I'm sorry to say that I don't know as much about you as I would like." She continued, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Jeanne chuckled, and wrapped her arm around Tony's. The man stood stiffly as she snuggled up to him affectionately. All he could do was watch Claire's facial expressions, knowing things were about to get infinitely worse.
"Well you know Tony. He's a bit gun shy about relationships, so I can't say it surprises me that he hadn't told anyone about his girlfriend yet." She shrugged, looking up at her boyfriend. Claire's eyes widened.
"You're the girlfriend?" she asked in surprise. Jeanne grinned, not realizing what emotions were truly flying through the other woman's head.
"Yup, that's me. Well now that we finally met each other, maybe we can find a date that we can all get dinner sometime. I would love to get some old stories of Tony." Jeanne suggested with a chuckle. Tony grinned anxiously.
"Yea…..but like Tony said, I tend to be pretty busy. Actually, speaking of getting together, Tony I just remembered that I need to talk with you about something. Do you have a minute?" Claire blurted, looking at the man pointedly. Tony stared back silently at the swirls of rage and immense hurt in her eyes.
"Of course." He choked out, looking to Jeanne.
"Yea, you two go ahead. You can use the break room here. Meet me down in the cafeteria when you're done." Jeanne suggested, pointing to the room off to the right. With that she pulled herself away from Tony and walked around the corner. Once the woman was gone Claire instantly darted for the offered room, anxious to get away from prying eyes. Tony trailed after her, much less reluctant have the inevitable conversation. As soon as the door shut behind him a fist struck him on the shoulder, causing him to squeak in pain.
"I had hoped we were going to be adult about this?" he grimaced, frowning at her. Claire's eyes bugged out incredulously.
"Adults?! Oh hell no! Tony, this is the most juvenile thing you have ever done!"
"I can think of a lot more…"
"I don't want to hear it! Ah, god I am so angry with you right now!" she wailed irritably, pacing back and forth as she gripped her hair with her hands. Tony watched her quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets. He had nightmares about this interaction, but right now nothing he could have thought up was anything like the real thing. After a few seconds of her pacing she blew out a harsh breath before turning to face him.
"How long have you been dating?" She asked, staring at him intensely. Tony straightened up. He could easily come up with some wild story, but looking at her distressed expression he couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't lie to her, not anymore.
"…a few months." Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Wh…..so is this the real reason you broke it off in the first place?" Tony shook his head.
"No! That was totally unrelated." He assured. She narrowed her eyes skeptically.
"And when we slept together after?" Tony's jaw clenched, giving her the answer. Claire sucked in a ragged breath, turning from him sharply.
"So….so what was that pity sex? You knew that I was still hung up on you and you decided to soften the blow by sleeping with me? On top of cheating on your new girlfriend?" she questioned, starting to build up into hysterics once more. Her breathing sped up as she paced the room faster this time, her mind reeling with all these new implications. It was thing to move on without telling her but it was another to know that he had been stringing her along out of pity. It was utterly gut wrenching that he would do something like that to her.
"Ugh god I feel so stupid and used." She shuttered. Tony quickly reached out, only to have his hand slapped away.
"It wasn't like that." He quickly denied, his eyes widening in horror. That was the last thing he wanted her to believe.
"What other explanation is there Tony?! What is wrong with you?" she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. Her dismay quickly morphed into fury once again as she took a step towards him.
"Damn you! You know what….I deserved a hell lot more respect from you! How dare you do something like this. If you had just been decent enough to tell me you were moving on then I would have accepted that. Instead you watched me make a jackass out of myself while I waited on you. Who does that?! Here I thought our friendship meant something to you. After all we've been through I deserved the respect…..hell at least the common curtesy of you informing me of your intentions." Tony remained silent as she shoved his shoulder roughly, taking the verbal lashing he knew he deserved. Angry tears blurred her vision and Claire whipped around to roughly wipe them away. He didn't deserve the satisfaction of watching her cry.
"I can't believe I was stupid enough to care for this long…."
"Claire, I'm so sorry….
"…..I let you have the space you asked for, I should have known then….
"…please let me explain…."
"…I even talked to Director Shepherd about your disappearances…"
"Wait, you talked to her about it?!" Tony quickly turned from apologetic to defensive. He had told her to back off on the whole thing. Now it was making more sense as to why Jenny had set this whole thing up tonight. Claire had pushed too much. Then again he had pushed as well. This was their punishment apparently.
"…and all this time I thought you were just on illegal missions and were trying to chivalrous…."
"Claire you can't talk to Jenny about this, it's none of your business."
"…of course it's my business! I cared about you and I trusted you and then you go and pull this douchebag stunt!" Claire shouted, cutting him off.
"If all of this nonsense has been your way of driving me out of your life because I care too damn much to keep out of things, then mission accomplished! Because I am done with this!" Tony's eyes widened as she stood there huffing angrily, swallowing to keep her tears at bay. His eyes trailed down the few that slipped down her cheeks. Tony's throat tightened up; his stomach sinking at the realization that things had gone too far. He couldn't get her back now; the damage had been done. Claire paced back and forth in the small space, pulling at her hair aggressively as her body radiated hurt and rage. After a few minutes of thick silence, she pressed her head against a wall; shoulders slumping in defeat.
"I don't know what happened to you, Tony. You're turning into someone I don't recognize, and my heart can't take any more grief." She lamented quietly. Tony stood stock still, working to keep his own sorrow behind the mask. His heart was shattering even more than the first time, now he was past heartache. Now it was more like an all-encompassing numbness. Claire lifted her head and turned to stare at him sadly. He said nothing. What could he say? Everything Claire pointed out was true. She sucked in a shuddering breath.
"I need to go." She muttered, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as she slipped past him back into the hallway.
"Claire wait…" he turned, reaching out for her in one last attempt. Claire shied away from his grasp.
"Don't worry, I won't say anything to Jeanne. I'm not going to stoop to your level about this." she muttered bitterly before slipping out the door. Tony clenched his eyes shut, willing himself to keep composed….at least until he could leave the building. There was just too much going on right now.
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"What's with you calling that loser Bobby?" Jeanne questioned as she joined Tony and Claire in the checkout line once they picked up their food. Claire opted for just a water as she couldn't stomach any food right now. The duo had joined her after quite a few minutes, both looking emotionally drained. Jeanne was concerned about what the conversation had been about but didn't want to pry and make things worse. So instead she acted as if nothing had happened, taking on the role of conversationalist in the group.
"Well, he was doing DeNiro in the elevator. You know like, 'You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?! So, I called him Bobby." Tony answered, easily slipping into the impression as he explained. Jeanne snickered, shaking her head in amusement.
"Sometimes you are so juvenile."
"Yes, but it makes me lovable." Tony pointed out with a grin as he followed her with the tray. Claire glanced at him briefly, trying to tune the conversation out. Jeanne led them into a booth, Claire slipping into the seat opposite the couple. They sat in silence, Jeanne frowning as she watched the other two shoot looks at one another without saying anything. She sighed, finding another topic to start on.
"I hope this stops by morning. I want you to see the house in sunshine." Jeanne hinted, watching Tony's reaction as she mentioned a possible home. Claire blinked in surprise, finally able to connected the pieces together from a few days previous. He had claimed that Jeanne was his realitor, but clearly she was his new roommate. Claire frowned silently, resenting the fact that his new girlfriend was able to get him to move faster than she did on the relationship front.
"It leaks." He countered.
"No, it doesn't leak."
"It has bats. Bats don't come out in the sunshine." Tony tried again, only somewhat joking. There had to be something wrong with the house so he could bail on it.
"I doubt anyone would choose a home that has bats." Claire imputed dryly. Tony clenched his jaw, wishing she wasn't adding fuel to the fire.
"I hate bats, ever since I saw Dracula." He continued on, paying close attention to his meal.
"You're chickening out on me, aren't you?" Jeanne commented with a disapproving frown. Claire watched them quietly. Maybe he wasn't so committed after all.
"After you promised?"
"Did I say Scout's honor?" Tony pointed out. Jeanne closed her eyes, starting to get upset but Tony was quick to counteract her mood.
"Wow, you drive a hard bargain. Okay. Yes, I want to see the house. Just as long as seeing doesn't necessarily mean buying." He pointed out seriously. Jeanne's mood softened.
"No, of course it doesn't. I just want you to give it some serious consideration." She assured him.
"Oh, you can count on that. Especially after last night. I think that you, uh, you deserve….I'm sorry, that was you last night right? With the mask and the strange headgear?" Jeanne grinned in amusement as he joked around with her.
"Okay, I think this conversation is going somewhere I don't want to follow." Claire muttered, cutting it off quickly. Tony and Jeanne chuckled. On Jeanne's hip a pager went off and she looked down in concern. Her face dropped fully as she read the message.
"Code blue." She muttered just before she bolted out of the dining area. Tony and Claire straightened up in alarm, following after her.
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Upstairs in room 331 the boy that Bernie and Nick were visiting was shaking and unresponsive on his bed. Nurses flooded in, Dr. Benoit quickly joining them. Tony and Claire stood by the doorway, watching as the women bustled around his bedside as they worked to get him stable once more. However, nothing was working. The two agents watched the pair in the corner, Bernie crying while Nick watched on passively. Claire glanced around the room, looking for something of use. A blue backpack on the chair caught her attention. Elbowing Tony she silently gestured towards it. Tony stealthily picked up the bag and the duo slipped out of the room to examine the contents. Finding what they needed they walked back to the room. Claire had decided to take the lead on this, assuming that Jeanne wasn't aware of Tony's job.
"How'd he go sour so fast?" Jeanne asked her nurses as she continued checking the boy's pulse.
"He flew in from Caracas three hours ago. He's probably body-packing heroin. The bag must have burst." Claire answered, holding up the tickets they had found. Her eyes cut to Nick who jerked up in alarm at her announcement. The man's eyes narrowed at the newcomer.
"He's stopped breathing." One of the nurses announced as the body went still. Jeanne quickly leapt into action with Carly and they prepared shock him.
"No! Dee!" Bernie sobbed, watching her brother die on the table in front of her.
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Shortly after, Jeanne declared the time of death for Devon after multiple attempts to revive him had failed. As everyone was ushered out of the room, Claire watched the duo sit in the waiting room chairs. Nick remaining stoic while Bernie continued crying. Jeanne sighed, tossing her gloves away in frustration.
"You all prep the body for the morgue, I'm going to talk with his sister." She quietly announced to her nursing staff who nodded. Claire glanced at the woman.
"Want me to join you?" she inquired. Jeanne blinked in surprise.
"I don't trust those two. At least not the guy. My presence can help keep some peace." Claire elaborated in the doctor's silence. Tony looked over at his friend in surprise. But then again, she was good at not letting her personal feelings get in the way of work when needed.
"Thank you." Jeanne nodded, allowing the other woman to follow her to the chairs. Jeanne took a seat closest to the duo while Claire sat behind her. Bernie's eyes followed the sheet covered body of her brother as he was wheeled to the elevator.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Watson." Jeanne consoled sincerely. Bernie sniffled.
"Me, too."
"Where's he taking him?" Nick cut in. Jeanne shot him a scathing glare.
"Hospital morgue." She finally answered.
"We pick him up there?"
"No, you do not pick him up there." Claire answered this time, her own glare quieting the man briefly. Nick glanced between the two women who were clearly not going to be intimidated like he would have hoped. He straightened up, holding back a sneer, and thrust the clipboard into the hands of the woman beside him.
"Sign it, Bernie." He all but demanded. Tony shifted uncomfortably as he watched the interaction from the nurse's station. Both women would put up a fight, not allowing Nick to manipulate them into anything. However, that could prove to be dangerous especially for the doctor. Claire could hold her own if things got physical, but it didn't stop him from worrying. As he watched the interaction like a hawk, he couldn't help but wish that Claire had refused to go with Jeanne. It would surely lessen the hurt he was feeling. Tony was amazed that after all he had put her through, Claire could still manage to be civil with 'the other woman' in his life and put her safety first.
"I don't like losing patients. If your brother had told us he was body-packing drugs, we might have saved him." Jeanne explained sharply. Bernie minutely flinched, flashing a glance at the man beside her.
"Or if you had told us." Jeanne added, looking at the man. Nick worked his jaw.
"I don't know what's in Dee's gut, doc. And neither do you." he informed her lowly.
"Now…..where do we pick up his body?" Nick asked, handing back the clipboard to Jeanne.
"City morgue after he's been autopsied." Jeanne told him, standing up. Nick hopped up and looked down at her, using his height in another attempt to intimidate the doctor.
"We don't need an autopsy."
"I do." Claire imputed, joining the rest of them as they stood. Having nothing else to say Jeanne walked off, her backup waiting a moment to get one last glare in before following after her. The two women joined Tony and watched as Nick manhandled the shaking Bernie towards the elevators. Claire clenched her jaw tightly, hating that he could walk away. But there was nothing she could do right now.
"He knew Devon was body-packing and said nothing." Jeanne ground out bitterly from the other side of Tony.
"Well, he didn't want to lose his shipment." Tony commented. Jeanne looked up at him sharply.
"That makes him an accessory."
"Yeah? How could you prove that, Jeanne?" he shot back pointedly.
"I don't know, but I can't just let him walk out of here. Isn't there something you could charge him with to keep him around?" Jeanne asked, turning to Claire.
"I haven't seen anything that would warrant an arrest. Trust me if I could charge him with something I would, but like Tony said, we can't prove anything." Claire shrugged apologetically.
"Dr. Benoit, you don't want to get involved." One of the nurses piped up from the other side of the desk.
"I am involved, Annie. That boy didn't have to die." Jeanne insisted.
"No, but that is not your fault." Annie assured her gently.
"Jeanne, the coroner's going to do an autopsy. He's going to find the drugs, notify narcotics. What more can you do than that?" Tony pointed out. Jeanne glared in distress.
"I….I don't know. I feel so damn helpless!" she hissed, storming into the staff lounge.
"All first years are like that. At least the good ones, until they get calluses." Annie commented, watching the woman storm off with a concerned frown.
"I don't know if Jeanne ever will, Annie." Tony hummed thoughtfully. Annie smirked.
"Love." She muttered with a grin, watching Tony's concern for the doctor. Claire grimaced.
"I'm going to find some coffee. I think I'll hang around for a bit longer….at least until I know that those two have left the building." She whispered, glancing back at the elevator where Nick and Bernie had left. Tony nodded silently, hating that she couldn't even look at him.
"I'll calm down Jeanne." He added. Claire nodded stiffly, avoiding his gaze as she walked down the hall. Tony watched her walk away sadly.
