Shadow Wolf - Yes Harry will : )
BlackWidowAndCapRule - Thanks for that idea, I might just use it.
CauldronCalamity - That's what I originally thought of doing, but do you see Gibbs dating someone just a few months after his wife and daughter die?
Outofthisworldgal - I know right? It just seemed like an adorable scene and I had to put it (at least a mention of it) into the story
jk - I completely screwed the timeline because I wanted Harry to be little Harry in this story.
Beth5572 - Aww, thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Gracealma - When you say flush out my characters, do you mean you want more characters, or my characters need more 'originality'?
Rebmul - I played around with the idea of saving Kate, but to be honest, I just love Ziva, and ever since I started this story, I imagined Ziva going all over protective of Harry, and teaching him languages and how to protect himself/throw knives/kill people with paper clips. So I'm sad to say that Kate will have to die.
Skuld Odinsdottir - like I told jk, I really screwed up the timeline. I wanted Harry to live with Kelly and Shannon for at least a little while, but when I started writing my story, I forgot that Gibbs trained under Franks for several years. So, right now the time line is this;
December 19 - The Gibb's adopt Harry
February 28 (A year and a half later) - Kelly and Shannon are killed.
September 23 - Yankee White happens.
November 7 - Bete Noire happens.
I haven't figured out if Harry is going to Hogwarts the same year he did in the book, or am I going to screw up the timeline even more… thoughts?
Thanks to everyone else who reviewed, if I could meet you right now and give you a big thankyou hug, I would!
I own neither the NCIS show or the Harry Potter Franchise, I just enjoy playing around with what their wonderful creators gave us!
Chapter Four
"I'm sure that Harry will be perfectly fine with the sitter tonight." Gibbs sighed, knowing that the doctor was right.
"I know Duck, it's just, this is the first time that he's spent the night with her. Usually I've been home in time to put him down. He's been having nightmares recently and I'm worried that they'll come back."
"Gibbs, she knows what she is doing, okay? She's highly recommended and has babysat several kids at once - she can deal with one. Now, I have to go and prep a body for autopsy, so if you'll excuse us." Ducky grabbed his assistant, Gerald, by the arm, and pulled him into the elevator. "That man worries more than my mother. I'm pretty certain that his boy is smarter than all of us; he'll be fine."
"He's not an American Naval Officer?" Ducky said, stepping into autopsy.
"They said he was a Royal Navy Commander." Gerald replied, pulling on his gloves. The senior M.E. frowned.
"Well, which Royal Navy, Gerald? There are several of them."
"I assume British, Doc."
"The Swedes, the Norwegians, Aussies, Kiwis, Saudis… they all have Royal Navies." said.
"Well, the EMT only said that the Embassy told them to bring him to NCIS for autopsy." Ducky swung around to face his assistant.
"Which Embassy?" Gerald looked over his clipboard.
"Israeli."
"Israeli?" The younger man shrugged.
"That's what they said."
"Hmm. Why on earth would the Israeli Embassy send us a foreign naval officer?" Gerald picked up the bag and laid it on the table.
"Well that's what I asked the EMT that delivered the body, but they didn't know either."
"He calls me down here in the middle of the night, doesn't know which Navy. Gerald, what does this look like?" Gerald smiled sheepishly.
"Uh… one of my gloves."
"What's it doing in my drawer?" Gerald raised his hands apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Doc, I must have put your gloves in my drawer. I'll get it." Ducky waved him away.
No, I'll do it. Ah, Gerald, unzip that body bag and find out with which Navy our guest sailed." He unzipped the bag and froze. "Don't recognize the uniform. I'm not surprised. The Royal Navies of the world wear almost identical uniforms. In fact, during World War Two, British Naval Officers whose ships went down in the channel, passed themselves off in Antwerp as German submariners who…" Ducky trailed off when he realized that the body they were supposed to be 'dissecting' wasn't dead and currently had a gun pointed at their heads. "...good god."
" Shut off the lights…. and return." The man said, pushing himself to his feet and keeping the weapon leveled at them. "Is the video camera on?" Ducky and Gerald glanced at the camera in the corner and the terrorist whirled around and shot it, breaking the camera into pieces. Gerald dropped his head.
"Sorry, Doc."
"That's all right, Gerald. I looked at it too." The man pointed the gun back at Gerald.
"How do you alert visitors when conducting infectious autopsy?"
"We hang a decomposing body in the corridor," said Ducky sarcastically. Their captor smiled, tilting his head.
"A sense of humor under duress – that's an admirable quality, Doctor. However, when I ask a question, I want a truthful and immediate answer. So each time you lie, or I suspect you lie, I will put a nine millimeter, hollowpoint slug into one of your assistant's ball and socket joints. If you doubt me, I can demonstrate." The doctor shook his head.
"That won't be necessary. May I make a request?"
"You would rather I put the slug in you?"
"Yes."
"I can't oblige. How do you alert people to infectious autopsies?" Ducky pointed to a button on the wall.
"A lit red sign in the corridor."
"Gerald, the sign, please. Just a moment. Also lock the doors and bring me a set of greens and breathing gear." Gerald pushed the button and grabbed the gear, bringing them back to their captor.
"What is it you want?" Ducky said, stepping a half-step forward.
"In due time, Doctor…?"
"Mallard." As the dark clothed man compared his name to that of steam locomotive, ways to alert Gibbs to the situation filled the doctor's head. He just hoped that someone was able to keep him from bursting down here.
"You never had a nightmare?" Tony asked incredulously.
"Uh-uh." Kate replied, shaking her head.
"Not even as a kid?"
"Nope. No fear of the dark or a boogie man in my closet."
"Me either. But the vampire on the canopy of my bed freaked me." Kate laughed.
"You had a canopy bed?" Tony glared at her.
"I was five. My mother was into Louis the Fifteenth. It wasn't my call, Kate."
"Does she still frighten you?"
"My mother?" She rolled her eyes.
"The vampire."
"What makes you think it was a "she?" " Kate looked at him pointedly.
"Vampires are seducers. Knowing you, Tony, it had to be female."
"Well, she was after my blood, not the pride of my childhood." Tony said slightly smugly.
"You were proud at five?"
"Harry's pretty proud, and he's only four!." Kate snorted.
"Yes, but the difference between the two of you is that Harry isn't arrogant; you are."
"She finished the story, tucked me in, blew out the candles. My mother thought that candlelight enhanced the trompe l'oeil." Kate snickered.
"Canopy beds, trompe l'oeil, flickering candles." She counted on her fingers. "No wonder your bête noir was a vampire."
"Bete noir. Cute."
"It goes with the Louis the Fifteenth bedroom. So… what would happen?" Tony rolled his eyes.
"Forget it." Gibbs walked in.
"Forget what?"
"Oh, Tony's bete noir."
"Ah, it's French for um…" Gibbs looked into his desk drawer, staring at the single picture in it, a picture of Harry as he blew out his candles on his third birthday cake.
"Nightmare." He finished. Gibbs thoughts drifted to the last few nights, where Harry had woken up screaming, crying about a green light, and a 'bad sounding voice' that said 'mean things to him.' He had been inconsolable and hadn't gone back to sleep for the rest of the night, which means he would take an even longer nap than usual during the day, resulting in another nightmare. He sighed before turning back to his agents who looked at him concerned. He glared at them, but they could see that his usual annoyance was clouded with worry. "You're mother taught you french. Did your father teach you how to report?" Tony grinned.
"Oh, yeah. During cocktail hour, while I was pouring his Macallan eighteen – three fingers, one ice cube – you know, I had to report in about my day at school and just give him sort of a…" He trailed off, seeing the look on his boss' face before turning to the monitor. "We bagged and tagged everything in Qassam's room. There wasn't much there. Koran. Prayer rug. Fast food wrappers. This guy took home from work and didn't empty his trash. He had sinus problems. Bad breath." Kate's nose wrinkled.
"Yeah, probably because he didn't brush his teeth. There was no brush or toothpaste in his bathroom." Dinozzo held up several household items.
"Just aspirin, sinus spray and breath freshener." Gibbs frowned.
"Did you swab for explosives?" His senior agent nodded.
"Yeah. Top to bottom. Found minute traces of nitrate in the dresser table. Probably where he kept his Beretta."
"Computer?"
"Not even a Gameboy, boss." Kate rolled her eyes.
"He didn't have a TV, Tony." Tony looked at her as if she was stupid.
"Gameboy is handheld, Kate. You're thinking about XBoxes, PS Twos, GameCubes…" Gibbs stared into space as his agents argued. He couldn't stop thinking about his boy. Harry hadn't wanted him to go to work this morning, had cried and clung to him as he left, and it had broke his heart to have to pull him off of him and hand him to Melody, their sitter. He just wanted to solve this case, go home, and see his son. He looked back up at the two still bickering adults.
"Are you two done?" He snapped, standing up and pointing at the monitor.
"What are you doing?" Kate asked. Gibbs swung around to face her.
"I'm thinking of kicking some ass. Gitmo intel said Qassam was to execute a terrorist attack on the Naval base at Norfolk. He's in no shape to tell us how or when… his computer might." She shook her head.
"No computer."
"What about the food court where he worked?" Tony stepped forward.
"Ah, just a keyboard with pictures. Burgers, malts, fries. Not exactly cyberspace friendly, boss." Kate snapped her fingers.
"Hey, he could have used an internet café. I'll check Little Creek and his neighborhood." Gibbs frowned.
"I should have thought of that."
"Your mind is somewhere else. If I had a kid I would be worried, too. And well, you're more – you know, smurf than alpha geek. So am I, according to Agent McGee."
"You're right, DiNozzo." Tony looked shocked.
"I am? About which one?" Gibbs sighed.
"Both. Harry isn't doing well, but I need to get him out of my head if we had to go on the field. And there's no way I could keep up with all of these gadgets. Hell, I still use a notebook and a pencil instead of a P-D-Q." Tony grimaced.
"It's P-D-A. You can call it Palm Pilot."
"It doesn't matter what I call it if I can't use it!"
"I'll teach you." Gibbs waved his hand through the air.
"You'll teach me? McGee teaches you, you teach me. It's backwards! God, I need coffee." He stormed out of the bullpen, grabbing his empty cup along the way, hoping that some caffeine will help him get his mind back onto his work.
"What was that all about?" Kate asked, her brows furrowed.
"Gibbs' bete noire." Tony answered.
The terrorist, who when Ducky asked, said to call him Ari, slid a drawer open. "Right ventricle, left atria. You haven't done the autopsy." Ducky frowned.
"It was late. I was due to autopsy today."
"Then you best place him on the table. Did you draw blood last night?"
"Yes."
"Is it refrigerated here?"
"No." Ducky replied shortly.
"You sent it with his clothing to forensics?" Ducky nodded.
"Yes. Are you a pathologist?" Ari ignored the doctor's question.
"Where is the lab?"
"One floor up. Directly above us." Gerald responded.
"There's a stairwell outside to the left you can use." Ducky said. Ari tilted his head.
"Not the elevator?" The M.E chuckled.
"I assumed you'd think that too risky."
"Is it an emergency stairwell?" Ducky shook his head.
"No. That would be alarmed."
"Surveillance camera?" A beat passes following the terrorist's question.
"Yes." Ari turned around to Gerald and pushed the gun against his shoulder. "I answered promptly and I haven't lied!" Ducky said desperately, stepping forward several steps.
"You tried to trick me, Doctor Mallard."
"That wasn't a condition." He protested.
"It is now."
Abby ran into the bullpen, looking around frantically. "Where's Gibbs?" She asked Kate.
"With the Director. You okay?" The special agent asked, pushing up from her desk.
"Where's Tony?"
"The head. What's wrong, Abby?" The forensic scientist sighed, lifting up the box in her hands.
"Ducky needs all this evidence back in autopsy." Kate frowned.
"Before you've tested it?" Abby nodded.
"Yeah."
"That's strange."
"Yeah. I can't go down to autopsy." Kate pulled Abby over to her desk, making her sit the box down.
"Why?" Abby's hands shook.
"I had this dream like a month ago and ever since then autopsy scares the hell out of me." Kate chuckled, making Abby look at her, hurt.
"Why are you laughing?" The agent sobered quickly.
"Sorry. Sorry. I was um…I was just thinking of Tony."
"Tony's afraid of autopsy too?"
"No," Kate rolled her eyes. He dreams of vampires."
"Oh." Abby smiled. "I dig vampire dreams." Kate smiled.
"Oh, Tony sure doesn't."
"Well that's silly." The brown haired women tilted her head.
"But fear of going into autopsy which you've done your entire career isn't?" Abby nodded.
"Of course it is. It doesn't change anything. I can't even take the elevator to the basement anymore." Kate's eyes grew wide.
"What?"
"Yeah."
"So do you want me to take this evidence down to Ducky?" She gestured to the box and Abby's eyes lit up.
"Would you?" Kate nodded.
"Yeah, of course."
"Okay. You have to sign to maintain the chain of evidence."
"Right," She said as she signed for the evidence.
"Oh, and um…Ducky's doing an infectious autopsy." Kate's eyebrows furrowed.
"On who? The terrorist?" Abby shrugged.
"I don't know. He just said to leave everything outside the door."
"Well, Qassam is the only body in autopsy. Why would Ducky think he was infectious if you hadn't done a blood test?"
"I don't know."
"Have you worked with Doctor Mallard long, Gerald?" Gerald didn't look up from the body he was dissecting.
"A little over two years, now." The two M.E.s shared a smile before turning back to their work.
"Tell me about his family." Gerald looked up shocked.
"Why do you want to learn about them?" Ari shrugged.
"Just curious." Taking a quick glance at his boss, the assistant answered slowly.
"There is only one member of his family that I've met; his mother who is regrettably out of the country at the moment, otherwise I'm sure she would love to meet you." Ari smiled before cocking the gun and pointing at the younger man.
"You seem to have developed the doctor's sense of humor. I thought that we agreed that you would no longer lie to me." Gerald's eyes widened.
"I didn't lie!" The terrorist scoffed.
"I can think of more people that man considers family that I am sure you have met before. Several agents and a forensic scientist are just a few. And, judging by his recent credit card purchases, there is a little boy he considers a grandson." Ari looked over at the older man, whose knuckles were turning white from the tight grip he had on his tools. "His name is…Harry, I believe. Adorable child, and ever so polite." Gerald jumped when Ducky slammed his knives down on the table and walked forward until he was right in front of their captor.
"You stay away from them or the next body I cut open on that table will be yours!" Gerald stared at his boss incredulously. Never before had he seen the man so angry, yet he could tell that fear was hidden in his eyes.
"There is nothing you can do to me before I shoot you and your friend here. I suggest you return to your autopsy, Doctor Mallard."
Harry sat at the kitchen table, coloring a picture as Melody made him dinner. Sitting a large glass of chocolate milk in front of the boy, she slid into the seat next to him.
"Hey, little man, whatcha drawing?" Melody took a deep drink of her soda before leaning over the 4 year old's shoulder. Harry lifted the paper off of the table. It showed several adult sized drawings and one small dark haired one.
"That's Daddy," he said, pointing to the silver haired man holding the small black haired boy's hand. "And that one is Aunt Abby." Melody could tell that Harry had spent extra long time drawing her out, for she could see every article of clothing, jewelry, and tattoo on the goth's picture. "And there is Grandpa Gibbs and Ducky, and Tony, and Aunt Kate and Tim!" Harry proudly pointed out each person before taking a blue crayon and expertly writing their names under each of them. At the bottom of the page, in capital letters he wrote MY FAMILY. He turned to the teenager with a bright smile on his face, his green eyes sparkling.
"It's a masterpiece, Har! It deserves a special place of honor!" Melody took the drawing and pinned it to the fridge with a magnet. "There, front and center!" Harry giggled. "Now, eat your dinner, or I will!" She warned and he gasped before he started to shovel the macaroni and cheese into his mouth. He finished and carefully grabbed his glass of milk and gulped it down. He smiled at Melody and she laughed at his chocolate mustache. "Next time, don't eat that fast, or you'll choke, bud." Wiping away his 'facial hair' she swung the boy onto her hip with a groan. "You're almost too big for me to carry!"
They walked up into his room, where Harry jumped out of her arms and ran to his dresser, pulling out a pair of pajamas. "I want to wear these ones!" He proclaimed. Melody laughed at camo pj's before helping the little boy pull them on. Once she had lifted him onto his bed Harry looked up that her with sad eyes.
"Do I have to go to sleep right now? Daddy's not here to chase the nightmare 'way." Melody's heart melted and she pulled him into a hug.
"Hey, little man, it's alright. Your dad will be back soon, and then you can tell him all about what we did today?" Feeling his tears soak through her shirt, Melody sighed and picked him up before carrying him back down stairs and sitting with him on the couch. "Okay, I'll tell you what. We can sit out here and watch a movie until you fall asleep. How does that sound?" Harry nodded and pushed himself off of the couch and onto the floor in front of it, leaning against the furniture. Melody slid down next to him and turned on the tv. Neither knew the danger that was just outside their house, or the fact that a sniper's rifle was pointed right at them.
Abby paced back and forth in front of the bullpen. "There's a way to overcome this. Really? How? Group therapy. Oh, how many people have a fear of autopsy? You're going to be a group of one! Lots of people wouldn't be caught dead in an autopsy room. Very funny. Maybe hypnotism. Ooh, remember Doctor Wertzer's class? You still don't know what he made you do when you were under hypnosis. Whatever it was, I woke up feeling refreshed…in his office a day later."
"Abby?" She swung around and faced Gibbs.
"Yes?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was having an internal debate."
"Mmm." Gibbs tilted his head. "Who's winning?"
"I'm not sure." Her face fell. "Oh, hell." The phobic side."
"Still can't enter autopsy?" Abby shook her head.
"No." The agent decided it was time to change the subject.
"Did you find any tag traces of explosives on the terrorist's clothes?"
"Ducky took everything back before I had a chance to test it." Gibbs looked at her worriedly.
"What?" She shrugged.
"Don't look at me! He wouldn't say why. He just wanted everything back including the blood." He frowned.
"Including the blood?"
"Yeah, it was a bit weird. There's no way to do a blood test in autopsy."
"Did Gerald pick it up?" Abby shook her head.
"Gerald was busy. Ducky just wanted me down there STAT."
"STAT?"
"Yeah. And I wouldn't go so Kate took it down."
"Hey boss. What's up, Abs?" Gibbs and Abby turned around to see Special Agent Dinozzo walking up to them.
"Something's…"
"Hinky?" Tony supplied.
"Tony, get autopsy on the plasma." He looked at Gibbs with a confused look on his face.
"Huh?" Gibbs slapped the back of Tony's head, pointing over to the monitor.
"Autopsy. TV. Now! Why would Ducky say STAT?" Abby walked next to Gibbs as he went into the bullpen.
"Because he's a doctor? And because STAT means fast and a medical emergency?"
"Medical emergency," Gibbs murmured. "But what is a medical emergency in autopsy?" Tony shook his head.
"All I'm getting is snow, boss." The two other NCIS employees turned to look at the monitor and were met with the sight of a flickering black and white screen.
"You can leave it there," Ducky called through the glass. Kate held up a clipboard.
"You have to sign." The doctor looked over his shoulder, wearing a frazzled expression.
"Well, I can't open the doors with you there." Kate shrugged.
"What's the infection?"
"Don't know yet. He's got a pustule on his thigh. It may be nothing. Yeah, I'll sign. Cross my heart." Because of nothing else to say, there was an awkward pause.
"I beat my phobia!" Ducky chuckled as Kate bent down and sat the box of evidence onto the ground.
"Yes, so I see, Abby. Well done." The door slid opened and Kate turned around to find the barrel of a gun pressed to her forehead as she stared into the dark eyes or Ari, who tilted his head.
"When did lab rats start carrying Sig Sauers?"
Kate sighed as the terrorist finished patting her down, rather evasively, she might add, and began to look through her identification. "No throw away? Special Agent Caitlin Todd. Are you any good with this gun, Caitlin?" She scowled.
"Give it back and I'll demonstrate." Ari smirked.
"Mmm, ever fire it in anger?"
"I would love to right now." He pushed the gun against her temple.
"Did you shoot Qassam? Did you put that double tap in his heart?" Ducky stepped forward.
"She didn't shoot him."
"Who did?" Ari asked. The M.E. sucked in a breath.
"Special Agent Gibbs." Kate looked up at him shocked.
"Ducky!" The dark man frowned.
"That name rings a bell, Doctor Mallard. Isn't he the father of the adorable little grandson of yours?"
"Don't answer this bastard!" Ari waved his gun in the air patronisingly.
"You mustn't chastise the good doctor, Caitlin, at least not until you know my rules."
"I don't play by terrorist rules."
"Who says I'm a terrorist? Doctor, is this all the evidence?" Ducky nodded.
"From what I can see from here. Gerald?" His assistant quickly looked through the box.
"It looks like all of it."
"Caitlin, you may roll over now if you keep your hands where they are." Kate sat up from where she had been laying on an autopsy table. "Did Special Agents search Qassam's room? Where is the evidence that was bagged and tagged?" The agents shrugged. "Doctor, please explain the rules to stubborn little Caitlin." Ducky walked over and stood next to Kate.
"If we lie, or he thinks we're lying, he'll put a bullet in one of Gerald's joints."
"Be specific. One of his ball and socket joints. And you omitted one condition." Ducky's eyebrows furrowed.
"I did?"
"Yes, you did," Ari said, making the doctor's eyes light up.
"Oh, yes. We mustn't try to trick him."
"Which you tried to do, Caitlin, by saying you beat your phobia." Ari swung his gun around and pressed it against Gerald's shoulder.
"But she didn't know the rules." Ducky said anxiously.
"But you did, Doctor Mallard. And you joined the ruse by calling her Abby." The man smiled at his hostages before pulling the trigger, firing a single shot into the body below him. Gerald screamed out in pain, grabbing at his bleeding shoulder.
"Oh, God. No…" Ducky and Kate lifted him up, and placed him on an autopsy table, the former holding a cloth tightly against his shoulder.
"Don't worry, son. I'll take care of you."
"You bastard!" Ari clucked his tongue.
"You seemed like such a bright young woman and that's all you can say?" Gerald shouts again.
"You bastard!" Kate said. Ducky motioned her her.
"Kate! Kate! Kate! My medical bag. Over by the desk on the floor. Sorry, Gerald. Hang on. I've got morphine."
"As much as I would like the pleasure of putting a bullet into Gerald's knee as well, I'm saddened to say that neither of you seemed to care that much about my rules."
"That's not true," Ducky assured as he tried desperately to stop the bleeding. Kate opened the doctor's bag and shuffled through it.
"Nevertheless, I believe that you need some new motivation to follow my directions, especially considering that poor Gerald here will die of bloodloss unless you can get it to stop, doctor." Reaching into his pocket, Ari pulled out a hand-held monitor. "Do you know what this is?" Ducky waved Kate off, and she turned to look at the dark-haired man, gasping at what she saw on the screen.
"No…" She whispered. Ducky wrapped Gerald's arm, having been able to stop the bleeding, before turning to look at what had Kate so upset. His face paled.
"You wouldn't dare!" He choked out. Ari just smiled.
"On the contrary, my dear man. You both seem to have quite a bit of affection for this person; what would be a better incentive to do what I say than this?" Sitting the screen down on the table next to Gerald, Ari grabbed a device from his other pocket. "One press of this button, and my partner receives a message to shoot. You do what I say, or he dies." Kate and Ducky stared at the screen. Through a scope on a sniper's rifle, they could see a window. Inside the house was Harry, and the target was lined up right at his head as he sat with his babysitter watching Mickey Mouse.
The threat was simple. No lying, tricking, or anything like that, or Harry Gibbs would be dead.
Ducky was back at Gerald's side, for he had bled through his bandages already, when the phone rang.
"Answer the phone, Doctor."
"You answer it!" I'm trying to stop this bleeding." Ducky sniped over his shoulder. He handed a shot to Kate. "Give him the morphine!"
"Where?"
"In the thigh right through the cloth," Ari said. "You better answer that call or you'll be performing an autopsy on a child soon." Ducky growled, a sound that slightly scared the former secret service agent.
"Kate, come here. Come here. Throw that away!" She dropped the now empty syringe into a trash bin. "Come here! Come. Put pressure on here. If the blood seeps through your fingers, then push harder." He ran to the phone and picked it up, his hands shaking slightly. "Autopsy."
"Ducky. What's with the infectious autopsy?" Gibb's voice wafted through the speaker.
"Purely precautionary," the doctor said, throwing glances over his shoulder at Gerald and the monitor Harry was on.
" Is that why you took the evidence back?" The agent questioned,
"Yeah, sorry. But I'm really busy. I have no time to kid around." Ducky hoped that Gibbs had gotten his message, but sadly he hadn't caught onto it.
"Hey, is Kate there?" Gibbs' suddenly asked. The old medical examiner looked to his right at Ari who shook his head.
"No." He replied. "She left a few minutes ago."
"Okay." Gibbs sighed. "You let me know when I can come down. You got me curious." Ari clicked a button on the phone's doc, ending the conversation. Ducky looked up at him, hate evident in his eyes.
"I can't wait to weigh your liver."
"How's he doing?" Kate asked, a hand on a fuming Ducky's back. Gerald rolled his eyes.
"I'm fine." She smiled.
"The bleeding stopped. That's good." Ari appeared across from them, the communications device in his hand, the one thing keeping a little boy from being murdered.
"Yes, and no. Correct, Doctor Mallard?" Ducky frowned, not looking at the taller man in the eye.
"I had to clamp his axillary artery to stop it."
"Which means Gerald will lose his arm if the artery isn't repaired and the blood flow restored soon."
"Ducky, can't you do that?" Kate asked desperately.
"This is an autopsy room, not an ER." Ducky said frustrated. "No, I can't. I'm sorry.b He's going to need a fully equipped room and staff."
"Which he will get as soon as I'm out of here. So where is the evidence collected in Qassam's room?" Ari asked.
"The lock-up," Kate said sourly.
"Which is?" She pointed towards the ceiling.
"In the garage, one floor up." Ari tilted his head.
"The same way I came in." He stated.
"I don't know how you came in." Ari smiled at Kate's words.
"In a body bag." Kate smirked.
"Same way you're going out." He ignored her.
"Is it the same garage?" Ducky finally looked up, his angry gaze meeting the terrorists steel one.
"No. The evidence locker is in the garage next to forensics. Above us." Ari unpacks his bag.
"Doctor, Caitlin, put Qassam in the body bag." Ducky and Kate stare at the man , not moving from where they stood. "Now, please. Soon they'll be calling to negotiate your release." Kate frowned.
"We don't negotiate with terrorists." Ari shook his head, clicking his tongue.
"Caitlin, when you get to know me better, you won't call me that."
"I have no intention of getting to know you better." He tilted his head.
"Are you sure?"
"Special Agent Gibbs," Gibbs said, holding out his hand to a shorter man, who shook it, a grim smile on his face.
"H-R-T Leader Horowitz. What do you got, Gibbs?" Gibbs rolled out a map of Ducky's lab.
"A terrorist is holding three of our people hostage in autopsy. One of the hostages is wounded. We're here. This is autopsy. There are three exits: elevator, staircase, receiving. I have special agents at all three and they're on TAC-one." Horowitz turned around and starting directing his people to their stations.
"Team one – elevator. Team two – stairway. Three – receiving." Gibbs lifted up his walkie-talkie.
"Balboa, bring the elevator to level three for H-R-T. Pacci, DiNozzo, replacements are on the way. Stairwell and elevators on the other side of the staircase. Your Team Three will have to access receiving from the alley." The HRT captain raised his hand, pointing down the hall.
"Okay, let's hit it, gentlemen! Let's move!" Gibbs ran up next to him.
"Hang on a second. Those hostages are our people. I'm in charge here. Understood?" Horowitz nodded.
"Understood. Let's move out!"
Ari held up his walkie-talkie. "I've regrettably had to demonstrate the consequence of not obeying my orders. The man I shot is in danger of losing his arm." The hostage rescue captain, Jennifer Arkin, spoke up.
"Well then it's important-"
"When all evidence collected from Qassam's room is in my hand… you may have your wounded man."
"I'll need the approval of the NCIS…Director before I-"
"He's standing next to you," Ari said, cutting Arkin off. " Nod yes to the negotiator, Director Morrow." There was a pause.
"You have a deal. Now can we talk about releasing…?"
"You have ten minutes."
"No, we need more ti-" Came Arkin's slightly panicked reply, but Ari had already hung up. Kate saw an autopsy knife on the table next to Gerald and grasped it, but Ducky laid a hand on her arm.
"Kate, no! He wants you to try." Kate turned around, shrugging his grip off of her and ran right into Ari, who grabbed her arm that was holding the weapon.
"Doctor Mallard thinks you were daring me to pick up this knife." She said, struggling against his hold.
"The proper term is a dissecting tool."
"You didn't answer my question! You just wanted an excuse to shoot Harry!" Ari slapped the women before laughing.
"I have no intention of killing a child, Caitlin; if you three do what I say no more blood will be shed. I did, however, want to see if I was right about you."
"Next time I'll be quicker."
"Oh, don't you wonder why you weren't now?" Kate stumbled back, slightly shocked. Ducky stepped forward.
"Uh, could you give me a go?" Ari shook his head.
"I think not, Doctor. You would kill me without hesitation. I do, however, think you would regret it. Now, we have work to do if we're all to survive this day."
"You're older than I expected." Gibbs kept himself from snorting at the first words the terrorist chose to say. He reeled when he saw the monitor on the autopsy table but managed to keep his face passive.
"Where are the other hostages?" Ari ignored him.
"Box on the floor. Hands on top of your head, turn around, and walk back to the door." Gibbs didn't move.
"Not without Gerald."
"He won't leave here at all unless you put the box on the floor, your hands on your head, turn around-"
"Turn around and walk back to the door." Gibbs cut him off. "Older doesn't mean deaf. You want out of here alive?"
"I'm sure Gerald-not to mention someone else you care about- do."
"I think you do, too. That's why very slowly now I'm going to reach into this box and take out of here with two fingers exactly what you want." Gibbs inhaled the nasal spray. "Ah! Surprise! You failed. Mission over. The real smallpox virus is on its way to CDC. Do you want to talk about whether you live or die?"
"How far were you from Qassam when you shot him?:
"Oh, I don't know."
"You measured it for your incident report," Ari pressed.
"Thirty seven feet and a few inches, give or take." The terrorist tilted his head.
"Oh, you're a very good shot."
"I would love to demonstrate."
"Funny. Special Agent Todd said the same thing." Images of three dead and broken bodies flashed in front of Gibbs' eyes.
"Where is she?" He asked. "And the doctor?"
"Would you truly like to demonstrate?"
"Yep."
"Agent Todd's Sig Sauer is in the box to your left. The clip is from the Sig Sauer. Untampered. All live rounds." There was a pause as Gibbs lifted up the weapon.
"Why?"
"Because I want to look you in the eyes when I kill you. And to tell you that I am about to take away the last living person in your family. Say goodbye to your son, Special Agent Gibbs." Gibbs swung around and fired three shots at Ari, but the man had already pressed the button. The agent gasped in pain when he felt a bullet go into his shoulder. As he fell down to the ground, his eyes never left the monitor showing his family, and when he heard a loud CRACK and Harry disappeared from the screen, he let out a dry sob and allowed the darkness to overtake him.
Gibbs groaned as he heard Tony's voice. "Boss! Boss! Hey, boss. Listen, don't try to sit up. Don't sit up-" Gibbs sat up. "The EMTs will be here in a minute. It's a through and through. Nothing vital."
"Did I get him?" Tony bit his lip.
"No, he had an accomplice. Our guy snuck out wearing a HRT uniform." Gibbs groaned, and his eyes shot open.
"Harry! I need to get home right now!"
"What? No! The doctor's need to check you out!" But his boss had already stumbled to his feet and ran out of the room and into the elevator, holding a hand to his wounded arm.
"Send them to my house," He called over his shoulder as the doors slid shut. Tony sat there shocked and confused before Kate walked up to him, and seeing his expression, elaborated.
"Ari, our terrorist guy, had a sniper trained on Harry." Several seconds passed as Tony allowed that new information to sink in, before he suddenly bolted from the crime scene. Ducky and Kate followed soon after, stopping only to grab a flustered Abby from her lab. They hoped that Harry was somehow alive, but if he wasn't then Gibbs would really need someone to comfort him. Hell, all of them would need a shoulder to cry on. Ari better hope that that little boy survived, or he will have several angry agents, a medical examiner skilled with knives, and a forensic scientist who could-would- kill him without leaving any evidence behind.
Harry had to be okay. They needed him to be okay.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN GUYS! I dont care how old I get; I will forever be going trick or treating. My best friend and I have plans to dress up as babies when we are 90 fot Halloween! Hope you guys had lots of fun tonight and ate a lot of candy!
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Love Y'all!