The Red Haired Woman
Chapter 12
The very tanned, relaxed and newly engaged couple strolled in together on Wednesday morning, respective coffees in hand. Things had been quiet up until then. Having only two people on the team, mostly paperwork and easy stuff came their way for a few days. Now, having the entire team together calls would start coming hard and fast. Chanel had on her ring, but both decided not to make any kind of announcement. Gibbs laughed at the idea of saying anything to the team saying "They are investigators, let them investigate. If gossip and rumor will follow, so be it, but we will remain professional as always." And so it went. Chanel gave Tony and Tim brief hugs as she waited for her computer to boot. Put her gun away and settled into her desk. It wasn't until Abby came upstairs knowing they had returned that any note was made of Chanel's new piece of jewelry. Abby shrieked when she saw the ring, holding Chanel's hand out to see the ring better.
"Oh my God, it's huge Chanel. Very sweet, Gibbs! Stunning and gorgeous at the same time. It reflects both of your personalities, stylish and beautiful, simple and clean. It is about time too. I was getting tired of the waiting."
"Yeah Abbs, that's what General Atherton said too."
"When did you talk to my dad? I told him last night while you were working on your boat."
"Yeah, I know Chanel. You told Tommy too. That didn't go so well. But before I asked you I asked your father for his blessing. If he did not approve, he could make things difficult."
"Well, he sounded like he was very pleased."
"He seemed to be, and was very encouraging and supportive and was glad I had finally come to my senses. And it seemed to make him happy that I considered his opinion."
"Of course it would." Chanel said with a smirk.
Their first call out was provided by a secretary from the Pentagon. Chanel's phone rang informing her of the woman in the lobby who was asking for NCIS. Their afternoon was spent tracking money, figuring out how to get into the officer's computer, and rescuing his little girl who had been left alone and blind in the train station. She was smart and waited for Tony and Chanel to pick her up. Chanel took an instant liking to the little girl who was amazing at playing the piano and was able to hear sounds on the recordings they had to help pinpoint where her mother was being held. Abby and McGee had stayed up all night tracing the money transfers until they tracked it back to Washington DC. The officer whose family had been kidnapped and violated was behind the entire scheme. Gibbs erupted into a violent rage when the man started to explain. It just brought up too many memories of what he had lost years ago. Tony and McGee handcuffed the man and took him away, while Chanel calmed Gibbs with a slow walk around the promenade and he talked about the loss of his family fifteen years before. He was still greatly disturbed by it, but remembered more of the happy memories and less of the sad ones. They eventually returned to NCIS, completed paperwork and everyone went home. It was Friday night and they had the weekend off again.
That Sunday Gibbs called everyone in from the General's house. They were staying there over the weekend. There were wedding plans to make. Instead, mid day on Sunday they were called in to investigate the deaths of two of their own, Paula Cassidy's team. It was painful for everyone, and Paula who Chanel had never met vented a lot of her frustration on her. Chanel helped a lot on the interviews that were required, since some of the interviewees did not speak very good English. Chanel spoke fluent Arabic and had spent years in the Middle East which only infuriated Paula further. Chanel took it in stride. Chanel also received an anxious phone call from Tommy desperate to make sure she was not one of the killed agents. Paula over heard the conversation, and as soon as she realized she was being eavesdropped on she began speaking Arabic to protect her privacy. Tommy was having a difficult time letting go, and having to reassure him of her well being while Cassidy's own team was decimated had to be painful for her to overhear. Ultimately, the whole incident ended sadly with Paula throwing herself on top of a bomb to protect the dignitaries and Gibbs' team that were assigned protection duty. Tony seemed to take it the hardest, especially when he learned it was supposed to be Gibbs' team that was on that weekend. It could have been them that were dead. Gibbs never acknowledged it, even to Chanel, but it had taken a toll on him. He constantly wondered what he would have done differently, would his gut have saved them once again? Tony and Chanel would have been the agents sent in, if he had done the same things Paula had done, and now they would be dead. He was getting soft and scared now that he was in love.
A few weeks later, he was still quietly obsessing about Chanel's safety and his own omnipotence. He doubted his gut now that he was so desperately in love, and someone could get hurt. The idea that it might be time to finally retire began to emerge as a constant theme, although he kept it to himself. Chanel, bless her, occasionally would ask but did not push him, knowing he would talk to her when he was ready. She never doubted his love for her, and did not believe he was contemplating 2nd thoughts about their upcoming marriage. They walked into work together and followed their usual morning routine. Gibbs went upstairs for a meeting with the director. Chanel got a call from Abby.
"Chanel, look, I need you to do me a favor. Please." Abby's voice was rushed and strained.
"Abby, slow down and breathe. Of course I'll help. What do you need?"
"Ducky needs the evidence box in autopsy right away but remember how I can't go into autopsy since my nightmare, my bête noire as you call it? Anyway, I need you to come down here and then go up to autopsy and give Ducky the box." Abby said everything in a single breath. It was exhausting to even listen to.
"Why does Ducky need the evidence box?" Chanel's suspicions were raised.
"I don't know when he called to have me deliver it I just freaked out and didn't understand but can you take it for me, please?" Chanel was irritated at the fast panic talk from Abby and that something did not feel right.
"Ok, Abby. I'm on my way. Please breathe for me, slowly!" Chanel slowly stood up, concern all over her face. Tony asked her curiously what was wrong.
"Abby wants me to take an evidence box to autopsy for Ducky, but she doesn't know why he needs it. It just seems weird. Anyway, just let Gibbs know if I'm not back when he returns."
Chanel picked up the box and took it to a darkened autopsy room where only a few lights were on, and it was flashing about infectious diseases. Ducky just asked her to leave it at the door, called her Abby when he thanked her as she walked away. She turned and smiled at him, only to find a different but still familiar face staring at her.
The dress she had on did not have a place for a gun unless she wore shoulder holsters, which were upstairs. She had knife sheaths on her arms, but knew he would find those. She would have to use what she had available in the room. He opened the door, and pulled her inside. She did not resist. He might kill Ducky or Palmer even, hell sometimes she thought she might kill Palmer, but she was willing to bet that whatever he was here for, he would not kill her. He might take her with him, but not kill her.
He held a gun on her, and very sensuously proceeded to pat her down for weapons. He knew she would have some, and he was indeed rewarded with the knives under the long sleeves of her silk dress.
"Chanel, I never expected, hoped but never expected to see you again. What a pleasant twist of fate to have brought you here to me." The dark man's voice was soft and oozed with sex and sin. She felt chills hearing it again after all this time. At one point of her life, she would have welcomed the intimacy his voice provided.
"I am not here for you Ari." She nodded to the evidence box. "Get what you came for and leave before anyone gets hurt."
"I have so missed the sound of your voice. It is so sultry and sensuous. No one else ever sounds like you. I could listen to you talk all day. Your body is riper than I remember, but that only makes you more luscious. But what is this, an engagement ring? Someone actually managed to capture your heart. I always imagined it was permanently locked away some place. I know I never had it."
"You sound bitter Ari. Please get what you want and go." Her voice had a hint of pleading to it.
Ari walked carefully over to the evidence box, knowing that he was no longer the only very deadly person in the room. He dug around until he found the chilled vial of blood and samples taken from Hussein's body. But there was still something he couldn't find.
"Where is the rest?"
Chanel looked at him with honest confusion. "What rest? That is the evidence collected."
He came up to her carefully, stalking her like a prey. "Where are the things collected from his apartment? The medicines and stuff."
Chanel blinked her eyes at his, thinking, "If it isn't in there, it would be in the evidence locker. I can go get it. It would have to be checked out by a senior agent. The evidence locker is off site. It could take some time." She was thinking on her feet very quickly and could only hope Ari had not been deeply thorough in his plan. She could lie with no problem. She had been trained for it. But if she had said something and he knew better, it could get very bad fast.
Ari was beginning to get agitated now. Things were not going along with his plan, and even more people would have to get involved. And he sure had not planned on finding Chanel here. He would be unable to leave her behind. Chanel read his body language easily, after all she knew him quite well.
"Chanel, get on the speaker phone. Call a senior agent and tell them they have ½ an hour to get the rest of the evidence from Hussein's apartment to me here in autopsy. If they miss the timeline the poor doctors over there will pay for it."
Chanel looked at Ducky and Palmer. Ducky was pissed off and Palmer was about to wet his pants. Chanel had already taken the scalpel and positioned it up her sleeve. She managed that while he was going through the contents. If he found it, there was always her hair clip assuming he didn't remove it.
Chanel calmed her voice and quietly called Gibbs' internal line. "Hey Gibbs. Listen I need you to have Tony bring me the evidence box for the Hussein case from the offsite evidence locker. Someone is here who needs something from it. He gives you ½ an hour and then he says he will start to hurt Ducky and Palmer. I know this man from my past, and he will do what he says Gibbs. I have to go now. ½ an hour Gibbs." Chanel disconnected the oddest conversation she had ever had with her fiancé. Of course, Ari could not know Gibbs and her were engaged.
"So now we wait, Ari. Do you want to talk? Can you tell me what you are doing? You have become a terrorist? Hussein? That is an Arabic name. Are you working with Hammas after your mother's death? That Israeli bomb attack was truly tragic, more so with the loss of your mother."
Once again he stalked his prey. Every move with him was sexual. She had never known anyone as dangerous or as sexual, all rolled into the same delicious package. She let herself be mesmerized by him. She could do that, because her love for Gibbs kept her grounded in the danger and reality of the situation.
"I would hear you talk, Chanel. Thank you for your condolences on my mother's death. My father conveniently arranged it all. I am becoming the monster he already is. I am Moussad, imbedded in a cell of Hammas. We attempted to spread small pox across the navy base. Hussein was supposed to get sick and, by working in a restaurant on base, transfer the disease. The plan obviously failed, but now I have to clean it up."
"If you were Moussad, you would have found a way to warn your allies of the plot to decimate our forces."
"Let us say I have mixed loyalties."
"Yes, I would agree. And what is your plan now? You always have a plan. I think a few bricks have been thrown into this plan. You will take the body, the blood and tissue samples, and whatever you need from his apt. and just leave?"
"I would take you with me."
"Why?"
"I have never forgotten you. No woman can compare. And here you practically fall into my lap. That is too good to be true."
"I see Ari." She began to stalk him, sidling up directly in front of him, close enough to touch if one of them gave a deep breath. "So you would take me with you, to live with you and your Hammas friends? That would be cozy. They treat their women so well. You would have me live in a hovel in Palestine, the only woman among several men who would hate me and lust for me at the same time? You would have to fight constantly to protect me. And you know how dangerous I can be. Perhaps I just end up killing your whole cell. Where would that get you with Hammas?"
She was running out of time. She took a step forward, pressing her body against his. She raised her head and sultry emerald green eyes to his, capturing his entire attention. She could feel him harden instantly, pressed against her. "Is that how you want a life with me Ari?" Her hands reached around his neck and pulled him towards her lips. She could feel the gun in his hand pressed hard against her back where he had wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer. He bent his head meaning to kiss her. Their lips met and their chemistry remembered the other's body, how it felt to kiss, to touch, to hold each other. Their bodies both instantly remembered how it felt to be joined together.
He moaned into her mouth at his memory of her. He pulled away from her briefly, looking her in the eyes, communicating clearly that he knew what she was going to do and he welcomed it. "If I am to be a man like my father, then it is a blessing to be taken by a lover before I can become completely evil." He kept eye contact with her and then joined once again his mouth to her, his tongue with hers, his passion with what she remembered her passion with him to be. He could taste the salty tears of regret as they fell down her face and landed on her lips. She cautiously removed the scalpel from her sleeve, kissing him even more fervently for both distraction as well as regret. He moaned again and she sliced his throat with the scalpel, hitting the carotid artery blindly and yet with complete accuracy. He fell backwards, pulling his gun towards her. She was sure he would not shoot her, but could also not afford to be wrong. She twisted the gun from his hand just as HRT entered the room. She fired directly into his forehead, leaving a tiny hole in front and a large one in back. She was also screaming out "CLEAR! CLEAR! Agent inside is armed. DO NOT SHOOT! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"
Ducky turned the lights on and while everyone's eyes adjusted she watched for Gibbs who came tearing over to her side. They both looked down at the body of Ari Haswari. He was obviously dead, but a very pale Ducky came over to check for a pulse. The HRT team as well as Gibbs' team, Ducky, and Palmer all stared at her in something akin to shock and awe at what she had been able to accomplish singlehandedly and using weapons she found in the room.
She just coldly stared back at them all, she unloaded Ari's gun and handed it to Gibbs, laid the scalpel on the autopsy table and walked out of the room.
Gibbs put Tony in charge while he went to find Chanel. She had been covered in blood, so she had no doubt headed for the showers. He picked up some NCIS sweats for her. She was sobbing in the shower. He climbed in fully dressed and sat next to her holding her while she cried. After a while the sobbing turned into tears, which finally became silent. He helped her up and handed her the sweats and went to get another pair for himself. When he walked back in she was brushing her teeth aggressively trying to remove the taste of her former lover from her mouth. Fortunately, he never tried anything else. He wouldn't have. She had never known him to strike a woman and he certainly would not have taken her by force in autopsy, but she would not have ruled out the eventuality of it. Tony came to the door, seeing Gibbs silently staring at a very quiet and very pained Chanel. Chanel never moved her eyes from those staring back at her but Gibbs reluctantly turned to Tony.
"Sorry Boss. Fornell is in the Director's office waiting to interview Chanel. He has already talked to everyone else. And no, I already asked if it could wait and was told quite clearly it could not."
Before Gibbs could answer, Chanel stepped up and in a completely dead voice she said, "Thank you Tony. I will speak with them and then I will speak with the rest of the team and I will never speak of it again. Can you arrange all of that and see that my father understands as well? He will need to know I am safe of course, but he will not get a play by play, so if he wants one, he needs to hear it here. Jethro, if you will accompany me? I would like for you to stay with me. If they refuse, they can arrest me. I will not talk to them if you cannot be there."
"Let's go. Tony? Any questions? See you in a bit." Gibbs comfortably held Chanel's hand as they left the dressing room. She was a strong woman and at least at this point would not welcome his overt support. A hand held, a slight smile, eyes watching to anticipate her needs, those were the support he would give her.