Chapter 2

"I can't believe she suspended you for two week. I mean I know she hates you, but this is big! So, why is it I'm always the one who gets stuck staying in school?" Alex was trying not to laugh, but he found it hilarious when her attitude got her in trouble.

"Oh shut up!" Ande threw a pillow at his head.

"Oh come on, Ande, it's a little funny," he laughed as he tossed the pillow away. She just rolled her eyes at him, he could tell her mood so he turned serious. "OK, are they really that bad?," he asked her. She didn't look at him or respond, she knew what he was talking about, and she didn't want to talk about it.

Later on that night Don still hadn't got back from work, Alex was asleep, and Ande couldn't sleep. She decided to go hang out with some friends. She was careful not to wake Alex, knowing he'd try to stop her or tell Don, on her way out.

She went to the diner where her friends usually hung out. She stayed there for a couple hours, but her friends had to get home so she decided to go somewhere else. Ande didn't feel like going back to the apartment. She knew Don was going to be furious with her, especially since she didn't even tell Alex where she was going. She was walking around her old neighborhood when she felt someone following her. When she went down the alley, behind the video store she used to work, she'd hoped that she was just being paranoid.

She turned around and saw the man who had been following her turn in behind her. Her jaw dropped when she saw who it was. Oh shit! Ande thought. What the hell is he doing here?? She was starting to panic. Ande wasn't afraid of that much, but this guy did scare her. It was as if her nightmares were becoming real, and it terrified her.

"Alex," Don whispered, lightly shaking Alex to wake him up.

"What?," Alex groaned, barely awake.

"Where's Ande?" Alex was awake now. He looked over to see his sister's bed empty, and let out a sigh.

"Dammit!," Alex sighed in frustration. Don was worried now.

"She didn't even tell you she was going anywhere?," he asked, unable to hide his worry.

"She's probably still pissed at me, and knew I'd tell you where she was going," Alex explained.

"Why is she pissed at you?"

"Who knows," Alex said sarcastically.

"Do you have any idea where she went?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Don't worry about," Don told him. "Just go back to sleep, sorry I woke you." Alex nodded and fell right back to sleep. Don went in and turned the TV on, waiting for Ande to get home.

When he finally heard the door open and close, Don got up to go see where she'd been. Ande stumbled into the kitchen, when she saw Don come in she quickly turned away, hoping he wouldn't see.

"What the hell happened?," Don asked, concern filling his voice as he saw the dried blood on her shirt, and ran over to her.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she replied quickly, hoping he'd let it go. When he turned her around to look at her she winced.

"The hell you are. Now what happened?," he asked as he tried to see how badly she was hurt.

"Nothing, just forget it." She wasn't able to control her emotions as well as she would've liked. Don noticed she seemed panicked, and he'd never seen Ande panic before.

"Look, I can't just forget it. You're hurt, you need to see a doctor," he said firmly.

"No!," she replied just as firm. "Look, I'll be fine." She was trying to sound calm, so that he wouldn't notice her falling apart.

"Ande, you need to-" Don started, but the knock on the door made him stop. "Who the hell is it at this hour?," Don sighed as he started to head for the door, but he turned around to look at Ande first. "We're not done yet, so don't go anywhere." He turned back and went to go answer the door.

Ande took a deep breath, which hurt her ribs. She slid down the wall, barely keeping it together. She hadn't felt like this since the last time she'd seen the guy, although the last time was a whole lot worse. At least this time she hadn't ended up in the hospital, yet. She was still having a hard time dealing with what happened then, now she was on the verge of tears and she couldn't keep it together much longer.

"Who are you?," Don asked as he opened the door.

"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. Are you Don Eppes with the FBI?," Gibbs asked casually.

"Yeah, now what the hell are you doing at my apartment at 5 AM?," Don replied, losing his patience.

"Long story, why don-"

"Uncle Gibbs!," Alex interrupted. He'd heard the familiar voice when he had got up to go the bathroom, and he was surprised to see Gibbs here. Nevertheless, Alex ran over and hugged him.

"Hey kiddo!," Gibbs said, returning the hug.

"OK, what the hell is going on here?," Don asked, very confused.

"Gibbs was in the same unit as Uncle Johnny. Me and Ande were actually born on a marine base, mom was staying with Johnny till she found somewhere else," Alex explained.

"Hey Alex, why don't you give us a second to talk," Gibbs said, wanting to speak to Don anyway.

"Okay." Alex then went in the other room.

"Sorry I didn't explain that little bit of information first," Gibbs said, extending his hand, which Don shook.

"No problem, but that still doesn't explain what you're doing here at 5 in the morning," Don said, still slightly confused about what was going on.

"I need to talk to Ande," Gibbs told him.

"About what?" Don had an uneasy feeling about this.

"What are you doing here Gibbs?," Ande asked bluntly, surprising both Don and Gibbs, neither of whom had seen her there.

"About that," Gibbs told Don, pointing out Ande's injuries. He walked over to Ande without even a glance at Don. "What did I tell you?"

"Don't start this!," Ande warned him. "Why didn't you tell me he was back?"

"What the hell you think I'm doing here at 5 in the morning?!," Gibbs snapped back.

"OK, will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?," Don interrupted impatiently.

"She didn't tell you, did she?," Gibbs asked him.

"Tell me what?"

"Ask her, she needs to be the one to tell you who did this to her," Gibbs said calmly. Don looked at Ande, who was trying to keep herself together, and walked over to her.

"OK, now you need to tell me," Don told her, looking her in the eye. She shook her head, and started to turn away. Don grabbed her arm to stop her, she winced, and he let go. "That's why you need to tell me." She shook her head again, but didn't turn away. "Look, Ande I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

"What the-" Alex had heard the commotion and come back. When he saw his sister he put it all together. "Oh. Oh shit." Ande gave him a scowl, as if to tell him he was making things worse. "Don't give me that look," he said, trying to sound threatening, but then turned dismal. "It was Carl wasn't it?"

"Who's Carl?," Don asked, looking back and forth between Ande and Alex.

"He..." Ande and Alex were staring at each other. Her eyes were practically begging him to shut up, but he couldn't. He looked at her apologetically. "About 5 years ago he was mom's live-in boyfriend," Alex told Don, who took a deep breath.

"What happened?," he asked, this time directing his question to Ande, who wasn't as in control as she had been. Don thought he already knew the answer, but he was praying he was wrong.

Ande was starting to stutter, not able to form words, and not sure of how to explain it. She was losing control, and she knew it. She leaned back against the wall for support, and just slid down, unable to hold herself up any more. Gibbs saw her reaction and stepped in.

"We arrested him 4 years ago. Since he was an ex-Naval officer, it was NCIS jurisdiction. Yesterday he got away during transport. Nobody noticed till last night, that's when they called me," Gibbs explained. He anticipated Don's next question. "Yeah, he came back for her." Don looked back to Ande, who was barely keeping it together at this point.

"Ande...," Don started, bending down beside her. Gibbs motioned to Alex, and they went into the other room to give Don and Ande some privacy. "Ande, please..."

"I can't," she managed to get out. Don opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it. "You don't understand, I can't tell. I can't tell anyone." Ande saw the concerned look on Don's face. "I can't even bring myself to tell Alex, how am I suppose to tell you?"

Oh geez. How can I help her when she's too scared to even tell me what happened? I've never seen her this terrified, hell, I've never even seen her terrified at all. What did this guy do to her? She's falling apart, and I don't know how to stop it., Don was thinking as he was looking at Ande, trying desperately to figure out what to do. He took a few deep breaths before he said anything else.

"Ande..." He paused, still unsure of what to say. "Please...just tell me what happened so I can understand." She didn't say anything. "Please, Ande, I wanna help, but I don't know how. How can I help if I don't know what happened?," he asked her.

"I...I...I don't know," she stuttered. She closed her eyes and looked away. Ande hated being like this, and she especially hated it when she let people see her like this. Don sighed, he could tell she wasn't ready to tell him yet.

"OK, if you won't tell me what happened...will you at least let me take you to see a doctor?," he asked, trying to compromise. "You're hurt, Ande. You need to go to the hospital and get checked out." He was trying to play the dad card without her noticing, or objecting.

"Fine," she agreed hesitantly. She didn't want to go, but she was hurting, and she knew Don wasn't going to back off.