Hello everyone who is reading this!
We are getting close to saving Annie and you finally get Carson's point of view on everybody as well as a little bit of Annie! Trust me, this is not a real song fic-y chapter but I do reference some songs! So I do not own Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri, although it is a gorgeous song I suggest you all listen to, then there is I'm On a Boat by the Lonely Island and Bad Touch by the Bloodhound Gang. With these last two songs, if you do decided to listen to them then I hope you are not upset by crude humor and extreme cursing because that is what those songs are. So I have warned you, now listen at your own peril!
Thank you for all the lovely reviews and putting this story under alert and/or favorties!
Disclaimer is in Chapter 1: Who?
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Jar of Hearts
After the video went dark it would be thirty minutes later when Annie's cell phone went off in Carson's back pocket. She quickly flipped it open and saw the caller ID and knew it was Harrison finally calling her back.
"Carson, I got a hold of Lucas. He won't help at first but he will come around. You are just going to have to wait until I land before we know the exact location where Princess is." Harrison's heavily accented voice crackled over the phone.
"Why?" Carson asked for everyone and they could hear distinct mechanical voice saying something in German, which she translated mentally as talking about flight information, over the loud roar of the people surrounding Harrison.
"Because he refused at first and he also refused when I attempted to bribe him. Apparently this Stryker bastard is very rich, so I threatened him and told him to call me and tell me where Princess is located by the time I land or else he will lose the only thing he loves in this world." Harrison stated and the man, Callen, couldn't help himself.
"And what is that?" He asked.
"His money, he knows that I will find a way into his bank accounts and steal his money. Sheila, why do you have me on speakerphone?" Harrison questioned over the crowd.
"Because everyone over here would be antsy to hear what you are telling me and I really don't waste time repeating myself. When will you be arriving?" Carson countered and Harrison chuckled at that.
"4:30 pm the earliest, don't worry I will contact you as soon as I land and right after I get information from Lucas. See you all later mates." Harrison said before clicking off.
"I will get his flight information through scrubbing the call and make sure that his plane does not get delayed, and if it does we will be the first to know." A short red-haired girl said before turning around to type. This must be the information analyst, Nell Jones. It was astounding at how well Annie described all of her coworkers to Carson and their parents. Even though Hetty introduced the NCIS agents to the Smiths, all of the Smiths knew upon first glance who was who.
They first met Special Agent Kensi Blye and her partner, LAPD liaison Detective Marty Deeks. Upon first entrance Carson was able to tell that the dark haired beauty was Kensi and chuckled at the way Annie described her as a tomboy with swimsuit model potential and attitude of knowing that she was pretty. Carson knew that she and Kensi would get along fine if it was true that the female agent was also a car nut. Annie was also right when it came to describing Deeks.
He had floppy blonde hair, rugged complexion but is actually pretty high maintenance if his clothes and the product he uses for his hair was of any indicator. The man was easy on the eyes that was for sure and also had this sense of confidence like his partner that he fully knew what he looked like and would use that to his advantage. It was also clear that he had this confidence because when Deek's eyes landed on Carson for the first time, the man got this Cheshire cat-like grin that told her that he would hit on her at the soonest possible moment. But, even if that was the case, Annie was right when she said that it was obvious that Deeks and Kensi held a torch to each other but were too stubborn to admit it and were thus always surrounded in this haze of sexual chemistry and tension.
It would be another twenty minutes of Carson and her parents watching the interrogation with Carlos Hernandez and Callen losing his cool before they would meet the other two agents. Again Annie had described them in perfect detail so it didn't take long for Carson to guess who was who and what they were to her sister. The calm demeanor of a SEAL came out in Sam and Carson just knew that he and her sister hit it right off the bat. Both had a quiet but substantial presence that didn't draw the immediate eye and they were war tested although Sam probably didn't know that. Also from the stories that Annie had told her, Sam and Annie had the same sense of humor that endeared them to each other. This humor that they shared especially surrounded one man and that was Sam's partner, Special Agent G Callen.
Carson could see why Annie liked the man immediately, the man was gorgeous. Even Carson felt the initial attraction to him but from the way Callen held himself and the way he reacted to anything that was related to Annie, Carson could tell that he was falling in love with her sister just like Annie was for him and that both of them would suit each other. Both had this enigmatic presence around them that Carson still got with Annie even though they were sisters. It just seemed that Callen and Annie had that quality about them that when paired with their laid back personalities made the two have an extremely cool magnetism that somehow drew people in. But Carson could tell that Callen was more reserved than her sister and that probably made them complement each other. Carson was glad that her sister was falling in love again after the death of her partner, Kevin O'Riley, even though Annie wouldn't admit it out aloud to Carson when she mentioned this after Annie went into one of her extensive story about Callen. Once Carson saved her sister, she was going to get Annie and Callen to realize their feelings for each other and if luck was on her side to get them to agree to go on a date.
Next Carson met Eric and Nell and she was astounded once again at how well her sister was able to read those two and see that they as well had this chemistry about them and that both Eric and Nell were just ignoring it. Carson always knew that Annie could read people just as well as their mother and Carson never understood why Annie didn't utilize this by becoming a phenomenal operator for the NSA or the CIA. No, Annie wanted to be the back-up, the person who hung in the background undetected and eliminated any threats to whatever operation she was a part of. This was how Annie became so good with weapons as a whole.
"Thank you Ms. Jones I believe that we should get back to our routine that we had the previous night. Am I correct Mr. Johnston, Mr. Smith?" Hetty said, officially ending the conversation. As Travis and Jason gathered their things and bid their good-byes, Carson mouthed 'thank you' to the Duchess of Deception for her shift in topics.
After Travis and Jason finally left for the evening, the group of agents repeated what they did the other night. They all took turns grabbing a couple of hours of sleep, whereas for Callen it was several naps throughout the night which was weird to Carson. But because none of his teammates explained nor questioned it, neither did Carson or her parents. When they weren't sleeping, they were pouring over the records, re-watching the videos they had to see if there was anything new they could draw from comparing the two videos. They frustratingly still had nothing by the time the sun rose in Los Angeles, when Travis and Jason re-joined them, and when the video turned back on to a now bandaged but still injured Annie at 9 AM.
"Good morning Annie!" Stryker announced and her sister remained silent. But this didn't seem odd or upsetting to Stryker who continued to chat with her as if Annie wasn't tied up and was actually his girlfriend. Carson was sickened when she noticed the pronounced bruises on her older sister's face and couldn't believe that the strong and cunning Annie she always knew was in this predicament.
Annie has always been the strong older sister to Carson. No matter what trouble Carson got into, St. Annie was always there to bail her out which inspired Carson to be the same to Annie. This image came to Carson ever since she had met Annie. The way Annie broke up the fight between Carson and the stuck-up cheerleader named Missy, the way Annie reprimanded her about Carson's ability to get into fights, the way Annie held herself even as a young teenager and exuded a quiet strength that came from having parents who were in the CIA although Carson didn't know that at the time. Even after Carson was adopted into the Smith family, Annie continued to be the older sister who could take on anything from grades, tutoring Carson, after-school activities, boys, and then figuring out what she wanted to do after high school. All Carson could do was to try to keep up with the vivacious Annie which so happened to lead Carson to the Farm at Langley even though Annie went to work for the NSA.
It was this reason why Carson cringed through the torture that Annie had to go through for the next hour as Annie continued to resist Stryker. The breath Carson held throughout watching the video feed was finally exhaled after Stryker left for one of his meetings and Walker stepped up to treat her new wounds and then to feed/hydrate Annie just enough so that she didn't die from malnutrition but not enough so she could regain enough strength to fight back some more. Although with how stubborn Annie is, that wouldn't matter as long as she had an ounce of strength Annie was going to fight. Another hour went by and Stryker was back but the sick bastard was humming.
"As I was finishing up my business meeting here I was struck with an excellent idea my dear sweet Annie! I want to hear you sing, I haven't heard you sing since before you were engaged!" Stryker proposed and Annie shook her head in a negative.
"Come now, don't I deserve a reward for saving you from those scoundrels last night?" Stryker goaded and everyone in the room was confused as to what the psycho was referring to.
"What is Stryker going on about?" Deeks asked aloud but as expected no one could answer the question they were all wondering about. There was this resigned look on Annie's face and that told Carson that she was going to go through with it. This made Carson's curiosity rise because she would have thought that Annie would have still refused Stryker. Was she really giving into Stockholm syndrome? No, that is not possible with a woman like Annie.
"What do you want to hear?" Annie asked reluctantly and Stryker smiled at this thinking he was winning this war against Annie and her "refusal" to acknowledge that she had feelings for the man.
"What's the first song that pops into your head?" Stryker countered and this time Annie was thoughtful and then she smiled a little.
"Bad Touch by the Lonely Island." She said and got a suspicious look from Stryker. Carson's attention sharpened at her words.
"The Lonely Island, huh?" Stryker stated and it was clear that the man didn't think that was a real band but Annie nodded her head all the same.
"Oh yes, you haven't heard of them before? Akiva "Kiv" Schaffer, Jorma "Jorm" Taccone, and Andy Samberg are the main members and this song features T-Pain. You can look it up if you don't believe me." Annie replied nonchalantly and Stryker seemed to think about this although Carson was confused with what her sister was saying.
"That's wrong," Carson muttered aloud and got the attention of her parents, Hetty, and Callen who were all standing the closest to her and were able to overhear what she said.
"What's that Ms. Smith?" Hetty asked and that made everyone's attention to turn her.
"What Annie just said was wrong. Bad Touch is not a song by The Lonely Island; it's by the Bloodhound Gang." Carson clarified.
"Are you sure?" Mom asked and Carson nodded.
"It's my favorite song." She responded but before anyone else could comment Annie's voice called everyone's gaze and full attention back to the screen in front of them.
"Not a Lonely Island fan? It's alright they are kind of a hit sensation thank to SNL and YouTube. How about we go to the other spectrum? I bet you would like Once Upon a December which is sung by the Disney princess Ariel, although that is a relatively sad song." Annie said and that got the attention of Sam, Callen, and Travis.
"She got that song wrong too." Travis stated and Carson perked up at this along with everybody in the room.
"Ariel has never sung that song in The Little Mermaid nor its sequels. What is she doing?" Travis asked and confusion overcame the small group in the NCIS ops center.
"She is trying to tell us something. Annie got our attention by choosing significant songs but gave us the wrong band or artist names." Callen said in shock.
"What do you mean by significant songs? I have never heard of Once Upon a December before, let alone from my own daughter." Dad questioned the NCIS agent.
"Once Upon a December is the song that Annie sung me to sleep with." Callen replied softly, his eyes trained on the screen as Stryker continued to stare at Annie in suspicion at her song choices. Carson exchanged surprised looks with her parents, Jason, and Travis who knew that Annie had lost all interest in singing for anybody unless it was a birthday. This man definitely meant something to Annie if she had sung the sexy agent to sleep.
"Sing something that reminds you of our relationship." Stryker stated but still had this suspicious look on his face. Carson knew that if Annie was really trying to convey a message to her friends and family here at NCIS then she needed to choose this next song wisely for Stryker was onto her methods.
"Alright," Annie said and thought long and hard about what she was going to sing. This pause between Stryker and Annie allowed Hetty to come up with something.
"Mr. Beale, Ms. Jones, could you research any songs by the Lonely Island featuring the artist T-Pain? If the song titles have relation to us then maybe so does the artists. Mr. Johnston, you seem to know about the Disney princess Ariel, can you tell us anymore?" Hetty rattled off and Carson as well as the other NCIS agents turned to Travis.
"Well Ariel is the mermaid princess from The Little Mermaid and Aisha's favorite Disney movie. It's about Ariel, who as I stated earlier ago was a mermaid, who wishes to become human and walk along the beach especially after she saves the handsome human prince, Eric. Her father obviously disapproves and so Ariel plays straight into the hands of the evil sea witch Ursula. Ursula, who wants to take control of the sea from Ariel's father King Triton, thinks she can do this through Ariel. Ursula and Ariel make a deal that if Ariel, as a mute human girl, could get a 'true love's kiss' in three days from Prince Eric than Ariel can become an official human and marry Prince Eric. If Ariel fails than Ariel is bound to Ursula forever. Ariel gets close but Ursula turns into a human and with Ariel's voice entrances Eric and hypnotizes him into marrying her. One of Ariel's animal friends finds out and tells Ariel who tries to stop the marriage. Eric is broken out of his trance when Ariel's animal friend breaks Ursula's necklace that contained Ariel's voice. Eric leans in to kiss Ariel, who had gotten her voice back, but it happens too late and thus Ariel failed and the contract with Ursula was still binding. King Triton goes to save his daughter by relinquishing his power over the sea to Ursula in exchange for Ariel's freedom. Eric goes to save Ariel who was being held captive by Ursula and kills Ursula. King Triton, seeing how happy his daughter was with Eric, used his renewed power to transform Ariel into a human. She and Eric get married and live happily ever after." Travis explained and they all pondered what was Annie's intentions by mentioning The Little Mermaid in the first place and its connection to her and her situation.
"No, I can't take one moresteptowards you," Annie's voice once more drew their attention back in and Carson couldn't believe Annie was going to sing this song. But then, that was expected from the persistently stubborn Annie.
"'Cause all that's waiting is regret
And don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore
You lost the love
I loved the mostI learned to live, half alive
And now you want me one more timeAnd who do you think you are?
Runnin' round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart…" Annie sang but was cut off by the outraged Stryker. He slapped her across the face, hard by the resounding noise from when his hand made contact with her face. Stryker then stormed out of the room as Annie laughed and continued to sing.
"You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are?
I hear you're asking all around
If I am anywhere to be found
But I have grown too strong
To ever fall back in your armsI learned to live, half-alive
And now you want me one more timeAnd who do you think you are?
Runnin round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are?" As Annie finished, Carson could feel her tear ducts sting with unshed tears but she still chuckled at how well Annie chose the song that would best fit her relationship to Stryker.
"Oh my god, Annie is a genius." Eric stated in awe and brought Carson's attention as well as everyone else's to the techie as he stared in open amazement at his computer, making it pretty clear that he was commenting on something else other than Annie's singing.
"What have you found Mr. Beale?" Hetty asked after he wouldn't elaborate.
"The Lonely Island have only collaborated on one song with T-Pain. It's called I'm on a Boat." He answered and Carson knew that this must have been Annie's clue to them. She was trying to tell them where she was.
"Mr. Beale could you-" Hetty began but Nell cut her off.
"Checking the Port of Los Angeles schedule, cross-checking the security footage with that of black vans and the pictures of the drivers to that of the ones we have seen thus far in the video feed of Annie." Nell stated and the three techies, Eric, Nell, and Travis, started to type furiously.
"Now, what does The Little Mermaid have anything to do with where Annie is being held?" Kensi asked and thus all the other agents started brainstorming.
"Sweetheart, didn't Annie write her thesis paper for her master's degree in Art History about the artists' depiction of piracy during its golden age?" Mom spoke up and directed it towards Dad. Both Carson and Director Smith lit up in understanding.
"On it," Travis said and started typing once more, hacking through the American University page to Annie's old advisor's account to recover her thesis paper.
"What does that have anything to do with The Little Mermaid?" Deeks asked this time.
"Annie mentions specifically about how on the pirates' ships there were figureheads that related specifically to the name of the ship, including mermaid figure heads as being a common motif." Dad said and then they heard Travis curse.
"None of the ships Annie mentions in her paper have descendants or their names haven't been passed down to any boats in the Port of Los Angeles currently."
"Then the ship has to somehow relate directly to The Little Mermaid." Sam said and so Travis went back to his computer to see if he could create an algorithm between the Little Mermaid and the names of the ships in the Port of Los Angeles.
"Bingo!" Eric exclaimed and the group of agents turned to him.
"We got video recording of three black vans with no plates and similar description to the ones Callen and Sam chased." Eric began and Nell continued.
"One of the vans has Jose Hernandez sitting shot gun with one of the mercenaries that was set up to fight Annie and was killed by Stryker. The other three mercenaries were spotted in similar black vans heading into the Pot of Los Angeles. If we continue to follow them through the security cameras they head to a ship called-" This time Travis cut in.
" 'Den Lille Havfrue' which is Danish for The Little Mermaid. It is leaving today at 5:30 and heading to the Philippines first and then to Indonesia which is probably where Stryker is going to get off because there is no extradition there. No wonder the bastard is cocky about getting away with kidnapping Annie." Travis finished.
"Great, now let's get my daughter back." Dad said and they all began to formulate a tactical plan to take the ship without Annie dying in the process.