(AN) Hello and welcome to the next chapter of Dark Obsession. I hope you all enjoy.
In the last chapter, Knight's life was left hanging in the balance after taking a bullet for Audrey: will she survive.
Credit to DS2010 for some of the dialogue in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. All characters and locations are owned by Belisarius Productions and CBS Studios.
Chapter Three
Audrey was anxiously waiting for news in the waiting room. Audrey had gone with her in the back of the ambulance and had called Jimmy first, who sounded terrified when he heard what had happened, she had then called Kevin. Jess was currently in surgery.
Audrey looked up as Jimmy raced into the room, closely followed by Parker, McGee, Torres, Kasie, Vance, Ducky and Kevin. Parker was holding a box of doughnuts.
"Audrey, what happened?" asked a panicky Jimmy as Audrey got to her feet.
"Christina confronted us in an alleyway," began Audrey shakily, "S-she had a gun and Jess tried to talk her down, b-but Christina punched her in the f-face and advanced towards me … J-Jess, s-she managed to get back up and s-somehow leapt off a dumpster, got in front of me and took a bullet to the chest. T-then Christina ran and I called 9-1-1."
"She must've been fuelled by adrenaline," remarked McGee darkly, "When we see somebody we care about in danger,we're capable of almost anything."
Audrey then rushed over and shared a hug with Kevin.
"I-is she going to be okay?" asked a terrified Jimmy as Audrey turned to face him.
"I'm sorry, Jimmy, but I haven't heard a thing since they took her in for surgery." answered Audrey, who felt so sorry for Jimmy: he'd already lost Breena, and now he was facing the possibility of loosing Jess.
"How about we sit down and enjoy these doughnuts," suggested Parker, "I find they help in a stressful situation. Don't worry, we'll find this woman; mark my words."
The group sat down and Parker began handing out doughnuts. Everybody was filled with shock and anger: Christina had now truly crossed a line by trying to shoot Audrey and then running when she accidentally shot Jess.
A short while later, a surgeon walked into the waiting room and approached the group. Jimmy sprang to his feet and approached the surgeon.
"Are you Ms Knight's family?" asked the surgeon.
"I'm her boyfriend, and I've called her parents and sister, but they're also family," said Jimmy before indicating the rest of the group, who had also risen to their feet, "How is she? Is she going to be okay."
"The surgery went well," answered the surgeon calmly, "We were able to extract the bullet from Ms Knight's thoracic cage, and you will be pleased to know that the bullet didn't hit any vital organs. Outside of a minor concussion and a broken nose, Ms Knight has suffered no brain damage or serious injury."
"Oh thank God," sighed Jimmy in relief, "Can we go in to see her?"
"You may," answered the surgeon, "She's currently resting at the minute, and remember, only five visitors max."
Everybody nodded in understanding. The surgeon walked away.
Parker, Kevin, Audrey, Jimmy and Kasie entered Jess's room. Jess was hooked up to various machines and wearing a hospital gown. She was currently sleeping.
Jimmy and Kasie sat in two seats next to the bed. Jimmy took Jess's hand and gently squeezed it, causing Jess to suddenly squeeze his hand. The agent's eyes fluttered open, she then turned to look at Jimmy. "Hey." she said quietly.
"Hey," said Jimmy, smiling in relief, "Are you okay?"
"I feel like I've been hit by a truck, but I'll be alright," assured Jess before looking at Parker, "I don't think there's any reasoning with Christina. I tried reasoning with her, but she wouldn't listen: she was determined to kill Audrey and said that after she'd done that, Kevin would be hers."
"I'm so sorry, Jess." said Audrey quietly.
"Don't be silly," replied Jess, "The person at fault is that psychopath."
"Animal!" snarled Kevin, "What do we do now!"
"We're going to do everything we can to keep you safe," assured Parker as he looked at Kevin and Audrey, "We're doing training for that marathon tomorrow, so we'll be able to keep an eye on you."
"Thank you, Parker." said Audrey.
"I'll help too." said Jess as she began trying to sit up and get out of bed.
Jimmy quickly and gently pushed Jess back into a lying position. "You need to rest and recover first," he stated, "It'll take a few weeks, but you'll be better in no time, so take it easy."
"We'll also have to contact the people in charge of the marathon." remarked Parker.
Jess was about to protest, but then sighed in defeat as she saw the concerned looks everyone was giving her. Jimmy was also likely having bad flashbacks to when Breena had been hospitalised, so he didn't need the worry.
After failing to kill Audrey, Christina decided that she needed help if she wanted Kevin back, and she knew how to get it. Christina had a few friends who had criminal records, and she knew that they'd do anything for a good price.
Christina stepped up to the front door of a house and rang the doorbell. After a few moments, the door opened and a burly, young man with spiky, ginger hair peered out. This was Michael Finster.
"Christina, what do you want?" asked Michael grumpily.
"I need your help." replied Christina.
"I bet you do," snarked Michael, "I've seen the news: you're wanted for rape and now the attempted murder of a federal agent."
Michael led Christina into the living room, where three other men were sitting on the sofa, watching the sports while drinking cans of coke. These were Ben Marshall, Johnny Pryce and Brian Miller. They were also burly. Ben had dark skin and a shiny bald head; Johnny had red hair and Brian had blond hair.
"Christina?" cried Ben in surprise before grinning, "Tell me, did you think things through before deciding to shoot a federal agent?"
"I was aiming for her friend," explained Christina through gritted teeth before smiling, "I need your help to get rid of my ex boyfriend's wife so that I can have him to myself."
"Okay, but what's in it for us?" asked Michael.
"I'll let you do whatever you want with the woman and her daughter." promised Christina.
Wicked grins spread across the faces of the four men.
"It's a deal!" hissed Michael.
The next day, Parker, McGee, Torres, Kevin and Audrey were training for the marathon in Rock Creek Park; all were wearing the outfits they would be wearing for the marathon. Audrey decided to take one of the many hiking paths, while Kevin and Parker would be nearby just in case something happened.
Unbeknownst to Audrey, Christina was watching her from the bushes. She had discovered where everybody was training for the marathon via the Twitter account of the guy in charge of the marathon, who had said that everybody would be using Rock Creek Park for training for those wanting to partake. Christina took out a phone and contacted Michael. "I've found the path she's using." she said.
As Audrey passed one of the more difficult turns, Michael, Ben, Johnny and Brian, who were wearing blue hoodies, leapt out of the bushes and surrounded her. The brunette was taken by surprise, but assumed that they were fellow joggers, so she moved past them and continued on her way. After a few moments, Audrey turned and yelped as she saw the men were chasing after her. Audrey tried to run faster, but the men were too quick. Michael grabbed her round the chest.
"Get away from me!" cried a panicky Audrey as she struggled against Michael's grip.
Audrey kicked Michael in the groin, forcing him to let go while crying out in pain, she then began exchanging punches and kicks with the other three men, but Ben quickly shoved her to the ground. Johnny and Brian grabbed the terrified brunette's legs, while Johnny wrapped his arms around her torso. Together, the two men lifted Audrey up and carried her kicking and screaming over to some nearby bushes before tossing her to the ground.
Audrey's eyes widened in fear as the four men surrounded her. Audrey attempted to kick out, but Ben and Johnny got on either side of her and pinned her legs to the ground. Michael pulled out a machete and put it to the trembling woman's neck. "Don't try to fight, lady!" he hissed seductively.
"Please, don't kill me!" begged a terrified Audrey.
"Oh, we're not going to kill you just yet," stated Johnny, "First, we're going to have a little fun."
Michael removed the machete from Audrey's neck before putting it away, kneeling down and gently caressing Audrey's cheek, causing her to shudder. Ben and Johnny removed their hands from Audrey's legs and Michael began trying to pull her pants down.
"No stop, please no!" pleaded Audrey as she struggled to break free, "Please, don't hurt me! Help! HELP! HELP!"
"Shut up, or I'll gut you!" snarled Michael.
"Audrey!" cried Kevin's voice.
"Are you alright!" came Parker's voice.
"KEVIN! PARKER, I'M OVER HERE!" shouted Audrey before the men could stop her.
The four men looked up as they heard approaching footsteps.
"Come on, let's go!" barked Michael.
The four men ran off, leaving Audrey trembling on the ground.
Audrey got her breathing under control before slowly staggering to her feet and brushing herself down. A few moments later, Parker and Kevin came bursting through the bushes.
"Are you alright?" asked Kevin as he rested his hands on Audrey's shoulders.
"Yeah, a bit shaken, but I'll be fine." replied Audrey shakily.
"What happened?" asked a concerned Parker.
Audrey quickly recounted what happened and gave a description of the men.
"You don't think this has anything to do with Christina, do you?" asked Kevin to Parker.
"I'm not sure," answered Parker, "There's no evidence of a possible connection, but we'll check to see who Christina may be connected to."
"Thanks, Parker." thanked Audrey.
After returning to the main area of the park, Parker sent McGee and Torres to canvas the area and see if anybody saw the men that Audrey had described. Some time later, McGee and Torres met up with Parker.
"One jogger spotted four men matching Audrey's description following her into the area where she was attacked." informed McGee.
"Do you think Christina hired these men to go after Audrey?" asked Torres in concern.
"I'm not sure," replied Parker, "When we get back, I want you and McGee to dig into Christina's socials: see if she's crossed paths with these guys."
"Will do." replied Torres.
Later on at NCIS HQ, Parker entered the bullpen, where he found McGee and Torres staring at McGee's computer.
"Find anything?" asked Parker.
"I think we have," began McGee before clicking the plasma screen remote and bringing up info on the plasma screen, "Christina's social media presence is public, so we were ble to gain easy access to her Twitter profile. Turns out that four of Christina's personal friends are Michael Fletcher, Ben Marshall, Johnny Pryce and Brian Miller."
McGee clicked the remote again and four images popped up; all showing the four men in question, who all matched Audrey's description.
"All four have criminal records for physical and sexual assault," said McGee gravely, "I'll put out a BOLO out for them."
Over in an alleyway, Christina was having a meeting with Michael, Ben, Johnny and Brian.
"Sorry we weren't able to kill her." apologised Brian.
"It doesn't matter," said Christina, "I've got a much better plan where we can kill two birds with one stone. I know where the Dalys live: all we have to do is lie in wait and find a good opportunity to get them where we want them."
"Sounds good to me." remarked Michael.
Christina and the four men grinned evily.
The next day at Metro PD HQ, Audrey was waiting patiently outside the office of Commissioner Jeff Barnes. The day after Knight had been shot, Audrey had decided to write her letter of complaint to Metro PD, Audrey had been contacted by Metro, who informed her that she would be granted an audience with Commissioner Jeff Barnes. A tall woman with blonde hair stepped out of the office and approached Audrey. "Mrs Daly, the commissioner will see you now."
"Thank you." said Audrey as she rose to her feet.
Audrey entered the office. Commissioner Barnes was sitting behind his desk. He was a chubby, middle-aged man with wavy grey hair and a moustache. Standing beside the desk was Detective Sammy Wells.
"Mrs Daly," greeted Barnes as he and Audrey shook hands, "I'm glad you agreed to this meeting, please, take a seat."
Audrey sat down in front of the desk.
"I must admit that your simple request for a private apology kind of took me by surprise," said Barnes, "Many others in your position would have sued the department."
"I don't want to cause any drama by taking on Metro," explained Audrey, "Despite your faults, I respect the work that you and your men and women try to do: three of your detectives once helped NCIS catch some violent robbers that attacked me and my family. All I'm looking for is for Detective Wells to apologise and understand thaat the way she acted towards me was wrong."
"I understand," replied Barnes, "Her captain had very strong words with her after the complaint was filed. Now ladies, I hope you can both settle this argument like civilised adults."
"I am truly sorry for what I said," said Sammy, speaking for the first time, "The way I acted was inexcusable, I hope that you will accept my apology."
"I forgive you," replied Audrey before shaking hands with Sammy, "I hope that you learn from this and become a great detective."
"Thank you." replied Sammy, "I hope your husband recovers and that NCIS catches the woman responsible."
After the meeting, Audrey left, feeling much better.
Two days passed with no further incidents or even sightings of Christina and her four friends. While Kevin and Audrey believed that maybe Christina had given up, Parker and the rest of the team were not convinced and were worried that Christina could be secretly laying some kind of trap.
And unfortunately, they were right. Christina and her friends had been secretly watching the Dalys house for the past two days; watching their comings and goings. On the second evening, the group spied Kevin and Audrey heading out the front door, but Emma seemed to be staying behind. Judging from their conversation, Emma appeared to be having the house to herself for the first time. The group watched as Emma closed the front door and Kevin and Audrey got into Kevin's car.
"Now is the time to act!" hissed Christina as she watched the car drive off.
She and the men began moving towards the house. The four men were wearing dark clothing.
Despite Kevin's concerns, Emma was enjoying the time she had to herself. She was currently getting snacks ready so that she could start her MCU marathon with Iron Man. Before sitting down, the teen groaned as she suddenly remembered that she had to take out the trash. Emma took the two trash bags outside and threw them into the bin. She had left the back door open.
The blonde began to head back into the house when suddenly, she felt a hand clamp itself around her mouth and an arm wrap itself around her neck, which caused her to let out a muffled scream. Emma tried to fight, but it was no use as the unseen figure pushed her through the back door; ignoring the terrified begging and pleading. Emma heard the back door close. The fourteen year old was then thrown on to the sofa. Emma looked up and her eyes widened in fear at the sight of Christina, Michael, Ben, Johnny and Brian aiming assault riffles at her face.
"Ahhh, you must be the daughter!" sneered Christina.
"And you m-must be the psycho bitch that raped my dad," said Emma in a voice quivering with fear as she quickly put two and two together, "And you must be those thugs that tried to assault my mom."
"Clever girl," said Christina in a sing-song voice, "You're going to do exactly as we say, or else, your parents are going to come home to your bloody corpse!"
"W-what do you want me t-to do!" asked a terrified Emma.
"Call your parents and convince them to come home!" ordered Christina.
"N-no, please!" begged Emma.
"DO IT!" roared Christina before slapping Emma across the face.
A trembling Emma got to her feet, picked up her phone and called her dad.
Kevin placed his phone on the dashboard as it started ringing, he then answered. "Hey, peanut, how's it going?" he asked cheerfully.
"Dad, listen, I need you and mom to come home right now," said Emma, "I-I don't think I'm quite ready to be at home on my own."
"Aww, but you were so sure." said a surprised Kevin.
"I only thought I was." lied Emma.
"Okay, peanut, we'll be home in a minute." promised Kevin.
Kevin then ended the call.
"You are such a sook," remarked Audrey, smiling, "Just one of the reasons that I love you."
The couple exchanged a kiss. Kevin then drove in the direction of the house.
Kevin and Audrey arrived home and entered the hallway.
"Emma?" called out Audrey.
"In the living room." came Emma's voice.
Kevin and Audrey entered the living room and yelped in surprise at the sight of Christina and three of the men aiming assault rifles at them. Brian had his arm wrapped around Emma's neck.
"On your knees!" ordered Christina in a threatening manner, "Now! or I'll get my friend to kill your little girl!"
Kevin and Audrey slowly raised their hands before going down on their knees.
"Do whatever you want with the mom and daughter!" said Christina to her friends before leering at Kevin, "Leave this one to me!"
(AN) And that's all for this chapter of Dark Obsession; hope you all enjoyed.
Next time, we see the climax of this story: will the Dalys survive?
Until then, this is TimeLordMaster108 signing out.