A/N: Once again, thank you for all of the new alerts! This little story is growing quite the fan base!
Chris LaSalle tried to fill in the missing pieces of the accident as he sat in the bedside chair, looking over at his partner. It had taken all of the energy he had to pull himself out of bed and walk the twenty steps across the room to where his snow white lay sleeping as if she were waiting for her prince. Even at her worst she still looked amazing. Behind the cuts and bruises were the high cheekbones and beautiful porcelain skin that made her so beautiful.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't do more to protect you," Gently, he brushed the uninjured side of her face with his index finger. He would have moved Heaven and Earth to spare her the horror of their accident had he remembered it. But all he could recall was waking up after the fact. The truth was Chris LaSalle would never remember the minute details that he so desperately needed to fill in the blanks because he hadn't consciously lived through them. He would only remember the anguish and pain of having to wait for what seemed like hours for help to arrive.
Profusely, he apologized unaware that his words were prompting the missing pieces to flood Merri Brody's mind.
Chris! Brody silently screamed out her partner's name as the truck started to tumble down the embankment, rolling several times. Although she had been secured by the seatbelt, Brody still felt her body slam back and forth between the dash and the door like a Ping-Pong ball. Unable to control her movements she was helpless to brace herself against the glass and debris that were shredding through her skin. When the truck finally stopped, Brody was seeing double, but even so she was still willing to fight.
Anger coursed through her as she looked over at her partner. Desperately, she wanted to reach out to him, but she couldn't. The sleep paralysis would have to wear off at some point and when it did she would fight tooth and nail to get them out of this. Being the only one who had actually seen their attacker, she had to survive, she would survive.
Hang on, just hang on.
"You really care about her don't you?" Bethany had appeared from nowhere, or maybe LaSalle just hadn't been paying attention.
"She's my partner. We're federal agents."
"So, how long have you been in love with her," Bethany challenged earning a heated look. "I could tell by the way you grabbed my wrist."
Unconsciously, Chris felt his signature grin slip across his face. He had yet to figure out his feelings where Meredith Brody was concerned. They might turn into something one day, or they might just be the the bond that existed between partners finally starting to surface. Either way, it wasn't something he was ready to explore yet.
"I'm not in love with her and I'm sorry if I hurt ya earlier."
"Don't apologize," Bethany smiled her hazel eyes growing wide. "I'm all for true love and romance, but it's time for your medication, so I need you back in bed. Not to mention, you're on restricted movement, with a cracked sternum you could risk doing further damage to your heart and lungs. So, I'm going to have to curtail your date here with Miss Brody."
"I told you-"Chris began only to have her cut him off.
"If you get out of bed by yourself again, I'm going to have to restrain you."
"I'd like to see you try," Chris quipped watching as she rolled her eyes.
"Don't tempt me."
The partial print came back to a man named Carson Meacham, an aspiring chemist in his mid-thirties, and by chemist Pride meant, the self-made kind, the Walter Whites of the world.
Meacham, sounded like a guy who should be running for office, and not a guy wanted for questioning about the attempted murder of two NCIS agents. But as Pride had come to know over the year's murderers came in all shapes and sizes.
Weapons trained, Pride shouted a warning and kicked down the front door of a three bedroom ranch style house, nestled off in the backwoods just outside, NOLA. Moving in sync, Pride and Borin combed through the house until they came across something quite unnerving.
Both Pride and Borin stared at what appeared to be in LaSalle speak, a wall of crazy. Three pictures formed a perfect triangle: Pride at the top, Brody and LaSalle at the respective corners. Above Pride's picture were the words: Death to the King. Brody and LaSalle's picture were "X" out in what looked to be blood.
"Somebody doesn't like you," Borin commented trying to ease the tension.
"The feeling is mutual," Pride returned noting a small vile left on the small sofa back table below the pictures. It was the kind of vile that doctors used to fill syringes. Pride eyed the vile for several seconds before slipping it into the pocket of his jacket. He would have Sebastian analyze it later.
Pushing forward, Pride spotted a laptop, sitting on the kitchen table. Someone has recently used this." Pride said, moving the mouse to bring up the desktop. Scanning the icons, three file folders caught his eye: Pride, LaSalle, Brody. Meachum had a file on all of them: personal information, medical history, likes, dislikes and their achievements at NCIS. He knew all of their strengths, weaknesses, and intimate details of their personal lives.
This was more than a little disturbing Abigail thought as they managed to open a subfield with a link to the hospital's medical records; the plan of treatment for both Brody and LaSalle was staring her right in the face. Damn this guy was good! Not only had he been able to hack into their records, but he'd also been able to make changes to the medication log. At first, she thought it was nothing but then a thought occurred to her.
"Hey Pride. By chance is LaSalle allergic to sulfur drugs?" It was just a hunch, but given the list of drugs that had just been added to LaSalle's plan of treatment, she had a sickening feeling.
"Deathly, why?"
"We need to get back to the hospital now," Borin started to explain when she caught a figure in her peripheral vision come down the stairs and bolt out the front door.
"Call Loretta and explain your theory!" Pride ordered giving chase.
Loretta was in her lab, performing an autopsy when her phone rang. "Agent Borin!" she beamed cheerfully into her hands free system. "What can I do for you?"
"Are you with Brody and LaSalle?"
"Not at the moment, but I checked on them both a little while go. They did another cat scan on Merri-"
"I need you to get back up to the ICU. Don't let anyone give them anything unless you administer it yourself!" Borin cut her off filling in vague details. She knew she would have to explain the rest later but right now, she needed Loretta to get back to the fallen agents.
Loretta caught the first elevator to the ICU. When she arrived Bethany was standing over Chris injecting something into his I.V line.
"STOP!" Loretta shouted, watching the slender nurse push all the way down on the plunger before discarding the syringe. Loretta immediately started to move toward Chris intent on removing his IV, only to be stopped by the appearance of a 22 in Bethany's hands.
Raising her hands, Loretta could only watch as Chris' hand shot up grabbing at the gun. The stupid woman, he couldn't believe that she had fallen for that again. Yanking on her arm, he pulled her over the bed railing, straight into his lap, Bethany's fingers still fast on the trigger as the gun discharged.
"Christopher!" Loretta yelled as crimson started to stain the sterile bright white of the sheets.
Whoops! Lots of questions here! Brody is the only who knows who the baddie is! Who is Pride chasing? Who took the bullet? Chris? Loretta? Evil Nurse Bethany? Let me know your thoughts!