NCIS

Let there be blood

Chapter 8

As I lay dying

McGee was silent ever since he left NCIS with Kate. It was beginning to drive her insane she couldn't stand the thought of anyone being upset with her. They had quite a long way to go to get Joann Fielding from her home in Fairfax. By now she would have had time to make her way back there after leaving the crime scene.

From the corner of his eye he could see her staring out the window. A knife was needed to cut the tension between them right now. She had questions and he had the answers yet she was afraid of offending him like she had Gibbs and Tony. Based on what she learned Brooke meant a lot to McGee too.

After awhile McGee sighed. "You know you can ask me anything Kate."

"Are you sure?" She wondered softly.

McGee kept his eyes on the road ahead and nodded. "Yeah, I am."

"How did this happen?" Kate knew she was asking a lot of the same questions but the answers were also different depending on who she asked.

"How did what happen?" McGee asked politely.

Kate realized she hadn't been specific with her inquiry so she tried again. "I guess I'm just curious about Brooke…well I just want to know what she's like. It didn't seem like a good idea to ask Tony or Gibbs."

McGee knew that Kate actually wanted to know the details on how Brooke 'died'. He could tell by the pause and how she rephrased the original question. He decided to play along and pretend he hadn't noticed.

"I have no idea who she is anymore to tell you the truth Kate. What she went through…it probably scarred her for life. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. For the last three years she's had to deal with it alone. I can only hope that Brooke is the same person she was before and that this mess will be over soon." McGee explained.

Kate looked over at her partner as every word sunk in. "Sounds like you really care about her Tim."

McGee shook his head and released a heavy sigh. "I love her Kate."

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Brooke couldn't remember the last time she held her breath in this way. She couldn't say she had ever felt so much fear in her life. As she approached the body covered by a sheet her heart was beating like it never had before. If not for Jenny guiding her toward the slab Brooke would still be frozen in place at the door.

Ducky gave her a sympathetic look as he waited patiently for Brook to give him a sign that she was ready to look. He had known the truth that Brooke was alive all along for obvious reasons. He could only imagine the conversation with Gibbs on the subject.

The walk from the door to the center of the room felt as though it took a lifetime. Ziva and Fornell were already at the table both hoping that a positive identification would be made.

Jenny stopped when there was nowhere left to go. Brooke stared at the sheet covering the body where she knew the victim's face would be.

Ducky watched her waiting for her to be ready and give him a signal of sorts. Brooke took a deep breath before making eye contact with the Medical Examiner and nodding in a subtle manner just enough for him to notice.

Everyone was silent as Ducky brought his hands up to pull the sheet away from the victim's head. He paused however when the automatic doors slid open. Brooke who was already trembling from anticipation glanced over her shoulder and the others looked toward the entrance as well.

"Tony." Brooke whispered surprised that he came down. "I thought you were with Shannon." She managed to add softly.

Fornell looked pissed that Tony was there but kept his mouth shut for now. Ziva stood just as quietly waiting and watching the couple.

Tony walked further in to the large room and over to his wife not caring at all what Jenny or Fornell might have to say about this stunt later. The agent already knew that Brooke was alive anyway nothing was going to change that fact now.

"Shannon is with Abby, I couldn't let you do this alone…I mean…without me." The Italian explained.

When he reached her Tony took her hand into his larger one and gave it a gentle squeeze letting Brooke know she had his support and he wasn't going anywhere. As mad as he was over everything, especially Shannon's fake death, he knew Brooke needed him. At the moment he didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive her but they could sort through that later. Tony knew that the case needed to come first even though he'd rather deal with family business.

Brooke smiled weakly at Tony. She felt a hell of a lot stronger with the man she loved at her side. The female DiNozzo took another deep breath before nodding a second time at Ducky to continue.

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Gibbs could not seem to think straight despite how hard he tried to. There was so much going on that not even a night of boat building and bourbon drinking could fix it. The team leader stopped just outside of the forensics lab and leaned against the wall. Gibbs needed to remind himself that no matter what none of this was Abby's fault. As upset as he was over the entire situation with Brooke he knew in his heart that Abby was an innocent bystander. She was as much a daughter to him as Brooke. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her by taking out his frustrations on the wrong person.

Once he was ready to break his own rule on apologizing Gibbs moved away from the wall and entered the lab. Just when he thought everything was about to be settled his eyes fell on his granddaughter. In that moment Gibbs became speechless, not that he really talked much to begin with but that was beside the point.

"Papa!" Shannon went running toward Gibbs like she had with Tony when she saw him. Gibbs bent down to pick her up and once he was back on his feet he looked over the little girl's shoulder at Abby.

The scientist had turned her back on her computer when she heard Shannon squeal and rush toward the doorway. Abby bit her lip hoping that this wouldn't get ugly, she wasn't sure if she could handle another person being mad at her for something that was out of her hands.

Gibbs wanted to be pissed but it was just taking too much energy to continue to feel that way. He should count his blessings that his family was alive and well even if it was all happening under his nose. He softened his expression to let Abby know that she was not on his bad side then proceeded to close his eyes as he embraced his grandchild.

It felt as though it was too good to be true, that he was going to wake up at any moment but for the first time in a long time he was happy. As bittersweet as all of this was there was no greater relief than knowing that everyone he cared about was okay, maybe not emotionally, at least not yet but they were healthy. For the time being that's what mattered most.

"I missed you Papa." Shannon confessed as her little arms wrapped around his neck.

Gibbs couldn't help but smile and pulled back just a bit to look at her. "I missed you too kiddo." It was clear that Gibbs had a way with children and always had. "Have you been helping Abby?"

The small redhead nodded and grinned, showing off the fact that she had lost a couple of baby teeth already in the front.

Gibbs chuckled and shifted her to rest on his hip. "Good girl." He couldn't get over the fact that Shannon seemed so grown up to him now even though she was only five. It probably had to do with the fact that he missed out on the last three years of her life.

"Abby, what do you have for me?" Gibbs wondered while suddenly wishing he had remembered to get her a Caf-Pow. With all that was going on he was a bit too preoccupied.

Abby smiled pleased that Gibbs did not appear to be ready to give her a difficult time like DiNozzo had. It was truly the last thing she needed.

"Well I was finally able to test the samples that Ducky sent up to me. By the way Palmer thinks Brooke is Ziva…but you don't want to hear about that. Anyway I figured out that our guy downstairs was definitely…um…" Abby paused looking from Gibbs to Shannon and back.

Gibbs really didn't want to put the child down but it would not be ideal for a girl so young and innocent to hear what Abby was about to tell him. Gibbs looked at Shannon and gave smiled warmly at her. "Shannon-"

"I know…I'm too little to hear this." Shannon said with a sigh. Gibbs chuckled and set her down watching her pass through the doors to sit at Abby's desk and color. When he was sure that Shannon was out of earshot he turned back to Abby who was laughing.

"What's so funny?" Gibbs had to ask considering what they were all going through.

"I was just thinking that Shannon is so much like Brooke…Tony too but it's not as obvious since…"Abby trailed off and Gibbs nodded.

"Yeah, I know so what did you get from the samples you tested?"

Abby sighed prepping herself for the discussion. "Okay as I was saying that guy in autopsy was definitely being poisoned. Based on the hair sample it's been happening for awhile. The killer started using smaller doses of arsenic at first but apparently John Doe wasn't dying fast enough. He ended up dropping dead but like I said there was intent to kill here." Abby explained. While she spoke she showed Gibbs her findings on the computer screen.

"Is there any evidence that Joann was involved in this?" Gibbs didn't miss a beat.

"Except for her fingerprint on the ring I found nothing. I'm sure we'd be able to find out more if we had his name though." Abby replied with a shrug.

Gibbs sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that's what Brooke is here to tell us." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks Abs." He turned to leave but Abby stopped him before he reached the door.

"Gibbs wait…I thought you were off the case?"

"When have you ever known me to do what I'm told?" Gibbs smirked as he left the lab and Abby knew that they were okay now even if she still had problems with Tony and McGee to sort out.

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Three years ago

Brooke could see from the corner of her eye while she worked that Tony was keeping a close watch on her. They were the only ones left at headquarters still working despite the insanely late hour. She felt her eyelids growing heavy but she refused to leave without finishing her work. She was relieved when Gibbs had offered to take Shannon for the night and spend quality time with her.

Tony sat at his own desk across the way resting his chin in the palm of his hand. The Italian was far more awake than his wife but regardless this was not how he pictured the start of their weekend.

"Brooke, it's after midnight you look like you're about to fall asleep on your keyboard…I think we should call it a night."

Without looking up Brooke sighed and shook her head. "No, I need to catch up on all of this paperwork…you go ahead home. I'll call a cab when I'm through." She replied.

What Tony didn't know was that his wife was trying to get rid of him so she could continue her undercover work which he wasn't supposed to have any knowledge about.

"Well I could do that but where's the fun in going home while Shannon is with Gibbs without you?" Tony smirked suggestively and left his desk walking over to hers. He took a seat on the edge of her desk getting in the way of her work.

Brooke signed her report from the most recent case and she slipped the papers into an empty file folder before looking up at him. "You have a point…I suppose the rest of this can wait until Monday morning."

In her heart she knew that if she tried to push Tony away even further than she had been it would lead to more suspicion. Brooke couldn't risk getting her cover blown if Tony started looking into her behavior so she knew she had to hide it better.

Tony grinned happily and Brooke got to her feet. She placed her hands on his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around her small waist. He swore that there was a look in her eyes telling him that she wanted to say something but before he could ask questions she kissed him rather passionately.

"I love you." Brooke whispered as she rested her forehead lightly against his. The words reflected in her gaze and given the close proximity and lack of space between them he could feel her heart beating fast. Tony was concerned but he knew that he never had a reason to worry about her feelings for him.

"I love you too and Happy Birthday." Tony replied as he leaned in to kiss her this time.

Brooke smiled when they broke apart for the second time. "Thank you…now let's go home and start celebrating."

Three hours later

The now twenty five year old married mother of one watched her husband sleep soundly in their large bed. It was breaking her heart to be keeping a secret from him…well two secrets. Both of them major, only Gibbs knew the one secret she didn't exactly have to be keeping.

Brooke took a deep breath and released it slowly as she ran a hand over her stomach, being careful not to disturb Tony who had his arms wrapped securely around her waist. Knowing that he was in a deep sleep from the gentle snoring she took a chance.

"I'm pregnant." She whispered the news as quietly as possible before slithering out of his grasp and getting out of their marital bed.

Brooke tiptoed her way around the room putting on a fresh outfit in silence. She hated the thought of sneaking out of the house. The last thing she wanted was for Tony to think she was seeing someone else. There was no one she loved more than the man she was looking at right now.

Feeling tears in her eyes Brooke turned away from him and left the bedroom. Downstairs she tucked a knife into her fashionable black leather high heel boots. The young Gibbs then strapped her small backup weapon to her waist after checking that it was loaded.

Once the agent was fully equipped she left her cell phone on the small table located by the door before slipping out of the house.

30 minutes later

During the drive to the where the meeting was set to take place Director Shepard had been contacted despite the early Saturday morning hour. Brooke believed she had the ability to handle this herself but Jenny was adamant about knowing every action that was being taken during this private investigation.

Brooke knew what she was about to do and it was not going to take more than an hour or two… so she hoped.

The well trained agent parked her car a few blocks away from the location and walked the rest of the way. It was no secret that Brooke was talented when it came to speaking a number of languages. In this case she was proud of the fact that she could speak both French and Russian as fluently as she could English. It was probably why she was chosen for this job. Jenny had yet to tell her the reason but Brooke didn't press.

While walking toward the townhouse for the meeting Brooke sensed that something was up. She had a feeling in her gut but she continued knowing that turning back would be an even bigger mistake than ignoring her better judgment.

Brooke tightened the belt on her white trench coat with contrasting black buttons and continued forward. It did not take long for her to reach the townhouse and climb the front steps.

She reached into her pocket pulling out the key that she had for the place. The item was sent to her through the mail and delivered to her fake address which actually belonged to a former agent.

That had to be where it all went wrong. Brooke inserted the key into the lock then twisted it as she turned the knob. An instant later the trigger was pulled and she was sprawled out on the steps.

Brooke didn't even hear the gunshot which led her to believe that there was a silencer attached to the weapon. All she could feel was the searing pain in her lower abdomen where she had been shot. She immediately applied pressure to the wound and a moment later a man was standing over her.

She gasped for breath and reached with her free hand for the gun she had strapped her to hip but he was faster since she was wounded and ended up shooting her square in the chest.