Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS: New Orleans

A/N: Back to a longer chapter this time and another clue as well.

"Mall train," LaSalle said slowly from his desk. "Like the little kid trains in malls?"

Pride rubbed his eyes tiredly as he sat back in his own desk chair. They'd been throwing ideas back and forth while going over the police reports and what evidence they had before Sebastian could finish his analysis of the rest. "I don't know," he replied. "Doctor Kaylan said Brody wasn't completely coherent."

"Think she may have just been too out of it?"

"Maybe." He didn't really think so. It was a gut feeling and it was eating away at his stomach. "Not just anyone could get the upper hand over Brody without causing a scene." Merri was too well trained to go down easily, but yet it seemed no one other than the neighbor had witnessed anything. He doubted just anyone could get the jump on her without causing a ruckus.

"You're thinking it wasn't just a random attack." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

Pride could tell by LaSalle's tone that he'd been thinking along the same lines. "Seems too precise to be random. And he didn't taken anything other than her badge."

"The neighbor said he was in a hurry to get away once he'd been seen. Maybe he didn't have the chance."

"But yet he still got her credentials?" Pride shook his head. "Something's not fitting together." LaSalle began to speak, but Pride's desk phone ringing interrupted the discussion. "Pride," he answered. He listened for a second before hanging up and moving to the conference screen. "Director Vance wants to have a word," he told the other agent before turning on the screen.

A moment later Director Vance appeared, sitting at his desk. "Agent Pride."

"Director," Pride greeted in return.

"How's Agent Brody?"

"She's alive," he answered.

Vance nodded his understanding. "Will you and Agent LaSalle be able to work this one?"

"We will," he answered quickly, making sure the Director caught the determination in his tone. There was no way he and his team were going to sit this case out.

"You're close to the case, Pride. I can send Agent Gibbs and his team if I need to."

"That won't be necessary. We can handle it."

Vance nodded again. "You know I had to ask."

"I know," he replied. "This is one of my team, Director. We'll take care of it."

"I figured that's what you'd say. Keep me updated," Vance instructed. "And good luck."

The screen went blank a second later and Pride turned back towards LaSalle's desk. When he did he found Loretta standing nearby. It was a somewhat odd sight considering how rarely she left her sanctum this time of day. "Loretta," he greeted. "Decided to come and visit with us?"

"Someone finally deemed fit to tell me about Merri," she answered with a not-too-pleased pointed look.

They'd been so focused on cracking the case that he hadn't thought of telling anyone who wasn't directly involved in a way that he'd had to talk with them about something or another. "Sorry about that, Loretta. Sebastian tell you?"

"He sent me the photos of Agent Brody's injuries to look over."

"Anything jump out at you?" LaSalle asked.

"Not particularly. Except the fact that whoever did this obviously knew what he was doing and what he wanted to happen. The wound to her abdomen was precise. It was meant to disable her, but not to kill right away. We were just lucky her attacker was startled by Jeremy, otherwise he would have been able to finish what he started. It's a dangerous set of injuries though."

"Yeah, that's what we figured," Pride said. They still had no solid evidence, but it was looking more and more less like a random attack. "Did Sebastian say anything about..." Before he could finish his cell phone rang.

"You're a popular man today, King," LaSalle joked, though there was a hint of barely contained anticipation in his voice.

"Apparently," he said while picking up his cell phone. He glanced at the caller ID and then put the call on speaker. "Pride here."

"Agent Pride, Doctor Kaylan instructed me to call and let you know that Agent Brody is beginning to show signs of regaining consciousness," a male voice said over the line. "She also wanted me to tell you that there's no guarantee if Agent Brody will actually wake up or not or, if she does, for how long, but she wanted to keep you informed. She says if you're going to try and speak with her though, you should come back soon."

"Thank you," he said. As he walked around his desk to get his gun he noticed LaSalle was already gathering his things as well. "And tell Doctor Kaylan we said thanks as well." Once he heard an acknowledgement he hung up and started walking towards the exit, shaking his head in LaSalle's direction in the process. "You stay here, Christopher. Go and see if Sebastian has anything yet."

"King..."

"I don't have time to argue, Christopher," he stated while nearing the exit. He didn't wait to hear if there was another protest.

After showing his badge to the officer outside the door Pride walked on into the hospital room. Merri wasn't moving. In fact she looked the same as she had a few hours previously when they'd last been here. He walked slowly over to the bed and searched for any sign of her being awake. Her eyes were closed though and if it weren't for the bandage around her neck and the oxygen mask he could have believed she was simply sleeping. He would have rather believed she was only sleeping instead of so critically injured.

Pride walked around the bed and slipped into the chair next to it. He then reached carefully for her hand that was laying on the bed and held it gently between his own, not wanting to cause her any additional pain even if she was still unconscious.

"Meredith..." He waited to see if there would be any reaction. When none came he bowed his head and sighed. "We could use a little help with your case." Still no movement. Not even a flutter of an eyelid. "Come on, Merri, open your eyes."

He waited silently for her to hear him and wake up, but nothing happened. It wasn't only the need for her account of the incident that made him want her to wake up so badly. It was also his own, personal desire to see her open her eyes. If she would just open her eyes he could believe she'd be okay.

And he really needed to believe she was going to be alright.

He squeezed her hand and began rubbing little circles on the back of it with his thumb. A few minutes passed, the only sound coming from the heart monitor and the occasional voice from someone walking by the room, and he was just about ready to force himself to give up and return to the office. Then it happened though. He almost missed it.

Her eyelids twitched.

"Open your eyes, Brody," he instructed, making it sound as much like any other regular order he'd give.

The fingers of the hand he still held curled themselves around his hand weakly. His heart seemed to miss a beat in a way he hadn't been expecting as he waited. "Meredith..."

A soft moan came from the agent as she shifted uncomfortably on the bed. A few more seconds passed as he watched, still holding her hand firmly. He told himself it was to encourage her, not just because he himself needed the contact to reassure himself. For a moment he didn't think she'd actually wake up, but then her eyelids slowly began to open.

They were only open a crack, just enough for him to tell that they were actually open. Her hand twitched in his and she groaned again. "King?"

Her voice was muffled by the mask, but he could still hear the way it cracked. It sounded as if it were painful for her to speak. He wasn't surprised considering the state her throat was in. "Take it easy, Merri," he said. "Do you remember what happened?"

She tried taking a deep breath, but her breath caught and she winced instead as the beeping of her heart monitor picked up pace. The hand he was holding slipped from his and slowly moved to the mask over her mouth and nose.

As she began to lift the mask away he gently brushed her hand away and readjusted it so it was back in place. "I think that's supposed to stay there."

Even without her eyes fully opened he could imagine her rolling her eyes. In a slow, but determined move she lifted the mask away again. "Shanks. Marcus Sh-shanks," she whispered, her voice cracking again through the effort it took to summon the energy. "...Couldn't...save...him."

The name rang a bell, but he couldn't quite place why. He still wasn't sure if it was meant as a clue or completely unrelated. She didn't appear to be completely coherent. "Shanks?" he asked. "Is that who did this, Brody?"

"Shanks," she whispered again as her eyelids began to droop.

"Brody," he said, trying to get her attention and keep her awake. "Merri?"

Her eyes closed fully and her hand slipped from the mask. For a moment he tensed at her sudden stillness. The rapid beeping of the heart monitor slowed to an unsteady rhythm that was more than a little concerning. He reached for the mask and slipped it back over her mouth and nose and as soon as he did so a nurse entered the room and immediately began taking vitals. He stood and took a couple steps away from the bed to give the nurse room to work.

"I'm sorry, Agent Pride, but I don't think she'll be waking up again right now. I'll have to ask you to leave so she can rest."

He nodded while watching Brody intently. "Is she alright?"

The nurse glanced up at him only briefly with a comforting smile. "It was just the strain. She needs time to recover."

It wasn't exactly an answer, but it was probably as much as he was going to get, so he nodded again and reluctantly left the room.