Author's Notes: I'm sorry for the long winded rant, (especially if you're reading this from AO3 and have no idea who it was I was ranting about), but it needed to be said and I make no apologies for it. I'm just sorry I had to say anything about it at all, but that aside, for the rest of you guys and gals, I'm glad to have you along for the ride. As a quick warning though, this one gets a little depressing. Nothing too big, but from what I've seen of radiation sickness and nuclear power in general is nothing to make light of, in any capacity.
Blind Woman's Bluff Part 3
The Citadel, The Presidium
Huerta Memorial Hospital
March 3rd, 2195, 9:37 AM Local Time
Tony had been right to worry. Sitting beside Wendy Watson's bedside, Ziva kept one eye on the door and another on the tubes that now ran from the near dead woman to various machines about the brightly lit room. She had seemed so formidable not a few short hours ago despite her blindness, but that had changed in such a short amount of time after it was discovered Wendy was suffering from radiation poisoning. Various symptoms had already manifested their hold across her body. The headaches and nausea were just the beginning, she had already experienced some hair loss back at the C-Sec office. A glance at the scans of her vital organs revealed that a number of them were not functioning as they should, and even more worryingly, a fever had taken hold of her body, making it seem as if the young woman was burning up from the inside, even as she shivered weakly. She had yet to vomit blood, but as it were, it was only a matter of time until the rest of the symptoms would reveal themselves.
While Ziva would've preferred to have hunted down Jel'na like the rabid dog he was, the much more logical part of the former Mossad agent was glad that Gibbs had sidelined her to protection detail instead. She didn't trust herself to not kill the quarian instead of bringing him in for questioning, and Gibbs had known not to take any chances even though she had seen a similar rage behind his steel gray eyes. At least she wasn't alone as Dax leaned over the back of the chair, sitting in it the wrong way as the turian sighed, his gaze also riveted to the pianist as the machines breathed for her. The soft beep of the heart monitor was the only sound besides the soft whoosh of the ventilator forcing more air into her lungs. "There's a reason why they call polonium 'the silent killer.'"
"Because by the time it's detected, it's usually too late." Ziva replied softly, both because she didn't want to disturb Wendy's fitful sleep, but also because she couldn't get her voice to go any higher without fear of it cracking. While she got the feeling Dax wouldn't judge her for being so emotionally torn up, Ziva was stubbornly proud and wouldn't allow herself to break into tears so easily. "I've...seen what radiation can do to someone."
"What was his name?" Dax asked suddenly, in the hopes of provoking a response.
"What gave you the idea that it was a 'he'?" Ziva challenged, a ghost of a smile pulling at her lips even as she looked away from the officer's inquisitive, quietly amused gaze. A moment of silence passed between them before she whispered, "Lieutenant Roy Sanders...he was in the United States Navy and also an inspector with the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA. He came to the office some time ago and asked us to investigate his own murder. I...watched him slowly wither and die right in of me in only a few days." She held up a hand to stop the C-Sec officer from apologizing before subtly wiping at her right eye. "It's okay, don't apologize. But he was a good man, he did not deserve what happened to him."
Dax sighed and nodded his agreement before turning his head to look towards the unconscious girl between them. "No one deserves this kind of death, 'specially the good ones, Miss David."
"Ziva." She gently corrected him, before asking," so long as I can call you Dax?"
"Knock yourself out darlin'." Smiling a little stronger now, Ziva was about to say something, but the soft whoosh of the door opening had them turning towards Doctor Chloe Michel as she softly walked to Wendy's side. "What's the prog, doc? Our girl gonna be alright?"
Chloe didn't immediately answer the question, much to Ziva's silent dismay as she continued to check off various things on her omni-tool before making a minute adjustment or two. "Luckily we were able to pump Ms. Watson's system with enough anti-rad medication to counter the worst of the polonium 210, but since the isotope is so dangerous even in microscopic amounts, the next few hours could go either way."
"So fifty-fifty odds? That doesn't sound so…." The look Chloe threw his way was all he needed for his mandibles to visibly droop. "Do what you can doc." He said instead, all trace of his earlier humor gone.
"I agree Doctor Michel. She has too much to offer the galaxy to die now." Ziva gravely intoned next. Looking up when Chloe put a hand on her shoulder, she relaxed, if only a little, from the comforting gesture before the good doctor left the room. She and Dax sat in silence for several minutes until Ziva had to get up and leave lest the all too familiar sound of the hospital equipment drove her insane. Flashes of Gibbs' face after a bomb nearly killed him flashed behind Ziva's eyes, followed by Roy as his body slowly crumbled from the radiation poisoning, courtesy of those responsible for his murder. She had come close to losing everyone she had come to cherish and even love, provided she hadn't already done so, and it was moments like these that she wished she had never volunteered to become a Mossad agent under her father's tutelage.
She didn't know how she had wound up in a shadowy corner of the hospital, away from prying eyes, only that when her back hit the metal wall behind her, she let her legs slowly give out before she sat on the floor. With her legs pulled up to her chin, she quietly cried for the senseless violence and the impending doom that was likely to fall upon yet another innocent person. So lost to her sorrow, Ziva didn't fight when a strong arm fell across her shoulders and pulled her into a warm, comforting embrace. It wasn't until she looked up that she saw it was Dax offering his shoulder to her, his green eyes alight with empathy and compassion, understanding all too well what she was going through.
"I've lost a lot of decent folk 'for the war was over." He whispered and sighed heavily as he produced a handkerchief for her, which she gratefully accepted from his taloned hand. "Most of 'em were friends, a few...were a bit more important to me. Sad part is, things mighta turned out differently if our so called leaders had bothered ta listen to a certain Spectre's warnings about what was comin' for us. Doesn't matter now, the war's done and I've done what I can to move on. Doesn't make it hurt any less though. Ain't a day that goes by that I don't think about 'em."
Ziva didn't say anything, but she didn't have to as she peered into the turian officer's face. They'd both lost people they loved and that was enough to take some of the sting from her emotional scars. Silently handing back the handkerchief once she had wiped her eyes dry, Ziva stood to her feet before offering her hand to Dax. Not that he actually needed the help, but his mandibles lifted in a close proximity of a smile as she pulled him up. "It does not." She said in whisper soft agreement, but the hand she put on his arm said that she was there for him as he'd already been for her.
Walking back to Wendy's room, Ziva nearly didn't see the door shutting, but the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up when she realized she hadn't seen anyone actually leave the woman's room. Her heavy pistol immediately snapped up, yanked from her holster in a single fluid motion as she shouted, "Freeze Jel'na! NCIS!" She knew he was there, and she was proven correct when a doctor was immediately shoved out of the invisible quarian's path.
"I can't get a clear shot!" Dax said as he pulled both of his hand cannons from their respective holsters as the various doctors and orderlies scattered, allowing the two agents to chase after the cloaked assailant. "Gorram it! Move it people! C-Sec comin' through!" Dax took off with Ziva hot on his heels, but not before she glanced through the large window that overlooked Wendy's room.
"Do not let anyone else into Ms. Watson's room!" She called over her shoulder, having seen she was okay but she had also spotted something of interest hanging from the curtain rail above the window itself. But she put it to the side of her thoughts as she did her best to keep up with Dax's long stride, her fingers a whirl as she put in a call to Gibbs. "Jel'na was in her room. We're in pursuit now."
"Callin' in the cavalry?" Dax asked as Ziva deactivated her comms without ever breaking stride.
"Focus on tracking him down." Countered a fiercely determined Ziva as her gun snapped back up to eye level as they burst onto an emergency stairwell, the locks having been disengaged as they'd been at the theater. "Found his point of entry."
"Which means he probably left the same way." Taking the stairs three at a time, Dax started down only to jerk his head up when a door above was opened. Ziva didn't wait for him to catch up as she took off, with the turian letting out a stream of muttered curses in his native tongue. "Gettin' too old for this shit." He finished just as he saw Ziva shoot through the door once he reached the top of the stairs. The sound of a shuttle going for the roof normally wouldn't have raised alarms, but with their gunman trying to escape, he knew he needed to hurry or Ziva would be outgunned in no time if Jel'na's friends were hostile.
It was no surprise then that he saw Ziva, once he was outside on the helipad, ducking behind a large ventilation shaft as bullets rained down around her. He didn't think twice about what he did next as Dax put his guns back into their respective holsters. Running between her and the approaching shuttle, Dax blew out a breath and let a curse escape his mouth as the glow of dark energy began to coalesce around him. "Stay close Ziva!"
Ziva didn't question the order as a bubble of energy appeared around them just as the shuttle's occupants brought a rocket launcher to bear on their position. They felt nothing of the fire and shrapnel though thanks to Dax's Barrier, his arms outstretched as he channeled his energy out in every direction. "You're a biotic?" She asked, more amazed than anything as Jel'na, no longer cloaked, jumped aboard the shuttle before it took off as quickly as they came to get him.
Dax sighed but nodded his head as he let the Barrier drop once he was sure they were out of danger. "Cabal, specialist rank in the Hierarchy. Now you know why I told McGee why I've been called far worse things in my time." Putting a hand up to his forehead, Dax tried to get a bead on the escaping shuttle, but the artificial 'sun' made it difficult to see anything. "Looks like they're smart enough to fly right for the big ol lamp in the sky. We ain't gonna see a thing from here."
Getting the hint she wouldn't be able to ask more about Dax's past, Ziva let it drop since they had other things to worry about. Mainly, what Gibbs was going to say once he learned that Jel'na had gotten away. But putting it off wasn't going to make it any better, so it was her turn to sigh as Ziva called Gibbs once more as she led the way back down to Wendy's room. "He got away. We're fine Gibbs, but he has help. I didn't get a good look though, it happened too fast. I'm securing Wendy's room now. He left something, I'm not sure what but it looked like a sash. I'll get back to you when I know more."
Earth, USA, Washington
Washington D.C., NCIS, the Morgue
March 3rd, 2195, 2:35 AM
"Burning the midnight oil again Doctor Mallard?" The drell assistant asked as he finished arranging the evidence they'd been sent just as the good doctor walked into the morgue.
"The times might be far removed from what I remember, but the work remains the same, Hamu. Thank you for getting everything put together before I arrived." Despite the late hour, Ducky was all smiles as he made his way to the drell's side. This was hardly the first time he'd been woken up to work on a case at an odd hour of the night, and it would hardly be the last. The only part that was different was that he was working alongside an amphibious humanoid of sorts instead of his former assistant, Jimmy Palmer, who had regrettably been sick with the flu when Gibbs, the team, and himself had been pulled to this time period. But despite missing the man, Ducky had adjusted far better than most of his still remaining friends, although he still missed those he had left behind immensely.
If Hamu noticed the wistful look on Ducky's face, he didn't comment on it as the sand colored drell moved aside for him to get a closer look at the various photos of Jel'na's living quarters, his personal items that had been sent from the Citadel, and two lists of both his extranet viewing habits and any pertinent financial information that would aid in building a psychological profile of the man. Hamu's dark, nearly cobalt black eyes, flicked to the items arranged between them as he folded his hands behind his back. Like any drell, he was wiry, strong, and he walked with a powerful if graceful gait, his gaze unwavering from the table even as he addressed Ducky. "From what I've seen of this Jel'na, he's a contradiction, split between desires and motivations as surely as someone who has become Lost."
Changing into something more appropriate to the task at hand, Ducky's voice filtered from the next room. "Do you mean to say that he is not, to coin a phrase from your people's culture, Whole, Hamu?"
"Indeed." Hamu replied as Ducky stepped back out, attired appropriately in surgical greens and a pair of gloves so as not to cross contaminate any of the physical evidence they'd been sent, not counting the pictures of Jel'na's living quarters or the lists of course. "From what I can tell just from his extranet viewing habits, he's obsessed with knowing everything he can about the Reaper War and those that were the most responsible for ending it. Thus, his research goes to the Normandy SR-2's crew, which are as diverse a group of misfits, criminals, terrorists, mercenaries, scientists, ex military and enlisted, and more that you would ever hope to find, yet instead of going after them directly, he targets Oriana Lawson. Confusion that is compounded further because when C-Sec raided his quarters, they found this." Hamu tapped a scaled finger on a picture that showed a wall covered in articles, news clippings, and pictures of the Normandy's entire crew, with Commander Elizabeth 'Liz' Shepard's photo highlighted with a giant red circle, with an X drawn right over her image. If that didn't scream 'target', both men didn't know what did.
"The answer I believe, is not as straightforward as we'd like, which worries me if I'm correct." Ducky mused as he stood across from the drell, his own gaze settling upon the various items between them. "For instance, the flowers here. Violet Carson is a salmon pink rose cultivar, an uncommon hybrid of the red hybrid tea 'Mme Léon Cuny', and the orange floribunda 'Spartan', created by Samuel McGredy IV between 1963 and 1964 if I remember correctly. The Violet Carson was named after the English actress Violet Carson, who played Ena Sharples in the British soap opera Coronation Street." Holding up one of the violet colored flowers in question, Ducky made a thoughtful noise before pointing his forefinger towards the flower's petals. "Notice, that the dense semi-double flowers reach an average diameter of eight centimetres with up to thirty-five petals, and typically appear in loose clusters of three to fifteen in flushes throughout the season. These seem to have a mild to strong, sweet musk fragrance and an elegant bloom along the outer petals that bend decoratively outwards. Their colour seems to range from a blush to a strong pink with a cream center. The 'Violet Carson' is almost thornless, they tolerate the rain fairly well, and they're even able to survive cold temperatures down to negative twenty three degrees Celsius. A hardy flower, and one a blind woman could appreciate a great deal without fear of pricking a finger. Yes, I do believe our young shooter has a soft spot for our ailing pianist."
"You're truly a font of information Doctor." Hamu said, thoroughly impressed by the man as Ducky set the flower down with a soft chuckle. But his thin little smile turned into a thoughtful frown as he looked back down to the table's contents. "But that doesn't answer the question as to why he shot at her."
"I don't believe it was intentional. His blatantly going into Wendy's hospital room, and that he left something behind, says to me that he is trying to make amends for her becoming ill. If anything, I'd hazard a guess that he missed on purpose once Wendy got between him and Oriana. His entire point of being there was to kill Ms. Lawson, not Ms. Watson, so when she bravely shielded the violinist, he simply fired to scare off everyone else rather than to harm anyone that wasn't on his list, which explains why no one else was hurt. Here, take a look at this." Ducky said as he further began to explain his reasoning as he picked up a financial statement.
Hamu glanced over the list once more, and his eyes widened as he too began to follow Ducky's logic. "Wait. He made several substantial credit transfers to the Migrant Fleet? Why? And he made several purchases for immuno-strengthening teas and innoculati- Oh….I see your point Doctor."
"Quite right Hamu, I'm glad to see you've caught on." Ducky leaned forward as another soft, amused chuckle escaped him from the drell's slight embarrassment. "Yes, I imagine, Jel'na and Wendy spent more than a little time together before he went on to target Oriana. So much so in fact that he removed his suit's visor for her so that she might explore the face behind it, as any blind woman would. And from my understanding, that takes an immeasurable amount of trust to willingly expose one's self to the open air. He was likely sick for several days, or is even now still suffering from a cold due to the regrettably weakened immune system of any quarian in this day and age. Centuries spent aboard the Migrant Fleet, away from the planet that they had built a symbiotic relationship with, further degraded their already weak immune system since they evolved in such a way that the few bacteria on their planet worked with them rather than against them, as is the case for most other species."
"So do you think it's possible that he is trying to help those in the Migrant Fleet despite going about it the wrong way, Doctor?"
"Yes. Rage in times past, has often been described to be a paralytic, but love? Love is another animal altogether, and is far more dangerous since it makes people a mite unpredictable. But you're not wrong about him being torn, and I dare say he's split between these two powerful emotions. The pieces are here, we just need more time to examine them to get a better idea as to what he'll do next."
The Citadel, Zakara Ward
C-Sec Office, Officer Bullpen
March 3rd, 2195, 9:52 AM Local Time
"Then why did you join C-Sec?" McGee questioned the turian officer curiously once Ziva and Dax had returned to the building and given their briefing to Gibbs. His curiosity was too strong to ignore as he openly gawked at the man that had saved his friend's life. "Why not stay with your unit?"
"Wish I could, but didn't get the chance to. We were deployed to Palaven... and that's where they've remained. I was the only one to be pulled out of the burning wreckage that was our shuttle, shot down by a bug with cannons on its back." Dax told him with true sorrow, having sat down on the edge of Ziva's temporary desk in the officer bullpen, his cybernetic leg stretched out on a chair he'd put in front of him for that very reason. "I still dream of these metal spires... everyday. After the war ended, I thought perhaps they were still alive, but after three days of lookin' for survivors once it was over and only finding corpses..." He trailed off, unable to finish the thought, not that he needed to.
"I'm sorry." McGee replied, feeling like a giant heel for having pried into such a dark point in Dax's life.
But Dax waved off his apology, having heard it all before. "Not your fault, still wish I could have gone with them that day though. And didn't anyone tell ya it's rude to eavesdrop Gibbs?" He asked, to which Gibbs replied by walking past the turian on his way to McGee's desk, but not without giving Dax a look that spoke volumes. Dax merely nodded in response, silently glad he hadn't felt the need to say anything aloud.
"B-Boss. I've gotten through the rest of the troupe's comms and financial records. Everything checks out save for Oriana, some of her calls were pinged since they were all made to her sister throughout the troupe's stay on the Citadel. Nothing else stands out from her, but Jel'na's records are another story." A quick click of the mouse at his side, and the central monitor in the station office lit up, displaying the indicated transmissions that McGee had highlighted. "All of them were made to an ExoGeni rep."
"Corporate espionage, looks like Ms. Lawson's hunch was right boss." Tony chimed in as he took over, yanking the mouse from McGee's grasp before clicking open something else for the team to mull over. "Jel'na Narra vas Scumbag was nine years old when the Reapers hit Earth, taking his parents in the first few minutes of the invasion." The ruined remains of the two quarians were popped up on the screen when he clicked. "He and countless others were left to fend for themselves until Alliance soldiers picked them up, which is where he met Wendy Watson. They were shipped off world with hundreds of other survivors that first day, but Jel'na's life would get decidedly harder before it gets better boss. The Fleet finally got in touch with us and sent his real name, along with the name of the ship he'd have served on, if things had turned out differently."
McGee took Tony's momentary distraction to yank the mouse back from his fellow officer. "Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib had expressed interest in taking Jel'na onto his former vessel, but Jel'na's parents had wanted to see the galaxy a bit with their only child before letting Koris have him for the next several years, which was why they were on Earth before the invasion. According to reports from the Admiralty Board, Jel'na's parents were overjoyed that an admiral had singled out their son as he did, but during the battle to retake Rannoch, Commander Elizabeth Shepard would be forced to choose between saving Koris or his crew, but not before the Qwib-Qwib was annihilated by the geth. Most of Jel'na's friends and the rest of his family were already stationed either on the ship or were a part of Koris's crew."
"No wonder he's gone loco for Shepard Puffs." Tony chimed in as he made to grab at the mouse again until Gibbs slapped the back of his head, freezing him to the spot. "Thanks for that boss. Jel'na's real name is Jan'Gula vas Qwib-Qwib, or at least it would have been, before it was vas Shellen, a quarian Liveship, and he's been a real busy beaver since signing on with ExoGeni, becoming a corporate hitman at the ripe age of fifteen. He's been operating under them ever since, taking out the competition across several systems. Only reason we didn't get a red flag a lot sooner is because he's mostly targeted other criminals, or people that had questionable ties with ExoGeni, most of whom the other agencies believed were better off in body bags with so many other criminals and gang members to worry about these days."
"He's done cleaning house for them." Gibbs muttered in that icy, cold tone of voice that did little for the team's collective nerves. "Now they want him to take out the only threat in their way."
"You're right boss, if Oriana's able to raise the money in the Sirta Foundation's name, the civilian contracts from the Systems Alliance for the colony rebuilding efforts will go to them instead of ExoGeni. And with the massive debts owed by the ExoGeni group, they desperately need the contracts to pull themselves away from bankruptcy. The irony is that Jal'Gula would have gone after Oriana Lawson on his own." McGee might have said more, but Ducky's sudden arrival stopped him mid stream.
The grave set of his jaw and the sad way he looked towards the quarian's picture when it was pulled up anew told them he wasn't bringing them good news. "I'm afraid that it's worse than that Timothy. Jan'Gula was restrained, controlled, and hesitant before now because Wendy Watson was on that stage. Can you pull up the pictures of the original shooting please?" McGee didn't disappoint as he quickly pulled up the bullet riddled stage. Ducky nodded his thanks before gesturing towards the holes in question. "Because he couldn't get a clear shot on Ms. Lawson, he proceeded to shoot everywhere else, except the people themselves. He could have easily killed everyone on that stage with the heavily modified ammunition he's been utilizing by simply shooting a few of them. Yet no one died, and the only person that was wounded at all was Wendy, and only because she got in his way without realizing who was on that balcony."
"He missed on purpose." Ziva intoned, which was both a good thing, and a bad thing. "If he's been operating for three years, he's no amatuer. You don't last long as a galactic corporate hitman if you're sloppy. He's professional yet driven by his need to kill Shepard and her people."
"Which brings me back to why I'm here. Jan'Gula is split in his convictions. He believes that by making the Commander suffer the same tragic losses he has, that there will be some justice brought back to the galaxy before he finally kills her, if she doesn't do the job herself of course. And yet at the same time, despite everything he's lost on Rannoch and among the Migrant Fleet, he sends almost every credit ExoGeni has paid him, back home."
"That's because he's quarian." Every eye fell on the the purple and black suited quarian woman that had spoken, her arms crossed and her hip cocked ever so slightly to the side. Glancing over her shoulder, Gibbs could see she carried a heavy shotgun, well worn from use, which was currently magnetized to her back. While the power pack was removed along with the ammo block, he got the impression she didn't need it to make his life difficult as her silvery eyes fell squarely upon his face. "Your Director told me I'd likely find you here Special Agent Gibbs. My name-"
"Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch, originally vas Rayya, then vas Normandy when you signed on with the Commander. I know. What I want to know is why you're here?" He had an idea or two, but he wanted to hear it from Tali herself even as Tony, McGee, and Ziva stared dumbly at the near legendary quarian that had just burst into C-Sec like a woman on a mission.
Dax however was the first to answer the question as he swung his leg off of the chair in front of him. "She's here to make sure we don't kill Jan'Gula before takin' him in for questionin'."
"I'm here to ensure he goes home for a proper trial before the Admiralty Board, yes." Tali gently corrected him, but it did little to defuse the boiling anger in Gibbs' gut.
"You're here to cover your people's ass, and I don't have time for-"
"Your Director would disagree, Special Agent Gibbs." Tali countered, not only interrupting Gibbs, which further surprised his team since very few people had ever dared to do so, but she willingly met his steel eyed gaze, appearing the picture of calm as she opened a line to the woman in question. "Eliza. You were right about your agent, he wasn't happy to see me."
'Eliza', even in miniature form on Tali's left arm, simply stared unerringly at the man as she crossed her arms across her stomach. "Agent Gibbs, will there be a problem with the extradition of the quarian criminal, this Jan'Gula vas Shellen?" Despite it being posed as a question, the underlying note of unwavering steel in Eliza Shepard's voice was impossible to ignore.
Gibbs could only growl out a, "No ma'am."
"Good. Because if this goes poorly, Councillor David Anderson will likely ensure all of our jobs are given to someone more inclined to listen to orders." Before Tali could give Eliza her thanks, the Director turned her full attention on her next. "But as I've already told my twin sister, the ACIS is not at her beck and call, and as much as I appreciate what you've done for us all Admiral, I really hope for your sake that this is the last time something like this comes up. We have very strong evidence to suggest Jan'Gula is not the man you hope he is."
"Until I see the evidence in question, I won't believe he is the monster you claim him to be." Countered a slightly miffed Tali before the call was ended on the Director's side. With a shake of her head, Tali turned her attention back to Gibbs. "Please understand I only wish to protect one of our people. Too often we've found ourselves at the mercy of the local authorities, who are all too often ready to paint us as thieves, vagrants, and worse simply because we're quarian."
"McGee." Gibbs called out, which had the young tech expert jumping to his feet. "Pull up the video feed of Ms. Watson's room." McGee didn't waste time asking why as Gibbs put an arm around the quarian's shoulders before he marched her towards the central monitor. The frail, blind pianist's half bald head, her face contorted in pain as the breathing machine did what it could to keep her failing body going, had filled the screen by the time they were in front of it. Tali could do nothing but look at the image as Gibbs whispered, "This is what Jan'Gula has left behind, Admiral. A microscopic amount of polonium 210 did this, because she got between him and his target. She'll likely be dead before the day's over, so you tell me if he's still worth protecting."
"You….make a strong argument." Conceded Tali after a very uncomfortable silence fell between them, albeit it was with great reluctance on her part that she did so as she pulled free of Gibbs' arm. "But I have to do what I can to ensure he's given a chance for a fair trial, therefore we have to try take him alive. I'm not here to get in your way Agent Gibbs, and if the Admiralty Board does decide to exile Jan'Gula, he'll be yours to do with what you will because he would not be considered a quarian, thus he would not be under our protection any longer. But it's not something we've had to do very often."
"And if he is exiled, what normally happens?" Asked an inquisitive Ziva as she closed the distance between a quietly fuming Gibbs and their quarian guest.
Despite the hostility she could still sense among the group, they could tell Tali was grateful for the chance to divert their attention elsewhere. "When the flotilla was founded, it was quickly established that we couldn't afford to house prisoners for extended periods of time. A non-productive member of society was an unnecessary strain on our very limited resources, therefore we often left the few criminals that have cropped up over the years on any system we were passing through, provided it had a population already established. From there, the locals would often deal with the exiled individual for us. If they were able to reproduce however, we would allow the offender's children back onto the Fleet since the crimes of the parent do not transfer to their offspring. We are too community driven for such extreme measures, and every life is almost sacred to us given our limited population, thus we do not execute our criminals, not if there's a chance something good might make its way back home."
"I'm afraid he's too far gone at this point for it to matter, Admiral Zorah." Ducky chimed in as he pulled up an image on the central monitor of Jan'Gula's sash the quarian had left in Wendy's room, which was now being examined by Abby for anything they could find. "He left it in Ms. Watson's room despite their being a security detail around her. If I were to hazard an educated guess, he's resigned himself to his fate and knows full well that he will likely be exiled if he's caught, despite all of the credit transfers he's made to the Migrant Fleet to help his people survive, perhaps even thrive. In essence, he doesn't consider himself a quarian any longer, especially now that he's seen the damage he's wrought due to his blinding rage and need for vengeance against those he believes is responsible for all he's lost. Wendy will likely perish because of him and he knows it. As such, I'm afraid that the next time he strikes, and I'm sure he will, it'll likely be the last time." The sorrowful look he threw towards Gibbs said what he hadn't, that either Jan'Gula or Gibbs would walk away from their next encounter. Not because Gibbs would break protocol and simply gun him down, no matter how much he might want to, but because Jan'Gula would force their hand to that effect.
"Remember the Alamo, eh Duck?" Tony asked, but didn't wait for a response as he stepped forward, his arms crossed as he looked towards Tali over Gibbs' shoulder. "Shall we walk her through what we've gathered boss?"
Pushing past Tali, Gibbs didn't look towards Tony as he all but growled out, "You do that DiNozzo, the rest of us will get this dirtbag." But he'd barely left the bullpen when his omni-tool flashed another message alert in his face. Angrily jabbing a finger into the display, he calmed, if only a little, when Abby's beaming face appeared on the screen. "You better have something for me Abs."
"Oh I do, or rather Athame does." She hurriedly replied with an energetic nod of her head. "We know how to break through Jan'Gula's cloak."
End Notes: So, a couple of things. I hated that David Anderson died from a single shot to his stomach during the final confrontation with the Illusive Man. Oh I get the reasoning from a story standpoint, and it was a VERY beautiful scene at the end, (not counting the screw job that was the 'Star Child' and the three idiotic choices at the end), but from a logical standpoint it made no sense since his shields should have kicked in, the armor should have protected him, and even then a single shot to the gut wouldn't have killed him so easily. Sure, they were at the end of the road, they were both weakened significantly, but even then it shouldn't have been that easy.
Lol okay, rant over, promise. As for the Director and the Spectre being twins, well that'll be explained in due course, but I rather like the idea of having not one, but TWO Shepards running around, doing what they do best even if they go at it two entirely different ways. One's used to bludgeoning her way forward, no matter what it takes. The other is used to playing ball within the rules and protocols of the military she serves. Can someone say family drama? Lol jokes aside, as for the stuff with Jan'Gula vas Shellen, I'm no professional medical examiner or anything, not by a long shot, but I DO know a great deal of the stuff involving the ME universe and I've seen enough of NCIS to at least get a very basic idea of how all this stuff works, at least in theory. As such, Jan'Gula has the best intentions when it comes to his people, but he's going about things in the worst way possible due to everything he's been through, and now he has nothing left to live for.
If you were expecting a peaceful resolution to things, you're gonna be disappointed. See ya soon folks, and buckle up.
