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Trent Kort fumed and threw the syringe in his hand at Gregory, the younger man dodging it just in time to avoid being impaled with it. Jennifer was gone; she had left the safe house at some point during the night, probably while he had been briefing his associate on her progress, and had taken his gun with her. That part was hardly surprising since he hadn't given her a gun of her own yet, he didn't want her to use it on him. However she hadn't taken her suppressant before leaving, which was Gregory's fault. He was supposed to make sure she had it at the appointed time every day. One missed day wouldn't do that much to reverse the effect of the drug, but he still didn't want to chance it. Kort turned to look at Gregory and then advanced on him.
"Where could she have gone? And why?" he thundered at the frightened therapist, his enjoyment of the young man's cowering tempering his fury.
"She took your gun right? Maybe she went to kill her targets." The suggestion was a good one, although Trent resented how easily the young man defended her actions. He was supposed to be a trained CIA Agent, proficient in manipulation, and yet Jenny had managed to completely wrap him around her finger. It just showed how weak minded Gregory really was. Maybe he should be taken out of the equation, he is becoming a liability. The mission could have preceded a lot faster if Gregory hadn't been mollycoddling her as much as he had. Trent knew that if he had been more proactive in her recovery, she would already be the killing machine he was trying to create.
"No, I told her to wait for me before trying to take any of them out." He watched Gregory's face display a little disbelief at his words and his resentment swelled. He thought he knew her better than him? He had studied her actions from afar over the last few weeks; he knew her mind, her thought processes, better than anyone.
"Well maybe she ignored you." Trent scoffed at that. She wouldn't dare ignore him!
"I think it more likely that she has remembered something about a previous encounter of ours and has run away. She has been pining for my attention since she woke up, she wouldn't risk my displeasure." Gregory conceded defeat on that point, no matter how much Kort disregarded her; she always tried to get on his good side.
"Maybe she's trying to impress you." That made Trent pause. She could potentially be trying to get his attention through doing something she thought he would be proud of her for. It fit with his knowledge of her character and gave a good reason of why she took the gun. Well if that was the case, and she has taken out one or more targets, he could forgive Gregory's inattentiveness of her actions and postpone his punishment for endangering the mission.
Kort turned to the table in front of him and picked up the last picture he had been about to give her, the one of Agent Gibbs. He hadn't dared to show it to her yet, knowing that if she was going to remember anyone from NCIS, it would be him. Trent was fast coming to the conclusion that if she took a turn for the worst, he could have her take out everyone else, and then he could take her out himself. Killing Gibbs afterwards would be simple, since he would more than likely be mourning over the bodies of his fallen team. He chuckled to himself, even if she already had run away as he had first thought; finding her again would be simple. Her presence amongst them again would make them all congregate around her in one place and he could merely throw a bomb in with them. They would never know what hit them.
"Why do we need to do this anyway? Why don't we just blow up NCIS?" Gregory reiterated the question that until now, Kort had refused to answer. Jenny had always been just around the corner and the risk of her hearing him had been too great. He was now angry enough to no longer care; however, so he rounded on Gregory, fuming at what had seemingly become the young man's mantra over the last three weeks.
"We are doing it this way because my associate wants the building and its other Agents to remain unharmed. If I ever hear that question from your mouth again, I will remove your spinal column from your body! Is that clear?" Gregory nodded jerkily, the terror plain in the simple action, and then he stumbled from the room to get away from the older Agent. Trent Kort had a reputation amongst the other CIA Agents, and to witness his ruthlessness up close was both an honour the others could only dream of, and a curse that caused no end of sleepless nights, wondering when he would become expendable.
--
Jenny chanced a glance over the side of the roof as she heard the young Agent begin walking up the stairs. With nowhere to run and an armed man closing in on her position, her options became more and more limited. Her body was shaking from the shock of what had happened to her, the adrenaline pumping through her veins making her already rapidly beating heart to become erratic and she was feeling light headed. What should she do? She could probably shoot the boy in the head as he made his way up the stairs, but did she really want to do that? She remembered him, she had called him Tim. Tim who? Why had Trent called her Director Shepard? Maybe he had been talking to someone else. Maybe to Tim. He had been right next to her; maybe he was Director Tim Shepard. She pulled a face, that didn't sound right. Tim, what was that short for? Timothy, her mind supplied immediately. Timothy? Agent Timothy… Mc something. McProbie? She knew she had heard that before, but it still didn't sound right. She sighed in frustration and chanced another glance over the side. She couldn't see him so she pulled her head back and looked around warily. Where was he? Damn, he must have heard me sigh!
The footfalls began again, this time though they were louder and faster, causing her to pull away from the fire escape and stand up, looking around wildly for another escape route. She had decided to run. She couldn't do it, she couldn't kill the boy. He's one of your targets, a voice said in her head; he is supposed to be familiar to you. Trent told you these people were your friends but they turned traitor. Are you going to let the traitor go unpunished? Jenny hesitated, plunging her hand into her bag to retrieve Trent's gun, her mission was clear; kill the traitors who tried to kill you. She turned back to the fire escape and walked to the edge, he was close now, just one level away. She aimed carefully at his head, but she just couldn't pull the trigger, not now. She pointed it down slightly and then fired, the bullet hitting the step just in front of his foot, the warning clear. He stopped and ducked behind the steps still above him, pointing his own gun up through a gap.
"NCIS! Drop the weapon!" his voice was strong and clear with conviction.
"Name?" she asked, her voice low, the one word hopefully not enough to give away her identity.
"I'm Special Agent Timothy McGee and you?" McGee! Yes, that's it! Tim McGee!
Jenny smiled through the shadows at the boy below her. 'He's not a boy, he's a federal Agent.' She jumped as the angry words resounded in her head. What was with the sudden surge of memories?! They never came to her like this, in fact the last one she had had before tonight was… the day before Trent started giving me more of that drug. What was in that syringe? Is it helping me fight infection or just stopping me from remembering? She shook her head and forced her mind to the present. Well, whoever had said that to her was right, he wasn't a boy and she was doing the young man an injustice by thinking of him as such. She didn't reply to his question though, resisting the impulse to ask if he knew her, she didn't want to reveal herself to him or any of her… she didn't know what to call them now. She decided now was her last chance to get away unseen, so she spun on her heel and dashed to the other side of the roof, knowing that it was her only avenue of escape, albeit a dangerous one. She heard his footfalls begin again and spared one last look over her shoulder before launching herself into the blackness, over the edge of the building.
Her landing was painful, the solid surface of the lower rooftop approaching faster then she anticipated through the darkness, her foot twisting as she landed and her side screaming in pain as she turned her landing into a roll. "Damn it McGee!" she groaned as she caught her breath, not particularly knowing why she said it, and hoping he hadn't heard her. Although her arrival on the rooftop was ungainly, she had gotten away relatively unscathed and she picked herself up swiftly, hiding just in time over the roof edge, on the fire escape. It was on the mirror side to the building that Tim was on now, so she glanced over just in time to see him look around for her, then disappear. She breathed a long sigh of relief at her close shave and walked down the stairs, joining the other pedestrians on the main road ways, blending in perfectly, while trying not to limp. Now all she had to do was decide what to do with her new knowledge of Kort.
--
Timothy McGee looked around the rooftop warily, looking for the person that had shot at him, twice. He couldn't believe his bad luck, first being raked over the coals by Vance for not betraying his boss, and then getting shot at, his laptop now had a new hole and the person that had tried to kill him had gotten away. They even had his name! He shook his head at his stupidity, why had he given out his name? The one word from the hidden assailant had practically seemed like an order, so he had responded before realising how foolish he was being. The voice had seemed so familiar at the time, but now he probably couldn't give a definitive answer if the person actually came up to him and talked to him for half an hour. McGee dropped his head and rubbed his eyes. If his bank account was cleared out tomorrow he had no one to blame but himself. He blinked and then stared, his eyes going wide as a little metallic glint caught his attention. The person had left his brass! McGee chuckled at the unexpected fortune and pulled on a pair of gloves and a bag from his pocket. Always be prepared, he thought, picking up the bullet casing and putting it in the little bag and sealing it. Two bullets two casings, he thought, searching the roof for the second casing. He found it, and a single strand of hair, after a few minutes of searching and then held up his prizes proudly. You can run, but you can't hide from Abby's forensic know-how. Tim pulled out his phone and called Gibbs, hoping he was in a good mood.
"Gibbs." McGee internally sighed, seems not.
"Boss? It's McGee. I've just been shot at-" Gibbs cut him off urgently.
"You ok McGee?"
"Yes boss. I'm opposite my usual coffee shop and I've got bullet casings and a hair for Abby. I might have a bullet too. The person got away though. Only casualties are my laptop and my pride." Gibbs chuckled a little and then became all business.
"I'll send Tony and Ziva to you. If you see anyone suspicious, bring 'em down. If you were targeted they might try again." Tim looked around cautiously, realising how much he stood out on the open roof top.
"Got it boss." McGee put down the phone and quickly walked back down the stairs, and back across the road into the coffee shop. He flashed his badge and told the owner that his team mates would processing the shop window and where he had been sitting and that he would need the security tapes from the shop front and the street. He walked over to his laptop and then followed the trajectory of the bullet that had passed through it, finding it embedded in the floor, under the table. More for Abby, he thought happily, hoping that this psycho would be caught soon. After everything that had happened recently, the last thing he wanted was for the team to be put in danger. Tony and Ziva burst through the door moments later and McGee gave them a weak smile.
"Did someone take offense at your next chapter, Probie?" Tony offered jokingly, his attempt at putting McGee at ease falling a little flat. Ziva pinched his funny bone and sent him across the street before approaching Tim.
"Do not worry McGee; we will not let anything happen to you." Ziva told him, a small smile on her face. She gave him a pat on the shoulder and then got to work across the street. McGee chuckled at his friends' antics and got back to work himself, his mind happy and clear because, despite what had happened on their last protection mission, which hadn't been their fault anyway, he believed in them and their words.
A.N.: Just to reiterate the point, Todd did whack her head so she does have amnesia, the drug is just repressing the memories she would have been regaining anyway, and the increased dose is playing havoc with her current memories too. Thank you everyone who has and will review!
