Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot and that's not a lot, so I'll stop this rhyme and save us all a lot of time.
STORY INFORMATION
Summary: Evelyn Matthews came to NCIS with one goal in mind, to get close to Agent Gibbs. But how exactly do you go about telling a man that you're his dead daughter?
Pairings: Eventual Ari/Evelyn(Kelly),
Looking to be Tate
Tony/Evie friendship
Ducky/Audrey (Other pairings will appear when I decide)
Warnings: Greyish! Eli, Neutral! Ziva
NOTE: The medical references as to the brain tumor, inspired a GH storyline as well Still Small Voices movie, so I don't know how exactly accurate that information is for I am not a brain surgeon. For the languages, and other medical information that will presented later in the story are all things I researched from the internet, and while I do try to make sure information is accurate as can be determined some things may not be, so I apology before hand for any mistakes or ignorance on my part
I want to thank, Dricsj, Gibbs Girl Kelly, HannahbananaJane, JainaSyal, Lady Knight Aria of Haven, Notheronebitesdadust21, Probie girl1717, UnknownFlux, cheether, chrissypotter, Leonarange, lexilia, pavinet, torontogirl12, skeeter88, stargatesg1973, wisegirl71301, OzNCISLover, Kendra29, andrewjeeves, Fantasyfictionwriter, XxstarburstmonterxX, alterangirl, cookie62, kc5mzr, LovelyxLittlexLauren, Rayne90, faith1430709, jbn42, jrfan2383, yadoonkeenjaani, BONES-LOVER-94, FourHorses, IwouldrockJoshuaJacksonsWorld, lauram314, Angel-Lilly16, Captain Kathryn Janeway98, Jeremy Kelly, TivaBelieva.x.x.x, and zebraclrgard for all the follows!
I also want to thank, UnknownFlux, HannahbananaJane, JainaSyal, skeeter88, stargatesg1973, Notheronebitesdadust21, smilin steph, bulletproofdeath, Leonarange, torontogirl12, wisergirl71301, LovelyxLittlexLauren, Rayne90, janno, Kendra29, Hope'sFace, lexilia, Annie016 and andrewjeeves for the favs!
I apologize if I missed anyone, if I did just give me a shout out like 'Mirror, how could you?' lol And I have to say the great response to this story keeps me going, so thank you all so much!
Now I want to give a special thanks to the reviewers! Thank you all so much, you're review give me so much inspiration. I would list you all out, but I'm sick and ubber exhausted. But know I want to thank you to all of you, and I think I replied to everyone…if not PM and say 'Dude, what's you're problem?'
Dude…I've reverted back to my twelve year old self while sick apparently, lol.
Guest Reviews:
Smilin Steph: No. I won't end this all in tragedy. I hate those kind of endings, leaving things unresolved. No, that's not going to happen. I'm just saying it's not going to be an easy road for Evelyn, Ari, and the team.
Now onto the chapter…
Chapter Five
'What Nightmares are Made Of Part 2'
Gibbs had returned to the squad room, after grabbing another coffee and a talk with the director over the case. His eyes instantly went to Abby where she was pacing back and forth in front of his desk. A fond smile curled his lips upward ever so slightly as he heard her ranting to herself, "There's a way to overcome this. Really? How? Group therapy. Oh, how many people have a fear of autopsy? You're going to be a group of one! Lots of people wouldn't be caught dead in an autopsy room. Very funny," she gave a light at her own joke, before her dark lips were turned downward once more. "Maybe hypnotism. Ooh, remember Doctor Wertzer's class? You still don't know what he made you do when you were under hypnosis. Whatever it was, I woke up feeling refreshed…in his office a day later."
"Abby?" Gibbs interrupted her rant.
Abby jumped, and whirled around towards him with a big smile. "Yes?" She inquired lightly.
"What are you doing?" He asked, rising an eyebrow.
"I was having an internal debate," Abby confided, with a pout.
"Mmm. Who's winning?"
"I'm not sure. Oh, hell," Abby toyed with one of her pigtails. "It's the phobic side."
"Still can't enter autopsy?" Gibbs looked at sympathetically.
"No," Abby sighed. "I had to convince Evie to do it for me."
Gibbs's frowned deeply. "Why would you send Evie down to autopsy?"
"Ducky need the evidence back," Abby replied.
"What?" Gibbs shot her a look.
Abby placed her hands on her hips. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice," Abby told him, firmly and wagged a finger in his direction. "He wouldn't say why. He just wanted everything back including the blood."
Gibbs felt a bad feeling brew in his gut. "Including the blood?" He asked, his voice darkening.
"Yeah, it was a bit weird. There's no way to do a blood test in autopsy," Abby's hands dropped when she saw the flash of worry cross Gibbs face.
"And Evelyn had to take it down? How longer ago was that?" Gibbs questioned.
"About ten…fifteen minutes ago," Abby stated, her heart sinking when she realized Evelyn should have been back by then.
"Hey boss. What's up, Abs?" Tony greeted as he and Kate entered the squad room.
"Something's…" Abby began, but Kate finished, "Hinky?"
"Tony, get autopsy on the plasma," Gibbs ordered, his voice brisk and no nonsense. Tony stared, bemused. "TV. Now, DiNozzo."
"Yes, boss," Tony rushed towards his desk and started to type away on his keyboard as fast as he could.
Gibbs then turned to Abby. "Now what did Ducky say, Abby?" He asked.
"He told me to get the evidence down to autopsy STAT," Abby repeated, slightly stumbling over the words.
"Why would Ducky say STAT?" Gibbs thought about the words hard.
"Well, he is a doctor and STAT means fast and medical emergency," Kate stated, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked up the plasma. "Medical emergency. But what kind of medical emergency could you have in autopsy?"
"Ah," Tony scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know what kind of medical emergency they might have, but boss, we might have a major problem." Tony typed in a few more keys and the plasma screen lit up showing a static filled screen. "All I'm getting is snow."
"Don't move."
Evelyn's spine tingled with panic, and she drew in a sharp breath. Before she could help herself, she breathed out, "Oh, God. Please don't be a creepy clown."
Ari paused, his brows pinching slightly in bemusement, but he shrugged it off. He whispered against the shell of her ear, silkily, "No sudden movements…do you understand?"
Evie bit her lip, before slowly nodding her heart was thumping in her chest.
"Good." Letting go of her arm, confident that she wouldn't move Ari took her gun out of her hostler. He felt the tension rip through and felt her need to fight back that she was desperately restraining.
"What have you done to Ducky and Gerald?" She questioned, her jaw ticking as he took away her weapon. She only prayed he wouldn't find her knives, and her eyes darted around, trying to think of several ways to get out of this.
"Turn around," Ari ordered. Evelyn gritted her teeth together, and did as he bid keeping her hands placed on her legs in an effort to keep herself from lashing out.
Ari's gaze swept over her as she came face to face ith him. She was two heads shorter than him, and he had to crane his face downward to look her straight on. She was a beautiful woman, with porcelain pale skin and her generous mouth made for men's darkest fantasies were pursed tightly together, as her deep blue eyes stared up at him coldly like she wanted nothing more than to rip his face off. His lips curled upward in amusement, reminded of a tiny kitten spitting angrily. She raised her chin, a spark of defiance and she asked, her voice low filled with warning, "Where are Ducky and Gerald?"
"In the autopsy, unharmed," Ari replied, generously. "And it will stay that way, as long as you cooperate…"
"Agent Matthews," she replied.
Ari smiled mockingly. "Your first name, Agent Matthews," he stated, noticing her glance down at his gun that was in his hand.
She drew in a long breath then replied, "Evelyn."
"Evelyn," Ari rolled the name over his tongue and cocked his head thoughtfully at her. "In Hebrew Evelyn means Life."
"In English, it means the girl who's going to kick your ass," Evie smiled, sweetly up at him.
"How adorable, like a kitten with no claw," Ari smirked, seeing her hand twitch. She was just itching at the chance to slap him. He gestured with the gun towards the autopsy door. "Now, move."
She reluctantly did as she was told and slid the autopsy door open. When she stepped through the threshold, she made out two people in the darkness. "Ducky, Gerald," she rushed towards them without a second thought, relief in her voice. "Are you two okay?"
"Yes, my dear, we are," Ducky embraced her in a tight hug then pulled back. "What about you? Are you okay?"
"Fine," Evelyn whispered out.
"Evelyn," Ari called out and she flinched back. His tone filled with a mocking kind of patience that grated across her every nerve. "I'm afraid we aren't finished just yet," he smiled condesendingly.
Evelyn turned and faced him. Ari pointed towards the metal slab and ordered, "Place your hands on the slab." When she hesitated, he continued, "Let me explain, the rules here, Evelyn. I expect your complete cooperation, if not…I put a bullet into Gerald. Now, hands on the slab."
Evelyn gave him a glare while she moved over the body slab, her steps jerky and awkward. She turned her back towards him, and slowly placed her palms against the cold metal, flinching slightly at the contact. She took long, even breaths to keep herself calm as she heard Ari's footsteps approach. His hands ran down her sides almost intimately, patting her down for her weapons and her throat convulsed with panic. She squeezed her eyes closed, her heart like a jack hammer rattling inside her chest and she bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to calm herself down.
"No throw away?" Ari inquired, after not finding another gun. His hand traced up her leg purposefully and slowly, then reached into her pocket feeling her flinch. He raised an eyebrow, his fingers dipping into the pocket and her skin trembled. He slowly drew her badge out of her pocket. "So Special Agent Evelyn Matthews…are you any good with this gun?" He asked, smirking.
"I'd love to demonstrate for you," Evie's voice came out bitter and hard.
"Mmm, ever fire it in anger?" Ari asked. He had one time, and his regrets that the bullet had missed his target and that Tali never trusted him again.
"Not yet," she hissed at him.
Ari's fingers reached into her boot, withdrawing the knife there before continuing back up and let his hands linger longer than necessary to unnerve her further. "Did you shoot Qassam? Did you put that double tap in his heart?" He asked, fiegning curiously.
"No," she replied.
"Really? Who did?" Ari inquired, even though he already knew.
Evie bit her lip. She didn't want to tell this man a thing, for all she knew he would go after the person responsible for Qassam's death, even if Gibbs killed the man to protect Cassidy who had screwed up. Ducky answered when she didn't, "Agent Gibbs."
Evelyn shot Ducky a look. Ari chuckled, "Thank you, doctor." The man's dark eyes fell onto Evelyn and her breath caught in her throat. It wasn't his handsome face, or charming looks that held her compelled in that moment. It was his eyes. There was something underneath the cold kindness that made her heart beat faster. Something that made her blood run cold, and every fiber in her being cry out in rejection of the sudden thought that hit her. "What do you want?" her voice sounded faint to her ears.
"Now that would be telling," Ari gave her a light smirk. "Doctor, is this all the evidence?" He asked.
"From what I can see from here," Ducky nodded. "Gerald?" He looked to his assistant for a second opinion, neither wanting to incur Ari's wrath.
"It looks like all of it," Gerald nodded.
Ari's hand grabbed Evelyn's right wrist, and she jolted slightly. He rolled up her sleeve retrieving her second knife. His callous fingers brushed across her soft skin, pausing slightly when he felt the rough edge of scars. He felt Evelyn take in a swift breath and carefully retracted his hand though he felt a curiosity settle inside of him. But now was not the time to satisfy such silly curiosity, he had a mission to complete. He stepped back and stated, "You may move, Evelyn."
Evelyn straightened her spine, and carefully turned towards Ari. Her eyes raking over him, warily. He was tall, and his handsome face was impassive and calculating as he stared her down. His dark eyes appeared to be kind, but Evelyn had a feeling those eyes at times were anything, but kind. His passion molded lips twisted upward amused, and he arched an eyebrow. "Had a good look, have you?" He asked.
Evelyn's expression chilled. "What do you want?" She asked, instead of reply to his baiting.
Ari however did not answer. "Did Special Agents search Qassam's room? Where is the evidence that was bagged and tagged?" He asked.
"I don't know." Evelyn replied.
Ari just rolled his shoulders, loosening the tension that was coiled beneath them ever since this woman entered the room. He didn't know what it was about her that set him on edge. Realistically, she was no threat. He could put her down before she even attempted anything, so he was not threatened by her physically. Perhaps it were her blue eyes that seemed too familiar and to pierce straight into him, trying to get into places he long thought dead and gone. His nostrils flared as he drew in a breath and turned to Dr. Mallard. "Doctor, please explain the rules to sweet, little Evelyn," he ordered, conversationally.
"If we lie, or he thinks we're lying, he'll put a bullet in one of Gerald's joints," Ducky stated, his old face sagging in worry.
Evelyn's eyes widened in panic. Ari shook his head, "Be specific. Ball and socket joints." The man then casually added, "And you omitted one condition."
"I did?" Ducky blinked.
"Yes, you did," Ari's voice was calm. So calm that Evelyn was reminded of a cat cornering a mouse.
"Oh, yes." Ducky nodded. "We mustn't try to trick him."
Evelyn's breath quickened, and her eyes flickered worriedly between the gun and Gerald. Ari smirked, "Which you tried to do, Evelyn, by saying you beat your phobia."
"But she didn't know the rules!" Ducky protested, and Gerald's eyes widened in panic. Evelyn's breath quickened and her heart thundered in her ears.
"But you did, Doctor Mallard," Ari replied coolly, leveling his gun with Gerald's shoulder. "And you joined the ruse by calling her Abby." Ari went to pull the trigger, and Evelyn jumped in front of Gerald.
The gun went off.
At the sight of the screen Gibbs immediately got to action. He ordered, "Tony, punch up autopsy receiving and stairwell cameras. Then the building floor plans."
"On it, boss," Tony nodded, turning serious eyes onto the computer.
"Kate," Gibbs called out.
"Yes boss?" Kate looked at him.
"Inform the director that we may have intruders in autopsy and possible hostage situation," Gibbs told her. Kate nodded then rushed off towards the director's office. Gibbs's blue eyes turned on Abby who looked frightened and panicked. "Abby, I need you to think and think real hard…when you were on the phone with Ducky did he sound funny? Anything odd?"
Abby twirled her pigtail nervously, and shifted from foot to foot. Her brows furrowed. "He sounded kind of tense," she told him, nervously. "Like he gets when a test isn't what he expected or when he's worried about one of us. Oh, Gibbs," her voice shook and tears pooled in her eyes. "It should be me down there."
"What is happening down there, Abs, isn't your fault," Gibbs told her, gently. "Besides, we need you up here. I want you to go get the evidence we got from Qassam's apartment. Try to find something worth going trouble for."
"Okay…okay," Abby nodded, breathlessly. "I can do that. I can do that."
Gibbs smiled slightly, "That's my Abby."
Abby smiled slightly then turned and headed down to the evidence locker. Tony rose from his desk and informed Gibbs, "We've got an ambulance outside autopsy receiving, boss."
"Good," Gibbs nodded. "Where's my floor plan?"
"Right there," Tony pointed to the plasma.
"Okay, get me two agents in receiving, two in the elevator here. TAC-one," Gibbs ordered, staring at the plasma . "Show me Abby's lab and autopsy. All entrances and exits." Tony grimaced, looking down at the keyboard and typed in a few things. When he didn't get a head slap, he realized he was doing good. "Give me three sixty. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Go, go, go, go, stop. Right there. What's this right here?"
"A piece of Abby's equipment?" Tony guessed.
"Can it be moved?" Gibbs asked.
"I can try?" Tony asked, unsure.
"Do it. Then I need a drill and a flexible video probe," Gibbs told him.
"On it, boss," Tony nodded.
Gibbs stared at the plasma with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Evelyn had never dealt with this kind of situation and he was more than a little worried. His jaw clenched, he was not losing his agent today. She was part of his team, her and Ducky and he would be damned before anyone hurt his team.
Evelyn crumpled to the ground, holding her leg in pain. Ari stood there, his expression angered and shocked. If his reflexes hadn't been sharp, then he wouldn't have been able to miss Evelyn. He growled out, "What do you think you are doing?"
Ari was a killer. He made no excuse, had no remorse for the things he had done because killing was what he was trained for, what he was good at. He was nothing else. There was a time long ago where a part of him had wanted something else, but that had been taken away from him leaving him dead inside. Yet, a part of him flashed back to life in that moment when he realized Evelyn had jumped in front of Gerald to take the bullet. Panic? Concern? Déjà vu? No. He shook his head, perishing the thought. The woman was nothing to him, and why should he care if she lived or died?
And yet…you missed, Ari. You missed on purpose. Like you did only one time before…Tali's voice filled his head in a soft whispered. He gritted his teeth together, watching as the doctor knelt down beside her. "Get up," he ordered, darkly.
"You just shot her," Gerald snapped.
"She has only herself to blame," Ari stated, feeling his face tremble as he stared down at the woman. "She put herself in front of the bullet meant for you."
Gerald winced back. Ducky stared at him, darkly and slightly puzzled as if trying to figure out why he had purposefully missed. Hell, Ari was trying to figure it out.
Evelyn stared at her bleeding leg too absorbed in the fresh new pain to notice the tension growing higher and higher in the room. Ari ran a hand down his face, feeling his pulse throb in his neck. He was threatening to come unraveled, and it was all because of this woman. Closing his eyes, he forced the feeling deep down, and locked it away. Emotions did him no good. Opening his eyes, he glared down at the woman and barked, "Get up."
He reached down, his hand curling around her arm and he lifted her off the ground. Dazed, her hands used his arm as an anchor and he led he to the body slab forcing her to sit on it. "You little fool," he voice was harsh and scolding. "What were you thinking?"
He said the words, wondering if he meant them for himself, or the woman sitting before him. He pried her hand away from the wound and looked down at it. The bullet had grazed a half inch deep and ran six inches wide slash on her inner thigh. If she were lucky, the bullet would have missed her femoral artery. If not...then she could bleed out in a matter of minutes. Ari glared down at her, grasping her chin tightly between his thumb and forefinger with a bruising grip, "When I meant full cooperation, Evelyn, I meant it."
"I wasn't about to let you…shoot Gerald…" Evelyn swallowed thickly as adrenaline coursed through her veins like lightning as the shock of pain wore off. "I'm…I'm trained to take bullets…to take the pain…Gerald wasn't," Evie's simple answer came out on a whisper as she stared at him. Something had changed. His aloof and cool appearance had been shaken…because he shot her? Evelyn didn't understand it for it made no sense. "If you…shoot anyone…you shoot me," she told him.
Her compassion and loyalty and completely sincerity threw him for a moment. It reminded him of a dark haired girl willing to risk everything, but that dark haired girl had gambled and lost. Ari watched her blue eyes stare up at him, no flicker of fear, but determination shining in them.
He didn't know what surprised him more. The fact that she had no fear of him, the fact he hadn't just shot her dead or the fact that she managed to shake him to his very core. Her blue eyes, that he knew he had seen somewhere before stared up at him. They were so strangely cold and detached, to cloak the fear for her friends. But that wasn't all she hid. As a man who used lies and manipulation everyday, he saw the sorrow and pain that she buried deep behind layers of innocence. For a moment, he was tempted to work on that pain, use it, but then he blanched.
That would be like what his father did to him by using-Ari's forced down this reaction. It did not matter what him and this woman had in common. She was merely a tool to be used to finish his main goal. Nothing more, he told himself firmly and turned away from her dismissing her from his thoughts. Ari sniffed, turning back to Gerald and Ducky. "It seems you have lucked out, Gerald," Ari stated, his voice even. "You are very fortunate to have such good friends."
"No," Gerald shook his head. "No, I'll take the bullets."
"Too late," Ari gave a shake of his head. "Evelyn shall be the one who pays if you lie to me, so I suggest you be very careful of what you do now. It would be such a shame to have to hurt her again."
But even as he said the threat, his resolve behind them felt like a line drawn in sand. Shaky at best. He forced deep breaths into his lungs and realized this situation had just become even more complicated.
END OF CHAPTER!
Rrs are always welcomed, and always answered. Pms are fine by me, but if flames shall come, I give as good as I get. You have been warned, lol.
I want to throw up my Author Note I deleted.
There has been some reservations about Ari, and I as a fan of NCIS, completely understand that. He isn't my favorite character either, and I don't' expect my fic to change anyone's opinion of the Ari in the show. Hopefully though you will come to have a love/hate for the Ari in my story. I started writing I knew this fic was going to be an Evelyn(Kelly) and Ari pairing. Now, I want to explain a few things that will hopefully ease any reservations that anyone will have.
1.) Ari is a killer. That isn't going to change, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Ari isn't a good man, and I will not make him out to be some teddy bear saint underneath it all. That's just not realistic. However, I will show that a killer is not all he can be. Like Ziva, if Ziva never came to NCIS and never became part of the team then who knows what she would have turned out like. In my fic, due to Evelyn's presences it changes things.
2.) Evie and Ari…a love story? Not sure if what you could call it that at first. It's not love at first sight, far from it. It begins more as an understanding, and forced situations which will become clearer to you as I post more chapters. No, they will not be running off into the sunset and live happily ever after. I plan it to be a long, hard road for them.
3.) Gibbs will not be happy for them. Gibbs hates Ari, and that isn't going to change because 'oh, you love my daughter, every things fine'. No, that's so not happening. Gibbs is a stubborn, protective man and I don't think he will ever fully accept Ari. Will he accept Evie's decisions? Well, you'll have to read the fic to find out.
4.) Nope, it's not going to end in tragedy. I hate tragic ending that's have little to no resolution. It leaves readers feeling disappointed and I've been there and won't do that to my fic or any of you.
If you have any other concerns or reservations, send me a PM, and I'll try to ease them. If I can't, well I hope that you will still enjoy the story and continue to read. If not, I'm sadden to lose you as a reader and I appreciate you reading up until this point.
Once again, the Rating will be upped to M because of blood, torture and gore (Not Tarentio levels, but enough that Rated T wouldn't cover it) that will be shown in later chapters. I just want to give you all a heads up!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!