Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! NOTHING I TELL YOU! NO CHARATERS, NOTHING! I am not making anything from this, it is just for amusement. NOTHING MORE! *Ari nods satisfied and puts away his gun and author lets out a sigh of relief*
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)-ARLYN SHALL RULE THE WORLD-
Tate
Tony/Evie friendship
Ducky/Audrey (Other pairings will appear when I decide)
Warnings: Greyish! Eli, Neutral! Ziva
NOTE: Things I lack knowledge of I have 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, KrisShannon, Tris Holmes, Jenna Craig, MismatchedSocksandKnickers, jtr1812, Amelia Jessica Pond Williams, BrianB1126, calliegirl63, leoniebroeder94, CSIflea, MDDC26, Sirius7, amurdock42, byLunaA, buffy1242, Too Hard To Be Called Love, starchild295, swimgeek2007, Lady Isabelle Black, vampireacademyrulz797, Arkansas Sweetheart, Sweetest-Time, janno, Russian Flower, SimplyReBECca, GraceSong, Marauders Twilight, NikkiAlex, horsegirlrule, adrienmaciel, Alpha Centarus, Angelus320, Dreamspirit47, MrsScott323, bakaprincess85, mitchievw, potiongirl1992, Nicole1314, Trance20666, Viivs0612, cwatker222, Mal4Inara, sophiemom01, Pandora'sBox11, Callipygian, EzziBA, Curiouser-and-Curiouser101, leFlame, LadyMary33, swanqueen4, PayShaFan, Angelhaggis, starwarsfan1000, goldengloss, GibbsTonyZivaTim, Irjuni92, pinkrangerforever, persephone829, Forest Angel 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, KrisShannon, StarlightShivers, MismatchedSocksandKnickers, 1956johndeere50, Amelia Jessica Pond Williams, BrianB1126, calliegirl63, leoniebroeder94, Sirius7, byLunaA, SecretsAreHiddenByMe, Too Hard to Be Called Love, BurnedSpy, NikkiAlex, adrienmaciel, Annie016, bakaprincess85, spikewil, thelauers918, Animanga-smile14, Nicole1314, Trance20666, Viivs0612, sophiemom01, Rika92, Callipygian, EisForElephant, EzziBA, Curiouser-and-Curiouser101, Annika Sparks, CryDevil, Monochrome13, PayShaFan, Cosmos89, doggy bye, goldengloss, GibbsTonyZivaTim, CSIflea, FictionWriter09, ange1993 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?' Seriously all PMs are welcomed. :D
Wanna give a special thanks to, SpecialAgentLeonie, Burned Spy, CSIflea, 1, FourHorses, cwatker222, byLunaA, EzziBA, GibbsTonyZivaTim, and Buckeye am I! THANK Y'ALL! If I have missed you and your review, or follow, or fav, just PM and I'll fix that.
Guest Reviews:
1: I miss her too, but I have to admit Bishop is growing on me. I know I know, it's too short, couldn't be help, lol.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"Lies Always Come Unraveled…"
The world tilted off kilter, and she felt her legs give out from underneath her. If it hadn't been for Ari, she would have been flat on the floor. Her blue eyes drilled into Fornell, as his words sunk in. No…he can't know…there's no way…the bastard, Evie's eyes narrowed. "What…what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Evelyn steadied herself, and muttered thanks to Ari before her blue eyes glared at Fornell who took another sip of coffee as if everything was swell. "What do you mean by that Fornell?" Evie took a threatening step towards him.
"Did you honestly think no one was going to find out?" Fornell peered up at her seriously. Gibbs was an observant man, and Fornell didn't understand why the man couldn't see his own eyes staring back at him every time he saw Evelyn. Though Kelly Gibbs was a painfully part of his past that he tried shoving under the rug so he wouldn't have to deal with it, he probably didn't want to dare hope that Kelly being alive was possible. "Your lab tech, Ms. Scuito, would have. Apparently Ari hit you quite hard in that alleyway, it was only a matter of time before the DNA results showed the truth. You're just lucky that we got them before her."
Evleyn studied the man for a long moment. "And what do you get out it? Helping keep my secret," she elaborated, quietly. There was no way that Fornell did it out of the goodness of his heart, and Evelyn waited for the other shoe to drop.
"Your cooperation," Fornell stated, simply.
Ari's brows furrowed. "Why?" He asked. He knew Fornell needed his cooperation, but Evelyn's? Ari's suspicions grew and he grew ridged as he glared down the FBI agent.
"The first place Eli David is going to be in DC," Fornell said to Ari, taking another drink of the coffee. Damn, it was good. He wondered if he could get another cup to go. "He knows that you have an obsession with Evelyn, and he'll be keeping a strict eye on her to make sure your not around. We need you, Evelyn, to maintain your status quo, give Eli David no reason to suspect you or to know something is off until he moves along. By the way, you have us to thank for doctoring all that surveillance footage caught by street cameras of you two."
"I take you aren't doing this out of the goodness of your heart," Ari stated, coolly.
"We're the FBI," Fornell shrugged. "We're not men who can protect the world as we know it with altruistic motives or means. We want all the information you have from Hamas to Mossad. In exchange, we keep your father off your trail while getting you asylum here in the good old US of A, and perhaps even make Mossad back off of you entirely."
"Don't make promises that you can't keep," Ari told Fornell, sharply. "If you want a deal, I want assurance."
"What reassurance do you need?" Fornell asked.
Ari stood there, pondering it before glancing over at Evelyn. He saw the lack of color in her face, and knew that inside she was falling apart. He turned his gaze back on the FBI agent and made his demand, "I want you to make sure Mossad backs off of Evelyn. I don't want Evelyn to fear leaving her home and I don't want my father anywhere near her. Once you get that done…then we'll talk."
Evelyn gasped, looking at Ari stunned. Fornell too looked surprised by the request, but recovered quickly. "Alright, that can be managed. I have a few politician friends of mine that owe me some favors," Fornell stated. "But until we get your reassurance, you'll understand that I'll have to have some men placed on the grounds. Just in case."
"Fine," Ari agreed.
Evelyn looked back and forth between them and shook her head. "Hold on a minute," Evie said, holding up her hands to make them slow down. "You can't just dictate my life like this-"
"When your life and national security go hand in hand like you've managed to do, you'll find you don't have much say in that matter, Agent Matthews," Fornell told her, bluntly. He then let out a sigh, and looked at her seriously. "Look, it's not that I'm unsympathetic to you, kid, but my hands our tied. Until further notice, you better get used to Big Brother's eye on you."
"Like they weren't already looking," Ari muttered under his breath. Fornell caught it and let out a snort of amusement before setting the cup in the sink and heading towards the door.
"Well, I'd better be off," Fornell stated. "Can't have any wandering eyes spot us, now can we?"
Evelyn followed him, leaving Ari behind in the kitchen and reached out grabbing Fornell's arm. "Fornell, you can't leave Ari here with me," Evie complained, her voice barely more than a whisper. "What if Gibbs, or the others show up? How will I explain why he's here?"
"You sealed your fate when you brought him here," Fornell told her, shortly. "Like I said, my hands are tied in this. For what it's worth, I am sorry," he sounded sincere, but Evelyn couldn't muster the faith to believe it. He walked out of the door, and left Evelyn standing there.
This…this wasn't what she wanted to happen. What had she expected bringing Ari here? Evelyn let out a long sigh, and turned back towards Ari. He was leaning against the wall, his breathing labored. She let out a gasp before reaching out towards him to steady him when his legs shook. "You shouldn't have gotten out of bed," she scolded him, half-hearted before thinking to herself, Why do I care?
"I didn't want to leave a potential threat unchecked," Ari stated, simply as he let Evelyn lead him to the living and helped him sit down. His face contorted in pain as the muscles around his wound and he let out a sigh of relief as his body relaxed against the soft cushions.
Evelyn stared at him for a long moment. "You could have protected yourself from the bedroom. You had a gun," she said, softly. Ari said nothing, and was not looking at her. She frowned, checking his bandages gently. He could have protected himself from the bedroom. One entrance, more than enough bullets to take care of the five agents that showed up, he could have easily taken them out. But he came downstairs anyways. But why? Then it hit her, and her lips parted in surprise. No. He couldn't have…he wasn't protecting himself. He was protecting me.
Satisfied with that he hadn't pulled the stitches, she rewrapped the bandage and pulled it tightly, part of her enjoying when he winced. She didn't want to feel nice towards Ari, the man had kidnapped her-twice! She shook her head lightly, and looked down at him with a deep frown gracing her lips. "I'll bring you a pillow and blanket. Do you need any medicine?" She asked.
"No," Ari shook his head. He could feel the dizziness around his mind from the lingering effects from the dose he took earlier. He watched Evelyn walk away-his eyes admittedly watching the way her hips swung-he thought to himself that he had already had one big distraction. Evelyn returned with pillow and blanket in hand. Ari leaned up letting Evelyn put the pillow behind him as he took the blanket. "Forcing me to sleep on the couch, are you?" He smirked.
"I'm too tired to try to help you get to the bedroom," Evie shot him a withering glance.
"I apologize…" Ari suddenly said. She shot him a confused look, and he explained, "If you had not brought me here, Fornell wouldn't have insisted I stay with you. I've put you in a very precarious position."
"That you have," Evelyn nodded. If Gibbs ever found out that Ari was here, any trust Gibbs had in her would be lost. Her heart twisted at the very thought. She thought back to when she made the choice to pick Ari off the ground and put him in her car, and wondered if she would have done anything different.
The answer was swift. No, she wouldn't have done anything different. She couldn't. She wouldn't. She heard Audrey's voice, "You have too big a heart girl, it's going to get you into trouble." Evelyn unconsciously soothed the wrinkled out of the blanket, not daring to look at his face. She tucked the blankets around him, and he said, "You need to go sleep, Ari. Sleep will make you better."
"I can't."
She met his eyes, and her heart nosedived into the pit of her stomach. He was looking up at her, he was a tough, scarred man who could easily kill her as she could a fly. His eyes were flat and his expression distance and cold, yet she see the vulnerability down inside him. She realized why she had taken such a risk, what she saw him all those times. She saw herself. She closed her eyes, and turned her head away from him.
"Your father doesn't know you're his daughter, does he?" Ari commented, his brown eyes memorizing the features of her face. He was getting to used to looking at her, knowing the contours of her face by heart. Her eyes snapped open, and pierced through him. There was a type of reluctance and hesitance in the way she sat, and finally, she admitted, "No…he thinks I'm dead."
The impact of her words were instantaneous, and he drew in a swift breath. Evelyn's looked at him concerned when he shut his eyes tightly and his jaw locked. "What's wrong?" She asked, her hand reaching out and covering his. "Are you in pain? Are you sure you don't need that medicine?"
"No…no medicine," Ari shook his head, wiping his hands down his face. "I…just need to be alone," he stated, his eyes meeting hers and they were hard as ice.
Evelyn's brows wrinkled in bemusement. "Alright," she agreed, not sure how to handle the sudden shift in Ari's personality. "Try to sleep. I have…I have some things I need to go do. I'll be back soon."
Ari nodded sharply. Normally he would protest-he wanted to protest-but he bit the inside of his cheek until he bled and just stared up at the ceiling as she shuffled about preparing to leave. His mind was scattered, and distorted. He wanted to blame the sickness, instead he knew why he felt such a confliction of emotions. When he first saw Leroy Jethro Gibbs picture, he had hated the man. There was something horrible familiar about the hardness in Gibbs's face, and Ari assumed his instant hatred stemmed from his father. Now with Evelyn's admission, Ari now had a different, more troubling, conclusion.
The man Gibbs reminded him of was himself. Ari's hands curled into fists so tight that his knuckles went white. He closed his eyes, he could feel her look at him worriedly.
"I'll be going to the store…and then…Gibbs's," Evelyn said, her hands wringing her keys nervously as she stood in the threshold, a halo of golden sunlight from behind her shining upon her. "There's a phone," she gestured to the in table to the side of the sectional, "if you need to call me. I'm sure you know my number."
"I do," was his simple reply.
Her sarcastic smile dropped, and she looked infinitely troubled. Sparing him one last troubled glance, she muttered a soft goodbye. Ari flinched at the sound of the door slamming shut.
The private came to a stop on the DC runaway. There were several moments where people were rushing around, getting everything together before opening the private jets door. A couple of men in suits came out, scanning the area intently before giving a nod that everything was clear.
And with that assurance, Eli David stepped off the plane and onto the American soil.
Gibbs methodically worked on his boat, trying to draw his mind off of all that had happened in the last week. It wasn't working, instead it made him dwell upon it. The Director had quickly hushed up everything, even going so far as to instruct Evleyn not to mention what happened during her abduction. It all left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he hated being in the dark. What did they not want him to know? Why was Evelyn willing to hide it? Gibbs drummed his fingers against the boat for a long moment, forcing away the thoughts of his work. Instead, he looked at the boat and thought of what he would name it.
Naming a boat was safe territory, and wouldn't make him want to shot someone. Preferably Ari again.
"Nice boat," came a voice from the top of the stairs.
His head jerked towards the stairs, and he stared at Evelyn who stood there. Her expression anxious and an uncertain smile on her face, while her fingers tapped a familiar rhythm against the railing. It had been hard for her to walk into this house. The house from her childhood, and the moment she stepped through threshold memories swamped her. Good and bad and all of it utterly heartbreaking. She had stood in the living room for several moments choking back tears as the familiar walls felt strange and cold to her. It didn't look much different from back when she was a kid, but she felt not welcomed. Perhaps that had something to do with the anxiety eating at her. "Tony…told me your door was always open and well, I came here because we need to talk. Can we talk?" She asked lightly.
Gibbs's eyes flickered then he looked back down at his boat and continued his work. "Depends what you want to talk about," he said, his voice low and held a slight edge.
Several seconds passed in silence, where all the words that Evelyn had carefully planned while circling the block disappeared. Her first instinct was to apology, but to Gibbs's an apology was a sign of weakness so it would do her no good. "I don't know where to start," she softly admitted, a lump building in her throat. "What do you want me to say, Gibbs?"
Gibbs just stared at her silently. There was an uncomfortable knot inside of his stomach at her distress, and there was a glassy sheen in her eyes that sent alarms off inside his head. He didn't do well with tears.
Evelyn drew in a breath, and turned away from him. She stared at the boat for a long time, faintly recalling him showing her how to sand wood properly. She twisted her fingers together before swallowing thickly. "I understand that you are angry I went without back up, and that was stupid and if I could go back and change that I would," she said on a sigh.
"If you think that I'm still mad about that, Evelyn," Gibbs set down his tools and faced her, his expression tight, and his eyes sharp, "then you aren't as observant as I thought you were."
Evie looked taken aback for a moment, before walking down the rest of the stairs. She had her arms wrapped around her, a standard Evelyn movement to protect herself. "Fine. You're not mad about that," she said, her eyes looking at him imploringly. "Just…I guess I'm not observant because I don't what else there is to talk about."
"Why were you wearing Ari's jacket?" Gibbs asked suddenly. His stomach still seethed over the image. How could she have trusted that bastard?
"What?" Evie blinked, momentarily thrown. His words clicked in her head, and she answered, "Because…it was raining. I was cold, and Ari put it on me."
Gibbs's jaw clenched. "Just how close did you get to the bastard, Matthews?" He demanded harshly.
"This is what all this all about?" Her blood felt like ice, a contrast to the boiling anger seething her stomach. Her expression became blank, and her eyes went dark hiding exactly what she was thinking. It was an expression that Gibbs had never seen on Evelyn's face before and he was certain he didn't like it. Evelyn's voice was soft, yet seemed to rumble like thunder as she demanded, "Your entire cold shoulder act is because I had trusted Ari?"
"You are my agent. You are on my team," Gibbs stated, firmly. "I have to be able to trust your judgment, I have to know that you can make tough decision if the occasion calls for it. I don't like that you put your trust in Ari. Do you trust your own judgment after making that kind of call? After what he did to all of us? To Ducky, to Gerald, to you most of all or have you forgotten? Did you forget what the bastard was capable of?"
Her eyes stared at him blankly for a moment when a memory flashed through her mind. The body lied on the ground…her hands reached out, cupping his face…"Ari?" She blinked rapidly willing the images away, her head aching at the terrible conflict that she was feeling inside of her. She swallowed thickly, and felt pain flare in her neck that was hidden underneath her scarf. Proof that Ari would always be a killer at heart, and yet even as she thought it, she knew that there was more to him than that. She had seen it, felt it and if she gave up on Ari, it would mean given up on herself as well. She whispered out, "No…I haven't."
Evelyn returned her gaze to Gibbs, who was looking at her with his eyes that seemed to see too much and yet nothing at the same time. Who would have thought that a man who could look right through a person wouldn't know his daughter right in front of them? Guilt gnawed at her insides, but she told herself now was not the time to bring that all up. Maybe it was the fear of rejection that seemed all too real as those cold eyes observed her, she didn't know what she would do if Gibbs rejected her. Her hands curled into fists and her nails painfully bit into her hands.
"I would have died, Gibbs." She said, trying to get through the walls that seemed to stand between them. "I had no other choice, Gibbs. I had to take it on faith that Ari was telling the truth, otherwise I was dead. I know you don't want to hear this, but I owe him my life. Nothing more, nothing less," she stressed out angrily. This isn't how she pictured this going. It felt like they were at some kind of stand still, neither wanting to budge and it made Evie feel exhausted.
"Too bad it was almost," Gibbs grumbled, underneath his breath.
Evelyn caught it, and gave a light snort. Typical Gibbs, she thought, but soon her amusement dwindled back into uncertainty. Her blue eyes turned sad, and she looked at him. "Gibbs…what happened there was just about survival, there was nothing more to it." There was a bad taste in her mouth, and her heart was painfully beating in her chest. "I promise you that," she whispered out, feeling violently ill at the lie that just left her lips. Her mind drifted back to Ari who sat still at her house, where he was going to be for the unforeseeable future. If Gibbs had misgivings just over the trust she had given Ari to stay alive then he would go apocalyptic if he found out the truth. "I've been working here for several months, I've had your back on several cases and because of one mi-mistake," she fumbled over the word feeling her gut clench tightly, "you're going to shut me out? Suddenly you can't trust me?"
Gibbs paused, and considered her words. Did he trust her? Ari's words came floating back. The man knew his words would taunt Gibbs, and Gibbs was having a hard time letting them go. He clenched his jaw tightly, and ran a hand down his face turning away from her. He was trying to sort his thoughts and when he turned by towards her, he saw her apprehensive stare. An uncomfortable feeling of guilt hit him.
"Evelyn…" At the exact moment, Gibbs's phone rang cut him off. Gibbs flipped open his phone and pressed it to his ear while Evelyn watched him silently. "Gibbs," he barked. "Yeah…we'll be there." He snapped his phone shut and looked over at Evelyn. "A body was found on a Marine base."
"Oh." Evie tucked a strand of her hair behind her cheek, while looking at the ground. A sense of disappointment welled within her, and she tried to put a smile on her face. "You should got then. I'll…I'll just," she walked over to the stairs, "I'll just see myself out." She turned, and made her way up feeling her heart crack inside her chest when Gibbs called out.
"Evelyn."
She paused at the top stairs, and looked back down at him.
Gibbs's cold expression softened ever so slightly. "It's not you I don't trust," he told her, his blue eyes focused on her. "It's him."
Evelyn felt her body slumped, a tension inside her uncoiling and she nodded. "I trust you, too, Gibbs," said Evelyn, after a moment and walked out the door. Gibbs let out a long breath, having a feeling that he should have said more, but honestly he didn't know what else he could say. He looked at the boat, resting the heel of his hand on it for a long moment and decided he would call it Kelly. It just felt right.
I forgot my cellphone AGAIN! If I was an agent on Gibbs team I would be getting the Gibbs Glare Stare daily. lol
END OF CHAPTER!
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
NEXT CHAPTER! Evelyn finds herself opening up to Ari, while Audrey has unexpected run in with someone, and Abby gives Evelyn an ultimatum.
Rrs are appreciated.