Xana

I had this weird dream last night and decided that it would make a perfect story, and I wanted to get the prolog up before I forgot it. Remember, this is just the prolog, so it might be a bit confusing, but I promise, it will make more and more sense as the story progresses. If you don't like it, you can go eat a biscuit. In a hole.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own NCIS or any of its ninja characters. If I did that would freaking beast.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

PROLOG:

A corridor. A simple, long corridor. That's all that stood between her and freedom. Just a hollowed column of stainless steel grey. Her heart pounded as she ran. In her hand she clutched her freedom: a feather. Just a little robin's feather dyed grey to match these hopeless walls. Everything had been so perfectly thought out. Everything had been so perfectly rehearsed, over and over again. The corridor branched off to the right. She took it.

Hurry, run! Run fast! They're coming! She didn't turn around. Only stopped for a moment to listen. Voices. Four. That's all she needed to know. Footsteps. They're getting closer. She ran faster. The hall stopped, splitting in two directions: left or right? She'd memorized these hallways. She'd walked this path a thousand times, or more. The guards were getting nearer. She took to the right, it was dimly lit and better suited for hiding. The guards split up. Two went left, two went right. She watched as the guards passed her, fearful that her heart would give her away. Had they looked up, they would have found her. She waited for them to be out of sight, then waited a minuet more before sliding down to the ground again. You foolish, naive guards! You'll never find the oldest resident of this house of horrors: A fourteen year old Japanese girl. She is too clever for you.

Be swift. Or they'll find your absence. She ran back, and this time took the left. She ran, then slowed down. She looked closely at the air vents. 1... 2... 3... She stopped. 4. She carefully, silently, unscrewed the screws, and removed the vent. She slipped inside the air duct and climbed up. A whole path lay out in front of her. She crawled a long, counting the steel plates as she went by. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10... 11... 12... 13... 14... 15... 16... 17, she stopped. She carefully removed the plate and looked at the intricate wiring underneath. She pulled off four hairs from her head and hooked them to the circuits. They would act as wires when she pulled the wires out. This also made sure the power wouldn't go off when she remove the wires. She snapped four of the wires and reassembled them in a different order before connecting them again. She didn't have any footage to loop the security cameras with, but this was the next best thing: she froze them. She moved three panels over, and did the same thing, but on a smaller, much more intricate level. By doing this, she added a 15 second delay to the alarm system.

She crawled back down the air duct and retraced her steps back to the original corridor. She continued to walk down the hall until she reached a heavy metal door with a hand scanner on it. She kicked the scanner, making sure that, if the door was closed, it would have to be manually opened. She slowly unscrewed the hand scanner and pulled it back, just enough to see behind it. There was a thin wire, like a single strand of hair, going from the back of the scanner, connecting to the alarm. She took a deep breath and ripped it off. The wire snapped. A tiny red light, began to flash, but there was no siren. 15 seconds. Go.

She removed a tiny panel and used the thin, flexible feather, to cut the wires with precise cuts. There was a tiny hole below a slit running along the left side of the panel. She gently eased the feather into the hole, then hit it with the palm of her hand, locking it into place. She then, began to reconnect all of the wires, except for two, which she left snapped. She jerked the feather upwards, through the slit. There was a faint clicking sound and the door slid open. 7 seconds. New personal best.

Behind the door was a long, dimly lit hallway. Even longer than the one she had just left behind. Voices could already be heard from a distance. There wasn't time to stand and gawk. She slammed the door behind her and ran, ran as fast as she could. There were thumping noises behind her. But the door remained steadfast to her and remained shut. The noises grew dimmer as she ran pasted them. Silence. For a long time, the only noise that was heard was the sound of her own heart pounding against her rib cage. Then shouting erupted. The lock must have been cracked. She had no choice but to run faster, faster, faster. Where was the second door? There were three doors that she must passed and she had only seen one so far.

There! Up a head. She saw the green glow of the hand scanner. She ran to the door, holding her breath. There was no time to hyperventilate. She kicked the scanner and followed up with the same procedure as she had with the last door. Finally. The relieving gentle click followed by the door swinging open. She passed through the second door and slammed it shut. A few yards ahead of her were a simple set of stairs. Beyond that, another hallway, and ultimately the third and final door. Freedom. Five long years awaited.

She had to be quick. The lock already seemed to be put under a great deal of stress. It wasn't long before it would… she sprinted up the stairs when she heard the deafening crack. They broke through. No, just a little farther. Finally, the third door. But her captors were getting ever closer. She broke the scanner, but this time, rewired the hardware inside in a manner that when the door closed, with the scanner being gone, would take hours to open the door manually. But this took time. Her captors were only a few meters away when the door clicked. She had no time. No time. She slipped inside and slammed the door as fast as she could. But was it good enough? Were all her efforts in vain? The door shut, leaving no evidence of there ever even being a door there. The shouts coming from the other side were those of frustration. Yes! Now she was safe. Now she was free.

He heart pounding against her chest, she took a good look around at her new surroundings. It was a small room. A closet. That's why no one came to find her. The laboratory was so well hidden. The door on the other end was a simple wooden one. It had a doorknob and a simple lock. She walked over to it and drove the heel of her foot through the doorknob snapping it off, breaking the lock. She walked outside but what she saw caught her off guard. Five, very surprised looking men were all pointing guns at her. What? There weren't supposed to be guards up here!

One guard walked towards the shocked looking little girl with a smug expression on his face. "I remember you." He said. "You're the little girl who tried to break out three years back. Hey, but don't give up. Try again in another three years. You know what they say, third time's the charm." He smirked and grabbed her arm.

Five years. She'd waited five years. She wasn't going back. Not now. She grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. She kicked him in the nose. This is what she was trained to do. She wasn't going to give up now. Not now. Not ever. The man pointed his gun up at her but she was too swift, and kicked it away. Both she and him lunged at it, but she got there first. Of course, the four other men who were watching stood up in efforts to help. Four rounds were shot. But of course, none of them hit her. She was trained to evade even bullets. They trained her. Five shots. Four men lay dead at her feet, and one lay alive, dying in his own blood. She walked over to him and crouched by his side.

"Where is Jonathan Franks?" She whispered.

"Why would I tell you? I'm dying anyways." He choked on his blood.

"Because, you're still alive. And as long as you're still alive, you can still feel pain. You know that. After all, you helped teach me. Remember?" She hissed, her words cold as ice.

His eyes narrowed. He knew. "The park on 23rd street. He's there. He's always there on Thursday night." He whispered.

She stood up and nodded. Still clutching the gun, she sealed it away. She walked away, and left him to die. But upon one glance back, he was already dead. She walked on, but stopped when she reached outside. It was night. She closed her eyes as the wind brushed against her face. Wind. She'd forgotten what wind felt like. She opened her eyes, staring at the graffiti on the wall opposite to her. She glanced up at the trees, their leaves blowing in the wind.

Green. I'd forgotten what green looks like. I'd forgotten what color looks like. Five years it too long. Too long. The others have never seen color before. Such beauty. They have never known it. Some day, I will return. Someday, I will free you all. Then you'll know. Then you'll know color. You'll see what the sky and grass really look like. You'll know what it's like to feel the sun on your face, the mud between your toes. I promise, you'll know.

Green, red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, these were none of her concern now. She had one mission to complete now. Then she'd stop and stare. Then she'd return. Not to stay. Never to stay. Never again. She ran on. The moon lighting her path. She missed the moon. She missed the silver stars. The stars.

And those twinkling lights up there, are the stars. There here so that we won't feel alone in the dark!

Not now. Please, I'm coming to get you. To bring you home.

The lights of the city… they were all like stars… she ran along. The park. It was so beautiful. So green. She looked around. So many people were here. She walked around, looking for the one she wanted. There he was. Sitting at a table. His light brown hair was the same, but his green eyes… his eyes seemed different somehow. He looked the same, but at the same time, not. It was weird. He was just sitting there, reading a news paper. She sat across from him. There was something in his ear… she could just see it… an ear-bud… how strange…

"Jonathan Franks?" She asked in a hushed whisper. At first he didn't respond. Almost as though he had forgotten his name… then he looked up. He had a confused look behind his eyes.

"Yes?" He asked. He sounded different.

She narrowed her eyes. "Where's Sakura and Sousuke?" She hissed.

"What?"

"Where are they?" Her voice filled with anger. "Where's my brother and sister?"

"I don't know!" He said. He seemed to be caught off guard.

"El Diablo took them didn't he!"

"El Diablo is dead!"

"No he isn't! I know he isn't!"

"Yes he is!"

"You thought I was dead, too! But here I am! Tell me where they are!" She was just on the verge of shouting. She revealed the gun below the table. Jonathan's eyes widened. Although he seemed angry, there was fear in his eyes.

"Sakura and Sousuke. Where. Are. They." Her voice was icy.

"I told you, I don't know! I never had anything to do with that!" He shouted.

"Liar!" She stood up and shot him in the stomach. Jonathan fell out of his chair, his face twisted in pain, blood pooling around him. There were several shouts and screams coming from the group of people on their dates, or walking their dogs in the park. Of all of the shouting, there were three voices that were the most prominent.

"McGee!" It was the voice of an older man. It sounded stern, but shocked and worried, and almost horrified.

"Man down! Man down!" This voice belonged to a younger man. There was just the slightest hint of an Italian accent. It was filled with shock and horror.

"Director, McGee's been shot!" The third voice belong to a woman. She had an Israeli accent, and sounded as though she was talking on a phone or something.

"McGee?" The young shooter asked herself in confusion, looking down at the man's pained face. She stumbled back upon seeing the NCIS badge. "You're not Franks!" Horror struck her and she ran away, leaving the three other people to try to save their friend.
______________________________________________________________________

Please review! If you have any suggestions, or ways I could improve the quality of my work, I would love, with all my heart, to hear them! Thanks!

*Claps*

Just a little FYI, the events of chapters 1 and 2 will take place a few
day before the prolog. I know the plot is still a bit confusing, but it
will get a bit more straightened out as the plot goes on.
__________________________________________________________

Chapter 1: Johnathan Franks

-THREE DAYS EARLIER-

It is often crisp October mornings, much like this one, that bring about a looming sense of tension and darkness. Like the still silence of a storm; The dark clouds choke the air with quiet tension, while the world below waits for that deadly first strike. Anthony DiNozzo, or Tony as he preferred to be called, could feel this storm's warning, as he stepped out of the van to get a better look at the two dead bodies lying on the asphalt in a lonely ally downtown. Both of them were men, one in his mid-twenties, the other, much older; maybe in his late forties, or early fifties. The younger man was Petty Officer Conner Rowe. Or at least, that's what his dog tags said. The older man didn't have any form of identification, however, there was something about him, -Tony couldn't place it- that looked very familiar. The older man had short, scraggily, red-ish brown hair, and dark green eyes. At first Tony thought he looked a bit like McGee -perhaps his doppelganger-, but there was still something, something about him, that was so familiar, but he couldn't put a name to it.

"Gibbs wants us to take photos and look for the murder weapon, which Ducky guesses to be a nine millimeter." Ziva said, her stealth rendering Tony surprised when she spoke. The Israeli ninja agent had an uncanny way of sneaking up on people then startling them. It wasn't quiet like Gibbs. No, she seemed to do it more for the pleasure of watching her co-workers jump like frightened children.

"Thanks." Tony replied, trying not to looked embarrassed that his nerves had gotten the best of him again. He did not what the former Mossad agent thinking that she could get away with her pranks.

Ziva gave a curt nod and handed him his camera. She turned away to find McGee. Her silence. Tony could tell. Ziva felt the tension too. Something bad was going to happen. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. This body could lead to a chain reaction of events that would seem to change everything.

The team did their duty in silence. Not even Mr. Palmer attempted to make a wise crack about the scene. Even Ducky remained silent as he worked. The tension was there. And it was unbearable. After Ducky discussed his preliminary findings with Gibbs, the Petty Officer and the John Doe were loaded into the van to be taken back to Autopsy.

"I found a bloody pipe!" McGee called out, handing the bag to Gibbs. They searched a bit more, but Ziva, Tony and McGee could find nothing new to add to the investigation, at this point, so they too, were loaded into the van to return to NCIS.

…

"Whatcha got for me, Duck?" Gibbs asked as he walked into Autopsy.

"Ah yes, well, do you remember how I said that the John Doe had died two hours before the Conner Rowe?" Ducky asked, to refresh Gibbs' memory.

"Duck, did you call me down here just to remind me of that?" Gibbs asked, slightly annoyed.

"Ah, no. Well, you see, I was wrong about my original estimate for the time of death. Our Petty Officer had a mild flu when he was killed. More importantly, he had a fever at the time. So the time it would take for his body to cool down, would have taken longer than our John Doe." Ducky explained.

Gibbs nodded. "Mm hm. Go on."

"So, both the Petty Officer and our John Doe died around the same time. Five hours before we found them in the ally. I can also confirm that the cause of death, for the Petty Officer, was indeed, blunt force trauma to the head. Probably from that pipe McGee found. On the other hand, our John Doe died from a gun shot wound." He pointed out the circular hole in the man's chest. "Looks like it nicked his right coronary artery. I sent the pipe, and the bullet up to Abigail for analysis."

Gibbs nodded. "Thanks, Duck." He said and turned around as he started to leave.

"But, Jethro, that's not why I asked you down here." The Englishman called out.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and turned around. He walked back over to Ducky. "What do you mean? What else do you got?" He asked, sort of confused.

"Jethro, I was wrong about my first estimate for time of death, but my second estimate for time of death is not wrong. Our John Doe died at least seven minuets after the Petty Officer was dead. Someone else killed our John Doe." Ducky said, his voice grim.

"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked.

"I'd be willing to stake my career on it."

…

"Hey, Abs, you got something for me?" Gibbs asked as he walked into the Lab of Abby (or Labby as she called it), Caf-Pow! in hand.

"So I found something that was kind of hinky." Abby said, taking a sip of the Caf-Pow!

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"Ducky was right. Well, that's night the hinky part, because Ducky's always right…"

"Abby!" Gibbs said trying to snap Abby back to reality.

"Sorry. But the point is, the bullet that was used to kill our John Doe came from a nine mil. Petty Officer Conner Rowe did not own a nine mil. There was a third shooter."

"Thanks, Abs."

"Gibbs, I'm not done. I got a hit on our John Doe's identity, and you're not going to like it." Abby said cautiously.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Who is he?"

"Jonathan Franks." Abby shuttered.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes.

"I already notified McGee and Tony and Ziva. I think they're looking for connections." Abby said. As if on cue, McGee ran down, hold a small file.

"Boss, we found a connection." He said frantically.

"Well what is it, McGee?" Gibbs asked, exasperated.

"The Petty Officer's older sister, Tammy Rowe." McGee said. "According to her phone records, she's been in contact with Franks since about three weeks ago. And house is in walking distance of the ally. According to her phone's GPS, she was in the house an hour before the murder. Then the phone was shut off."

"Well, get DiNozzo and bring her in for interrogation!" Gibbs barked.

…

About two hours later, Tony and Ziva were watching from the other side of the glass, as McGee and Gibbs interrogated Tammy Rowe. She had long straight red hair, and dark blue eyes. She looked sort of pale, like she was sick. When Tony and McGee went to get her, she didn't put up very much of a fight. She was defiantly sick. Suddenly, Gibbs and McGee walked into the interrogation room.

"Tammy Rowe?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah that's me. Mind telling me why I'm here?" She asked, coldly.

Gibbs sat down in a chair. "Did you know your brother's dead?" Gibbs asked.

"What? No! Oh my gosh… when did it happen?" She asked, horrified.

Gibbs ignored the question and pulled out a picture of Jonathan Franks. "Do you know this man?" He asked.

"Yeah, I used to work with him and date him." She said.

"Well he's dead too. He killed your brother and someone killed him. Tell me, what was he doing in that ally with your brother?" He asked.

Tammy narrowed her eyes. She looked too exhausted to try and lie her way out. So she got straight to the point. "He was trying to recruit my brother." She said.

"Recruit him for what?" McGee piped in.

"Nineteen years ago, Franks and I got involved in some stuff. It wasn't like a drug dealing thing, it was a laboratory project. You see we both got PhDs in engineering, and Franks had some in some other stuff. Franks actually helped to start it. The project, I mean. He was partners with El Diablo, they both invented this project and ran it together. I was sort of like their right hand man." She said.

"El Diablo?" McGee asked. He knew the name sounded familiar…

"He was a huge drug dealer, weapons dealer, murderer, and kidnapper. He died five years ago in an explosion." Gibbs clarified.

"He had a PhD degree in engineering, chemistry, anatomy, and a couple of other sciences, too. It's a wonder to me how a man like that became the criminal he was. But the thing is, he wasn't using the money in the way you might think that he was. He was using it to fund this project." Tammy said. "I knew the project was illegal, but got involved in it because it seemed like a good cause."

"What was the work you were doing for?" Gibbs asked.

"I didn't know. I knew I was going work, but I never knew what it was I was doing it for, or even where that lab I was working in was."

"You didn't even know where you were working?" McGee asked. It sounded ridiculously stupid. "How could you not know where you were working?"

Tammy shot him an angry glare. "It was very top secret. They picked me up from home everyday, in a big black van. They put me in the back, and blindfolded me, so I wouldn't know where it was I was going. That's what they do with all of the employees. They hire people to car pool the employees to work, so they don't know where they are going. If they were worried that you might spill the location of the lab, or what the work was, they would kill you." She explained.

Gibbs and McGee looked at each other. This case was going to be a lot harder than they had originally anticipated.

Tammy spoke up again. "I didn't find out what kind of work I was doing until about five years ago. That's when Xana was reintroduced into the project. They'd been looking for Xana for almost nine years."

This had gotten McGee's interest peaked. "Xana?" He asked.

"Xana. Identification code: 4X92A-V77Q5T." Tammy responded.

"Boss, do you want me to run that code?" McGee whispered to Gibbs.

"What are you expecting to find?" Tammy smirk. "You won't find anything. El Diablo is far to careful about that."

McGee sighed. Tammy was probably right. "Well, Tammy. Will you at least tell us what kind of program Xana is?" He asked.

Tammy laughed. Her laughter caught even Ziva and Tony by surprise. What could possibly be so funny? Tammy took a few moments to catch her breath. She gave a cold smile and looked McGee in the eye. "Xana is not some sort of computer code or sensor hacking project. Xana is a little girl."

This was one moment when the surprise and tension were sp great, it took even Gibbs words away. The silence seemed to choke the room. Finally McGee asked another question and broke the silence. "Xana… is she El Diablo's daughter?"

"No. And I assure you that if she was, she would have been treated with much more compassion than she was given. They all would have been given farm more compassion." She sighed.

"Who is "all of them" referring to?" Gibbs asked.

Tammy sighed a sad tired sigh. "Let's just say, that if you were to go bursting into that lab, guns blazing, you wouldn't have just one child's life to worry about. Try more along the lines of two-hundred and fifty, give or take." She coughed as a sickly spasm shook her body. "I know my own time. You said you wanted to know who killed Jonathan Franks. I'll tell you, I did it. He killed my brother when he refused to join. So I killed him." She confessed.

"Why would you just go out and tell us like that?" Gibbs asked.

"Because. You weren't quick enough. El Diablo got to me first." She rolled up her sleeve and showed him the bump where a small resin pellet was embedded in her left arm. "I estimate you've got about ten minuets left to interrogate me." She smiled, cold as ice.

"You said El Diablo had gotten to you first. El Diablo is dead." Gibbs said, coldly.

"Not true. You never found his body. He staged his own death a few weeks after he kidnapped Xana. He told his partner, Franks, and myself about his plan, but no one else. He said that cops were getting to close. If they found him, everything would be ruined. So he instructed Franks to run the project, and myself to go off the radar until he returned. Then he staged his own death and went into hiding. But about a year ago, Franks called me up and said El Diablo was going return." She stopped, hand went into a coughing fit.

"Wait, Diablo is alive?" Tony asked Ziva, behind the glass.

In the interrogation room, Tammy started to talk again. "Franks was instructed to go to the park on 23rd street every Thursday night, at 9:00 pm., and was supposed to stay there for a half an hour. Every Thursday night, he would go to the park and wait. Someone would approach him, after a while. Sometimes it was a kid, sometimes an old grandpa, sometimes it was just some random guy out walking his dog. But they would approach him and give him a letter. Just a single letter. One week it would be 'M'. Then the next would be 'E'. The week after might be an 'A' or something. The point is, he would be told one letter a week, and after a very long time, it would spell out El Diablo's location, and the date and location of when and where he would return."

"But why do it that way. It would take an unethical amount on time." McGee said.

"Maybe. But it kept him under the radar." She broke into another coughing fit. "When Franks doesn't show this Thursday, El Diablo will figure out that he's dead. Then he'll never be caught. And that is my only regret. El Diablo deserves to die."

"Tammy, tell me. Why did El Diablo want kill you in the first place?" Gibbs asked.

"Because I told Franks that I quit the business. El Diablo must have found out." She whispered.

"Why did you quit?"

"Because… I found out what he was doing… with Xana and the rest of the kids. I wouldn't be a part of it. They way they have to live… not knowing color or freedom or love… it's not right… Funny, and he wonders why they die like that…" She drifted off.

"Tammy, Tammy! Listen to me. What is he doing with those kids? How are they dying?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't… have time… to explain… Haroshimoto… look it up… help you know Diablo… and his… victims… Xana… and her… history…" She was slipping fast.

"Tammy! I need to know!"

"… Haroshimoto… All I… tell you… anymore… ten minuets… is up." It was sad to watch. A lot of things had happened in Interrogation over the years. And it wasn't the first time someone had died there. But it was always would be hard to watch. Not even Ducky could do a thing about it.

"McGee! Ziva! DiNozzo! Find all you can about Haroshimoto! Go! And DiNozzo, call Ducky!" Gibbs barked. He thought El Diablo was out of his hair a long time ago. But still, the worst was yet to come.

Wow. you got their personalitys spot on BRAVO

CHAPTER 2. FAMILY

"Haroshimoto isn't the name of a single person," Tony said as Gibbs walked into the bullpen. "It's a family name. You know, a last name?"

"Whose in the family?" Gibbs asked, sipping his coffee.

"The father's name is Terou. The mother's name is Kiyomi." Ziva piped in.

"They have four children. The oldest, a daughter named Etsumi, a son named Ryouji, a daughter named Xana, and twins; a boy named Sousuke, and a girl named Sakura." McGee interrupted.

Tony glared at McGee and Ziva for stealing his mojo. "Etsumi is married to a man named Nayoto Shion. They have daughter named Ayumi and a son named Genji."

"Xana Haroshimoto. I still do no understand why she is so important." Ziva exclaimed.

"Neither do I." Gibbs agreed.

"About seven years ago, the Haroshimoto family got together on the 4th of July for a BBQ and fireworks. They were just firing up the grill when the house exploded." Tony said.

"How old were they?" Ziva asked, horrified. She had obviously not done her homework.

"Etsumi was twenty-three, Ryouji was thirteen, Xana was seven, Sakura and Sousuke were three, Ayumi was two, and Genji was just three months old." Tony answered.

Gibbs looked up at the family picture on the flat screen. "Were there any survivors?" he asked.

Tony opened his mouth to answer but McGee cut in. "Ryouji, Xana, Sakura, Sousuke, and Ayumi. The first four were probably playing outside when it happened. But Ayumi was inside. It was a miracle that she survived."

"Where are they now?" Gibbs asked, taking another sip of his coffee.

"After the explosion, they went to an orphanage. About eight months passed and, after Ayumi was adopted out, they were moved to a different orphanage. They ran away about a month later, leaving behind a note that specified that they didn't want to be split up anymore. They went off the radar for about six months, but then Ryouji turned up dead, shot in the heart. It looks like he was protecting his siblings." McGee concluded.

"They went off the radar again. There was a news report about five years back about a nine year old Japanese girl who was kidnapped. There was some footage shot from a security camera. On it, there was a little girl pleading with some man. She was saying that if he would let her brother and sister go, she would go with him." Tony added.

"Yeah, hey Boss, I bet that nine year old girl was Xana. The other two people must have been Sakura and Sousuke. And the man was probably El Diablo! That's probably footage of her being kidnapped, and why El Diablo faked his own death." McGee said.

"From there, Sakura and Sousuke were supposed to be dropped off at an orphanage, but they never got there." Ziva chimed in.

Gibbs grunted in response. He stared at the different pictures for a long time, as if contemplating something. It was several moments before he finally spoke up again. "What about Ayumi? Where is she?"

Err, hold on, Boss." Tony said. He ran to his computer and pulled up all records of the little girl. "She was adopted to her new family, the Smiths, who moved to Denver, Colorado, just after adoption." He said.

"Are they still there?" Gibbs asked.

"No, Boss. They moved back to D.C. about a year ago." McGee cut in.

"DiNozzo, McGee, I want you two to go and find out all that you can about that 4th of July, seven years ago, from that little girl." Gibbs ordered.

"On it, Boss!" DiNozzo said and stood up.

"… Tomorrow. Go home. All three of you. It's been a long day." Gibbs said.

…

McGee and DiNozzo pulled up into the drive way of the Smiths at around four pm. the next day. That had to wait until four because Ayumi was in school, and school didn't let out until three-fifteen. They walked up to the front door and ran the doorbell.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" Mrs. Smith asked when she opened the door.

"Mrs. Smith?" McGee asked. The woman nodded. "Sorry to bother you. NCIS. Is you daughter home? Ayumi?"

"Yes. Hold on. Ayumi! You have visitors! Sorry, why don't you come in. Make yourselves at home." Tony nodded and walked in. The two very special agents sat on the couch and waited for the eight year old girl.

"Hiya!" The little girl said and she bounded downstairs.

"Hi, are you Ayumi?" McGee asked.

"Yep! That's me! That's me!" She said and danced around, happily.

"I'm sorry. She's just excited. She made it into the school play. She got one of the lead roles, actually." Mrs. Smith said.

Tony smiled. "That's great!"

Ayumi bounced around for a little while before she finally sat down on the couch. "So what's up? Why do you wanna talk to me?" She asked.

"Well, we want to ask you about your family." McGee said. He was going to have to bring up adoption, and he was trying to figure out a way to let it down lightly.

"Which family. This family, or my real family?" She asked. McGee felt relieved that she already knew that she was adopted.

"Your real family." Tony said.

"Do you remember what happened on the fourth of July, seven years ago?" McGee asked.

Ayumi looked down, somber. "Sort of. It's like a dream. You don't remember all, but you remember sort of." She said. Then she pointed to the huge scar that marred her beautiful face and clawed down her arms and legs. "I know that's when I got this. When I found out I was adopted, I knew that it wasn't 'cause my family didn't love me. And I was right. My family did love me, but they died in the fire that hurt me." She looked down. Suddenly her face lit up. "Oh, wait right here!" She said, frantically. She booked it upstairs and was gone for a long time.

McGee and DiNozzo both looked at each other, sort of confused. Suddenly, Ayumi ran back downstairs with a burned up, old video cassette tape, in her hand. She took hold of McGee's hand and led him into the family room, where a big TV was. She pushed in the video and played it.

It was an old family home video of the 4th of July a couple years back. It was sort of destroyed, but it was still intact enough to hear and watch it.

"A few years ago, a police man, kinda like you, came to my house with this and asked me if I wanted to know what my real family was like." She watched for a minuet and stood up, walking towards the screen.

"That's my mommy, and my daddy." She said pointing to two people on the screen. She kept pointing at the different people. "That's My grandpa and my grandma. That's my uncle Ryouji, my aunt Xana, and my aunt Sakura and uncle Sousuke. It's kinda funny 'cause they're not much bigger than me." She smiled when she saw another little boy, much younger, on the screen. "And that's my brother, Genji. And that's me!" She said. Suddenly, she fell silent, and watched the film.

"Ayumi, don't you want to tell your brother you love him?" Ayumi's mother asked the tiny infant Ayumi, who looked very tired, lying in her cradle.

"No! Wanna go bed!" Whined the tiny little girl.

"Are you sure?" The mother asked

The little infant Ayumi just shook her head.

McGee looked over at Ayumi, who was very silent. She looked so sad. "Ayumi, what's wrong?" He asked, softly.

Ayumi wouldn't meet his eyes. "Why didn't I tell him I loved him?" She asked, trying to hold back tears. But the tears just wanted to come out. "He's my brother! And I was too lazy to bother telling him I loved him. Now he's dead, and I can't tell him I love him. He died, not knowing that I loved him." She said, sadly.

"Hey, listen. Even though you didn't tell him, he knows. That's the cool part about being brother and sister. They know you love them with out you telling them." McGee tried to comfort her.

Ayumi looked up at McGee with big, sad eyes. "Do you got a brother or a sister?" She asked.

McGee raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yeah. I got a little sister. Her name's Sarah." He said.

"Well, you gotta tell her you love her all the time, or she'll forget. And you gotta tell her you love her right now, because, if you don't, you might never ever get the chance again. Then you'll be sad, like me. And I like you. I don't want you to be sad." She said.

McGee sort of stared off into space. No words could come to him. This little, eight year old girl, was right. He had to tell her he loved her. But he wasn't thinking about Sarah. No, he was thinking about a certain forensic scientist. Abby. He loved her.

…

It was Thursday night, nine pm. McGee was sitting out in the park, waiting. He didn't know who he was waiting for, just yet. Right now he was someone he was not. He was attempting to pass off as Jonathan Franks. So far, he though it was working. All he had to do was just sit there. Nothing could go wrong, right?

"Scared, Probie?" Tony asked, talking through his ear-bud, jostling McGee from his thoughts.

"No, Tony. Shut up." McGee snapped.

"Oh, not very nice." Tony said smugly. McGee rolled his eyes.

"What exactly am I looking for, Boss?" He asked.

"You're not looking for anything. You're waiting." Gibbs responded.

"Waiting for what?"

"Oh, well, gee McGee, if I knew, I don't think we'd need to have you out there undercover!" Gibbs said, exasperated.

"Sorry, Boss." McGee said. He pulled out his news paper and began to read. He had some time to kill. The silence went on for a long time, and it kind of drove McGee crazy. He just wanted someone to stand up and say something. But no one did. After about ten minuets, a little Japanese girl -McGee guessed to be around fourteen years old- approached him and sat across from him. McGee guess that she was the one who would have told Franks the next letter, but he couldn't have been more wrong. It was silent for several moments, before she spoke up.

"Jonathan Franks?" She asked in a hushed whisper. At first he didn't respond. It had taken a moment to remember that he was Jonathan Franks. He looked up at her.

"Yes?" He asked. His heart was pounding from adrenalin. He tried to stop himself from shaking as he spoke.

The girl narrowed her eyes at his response. He was expecting some sort of code or just the letter. But the response he got, totally threw him off guard. "Where's Sakura and Sousuke?" She hissed.

"What?" He asked, trying not to sound like he was panicking. But really, he was. Was this some sort of test that he couldn't pass because he wasn't Jonathan Franks?

"Where are they?" Her voice filled with anger. "Where's my brother and sister?"

"I don't know!" He said. It was at this point that he realized that she was being sincere.

"El Diablo took them didn't he!"

McGee's heart raced at the mention of his name. So he said what he though Jonathan Franks might in this situation. "El Diablo is dead!"

"No he isn't! I know he isn't!" There was anger in her voice. No, more than anger. Hatred.

"Yes he is!" McGee did his best to argue against her, even though he knew she was right. But he had to stay in character.

"You thought I was dead, too! But here I am! Tell me where they are!" She was just on the verge of shouting. Her words stung McGee. There was something about them… something about her… it was all to familiar. She revealed the gun below the table. McGee's eyes widened. She actually believed that he was Franks. If this was true, then she might actually shoot him if he did say something.

"Sakura and Sousuke. Where. Are. They." Her voice was icy. It was at that moment that McGee realized who he was talking to. Xana.

"I told you, I don't know! I never had anything to do with that!" This time, he wasn't pretending to be Franks. He was speaking truthfully, as McGee, trying hard not to say something that would get him shot.

"Liar!" She screamed. McGee knew that he had screwed up. He was dead. She stood up and shot him in the stomach. McGee fell out of his chair. If there had been any air left in his lungs, he would have cried out in a bloodcurdling scream. The pain was almost immediately overwhelming. Blood pooled around him, and he was vaguely aware of the shouts and screams coming from the people around him.

"Tim!" It was the voice of an older man. It sounded stern, but shocked and worried, and almost horrified. Gibbs. This must have been Gibbs. His senses dulled and the pain went numb.

What on earth could have happened to make Gibbs scream like that? McGee wondered, the pain making him delirious.

"Man down! Man down!" This voice belonged to a younger man. There was just the slightest hint of an Italian accent. It was filled with shock and horror. Tony. Was this some sort of prank? Were his fingers glued to the keyboard? The weird thing was, he couldn't feel his fingers anymore.

"What's going on out there? Someone reply!" This voice was soft and sweet, but also filled with worry. It was Director Shepard's voice. But where was Jenny? She was speaking in his mind… The ear-buds didn't even occur to Tim at the time.

"Director, McGee's been shot!" The third voice belong to a woman. She had an Israeli accent, and sounded as though she was talking on a phone or something. Ziva. He kinda liked Ziva. Not like he liked Abby… but she was pretty…

Tim looked up. There was someone standing over him. She was smaller than everybody else. She had black hair and grey eyes… She was like a teenager… but he couldn't figure out who she was. There was a confused expression on her face. "Your not Franks!" She said. He wanted to asked who Franks was, but it was far too painful to talk. He watched in slow motion as the confused look on her face changed to that of horror. Then she ran off.

Tony and Gibbs knelt down by the young agent, and McGee became aware of three shots being fired from Ziva's weapon towards the girl. But none of them hit her. He winced and gasped. The pain became unbearable. Suddenly, Ziva was there next to him, too.

"Just lay still, Tim. You are going to be alright." Ziva said. McGee looked up at her. There was pain in her eyes. There was pain in Tony and Gibbs' eyes, too. Were they OK? He hoped they weren't hurt.

"Don't worry. You're not gonna die. You don't have permission to die." Gibbs said sternly. McGee was only able to give half a nod. Then the pain became stronger, and everything went black.

Ok becuase my computer is messed up, I will not be able to post the rest of the story on this site. So if you want to finish reading it, check out my fanfiction account: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2873593/Agent_LastWish

I will be able to continue there and then again because I'm still writing it and not jut copy and pasting it. So you can look forward to that!! (Happy face)