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novastories · 2 years ago

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Running Up That Hill

Title and chapter loosely inspired by the song “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush.

Summary: Aurora ends up back in the field to help with a case. She starts coming to terms about her self-worth, but at a cost.

Warnings: Mentions of guns, bombs, cancer, and death/suicide.

Word Count: 6.2k

A/N: I’m so sorry for the cliffhanger from the last chapter! 😬This one also contains another cliffhanger so…🫣 I’m so thankful that people are enjoying the story and loving Aurora and Bradley as much as I do 💖

Btw, I have a note for the people I tag at the end of the chapter, so if you’re tagged or want to be tagged, please read the note after the chapter! 💜

Thankful always for my beta reader and editor @reginleight

As always, likes are great and all, but comments, reblogs, and feedback are highly appreciated and loved! 🤭

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A few hours earlier

“You want me to do what?” Aurora looked at her boss with a confused look.

“I want you back in the field. Just for this case. It’s all hands on deck, and I trust you to be out on the field,” her boss looks at her. Agent Daniella Hopkins knew her agents' capabilities, that’s what made her a good boss.

“You know this case better than anyone,” she adds.

“That’s only because I was transferring the case into the computer, since I am on desk duty. I just help put the reports in the database,” Aurora sighs.

There were many cases and reports that got put on her desk, which she helped with typing and filing them into the system. The downside of desk duty.

“And you know those reports will help the case. It’s an advantage so we don’t have to put another agent in the field who has no idea what’s going on.”

“But why me? I’m supposed to be on desk duty for a reason.”

“Because, I know you Artemis. As much as you’re doing well behind the desk, you’re itching to go back out in the field.”

Aurora stood in front of her boss, fidgeting with her bracelet behind her back.

“That, and you were requested by the team that’s on the case.”

“What team?” Aurora questions.

As if on cue, the doors to Daniella’s office opened, and Aurora turned to gape at who had walked in.

“It’s good to see you, Artemis.”

Aurora smiles, and walks over to give Gibbs a hug.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Aurora smiled at him before noticing Ziva and Tony behind him.

“It is an all hands on deck case, Artemis. Who else better to have on this case than you?” Ziva smirks as Aurora turns to pull her into a hug next.

“I never thought I’d ever say this, but I actually missed you for a moment there, DiNozzo,” Aurora chuckles. Tony rolls his eyes and simply greets her with a hug of his own.

“I don’t know, little probie. I kind of miss not having a knife being thrown at me,” he tells her.

“McGee and Abby are getting set up in the lab and we’ll set up in your office.” Gibbs interrupts their conversation to inform her of the situation.

“The fact you went from a cubicle to your own office is just unfair,” Tony shakes his head.

“Let’s catch you up to speed, Artemis,” Ziva beckons Aurora out the door. Aurora turns to look at her boss, to which she nods.

—

“I still can’t believe you have your own office. If I ask for a transfer here, think I’d get an office too?” Tony looks out the window of Aurora’s office before getting smacked on the head from Gibbs.

“This isn’t a social call, DiNozzo. We have a job to do.”

McGee and Abby got to say their hellos to Aurora before Abby had to start working on some evidence for the case, while the team got settled in their temporary space in Aurora’s office.

Aurora was sitting on her desk facing the TV screen, while Ziva stood next to her. Tony went to sit at her desk (and began snooping), while Gibbs sat in the corner chair, sipping his coffee.

McGee was getting the TV screen ready to prep the case for Aurora.

“Alright, let’s catch you up to speed, Artemis.” Gibbs gestures to McGee to start.

“A petty officer in DC was found dead in a hotel room. Turns out, the San Diego office had put a nationwide BOLO search for him for his involvement in drug and weapon dealing. His name is Noah Ward.” McGee stated, showing the file up on screen for Aurora to see.

“I recognize the name,” Aurora stares at the profile on the screen. “He was in San Diego to help pay for his sister’s hospital treatments, but got caught by some local LEOs selling cocaine. He was about to turn the name of his supplier over, but he escaped before he could say anything and we lost track of him. He didn’t have any friends, and his only living relative left is his sister, Karli, who also didn’t know anything because she’s currently in a coma.”

“Well, now he’s dead,” Tony states.

Aurora turns to him. “No duh, DiNozzo. How did he even end up all the way in DC?”

“Fake ID got him a plane ticket to DC. He fled all the way to Washington DC to get out of San Diego, but died instead. We caught the killer, but it turns out he was just a hired hand, a hitman,” Ziva informs her.

“And did the hitman say who hired him?”

“Gee Artemis, now why didn’t we think of that?” Tony sarcastically replies.

Aurora gave him a murderous look to which he turned pale and continued on to what he was going to say.

“All he said was that he was contacted via email and that all the money was wire transferred to his account.”

“I tracked the email to San Diego, but that’s about as far as we got. We can’t even get a fix to which area of San Diego, so we figured that it’s best we find whoever it was that hired the hitman since it is still our case,” McGee explains.

“I wonder what was the reason to kill him,” Aurora thought out loud.

“Tying up loose ends most likely,” Tony shrugs as he starts touching things on Aurora’s desk.

“You’re just assuming this, we don’t even know if it’s his supplier, anyone could have had a grudge against him. And stop touching my stuff, DiNosy!” Aurora exclaims, slapping his hand off of a photo frame of her, her brother, and Bradley.

“Aurora’s right. Right now, we need to find out where he was getting his drugs from and go from there,” Gibbs concludes.

“DiNozzo, you and Ziva go over his cellphone records and bank statements. McGee, keep working on that email. You and Abby can work on that in her lab she has set up. Artemis, give me any files you have on the petty officer, the ones you’ve put into the system and the ones you have yet to type up.”

“Yes, boss!” They all reply while moving about to their destinations Aurora hops back into her desk chair to get started searching for more background on this guy.

“And Artemis,” Gibbs pauses at the doorway before turning back to Aurora.

Aurora turns her head towards him.

“Glad you’re back on the team for a bit.”

Aurora smiles. “Just like old times, boss.”

—

“Work has been so weird without you,” Abby tells Aurora as she sips her Caf-Pow.

Aurora didn’t have any luck with finding anything in her files or reports, so she had decided to take a snack break and visit Abby and McGee in the lab and bring Abby a Caf-Pow and McGee a coffee.

McGee was currently on his computer typing away, while Abby multi-tasked and had a program running in the background while talking to Aurora, who was seated on a stool next to her.

“Gibbs didn’t even want to find a replacement, so the team feels empty without you in it. But we’ve been getting by,” Abby continues.

“I miss you all too. It definitely feels weird being at the desk most of my day, but at least it gets me home at night,” Aurora shrugs. “Unlike when Gibbs called us at 3am for a dead body and we have to work 46 hours straight,” She sighs at the memory, munching on her chips.

“Oh, yeah! That case took way too long, I remember you were so tired you accidentally fell asleep in the elevator and Tony decided to wake you up with an airhorn.”

Aurora cringes at that memory. “And then I kicked him in the shins.”

“Fun times,” Abby nods while sipping her drink. “How’s your panic attacks by the way? Any bad ones since you’ve left?”

“A few, but not like how they used to be. So not too bad. Bradley helped calm me down, which was the latest one.”

“So about Bradley, please tell me you’ve made a move!”

“Abby!”

“Oh, c’mon! I can tell you’ve been anxious about something, you’re eating hot cheetos again.”

Aurora looks down at the bag of chips she’s been eating from and at her red dyed fingertips. Hot cheetos have been her staple snack when she’s anxious or overthinking, especially when she didn’t have her bracelet on her wrist during those times.

The team had seen her go through so many bags, especially when working a case. She had once made the mistake of doing paperwork while she was anxious and had to redo it because she’d accidentally gotten red powder over it.

“It helps me think!” Aurora whines.

“So, you’re telling me, you and Bradley haven’t had a moment or like made out yet?”

“Well, I mean there was this one moment-”

“Oh my gosh!”

“-but my brother accidentally interrupted us.”

Abby groans. “Rory, you just need to walk up and kiss him already! I don’t know how much more of your pining I can take.”

“I’m not pining!”

“Please! He so wants you!” Abby exclaims. “Like you both live together! How do you NOT have the temptation to like, do it right on the kitchen table?!”

“I didn’t say I haven’t thought about that!”

“Uhh, guys, I’m still here,” McGee pops his head out from behind the computer he was working on.

“Shush McGee, the women are talking here,” Abby sasses him.

“Not right now you’re not,” Gibbs walks in, coffee in hand. “Any luck with the background?” he asks Aurora.

“Nothing we don’t already know. Sister’s in a coma from a car accident for almost a year, Ward couldn’t keep up with the payments, so sold cocaine and weapons on the side from an unknown source up until he was caught, was then dishonorably discharged and was supposed to be tried until he escaped and that’s all the intel I have,” she informs him.

“I have a lead!” Tony exclaims as he and Ziva walk in.

“WE have a lead,” Ziva corrects him.

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” Tony dismisses. Ziva rolls her eyes.

“Anyways, we found the supplier,” Tony continues. “One of Ziva’s contacts owed her a favor and we found out that the supplier is a small group of people that operate in a warehouse near the edge of the city. They’re called the Dark Renegades.”

“I know of them. They've been on NCIS San Diego’s radar because they’ve been known to recruit officers who have been dishonorably discharged by the Navy,” Aurora pipes in.

“Why haven’t they been caught?” McGee asks.

“Because they kill their dealers and keep everything tied shut. The fact that Ziva’s contact found out the location is such a big deal.”

“Let’s go check it out. McGee, you stay here, send the warehouse floor plans to us when you get them. Artemis, you’re with us,” Gibbs orders.

“Good luck! Stay safe!” Abby calls out, as Aurora trails behind Ziva, Tony, and Gibbs.

“Are you good to be out on the field?” Gibbs asks Aurora in the elevator as they ascend floor levels to gear up.

“I’m ready, Gibbs,” Aurora reassures him. Gibbs gives her a small look of concern before he nods.

Ziva gives her shoulder a light squeeze before they all exit the elevator, Aurora letting out a sigh before she starts to get into her gear.

—

They arrived at the warehouse and made sure the coms in their ears were working. Tony was suggesting an attack plan, but none of them liked it.

“I’m just saying, if we came from the roof, we’d be like ninjas, they’d never see us coming. It’s like in the movie-”

“We don’t even have the equipment for that,” Ziva interrupts him and sighs at his stupidity.

“We can use rope!”

“I’m not dangling from a rope just to enter the warehouse.”

“But that way is more efficient,” Tony points out.

“No, that way is stupid and would get us killed,” Aurora corrects him.

“According to the floor plan McGee sent us, there’s a couple of side windows we can look inside to get a visual,” Gibbs interrupts them as they exit the car, which they park a block from the warehouse so they wouldn’t hear them coming.

“There’s also a front and back entrance. Ziva and Artemis, you get the back entrance. DiNozzo, you check out the situation from the window, I’ll cover the front until we have a plan.”

They agree before splitting to get into position.

“You good, Artemis?” Ziva turns to her, making sure the girl is doing alright.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Aurora nods, gun in hand.

“You know, I missed this. You, back on the team. Us, the unstoppable duo.”

“I miss this too, Ziva,” Aurora smiles at her.

“Aww, they’re having a girl moment,” Tony teases over coms.

“You know what Tony-”

“Enough chit chat. What’s your visual, DiNozzo?” Gibbs interrupts.

“I have 6 men, armed, scattered around the warehouse,” Tony asses. “No wait, no. Scratch that, 5 more men, also armed, just came out of the back office.”

“On my orders, Ziva, Artemis, you go in quietly. Tony, you and I will take the front when they’re in position.” Gibbs orders them.

They were silent, knowing Gibbs would take that as their answer as they prepared to enter from different places in order to quietly infiltrate. Tony moves to meet Gibbs at the front entrance.

“Okay, Ziva, Artemis go.”

Aurora opens the backdoor for Ziva to slip inside, while Aurora covers her. Ziva quietly navigates through the back part of the warehouse, with Aurora behind her, making sure there were no alarms or any threats behind them.

They silently enter the warehouse until the two come to a stop by a stack of crates, blocking them from the men, but getting a visual.

“Aurora and I have 4 men in sight, they all have automatic weapons on them,” Ziva whispers into her coms.

“Alright, you know the drill. If they start shooting when we go in, you shoot back,” Gibbs reminds them.

“Got it, Gibbs,” Aurora whispers.

“Alright. Ready, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asks him over the coms.

“Ready when you are, boss.”

A few seconds pass until Ziva and Aurora hear the front door of the warehouse get kicked down.

“Federal agents! Drop your weapons!” Gibbs yells out.

The men in the warehouse start shouting and automatically shoot at them so Gibbs and Tony take cover.

At that signal, Aurora takes out the man closest to her with a shot of her gun, hitting his shoulder. He goes down instantly and Aurora takes another shot at the man next to the guy that went down, immediately taking cover after knowing that they would soon retaliate with firepower of their own.

Ziva also starts shooting from her vantage point, not missing her marks, already taking down 2 men. Gibbs takes one man down on his side, while Tony hits one as well.

The rest of the men took cover and tried to shoot back at the agents.

Aurora moves slowly from her cover of boxes and peaks around to see two men aiming to shoot her. She quickly covers herself as they rain a bunch of bullets her way.

“Artemis!”

Ziva yells out, gesturing for Aurora to move to her left. There was a big gap between the crates to where the shooters could get her if she wasn’t fast enough.

Aurora takes a deep breath and starts to move towards Ziva. Aurora slides out from her spot, left leg out, right knee down as to help stabilize herself as she takes her two shots. Both shots end up taking down the two shooters that were cornering her.

Still sliding, she ends up next to Ziva, safely behind the crates.

“Nice move,” Ziva praises her.

“Nice shooting,” she replies back. “How many left?”

Ziva takes a glance, seeing that there was one guy left.

Before she could reply, Tony takes him down instantly with one shot.

“I think that’s it, but I think Gibbs is working on one more.”

Looking over and seeing who Aurora assumes is the leader, he was currently in the middle of hand to hand combat with Gibbs. Eventually Gibbs hit him in the stomach, then the throat, taking the man down.

“Clear here!” Ziva yells out from their spot.

“Clear!” Tony calls out.

Gibbs puts his handcuffs on the leader before lifting him to his feet.

“Let’s take him back to the office, hopefully we got our guy.”

“Don’t jinx it, Gibbs. I’m ready for this to be over,” Aurora sighs.

—

“Gibbs jinxed it! All of that and it turns out to be a dead end?!” Aurora groans, laying her head on her desk.

Turns out, no one in the Dark Renegades even knew that Noah Ward was dead. They were working on a big shipment of weapons that they were getting ready to sell.

No one in the group even had the technical skill of being able to block a trace. Basically, they weren’t smart enough to block a trace via email, therefore they weren’t the ones to kill the petty officer.

Gibbs had just finished interrogating the leader, who was now being charged and sent to jail.

“Well, at least we took them down,” Ziva reassures her.

They were all back in Aurora’s office, trying to regroup to see what they had missed.

“Now we’re back to square one on finding whoever hired the hitman,” Tony speaks up from his chair, hissing from a bruise on his face that he was currently icing. He accidentally ended up hitting the side of a crate earlier during the shootout.

McGee and Abby were still in the lab, trying to crack the email trace. Gibbs was updating both Director Vance and Agent Hopkins about the situation.

“What if someone had a grudge against Noah Ward? I mean, he was selling drugs, maybe someone wanted him to pay?” Aurora theorizes.

“Yeah, but who? He didn’t have a client list that we could go through. And even if he did, his list would be long,” Tony points out.

McGee rushes into Aurora’s office and puffs out air.

“Guys, I think Abby and I found a lead.”

They rush into the lab to where Abby and Gibbs were waiting.

“We were finally able to trace the email address to an Adam Lewis,” Abby pulls up his file. According to his file at glance, Adam Lewis was a Marine, honorably discharged a few years ago.

“He doesn’t seem like the hiring hitman type,” Ziva profiles from his photo.

“That’s because he wasn’t, but up until two years ago when he lost his daughter,” Abby switches his profile to the daughter’s profile.

“His daughter was another Naval petty officer that also happened to serve with Noah Ward. Her name was Isabella Lewis. She died from a drug overdose, cocaine was the source,” McGee informs.

“She was a drug user?” Aurora asks.

“That’s how she got dishonorably discharged, and then a few weeks after her discharge, she was found dead in her house. Her dad was the one that found her,” McGee answers.

Aurora’s heart broke hearing that. No father should see their child dead.

“So, I’m guessing Noah Ward was the one supplying her drugs?” Tony inquires.

“And you’d be correct,” Abby nods her confirmation. “But he wasn’t charged for her death because no one knew who supplied her drugs because Noah Ward wasn’t caught until a few days ago.”

“What’s the background on the father?” Gibbs questions.

“He’s currently working as one of the Navy contractor’s for IT support,” Tony reads from the profile.

“Which would explain why it took so long for his email to be cracked,” McGee points out.

“But get this when he was in the Corps, he didn’t just work in the communications unit, but also an EOD technician,” Tony keeps on reading out loud.

“EOD as in Explosive Ordnance Disposal,” Ziva confirms. The team stills at that information.

“That doesn’t sound like a good thing,” Aurora mumbles. Her phone beeps and she takes it out while Gibbs gives out orders.

“We need to find him. McGee, phone records and bank statements. Tony-”

“Oh my gosh,” Aurora interrupts him. They all turn to look at her.

“What is it?” Gibbs asks her.

Aurora, without a sound, moves to Abby, to which she moves and lets Aurora use the computer. She pulls up a live news feed and everyone freezes at what they see.

The news was reporting live that someone was holding hostages at a local coffee shop near the navy base by way of a bomb threat. About 20 people were in there, and that the criminal holding them hostage was the person they were looking for, Adam Lewis.

“No time to waste, everyone let’s go! Abby, you stay here!” Gibbs orders the team.

Gibbs, Ziva, Tony, McGee, and Aurora rush out, hoping they were able to make it in time to save the hostages.

—

“What’s the status of the situation?” Gibbs questions the lead officer in charge.

After explaining that the suspect inside was an NCIS suspect, the San Diego Police Department were more than willing to let NCIS be in charge, especially since they were still waiting for the bomb squad to arrive.

The police department had set up a ways away, with a few medical tents and a barricade in place.

“We can’t get a clear visual on the bomber,” A police officer on scene reports to them. “He took out all the security cameras and closed the blinds. We can’t send a man in there without him threatening to blow the place up if he doesn’t speak to NCIS. We did a scan of the area and it looks like he put the bomb in the basement of the coffee shop, which is their storage space. If we don’t take any action, he will blow himself and the hostages up,” the officer answers.

“What’s the bomb trigger?” Gibbs asks.

“Remote detonation, he has the remote in his hand, but we can’t find a way to trace or jam the signal from the remote to the bomb.”

“How many hostages?” Ziva inquires.

“27, men, women, and children. Most are Navy dependents. We figured that he was targeting them because of their connection.”

“Okay, Ziva, McGee, I want you to secure the perimeter, see if there’s any other way to get a visual without compromising yourselves,” Gibbs begins issuing out orders. “DiNozzo, you and Artemis stay here and wait for the bomb squad. I’ll go in and try to get him to talk.”

Aurora stays rooted in her spot before realizing what had to happen.

“Gibbs, I think I should go in,” Artemis speaks up.

“No, not an option,” he shuts down the idea quickly.

“Think about it, Gibbs. If I go in, he’ll see another woman that’s like his daughter. He’s more likely to be sympathetic towards me and let me release the hostages then.

“No! Absolutely not, Artemis. You could get hurt.”

“This is the job, Gibbs! Please, let me do this. It’s the only way he’ll release them. I’ll keep him talking while you guys find a way to take the shot without triggering the bomb,” Aurora pleads to him.

This was Aurora’s shot to prove that she can get the job done. She needed those hostages out of harm’s way from the crazy guy and his bomb. She needed to prove self-worth. And to keep everyone safe. But at what cost?

Gibbs stood there thinking about what she said. Tony, Ziva, and McGee look at him in disbelief that he would even think about it.

“Gibbs, this is insane,” Tony hisses.

“She raises a good point. She gets him talking enough to distract him, and we attach a live feed camera on her vest so we can see the detonator,” the lead police officer inputs.

“Gib-,” McGee argues but gets interrupted.

“You distract him until we can take the shot and disarm the bomb. And if it gets bad, you get out. You get out fast and run away even if he tries to blow himself up, got it?”

“Understood, sir,” Aurora nods.

“Alright, McGee, hook a camera up to her so we can get a visual inside. Tony and I will coordinate with the other police officers right now to get any more information about the situation. Ziva, stay with her.”

They all get to work quickly. Gibbs and Tony rush out, while McGee leads Aurora setting up a camera small enough to stay on her vest.

“I can’t believe you offered yourself like that, Artemis. That was stupid,” McGee mutters as he starts setting up the camera.

“I have no choice. If it was Gibbs, would you say the same thing?” Aurora defends herself. McGee stays silent while Ziva coaches her.

“You ask him to release the hostages and get him talking and distracted while we figure out a solution. You may have to try and talk him down so he doesn’t detonate, can you do that?”

Ziva was nervous for Aurora. She’s been in many situations like Aurora, but the fact that she’d now be watching Aurora go through it, didn’t sit right with her.

“I’ll be fine Ziva,” Aurora reassures her. “Can you actually do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

Aurora takes off her charm bracelet, her hands trembling.

“No, Art-”

“Ziva, just listen to me. If anything happens to me, I need you to give this to Bradley.”

Ziva brings her hands on Aurora's shaking hands that were clasped on her bracelet.

“Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“I know, but please, just in case,” Aurora pleads to her as she slips the bracelet into Ziva’s hands.

Ziva solemnly nods as McGee pulls Aurora away to put the camera on her. Ziva grips the bracelet tightly, before tucking it away into one of her vest pockets for safety.

“Alright, signal is receiving, audio is working,” McGee reports just as Gibbs and Tony come back.

“You ready, Artemis? You don’t have to do this,” Gibbs assures her.

“I do, we need to get those people out before anything happens,” Aurora affirms. She was determined to get this over with, but she was nervous. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

“Alright, approach the door slowly, and just listen to me in your coms, got it?” Gibbs asks.

Aurora nods. She takes a deep breath before leaving the area and walking past the barricade, towards the door to the coffee shop. She opens the door slowly.

“Identify yourself!” A voice yells out.

“I’m NCIS Special Agent Aurora Benjamin-Mitchell. I heard you wanted to talk to NCIS,” she replies, slipping into the coffee shop.

She took in her surroundings and saw people scattered around the shop, all huddled, crying and scared.

In the middle of the shop, Adam Lewis sat in a chair, his right hand holding a gun, the left holding what looked to be the remote.

“So, you finally came. Took you long enough,” Adam scoffs. He sat confident, but Aurora could tell he was nervous.

“Let the hostages go, Adam. They don’t need to be here. You got what you want,” Aurora tells him.

“No! What I want is for NCIS to admit that it was their fault my daughter is dead, and that you should have done better.”

“Even if I said that, what good would it do? It won’t bring your daughter back!”

“Artemis, keep him talking, we think Ziva found a way into the basement of the coffee shop to try and disarm the bomb," she heard Gibbs say in her coms.

“Look, release the hostages, and we can talk about this, “ Artemis continued, trying to persuade Adam. He hesitates, getting a good look at her facial expression. She was determined to get the hostages out, but scared about his next actions.

Adam saw the determination in her eyes to do her job and get the hostages out safely. He saw his daughter in her eyes.

A few seconds later, the front door to the coffee shop opened and the hostages came running out. Children were clinging to their parents crying, while some of the police officers were helping lead them to the ambulances and medical tents they had set up.

“She did it, boss,” Tony proudly says from next to Gibbs.

“She’s not done yet, DiNozzo,” Gibbs corrects him. “Status update, Ziva.”

“This bomb is way too sophisticated for me to disarm, I’ve never seen one like this before.”

“He is a computer tech. He made and disarmed bombs for a living. Makes sense why it’s probably hard to disarm it,” McGee speaks up from his laptop.

Just then, Gibbs’ cell phone rang and he answered it, putting it on speakerphone for Tony to hear.

“Yeah, Abs?” Gibbs asks on the phone.

“Okay, so I was looking up his background, Gibbs. I found his bank statements and it turns out he spent most of his money on the hitman, and the rest went to a charity for veterans.”

“A charity? Why would he give away all his money?” Tony wonders out loud.

Gibbs was lost in thought before he was interrupted over his coms.

“Gibbs, I think there’s a timer on it,” Ziva informs them.

“How much time is left?”

“3 minutes and 23 seconds.”

“Try to disarm it, and if it reaches 1 minute you run out of there. Tony, what’s the status of the bomb squad, where are they?” Gibbs demands turning toward the other man.

“Won’t get here in time boss. They’re 7 minutes out.”

“Damnit!” Gibbs cusses, worried for his team.

He had Aurora talking to Adam Lewis and Ziva in the basement trying to disarm the bomb, he could only hope that Aurora would be able to talk him down, or Ziva disarms the bomb. He couldn’t lose either of them.

“Why would he bring a bomb to a coffee shop?” McGee asks from his laptop.

“Turns out, he and his daughter used to go there almost every Sunday since her mother passed away from cancer. It was the one place they shared together,” Abby answers.

“So what is his endgame? Why bring a bunch of hostages in and blow up the coffee shop?” Tony wonders.

“Should we inform Artemis of the situation?” McGee asks Gibbs.

“Not yet, if we tell her now, she’s going to panic. Which might cause him to panic and pull the trigger, remotely.”

“Boss-” Tony worriedly tries to talk him out of that decision, but Gibbs made up his mind.

“We wait until the last minute,” Gibbs orders, firmly.

“Look,” Aurora had her hands up, showing she wasn’t a threat. “I get that you lost your daughter, and I’m sorry about that. I know what it’s like to be scared that you lose your loved ones. I-I can’t even imagine how that feels when you found out what happened. She was a good person from what I read on her file, Adam.”

Aurora still stood near the door of the coffee shop. She had no idea what the status was on the bomb that Ziva was disarming or about why he was even threatening to blow up the coffee shop.

Adam looks at her sorrowfully. “You remind me of her, my daughter. Empathetic to strangers, brave, knowledgeable.”

Aurora stood silently.

“Tell me, agent. Do you have family who serve?” Adam wonders.

Adam could feel her sympathy radiating from her. He recognized the feeling anywhere, the hurt and pain of having someone that you love serve in the Navy. It was the same feeling he felt when his daughter had left on deployment.

“You can call me Aurora,” she replied, hoping to help build rapport with him, “And I do, my dad, best friend, and two of my godfather’s are Naval aviators. My brother is an aviation mechanic, also in the Navy. I almost lost my godfather in a training accident when I was little, and my other godfather to cancer.”

“Then you understand the pain when they leave, not knowing if they will ever return. But you never lost anyone?”

“I’m fortunate enough to never have felt that loss. I’ve lost many friends working at NCIS, losing a family member? I can’t even imagine. I wake up every day grateful for them to be alive, but your daughter Isabella wouldn’t want you to do this.”

“You didn’t know her! You don’t understand what it’s like!” Adam shouts. “To have someone ripped away from you forever and never see them again!” He was growing agitated.

Aurora stays silent. She had felt that feeling, she grew up with that feeling every time her dad left for a mission. The worry that he would never return. She felt that feeling the first time Bradley and Peyton were deployed. But losing someone to death, that was something she knew would break her, and she was lucky to never have known that.

“If only you had done your job, she would still be here! I had to hire a hitman in order to get the man that killed her! I got my revenge!” He screams at her, waving his gun around.

Aurora drew her gun out as a response. “Sometimes things don’t work out like that, Adam. Sometimes we don’t get the bad guy until it’s too late. There’s nothing else we can do. You blow us both up, and what will you have achieved?!” She cries out at him.

“I had him killed because I needed to make sure he was gone! I just want to hold my daughter one more time.” he starts crying, the grip on his gun loosening. “It should have been me that died.”

Aurora’s aim falters as she hears this.

“How much time do we have left, McGee?” Gibbs asks as Ziva had left the basement and ran back to the team and the officers. They were behind the barricade in case the bomb was going to go off.

“Less than a minute left, boss!”

“Artemis, get out of there! That’s an order! There’s a timer on the bomb!” Gibbs yells into his coms.

Aurora’s eyes widened as she heard this. “It’s on a timer?”

“I’m sorry, Aurora, I am. But I have to do this,” he cries. Adam just wanted to see his daughter one more time.

Then it dawned on Aurora. He was tying up loose ends. He hired the hitman in order to kill the man that caused his daughter’s death. Blowing up the coffee shop would put an end to the pain he felt losing his daughter.

This was his end game.

“How do we disarm it?” she worriedly asks both Gibbs, via her coms, as well as Adam.

Adam shook his head. “You can’t. I’m sorry.”

Aurora hesitates. She knew she should run, but she didn’t want to leave him.

Adam looks at her. “Go,” he whispers.

“I-“

“Go! For your family, Aurora, get out of here!” he cries out.

Aurora quickly rushes out of the coffee shop.

Adam closes his eyes as she exits, waiting for the bomb to take him. A tear leaks from his eyes as he smiles. He could finally be at peace.

Gibbs spots Aurora running out of the coffee shop and yells for her, but before she could even reach them, the bomb goes off.

Everyone braces and covers themselves. A few seconds later, Gibbs rises from his barricade to get a glimpse of Aurora.

“Artemis!”

Aurora was a few feet away from the barricade, sprawled on her right side and laying limp in the grass. She was barely conscious, bleeding from shrapnel that hit her. It didn’t look good.

Gibbs, Ziva, and Tony rush to her, while McGee yells for a medic. Aurora moans in pain as they rolled her onto her back, waiting for the medic to reach them.

“Artemis, c’mon, stay awake,” Ziva encourages her.

“Medic! Where’s the medic!” Tony hollers at McGee.

“They’re on the way!”

“Hold on, Aurora. C’mon kid,” Gibbs brushes her hair away from her face.

She coughs before looking up at Gibbs.

“I just need a little rest, just let me close my eyes a bit,” she croaks out.

“No, you stay awake Artemis, that’s an order.”

“The hostages-”

“They’re all safe, thanks to you.”

Aurora soon starts tearing up. “I couldn’t save him, Gibbs,” she cries. “I couldn’t save Adam Lewis.”

“Shhh, it’s alright. There was nothing else you could have done. It was a suicide for him from the start.”

She glances at Ziva as her eyes start to flutter.

“Tell my family I’m sorry. Tell Bra-”

“You’re going to tell them yourself, Aurora,” Ziva grips her hand tightly.

“I’m tired, I’m just gonna rest for a bit.”

Aurora smiles before her eyes start fluttering closed.

“No, stay awake, Artemis…Artemis!” Tony calls out to her.

Darkness takes over Aurora and soon everything was quiet.

- - -

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