Last chapter finally. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts. :) Sequel coming soon.

Title: The evil you know
author: Cindy Ryan
notes and summary: See part one

Chris was crouched down next to his boss as Pride took pictures of the area where it was clear a struggle had occurred. He had already found a few stray fibers of fabric in the nearby tree that matched what Meri had been wearing. That combined with the witness statement and the footprints Chris knew his partner had been here. She'd fought and tried to gain freedom. Tried to get back to them. When Chris got his hands on Marcel Gerard he was going to answer for all the pain he'd caused Meri.

"Spread out."Pride ordered the six NOPD officers who had joined the search. "I want ten blocks covered from Lafette south. Somebody saw them."

The NOPD officers left and Chris stood.

"Why take her to Lafette?"LaSalle wondered as he and Pride headed out of the trees to the sidewalk. "Doesn't make any sense."

"Let's go back to the office and get traffic video from nearby. See if we can get a better idea of what we're dealin' with."Pride suggested as they approached Chris's truck.

The last thing Chris wanted to do was head back. But he knew King was right; they needed more information. More importantly Chris wanted to see if his partner was alright. He just wished he had some way of tellin' her they were looking for her.

"Alright."Chris agreed as he started the truck and put it into drive. "I'll let NOPD know where we are."

"We'll find her, Christopher."Pride said quietly.

"I know."LaSalle agreed as he keyed up NOPD's number on his phone and held it to his right ear. "I'm just tired of chasin' my tail. Somebody's been ahead of us on this the entire time. "

"They can only hold all the cards for so long before they slip up. They always do."Pride replied.

Chris hoped his boss was right. More than anything he wanted this to be over. Not just for himself but for Meri.

A strong sense of Deja Vu hit Meri as soon as she stepped into Marcel's loft. Everything was familiar yet wasn't. Foggy snatches of memory taunted her as she looked around the large space.

"You remember being here?"Josh inquired quietly from Meredith's left side.

"Kind of."Brody replied as she stepped down onto the main floor. "I recognize it but I don't."

"You weren't in good shape when I brought you back here."Marcel stated as he turned to face Meredith and Josh.

"You want me to trust you, right?"Meredith asked.

"It's in both our benefits to have this work out nice and easy."Marcel responded.

"Lend me your phone. Let me call my partner."Brody suggested. "By now they have an all city alert on me."

"He's not gonna back off."Josh stated warily.

"He will if I tell him I'm okay."Meri said confidently.

After a long moment Marcel nodded and pulled out his cell phone. He tossed it to Brody who caught it cleanly. Meredith smiled briefly at the vampire before she dialed her partner's familiar number. She really hoped she could get Chris to back down because Meridith didn't want to explain vampires to him.

They had been back at the office for less than five minutes when Chris's cell rang. He glanced at the screen and almost let the unfamiliar number go to voicemail. However, with the current situation they couldn't afford to ignore anything.

"LaSalle."Chris greeted as he watched King and Sebastain load traffic video onto the main tv screen.

"Chris?"Meredith began. "I..."

"Meri!"Chris shouted in relief causing two heads to jerk in his direction. "Are you alright? Where are you?"

"I can't tell you where I am."Meri tried to explain once more."Bu..."

"Has he hurt you?"Chris demanded knowing that a trace had been started on the call."We'll get you home soon."

"Marcel hasn't hurt me. I'm fine."Meri stated quietly."I need you to trust me and call off the search. I'll be back in a few hours."

"Meri, what the hell..."Chris muttered as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm alright,Chris."Meredith replied."When I get back you and I can plan the next crawfish boil."

"I'll hold you to that."Chris stated softly as he ended the call.

"Is she okay?"Sebastian asked anxiously.

"Where is she?"Pride inquired almost at the same time as the lab tech.

Chris looked at the two anxious faces and sighed.

"She's fine and wants us to back off the search. Said she'd be back in a few hours."Chris explained.

"Christopher..."Pride protested.

"She gave me a code phrase we worked out early on."LaSalle replied tiredly. "She's okay, King."

Dwayne studied the younger man for a long moment befor enodding.

"Alright. There's another man with Gerard in the traffic video."Pride stated as he walked toward the video screen. "Let's see if Bruce can find an ID."

Meri handed the phone back to Marcel. In turn he gestured towards the sofa. She sat down and Josh sat next to Meri while Marcel remained standing.

"What did you do to my memory?"Brody asked breaking the silence. "It's like trying to remember a dream."

"It's a bit of mind control called compulsion."Marcel explained."Doesn't work on everybody."

"That's it?"Meredith asked in surprise."You told me to forget?"

"Was for your own good."Josh interjected.

"Really?"Meredith countered. "How would you like to lose nearly a week of your life? I investigate crimes for a living did you guys really not think I wouldn't keep trying to find out what happened to me?"

"Was a risk."Marcel admitted."I didn't want to kil you if there was no reason for it."

Meri felt a headache start to form.

"A vampire with morales how lucky can I get?"Meredith asked sarcastically.

"Trust me there's much worse than Marcel in this city."Josh stated solmenly. "One killed me."

"When was that?"Meri asked not believing she was asking the question.

"Last year."Josh replied.

"Josh is right."Marcel stated as he crouched down in front of Meri."There are a lot in my community that I don't want you knowing about."

"Witches, werewolves..."Josh added.

Meri looked from one to the other and back again.

"Werewolves?"Brody repeated."You mean they really do the whole full moon thing?"

"Lots of legends have some truth in them."Marcel responded.

"We don't know who kidnapped you."Josh stated changing the subject."The first time I mean."

"All I've been able to find out was it wasn't one of my kind or one of our community."Marcel commented as he stood.

"So it was just some lunatic who handcuffed me in a cave, bled me and then dumped me in an alley for vampires to find?"Meri asked as she rubbed her forehead.

"You remember being in a cave?"Marcel asked with interest.

"No."Meredith replied with frusteration."My partner and other colleagues traced me to that location but they'd already moved me."

"Look I want to help you figure out what happened I really do."Marcel commented. "But our worlds can't mix; not ever."

"You going to wipe my memory again?"Meri asked worriedly.

Marcel glanced at Josh and shook his head.

"No."Gerard replied. "I wouldn't have approached you the second time if I hadn't thought I could trust you."

Meri stood and began to pace a small area to the left of the sofa. She looked out the large window on the far wall. Her world had just shifted on it's axis and Marcel was asking her to ignore it. Vampires, witches, werewolves all of them real coexisting with normal people.

"I don't know why but I believe and am for some reason starting to trust both of you. Marcel, you saved my life so I owe you. I won't reveal your community. Though I'm not sure I can trust that no supernatural being was behind my kidnapping."Meri stated quietly. "I can't promise that I won't follow leads."

"Maybe we can be your contacts for that."Marcel suggested. "You don't bring your people in and we'll follow up your intel. Deal?"

As much as Meri didn't want to lie to Dwayne and Chris she understood the need to keep balance and peace in New Orleans. Both men had their own sources they had obtained through their years of law enforcement she'd just obtained a few of her own.

"Deal."Meredith agreed with a smile as she extended her right hand.

"I think this is going to be interesting."Josh stated with a said with a smile as he stood.

"That's probably an understatment."Marcel replied with a shake of his head as he released Meri's hand. "Let's get you back before your partner gets anxious."

Meredith left the loft still not quite believing what had occurred that day. It'd take awhile for everything to sink in. But she was left with a feeling of hopefulness. As weird and strange as it was to be friends with vampires as options went it had worked out for the best.

Half an hour later Meri sat with Chris and Dwayne in the courtyard of the building that housed the NCIS office. She leaned back against the chair letting the warm wind wash over her and the late afternoon sun beat down on her skin. Meri felt completely drained but knew owed both men an explaination. Chris was practically a coiled spring of tension. She wished she had answers that would put all of them at ease. But that wouldn't happen until her kidnapper was caught.

"Marcel had nothing to do with my kidnapping. He found me in the alley and brought me back to his place. Saved my life."Brody began.

"Why not a hospital?"Pride asked.

"The man has a dozen aliases, Mere."Chris pointed out. "Nobody trustworthy has that many false idenities."

On the way back Meredith and Marcel had worked out a cover story.

"Yes Marcel has a checkered past. Didn't earn a living legally but he's been trying to put that behind him. Chris, he saved my life when he didn't have to."Meredith commented.

"I'm grateful for that."Chris replied. "But I'm still sayin' he knows more than he's tellin' us."

"Maybe but for now we have to trust Brody's instincts."Dwayne interjected quietly. "We pull Gerard off the suspect list and start fresh. Fingerprints and forensics should be back from the cave in a few days. We'll start from there."

Meri flashed her boss a grateful smile.

"I want you to take tomorrow off."Dwayne ordered as he stood placing a gentle hand on Meri's left shoulder. "Get some rest."

"I will, thank you."Brody acknowledged.

Pride smiled and left.

"You really believe that Gerard is a good guy?"Chris asked as he leaned against the table.

"Yes,"Meri replied with a nod. "People deserve a second chance."

"I agree with that as much as you do but sometimes people slip into somethin' that they can't fully climb out of no matter how hard they try. We've both seen it."Chris commented. "I just want you to be careful...you've been through a lot."

Meri felt tears prick her eyes and she blinked them back. Whatever fate had lined her up with Chris LaSalle as a partner she was beyond grateful. They made a good team both personally and professionally. It was becoming one of the best friendships she'd ever had in her life. Meri stood and walked around the table enveloping her partner in a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and they remained like that for several long minutes.

"I promised you we'd figure this out."Chris stated after they broke apart. "And that hasn't changed. No matter how long it takes I won't give up till we get this bastard."

"Thank you."Meredith replied with a tearful smile. "I just want to catch him before somebody else has to go through what I did."

"We'll get him."Chris promised as he too her right hand in his squeezing it.

Meri knew her partner was right. They would eventually catch the person responsible for her disappearance. However, she had a feeling that it wasn't going to be easy. Not by a long shot. Especially with her deal with Marcel in the mix. There was a new balance to protect. It was a challenge Meri was willing to take on. Both sides would help get a dangerous criminal off the streets. Despite the uncertainty of this new coexistance Meri had faith it would work out. Marcel was right the two worlds couldn't mix and she knew they'd find a way to make that happen.

End