I am a horrible horrible person! I am so sorry the update took OVER A YEAR! Holy cow. I feel SO bad. If it helps make you feel better about me, I can explain the absence… we moved to Florida for my husband's job, settled in, I got pregnant, and then his job turned out to be a sham, SOOO we moved back. Between all of the moving, job switching and you know, having a BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING BABY, and enjoying motherhood, there just really was no time for fanfiction.
Thank you to all who have favorite, reviewed, etc. You really made me want to finish this after all this time. Even if I did have to read the whole thing over again to know what to write! There should be one more chapter after this that the NCIS team will get all of their answers; I wanted to finish up the Ari part of the story first. Hope you enjoy and that it's not a total letdown after the year you've been waiting…
While I do own every season of NCIS and all of the Harry Potter movies and books, I don't own anything else so please don't sue me.
A few hours after arriving at the hospital a doctor finally came out to speak to the group of worried NCIS agents. Since Gibbs and Hermione were both listed on Ryan's emergency contacts the doctor shared all of the information he could give them.
"The gunshot wound to Mr. Evans' shoulder was a fairly straightforward fix, he'll need to wear a sling for a few weeks to let the muscles heal, but otherwise he should retain full range of motion and have no further complications, the bullet missed all of the bones so he was very lucky. The other gunshot wound was a bit more complicated, the armor piercing round went through his vest and through his right lung. We've repaired the damage to the lung but he is currently in our intensive care unit so that we can watch for complications such as pulmonary embolism or pneumonia. Overall he was very lucky and we expect a full recovery, he should be released in about three days if all goes well. The ICU can only permit two visitors in the room at a time so Nurse Shelly can take you up to see Mr. Evans but you'll need to make it quick and not disturb him." The doctor explained and then walked away after finding the nurse he mentioned.
"We can go first boss, that way you and Hermione can have a bit more time with him." Tony offered and motioned to himself, Kate, and McGee.
Hermione and Gibbs watched as first Kate, then McGee, and finally Tony went in to see their new friend and fellow agent. Ducky, Jimmy, and Abby had all been to the hospital and gone back to work before the doctor came out, there was a case to solve after all. Tony promised to update the others on Ryan's condition before the three agents headed back to the Navy Yard to continue their investigation.
Gibbs motioned Hermione forward and they both entered the room to see the too pale face of Ryan Evans sleeping in the hospital bed with wires and tubes running all around him. They settled on each side of him and Hermione kissed his forehead before sitting down and holding his hand in hers.
"Did you hear from his family yet?" Gibbs asked, knowing that Chris was contacting them so they could all get to DC quickly.
"Yeah, Chris let everyone know and Remus and Moody will be here anytime, I think Chris mentioned he was also coming, he said if Ryan woke up to tell him that his target was moving and he was following and he'd see us soon. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing though."
"Well at least with Moody, Remus, and you here he will be well protected. Ryan can hopefully give us some insight once he wakes up as well, but I think it was his current target that shot him. He was aiming for me or Kate and Ryan appeared and took the bullet while he pushed us out of the way." Gibbs said, feeling guilty for not even seeing the sniper, he could have been killed or lost at least one of his agents.
"Yeah, it's his saving people thing. I always used to tease him about it, whenever someone was in trouble he would be there to save the day, damn the consequences. Over the years I realized that it's just a part of who he is, if he sees a way to help someone then he'll jump right in. It scares me to know that he doesn't think of himself first, but he's been that way since we were 11 years old so I don't see it changing." Hermione said with a soft smile toward the subject of their conversation.
"Well at least he'll get some rest finally. He's been going non-stop since Tony got sick and was exhausted when he left this morning." She added on.
After a short silence where both were contemplating their friend and hoping he would heal quickly, Gibbs' phone rang. When he stepped out into the hall, Hermione brushed her hand through Ryan's hair. Even when he was in so much pain and about to pass out, he had been smart enough to have Gibbs mention that HARRY needed help. He knew that she would react quickly and that was his way of saying to forget about keeping their secrets, he needed serious magical help.
There was a knock on the door and Hermione looked up to see Remus Lupin and Mad Eye Moody in the doorway. She filled them in on Ryan's condition and while Moody went to find Gibbs, Remus came over and pulled her into a hug and reassured her that she did a good job and Ryan would be fine. She was so glad that the two had come from London, she needed the extra support and while Ryan's new team was awesome, they also didn't know anything about magic or the wizarding world.
"DiNozzo said that Chris just showed up at the Navy Yard and there have been some developments with the case. Are you guys ok here? I don't know if Ari will come after Ryan again but here is his picture just in case." Gibbs said, sending Hermione a picture of Ari on his cell phone.
Once he knew that Ryan would be well cared for and protected, he went back to NCIS and got to work. He was a little disconcerted to find that his boss had stepped down and there was already a new NCIS director, his old partner, Jenny, but he tried to take the change in stride and continued on his way.
After sending DiNozzo to Abby's lab to get some sleep, reassuring Abby that Ryan was ok, fending off Kate's questions, checking in with Ducky, and fielding calls from the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security, Gibbs was beyond frustrated.
Chris had watched most what was going on around him and finally when Gibbs was done on the last phone call he went over and sat down in an empty chair.
"So the other agencies are saying you have to leave Ari alone? I know that they think he's on Mossad's side, but I've known Ryan for a long time and all of his intel, plus all of the information he's had me running as backup, points to Haswari being Hamas and at the moment going after your team. Ryan sent me something earlier that I think you'd benefit from seeing…" Chris trailed off before he handed a file to Gibbs.
Upon opening the offered file, Gibbs wasn't too surprised. He had suspected that Haswari was after someone on his team. It made sense that he was to "prove his loyalty" to Hamas by killing Gibbs.
It took a few more hours for the FBI to confess to Ari's plan, but by then Gibbs was already well into his plan to stop Ari Haswari. One complication came up though, Ari's supposed handler showed up, Ziva David of Mossad.
Forever grateful (not that he'd mention it to anyone) that MI6 was involved in their current case, Gibbs wasn't caught off guard by Ziva. Chris had warned him that she might show up and had passed over all of the intel he had on her. She was the Mossad Director's daughter, and Ari Haswari's sister, which she failed to mention when she was talking to him and to the new director of NCIS.
All of the higher ups from his director to SecNav were ordering him to stop his manhunt on Haswari and let him go. They trusted that Haswari was really Mossad and just deep undercover, but his gut was telling him that Ari was out to kill and he didn't care who got in the way.
One close call with a bullet in Abby's lab, and another shooting while he was with Director Shepard and he was ready to enact his plan. He knew that Ryan was safe in the hospital and he had made sure that Kate, and McGee were staying with Ducky at NCIS for the night before he finally went home and grabbed a beer before heading down to his basement.
He checked his marine sniper rifle and was unsurprised to find it missing. It was the gun that had been used to shoot Ryan. The moment he walked into his basement he knew that Ari was waiting for him, so when he looked up and saw the man standing there pointing his own gun at him he just smirked to himself and said hello.
"It was a shame that your agent from the roof this morning was hit, I was aiming for the lovely Kate. We got to know each other so well the few times we met. I admit I am curious where the man came from, he was not on the roof before I took my shot. I shall deal with him later though, I cannot have anyone interfering with my plans and he can't think that he can beat me. And then I will finish what I started with dear Katelin. But first you will have to be dealt with. You know that I cannot prove myself to Hamas without killing you. If you would like, we can set it up as though you pulled the trigger yourself, although I must admit that I want to claim the credit. What shall it be agent Gibbs?" Ari said while aiming the gun right where he wanted it.
"You can try Ari, but it's not gonna work." Gibbs said with another smirk as Ari put his finger on the trigger.
"Goodbye Agent Gibbs."
There was a loud bang and then all was silent and Ari facedown on the floor with blood around his head. Gibbs looked around and saw DiNozzo at the top of the stairs with his gun in his hand, Ziva right next to him. Then he looked behind where Ari had been sitting and saw his old friend Alastor Moody smiling grimly and walking toward him.
Upon inspecting the body, Gibbs saw that there were two bullet holes and a scorch mark around what looked like another, wider, bullet hole in Ari's head. Knowing that Ziva had just killed her own brother he asked if she was ok, she nodded and came over to the body, singing a song in Hebrew to her brother's body in what he could only assume was a prayer.
Moody, Gibbs, and Tony all went upstairs and sat down in the chairs around the table, sharing a beer and knowing that the team was safe once again. The two NCIS agents would get their answers from Ryan and Hermione soon, Moody would go visit his protégé, and the rest they'd figure out in the morning.