This is sort of a tribute to all the NCIS fanfics I've been reading over the past few months. ^_^ This is kinda crazy... We'll see how this turns out xD I'm sorry for not updating the other two stories I've got going, but my muse is away on holiday. Hope this'll entice her back.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.
Alternate Realities
Everything around them was white – pure white. Emptiness stretched about them like an endless blanket of snow lain over the land. It was impossible for one to distinguish the floor from the walls and ceiling or, in fact, the ground from the sky. Neither was sure which was true.
"Je-Jethro?" Jen asked in a small voice, cut off mid-rant. Her smart trousers and fancy sweater didn't really match the startled and uneasy expression on her face. Instinctively, her arms went around her body in a hug. "What the hell happened?"
"I don't know, Jen." Gibbs answered quietly, light blue eyes scanning the place they were in.
It had happened so fast. One moment they had been arguing in her office about another incident with the media. There they had been, each in the other's face, when a sudden flash of light blinded them temporarily. When their vision had recovered, they had discovered they were no longer in her office, but some strange, empty place.
"Do you think this is an abduction?" Jen asked suddenly, her jaw set as she thought of a logical – and thus somewhat soothing – explanation.
"Have ya seen any other place like this before, Jen?" Gibbs countered somewhat snippily. He was rattled enough as it was without her starting crackpot theories.
"Perhaps, Jethro! That flash of light might have been a distraction for some sleeping gas. They could have carried us off easily enough!"
"Through n armed federal agency?" he challenged back. "And then stood us up while we regained consciousness, so that we'd think we were still standing up?" When he put it like that, Jen had to admit it was a horrible idea.
"Well, do youhave anything better?" she bit back, trying to regain some of her pride back. The glare Gibbs shot her gave her the answer she knew, but didn't like; no. "So... What do we do?" she asked finally. She pulled out her cellphone, but got no reception for it. "Figures."
"Yes... The signal here is bad." came another voice suddenly, scaring both of them out of a few years' growth. Gibbs pulled out his gun turning this way and that as he tried to pinpoint the direction was coming from. "You won't need that, Agent Gibbs. Put it away before one of you two gets hurt." the voice came again and, to Jen's horror, she realized it was coming from everywhere at the same time.
"Who-who are you?" she asked in a small voice, green eyes wide. Gibbs put the gun away, glaring mutinously at the whiteness around them. He didn't like games, and he didn't like people he couldn't shoot if h had to.
"Who am I? That's not a question I have to answer. I don't wish you any harm, however. Lets just say that I'm someone who's been watching you two very closely for a long time."
"How have you never been spotted?" Jen asked, fear starting to really sink in. Did they have such a skilled stalker that had managed to kidnap both of them and never get close to caught?"
"You had no means to catch me, rest assured, Jen." Somehow, the use of her name made her shiver violently. Now that she was hearing more and more of it, the redhead had decided that the voice sounded more female than male. That was good, to some extent. "One could say I don't exactly exist in your world." the voice added cryptically. Gibbs frowned. Did they have a psycho on the loose?
"Why did you bring us here?" he demanded. Perhaps Jen's theory of abduction was right after all, and this person had simply gotten creative enough to fool everyone. In that case, they had to stall enough for the team to find them.
"An excellent question, Gibbs. 'Bout time you asked it, too. I know I still haven't convinced you I'm neither a stalker nor some crazy person after you. Still, I hope we can get past that soon enough. To answer your question, very special agents, I brought you here to show you a few things."
"To... show us a few things?" Jen echoed, her eyebrows furrowing together. "What do you mean?" She was still unsure if she should be frightened or not.
"I'd be happy to explain. You see, I'm not the only one who's been watching you closely." At that, both Jen and Jethro shivered violently again. Gibbs stepped closer to Jen, putting an arm around her shoulders. "There are many, many many others like me, but I'm the only one I'm aware of that has taken this... approach before. I'm somewhat proud of it, actually. Seemed like an excellent idea. I'll have to thank my muse for returning."
She's crazy – she's utterly and completely crazy! Jen thought privately, snuggling closer against Jethro. Sensing her verdict, Jethro nodded slightly, holding her tighter.
"Now, don't go judging what you don't know." the voice said, a note of humor coloring her tone. "Back to business, though. Once I show you what I want to show you, I'll put you back in your reality."
"Wait, what? We arein our reality!" one of them protested. It could have been both.
"Does it look like it?" the voice countered. Neither could reply, so the voice moved on. "Thought so. Anyway, in my opinion and others', you two have wasted a lot of time you could have spent together. We shippers really want you two to get together, you know? And both of you want it, too. I know you think life's rough right now, but let me show you what could have happened in millions of alternate realities." the voice said. There was the sound of shuffling, then there was a resonating click. Instantly, a large T.V screen appeared in front of them, suspended from mid-air. Or mid-whiteness. Neither knew if those two were different. Both federal agents jumped at the sudden appearance of the screen, taking a few steps back. "Now do you believe me?" the voice asked, sounding pretty pleased with itself. "Time to see what's been happening to you without you knowing it."she added.
On the screen in front of them, the image flickered. Gibbs and jenny's eyes widened when they saw a huge-eyed, unnaturally tall and skinny young man on screen being chased by a small, round, black rabbit-thing. A provocatively-dressed black-haired woman was in the background, laughing as she drank from a small glass.
Before they could focus more on the cartoon,the screen flickered to show Jen's Georgetown house. "Whoops. Wrong saved file." the voice apologized. "This is what I wanted."
On the screen, the two watched, awe-struck, as Jen opened the door to Gibbs, dressed only in a night robe. Before their very eyes, Jethro leaned in to kiss the redhead, who wrapped her arms around him. The door closed behind them and, instinctively, the two went up to Jen's room, where Jethro expertly took off her robe and stroked her body. Back on the white plane, both jen and Gibbs had turned beetroot, but somewhat turned on as their counterparts moved on to have hot, steamy sex.
"That never happened!" Jen protested when the screeen went black.
"I know." the voice answered. "Do the words 'alternate reality' mean anything to you?"That effectively shut the redhead up. "Besides, that's one of the good ones. Look at these."
Now the screen flickered again. The image now showed the dark car-park at NCIS. The two saw Jen get off the elevator and walk towards her car. Suddenly, a man grabbed her from behind and immobilized her deftly, pulling her into his car. The video followed the two to a concrete bunker. The real Jen started to shake and groan, horrified, as the man took her out and undressed her, strapping her to the bed. She buried her face against Jethro as the man then presumed to rape and hit her violently. Gibbs could feel his blood boiling at the images, feeling like he could throw up. Of all the things he'd ever seen, that was the most horrible of them all. Thankfully, the screen showed her being rescued, but, when it went black, the two were still horrified. Though it had never happened to her, Jen felt violated and impure.
"Now you know what I mean by 'alternate realities'." the voice said. The humor had completely gone from her tone. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Jen. I know it was hard."
"Then why did you show me it?" she demanded angrily.
"Because you had to know. Incidentally, you and Gibbs are married there. Have been for eleven months or so, by now. You're also pregnant with his child. We'll see how that goes."
"What?" Gibbs' tone was different from Jen's now. He looked at the redhead in amazement, a hand going to her perfectly smooth and un-pregnant stomach.
"I said in that universe, Gibbs. Pay attention. In any case, you two see what you can be missing out on. Here's another scene."
The screen flickered once more to show Jen in her house, moving about in the early afternoon. What was different was how she was using a white cane to maneuver deftly. Gibbs' heart almost stopped when he realized she was blind. One look at Jenny's expression told him that she was also started and uneasy. His hold around her tightened. The Jen I the video, however, didn't seem to mid. She set about making coffee like any other person would, pouring it into two mugs. They saw the second one was for him when he walked into the kitchen. He greeted Jen with a kiss to the cheek that soon turned into a loving kiss on the lips. Despite the circumstances, the couple looked happy.
"Woah." Jethro said as the screen went black again. "That's unrelated to the previous one?"
"Yes. I told you many people want you two together." the voice answered. "But as you can see, you two can find happiness together, even if there are difficult circumstances. Also, you shouldn't keep secrets from each other. They can give the wrong impression. Just look." she instructed.
The screen now showed Jen in her office, crying heavily. Gibbs came in to put his arms around her. Fro the picture of the Frog on her TV screen, they both understood where this was going. Jethro gasped as video-Jen pulled out an ultrasound, showing him the image of her presumably-killed unborn daughter. His eyes widened and pieces started to fall into place until Jen tugged at is sleeve and shook her head. He realized then that that wasn't the truth. He'd never wanted to know her grudge against the Frog more than he did then, though.
"That story might not be true for you two, but it is for those in that reality." the voice informed him. "Secrets might be horribly important. You might think it's best to deal with them alone, but sharing them with each other makes you stronger. The other won't think of you as weak. So, when I finally release you, I expect you to tell Jethro about the Frog, Jen. And you, Jethro, you tell her about Paris and how you still feel." At that, the two glanced at each other and nodded silently. Both wanted to know and share those things. "I'm going to skip several other realities because they're way too complicated. This one, however, I loved to watch."
Gibbs saw himself at his desk with the team. It seemed to be an uneventful day until the postman arrived and handed him a parcel wrapped in brown paper and string. He opened it with gloves and sterile scissors, gawking at the lock of crimson hair nestled at the bottom of the packet.
On the white plane, Jethro instinctively tugged Jen closer.
"You see, what you have could very well be lost at any moment." the woman said. "Carpite diem et carpite noctem. Life's too short for you to waste what you have."
Another video started before they could answer. This one showed Jethro in his basement, sitting on the floor with several boxes. He looked ready to cry as he listened to the tape recorder in his hands. More accurately, he was listening to Jen's voice.
"In that reality, Jen, you died." the voice informed the shivering couple. "Have I shown you enough to rattle you?" The two didn't reply, but nodded weakly. "Good. Because I'm sorta in charge of your universe. That's how I brought you here. Whatever happens to you, I control it. But I need you two together to fight it, yes?"
"Wha-what are you going to do?" Jen asked worriedly.
"Haven't decided. But it will be awesome. I'm bored, you see."
"So, you're going to torture us just to have fun?" Gibbs demanded, suddenly furious.
"As you can see, all I showed you hasn't been bad." the woman replied dryly. "In any case, I think it's time for you to go. I gave you my warnings. Oh, and I suggest you don't mention this to your friends. Asylums are boring places for me. Mental illness is too serious to play around with."
"Are... Are you God?" Jen asked weakly as the whiteness began to fade from around them. The screen vanished.
"God?" the woman asked as the world around them began to disappear. "Hardly. I'm just Kari. See you soon!"
A/N: That was somewhat fun and now I'm all hyped up to continue writing. Thanks for reading this and, if your fanfic was mentioned, it's cause it really stuck. ^_^ Thanks for the inspiration, guys!