Disclaimer: All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission.
Masterlist:
I’ll Be Waiting: A Top Gun AU Story
-On hold until further notice
Title and story is inspired by the song I’ll Be Waiting by Cain Ducrot.
Summary:
Aurora “Artemis” Benjamin-Mitchell is someone who is loved by many. Daughter to Pete Mitchell and Penny Benjamin. She’s a caring sister, and Bradley Bradshaw’s best friend since they met. She’s loyal to a fault, dedicated, hardworking, and sometimes stubborn. Her life is filled with many stories to tell, and new exciting adventures to go on.
Consider this almost like a Top Gun AU. Everyone is alive. Timeline and age might not fit. This will be a very slow burn!
Ch. 1: At The Beginning
Ch. 2: Just to See You Smile
Ch. 3: On This Cold December Night
Ch. 4: You’re On Your Own, Kid
Ch. 4.5: 8 Letters
Ch. 5: Repercussions
Ch. 6: Flight Risk
Ch. 7: I Will Rescue You
Ch. 8: As It Seems
Ch. 8.5: I Tried
Ch. 9: Line Without A Hook
Ch. 10: What Am I
Ch. 11: That Way
Ch. 12: Night Changes
Ch. 13: By Your Side
Ch. 14: Waves
Ch. 15: Running Up That Hill
Ch. 16: Hold On
Ch. 17: Flashlight
*If none of the links, please message me and let me know! Thank you! 💖
Title and chapter loosely inspired the song “Flashlight” by Hailee Steinfield.
Summary: Sometimes, family and friends are the people you look for even in the darkest times.
Warnings: Mentions of previous incident
Word Count: 3.3k
A/N: I'M BACK FOR A CHAPTER UPDATE!
I'm so sorry it took so long, I wasn't planning on a break, but because of my new job I've been busy. And I've been going through some things.
This story is almost finished, but I do plan on continuing Bradley and Aurora's story after this! Thank you so much for your support, for sticking by this story, and loving it as much as I do. 💜
Shoutout to @reginleight for editing this chapter, espeically now that she is also a working gal now. 😘
As always, likes are great and all, but comments, reblogs, and feedback are highly appreciated and loved! 🤭
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Aurora still hadn’t woken up. It had been three days since the bombing and she still was deep in her coma. The doctors said that her wounds had healed properly and that she should be waking up soon, but nothing had happened since.
She was transferred to a room out of the ICU since she wasn’t in critical condition anymore.
All they were waiting for was for her to wake up.
The training for the mission had been postponed, especially since Maverick wasn’t in the right state of mind to train them as well as giving Coyote, Bob, and Phoenix a few days to rest.
Speaking of the rest of the squadron, they all had dropped by at least once a day to check in on Aurora, as well as Bradley and Peyton who spent most of their days at the hospital never wanting to leave her side.
Aurora’s NCIS team unfortunately had left to go back to DC, but not before exchanging numbers with the family so they would still receive updates on her condition. Ziva left the charm bracelet with Bradley, just as Aurora wanted.
He shed a few tears when receiving it because that had meant Aurora still thought of him even in her probably final moments. It broke his heart.
Today was the first day Maverick would be going back to base to talk to the Admirals, and training would be starting back up the next day.
At least, that’s what they had thought.
“What do you mean they took you off the mission?” Penny nearly shrieked at hearing the news.
Penny and Maverick were in Aurora’s hospital room. Peyton, Amelia, and Bradley had left to go home for a bit while Carole and Goose left to bring dinner to Penny and Maverick.
“It means I’m done, Penny. Officially. There’s nothing I can do!” Maverick sighs as he sits in his chair.
“But, what about Ice-”
“There’s nothing Ice can do.”
“So, what? You’re just going to give up?”
“What else can I do, Pen?”
“You fight! If you had lost your wingman, you’d keep fighting. Just like when Goose left.”
“Pen-”
“If anything happens to them, you’d never forgive yourself. You know that.”
Maverick exhales. “I don’t know how to fight anymore Pen. They told me that I should take this time to be with Aurora. Maybe the admirals are right.”
“You and I both know that they’re not. Aurora would hate that you just gave up!”
“She’s right.”
Penny and Maverick quickly turn to the bed that Aurora laid in, which was a sight they were used to.
Except this time, her eyes were open.
“Oh, Rory!” Penny exclaims, rushing to hug her daughter. Aurora grunts from the hug, as Maverick rushes to press the call button for a nurse.
Aurora coughs a bit before Penny hands her a cup of water that was on the table next to her. After taking a chug of her water, Penny gave her another big hug.
Soon, all the emotions hit Aurora and she began to cry.
“I’m so sorry mom, I’m sorry I-”
“Shhh, sweetie, it’s okay, you’re safe now. It’s okay,” Penny assures her. Maverick stood on the other side of Aurora so he could hold her hand.
“We were so worried, Rory, but when we heard what you did, we couldn’t be more proud of what you had done,” Maverick tearfully told her as he brushed her hair out of her face. “It was stupid, but we’re just glad you’re okay.”
Aurora’s eyes bore into her dad’s as it filled with tears. “I fought, dad, just like you wanted me to.”
“I know, princess, I know.”
Aurora took a few seconds before asking him the question that hit him hard. “So why aren’t you fighting to go back?”
Maverick breath hitches. “B–Because maybe it’s time to turn in the wings, Ro. I’m getting old, and I should be spending more time with you.”
“Screw what the admirals say!”
“Rory, language,” Penny warns her daughter.
“You have to keep fighting, because if you give up, you won’t forgive yourself for what happens on that mission. We’re Mitchell’s, it’s in our blood. We keep fighting, no matter what,” Aurora affirms.
Penny chuckles before kissing her daughter’s forehead. Maverick smiles, softly.
“I don’t even know what to do.”
“You’ll find a way, you always do,” Aurora smiles before she squeezes her dad’s hand. “Most likely, something illegal, but you’ll find a way.”
“Aurora Benjamin-Mitchell, don’t encourage your father!” Penny exclaims.
“Oh, please! I bet you he’s already thinking about it! It’s not like I told him to bomb the base or steal a plane!”
“Bomb jokes, really? This soon?” Penny gives her a worried look.
“Then you don’t want to hear any of the jokes Tony and I make when we’re on the field. We got head slaps from Gibbs so many times. I can feel one right now, it’s like Gibbs can tell I made a stupid joke,” Aurora winces, putting her hand on the back of her head as if Gibbs had just head slapped her. Penny rolls her eyes, as Maverick chuckles.
Soon a nurse comes by to take Aurora’s vitals, while Penny and Maverick leave so Aurora can have a bit of space. Penny rushes out to give Sarah a phone call, as Maverick calls Gibbs and the team about her being awake.
A few seconds after the call ended, Peyton, Amelia, and Bradley burst through the double swing doors that were used to enter the wing Aurora was staying at. Bradley was clutching a bouquet of flowers Maverick knew was meant for Aurora, as he liked to replace the flowers every day so Aurora would “wake up with a fresh bouquet” according to him.
Today, the flowers he had in his hand were pink carnations and white roses, symbolizing love and appreciation.
“S-she’s awake? The receptionist, they s-said, h-hold on, give me a second to breathe, I haven’t ran in s-so long,” Peyton bends over panting from running.
“Dude, we just ran from the front desk, which was not even that far,” Amelia gave him a deadpan look. Peyton ignores her and just keeps puffing out air.
“She’s awake?” Bradley looked hopeful at Maverick. Maverick smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, but right now she’s getting checked up on by the nurse, so we’ll wait until she’s done with the assessment. Wait, where’s Goose and Carole?”
“Here!” Goose bursts in dramatically through the double swing doors, holding a bag of takeout in his hands and almost hitting a nurse from the force of it, with Carole shaking her head behind him.
“Goose, careful!” Carole scolds him.
“It’s fine honey, if someone gets hurt, it’s all good because we’re already at a hospital!”
Carole sighs before turning to Maverick.
“We heard what happened. They pulled you out of the mission?”
“Wait, what?!” The trio of children exclaim at the news.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to figure it out,” Maverick reassures them.
The nurse soon walks out of Aurora’s room, saying that they were able to all visit her now. Everyone piled in, with Amelia and Peyton leading the group in, and were the first to hug Aurora.
Amelia and Peyton start tearing up, while Aurora holds them tightly.
To occupy himself, Bradley put the flowers he had in his hand in an empty vase that sat next to Aurora’s hospital bed side, as he already took the older flowers and left them at their house.
The dining table was filled with an older bouquet of flowers that Bradley had gotten for Aurora every day. Peyton complained when he started doing it because he kept sneezing from the amount of flowers, but he stopped complaining after day two.
Carole and Goose were the next ones to hug Aurora next, Carole telling her how worried she was, while Goose kept trying to get Carole to stop nagging her. Aurora soon laid eyes on Bradley, and she started tearing up.
Bradley took that as a sign to rush to his best friend’s side and hug her tightly.
“I’m sorry, B. I’m so sorry,” Aurora whispered.
“Shh, it’s okay. You’re safe now,” he shushes her, as he combs his hands through her hair. She sniffles and they separate from the hug.
“You gave us quite a big scare there little star,” Goose sniffles as he and Carole come to Aurora’s side.
“Sorry, Uncle Goose,” Aurora cringes, knowing she had worried her family and friends.
“We’re just glad you’re alright,” Carole assures her, brushing some of Aurora’s hair back in a motherly gesture.
“Your team had to leave, but I gave them a call and they’re all happy that you’re doing okay and awake,” Maverick told her.
“And,” Amelia spoke up. “They told us about the case.”
Aurora looks at her confused. “What case?”
“You know…the case about…your scars,” Peyton hesitantly tells her. Aurora pales at that and almost starts going into a panic attack if Bradley didn’t rush to hold her hand.
“Hey, hey, you’re alright. No one’s going to hurt you now,” he assures her. Aurora hesitantly looks up into Bradley’s eyes, her eyes filled with tears.
“You all know?”
“We all know now.”
Aurora’s lips quiver thinking back to that case, where she barely had escaped with her life if it wasn’t for her team finding her and saving her.
Amelia and Peyton rushed to Aurora’s side, not only to comfort their sister, but to let her know that they were always by her side. Aurora cries and keeps whispering ‘I’m sorry’ to them, to which they kept telling her it wasn’t her fault.
Aurora was awake, and physically okay. The demons of her past haunt her on her darkest days, but with her family by her side, she was going to be okay. Because they were her light in the dark of everything, her flashlight when she’s lost.
—
It was about two days since Aurora woke up and right now, she was sitting alone in her hospital room. She was to be discharged soon, and she was grateful for it.
The doctor told her that she just needed a few days of bed rest, and that she should be okay, after they took a few vitals and scans of her. She had a few visitors after she woke up, one of them being Lucille.
“I can’t believe you almost got blown to pieces!” Lucille first said when she stepped into Aurora’s room before launching into a hug.
“Luci, I can’t breathe. Too tight,” was all Aurora could breath out when Lucille latched onto her.
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry,” Lucille lets her go before sitting next to her.
“Besides, it’s not like I could have stood there and done nothing. I had to save the hostages,” Aurora adds.
“And yet, you almost got blown up in the process. I know your job is dangerous, and you probably had gone through worse, but I really thought I lost you RoRo,” Lucille leans on Aurora’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry I scared you, Luci. I promise, you’re not losing me anytime soon.”
“Good, because you owe me donuts for what you put me through.”
Aurora chuckles, before also leaning on Lucille. “Deal.”
And when she didn’t have any visitors, she was able to video call Gibbs and the team.
“We’re so glad you’re doing alright!” Abby exclaims as she smiles at Aurora.
The team had video called her from the NCIS HQ bullpen, and Aurora stares wistfully at the background, missing her old office space.
“Did you hear about the award ceremony that’s going to be happening in a few months?” McGee asks Aurora. Aurora looks at him confused.
“Award ceremony?”
“Director Vance is awarding you the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award for your service at NCIS as well as the actions during the bombing case.”
Aurora stares at them. “What?”
“You saved a lot of Navy dependents, plus your work at NCIS. Director wanted to-”
“But I couldn’t save Adam Lewis,” Aurora interrupts. She couldn’t save him, she didn’t believe she should earn an award.
“Artemis, there’s nothing you could have done. He entered that coffee shop knowing his end game was to kill himself,” Ziva assures her.
“I still could have done something.” Aurora whispers, as a tear falls down her cheek.
“Rule #11.” Gibbs reminds her.
“Gibbs,” Aurora pleads.
“Artemis.”
Aurora bites the inside of her cheek before answering him, “‘When the job is done, walk away.’”
“We’re all glad you’re doing alright kiddo, but you need to walk away from the case. It’s done, it’s closed. You need to focus on yourself now.”
Aurora sighs, before nodding about what he said. Abby and Ziva soon start gossiping about what she had missed, with McGee and Tony joining in as Gibbs leaves them to chat.
She had another visitor that she was expecting, which was Jake Seresin.
“I was so worried. You scared us all half to death,” Jake ruffled her hair, and sat down next to her. Aurora had full mobility of everything, so she sat upright in her hospital bed.
“It wasn’t like that was my intention. I had to do my job.”
“Well, your job sucks.”
“My job also happened to save your life, remember?”
“Like you’ll ever let me forget.”
A lull hits in their conversation before Aurora speaks up.
“Have you talked to Peyton?”
Jake shakes his head. “Not really. I think he’s a bit mad at me for knowing about what happened to you and your PTSD before even he did.”
“He’ll get over it. I’m talking about you and him.
“There is no us, Rory. he’s made that very clear.”
“No, what he’s made clear is that he doesn’t want to go through heartbreak again if you’re just going to leave him how you always leave your wingman, hanging,” Aurora insists.
“Ro-”
“Jake, I nearly died. Life is too precious to waste, if you love him, what’s holding you back?”
“I-I don’t want to hurt him.”
“You’re hurting him now by not saying anything. What happens when you both go on the mission? What happens if you don't come back? You really want the last words you ever said to him to be something in passing?”
Jake looked at Aurora. This mission was already something he was nervous for, and now that Maverick was taken off as instructor, the parameters of the mission, although possible, probably would not work if they didn’t stick to the ones Maverick had set for them. They needed Maverick, whether the Admirals liked it or not.
“Just tell him, Jake. It would do you both a lot of good. And maybe he’d stop complaining so much about you,” Aurora snickers.
“We’ll see Ro,” was all Jake could promise her. “Maybe I’ll talk to him after the mission, or maybe even when they tell us who’s flying the mission. I guess we’ll just have to see.”
“When do they decide who’s flying the mission?”
“In 2 days, the day before we leave.”
It was already the next day, which means they will be deciding who flies the mission tomorrow, making Aurora feel even antsier.
From what Maverick had told her, he was going to try and win back his place at Top Gun today, but what was the plan? She had no idea.
Soon she heard running in the hallway and they stopped at her doorway, it was Peyton and Amelia.
“Dad stole an F-18!” Peyton exclaims as he catches his breath.
“HE DID WHAT?!”
“You should have seen him, Ro! He flew through the course like it was a breeze! It was so awesome!”
“Wait, can you go back to the part where he stole an F-18?!”
“Well, not stole, per-se. More like borrowed to prove to the admirals that they couldn’t just kick him off the mission.”
“And?”
“And now he's the team leader!” Amelia exclaims as she sat next to Aurora in the hospital bed.
Aurora’s jaw dropped.”What?!”
Peyton smirks. “My reaction too.”
“I was joking about him stealing an aircraft, but I didn’t know he’d actually do it,” Aurora shook her head, chuckling. Then she realizes her parents were nowhere to be seen.
“So wait, where’s dad now?”
“With mom. They wanted some ‘alone’ time together, as if we don’t know what that means,” Amelia tells her, making air quotes on the words alone.
Peyton and Aurora grimace at the thought of what Amelia was insinuating. But soon Aurora smiles.
“Mom and dad are together…again.”
“We all knew it was going to happen eventually,” Amelia smirks.
“Yeah, but now, it’s real. Like something about right now feels like it’s going to be “it” this time, you know?”
Peyton nods. “Yeah, I’m glad they finally came to their senses.”
“Which means, since dad or mom isn’t here, we are in charge of getting you home.”
Aurora pales. “Uh, I don’t know if I like that.”
“Oh c’mon, we’ll get some tacos on the way home and Amelia can sleepover!” Peyton assures her.
“Okay, that does sound good.”
“And, we can even let Amelia drive!”
“Yeah!” “No!”
Amelia looked sad as her sister shot down the idea.
“But, I need practice,” Amelia whines.
“Ami, when you get your permit, and when I’m not coming from the hospital, you can drive. But for now, we’re going to have to suffer through Pey’s driving.”
“What’s wrong with my driving?!”
“Let’s just say, I’m so glad you didn’t become a pilot with your driving skills, you would be a danger in the skies.”
Peyton scoffs before looking to Amelia for support, but she nods along at Aurora’s statement.
He rolls his eyes before he goes to sign the papers releasing Aurora while Amelia helped her sister get her things together as there were quite a few things people had sent and brought Aurora while she was in the hospital.
Aurora pauses packing staring at today’s bouquet of flowers, provided by Bradley of course. Today they were pink and red roses. She smiled as she touched the delicate petals.
Pink and red, colors that symbolized both Aurora and Bradley, Aurora being pink, and Bradley being red, which also suited him since they were also his helmet colors. She also knew it symbolized love and affection.
“Bradley got so many bouquets of flowers, they’re all waiting for you at home. He didn’t throw any out and he would bring a fresh one every day he came to visit. All meticulously picked out by him,” Amelia interrupts her thoughts as Aurora looks over to her sister who was smiling at her.
“He was really worried about you, Rory.” Amelia continues. “I mean, we all were, but Bradley was distraught. Your boss had to give him a talking to. I don’t think I ever saw Bradley that terrified and scared, even when Auntie Carole got cancer. He truly loves you.”
“I know,” Aurora gives her a small smile before turning back to the bouquet of flowers.
“So, what’s holding you back now? I mean, you should tell him. I overheard what you and Jake were talking about. It seems like it’s time for you to take your own advice. Before it’s too late.”
Aurora stares out the window. “You’re right, Ames.”
Her being in a coma definitely changed everything for her. It made her think about what she could have lost if something did happen to her. She didn’t want to live her life full of regrets anymore. She was ready to leave her past behind.
She was ready to move on and tell Bradley everything.
- - -
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—
Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!
I’ve started a new job a few weeks ago, and same goes for my editor/beta reader. We’ve been really occupied plus it doesn’t help that my motivation for writing hit a low, but don’t worry because I will have a chapter out when I can!
I apologize for the slow updates, but…life is just lifeing right now 🤪💜
Sending lots of love and hugs for anyone who needs it! I’ll be back with a new chapter soon! 💖
Title and chapter loosely inspired the song “Hold On” by Chord Overstreet.
Summary: The night doesn’t go as anyone had planned, and truths are revealed as Aurora fights for her life.
Warnings: Mentions of bombing, torture (past case) and medical talk. Lots of angst in this one.
Word Count: 4.8k
A/N: I’m sorry for not updating in a while! I hope this chapter makes up for it! We’re a few chapters away from the story ending, and I’m not ready to let it go just yet 😭 I have some works in progress though! 🫣 Thank you always to my beta reader and editor @reginleight
Also, I'm 10 followers away from 100?? That's so crazy to me! 🥺
So enjoy this chapter for now, and thank you everyone for your support if you’re still here reading this! 💜
As always, likes are great and all, but comments, reblogs, and feedback are highly appreciated and loved! 🤭
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Bradley hated the hospital.
It brought up too many bad memories. His car crash when he was in high school, visiting his mom when she had cancer, the many times he’s been in a flight accident, and seeing his godfather almost not make it from throat cancer. The hospital was not a good place for him, especially now.
“Where is my daughter?!” Maverick rushes up to the front desk of the hospital. He, Peyton, and Bradley drove in one car together as soon as they heard the news.
“Sir, calm down,” the receptionist said in a calm manner.
“I will not calm down! Where is she?!”
“Mav,” a voice spoke from the waiting room.
Peyton, Bradley, and Maverick turned to see Penny standing there, while Amelia was sitting in a chair, Carole and Goose sitting next to her. Maverick went straight to Penny as she latched onto him for a hug.
Peyton went to Amelia who was bawling her eyes out. She had CJ in her arms, since CJ was a certified therapy dog he was allowed to stay with them.
Bradley walked to his parents, who stood up and hugged their son. He was still shaking from the news.
“What’s the update, Pen?” Maverick sniffles, pulling back from the embrace.
“We don’t have anything yet, just that she’s in surgery.”
“Surgery?! What happened? What-” Peyton asks from his spot next to Amelia.
“Y-you didn’t see the n-news?” Amelia hiccups from her tears.
“What news?” Bradley turns to ask her. Amelia points at the TV and the pilots soon gaped at it.
The news headlines read “Suicide Bomber. One Dead; Few Injured. Bombing Closes NCIS Case.”
“R-rory was t-there when it happened,” Amelia whispers.
“She was out on the field?! I thought she was on desk duty!” Maverick exclaims.
“We brought her in for a case,” a firm voice spoke up, everyone in the room turning to see a group of people.
An older man with graying hair who had a stoic look on his face. Standing next to him was a man the same height as the older gentlemen with dark brown hair and a third man who was shorter and had lighter brown hair.
Trailing behind them were two women, one with darker hair tied back into a ponytail and the other dressed in a goth-like style, but looked like she was the one crying the most besides Amelia.
Bradley recognized them as Aurora’s old team in Washington.
“Agent Gibbs,” Maverick approaches them.
“Captain,” Gibbs responds as Maverick and Penny walk closer to the team.
“Artemis went back into the field today for a case,” Gibbs tells them.
“Your daughter–” Tony starts, but his voice cracks.
“Saved a lot of people’s lives today, ma’am,” Ziva finished for him.
Penny gasps, while Maverick’s eyes fill with tears.
“She was the hostage negotiator. Once Artemis got the hostages released, she tried to get him to back down and prevent him from blowing the place up,” McGee explains. “But by the time we found out it was a suicide, it was too late. Luckily, Aurora ran out before the bomb detonated, but she didn’t make it to the barriers. She got hit by some shrapnel and lost a lot of blood.”
“We don’t know how bad it is yet. They’re still in surgery,” Gibbs informs.
The family pales at the information they had gotten.
Gibbs continues. “She offered to be the hostage negotiator. And with previous experience, I knew not to argue with her, especially since she was the best person to get all of those hostages out. Your daughter saved lots of lives today, you should be proud of her.”
Penny sniffles as she hugs Maverick, scared about Aurora’s condition. Bradley stood stunned at what he had just heard.
He knew Aurora was a good NCIS agent, but hearing the actions she pulled today…what else had she done without them knowing, all the sacrifices she had made, why didn’t she tell them?
Gibbs’ phone rings, breaking the conversation with Aurora’s parents.
“This is the director of NCIS,” he explains to them. They nod as he turns to walk into a secluded spot to talk on the phone. The rest of the team introduce themselves to everyone in the waiting room, besides Maverick, as he had already met them.
Later, Maverick had gotten on a phone call with Iceman to let him know the situation at hand. Bradley, Peyton, McGee, and Tony talk to each other in order to pass the time. Carole, Goose, and Penny are in a separate corner, Carole reassuring Penny that Aurora would be okay.
Amelia had her head buried in CJ’s fur, not wanting to talk to anyone, especially since Aurora’s team had walked in. She kept her head down until she was approached by the two women on the team. She lifted her head up to get a good look at them.
“Hi Amelia, my name is–”
“Ziva David, right? And you’re Abby Scuito,” Amelia sniffles through her tears.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Abby sits next to her, as Ziva crouches in front of her.
“Rory talks about you two a lot,” Amelia replies as she continues to pet CJ.
“She talks about you too, Amelia,” Abby croaks out before giving Amelia a small smile. “Aurora always said that you were the best little sister and skater that she knew.”
Amelia continues to pet CJ in silence, scared that she would burst into tears again.
“Did you know, CJ was a gift the team got for her?” Ziva asks Amelia, hopefully drawing her out of her thoughts.
Amelia looks up into Ziva’s eyes with wonder. “Really?”
“Yeah, and did you know Abby was the one to train him before we gave him to Aurora?”
“I train a few emotional support dogs before they get their forever home. I train a few seeing eye puppies too. When I started training CJ, I knew right away that he would be a great fit for Aurora,” Abby explained to her.
“Did she ever tell you why she named him CJ?” Amelia tearfully chuckled, as she wiped her tears with her sweater sleeve.
They both shook their heads before Amelia whispered to both of them. After hearing this, they all started chuckling, turning the heads of the people in the waiting room.
“I still can’t believe this is happening,” Bradley turns to look at the doors leading to the surgery room, hoping that there would be an update soon. He was patient with a lot of things, but this was the one time he couldn’t wait.
Not when it came to her.
“Rory is strong. She’ll be okay,” McGee reassures Peyton.
“I’m her older brother. I should have done something. I should have been protecting her. I could hav–.”
“There’s nothing you could have done, Peyton,” Tony stops his ramblings. “Artemis already had made up her mind and nothing could have stopped her.”
“How did she get that nickname?” Bradley interrupts Tony, wanting to get his mind off of the situation. “Artemis? I mean Peyton got Apollo because he set a tool box on fire during a training exercise we were doing.”
“Dude, it was an accidental fire, I don’t even know how it started,” Peyton defends himself.
“There was a case,” Tony ignores Peyton’s defense. “One of her first cases as a little probie. We were trying to figure out the killer’s weapon of choice, which led to us believing it was an old throwing knife. Then Aurora kept going on about Greek mythology throwing knife uses, and how they were actually useful at the time. She wouldn’t stop rambling until she got her first Gibbs’ head slap.”
“Head slap?” Peyton looks at Tony confused.
“Yeah, you know? Like this,” then Tony proceeds to demonstrate the head slap on McGee, to which McGee retaliates and slaps him on the head back.
“Gibbs always says, ‘A slap to the face is humiliating. A slap to the back of the head is a wakeup call,” McGee explains.
“Does he do that all the time?” Bradley asks.
“It comes from a place of love,” Tony assures him.
“Also Artemis liked to play with and throw the knife she keeps on her a lot. And one time, Tony kept irritating her and she got tired of his ramblings and threw a knife at him,” McGee adds.
“Luckily, it didn’t hit me.”
“Sadly,” Ziva calls out from her seat, hearing the men talk.
Tony rolls his eyes.
“Let’s just say, Tony has been on the receiving end of the knife many times,” McGee chuckles.
This gets a chuckle out of Peyton and Bradley too at the story. Hearing some of the shenanigans Aurora got up to with her team made them feel a bit better, but the waiting went on, sinking them both back into worry.
—
A few hours had passed, Amelia was taking a nap in the chair, CJ sleeping on her lap. Ziva and Tony had gone to get food and drinks for everyone. Abby was sitting next to McGee, both had fallen asleep on each other.
Gibbs was outside taking more phone calls, as he was in and out getting calls from Director Vance and Ducky, who were worried about Aurora and making sure the case was closed.
Bradley and Peyton had passed out as well on the uncomfortable waiting room chairs, as they were exhausted from the emotional events that had occurred the past few hours.
Penny and Carole were still talking, as Maverick and Goose had gone out to take a breath of fresh air, when a doctor soon walked in, file in hand.
“Are you all here for Agent Aurora Benjamin-Mitchell?”
Penny stood up fast, everyone else snapping out from their conversations or sleep.
“I’m her mother,” she tells the doctor.
“The surgery went well, and we were able to take out the shrapnel.”
Penny puts a hand over to her mouth as she gasps at the good news. Maverick, Goose, and Gibbs walk back just in time to hear this.
“Is she awake? What is it?” Maverick panics.
“You're the father, I presume?” The doctor asks, to which Maverick nods as he takes his place beside Penny, while Goose stands next to his son.
“Although the surgery went well, she needs rest. We had to medically induce her into a coma. We can’t predict what her recovery will look like until she comes out of it. These next few hours will be vital. We’ll continue to monitor her and run a few more tests.”
Everyone stays quiet as he tells them they can visit her, but it would have to be two people at a time, so as to not overcrowd the ICU and her room.
They all agree that Maverick and Penny should be the first to see her and as the two leave being escorted by a nurse, the doctor fills the rest of them in on the update.
“Right now is a critical time since we’ll be monitoring her and hoping she comes out of her coma soon. Some of her wounds did reopen old scars. Since some of those older scars were deeper, it was a bit harder to find some of the shrapnel, but we got them all out, we just need to wait for her to wake up to assess her situation.”
“Wait, hold on,” Bradley interrupts the doctor. “What do you mean by old scars?”
The doctor hesitates before reopening the file in his hands.
“She has old scars from an incident from one, almost two years ago. There were multiple scars on her arms, back, and collarbone area, missing the vital organs, but enough to cause maximum pain. She had bruises and electric burns on crucial parts of her body. PTSD and panic attacks were also in her medical file, but she was getting treatment for it.”
Bradley, Peyton, and Amelia pale at hearing that.
“W-what incident?” Amelia speaks up.
The doctor opens his mouth to speak, but Gibbs interrupts him.
“I’ve got this, doctor.”
The doctor nods.
“Once the mother and father come back, another pair can go on until at least everyone has seen her. You all should go home and get some rest afterwards.”
The doctor soon leaves them to check on Aurora once again.
Gibbs turns to the awaiting eyes of Aurora's sibling and best friend.
“Aurora didn’t want to tell you all yet–”
“Tell us what?” Peyton impatiently interrupts. McGee and Abby stood next to Gibbs, prepared to help him out in telling the story. Carole goes to Peyton trying to calm him down, and sits him next to Amelia while Goose takes the seat by Bradley, knowing how his son would react.
“About a year ago, we had a case. We were close to catching the suspect but before we could, he decided to get ahead and give himself insurance. He kidnapped Aurora.”
Bradley couldn't breathe. Amelia gasps, as Peyton starts to tear up.
McGee speaks up from his spot. “We…we tried our best to find him quickly. But–”
“How bad?” Bradley croaks, his throat sore from the events of the day.
McGee became uncomfortable telling them, so he looked to Gibbs.
“He inflicted the fullest amount of pain that he could to her in the time she was there. Targeting areas that would bleed her out but not kill her, electrocuting her with a cattle prod to the point where she has electric burn scars,” Gibbs tells them.
Amelia immediately sobs while Peyton grips Amelia into a tight hug, tears running down his face, crying for their sister’s pain. Carole holds Amelia’s hand, her heart breaking for all of them. Goose had his hands on his son’s shoulder, who was still frozen from what he had heard.
“It took us 17 hours to find her. By the time we found her, she was covered in her own blood and fainted as soon as we got her to safety. She woke up a few days later, but stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks.”
The room stays silent, apart from the cries of Amelia and Peyton.
“Is the bastard dead?”
Gibbs turned to see Bradley who was trying his hardest not to break down. He was not only upset, he was furious. Furious that he couldn’t protect her, mad at himself for not checking up on her sooner.
Gibbs nods. He and Ziva were the first ones to find her, and each took multiple shots at the man.
“I know it’s a lot to take in right now.”
“Why didn’t she tell us?” Amelia whimpers.
“She didn’t want to say anything because she was worried about what you would say.”
Peyton sighs. “She’s the one that got hurt and she worried about us.”
“Is that the reason she came back here?” Amelia asks Gibbs.
“She came back because she wanted to come home. Her panic attacks got a lot worse being in the field. She was going to therapy, but we all knew that her being home would make her feel better, surrounded by her family.”
Amelia nods before starting to cry again.
Bradley started becoming claustrophobic. He stood and rushed out of the room. It was too much for him.
—
This can’t be happening. Less than 24 hours ago, he was holding her in his arms, now he may never be able to hold her again. She had suffered so much, and yet didn’t say anything. He should have known. He had so many things to still say to her, things he wanted to experience with her. But now he may never get the chance.
Finding a bench outside, Bradley sat down and buried his face into his hands. Tears started to run down his face as the emotions of the day began to hit him hard.
Not long after he had sat down, the bench creaks from another weight sitting next to him. Bradley wipes his tears and takes his hands away from his face to see who had followed him out.
“Aurora talked about you a lot,” Gibbs breaks the silence. Bradley remained quiet, listening to what he had to say.
“She kept your bracelet in her desk, she was so scared to lose it out in the field. The first picture she put up when the team found out about her family was a photo of you and her brother. She kept all the postcards you sent her, and would always ask me what were good things to send for your care package,” Gibbs chuckles.
“I knew she was a good agent, but I never knew all the dangers she had to face until now. I mean, she was suffering through so much and I just…I mean, I should have known,” Bradley whispers.
“You couldn’t have known.”
“I DID!” Bradley cried out. “I ignored all the signs because she told me she would come to me when she was ready. But this?! We promised we wouldn’t keep secrets from each other. This is why! How many times have I almost lost her?! How many times has she cried and I wasn’t there to protect her, to be there for her?! I-I can’t lose her, Gibbs.”
“You’re not going to lose her.”
“How do you know that?! You may not have known Aurora for long, but I’ve known her most of my life! How do you know that she’ll be fine?!”
“Because she’s Aurora,” Gibbs states. “If there was one thing that Aurora stood by, it’s that we protect those we love. She kept this from you because she loves you and her family. She works and fights every day, just like you do to protect our country. She has the Benjamin-Mitchell blood in her. She’s a fighter,” he assures, placing a hand on Bradley’s shoulder.
Bradley sniffles and chuckles.
“She and Peyton say that all the time. The whole ‘Benjamin-Mitchell blood’ thing.”
Gibbs chuckles and retracts his hand. “She would whisper it to herself every time a case got rough. Guess I’ve heard it from her way too often.”
Bradley sighs before looking up at the sky.
“I can’t lose her, Gibbs. She’s my everything. I think about her every hour, every minute and every second I breathe. She makes me the best version of myself. She is the star I look up at in the night sky every time and know she’s always there.. Aurora is my home.”
Gibbs stills at hearing that phrase. Every hour, every minute, every second I breathe.
Aurora would always whisper that when she held a photo of Bradley and Peyton in her hands, doing the same when she held her bracelet in her hands as well. She told Gibbs it was a phrase that brought her comfort when things got low.
That no matter where her best friend and brother were in the world, she would always be thinking of them. It was a bond that no one could break.
“Aurora went through so much, but every time she came out even stronger. This time is no exception. She’ll be surrounded by family and people who love and care about her,” Gibbs comforts him.
The two sit in silence together for a moment before Bradley turns to the man next to him.
“She always talked highly of you. Said you were the reason she is the agent she is today.”
Gibbs shook his head. “She became a great agent all on her own. We work hard because you work hard. Each and every one of you who serve. Aurora became an agent to help protect those who serve when they come home. NCIS gave her that opportunity. You should be very proud of her.”
Bradley smiles at this. He was proud of her, even if he didn’t tell her often, he was proud of who she had grown to be. Even after all she’d gone through, she survived and she was still alive. That’s all Bradley could be thankful for.
—
Peyton went to take a walk inside the hospital with Goose, while Ziva and Tony arrived back to drop off the stuff they had bought. McGee and Abby had filled Ziva and Tony in on what had happened while they were gone.
Ziva goes to sit next to Amelia, who had just calmed down from crying, but still clinging onto CJ like a lifeline.
“Were you there? When Aurora was rescued?” Amelia asked her as soon as she sat down next to her.
“I was.”
Amelia nodded at this and stayed silent.
“Your sister…,” Ziva started with a slight pause before continuing. “She fought her way through so much. She fought to come back home for you and your family. She told me that the reason she came back was that she was finally ready to let go of what had happened and come back to spend a life at home with her family.”
“I just…I wish I had known. All the sacrifices she made and all she had gone through. I used to be so mad when I never heard from her. When she came back, I was so happy to have my sister back. But, hearing that…I can’t believe I was ever mad at her.”
“It’s okay to feel all of those things, Amelia.” Ziva states, comforting her. “She always regretted not talking to you when she could. But this job takes a lot out of us. We’ve lost so much and sometimes when we go in a dark place, some don’t come back out. She didn’t want you to see her like that.”
Ziva lifts a necklace from under her shirt and shows Amelia. It was a necklace with a gold Star of David pendant.
“This was my little sister’s. Her name…was Tali.”
“That’s a beautiful name.”
“It is…Tali was my little sister and, where I come from, there’s so much hate and violence. When Tali was 16, she was killed in a Hamas suicide bombing.”
Amelia looks into Ziva’s eyes, seeing the hurt.
“It tore our family apart, and we were never the same since. I was a Mossad officer, and came here to be a liaison officer between Mossad and NCIS. But long story short, I left Mossad and became an official NCIS agent. And then, your sister came into our lives.”
Ziva smiles remembering the first time she met Aurora.
“She was so nervous at first, but soon, she became part of our team, our little family. She is stubborn, but she’s loyal and she cares so much about everyone. She became a little sister to me. And I wouldn’t change anything. Because it has led me to where I belong.”
Amelia smiles. “She is stubborn. She gets it from mom and Mav.”
They both chuckle before Ziva smiles at her. “She will be alright. I know she will be okay.”
Amelia sighs and continues to pet CJ. “Thank you, Ziva, for telling me your story, For everything. At least I knew she had someone even when we couldn’t be there for her.”
Ziva ruffles her head, lovingly, just like how she would do it to Aurora. Abby comes up to give Amelia some snacks and water, and sits besides them. The three girls make small talk together as they wait their turn to see Aurora.
—
“Uncle Goose, I’m fine, just please leave me alone.”
Peyton and Goose were standing in a secluded hallway.
“Kid, you just heard about what happened to your sister. I am not leaving you.”
“I’m fine!”
“Pey-”
“I mean, as fine as a brother could be from hearing that his twin sister was tortured and hospitalized before! Not to mention that she might not even make it tonig–”
“Now you stop that. Your sister is going to be fine.”
“Is she, Goose?! I mean you heard the doctor! She might not even wake up, and what’s to say her state of mind after!”
Goose lets him rant while Peyton paces.
“I mean, why didn’t she say anything?! You all knew, but she couldn’t even tell us! She could have died! She could have died and would we even have known?! Why her, Goose?! Why didn’t she say anything?! Sh…I…” Peyton puts his back against the wall and slides down it. He puts his arms around his knees and sobs.
Goose goes to sit next to him, letting him cry his emotions out.
A few minutes later, his crying subsidies, and all that was left were sniffles.
“You know, you’re taking this a lot better than your old man.”
Peyton laughs tearfully as he wipes his face with his hands.
“That bad, huh?”
“I mean, you know your dad. He may be strong and reckless, but when it comes to you and your sisters, even Amelia, you are his whole world. He blames himself for what happened.”
Peyton scoffs. “It’s not like he could have seen the future, he couldn’t have known.”
“Exactly Peyton, which is why you need to also not blame yourself. Your dad, as protective as he may be, understands why Aurora did what she did. Working for NCIS and not saying anything. Because she wanted to protect you. You and your dad have spent your whole lives worrying about her. She didn’t want you to worry about this.”
Peyton took in the words Goose had said to him. He just didn’t want his sister to hurt anymore, he wished he had told her, but he understood why. He was proud of her, that even with all that she went through, she can still smile and laugh today. And hopefully after all of this, she wouldn’t get hurt anymore.
“You doing alright in there kiddo?” Goose knocks on Peyton’s head as if he was knocking on a door after a few minutes of silence had passed. Peyton laughs.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. She’ll be okay,” Peyton affirms not only to the universe, but to himself.
—
After Penny and Maverick came back from seeing Aurora, everyone went in pairs, Peyton and Amelia, then Goose and Carole. They were shortly followed up by Aurora's team in pairs of their own, Ziva aside, stating she didn't want anyone to see her cry and therefore went in alone.
After Ziva, Iceman and Sarah dropped by to see her. The only one who had yet to see her still, was Bradley.
“Take your time, B,” Peyton tells Bradley when it eventually came to his turn visiting her.
The sight alone of seeing Aurora laying in that bed, all wrapped up in bandages was nearly enough to break Bradley down right then.
It was a reminder to him that he couldn’t protect her, and that this time, he failed to be her knight in shining armor.
Taking the seat beside her, he watched the rise and fall of Aurora’s chest. Whether or not it was by the machine’s support, at least he knew she was breathing.
“Hey, princess.”
He knew he wasn’t going to get a response, but talking to her always made him feel better.
“The doctors don’t know if you’re able to hear what we say to you, but I don’t care if you hear me or not.”
Bradley hesitates before continuing to speak.
“Your team is pretty cool. Gibbs is really intimidating, like you’ve told me before, but seeing him in person, I see what you mean,” he chuckles.
“They told me about…about what happened, your scars, the panic attacks. Princess, I don’t know why you had to hide it all from us. I wish you told us, but I get you weren’t ready to say anything yet. Just know that when you wake up, I will spend every day making sure you’re alright, and the days that you aren’t, I want to be there for you. I will make up for all the time we lost.”
Bradley reaches for her hand and clutches it in both of his. “Gibbs said that the director of NCIS will be awarding you an award. But I know you don’t care about a stupid award. You did it to save those people. We’re so proud of you, princess. I’m so proud of you.”
The beeping of the machine fills with silence.
“So you keep on fighting, princess. Because, I don’t know how to do anything without you. Because I think of you every hour, every minute, and every second I breathe. Because, I love you Aurora, and I want us to finally have a life together, to finally be together. And I hate that time never gave us that chance, but if you just hold on a little longer, I promise I will spend every day fighting for you, for us.”
Bradley kisses her hand as the tears run down his face. It soon was quiet, except for the beeping of the machine. All Bradley could do was watch her lay there, and that is all that mattered to him in that moment.
Because that was the sound of her still breathing; alive and fighting.
- - -
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Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!
#25 for a himbo Rooster pls (not a surprise…I bet you’re tired of writing for Rooster…but I couldn’t resist 🙈) 💖
𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕚 𝕘𝕠 𝕚 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 | B.B
pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x reader (not use of y/n)
prompt: being reminded of them by random things around them
warnings: mentions of Goose
A/N: Best boy for my best baby <3 hope you like this one
Rooster didn't travel light for someone who had spent his entire life traveling, never settling down and always moving on to the next port as soon as a new mission became available.
He had several items with him. Some were just aviator stuff: his glasses, his uniforms, patches from past units he had been at in the past... The usual.
Some of them, on the other hand, were quite personal and random. You swear you see bits and pieces of him everywhere you go.
Ugly Hawaiian shirts at the store near the beach.
A small foldable moustache comb you end up buying as a joke, but something tells you it is going to be in his pocket everywhere he goes.
You pay for a rooster plush as soon as you lay eyes on him. Your imagination begins to devise a scheme to grab one of Bradley's old t-shirts and dress the plushie in it. You know, to keep you company during those long weeks he's away.
An old Polaroid camera, like the one his father had. The one he lost so long ago…
He only told you about the camera once, but the excitement in his eyes as he showed you the massive Polaroid collection Goose amassed during his short time as an aviator was enough to make an imprint in your mind.
You weren’t actively searching for the camera, but every time you saw a photography shop or an antique store, you had to look out for it.
Today, luckily, you found it in the only place you weren’t expecting to: a garage sale.
"What's this, honey?" He asks, dropping his phone on the sofa and giving you his full and undivided attention.
"I went to a garage sale."
He places a hand on his chest, opens his mouth, and gasps. "Without me?"
"Yeah, but that wasn't my intention!" I was driving by and had a sense. I needed to get out of the car and look around." You nudge the package closer to him, expecting him to open it.
"At least you brought me something."
"You know you’re like a kid sometimes."
"Charming, I know." He smiles while opening the box, his heart stopping for a bit once he holds the camera in his hands. "H-how... I only told you once."
You smile, taking a place on the sofa with him and watching his face light up like a kid on Christmas morning. "I made it my personal mission to find you one."
"I love you so much," he whispers while his lips brush against yours before pulling you for a kiss.
#7 with my boy Bob if you would be so kind my dear 💜🥹
𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕜𝕚𝕤𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 | Bob Floyd
Previously callsignmeiga
Prompt: kiss on the cheek in passing + Bob Floyd
Pairing: Bob Floy x female reader (implied that she works at Top Gun, but job is not specified)
Warnings: smug, flirty,(bit of) cheeky Bob
A/N: Beaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan thanks a lot for requesting 🥺💜I missed writing for this big goofball. Hope you like it!
My tag list is completely lost- so if anyone wants to be added, let me know!
It wasn’t a secret that Bob Floyd loved to kiss his partner. Truth be told, if it were for him, his lips would be glued all day to any available part of his girl’s body.
But, with both of them working on the same base, it was a bit complicated. Following the rules and all that, you know. PDA doesn’t bother him at all; however, he is not allowed to be as outwardly loving as Lieutenant Floyd desires.
So he has to keep it low.
But he’s gonna get his kisses anyway.
"Good morning, Lieutenant Floyd," you greet each other as you cross paths in the corridor. He is walking toward you with a big smile on his face. "You look quite happy."
"Wouldn’t you be happy to see such a cutie as yourself?" He whispers once he has come close to you, not even stopping to have a proper conversation. Bob simply presses his lips to your cheek and walks away, beaming.
You’re left in the corridor, feeling your whole face burn and checking your surroundings to see if any unwanted eyes might have seen the exchange.
During the whole day, Bob had been finding excuses to cross paths with you and kiss your cheek in passing, just to see you all flustered. Something about the way you gaze at him after each kiss, big eyes and a reprimand on the tip of your tongue, brightens his day.
However, once the day is over and both of you head to the parking lot, he hears your loud footsteps closing in on him.
With a sneer on his face, he slowly turns around and pushes his glasses up his nose while sitting on the hood of his car. "Hey, honey."
"Shut the fuck up," you mutter between harsh teeth, seizing him by the lapels of his shirt and yanking him down.
Once you feel satisfied and Bob has become a giggly mess, you let him go, straightening the lapels with your hands and walking away.
"You can’t leave me like this, angel," he whines, almost ready to trail you down and beg for more kisses.
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! 🤭
Previous | Next | Masterlist
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.
“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.
“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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I have finally decided to come back. Yes, it's official! I have to finish some stuff before posting again but yeaaaaah ya girl is baaaaaack.
There's gonna be major changes tho. First of all, I'm gonna delete Silent Lies. The story is good and I like the idea, but it brought me stupid comments from not very nice people and it has a bittersweet memory to it. So yeah, out with it.
I will, finally, finish Tasting the Ashes. Better late than never right?
And for the rest, I'll just post whenever I feel like it. Yep. No pressure, just writing bc I want to. That's how it always should have been, but maybe I got greedy in the way and forgot about writing for writing's sake, and became more of a... Way to get the "public's approval". And to be honest, I don't care about that anymore. You want to read it? Read it. You don't? Don't. But leave a nasty comment and not only will I delete it but also block you.
That's it. That's all I have to say.
Have a good day everyone, and expect new stuff from me soon!
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! 🤭
Previous | Next | Masterlist
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.
“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.
“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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—
Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!
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! 🤭
Previous | Next | Masterlist
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.
“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.
“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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Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!
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! 🤭
Previous | Next | Masterlist
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.
“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.
“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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—
Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!
Title and chapter loosely inspired by the song “Waves” by Dean Lewis.
Summary: Just when things are going well, everything changes.
Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 2k
A/N: A shorter chapter for good reason. Oh and…I’m sorry about this one (but not really because I’ve been sitting on this since I started writing this story) 😬 Thanks to my editor and beta reader @reginleight 💖
As always, likes are great and all, but comments, reblogs, and feedback are highly appreciated and loved! 🤭
Previous | Next | Masterlist
“Today was a good day,” Aurora smiled, as she sunk into the couch.
“For once, I actually had fun. Even if it was with Hangman.” Bradley chuckled next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders to bring her into a cuddle.
The two were sitting on the couch outside on the backyard porch after eating a late dinner with Peyton and Lucille. Peyton had gone to sleep while Lucille had gone to shower, leaving them to catch up with each other.
“Speaking of Hangman, I saw you two talking,” Bradley brought up.
“He wanted to apologize for, you know, the whole situation that had gone down.”
“Yeah, he apologized to me too before the game.”
“I’m glad he did,” she replies.
“So Mav and Mama Pen. Again.” Bradley brings up.
“I can’t believe dad tried to sneak out through the window like a teenager. It was honestly so funny to see. Peyton’s going to lose his mind tomorrow when he’s sober and realizes what happened.”
“Speaking of, I believe I am owed $20,” Bradley smirks.
Aurora groans. “I’ll give it to you later. If only they could have gotten together a few more weeks later.”
“I’m surprised they even got together again as fast as they did.”
“It’s always like that whenever they see each other again,” Aurora shrugs. “I just hope this time, it works out. They’re soulmates, just waiting for the right timing.”
Bradley hums at that. He always believed that’s what he and Aurora were as well, soulmates that couldn’t be together until the timing was right.
They hit a lull in their conversation before Aurora spoke up again.
“I’m worried, Bradley.”
Bradley turned to her in concern. “About what?”
“This mission. It sounds dangerous, and I’m worried about you.”
“You think I can’t do it?”
“It’s not that, I know you can do it,” she reassures him. “Your profile shows that you have the capabilities for this mission.”
“You looked at my profile?”
“Not important,” she cuts him off. He chuckles before letting her continue.
“I’m worried that your emotions will cloud your judgment. I’m scared you won’t come back home. I just can’t, I can’t lose you B, I can’t I–”
“Woah, woah, deep breath princess, c’mon breathe,” Bradley tries to calm her down before she gets too worked up. He put his hands on both sides of her face, getting her to look into his eyes.
“I’m right here Aurie, I’m not leaving you. I promised you I’m not going anywhere.”
Aurora’s memory flooded with a flashback from when Bradley had made that promise to her after their fight that one time.
“I was so afraid I was gonna lose you B,” she whispers softly. They were sitting on the front porch of the Bradshaw's Virginia home, snow was falling and it was Christmas Eve. She had almost lost him in a car accident.
“Oh, darling.” Bradley brings her into a hug and she hugs him back tightly, arms wounding around his neck.
“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, princess.”
“You remembered?” Aurora whispers. He lightly chuckles, before answering.
“Of course. I remember everything with you, princess.”
He removes his hands from her face before tugging down the collar of his shirt and bringing up the chain with his dog tags and his pendant.
“Remember what you got engraved here?”
She smiles, before reaching out to touch and admire it.
“Always Flying Home.”
“And I am keeping my promise. I will always fly home to you. You are my home, Ro. Nothing will ever change that.”
Aurora looked into his eyes and saw the same love and adoration she always saw whenever he looked at her. She loved that look, the look that was made for her and only her.
He cups her cheek before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. She relished the feeling of his lips and blushed.
They smiled at each other before Bradley withdrew his arm and went back to cuddling her. She buries into his side and sighs.
“Just promise me something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“After this mission is over, I want you and dad to talk. I know he pulled your papers and you’re still angry about it, but you can’t hold that hatred in for the rest of your life, B.”
Bradley sighs before giving in.
“Fine. I promise to talk to Mav when all this is said and done.”
“Thank you.”
“Anything for you, princess.”
Aurora smiles happily. Everything was well.
Her mom and dad were giving it another chance and she had a good relationship with her little sister. She had her best friend and brother living with her, living closely with her aunts and uncles a few minutes away from them, and her best girl friend just a couple of hours away from her. She had new friends that she truly felt she could be herself around.
She wanted to freeze everyone in that moment forever.
But unfortunately, life never gave her that moment.
—
The beach day seemed to be what everyone needed but as soon as they were back in the classroom going over the maneuvers needed for the mission, everyone was tense. This mission was far more dangerous than they had thought.
Especially after Maverick told them the next phase in the mission, about pulling 9 G's minimum, which worried all the pilots.
Currently, Bradley was listening on the radio in the ready room as Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote were going through the course. It wasn’t until Maverick was following them did it all go downhill from there.
“Blue team, that’s a fail.”
“Level out, Coyote.” No response came from him.
“Coyote, do you copy? Coyote, come in,” Maverick calls out to Coyote.
Everyone in the room soon quiets because he wasn’t replying.
“Oh God, he’s in G-Loc,” Maverick says. In the room, Jake stands up and starts pacing around, anxiously listening to what was going on and hoping that his best friend would recover from G-Loc soon.
“I’m going after him,” Maverick maneuvers his F-18 to follow Coyote’s.
“C’mon give me tone, give me tone, give me tone,” he mutters, praying that Coyote snaps out of it soon.
“Coyote, c’mon, wake up,” Bradley hears Jake whisper.
A few seconds pass by before hearing Maverick speak out again.
“Coyote, you okay? You okay?” Maverick worriedly asks him.
“I’m okay. I’m good,” Coyote answers, after trying to catch his breath.
Jake releases the breath he didn’t know he was holding, while the rest of the room starts to breathe easily after that close call.
“Good, good. That’s enough for today,” Maverick announces. He was so worried he was going to lose Coyote for a second there.
“That was close,” Phoenix proclaims, flying behind Maverick.
“Too close,” Maverick sighs.
Then a few seconds later, birds flew into Phoenix's F-18, and all hell broke loose, just as they thought they were in the clear.
“Bird strike! Bird strike!” Maverick called out, but it was too late. Phoenix’s left engine was on fire, and the plane was starting to go down.
Phoenix was desperately trying to save it, while Bob was calling out the system mechanics, saying that the right engine was out.
Bradley worriedly listens to the radio, hoping Phoenix and Bob ejects on time.
“You can’t save it! Eject, eject!” Maverick yells to them. Phoenix and Bob both yell that they were ejecting.
Soon a boom was heard, and the room that Bradley stood in suddenly went silent.
—
Bradley sits in the ready room, staring at his dad’s old class Top Gun photo. How he almost came close to losing Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote in one day. How he almost lost his dad.
He was angry, and overcome with so much emotion. He knew he promised Aurora to stay calm, but he couldn’t. He was upset.
Maverick walks in and notices Bradley sitting, staring at the photo.
“They’ll keep Phoenix and Bob in the hospital overnight, for observation. They’re gonna be okay,” Maverick says to Bradley.
Bradley takes a breath before responding. “That’s good.” A few seconds pass before Bradley speaks up again.
“I’ve never lost a wingman.”
“You’re lucky. Fly long enough, it will happen. There will be others.”
Maverick soon turns to walk away. But before he can leave, Bradley speaks up.
“Easy for you to say. You fly like you have no family. No wife. You didn’t even get to see your kids grow because you were busy flying for the Navy. Dad left so he can spend time with mom and I. At least he had someone to mourn him if he had burned in. What would the twins even say if you burned in? Would they even mourn for their absent father?”
Bradley’s words hit him hard. He knew the twins always hated when he left because to him, the Navy was all he had.
When Peyton and Aurora were born, he thought he could do both, be a naval aviator, and a dad. He didn’t want to give up either.
But it turns out, he gave more priority to the Navy, something he had regretted after the twins had already grown up and started their own career paths.
Maverick knew Bradley’s emotions were getting to him, and that the words he said were hurtful.
“Go home. Just get some sleep,” Maverick ignores his words. He tries to walk out once again.
“Why’d you pull my papers at the academy?” Bradley stands up from his chair before turning to Maverick angrily. “Why did you stand in my way?!”
“You weren’t ready,” Maverick admits.
“Ready for what, huh?” Bradley huffs, walking towards Maverick. Maverick turns to face him. “Ready to fly like you?”
“No, ready to forget the book,” Maverick exclaims. “Trust your instincts, don’t think, just do! You think up there, you’re dead. Believe me.”
“My dad believes in you. Aurora believes in you. I’m not going to make that mistake,” Bradley tells him.
Bradley felt betrayed by Maverick pulling his papers, believing he wasn’t ready to be a naval aviator. He wasn’t about to be fooled by him again.
All he wanted was to make his father, his mother, his godfather, and Aurora and Peyton proud.
Bradley and Maverick were still huffing, chest to chest, until Warlock walked in.
“Maverick,” Warlock calls out.
They turned and saw the dejected look on his face.
“Is it Ice?” Maverick whispers, to which Warlock shook his head.
Warlock was about to speak up before Peyton showed up behind him, tears in his eyes.
Peyton walks closer to the two before uttering the next few words that broke both men in that moment.
“It’s Aurora.”
- - -
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Taglist:
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—
Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!
Title and chapter loosely inspired by the song “Waves” by Dean Lewis.
Summary: Just when things are going well, everything changes.
Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 2k
A/N: A shorter chapter for good reason. Oh and…I’m sorry about this one (but not really because I’ve been sitting on this since I started writing this story) 😬 Thanks to my editor and beta reader @reginleight 💖
As always, likes are great and all, but comments, reblogs, and feedback are highly appreciated and loved! 🤭
Previous | Next | Masterlist
“Today was a good day,” Aurora smiled, as she sunk into the couch.
“For once, I actually had fun. Even if it was with Hangman.” Bradley chuckled next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders to bring her into a cuddle.
The two were sitting on the couch outside on the backyard porch after eating a late dinner with Peyton and Lucille. Peyton had gone to sleep while Lucille had gone to shower, leaving them to catch up with each other.
“Speaking of Hangman, I saw you two talking,” Bradley brought up.
“He wanted to apologize for, you know, the whole situation that had gone down.”
“Yeah, he apologized to me too before the game.”
“I’m glad he did,” she replies.
“So Mav and Mama Pen. Again.” Bradley brings up.
“I can’t believe dad tried to sneak out through the window like a teenager. It was honestly so funny to see. Peyton’s going to lose his mind tomorrow when he’s sober and realizes what happened.”
“Speaking of, I believe I am owed $20,” Bradley smirks.
Aurora groans. “I’ll give it to you later. If only they could have gotten together a few more weeks later.”
“I’m surprised they even got together again as fast as they did.”
“It’s always like that whenever they see each other again,” Aurora shrugs. “I just hope this time, it works out. They’re soulmates, just waiting for the right timing.”
Bradley hums at that. He always believed that’s what he and Aurora were as well, soulmates that couldn’t be together until the timing was right.
They hit a lull in their conversation before Aurora spoke up again.
“I’m worried, Bradley.”
Bradley turned to her in concern. “About what?”
“This mission. It sounds dangerous, and I’m worried about you.”
“You think I can’t do it?”
“It’s not that, I know you can do it,” she reassures him. “Your profile shows that you have the capabilities for this mission.”
“You looked at my profile?”
“Not important,” she cuts him off. He chuckles before letting her continue.
“I’m worried that your emotions will cloud your judgment. I’m scared you won’t come back home. I just can’t, I can’t lose you B, I can’t I–”
“Woah, woah, deep breath princess, c’mon breathe,” Bradley tries to calm her down before she gets too worked up. He put his hands on both sides of her face, getting her to look into his eyes.
“I’m right here Aurie, I’m not leaving you. I promised you I’m not going anywhere.”
Aurora’s memory flooded with a flashback from when Bradley had made that promise to her after their fight that one time.
“I was so afraid I was gonna lose you B,” she whispers softly. They were sitting on the front porch of the Bradshaw's Virginia home, snow was falling and it was Christmas Eve. She had almost lost him in a car accident.
“Oh, darling.” Bradley brings her into a hug and she hugs him back tightly, arms wounding around his neck.
“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, princess.”
“You remembered?” Aurora whispers. He lightly chuckles, before answering.
“Of course. I remember everything with you, princess.”
He removes his hands from her face before tugging down the collar of his shirt and bringing up the chain with his dog tags and his pendant.
“Remember what you got engraved here?”
She smiles, before reaching out to touch and admire it.
“Always Flying Home.”
“And I am keeping my promise. I will always fly home to you. You are my home, Ro. Nothing will ever change that.”
Aurora looked into his eyes and saw the same love and adoration she always saw whenever he looked at her. She loved that look, the look that was made for her and only her.
He cups her cheek before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. She relished the feeling of his lips and blushed.
They smiled at each other before Bradley withdrew his arm and went back to cuddling her. She buries into his side and sighs.
“Just promise me something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“After this mission is over, I want you and dad to talk. I know he pulled your papers and you’re still angry about it, but you can’t hold that hatred in for the rest of your life, B.”
Bradley sighs before giving in.
“Fine. I promise to talk to Mav when all this is said and done.”
“Thank you.”
“Anything for you, princess.”
Aurora smiles happily. Everything was well.
Her mom and dad were giving it another chance and she had a good relationship with her little sister. She had her best friend and brother living with her, living closely with her aunts and uncles a few minutes away from them, and her best girl friend just a couple of hours away from her. She had new friends that she truly felt she could be herself around.
She wanted to freeze everyone in that moment forever.
But unfortunately, life never gave her that moment.
—
The beach day seemed to be what everyone needed but as soon as they were back in the classroom going over the maneuvers needed for the mission, everyone was tense. This mission was far more dangerous than they had thought.
Especially after Maverick told them the next phase in the mission, about pulling 9 G's minimum, which worried all the pilots.
Currently, Bradley was listening on the radio in the ready room as Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote were going through the course. It wasn’t until Maverick was following them did it all go downhill from there.
“Blue team, that’s a fail.”
“Level out, Coyote.” No response came from him.
“Coyote, do you copy? Coyote, come in,” Maverick calls out to Coyote.
Everyone in the room soon quiets because he wasn’t replying.
“Oh God, he’s in G-Loc,” Maverick says. In the room, Jake stands up and starts pacing around, anxiously listening to what was going on and hoping that his best friend would recover from G-Loc soon.
“I’m going after him,” Maverick maneuvers his F-18 to follow Coyote’s.
“C’mon give me tone, give me tone, give me tone,” he mutters, praying that Coyote snaps out of it soon.
“Coyote, c’mon, wake up,” Bradley hears Jake whisper.
A few seconds pass by before hearing Maverick speak out again.
“Coyote, you okay? You okay?” Maverick worriedly asks him.
“I’m okay. I’m good,” Coyote answers, after trying to catch his breath.
Jake releases the breath he didn’t know he was holding, while the rest of the room starts to breathe easily after that close call.
“Good, good. That’s enough for today,” Maverick announces. He was so worried he was going to lose Coyote for a second there.
“That was close,” Phoenix proclaims, flying behind Maverick.
“Too close,” Maverick sighs.
Then a few seconds later, birds flew into Phoenix's F-18, and all hell broke loose, just as they thought they were in the clear.
“Bird strike! Bird strike!” Maverick called out, but it was too late. Phoenix’s left engine was on fire, and the plane was starting to go down.
Phoenix was desperately trying to save it, while Bob was calling out the system mechanics, saying that the right engine was out.
Bradley worriedly listens to the radio, hoping Phoenix and Bob ejects on time.
“You can’t save it! Eject, eject!” Maverick yells to them. Phoenix and Bob both yell that they were ejecting.
Soon a boom was heard, and the room that Bradley stood in suddenly went silent.
—
Bradley sits in the ready room, staring at his dad’s old class Top Gun photo. How he almost came close to losing Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote in one day. How he almost lost his dad.
He was angry, and overcome with so much emotion. He knew he promised Aurora to stay calm, but he couldn’t. He was upset.
Maverick walks in and notices Bradley sitting, staring at the photo.
“They’ll keep Phoenix and Bob in the hospital overnight, for observation. They’re gonna be okay,” Maverick says to Bradley.
Bradley takes a breath before responding. “That’s good.” A few seconds pass before Bradley speaks up again.
“I’ve never lost a wingman.”
“You’re lucky. Fly long enough, it will happen. There will be others.”
Maverick soon turns to walk away. But before he can leave, Bradley speaks up.
“Easy for you to say. You fly like you have no family. No wife. You didn’t even get to see your kids grow because you were busy flying for the Navy. Dad left so he can spend time with mom and I. At least he had someone to mourn him if he had burned in. What would the twins even say if you burned in? Would they even mourn for their absent father?”
Bradley’s words hit him hard. He knew the twins always hated when he left because to him, the Navy was all he had.
When Peyton and Aurora were born, he thought he could do both, be a naval aviator, and a dad. He didn’t want to give up either.
But it turns out, he gave more priority to the Navy, something he had regretted after the twins had already grown up and started their own career paths.
Maverick knew Bradley’s emotions were getting to him, and that the words he said were hurtful.
“Go home. Just get some sleep,” Maverick ignores his words. He tries to walk out once again.
“Why’d you pull my papers at the academy?” Bradley stands up from his chair before turning to Maverick angrily. “Why did you stand in my way?!”
“You weren’t ready,” Maverick admits.
“Ready for what, huh?” Bradley huffs, walking towards Maverick. Maverick turns to face him. “Ready to fly like you?”
“No, ready to forget the book,” Maverick exclaims. “Trust your instincts, don’t think, just do! You think up there, you’re dead. Believe me.”
“My dad believes in you. Aurora believes in you. I’m not going to make that mistake,” Bradley tells him.
Bradley felt betrayed by Maverick pulling his papers, believing he wasn’t ready to be a naval aviator. He wasn’t about to be fooled by him again.
All he wanted was to make his father, his mother, his godfather, and Aurora and Peyton proud.
Bradley and Maverick were still huffing, chest to chest, until Warlock walked in.
“Maverick,” Warlock calls out.
They turned and saw the dejected look on his face.
“Is it Ice?” Maverick whispers, to which Warlock shook his head.
Warlock was about to speak up before Peyton showed up behind him, tears in his eyes.
Peyton walks closer to the two before uttering the next few words that broke both men in that moment.
“It’s Aurora.”
- - -
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—
Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!
Title and chapter loosely inspired by the song “Waves” by Dean Lewis.
Summary: Just when things are going well, everything changes.
Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 2k
A/N: A shorter chapter for good reason. Oh and…I’m sorry about this one (but not really because I’ve been sitting on this since I started writing this story) 😬 Thanks to my editor and beta reader @reginleight 💖
As always, likes are great and all, but comments, reblogs, and feedback are highly appreciated and loved! 🤭
Previous | Next | Masterlist
“Today was a good day,” Aurora smiled, as she sunk into the couch.
“For once, I actually had fun. Even if it was with Hangman.” Bradley chuckled next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders to bring her into a cuddle.
The two were sitting on the couch outside on the backyard porch after eating a late dinner with Peyton and Lucille. Peyton had gone to sleep while Lucille had gone to shower, leaving them to catch up with each other.
“Speaking of Hangman, I saw you two talking,” Bradley brought up.
“He wanted to apologize for, you know, the whole situation that had gone down.”
“Yeah, he apologized to me too before the game.”
“I’m glad he did,” she replies.
“So Mav and Mama Pen. Again.” Bradley brings up.
“I can’t believe dad tried to sneak out through the window like a teenager. It was honestly so funny to see. Peyton’s going to lose his mind tomorrow when he’s sober and realizes what happened.”
“Speaking of, I believe I am owed $20,” Bradley smirks.
Aurora groans. “I’ll give it to you later. If only they could have gotten together a few more weeks later.”
“I’m surprised they even got together again as fast as they did.”
“It’s always like that whenever they see each other again,” Aurora shrugs. “I just hope this time, it works out. They’re soulmates, just waiting for the right timing.”
Bradley hums at that. He always believed that’s what he and Aurora were as well, soulmates that couldn’t be together until the timing was right.
They hit a lull in their conversation before Aurora spoke up again.
“I’m worried, Bradley.”
Bradley turned to her in concern. “About what?”
“This mission. It sounds dangerous, and I’m worried about you.”
“You think I can’t do it?”
“It’s not that, I know you can do it,” she reassures him. “Your profile shows that you have the capabilities for this mission.”
“You looked at my profile?”
“Not important,” she cuts him off. He chuckles before letting her continue.
“I’m worried that your emotions will cloud your judgment. I’m scared you won’t come back home. I just can’t, I can’t lose you B, I can’t I–”
“Woah, woah, deep breath princess, c’mon breathe,” Bradley tries to calm her down before she gets too worked up. He put his hands on both sides of her face, getting her to look into his eyes.
“I’m right here Aurie, I’m not leaving you. I promised you I’m not going anywhere.”
Aurora’s memory flooded with a flashback from when Bradley had made that promise to her after their fight that one time.
“I was so afraid I was gonna lose you B,” she whispers softly. They were sitting on the front porch of the Bradshaw's Virginia home, snow was falling and it was Christmas Eve. She had almost lost him in a car accident.
“Oh, darling.” Bradley brings her into a hug and she hugs him back tightly, arms wounding around his neck.
“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, princess.”
“You remembered?” Aurora whispers. He lightly chuckles, before answering.
“Of course. I remember everything with you, princess.”
He removes his hands from her face before tugging down the collar of his shirt and bringing up the chain with his dog tags and his pendant.
“Remember what you got engraved here?”
She smiles, before reaching out to touch and admire it.
“Always Flying Home.”
“And I am keeping my promise. I will always fly home to you. You are my home, Ro. Nothing will ever change that.”
Aurora looked into his eyes and saw the same love and adoration she always saw whenever he looked at her. She loved that look, the look that was made for her and only her.
He cups her cheek before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. She relished the feeling of his lips and blushed.
They smiled at each other before Bradley withdrew his arm and went back to cuddling her. She buries into his side and sighs.
“Just promise me something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“After this mission is over, I want you and dad to talk. I know he pulled your papers and you’re still angry about it, but you can’t hold that hatred in for the rest of your life, B.”
Bradley sighs before giving in.
“Fine. I promise to talk to Mav when all this is said and done.”
“Thank you.”
“Anything for you, princess.”
Aurora smiles happily. Everything was well.
Her mom and dad were giving it another chance and she had a good relationship with her little sister. She had her best friend and brother living with her, living closely with her aunts and uncles a few minutes away from them, and her best girl friend just a couple of hours away from her. She had new friends that she truly felt she could be herself around.
She wanted to freeze everyone in that moment forever.
But unfortunately, life never gave her that moment.
—
The beach day seemed to be what everyone needed but as soon as they were back in the classroom going over the maneuvers needed for the mission, everyone was tense. This mission was far more dangerous than they had thought.
Especially after Maverick told them the next phase in the mission, about pulling 9 G's minimum, which worried all the pilots.
Currently, Bradley was listening on the radio in the ready room as Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote were going through the course. It wasn’t until Maverick was following them did it all go downhill from there.
“Blue team, that’s a fail.”
“Level out, Coyote.” No response came from him.
“Coyote, do you copy? Coyote, come in,” Maverick calls out to Coyote.
Everyone in the room soon quiets because he wasn’t replying.
“Oh God, he’s in G-Loc,” Maverick says. In the room, Jake stands up and starts pacing around, anxiously listening to what was going on and hoping that his best friend would recover from G-Loc soon.
“I’m going after him,” Maverick maneuvers his F-18 to follow Coyote’s.
“C’mon give me tone, give me tone, give me tone,” he mutters, praying that Coyote snaps out of it soon.
“Coyote, c’mon, wake up,” Bradley hears Jake whisper.
A few seconds pass by before hearing Maverick speak out again.
“Coyote, you okay? You okay?” Maverick worriedly asks him.
“I’m okay. I’m good,” Coyote answers, after trying to catch his breath.
Jake releases the breath he didn’t know he was holding, while the rest of the room starts to breathe easily after that close call.
“Good, good. That’s enough for today,” Maverick announces. He was so worried he was going to lose Coyote for a second there.
“That was close,” Phoenix proclaims, flying behind Maverick.
“Too close,” Maverick sighs.
Then a few seconds later, birds flew into Phoenix's F-18, and all hell broke loose, just as they thought they were in the clear.
“Bird strike! Bird strike!” Maverick called out, but it was too late. Phoenix’s left engine was on fire, and the plane was starting to go down.
Phoenix was desperately trying to save it, while Bob was calling out the system mechanics, saying that the right engine was out.
Bradley worriedly listens to the radio, hoping Phoenix and Bob ejects on time.
“You can’t save it! Eject, eject!” Maverick yells to them. Phoenix and Bob both yell that they were ejecting.
Soon a boom was heard, and the room that Bradley stood in suddenly went silent.
—
Bradley sits in the ready room, staring at his dad’s old class Top Gun photo. How he almost came close to losing Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote in one day. How he almost lost his dad.
He was angry, and overcome with so much emotion. He knew he promised Aurora to stay calm, but he couldn’t. He was upset.
Maverick walks in and notices Bradley sitting, staring at the photo.
“They’ll keep Phoenix and Bob in the hospital overnight, for observation. They’re gonna be okay,” Maverick says to Bradley.
Bradley takes a breath before responding. “That’s good.” A few seconds pass before Bradley speaks up again.
“I’ve never lost a wingman.”
“You’re lucky. Fly long enough, it will happen. There will be others.”
Maverick soon turns to walk away. But before he can leave, Bradley speaks up.
“Easy for you to say. You fly like you have no family. No wife. You didn’t even get to see your kids grow because you were busy flying for the Navy. Dad left so he can spend time with mom and I. At least he had someone to mourn him if he had burned in. What would the twins even say if you burned in? Would they even mourn for their absent father?”
Bradley’s words hit him hard. He knew the twins always hated when he left because to him, the Navy was all he had.
When Peyton and Aurora were born, he thought he could do both, be a naval aviator, and a dad. He didn’t want to give up either.
But it turns out, he gave more priority to the Navy, something he had regretted after the twins had already grown up and started their own career paths.
Maverick knew Bradley’s emotions were getting to him, and that the words he said were hurtful.
“Go home. Just get some sleep,” Maverick ignores his words. He tries to walk out once again.
“Why’d you pull my papers at the academy?” Bradley stands up from his chair before turning to Maverick angrily. “Why did you stand in my way?!”
“You weren’t ready,” Maverick admits.
“Ready for what, huh?” Bradley huffs, walking towards Maverick. Maverick turns to face him. “Ready to fly like you?”
“No, ready to forget the book,” Maverick exclaims. “Trust your instincts, don’t think, just do! You think up there, you’re dead. Believe me.”
“My dad believes in you. Aurora believes in you. I’m not going to make that mistake,” Bradley tells him.
Bradley felt betrayed by Maverick pulling his papers, believing he wasn’t ready to be a naval aviator. He wasn’t about to be fooled by him again.
All he wanted was to make his father, his mother, his godfather, and Aurora and Peyton proud.
Bradley and Maverick were still huffing, chest to chest, until Warlock walked in.
“Maverick,” Warlock calls out.
They turned and saw the dejected look on his face.
“Is it Ice?” Maverick whispers, to which Warlock shook his head.
Warlock was about to speak up before Peyton showed up behind him, tears in his eyes.
Peyton walks closer to the two before uttering the next few words that broke both men in that moment.
“It’s Aurora.”
- - -
If you would like to be on the taglist or removed, please let me know!
Taglist:
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@luckyladycreator2
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@fandom-princess-forevermore
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—
Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!
this is part of the dagger security universe but can be read as a stand-alone.
pairing: Hacker! Fanboy X Agent! Reader
warnings: none :)
a/n: it’s been a while since I’ve written anything but I’m back! Hope you all enjoy! As always, feedback is appreciated and if anyone has any ideas for a little oneshot or drabble relating to any of the dagger security books- drop me an ask 💜
It’s paperwork day at work. Your mind is swimming with detailed reports of the recent missions you’ve been apart of. It always has been your least favourite part of the job with you preferring to be out in the field.
Having just had your lunch, you flop down onto your chair at your desk, mentally preparing yourself to spend the rest of the day making your eyes go square as you type up the actions of the mission you partook in last week.
Frowning, you notice there’s a window open that wasn’t there a minute ago. A small pop up has appeared on your screen. Although this is no ordinary pop up, this one looks similar to every other pop up you would get normally except the text reads ‘Date night tonight? -M’ accompanied by two checkboxes marked yes or no below the question. You scoff in disbelief and pull out your phone to text Mickey.
Shaking your head at the absurdity of your boyfriend, you click on the box marked ‘no’ out of spite. Satisfied that the pop up has disappeared, you open the document you were working on and continue to type away, the office full of agents around you unaware as to what has just occurred.
No sooner have you gotten back to work, does another pop up appear on your screen. This one saying ‘pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase’ still with the two options of yes or no.
Once again you choose no, huffing in frustration at Mickey’s persistence. You hope this time he gets the message that you’re working and don’t want to be bothered even if his annoying little pop ups are kind of cute.
Your phone buzzes with another message and you look down to see Mickey has messaged you again.
Putting your phone down once again, you take a deep breath and prepare to continue your work. However, your small hope that Mickey has got the message disappears when your computer makes a small noise and yet another pop up appears with the same question as the first time. However, this time when you go to click no, the pop up multiplies. You continue to furiously click the ’no’ box as even more of the annoyingly persistent pop ups fill your screen until all you can see are tiny windows of text asking you out.
You really don’t want to give him the satisfaction of this working but knowing Mickey, these pop ups won’t disappear unless you say yes.
Hanging your head in defeat, you hover over the yes box for a minute with your cursor before you click it dejectedly. With the speed at which all the pop ups disappear, you actually wonder if you’ve hallucinated the whole thing but when your phone buzzes with another incoming text, you know it was all real.
