"Please go home"
Chapter Six: We can't be friends.
01x18:T'N'T

*Trigger warning*

Being in love is supposed to mean something. But at this point, it didnt mean or do shit. Honestly, the island of Oahu brought her peace and serenity. The soothing mint tea glided down her throat at the end of the long shifts she worked. The days had blended into weeks and nights, and before she could even try to muster up the little memories of Virgina, her thoughts were clouded by nails digging into the skin of his back and soft whimpers filling the quiet enclosed space, the lust and heat were all getting to her and everyone else around her.

This thing she started with Kai was sweet and joyous like an apple, crispy, delicious, and earthy, and then it slowly grew into this sour, spicy, bitter watermelon, which was still really tasty, but if you overate, it might give you the runs. And now it all came crashing down in a matter of seconds; one minute they were working a case, the next she was staring up at him, asking him to kiss her, begging, as if she would die tomorrow, as if he was the last man she would ever see, ever yearn for.

And god, that yearning was thick and tickly, and no one was stopping it from bubbling over; no one was pulling the plug because why the fuck would they? She was set in her ways; it was now or never, and the never well, the never was in Virginia trying to deny the fact that he felt something for her, something raw and rugged. The now was staring right back at her was kissing her lips, the now was making her feel things ungodly things, doing things with his mouth and mutiple places on her body.

They now had her trapped in between his legs entangled; of course, everything was great and delicate and giddy and absolute. Still, they get called into the job, and then they have to go back to reality, and well, the truth was so bitter it made her nauseous, and it didnt help that never she left back in Virgina had come into her serenity. All because of his past, because the past never stays in the past. This is about a munitions explosion in Afghanistan. And Nick Torres. What could go wrong? Well, now she was in the backseat of Jane's truck, and it tumbled around them.

The car lands on its wheels. As everuone is panting, " Tennant, you hit?"

" - No." Jane places her hand on Torres's arm. "You?"

"I'm good."

"Iz, you're all right?" The pair craned their necks, trying to look at the small woman in the backseat next to their Dead witness.

Isana winces in response, going to speak, but bullets start darting across the windows.

"We got to make a move." Everyone quickly gets out of the car, kneeling next to the wheel to take cover.

"Okay. Queen of the Castle."

"I'm down," Jane replies as Isana just nods, gun out; she was already annoyed that Nick had ruined her happiness not once but twice, and now she was being shot at.

"Three, two, go."

The trio fight fire with fire, and before long, the gunman is hiding behind a structure; when they go to clear the structure, no one is there,

"Who the hell were those guys?" Nick asks.

"I haven't been ambushed in a while. You've been here for three hours."

"Well, I'm an acquired taste," Nick says as Jane is on her phone. Isana is limping and wincing, her shoulder was mangled not to mention she had a bullet wound and sprayed her ankle. But she wasn't going to act up about it.

Calling Jesse was the least of her concerns, but Jane did it as Nick and Isana approached the truck.

"Hey, Jesse. We just got hit on Kam Highway. Two gunmen, they fled. One dead body."

"Tennant? Strike that. Jennings is gone." Nick explains.

Jane pauses her phone call. "Hang on." She approaches the truck, looking at the empty backseat.

"Who the fuck steals a dead body?"

It was not time to read in the rest of the team. Kai practically jumped when he saw Isana's state. He kept his cool, as did she, not wanting to alarm anyone. He gave her a slight nod, and she replied with one back and a small smile, which let him know she was okay. Nick took note, trying not to let it get to him.

"Marine Corporal Daniel Menlo. Died in a munitions blast five years ago in Afghanistan."

"Private war-zone contractor. Fortress took responsibility."  Jane explains.

"Claimed it was an accident. Improper grenade storage."

"Big companies don't usually admit fault for stuff like that," Lucy says.

"Yeah, not without pointing the finger at someone."

Nick nods. "Mm-hmm. Greg Winslow, a Fortress munitions specialist. Fortress claims he improperly stored the grenades. They apologized, paid a fine, - and."

" - Let me guess. Fired Greg Winslow." Isana speaks as Nick nods.

"Since Corporal Menlo was based in Quantico, I went to Afghanistan to investigate."

."You speak to Winslow?"

Nick shakes his head, " He'd already been sent stateside. Died in a single-car accident a week later. He drove his SUV into the Potomac. And they pinned it all on him. But there was one piece missing." He puts up a picture of their dead friend. "Kyle Jennings. Another Fortress operator.  Stationed in Afghanistan. And the only survivor of the munitions blast. He also went missing before I could question him. Fortress claims he fled from the accident and never reported in.

He's been M.I.A. for five years."

"So, how'd you track him to Hawai'i?" Lucy asks.

"I've been receiving anonymous tips for years. A city, a motel name, and photos of Jennings in iconic locations. By the time I ran them, Jennings would be gone."

"Until two days ago. Torres received this selfie of Jennings on the North Shore." Jane pulls up the selfie. "We went and picked him up before he could flee."

"Then you got attacked."

"Now Jennings is dead, and his body is gone." Nick continues.

"Could the anonymous source be the one who organized the attack? Used you to smoke him out? "

"Someone inside Fortress?" Lucy asks.

" Both possible."

"Yeah, but why take the body?"

Isana sighs. "That's what I said."

" Add that to the list of things we got to figure out."

"Ernie is trying to track down whoever's sending the tips. Hopefully, we can narrow down that list."

"All right, well, we'll keep working on finding the men who attacked you," Jesse explains more so for his benefit; anyone who shoots at his team automatically was on his shit list.

"Hey, if I may, I'd like to address the elephant in the room. Yes, Ana and I used to work together. We were just partners, all right? Like nothing happened. Everything was purely professional."

Everyone stands there in awkward silence.

"Yeah...they didnt know,"  Isana says as everyone stares at the pair. Jane breaks the tension by announcing that Ernie found something, and she heads over, leaving the group.

"Where's my backpack?" Nick begins looking around for it at a desk.

"I have so many questions." Lucy gasps, giddy, as Isana rolls her eyes.

"Ana?"

"I find it cute, actually," Lucy says as Isana rolls her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose,

"There is nothing, no questions. Nick used to be my partner, but he's no longer; Kai is my partner. Everything is fine," Isana could feel her face heating up as Lucy squealed.

Isana goes to the coffee stand; she grabs a cup in one hand and the coffee pot in the other; her hand shakes as she pours the coffee. Her nerves were getting the best of her, her thought clouding her judgment. All she could think of was his lips on her body, her breathing hitched, and for a while, she whined, longing to be back in his bed entangled in his limps and gingerly feeling the harsh cotton bedding brush against her soft skin, the hairs on her body raised by the smooth, gentle wet kisses, he leaves trailing down her back. And then her arms.

"Was there something that happened between you two?"

Kai's voice drew her back to the moment she dreaded because she longed to be close to him, to feel his kisses and smell his scent,

"Nope." she shakes her head, wiping the single tear that had threatened to fall down her face. " she presses her cheeks together, pressing her tongue against the roof of her mouth, trying to stop herself from crying. She couldn't just say that she confessed her love to him and he didnt care; no things were different; she had someone she cared about here, someone who, if she gave it time, could love just as much as her heart still swooned for Nick. in due time.

"It just seems like things were left on a bad note."

She nods, "Yeah...yes, exactly that."

Kai takes her hand in his. "Well, we are here together, and nothing can change that. Just think about last night and every day we've spent together."

She nods, closing her eyes and sucking in a deep breath. She let out a sigh, replaying every time they had spent together, and yet every happy memory with Kai was an equally delighted Memory with Nick; it was like no matter how hard she tried, her heart was still tethered to him. At least now she was slightly tethered to someone else, and all she had to do was close this case, and Torres would be gone, and she wouldn't have to see him again.

They were all discussing how things were going with Jane and Torress, who were off-tracking down and potential leads to where Jennings might have been hiding out. Isana was too busy being trapped by her thoughts to care about this case.

"If it were money, it would have been cash. I pulled Jennings' financials. There has not been a dollar in or out since he ran. The guy disappeared after the explosion." Ernie explains.

"On and off the radar for five years. I mean, he had resources. And motivation."

"Didn't want to be found by Torres or Fortress. He knew something and got killed for it."

"Yeah, but they didn't just kill him. I mean, they took his body. Why make his body disappear if it was just about what he knew?"

" Seems like the body itself was important. Maybe his body was evidence." Ernie shrugs.

"Exactly."

"Oh, creepy. But interesting."

'So, how do you make a body disappear?"

Lucy shrugs, " You dump it in the ocean."

"Coast Guard and HPD have been searching waterways. - Nothing yet.

"- You burn it." Isana shrugs. "Nothing to find if it's ashes."

"All right, let's find local incinerators. Places that our suspects could get access.'

"Hey, hey, Ernie? That still leaves the question of why our suspects went to all this trouble.

"Well, D.C. sent us the original case file. Maybe there's something we missed." Ernie leads Lucy and Isana back to his nerd cave. He opens the door and sees a woman sitting at his desk, her back turned, facing one of the screens with a remote in her hand.

"You see her, too, right?" Ernie says.

"Yeah, yeah, we do. Uh, I'm sorry. Hi. You are?"

The woman turns around, and she smiles. Her brown eyes and black hair are shiny like a fresh new pony.

" Special Agent Jessica Knight. Legend of the REACT team, expert negotiator, general badass." Ernie replies as Isana and Lucy just look at him awkwardly. "I read the newsletter."

Knight nods. "Parker sent me the Afghanistan case files. And to make sure Torres comes home without any bullet wounds. My team has gone through enough personnel changes."

"Hmm." Isana rolls her eyes. When was this her team?

"Well, I'm Special Agent Tara. That is Special Agent Isana–"

"Pachelecki, former MI6 agent, retrieval tact team coordinator god, speaks almost a million different languages, hand to hand expert, an actual NCIS legend; I am a huge fan." Knight was practically drooling, and Isana looked at her with an uneasy, uncomfortable expression.

"- Hi."

"This is Ernie. He doesn't like it when people are sitting in his chair." Lucy explains.

"Uh, Lucy, hush, hush. It's-it's okay."

"Well, I'm not sure you're going to be enlightened by this case file; it is pretty thin. But I also bring expertise with Fortress. They've tried recruiting me over the years, offering big money and big benefits." Jessica explains as Isana nods.

"- Ugh. Who'd want that?"

Ernie nods. "That makes sense. Overpaying for talent is sort of their thing."

"Along with disregard for moral and ethical lines."

"I can't think of anyone better suited to make a body disappear," Lucy replies, and they all nod, agreeing.

"What-what do we have in the case file?"

" Fortress was trying to put this to bed quickly, so not much." Jessica hands Ernie the case file. "Um, can I sit?"

" - Yes, yes." Ernie smiles bashfully, and Lucy looks skeptical.

"Okay. Um, so we've got some video footage of the explosion. I've been trying to put it up on your monitor, but I can't seem to figure out your clicker situation."

Ernie takes the remote from her hands. "Oh, sorry. Sorry. That's for my jellyfish." He turns on the lava lamp, which has Jellyfish inside. "Groovy, huh?"

" - Totally," she replies.

"Here you go."   he plays the video which shows the building exploding.

"Well, that tells us nothing."

"Not enough to prove it was intentional," Lucy says.

"Uh, not enough to prove it wasn't."

"So, what do we do?" Knight asks.

" We recreate it."

'You can do that?" She asks Ernie, who nods, smitten by her.

"I can do many things, milady." Ernie bows as Isana and Lucy conceal their laughs; clearly, he has a type.

It had been three days since this case started, and all Isana wanted was for Nick to return to Virginia and never have to see him again.

"-We know the explosion of the munitions dump was intentional."  Jane starts.

"Set off with some kind of IED that led to the death of Corporal Menlo."

"And since Jennings was the last man standing before the explosion." Jesse continues.

" And had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back that was likely part of the device."

"Looks like he set the bomb," Lucy says.

"Okay, but why?"

" It all comes back to Fortress. What do we know about them?" Jane asks Ernie.

" Five years ago, they were the plucky underdogs of the private contractor set. Lean, mean, willing to handle security in the hottest zones. No job too dirty."

"And it paid off. They've grown tenfold over the last few years, taking on multiple government contracts with operations in a dozen locations, including a training facility here in Oahu.  All because of their CEO, Brent Spooner."  Jesse explains,

"Mm. Another plucky underdog. Started as an operator for Fortress and rose through the ranks to take over." Ernie pulls up a video on the screen.

"These are uncertain times. Security in the 21st century requires a complex response. How do we protect ourselves? Well, the answer is Fortress. Our personnel are highly trained and highly motivated to assess threats and implement harm reduction. Your security is our priority."

"Charming. In a post-apocalyptic, paramilitary sort of way." Isana comments, earning a few chuckles from around the room.

"All right. What else do we know about him?" 

" He ran the Fortress mission in Afghanistan when the explosion happened." Lucy explains

"He and his men were providing ground security in the region."

"- You think he was involved?" Jane quips.

Jesse folds his arms over his chest. "I think he knows more than he said back then.

I mean, whoever killed Jennings had resources."

"Where is he now?"

" Fortress Global Headquarters in Virginia. Torres could have his team question him," Jesse suggests as Isana rolls her eyes and lets out a ragged sigh.

" We need to learn more about him. And what Fortress was into in Afghanistan."

"Easier said than done. They have thousands of employees working alongside the military nationwide, including Pearl Harbor." Ernie explains.

"What's your point?" Jesse asks. 

" If they're willing to ambush two federal agents and steal a body, they could impede the investigation in other ways, too. I mean, it could be could be floating nearby right now."

Jane shakes her head and Ernie's paranoia, "Okay, a little paranoid, but point taken. Ernie, check badge swipes. See if anyone pops up with a connection to Fortress.  Kai?"

"- Yeah."

"Let's visit their training facility. See what services they have." Jane says simply/

"We just gonna walk in there and announce ourselves?"

" That's exactly what we're gonna do."

Kai makes a face before smirking slightly.  "Sort of like crashing a wedding, right?"

"I don't know what you mean, but sure." Jane walks off.

"You got no game at all, dude."

"That's what makes him adorable. Right, Kai kai." Isana winks at him as Lucy giggles.

Eventually, they find out the bomb had an optical initiation device. This is very rare, and as they ask Greg who could've made the bomb, they find out that he is gone. Fortress got to him.

"What do we know about Greg?" Jane asks.

" He used a phone in the bullpen and called his sister's house in New Mexico. Ninety seconds later, slipped out of the building."

"And do we know who delivered that food?" Jane asks.

" We're working on finding out."

"Tell me Greg is still on the base." She says.

"Best we figure, he joined a tour group that was leaving. Torres  and Izzy are trying to track the group down." Jesse explains.

Nick and Isana were on a video call with Jessica, Lucy, and Ernie.

"Honestly, Nick, we're just in the basement. You couldn't walk a flight of stairs?"

"That was I said." Isana sasses.

" Relax. We are still at the guard gate waiting for information on the tour group Greg left with. What do we know about the men he'd?"

" Uh, they worked directly with Kyle Jennings five years ago. All are part of a security mission in the Central Highlands. Marine Recon unit was clearing out local militias from the provinces. These guys were securing the villages afterward."

"- Corporal Menlo's unit?" Isana asks.

" Yes. They cleared and secured a dozen villages, but one stands out." Ernie explains.

"Took down a militia stronghold.Found a cache of stolen U.S. currency."

They pull up a photo, and Isana and Nick lean in close, trying their best to see what they are looking at.

"Wait. I can't see. What are we looking at?" Nick asks, squinting his eyes.

" A crapload of cash. If I'm eyeballing it, $75 million?"

" - I guessed 72." Ernie and Jessica clink their mugs together.

"But according to the official records, only 30 million was delivered to the Bagram Air Base. You want to guess whose job it was to deliver the money?"

" Fortress"

"Kyle Jennings and his three buddies are in this photo. Corporal Menlo, too."

"Menlo realizes these guys stole the money, but they sabotage the munitions depot before he can report it."

"Yeah. Jennings set up the bomb but got caught up in the blast. He was a loose end." Isana says as Nick sighs,

"And that leaves Greg, and he's still nowhere to be found." 

'Stealing 40 million in cash and getting out of Afghanistan requires a lot of logistics."

" Along with making sure the bomb looked like an accident,"  Lucy says.

"One other person of note is in this photo".Ernie says.

"Brent Spooner, Fortress's CEO."

" And he was personally responsible for getting the cash back to Bagram,"  Jessica explains to Nick and Isana, who decide to go inside.

They leave Jane's office just as Jesse gets off the phone.

"Yeah. All right, thanks. All three of our Fortress operators are here on the island. They arrived within a couple of hours of Torres." He explains,

"Oh, they were monitoring me somehow."

"And by now, they'll have Greg and try to figure out how much he told us, then kill him," Jane explains.

"Where would they take him?" Kai asks.

" It's got to be somewhere safe from prying eyes where they can interrogate him," Isana explains.

"Fortress compound is a perfect spot. It's remote and secure. And it's empty. The entire Fortress organization will be at the viewing of Brent Spooner's IPO announcement."

"Lucy and Knight are already on their way," Jesse says.

"Let's go meet 'em." everyone grabs their bags.

"- Listen, Torres? I promised Knight I wouldn't let you get shot at again."

"Oh, it's all good. I'll hide behind your tall one." He teases as Isana pats Jesse on the back.

"Not all good for me."

"Kai, Lucy, heading into the training area. Interrogation chambers are on the far end of the grounds."

"Copy that, boss. Got you covered."

"P and T back at it again," Nick says, referring to the fact that he and Isana are partners again.

"Kai, shooter's on the far right ridge."

"Torres,  Izzy Greg's in the chamber with at least two suspects."

"We are all over it."

Torres and Isana enter the chamber, seeing two men standing before Greg, who is badly beaten and bloody. He starts laughing, and the two men look at each other and then back at him, not noticing Isana and Nick creeping up behind them.

One guy turns, sees Nick, and starts taking him while the other guy quickly lunges forward, only for Isana to kick him in the chest; the two partners were now fighting back to back, just like before, just like back when everything was more straightforward when she didnt have these tight pent up feelings, Nick and Isana slide across the floor on their backs guns out just as Jesse and Jane walk in cuffing their suspects. Nick stands before helping Isana off the ground.

They save Greg, and all is well; theory arrest Brent for being an ass and also all the illegal shit he did, and Nick has to leave the Island, of course not before saying Goodbye.

There was a knock at Isana's door, and she opened it, seeing Nick wearing a pink Lai. She laughed at the martini glass in his hand, the tiny umbrella, and the terrible sunglasses he had on his face.

"Oh, let me guess, the team gave you the Nickel tour." He nods as she laughs, letting him inside her small apartment. "I guess you and Knight have to leave now?" he nods.

"Yeah, but I wanted to stop here first; I apologize for not telling you sooner about everything and for letting you leave without a response. Everyone misses you, and it's not the same without you there, and I want you back. I need you back. Ana, I can't figure out why everything in my life doesn't work out, but the one thing that has been working out for the past three years has been you, and I can't imagine a life without you. Please come home."

"Nick, I have a life here now, and friends and people who actually care about me and love me and..." Their faces were so close. Their gazes were intense, like a computer analyzing an image. "When I told you I liked you more than friends, you laughed it off like it wasn't a big deal like it was just a joke; I'm not a joke; my feelings aren't a joke."

"You were never a joke to me, Ana."

"And Yet? It took me moving to an island for you to care."

Nick cups her face with his hand. "All I find myself being able to breathe for is you, and yet? You are so stubborn and hard-headed. And you always have to be correct"

She steps away. "I always have to be right. What about you? You get upset if you have any questions about what you say."

"You can never do what you're told."

"I don't like being told what to do," Isana yells.

"This vacation is over. Pack your bag. We are leaving this island, and you are coming with us. There are no other options.

"There you go, telling me what to do." She shakes her head. "I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH YOU."

Their faces are inches apart, their noses rubbing against one another. Fighting, he lets out a sigh. "God, that smell, it's stuck in my mind. Ever since that day, we've been locked together in those cells. It's logged in my head, and I can't seem to think clearly," he shakes his head. Lirios," he whispers under his breath, "You have to stop. You're messing with my head."

"I'm messing with your head? You are constantly there making me reconsider everything I have ever done, everything I have ever decided, every person I encounter and touch, I think of you and-" she shakes her head at him. "You need to go home and get as far away from me as you can go. Before-"

"Before what?"

"Before something bad happens, something that we both will regret," she lets out a shaky exhale. "Please go home." He shakes his head. Go ho...me."

His jaw is tense as they stare at each other intensely. "Now, who's the bossy one?"

She exhales deeply, her chest rising and falling, along with his, as they stare at each other across the room; they lunge forward, attacking each other's mouths into an intense kiss, his hands exploring her body and immediately touching her thighs. She moans, causing him to moan, and he steps back, hands up in defense.

"This can't happen; I will leave. "

She shakes her head. "Don't you dare leave." they go back to kissing one another, pulling at each other's clothing hungrily. Moans escaped from their mouths; they never once disconnected their lips from one another, even as he laid her down on the couch, her light pink bralette covering her breast as he grabbed her hand, sending kisses down her legs. She lets a shuddered moan when he begins to eat her, they hold hands while he does this her moans being the only sounds that are heard.

The damn had broken, the floodgates had erupted, the universe had finally caught up to them, and boy, did it have so much more in store.

Word count: 4400