Hard Case: NCIS fan fiction

Chapter 31

Callen's POV

Honestly, I was still a little shaken up after Zara's story. I had seen many strange things in my lifetime, but nothing came even close to the story she had told. Even more terrifying was the fact that even Hetty was unaware of Zara's... well... unique abilities. And Hetty knew just about everything about everything. That scared me, if nothing else did. The fact that all of us we're going into this completely blind, with no idea of anything that was happening.

But, it did make everything about the girl clearer. All the little quirks she had, the way she spoke and held herself, it all made sense. And the flicking of her fingers, which we had all thought was a nervous habit, that certainly made a lot more sense now too.

Even so, what surprised me was how she had kept this a secret from everyone for so long. Even her old team, who from what I had read and been through so much with her. She had done it not only to keep herself safe, but everyone around her safe. As Zara had explained to them, the risk that she was scared of, what was probably going to happen now that she had told them, was that The Organisation would target them, to find her. She could easily protect herself with her abilities, as she had demonstrated to them, but they would be easier targets. I could barely wrap my mind around it, never in my life had I been the one who was the easy target. I was always the one worrying about others, wanting to protect them, like I had always tried to do with Nell and Eric, the wonder twins in OSP, and it felt strange to be on the receiving end, especially with a young girl that I felt obliged to protect. I couldn't help thinking however, that even though Zara had done all this in the name of safety and protection, it had eaten her up inside after all this time, broken her in ways she refused to say. But I knew better than to question her mental health, lest I be rewarded with a levitating wedgie, so I resigned himself to worrying about her from a distance.

"Hello?" Trent Murphy's nervous voice broke into my thoughts, as I retained his stoic facade. Apparently, my intimidation tactics had worked, and I could see the nervous sweat trickling down the suspects forehead.

"Yes?" I answered, a bored tone to my voice.

"Are-are you going to start interrogating me or what?"

"That depends, are you ready to talk?" What I had really wanted to ask was "are you sufficiently intimidated?", as Zara had done once, but I didn't want to get accused of copying her; even before she had revealed her abilities she was never happy when someone copied her.

"About what?" Trent Murphy did appear to be confused, but I could see the wheels and gears in Murphy's mind turning, going through the array of somewhat illegal activities he had been involved in.

"About what you did to your son."

"What do you mean? I didn't do anything to my son!" Trent Murphy stood up, a defensive look enveloping his facial features.

"We know everything. Your deal with The Organisation, what they told you to do. The only thing I don't understand is, why would you hurt your son? And for what? Money?"

"I never hurt my son! I was helping him! He would have had superpowers, been invincible, never would be able to get hurt ever again. Isn't that every kid's dream?" Trent Murphy was yelling now, his face distorted with rage at the accusation. I was about to restrain the man, before any harm came to himself or others, when all of a sudden Trent's body appeared to be taken over by an outside force, and it was flung against the wall behind him. Murphy writhed on the wall, trying to regain control of his body, but it appeared that he couldn't move.

"No! No! I was trying to help him! Trying to protect him! I couldn't... I didn't know!" Murphy started yelling, begging to be let go, as if there was a voice in his head telling him all that he had done. And I was sure that there was. A short while ago, a spectacle like this would have shocked me down to the core, but now I knew who was doing this. I looked behind me at the video camera positioned in the corner of the room, and hoped that Zara's anger had not gotten the better of her.

A/N: So... it's only been about what, 3 weeks since I last updated? I really am trying to finish this story, but these past few weeks have been very difficult for me and it's been hard to even finish my school work, let alone write. Anyway, I'm not even sure that anyone is still reading this story (my own fault I know, the irregular updates must be annoying) but I am curious. If anyone is still reading, leave a comment down below would you? Just say, "I'm still reading! Hurry up and finish writing this story already!" and maybe say something you would like to see happen if you feel like it. Anyway, on another note, I've been thinking about starting an original story once I get through this rough patch, I've got an idea that I really want to write about, and I think it would be fun. If I do write this story, I think I would create a different profile, but I'll of course tell you readers if you wanted to read that story (or maybe not- aren't you guys fed up with my inconsistent updates? 😂). Anyway, I'll see you in the next update, I don't know when it'll be but hopefully sometime soon!