Title: "It Ends Here Tonight"

Disclaimer: I do not own any person, place or thing you may recognize. I do, however, own Rhett Bartlett and the name Silene Black.

Rating: T

Warnings: language; mentions of past character death; female Harry

Fandoms: NCIS and Harry Potter

Characters: Silene Black, LJ Gibbs, Andromeda Tonks, Leon Vance, Alejandro Rivera, Abby Scuito, Tony DiNozzo, an unnamed security guard and Trent Kort; with appearances by Tim McGee, Ziva David, Ducky Mallard, Jimmy Palmer, a variety of other agents and a handful of federalis, and mentions of M. Alison Hart, Paloma Reynosa, Cynthia Nixon, Luna Lovegood and Sirius Black

Spoilers: specific spoilers for the s8 premiere, The Spider and the Fly, with vague spoilers for s7 and Gibbs' backstory; specific spoilers for Order of the Phoenix

Summary: Gibbs' past has come back to haunt him. Silene has a plan to get things into the open. She may be able to save Gibbs, but doing so may cost her the friends she thought she had made, as well as any respect she had earned from the other Agents. Support comes from a surprising source.

Word Count: 4,035

Author's Note: Here is the next piece in my NCIS/HP crossover 'verse. This one is set during the season 8 premiere episode, The Spider and the Fly, and takes place about seven years after "Dead Man Talking".

When I first started watching NCIS, I really didn't like Trent Kort. However, he has grown on me, and apparently Silene has grown on him, as well. The two of them have an odd relationship. I'm not going to reveal exactly what, as it comes into play in another idea that I'm playing around with, but feel free to try and guess if you'd like. If you guess correctly, I'll work you in as a cameo appearance in another story in this 'verse.

Anyway, sorry for the wait. I've had a couple of other things that I've been working on, as well as a new fandom that I started dabbling in. Let me know what y'all think.

Fae

It Ends Here Tonight

Silene hesitated slightly as she stood at the top of the steps. Normally, she would go straight down and perch on the workbench, watching Gibbs work, but not tonight. Tonight, she had something important to talk to him about, and she was unsure how he would take it.

"You gonna stand up there all night?"

She flushed slightly, even though he couldn't see her, and proceeded down the steps. He was leaning against the workbench, a glass of bourbon in his hand and another sitting next to him. He picked up the second and held it out to her.

She crossed the room and turned to lean against the workbench next to him, taking the jar from his hand. She took a sip, savoring the taste. She was the only one of the team who truly enjoyed Gibbs' alcohol of choice, although she still couldn't stomach the muck he called coffee.

Something to be said about being raised in Britain, she supposed. Give her a hot cup of tea any day.

"Spit it out, Silene," he said after the silence had dragged on for a good while.

"We can't keep going on like this," she said, staring across the basement, rather than looking at her boss and the closest thing she had had to a father since Sirius died. "Our nerves are stretched thin and something has got to give."

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that his hand tightened around his glass.

"You know that we will keep your secret, but are you really going to put Abby and Ducky, and even Jimmy in that position? This is slowly driving everyone mad, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. You've let this control you for so long and now the rest of us are suffering for it. It's time to change the game."

"What do you have in mind?"

She finally turned to look at him. "Do you trust me?" she asked.

"You know I do."

"Will you trust me a little longer? Even if you can't see the end?"

He went completely still, staring at her, searching her face. "Andy-" he began.

"Has already agreed. She doesn't know specifics, but she is ready and willing to come to your defense."

She could see him thinking about it, weighing the cons, with the major pro of getting this off his chest and no longer having the threat hanging over his head.

"I trust you," he said finally.

She gave him a small smile. "I have reason to believe that Señor Rivera will make an appearance at the Yard tomorrow. Andy will be here tomorrow night. You will have to be honest with her. About everything. Otherwise she won't be able to fully help you."

He took a deep breath, but nodded. "I will," he said.

She downed the rest of her bourbon. "I will see you tomorrow. And do not fret, LJ," she said. "Everything will work out in the end. You'll see."

She patted him on the arm before heading back up the steps and out of the house. After making sure no one was around, she spun on her heel, aparating back to her townhouse in Alexandria.

"Well?" Andy asked, coming into the hall.

"He agreed," Silene said.

Andy nodded. "I'll meet him at his home tomorrow night?"

"Yes," Silene said with a sigh, going over and wrapping her arms around Andy's waist. "Am I doing the right thing, Andy?" she asked after a few moments.

Andy rubbed her back gently, her chin resting on top of Silene's head. "Only you can answer that, Silene."

"My head says yes, but my heart is saying no. That this is a betrayal of the trust that LJ put in me."

"He must want this to go away as much as you do, if he was willing to agree to your plan."

"He doesn't know all of it. Not exactly," she said.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to get his hopes up in case it doesn't work out. All he knows is that you will be defending him."

"You're hoping it won't come to that."

"I'm hoping everything will come through, but I can't make any guarantees."

"Everything will work out, Silene. You'll see," Andy said.

"I hope you're right, Andy. I really hope you're right."

The next day, the whole team was standing in the bullpen when Vance and Señor Rivera came down the stairs. They were gathered around Tony's desk, going over the leads they had on the location of Paloma Reynosa, although that quickly stopped when her brother approached.

He and the others exchanged heated words, but Silene ignored them, stealing herself for what was going to come next. She knew that Gibbs had said he trusted her, but she also knew that the others would see her coming actions as the worst sort of betrayal.

She could only hope that they wouldn't do anything rash or foolish before the end.

She noticed Abby approaching out of the corner of her eye and gave a mental groan. This was going to be worse than she had anticipated.

"Abby," Rivera said as the Goth slowed.

"Señor Rivera," Abby returned, warily.

"How are you?"

"Fine," Abby said shortly.

They exchanged a few other pleasantries before Rivera asked about the forensics report. "You know, I never did get that report."

"Well, I told you. I sent it."

"You know, it's funny. Ms. Hart was supposed to be looking into it, but she's out of the country."

"Sorry."

"I suppose you have another copy?"

"No. Just the one."

Silene looked over at Gibbs, a question in her eyes. He studied her face for a moment, like he had the night before, before nodding once. She stepped forward.

"That's not entirely true," she said, crossing to her desk and opening a drawer. She withdrew a file and moved towards Rivera. "Here," she said, handing it to him. "I made an extra copy, just in case."

He took it and flipped through the first few pages. "Thank you, Agent Black," he said.

"I hope it provides you with the answers you desire," she said, giving him a distant smile.

"Thank you." He bowed slightly. "I will see you all some other time." He turned to leave.

Once he was in the elevator, the others rounded on Silene.

"Silene! How could you?!" Abby demanded. "You know what's in there!"

Silene merely smiled serenely. "The truth, of course," she said. "And there is no need to hide the truth."

"But, Gibbs!"

"It's okay, Abs," Gibbs said, pulling the Goth into a hug. "Everything's going to work out."

"How do you know?"

"Do you trust me, Abs?"

"Of course!" Abby seemed affronted that he would doubt her.

"Then trust me. Everything will be fine."

"How? How can this be fine?"

"Trust me," Gibbs said again, looking around at the rest of the team.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Silene," Tony said finally.

"Of course," she said, giving him a reassuring smile.

McGee, Ziva and Vance were all looking at her in varying degrees of suspicion, but a glare from Gibbs sent the junior agent, and the probationary agent scrambling to their desks. Vance looked at her in suspicion for another moment or two before moving back toward the steps.

"Gibbs," he called.

Gibbs gave Abby a reassuring kiss on the top of the head before following the Director up the steps. Silene took that moment to slip out of the bullpen. It was going to be a horrible afternoon.

Horrible, it certainly was, although it did pass eventually, as all afternoons must. That night, Silene cried herself to sleep. Word had quickly spread to the rest of the Agency and soon Gibbs and Tony were the only ones who continued to speak to her in anything resembling a friendly tone.

Everywhere she had gone throughout the Agency, whispers, stares and glares followed her. She even heard a couple of Agents say something about how she was bad luck. Her first team lead had been killed and now she had all but handed her new team lead over to a Mexican drug lord.

She had long grown used to the stares and glares and whispers, growing up as she had, as the Girl-Who-Lived, but it still unnerved her when Abby, McGee and Ziva gave her the same coldshoulder as the rest of the Agency. She had hoped that the three of them would have some little amount of trust in her, but it seemed not to be.

She knew that Abby was mostly upset because it was the Goth's report that was now going to be used to condemn her hero, and she was lashing out at the most available target. As such, that didn't bother her as badly.

McGee and Ziva, on the other hand, bothered her greatly. She had thought that she had long proved to them that she would always have the teams' backs. It seemed not, however, and their comments were some of the worst, which in turn, encouraged the other Agents to be more bold in their own.

She had kept her head down, doing her best to ignore the comments, and not rise to the bait. She had every confidence that her plan was for the best. She only hoped it worked as well as she anticipated it would.

The next morning, she got up early and took a long shower before dressing in her most Luna-esque outfit.

A brown challis skirt hung all the way down to her ankles. The skirt was loose and full. It reminded her of a gypsy skirt. On top, she wore an emerald green peasant top that brought out her eyes. She had a thin, braided band wrapped around her head, the tasseled ends hanging down over her left shoulder and making her look like a hippie.

A wider leather band was wrapped around her waist, etched with catch-flies and lilies winding around a stag, a dog and a wolf. She had green and brown and silver bangles up her left forearm. On her feet was a pair of rain boots that matched her shirt. Completing the outfit were a pair of radish earrings and a bottle cap necklace.

When she arrived at the office, she was unsurprised to see that most of the Agency had arrived early, and were finding reasons to be in the bullpen. The murmurs and whispers started up again as they took in her appearance. She ignored them and took her seat, sending a handful of texts to make sure that everything was in place.

It was and so she made herself a cup of tea and turned on her computer. Ziva and McGee were both behind McGee's desk, doing something on McGee's computer and whispering to each other, while Tony was at his own desk across from Silene's. He had a folder open on his desk, but he was staring across the bullpen at her, his face blank to all but her and Gibbs.

Are you okay? Was the silent question.

She flicked her eyes over to the window. No. A barely there shrug ended the conversation. But I will be.

Gibbs was at his desk as well and when she looked over at him, she found him staring at her, his usual unreadable expression on his face. The corner of her mouth twitched in a faint smile, before she turned back to her computer.

Abby, Ducky and Jimmy had all found reasons to come up to the bullpen as well. Abby immediately joined Ziva and McGee while Ducky leaned against the partition by Gibbs' desk and Jimmy joined Tony behind his.

Just then, the elevator dinged and Rivera came out, half a dozen federalis behind him. They said nothing as they walked past, heading up the steps to the Director's office, although Rivera had a smug look on his face.

A long thirty minutes passed, with Gibbs and Silene as the only two who actually got any work done. Everyone else had given up on pretending as they either watched Gibbs, watched Silene, or stared up at the door to the Director's office.

Finally, Gibbs' phone rang, catching most people off guard and causing more than one Agent to jump in surprise.

"Gibbs," he said, looking over at Silene. The two of them stared at each other as he listened to whatever Cynthia was saying.

He hung up and she gave him a reassuring smile. He nodded once and stood, making his way up to the fourth floor.

As soon as he was out of sight, Abby rounded on Silene. "If he gets arrested, I will never forgive you," she hissed, glaring daggers.

Silene didn't reply. She merely went back to work. Another twenty minutes passed, the tension even thicker than it had been earlier. With Gibbs no longer in the bullpen, Silene was the only one available for people to stare at.

Finally, her phone rang. "Black," she said in answer.

"Agent Kort of the CIA is here to see you."

The door to the Director's office opened and the nine men exited. Gibbs was bracketed by two federalis, his arms obviously cuffed behind him.

"Send him up, please," she replied, tracking the group's progress with her eyes. As the group made to move past the opening to the bullpen, they were met by the whole team, though Silene stood off to the side.

Rivera paused in front of her. "Thank you, Agent Black, for your integrity. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for you to hand over that report, knowing it implicated your mentor in a capital crime."

"When I joined NCIS, I swore to uphold the laws of this Country. I cannot decide to only uphold those laws when I like the outcome."

"Yes, well. Thank you. I will see you for the trial?"

"Of course," she said with a dreamy smile. "Are you going home immediately, or to the Embassy first?"

"The Embassy. Our flight does not leave until this evening."

"Excellent. I will alert Mr. Gibbs' lawyer and let her know."

"You know how to contact Ms. Hart?"

Silene laughed lightly. "Oh, no," she said. "Mr. Gibbs has never trusted Ms. Hart. He chose a different lawyer."

"I see. Well. Good day, Agent Black."

She gave him another dreamy smile, pleased to hear the ding of the elevator. Rivera, his men and Gibbs moved on, passing Kort as he made his way to her.

The CIA Agent watched them for a moment. "No wonder you insisted I bring it over this morning," he said, turning back to Silene.

"What are you doing here, Kort?" Tony demanded.

"Relax, DiNozzo," Kort said, handing Silene the two files in his hand.

She flipped through the first two pages, making sure they were what she had wanted before handing one to Vance and stepping towards the group at the elevator. "Uno momento, Señor Rivera," she called just before the man entered the elevator.

He held his men back. "Yes, Agent Black?"

"I have something else I'd like you to look at before you leave."

"Oh?"

Rivera met her halfway, Gibbs and the guards two steps behind him. He took the file and began to flip through it. "What is this?" he demanded.

She smiled dreamily. "Executive orders, authorizing then Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs to eliminate Cartel Head, Pedro Hernandez."

"No, but that means-" Rivera trailed off, staring at her in horror.

"I'm sorry, Señor Rivera," she said, being as apologetic as she possibly could. "Your father's death was a government sanctioned hit. Agent Gibbs did nothing wrong."

"Why didn't you give me this yesterday? Did you have to forge it?"

"Of course not. It's been buried in Archives for years. Agent Kort of the CIA only just brought it to me."

"The CIA was involved?"

Kort stepped up next to Silene. "Overseas drug lords are our jurisdiction. Your father was a problem. Gibbs took care of it for us."

"Why did no one mention this before?"

"It's above most people's pay grade," Silene said.

"Agent Gibbs could have said something."

"The personal nature of the hit caused quite a furor. Everyone involved was sworn to absolute secrecy and the Orders themselves were lost in Archives until last night," Kort said.

"If it was so secretive, how did you find out?" Rivera asked, looking at Silene.

"Oh," she said, sounding a little startled. "Two months after I started at NCIS, I stumbled across a vague reference to the Orders when I was researching a case. I had forgotten all about it until Ducky started autopsying your father. The name rang a bell and I asked Agent Kort to do some digging for me. I didn't say anything yesterday because I wasn't sure what he may have found."

"What case were you working on?"

"I can't tell you that, Silly," she said with a light laugh. "You aren't authorized to know the details of an open NCIS case."

"You've been with the Agency for almost ten years," he said, suspiciously.

"Oh, yes. It was a cold case when I got it, and despite my efforts, I still haven't managed to close it. It's a shame, really, that I can't bring the perpetrator to justice, or provide closure for the poor family, but I have hit dead ends at every turn. I have my suspicions, of course, but suspicions are no good in a court of law. Still, as long as it's an open case, I can't tell you anything about it."

"I see," Rivera said, staring at her, hatred growing in his eyes.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like my Senior Agent back, please. It's just- I only recently got him trained up the way I like, and I'd hate to have to start over again." She gave him a guileless smile.

Rivera glowered, but signaled for his men to release Gibbs. "It seems I have been out-maneuvered," he said.

"Don't feel bad, Señor Rivera. It's not your fault the wrackspurts made you confused."

He eyed her warily, unsure what she was talking about, but suspecting it was some form of insult.

"Buenos tardes y hasta luego, Señor Rivera. Have a safe flight back to Mexico. Oh, and tell your sister that I really like the dolls she's going to leave for us, but could she please make mine green? It's just that the brown is not a very nice color and I won't be able to display it in my room."

Rivera glowered once again and stalked back to the elevator, Silene smiling at him with a distant look on her face. He jabbed at the button, glancing back at her. She wiggled her fingers at him, smiling wider.

"How many foreign dignitaries have you pissed off now?" Kort asked.

"Oh, at least six or seven, I'm sure," she replied dreamily.

Gibbs chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "That's my girl," he said.

She smiled up at him, gaining a kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you," he murmured into her hair.

"So we're good now?" Kort asked.

She turned to look at him. "Buy me dinner at The English Rose and I'll call us even," she countered.

"Yeah, I could do with some authentic fish and chips. Thirteen hundred?"

"Perfect."

"It's a date," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, yay!" She clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing on her toes.

"DiNozzo, I want you and your team in my office for debrief in ten minutes. Gibbs, Agent Kort, you two, too."

"And if I have plans?"

"Cancel them," Vance said, stalking up the stairs.

"What's got his knickers in a twist?"

"He doesn't like it when we go behind his back," Silene explained.

"That explains so much."

"Doesn't it?" she asked with a giggle, linking her arm with his and skipping towards the stairs.

"Black, I am not skipping with you," he growled, trying to disentangle their arms.

"But it's so much fun!" she said with wide eyes, as though shocked he didn't want to skip with her.

"Cease and desist, Woman!"

She stopped and turned to him, her eyes widening even further and her lower lip quivering. "Bu- but-" she began.

"Ah. Dammit, Black, stop looking at me like that!"

She sniffled slightly, pouting up at him.

"Fine! Fine, we'll skip."

"Yay!" she exclaimed happily, smiling at him and reaching for his arm.

"But! No dessert."

She froze. "Bu- but-" she stammered, staring at him with wide eyes once again.

"Your choice. We skip, or you get Death by Chocolate."

"No Death by Chocolate?"

"Not if we skip. Got it?"

She nodded, frantically. "No skipping," she said solemnly.

"I knew you'd see it my way," he said. "Now, let's go help your Director untwist his knickers so we can go eat. And stop staring, DiNozzo. You look even more dumb than normal."

"Tre-ent," Silene said, elbowing him in the side. "Be nice."

"That was not a condition."

"Please?"

"Fine. Stop gawking, DiNozzo, you'll catch flies. Better?"

"Much."

"Good. Now let's go."

As the two of them made their way up the stairs, they heard Tony in the background. "What the hell was that?"

Silene giggled and Kort smirked down at her.

Ten minutes later found all of them in Vance's office. Silene was sitting in one chair, swinging her legs and gazing distractedly around the office, seemingly oblivious to everyone and everything around her. Kort was leaning against the wall behind her, while the others were scattered around the room.

"How much of that bullshit downstairs was the truth?" Vance demanded once the room was sealed.

"I told no lies, Director," Silene said, giving him a distant smile.

Vance raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Uh-huh," he said. "Kort?"

"What she said."

"You two really expect me to believe that these Orders just happened to be found right when we needed them, even after no one else had ever heard even a hint about them?"

"Believe what you will, Director," Kort said. "Like Black said downstairs, those Orders have been lost in Archives for years."

"How many years?" Vance asked flatly.

"Why ask questions you don't really want to know the answer to?" Silene returned. "This way, you keep your best Agent, and you maintain deniability should anyone question you."

Vance narrowed his eyes at her. "What case were you talking about?" he asked instead of following up on the previous question.

She smiled, gazing at a point above the Director's head. "The case of why a certain Senior Agent was being even more of a grumpy, irritable, bearish bastard than normal," she said.

That shocked a laugh out of both Tony and Kort.

"Who came up with that?" Kort asked.

"Rhett Bartlett. He was my Senior Field Agent at the time. He's head of the San Diego MCRT now."

"I think I need to meet this Agent Bartlett," Kort said.

"Back to the matter at hand," Vance said, irritated.

"What else is there to say, Leon?" Gibbs asked. "Everything worked out, and it's better for your peace of mind if you don't know all of the details."

Vance glared at him for a moment before transferring his glare to Silene. Neither one was bothered by it. "Stop going behind my back," he said in warning.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Director," Silene said with a blithe smile.

He growled. "Get out of here," he ordered, pointing at the door. "It's too early to deal with your particular brand of crazy."

Her smile grew fixed, but she stood up, curtsying before slipping out the door. Kort caught up to her in one of the conference rooms down the hall.

"Hey," he said. "You okay?"

"Fine," she replied.

He glanced at his watch. "Want to make it elevensies for bangers and mash instead?"

She looked up at him, a question on her face.

He shrugged. "You don't look like you're up to dealing with the other agents right now. I can imagine they weren't very nice when they thought you had betrayed your team lead."

She shrugged. "I'm used to it," she said.

"Shouldn't be. C'me on. Let's get out of here."