[A/N] I don't really have much to say, but I'm sorry. Will you forgive me for such a long waiting time? *puss-in-boots eyes* Pwease?

This chapter is a bit longer than the other ones to make up for the update time :P

Thanks to all my reviewers, favouriters and alerters. I (lessthanthree) you ;)

~shoutouts~

ladyyuuki16, XxAlonexX, GBugg, V. A. Lover KaiiKaii Luv, princess roza, Little Miss Evil, vampirewolf98, rls66, ButterscotchAngelP, Serpente Shetan, Gaurdians-Rayne-Mayne, Ms. Withlock-Northman-Salvatore, Rachel-rob-Sandwich, jessted, HopeWithTheBlueMoon, unicorns 4 lyf, Mehan-Smith, SatayCullen and RandomnessQueen1

Thanks, guys. Enjoy:

Abby headed up to the main room, with Gibbs and McGee hot on her heels. She couldn't believe it. How could it be Rose? It just didn't seem to be in her character! Sure, she was wild, impulsive, reckless and loved to disobey authority, but murder seemed a bit too far for her.

Once upstairs, Ziva greeted them. "Did you find a match for the fingerprints?"

Gibbs nodded. "Someone named Rose Hathaway."

McGee brought up a picture of her on the monitor. Tony couldn't help but stare. "She's hot," he said bluntly, grinning. Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Well, she is," he protested.

Ziva stared at him, an unfamiliar feeling stirring in her mind. She pushed it away. They had a murderer to catch.

"McGee," barked Gibbs. "Suspect background information, please."

McGee furiously typed on his keyboard, looking through various files. "Her full name is Rosemarie Hathaway. She's seventeen, soon to turn eighteen. She currently attends St. Vladimir's Academy in Montana, but ran away from school with Vasilisa Dragomir for two years, before being found and returned to the Academy."

Abby's eyes widened. So she had been taken back to the Academy after all.

"Dinozzo. Send –"

"– a text to the Academy. On it, boss," Dinozzo finished, whipping out a phone and quickly typing in a text message.

While waiting for a reply from the school, Gibbs steered Abby aside. "How did you know who she was?" he asked.

She looked down. "I can't say."

"Abbs." Gibbs' voice had a dangerous edge to it, a warning.

"I can't tell you," she repeated. "Look, I'm pretty sure I can explain it when she arrives, but not right now."

Gibbs sighed. "If it was anyone other than you, I'd probably have smacked the back of your head right now," he said, a smile playing on his lips.

She grinned. "Well then, aren't I glad I'm me?"

"Boss, we've got a reply," came Dinozzo's voice. Gibbs and Abby returned to the rest of the team.

"What's it say?" Gibbs questioned gruffly.

"Rose Hathaway is on her way with her mentor, as she is a minor and needs an adult to go with her. She is flying to Ronald Reagan airport and will need to be picked up from there in about three-and-a-half hours," Dinozzo read.

"What, do they think we're a chauffeur service?" growled Gibbs. He pointed a finger. "Dinozzo, you're picking her up."

Dinozzo fist-pumped the air, a grin on his face. He swiped McGee's keys off his desk stealthily (the nerd was too busy sifting through the many files on Hathaway) and made his way to the lift.

Just as the doors were closing, Abby gave him a knowing smile. "Hit on her, and I swear I'll break your neck."

"Please fasten your seatbelts. We will be landing in another ten minutes."

Rose woke up to the automated voice ringing through the plane. She sat up groggily, knocking a leather duster to the floor in the process.

Dimitri was next to her, talking animatedly into the phone that the plane provided. She waited for him to finish, entertaining herself with a fantasy of a chocolate glazed donut. Her stomach rumbled at the thought.

His velvety chuckle wrapped around her like a caress. "Hello, Roza."

"Hey Comrade," she slurred sleepily. She noticed he was off the phone. "Who was that?"

"A group of Moroi that live in Washington. They specialize in putting up wards, so I instructed them to put wards around the NCIS base and the hotel we're staying at."

She frowned. "There are companies that do that?"

"How else would the Moroi living in the human world get wards placed around their homes?"

She shrugged, noticing another important thing. "I slept through the entire flight?"

He nodded. "It must have been a subconscious reaction to the ghosts trying to break through your mental barrier. Keeping that up must have been exhausting."

She rubbed her eyes, yawning. "I'm hungry." Her stomach rumbled again as if to endorse her words.

He raised an eyebrow. "When are you not?"

She punched him on the shoulder playfully, ignoring his teasing. "Do you have any food?"

He nodded, and reached down to pick up his duster. He pulled a chocolate donut out of the pocket.

She grinned, and took the donut. "Thanks, Comrade," she mumbled, her mouth already full. "You're the best."

He shook his head at her eagerness to eat, and went back to reading his Western novel.

"Welcome to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The temperature outside is twenty-seven degrees Fahrenheit and the local time is five-thirty p.m. We hope you have a pleasant time in Washington, D.C."

Rose struggled to keep her mental barriers in place. The pain was excruciating. She couldn't wait to get into the wards and relieve her headache.

Dimitri looked at her in concern, and managed to get them out of the plane and into the airport as soon as possible. They'd had to land in the public airport because of the fact that the NCIS base didn't have one, but they were to be picked up from the airport by an NCIS agent and driven to the base.

Dimitri and Rose made their way through the busy airport, following the signs. At last, they found themselves at the arrival hall.

Rose scanned the various boards with names written on them, and hers stood out from the crowd. She tugged on Dimitri's arm, and the two of them made their way over to the NCIS agent holding the board.

"Rose Hathaway?"

She nodded. "This is Dimitri Belikov. He's a friend of mine and is to accompany me to the base," she explained, gesturing to him.

"Really?" asked the agent. "Because I'm pretty sure he's your mentor."

Rose did a double take. "How did you – Kirova. Of course."

The agent laughed. "Any particular reason why you referred to him as a friend?"

Rose shrugged, hiding her feelings with indifference. "It's easier. We don't exactly interact as a mentor and student."

"Follow me," said the agent. He led them out of the mingling crowd, flashing his badge occasionally to help clear the way.

He took them around to the back of the parking lot, leading them to a grayish silver Porsche Boxster. Rose let out a low whistle. "Nice car. Is it yours?"

He grinned. "Nope. Borrowed it from another agent in our team."

Rose picked up on his tone. "And by 'borrowed', you mean 'took without permission.'"

He shrugged, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "He won't mind."

He opened the boot, and Dimitri placed the bags inside. The agent climbed into the driver's seat, and Rose and Dimitri climbed into the back together.

"I'm sorry, but we never got your name," said Dimitri politely. Rose rolled her eyes. Honestly, sometimes he was just way too nice.

He grinned. "I'm Special Agent Tony Dinozzo."

Dinozzo pulled into the employee car park, making sure to park the car exactly where he got it out from.

Rose got out of the car and stretched her legs. "Ugh. I've been sitting down for way too long."

Dimitri got out gracefully, chuckling at his Roza's strange behavior.

"Follow me," said Dinozzo. Once they reached the reception, he notified them that they needed visitor badges with photos.

Rose groaned. "Does my hair look okay, Comrade?"

His eyes danced mischievously. "Of course, Rose."

"This way, please," announced the photographer. She led them into a bare white room. "No poses, no funny faces, no smiles," she ordered.

Dimitri went first, and had his photo taken in a heartbeat. Following the restrictions set by the photographer wasn't hard. He wasn't the type of person to do any of that in photos, anyway.

Rose, on the other hand, was always pulling a face or funny pose in her photos. She just couldn't help herself. Every photo she'd burst out laughing because of her attempt to keep a straight face. The photographer had already snapped seven photos, and was obviously getting pissed off about Rose's unprofessionalism.

Dinozzo's phone began to ring. "Boss?" he answered.

"What's taking you so long, Dinozzo?" barked Gibbs on the other end of the line.

"Ah, we're in the building, Boss."

"So why aren't you down in the offices?"

"Hathaway is having her visitor's photo taken."

"And?"

"And, well, she's having trouble keeping a straight face, Boss."

He could almost hear Gibbs rolling his eyes on the other end of the line. "Just get her up here, Dinozzo." The call abruptly cut off.

"Excuse me," called Dinozzo to the photographer. "Gibbs wants us upstairs."

"I haven't taken the photo," she protested.

"We'll be here for the rest of the day if Rose keeps doing that," Dinozzo pointed out, referring to Rose's hideously hilarious grimace that she called a "straight face."

The photographer rolled her eyes. "Here," she said, pushing Rose off the set. "Take her." And she practically threw the passes at Dinozzo.

Rose was laughing uncontrollably in the lift, while Dimitri sighed exasperatedly. "Rose, behave yourself," he warned, nudging her arm.

"But the photos – so funny – her face," she collapsed into unintelligible snickers again. Dimitri muttered something in Russian that didn't sound very complementary.

"Here we are," said Dinozzo with a flourish as the lift doors opened.

"Fancy," commented Rose, her hysterics dying down the moment she was out of the lift.

The trio walked over to where McGee and Ziva were standing at the former's desk, eyeing Dimitri and Rose with curiosity.

"She doesn't look like a killer," McGee commented softly.

"They never do," Ziva whispered back.

Rose and Dimitri could pick up what they were saying, due to their enhanced hearing. Rose looked at Dimitri in shock. "They think I've killed someone?" she whispered to him, too quiet for any human ears to detect.

"They're wrong, Roza," he assured her, just as quietly.

Gibbs strode out of the director's office. Catching sight of Rose and Dimitri, he frowned. "Why isn't she in handcuffs, Dinozzo?" he grumbled.

Rose cocked her head. "Look, I don't even know why I'm here, okay," she voiced, speaking out for the first time.

"You didn't tell her." Gibbs said flatly, completely ignoring her. Dinozzo lowered his head.

"Hey! I'm right here. And I don't appreciate being ignored," Rose commented.

"Rose," Dimitri warned, grabbing a hold of her arm.

Ziva and McGee watched in amusement. Convicting a killer was never funny, but something about this girl captured their interest.

Gibbs brought out the handcuffs and moved over to Rose, but she raced away from him. She was standing on the stairs when he turned around.

"I have a right to know what I'm being arrested for," she hissed, the darkness taking over once more. She was confused and angry and stressed, and the fact that Lissa was practicing magic didn't help.

Dimitri was quick to realize this. "Rose, snap out of it. This isn't you," he said firmly, walking over to her and pinning her arms behind her.

"Let me go," she spat, trying to kick him. He was too fast, though, and easily dodged her attempts while still maintaining a firm hold on her.

He leant down to whisper in her ear. "Roza," he stressed. "This isn't you. Please, calm down."

She gathered strength from hearing the love and dedication in his voice and fought off the darkness as she had before in the cabin. As it escaped her body, she trembled. Dimitri stopped restraining her arms and gave her a comforting hug, and they both returned downstairs.

The NCIS field agents were in shock. What kind of normal mentor and student would have such a personal relationship?

"See why I referred to him as a friend?" Rose said with a shaky laugh.

"Is that a normal occurrence?" asked Ziva.

"It-it has been," Rose acknowledged. She could see the searching looks on everyone's faces, and she had to remember that she wasn't around members of her society anymore. She couldn't afford to lose control with the darkness like that again.

"So, why am I here, again?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Gibbs raised the handcuffs again, but made no move toward her. He knew it was the handcuffs that set her off last time; he wasn't stupid. "Miss Hathaway," he began, "you are under arrest for the murder of Petty Officer John Mastrano."

Rose stood still in shock. No. It couldn't be. Petty Officer John Mastrano had to be Jill's father. But she couldn't have killed Jill's father. She was at the Academy the whole time.

Gibbs deemed her safe enough to put the handcuffs on now, and she didn't oppose. He led her toward the interrogation rooms, the rest of the team following.

"You can come with us, you know," Ziva offered to Dimitri, who had been standing there slightly openmouthed at the thought of his Roza being arrested for murder.

He shook his head. "Yeah," he said, his mouth feeling dry.

As they passed the forensics lab, Rose caught sight of a familiar head of black hair parted into two ponytails. It couldn't be Abby, could it? No. She shook her head. She must have been imagining things.

[A/N] Mwahahahahaha. I know you all wanted a Rose/Abby reunion, but I figured I'd just keep you guys waiting. And why does Abby know Rose? I'd like to hear your theories.

Although, I didn't actually like the ending...but I couldn't think of anything else.

I'm on holidays right now, so updates SHOULD be coming more frequently. Besides, my goal is to finish this and YDW? by the end of the summer holidays because, next year, I'm going to a science school, and I'm thinking that I'll be more busy. So yeah.

kat xx