"Ducky? Gerald? You guys here yet?" I enter the dark Autopsy room, fiddling through my purse for my NCIS badge. "I know I was supposed to come earlier, but parking was a bitch."

Suddenly, someone presses a cold metal against my forehead.

The muzzle of a gun.

"And who are you?" The person's raspy voice tells me he's male, but it doesn't belong to the doctor or his assistant.

Cowering behind a dim-lit autopsy table, Ducky just barely shakes his head.

"Meredith Montgomery." I pretend to shake in fear. "I-I'm a medical student from the University of Virginia."

"And what are you doing here?" The muzzle digs further into my skin, close to leaving a ring in its place.

Keep it going, Evaline. You're doing great. "Dr. Mallard invited me to observe an autopsy. But I see that won't be happening today."

"Beautiful and wise." He steps closer, his face now visible from the small light. "Such a shame that I will have to kill you."

I hear a bullet click into place. With a pull of the trigger, I'll be dead.

"Wait!" Ducky shouts frantically. "If she does not return to campus in precisely one hour, the university will be forced to contact law enforcement, and they will kill you." Since when has Ducky been one to lie?

Guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

The man finally moves away the gun, waves of relief rushing through my body.

"Get her a set of greens and breathing gear." He nudges me forward.

Ducky's hand grazes the middle of my back, leading me into the supply closet. "I apologize for not notifying you sooner, but —"

"It's alright, Dr. Mallard." I keep up the act, even though he's far enough to not hear us. "But I do have my gun with me." Discreetly, I show him the contents of my purse.

Sitting right on top is the SIG-Sauer.

Once I am settled into the gear, Gerald, Ducky, and our captor wheel out Qassam's body.

"Right ventricle, left atria." His fingers touch the two bullet holes. "You haven't done an autopsy."

"It was late. I was due to autopsy today."

"Then you best place him on the table."

I kind of just follow whatever Ducky does seeing as I don't have any experience in medicine.

"Did you draw blood last night?" He paces along the side of the table.

"Yes." Ducky starts to uncover the body

"Is it refrigerated here?"

"No."

"You sent it with his clothing to Forensics?"

"Yes."

My head starts to ache from the adrenaline pumping through my bloodstream consistently.

"Are you a pathologist?" Not now, Ducky.

Ignoring the M.E.'s question, he asks, "Where is the lab?

"One floor up. Directly above us." Gerald opens his mouth to talk for the first time.

Ducky tries to trick the man into taking the stairwell with a surveillance camera monitoring it, but the lie fuels his anger even more.

To the point where his hand is wrapped around my neck, cutting off my oxygen.

Phoning Abby, Ducky hastily requests for her to bring down the vial of Qassam's blood as well as all of his belongings.

Suddenly, my cellphone begins to buzz. Before I can answer it, he snatches it out of my pocket.

"Who is this. . .Tony?" He raises it, showing me the caller ID.

"My boyfriend." That's the first thing that comes to mind. "He must be calling about our anniversary dinner tonight."

He presses the call button.

"H-Hi, honey." I stammer out, hoping to God he wouldn't think anything of it.

"Where are you, sweetheart?"

Maybe Tony thinks I'm teasing.

He holds up a finger, shaking it as if to say that I shouldn't tell him where I really am.

"Oh, you know, Starbucks. Just picking up some coffee for Dr. Mallard." I fake a girly giggle. "Oh, they're calling my name. Meredith."

He hangs up before Tony can respond.

"As to not have any more interruptions. . ." He shoots a bullet through my phone.

Instead of Abby, Kate comes down to deliver the box of evidence. She and Ducky converse for a bit before she turns around to leave.

Except, the man saw the gun strapped to her holster.

Ducky, Gerald, and I sit on the ground with our hands behind our heads as he searches Kate thoroughly.

He flips open her NCIS badge. "Special Agent Caitlin Todd." Stuffing it away in his pocket, he focuses on her sig. "You any good with this gun, Caitlin?"

"Give it back and I'll demonstrate."

All he does is hum. "Ever fire it in anger?"

"I would love to right now."

Abandoning the gun and Kate in general, he proceeds to search through the box of evidence.

"Did you shoot Qassam? Did you put that double tap in his heart?"

Kate opts to remain silent.

"She didn't shoot him."

"Who did?"

"Special Agent Gibbs." My breath hitches in my throat.

Kate lifts her head up slightly. "Ducky."

"That name rings a bell, Dr. Mallard."

"Don't answer this bastard!" Kate yells angrily.

"You mustn't chastise the good doctor, Caitlin. At least not until you know my rules."

"I don't play by terrorist rules." She accuses him.

He chuckles wryly, clearly amused by her assumption. "Who says I'm a terrorist?" Unbagging a small tube, he stuffs it into his chest pocket. "Doctor, is this all the evidence?"

"From what I can see from here." Ducky rests his elbows on his knees. "Gerald?"

"It looks like all of it." Gerald confirms.

"Caitlin, you may roll over now. . .if you keep your hands where they are." He permits.

With her hands still behind her head, she flips onto her back, staring up at the light above her head.

"Did special agents search Qassam's room?" He stares down at her. "Where is the evidence that was bagged and tagged?" Kate continues to keep her lips tight. "Doctor, please explain the rules to stubborn little Caitlin."

"If we lie, or he thinks we're lying, he'll put a bullet in one of Gerald's joints."

"Or?"

"Or suffocate my medical student Meredith to death."

I notice Kate's gaze shift to meet mine, her eyes full of confusion.

"And be specific. Ball and socket joints." He precises, standing between Kate's autopsy table and where we are sitting. "And you omitted one condition."

"I did?" The three of us drop our aching arms.

He nods gravely. "Yes, you did."

"Oh, yes! We mustn't try to trick him." Ducky adds to the list of rules.

"Which you tried to do, Caitlin," He flips the gun in his hand, "by saying you beat your phobia."

"Well, she didn't know the rules."

"But you did, Dr. Mallard. And you joined the ruse by calling her Abby."

Next thing I know, Gerald has a bullet wound through his shoulder. He clutches it painfully, but that won't stop the bleeding.

Not waiting to hear what he has to say, the three of us work on saving Gerald and bandaging his wound temporarily.

"Don't worry, son. I'll take care of you." Ducky's hands tremble as we move Gerald onto the second autopsy table.

"You bastard!" Kate shouts at him.

"I would like to watch Meredith — and only Meredith — try to save Gerald." He stands back, waiting for me to start. "Or should I say, Special Agent Evaline Giudice?"

Guess the cover's blown.

I turn around, staring up at him. "If you let me, Ducky, and Kate work on Gerald, you can. . .you can kill me as soon as we are done."

"How can I pass off on an offer as pleasing as yours?"

Ducky shouts instructions to me and Kate as he answers the telephone. He follows behind the doctor, leaving the three of us alone.

"I'm not going to let him kill you. You know that, right?"

"Kate, you can't do anything about it."

Once Gerald is stable, we can catch our breaths for a moment.

"Doctor, Evaline, Caitlin. . .put Qassam in the body bag." He calls us over.

Suddenly, a red alarm blares just outside the Autopsy doors.

"Now, please." We prepare to move the body. "Soon they'll be calling to negotiate your release."

"We don't negotiate with terrorists."

"Caitlin. . .when you get to know me better, you won't call me that."

"I have no intention of getting to know you better."

"Oh, really? Maybe this. . .will convince you." His hand wraps around my throat once again, pressing against the tracheal area.

"In exactly eight seconds, she will lose consciousness. From there, it will take precisely one minute to cause brain damage."

"Alright, fine!" She shouts desperately. "Let her go!"

When he lets me go, I drop to the ground and start to cough, regaining my breath and finally supplying my body with oxygen.

Ducky rushes to my aide. "Are you alright, dear?"

"I'm. . .yeah." The words come out raspily.

Soon, Gibbs, other NCIS agents, and the FBI Rescue team come to save us. It takes a while seeing as he had bound us, taped off our mouths, and locked us in the body coolers.

By the time it's dark outside, I haven't moved out of my chair. Not once.

Gibbs is at the hospital for his bullet wound in the shoulder. Gerald is there as well. Ducky and Kate have already gone home.

"Hey, honey." Tony sits on the edge of my desk, his hands folded in his lap.

I roll my eyes at the nickname. "Hi."

"You could have been killed today." His eyes meet mine, but I look away.

"So?" My fingers curl around the armrest tightly. "I didn't think you'd care enough."

"I care more than you think."

"It wouldn't hurt to show it once in a while."