John Drake walked into the NCIS office. It was dimly lit and it appeared that no one was there. He was about to disappear to visit Gibbs' home when he saw that Gibbs was actually sleeping at his desk.
"Gibbs!" Drake shouted. "Damn it, wake up!"
Gibbs stirred; lifting his head from his desk he looked around and saw Drake. "Who the hell are you?"
"Gibbs, there is something I need to tell you." Drake hardly knew where to start. "Firstly I'm not really here, well I mean, I am here but I'm sort of a ghost."
"You don't look like a ghost…" Gibbs looked at him and then he stood up and walked over to Drake. He held out his hand and tried to touch Drakes shoulder. His hand passed straight through.
Drake smiled. "Yeah it still freaks me out too." He waited for a moment to allow Gibbs to get up to speed. "You have just lost a good friend and you wish to kill the man responsible."
"You got that right and there is no point in anybody, dead or alive trying to change my mind." Gibbs was emphatic.
"I have reasons to want him dead too, but that is not exactly why I'm here." Drake paused and hoped that he could persuade Gibbs to believe the version of history that he knew and then motivate him to change it for the better. "There is something that I need you to understand but you might find it difficult."
"Well you have persuaded me that you are a ghost, how much harder could it be to believe?" Gibbs asked, looking worried.
"Well, be honest Gibbs, you know about ghosts. Kelly keeps you company after all." Drake waited for a reaction.
Gibbs looked at Drake and smiled. "So what unbelievable facts do you have for me?"
"Ok I'm from the future, I know what is going to happen over the next few days and I'm here to help you change it." Again Drake waited.
Gibbs walked round to his chair and sat down. "So tell me, what is going to happen?"
"I'll tell you first what you need to change. You are about to get a new team member. Her name is Ziva David." Drake checked Gibbs for reaction again, seeing none he continued, "She is an agent for Mossad and you need to trust her."
Gibbs did react this time. "Well that's not going to happen!"
"If you don't trust her Ari will escape and kill again." Drake looked at Gibbs "If it is any help you do trust Ziva in the future, but you left it too long and he got away."
"So how do we get the bastard? What do I have to do?" Gibbs asked. He listened to Drake with great care and was careful to remember every detail.
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Five of them were in the Abby's lab; Director Shepard was trying to convince Gibbs that Ari should not be a target as he was still believed to be working undercover for Mossad. Gibbs was clearly unconvinced even though Abby & Tony were clearly in favour of playing it safe and assuming that Ari did not kill Kate.
Gibbs knew better. "Give me a minute alone with Ms. David, please."
Once they had a little privacy Gibbs said, "You found out about my first wife and my daughter."
Ziva responded, "Yes. I'm sorry."
"Then we know why Ari is shooting at women then, don't we?" he said trying to make his point clear.
Still unconvinced Ziva answered, "If he wanted you to know he is the sniper, why didn't he use your rifle? An M40?"
Without betraying the emotion that he felt Gibbs looked at Ziva and said, "The Bravo 51 he fired is called a 'Kate'."
After a moment of hesitation Ziva answered, "I still don't believe Ari is the sniper." Thinking further she added, "What you have said should be investigated."
Obviously not satisfied with this answer Gibbs goes on, "Well, when the media gets wind of this, it's going to create a furor."
Irritated Ziva asks, "Are you threatening to go to the media?"
With a slight smile Gibbs says. "No, not me. This can stay between Mossad and NCIS."
Ziva is now curious. "In exchange for what? Setting up Ari for you to kill?"
Gibbs, still smiling, shakes his head slightly. "No. Setting me up for Ari. And if I'm wrong about this, he won't show up."
Ziva is by now almost convinced to go along with Gibbs on this if only to prove him wrong. "And if you're right?"
"Then I'm counting on you to back me up." Gibbs answered looking Ziva in the eye.
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Some time later in Gibbs' basement there is a confrontation between Gibbs and Ari, with Ari pointing Gibbs' own M40 at him. A shot rings out and Ari falls to the ground. He has been shot in the head.
Ziva appears at the top of the stairs and walks down obviously upset, she begins to pray over Ari's body and through tears of remorse and sadness she explains to Gibbs that Ari was her half brother.
It was then that Gibbs knew that Drake was right and Ziva could be trusted
Drake was standing in the corner of the basement and as soon as the heart of Ari Haswari beat its last, he began to fade and disappear. Ari was dead so Drake no longer existed as a ghost.
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