“What we have here is a situation much like one I studied one summer in Oslo, Mr. Palmer.” An older gentleman was speaking with a pronounced accent, leaning over the body found at the crime scene.
“You mean, you’ve seen this before,” the younger man replied incredulously.
“Well, not this kind of situation, exactly. I was referring to another female cadaver with similar feet. If you’ll note, Mr. Palmer, she has webbed toes. It’s caused by a recessive gene, and one you don’t see often these days. I trust you will…”
“I trust you have information for me, Ducky,” Gibbs interrupted, impatiently.
“I’m afraid not, Jethro, we only just got the body on the table. As I’ve never seen anything like this before, we’re going to need a bit more time,” Ducky began.
“Time is not a luxury we can afford, Ducky. How much more time?” Gibbs demanded.
“I can estimate the time of death between 30 and 27 hours ago. I was able to isolate some fibers of an unidentified nature…”
“Get those to Abby,” Gibbs interrupted, nodding to Palmer. “Call me when you have something,” he called over his shoulder as he left.
“Will do, Jethro, will do,” Ducky replied under his breath, in a sing-song fashion.
* * *
“Diamond, what do you have?” Gibbs demanded, not expecting much.
“Her name is Pamela Gareth, sir,” Noah replied quickly. “Sullivan just took her to interrogation.” He continued, seeing Gibbs confused expression. “We caught a break this morning. The culprit was still at the scene. I followed her thought trail until we located her. By the time she fled the scene, Agent Sullivan had her dead to rights. She tracked her down in a matter of hours, sir,” he explained.
“She tracked her,” Gibbs asked, skeptically.
“Yes, sir,” Noah repeated. “We were unable to reach you on your cell, so we called the information in to the Director. I suppose we still need to learn the way things are done around here,” he apologized.
“You think?” Gibbs asked, sarcastically, and slapped him on the back of head. “Good work,” he added.
“McGee!” Gibbs shouted. “Just because we have the suspect in hand doesn’t mean we don’t need all the ins and outs of how and why. Ducky has a lead; go help Abby.”
“On it, boss,” he answered.
* * *
Gibbs walked directly into MTAC. “When are you going to start being straight with me?” he asked Jenny, frustrated.
“I told you, Jethro, that agents Sullivan and Diamond are uniquely qualified to assist your team. Each has an extensive background and strong familiarity with the preternatural. They have been working with NPID for years, and have reputations for solving cases and apprehending those responsible very quickly.”
“Yes, but you didn’t say they had strong tracking skills, and that they were good profilers,” he added. “This is information I could have used going into that case. Fortunately, everything is wrapped up nice and tidily. Abby and McGee finished putting the final pieces together just a bit ago. That, with Ms. Gareth’s confession and Ziva’s research, should close this case. Tony is finishing up the final report.”
“See,” she said with a smile. “That should make you happy.”
“It’s too fast,” Gibbs said, uncomfortably. “I don’t understand it.”
“You will,” Jenny promised. “You’ll get used to them. I think they’re fitting in nicely around here.”
“I’m sure,” he added, leaving the room. ‘Years?’ he thought to himself. She’s only twenty-six years old, according to her file. How long could she have been a agent?
* * *
“Earth to Tony,” Abby said, waving her hand in front of his face. “Rough night?” she asked, wagging her eyebrows suspiciously.
“Hardly,” Tony muttered.
“He’s out of sorts this morning,” Ziva said, laughing. “Apparently he had a reservation last night, and it was taken away at the last moment for a celebrity guest – McGee.” She continued to laugh.
“Oh come on, he wrote some seedy novel, he’s not a celebrity for crying out loud,” Tony complained. “Totally ruined my date,” he added.
“At least you had a date,” McGee said. “I was meeting my agent about my next book deal.” Abby gave him a long glace, ‘You could have a date if you’d just ask me!’ she thought. ‘Maybe you should ask him?’ Noah replied in her mind. ‘Yeah right, I think I scare him,’ she added, her eyes still on McGee. Noah appeared to be searching McGee’s face for a sign of interest, ‘Oh, he’s interested.’
“Do I have something on my face?” McGee asked, uncomfortable with everyone staring. Abby and Noah just continued to smile at him. Abby turned and looked at Noah, who cocked an eyebrow in challenge. ‘What the heck,’ she thought. Abby sat on McGee’s desk and leaned across toward him. He stared at her confused, starting to breathe a little funny.
“Umm… Abby?” he questioned. She grabbed his head in both her hands, leaned into him and kissed him deeply.
“Oh God,” Tony groaned. “I think Hell just froze over – I’m jealous of McGee!” Abby pulled away, finally, from Tim.
“Do you want one, Tony,” she asked, smiling at him.
“Bring it on, baby,” he said, exaggerating a lip pucker. Abby laughed, Ziva snorted, McGee was still blushing and Noah just rolled his eyes. Abby walked over to Tony and planted a quick peck on his mouth. “Little tease,” Tony said, grinning.
“Sorry Tony,” she said, flipping around. “This was supposed to be about me showing Tim how I feel. I never intended to open a kissing booth.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
“Promises, promises,” he replied flirtatiously.
“You wish,” said Abby, having gone to stand by McGee. “So, are you going to ask me out now, or do I have to drop more hints?” she asked him.
“You can drop me a hint anytime, if that’s how it works,” Noah said, enjoying McGee’s discomfort.
“You stay out of this,” Abby said to him, turning back to McGee. “So…”
“Well…” McGee stammered, “I mean, I thought you didn’t…” he continued, “I didn’t know…”
“So now you know,” Abby said, shaking her head. “Come on, Tim, don’t leave me hanging like this!” she said in a loud whisper, making everyone chuckle. When he still didn’t respond, she turned away, her face falling with disappointment. “I guess you don’t…” her voice trailed off hurtfully. She looked like an abused little puppy. “God, how could I have been so wrong,” she said, stepping onto the elevator.
“Go after her, moron,” Noah said. “You’re totally in love with her, how could you just let her do that without…”
“How do you know my feelings for her,” McGee interrupted.
“I’m a mind reader, Tim, didn’t you know that,” Noah responded. Everyone looked at him incredulously. It dawned on Noah that Director Shepard may not have told the rest of the team what he and Maggie were. He grinned, knowing that Maggie thought they knew. He could hardly wait until the first time she tipped her hand and freaked them out. He chuckled. Seeing his grin, the others assumed he was joking.
“It’s hardly a secret, Tim,” Ziva added. “We all see how you look at her.”
“If you don’t go after her, I will kick your…,” Tony threatened, still not believing Abby was actually hot for this guy.
“But rule #12,” McGee started.
“Rules were made to be broken, Probie, get your butt down there now!” Tony said, laughing at how quickly McGee shot for the stairs.
“I guess love is in the water,” Ziva said.
“Love is in the air, Ziva,” Tony corrected. “When lots of people are doing the same thing you say ‘something must be in the water’, but ‘love is in the air’.”
“Whatever, Tony,” Ziva said, frustrated. “English is not my first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth language,” she justified to Noah.
“Mine either,” he replied with a wink. “But I’ve had longer to work on mine,” he added.
Author's Chapter Notes:
the story continues... (can you tell I don't want to write a summary)