Author's Note: At the end of the last story, I mentioned that I would be having surgery soon. Well, it hasn't happened yet, but at least I know it'll be in early January. With knowing I would be having surgery soon, I was going to take a little break from writing. But since, for some reason, I wrote chapter 1 already, I might as well post it LoL.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the 10th story in my series. If you haven't read the other stories, then I advise you to not proceed until you do. This is a series. It runs in sequence. To understand certain things (especially where Jamie came from), it's best to just start at the beginning. This series is kind of like my very own NCIS season 4. As of this point, the series consists of: story 1 A Link to the Past (comes in 3 parts)… story 2 Wrong Place, Wrong Time… story 3 Second Job… story 4 Daughters… story 5 A Personal Vendetta… story 6 Bless the Children… story 7 Eyes of the Condemned… story 8 Disturbing Affection… story 9 No Man Left Behind (story that introduces Kid)… story 10 Finger Swap (current story). Hope you enjoy it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday
Chapter 1
Sometime in the very early morning of Monday, Gibbs is in the basement working on the boat. Kid is up in Jamie's room trying to sleep. He just lies there looking up at the ceiling. After a while, he finally gets up and walks downstairs. He notices the basement light is on so he decides to check it out. Kid steps into the doorway to the basement and sees Gibbs is there working on the boat. Kid walks down the stairs and sits on the bottom step and just watches. Gibbs turns to grab something and finally notices Kid is there watching him.
"Having trouble sleeping?" Gibbs asked.
Kid nods.
"Let me guess, you miss Tony?"
Kid nods with a sad facial expression upon his face.
"Tony and Jamie will be back from their trip in a couple hours. So you won't have to wait much longer." Gibbs paused after seeing Kid's facial expression. "You're wondering why you couldn't go with them?"
Kid nods.
"When we were in Nigeria, I contacted a friend to buy something for me. At the time, I didn't know you would be coming home with Tony." Gibbs said. "The day after the wedding, I tried to make it so that you could go as well. But it just didn't work."
Kid cracks a smile and shrugs his shoulders. There's a moment of silence. Kid then points to the unfinished boat.
"This is a boat."
Gibbs notices Kid's confused facial expression.
"I know it doesn't look like a boat. It's not done. Jamie and I are building this boat together." Gibbs stated. "You wanna help?"
Kid shakes his head. Gibbs puts down the sanding block he has. He walks over to Kid and sits next to him. Gibbs then faces Kid. The two of them are just looking at each other.
"I know you don't know how to write. But you know the letters of the alphabet."
Kid nods in agreement.
"How would you like to surprise Tony with being able to sign your name, in sign language?"
Kid gets excited as he nods his head.
"After I teach you how to sign the alphabet, you don't have to sign your name for me. I'm sure you're gonna want Tony to be the first person you sign your name for."
Kid nods. Gibbs just smiles. Then with his hands, Gibbs begins showing Kid how to sign the alphabet. Kid watches and listens carefully as Gibbs signs each letter and says what letter he's signing. Kid copies Gibbs' hand positions in regards to signing each letter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, on Old Ox Road, behind Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia, a man is walking south, in the direction of route 50. The man seems to be lost walking down the road in the darkness. As the man is walking in the middle of the road, he doesn't even hear the car honking behind him. After honking the horn for two minutes and getting no response from the man in the middle of the road, the driver finally pulls his car to the side of the road. He then gets out of the car.
"What the hell are you doing in the middle of the road?!" The driver shouted.
The man continues walking as if he didn't even hear the driver speak. The driver leans into his car and pulls out a flashlight and a crowbar. He turns the flashlight on and points it at the man walking in the middle of the road. The man just continues walking. The driver cautiously walks over to the man. As the driver approaches the man, he's able to notice the man is quite dirty.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" The driver yelled as he steps in front of the man. He then looks at the man and falls silent as his jaw drops.
The man stops walking. He's dirty. His clothes are torn. It looks like he hasn't shaven his face in a very long time. The man has bloodshot eyes and appears to be completely out of it as if he has no idea where he is. He just stands there. The driver begins flashing the light passed the man's eyes. The man is completely unresponsive to the person standing in front of him.
The man drops something from his hand. He then kneels down in order to find what he dropped. The driver points the flashlight downward. Five seconds before the man snatches what he dropped, the driver was able to see that the man dropped dog tags. While kneeling and the light flashing on his hands, the man turns his hands so that the palms of the hands are facing him. He just stares at his hands, particularly the fingers. The man glances at the dog tags in his right hand then he closes his eyes as a tear rolls down his cheek.
"Are you alright mister?" The driver asked.
The man begins trembling. Then the man opens his eyes and looks up at the driver.
"Help me." The man said softly.
The driver helps the man to stand. He then brings the man over to his car and sits him down in the backseat. The man sits there rocking back and forth while keeping a firm grip on the dog tags. Before taking his cell-phone out to call 911, the light from the inside of the car allows the driver to see the man's body through his torn clothing. The driver notices a significant amount of visible scarring, both old and recent. The driver then begins to dial 911 in order to get this man some help.
