A/N: Hi y'all! This is the rewrite of chapter one. I still don't own anything but Krystal, Mark, and their friends and powers. Hopefully, this makes a bit more sense than it did before!
I was fighting, for my life. I didn't like it. Fighting for other people's was so much easier. As I blocked a punch from the man I was fighting, I felt a sharp pain in my neck. I looked to that side, and as my vision went black, I saw the outline of someone holding a needle and waving goodbye to me.
"Most unusual circumstances. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Palmer?" The man leaning over the girl's body commented.
"How so, Doctor?" His assistant asked.
"She's not navy. She's too young."
"Do you have a COD yet, Duck?" A grey-haired man walked up to the two.
"No, Jethro. I have to get her back to the morgue. There's no obvious cause of death." The doctor replied.
"Do you at least have a time for me, Duck?" the man asked, exasperated.
"I'd have to say around three this morning, Jethro. Poor girl. Probably didn't know what hit her."
With that the man walked away from the body. He was intercepted by another man, this one much younger, who said "Hey, Boss. We found something." He held up an evidence bag with a hypodermic needle in it. "This might have something to do with our Jane Doe's death."
"Good, DiNozzo. Where are David and McGee?"
"Taking pictures and collecting evidence, Boss." The younger man replied.
After a while longer of collecting evidence and taking pictures, the team headed back to headquarters to try and find out what had happened. In the morgue, the doctor and his assistant, Mr. Palmer, were taking the clothes off the body, and examining its many scars. There were many small scars on the arms and legs, as well as a star-shaped one on the stomach. There was also one on the ankle, that looked as though it had been nearly skinned. After noting the scars, they rolled her over and gasped in shock. Her back was a network of scars and welts. After a few minutes, Palmer broke the horrified silence.
"Um, well, she's been through a lot, it looks like."
"Yes Mr. Palmer. Poor girl." Ducky said. "I wonder how she got these."
I've never seen anything like this. Have you, Doctor?"
"No, Mr. Palmer. I haven't."
They took her fingerprints and sent them to be analyzed. They quickly finished the external exam, and got prepared to start the autopsy. Just before Ducky cut into her shoulder for the traditional Y incision, Mr. Palmer gasped and said, "I think she moved!"
"Mr. Palmer, she is dead. She cannot move." He started to cut again, but as the blade bit into her shoulder, an agonized moan escaped her lips. The good doctor pulled back in shock. He quickly checked for a pulse again, and was surprised to find a strong one beating under his fingers. "Mr. Palmer, go get a lab coat and something to put under her head, as well as something to bandage her shoulder." Ducky quickly reacted to the new development. "Then call Abigail and Jethro. Tell Abigail to do a full tox screen. Tell Jethro that our Jane Doe is alive."
As Palmer followed his instructions, Ducky turned back to the unfortunate girl. He used the lab coat to cover her, as her clothes were in Abby's lab, and folded the jacket that Palmer brought, and placed it under her head. He then bandaged her shoulder where he had cut, and then sat by the autopsy table and waited.
The first thing I was aware of was the pain in my shoulder, then a mild thirst. I pushed that out of my mind, so I could try to figure out what had happened. Then, I became aware of the hard, cold table under me, the smell of blood and death, and the sound of someone breathing nearby. I slowly opened my eyes, but quickly shut them again. The light was blinding. I heard the person sitting nearby move over to me.
"Are you alright?" A kind, Scottish voice asked.
"Where am I?" I croaked. "Who are you?"
"You are in the basement of NCIS headquarters. In the autopsy suite. I am Dr. Mallard, though you can call me Ducky. How do you feel, my dear?"
"Like someone tried to kill me." I growled, then winced. My throat was dry, and my lips cracked.
"Well, I nearly did. If you hadn't woken when you did, I would have preformed an autopsy on you." He said, sounding apologetic.
I opened my eyes again, ready for the lights this time, and saw the man for the first time. I sat up quickly, then moaned as the blood rushed from my head. The room spun for a moment before settling into what I assumed was the normal position. I looked around, immediately noticing the exits, even in my half-delirious state. I looked at my shoulder, and saw only a white bandage on it. "What happened to my shoulder?" I asked.
"That is where I started to cut for the autopsy. I am sorry about that. However, in my defense, you did appear to be dead. You had no pulse."
"Oh." I tried, and failed, to remember what had happened before I passed out.
"What is your name?" The man asked, kindly.
"Oh, I'm Krystal." I replied, not paying attention.
"Do you have a last name, Krystal?" A much gruffer voice asked.
"Not one that you need to know." I replied, hoping he wouldn't push the issue. I wasn't up to arguing at the moment.
"You were found dead on a navy base." The man disagreed. "We have every right to know."
"Actually, sir, you don't. If you'll just give me my clothes, I'll be gone, and you'll never see me again." I stood up, and put my hands on my hips, while subtly leaning on the table. I stared the man down. I heard the elevator arrive, but didn't look away, and neither did the man.
"Jethro, I think it's best if we don't push her right now. She just woke up after all." The doctor said.
"Where is she, Ducky? I have some clothes she can wear!" A chipper voice called from the hall. The owner of the voice, a goth girl, walked into the room, then stopped at the sight of the stare-down. "Gibbs, leave the poor girl alone!"
The man turned to the newcomer, and scowled. "I can't Abbs. She won't tell us who she is."
"Gibbs! Give her a chance to breathe! She just woke up in a strange place, her clothes missing, and now you're interrogating her? Give her a break!" The strange girl put her arm around me and steered me to the elevator. She waved at the kind doctor, then scowled at Gibbs.
As they watched Abby steer the girl into the elevator, Palmer walked back in.
"Doctor, Abby's on her way down with some clothes for our Jane Doe." Palmer said, then realized that the newly awakened girl wasn't there. "Where is she?"
"Abby was already here, and took the girl up to her office. Where were you Mr. Palmer?" Ducky asked
"Um, I had to stop in the bathroom, and the elevator was being used." He blushed. "I guess that was Abby."
"Yeah." Gibbs said.
The enthusiastic goth girl lead me up to her lab, and handed me a pile of clothes.
"Sorry, but yours are being analyzed. Try these on." She smiled, and pointed me to a room I could change in.
I quickly pulled the clothes on, and they fit perfectly. I walked, well, actually, staggered, out and spun in a clumsy circle to show her how well they fit me. She laughed and pointed out a chair for me to sit in. "Thanks." I grinned at her.
"No problem. And I'm sorry about Gibbs. He's usually better behaved than that."
"I guess he doesn't have too many people coming back to life in his morgue."
"No. But a marine did once. He'd been knocked out, and was in a snow bank. Ducky nearly had a heart attack when the guy warmed and woke up." She started laughing as she remembered. She continued to recount stories of her funnier experiences at NCIS. I relaxed, eased by her easy-going manner.
"Hey Abs, got anything on our Jane Doe?" A tall man with dark hair walked into the lab. "Oh. Sorry." The man stopped at the sight of me sitting in the chair. "And you are?"
"I'm the Jane Doe." I grinned at him.
"But...the Jane Doe's dead..."
I gestured for Abby to explain, while I massaged my head. My shoulder was still bothering me, though I'd had worse injuries. Plus, I was still a little out of it. My head hurt, whether from everything that happened or from the remains of the drug still in my system. I could feel the lack of my powers, and knew the drug was still in my system. I felt more than saw the man staring at me. "Can I help you?"
"Um..." He continued to stare.
"Tony!" Abby turned to me. "I don't know know what's with them today." She turned back to Tony. "Well? Aren't you gonna introduce yourself?"
"Yeah Tony." A woman with an Israeli accent and curly black hair walked in. "I'm Ziva David, and that's Tony DiNozzo." She said, jerking her thumb at the dumbstruck man.
I grinned tiredly at her. "I'm Krystal." I replied.
Her eyes opened wide in shock, and she looked more closely at me. "Were you in Israel about two years ago?"
"Yes, why?"
"I think we met then."
It was my turn to be shocked. "You're with Mossad!" I recognized her now. It had been a few years and her hair was longer.
"And you're..." She trailed off, remembering the others in the room.
I nodded and signaled that I would talk to her later. She nodded and turned back to Abby. "Have you found anything yet?"
"Not yet, Ziva. I've been a little busy! And I haven't even had a Caf-Pow yet!" She whined. As she mentioned Caf-Pow, someone placed one in front of her. Her face lit at the sight of it. "Gibbs! How'd you know?" She turned, only to find a red-haired woman standing behind her. "Oh! Director!"
"Good afternoon Abby. How's the Jane Doe case going?"
"Um..." Abby gestured to me. "She's not a Jane Doe anymore."
"You're the Jane Doe? You don't look as young as the body."
"I've seen a few things." I said. "Things you've probably only dreamed of, if you have a vivid imagination." I thought for a second, "Or a love of sci-fi." I grinned knowingly at Abby.
Abby grinned back at me, then turned to the Director. "She's our Jane Doe, and her name's Krystal!" I noticed that most of what Abby said was an exclamation.
"Do you have a last name, Krystal?" the redhead asked, more kindly than Gibbs.
"Yes ma'am. But you don't need to know it." I replied again. "I just need my clothes back, and I'll be on my way and out of your hair." I noticed that Tony was still staring at me, so I turned to him. "What? Do I have something on my face? Is my hair that bad? Why are you still staring at me?" I knew I was being short, but I was upset. I couldn't use my powers, I didn't know where I was, what day it was, or what had happened to me.
"Um, Krystal, your hair is messed up." Abby said, grinning.
"I know." I grinned tiredly back at her. "But that doesn't give him," I jerked my thumb at Tony, "the right to stare."
Ziva laughed, and punched him in the shoulder. "Tony, don't you have work to do?"
"You do too, David." The director said. She shooed them out, then turned back to me. "Who are you?"
"I'm Krystal, ma'am." I replied, yet again.
"I think we've established that, Krystal. But that doesn't tell me who you are."
"I know." I replied simply.
"Okay..." She paused. "Then can you at least tell me what you were doing on the Navy Base where you were found?"
"I was found on a Navy Base? When was this?"
"This morning." The director responded. "What were you doing there?"
"Uh..." I thought quickly. "I don't remember." I thought about what she'd said. "Wait. This morning?" I was supposed to check in with Mark this morning. I was gonna be in so much trouble when I got home.
"Yes, is that a problem?"
"Um, I was supposed to meet my boyfriend for breakfast."
"Can you at least give us his name?" Gibbs walked in, also with a Caf-Pow.
"Sorry! No can do!" I grinned cheekily at him. I turned back to Abby. "Are my clothes okay for me to take yet?"
"No. I'm only one person!" She took the drink from Gibbs, and put it in her fridge. "Thanks!" She smiled warmly at him.
"Sorry. How can I help?" I asked her.
"There's nothing you can do." She assured me. "You just woke up. How are you feeling, by the way?"
"I've been better, but I've also been worse." I grinned tiredly. "Is there a restroom somewhere? And maybe a phone I can use to tell my boyfriend I'm okay?"
"I'll show you to the rest room, and then you can use my phone!" She bounced out.
"We need the number." Gibbs said.
"Maybe. We'll see." I replied, following the bouncing goth girl out of the room.
Gibbs turned to Jenny, and said, "Do you know who she is?"
"If I knew, you would know." The director replied. "But what did she mean? She's been better, but she's also been worse?"
"I don't know." He replied, "But I wonder if Abby does."
"I doubt it." The director said thoughtfully. "I think she'd tell us." They both looked in the direction the two woman had gone. "I think I'll give them a few minutes, then go check on them."
Abby led me to the restroom, where I washed my face and tried to figure out what I should do. I couldn't tell anyone who I was, but Ziva already knew. She obviously wouldn't tell anyone, but I was still unsure. Abby and Tony already knew that I knew Ziva before. I didn't know how well they kept secrets from their team. As if on cue, Ziva walked in.
"Abby told me you were in here."
"Abby was right."
We eyed each other up for a moment, then both of us burst out laughing. "It's good to see you again, Krys."
"And you Ziva. Anymore trouble from them?" I asked grinning.
"No. They were too scared to make anymore trouble. Most of the ones we didn't get, turned themselves in."
"Naturally. They didn't want me to come back." I grinned evilly at her.
She chuckled in response. "Or me." We burst out laughing again, then got serious. "So, what's your story for the team?"
"I have no clue. What do you think would work best?"
"The truth. Gibbs can sometimes tell even when I lie to him. And you are not as well trained in that as I am."
"True, but I have years of practice. Plus, they'd try to send me to the loony bin."
"Loony bin?"
"Slang term for a place for insane people." I sighed.
"Oh." She shook her head, as if to say 'why can't people just say what they mean'. She thought for a moment, then, "Maybe you should tell Ducky. He might know what to do."
"But would he tell Gibbs? Or would maybe Abby be a better choice?"
"No. Abby would probably have trouble keeping that a secret." She sighed.
"Alright. I'll think about telling Ducky. But in the meantime, what have you been up to?" I asked, wanting to know what my one-time friend had been up to since I saw her last.
"Well, I got sent over here as backup for Ari. I was also the lesion between him and NCIS. I had helped the Director get out of a tight spot once, so she got me a job here after I had to kill Ari."
"You had to kill him? Why? Wasn't he your half-brother or something?"
"Yes. He had betrayed us. He was working for Hamas. He tried to kill Gibbs." She said flatly.
"I'm sorry Ziva. I wish I had been here to help." I said apologetically.
"Don't." She said shortly, voice and eyes hard. "What have you been up to?" She changed the subject.
"Oh, you know, same old stuff. Nothing new."
"How's what's-his-name? Your boyfriend?" She asked.
I thought back to then, and started to laugh. "Jake? He was never actually my boyfriend. That was just our cover. But he's pretty good. He's still mainly working in Pa, and leaving the world traveling to me." I grinned, remembering how they had gotten along. It hadn't been pretty. They had immediately clashed. Jake's laid back attitude pissed off Ziva, while her tense demeanor irritated him. They were constantly getting on each others nerves, and into fights. They were pretty well matched, despite Jake's powers. Ziva was so well trained that she could easily evade him, despite his speed. And he was so fast that she couldn't land a strike. It made some interesting fights, and a bunch of people lost money betting.
"Give him my regards." She said. "And tell him that I don't want to have to save his butt again." She grinned evilly.
I laughed and said, "I'll be sure to tell him."
We both started laughing again, and just then, Abby walked in. "What's taking you so long in here?"
We both stiffened, and shot each other worried looks. "Um..."
Just then, the director walked in. "What's going on in here?"
"It looks like we're having a party in the girl's bathroom." I replied, with as much energy as I could muster.
"Director." Ziva said, "I think you should leave this alone. I can vouch for Krystal, and promise that she won't cause any trouble."
"Officer David. This is not for you to decide." She said, in a no nonsense tone.
"Director, some things are beyond what you might expect. This is past your jurisdiction."
I was so grateful for Ziva's quick thinking. I caught her eye, and signed her the number to call to let Mark know where I was. She signed back, and I knew she would call him and tell him what happened. I caught the Director's glance, and was grateful that Ziva and I had our own code in sign language. I made one of my infamous snap decisions to not tell them what I was. Suddenly, Gibbs walked in.
"Gibbs!" Jenny said, shocked. "This is the woman's restroom!"
"Your point?" He glared. I noticed that he glared a lot. "We need to find out who she is." He gestured towards me. "And what she was doing on that base."
"I agree, but maybe interrogating her isn't the best option." The director said.
"She needs to rest!" Abby interjected. "Look at her. She's gonna collapse soon, if we don't give her break!"
"Excuse me, but I am right here. I can hear what you're saying, and can speak for myself."
The director and Abby looked slightly embarrassed by that, but Gibbs just barreled on.
"I don't think that matters. You won't tell us who you are or ..."
"Did you consider that there might be a reason for that? That maybe I'm protecting myself, or others. Or maybe even you?" I snarled at him. He looked rather taken aback. I grinned inwardly. "If I can just get my clothes, I'll be gone before you can blink, and..."
I was interrupted by the director's cell phone ringing. "Director Shepard." She listened for a few moments, then she got really pale, and said, "On our way."
"What?" Gibbs, Ziva, and Abby asked in unison.
"Someone snuck in with a gun and shot DiNozzo."
At that, Abby paled, and started to run towards the door. Gibbs grabbed her and motioned for her to wait.
"Is he alright?" Ziva asked.
"I don't know, but the attacker is demanding that we turn over the Jane Doe's body, or he'll shoot another agent. He has the gun on McGee."
I paled, and looked at Ziva. She looked back, and I saw fear in her eyes. She was attached to these people, more than she'd ever been to Ari, or anyone else in Mossad. I nodded, already forming a plan. As usual, it was risky, especially since I didn't have my powers back. "If he wants my body, lets give it to him." I grinned fiercely.
"No." Gibbs and Jenny said.
"Yes." I said. "He won't be expecting me to be awake, let alone alive."
Ziva nodded, "That might work, if we put you on a gurney."
I turned to her, knowing that she would be able to help convince the others to go along with my plan. "Think we can pull it off?"
"Sure, if you can move fast enough when the time comes." She grinned, knowing that normally I could.
"I think I can." I said doubtfully. "But I couldn't fight for long. I'd need backup."
She looked askance at me. "You need backup?"
"Yeah, I'm kinda weak right now. And powerless, sorta."
Her eyes widened. "How?"
"I don't know. But we don't have much time, do we. It's our best bet. Let's go see Ducky."
"No." The director said again. "I can't let you do this."
"You don't have a choice." I informed her.
"Yes we do." Gibbs said. "We can shoot him."
"No, you can't." I informed him. "I won't let you." I turned to go back to the morgue, and heard Ziva following me. Gibbs grabbed my arm, and I felt the flood of adrenaline, and the return of my powers. I was still weak, but I had my powers back, at least for the moment. I turned to him, "Take your hand off my arm. Or you will lose it." I said in a quiet but deadly voice. I flexed it so he could feel the strength in it. He quickly let go, and I stalked out of the room. I waked down the hall, and then stopped suddenly.
"What?" Ziva asked.
"I don't know where I'm going." I grinned at her, "And my powers are back. Lets roll."
She grinned back, and lead the way. We got to the morgue, and found Ducky waiting.
"I take it the director called you."
"Yes, and I can't let you do this." He replied.
"You can't stop me." I informed him. I heard someone trying to sneak up behind me, and turned to glare. Palmer stopped in his tracks, and flinched at the force of my glare.
Gibbs and Jenny walked in, and blocked the elevator. I turned to Ziva, with a question in my eyes. She nodded. "Fine. Do you want proof that I will not get hurt? Or maybe that I'm fast enough?"
Jenny nodded, while Gibbs just glared at me. "And how would you do that?" He asked.
"Like this." I said, after dashing behind them, faster then they could follow. The director jumped and spun, while Gibbs just turned calmly, though I did hear his heart rate speed up slightly. I ran around them again. "And as for the fact that I won't get hurt, Ziva, if you would."
"Ready?" She asked, a mischievous glint in her eye. She whipped out her gun and shot at my head, all in one movement.
Ducky and Gibbs shouted, while the director started to run towards me. Palmer was just stunned. After the bullet bounced off, I caught it, so it wouldn't ricochet.
"Is that proof enough?" I demanded, handing the flattened bullet back to Ziva.
Jenny just nodded dumbly, and looked like she might faint. Gibbs and Ducky looked angry, but both replied in the affirmative.
"Lets do this." I grinned. "Where should I be?"
"O-on here." He pulled a gurney over.
"Awesome. Good thing I can hold my breath." I grinned at Ziva. I quickly pulled off the shirt Abby had given me and hopped onto the table. Ducky put a sheet over me, and started to push me onto the elevator.
"Wait, Ducky." Ziva said. "Can I take her up?"
"Why?"
"We've worked together before, Doctor." I informed him. "And she can protect others without a second thought."
"That's a good idea, Duck." Gibbs said, "But put on a lab coat so you look like you belong."
"And no killing." I reminded her.
She frowned, pulling on a lab-coat.
"Be careful." Jenny said, as we got on the elevator. Gibbs followed us on.
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. "If no one goes up with you, he'd suspect something." Gibbs pointed out.
"Okay." I laid down, and pulled the sheet over my head. The elevator dinged, so I held my breath. I felt the gurney move out of the elevator, and heard a bunch of elevated heart rates. I smelled gunpowder, and the delicious metallic tang of blood. Ziva wheeled the gurney over to where I assumed the gunman waited for us.
"This is the Jane Doe?" A voice I didn't recognize asked.
"Y-yes." Ziva said timidly.
"Show me her face." The man growled.
Someone pulled the sheet off my face, and I felt someone lean over me. "That's her." He spat.
At that, I opened my eyes. "Yes, that's me." I growled. He gasped and pulled back, but I grabbed his collar, and yanked him back to me. "Give me the gun."
"You want it? Here it is." He pushed it against my side, and fired. I gasped as I felt it penetrate my side, but didn't let go. I grabbed it out of his hand, and threw him to the floor. I sat on his chest, with my feet on his arms. I heard Ziva pull her cuffs out, then she walked around me and cuffed his hands. I got off him, and ran over to Tony, who was lying on the ground. I fell to my knees, and felt for a pulse. There was a strong one, so I quickly examined the rest of him. There was a bullet wound in his arm, and blood coming from the back of his head. I quickly checked for a bullet wound, and sighed in relief when I didn't find one. He seemed to have hit his head on his desk when he fell, and knocked himself out. I sighed in relief, again, then gasped as the wound in my side made itself known again. I quickly grabbed the sheet off the gurney and ripped it into strips to bind the wounds that we both had. I bound Tony's first, because his were older, and he'd lost more blood. Plus, attacking a federal agent for his blood isn't exactly a good idea. While I was doing that, I called to the other agent in the circle of desks to call Gibbs and Ducky. Then I yelled for Ziva. "Ziva, I need you to call the number I told you earlier. Tell him what happened, and that I need him here now. It's my boyfriend, Mark. And he's like me. Quickly!" I told her. She ran over to what I assumed was her desk, and dialed the number. I finished binding Tony's and my wounds, and my vision started to go fuzzy.
"He wants to talk to you." Ziva called, holding the phone out to me.
"I-I don't think I can get up." I told her. Suddenly, there was a strong hand under my arm, helping me stand, then stagger over to her desk. Ziva hopped out of her chair, and Gibbs pushed me gently into it. I smiled weakly at him and nodded in thanks.
I picked up the phone. "Hello?" I asked, putting as much strength as I could into my voice.
"Krys, are you alright? What happened? Where are you?" Mark asked, almost in a panic.
"Relax. I'm in DC, NCIS headquarters. Apparently I was found dead. Didn't Ziva explain?"
"Yeah, but I wanted to hear it from you."
"I don't think I can talk long. I got shot in the side. And I was still weak before that happened. I need you here." I said, then realized how much pain there actually was. I gasped, and he heard.
"What! What is it?" He panicked.
"Pain." I gasped, then "I need to go. I'll talk to you soon, I hope."
"You will." He said, worry clear in his voice. "I love you."
"Me you." I said, then hung up. I sagged against the chair, and put my hand to my side. When I pulled it away, it was wet with blood. I didn't understand. Only two things could penetrate my skin, and I didn't sense either of them. I grabbed another strip of the sheet and bound my side even tighter. I had some difficulty wrapping, due to the fact that my vision kept going fuzzy, but someone took the makeshift bandage from my hands and finished the binding for me. I looked up to find Gibbs tying it off, and tried to say thanks, but all it came out garbled. I tried to take deep breaths, then realized that someone was talking to me. It sounded as though they were a long way away. I looked up, and realized that I had tunnel vision, then everything went black again.
Gibbs looked on in concern as the strange girl collapsed in the chair. He quickly checked her pulse, and was relieved to find a strong one. Her breathing was ragged, but her pulse strong. He gently picked her up, and placed her on the stretcher. He turned to McGee. "Take her to Ducky." McGee started pushing her away, and he turned to Ziva. "Who is she? How do you know her?"
Ziva turned to him. She'd been watching McGee push her friend to the morgue. She hoped it wasn't for good. "She is a friend. We worked together once before I came here. That is all that I can tell you."
"Why can't you tell me more?" He demanded.
"It is classified." She replied, then turned towards the elevator. "I am going to see if I can help Ducky."
Gibbs just stood and watched as the assassin walked away. He'd thought that she would have told him who the strange girl was.
As McGee walked into the morgue, he looked at the strange girl he was pushing in puzzlement. He couldn't figure out who she was, but she looked vaguely familiar. He couldn't figure out how she'd gotten into the building, but was sure he hadn't seen her enter. "Ducky!" He called, "I have a girl for you to check out!"
"What?" Palmer yelled back, surprised at his choice of words, this was at the same time that Ducky called, "Bring her in Timothy."
McGee wheeled her in, and Ducky looked at her in surprise. "Well, my dear, this is the second time that you are on my table." McGee looked surprised at that fact, and Ducky noticed. "Timothy, this is our Jane Doe. Didn't you recognize her? Her name is Krystal."
McGee stared at her, and gaped. "B-but the Jane Doe was dead."
"No, Timothy, she appeared dead." The kind doctor replied, even as he started to unwrap her side. McGee blushed as he realized that the girl didn't have any clothes on.
"I-I'm going to go see if Gibbs needs me." He said and bolted out. As he did he almost bumped into Ziva, who was hurrying to the morgue. "Sorry Ziva." He said, expecting her to snap at him.
"McGee." She said simply, then hurried in.
As the elevator closed, he heard Ziva ask, "How is she Ducky?" McGee was confused. He'd never heard Ziva sound that worried.
Ziva walked briskly into the morgue, already asking how her friend was. "How is she Ducky?" Ziva called as she walked in.
"I don't know yet, Ziva. She just got here."
Ziva walked briskly over to the table where her friend was lying. Krystal looked very pale, and far too still. She touched her friends hand, and was shocked at how cold it was. Her friend's normally hot skin was less than normal temperature, and her normally pale skin was practically white. She looked up at Ducky, worry in her eyes. "Can you help her?"
"I can try." He replied, looking over the girl. Then he looked into Ziva's eyes, and was surprised by the amount of worry evident in them. "She'll be fine, I'm sure." He assured her.
She looked up, hope in her eyes, which she quickly disguised. "Of course. She is too stubborn for her own good." Ducky's lips quirked up at that. "And she is strong enough for three." That last was so quiet that Ducky wasn't sure that he'd heard it.
Ducky ignored it, and started to work upon the poor girl on his table. He checked her vital signs first, then started to examine the gunshot wound in her side. He made Ziva help him stop the bleeding, while Palmer got the X-Ray machine ready. Once she was stabilized, they X-rayed her. While waiting for the results, Ziva started pacing. Finally, Ducky pushed her into a chair, "Sit down. You're giving me a headache!"
She grinned guiltily up at him, and apologized. "Sorry Ducky."
Palmer walked in, holding an X-ray film. He quickly clipped it onto the light-board. They could tell right away that the bullet hadn't hit anything vital, and was only a few inches into her side. The shock on top of what had already happened that day was what had probably made her collapse. Ducky was able to remove the bullet with relatively little difficulty. He dropped the bullet into a metal basin, then started to pack the wound.
Just then, Gibbs stormed into the room. "David. Who is this?" He demanded.
Ziva looked up, and saw a man, around Krystal's age following him. The man barely acknowledged them, but went right over to the table.
"I think that is Krystal's boyfriend." She answered him.
"How did he know where she was, and your name?" Gibbs was absolutely furious.
"She had me call him, and tell him where she was. He can help." She replied coolly.
"What happened?" The quiet voice interrupted them.
Ziva hurried over to him. "She was shot."
The man snorted. "I can see that." He looked down at him girlfriend, and gently pushed her long hair out of her face. "C'mon Krys. Wake up." He said quietly.
"She should be fine." Ducky spoke for the first time since starting the surgery. "She's just lost a little bit more blood than she's used to."
The man snorted again. "Don't be so sure. She has a tendency to get into trouble, especially if I'm not there to get her out of it." He gestured towards her stomach.
Ziva laughed. "I seem to recall that."
The man looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time. "You must be the infamous Ziva."
"That is me." Ziva smirked. "And you are?"
"Mark, her boyfriend." He stuck his hand out for Ziva to shake, which she did. They grinned at each other, then started when there was a quiet moan from the girl on the table. Mark grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "Krys? You awake?"
"Mark? I-is that you?" Came the weak response.
Ziva grabbed a lab coat off of the chair by the desk, and covered her friend with it.
"I'm here, Krys, I'm here." Mark kept repeating soothingly.
The elevator dinged, making everyone jump. McGee entered again, pushing another stretcher, this one with Tony on it.
"Why wasn't he brought down sooner?" Gibbs demanded.
"The medics were checking him out." McGee said, defensively.
"What did they say?" Ducky asked, interrupting Gibbs.
"He was shot in the arm, and probably knocked himself out when he fell. He'll be fine, but sore." McGee said.
Ducky walked over to him, and started poking around the wounds, though not disturbing the bandaging. Seeing that he was stable, he walked back over to his semi-conscious patient.