After a long day at work, NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was getting in his car to drive home. Gibbs set on the emergency brake and before he could put the car in drive he heard a knock on his window. He looked up to see the NCIS Medical Examiner and his good friend, Dr. Mallard standing next to his car. Everyone calls Dr. Mallard, Ducky.
"Jethro." Ducky said. Gibbs rolled down the window and said,
"Something wrong Duck?" Gibbs asked.
"No not at all, I was just wandering if you got the autopsy report on Petty Officer Radcliff."
"Yeah I did. Palmer brought it up around 1500."
"Good, I just wanted to make sure that Mr. Palmer is following orders." Ducky said with a smile. Gibbs smiled back and said,
"Go home Duck, get some rest. It's been a long day for all of us."
"No argument there. Goodnight Jethro." Ducky said as he walked to his Morgan. Gibbs put his car in drive and started to drive home. About three minutes in to Gibbs' drive home, he heard some commotion on the sidewalk. Gibbs didn't put much thought in to the commotion since he was in the city. He stopped at an intersection when the light turned red. Gibbs watched the sidewalk to his left side to see if he could tell what was going on. It alerted him when he heard a familiar voice.
"Palmer, look out!" It was Tony. Gibbs heard a gunshot and saw a figure of a man seven feet away from Tony and Palmer. Even though Gibbs could see that Tony had his gun drawn, he pulled his car over to the right sidewalk and parked. He quickly got out of his car and made his way over to the other side of the street fast but quietly. Gibbs hid behind a tree that was less than two feet away from the gunman.
"Federal Agent drop your weapon!" Tony yelled. Gibbs could tell even from nearly eight feet away that Palmer was scared to death.
"Not a chance, make any sudden moves and he's dead." The gunman said in a stern tone. Gibbs heard the gunman click his trigger so he pointed his own gun at the gunman's head and took a shot. The man fell to the ground immediately following the shot. Tony kept his gun pointed not knowing that Gibbs was there.
"Federal Agent, drop your weapon." Tony ordered still not knowing that it was Gibbs who killed the gunman. Gibbs put his gun back in its holster then stepped out from behind the tree and said,
"Drop your weapon, DiNozzo." Tony put his gun away with a confused look on his face.
"Boss what are you doing here?"
"I was in the neighborhood."
"Tony!" Palmer called out in pain. Tony and Gibbs ran up the sidewalk to Palmer. They saw Palmer clutching his knee while blood dispensed out of it.
"Tony, help me get him over to my car." Gibbs said in a frantic tone. Tony grabbed Palmer's right arm while Gibbs grabbed his left arm. They quickly checked the road to make sure no cars were coming then made their way to Gibbs car as fast as they could. Tony opened the door to the left backseat of Gibbs' car and helped Gibbs put Palmer in the car. Gibbs ran to the trunk where he kept some towels in case of a situation like this. He handed Palmer the towel and asked,
"Ducky tell you how to take care of a gunshot wound?"
"Apply pressure to stop the bleeding and seek medical attention." Palmer said. Gibbs smiled as he patted Palmer shoulder. He stood up and closed the door then said to Tony,
"Let's go."
"Just to be clear, you're okay with me tagging along?" Tony asked.
"Yeah DiNozzo I kind of need to know what happened." Gibbs said as he got back in his car. Tony got in the shotgun seat and looked at Gibbs to say,
"That's a good point boss."
"Call Ducky first, tell him what happened and that we're headed to Bethesda." Gibbs said as he started the car and drove in the direction of Bethesda.
"You got it." Tony said as he pulled his phone out.
"Hey Ducky it's Tony … I need you to meet Gibbs and I at Bethesda … we're fine but Palmer isn't … to make a long story short, a guy that was following us shot him in the knee … okay see you there." Tony hung up and asked Gibbs,
"You want to hear the long story?"
"When we get to the hospital, call McGee. Tell him to contact Metro so they can deliver the body to NCIS."
