The Kind of Hero I Wanted to Be Chapter I
"Very interesting indeed." Dr. Mallard pushed his chair back from his desk and turned to Agent Gibbs. "As you can see from my report, the remains you exhumed are not those of Seaman Rollins, despite what the grave marker might say."
"Then whose remains are they, Ducky?" Gibbs asked, eyebrows raised.
"That remains to be seen." the doctor gestured upwards, "I'm sure our Abigail will have them identified in two shakes of a lambs tail."
Gibbs spun around and strode toward the elevator until he remembered; then he stopped short.
"Something wrong, Jethro?" asked Ducky.
"No. Nothing." Gibbs resumed walking toward the elevator, this time a bit more thoughtfully. He had been avoiding Abby's lab for a while now...ever since their kidnapping a few weeks ago. He and Abby had been abducted from his house at gunpoint by a group of criminals hoping to free one of their comrades. Before what they thought was their impending death, Abby and Gibbs shared a kiss. Of course, Gibbs' team had rescued them in time and Gibbs had tried to forget about the kiss since then. To be honest, he felt a little guilty for taking advantage of Abby at a time like that. For years he had been pushing his romantic feelings for the forensic scientist aside- both because she was a co-worker ("never date a coworker" was rule #12) and several years his junior. Being in such close quarters while emotions were high, he had let his guard down, and let himself hope that she might reciprocate those feelings. Nonsense. he thought, shaking his head as the elevators doors closed and he began his ascent to Abby's lab.
Abby tapped her foot impatiently as image after image flashed on her computer screen. She couldn't make a DNA match, so she was running the dental records- or what was left of them- to find a match. The team was investigating the murder of a Naval petty officer that appeared to be tied to a chain of weapons thefts. A partial fingerprint at the scene of the murder appeared to belong to a Seaman Edwin Rollins, but Rollins had died four years ago in a house fire... or so they thought. After exhuming the charred remains, Ducky was able to conclusively determine they didn't belong to Rollins. So whose were they? And why? Abby frowned into the computer screen. A shiver shot up her back and she turned to see Gibbs standing in the doorway.
"Got anything, Abby?" he asked, stepping up alongside her, in front of the computer.
"Nothing yet." she smiled hopefully into his face but he avoided eye contact. "I can tell you that these remains are older than 4 years." As she leaned across Gibbs to grab a computer printout, her shoulder touched his and he subtly moved back.
Subtle, but not subtle enough. Abby had been extremely sensitive of her boss's movements around her since their kiss – and she was already pretty sensitive, especially when it came to Gibbs. The two seemed to have a connection and sometimes she swore she could tell what he was thinking. But maybe not... after all, she'd thought for a moment he was in love with her, but she'd obviously been wrong. Ever since their kiss, he seemed to be avoiding her, and frankly, she was annoyed. Gibbs had been a close friend and confidant – she had opened herself up to him at what may have been her most vulnerable moment, and now he was just pretending that day never happened. He was avoiding all her attempts at conversations (more than normal – it's not like Gibbs was ever the most forthcoming conversationalist) and even eye contact; friendly pecks on the cheek were replaced by curt nods.
She cleared her throat and continued, "this man has been dead over 30 years. I'm running the dental records but it doesn't look good. It could be anyone." She flipped through the documents in front of her. "I can tell you the remains were burnt in the fire at Rollin's house, but where they were before then..." she shrugged.
Gibbs was already halfway out the door, "keep looking." he said over his shoulder.
Abby didn't turn to watch him leave.
Agent Ziva David kicked the caster on the bottom of her chair. It hadn't been rolling right since Tony's little stunt. She bit her lip as she glanced at his desk across from hers. She'd been wracking her brain to think of a way to pay him back... it will come she thought. Just then Tony and McGee walked back in and sat down at their desks. "What did you find out?" she asked them.
"Nada." said Tony. "From what we can tell, the petty officer was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She interrupted our thief-"
"or thieves" interjected McGee.
"And they killed her for it." Gibbs returned to his desk, coffee in hand. "We have another mystery. The remains interned in Seaman Rollins' grave were not his own."
"He faked his own death"
Gibbs shot McGee the look that meant "you think?" and continued, "Seaman Rollins either planted these remains in his house and burnt it down, or someone else did."
"Rollins had no wife or kids," McGee said, bringing up the Seaman's information on the plasma screen. "And his parents are dead. One sibling, lives in Paradise Michigan."
"Does this mean we get to go to Paradise, boss?" Tony asked.
"It means I get to go to Paradise." Gibbs said as he stood and retrieved his weapon from his desk drawer. "Ziva, you're with me. Tony, I want you to follow up on the other weapons thefts. Find what they missed. McGee, you're working with Abby- I want to know who those remains belong to. We may have another murder." Gibbs and Ziva made their way to the elevator.
"Paradise," Ziva said, "sounds nice- sunny, warm..."
Gibbs chuckled. "I take it you've never been to northern Michigan."
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"We are in the center of nowhere." Ziva mused, as she and Gibbs drove past what had to be their hundreth mile of forest.
"It's a beautiful state. Very peaceful." said Gibbs, cracking a smile at his agent's exasperation.
"I prefer a less deciduous landscape." she stated decidedly. "Have you ever boated on one of these Great Lakes?"
"Nope."
"I wonder what is so great about them." their car emerged from the forest and headed toward the sparkling expanse of Lake Superior. Even Agent David had to admit to herself the breathtaking beauty of the lake. "Ah," she said, "I see."
Before long, they pulled up to the house of Seaman Rollins' sister. The old grey farmhouse sat atop a hill overlooking the bay. Gibbs knocked on the door but there was no answer. He and Ziva circled the house and ended up in a small barn closer to the lake. There was a woman in the barn, perched atop a wooden boat, hard at work with her back toward the open door.
Gibbs was mesmerized by the boat; it looked to be antique but was impeccably restored and cared for. Probably made by hand, just like his.
Gibbs held up his badge "Ms. Rollins? I'm Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. This is Agent David." The woman turned and jumped down, standing face to face with Gibbs. It was only then that he realized the boat was not the most beautiful thing in that barn, nor the most graceful.
"Alexandrea Rollins." she said, holding out her hand. Gibbs shook it, not taking his piercing blue eyes of her soft brown ones. "What can I do for you?"
"It's Jethro."
"Jethro..." she returned his crooked smile. "I'm Alexa."
Finally Ziva broke the silence. "Ms. Rollins, we are investigating the death of your brother."
"Ed? He's been dead for years."
"Did you personally oversee the burial of his remains?" Gibbs asked.
"No," she said, " He had requested to be buried down there. We held a memorial service here with family, and I've visited his grave a few times... what's going on?"
"It's come to our attention that your brother isn't actually buried in his grave."
"Who is?" she asked, clearly stunned.
"We were hoping you could tell us."
"We're getting nowhere."
"McGee, that's not the proper attitude!" but Abby had to admit, she was frustrated too. How did Gibbs expect them to ID a 30 year old body by partial dental records alone?
McGee's phone rang, and soon he had a video conference set up with Ziva.
"Have you found anything yet?' she asked.
McGee shook his head, "not much. Tony's still pouring over the other files. You?"
"Well, I do not believe that Ms. Rollins knew her brother was still alive. She seemed genuinely surprised to learn he was not buried in his grave."
"Where's Gibbs?"
"He is with Ms. Rollins." Ziva said, with a raise of her eyebrows.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Abby was suddenly bit more interested.
"Well. It is not my place to say. But Gibbs definitely seemed a bit more interested in her than normal. They are having dinner," she paused, smiling. "I thought redheads were his type?"
Abby self-consciously tugged at her pigail. "Why? Is she blonde?"
"Brunette." said Ziva. "I do not know if she will be any help in determining whose body was in Seaman Rollins grave or where he is now, if he's still alive."
Abby had stopped listening. Is that how things stand? she thought. He's just moved on to the next woman? What about their kiss? She walked into her office and grabbed her coat and bag.
"Where are you going?" McGee met her at the door.
"Home."
"But Gibbs-"
"It sounds like Gibbs isn't too worried about the case right now. Why should we be?" she stormed passed a bewildered McGee and into the elevator. She had to get out of there and into some fresh air. She'd never been jealous of who Gibbs spent time with before but now things were different, and she couldn't help but think she'd made a horrible mistake.