Chapter One
Gibbs walked out onto the familiar floor, the elevator doors shutting cleanly behind him. He was surprised by the lack of the heavy pounding that Abby liked to call music, and instead heard a hurried shuffling from inside Abby's side-room. Intrigued, he entered the lab and watched as he saw her dark ponytails bobbing around agitatedly through the glass window. With three quick strides he was standing in the doorway between the two rooms.
"Abby?"
"Oh, hey, Gibbs," Abby said distractedly, slamming down the lid to a small chest she had on her desk. It was weird, Gibbs couldn't exactly remember the chest but it gave him an odd, familiar feeling inside.
"What you up to?"
"Nothing," Abby said, wiping a sleeve across her mouth and turning to face him, "Why, do we have a case?"
"No, not yet," Gibbs said, still eyeing the chest.
Abby observed this and removed the chest from the tabletop, instead placing it in one of the drawers beneath it.
"Well then, what can I do for you?" she asked, smiling.
Gibbs smiled back, thoughts of the chest erased from his mind. He stared at the dark beauty in front of him. Even at this hour in the morning she still looked stunning. Her lips, a dark ruby red, twisted into a teasing smile, enticing him to take the few steps between the two of them and locks his own with hers. He resisted the temptation, just, and instead brought his eyes up to meet her eyes. The sparkling pools of glistening green stared back at him, the light reflecting off them at such an angle that Gibbs wasn't even sure whether the light was actually reflecting and not just flooding from her eyes instead. Wherever the light was coming from, her eyes were playful. Her whole body seemed intent on arousing some reaction from him, be it emotional or physical.
"Nothing, I was just coming down to see how my Queen of the Lab was doing this morning."
"Oh, Gibbs, that's so sweet! And you called me Queen of the Lab," she beamed, moving forwards and swinging her arms around a happy Gibbs. She held him tight against her body as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Well, you'd hardly be King of the Lab, would you?"
Abby laughed but still hung round his neck, her mouth nestled near his ear. "Oh, Gibbs."
Somewhat reluctantly, Abby slowly detached herself from an equally reluctant Gibbs and stepped backwards, putting distance between the two of them. Far enough away to be respectable, but close enough so that they could touch the other if either of them wanted to.
It was then that Gibbs noticed the necklace hanging from Abby's neck. It had been moved from beneath the safety of Abby's top during the hug and now hung freely on her chest. It was a tiny glass vile within silver casing. A dark red liquid swilled inside the glass as the vile swang from breast to breast. Gibbs could remember having the same feeling he had now, but moments earlier. He hadn't the faintest idea what the feeling had been about then, but now he felt the same towards the vile. It was as if he knew the vile, having seen it on many occasions, yet his mind refused to bring up any of them to view.
Abby watched Gibbs stare at the vile, a peculiar look on her face. She smiled knowingly, enjoying Gibbs fascination with the object. There was no trace of ridicule on her face; in fact, quite the opposite. She seemed in inner conflict herself, half of her wanting to say something, half knowing that she couldn't. She let it swing for a few more seconds before grabbing it with her right hand and returning it out of view. Gibbs immediately looked up.
He smiled and they stared at each other for a second before a buzzing went off at his leg.
"Gibbs!" Abby said, "I didn't know you were that pleased to see me."
Gibbs looked down at the object now in his hand before looking back up at Abby. "We've got a case; I'll be back later."
"With a present…" Abby teased.
"Maybe…" Gibbs smiled and then he was gone, leaving Abby alone in the empty lab.
Gibbs pulled up at the edge of the park and looked out to where he could see his team, already in action. A sense of pride inflated his chest and he smiled; they were already taking the scene as their own, talking to a rather flustered looking policeman. He exited the car, pulling on his NCIS jacket, and walked across the dewy grass, the smile on his face being replaced by a stern look.
"What have we got, DiNozzo?"
"Dead Petty Officer found here this morning by a jogger. We're holding him but don't think he's a suspect," he said nodding his head towards the NCIS van where a man sat in the back, his reflective yellow jacket catching the morning sun. Gibbs looked over to McGee and Ziva.
"No visible cause of death," Ziva said, "except two odd marks on the victim's neck."
"Odd marks?" Gibbs questioned.
"Yes," McGee answered, Ziva looking over at him and nodding in agreement, "They kind of look like bite marks."
Gibbs raised an eyebrow and crouched beside Ducky. "What we talking about here, Duck."
"Well," Ducky began, retracting his liver probe, "liver temperature suggests death was over 24 hours ago, yet lividity says otherwise."
Gibbs looked un-encouraged.
"In other words, he is way too cold for the lack of rigor that I'm seeing."
"Well, it was cold last night," McGee offered.
"Not cold enough to affect the cooling rate this much, but we will know more when I get this lad back to autopsy."
"And the marks, Duck?"
"Ah yes; again, Jethro, I don't quite know what to say about them. I've never seen anything like them."
Ducky turned the dead Petty Officer's head to the side and revealed two small puncture wounds on his neck. Gibbs looked down at them before standing up. The flustered policeman from earlier was now walking over to them, having spoken to his superior over the radio. Gibbs looked at him as he went to speak.
"I've spoken to my Boss and I'm to hand the investigation over to you," the policeman said quietly, obviously thinking of something else. He had a look on his face as if he had misplaced his glasses and was constantly hunting for them. Gibbs stared astounded; was this really what the US police force was coming to?
"Well, thank your boss for us," Tony said, grinning.
"I will," the policeman said, complete with the ever-present look of confusion. "I just wish I could remember why this case is important, somehow it seems familiar. Like we've had cases like this before…" The policeman wandered off across the grass mumbling to himself, away from the stunned looks of the NCIS team.
"Right, Tony, pictures; McGee, bag and tag, and Ziva, see if you can find any other witnesses; you jog in this park don't you?"
Ziva nodded and started to walk over to the crowd of various joggers accumulating around the edge of the crime scene. Gibbs walked away from where his team were working and wandered in between some nearby bushes. Something caught his eye and he crouched down. He brushed his hand through the wet grass and picked up a small silver and glass object. It was a small glass vile with a scarlet liquid swilling around inside it, attached to a silver chain. Gibbs looked down at it lying on his palm and tensed. Why did this object seem so familiar? Did he know anyone with the same necklace, someone from his past maybe, an ex-wife? He shook his head in annoyance and pulled out a plastic bag from his jacket pocket. He slipped the mysterious necklace into the plastic wallet and sealed it. For some reason he chose not to take it over to be collated with the rest of the evidence and instead re-pocketed it within the folds of his jacket. Slightly confused as to why he had just pocketed it, he stood up and walked over to join his team, his hand running over the imprint of the object resting in his pocket.