Wilson James Palmer, whom everybody called Jimmy, was born without auditory nerves. Profound and Complete Deafness. He spent most of his childhood trying to prove to the world that being totally deaf wasn't synonymous with being stupid or dumb. That was something that people seemed to expect when they looked at him. He wasn't ashamed of being deaf, he would never be ashamed of being deaf. It was a huge part of his identity, he would never not be deaf. Hearies don't know who they are, Deafies have to know. They're deaf, first, last and always. Nothing would ever change that. Cochlear implants weren't real hearing and Jimmy didn't have auditory nerves to stimulate anyway. He never went to speak therapy, his mother was deaf, his father was deaf, his brother was severely hard of hearing, he went to an all deaf school. He never had any contact with ignorant Hearies, not until he went to medical school. Then he wished that he'd taken speak therapy, so he wouldn't have to write down all his responses on a pad of paper, trying to converse with stupid Hearies who didn't want to try to talk to him in his own language. He couldn't speak, what else was he supposed to do? When he tried to speak, people laughed. He sounded like a slurred and drunk seal according to them. They only laughed and he resolved to never speak again. He didn't need to speak, he had his own language. Jimmy was deaf and the world needed to learn to deal with that. That was his thought process as he stared up at the NCIS building, that the Board of Pathology had sent him too. They needed a new Autopsy Assistant and Jimmy was happy to help. It was his field after all. He just hoped that there was at least one signer there. But he didn't hold out too much hope on that front as he slowly walked inside the building, dressed in light blue scrubs with his backpack over one shoulder. Once he got inside, there were several rows of desks and he hurried to the first ones that he saw, along with the first desk. A dark haired man was sitting there and he looked surprised to see Jimmy approach him and begin to sign.
(Hi, do you know where I can find Dr. Mallard and Autopsy?)
He finger-spelled 'Dr. Mallard' and tried to sign slowly when he saw the confused look on the man's face. The man seemed to flail speechlessly for a moment before turning to another desk, the one across from him, where a dark haired woman sat looking at Jimmy in surprise. Jimmy watched him mouth to the woman, 'What do I do? Does he come with subtitles?' Jimmy just rolled his eyes and mimed writing on a piece of paper with a pen. That seemed to spark a lightbulb in the Agent's mind as he snatched up a pad of paper and a pen, slowly waving each one in front of the younger man's face, before speaking.
"Pen...paper..." The man spoke extremely slowly, sounding out each word increasingly slowly, Jimmy rolled his eyes again and snatched it ungraciously from the Agent's hands. Quickly and clearly scribbling down, 'I'm looking for Autopsy and Dr. Mallard.' Recognition dawned in the older man's face and he turned to the woman again, acting as if Jimmy was too stupid to realize. 'He's looking for Autopsy and Ducky.' The irritating older man mouthed again and Jimmy resisted the urge to throttle the idiot and bang his stupid Italian head against his desk. Instead, he forced a smile to his face as the older man began to speak again, just like Jimmy was a stupid toddler. Enunciating every single stupid letter that was coming out of his mouth as he mimed with his hands.
"Ducky... is... downstairs..., go... to...elevator, ...go... down...three...floors." Jimmy just stared at the Agent incredulously before losing his cool and signing away to his heart's content. Frankly, he was pissed. Two minutes inside the stupid building and he was already being treated like a freak, he was beginning to have second thoughts about the job. The Board had told him that NCIS was going to be accepting of his deafness, instead this clown was treating him like a dumb kid. There was no way that he was going to be able to deal with stuff like this crap on a day to freaking day basis. What was wrong with this guy anyways? Jimmy grew more and more frustrated as he signed, he usually didn't say 'fucking' so many times in the same sentence. He just kind of wished that he didn't already feel like an outsider looking in.
(You stupid Hearie! You look like a fucking clown! Don't treat me like I'm a toddler with one brain cell! I can't even fucking understand you when you talk like that, you ass!)
Just as he finished his rant, the Agent gaping at him like a fish out of water, he felt a gentle hand placed on his back. The young man turned around to see an older man with silver hair standing behind him. The man had a small smile on his face, but he didn't address Jimmy, instead, he spoke to the Agent who was staring at both of them in confusion. "He can't understand you when you talk like an idiot, Dinozzo. He's deaf, not stupid." The Agent called Dinozzo, looked down almost ashamed and sheepishly as he looked a the man, Jimmy assumed to be his boss or superior. "Sorry boss." Yup, Jimmy was right. Then the silver haired man turned to him and began to sign, to Jimmy's sweet relief.
(Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, call me Gibbs. Who're you and why are you looking for Ducky?)
(I'm Jimmy Palmer and I'm supposed to be Dr. Mallard's new Autopsy Assistant. Are you deaf?)
Jimmy signed, confused. This man didn't seem deaf, but maybe he was. Jimmy could never be sure, but the man shook his head as a response instead of signing. So not deaf then. (Dinozzo's right, Autopsy's three floors down.) Gibbs signed again and Jimmy smiled thankfully. He liked Gibbs' sign name, it was the sign for 'G' making the sign for 'Papa'. Jimmy's own sign name was the sign for 'smile' that swept up with his right hand to form the sign for 'J'. His mother had given it to him as a baby, just as her own mom had given her a sign name. Only a deaf person can give someone else a sign name, he wondered who had given Gibbs his, but he didn't ask as he hurried to Autopsy to meet the man who would become his mentor. Meanwhile, Gibbs turned to Tony.
"Did you seriously ask the kid if he had subtitles?"
-TimeSkip-
When Jimmy reached Autopsy, he saw an older man working on a dead cadaver and speaking to it. Not wanting to interrupt, he stepped back and lightly knocked on the doors to Autopsy. The older man looked up in surprise and then gave Jimmy a warm smile and gestured for him to come forwards. The young man did so happily, setting down his bag by the door as he moved towards the Autopsy table when the extensively bruised cadaver was. It was only then that he registered that the older man had been talking and turned away from him the entire time. So not deaf then...great...instead Jimmy just tapped the man on the shoulder, to turn him towards him before signing quickly, hoping that the man would at least be able to catch some of it.
(Hello, I'm Jimmy Palmer. Your new assistant and yeah, I'm totally deaf and I don't speak.)
The man just blinked at him in shock and confusion before Jimmy snatched up a pen and paper from his scrubs pocket and quickly scribbling down what he'd just signed. Then clarity was shown on the older man's face as he held out a hand. Thankfully, this man wasn't another Dinozzo and spoke to him like he was a normal human being. He got a nice vibe from this kind and grandfather-like man. But damn, he had to get a whiteboard to talk to these people, he wasn't going to be spending a fortune on paper for this. Nope, not at all. "Nice to meet you, lad. I'm Dr. Donald Mallard and I'm sure that we'll get along quite fine. I suggest you get a whiteboard though, it would be preferable in order to speak with us, considering that Jethro and Ms. Sciuto are the only ones whom I know of that can sign with you." Jimmy quirked an eyebrow at that, was there a deaf girl working here? Was that why Gibbs had learned sign language? Jimmy quickly dug into his paper again.
'This 'Ms. Sciuto', is she deaf as well?'
But Dr. Mallard shook his head as he responded, still examining the body that was laid out in front of the pair. "No, but her parents were." That's when it made sense to Jimmy, the allusive Ms. Sciuto was a CODA, a Child Of Deaf Adults. So that was where she'd learned sign, but where had Agent Gibbs picked up the skill, maybe he was a CODA as well. Then Dr. Mallard was speaking again. "Did you not take speech therapy as a boy, Mr. Palmer?" Jimmy shook his head and scribbled down his response, 'No, my mother was against it for both me and my brother. She'd been forced by her Oralist parents to attend speak classes. She wanted us to enjoy our childhoods without trying to fit into a society that didn't understand our culture.' Dr. Mallard nodded in thought as he read Jimmy's well thought out response. "Yes, Oralism can't be good for deaf children. They could be so cruel in those schools when I was a boy. Now, Mr. Palmer, we should probably get back to this fellow." The good doctor motioned to the cadaver on the table and Jimmy nodded in response.
"Note the signs of hematoma on the victim's face and upper torso. He was beaten before he was murdered " Dr. Mallard explained, pointing out the multiple bruises on the body with latex gloved hands. Jimmy nodded in response, studying the multiple marks as well. "Note the variations in color of the bruises. These were inflicted on several different occasions within the past three to four weeks. Additionally, the bruising is not only uniform, but there are no indications of any points of acute trauma. such as would have occurred from the contact of bare knuckles on unprotected skin. I believe further examination will reveal that our victim was a student of the "sweet science." " Jimmy furrowed his brow at that, returning to his pad of paper as he scribbled down, 'Sweet science?'. Dr. Mallard smiled at his response and added with great expectation, "A pugilist, if you will." Then that was when it dawned in Jimmy's head and he mimed boxing with his hands, grinning at the delight on the good doctor's face. "Precisely...can I ask what the sign for 'Precisely' would be in ASL, Mr. Palmer?" Jimmy gave a genuine smile to the older doctor as he raised his hands, pressing two fists together, one finger on each side curled outwards as he lifted his right hand, moved it in a small circle, before pressing it into his fist once again. It took a few tries, but after a while, the doctor could sign 'Precisely' rather well. Jimmy was really going to like this job, he could feel it.
-TimeSkip-
Jimmy slowly walked into a lab, one floor below Autopsy, it was supposedly Ms. Sciuto's lab, the CODA that Dr. Mallard had been talking about over their cadaver. Night had come too quickly for the deaf young man's liking, he would have to take the bus, he didn't like driving in the dark. He was surprised to find, Dinozzo, Agent Gibbs and the brunette woman from the bullpen in the lab, when he finally walked inside, there was also another man that he hadn't met before, with light brown hair and green eyes. They seemed to be talking to a young black haired woman, a goth who was typing on her computer. The CODA, Jimmy reasoned and stiffened slightly as he walked inside and all of them turned to him, Gibbs with a knowing smile, Dinozzo with an embarrassed grimace, Brunette woman was smiling as well, but Goth CODA looked confused at the unfamiliar face as did Green-eyed guy. Jimmy took the moment to introduce himself.
(Hi! Are you the 'Ms. Sciuto' that Dr. Mallard was talking about, the CODA?)
Jimmy signed quickly, finger-spelling 'Ms. Sciuto' and hoping to God that he spelled it correctly. The genuine smile that spread across the young woman's face could've outshined the sun. She didn't waste a moment, signing back. (Yeah! Ducky was talking about me? What's your name, what're you doing here? You're deaf right?) Jimmy just nodded in response as the young woman walked towards him, Gibbs and the others trailing behind her. (Yeah, I am. I'm Jimmy Palmer, Dr. Mallard's new assistant.) If possible, her thousand watt grin got even brighter as she practically squealed in delight. (That's great! I've missed Deaf Culture so much. You can call me Abby, by the way. Everyone does.) Jimmy nodded, then blinked in shock as Dinozzo stepped forwards, proffering a hand that Jimmy soon took.
"Sorry for treating you like an idiot, earlier. We're cool, right? You can call me Tony." Dinozzo...no, Tony smiled sheepishly as he introduced himself. Jimmy just shrugged and smiled. Before signing to Abby, so she could translate. (It's fine, it was kind of funny now that I think about it.) When Abby translated for him, Tony cracked a genuine smile. Then the brunette woman stepped forwards and shook Jimmy's hand as well, introducing herself as Kate Todd and the green eyed guy introduced himself as Tim McGee. Both were Agents like Tony, who worked with Gibbs. As Jimmy walked towards the bus stop later that night, he smiled. He was going to like working at NCIS.