"This looks like something out of a sci-fi movie," said Tony.
"Which one?" asked Ziva as she took another picture of the ruins of the city block.
"Transformers," replied Tony.
"Mission City was in worse shape than this," said McGee as he walked over to them after taking witness statements. "I would have to say The Hulk."
"And what makes you say that, McGeek?" asked Tony.
"Because of this," said McGee. He showed them a brief video from a cellphone of a large, green humanoid creature.
"Is it possible that this is a publicity stunt?" asked Ziva.
"Stunt or not, we've got a dead marine," said Gibbs, carrying a coffee cup in one hand. "What have you got, Duck?"
Ducky was bent over a marine and a young man.
"Severe trauma to the head," said Ducky. "Most likely from trying to protect this young man. I'll know more after the autopsy."
"What about him?" asked Gibbs, referring to the young man under the marine's body.
"No ID," said Ducky. He sighed. "He was so young. Mr. Palmer, help me get these two back to NCIS."
"Yes, Dr. Mallard," said Palmer.
"Poor kid," said Tony when the body of the young man passed them.
"He should've been in school," said McGee.
Later that afternoon, Ducky began the autopsy on the marine, Petty Officer Michael Jefferson. As suspected, he died of massive trauma to his head.
"At least you tried to save the boy," said Ducky to the corpse. "It is a shame that your sacrifice was in vain."
Ducky turned to the gurney with the young man's body in it.
"Let's see what secrets you are hiding," Ducky said as he opened the body bag. "That's odd. You don't look like you've been dead for hours."
The phone rang and Ducky moved to answer it.
"Autopsy," he said as he answered the phone. "Director, I was just about to begin the autopsy on our John Doe."
As he spoke, the body moved. The young man sat up on the gurney.
"Yes, Director, you'll know when I know," said Ducky. He replaced the phone on the receiver.
"Where am I?"
Ducky turned around and yelled in surprise. "Good Lord!"
The young man was sitting up on the gurney, dazed and confused. He looked at the body of the marine who saved him. He retched and Ducky grabbed the wastebasket by his desk.
"You're all right," said Ducky, rubbing the back of the young man as he vomited into the wastebasket. "You're all right."
"What happened?" gasped the young man. "Where am I? Who are you?"
"I'm Dr. Mallard, but you may call me Ducky. You're in the morgue of NCIS. As for what happened, we hope that you can tell us."
"Dr. Mallard, I sent the — " Palmer stopped short as he looked at Ducky and the young man.
"Get Jethro on the phone," said Ducky.
"Yes, Dr. Mallard," said Palmer, too stunned to say anything else.
Upstairs, Gibbs was trying to figure out exactly what happened.
"McGee and Abby are going through all the footage, boss," said Tony. "They'll figure out how it happened."
"In the meantime, we need to find the people responsible for killing a marine and our John Doe," snapped Gibbs.
"He's not happy," Tony whispered to Ziva.
"What was your first clue?" asked Ziva.
Gibbs' phone rang. "Gibbs," he snapped when he answered. "Slow down, Palmer! What?" There was a brief moment of silence. "Thanks, Palmer. I'll be right down."
Gibbs hung up the phone and got up from his chair.
"Our John Doe is alive," he said, heading for the elevator.
"What?" asked Tony.
Gibbs got in the elevator.
Tony and Ziva looked at each other in shock.
"How could Ducky not know that he had a live body in his van?" asked Ziva.
"I have no idea," said Tony. "But Abby's going to freak when she hears about this."
"Why is that?" asked Ziva.
"Think about it: a supposedly dead young man who woke up in the morgue," said Tony. "That would make a great movie as well as spark the interest of our goth princess."
"We should tell her," said Ziva.
Tony grabbed the phone to call Abby.
In the morgue, the young man was sitting in Ducky's desk chair with his head between his knees. Gibbs entered and Palmer and Ducky moved away from the young man.
"You look good for someone who was thought to be dead," said Gibbs.
The young man chuckled nervously. "I guess so," he said. "Can't say the same for the other guy."
"I'm Special Agent Gibbs. What's your name?"
"Tom. Tom Majors."
"Did you know Petty Officer Jefferson?" asked Gibbs.
"Who?" asked Tom.
"The marine who saved you," said Gibbs.
"I never saw him before until today when I wound up in the city," said Tom.
"What happened?" asked Gibbs.
"You'll think I'm crazy," said Tom.
"After what we saw this morning, try me," said Gibbs.
