Hi :) Here's the first chapter, and now that the theme-song is over, the team comes into the picture! :D Lol, I hope you enjoy.
DISCLAIMER: Nope, still not me who owns NCIS . . .
Ziva David couldn't help but be a little shocked at how much the two girls standing shivering near the shore resembled her and her little sister Tali, when they were both young. The older one, Louisa, was trying to calm her babysister, by holding her close, and whispering soothing words into her ear. You could clearly see, that the smaller sister was the most shaken up.
Ziva raised an eyebrow, at how calm Louisa was; it wasn't every day that a witness was this calm.
DiNozzo, Gibbs and McGee were already at the scene, setting up tape and taking photos. McGee was taking statement from the local LEO, DiNozzo was taking the pictures, and Gibbs was nowhere in sight. Ziva sighed at her boss' gift to just appear and disappear whenever. It was quite scary how he could just materialize right beside you, when you least expected it. The first couple of times it had happened to her, she had jumped 3 feet away from him, crouched down ready to attack. All Gibbs did was raise an eyebrow, and stare at her. Now she just startled a little everytime it happened.
That's why she wasn't too surprised when he started talking to her, as she stood viewing the crimescene.
"Ziva, I want you to take a statement from the girls, and get their prints too" he told her, as he waved Ducky and Palmer toward them. She nodded, and smiled as she heard Ducky saying the usual "I'm sorry Jethro, Mr. Palmer has an undeniable gift to always get us lost! Actually, he reminds me a bit of.." Ziva shook her head as Ducky started his typical ramblings, and thanked God that she was not the one who had to stop him this time.
She neared the girls, and saw the LEO's assistant flirting with Louisa. He was in his very early 20ies, but Louisa seemed disbelieving about the fact that he was actually flirting with her. Ziva chuckled lowly as she saw Louisa turn her back and roll her eyes.
"Ms.?" Officer David called out. It had taken a while to get used to the fact that she had to be so overly polite all the time. But as she saw Louisa react and smile in relief, she knew that sometimes, it was worth it.
"Please, don't call me Ms., the name is Louisa Jamerson." She smiled at Ziva, but her eyes seemed a little fearful; it was understandable. But something about the fear was off; it was as if it wasn't this particular crimescene that set her off, but something else entirely.
"Louisa. I'm Officer Ziva David, I'm with the NCIS" Louisa didn't look the least bit confused about the name.
"Officer David. I assume that you're here to get my prints, right? Since I did touch things around the crimescene" She fascinated Ziva a little. She was brave and calm, even though Ziva had the impression it was mostly for her younger sister, so she wouldn't be so scared. Catrina was still shivering; tears were streaming down her face.
Ziva flashed back to a day many years ago, when Tali had come home, shivering and crying, because she had been out in the cold for a long time, searching for her dog. Ziva shook her head, and guided them toward their truck.
"I think we have some warm cocoa in here. Would you like some?" Catrina nodded, reaching out for the cup with a trembling hand.
Louisa looked at her younger sister, wishing she had gone to swim alone today. Then she wouldn't have seen the terrifying sight. Louisa knew how it was going to affect her sister's life; she wasn't the crime-buff Louisa was herself. Sitting down, Louisa pulled Catrina into her arms, and let her head rest on her shoulder, as she started crying again.
"Officer David, maybe we should wait with her statement a little while. I know it's best now that her memory is still fresh, but I don't think she will forget what she saw in the near future" Ziva nodded her head, looking at the vulnerable girl.
"Maybe we should just start with the basics? Since you found the victim, there might be follow-up questions, you can answer, once we ID him" Louisa nodded.
"Okay, fire away" Ziva reached for her standard issue Sig, whirled around, pointing it at a startled assistant to the local Chief of Police. Behind her, she could hear Louisa laugh, and Catrina letting out a small chuckle through her tears, followed by a hiccup.
"I meant that you could just ask me. Sorry, I should've been a little more precise. Ask away, Officer." Louisa was still chuckling, and it felt good.
Ziva David didn't even bother to apologize to the young man, who looked to be about to pee his pants.
"Oh. I am not very good with American idioms. Okay, your full names, please?" She could faintly hear Tony laugh, and she was sure that she would hear about that one later. But it felt good to know that the young girls had laughed, that they would get over it. Especially Catrina.
As she questioned the Jamerson sisters, she saw Catrina relax, and knew now would be as good a time as any.
"Can you describe what happened?" Louisa hesitated for a small second, looking down to see her sister nod, indicating she was ready to get it over with.
"We were down swimming, but Catrina wouldn't jump in. She hates seaweed, so I jumped in to remove it for her. I got a hold of the man's arm, but I had no idea what it was that I had grabbed. I swam with me eyes closed. Uhm.. Then I went up for air, and I was curious, so I took the arm with me," she paused shivering, "As soon as I saw what I had in my hand, I screamed and started swimming back towards the pier." She pointed, even though it wasn't necessary.
"We had been joking around, and I was laughing at Louisa's antics, when she started screaming. I had no idea what she was so terrified about, but she just kept screaming. When she frantically started swimming back towards me, I knew something was wrong. When she got up, she started rubbing her hand, like there was something on it she just wanted away. Then she froze, and followed the seaweed that was stuck to her foot, with her eyes. Then she started screaming again."
Louisa nodded, holding her sister even closer as she spoke.
"My foot got stuck when I was swimming back. I yanked at the seaweed, but it was still stuck, and so I just swam back with it. Apparently, the man was stuck in the weed as well, because he was floating around the surface, with the seaweed all around him." Louisa had closed her eyes, and a single tear was falling down her cheek. Catrina looked to her sister, and continued the story.
"She started crawling backwards, but I didn't understand, so I followed her sight, and I saw.. I saw," Ziva took her hand in hers, and squeezed.
"It is okay, you do not have to tell me more." Catrina looked at her, terror clear in her eyes.
"I have to." Ziva nodded, and waited for her to continue with the traumatizing events.
"I saw the man, and I saw the uniform. I knew he was with the Navy, 'cause our father is as well. Uhm, I got sick, and vomited into the little boat. Sorry about that." She blushed, and Louisa brushed away her hair from her face, saying it was okay.
"We called the police, and said they should call you guys, 'cause it was a Marine an all."
Ziva was impressed with the amount of details about the finding she had gotten out of those two.
"Thank you, you have been very helpful. If we could just get your fingerprints, so that we can exclude them from our investigation." Both girls nodded, and they looked at each other.
"Can you call our mom?" Catrina whispered. Ziva smiled and was about to answer, when Tony came up behind her and said they already had.
Catrina nodded and laid her head on her sisters shoulder again. Not long after you could hear faint snores, and Louisa smiled as her sister slept.
"Hi, I'm Louisa Jamerson." She stuck her hand out to Tony, and he shook it.
"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, you can call me Tony." Ziva looked at Tony, expecting him to start flirting with the young girl; after all, she was 18, but instead she saw an almost brotherly care in his eyes has he watched the two of them.
Louisa was leaning against the cabinets, and her eyes were drooping. With a sigh, the day's events took its final toll on her, and she fell asleep, only to be woken not long after by their frantic mother.
As she embraced them both, and they tried to reassure her that they were fine, a little shaken up but fine, Ducky came up to the truck. Ziva realized with a start that Gibbs was right beside her, watching the girls intently, and Ducky was about to report to him. Tony stood beside Ziva, with the camera around his neck, listening to what Ducky had to say. McGee was still bagging and tagging at the crimescene.
"Cause of death is still undetermined, but I have ruled out drowning. This was not the original crimescene. I will know more when we get him back to autopsy. I had Mr. Palmer take some water samples and some from the seaweed the young man was so caught up in, and we're taking them back to Abby. Do you remember the last time we had a scene like this? Though, it was a young girl back then, and she-"
"Duck. Do we have a DOD?" Louisa was giggling as she watched the two older men communicate. It was clear that they had this kind of conversation often.
"Well, with the level of decomposition, I would say that this poor fella has been lying in the water for about a week."
Out of the corner of his eye, Gibbs saw Louisa stiffen. Frowning, he asked her to come with him, away from her mother and sister.
"Is there something bothering you, Ms. Jamerson?" Louisa nodded, and sat down on a small log.
"It's the time of death that bugs me." She answered lowly. She put her head in her hands, and her shoulders started shaking.
"About a week ago, I was out with my two best friends. We were out eating, and watching a late movie. We weren't drunk or anything!" Gibbs just smiled that 'what-his-agents-think-is-rare' crooked smile.
"Mona and Samantha are neighbors, and they live on the other side of the road. It was Sam's turn to drive, but as the movie-theater is closer to my place than theirs, I said they should just drive home, I would walk. I've done it loads of times before, so it was no biggie. I came to an alley, but from there, my memory is just blank. I didn't understand anything, when I woke up in my bed the next morning, but I shrugged it off, thinking it was probably just because it was dark, and I was in my own little world. I uhm, I'm writing a book you see. So I was probably going through some ideas in my head. But when I saw the CPO in the water, I got a flash of an argument. I didn't say anything to Officer David, because my sister was right beside me, and I didn't want to scare her." Gibbs nodded, putting an arm around her.
"How did you know it was a Chief Petty Officer?" Louisa smiled through her tears.
"I saw the stripes on his arm. My dad had the same. Oh God, I can't believe this!"
"It's okay, Louisa. But with what you just told me, you might be the key to solving this case. You'll have to come back to DC with us." She looked up at him, and nodded.
"I'll do whatever I can to help. It could have been one of my dad's friends, or maybe even my dad. Nobody deserves to die like that. Murdered." Louisa leaned on Gibbs' shoulder and cried her last tears out.
Gibbs just knew this case was going to be tough.
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- Is