"Foreign"- An "NCIS" Fan-Fic
Chapter 2
Agent Charity Bernard's gaze drifted from Agent Tim McGee, on her left, to Agent Tony DiNozzo, in the front passenger seat, then to Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, in the driver's seat. Tim, knowing how uncomfortable she felt being the newbie, decided to get to know her a bit.
"So," Tim asked, "how long have you been working at NCIS?"
"Well, for a little over three years," Charity replied. "I was pretty much recruited from college."
"Where did you go?" he asked.
"I went to a small Christian college in South Carolina. My parents had gone there, so I received a significant discount on my tuition," she explained.
"What do your parents do?" Tony asked, turning to face the young redhead.
"They work with missionaries all over the world. My dad preaches, and my mom teaches English." She smiled nervously.
"No kidding," Tony said. "I've never met a missionary's kid before. What countries have you been to?"
"Well, I was born in Buffalo, NY," she told the guys, "but I've spent time in Quebec, Poland, South Africa, Japan, France, Ireland, Ukraine, Brazil, Austria, China, the UK, Italy, Israel, Egypt…"
"Wow," Tim exclaimed, "you definitely get around." Charity gasped, and Tony rolled his eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way…"
She smiled. "I know, it's fine. As far as childhoods go, mine was definitely unique. But, it gave me the opportunity to use and explore my gift."
"Gift?" Tony asked.
"Yeah, you know… everybody in life has a special talent," she explained. "Mine is languages. I happen to be able to pick up foreign languages quickly."
"Just how many languages do you speak?" McGee asked.
"Uh… fluently? Over a dozen," she answered nervously.
"Man, that's more than Ziva," Tony said. "Which languages?"
"Well, English, French, and Polish are my mother tongues. I'm very fluent in Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Ukrainian, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, and Dutch." She blushed, hoping she wasn't showing off too much.
"Impressive," Gibbs said from the front seat. "We're here."
The agents filed out of the car, and grabbed their gear from the trunk.
"DiNozzo, sketch and shoot. McGee, bag and tag. Charity, you can come with me and observe while I take witness statements," Gibbs ordered. "Tony, let me know when Ducky and Palmer get here."
"Yes, boss."
Charity followed her boss to the cluster of Marines gathered around the body. They glanced up at the agents as they came closer.
"Hello, my name is Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. This is Agent Bernard. Would you care to fill tell us what happened here?"
A young, dark-haired man stepped forward. "We found him here at 0500, sir. We think he was killed earlier this morning."
"Do you know who he is?"
McGee jumped up, holding a wallet in his hand. "I found his ID, Boss. His name is Lance Corporal Aleksander Kaczmarek. Twenty- two years old, from DC."
"What the heck kind of name is Aleksander Kaczmarek?" Gibbs barked.
"Polish, sir… er, Boss," Charity replied. "Aleksander is a variant of Alexander. I encountered many children in Poland with the name."
"Boss, Ducky's here!" Tony called out, as Dr. Mallard and his assistant, Jimmy Palmer, hopped out of the Medical Examiner's van.
"I see that, DiNozzo. Did you drive today, there, Palmer?" Gibbs asked.
"No, I did, Jethro," Ducky replied. "We were caught in traffic… hello, hello, who is this lovely young lady?"
Charity blushed. "This is Agent Charity Bernard, from Linguistics. Director Vance wants her to learn about working in the field," Tony said.
"It's a pleasure, Dr., Jimmy. I'd shake your hands, but you're wearing gloves, and I wouldn't want to contaminate the body." Charity winced as Ducky stuck the probe into the dead Lance Corporal.
"You got a time of death yet, Duck?" Gibbs asked.
"Well, based on the temperature of the liver, I'd say he expired shortly after midnight," Ducky hypothesized.
"So, you use a thermometer to figure out the time of death?" she asked Palmer.
"It's one of many methods we use," Jimmy told her. "Once we get him into Autopsy, we'll be able to get a more accurate TOD."
"Boss, we got a weapon!" McGee called out.
Gibbs, Tony, and Charity rushed to McGee, as Gibbs called out, "Get him in the van, Duck!"
"Charity, do you know what this is?" McGee asked, holding up a knife- like weapon.
"Yeah, it's a combat knife," she replied. "Standard issue for Marines. Her eyes widened with realization. "Which means that the murderer was most likely someone here at this base!"
Gibbs and McGee smiled, and Tony said, "Not bad, kiddo."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at NCIS headquarters, Ducky and Palmer started the autopsy, and McGee gave Abby the knife, wallet, and other personal effects on the Lance Corporal to test. Charity and Tony were investigating the background of the young Marine when Gibbs came into the squad room.
"What have you got, DiNozzo, Bernard?"
"Lance Corporal Aleksander Kaczmarek, Boss. Twenty-two years old, native of DC. Only child of Josef and Anna Kaczmarek. Mother was born in Warsaw, Poland, father was born in Chee… Chee…,"
"Cheektowaga, NY, Boss," Charity finished. "It's a suburb of Buffalo. I lived there until I was just over a year old. Anyway, they met while Josef was studying abroad for a semester. He married her shortly after that, and brought her to the States…"
"Together, they opened and operated a European bakery," Tony continued. "Kaczmarek's European Bakery and Deli. Very original name. It's over in Near…"
"Near Northeast, Boss," Charity interrupted. "A few blocks from where I live- I've driven past it before. He operated the business, and she does the baking and cooking. He spoke English, and she learned only a few phrases. Unfortunately, Mr. Kaczmarek died two weeks ago, from cancer. She is now the sole owner of the business."
"Are you finished?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes, Boss," they replied in unison.
"Great. DiNozzo, you take Charity with you to the bakery to question the mother. Not only will it be easier for the mother to speak to a female agent, but the fact that we have a native speaker of Polish is extremely helpful." Gibbs turned to Charity. "Have you ever questioned persons of interest in cases before, Charity?"
"Yes, I have, Gibbs," she answered. "I know this is not an interrogation; we are just trying to get as much information as we can from her, about her son."
"Then why are you still here, if you know what you're doing?" Gibbs asked with a grimace.
Tony pulled her arm, and lead her toward the elevator. "On it, Boss!"
Once in the elevator, Tony let go of Charity's arm.
"Is he always so…," Charity started to ask, searching for the right adjective.
"Yeah, pretty much," Tony said. "He would rather you do things, than talk about doing them."
"Gotcha. He takes some getting used to, I guess," she said with a sigh.
"He's actually been pretty easy on you, Charity," Tony told her.
"If that's easy, then I probably don't want to see him angry."
Tony chuckled. "You got that right, newbie."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*