CHAPTER 3

Holly stashes the small notebook in her pocket until she can decide how best to handle that little piece of the puzzle. With her composure back in place she steps inside and rounds the corner just as Gibbs asks the question that brings a small gasp from her.

"How long were you out there, Palmer?" His tone is still stern, but more fatherly now that he's calmed down.

She is behind Palmer as the same thought rushes through her mind. Her eyes fly up to meet Gibbs' and she can tell he is also worried that Palmer may have witnessed their sex games on the sofa from earlier in the evening.

"No... not long." Palmer is keeping his head down, too embarrassed by all that has happened to even look him in the eye. "Maybe a half hour?"

Holly lets out a silent sigh of relief can't hold back the grin she gives Gibbs, who just raises one brow as he silently questions how she can find any of this amusing. She tries to compose herself as she softly clears her throat and steps further into the room with the glasses in hand.

"Here you go, Jimmy. Not even damaged."

"Oh... thank you." He takes the glasses and puts them on as he looks from her to Gibbs. Being able to clearly see the anger on his idol's face makes him wish he'd left his glasses off. He quickly lowers his eyes to his hands in his lap once more.

Holly looks from one to the other and then dares to interject herself into the interrogation of Jimmy Palmer, however she does it a bit more gently than Gibbs. She sits down on the sofa on the end nearest to Palmer's seat and slowly crosses her legs. Both men pause to watch her motions; as she intended. She is now on his level, not standing over him and dominating him as Gibbs was doing; and yet somehow in charge now.

Knowing Gibbs as she does, Holly has no doubt he would get the truth out of him in short order... but at what cost? Jimmy would never recover from a full force Gibbs interrogation and their work relationship would undoubtedly crumble as well. She gives Gibbs a silent look, imploring him to let her handle this and after a tense moment he sighs and backs off to stand a few steps farther away.

"Jimmy, you wanna explain what's going on here?" Her tone is calm, quiet and has an instant effect on the nervous young man.

His eyes come up hesitantly, drawn to her, but then they dart over to Gibbs and drop once more in fear. She keeps her voice calm as she reaches out to lay her hand on his arm. "Hey... it's okay, really. We just want to understand... what you were doing."

His eyes again come up to meet hers and with a pathetic half sigh, half whimper Jimmy finally says the words he is sure will be the cause of his demise. "I... I... didn't mean any harm... I swear!" His eyes dart from hers to Gibbs and then back as his voice falters and he lowers his head once more. "I... I just wanted to see... how... I mean what makes... why Agent Gibbs... well... is the way he is."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Palmer?!" Gibbs' voice rises again as his frustration flares.

Holly gestures for him to back off and calm down, her eyes conveying her warning and Gibbs glares at her a moment, then goes to sit down in the chair by the fire. Holly turns her attention back to Jimmy and gives him a moment to recover before she continues.

"So... you've been... watching Agent Gibbs." Jimmy nods, but doesn't dare look up at the man now sitting across the room from him. "Okay. I guess you were doing that for a good reason. I think you need to explain it, Jimmy... just so there's not misunderstandings, like..."

"Yeah, like you're a perverted stalker." Gibbs is finding it very hard to keep his mouth shut when his gut is telling him Jimmy isn't being honest with them.

"NO! Agent Gibbs, I would never do that! I mean... I'm not interested in you like that. I mean... I am, but not like you're thinking." Jimmy fumbles over his attempt to explain and Holly once again has to suppress the smile that tugs at the corner of her mouth.

"Well, just how is it then, Palmer? Cause from where I'm sitting you're looking an awful lot like a Peeping Tom." Gibbs forces his voice to sound calmer than he is so he won't get another glare from Holly.

There is a long silence as Jimmy once again drops his head, thinking they have already made up their minds about him. Holly knows the truth from what she read in his notebook and once again prompts him to tell Gibbs what has been going on.

"Jimmy, it's okay. Just tell us what you've been documenting... and why. Maybe we can help you with that."

His eyes come up again to meet hers and he realizes she found his notebook outside as well. His face flushes again and Gibbs' astute observation skills pick up on it. "Are you spying on me for a reason, Palmer?"

"No... yes... but it's not what you think. I'm not a pervert, Agent Gibbs... I... well, I... just wanted to learn... how to..." He dares to look up at his idol and sees him sitting forward in his chair, perched and ready to leap into action. His eyes are intent, but no longer flash with anger and Jimmy dares to tell him the truth. "... to be like you."

Gibbs can't believe what he is hearing and studies the younger man for a long moment, then glances over to see Holly nodding slightly in confirmation. He has no idea how she knows this, but apparently she knows something he doesn't. He takes a deep breath and forces his voice to remain calm.

"Why would you want to be like me? I'm nothing but a worn out old marine, short on patience, heavy on attitude and most people can't stand to be around me."

Gibbs is surprised when Palmer actually laughs at this and then seems to calm down as he looks across the room at the man he's thought of as perfect. "That's just the image you want people to see... and I understand that, Agent Gibbs. You're in charge, you need to be gruff and tough and distant. But that's not the real you."

"It's not?"

"Sounds to me like he's got you figured out, Jethro." The humor in Holly's voice has him giving her a warning glare, which only makes her smirk more. "You know he's right."

Gibbs realizes he hasn't given Palmer enough credit for his observation skills... just like he hadn't realized his bravery in stopping that suspect last week... or his skill in surveilling him unseen until tonight. He decides to give him the benefit of the doubt and see where this leads.

"Okay, you've obviously spent some time thinking about this, but why?"

"That's easy... you're so confident, so brave... so cool. You're a natural leader and people want to follow you even when you're not the one in charge. Everyone instantly trusts you and is drawn to you like a magnet. Kids love you, women love you... hell, even men love you!"

This gets him an immediate glare from Gibbs and a chuckle of laughter from Holly which is quickly stifled when his glare turns on her too. Palmer is quick to explain his comment to avoid incurring the wrath of Gibbs again.

"I don't mean me! God, I may want to be you... or at the very least be like you, but I DO NOT want to be WITH you...in that way... if you know what I mean."

Gibbs watches Palmer trying his best to clarify that he hasn't been stalking Gibbs because he's attracted to him sexually. One thing he said caught Gibbs' attention and he diverts the conversation back onto safe ground.

"You want to be me?" His confusion is obvious, not understanding why anyone would want to be as dysfunctional and socially inept as he admittedly was in most situations. DiNozzo had gotten it right when he'd jokingly called him a functional mute.

"Well, yeah... who wouldn't want to be you?" His honesty leaves no doubt that his desire is sincere.

"You may not notice the effect you have on people, Jethro, but I have to agree with Jimmy. People are drawn to you... they want to be near you, if they can't actually be you." She knows this is uncomfortable for Gibbs to hear, but she continues, "Look at DiNozzo... he practically imitates you when you're not around and when you are he's always a step ahead of your next request. Ziva looks at you as her surrogate father and idolizes you. Tim... well, Tim has become a man because of the influence you've had on him."

"Yeah, that's exactly what Abby said!" Palmer realizes his mistake too late as both sets of eyes suddenly dart to him.

"You've been talking to Abby about me?" The tension in his voice lets them know he is not happy about that.

"I... I was talking to her about... what a pathetic excuse for a man I am... compared to you. She just... Abby suggested I watch you, learn from you so I could be more like you."

"Abby told you to become my stalker?"

"No... no, that wasn't her intention... or mine, actually. It just sort of happened. The more I observed you, the more you fascinated me... and then I..." He trails off as he weakly gestures towards the front window and the bushes where he had been hiding.

"Just what were you hoping to learn... from watching me, Palmer?"

"Oh, he's learned a lot, actually." She pulls out the small black notebook and hears Jimmy's soft groan of anxiety. She flips it open and scans a few pages, reading notations from them. "'Walk softly and keep the element of surprise'... or, 'is always polite, even to clerks, security guards and doormen'... or, 'know the answer to the question before you ask it'... and my favorite so far is, 'has a rule for everything... need to learn the rules'."

Gibbs has to admit Palmer has been paying attention, but with that thought he is almost afraid to ask what he documented about his observations tonight. "Anything about tonight in there?"

"No... not yet, anyway." Holly smirks and gives him a quick wink.

"Is that what you were mumbling when I came around the corner? Something about performance?"

Palmer blushes again and nods, "You... that's what you said... too much liquor inhibits performance."

"Just for the record... I did not say that, she did." He points to Holly and the amusement in his voice causes Palmer to give a shaky smile in return. "I have never had that problem."

"True." Palmer looks from Gibbs to Holly and breaks into a wide grin as she confirms his position. "But, just so we're clear, we were just making stuff up so Gibbs could have an excuse to get into the kitchen."

Palmer looks from one to the other and then realizes why they had been playing along like that. "OH! You knew I was out there! Wow... you are so good!"

"Jimmy, you're lucky I didn't shoot you. That was an incredibly stupid thing to do... you know that, right?" His father-tone has emerged once again and even as scolding as it is, it soothes Palmer.

"Yes, I do... and it won't happen again... I just didn't know how else to... you know."

There is another long silence as the three of them sit wondering how this all got so surreal. It was so far outside the realm of their normal expectations of the normally timid medical assistant that it was hard to comprehend. Holly, being more open-minded when it came to matters of the heart, so to speak, is the first to bridge the gap between Gibbs' strict world and Palmer's out of control life.

"Well, you could have just asked Jethro... to... help you with that?"

Gibbs' head comes up sharply as her words sink in. What was she doing? Before he has a chance to tell her exactly what he thinks of that idea, Palmer's face is lit by another wide grin.

"Really?! You'd actually do that?!" He jumps up, excited at the prospect of actually being allowed into the inner circle of Gibbs' awareness.

"Palmer, I don't..." Gibbs is trying to dispel his enthusiasm without crushing him, but once again Holly interrupts him to add her own thoughts on it.

"I don't see any reason why Jethro wouldn't agree to... spending some time with you, Jimmy. Just a little time... mentoring him like you do your team... away from work, of course."

Jimmy is staring at Gibbs expectantly, excited at the prospect of spending time with his idol and he didn't care where. Gibbs looks up into his bright eyes, which remind him of a puppy eager to play fetch with his master. Then he looks over to Holly who gives him another wink of encouragement. Feeling trapped and not liking the only choice available to him, Gibbs is suddenly on his feet, pacing as he tries to come up with an alternative.

When nothing comes to him, he finally stops in front of Jimmy and glares at him as he points his finger in the younger man's face and growls out his conditions "Okay, but this is strictly confidential... you got that, Palmer? One word of this gets out to anyone... and I mean anyone and your body will never be found, understood?"

"Yes, sir! Yes sir, Agent Gibbs!" Palmer reaches out and grasps the hand that Gibbs had been pointing at him with, shaking his hand enthusiastically.

Gibbs finally manages to pull his hand from the frantic grip and lays a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He grips just hard enough to bring Palmer to a halt, then he sighs and adds, "One more thing... at work, it's Agent Gibbs. Away from work... it's just Gibbs."

"Right! Got it Ag... Gibbs." Jimmy is grinning happily and Gibbs can't believe what he's just gotten himself into. Once they get Palmer out of here , he and Holly are going to have a long talk about what exactly he's supposed to be accomplishing with Palmer.

Gibbs pats him on the shoulder and then steps back, signaling an end to the conversation and Palmer's stay as he motions to the front door. "You can bring those back later... and don't forget your own when you go."

At the mention of his urine soaked pants, Palmer's gaze drops to the floor, once again embarrassed by his weakness. That had not been Gibbs' intention so he gives his ego a little boost. "How's your jaw?"

"Uhm, sore, but it'll be okay, I think." Palmer suddenly jerks his head up when Gibbs' hand gently lifts his chin to examine the spot.

"You'll live. If anyone asks where you got the bruise, just tell 'em it was a misunderstanding."

"But won't they want to know what it was about?" It was obvious Palmer was not prone to lying or being deceptive.

"Maybe, just smile and say, 'the other guy isn't confused anymore' and leave it at that."

"But they'll think... Oohh... I get it! They'll think I won the fight, right?!" Palmer is grinning like a fool again and Gibbs has his doubts if he will be able to pull it off... especially if any of his trained investigators ask him about it.

Holly stands up and comes to Jimmy, gently looping her arm through his and turning him towards the door. Guiding him since he hasn't taken Gibbs' hint that it was time for him to leave yet. She pats his arm as she reaches out to open the door and lowers her voice to whisper some words of advice to him.

"Men of few words are intriguing, Jimmy. Don't over explain yourself. Let people come to their own conclusions. Night." She gently pushes him out the door and closes it behind him. When she turns around, Gibbs is standing there with a look that demands answers.