She walked into the second floor of the NCIS building, located in the Washington Navy Yard. Having shown her identification to the guards downstairs, she received an escort straight to the Director's office; she tolerated that, but not the cursory pat down to make sure that she wasn't concealing. The only weapons that she had on him were her registered sidearm and the K-BAR knife that she had tucked in its hip holster. She looked around discretely as her escort took her near the bullpen and found the team that she would be looking after. Little did she know, but she wasn't the only one doing reconnaissance.
"Who's she, Boss?" Special Agent Tony DiNozzo looked over across the bullpen from where he was standing to the lead field agent, and retired Marine, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Gibbs was reading from his computer screen, his blue eyes squinting a little without his glasses; however, when he glanced up at DiNozzo, instantly Tony got the squirming feeling in his stomach like when he used to go to the principal or before his father. His grey hair was shorter to his skull, shaved closer on the side. Even with his 'retirement' two years ago, he never lost the touch of making Tony feel insignificant with a glance.
"What?" Jethro looked up from the report he was reading and got a quick look at the Gunnery Sergeant being led up the stairs to the Director's Office; he quirked an eyebrow before leaning back in his chair to rub his tired eyes. He didn't have a case to work, there was no paperwork to be done, and he was bored. Still, Director Jenny Shepard required his presence here, and so he would come and sit at his desk instead of working on his boat.
"The lady being led up the stairs to Director Shepard's office, Boss." That time, it was Agent Tim McGee; even he glanced up at her as the door closed behind her and the two men escorting her stood guard at the door. Tim's fingers were tapping on the keyboard, working his magic as he organized his beloved hard drive for the umpteenth time this year. Today, for a change, his dark brown locks were combed straight off his face to make the widow's peak, the ever-observant green eyes, and the round lines of his face more prominent.
"She's a Marine, gentlemen." Officer Ziva David, their Mossad liaison, sat behind her desk while twiddling her knife between her fingers. "I doubt she'd respond to being called a 'babe', Tony." She sat in her chair, her black hair tied off her face in a braid. Her tanned skin was paler from the winter, but it was now regaining its usual pallor. Her brown eyes flicked from Gibbs to Tim to Tony and back in a circle, always looking out for her team.
"Did I call her a babe, Ziva?" Tony DiNozzo turned to face his teammate. His brown hair was messily combed today; he was probably late getting up, again. Still, his hazel eyes were gleaming with the aftermath of his morning coffee. The designer shirt and pants that he was wearing was neatly pressed, for all that he was just barely late getting in this morning.
"Tony, the sounds of your thoughts can be heard in New York City." Gibbs tore his eyes off the report and looked to the entrance of the bullpen. He really wasn't paying that much attention to the conversation, but Tony needed to be put in his place. The Director wanted to see this particular Marine for a reason, and he would find out why soon enough.
"Yeah, Boss." That was all it took to shut Tony up. Still, his eyes shot up one last time to the closed doors of the Director's office. What was going on up there?
"Madam Director." Jacklyn saluted as the Director stood behind her desk. The escort that had led her through the bullpens of NCIS and to the office now stood at the doors to the Director's outer office. The secretary made her wait outside with her until the Director had called for her; luckily, it wasn't a very long wait. Her leg was beginning to ache again, and she had left her pain medication at home.
"At ease, Gunnery Sergeant." Director Jenny Shepard took her seat as she placed her glasses on her nose so that she could read the folder on top of her desk. Today, her brilliant red hair was tied into a severe looking bun to match the crisp dress pants and silk shirt that she was wearing; later today, she would face down the Director of the CIA, and she wanted to feel her best. "Would you like to have a seat?"
"No, ma'am. I'll be fine." Jacklyn fiddled with her crutches until they sat comfortably underneath her shoulder. There was no need for her to sit, just yet.
Jenny Shepard took her time reading through the report. The young marine standing in front of her was highly decorated and especially young for a female gunnery sergeant; Jenny thought that it would take more for a female to get that rank because the men would get them first. Only thirty-three years old, and she could probably kick Gibbs' ass, maybe even Ziva's once the crutches came off; most definitely, she could school Tony and McGee.
Every year since she joined the Corps, her evaluations had steadily increased. A trained Hospital Corpsman after passing USMC Basic Training, she was awarded an Expert Marksmanship badge in both rifle and pistol after Parris Island, two Purple Hearts and a Meritorious Service Award, two Marine Corps Good Conduct medals, the Sea Service Deployment ribbons, the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, two Overseas Service ribbons, the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals, the Combat Action ribbon, both the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and Service Medal, as well as several Bronze and Silver Stars during her unprecedented six consecutive tours of Iraq and two tours on cruisers.
And now her orders, all the way from the SECNAV himself, were for her to report to NCIS for a medical officer position under Ducky. She looked up over the top of the file to see that the Marine was still standing and looking straight at her. "Gunnery Sergeant Singer, please take a seat. You will be standing for a while, but only if you insist." She watched as the gunny think about it, and then as she shuffled to the edge of the offered seat and slowly sat down; it was obviously that she was trying her best not to wince.
"Recent injury, Gunnery Sergeant?" Jenny put the file down to stare at the Marine before her. She wanted to see how the Marine responded to questions.
"Permission to speak frankly, ma'am?" Jenny shook her head as the Marine training kicked in and the formalities began. Was this was Gibbs was like before he joined up with NIS?
"Of course, Gunnery Sergeant."
"Please call me Jacklyn. Only my CO and XO call me by my rank, and the other nicknames are for my brothers-in-arm to call me, ma'am." She smiled at the little eyebrow quirk that the Director offered her way, but that was all the reaction she was going to get. Jacklyn, too, was judging the Director's reaction, as she had done with all of her COs in the past.
"All right then, Jacklyn. I ask again: is that a recent injury?"
"Fourteen days old, ma'am. I received it ten days before I was scheduled to end my tour. My CO ordered me to use the crutches to travel on, to help make sure that my wounds don't re-open, ma'am." Taking another look at the file that laid open on the Director's desk, Jacklyn continued, "Ma'am, that's why I received the most recent Purple Heart, ma'am. I continued to fight and watch out for my men even as I ran the risk of losing my leg and liver, ma'am. My CO, Captain David Johnson, MD, told me that it was a miracle that I survived with nothing but lacerations and bruises, ma'am." Making her face Marine stoic, she asked, "What else would you like to know, ma'am?"
Director Shepard smiled. "What are your orders from SECNAV?"
Jacklyn looked shocked at the question. "Begging your pardon, ma'am, but my orders didn't come from SECNAV, at least not to my knowledge. They were given to me by my CO, Capt. David Johnson, as a favor to an old friend." She dug through her memory. "Capt. Johnson told me that 'Ducky and his NCIS friends need someone to keep them patched up'."
Director Shepard nodded. "Well, Gunnery Sergeant, he applied for you to become our on-site medical officer. Those orders came through from SECNAV to me. Are you up to the task?" She stood to her feet.
Gathering up her crutches, Jacklyn stood up and placed them underneath her arms. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am." She saluted to the Director; instead, Jenny placed out a hand for her to shake. Slowly, Jacklyn lowered her salute and took the Director's hand.
Jenny gave the Marine's hand one firm shake. "Now, come with me. It's time to meet the team."
Jenny dismissed the escort and walked slowly to accommodate the slow-moving gunnery sergeant. By and far, she was impressed. The gunnery sergeant would make an excellent addition to the team. Now she just had to match up with Gibbs' standards. Somehow, as she walked down the stairs and into the entrance of the bullpen, Gibbs would have no problem accepting this new Marine.
"Everyone, this is Gunnery Sergeant Jacklyn Singer." That got the team's attention. "She's accepted the position of on-site medic for the Major Case Response Team. McGee," she turned over to Tim, "can you call Abby and Ducky up here, please?" Tim was prompt and did just that. Pointing to the others in the bullpen, she introduced them as, "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Special Agent Timothy McGee, Senior Field Agent Jethro Gibbs, and Officer Ziva David, our liaison with Mossad."
"Jen, I didn't know that there was a new team opening." Gibbs leaned against his desk, sipping at his coffee.
"To tell the truth, Special Agent Gibbs, neither did I until her new orders came down from SECNAV." Jenny stared at him with a warning glance, but the Marine standing before them all spoke up before she had a chance to.
"Permission to speak, Director?" Gibbs looked over at the Marine as she adjusted her crutches underneath her shoulder; she was probably a desk jockey looking for a new position. Jen gave a nod. What happened next was most unexpected.
Singer turned towards Gibbs and nailed him with a stare that usually sent Tony quivering whenever Gibbs used it on him. "Special Agent Gibbs, I just got back from six years in Iraq. I got kicked from kingdom come by an IED, and have not the time nor the patience for your looks that suggest that I am nothing more than a desk jockey. So deal with it. This was as much of a surprise to me when it turned out that my orders were not from my company CO but from SECNAV." She placed her crutches against Tony's desk and reached for the file that Jenny held in her hand. Limping without a grimace on her face, she handed the file over to Gibbs. "This is what you're looking for, correct?"
Gibbs gave her a look, measuring her up. Taking another sip of his coffee, he yelled at Tony, "Bring Gunnery Sergeant Singer's CV on screen, DiNozzo."
"On it, Boss." With a few clicks of the keys on his keyboard, Singer's picture and service record was on the screen. Jacklyn moved back to Tony's desk and picked up her crutches so that she could stand comfortably as her new team inspected her.
The team was silent for a moment as they read through Jacklyn's dossier. Tony's eyebrows were shot up beyond his hairline as he read that she had indeed completed six tours, but that she had never gone home in between; she had stayed in Iraq for six years, four more than her original orders. Apparently, she had volunteered for the other two tours. He shot a look at the Marine as she silently stood at ease as best she could with the crutches.
Ziva nodded her head as she saw the list of medals and commendations that the Marine had received over the course of her career. This woman was not to be messed with. In fact, the gunnery sergeant was a hero.
McGee said nothing as he read over her education path. Graduating straight from high school into the emergency medicine program in Chesapeake, she worked only for a year before being recruited by USMC. After Basic Training, she went into the Corpsman program, the first Marine to do so. This woman was full of surprises.
Gibbs just read it over quietly. Although he would never say it or show it, he was impressed. However, just because Jen gave the orders did not make her part of his team yet. He didn't trust her, but that would come.
Just then, the elevator dinged. Abby and Ducky came out of the elevator. "Jack?" The gunnery sergeant turned and saw her old friend running towards her. Abby hadn't changed a bit from when she last saw her in Chesapeake. Her black hair was still up in pigtails, her tattoos showing for the world to see the highly misunderstood Goth forensic analyst.
"Abs!" She raised out one arm for Abby to slam into her choking embrace. "It's good to see you!" However, she was tapping Abby's back to let her go, for the sake of her injuries.
Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Abs, you know her?"
Abby looked shocked as she looked over at the team leader. "Gibbs, this is Jacklyn Singer, gung-ho Marine and best friend. God, we've known each other since…" She paused to think.
"Since we were kids, Abs?" Jack laughed and playfully punched her in the shoulder. "My dad and her uncle work together, and so Abby and I would stay over at each other's houses while they were off on their trips."
Gibbs gave a little nod. "All right. You're in."
Jacklyn's eyebrow rose up when the elderly man that had accompanied Abby in the elevator spoke up. "What's going on, Jethro? Timothy didn't give a reason for my being pulled out of my morgue."
"Jacklyn, this is Dr. Donald Mallard, our forensic pathologist." Jenny took control of the introductions once more. "Ducky, this is Gunnery Sergeant Jacklyn Singer; she is the new medical officer for Gibbs' team."
Dr. Mallard shot a look over at Gibbs, who simply shrugged, before smiling and extending a hand to her. "My dear, please call me Ducky. Everyone does." He had a Scottish accent that reminded Jacklyn of her mother, but she tamped down the emotion.
"Ducky, then." Jacklyn took the hand and shook it firmly. "Capt. David Johnson wanted me to pass on his regards."
"David? I haven't seen that lad in ten years! How is he?" A smile cracked on Ducky's face.
"Stationed in Bethseda now, Ducky." She looked around the team before looking back at the Director. "Well, ma'am, with your permission, I'd like to get started."
Jacklyn was impressed as Abs and Ducky led her down to her new room, just offside of the morgue. As she walked around the room, inspecting her new surroundings, she was aware that Abs was standing against the doorway. Jacklyn gestured with her head for her to come in. Abs, looking around, came into the medical room and closed the door behind her.
The Director had pulled out all of the stops for her new quarters. The three wall cupboards were stocked with the same supplies that one would expect in a hospital: gauze, gloves, different types of bandages and dressings, to syringes and various vials of drugs. In the corner were IV poles and a vital signs machine. On the wall above the bed was a blood pressure monitor. On the wall to the left of the door was a sink; next to the sink was a computer for her records. Underneath the sink was a mini-fridge for ice packs and water. Against the far wall was the examining table; actually, it was more like a patient bed.
One of the requisites of the job was for Jacklyn to get re-certified in order to dispense medications. As a paramedic in the USMC, she had done that plenty of times, but her rank as a Corpsman would not be quite sufficient. So tomorrow, she would sit an exam that proved to the city of Washington DC that she was a capable medical practitioner.
Abby didn't care about that right now. As Jacklyn sat down on the bed, Abby sat next to her and began to sign. They would do this when they wanted to talk without the adults knowing what they were talking. "So Jack, is your dad okay?"
"Yeah, Abs." Jack's fingers were rusty since she hadn't used sign language in a while, but the skill soon came back. "He's alive and still hunting. What about your uncle?"
"He's still around." Abby paused for a moment. "Have you heard anything about the Winchester brothers?"
This made Jack pause now herself. Instead of answering, she posed her own question back. "Why?"
"I heard on the wind that Dean Winchester's going to die soon from a deal." Jack stopped signing and rubbed the wooden ring on her finger.
"Abs, he is." A tear came to her eye. "God, Abs, he stayed at my place with his brother and my dad. They came to pick me up from JFK, and Dean and I just clicked. I remembered him from when we were young, and he is so different from then" For the first time in a long time, Jacklyn let her emotion out; she leaned forward and cradled her face in her hands. "I'm in love with a dead man walking, Abby. What do I do?"
Abby said nothing, but instead gently took her soldier friend into an embrace and let her cry against her shoulder. She looked up and saw Gibbs at the door, watching the emotional upheaval unfold. Gibbs let himself into the room, and waited until Jacklyn looked up at him. For once, she didn't care if the senior field agent saw that the Marine hero that he had just accepted onto his team was too emotional for the job. Instead, he knelt before her and waited until she met his gaze. "You make sure that you live every day that you have with him to the best, and when he goes, you respect his memory and then let him go." Jacklyn nodded her head and stood, the tears gone. Abby smiled at her, and Gibbs nodded his head. "You'll do, Jacklyn. Just don't let it happen again."