I'm so sorry for not updating for so long! I've been so buzy, so here's an extra-long chapter!

Idiot, Julia chastened herself, hurriedly wiping her sleeve across her eyes. It was just another memory, nothing you can't handle.

Abby, wound with a lot of energy, pressed the intercom button. "Ducky!"

"Abby! What do I owe the honor of having you in my humble lab?"

"I'm giving Julia a tour…can we come in?"

"Or course, my dear!" the lab doors hissed open, and a cold breeze struck Julia. She shivered and rubbed her arms.

Ducky smiled from the operating table. "Hello Abby."

"Hey Ducky, I don't think you've met Julia before." Abby said gesturing to Julia behind her.

"It's nice to meet you, Julia." Ducky offered his hand. "You know, the origin of your name if quite fascinating…"

Julia shook his hand, and made a hand motion. Ducky cocked his head and turned to Abby. "Oh my…is she deaf?"

Julia had read his lips, and nodded.

"No matter then," Ducky turned his back. "What would you like to see?"

He and Mr. Palmer opened a door and brought out a corpse. Abby signed to Julia, This is where Ducky has all the autopsies.

Julia grinned, and peered over the tray. Her face paled when she saw who it was.

It was her dad.

Julia felt sick to her stomach and clasped her hand to her mouth.

Abby paled. "Ducky, is this Admiral Wright?"

"Yes, of course…Oh dear."

Julia looked a little green, and Abby grabbed a garbage can for her. She stepped back, bumping into Tony and the rest of the NCIS team, along with her brother.

Her icy eyes connected with Gibbs. I didn't know it would be Dad… she moved her hands.

She looked over at her dad again, then forcing herself away.

Her dad, cut open? It was almost too much to bear.

Oh, Daddy. Julia swallowed a lump in her throat. She felt the stares on her back, and she briskly walked out, the doors hissing shut behind her.

Julia forced herself to take deep breaths. Why was this happening to her? Who would want to do this? Her hand drifted to her bracelets, the remorseful feeling taking over her.

Luke looked over his father's body. Kate noticed that his face was bland, stone cold. "It's him," his voice cracked.

"What about this?" Ducky held up an evidence bag. A black cell phone was in it. Luke squinted. "It looks like his, yeah."

"Abby," Gibbs commanded. "I want you to search that phone. Maybe see who was calling the Admiral before he died."

"Yes sir." She motioned for Julia to follow. She did, trailing at Abby's heels. Her bright blue irises reached Kate's warm brown ones. She looked vulnerable and hurt.

Tony noticed Kate looking off into the distance. He nudged her, and she returned to Ducky's talking.

"Cause of death was a shot to the chest. Three bullets, to be more precise." Ducky looked at them through his glasses.

He handed them examination jars. "Here are the bullets." Gibbs slipped them in a bag, then in his pocket.

Julia looked on as Abby looked through the files of the admiral's phone. Her nimble fingers flew across the keys, her dark eyebrows arching.

"Your father like cryptography?" Abby asked.

Julia signed for her to repeat. Her forehead wrinkled when Abby did. He did. A little. Julia seemed like she didn't want to talk…or sign, in her case.

"You alright?" She pointed to Julia, and brought her palm down on the other.

She nodded, her eyes averting. It's just…hard. I feel like a cripple, not speaking.

"Don't be embarrassed, it's okay. No one thinks it's your fault—"

But by the way Julia glanced at Abby, she didn't agree. She brushed her hair out of her eyes, and sat on the edge of the desk. Her eyes fell on something.

It was the paper where Kate had drawn Abby for the first time. Her fingers brushed across the etchings.

This is good! Who made it?

"Kate," Abby said, finger-spelling for her. Julia bit her lip and set the drawing down.

Does…does everyone like me? Julia asked. They seem so…so distant. It's because I sign, isn't it?

"Julia…"

It is, isn't it? It's because I sign, and don't talk.

Abby sighed. She stood next to Julia, who smiled grimly.

Well, you know for sure that I like you. Abby nudged her. Julia had to smile. I'm glad.

Julia pointed to Abby and made a sign.

"Huh?"

Julia made the sign again. She took the two fingers on each hand, and locked them together. Then she pulled them together, as if saying the bond was unbreakable. Lastly, her right hand formed a fist.

Abby felt touched, Julia had just called her "friend."

When it came to sign language, the deaf gave people names. It was up to the person to name whoever desired, and the name would stick.

Is that my name? Abby signed and grinned. Julia signed back yes, saying that was the motion she would use when she was talking about her.

The computer behind her beeped, signaling a cracked code into the phone. She turned back to the computer, and clicked the mouse.

"Whoa," Abby said, twisting one of her ponytails, stealing a look at Julia, whose gaze was out the window.

Kate sat at her desk, typing on her computer. Her phone buzzed, falling off the edge and going into the trash can.

"Ew, gross," she groaned, reaching into the full bag, shoving past old paper shredding, remnants of old lunch, and cups of cold coffee. Her hand grasped her phone and something else. She pulled it out.

Sticking to her cell was a piece of wet paper. It looked like a receipt. As Kate held it up to the light, it looked like a receipt from the local jewelry store. There was only one person who used her trash can besides her.

Tony.

Kate's mouth formed a smirk. Apparently, some girlfriend he hadn't bragged about yet. The girl who liked country music, perhaps?

Boy, she was going to give him HELL about this.

"Hey Tony," she chirped. "Who's the next girl?"

Tony barely glanced at her, keeping his eyes on his paperwork. "I don't know what you're talking about Kate."

She laughed, her voice seeming to echo off the walls as she sauntered to Tony's desk. She sat on the edge, tucking an auburn piece of hair behind her ears. Kate leaned over, and Tony couldn't avoid her.

Kate smelled of vanilla and ammunicition. To Tony, the smell was intoxicating.

"So who is she? Some pole-dancer? A college girl?" She grinned, a smile that made the worst days at work better for Tony. "A MARRIED woman?"

"You know Kate," he said, leaning back in his chair, his eyes meeting hers. "I could like a nice girl for once."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Don't tell me. I'll find out somehow. You never could keep your mouth shut." Waving the receipt around, Kate chuckled. "And she must mean a lot to you."

As her legs carried her back to her desk, Tony felt his hand clutch a tiny black box in a desk drawer. "You have no idea," he murmered.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!" Abby said, jumping up and down. "I found something! There's a video, and the admiral may have videotaped his murder!"

She hit the play button.

Shallow breathing was heard, and the phone was fumbled. Bloody fingers picked it up again, and the handsome face of the Admiral filled the television.

Julia glanced up, and was stunned to see her father's face staring out from the monitor. It brought back a flood a memories, a lot of pain and joy, until Julia forgot for a moment where she was.

The admiral breathed softly, and whispered.

"They've found out about Project Point-Blank," he gasped. "But they don't know everything. NCIS, I know you're watching. Protect my daughter. Trust no one but her. Her life is in greater risk than any others."

"She knows, whether she realizes it or not, but she knows." The Fleet Admiral's eyes turned pleading. "Remember, sweetheart, remember everything."

The screen went dark.

Abby and Gibbs turned back to Julia, who seemed just as astonished as they did.

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