Chapter 9
Abby stared at the selkie in fascination. He looked like a human, but he wasn't. She could see the difference in his eyes. This was a different species. He spoke very formally, as one who was fluent in a second language but didn't use it often. His clothes were simple; the predominant color was gray. He was tall, almost regal in his bearing. As he looked around the lab, he had a fluid motion, somehow combined with a bit of clumsiness that seemed out of place.
He noticed her scrutiny and his eyes widened expressively.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I just never thought I'd get the chance to...to meet...you."
"You are a friend of the one called my son?"
"Yes. It's been so amazing learning about him. He kept it all from us until just a couple of months ago, and I've had a hard time not asking too many questions."
"And there are questions you wish to ask me?"
"Yes...if you don't mind. While we're waiting to find out what there is, it would be nice."
"I may not answer all of your questions, but you may ask."
"Do you have your skin with you?" she asked, keeping her voice low.
"Yes." He gestured to his bag. " I would not ever leave it."
"We have cameras in here; so I won't ask you to use it, but...what does the change feel like? Tim said he couldn't remember. It had been too long."
"It is hard to explain to one who does not know it. It is freedom. To be trapped in one or the other for a long time is like being in a prison. Those born on land feel more need to be in this form than those born in the sea, but we are both and we cannot be kept from either. That is why his choice was so different. I cannot understand choosing only one, but he has always been different."
"It was really hard for him."
"Yes. Do you have other questions?"
"I've been reading the stories ever since. Are they real?"
"Some. Not all."
"Crying tears into the sea?"
He smiled. "Yes. That is true. That is his origin."
"Really? His mother...?"
"Yes."
"Wow."
Abby was interested because he wasn't robotic by any means, but there was a kind of stoicism that marked him as different.
"Is there a chance that I could ever...see you change?"
"It is not something that is done. What was done before was not usual."
"I understand. I was just hoping that...since I already know, I could see it, too."
"I cannot say yes, but I will not say no."
Abby smiled.
"Okay. One more question."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what DNA is?"
"No."
"Genes?"
"No."
"So I guess amino acids are out of the picture, too?"
"Yes."
Abby tried to think of how to explain it to him when he was intelligent, but completely unfamiliar with these kinds of things. "It's...it's what makes us look the way we do. It's in everything that's alive. It's what makes one person different from another person and one species different from another species. You can't see it, but if I took a part of you, I'd have your DNA."
"I am not sure if I understand all of what you say, but it seems like it could be something real, not created."
"It is. What I wanted to know is, if it was allowed, if I could take a sample of your DNA. I would never show it to anyone. I just want to know for myself."
"Again, I cannot say yes."
"Okay. I just thought I'd ask."
"Now, I have a question for you."
"Yeah?"
"This human we saw. You are searching?"
"Yes."
"How does this searching work? You do it while standing in this room?"
Abby smiled and nodded.
"Okay, I'll show you what we do and I'll try to explain how it works."
She started to describe the process, still unable to stop staring at the selkie standing in her lab.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Gibbs went up to Vance's office and was admitted.
"Agent Gibbs, I was in the bullpen and heard Agent DiNozzo asking for a BOLO on Agent McGee's car. Would you care to bring me up to speed on why that's necessary?"
Gibbs kept himself from groaning. Yes, Vance had the right to know what was happening with his agents, but this was so awkward, and Gibbs didn't feel awkward very often.
"His father said that Tim called him last night, asking for help. That was all he was able to say, and his father is worried. So he contacted us."
"His father?"
"His real father."
Vance raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't aware he knew the identity of his birth parents."
"He found his father more than a month ago. He only told me about it a couple of weeks ago. He's trying to keep his personal life away from his work life. Can't blame him."
"No. I appreciate that, but he didn't even mention that he was in contact with his father when I spoke to him."
"McGee is afraid of losing his job, Director. He doesn't want to say anything that he doesn't have to."
"Are you sure that he's really missing and hasn't just lost it again?"
"As sure as I can be. Even if he has lost it, he's still in trouble."
"Granted. What are you doing besides the BOLO?"
"Ziva's gone to his apartment to see if there's any sign of him there."
"Do you know where he was?"
"No. He was planning on searching for his birth mother now that he's found his father. He didn't tell me details."
"Right." Vance sat at his desk and took a breath. "All right, Gibbs. Do not keep me out of the loop this time. I don't want to find out that my agent has lost his mind by seeing it in the news. No hidden agendas."
"Understood."
"Then, I hope you find him and that it's not serious."
Gibbs nodded and left the office. That's what he was hoping as well.
...but he didn't think they were going to luck out that way.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Tim wasn't sure how long he could keep this crazy man from killing him because there was no way he was going to answer his questions, and he wasn't sure that his insanity wouldn't push him over the edge.
As it was, Tim could feel a number of bruises forming on his legs. He didn't know why this man was focusing on his legs, but they had been on the receiving end of a number of kicks, and he couldn't say that he was enjoying it much. He supposed it was better than his head.
The man had forced him to breathe in something rank that had knocked him out again. He'd just awakened alone in the large open room. He didn't know how long he'd been out, but he felt a little ill.
As he lay on the floor, trying to get his brain in gear, he took stock of his current position.
He was restrained pretty securely, with ties around his ankles and around his wrists, and, unfortunately, his wrists had been pulled around behind him. His arms had been twisted so that the backs of his hands were facing each other, meaning that he'd have to break his arms to get them around to the front. He couldn't see anything close to him that he could use to get away at the moment, but he couldn't see behind himself, either.
He could shuffle himself around if he was alone.
But am I alone?
He wasn't sure he wanted to try moving around if his captor was nearby. That might make him mad again.
Still, he didn't want lie around doing nothing to help his situation and just hope he got rescued. He'd contacted his father, but he regretted that now. If this man was looking for selkies, the last thing he should get was access to a selkie. ...even if he had that right now, clearly, he didn't know it, and it wasn't like Tim could demonstrate it at this point.
Alone or not, he should probably try something.
He wiggled around until he was facing the other way, trying to get a good look at his surroundings.
It didn't help. It was a large empty space. A warehouse, maybe? A barn? No, not a barn. A warehouse could be, though. A really big shed? Was that any different from a warehouse? Probably not.
"You're awake again."
Oh, no.
Tim grimaced at the voice.
"Then, you can answer my questions."
"The answers aren't going to change, no matter how many times you ask them," Tim said. "This doesn't have to be a serious thing. You obviously need help. I know people who can help you. You just need to let me go."
The man strode over to him.
"The only help I need is knowing where the selkies are, and you're going to help me do that. Understand? That is the only answer I will accept. If you don't help me willingly, I'll force you to help me."
"Look, I like swimming in the ocean. That's all."
"That's not all! I won't hear of it being all! You don't seem to understand how serious this is! They could take us over. An invasion from the sea!"
Tim forced himself to laugh. It was pretty funny to think that the selkies had any interest in killing all the humans off. There weren't even close to enough of them. But he had to make it seem as ridiculous as possible.
"You think that seals are going to invade the land? Are you kidding?"
As he'd thought, that made his captor very angry.
"Don't laugh at me!" he shouted.
He kicked Tim as hard as he could in the stomach. Tim gagged a little and curled in on himself.
"This is not a joke!" the man shouted at him. "This is serious! I will not have you treating me like everyone else did! They're out there and they can kill us and disappear into the sea without anyone knowing!"
Tim was trying to keep breathing. He couldn't reply sarcastically, as he wanted to do. Instead, he just tried to breathe and not to throw up.
"I need proof, and the only way I can get people to listen to me is if they can't do anything else."
He grabbed Tim by the shoulders and lifted him off the floor. He shook him.
"Don't you want to save the human race? These are your people! We're so worried about fighting each other that we haven't thought about what other species might be planning."
Tim forced himself to laugh again.
"Are you listening to yourself?" he asked through gritted teeth. "Human beings are more likely to kill off other species, not to be killed by them. You sound like a nut."
As he'd hoped, that made the man so angry that he threw Tim back down to the floor and stormed away from him. He was clearly missing more than one or two screws, but Tim couldn't help wondering how it was that he'd become so convinced that the selkies were real. Regardless, he wasn't going to waste time wondering about that. There were more important things to do.
He started to try and maneuver his hands around so that the palms were facing each other. If he could do that, then, he could, conceivably, get his hands under his legs and in front of him. Even if he was still tied up, that would mean that he could do something, maybe untie his legs and run out of here.
Would it work? He didn't know. The ties were really tight, but he had to try.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"This is the picture you made of the man?" the selkie asked.
Abby nodded. "Does he look right to you?"
The selkie shrugged. "I am not the one to ask. Human features do not stand out to me as they do to you. The other was the one who gave this description. He learned to see the differences while he was trapped. I have never done so. These pictures are so strange to me."
He reached out and touched the monitor. "I see that this functions as you say, but it is very strange to see these images so flat and lifeless."
Abby smiled. It was almost like having an alien visitor in the lab. He was curious, but not envious in any way. He had a way of life that he must enjoy. All these things were simply trinkets. Interesting but not necessary. She couldn't really fathom that perspective, but she could respect it.
"I have to admit that it's really weird trying to describe this stuff to you."
The selkie smiled. "It is a different language, even though we both are speaking the same."
"Yes." Then, not really knowing where the question came from, it popped out. "Do you miss Tim?"
"Miss?"
"Yes...Do you wish he was still with your people?"
He cocked his head to the side and considered her question for a long moment. Abby got the distinct impression that he didn't really understand what she was asking. She cast around for a comparison...and then, it hit her.
"I mean, like when one of you is can't go to the ocean. You wish you were back there."
"Yes, I understand that."
"Do you ever feel that kind of thing for Tim?"
"No."
"Really?"
Another smile. "I think that he has given up a real life for a shadow life that I cannot understand, but I admit that I cannot understand. He said that love is the only thing that is stronger than the sea. I have never felt love. I do not understand what it is, but if it keeps him living without pain, it is a good thing."
Abby smiled at the thought that love was what had kept Tim here. He hadn't ever said it that way, not really. She could also see why it would be hard to go back to the selkies once he'd felt it. It would be hard to give up that feeling of belonging, being wanted, being cared about if there was a choice. She could also see that, in his selkie way, he did care about Tim. He just didn't have the human emotions attached to it.
"He's still adjusting, I think."
"As do I, but he is better than I thought."
"Really?"
"I thought he would die away from the sea, without his skin. He has shown that there is more. I will not ever know what more there is, but I see that it is there."
Suddenly, there was a ping on the computer. Abby turned.
"Oh. We got a match on the description."
The selkie turned as well.
"Who is it?"
Abby looked through the information.
"Uh oh."