Sorry for not being faster with this. I guess it's because I want to make you suffer a bit *grins*. And I'm not done with it yet... but read yourself, and leave a review if you like ;-)

Thanks DoomPrincess for beta :-)



Chapter Twelve

Squeezing his eyes shut, Gibbs tried to swallow down his frustration as he realized that each thought about Hollis hurt. He just wanted to hide in his basement and drown this damn day in a bottle of bourbon.

Leaving Dr Mallard's question unanswered, he hurried off, leaving behind a helplessly sighing ME. They each took their own car to get to the crime scene. Gibbs of course had sped off at suicidal speed and probably had already reached the site by the time Ducky got into his car.

When Ducky arrived at the crime scene, the team was already busy bagging, tagging, shooting and sketching. It didn't take him long to sense a certain tension among the team and when he heard Gibbs yell, he knew his mood was still heading south.

"Take care, Ducky. Gibbs is pretty peed," Ziva hissed as Ducky passed her.

"Peeved," McGee corrected her, keeping his voice low and taking a cautious glance in Gibbs's direction fearing he could have heard them.

"Don't worry, my dear," Ducky said. "Dogs that bark don't bite."

"Are you sure, Gibbs knows this?" McGee asked.

Well, to be honest, right now, Ducky wasn't really sure about this. So he tried his best to stay strictly professional as long as they worked the crime scene. Only the most necessary words were exchanged.

Dark clouds were gathering in the far distance, so everyone sped up and not even one hour later they were on their way back to Headquarters.

Ducky ordered Palmer to prepare the autopsy on their dead body, while he himself walked straight to the squad room. There still was the case he and Gibbs had wanted to talk about in the morning. Ducky hoped that Gibbs meanwhile was in a better mood, but he sensed the bad atmosphere as soon as he entered the section that was occupied by Gibbs's team.

"NOW!" he heard Gibbs yell.

Everyone was quietly exchanging glances and Gibbs was shooting daggers at them as his phone went off and he picked it up. Ducky could tell he was in a very bad mood. He went over to stand in front of Gibbs's desk, waiting for the agent to end the call. When he did, Gibbs looked up at Ducky.

"Don't vent your bad mood on them, Jethro," Ducky calmly said, slightly nodding towards the team.

"Anything new on the dead body in your morgue, doctor?" Gibbs asked, his voice dangerously dry.

Ducky tried to keep calm. "Jethro, you and Hollis ... I think you two should start talking with each other," Ducky suggested.

Although none of the others had been talking, Hollis's name brought up a spooky silence as everybody froze mid-action. They had all been wondering for a few weeks now if Gibbs and Mann were still seeing each other and Ducky's words hinted at some major trouble.

Gibbs continued to stare at Dr. Mallard in utter silence. The doctor obviously was in treading a thin line, with his life on the edge.

A blinding flash of lightning cut through the squad room, making everyone jump. Everyone, except Gibbs and Ducky, blinked.

"I suggest...," Ducky started calmly as the rolling thunder eventually abated.

"I told you, she doesn't want to!" Gibbs shouted abrasively and he ended up rising from his desk chair, rushing off.

"Jethro!" Ducky called after him. "Jethro!"

But Gibbs wouldn't stop. He got on the elevator and was gone.

Ducky sighed. Shaking his head, he went back to work on the dead body.

-xxx-

At about the same time, Hollis successfully managed to leave the hospital without being noticed. She caught a taxi, which brought her out of town.

-xxx-

"Doctor! Doctor!" Jimmy Palmer was trying hard to get Dr. Mallard's attention, whose thoughts were obviously occupied with other things than this autopsy.

"Doctor, have a look at his heart," Jimmy said, as Ducky finally awoke from his train of thought. "Do you think he had known about it being ill?"

Ducky squinted.

"I mean, if he had known, then he would have been under medical treatment, right? It would never have gotten completely healthy again, but ... since we didn't find any meds or ... Doctor?" Jimmy could tell that although Dr. Mallard had listened to him, his thoughts were still some place else.

"Sometimes ... it's not medical treatment that helps a person heal." With this, Ducky discarded his gloves, took off the scrubs he was wearing and gave Jimmy a pat on his shoulder. "Mr. Palmer, do you feel up to the challenge of finishing this autopsy without me?"

Ducky had come to a decision. He had to put an end to this chaos.

"Doctor ... Doctor?" Jimmy couldn't make heads or tails of what the doctor was talking about and his attempt to find out was left unanswered.

To be continued...