Chapter 29

All the members of the team were at the Autopsy room. Sitting on the available chairs and on Ducky's table. From the looks full of pity he was getting from Abby, Tony had told her and Tim about his injuries and scars, probably about the symbol aswell.

" Well Palmer, why don't you fill us in on what's going on? " Said Gibbs, he was standing close to Palmer's left, while Palmer was sitting at the examination table.

He didn't expect them to ask him a narration, if they asked specific questions it would be easier to build a story, and for them to overlook something.

" She came here to kill me. The Mannings were just a way to ' open the show '. " He was darting his eyes all around, not looking at any of them in the eye. " Tomorrow, NCIS will receive a call, and there will be a crime scene. There it'll be a clue, to where it'll happen. When I get there, she'll try to kill me. "

He knew from their body languages that they were frustrated, probably about the vagueness of it all. Abby's body language just showed concern.

" What's her name? " Asked Gibbs.

" I know her by Artemis. "

" You know her by? I though you said you two were married. " The frustration was palpable in Gibbs's voice.

" It was not a legal, actual marriage, it was more of a...bond. We lived as married people and felt married, but never went and made it legal. "

" Doesn't matter if it was legal or not. What's her name? You lived as married people, how could you not know her name? " The agent growled.

It was getting harder and harder to focus on his Jimmy Palmer performance, to keep emulating all these emotions that were not his own. He had to find a believable story and fast.

" When we met, we used only Artemis, then it didn't matter the official name, because Artemis was the one I was with. But even if I knew it, it wouldn't matter. "

" Why not? " Asked Tim, confused.

" Because, there won't be any record, no electronic traces. She's planned this game to well to make such a mistake. "

" Why are you so sure? " Asked Ziva. " Everybody makes mistakes. "

" Not her. This is what she does. Some people sing, others play soccer, others cook. She plays games. It's what she does best. Playing with people, anticipating their moves, messing with their heads and watching them dance to her song. Manipulation is as natural to her as breathing. "

" Some wife you got. " Said Tony, low but everybody heard him. He winced when Ziva punched his arm.

" You may not believe, but her love for games, her humor. The way that she always made sure to let people know that you could underestimate her once, but never twice. All that, is why I fell for her in the first place. She just seemed so full of life. " He was looking at the wall, eyes focusing on years of the past.

" Then? "

" I wanted to live. My own life, not what she thought my life should be. I didn't want to be controled. "

" So you ran. " Said Tim.

He nodded, focussing on maintaining his fragile look.

" But she found me. "

" I don't understand. " Said Abby, trying to hide her concern with logic. " If she wants you dead, why did she kill you already? When your apartment was shot at? When you were attacked tonight? Why wait to send messages days apart? "

" Not to mention what she mentioned in the messages. She said that you are in hiding, you are not who you say you are. That you have abilities to play the game. " Said Ziva, analyzing him.

" She likes to play, if it was too fast, she would not enjoy it as much. And... I would like to think that, also she's taking her time because she doesn't really want to do it. But that's just a delusion. " He sighed, releasing his hold of the table and grasping his hands together. " As for abilities, I must say, the only one I have, is understanding her. How her mind works. She always said, I was the only one able to see the real her. "

" You are hiding something Palmer, tell us what we need to know! If the message is right she's going to kill someone tomorrow. She could be doing it right now. " Growled Gibbs.

He almost forgot to wince at Gibbs's tone. It was getting hard to keep the act. He kept going back to Scot's mind-set, his meeting with her bringing his real persona back to the surface.

Come back. With me.

He internally shook his head. this was not the time. Making the team buy his lie was hard as it is.

" I know nothing to help you stop her. All we can do is wait. We can only act when she gives us the next clue to the solution. "

" DAMN IT Palmer! Someone is going to die, probably more than one person. We need to stop her, and you have been draging us down every step of the way. This is not a game! "

" That's where you are wrong Gibbs. This is a game. Her game, and her victims, only pieces on the board. And to stop her, we have to wait for her to make her move. And that's tomorrow, when we go to the crime scene. " He said that in a colder tone that he meant to, there was still a bit of Palmer in the speech, but Scot was slipping through.

" We? " Said Gibbs. " You are not going anywhere Palmer. There's a psycho out for you! We won't let you anywhere near that monster. "

The other agents nodding their approval.

He knew that Artemis and him where not the examples of what normal people would call healthy, but it still made his blood boil hear people take about her like that. And when Scot got angry, he didn't yell or broke stuff, he got detached and precise, cold steel meant to cut others.

He stood from the table and stared in Gibbs's eyes, returning his glare with a wall of pure ice.

" And how are you going to find and interpret her message then Agent Gibbs? I'm going because I'm the one that is going to understand the message. And I need to be physically there to see what the message is, it could be anything. And I mean, anything at all. "

The others in the room were in shock, that was not Palmer. He was standing, straight, his body exhaling confidence and danger. His eyes, normally so warm and innocent, were cold, colder than they thought possible, and older, older than would seem right in someone Palmer's age.

Gibbs was confused aswell, but managed to keep his glare. But he knew that the fastest way to get this woman was using Palmer. Unfortunately, Palmer seemed to have turned into a whole different person. He didn't know the man in front of him. But since he wasn't offering any answers, he had no choice but to let him go to the crime scene.

" You go. But you stop stalling us right now, and tell the truth in return. All of it. "