Note: this chapter is a bit of a point of no return, so I hope you enjoy, and please leave a comment on your thoughts.
Squad room
The team is gathered in the squad room when Gibbs comes around the corner with his usual coffee cup in his hand.
"update, McGee."
"Yeah, boss. I found a pattern between the chats exchanged between Jack and Holland and the killings." McGee starts while he brings up a timeline on the monitor while he continues explaining.
"Jonathan Holland has asked Jack out for dinner three times over the past two months. There is a timeframe of about three days from Jack declines his invitation to he kills.
"what? This guy kills some girl every time Jack declines his invitation?" Torres asks. "Talk about someone who can't take rejection."
"you mean like you," Bishop says with a mocking smile.
"I don't get rejected," Torres says with even more of a smock smile. Both Bishop and Torres quickly return their focus to the monitor when they notice Gibbs's death stare at them.
"It does seem like that is the case," McGee says. He hates to admit Torres might be right. "That every time he gets rejected by Jack, he finds someone to kill."
"question is, why does it take him three days to kill her?" Bishop asks.
"maybe he is slow, and it takes him three days to find her," Torres suggests.
"I don't think so," McGee says, confident. "Over the past two months, Holland has been chatting with at least 6 different women besides Jack. It is mostly Jack he focuses on, but once Jack rejects him, he invites someone else out, and it seems like he forgets about Jack for those three days until he kills his new date, and then he returns his focus to Jack."
"question is then, why does he kill her after three days?" Gibbs asks.
"I think I might be able to share some light on that Jethro," Ducky says when he enters the squad room. "I have been doing some more research into this man's psychology. Although my profiling certainly isn't as good as our dear Jacqueline's…"
"doc, what do you got?" Gibbs asks, interrupting Ducky's humble speech.
"This man is living a fantasy." Ducky begins. "Timothy, please bring up a picture of Jack from when she was in the army." McGee does that, and Ducky continues. "this man is in love with army lieutenant Jacqueline Sloane. An office that he meets while he deployed in Afghanistan."
"doc, we already know that." Gibbs interrupts, irritated.
"yes, Jethro. You know Jack, but this man is in love with an idea of who Jack is. Not the real Jack that you know." Ducky clarifies.
"what do you mean, Ducky. The real Jack?" Bishop asks.
"is there a fake one?" Torres asks with a joking smile.
"the real Jack that we know has scars on her soul. She can be vulnerable, crack jokes, soft, kind…"
"Yeah, she is human. We get it." Gibbs interrupts. "what is your point?"
"my point Jethro is that this man doesn't see that. He doesn't see Jack as a human. He sees her as some immortal superhuman. As a goddess." Ducky explains.
"come on, Ducky. What are you saying? This guy is nuts?" Gibbs asks, irritated, and points to the picture of Jonathan Holland on the monitor.
"not nuts, Jethro. He is in love. The power of love is very powerful on the human mind but can also be very devastating."
"Okay, so if he sees Jack as some female captain America what does that have to do with him killing three women?" McGee asks.
"Captain America, really?" Bishop asks McGee in disbelieve.
"Yeah. You know Captain America was in the army, so is Jack."
"I would say more an Agent Carter," Bishop argues.
"geek," Torres says and pretends to be coughing. All three of them stops when they notice Gibbs's death stare at them.
"continue Ducky," McGee says with an apologetic look to Gibbs.
"you have heard about the honeymoon stage Timothy?" Ducky asks.
"I heard about it, but I never got to go on my honeymoon, Ducky, so…" Tim says.
"oh…" Ducky says that when he realizes that was a bad thing to bring up, McGee spent two months in Paraguay with Gibbs instead of being on his romantic honeymoon with his pregnant bride.
"my apology Timothy," Ducky says sincerely.
"It is alright, Ducky." McGee says with a smile. "you were talking about the honeymoon stage." McGee reminds Ducky to get him back on track when McGee hears an annoying, irritable growl from Gibbs.
"yes. The honeymoon stage is a phase of perfect harmony between two people. It can feel like living in a perfect fantasy world…"
"but once the everyday life kicks in, you start to see all of the little annoying habits your partner has," Bishop says, remembering her marriage to Jake.
"yes." Ducky says. "but the honeymoon stage can also occur doing the first date and once the date is over. On the second date, you start to notice how little you have in comment with your date."
"so he kills his dates that he has nothing in common with?" Torres asks.
"Wow, if that was you. You would be a triple-digit serial killer by now, Torres." Bishop jokes.
"ha-ha funny," Torres says sarcastically.
"he doesn't love them for who they are. He hates them for who they are not." Gibbs says, mumbling more to himself than to the others. The rest of the team turns to look at Gibbs, who has sat down behind his desk. He seems lost in his thoughts. "Diane." He says and looks up at the others like he just realized something.
"he doesn't kill women who have nothing in comment with him. He kills women who aren't Jack." Gibbs says to the others and stands up again and walks over to stand in front of the monitor. "Once he realizes his date isn't anything like Jack or can be exactly like Jack. Or she rejects him when he wants her to be like Jack. He kills her." Gibbs almost yells while pointing to the monitor.
"he is trying to find his Shannon," Ducky says, mumbling. The moment he realizes he just said that out loud, everyone in the squad room freezes, and it is like a ghost just walkthrough, and the air got cold. No one is saying a word. Everyone seems to be waiting for Gibbs's reaction.
"doc," Gibbs says after a while. He is looking at Ducky, not with anger but curiosity in his voice. "you are going to elaborate on that?" Gibbs asks gently.
"I'm sorry to bring her up, Jethro, but it seems to me that this man was so heartbroken over the loss of Jack back in 2003 when Jack was capture in Afghanistan that he has been searching for a replacement of her in his life. It seems to me that he believes Jack was the love of his life." Ducky says.
"but Jack didn't die in Afghanistan, Ducky," McGee says, confused.
"no, but he still lost her as a part of his life." Ducky explains. "she was a stabilizing and comforting center of his life while he was serving."
"like a mother?" Torres asks, confused but also with a hint of discussed in his voice.
"come on, man, no as a girlfriend," Bishop says, annoyed at Torres.
"I think you are both right," Ducky says to massive confusion among the agents, so Ducky takes the silence from the agents as a hint of him continuing. "I think PFC Holland saw lieutenant Sloane as a perfect combination of a well-respected officer, combined with being a beautiful, kind, attractive, well-educated and intelligent woman with a huge heart and a natural maternal instinct.
"so, what he saw her as a combination of a mother and girlfriend?" Torres asks.
"that is gross," Bishop says.
"no." Gibbs says and stands up irritated. "he was searching for the women in his life. The mother of his children and someone who could also protect him as his mother had." Gibbs says.
"so that is why he is so obsessed with Jack. He wants to marry her and start a family?" Torres asks.
"But why has he waited for so long?" Bishop asks. "why didn't he reach out to her when she came back from Afghanistan."
No one seems to have an explanation for why it has taken Jonathan Holland nearly 17 years to reach out to Jack or find Jack after she came back from Afghanistan.
"she didn't die in Afghanistan," Gibbs says and starts walking back and forth in the squad room while he is thinking. "Jack didn't die. Vance brought her home." Gibbs repeats to himself.
"yes, Jethro, I am aware. Jack that we know, didn't. the real Jack Sloane didn't." Ducky says and is about to continue when he is interrupted by McGee.
"So why didn't he just contact her when she came back stateside?" McGee asks. "I mean, it would have been easy to find her. She was still an official army officer. It is easier to locate an officer, then it is a civilian."
"you are right, Agent McGee. It is easier when you are in the army. Johnathan Holland wasn't in the army when Jack came back." Ducky says. "he was dishonorably discharged.
"yes, but according to his dating profiles, he still claims to be a petty officer," McGee says and brings up a screenshot of Johnathan Hollands dating profile.
"yeah, it is like this guy doesn't realize he was dishonorably discharged," Nick adds in.
"yeah, he even refers to Jack as a lieutenant in his chats to her," McGee adds in.
"that is why he hasn't contacted her until now," Gibbs says and stops pacing back and forth.
"what?" Bishop asks. Everyone looks at Gibbs with bewildered looks because they don't get his point.
"Ducky, you said he saw Jack as the love of his life," Gibbs asks.
"yes, I believe so." Ducky says and continues, "Based on the victim profiles, it seems like he has been searching for a replacement for her. Someone who is resembling Agent Sloane's appearance and rank from when they served together in Afghanistan."
"an enlisted and an officer are not allowed to be together before one of them gets discharged. He still thinks he is a petty officer." Gibbs says with an evident tone, but the others still don't get his point.
"he found out that Sloane is no longer in the Army." Ducky says, and Gibbs nods with a big smile. "when he found out she is now an NCIS agent, she is no longer an officer…" McGee adds in.
"he wants to marry her." Bishop finishes McGee's sentence.
"Jethro." Ducky says when Gibbs is about to leave the squad room. "have you considered what this man might be willing to do to live out his dream?" Gibbs look confused at Ducky, and so does the other agents, while Ducky looks severely concerned.
"think about what a man who is about to lose the only person he ever truly loved is willing to do." Ducky says and looks straight into Gibbs's blue eyes. "this man has been searching for his Shannon for years. He thinks he finally is going to be with her, and you are going to take her away from him and break his fantasy."
"he is willing to kill me," Gibbs says, determined.
"The moment he realizes you are going to take Jack away from him. His fantasy is falling apart, and he has nothing left to live for." Ducky says.
"well, he is not going to stop killing before we stop him," Gibbs says, determined.
"or until he gets his Shannon," Ducky says with deep concern in his voice.
Behind the staircase has Jack been standing the whole time. She has heard every bit of the conversation. Jack walks to the nearest fire escape while she takes out her cellphone.
"Hey, Johnny." She says with the softest, sweetest, and most flirty voice she can manage. "how about that dinner you have been talking about?" she asks as the heavy metal steel fire door closes behind her.
Note: I know it is unusual for any team-members to bring up Shannon, but I felt like if any one of the current members could do without the risk of Gibbs killing them, it would be Ducky - let me know what you think of that.