Gibbs walked into Kasie's lab, responding to her call for him to come to the lab. Strangely, Vance was right behind him.
"Whatcha got, Kasie?" Gibbs asked.
"Trouble," Kasie said. She tapped a key on her computer, and an angry male voice came through the speakers.
"Langston, get your fat lazy ass back to NCIS right now! You're being a wimp over a damn bullet graze, which is your own damn fault, you stupid bitch! If you aren't back here and at your desk within the next fifteen minutes, you are fired, and I will personally see to it that you never work for any federal agency again!"
The two men's eyes went wide.
"Who was that?" Vance demanded.
"Special Agent Adam Dale, supervisory agent to Agent Jane Langston. She took a bullet ricochet earlier today while protecting your suspect, Gibbs," Kasie said, pulling up Agent Dale's photo.
"I know. She did good there," Gibbs said.
"And that was no bullet graze," Kasie said, holding up an evidence jar with a bloody mangled bullet in it. "From what Jane said, that was a micro Uzi, and she should still be in hospital."
"So where is she?" Gibbs demanded.
"On the futon in my office, in a whole lotta pain. And Dale? When Jane got back, it seems he tore a strip off her for helping you out today, even though you, Director, agreed to it. And it's not the first time," Kasie said. She tapped some keys and pulled up a series of emails. "This has been going on for weeks, and when Jane tried to get help from HR, she was told to quit being such a wimpy crybaby and suck it up or get out of NCIS."
Vance scowled as he read through the emails. "Send this to me, everything you can find. I want to know what the hell is going on," he said, as Gibbs headed for the office where Langston was.
On the floor, on the futon, was a woman with black hair and a pale, sweating face, her eyes closed. A blanket was over her but she was still shivering. Concerned, Gibbs knelt down beside Langston and put his hand on her forehead; she was warm to the touch. He yanked out his phone and quickly called Ducky.
"Yeah, Duck, I got a patient for you. Agent Langston, in Kasie's lab. Bullet wound in the leg, came back from the hospital too soon. She's warm to the touch, sweating, and shivering. Yeah, ok." And he hung up, heading back to Vance and Kasie. "She's got a fever and she's shivering. Ducky's on his way, where's the water and a thermometer?"
"In the fridge. I always keep some bottled water in there, just in case," Kasie said, heading for the lab fridge. She got it out and tossed it to Gibbs, before hunting for an infrared touchless thermometer.
"You got any more blankets?" Gibbs asked.
"I wish," Kasie said, taking off her lab coat and following Gibbs back to Langston, who was starting to stir, Vance right behind them.
She opened her eyes when Gibbs touched her shoulder. "Hey. Drink up," he said, cracking open the bottle of water, and helping Langston sit up enough to drink the water, which she did eagerly.
"Thanks, sir. I need ta git back to my desk afore Dale hollers at me again," she said, a thick Texas accent in her voice, struggling to get up, before sitting back down with a pained moan.
"No, you need to rest. You've got a fever and you should be in hospital," Gibbs said, taking off his jacket and putting it around her shoulders.
"Tell that ta Dale," Langston said bitterly. "He's a right ornery critter who threatened to fire me-"
"We know," Vance cut in gently, kneeling beside them. "As it stands, as of right now, Dale is no longer your supervisor. That title will now go to Agent Gibbs until further notice. You are also going to take at least a week off, but for now, Dr. Mallard is going to check you over, and you will do as he says. Is that clear?"
Eyes wide and looking a bit glazed, Langston nodded, just as Ducky bustled in, his personalized First Aid kit in hand.
"Oh my heavens! Young lady, you are in no shape to be up and about like this," he said. "Kasie, my dear, I need a temperature reading."
Kasie quickly checked Langston's body temperature. "Looks like she's hovering around 101 degrees Fahrenheit, Doc," Kasie said.
"A low-grade fever, suggestive of the body fighting an infection. I want to take a look at your wound, and make sure it's not becoming infected," Ducky said to Langston.
In no position to argue, Langston nodded and laid back, still shivering. Gibbs wrapped Kasie's lab coat around her, and she nodded her thanks.
Langston's pants were a pair of dark blue sweats, which looked out of place with her dark purple blouse, and Ducky quickly cut the leg off, above the gauze and tape wrapped around her upper thigh. A careful unwrap of the bandages revealed a group of black stitches holding together an angry red bit of flesh that faded to pink and then normal skin color.
"I'm not seeing any obvious signs of infection, but that does not make it any less serious," Ducky said, as he rewrapped the injury, after Kasie had taken some evidence photos. "However, due to your fever, I highly recommend a course of acetaminophen or ibuprofen, plenty of fluids, and plenty of rest at home, preferably under the watch of someone for at least the next twenty-four hours."
"I take anything stronger than one extra-strength Tylenol and I am out of town faster than a prairie fire wit a tailwind," Langston muttered.
"Good to know," Ducky said, chuckling in amusement. "Now, let's get you home. Where do you live?"
"Would you believe in the Yard?" Langston muttered, covering her eyes with one hand.
"I'm sorry?" Vance asked, confused.
"HR has been, well, difficult, to be polite, in helping Jane find a place, so she's been living in a really nice camper just out of camera range behind NCIS," Kasie explained. "The guards have been pretty good about it because she's covering one of our blind spots, and nobody bothers her back there. And I know about it because she showed it to me when she was helping me with the calligraphy part of our last case."
"Dale won' let me personalize my desk, so all ah my writing art stuff was back at my camper," Langston muttered. "Dang fool's so grouchy most days, he makes a wet hornet look cuddly."
"And how long has this been going on?" Vance asked, as Gibbs and Kasie helped Langston stand up.
"Round 'bouts since I got here , 'bout a month an' a half," Langston said, breathing hard. "Iffin it ain't one thing, it's another. Everything from how his coffee is to my not being fast enough filing his danged files. Last week it was 'cos I cleaned out his car a little too well an' found a used rubber in th' backseat." She smirked. "He's knockin' boots with the blonde tornado in HR on company time, in th' company car, an' I mighta let it slip that I know."
"Name?" Vance asked, as he followed the group down the hall towards a stairwell.
"Amelia Rinkles, with an R. Woman's two sandwiches short of a picnic an' 'bout as bright as a dead lightbulb," Langston said.
"I see," Vance said.
Langston moaned when she saw the stairs. "Oh, ain't this gonna be a bushel of fun," she groused. It was only one set of stairs up, but with a very sore leg, it wasn't going to be easy.
Still, the group managed. A few minutes later, they were down the hallway that led to a door. Langston took out a key and unlocked it, and then showed them the way to where a nice 2015 Kz Rv Sportsmen S266BH fifth wheel rv sat, a black and Chevy Silverado truck parked nearby. Another key got the group inside, and it was a good thing too, because by that time, Langston was sweating and shaking at the same time, ready to collapse from exhaustion.
"Rest," Ducky told the junior agent, as she was settled on to her queen-size bed. "Someone will stay with you for the night, just to make sure you're okay and that your fever does not get worse. I know your opinion on pain relievers, but in this case, I highly recommend them, as they will also help bring the swelling in your leg down, and allow you to get some sorely needed rest."
"Doctors orders?" Langston asked.
"Doctors orders," Ducky confirmed, smiling.
"Fine. Who do I talk to about loading up on groceries?" Langston asked, yawning hard.
"Me," Gibbs said. "Give me a list and I'll take care of it."
"Yes, boss," Langston said, almost sound asleep.
The group, sans Langston, gathered in what was her living room. The camper was lived-in and comfortable-looking, but reasonably tidy.
"Background on Langston," Gibbs said to Kasie. "What do you know about her?"
"She's no rookie probie, I can tell you that much right off the bat," Kasie said. "Born and raised in Texas, on a ranch a few miles outside of Dallas. Got a brother who's a Marine but she hasn't seen him since she was fifteen. Hasn't seen her parents since she left home at nineteen to join the Maine game wardens, and she was with them for nearly six years. Has a degree in Criminology and to quote her, she can ride, rope, hammer, paint, hunt, fish, and shoot with the best of them. She bought this a few years back when she was renting land from a rancher in Maine. Her most prized possession is a 94 lever-action Winchester rifle that belonged to her great-grandfather. She showed it to me, said it had saved her life on several occasions." Kasie grinned and pointed to a photo on a wall. "Recognize these two?"
"King and LaSalle," Vance realized. Langston was between them, in her game warden uniform, wearing a tan-colored cowboy hat, and all three were grinning at the camera.
"I did some checking; Agent Pride and LaSalle had a case that took them to Maine, and that was how they met Jane. One of the last things LaSalle did, before he got involved with the mess that got him killed, was write a letter of recommendation for Langston to join NCIS," Kasie said.
There were several photos of Langston with friends or showing off something while hunting or fishing. In one, she was holding up a very large Northern Pike fish and grinning widely. In another, she was in uniform, standing next to a downed moose with an impressive set of antlers, and holding a rifle. Along the wall, near the ceiling, were a variety of cowboy hats, neatly hung up. A fur pelt went along the back of her couch, and a photo suggested it had once belonged to a large black bear Langston had taken down with the same rifle as the one that had taken out the moose, and a large male deer. Hanging on a coat rack was a nice buckskin long coat with fringe and bone bead decorations, and nearby were a pair of well-worn cowboy boots.
"What does this say to you, Doctor?" Vance asked Ducky.
"She has a healthy respect for the outdoors and is not afraid of hard work, even if it means working with her hands," Ducky said. "I don't know why she left home the way she did, but she did so, possibly with the knowledge that once she left, there would be no coming back. The fact that she chose a career that is miles from how she grew up speaks something of both her personality and her home life. I will have to study her file a bit, to give you a better answer as to her personality, but based on her recent behavior, I suspect she is very much the classic cowgirl, complete with scars, calluses, and general stubbornness. For now, though, she will need someone to stay with her for the night, just until I'm sure her fever won't get any worse."
"I'll stay with her," Gibbs said, having spotted the double bed near the bathroom.
"Good," Ducky said. "I will check in on her in the morning."
Before anyone could say or do anything else, however, there was a sudden burst of colorful swearing from Langston, followed by her cellphone flying out of her bedroom.
"Go sit on the wrong end of a fence post, ya nattering prairie dog!" Langston yelled.
Curious, and eyes wide, Kasie picked up Langston's phone. The caller ID said "Dale."
"I'll deal with him," Vance said, taking out his own phone and dialing the number that Kasie pulled up. As he left the camper, the group could hear him talking. "Agent Dale, my office, immediately please."
"It's going to be a long night," Gibbs muttered.