Gibbs drove the way to the crime scene, it wasn't truthfully that far but it felt like it would take an eternity to get there. When finally they pulled up each member exited to an amazing sight.
"Gibbs..." Kate spoke softly as she stood at her door, hands firmly latched onto the frame.
"Yes Kate?" He spoke as he moved to the back of the car, his keys turned in the lock and he opened the trunk.
"Gibbs, are those..."
"Yes Kate, they are children."
The scene was gruesome, an open area was completely surrounded in the bodies of young kids. Each body was cut open from stem to sternum like a mangled mess of guts and bone. Though each of these mangled messes, had barely crossed the age barrier into preteen.
"Boss," McGee spoke up, "If those aren't military officers, what are we doing here?"
"McGee, have you even looked at how they are cut?" Came the reply, for Gibbs was now stooped over a young male's body.
"Um, no sir."
"Well then have a look McGee, and you will see why we are here." His hands moved rapidly pointing out the length of the cut and the angle it appeared to be made at when he finished pointing he plainly said, "This was the work of a marine McGee, you can tell by the angle and the way they were killed."
McGee nodded and closed his notebook, he had been recording every word that had passed the great lips of Gibbs. And so when he was finished McGee then moved to a body and began searching for some type of evidence.
"McGee, look for any trace of metal chippings. Maybe this marine hasn't sharpened his blade in some time, also look out for any type of hair or DNA. One day you'll be replacing me you know?" Tony spoke over his shoulder as he slowly began to do trace work on a girl of about 5 years of age.
Kate and Gibbs both turned at this comment. In Kate's mind it just added to the many things that were plaguing her about Tony as of late. But to Gibbs it only made him aware that something was amiss. Though both turned back to their bodies as the slow steady walk of Dr. Mallard suddenly became apparent.
"Well, well Jethro it seems we have a child murderer on our hands."
"Yes Duck, have you heard of anything of this nature before?" He asked as his eyes remained trained on the body before him.
"Well actually Jethro, there was a case similar to this when I was at Cambridge. It was rather odd, a veteran was reliving something they had experianced during war..."
"Duck to the point please."
"Well, it was a type of post traumatic stress disorder. Almost as if they snapped in some way."
"Alright Duck, we have some more work to do so you might be bored for a while."
"Very well Jethro." Ducky spoke as he headed back to his own vehicle to allow the agents to have some time to finish their trace gathering.
