Warnings: None Disclaimer. I don't own the NCIS characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.
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Successor - part 03 (Ducky's POV)
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My first proper meeting with Elizabeth took place in Autopsy, as did most of my meetings with new people. Not, I hasten to add, that she was availing of my professional services, thank goodness. But she showed up in Autopsy one afternoon, as I was midway through cutting open a Lieutenant.
The young man in question had been found by the side of the road with some rather curious indentations in his chest. It wasn't until I looked at some of the photos of the Lieutenant that I realized where I'd seen those types of indentations before. It was many many years ago when I was in practice in England and a young man, a stable hand had been found dead in one of the loose boxes. Everybody had suspected it was murder, but the bruises on his chest proved to be an exact match for the horseshoes worn by one of the more highly-strung mares in the stables. I had the grooms check the mare's shoes, and sure enough there were traces of fibers found in her shoes. Not that we had the technology to match them to the shirt the stable hand was wearing at the time, but it was enough for the Coroner to record a verdict of accidental death. Of course what nobody knew until later, much later, was that the stable hands wife had been stepping out with the owner of the highly-strung mare. Unfortunately by the time their involvement with each other had been revealed, the case had been closed and the local constabulary showed no inclination to reopen it. What a grieving widow got up to with the lord of the manor was nobody's business but their own I was told in no uncertain terms. And of course I had no proof that anything untoward had taken place. In fact it was equally likely that the stable hand, having gotten wind of his wife's infidelity had been engaged in some nefarious activities of his own. In any event, the lord and the widow came to a bad end as well. Tragic really, but rather ironic in its own way...but where was I...ah yes, the young Lieutenant Schaeffer.
"So, Lieutenant Schaeffer," I said, as I leaned over the body on my Autopsy table. "What can you tell me about the horse that caused all this damage to you."
"Do they ever answer you?" I had heard the door to Autopsy open a few seconds earlier, so having a question addressed to me wasn't a surprise.
"Not directly," I replied, while still concentrating on Lieutenant Schaefer's mid section. "But nonetheless they do almost invariably provide the answers to most of my questions. Life would be considerably easier however, if they were able to actually speak to me." I turned away from Lieutenant Schaefer and cast my attention towards my visitor. I recognized her immediately. Rumor and gossip travels fast through N.C.I.S. and I was aware that Gibbs had been landed with an agent who had already lasted a week without being sent packing. What with one thing and another, I hadn't made her acquaintance as yet. Jethro had had a run of cases that hadn't required the services of an M.E. and as such I had had no excuse to meet the young lady for myself.
She was most unlike Caitlin in appearance. That was a relief to start with. Hardly a day went past without my seeing somebody in the street and having to catch my breath because they looked or sounded or even simply walked like Kate did. It's not an uncommon phenomenon I know, but it remains a most disconcerting, and sometimes a most distressing experience for all concerned.
The first time, as I recall, it was only a few days after poor Kate's funeral. There had been a young woman walking across the street from me, and I could have sworn it was her. The fact that I had performed Kate's autopsy the week before and had my hands inside her skull as I tried to ascertain the track of the bullet that that murdering bastard Ari had killed her with, didn't matter to me. I was convinced that there had been some terrible mix up. It was fortunate that Jethro had been with me at the time that I saw Kate's doppelganger across the road. As it was, I had stepped off the pavement without thinking and it was only his quick reactions that dragged me out of the path of an oncoming car and prevented me from ending up on my own autopsy table.
Jethro, poor lad, was quite furious with me. He yelled at me about how he had just buried one member of his team and the last thing he wanted was to have to give another eulogy. I probably should have told him that that wouldn't be necessary, as I had already made arrangements to will my body to medical science. After all, having worked on so many corpses during my career, I feel it only appropriate that I allow myself to be accorded the same treatment. But then of course there would probably still be a memorial service, and of course it would be only right to allow Jethro to alleviate any grief he might feel by saying a few words. Some people feel that by participating in the funerals or memorials for the dead can provide some sense of closure. But in Kate's case that hadn't been so. I knew that I for one would feel no closure whatsoever until Ari was stretched out on my Autopsy table and I with my bone saw in hand. And if he were dead at the time, well, so much the better.
I make no claim to psychic ability; that would be more in Abigail's field. So when I met Elizabeth, I had no idea that she would be instrumental in bringing some closure not only to me, but also to others. All I knew was that I was happy to have had the chance to make her acquaintance before Gibbs got a chance to scare her away.
I suppose that one thing to be said for Gibbs attitude was that at least I was getting to meet a wide range of people in a short space of time, even if our acquaintance was destined to be brief...at least in some cases. For instance, there was that young lady from Norfolk who proved quite interested in keeping up contact even after Gibbs had scared her off. Unfortunately her next posting proved to be a considerable distance away and we were unable to continue our brief association, much to my disappointment...but where was I. Ah yes, young Elizabeth.
"You must be the new Special Agent on Gibbs team," I said, smiling at her as I left Lieutenant Schaeffer to his own devices for the time being. "I'm Doctor Mallard."
"Pleased to meet you, Doctor Mallard. Special Agent Elizabeth Faulkner." She held out her hand to shake mine, but I could see her hesitate as she saw the blood on the gloves I was wearing.
"Please, call me Ducky," I said, as I removed my gloves. "Everybody else does."
"Ducky," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your work."
"It's always a pleasure to be interrupted by an attractive woman."
"Well if I see one then I'll be sure to send her along."
"And what may I do for you, Elizabeth?" I asked as I escorted her away from the table. "An autopsy report, some details regarding time or cause of death? Or perhaps a quick spot of lunch."
"I've already eaten thanks," she said with a quick smile. "Although looking at your latest guest, I'm half wishing I hadn't. But actually I came here by mistake. I think I pressed the wrong button in the elevator, so I thought I'd better find somebody and get my bearings before I got hopelessly lost. I was actually heading for the forensics lab to speak to Abby."
"Ah yes, Abby's lab is directly above mine. Just take the lift back up one floor." I would have directed her to follow the loud music, but sad to say, since Kate's death, Abby hadn't been playing her music quite as loudly as she used to. Now that I come to think about it, Abby had changed a lot in the months since Kate's death. Her normal perky demeanor had become quite subdued. And if Jethro had been hard on Kate's replacements, well that was nothing to the treatment that Abby had meted out to them. Oh she never let it affect her work or the cases that were investigated. All her forensic work was as meticulous as ever, but whereas once one could walk into her laboratory and be assured of finding something weird and wonderful and non-forensic related to amuse oneself with, now it was all business. I don't think she even realized she was doing it. But I had noticed, and I missed the old Abby, just as much as I missed Kate.
Elizabeth seemed rather hesitant to leave, and loath though I was to admit it, I was sure that it wasn't simply my pleasant company that kept her lingering. When I asked her if anything was the matter, she confided in me that she wasn't sure that Abby liked her all that much, "I know I've only met her once before, but I really felt that she'd rather I wasn't there."
"My dear child, I'm afraid it's nothing personal. But dear Abigail was a close friend to Caitlin Todd, and I'm afraid that anybody who she sees as taking her place is bound to get short shrift from her." I patted Elizabeth reassuringly on the shoulder, sighing heavily as I did so. I knew how Abby felt. I had felt the same way for the first few months after Kate's shocking death, resenting the living for simply being alive when Kate was dead.
"She was really that special?" Elizabeth's voice broke through my reverie.
"Yes my dear, she was."
I'm afraid that Elizabeth didn't seem entirely happy at the prospect of having to live up to such a paragon as Kate had been. But I reassured her as best as I could that it would only be a matter of time before she was accepted as an agent in her own right and not just as a temporary, soon to be replaced, substitute for Kate. After all, the fact that she was still there after a week was surely a good sign, as well as the rumor I'd heard that Tony had actually stood up to Gibbs and argued in favor of keeping her.
So I waved her away that morning and said a silent prayer that I would never open a body bag and see her face staring up at me. It was a prayer that I made regularly when I had contact with the NCIS agents who had become my friends and family throughout the years. Sadly, all too often that prayer wasn't answered. Only time could tell.
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To be continued
Ceindreadh