Danger Looming
Outside, in the parking lot, an A/C repair van sat, quietly parked. The lone occupant had observed from afar as two cars had pulled up and parked. Just who he'd been waiting for. He smiled. Sofar, so good.
His smile turned into a cold grin, as he watched not just the drivers emerge from their vehicles, but their kids, from the backseats as well.
This was turning out even better than he'd hoped.
He checked the mirror one last time, to be sure his disguise was flawless, then reached over, grabbed his toolbox, and got out of the van.
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Caitlin and JT snuck as quietly as they could into Ducky's office, tiptoeing towards the dark-haired figure standing at the filing cabinet. Trying desperately not to giggle, the reached out in unison and grabbed at the sides of the unsuspecting assistant M.E.
Dr. Jimmy Palmer fairly jumped out of his skin as he whipped around, wide-eyed, but nonetheless delighted to see the two youngsters in his midst.
"There you are!" he said, laughing. He crouched down and gathered them into his arms, giving them a hug.
"Now, let's see… I wonder what Dr. Mallard had planned for you today," he said, mysteriously. Caitlin smiled up at him. "Can we sort files or something?" JT groaned. "Caitlin, that's so DULL," he complained. "Yeah, JT," she said disdainfully, "but it keeps you out of trouble. And as long as we stay out of trouble, Uncle Gibbs doesn't mind us being here."
"Actually," Jimmy said, smiling, "I DO happen to have a stack here that needs to be alphabetised. Can you handle that?"
JT grinned. "Does The Song that Never Ends really never end?" he asked, winking at Caitlin.
"Riiiiiiight," Jimmy said, carefully. "Well then, in that case, I'm not sure but I THINK I may have a new game installed on my laptop," he said, drawing delighted smiles. "I'll just be in the next room. If you need anything, you know how to find me. Dr. Mallard is in autopsy, so you'd better not wander off trying to find him. He shouldn't be long though." He tousled JT's hair and wiggled one of Caitlin's pigtails as he departed.
He didn't notice anything unusual about the presence of the A/C repairman, so he was taken totally by surprise when the hand came over his mouth from behind with a chloroform soaked rag, and he slid to the floor, unconscious.
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When Jimmy came to, he was disoriented. His head hurt like a bastard, and at first, he had no idea what had hit him. He shook his head, and slowly got to his feet.
The moment he was able to think coherently, his paternal instincts kicked in immediately, and his first thought was of Caitlin and JT. He scrambled into Ducky's office, where he'd last seen them, but they were nowhere to be seen.
His initial reaction might have been that they were playing hide-and-go-seek with him. But the fact that he'd just been rendered unconscious by a person unknown had prevented that whimsical thought from fully materializing. He immediately backed out of the room, being sure not to touch anything, and tried to keep from panicking as he dashed from room to room, frantically trying to locate the missing children. A feeling of dread washed over him as he realized what must have happened. He wasted no time dashing upstairs to the bullpen.