Chapter 3 – Fessing Up

Gibbs cleared his throat. "Well, we had an armed man storm into the morgue. Jimmy was here by himself, about to put a body in the cooler to await your return."

Ziva smiled at Jimmy, as they finished picking instruments up off the floor. "That ought to do it," she said, brushing her hands together. The two walked over to where the older men were talking.

"He assumed I was the medical examiner," Jimmy said, as he and Ziva approached. "He pulled a weapon on me and demanded an autopsy. I tried to tell him it doesn't work that way, but I guess you're never wrong when you're holding a loaded pistol." Jimmy shrugged.

"I see. So, where does Timothy fit into this?" Ducky was finally sounding satisfied to be getting the whole story.

"He came in with Tony," Ziva said. "Tony was taken hostage, with Jimmy. Tim made a split-second decision to take a gamble and act as a forensics expert. He was only trying to buy time, to allow us to figure out what to do. Fortunately, it worked. The gun-wielding crazy man allowed him to leave, to run tests in the lab."

"So, what were your discoveries then, Mr. Palmer?" Ducky had picked up Jimmy's report, and was perusing it casually. Jimmy sighed, crossing his arms and leaning back heavily against a steel table. He hadn't realized until now how tired he was from the day's excitement. "It took some stalling, but I did happen to notice petechial hemmoraging in the man's eyes, and something odd on his neck, hidden behind his ear. It was almost like an injection site. I took a sample of blood and Tim took it back to the lab. Then I checked inside his mouth. His tongue was twice the normal size, and his throat was swollen shut."

"Hmm. Anaphylactic shock of some kind, then, Jimmy?" The young assistant nodded. "That's what it turned out to be. I extracted a stinger from the injection site, and Tim came back with a positive tox screen result for bee venom, and his histamine levels were through the roof, as well."

"One would think the crazy man would be satisfied with that, but noooo…" Ziva said, bitterly. She shook her head in that way she had, swaying it slightly with frustration. "That's when all hell really broke loose."

Gibbs made a face, remembering all too well the adverse reaction their hostage-taker had had to their findings. "He wasn't happy with the results. He thought we were covering up some greater crime. Of course, we weren't. Jimmy and McGee found the death to be accidental. Of course, the official ruling is pending your review and signing off on it, Duck," Gibbs said. Ducky nodded. "I'll take a closer look at this tonight, Jethro. But it looks to me like Mr. Palmer here did a pretty thorough job of it. Nice work, Jimmy my boy." Jimmy smiled broadly, blushing slightly at the praise.

"So, Tony tried to disarm him. Not the smartest thing he's ever tried… Tim somehow got in the line of fire, the gun went off… and we had two superficial gunshot wounds for the price of one slug," Jimmy said, trying to sway the subject back to the story at hand. Ziva nodded thoughtfully. "I managed to wrestle the gun away from him when Tim took him down in what he described as a basic high-school wrestling move, but not before he got a shot off that hit that cooler door over there," she said, pointing towards the dinged up door, "then he got away from Tim for a moment… still, he set him off balance long enough to give me time enough to raise my own weapon and fire it. Non-fatal, of course. Then Tony moved in from where he was, and immobilized him for good. I think he and Tim did very well, considering that they were both wounded at that point."

"Once we had him out of here, we all had a chance to survey the damage, and Jimmy had a chance to look at our walking wounded," Gibbs concluded. Ducky nodded, understanding now why his assistant looked as if he were about to fall asleep standing up. "I see. Well, I think the morgue looks fine enough for tonight. Jimmy, you look exhausted. Go home, get some rest. I'll see you in the morning, my boy." Jimmy nodded gratefully, smiling slightly at Ziva as she took his arm to lead him towards the door. "I'll drive, Jimmy."

"Ziva, he doesn't want to come back here tonight… as a corpse. Let him drive himself," Gibbs said, with a sparkle and a smirk. Ziva made a face at him, and simply said, "See you in the morning, Gibbs. Ducky, have a wonderful night full of the sweetest of dreams." Ducky smiled charmingly at her. "May I wish the same for you then, my dear girl."

"Goodnight, Dr. Mallard. See you tomorrow," Jimmy said, raising a tired hand in a half-hearted farewell gesture.

Ducky waved at the pair as they departed, then turned to Gibbs.

"So then Jethro, that's really all there is to tell?" Ducky asked, concern in his distinguished English brogue. Gibbs paused a moment, draping an arm around the older man's shoulders, to lead him towards the door. "Not quite, Duck. You would have been damned proud of Jimmy today. You would have been proud of all of our people. They're the best, Ducky. And they're all ours."

Ducky smiled, nodding. "That they are, Jethro. That they are," he said, as he reached out towards the switch, turning out the light, and leaving the morgue to be bathed in darkness, until morning.