The cigarette slowly smoldered in his hands. The ashes fluttered in the wind, taking all experiences with them. Palmer still kept his eyes closed, trying to prolong the moment of complete calm. Not a single disturbing thought remained in my head; they dissipated along with the smoke.
"Time to head back," Jimmy said softly, looking sadly at the cigarette butt left. It's been about fifteen minutes since he left the NCIS building. Shaking himself off, the young man reached into his pocket to get some chewing gum.
"Crap!" much to Palmer's annoyance, there was no chewing gum in his pants. Apparently, she remained at home on the table. Out of frustration, he even kicked a small stone, which made him feel a little better.
In fact, at that moment, the medical examiner's assistant had an idea. Silently slipping into the building, he went up to the office. Looking out of the elevator, the young man breathed a sigh of relief. The horizon was clear, no menacing Gibbs. Tony and Kate were hard at work at their desks. Jimmy walked over to Kate's table.
"Hello, Jimmy. What are you doing here?" The women carefully looked at the newcomer, looking up from the papers.
"Do you have gum?"
"Have you started smoking again?" The question came from a nearby table.
"So what, Tony?" Palmer asked rather sharply.
"Nothing, you're just walking on thin ice, Gremlin. If anyone finds out, you're dead," he made a characteristic gesture, meaning head off his shoulders.
"No one will know if you don't talk about it," Palmer turned back to Kate, "Well, do you have any gum?"
"I think so," the girl took out a package from the desk drawer and threw it at her friend, "Now you owe me," a mocking smile flashed across her face.
"How about lunch? Naturally, at my expense," the young man suggested.
"Good suggestion."
"Fine, see you later." He waved his hand and tried to leave, but he was called out.
"Wait, Gremlin." Palmer rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.
"What is it this time, Tony? Make me crawl into another ditch?"
"No... I'm just... Anyway, take it." Tony tossed a small vial at him. Jimmy deftly caught the bottle and looked blankly at DiNozzo.
"What is it?"
"Eau de Toilette. This will help get rid of the smoke smell."
"If this is another joke of yours, then it's not funny at all. What happens if I use this? Will I smell like a skunk? Or will I start scratching?"
"God… It's just a normal men's cologne. You can check it out yourself." Tony pointed to the bottle. Gritting his teeth, the young man nevertheless opened it. There was a slight scent of men's cologne. The guy put a little on his clothes and, fortunately, nothing terrible happened.
"T...Thanks, Tony," Palmer managed with difficulty, handing the vial back.
"Nothing like that, Gremlin."
The young man nodded, time was running out, Ducky could suspect something, so he had to hurry. Unfortunately, he ran into Gibbs.
"What are you doing here, Palmer?" He asked as Jimmy slipped past him to the elevator.
"E... Excuse me, sir. I needed to talk to Kate about a personal matter," he spoke very quietly. Gibbs still looked unhappy. Apparently things were not going as well as he would have liked.
"I advise you to deal with personal matters after hours," the older man growled. Jimmy nodded convulsively and muttered quickly:
"I'm sorry, sir. This will not happen again," and as quickly as possible disappeared into the elevator.
"You are late, Mr. Palmer."
"I'm sorry, doctor. Abby asked me to help, I could not refuse," lately the young man seemed to be apologizing too often.
"No problem, just get back to work."
The day went on. He was still incredibly lousy, but luckily, by some miracle, Palmer managed to survive it all. The journey home did not take long. The guy is tired as hell. And immediately fell on the bed, as soon as he crossed the threshold of his empty house. Suddenly his eyes fell on the half-empty pack of cigarettes he had left on the bedside table. I wanted to smoke again. The young man did not resist his desire. He sat down by the open window and lit a cigarette.
"How stupid," Palmer muttered, staring out the window. He's been feeling a little lonely lately. At first he really liked the new job, but the more he watched the team, the more it seemed to him that he was superfluous. And then this damn letter haunted him. Since then, things have gone awry, and Jimmy didn't like it at all. My head was splitting and the only thing that helped was cigarettes.
"If Ducky really cares, then maybe I should... No, what a fool... He needs me as much as any other assistant... Nothing will change if I leave. So, it's better to just accept it. .."
Palmer thought of nothing else. I just exhaled soft cigarette smoke and watched it disappear outside the window into the darkness.
Morning of the next day
Jimmy was late again, but this time it wasn't an accident. He slowly made himself some coffee, ate a piece of toast, and drove off to work. The coat was left hanging alone on a hanger. Then the young man again got into a traffic jam, but this didn't really bother him. He arrived at work much later than usual.
"What is it this time, young man?" Ducky asked sternly when the guy entered the dissecting room.
"Plugs, sir," Jimmy shrugged without a hint of regret.
"Where's the coat? I think I said that walking in such weather without warm clothes is a direct ticket to..." Palmer did not listen to the man, did not even pretend to listen, as he usually did.
"With all due respect, sir, I don't think my coat is of great importance for our work," such a statement surprised Ducky, but he did not answer. He hoped it would get better later. But it didn't get any better, quite the contrary.
"What happened to you, Gremlin?" Tony was in too high spirits again.
"None of your business, Tony. You seem to have a job, and it's clearly not about pestering me with your stupid taunts?" Growled the assistant medical examiner. Tony looked surprised, but said nothing. He thought that now was just not the best time for jokes, so he just dropped it.
But Palmer didn't stop there. He continued to be rude and obnoxious. He was late all the time, ignored his mentor and even argued with Gibbs.
An Evening at the Gibbs House
Sometimes on Friday the team would get together for dinner. Besides, today was a special day. Stanley decided to surprise them and arrived a few weeks early. The food was excellent as always. Now Ducky and Gibbs are alone in the living room. Stanley helped Shannon wash the dishes while the rest of them had fun upstairs.
"Gibbs?" Ducky began uncertainly, looking at the amber drink in his glass.
"M?"
"Eh ..." the man sighed heavily, "can I ask you a question?"
"Is this about Palmer?" Gibbs was always too perceptive, sometimes it created problems.
"The guy is acting weird. Rude, obnoxious, arguing and bickering all the time. I don't recognize him at all, he's usually so polite and timid, and lately he's acting like a completely different person," the older man explained, he was worried about the guy, even too much.
"Hmm…" Jethro thought deeply about this question, and then looked straight at Stanley and sighed, "I think I know what's wrong with your boy. He's just testing you."
"What do you mean?"
"You've already punished him once, haven't you?"
"Yes," Ducky nodded, remembering how frightened he had been then.
"Now he's testing you, wants to see how far he can go before you stop him."
"I think it makes sense. But are you sure?" Jethro looked back at Stanley. The young man was chatting cheerfully with Shannon while he was drying the plates.
"Trust me, Duck. I went through these four times. Stanley, Abby, Tony and Kate, they all pulled it off after the first time. And to be honest, maybe I did the same thing with Mike when I was younger. With Stanley it was the most difficult, he was the first and then I did not know what came over him. In fact, I was also prompted then."
"Was it Frank?" Ducky could also be perceptive when the situation called for it. Gibbs just nodded. For a second, he even seemed to be embarrassed.
"He helped me understand. With Abby and the others it was already much easier. Then I understood what they were trying to achieve, and I could act accordingly. In fact, I'm surprised the kid hasn't tried this before. The boys lasted only a week and a half, the girls a little more than two. Palmer pulled it off almost three months later."
"I think it's just proof of his lack of confidence," the medical examiner sighed, knocking over a glass of whiskey.
They continued to talk, switching from one topic to another. Until they were interrupted by ringing laughter and a loud clatter from upstairs. Kelly went down the stairs almost at a run. The others followed her.
"Stanley, help!" the girl turned sharply into the kitchen and hid behind the broad back of her older brother.
"What happened, Princess?" The young man put a dry plate in the cupboard and hugged his sister by the shoulders.
"That's all Tony," the little girl pointed to DiNozzo, who was still laughing out loud, "He tickled me again."
"Hmm... I think I can help with that." Stanley smiled at his sister and walked over to Tony. He no longer laughed, he looked at his brother with apprehension and began to gradually retreat.
"Stay away from me, Stanley," the special agent took a few more steps back, but ran into a wall.
"I'm sorry, brother," Stanley grabbed Tony in one quick tug and began to quickly lose the top of his head with his fist.
"Stanley, stop it." DiNozzo tried to free himself, but Stanley was stronger. Kelly giggled, and the girls just rolled their eyes at the brothers' childish behavior.
"Nah, while I'm here, I think you should be reminded of what it means to be a little brother," the young man continued to manipulate, to the laughter of everyone else in the room and Tony's grumbling.
"OK! OK! I understand. Please stop."
"Does little brother not like it?"
"I hate you, Stanley," DiNozzo muttered, blushing.
"As you wish, drama queen." Everyone laughed again.
Monday
The alarm clock echoed through the empty house. Jimmy turned it off but made no attempt to get up. He didn't want to do anything at all. Although he didn't have a full-time job today. He was late again. Just for a few minutes.
"You are too late, Mr. Palmer," said Dr. Mallard reproachfully, looking at the boy.
"I know, sir. I can use the clock."
"Young man, you..."
"Yes, yes, I'm irresponsible and blah blah blah. Gerald would never do that. Since I still know what you're going to say, maybe we'd better get to work then?"
Apparently Gibbs was right; the boy was really trying to get some kind of reaction from him to disgusting behavior. Well, if he wants it so much, he will certainly get it.
"Young man, I advise you to calm down. Unless you want trouble, of course." Palmer had to bite his tongue to keep from being sarcastic.
"I'm sorry, sir." His tone was far from sincere, but Ducky ignored it. Later he will have a lot of work.
"Great, I want you to come to my house in the evening, after the exams. I hope you remember the way?" The guy shuddered, the last time he was in the older man's house when he screwed up.
"I do not..."
"No arguments."
"All right, sir," Jimmy said through clenched teeth.
"Very well, get to work, young man."
After exams
"Hey, Jimmy," when Jimmy was leaving the university building Denis, his classmate and friend called out to him.
"Hi, Dan," without hesitation, Palmer took out a cigarette and a lighter and lit it. The exam was not the easiest; he needed to relax a bit before meeting with Dr. Mallard.
"Huh... It was really difficult. The professor really overdid it this time."
"Yeah, really," the guy replied without much enthusiasm.
"The sky is so dark today, I hope it won't rain."
"The forecast said that there might be some rain."
"It's not very good. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. Will you smoke? I think I forgot my lighter at home," Jimmy nodded, "Thank you. Look, you've been kind of weird lately. Something happened?"
"Not really. I'm just a little tired lately."
"Are you working as an assistant to the medical examiner?" It's probably difficult.
"Yes, but I love this job. At least I know I can help someone, even though I'm not a field agent."
"This is an important but very difficult job. I think you have a right to be tired. You should talk to your boss. He must have had moments like that."
"Perhaps I should, but… I don't want to appear weak in front of him."
"If he calls you a weakling because of this, then he is the biggest jerk in the world. Then you should just change jobs. But judging by your stories, he would never say that. Well... I've got to go, see you later, Jimmy."
Denis left, leaving Palmer to ponder over his words. Suddenly it began to rain. Only then the young man regretted that he had left the car at home, but continued to slowly walk along the sidewalk. In fact, he was just playing for time. The phone in his pocket rang loudly, and the name Dr. Mallard flashed on the display. The young man ignored the sharp pain in his chest, dropped the call and turned off his cell phone. He wasn't ready yet.
Jimmy wandered the streets of the city for about an hour, his clothes soaked through, but he continued to walk back and forth until he realized where his feet had been taken. NCIS building. Then, he decided to commit, perhaps the most stupid act of his life. Leave the resignation letter on Dr. Mallard's desk.