Jack exits the ladies' room near the bullpen. She is heading back to her office when she overhears the team talking in the bullpen. They are talking about the Johnny Holland case.
"I spoke with a friend of the latest victim, Daniella Johnson, and she said that Daniella had described her new flirt as awkward in his flirting style but also had boyish charm. She described him as almost like a 13-year old in a grown man's body." Bishop says.
"do we have a psych eval of this guy? Gibbs asks.
"what are you thinking, boss?" McGee asks.
"He is described to behave like a teenager…" Gibbs starts.
"teenagers are emotionally irrational." Torres finishes Gibbs's sentence. Gibbs nods.
"That means we have a highly trained former soldier who is emotionally irrational like a teenager," McGee sums up.
"equals a hazardous combination." Bishop joins in.
"We don't have any mental examination, boss. Maybe Sloane could find something." McGee suggests.
"Vance has told us not to use Sloane on this one," Gibbs says. Jack notices the evident irritation in Gibbs's voice.
"Where is Sloane anyway?" Torres asks.
"I don't know." Gibbs says. "let's focus on this guy." The team gets back to the case. Jack sneaks her way back to her office. She feels like she has been sneaking around, trying to avoid Gibbs and the rest of the team all day. She doesn't like hiding from the team, but she doesn't trust herself and her memories regarding this case, so she feels she need to stay away from it for the sake of the investigation and everyone's safety.
Jacks office
Jack is back in her office. She lays down on her couch. She has a headache from trying to get herself to remember what happened in Afghanistan before her captivity. Her search through her old pictures yesterday didn't do much good. All she could remember was how she first met Johnny Holland and glimpses of memories of his face, and it certainly didn't do her sleep last night any good. She had one of the worst nightmares she has had in nearly two years. Her mind suddenly remembered every bit of pain that Masahun inflicted on her and the horrifying moments of the execution of her team members.
As Jack is lying on the couch, she receives a text on her phone. It is from Johnny Holland. As Jack is scrolling through the text exchanges, she has made with him over the past two weeks. She begins to remember something from back in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan 2007
It is in the late afternoon. The sun is slowly setting behind the mountains surrounding the base. In a remote corner of the base lieutenant, Jacqueline Sloane is doing her daily workout. She is currently doing sit-ups. Jack is counting out loud for herself as she is pushing herself through the 50th sit-up. Her feet pressed against the wall, and the sun is hitting her back every time she gets back up in a sitting position. That is, until someone stands behind her and covers the sun. Whoever it is doesn't speak but continues just to shade her for the sun. She doesn't look back or stop working out to see who it is. She figures it is probably one of her team members messing with her because they know she enjoys the sun. It reminds her of her workouts on the beach back home in California.
"Hey, Jack." The man standing next to her says a little cautious. Jack looks back at him briefly as she goes to her next exercise. It is private first-class Johnny Holland.
"I am going for a 10-mile run. You want to join?" Jack asks while she is doing a few stretching exercises.
"you want me to join?" he asks a little cautious.
"do I need to write you an invitation?" she asks sarcastically.
"no, no," Johnny says and laughs nervously.
"come on," Jack says and gives him a pad on the back. It takes him a moment before he realizes she has already started, and he quickly catches up to her. she speeds up once he catches up to her, but he follows her speed with ease. It quickly turns into a little bit of an endurance competition.
"dang, you are fast," Jack says as she is pushing herself as hard as she can to keep up with him. It seems like he is keeping up the speed with ease.
"were you a cross-country runner in high school or what?" she jokes.
"no, I played football." He explains.
"like Forrest Gump." Jack jokes and continues running.
"yeah," Johnny says and looks down a little embarrassed.
"you know it was due to Gump's running speed he was able to save his fellow soldiers in Vietnam, right?" Jack says with a smile, and it makes Johnny smile too.
"yeah."
They continue to run a couple of miles at a nice steady speed, while they continue their little comfortable small talk.
"got a new partner Sloane?" a fellow soldier asks when they pas him a couple of miles later.
"yeah, I had to replace you, Collins. You couldn't keep up." Jack calls back to the guy they pass.
"a partner? I thought you used to work out alone?" Johnny asks, confused. Jack is aware that Johnny has been "observing" her workouts over the past couple of weeks since they first spoke, but she hasn't said anything to him.
"I work out alone down here, but I have a partner back home. I am a very competitive person, so it helps me push myself further." Jack explains.
"make sense." the disappointed tone in Johnny's voice doesn't go unnoticed by Jack, but she pretends like nothing when two other soldiers pass by them.
"babysitting today, Sloane?" one of the passing Soldiers asks.
"cut it, Sergeant," Sloane says loud and with respect in her voice.
"yes, ma'am." The passing sergeant says and continues his run. Johnny looks back at them.
"hey. Ignore them." Jack says with a soft, gentle smile to Johnny.
They return to the base, and Jack grabs her towel and water bottle she left in the corner where she started her workout. She takes a big sip of her now boiling hot water. Jack quickly spits out the water.
"never going to get used to the water down here." She says, and her apparent dislike in hot water amuses Johnny.
"I don't like the heat, either," Johnny says.
"I love the is the taste of the water I don't like."
You like the heat?" he asks, surprised.
"sure. I am from southern California. I grow up in the heat." Jack says. "but the plastic taste in the water is awful."
"I miss the cold weather and snow," Johnny says almost with sadness in his voice.
"you are such a snowman." Jack teases him. They begin to walk towards the barracks while they continue their conversation.
"yeah, I miss Maine in the winter." Johnny looks down with sadness for a moment.
"you are from the west coast?" Jack asks. Johnny look up and meet her soft eyes and nod.
"Yeah. I was born in Maine. I lived there most of my life."
"I could never live on the east coast. It is too cold, and there are no good surf beaches." Jack says with a smile, and it makes Johnny chuckle.
"you surf a lot?" Johnny asks. Jack takes another sip of her water while smiling at him with her dark brown eyes. Then she nods.
"Are you good?" Jack shrug casually, but her confident smile tells Johnny that she is. She just won't admit it.
"Have you ever gone skiing?" he asks confidently. He then seems a little uncertain and adds. "You have mountains in California, right?"
Jack chuckles and nods. "yeah, we do. California is the perfect state. We got everything; mountains, beaches, harbor, fields, big cities, and army bases."
The last adding of army bases as a special thing about California makes them both laughs.
"you really love your state," Johnny says, amused.
"oh yeah, I do. I am never leaving California."
"news flash. You are not in California right now." Johnny says, and it makes both of them.
"oh, really. I didn't know. Thank you, captain obvious."
They have reached the barrack where Jack's unit is sleeping. Jack stops right outside the barrack.
"same time tomorrow?" Jack asks with a gentle smile. Johnny looks surprised at her, and it seems to take him a moment to process what she just said.
"sure." He says after a moment.
"okay. see ya." Jack says and walks into her barracks. Inside, lying on his bed, is one of Jack's unit members.
"got a new boyfriend, Jackie?" SPC Hale asks teasingly. Jack kicks the leg of his bed with her heavy army boot, so the whole bed moves.
"hey. That was rude." He says, sounding offended.
"he just tagged along on my run. Your lazy ass never wants to join me." Jack says while she is gathering her items for her shower.
"I don't need it. I am in perfect shape." Jack looks at him over her shoulder with a skeptical look.
"Keep telling yourself that." She says and turns back to her bed.
"well, we can't all be sexy head-turning eye candy," Hale says as he sits up in his bed. Jack is very much aware of the fact that he is checking her out as she is standing bent over her bed to gather her stuff
"Hale quit drooling over Sloane." That is another one of Jack's fellow unit members, SPC Anshiri, who has just entered.
"oh, I am not the one drooling. The little PFC Holland is." Hale says with a teasing voice." he tagged along on Sloane's run today."
"oh really." Anshiri is now in on teasing Jack. Jack's fellow unit members have been teasing Jack about spending time with the young PFC Holland that everyone on base sees as a big joke.
"you know he has a giant crush on you, right?" Hale asks. Jack just rolls her eyes as him.
"no, he doesn't, and leave the kid alone," Sloane says, a little irritated and grabs her stuff and walks to the shower. Right before she turns on the water, she hears Hale saying. "lieutenant Sloane is off duty." With a loud and clear voice like when he is speaking with an enlisted. Shortly after, Jack hears Hale saying, "the kid definitely has a crush on Sloane." And Hale laughs.
Present time
Jack opens her eyes again. she had forgotten all about the daily afternoon workouts she used to do doing her deployment. The sound of Hales laugh and calling Holland a kid gives her an odd feeling. Also, the memory of some of the other soldiers referring to Holland as a kid. Jack now remembers that it was the only time Holland worked out with her. he never joined her again. Jack gets up from the couch and grabs a piece of paper and a pen and write something down. While she is at her desk, write the note, she looks over at her computer screen where there is a crime scene photo of the first victim. She was found in the woods, wearing navy-blue hot pants and a grey tank top, with the letters "USMC" in big black letters across the chest. Jack remembers she used to wear an army green tank top with the letters "ARMY" across the chest when she worked out and a pair of hot pants. Jimmy had determined that the first victim was redressed after her death. The memories of Holland and Afghanistan are beginning to give Jack a sick feeling, and she quickly leaves her office. In the door to her office, she nearly runs Gibbs down.
"Jack," Gibbs says.
"not now, Gibbs. I need some air." She says and leaves quickly. Gibbs looks back at her concerned and then enters her office. He notices the giant mess on her desk, which is unusual. In the middle of the chaos, he finds a small piece of paper. On the note, it says: "revenge." Gibbs grabs the note and leaves the office.