"Now, Katherine, the matter of your brother…" Ducky began talking to Kitty one the crime scene had been thoroughly processed.
"I can have him in from Seattle tomorrow." Kitty said deadly, as she watched Palmer wrap up the bodies of her parents.
Ducky sighed. "I'm really very sorry about this…"
"Wasn't your fault, Duck."
"Were you close?" he felt idiotic asking but most teenagers these days opted to break away from their parents.
Kitty simply interlocked her fingers.
"I see."
Gibbs walked over quickly after giving DiNozzo a set of instructions.
"Why's your brother in Seattle, Kit?"
"He's living with several other guys. They have a band."
"How soon..?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"First thing."
"Yes, boss."
"And Kitty?" Gibbs turned back to her as he walked away. "I'm really sorry."
Kitty smiled weakly and nodded.
McGee had just finished taking notes on the crime scene and looked up in time to see Kitty pulling out her cell phone and dialing with a shaky hand. She put the phone to her ear and massaged her temples.
"Hi Archie, it's Kitty… I've been better… No, no. I'm fine. Look, there's been an accident… no, she's fine. It's mom and dad… they were murdered…" her voice shook and she delicately passed her fingers under her eyes to wipe away several tears that had found their way out of her eyes. "Yes. Look, I need you down here tomorrow… No, no, I know. I'll wire you some money… yeah… yeah, I'll let them know our coming… No I live with one of the agents I work with at the moment… You don't have to worry about me… If it makes you feel any better he's about as fight ready as a wet French fry, I can take him." She winked at a hurt looking McGee as she listened to her brother on the other end of the phone. "That doesn't make you feel better? Oh, well. I have a gun does that work?... Yup! Okay… I'll see you later… I love you Archie. Bye."
She closed the phone and wiped a tear from her face.
Gibbs, who had been listening was silently chuckling to himself about the French fry comment.
"Boss, do you need me anymore today?" she asked with a sense of unwilling determination in her voice, as though she was dead set against letting this bother her.
"Nope. You go make sure your brother gets in okay. Your gun loaded?"
"Of course, boss."
"Go ahead then."
The young agent walked solemnly to her bike, donned her helmet and left. Although the roar lost no volume from when the girl arrived the sound was melancholy, echoing the driver's feelings.
McGee looked at his shoes. Gibbs came over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Tim would you be alright taking care of her for a while longer?" He asked in his hushed tone.
"Yeah sure, boss. Hey, um, Gibbs…" he asked as his supervisor was turning to leave. "What's gonna happen to her after all this is over? Like, when we catch the guy?"
"Honestly, McGee? I was hoping that you would continue to take care of her. I want to keep her custody with the agency, she's a coveted resource for the government and criminals alike. Do you know what a criminal could accomplish with her on their side? Of course, she's never do it willingly, but she's in danger nonetheless."
"Why me, boss?"
"I feel that she's safe with you. Why? Do you prefer she live with DiNozzo? Ziva? Abby and her coffin..?"
"No, sir."
"Good."
******************************************************************************************
Abby groaned in utter anguish that evening as Gibbs, McGee and DiNozzo walked into her lab.
"What do you have for us, Abbs?" Gibbs asked.
"Nothing! There were absolutely no matches in AFIS to the print McGee pulled from the knives. We have nothing!" Abby collapsed onto Gibbs' shoulder. "Kitty's parents were murdered and I've got nothing! I'm failing her Gibbs!"
"What about the blood we found a few feet away from the bodies?" Gibbs asked holding her at arms-length.
"That was the Lieutenant's blood. I think it would be safe to say he was stabbed there and tried to run to his wife, but died on the way."
"Did we get a match on the print from the knife?" Kitty walked In through the door to join her team.
"No! Not even a close match." Abby hugged the young agent. "I'm sorry! Please don't hate me?"
"I don't hate you Abbs." Kitty assured her.
"Where's your brother, Kit?" Gibbs asked with a tone of distress in his voice.
"He got on the plane an hour ago. If all goes well, he'll be in D.C. in four hours." She said when Abby finally let go of her. "I'll go pick him up as soon as he lands."
"Where is he staying?"
"With some friends of ours, in an old three floor apartment building. He'll be safe."
"How do you know?"
"That place has more security installed than our building. One of the guys there is so techno-savvy, he could beat McGee in a Pentagon hack-off without blinking."
"Really?" McGee asked in a tone of awe mixed with irritation.
"Yup." Kitty said simply.
"Do they know he's coming?" Gibbs asked.
"Yeah, I went to talk to them for the last hour after Archie left Seattle."
"Four hours you said?"
"Yes."
"Alright, McGee you're going with her." Gibbs said with finality.
"Yes boss."
"Gibbs." Kitty started carefully, "Do you think that I… I mean, my brother and I are in danger?"
"Until I know better, yes, I do think you are."
Kitty nodded and sniffed. She looked at the blinking red negative match warning on the computer screen.
"No match…" she said quietly, mostly to herself. "What are the odds," she addresserd the whole team, "that a first-time offender would choose to commit a double homicide as his first offense on a whim? Especially if one of the two victim had triceps the size of large hams?" She referred to her father.
"Slim to none." Gibbs replied.
"So that would mean..?" Kitty supplied her usual fill-in-the-blank method of thought organization.
"It wasn't random, and it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing. This guy knew there would be two victims; two identical knives. He knew who he was going for." DiNozzo finished. "And if this is his first offence, it would suggest he was prompted to do this."
"But by what, DiNozzo?" Gibbs turned to him.
"Revenge is always a popular motive." Abby supplied.
"Kitty," Gibbs walked around the evidence table and took her by the shoulders, "did either of your parents ever do anything that might have driven someone to do this?"
"No they were both faithful, they never intentionally harmed another living thing. But of course," she said, "my dad was in the Navy. Any nut with a grudge." She supplied bluntly.
"Did your father ever kill anyone without good reasoning?"
"No! He never discussed the death aspect of his job and even if he did kill people," she looked directly into Gibbs' eyes as she spoke slowly, "he would never have done it unless it was a last resort. He would do anything to save a life."
She looked back at the negative match sign with a look of sheer hurt on her face.
"Any nut with a grudge."