Author's Note: Thanks for all of those who left reviews last chapter! I really LOVE receiving them so please, keep it coming! =) Other than that, I won't hold you guys long.
Disclaimer: NCIS does not belong to me. It belongs to its rightful owners. The only things I own here are the story and some OCs.
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"Is there anything wrong, Dr. Mallard?" Jimmy asked when he saw Ducky frowning at Corporal James Higgins' cadaver.
Since they found out about the alleged attempt on McGee's life earlier, everybody seemed to have tripled their speed at their work. Abby was determined on staying at her lab all day until she figured out who might have let Landon go. "That way," she said, "we can find out where that lunatic is." Jimmy could tell that she was angry and afraid, all because of what happened. It kind of scared him to think what the whole team would do if they did find out where Landon was.
Ducky was no different. As soon as Lyndi Crawshaw left, he had been delving for anything that he could find on the letters—and also the lance corporal's body—to help the investigation. He had double-checked all of their reports, wanting to make sure that he didn't leave any details out that might be essential to the case.
"Yes. There seems to be something odd with this," Ducky raised the knife in his hands, then pointed to the cadaver's chest, "and that."
"The laceration?" Jimmy asked, walking closer to the autopsy table.
Ducky nodded. "Before I removed the knife from our lance corporal, his whole body was facing down. That explains why the weapon was deeply embedded on his chest," he explained. "It severed the heart, and that probably killed him instantaneously. But then I noticed that the knife also damaged other parts."
"Maybe the murderer was just trying to remove the knife, but then found out that he couldn't," Jimmy offered.
"No. That attempt would've been an easy success. I'm thinking that maybe…the murderer dragged the body," Ducky said. He turned his head towards Jimmy, who only creased his eyebrows. "Doesn't that explain the excessive amount of mud that we found inside his nose, his mouth, and the wound?"
"But it was raining the night he was murdered. I think the mud would have gotten inside those places eventually."
"Yes, but it got farther down the external naris where it should be. There was also half a handful of the forest floor inside his mouth. If it was just the rain, it should have been lesser than that," Ducky observed, then took the clipboard lying on the side of the autopsy table. "If time's good to us, Mr. Palmer, we can still get some finger prints from the body. Hopefully, that'll be enough to help us determine who might have helped Mr. Jake."
As if on cue, the doors of the autopsy room hissed open. Abby hustled inside the room, a yet-another large cup of caf-pow in her hand. "Ducky! I need the knife! I think I may have found something!" she said, almost jumping up and down.
"You sound too excited, Abigail," Ducky pointed out. "Look too excited, rather."
Jimmy smiled. "Let me guess. Third round of caf-pow?" he asked.
Abby narrowed her eyes on Jimmy, also pointing a finger at him. Jimmy's smile slid off his face immediately, and then he looked away. "You're too negative, Palmer. You're banned from my lab," Abby stated.
"Abigail," Ducky called out to her. "The knife?"
"Oh. Yes. Well, I just wanted to double check and see if I missed any fingerprints. I can't let that Landon get away."
"Understood. Although, I think we have another place to look for prints," he said. "Our lance corporal's body."
"How?"
"Dr. Mallard thinks that the body may have been dragged on the forest," Jimmy answered, then added, "ma'am" when Abby turned towards him.
"But we might need the knife for some more minutes, then she's all yours," Ducky said as he walked to the other side of the table. "You might want to stay, too. Maybe we can get those places where the fingerprints are before you go back to your lab. Mr. Palmer, do you suppose we can find prints in his carpal? You can sit down while you're waiting, Abigail. If you want. "
Abby just nodded then, she proceeded towards Ducky's desk. She had been up all morning trying to figure out some things from the evidences that the team had gathered the day before. In all honesty, she was tired. She was hoping to get a good night's sleep when she was staying over at Tony's apartment, but Ziva's call from Bethesda had slapped everyone awake and had everyone nervous. The worst part of it all was that McGee was seriously injured, and he almost died.
Counting what had happened hours earlier, her Timmy had almost died twice.
That was why she couldn't be tired. She needed to give her all to solve the case and find that—She noticed that several letters cluttered Ducky's desk. Some of the letters' style looked rather familiar. "Are these the letters, Ducky?" she asked.
"What? Oh, yes. Timothy's publisher brought them in this morning," Ducky answered.
"May I?"
"Gloves are there at the side."
After putting on the gloves, like she was indirectly instructed, Abby picked up a letter located at the middle of the pile. Two years, if he remembers…Two months of cold Novembers…Two weeks, if you can hide…Two days before you goodbye, the letter stated. Abby felt chills run through her spine, and she wished she had not read the letter. Thinking about McGee being in serious danger bothered her, especially the time 'limit' the writer indicated on the paper. "How long have they had these letters?" Abby asked Ducky, her voice slightly faltering.
"The first ones came a month ago," Ducky replied, becoming nervous as he remembered the messages on the letters.
"What about this one?" Abby asked, raising the letter higher up so Ducky could see them. "When did they receive it?"
When he recognized the letter, he paused before answering. Through the many that he had read, the one in Abby's hand was the letter that had been bothering him the most. "Yesterday," he answered.
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Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva waited silently outside McGee's room. The doctors only allowed one person at a time to go in so as not to overwhelm the patient, and Sarah insisted on going in first. McGee's parents agreed, then went to the cafeteria to get everyone something to eat.
Even if no one said anything, the three of them knew how anxious they got when they were told that McGee was sent to the operating room again. The doctors said that someone probably got inside his room and tried to break his elbows. They also added that when a nurse found him, he was pale and have lost some blood.
Tony felt a little disappointed of himself that he didn't check outside McGee's room—stayed, better yet—and made sure that nothing bad would happen. Gibbs was not far off from the same feeling. The death letters taken into account, he knew he should be more alert. He couldn't let someone harm one of his agents. It would be a sign irresponsibility and lack of better judgment on his part.
Above all, with all of the risks the young agent had taken to save others' lives and the lives of some of his teammates, Gibbs was determined to take his turn in protecting McGee. He missed his opportunity before, and he couldn't miss it now.
Sarah walked out of the room a while later, a weak smile on her face. Tony and Ziva stood up from their seats. "Ziva? Tim wants to see you," she said. Ziva only looked at Tony and Gibbs.
"Go," Tony nodded towards the door, "and tell Probie that me and boss are just out here."
"I-I will." Ziva said, then walked inside the room.
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"Hi," McGee weakly greeted Ziva after Sarah closed the door.
Ziva smiled. "You look like junk, McGee," she said.
"Thank you. I think you look good yourself," McGee nodded. Ziva laughed.
"So how are you feeling?"
"Tired. Very tired," he replied, and then sighed. "It's funny 'cause all I've done since we got here was sleep, and I'm still tired."
Ziva sat at a vacant seat beside McGee's bed before speaking again. "You are injured. I think your body needs some rest after what…happened," she said, looking at the cast on McGee's left elbow and the bandage at the side of his head. "What did happen, McGee? What happened this morning?"
"Landon got inside the room," McGee recounted, looking more exhausted than ever. "He came in as a nurse then told me to take this medicine, which I," he scoffed, "took. I should have suspected something when I saw that surgery mask. Then after talking for a while, I figured that something was wrong. He said he was who he was. We both know what happened next." When Ziva remained silent, her eyes averting his, McGee added, "Ziva. Don't worry about it."
"I…I am sorry, McGee. I have been hard on you yesterday," she apologized. "I should have known better than that."
"Don't say sorry. Apologizing is—"
"A sign of weakness. I know," Ziva nodded, then looked at McGee. "But I am saying sorry to you not as a workmate, but as a friend. I was…unkind towards you, and I regret I treated you that way."
"I don't hold anything against any of you, so there's no need for that," McGee said. "If anyone's at fault of anything here, that would be me. I wrote the book, and now I have to face the consequence."
Ziva stifled a laugh. "We will catch him, McGee. He won't get close to you again," she reassured. "I am absolute on that because the team had been working around the watch."
"Around the clock, you mean?" McGee smiled.
"Yes. That," Ziva agreed. "And about your novel. It is okay with me if I am one of the characters. I guess I should be flattered and not mad."
McGee shrugged. "The book coming up is the last of the series anyways." Ziva only creased her eyebrows in response; she waited for a further explanation. "I thought that it had caused enough trouble, so I ended it. Lyndi wasn't happy with what I wrote. The readers might not be, too, but I think they'd understand."
"Well, what is it that you wrote?" Ziva asked.
McGee had half a mind not to laugh. He wasn't sure if he should say everything that happened, so he concluded that he should tell her just one. "I died," he responded.
"What?"
"I mean, not me die, but McGreggor died," he explained. "Because, like I said, he have caused a lot of problems."
"You didn't have to do that," Ziva argued.
"I know, but I had to," he answered.
With that, both of them fell silent. McGee felt relief of the fact that Deep Six had gone to a stop. Ziva was, however, remorseful of that.
The door opened once more. A petite nurse walked in, holding a white tray in her hands. "I'm sorry to disturb, but the patient needs to rest," she said.
Ziva stood up, looking slightly annoyed of the nurse. "Get well, McGee," she smiled at him.
"I will," McGee replied as he watched Ziva leave. When she was out of sight, he closed his eyes, letting his listlessness overwhelm him once more.
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After Ziva went inside the room and Sarah leave for the cafeteria, Gibbs and Tony were the only ones left outside the room. To be honest, Tony also wanted to go and see McGee. Then again, he knew it was not permitted, and that it was also a bad idea. He might just enervate the younger agent once they start talking. "How do you think he's doing, boss?" he asked. His question was only met by an unsure shrug. "He's not safe here."
"I know that, DiNozzo," Gibbs stated. His phone then vibrated feverishly inside his pocket. "Which is why we need to find Landon," he added before answering. "Yeah. Gibbs." DiNozzo watched as his boss' expression changed from irritation to a slight disbelief. Whatever it was being said over the phone had to be very good. "I got you, Abby. Tell Agent Samuels to meet me there," he said, then hung up.
"She found something, boss?" Tony hopefully asked.
"She found someone," Gibbs corrected. "She found Landon."
"Where?"
"Olympia," he answered. "You and Ziva stay here. Don't leave McGee."
"What—How?"
Gibbs continued walking towards the elevator, ignoring Tony's question. Anger started to bubble up inside him as he thought of catching the escapee. He thought that it was good that he haven't seen McGee's condition. If he did, he wasn't sure whether he could stop himself from inflicting serious harm to Landon. Then again, he should've been mindful of that when he attempted to break McGee's arm earlier.
It was, he should have thought, one of those mistakes where he could not back out from.
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Okay. There might be some cheesy parts in there. Honestly, this is one of those junky chapters, so sorry. Anyways, I know you guys might think that the team catching Landon was kind of fast but don't worry, it will make sense (hopefully) next chapter.
Plus, it has a reason… (mwahahahaha!)
Ooh! I do so LOVE reviews, so please leave some for me! Thanks! =D