Martian Or Something Else?

081008

Disclaimer: Let's see. I own plane tickets to Atlanta. I own a membership to DragonCon. I own a new designer suitcase but I do not own any of the characters in this story.

Summary: Meeting, explanation and a lead.

Reviews: Yes please. Readers Rock but Reviewers RULE!

A/N: I beg forgiveness for the delay in updates but I warned y'all that I was totally out of prewritten chapters. There will only be only one or two chapters after this one. I confess to 'borrowing' from Jim Butcher once again. Anyone familiar with Jim's amazing book series The Dresden Files will know what I mean. Everyone should listen to the audio books of this series read by the wonderful James Marsters.

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Chapter 11

Forty five minutes after Gibbs hung up his phone, the elevator doors opened to reveal Tobias Fornell. The senior FBI agent walked curiously towards the bullpen, still unsure as to exactly why his friend had called him over. The sight of Grant Mars sitting on Officer David's desk laughing with the Mossad assassin caused Fornell to stop in surprise. Before any of the younger agents noticed his presence and before he had a chance to process the highly unusual scene, Jethro had stalked up to growl in his ear. "My office, now."

Tobias spun around on his heel and followed the taller agent back to the elevator. The car barely had time to begin its descent before Gibbs pulled the emergency stop switch.

"I can't believe you people. I leave my newest agent in your care for less than a day and he's already turning into another DiNutso. Is it the building? Did you give him some sort of special coffee? What?" Fornell ranted.

"So what you're saying is he doesn't act like that normally?" Gibbs asked curiously.

"You're kidding, right?" Tobias exclaimed disbelievingly. "If I had any clue he'd goof off like that I'd have left his ass in Boston."

Jethro grunted and fell into thought. After several minutes of silence, Tobias frowned. "What's going on?"

Instead of answering, Gibbs reached over and restarted the lift. "Let's go to Abby's lab. There's something you need to see." He pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed. "Meet me in Abby's lab." He paused to listen. "Yeah, right now. There's something odd about Mars and I want your opinion." He listened again. "I know you just gave him a physical but I don't think this is something that would have shown up. Yeah, we're on our way, two minutes." He closed the phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

The doors slid open and Fornell followed Gibbs into the Goth's domain. Ducky was already there having taken the single flight of stairs to reach the lab quickly.

"Jethro, I assure you that unless the blood tests reveal something, there is nothing wrong with Agent Mars." Ducky began as soon as they crossed the threshold.

Abby bounced up from gazing into her microscope. "Grant's as clean as a whistle, Bossman. Nothing hinky in that blood at all. What's bugging you?"

"Abs, bring up the surveillance footage of the bullpen from four hours ago." Gibbs directed without answering either of them.

The video feed began showing on the large plasma screen so all four of them gathered in front of it to watch. Gibbs had timed it just about right, the video began just before Tony confronted Grant in the aisle. Abby brought up the volume so they could hear.

"Oh, he's in so much trouble." She growled as she listened to her best friend berate her potential boyfriend.

"Hush and watch." Gibbs said quietly. He knew the instant the others had spotted what he wanted them to see.

"Whoa. How did he know where she was?" Abby breathed in awe.

"Damn, that's a new one." Fornell blinked.

Ducky peered at the screen but didn't offer an opinion. They could all hear a hiss from Abby when the men started seriously arguing. "DiNozzo is a dead man when I see him again." She threatened.

"Ok, Abs, rewind it and then pause it just before he pulls the gun." Gibbs directed and moved up closer to the screen as she did so. "Now, advance it in slow motion." Jethro leaned closer to the screen, his eyes squinted in concentrations. "Stop!"

Abby froze the scene. Gibbs glanced around at his companions. "Did you all see that?" He asked.

Ducky nodded with a slight smile. Fornell continued to look confused as he gazed at the stilled footage of his agent. "What are we looking for, Jethro?" He finally asked.

Gibbs put a finger on Grant's profile. "See? Right there. He tilted his head, just a fraction, so fast I didn't see it until Abby slowed it down. What's he doing?"

Ducky grinned. "It's simple really, Jethro. There's nothing unusual about that young man. I believe he is merely doing what you do."

"Duck, I don't do that." Gibbs motioned for Abby to advance the scene to when Mars pulled his gun and pointed it at Ziva without looking at which point he had her stop it again. "What is it?"

"My friend, Agent Mars is doing nothing more than following his instincts. He's using 'his gut', to put it in your terms." Ducky's eyes sparkled at the frustration on Gibbs' and Fornell's faces.

"Nobody's 'gut' is that good." Fornell sneered.

"Ah, but you're wrong my folliclely challenged friend." Abby smiled as Fornell scowled at her reference to his ever increasing forehead. "Bossman here is always showing up just as I come up with results for him."

"She's quite right. I can't begin to count the number of times Jethro has appeared in my autopsy mere moments before I can make a move to call him." Ducky confirmed.

"Ok, say he's using his 'gut'. How did he follow her with the gun?" Fornell wanted to know.

"I venture to guess that he has trained himself to 'listen'." Ducky declared.

"But doesn't everyone listen?" Abby asked, her crystal gaze focused on Grant's profile. She really wanted to kiss him again. Her eyes glazed a little at the memory of their first one. Ducky's continued explanation brought her back to the subject.

"Yes, technically that would be quite true but actually everyone hears but not everyone listens. Listening is a lost art. I would venture to say that Agent Mars was 'listening' to Ziva. There are numerous sounds he could have picked up with the right listening technique." Ducky explained.

"Like what?" Fornell demanded.

Gibbs continued to study the frozen images on the screen. He was beginning to understand and a small part of him wondered how happy the agent was with the FBI. A larger part of him cringed at the thought of having Mars and DiNozzo on the same team all the time.

"Her breath, the sigh of the seat cushion as she rose, the slight rustle of her shoe on the carpet, any number of ways, actually. One does not even need extraordinary hearing such as our Anthony has to train themselves to 'listen'." The elderly ME told him. "I would love to perform a hearing test on that young man."

"Good luck. You barely got the physical." Gibbs snorted.

"That is quite true." Ducky admitted ruefully.

Fornell frowned at that revelation. "You did a physical on Mars? Why?"

Ducky glanced at Gibbs to make sure it was all right to divulge the reason for subjecting an FBI agent to a basic physical exam. At his nod, Ducky explained. "Your young man had a panic attack in the elevator when he unexpectedly stumbled upon my domain. That combined with his lack of food up until that point today, caused him to lose consciousness for a brief time. I felt it necessary to perform a rudimentary exam in order to ensure that there was no underlying cause for his collapse. Better to be safe than sorry, as it were. He had a good lunch and seems to be quite all right now."

"I see." Tobias nodded and switched his gaze back to the monitor. It took him several minutes to realize that Gibbs had left him behind to go back upstairs. He dashed out into the hallway to find his old friend holding the elevator doors open with a smirk on his handsome face. Laughter from Ducky and Abby echoed until the doors closed. The ride up was silent. Gibbs was still thinking about the possibility of stealing the agent with the unusual talent while Fornell was thinking about how much the quiet new-comer had changed in a single day.

In the bullpen…..

Grant sat on Ziva's desk and watched the computer as it ran its search program. Tony watched them covertly as he checked off the last name from the Petty Officer's contact list. None of them had been any help. He recognized the moment that his ex-partner got an idea. It was something he'd witness numerous times over the year they'd worked together so he was not surprised when Grant sat straight up, spun around in place and addressed McGee.

"Hey, Tim, when you guys put out those BOLOs did you send them to all the medical facilities?" He asked.

"Let me check." Tim pushed a few keys on this keyboard. "Yes, we did. Why?"

"Just a hunch." Mars shrugged. He'd turned back to say something to Ziva when McGee's phone rang.

"Special Agent McGee." Tim answered his phone briskly. "Yes, that's right. You're sure? That's great. Can you stall……" He broke off and listened for a moment. "That's perfect. Thank you. We'll be there soon."

The elevator doors swished open as McGee hung up the phone.

"What do you have for me, McGee?" Gibbs demanded.

"How do you do that?" Fornell grumbled.

Tim stared at the back of Grant's head in disbelief. "We got a lead at the free clinic on the west side. We have to hurry though."

"Gear up!" Gibbs tossed the keys to Tony. "DiNozzo, gas the car."

"On it, Boss." The Italian caught the keys and grabbed his gun and gear with smooth, well-practiced moves before heading for the elevator

Fornell wondered why the computer tech was staring at his agent but recovered quickly. "Mars, you're with me. I want a full report of everything you've done today."

Grant winked at Ziva and grinned as he hopped off the desk. "Yes, sir!" His tone, if not his motions, suggested a salute.

Ziva hid a smile at his antics, so like Tony's but somehow less annoying. She had the feeling that the two of them had driven their superiors insane before they'd split up. She caught herself envying Abby for a moment before collecting her own gear and following the rest of her team to the garage.

TBC