Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or JAG, the episode has been quoted but NCIS remains the property of D.P. Bellisario. Also I have made references to another show that I don't own but to test how perceptive you are I won't name which one yet.
Warning: no warning needed, just read at your own risk
Chapter: (2) Hung out to dry
Chapter Summary: Gibbs and her team investigate why a dead marine's parachute failed and why he didn't pull the reserve
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A Park;
A car is parked under a big tree in the middle of a Park. Two teenagers are making-out in the backseat as music plays on the radio.
"Jimmy. Jimmy, ugh. Stop! I said no!" says the girl pushing him away as he tried to take things further.
"God, hey! I sat my sorry ass on a bus for three hours to hook-up with you," he complains.
"If you only came to hook-up, then you should have stayed in Charlottesville," she replies scathingly.
"Oh, come on. You know I love you", he says trying to pull her into another kiss, she tries to push him away but he persists until she has had enough and threatens him.
"Stop it or I'll scream!" she warns him as she tries to get him to stop, but he isn't listening.
Then, a moment later, a pair of legs punch through the roof of the car and splatter the two teens in blood. The girl makes good on her promise and begins screaming loudly. A groan of pain comes from the paratrooper, stuck halfway through the car's roof with his torso sticking out. The girl continues to scream.
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Gibbs basement;
Gibbs is in her basement working on her boat while football game plays in the background on her television. Tony appears at the top of the stairs.
"Don't you lock the door?" he asks concerned.
"Nope," is Gibb's only answer as she sands one of the sections of the framework. Tony walks down the stairs into the basement.
"We got a call. Quantico. Marine got killed in an exercise," DiNozzo reports. Gibbs indicates for him to elaborate.
"Night training jump. Guy's chute didn't open," explains Tony as he examines wooden frame, which is obviously a boat.
"Is this a boat?" asks Tony. Gibbs gives him a look, that clearly displays how stupid she thinks that question is, then with a shake of her head, goes back to sanding the boat.
"His reserve chute failed too?" she asks sanding the frame.
"I don't know," admits Tony as he walks over to one of the workbenches and looks at jar of orange liquid on tabletop; inside the jar is a cell phone. "Huh. I tried your cell. I tried your hard line, too," he comments. He looks around and sees wall-mounted phone has been ripped out of the wall.
"Don't ask," orders Gibbs. Tony walks around to the same side of the boat as Gibbs.
"You know, my dad gave me a power-sander for my birthday. I don't really power-sand much. You're welcome to it," offers Tony, noting all the hand tools around Gibbs and on the workbenches.
"Except for that bare bulb there and the cord going to that idiot box, you see a power cord around here anywhere?" points out Gibbs.
Tony takes a quick look around just to check, then shrugs when he can't spot any. He strokes a hand slowly along the smoothed surface Gibbs was working on, admiring it.
"You use hand tools, huh?" he admires.
"I use my hands. You call Ducky?" she questions. Tony admits that he hadn't yet. Gibbs unties her loose pony tail, retying into a her trademark tight bun as she walks up the stairs
"Give me your cell," she orders, holding out her hand. Tony tosses Gibbs his cell phone; he turns around to look at the broken telephone that Gibbs ripped down. Gibbs exits the basement calling back down to DiNozzo to hurry up as she turns off the basement light, plunging the room into pitch black.
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The park:
The area around the car, with the paratrooper's body still in it, is lit by several large lights. A military jeep and the NCIS mobile response unit are already on scene. Gibbs and Tony walk to the car, escorted by a Marine.
"He impaled an SUV?" comments DiNozzo, wanting confirmation of what he is seeing.
"Like he was laser-guided, sir," confirms the Marine.
"Where are the other jumpers?" asks Gibbs. The Marine points to a small group of Marines as Gibbs continues to question the Marine concerning the other jumpers.
"Over there, ma'am. They landed in the drop zone 400 meters north of the road," the Marine informs Gibbs. She asks whether or not the rest of the Marine's stayed on the plane.
"Yes, ma'am. I guess the Jump Master held the others back when the victim's chute didn't open," replies the Marine
"Did you secure the paraloft and the aircraft?" questions Gibbs.
"Yes, ma'am. I also have the Marines who didn't make the jump under guard at the hanger," replies the Marine.
"Yeah, put them with the others. Just keep 'em all separated," she instructs the Marine. Gibbs and Tony walk over to the two teens, who she figures are the witnesses.
"My dad's gonna kill me. He's on duty, and he doesn't know that I took his SUV," groans the girl.
"So your dad's a Marine?" Gibbs asks the girl. The girl confirms that her dad is a marine.
"Master Sergeant Tom Schaefer, ma'am. He's a TI at Quantico," supplies the Marine, informing Gibbs of who the girl's father is. Gibbs tries to question the boy but is irritated by how rude the boy is as he sits there smoking.
"You cold, Sarah?" Gibbs asks the younger woman. The girl now identified as Sarah, admits she is, Gibbs goes and rips the obnoxious boy's jacket right off him. The boy barely protests, just keeps smoking. Gibbs drapes the jacket around Sarah's shoulders.
"Special Agent Gibbs, Special Agent DiNozzo. NCIS. Want to tell us what happened?" says Gibbs, introducing herself and Tony. The two teens explain how they had been 'parked' and had been listening to emo music when Tony has to explain to Gibbs what emo is. Gibbs just looks annoyed and turns back to Sarah.
"Ok so you were listening to the radio and…" she trails off, allowing Sarah to continue her account of events
"He smashed through the roof," Sarah says.
"Wham, pow, blood everywhere," adds her boyfriend.
"And I screamed, and we ran out for help," says Sarah continuing her account of events.
"I met them about a klick down the road on our way to the scene," confirms the marine.
"I felt bad for leaving him there. I heard him groan," she recounts.
"It was a death rattle," says her boyfriend defensively. Gibbs turns to glare at the boy.
"You ever hear a death rattle?" Gibbs asks tersely.
"I was using it as a trope," says the boy, flinching under the red-haired woman's glare.
"A trope. A figurative use of expression," he explains, waving hands as he does, answering Gibb's question of what a trope was. Gibbs orders the Marine to call Sarah's dad to have him pick the two teens up, since the father would likely want to have a word with his daughter's boyfriend. The boy looks worried, cigarette forgotten in his hand.
Gibbs, Tony, and the Marine walk to the SUV with the paratrooper's body stuck in its roof. Ducky is standing on a ladder beside the vehicle so he could climb to the roof to examine the body.
"Ducky's here," states Gibbs.
"Yeah, and on a ladder. I'll get the monopod," says Tony as he goes to fetch the required equipment.
"Last time I was up this high I was hanging a piñata at my nephew's birthday party," comments Ducky.
"What do we got, Duck?" she asks her medical examiner.
"Oh, abrasions," Ducky looks up. "The tree must have slowed him a bit. Purple discoloration – neck's broken, I'd say. Hardly surprising given the rapid descent followed by the equally rapid deceleration," theorizes Ducky.
"Witnesses over there said he groaned after he decelerated" Gibbs informs Ducky.
"It's possible. I won't know until I do the autopsy," admits Ducky.
Gibbs pulls on a set of gloves and begins examining the parachute with a flashlight.
"Looks like a number of his shroud lines failed. Enough of those go, chute doesn't catch air. It tootsie-rolls; puts you down like a roman candle," comments Gibbs, further examining the shroud lines.
"They cut?" asks Ducky, looking over to Gibbs.
"Nah, they look worn," answers Gibbs. She looks up to the body. "Still got his reserve chute on. Why didn't he pull it?" she asks the medical examiner aloud.
"Hey! Look who I found," says Tony, cheerfully interrupting them as he escorts the newest member of the team, Agent Kate Todd. Kate is dressed in a business suit with a skirt and high heels.
"MPs weren't gonna let her pass," he informs the others as he gets closer.
"I got my Sig and badge, but HQ didn't issue my photo ID," she informs her new team when she notices the body.
"God, is this for real?" she questions aloud.
"Unfortunately, my dear, it is," answers Ducky. Gibbs hands the other woman a pair of gloves and instructs her to put them on.
"Ah, your first crime scene with us, Caitlin, and before you mention Air Force One it doesn't count, you were in the Secret Service then," Ducky states, smiling at her jovially. She lets outs a small laugh since she'd been moments away from mentioning Air Force One.
"You know Caitlin, you actually remind me of someone, a chief medical examiner who works in Boston, a very attractive woman, if a little socially awkward, I'm considering asking her out for dinner next time I find myself in Boston, unfortunately her name escapes me at the moment," comments Ducky as he trails off trying to remember the woman's name. He abruptly shakes his head before addressing Tony; "Hey, Tony, take a team photo for posterity," suggests Ducky in his normal, jovial manner.
"Forget posterity. Sun's gonna be up soon. Welcome to NCIS," Gibbs says as she hands the other woman a box. Kate opens the box to find a pair of boots inside.
"How'd you know my size?" asks Kate amused and confused by Gibbs. Gibbs just smirks knowingly and places a cap on Kate's head.
"Put 'em on. Can't work a field in high heels," instructs Gibbs.
"Depends on the kind of work you're doing," comments DiNozzo cheekily.
"Your mind, DiNozzo, runs the gamut from X to XXX," Kate comments back. Tony doesn't deny this rather he agrees with her flashing her his charming smile. Kate scolds herself mentally when she feels her stomach flutter slightly in response to his million dollar smile. Kate promptly turns away and heads off to put her new boots on.
"Photos, Tony!" barks Gibbs as she follows Kate. Tony sighs as lifts camera mounted on monopod up to roof to take pictures of body.
"Ducky? Why would Gibbs rip her hard line out and dunk her cell phone into a jar of paint thinner?" asks Tony, remembering what he'd seen when he went a picked up their boss.
"Oh, dear," mutters Ducky.
"What?" Tony asks the medical examiner.
"I should have realized the time of year," Ducky says to himself as he climbs down and hops into car.
"It's her anniversary," he states simply.
"Which marriage?" DiNozzo asks, seeking clarification.
"Why, the last one of course. Isn't it always?" comments Ducky.
Tony takes some pictures around the outside of the SUV while Ducky examines the body's legs, after a moment Tony pops into the car beside Ducky. "Ducky, I'm not following," he admits.
"Every year, ex-husband number three gets drunk on their anniversary and calls her asking to take him back. Repeatedly," the medical examiner informs the senior field agent.
"Why doesn't she, uh, change her number?" suggests Tony.
"I have no idea. In case you haven't noticed, Gibbs is a woman of more questions than answers," comments Ducky wryly.
The two men chuckle to themselves as Gibbs and Kate return, Kate wearing the boots and her hair tucked under the NCIS cap. Tony jumps out of the car and snaps a picture of the two women.
"Thanks, DiNozzo," Kate says sarcastically.
"Hey, you two could be the NCIS poster-girls in those outfits," he suggests, his charming grin at full ball. Kate seems unaffected by it outwardly but internally she's scolding herself once more.
"Hey Duck, how long you reckon before they break rule 12?" whispers Gibbs. Ducky looks over to Kate and Tony and watches them interact for a moment.
"I'd estimate about a year," comments Ducky wryly.
"You willing to back up that estimate?" she asks mischievously.
"$50 dollars sufficient back up my dear?" he replies.
Gibbs grins. "I'll say 20 months give or take a month; he initiates," says the redhead; Ducky offers his hand to finalize the bet. Gibbs accepts, and the pair shake hands quickly.
"I'm a little surprised that you were the one to suggest the bet my dear," comments Ducky quietly.
"I'm not stupid enough to believe that office romances won't happen. Attraction can only be denied for so long and I can only hit Tony so much before I cause brain damage," she admits, adding a little joke at the end.
"What does your gut tell you about Anthony and Caitlin?" asks Ducky.
"Tony needs remember what it means to commit. And he needs to grow up… a lot," she comments becoming lost in thought.
After a moment of silence, Ducky speaks up. "Abby'll run the pool I suppose," says Ducky, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"You trust anyone else with our money Duck?" replies Gibbs, earning a chuckle from Ducky. Tony and Kate are completely unaware that the betting pool concerning them had just been founded, or that it would spread to include most of NCIS, several people in the FBI and the Secret service, and even US President George Bush betting on when the pair would become a couple.
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Quantico airplane hanger:
The tail end of the aircraft is sticking out of the open hanger doors. The back ramp of the plane is open. Lined up underneath the plane are the Marines that were involved in the jump, and their parachutes.
Gibbs, Tony, and Kate are met by a disgruntled Marine.
"You JAG or NCIS?" asks the Marine Captain tersely.
"Do I look like a lawyer?" retorts Gibbs.
"Word's all over the base by now. My men can't even call their families and let them know they're not the one who died," says the Captain Faul angrily, upset on behalf of his men.
"Was Sergeant Fuentes married?" asks Gibbs unaffected by the Marine's displeasure.
"He has a wife and son," answers the Marine.
"Notification detail should be there to talk to her by now. Word will get out he was killed," she informs the Marine.
"Sergeant Fuentes was under my command. I'd like to see her," the Marine states.
"After we finish questioning you and your men," she remarks.
"How long is that gonna take?" questions the Marine, obviously annoyed at NCIS for holding him and his men.
"I don't know," admits Gibbs.
"These men have another jump at 21:00," the Marine informs the NCIS agents.
"They're jumping again tonight?" exclaims a shocked Kate,
"We don't stop for casualties in war, miss. Neither do we in training," states the Marine daring them to argue.
"Not true, Captain. They don't jump off a lower bunk until we find out what happened," argues Gibbs, unfazed by the Marine's obvious attempt to intimidate them.
"I don't take orders from NCIS cops," he replies insultingly, using every inch of height to stand over Gibbs. She is still unfazed by the Marine's attempts at intimidation.
"Special Agents. And you'll follow this order," she informs him.
He glowers at her "Or what, Special Agent?" he threatens.
Gibbs pulls out DiNozzo's cell phone from her pocket and hits speed dial.
"I don't take orders from your boss either," he sneers.
"I'm not calling my boss; I'm calling yours," says Gibbs. There is a tense moment as she waits for the person on the other end to answer.
"Commandant Mae? Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," she says into the phone, watching the marine captain. He glares at her once more before turning and walking off. Gibbs waits until he's gone, then closes the phone.
"I don't have a Commandant of the Marine Corps on my speed dial," Tony informs Kate.
"Captain Faul didn't know that," Gibbs points out they walk over to the plane. "Alright DiNozzo, shoot and sketch. Focus on the static lines, Kate and I'll start the interrogation," she says, handing out orders to her team.
"Jumping's gotta be so cool," says Tony excitedly as he climbs into the air plane.
"Hey! You wanna play paratrooper, pay a $180. Take a class, like all those other weekend warriors," suggests Gibbs, before she leads Kate away to start the interrogation.
Tony leans out the back of the plane.
"Yeah, I have so many weekends free!" he shouts sarcastically to his boss. Gibbs and Kate ignore his little out burst as they re-enter the hanger. Tony stands on the rear hatch of the plane, hands in his pockets, smirking.
Inside the hanger, Gibbs and Kate are interrogating the other Marine jumpers. Gibbs asks the four marines who jumped if Fuentes was the first to jump.
"Yes, sir. I was number two, Ramsey was three, Brinkman four," says Dafelmair.
"After my shoot deployed, I looked around. I saw Brinkman's chute open above me, but when I looked down I only saw one canopy below. I didn't know whether it was Paul or Thumper," Ramsey says giving the two women his account of events.
"Thumper?" Kate asks, looking for Ramsey to clarify who 'Thumper' was.
"That's what we called Fuentes, ma'am," Ramsey elaborates.
"Sounds crazy now, but he was the squad's good-luck guy, ma'am," adds Brinkman.
"He was a walking rabbit's foot," comments Ramsey. Kate nods. "Yes, ma'am. He always seemed to dodge the bullets. We could tell you a million stories," boasts Ramsey slightly.
"Why don't you tell us just one," suggests Gibbs.
"Well, ma'am, Larry bought a new bike last week. Car ran a red light, he went over it and into a plate glass window," Ramsey says.
"Dinged his collarbone a little. Other than that, not a scratch," added Dafelmair.
"Dinged it a little?" asks Gibbs indicating that she wanted him to elaborate.
"Day or two, he was fine, ma'am," elaborates Dafelmair. Gibbs lets out a snort of amusement.
"Who reached him first?" Gibbs asks.
"I did, ma'am. I saw him Roman candle short of the field. Soon as I got out of my harness, I took off to find him," replies Dafelmair. Gibbs motions for Brinkman and Ramsey to explain where they were when they landed.
"I hung up in a tree. Dave gave me a hand. Saw Paul yelling, we joined him," Brinkman recounts. "Can't believe we let Thumper die. It's like a bad movie," comments Ramsey.
"Was he dead when you reached him, Corporal Dafelmair?" she asks
"Yes, ma'am. Died on impact, ma'am. I'm sure… well, at least I hope he did," wonders Dafelmair, looking a little pale at the thought.
"Why didn't he pull his reserve?" interjects Kate.
"Jumping from 1300ft, your main fails? You have three, maybe four seconds to react, ma'am," theorizes Brinkman.
"Okay. Each of you need to prepare a statement detailing what you saw," Gibbs orders the Marines. The Marine salute and go to pick up their parachutes, but Gibbs stops them. She informs them that their gear now belongs to NCIS for investigation.
The Marines share a look, then leave Gibbs and Kate alone. They watch them go. Gibbs asks Kate what information she gleamed from the Marines as the two women exit the hanger. Kate replies that they learned that the marine didn't have time to pull his reserve because he'd injured his collar bone. Gibbs nods in agreement.
"Injured clavicle hurts like hell. Takes more than a couple of days to heal," the red-head specifies.
"You think Corporal Dafelmair was lying?" asks the brunette woman.
"He was if he knew that Thumper was taking painkillers so he could jump," says Gibbs. Kate comments on how stupid she feels that is.
"No. That's a Marine" says Gibbs.
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NCIS Autopsy;
Dr. Mallard is outlining the victim's various injuries to Gibbs and Kate, using the x-rays as visuals as he goes. He lists the various injuries, including the broken neck, crushed vertebrae and multiple fractures on the victim's legs and hips.
"What about his clavicle?" asks Gibbs interrupting the doctor.
"With all the massive skeletal damage, you're curious about his clavicle?" asks a confused Ducky.
"Humor me," she replies. Ducky pulls down the x-ray for the marine's neck and examines it.
"Huh, how did you know? There's a fine hairline fracture on the left clavicle, which he…" says Ducky but is cut off as Kate offers her own input.
"Incurred recently, but not last night," the brunette woman supplies.
"No, it's begun to mend," the medical examiner admits. He turns to look the two women, "You two are beginning to scare me. Maybe I should reconsider my opinion on whether or not women really can read men's minds," he mutters.
"Don't worry Ducky, your mind's safe, Tony's on the other hand is far too easy," comments Gibbs. "Yeah, his mind runs from X to XXX," adds Kate.
"And also movies, sports, cars and guitars," comments Gibbs.
"Guitars and cars?" questions Kate.
"Yes, Anthony plays the guitar; his skill though, is dependant on how much he wishes to annoy those around him," supplies Ducky wryly.
"I build boats in my basement, Tony rebuilds muscle cars at a storage facility he rents," adds Gibbs shrugging her shoulders. "I think he's working on a mustang at the moment," ponders Gibbs.
"Yes I do believe his current project is a '76 mustang," agrees Ducky.
"Used to own a Dodge Charger when I was younger, left it with my father when I joined the Marines, don't know what happened to it. Tony'd drool all over it if he saw it, and beg me for a drive," she comments idly, remembering her first car. She shakes herself out of her memories.
"Ducky, would that fracture pain him much?" asks the red-haired woman.
"Oh, nothing too severe. But of course, the shock of a parachute opening would have hurt like blazes," explains Ducky, as he points at x-ray, "How did you know?" he asks.
"The girl in the SUV said she heard him moan. Was he alive after impact?" admits Gibbs, following up with another question. Ducky admits that the marine may have been alive briefly. Ducky heads over to the body. Kate moves to follow, but Ducky stops her, informing her that he'd show it on the monitor. Kate and Gibbs walk over to the screen.
"He most certainly would have died of massive trauma, but the technical cause of death was severing of the femoral artery," states the medical examiner.
Ducky pulls down a camera probe and inserts the camera into the wound. Gibbs and Kate watch the big screen monitor mounted on the wall while he explains. Kate looks queasy at the graphic image.
"Yes. Our young Marine… bled to death," confirms Ducky.
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Abby's lab;
Abby is hanging a picture on her wall when Tony walks in and asks why she's changing her pictures. Abby informs him that art can't stay still, Tony replies that the old one was his favorite. He then asks her what the subject of the new picture is.
"It's a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the abdomen," gushed Abby.
"Of course!" Tony agrees in good humor.
"I'm gonna call it 'Blast from the Future'. I figure with my shotgun shattered backbone," she points at other picture on opposite wall, "I've got like a Chagall feeling going on," gushes Abby.
"Ah, in a Manson Family way," agrees Tony. Abby and Tony admire the artworks for a moment when Gibbs and Kate enter.
"Abby, you have my tox screen results?" asks the red head. Abby nods and leads the others over to her computer. Gibbs and Kate walk around to the screen on the wall.
"The victim tested positive for percocet and vicodin. Double your pleasure," she explains.
"Double your fun," adds Tony. Abby and Tony high five.
"What kind of levels?" asks Gibbs bringing the pair's attention back to the results.
"0.17. He was slow juiced, like a koala bear. My guess is that he popped right before he dropped," explains Abby.
"The Marines we questioned in his string probably knew," theorizes the red head.
"Why didn't they tell us?" Kate wonders aloud.
"Semper Fi. You rat, you fry," chirps Abby happily performing a mock salute as she did. Gibbs gives Abby a look. She sobers and quickly apologizes remembering that the Marines are one topic you don't joke about in Gibbs' presence.
"Was his reserve chute okay?" Gibbs asks Abby once more returning Abby's attention back to the case at hand. Gibbs and Abby move to stand on the other side of Abby's lab equipment talking to the lab technician through the spaces between computer screens.
"Yeah, it was perfect. All he had to do was pop it," confirms Abby illustrating her point by miming the actions.
"Well he might have, if his reflexes weren't slowed by opioids," theorizes Kate. Tony questions what opioids are.
"General term for opiates and synthetic analgesics," elaborates Kate confused by Tony's apparent lack of knowledge on the matter.
"Go Kate!" cheers Abby. They bump fists across Abby's desk. Gibbs questions aloud whether or not Tony really was a Baltimore cop. Tony pulls a displeased face causing Abby to smirk. Both Abby and Gibbs know that Tony knows what opioids are and that he was probably testing Kate.
"Okay, he was too juiced to pop his reserve," rationalizes Kate.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Pump adrenalin when you jump. Your main chute doesn't open, it would really kick in to high gear," debates Gibbs.
"Gibbs, if he had the reflexes to use it, why didn't he?" the brunette woman argues back.
"I don't know," admits the red head. She turns to Abby.
"What you'd find from the shroud lines of his main chute?" she asks the Goth. Abby leads the others into her other lab area.
"Fibre disintegration, but not from textile fatigue. It's fluorescing as some sort of cleaning agent," explains the Goth scientist as she runs a UV light over the broken lines. "But that didn't cause this kind of damage," she continues.
"Edges look melted," notes Kate, leaning over the parachute lines.
"I haven't tagged it yet, but it was definitely an acid that shredded the lines holding three hundred pounds of jumping Marine," admits Abby reassuring Gibbs that she was getting to it.
"How long to find the acid and check out the rest of those chutes?" she asks the lab rat
"Well I'm flying solo, so at least a day," admits Abby.
"Would it go faster if you had an assistant?" asks the redhead, wanting the results as soon as possible. Abby confirms that an assistant would make the job go quicker.
"Okay Kate, You got the job," states Gibbs.
"I get to do forensics?" exclaims an excited Kate.
"No, you get to schlepp for Abby. She gets to do forensics," states Gibbs as she and Tony leave the lab. Abby hands Kate a lab coat. They smile happily at each other.
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Quantico Paraloft
Tony is taking pictures of the paraloft while Gibbs is speaking to Corpral Dafelmair as the marine in preparing various parachutes. Gibbs is questioning Dafelmair why he withheld the information that he was a rigger. Gibbs then has the Corporal explain the protocol for packing a chute. Dafelmair signs the log on the parachute. Gibbs picks it up and compares it to the one from Sergeant Fuentes' chute.
"Same signature," notes Gibbs.
"That was the log from Thumper's chute, wasn't it, sir?" asks Dafelmair.
"Yup, you packed it," confirms Gibbs. She starts to walk away. Dafelmair anxiously races after her while Tony follows behind them at a slight distance.
"Ma'am, I didn't know he'd get one that I packed. The chutes are handed out randomly, even when we jump," states the Marine nervously.
"Riggers usually go on jumps?" questions Gibbs, still walking. Dafelmair confirms that riggers are required to go one training jumps. Dafelmair then lists all of the riggers that jumped the previous night.
"Uh, Corporal Ramsey, Brinkman, and Thumper, of course. He was senior rigger," lists the marine.
"Figured we knew that too?" she accuses Dafelmair.
"Ma'am, we weren't trying to hide anything," he pleads.
"Oh, like hell you weren't, Corporal!" shouts an exasperated Gibbs.
"You all knew Thumper was using painkillers for that dinged collarbone," theorizes Tony as he pulls the tag on a chute, causing the chute to burst out of its packing, "He died because he was too juiced to pull his reserve," he continues.
"Ma'am, there was not way for anyone to sabotage a chute and count on it getting to a specific jumper," Dafelmair says addressing Gibbs.
"Were all the chutes packed here?" she asks motioning to all of the packed chutes on the tables.
"Yes, we prepped them at 09:00. Put them on the trucks for the jump at 18:00," confirms Dafelmair.
"They were here for nine hours unattended?" questions Gibbs.
"Under lock and key, ma'am," the marine reassures her. She asks who has keys.
"Captain Faul and Thumper, as senior rigger, both have keys," answers the Marine.
Gibbs and Tony share a look. Gibbs opens up a folder containing a police report concerning Corporal Dafelmair.
"You had a criminal record before entering the Corps, Corporal," states Gibbs re-reading the police report.
"Made a few mistakes, ma'am," he admits looking uncomfortable.
"Shoplifting (pause) and drug possession," lists the red head woman.
"It was a long time ago, ma'am," argues the Marine nervously.
"Three years. Not so long," comments Tony.
"Look, Ma'am, you have my file. You know the judge gave me a choice. Prison or the Service. The Corps gave me a second chance, Ma'am. And I would never do anything to hurt it or one of my brother Marines. Never, ma'am," argues Dafelmair as Gibbs and Tony watch him like two hawks.
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Abby's Lab
Kate is helping Abby to prepare specimens of the shroud lines so she can analyze the acid by snipping ends off the lines and placing them in various specimen containers. The computer beeps and Kate and Abby read over the results.
"Sulfuric acid! That would chew the shine off a trailer hitch," comments Abby grinning. Kate looks excited and impressed and returns Abby's grin.
"How'd you get into this?" asks Kate.
"Filled out an application," answers Abby walking off, answering the question as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.
"I mean, forensics," Kate specifies.
"Oh, uh, when I was a kid, we lived near this lot where they brought all the burned out hulks from the narliest car wrecks. I used to sneak in there at night and take pictures," Kate nods. "It wasn't about the gore. It was about figuring out how things happened. You know, like action and reaction and the science of the whole thing. I got hooked," explains Abby. "How 'bout you?" she asks Kate
"Actually, I wanted to be a lawyer. I did a year of law school. Felt like ten years in prison," admits Kate folding her arms in front of her chest to protect her self from the horrible memories surfacing in her mind.
"With really boring inmates?" jokes Abby, pulling Kate out of her memories. Kate chuckles in response.
"Admit it. You just like strapping on a gun," teases Abby.
"More than one," admits a slightly proud Kate.
"Really? You packing more heat than meets the eye?" asks Abby impressed inspecting Kate for any signs of more concealed weapons. Kate nods.
"Those your only tattoos?" asks Kate.
"You show me yours, I'll show you mine," Abby replies. Kate laughs but looks thoughtful.
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Quantico base jumping school
Gibbs and DiNozzo are walking past a training area where an instructor is teaching new jumpers how to roll when they hit the ground after jumping off a platform into a sand pit.
"You ever jump?" asks Tony referring to Gibbs days as a Marine.
"When I get an electric shock," she replies.
"Explains the lack of power tools," comments Tony more to himself than to the woman beside him. She points at the trainees taking turns jumping off the platform.
"You gonna do it?" she asks.
"What?" asks Tony having not been paying attention, rather he'd been lost in daydreams about flying.
"Spend $180 to defy gravity," she clarifies.
"Yeah, I think I am," says Tony puffing out his chest and flashing Gibbs his best and most cocky smile. She appears unaffected. A Marine is calling to Gibbs from a distance as he runs to the two NCIS agents. Gibbs and Tony turn around. The Marine jogs up to them carrying a mail package. He hands it to Gibbs.
"This came for you, Ma'am. I just missed you at the paraloft," the Marine explains.
"Thank you, Lance Corporal," thanks Gibbs.
"Okay, Ma'am," he replies as he turns to leave.
"Who's it from?" asks a nosy and curious Tony. Gibbs inspects the package and reads the return senders address and recognizes both the address and handwriting as belonging to Ducky. She opens the package. The package contains a new cell phone though the box looks like it has been opened before. When Gibbs pulls the phone out of the box, a note falls to the ground. Tony picks it up and reads it.
"Jennifer, bean counters couldn't find you so they gave this to me. I suggest you read the instructions on call blocking," he reads aloud.
"That addressed to you?" she says sarcastically snatching the note back. The new phone rings. Tony cracks a joke about it working as Gibbs answers it.
"Gibbs. Yeah, I'll be there in twenty," answers. She hangs up, they go back to watching the trainees.
"You know, some of these guys freeze on their first jump. Have to be kicked in the ass to get 'em out," she comments.
"Not me," defends Tony once again puffing out his chest.
"No. You fall into the category where I want to kick you in the ass while you're still on the ground," she deadpans. She then forcefully shoves the empty box into Tony's gut, making him grunt. Gibbs leaves while Tony lingers to watch the trainees.
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Abby's lab;
Abby has the parachute spread out all over the lab. The lines are stretched taught in every direction like a spider's web. Abby moves through them carefully scanning each with a UV light. Gibbs and Tony walk in. Tony and Abby immediately begin discussing the electric blue lights, comparing them to kool-aid and the Blue Man group, until Kate interrupts them and steers the conversation back to the case by reporting the findings directly to Gibbs.
"Sergeant Fuentes's chute wasn't the only one tampered with," she reports then goes on to explain further when Gibbs question show many were tampered with.
"Nine, out of sixteen. Log book signatures show different riggers packed the lot," the brunette woman elaborates.
"How many did Corporal Dafelmair pack?" asks the red-haired woman.
"Four. The rest were packed by Corporal Brinkman and Sergeant Fuentes," answers Kate.
"Corporal Ramsey didn't pack any?" asks Tony.
"Nope. When his signature didn't show up on a single chute, I called Captain Faul. He put Corporal Ramsey on a two-week rigging suspension for sloppy work. And guess who wrote him up for that sloppy work," she asks rhetorically.
"Senior rigger. Sergeant Fuentes," guesses Gibbs. Kate nods.
"We got motive," states Tony.
"We got more than that. Kate and I have a theory," announces Abby. She heads in the direction of her office while the rest of the team follows her.
"Why didn't you take to me this fast?" asks Tony slightly jealous.
"You're like a piercing, Tony. Takes a while for the throbbing to stop and the skin to grow back. That and you didn't stop flirting with me till Gibbs slapped you," replied Abby.
"That's more than I wanted to know and to be fair you did flirt back," he replies smiling ruefully. Gibbs steers the conversation back to the case at hand by asking what Abby and Kate's theory is.
"Okay. Every time you lace up your Docs or cinch your laundry bag, you leave some skin cells behind. It's the same with the parachute rigging," she explains. She types at her computer as she continues to explain, "I pulled skin samples from the deployment bags of the chutes that were futzed with."
"Did you get a DNA signature?" Gibbs asks the Goth.
"All nine knots had a number of different sets of skin samples, but there's only set that's common to all nine," she answers.
"The saboteur," states Gibbs.
"Our riggers on record packed the chutes, and then someone came in and repacked them, leaving some skin behind," theorizes Kate.
"Corporal Ramsey?" Tony suggests.
"Well, depending on how much he knows about forensics, he's either very smart or very dumb," comments Abby.
"There's gotta be other chutes that Corporal Ramsey packed in the paraloft inventory for comparison," states the red haired woman.
"Hnn, negatory. I checked. They were all packed since he's been suspended," answers Abby apologetically.
"Well there's an Armed Forces DNA registry. All military personnel are on record, right?" suggests Kate. Gibbs walks around Abby's desk and looks up at the screen.
"Yeah," agrees Gibbs already knowing what Kate was about to say next.
"Then we got our guy," says the brunette. Gibbs just sighs.
"No. All we got is a pile of dead skin. The only thing you can use the DNA registry for is to identify a body," she says resignedly turning back to the others and leans on the back of Abby's desk, while already formulating an idea involving a certain JAG lawyer.
"Well there has to be a way around that," argues Kate just as Gibbs knew she would.
"See, now you're thinking like an NCIS agent," says Gibbs proudly. Kate grins, pleased.
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NCIS, Interrogation Room;
"We know that nine parachutes were rigged to fail. Killer doctored them and repacked them. Sergeant Fuentes died as a result of that. It's premeditated murder," Says Gibbs as she walks around a desk to stand behind Lt. Bud Roberts.
"I'm sold. Hey, if I'm on the jury, you've got my vote," he says to Gibbs.
"We found DNA evidence on the chute deployment bag knots," adds Kate trying to strengthen their case.
"Belonging to your suspect?" asks the JAG Lawyer trying to follow Gibbs movement as she walks around behind him managing to stay in the lawyers blind spot.
"We believe so. To be certain, we have to access the Armed Forces registry," admits Kate. Bud scoffs.
"That's impossible! Registry was set up to identify remains only. She knows that," he says pointing to the red haired woman as she came into view on his left side.
"I do?" says Gibbs playing innocent.
"You tried to use it when you after Commander Rabb, for murder," he says seriously looking her directly in the eyes.
"She get him?" Kate asks curiously.
"No, because he wasn't guilty," says Bud defending his friend. "You couldn't use the DNA registry then, what makes you think you can use it now?" he asks the two women.
"You, lieutenant, you're a smart lawyer," she compliments as she lurks over Bud's shoulder and takes his pen, "And you know the law," she adds. Gibbs starts clicking the pen next to Bud's ears, one side then the other pulling away each time just as the lawyer would turn to face her.
"I know why I'm here," Lt. Roberts says, his irritation present in his tone of voice.
"Oh, I hope so. I requested you," says Gibbs conversationally.
"Yeah, you requested me because you think you can work me like you did last time when "I ratted out Commander Rabb," he replies, clearly annoyed with Gibbs and with himself.
"You did not rat on anyone. You told the truth," says Gibbs, trying to placate the lawyer. She starts looking for lint on Bud's shoulder, plucking at his shoulders for lint.
"I, uh, gave my uniform an extra lint roll this morning, Agent Gibbs. And you waltzing around in my blind spot? Not gonna intimidate me this time," he says, trying to hide his uneasiness that Gibbs is causing.
"Were at 24 hours now, soon it's going to be 48. You've done investigations, you know what that means?" she asks trying to find a common ground with the JAG Lawyer to work with.
"I've done JAG nano-investigations, sure. At 48 hours, you're evidence begins to degrade. Disappeared witnesses change their stories, suspects improve theirs. I know," admits Bud.
"So help us," pleads Kate.
"No! You're not going to get me to lawyer you passed an iron-clad prohibition that prevents tapping into DNA records that were designed to identify bodies. Not chase suspects," argues Bud.
"This guy is guilty. He killed him. Let him drop to his death from 1300ft," Gibbs says, leaning over the JAG Lawyer and getting right up close into his face.
"It doesn't matter," argues Bud seriously.
"For every legal firewall, there is a way around it," comments Gibbs moving to pull some official documents out of her file. Bud just shakes his head.
"I can't help you. And can I please have my pen back?" he apologizes sincerely, wanting to help the two women. Gibbs returns his pen.
"You're gonna need it, because if I can't have my DNA I'm gonna need some search authorizations signed," she says, revealing that the documents she had placed on the table are for search authorization. She smiles conspiratorially at Kate.
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NCIS HQ, Bullpen;
"You knew Lieutenant Roberts wasn't going to lawyer us access to the military database," she accuses the other woman.
"Did I?" asks Gibbs innocently. Kate has already seen this particular innocent look a couple times and has learnt that the Gibbs was anything but innocent.
"You did. So why go through the exercise?" she asks, trying to figure out Gibbs plan.
"Kate, I come from a long line of horse traders. First rule, you pick the best horse in the barn and you work the deal until it bursts," explains Gibbs.
"That way, when you go for the second best nag, you get her for a song," adds Tony, interjecting as he remembered the first time Gibbs had explained it to him. Kate realizes what the other woman had done.
"The search authorization," she says aloud.
"We didn't have probable cause. But the lieutenant, he's a man who aims to please. You never work the system, when you can work the people," she says conspiratorially.
"Any of those horse traders you come from get hung?" asks the brunette woman wryly.
"Yeah, a few," admits Gibbs, as she walks around her desk smirking. Kate nods, unsurprised.
"Did you find out what Ramsey was written up for?" asks Gibbs addressing Tony. Tony looks down at the clipboard in his hands.
"Ah, yeah. Frayed lines, bent cones, cuts in the canopy," he reads aloud from a clipboard. "Tell ya, I hope this guy isn't going to medical school at night," he jokes. He then remembers something. "Oh, yeah! Scuttle butt is," he starts to say but is cut off when Kate asks what scuttlebutt is.
"That's Marine, for water cooler gossip," Gibbs explains to the other woman. Kate nods in understanding.
"The scuttle butt is that Ramsey took a swing at Thumper for getting him suspended," continues Tony.
Gibbs's cell phone rings. She pulls it out to look at the call display.
"Identity withheld," mutters Gibbs to herself.
"Probably the reason you married him," comments Tony. Kate looks up, interested. Gibbs looks annoyed.
"He probably hid his real personality. Which is odd as it is usually what most women do, not men," says Tony, unaware of the looks he is receiving from the two women. Kate gives him a disgruntled look. The phone continues to ring.
"And by that time, it was too late, because you'd already…" he continues finally noticing the disgruntled glares he is receiving. Gibbs is just daring him to finish that sentence. Tony wisely withdraws and physically backs away. The phone keeps ringing.
"I'm gonna shut up now," says Tony.
"Now?" says Gibbs sarcastically. Kate rolls her eyes at Tony's obliviousness to his surroundings. Tony slinks back to his own desk. Quietly.
"Did you really just say what most women do and imply that men never hide their true personalities?" Kate demands glowering at him. Tony just gives her a petulant look.
"Meet me at the paraloft at 14:00. We'll execute our search authorization to go through the riggers' lockers," orders Gibbs as she gets up grabbing her handbag as she walks past the other two agents.
"That's two o'clock Secret Service time, Kate," says Tony as he walks over to her desk on his way out.
"We used Zulu time, Tony," she informs him smugly as she grabs her own gear. Tony scratches his chin trying to do the math when Kate cuts him off with the correct answer. He then tries to defend his pride by pretending that he already knew the answer.
Gibbs shakes her head as they enter, the lift Tony turns to Gibbs.
"Any chance of hiring another male agent for this team boss, I'm feeling out numbered here," asks Tony glancing at Gibbs beside him and Kate behind him. Both women still disgruntled at his earlier comments.
"And here I was thinking you were happy being surrounded by women," retorts Gibbs as she closes the lift doors, sealing Tony in with the two annoyed women.
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Fuentes residence;
Gibbs is approaching the Fuentes house when she notices a young boy sitting in an unfinished tree house. Gibbs looks at him as she walks up to the door. The she pauses, changes her mind, and approaches the kid instead.
"Hey. Can I come up?" she asks politely. The boy doesn't answer.
"Do I need a password?" she asks but receives no answer. "Ah, maybe I'll just come up a little," she says acquiesces.
Gibbs climbs up the ladder until she can see the kid. The kid is sitting despondently, rubbing his eyes to wipe the tears that have trailed down his face. The tree house he is sitting on is little more than a platform attached to the tree with posts at the corners.
"You really should have a password," she suggests. The boy finally turns to look at Gibbs; he is struggling to hold back tears.
"Why? It's never gonna be finished. My dad's dead," cries the boy.
"Yeah. Yeah, I know," says Gibbs sympathetically. A woman calls from below. Two women are exiting from the house. Gibbs climbs back down the ladder.
"I'm, ah, Jennifer Gibbs. NCIS," she says showing the woman her badge. The woman looks annoyed and upset.
"I don't have time to answer questions. We're on our way to the funeral," says Mrs. Fuentes, Gibbs admits that she isn't there to ask question. Mrs. Fuentes demands to know why the NCIS agent is there when the young boy interrupts the two women.
"She says I need a password, mom," he says to his mom as he moves to sit on the edge of the tree house to observe the adults. His mother is visibly confused so Gibbs explains the situation.
"I told him a tree house should have a password," she explains.
"Larry was building that for him," Mrs. Fuentes says sadly looking at the tree.
"Doing a good job," says Gibbs complimenting her deceased husbands work. Mrs. Fuentes turns back to Gibbs
"Larry was a good man. A good husband, and a good father," she states with great pride and sadness in her voice.
"Good Marine," adds Gibbs respectfully.
"There are rumors that his death wasn't an accident," says Mrs. Fuentes, fishing for more information regarding her husbands death.
"Whatever happens, Mrs. Fuentes, I'll find who's responsible," promises Gibbs, not willing to divulge the progress of the investigation.
Mrs. Fuentes calls her son Billy down from his tree house. Billy climbs down the ladder. His mother starts brushing dust/dirt off his suit.
"Ah, look at you. All dusty. Come here, your hair's a mess. Where's your comb?" she asks her son as she straighten his suit for him. The kid pulls a comb from his pocket and begins combing his hair.
"Larry always told him to carry a comb," she explains to Gibbs who watches the scene between mother and child, remembering back to when she'd comb Kelly's hair each night before tucking her in.
"Like J. F. K. Whoever he is," says Billy still combing his hair straight.
"He was a Navy guy, like your dad was a Marine," answers Gibbs as she kneels to kid's level.
"Navy guys, Marines… they always look their best. Your dad would want you to look your best today for him," Gibbs says comforting the young boy. The boy begins to tear up again
"I don't want the Marines at the funeral to see me cry," he admits, his voice chocked with tears.
"Never be ashamed of tears, bud," replies Gibbs. The boy argues that Marines don't cry.
"Yeah, they do. At J. F. K.'s funeral, his son saluted the coffin. You know how to salute?" she asks the Billy. Billy steps back and demonstrates a text-book salute just like his father had shown him. Gibbs smile proudly.
"Perfect. You salute your dad today, nobody'll notice the tears," she says reassuringly. Billy nods. His mother smiles briefly in gratitude. Gibbs stands and Mrs. Fuentes starts to lead her son away. She only gets a few feet before she stops and turns to look at Gibbs.
"I believe you'll get whoever did this," Mrs. Fuentes states more than asks.
"You have my word," Gibbs confirms.
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Quantico Para-training facility;
Tony is the trainee getting lessons in how to jump and land properly. He's all decked out in the cammo gear, as he and the Marine instructor stand on top of a five foot high wooden platform. The Marine continues to instruct Tony, who is surprised by how simple the instructions are and jokingly asks the instructor, "Don't tell me not to break a leg." The Marine pats him on the back and Tony turns sideways to jump the five feet to the ground. He hits hard, but manages to roll back up to his feet. Gibbs and Kate watch him as they approach. Tony is unaware and looks up.
"How was that?" Tony asks the Marine.
"Very ladylike," Kate calls out getting Tony's attention.
"DiNozzo! What are you doing?" demands Gibbs, as Tony removes his helmet.
"Ah…Just doing a little research for Abby," he lies.
"For Abby?" the former Marine asks obviously doubting Tony's excuse.
"Well, maybe I'm serving two masters," admits Tony, trying to diffuse the situation.
"You're serving one, now," she replies crooking her finger at him motioning him to follow.
"I don't know boss, Abby has whips and chains at her place," jokes Tony. Gibbs turns to glare.
"You're right boss you are the scarier mistress," admits Tony. Kate snorts in laughter imagining Tony being dominated by both women.
"How did you get into NCIS?" Kate asks him as the pair follows Gibbs.
"I smiled," he says grinning. Kate thinks to herself 'Of course you did.'
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Quantico paraloft;
Tony, Kate and Gibbs are getting ready to search the lockers of the riggers, which the Marine explains has been sealed since Fuentes's death. Tony, Gibbs, and Kate snap on gloves. Thumper's string of jumpers are lined up in front of them.
Ramsey, Dafelmair and Brinkman hand over their keys to Kate, Tony and Gibbs respectively. All three perform a thorough search of the lockers. Kate finds a small box full of stuff.
"Got something," she announces. She sets the box down on the table and starts carefully unloading it as Tony and Gibbs join her. Rags, tools, and canister of something. Gibbs picks up the canister and inspects it.
"Brass-stripper solvent," she says aloud. Kate advises her to read the contents the contents. Gibbs flips the container over and tries to read the small print on the back, squinting as she does. She silently passes it back to Tony with a wince accepting that she can't read the writing with out glasses though she wouldn't admit it aloud.
"Contains petroleum distillate, ammonia, and sulfuric acid," lists Tony reading the contents placing emphasis on the sulfuric acid.
"Harmful if swallowed. Or applied to shroud lines," he adds with mock seriousness. Gibbs turns to Kate who confirms that it was Ramsey's locker.
"That stuff's not mine," pleads the Marine.
"Sergeant Nutt, place the corporal in custody. Tony, read him," she orders him. Tony handcuffs the Marine as he starts reading Ramsey his rights while Gibbs relocks the Marine's locker.
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Interrogation room, NCIS headquarters;
Gibbs has Corporal Ramsey in the room. Gibbs is twirling the corporal's keys around her finger in silence.
"Scuttle butt has it that you and Thumper mixed it up in the paraloft," she says breaking the silence, her voice is completely conversational.
"We exchanged words, Ma'am," admits Ramsey sitting completely still.
"And fists," accuses Gibbs watching the Marine's reaction.
"Punch or two was thrown, nothing serious. I damn sure wasn't angry enough to kill him, ma'am," he admits curtly.
"Well maybe you only meant to scare him. But Thumper was on painkillers and didn't have time to pull his reserve," theorizes Gibbs.
"I didn't touch his chute, ma'am. How could I? I'm on suspension. The paraloft is under lock and key," Ramsey replies defensively.
Tony enters the observation room. Kate's already there.
"What'd you find?" she asks not looking away from the interrogation room.
"Hardware store where our guy did one-stop shopping. Clerk's pretty fuzzy. He does remember a Marine in a real hurry to copy a key," replies Tony recounting the interview he had with the locksmith. Kate nods as the pair watch Gibbs question the unfortunate Marine.
In the Interrogation room, Gibbs reveals a duplicate key.
"All you needed was a key. Like this one," she says showing him a key. Ramsey looks nervous.
"I found this one in Thumper's personal effects," she states.
"If that's the paraloft key, you won't find one like that on my keychain," states the Corporal nervously. Gibbs compares the two keys.
"I've messed up some rigging, ma'am, but never intentionally. A guy jumps with one of my chutes, he puts his life in my hands. I never breached that trust, ma'am, never," Ramsey states.
"Now," says Gibbs. She holds up the keys. They are a perfect match.
"Are you gonna tell me that was a plant too?" asks Gibbs curiously
"Had to be. I'm not guilty, ma'am," pleads Ramsey desperately. Gibbs stares at Ramsey, who is on the verge of freaking out.
"What if I was to give you an offer to prove that?" offers Gibbs
"Anything, ma'am," he replies jumping at the chance to prove his innocence.
"Maybe you'd be willing to give us a sample of your DNA," she suggests. Corporal Ramsey looks at Gibbs, distrust written all over his face.
"Someone put that box in my locker and that key on my keychain. How do I know that you don't have my DNA on something else they planted too?" he questions accusingly.
"You don't," replies Gibbs as she smirks at the Corporal.
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NCIS Headquarters, Bullpen;
Gibbs is reading a file, or more accurately, she is trying to read the file. She closes it in frustration and tosses like a Frisbee to Tony who manages to catch it without sending papers flying. Gibbs tells Tony to rewrite it in a legible script; Kate looks over Tony's shoulder to read the report. She and Gibbs then start jokingly discus what language Tony is writing in due to his apparently bad handwriting.
"Hey! You were in a rush to read it," cries an indignant Tony. Gibbs just salutes him with her coffee mug and a mock apology.
Tony and Kate start discussing the interviews with the Marines who didn't jump when Abby steps off the elevator and into the offices. She carrying a box with a cotton swab in it. She bounces slightly on her heels as she comes to a stop in the bullpen.
"Corporal Ramsey finally gave it up. His mouth was drier than mummy dust. I had to swap it four times to get a decent DNA sample," she announces.
"How long to test for a match to the skin cells?" asks Gibbs.
"Well, if you want it to runs, drips or errors in court, you've gotta give me 24 hours," answers Abby. Gibbs is irritated by the time restraints.
"Abby, clock's ticking," she warns the Goth. Gibbs sees the Goth glance at Tony and realizes that Abby wants to talk to him about something and is waiting patiently for the others to leave to do so.
"You don't expect a guilty man to give up his DNA," Kate asks confused and surprised.
"Well, he's rolling the dice. Hoping for that one-in-a-million shot it won't match," answers Tony.
"Guilty people do that?" questions Kate.
"All the time," Tony huffs in a mixture of annoyance and amusement. He always enjoyed watching the look on the perp's face when their gamble failed.
"Uh, Kate has a point. What if Ramsey was set up? What if, what if he's innocent? What if he's telling the truth?" wonders Gibbs leaning back in her chair.
"Well we'll know in 24 hours but I wouldn't bet on it," replies Tony confidently.
"Well, you know what, I don't like sitting on my ass waiting for a DNA match," states Gibbs standing up and putting her coat on. Kate gets up as well and grabs her gun.
"They are only two other possible suspects. Corporal Dafelmair or Brinkman," the brunette says holstering her gun.
"No, there's three. You're forgetting Captain Faul. He's got a key to the paraloft," she replies. Gibbs sees Tony getting up putting his holster on.
"Where do you think you're going, bubba? You've got a report to finish," she admonishes him. Gibbs and Kate leave Tony and Abby alone in the bullpen.
Abby walks around Tony's desk and punches him.
"Ow! What was that for?" asks Tony rubbing his shoulder.
"For telling Kate lies that I have whips at my place," she replies glaring at him with her hands on his hips. He smirks.
"So you're not denying that you own chains?" he asks flirtatiously.
"You'll never know," teases Abby as she turns and leaves heading back to her lab.
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Captain Faul's office
Gibbs and Kate sit in front of Captain Faul as the two women question him about Sergeant Fuentes.
"Sergeant Fuentes was one of the finest NCOs in my command. He was tough on his riggers, but fair. Ah, I still find it difficult to believe his reporting Corporal Ramsey drove him to murder," says the Captain still shaken by the death of his Marine.
"Corporal Ramsey hasn't been proven guilty yet, Captain," corrects Kate.
"You're holding him. Scuttlebutt is he's confessed," says Captain Faul confidently.
"Never knew a Marine captain who believed scuttlebutt," comments Gibbs grinning at her own statement. Captain Faul does not look amused.
"How did you prepare the day of the exercise?" she asks the Captain wanting to build a timeline of the day.
"I spent the morning in chalk talks with the Naval aviators piloting the C-130," the Captain replies.
"The nest used a Navy bird?" interrupts Gibbs.
"Most of ours are deployed in Iraq," answers Captain Faul.
"You eat lunch with them?" asks Kate steering the Marine back to recounting the day in question.
"At the Officer's Mess. After lunch, we had a couple of dry runs, had another chalk talk, and then loaded up. Why?" he asks at the end.
"Do you have your paraloft key, Captain?" asks Gibbs changing the topic. Faul opens his drawer and pulls out his keychain. He displays his paraloft key to Gibbs.
"Corporal Ramsey must have lifted Sergeant Fuentes's key long enough to make a duplicate," the red head says to the brunette, loudly enough for the Captain to hear.
"Corporal Ramsey made a key to the paraloft?" asks a surprised Faul.
"It's the only way he could have slipped in to sabotage the chutes," states Gibbs as she and Kate stand. Both women shake hands with Faul. He fiddles with keychain.
"Why didn't you just ask to see my key?" asks Faul curiously.
Gibbs pauses at the door. She motions to Kate. "Agent Todd is new, just teaching her how to interrogate," replies Gibbs. A look of realization passes of the Captain's face.
"The paraloft was secured between 09:00 and 18:00. That's why you wanted to know what I was doing all day. You suspected me," he questions the two NCIS agents.
"If the captain were a suspect, we would have read him his rights, wouldn't we?" says Kate to Gibbs, playing along perfectly.
Gibbs smirks "Very good, Agent Todd, very good," she praises the other woman. Kate grins at Captain Faul and follows Gibbs out. Faul watches them leave with a shake of his head.
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NCIS Headquarters, Bullpen;
Gibbs and Kate walk out of the elevator onto the floor. Tony hands Gibbs his typed-up report as she passes him.
"The Captain have an alibi?" he asks the two women.
"He was no where near the paraloft when the chutes were sabotaged," Kate informs him.
"Ramsey's the dirt bag," states Tony confidently.
"It could still be Dafelmair or Brinkman," argues Kate. Gibbs takes a seat and reads Tony's report aloud.
"Sergeant Fuentes supervised the riggers handing out chutes".
"Yeah, he watches the riggers from the back of the truck," confirms Tony as he and Kate stand in front of Gibbs desk.
"Ramsey participated?" asks the red head.
"Well, he's on suspension from rigging, not passing out chutes or jumping," explains Tony.
"He could have given Thumper a dirty chute," theorizes the brunette. Gibbs looks up
"What'd you say?" says Gibbs, her mind going a million miles an hour as the puzzle pieces began to fall into place.
"Ramsey. Could have given Thumper a sabotaged chute," she repeats but using different terminology.
"No, you said dirty," specifies Gibbs, she gets up quickly and runs to the elevator.
"What?" Kate asks Tony clearly confused.
"With Gibbs, you never know," he explains. Kate and Tony follow Gibbs in confusion.
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Abby's lab;
Gibbs, Tony and Kate burst into Abby's lab; she looks up surprised as Gibbs makes a beeline straight for her.
"Abby, I need to see Sergeant Fuentes's reserve chute," she states looking around for the parachutes.
"Might want to take a look at this first," Abby says indicating to her wall monitor as she stands up and walks around her lab desk bringing several images of particles up on screen.
"Now that I'm only running one DNA analysis, I finally had time to do a particle pick on the shroud lines. You're looking at the infrared of Bolivia's best," she explained.
"Cocaine?" Tony asks seeking confirmation.
"The killer's using?" asks Gibbs hoping to be able to drug test the Marine squad to find the killer.
"No, the rock's too pure. The residue on his skin is probably from cutting and weighing," she explains.
"Why don't I think Thumper was killed for reporting Corporal Ramsey's rigging?" says Kate rhetorically.
"Where's Thumper's reserve chute?" Gibbs asks Abby.
"It's over here," she says picking up a plastic wrapped bag, "I already checked it, Gibbs. It's clean," she informs the other woman. Gibbs ignores her and puts on gloves. She lifts the flap of the chute and pulls out the reserve chute and inspects it.
"Know what, it's too clean. Too clean for someone who smashed into a tree and an SUV," she states, she turns to Abby, "Where's the other jump gear we confiscated?"
"I stored it in the Ballistics lab after I tested it," the Goth tells her.
They all go into the other room. Gibbs starts searching through the bagged chutes. The others form a circle around the table watching Gibbs intently
"What're you looking for?" Abby asks hoping to help if she knew what to look for and what she could have missed.
"Ramsey. Dafelmair's. Brinkman's gear. Here's one," she says pulling the plastic wrapped chute closer to make it more accessible, Abby starts cutting the plastic wrap open.
"What are you looking for?" reiterates Tony.
"A screwed pooch," she states referring to a tampered reserve chute.
Abby finds and cuts open the bagged chutes of the other two Marines. Gibbs starts opening them up and taking them apart to check the reserve chute tucked away inside. On the second one, she finds it. She pulls the reserve chute out after seeing the dirt stains on it.
"Here it is, it's dirty," she confirms. She holds it up so the others can read the number "13" printed on side.
"This is the reserve that Thumper jumped with," she states confidently.
"Unlucky thirteen," comments Abby
"Someone pulled a switch after he hit the SUV," suggest Gibbs already realizing who it might have been. Gibbs tests the reserve chute by pulling on the pin. Nothing happens. She flips a flap and sees why. The pull mechanism to release the reserve chute has been soldered together.
"The cones been soldered in place. Doesn't matter if the painkillers slowed his judgment, he couldn't use this chute," she states. Tony starts looking for the name tag on the chute.
"Hey, who's ruck sack is this?" he asks aloud. Gibbs finds the label with the owner's name on it. Everyone shares a look.
"Call Captain Faul. Tell him jump ops can resume, we've got our killer," she says addressing Kate.
"Do I tell him who?" the brunette asks.
"Nope. I don't want DNA evidence, I want this bastard to confess," she announces angrily. Kate nods, and leaves to make call.
"How we gonna do that?" asks Tony not fully following Gibbs line of thought.
"Wear this when we jump," says Gibbs tossing the reserve chute to Tony.
"Jump?" asks Tony clearly nervous as he looks down at the sabotaged reserve chute.
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Airplane, night;
A line of paratroopers are boarding the C-130 parked outside the hanger. Tony and Gibbs, in full paratrooper regalia, join the procession. They pause when they get to the hatch. Captain Faul looks at them warily now starting to doubt his assumption that the jump had been approved because Ramsey was proven guilty. Now he knew why Gibbs joked that a commanding officer shouldn't believe scuttlebutt.
"Hey, Cap!" Gibbs says cheerfully smiling conspiratorially at him.
"You sure you want to re-up?" asks Captain Faul jokingly.
"I hear there's a war on," she drawls.
"Agent DiNozzo, I can't tell if you're enlisting or just listing," the Marine captain jokes. Tony is visibly struggling under the weight of his pack but manages to laugh sarcastically.
"We're going with you, boys. NCIS training mission," lies Gibbs. Captain Faul rolls his eyes.
"Now why don't I believe that?" he says rhetorically. Gibbs stares at him. He thinks it over for a moment knowing that something was up.
"Hell, why not? Hate to pass up the opportunity to toss a couple of NCIS agents out of a plane," he jokes giving Gibbs his hand to haul her aboard.
The Plane, some time later:
Tony and Gibbs pretend to ignore that fact that every eye in the Marine squad is on them. Finally Brinkman breaks the silence and asks what his entire squad wants to hear.
"Why you jumping with us, sir?" he asks Tony.
"Always wanted to jump. Agent Gibbs came along to laugh," Tony jokes lightly. No one believes him.
"Hard to believe Dave killed Thumper over a lousy two-week suspension, ma'am," says Dafelmair. Gibbs glances at him.
"Yeah," says Gibbs, her tone not revealing anything.
"Thumper rode him, ma'am. But no more than the rest of us. Just doesn't make sense," comments Brinkman.
Tony looks down at his reserve chute and pretends to have just noticed the number '13' on it. "Oh no!" he calls over the sound of the planes engines.
"What, chickening out?" asks Gibbs playing along. Tony scowls at her and holds up the reserve chute so that everyone can see the number printed on it.
"Thirteen. It's my first jump and my reserve is number thirteen?" he cries adding a touch of nervousness to his voice.
"Wouldn't have bothered Thumper, would it guys?" asks Gibbs watching their reactions. Dafelmair and Brinkman share a look.
"Is either of you superstitious?" asks Gibbs.
"No, Ma'am!" shout Brinkman and Dafelmair together.
"Great!" she exclaims and turns to Tony, "Why don't you swap with Corporal Brinkman?" she suggests. Tony turns to Brinkman.
"What's your reserve chute number?" he asks the Marine. Brinkman moves his hand to read the number.
"Four," he states.
"Four?" repeats Tony, he looks at Gibbs unhappy, thankful that in China '4' and 'death' were so similar giving him an excuse to check Dafelmair's reserve chute number.
"Four is unlucky in China," he explains. Gibbs continues to play along
"We're not in China," she says exasperates.
"I don't care," he argues. He turns to Dafelmair.
"What's your number?" he asks the Marine.
"Eight," replies Dafelmair barely looking at his chute.
Great!" Cries Tony happily. He turns to Gibbs, "Eight's lucky in China," he explains.
Tony takes off his reserve chute and offers it to Dafelmair. Dafelmair just looks at it.
"There a problem?" asks Gibbs as she stares at Dafelmair. Dafelmair hesitates.
"No, ma'am," he answers. Dafelmair unhooks his reserve chute and hands it to Tony, he reluctantly accepts reserve chute '13' and hooks it to his own pack. He stares at Gibbs the whole time.
An alarm beeps.
"Stand up!" instructs Captain Faul.
The men and Gibbs grasp hands to haul each other up to their feet in the cramped space. Gibbs and Dafelmair help each other. Neither looks pleased and continue to stare each other down. Dafelmair breaks eye contact first and takes the lead in the string, Gibbs right behind him.
"Hook up!" shouts Faul motioning with his arms.
The men hook their chutes on to the static lines and start to move forward towards the hatch.
"Thumper ride you, Corporal Dafelmair?" Gibbs asks accusingly.
"He rode everybody, ma'am" defends Dafelmair.
"Bout being a drug dealer?" she accuses. Dafelmair stops and stares at her. Gibbs points at Dafelmair's reserve chute.
"That's his reserve chute you're wearing. The one you switched on him when he landed," she informs him. He looks down at chute, worriedly.
"Don't know what you're talking about, ma'am," he says worriedly hoping that the sound of the engines would hide his distress.
"You were the first one down. First one to get to Thumper. Ramsey was helping Brinkman out of a tree," states Tony repeating the known facts of the tragic incident.
"What's he saying, Paul?" demands Brinkman, his anger growing.
"I don't know!" lies Dafelmair.
"Only takes a couple of minutes to switch a bad chute for a good one," comments Tony. Dafelmair can feel everyone on the plane looking at him in growing accusation.
"Marine Corps gave you a second chance. When Thumper found out you soiled the uniform by dealing drugs, he wouldn't do it!" shouts Gibbs.
"I thought Corporal Ramsey was guilty," shouts Faul, already knowing that it wasn't the case, the murder was still free, but not for long.
"He is, sir!" shouts Dafelmair aggressively.
Gibbs draws a small pocketknife. Everyone's eyes widen.
"If I'm wrong Corporal. Prove it," she orders cutting Dafelmair's main chute line.
"What the hell you doing? His main can't open," demands Faul shocked by the woman's actions.
"He's got a reserve!" she shouts. Dafelmair is extremely scared for his own life
"Captain, this is nuts! You gonna put a stop to this, sir?" screams a very nervous Dafelmair. Everyone looks at each other. It's a tense moment. The alarm beeps again. Captain Faul checks his watch.
"Thirty seconds 'til drop," he says more to Gibbs than to his men.
"A confession right now of your drug supplier will get you a deal," she offers to Dafelmair. He thinks about it for a few seconds and asks how good the deal is.
"Read him his Article 31s," she instructs Tony as she sneers at the drug dealer. Tony moves past Brinkman.
"You have the right to remain silent," he begins but is cut of as Brinkman attacks Dafelmair and in the confusion of the scuffle, Tony is knocked out of the plane. He screams on the way down. Gibbs runs to the hatch to look out. She sees that Tony's canopy as already opened and let's out a sigh of relief.
"Goodbye, DiNozzo! She yells out after him, "Dam. Didn't get to kick him out myself," she mutters to her self. Tony can be heard shouting 'woohoo!' as he descends.
Tony lands in a field, unharmed. He laughs joyfully as he finds himself completely uninjured. He takes his first step towards the road when he trips on a rock and twists his left ankle.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" he yells in pain.
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NCIS Headquarters, Bullpen;
Tony is standing in front of the bullpen watching the television is playing a news broadcast. Sgt. Fuentes's picture is on the screen with the image of a waving American Flag behind him. Kate has already left leaving Tony and Gibbs alone together in the bullpen. Tony complains over how NCIS never makes it onto the news while Gibbs jokes back that Tony could have made it on the news if he'd broken his neck jumping. Tony prepares to leave.
"You coming to the bar? Abby insists that we all go out to celebrate Kate's first case with us, Ducky's already gone home though," says Tony. Gibbs responds that she will meet them there without looking up from her report. Tony leaves. Gibbs watches him limp past, favoring his right leg, and smiles. Then her cell phone rings. She drops her pen and flips open the cell, and sees "Caller ID Withheld" on the screen. Gibbs stands up and throws the phone into a drawer.
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A Bar:
"To Kate's first case," cheers Abby as they clink their glasses together as they sat in a corner booth together. They start swapping stories as each person tells the story of their first case.
"Gibbs, how did you get into all this?" she asks. Gibbs puts down her glass.
"Firstly we're off the clock so just call me Jen, Secondly I was re-assigned to NIS after I helped with a case back when I was a Marine. Bout a month or so later NIS became NCIS," she answers giving barely anything away.
"Why Jen, your first name is Leanne?" asks the brunette.
"I prefer Jen," explains Jen. Kate nods.
"How's your leg Tony?" asks Abby having noticed Tony's limp that seemed to magically disappear whenever Kate was looking. Tony smirks and begins to exaggerate the pain.
"Hey Jen, want to kiss it better?" he asks suggestively moving his left leg closer to her.
"In your dreams Tony," she replies daring him to say anything more. Tony leans back in his seat and closes his eyes.
"Mmmm, oh yeah, oh Jen," he moans, pretending to be asleep until Gibbs whacks the back of his head. She glares at him. Tony wisely offers to buy the next round. Gibbs declines, saying that she'll be leaving shortly and that she has something to do in the morning.
"Oh come on Jen, one more drink with us before you go home and work on your boat. You'll only end up drinking by your self anyway," begs Abby comically. Everyone else chuckles. Gibbs doesn't relent and leaves while the others head to the bar to buy the next round.
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Fuentes residence, early morning;
Billy Fuentes comes out of the house in his pajamas, drawn by the sound of hammering outside. He looks up at his tree house and sees Gibbs, hammering a board into place as a railing.
"Can I come up?" asks Billy.
"You got a password?" she asks the boy as she pauses.
"Yes, ma'am. Semper Fi!" he says happily. Gibbs grins broadly.
"That's a good password. Come on up," she says. Billy climbs up to the tree house. He and Gibbs work together to finish building the tree house.
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I would dedicate this chapter to Aussie-samurai and Twilitefan for their continued encouragement as I wrote this chapter.
I would like to once again thank my Beta reader for all her help with this chapter, she has been teaching me a lot about the differences between American English and Australian English.
Did you catch the reference I made of another TV show?