Chapter 2

"I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time, Mrs. Gibbs."

Hollis smiled. Vance was always so formal when making official requests.

"I just finished giving my presentation. I'm on my way home. The timing is fine."

"Hettie is requesting a meeting with you. In MTAC."

"Serious?"

"Yes, but not life-threatening so far as I know."

Hollis nodded. "I'm at your disposal, Director Vance. Give me a few minutes to get over there and I'll be ready to conference."

"Thank you, Mrs. Gibbs. I'll tell Henry to expect you."

Hollis knew it was silly, but she couldn't help feeling a little bit excited as she hung up the phone. Anything that called her back to NCIS was generally interesting in some way. She'd consulted on a few cases and done conferencing like this on occasion. If Jethro was investigating, she might even get to insinuate herself into it. He generally didn't mind...as long as she remembered who was in charge.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Ducky and Jimmy were examining their dead Marine. He was waterlogged but not bloated.

"Talk to me, McGee," Jethro said.

"Not much to say yet, Boss," Tim said, looking at his scanner. "Lance Corporal Charles Bass. Typical Marine. He wasn't standing out, but he was doing what was necessary."

"So...what brought him here?" Tony asked. "I mean, he probably didn't go in the Potomac here. Current probably brought him downstream, but..."

"Was he marked UA?" Ziva asked.

"Not in his record right now," Tim said. "If he was, it's a new tag."

"Married?" Jethro asked.

"No. Single. If he has a girlfriend, that's not in his file. No red flags as far as his official status is concerned."

"Okay. Ducky?"

"Impossible to tell time of death by liver temperature. He's been in the water too long. His body temperature is that of the water in which he was floating."

"Cause of death?" Jethro asked.

Ducky lifted the body. "There is a bullet wound in his back. We shall have to see if that is what led to his death or if it was drowning or something else. Mr. Palmer, are you ready?"

"Yes, Dr. Mallard," Jimmy said.

"Good. Let us get him home."

"McGee, you go back to NCIS and see what you can find about Lance Corporal Bass. Get the evidence to Abby. Ziva, Tony, go and talk to Bass' CO. See what he was up to, if he was on leave."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Otherwise, everything is going well?" Hollis asked.

Hettie smiled her usual all-knowing smile. "Of course, Hollis. Don't worry so much about us. We're doing well. That pesky unsolved case has reared its head more than once. Perhaps some day, we'll finally solve it. Otherwise, we will continue on with our work."

"Nothing else you need from me?"

"Perhaps the promise of a visit." Then, Hettie leaned in close to the camera as if that would make what she said more private. "Or a detailed description of what Jethro Gibbs is like without outside observers."

Hollis laughed and tried not to look at the technicians in the room.

"This is not the place for that conversation, Hettie," Hollis said, feeling her cheeks burn just a little.

"Oh, perhaps not," Hettie said with a smile that belied any attempt she might make to apologize...but of course, she didn't apologize at all. "Regardless, do keep in touch. I can't keep up the illusion of my all-powerful nature if I'm forced to play second fiddle to any of my team...and that includes gossip."

"I'll remember that. Give me a call when you can."

"Absolutely, and thank you for your help."

"Anytime."

Hollis made the cut-off sign and Hettie's large, looming face turned into the familiar colored bars. She looked sideways at the technicians...who were stalwartly staring at their screens and not looking at her with curiosity. Hollis cleared her throat and headed for the door. Then, she paused and turned around.

"You'd better not look at Jethro like that next time he comes in here. He'll know what you're thinking."

There was an almost-silent straightening. Suppressing a very un-Hollis giggle, she left MTAC, intent on seeing what other mischief was going on that she could involve herself in.

Out on the balcony, she looked down and saw Tim sitting alone, working on his computer...as he so often was. No one else was there. Drat. ...or maybe not. Hollis figured she could find out what was going on from Tim as well as from anyone else, maybe better. Decision made, she headed down to the bullpen to grill the unsuspecting agent. Tim didn't even look up as she approached. He was completely absorbed in his task.

"Agent McGee, what's the case?"

Tim jumped at looked up at her. For whatever reason, he seemed extremely nervous about seeing her there. She hadn't had a whole lot of one-on-one interaction with him since her marriage. Was he really that intimidated?

"Oh...hello...uh...uh...ma'am," he said.

"Is something wrong?" Hollis asked.

"No, ma'am!"

"I'm retired, McGee. You don't have to be so formal."

Tim had a deer-in-the-headlights look for a few seconds and then, to Hollis' relief, he let out a helpless chuckle.

"I don't know what to call you," he confessed.

Hollis felt her brow furrowing. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to address you. You were a lieutenant colonel. You retired. You were an agent, you retired. ...calling you Mrs. Gibbs just feels weird."

"Can't you pronounce Hollis, McGee?"

"I...think I can...manage that."

"Do. It'll be easier for all of us."

"Yes, ma'am...uh, sorry. Hollis."

Hollis laughed. "So, you have a case?"

"Yeah...yes, we do. Dead Marine washed up on the banks of the Potomac."

Hollis settled down on Jethro's chair.

"And?"

"You want the breakdown?"

"Yes, please."

Tim smiled and nodded.

"Okay. Ducky's down doing the autopsy right now. Tony and Ziva are checking with Bass' CO. Abby is processing the evidence. Gibbs..."

"Yes? What about him?"

"I don't...know where he is...he's working and he'll probably appear out of nowhere when I'm least expecting it."

"Like now?"

Tim jumped and spun around in his chair to where Jethro was leaning against the divider.

"Yeah, Boss."

"Well?"

"There's nothing in his record that indicates any problematic behavior in the past. No strikes against him in his record. No criminal record before he joined the Marines." Tim looked from Jethro to Hollis. "He's an average guy. He doesn't seem to have made especially good or bad waves."

"Family?"

"Dad died two years ago. Lung cancer. Mom lives in Massachusetts. Two sisters, one in college, the other in high school. Except for the fact that he's dead, Lance Corporal Bass doesn't have anything out of the ordinary in his life."

"Except that he's dead," Jethro said pointedly.

"Yeah," Tim agreed. "What it looks like, Boss, is that if this wasn't random, you're not going to find the reason for it in his family history. I just can't see anything there."

Jethro looked at him for a few seconds, glanced at Hollis and smiled, and the nodded.

"Okay. Put that to the side for now. Focus on his military service. Where was he before he came here?"

Tim typed furiously on his computer.

"He was stationed on the Nimitz and it came into port in Norfolk two days ago."

Jethro's phone rang. He walked over to his desk and reached around Hollis to answer it. Hollis noticed that Tim had an expression of satisfaction on his face as he watched Jethro without appearing to watch him. She cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. Tim flushed bright red at having been caught...at whatever he was doing.

"Thanks, Duck," he said tersely. "Ducky's found something."

"Mind if I tag along, Jethro?" Hollis asked.

Jethro held back a smile and jerked his head.

"Come on."

Hollis stood up and followed Tim and Jethro to the elevator. She was looking forward to seeing Ducky. It had been upwards of a month since she'd really chatted with him. This wouldn't be a chat but Ducky always found the time to talk when he was presenting information.

The elevator ride down was silent. Tim was the only one who seemed uncomfortable, but she rather thought that he had noticed all the looks and the un-Gibbs-like smiles. Still, he wasn't especially unsettled. It was just that this wasn't a very common situation for him. Even when Hollis had participated in previous cases, it was generally with the whole group, not with Jethro and Hollis smiling at each other like silly kids.

Was Jethro ever a silly kid? I'll have to ask Jack, Hollis thought to herself as the doors to Autopsy opened.

"Good afternoon, Jethro," Ducky said without looking up.

"Hi, Ducky," Hollis said grinning.

Ducky didn't lift his head but she could see his smile.

"Jethro, either your voice has gone through a shocking change or else your charming wife is with us today."

"Guess which is right," Jethro said drily.

Ducky looked up. "How lovely to see you again, Hollis. I wasn't aware that this case fell within your purview."

"It doesn't. I'm just tagging along."

"Ah. Well, this case just took a rather strange turn which is why I brought you down before I've quite finished. It has shades of a much earlier case."

"Which one?" Jethro asked.

Ducky's expression was solemn. "Chris Pacci."

"How?" Tim asked.

"I found something in his stomach that should not be there."

"I'm guessing that this is not a comment on his diet," Gibbs said.

"Only if his diet consists of eating flash drives."

"What?"

"He has a flash drive in his stomach. I've pulled it out," Ducky said, holding up a specimen jar. "It couldn't have been pleasant going down...and it couldn't have been in there for very long. He must have swallowed it right before he died."

"So why?" Tim asked. "Like Pacci? To keep information from someone else? But who and why did he have it? I didn't see anything in his files to indicate covert operations."

"Were you looking for that, McGee?" Jethro asked.

"No, I wasn't."

"Go look for it."

Tim nodded.

"And if you don't find anything, go help Abby to see what you can get off this thing."

Tim nodded and headed out of Autopsy.

"We are fortunate in that it became wedged before it could fall directly into the stomach acid. There is some damage but not as much as there could have been."

"Cause of death?"

"The bullet passed through his heart. He likely died instantly, although it's difficult to know if he was shot before or after entering the water."

"Did he fall or did he jump?" Hollis murmured.

"Precisely."

"If he is as normal a person as McGee says he is, then, this is huge anomaly in his life. Where did something like this come from?"

"That is the million-dollar question, my dear," Ducky said. "I couldn't tell you what brought our young Marine to this point but I can tell you that he was apparently trying to preserve whatever data was on that chip. I've sent blood samples up to Abigail, but I haven't seen any signs of drugs in his system."

"Thanks, Duck."

"Hollis will I be seeing you around during this case?"

"If Jethro lets me," Hollis said with a cheeky smile.

Jethro rolled his eyes.

"Let me know what else you find."

"Will do."

Jethro headed out of Autopsy, Hollis right behind him.

"Jethro, do you mind if I hang around? It's an intriguing case."

"I don't mind," he said, finally relaxing into a real smile. "You're better-looking than Ducky."

"I would hope so," Hollis said and put her arm around his waist. "I'm glad Hettie needed to talk to me today."

As they headed back up to the bullpen, Hollis thought that this promised to be a fascinating case and she hoped it was one they could solve.