A different photo appeared on the screen.

An ambulance with the back doors open was in the frame. "The guy on the stretcher is O'Neill, boss."

Abby zoomed in on the people inside and outside the ambulance. "The woman sitting there on the tailgate in the scrubs getting her blood pressure checked is the same woman who was with O'Neill and the dark skinned guy at the psychiatric hospital."

Gibbs tried to process her run-on sentence while he looked at the photo. Sure enough, there was O'Neill with a bulky dressing on his upper arm and shoulder, held in place by several wraps from a wide elastic bandage. Another wrap held his right arm against his chest as he reclined on the stretcher with his head and shoulders slightly elevated. The woman did look like the one from the previous photo.

Abby changed the photo to the next one. O'Neill had an oxygen mask on his face and IV in his hand and the woman was wrapped up in blankets.

"The photos were snapped by the Seattle Police Department. Some kind of operation took place at St. Christina's Hospital."

McGee continued with, "The hospital had been closed and deserted for some time, but something happened there."

The photo changed again and Gibbs saw the other man from the psychiatric hospital footage.

"I called and spoke to Assistant Chief Chris Alexander who said he was involved in what happened that day. He wouldn't tell me anything except to say that the woman had been drugged and kind of beat up, and the man shot twice. He heard later that the woman was fine, but the man was hospitalized for surgery and they needed to monitor him for several days because of an irregular heartbeat. The bullet didn't go through his vest, but he was shot point-blank, less than six feet away, and it messed up the normal rhythm of his heart. Alexander cited national security as the reason he couldn't say more. Said the people who debriefed him and his team were scary."

Abby added, "One bullet damaged the deltoid muscle and nicked his humerus."

"Uh, that's the big muscle at the top of the arm that wraps over the shoulder and the humerus is the bone from shoulder to elbow."

Gibbs glared at McGee because he didn't need an anatomy lecture. Sometimes his team irritated the spit out of him. They never gave him much credit for knowing things and he knew a lot of things. Chief Alexander had said quite a lot. Maybe since it happened over 12 years ago, the officer didn't think national security applied all that much anymore. He thought about being shot point-blank like that. Even when the vest stopped the round, it hurt something terrible. Huge deep bruise, sore, stiff, short of breath, probably cracked a rib. Add to that irregular heartbeat and yeah, they'd want to keep him for a day just for that. Then add in a bullet wound that at the least needed cleaning out and loss of blood and oh yeah, O'Neill would have been in the hospital for a couple of days.

What were O'Neill and the others doing in Seattle that would get him shot and her drugged? National security? His gut churned, but he looked toward Abby and McGee and saw they were ready to move on so he gave them a small nod.

Abby spoke first while McGee changed the display on the big screen. "This is Colonel Jack O'Neill in 2001 attending the retirement of the Peterson Air Force Base Commander. That's in Colorado Springs."

Gibbs looked at her like she was crazy and she was if she thought he didn't know that.

She quickly added, "We have identified a couple of other people in the photo."

McGee took his turn. "From the left we have General Michael Ryan, then Air Force Chief of Staff, Donald Elmsfeld, then Secretary of Defense and General James Jackson, then Commandant of the Marine Corps. The bald man on their right is Major General George S. Hammond. He died in 2008 and someone named..."

Abby supplied, "Gopher tiger."

McGee jumped back in. "Gopher tiger, posted pictures on their personal webpage."

Abby squealed, "These are the best ones, Gibbs. We didn't show them to you first because, well, because we didn't."

Two wide shots showed President Henry Hayes and Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill. They looked like good friends and in the background Gibbs could see some of the vehicles in the presidential motorcade. A third photo captured President Hayes and O'Neill with Brigadier General Wheeler and a fourth man, General Francis Maynard, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs at the time.

"Where was this?"

"Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery," Abby chimed in first.

McGee added, "We went back and searched for information on the President's schedule for that day. They usually release all that to the press ahead of time, but that day in a four hour window, all it said was private event. Before that time he was at a pancake breakfast with Civil Air Patrol Cadets in San Antonio. And in the time after the private event slot he was at the Governor's Gala."

Abby finished with, "It was a one day trip from Washington, DC to San Antonio, Texas. They flew there really early and came back very late... or very early."

McGee smiled at Abby and volunteered, "We called the cemetery, they're open everyday, and talked to Bill. He was there that day in 2008."

"Gibbs, he said there were almost 150 service members and lots of civilians too."

Could Abby be more excited about a funeral? Gibbs couldn't believe they had called the cemetery.

McGee wasn't finished. "According to Bill, General George Hammond died on Monday morning. By noon that same day, Veteran's Affairs knew the President would be there for the funeral on Saturday at 12 o'clock.

Abby crowed, "Billy said General Jack was one of the nicest guys he had ever met."

McGee figured out that Gibbs had heard enough and he changed the display. Gibbs recognized the man right away in the photo on the left. It was Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill presenting a folded flag to a beautiful woman in her early forties. She was sitting with two pretty girls who looked to be in their late teens. The picture on the right was a shot of the headstone with fresh flowers and dated four months later. Hammond had been a lieutenant general with some impressive medals and was buried with his wife who had died before him. Gibbs noticed that Hammond was ten years older than O'Neill and died just before his 66th birthday.

The next few photos were wide-angle shots that showed the military contingent. Abby pointed out some of the men in the photos, but Gibbs already recognized a few. He counted the last four Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs, the last five Air Force Chiefs of Staff and three Marine Corps Commandants and then he saw his friend, General Chuck Ellison.

Many of the service members in the photos looked stoic, controlling their emotions. It was clear to Gibbs that Hammond had been not only respected, but very well liked. Most of those in uniform were Air Force, but there were many Marines. There were lots of enlisted in addition to officers and he noticed they were standing talking to each other in close-knit groups. These were candid photos, not posed. The last photo was O'Neill with the two girls. One was hugging him, the other comfortable against his side with his arm around her. It was obvious to Gibbs that O'Neill was close to the girls.

Gibbs tried to process what he'd learned. It was actually mind-boggling and he couldn't help but think about the veiled warning Chuck Ellison had given him.

"Guess where General Hammond was living when he died?"

Gibbs knew the answer. "Colorado Springs."

McGee was about to correct him, but Abby beat him.

"Close enough," she announced. The man hadn't lived in the city, he'd lived in the county. But who cared when it was close enough to the Springs?

McGee went on to the next thing. "The news accounts of that day after the funeral just said the President had attended a funeral for a retired Lieutenant General who had served as special advisor to the White House."

"Get me copies of some of these."

Gibbs told Abby which photos he wanted and reminded her to get the lab work finished. He told McGee he'd let him know when he was going to call O'Neill so he could get a fix and with a "Good work you two," he left to go back upstairs.

tbc

Thanks for reading.

I used phony names for SecDef and the Commandant because they weren't ever mentioned on the show by their real names and they were never on the show as a guest. Not like General Ryan.