Chapter Seven
February 5, 2011 – 5:02am
He didn't remember falling asleep, but the sound of a cell phone ringing incessantly finally pierced the fog that shrouded Jimmy's mind. He opened his eyes and blinked rapidly, trying to focus, until he realized that Ducky must have removed his glasses once he'd passed out.
"Of all the nights…" Jimmy heard Ducky muttering irritably. A moment later, his tone only slightly more civil, the older man answered his cell phone. "This is Doctor Mallard."
Jimmy's heart jumped in his chest. This is it. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew.
"Robert, it's five in the bloody A.M.! What…?"
Jimmy rolled off the couch, hitting the floor on his knees. He grabbed for the remote on the coffee table and turned on the television, muting the sound for Ducky's sake as he paged through the channels to find ZNN.
Nothing showed yet on the screen – it was a stale report on the situation in Egypt, one that he remembered from –
Dream or not, I lived through this once, Jimmy thought with a certainty that he'd been denying all night. Please let it be different this time…
He turned to look at Ducky, suddenly realizing that the older man had been silent too long. The doctor stood at the window, phone held to his ear, but Jimmy couldn't see his face.
"Yes, of course," Ducky finally said, in response to something the caller said to him. Jimmy recognized that tone – it was the worried, barely-clinging-to-hope tone that he'd heard from Ducky at the crime scene. "Yes. Thank you for calling, Robert. Thank you for telling me…" He lowered the phone, pressing END with a shaking hand.
Instantly Jimmy was on his feet, hurrying to his mentor. "Doctor Mallard?"
Ducky turned around, and Jimmy stopped short. He hadn't wanted to be right, he'd hoped like hell that he wasn't right, but he'd struggled to convince Tony and then Ducky because if he was right, then something needed to be done to stop it. What he hadn't considered was what would happen when he did convince one of them – especially when it was already too late…
The stunned expression on Ducky's face made Jimmy wish he could crawl into a hole and never come out. The older man looked at him with blank eyes, his normal facility with words failing him.
"Doctor Mallard." Normally Jimmy would never dare, but tonight… He put his arm around the shorter man's shoulders and guided him to the couch, then urged him to sit. He sat as well, closer than he would normally with anyone other than Tony, but he couldn't bring himself to break the physical contact.
Ducky took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on the phone he still held in his hand. Then he exhaled and turned to look at his protégé. "I… think you already know what I'm about to tell you."
Jimmy felt the blood leave his face. "Who – who was that? Director Vance?"
Ducky shook his head. "No, that was Robert Miller, an old acquaintance of mine," he answered. "Robert has worked with the FBI for several years now. He and Jethro never got along, but…" His voice trailed off as mention of his friend reminded him of the reason for the call.
"What did he say?"
"He told me that a – a joint operation between several agencies went very badly tonight." Ducky gestured toward the television. "He wanted me to hear it from a friend before it hit the news, but it looks like he only just made it."
Jimmy turned to look and recognized the anchorwoman from the news reports. He had to know. Without daring to look at Ducky, he reached for the remote and turned the volume up.
"– hearing that a building and perhaps part of a nearby interstate have sustained damage. No word yet on the cause or the number of casualties –"
"Mr. Palmer."
"Yes, Doctor?" Jimmy whispered without turning around. He was pretty sure he could guess what was coming next, and he was afraid to face the accusations he could imagine running through Ducky's head. How did you know? Why didn't you stop them? How could you let them go off to die like that?
"Is this similar to what you saw before?"
He nodded. "Every word is the same."
"We now have footage taken by a traffic helicopter –"
Ducky laid a gentle hand on Jimmy's shoulder. "'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.' Jimmy, I am so sorry."
Jimmy moved to cover Ducky's hand on his shoulder with his own. His eyes blurred with tears as he remembered the two of them kneeling next to Tony's body, each trying to comfort the other with that same touch.
"– large section of the overpass has collapsed onto the roadway below. As you can see, rescue workers –"
Pulling off his glasses, Jimmy wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. He glanced at the TV screen again as he replaced the glasses.
"– being shut down from exit 74 to Virginia DOT is asking –"
"Wait." Jimmy grabbed for the remote control again. Had he really seen – or rather, had he really not seen…?
"Mr. Palmer?"
Jimmy bit his lower lip as he rewound the image, then paused on a clear shot of the interstate. He stared at it for a moment, then squeezed his eyes shut, one hand going to his forehead as he struggled to remember…
"It's not the same." He switched the TV back to real-time video. The anchorwoman was explaining the suggested routes to take to avoid the disaster area, but he ignored her – he already knew how to get where he needed to go – and turned to Ducky. "Doctor Mallard, it's not the same! Something changed!"
"Mr. Palmer, what –"
"There was a car, Doctor." Jimmy rewound the image again to explain. "Right here" – he pointed to the edge of the roadway, just before the gaping hole – "right here, there was a car. They had to pull it back from the edge with cables. Something changed, Doctor! It's not the same!"
Jimmy jumped to his feet. He couldn't sit still, he couldn't stand to just sit here and – "We have to go, Doctor! We have to go find out!"
Ducky rose slowly from the couch. His movements were those of an old, tired man, not the energetic fellow that Jimmy worked with every day. He reached out and took Jimmy by the shoulders, forcing him to stand still.
"Jimmy, lad –" He sighed and looked sadly into Jimmy's eyes. "Please, don't get your hopes up. We both know that they were very likely a part of whatever operation this was. Jethro isn't the kind of man to let others take risks in his place, and Anthony, Timothy, and Ziva would not let him go without backup. Robert said that there were several agents inside when the building exploded. We won't know –"
"Unless we go there and find out." Jimmy turned pleading eyes on his mentor. "Please, Doctor Mallard. I can't stay here. You can stay if you want, but I'm going. I have to."
Ducky shook his head. "Absolutely not." Jimmy started to protest, but Ducky held up a hand. "Not without me, you're not," he amended. He let Jimmy go and turned to find his coat. "I don't think we'll be able to get close, but –"
"Yes, we will," Jimmy interrupted. "We'll tell them we got called in to work the scene. They'll be too busy to stop and check – especially if you're wearing the coveralls you keep stashed in your car."
Ducky looked at him with narrowed eyes, but didn't question how Jimmy knew what was in his car. Instead, he pointed out that while they might let him in, "they're certainly not going to let in a man wearing pajama bottoms and a Power Rangers t-shirt."
Jimmy's face turned red as he looked down at his attire. Tony liked to tease him about the old shirts he kept to sleep in – Power Rangers, Bart Simpson, and a wide range of other cartoon heroes from his childhood were represented in worn and faded cotton in Jimmy's bottom drawer. Jimmy had to agree with Ducky. Sometimes he had a hard enough time convincing people that he should be allowed at a crime scene even in official NCIS attire; he didn't need to make it easier for security to throw him out.
"You change, Mr. Palmer, into something a tad more – grown-up, shall we say." Ducky reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his keys. "I'll get what I need from the Morgan and come right back."
"Do you want me to drive, Doctor Mallard?" Jimmy called as he headed into the bedroom.
"Not on your life, Mr. Palmer." As Jimmy pulled his t-shirt over his head, he could have sworn he heard Ducky mutter, "I want my car in one piece," just as the door closed behind him.