Chapter 16

Palmer walked in to Abby's lab, only to immediately be engulfed in a bone crushing hug.

" JIMMY! " She gave a few steps back and began ranting. " I heard what happened! I couldn't believe when the evidence got here and they said it was from your place. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Should you even be at work? Someone tried to kill you! You should be resting. You should be in protective custody! There's a maniac trying to hurt you! "

" Abby. I'm fine! "

" No, you're not! You could have died. They should have given this case to Gibbs. Not that I have anything against Wagner, he's good, but no Gibbs. "

" Abby, Gibbs already has a case remember? That family deserves the best, don't you think? " He said, speaking in a soft tone.

She sighed dramatically.

" I know! But you're part of the team! " She hugged him again, but only briefly. " We're gonna get this guy Jimmy, I'm going to go through the evidence and find this bastard and make him suffer. "

Her words brought back the image of the wanna-be assassin tied to a tree, bleeding and scared. It was almost comical.

" How about I help you out here for a while. Gibbs is having a private talk with Dr. Mallard, so I can spend time with you, to keep busy. " He said with a kind smile.

" I got everything under control here, our case doesn't have many forensics, And you can't help with your case for obvious reasons. " She said, not wanting to upset him.

" How about we go over everything you got? You know, fresh eyes, or something. " He was hoping that she would interpret his insistence as a need to keep busy due to his 'trauma'.

" Sure Jimmy! "

So he sat on next to the table, evidence all over it, including several pictures of the crime scene.

He took the photos and spread them, trying to recreate the crime in his mind, he needed to keep his mind busy.

' She took out the dog first, so it would not make any noise revealing her presence. Quick, efficient. Unlike the family, she made it bloodier than it needed to be. To confuse the team maybe? Or to leave them emotionally compromised? " He furrowed his eyebrows, while rearranging the photos on the desk. " No, not her style. She only wants the attention of the people playing her games. This was a big entrance. In this big entrance, as soon as the dog was out of the equation, the show began. Did she started with the Lt.? Or did she leave him for last? "

He was staring at the picture of Lt. Mannig's body, the symbol on the wall. Memories playing through his mind.

He was in the training room, practicing with his knifes. Knifes were his favorite weapon, silent and easy to conceal. Not his favorite way to kill, that was poison. Before the victim could even notice it, it was already too late.

He was best with stealth, staying in the shadows, invisible. Just like his father. Big shows were not for him. When his father was called to work it meant that no one was supposed to know what happened, or how. And one day, he was going to be as good as he was. Or even better.

He was throwing his blades on the target, hitting it right in the middle every time. That's when the door to the training room opened it. And a girl came in, she was about 13-years-old. Like himself. She had long blond hair, blue eyes, cupid's bow lips, light skin. She was wearing the usual training uniform, boots, a black t-shirt and pants. She was beautiful.

He had heard of her, she had just arrived from another base. She was not born in the order, she was rescued, but the trainers said that she had great potential nevertheless.

She saw that he was training and walked up to him.

" Mind if I join you? "

" No. "

She grabbed a few of his knifes, stood next to him and started throwing them at one of the targets. She hit the target but nowhere near the center, they stayed like that practicing next to each other for a while.

" You're doing it wrong. "

" I'm sorry? " She said, turning to him.

" Maybe you should get a closer target. You're not good enough for these. " He said, not looking away from his own target.

" Oh, you think so. "

" Yes. "

She looked thoughtful for a moment.

" I think you're wrong, I think I can hit the target as many times as I want. "

" I doubt. "

" How about a bet? " She said, crossing her arms, a smug smile on her face.

" A bet? "

" Yes. I win I have half of you ration tonight. You win, you have half of mine. "

" And the terms? "

" I say I can hit the target perfectly 20 times in a row. "

He looked at her, the way, she was holding the knifes, her stand.

" Alright I agree. "

" Good. " She walked to the target and took the knifes out and came back to where he was. She had 20 blades on a desk next to her.

When she adjusted her stand before throwing the first knife, he knew he had made a mistake.

Two minutes later, and four targets, each with 5 blades buried perfectly in the middle, she turned to him a mischievous smile on her face.

" Nice doing business with you. I look forward to dinner. " She started walking out.

" Wait! "

She turned back to him.

" Yes? "

" What's your name? "

" Call me Artemis. You? "

" Call me Scot. "

" Palmer! " He was brought back from his thoughts. Startled, he stood getting in a defensive position. That's when he saw a confused Tony in front of him. ' Damn! What's wrong with me? This is not the time to get lost in memory. How could I lose track of my surroundings like that! '

" What? "

" Mind is elsewhere, Autopsy Gremlin? I called you like ten times. " Tony said, with a smile, but concern in his eyes.

" S- Sorry. I just..." He gestured to the crime scene photos, hoping that the other man would assume he was disturbed by the gruesome nature of the crime. " Is there anything you need? "

" Are you okay? I heard what happened. "

" Yeah. I'm fine. " He said sitting back down, and looking back at the table full of evidence. " I'm just looking through this things here. "

" Should you be here Palmer? I don't think Ducky would have blamed you for staying home. " Tony then received a punch in the arm from Abby.

" TONY! Stop being so insensitive. His home is a crime scene. "

" That's okay Abby. I understood what he meant. " He looked back at the evidence. He wanted to continue examining it, but Agent Gibbs was probably not at Autopsy anymore. He would continue until Dr. Mallard called him back. With the recent events, no one would think strange.

He wanted to remain focussed, but as the day went by, only memories passed through his mind. The proximity to his meeting with her breaking his usual focus.