Chapter 36
Gibbs saw Tony and Palmer exiting the elevator. He had told the others what Tony had said to him and he knew that they were all observing the young man.
Gibbs took in the way he walked, the expression on his face, the position he kept his arms. Analysing everything, trying to figure out what they had missed.
Tony went straight to his desk, greeting the others in his usual manner. Palmer just said hi, and walked towards the elevator that would take him to the autopsy room.
When he was out of sight Ziva stood from her desk and walked closer to Gibbs's.
" Did you notice it, Gibbs? "
" Yes. "
Tim looked at them confused, and stood up aswell, walking towards them, Tony joined them aswell.
" Noticed what Ziva? " Tim asked.
" The way he walks. "
" What about it? It looks no diferent than every other time I saw him walk. "
" Exactly. "
" Not following here Ziva. " Said Tony.
" He is injured, has stitches on his arm and his leg, several bruises. Yet, he walks and behaves no differently than before. If we had not seen the injuries, we would never have guessed. And he is not taking pain medication. "
" Maybe he just has a high resistance to pain. Tony told me and Abby about the scars. Maybe he is just used to pain. "
" He has stitches on his leg McGee. Feeling less pain or not, is not normal for someone to show no reaction. Not even the slightest of limps. And he attacked Tony aswell. "
They were quiet for a moment, each in his own head, trying to process the pieces of this puzzle.
" How did he attack you Tony? " Asked Tim, looking at the man standing next to him.
" I spoke to him, he wouldn't answer. When I started moving towards him, to shake his shoulder...I don't know, a moment I was standing the next I was on the floor immobilized. I couldn't even describe how he did it. "
" How were you immobilized? " Asked Ziva. " How did he held you? "
Tony looked to the floor for a second, trying to remember.
" My arms were behind me, hands held together by one of his hands. My legs held in place by his legs. The other hand was holding my face against the floor. A hard grip too. "
" Where on your hands did he hold? " She asked.
Tony and Ziva passed the next five minutes close to his desk, going over exactly where and how he was held. After she had no more questions, she stood, one hand on her chin, the other hugging her middle. Her face focussed, calculating.
" That's professional training. "
The rest looked at her. Gibbs gave her a head nod, silently telling her to continue.
" The way Tony was held, it's professional. The exact right spots to hold a man, that is taller and heavier than him, efficiently. The right amount of force too. And to do it so fast, and according to Tony, out of instinct, because he was distracted. He has training, and is not a recent thing. That's the result of years of training. " She looked at Tony. " You said that you believe not even I could be that fast, correct? "
" Yeah. "
" Stand up. "
" Why? " Tony asked, not liking where the conversation was going.
" Up, DiNozzo. " Said Gibbs.
Tony groaned, it did not help to see that Tim knew what this was going as he looked rather amused.
He stood up and walked a few steps, then Ziva made her move. He was down, being held down in the same manner that Palmer had held him before.
" Faster or slower Tony? "
He took a second to recover from the scare.
" Uhnn, you were fast Ziva. But I had to say, he was faster. And you were standing up, he was lying on the bed, and don't forget, distracted and injured. "
Ziva released her hold and stood, Tony stood up aswell and dusted himself off.
Ziva was thinking hard about something.
" He was faster than Ziva? " Asked Tim, looking incredulous.
" Yes Probie, that is what I just said. "
" Wha kind of person has better training than a Mossad agent? " Asked Tim. " And one that has trained for as long as Ziva has? "
" Think he has trained for how long Ziva? " Asked Gibbs.
" My best guess Gibbs, since he was a teenager, if not a child. Or he has a really impressive natural talent. "
" Those old scars on him, could come from what sort of training? " Gibbs asked, the scars on Palmer's body had his gut turning. That was something about it, something important.
" Not the one I had. It would have to be a real cruel kind of training. But they could not come from training, but from something else. He had some that looked older than others, those could have been made when he was a child. "
Gibbs took a sip from his coffee. Palmer was becoming a harder and harder puzzle to crack. And they didn't have enough to go on.
" McGee what you got from his story? Anything about his family? "
" Working on it Boss. "
" Well, do it faster. "