Chapter Two
I stepped onto the elevator with Gibbs. I knew where he was going, and I was ready.
“McGee, are you going to be able to handle this?”
“Boss, I’ve seen Ducky perform autopsies before. I’ve even done some computer work with Abby in the morgue.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Gibbs switched off the elevator. “Tim, the victim died in your arms. I understand if you don’t want to see her.”
“I have to do this, Gibbs, for myself. I need some closure. I know…I know she’s in good hands now.” I reached for the elevator switch, but Gibbs stood in front of me.
“Tim, you did what you could. It’s not your fault.”
“Why do I feel like it is, boss?”
“I don’t know why, but you have to realize you didn’t have anything to do with Private Fink’s death. I know how you feel.”
“Pacci…” I whispered. Gibbs looked at me for a moment and then hit the elevator switch.
The elevator moved for less than a second and stopped at Abby’s lab. The doors opened and Abby bounced in. She saw mine and Gibbs’ expressions.
“I can wait.” She stepped back off the elevator and signed something to Gibbs. I could catch a little of what they were saying.
*Is there something I can do for Timmy?*
*Abby, Tim will be fine, I promise.*
*I hope you’re right. I hate seeing him like this.*
The doors began to shut, and I saw Abby sign: *And bring me some evidence!*
Gibbs smiled and the doors were closed.
I was already getting chilly when the elevator came to a halt at Autopsy. I could feel the blood draining from my face, but it was too late to chicken out.
Autopsy doors swung open and Gibbs stepped in first. I followed like a wounded puppy.
“What do we got, Duck?”
“Well Jethro, the cause of our victim’s unfortunate demise was because she bled out. The first stab to her stomach was bad enough, and another punctured her left lung. The final blow nicked the aorta, which made her a lost cause.”
Ducky turned to face Gibbs, cradling Rachel’s left lung in his hands. He saw me and his eyes got wide.
“Oh, Timothy, I had no idea you were…”
I interrupted. “So she choked on her own blood.”
Ducky handed a quiet Palmer Rachel’s lung, stripped off his gloves, and came to me.
“My dear boy, with the extent of her injuries there was no way for you to save her.”
I leaned against an empty autopsy table, seeing Rachel’s cold, discolored body out of the corner of my eye. I hung my head.
“Timothy, you mustn’t blame yourself. You didn’t stab her, after all. I would say that the way you were holding her when I arrived actually eased her pain.”
This didn’t make me feel any better.
I heard the faint ‘ding’ of the elevator behind me. I turned around and saw Gibbs already inside. I touched Ducky’s shoulder as a silent ‘thank you’. He nodded and I ran to the elevator.
It was 2:00 on the dot when Gibbs and I reached the bullpen. Ziva was reluctantly fitting Agent Favereaux with Camera glasses [she had broken the ones she had on earlier], bulletproof vest, and a new earwig. Tony was staring at them both and received a head slap from Gibbs.
“Oww! Just making sure Ziva is fitting Agent Favereaux correctly, boss.”
“I have done this before, Tony.” Ziva shot Tony an incredibly mean look.
“You know, I could be doing this myself.” Agent Favereaux looked uncomfortable with Ziva that close to her.
“Oh really?” Ziva snorted. “Just like you’ve handled evidence before.”
“You know what?” Agent Favereaux yanked away from Ziva. “You guys think you’re the perfect team. But you’re far from it. I’ve done my homework. You!” she turned to Tony. “You fell in love undercover.”
Tony stopped smiling.
Agent Favereaux then walked around to Ziva at her desk. “You’ve been under investigation ever since you were witness to a terrorist bombing.”
Ziva looked as if she’d been slapped in the face.
“And you…” She turned to me. “You killed a cop.”
I looked away. Her words cut me.
Gibbs shot out of his seat so quickly that his chair fell under the plasma screen and the monitors on his desk shook violently. Agent Favereaux backed away, but Gibbs was faster. He was inches from her as her back hit the brick wall next to the elevators. A hush fell over the bullpen.
“Do you have anything else to add, Agent Favereaux?” Gibbs stared her down, squeezing his coffee cup.
“No sir, I’m finished.” Agent Favereaux gritted her teeth.
“Tony, in MTAC with me. Ziva, McGee…”
I looked up at a very angry Gibbs.
“…Get this woman out of my sight.”
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Ziva and I followed Agent Favereaux to Glencoe’s. It was nearly 3 o’ clock. She would be fifteen minutes late, in case Silvers expected punctual Feds. Agent Favereaux parked in front of Glencoe’s, and Ziva and I parked across the street. She made her way into the diner as Ziva and I walked hand in hand on the crosswalk, pretending to be a couple on a lunch date. Ziva giggled and I kissed her lightly on the cheek as we walked in.
Agent Favereaux was with Silvers in the back corner, so Ziva and I sat in a window booth, with Silvers facing away from us. A waitress named Evelyn handed us slightly sticky menus and poured us coffee. Ziva turned on my earwig while touching my face playfully. I smiled and returned the favor. We could now hear Agent Favereaux, Silvers, and Tony and Gibbs back in MTAC.
“Aww, Probie. You didn’t tell me you and Ziva were an item!”
I got red around the ears. Ziva coughed.
“Haven’t you ever heard of good undercover work, DiNozzo?” Gibbs retorted.
“If they act like they’re together, and Silvers sees them, he’ll know that they’re the same people from his translation class earlier.”
“He didn’t see us, Boss, I’m positive.” I stared at a picture of Hash browns on my menu.
“it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, a lot of college kids go to Glencoe’s.”
“Shh, we’ve got Silvers talking.” Ziva sipped her coffee and tried to look deeply interested in her menu.
“So why transfer mid-semester, Lisa?” Silvers stirred four packs of sugar and six half and halfs in a cup before accepting coffee from the waitress.
That would be poison for Gibbs.
“I switched majors and had to retake some classes.”
Agent Favereaux burned her lip trying to drink her black coffee. Silvers didn’t notice.
“What was your major?”
“English.” Lisa and Silvers laughed.
“Ironic. What language are you learning now?”
“Well I’m already fluent in Spanish and Greek, but I’ve always been fascinated by Latin, which is what I’m learning now.”
“Majoring in a dead language…Interesting.”
Agent Favereaux tried to drink her coffee again. She shook a little.
Latin? What a stupid answer!
Silvers cleared his throat. “So, I was wondering, if it isn’t too sudden, you can say no…” He paused and cleared his throat again. “…would you be my study partner?”
Agent Favereaux hesitated.
“say yes!” Ziva, Tony, Gibbs, and I whispered together.
“Sure!” She touched Silvers’ hand. He didn’t move. “And of course it isn’t too early or sudden, I’m new after all, and I need a good friend.”
Silvers smiled and looked down at his watch. [mine said 4:15.]
“Well, sorry for such a short meeting, but I have to go.” Silvers slid out of the corner booth.
“But we didn’t even eat.” Agent Favereaux looked a little hurt.
“I’ll make it up to you. Tomorrow? We can start studying here.”
“Three again?”
“Sure, 3 it is.” Silvers threw a Ten dollar bill down on the table and left.
“Why’s he in such a hurry?” Tony sounded as puzzled as I felt.
Why invite someone to lunch and then not even eat?
“Ziva, McGee, Favereaux, head out.” Gibbs sounded a little hurried as well.
Ziva and I got up, and so did Favereaux.
“Favereaux, wait.” Gibbs came back on our earwigs. “Bag and tag.” Agent Favereaux discreetly picked up Silvers’ coffee mug and stuck it into an evidence bag from her pocket. She sealed the bag and went to place it back into her pocket, but was stopped again by Gibbs.
“Give the evidence to Officer David.” Gibbs growled.
Favereaux tossed the bag at me instead, ripped out her earwig, and stormed out.
“If I wanted to work with brats I would have been a Child-Stander!” Ziva hissed as we left Glencoe’s.
“Ziva, I think you mean Babysitter.” I tried to suppress a smile, given the seriousness of the overall situation at hand.
I could hear Tony snickering over the earwigs, and heard Gibbs’ smile as he spoke. "
Ziva, bring the evidence back to Abby. McGee, go with Favereaux. Make her drive off some steam before she comes back here. I’ve never hit a woman, and I’d rather not start today.”
I gave Ziva the evidence bag and ran to the passenger side of Agent Favereaux’s Audi. I switched off my earwig.
“Come to take something else off me?”
She looked kind of cute angry…
“uh, I have orders to stay with you until you calm down.”
“Well I guess I have no choice then.” She opened her door and got inside.
I leaned down and looked into the passenger window.
“Get in and fasten your seatbelt if you’re coming,” She yelled through the glass.
“And where are we going exactly?” I hopped in and fastened my seatbelt, then gently shut the door.
“Bethesda,” she said gravely, and sped out of Glencoe’s parking lot.