"Dolphin Hero" Chapter 4
Dunn wishes she didn't open her damn big mouth. "Sorry, Kate, I just assumed: a smart sassy girl like you, I thought you'll be engaged or something, or swarms with multiple guys. Hey Kate, it is their loss anyway," Dunn really wants to eat her own foot with her big mouth, she feels so guilty.
Dunn fears that Kate is so uncomfortable that their nice new bond is about to disappear.
But no! Kate grins at her: "I am not DiNozzo!" she says cheekily.
"Oh yeah! That man, what's with him?" Dunn is glad that Kate changed the subject.
"Very long puberty!" Kate decides, "but he is a good partner, he would die for me and I would die for him too," she is really astounded by her own admittance, but is simply the truth, "and we would all die for…"
"Your "grumpy pretty blue eyes" boss!!! Sure, and he would die for you and Tony. Semper fi,Kate," Dunn finishes her sentence.
"Yes, I know and…well, I mean, not just good. The thing is I never realized when I joined NCIS, until this moment. Working for the Secret Service, I was ready to die protecting the President and or his family. We all were ready, but I never thought to protect my partners with my own life, but that is what we do. We are family," Kate rambles uncomfortably.
"Easy Kate, I understand. I married a marine once, we were so young! He really loved me, but you know, sometimes I got unreasonably jealous about the kind of bond among them." Sedna takes a sip of her ice coffee absentmindedly.
Kate sees in her eyes the same look that she sees many times in her boss. This absentminded and heartbreaking expression he wouldn't want to be seen with. It speaks of compassion, pain and resigned desperation.
She never understood why, it is not his divorces, no! The way he looks at his ex wives, not that she has known them all. She only knew one of them and it was more than sufficient! Closer to exasperation and annoyance. He wouldn't miss them, no…it is not about his ex wives, it is another thing.
Kate sighs and gets a kind smile from Sedna.
Oh,how simpler and easier it is to talk to women, she thinks. Don't think it can happen with Tony and Gibbs. Is that why she is interested in Sedna's life? Would she learn something about how to read her inscrutable boss? Are their similarities what attracts her to Sedna? Or the differences with her own life? Kate's mind is boggled.
Dunn smiles and places her coffee on the table. She seems to recognize what is tormenting her new friend.
"Well Kate, I have been widowed twice. After my second husband I tried dating, two or three times, nothing serious, though I don't want to be married anymore. I just regret about not having kids," Dunn admits, "…and I really like children"
"To be honest, Sedna, you are like my boss, and he loves children, like you but didn't have any. Well, he is much worse than you though, he is divorced three times!" Kate states almost proudly.
She continues: "The last one hit his head with a baseball bat! And you know WHAT is weird? All of them were redheads, oh…sorry, I didn't mean to offend you!" and Kate shakes her head, looking at Sedna's hair color.
It's not fully red but it is actually a really dark blonde with an undeniable touch of red and it's her real color, Kate guesses. Some freckles on her shoulders are almost hidden by the sexy tan.
"Don't worry, Kate!!! I'm not going to hit his head at all, although I think he deserves, maybe a slap? Like he does with DiNozzo?"
Dunn is trying to distract Kate from her recent sadness with success. The image of Dunn slapping Gibbs is the funniest thing ever.
"You are a female version of my Gibbs!" Kate exclaims as she drinks her iced coffee. Shoot - she almost chokes on her drink.
What the hell did she just said? My Gibbs? Did she just say "My" Gibbs???
Dunn notices her shock and discomfort and she decides to ignore the glitch. Kate face is bright red and mercifully Dunn changes the subject again, she enjoys her company, it has been a long time since she had a great conversation with someone out of the base and it is really good.
She could change from her diving suits and shorts into a feminine dress more frequently and maybe tomorrow night, she would join them at the bar and enjoy DiNozzo's face when he sees her dressed up! Yeah, it has to be the blue dress and Dunn smiles inside.
"Well, Kate, it's getting dark and you can't go back walking. I've the bike out there, can I give you a ride?" Dunn offers.
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Meanwhile, Gibbs is driving DiNozzo crazy.
"Where the hell is Kate, DiNozzo?"
"I don't know, boss, maybe she met some of the naval officers and…"
TWACK he got it from Gibbs.
"Boss, I really don't know." DiNozzo is rubbing his slapped head.
Gibbs tries calling his agent again, but no reply.
"Where the hell are you, Katie?" He whispers in horror. She is NOT picking up her phone. He glances at the time, it is past nine - not too late, but he doesn't know his surroundings and he doesn't like the unknown, he hates surprises and he hates it that she is out of reach.
"I'll get McGee to track her, boss, her mobile is on, and she is just not picking it up," DiNozzo calms the angry grizzly bear.
Within minutes, McGee is getting shouted at long distance by his boss!
Abby tries to calm him down: "Easy, Gibbs, there must be another satellite that blocks the signal, so that we can't track Kate, but I am sure she is fine, her mobile is on, and Kate is just not picking it up, Gibbs, no big deal."
Abby comes out about another scenario, and regrets it a few seconds later: "Or she might just be in a place where we can not track her, it is also possible." Abby is bombarding her boss about various possibilities. It was the wrong move!
"Abby! You mean Kate is trapped?" Gibbs shouts at the laptop screen.
"Gibbs! That is NOT what I said, please Gibbs, calm down!" Abby is losing her mind. McGee is nodding his head furiously besides her.
"I DON'T CARE! TRY EVERYTHING! JUST FIND HER, I DON'T CARE HOW, I WANT RESULTS!!!" Gibbs shouts and slams the laptop down before McGee manages to answer "yes, boss."
"UHHH, Gibbs is in one of his moods, we better hurry" Abby says to McGee as she slurps her Caf-Pow.
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At the same time, as Abby and McGee scramble to find Kate.
A motorcycle passes by, then:
DiNozzo hears the door creaks open.
"Hi, guys," Kate greets them gleefully as she walks in with two boxes of pizza, a few bottles of beer and iced coffee. Her hands are full, her face is flushed. She looks happy.
"KATE! Where the hell were you?" Gibbs greets her with a shout.
AT the same time:
"UHHHHH, pizza!!!" Dinozzo greets her excitedly, he is dying from hunger.
"I was with Sedna, like I told you.We talked, I found her boat. Oh Gibbs, you would have LOVED her boat, I walked by the compound, its huge! And…" Kate's babbling is cut short by her boss, as he is striding towards her in anger, standing inches in front of her.
"Why didn't you answer your mobile, Special Agent Todd?" Gibbs hisses at her.
Kate is surprised by his reaction, what an unexpected greeting. She jumps slightly and moves one step back, looking into his intense gaze.
Tony is already eating his pizza, looking at the duo with his mouth full, he feels bad for Kate, who is about to taste Gibbs's wrath.
"I did, I mean, it is on!I didn't, I didn't switch it off" Kate stutters, trying to recall her memories.
"Oh, boss," Tony tries to talk on Kate's behalf, that it is no big deal, and his boss is damn grouchy today. Tony loves Kate because Kate remembers his stomach condition - hungry; but Gibbs's glare shuts him up.
"I must have left it in my coat! I took off my coat. I was HOT!" Kate is angry, after the initial shock, she doesn't deserve this treatment, she didn't do anything wrong.
Kate angrily shoves the iced coffee into Gibbs's hand. "Here, Boss! To cool down yourtemper," and she storms to her room and slams the door shut - she is NOT hungry anymore!
"Uhh Kate, my iced coffee, please," Tony tries to claim his coffee, but Kate just glares at him and closes the door.
Gibbs left Tony and goes into their room, along with his iced coffee.
Tony sighs: "Damn! Talk about chemistry!" He gazes at the closed door and continues eating, minus his iced coffee.
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It is almost two in the morning.
Kate couldn't sleep a wink because of her headache, and she is hungry. The lobster salad she ate earlier was not enough.
Gibbs couldn't sleep a wink because of DiNozzo's snoring, anger and hunger. They are both too stubborn to return to the working area for the pizza.
So Tony ate the entire pizza by himself while Gibbs and Kate are thinking about the delicious scrumptious pizza on the table – how pathetic.
Be damn with her pride, she is hungry! She rouses and walks out the room,opening her door as quietly as possible, being careful, not to wake…
Yeah right! As Kate sees her boss in his boxer shorts and white shirt, eating - taking a big bite on the cold pizza. He is standing by the table, his back is facing her, Kate smiles and she tip toes towards him.
"Hungry Gibbs?" she asks, standing very close behind him.
"Yes!" Gibbs answers without hesitation.
"Me too!" she quickly grabs a slice of pizza and takes a huge bite.
They both make yummy noises, cold pizza has never tasted this good. Fortunately, Tony only managed to eat one large pizza, leaving both of them another large pizza, untouched!
As Kate finishes her first slice, then she remembers: "Uh, hang on Gibbs," she returns to her room, a few seconds later she comes out with DiNozzo's share of iced coffee and she offers it to Gibbs, who receives it with happiness in his eyes.
"Thanks," he manages to say and gulps down the offered drink.
It only takes them less than fifteen minutes to wolf down the entire large pizza and a large cup of coffee. "Thanks for dinner, Kate," Gibbs says to her.
"Don't mention it Gibbs" Kate is still eating her pizza.
"Your turn tomorrow." Kate winks at him as she rubs her full stomach in satisfaction. Then Kate hears the unmistakable sound - the horrendous sounds of DiNozzo's snoring, she feels sorry for her grumpy old boss.
"You want to switch places with me, Gibbs?" she asks
Gibbs looks at her in surprise, but before he can refuse her offer:
"C'mon Gibbs." Kate takes him by the hand and wonders: how would his hands feel against her skin, against her body, then Kate shakes her head, as if trying to shake off her lewd thoughts about her boss.
"You are the boss and I can handle Tony and his snoring, I've got three brothers, remember?" She convinced him, as she guides her boss like a five year old towards her bed.
Gibbs turns, facing her, wanting to talk to her but Kate just shakes her head at him, gently pushes him by his chest towards the bed.
Perhaps it is the late night cold pizza that makes Kate brave enough to tuck her boss into bed. A few minutes later, Gibbs is nicely tucked in Dunn's bed - comfortable.
He is so stunned by her courage that he doesn't say a word!
Gibbs is already lost in the comfortable bed, hmmmmm… nice!!!!
Large enough for him to stretch out, the mattress feels hard exactly as he likes it and the sheets and pillow keep the smell of Kate, a very feminine smell. Dreamily, he sees her walking across the room, grabbing her iPod and switching off the light. "Night Gibbs" and she left him in peace.
Days of weariness catches up with him.
He usually sleeps about five hours daily, sometimes less. Last night he hardly slept. So, being in a soft bed with Kate's smells proved to betoo good to be true, he snuggles deeper into his pillow, tucks his hands under his pillow, getting ready to sleep.
Then he touches something! Without thinking his left hand pulls it out.
Oh dear God! Kate's white bra! He smirks and smiles, ogling the bra in his hand. He couldn't help himself but take a quick look at it.
Oh yeah he is not DiNozzo. He can't calculate her size by just looking at the bra; but he had wives, girlfriends and flings. He would say her size is all that he needs to fill his hands with her silky feminine roundness. He sighs and quickly tucks it back under his pillow, feeling a little guilty as he had invaded her privacy and he exhales happily, he goes back to sleep with Katie's bra under his pillow.
A Few minutes later, he dozes on and off,when he hears DiNozzo's yelp, followed by howls of pain. The woman must be really angry, he always wanted to stuff DiNozzo's mouth with socks but never actually did it!
Then he hears something else, something that really wakes him up from hisnap.
Gibbs hears Kate squeaking in annoyance: "Tony! It's NOT funny! Stop it! Don't! STOP!!!" and she yelps in desperation.
He kicks his blanket. No way in hell DiNozzo is going to behave inappropriately towards her. He marches to the room and opens the door with such a force that it slams open.
What he sees only fuels his anger:
DiNozzo is on top of Kate. He is tickling her, they are in the middle of the bed, and Kate is thrashing and struggling to contain her laughter, while Tony is furiously tickling her.
The slammed door shocks the monkeys, especially the male Italian monkey.
Before Tony even says a word, Gibbs signals him to shut up!
"MOVE AWAY from her! And LET HER GO!" Gibbs said to him.
"We are joking Gi…" Tony defends his action.
"Do that one more time, and I will kick your sorry ass so hard you wouldn't be able to sit for months, UNDERSTAND, DINOZZO?!" Gibbs said in rage.
"Yes, boss!" Tony quietly said as he straddles off Kate.
Kate is stunned! Not moving,shocked by Gibbs's outburst. Her boss's temper is getting worse by the day, they are just joking around. The man has no sisters, he wouldn't understand.
"Kate! Go back to your room!" Gibbs barks.
Without saying anything, Kate quickly stands up, kicks DiNozzo on the shin for revenge and leaves the room.
As she walks pass him, Gibbs notices her ample breasts – of course, she is bra less. Dear God, I am too old for this, and Gibbs kneads his head. Bloody DiNozzo, there is a pang of jealousy in his heart and a touch of possessiveness.
He knows they were just playing. Of course they are still more in touch with their fun childhood than he ever was, and they know how to recreate those days.
He mustn't punish them for doing that, it could be their escape: like his boat for him. He is old enough to understand, to allow them their little games, the games that can keep you sane in their job.
He knows that he is overreacting. He just doesn't like anybody else touching his female agent. Right, not his, but she is not going to belong to anybody else. Talk about possessiveness.
"What an egoistic thought, Jethro!" murmurs his good angel.
In Dunn's room:
Kate glances at the time as she settles on the bed, it is almost three in the morning. She quickly gets comfortable under the blanket, she can smell traces of him, she is going to sleep like a baby!
She sleeps on her side, slips her hand under the pillow, then realized something. She hides her bra under her pillow,she has been doing that for years: bra and gun! Gibbs must have touched it!
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In the other room, DiNozzo and Gibbs hear Kate's laughter.
"She is losing her mind, boss, you need to slap her once in a while!" DiNozzo complaints
TWACK Gibbs slaps his head before he settles himself on the bed, and Gibbs grins, she knows!
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The next morning.
Kate feels better this morning, she slept peacefully.
After a quick shower she dresses in her jeans and blouse. While still buttoning the last button she strides in the office room. The Californian sun enters the wide windows and the open door lets the warm breeze in. The smell of the sea mixed with fresh coffee invades the room. She is going to miss this weather.
Gibbs is there, sitting by the corner of the table, legs crossed nonchalantly, the omnipresent cup of coffee at the side of his elbow. He is studying interestedly a little object, rolling it between his long fingers.
Sedna is standing in front of him, still in her diving suit, her hair wet and Kate notes her cheeks are red and her golden eyes are sparkling excitedly as she talks in a low voice.
"Look, Gibbs, I don't know much about explosives, but enough to know what this is and it is not the stuff we use to train our dolphins."
Gibbs is still rolling the little thing and seems to be carefully choosing his next words.
"Yeah it is, but it is a very old one. I guess it could have been into the pool for years, trappedsomewhere," he murmurs.
"C'mon, Gibbs! Much too clean and smooth for that, no traces of oxide or algae as you could expect if that would be the case and you know it," Dunn states.
"Yeah I know, well doc, you think we are facing something." He straightens in his chair and looks directly into her eyes. Dunn is about to speak but she stops, biting her lower lip and closing her eyes. Gibbs could see her rising tears.
Perceiving her emotion, Kate wants to get closer to her and say - say what? Say that all is going to be right?
Say nothing! Gibbs's words are still fresh in her mind after all these months: "Don't get involved, Kate, it is not good for the case and not good for you."
Oh yes, It was loud and clear!
Why she has this weakness when it comes to young women?
Perhaps she was always surrounded by men, brothers at home, male agents at her work. Well, Abby is there! But Kate knows that shelacks female friends in her life and she is ready to be soft about women and she will get undeniably involved and it is not good for her judgment. As the facts had proved in the recent past, Gibbs must have reasons!
So she keeps quiet, still standing at the door frame and thinking: she should leave it alone, he knows what to say, and don't let him know that you are developing this friendship with her, that you feel sorry for the dolphin as well, he'll laugh in her face.
Surprisingly, Gibbs is not laughing at all, he is not even smiling.
He stands up and grabs Dunn's shoulder, giving a little squeeze.
Dunn can't feel his warm hand trough the neoprene suit, but the bare pressure is comforting. She looks up him and sees concern in his eyes, not just professional interest but concern for her, as a person. Maybe he is not a bastard.
"Doc, trust me. What's wrong? What do you think it means?" Gibbs asks the distressed doctor.
She blinks and releases a sigh, shaking her head and saying nothing. The hand on her shoulder increases the pressure, affirming what she is reading in his eyes. Sedna feels the force of his determination and his honesty.
Suddenly, she remembers where and when she had seen him before, Oh my God, it was him, why I didn't remember him before? She knows that she can trust this man.
"OK, Gibbs. Let me look for something you have to see."
He nods and retracts his hand releasing her from his hold but keeping their eyes locked for a few more seconds. She is not uncomfortable under his piercing eyes, she is able to resist his silent inquisition in a way not many people could. Gibbs knows that his gut was right about her, she is an ally to his team and she is strong. He likes strong women.
His mobile rings at this moment but he does not answer until he receives her affirmation. "I'll be back," she says.
He smirks and nods approvingly, answering the call as usual: "Gibbs".
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Tony is coming back from the cafeteria where he had a good breakfast and received some questioning looks from the guys. He knows that they wonder where the pretty brunette and the grumpy man are. He kept his gaze fixed on his plate and wolfed down his scrambled eggs and sausages.
Thank God, the pretty brunette was not there, commenting on cholesterol and all that babble that she normally uses to ruin his meals with. Tony hurried up and made his way to his food while Kate was still humming and singing terribly in the shower and Gibbs with his damned three miles daily run.
Of course, the old marine does not give up, not even in those days, when his old wounds show up mercilessly. Evidently the warm weather helps with that particular problem. He knows that each winter in DC makes him a bit grumpier than the last.
Oh, yeah. DiNozzo has suffered three of those bad mood winters. On second thought, it had changed with Kate's arriving at NCIS, the boss still has his bad days, but there are less often than before.
True! He still receives some slaps and threats due to his interaction with the petite brunette but the slaps had diminished in number as well as in intensity or there is a possibility that he is finally getting used to them.
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He ponders the matter as he opens the door to the office and enters. Everybody is there but he doesn't even receive a look from his boss who surely notes that DiNozzo is coming back from breakfast, some minutes late.
All eyes are focused on the wall screen that seems like a real window to the NCIS autopsy room. Ducky is there, talking willingly as ever about his findings regarding the opened corpse he has over the table.
Nothing would be strange, if not for the fact that this must be the first autopsy performed by the qualified Dr Mallard on a dolphin.
Sedna stands at the fore position and Ducky is evidently and carefully with his caring professional tone talking to her in the first place. She listens to his words but her eyes are focused on the carcass of Kenny, her beloved dolphin, on the cold slab.
Seeing the body of Kenny, DiNozzo recalls some classified material he read about the dead marine. He means the dead dolphin service; and all these would be associated with phrases and comments from the staff he interviewed yesterday. It seems that the death of this animal is a serious case to these people in NNMP,a really serious case.
His years in the police force had taught him to believe in the spoken evidence, and the spoken evidence was really strong or people here are suffering from collective fantasy.
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"It surprised me!" Ducky is talking, walking along the dolphin's body as the camera moves to focus, when he reaches the caudal fin that overpasses the length of the table he turns back and walks over to the head once more.
Palmer stands one step behind his mentor, following his movements as if he was waiting for the final act of the opera.
"As I was saying, my dear: I was amazed, but somehow confused, see…" he goes over the other table where the body of the man autopsied was before.
"I found all the damage, the cause of death was the explosion per se I found severe intra cranial edema and hemorrhage, hemo neumothorax with lungs collapsed and disruption of alveoli, by the low oxygen saturation and high CO 2. We could assume that the death happened about one minute after the explosion," Dr Mallard keeps his index up in the air and resists the urge of adjusting his lens with his gloved finger.
Ducky continues: "The curious thing is that I also found multiple fractures in his legs and pelvis as if he was struck by a large and heavy object, it was bleeding at these fracture focuses, so I am positive, these were produced immediately after the explosion and before death. It is the classical "tertiary wave effects" collision with stationary objects." Ducky stretches his neck out as he could see him from behind Dr Dunn, who is occupying the full screen.
"Oh, sorry Duck." Dunn takes two steps back while Gibbs stands and takes her place, in front of the screen. She is going to her seat when Gibbs reaches out and grabs her arm. "Stay here, I want you to see. So, Ducky, the conclusion is… "
"Well Jethro, as I was saying before I was surprised, he has no fractures in his thoracic cage or arms, just the lower body and there were no objects in the water as the explosives squadron assessed and described the crime scene!"
"What about the diving tanks?" Gibbs reminds the ME.
"It was still attached to his back when the body was recovered and so solidly attached that one of his shoulders was dislocated but, Jethro, we human beings have an unforgivable anthropocentrism that leads to wrong results. I remember a case when my forensic professor..."
Gibbs exhales loudly and smirks impatiently. "Duck."
"I'm getting to it, Jethro, I'm getting to it, and my mistake was to start the autopsy with the human body. But it is the dolphin who gives us more information. Your Kenny, Sedna my dear, died in the explosion as well. I suppose he was further from the explosive device in aspect to the Lieutenant, although it is strange. His skin is much more affected and the fat tissue shows two massive spots of subcutaneous bleeding and diffuse petequial injuries as hewould have been much closer, his lungs have few injuries and his heart and diaphragm are almost untouched! Therefore, I have to think that the dolphin was not as close as the Lieutenant."
Sedna is blinking at the screen. Despite her hidden emotion she tries to be professional at this.
"Ducky, the thing is, please tell me more about the classical injuries in underwater explosions, you know forensic pathology is not my field but I opened dolphin carcasses in relation with all those crazy sonar things and from seismic prospecting too and they were not massive but the injuries were similar"
"Well, Sedna, my dear, these tertiary injuries are related to collisions as I told you. Secondary blast injuries are mostly produced by displaced debris, which is not the case, and the primary ones are caused by the initial shock wave. The organs where liquid gases interfaces exist are more affected: lungs, sinus, ears; but your dolphin had light brain damage and his lungs were in good condition, that's why I presumed he was further."
"Well Duck, you wouldn't have known, but dolphins dive with no air in their lungs," Sedna explains.
"What!!!!" This time it was the incredulous exclamation from Gibbs that distracted them.
"Are you telling that they dive in apnea, Doc? I could understand that, sure, I can do that too, keep the air in and release it slowly as they consume the oxygen? Is that it?" Gibbs is shocked at the new facts.
"Not exactly, they can dive very deep although they don't most of the time. They are skilled to do it and they can only reach these depths with no barotraumas due to their respiratory adaptations, they release all the air before diving, so this interface air gas disappears, their lungs are normally collapsed during diving"
Dr Mallard's mouth was forming a silent "O". He didn't know that dolphins can do that.
Gibbs says quietly to Sedna: "See, that's why my gut told me you have to stay."
And to Ducky: "What now?" he asks the astounded ME.
"Well, Jethro, I'm going to review all my findings with this new light. Thank you my dear," he smiles at Sedna who smiles back at him sadly, nodding.
"OK Duck, call me ASAP with the result!" He closed the laptop and cut off the connection.
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-Tbc-dolphinsiren-novasupernova2007-BETA (MV)
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR BETA.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Not just dead men talk....the corpse of the killed dolphin keeps a secret . And Dr Dunn has a very important piece of the puzzle ....