Rule 12

Autopsy

Sorry for the long wait but I am in the middle of my exams at the moment so have little time for anything but revision.

Tony’s POV

Thankfully I had managed to arrive back at base in one piece. Together me and McGee tumbled out of the car holding our stomachs. Even after several years we had still not gotten used to Ziva’s driving skills although that may have something to do with the fact that we never let her drive us anywhere in fear of our lives. To be completely honest with myself I loved winding her up and not letting her drive was one of the ways that I did this. The look of anger she gave me whenever I succeeded in annoying were was amazing, so of course I wanted to see it over and over again. When she had come over after speaking with Gibbs and I saw that look in her eyes however, I realised that she would probably not appreciate me insisting I drive so I let it be and called shotgun over McGee. The fact that there was no questioning look from her showed me that I was right not to start an argument with her as she was preoccupied elsewhere. As McStomach rushed off when we arrived, presumably to empty his stomach, I hung back so as to speak to her as she left the car.

Unsure how to broach the subject I cautiously approached her in case she decided that there were some ninja moves that needed sharpening up. In a hope that she wouldn’t assume I had ulterior motives I decided to do my normal, say something completely unrelated.

“Wow Ziva. Driving hasn’t improved then?” Way to put your foot in it DiNozzo.

“As I am sure I have told you before, my driving is fine. We get from A to B without crashing and we do it a lot faster than we would have done if you were driving,” she said giving me the briefest of looks. Weird. I was expecting at least a glare. Deciding I obviously had a death wish I asked the question that I knew would at least get me a glare, probably more.

“You alright Zee-vah? You seem a little bit away with the fairies,”

“I am fine Tony.”

“If you say so,” I said, obviously unsure, “What did Gibbs want anyway?”

“He has told me that I need to get this note to Abby as quickly as possible.”

“Was that all? He behaved as if he hadn’t had any coffee,” there was definitely something she wasn’t telling me.

“Yes,” Ziva snapped, “and if you want to live I suggest you stop asking questions.” Pushing past me she made her way into the building. If I ignored the way her body rubbed against me when she pushed past I could tell that she was upset. And pissed. Whether this was because of me or Gibbs I did not know. But I intended to find out. But first I needed to give her some time to cool down or she would carry out her threat. Instead of following her towards Abby’s lab I headed towards my desk. As I neared it my phone rang commanding me to head towards autopsy. With nothing better to do and wanting to know more I led McGee down there.

Whilst we were travelling in the elevator I decided that I would use the time wisely and find out how far along McGenius was with the little task I set him.

“Hey McGoo, how you doing with that little, aah, challenge I set you?” I asked, hoping that he wouldn’t ask me any more probing questions.

“You mean the next to impossible one that you have given me very little information on,” was his blunt response.

“I have given you more than I was ever going to tell you! And it can’t be impossible, you’ll work it out. Especially now you have Abby working with you,” I replied with feigned indignation. It was a very hard task true but I wasn’t about to admit that.

“No more impossible than your task is anyway. I mean, all I have to do is find a way past our omniscient boss and one of his rules. You however have to try and convince Ziva that you’re the man for her? Now that is an impossible task,” he retorted.

“Couldn’t resist trying to get a little dig in could you McShovel? But don’t you worry; I don’t need to convince her. She’s already mine.” Lie. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice. Before he had a chance to respond to that bluff of mine however, the elevator doors opened and I quickly made my exit aware of the bemused look on his face. As we both walked into Autopsy I could hear Ducky telling some tale or other to Palmer like normal. I cleared my throat to get his attention so that we didn’t have to sit through another of his stories.

“Ah, Jethro, I was just telling Mr Palmer about the time I was in Ireland,” he started turning round, “oh sorry Anthony, I thought you were Jethro.”

“No problem Ducky. What have you got for us?” I asked, though my mind was most definitely elsewhere.

“Well it is as I thought. Cause of death was head trauma caused by a blunt instrument. The stab wounds that you can see on her torso were post mortem but the one on her arm just here was definitely administered before she died. It would seem to me the wound on her arm was most likely from her defending herself before the fatal blow was delivered. It is entirely possible that she fell and struck her head on something although I do not remember seeing anything near the crime scene. Did you?”

“Not that I can remember Ducky. Have we got an ID yet?”McGee asked, breaking my trail of thought. I was only half listening to Ducky and was completely unaware that he had asked a question.

“I asked Abby to run her DNA when we got back and she gave me the name Mary Seaford, Chief Petty Officer. That’s all I can give you at the moment but I’m sure you will be able to run a few more checks. Are you alright Anthony? You seem a little bit out of it.”

“I’m perfectly fine thanks Ducky. If that’s all you’ve got I’m going to pay Abby a quick visit. Ziva found a note at the crime scene and I want to see if she’s processed it yet.” And find out what on earth is wrong with Ziva I added silently in my head.

“Right, off you go then. Now Mr Palmer where was I?” I could hear his voice getting quieter and quieter as we left. Making my way to Abby’s so as to not waste any more time before I could talk to Ziva I could feel McGee giving me that look again.

“What McGee?” I snapped, just wanting to be on my way.

“Nothing. I was just on my way to do some more research into Mary Seaford. I trust you and Ziva’ll be up soon?”

“Yup, we won’t be too long. Ziva may already be there anyway. She was only dropping that note off,” I added even though I didn’t want this to be the case.

“See you then. Hopefully Gibbs will have had his coffee by then.” Huh? Even McGee had noticed something off with Gibbs. Something must be really off with me today. Or you’re too busy dwelling on your moment of insanity earlier a little voice in my head counteracted. Making my way to Abby’s however, there was only one thing on my mind, and it wasn’t my moment of insanity.

How on earth am I going to survive this?