The Story of Robin Jackson Gibbs (An NCIS FanFic)

Chapter 19: Hometown

It's been several days since that whole thing with Vargo and such. I was sitting down in Abby's lab getting some training in her famous forensic techniques. We had finished up and Abby was cleaning her table as Tony and Tim brought in boxes of evidence.

Abby looks at them. "That was pristine."

"Would you like us to put them on the floor?" Tony asked.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no. That's what it's for: swabbing the deck, clearing the runway, ready for takeoff. Garbage in, garbage out. Tidy on the outside makes tidy on the inside. Feng shui the gray matter." Abby replied.

They put the boxes on her table.

"And now, to make sense of this chaos." Abby said.

"Cigarette buds, food wrapper... What is that cheese?" I asked.

"Recovered from the alleyway where the attack took place." Tim replied.

"Other ones personal effects-- what the corporals had on them." Tony said.

"Might want to start with LaCombe." Tim said.

"Least he's still alive." Tony said.

I took out the ring that LaCombe wore. "There's blood on his ring; it's bent. It's from impact."

"Got a few punches in. Might give us DNA." Abby said.

"Might give us more than that Abs." I said seeing that on the ring it said Stillwater High School. This is LaCombe's class ring. "Stillwater High School."

Tony, I could tell, started to get excited.

"That supposed to mean something to us?" Tim asked.

"Stillwater High School." I shook my head and chuckled a bit.

"In all that time that you two spend staring at computer screens, you never once peeked in a man's file? Come on!" Tony said.

"Whose file." Tim and Abby asked at the same time.

"Stillwater is a small town in Pennsylvania coal country. Primarily known for the mine, but slightly less known as the birthplace of my dad. This guy is from my dad's hometown." I said.

Tony and Tim looked at each other and left Abby's lab.

I stood there staring at the ring.

"Have you ever been there?" Abby asked.

"I don't know. If I did I was probably young enough not to remember." I replied.

She hugged me as I laid my head on hers.

About an hour or so later I went up to the squad room right as they were informing dad of their findings.

"They returned from Iraq three weeks ago, arrived at Lejeune. No outgoing emails, no telephone calls, no visitors." Tim said.

"LaCombe?" I asked.

"Just, uh, one aunt on the mother's side: Janet LaCombe. Lives in Stillwater, Pennsylvania." Tony said teasing dad a bit.

"So I've heard." dad said.

"Abby and I lifted traces of anthracite off one of the splinters you recovered." I said.