Selena is walking through the street after lunch she just had in a diner when she hears it. Sirens are ringing and they are coming closer. She frantically looks around and then she sees a few police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance driving past at a high speed. Something in Selena's mind tells her to start running so she does. She runs in the direction the cars are going. The sirens stop and she spots the cars. She walks onto the parking lot and looks around for what they might be here for. Then she sees a few policemen standing beside each other and looking up. Selena looks up and sees a man standing on the ledge. She can see that he is wearing dark blue jeans and a white shirt with a blue and yellow jacket on top. She looks around the building and spots the side door. She runs towards it and inside, up the stairs towards the roof. She opens the door and steps onto the roof. She turns around and sees the head of the men poking out behind the small concrete block that leads to the stairwell. She drops her bag beside the concrete block and looks over the ledge at the men. "Get away from me." the man says as soon as he sees Selena. "I just want to talk." she says. "No!" the man yells while shaking his head. She sighs. "It would make it easier if I knew your name." Selena says. The man doesn't react. "What do you do for a living?" she asks. "I said leave me alone!" the man screams again. Selena sighs and looks down. She sees that another car has arrived. A black car, followed by a little white bus. There is some lettering on the hood of the white bus. Selena squints her eyes to try and make the letters out, but she is too high to make them out. Selena looks back at the man who shifts his feet forward. "Don't." Selena says and some kind of instinct takes over and she steps on the ledge. She hears the man panting heavily. "Whoa! Great view of the Washington Monument from up here." she says as she looks at it. She looks back at the man and he looks at her. "Tell me how I can help you." she says. "I don't want help!" the man says as he looks down. Selena sighs once again and looks down. She is really high up. She can't make a mistake cause she won't survive the fall if she does.
"Okay, so what you want to do is gain his confidence here, boss." she hears a familiar voice says. "He's been out there for a while. He's obviously having second thoughts." the same voice says. "Stay." another familiar voice says, closer this time. Selena looks to her right and sees Agent Gibbs. When he spots her he frowns. Just her luck, she wanted to help someone and he just had to be in the Navy. Selena gives him a small smile. "He won't give me his name." she says softly to Gibbs. Gibbs turns back around. "Is that Parker?" DiNozzo asks with a slightly opened mouth. Gibbs looks at him and he closes it. "Boss, you know, we could snap a picture of him with a cell, e-mail it to Abby, get her to run in through photo recognition. If he went to the Acadamy, we get a quick I.D." McGee says. "Do it." Gibbs says. "Me?" McGee asks. "It's your idea, McGee." Gibbs says. "Right." McGee says and he starts to carefully approach the ledge. Selena sees him climb on a set of fire stairs in the corner of her eye. He clings to the fire stairs as if his life depends on it, while he is literally five inches above solid ground. "Boss?" McGee says. Selena extends her right arm. "Give it to me." she says and McGee hands her the phone. She points the phone at the guy beside her on the ledge. "Don't come any closer." the man says shakily. She takes the photo. "What are you doing?" the man asks angrily. "You wouldn't give me your name." Selena says and she hands the phone back to McGee but before she can pull her hand back somebody presses something in her hand. She turns her head to the right and sees that it is DiNozzo. He gives her an encouraging smile. Selena glances at her hand and sees that it is an earpiece. She unsuspiciously reaches her right hand up to her right ear and puts it in. She looks back at the man and he shifts. She spots something grey. Her eyes slightly widen as she realizes what it is. She looks up and tries to act as if she just didn't see anything. "Miss Parker, he's got a gun." she hears McGee says through her earpiece. "Yeah, yeah. I know that McGee. I just saw it." Selena says as she pretends to scratch the side of her head so the man can't see her talk. She spots DiNozzo to her right who is pointing a gun at the man. She turns towards the man and sees David on the other side, also pointing a gun at them.
"His name is Lieutenant Michael Arnett. Stationed at the Pentagon. Academy class of '01. He's a linguist, translator. Married, no kids." McGee says over the comms. "So, Michael." Selena says. Michael looks at her and swallows. "Do you mind if I call you Michael?" she asks. "You can't help." Michael says. "I can try." Selena says as she slides towards him. "Don't." Michael says as he takes the gun out of his jacket and points it at the ground. Selena stops moving. "I do not have a shot. I'll hit Parker too." Selena hears Ziva say over the comms. "Lean back, Parker. Just ease back." DiNozzo says. But instead of leaning back, Selena turns her right shoulder forward so that she is blocking his line of sight at Michael. She is not about to let this man get shot. Not if she knows that she can help him. "All right, his wife works at a travel agency on K street. Name's Dana. She's at lunch. Her boss has no idea where she went." McGee says over the comms. "Do you want to talk to your wife? We are trying to reach her." Selena says. "No!" Michael says angrily. Selena frowns. "She left me." he says. "That's tough. But it's not worth your life." Selena says. "It's more complicated than that." Michael says. "Tell me." Selena says as she extends her left hand and takes a step towards him. "It's too late." Michael says. "He's got a sister. Her name's Rachel." McGee says over the comms. "Do you want to talk to Rachel?" Selena asks. Michael's face changes at the mention of his sister's name and Selena knows that Rachel could be a way to get him off of that ledge. "How old is she?" Selena asks. "Seventeen." Michael says. "Seventeen? What does that make her? A senior in high school?" Selena asks. Michael nods. "Do you want Rachel to remember this from her senior year?" Selena asks. Michael starts to sob. "I don't want to make that call, Mike." Selena says, knowing that his sister calls him that. "Um...Uh...Oh." Michael stammers. "Why don't we start with the gun?" Selena says. "I really messed up. I should have told someone." Michael says. "You can tell me. I'll help you." Selena says, genuinely meaning it. "You can trust me." she says as she takes another step toward him. Michael looks at her and Selena knows that she has gotten through to him. "Put it down." she says as she nods at the gun. He slowly moves down and lets the gun fall. Then he moves back up and looks at her. "I'll help you." Selena says and he nods slightly. "Take it real easy." Selena says as she takes a few steps toward him and extends her hand. He moves to take her hand but then a shot is fired. Michael grunts and starts to fall. Selena grabs the edge of the concrete block with one hand and reaches for his hand with her other hand. She catches hold of his hand, but then it slips. "No!" Selena yells as his body falls down and hits the ground. Selena's head shoots up and she frantically looks around at the buildings surrounding the parking lot. Somebody just shot him. Selena looks back at the dead body that now lies on the ground.
"You can come down now." someone says and she looks to her right and sees that DiNozzo is looking at her. "Right." she says and she carefully shuffles back and stands back down on the rooftop. When Selena looks up she is met with Gibbs's stare. "Look I heard the sirens and I ran after them and then I saw him and I just walked up since the rest of them weren't doing anything." she says, trying to explain herself. "He would've jumped if I hadn't stood on the ledge next to him." she says, slightly raising her eyebrows at Gibbs. "And he would've come down if he hadn't been shot." David says as she joins them. "Right. Seems like you have got work to do, I will leave you to it." Selena says as she grabs her bag from the ground and starts to walk towards the door that leads to the stairwell. "You aren't going anywhere." Gibbs says. Selena stops and turns back around. McGee, DiNozzo, and David frown. "What do you mean?" Selena asks. "You start today." Gibbs says. Selena looks at him with a very confused look. Gibbs walks past her and down the stairs. "Did he just...What?" Selena stammers as she looks at the rest of the team. They look just as confused as she does. Then it hits her. "Oh no she did not." Selena mumbles as she turns around and walks after Gibbs. She walks outside and sees him standing next to the little bus. "Did Jenny set you up to do this?" she asks as she stops in front of Gibbs. Gibbs raises an eyebrow. "Of course she did." Selena says. "Slug is flattened." someone says and Selena spins around and sees David approaching. "Not much for Abby to work with." she says as she stops beside them. "She had success with less." Gibbs says as he walks towards the car. "Shot definitely came from the building across from the hotel." DiNozzo says as he joins Gibbs's side. "Door to the roof was picked." McGee says as he joins his other side. David and Selena follow them. "No shell casings, no prints, nothing. Several people in the building heard the shot. Witnesses on the street saw the flash." McGee says. "Guy's going to kill himself. When he doesn't someone does it for him. Why?" DiNozzo says. "Arnett's apartment." Gibbs says to DiNozzo and nods in Selena's direction. Then he walks towards the car. "Color back now that you're on terra firma there, probalicious?" DiNozzo says to McGee. "Hey, I would have done it." McGee says. "Only...uh, you didn't." DiNozzo says. "I think he's more afraid of heights than you are." Selena says to McGee. "Please. I rock-climbed." DiNozzo says. David chuckles. "Yeah, 20 feet with a harness to impress a girl." she says "Well, it worked." DiNozzo says and Selena lets out a laugh. He looks at her. "I would watch it...Probie." he says. "Probie?" Selena scoffs. "Well, it looks like you will be joining the team which would make you our probationary agent." he says. "Yes, I know what it looks like." Selena snaps. "Whoa-oh." DiNozzo says as he puts his hands up. "Probie's got some anger inside." he says. "Just leave me alone DiNozzo." Selena says as she follows McGee to the little bus. "Just ignore him." McGee says. "Yeah, well easier said than done." Selena says. McGee pulls off his NCIS jacket and hands it to her. "What do you want me to do with this?" she asks. "Well, Gibbs wants you to go with DiNozzo to Arnett's apartment, so you'll need this. It's procedure." he says. "Are you kidding me?" Selena mumbles. "Welcome to the team." McGee says and he walks away. Selena looks at him walk away and then locks eyes with DiNozzo who is walking towards the little bus with a big smirk. Selena rolls her eyes and walks towards the passenger side while putting the jacket on. She gets in and waits for DiNozzo to get in and start driving.
When they arrive at Arnett's apartment the building manager opens his apartment for them and DiNozzo hands her a pair of white latex gloves. Selena takes them and puts them on. They walk into the hall of the apartment. Selena takes the first right and sees that she has entered the living room. She looks around, there aren't many things in the living room. She walks around and starts to look for something suspicious. "There's absolutely no evidence a woman lived here." DiNozzo says after a while. Selena sighs, actually having enjoyed the silence. "Well, the manager said she moved out a week ago." Selena says. "Gibbs was right. In a divorce, the guy gets screwed." DiNozzo says as he walks further into the hall. "She left him diddly-squat." DiNozzo says. "Maybe she had a good reason to leave him." Selena says as she walks towards the kitchen. "Poor guy's sleeping on a blow-up bed." DiNozzo says. "Good marriage needs good communication." Selena says as she walks towards a bookcase full of photos. "Here's another reason he'd want to end it all-rejuvenator." DiNozzo says as Selena picks up a photo. It is a photo of a woman who has short blond hair and is wearing a blue bikini. It's probably his wife. "Arnett was losing his hair." DiNozzo says. "Maybe he didn't talk to her anymore." Selena says as she put the picture back. "He was younger than I am." DiNozzo says. Selena rolls her eyes. "Or didn't listen." she says as she walks over to the coffee table. "Aha! She did leave him something." DiNozzo says. Selena looks up and he walks inside the living room with a pink toothbrush in his hand. "A sad commentary on the state of matrimony?" Selena says sarcastically. "No. A pink toothbrush." DiNozzo says. Selena rolls her eyes and continues on in the kitchen.
"Confucius say, 'Life's many pleasures await you.'" DiNozzo says as he reads the little paper that was in his fortune cookie. Selena and DiNozzo are back from Arnett's apartment and Abby brought them all fortune cookies, well all except Selena because she didn't know that Selena would be there. "What'd yours say?" Abby asks McGee. McGee opens the cookie. "As you approach life's crossroads, look both ways." he says and looks up at Abby with slightly raised eyebrows. "I'm sure it's meaningful. Just think about it and search your inner self." Abby says and hands him a card. "Lisa Nerlman, Hypnotherapist." McGee says as he reads the card. He looks over at DiNozzo and DiNozzo looks at his computer screen. "What is this for?" McGee asks as he looks back at Abby. "She does wonders with phobias." Abby says. "Tony, who else did you tell?" McGee asks. "I told you it was a very sensitive subject, Abby." DiNozzo says and Selena shakes her head as she continues typing on the laptop in her lap. It's Arnett's laptop. She of course made sure that Abby whipped the whole laptop for prints and that she could use it. So she is currently trying to break into the laptop. "Your turn." Abby says as she walks towards David's desk. David laughs. "I refuse to make decisions based on stupid sayings stuffed inside stale cookies." she says and throws the cookie at Abby. "Welcome an invitation to change your financial future." Abby reads aloud. She puts the little paper back on David's desk. "Got to go." she says as she walks away. As soon as Abby is out of hearing range DiNozzo stands up. "That was incredible. It was fate that Abby opened that cookie." he says. "She's good. She didn't blink an eye." David says. "That's why I don't play poker with her." McGee says. "No tell." DiNozzo says.
"Uh, he was sleeping on an air mattress, Boss." DiNozzo says as he spots Gibbs and quickly walks back towards his desk. "The wife?" Gibbs asks. "Staying at the Lafayette Court Hotel. She's coming in at five. Wants to talk to Arnett's parents first." David says and Gibbs stops in front of the desk Selena is sitting on top of. "Would have bet we'd find a suicide note. No luck." DiNozzo says. "Ah, that'd be too easy." Gibbs says. Gibbs nods at McGee. "He's a second-generation American. Grandparents immigrated from Syria. His fluency in Arabic led to his advancement and special assignments in the Middle East. Presently assigned to the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Combating Terrorism. Other than that I can't tell you much, I'm getting stonewalled by the Pentagon. They won't even connect me to his CO." McGee says. Gibbs turns towards Selena who is sitting on the desk. She can feel his eyes on her but she doesn't look up. "I am trying to break into his laptop..." she starts but then the desktop appears. "Scratch that, I broke into his laptop." she says as she starts to search, but there is nothing on there. "It appears that it has been wiped clean." she says. Gibbs opens his mouth to say something but the telephone starts reading. "Yeah, Gibbs." he says as he picks up the phone. The person on the other side of the line says something. "On my way." he says and hangs up the phone. "Let's go, McGee. You're with me." he says as he starts walking towards the stairs. McGee stands up and follows him. Selena closes the laptop and walks downstairs towards the lab.
"Miss Scuito?" she says as she walks through the doors of the lab. Abby turns around stiffly when she hears Selena's voice. "Miss Parker." she says with an uncomfortable smile. "I am here to bring back the laptop. I've had no luck, unfortunately. It appears to have been wiped and I couldn't find anything." Selena says as she places the laptop on the metal table that stands in the room. "However I've heard that you have exceptional skills so maybe you can get something off of it." Selena says as she takes off her gloves and walks towards the garbage bin. She throws them into the bin and looks at Abby with a smile. Abby still looks uncomfortable. "Look, Miss Scuito. I didn't want to be on the team, in fact, I still don't want to be on the team. I think Jenny asked Agent Gibbs, or rather ordered since he doesn't seem to like me, to put me on the team. So I am going to tell her that I am quitting once we solve this case. So don't worry I am not here to disrupt the team. I'll be gone before you know it." Selena says. Abby frowns, she opens her mouth to say something but then her phone rings. "Right, I'll leave you to it." Selena says and she walks back towards the elevator and goes up towards the squad room.
"Our marriage was doomed from the start." Mrs. Arnett says. Selena, David, and Gibbs are currently in the conference room with Arnett's wife. When Selena came back from Abby's lab she tried to map the past few days of Arnett's life. Then Gibbs and McGee came back from the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Combating Terrorism. They didn't get much but found a doctor Arnett went to and Gibbs sent McGee and DiNozzo to check it out. He then told Selena to follow David and him to the conference room. He told her that she couldn't say anything but just observe. Well, he didn't exactly say that. "Observe." was all he said before he opened the door and walked inside. Selena guessed that she needed to observe to know how an interview works. I mean, of course, she knows how an interview works but she guesses that Gibbs just hasn't read her file yet. Either way, she is indeed planning to observe so she can know how they all work together. Not that it will matter since she won't be staying. "The Navy took advantage of Michael's language skills. They assigned and reassigned him to dangerous posts in the Middle East. The few times he was home, he was uptight. He wouldn't want to talk about what he did. I became more and more frustrated." Mrs. Arnett says. "Did you discuss it with him?" David asks. "We tried marriage counseling. It didn't help. Micheal couldn't open up." Mrs. Arnett answers. "Did you know he was seeing a psychiatrist?" David asks. Mrs. Arnett looks up at David, a bit surprised. "No. I-I wanted him to get help. I-I didn't think he would." Mrs. Arnett says. Selena frowns. "It was your idea to separate." Gibbs says. "I thought it would force him to face our problems. It was a mistake." Miss Arnett says. "Where did you meet?" David asks. "The National Gallery. An exhibit of Mesopotamian art. I was standing admiring a sculpture, and Micheal was behind me. He began explaining the piece to me. He brought it to life. He was the most intelligent man I ever met. And he made me laugh. Haven't seen him laugh in a long time." Miss Arnett says, smiling at the memory of how they met. "You're not surprised he was suicidal." Gibbs states. Mrs. Arnett shakes her head. "What does surprise me is that he was murdered. Why, Agent Gibbs? Why?" she asks. "We will find out Mrs. Arnett. Thank you for coming." David says as she stands up. Mrs. Arnett follows her lead and they both walk out of the conference room. She feels Gibbs staring at her. "You have a theory?" he asks, seeing the look on her face. "I don't know yet." Selena says. She walks out of the conference room and back to her desk. She sits on top of the desk and puts her laptop on her lap. She cracks her finger and starts looking into the life of Dana Arnett.
~
"You know I don't need you to make decisions for me." Selena says angrily to Jenny as she walks out of Jenny's office and towards the stairs the next day. "I did if for you." Jenny says. "I don't need your help and you know it." Selena says back as she starts to walk down the stairs, Jenny following her. "Come on Selena it was time that you started doing something again instead of just-" Jenny starts. "I don't need your help!" Selena yells as she turns around to look at Jenny. Jenny looks at her with a knowing look and Selena sighs. "Look I just don't like the fact that you told Gibbs to put me on the team because you know how it is." Selena says. "I know." Jenny says and smiles. Selena looks at Jenny and she innocently looks back. "Fine, I'll try." Selena says and turns around and continues to walk down the stairs. When she walks into the squad room she sees that McGee is on the phone and looking at her. There is also a woman with black hair standing in the middle of the squad room, who is also looking at her. David and DiNozzo appear to have just arrived since they are standing at the entry of the squad room and are also looking at her. "Morning everyone." Selena says as she walks towards her desk. She squeezes between her and David's and sits down on the chair. "Guys, this is Nikki Jardine. She's an intel analyst who had contact with Arnett. She's going to be working with us." McGee says nodding at the woman standing in the middle of the squad room. "Yes, I am still on hold." McGee says, returning to his phone call. "Hi. I'm Ziva David. I've seen you around." David says as she approaches Jardine. She extends her hand and Jardine looks at it. "I'm sorry. I don't shake hands." Jardine says. "I guess a hug's out of the question." DiNozzo says and smiles. He extends his hand in a fist. "Anthony DiNozzo." he says. Jardine gives him a fist bump and David turns around. "Behave yourself, Tony." David says.
"McGee?" Gibbs asks as he comes walking towards the squad room. David sits down at her desk and so does Gibbs. DiNozzo goes to stand behind McGee who is still sitting at his desk. "Boss, can't find a judge to sign the warrant. No one wants to violate the patient-client privilege." McGee says. "Um, I know we started off on the wrong foot last night, and I just want-" Jardine starts as she walks towards Gibbs's desk. "Got something?" Gibbs interrupts her. "I spoke with a crypto-analyst at the Pentagon. Lieutenant Arnett returned from the Middle East two weeks ago. He passed through the NCIS field office in Djibouti. With your permission, I'd like to contact the special agent in charge there." Jardine says. "Do it." Gibbs answers. Jardine starts to walk out of the squad room. "Where are you going, Jardine?" Gibbs asks. She stops and turns towards him. "To my office to make the call." she says. Gibbs points at a desk that stands behind the divider beside McGee's desk. She walks towards the desk and sits down. "We have background Lieutenant Arnett's family." David says. "Arnett's grandparents lived the American dream, boss. Came to this country as teenagers. Opened a small appliance shop in the '60s." DiNozzo pauses which makes Selena look up at him. He is looking at Agent Jardine who just sat down. She is whipping the phone clean. "Which evolved into a chain of electronics stores." DiNozzo continues. Everybody watches what Jardine is doing. "Nineteen, to be exact. Grossing over $250 million last year." David says as she stands up to better watch Jardine. She leans onto Selena's desk. "We're talking big family money. If there's a prenup, the soon-to-be ex-wife stands to lose a fortune. Think Black Widow Theresa Russel film of the same name." DiNozzo says. "All right, Tony." David says as she looks at him. "Dana Arnett, travel agent, is a crack shot with a sniper rifle?" David asks. "Could've hired a hitman." DiNozzo says. "Get her in here again." Gibbs says. DiNozzo, who is holding a bottle of water, puts some water on his fingers and walks towards Jardine. He pretends to sneeze and flicks his fingers, making it look like he sneezed on her. Jardine jumps. "I'm sorry. I have allergies." DiNozzo says and turns around and walks to his desk.
A while later the whole team is once again in the squad room. This time because Agent Jardine found something and is explaining what it is. "Mid-Eastern ancestry. Arab-speaking. Naval Academy graduate. Intelligence officer in the Pentagon. He is the perfect deep-cover mole. Sort of an Arab version of Kevin Costner in No Way Out." Jardine says. "A movie buff. One more thing you two have in common." David, who is standing next to DiNozzo's desk, says to DiNozzo. "Arnett's juggling two lives. Things are closing in on him. He's stressed to the max, on antidepressants, a liability to his al-Qaeda handlers. When he doesn't jump, they terminate him before he can expose their cell." Jardine says. Selena, who is sitting at her desk, puts her head in her hands. "Nah. I still like the wife. Had him killed for the money. There's a prenup. If he dies before they get divorced, she gets the big check. If he dies after, she gets zip." DiNozzo says. "Yeah, why the suicide attempt, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asks. "I'm still working on that part, boss." DiNozzo says. "We know why he was suicidal." Abby says as she comes walking into the squad room together with Dr. Mallard. Selena looks up at them. "Abby found Timolol in Lieutenant Arnett's blood. It's used to treat glaucoma." Dr. Mallard says. "He didn't have glaucoma." Abby says. "So why'd he take it?" McGee asks. "Well, that's the best part. He didn't know he was. Someone substituted timolol for his contact-lens solution His lenses were soaking in it all night." Abby says. "It's the equivalent of wearing nicotine patches on his eyes. I mean, the level of the drug was twenty times the recommended dosage." Dr. Mallard says. "I still haven't heard why he was suicidal." Gibbs says. "Because the combination of the eye medication and the antidepressant he was taking has a serious side effect. Severe clinical depression." Abby says. "Well, I think you're overlooking an obvious character." McGee says. "Character?" DiNozzo says and chuckles as he stands up. "This isn't one of your novels, Mr. Gemcity." he continues as he walks to stand beside McGee. "Dr. Fleming has anti-government leanings. He prescribed the antidepressant and would know the combined drugs side effects. If Arnett discussed classified information during their sessions, Fleming could have passed the intel on. There's your spy." McGee says, directing the last part towards DiNozzo. "Oh, yes, probie but the wife had access to the contact lenses." DiNozzo says. "That does not prove anything. McGee found a bottle of lens solution in Arnett's Pentagon desk." David says as she stands up and squeezes between her and Selena's desks to stand with them. "Your-Your point?" DiNozzo asks. "Captain Walsh had access to his desk, and as Arnett's CO, knowledge of his intel." David answers. "That's the weakest point of all." DiNozzo says. And just like that, Jardine, David, McGee, and DiNozzo start arguing with each other. They are talking loudly through each other so you can't hear a thing. Gibbs whistles loudly as he rises from his chair. "Hey!" he shouts, which makes them stop arguing and look at them. "Break up the dog pile. This is a murder investigation, and I am hearing a lot of theories here and not much else. Get on it!" Gibbs says. Abby and Dr. Mallard walk away and everyone sits back down at their desks and starts looking into their theories.
Selena looks to her left and sees that Gibbs is looking at her. She smiles at him and she gets up from her chair and squeezes between her and David's desk. She walks towards the big window that overlooks the Navy Yard. She can't get that last moment out of her head. Arnett was ready to come down with her and tell her something. If she had just gotten there sooner this might never have happened. She hears footsteps walking closer and out of the corner of her eye she sees a figure coming to a stop beside her. "No one could have saved him, Selena." she hears DiNozzo's voice say. She doesn't look at him and continues looking outside. "He was dead the moment he stepped out on that ledge." he continues. "Is that what Gibbs has to tell his sister?" she asks. She sighs once again and walks towards the elevator to get down to autopsy. When she steps out of the elevator and into the autopsy room, she is met with the face of a young man with glasses who she hasn't seen before. "Uhm, hi. I'm Selena Parker. I'm working with the team on the case of Lieutenant Arnett." Selena says. "Hi, I'm Jimmy Palmer. I'm working with Dr. Mallard." Jimmy says. Selena hears a door open and she looks towards the sound. "Ah, Miss Parker. What can I do for you?" Dr. Mallard asks when he sees her. "I was wondering if you could show me Lieutenant Arnett." Selena says. "Do you want us to look at something again?" Dr. Mallard asks. "Oh no, no Dr. Mallard. I just want to take a look at him, that's all." Selena says. "Alright. And please, call me Ducky." Dr. Mallard says and smiles at her. He nods at Jimmy and Jimmy walks towards the morgue. He opens the second one to the right on the top row and slides the plate out. A white sheet is covering the whole body. "Thank you." Selena says to Jimmy as she looks at the place where his face lies under the white sheet. Jimmy looks at Dr. Mallard hesitantly and he nods. Jimmy walks away and disappears into the room where Dr. Mallard just came from. Selena takes a deep breath and raises her hands. She carefully folds back the white sheet to uncover Arnett's face.
"Is something bothering you?" Dr. Mallard asks who is now standing on the other side of the plate, looking at her. "We are investigating a homicide and a suicide." Selena says as she looks up at Dr. Mallard. "He was coming in. Wanted to tell me something." she continues. "You know it is not your fault. You couldn't have done anything. You were getting him off that ledge and someone shot him. That is not your fault. Anyone could have done that." Dr. Mallard says. Selena sighs. "I guess you are right. Anyone could have done that." Selena says. "Thank you, Docter." Selena says as she puts the sheet back over Arnett's face and slides him back into the morgue. Dr. Mallard smiles and Selena leaves the autopsy room and steps into the elevator. She goes up one floor and when she steps out of the elevator she hears DiNozzo say "No. I did.". She walks inside Abby's lab and sees that Jardine, McGee, and DiNozzo are there. "I've got seniority." DiNozzo says. "Yes, but I-" Jardine starts. Selena whistles loudly, which gets their attention and makes them all look at her. Abby looks at her with a bit of a relieved expression because the other three have stopped talking. Selena opens her mouth to say that they should all leave Abby alone to do her work but Abby beats her to it. "Back off!" she says loudly, making everyone look back at Abby. "All of you, okay? I am one person." she continues. "Whoa. Easy, Abs." Gibbs says as he comes walking into the lab. "No! It's late. I am tired, I am overworked, and I am taken for granted." Abby says as she looks back at her computer. Gibbs looks surprised, turns around, and takes a few steps. Then he stops and looks back at Abby. "Maybe you should accept that job offer." he says. Abby snaps her head towards him, eyebrows frowned. She takes a few steps toward him. DiNozzo's face is surprised and his mouth falls open a bit. Abby smacks him on the back of the head like she knows what he is thinking without looking at him. "Oh." DiNozzo says surprised. Abby has turned back to Gibbs. "I can't believe you'd say that to me, Gibbs. How could you think that I would be leaving? 'Cause I got a little mad? So what? We're family. That's allowed. I get three or four job offers every year. I've never considered any of them." Abby says in a calmer tone and turns back to the computer. "Then why'd you have dinner with that headhunter?" DiNozzo asks. Abby turns around to look at him and he takes a small step back. "Have you ever had the Beluga caviar at the Ritz-Carlton?" Abby asks. "Oh, God, yeah." Jardine says. "And besides, it was nice to feel wanted." she says and turns back around. "Now get out of here, all of you. I have work to do." Abby says. Everyone starts to walk away and Gibbs slaps DiNozzo on the back of the head. "Oh! What was that for?" DiNozzo asks. "Spreading rumors." Gibbs says.
Selena remains standing. "Are you okay?" she asks. "I am, and thank you for silencing them." Abby says as she gives Selena a small smile. "Anytime." Selena answers as she gives Abby a big smile. "So who do you think did it?" Abby asks. "I-" Selena starts. "Anyone could have done it." Dr. Mallard voice echoes through her head. She looks up. "I think the wife did it." she says. "DiNozzo! Get back in here!" Abby yells. "You might wanna stay for this then." she says to Selena. DiNozzo walks back into the lab and stands next to Selena. "I got a DNA match from Interpol." Abby says and the photo of the wife pops up on the screen. DiNozzo smiles. "I knew it. Thank you Abby." he says and he turns around and walks out of the room. "I guess that means no more work for you tonight." Selena says and she smiles at Abby and follows DiNozzo into the elevator. They walk into the squad room. "You losers might want to follow us. Boss, need you in MTAC. Clearly, you're not one of the losers." DiNozzo says as he walks through the squad room. "My hunch paid off. Figured the Black Widow might have a felony record. Abby just got a DNA match from Interpol." he continues as he turns around to look at the rest of the team.
Everybody stands up and they walk towards MTAC. When they walk in they see a man in his suit from Interpol. "Her real name is Najida Mamud, an agent of the Syrian Mukhabarat." the man says. The team sees a photo of Mrs. Arnett with long brown hair and a gun slung over her shoulder. "A gifted linguist, she was educated in England and secretly trained in weaponry, martial arts, and covert operations." the man continues. "Ziva, she's you." DiNozzo says. "Najida Mamud was in an al-Qaeda camp in Sudan until we lost track of her three years ago. We thought she was in Pakistan." the man continues. "She was obviously smuggled into the U.S. and then deep backstopped with impeccable Amercan I.D." DiNozzo says. Gibbs walks to the side to take a better look at the photo. "Homeland Security's worst fear." McGee says. "And ours. Let me know if you apprehend her." the man says and the call disconnects. "Lieutenant Arnett didn't casually meet his wife at a museum. She set him up just like Kathleen Turner set up William Hurt in Body Heat." DiNozzo says. "Lieutenant Arnett wasn't the mole." David says. "He was married to the mole." Gibbs says and he walks out of MTAC. The rest of the team follows him. "How did she know he was going to jump off a building?" David asks as they walk down the stairs. "Didn't. She was drugging him, building a case for his depression." McGee says. "So when she killed him, overdosed, slit his wrists, whatever, it would appear to be suicide." DiNozzo says. "He must have realized that he was the source of the leak that got his operative killed." David says. "Reason enough to jump?" Jardine asks. "Guess when we got involved, she had no choice. Had to take him out." McGee says as they all enter the squad room and go to their desks. Selena stands in the middle. He was really gonna die either way. She couldn't have saved him. "Boss, I'm going to put out a BOLO, notify Homeland Security." McGee says. "I will call the hotel, see if she's there." David says. "I'm getting the car, boss." DiNozzo says. "What can I do?" Jardine asks. "Assignment's over." Gibbs says to her as he walks past her. He thinks of something and turns back. He writes something in his small notebook and rips out the page. "You can get me that phone number." Gibbs says as he hands the note to Jardine.
In the meantime, Selena walked behind her desk and put her laptop in her bag. Like Gibbs said, assignment is over. Which means she can leave now and live her life somewhere else than in the NCIS building. "Dana Arnett notified the front desk that she's checking out." David says and she and Gibbs start walking toward the elevator. "Parker we ain't got all day." Gibbs yells. Selena sighs and runs after them. She joins them in the elevator and they go down. They walk out of the building and the car with DiNozzo in the driver's seat is standing in front of the building. They all get into the car and they quickly drive towards the hotel. McGee hands her an NCIS jacket when they are in the car. "Figured you don't have one yet." McGee says as he puts on his own. "Thanks." Selena says and she puts on the jacket. They enter the parking garage. "She left the lobby less than a minute ago." David says as they get out of the car. "DiNozzo, McGee, Parker, start at the top, work your way down." Gibbs says as he takes his gun out of his holster. The other three also take their gun out of their holsters. They split up and start searching. "You haven't got a gun yet?" McGee asks. "No." Selena answers. "And why is that?" DiNozzo asks. "Because I didn't even know that I was going to be working with you guys." Selena says. DiNozzo, McGee, and Parker are at the top. "Stay with me." McGee says as he walks to the left to search for Dana Arnett. DiNozzo walks to the right to check a level lower. Suddenly the sound of a squealing car is heard. Selena looks around but doesn't see a car.
"Boss!" DiNozzo screams. Selena runs towards the middle and looks over the edge. DiNozzo is hanging over the edge. She immediately starts running. "Pull the fire alarm! McGee, level seven." Selena hears Gibbs yell over the comms. A few seconds later she hears the alarm blaring. "Probie!" DiNozzo yells and Selena looks over the edge as she continues running. She is almost there, just one more level. "This is now how I want it to end!" DiNozzo says. "Hang on, Tony. I am coming." McGee yells. She hears Tony grunt and takes a deep breath and runs faster. She sees his hands and runs towards the edge. She hangs over and grabs his shoulder. "Dah! It's about-" DiNozzo starts but stops when he realizes it isn't McGee. "What? Weren't expecting me?" Selena asks as she starts to pull. She pulls him up a bit and places her hand in his armpit and hauls. He gets up higher and she grabs his leg and pulls him over the edge. They both fall down on the ground and lean against the stones. McGee stops in front of them. "Seems you were a tad late." DiNozzo says as he lets out a breath. "You're welcome." Selena says as she takes deep breaths. DiNozzo looks at her as he also takes in deep breaths. Selena raises her eyebrows at him, but DiNozzo doesn't say anything. "Allright." Selena says as she gets up and dusts herself off. She starts walking down towards the base level. She is just in time to see Najida get put into a car with cuffs on. The car with her in it drives away and Gibbs and David turn around. "Glad to see you are okay DiNozoo." David says. Selena rolls her eyes. "Ungratefull ass." she murmurs as she walks past David towards the car. She sits in the back seat and waits until the rest gets in so they can go back towards the navy yard.
~
"Are you gonna do it or not?" Jenny asks Selena. Selena leans back in the chair in Jenny's office. "It does feel satisfactory to be helping people." she says. Jenny smiles. "Ugh. I hate you do you know that?" Selena says as she looks back at Jenny. "Great. I arranged for your assessment tomorrow at nine." she says. "You knew?" Selena asks. "Of course I knew. I know you and I know that once you had a taste of this that you wanted to do this." Jenny says. "You are lucky I like you." Selena says and they both laugh. She gets outs of the chair and walks towards the door. "Don't be late." Jenny says as Selena opens the door. "I'll try not to be." Selena says back as she closes the door. Selena walks down the stairs towards the squad room where Abby, McGee, David and DiNozzo are standing. Abby has a bouquet of black roses in her hands and hands one to DiNozzo as Selena walks past them. She grabs her bag from behind the desk and swings it over her shoulder. She spots David looking at her. "Whats up?" Selena asks. "Will we see you tomorrow?" David asks her. "You'll see me when I've passed my assessment." Selena says with a smile. David gives her a smile. "Until then." she says. Selena nods and walks out of the squad room. She presses the button to go down the elevator and the doors open. She looks back one more time before she gets in the elevator. The next time she'll be here she will be here because it's her job.
~ /̵͇̿̿/'̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ~
7572 words
(14/11/2022)