Trauma Queen: A NCIS Fanfiction

Chapter Thirteen

I started photographing the scene as if it wasn't only my second crime scene. There was a petty officer, named James LaClair, dismembered and scattered around a ship yard. They had found his body parts in various shipping crates throughout the yard. His head was in one place and his legs were at least a quarter mile away. I felt nauseous as I photographed his body pieces, the silence of the ship yard making me uneasy. I felt like I was being watched. I constantly checked over my shoulder, expecting to see some crazy killer standing right behind me.

Once I was finished with photos, I walked back to where Gibbs was to see if he needed anything. He told me to go with Ducky as Jimmy was out sick today and my medical background could help in autopsy. I nodded, handed the camera to Ziva, and went to help Ducky load the body parts into the body bag from the ME van.

"Thank you for helping me today Miss Cahn." Ducky's accent always made me smile.

"Of course Ducky! I'm a bit excited about getting to learn from you. The human body is so fascinating to me." I thought back to my EMT training and I loved learning about anatomy and physiology of each part of the human body. It was amazing.

He smiled. "Yes, well I'm glad because it's going to be a long day today. We have to figure out this meat puzzle and then go on to determining cause of death before the end of the day."

I nodded. "Anything you need Doctor. I'm here to assist!"

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"Ducky, do you see the slices on his ankles?" I asked, examining our petty officer's legs closely. There were tiny slices that looked almost like paper cuts all along his ankles and feet. Ducky came close to me and realized what I had seen.

Ducky moved to look at the petty officer's wrists and saw sure enough he had the same cuts there too. "Well this certainly wasn't the cause of his demise, but it sure looked like someone was trying to torture him."

I nodded. "So maybe he had information about someone or something and wouldn't give it up?"

Ducky shook his head. "Those are good observations Naomi, but you're doing an agent's job, not a medical examiner's job. We don't assume why, we first start with the what and the how. And then sometimes we go onto the Why. I remember this one case, back when I first started here." Ducky proceeded to go on about some case where he made too many assumptions and ended up hindering the investigation.

After what felt like hours, I was beginning to feel tired. I excused myself for some coffee and went upstairs to the break room to pour myself a cup. I trudged up the stairs, not wanting to go back in the elevator after this morning, and was a little winded when I got to the top.

I saw Abby in the break room when I got there and she waved me over, a huge smile on her face. "Hey, Naomi! I have someone who's interested in going on a date with you! Friday at 8 you're going to meet him at La Bella Nota, that Italian place on 47th. He's really cute and you're going to thank me for this, I just know it."

I giggled. "All right, thanks Abby. What's his name? Can I see a picture?"

She shook her head. "Oh, no no. It's a blind date! He doesn't have any information either."

I groaned. "But Abby what if he doesn't like me? Or he doesn't think I'm pretty?"

She laughed and took me by my shoulders. "Trust me. I know he will think you are stunning. I have no doubt in that."

"Thanks Abby." I gave her a hug. "I appreciate you doing this for me. I owe you one."

She smiled. "You're just going to have to give me all the details afterwards, all right? You have to promise you will."

"I promise Abby. I'll need someone to gush about him to!"

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"Ziva?" I called as I was leaving work for the night. It was 1700 and I didn't think I would be getting off so early.

Ziva was sitting at her desk, logging off her computer. She lifted her head and gave me a smile. "Naomi, what do you need?"

"So I don't know if you'd want to help me with this, but I have a date Friday and I don't know what to wear. So I was wondering if maybe you'd want to go shopping with me?" I asked. Ziva and I hadn't spent all that much time together and I definitely wanted that to change. We shared a common heritage and I wanted to know more about her.

She nodded. "Of course. I'm leaving now, did you want to go over to the mall?"

I smiled. "Yeah, if that's all right? We can go another day if that's better for you."

She shook her head. "Let's go now. I need some new clothing anyways." She walked over to me and squeezed my shoulder comfortingly. "Are you all right?"

We began walking and I sighed as I thought about whether or not I wanted to answer. "It's a difficult time of year for me."

She nodded. "I understand. If you want to talk about it, I'm here to lend an ear."

"Thanks Ziva. I lost my family almost seven years ago now and it's hard when the anniversary comes up."

"I'm sorry. I too lost family a while ago. My brother was killed." She looked down, sad.

"Mine as well. I'm sorry Ziva."

The car ride to the mall was silent, neither of us actually knowing what to say. Our first real conversation together was about death; it was a great first conversation.

When we got to the mall, Ziva dragged me into some store called AMI that only sold dresses. We shifted through racks of sale dresses, trying to find something that was cute, but not too sexy. I wanted to make a first impression that I was cute and feminine, but not easy. It was a blind date and first impressions were everything.

I collected only one dress and brought it into the dressing room with me. I slipped into it and twirled around in the mirror. It was an A-line white dress with off the shoulder sleeves and a blue floral pattern that fell mid thigh. The back was criss cross straps and I fell so in love with the dress.

"Ziva, are you out there? I think I found my dress!" I squealed, loving how I looked.

"Yes! Give me one second, I'm zipping up a dress," She responded from the changing room over. "Okay I'm ready!"

The two of us stepped out of the dressing room and immediately gasped. "Ziva you look amazing!" She had on a plain tight black dress that had a zipper down the front of it. The zipper went the length of the dress and even though it wasn't low cut, it was a sexy dress.

"Me? Look at you! That dress is perfect for you. Your hair looks amazing with it."

I smiled. "Thank you! You should wear your hair down more often; it looks very beautiful!"

We giggled as we changed back into our day clothes and paid for our dresses. We left the mall laughing and smiling, knowing a friendship was forming. I was glad to have a friend in Ziva. She was a strong and independent woman and I admired her for her resilience. She worked in an office of guys and didn't let them push her around because of her gender. I had a feeling the boys were just slightly intimidated by her.

When I got home, I hung my dress and smiled at it. I was going to look stunning on Friday. My date wasn't going to know what hit him. I fell asleep thinking about my mystery man and how our date would go. And honestly, I was so excited about it.