Chapter 1

Ducky arrived and saw Palmer across the beach. He smiled as he walked towards him. The sun shone on his back and he felt the heat. His mentee was about to get married and he was happy to be there to support him. But, as Ducky walked across the beach, a pain grabbed him in the chest. "It's ok, just a bit of heartburn" he told himself, but this did not help him. Gradually the pain became worse and worse. Ducky suddenly found he couldn't walk anymore, he grabbed his chest as his legs gave way and he collapsed on the sand. Palmer, watching him from afar, started running to Ducky, as Ducky found it hard to breathe. Concentrating on his breathing, Ducky suddenly realised that Palmer was beside him.

"Dr Mallard?" Palmer asked.

"Mr Palmer?" Ducky responded.

"Dr Mallard, I'll call for help. Just stay with me!"

"H h h help me... tell Jethro... find Caitlyn" was Ducky's response.

"Caitlyn?" asked Palmer.

"Caitlyn is alive... it is time Jethro found her" and then Ducky fell into an uneasy slumber. After checking that Ducky was still alive and breathing, and that the ambulance was indeed on its way, Palmer then calls Gibbs at NCIS. Unknown to Palmer, NCIS is in lock-down following a recently detonated bomb onsite.

"Gibbs" is the answer on the mobile.

"Agent Gibbs, this is Jimmy Palmer. I have some bad news about Dr Mallard"

No response from the other end.

"... oh... well... Dr Mallard has been taken ill. He collapsed and is being taken to hospital."

"How is Ducky now?"

"Well, he is coping now. He will need some support, but I think the emergency medical team will pull him through"

"Good, we'll see Ducky when he gets home." Gibbs is about to cut Palmer off

"There is a message Agent Gibbs," Palmer responds, "Dr Mallard said you must find Caitlyn?" Palmer himself is not sure of the message. He hopes that Gibbs understands.

"Find Caitlyn? Are you sure that is the message?" asks Gibbs, confused now.

"Yes" replied Palmer.

Gibbs hangs up. He cannot deal with this now. He needs to ensure the rest of his team are ok. He needs to think carefully how he is going to get his team to work on this. Caitlyn Todd is dead. He knows this. Heck, he even saw this with his own eyes. He saw the bullet hit her in the head. He ensured that the bastard that killed her died. They buried her. They saw her laid to rest and then they moved on, as they felt she should. But he didn't forget her. And he knew the rest of his team didn't. Particularly not Tony. It was going to be Tony that suffered the hardest if this turns out to be a false alarm.