the_navy_yard | Character Drabbles

Character: Ziva David

She watched the snow falling heavily and silently out of her bedroom window and breathed a deep sigh of contentment.

Even after living in Washington for the better part of seven years and seeing her fair share of snow; the white stuff had not lost it’s magic for her.

She knew that the commute into the office tomorrow would be a chore and heaven forbid if they had to venture out to a crime scene, but she wouldn’t allow those thoughts to dampen her spirits or lessen her enjoyment.

Perhaps when she got tomorrow, she would make a snow angel

Character: Leroy Jethro Gibbs

There was something to be said for the creative process.

Getting your hands dirty while letting your mind wander was essential therapy for a man like him.

Not that this was mindless work, far from it.

That is why he went from one project to another without really enjoying the fruits of his labors. He loved to build boats; sailing them? Not so much.

For him, it had always been more about the work than the finished product.

But, this time was different. The end result of this project mattered because the people he was building it for mattered deeply

Character: G. Callen

He rarely bought things for himself. He actually needed or wanted very little in life. He had always been that way as far back as his memory could take him.

He bought it on a whim which in itself was out of character, but he rationalized it in his mind and by the time he had gotten it back to his sparsely furnished apartment he was surprised to find that buyer’s remorse was not creeping up on him. He took that as a good sign.

It had taken almost thirty years, but he finally had his dream red racer bike!

Character: Hetty Lange

The smell of gun oil always soothed her because it smelled like home.

Of course she knew how strange that would sound to someone else, someone who hadn’t grown up in the grand old home of her childhood and hadn’t lived her life.

Being good with a gun had earned her respect from her father and from his good old boy cronies. Her father was a real man’s man and gravitated towards what he considered masculine activities.

She looked around at her extensive gun and knife collections and smiled as she wistfully thought I wish you could see me now.

Character: Ducky Mallard

He had come to the sad conclusion that storytelling and listening was a dead art. It had gone the way of electronic media and social forums.

Hardly anyone took the time to listen to a good story these days, let alone tell one.

He missed that about his home country. Back in his day, storytellers were revered and held the kind of social status that is reserved for movie stars, rappers and ball players in the present age.

Maybe that is why he enjoyed talking to his charges, after all they had the time and he had the inclination.

Character: Palmer

He had graduated from medical school almost two years ago but had yet to take the test for his medical examiner’s license.

He didn’t know if it was fear of failure or fear of success that held him back.

Getting that certificate would result in discussions to be had and decisions to be made and he didn’t think he was ready for the ramifications of the changes that could be wrought by a single piece of paper and what it represented not only to him but to the those he cared about.

Life masked as a gold seal on paper.

Character: Vance

He knew it was the right decision for everyone involved. He knew many questioned his motives and even a few questioned his sanity but his mind was made up and there was no changing it.

The decision hadn’t been easy and it hadn’t been quick, which gave him the confidence and the courage to know it was the right one.

He had always been against it in the past, not enough time and definitely not energy but life has a way of changing your mind about things you were dead set against.

He looked at the puppy’s face and smiled.

Character: Deputy Director Jerome Craig

He knew shoes were supposed to be a woman’s thing, but he had to admit he liked wearing fine leather on his feet. He saw it as an investment, never a shallow indulgence as some might.

He might skimp on his suits, but never on his shoes. He lived by the adage that the shoes make the man.

That’s why when he went shoe shopping, it became almost an all day event as he went in search of the perfect shoe which had to be stylish yet comfortable, durable yet classy and black, always black - never tan, brown or Bordeaux.

Character: McGee

One would think that after taking pictures all day at crime scenes that the last thing he would want to do is pick up a camera in his spare time, but that’s exactly how he wanted to spend his time away from the job these days. The writing muse had abandoned him, only to be replaced by the photography muse.

Maybe it was because of the ugliness he witnessed daily that he craved the beautiful. Maybe it was because of the convoluted ways of crime that made him seek out simplicity.

Whatever the driving force behind it, he enjoyed it.

Character: Abby

She marked her body as a way to mark the significant events of her life. Each of her markings had a story and a memory and none were the result of whim and whimsy.

Walking into the tattoo parlor her thoughts drifted to the event that she would be commemorating on her body today and shuddered.

Not all of her tattoos marked happy events, but they were all life changing and this event had changed her life in ways she still hadn’t realized

As she considered the outline which she would soon wear forever, a tear rolled down her cheek.