A/N Yes I know I still have two stories to finish, but i was woken by an email at 1 am this morning from Pretty Punk Princess 27 who asked nicely if i could write a Jimmy centric story. Unfortuantly this woke up my little plot bunnies so i figured so i can finish the other stories I should put this out there and let you all have a look and see what ya think.

Jackson Gibbs does come across very OOC at the moment, he isn't nasty, just sad. so please no lynching me. Also the timeline is a bit wrong but i'm too tired to count, just roll with it guys...its a story.

Disclaimer, I do not own NCIS...YET!

Family Ties.

Chapter 1

17-year-old James Alvin Gibbs snuck out of his bedroom window at the back of the general store in Stillwater and picked up his bag, without a backwards glance at the house he was gone…

He had grown up his whole life being second best to a brother he had only heard about, a high school football star and a Marine.

His father and brother had fallen out before he was born, he knew he had been conceived the night of his brothers' wife and daughters' funeral and his mother and father had only been together a short while.

His mother Eunice was a lovely woman. She had tried to have a relationship with Jack but she got tired of being constantly compared to his first wife Anne. That and having her son compared to his 'missing' big brother Leroy was too much for the poor woman to take.

She lived in the next town over close enough so she could see Jimmy, as he liked to be called, although his father insisted on calling him James. He had not allowed her to take James and he had been raised by his father who was a strict authoritarian.

Jimmy was a shy and kind boy who although wasn't abused by his father physically was afraid of him, he had always grown up not feeling like he was good enough and spent many a night crying in his room just hoping that his father would one day say 'well done, Jimmy!' for any of his accomplishments.

James was bright, he won the schools prize for the highest mark in biology and brought it home proudly showing it to his father, Jack looked at it and sadly remarked how Leroy had won footballer of the year when he had been in high school at that age.

This was how Jimmy had grown up always trying to live up to a brother he had never met and had only seen in pictures. He knew his brother was a marine and once had tried to find him until Jack had found out and scolded him. "If Leroy ever wants to contact us he will, he left me not the other way round," Jack had said slamming his fist on the table at a cowering James.

The night before James left he and Jack had had another argument, James had come home from school having seen the careers adviser and had wanted to go into medicine, he had the grades and got flyers for the medical colleges he could get into.

He had come in and left them on the table while he fetched himself a drink.

"What's the meaning of this?" Jackson asked as he picked up the flyer.

"Dad, I saw the careers adviser today, I want to go to medical school, my grades and exam results look ok and I can get into any of these," He said indicating the flyers on the table.

"You will NOT leave me and go away to school, you are going to run the store with me you know this," Jackson said stubbornly.

"But I want to be a doctor." James said stubbornly, pouting a little.

"I will hear no more of this, go to your room, in the morning you will start work in the store, it says Gibbs and sons above the door and you WILL work there." Jackson yelled at James' back as he stormed off up the stairs.

James packed his bag, waited until it was dark and threw his bag out of the window.

Eight years later, while working his way through medical school Jimmy sitting in the diner near his bedsit was looking through some ads and found one for a medical examiners intern at NCIS. It was close to school and a government agency internship would look great on his transcripts. 'Besides' he thought to himself, 'I can sleep when I am dead' he grinned picked up a pen and applied.

Dr. Mallard sat down with a sigh and started wading through yet more Emails of interns wanting to join NCIS. After Gerald had been injured, Director Morrow had thought it would be a good idea to hire an intern instead of another assistant. Ducky took a break from the endless stream of emails to open his post. He stopped and smiled. He had found his new intern.

Jimmy stood outside the building nervous but excited; he walked down to autopsy with his new credentials attached to his cheap but smart suit.

"Dr. Mallard?" he coughed politely as he entered autopsy.

"Ah, James Palmer," Ducky said and Jimmy flinched, "Actually Dr. Mallard its Jimmy," He replied. Ducky noticed and corrected himself. "Jimmy lets get you into some scrubs and show you around. I'm afraid we do not have any guests at the moment but I will introduce you to people as we meet them, and please Jimmy call me Ducky."

Jimmy settled into life in autopsy, sleeping in his lunch breaks and studying when the workload got light.

He had already met Abby Scuito the forensic scientist, he instantly liked her and they were already fast friends. Kate and Tony were polite and friendly as well and they introduced him to Tim McGee the new Probie although he had been there about as long as he had.

He had heard about Gibbs the Boss, he had inwardly sighed; trust him to have that name. However, he sucked it up and carried on besides there had to be hundred of Gibbs' in the world, right?

"Mr. Palmer?" Ducky called, "We have a guest coming in from Rock Creek Park." Ducky told him and Jimmy began setting out the instruments.

He helped place the body on the table and began readying it for autopsy.

Without looking back, he heard the door open. "What-cha got me Duck?" A deep voice asked from behind him.

"Jethro, our guest has only been here a matter of moments, even I am not that fast," Ducky said. "I would like you to meet my new intern Mr. Palmer."

Jimmy smiled and turned around, however the smile slipped from his face and he dropped the scalpel he had been holding as he found himself looking face to face with the actual man whose image he had begun to hate.

"Mr. Palmer, Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

Jimmy stuttered, apologized, and bent to pick up the scalpel. Gibbs nodded at him and walked off, "Call me when you have something Ducky." He called behind him.

Jimmy sat heavily in a chair; he had just come face to face with his brother!