NCIS – This Love
Sometimes it takes a near death situation for stupid people to realise their feelings for others. Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David have never been emotional people... Only majority of Twilight happened, because seeing Tony almost blow himself up again is funny, but other aspects are ignored. This takes place after Internal Affairs; for the purpose of this fic, the break between Bury Your Dead and Internal Affairs was only 6 to 8 weeks. Most of Season 5 is disregarded after then, though parts of this series may link in with the canon.
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NCIS Headquarters
"Gear up, we're due in Quantico."
The simple phrase announced from their leader spurred McGee, DiNozzo and David into action from their boredom. Gibbs was walking down the stairs from the director's office, a case file in hand.
"What have we got?" DiNozzo asked, shouldering his bag as they headed for the elevator.
"Dead marine."
"Well, der," Tony said. "Why else would we be called?"
Gibbs gave Tony an unamused look. "Shut up, DiNozzo."
The team reached the garage, Ducky meeting them at the van.
"What have we got this time, Jethro?" he asked, loading his bags onto the shelves.
"Dead Petty Officer found naked in bed."
Tony's jaw dropped. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"
Gibbs didn't answer; he just threw Ziva the keys to the van. "McGee, you're with me; DiNozzo, have fun; Ziva, try not to kill anyone."
A chorus of "Yes, boss," echoed around him as they left the headquarters for the naval base.
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Quantico Naval Base
The team's arrival at the crime scene was eventful as the NCIS van screeched to a halt outside of the PO dorm block, the base's Chief of Operations meeting them there. DiNozzo was arguing very loudly with the driver of the vehicle, Ducky and Palmer just grumbling loudly also in the direction of the driver.
She stood in the shadow of a large birch tree, watching Gibbs silently exit his car to come up behind Tony and slap him on the head. Tony only stopped yelling for a minute to stare his boss down, then continued to argue louder than before.
Gibbs stepped onto the front walkway towards the front door, shouting to his team right behind him. "Tony, shut up! Ziva, get the camera; McGee, find the person we're supposed to talk to!"
She took that opportunity to make her presence known. "Agent Gibbs, that person would be me," she said, stepping forward to where he was standing with DiNozzo and McGee.
Gibbs turned quickly at the sound of her familiar voice. "Kate?"
The surprised voice shut Tony up immediately. He looked around to see if it was true. "Kate," he breathed, taking in the image of his previous partner.
She smiled. "Three years, and you two haven't changed a bit."
Gibbs shook off his surprise and stepped forward to hug her. "It's good to see you, Kate."
Tony stood there, staring. "I might not have changed, but you have. What happened? Last time I saw you was at Bethesda; you were in a coma, and we were kicked out."
"Yeah, I went into protective custody with the navy after Ari tried to kill me; quickly worked my way through the ranks and settled into this position last month."
Ziva walked up to the trio, a navy attaché following close behind. She stopped next to Tony, watching the exchange silently.
"Ah, I see you've met Captain Morris," the attaché said, taking in the scene in front of him.
Everyone turned around to look at her again. "Captain?" Gibbs asked.
She nodded. "Chief of Operations here at Quantico; surprised?"
"Not really. When I got the call about a dead marine in the dorms on Quantico, was I surprised?"
Kate conceded. "Not really."
"Wait a minute; Morris?" DiNozzo asked.
She nodded. "Yep, been married for almost two years now."
"So, what happened?" McGee asked.
"Well, Probie, when a man and woman fall in love…" Tony started, only to be Gibbs-slapped by his partner.
Ziva smiled as he evil-eyed her for the punishment. "I think McGee was talking about the case." McGee nodded.
Kate took a breath. "Petty Officer Elizabeth Hale was reported missing after she didn't show for her duty shift yesterday morning. She was found a few hours ago by the dorm head in her room."
"Condition?" Gibbs asked.
"Raped, tortured and murdered," Kate responded, lowering her voice slightly.
"Okay then, let's go."
Captain Morris led the NCIS team up to the crime scene on the second floor.
"Make sure the whole building has been cleared and sealed off."
Kate smiled. "Done. Remember, I was one of your agents."
"Yeah," Gibbs replied gruffly. "Until Ari tried to kill you."
"And almost succeeded."
Tony stood close to Ziva while the friendly interaction was happening. "I'm sorry about them," he said. "You know, about Ari."
Ziva nodded. "Tony, I was the one who killed him, remember."
"Yeah, but…"
"But what, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, slapping him on the back of the head.
"Nothing, boss," he said, rubbing the spot where he had been hit.
Kate smiled at the exchange.
"They're always like this," Ziva commented.
"Yeah, I know," Kate replied. "I miss being a part of it."
Ziva turned. "How so?"
"Gibbs didn't tell you?"
"No," Ziva was puzzled.
"I was part of his team," Kate explained. "Then Ari Haswari almost succeeded in killing me. I was in a coma for nearly eight months before the navy brought me out of it. Apparently, I almost died more than a few times before they put me in witness protection." She paused briefly. "I wonder what happened to Ari?"
"I killed him," Ziva stated, "when he almost killed Gibbs. Before then, he'd almost killed Abby and the director; I wasn't officially NCIS, but I did save all of them."
Kate smiled. "Thanks."
"No problem."
The pair were silent for a minute, before a yell from Tony startled them.
"Boss, I think you'd better see this," he called, poking his head out of a room that didn't have Hale's body in it.
"Why, Tony?" Kate called.
"We've got another body!"
Ziva ran up the stair towards Tony, Kate following close behind her.
"Oh my," Kate murmured.
The dead female on the bathroom floor wasn't a pretty sight. Tony began to number the points of interest as McGee photographed the scene. Ziva broke away from Kate to begin bagging the evidence after it had been photographed.
While the team worked, Captain Morris received a phone call and stepped out of the room.
A few minutes later, she stepped back in. "Gibbs, that was the director. Apparently we have a serial killer.
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NCIS Headquarters – MTAC
MTAC was busy when Gibbs entered. Director Shepard was arguing with SECNAV on the large screen, and Cynthia was arguing with someone else on a smaller screen.
"What can I do for you, Jethro?" the director asked after ending the call.
"We have a serial killer, Jen, and I've only just found out about it?"
She moved to a seat, motioning for him to join her. "Everybody out!" she called and waited for the room to clear.
He continued to wait while she composed herself.
"Jethro, I think he is after us."