====Chapter One====
The Naval Destroyer Farragut realigned the rudder as the engineers on the port and the ship worked to get the ship ocean-ready. Special Agent Ziva David and DiNozzo stood on the deck, watching the exasperated exchange of shouted words, muffled by the engines' roar.
Agent David turned towards the bulkhead, and made her way to the Bridge, closely followed by Tony. Walking through the door she greeted the Captain.
"I'll be retiring to my quarters in about an hour," she remarked to the captain, "I'll visit Petty Officer Seymour, accompanied by Special Agent DiNozzo, in the Engine room on my way there."
"Understood, Special Agent," replied the Captain, with slight haste, "We will notify you both if we find anything. In the meantime, good luck with your investigation."
Ziva and Tony turned to leave, but before they left DiNozzo added, "Thank you, for letting us stay on the Destroyer. The closest hotel is miles away..."
"There's a hotel just down the street…"
"Two stars…" sighed DiNozzo, "I don't even know how they get business with such a rating."
"Tony!" Ziva turns to the captain, "I'm sorry, thank you very much for letting us stay."
"It's my pleasure, Special Agent" replies the Captain, "I trust you know where your quarters are?"
"Yes" the two Agent said at the same time.
"Anyway, we'll be off. We will contact you tomorrow with any information we have." noted Ziva. At that, the two of them left the bridge
"How nice… I see he deserves your respect." muttered DiNozzo.
"Maybe it's because he shows respect, Tony," supposed Ziva, filled with sarcasm, "I wonder if you know what that is?"
Tony stood in front of the mirror in his quarters. About five minutes ago, he'd been with Ziva in the engine room, and he was already getting annoyed with her.
The time she'd been spending at NCIS' recruitment centre, had really brought out the best in her. She was already getting underway with interviewing the suspects.
Seven hours ago, an engineering officer was found thrown overboard. They found the body two hours later, at which point they called NCIS. Tony and Ziva then arrived to investigate. The ship was locked to the port until the murderer was found, so that meant Tony and Ziva had to work against the clock to find whoever did this, and arrest them.
"Only been here an hour, and she's already doing my job for me" DiNozzo thought to himself, she had started to question crewmembers about what they saw and was informing Gibbs as he was thinking, "I hope I don't get fired…"
Boom! Tony dropped into a crouch as he heard a loud explosion from a deck below. The creaking of the bulkheads and the shouts from crewmembers clouded his thinking.
Tony ran to the door, pulling it open to see crewmen running back and forth, with the distinct smell of burning fuel permeating the air.
"What the hell happened?" he shouted over the chaos.
Another crewman, a Midshipman, stopped in front of his room. Panting, he shouted, "A bomb detonated! Based on initial reports, it came from the Engine room!"
The Midshipman ran off again, grabbing a fire extinguisher that was protruding from the grey wall. DiNozzo jumped through the bulkhead door, into the corridor and proceeded to follow the Midshipman towards the Engine room.
He found getting there rather an effortless task, as it seemed it was the general consensus that the Engine room was the place to be.
As he almost fell down a flight of stairs, he was praying Ziva was alright. The Engine room, that was when he last he'd seen her; she was in the engine room in a voice call to NCIS headquarters in Washington using the computer. If she was hurt, he would never be able to forgive himself.
He dropped onto the second deck, which was where Tony found Ziva, lying unconscious, with her hair singed by the explosion.
"Ziva, wake up!" he yelled, but to no avail. He picked her up and carried her limp body to the infirmary, but not without a few stumbles.
Tony reached the infirmary, and cried over the alarm, "Make sure she's safe! We can't have a civilian die!
The two crewmen, male and female, in the makeshift hospital took her body, and placed it on an operating table alongside four other injured crewmen.
They took her jacket off and checked her pulse, which was elevated but normal.
"What about her blood pressure?"
"A little high, but the readings are stable." She then checked her pockets, whilst removing her jacket.
"What's this?" inquired one of the Midshipmen, reaching her hand curiously into Ziva's pocket, "it looks like… oh no…"
The crewman pulled his hand out of her pocket holding a small, light package. The object was covered in a light layer of paper and was shaped like a block of cheese. The he placed it onto a tray with extreme caution.
"What do I do with it?!" he exclaimed, recognising the object as being similar to C-4.
"Is it armed?" asked his partner.
"I don't think so…"
"THEN PUT IT DOWN!" she screamed, tending to the other injured patients.
The crewman placed the explosive down onto the counter and tended to the other patients.
Tony looked at Ziva's body with worry. Why would she be carrying explosives?... His mind wandered to places he didn't want to go. He tried to forget about the bomb that had been hidden in her pocket, even though it seems to always sit in the corner of his vision. It must have been placed there by the culprit, right?