Chapter 1: Situation

September 24, 2010; 2215 local time

Sarah groaned. Of all the times it could choose, the phone had to bother her on Chuck's birthday. She rolled over toward the nightstand, stole a sip from the wineglass she'd left there, and answered.

"Hello?" Sarah already knew who was on the other end of the call. Only one person had this number.

"DC? Are you sure that's a good … oh. That changes things. Yeah, I'll take care of it. Thanks, Mr. B."

Sarah stood from the bed with a sigh and selected clothes that were more travel appropriate than what she'd been wearing when the call came in. Beckman had done it again. Sarah promised herself that this would be the last time the NSA director interfered in her life.

FBI Special Agent Veronica Mars was not in a good mood. The Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office had called her at 3:00 in the morning and told her to get to the airport for the 6:12 flight to Washington. No, he could not tell her why. The reason he could not tell her was the fact that he didn't know himself. The Director had asked for the best people from each major office, and in the ADC's esteemed opinion, that meant Agent Mars.

Veronica had been flattered, but she gladly would have settled for second-best if it meant more sleep. On the other hand, maybe this case would be a break from the paper-chasing she was so often stuck with. She was unquestionably very good at following the money, but her favorite part of investigation had always been the personal interaction – she could take on any role that could conceivably be filled by a 5-foot-2 blonde woman, and her personality could switch from charming to threatening at the drop of a hat. Veronica was happy in her job, but she often wished for a case that would involve a conversation more complicated than holding out a badge and shouting "FBI!"

The plane touched down at Baltimore-Washington International, and Veronica was immediately whisked off to a government car. She paid very little attention to the route it was taking, at least until it left highway before entering DC.

"Not going to the Hoover Building?" she inquired.

"Nope. Fort Meade," replied the driver.

That revelation had the potential to set off a lengthy round of questions, but Veronica realized that the driver probably didn't know the answers to any of them. So she stored them up mentally while waiting through the relatively brief drive. After the car's occupants were processed by the fort's security force, the driver dropped her off in front of a large, nondescript building and instructed her to find the conference room. Veronica found it nearly full and took one of the last available chairs. She leaned toward the agent seated next to her. "Any idea why we're here?"

"Not a clue," he replied. "They're not telling us anything until you West Coast types all show up."

After another twenty minutes, two more agents stepped into the room. The door was closed behind them as they took their seats. Moments later, FBI Director Stephen Sax stepped behind the podium at the front of the room.

"Good afternoon, Agents. This room contains the FBI's finest investigators, pulled from all over the country. We've called you all here because this case is both too difficult and too important to be handled by a single field office." He pulled up a hastily-prepared presentation and clicked to bring up the first page. "There was a murder here at Fort Meade last night. The victim was shot twice in the head, in a secure office, shortly after midnight. The video surveillance on the office revealed nothing; it was looped during the critical moments. There is not a shred of DNA evidence at the scene, and nobody on the base reports seeing anything. At first glance, it appears that someone has covertly entered one of the most heavily-guarded military facilities in the country and pulled off a perfect crime."

Veronica was impressed by the speed with which the DC field office had covered that much ground in the investigation, and wondered who exactly would require the exercise of that much Bureau muscle. She was not disappointed.

"The victim of this assassination was the head of the NSA, General Diane Beckman."

A/N: So, this is my first story... I'd appreciate any reviews or other feedback. Also, if anyone who knows both series is interested in serving as a beta, let me know!