Author's Note: I'm going to apologize in advance if this is kind of slow at first. And this is my first fanfiction, so please be forgiving if it's not very good.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the members of the NCIS team.

The two women were alone, trekking through the uneven ground of Evansburg State Park. They had chosen not to take the designated trail. They were less likely to be noticed this way. They were nearly silent as they approached the first target. Suddenly, it came into view. Just as they had suspected, it was right on the edge of the trail. The first woman crouched low to the ground. She aimed right at the unsuspecting creature. She had no problems with steadying her arms; she was a very practiced shot. As usual, she was not shooting to kill. After she focused in on her target, she took her shot. Her weapon of choice made almost no sound, besides a small click. She stood up and grinned at her partner.

"Well, I'd say that was one of my better pictures, don't you think?" She spoke rather loudly, for now she did not care if her target was scared away.

She showed her partner the newly taken picture of the sparrow. Her partner looked at it with nothing more than a glance. This woman was not interested in taking pictures, unless they were of her and her friends.

"You know that nobody ever looks at who takes the pictures in the calendar, right? So you're not getting any fame out of doing this." This woman did not understand her friend's fascination in photographs.

As the two women began to argue over the first woman's occupation, they began to walk back up towards the parking lot. Once they had reached the road leading to it, they were stopped by the sound of a gunshot. While they were running for cover behind a large boulder, the photographer turned her camera onto its video setting, for she had just seen a car speeding down the road. She hoped that this would aid the police investigation, assuming that this car had anything to do with the shot that had been fired. As the car rapidly neared their hiding place, the woman gasped as she noticed that the windshield was spattered with blood. The car was out of control, and veering towards their side of the road. The women ran out of the way as the car began to tumble down the hill.

Once the car had stopped, the pair crept forward to check to see if anyone was alive. The woman with the camera was in the lead. She held the camera steadily aimed at the wreck as her friend called the police. The woman was saddened to see that no soul was alive in that crushed mass of metal. The only two occupants were the driver, a man, and the passenger, a woman. Being sure not to touch anything, the two women carefully left the scene.

Tony Dinozzo would once have began his day at work by strutting out of the elevator and greeting his partner, Ziva David, with a cheery, "Mornin' sweetcheeks!" And then perhaps a small bit of teasing Timothy McGee, just for his own entertainment. Sadly, this hadn't occurred in quite a while. Everyone at NCIS had noticed that Tony wasn't his usual obnoxious self. And everyone at NCIS knew why. Ziva David had left NCIS to return permanently to Mossad, leaving nearly everyone to mourn her as if she had died. To most people, she had. Tony was the one person who had been the most affected by the loss of Ziva. Anyone who looked at him could see it. He blamed himself, and Ziva had blamed him too. He had been the one to go to her apartment. He had been the one to shoot her boyfriend. He had been the one to lose her trust. Tony never made movie references anymore. He hardly ever laughed. He worked late into the night. To Gibbs' great regret, he never trusted his own judgment. No one ever wanted to be around him. He was just too depressing. McGee almost missed being called 'Probie' or 'McGeek.' Now it was just Tim. Tony never did anything stupid, or funny, or anything even remotely Tony-like. Abby Sciuto, Forensics Extraordinaire, missed his signature Dinozzo grin.

So that morning, Tony Dinozzo sat down at his designated desk and greeted his coworker with a rather gloomy, "Hello, Tim." McGee only looked up and nodded to acknowledge that he had heard. This was a typical morning.

After a few minutes, Gibbs walked in. "Get your things, we're heading up north."

On their way to the elevator, McGee inquired, "How far north?"

"Just north of Philadelphia, McGee."

"That far? Uh - I mean – er – what for?"

"Well, McGee, it might have something to do with the dead Navy captain. But frankly, I'm not completely sure." Gibbs replied sarcastically.

Since Philadelphia was a bit too far away to make frequent trips to the crime scene, a place to stay for the duration of the investigation was a necessity. Once all bags were hastily packed, McGee, Gibbs, and Dinozzo started their trip. McGee got the backseat in the car, as usual. Things hadn't changed that much.

After one long, uneventful, and nearly silent car ride, the team, or what was left of it, was happy to see the crime scene. Officer Millden of the State Police met them at the scene to update them on the investigation. The three arrived at the edge of the road and looked down at the wreck. It was a heap of twisted metal that was only recognizable as a car courtesy of the wheels and what remained of the windows.

"The accident was called in at about 9:15 this morning by a photographer and a friend of hers. They said they were heading up to the road to follow it back to the parking lot. The photographer said she got a video of the accident, so we got her camera to give to you. Be sure to give it back to her. She didn't seem too happy to be parting with it." Millden explained calmly.

"We'll be sure to do that, Officer." Gibbs replied.

"Alright, good. Well, anyway, the accident. The victims are a Navy captain and a woman that looks to be his wife. We don't know any more than that. Right when we found out he was Navy, we left it to you."

"How kind of you." Gibbs' voice was generously laced with saracasm.

"Okay, well, I'll leave you to it,. Good luck!" With those wishes, the Officer was on his way.

___________________________________________________________________________________

The investigation of the scene was tedious, and made even more so by the steep incline of the hill. Once reaching the car, they realized that the only things keeping it from falling into the creek were the trees that it was propped up against. Well, those and all of the other trees between the car and the water. With the assistance of the State Troopers, the two bodies were extracted from the car and sent to Dr. Mallard, affectionately known as Ducky, in Washington D.C.. However, this was not before careful photographing of the scene. On the hill above the road, the team found three shell casings and a few burnt out cigarettes. This was where the shooter was presumed to have waited.

Following the investigation, the team headed to the motel that they had picked out, picking up pizza on the way. Once the pictures had been emailed to Abby, and the large pizza had been devoured, along with Gibbs' last cup of coffee for the day, the team retired for the night.

They awoke the next morning to information from Abby.

"Okay, so, the man in the car was Naval Captain Sean Connoway. Tony, you may feel free to do the James Bond voice for the next five seconds." Abby said as she began to count.

"Three." Corrected Gibbs.

"Three seconds." Abby repeated.

"I wasn't going to, Abbs." This earned Tony an utterly shocked look from McGee.

He must be further gone than I had suspected. McGee speculated. Oh, wait, he's smiling, there's hope yet.

Abby took the moment to continue rattling off information. "The woman in the car was indeed his wife, Eileen Connoway. She works in a bakery, and happened to tell a friend who works there about how she and her husband were taking a trip. She requested to take off work for three days, so I'm assuming that that's how long her vacation is. They- oh, no."

"What is it, Abbs?" Gibbs asked.

"It says here that neither of them have any living relatives other than....."

"Other than who, Abby?" Anyone could see that Gibbs was getting irritated.

"Other than their fifteen-year-old daughter, Gibbs. And Mrs. Connoway told that same friend that they were leaving her at home." Abby finally finished.

"Damn. Give me the address, Abbs."

Abby gave the address to Gibbs, and he and Tony went to get the girl, while McGee was left behind to hear what else Abby had found.

While hurrying to the car, Tony had a realization. "Gibbs, if someone wanted to kill the parents, then do you think they would try to kill their daughter, too?"

"It's possible, Dinozzo. That's why I'm coming along."

Upon arriving at the house, Gibbs and Dinozzo approached the front door. Gibbs turned to Tony and said, "If the girl doesn't answer the door, we go in anyway." Tony nodded his agreement. Gibbs knocked on the door and waited for a reply. There was none, so he knocked again, just to be sure. There was no reply again. After nodding at Tony, he shouted, "Federal Agents!" and broke down the door.

Upon entering the house Gibbs and Dinozzo checked the first room they entered. They realized that on the first floor, there was no divider between the rooms, so Gibbs went upstairs, while Tony went to check the kitchen, which was the only room that you couldn't see from the doorway. Tony took two steps into the room, and was met with a small problem. Along knife was being held to his throat. From a short distance away, he heard a forceful, yet shaky, female voice.

"Drop the gun, and get out of my house."