Chapter 1

"Shawn, I can't believe I let you drive us all the way to D.C. When I said vacation I meant L.A., Florida, hell I would have settled for New York!"

"Will you stop being such a baby and just get out of the car?"

"No. uh uh, Shawn, I aint leaving this car," Gus reached over and once again buckled up his seat belt.

"Fine, you stay here with the Blueberry while I discover D.C," and with that Shawn began to walk away.

"Shawn!" Gus yelled after his, "Shawn! That's not funny, Shawn! I am not leaving this car, Shawn."

10 minutes later...

"Shawn!"

"Oh, hey Gus. You finally left the car," Shawn stopped on the sidewalk and patted his friend on the arm, "I am so proud of you, man."

"That's not funny Shawn, D.C. is a dangerous place. It's full of crooks, thieves, criminals, lawyers and politicians. Can we go now?"

"Come on, Gus. Do you know what else D.C.'s filled with?"

"I don't care. I'm still freaked out over the politicians..."

"FBI, CIA, secret government agents..."

"You realise C.I.A. headquarters is in Virginia?"

"Said the liar."

"Man, just because we're In D.C. does not mean that we're instantly going to get swept into some undercover secret assignment with the FBI. Not everything in D.C. is crime fighting you know."

Just as Gus had finished his sentence a man's body came hurtling out of nowhere and slammed into the sidewalk.

"Agree to disagree."

"Oh, man..." Gus cried as he realised that his vacation plans were now as dead as the man before them.

"Probie," Tony DiNozzo called out as he exited the elevator and walked towards his desk, "Do we know what the case is yet?"

"No Tony, I just got here myself."

"Oh," He nodded in understanding, before looking over at Ziva's desk to find the chair behind it empty, "Ziva not in yet? It's not like her to be the last one here."

"F.Y.I., I was, have always been and will always be the first one here after Gibbs," Ziva stated as she rounded the corner, "Thought I'd fetch coffee for everyone." She placed a coffee on McGee's table and he nodded his thanks, then turned to hand one to DiNozzo.

"Well, thank you Ziva," Tony accepted his coffee and grinned suspiciously at her, "It seems someone's happy to be called out on a case in the middle of the night. No plans?"

"As a matter of fact, I was having dinner with a friend," Ziva replied with a smile. She had to admit that she liked the jealous look that passed over Tony's face whenever he assumed she had been out on a date.

"A friend? who?" Tony asked, more than a little curious.

"She was having dinner with Abby, DiNozzo," Gibbs announced as he rounded the corner, "Grab your gear we have a dead marine face down on the sidewalk. Let's go."