Title: Honor, Courage, Commitment
Language: English
Rating: T for some graphic crime scene descriptions and occasional language.
Genre: Crime/Drama
Summary: When NCIS investigates the brutal murder of a seaman in a D.C. alley, they make a horrifying discovery. Case fic.
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or Flashpoint. They belong to CBS Television and Pink Sky Entertainment, respectively.
Author Note: Much as I love Flashpoint, this story focuses mostly on characters from NCIS.

"Come on, Josh, it'll save us like ten minutes," the teenage girl insisted, dragging on the arm of her less-than-enthusiastic companion. "We gotta get back before the others wake up!"

"I just want to get back to the hotel in one piece. Dark alleys are where everyone gets mugged and stuff!" he complained.

The young woman rounded on him in annoyance. "What are you? Five?" she taunted him. "This is D.C., not South-Central."

"It's not actually called South-Central, you know. And, if you'd bothered to check, D.C. doesn't exactly have the lowest crime rate, either," he retorted. "And if you think I flew across the country on this trip just so as to get mugged in some creepy dark alley because you wanted to save a few minutes on the way back to the hotel after sneaking out for a night on the town, you'd better think again!"

She was about to bite out some petty insult to his manhood when they heard a soft grunt coming from the alley. "What was that?" she frowned in annoyance at being interrupted. They both peered into the darkness. A glass bottle rattled across the pavement, and a quiet groan echoed off the high brick walls. The girl got out her cellphone and used its light to illuminate the alley. It was full of trash, lining the sides and spilling out of a filthy, over-filled dumpster. Then they saw the blood.

It spattered the pavement in dark pools, some of it smeared gruesomely. Just then, a crimson-stained hand appeared from behind the dumpster, gripping it weakly. The young man dashed towards it, forgetting all about muggers for the moment.

"Josh! What're you doing?" the girl shouted, but he ignored her protest as he knelt down by the dumpster.

"Call 911!" he yelled. "Now!"

She fumbled with her phone as the bloody hand grabbed the young man's jacket for a moment. "Hel-" came an almost inaudible gasp. "Helpmm."

The hand fell limply to the ground.