Disclaimer: no, I don't own anything worthy of a copyright.

A/note: Hmm, this seems like a good series finale, and as a fan, I would want a feature length episode :) reviews will be lovingly accepted and appreciated! For the love of jeebus, don't watch 'the human centipede'. It's inexplicably WTF (don't even Google it, I'm serious). Scuse me, I HAVE to go watch some classic 1997 Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods! I have divided my obsession between Stargate, X Files and NCIS. :)

Black and white snap shot of Tony looking over his shoulder through a camera, his hand on the lens as he adjusts the focus.

The calm of rustling paper, ticking keyboard keys and the occasional ringing phone was abruptly interrupted by a pair of bickering investigators descending the staircase into the main office area.

"The entire concept is disgusting" Ziva protested.

"Disgusting but brilliant. Whilst it may be the biggest 'what-the-crap' movie thus conceived, the concept will push the limit, of horror movie." Tony countered.

"The idea of a human centipede is not only horrendous, but it is also incredibly stupid."

"This is why it's a horror movie." DiNozzo added informatively, waving a pointed finger at her.

"But the way it was done is..." she paused and waved her hands; looking for the right word.

"Sadistic?"

"Sounds like far too polite a word." She grumbled.

They approached the famous bull ring thoroughly engaged in their argument, so much so they ignored McGee the first time he addressed them.

Not that he was totally interested. Their bickering was either a source of inspiration in his writing or motivation to concentrate purely on his work. Often his need to observe his co-workers for the sake of literature gave him particularly deep insight into the way his team worked together. More like, why they worked so well together.

Though this was not such an instant. His interest had been peaked by such words as 'centipede' and 'sadistic'. He could not conceive what subject would instigate such an unusual combination of words. In the few seconds his comrades paused to breath he chose to pose an inquiry.

"Can I ask what you two are on about?"

Ziva waved a defensive hand towards him before settling in her seat, clearly tired of arguing with Tony.

"Trust me McGee. You do not, want to know." She cast a disgusted glare at Tony, who danced his fingers tightly in front of his chest. She looked, if possible, more disgusted with tony.

Tony seemed incapable of suppressing an open laugh that bounced off the walls of the bullring.

McGee looked away from tony in disinterest. It wasn't often when his sense of humour aligned itself with that of his partner. He looked up, his teammate still chuckling away, and saw a yellow pencil collide with the side of Tony's head. Tony jumped in his seat, looking around to find where it originated from.

McGee himself hid the same, casting a glance to the staircase to see his boss descending at a rapid pace. The three agents looked at one another for a moment. They moved quickly, grabbing their gear and exiting the bullring behind Gibbs.

"What have we got boss?" Tony inquired as the elevator door closed, leaving the centipede joke long forgotten.

"Dead commander found in his hotel room. Ducky's already down there."

As if the line went dead, the agents fell into an intense silence that any intruder would find uncomfortable. But not these agents. Silence is golden after all.

"What is this?" Ziva questioned ducky as she halted in the door of the hotel room. In all her years working for Mossad, she found this particular scene distinctly cryptic. The homicide case she worked on in past where far more blunt than this.

The body of a US navy commander, still in his good rig, was laid out in the middle of the room. His arms pulled out either in direction at near perfect 90 degree angles. His left hand was pointed, white ribbon carefully handing the hand closed and the other tightly closed. There was a line in chalk on the crimson carpet pointing away from his body, about 4 feet, towards an unsolved Rubik's cube on the floor above his right shoulder. Burned through his white shirt and into the skin of his chest was the letter R, approximately the size of a dollar bill.

His eyes were closed sleepily.

She also quickly noticed three syringes palmer was bagging and tagging off the coffee table. They were perfectly aligned, like toy soldiers.

Ducky looked up from the victim to the rather confounded looking agent.

"Ah, Officer David. Allow me to introduce Commander Hans Denisoff." He took her by the shoulder, beckoning her into the room.

As they approached the body, she spotted the nametag above the right breast pocket. Hans Denisoff. She felt a very light pressure behind her than pushed her jacket. Tony pressed into her back slightly and she flinched at the sound of his voice. Apparently he didn't want the conversation to be discreet. Or at least look discreet.

"Captain of the USS Gettysburg." He resumed his movements around the commander's body, camera poised to capture every angle of the man. He pointed it at the frozen commander.

"He was on stopover whilst going home for some leave. Gotta admit, the puzzle ones are pretty interesting."

Flash.

He looked up at her. She couldn't help but feel slightly vexed at his admission.

"What?"

"Nothing." She dismissed.

Tony resumed his dancing around the commander, careful to not disturb any part of the scene.

She observed the scene before her curiously. McGee stood at the commander's feet sketching the geometry of the crime in as much detail a pencil and paper could provide. Ducky on his knees prodded at the commander's neck, twisting it from left to right in search of a break or evidence of a strangle. He came with them to the scene simply because he was late to work and came in as they were going out and subsequently insisted on bringing palmer for some 'field experience' he so desperately needed. Tony, well, she was humoured by the way he leaned from side to side, bobbing, leaning and tilting; trying to get every possible angle.

"Aha!" ducky announced from the side of the commanders head. Those in the immediate vicinity dutifully gave the MD their attention.

"Find something Duck?" Gibbs addressed over his shoulder from behind her, where he had been speaking to one of the civilian detectives.

"A minute puncture wound in the back of his neck, right along the hairline no less." He turned the commander's head to the right, revealing a small bruise surrounding a red dot at the base of the skull.

"Mister Palmer, can you bring one of the needles?"

Palmer came across and hand ducky the clear plastic evidence bag. Ducky removed one and began to demonstrate to all those who watched his hypothesis.

"It seems like commander Denisoff was stabbed in the back of the next by one of the syringes. It's very likely one of them snapped off in his neck." He picked up the bag containing the two remaining needles from his side, examining them closely.

"This one." He pointed with his pinkie.

"I suspect this man was euthanized, although I will need to wait for the toxicology to confirm that."

"Why three syringes Ducky?" McGee inquired.

"Traditionally, death by lethal injection consists of three separate injections. The first containing simply saline solution. The second contains a sleep inducing agent called sodium thiopental and the third contained a combination of potassium chloride and pancuronium bromide to stop the heart and relax the muscles."

He stood up from his kneeling position, groan the entire trip from the objection felt in his ligaments. He replaced the syringe back into the plastic bag.

"I don't believe saline was used in this circumstance. If his death was by lethal injection using traditional methods, he would have been given the sodium thiopental first to knock him unconscious."

"So this was not a crime of passion." Ziva stated. She forced herself not to stare at the body.

"I'm afraid not." Ducky agreed, handing the evidence bag to palmer.

"The killer had clear intent." Tony mused. He himself could only stare at the dead.

Gibbs came to his side. He spoke in a hushed, but calm tone near his ear.

"Then we need to work quickly before he makes his next move." He turned on his heel and left the room with his civilian counterpart in tow. Tony addressed the pensive group.

"Hey! We got work to do. Let's get a move on." He asserted.

Movement began again within the room. He looked thorough the camera lens. He spotted Ziva's black boot pass in front of him slowly. He looked across his shoulder and watched her crouch down and pick up the unsolved puzzle. In a quick and concise movement, he focussed the lens on her, watching as she thoughtfully turned the cube without changing the sides.

Flash.

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