NCIS is one of my favourite shows, so I'm fusing this story with it. I've given the characters roles of the NCIS characters.

Cid - Gibbs

Zack - DiNozzo

Tifa - Kate/Ziva (a little of both)

Vincent - Ducky (not the personality, only the position)

Yuffie - Abby

Cloud - … okay, so I can't compare Cloud with McGee, but he will be the third Special Agent.

Barret - Fornell, I guess. There doesn't seem to be any other positions he'd fit.


It was 7am in the office.

Zack let out a yawn and leaned back leisurely on his chair, smiling with satisfaction. He ignored the papers on his desk and set his feet up. He heard the front door opening and glanced over.

A blonde young man, Cloud Strife, walked past Zack's desk, to his own. He shot Zack a confused look.

"You're early," he commented. Zack smirked.

"Why wouldn't I be, Probie? I am…Senior Officer, of course," he boasted proudly. Cloud grinned and rolled his eyes.

"No…" he said, sitting down on his chair. "I meant you're early, despite staying out all night with Tifa." Zack laughed, sitting up again. Cloud watched him, amused.

"One helluva a night, huh?" Zack sighed, still grinning.

"It's a night I'm sure Tifa will never forget," he muttered dreamily. "I was awesome, like always." Cloud rolled his eyes. "The night was so full of passion and love…" He grinned at Cloud. "She let me go all the way."

An abrupt slap on the back of Zack's head came when Tifa Lockhart, a beautiful young woman with long black hair, walked into the office.

"Yeah," she said sarcastically. "If you mean by kicking your ass." Cloud tried hard not to smile as Tifa sat down at her desk, glaring at Zack. "That was the worst excuse for a date in the history of mankind!" Zack smiled and shrugged.

"Oh, c'mon Tifa. I wasn't that bad…"

"SHUT UP!" She looked quickly at Cloud, her eyes widening as she realized he was laughing. "Hey! I did NOT sleep with him!" She turned back to Zack, standing up. "You took me to a BAR, for God's sake. You drank about 20 beers and made me pay, got drunk, made me drag your pathetic butt home, and you THREW UP ON ME!" Cloud burst out laughing, as did Zack. Tifa glared at the men angrily.

"It's not funny!"

"Sorry, Tifa," Zack choked. "At least I got you to come over and stay all night." He looked at Cloud, who had stopped laughing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a 50 dollar bill, folded it into a plane and threw it to Zack. Tifa merely let out a scoff and mumbled something like 'men' under her breath, and sat back down. Zack continued to stare at her.

"Hey," he said softly, giving her a sweet smile. Tifa ignored him. "Hey, I'll make it up to you, okay?"

Tifa continued to ignore him. She spotted a small parcel on her table. She frowned and picked it up, ripping it open. Her expression softened at the gift; a cute key ring. She looked back up at Zack and smiled.

"Okay," she said. "But I'll let you have another drink over my dead body." She playfully pointed her fingers like a gun at him and imitated a shot. Zack merely smiled.

"Okay, love birds," came a gruff male voice form the door. "Fun's over."

The three colleagues turned around as Cid Highwind walked into the office. They immediately stood up.

"Morning, boss," Zack and Cloud chanted.

"Morning, Cid," Tifa said. Cid merely nodded, going straight to his desk. He took out all his equipment.

"Got a homicide investigation downtown," he said loudly. He walked over to them as they stepped out of their cubicles. "Stabbed kid." The trio nodded, taking out their guns and equipment as Cid walked off first.


As they arrived on the crime scene, all dressed in their NCIS uniform, several other investigators were there. Barrett Wallace turned around from a red-haired man to see them.

"Highwind," he said gruffly. "Glad you could make it." Cid merely nodded.

"Where's the body?" he asked.

"In the kitchen," Barret replied grimly. "Vince is on it." Cid nodded again, brushing right past the red-haired man.

Cloud started photographing the bloodstained handprints on the walls, as Zack and Tifa went over to Barret.

"He said he saw a girl run out of the building, covered in blood," Barret said. "I'll leave it to you." He exchanged a look with Zack, and left. Zack turned to the young man.

"I'm Special Agent Fair, and this is Special Agent Lockhart." Tifa gave him a nod. "We're from NCIS."

"Reno," the young man said weakly. "Just call me Reno." Tifa smiled.

"Okay, Reno," she said gently. "Could you please tell us exactly what happened?" Reno swallowed.

"A girl ran out of the hotel last night at around 1am," he said quietly. "And she was covered in blood from top to bottom." Tifa nodded as Zack took down notes. He looked back at Reno.

"Would you come with us to HQ, please? We'll need an official statement and description." Reno nodded, still shaken. Zack turned over to Cloud.

"Hey!" he called out. Cloud turned around. "We're gonna head back first!" Cloud nodded and resumed his work.

Cid cautiously walked into the small blood-covered kitchen where the Medical Examiner, a black-haired man, was kneeling over a dead body.

"What have you got, Vince?" Vincent sat up, staring at the body grimly.

"Young man, possibly in his late-teens or early-20s," he muttered darkly. "Stabbed from the front in the chest cavity."

"Instant death?" Vincent sighed, shaking his head.

"Though critically wounded, he was unconscious for quite a while. I'm saying he had a long, painful death." Cid nodded, walking around to the other side of the body.

"Found out who he is yet?" Vincent nodded.

"Kadaj Jenovic," he stated. "Part of an elite Mafia gang." He glanced at Cid. "One of the many reasons why I think he didn't stab himself with that knife." Cid rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Any traces of the killer?"

"From the murder weapon," Vincent said, holding it up in a plastic bag. "We'll trace the fingerprints and DNA from it." Cid nodded.

"Boss!" Cloud called out, running to him. Cid turned to him.

"What is it?" Cloud held up a plastic bag with a lock of chestnut brown hair and a black ribbon inside.

"This is probably the killer's, boss," he said breathlessly. He handed it to Vincent, who studied it carefully. Cloud took a few shots of the body.

"There were strands of hair left on the victim's hand," he muttered. "There was probably a fight, and Kadaj ripped the killer's hair out." He gave it to his assistant. "Take it down to Yuffie, our Forensic specialist." The assistant nodded and ran off.

"The hotel owners say they have footage of the murder on tape," Cid said, staring around at the ceiling. Surely enough, he spotted a camera. Vincent followed his gaze.

"And?" Cid emitted a heavy sigh.

"I'll have my team look at it." He looked back down at Kadaj again.

"A crime of passion?" Vincent sighed, shaking his head.

"Too early to tell, in my opinion." He pulled the blanket over Kadaj's face. "But I think we should trace back to the leader of the victim's gang. Maybe he would have something to do with this incident."

Cid nodded.


"Yes," Tifa said into the telephone. "Brown hair, green eyes, about 20 to 26 years old…"

A young woman with short black hair and gothic clothes entered the office, followed closely by Cid.

"Yuffie's got the killer's DNA," he muttered, rushing to the plasma. "And I've got the murder footage." Zack, Tifa and Cloud dropped everything and glued their eyes to the plasma.

Cid pressed play on the remote and they watched in silent horror at the footage.

It only showed what happened in the first room, not in the kitchen where Kadaj was killed, but it definitely showed a girl running out of the kitchen, covered in blood.

"Wish we could hear what they were talking about," Zack muttered grimly. Cid pressed pause and zoomed in on the killer's face. Tifa let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hands. No one noticed.

Cloud couldn't take his eyes off the girl.

"She's… the killer?" he mumbled mindlessly. "But she's beautiful…" Cid slapped the back on Cloud's head, jolting him back to reality.

"Beautiful and deadly," he added irritably. He turned around to Yuffie. She smiled at him.

"Okay," she said brightly. "I ran some tests, and lucky for us there were traces of the killer's blood, hair and fingerprints left behind. I looked it all up and surprisingly this girl is already in the record." Cid pressed another button, reducing the screenshot to the side and inserting a picture of a beautiful green-eyed, brown haired girl. Tifa dropped her notes.

Yep," Yuffie continued. "The girl with the black ribbon is…"

"Aerith…" Tifa muttered suddenly. All eyes were on her. Yuffie frowned.

"How did you know?" she asked, slightly surprised. Tifa didn't take her eyes off the screen.

"Aerith Gainsborough," she said weakly. "She… she's my friend from high school." Her eyes shot over to Cid. "And I know for a fact that she would never kill anyone." Zack shrugged.

"It was a struggle," he said. "Manslaughter." Tifa shook her head firmly.

"She didn't kill him!" She looked back at the screenshot. "That can't be her. Someone set her up or something. She would never do something like this." Yuffie exhaled deeply and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Her fingerprints and DNA samples match, Tifa," she said in a soft voice. Tifa shook her head again.

"Something must have gone wrong, because that is NOT Aerith…" Cid cleared his throat loudly. Yuffie straightened up and continued.

"Aerith Gainsborough, 22, a nurse at Midgar Children's Hospital." Cid pressed a button and a picture of a silver haired man was inserted.

"Meet Sephiroth," he said, pacing. "Leader of the Midgar mafia, the victim's boss. Accused of the brutal murder of Aerith's parents Ifalna and Faremis Gast in 1998. The case dissolved in '01, and Sephiroth was proven not guilty, although it was clear to see that some tampering was made." He paused. "Aerith was left with no family at all, later adopted by a friend of her mother's, Elmyra Gainsborough, taking her name. Aerith publicly swore revenge after the court case." He stopped, sighing. He glanced at a thunderstruck Tifa. "It looks like everything points to her." He brushed past her and towards the door. Yuffie, Zack and Cloud tried to comfort the distressed brunette.

"Hey!" Cid called out. "Let's go." Zack frowned.

"What? Now?" Cid nodded. He shot one last glance at the plasma.

"Time to pay Midgar a visit."


What will happen next? XD