Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of their characters.

Chapter 2

Gibbs just couldn't help himself. He landed one of his famous slaps right to the back of his senior field agent's head.

"If I hear one more person say something about that damn show I will fire all of you."

"Wait, what about me Gibbs. You wouldn't fire me." Abby spoke.

"Don't try me today, Abs." And with that he was gone.

"What is wrong with him?" Ziva questioned. Gibbs had already boarded the elevator and punched the number for the garage.

"Let's go!" he shouted at his team.

The crime scene resembled the one they'd seen earlier. The petty officer lay reclined in his recliner, his T.V. still playing at a low volume. Any other untrained observer would assume the man was sleeping.

"McGee, who contacted the authorities about this body?" Gibbs asked taking a long pull of his coffee.

"Uhh, the neighbor called over this morning when Petty Officer Daniels didn't meet him at the end of his drive. Apparently they've been chatting and the end of the drive everyday for the past five years. The neighbor said they always get the paper at the same time."

"So what, he just called 911 and they came over because Daniels didn't get his paper on time this morning?"

"Not exactly. Daniels neighbor used the spare key to make sure everything was okay. Said he had a gut feeling that something was off." McGee added.

"Is that so?" was all Gibbs had to add.

"Jethro, the time of death seems to coincide with Petty Officer Davis, our young lady from this morning. I'm fairly certain their TOD is identical." Ducky informed Gibbs. "Mr. Palmer, will you please get the gurney? We need to get this body back to autopsy. Hopefully he'll have more to tell us than his co-worker."

Gibbs gave his instructions to his team as they started their crime scene investigation. He was looking around the scene himself when his phone rang.

"Yeah, Gibbs." He answered in his special way. Ziva was the only one to notice the way his face seemed to drain as he slammed the cell shut.

"What is wrong, Gibbs?" She asked gently. McGee and Tony took notice and all of their attention was waiting for Gibbs to explain.

"Their CO was found. Dead. The director wants us to finish up here and meet him at the next scene." Gibbs informed his team. Perplexed looks plastered on each of their faces. Before anyone could speak Gibbs had vacated the house.

"This is not good, is it?" Ziva said turning to Tony.

"No, no it is not."

"Gibbs, do we have any idea as to how and why these people have died?" Vance asked, as he slipped under the crime scene tape.

"No, not yet."

"This is a little too strange for my tastes. The project these officers were working on was of top-secret clearance. I don't even have access to it." The two walked into the house together to talk to Ducky.

"Ah, Vance. It's never a good thing to see the Director at a crime scene. I assume this is now a matter of national security?" Ducky greeted the Director.

"Yes, I do believe it is, Dr. Mallard." Vance took a walk around the crime scene.

"DiNozzo, do you have anything?" Vance asked before Gibbs could address his senior field agent. Tony gave Gibbs a knowing look before addressing the Director. Tony, of all people, knew just how much it annoyed his boss when his superiors treated his team their own.

"A dead Command Officer, and two dead Petty Officers. Yeah, that's about it. Just another Wednesday here at NCIS. But wait, we can't figure out what it was that killed either of them, there is no forensics, no evidence of foul play. So, Director we have nothing."

Out of her peripheral vision Ziva noticed three agents duck under the crime scene tape. She was observant enough to realize they were indeed agents, but she hadn't the slightest clue as to who they were or whom they worked for. She did know that they were certainly not a part of NCIS. "Gibbs, I think we have company." She warned.

"Special Agent Gibbs?" The leader of the three asked as he reached the crowd in the Command Officers living room. "I'm Special Agent Neil, OSI."

"Agent Neil, what can I do for you?" Gibbs asked eyeing Neil up and down.

"I'm here to take over this case."