A/N: Thanks for reading, here's chapter 6!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any original characters.

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The rest of the time passed painfully slowly, and Ziva wished she could disappear. Sitting there, alone, with Tony after the night they had shared had been bad enough, but trying to suppress her feelings and then shutting him out the way that she had only added to the unbearable tension in the room. Ziva knew she had hurt him, but it seemed like the only way to get him to drop the topic. He certainly wouldn't have stopped on his own until Ziva gave in and talked. So, she did what she had to do.

Finally, Gibbs and McGee returned with Jonathan Brown, and Tony and Ziva went down to observation. The two of them stood on either side of McGee, careful not to speak or look at each other. McGee, feeling the tension, felt rather uncomfortable being between them and wondered what was going on. He knew better than to ask either of them.

Through the glass, they saw Gibbs enter the interrogation room with a full cup of coffee and sit opposite Jonathan Brown.

"Alright, Mr. Brown, why don't you start by describing your relationship with Ryan Jacobs," Gibbs began. Brown looked rather confused but answered the question.

"Ryan's my best friend. Why?" he asked. Gibbs studied his face for a moment, undoubtedly making Brown feel uncomfortable. "What's this about, Agent Gibbs?"

"When is the last time you spoke to him?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, that would be the other night when we went out for drinks," Brown replied. Gibbs nodded.

"Tell me about that night," he requested.

"Okay," Brown said. He ran a hand over his blonde hair and took a deep breath, still confused by the situation. "Ryan hasn't been home long, and like I said, he's my best friend. We missed out on a lot of good times while he was overseas, so we went out for drinks just so the two of us could catch up."

"Where did you go?" Gibbs asked. Brown gave Gibbs the name of a bar downtown. "And did you two leave together?"

"No," Brown replied thoughtfully. "My wife texted me saying she needed help with the baby, so I told Ryan I had to go. He was going to stay a little while longer, so we said goodnight, and I went home."

"What time did you leave the bar that night?" Gibbs asked.

"Early," Brown replied. "Probably around ten, actually." Brown was silent for a moment while Gibbs wrote his answers down. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him, and he inquired about the situation again. "Did something happen to Ryan?" Gibbs took a deep breath before answering.

"Ryan Jacobs is dead," he replied. Brown's face instantly turned ghostly white and he began swallowing hard.

"What?" he asked. "H-how did this happen?"

"We're doing all we can to figure that out," Gibbs replied.

"So-so you don't know?" Brown asked.

"Not yet," Gibbs replied. He thought it best not to shock Brown with all the details yet, including poison being the cause of death. "Didn't you find it strange that you hadn't talked to Jacobs since leaving the bar?" Brown, still in shock, shook his head.

"No, no sir," he replied. "It's not like we talked every day. We both had wives, and I have a baby. We had responsibilities." Gibbs nodded his understanding and let Brown have a moment to pull himself back together.

"You said the two of you were best friends," Gibbs recalled. "How long?"

"Since kindergarten," Brown replied. "We grew up together."

"So you would say you knew him pretty well?" Gibbs asked. Brown nodded.

"Better than anyone, sir," he replied.

"Would you happen to know if he had any enemies?" Gibbs asked. "Was there anyone who would have wanted to harm him?"

"I don't think so," Brown replied. "Ryan had a lot of friends. I can't place anyone who was an enemy. If he didn't get along with someone, that was that. He just stayed away from them. As far as I know, he wasn't having problems with anyone." Gibbs nodded and wrote his observations.

"What do you know about his relationship with his wife?" he asked.

"Um," Brown began. Gibbs watched as Brown pondered the question. "They weren't having problems. He and Sarah really loved each other a lot."

"I'm sure it was hard on the two of them with him being away for so long," Gibbs offered. "Did he mention any type of marital issues at all?" Brown shook his head.

"Not that I recall," he replied. Gibbs nodded.

"What about an affair?" he asked. Brown looked slightly surprised by the question.

"An affair?" he repeated. Gibbs nodded. "Um, n-no. No affair." Gibbs raised his eyebrows, unconvinced.

"Look, I know this was your best friend, and you probably want to protect his image the best you can. But, any information you can give us could help solve this case. So, I'm going to ask you again and I need you to be completely honest with me. Was Ryan Jacobs having an affair?" Gibbs asked sternly and waited for Brown to answer. Brown swallowed again and began fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Okay," he began. "There's this online dating thing called DateNow."

"DateNow?" Gibbs repeated. Brown nodded, and Gibbs wrote down the name.

"Anyway, Ryan and I and a group of us guys each created an account on it," Brown continued.

"Didn't you say at least you and Jacobs were married?" Gibbs asked. Brown looked down in shame.

"It's not what you think," he said.

"Then what is it?" Gibbs asked.

"Look, I do love my wife and son. And Ryan really loved his wife. And the other guys, they love their wives and girlfriends too," Brown began. "We made the accounts just for plain, innocent fun. We were just screwing around to see what we could get. It was nothing more than that. Just some random chatting with some girls. None of us ever actually met up with any of the girls on there." Gibbs nodded and finished writing down the information. He stood from the table and headed toward the door.

"Well, apparently it wasn't as fun and innocent as you thought," he said. "Because someone killed Ryan Jacobs."

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A/N: Well, there's chapter 6. Please remember to review and tell me what you think so far!