A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews. I'm trying to place this before the season six finale and eagerly counting down the days to the season seven opener. Can anyone guess the answer to Julie's riddle?

Chapter 7

While Tony, Ziva, and Tim ran background checks on the long list of suspects, Gibbs took Julie home to his place. After Harriet had left, Julie had, blessedly, gone quiet but not still. Instead, she had begun working her way through Lt. Suddth's e-mails, printing off various e-mails and highlighting certain phrases that caught her attention. By the time Gibbs called it a night two hours later, she had a dozen pages of e-mails and was only half-way done in her opinion.

"You need to get some rest," he pointed out. "You've had a rough day and I need you to keep a clear head."

"Fine, just keep the Smirnoff away from me," she said.

At Gibbs' house in his basement, he worked on his boat and she cleaned her weapons, both her service and her back-up, a nice Glock 27, which was the same caliber as her service weapon, a Glock 23; both were .40mm. He had bourbon and she had her vodka. As they drank and worked, they talked.

"There are only four things that have ever really been different between me and Debbie," Julie said. "If you can figure it out, I'll behave myself."

"Why don't I just handcuff you to a chair?" Gibbs asked.

"Because there's no guarantee I'd stay there," she shot back. "You want the riddle or not?"

"I hate riddles."

"Then you'll love this one."

He glared but gestured for her to continue.

"One is a title, two is a touch, three is a life-saver, and four is the heart of the matter."

Gibbs thought about that, turning it over in his mind. "Title," he said. "Debbie was a lieutenant with the Navy, so her title was Lieutenant. You're a federal agent with the FBI, so your title is Special Agent."

Julie nodded. "One down, three to go. Not bad for starters."

"Do I get a hint about the other three?"

"Only one; you leave it behind every time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She smirked and took a swig of vodka. "Do your research, buster; you'll find the answers there." She cleaned her weapon in silence for a moment then said, "Question: is John cleared?"

"You mean Master Sergeant John Burnham?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, he's cleared for now."

"So, if he shows up tomorrow at Rock Creek Park, can I tell him what's going on?"

"You can tell him your sister was murdered but don't brief him on the investigation," Gibbs said. "Tell him we want people to think Lt. Suddth is still alive for now."

"Okay," Julie said.

That night Gibbs could hear Julie tossing and turning, unable to sleep, or if she did, not peacefully. When he checked in on her the next morning, she had dark circles under her eyes, evidence of her restless night. When he offered her fresh coffee, she didn't drink it so much as she gulped it down.

"Morning coffee person?" he asked, sipping his own coffee.

"Like you wouldn't believe," she said. She was dressed in a bright pink Nike racerback tank, black running capris, socks, and had her hair in a pony tail. She had placed a bright yellow and black fleece vest on the kitchen table chair and a running pouch with a waterbottle attached to it on the counter. Her service weapon was attached to the pouch and she had also placed her back-up weapon in the pouch, intending to loan it to John if he was there. A purple mesh street-style hat with an angled brim sat next to the pouch.

Gibbs had elected to wear shorts and a tank top with a windbreaker to conceal his own weapon. The plan was if Master Sergeant John Burnham showed up, he would run behind Julie and John, allowing them some privacy and at the same time keeping an eye on her and their surroundings. His gut was saying something bad was going to happen and he wanted to be prepared.

At Rock Creek Park Julie spotted a familiar-looking battered pick-up truck. Her heart leaped and she felt a grin coming to her face.

Gibbs noticed and he grinned to himself. His background check on John Burnham had not revealed anything suspicious. The Master Sergeant was a decorated, honest, respected, and hard-working Marine who had done several tours and had been in Maryland at the time of Lt. Suddth's murder. Scuttlebutt said he wasn't seeing anyone publicly but did seem to be involved with someone, which was a contradiction in terms. If anyone knew who the mysterious person was, they weren't saying or Burnham wasn't saying. Scuttlebutt also had it that a woman who matched Julie Suddth's description had stayed with Burnham for a while at Quantico last year for reasons unknown and had been seen wrestling with him at the base gym around the same time. Gibbs was beginning to suspect it had something to do with the child abduction case Roberts had mentioned to him yesterday.

A tall, well-built man wearing an olive green tank shirt and gray cut-off sweat shorts was stretching but looked up when he saw the car pull up. Curiosity etched his face but then it lit up when he saw Julie emerge from the car.

"John!" Julie called eagerly.

"Hey yourself," John said coming over to them and returning Julie's exuberant hug. "What's going on?" he asked, indicating Gibbs.

"This is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, NCIS," Julie explained. "John, someone shot and killed Debbie yesterday night around midnight, just after she got back from the Eisenhower at Norfolk."

"What? Oh my god," John yelped. "Any idea who?"

"Not at the moment, sergeant," Gibbs said.

"The problem NCIS has is me," Julie said. "They don't know if Debbie was the intended target or if I was."

"Are you under protective custody?" John asked.

"Until we know more, yes," Gibbs said.

"Damn," John said, raking a hand across his clean-shaven jaw.

Julie took out her back-up weapon and handed it to him. "Don't know if you have yours on you but here's mine. It's got ten rounds in it."

John nodded and tucked the weapon at his back. "What about you?" he asked.

Julie revealed hers and so did Gibbs, hidden under his dark blue windbreaker. "You two go ahead; I'll be behind you," he said. "No chasing today, Julie," he warned the federal agent, who gave a mock pout but grinned before starting down the road at an easy pace. As they ran, Gibbs got out his cell and checked in with his team.

"DiNozzo," Tony said upon answer.

"Yeah, Gibbs. Update," he said.

"Working our way though the lists of names, boss. So far we have at least five people of interest that we plan to check out in person," Tony said.

"And the rest?"

"Either dead, in jail, or no where near Norfolk at the time of the murder," Tony said.

"Alright, keep on it," Gibbs said.

"One thing, boss; someone named Gloria Lindstrom has left several frantic-sounding messages in Lt. Suddth's voicemail," Tony said.

"And?"

"And she's a seaman Lt. Suddth defended against theft charges earlier last year. Swiped a general's wallet," Tony said.

Gibbs grunted. "Well, at least she went for the good stuff," he said.

"Lt. Suddth apparently managed to straighten the lady out and she's been behaving herself ever since," Tony said, barely keeping the snicker out of his voice at Gibbs' comment.

"What are the messages?"

"Basically begging the lieutenant to call her on her cell as soon as possible. Didn't say what about. And boss?"

"Yeah?"

"Seaman Lindstrom has gang ties; several members of her family belong to the Black Aces," Tony reported.

"Where is she now?"

"She should be on the Missouri, which docked two days ago for a week-long stay," Tony reported.

"Find her, bring her in, and see what the problem is," Gibbs said.

"On it, boss."

Up ahead, John and Julie talked quietly.

"How are you holding?" he asked.

She shrugged. "About as well as can be expected," she replied. "Trying to stay away from the vodka, or at least keep it in moderation."

"How much did you have last night?" he asked.

"Couple of shots, left about two-thirds of the bottle," she replied.

"Was it good?"

"Black Cherry Smirnoff Twist," she said.

"Good stuff," he said, familiar with Julie's favorite poison. "How come you didn't call me?"

"I wanted to," she admitted. "But I didn't want to drag you away from your training exercise. Besides, I figured I'd get lucky and you'd show up here. Looks like I was right."

John nodded. "Let me talk to my C.O., see if I can't get you placed in protective custody at the base," he offered.

"Talk to Gibbs; he's in charge of the investigation," she said. "Might be a good idea, though, because I strongly suspect he's going to try and kill me before very long."

John grinned at her. "Are you being your usual sweet, charming self again?" he asked.

"I always am!" she yelped indignantly. "Although I thought his forensic specialist, Abby, was going to fall of the desk laughing when he was asking about some of the names on my potential suspect list."

John laughed and Julie found herself relaxing a bit. Funny how things always seemed a bit better whenever she was around John; he always seemed to make the world look not so bad after all.

Then it happened. Gibbs spotted the dark-colored car before they did and watched in horror as a tinted window rolled down, exposing the barrel of an automatic weapon.

When Gibbs saw the flash of of the weapon's muzzle, he yelled, "Get down!" and dove for the nearest outcropping, in this case, a bunch of thick trees. Trees and ground exploded as bullets chewed in to the trees and surrounding area.

He saw John slam in to Julie and practically force her into the ground. The car passed and Gibbs, gun already out, popped out, firing.

"Get down!" Gibbs suddenly yelled and Julie found herself being tackled, hard, by John. They slammed into the ground as bullets struck nearby trees, spraying bark and wood splinters. Julie yelped involuntarily but was already reaching for her gun.

Julie struggled out from under John, despite his protests, and scrambled for the nearest tree.

"Julie, keep your damn head down!" John barked frantically, his own weapon also out.

The second the shooting stopped was the second Julie popped out, firing her own gun at the car, a navy-colored compact. A windshield shattered and she thought she heard someone yelp.

"Down hill!" Julie yelled to Gibbs, taking off through the woods. "The road loops down! We can catch 'em on the back loop!"

"Julie, god damnit!" John yelled, taking off after her. Julie ignored him, focusing on getting down the steep,tree-covered hill without breaking her ankle or leg and without losing her gun.

At the bottom of the hill, she leaped, rolled, and came up shooting at the retreating car. Gibbs joined her a second later, not familiar with the terrain as she was, with John right beside him, also popping off rounds. Someone yelled again and she grinned in satisfaction. Then the car was too far away for her to hit satisfactorily so she stopped.

"Did anybody even get a plate?" Gibbs snapped once he stopped shooting.

"Plate was covered in mud," Julie said, breathing hard, holding her arm where she had scrapped it hitting the ground.

"Heard you yell, hit the ground," John said, shaking his head, hands on his hips, also breathing hard. Sweat had soaked his shirt and Julie's nose caught his scent, getting her attention and unintentionally arousing her.

"You mean me," Julie shot back, removing her gun clip and checking it before slapping it back in. Behave yourself, she told herself firmly. John is a friend, nothing more, and right now you need a friend more than you do a nooky session.

"I should have knocked you out, you crazy fool!" John snapped, not sure if he wanted to kiss her or deck her. "Are you out of your mind?"

Instead of answering John, Julie turned to Gibbs and snapped, gesturing in the direction of the long-gone car, "What question does that answer?"

"It doesn't," Gibbs said, already getting out his cell and calling his team. It just created more questions, he thought. I hope to hell we can get them answered before Suddth winds up dead.