"So? Any idea what it is?"

Ziva glanced over at Tony, noting the anxiousness in his tone. The two of them, along with Gibbs, McGee and Abby, and stood around one of the metal tables in Ducky's examination room. Resting on the table was the charred corpse of the monster from Camp Lejeune. She held her breath for a moment, thinking about that harrowing battle with it barely twenty-four hours ago. Her eyes scanned the blackened body, its torso cut open by Ducky to remove the vital organs. Some small, illogical part of her mind expected it to suddenly jump off the table and attack them, like supposedly dead monsters did in all those stupid horror movies.

I have been around Tony too long.

But this wasn't a movie. This was real life. And in real life, dead animals didn't come back to life.

And this creature was, as the Americans say, deader than a door knob.

Ducky stood on the opposite side of the table from her and the team, looking over the animal. "Well, I can tell you what it isn't. It's not an extra-terrestrial being which, according to Tony and Ziva, Professor Stanley put forth as a possible theory."

"Are you sure?" Abby slouched to one side, clearly disappointed.

"Most definitely. While its bone and muscle density would benefit it if it came from a high gravity planet, an examination of its internal organs shows that its origins are terrestrial. Heart, lungs, kidneys. Their layout is consistent with what you would generally expect from a primate. Besides, if it were some sort of alien lifeform, it would likely be so different from anything we know, it would simply be beyond our comprehension."

"So it's some sort of mutant gorilla?" McGee inquired.

"More like a vampire gorilla." Tony smirked. "I mean, the way it skulked around the dark and bit people on the neck."

"Well, it definitely is a primate," Ducky answered. "Though not one I've ever seen. And most primates tend to live in more tropical or forested environments, not in cold regions like the Arctic, where this thing supposedly came from."

"Oh! Not true." Abby shook her head emphatically. "What about the Yeti?"

Ziva rolled her eyes. The Yeti. How ridiculous.

But after this encounter, is it so ridiculous?

Ducky bobbed his head from side to side. "All right, then. Most primates that we have proven to exist."

Abby frowned at the medical examiner.

Gibbs emitted a long sigh. "So basically what you're saying is you have no idea what this thing is . . . or was."

Ducky shrugged. "Well, we know it's a primate. But, Jethro, no one knows what this creature is. We're talking about an entirely new species."

"There is something else we know about that thing." Gibbs nodded to the creature. "It's dead, and it won't be killing any more people."

He took a sip of his coffee and headed for the door. "Case closed, people. Let's get back to work."

Abby pouted and folded her arms. "I was hoping it would be an alien."

Head down, she trudged out of the examination room.

McGee also frowned slightly. "An alien. Yeah, that would have been neat."

He followed Abby out of the room. So did Ziva and Tony seconds later.

She walked slower than normal down the hallway, images of the creature flashing through her mind. At times she substituted the monster for Dexter Stanley, remembering his tale of that horrific night at Horlicks University.

"Someone's deep in thought."

She turned and stopped, Tony's grinning face inches from hers.

"Something's on your mind. Care to share?"

Ziva frowned, wondering if Tony was the right person to tell. Then again, what she had going through her mind wasn't that personal.

"It's just . . . this is the Twenty-First Century, Tony. We should know every kind of animal that's out there. Science has shown what animals can and can't do, what's possible and what's not. Then we come across some man-eating animal no one's ever seen before, something that flies in the face of every zoological fact we know. I've always prided myself in being the sort of person who knows what's possible and what isn't. Now . . . now after dealing with this creature, what else is out there we've never encountered, that we may not be prepared to deal with, that might be even deadlier than that . . . gorilla thing?"

Tony shrugged. "Well, there's plenty of weird stuff out there. Ghosts, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, The Bermuda Triangle . . . the fact Justin Timberlake is so popular. It may be the Twenty-First Century, Ziva, but there's still a lot of mystery in the world."

"I don't like mysteries."

Tony drew his head back and gave her an appraising look. "I can tell you're not ready to let this one go."

The corner of Ziva's mouth twisted. "There's still a lot things we don't know. Like how that crate got from the lake where Professor Northrup dumped it to that cave at Camp Lejeune. Or how that creature could survive for so long locked up in a crate. Or if any records exist of the expedition that originally found it. Or if that creature was responsible for any other deaths before Dexter Stanley found it in 1982."

"You think Gibbs is going to let you investigate all that? Especially since that monster's been fried extra crispy?"

"Then I'll do it on my own time. Why not? Everyone here thinks I need a hobby. You have your movies, Gibbs has his boat, McGee has his writing and being an elf lord, and Abby . . . well, who knows the sorts of things she considers hobbies. So unraveling the mystery of this creature will be my hobby."

"Okay." Tony nodded. "You want any help?"

Ziva's brow furrowed. She gazed at him silently for a few moments. "You want to help me with this?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"And there wouldn't happen to be some ulterior motive to your help, would there?"

A sheepish grin played across Tony's lips. "Well, maybe. But, come on, I'm curious about this thing, too."

"And you're serious about this?"

"Of course I am. Besides, co-workers should spend more time together after hours. You know, it's good for team bonding and moral and all that. C'mon, what do you say?"

Ziva slowly worked her jaw back and forth. How many hours of the day did she have to put up with Tony's constant yammering and movie references and wisecracks and sexual innuendos? Did she really want more of that outside of work?

Think of how bored you'd be without all that.

She froze for a moment. Did I just think that?

Tony kept staring at her, an eager grin on his face.

A smile spread across her face. She stuck out her hand to shake Tony's. "I can't wait to get started."

THE END?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to everyone who stuck with this story. I hope you enjoyed it. And thanks especially to those who left a review. Those are much appreciated. Oh, Kittyboosmom, I couldn't resist putting the vampire gorilla reference in here after you came up with it. For more great sci-fi/action adventure, check out my original novel DARK WINGS, available from Amazon or as an e-book at smashword-dot-com.