Warnings: Same as usual.
A/N: I apologize for the delay on this, I hit a bit of writer's block. This is a smaller update to get the ball rolling again as I know there were a lot of requests to bring it back. I hope you enjoy it!
Tony slammed the door to the Charger shut and began walking towards a quaint little ranch house in a quaint little neighborhood. After discovering that Elise Archer had not shown up for work, Tony and Natalie had driven out to her home. "Read a book, dies mysteriously; I'm not buying it," he said as they walked towards the front door.
Natalie glanced at him and tucked her hair behind her right ear. "Why not? If the book had classified information in it, then it's plausible that Commander Casey was murdered for it; to keep it secret."
"It only happens with cursed videotapes, you know, like in that movie The Ring or the original—Ringu," he said, smiling at her slightly.
"Well, Agent Archer didn't show up for work and isn't answering her phone," she replied as they got closer to the front door. "Maybe the book was cursed."
Tony grinned. "Agent Archer's playing hooky, huh? I would never do that."
Natalie rolled her eyes. "Of course not."
He gave her an easy smile and reached to knock on the door, alerting Archer of their presence, but the smile faded when the door opened with his simple touch. Tony drew his weapon and glanced at his partner, who had drawn hers as well. He nodded and entered the house first. "Elise Archer?"
She went one way, he went the other, checking the rooms as they went. Natalie made it to the living room first and found the body. "Tony."
Tony joined her. In the middle of the floor was Elise Archer, dead from strangulation. He sighed and put his weapon away. "Call Gibbs, then call the FBI."
"Do you believe in cursed books now?" Natalie asked, holstering her weapon and pulling out her phone. "Or do these things still only happen in the movies?"
"Not sure yet; I'm slowly changing my mind," Tony replied, "but I do believe both our victims were killed for this book. We better find the author soon or that person is next."
Natalie waited outside the house for Gibbs and Fornell to arrive. Once they had discovered Archer's body, they were on the phone with the FBI and Gibbs. It appeared now that their paths had crossed and they were going to need Fornell's help.
Behind her FBI agents moved in and out of the house. Ducky and Palmer had arrived to complete the medical examination and take the body back to NCIS for autopsy. And Tony was still trying to figure out who had invited Gibbs to a wedding.
"Agent Callahan," Fornell greeted when he met up with her. "What have you got so far?"
"Tony and I came to speak to Agent Archer about Operation Birdsong," Natalie reported. "We found her dead on the living room floor. No signs of foul play; she was choked to death."
"Any signs of forced entry?" Gibbs asked.
"None. The door was open when we arrived," Natalie answered.
Gibbs looked up as Tony strode across the yard to join them. "Did you find the copy of the book?"
Natalie shook her head. "Not really. There appeared to be a book that was burned in the fireplace. It could be ours."
Tony stopped next to his partner, his shoulder brushing against hers. "Agent Archer's husband is an EMT, he was working the overnight shift when the murder occurred. I contacted him. He's on his way home now to answer our questions and identify the body."
"I never met him," Fornell interjected. "Elise always had nice things to say about him."
"What exactly did Elise do for the FBI?" Tony questioned.
"Counterterrorism—joint task," Fornell replied.
"Did she work with DIA?" Natalie asked.
"Sometimes," Fornell said.
Natalie shifted her gaze over to Tony, who looked back at her solemnly before asking, "Was she involved in Operation Birdsong?"
Fornell hardened his look. "I know about as much as you do concerning Operation Birdsong, DiNutso."
Gibbs gently pushed the FBI agent away. "DiNozzo, take Callahan and see if you can find anyone else tied to this operation; seems someone is out to kill them all." He gently moved them along, ignoring the glare from Tony as he went back to the house with Fornell.
Tony took Natalie by the arm and headed towards their car. "I don't buy it. Tobias knows something, he just isn't allowed to say anything to us."
"You always say that about Tobias."
"Well, one of these times I'm going to be right."
Natalie climbed into their car and sighed, waiting for him to get into the driver's seat. Something about the case didn't seem right; at this point she couldn't put her finger on it yet. She watched as a car pulled up and a young man, dressed in an EMT uniform got out. He didn't look like a grieving husband... "Tony, look at that," she said to her partner before he started their car up. "Elise's husband doesn't look too torn up."
Tony paused and followed her eyes. If it was him, he would be devastated that he lost Natalie. Yet, Elise Archer's husband appeared calm. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking," he replied, starting the car up. He didn't wait for her to answer before continuing,"I think Elise Archer's husband knows more than he's letting on..."
She nodded. "Do you think he killed her?"
He shrugged. "Always a possibility. I just know, that if it were me, I wouldn't have been able to drive myself here."
"Shock? Denial?"
"Or, trying to keep cool to cover up his crime."
Tony started the car up and drove off. Glancing over is shoulder at his partner, he said, "Maybe we should be looking into the husband and not the book."
Natalie wasn't that convinced yet. "I thought you were starting to believe the whole idea that there might be a cursed book? This case might not be one of your the spouse did it cases, Tony."
He smiled. "It's always the spouse."
She frowned. "Not always."
"Do I really need to go over our last few cases..."
"No. I get it. Always check the spouse first."
"Just out of curiosity, would you kill me?"
"Well, I'm sure Abby would help me hide the body..."
Tony tossed her a look of mock fear. He knew that she was never hurt him but he also knew that Abby wouldn't hesitate to help her hide his body. "If her husband killed her; we need to find a motivate as to why."
Natalie nodded her head. "And if we find the motivate to why, we might have the motive as to why he killed Lieutenant Commander Casey; he wanted to throw us off, maybe it wasn't about the book at all."
He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. "I'd still like to see what's in that book."
She smiled. "That's because you're nosy; just like you need to know who invited Gibbs to their wedding."
"If I wasn't nosy I'd make a lousy federal agent, don't you think? I'm paid to be nosy."
"You're going to be fired for being nosy if you keep at it about that wedding."
Tony removed one hand from the wheel and reached for one of hers, bringing it to his lips and giving it a soft kiss. He was more worried about being fired for keeping his marriage to his partner a secret. However, Natalie was worth the risk; she had always been worth the risk.
Gibbs could sense that Tobias was looking at him while he drove back to NCIS. "No," he said, "I'm not going."
Tobias squirmed in his seat a little. "Of course not; neither am I."
"She was miserable to live with, Tobias," Gibbs said. "Why would you even think about going to her wedding?"
"For Emily," Tobias said with a shrug. "She's pretty upset about it; I don't think she likes the idea of having a stepdad."
"Oh, well, she'll adjust," Gibbs replied, softly. "Could always have DiNozzo talk to her about stepparents."
Tobias frowned. "You mean, the man that had so many stepmothers he lost count? I think Emily will be okay."
Gibbs chuckled. "Once the wedding is over, she'll be better; weddings do things to people."
"DiNozzo sure seems interested in them."
"He's just nosy."
"Sure about that. I overheard Tim say that Tony and Natalie went away for the weekend."
"What are you getting at?"
Tobias smiled, coyly. "I think they got married without you even knowing it."
Gibbs glared at him. "They wouldn't. Tony would know that would result in an automatic transfer from the team. And the team has been working well with the addition of Callahan; he wouldn't put that at risk."
He chuckled. The other agent had noticed the necklace around Natalie's neck, with three rings hanging from it. Now, unless it was some kind of family heirloom, Tobias could only conclude that she was wearing her engagement ring, her wedding band, and Tony's wedding band, around her neck. "Whatever you say, Jethro. We both know how much he loves her."
"Doesn't mean they got married."
"You already know, don't you?"
"Yeah," Gibbs said, smiling.
"How did you figure it so quickly?" Tobias inquired.
Gibbs laughed. "I saw the same damn necklace that you saw, Tobias."
Tobias shook his head. "Unbelievable. Here I thought I finally had one up on you. Since you know, what are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? It's a violation of policy."
"What Vance doesn't know," Gibbs said, softly, "won't hurt him."
