A/N: In this story, Kate is alive. Essentially, it's pre-Twilight, since I accept the changes that have been made in the show… so far. Time will tell how I feel about the new characters. Many thanks to my patient beta, Rinne, who has cleaned up the punctuation even though I can never remember her tips. Thank you for the reviews, much appreciated.

NCIS headquarters - 1 week earlier

The elevator doors opened and Gibbs came storming off it, blowing into the squad room like a typhoon.

Tony and Kate looked across at each other and then shrank down into their seats, unwilling to attract the ire of their obviously pissed-off boss. McGee had not been with the team very long and didn't know to leave well enough alone.

"How'd the trial go, Boss?" he asked innocently.

Gibbs fixed him with a look that could freeze fire. McGee gulped and stammered, "I … I… mean… um…" He looked over at Tony and Kate, who ducked their heads and suddenly found something very interesting on their computer screens.

Gibbs turned and stalked off, presumably to get some coffee.

"What did I say?" asked McGee, confused at the response of the older agent.

"Probie," drawled Tony, sitting back and putting his hands behind his head, "when Gibbs comes in looking like somebody set fire to his boat, you just do everything you can to stay off his radar."

Kate chimed in, "Yeah, and if he doesn't have his coffee with him, you pray that the coffee shop is open and they don't have some trainee at the counter, or blood may possibly be spilled."

"Word from the courthouse is, Murphy was acquitted, which explains the big guy's mood," Tony relayed to the other agents.

Kate shook her head. "Gibbs is going to be hard to live with, he was positive that the husband was guilty."

Tony said, "Yeah, but you know, sometimes even Gibbs can make a mistake."

Two months prior

The team had been called to the home of Petty Officer Leslie Murphy, a 27-year old computer specialist, who had been found by her husband, strangled. Roger Murphy was a civilian, 32-years old, and owner of a local gym, or "health club."

The club had been experiencing financial trouble lately, and when Gibbs found out that Roger Murphy had been having an affair with a 22-year old yoga instructor at his establishment, he surmised that the husband had killed his wife for the insurance to save his business and free himself to be with his young mistress.

But the jury didn't agree with Special Agent Gibbs, and didn't feel the circumstantial evidence was enough to convict Murphy beyond a reasonable doubt. Even Gibbs' professional and intense testimony didn't convince them, and they moved to acquit.

Kate said, "You know he's not going to leave it lie. He's going to look for more evidence until he proves he's right."

"Yeah, but he can't do anything about it, Kate. Double jeopardy." Tony leaned back further in his chair and grinned at his partner.

Gibbs strode back into the squad room, coffee in one hand, a file in the other, which he tossed onto Tony's desk.

"DiNozzo, get off your butt and look for anything that can break Murphy's alibi," he barked. "Start by going over the mistress' interview again."

"Come on, boss," Tony protested. "We had her in the interrogation room for 6 hours. You went after her, I went after her and Kate went after her. There's nothing in her testimony that can be shaken."

Gibbs' voice was like ice, "Look. Again."

"To what end, boss?" argued Tony. "Murphy's been acquitted. There's a little something called 'double jeopardy' in civilian law. Even if we find a set of prints on his wife's throat he's already been tried for her murder, and the jury let him go. He can't be tried again."

Gibbs slammed his chair back as he stood to face his agent. "Do you have a problem following orders, DiNozzo?"

Tony didn't back down. "No, not usually, but this is a waste of time, Boss. We've gone over and over the evidence, we've scoured the scene, and we found nothing concrete and incontrovertible to place Murphy at the scene at the time of the murder."

"He killed his wife, and we're going to prove it," growled Gibbs.

"Why do you say that?" Tony's voice was challenging. "Is your gut telling you that? Why didn't you insist the DA wait until we had hard proof before taking this to trial?"

"Tony." Kate's voice was strained as she tried to stop her partner from getting himself fired.

Tony ignored the warning in her voice. "Maybe you were wrong, Boss. Maybe we should be looking for another suspect. Maybe you made a mistake."

Gibbs walked over to Tony, stepping right up to the younger agent and getting into his personal space. "Yes, maybe I did make a mistake."

Tony looked as if he had been slapped. He pushed his chair back slowly and stood up, his expression hurt. Without a word, he turned and picked up his pack and walked out of the squad room.

Kate and McGee sat, shocked at what had just happened.

Gibbs looked at both of them, daring them to challenge him, then left the squad room.