For further clarification on the time period, this is set in season four, but season four will be taking place in the current year. That way I don't have to worry about whether a particular song or movie that's refrenced existed when season four originally aired.


Chapter Five

The next morning, Ziva arrived at work to find Tony was already at his desk. That was odd enough, but what was really unusual was the fact that he was working. Well, he wasn't reading his favorite magazine (he was reading a book) and he was on the computer.

"Is something wrong, Tony?" Ziva asked, deciding to forgo her usual Internet browsing ritual so she could question her partner.

His green eyes met her brown ones. Ziva felt several emotions—desire, lust, fear—rocket through her, catching her off guard. At the same time, she was all too aware of the fact that they were alone (McGee hadn't arrived yet and Gibbs was elsewhere) in the bullpen. She was snapped out of her chaotic thoughts as Tony replied, "I was doing some research, Zee-vah."

"What kind of research?"

"About the case. I was checking to see if anyone in the D.C. area had bought silver bullets lately, but nothing so far."

"Aren't Abby and McGee already doing that?"

"Well, yeah," he admitted, "but I figured it couldn't hurt to look at it from a different angle."

"You two, gym, now."

Tony jumped and Ziva almost stabbed her boss. Gibbs really needed to wear something with bells so they would know he was coming. Although with their senses, she supposed, they should have smelled him. The problem was, she'd been so focused on DiNozzo.

The Mossad liaison couldn't help feel excited at the prospect of a workout. After changing into her gym clothes, she headed out to the wrestling mat.

"DiNozzo, go with her," Gibbs ordered, moving over to the punching bag.

The senior field agent didn't try to back out. Instead, he shot Ziva a feral grin. "This is gonna be fun."

She smirked and began stretching. "Don't try too hard. We all know I'm going to take you down."

McGee suddenly burst in, wearing NCIS sweats. "Sorry I'm late, Boss. I was late catching a bus, and—"

"McGee, Rule Number Six. I don't care why you're late. Now, are you ready to box?"

Tim's jaw hung slack. He stammered, "B-b-b-b-box?"

"That's what I said." Gibbs sounded irritated. "Grab a pair of gloves and join me."

Ziva chuckled. "He's not going to last." She finished stretching and stood up, circling Tony. He copied her, waiting for the first strike.

When Tony went high, aiming for her torso, Ziva ducked low. She grabbed his legs and used his momentum to toss him behind her onto the floor. Then she pounced, but Tony rolled out of the way. As soon as she landed, he was on her, gripping her wrists and holding them behind her back. Ziva thrashed, the wolf inside her not at all happy with being restrained. She hadn't counted on him being so strong. However, she figured she had agility on her side.

Tony's hands slipped. Immediately Ziva flipped over, brought up her foot, and kicked him. He scrambled off her, and she pounced again, bringing them both to the floor. All at once she was pressing too close against him. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled his scent, and she had to fight a ridiculous urge to say something alone the lines of making love instead of war. She couldn't say that in front of Gibbs, though. Instead, all she said was, "I'm done here," and rolled off him.

After helping Tony up, she glanced over at the boxing ring. Tim was knocked out, tongue lolling. Ziva had to bite her tongue to keep in a bark of laughter.

Gibbs stood over the probie, nudging him gently with his shoe. "Come on, McGee. Get up."

McGee's eyes snapped open. He tried to sit up, groaned instead, and put a hand to his temple. "Geez, Boss, do you have to hit so hard?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't hit you that hard."

Ziva couldn't help it. She cracked up. The rest of the team swung their heads toward her, Tony's quizzical expression reminding her of a dog tilting its head in confusion. "Ziva, what's so funny?" he asked.

"McGee being knocked out on the first punch. I guess you could say Gibbs hit him with his best shot."

"Ooo, I love that song," Tony said. As he started singing, Ziva clamped her hand over his mouth. She warned, "On that note, I will lock you up in a room and have you listen to 'It's a Small World' for twenty-four hours straight. Are we clear?"

He nodded. Please don't follow through.

She started to say, "I won't," but stopped just in time. He hadn't spoken out loud. Was it significant that they could read each other's thoughts when they weren't in wolf form? Soul mates were supposed to be completely in tune, and since they were related to wolves, their kind mated for life. Was it possible that Tony . . .

No. It can't be.

"Come on. Abby's got something," Gibbs said as he snapped his phone shut. Ziva was jolted out of her confusing thoughts. She shoved them to the back of her mind as she went into the locker room to change before heading to Labby.

...

Music blared from the stereo. This time it was "She Wolf" by Shakira. Not Abby's usual choice in music, but since this case seemed to be dealing with Shifters, the Goth was probably playing every song dealing with wolves or werewolves that she could find. As long as she didn't start playing "Thriller" anytime soon, Ziva didn't mind the change in music.

"Abby, what'd ya got?" Gibbs asked, almost shouting to be heard above the song.

Apparently she heard him, since the volume toned down enough that they could talk without having to yell. Abby twisted around with a smile on her face. She said triumphantly, "I was able to get the recording of Petty Officer Madison's last phone call."

"You can do that?"

"Yes."

"Play it," the silver-haired fox ordered.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard; then the whole team could hear Phoebe Madison's last phone call.

"Chris." She sounded panicked.

"Yeah, Phoebe?"

"I need help. NCIS is onto me. I saw something I shouldn't have."

His voice sharpened. "What?"

"This may sound crazy, but I think I saw werewolves."

"Werewolves?" He laughed. "You must have been seeing things."

"I wasn't. Chris, I—" She broke off as a howl came from outside. "They're here!"

There was nothing more after that.

After a few heartbeats, DiNozzo summed it up: "That's creepy."

"Ya think, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said sarcastically. He turned to leave, but Abby grabbed his arm in a vice-grip. "Wait, there's more."

"What?"

"We were able to trace the silver bullet. We ran the serial number and found there are only two places in D.C. who manufacture them. Who knew so many stores sold silver bullets?"

Gibbs coughed lightly, reminding the excitable Goth to stay on track. She did just that after taking a sip of Caf-Pow.

"Chris Nixon—"

She was interrupted by a low growl. Startled, everyone except Tony and Ziva looked around for the source. Then Ziva felt their eyes rest on her. Why are they looking at me like that? She looked down and studied her hands, which—to her immense relief—were still human.

"Ziva, calm down," Tony murmured.

His words made Ziva realize that she was the one growling. Immediately, she stopped, hoping she hadn't given their secret away. Abby could handle it, but she wasn't so sure about Palmer, Ducky, McGee, Gibbs, or Jenny.

The team was still staring at her. Abby said, "Is it just me, or did that sound like a wolf?"

Tony laughed, but it sounded forced to Ziva. "What, you're saying you believe in werewolves, Abby? Everyone knows they only exist in movies, books, and TV shows."

"I'm not saying I do, Tony, but ever since the start of this case the two of you have been acting a bit strange."

"Abby, the case," prompted Gibbs.

"Oh, right. As I was saying, Nixon bought a pack of 'em a few days ago. That howl was really creepy. Do you think she actually saw werewolves?"

"Abby, how many Caf-Pows have you had today?"

"I think this is my fifth."

"Let's try not to break the record, Abby."

"You're right. That was ugly."

McGee spoke up for the first time since entering Labby. "Where'd that howl come from?"

Ziva exchanged an uneasy glance with DiNozzo. They hadn't arrived until five minutes later, so where had the howl come from? Ziva hadn't scented anyone—or anything—else. Could the call have been faked?

She hoped so. If it had, then her and Tony's suspicions were correct.

Another thought occurred to her: could the petty officer have recorded the howl some other time, then played it back on her laptop computer? It had been running, after all. There had been an IM conversation going on when she and DiNozzo had interrupted. She'd even read it, for crying out loud! Voicing her train of thought, Ziva asked, "Anything else on the laptop?"

McGee started, "The messages were encrypted—"

"I could read it," Ziva reminded them.

Abby gasped. "Of course! It's a foreign language! Thanks, Ziva!" Rushing forward, she hugged her tightly.

"Careful, Abby," Ziva choked. "Need—air."

"Sorry." The Goth forensic scientist released the ninja assassin and turned back to her computer. Typing furiously, she ordered, "McGee, stay here. I need you to help. Gibbs, Ducky wants to see you."

Gibbs nodded, a small smile on his face, before heading out. The silver-haired fox ordered, "Tony, Ziva, head back to Petty Officer Madison's house. See what you can find."

"On it, Boss," they chorused, exiting Abby's lab for the elevator.

DiNozzo snatched the Charger's keys out of Ziva's hand once they were inside. "This time, I'm driving."

"Of course."

While they were making their way to the car in the parking lot, Ziva couldn't help tuning her partner's thoughts, only to find nothing that would help her find out what was troubling him. She started to ask what was wrong, then decided against it. He would tell her when he was ready.

When they were a few miles away from the Navy Yard, Ziva turned on the radio, hoping to break the sudden tension between her and Tony. Unfortunately, she didn't recognize the song until it reached the first verse:

S.O.S. she's in disguise
S.O.S. she's in disguise
There's a she wolf in disguise
Coming out, coming out, coming out

Abby was playing this same song earlier, the Israeli Shifter remembered. Tony said, "Wasn't Abby—"

She shushed him so they could listen.

A domesticated girl that's all you ask of me
Darling it is no joke, this is lycanthropy
The moon's awake now with eyes wide open
My body's craving so feed the hungry

Ziva exchanged a glance with her partner, and was startled to find he was looking at her with a heated intensity in his eyes. "Tony, it's just a—"

"But it's slightly true." He grinned. "This isn't a joke."

Her heartstrings tugged. She suddenly wanted him to kiss her . . .

Snap out of it, she told herself.

I've been devoting myself to you Monday to Monday and Friday to Friday
Not getting enough retribution or decent incentives to keep me at it
I'm starting to feel just a little abused like a coffee machine in an office
So I'm gonna go somewhere cozy to get me a lover
And tell you all about it

There's a she wolf in your closet
Open up and set her free
There's a she wolf in the closet
Let it out so it can breathe

Again she was all too aware of Tony's eyes on her. Warmth flooded her. Ziva frantically tried to focus on anything else except her fellow Shifter.

Why was it she couldn't go five seconds without thinking about him?

To help her out, or so it seemed, Shakira started singing again. The Mossad liaison found herself humming along.

Sitting at a bar, staring right at her prey
It's going well so far, she's gonna get her way
Nocturnal creatures are not so prudent
The moon's my teacher and I'm her student

"To paraphrase, this song is totally you, Ziva," Tony commented.

"Just keep your eyes on the road and your mind out of the streets," she shot back.

"It's 'out of the gutter,' Zee-vah."

To locate the single men I got me a special radar
And the fire department hotline in case I get in trouble later
Not looking for cute little divas or rich city guys that just want to enjoy
But having a very good time and behaving very bad in the arms of a boy

Ziva felt, rather than saw, Tony grin. "Yep, this sounds like you."

"Shut it," she growled, eyes flashing.

There's a she wolf in the closet
Open up and set her free
There's a she wolf in your closet
Let it out so it can breathe

S.O.S. she's in disguise
S.O.S. she's in disguise
There's a she wolf in disguise
Coming out, coming out, coming out

S.O.S. she's in disguise
S.O.S. she's in disguise
There's a she wolf in disguise
Coming out, coming out, coming out

There's a she wolf in your closet
Let it out so it can breathe

"Let's change the station, shall we?" Ziva suggested.

Her partner nodded and changed it to a country station. Ziva made a face. "Anything but that."

A moment later, Frank Sinatra could be heard.

"No."

Tony whined, "But, Ziva, it's Sinatra!"

She ignored him, and a hard rock song filled the black Charger. DiNozzo smiled, recognizing the opening chords. "Good choice."

"Huh?"

"Listen."

After midnight
I call you
Even though I know better
I just got to
The moon is full
My heart is hot
And you know what I'm longing to do
With this aching I got

"Tony . . ." warned Ziva.

The call of the wild
Oh baby can't you hear me calling
Oooh . . .
The call of the wild
Call of the wild

"What? It's completely ironic! You know, considering how we find our mate and all."

"If you value your life, stop talking."

How can you ask me
Why I'm pushing pushing
When you know damn well
What you do
What you do to a woman
I get so inspired
Lying so close
It's the flash and the flame and the fever
I need the most

The call of the wild
Oh baby can't you hear me calling
Oooh . . .
The call of the wild

"Don't even think about it."

"Were you tapping into my thoughts?"

Ziva just sighed in exasperation. She knew that when they met their other half, it was like a kick to the gut, but Tony? Ridiculous.

Or not.

If I could chain you to me
I'd do it in a minute
My magic caravan
Baby you'd be in it
I'm hiding the prize and you're gonna win it
You're gonna win it now

The call of the wild
Oh baby can't you hear me calling, calling
Oooh
The call of the wild
Oooh
The call of the wild
Oooh
Oh baby
Listen to me howling

The call of the wild
Yeah
Oooh
Yeah

Glaring at DiNozzo, Ziva switched off the radio.

"What are you doing tonight, Tony?" she asked, hoping to start a conversation.

"What? Oh, I'm just going out with a friend of mine for dinner. You're not planning on crashing, are you?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

It took a while for Tony to answer. When he did, he replied slowly, "Well, it's just that you always seem to be a bit . . . jealous whenever I'm around other women. It actually wouldn't surprise me if you did follow me."

"You know I'd find you anywhere."

"With that amazing nose you possess, no doubt."

"I think you passed our victim's house."

Ziva bit back a grin as he did a U-turn and pulled into the deceased's driveway. The place where they had tracked her down was a cabin she owned and occasionally used. This was Petty Officer Phoebe Madison's real home.

Thirty minutes later, they returned to the black Charger loaded with evidence bags. When they brought all the evidence down to Labby, the two Shifters stopped dead in the doorway.

Abby and McGee were quote-unquote dancing to some song resonating through the room. Well, Abby was dancing. McGee looked like he was having a seizure.

Ziva's jaw dropped. Tony whispered, "That is something no one should have to see."

"Dead right."

Slowly, they started to slink away. Their plans for a swift getaway were thwarted when Abby spotted them and called out, "Hey, guys! Did you bring me anything?"

Cringing, the two Shifters turned to see the perky Goth looking at them expectantly. When they handed her their armloads of evidence bags, she smiled happily and whirled back to the table. "Now, leave. I have lots of work to do."

Tony and Ziva were happy to oblige. They hightailed it out of there without a second invitation, the chords of "Thriller" following them out.

...

"Poor dear," Ducky said as he bent over the deceased. "To be hunted down and then killed like that . . . This sort of reminds me of those old werewolf legends. Did you know that the fact they can only be killed by silver is a recent establishment?"

"No, I didn't, Doctor," Palmer said from where he was washing his hands. The Autopsy Gremlin looked up as Gibbs came in.

"You wanted to see me, Duck?"

"Oh, yes, Jethro." Ducky left Phoebe Madison's body from where he was performing the autopsy and walked over to the X-ray screen. Lighting it up, he pointed out some abnormalities. "I was able to confirm the cause of death, but there was something that caught my eye. You see the nicks in the rib cage here, here, and here?"

The former Marine nodded.

"Well, I didn't find any corresponding marks on the body. There's also this." The M.E. returned to the petty officer and pointed out a tattoo on her arm. "It says loup-garou. That's French for—"

"Werewolf," Gibbs finished.

"Picked up a bit of French when you were in Paris, Jethro?"

"Aw, come on, Duck. You know I don't like to talk about that."

"Dropping the subject. Why would she have a tat that translates to 'werewolf'?"

"That's what I'm going to find out. You need anything else, Duck, call."

"Very funny."

But the coffee-loving sniper was gone.

...

Back in her lab after the senior field agent and his Mossad liaison had flown the coop, Abby started busying herself with all the evidence. McGee was back to working on the laptop while listening to "Wide Awake in Dreamland." After an hour of silence, Abby decided to use Elf Lord as a sounding board. "McGee, I know you said that we shouldn't try to hook Tony and Ziva up, but it's fate! They're going to end up together sooner or later, you know."

Probie-Wan-Kenobi didn't answer.

The Caf-Pow-loving scientist was unfazed. She continued, "We all know it's going to happen, even Gibbs. I mean, some rules are meant to be broken. Are you even listening to me?"

He didn't even blink.

Her fist connected with his shoulder.

"Ouch!"

She grinned. "Good to see you're awake, Elf Lord."

That did it. A passerby outside froze and dropped his clipboard as Abby's yell of "Ow!" sounded through the door. (Yes, she could yell that loud.)

...

As darkness fell and Gibbs cut his team loose for the day, Tony drove to the restaurant where he had arranged to meet Jeanne the previous day. He liked her and all, but she was a Static (Shifters' derogatory term for humans) for one thing, and he couldn't seem to get Ziva out of his head.

Still, he was relieved when he saw Jeanne sitting at a table. The pretty brunette greeted him with a warm smile as he joined her. "Hi, Tony."

"I'm glad you could make it," he replied.

For the next twenty minutes there was silence as they devoured their food. When Tony was finishing the last of his burger (done medium rare—generally Shifters liked nothing more than red meat), Jeanne asked, "How was your day, Tony?"

"Okay. We were watching— Wait, you probably wouldn't want to know what it was about."

"No, I would."

He grinned. "Werewolves." What? Hollywood's take on his kind was hilariously off base. Then Ziva's face flashed in his mind again. He could almost smell her nearby . . .

"Tony, is there something—or someone—else I should know about?"

He smiled reassuringly. "Why would you think that?"

"You've been distracted the entire time we've been here, like your mind is elsewhere. Now, is there someone else?"

DiNozzo hesitated a moment too long. That gave Jeanne her answer. She pushed back the chair and bolted. Throwing down some cash to pay, he followed, but she was too far ahead already.

Then he heard the shriek coming from an alley.

Oh, crap. Jeanne!