Sooooo sorry about the major delay! My schedule has been absolutely insane and I have had no time to work on the story. I promise I haven't dropped it and I still plan continuing it but I have no guarantee on when I will have free time to write. Thanks for bearing with me and I hope you like this next chapter.

...

[Singled Out: 2]

...

3rd Person POV:

The man, Ferris, was brought up into interrogation with Gibbs.

"I voluntarily turned myself in, I'm just trying to do the right thing here agent Gibbs." He explained. Gibbs remained silent as he looked over his files.

"look I'm admitting it ok? I stole the damn SUV but I didn't kidnap anyone." Ferris continued earnestly. Gibbs pursed his lips and set the sketches of him and the missing Petty Officer on the table.

"How do you explain these?" Gibbs asked.

"I didn't know that chick was back there when I took it." Ferris explained.

"Her name is lieutenant Anne Sullivan!" Gibbs snapped sternly, holding up her military photo.

"Where is she?" Gibbs asked him.

"Look I told you I don't know. I am telling you that I committed grand theft auto, why would I do that if I wasn't telling the truth?" Ferris asked pointedly.

"To avoid kidnapping and murder charges." Gibbs retorted. The man's eyes widened dramatically.

"Whoa…she's dead? No, she was alive and screaming the last time I saw her…"

"Screaming what?" Gibbs asked with a growl.

"I don't know something about being singled out by some guy." He stuttered, his face scrunching up as he tried to remember.

"What guy?" Gibbs pressed.

"I didn't exactly stick around to find out ok? I am telling you I didn't kill her." he reiterated. Gibbs sighed, picking up his coffee and standing to face the two-way mirror.

...

Tony and Ziva watched from the other side of the mirror.

"What do you think?" Tony asked.

"He might be telling the truth." Ziva told him, watching Ferris thoughtfully. Tony frowned in confusion.

"I mean about the mustache." He explained as if it was obvious.

"Oh…makes him look distinguished, yes?" she corrected, the two of them watching Gibbs smooth it down in the mirror.

"It's not Gibbs." He retorted. Ziva pursed her lips, staring at Tony pointedly.

"People change." She quipped sharply.

"People maybe, but not Gibbs." Tony countered.

...

"I thought it was too good to be true, the door was open, the engine running. I couldn't help myself agent Gibbs." The man continued explaining.

"Where?" Gibbs asked, leaning against the corner of the table.

"It was the Texaco station on Wildwood Road. I'm telling you the first time I saw this chick…sorry Lieutenant Sullivan was in the rearview mirror when she woke up and started screaming." He insisted.

"The last time?" Gibbs inquired.

"In the lot where I dumped the ride. You know I even dialed 911. I mean yea, I hung up but I dialed. That's gotta count for something right?" he asked, growing nervous as Gibbs began packing up his files.

"Wait…wait, there might have been another car." He quickly imputed as Gibbs reached the door.

"A silver Honda Accord that I thought might be tailing me. I thought somebody saw me boost the SUV at the station." Gibbs set down his cup and files, leaning in closer to the man. Finally they were getting something relevant.

"Did you see the driver?" he asked. the man shook his head.

"No, he was wearing a ballcap. I never got a good look at his face but he must have followed me. That's who you should be looking for. I'm not a kidnapper." Ferris insisted pleadingly.

"No, you're just the dirt bag that left her there to die." Gibbs shot back, leaving the man with a hurt look.

...

Tony's POV:

Up in the bullpen I was munching on a burrito while Claire did some stretches as we looked at the plasma screen. Just as I was about to take another bite, she stretched her arm over her head causing me to duck out of the way. I frowned looking over at her but found that I didn't really mind it.

"What are you doing?" I questioned, pouting as I shied away from her arm once more. Here I was, trying to enjoy my food and she was stretching her limbs all around….distracting me….her shirt lifting up just a little to show her torso….what was I doing again? She straightened back up and turned to face me, her lips quirking as I blinked out of my daze.

"I've been sitting at a desk all day I need to do something or I'll knot up." She explained casually. I nodded silently.

"Do carry on then." I gestured, taking a bite of my meal. Claire grinned, rolling her eyes but continued twisting her torso around in a tantalizing manor. Taking a break, she clicked the remote, pulling up a map as she began explaining the evidence we had gathered.

"Ferris claims he didn't know Lieutenant Sullivan. She was in the vehicle when he stole it. When she started screaming he dumped it here with her still in it. Which means the kidnapper must have followed Ferris to get the Lieutenant back." She explained.

"If he's telling the truth then that still doesn't explain why she's profiling people." I commented, subtly eyeing her as she stretched her back out.

"Blackmail, espionage, assassination." Claire quickly listed off before bending to touch her toes.

"All good reasons why….someone would want to make her disappear." I paused and leaned back to get a better view of her ass in the air. Suddenly this burrito in my hand was more of a hinderance….I couldn't reach out to grab her. No…bad Tony we're at work. I quickly swallowed and looked back down at my food, suddenly not very hungry.

"We could be missing something." She mused, touching the ground.

"Believe me not from this angle." I hummed absently. Claire grinned looking up at me from her upside-down position.

"Enjoying yourself?" she queried in amusement. I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously, she was totally doing this on purpose now.

"Very much so." I beamed, this time not trying to be as subtle when I leaned backwards to admire her form. I heard the elevator ding and my head snapped up to see Ziva making her way towards us, thankfully distracted by her phone. I cleared my throat, shooting Claire a panicked look. As Claire whipped upright, I quickly leaned forward to stare at the screen intently as if I had been doing that the whole time. Claire nodded politely at Ziva as she came up next to us.

"She could be a covert operative." Claire continued, getting back to the screen.

"She's a navy computer geek who worked on software for base housing. According to her coworkers she's a female version of McGee." I scoffed pointedly.

"Being a geek makes for a good cover." Ziva countered, joining in the conversation.

"Cover for what?" Gibbs asked as he joined with a coffee and a Caf-pow.

"We're still trying to figure that out boss." I hummed, turning back to the screen.

"Did you pull security tapes from the gas station?" Gibbs asked.

"There wasn't any, the systems been broken for a month." Claire explained as we turned to face Gibbs at his desk.

"The tire marks check out Ferris's story. They came from a factory made standard Honda Accord." I relayed to him.

"Let's hope that Abby and McGee had better luck. Come on." Gibbs gestured for us to follow as he rushed towards the elevator. I looked down at my cold burrito and grunted in displeasure knowing I had to toss my lunch in the trash before following after the group.

...

Claire's POV:

Down in the lab we found Abby and McGee fast asleep as rows of code were flitting across their computer screens. We silently walked in and stood behind them watching for a moment. They were both out cold.

"I wouldn't call this luck." Tony mused. Gibbs leaned down next to Abby's ear.

"Your computers on fire." He whispered. Instantly Abby jerked half awake, causing McGee to jump up with her.

"McGee by babies!" she alerted, spurring him into action. We all watched in quiet amusement as both of their fingers flew across the keys.

"Checking internal core temperature." He muttered automatically. After a few seconds the two of them blinked, coming back to full awareness to see that nothing was wrong with their computers. Abby turned to glare at Gibbs.

"That is so not funny Gibbs." She insisted sternly. The man grinned impishly and placed her Caf-pow next to her.

"We must have nodded off." McGee muttered drowsily.

"Tell me you have something." Gibbs requested, heading over to look at the big screen.

"We have something. We just don't know what it is." Abby answered. She pulled up a dashed line with encryptions at various points on the line. It was all gibberish so it was not helpful in any sense.

"Looks like a timetable for an operation." Gibbs commented.

"The only thing is that the events on the axis are encrypted." Abby frowned.

"We've been trying to crack it all night." McGee sighed.

"Try harder McGee, the chances of finding her alive drop to almost zero after 48 hours." Tony mused, coming up to stand by Gibbs. He winced, glancing at Gibbs apologetically.

"Sorry, I'm sure you already knew that boss." Tony muttered.

"Don't apologize DiNozzo. It's a sign of weakness." Gibbs told him.

"Not to mention annoying" Ziva added. Tony threw her an annoyed glare from across Gibbs. Once he had turned away in frustration I not so subtly jabbed her in the ribs, smiling in satisfaction when I heard her grunt. She turned to comment but I quickly silenced her with a warning glare, daring her to say something.

"We were able to pull some programs off her directory, this was the only one that stood out." Abby told cut in, breaking up the tension. She pulled up a program that had pictures on both sides with one in the middle up onto the plasma.

"Morph pro. Its super high-end imaging software. Its unusual because it retails for over 5,000 dollars." she explained for us.

"$5,000 bucks is a lot on a lieutenants salary." I mused aloud.

"What's it for?" Ziva inquired.

"Morphing human features. Here, we pulled some test runs out of her account." Abby answered typing in some controls on the program. On the screen the lieutenant's face rapidly aged in the center screen.

"Oh yea. This is like the end of saving private Ryan, you know where Matt Damon morphs into his older self. Anybody else get head faked by that because Tom Hanks is who I thought….." Tony paused his ramble when he noticed Gibb's stare. He quickly turned back to the screen, squinting in mock concentration. I bit my lip and hid a grin behind my hand. At least he was still comfortable enough to be a goof.

"I've seen something like this before, Abby. Mossad used earlier versions to age Nazi war criminals. It was a great asset to hunting them down." Ziva pointed out thoughtfully.

"So basically, what you're saying to me is we have nothing." Gibbs pointed out, walking over to Abby. She gasped in mock offense.

"Gibbs….Ziva is talking about Nazis, I wouldn't exactly call Nazi's nothing." She explained weakly.

"You don't have anything do you?" I mused knowingly.

"We have nothing." Abby agreed seriously.

"Until we crack her encryptions." She added in explanation.

"You mean 'if'." McGee corrected.

"It's high level and its extremely sophisticated" he elaborated with a sigh as they stared at the jumble of letters and numbers on the screen.

"Would a password help?" Ducky inquired striding into the room.

"Well yea Ducky but we don't have it." Abby shrugged.

"Well I just spend a long night in our lieutenant's head."

"Well that sounds painful" I muttered under my breath. Tony snorted, shooting me a disappointed look at my poor excuse of a joke.

"I might be able to offer some suggestions. Try Cora Gables." Ducky continued, looking to McGee who inputted the passwords. Access was denied.

"Uh Fiddlers Green…..Hampton Inn….." This might take a while….

"Nice try. Tony, Ziva, Claire you're with me." Gibbs instructed, obviously thinking the same as I was. The three of us started to follow him out.

"Spanish Rose." Ducky suggested. This time it flashed green.

"Whoa!"

"We're in!" Abby and McGee remarked in delight just as we reached the door. Now that we actually had something to go on we began to file back in behind them.

"Ducky that's…"

"Mind blowingly amazing." Abby finished for McGee.

"It's more of an art than a science." Ducky mused humbly, but still pleased with himself. We all watched silently as the timeline cleared to reveal actual words. I frowned walking closer to the screen, reading off a…..relationship timeline? Dates and years on when to get engaged, house, career, marriage, kids. Really over the top actually.

"Oh Lieutenant Sullivan was indeed into targeting people." Ducky mused as he read over the diagram.

"She was using all her military knowledge and skills…..to find a husband." I realized, looking over the timeline.

"Looks like she found herself a psycho instead." Gibbs mused dryly.

...

3rd Person POV:

Up in the squad room, McGee was playing with the morph-pro program from the lieutenant's computer. Now that they could access her files he pulled up previous runs, which were morphing her face with those of various men.

"Now that we have access to the lieutenant's files we can see that she was using morph-pro to predict the appearance of her adult offspring." McGee explained to Ziva, running a test on one of the men. The center image morphed their facial features to produce a very pretty looking young woman.

"That's creepy. No wonder she couldn't find a husband." Tony muttered, walking back to his desk from where he was watching the plasma. Ziva and McGee shot him disappointed stares.

"You know choosing someone to spend the rest of your life with is not easy. You want to know all the facts before deciding." McGee insisted. Tony bit his cheek, choosing to try and ignore them. He knew all this, he had proposed to Wendy way back when and it hadn't worked out. While he was thinking back on not so fond memories Claire watched him from her spot standing by the plasma screen. She knew bits about that whole Wendy situation, Tony had mentioned it once while he was a bit drunk but it was obvious that it was a sensitive topic. He didn't mention it the next morning and she never brought it up either.

"That's what dating is all about." Ziva added from beside Tim. Tony glared over at them.

"Yea you should try it sometime McGee." he shot back spitefully.

"I wonder what it would look like if you two hooked up." McGee mused deviously, looking between Tony and Ziva. Tony stiffened and shot McGee an unamused glare before looking over to Claire for help. She ignored his silent plea and was very interested in how that would pan out. Claire and Ziva watched in amusement as McGee imputed their photos and they watched the program morph the features.

"Guys meet your lovechild." McGee announced as the program revealed a rather pudgy and angry looking baby. Ziva chuckled in amusement, looking over at Tony who grinned. They both knew that would never happen and the interesting looking child helped to confirm it in a joking manner. Ziva eyed Claire thoughtfully.

"Do Tony and Claire." She suggested, wanting to play with the program some more. She didn't notice Claire and Tony's tense expressions.

"Yea, you know just in case you two end up drunk and have a friendly hookup." McGee snickered.

"Don't get your hopes up." Claire shot back, joining in the teasing. Unable to resist the temptation Tony slowly stood to stand next to her in order to get a front row seat to the morph. The couple would be lying if they said that they didn't want to see this 'child'. Curiosity never hurt anyone. Everyone watched as their pictures went up and morphed into a child. Both Claire and Tony's wide grins dropped into thoughtful ones as they stared at 'their child'. McGee had upped the age to a child of about 3 and was a girl as per the setting.

"Oh wow she's cute." McGee smiled down at the photo. The little toddler was looking back at the group with Claire's black hair in a mop of wispy curls on top of her head with beautiful bright greenish blue eyes, a mix of Tony's hazel and Claire's blue. Claire and Tony couldn't help but stare at her, a weird sense of sadness and slight panic hitting them in a strange mixture. This child was totally made up and probably wouldn't come about but they couldn't help but already become attached to the photo. Claire and Tony glanced over at one another before widening their eyes in alarm and staring back at the photo uncomfortably.

"Good thing she seems to have all of Claire's genes." Ziva snickered, relieving the uncomfortable feelings between Tony and Claire. It worked and the group chuckled. This time when Tony and Claire locked gazes they shared a devious grin.

"Do Gibbs and the Director." The duo suggested in sync. This time when McGee imputed their photos a very pretty redheaded woman appeared on the screen.

"Hmmm….now that's not a bad combination." Ziva mused seriously.

"Even with Gibbs as a father, I'd date her." Tony added.

"Never more than once DiNozzo." Gibbs quipped as he strode into the room towards his desk. Abby come up close behind and looked over at the photo.

"Aw, you and the Director made nice Gibbletts, Gibbs." Abby complimented.

"McGee pull up that website." Gibbs requested, dropping a paper onto the man's desk. The others turned to face Gibbs curiously.

"While you three were playing, Abby found out where our lieutenant was the day she was abducted." Gibbs informed them. McGee pulled up a website for a singles weekend that Gibbs had directed him to.

"Speed dating?" Ziva read off in confusion.

"There was an email invitation on her computer. It's a three-day event and she went missing after the first day." Abby elaborated.

"The gas station where Ferris stole the SUV was two blocks from the event." Gibbs added.

"So, she wasn't screaming about being singled out by a guy." Tony realized, remembering what Ferris had mentioned.

"She was talking about this." Ziva finished his thought.

"I've heard of VSO. Apparently, they have an 85% success rate." McGee commented, looking at the website thoughtfully. Tony, Claire and Ziva turned to look at him with varying expressions ranging from amusement to incredulity.

"For what?" Ziva asked in confusion.

"For marriages." McGee answered.

"What about kidnappings McGee?" Gibbs snapped.

"I will work on getting a list of clients and telling you that."

"I've tried it. Their lawyers say that Virginia's Singled Out is a confidential service so they have their client list under lock and key." Abby informed them. Tony cleared this throat.

"Warrant. On it boss." Tony informed, turning to head to his desk.

"We don't have time for that the event ends tonight." Claire countered gesturing to the dates on the website.

"I can't tell you who is there, but I can tell you that it's the same guys from Sunday night. Wanna know how I know?" Abby imputed eagerly.

"VSO is designed to introduce successful men to a wide assortment of eligible women. Each night brings the promise of romance and the chance to find your soulmate." McGee recited, staring at the screen as if lost in thought. Everyone turned to stare at him in wide eyed amusement. Obviously, he had done more than just heard of it. Noticing their stares McGee dropped his eyes, finding the floor very interesting.

"Or so I've heard." He quickly amended. They continued staring at him.

"Ok you know what I…I thought about going to one….one time." McGee admitted, looking between the four of them.

"When this is over you and I are going to have a little talk." Tony muttered pointedly.

"So the men remain the same but the women change every night." Abby directed them back to the topic at hand, holding back a smile of her own.

"Looks like we're going to be doing this the old fashion way. So Ziva…still think being a geek makes for good cover?" Gibbs inquired, looking down at her. Ziva narrowed her eyes at him thoughtfully.

...

Claire's POV:

Down in Abby's lab, McGee grimaced as he stared at Ziva new appearance Abby and I had put together with Ducky's help.

"You sure about this?" McGee asked skeptically.

"Oh absolutely." Ducky nodded.

"We have created an image of Lieutenant Sullivan's type." He elaborated, looking over Ziva's outfit with a nod. She grimaced in dislike as she looked down at her frumpy black shoes, plaid skirt suit compete with a puffy white blouse underneath her jacket. Abby stood behind her fixing her hair into a low but tight bun. Ziva was definitely fitting in with the nerd vibe right now.

"Hopefully the similarities will trigger a visceral resonance in our kidnapper." Ducky elaborated.

"Do you really think he'll come back for another woman, Ducky?" Ziva inquired shifting uncomfortably while Abby continued tightening her bun.

"No, no. I think he'll come back to avoid suspicion." Ducky clarified.

"I doubt you'll be in any kind of danger." He assured as an afterthought. McGee handed her a pair of large framed black glasses that were similar to the lieutenant's.

"Video surveillance glasses." He explained. I took them and helped place them on Ziva's face before finishing with a flourish and letting Ziva look at herself in the mirror. Tony and Gibbs entered, the former beaming at Ziva's new look.

"Good work." He complimented, staring at Ziva with barely contained glee.

"I look like a dork." Ziva deadpanned at her reflection.

"Yea, that's the point." I confirmed.

"And this is a portable fingerprint scanner, its wireless." Abby held up a small ring that had a longer flat piece that would be hidden under her finger.

"We'll know within a matter of seconds if the prints you collect match our mystery print in the SUV." McGee tagged on.

"All you have to do is get each dater to press his right index finger, here." Abby demonstrated using Gibb's finger.

"Really? Is that all Abby? How do you suggest I do that?" Ziva asked sarcastically.

"Improvise, you'll figure it out." Gibbs told her.

"Our priority is ID the members and finding out which one drives a silver Honda accord." Tony added. Ziva nodded in understanding.

"Any questions?" Gibbs asked her.

"Yes just one….can anyone explain to me what speed dating is?" she requested, looking around the table at the rest of us. Tony and I shared amused expressions. This was going to be quite entertaining.

...

Tony, Ziva and I were all going undercover at the VSO convention. Ziva obviously as the geeky dater, Tony a casual guest at the bar to keep an eye on the room, and I had secured a job as one of the fill in bartenders to work the staff angle. At the speed dating conference all the women were seated at small two person tables while the men gathered around the bar chatting with one another. Tony took his seat by the bar while I came around wearing a tasteful uniform with a red vest but it was a bit smaller in the chest….which I'm sure was no accident. I made my way over towards Tony, acting casual while the two of us eyed the room.

"So how did you get a bartending gig so quickly? Don't you need special skills or something?" Tony inquired leaning on the bar so only I could hear him.

"I am a woman of many talents my dear." I told him impishly. Tony's mouth quirked up in amusement.

"What will it be?" I asked him, eager to prove my skillset. To think he would doubt me.

"Surprise me." He shrugged. Without further prompting I grabbed a couple of different alcohols and drink mixes. Mixing drinks was like riding a bike for me. I had done some bartending in college which was the basic stuff but once I was sent on some more lengthy undercover gigs I had to up my skills. Now I could tend with the best of them. Tony's eyes lit up in delight as I poured each drink into a canister with a flourish, my movement smooth and like that of a dancer as I spun around the bar grabbing my ingredients. Once I was done with that I sealed the shaker and began mixing it with in an elaborate routine of flipping and twisting from every angle, even doing going so far as to catch it behind my back. Once I was finished I poured my creating into a glass for him, leaning on the bar and watching him taste it with a grin.

"You are fantastic." He gushed, taking another small sip. I chuckled at his surprise and enthusiasm. Suddenly I felt a hand at my back and turned to see one of the other tenders, Graham, standing at my side.

"Sorry to interrupt but the men at the end of the bar are requesting your presence." He nodded over towards the group of speed daters that were watching our interaction. I blushed a little, surprised that I had grabbed attention so quickly. Sending Tony one last smile I made my way over to chat with the men while mixing their drinks just as elaborately as I had done for Tony. I'll have them singing like canaries in no time.

...

3rd Person POV:

"90 second dates, I thought you were kidding me Gibbs." Ziva muttered under her breath as she fidgeted in her seat.

"You'll be fine Ziva, I've had marriages shorter than that." Gibbs quipped. Tony was keeping watch by the bar while Claire continued entertaining the group of daters at the bar.

"I'm starting to understand why." Ziva muttered sourly as she pushed her glasses back up on her nose.

"Tony, sit rep."

"No silver accord in the parking structure. Claire is becoming the entertainment committee and our nerdy girl is looking a little nervous." Tony relayed as he casually glanced around the room sipping on his special made drink.

"I think we found her kryptonite. Our big bad spy doesn't do geek." Tony taunted, catching Ziva's eye from across the room.

"Did he just say Greek?" she bristled.

"How about both of you, shut up." Gibbs scolded. McGee's lips quirked up with a grin as he sat at the analyst station with Gibbs in MTAC. A bell chime sounded alerting the men to take their places at a table while the manager announced that the times were beginning. Claire took the time along to clean the bar while her eyes wandered, looking for anything odd.

A very jittery man took his spot at Ziva's table and it was obvious that she was very uncomfortable.

"Hi, Natalie I'm Larry." Ziva stared at him with wide eyes, muttering a weak greeting.

"Last name?" she asked stiffly.

"Uh..West. I'm a banker by trade but my real passion is astronomy." The man gushed nervously. Ziva nodded stiffly, glancing around the room.

"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" he asked politely.

"I like….computers…and….that stuff you do with…the yarn." She rattled off sounding quite robotic.

"Knitting?" Larry asked in confusion.

"Yes…that's it" Ziva nodded. Tony watched with wide eyes as they fell into another round of uncomfortable silence.

"Has anyone told you you're very attractive Natalie?" Larry smiled at her.

"My brother." She deadpanned.

"That's interesting..." Larry trailed off staring at her oddly.

"My god Ziva, you need to get him interested in you not think you're going to murder him in his sleep." Claire pointed out. Watching and listening this conversation was getting painful.

"Get his prints Ziva." Gibbs prodded. Ziva sighed and reached over to grasp the man's hand, getting into another conversion while the scanner got his prints.

"What's that you've got in your hand there?" Larry asked, feeling the weight of her scanner.

"Oh it's called a mood scanner, lets me know if you're in the mood." Ziva chuckled coyly, quickly coming up with a lie.

"Oh very new age, I like that." Larry hummed, Ziva grinning politely as she played along.

"There's something about your eyes." she continued.

"Oh I get that a lot…its allergies." Larry winced.

"What kind of car do you drive?" Ziva continued, feeling a little more confident.

"What does that matter?" Larry asked nervously.

"Well cars get me very..hot…Larry." she whispered. Tony watched her in confusion as she stuttered her way through the explanation. He looked over at Claire bewildered. She merely shook her head in exasperation.

"I drive a….a porch." He muttered. She heard Claire snort out a laugh.

"You mean a Porsche?" she supplied for him.

"Yea, it's in the shop." Larry tried to smoothly play off the obvious lie.

"That's a nice car." Ziva nodded.

"He's clean Ziva." Gibbs informed her as the chime went off for the men to switch.

"Yea well you didn't have to smell him Gibbs." Ziva quipped.

"And do turn up the charm Ziva, you're a geek not mentally deranged." Claire and Tony snickered while Ziva pursed her lips in displeasure at the jibe. Ziva's charm continued going up as the night went on, going through man after man.

...

Over at the bar, Tony's body was slightly turned so he could watch the room but in a subtle way.

"Can I get you another one sir?" the bartender asked Tony politely.

"Uh, yea sure why not. Thanks….Graham." Tony nodded, reading the man's nametag. He turned his head to look back over at Ziva.

"Are you with the speed dating party, sir?" Graham asked. Tony looked at him in surprise.

"Why, do I look like I need that stuff to get a date?" he inquired.

"Nah sir. It's just that they get 15% off drinks." Graham clarified, setting down his order.

"Ah just my luck." Tony muttered jokingly. Graham stared at him for a moment as if wondering why he was here alone.

"I'm uh…just waiting for a friend. Met her online last month. She was supposed to be here an hour ago." Tony chuckled, looking down at his watch. At this Graham nodded in understanding.

"Wanna see a picture?" Tony inquired. Graham nodded with a grin and looked down at the photo of Lieutenant Sullivan on his PDA.

"Recognize her?" Tony inquired as the man's smile dropped.

"Dirty vodka martini." Graham nodded.

"She's a regular. I saw her on…Sunday afternoon." he added after a moment of thought.

"Really? Was she here alone or with someone?" Tony continued.

"With the speed dating party. A couple of guys were buying her drinks afterwards. You know how that goes." Graham chuckled.

"Yea…any of those McFisters here now?" Graham looked over at the speed dating group as he cleaned a glass.

"That's one of them right there. The uh…gentleman with the glasses across from the nerdy looking girl." he nodded over to the man Ziva was currently chatting with.

"Oh, thank you." Tony nodded to the barkeep who walked off to wipe down the bar.

"Did you get that boss?" Tony muttered under his breath.

"Got it. I need a print on this guy and you are out of time, Ziva." Gibbs insisted, watching as the man in question continued talking with his hands preventing her from grabbing them as she had been doing with the others. Ziva tried multiple times to grab his hand but couldn't hold it long enough to get a full print.

"Well we couldn't get a print but we did get a hit on his name. Calvin Hooper reported a Silver Honda accord stolen from his house in Fairfax. It could have been the one following Ferris." McGee quickly informed.

"Tony, take him down quietly. Claire get him out of there." Gibbs ordered. Tony slowly stood from his seat at the bar while Claire slipped around the bar, making a beeline for the man.

"Intercepting now boss." Tony muttered as he paid his tab. Claire smoothly went approached the man just before he sat down at another table.

"Can I talk to you for a moment hon." She politely requested, leading the man away from his 'date'.

"Me?" Calvin asked incredulously. Claire kept hold of his hand as she led him closer to the main area of the hall.

"Yea, sorry I just had to get you out of there. I know this is totally out of line but would you like to get a bite to eat?" she asked with a shy grin. Calvin's eyes bugged.

"You mean together?" he asked in surprise. Claire giggled and smiled at him coyly.

"You just made quite the impression on me when you were at the bar earlier and I just got off my shift." She explained with a grin.

"Uh sure I'd love to." The man nodded.

"Or uh…maybe we could just skip dinner and go straight for desert." She purred, leading him further away from the group. Calvin chuckled nervously but his eyes lit up with desire. Tony calmly made his way over towards them, but Calvin took no notice.

"You know this kind of thing never happens to me." The man hummed, his hand sliding down to squeeze her butt. Claire made a noise of surprise, stiffening up. Tony quickly joined them at that exact moment, his eyes boring into the side of Calvin's head.

"Calvin Hooper?" Tony quietly asked.

"Yes?" Calvin looked over at him in surprise, his hand never leaving Claire's backside. The man looked down at the badge Tony was flashing and he shrunk back a bit at his threatening glare.

"Remove your hand or I will remove it from your wrist." Claire growled lowly getting the man to quickly release her. McGee sighed as the was able to piece together the bits of fingerprint they had gotten on Calvin from Ziva's scanner.

"It's not a match." McGee told him.

"What?" Gibbs asked in surprise, looking over his shoulder.

"Run it again." Gibbs insisted.

"Boss he's not our guy." McGee reiterated with a frown.

...

3rd Person POV:

Back at NCIS Tony and Claire were prepping to interrogate Calvin Hobbs.

"Alright game plan." Tony kept his hand on the door but didn't turn it just yet.

"Good cop, Bad cop?" she suggested? Tony nodded in thoughtfully approval.

"Ah a classic, simple." He mused.

"Calvin strikes me as a simple guy. Don't think it will take much effort." She pointed out with a grin.

"Touché. Alright who's who?" Tony questioned. Claire rose a brow and pursed her lips.

"He grabbed my ass….." she reminded in distaste. Tony nodded, not liking that small detail. He wasn't all too thrilled with that either and wanted to threaten the guy too. Then again, he didn't blame her for wanting to make the guy sweat.

"Alright but I get bad cop next round. I like bad cop, it's more fun." He insisted.

"Deal." Claire grinned. Tony paused before turning the doorknob, looking up and down the hall to make sure no one was around. He quickly leaned down to peck her lips, pulling away before she could respond to it. Claire bit her lip, holding back a grin before clearing her throat and schooling her features once more. Tony nodded and opened up the door, letting her enter first. Calving paled at seeing her in her much more intimidating agent gear and her barely contained fury as she sat down across from him. Tony came in much more charismatic and came to stand next to the nervous man, leaning in towards him in a non-threatening way.

"You have no right to arrest me." Calvin pointed out nervously.

"But you're not under arrest Calvin." Tony countered.

"Yet." Claire cut in. Tony shot her a look.

"We just want to clear up a few things." he elaborated gently.

"No one read me my Miranda rights." Calvin pouted, looking between the two of them.

"That's because you're not under arrest." Tony reiterated.

"Yet."

"Claire!" Tony hissed. Her jaw clenched as she glared back at him.

"Sorry!" she hissed back sarcastically. Tony gestured for her to join him in the corner heatedly. She stood while Tony moved behind the man, throwing his arms up in exasperation at her 'attitude'.

...

"You should be proud of him." Jenny mused from the interrogation room where she and Gibbs were watching the interaction.

"Who? DiNozzo?" Gibbs inquired, not looking away from the bickering duo in interrogation. They had huddled over in the corner while Tony 'scolded' her for her attitude quietly.

"When you left there were some….rocky moments. He really held the team together." Jenny continued.

"that's what I trained him to do." Gibbs nodded as if it was obvious.

"I just thought you should know he excelled at it." She mused pointedly.

"Then give him his own team Jen." Gibbs added, not looking away from the two. Jenny's lips lifted in a thoughtful smile.

"You think he's ready?" she inquired.

"I wouldn't have quit if I didn't." Gibbs pointed out.

"You should tell him that." She hummed.

"Oh trust me, when DiNozzo thinks he's ready for his own team you'll know about it." Gibbs commented knowingly.

"Hell, the whole world will know about it." Gibbs added in amusement.

...

Tony and Claire broke off to interrogate the man once more. Claire sitting across from the man while Tony knelt next to the man, setting down a file.

"So, you reported your car stolen Sunday night." Tony began. Calvin frowned.

"Yes….is that some kind of crime?" the man asked warily looking over at Claire.

"No, no of course not. However, filing a false police report…"

"Crime." Claire cut him off, glaring hard at the man. They both looked at her in surprise.

"I think I want a lawyer now." Calvin murmured. Claire turned to Tony challengingly.

"What part of 'you're not under arrest' don't you get Calvin?" Tony asked with a strained smile.

"So...I…I'm free to go here at any time?" he inquired.

"Sure." Tony nodded. Calvin waited a moment before standing but Tony quickly grasped his shoulder and pulled the man back down.

"Unless we charge you with a crime." He added tightly, dropping his good cop act. Tony stood and began pacing around Calvin.

"See the thing is Cal…can I call you Cal? Our releasing you means more paperwork for me." Tony began, stopping to take a seat by Claire.

"So, what I need from you is the truth." he continued.

"But my car really was stolen." Calvin insisted in confusion.

"Which works for you. Unfortunately, you reported it stolen from your home in Fairfax." Tony winced.

"Speed dating is a three-day event. You stayed at the Belmont every night. You paid cash up front." Claire listed off.

"Which is wise considering you're….married and attending a speed dating service." Tony pointed out as the man fidgeted.

"I'm calling his wife." Claire told Tony, pulling out her cell.

"No!" Calvin quickly jumped to stop her.

"Wait please….it wasn't stolen from my house…but she…but my wife…..she'll find out." Calvin stuttered pleadingly.

"And my wife is at her sister's place in Jersey. They just had a baby." Calvin explained. Tony let out a small awe and grinned as he leaned on his hand. Claire heard it and looked over at him with a curious frown. He was cooing over a baby? Tony's grin dropped when he noticed her stare and he quickly looked back at Calvin.

"We've been married for 18 years now. I was just trying to have a little fun." Calvin explained.

"Yea…what we need to know is where and when Cal." Tony asked, still leaning on his hand.

"The first..day of…the event I…struck out." Calvin began sheepishly.

"Shocking." Claire droned as she took notes. Tony subtle kicked her under the table.

"So, I drove over to the Texaco station to get some cigarettes and some wine. And I'm in the store maybe a minute when I look out and this guy is driving away in my car." He explained to them. Tony widened his eyes, wanting a bit more but Calvin didn't pick up on the hint.

"Please describe him." Tony requested.

"White…about your height…he was wearing a Chicago cubs hat. I mean really I just got a glimpse of him." Calvin stuttered.

"Not good enough. You grabbed my ass Calvin." Claire mused in disgust as she began dialing.

"No..no hold on! Just a second…just…just give me a second." He stuttered pleadingly. Claire hung up and waited for the man to gather his thoughts.

"Oh when I drove up he was standing out front and he….he uh was on the payphone." Calvin added.

...

Claire's POV:

In the bullpen Tony, Ziva and I were staring at the map of where the cars traveled.

"Ferris steals the lieutenant's SUV with the lieutenant in it from the gas station at around 18:00." Ziva began.

"And then cubs hat steals Calvin's car at the same time, same place and follows them." Tony continued.

"Well do you think they were working together?" Ziva asked.

"It's possible." I muttered thoughtfully. Gibbs came up behind us carrying a tray of coffee which I quickly grabbed as he showed up.

"Except they weren't." Gibbs pointed out, handing the other two the coffee he had brought it.

"The guy in the Cubbies hat stopped by to use the payphone, he didn't wanna risk being overheard. Didn't plan on Ferris stopping by and stealing his car." Gibbs elaborated.

"So, he had to steal the accord to follow Ferris." Tony added.

"If he wanted the lieutenant back." I nodded in agreement.

"Well we gotta get that payphone back and find out who was calling." Tony mused, looking to Gibbs.

"McGee just brought it back." Gibbs commented before taking off towards the lab, the three of us dutifully following after.

...

After getting the address of the call from Abby, we all piled out of the NCIS car outside the warehouse she had directed us to. Slipping out of the car in the back alley we headed towards the entrance with flashlights and guns drawn. Tony held his light for Ziva as she quickly picked the padlock on the door, swiftly opening it to let the rest of us inside first. We quickly filed in, quietly using our lights to scan the area. Once she was inside, Ziva flipped on the light as Tony and McGee continued on to clear the other room which was also empty.

"No one's hear boss." McGee announced as they put their guns up and began riffling through the items in the other room. Gibbs and I were scanning the crates in the front area while Ziva wandered towards the corners.

"The lieutenant was here." Ziva informed as she slipped into a small holding area.

"It's her purse, the military ID is still inside." We looked over to see Ziva holding her wallet up.

"They knew we were coming." I sighed looking around at the practically empty room.

"Maybe not. Boss, you definitely need to check this out." Tony called from the other room. He led us to a whiteboard and other documents scattered around the room.

"Looks like a professional crew. Detailed itinerary, blueprints, a scale model." Tony pointed out the items.

"It's for the Belmont plaza hotel." Ziva realized with a frown.

"Are they planning a heist?" McGee asked in confusion.

"Yea, a big one. The coin convention has an auction and they're all held in the hotel's vault." Tony explained looking over the photos of the rare coins up for sale.

"Does it say how?" McGee inquired.

"From inside, they're working the place." Gibbs answered, setting a waitressing uniform on the table. I felt so stupid. Why hadn't I noticed anything out of the ordinary while I was working with them?

"What does the lieutenant have to do with this?" I inquired. If they wanted to do an inside heist it was easy enough but I couldn't see where she fit into the picture.

"She was dating one of them. AB1016." Ziva read off from the missing file of the lieutenant's binder.

"It's the missing profile. Says here that he's a bartender, lied to her about his entire past." she continued.

"She background checked his cover." Tony added.

"I can only imagine he panicked when she began questioning him about it." Ziva continued.

"We need to get to the hotel before they hit the vault." Tony commented.

"They started four minutes ago." Gibbs alerted as he read the time schedule.

"I know exactly where they are working." I added, glancing over the plans of the hotel. Thankfully I had walked up and down those areas during the very short time I was working for them.

...

3rd Person POV:

Outside in a van by the hotel the bartender Graham was inside with Ann Sullivan, putting a silencer on his handgun. A banging on the door caught his attention and he opened up the back to see a laundry cart with one of the women helping him.

"We're running 8 minutes behind schedule." He muttered, yanking the cart from her.

"Sanitize the warehouse we meet at the warehouse in 2 hours." He ordered. The woman nodded stiffly but he paid no notice as he shut the back door of the truck once more. He walked back towards the crying woman in the corner.

"It's nothing personal Annie, you just know too much." Graham muttered, aiming his gun at her.

"Don't move." Ziva warned from the cart behind him.

"Drop your weapon. Or if you prefer I can shoot you in the spine." She added as he stiffened up.

"Would you rather be a para or a quadriplegic?" she asked warningly. Graham's head jerked up at the sound of sirens outside.

"NCIS put your hands where we can see them" Tony called from outside the van. Graham sighed and dropped his gun to the side, raising his hands up in surrender.

...

Outside Ziva was taking care of the lieutenant by the ambulance while McGee and the other cops were taking statements from the thieves. Claire was escorting Graham to the police cruiser, passing by Tony and Gibbs.

"Can't tell me you didn't miss this in Mexico?" Tony mused form behind Gibbs. Gibbs shrugged.

"Couple of minutes." He told him nonchalantly. Tony frowned.

"That's it?" he asked in confusion. Gibbs turned to look at him.

"That's the difference between putting the lieutenant in a body bag or an ambulance." Gibbs pointed out before walking away, leaving Tony to think about it.

...

Later that night after most everyone had left, the director looked up as someone knocked on her office door.

"Come in Tony." She called with a soft smile. He opened the door with a frown and curiously looked on the other side of the steel door as if looking for a secret window.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked in confusion.

"Because your deadline passed hours ago." She pointed out. Tony nodded as he walked over to stand in front of her desk.

"I've made my decision." He told her after a beat of silence.

"And I respect it. Sometimes I even wish I made the same one myself." She mused. Tony frowned.

"But I'm passing on the promotion Jenny." Tony pointed out, thinking she missed the point.

"I know." She nodded.

"Well how can you know I just made up my mind behind the door." Tony scoffed in confusion.

"To get here in this office, especially as a woman. My career has been on the fast track my entire life. And between you and me, sometimes I wish I had taken it a little slower." Jenny told him knowingly. Tony grinned as he shuffled his feet around.

"So you're not disappointed?" he asked quietly.

"No. Actually I'm feeling a bit proud at the moment." she hummed. Tony grunted thoughtfully.

"Go home and get some sleep." She insisted. Tony nodded before heading out. He paused and turned around at the door.

"Listen, this wouldn't be the right time to bring up the possibility of a performance award…or.." he asked hopefully. Director Shepherd smirked in amusement.

"Goodnight Tony."

"Yea I didn't think so." He muttered with a sigh before heading out the door.

...

Tony walked in late, shutting the door as quietly as he could so as not to wake Claire. Slipping out of his clothes he crawled under the covers in just his boxers, snuggling in behind her. She shifted sleepily, tilting her head back to look at him blearily.

"Go back to sleep." He whispered, nuzzling into her hair and pressing a kiss on her head.

"How did it go with the director?" she asked groggily, rapidly blinking her eyes so she would be lucid enough to have this conversation.

"I'm not taking the job." He admitted to her, looking down so as not to meet her eyes. He didn't know how she would really feel about his decision.

"Are you ok with that?" she inquired, watching his reaction. Tony glanced up.

"Are you? I just don't know if I made the right decision." He told her nervously. After all, he had just passed up a tremendous opportunity. Claire rolled over even more so that she was lying flat on her back, turning her head to face him. Tony shifted, lying on his side and propping his head up on his hand.

"Well…how do you feel now that you said no?" she asked him seriously. Tony paused thinking about how he truly felt. He had passed up on a great job advancement, and yet he felt oddly at peace. He may have missed out on his own team and going to Spain but he was home with his friends and his girl. One that he was very serious about. Now that he actually thought about it, he was just fine staying where he was.

"I feel good about it." He told her quietly, his lips quirking up into a smile. Claire nodded.

"Ok." she rolled back over onto her side, snuggling deeper into her pillows. Tony frowned in confusion.

"Ok? That's it?" he prodded, yanking on her shoulder and rolling her onto her back. Claire grunted in displeasure.

"Yea. Tony if you're happy then I'm happy." She grinned up at him sleepily. Tony returned her smile and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips.

"Now if you wake me up again…..I will kill you." She whispered with a grin, but Tony knew she was pretty serious. He nodded in understanding and chuckled as she rolled back over. Sliding down behind her, he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her back into his chest. He fell asleep with a smile on his face, knowing that he had made the right decision. This….this is what he really wanted.