Disclaimer : You'll have to re-read Chapter 1 for it.

jacey05 & hotchner - I'm thrilled that you're enjoying the story. While I have an idea of where the main plot is going (I've got up to chapter 15 written so far), if you have any suggestions for entertaining subplots, please let me know!

blondevor - Ah, Gibbs...whether or not he gets any, you'll just have to keep reading won't you? Better add this story to your alert list if you haven't already done so. ;-)

Chapter 9

"Ms. McLean?" Tony showed her his badge through the screen door. "I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo with NCIS and…"

"I remember you." Green eyes settled on McGee. "You knew about the club."

"Yes, ma'am. Special Agent Timothy McGee." Tim slightly flushed at the recognition.

Tim knew about clubs? Tony's eyes widened slightly.

"How may I help you?" Sara's voice was much calmer now than it had been earlier.

"May we come in?" Tony asked politely.

"Of course." Sara opened the door to admit the agents. "I asked for the day off. Said I wasn't feeling well."

Tim nodded.

"Not a complete lie, I suppose." Sara admitted. "Has anyone told the company about Jason?"

"Not yet, Ms. McLean and we would prefer that you not tell anyone until we do."

Sara nodded.

"Would you like something to drink? I was just making myself some tea."

"No, thank you. We're fine." Tony replied as his eyes scanned the living room.

"Okay…I'll be back in a moment. Please make yourselves comfortable." Sara left the room and puttering-aroundsounds from the kitchen could be heard.

"Cozy little place Ms. McLean has here, wouldn't you say, Probie?" Tony asked.

"It's nice."

"Pays to be a geek."

"I guess."

"So how do you know about the local club scene, Probie?"

Tim shrugged as Sara entered the room, china cup in hand. He knew that Tony would put the investigation of the junior officer on the back burner for now.

As the three settled into their chairs, Tony started the questions.

"So, what kind of relationship did you have with Captain Reed?"

"Working." Sara answered. "But I guess something more…we always bantered back and forth at work. I guess flirtatious. But last night…"

Her voice hitched and she took a sip of her tea.

"…Last night was the first time we went out."

"How well did you know Captain Reed?" Tim asked.

"As well as any one can if they're limited to conversations at work. We took last night as the opportunity to get to learn more about each other."

"Did you know he was married?" Tony questioned.

Sara gasped in shock and raised a hand to her mouth.

"N-n-no! He…he never said anything about a wife. Did he have children?"

"We'll ask the questions, Ms. McLean." Tony's voice was professional. She obviously had bad taste in men…Captain Reed…Probie…yup, Sara McLean wasn't worth pursuing…besides, she was a suspect in a murder case, despite those nice set of …

"Get back on track, man." Tony's mind ordered him.

"What do you do for a living, Ms. McLean?" Tim asked gently, trying to distracther from thoughts of being 'the other woman'.

"I'm an assistant programmer with Intel Initiatives."

"And your working relationship with Captain Reed involved…" Tony let the question hang.

"We were developing a software simulation program to be used by American and Canadian militaries for training operations…war games, would bethe most basic analogy. The main purpose was to teach the two sides to communicate effectively to minimize the likelihood of friendly fire incidents."

"And Captain Reed…" Tim prodded.

"He was developing a countermeasure module for the jungle sim. I was helping with some of the subroutine coding."

Tony jotted some notes down.

"You mentioned a rule earlier, Ms. McLean, about dating coworkers." Tim started. "What did you mean?"

Sara blinked back some tears.

"The Senior Programmer, Ferdinand Van Werther, did not want co-workers dating. He said that it increased the chances of friction within the team."

"I thought it would improve the team's performance." Tony mused outwardly. "Getting along, reading each other's minds…"

"Yeah, " Sara nodded, "But he was worried about what would happen if things didn't work out. The fighting. People picking sides. It was all so high schoolish. I mean, we're adults. We're working long hours. All we see is each other. It was bound to happen…sexual tension."

She stared at McGee, pointedly.

"We understand, Miss McLean." Tony said, his mind flashing painfully back to Kate and then brieflyon to his newest teammate. "Did anyone else know about your plans?"

Sara shrugged.

"I suppose. It's not like we shouted it out to everyone, but I might have told a few people and I think Jason did. It was bound to get out."

"Did anyone know the details?" Tim asked.

"I don't know. Heck, even I didn't know. Jason was all excited about the evening, telling me he had something special planned and that I was to dress really nice. As if I would dress any other way for him." Sara smiled softly.

"We've been told that Captain Reed was rather...popular with the ladies." Tony offered.

Sara nodded.

"Yes. He was smart, charming, funny, witty and very easy on the eyes. If he was talking to you, you felt as if you were the centre of his universe...at least for that moment. One of the receptionists is drastically overweight, always trying to lose, and Jason made her feel like a supermodel when he talked to her. I could PMS'ing and Jason made me feel like an utter princess."

"I can understand the women liking him, but what about the men? Were they jealous?" Tim suggested.

"I don't think so." Sara frowned slightly, trying to remember. "All I know is that for the most part, we're a bunch of geeks and nerds at I.I. Half the staff is over 50...and I say half the staff has yet to lose their virginity...self-induced losses don't count."

Tim coughed slightly, looking distinctly uncomfortable with this topic. He glanced down at his notes and wondered how Gibbs and Ziva were doing.