A/N: Here we are at another chapter. Enjoy! FYI, I wrote a big chunk of this story before "I Do" aired. So, this is different twist on a similar storyline.

Chris LaSalle stood in the middle of City Park feeling like his world was crashing down upon him. Again-. He held his phone in his hand, looking at the missed call from Brody. He knew the smart thing to do would be to call her back, but he wasn't thinking rationally at the moment. There was a dead woman that he had never seen before with his badge pinned to her chest, strange bite marks in his side from said dead woman, enough drugs in his system that supposedly when they wore off he was going to hibernate longer than a bear, and now a mysterious text with a familiar photograph from a blocked number.

The photograph was one of his favorite pictures of Savannah, her long flowing strawberry red hair, cascading down one shoulder and a bright smile that really brought out the green in her eyes. God, she was beautiful he swallowed, pushing down the lump in his throat as he thought about how much he'd let the images of her in his mind fade. For the last six months all he had tried to do was banish her memory from his thoughts and now suddenly her picture was staring at him right in the face, tearing open wounds that had not yet started to heal.

"Agent LaSalle," A hand touched his back giving him a start.

Wild blue eyes looked down at the familiar figure. "What are you doin' here?"

"LaSalle's nurse friend is on her way home." Percy scoffed from the passenger's seat of the Expedition as Brody drove.

"Really?" Brody would have liked to have given the fleeing nurse credit for almost running her down, but going home? Either Jennifer Coleman was stupid, or she wasn't the potential murderer that the agent perceived her to be.

Minutes later, she and Percy were walking the drive to Coleman's median level brick home. "I'll take the front, you take the back."

Percy nodded drawing her weapon before dashing toward the side gate.

Brody pulled her weapon from the holster at her side, and held it up right, knocking on the door. "Jennifer Coleman, NCIS!" Waiting just a couple of seconds, she kicked at the door, entering with her gun trained, Coleman's back fleeing from her toward the back of the house.

"Stop!" Brody gave chase swerving around the furniture. The gap between them closed when Coleman flung open the backdoor, coming face to face with Percy's Sig Saucer.

"Nobody messes with Country Mouse and then tries to run down B!" Wide eyed and lip curled the petite agent marched the woman back into the house, where Brody promptly cuffed her and escorted her back to the Expedition.

In interrogation, Brody stared down the women who had tried to run her down and presumably tried to hurt her partner. "What's your connection to Agent LaSalle?"

Jennifer hung her head. "I met him in bar, he seemed nice. He said, he could help me."

Brody's brow furrowed. "help you?"

"My real name is Nancy LaSota. I came here three years ago from the Pacific Northwest because my husband…he used to beat me. One night, I got tired of it and set our house on fire and didn't bother to wake his drunk ass. I walked out and haven't looked back."

"Until…" There was always a but or an until.

"Until, my husband's brother showed up at the clinic where I work, threatening to turn me in. He wanted money and uh…other things."

Ah, so she was not only wanted by the authorities for murder but she was also being blackmailed.

"Agent LaSalle was staying at my house while he looked into my case. He said he could protect me."

"So, why did you run, when we came to clinic?" Brody quizzed the woman.

Jennifer shrugged. "I thought you were going to have me extradited back home. I didn't want to face murder charges!"

Brody frowned thoughtfully as she pulled to her feet. "You may have to, but if your story checks out, we may be able to help."

Percy hung up the phone, "Well, that was dead-end as far as LaSalle is concerned. Nurse with the mad driving skills story checks out."

"So you think it might be the brother-in-law who's after Chris?" It was stretch but Brody knew they had to check out every possibility.

Percy shook her head. "I don't know, B. Doesn't seem like the guy would go through all of the trouble just to get LaSalle out of the picture if he thought he was threat." A well placed bullet would do the same thing with less effort.

Brody circled around her desk, reaching for her phone. "Speaking of LaSalle, nobody's heard from him for a while."

Ring, ring, ring.

Voicemail again. "This is the second time he hasn't picked up my call, I'm going to have Patton track his phone."

"Already done," Patton Plame answered as he his fingers tapped the key board. "The tower near City Park picked up his signal about an hour ago. Pride went to check it out. According to GPS, the phone is still there."

"Walking my dog," the cute Jack Russel Terrier at the woman's side yipped, smiling up at his owner happily.

"Beautiful day for that," LaSalle smiled at the woman he knew as Savannah's former secretary. She was nice lady from what he remembered, Savannah had liked the hardworking graduate student.

The woman looked down at the phone in his hand, the picture of Savannah still displayed. "That is a lovely picture of Savannah."

"Yeah…it is," he had to swallow down the lump that had formed in his throat as he cleared the picture from the screen.

"It's such a shame." The woman frowned. "The two of you were such a cute couple."

"Thank ya," His voice nearly went horse as he said goodbye at the sight of Pride jogging toward him.

"King," he said as Pride slowed his jog to more of a walk.

"Where ya been? I thought you were going to stay with Loretta?"

"I needed some air." Chris shrugged as the older man place a mollifying hand on his shoulder. "Someone sent me a picture of Savannah."

"Well, the next time you need air, you call me." Pride said sternly. "Until this settled, you're either with me, or Brody."

"Why not Percy?" LaSalle asked solely out of curiosity.

"Percy's still new, learning the ropes of our team. I'll task her with other things."

LaSalle nodded he could understand for so long it had just been the two of them until Brody had come along. It seemed only natural that their newest addition of their team earned his full trust. "Ya know, I don't need babysitter, right?"

Pride kept his hand on the younger man's shoulder, as they started to leave the park. "It's not up for debate. Besides, I think it's time I started taking a little bit better care of my family and that first and foremost that includes you."

LaSalle pinched the bridge of his nose, the dim lighting in his kitchen, reigniting a vicious head ache. He and Brody had been pouring over a pirated copy of Alexandria Hale's file. The woman was seen entering his hotel room and then wound up dead with his badge pinned to her chest.

Brody stood behind him, gently kneading his shoulders. "You know, if Pride catches us with this, we're both looking at Kitchen clean up and coffee runs for eternity?"

"Well, a little coffee and a little cleanin' never hurt anyone." Chris reached for the mug in front of him and took a long a swallow as Brody slid into the seat beside him.

"You sure what to be drinking caffeine at this hour," The ninety hour window for the Quaalude effects where just about to wear off. As predicted by Loretta, his body was heading a for big crash, the big sleep, which truth be told her partner desperately needed. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Savannah's death was starting to affect him both mentally and physically.

Chris set the mug back down on the table. "I ain't going to sleep, especially not here."

"You know, that offer to take my couch still stands, whenever you want it"

LaSalle looked up at his partner a slight smile crossing his face. "I already told ya, I'm good."

"Whatever," Brody replied under her breath before taking interest in the file. "You sure you don't remember seeing Petty Officer, Hale before?"

LaSalle shook his head. "Not at all. And for the record, I tend to avoid red heads for the obvious reason."

"Of course," Brody sighed, concluding that it did make sense. Everything about Chris' behavior pointed to avoidance of wanting to deal with his grief. So why would he choose a woman who closely resembled Savannah? It stood to reason that the answer had something to do with the potent barbiturate that had been assaulting his system for close to 4 days now.

"Can I see the picture you were sent again?" she asked, reaching across the table for his phone.

"It's the same one, I have in the bedroom." He looked away, his voice distant.

Brody nodded empathetic as she glanced at the photo and passed the phone back to him. "Well, since you're not interested in sleep, I think I'll get some shuteye. Where can I find linens for your couch?"

Chris stuck out his bottom lip. "Ya, can take the bed if you'd like." Not like he was going to be sleeping in it anytime soon. "Sheets are clean."

Brody made face deciding it best to excuse herself from the now awkward conversation. The sheets were clean because they were the ones that she had put on the bed while Chris was away at Savannah's funeral. She and Pride had organized a crew to clean up the glass and bullet holes that remained from Baitfish's attack. "I think I'll just go brush my teeth and change." She said accidently bumping into the countertop behind her as she got up.

"Awkward moment number 2063," Chris sighed when she was out of earshot, watching her as she reached for her overnight bag and slipped into his master bathroom. He watched the door until the buzz of his cell carried his attention way to an incoming text.

You are no Saint, Christopher.

Ok, LaSalle where ya hiding it?" Merri started to mutter aloud as she looked for the toothpaste. It was in the medicine cabinet she remembered pulling the mirrored door open with the echo shattering glass. A flaming Molotov cocktail sailed through the window nearly missing her head before it shattered on the titled floor, erupting into flames.

"LaSalle!"