Wow! I am SO sorry for not updating this sooner. There are tons of excuses I could give, but I'll just say that life is back to normal and updates should be coming steadily now. Please review so that I know people are still reading this. Enjoy!

Chapter Six: Strike Out

Woody stood in the observation room with his arms crossed. The suspect, Denise Jenkins, was sitting in the interrogation room calmly examining her nails. Woody tapped his foot impatiently. If he were in charge, he'd have been questioning her already. Briefly, he wondered where Gibbs was. Probably getting another coffee.

Beside him, Jordan smirked. "Now you know how I always feel," she said.

"Yeah, well you're an ME. You're not supposed to interview suspects. I'm a cop—that's my job," Woody said. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "We've been waiting forever. I'm going to go start. Gibbs can join me when he gets back."

"Whoa, buddy. That's not a good idea," Tony piped up. "Gibbs is very…uh…sensitive about interrogation. You really don't want to get him angry with that."

Woody looked like he was going to argue, but Ziva jumped in.

"For once, Tony's actually right," she said. "Taking over an interrogation is not a good idea."

Woody looked to McGee for support but the agent shook his head. "You're lucky he's letting you in on the interrogation at all."

"Great," Woody sighed.

Jordan smiled. "Come on, Woody. It's not so bad."

He glanced sideways at her grin. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Jordan just laughed.

At that moment Gibbs opened the door, fresh coffee in hand. "Let's go," he nodded to Woody.

"It's about time," Jenkins said when Gibbs and Woody sat down opposite her. "Why am I here anyway?"

"You've been out of town recently," Gibbs said.

"Yeah. So?"

"Where'd you go?" Woody asked.

"Portsmouth," she replied. "I've got friends there."

"Can we have their names and phone numbers to confirm that?" Gibbs asked.

"What is this about?" Jenkins repeated.

Neither Woody nor Gibbs answered.

Gibbs continued. "The base gym log says that you were there from 12:30 until 1:00 yesterday afternoon."

"I was there."

"Short workout," Woody observed.

Jenkins shrugged. "I don't really go there to exercise," she said coyly. She sighed dramatically. "But I wasn't interested in anyone there, so I left."

"Really?" Gibbs asked. "We have a witness who says otherwise."

Jenkins's stare turned cunning. "Whoever told you that was mistaken."

Both men were silent for a moment. Then Gibbs took out apiece of paper. "We have a warrant for your DNA," he informed her. He motioned to the group behind the glass, and Abby popped in the room a second later.

Jenkins' façade finally cracked. "Why? What's my DNA got to do with anything?"

Woody gave her his best "Farm Boy" smile. "Oh, nothing much," he said amicably. His expression hardened. "Just the murder of ten marines in DC and Boston."

Abby held up a cotton swab and smiled. "Open wide."

"I want a lawyer."

Everyone except McGee was congregated in Abby's lab waiting on the results of the DNA comparison.

"Okay, I get that this lady is nuts," Ziva said. "But why did she kill these men? What was her rationale?"

"Because she's a crazy wack job," Tony replied. Ziva shot him a look and they started bickering.

Woody leaned over to Jordan. "Good thing being a 'crazy wack job' doesn't always make you a serial killer."

Jordan chuckled. "Yeah, because those two wouldn't have a chance."

"Oh, but I was talking about you," Woody responded. The comment earned him a sharp elbow to the ribs from Jordan.

Before she could inflict any more damage, McGee walked in.

"Boss," he said. "I finished the background check on Jenkins. I think I found her motive."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Today, Probie!" Tony yelled after a beat.

McGee faltered a bit. "Uh…yeah…Okay," he recovered. "After college, Jenkins was engaged to Marine First Sergeant Ron Kressler. Two weeks before their wedding, he told her that his military career was more important than her and broke off the engagement."

"So she's killing people who remind her of the fiancée," Nigel mused.

"Maybe not only those who look like him," McGee continued. "One year ago the First Sergeant was found murdered in his home. Shot twice in the chest. It's a cold case."

Tony sighed and shook his head.

"What's wrong with you?" Ziva asked.

"Nothing," he said defensively. "It's just that serial killers are all so boring…well, except for the murder part. They always kill the people they don't like and then recreate it over and over again. You'd think they'd use a bit more imagination."

Everyone stared at him as if he'd grown three heads.

Abby's mass spectrometer beeped. She hopped over to it and read the results. "We have a match!" she said excitedly.

"Strike three, she's out," Nigel added.

The morgue crew was enjoying their last night in Washington at a bar close to their hotel. "Another case solved, thanks to Boston's finest," Nigel said. They all raised their beers and took long drinks.

"Thank goodness," Woody said. "Now we can go back to doing things our way."

Jordan patted him on the back. "We did good though. They never would have solved it without us."

"Too bad we can't stay a bit longer," Nigel said wistfully.

Jordan and Woody shared a knowing look. "Having trouble choosing between Kate and Abby?" Woody teased.

"I guess you've forgotten all about Delinda already," Jordan added.

All Nigel did was moan and put his hand over his heart. "Too many options," he said. Then he smiled. "But only one is worth it." He stood up. "You two love birds have fun and I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to go call Kate."

After he disappeared, the couple sat together for a long time just chatting. The comfortable nature they had was the best part of their relationship. Finally, they decided to leave so they could get some sleep before their flight home.

"Hey, Woody, why don't you go on by yourself?" Jordan said as they left the bar. "I'm just going to stop and get some aspirin."

Wood turned to her, concerned. "Got a headache?"

"Yeah, but it's no big deal. I promise," she added off his look.

"I can go with you," Woody offered.

"No, you go on ahead," Jordan insisted. "I can take care of myself."

After a bit more persuading, Woody headed off in the opposite direction. Jordan bought her aspirin quickly and started back as well.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Jordan from behind. Before she had a chance to fight back, she felt a sharp sting in her neck. The last think she saw before blacking out was the inside of a large cargo van.