Chapter 3: The Case.

"Grab your gear, we got a dead marine", Gibbs said.

Tony, Ziva, and McGee picked up their backpacks that were stored on the sides of their desk and headed towards the elevator. They all piled into the car; Gibbs driving, Ziva in the passenger seat, and Tony and McGee in the back seat. They drove to the hotel where the marine had been found. "Does he have a name?", Tony asked.

"His ID says his name in Liam Burd, he's part of the Department of Defense, and he's not from around here; he's from a town called Eureka in Oregon", McGee said.

"Ha you would think that he would be in the Air Force...get it, because birds fly...", Tony said.

Gibbs rolled his eyes,"yea DiNozzo we got it. Where's Ducky and Palmer?"

"Probably lost, oh wait here they are", McGee said as he saw the NCIS van through the window of the hotel room.

Ducky and Palmer left the elevator arguing about directions as usual.

"Right and left and east and west are two very different directions Mr. Palmer. Surely even you could know that...my my my what do we have here?", Ducky said while looking at the body. The body's neck was sliced ear to ear and there were multiple stab wounds. "Well it would seem that the cause of death would be the many stab wounds and the sliced neck. Although the lack of sign of bleeding on these stab wounds suggest that they were post-mortem, unless someone decided to clean him up, the sliced neck however was done before death or close after. An autopsy would confirm this theory though. Mr. Palmer, could you please-"

"Body bag is already out Dr. Mallard", Palmer said.

"Ah thank you Mr. Palmer!"

Palmer and Ducky lifted the body into the body bag and then onto the gurney.

"Let me know when you find something Duck", Gibbs said.

"As always Jethro", He said as he was entering the elevator.

Gibbs nodded at him as he left. "DiNozzo, McGee, look for prints. David, photos.

"McGee, what do we know about our marine?" Gibbs asked.

A picture of the dead marine appeared on the plasma screen along with his records. "Dr. Liam Burd: served in the U.S. Marine Corp from 2001 to 2007. After that he study at Harvard Med. School and became a neuropathologist. He then moved to Eureka, Oregon for a job offer" McGee said.

"Where did he work at?"

"Uh...some place called Global Dynamics"

"Check it out"

McGee started to fiddle with the computer and typed in his clearance code. "Um boss. I can't, it says that I don't have high enough clearance"

"Here probie let me try", Tony said and then typed in his code. It didn't work. "Huh."

"Move DiNozzo", Gibbs demanded. He typed in his code. It didn't work.

"What the hell?" Tony said. "Your clearance is enough that you could hack the Pentagon if you wanted to! What is this place?"

"I don't know but I'm about to find out" Gibbs said as he was walking towards the elevator.

"Good evening Special Agent Gibbs, I'll let the Director kno-"

Gibbs walked right past Cynthia and into Jen's office. When he entered, Jen was facing the opposite direction, sitting in her desk working on one of the many case files that appear on her desk every day. "Hello Jethro", she said smiling when she heard the door shut. She didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. Gibbs was the only person who entered unannounced.

Gibbs laughed a little at the fact that she always knew when it was him. "Hey Jen", he said and then kissed her cheek.

"What brings you up here?" she asked.

"What do you know about Global Dynamics?"

"Oh it rings a bell, where is it?"

"Some place in Oregon called Eureka."

She thought about it for a moment."Damn. Sorry Jethro. I do know what it is but I can't tell you."

"Why not?" he asked curiously.

"I could be charged with treason" she said slightly laughing.

"Is there anything you can tell me?"

"I can tell you that what they do in that town is top secret. And that it is the most advanced science facility in the world. It's one of those things you have to see for yourself" she said smiling.

"Damnit", he muttered "and I thought I could go at least six months without traveling across the entire country."

Jenny laughed. "So that will be three rooms and how many plane tickets?"

Gibbs thought and though for a moment. Usually he would only include him and his team but for this trip he wanted a few extra people. "Six", he said "I'm sure Abby would love to go. It's right up her alley of science crap and what not" he paused "and of course, you", he said smiling.

"Jethro you know how much I hate planes."

"And you know how much I hate waking up without you. Do you know how hard it is to be without you for a couple of days, let alone one day."

"I'll think about it. But that's not a yes!"

By this time, Gibbs was already walking out the door. "Nope! But it's a consideration and that's all I need!" he yelled back smiling.

After his discussion with the Director, Gibbs headed down to autopsy but stopped on his way down and informed the team that they would be leaving for Eureka tomorrow morning. There was jumble of sighs and grunts as he re-entered the elevator. Traveling was not favored among this team of NCIS agents.

When Gibbs entered autopsy, Ducky and Palmer were hovering over the body still examining it. "Find anything Duck?"

"Ah! Jethro yes. We found a very excessive amount of water in this poor fellow's young. I believe he was drowned. I already gave a sample of the water to Abigail. She's testing it to see if it matches the water at the hotel."

"Thanks Duck"

Ducky laughed. "My pleasure Jethro"

Gibbs walked into Abby's lab with a Caf-Pow!. He is empty handed of caffeine when visiting Abby.

"I will never know how you manage to do that", she said.

"Do what Abs?" he asked.

"You know, showing up down here right after I find something."

"So you found something?" he asked, changing the subject.

She rolled her eyes "Yea, the water found in Burd's lungs matched the water found at the hotel."

"How do you know it's just not city tap water?"

"Smart man," she said smiling "the hotel uses a filter so the hotel water and the city water would have different contents."

"That good work Abs" he said and then kissed her cheek.

"Burd was not stabbed to death, he was drowned", Gibbs stated as he entered the bullpen.

"How do you know that boss?" Tony asked.

"Ducky and Abby found the water from the hotel in his lungs."

"So he could have been drowned in the bathtub, I mean it makes sense; drown him, stab him, and wash it down the drain", McGee explained.

"Go check it out DiNozzo."

"On it boss."

Tony returned with a DNA swab of the hotel room bathtub. He had used a black light on the tub to reveal traces of blood.

"Abby, I have something for you", Tony said while waving the bag of evidence, "here Abby Abby Abby!"

She punched his shoulder and then took the bag, "I am not a dog Tony."

"Oh come on, I'm sure McGee's dog would love a play mate."

She rolled her eyes, "I'll let you know when I find something."

"Thank you Abby!" he said while walking towards the elevator.

"I gave Abby the DNA swab, she said she'll let us know when something comes up" Tony said.

"Alright, everybody go home, get some rest and be at the airport by 1000 hours", Gibbs said.

He didn't have to tell them twice, within seconds the team grabbed their stuff and took off towards the elevator and muttered things like "night", and "see ya".

Tony and Ziva were the first to arrive at the airport. Factors of this would include that Ziva drove. No matter how many times he has ridden in a car with Ziva driving, he never fails to practically hyperventilate after the trip is over.

Gibbs and Jenny arrived next, and following them was Abby and Tim. The team checked in their bags and headed over to their take off gate. The plane boarded shortly after the teams arrival. Not surprisingly, the sat in the two-seated rows by couples: Ziva and Tony, Abby and Tim, Jenny and Gibbs. After everyone was seated and the stewardess went over the safety regulations, the plane began to move down the runway.

Jenny closed her eyes and grabbed ahold of her husband's arm. "I absolutely hate takeoff" she said through her teeth.

Gibbs laughed and then kissed her cheek. "I know. I still have scars on my arm from you digging your nails into it on our flight to Paris."

"Yea that's why she dug her nails into your arm", DiNozzo said sarcastically.

"Ziva" Gibbs said. With that, Ziva smacked the back of her fiancés head.

Tony rubbed the back of his head and said "thank you boss."

The remainder of the flight had been mostly quiet. Tony and Ziva talked about some plans but then drifted to sleep near the end of the flight. Abby and Tim talked about the case and discussed scientific things that only they would understand. Gibbs spent most of the flight trying to calm Jenny down.

As the plane was nearing the airport, Gibbs noticed that Tony and Ziva were asleep. He leaned over Jenny and 'Gibbs smacked' both of their heads.

They both woke up and said "on it boss!"

Tim and Abby were laughing hysterically while Gibbs smirked and Jenny covered her mouth, trying to hide her laughter.

"Shut up McProbie!" Tony yelled.

Yes, it would seem that it is almost impossible for the NCIS team to have a normal flight.

A/N

Sorry the update took so long, I have kind of been distracted and actually forgot about this story. What really motivated me to start this story again was all the reviews. Thank You! I will try to update more sooner this time:)