I owe you all an explanation. Ok, so on last Friday, I took my computer to Best Buy Geek Squad (don't recommend it) because the thing kept shutting down on me, and my hinge is broken, so I was hoping they could fix the two problems. Unfortunately, it turned out that my hard drive is dying, so they kept giving me crap and telling me that it was going to take longer and longer and longer to fix the problem, but to fix my hard drive, I was going to have to pay another three hundred dollars for them to fix it. I didn't get to pick up the computer until today (Still not actually done) and now my best friend is going to give it to her father and he's not only going to fix my hard drive, but he'll also fix my hinge (that Geek Squad made worse) for a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Why am I telling all of you this? I promise, it is not strictly to vent (Although, I'm afraid it may have come out a little ranty, and I apologize for that) but because my laptop was the only place I had this story saved. I honestly thought I'd get my computer back faster, and I am so sorry about the long wait. I swear, I WILL NOT ever take so long to update this story. And I promise, I have no intention of abandoning this story. But I owe all of you a huge apology, and you deserved to know what took so long.

Sixteen

Jethro strode into the interrogation room with a purpose. They were running out of time and at this point he was functioning solely off of coffee and gas fumes. A part of him felt envious of DiNozzo for getting a chance to sleep, even though he was the one who gave it to him. But he still refused to lie down. Not until he knew that the boy was safe.

He slapped the yearbook down on the table in front of Corporal Darklin. She jumped nearly through the ceiling. She was already nervous and tense, and Jethro's presence intensified it.

He sat down opposite of her, slightly proud that he had that effect on the young woman.

He opened the book to the right page. There was a picture of two young women with their arms wrapped around each other. One was a very attractive blonde wearing more make-up than necessary, the other was a brunette with big blue eyes.

"Julia Chike was your old friend from high school." Darklin tensed, so Jethro continued,"That was why she was staying at your house the night of the murder. You let her in."

"No," Darklin finally said, her voice quivering.

"No?" Jethro leaned back and crossed his legs. "So, she was there," he shook his head, "to work?"

Darklin finally pulled her eyes away from the yearbook. "No!" She cried out. "It wasn't like that!"

Jethro uncrossed his legs and leaned over the table, his entire body completely ablaze with fury. "Then you tell me what the hell it was like. Tell me why your friend is dead!"

Darklin gasped. "What?"

"Your friend," he sneered the word, "is lying on a slab in our morgue. Somebody beat her to death. Because of what she saw!"

"Julia wasn't even there that night!" She faltered at the last word. At first it had seemed like she was desperate to make Gibbs understand, but now she looked like she was barely holding it together. Obviously the full weight of her friend's murder just hit her.

"How do you know, you weren't there, remember?"

She shook her head, slowly rocking back and forth. "Her friend. Her friend from the street, she was murdered." She choked up a sob. "Julia was so scared. She didn't want to end up like that. So I told her that she could stay with me. I would protect her." She dropped her head onto the table and cried. Jethro leaned back and waited for her to get her bearings again. He didn't know why he was being nice, but this woman just lost a good friend. He could give her a few minutes to just cry.

After another minute she picked her head back up. "But she wasn't at my house that night. I know she wasn't. She was visiting her mother. In Philedelphia. She was two states away, Agent Gibbs!"

Jethro sighed heavily. Whoever killed that working girl most likely took Jamie. They kidnapped him, killed Marcus Tatum, Julia Chike, the real Gloria Smith and Karen Taylor. They were covering their tracks.

"Why was she in PFC Huntington's house?"

Darklin shook her head, flabbergasted. "What does that have to do with anything?"

It could have been the lack of sleep, or because of all the complicated bullshit involved with this case, but Jethro just snapped. He slammed his fist onto the table, causing the woman to jump again. "Answer my damn questions!"

She violently shook. "Sam is a good friend of mine. When he went out of town, I asked him if Julia could housesit for him and he agreed."

The door to the interrogation room opened. Burley popped his head in. "Boss, I need to talk to you."

Jethro glared. Burley knew better. "Workin'."

"It's important. Really important."

With a heavy sigh, he rose to his feet and followed Burley out in the hallway. As soon as the door was shut behind him, he wheeled around and glared daggers at his Senior Field Agent. "Rule #22, Stan. You never, ever, interrupt an interrogation. Or were you not thinking when you walked in there?"

Burley kept his voice low as he told Jethro his news. The anger faded away, leaving behind only shock.

"What?"

.

Tony hadn't slept that well in months. Most nights were riddled with nightmares involving butcher shops and big knives and small, cramped, deep chest freezers. But tonight there were no nightmares. Only good dreams and a satisfied body.

And when he closed his eyes, he didn't see a monster in a hot girl costume in front of his face.

He rolled over and slowly opened his eyes. Ley was still lying next to him. Judging from the look in her eyes, she had yet to fall asleep. There was a strange look on her face. It looked like a mix of happiness and… sadness.

Tony closed his eyes again and sighed. Ley was a virgin. And he took that away from her for his own personal needs.

"Hey," she croaked.

He opened his eyes to see her smiling at him. "I'm sorry." He meant it. He was disgusted with himself. And to think, only a few short minutes ago, he actually felt good.

She rolled over so she could look him directly in the eye. "For what?"

"For this." He pointed between the two of them. "I doubt this was how you wanted your first time to be."

She chuckled. "Yeah, well. It could have been worse. You totally could have sucked."

He outright laughed at that.

"Tony, I didn't do anything I didn't want to do. Granted it's not how I always imagined my first time, but when is it ever exactly how you imagine it?" She shrugged.

"So you don't hate me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sadly, it's gonna take more than a night of consensual sex to get me to hate you. You'd have to like, massacre my entire family for that to happen."

Tony smiled. Slowly, he started to get up, but then he thought of something. "Hey, did you and Den find out anything interesting during the canvas?"

She nodded as she started looking for her uniform. "Yeah, we found out that Jamie Taylor witnessed a murder."

Tony listened intently as she explained everything that she learned, his jaw to the floor the entire time. They figured all of this out and nobody thought to notify him?

"Nobody told you?"

He shook his head and grabbed his shirt. "Evidently Gibbs thought my sleep was more important than keeping me up to speed on my damn case."

"I'm sure he was planning on briefing you the second you came back to the Navy Yard."

Tony rolled his eyes. While what she said was most likely true, how hard would it be to just pick up a phone and tell him what they figured out? Instead he had to look like a jackass by getting briefed after everybody else?

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Ley asked as she slid on her shoes.

"Sure."

"Gerald sort of let it slip that Gibbs offered you a job at NCIS, is it true?"

Tony tensed. Damn it, he didn't want anyone to ever find out about that. "I turned him down." He went back to getting dressed.

"But he did offer." It wasn't a question.

"Does that matter?"

"Yeah, a little." He could tell Ley was starting to get angry, but so was he. "If you turned him down, then why didn't you ever say anything?"

He chuckled bitterly. "Ley, you act like it's the only job offer I ever got."

Her jaw dropped open in shock. "There have been others?"

Damn his big mouth. He rubbed his face. "Agent Fornell made a couple offers."

"How many is a couple?"

Eleven, to date. And no doubt he'd have another letter waiting for him when he got back to Baltimore. "Like one or two, does it matter?"

Ley bit her lip. "Why'd you turn them down?"

He shrugged. "I had my reasons."

He could tell she wanted to say something else, but somebody rang his doorbell, saving him.

Tony tried not to act to happy as he made his way towards the door. But there was still probably a bounce in his step. He did just get laid, and whoever was outside that door was stopping an incredibly uncomfortable conversation. They deserved a hug.

When he opened the door, any happiness he had been feeling left his body. His partner, best friend, and the brother of his latest bed buddy, Dennis Morgan, stood outside in the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" He kept the door mostly closed so Denny couldn't see who else was in his room.

"Naptime's over, Gibbs wants you back at the Navy Yard."

Tony nodded, still feeling rather uncomfortable. "Right, just give me a second." He moved to shut the door but Denny stopped him.

"You mind if I wait inside?"

Tony chuckled. He hoped it didn't sound as hysterical as he thought it did. "Why? You wanna see me naked or something?"

Denny rolled his eyes before he stared down at Tony's body. The younger man looked down. He was already dressed. "I'll just be a minute!" He made to shut the door again.

Denny pushed the door open completely. And his jaw dropped to the floor.

Tony didn't have to turn around. He knew full well what his partner saw. He dropped his head and cringed, preparing for the worst.

"You son of a bitch!"

Tony didn't even see the fist come barreling for his already bruised face.

He stumbled over, just barely catching himself before he fell to the floor. There was screaming above him, but he couldn't make out the words. He knew both of the Morgans were shouting.

When he lifted his head, he saw Ley barely holding her brother back before he attacked again.

"You bastard!" Dennis screamed.

"Dennis!"

Tony straightened himself up and took a step back. He didn't want to face his partner's anger more than he absolutely had to. "Denny—"

His partner cut him off. "Don't!" He finally shrugged his sister off of him, but he didn't move to attack Tony. "We are through. Do you understand me? As soon as this case is over, I'm asking for a new partner."

Tony felt his heart stop. "Den—"

"Screw off!" He turned around and started walking down the hallway.

Tony didn't hesitate. He took off running after Denny. "Den! Stop, can we talk about this?"

Denny whirled on him, his entire face engulfed in anger. "What the hell is there to talk about? You," he huffed. "I forgave you when you banged Dana, but this? Lea?" He started walking again. He didn't actually say it, but Tony definitely heard "Fuck off" radiate off of him.

"So it's ok for me to sleep with Dana, but not Ley?"

"Dana's a whore, that isn't ever gonna change." He didn't say anything else, but Tony got the message loud and clear. Ley was a virgin, and Tony took advantage. Denny was also much closer with her than he was with either of his half sisters.

"Den, will you just look at me?" He grabbed Denny's shoulder to get him to stop.

Denny swiveled and punched him square in the jaw again. Tony slammed into the wall before turning around and punching Denny back. The older man dropped to the floor, his lip bloody.

He stood back up and moved into Tony's personal space. Tony mentally prepared himself for a full scale fight.

"Hey!" Ley shouted, running towards them. "What the hell is the matter with the two of you?"

"Stay out of this!" Denny shouted.

Ley ignored him. She handed Tony his cell phone. In his rush, he must have forgotten all of his things back in the room. "Gibbs called. He says it's urgent."

With a sigh, he grabbed the device and put it to his ear. "Find Jamie yet?"

His jaw dropped.

"We're on our way." He hung up.

Denny rolled his eyes. "Of course. Now what?"

Tony breathed a heavy sigh. They hadn't found Jamie just yet, but this was still pretty big.

"Sergeant Taylor just woke up."

I am currently working on chapter 19, so, hopefully, I'll be able to get chapter 17 out either Saturday or Sunday. I just gotta type it up.

Was it at least good? Nice fun fight? Maybe? Hopefully? Please don't hate me? *Puppy dog eyes*

Bob