"I don't care that this store is your turf," Gibbs snapped, poking a finger into the chest of the Metro Police detective who was challenging his right to enter the scene. "The victim is my turf. And I want my investigators working this. My -"

"Hello, Jethro. Any news of Ziva?"

Gibbs stopped mid-tirade to turn and look at Ducky, making his usual belated entrance. "Hey, Duck. Haven't heard anything yet. There's two dead down the aisle, though."

"Right you are." Ducky turned toward the bodies, but was stopped by the sudden appearance of the detective, who sidestepped in front of him. "What's this?"

The detective, a burly man in his mid-50s, crossed his arms and stood his ground, scowling down at the much-smaller doctor. "You are not authorized to enter this crime scene, sir."

"Oh, bollocks." Uncharacteristically, Ducky pushed past the sizable detective, banging his field case into the detective's knee as he passed.

"Ow! What -?" The detective grabbed his leg as Ducky blew past him, then, with a concerted effort, straightened up and looked at Gibbs with his eyes narrowed. "I want him - and you - out of here, Agent Gibbs! This is not your scene!"

"Better check with your commanding officer about that," Gibbs replied, slapping his cell phone into the detective's chest. "I'll wait."

Blinking, the detective opened the phone and dialed a number. "Captain!" he said when whoever was on the other end answered. "Sir, I have an NCIS agent here at the armed robbery. He's demanding access to the scene; says one of his agents was - yes," he broke off, listening. "Yes, sir, but this is my - who? He did?" His face reddened slightly. "I know, sir, and I'm willing to cooperate but -" Silence. "I see. Thank you, sir." Chastened, he closed the phone and handed it back to Gibbs without meeting the other man's eyes.

"Well?" Gibbs demanded when the detective, still ignoring him, started to walk away.

Grumbling indecipherably, the detective lifted a hand and waved Gibbs toward the bodies.

"Ah, James." Ducky set down his field case on the floor next to the kneeling Metro medical examiner, who was already examining one of the bodies. "What have we got, here?"

"Dr. Mallard!" James Carroll looked up in surprise. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" Mentally sorting through the possibilities of what would have gotten Ducky to the store, Carroll hit on a likely one and his face fell. "Oh, no. Neither of these guys is one of yours, are they?"

Ducky shook his head and eased himself to the floor. "No. The one who lived is."

"Ah, the heroine." Carroll smiled and, noticing Ducky's confusion, indicated where the Metro detectives were still interviewing witnesses. "Couldn't help overhearing the witnesses' stories. They're all pretty sure someone would have died if she didn't act. How badly is she injured?"

Pursing his lips, Ducky just shook his head again. "I'm not sure. I've gotten all my news second-hand, and now even the second-hand news sources are waiting on word from the hospital." Swallowing, he did his best to switch his attention to the body on the ground. "What have we got here?"

"Pretty straightforward causes of death, from the looks of it. This guy has two bullet wounds in the forehead. His buddy over there, one in the shoulder and one in the back of the head." He inserted a liver probe, then looked up at Ducky. "Are our friends here going to be my problem, or yours?"

"Actually, I'm not sure. Jeth-" he began, turning to call Gibbs only to find him standing mere inches away. "Oh, there you are. How did you work things out with our detective friend over there?"

Gibbs nodded to Carroll. "They're ours for now, doctor. But Ducky - keep Dr. Carroll informed. We're...cooperating on this case."

"As you wish," said Carroll, easing away from the body to allow Ducky better access. "Donald," he said with a gentlemanly sweep of his hand, "they're all yours."

"Why, thank you." Ducky smiled and leaned forward to read the temperature the liver probe was displaying. "Ah, 97.5. A reasonable number for the time frame. I take it," he said, settling back on his heels and looking at the frustrated-looking Metro detective across the room and then at Gibbs, "that the director came through for you?"

Gibbs nodded. "For once."

Smiling slightly, Ducky returned his attention to the body. "Nice to see you boys playing well together. You'll let me know about Ziva, won't you?" he asked as Gibbs turned to go.

"You got it, Duck."

A/N: Yeah, nothing momentous here, just some filler we had to get through to move on to the meat of the scene