"What'd you find Duck?" Gibbs asked the second he arrived in Autopsy.

"Ahh, Jethro, I was just about to call you. We've had some interesting developments on our case."

"How interesting?"

"Oh, very," Ducky grinned. He lead Gibbs over to the x-ray lamps and flipped them on. "What do you see here?" he pointed to the neck.

Gibbs peered closely at it. "It looks fine."

"Fine. Yes, well that's the problem, isn't it? If our Petty Officer had hung himself, there should be, at the very least, a hairline fracture of his neck. These bones," he ran his finger down the vertebra of the neck, "are completely intact."

"So it wasn't suicide."

"Not unless he hung himself after he was already dead."

"What about the other one?"

"Well, our Sergeant was a bit more of a puzzle. You can see how mucked up his body was after falling six stories. It's rather hard to differentiate between those injuries and anything that might have occurred just before he took an unexpected tumble out of a sixth floor window."

"Tell me you got more than that Ducky."

"Jethro," the doctor chastised, "you really need to be more patient. I didn't say I hadn't found anything. Do you see this, the lack of blood pooled around the head wounds? And do you remember how clean the grass on which he lay was? The only way that could happen..."

"Is if he was dead before he hit the ground. Thanks Duck," Gibbs called as he hurried out of the room.

NCIS

At 1400 Gibbs went striding through Director Sheppard's outer office, barely pausing when Cynthia rose.

"You can't go in right now Agent Gibbs, the Director is...in a meeting," she finished lamely, watching the Director's door swing shut.

Jenny's eyes turned towards the door as Gibbs burst in.

"Did you forget how to knock, Agent Gibbs?"

"Got something for you, Director." Only then did Gibbs notice another party in the room, sitting in one of the chairs that faced Jenny's desk.

"Special Agent Gibbs, Agent Thompson from the FBI. We were just finishing. Thank you for making the time to see me Agent Thompson."

The man took her cue and stood, barely giving Gibbs a passing glance on the way out. Jenny sat back in her chair. "Do you know why I have an assistant sitting outside my door Jethro?"

"To annoy me?"

She smiled. "Good guess, but no. It's her job to inform me of visitors and also to inform visitors that they may have to wait their turn."

Gibbs parked himself right in front of her desk and leaned over, "All visitors Jen?"

"That is the idea."

They regarded one another for a minute before Jenny realized there was no winning this argument. "Did you come up for a reason or just to stress out my assistant?"

"Got a case. Real hinky, as Abby would say. Related victims who didn't die the way it looked. I think we're looking at a really bad grudge or a family sanctioned hit."

"And what can I do to help?" Jenny inquired.

"Nothing right now, this is just a heads up." He glanced at his watch. "Did you eat?"

Jenny shook her head. "No. I was in MTAC for a good portion of the morning and I've been in meetings ever since."

"What do you feel like? I can grab something when I go for coffee."

"Oh, a coffee would be fine, thanks. I'm really not that hungry."

Gibbs shot her a reproving look. "You need to eat Jenny."

"I need to do my job, Jethro. I still have several meetings before the end of the day and a lot of work to be done when they are over. I'm fine."

"Fine," he muttered. He started for the door.

"Jethro," she called.

He turned around. "What?" his tone a little sharper than he'd planned.

Her eyes softened. "Don't leave mad."

Gibbs blew out a breath, trying to release some of the tension. He walked back around her desk and leaned against it. "I'm worried about you Jen."

"I'm fine, really. I'll get something later if I need to, promise."

"You do realize eating is supposed to be good for you."

"Have you seen the food in this building?" she tried to tease, but she could see he wasn't buying it. She stood up and put her hand on his chest. "You're very sweet to worry, but it's alright. Lunch may be a little bit late today, but I'll get it. I had breakfast, didn't I?"

"A muffin," he said, his tone indicating what he thought about that.

She smiled. "Better than nothing. Now stop worrying." Her eyes fell to her schedule. "I'm sorry, but I have another appointment soon. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah," he sighed, squeezing her hand, "later Jen."

She sat back down and watched as he left. Placing a hand over her stomach, she fought the nausea the came over her at the very mention of food. If her stomach settled down later, she would eat. Probably.

An hour later Gibbs again entered the Director's outer office. Plunking down a container of salad and a cup of coffee on the desk, he drilled his eyes into Cynthia's.

"Make sure she eats this," he said gruffly. Then he turned around without a word and left, a rather perplexed Cynthia watching him go.

NCIS

"You ask him."

"I'm not asking him. If you want to know, you ask!"

"Don't be a chicken McCoward," Tony put in.

"I'm not being a chicken, I just -"

"Buck, buck, buck, bawwk!"

Ziva glared at her partner. "Tony you are such a child."

"You're the one who brought this whole thing up Ziva, you ask."

"Oh what? Afraid to find out the real answer and lose your bet?"

"I am Senior Field Agent here..."

"Yes!" Ziva smiled triumphantly. "And you've known Gibbs the longest. So you should ask."

"Oh no," he held up his hands. "I am not getting into this. If I ask, he's going to slap me so hard the hair won't grow back." He rubbed his hand protectively over the back of his head. "I need my hair."

Ziva rolled her eyes. "Men!" she huffed.

It was late. Their case had met a dead end while they waited for traces and background checks to finish and for one lead out of the tens they had to finally pan out. A reluctant Gibbs had finally agreed to put the case on hold for the night so everyone could go home and get some sleep. He didn't like the idea of leaving a murderer out there, not one bit, but there didn't seem to be anymore they could do tonight and he needed his team focused and alert to solve this case.

Gibbs appeared behind Tony's desk. "What were you going to ask me, DiNozzo?"

"Boss!" Tony whirled around, bumping into his desk in the process and wincing. "Me? Umm, I don't think...I mean, McGee and Ziva were just...well, you see..."

"Spit it out, I haven't got all night." Gibbs headed for his desk.

"Here's the thing Boss, you're...wearing a ring."

Gibbs lifted his eyebrows. "Uh huh. So what?"

"Well, we were just wondering..." he looked desperately at his teammates for back up and finally Ziva took pity on him. McGee looked like he wanted to disappear.

"What we are wondering, Gibbs," Ziva began, "is if you got married."

"And why would that be any of your business, Officer David?"

Ziva was taken aback. "Oh. I guess...it wouldn't."

Gibbs gave them all a good stare before standing up, biting back a smile at the way they all leaned back, wondering what their punishment was for being nosy. "Stay here!" he ordered, heading for the stairs.

Abby and Ducky walked in just then, looking like they were on their way out as well.

"What's going on?" Abby asked.

The team shrugged, helplessly. "We don't know," Tony said, a look of fear overtaking his face. "But we've just been ordered not to move." He shot a look at the door to the Director's office. "You don't think he's trying to get permission to shoot us, do you?"

Ziva shook her head, unconvinced but still unsure about what Gibbs was up to. "Jenny would never allow that."

"I don't know Ziva," McGee finally spoke, "he seemed awfully upset."

"This is the worst part," Tony whispered, sinking into his chair. "I hate waiting to see."

"Oh Tony," Abby grinned, leaning on one of the room dividers, "you have no idea."