On her way back, she decided to take a detour into the woods to feed on some deer that always managed to venture too close to town. Bella had no idea how the permanent vampire residence didn't ward them off. The affair was unavoidable, it has been a week since she last got to proper sustenance – human food was bearable for pretenses but did nothing for her thirst – and she wasn't sure when she would get the chance to feed next. The vampire girl had excellent control over her thirst, she had never before experienced the veined eyes frenzy she had read about, but it was better to play it safe. She also made sure to keep her mealtime very clean. The last thing she needed was trying to explain blood stains, even if it wasn't human blood.

"Find out anything, Probie?" Tony greeted her with the question the instant she stepped into their lodging. There had only been two free rooms available at the motel, and somehow Bella ended up with him as a roommate. Strictly speaking, this was better than with Gibbs and his uncanny ability to see through everyone, but she would have preferred Tim staying in Mystic Falls instead. He had a stable relationship with Delilah, wouldn't have tried anything… whereas with DiNozzo… you never knew what was just friendly jabbing or real flirting. At least they had two double beds…

"Nothing," she snapped at him as she threw her jacket on the bed, quickly grabbing some slacks and a T-shirt to change into, and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. She needed time to think, to sort through the happenings of the day, and to carefully come up with a plausible alternative to the truth that she could share with NCIS, hopefully satisfactorily closing the investigation down.

When she reemerged, he was still sitting in the same spot as before, intently waiting for her.

"What's got you so riled up?" the male agent inquired further. Bella sighed heavily.

"Ran into an old flame. He stirred up some hurtful stuff," the vampire lied, sitting down on her bed with her back to Tony. Technically that was somewhat true. She was never sure what it was they had with Damon. At least Jeremy's revelation helped to clear that up. She had been nothing but a distraction back then until he waited his time out for his brother's girl. "Also learned that some friends of mine have died," she added with a quick glance over her shoulder.

Liz was dead. And who knew what was registered officially about Elena since probably she won't "come back to life" for another 50-60 years so this might be a great cover for her absentmindedness if anyone asked. She just had to make sure to check the records to keep her story straight. So many fucking lies in her life. On second thought, there had been countless other deaths in town in the last five years. Regardless of where they stood, her friends' or their enemies' side, she felt like mourning each and every one of them.

"Sorry to hear that," Tony offered sympathetically, standing up to come over to sit by his partner, really wanting to comfort her, causing her to peek up from her melancholy thoughts. Although he had to wonder just how close those friends had been if she hadn't kept in touch with them for the last five years since she lived here.

"Tomorrow, when we are done, I want to go out to the cemetery to visit them if that's okay with Gibbs," there, perfect excuse to go off alone in the evening again.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind," DiNozzo thoughtfully assured her.

"Any word back from Ducky or Abby?" Agent Swan switched topics back to their investigation while she towel dried her hair.

After this case was all done, she was going to hand in her resignation, she decided. Klaus was truly immortal, so even if she managed to keep NCIS off his scent this time, it was too much of a risk to stay close to them. And even if a white oak stake just happened to land in her hands right that moment, killing Klaus would mean killing his entire sire line, including Caroline, Stefan, Damon, and even herself although with the venom in her system she might survive.

"So far, absolutely nothing. No prints or any other traces, not even DNA on the tip of the syringe which was previously filled with some herb that Abby has identified as verbena. It's possible that it has nothing to do with the case since the only thing she could tell us is that the aerial parts of the plant can be used in traditional medicine for the stimulation of lactation, treatment of dysmenorrhea, jaundice, gout, kidney stones, headache, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Seems more like something the ladies would use at that time of the month than something the petty officer would need," the light-brown haired agent grinned at her suggestively, causing the vampire to groan frustratedly at him, rolling her eyes. Comments like this were the bane of her existence.

"The cause of death is exsanguination. Ducky is thoroughly baffled about how though. No entry marks for the syringe, or any other external signs beside the two puncture wounds he noted in his initial report. The incisions were made by a pair of roundish objects, no longer than half an inch. Also no other traces or prints on the victim's body either. Tox report is not back yet," Tony finished bringing her up to speed after having his fill of fun with teasing her.

Bella wasn't even sure how to react to that. Was Klaus really this meticulous? As things seemed right now, this would become a cold case unless someone confessed.

"Tim and I were starting to jest that this was either the perfect murder or a vampire was lurking in these parts. Gibbs wasn't impressed with us, of course," the male agent laughed out, enjoying his own joke, probably based on the many vampire movies he had seen. Some were more spot on than others, Swan had to admit, and chuckled with him to maintain her cover.

"Yeah, just imagine that. It would be a forensic nightmare if these things actually existed," the brunette managed with as much sarcasm as she possibly could, rolling her eyes as she fell back onto her towel on the bed.

"Do you believe in these things?" DiNozzo probed on second thought.

"What do I believe in?" Bella turned her head towards him with furrowed brows. She knew exactly what he was getting at, but her reaction to these questions was crucial, so she had to maintain the façade of confusion.

"Vampires and stuff," he theatrically whirled his hand around to make his point about all of this.

"You are kidding, right?" Bella frowned at him pointedly, propping herself up on her elbows. "You know me. I'm a down to earth kind of girl. I only believe what I can see and touch." So true, but she also had seen and touched the supernatural before and not just vampires… not to mention one looked at her in the mirror every morning.

"I suppose. So besides exes, did you get to talk to any of the town folk?" Tony asked to get back to business.

"I tried asking around, but no one saw anything," she shook her head dejectedly. Mentioning Elena and the burned down house would have been a big mistake. Same with her run-in with the girl's brother, however enlightening that talk might have been for her personally.

"Alright, get some sleep, we have a long day tomorrow," the agent said, patting her shoulder reassuringly, then got up and went back to his own bed.

Sleep didn't come easily to either of them, Bella mulling over her options against Klaus, while Tony tried to pinpoint the exact source of the uneasy feeling he got. His partner hadn't lied to him per se… but something was fishy.

The dark-haired guy Swan bumped into first after she left could have been the old fling she was talking about, they seemed really standoffish with each other from the distance he had followed her since Gibbs asked him to keep an eye on her. He didn't really have a clear view of them, the guy was partially hidden by the brick wall of the alleyway he was standing in, his back to the agent, and he did leave quickly enough afterward.

Bella walked a few streets down to a house next which had been burnt down. That seemed to have caught her by surprise. Especially Jeremy showing up not long after, threatening her with a crossbow nonetheless, although he did back down when she showed him her badge, so it could have been family property and he thought she was trespassing.

But then she willingly went with him to another big estate. Was the death of a friend related to the Gilbert boy? That's what they were talking about? Tony hadn't waited for her to come back out so technically she could have tried speaking to residents afterward, but it was past midnight by the time she got back. Who would be out on the streets at this time? And what was she doing with their only suspect?

The next morning wildly unexpected news greeted them. Sherriff Donovan had come over to inform the NCIS agents that one Joey Bates had given himself up at the station, claiming that he murdered James Sheridan. Several things came to Bella's mind, none of which had she voiced:

One, obviously it wasn't him. She just couldn't see how a human could do damage mimicking a vampire.

Two, someone was pulling one hell of a fucked up, twisted Swan (alright, alright… she named her technique of getting criminals to confess with a little push on compulsion after herself… but she never fed the crimes they should come clean about to them… only that they should give themselves up).

Three, either Jeremy had already talked to some of their vampire acquaintances – one of whom took it upon themselves to compel a poor bloke to take the fall (yeah, she knew that was exactly what they were planning to do, but it would have been carefully set up, possibly someone who was already evading the law with something similar) – or Klaus was somehow eavesdropping on them at the Salvatore home, which meant that it wasn't a safe house anymore.

She would have to check with the boy to find out which was the case. But for now… they had a suspect to question. Since they had no tangible evidence, everything stood or fell on whether Joey could adequately and precisely describe what he did to the satisfaction of their coroner, having it matched with their autopsy findings.

"What do we know about this guy?" Gibbs inquired from the team in the antechamber of the interrogation room, scrutinizing their suspect through the one-way mirror.

"Joey Bates, 31, a resident of Charlottesville. Works at the UVA Hospital as a registered nurse practitioner. Only relatives in the area were his sister, Kris Cooke, and her husband, his brother-in-law, Tripp Cooke, previously known as Thomas Vincent Fell III, a descendant of one of the founding families of Mystic Falls but later changed his name to his mother's maiden name. Wow, throwing away a name with so much history? At least he didn't take up his wife's last name," Tony suddenly interrupted himself with a short rant on the manliness of husbands conforming to family traditions the other way around.

That is until Gibbs slapped him hard across the back of his head. Bella wanted to smirk at her boss to express her shared disapproval of the misogynistic notion, but his sharp gaze made her back off.

"Right, back to business. Both deceased by now. Tripp passed just last year, per the report he fell off the roof of his house while doing repairs, and snapped his neck. Kris died in a car crash ten years ago, where Tripp was the driver. Supposedly Joey was in town the day before yesterday visiting her grave. No previous criminal record, only a couple of unpaid parking tickets. There doesn't seem to be any connection to our victim," Tony listed off from his tablet connected to their databases and the info they've gathered in the last hour since the suspect landed in their lap, plus what Tim could provide them with based on the interviews with his CO and coworkers. He had also enlisted Abby in helping to sort through the data pulled from Sheridan's laptop.

"Dig deeper. There has to be something," the senior agent insisted, sipping on his coffee. It was just too easy, way too easy. Where was the motive? Evidence? Why would he give himself up? "Swan, you're up, question Bates."

Bella picked the file up without question or hesitation, heading for the door to make her way to the adjacent room, but internally she debated with herself on how she should play this. A nurse practitioner, probably a good man. Could her conscience handle it if she let him take the fall? If he was compelled, should she try breaking the effects with her own? With everyone watching from right behind her back?

For once she was going with the good cop approach, so she grabbed a cup of coffee from the communal station before entering. Although based on the vile taste precinct coffee usually had, it was debatable whether this was indeed a friendly opening.

"Hi, Joey. I can call you Joey, right?" the agent greeted the dark-brown haired man, placing the paper cup in front of the suspect before slowly and deliberately taking her place on the other side of the table. Mr. Bates just glanced up at her, nodding, before reaching for the cup and taking a sip, his face contorting in a little frown at the bitterness of it.

"I believe you have been read your rights and you have refused to have a lawyer present," Bella stated, reading off from the file. She could practically hear Gibbs grunt in frustration at what she was doing, the last thing he would want was the guy lawyering up. Rule 13: Never, ever involve lawyers. Not that the question really mattered with the compulsion, which he was undoubtedly under. He had no free will at the moment, and there was no way of proving it officially, but this was an excellent initial shot for the vampire to test her theory.

"Yes, I don't want a lawyer," Joey confirmed without a blink of an eye. Well, that went just as expected. If Leroy Jethro Gibbs would have been a sighing kind of guy he undoubtedly would have in relief, but alas he was the silently glaring type. Bella could almost feel his piercing gaze on the back of her head.

"Alright, want to tell us what happened?" she started off gently, seeking the eye contact that she never really received from him, his gaze dancing around the room. She only got a few, fraction of a second glimpses of his pale blue eyes. The more she looked at him, the more she thought he could pass for a slightly less handsome version of Damon, having more roundish features than the vampire's angular jawline. Bella pulled herself out of that reverie quickly. Even the idea that she was thinking about Damon was disconcerting.

"I killed him. I killed James," he admitted right off the bat, his face in an unemotional mask despite the severity of the things he was saying.

"How did you know the victim?" the agent inquired, going through proper protocol to set up motive. Her boss had been wondering about these things anyway. And maybe, just maybe, Klaus slipped up somewhere, and she had a chance of getting this poor guy off the hook. The Original wasn't a trained forensic analyst, hopefully, knew nothing of the criteria they had to meet for a proper conviction, although who knew what he had picked up in his thousand-year lifespan.

"We met outside the grill. He seemed like a nice guy. We hit it off," the suspect shrugged nonchalantly.

Bella raised a brow at that, the team on the other side of the glass probably doing the same. The petty officer was gay? She wasn't judging at all, but they had seen no indication of that whatsoever. Although with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the US Armed Forces that wasn't too surprising. Still, they had found nothing on his personal laptop that even remotely suggested that James Sheridan ever had a homosexual relationship or that he frequented bars, websites or any other place linked to that orientation.

"When did you meet exactly?" Agent Swan questioned further.

"A bit after 10 PM I think," Joey stated slightly too quickly. People, when telling the truth, usually needed a little time to recall specific details. But so far it fit, according to Jeremy, Sheridan left the grill around that time.

"Have you ever seen the petty officer before this?" Bella went to explore the nature of their relationship.

"No," the suspect bluntly replied.

"Not even online? Or had contact on the phone?"

Abby should have found clues in the phone records or internet history, if there were calls or emails exchanged, or they visited dating websites that they had contact over. But they could have used more roundabout ways if they genuinely wanted to keep it secret. Like setting up burner phones or email accounts for just this purpose then only using them from various cafés.

"No," yet again curt and unwavering.

"Did you have plans for meeting here in Mystic Falls?" she tried wording it differently, attempting to get around the compulsion if that was blocking the truth.

"No."

Okay, Bella admitted internally, this isn't going anywhere.

"So it was purely coincidental that you guys met outside of a bar, and instantly felt a connection towards each other?" the agent surmised, leaning back away from the suspect to indicate with her body language that she wasn't too happy with him at the moment.

"That's correct," Joey nodded. Bella wanted to roll her eyes. Klaus was either a romantic at heart or knew jack-shit about setting up proper connections. Or had watched too many romcoms that had melted his brain similarly to Tony's (not that he would ever admit to watching them, especially without out lady company, but the references he made sometimes… let's just say they spoke for themselves).

"Where did you go afterward?" Bella switched to trying to establish the timeline since the questioning of the prior connection seemed like a dead end.

"I drove us to my home in Charlottesville," he responded without hesitation.

Straight off? No "let's get a drink, get to know each other" or "have dinner with me"? What was the petty officer thinking? Getting into the car of a complete stranger? Was he under compulsion too? Probably!

"Where is that exactly?" she asked without missing a beat, for fact-checking if nothing else, letting her mind process her thoughts regarding Klaus's involvement in the background.

"428 Monroe Lane, Apartment 2A."

Bella glanced at the file that held the same information, she assumed Gibbs was already telling Tony to arrange the search warrant if he hadn't already so that they could check the place out for evidence.

"It's a good place… close to the hospital too, practically no commute," Joey muttered the last part to himself, just a tiny hint of sorrow in his voice.

"What happened when you got there?" Agent Swan questioned further, searching for his gaze again, but he was intently staring at his cuffed hands. Maybe the compulsion was somehow wearing off? He started behaving differently.

"We had a glass of wine, talked. Then James started going on and on about Kris, how he knew about everything. That she wasn't killed in a car crash. Insisting Tripp had nothing to do with it! I couldn't stand James japing on about my family, so I snapped. And killed him," Mr. Bates confessed yet again.

Now came the make or break it part. Bella less subtly sought out his eye contact to ask the next question. Luckily her back was to Gibbs, and from behind the glass or from the camera that was surely recording the interrogation the dilation of his pupils wouldn't be seen.

"Tell me the truth in detail. What did you do to the petty officer?" the vampire asked instead of following up on his sister's death. For some reason, she had the feeling that might have been a vampire attack too, and they didn't need that can of worms opened on top of everything else.

For a moment the brunette hoped that by some miracle, with her being a hybrid, she could override Klaus's superior compulsion that was supposed to work even on vampires. Compared to his previous answers Joey hesitated a bit, but then after a sigh, he continued speaking, his voice becoming bone chilling though.

"I hooked him up to the dialysis machine that I have at home. But instead of filtering his blood back into him, I drained it all into blood bags. It took a good two hours, but it was worth it. I drove back to Mystic Falls around 3 AM and dumped him at the town square. Then in the morning I went into work and deposited his precious donation at the hospital blood bank. Good stuff. O negative. Probably all used up by now too for surgeries," he revealed in an eerily calm manner.

Bella listened in horror, another possibility coming to her mind. Maybe Mr. Bates really did commit this crime, possibly not even under compulsion, and wasn't merely confessing to it because of being under its influence while being innocent.

"And the victim just let you?"

Right, Sheridan was a 6'2, well-built and trained Navy officer, he should have put up a fight.

"A bit of lower ether did the trick of knocking him out."

Not to mention he could have been under Klaus's compulsion to let Joey do whatever he wanted.

"Where did you insert the needles?" Bella asked for more details after a practically invisible uneasy swallow.

"Into his neck, right into his jugular vein. I also tweaked the bases of the needles so that they made the impression of vampire fangs when fully inserted. James seemed obsessed with them, so I thought why not give him what he wanted. Death by a vampire," the timid nurse practitioner was entirely gone now, a slightly mad grin appearing on the man's face, and if Bella had been remotely capable of puking, she would have, hearing that description in that creepy tone. Ironically enough, in her human life, the only thing that had ever made her queasy or faint was the smell of blood. But this. This might as well had been pulled right from a horror movie script.

"Because he slandered your sister's memory?" the agent tried to reiterate what the motive was really. Besides the fact that he appeared to be a complete psycho at the moment. Could compulsion really do this? Or was this some hidden facet of Joey's personality that was brought to the surface?

"No one talks shit about my family and gets away with it!" this must have been a genuine feeling because for once he wasn't in a syrupy, trance-like state, but burst out in anger, slamming his cuffed hands on the table.

"Has there been others? People not 'getting away' with talking shit about your family?"

Good point, maybe Klaus had been meticulous to the extreme and got a secret serial killer to do his bidding.

"No. James was my first. But if you don't put me away now, surely he wouldn't be the last," Mr. Bates glanced up at his interrogator, sneering.

"Why give yourself up, Joey, if that was your plan?" the vampire had to wonder, so she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You know how sometimes you tell yourself that you have a choice, but really you don't have a choice? Just because there are alternatives doesn't mean they apply to you," the man cocked his head to the right intently gazing at her.

There were so many layers to that quote that could apply to the situation, Bella couldn't even begin to count, but most importantly that was a personal message from Klaus to her. There was no running.