Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Okay, the Rizzles I wasn't expecting...

It was a shock to everyone to find the Boston PD medical examiner and her smart-mouthed cop friend stepping into the bullpen with Gibbs's team that first day back in D.C., but as usual, everyone ignored it to keep from getting called on by Gibbs. Once they were back in the bullpen, the three exhausted agents collapsed into their chairs, struggling to stay awake. Ducky and Palmer were down in autopsy with the bodies, and Abby was already working the mountain of evidence.

"What lovely orange walls." Jane muttered; they'd been summoned to Vance's office, and after a lengthy chat with both Vance and Gibbs, were permitted to help with the investigation. Jane was to be set up in the cubicle partitioned near McGee's desk, and Maura would spend the majority of her time in autopsy with Ducky.

"Orange is one of the power colors. It's said that orange stimulates enthusiasm and creativity and relieve stress-"

"Okay, we get it, Martha Stewart." Jane replied, as they came down the hall and stepped into the bullpen, to see Tony lounging back in his chair, Tim sound asleep on his desk, and Ziva, sitting up with her head nodding against her chest, all sound asleep. "Should we-"

But before Jane could finish, Gibbs came back into the bullpen from autopsy, took one look at his sleeping agents, and shook his head. Without a word, he went to each agent, smacking them on the back of the head to get them to wake up. Each bolted awake, stumbling out of their chairs and rubbing their eyes. "Time to wake up, all three of you!" Maura stopped, going rigid.

"Kate!"

"What?"

"Time to wake up!"

She shook her head, sending the thoughts flying. Jane caught the reaction out of the corner of her eye, and turned to her. "You okay, Maur?"

"Yeah. I... I'm fine. Just... just jetlag." Jane nodded, and stepped into the bullpen as the agents quickly pulled up the basic information they had on their victim.

"Gunnery Sergeant James Todd, born in Madison, Indiana, to-" But Tony stopped, realizing something.

"Tony?" Ziva glanced at her partner. "Are you okay?"

"James Todd. Oldest son of Connie and Robert Todd, stationed on the U.S.S. Virginia." He sighed. "He's Kate's older brother." Tim groaned softly, perching on the edge of his desk.

"Great. Not only do they lose Kate, but now they've lost James. Two children in four years." He ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. He watched as Detective Rizzoli and Dr. Isles stepped into the bullpen, joining Ziva, Tony and Gibbs at the plasma. Tim watched as Dr. Isles studied the photograph and information, as though she were reading an instruction manual.

"This is the victim?" She asked, turning to the others. Tony nodded.

"Yeah. Just great, another of the Todd kids dead and gone." Maura stepped closer to the screen; she had the nagging feeling that she knew him-

"Tony, pull all the records on our vic. Now!"

"On it, Boss!" Tony instantly rushed back to his desk, grabbing the phone.

"Ziva, McGee, I want you to hunt down his CO, get as much information about Todd's time on the U.S.S. Virginia as you can." As he spoke, the pair in question had been gathering their things, removing their guns and badges from the bottom drawers of their desks and slipping the holsters into the small of their backs, and sliding their badges onto the hem of their pants. Tim grabbed his gear, sliding it onto his shoulder, and Ziva did the same, catching the keys Gibbs tossed to Tim as she passed her boyfriend.

"I'm driving."

"Why are you driving?"

"Because we will get there faster." He narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, or, we'll end up in autopsy alongside Ducky's Gunnery Sergeant." He snatched the keys back, striding to the elevator doors and hitting the button. But as they stepped into the elevator and turned to face the opening doors, Ziva snatched the keys from his hand, sliding them into her pocket.

"I'm driving. You can drive on the way back." Tim groaned.

"Great. Now I know I'm dead."

As they disappeared from view, Tony spent time on the phone, requesting records, and once done, Gibbs told him to check on Abby for any new revealed evidence. Jane, finally having gotten her word in, was sent down to Forensics with Tony, leaving Maura and Gibbs alone. "Have a seat, Dr. Isles."

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs, but I should probably get down to the morgue-"

"Ducky and Palmer will send for you when they need you, Dr. Isles. Until then, sit down and relax." He then disappeared without a word, leaving Maura alone as he headed for coffee. With the bullpen deserted, Maura spent time studying each desk, seeing little touches added by each agent. But the desk she rose from her chair to study closer was the one right beside her.

She slowly wandered over to the desk Ziva resided at, and stood, staring at it for several minutes. It was the same as all the other desks, but as Maura studied it, she saw the small Israeli flag in the pencil holder, the corkboard with the photographs from the last NCIS Christmas party, and a fairly intimate photograph of her and Agent McGee, locked in a kiss. In the photograph, Tim's eyes were open, and he was staring at the camera, even though he didn't break the kiss.

Maura chuckled; you could find out a lot about a person just by the contents of their workspace.

Like Ziva; the woman was organized, but there was still a hint of messy about her. She was a wild, almost feral beauty, who had obviously settled for being tamed by her partner- a man she was clearly in love with.

Glancing behind her, Maura slipped behind Ziva's desk and pulled out her chair, slowly taking a seat. As she settled into the chair and gently laid her hands on the desk, she felt her stomach start to knot. Something was off, but she didn't know what. A pounding in her head began; she hadn't eaten much today, and she was most likely dehydrated. She closed her eyes, hoping the instant darkness would help with her headache, but only discovered that she had to open them again when the pounding got to be too much.

As her eyes opened, she realized that something was defiantly off. She looked around, before her gaze landed on the small flag, and quickly, she plucked it up, twirling it between her fingers. Then, she opened a drawer and laid the flag inside before closing it and turning to the corkboard. Her gaze landed on the photograph of Ziva and Tim. She clucked her tongue. "Oh, Tim... don't you understand Rule Twelve? When Gibbs find out, he'll kill you both." Then, without another word, she reached up, removing the photograph from Ziva's corkboard and adding it the drawer, resting atop the flag. Once done, she sat back in the chair, studying every inch of the desktop.

"There. All nice and tidy. Just like you like it." She got up, wandering over to Tony's desk and pulling open a drawer, revealing a small hand mirror he often used to fix his hair. She quickly brushed her curls away from her eyes and sighed. "Right," She grinned at her reflection. "Kate?"