A/N: This was written for the NFA Furies Challenge. The idea was to write a story involving three women from NCIS getting revenge for one of the men of NCIS. We were to choose our characters and write whatever came to mind. Thus, I chose (since it was a challenge) to write two characters I've never written before. My Furies are Kate, Paula and Faith Coleman (whom we haven't seen for years, unfortunately). Tim is also a main character, but in this case, the Furies are the focus.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS (wish I did) and I am not making any money from it (wish I was)...I did not make up the mythology related in the following story...that belongs to the ancient Greeks and Romans, although I'm sure they won't mind me using their ideas. :)

Ascent from Tartarus
by Enthusiastic Fish

Setting: Season 2 sometime after Heartbreak; so both Kate and Paula are still alive...and Faith Coleman is around.

Prologue: Outnumbered

Erinyes. Eumenides. Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone. The Furies. In Greek mythology, they were born from the castration of Uranus by his son Chronos. When Chronos was overthrown by Zeus, they offered fealty to him, although they are not ruled by him. The Erinyes are beyond being ruled. They are the executioners both on earth and in the underworld. It is said that they lie quiescent until such time as they are called into service or that they lie in Tartarus, tormenting the sinful souls who dwell there. They are they who punish the wicked, who turn murder into madness. They are the terror of those who would commit crime. The fear of them felt by mankind was so great that their names were rarely even used. Instead, the fearful called them Eumenides, the kind ones, a desperate euphemism to hold them off...and away they would remain until... Although later artists would depict them differently, ancient art reveals black-clad bodies, snakes for hair and blood running from their eyes. Once invoked, they are implacable. No one can call them off. The Erinyes will pursue their victim until punishment has been meted out. They are the Furies. ...and they are all women.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"So, McGee, how will you survive?" Tony asked with a leer.

"Better than with you around, DiNozzo," Tim muttered to himself.

Tony ignored him. "All these women around...you're going to be such a hen-pecked little probie that you'll be begging for me to come back."

"Right, whatever," Tim replied, trying to hide his faint blush. Tony and Gibbs were heading to some sort of required training in San Diego for two weeks. Tony was excited; Gibbs seemed merely resigned. Tim himself had hoped to be picked for it, but Tony, being the senior, had been chosen. He had already regaled Tim with tales of scantily clad women on beaches...needing someone to spread suntan oil on their backs. Tim didn't pay too much attention to that. He was much more worried about being at the mercy of Kate, Paula, who had been TAD-ed for the time being, and Abby who was mad at him again. Then, of course, there could be any number of ways for him to stick his big foot in his mouth...again. He wasn't sure what he had done this time, but it must be serious because she wasn't talking to him.

He didn't know Paula much except from what Tony had told him...and that was questionable. Kate had only said that she was a good agent. Tim didn't mind, but he was a bit nervous. Paula was an unknown variable, and he was unsure enough of himself as it was.

"You don't even know the half of it, Probie," Tony was saying.

"Huh?" Tim looked up at him in confusion.

"Gibbs tried to get us out of this little jaunt on account of a new case...a case involving JAG."

"Don't most of our cases end up involving JAG? They are the lawyers."

"Not just any lawyers. We're talking about..."

"Agent DiNozzo, I thought you would be gone already."

Tony straightened and turned around. "Commander! So nice to see you..." He looked her up and down. "...and your extremely organized attache again."

"DiNozzo! Let's go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave."

Tony grinned maliciously at Tim. "On your six, Boss!" He stopped at his desk, grabbed his bag and headed for the elevator.

There was a moment when Tim wanted to run after them, but with Lt. Cmdr. Faith Coleman looking down at him, he didn't dare do anything at all. The last time he had seen her was when they had proved that Corporal Yost was not a murderer. ...when they had all lied to make sure that Ernie didn't get arrested and lose his medal.

"C-Commander," he said, trying to smile.

"Agent..."

"McGee, ma'am. Agent McGee."

"Oh, yes. Agent McGee. So, you're stuck here with all the women, are you?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am...I mean, no, ma'am. I mean..."

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Don't be so timid, Agent McGee. I don't usually bite...it's much too unsanitary."

Tim's mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. Faith just smiled again and settled herself at Gibbs' desk.

"McGee!" Kate's voice was a welcome reprieve.

He stood up. "Good morning, Kate!"

"Did Tony and Gibbs leave already?"

"Yes."

"Thank goodness. I did not want to hear anything else about the San Diego office from Tony."

"He's gone," Tim said.

The elevator doors opened one last time, revealing the third member of the team during these two weeks.

"Good morning, Agent Todd," Paula said. "How are you doing?" The question was more than a simple pleasantry. The last case they'd worked together had ended with Kate shooting an innocent man in a suicide-by-cop. Paula obviously still felt guilty about it.

Kate smiled, although it was not without a tinge of sadness. "I'm fine, Paula. Thanks."

"You can set up at Tony's desk, Agent Cassidy," Tim put in, feeling a bit out of his depth with all these women. He couldn't even keep Abby from getting mad at him.

"You think I want to be at Tony's desk, Agent McGee?"

Tim blushed. "I...that is, I didn't...I was just..."

"McGee, she's just teasing you," Kate said.

Tim blushed more brightly and slunk down behind his monitor. The three women met each other's gazes and exchanged smiles of understanding. What an inexperienced man.

"McGee, we're going to have to toughen you up a bit," Kate said, grinning as Tim's head tentatively rose above his computer screen.

"What?"

"You can't be intimidated by us. How will you be intimidating to the people we chase down?"

"You're much more intimidating than criminals," Tim said and then blushed again and hid his head.

Paula chuckled aloud. "I don't think I've ever had a better compliment. Have you, Commander?"

Faith, who had been setting out the contents of her attache case, which were, of course, compulsively organized, shook her head. "I don't think so, either. Agent McGee," she said.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Are you ready for two weeks in our company? I realize that Agent DiNozzo and Agent Gibbs are gone and you might be feeling a bit outnumbered."

Suddenly, Tim sat up, his face still bright red, but his smile was slightly less panicked. "Ma'am, I look forward to it."

Paula laughed. "You ready to be one of the girls?"

"Uh...as long as you don't tell Tony, Agent Cassidy."

"Then, for the duration of this TAD, I am Paula," she said.

"Faith."

Tim's eyes were wide. "I'm Tim...ma'am...er..." He looked greatly daring as he nearly whispered, "Faith, Paula."

"Now, let's get started," Kate said, taking charge. "Faith, you're here as a go-between, correct?"

"More or less. The two JAG officers who turned up dead hadn't even been declared missing, but the ME called the time of death at least a week earlier."

"Are the bodies in transit to Ducky?"

"Yes. They should be here this afternoon. The Norfolk office was strangely willing to give up jurisdiction."

"I'm sure they were," Kate said, grimly. There was a shakeup going on at Norfolk that was unsettling everyone. The less work they had to deal with, particularly involving JAG, the better. "So, give us a quick rundown."

"Very well," Faith said, standing up. She handed out meticulously copied files. "Lt. Andrew Lloyd Ricks and Captain Phoebe Pikeman were scheduled for transfers to the Regional Legal Service Office on the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. Lt. Ricks requested leave to pack his belongings, as did Captain Pikeman."

"Were they–?" Paula began.

"So far as anyone knew, they were not romantically linked. They worked in different areas and only associated casually, although I'm certain that is an angle you will have to investigate. Because both were on leave and both were being transferred, no one noticed their absence as anything other than routine. However, two days ago, they were found floating in the Chesapeake. Both were killed in the same fashion, according to the ME."

"How?" Tim asked.

"Throats slashed nearly to the point of decapitation."

Tim gulped.

"With so little progress being made since the bodies were discovered, JAG decided to have someone liaise between JAG and NCIS. I arrived at Norfolk only to be told that the case was being transferred here. They have arranged for all pertinent materials to be transported along with the bodies, but you may also wish to go to Norfolk yourselves. For the duration of this case, I am at your disposal."

"Nice to have you with us, Faith," Kate said, smiling. "Well, let's get to work."