-1The NCIS van pulled up to the house and parked. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs yanked open the door and stepped out from the driver's side before slamming it behind him. He adjusted his NCIS cap as he waited for his team to join him. Out of the passenger door Special Agent Tony DiNozzo and Officer Ziva David appeared. Both of them looked very pale and sickly, a physical remnant of their nausea-inducing journey to the crime scene. Tony, after regaining his composure, strode round to the back of the van and pulled open the back door. The youngest agent, Special Agent Tim McGee, fell out and landed ungracefully on the concrete in a boneless heap. Tony laughed at his co-worker's fall as he reached into the van and pulled out the kit. He handed some of the kit to Ziva before diving back in for the rest of the gear. Once McGee pulled himself up from the ground and dusted himself off, the trio joined their fearless leader.

The local sheriff noticed their arrival. He chewed casually on a piece of gum and dug his hands deep into his pockets and he marched over to the group. Gibbs held up his ID for the sheriff to see.

"What in the hell is NCIS?" The sheriff asked grouchily.

"Navy Criminal Investigative Service," Gibbs answered, uninterested by the man's attitude. He'd dealt with worse, hell, he was worse. "That house belongs to Marine Sergeant Rick Yates"

"So?"

"It means this crime scene is in our jurisdiction Sheriff. If your people could please vacate it as soon as possible, that would be great."

"Hey! I'm not goin' to just hand this over to you bunch of suits!"

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter," Gibbs said and turned to address his team "DiNozzo, start processing the scene, Ziva, you take the witness and McGee…"

"Yes, boss?"

"Find out what's taking Ducky," Gibbs said. McGee nodded and quickly pulled out his cell phone.

Ziva rolled her eyes at her assignment but carried it out without complaint. She handed her equipment over to Tony who then, struggling to carry everything, made his way into the house.

He placed the cases down on the carpet then pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the living room for anything suspicious. He pulled out a torch and searched the floor first. The shiny wooden floor was spotless, no footprints or blood spatter that could lead them to the murderer. The living room was equally spotless but being that the house belonged to a marine Tony wasn't surprised. Nothing was out of place and Tony could easily assume the murderer didn't even set a foot inside.

Tony then proceeded to move down the hallway and into the main bedroom. The victim, Rick Yates, was lying haphazardly over the bed and the rest of the room looked like a tornado had blown through it. Pieces of furniture was smashed and books and clothes were scattered across the bloodied carpet. Yates was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt; both were stained in blood. The marine's head was bashed in and, by the looks of it, Rick Yates had been bludgeoned to death. But Tony couldn't be positive until Ducky did the autopsy. He heard Gibbs enter the room behind him and he spun to greet him.

"What are you thinking DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, knowing that in the short time Tony had had to look over the crime scene he'd already come to some conclusions.

"That more than one person did this. There's no way could one person could over-power a marine this size," Tony said, gesturing to the man built like a quarterback. Gibbs nodded.

"There's no sign of a break in."

"He probably let them in," Tony guessed.

"You think he knew his attackers?" Gibbs asked. Tony opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the appearance of Ducky and his young apprentice, Jimmy Palmer.

"Sorry Jethro, young Palmer here could never make it as a cartographer," Ducky said, patting Jimmy on the shoulder. "I had a friend who was a cartographer, always getting himself lost, I remember one time-"

"Good thing Palmer's an ME's assistant then, Duck." Gibbs interrupted before Ducky could go any further,

"Quite," Ducky said with a smile. He put his medical bag down by his feet and knelt by the body. "Well, what do we have here?"

"Marine Sergeant Rick Yates. Neighbour found him like this when the front door was left open," Gibbs replied.

Ducky reached into his bag and pulled out a liver probe. He lifted the victim's shirt and plunged the thermometer into the body. After a few seconds he pulled it back out and examined the result.

"Estimated TOD?"

"I'd say around eleven o'clock last night, give or take an hour," Ducky answered while handing off the probe to Jimmy.

"What else can you tell us about him, Duck?" Gibbs asked, staring at the body critically.

"He's dead," Ducky replied wittily, but Gibbs merely frowned sourly, obviously un-amused by the doctor's attempt at humor. "I've only just met the man, Jethro! Give me a chance to examine him properly!"

Gibbs smiled but said nothing. He handed Tony the camera. "I'll sketch, you shoot," He ordered.

"Yes, Boss," Tony answered obediently. He snapped photos of the body from every angle before taking photos of the bed covers and the broken lamp that lay on the carpeted floor. Meanwhile, Gibbs stood with his back to the wardrobe, carefully sketching the scene and taking laser measurements of the room. Suddenly, Gibbs froze, and the subtle movement caught Tony's attention.

"What is it?" Tony asked.

Gibbs turned around and motioned to the cupboard. He pulled his gun from his belt and held it up ready for anything, knowing Tony had done the same thing and was ready to back him up. Gibbs reached for the handle and opened it, wincing as it creaked loudly. Fortunately, there was nothing suspicious in the wardrobe, just a mess of clothes squashed together on a single rail. Gibbs relaxed and holstered his gun.

As Gibbs turned back, a figure suddenly leapt from behind the clothes and pushed into Gibbs as hard as he could, sending Gibbs crashing to the floor. Commotion erupted in the room and the figure took that as an opportunity to escape; however, he did not realize he was being followed. As soon as Gibbs had fallen down, Tony had snapped into action. He followed the assailant down the hallways throughout the house and out of the front door.

Tony was quick, but the crook was quicker. Tony chased the figure down the road and watched him as he turned left and darted down a street. Tony followed in pursuit and just managed to spot the figure as he hopped over a fence. Tony cursed and sprinted forward; grabbing the top of the fence and vaulting over it like a professional high jumper. He landed in someone's garden and immediately scanned the area. He caught sight of him at the other end of the garden just as he slipped through a gate. He narrowed his eyes, the guy couldn't be any more than a teenager. Tony raced across the grass, leaping over children's toys and manoeuvring around plants, and followed the kid through the gate and into a field. The boy was running straight through some long grass and he hadn't slowed down one bit, but Tony was starting to tire.

"Stop!" Tony shouted, but it had no effect. Tony sighed and carried on with the chase.

The boy was already three quarters of the way across the field. By the time Tony had managed to cross the expanse, the boy had already jumped over another fence. Tony followed him over and landed onto cement. He slowed down and pulled out his gun again. He held it out in front of him and scanned the area. Whoever that boy was, he was long gone now. Tony sighed in resignation and headed back to the house.

Once back inside, Tony found Ziva and McGee photographing and sketching the scene while Ducky examined Gibbs' head.

"Anything?" Gibbs asked.

Tony shook his head. "Fast bastard," He replied. "I noticed he wasn't wearing gloves though."

"Check the wardrobe for prints. I want to know who that guy was and what he was doing in our dead marine's cupboard."

"Yes, boss," Tony replied. He gave Gibbs a sloppy salute before joining Ziva and McGee in the bedroom.

"Who hides in the cupboard after committing a crime?" Gibbs said.

"Maybe one who didn't commit a crime," Ducky answered. "Your head looks fine, Jethro. Just take a couple of aspirin if you start to get a headache."

"Yeah, yeah, Duck. I know the drill." Gibbs waved Ducky away. "Get the body back to autopsy Ducky, I want to know everything about Marine Sergeant Rick Yates"

"Certainly," Ducky turned to Palmer. "Ready to transport?" Palmer nodded. "Good." Ducky followed Palmer as he pushed the gurney out of the house and into the back of the ME's van.

"Gibbs!" Tony called to his boss. Gibbs appeared in seconds and crouched down next to Tony.

"What have you got?"

"Some partials and some smudges but I did find a couple of good prints," Tony replied, indicating towards some indentions in fine white powder.

"Get them to Abby," Gibbs ordered. "You two finished?" He asked Ziva and McGee. The pair nodded. "Good, grab everything and get it back to the truck. I want those prints ran as soon as we get back and I want everything on Rick Yates, Ziva, I want to know what he had for breakfast, how many hours he spent in the gym, what brand of toothpaste he uses, every scraped knee, every parking ticket, every contact in his phone book—"

"Yeah, yeah, I got the idea," Ziva said, stopping Gibbs from going any further. Gibbs left the room, leaving the trio to pick up all the equipment and carry it back to the truck. McGee gulped in fear as he stepped into the back of the truck. Being the youngest agent meant he always ended up with the seat in the back without a seatbelt and when Gibbs was driving, you needed a seatbelt.