Summary: NCIS/Bones crossover. The finding of a body in a peculiar place leads both teams into a dangerous game with an ending that nobody saw coming. Multiple pairings; multiple global locations. JIBBS; TIVA; B/B with some H/A and McAbby.

Author's Note: For those who are reading my other series based off the story, Secrets Revealed, this is a totally unrelated story and not part of that series. It is set in an unspecified time during Seasons 3-5 of NCIS and 2-3 of Bones. The third story of that series will not be posted just yet but it is in progress. Be aware that updates on this story may be progressively slower than normal, but I wanted to post something during my hiatus.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, locations or plots from NCIS or Bones. I have the utmost respect for the writers, producers and directors of both and do not intend to infringe copyright laws. I am not making any profit from this story and am writing it for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.

Chapter One

University of Ingolstadt, Bavaria, 1776

Fear and panic gripped his entire system as he stumbled through the black, hands brushing the walls on either side of the narrow passageway and little light flickering from the candle in his left hand. His phobia of the dark was not as potent as the fear that he was being followed. He couldn't hear footsteps behind him, but he could feel them. As the terror became stronger, he picked his pace up to a run and tripped over a loose brick on his left side. The heavy book that was weighing him down dropped as he fell forward and slammed into dirt beneath him.

Dazed and sore, he lay there for far too long. The dark and mystic underground of the university was swirling in front of him as he slowly got to his feet and jumped. He could hear someone approaching quickly, the footsteps thundering down the hall like a stampede. He hoped that it was only one person. Grabbing the book, the cause of all his worries, he lurched forward and ran until he reached a dead end at the end of the tunnel. He gripped the book close to his chest as he muttered a quick prayer and then dropped to his knees to loosen and remove a few bricks at the base of the wall. It was taking too long but as soon as he removed enough to fit the book through, he pushed it inside and closed up the wall.

Closing his eyes, he stood up again, knowing that his tracker was close behind. And he was.

A hiss came from behind the tired, dirty and sore man, who was still facing the wall. "I am stronger than you."

The man didn't even have the chance to respond as a sword flicked out of nowhere and plunged through his back, lodging itself in his side. As the blood seeped down his chest, he prayed ardently to his God that his master's secret would remain safe until the time came. Closing his eyes, his knees buckled and he plunged into darkness.

US Naval Academy, Present Day

Bells rang out from the chapel, shouting over the loud group of Firsties conversing as they walked towards the chapel's exit. Laughing and joking, the young Midshipmen enjoying the warm weather as the time of their commissioning approached.

"I'm not happy that some Plebe is gonna take over my position on the rowing team," one of the young men ejected.

"Why do you care?" his friend fired back.

"Yeah, it's not like you'll be in a position to compete on the Reagan," another ejected.

"But a Plebe," the rower complained, before stopping his rant. Curious, his friends followed his eye to a loose pane of wood in the hallway's wall. The rower took a step towards it and yanked, ignoring the others' pleas for him to leave it alone.

The first thing they registered was the intense stench that had been dispersed throughout the narrow corridor. All four men took a leap back, coughing in disgust and covering their mouths and noses. But as the rower took a step back towards the empty pane, the next big shock came to all of them as the skeletal form of a left forearm draped out of the opening.

---

Phones were ringing off the hook and employees were arriving by the busload from the elevator as seven a.m. approached, and the mailman was dropping envelopes and packages off at each agent's desk in the NCIS squad room at the Washington Navy Yard. Mossad Officer Ziva David had not yet arrived; neither had the Major Case Response Team's leader, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, so the bullpen was comprised of Anthony DiNozzo, blowing up a long, red balloon at his desk, and Timothy McGee, who was typing a report up on his computer and trying to ignore his colleague.

This plan did not last long. As soon as the balloon reached full capacity, Tony released it in McGee's direction and it blasted across the room, landing on the younger agent's head. McGee didn't bother make any comment, he just flicked it off his head and threw it in the bin.

"Something the matter, Probie?" Tony questioned with a boyish smile.

McGee continued to ignore him and the mailman walked into a silent bullpen. Most of the mail in his basket was letters or documents, but there was one rather large package wrapped in brown paper. The man dropped it on Tony's desk and continued to whistle through the squad room, dropping a few more letters on Gibbs' desk before walking away.

The younger agent found his eyes wandering from his screen towards Tony's desk as he watched the older man flip the package over and read the return details. He was intrigued as he watched Tony's face change from excitement to despair. Rather than open it, Tony threw it under his desk and pulled out the top file on his pile of paperwork.

"Aren't you going to open that?" McGee asked suspiciously.

"Don't you have paperwork?" Tony shot back, flicking through the file he had open on his desk.

"Who was it from?" McGee dared to ask. He didn't expect an answer, but he did expect a response.

"An old friend," Tony replied quickly, not looking up from his work. The speed of his answer told McGee to cease the interrogation, but he did not.

"Theta nu Epsilon?" McGee asked jokingly, a smile staring at Tony.

"Alpha Chi Delta," Tony rebutted angrily, missing the joke and going on the defensive. "And no."

"No, I know that Tony, I was just-" McGee stopped mid-sentence, picking up on a different train of thought. Just who was this parcel from, he wondered, and then voiced the concern.

"It is none of your concern, McBusybody," Tony shot back at him.

"What's none of his concern?" Ziva asked, walking into the bullpen.

"Nothing," Tony answered, his tone showing the depth of his foul mood. "Where were you this morning?"

"Embassy," Ziva answered as she took a seat at her desk.

"Any idea where the Bossman is?" Tony piped up before McGee or Ziva could question him again.

"Right here, DiNozzo." Gibbs was walking down the stairs and into the bullpen, NCIS Director Jennifer Shepard in tow. "Gear up. Body in dress whites found at the Naval Academy in Maryland." He not-so-subtly turned back to the woman following him. Lowering his voice, he hissed at her. "To be continued, Jen."

Jenny tried hard to ignore the glare she was getting from Gibbs, followed by the confused looks of his loyal team. She ignored them, picked up her pride and walked back towards MTAC as Gibbs and his team walked in the other direction and got into the elevator. She and Gibbs had gone their separate ways before, both figuratively and literally, but she desperately hoped that the events of the night before would not affect the working relationship that she tried so hard to build over the past few years.

---

The NCIS team was greeted at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland by a large crowd of people gathering outside the campus' main chapel. The local police had quartered off the area around it and the group of people— midshipmen, officers and civilians— alike were trying hard to get a good look at the crime scene.

"Coming through," Tony shouted over the top of them. "NCIS! Coming through!"

The team reached the front of the crowd and ducked underneath the tape, walking towards the chapel. A tall, African-American police officer approached them in greeting and led them towards the entrance.

"Officer Jake Wilson," he told them. "The body's through here. A group of Firsties found it when they pulled out a loose panel in the wall. I've got them over there." He pointed to a group of uniformed young men waiting near the steps with a few other police officers.

"Right," Gibbs replied. They walked in relative silence to where the body was and then he turned to his team. "DiNozzo, photos and sketch; McGee, bag and tag; David, with me."

Without asking where they were going, Ziva followed Gibbs back outside and then realised that they were interviewing the group of Firsties. As they exited the chapel, their Medical Examiner, Dr Donald Mallard, or Ducky as they called him, pulled up in his van with his faithful sidekick and assistant, Jimmy Palmer, driving.

"Sorry we're late, Jethro," Ducky called out to him. "But it would seem that the commissioning of officers has already started and we couldn't get in through all the traffic."

"That would explain the large crowd," Ziva commented as she looked around at them.

"Body's in there, Duck," Gibbs pointed out as the Scottish gentleman ducked under the crime scene tape.

"Good," he heard a voice remark. "Because we wanted to know that too."

Gibbs turned around to see a suited man flash a badge at the police officer and then duck under the tape followed by two women. Ziva and Gibbs walked down the stairs to meet them.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth, FBI," the man told them. "This here is Dr. Temperance Brennan and Dr. Camille Saroyan from the Jeffersonian."

"This is not your case," Gibbs told him. "If you haven't noticed, this is the Naval Academy." He put great stress on the word "naval."

"And you must be Special Agent Gibbs from NCIS?" Booth asked, unperturbed. "I was told to expect to meet you here."

"By who?"

"Your director," Booth answered.

A/N: As always, reviews are very much appreciated.