NCIS 1. Chapter 1

The bullpen was unusually quiet. Not too much excitement had occurred all week. Not one petty officer had been brutally murdered, not on sailor had been slaughtered and no terrorist cells had been uncovered. Tony was frustrated and bored due to the lack of "real work" to do. Him and McGee were stuck doing paperwork. Tony would occasionally glance over at the empty desk across from him. Memories of Ziva's presence fulfilled his mind and small smile crept on to his face.

It had been three months since she decided to stay in Israel to find herself. It had been three months since he had seen her. It had been three months since they'd kissed and for the past three months... 12 weeks... 90 days, Ziva had consumed almost every one of his thoughts.

Though, no one had knew what happened between them back in Israel, it was clear to the rest of the team that Tony was missing his former Mossad partner. Except for their occasional emails and rare phone calls, they haven't spoken much.

Gibbs walked into the Bullpen, coffee in hand and DiNozzo and McGee looked up.

"Do we had a case Boss?" DiNozzo said, hopeful that there would finally be something interesting to happen at NCIS.

"Nope." Was Gibb's simple response.

McGee looked up and finally decided to speak.

"Boss, I think it's time we fill the empty desk." McGee said, glancing over at Ziva's former desk, before adding, "Only if you two are ready..."

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs said finally looking up at his remaining two agents.

"McGee's right boss. It has been three months, I think it's evident that she's not coming back." DiNozzo said with an underlying sadness in his tone.

"Okay, start looking." Gibbs said before getting up and pacing out of the bullpen.

"You sure you're ready Tony?" McGee asked sympathetically.

"Yes McSympathy, I'm ready." Tony replied.

"Okay well I have a file here of a woman that I think will be perfect for the job. Graduated from Howard University at the age of 20, with a double major in Criminal Justice and Information Technology, a minor in psychology. She previously interned with the C.I.A for two summers while in college, and she is fluent in Spanish and sign language." McGee said briefly looking over his potential new colleagues file and application.

"Wow, well she's more then qualified, let's call her in for an interview." Tony said in utter shock.

*Two days later*

A woman steps of the elevator and slowly walks towards the bullpen. Tony and McGee were sitting at their desks still doing paper work.

"Excuse me." The woman said in a rather low tone.

"Hello, how may I help you." Tony said right before looking up at the woman he has previously seen before.

"Laurel Castillo." Tony said before standing up. "What are you doing here?"

"Wait you two know each other." McGee said.

"Yes" Laurel and Tony said simultaneously.

"And to answer your question Agent DiNozzo, I'm here for a job interview." Laurel said with a smile.

"What? You? You're the brainiac that graduated from Howard and applied here? Wow! I am impressed. Well I hope you get the job." DiNozzo said with a genuine smile.

"Thank you so much." She said returning the smile.

"So am I doing the interview with you two?" Laurel said.

Before the two could respond Gibb's came back to the and answered "No you're doing it with me."

Gibb's walked to his desk to put his coffee down and looked up finally realizing who he was interviewing .

"Laurel Castillo. You're the last person I would expect to apply here." Gibb's said before picking up her file on McGee's desk and flipping through it. McGee sat there confused as to how everyone knew this woman expect for him.

"You graduated from Howard here in DC at the top of your class, summa cum laude, you have interned at the C.I.A, and worked with the FBI, why do you want a job here?"

"I have wanted to work her for a long time. After my fathers death..." Castillo started and then paused.

Tony looked down and Gibb's showed a shred of emotion.

*Flashback*

Gibb's opens a closet door to find a 14 year old girl crying. The girl obviously been beaten and potentially raped.

*End of flashback*

She then continued by saying, "I wanted to work here and protect people. I've been trying to get a job here ever since I graduated but no luck. When I saw there was finally an opening here, I jumped on that opportunity."

"Well you're more than qualified, do you really want to do this."

"Yes. I really do." She said before making eye contact with Gibb's. They stood in the bullpen silent for several seconds before Gibb's responded saying "Okay we'll see how this goes."

"Wait that's it?" Laurel asked.

"Yep." Gibb's responded in his typically short but sweet manner.

"Grab your gear, we got a dead marine in Norfolk." Gibb's said and Tony and McGee quickly grabbed their gear and headed towards the elevator. Laurel stood there a bit confused as to what to do considering she had just been hired less than five minutes ago.

"You too Castillo. There's extra gear in the van let's go." Gibb's said before leading the way back to the elevator.

**A/N: This is my fist time writing NCIS fanfiction in five years. I had other stories on here that were so atrocious that I decided to delete. I really hope you enjoy this story. I know exactly where I want to go with it and I hope you're along for the ride.**

**Well, I guess this was rather short, but it was a bit of an introduction. I've had this idea for a little over a year now and like I said before, I know exactly where I want to go with this story. I am 100% Tiva shipper definitely expect to see Ziva in the story later on. Laurel Castillo is the name of a character on ABC's How to Get Away with Murder and I don't know I just thought it sounded cool, Special Agent Laurel Castillo... It kind of just goes together. Yeah so anyway give this story a chance. I am trying my hardest to stay true to NCIS in the way that I write so don't bite my head off at any AU/OOC moments okay? Thank you for reading. Have a lovely Saturday.**


	2. Chapter 2

_*Crime Scene*_

Laurel started taking pictures with her newly issued NCIS camera.

"Make sure to take pictures of anything that you believe is important." Tony said to Laurel.

"Yes Tony, I know. I watch plenty of CSI and Criminal Minds." Laurel responded with a smile and Tony chuckled.

"I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit surprised when I saw you walk into the bullpen this morning." Tony said while collecting evidence from the crime scene. "Last time we spoke you were in school for Marketing, criminal justice, is quite the 180."

"I know. I wasn't really passionate about Marketing. I took some time and thought about things and I decided that this is what I'm passionate about. My calling is to help other people like me." Laurel said. "I didn't expect Gibbs to hire me on the spot and I most certainly didn't expect to be at a crime scene on my first day."

"Things are working out for you today." Tony said and Laurel just smiled and walked away.

McGee came over after Laurel left with a curious face.

"So..." McGee started hoping Tony knew where he was going with this.

"So what?" Tony asked.

"You and Laurel? What's the deal?" McGee tried again.

"We have history."

"Oh." McGee said giving Tony a knowing smirk.

"Not like that McPerv." Tony started before looking over at her. "She's had a rough life."

"So what happened?"

"Her mother was brutally murdered when she was younger and her father was a former marine turned NIS agent. He went to avenge the death of his wife and made an enemy doing so... To make a long story short, she was abducted tortured and her father was killed. Gibbs and I worked that case together while I was still in Baltimore. The case with her father. Her mothers case was case Gibbs did back in the day with Franks. Before my time." Tony said refusing to make eye contact. "Whenever she's in trouble she always comes to me or Gibb's. It's been a while since I've seen her. She's very accomplished, one hell of a woman"

"Wow! She really has had a rough life." McGee said glancing over at Laurel. She was being introduced to Ducky and Palmer.

"That's an understatement probie. The worst part of it all is the bastard who did it was able to get away. We never were able to find him so the case went cold." Tony said.

"I think we're done here Tim"

_*Back at HQ*_

"Petty officer Jack Mason, age 32. Enlisted into the navy at the age of 18. His wife, Emily Mason filed for divorce just last month. They have two children together." McGee said.

"I, um did some digging of my own and I found out that our dead petty officer has made huge withdrawals from his account and huge deposits into the wife's account. The latest deposit being from early this morning." Laurel said and Gibbs, DiNozzo and McGee just looked at her.

"What was I not supposed to do that?" Laurel asked nervously.

"No that opposite actually. You just have us or first suspect." Tony said.

"I guess we should go question the wife." McGee said.

"DiNozzo, take Castillo and go question the wife, McGee send them the address where the wife can be found." Gibbs said walking out of the bullpen to go down to Abby's lab.

"Nice work Probie." Tony said raising his hand to high five her.

"Probie?" Laurel questioned while high fiving him back.

"It's short for probationary agent." McGee responded.

"Ahhhhhh!" Laurel said.

"Being apart of this team you're subject to many degrading nicknames from Tony." McGee said.

"No, not true. I save the degrading nicknames for you McSensitive." Tony said and Laurel giggled.

They both walked out of the bullpen and towards the elevator to go question the witness.

_*Three months later* _

The whole team has gotten used to their new colleague and friend and it seems like everything is back to normal. Of course Tony loves his new partner, completely platonic, but he still couldn't help but miss Ziva.

It didn't take much for Laurel and Abby to bond. As soon as Laurel went down to Abby's lab and complimented her clothes and taste in music, they were automatically new best friends.

McGee and Laurel bonded on a technological level. While Ducky and Palmer are always welcoming to newcomers and didn't find the need to bond with Laurel in order to establish a relationship with their new colleague.

About a month in, Laurel began asking questions about the Israeli, turned American, agent that previously sat in her seat. Abby and McGee filled her in on everything that had happened. Everything from when Jenny was still there to when Ziva stayed in Israel and ended up in Somalia, they even mentioned the Port 2 Port killer case that led to Mike Frank's untimely death.

Her only response was "Wow".

She began to feel overwhelmed and began second guessing her place at NCIS. Gibb's reassured her that she was a good asset to NCIS and to their team.

The most important thing she learned in her first month at NCIS is Gibb's rules or as she likes to call them, the NCIS Commandments. Due to the daily use of the rules she was able to learn most of them in the short amount of time she was there.

The bullpen was pretty quiet, the only sounds were coming from Laurel's typing and whatever Tony was doing at McGee's desk. After about three minutes Laurel finally decided to get up and see what Tony was up to.

"Tony what are you up to?" Laurel asked curiously.

"Castillo, you know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat." Tony said.

"Yeah well satisfaction brought it back, so spill it."

"I'm putting glue on McGee's keyboard so when he comes in and tries to log on his fingers will be stuck. It's genius." Tony said and Laurel giggled.

"I wouldn't say it was genius. I'd say it was a bit amateur." Laurel said and DiNozzo hopped up and stared her down.

"Amateur? I, Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, am anything but amateur." Tony said as Gibbs walked in.

"In what world DiNozzo?" Gibbs said and Laurel started laughing.

"Where is McGee?" Gibbs asked before sitting down at his desk.

"Um we don't know. He wasn't here when I got in this morning." Laurel replied.

"That's strange. McGoo late for work..." Tony stated.

"Agent McGee called in sick this morning." Director Vance spoke coming out of no where. "He said something about having stomach problems."

"I told Tim not to eat that week old Chinese food last night." Laurel said.

"I guess he did not take your advice. So we have to focus on what we can do with out him." Vance said.

"We have a case?" DiNozzo asked curiously.

"Just need to keep an eye on a potential terrorist cell. See who goes in and out and see if we can get any facial recognition."

"Where?" Gibbs asked.

"500 Lincoln Place."

"That's right downtown. Maybe we can get into the traffic cameras and see who is seen exiting and leaving." Laurel said already starting her search.

"Good thinking Agent Castillo, Gibbs I need to speak with you in my office." Vance said and with that he turned around and started walking out of the bullpen. Gibbs followed closely behind.

"I got a few different people entering and leaving. Two of them are former Mossad officers that have went rogue." Laurel stated.

"Mossad?" Tony questioned walking over to the Laurel's desk. "What are the names?"

"Abel Bakovic and Amir Haswari." Laurel said.

"Haswari? Do you know if there's any relation to an Ari Haswari?"

"Um I don't know but I can check for you right now." Laurel said as she typed diligently on her computer searching for background information.

"Amir Hasawri, is brother to Ari Haswari." Laurel said and Tony had a shocked look on his face. "What's going on Tony you look like you've just seen a ghost."

"I feel like I've just seen a ghost." Tony said and he got back up from bending down. "Excuse me."

He said before walking out of the bullpen and towards the directors office.

"That was weird." Laurel thought.

DiNozzo made it upstairs and knocked on the door of the Director. After hearing the Director yell come in he walked in and to tell his bosses what he had just found out.

"Laurel was able to ID two of the men entering and leaving the building under watch. One is Abel Backovic and the other is..."

"Amir Haswari. Both former Mossad officers that went rogue. Amir Haswari, Ari Haswari half brother, no relation to former Special Agent David." Director Vance finished.

"You know?" DiNozzo asked more shocked than he felt he should be.

"Agent DiNozzo, are you on speaking terms with Ms David?" Vance asked, ignoring Tony's original question.

"Uh yeah we haven't spoke in months but we're on good terms."

"Good. We're gonna need to get some information from her to see what she knows." Gibb's said.

Tony went back downstairs, completely dreading his conversation with Ziva. They hadn't spoke in months and their first conversation would have to be about her dead brothers brother.

Tony sat back down at his desk debating about what to do. Laurel glanced up and saw Tony sitting there.

"So are you gonna tell me what that was about." she asked.

"It's a long story." Tony replied.

"Okay, I understand." Laurel responded making a mental note to ask Abby and McGee about this later on. "Tony, going through the traffic cam footage, I just noticed that all of the men wear clothing with a symbol of some sort on it."

"Uh huh yeah." Tony replied, Laurel could tell that he wasn't paying attention but she did not pry.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you alright?" Laurel finally asked after several minutes of silence.

"I'm fine," Tony said.

"You don't seem fine DiNozzo. But just know that if you want to talk, I'm here." Laurel said and Tony looked up at her had gave her a half smile.

"Save the talking for later Castillo." Gibbs said as he strode through the bullpen to his desk. "Got a marine found dead in his apartment. Grab your gear."

*Crime Scene*

The team, minus, McGee who was out sick and Laurel who was talking to the witness, were standing around their victim as Ducky and Jimmy examined the body. "The victim was shot between the eyes. I'll have to wait for the autopsy to say for sure, but I would bet money that that is what killed him."

"Yeah, I'd say that's a safe bet, Duck. Time of death?" Gibbs asked.

"Again, I can't say for sure, but probably sometime last night between 7pm and 2 am." Ducky said.

"There was no sign of forced entry, Boss. It might have known his killer and let him in," Tony said.

Laurel came over at that moment and quietly spoke. "The woman that found him was his girlfriend. She came over this morning and found him. She was able to tell me that his name was Lance Walker, former petty officer."

"This girlfriend just so happened to find him dead huh? It's always the girlfriend or the wife." Tony said.

"Why do you believe that?" Laurel asked seemingly annoyed.

"Because it always is." Tony said simply.

"A wife I can understand but a girlfriend? What would she have to gain by killing her boyfriend?" Laurel questioned.

"That's what we have to figure out." Gibbs stated.

"I think we're done here. We can get back to HQ and start running background checks and getting bank account information." Laurel said picking up her camera off the ground.

"Ugh that's McGeek work." Tony whined and Laurel laughed.

A few hours later, Gibbs stepped into Autopsy where Ducky was working on the victim. "Whaddya got, Duck?"

"I'm still working on it, Jethro. I have, removed the bullet and sent it to down to Abby. This man also had appeared to have suffered blunt forced trauma prior to his demise." Ducky said.

"Is that it Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"No." Ducky stated softly.

"You find something else?" Gibbs asked.

"Something else is bothering me though." Ducky said.

"What?"

"No, nothing like that. It's his name. I could swear I'd heard it before, but I just can not remember where." Ducky said.

"You know the victim, Duck?" Gibbs asked surprised.

"Oh, no, of course not. I would remember if I had met this man before. But I feel as though I must have heard of him. I don't know from where though. I can't recall." Ducky said. It was really bothering him and Gibbs could easily tell.

"Well if you remember, then call me." Gibbs said pacing out of autopsy to go down to Abby's lab.

*Abby's lab*

"Whaddya got Abs." Gibbs asked leisurely strolling into Abby's lab with Caf Pow in his hand just like he always did.

"As usual Gibbs, your timing is impeccable." Abby said turning around to face Gibbs. She had just finished running a scan on the bullets to figure out what gun they were shot from and who the gun belonged to.

"I have good news. The blood samples that Ducky gave me only came from our dead marine, meaning there was not much of a struggle. There weren't any fingerprints, fibers, or any other form of DNA to link us to his killer." Abby said before Gibbs cut her off.

"So where's the good news?" Gibbs said.

"Well, I'm glad you asked. That should be coming up right now. I was able to figure out who's gun was used to shoot our dead marine." Abby said gesturing to the computer.

Abby gasped as soon as the match popped up on her computer.

"No it can't be." Abby said.

"What Abs!" Gibbs asked growing mildly annoyed.

"This isn't possible."

"SPIT IT OUT ABBY!" Gibbs barked.

"The bullets came from McGee's sig." Abby said in a low tone.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger... In all honesty I'm too tired to write any more. Thank you for reading. Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

**Preview of the next chapter:**

"Oh my god, McGee." Tony gasped in disbelief.

"We have to get him before they do." Laurel said before grabbing her gear and running out of the bullpen in the direction of the elevator with Tony.

**A/N: I thought I was going to be done with this chapter in enough time to get it up by tonight but unfortunately that is not going to happen. I decided to at least give you guys a preview of what's to come... Enjoy and review please (:. And in response to one of my previous reviews, yes this is a Tiva story, be patient with me darlings.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Tony we have a problem." Laurel said and Tony walked over to her desk.

"And what might that be Miss Castillo.?" Tony asked looking at her computer.

"The last call that our dead guy received was from McGee." Laurel said and Tony looked at the computer in disbelief.

"That means McGee knew our dead guy."

"Or McGee might be in some kind of trouble. What's McGee's address again?" Laurel asked.

"150 Lincoln Place. Apartment 1D."

"That's about two blocks away from where that terrorist cell is stationed."

"Yeah and about five minutes away from where our dead petty officer was found." Tony said.

"Coincidence?"

"Rule 39, there's no such thing as coincidence." Tony stated before walking over to his desk to grab his gear, before walking towards the elevator.

"If that's the case McGee might be in danger. We have to get there before they do." Laurel said grabbing her gear before following in Tony's direction towards the elevator.

Like clockwork the elevator door opened and revealed Gibbs.

"Terrorists are stationed near McGee's apartment and the dead petty officer was found five minutes away from McGee's apartment."

"I know that DiNozzo." Gibbs said before making room for Tony and Laurel to get in the elevator. "McGee's sig was the one used to kill the dead petty officer.

"McGee would never just kill someone to kill them."

"I know that DiNozzo. We have to find out who go McGee's sig and how?" Gibbs said.

The elevator doors opened into the parking lot, and the three of them sprinted to the car. They were about fifteen minutes away from McGee's apartment but with Gibbs driving the ride ended up cut in half. The whole car ride was filled with fear and worry about McGee's safety and whereabouts. When they pulled up to his apartment complex they got out of the car, slamming the door shut and running inside.

When they got inside they went to McGee's apartment and stood outside. Gibbs knocked and they waited a few moments, before Laurel started picking the lock.

She picked the lock and Tony and Gibbs ran in with their guns drawn. She followed closely behind making sure they weren't being followed.

"Clear." Tony yelled from the living room.

"Clear." Laurel yelled from the kitchen.

Gibbs was in McGee's room about to yell clear before he heard the toilet flush.

"DiNozzo, Castillo!" Gibbs yelled.

Tony and Laurel ran to McGee's room quickly, with their guns still drawn. The bathroom door slowly opened.

"Federal agents, hands up." Gibbs yelled as McGee walked out of the bathroom, he put his hands up.

McGee walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and a white tank top. Gibbs, Laurel, and Tony all put their guns down. Laurel and Tony got a good look at McGee before they both started laughing.

"Glad to see you McStripper." Tony said in between chuckles.

"More like McStink. What's that smell?" Laurel asked.

"I told you guys that I didn't come to work because of stomach problems." McGee said looking at his coworkers confused.

"No, you didn't, but I do recall telling you not to eat that old Chinese food." Laurel said, in an I told you so, tone.

"I know, I'm sorry I didn't listen." McGee said before finally asking the question he has been wondering since he walked out of the bathroom. "So why are you guys here?"

"A better question is, why was your gun used to kill a petty officer?" Gibbs asked.

"That is impossible, I've been here all night and all day." McGee responded still confused as to what was going on.

"Can anyone attest to that?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah like McGeek has company." Tony said and Gibbs slapped the back of his head. "Sorry boss."

"Actually my sister spent the night last night and left early this morning." McGee said.

"McGee where do you keep your gun?" Laurel asked.

"In the nightstand by my bed. " McGee said and Gibbs walked over to the nightstand and opened it. To his surprise the gun was there. McGee followed and saw this his gun was still there, he went to pick it up and Gibbs stopped him.

"Stop, there could be prints on it. DiNozzo bag and tag it, McGee, go look around and see if you notice anything out of place." Gibbs ordered. "Do it quick!"

DiNozzo grabbed an evidence bag out of backpack and put on glove so that he could bag and tag McGee's sig which will now be used as evidence. McGee went to look around and noticed nothing out of place. While Laurel was looking around McGee's room for anything that might be of use to Abby.

"McGee?" Laurel called out.

"Yeah?" He called back. He quickly went back to his room where Laurel was.

"Besides the Chinese, what did you eat?"

"I didn't eat anything else, but I drank some milk." McGee responded.

"Laurel, grab the milk and we'll bring it to Abby for testing." Gibbs said and Laurel went to the kitchen almost immediately after Gibbs told her to.

"What's going on?" McGee asked catching up to her.

"I feel very uncomfortable talking to you while you have nothing on." Laurel said before putting her gloves on. She opened the refrigerator and grabbed the carton of milk that was in there.

"I'll fill you in when we get back to NCIS. Please put some clothes on so we can leave." Laurel stated and McGee responded by nodding his head and walking out of the room.

_Back at headquarters_

"So you mean to tell me that we got a dead marine that was killed using my sig and a potential terrorist cell that we have to keep an eye on?" McGee asked Laurel.

"Yes, that's what I just said." Laurel responded.

"I call out one day and I miss everything." McGee said. "Where's Gibbs and DiNozzo?"

"Right here." Tony said walking into the squad room with Gibbs. The two of them were walking back from Vance's office.

"Whaddya got?" Gibbs asked.

"Abby tested the fingerprints on McGee's sig and the prints weren't his, obviously. But she also tested the milk and there was traces of Bisacodyl which is the main ingredient in Dulcolax/Durolax, Fleet, etc." Laurel said.

"Which is?" Gibbs asked.

"A stimulant laxative drug." Laurel said and Gibbs made a face. "It makes you go to the bathroom."

"Oh. Why didn't you just say that?" Gibbs responded before adding. "Anyone else got anything?"

"I emailed Ziva about the potential terrorist cell and she said she will be on the first flight out here to DC." Tony responded and then continued by saying. "I think she should be here by 07."

"Good." Gibbs said before walking out of the squad room.

"So I finally get to meet Ziva? What is she like?" Laurel asked McGee and Tony.

"She is the most amazing woman ever." Tony said before McGee could say anything. McGee and Laurel looked at each other before looking back at Tony. "What?"

"Nothing." They both said at the same time.

**A/N: Please review please and thank you :) **

_Preview of the next chapter: _

"_What do my eyes tell you now?" She asked almost inaudibly._

"_That you regret your decision to stay in Israel." Tony said carefully looking into her eyes. "Am I right?" _

"_You always are." Ziva said looked down. Tony used his finger to lift her chin up so that she was looking at him again._


End file.

NCIS, Drama, Hurt-Comfort