Gibbs was sitting at his desk, staring at his Starbucks cup as if it held all the answers. "Dammit, this is the fourth case this month!" He thought, re-reading the autopsy report that he received after the case they had been notified to late last night. They were dealing with some crazed serial killer who was targeting naval officers and they had no leads! No witnesses and no evidence other than the bodies themselves. Gibbs sighed and drained his coffee as McGee and DiNozzo stepped off the elevator, arguing rather loudly about the case and their personal theories.

"I'm telling you, Probie, it has to be a jealous lover or something! Always look for the obvious answers!"

"And I'm telling you, Tony, that there's no way that this is about love or cheating or whatever crazy idea you have. It's a serial killer who's taking random Naval Officers who happen to visit near the marinas at night or something. Besides, if you're theory was correct, then why are there 4 victims? 3 men and 1 woman, seriously Tony, most people have their preferences…" McGee mumbled the last sentence more to himself but earned a glare from Abby, who had walked up with some potentially interesting news from Dr. Mallard.

"Really Tim? You don't think that someone could be interested in either gender? I know the army had that 'don't ask don't tell policy' but I thought you were more 'advanced' than that?" Abby admonished, using air quotes. She shook her head as McGee began to splutter his response (and failing royally) before turning back to Gibbs, "Gibbs! I just came back from Ducky and he wanted you to see this…" Abby held out the autopsy reports on their 4 victims. She took a deep breath while Gibbs stared at her expectantly then dropped her voice to just above a whisper so only Gibbs and Ziva, who had moved closer, could hear, "Ducky noticed, well Jimmy noticed, something odd about the DNA of the victims… and… well…" She trailed off, unsure of what to say, a rarity for Abby, but she, after another stare from Gibbs picked up where she left off, "wethinktheymightbenothumanorsomething," she finished in a rush.

"Abby, I'm sorry, but I did not understand what you said, can you say that slower?" Ziva placed her hand on the woman's shoulder, giving her a soft look.

Abby nodded and took another deep breath and motioned McGee and DiNozzo closer. The four of them leaned in while Abby whispered, "we think that they might not be humans… or something…" Abby looked around, her cheeks tinting red as if someone heard her and questioned her sanity.

"Well, then what do you and Duck think they are?" Gibbs inquired, keeping his ton impassive, but staring at Abby with concern.

Abby opened her mouth to respond when a commanding voice boomed above them, "I hope this little pow-wow is about our recent case and not something else?" Everyone turned to look up and see Director Vance looking at them, his eyebrow raised, a toothpick twitching in between his teeth. Abby nodded at him, her face turning redder about what she had been about to reveal to her team and worrying that they would think she had slept in her coffin one times too many!

Director Vance nodded, "well good because I have some information about some... experts who might be able to offer some insight in how to catch our serial killer." He motioned for the group to join him in his office where they could speak in private. Gibbs and his team followed up, silently asking each other what the Hell Vance meant by "experts". Weren't they the "experts" in solving crimes that were about Naval officers?

(DPOV)

I sighed and tried to tune out the incessant argument that was going on between my charge and girlfriend. They were good friends, I knew that, but I didn't understand their constant bickering since it almost bordered on volatile. I rubbed my temples as I stared at the screen that was above the Queen's desk, staring at the 4 images on the screen. We had been contacted by the NCIS director from Washington DC to help identify the serial killer and help capture/kill the person (or persons) responsible. Even though we hadn't been told, we could tell that the 4 victims had 3 things in common with one another: 1, they were all naval officers, 2, they were all found near the marina at night near or on the same docks, and 3, they were not human.

"Chris, seriously, stop bitching, will you? I know you've been busy with going back and forth between the academies and here with your Moroi defense programs, but you don't have to be irritated with me just because you don't have the same amount of stamina us Dhampirs have," Rose said, falling into the chair I had been sitting in previously. She muttered something else along the lines of "not getting enough" as she pulled the latest autopsy file from the desk to her lap, scanning the information quickly.

"Oh, bite me, Rosie. I know you were jealous that I got to spend more time with your 'Russian God' than you did this semester, but you can stop with the snark you know," my charge, Christian huffed with false distain, using air quotes around my strange nickname/reputation I had earned among the students back at St. Vlad's.

"You two need to stop arguing! We have a serious problem on our hands. We know that Strigoi have been getting more and more active, but this is serious! We have the human authorities deeply involved in the case. They didn't even know to alert the Alchemists until it was way too late. The Alchemists refuse to step in at this point because it would be more of a hassle than it's worth to get everything away from the authorities at this point. This is the first time in our recent history where we will be working in conjunction with humans with our world directly. We must take this threat seriously and need to make sure we can show the humans we can handle this professionally and efficiently. This could go a long way in helping our relations with human government agencies and potentially open a communication with them when it comes to these types of cases in the future!" Lissa stepped out from behind her desk and stood in front of us, staring pointedly at Christian and Rose, making them look like scolded children.

I snorted and turned off the monitor that hung on the wall above Lissa's desk and gathered the files from the desk and Rose's hands, "she's right. You and I, Rose, are going to have to act with the utmost professionalism when we deal with this team directly. We will be acting both as representatives of Lissa, but more importantly, as 'ambassadors' of our kind. This could be the break we are looking for in keeping track of Strigoi movements without them becoming suspicious of our actions. Besides, not wanting to sink to their level, but if Strigoi are willing to band together AND use humans against us, it might be prudent to utilize that same resource and maybe, just maybe, get out in front of them while we can." I watched as Rose's expressions went from mocked scolding, to irritation, to understanding and resignation.

"I know, Comrade. I know that this could help," her double meaning was not lost on me. She knew I still struggled with my nightmares and guilt, but it was getting easier every day. With one final sigh, I gathered my duster and Rose's leather jacket from the couch where they had been placed when we first walked in. I held Rose's jacket out for her, then shrugged my own on before we said our goodbyes and left to get packed and ready to depart from the Court's airstrip to Regan International Airport, our destination? NCIS headquarters.

A/N: I had this idea floating around in my head for a while but couldn't find a way to get it onto paper and make it sound good. This chapter is short as sort of an introduction, but let me know if this is a good start or what you think! This will mostly be written in Dimitri's POV, but I may switch to Rose or Third POV depending on what's needed!

Please R & R (nothing is too harsh, so bring it on! I can always improve!)
Thanks,

strangemind