Minor warning: Harsh and colorful language follows in this chapter, but for those that know, Jack was never one for niceties lol.

Sand-blasted

The Jon Grissom Academy

JGA station: orbiting Elysium

March 15th, 2195, 7;37 AM

"I hate morning runs." Having made the mistake of signing on to the advanced combat course on a dare, one he'd lost which only made it worse, Private 1st class Charles Ferguson could already feel the ache in his legs as he and the thirty odd other students did their best to keep up with the 'den mother' of their dorm as they ran the length of the rotunda of the recently rebuilt space station. Really it was safer to say it'd simply been repaired after the Reapers hit, but whatever the case, Charles was not in the mood to appreciate that particular fact as he did his best to keep up the pace. "You sure she's even human?"

"I'd shut it before she hears you, Charles." Margaret Thetford, another private, whispered out the corner of her mouth even as she too panted and wheezed with every brisk step forward. With a quick wave of her hand she moved her platinum blonde hair, which was impeccably cut to the regulated length, out of her face. "Ms. Nought doesn't take kindly to people who complain about her early morning runs. That we get to follow in the biotic goddess's footsteps at all is an honor in my opinion."

"Tch, and now I know who's going to be the teacher's pet this year." Another of the students muttered just loud enough that the rest of the group chuckled in response. Margaret simply turned her head as a disapproving scoff escaped her at their antics, her gold flecked brown eyes narrowing into a glare as she peered into Charles' brown ones, daring him to laugh along. The one that had spoken, Natalia Howlett, squeezed in between Margaret and Charles, a teasing if tired grin on her face. "Seriously though guys, she might be real rough around the edges, but she's got a heart underneath those sexy tats and the synth leather."

"I also have really good ears." All of the students paled even though the smile was audible in the older woman's voice as Jack turned her shaved head so she could let her eyes rove over them all. Seeing how tired most of them were, the former Cerberus experiment child biotic prodigy sighed before running a hand across the back of her implanted skull. "Take five guys, but I expect you to be ready to move as if your butts were on fire. And Charles?" The young man paled further at being singled out as Jacqueline 'Subject Zero' Nought leveled her eyes on him fully. "If you'd had asked a question like that before a certain, annoyingly patient, charismatic paragon of virtue saved me from spending the rest of my life as an ice block or someone's pet freak, I'd have already ripped out your spine and beat you to death with it. But I can see where you might be confused since I am a badass biotic goddess and all." She grinned, watching as his light brown hair almost turned white in fright, flaring with a much bigger dark energy presence than any ten people put together, the students included, before something caught her attention behind the group. Sensing something amiss with the way the unknown student was shambling about, Jack quickly pushed her way through the group before they could move out of her way.

Jack had all of two seconds to register the feral look on the young man's face before he leapt at her, flaring brightly with the same power she possessed in spades. Her surprise gave way to years of ingrained instinct and hard earned combat experience, both before her joining the Normandy SR-2 and the years after as she easily threw a Barrier around herself, the energy dome forcing him back hard as he hit the field instead of her. Before he could bounce off of the hard metal deck, he surprised her further as he threw his hands out to either side and generated concentrated streams of dark energy like a pair of high powered thrusters that allowed him to regain his footing. Jack raised an eyebrow, more than a little shocked since only a few humans could do that, herself included, but she didn't give it much thought before she charged him down.

Without so much as hesitating, the young man charged at her with equal fervor. Unheeding of the sheer difference in their respective powers, let alone the vast experience and skill levels between them, he took her attack head on and predictably got blown backwards, crashing into one of the plant pots standing around, shattering it. Not even blinking an eye at that despite having shards of pottery sticking out of his back, the student got right back up again, breathing heavily, eyes wild as they flickered across the room, blood flowing from a cut on his upper arm that he didn't even seem to notice. With a wordless cry, he charged at her, fists swinging. The rest of the class stood at the side in a stupor, unsure what to do at the sudden altercation between their teacher and their comrade.

Jack, for her part, easily dodged the wild punches and didn't hesitate to hit her attacker right back, though he simply shrugged off her non lethal blows and kept on coming. A little voice in the back of her head wondered why she hadn't already turned him into a red smear, but she pushed it aside with a defiant growl. Rolling out of the way of another Shockwave, Jack got ready to defend herself once again as the blonde haired man screamed his lungs out in sheer fury and ran towards her, glowing a deep blue from head to toe. Jack drew her hand back in preparation for the punch that would end this fight with certainty when her opponent suddenly stumbled.

She instead wound up having to catch him as he unexpectedly collapsed. Whatever berserker energy had been fueling him had worn off, but a quick glance at his face told Jack it was a little more than that when she saw the blood gushing out of his nose and the red tint to his eyes. Hurriedly tapping at the omni-tool on her wrist, Jack put in a call to Kahlee Sanders, one of her old friends on the station since she'd taken up this job a little under ten years ago. "Kahlee we got a big fucking problem. Get a medical team up here. I think we got a sand-blasted asshole on our hands. Main rotunda, top floor. How do I know? Because his fucking eyes are red! Yeah I'm on it, just get that med team down here. And Kahlee, this isn't the usual stuff I used to use back in the day. It made him feral, whatever this was." She didn't like the implications of what that might mean for the rest of her students as she did what she could to keep the young man alive while shouting orders to the rest of them to stay back or do something useful. "Come on fucker, you don't get to die until I get some goddamn answers." She growled as she checked for a pulse before beginning CPR.

Earth, USA, Washington

Washington D.C., ACIS bullpen

March 15th, 2195, 8;01 AM

Chuckling as she walked off the elevator, Ziva shook her head, a wide smile on her face as she deactivated her omni-tool on her way to her desk. "You're early, good night?" Her smile widened minutely as she passed by Tony's desk just as he sat down a few seconds before she did.

"And I'm impressed that you're here on time for a change." Ziva countered smoothly to which Tony chuckled sarcastically in response. Signing behind her office terminal, she didn't look his way, but she was more than happy to keep talking. "I did in fact have a good night. Shi'shaa got back into town, and apparently we have shared interests in the theater. We're planning to go to a show this weekend."

"Really? Huh. Which show?" Tony asked, genuinely curious even as that little immature side of his nature deigned to give him the usual sweaty imaginings of the former Mossad agent and the asari tangled up in bed together. While normally he didn't mind, it sometimes got in the way, and ever since what had occurred with Jeanne, such musings didn't hold the same appeal anymore. Still, he let them play out as he waited for a response, all the while tapping halfheartedly at the keyboard in front of him.

Ziva, knowing where Tony's mind had gone but also that he was a better man than he'd once been, replied a bit more gently than she initially intended. "Die Zauberflöte, written by-"

"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Nice. So why the Magic Flute?" Tony asked, definitely intrigued now as he got up from his desk to stand in front of Ziva's desk.

"Because from what I can recall and what I looked up on the extranet to refresh what I couldn't, it's a very popular performance despite some of the less than popular themes of its time. That, and it is the last thing Mozart ever produced, making it that much more valued by most theater lovers, myself included."

"So empowered women standing against a misogynistic society has nothing to do with it." When Ziva looked up without moving her head, Tony grinned triumphantly at having provoked even that much. "Thought as much, but whatever gets your engine revved up I suppose. Do you think Shi'shaa's a thong or panty girl?" Tony knew he was in trouble when Ziva's annoyed look morphed into a mischievous grin.

Standing to her feet, her right hand snapped up and grabbed hold of his nose. "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you with that Mighty Mouse stapler you have on your desk."

"Noted." Tony groaned through his mouth before running a hand over his sore nose once Ziva let it go. "So it's a thong." He backed away quickly when she lunged after him only to flail her arms back and sit down in a hurry when Tony straightened in his seat a split second later. Only one thing could make him appear as if he were working, and no sooner had the thought crossed her mind than Gibbs' silver head of hair appeared in her vision.

"Got a body. Get your gear." Gibbs ordered just as Dax and McGee stepped out of the elevator. Taking one look at Gibbs as he grabbed his sidearm from his desk along with his physical ACIS badge, the pair went to do the same while Gibbs went upstairs to talk to the Director. "Ziva, get Hamu and Ducky, have them get their stuff together. Dax, get the van gassed up, we're hopping a flight to Grissom Academy."

"Where ya goin' then Gibbs?"

"Talk to the twins since the body was discovered by one of the Commander's old crew. Systems Alliance biotic teacher by the name of-"

"Jack?! Oh boy." Dax paled, if a turian could pale, as Gibbs slowed and looked over his shoulder. "Had an unfortunate run-in with Jack years ago. Even with an L2 implant, she was a powerhouse. Untrained like the recently deceased Yanis, but didn't seem to slow her down since Jack is rage incarnate. Now she's got herself the best implant even the military can produce, but only reason I ain't shaking in my boots is b'cause she's a much better gal than she was when I met her."

"Still coming with us unless you want to hand in your pink slip now Agent Dax." Not waiting for a response, Gibbs went up the rest of the stairs to the Director's office. Pausing just long enough to have his ID scanned by the door lock along with his retinas scanned, Gibbs pushed the heavy door open before sitting down in the front row of the MTAC center. Despite the very advanced age they lived in, some things remained the same, and the darkened confines of the Multiple Threat Assessment Center was one of them even if the tech inside was significantly more advanced.

"Jethro." The softly stated greeting was eerily similar to how Jenny had once addressed him, but if she noticed, Eliza Shepard didn't comment as she took a sip of her morning coffee.

"Director." He replied in greeting as he got comfortable in the darkened 'theater' space that might as well be her second office. The screen before them changed from a combat op of a team of fully equipped marines storming yet another home belonging to one of Yanis's former buyers, to two faces, one of which he knew on sight despite this was only the second time they'd met. "Commander."

"Gunny." Elizabeth Shepard said in return before waving a hand towards the second, bald headed woman on screen. "Let me introduce an old friend of mine. Jacqueline Nought, biotic combat class instructor for the Systems Alliance, stationed at Jon Grissom Academy."

"Nine years and I'm still getting used to the name, Liz." Jack muttered, arms crossed as she cocked her head to the side before she began to rapidly, and furiously, tap at her omni-tool off-screen. A picture of the body appeared on another monitor a few seconds later. "The dead asshole was one of mine, but how the hell he got his hands on the shit that killed him or where it even came from, we're still trying to figure out. As much as I just love the idea of having a bunch of navy cops crawling over the place, spooking my kids more, I'm with Kahlee, we need the help Agent…."

"Jethro Gibbs." Jethro replied before nodding his head towards the profile that had been sent with the picture. "Private 2nd Class, Thomas Brown. ODed on….Red Sand? Who comes up with these names?"

"People on Mars originally created the drug by a 'fortunate' lab accident, it gets the name from its red color and its sand like appearance." The 'older' Shepard informed him to which her 'younger' sister nodded in agreement.

"Except this shit's all wrong." Jack chimed in a split second later. "Normally, Red Sand gives a sense of euphoria as well as enhancing someone's biotic output by a noticeable degree. Even people that don't have eezo in their system get short bouts of biotic like power while they're sand-blasted."

"Common parlance I take it." Gibbs stated rather than asked, to which Jack nodded this time.

"Thomas wasn't feeling a buzz though, he was out of his mind and looking for blood. Not only that, but he was much stronger from a biotic standpoint than he shoulda been. He was still no match for me, but the fact he was stronger even under the average dose scares the shit outta me Agent Gibbs. You get up here and you help me get this shit shut down." Without waiting for him or the Shepards to respond, Jack deactivated her side of the conference call, leaving them to discuss among themselves.

Before he could even begin to ask, Elizabeth nodded her head to the unspoken question. "Yes, she's like that, but she's much more calm than she used to be."

"I can see that." Gibbs muttered before he started to get up from his chair. "What ever happened to not having ACIS be on standby for your sister?" He asked, making it a point to ignore the 'older' Shepard's darkening glare.

Eliza sighed and grabbed Jethro's arm to 'encourage' him to stay in his seat. Once he had sat down again, she answered Gibbs' unspoken question. "Jack called us on now Captain Kahlee Sander's order, but she was already planning to do so since she's genuinely worried for the safety of her students, and I don't blame her."

"Neither do I, especially since we've all seen what Red Sand can do, and that's the normal kind. This stuff hits the open market, it'll be anarchy on the streets. And retired or not Agent Gibbs, my voice still carries a hell of a lot of weight. I can always make this an order if you'd like."

"No, that won't be necessary, just making sure I know who's pulling on the chain." Gibbs replied as he leveled his gaze on Eliza who simply crossed her arms and glared back, daring him to say anything else.

Elizabeth, for her part, chuckled and smirked openly at the tension between the two. Even when both Gibbs and her sister turned their attention on her next, the little smirk on her face didn't falter. "Should I send out the wedding invites little sis, or do you plan to just elope?"

A sharp jerk of her hand across her throat later, and the screen went blank on their end. Gibbs said nothing as he stood to his feet with a shake of his head. "Enjoy that Director?" He asked once he'd put some distance between himself and the 'younger' Shepard.

"More than you'll ever know." Eliza replied as Jethro made his way out of MTAC.

The Jon Grissom Academy

JGA station: orbiting Elysium

March 15th, 2195, 8;12 PM

After a several hour flight that was broken up by a period of sleep and going over what they knew of the crime and the station it'd taken place on, a rested Gibbs was the first to step off the shuttle with the rest of his team following after him. Ducky, upon spotting the welcoming committee as an older blonde haired woman, her hair efficiently tied into a ponytail, smiled in greeting as he and Hamu lugged their heavy bags off the shuttle. Gibbs glanced over his shoulder at the flicker of a smile that passed over Kahlee's face and mentally smirked, having a feeling Ducky had found someone that piqued his interest immensely. But such things were for later as the man scrutinized the captain and her retinue, which unsurprisingly consisted of the volatile Jack and a number of Alliance marines. Walking right up to the pair, Gibbs wasted no time in getting to business. "Captain Sanders I take it?"

"Yes sir. I'm the current head of the Ascension Project, a program dedicated to giving biotics a chance to learn how to integrate seamlessly into society. My second, Ms. Nought, is in control of putting biotic power to use in combat situations for those that want to take a more militaristic approach." The difference between the two was as visible as night was to day. Kahlee Sanders was obviously a long standing military officer with her finely pressed uniform, seemingly poured onto her slender, tall frame, not a hair out of place and her posture straight as an arrow.

Jack however kept her arms crossed over her loose, open jacket and the 'harness' of buckles and straps that held together a whitish gray undershirt. Her shaved her was about the only part of her that could have been mistaken for military regulation, but he doubted she was interesting in presenting herself as an officer in the slightest. "Which means I beat their butts into shape until they can throw people around with their pinkies if they so much as sneeze."

"Drive them pretty hard do you?" Gibbs asked as he gestured for the rest of the team to start walking as Kahlee started forward, deeper into the large space station. The whitish gray metallic walls and the water works gave a more comfortable, civilian air, as did the occasional flash of green from hydroponically grown plants, but if one needed a reminder this was a military run academy, one only needed to see students being led on brisk walks through the various, large passageways and instructors holding training exercises in a number of side chambers. It wasn't a boot camp, but it was clear that they weren't hear for the sights either.

"Not as hard as I could, not nearly as hard as I was back in the day, but most of them are pretty appreciative of my more hands on approach." The less than subtle way her eyes filled with old hurts and bad memories was filed away by the rest of the ACIS team, Gibbs included. Didn't mean he thought Jack was innocent, and not because she had an extensive criminal history, but he mentally noted it down all the same as they continued to walk and talk.

Kahlee was happy to chime in, making it clear she wasn't about to let Jack stand alone against their scrutiny even if she maintained a professionalism born from years of experience. "Ms. Nought's teaching style might be unorthodox, but the students by and large have responded well ever since she took charge of the combat courses nearly ten years ago. The vast majority of her first class survived the war thanks in no small part to her contributions."

"Not everyone...but yeah." Jack agreed as she let her arms fall to her sides with a sigh. "It helped I had 'em stick to support roles though. Much as they wanted to hit the front lines, they weren't ready for that kind of action, none of them were."

"Something we'll always have a difference of opinion on." Kahlee countered, but otherwise let the subject drop. "But you didn't come this far to hear about such things."

"Nope, but every little bit helps." Tony pointed out as he, Ziva, and Dax, who was doing his best to appear as small as possible in the back, shared a brief glance between each other. ""Sides, not everyday we get to meet one of Shepard's crew."

"Yeah, 'bout the only reason I'm okay with this, beyond the fact we need the help, is because Tali wouldn't shut up about you guys because of that shit with that psycho quarian." Jack growled dangerously in her throat before she looked towards Gibbs, a surprisingly hopeful gleam in her whiskey colored eyes. "Wendy Watson was a friend of mine, good kid, had a hard time believing she was blind. Haven't heard anything about her since the shooting though." While the question wasn't asked, it was still heard loud and clear by them all.

"The last report we've received was that Ms. Watson had been taken off life support and that she's making a slow but steady recovery." Ziva informed Jack, to which she visibly relaxed once her words sunk in. "What can you tell us about Thomas?" She asked, steering the conversation back to the matter at hand.

Before either Jack or Kahlee could reply, Ducky gently stepped forward, "and I don't mean to be insensitive, but if you could show me where you've put the young man so I can begin an examination-"

"O-of course. I'll have someone show you and your assistant the way." Kahlee gestured to one of the marines that flanked them, to which they nodded and peeled off from the group with Hamu and Ducky following after him. Turning to Gibbs, Kahlee continued, "Thomas Brown, like many of our students, was exceptionally gifted, having earned an advanced engineering degree from MIT by the time he was eighteen. He was accepted into Grissom Academy on a scholarship, having come from a relatively poor home life. I didn't know him personally, but everyone that talked about him generally seemed to like him and from his psych evals, I couldn't find any reason that he'd have taken Red Sand outside perhaps an ill fated dare or out of sheer curiosity."

"That happen a lot?" Tony asked.

"People who typically use Red Sand do so with the misguided intention to try and understand those that have biotic ability since even those without eezo in their system can manifest similar abilities for as long as the 'high' lasts. Some simply want to experience something new, but all of those that take Red Sand always end up quickly addicted. It's not unheard of for Blue Suns mercenaries to sell Sand to the desperate and poor, only to then sell them into slavery once they can no longer afford their next dose."

"And since the Suns are the foremost supplier for Sand, even now, it wouldn't surprise me if they had a hand in this shit." Jack growled, her hands clenched tightly into fists at her sides until she received a gentle, chastising look from Kahlee. She sighed but the look had the desired effect. "What I want to know is how it got onboard."

"Any way it could be made here?" Gibbs asked innocently enough, but the surprised looks on Kahlee and Jack's faces spoke volumes.

"Fucking unlikely." Was Jack's immediate response despite her thoughtful frown that followed her initial shock.

"As terrible as the idea is to consider, it's not impossible, but I agree, it'd be highly unlikely. I don't know if you noticed, but security here is pretty tight despite this being an academy for the exceptionally best and brightest of the Systems Alliance. We do have science labs where it'd be possible to produce any number of illegal substances, but they're always locked up tight when classes aren't being held, and security cameras are placed strategically throughout the entire station. All of which are tied to a central command station that is under constant guard. Every security checkpoint has a highly sophisticated scanning system, every hallway is a kill zone waiting to happen, and no one can move freely through one end of the facility without being electronically tagged at some point. After Cerberus attacked and the station nearly destroyed by the Reapers that followed soon after, we were given a significant increase in security."

"I'll say." McGee mused as he nodded towards the various scanners, cameras, and detectors they were about to pass through or under when they reached one of the first checkpoints in question that led into the dormitory section of the station. "DNA scanners, able to penetrate even the most sophisticated attempt at shielding a target from such deep scans, full spectrum analysis, X-Ray, infrared, the works, and that's not counting the fact I counted no less than a dozen guards between here and the airlock, all of them placed at choke points to maximize their effectiveness."

"Someone give you a few ideas on how to bump up security?" Tony asked, genuinely curious even as his eyes fell on an attractive blonde that was going the other way.

"N7s." Sanders replied simply and smiled wistfully. "I've met a few in my time, and when I asked for help during the rebuilding process, they were eager to answer. They don't mess around, told me that as long as a single squad worked together properly they'd, be able to easily repel forces more than thrice their numbers."

"Huh, didn't think spec ops were one for charity." N7s were the best of the best, so it was a surprise to Tony, let alone the rest of them save perhaps Ziva, that they'd go out of their way to reinforce a simple academy like this.

"You'd be surprised, though they do request to train here every so often. Taking fortified positions and such, playing tag with huntresses if you are feeling humourus. We have a number of off site training facilities for both our biotic advanced classes and our more mundane military forces that we help upkeep and maintain. Engineering students learn practical skills while assisting with said upkeep, and biotics with the propensity for lifting heavy objects or stabilizing structures with their power gain experience in the same fashion. Everyone benefits."

"Not a bad philosophy," Ziva noted before she frowned moments later, "but wouldn't this kind of practice open yourself to security leaks?"

"It would, except no communications are allowed in these training facilities, and every comm call that takes place on station is closely monitored, screened, and filtered through rigorous security measures before they go anywhere. As for the students themselves, it's not unheard of that they at times join the N series after leaving Grissom, a number which has grown significantly ever since our partnership began where we work more closely with our military brethren." The look she gave to Jack told them that the inspiration for said partnership was partly thanks to her and her presence.

"Heh, no surprise, the N series marines are pretty badass. I should know, Shepard's an N7, and she was damned inspirational in her own right both on and off the field, but even if she wasn't an N7, I get the feeling she'd have been just fine wherever she wound up. The force of her personality is somethin' else."

"True, though I suppose she had an excellent teacher." Stopping in front of the railing that overlooked the multi level dormitory area, Kahlee didn't need to point out the large metallic podium, or the holographic representation of one of the single most influential humans in recent history, second only to his protege. Admiral, now Councilor, David Edward Anderson might not have the same notoriety as Shepard, but no one denied that if not for him guiding her in her early days, mentoring her to be the best she could be, the rest of them wouldn't be around. Standing upright, the officer blues and numerous medals clearly visible for all to see on his chest, the man's image was caught in the moment of a salute, his entire stance filled with dedication and pride, and even though it was nothing more than a hologram, his eyes seemed keen enough to stare them all down.

When the image shifted unexpectedly, they could only listen as his voice filled the immediate area. "If you had told me I'd be recording a message for the future like this before the war, I'd have just nodded and shrugged my shoulders before getting back to the job at hand. Now….well, I don't have to go over what happened when the Reapers came, but we prevailed despite the odds. We're still here, and now we have to move forward. Grissom Academy is that step forward, but while it's hardly the only academy of its kind, it is where the best and brightest will always be given every opportunity to succeed, to excel, and to grow beyond what would be possible anywhere else. You're the future now, never forget that. It's up to you to keep the light on, to be the best humanity has to offer, so that our hard won hopes for the future will continue long after people like me and Shepard are long gone."

"After meeting him a few times, I can see where she got it from." Jack mused as the hologram returned to its earlier pose, drawing their attention back to the present.

"Indeed…." Kahlee sighed, her gaze wistful and distant as pleasant memories flashed behind her eyes. No one doubted what was on her mind with an all too visible lovestruck look on her face, tempered somewhat by the fact they likely hadn't seen each other in a very long time.

Even the somewhat irritated Gibbs was awed somewhat by the impressively decorated man before them, having seen his service record in passing during an early investigation once they'd been reinstated to active service to ACIS. It was impossible not to be, and not just because he had mentored the savior of the galaxy. Still, they had a job to do, and they had a drug bust to make. "Show us the student dorms." He ordered at last, to which Kahlee gestured towards the lower levels. "Tony, McGee, set up shop, get a direct feed established to Abby and the Director, then go over security feeds, see if we can't find something the locals missed. Ziva, Dax, you're with me, let's go over the crime scene before going over Thomas's personal effects. Captain."

"I'll have Mr. Brown's effects brought to you. As for a command post for your team to settle themselves, there's a few spare rooms for visiting VIPs that are empty. You can use them. I assume you'll need a guide?"

"Jack'll suffice." It wasn't a request as Gibbs turned his steel blue eyes on her next.

"Tsk, whatever." The tattooed woman muttered with a shrug. "But you better not waste my time."

"Hope you have a sub." Tony muttered, which immediately earned a deep, hard death glare from the formerly psychotic biotic.

"I know how this works pretty boy, this isn't my first time being questioned by pansy ass cops. You might be federal agents, but that just means you look better in body bags."

"Was that a threat?" Tony asked, torn between feeling like his life was in danger and incredibly turned on by the borderline scantily clad, tattooed woman in front of him.

"Nope, just stating a fact. Besides, I don't waste time with threats." Jack countered smoothly to which Kahlee sighed heavily in exasperation.

"Oh yes, this is going to be fun alright." Dax muttered under his breath, with Ziva the only one to hear him as she positioned herself in such a way behind Jack that if she even looked at Gibbs funny, she could lash out in an instant.

If she thought she was being stealthy however, Ziva was surprised when Jack called out, "And tell your little assassin to stop breathing down my neck. The janitors just cleaned, don't want to get them mad if I have to splatter her all over the floor."

"Uh, she certainly is…. something." Tony grumbled lowly and exhaled heavily. "As if we hadn't had enough problems."

"You'll have to forgive her brash nature, she has been on edge ever since the incident." Kahlee cut in from the side. "She's been through more than most, so you can be sure that she'll not underestimate the severity of this situation." While it was, again, obvious that she was defending Jack, it had the dual effect of calming her down at the same time even as the woman scoffed and stomped off ahead of them.

Gibbs didn't say a word as he followed after her, with the others falling in behind him a moment later. It didn't take Gibbs, Ziva, and Dax long to find themselves at the top of the rotunda, where Jack waved a hand towards the scene that had been cordoned off by the local LEOs from the planet below. "There isn't a lot to see, you'd probably have better luck with the security cameras."

"More interested in your personal opinion Ms. Nought." Gibbs replied as he stepped right through the blue glowing holographic police tape to get a closer look at the ground where the fight had taken place, with Dax and Ziva walking around the perimeter of the cordoned off area.

"I almost preferred the earlier suspicion in your voice Agent Gibbs." Jack crossed her arms but sighed heavily in response. "Look, I'm not the kid's mother, so I can't say what went through his thick skull, but drugs? I've seen junkies, hell, I've been one, and I can tell you the kid wasn't dumb enough for that shit."

"And yet he was." Ziva countered, a reminder that wasn't necessary but it still got a response as Jack turned to glare at her next, a look the former Mossad agent ignored as she continued to walk around the edge of the holographic 'tape'. "I do have to ask, but how long have you been clean, Jack?"

"Over ten years." The note of pride in Jack's voice was hard not to hear. "I wasn't allowed to dip back into Red Sand, between Shepard and the Cerberus assholes watching every move I made. Thankfully, my time as an ice block in a Blue Sun ran prison's cryostasis had the added side effect of slowly bleeding that shit out of my system, so it wasn't a big thing during the Omega 4 Relay fiasco when we went up against the Collectors."

"I see." Ziva said neutrally, her gaze carefully measured. "Do you have any idea where he could have come in contact with these drugs? This is after all a school."

"I sure as hell didn't give him the Sand if that's what you're implying." Jack spat out before she continued, "but if I were to guess, it came from the planet below, but that doesn't explain how it got up here. Like Kahlee said, there's security out the ass end on every point of entry, only reason you guys were allowed onboard in the first place is because you passed through several checkpoints that sent your ID info to our command staff."

"That just means someone's been smuggling it onboard that's already been given sufficient clearance to do so." Jack couldn't argue the logic, but that didn't help her already frayed nerves as Ziva stopped and pulled out an evidence bag. "Did Thomas have allergies?" She asked as she picked up what looked like a container of nasal spray that had been rolled behind a nearby garbage can.

"I've seen him use that before a few times, yeah. I didn't think anything about it at the time though." Jack mused as she looked from the cordoned off area to where the container had been found. "It must have been tossed while I was trying to keep him from hurting anyone else. If it contains Red Sand, it'll be pretty obvious."

"Wouldn't be the first time, come across somethin' like that." Dax mused, breaking his silence at last despite the fact he was trying to keep his distance from Jack as he neared the edge of his half of the cordoned off area. "I've seen one guy hide Red Sand in an eye drop dispenser once, o'course, he wasn't usin' it on his eyes. That'd have burned something fierce."

"People get desperate enough, they'll do anything for their next fix." Jack agreed as her right hand clenched uncomfortably against her upper forearm. "It's part of why I'm glad I no longer have that problem, that and then there's the fact I'm married." That got their attention as even Gibbs looked up from the crime scene, just in time to see the ring she flashed on her right hand ring finger.

"Who's the lucky guy?" Ziva asked, intrigued by this latest tidbit of information.

Jack's chuckle surprised her as she shook her bald head. "The last person I ever thought I'd fall in love with since she was part of the same group that tortured and experimented on me while I was still a child. Cerberus's very own Miranda Lawson."

"Uh….." Ziva was honestly speechless at that, the mere attempt to imagine the two women in any kind of positive, let alone romantic, relationship was enough to give her a headache.

Dax, surprisingly, wasn't so paralyzed, but even he was somewhat flabbergasted by the news. "Huh, well congrats Jack. When'd ya get hitched?"

"About seven years ago. If you'd have told me I'd be married to the former Cerberus cheerleader, I'd have ripped off your balls, or whatever you turians have, and shoved them down your throat."

"Ah… good to know."

"These days though I gotta agree with people who are brave enough to congratulate me." Jack said with a smirk. "I mean sure she can still be a cold bitch, but have you seen her ass and those tits?"

"Can we focus?" Ziva demanded irritably and glared at the two biotics. "I didn't come to discuss who is dating who."

"Aren't you guys supposed to be the best? I figured you'd be able to multitask." Jack declared with a shrug but motioned for the crime scene. "But fine, be my guest and look as much you damn well please."

Gibbs didn't react further save to roll his eyes at the lot of them. The only thing that stood out to him was where Thomas had hit one of the plant pots, where he quickly bagged the few shards that hadn't been picked up by the cleaning staff or gone over by the local law enforcement officers. Abby would likely want the whole thing so she could piece it together for comparison if nothing else. But as much as he didn't want to admit it, there was nothing here to see, but Jack had provided more information than she realized despite the frequent sidetracks. "Well," Gibbs said as he stood to his full height before turning to the group, "if nothing else, I think it's past time we talked to Thomas's dorm mates. Arrange for a place for us to conduct interviews, and don't tell them why."

"Kahlee already had his unit isolated, so it shouldn't be a problem, but people are already talking about what happened since most of the advanced combat group were present for the incident. Thomas was late but again I didn't think anything about it initially, now I wish I had." Jack muttered, guilt flashing in her brown eyes for having not seen this coming.

Despite his suspicions, Gibbs was only slightly willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

The Jon Grissom Academy

JGA station: orbiting Elysium

March 15th, 2195, 8;37 PM

Setting up shop was a simple matter for McGee and Tony once they'd been shown to the VIP quarters, although they had mostly just set their stuff down before going to the central command security station once they'd gotten their secured connection established. Situated between a number of assistant technicians and the current chief of security, DiNozzo and McGee were passing a bowl of popcorn back and forth between them while Jason Graham answered what questions he could.

"Gotta say Agent McGee, you certainly know your stuff." Silver gray hair tied tight into a ponytail that snaked down his right shoulder, Jason's gray eyes gleamed with approval for the tech expert's obvious knowledge about his craft. "Saw your progress with the good Captain and her second, Jack might be rough but she's a good gal to have around. The kids love her."

"That's what we've heard. Can't argue with her fashion sense either." McGee wanted to roll his eyes at Tony's obvious attraction to the psychotic biotic.

"Careful there big boy, she's married and both her and the missus would probably splatter you if you try anything." Graham warned, his gray eyes narrowing somewhat in his youthful face as he crossed his arms loosely over his chest.

"Aww man." Tony grumbled and shook his head. "Why are all the hot sci-fi babes already taken?"

"Because they've got taste." McGee mumbled quietly.

"What was that Elf Lord?" Tony retorted sharply as he jerked the bowl of popcorn away from McGee before he could grab another kernel.

"Nothing Tony, just stating a fact."

"Next time speak up, McGeek."

"And now I'm wondering if I should be looking for a wedding ring between you two." Jason chuckled and grinned widely when both men shot him equally dirty looks for his teasing remark. Nodding his head to the various video monitors, the chief of security pulled up the feed they were looking for after a few rapid taps at the controls. "There, a little after 0700, Thomas goes up to the top level where he immediately goes berserk upon seeing the class. If not for Jack getting between him and them, I'm willing to guess we'd be cleaning up the remains for a week."

"Yeesh, makes me real glad, again, that we have Dax with us these days. That thing with Yanis could have went down a lot differently." Tony muttered uncomfortably as the fight played itself out for the agents with Jack coming out the victor. "Guess ol Tommy boy had a bad buzz." Seeing the young man collapse just as he was about to continue their brawl, Tony couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at how quick Jack went from wanting to rip his guts out to trying to save his life. "Ziva said there was a nasal spray bottle they found at the scene, hidden behind a garbage can. See if you can't scan for it, see how it might have wound up back there."

"Really?" Jason asked, intrigued as McGee began going frame by frame after zooming in on the pair. "You think his Sand was in the spray bottle?"

"Well, that's being tested for already," McGee explained as he continued to scan frame by frame in reverse, "but if someone else had their hands on it, we can hopefully find out how far this thing goes. If it came from Thomas himself however-"

"Then we'll be stuck with no obvious trail to follow." Jason grimaced, understanding that they'd be up a creek with no paddle, at least until something else came up.

Tony was the first to mutter a colorful curse when Thomas's bottle flew out of his hand when he hit Jack's Barrier at the beginning of the fight, but his eyes alighted on something else that immediately drew his attention. "Whoa hold up, zoom out McGee." Not about to question his request, McGee quickly pulled the image back before Tony pointed to the back of the assembled onlookers. "There."

"Why doesn't she seem surprised?" McGee asked, the dubious tone in his voice audible to everyone.

"Because I think it's safe to say she's in on it." Tony replied, as his eyes alighted on the platinum blonde's face as she casually backed away from the scene of the fight. "At least, she obviously knows something. What's the name for our blonde friend?"

Pulling up her image about the same time he pulled up the dorm directory, they had their answer as both pictures synced up a few seconds later. "Margaret Thetford."

End Notes: Vergil1989: UGH! Lol this chapter was kicking my ass from start to finish, but we finally got it done. I'm happy with it overall, although it could have been better admittedly. Meh, I'll hopefully get it together for the next three parts of this 'case', but between some RL stuff and just having inspirational issues, it could have been far worse truth be told. Still, I hope you guys and gals approve of the effort and that we hear from you all soon regarding your thoughts/impressions/etc. And Nomad-117, if not for his assistance, I probably'd still be stuck on the first page, so shout outs to him. D Adios!