Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or anything associated with it. No money is being made from this work. Also, I messed around with the NCIS timeline. So, there will be familiar elements, they just may not be in the order, or context from the actual show. Additionally, this is an AU and slight crossover story. So, please, no attacks about how this didn't happen in the show, or that this character "would never do that." Finally, if you are a fan of Abby, McGee, Ziva, or Gibbs, be prepared for slight (but not continual) character bashing.

Fiction (n) – invention or fabrication as opposed to fact.

Chapter 3: The First Few Cases

Tony's team had officially been at work for about six-months now, and he could safely say that the trial period was over. When they first began, Gibbs and his team and done their very best to alienate them. Even going to so far as to get off of the elevator or leave a room if a member of Tony's team was present.

Eventually, what Gibbs, his team, and the rest of NCIS came to realize was that Tony's team was shockingly proficient and unusually close. They had their own inside jokes, they seemed to always know what the others were thinking, and their spirit animals were oddly protective of one another.

Jimmy had explained to Ducky (who then explained to Abby and Gibbs and a few others) that the closeness had come as a result of the team dinner Tony had called right before they all began. Jimmy admitted to Ducky that every member of the team had been required to share two secrets: one that no one else in the world knew, and one that (if found out) would probably result in that person being sent to jail, Gitmo, or the nearest psychiatric hospital. Jimmy also explained that there were no secrets on the team, and that Tony had an open-door policy.

Ducky was impressed. As an outsider looking in, he had seen the closeness of the new MCRT-SAC, a closeness that helped them handle their cases quickly and efficiently, and he subconsciously wished more teams at NCIS would take note. Ducky was actually on his way to give Gibbs and his team some news about his most recent hit and run victim when he saw this closeness in action yet again.

Tony was walking the down the stairs from MTAC when he yelled "Campfire!" Immediately, all the members of his team rolled into a circle, and all the members of other teams (including Gibbs') began sneakily trying to watch/listen. When Tony was the lead while Gibbs was "on vacation" he had tried to institute this activity with McGee and Ziva (with little luck). With his own team, his "campfires" had helped him solve 9 of their 15 cases…and everyone at NCIS was amazed at some of the things they'd heard during the "campfires" as well.

"Want me to call Lisa and Jimmy boss?" Matt asked.

"Yep. I need all hands on deck." Tony replied. By the time the two arrived, Tony was in his chair, and he had pulled up two extra chairs for them.

"Oh campfires! I love campfires!" Lisa exclaimed. She was weird, but they all liked it, and the team would rain hell over anyone who gave her trouble.

"Listen up, we have a new case and it's weird." Tony explained.

"I like weird. Weird's all I've got. That and my sweet style." Richard said.

"Jenn, I told you not to introduce Richard to 'The IT Crowd.'" Tony sounded exasperated.

"It was either that or take him to the shooting range." Jenn explained.

"No!" Deborah exclaimed, "The last time we took him to the shooting range we almost all got arrested."

"It was an honest mistake…" Richard sounded sad.

"You shot out the owner's tires after you profiled him and realized that he beat his wife." Jimmy said.

Richard still looked sad, "It was an honest mistake, I was aiming for his gas tank."

"Which is why you're not allowed on a gun range until you calm that shit down." Matt responded.

Richard blew him a kiss. Matt gave him the finger.

"Anyway..." Tony continued, "Weird case. Just for us. Someone is smuggling RB-12."

"What's RB-12? What's so weird about smuggling it? And why us?" Richard asked.

"RB-12 is Reception Blocker-12, it's a psychoanalytical drug used to split a person from their spirit animal. It's a highly controlled substance, and it's illegal for anyone except for a federal agency to have it. It's weird, because it's being smuggled in books. And it's us because the people who may be smuggling it may be using navy aircraft carriers to do so." Tony answered.

"Why does something like that even exist?" Richard continued his questioning. As an Anom, he didn't have a spirit animal, so he was useful for cases like these. His thinking helped the other members of the team put things in perspective.

"There are medical precedencies for it." Lisa explained. "If a person is having a major surgery, or someone is severely hurt, you can petition to use it to spare your animal any pain."

"Ok," Richard nodded, "but since the word 'smuggled' was used, it's probably safe to assume that it's not being used for medical reasons. That leads to my next question, what else can it do?"

That stumped the team. They all sat back and started silently running through other reasons someone might want to be mentally separated from their spirit animal.

"Well…" Deborah said uneasily, running her fingers through Rocco's fur, and glancing around the bullpen. She was aware of others listening in to their "campfire," and she wasn't sure how much of a light she was about to shine on herself. "If a person wanted to do something dangerous, or something self-harmful, it's a good way to block that negativity from your animal…"

"And…" Tony picked up her train of thought and immediately tried to shift attention away from her, "if someone wanted to pressure someone else into doing some dangerous or self-harmful, it's a good way to ensure they would get little interference from their animal."

It was so quiet could one could hear a pin drop in the bullpen. This drug could essentially turn a person into a soulless automaton, capable of almost anything. That…was not good.

"Ok," Tony said definitively, "First things first, Jimmy and Lisa, we need to find out who can make RB-12, who can distribute RB-12, why are books a viable method of smuggling it, and what are the conditions that the drug needs to be kept in to remain potent. Next, Debs and Jenn, find out who could make the most money from having a drug like this on the streets, and who legitimate buyers and sellers may be. Finally, Matt and Richard, you guys get to come with me and we're going to look at the books that we already have in evidence to see if we can get anything off of them."

"Got it boss!" They all replied. Then the campfire broke and everyone started his or her task.