Jethro Gibbs scowled as he was greeted by Admiral Cyclone. Behind the special agent was Anthony–Tony–DiNozzo and Abby Scuito. Tony grimaced at the San Diego heat and adjusted his sunglasses while Abby twirled her black parasol. Gibbs shook Cyclone's hand and the D.C. NCIS agents were escorted to their base of operations. He smiled upon seeing Callen before frowning again at the pictures of the deceased aviator. As a former military officer, Gibbs always hated when one of their own was murdered, whether it be by the enemy or their own country. Gibbs always went all in into solving murder cases for NCIS. It was the least he could do after his service.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked.

"Yes, Boss?" Tony perked up and looked at the older agent.

"Help Abby set up." Tony gave him a thumbs up. He turned to Callen. "What do we have?" Both looked at the screen that showed Neil's file. Neil had been only 34 years old. Gibbs deeply sighed.

"Lieutenant Neil Vikander was killed in his home. The entire house was ransacked. The killer was looking for something that clearly wasn't there. They left a message on the wall," the screen changed to the photo of the bloody message, "and they most likely used gloves because we found no fingerprints."

"Any witnesses?" Gibbs glanced over at Callen.

"No. His WSO, Lieutenant Basset, found his body. She's shaken, but we've questioned her and most of the other aviators." Callen crossed his arms over his chest. "All said the same thing. Lieutenant Vikander was an easy going guy and everyone loved him. Sure, there were some rivalries, but I don't think any fellow aviator would kill him."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. "We can't rule that out. All too often it's a fellow officer." And that was a sickening thought.

"We did find something out!" Nell spoke up from her computer. "Our victim did have an argument with a Kalvin Markowitz. He works as a civilian instructor. He does research for the military and in turn relays it to the aviators." As Nell spoke, Eric brought up Kalvin's file. "He hasn't been to work in about nine weeks."

"And I sent Deeks and Kensi to ask Julia Henderson some questions. We worked it out to find she was the last person to see Lieutenant Vikander alive," Sam Hanna finished, stepping to stand next to Callen. "We've made a buddy system rule for everyone and the officers are strongly suggested to stay on base until we get this solved."

"Then what are we waiting standing around here for?" Gibbs asked, throwing his empty coffee cup in the trash. "Let's get out there before this killer has a chance to strike again." He swiftly walked away to find Tony. They had a man to question.

"So, this is where this Kalvin guy lives?" Tony raised an eyebrow and stared at the plain looking military house. "I'd have him figured for someone living in a not so navy home," Tony shrugged. The sun had begun to set beyond the horizon and the moon was rising.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and knocked on the door of the house. A man about six feet answered the door. He had brown hair and brown scruff. He wore a simple blue and white plaid shirt and jeans. "Special Agents Gibbs, NCIS," he flashed his badge, "we need to ask you a few questions. May we come in?"

"Of course, Special Agent," Kalvin smiled, opening the door for the two to walk in. "What can I help you with?" Concern flashed in his blue eyes. "Coffee?" he offered, but neither agent accepted. Gibbs and Kalvin sat in the living room while Tony looked around at the pictures and outside at the lawn.

"I understand you knew Lieutenant Neil Vikander?" Gibbs asked, looking at Kalvin.

"Yeah, I knew Neil. We were buddies. Why? What happened?" Kalvin asked with forced composure. "Is he okay?" He looked from Gibbs to Tony.

"He's been killed," Gibbs bluntly told the civilian. "Before he died, you and him had an argument. What was that about?"

Kalvin sat back and covered his mouth, eyes wide with horror. "My God. Do you know who did it?" He asked, and Gibbs shook his head. Tony noticed something in the open garage but said nothing. "Neil and I had our spats, but I'd neve kill him!" Kalvin defended. "He went on this top secret mission which was sketchy to me, and I warned him about how dangerous it could be, being top secret and all. I didn't want to lose him, ya'know?" Tony and Gibbs shared a look. No one told them about a mission.

Gibbs nodded. He did understand. In the Marines, Gibbs lost a lot of friends to dangerous missions. "That will be all for now. If you think of anything else, let us know.' He left his card on the table and left the house with Tony on his tail.

"Boss," he whispered to Gibbs, "I saw something in the garage. It was a pair of work gloves with dark patches on them. From the angle and distance, I couldn't tell if it was dirt or blood." Gibbs grit his teeth.

"Go. I'll go back and ask–" A loud explosion cut the older agent off. "What the hell was that!?" Their killer must have struck again. His phone started blowing up with phone calls. "What?" Gibbs snapped, answering it.

"Gibbs." It was Callen. "We need you and Tony back here, stat. There's been an accident." Gibbs could hear screaming in the background. "Our killer got close to the base. We may have lost Lieutenants Lennox and Garcia."

"Shit. DiNozzo, we have to go now!" Tony looked momentarily confused before dropping the gloves and running over to the car. "There's been an attack near the base."

—

Payback's world crashed and burned the minute Harvard turned the ignition in his car. Harvard had offered to drive Payback and Fanboy home from the Hard Deck. Harvard and Yale were the designated drivers and didn't drink. Halo was forced to come by Hangman and Fritz, which was a surprise. Nobody pegged those three to be friends. Rooster and Mav had been catching up with Penny and Amelia while Coyote, Phoenix, and Bob played pool. Miranda challenged the Kazansky twins to darts. By the time it was time to go, everyone else had cleared out and the moon shone brightly in the sky.

Coyote and Payback were supposed to ride with Harvard and the others minus Rooster, Miranda, Adam, Derek, and Maverick would ride with Yale. But Coyote was talking to Hangman and Bob wanted to ask Payback a question so Harvard and Fanboy got in the car. When Harvard started the car, it blew it. The blast threw Payback back and he felt the fire burn his side. His head hit the pavement and it all went black.

-----

Goose and Omaha playing cards: Oh, welcome! More godchildren!

Fanboy and Harvard: What?

Omaha: Oof, you died? Welp, meet Goose. Mav's former RIO and Roo's dad and our godson because apparently if a pilot has a child adopted or otherwise their RIO/WSO automatically become a godparent.

Fanboy and Harvard: O-O

Omaha: Wanna play UNO? We have DOS, but we don't talk about DOS.

-----

Hey guys!

I don't apologize. I am determined to make y'all cry. Anyway! Kudos and comments are appreciated. I love hearing from you all!

Have a wonderful day!

~Kat