𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 ━━ 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐳𝐳𝐨

FIFTY ONE | rather attractive

"This is killing me. I feel like I know him."

Ziva stares at the plasma screen with a tilted head and squinted eyes where a picture of Lieutenant Roy Sanders, our latest case, is displayed.

"Mossad?"

"Maybe."

"A one-night stand you can't get out of your head?"

She snaps around, lifting up a bent paper clip.

"I can kill you eighteen different ways with this paper clip." The liaising agent threatens.

Unaffected, I roll my eyes. "You can, but you won't."

"And why is that?" She cocks a brow.

"I'm the only one who keeps you sane in this office building." I file the edges of my nails. "With the constant masculine bickering going on, you'd be locked up in an asylum before you can say insane."

The paper clip drops from between her fingertips, landing on her desk. With an aggravated sigh, she sits down in her chair.

"Ducky find out what's wrong with Lieutenant Sanders, boss?" Tony calls out to him.

"No, he's still examining him." He settles down at his desk. "Thinks it could be radiation poisoning."

"Do we know how he was exposed?"

"No, but he's got a high-risk job as an inspector of the I.A.E.A.."

"International Atomic Energy Agency."

Ziva props her chin on her hand. "I wonder if he's been to Israel." When she turns around, she's met by Gibbs' curious stare. "I feel like I know him from somewhere."

"Is this guy. . .you know, contagious?" Tony's hand touches the back of his head, checking for any clumps of missing hair.

"McGee better hope not." Gibbs shrugs.

"He's rather attractive, don't you think?"

"Sanders?"

"No, McGee — yes, Sanders."

After returning from Autopsy, Gibbs assigns me and Ziva to follow the lieutenant to his reserved room in Bethesda.

So the fun begins.

After situating Sanders in the patient intensive care room, the doctor arrives to give the lieutenant some medication to start off treatment.

"The pigment, Prussian blue, has been applied by artists since the 1700s. It was used by Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso."

The lieutenant stares down at the plastic cup, examining the two massive pills. "And me."

"How long until it takes effect?"

"About 24 hours." The doctor estimates. "Prussian blue works best when it's used or taken as a preventative measure before exposure or right after."

"Well, that's not exactly the case." I clear my throat.

"Exactly. So in the meantime, let's see if you can replace the fluids you lost without an I.V.. We prefer oral feeding to maintain the integrity of your gut."

"My gut has integrity."

"So does my spleen."

Dr. Hass interrupts the two. "Now, you can eat anything you want just so long as it's low microbial. But no drinking and no smoking."

"Is that all?"

"One more thing." He lifts a single finger. "We need to keep his stress levels down."

"Yeah, that's not going to be easy at all."