"Puchalski, DiNozzo grab your gear." Gibbs stalked passed stopping momentarily at his desk to grab his sidearm before heading towards the elevator.

"What we got bossman?" Tony asked scrambling to get his bag and gun and follow behind Gibbs. Puchalski was right behind him looking decidedly more collected.

"Work DiNozzo." Stated Gibbs as the elevator doors closed and they started their decent to the garage.

"Newbie, newbie, newbie don't anger the bossman." Puchalski smirked.

"What angers him?" Tony looked to the younger but more experienced agent. From what Tony knew about Luis Puchalski's past which was very little, he had been discharged - honourably or not Tony did not know - from the Marines and neither Puchalski or Gibbs were exactly forthcoming about how he came to be a part of NCIS. Luis was young, cocky and Tony had seen that he could have authority issues, somehow he had the respect of Gibbs and Tony was dying to know how he'd earned that.

"It'd be easier to list what doesn't." Puchalski laughed and out of the corner of Tony's eye he could see a smirk from Gibbs.

___________________________________________________________


"Tony, get the fire escape.  Kate, with me.  McGee, start jamming." Gibbs yelled, McGee hunkered down using the car as cover while the other three took off running into the alley beside the building Ari's cell were using as a base.

Tony started his ascent up the fire escape located just in front of the door Gibbs and Kate were preparing to go through. His lungs burned, he knew it was far too soon to be back at work. There was a big difference between feeling 100% at home doing nothing to jumping around trying to apprehend terrorists.

Kate and Gibbs burst through the door to be confronted with gunfire, Tony could hear the bullets fly as he neared the roof. He however did not hear the flight of Ari's bullet as it sailed through the air catching him and boring a hole through his clothing, flesh and bone. Searng pain was the last thing he felt as he fell, the sound of his body hitting the pavement masked by the flare of the drone.

"Boss, they fired the drone!" McGee yelled, watching the sky.

"Jam it, McGee!" Gibbs bounded up the stairs to the top level, just one staircase in the far corner to be navigated and then he and Kate would be on the roof. A bullet tore through the wooden post inches in front of him, returning fire Gibbs dodged behind a crate that was being used as a coffee table as Kate came up the stairs.

McGee sat huddled beside the car "I can do this, I can do this." He tried to convince himself. He knew his technical ability, he was more than capable of this but he'd never been in a situation such as this. MIT had never prepared him for this, they didn't offer computing under fire as a class.

Kate backed her way up the last of the stairs still anticipating gunfire from below. Gibbs was pressed against the door awaiting DiNozzo's assessment from his position.

"DiNozzo! What've we got on the roof?" Gibbs spoke harshly, receiving only silence in return. He turned to kate, seeing the worry in her eyes. "Guess we're going in blind."

The roof door flew open as Gibbs and Kate burst through guns drawn. Gibbs dove as shots came from his left, Kate jumped back careful not to go tumbling back down the stairs. Gibbs using the door for cover, shot blindly in the direction of the initial shots. When no return fire came Kate darted her head out. One dead terrorist.

There was still one left, partly using the stolen transmitter as a shield. Kate dropped the shotgun she carried, taking her sidearm and cocking it she circled around the makeshift workstation to get a clear shot. Gibbs followed suit and soon they had the last of the cell cornered. With blatant disregard for his life he reached for a pistol but the shots from both Gibbs and Kate got to him first. The two agents breathed in relief for a few seconds.

"McGee, this thing is still flying!" Gibbs shouted, looking down from his perch on the rooftop to the car McGee was huddled behind. Shots were still coming from somewhere below them.

"Boss, one of them shot my transmitter!" McGee's voice rang out from Gibbs' earpiece. "Destroy the other and it'll bring the drone down!" The shots from below stopped as Gibbs took his shotgun and aimed at the transmitter.

The single shot seemed deafening in the relative silence.

"McGee?" Kate spoke.

"I'm good, finally got him." Came the response.

Kate walked to the edge of the fire escape looking over the edge she saw Tony's prostrate body. "Gibbs!" She yelled, turning to face Gibbs.

Gibbs' head shot up from where he had been inspecting the transmitter to see Kate, head turning in his direction. He walked to her position, looking over the edge. "McGee, Tony is down! Fire escape!" There was a whoosh and Gibbs turned to see Kate fall back, blood splattered behind her. A single gun shot wound in the centre of her forehead.

__________________________________________________________

"I'm putting in for a transfer." Luis stood over Gibbs' desk.

"Not accepted, you're on my team Puchalski." Gibbs spoke without looking up from the file he was reading.

"Listen it's not really my choice, Monica just found out she's pregnant and she wants me somewhere less bullet ridden." Luis shrugged, resigned to his fate. "I've passed the paperwork up to the Director." Turning around Luis sat at his desk.

"Sorry man." Tony looked over towards Lucas as he prepared for the day. They'd been a team for almost two years, Luis had only been seeing Monica for seven months.

"I'll miss dodging bombs and bullets with you guys but i'm having a kid so I can't really complain." The sad smile on his face said something else. Truthfully he wasn't ready, he loved his job. The adventure and danger appealed to him more than minivans and diapers that was for sure.

"I told you that women were more trouble than they're worth." That got a smirk from Luis, he turned to smile at Gibbs.

"After which divorce did you learn this Gibbs?" Tony sure had come a long way since he had first joined NCIS going on two years prior.
__________________________________________________________

Gibbs walked rainsoaked into autopsy, the doors soft hiss sounding so loud in the silent room. A single overhead lamp illuminated the table that Kate now lay on, covered with a single loose sheet protecting her modesty.

"An awful night Jethro." Ducky looked up from his hunched position next to Kate's head, her blank eyes staring. Ducky moved the sheet higher, covering her face.

"You should've brought in another ME Duck." Gibbs strode over to the table, grabbing a stool on his way. Placing the stool down he sat on the opposite side of the table from Ducky, conversing over the top of Kate's unmoving body.

"I couldn't." A sad grimace flashed across the doctors face as he looked down at the sheet where Kate's eyes stared almost through the cotton. "Not for Caitlin." Ducky looked up from the table and in what seemed like such a sudden move, stood and walked to a counter top. "I had DiNozzo's doctor send me his films to look over. A nice man, met him once at a conference in San Diego." Ducky let out a soft chuckle. "Funny story when we checked into the…"

"Duck." Gibbs interrupted impatiently.

Ducky sighed a look of sympathy on his face, he placed an x-ray on the light screen. "It does not look very good Jethro. The bullet entered through his left hip and lodged itself in his pelvis. Most of the damage looks to be from his fall though." Ducky put up a series of x-rays. "His second lumbar vertebrae is completely shattered, the first lumbar and twelfth thoracic have significant fractures." Looking from the light screen to Gibbs, Ducky announced. "It's doubtful he will walk again Jethro." Taking two films down he replaced them with two others. "A large skull fracture, three broken ribs, a punctured lung, lacerated spleen and internal bleeding. He should be dead Jethro."

"He's too singlemided to figure that out. He'll be fine Duck."

Ducky ignored the comment. "He's in surgery right now, they will most likely remove his spleen and patch up the internal injuries before moving on to his vertebral column, pinning together what they can." Turning from the light screen Ducky leaned against the wall, folding his arms. "He certainly wont be able to return to field duties Jethro. If he even returns at all."

Gibbs nodded before stalking out of autopsy heading to MTAC to consult with the director.

__________________________________________________________

Luis leaned against the bar, surveying the crowd as music thumped an unintelligible rhythm throughout the club. His attention turned to the man standing next to him as he leaned over, lips softly touching Luis' ear as he spoke.

"I don't see Bernadetti, you sure he's here?"

An annoyed look came over Puchalski's face as he turned to his companion. "We followed him in here, unless you were too busy staring at my ass to notice."

His partner scoffed before turning around to the bartender. "Due vetri di acqua." The bartender nodded and set about getting the drinks.

"There he is." Luis motioned with his head to a table on the upper level looking down on the bar and the throbbing crowd. "Come on Fletcher, let's get this over with."

As Luis pushed off the bar his partner grabbed his wrist, pulling him back. "Come on Puchalski, just one drink. What kind of a first date is this if you won't even have a drink."

The wide cheeky grin Luis was faced with almost made him waver. "Seb, we're on a case not a date."

"Does that mean you're not gonna put out?"

"Sebastian Fletcher that petty officer up there is wanted, not after we have a drink. Now. Do you have any idea the amount of strings the Director had to pull with the Italian authorities to let us deal with him?" With that Puchalski stalked off through the heaving crowd to a stairway almost hidden in the darkness, Fletcher following closely behind - grin never leaving his face.


_____________________________________________________________

Gibbs walked into MTAC, the room was packed and the screens filled with an empty desert road. Locating the director Gibbs sat on the step next to his chair.

"I want a protection detail at the hospital covering DiNozzo." Gibbs wasted no time on pleasantries, this was not a very pleasant night.

"I've already sent agents Sutton and Davis, they will coordinate with hospital security." Only now did the Director look from the dominating screen to Jethro. "Has there been any word on his condition?"

Gibbs turned to look from the Director, watching as a flurry of activity erupted around them and a vehicle could be seen entering the previously baron desert road. In the clatter of noise from the unusually busy room a loud explosion cut through, mirrored on the screen as the vehicle burst into flames. The rabble died down as the target was confirmed as hit and the room erupted into applause.

"Ducky says it's unlikely he'll walk again." A look of sorrow passed over the Director's face. "He's an asset though Director, in the field or not." Gibbs stated.

The Director's tongue met his cheek as he nodded, eyes on the floor. "That Jethro, is an argument you will have to take up with the new Director of NCIS." Gibbs' eyes widened in surprise before following the Director's eyeline to a familiar face.

"Just what I need." Gibbs remarked, the Director silently excused himself, pausing only to pat Jethro on the shoulder and quickly shake the new Director's hand.

"Is that so Special Agent Gibbs?" Jenny Shepherd's superior voice rang out and Gibbs could only think of the last time he'd seen her. She'd been in a place of submission rather than her new position of power.

"I've got one agent in the hospital and another…I need help not a walk down memory lane Director." Gibbs stood, towering over Shepherd.

"I understand Jethro, so what do you need?" She tried to placate him.

"A little help, all I have is McGee and he's green." Gibbs knew that McGee was good, he was smart and bridged a gap between the scientific side of their work and the investigative. The problem was that he really was still a probie. He was not ready to take on the responsibility that would be expected of him.

"I'll have someone sent over to help with the investigation. I hear Agent Cassidy has just landed at Norfolk, I'll have her report to you before I find someone more permanent."

"There's no investigation Jen, I'm going to find Ari and kill the son of a bitch."

"Gibbs you have no proof he is at fault, none of your agents saw him pull a trigger. I want an investigation not a vengeance fuelled killing spree."

"It was him, I know it was him." Gibbs turned on his heel and walked away, McGee and Balboa should have returned from canvasing the scene by now.

"Oh Gibbs, i'm really sorry about Todd and DiNozzo, from what I hear they were exceptional agents."

"DiNozzo still is Director." Jen nodded, this was sure to be something she would hear about later.

"Has his family been contacted?"

"His father has been informed, he said to be informed if funeral arrangements are required." Jethro walked out of MTAC leaving the Director alone in her new domain.

_____________________________________________________________

The morning had been quiet for Luis Puchalski, after the previous night's escapades in tracking down Petty Officer Bernadetti the required paperwork came as a relief. The bust had been clean, Bernadetti had caused no trouble and confessed to drugs smuggling without a push. It was almost too easy.

The outing had been a first for the new junior agent Fletcher, having recently been assigned to Puchalski to learn the ropes. He was a cocky little shit but then he always had been even when they'd served together in the Corps. They had taken very different paths yet somehow both ended up at NCIS. Luis because he had caught the eye of a senior agent, willing to help a kid out. Seb had always wanted to serve his country but after issues involving a not so empty room, Luis Puchalski and a whole lot of nakedness he and Luis had been forced out of the Marines. He had then joined the police force, honing his investigative craft until a job opportunity within NCIS fell into his lap while working on the homicide of a young woman who had been dating a naval officer.

Fletcher looked over to Luis, watching his piercing blue eyes stare at his computer screen. They had both been stationed at Camp LeJeune, Seb when we was 19 and Luis when he was 21. Fletcher had been headstrong and felt older than his years, but never thinking of the consequences of his own actions. Luis had been similar though very different. While Seb had always been very independent, Luis had been very family orientated, very close with his mother especially but always wanting to live up to his father's - a fellow Marine - expectations.

The phone was shrill and blended in with the noise of the office, Fletcher lazily picked up the receiver. "Fletcher." Was all that was said other than some vague grunts and 'mmm's. Shrugging as he put the phone down he swivelled in his chair. "You, senior field agent Puchalski are wanted for an MTAC conference." Seb tried to look as uninterested as possible, spinning in his chair for a few turns before stopping himself as he became more and more dizzy.

Luis stretched and locked his computer - he'd learned to do that six hours after being reacquainted with Seb, after he returned from the head to find some quite inappropriate pictures gracing his screen. He made his way towards the video conferencing room contemplating the reason behind his summons. "Punch it up." He spoke as soon as he entered the room.

Jenny Shepherd's face appeared from MTAC, he'd seen her last in Lublin where he'd acted as translator - his Polish roots coming in useful for the European field office.

"Madame Director, you look well." She smiled wanly on the video screen.

"I want you and Fletcher here at HQ."

"Is there an issue with the Bernadetti case?" Luis asked confused. It was the only case he'd worked on fully with Fletcher.

"Flights have been booked, we need you here ASAP."

"Can I ask why?"

"Gibbs' team has just lost two members, agent Todd was killed in action and agent DiNozzo is incapacitated."

"Is he alright?"

"Your flight to Frankfurt is in eight hours, that should leave you time to pack. You'll fly on to Washington from there." With that the screen went blank and Luis stood dumbfounded. He always knew he'd see Gibbs again but he didn't think it would be under these circumstances.

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

Gibbs hated hospitals, there was a distinct smell that disgusted him. He knew it was sanitary but it just seemed like the worst environment to be in to heal.

Sighting agent Sutton sitting by a closed door Gibbs made his way over to him before being intercepted by Colin Davis, two styrofoam cups in his hands.

"Gibbs." Sympathetic, Gibbs was getting tired of that. "They brought him back from surgery an hour or so ago." Gibbs nodded striding past Davis and not even acknowledging Daniel Sutton who rose from his seat upon Gibbs' approach.

Jethro opened the door revealing a small dark hospital room, dominated by a large gurney. If either Sutton or Davis had thought to follow Gibbs into the room they were cut off as Gibbs shut the door as soon as he entered, it slammed loudly in the quiet room. Gibbs almost expected DiNozzo to rise at the sound but he didn't, the only sounds came from the various machines surrounding the prone agent. A static silence pierced by beeps and whirrs. The beeping confirmation of a heartbeat came as a comfort. The small window at the far end of the room provided little light.

The sheet covering DiNozzo camouflaged most of the injuries Ducky had listed, only a scrape on one cheek and a crisp clean bandage on Tony's head were visible.

Gibbs didn't know quite what to do, he had not been prepared for the fact that Tony would not be his usual self upon his arrival. Moving to stand at the foot of the bed Gibbs took Tony's chart from its cubby, flicking through the pages without understanding what was written.

He walked to the window, looking out at a courtyard below. White coats striding confidently, dressing gowns and slippers shuffling. The patients stubborn struggle to simply make it from one side of a courtyard to the other seemed so poignant. Turning, Gibbs looked to the prostrate figure on the bed. There would be no struggling shuffle for DiNozzo. Jethro's head dropped in sorrow, he had witnessed so much hurt and death in his time but the demise of Kate, the debilitation of Tony was more heartrending than any of his other fallen comrades.

Looking around the room once more Gibbs pondered, from Ducky's assessment DiNozzo was sure to be spending a great deal of time in this room - if not this room then one very similar. He made a mental note to have Ducky or someone pass by Tony's apartment and pick up a few essentials. But what would he consider essential upon waking? Knowing DiNozzo it would be A Clockwork Orange.

Gibbs walked over to DiNozzo, his face largely covered by an oxygen mask. Fogging and a light rise and fall of his chest confirmed breath still flowed in and out of his still frame. Jethro bent, whispering to the unconscious agent. "You are under strict orders DiNozzo. Get better and get back to work."

Gibbs stood and stalked back to the door, throwing it open and startling Sutton in the process.

When Gibbs emerged from the hospital he fumbled with his cell phone, switching it on as he walked towards where his NCIS issue car was parked. The phone sprang to life, lighting up with McGee's name.

"McGee." Gibbs answered the phone as he located the car keys and unlocked the car from a distance. He listened to McGee on the other end for a few seconds as he approached the car. "I'm on my way." Jethro snapped the phone shut, opened the driver side door and threw the phone onto the passenger side seat before throwing himself into his own seat.

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

"I hate flying." Fletcher stretched and pulled the headphones around his neck, he'd been watching the inflight movie for only a few seconds. Luis slammed his book down in annoyance and turned to the junior agent.

He had been given mere hours to pack up his life in Naples and he was beginning to get a little short with his companion. Too many times had he been required to suddenly up and leave with just a moments notice. It was irritating and having to play babysitter made it all the worse.

"Shouldn't you be more annoyed than me?"

"At what?"

"You've just moved to Italy, and now you are ordered back to the States. I'm annoyed."

"I hadn't really unpacked." Fletcher shrugged. "Just been grabbing stuff out of boxes and cases as I need them."

Luis sighed in annoyance again, finding that answer even more irritating. Seb was always so put together and well dressed, like he took a lot of care over his appearance. The fact he was living out of unpacked boxes made this feat quite impressive. That is why Puchalski was annoyed, Fletcher put so little effort into looking effortlessly good. Bastard. Irritating bastard.

Sebastian Fletcher was an enigma, Luis decided. He couldn't really be considered good looking, but he exuded such an air of confidence and charisma that men and women tended to fall at his feet. Luis himself had fallen victim to his charm. Seb was one of the only people in the world that could pull off any outfit and make it look in style. On the stop over at Frankfurt Luis had imagined him in lederhosen. He wasn't proud of it, not only for the weirdness but also for the fact that they were no where near Bavaria.

Luis closed his eyes tight at the remembered image, his face scrunching along with his eyes.

"Were you thinking of me naked again?" Seb was grinning when Luis' eyes flew open to glare. "So are you a member of the mile-high club?" Fletcher leered.

"Yes now shut up and watch your stupid movie." Puchalski spat, opening his book and flicking through the pages to where he had been previously reading. Fletcher snorted out a laugh and did as he was told, taking the headphones from around his neck and rearranging them on his head.

Gibbs walked into the bullpen spotting McGee in a far corner gesturing to agent Balboa as Balboa in turn shrugged back. Gibbs made his way over only to be stopped, seeing an unfamiliar woman sitting behind Kate's desk. She was dressed in fatigues, one elbow on the desk while resting her head on her hand looking exasperated at McGee and Balboa.

"Boss!" McGee yelled seeing Gibbs approach. The woman's head spun in his direction before jumping up and thrusting her hand out.

"Ziva David. Mossad." Gibbs assessed the woman before him but ignored the outstretched hand.

McGee rushed over to the two as they stood almost sizing each other up.

"She's Ari's control officer."

"And I am here to stop you from murdering a Mossad agent."

"Unless you have an army hidden in one of those pockets, I don't think you are going to stop me."

"What evidence do you have that proves Ari is at fault here. From what I have heard it seems more likely that you missed a member of the cell Ari was undercover in and they shot your agents." Ziva looked up seeing the Director descend the stairs. "Shalom Jen."

Shepherd moved to Ziva, kissing her cheek. "Shalom."

A muted ringing interrupted and Ziva grabbed for a cell phone hidden in a pocket at her thigh.

"Mah nishmah?" Ziva moved off, away from the ears of Gibbs and Shepherd.

"What the hell is she doing here Jen?" Gibbs turned accusingly at the Director.

"Jethro she is protecting her man, just like you would be if the situation was reversed."

"None of my people are homicidal."

"Except you perhaps Jethro."

"I'm not homicidal Jen." GIbbs sighed. "I just want revenge, and if that means killing the man that shot Gerald and me, and if my gut is right Tony and Kate as well then so be it."

"Gibbs all i'm asking for is some evidence, a hint of proof that it was Ari in that snipers nest."

"Abby is working on it."

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

The music was pumping a harsh beat into the lab as Abby bounced a caffeinated jig in front of her computer.

Three large Caff-Pow containers sat on the table behind her and a series of rifles were stacked up to her right. On the large screen - a mirror of the one she was currently jigging in front of - was a series of pictures.

"What've you got Abs?"

"How's Tony."

"Still out. So What do you have?"

"I recovered two bullets from the car that match the rifle casings found in the snipers nest. Lapua.308's. I was able to confirm that the bullet recovered from Tony was fired from the same gun as them." The screen blinked off when Abby pressed a few keys, she swivelled around and addressed the series of rifles. "The FBI database gave me six weapons whose rifling patterns fit the bullets. I've been able to eliminate all but three: the Tango-51, Bravo-51 and-"

"A Marine M3-A1 sniper rifle." Gibbs interrupted, hand hovering over said weapon. "Don't tell me he was hand-loading and moly-coating?"

"Yeah, I found traces of molybdenum disulphide. How did you know?"

"I used hand-loaded Lapua.308, boattail, full metal jacket, moly-coated bullets as a sniper." A sudden realisation came across Gibbs' face. "Have McGee run a trace on Bravo-51 sales, last six weeks in the tristate area."

"Sure Gibbs." Abby turned back to her screen, her screen coming back to life as she typed furiously, teeth gnawing at her bottom lip. "Is your gut telling you something?" Abby turned to an empty room, Gibbs having left silently.

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

A flask in one hand and two mugs in his other Ducky stepped off the elevator, walking passed the nurses station, spotting the monitor for DiNozzo.T. His vitals looked good.

"I bring refreshments." Ducky cheerily announced to the weary agents sitting stoically outside Tony's room. "And news. Your replacements should be along soon."

Sutton and Davis looked relieved. Daniel stood, taking the offered flask and mugs. He sat the mugs on the ground and opened the flask, breathing deep he smelled the rich coffee.

"Doctors and nurses have been going in and out pretty steadily but there's been no emergencies." Sutton said before sitting once more.

Ducky smiled ruefully, stepping between the agents and opening the door they protected. He walked into the room, brightly lit by harsh lights and closed the door behind him.

"Oh dear boy, what have you got yourself into." Ducky sighed at the sight of DiNozzo. He was pale and drawn but looked at peace. Ducky moved to retrieve Tony's chart much like Gibbs had done hours before, only when Ducky read it's contents he fully understood what it said. It said that Tony was lucky to still be drawing breath unaided, it said he was so very lucky to still be alive. What it did not say was whether Tony would be as he was before.

Ducky knew that an injury such as his would change everything, it would dictate so much of his life. Tony was a strong character and Ducky prayed that he would come out of this unscathed, he would be the same arrogant and childish Tony.

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

"Boss." Tim spoke seeing Jethro walk over.

"What do you have McGee?" Gibbs walked up, leaning over McGee to look at the agent's screen.

"A Bravo-51 was bought ten days ago by a Harri Saawi which is an-"

"Anagram of Ari Haswari. Where?"

"Three blocks from your house Gibbs." McGee turned to Gibbs, a look of worry on his face. Everything was falling into place, Ari's use of the very same ammunition as he when he was a sniper, obtaining his weapon so close to home and the weapon itself hit so close to home.

"McGee do you know what a sniper calls a Bravo-51?" McGee shook his head. "A Kate." McGee visibly blanched. "That bastard knew we were going to trace him, he was waiting for us."

Gibbs stood in the Director's office a printout in hand, Jenny sat behind her desk while Ziva sat opposite. "A sniper’s brass is like signing your signature.  That’s why a sniper always polices his brass.  Lapua, 308 casing, boat-tail, moly-coated full metal jacket bullet." Jethro moved forward before presenting the printout to the Director.

Ziva looked up at Gibbs lazily. "That’s what you shot as a Marine sniper is it not Agent Gibbs?". To further her look of disinterest she kicked her legs up, placing her feet on the Director's desk. "At Mossad we use Sierra 6.5 hollow points."

"It is what Ari has been using to shoot my people. How do you know what I shot, Miss David?" Gibbs enquired.

Shepherd looked from the printout to the people before her desk. "She profiled you for Ari." Picking up a pen the Director prodded one of Ziva's feet prompting her to remove both from the red veneer.

"Ari’s missions involved NCIS.  As his controller I wrote dossiers on everyone he might interact with." From a bag sitting by her chair she "If he wanted you to know he is the sniper, why didn’t he use your rifle?  An M-40 no?"  
  
"The Bravo-51 he fired is called a Kate!" Gibbs exclaimed, fist pounding the desk.
   
"I still don’t believe Ari is the sniper." Ziva looked unfazed by Gibbs' outburst. "However what you have said should be investigated." 

Jenny cocked her head to one side, regarding Gibbs with curiosity. "I’m not saying you’re right, but if you are, how do we prove it?"

"We?  Did you just join my side?" Jethro smiled pleasantly at the Director, sending a brief glance to the woman sitting to his side.    

"Jethro, I’ve always been on your side. What do we do?" Shepherds sympathetic voice stung a little. He was tired of the sympathy and the pity.

"No not we, Miss David. Just set up a meet." Gibbs turned to look down at Ziva.   

"Set up Ari for you to kill?" Ziva scoffed as if offended by the thought of betraying one of her own. 

"No. Set me up for Ari. And if I’m wrong about this, he won’t show up."

"And if you’re right?" Jenny asked however Gibbs' attention stayed fixed on Mossad agent.

"Then I’ll be counting on you to back me up." A sly smile crept across Jethro's face.

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

McGee stood in front of a wall of mirrors, at least that is how it seemed to him. Finding a handle he pulled one of the mirrors and it slid to the side revealing a rack of clothes.

"Armani, Gucci, Cavalli, Versace, Hugo Boss. What a label queen." McGee muttered looking at the tags on all the shirts hung up.

"What was that McGee?" Abby's voice drifted through to the bedroom from wherever she was investigating.

"Nothing!" McGee slid the wardrobe door shut and headed off in search of Abby. "What are we even supposed to be doing here Abs?'" Finding her leafing through DVDs, all neatly stacked in a large storage unit next to a modest television. McGee looked around, DiNozzo's apartment was very neat, very unlike how he kept his desk. Everything seemed in its place here.

"We need to take him some things for while he is in the hospital." Abby looked to McGee as he studied his surroundings.

"Abby that could be quite a long time." McGee never thought of the day that Tony and Kate wouldn't be there bugging him. He was almost happy at the fact that Tony too had been injured by Ari, Tony was proving to be a good distraction from Kate.

"I know." Abby looked solemn before a smile broke out "Which is why we should take DVDs!" Abby turned back to the cabinet, closed her eyes and waved a finger around the DVDs before pointing at one, opening her eyes she reached in and removed the case. "Escape to Victory. Never heard of it, he must like it."

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

The hospital corridor was loud and that smell Gibbs could not stand still lingered. Nurses and doctors meandered up and down the hallway shoes squeaking as Gibbs sat guard outside DiNozzo's room.

"How is Agent DiNozzo doing?" Fornell sat in the chair next to Gibbs'

"If I ask you something, Tobias, are you going to lie to me?" Gibbs ignored the FBI agent's enquiry, if he had not spoken it could be perceived as Gibbs was ignoring his presence altogether with his eyes staring straight ahead.

"Depends on the question." Fornell crossed one leg over the other and brushed away some imagined lint from his suit jacket.   

"What’s Ari Haswari’s real mission here?" Gibbs leaned forward, still not looking to his companion in the brightly lit hallway.    

"I’m going to lie to you.  Mossad lies to the CIA.  They lie to us.  I lie to you.  I don’t know who you lie to, being the bottom of the armed Fed Food Chain and not married." Fornell looked to Gibbs, cracking a slight smile.  
 
"So you don’t know." Gibbs finally turned his head to look at Fornell, a look of disappointment on his face.   

"Correct.  I do not know." Fornell stood, he turned and opened the door to DiNozzo's room. Looking in at the prone agent, bandaged and bruised. "Why don't you go and rent a DVD?" Fornell spoke as if to DiNozzo.   

"You have something in mind?" Gibbs played along, this is how Fornell worked. He would never just give you the information you required, he'd point you somewhere that you could get clues if you were smart enough to discern that.       

Tobias closed the door and started to make his way towards the bank of elevators. "The Peacemaker." He threw back over his shoulder and Gibbs nodded, not that Fornell saw it.

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

Agent Cassidy walked off the elevator and into the bullpen, it looked much different to what she had been used to for the past few months. There wasn't a porthole for instance. The blonde agent made her way to where she saw McGee sitting behind a desk, he was looking at his screen intensely.

"Agent McGee." Tim looked up startled, clicking his mouse to minimise a window.

"Cassidy, h-hi!" McGee stuttered slightly.

"Looking at porn?" Paula asked, setting a backpack down in front of McGee's desk. Tim looked shocked at the accusation, but continued his skittish behaviour.

"N-no, just looking at cars." McGee stumbled out, he straightened up a calendar that sat on his desk in an attempt to calm himself.

"Okay." Paula drew out the word, an expression of disbelief on her face.

"For Tony." McGee said, looking up at Paula from his seated position. "Hand controls." His gaze lowered.

"Oh." And Cassidy's eyes matched his. "Um, I should go see the Director." Paula picked her bag up.

"Up the stairs and to your left." McGee spoke and Cassidy nodded, turning and making her way to the stairway.

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

The incessant beeping was driving Abby insane, she was perfectly happy that Tony's heart with still beeping away but did she have to be reminded of it? It was really beginning to affect her enjoyment of George Clooney.

"Gibbs?" Abby looked over the bed that held DiNozzo to Gibbs. The senior agent had phoned her while she and McGee had still been at Tony's apartment, she had grabbed some clothes, toiletries and a suitcase full of DVDs. "Can we switch Tony off for the rest of the movie, he's beeping annoying me."

Gibbs snorted but continued to watch the onscreen action taking place on the television/DVD-combi attached to the ceiling. The contraption confounded Gibbs but Abby had no problem. He realised though that he would have to talk to one of the hospital staff, there was no way DiNozzo would be able to get a DVD in there, even Abby had been on tiptoes despite the height of her platform boots.

An hour of the film passed and neither Gibbs nor Abby spoke, there silence was interrupted however by Tony. It had started as a slight twitching of his hand which Gibbs noticed but thought nothing of, then there was a groan just loud enough to be heard over the film's dialogue. That got the two visitors attention, both of their heads swinging in the direction of DiNozzo's.

"Did you let Probie drive?" Tony ground out through gritted teeth, eyes clamped tightly shut.

"Tony!" Abs yelled and made as if to hug him but stopped, knowing it would do more harm than good.

"You fell off a building DiNozzo." Gibbs said leaning over to press the call button beside the bed.

"Oh"

"Ari shot you down." Abby explained

"Well that makes me feel a bit less stupid." An eye opened slightly to look up at Gibbs"Boss?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's the morphine?"

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

"Ziva!" The director shouted down to the Mossad agent who sat once again at Kate's desk as she and Gibbs came down the stairs leading from MTAC and the Directors office. "Deputy Director David is on teleconference for you." Ziva jumped up passing Gibbs as he strode to where McGee and Cassidy sat both at McGee's desk, trying to look like they were deeply concentrated on the computer screen. Jenny turned and followed Ziva.
       
"Did they lose a nuke, Boss?" Tim asked when Gibbs was close enough that he did not need to shout to be heard.
    
"According to the Deputy Director, Israel doesn’t have nukes." Jethro remarked, watching the two women climb the stairs together. "They have a power plant in Dimona where a small amount of plutonium is missing." Gibbs turned back to his temporary team. Cassidy would only be helping on the case until the two new team members arrived. Shepherd had not been forthcoming regarding their identities.
    
"Hamas is making a bomb?" Paula asked from her position, she had taken McGee's chair and Tim himself was crouched over without a seat.
    
"They have a core.  No detonator.  Ari was to buy a Krytron trigger.  He delivers it to the Hamas cell with the plutonium." Gibbs explained looking down to see McGee shift uncomfortably.
    
"Mossad grabs him." Cassidy noted as she nodded along.
      
"Only he’s a little behind schedule.  They’re getting nervous.  Deputy Director David is up there right now ordering Ziva to cooperate."  Gibbs turned to look up at where Ziva and the Director had been.

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€" 

"I am never flying anywhere with you." Luis spat out as he departed the plane, Seb stumbling slightly while trying to get the handle of his carryon to extend.

"I hate airline food, I warned you." Having won the fight with his case Seb fought to catch up with Puchalski, who was moving at an annoyingly fast speed.

"You are a government agent, the smell of potatoes should not make you lose your lunch." Luis ground out exasperated. Fletcher simply shrugged as he stepped into line beside his partner.

The two made their way to the baggage collection area where they waited for hours it seemed. Well, for Luis it felt like hours having to listen to his companion talk about all the good things that could not be done on a plane. "I can put paper in a toilet. I can open a window or fresh air. I can go outside to get said fresh air."

"Fletcher, if only you had mentioned it earlier. I'd have thrown you through the fucking window." Luis growled, pushing through the crowd surrounding their assigned carousel to pick up one of their bags. "Listen, you stay here while I call the Director. Find out where she wants us." Puchalski dumped the case down beside Fletcher before moving off and away from the crowd.

Walking over to an unused carousel and sitting on the edge Luis pulled out his cell from his jacket pocket. Flipping the device open he dialled the Director's number before placing it to his ear. "Shepherd, Puchalski. We've landed." Luis nodded along to what he was hearing, watching as Seb pushed past a well dressed man with an apologetic smile to grab another of their bags. "Understood." Luis snapped the phone shut but stayed where he was, looking over at Fletcher.

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

Jethro made his way blindly down the stairs to his basement, the only light drifting from the low light at the top of the stairs. The basement itself was pitch-black. Gibbs switched on a solitary lamp by his workbench, placing a small bouquet of roses on the countertop. Fumbling with a lock and key he opened a hidden drawer beneath the workbench. Empty.

"Are you looking for this, Jethro?" Gibbs turned to the voice coming from the darkness, a silhouetted figure sitting, rifle in hand. "I want you to know I wish I hadn’t had to shoot Caitlin." The voice came again and Gibbs' eyes began to adjust to the darkness, more of the figure becoming clear.
    
"Why did you?" Gibbs spoke to the darkness.
    
"To cause you pain." Ari was clearly visible now, his voice no longer disembodied. "You have the misfortune of reminding me of my bastard father." Gibbs looked surprised by the explanation. All the pain Ari had caused to Gibbs and his people was because of one individual that Gibbs bore some resemblance. Gibbs knew he really was dealing with a crazed son of a bitch.
  
"He didn’t marry your mother huh?" And the best tactic when dealing with crazy people is to antagonise them. Gibbs smiled, shutting the drawer that should hold his rifle.    

"That’s what makes me a bastard, not him. From the moment of my birth, he groomed me to be one thing…his mole in Hamas. He sent me to Edinburgh to become a doctor so I could work in the Gaza camps alongside my mother. When he had her killed, I had no trouble joining the Iz Adin al-Kassam." Gibbs had seen enough movies to know that exposition was never a good thing. This was the unveiling of Ari's master plan. Of course in all of the movies he'd seen, the bad guys were defeated almost directly after their 'here's why i'm killing you speech'.
   
"You don’t really believe your father had your mother killed?"  
  
"It was a retaliatory Israeli strike on a day I was in Tel Aviv…visiting him. After decades of planning, he had his mole in Hamas. He never knew how much I hated him. I wish I could see his face when he realizes he created not a mole but a monster eager to strike at the heart of Mossad and Israel." In Gibbs' mind all he could hear was 'blah blah blah'.   

"Yeah, I almost feel sorry for you." Jethro rolled his eyes.   
 
"And I for you. When Ziva told me you were placing flowers on the roof where Caitlin died, I couldn’t believe it. Almost too good to pass up. Almost."    

"Why did you?" 'Here it comes' Jethro thought.  

"I need you to commit suicide with your own rifle. You never did give me enough credit in our game. I knew it was a trap before Ziva told me you asked her to cover you. You’d never trust Ziva. And you need to kill me to taste the sweetness of revenge." Ari stood as Gibbs started to circle around the half built boat in the centre of the room.
  
Gibbs scoffed, coming to rest at the bottom of the stairs. "I’ve killed enough men in my life, Ari. It’s going to be just sweet watching you die." Ari stood a couple of meters in front of Jethro, raising the rifle to Gibb's head.   

"Sorry to spoil your-" Ari was cut off by the shot, bullet ripping through the air and into his own head sending his falling backwards, blood pooling around him.
   
"His father is a Deputy Director in Mossad?" Gibbs spoke once again to the darkness. 
   
"Yes." Ziva said as she emerged from the doorway to the basement, descending the stairs.
    
Gibbs looked up as she walked down. "Not David?" 
   
Ziva drew level with Jethro, looking up to meet his eye. "Yes. He’s my half brother."

"Family tradition?" Gibbs turned his attention to the body lying on his basement floor and Ziva followed suit her face full of sorrow.
    
"Israeli sense of duty. At least on my part."    

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

Luis sat watching as Seb flirted with a pretty brunette nurse, swinging her hair mid giggle. He rolled his eyes. They'd been at the hospital for two hours and for an hour and a half of that time Fletcher had been hitting on every member of staff that paused.

The door beside Luis clicked open and a middle-aged man with a receding hairline emerged. "He says you can go in if you like." The doctor remarked looking down at Luis.

Puchalski stood and walked through the open door, it was the first time in over two years he'd seen his former teammate.

"You look like crap DiNozzo." Luis said as he walked over to a chair sitting by the bed, Tony was flat on his back, eyes closed, head pointing up to the ceiling. "Tony?"

"Morphine makes me sick." Tony said as an attempt at an explanation. "As long as I keep my eyes shut and don't move then I don't feel like i'm on a tilt o'whirl."

Luis breathed out a laugh. "You sure that's got nothing to do with the broken head thing?"

"Could be. Doc says i'm gonna have a set of killer wheels when I leave." Tony didn't sound bitter to Luis, just accepting.

"Yeah I heard." Luis stood and looked at the few cards that sat atop a bedside table.

"So you're my replacement? What happened to staying out of the field and settling down?" Tony cracked open an eye then immediately scrunched it shut again.

"Monica, well…the kid wasn't mine how about we put it like that." Luis shrugged, there had been cheating on both sides. "As for being your replacement, I don't think so. I'm much better looking after all." Luis laughed looking down at Tony, a soft smile spreading across his face.

"Kate would have hated you." The smile turned sad and Luis leaned down, placing his hand on Tony's.

"I'm sorry DiNozzo."

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"

It was a beautiful sunny day, Jenny stood behind Abby waiting to pay her respects to the fallen agent contained within the coffin before them.

"I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it." Jethro spoke coming up behind the Director. 

"Ari?" Shepherd asked without turning to the man behind her, as Abby moved off the Director inched forward, placing a rose atop the flag and flower covered coffin.  

"Ziva’s escorting his body to Tel Aviv." Gibbs said quietly from behind the Director, as she moved aside to let him place his own rose. "Sorry Kate."

"This wasn't your fault Jethro." Jenny placed a comforting hand on Gibbs' shoulder. "Or are you going to apologise to agent DiNozzo as well?"

"No, he gets the pleasure of returning to work with me." Gibbs turned to the Director smiling knowing that this truly was only the fault of a deadman.

McGee arrived at his desk, a police file displayed on the plasma screen which he studied intensely. This distracted Tim enough that he did not notice Luis sat behind Tony's desk.

"You must be Agent McGee." Luis smiled, trying to hold back a laugh as McGee jumped and turned to look at him. "Luis Puchalski. Newly assigned to Gibbs' team."

"Oh right, yeah. Gibbs said some people were coming to help out."

"I'm sorry about Agent Todd." Luis offered his condolences.

"Who’s the creepy guy?" Seb's voice carried across the bullpen as he walked down to where Luis was. McGee looked mildly offended as if the comment was aimed at him.

"And this is the other new addition. Sebastian Fletcher." Luis waved a hand in Fletcher's direction.   

"Kyle Boone?" McGee read from the file displayed, attention firmly set on the screen.   

"He’s an infamous serial killer." Luis sounded vaguely irritated at the two junior agents' ineptitude. "Terrorised the District in the nineties."   

"Twenty two women went missing and five bodies were found." McGee continued to read the factoids that appeared on the screen.    

"Guy only made one mistake." Luis waved the file at McGee who took it.     

"He killed a Petty Officer." McGee read now from the page.    

"This Gibbs guy caught him?" Fletcher asked picking up a stapler from Luis' desk with one hand and a hole-punch with the other only to start juggling the two objects.    

"He’s scheduled for execution on Saturday." Tim looked up from the file with wide eyes, made wider when he saw Seb's antics.   

"He wants to talk to Gibbs before they flick the switch. Got a call half an hour ago from Shepherd, Governor of Virginia is waiting to video-conference with Gibbs in MTAC."    

"Why does he want to speak to Gibbs?" McGee asked, having not found the answer in the file.    

"He claims he’s going to tell him where the bodies are." Luis placed his hands behind his head in exaggerated nonchalance.

------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Ducky." DiNozzo greeted the ME.

"You look much improved Anthony." Ducky commented and it was true, in the week since Ducky had seen Tony he had improved greatly. Looking alert from his position in the hospital bed, sitting up with the help of the raised back while reading a trashy magazine.

"You wouldn't have said that last night." DiNozzo grinned. "They took me down for an MRI, almost passed out six times while they tried to get me into the thing."

"Disorientation is normal." The older man sat next to the stricken agent.

"Yep, been given that lecture already." The words contained no malice, just a simple statement of fact. "And the one about how they need to keep prodding me every five minutes."

"How are your incisions?" Ducky asked, changing the subject.

"The ones on my stomach itch." Tony lightly stroked one hand across the bedsheets which along with the thick armour of a TLSO vest covered one such healing wound. "The staples in my back aren't exactly pleasant but I guess the painkillers are taking care of most of that. They're gonna take them out in a few hours."

"How is the pain?" Ducky enquired.

"It's better than it was, I'm just bored Duck." Tony looked down at the magazine he was now rolling up in his hands. "Got nothing to do but laze around here."

"Once you've healed up a bit then you'll have plenty to do." Ducky knew that Tony would be considerably restricted, that was the idea behind the TLSO vest. It would stop Tony from injuring his healing spinal column.

"How was the funeral?" Tony asked out of the blue. "Luis came by, said you were all there."

"It was a lovely service, I'm not one for religious gatherings. More about the people left behind than those who have passed." Tony nodded along before a yawn split his face. "I should let you rest." Ducky stood, he leaned over softly patting DiNozzo's hand. "I'll see you soon."

"Yeah Duck, see you." Tony smiled and watched the older man leave before he threw the magazine onto the bedside table and fumbled with the bed controls, lowering the bed he readied himself for another nap.

--------------------------------------------------

The elevator dinged open and Gibbs stepped into the bullpen, turning towards where his team area was situated. Sipping from his cup of coffee he noticed a familiar face and a not so familiar juggler. He was about to enquire as to why they were there when he noticed the other familiar face on the plasma screen.

"What the hell is that doing on my screen?" Gibbs' voice burst through the relative calm of what was evidently his new team.

"Governor of Virginia is waiting to speak to you in MTAC, Kyle Boone wants a meeting." Luis ignored the harsh attitude of Gibbs. This earned him an even harsher stare from the senior agent which he met. McGee looked scared as the two agents silently battled, Fletcher just continued to juggle actively ignoring the testosterone fight off to his right.

"Stop playing with my stationary." Gibbs eventually said turning and grabbing a stapler in midair, slamming it down on the desk and stalking off to MTAC.

"It's good to be back ." Luis sighed as Gibbs disappeared out of sight.

--------------------------------------------------

Gibbs stood in MTAC, the large dominating screen was currently occupied by an empty office. "I was told by your Director that you would be personally interviewing Kyle Boone this afternoon, Agent Gibbs." The disembodied voice was soon accompanied by an arm placing a mug onto the desk and then followed by the Governor himself.   

"Director Shepard was misinformed, Governor.  Talking to Kyle Boone would be a waste of time." Gibbs stated, pacing across the floor.
    
"Possibly.  But if there’s even a chance that he would reveal to you the location of his victims, we have to take it." The Governor finally sat behind the desk, looking directly into the camera lens which made it seem like he was attempting to stare down Gibbs.    

"He’s had ten years to think about it. Why the change of heart now?" Jethro sipped from his cup, surprised that it had not yet been drained. With the way his morning was going he'd be considering turning to Abby's Caff-Pow darkside.
      
"In my experience, men facing eminent death tend to re-evaluate the course of their lives.  Most seek forgiveness." The Governor removed his glasses following his statement.    

"Trust me, Sir.  Boone had a lot of interests.  Forgiveness wasn’t one of them." Gibbs shook his head.
    
"How can you be so sure?"
    
"I spent five months interrogating him." Gibbs was unwavering in his resolve.    

"That was a decade ago.  People change."    

"People, Sir.  Not Kyle Boone."  
 
"Are you refusing to meet with him?"
    
"I’m refusing to entertain a homicidal maniac who tortured and killed twenty-two women, Sir.  I have played that game before. No matter what Kyle Boone says in the next few days, come Saturday, Sir, you’re going to make sure he fries." Gibbs was adamant, he turned to leave MTAC.
    
"We all owe you a debt of gratitude for bringing him to justice, Agent Gibbs.  But uh… you leave me little choice.  I am sorry." His voice carried through MTAC reaching Gibbs as he exited the command centre.    

"Sir!  We’ve got a high priority transmission coming through for you in MTAC." A female technician shouted from the doorway to MTAC, looking at Gibbs mid descent of the stairs back to his team.
   
"From?" Jethro asked looking up to the tech.
    
"Secretary of the Navy." Gibbs did not look happy with this response. Jen must have told the Governor how to get leverage.    

--------------------------------------------------

"How do you do that?" McGee asked, looking over at Luis while he waited for his computer to boot up.

"What?" Luis' head turned in the direction of the junior agent.

"Stand up to Gibbs!" Tim's arms flew up almost in exasperation.

"My first day out in the field a guy we were bringing in got away from me. I ran him down with my car and Gibbs gave me shit for it. I broke his nose."

"You broke Gibbs' nose?" Seb asked, McGee looking too stunned to speak.

"He was yelling and I was annoyed, I'd got the guy and he was pretty much in one piece so I didn't see the problem. So I punched him."

"You punched him." Tim regained his power of speech.

"He never really probied me after that." Luis shrugged.

"So if I punch you then you'll be less of an asshole?" Puchalski's head snapped to Fletcher.

"No, and don't punch Gibbs either." Puchalski knew it was stupid to give Seb any more ammunition. He was irritating enough as it was.

"Telling stories Puchalski?" Gibbs asked, having crept up unheard as usual. Unlike most Luis did not jump out of his skin or have a sudden sense of doom.

"What's the verdict? Do we roll out?" Luis asked looking up and turning to where Gibbs stood

"We don't, I do. I'll be gone all day." Gibbs walked to his desk grabbing all his essentials and heading to Sussex State Prison.

--------------------------------------------------

"Hey Abs." McGee said walking into the lab where the goth forensic scientist was looked up at a picture of their absent agent DiNozzo on her computer screen.

"Timmy!" Abby spun around, pigtails flying.

"The new agents arrived. One of them has serious history with Gibbs."

"Oooo." Abby hopped in place, excited by the news. She was the biggest gossip whore McGee had met, that included Tony.

"Yeah, Luis Puchalski and Sebastian Fle-" Tim was interrupted when Abby almost bounced through the ceiling.

"Lulu!" Abby squeaked. "Has he still got the short hair or has he grown it out because I always thought that he'd look good with longer hair. Not that he didn't look good with short hair but it was very military-ish, you know?"

McGee stared blankly.

--------------------------------------------------

"We moved Boone to Death Watch on Monday." The prison warden escorted Gibbs to the area of Sussex Prison that held the serial killer. "That’s when he decided he wanted to talk.  We do things a little different here in Virginia.  The condemned get a choice: lethal injection or death by electrocution.  Boone is the first one to choose the chair."     

"He deserves worse." Gibbs commented, his history with Boone was not a very good one. A suited man stood off to the side and as they approached he moved towards them, a hand thrust out in greeting.  

"Special Agent Gibbs?  I’m Adam O’Neill, Kyle Boone’s attorney.  I really appreciate your coming.  I uh… I understand you’re reluctant to, but I truly believe that my client’s intentions are sincere here." O'Neill stood before Gibbs, trying not to shrink under his gaze.  

"The day I arrested your client, we found two human female tongues in his refrigerator." Gibbs pushed passed the lawyer but he simply tagged along.  
  
"I’m familiar with the case, Agent Gibbs." Adam ground out.   

"Really?  Are you familiar with the names of his victims?" Jethro asked acting nonchalant.   

"Mister Boone wants the chair for his crimes.  I’m the one hoping to get him life in prison." The lawyer looked up into Gibbs' eyes pleadingly
    
"Good luck with that." Gibbs laughed off the statement and moved passed the lawyer.   
    
"Right this way, gentlemen." The warden gestured through an open door.
    
"Well actually, against my advice, Mister Boone has elected to meet with Agent Gibbs….alone." O'Neill stayed where he stood.

"There will be a guard out here if you need him." The warden let Jethro know. Gibbs passed through the door only for it to be closed behind him and locked. Looking ahead there was another closed door, behind that the cold dark eyes of Kyle Boone.   
     
"Nice to see you again, Jethro.  I wasn’t sure if you’d come, but here you are." The dark eyes looked up lazily from Kyle's position sitting against the far wall.    

"You’ve got two minutes.  Start talking." Gibbs checked his watch.
    
"You know, you look almost the same.  Except the hair.  When did it go gray?" Boone stood and walked towards the door Gibbs was locked behind. His head tilting to the side inquisitively.
    
"Where are the bodies?" Gibbs ignored the attempts at conversation.
    
"I guess they showed you my souvenirs?" Kyle smiled.
    
"There weren’t twenty in that jar." Gibbs smiled back disdainfully.
    
"Your point?" Boone asked, brows raised in question.    

"I always thought you were padding your count." Jethro shrugged
    
"Oh Gibbs really? Baiting me? Denigrating my rep? Come on. You know that approach never worked on me Jethro." Kyle laughed.
   
"A minute thirty eight." Gibbs said looking down at his watch again.  
 
"Can’t we just chat for a bit? Catch up?" 
  
 "They say it can take up to four minutes to die in the chair. Me personally? I’m hoping it takes a lot longer." Gibbs had a sadistic smile on his face, the execution of this monster would be just as satisfying as the demise of Ari Haswari.   

"You really have changed.  The old Gibbs was never this abrupt."

"You’ve got less than a minute."
    
"And what about NCIS Special Agents Caitlyn Todd and Anthony DiNozzo?   Can we talk about them? Cut down in the prime of life. Sad, so sad." Boone shook his head in faux sadness.
   
"See you Saturday." Gibbs turned and walked to the door that had been to his rear, motioning for the door to be opened.
   
"Come on, Gibbs. I was just having some fun with you. You can’t leave.  You’re here because you’re following orders like a good Marine.  Right, Gunny?  I’ll tell you where they are.  Where they all are. There’s more than twenty-two, Jethro. Lots more."    

--------------------------------------------------

"Where is he, Timothy?" Ducky rushed into the bull pen looking around.

"Uh who?" McGee asked, looking up from an email.  

"Gibbs, damn it! I need to speak with him regarding Anthony." Ducky continued to look for the grey haired agent.

"Sussex State Prison. Interviewing Kyle Boone." Luis butted in.   

"SECNAV ordered him to." McGee explained.
    
"Well who’s with him?" The older man asked.
   
"No one." Puchalski stated  

"Have you any idea the effect that psychopath had on Gibbs ten years ago?" McGee shook his head. "He should not have gone alone."  
 
"Ducky, it’s Gibbs.  He's a big boy, he can take car of himself." Luis scoffed.
    
"You didn’t have to live through this the last time." Ducky snapped, and everyone could sense a lecture coming, even Fletcher who didn't know the man. They were luckily spared by Luis' phone ringing.   

"Puchalski.  Where?  Yeah, got it.  We’re on our way." The blonde agent put the phone down and reached for the bag that was stashed to his left. "Boone family farm. Let’s roll!" Making his way from behind the desk, bag slung over his shoulder he stopped next to Ducky, placing a hand on the ME's arm. "The difference between ten years ago and today, Ducky?  He has some very competent agents at his back. Excluding Fletcher of course."
    
"Ten years ago, Gibbs was a very different man." Ducky revealed. "He was… he was a lot like you Luis, and Tony."  

--------------------------------------------------

Jenny knocked briefly on the hospital room door before opening it and walking through.

Tony lay flat on his stomach, a nurse hovering above covering a scarred area with iodine.

"We are in the middle of a procedure miss." The nurse looked up at Shepherd.

"Special Agent DiNozzo." Jenny smiled down at the agent. "Jenny Shepherd, Director of NCIS."

"Nice to meet you Director." Tony's reply was garbled slightly, his chin resting on arms folded underneath him.

The nurse, at the introduction continued. She picked up what looked like pliers from a tray beside her. Jenny sat on the chair right next to the bed, level with Tony's head.

"Gibbs seems quite adamant to have you back at work as soon as possible." Shepherd looked over at the nurse, clicking and clinking with each staple that was removed from Tony's back.

"So are you here to tell me that I don't have a job to go back to?" Tony winced as one staple came out.

"Of course not. I was just here to let you know that NCIS will cover the costs of all your medical expenses, it's the least we can do."

"Um, thanks."

"I know that field work might not always be possible for you now but you still have a place on Gibb's team."

"Okay."

"Hey Tony that's me done, there's a little bleeding so i'm just gonna put a dressing on your incision." Tony nodded in understanding then looked up at the Director.

"Sorry, I have just been expecting someone to come and tell me i'm unemployed."

Jenny stood and gave Tony another smile. "If you need anything let me know." She turned and walked to the door. "You and agent Todd saved a lot of lives, you are an asset to NCIS whether you are walking or not."

"It was nice to meet you Director."

"And you DiNozzo."

--------------------------------------------------

"What've we got?" Luis asked when he jumped down from the truck. He was followed by the other two agents. He looked around the area, it was very remote the area dominated by the small farmhouse which had obviously seen better days.

Gibbs approached the group and looked at Fletcher, head tilted sideways."You’ll do."  He produced a mask from one pocket and handed it to Seb. "Put this on. McGee?"    

"Yeah, Boss?" McGee stepped forward    

"You might want to wear kneepads." Gibbs looked over to Tim briefly before turning and walking to the farmhouse    

"Do you know what the hell we’re doing?" Seb asked McGee as they watched Luis follow Gibbs' lead and walk towards the rickety house. 

 "Following Gibbs’ lead?" Tim answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world   

"On what?" Fletcher asked confused as they too moved to follow the other agents into the home of a jailed serial killer.   

"Don’t know." McGee shrugged.    

"You don’t know and that doesn’t bother you?" Seb asked incredulously. 
 
"You get used to it." McGee stated as they walked through the front door. The place smelled musty and there were cobwebs scattered everywhere.  
 
"This place must have been gone over a dozen times. There’s no way there’s any bodies in here." Luis said looking around what appeared to be a sitting room but there was no furniture to speak of.
    
"I’m not looking for bodies." Gibbs stood in front of an old fireplace.
 
"Then what are we looking for?" Luis asked.
    
"Proof.  Boone swears it’s here. The only place we didn’t look is inside this chimney." Gibbs pointed from where Seb and Tim stood to the fireplace and realisation dawned on Fletchers face, he was the most scrawny of the four and he realised that he would be up in the chimney.

McGee was on all fours in the middle of the fireplace, only Fletchers shoes visible as he banged around in the chimney.
   
"I think I got something. No. That’s just a dead bird." Seb'd voice traveled out to Gibbs and Puchalski. "Oh, that’s disgusting, i'm gonna need a decontamination showever after this."  
  
"I’ll bet this wasn’t in the brochure when you signed up for NCIS, Probies." Luis laughed looking over to Gibbs who had a slight smirk on his face.    

"Okay.  Oh, no.  I got it.  It’s right here by the flue.  I got it!  I’m coming down. Looks like a book." A book then fell, bouncing to the floor narrowly missing McGee's head. As the two junior agents struggled to extract themselves from the fireplace Luis leaned over and picked up the book.
   
"There must be thirty pages there." Puchalski said as he flicked the book full of pictures open. Each photograph containing a tortured woman.
    
"More." Gibbs stated.
   
"What’s carved into their backs?" Luis asked referring to the heard shape that appeared at least once on each page.
    
"That’s his calling card."    

--------------------------------------------------

Gibbs drove his way back to Sussex Prison to once again speak with Kyle Boone, despite the fact that ten years ago he had vowed to never again indulge the serial killer he had brought to some kind of justice.

He had left the rest of his team when they all departed the Boone farm, them heading back to the Naval Yard to try and identify the women in the disturbing photos.

The quiet of the car allowed him to take stock of the latest developments in his team. Tony would be back, he'd made his position on the matter very clear to Jenny and had McGee look into anything that would aid the senior field agent in doing his job. He would prefer DiNozzo back and doing everything he did before but he knew that his agent now had more limitations than the rest of the team. Jethro had no clue how long his team would be minus the senior agent, by Ducky's estimations it would be months but Gibbs had no qualms about bringing him in if he was needed on a case.

The two new additions were interesting and Gibbs wondered why Jen had chosen to call on Puchalski. He had certainly matured in the two years he had been away from Washington, now entrusted with his own junior agent who reminded Gibbs of Tony on acid.

Luis could handle him though, Gibbs knew of their history. He'd met Luis while investigating the murder of Puchalski's commanding officer, the one who had caught he and Fletcher mid coitus. Puchalski had been a suspect, as had Fletcher but during an interrogation of Luis, Gibbs had found an irritated young man - screwed over my a rule that in his opinion had no relevance to his ability to do his job of serving his country, forced to take menial jobs as an electrician. Gibbs found the killer, a strung out addict who had thought he was being busted by the police and stabbed the officer.

Turning off the highway Gibbs once again followed signs for the prison.

It was mid afternoon and the sun was beating down when Gibbs reached the facility, the warden once again waiting for him. He was escorted to Boone's cell, another man sat where he had stood earlier in the day. Kyle noticed Gibbs approach and looked up from the man before him as Gibbs entered.

"Did you find it all right, Jethro? I guess you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.  I don’t believe you’ve met my biographer, John Briggs." Boone introduced the man who quickly rose form his seated position to shake hands with Gibbs.
      
"Special Agent Gibbs, it is a pleasure.  I’ve been trying to schedule an interview with you for months."     

"You’re going to have to leave now, Briggs." The warden's voice drifted in through the open door.   

"I’ve been granted special permission by the State of Virginia to be here, Warden." The biographer pleaded.   

"Not anymore." The warden said firmly.   
 
"The next time you see Boone, he’ll have a thunderbolt shooting out of his ass." Gibbs smiled at the shorter man, who pushed up his glasses in return. 

"You’ll have to excuse Agent Gibbs, John. He’s finally gotten a glimpse into the world I’ve been telling him about." Boone was deathly calm when he spoke. 

"The scrap book? You found his scrapbook? When will it be released?" Briggs however sounded like he'd just been told he was getting a puppy. 

"Son, if you want to walk out of here under your own power, I suggest you leave now." The warden sounded like he would be happy to take out the biographer himself. Unfortunately for the warden Briggs left the room himself, the warden shutting the door leaving Gibbs alone with Boone.

"John really is a wonderful writer. You know he spent years trying to understand me. Unfortunately, he just never seemed to measure up." Boone sat looking up at Jethro  

"To who? Your prostitute mom? Or your father? Some hick john with a few extra bucks in his pocket?" Gibbs was condescending in his questions.    

"Actually, I was referring to you, Jethro." Boone smiled.    

"Where is the dumping ground?" Gibbs asked harshly.   

"You show me my scrapbook one last time and I’ll draw you a map even a Marine can follow." Boone tried to bargain.   

"They’ve suffered enough Boone." Jethro steadfastly refused.  

"Well, we’re at an impasse." Kyle said with faux disappointment.    

"Are you going to keep playing this game with me?" Gibbs asked getting more irritated.   

"I’ve never considered any of this a game, Jethro. You know that." Boone said with conviction, at least as much as the serial killer could muster. 
   
"Whatever. I’m changing the rules. I’ve seen your world. Now you’re going to spend what’s left of your miserable life in mine."

--------------------------------------------------

Fletcher stood looking at the plasma screen showing Kyle Boone dressed in the standard orange prison jumpsuit, shackles on his wrists standing still in the interrogation room.

"The guy’s been impersonating a statue all night. According to the watch he hasn’t moved a muscle." Fletcher said not looking away from the screen. "When is Gibbs going to start his interrogation?" Seb asked turning to look at Luis who sat behind Tony's desk.   

"When he’s ready." Puchalski answered looking at his fellow agent.   

"He’s got less than forty-eight hours before Boone’s scheduled to be executed." Seb said sounding a little like his time was being wasted.

"Fletcher? Check Boone’s security detail." Gibbs snuck up once again, if Seb was embarrassed he sure didn't show it.  

"You got it." Seb lazily wandered off in the direction of the interrogation rooms. Gibbs turned his attention to Luis, placing a Caff-Pow on the desk in front of him.   
      
"It’s for Abby. Go find out how many victims she and McGee have ID’d from Boone’s scrapbook."

Luis shrugged and stood up, grabbing the Caff-Pow and heading for the elevator.   

--------------------------------------------------

"There were twenty nine women in the scrapbook.  And as far as I can tell, they’re in the order that they were killed. Now, Boone has admitted to killing twenty two, which matches with the photos in the files at the FBI centre." Abby explained to the dead ears of her companion.

Luis wandered into the lab he hadn't seen in two years, the music hit him first as it always had.

"Which would make you think that we’d be left with five Jane Does, but you’d be wrong.  Because I know who the first victim was." Abby continued almost to herself.

Seeing the back of Abby and McGee Luis walked over, placing the Caff-Pow in front of the forensic scientist.

Abby's head spun around quickly followed by the rest of her body and Luis found his arms full of the goth.

"Lulu!" Abby squealed, McGee looked over curiously.

"I thought you weren't going to call me that." Luis laughed into the shoulder of Abby as the life was squeezed from him.

"Once in two years doesn't count." Abby removed her hands from around Puchalski and pouted. Luis pulled one of her pigtails in response.

"Gibbs wants to know what you guys have."

McGee turned to look at Luis before spinning back to the computer screen. "I think that I know how we can find Boone’s victims without Gibbs having to talk to him. There are distinctive geographical and man-made features in several of these pictures." Tim brought up a variety of images on the large screen. "There’s a stream…and what may be a bridge. Up here…appears to be a power line."   

"Or a smudge?" Luis said, his head turning to the side as he looked at the images.    

"If I can make a land plot, create scale by computing the distances between these points, then we can-" McGee was interrupted as Abby butted in and stood right next to him ready to take over at the keyboard.   

"Okay, streams and power lines?  It would take years searching just one county, McGee.  Never mind a state." Abby looked up at the agent.

"Yeah, for us, but not for a computer." Tim said almost as though speaking to a child, but Abby ignored it.
    
"Satellite imagery?" Abby turned to McGee looking excited.  

"Exactly. I just need to figure out a way to calculate an accurate scale."
   
"Polaroid cameras have a fixed focal length."
    
"That’s a good start. I’m going to need one known measurement."    

"Pick one body and I’ll pull her stats."    

"Three known vectors should do it."    

"Or…"
    
"Gibbs wants to know how many victims we’ve ID’d." Luis interrupted, the verbal tennis match making him dizzy.
   
"All except for the last four of his scrapbook.  We’re running them against missing persons reports prior to Gibbs putting Boone behind bars.  No matches yet.  The one that stands out the most is the first victim.  She disappeared in nineteen seventy four." Abby gave her findings.   

"Are you sure about that, Abby? Boone was just a kid back then." Puchalski asked, a little unconvinced.  

"I know, and it turns out his mother did not abandon him.  She was his first kill." Abby looked very happy with herself.  
     
--------------------------------------------------

Gibbs stood in the control room, looking through to the interrogation room. Boone was continuing with his stoic statue impersonation. His quiet contemplation was interrupted when the control room door opened and Ducky entered, strolling over he stood next to Jethro.

"You don’t have to do this again, you know." Ducky stared along with Gibbs at the maniac in the next room.  

"You’re wrong, Duck. I do." Gibbs looked down at the shorter man who turned to look him in the eyes.
   
"He’s never going to tell you where those poor girls are." Ducky looked pleadingly up at Jethro, he'd known Gibbs through the last time.    

"I know that."   

"Then why? You did what no one else could.  You caught the son of a bitch." The medical examiner asked, frustrated at the man beside him.
    
"I should have killed him." Gibbs sounded more frustrated with himself.
    
"And in two days that will be rectified. I’m telling you as a friend. It’s time to let this one go. Focus on what is happening and not what has already been." Ducky tried to impart some wisdom, not for the first nor the last time.
    
"Not yet, Ducky." But Jethro was stubborn.  

"Have you seen Anthony since the funeral?" Ducky asked, knowing the answer.

"He's fine." Gibbs knew the subject would not be dropped by the other man.

"He is doing well but he is not fine."

"What do you want me to do Duck?"

"Make sure you make time for him, it's bad enough having one absent father figure." Ducky knew this was a low blow, bringing up DiNozzo's father.

--------------------------------------------------

"Special agent DiNozzo." Tony's doctor, Dr Mueller walked through the open door of the agent's room. He was tall, taller than Tony himself, with dark blond hair.

Tony's head snapped up from another celebrity filled magazine which one of the nurses had been kind enough give to him to keep him occupied. He'd read it eight times already.

"Tony." He said correcting the doctor who smiled warmly in response.

"Okay Tony, from what I've heard all your incisions are healing up nicely." Mueller headed to the foot of Tony's bed, picking up the agent's chart and opening it. "The glue completely gone from your abdominal incisions and someone took the staples from your back earlier, correct?"

"Uh huh." DiNozzo nodded, shifting his weight slightly with his arms.

"How about the pain? You haven't had anything really strong today." Mueller looked up from the chart curiously.

"Yeah the morphine was killing me." Tony scratched at what was left of a scrape on his cheek. "A dull ache in my chest and back, every so often i'll get a sharp pain in my back but it's a hell of a lot better than a couple of days ago." Tony was thankful of that, the pain had been bad but the battle with the morphine which made him so ill made it all the worse.

"Well we are pretty happy with how you have progressed." The doctor smiled over at him. "And we are willing to let you move on to a rehab facility in a few days, there are a couple of local ones but it seems you have friends in high places because we have managed to get you in at the best place anywhere near here."

Tony was shocked, it had only been 12 days since he had been brought to the hospital but truth be told he really didn't know how this was going to work. He knew that he would be leaving for a more permanent facility in which to get physiotherapy and such sooner or later, it just seemed a lot sooner than expected.

"Where?"

"It's down in Virginia, about two hours from here."

--------------------------------------------------

After letting Boone fester for an hour Gibbs finally entered the interrogation room. Boone still hadn't sat but Jethro did, sitting on the opposite side of the table to where Boone stood.

"Finally. So where should we start this time, Jethro? My childhood?" Kyle asked cheerfully, finally taking the chair before him and sitting.   

"I didn’t bring you in here to talk, Boone." Gibbs was stoney faced.   

"May I ask why I’m here then?" Boone asked, confused.  

"The State is hoping that I’ll get the location of your victims." Jethro leaned back in his chair, one leg crossing over the other.
    
"I believe that requires some form of communication."
   
"I said the State. Me? I’m not even going to try. I’ve taken you out of the system, Boone.  You’re going to sit here, alone, without any human contact until you fry. The game ends now."  Gibbs looked pleased with himself. There was a knocking on the door before it swung open and Fletcher's disembodied head popped in. 

"Boone’s attorney is here." Gibbs sent a death glare to the young agent whose head was already gone. Boone looked amused by Gibbs' irritation as the senior agent stood and stalked to the door, throwing it open and exiting the room. Fletcher stood in the hallway ignoring the seething agent. "The DA’s afraid if we deny him access to his client, he’ll find a sympathetic judge and have cause to have the execution delayed." Just then the aforementioned lawyer was escorted down the hall by Luis.  
  
"Look, I need a privileged conversation with my client. Meaning, Agent Gibbs, I want your observation room cleared and all microphones turned off." O'Neill stood up to Gibbs.  

"That’s it, Counsellor?" Gibbs asked.
   
"For now, Agent." Gibbs scoffed in response. Jethro walked to the control room, leaning in through the door and picking up an item.
    
"Search him first…thoroughly." Gibbs said throwing a pair of latex gloves to Fletcher. 

"He's not really my type." Seb said catching the gloves.

--------------------------------------------------

McGee and Abby had spent the better part of two hours working on a program that would do what they needed. McGee hit the enter key and image after image flashed by on the screen.

"I’m impressed. It’s actually working." Abby playfully punched Tim's arm.   

"Now all we have to do is scan through eight hundred thousand miles of satellite imagery, and pray we get lucky." McGee looked over to Abby, he felt exhausted.   

--------------------------------------------------

Gibbs, Puchalski and Fletcher stood huddled in the control room, watching as O'Neill spoke with his client. Luis' phone started ringing from his jacket pocket, reaching in he fished it out and answered on the fifth ring.

"Abby? Awesome, yeah I'll let Gibbs know." Luis hung up turning to Jethro. "They've started the search for the dumping ground."

Gibbs' eyes were on the two in the next room, the lawyer patting the shoulder of the serial killer and heading for the door. Gibbs mirrored his move and met the attorney in the corridor.

"Agent Gibbs, if anything happens to my client while he’s here, I want you to know I am going to hold you personally responsible." O'Neill threatened as best he could.
   
"You have my word he will be in perfect health for his execution." Gibbs smiled, turning his head towards Fletcher. "Escort Mister O’Neill out of my building." Seb moved forward, grabbing O'Neill's arm and forcibly escorting him. 

 "You’ll be hearing from me." The attorney threw back before his arm was yanked by Fletcher.   
    
"You going back in there?" Luis asked once the two were out of earshot.   
  
"He's not going to give us anything." Gibbs sighed. "Let's just call it a night."

"I'll let Abby and McGee know." Puchalski said watching Gibbs make his way to the exit.

--------------------------------------------------

Gibbs and Puchalski walked into the lab together, Gibbs holding a Caff-Pow in one hand and a coffee in the other. They had been called by Abby early on, it looked like neither she or McGee had left the lab since Luis had told them the previous night that they could take off.

"What am I looking at?" Gibbs asked looking at the blank screen behind Abby.
    
"Take it away McG!" Abby spun around to the agent in front of the computer. "I mean, very Special Agent McGee." She said, patting his shoulder.
    
"Probable site where the victims were tortured, killed, perhaps buried." McGee said turning to look at Gibbs.
   
"You want to know how we did it?" Abby bounced in place.   

"Not really." Jethro truthfully told her.
    
"Good, because it was mostly luck." She laughed and Luis sniggered.
    
"Where?" Gibbs asked gruffly.
    
"Wilderness area of Great Falls National Park." McGee said.
   
"Puchalski, you lead the team." Jethro turned to Luis and started to head out of the lab. "After ten years I’ve finally got something on Boone he doesn’t already know about." He muttered leaving.    

--------------------------------------------------

 "Dr Mallard, what can I do for you?" Shepherd asked as Ducky made an entrance in her office. She had been in only a short time before her assistant had called through to say the resident medical examiner wished a moment of her time.

"I hear you paid a visit to Anthony. I'm sure he appreciated knowing that you are willing to facilitate his return to work when the time comes." Jenny smiled.

"I know he is a valued and very competent agent. Why wouldn't I want him to continue to help NCIS?"

"I'm certainly not questioning your motives Director, I just wished to make my gratitude known."  

--------------------------------------------------
Jethro stalked into the interrogation room and took his seat before the serial killer that had caused so much pain to so many people, not only the women in the pictures down in the lab but their loved ones as well.

"My lawyer was very upset. He wanted to move me back to prison. But don’t worry. I told him I like it here." Boone said happily.
    
"Don’t get too comfortable. You’re going back today." Jethro stared Boone down.   

"Really? What’s changed?" Gibbs stood and made his way to the door after mere seconds in the room. Boone turned, hi eyes following the agent. "You found something, didn’t you?"    

--------------------------------------------------

Puchalski stopped the car at a small clearing just off a dirt road. McGee looked to his cell phone and out of the passenger side window where he saw woodland and no route through.
     
"The site where the photos were taken is two hundred and sixty five feet on a track of three hundred ten degrees. We need to get through here." McGee pointed out of the window.

McGee and Luis exited from the front of the car and Fletcher climbed out of the backseat. All three agents congregated around the boot of the car removing their bags before hiking to the spot McGee and Abby had discerned could be Boone's dumping ground.

Coming to a steep hill all three make their way down carefully to a large clearing, thin tree's scattered around the place.    
   
"Well, if this is the place I can see why Boone picked it." Fletcher said looking around at his surroundings.

"Off the beaten path, no hard surfaces to reflect sound. Those girls could scream their heads off and no one would hear. Yeah, this is the perfect spot." Luis concurred.     
 
"Guys, we’re in the right place." McGee spoke to his fellow agents, having bent down and brushed leaves aside to reveal a human skull. This attracted the other two who walked over quickly, Luis taking his cell phone out as he moved.

"There's no reception.  Spread out and tape it off."    
     
--------------------------------------------------
 
Gibbs stood watching as Boone paced around the interrogation room. He stopped when he reached the mirrored window banging a fist on the surface.
    
"Come on, Jethro! We both know you’re in there." Gibbs still stood stoic watching as Boone returned to pacing. The control room door opened and Abby entered looking a little sheepish.   

"Hey." Gibbs said in greeting.    

"Hey. I wanted to see what the monster looks like." The forensic scientist confessed as she stood beside Gibbs, looking from the jumpsuit clad man in the next room to the older man beside her. "He doesn’t look that scary."
    
"You saw the photographs?" Jethro asked looking down at the brunette as her head turned back to the interrogation room.
    
"Yeah." A silence hung in the air as they stood watching the killer in the next room. Abby turned to Gibbs looking happy. "Tony called me, he's getting discharged on Monday." Gibbs' brow furrowed at this news. "He's going to rehab in Virginia."

"That's good."    
     
--------------------------------------------------   
     
"Luis!" Fletcher's voice rang out from a distance away, McGee and Puchalski looking to each other before jogging over to where the should had emanated from.    

"What are you yelling about?" Luis asked as he approached Fletcher who stood with his back to the approaching agent's.

His head turned and right arm pointed in front of him he responded. "Her." The other two agents made their way to the body of a woman, stripped naked nod hands bound with rope hanging from a tree.

"She couldn’t have been dead more than a few days." Luis assessed looking at the body.
      
"Boone’s mark." McGee pointed to the bloodied heart shape carved into the woman's back.   
               
"Fletcher hike back to the car and call it in, tell Gibbs we’re going to need everything we have and everyone on this one!" Luis yelled as Seb took off, jogging back the way they had came.
   
"I’ll be back in twenty minutes." Fletcher shouted back over his shoulder.   

--------------------------------------------------
 
Upon reaching the car Fletcher checked his phone for reception, two bars showing on the screen led him to place the call to Gibbs that would turn this place into a circus.
    
"Gibbs! We found Boone’s dumping ground." Seb shouted over the static that cut in as the two bars faded to one. "We also found a fresh body." A static filled response that mentioned 'backup' and 'Ducky' came across the line and what Fletcher thought could be the request of more information. "Female. Dead less than a week. She has Boone’s mark on her back." There was nothing but static this time and Seb found himself pressing his free hand to he ear not occupied by the phone to try and listen for a Gibbs like response. The static cut out and all Fletcher heard was silence. "Yo Gibbs, can you hear me?" Fletcher removed the phone from his ear to check the display, no reception and no Gibbs.

His disappointment was cut short when a shock of blinding pain went through him, his head feeling like it had been split open. Turning quickly he saw a silhouetted figure holding what looked like a wooden post.    

--------------------------------------------------     

McGee knelt by the dead female, looking at her tortured form.
     
"Puchalski, something’s not right." Tim said looking up to the experienced agent, his brow furrowed.   

"What?" Luis asked while surveying the area, Fletcher had been gone twelve minutes in which time he and McGee had cordoned off the area.

"I know this girl." McGee spoke as though he were unsure. His brow still furrowed in concentration.   

"You know her?" Puchalski asked crouching down by McGee as he continued to consider the woman's countenance. Suddenly McGee was hit with something and turned urgently to Luis. 

"She was the last entry in Boone’s scrapbook. One of the Jane Does." He spoke with barely contained excitement at placing her face. 
   
"He’s been on death row for ten years. She’s been here less than a week." Luis pondered the situation before looking back up to where they had come from and where Fletcher had jogged off. "We've got a copycat."

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"You look a little peaked, Jethro.  Is something wrong?  Maybe I can help.  A new development, perhaps?" Kyle looked up pleasantly as Gibbs entered and took a seat opposite him, Jethro made himself as comfortable as possible in the chair. He was sure they were designed to be as uncomfortable as possible for the person being interrogated but he didn't understand why the person interrogating had to suffer so much.   

"I’ve got to hand it to you, Boone. I did my best, but you got me to play your game." Jethro remark conversationally.   

"You found the bodies. Not what you were expecting, was it?" A smile spread slowly across the killers face as he spoke, leaning forward. "You see, there’s someone else out there now. And I’m the only one who can help you find him."  "You’ll have to request a stay of my execution."   

"I’m gonna have to pass on that." Gibbs chuckled as he too leaned forward meeting Boone's eyes "No matter how this plays out, you’re going to sit in that chair Saturday." Jethro smiled sickly sweet. "Hell, I can wait until Sunday to start an investigation." He shrugged.   

"You’re bluffing." Boone's eyes narrowed, trying to discern if Gibbs was telling the truth, he certainly would not have done this ten years ago but Jethro appeared to have changed greatly.
    
"You’re dead in thirty six hours." Gibbs said before standing and heading for the door. "Game’s over." Opening the door Jethro revealed Balboa and Sutton. "Take him back to death row!" Gibbs left the room and met his three agents in the corridor, from the room he could hear Boone's protests as he was manhandled by Sutton and Balboa.     
     
"They’re not going to kill me now Jethro. I’m the only one who can identify the killer." His voice became clearer as Boone was half dragged into the hallway. "Do you think your agent begged for his life?" Kyle asked.    

"I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him?" Jethro responded, moving slightly to reveal Fletcher to Boone, bruising beginning to appear along one side of his face where he had taken a hit from the post wielding lawyer of Boone.    

"Nope no begging, maybe an ouch but no begging." Seb laughed.
  
"You should have told him that you don't pick a fight with a former Marine." Luis threw in as he moved closer to the killer, a look of hatred on his face only to be held back by Gibbs' hand on the back of his shirt.    

"Enjoy hell Boone."    

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Gibbs finally made it to his desk, he hadn't sat at the desk since leaving to trap Ari. There was a very thin layer of dust sitting on his computer screen and the dust dulled the flashing light indicating a new voicemail on his phone. Hitting the handsfree button and then the voicemail one he listened to the autonomic voice.

Five new messages. Message one.

Hey Boss. Don't think i'm going to make it to work today, the doctor wont let me out of the hospital.

Next message.

Boss I can't find the exit button.

Next message.

What time is it?

Next message.

Boss don't think I can get to work, think I'm drunk.

Next message.

I think i've been drugged.

End of messages.

Gibbs sighed and decided that perhaps Ducky was right, he really should go and see Tony.

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Fletcher and Puchalski shared the elevator to the ground floor, escaping to their respective cars. Seb turned to Luis as the doors opened revealing the ground floor to them.

"So are we ever going to have that second date?" Fletcher asked, wincing slightly as he touched the purpling bruise forming on his face. Luis didn't even look at the fellow agent, just kept walking to the exit leading to where both cars were parked.

"We haven't had a first date Fletcher." Puchalski eventually said as he stopped by his car. Seb stopped too, moving in close to the other agent who was only by an imperceptible inch shorter than Fletcher.

"Oh so is that an offer for a first?" Seb smiled an leaned in to capture Luis' lips for the first time since that night in the mess hall. This time though both were completely sober, it was soft and sweet and not the gnawing gnashing it had been then. Fletcher pulled away and looked Puchalski in the eye before smiling. "Goodnight." Smiling still Seb turned and walked away into the darkness of the night to locate his own car leaving Luis to stand caught a little off guard.

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When Gibbs arrived at Bethesda it was late and he had a feeling that DiNozzo would no doubt be asleep. Entering the younger agent's room Gibbs found this not to be the case, Tony sat uncomfortably in the hospital bed almost as though he were being held upright by the thick white brace around his midsection. His attention was take from the laptop on his lap to Gibbs as he entered.

"I sensed pepperoni." DiNozzo remarked seeing the older man with a large pizza box.

"And mushrooms." Gibbs added as Tony stopped whatever he had been doing on the laptop and shut the computer lid over.

"My favourite." DiNozzo looked happily at the box, ignoring Gibbs as it was placed on the hospital table and wheeled over to him. "So what's up?" Tony asked when the pizza was in front of him.

"Located the dumping ground of a serial killer who will be executed tomorrow." Jethro watched as Tony opened the box and taking his first bite exhaled a moan of orgasmic bliss. Listening to it was sinful. "Fletcher killed the serial killer's replacement who turned out to be his lawyer." Looking to Tony Gibbs didn't think the Italian was listening to a word he was saying.

After a few minutes of silence interrupted only by DiNozzo's moans of pizza induced pleasure Tony finally seemed to regain a little self control.

"So exciting week then?" Tony asked, turning his head to Gibbs.

"Yep." Gibbs responded. "Abby told me your heading to rehab on Monday."

"Yeah, I can finally get out of bed and do something." DiNozzo looked genuinely excited at the prospect but the excitement faded for a moment as his face was marred by a slight wince.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked ready to go and demand a nurse or doctor pump his agent full of drugs if need be.

"Yeah, no I'm fine." Tony tried to pass it off but under the intense stare of Gibbs he relented. "My knee itches." At Gibbs' confused look he continued. "Doc says it happens, no reason why, brain a mystery blah blah blah. And I thought there was nothing worse than an itch I couldn't reach, how about one that doesn't actually exist?" Tony laughed nervously. "So what's the new guy like?"

"Cocky, smartass, DiNozzo times four." Jethro laughed at the indignant look on Tony's face. "He'll make a good agent but he's a little immature." Gibbs shrugged before breaking into a smile again. "And he spends most of his time trying to get in Puchalski's pants."

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Tony looked up from his position sitting at a small table in his new room reading a tabloid newspaper, he heard footsteps coming his way and then saw Luis as he walked into the room.

"Did you know some blind guy has taught himself to cycle using sonar, he clicks and knows where things are. Cool huh?" Tony read off the paper.

"It'd be more impressive if he didn't have any arms. Show me that and i'll be impressed." Seb's voice came from behind Puchalski as he too entered the room.

"We had a case nearby and saw it was near dinnertime, figured I'd see if I could steal some food from here." Luis laughed. "How's it going?"

"I learned how to get out of bed the other day, big moment for me." Tony shrugged.

He had been at the rehab unit for ten days and it was the first time Luis had dropped by. Abby visited almost every day, she being the one entrusted with the spare key to his apartment, his inner sanctum. She brought his junk mail which he appreciated because other than the hour of physical therapy and the hour of occupational therapy a day, he had nothing to do. His still healing back preventing him from doing all he wanted in a day.

The staff were good, they tried to keep him occupied with something in the 22 hours he wasn't having some sort of therapy. Tony knew the pace would increase and he couldn't complain, this was for his own good and besides the one hour he spent in physical therapy wore him out.

Ducky stopped by on occasion as well, he was good at listening to Tony bitch and offering advice, putting things in perspective for the younger man. DiNozzo was positive that the ME was just happy that someone was speaking back to him after spending his days talking to the dead. Gibbs however remained elusive, having not visited since the night he'd brought Tony pizza and they'd talked candidly for what must have been the first time.

Tony scratched at his head before looking up at Luis "It's kind of like New Years Eve."

"With fireworks and balls dropping?" Fletcher asked, poking around the room.

"A few years ago my cousin Petey and I went out for New Years Eve. He was beyond drunk. We went to the bar to get some girls a round of drinks. The bar was packed and Pete was shoved right up against my back, eventually a space opened up at the bar but I couldn't move." DiNozzo laughed. "Petey had passed out, standing up and leaning on me. I ended up having to drag him out of that bar, get a cab back to his place and climb six flights of stairs all with him unconscious." Tony patted his unfeeling legs. "That's kind of what it's like, dragging along my drunken cousin."

"That was a real long winded way of saying 'it's like having a dead weight'." Fletcher commented, picking up a magazine from the bedside table and plopping himself down on Tony's bed before flicking through the pages.

"You know he is quite annoying." Tony turned from watching Seb to Luis who still stood before him.

"Try dealing with it all day everyday." Puchalski responded, looking over to Fletcher as he looked up grinning.

"You love me."

"I tolerate you."

"Junior Probie, why hasn't Gibbs eaten you alive?" Tony asked turned to look at the junior agent.

"Because I remind him of you." Fletcher said with all seriousness.

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The bullpen was quiet as Gibbs arrived, only a few agents were at their desks one of the few however was Puchalski who was listening intently to someone on the phone.

"Fax everything you have over to me." Luis said before hanging up the phone and making his way hastily to the fax machine.

"What've you got Puchalski?" Jethro asked coming up behind the agent.

"Just had a call from Baltimore PD, body of a woman was found in her home. Well half of her was found, by her six year old daughter." Luis grimaced at the thought but continued. "It's the third body they've found like that, completely cut in half. Only the head and torso have been recovered in each case, no trace of the lower half."

"What does this have to do with us?"

"All the victims, they were victims or witnesses in cases DiNozzo worked on when he was at BPD."

"Get me the files Puchalski." Gibbs ordered forcefully before nearly running up to the level above them and stalking into the Director's office, ignoring the shouts of protest from her assistant.

"Agent Gibbs." Jenny smiled at the dour faced agent.

"Baltimore have a case that involves DiNozzo. I want it." Jethro stated.

"I'm sure I can make some enquiries." Shepherd responded looking a little shocked.

"I don't want an enquiry Jen, I want that case." Gibbs spun on his heal and exited the office. As he stood at the top of the stairs he saw McGee and Fletcher step off the elevator deep in discussion over something.

Jethro made his way down the stairs meeting the two agents as they reached the bank of desks that held Gibbs' team. "We've got a case, high priority." The two nodded and McGee scuttled off to his desk, Fletcher moved around Gibbs and leant on his desk.

"Gibbs, I've got the files coming through." Luis said as the fax machine roared into life and sheet after sheet came sprawling out.

Jethro's phone rang and he snatched it up quickly. "Yeah?" He answered. "Good." slamming the phone down he turned his attention back to Puchalski. "The case is ours, make copies. BPD are sending everything to us." Jethro ran a hand through his hair and exhaled sharply.

The few weeks since Boone's execution had been quite quiet. The team earning some downtime, which consisted of cold cases, trying to see a pattern in senseless crime that hadn't been seen before. The only case they had dealt with was an instance of theft. A disgruntled former NCIS employee had stolen one of the cars from the carpool and dumped it in the middle of nowhere leaving the team driving around the Virginia countryside looking for the vehicle. That was three weeks ago and everyone was chomping at the bit to get a real case, Gibbs wasn't sure any of them wanted to be investigating this. One of their own was being targeted.

"McGee warn Abby that she's getting evidence shipped in from Baltimore." Jethro ordered.

"What's the case boss?" McGee asked and Fletcher listened. They had obviously missed something.

"BPD case, three victims and Tony is somehow involved." Puchalski explained from his position by the fax organising papers. The originals would be coming no doubt but these would at least get them up to speed.

"Baltimore have allowed us to take lead and they will offer full cooperation. I need more coffee." Gibbs stated before taking off towards the elevator.

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When Gibbs arrived back both hands full, each with a coffee cup. Luis and Seb sat at the same desk looking through the case files.

"Where's McGee?" He asked, placing one cup down and raising the other to his lips, savouring the strong taste for a moment.

"Abby's lab getting her up to date." Luis spoke, his head never rising from the file that gripped his attention. "Latest victim Lucy Kellan was eight months pregnant when she witnessed a drug trade from her kitchen window, she managed to identify one of the dealers but never testified at his trial. DiNozzo was lead detective on the case." Luis read out.

"What about the other two?" Gibbs asked, leaning back on his desk and looking at the two agents sitting side by side.

"The first to show up a month ago was a rape victim from nine years ago, Donna George. Case was never solved and Tony was the first uniform on site. Boyfriend found the body in bed, hands cuffed to the bed." Fletcher read.

"The second victim Andre Carlton was the brother of a gang member that had been thrown from a window by a rival gang. His body was spotted by a van driver, hung by his neck from the same window, that was two weeks ago. It was DiNozzo's first case as detective."

"Whoever we're dealing with, they've got access to or had access to BPD's files." Puchalski noted.

"And really have it in for DiNozzo." Fletcher commented, putting the file down.

"Puchalski, go check on Abs and McGee." Gibbs ordered, grabbing his bag and gun. "Fletcher with me."

Seb stood and grabbed him things, when he met Gibbs at the elevator he was handed one of the coffee cups. His surprise amused Gibbs.

----------------------------------------------------------

"Gibbs and Fletcher are off to see Tony." Luis announced as he walked into Abby's lab to find six or seven boxes strewn across the room, papers and plastic evidence bags overflowing from them. "Have you got anything?"

"Lulu we just got this stuff." Abby sighed. "We are just sorting through everything."

"It could be a couple of hours." McGee noted from his position crouched over one of the boxes, picking out an evidence bag containing a set of handcuffs. Luis figured they were the ones used on Donna George.

"Did they find any prints on those?" Puchalski asked McGee.

"Nothing."

"But we're re-running everything just to be sure." Abby added from where she stood at her computer.

"Good." Luis nodded, surveying the chaos around him and not quite sure what to do himself.

----------------------------------------------------------

Seb and Gibbs walked into a gym area of the rehab facility having been told that DiNozzo was in the middle of a therapy session and seeing a lot more of DiNozzo than expected. He was sitting on a padded table at one side of the room a pair of loose fitting sweats hanging much lower than they should have been. On hearing noise behind him Tony turned.

"Hey Boss." Tony greeted as the two approached. "Fletcher."

"DiNozzo your ass is hanging out."

"I'm not complaining." Seb laughed at the embarrassed look on Tony's face as he tried to turn in place and look at his own ass. Sighing heavily he turned his attention to the therapist that sat on a stool in front of him rotating his left foot.

"You could have mentioned that Sarah." He said as he lowered his upper body back to lie on the table before rolling slightly to his right and using one hand pulled the back of his sweats up and then returned to his previous seated position. "Better?"

"Much." Gibbs said.

"No." Fletcher moaned in jest, DiNozzo grumbled in response.

"We need a consult on a case DiNozzo." Gibbs stated after a few seconds of watching Tony. He knew he should come more often to visit the younger agent but he felt he always needed an excuse and since Abby was handling DiNozzo's mail and she and McGee had brought him things from his apartment he couldn't think of a good reason.

Gibbs had felt guilt at the position Tony found himself. If only he hadn't ordered the agent to climb up the fire escape. If only he had trusted McGee to be able to override that controller then neither Kate or Tony would have suffered. If only, that's all Gibbs had thought; if only. But there really was no way for him to know that any of the events of that day would happen. It had happened and they were coping with it. Tony was coping with it better than most Gibbs imagined.

"Okay Tony I guess we're done." Sarah smiled up at the agent before standing and pushing her blonde hair out of her face before turning to where the facility issued wheelchair sat and brought it next to the bench. "Remember Jordan will be waiting for you in the pool at two." She patted the padded seat of the wheelchair before wandering off.

Tony looked over to see Gibbs and Fletcher standing waiting for him. "Yay an audience." He sighed, using his arms to shift himself closer to the edge of the bench before removing one hand and putting it on the seat of the chair and transferring himself over. The transfer was smooth for which he was thankful, it showed his progress. His first attempt from the same bench had been disastrous, much like the earlier embarrassment he had moved as close to the edge of the bench as he thought necessary but his inability to feel his butt had caused him to reach the edge earlier than expected. Sarah had been quick to grab him that time of course to save his dignity a little.

Unlocking the brakes of the chair Tony swivelled around and faced his fellow agents. "So what do I need to consult on?"

"A few cases you were involved in back in Baltimore have resurfaced."

"What do you mean resurfaced?" Tony asked looking up at Gibbs

"Three different cases you had some involvement in, three different bodies of people that were connected to the cases. The only thing connecting the three cases is you." Jethro explained.

"Oh."

Sitting on the opposite side of the table in a kitchen/dining area of the unit to Jethro and Seb, Tony felt the sudden need to confess his sins under Gibbs' intense stare.

"Listen Gibbs, I'm having a little trouble comprehending this. Someone is going around killing innocent people just to get my attention." Tony's eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.

"We don't know that DiNozzo. The connection to you could be coincidence, or if it's not that doesn't mean it's because you pissed someone off. There are a lot of crazy people out there." Gibbs tried to reason.

Tony rubbed his forehead with one hand, trying desperately to think of who could have done this. "There was a lab rat I reported for contaminating blood samples. He was pretty pissed off."

"I'll have Puchalski look into it. Anyone else?"

"Macaluso?" Tony responded. "Mob boss, I wouldn't put it by him but he should still be in jail unless he has someone acting for him." DiNozzo looked up pitifully to the two agents on the other side of the table. "I'm sorry Boss, I don't think I'm going to be much help with this."

"We've got more now that we did five minutes ago." Fletcher tried in his own way to reassure the older agent. From the look on Tony's face it hadn't worked and from the smack he received to the back of his head Gibbs hadn't appreciated it too much either.

"We'll check them out DiNozzo." Jethro looked down at his watch and seeing the time looked back to his senior agent. "Your due in the pool in twenty minutes."

"Thanks Boss."

"Tony, I'm setting up a protection detail just incase." Gibbs said seriously, brooking no argument. Tony sighed and nodded looking far from happy.

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What Abby considered organised chaos Luis just considered a mess. Snapping his cell phone shut he looked around, he was pretty much trapped in a small patch of clear floor. Abby had been jumping around the lab from patch to patch as needed for the past half hour.

"Gibbs says to look at a case involving Macaluso and find a report Tony filed against a lab tech." Puchalski yelled over to Abby who sprang into action.

"Okay BPD hacking away!" Abby made a comical superhero pose for a second before bounding her way across the lab to her computer. Standing typing Abby bopped her head to an inaudible beat, her pigtails flailing.

"Hey Abbs, how about running a backtrace on everyone that's accessed the cases that involved the victims?" McGee sprang up from his position sorting through a box of evidence. "If the killer isn't a part of the police department then they'll have hacked in like us but we can compare the BPD ISPs with unknown ones."

Unlike Abby, Tim was a little more unsure of himself as he tried to traverse the lab floor, hopping and pausing before carefully choosing his route to where Abby stood.

"McMIT I love it!" Abby exclaimed.

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After half an hour of pacing around the edge of the pool Fletcher had taken up a position at the door leading out into the gym area where he and Gibbs had initially spoken with DiNozzo. If anyone were to try and attack DiNozzo here he doubted they'd come through the pool filtration system, unless of course Tony had somehow pissed off the Loch Ness monster.

Gibbs had ordered Seb to stay behind and "keep DiNozzo company". All three had known that meant he was to babysit. The door to the pool area opened and Fletcher moved to intercept the intruder but stopped short when he saw Luis.

"We're on DiNozzo duty." Puchalski confirmed taking his place next to Seb.

"The geek squad?"

"Doing something that involves a lot of letters." Luis shrugged and looked out at the pool where DiNozzo was swimming laps under close supervision.

"antidisestablishmentarianism?" From the look Luis gave him the answer was no. "So are we ever gonna have that first date?" Seb asked.

"Not tonight, I think Tony'd feel left out."

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"What've you got Abs?" Gibbs' voice announced his entry into the lab, one hand holding a large Caff-Pow container. Abby was huddled over a plastic box, vaporised superglue swirling within, her head popped up when she heard Jethro.

"A crick in my neck and no one to rub it better."

"Evidence Abby."

"Oh we have lots of evidence but so far it's all clean. Killer is methodical, I haven't found one stray print." Abby looked disappointed. "McGee is checking who has accessed the files, maybe we'll get lucky."

"Boss?" McGee's voice caused both Gibbs and Abby to turn their attention to him, which made him hesitate a moment before speaking. "Three ISPs accessed all three case files that don't belong to Baltimore PD."

"Well who do they belong to McGee?"

"I-I don't know yet but I'm working on it." McGee said with as much force as he could muster.

"Do it quickly."

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Ducky was sat at his desk when Jethro entered autopsy, three file folders carefully positioned so the doctor could see the contents of each without juggling.

"See anything out of the ordinary Duck?" Gibbs asked coming up behind the ME.

"The whole thing seems quite out of the ordinary Jethro." Ducky commented, still reading from the various pieces of paper. "The official cause of death for each victim is the same, insulin overdose."

"So he chopped them up after he killed them?"

"Yes." Ducky looked over his shoulder to see Gibbs trying to read the files on the desk without squinting. "And there has been no sign of the lower extremities?" Ducky asked and Jethro shook his head. "They were removed by a common circular saw according the the autopsy report."

"The third victim was found by her daughter who had been sleeping just down the hall, how could she have slept through the noise?"

"Perhaps she didn't Jethro. But the blood pooling around the body wasn't significant, the ME attributed that to it being done post mortem. She could easily have been abducted from her home and then the body returned." Ducky hypothesised.

"The neighbours would have heard something from the first victim as well." Gibbs said, vocalising his thoughts. "How would he get in and out of these buildings with bodies and not be noticed?" Gibbs suddenly perked his head up and stalked out of autopsy bound once again for Abby's lab.

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"Fold." Puchalski slammed his cards down on the circular table the three agents sat around. Fletcher smirking at Luis once again folding.

"I'll raise." Tony said from his position and threw a handful of skittles into the centre of the table.

"I'll see your cavity and raise you a root canal." Fletcher quipped throwing double the amount DiNozzo had. Tony looked down at his cards for a moment before shrugging.

"Call." He said pushing what was left of his skittles into the centre.

"No raise?" Fletcher smirked at Tony from across the table."Oh wait you don't have anything to raise with." Seb laughed. Tony smirked in return, tapping one finger along the row of cards he held.

"Are you two gonna show your cards or make stupid faces at each other?" Luis asked testily. "I still don't know why we couldn't play table tennis."

"Because wheelie here doesn't have our mad ping pong skills. Stop being a sore loser." Seb flicked one his many skittles across the table hitting Luis in the chest, he merely received a huff and fold of the arms in response. "Be useful and get us dinner." Fletcher demanded, placing his cards face down on the table to rub his stomach.

"Loser gets dinner." Tony agreed. "Winner chooses?" He raised an eyebrow in question and Seb nodded. "What've you got?"

Seb picked up his cards and after a moment laid them on the table face up. "Fuck all."

Tony let out a triumphant laugh and turned his cards over showing just a pair of sixes. "Thai?"

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"Did we get surveillance tapes from Baltimore?" Gibbs asked when he walked into the lab, McGee still hard at work at the computer. Abby bounded in from where she had been storing boxes.

"None of the buildings had any cameras." Abby said, walking over to where her Caff-Pow sat.

"It might be possible that the killer abducted the victims and then brought them back. There's no way no one noticed power tools chopping up bodies."

"I'll check the surrounding area." Abby said taking a long sip through the straw of her Caff-Pow.

"McGee?"

"I've tracked one of the ISPs to Macaluso, one his holding companies that's now being run by his brother in law Gianmarco Maldini." Tim turned to Abby and Gibbs who were looking at the image McGee had brought up on the screen of Maldini. Piercing blue eyes stood out against dark tanned skin in the picture, he was undeniably good looking.

"Get me everything you can find on him."

"That might be difficult, Tony might've spent months undercover taking a mob boss down but from what I've seen Maldini is ten times worse." McGee looked worried.

"Oh I know McGee." Gibbs didn't explain but it was clear to Abby and Tim that Gibbs knew Maldini somehow.

"Why would he be after Tony?" McGee asked. His question went unanswered as Jethro bolted from the lab. McGee turned from the computer screen to see Abby give an exaggerated shrug of her shoulders.

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