His phone was ringing. Some part of his mind registered that and he groped around on the bedside table to find it. Without checking the caller ID he flipped his phone open, "DiNozzo."

"I know it's late, but I didn't know who else to call…." she said.

Fully alert, Tony sat up in bed, the sheet falling to his waist. "Abby, what's wrong?"

"I feel awful, Tony. Carly and I were at a party tonight. That's where we were going when we left Salvatore's. While we were there, her car was stolen. Now I can't sleep because I want to help find it and I was wondering if you would work with me on it."

Tony slumped back against the pillows and looked at his clock. "It's 3 AM, Abby. Couldn't this wait until in the morning?"

Abby sighed. "You're right. I'll leave you alone. Sorry to bother you Tony. Go back to sleep." Then she hung up on him.

Tony stared at his ceiling for a full minute before throwing the covers off and getting up to get dressed. Abby upset over something was an Abby that needed to do something. He would bet good money that she would already be in her lab when he got there. He stopped by the store to pick up a Caff-Pow and a coffee, and then drove to the office.

He was right. Abby was at her computer, typing away. She took the Caff-Pow from him and sent him a smile of gratitude. "I've already looked into it. There have been eight other cars stolen in the past week. All classic, in great condition and not a lot out there for sale."

"Good work. Do the police have any leads?" Tony asked drinking from his cup.

"Not really. There are two possible situations if her car was stolen for this same reason."

"What kind of car is it?" Tony asked just realizing he had never seen Carly come or go from work, she was here before and after he was.

"A '67 Shelby GT500." Abby replied leaving Tony speechless. "Yeah, I know, everyone sees it and thinks it's a guy car, but she fell in love with it like two years ago and badgered the owner until he was ready to sell. It was funny really. You should ask her about the previous owner sometime. I can't do the impersonation as well as she does."

"Abby, I'll be upstairs looking to see what I can find. Call me if you get anything else, ok?"

He walked out leaving Abby to ask out loud, "Am I really starting to get like Ducky, or is it just too early for Tony?" Shrugging, she turned back to her computer to delve into the police files on the eight other stolen cars.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gibbs walked in at 7 AM to find DiNozzo at his desk. "What are you doing here, DiNozzo?"

"Paperwork, Gibbs. I have some reports the Director wants and need to get them completed. What are you doing here?"

"Carly's car was stolen last night. I am going to track it down and turn the thieves over to the police."

"You're here because of a stolen car?" Tony asked, pretending he didn't know the situation.

"Carly's one of ours DiNozzo. We help our own." Gibbs replied with the last of his patience.

"Is that a rule?" Tony wanted to know, being a smart aleck as always.

Sitting at his desk, Gibbs told Tony, "Why don't you report to me what you and Abby found already and we'll go from there?"

Amazed again, Tony answered, "You have to tell me how you do that Gibbs. It would help so much in keeping my agents on their toes." Gibbs stared at his from across the bullpen. "Right, so Abby found out there have been a string of car thefts, nine total to date with Carly's, that target classic hard-to-find autos. Our theory is, either someone at the party last night was involved or Carly had been followed."

"They weren't followed, DiNozzo." Gibbs stated with certainty.

"Want to tell me how you know that, boss?" Tony's slip of the tongue made Gibbs smile. "Gibbs?"

"One of the two would have noticed. Especially Abby; she's been aware of everything since last year."

Nodding, DiNozzo stood and handed Gibbs a list of names of the party goers. "I've called half the list already to see what they remember. They only promising lead we have is one guy remembers seeing the car being driven off."

Abby came running up. "Tony, I …" she trailed off seeing Gibbs as his desk.

"He's here to work on this too, Abs." Tony informed her.

"Good, I just got the name of the person seen stealing the car last night. Dwayne Hooper. He lives at 2334 Whiteside Drive. I am willing to bet between the two of you, he'll break and give up the location of the cars." Gibbs and DiNozzo were already on there way out. Abby stood watching them and finished the conversation. "Would you like to ride with us Abby? - No, I'll let you two handle it. - That's great work Abby, let me pat you on the back." Shaking her head, she went back to her lab to grab her Caff-Pow and coat and go home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dwayne Hooper was small-time, working for big-time and was terrified at the thought of what his prison sentence would be if he didn't cooperate. Gibbs called the police in to make sure all the evidence collected would be admissible in court. Hooper gave up the location of the cars and the names of the men he reported to. Within the hour, cops were swarming the docks and confiscating the stolen cars. They vehicles were impounded and it took Gibbs the rest of the day to convince the authorities to release Carly's Shelby. They had the other eight stolen cars and Carly would testify if needed he promised them. After signing the paperwork showing he received the car, he pulled out the keys he had swiped from Carly the night before and got behind the wheel. He had a delivery to make.