Gibbs watched as Fornell and his agents entered the elevator with the boxes of evidence in hand. Their ME had already taken the body from autopsy. As soon as they cleared the bullpen, Gibbs led Tony, Tim, Ziva and Michelle down to autopsy where he was met by Ducky and Abby.

"What is going on Jethro?" Ducky asked and watched as his old friend shook his head.

"The Director hasn't mentioned it Ducky. All I know is that we're all taking the afternoon off and then heading over to my house to work on this." Gibbs said and looked at each team member as they took in what he meant.

Tony was the first to speak, "Ah, boss, are you sure you're place is best? I don't think any of us wants to get the flu." When Gibbs was silent and just looking at him, he added, "Yeah, you're place is best. We need to check on Carly and see if she's ok." Again, Gibbs said nothing and Tony finally told him, "I'm shutting up now, boss."

"Good. Now that that's settled, here's what I want from each of you."

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

Back in the bullpen shortly after meeting with everyone, Gibbs watched Jenny walk down the stairs. He knew what was coming.

"Where is everyone going?" She wanted to know.

Gibbs looked at her and said, "Jen, my team has been working nearly non-stop for weeks now. Since the FBI took the Cook case off of our hands, I've decided to tell everyone to go home early today."

Jenny stared at him for a moment and when he said nothing else, she realized what he was going to do. Nodding her head in approval, she turned to go back upstairs and said, "You're right, everyone needs to rest up in case we get something new to do."

Standing up from his chair, Gibbs grabbed his coffee and left.

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

Carly had dragged herself to the kitchen and was sipping some coffee when she heard the door open. She knew the exact moment that Jet realized she wasn't on the couch because she heard him take his gun out of the holster. Smiling, she called out, "I'm in the kitchen. You can put the gun away."

She heard it slid back in the holster just before he came into the kitchen. "What are you doing up?"

"I was feeling a bit stronger and decided I needed some coffee to help me feel better. But now I'm just hungry and I no longer have the energy to fix something."

He put his hand to her forehead and shook his head. "Let me get you back to the couch and I'll heat up some of the soup you had earlier."

He started to lift her but she shook her head. "Why are you back so early? I thought the director would keep you for a while." Carly saw the look on his face and asked, "What happened, Jet?"

"We had to turn the case over to the FBI."

"What? Why?" She asked him.

"Director's orders. We turned over the evidence and the body. It's their case now." He explained.

Carly stared at him for a moment. "So what are you going to do about it?"

He raised his eyebrows at her tone. "How do you know I am going to do something?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because you're Leroy Jethro Gibbs and you don't hand over cases to the FBI that easily."

Smiling, he told her, "Everyone's coming here to go over what evidence we managed to copy before they took it."

"Then that should be everything so far. Tests results, interviews, case notes, it's all copied and stored separately from the evidence in case something happens. It's all about back-ups and covering your ass these days, Jet."

"For once, I'm glad we have the technology to back it all up without anyone realizing it. I want to know why the FBI is so interested in a young man that hasn't been in the Marines for his full two years yet."

There was a knock at the door and Carly wrapped the blanket more securely around her. "Need me to go upstairs while you all talk this over?"

"There's no need for that my dear," Ducky said as he walked into the kitchen. "We've all had our flu shots this year. Well all except for you that is." He hugged her and placed a container of soup on the table in front of her.

Carly inhaled the scent of the baked potato soup. "Oh, Ducky, you know just what I like." She told him and he beamed. She caught Jet's look and batted him on the arm. "Stop glaring at Ducky. No offense but the chicken noodle was getting a little old."

He looked startled for a moment but before he could say anything, Tony and Abby walked in trailed by Michelle, Tim and Palmer. Abby grabbed Carly in a quick hug and said, "You have got to get better soon. The lab is too quiet without you."

Jet grabbed a spoon for Carly to eat her soup with and everyone sat down to go over the evidence in the Cook murder.