Act One

Kibbs

"Tony! Hurry up! He might be in real trouble!"

Tony could appreciate Abby's concern for the team, especially the man who she saw as a father figure.

But now - speeding down two-lane city streets 30 miles above the speed limit - wasn't the time for Abby to be loud and frantic. He and McGee needed her calm and quiet, not so...Abby.

"Abby, we'll be there in less than three minutes," McGee said, turning his head from his front seat to look at Abby. "Director Shepard's sending agents and Metro-"

"They won't get there in time! Reznikov's going to get them McGee!...KATE. Ohmigod Kate. McGee call Fornell! Tony go faster-"

"ABS...ABS. CALM DOWN. NOW."

"-Tony?...McGee, Tony, MCGEE, TONY. HURRY UP-"

"ABS. Sit DOWN, CALM down. NOW."

Abby sank back into the back seat of the rental, speechless. McGee looked at Tony, whose eyes darted back and forth between McGee, Abby in the back seat, and the road.

McGee had never heard Tony yell that loudly at anyone, even himself, and certainly never ever at Abby.

But Gibbs would - well, not at Abby, probably - and if Gibbs were there, he'd be proud of his senior agent for being so Gibbsesque.

He had every reason to be so, and McGee hoped against hope that they, Ziva, Callen, Balboa, Fornell and Metro would beat Reznikov to the house.

As the rental sped like a demon into Gibbs' neighborhood, Tony saw only Fornell's car, heading towards him; Tony slammed on his brakes, stopping just a few feet from Fornell's front bumper.

Fornell and Mike Franks quickly got out of their car, Franks brandishing a shotgun, Fornell holding a Sig Sauer. Tony saw Ziva's car parked eight houses down.

"Ziva's here," Tony said to Fornell.

"Where's Dr. Mallard and Palmer?" Fornell asked.

"Back at NCIS," Tony replied. "Navy Yard's on lockdown."

"Hope your special ops people got here first," Fornell replied. "But I don't want to chance it. Why isn't she back at the Yard?"

"Abby and I were having dinner-" McGee began, before Tony interrupted.

"-got the call from the director, saw Probie and Abs in the neighborhood, figured the boss's house was a safer place than the Navy Yard," Tony said. He wondered, after taking the director's call, if either of them noticed him eating dinner with Jeanne in the bistro across the street, and if his cover had been blown.

He also wondered where the other member of their team was, and if Reznikov had abducted her. He had to take Jenny's word that Balboa was on the scene.

Tony's phone rang. It was the director.

"Balboa says no sign. Her apartment is clean, clear, no signs of intrusion nor kidnapping. I've put out a BOLO," director Shepard said. "Are you at Gibbs's house?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tony said.

"Secure the house, follow Agent Fornell to Quantico," Jenny continued. "Check back with me when you lay eyes on Gibbs."

"Roger that," Tony said, ending the call, looking around, and seeing no sign of any Metro cruisers or other agents. His gut told him a thousand things in an instant, and he didn't have time to debate them with anyone.

"Mike. Guard Abs - and you both follow McGee, Fornell and me into the house," Tony said.

"No, she stays out here," Fornell said.

"She's safer in the house," Tony said. "No cruisers, no agents. Safer together than apart."

"Okay. Let's go in, now," Fornell replied, as he and Tony took the lead. He and McGee went up the stairs, while Tony and Franks - with Abby behind Mike - began clearing the living room and kitchen.

Tony, Franks and Abby heard steps coming from the basement, and Tony pointed his weapon towards the doorway.

Ziva, her weapon pointed towards the kitchen, breathed a sigh of relief, as did Tony.

"Basement is clear," she whispered. "Callen is down there."

McGee and Fornell ran down the stairs. "Upstairs is clear," McGee said. "Ziva?"

"You need to come downstairs," Ziva said. "No one died, but the sight is...unexpected."

"Sight? Is Gibbs okay?" Tony said.

"Is he?" Abby.

"Ziva, everything okay?" McGee.

"Probie down there?" Franks.

"Ziva what are you talking about?" Tony.

"See for yourself," Ziva said, as Tony ordered McGee and Franks to stay upstairs with Abby, and noticed the red and blue lights of cruisers pulling up to the house.

Tony and Fornell followed Ziva down the steps. The first thing they saw was Callen, Macy and Renko standing in front of the wooden frame of the latest boat Gibbs was building in his basement.

The next thing they noticed was Gibbs and Kate, asleep, in each other's arms, on a cot under the frame.

"I've checked their vitals," Macy said. "Seem normal. They're just in some deep sleep."

"I'll call director Shepard," Fornell said, heading up the stairs. "Navy Yard's on lockdown but we should be able to get Dr. Mallard to Quantico."

"Then there's this," Callen said, as Tony took in the scene of Gibbs and Kate interwined in each other's arms. "Tony?"

"Sorry, Callen," Tony said sarcastically, in shock from the scene before him. "I was distracted by something."

"Rule 12," Callen replied, as McGee, Franks and Abby followed Fornell down the stairs into the basement. "If that" - pointing at Gibbs and Kate - "is out of place, so is this."

Callen handed Tony a piece of paper.

"A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE?" Tony shouted.