It feels good being back! Please review my story! Thanks to those who have supported me so far :)

He wondered when the next time would be when he was fed. He knew She would feed him in all good time. His body was already too thin, but She decided when he had behaved well enough to eat. His very life was in her hands, and he had long since accepted that fact. Here he was, mopping her kitchen floor, and there was a lovely fruit bowl just sitting so temptingly on the counter. He knew better than to reach and snatch even a mere grape. He would not anger Her. Sighing, he rubbed his wrists where his hands were still chained together, squeezed the extra water out of the mop, and stepped carefully so he would not trip on his shackles. She would be back soon, to check on his progress. If She wanted him to get down on his hands and knees and scrub the floor with a toothbrush, so be it. As long as he wasn't chained up again and punished…

Ducky sighed as he covered the body before him. Gibbs should be down soon; he had an uncanny sense of timing when Ducky had finished or almost finished his autopsy. He pondered just how to give his report to Gibbs. Even Palmer was silent, a rare thing for the man. Both dreaded the sound of the elevator opening, but again both knew that the thing had to be dealt with.

Finally Gibbs strode in with Ellie at his side. "Whadya got, Duck?" Gibbs enquired, with a curt nod to the coroner. Bishop smiled and said good morning to Palmer, then noticed that neither doctor seemed willing to jump into things as usual. Gibbs quirked an eyebrow, "Well?!" Dr. Mallard nodded, and began, "Our LCp was a healthy man, 37 years old, who was shot in the head here. Abby is running ballistics as we speak. The marks on his wrist are not exactly recent...they happened quite some time before his death, although he was tied immediately prior to his death. The wounds on his back, well, Palmer, show them the pictures." They all looked up at the screen. Gibbs sucked in a breath when he saw the criss cross marks across the man's back. Ellie glanced in concern at her boss. She herself had seen Gibb's own marked back shortly after they rescued him, and it had looked like this. Except that this was worse, probably because it was so fresh.

Gibbs steadied himself, and made himself ask, "What about the markings on his chest?" Ducky replied, "Yes, well, that is the worst of it. I believe you might be able to identify this?" Without further ado, he peeled back the sheet covering the victim's chest. Gibbs wanted to throw up, a rare feeling, but he tamped down his feelings, and made himself look closely. The man's chest was carved, obviously by a knife, into a design. It looked like a bird with graceful flowing feathers. No...the feathers were on fire. Suddenly understanding, Gibbs spun on his heel and looked away. "Phoenix." He had not said that name for a very long time.

Ducky's face was full of concern. "Yes, I'm afraid that's what it is." Silence reigned for a moment, until broken when Gibbs walked away. Bishop started after him, then realizing he would need to be alone for the moment. "I'm not sure how to help Gibbs this time," she confided in Ducky. He nodded in understanding, "The only way you can help is to take her down, if you can." Ellie looked at the dead man once again, and thoughtfully said, "Now why would Phoenix go and shoot him, after going to the trouble of flogging him, never mind the, um, chest decoration?" She walked to the elevator, a very puzzled look on her face.

She soon sat down in her chair across from Tony. McGee was working away on his computer, but looked up when Bishop walked by him. Gibbs was nowhere to be seen. Tony asked, "What happened? Gibbs just blew by us and headed right to Vance without saying a word to us." Bishop quickly filled them in on Dr. Mallard's findings. Tony's face paled at the gruesome description, and Tim shook his head slowly. He said, "So the question is, how did LCp. Randall end up with her, and why did she kill him?" Tony added, "Plus leave a calling card?" There were definitely too many questions, and not enough answers. They'd have to wait to see what Abby came up with. All three were very worried about Gibbs. He'd been understandably jumpy when he came back from his failed undercover, and it seemed like history was going to bite them all in the asses again. Plus the fact that Phoenix wouldn't have liked to have lost her best fighter, although she had made no attempt to recover Gibbs. It was this lack of interest that had lulled them all into a false sense of security that this was behind them. Apparently not.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Gibbs walked into Vance's office without knocking as usual. Luckily the NCIS director was alone, and Dr. Mallard had already given him a heads up. He still wasn't giving Gibbs a pass on his rudeness though. "Gibbs, would it kill you for once to knock?" Gibbs curtly replied, "Nah. You hear what happened?" Vance nodded, "Yes, it seems Phoenix has resurfaced. You know you don't need to take this case if you don't want to. Perhaps it'd be better to have someone else have a go at it, since it is so personal to you." Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Nope. My case. My problem." Vance sighed, and stood up. "Gibbs, I know the risk as well as you do. Since we found you, there has been zero trace of the fight ring. Even Kade Nelson disappeared, and you know as well as I do that he wanted out of it. She knows you and your team. Perhaps it's time for someone new." Gibbs shook his head, "And for someone else to run the risk of crossing her again? We'll do it. We know her, and what we don't know, we'll find out." Vance looked at him for a good minute, then sat down again. "Fine, Gibbs. But just say the word at any time, and I'll reassign this to another team." Gibbs smiled his wry smile as he walked out, "Thanks, Director." Vance watched him shut the door, put his face in his hands, and wondered if he had done something stupid. Then again, there was no stopping Gibbs once he made up his mind about something.

Hmmm, is this wise, Gibbs?