It didn't take much to convince the SecNav to wait up in Vance's office during the autopsy and he took Jackie with him, but the rest of the group stayed to watch as they struggled to comprehend what they were looking at.

Ducky made the familiar Y incision and peeled back the skin, noting the scar at the base of the unidentified man's extended abdomen. Ignoring the lungs and heart for the time being, Ducky peeled back the abdominal muscles to expose the artificial womb. Made of a surgical steel frame and a fine synthetic mesh, the shape of the fetus inside was clearly visible. Ducky carefully examined how it was attached to the body, straightening after he found the cause of death.

"The blood supply for the womb is spliced directly into the Common Iliac Artery. The seal between the artificial and natural flesh ruptured and both John and Baby Doe bled to death within a matter of minutes. What I don't understand is why no attempts were made to save them. I see no evidence that even a blood transfusion was started."

"Davidson's only interested in a successful experiment, Dr. Mallard." Kort stared down at the body for a moment. "I guarantee you, the minute this body failed, Davidson was already planning out the next round of the experiment."

Ducky couldn't help but shudder at the cold-blooded nature of what he was seeing as he carefully opened the womb and removed the fetus. "He was carrying a little girl. She appears to be perfectly formed and developed enough that she could have survived with medical intervention." Ducky gently placed the baby on another table, tenderly brushing his hand over her head before returning to the autopsy he already had underway.

Abby was unusually quiet as Ducky and Palmer continued to work, not speaking until Ducky had a tray of samples for her to run. She took the tray before turning back to the baby. "She never experienced a moment of humanity, guys. She needs a name, that's the least we can do for her." Abby looked like she was going to say something else, but just shook her head and walked out without looking back.

After Abby left, Ziva stepped closer to Kort. "You are sure this is why Gibbs and the others were taken?"

"We'll know soon enough. He'll have no reason to keep the sperm donors once they've – made their contribution."

"He will kill them?"

"No." Kort glanced over at Fornell, knowing he was the only parent in the room. "He'll want Vance to worry about it, wonder if his missing man is carrying his child."

Fornell knew that would be a devastating worry for his old friend, too. "Who do you expect to be the host subject?"

Kort had thought about it ever since he'd gotten the call. "Director Vance and Gibbs are too old. DiNozzo's run-in with the plague would be a mark against him, but McGee is narrower in the hips, so it could be either of them, or both, but our latest intel is that he only had one more artificial womb prepared."

"How much time do we have, before he does that to one of them?" Unable to verbalize it, she waved at the body on the table.

The CIA agent understood the question. "He'll need about three weeks before implantation. He already has fertile eggs with the DNA removed, so his first step will be to add the host's DNA."

"Why?" Ducky knew how tricky it was to manipulate human eggs at that level. "Why go to all that work to give the embryo the host's DNA?"

"Same reason he uses someone the host knows as the father. He's convinced the emotional attachment makes it more likely the host will cooperate."

-NCIS-

"Jackie, why don't you let my driver take you home?"

She barely glanced at Jarvis as she continued to pace. "I can't go home, not until I know my husband is alive, Clayton."

Jarvis wasn't surprised and with the Vance's children at their grandmother's he had no other excuse to use to convince her. "We're going to get him back, Jackie."

She nodded and turned her attention back to the group of men and women hard at work. It had been almost thirty-six hours since the four men had been kidnapped, but no one had even left long enough to change their clothes.

Kort was sitting at Gibbs' desk and slammed the phone down as he stood. "Got something."

It was only the hands on her shoulders that kept Jackie where she was as the rest of them grabbed guns and ran for the elevator. Fornell called back over his shoulder without slowing down. "We'll keep you posted."

-NCIS-

An assortment of NCIS and FBI agents surrounded the abandoned building, but only Fornell, Ziva and Kort went inside. With just one room in the building, it was easy to clear and they were quickly checking the three unconscious men laying on the ground. Fornell was calling for ambulances while Ziva tried to get any kind of response, watching Kort out of the corner of her eye.

-NCIS-

"Doctor, how is my husband, what's happened to him?"

The Emergency Department doctor was convinced that he had good news. "Mrs. Vance, it appears that your husband and the two agents have been given a very strong sedative. We're going to let them sleep it off rather than give them any kind of a stimulant. It shouldn't take too long and you can sit with him if you'd like."

Jackie eagerly agreed and soon found herself sitting next to a hospital bed in a private room. Ducky was reading over his chart and gave her an encouraging smile. "Hello, Mrs. Vance. The Director should be waking up fairly soon. He will probably be very confused when he awakens, but just keep talking to him."

"Will he remember what happened to him?"

"Judging from the blood tests, I believe he and the others have been heavily sedated since the original attack."

Jackie thought back to everything she'd been told. "If they've been sedated the whole time, then how did that doctor get – you know – samples from them?"

"Ah, yes." Ducky closed the computer screen and turned his full attention to her. "A carefully applied electrical current will cause the body to release the required sample without any awareness or participation of the gentleman."

"Oh, I never thought about that. Can you tell for sure if that was done to them?"

"Yes, we can, and yes, it has." Ducky pulled a chair closer and encouraged Jackie to sit down. "But for now, just enjoy the fact that he's back and he's alive. We will figure the rest out later."

Across the hall, Abby was flitting between two beds, the occupants unaware of her nervous energy while Ziva was struggling to keep her composure. Luckily, before Ziva snapped, ice blue eyes fluttered open.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs."

"Abby, stop." With a groan, Gibbs reached up to press his hand against his forehead. "What happened?"

Ziva stepped in before Abby could get started. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Remembering, Gibbs struggled to sit up. "We were ambushed when we got to the hotel parking garage." He looked over at the next bed, seeing the other man start to come around. "Where's..."

"Director Vance is in the room across the hall." Ziva braced for the next question she knew was coming.

"Where's McGee?"

a/n - I've really been cranking out the chapters this week, so I'll start posting a chapter a day until I catch up with myself. I'm working on chapter 10 now, if that gives you any clues.