A/N: Ok, I have some completed chapters still to post, but this is a work in progress everyone. You may have to bear with me. Thank you to everyone that has read, alerted and reviewed.

And special thanks goes to Trina109 for her invaluable help beta-reading and helping me get out of plot holes :) F.

Gibbs turned to Abby. "Did you touch anything, Abs?"

She nodded slowly.

"We're going to need to take your prints." She nodded again; they needed to eliminate her prints from any others found in his apartment.

"Ziva, talk to McGee's neighbours, see if they saw anything. Tony, get a picture of that." He gestured to the note. Once the photo was taken, Gibbs snapped on a pair of latex gloves and gingerly collected the note, studying it closely. His gut told him it was blood. He just hoped it wasn't McGee's.

...

He sat at his desk, puzzling over McGee's disappearance. Tony and Ziva had taken what little evidence they had down to Abby's lab. They needed to figure this out, and fast.

The rest of his team was back in the squad room quicker than he'd anticipated. He guessed that Abby had gone into her hyper focused state, the same way she had when Tony was being framed by her lab nerd, Chip.

"Abby found out anything about that note?"

Tony looked apologetic. "She says its human blood, Boss." He set his pack down at his desk and locked his gun away. "No way of telling whose it is yet."

Gibbs nodded; he'd expected that. He knew that Abby had had the note only a few minutes, but that didn't make it any easier. One of his team was missing, and the note was the only link they had right now.

"Have any of you noticed McGee acting differently at all?" he asked his remaining agents. The younger members of the team sent more time together; plus, when he was around, the team tended to act professionally, at least most of the time.

"He's been kinda quiet lately. Secretive" Tony said.

"Define lately."

"I dunno, two months or so. I figured he was writing another book. Keeps refusing to go out with us, saying he's got other plans."

"I disagree. He looks... Different. Happier." Ziva put in. "He keeps smiling when he thinks no one is looking, and he has not been spending as much time in Abby's lab. I think he has a girlfriend"

"That's ridiculous Ziva, Probie woulda told us."

"After the last time, Tony?"

Gibbs saw Tony wince at the memory. Amanda hadn't exactly been a good choice of girlfriend, not that any of the team blamed him for the lapse in judgement; it would have seemed hypocritical. It was a possibility, and right now they needed every lead they could get. He gestured at the computer sitting on McGee's desk.

"Tony, see if you can get any information off that thing about who McGee's been seeing. Ziva, go over the security tapes we got from McGee's building. I want an ID on everyone entering or leaving that building until Abby got there this afternoon."

"On it, Boss."

Tony moved over to McGee's desk, sitting down and starting to type something. On the other side of the bullpen, Ziva was accessing the footage they'd collected. Gibbs looked down at his cup, realising for the first time that it was empty. He tossed it in the trash and stood up. He needed coffee; it helped him think.

...

He detoured via Abby's lab on the way back to the squad room.

"Whatdya got, Abs?"

She sat on one of the stools in front of the computers, looking a little shell shocked.

"Abby?"

"I got the results back from the blood, Gibbs." She hit a button on the keyboard in front of her. McGee's ID photo flashed up on the screen. "It's definitely Timmy's blood on the note." She turned towards him. "Do you think he's ok?"

He pulled her into a hug, kissing her gently on the forehead. "I hope so, Abs."

"We've got to find him, Gibbs."

"Ah, Boss?" Tony's voice came from behind him. "I can't access most of McGee's files. He's encrypted them." Gibbs gave a mental snort. Of course he had; this was McGee they were talking about after all. "I was kinda hoping Abby would have more luck."

Gibbs looked back at Abby. "I can try, Gibbs, but it depends on what type of encryption he used. He's been playing around with his own encryption algorithms. What am I looking for?"

"Ziva thinks that Probie has a girlfriend" Tony explained. "If we can figure out who she is, she might know something about why McGee was kidnapped."

Gibbs watched Abby's reaction curiously. Her head snapped up and she looked distinctly uncomfortable. "What is it, Abs?"

"I know he has a girlfriend." Her voice came out high pitched and odd. "It's me."