I don't own NCIS

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Ziva was annoyed that Gibbs hadn't let her go with him; she hated it when she couldn't do anything. She had a shower and got cleaned up. She was wearing the NIS shirt Gibbs had laid out for her, and some sweat pants she had found downstairs in the basement that smelled of paint thinner and wood shavings. Gibbs had told her to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw Tony. She had seen enough of Tony today and she couldn't bear to think of him lying on the cold surgical table. She looked around Gibbs' house, even though she had been here a few times, she had never seen his entire house. She wandered into the living room, where there were two brown couches, a throw rug, a coffee table with a glass top, a bookshelf and an old stereo system. There were four framed pictures on the bookshelf; one of the team, one of Gibbs and a fellow marine, the one of Jenny that Gibbs had taken in Serbia and one of Tony and Abby goofing around in Abby's lab. Ziva picked up the one of Tony and Abby. They both looked younger, so Ziva thought it must have been taken before she had joined the team. She looked on the back for a date, but there was none. Ziva moved on to the kitchen, which adjoined onto the living room. There wasn't much in there, just a bench, fridge, oven - the usual kitchen appliances and a table with an opened newspaper on it. Ziva walked down the hall, past the bathroom she had showered in and past the laundry which looked as though it had never been used. She walked up the stairs at the end of the hall onto the second landing. Ziva hesitated at the top of the stairs, she wanted to look around on this level but something about the hallway that she saw in front of her said that she shouldn't. It was as if no one ever came up here, Ziva wouldn't be surprised if Gibbs never came up here, he had everything he needed down on the ground floor and the basement. Ziva turned around and walked back down the stairs, she didn't want to invade Gibbs' privacy. She wandered back down into the basement; she figured that if she had nothing else to do, she might as well work on the boat. She picked up the manual sander and started to work.

Abby sat in the waiting room with her feet crossed on the chair. She tapped her fingers on the arm rest, ignoring the annoyed looks people were giving her. Her eyes were fixed on the Emergency room door, waiting for someone to emerge. In the past hour no one had gone in or out, there had been seven phone calls to the reception, 3 people had come into the foyer and three people had left, 5 people had taken something out of the vending machine, one of them Abby and now there were 8 people waiting for someone to come through that door. Abby had counted all this while she had been sitting in that chair. She thought about Tony, she couldn't believe it, just yesterday she had been talking to him about what he was going to do today, which was very different to what he was going to be doing instead. Five hours, cut open on a hard, cold, metal table, a few more hours unconscious, possibly more, and the rest of the hours, stuck in bed with an incredibly sore arm. Poor Tony. She didn't worry too much, she knew that he was going to be okay, she just had a good feeling today – that everything would be okay.

"Abigail!"

Ducky's voice pulled Abby out of her thoughts and she stopped tapping her fingers.

"Ducky!" Abby sounded cheerful.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, I only just got your message, I was asleep at the time of your call." Ducky sat down in the seat next to Abby. She made a mental note. Now four people have entered the foyer.

"Have you heard anything?"

Abby shook her head. "Nope, not yet" Abby started to tap her fingers again, despite the groans she heard from the other people in the waiting room. Now both Ducky and Abby, along with the other seven people, sat quietly, watching the door in case someone came out.

Although Gibbs had been at Tony's apartment only a couple of hours ago, he had not taken everything in. As he entered the apartment into the living room, he noticed two large wine glasses, one empty, the other one with a mouthful left in it. He put on his gloves and walked around into the kitchen, which was spotless except for two plates and two sets of cutlery in the sink. Gibbs then walked into the bedroom. The bed covers were pulled up, but crumpled, the pillows had been pushed off, and there was the large blood stain on it. Gibbs saw Tony's shoes lying at the bottom of the bed and a scarf that Ziva must have been wearing, next to them. He knew what had been going on here, but this time they weren't undercover. McGee's reaction was a bit different, as he walked into the bedroom, he noticed the blood first, then the shoes and scarf and then the pillows. It took him a couple of seconds to register what this meant, but when he realised, he wasn't all that surprised. At work lately, Tony and Ziva had been very close, always being each other's partners, flirting, bickering and stealing looks at each other when they thought no one was looking. McGee was sure that there was something going on between them, or they wanted something to happen between them. McGee had already pulled on his gloves, so now he took photos before Gibbs could tell him to do so. He took several of the blood stain, three of the shattered window and broken glass on the floor, one looking across to where the shot could've come from and one of the bed.

"Time to bag and tag McGee" Gibbs handed McGee the kit. Gibbs squatted down under the window and started to pick up the broken shards of glass with a pair of tweezers he had taken out of the kit. McGee looked around the room at the bed and at the items on the floor, and then he squatted down next to Gibbs and started to pick up the pieces. Gibbs looked at McGee.

"I've got this McGee," Gibbs stared at McGee.

"But uh-" Gibbs chuckled and stood up.

"It's okay McGee, you take over," McGee sighed with relief but he knew this wasn't over. Gibbs stripped off the bed cover and the sheets and stuffed them into a large bag. He looked up at the window and stopped. He squinted, he had been looking up at the window across from Tony's, one floor up, a perfect angle. He finished stuffing the sheets into the bag, grabbed the camera and strode towards the door. McGee looked around.

"I'm just gonna go and check out that apartment," He pointed and left the room. McGee finished picking up the shards of glass and looked around for something else he could do. He looked across at the wall across from the shattered window trying to scout for where the bullet could have hit.

Gibbs had just reached the 4th floor of the apartment building across from Tony's. He strode along the hallway looking for the room that he had spotted from across the road. He watched the numbers on the doors. 412. 414. 416. 418. Gibbs was sure that 418 was the room but if not he would try the others. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer. He could hear footsteps from the other side of the door and then it opened. A man dressed in track pants and an old T-shirt stood at the door. He looked tired and had bags under his eyes, he must have been sleeping.

"Hello?" The man looked Gibbs up and down while he spoke.

"I'm Agent Gibbs," Gibbs held up his badge, flipping it to show his I.D. "I was wondering if I could take a look at your apartment?"

The man eyed Gibbs, puzzled.

"At this hour?" The man yawned as Gibbs nodded.

The man shrugged his shoulders and opened the door wider, allowing Gibbs to pass through. First, he headed straight to window in the living room. The drapes were pulled back and Gibbs could see through to Tony's apartment, but only the kitchen. He took a quick picture of the outlook. He walked further to the left into what he assumed was the man's bedroom. He pulled open the drapes that had been closed in the room to keep the light from the street out. He could just see into Tony's bedroom but he couldn't see the bed, but he took another photo anyway. He examined the window, it was sealed shut, there was no way of opening it.

"Must be some investigation your running," the man had appeared behind Gibbs. Gibbs spun around, he had forgotten something important. Gibbs faced the man.

"Can I ask you a few questions?" The man nodded his consent.

"Did you hear anything unusual tonight?"

The man rubbed his eyes, as if trying to stay awake.

"No."

"No loud noises?"

The man's eyes drifted from Gibbs face to the window.

"Yeah." The man looked around him, avoiding Gibbs gaze.

The man sat down on the bed, offering for Gibbs to sit next to him. Gibbs didn't move.

The man began to re-tell what he had heard and seen in the hours leading up to when Tony was shot. He described how he had heard voices next door and that he had heard a woman scream from across the road. He hadn't seen his neighbours in a week and remembered them telling him that they were going away. He yawned again.

"That's all Agent Gibbs." He closed his eyes for a second as if hinting for Gibbs to leave.

"Thanks..."

"Jack" The man replied quickly. Gibbs pulled out a card from his pocket.

"If you think of anything, just give me a call." Gibbs nodded and walked out of the apartment, closing the door softly behind him.

Gibbs silently walked down the corridor to the next apartment and placed his ear to the door. Silence. He rapped softly on the door. Nothing. He knocked louder this time and there was still no sound of anyone on the other side. He gave the door a loud bang. Still nothing. He grunted. He remembered seeing a sign saying that the building's supervisor was in room 111. He jogged towards the stairs and skipped down a two levels and went through the door that said Level One. He found room 111 easily enough and bashed on the door. It was at least a minute before the door swung open to reveal a chubby man around his 40's wrapped in a dressing gown.

"WHAT?" The man demanded.

"I need to get into an apartment." Gibbs showed the man his badge. The man stayed where he was glaring at Gibbs.

"It's for an important investigation."

"Which apartment?" The man narrowed his eyes.

"420"

The man shook his head.

"Sorry, the people that live there are out of town, have been for a week. I can't let you in there without a warrant."

"This is for a federal investigation! I have to get in there!" Gibbs was practically shouting now.

The man shook his head, "Not without a warrant."

Gibbs bashed his hand on the wall near where the man's face and exhaled through his teeth. He leaned in very close to the man's ear and whispered, "I'll be back. With a warrant, and you will wish you'd never met me." With this, Gibbs turned on his heel and walked briskly down the corridor towards the stairs.

McGee had just finished sketching the apartment when Gibbs returned. Gibbs noticed that McGee had laid out all the evidence bags on the table along with the sketch pad.

"I think I got everything Boss," McGee met Gibbs in the living room.

"The bullet?" McGee looked down at the floor.

"I looked everywhere, Gibbs. The bed, the floor, the wall, closet. Anywhere it could have ended up. Nothing" McGee shook his head daring to look up at Gibbs. Gibbs stared back at McGee, his left eye was squinting. McGee closed his eyes and waited for the head slap but Gibbs walked over to the table and started to collect the evidence bags. McGee opened his eyes and shot over and grabbed the sketch pad and remaining bags and followed Gibbs out. Gibbs waited for McGee to get out the apartment before pulling the shut and locking it. Both agents made their way down the stairs and onto the street. McGee walked over to the black company car but Gibbs strode purposefully over to Abby's car. His hands were full so he jerked his head towards the car, telling McGee to get over there and open it. He walked over to the car placed the evidence bags on the bonnet of the car, pretending not to see the glare that Gibbs was giving him, and fumbled in his pocket for the keys. Once the car was open, Gibbs placed all the evidence in a box on the back seat, along with the camera and other things.

"So, I'll take this to Abby's lab, ready for her when she gets in." McGee opened the driver's door and slid in.

"Yeah," Gibbs placed his hand on the top of the open door, "Then go and get some sleep, it's been a long night." McGee nodded.

"Thanks Boss."

Gibbs closed the door and McGee drove off towards NCIS. Gibbs smiled as he watched him drive away. He pulled out his phone and dialled a number as he walked back to his car. He put it to his ear and climbed in.