Robyn and McGee were at the crime scene once again, but this time exploring a wider range of ground. They never roamed too far away from each other, always keeping each other in sight and earshot.

It had been silent for a long while, except for the crunching of leaves and twigs beneath their feet and an occasional small animal zipping through the foliage restlessly.

"Why are you trying so hard to impress Gibbs?" McGee asked, too nervous to look up from the ground.

Robyn looked over at him, as if surprised by the sudden questioning. She shrugged, even though he wasn't even looking at her. It was more to convince herself.

"I don't know." Was all she said.

"Yes you do. You have to have a reason." McGee argued.

"No I don't." She retorted hastily.

"Well, Gibbs-"

"Well, Gibbs is a stubborn hypocrite!" Robyn interrupted. Anger filled her voice. As soon as she said that, she knew she had made a mistake.

"Why are you saying that? You've only known him for barely a day and a half." McGee muttered in confusion, not understanding why Robyn had snapped. But in response to what he had said, McGee received only cruel silence before he came to a realization.

"How long have you known him, Robyn?"

"Long enough…" She said softly.

McGee opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by an enthusiastic "Come look at this!" It was as if everything that was said before was just forgotten as McGee approached Robyn cautiously.

"What is it?" He asked as he looked down, receiving a silent answer. The ground was covered with dried blood. The bloody earth seemed to be disturbed, as if something had been dragged through the woods. Robyn just looked up at McGee.

"This way." She said quickly before following the bloody trail. Eventually the blood disappeared as the dead Marine, Jason Roberts' body finally bled out, but the drag marks still showed through flattened grass, and broken twigs. McGee stopped walking which confused Robyn.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Roberts stopped bleeding a few yards back. And he was being dragged." McGee announced.

"Yeah. So?"

"Well…Then why is there blood on the trunk of this tree?"

Robyn looked surprised as she turned and walked back to the tree, seeing a partial bloody hand print.

"Not that I'm saying we shouldn't collect it, we definitelly should, but I don't think we should get our hopes up. It could just be the victim's blood that got on the killer's hand." McGee reasoned.

She smiled and said, "No. His blood was dry by the time that it got here. Most of it anyway. The blood on the tree was from someone living. Someone with a heartbeat that was constantly sending blood to the injured part of the body. In this case, his arm or his hand. This blood belongs to the killer. I have no doubt in my mind, McGee."

With that reasoning, McGee wasted no time as he got a swab of the blood and carefully bagged the piece of bark that held the print.

They continued walking until the trail suddenly stopped. There weren't even any footprints.

"This just got weird." Robyn muttered, beginning to think out loud. "Why did the killer even move the body in the first place? Nobody even goes that far back in these woods. Somebody wanted the body to be found. And how does the trail just disappear like this?"

"The killer could have decided to carry the body." McGee suggested.

"Then where are the footprints? Absolutely nothing here is disturbed. Not even a blade of grass."

McGee thought for a moment before speaking. "Let's get back. Tony, Ziva, and Gibbs should be back soon."

Robyn nodded. "Okay." She muttered as they made their way back to the car.

"Where are they?" Gibbs roared, seething with rage. "I didn't tell them to go anywhere!"

"I don't know boss." DiNozzo responded nervously.

"Maybe they are speaking with Abby or Ducky." Ziva chimed in. She looked over at Tony, knowing this wasn't going to end well for anyone.

The doors of the elevator opened at that moment revealing both Robyn and McGee.

"Boss!" McGee said with a slight smile. "We found new evidence in-"

"New evidence McGee? Can you tell me who killed this Marine?" Gibbs shouted.

The smile disappeared from McGee's face. "No…no I can't. Yet, I mean. I can't tell you who killed him yet sir."

"McGee-"

Robyn got between the two and looked up at Gibbs. She straightened up, as if at attention. "It was my idea, sir."

Gibbs glared at her angrily.

"We…didn't have much to go on, so I figured that we might have missed something. McGee only wanted to help. It wasn't his idea." She tried to explain, hoping Gibbs would understand.

"McGee." He growled. "Get to your desk."

"But boss-"

"Did that sound like a suggestion?" That caused McGee to look down at Robyn with an apologetic look as he walked to his desk with no further input.

Gibbs glowered at Robyn before marching to the elevator. Robyn looked at the rest of the team and all of them were waving their hands, as if trying to tell her to follow him.

Before she could make a move to the elevator, she heard Gibbs' fierce voice shout, "Are you waiting for an invitation?"

Robyn sighed as she turned and made her way back to the elevator. The silver doors met each other in the middle, closing Robyn off from the safety of a bright, colorful room filled with the agents of NCIS. Now she was in a small, confined space with a man that hated her. The light was penetrating. She felt like she was getting interrogated.

"Where are we go-" Robyn began, but she was cut off by the sudden halt of the elevator.

The lights went off and the gliding, calming sound of the elevator died and was replaced by, "What is the matter with you? I didn't tell you to go back out there!"

"I know…but I knew that there was more evidence." Robyn argued.

"This is why I didn't want you on my team!"

These words stung Robyn more than Gibbs would ever know. She just shook her head. "That's not the reason. You just want me gone! You never wanted to see me again, so this must really suck for you."

Gibbs hit the side of the metallic elevator with the side of his fist, creating a loud reverberating 'boom'. "Then why are you here? You know that I don't want you here!"

"How the fuck was I supposed to know that you would be the one? I thought I would just be a part of a separate team! Away from you! Out of your way. I wasn't. Woops!" She was furious now. She was tired or acting afraid of him. This elevator gave her a feeling of power that she greatly appreciated. She took a breath and continued, a bit more calmly now. "All I want to do... now that this is the situation that we have both been given... is prove that I'm not the same. To just have one more chance."

Gibbs just stared at her for a moment then shook his head. "After what you did? You'll never prove anything to me." He turned away from her and pressed a button on the elevator and suddenly the lights came back on and the elevator began lowering once again.

"That's not fair." Robyn snapped as she pressed the emergency stop, the elevator jerking to a halt once again.

"Not fair? You're a murderer who should rot in prison!"

"And you're a traitor!"

That caused Gibbs to hesitate. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me..." she said, taking a step towards him, their faces only a few inches a part. "You turned your back without ever asking me what happened. Assumed that I was a criminal. All I wanted during that part of my life was my friend. My only and best friend. And you walked away!"

Gibbs said nothing and Robyn retreated a step back, jaw clenching and unclenching in steady rhythm. He shook his head and hit the button which made the lights flicker on once again and the gentle hum of the elevator come to life.

"You didn't know him, Gibbs... Not like I knew him."

Silence.