a/n - having fun yet? Thank you for all the great feedback, today the plot thickens.

Fornell sat across from Sacks, waiting for McGee to arrive. He'd chosen a small park slightly off the beaten path for the meet that was usually deserted during the day. The deli across from his office had provided hearty ham and cheese sandwiches, but he was pretty sure the kid wouldn't have much of an appetite after he learned what they had uncovered.

The two men watched as McGee pulled into the parking lot, Sacks whistling at the sight of the silver Porsche. "Man, how much better does NCIS pay? That is one sweet ride."

"Kid wrote a novel. His hobby turned out to be a bestseller." Fornell grinned at the look on his agent's face. "Maybe you need a new hobby."

Sacks didn't respond. There was something about working with NCIS that always seemed to bring out a strange side of Fornell and he couldn't tell if the man was joking or not. Before he could figure it out, McGee had walked up the path to the picnic table where they were waiting for him.

"Agent Fornell, Agent Sacks, I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon. Was there a problem with the paperwork for the exhumation?" He watched as Fornell placed a wrapped sandwich similar to the ones he and Sacks already had on the table.

Fornell patted the table before returning his attention to his own lunch. "Have a seat, McGee. Did Gibbs give you a hard time about leaving?"

"No, it's pretty quiet today." McGee sat and picked at the wrappings of the sandwich, obviously worried about what had happened in the few hours since he'd left them. Fornell look pity on him.

"We ran a background check on the nursing home your father was at. The owner of record actually only owns about thirty percent of the chain." He knew it wouldn't take long for the questions.

"Thirty percent? Who owns controlling interest then? How long ago did this happen?"

Fornell held up his hand to stop the flood of questions. "There's no easy way to say this."

"Just tell me."

"Okay." Fornell and Sacks exchanged worried looks before Fornell continued. "The major partner of Evergreen Care, Inc. is a holding company we believe is a front for homegrown terrorists; Edmund Moore and his group to be precise."

McGee frowned as he tried to make sense of that discovery. "Moore, you mean the guy behind the Dawn of Tomorrow group? Why would he be interested in nursing homes? There can't be that much profit." It took just a few seconds for the young man to answer his own question. "It's not the legal profit he's interested in. If he's using the patients as test subjects, there's got to be some pretty big money in it. What is he financing with all that money?"

"That is the sixty-four thousand dollar question." One look at the other man's face and Fornell had to continue. "We're going to find out."

Sacks winced at his superior's words, knowing what McGee's answer would be, knowing that he would have the same exact response.

"I want in on the investigation."

"McGee, Tim…"

"They killed my father."

"I understand that." He really did, but this was the first crack they had discovered in Moore's armor in all the years the FBI had been after him. They had to be careful not to tip off the man before they could actually tie him to something that would stand up in court. On the other hand, not one person in the FBI's cybercrime unit could match McGee's ability to get into a secured database undetected. "If we do this, it has to be under very strict guidelines. I don't run a cowboy operation like Gibbs. You willing to work like that?"

McGee didn't even have to think it through. "If it takes Moore down, then yes."

There was one more question he had for the younger man before he was completely convinced. "What about Gibbs, are you going to tell him about your dad?"

McGee answered with a question of his own. "Will NCIS be read into the investigation?"

It was tempting, not that Fornell would ever admit it. "Our last two attempts to take him down resulted in the deaths of some of my best agents. This time I'm going to play it close to the vest with a very small group of hand picked people. When we're ready to move in I may bring NCIS on board, but not for the investigation. It's not a matter of trusting them," Fornell rushed to assure him. "It's the very real possibility of a leak somewhere in our communications system. Everything is going to be face to face this time and away from the office, both offices."

Fornell was glad to see that McGee gave some serious thought to the restrictions he would be working under before finally nodding. "I won't outright lie to Gibbs, but since I won't be doing anything where he would know about it, there shouldn't be a problem."

"Good enough." Tobias knew the kid couldn't directly lie to his boss if his life depended on it. He just hoped that Gibbs wouldn't push to a point where it would. "What about your dad?"

"If it comes up, I'll tell him the truth. Dad was sick and in a nursing home before he died." McGee checked his watch. "I've got to get back to the office soon. Where do you want me to start?"

"Have any plans for tonight?"

McGee shook his head. "Not really. I've got to pick up Jethro from the kennel and if we don't get caught up in a case, I'll probably give him a good run in the park before it gets too dark."

As humorous as Fornell found it that the kid had a dog named for Gibbs, this wasn't the time to joke about it. "Which park?" He recognized the park McGee named as one with not only a fenced in area for dogs, but also had one of Emily's favorite play structures. "Call when you're on your way there, and I'll meet you."

---NCIS---

"You're cheating on me." McGee felt like he was barely in the building before Abby cornered him in the elevator, throwing the emergency stop button.

Still reeling from what Fornell had told him, McGee wasn't too interested in her rant. "What are you talking about Abby?"

"You sent a sample to another lab. What, I'm no longer good enough for you?"

"What? How did you… when did you start checking up on me?" The last thing Tim wanted was for her to somehow attract attention to the questions raised about his father's death before they even got started on the case. "That was a private matter, and is going to stay private." He moved her to the side and turned the elevator back on. "Stay out of my personal business, Abby. It had nothing to do with the agency or any of our cases."

"But…"

"No, Abby." Part of him winced at hurting her, but sometimes she refused to comprehend. "This time it's about me and what I need for once. Please try to understand it." Instead of answering, she stormed out the moment the doors opened.

---NCIS---

The last thing Tobias Fornell wanted to do after lunch was to go jogging, but this was the best way to speak to Director Haas directly and off the record. He paced himself carefully and managed to pull up along side the other man on their third trip around the indoor track at the FBI training facility. They were well into their fourth lap before either man spoke.

"Don't see you on the track very often, Tobias. Must be something pretty big to get you out here in the middle of the week."

"Edmund Moore." Fornell's words almost caused the director to stumble. When he saw how seriously Hass was listening to him, he continued. "I may have been handed a way to take him down."

Hass slowed down even as he tried to appear nonchalant. "Handed? By someone you trust?"

"Oh, yeah I trust him." Fornell looked around carefully. No one else was paying attention to them. "Moore's gotten away from us too many times, sir. I want to run this investigation totally off the grid until I'm sure what we've got."

Haas knew it was probably the only way to take down the man, but he had to be sure Fornell knew the risks. "You realize that if something goes wrong, you may not have help in time?"

"I know. I also know that if it goes right, we may have a shot at taking out his entire base of operations and uncover his plans." Fornell believed the director would recognize this was too big to pass up.

"Tell me what you need, Tobias."