I would have posted yesterday, but I am an avid knitter and admittedly like a raccoon when it comes to new shiny skeins of yarn!

I really appreciate everyone's interest (and patience!) with all the dialogue and stage setting. There's so much I needed to weave in before getting to the action bits; I hope it's not dragging too much. I promise some big stuff coming in Chapter 5...you will see EJ and Ray back on the scene with a super surprise guest, who will provide the team with a lot of answers (and yes, some new questions as well!)

Ok, enough yakking: here's Chapter 4!

"Boss? We tried. We read the whole Samson bit and Cobb's twisted little story but we don't get how it proves EJ knew more than she let on."

They were in Abby's lab, as the happy goth didn't normally arrive for another two-some hours and McGee needed her computers. Gibbs leaned against the metal table, taking a long pull of his second coffee and waited, only slightly impatiently. After all, he was the one interrogating Cobb at the time, and he was so focused on finding Ziva that he had missed the glaring slip up as well.

"It isn't the story about the horse that's important," he prompted after a few long moments staring at their perplexed faces. "It's about who knew the story..."

It took another minute, but Ziva got there first. With something that sounded like a swearword in some foreign language, she smacked her forehead and nodded. "How did we not catch it before?"

"What?" Tony said, annoyed, as Ziva flipped through the transcript and read a quip. "It's time to put Samson down. Surely Agent Barrett wrote about him in that psych profile she holds so near and dear?"

"Did she?" Tony asked and was rewarded with now two impatient stares. "What?"

"Tony, how could EJ know the story of Samson?" Ziva questioned. "How could it have been in her psych profile when she didn't even know Cobb's identity until a few days prior to this?"

Tony had never fully understood the analogy of a lightbulb clicking until that moment. He could almost imagine that the sudden illumination above his head was his own realization.

Until he heard Abby's voice behind him.

"My invitation to this shindig get lost in the mail?"

She was standing in the doorway, her hand frozen over the second set of light switches that they hadn't bothered to turn on.

"Mornin' Abs," Gibbs said simply, taking a few steps to the fridge and fishing out a cold CafPow.

"Mmmm thanks Gibbs, but you won't distract me with pretty presents," she warned even as she took a long drag on the straw and sighed contentedly. "Now why are you all skulking around my lab?"

"My fault, Abby," McGee called over his shoulder while still typing furiously. "I needed to borrow your processor to help write a decryption program. Almost done..."

"Reeaally? At 5:30 in the morning? What for?" Abby said curiously, taking a step forward to squint at her computer screen.

"Boss doesn't crack your whip before seven, Abs. Why are you here so early?" Tony prompted, trying to distract her from looking too closely at McGee's work.

"It's bath day for my babies," Abby answered with a smile, glancing indulgently over her machines.

The others gave her varying looks from mild amusement to downright concern but Abby just rolled her eyes and began gesturing wildly. "One little spec of dust can completely throw off Mr. MassSpec. Unless of course I'm supposed to analyze dust. Remember, like on that case where…"

"Okay, done!" McGee said, pressing a button and the computer screen dissolved to a picture of Abby with her bowling nuns. "Thanks Abs!"

"Youuuu're welcome?" She replied as Gibbs gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She called after them as she heard the elevator ding. "You guys are going to eventually tell me what's really going on right?"

They rose about half a floor before Gibbs hit the button.

"There's no audio or video in here, right?" McGee looked around for a camera, wondering why he never thought to ask before. Maybe treason made him a little paranoid. "It's safe to talk?"

Gibbs nodded, taking another swig of his coffee. "Yep, I sweep it regularly for bugs."

Tony chuckled and Ziva nodded to herself, as if that made perfect sense.

"Seriously boss?" McGee asked, his eyes wide.

Gibbs leveled a glare at him that left Tim entirely unsure if he was joking or not.

"So," Tony said loudly, shaking his head slightly at McGee to drop it, "Cobb watched EJ's team for weeks, and it was enough to convince him that they had his background info all along. Plus the story about Samson definitely made EJ uncomfortable; she acted like she knew it already. That confirms what we suspected last night; someone must have tipped her off about Cobb long before Kort showed up. But any number of people could have told her: Davenport, Vance, Ray…"

Something about that statement seemed to bother Ziva, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She leaned pensively up against the side of the car, trying to block out the chatter from the others.

"That would explain why Davenport assigned the case to his niece. Wanted to be sure he could control the flow of information?" McGee offered.

"Makes sense," Tony nodded pensively. "Also explains why Vance kept us off the case once it was stateside. Couldn't admit how much EJ's team already knew. Maybe they were hoping the whole mess could be buried if they caught Cobb."

Gibbs shook his head. "Vance woulda told me."

"You sure about that boss?"

"He feels responsible for Cobb; Frankenstein was his idea. He knows we could have caught Cobb sooner than Barrett." Gibbs stated. It was matter-of-fact, not arrogance; he knew his was the better team.

"It makes more sense that Ray gave her the files..." Ziva proclaimed after a few moments, finally working out what was bothering her. "The CIA controlled the full records on Cobb, yes? The files and background that NCIS has on him were heavily redacted by the CIA. I went through every page of his personnel profile and there was no mention of this Samson story. So even once Kort read us in on the case, EJ would have had no way of knowing about it. Meaning she somehow got the information from the original, unaltered CIA records. And therefore probably Ray."

McGee suddenly pulled out his phone and started typing furiously, distracting Tony. But Gibbs studied Ziva for a long moment before nodding. "That's good Ziva. It's time we focus more on Ray. Do you think you can convince Austin to give you access to his real file or any of his relevant case reports?"

Ziva cocked her head, giving a little shrug. "I am sure I can find a way to be persuasive. Besides, he will be wanting an update on my progress."

"Have you heard anything from Ray directly?"

She shook her head now. "No, I have emailed him several times without response. He said he would be out of the country for awhile."

"Boss...when I was working on the encryption earlier, I got a ping on my tracer…" McGee said, looking slightly abashed. "I was so focused on finishing the program that I forgot about it until now." He paused, chewing on his bottom lip long enough for Gibbs' hand to twitch upwards. "Ray Cruz is in Tel Aviv…"

Everyone's gaze settled on Ziva, whose jaw clenched so tightly that it looked in danger of breaking.

Gibbs sighed again, punching the emergency stop button as the elevator began its ascent once more. "Again with the Israelis…"

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"You gave the Cobb files to Gibbs? What the hell were you thinking?" Clay Jarvis slammed a palm down on the Director's desk. Vance looked up, unfazed, and answered the question in a maddeningly calm tone.

"Cobb murdered a retired NCIS agent; that investigation was never officially closed, Mr. Secretary."

Jarvis gave him a withering look. "You expect me to believe that Leon?"

Vance simply cocked his head to the side and waited patiently for the other man to continue. He had to fight the urge to smirk.

"You don't suspect that DiNozzo shared his assignment with the others, do you?"

"And disobey a direct order? Doubtful. I'm sure Agent DiNozzo will follow orders."

Jarvis scoffed, sitting heavily in a plush chair. "Yeah, but whose orders? Now that I've settled in, I am hearing stories about Gibbs' team. It would seem they have quite the reputation for bucking protocol in favor of unwavering loyalty to each other. That might have been nice to know before I handed over this assignment."

Vance gave a little shrug, titling his head in the opposite direction and again tried to hide his amusement. "You didn't seem to find it necessary to consult me before talking to Agent DiNozzo."

Jarvis scowled, "Don't get smart with me Leon. You know damn well what I'm talking about."

Vance dropped the coy act, leaning forward in his chair. "The Port to Port and Frankenstein files are clean, Clay. You saw to that yourself. I can't imagine there's anything in there to make you worry. I know what your goal is, and I see nothing that's going to...alert...Agent DiNozzo to your desired outcome in this situation. He'll discover the truth as you've crafted it." He didn't bother to hide the disdain in his voice at the end.

They studied each other for a long moment before the SecNav stood up again, straightening his jacket with a sharp tug. "Be careful Leon. I allowed you to stay on as Director, in spite of everything, because you are well connected and seem fairly adept at...managing...some of the agency's tougher challenges." Vance smirked, knowing that last part was codeword for Gibbs. "But don't think for a second that things can't change. Keep an eye on DiNozzo. Let me know if you see signs that he's slipping. And get that damn file back from Gibbs!"

Jarvis turned and was halfway out the door as Vance nodded respectfully with an, "As you wish, Mr. Secretary."

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Gibbs looked up at the sound of a slamming door and snickered at the indignant rage clear on Jarvis' face. The Secretary glared down at Gibbs for a moment before disappearing into the elevator.

"You'd think they'd all learn to stop messing with you boss," Tony commented without looking up from the file he was reading. McGee grinned over his computer screen, where he was making progress on Ray's phone records now that his decryption program was working. Gibbs glanced to Ziva and felt a moment of unease. She had left to call Austin and returned with a meaningful nod, telling him she would need to leave early today to pick something up. She hadn't spoken a word since. He knew she was troubled with why Ray would be in Israel, and he sensed that Austin had said something to her on the phone that was adding to her worry.

Tony's phone beeped several times, breaking into Gibbs' musings. He glanced up to see the younger man's frown and momentary hesitation. His voice was easy and carefree as he answered though.

"Hey there! Yeah, well some of us still have to work...Yeah...um, sure...noon is fine...yep, I remember that place...Okay...Okay see you then…" He closed the phone, staring down at it before taking a deep breath and meeting Gibbs' stare.

"I'm having lunch with EJ…" He said in a careful voice. "She wants to...catch up."

Gibbs nodded, getting up from his chair and moving to lean on his Senior Agent's desk.

Tony's eyes dropped back to the cellphone he tapped against his palm.

Gibbs voice was low and gravelly, but it also held a tone of concern when he spoke. "I asked you, Tony, if you were sure. It's not too late to change your mind."

It took a long moment, but then Tony looked up at him. The joker smile appeared - the one Gibbs had seen plenty of times before that never quite reached troubled green eyes.

"Not a problem, boss. You mind if I take off for a few hours?"

Gibbs sighed but nodded and returned to his desk. This...this was why his gut had started twisting the moment his Agents assured him they could handle it. Tony and Ziva were already showing signs of distress and they were only a few days into it. He hoped, for all their sakes, that they would pull it together.

He tried not to think that their track records weren't exactly promising.

Chapter 5 will be up tomorrow or Tues at the latest and it be a cliffhanger! Anyone want to guess who the surprise 'guest star' will be?

Thanks as always for reading!