"I could be cold,
I could be ruthless…
You know I could be just like you…"

Just Like You by Three Days Grace

Chapter IX

"Yes, Nathan… Uh… nurse Hayes was on the same shift as I was. Exactly on the day you asked about and well, the time is obviously included in the time frame." The young woman explained hastily obviously more than just a bit intimidated by Gibbs glower.

Neither one of his three agents knew actually why he was in an exceedingly foul mood today they could only guess about the reasons. Tim and Tony had agreed that he must have been in a fight with Kate, since the brunette didn´t come down this morning to check on the progress they made on the case and Jethro´s behavior was far worse than his usual gloominess. Ziva on the other hand had simply shrugged it off as always avoiding it to take part in one of DiNozzo´s guessing-games concerning their boss' private life. To her it was like rifling through his stuff to get to know more about his private life which the older man always wanted to keep private even in front of his trusted team.

"So, did you see him on that particular time?" The gray-haired man asked sternly and the poor woman seemed to shrink even more under Gibbs' hard stare. She seemed to brace herself for anything at the moment, leaning as far away from the agent she could without actually stepping away from him.

"No… I didn´t, but honestly that is not too much of a surprise…" The nurse replied and Tony could swear that he caught a glimpse of plain fear on her features and to be honest he could understand her.

Today was one of the days he would go to a remarkable extent to please Gibbs and avoid provoking his wrath directing at him. It was tempting to go to the lab and ask Abby if she knew something and the Italian knew that the Goth would know something, but for now the Italian had to focus on work in order to stay on Jethro´s good side or well better side.

"Why not?" Jethro retorted and she winced slightly, not expecting that harsh tone.

"This is a rather huge hospital. I often see my co-workers only in the beginning and or in the end of a shift, not permanently. That is impossible." She explained, but trailed off. "But I can´t tell if he was here the whole time. It is possible that he left the hospital unseen nobody would bother to think about it. Nathan could as well accompany a patient to X-ray or something like that."

"Is there video surveillance on every exit?" The supervisory agent asked and the woman nodded, obviously seeing her chance to escape the grumpy man.

"You have to ask the security about that, but as far as I know there is a camera on every exit and in the stairwells of course."

Gibbs nodded yet not completely satisfied with her answers and when he turned to go she exhaled audibly, Tony couldn´t help but smile at that. He had often enough witnessed which effect this Leroy Jethro Gibbs could have on people, ranging from subtle manipulation and flirting to open aggression and pressure. "Go get the video tapes, DiNozzo. I have to call Abby, meet my by the car in ten and not a minute later."

"Sure, boss." The Italian replied and nodded, heading swiftly into the opposite direction.

He was pondering why Gibbs would call Abby now. Either it was for work related matters or about something private, probably concerning Kate, at that moment he knew he had to try and pry about some information from the forensic. If there was something bad going on between Gibbs and Kate she would be the first one to know most likely even before Ducky knew anything. Exactly ten minutes later DiNozzo strode towards the dark blue Dodge with the requested video tapes in hand. Gibbs was already sitting in the car the window rolled down obviously it was too hot inside the vehicle even for him, staring into space. When the younger man opened the passenger´s door the gray-haired man snapped back into reality and started the engine wordlessly.

"Take the tapes to Abby and tell her I´ll send McGee down to help her." Jethro ordered curtly and inwardly Tony was glad for the opportunity to talk to the forensic.

"Hey Abbs, I´ve got something for you." The Italian greeted cheerfully, but his grin faded when he sensed the mood in the lab. Kate was sitting with Abigail obviously the two were having lunch, but it wasn´t like all the other times he found them down here together. Both seemed to be rather depressed and it was evident that he interrupted a conversation. "I´ll just leave the tapes on the table. Oh and Gibbs is going to send McGee down here to help you. He wants to see whether Nathan Hayes left the hospital during his shift or not."

The black-haired forensic just nodded and the agent turned to leave, now sure that there was something up with Gibbs and Kate. Finally satisfied with that he boarded the elevator and started to build up possible scenarios, almost running into Tim who seemed to be as distracted as his co-worker was. "Hey, be more careful the next time McCareless."

McGee just shot him an annoyed glare and entered the metal cabin while Tony finally arrived in the bullpen where Ziva was sitting at her desk, but there was no sign of their boss. "Where is Gibbs?"

"Getting fresh coffee…" The Israeli replied in a slightly annoyed tone and Anthony sat down, busying himself with some of the old files on his desk.

All they could do for now was waiting for what Abby and McGee would or wouldn´t see on the tapes. If Hayes left the hospital at the right time, they could go find and arrest him immediately. If not they had to solve the mystery how his hair got to Cody Baker´s clothes and then find some other suspect.

The day passed rather slowly for Gibbs' team. In the lab Abby and Tim were watching the surveillance tapes from the hospital in Norfolk while Tony and Ziva were exposed to Jethro´s foul mood upstairs, waiting impatiently for the work hours to end. Both agents were sneaking a peek of their boss every now and then, trying to foresee any kind of possible outburst. For a short moment they were sure that the gray-haired man would snap at the young guy who was distributing the mail to them, but in the last moment Gibbs pulled himself together and grunted something inaudible while the man hurried out of the bullpen as fast as he could without actually running.

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A/N: This is the last one for this year and slightly shorter than the others but well had to be. Happy 2010! =)