Disclaimer: Not mine etc etc etc

Megan, David, and Colby walked back into NCIS with a few bags on Chinese food. They got into the squad room to see the other three still hard at work, and laughed at the looks on their faces.

"Dinner time?" David joked, and placed the bags on Gibbs' desk. All three NCIS agents came over.

Ziva looked through the bags, surprised that they had thought ahead. Megan looked at her knowingly. "I saw your Star of David," she said, pointing to Ziva's necklace. "I figured you'd appreciate something kosher." Megan pulled out the veggie dish she had gotten for the Israeli.

"Thank you, that is kind," Ziva said, taking it back to her own desk. Tony and McGee hurried over to get their own dishes, and the FBI agents grabbed what was left.

"Anything new?" Megan asked, sitting in one of the extra chairs that Tim had brought up for them. Megan was surprised at how busy the NCIS office had been all day; not just this team, but the others that were running in and out. She hadn't seen Director…Shepard? she thought her name was, but that wasn't surprising. If the NCIS team was in LA, they probably wouldn't have seen Merrick or Wright. But DC was a big city just like LA, so it made sense that they would be busy.

Tony shook his head regretfully. "Nothing yet. Ziva has been working with Abby trying to find more on our dead guy, and Ducky should be done with the autopsy soon."

Megan nodded, then looked at Ziva. "Did you get a hold of your father, find out what Charlie was doing in Tel Aviv?"

Ziva shook her head as well. "He has been busy with heads of state all day. I left a message with his secretary, said that it was a family matter and needed to be addressed as soon as possible. I do not know when he will get back to me, though."

Megan looked down. Sounds like a version of her own father, she thought. "Alright, so we're at an impasse until we get some more information," she clarified, and everyone nodded with her. "Do you think that Abby and Ducky would want some dinner as well?" she asked, gesturing to the extra cartons of food. "We brought plenty."

Tim smiled. "I'll take them down, see if either is interested. That's really kind of you." He left his food on his desk, grabbed the bag and left for the elevators.

Colby looked around, suddenly noticing who was missing. "Uh, where's Gibbs?" he asked.

"Coffee run," Tony said promptly. "You'll find he drinks more than anyone should in a single day."

The FBI agents laughed, thinking of their own coffee maker which ran nonstop for days on end when there was a case. They waved away the questioning looks. Just as silence fell again, Tim walked back in with Abby close behind.

"Where's Gibbs?" Abby asked quickly.

"He is out, Abby? Did you find something?" Ziva asked, standing.

"I found out a lot. The dead guy? Ben Oded? Turns out that's actually the guy's name! He's Israeli, born outside Tel Aviv. Get this, he's Hamas! Tried to infiltrate Mossad, but was rejected, of course. He and a few of his associates moved to the states in August of '05."

"August '05?" David demanded.

"Yep! He was in Tel Aviv the same time Dr. Eppes was, which must be how he knew the professor. I have his address here, its right over in Maryland. He has been seen with Asaf Sayar and Noam Mazar. I have the addresses listed for Oded and Mazar, but there isn't an address listed for Sayar," she said excitedly, and all six agents stood.

"Gear up," Gibbs barked from the elevator. The agents looked over in shock to find both their team leaders walking in together, and no blood to be seen.

"Boss?" Tony asked, shocked.

"Did I stutter, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Course not, boss," he said, and the NCIS agents grabbed their guns and bags. "Which one we taking?"

Don looked at Gibbs. "How about you take Oded's place, my team'll take Mazar's?"

Gibbs nodded. "Yep. Doubt they'll be there. If they grabbed the professor, they probably took him to another location, but we may find some clues. Let's go!" he shouted, and both teams scrambled to obey.

"Let's get ready to roll," Don told his team, and they all knelt by their duffle bags, making sure that they were wearing their flak jackets, had plenty of ammo, and their comms were working.

Don double checked Mazar's address, and they grabbed the keys to the car Tony left for them, and hurried out. David drove, with Don in the passenger seat, and Megan and David behind them. Worried out of his mind, Don checked his watch nearly thirty times during the twenty minute drive there, images of his brother playing in his mind. Finally, they pulled up outside the apartment complex, each jumping out as soon as the car was in park. They ran up the stairs, stopping outside Mazar's room. Colby banged on the door. "Noam Mazar! FBI!" he bellowed. They didn't hear any noise, so Don got into position to kick in the door. He counted to three, then kicked, and David went in first. They checked through each room, shouting "Clear!" after each one, but no one was home; it appeared to have been that way for a while: no dishes in the sink, no clothes in the closet, and dust covered every inch of the apartment.

"Damn it!" Don yelled, then grabbed his cell, dialing Gibbs's number. They'd had a shorter drive than the NCIS team, so they may not be at Oded's place yet.

"Yeah, Gibbs," the team leader answered.

"Gibbs, its Eppes. Mazar isn't home, hasn't been for a while from what we can tell," Don told him.

"Right. We're pulling up to Oded's place now, we'll let you know what we find." The line clicked closed.

Don was fuming. He'd gotten his hopes up that he would see his brother right then, but this was just another dead end.

"Hey, Don," Megan called from the other room. He hurried over to see her looking through papers.

"What do you got?" he asked her quickly.

"He may not be here, but he's in on it," she said grimly, handing him a few papers. "Looks like he's been following Charlie for a while. There are articles here, ones about his academic work, about his FBI work, a few photos of him at airports, he even has a copy of Charlie's book!"

Don thought hard. "Alright. David, get the DC FBI on the phone, I want a full forensics team here, and I want to know everyone who's been in here since this guy rented this place: fingerprints, DNA, the works."

David nodded, cell phone already out and dialing. Meanwhile, Colby was looking at the mail that was by the door. "Don? Looks like this guy may not have stayed here in a while, but he's been checking his mail, there's only a couple days worth of mail here."

Don nodded and they continued searching, but there was nothing else of note, not until the forensics team would get there. Fifteen minutes later, Don's cell rang.

"Eppes."

"Eppes, its Gibbs. Oded's not at home, either. We've got forensics on its way to find anything else."

Don groaned in frustration. Their first and only lead, and it led nowhere. "You guys find anything of interest there?"

"We found a lot of article clippings about Dr. Eppes, but it looks like the guy cleared out a few days ago."

"Yeah, alright. Thanks," he said, then flipped the phone closed. "Oded's place was empty, too," Don told the team.

The agents sagged in defeat. But David tried to stay positive. "Don, we have enough circumstantial evidence now. We can trace their credit cards, tap their phones; we're going to find them, and when we do, we'll find Charlie," he promised, though he knew he was convincing himself as much as Don.

Don nodded, though he didn't trust himself to hope. Megan could tell that their boss was close to losing it. "Don, why don't you and I catch a cab back to NCIS, get a jump on those warrants? Colby and David can stay here and wait for Forensics."

Don shrugged, but allowed himself to be led out the door. Colby looked at David, and they tried to fight the mounting despair.

Gibbs looked around the room they were in, and sighed. He had hoped there would be something, but it was meticulous. Clearly Oded had no intention of coming back. There was no food, no clothes, each surface had been wiped down with bleach to destroy fingerprints and DNA. He just hoped that forensics would be able to pull something.

A/N: They'll be more Charlie soon, never fear!