A/N: Sorry about the break guys, it's been a bit crazy here between work and a teething daughter. Hope you enjoy this.

Thanks to Trina109 for her lightning fast beta reading :)

After realising that a wheelchair would put too much pressure on Abby's healing wounds, Gibbs and Luca supported Abby as she made her way slowly down the corridors to the intensive care unit. After carefully scrubbing her hands- the staff took infection control seriously here, knowing that any infection could be fatal to the weakened people in their care- they helped her to McGee's room. She paused at the door, steeling herself. They waited understandingly, then Gibbs motioned for Luca to go ahead with Abby. His phone vibrated as he did so. He stepped away from the door and let the siblings enter the room as he answered the call.

Tears streamed down Abby's face as she took in the sight of McGee, motionless and covered in bandages. Shuddering, she turned to Luca, leaning against him for support.

"He was trying to escape..." Gingerly she settled into the chair next to McGee's bed and gently took his hand, lightly tracing over the swollen and discoloured thumb. "I watched him do this to himself."

"Why?" Luca sounded taken aback.

"It's one of the few ways you can get yourself out of handcuffs" she said softly. "And his arm... I don't know if it was broken before he did this, but if it was... He must've been in so much pain."

The door opened and Gibbs entered.

"Gotta go, Abs. Tony and Ziva have something. You need help getting back?"

She shook her head determinedly. "I'm not leaving."

He looked at her for a moment. "Call me if anything changes." He kissed her on the cheek and left, leaving Abby and Luca in silence.

...

"Whaddya got for me, Duck?"

Ducky turned from his crouched position near the feet of the cadaver on the table.

"Ah, Jethro. You've arrived just in time."

"Got a cause of death, Duck?"

"Yes, I believe so. Note the blue colour around the lips and under the fingernails. Symptoms of a massive overdose of an opiate. Heroin, morphine, oxycodone... I've sent blood samples up to Mr Palmer; he should be able to tell us which one was our culprit."

"Self inflicted?"

"Mmm, hard to tell. See the yellowing of the whites of the eyes? Symptomatic of decreased liver function. We've also found severe scarring of the blood vessels in both arms. When you came in, Jordan and I were just discussing these wounds on our departed agent's feet."

Gibbs moved closer to the table and had a look.

"Track marks?"

"Yes, and badly infected ones at that. It's a common problem amongst drug addicts, I believe. They start injecting themselves between the toes when the veins in their arms become too scarred to use."

"Been doing it a long time" Gibbs observed.

"Most certainly."

"Thanks, Duck. You should go home."

"No need, Jethro. Jordan here will be performing the autopsy."

"Ducky."

"I am perfectly fine, Jethro."

"If you were fine, Ducky, Jordan wouldn't be doing the autopsy."

Gibbs saw the look in his old friend's eyes and knew he'd made his point. The elderly medical examiner quickly changed the subject.

"How is Timothy?"

"No change. Abby's with him now."

"If anything does change..."
"I'll let you know."

Gibbs left Autopsy, wishing that he had better news for everyone that kept asking him about McGee's condition. Still, he supposed 'no change' was better than the alternative. And much better than it would've been if they'd been even one minute later getting him out of that cell. The elevator stopped and he strode into the bullpen to see Tony and Ziva reviewing Shapko's personnel file on the plasma.

"What we know about Shapko?"

Tony spoke up. "Shapko, Alexander Ivan, American born but Russian descent. His family emigrated here after the First World War, settled in Roanoke, Virginia and opened a furniture store. Did a semester of psychology at Virginia Tech, before dropping out and applying to NCIS. Only just scraped through FLETC."

Ziva reached over and took the clicker from Tony, picking up the narrative. "He was posted to Camp Panzer Kaserne in southern Germany, where he was regarded as a capable investigator. His records indicate that he was written up several times for erratic behaviour."

"Yeah, a drug addiction will do that to you."
"He was using, Boss?" Tony looked surprised.

"Cause of death was a massive drug overdose."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean-"

"He also has track marks between his toes, DiNozzo."

"Right Boss."

Gibbs gestured to Ziva to continue

"He requested the transfer back to DC for personal reasons."

"Family?"

"None living."

"How'd he get mixed up with the Novikovs?"

"Ahh...um..."

"Ziva. Find out how Shapko got involved with Novikova. Tony. Shapko's bank records."

"Ahh... I might need a little help with that, Boss. It's usually McGee's thing, and-"

"Get that Cybercrimes kid, Cooper, up here."

He sat down at his desk. Almost as soon as he did, his phone rang."

"Yeah. Gibbs."

He listened to Abby's high-speed rambling, his alarm growing with every garbled sentence. When she paused for breath, he interjected.

"On my way, Abs." He stood, grabbing his things out of the desk drawer.

"Tony, Ziva, with me." Without checking to make sure they were following, he headed for the elevator at a near trot.

"Where are we going, Boss?"

"Bethesda. McGee's had a seizure."