Gibbs drove, noting with a smile that DiNozzo had kept his word and was out like a light. He was reclined slightly, his head resting on a pillow against the window, another on his lap to prop up his damaged wrists, a suggestion made by Ducky, who was not exactly happy with Gibbs for caving. But Gibbs reassured him—out of Tony's hearing, of course—that he wouldn't let his young agent overdo it. And he meant it. The last thing he wanted was for DiNozzo to end up back in a hospital.

Gibbs checked the clock as darkness fell around the speeding car, figuring they had about an hour left to go. Tony had been out cold since before even leaving the District, thanks to some seriously snarled traffic, and Gibbs couldn't help but steal glances at his peaceful face every few miles. He was glad for the peace while it lasted because he knew this trip would be hard on Tony—and not just physically—and Gibbs tried to prepare himself for the wide range of emotions he might come up against. He realized he didn't care if Tony ended up sobbing on his shoulder at his mother's grave, as long as the man showed some sort of emotion. Of all the Tonys that had popped up in the past few days, zombie Tony was by far the worst, the lifelessness in his eyes more frightening than the wounds in his wrists.

There was a chirping sound and Gibbs grabbed at his phone, trying to figure out how to mute the annoying sound before it woke his resting passenger.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he answered, watching Tony stir from the corner of his eye. Damn, he thought, noting with a rush of guilt that he was happy that DiNozzo had slept most of the way out of worry for his physical condition as much as for the simple fact that they hadn't had to make awkward conversation.

Long car rides with Tony were always interesting, especially when Gibbs found himself alone with the agent. His boundless energy usually tried Gibbs' patience to no end, but Gibbs realized he would give anything to have that vitality back. And there was also the curious fact that when DiNozzo was relegated to the back seat, he usually ended up puking at some point either during or after the long rides. Gibbs knew the senior field agent could easily pull rank and demand the front seat, and that he chose not to said a lot about him. As did the fact that he had never just admitted to his teammates that he got car sick.

Ziva started speaking in a rush, but he cut her off. "Call me back in ten."

Gibbs watched Tony rouse and pretended he didn't hear the soft groan as he shifted from sleep into what was apparently painful consciousness. He watched Tony press the undersides of his wrists together and pull his arms close to his chest, and Gibbs made a quick exit from the highway into a rest area. He wordlessly got out of the car and went to the nearest vending machine, buying a bottle of water and returning quickly to the car.

He noted with concern that DiNozzo already had the pill bottle out and didn't even bother struggling with the cap himself. He just silently held the small container out to Gibbs, who flicked the top off and shook two pills into Tony's outstretched, bandaged hand.

"Thanks, Gibbs," he said quietly, his eyes closed and his breathing only slightly ragged.

"Anytime," Gibbs answered, busying himself with the map so he could give Tony some semblance of privacy as he battled what had to be intense pain. Glancing at the clock again, Gibbs kicked himself for not paying closer attention to Tony's medication schedule and not waking him sooner. He sensed that this was one of those times when DiNozzo wouldn't appreciate an attempt to comfort him, so Gibbs just stayed silent even though he wanted to touch the younger man, to tell him it would be over soon.

By the time Gibbs had started checking his phone for calls, DiNozzo's eyes were open and he'd stopped pressing his wrists tightly together as if belatedly trying to stop the bleeding.

His voice was only slightly strained when he said, "And thanks for making them wait."

Gibbs nodded. "Figured you'd want to hear what they have to say," he said gruffly.

The phone rang as if on cue, and Gibbs handed it to Tony, who took it in his left hand and switched on the speakerphone.

"Hey, McGoo," Tony answered. "What's shakin'?"

"Tony?" McGee's voice came through the phone. "Is Gibbs with you?"

Their eyes rolled at about the same time, and Tony said, "No, McGee, I booted him out an hour ago and stole his car. Are you calling about the BOLO?"

Tony saw Gibbs grin, and the familiarity of it all made him feel a rush of warmth that had nothing to do with the painkillers flooding his veins.

"Whatcha got, McGee?" Gibbs asked, still smiling and feeling relieved that Tony seemed to have shrugged off the worst of the pain.

"We have tons, Gibbs," Ziva's voice came over the line. Tony frowned, not at the words, but at the exhaustion in her voice. He tried not to feel guilty because she sounded thoroughly excited, too, and he wondered if he could allow himself to feel a bit of that excitement as well.

They recapped the interview with Palamar, and the agents could practically hear her blush when McGee recounted her performance. They all laughed when she deadpanned, "What performance?"

"So Palamar left the threat," Tony said thoughtfully. "I wondered why they would leave that note. It didn't make any sense for them to warn me and put me on guard." As if I could consider anything I did that night "guarded," he added silently, feeling disgusted with himself. If only I had locked that damned door…

"Tony," Ziva said, pulling him from his guilty thoughts. "I read your notes on the Squire/Daly incident. You also think she was raped?"

DiNozzo tried to think through the wool suddenly filling his head. Damned painkillers. He scratched his cheek and felt a stab of pain shoot through his wrist. Okay, okay, I take it back. "Uh, I don't know," he said slowly, watching Gibbs turn concerned eyes on him. "I couldn't figure it out then and I can't now, either. Something was definitely hinky about the whole deal, though."

"I agree," Ziva said, looking back through the transcript of the interrogation. "Palamar said Squire always talked about a boyfriend. He seemed like he did not understand why she would sleep with Daly if she was constantly going on about this other guy."

"He give a name?" Gibbs asked.

"No," Ziva said, kicking herself mentally. "I should have asked."

"Don't worry about it," Tony said, feeling another flash of guilt. "You sound exhausted."

"I am fine, Tony," she said, sounding a bit unnerved by his concern for her.

"I've got a theory," DiNozzo said after a short silence. "But it might not make any sense because I'm good and doped up right now. But what if Palamar went to Lowe and asked him to fake his drug tests like Daly was doing for him, and Lowe says no, but his brain says yes."

Gibbs gave him a look, but DiNozzo continued, "I mean, he doesn't want to help Palamar for whatever reason, but he realizes there's serious money to be made by rigging the tests. And that crap about Lowe not wanting to lie to me is… well, crap. I barely knew him except to sign paperwork. And I should have known Daly was avoiding me. I should have picked up on that, but I mostly dealt with the masters-at-arms and Lowe.

"Anyway, theory. Lowe realizes he can make money rigging the tests, but not with Daly around watching him. I mean, Daly played that game so he would be quick to recognize it. So Lowe knows that as the assistant, he'd get promoted to UC if Daly gets tossed. So he gets Squire to seduce Daly, knowing Daly's the one who gets booted out if someone finds out. Squire is supposed to cry rape, but then the captain comes strolling by and sees her come out of the room with him at her will. But it accomplishes the same thing. And it explains why we got such strange vibes from her. It was a rape, but in essence, she raped him, and she could have felt guilty about ruining his career. Or been worried about her own."

He waited, listening to the silence crackling over the line and cursed himself. "Okay, never mind. That made no freaking sense at all. Well," he corrected, shaking his head bitterly, "it made sense to me. But everything makes sense to me up here on Cloud Nine."

He watched Gibbs watch him and thought he'd jump out of the car and go play in the traffic whizzing by if Gibbs gave him pity when he should have been headslapping him. He was shocked when Gibbs said, "No, actually, it does make sense."

"Just a couple of things," McGee said gently, making Tony want to reach through the phone and headslap him. "Why wouldn't Lowe just report Daly to get him tossed so he could take his place?"

"No proof?" DiNozzo ventured.

"Uh, Tony," McGee said uncertainly.

"What?"

"He could just test Palamar and get a positive result, backing up his accusation," McGee said, still gently.

DiNozzo blushed, glad the probie couldn't see him. Gibbs just put a hand on his knee and mouthed "It's okay" to him, and he would have fallen over if he hadn't been sitting. The gentleness would have made more sense to him if he had realized he was shaking with some combination of frustration, pain, exhaustion and excitement. "Oh right. Cloud Nine is, uh, well, cloudy. Sorry."

"Maybe Lowe did not want Palamar, with his MS-13 connections, coming after him," Ziva said, saving them all from the awkward moment. "To bust Daly in that way, he would have to bust Palamar as well."

"Or Lowe didn't want attention drawn to the drug testing," Gibbs said. "If Lowe was going to start running a scam, he wouldn't want to advertise the ease with which Daly got away with his."

DiNozzo was nodding. "Those both make sense," he said. He frowned. "But I think my credentials should be revoked until I come down."

Gibbs just smiled at him, confirming their admission to the Twilight Zone. "One problem though," he said, the smile fading. "What reason would Squire have to participate? If she got caught falsely accusing Daly of rape, she'd be out."

Ziva added, "And she did get caught, in a way. Even if it was only a slap on the wrist, it still went on her record."

"Maybe it was a green reason?" McGee offered.

"Green? As in jealousy?" Tony asked. "Who's jealous of who? Of whom? Whatever, sorry Mrs. Tanner from the seventh grade. I fail."

McGee chuckled, and Gibbs looked at Tony as if he might finally headslap him. "Money, DiNozzo," Gibbs just said, sounding almost amused.

"Oh, right," Tony said, nodding enthusiastically. "Jealousy only works over on Cloud Eight."

Gibbs lifted his hand and smacked Tony lightly on the back of the head. DiNozzo grinned, and Gibbs almost sighed in sheer relief. "Thanks, Boss," Tony said, his grin fading. He mostly looked confused. "Can someone give a quick recap? For those of us only partially in attendance?"

Ziva laughed softly. "Sure, Tony. Daly tells Palamar he will no longer fake his drug tests. Palamar goes to Lowe and asks him to do it. Lowe says no because he realizes he can make money if he is promoted to UC and is free to rig tests for a fee. Lowe pays Squire to seduce Daly and it is goodbye Daly."

She paused. "When Lowe becomes the UC, he gets his bunkmate, Damon Willis, a master-at-arms, in on it, too," she added, realizing that made sense. Another idea popped into her head. "What if Squire's mystery boyfriend is Willis? Lowe asks Willis to help with the scam, and Willis suggests Squire to get rid of Daly."

"And," McGee said excitedly, "while I was looking over the records trying to find the hacker who erased Stowell's test, I found that someone has been changing the testing schedule ever since Lowe took over as UC. They changed certain sailors' testing times, but I couldn't find a pattern yet. I bet if I look again, I'll find that they were changed to coincide with times when Willis would be the master-at-arms responsible for watching the sample collection."

"And there's our third attacker again," Gibbs said. "Our computer guy."

"Or Squire is the third," McGee ventured. "Or fourth. Maybe she didn't participate in the actual attack, but she is small enough to have hidden in the closet."

Gibbs noticed DiNozzo looking at him strangely and hoped McGee's words hadn't conjured painful memories of that night. But Tony surprised him, asking, "Stowell? What about him? Did I miss something or am I really that cracked out?"

Gibbs realized Tony didn't know he'd been set up to break up the fight, and he winced. Now was not really a good time to deliver that kind of news, not when Tony was drugged to the gills and vulnerable, not with the team listening. "I'll explain later. Ziva, McGee, you get anywhere on those financials?"

"No," DiNozzo said forcefully, reading Gibbs' discomfort but not understanding it. "Tell me now."

"Gibbs?" came McGee's voice over the line. "We checked Willis' financials and he's clean. Nothing out of the ordinary for his pay grade. Lowe is going to take a lot longer because apparently he has some family money and there are a lot of accounts and trusts that we need to wade through."

"All right, McGee, Ziva, keep on it," Gibbs said around a yawn. His tone softened a bit. "But make sure you get some sleep sometime, too. I want you two on your toes when we get back."

"Got it."

"Sure, Gibbs."

The connection clicked off, leaving DiNozzo glaring at Gibbs from across the car. "You weren't going to tell me?"

Gibbs fought a sigh, turning and looking out through the windshield at the darkened rest area. "You don't even know what I haven't told you," he said somewhat wearily, wishing for Tony's earlier lightness to return, even if it was drug-induced loopiness.

"Because you haven't told me," Tony said, cocking his head and taking in the dark smudges under his boss's eyes. Shoving down his guilt and abandoning the anger, he asked softly, "Can you tell me now?"

Gibbs outlined the team's earlier discussion, ending with, "We think Willis purposely provoked Stowell when you were nearby, knowing Stowell was on steroids." Knowing the huge guy would probably hurt you, maybe even kill you.

Gibbs watched Tony's face carefully as he slowly realized what Gibbs hadn't said. Tony ran his left hand over the cast on his right. "They knew I'd have to step in. That I didn't have anyone to back me up against Stowell," he said quietly, turning from Gibbs' intense gaze to stare out the window.

He watched a couple with two small children pile out of an SUV and run for the bathrooms. A smile touched his lips, but he wasn't sure why. He himself had no happy memories of family vacations or long hours on the road, with nothing but singing or games to pass the time. His father flew when he traveled, and he rarely took Tony with him when he did. Even those times did not evoke pleasant recollections.

Gibbs watched Tony watch the family and realized he had no idea what the agent was thinking. "Tony?"

Tony shook his head, turning back to Gibbs with anguish in his eyes. Gibbs was starting to regret agreeing to bring him here, especially tonight, wondering if he should have listened to Ducky. Maybe Tony wasn't ready for the intense emotions that would likely come up during the visit.

But Tony just said, "We've still got a huge problem, Gibbs."

Just one? "What's that, Tony?" Gibbs asked, wondering which one he would pick.

Tony's eyes were flat again, holding that black nothingness that made Gibbs feel sick. "Even if our theories are right, even if things played out exactly the way we think they did, all we did was uncover a drug-testing scam. And speculate on the motives of a fight."

Gibbs was silent, but he knew what was coming.

Tony looked broken again. "We still can't prove any of it had anything to do with me."