-President Boehner will address the nation at 9 p.m. Eastern time-

With the sun lowering on the horizon, Ducky began his search for Gibbs in the backyard.

He saw Abby and one of the suits walking with Kate. He briefly rebuked himself for not having her up and about earlier, and for not checking on her more than he had.

Nonsense, he chided himself. Caitlin's outside, willingly so it appears. Everything has been so frenzied since...since the explosion.

Abby looked back and saw Ducky looking on. She mouthed 'Kate's gonna be okay' to him before turning back to her friend. Realizing that Kate was in good hands, he resumed his pursuit of Gibbs, and found him in the front yard with Mike Franks.

"Ah. Jethro," Ducky said as he walked up to both men. "There you are. Mike, I would have expected you to stay at Jethro's house, especially given the current circumstances."

Mike took a draw from his cigarette. "The house will be just fine, Ducky. Nobody's gonna think about waltzin' inside with all that security the director's providing for us, free of charge. Locked the front door, though, just in case." That drew a chuckle from Ducky and Gibbs, who briefly looked back to where Mike parked the truck. "Figured I'd be of better use here than back there. Ducky, how's Kate?"

Ducky summarized Kate's current condition and groaned when Gibbs said McCallister had given her 24 hours to recover while the rest of the team was on indefinite active duty. "It should be obvious to the director, as it is to the rest of us, that Caitlin won't be in any condition to work for quite some time. Psychiatric care is just the beginning; everything she needs will take time-"

"Time we may or may not have much of," Gibbs interjected. "You know I'm not gonna let McCallister do anything to her. You won't, either."

"He'll have to go through all of us, Jethro. I do need to speak with you privately, and I'm afraid it can't wait."

"Ducky, if you wanna get rid of me, just say so. Somebody once told me I didn't have any feelings to hurt," Mike quipped.

"Nonsense, Mike. You're always welcome here," Ducky said. "But please don't litter mother's yard with those cigarette butts. I know ordering you not to smoke is a futile endeavor, but I'll have to ask you to do so in the back-"

"Say no more, Duck," Mike replied as he headed to the back yard. Ducky quickly looked around for any unwelcomed interlopers, suited or otherwise. Satisfied he and Gibbs couldn't be overheard, he whispered "We need to talk."

"Talk," Gibbs said.

"Not here. Not in the house, either," Ducky continued whispering. "I spoke with a friend earlier whom you've never met and told me to ask you about the 'ring'. And I don't mean a wedding ring, either."

Gibbs understood exactly what Ducky was referring to. "How'd you find out-"

"I don't want to discuss this here. We need privacy, away from listening ears."

Gibbs told Ducky to follow him to his truck that Mike had driven to the house. Gibbs looked over the vehicle for bugs, which drew the attention of three of the suits.

"Sir?" one asked in a friendly manner. "Is everything alright with your truck?"

"Everything's good," Gibbs said in a polite tone. "Mike Franks drives like a crazy man sometimes. So I wanted to look her over, make sure he didn't tear anything up." Ducky chuckled as Gibbs tossed him the keys. "Duck, go ahead and get in, unlock my door for me."

"Of course, Je-"

"Dr. Mallard, are you supposed to go somewhere?" said another of the suits, who put his hand on the passenger door above the handle.

"I need some fresh air, and to make a grocery run if one's open. We're running low on fresh eggs and milk," Ducky lied as he deftly removed the suit's hand from the door. The suit, briefly taken aback, quickly placed her hand over the lock.

"Is there a problem?" Gibbs said as he shot her a glare that caused her to move her hand off the lock.

The third suit, a towering giant of a man whom Tony had nicknamed 'Tiny', nervously stepped in between his colleague and the doctor. "Ah, Agent Gibbs, no problem. We can get those things, or try to, I'm not sure if anything's open-"

Gibbs looked at Tiny, who became even more nervous under the older man's withering gaze. "I'm gonna go for a drive, in my own truck. Ducky's gonna go with me. That a problem."

"Ah, sir, uh, I'm not sure-"

"We haven't heard the director give his approval for unauthorized trips from the secured facility," interrupted the suit who had tried to keep Ducky from unlocking the door. "We will have to-"

"DON'T interrupt me, Sheila," Tiny whispered. "We can go with you. We can take you in one of our secured vehicles-"

Tiny then shut up, swearing that Gibbs was glaring a hole through his soul. That was something he thought was merely apocryphal. Then he thought it would be good to try to get back on the man's good side. "Agent Gibbs, uh, please keep your phone on, and let us know if you run into a problem."

"Yeah," Gibbs dismissed the giant man. "Duck. Unlock the door."

"With pleasure." Ducky got in, unlocked the driver's door and handed Gibbs the keys as he got in. After Gibbs drove away, Tiny and his colleagues jumped into their SUVs to follow them.

-as the nation awaits the President's address, FEMA has moved into Indianapolis, setting up operations at the airport which is now closed to the public. Evacuation continues at this hour of areas in the city and in Marion County affected by blast and fire damage and fallout-

-the President is expected to address who the government believes was behind the bombing-

-Fox News has learned, from a source in the Pentagon, that it's currently believed that either Al-Qaeda or one of the Mexican cartels planted the bomb-

-the District itself is under total lockdown-

-travel is still allowed in the suburbs, although drivers are having to deal with checkpoints, and many stores are open. The Army is assisting National Guardsmen and local police protect and maintain order at supermarkets, gas stations and drug stores-

"Sure you don't want some eggs," Gibbs said to Ducky as they drove past a Giant supermarket. Military vehicles outnumbered civilian vehicles four to one.

"Jethro, are those missile launchers on top of those vehicles?" Ducky asked.

"TOWs: tube-launched, optically tracked, wireless anti-tank missiles," Gibbs replied. "You're not supposed to see them around here unless-"

"Unless there's a severe threat to the homeland," Ducky added. "Terrorists shouldn't warrant that much firepower."

"You're right, they don't." Gibbs turned into the lot, glancing in the rear view mirrors. The SUVs stayed at the same 20- to 30-yard distance they had maintained since they left Ducky's home. "See those vehicles lined up near the door? Marine Growlers."

A National Guardsman waved Gibbs into a parking space about 40 yards from the front door. It was the closest open space alloted to public use, and next to a green Marine light assault vehicle with a single occupant: a Marine gunnery specialist armed with a weapon who appeared to be looking for potential threats.

Gibbs and Ducky got out of the truck and saw two Homeland Security agents coming their way. One led a German Shepherd and held a handheld scanner and the other a metal detector. "Security," they said when Gibbs asked them what they were doing.

He and Ducky looked around the lot as they headed towards the supermarket. They both saw the suits' SUVs parked, 30 yards away, and one suit exiting each vehicle. Ducky looked back towards the truck, where he saw one of the officers give the others a thumbs-up.

He then noticed Gibbs looking at the LAV parked in the next space. "Something wrong, Jethro?" he asked. "I must admit, all of this appears to be overkill-"

"His weapon, Duck."

"The scanners?"

"The Marine on the LAV. His weapon. Looked like an M27, not an M249. And...yeah. A bit much for a supermarket," Gibbs said as they approached the entrance. Four Guardsmen apiece covered the entrance and exit; in between them hung a large yellow sheet of paper with a message written in marker:

TEMPORARY STORE HOURS 10 AM - 9 PM
THROUGH MONDAY
FIVE ITEMS PER CUSTOMER PER VISIT NO EXCEPTIONS
ONE VISIT PER CUSTOMER PER DAY NO EXCEPTIONS

Ducky glanced at the Guardsmen, none of whom seemed inclined towards conversation of any kind. They were stopped by two Homeland agents standing by a set of 12-foot-high body-scanners.

"Weapons?" asked one of the officers. Gibbs pulled out his NCIS badge, Ducky his NCIS identification.

"Handgun, SIG Sauer P229 in its holster, backup Smith & Wesson Model 37," said Gibbs.

"None," Ducky told the officers, one of whom raised her eyebrow. "I have all the weaponry I need by my side," Ducky replied; Gibbs smiled at the mention, while the Homeland officers did not.

Four minutes later - with the suits standing outside looking right at them - Gibbs and Ducky stepped away from the scanners, with Gibbs allowed to keep his weapons.

There were a handful of customers inside the store; like themselves, the other customers were shadowed by police or security. Ducky made quick observations of both groups: some of the customers were calm, anxious or in some kind of hurry, or a combination of the three. None of them appeared to pose any type of threat.

If someone had pulled a gun or exposed a bomb vest, the person would have been quickly surrounded by the police who were well-trained in fighting threats from potential cartel and Islamist terrorists and Soviet-backed special forces. Security personnel - all of whom were in top shape, trained primarily to handle civilian threats - were able to backup police and federal agents in such a case.

Unlike the store employees who made every effort to appear approachable and friendly, Ducky noted police and security weren't. Go about your business - if it isn't creating mayhem - and you'll be fine, Ducky thought as he glanced over one of the heavily armed police officers. If you dare to attempt something you shouldn't, God help you.

The aisles were mostly empty, although the men managed to pick up a carton of eggs, two gallons of almond milk, a box of saltine crackers and a frozen pepperoni and sausage pizza. Every aisle with anything one could eat, drink or use as medicine was sparse, including the candy and pet sections. On the other hand, if someone wanted one of their five alloted items to be a magazine or a bestselling paperback, they were in luck.

"Five items per customer?" Ducky asked the cashier as they checked out. "That isn't very much."

"Nope, but we're pretty sure we're going to get restocked tomorrow night," the cashier replied. "Then you'll be able to buy five non-essential items, ten essential. Once they secure distribution, we'll go up to 20 or, maybe, 25."

Ducky and Gibbs went through the scanners exiting the store and walked to the truck. The suits kept their distance and began heading back to their SUVs, watching the men as intently as the men were watching them. Gibbs looked over his truck, then nodded at Ducky.

"I believe we're better off getting our groceries from our friends inside the agency," Ducky said as he got inside the truck. "Something is nagging at me. A nuclear explosion occurs inside the United States. The U.S. is obviously showing restraint although it and the Soviets walked away from Geneva. War has not been declared by either side."

Gibbs nodded for Ducky to continue. "So why the excess security at the supermarket?"

"The 'excess' security could be needed to handle the crowds," Gibbs said. "You saw the shelves in there. People showed up before we got there, started buying everything in sight."

"Yes. And the store severely limited the number of purchases one could make."

"Yeah. So what bothers you?"

Gibbs drove past an Exxon gas station. There appeared to be no customers, but there was a beige Humvee parked on the side of the building and four armed, black-garbed security personnel roaming the parking lot and fuel pumps. He slowed slightly to get a better look; in response, the closest of the four men waved his M4A1 carbine assault at him, then stopped after looking behind the truck.

Ducky looked in the side mirror and saw an arm sticking out of the closest of the suits' SUVs, the hand holding a badge. "Our 'friends' seem to be of some good use," Ducky quipped.

"They're private contractors," Gibbs said of the security at the gas station. "Darkmirror. Recognize the uniform and the weapons."

"Civilian military contractors?" Ducky asked. "They aren't allowed to conduct operations domestically by law except in..."

"World war," Gibbs replied.

"What aren't we being told, Jethro?"

"Probably a lot, Duck."

Ducky looked in his side mirror at the SUVs following Gibbs's truck. "I need to revisit our previous discussion."

"Shoot."

"Is there anything you haven't already told me?"

"Duck, I already told you everything I know about the ring."

"And you believe what you saw."

"Believe it, yeah, Duck. I was there, saw it myself along with Hollis. Understand it? I can't begin to explain how it does what it does."

"It's just that...the story is so fantastic," Ducky said. "I would more easily dismiss it coming from just about anyone else, even a respectable authority like President Boehner. But you, someone I've known for years, who is not given to telling tall tales...Jethro, can you get me there to see this for myself?"

Gibbs glanced in his rear-view mirror. "Not gonna be as easy getting you out anywhere, Duck. On top of that, I haven't been able to contact Hollis."

"Jethro, perhaps she is on assignment."

"Yeah." Or found out, Gibbs thought.

"Jethro, if things were to turn for the worse, whom have you-"

"Everyone on the team, Duck. Everyone I can."

"And how do you plan to do so?"

Gibbs had been thinking about that since he and Hollis visited the ring. He still hadn't come up with a plan that didn't involve arrests or shootouts.

-we go live to the Brady Briefing Room at the White House. Press Secretary Brent Hobard is at the podium:

"I know you have a lot of questions. I can answer some of them now, although I can't disclose anything the President plans to discuss tonight. I'll start by telling you that President Boehner is safe and in an undisclosed location discussing the Indianapolis attack...er, bombing, and the situation in Geneva with his advisors, the Joint Chiefs, Congressional leaders-

-Vice President Mitch McConnell's call for calm seems to have resonated with most of the nation even as unrest continues in several cities-

-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on CNN:
"President Boehner's absence at this time is inexcusable. Hours after the greatest tragedy in our nation's history he is nowhere to be publicly seen. I understand the need for his security but now is the time when our country needs not just to hear from its Commander-in-Chief, but also to have already heard from him."-

Gibbs and Ducky arrived safely in Ducky's neighborhood, and Gibbs parked in front of McGee's car. Neither Gibbs nor Ducky stopped when one of the suits called out for them, walking straight into the house.

Gibbs headed for the first empty room but stopped momentarily when he saw Kate and Ziva in the kitchen. Kate had a cup of coffee in her hands, and Ziva was preparing a Hebrew dish for her. Kate locked eyes with Gibbs, who gave a sympathetic look in response, then nodded to Ziva before resuming his search.

The rec room had just two suits inside watching the news. Gibbs told them he wanted the room, and both women walked out quietly. He then pulled out his cell phone and placed a call.

At the Navy Yard, a cell phone buzzed in Director McCallister's pocket as he read some intel on his laptop. He ignored it, and again, and a third and fourth time.

The fifth time, McCallister finally pulled the phone out of his pocket and picked up. "McCallister."

"Director. You're a busy man," Gibbs replied.

"Very, Gibbs. You're a persistent bastard, aren't you?"

"Very," Gibbs said. "Got a question for you."

"Let me guess. It's about that thing."

"Yeah. You wanna verify it or tell me it's a bunch of bull?"

McCallister sighed. Damnit, he thought. Why did Shepard talk Gibbs out of retiring to Mexico? Things would be easier with one of my men in charge down there. "I'll verify it. Now. You be in my office tomorrow, 0800, to debrief. Any case you catch, DiNozzo can lead."

"0800."

"That's right, and if you're not there it better be because you're dead. And if you call me tonight, it better be something big."

"Director-"

"You have no idea what the hell's going on behind the scenes, Gibbs. There's stuff I don't know about, and what I DO know about I can't openly divulge without clearance. We can talk about that thing tomorrow morning, and as I said, you call me before then better be for something big."

Gibbs heard the click in his earpiece, snapped his flip phone shut, and pondered what McCallister had told him. A knock on the door shook him from his thoughts. He opened the door and saw the two suits standing behind Tony.

"Sorry, Boss," Tony said. "They" - Tony held his fist up with his thumb pointing behind him - "and the rest of us wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, DiNozzo."

"That's good to hear, Boss. People want to get in here, too. The President's about to speak."

"Yeah. Kinda want to hear him myself."

The room quickly filled up, and Kate made her way to Gibbs, leaning into him as he put his arm around her shoulders. The TV picture cut from the CBS newsanchors to a picture of the Presidential Seal, then to President Boehner sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office.

-"My fellow Americans. Today, May 27, 2007, is perhaps the worst day in the history of our great nation. It is a day we will never forget...-