Silence descended upon the room—if a pin dropped not only would it have been heard; it would have been deafening. All eyes focused on Marissa, with plenty of shock expressions to go around. Marissa, fearing that she spoke out of turn, began to visibly pull herself in and try to make herself fade away.

Gibbs noticed the withdraw first, and immediately turned his focus from her to his two agents. "Has everything been analyzed from Wilk's place?"

The direct question snapped both agents back into work mode, Tony began reviewing the lists— "No—but there was a lot for Abby to process."

Gibbs titled his head, "Kate, get downstairs and help Abby with whatever she needs. Tony, keep working the paper trail between Wilks and Wayne. There must be something tying the two together. Find it." He then turned back to Marissa, who has already managed to back up against the wall near desk. Putting his arm around her shoulders, he gently said, "Come with me" as he led her over to the elevators.

Once in the elevator, Gibbs flipped the switch stopping the elevator. He turned towards Marissa, striving to appear relaxed. The more he put her at ease, the more she would tell him. "How long have you known?"

Marissa studied the floor of the elevator intently. "The doctors told me when I woke up after passing out here."

"And after your most recent blood loss?"

"The doctors checked; the baby seems to be doing fine." She replied.

"And if you have another incident like yesterday?" he questioned.

She pursed her lips and refused to meet his eyes. "I'll lose the baby."

"And is that what you want?" He asked.

Marissa responded by shrugging her shoulders. Gibbs tilted her head up to look at her eyes. He studied her intently, but quickly. He hated this situation and it made his gut churn. But he had to reach her and more importantly, to get her to trust him, completely trust him. How could he get her to trust him and quickly? "Marissa, what do you want?"

Tears filled her eyes, "I don't know, Gibbs!" Tears flowed down her face now, "My focus was to get away and keep Kelly away from them. It never crossed my mind that I was pregnant. I still don't know what to think or what to feel!"

Gibbs flipped the switch for the elevator, "We're going to see what options there are. You can trust me and my team. We cannot put this bastard where he belongs unless you trust us and tell us everything."

Marissa shuffled back to the corner and resumed studying the floor. As the doors opened, Gibbs stood in the doorway and gestured in front of him. Marissa followed him, biting her bottom lip. The conflict of her emotions played across her entire body. She headed out into the hallway and followed Gibbs to a conference room. Gibbs gestured towards the chairs, "Stay here for a bit. Try to relax and either myself or one of my team will be here soon."

"What about Kelly?"

Gibbs paused momentarily, "Let's let her sleep where she is, but I'll get some food and toys brought up here for her when she wakes." After a short pause, he continued, "Someone will probably be up here to ask more questions." He headed out of the conference room then stopped. He pivoted and returned to the room.

"Marissa, I know this is daunting. I need you to have confidence in my team here. We will not let your husband near you or your daughter. I guarantee that." He closed the door and headed to the basement.

Marissa walked past the chairs and stood next to the window. As she stared out the window, she imagined hundreds, if not thousands, of different scenarios—not only of her current situation but also of what might have been. Her mind kept spirally from one thought to the next and refusing to settle down. The events of the past few days left her in a whirlwind of emotions and problems. Sighing, she turned from the window and began to sit in a chair when she heard Kelly screaming and crying from the hallway. Marissa hurried towards the door ready to see what was wrong. The door slammed open revealing a frazzled Abby with a crying Kelly.

"I'm so sorry," Abby apologized in flood of words. "I turned on some music, I totally forgot she was sleeping in my office and you can't listen to Android Lust quietly but I swear I didn't mean to scare her and wait is this going to cause her to think science isn't cool or is bad cause I totally didn't mean to scare her off science and or from music. . ."

Marissa put her hand on Abby's arm, "It's ok, I'm sure you just startled her. That's all." She eased herself into one of the chairs and pulled Kelly into her lap. She began to gently rock Kelly in her lap while she wiped the tears from her face. Peering over the little girl's head, Marissa attempted to reassure Abby, "I'm sure it's fine, Abby. Give her a bit to get over her scare, and I'm sure she be back to her normal self."

Abby rocked on her toes, "Are you positive? I really didn't mean to scare her."

"It's ok Abby, she just got scared, that's all." Marissa reassured her.

The door cracked opened slightly. Abby turned to the open door, "Oh! Hi, Gina!"

The woman popped her head into the room. "Hello, Abby. Agent Gibbs asked me to bring up the trauma kit up for a 2-year-old."

Abby bounced, "Oh, I should have thought of that!" She reached for the box that the agent had. "Marissa, this will be perfect for Kelly-it contains toys and such for her."

Agent Gina, who brough the box up, "I also have a few sizes of diapers and wipes, plus some toddler appropriate snacks and juice boxes. Should be enough to cover you for the rest of the day." Glancing from Marissa to Abby, "Ms. Sciuto if you could make sure the toys are returned to my office."

"Sure, no problem!" Abby assured her. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, "I have an idea…I'll be back soon!" With that Abby darted out of the room on a mission.

Gina just shook her head, obviously not surprised at Abby's behavior. "If you need anything else Miss, just let one of Agent Gibb's agents know and I'll see what I can do for you."

Now that Marissa managed to get Kelly crying reduced to sobs, "Thank you, I appreciate it." The agent left the room, and Marissa gingerly lean back into the chair holding her daughter tight. She willingly put her and her children's lives in Gibbs's hands—now did she trust them in his hands?

###

Gibbs returned to the squad room, "Diizzo, give me something here."

Tony shook his head, "I'm working on it, Boss. I'm trying to trace this paper trail and it's not easy."

"Phone records?"

Tony's eyes widen, "umm, phone records, right" he began searching franticly on his desk, "Kate was going to pull those, I think"

Gibbs sighed, "You don't have them?"

Tony tilted his head down, "Boss, I . . ."

Gibbs cut him off, "See if you can get McGee from Norfolk back here. He has computer skills, right?" Walking over to his desk, he picked up his cup of coffee. Grimacing at the empty cup, he threw in the trash. "Get McGee to help Abby—you and Kate work that paper trail. I'm going to see Ducky."

Tony picked up the phone dialing the number to the Norfolk office, "On its Boss."

# # #

"Ducky, what do you got?" Gibbs inquired as walked into autopsy.

"Nothing surprising, I'm afraid" Dr Mallard responded. He gestured towards the body on the table, "death by self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Nothing in the toxicology reports to indict any drugs in his system," he paused while he reviewed the paperwork in front of him, "Blood alcohol was .130"

Gibbs raised his eyebrows at that, "That's more than a couple of drinks"

"Yes, it was. I would postulate that he was drinking up the courage to pull the trigger." Ducky put down the clipboard holding the paperwork and covered Wilks's body. "Otherwise he was a picture of good health."

"Anything tying him to our Lieutenant or Major Wayne?"

Ducky sighed and shook his head, "Nothing, I'm afraid." He studied Gibbs for a long moment, "but you knew that before you can down here."

"One could hope for a miracle, Doc." Gibbs ran his hand through his graying hair. "Anything at all that can help this case?"

"This case or that young lady and her daughter?" Ducky asked. He didn't give Gibbs a chance to answer him, "I've received her medical records per your request from Bethesda. What I can tell you, is that young lady is without a doubt one of the most courageous and resilient young person to ever wear the uniform." Ducky wagged his finger at Gibbs, "I would harbor no ill feelings to have the perpetrator of the crimes against her on my table."

"Is there anything in her injuries that help with this case?"

Ducky lifted a finger in the air and walked over to his desk, picking up his file on Marissa. "Actually, yes there is." He flipped the file open to one of the photos of Marissa's back. "These lash marks here, which by the way Abby was able to match to the elements found in that horrid dungeon, tell me a great deal." He hurried pointed to one of the lashes shown in the photograph, "Notice that marks tend to have a slight angle to the left, or almost completely vertical?"

Gibbs nodded, "Our perpetrator was right-handed?"

Ducky bobbed his head, "Yes! Also, he was taller than Lt Wayne by about 3 to 5 inches I would imagine."

"Would her laying in a bed or on a floor produce similar results?" Gibbs queried.

Shaking his head from side to side, Ducky flipped to other photos, "No, you can see here" he pointed at one of the photos and then flipped to another "and here where the angles and depths are vastly different. These I would say occurred with the Lieutenant at least 2 feet or more below her attacker." Gesturing over to Wilks's body on the table, "Mr. Wilks here was left-handed and an inch shorter that the Lieutenant. While I cannot say for certain he didn't cause any of the wounds, he mostly definitely did not cause all of them."

"How old would you say these wounds are, Ducky?"

Ducky turned sympathetic eyes to Gibbs, "It's impossible to put a timeline on this, but at least a year, probably longer. It takes time to heal and then strike again to reopen. You can see the scar tissue that has formed due to the repeated blows healing and then new lashes striking open the healing scars."

"She says that she is pregnant with Major Wayne's child." Gibbs informed him.

Ducky nodded, "It was in the medical reports. Considering the circumstances, it is astounding that she hasn't miscarried the child yet."

"Is it possible to get DNA from the baby before it is born?" Gibbs asked hopefully.

Ducky's face fell, "Not in her condition, I'm afraid. There is a way, but it can be dangerous to the child and considering…." He trailed off.

Gibbs nodded his head as if he expected that answer then placed a hand on Ducky's shoulder and squeeze it slightly, "Thanks, Ducky." He turned and began to walk out of the morgue.

Ducky called out to stop him, "Gibbs, where is the Lieutenant now?"

Gibbs face appeared puzzled by the question, "Upstairs conference room"

Ducky nodded, "Good. I would like to meet her—it's not often that what I do gets to help the living, and I relish the times that it does."

Understanding crossed Gibbs's expression. With a nod to Ducky, he headed out of the morgue and back to the case.

# # #

A knock on the conference room door made Marissa jumped. Chiding herself for jumping at the slightest sound, she replied with a tentative, "Yes?"

The door opened with a kindly man holding a tea tray, "Good afternoon, care for a spot of tea?" He set the tray on the table and began making tea without giving Marissa a chance to respond.

"Normally I would, but tea doesn't agree with me at the moment" she told him.

He indicated agreement with her statement, "morning sickness, or it's equivalent?"

Shocked, Marissa studied the man, "How did you. . ."

The man clasped her hand and shook it gingerly, "Forgive my manners, dear. Let me introduce myself, I am Dr. Donald Mallard, though everyone calls me Ducky."

"Ok. Ducky." Marissa was not sure how to react to this new person who seemed to know quite a bit about her. "I remember Kate mentioning a Dr. Mallard briefly."

"Oh good!" He smiled warmly at her, "I can trust Caitlin to speak well of me. Anthony on the other hand," he chuckled. He filled the teacup from the one of the two kettles he had on his tray and set it in front of her. "Nice this blend of tea contains ginger and mint. It settles the stomach, especially in those that are expecting." He picked up the second kettle and pour a cup. "This tea is a Darjeeling blend that a close friend sent me from London." He then added milk and sugar to the tea, then took a sip. "One thing I do miss about being in England is afternoon tea."

Marissa took a tentative sip. She was mildly surprised to find that she liked the tea given to her. Kelly noticed that Marissa had something new and climbed up to see what she had. Quickly deciding that her daughter would not enjoy hot tea, she reached into the bag and pulled out a juice box and bag of snacks. She put both the juice and the snacks down on the floor where Kelly could eat and drink without trying to stay in the spinning conference room chairs. Taking another sip of the tea, "This is surprisingly good. I never really drank hot tea before only southern sweet tea."

"Oh yes, I have had what they call 'Southern Tea'. Sugar water steeped in a few black tea leaves." He replied, appearing insulted at the comparison. "There is nothing to soothe the spirit than a good cup of English tea." He set his cup down and pointed at the kettle he poured his tea from, "interestingly enough, while the British are known for their tea, tea doesn't come from Britain. They import it from China, India or Africa." He chuckled, "in fact I remember. . .."

The door to the conference room burst open interrupting Ducky and revealing a highly energetic Abby Sciuto. "Oh, hi Ducky! Having a spot of tea?"

"Would you like some my dear?" Ducky offered.

"Not today, I've got to get back to the lab, but I wanted to bring this by here." She then pulls a stuffed brown bunny from behind her back. "What you said earlier got me to thinking, every little kid needs a stuffed friend. And I think this is simply perfect for Little Miss Kelly." Abby kneeled and held out the stuffed animal to Kelly.

Kelly tilted her head and peered up at her mother, uncertain as what to do. Marissa reached down and gently grasped Kelly's hand and led her towards Abby. "Go ahead, you can take it." She urged her.

Kelly timidly reached out touched the bunny. Her fingers disappeared into the think fur of the bunny, but everyone in the room could tell she was enthralled with the toy. Taking a step closer to Abby, she grabbed the arm and pulled it to her. Abby immediately let go of the toy letting Kelly hold it. "That bunny is all yours. You can hug him and love him and play with him or her. It may be a girl bunny. Most importantly, that bunny is all yours."

"My bunny?" she asked her.

"Your bunny." Abby told her.

Kelly hugged the bunny to her, twisting slightly from side to side. "My bunny."

Marissa's eyes teared up, "Abby, you didn't have. . .."

"Oh, I wanted to!" Abby interrupted her. "Every kid needs a lovable—which is what my mom called comfort objects. That happened to be the softest and most huggable animal they had. Trust me I checked each one for maximum softness and huggablity. Plus make sure it ok for a two-year-old." She stood up and checked her watch, "I've got to run and get back to work."

Marissa watched as Abby practically bounced out of the room, "Where does she get the energy?"

Ducky gently laughed, "I wish I knew. I don't remember having that kind of energy when I was that age."

Marissa checked on Kelly, who had resumed playing with the toys brought in. Yet, she kept one arm around her new bunny, holding it tightly. "Obviously, you have seen my medical report from Bethesda" she said and waved her hand at the tea he offered. "Is it possible to use the DNA to convict him?"

Ducky shook his head, "Agent Gibbs inquired about that earlier." He clasped her hand gently, "I am sorry my dear, but there is not a way to get DNA without endangering you or the child that you carry. With your health at the moment, there isn't a doctor around who would attempt the procedure. Your pregnancy is already complicated due to what that, "he stumbled for an appropriate word, "person did to you. With the blood loss that you have experienced, plus the malnutrition you have suffered, the procedure is not safe for either you.""

Marissa stared off for a few moments, "And if I terminate the pregnancy?"

The expression on Ducky's face did not show any emotion, "We would, of course, coordinate with your doctors to obtain a DNA sample at that time." He squeezed her hand, "My dear, know that everyone here is willing to help you know matter what you may decide."

"And that's the problem. I don't know what I want or what to do. I feel so lost" she confessed.

"Then just take it a day at a time, no one is asking for you to make that decision today, or even tomorrow. Take all the time you need, talk to Dr Rambling—I know that Jethro had her come in to see you, talk to Jethro or myself. We are all here to help you and your daughter."

"And that, Dr Mallard, I believe makes all the difference in the world."

# # #

Timothy McGee entered the Forensics lab and gave a timid "Hello? Abby?"

Abby, standing behind him in the hallway, gave an enthusiastic and loud "Hi, Tim!"

McGee jumped and turn red in embarrassment. "Aaahhh! Abby! You scared me."

Grinning from ear to ear, Abby strode into her lab, "I know." She walked over to her computer and logged back onto, "So, why are you here?"

McGee appeared confused, "Uh, Tony called and said you needed help in the lab. I got here as soon as I could."

Abby turned to him, mirroring his confusion. "I need help?" She paused, thought for a moment, "Gibbs."

"What about Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs walked into the lab, only hearing McGee's question. "He's right behind you hoping you two have some answers for him."

McGee was startled again, while Abby seemed to almost expect Gibbs's appearance. "Nothing new so far, but it takes time for these tests to run and go through everything, Gibbs."

Jerking his thumb over at McGee, "That's why I had him sent over. Need Kate upstairs digging into the paper trail. Put him to work and find me something Abby." He set the Café-Pow down on the desk and left the lab.

McGee glanced over at Abby, "So, where do you want me to start? The computers?"

Abby shook her head, "Nah, I've gone through all three computers, and other than some smut, nothing on them."

McGee looked at her bewilderingly, "Abby, we logged 5 computers from the Wilks house. I bagged two of them myself."

Hauling a box of evidence onto the metal table, Abby shook her head, "No, the log only shows 3 computers—look for yourself the evidence log is there on my desk."

McGee entered Abby's office, taking the opportunity to drop his bags in the corner and picked up the evidence log. After quickly reviewing it, he realized the problem. "Abby, Tony's handwriting is atrocious. He has a 5 here, but it does look like a 3." He returned to where Abby was standing as she stood frozen staring into the box on the table. "Hey, you ok?"

"I'm going to kill Tony." She stated. In the box, labeled electronics where two computers, several external hard drives and other computer related items. "This is not electronics." Then she turned to McGee and punched him.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Letting Tony fill out the evidence log and label evidence." She lifted the first computer out of the box and handed it to McGee. "You get started with this one, and I'll start working on the other one." Taking a swig from her Café-Pow she sighed, "This may be a long night."

Several hours and Café-Pows later, McGee cried out in surprise, "Abby you've got to see this!"

"No, you need to see this!" She yelled back. "It appears Wilks, or Wayne, not sure who yet, was into some serious shady business. And making lots, and I mean lots, or money on it."

McGee spun the laptop around for Abby to see the screen, "I've found thousands of video files like this." Abby's jaw dropped with what she saw.

Abby grabbed McGee's shirt and pulled him close to her kissing him. "Tim, you're right. You just solved this entire case." Kissing him again, she turned and grabbed the phone calling Gibbs's number.

Gibbs rubbed his hand across the rib of the boat. Not satisfied with what he felt, he continued working with the sander. Working on the boat allowed him to clear his mind, a distraction from the problem of the day. Earlier in the evening, he assisted Marissa with feeding her daughter dinner and he insisted that Marissa herself call it a night early. Marissa was too tired to argue with him.

The quiet of the basement was broke by the ringing of his cell phone. Grabbing the phone, he flipped it open and answered gruffly, "Gibbs." He listened for a few moments, "Abby, are you sure?" After hearing her response, "I'm on my way in now."

He tossed the sander down and ran up the steps two at a time. He stopped by the dryer and pulled out a clean shirt then quickly ran upstairs. He paused briefly at his guest room, but then open the door. He kneeled by the bed and whispered, "Marissa." He repeated the whisper two more times before he noticed her waking up.

"Sorry for waking you but I have to run back to the office."

Groggy, Marissa tried to focus on Gibbs's face. "Is everything ok?"

He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Yeah, but I'm not sure when I'll be back." Marissa just nodded her head in response. He left the room closing the door behind him and jogged down the stairs and out of the house.

He entered Abby's lab drinking a cup of coffee. "What do you got Abs?"

Abby pounced on him Gibbs, "I've found what you've been looking for." She gestured at the computers on the table, "Tim and I were going over these computers retrieved from Wilks house . . .."

Gibbs interrupted her, "I thought you had already analyzed those and didn't find anything."

"I thought I had" and she shot a murderous glance at DiNizzo, who was standing in the corner by her mass spectrometer, "But SOMEONE'S unintelligible handwriting made me thing we had 3 not 5 computers. When McGee got here, he remember that they were 5 and as I was going to process some of the remaining boxes we found the other two computers."

Gibbs stared at DiNizzo with a glare that promised retribution later. "And?"

Abby pulled the video that McGee found and played it on her main screen. Gibbs walked around to see the screen, though the video made him sick to his stomach. It showed Marissa naked and chained to a wall with her back facing a shirtless man holding a whip. The video showing him whipping her several times until she screamed from the pain. The man turn from whipping her and for a moment he face was visible to the camera. Abby paused the video there and blew up the image of the man's face. "As you can see, this man conducted the torture of Marissa."

DiNizzo blurted out, "Boss, that Jonathan Wayne!"

Abby nodded, "Indeed it is. Face recognition verified that the person and Wayne are the same."

Gibbs studied the TV, "We've got him."