When Tony, Ziva, and Tim made it down to Abby's lab, they found that Ducky and Palmer were also there. They assumed Abby called them.
"What took you guys so long?" Abby asked impatiently.
"Abs, it's been less than five minutes," Tony said.
"Well, it was still too long," she said.
"What did you find, Abby?" Ziva asked.
"One of the blood samples matched Director Shepard," Abby said.
"Yes, McGee told us," Ziva said.
"Yeah, why did you call him instead of me?" Tony asked.
"Does that really matter?" Ziva asked her partner.
"I came down earlier for an update," Tim said before Abby could answer. Abby was a terrible liar, much worse than anyone thought he was, and that was when she wanted to lie. Tim knew she didn't. She believed the whole time was entitled to his life history. She would not be able to effectively lie to Tony's question.
"So, Jennifer was definitely injured," Ducky said sadly.
"Yes, but it may have been superficial. Her blood was found separate from the larger pools of blood at the scene," Tim said. He said it mostly for himself. He was trying to remain positive, which became harder every second. It was hard to keep his mind from going to the worst scenario, a scenario he was very familiar with.
"What about the other samples, Abs?" Tony asked.
"I don't know yet, but there were two others injured at Jenny's house," Abby said.
"You said the blood tests were all back," Tony said.
"Well, I ran them all against the NCIS employee database. The only match was Jenny's," Abby said.
"So, Gibbs' blood wasn't there," Tony said, feeling only a sliver of relief. This was still very bad, but he had some hope that Gibbs was alive now.
"Right! This is good news!" Abby said with a smile.
Abby's relief greatly agitated Tim. She looked ready to celebrate despite the fact that Gibbs and Jenny were missing, and Jenny was definitely hurt. "I'm not sure how you're figuring that, Abby. Je… The director and Gibbs have at best been taken hostage, and the director is hurt!"
"I agree with McGee. Nothing about this seems good," Palmer said.
"We don't know that that's what happened," Abby said.
"Gibbs was there, Abby," Tony said. Blood or no blood, he knew Gibbs was there. His truck was at the scene, and he had been gone all day. If for some reason he hadn't been there even though his truck was, he would've turned up.
"I know. I matched several of the slugs at the scene to his service weapon. I also matched others to a gun registered to Director Shepard. The other guns weren't registered. But just because Gibbs was there doesn't mean he was taken hostage. His blood wasn't found. He might have gotten away, which is good," Abby said.
"First of all, even if you're right, that doesn't make this situation good. The director and Gibbs are both still missing. The director is hurt, probably shot. That's not good," Tim said. He was getting angry. Abby only seemed to care about Gibbs. He didn't begrudge her for caring about Gibbs, or even caring more about Gibbs than Jenny, as he was guilty of the exact opposite, but he seemed to be all that mattered to her, and that bothered him. Even though Jenny's predicament frightened him more, he was also concerned for Gibbs. The man was an important part of his life.
"Abby glared at him. "Shouldn't you feel some relief that Gibbs is okay? Is Jenny all you care about? I know she's…"
"Is Gibbs all you care about? He's not the only one that was in that house!" Tim interrupted before she could finish.
"Timothy, Abigail, stop! We're all upset, and acting irrationally," Ducky said as he stepped between them. "There is no doubt in my mind that both of you care what happens to both Jethro and Jennifer."
"Of course, I care what happens to Jenny, but we should be happy Gibbs is okay," Abby said.
Tim sighed. He realized he might have overreacted slightly. Abby was just trying to hold onto some hope. He was just scared for the only family he had left. He was holding on by a very thin thread. "Abby, I care about Gibbs too, a lot, but I just don't share the same optimism you do. Gibbs' blood wasn't found, but that doesn't mean he wasn't injured, and even if he wasn't, it certainly doesn't mean he got away."
"If he wasn't hurt, it is likely he got away. Gibbs is smart and well-trained. He could've fought them off," Abby said.
"I don't think that's what happened, Abs," Tony said. He would love to believe that, but knowing Gibbs, and also seeing the scene, he didn't believe it was. "We know Gibbs didn't fight all those guys off because there is evidence of at least one fatality and no bodies. Gibbs wouldn't have gotten rid of them. They cleaned up themselves. Could Gibbs have taken some out and retreated? Maybe if it was just him, but…"
"He would not have left Director Shepard to die or be taken hostage," Tim finished for him.
"No. Jethro would never do that," Ducky agreed.
"Maybe he left because the director didn't make it," Abby said.
"Do not go there!" Tim snapped a little.
"Agreed. We must believe they are both alive," Ziva said.
"Even if that scenario happened, Abby, there would be no reason for Gibbs to stay hidden. And again, his truck was left behind," Tony said. He supposed Gibbs might not have been able to get to his truck and might have had to go on foot, but again, there were too many inconsistencies for him to believe that scenario."
"We should not speculate. We must continue to investigate," Ziva said.
"The problem is we can't investigate. We can't access the files we need," Tony said in frustration.
"I have access to the files. I've been going through them," Tim said.
"How? And why didn't you tell us? We could've been sifting through them with you," Tony said.
"I didn't tell you because I'm the only one with access, and I knew you wouldn't respond well to that. Director Vance upped my clearance level," Tim said.
"Why you? I'm the Senior Field Agent. With Gibbs gone, I'm the lead agent. Why wouldn't he give me access? Was Kelley right? Are you Acting Director?" Tony asked. When Agent Kelley said that, Tony thought it was ridiculous. He almost laughed at the idea, but McGee was acting a lot like a director. He had the clearance level of a director now.
Abby laughed. "Of course, he's not Acting Director. That's crazy."
"I'm not. I don't think so anyway," Tim said. Honestly, he was rattled the first time the term was brought up to him. Was that what he was? Vance hadn't said so, but he had told him to report directly to him, which at the very least indicated that he was in charge.
"You don't think?" Tony asked.
"Look, the term wasn't mentioned to me when I spoke to Deputy Director Vance. I'm sure I'm not. Vance will probably be getting a flight here as soon as he finishes with SecNav," Tim said. Cynthia had mentioned that Vance was supposed to go overseas soon, but surely that would be put on hold or reassigned due to what was going on now.
"It does not matter who is in charge at the moment. What matters is finding Gibbs and Jenny," Ziva said.
"It matters that the right person is in charge. No offense, McGee, but I'm the one more equipped to handle this case," Tony said.
"Then you should've been the one to try to figure out who should be contacted in a situation like this," Tim shot back.
Tony glared at his teammate but didn't have the chance to respond because he heard a phone go off.
Tim fished his phone out of his pocket and answered the call. "McGee. Hello, Detective. Where'd you find the body?"
The others began to stiffen at the mention of a body, and anxiously awaited more information.
"Description?" Tim asked. When he got an answer, he quickly shook his head to lead the others know it was not Jenny or Gibbs. "Okay, I need that body transferred to NCIS. It may pertain to a case we're working.
Tony frowned. It looked more and more like his probie was taking control of this case, he didn't like that. It wasn't just that McGee was a subordinate. He didn't have the qualifications to be running any case, let alone one this important. He certainly didn't have the qualifications to act as NCIS Director.
Tim sighed when he got the detective's response. "Of course, you need my director's authorization for that. I'll get back to you."
"What is going on?" Ziva asked when McGee hung up the phone.
"I asked Metro to call me with any shooting victims nearby. They found a body abandoned near the crime scene. Unfortunately, we can't get ahold of it without the director's authorization," Tim said.
"Another street block," Ziva said.
"Roadblock," Tony corrected.
"Same thing," she said.
Tim's phone soon rang again. He immediately answered. "McGee."
"Agent McGee, it's Cynthia. Deputy Director Vance and SecNav are both on in MTAC. They want a meeting with you there. All of MTAC has been cleared so you can talk privately," Cynthia said.
Normally, Tim would be nerve wracked to be attending a meeting with both the deputy director and the Secretary of the Navy, but he was actually relieved. It meant a plan was going to be put in place. "Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"What now?" Tony asked.
"The deputy director and SecNav want to speak to me in MTAC," Tim said.
"I'm guessing the rest of us can't join," Tony said a bit bitterly.
"Right. I have to go. Uh, I should tell you all that as of now, we need to keep what has happened under wraps. No one else can find out that Gibbs and the director are missing," Tim said.
"I assumed that would be the order. No one wants to start a panic," Ducky said.
Tim nodded and started for the elevator.