Gibbs sighed and rubbed his face. He'd called Ducky on his cell and explained the whole situation. Gibbs felt bad about waking him, but Ducky assured him it was fine and not to worry, the acquisition of material wouldn't be a problem. Of course Ducky also had the nerve to tell him to say hello to Leah and ask her to stop by. Now all Gibbs wanted was more coffee. He thought about the conversation with Leah as he walked. He could handle her indifference, he thought. What he didn't understand was her venom. Sure she had a right to be angry, but after fifteen years wouldn't she just have let it go? Why did she come to him with this if she so clearly didn't want to work with him? And why was he letting it bother him?

Leah, meanwhile, had dragged herself from her bedroom and started a pot of coffee. One more thing to blame Gibbs for. Oh, sure, she drank the occasional cup. Until she met Gibbs. By the time they were done working together, she was every bit the coffee junkie he was. She'd cut back some over the years, but whenever she was on a tough case she found she was right back to inhaling it. Or wishing she could just take it IV.

She poured herself a cup as soon as possible and then sat down at her laptop. Time to tell all. She began to type up the rest of the information the team would need for the investigation. She detailed the conversations from the station, including some privileged bits of info on the key players. There was also the data she'd collected on her two stops yesterday evening. If what she suspected was correct, then this should cement it. She got up and poured another cup of coffee, and then came back and reread her memo. Nodding to herself, she prepared to e-mail it and then paused. It should go to Gibbs. She sighed and shook her head; she really hoped he was treating Kate and Tony better than he'd treated her. She tapped the keys and mailed it to Kate instead.

Tony was back in the bullpen first, bursting to tell someone about the papers. He did one full pivot looking for any of his teammates. Just then Kate came around the corner and Tony rushed up to her. Kate, look at this! We were right about the forgeries, but they were done here!

Kate, who had been focused on her own papers, looked up at him. Here, what do you mean here?

Gibbs having followed Kate in, had heard most of this. We have classified Naval personnel deployment documents that were forged here? You mean locally? Does that make sense?

Kate chimed in, Not sure. We have a police lieutenant's fingerprints on the documents and a Iraqi military captain's on the bullet. She looked up.

Gibbs sat down at his desk with his coffees. Tony and Kate just looked at him. Tony, Kate, coffee? It's going to be a long night. His teammates took the indicated cups, noting that still left two for their leader. Now where's the money? Forged documents aren't free.

Kate sat down at her desk and glanced at her computer. Seeing the flashing icon for new mail wasn't uncommon, but for some reason at this hour she felt she should check it. After skimming the missive from Leah, Kate spoke up. Gibbs, I think we just found a lot of answers. She turned to pull three copies of the e-mail off the printer and pass them around.

She's been investigating Lt. Perry for four months; it's his fingerprints on the documents. That's why she was at the shooting before everyone else. She's been following him, Kate said. She must just not have felt she had enough on him.

She still didn't. Perry suspected someone was on to him, that's why he ditched the documents. But that doesn't explain the shooter. Tony followed up.

We may need Perry for that. It's clear that Leah hadn't finished this. But she's right, if this had become too public we'd all have been run over by someone who thinks he's a little higher up the food chain. Gibbs sat back down at his desk. She also found our Iraqi working for a local courier company. Any DNA on that fabric, Kate?

Sorry, no. Abby's still checking the rest of the evidence; she said she'd call us the minute she had anything we could use.

Well then let's get tracking the money. Somebody's bank account was getting fat, let's find out whose. These documents were being forged locally and supposedly being moved somewhere else. Why? Where were they ending up? Let's start asking some tough questions people!

Kate started tapping away on her computer and Tony grabbed his phone. Gibbs sat down and made a phone call himself before announcing he was going to see Director Morrow.

When Gibbs finished with Morrow he had more information but he was a whole lot less happy. He decided to head down to autopsy to see if Ducky and the material from Curtis were in.

Hey, Ducky, any luck yet? Gibbs saw Ducky sitting at his desk.

Ducky turned as he answered. It's on it way. We should have it within a couple of hours. Have you talked to Leah again?

Gibbs leaned against an autopsy table and sighed. No. And she doesn't really seem to want to talk to me. Which is just fine, he added as Ducky raised an eyebrow.

Shame. I always liked that girl's spunk. Upon seeing Gibbs glare Ducky shifted back around to his desk. This clearly wasn't the time for a story, though he had several that were appropriate. Go back to work Jethro. As Gibbs walked toward the doors Ducky added, It's been fifteen years. Don't you think it's time the two of you finally talked about it?

Gibbs punched the button for the elevator savagely. At this point he'd have paid every single dollar in his pension fund to have started the day over; okay, yesterday over. He'd begin by heading for the most remote and unreachable place he could think of.

Gibbs next stop was to see Abby. He entered the music filled lab to find the dark-haired girl sorting out forensic results. Hey Abbs, anything good in those results?

Hey Gibbs! Naw, fraid not. I've got copies of it all for you so you can go over it, but nothing looked suspicious to me. She handed Gibbs the sheaf of papers. Say Gibbs, Tony and Kate asked me earlier about some former NCIS agent named....

Gibbs cut her off, Not now, Abbs! Maybe another time. Please, he added at her slightly startled look. Damn. He needed more coffee. Thanks for these. He held up the papers and headed for the door.

Abby stood in the middle of the lab staring after him. What on earth just happened? If she didn't know better she'd swear that the man who just left was not her Gibbs. Wonder what it'll take to get to the bottom of that puzzle, she thought.

....so what you're telling me is that Perry was the forger, and he was selling to the Iraqi who was the shooter, posing as courier. And the punk just got in the way. And why was there a shooting in the first place? Sorry Tony, it just doesn't work for me. Kate shook her head and went back to her computer screen.

You got a better theory? Then let's hear it. I'm all ears. Tony knew he was right, every instinct told him he was, even if he couldn't yet connect all the dots.

Gibbs had walked back into the bullpen in the middle of this and looked over at Tony. You may be right. Morrow said several agencies have been tracking a ring of document forgers. Passports, military ID's, personnel orders. Whoever the forger is he's good. They're concerned because they seem to be moving middle eastern nationals with questionable alliances and military personnel of middle eastern or with ties to the middle east. Nobody knows why yet and nobody knows how many. These documents are the first that anyone has captured. Gibbs looked at them both. Seems we've been deliberately kept out of the loop on this and now that we have something no one else does Morrow would like us to try and go after it. But there are a lot of people who would really like to have this bust on their resumes, so we don't have a green light until......

Until this sticks like super glue to the bad guys. Got it, Boss. Tony picked up the phone and started to dial. He had a few contacts that just might help with this.

Gibbs sat down at his desk and started sorting through his reports. As he reached the bottom of the stack he saw Leah's cards there, side by side. He looked up to say something to Kate, but she was asking Tony a question.

So, Tony, about your theory.......who did you say shot the kid?

I told you, the mailman did it, Tony responded.