Tony sat at his desk, once again trying to make sense of a witness statement. Kate wasn't at her desk and he was a bit worried. Thoughts of where she could be were chasing around in his head in a form a mental pacing and it was tiring him out.

DiNozzo! Where's Kate?

He jerked his head up from the report to focus on Gibbs as his boss stopped in front of him. Don't know. I went straight to the lab then came up here. I haven't seen her. He didn't add that the last fact was starting to make him edgy.

Well, where... Kate! Where have you been? Gibbs' grouchy demeanor became only slightly less so upon seeing the brunette walk up.

Gibbs, if you want to talk to me you'll have to growl quieter. I have a nasty headache. If you must know I went to the head, then I went to see Ducky for a few minutes. The ibuprofen hasn't kicked in yet, so don't yell. Glaring slightly, she walked around the man and sat down at her desk.

Gibbs just stared at her; he could do nothing else. He'd wanted to ask how she was, make sure everything was better after her nightmare, but once again she was like a cactus. He watched the two junior agents; no looks had been exchanged between them. Was it really just as Tony said? It frustrated Gibbs that Kate seemed to push him away time and time again, but now let Tony in. But if it was really only the nightmares...

He sat down and found he couldn't concentrate on work. He thought about what he'd do, how he'd feel if there was something more between Kate and Tony. It was selfish, really. He knew he could never have her. His track record with women said most of it; his history with work relationships finished the story. But there was something about her, he felt drawn to her like a moth to flame. Tony though, now that was another matter. There was no company policy forbidding agents to date, or marry for that matter. Just one of Gibbs' rules. Just how far would Tony go... and what would he himself do to stop it? Or would he, could he, be the better man and let it go?

All three agents sat at their desks focused on paperwork of one type or another. How much any of them actually accomplished was another matter; preoccupation seemed to hold the team in thrall.

Abby walked into the midst of this, shocked by the silent stillness of the usually lively bullpen. Wow, is this a new Zen thing?

All three heads snapped upwards, each agent thankful for the distraction.

Abby, photos? Gibbs held out his hand.

Here you go. Sure looks like someone went to a lot of trouble on that fire escape. She leaned over his shoulder, as did Kate and Tony.

Their leader leafed through the color pictures showing the damaged section in silence. When he'd examined the entire stack he squared them up and set them neatly on his desk. Then he looked at his watch and addressed his team.

We need to find Emily Pederson and we need to figure out who would have a motive to kill Lieutenant Holder. He paused to take a breath. Both Kate and Tony jumped into the momentary silence.

I'll run a full background on Holder, see what I can shake loose, Tony was already halfway back to his desk.

I'll start tracing Pederson in a five-state area. We did get her driver's license when we interviewed her, so that'll help. Kate was sliding into her seat as well.

Gibbs decided to take this chance to talk to Kate. He approached her and then asked quietly, Are you all right?

Startled, she looked up at him. I'm fine. Thank you for asking.

You looked pretty bad in the car, and I was worried. He saw her eyes flick once, very quickly, just to his side. To DiNozzo, perhaps?

The nightmares aren't very nice. Tony's been a good friend. This time her eyes didn't move.

As long as you're all right. You aren't the only one who was scared by that fall, you know. With that, he turned and headed down the hall.

Tony's eyes met Kate's across the aisle. With no idea of when their boss might reappear, they didn't dare voice their mutual curiosity over Gibbs' words. Tony raised an eyebrow, Kate responded with the merest lift of a shoulder. He grinned in response, then quickly turned back to his computer as he spotted a familiar head moving in their direction.

Okay, Kate. I've got mine up and going. It's going to take at least two hours for the first hits to come in. What about you?

One second... Okay. I should get something back sooner, unless she's skipped the state. Shall we get some dinner and then come back to check on them?

Sounds good to me. Boss, mind if we go eat? Tony looked over at Gibbs, who seemed to be ignoring them.

Fine. Just don't forget your job.

The two hungry agents exchanged puzzled looks. Kate responded to the man. Why would we do that, Gibbs?

No reason, he answered mildly.

Kate and Tony just shrugged and headed for the elevator. Once inside Tony commented, Now that was weird.

Yeah. I wonder what's bugging him.

With Gibbs, you can never tell.