Leah moved quickly through the house and headed straight for her gun safe. Ketterer might have been able to break into the safe, but she hoped that the locked compartment at the bottom was still secure. Taking a moment to look for the black dot that Kate said indicated a camera, Leah positioned herself to block her actions, just in case she was being observed again.

With the safe door open, she carefully pried up the cover on the combination lock for the small compartment. She dialed in the numbers and popped up the lid, thankful to find the contents secure. Quickly extracting what she came for and hiding it in her jacket, she pressed the lid closed, locked it and snagged some extra clips and ammo for her Beretta. Then she swung the safe door shut and headed back to the car.

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McGee shifted his hands futilely, testing his restraints. Sighing, he thought about everything Leah had said and done on the way to her house. She'd been fairly straight with him, even a little open about her past. And the only time she'd held the gun on him was arguably when she could have been observed. He still didn't know whether to trust her or not, but something in his gut told him to trust the rest of the team. They seemed to think she was on the level, even if she was hiding something.

He turned to watch the house and saw the door open. Like any good cop, she checked the porch as she exited and glanced to both sides of the stairs before descending. She was not expecting the black-clad figure that darted around the corner of her house, however. The attack happened so quickly that McGee could only watch in horror as she turned halfway at some small sound, her weapon not yet raised, and then was knocked unconscious by a blow to the head with an unidentifiable object. The assailant looked up and spotted McGee, checked Leah briefly and then started for him. In that second, Leah's words came flooding back. You are what I say you are; be it and don't be anything else. He was a hostage; he had to be glad she was down.

He sat up and rattled his handcuffs at the figure in black. Hey buddy, wanna let me outta here? At the intruder's hesitation, McGee continued. Look, I don't give a shit about her, she threatened my life, held a gun to my head and chained me up. You want her, you can have her. Just undo me, huh? I gotta pee! Somehow he kept his voice from betraying the fear he felt.

Leah's attacker paused, considering, and glanced at the unmoving figure on the ground. Then he backed up and rifled Leah's pockets until he came up with the car keys. He tossed them onto the passenger seat of the car, then swiftly hoisted the limp body over his shoulder and vanished into the darkness.

Contorting himself, McGee used his foot to move the key ring close enough to be able to lean over and pick them up with his teeth. Hurrying, he fumbled the keys and unlocked the cuffs, but not before he heard a car drive away.

Damn, damn, damn! Finally free, he groped around in the passenger door pocket and found both his and Leah's cell phones. Thank God for that! He stabbed the speed dial button for Gibbs and all but sobbed into the phone when the man answered.

They've got her, Boss! They knocked her out and took her and I couldn't get loose fast enough to help her. She thinks it has something to do with...Whoa! Slow down, McGee! Take a breath. Gibbs' voice wasn't as harsh as he might have expected. Now, where are you?At Leah's. She... Again, Gibbs cut him off.

Come on back. We have the surveillance tapes; we know what happened here. We need to put this all together. Now. With that, the line went dead.

McGee shook his head and drove as quickly as he dared back to NCIS headquarters.