Ducky had already left the crime scene when Tony and Kate arrived. The blood still remained in a drying pool on the floor, but thankfully Mrs. Andrews body had been removed.

They walked past the blood in the hall and tried not to think of their teammate lying there so recently. They started to process the crime scene, dusting for prints, taking photographs and bagging evidence. Despite the state of the apartment, they found very little- some prints, which could have been from the victim, and a shoe print on the door where it had been kicked in.

There was an awkwardness between them as they worked, a constraint that hadn't been there before. That glimpse of feeling they had revealed to each other at the hospital was now between them, and they felt as shy as teenagers around each other.

They worked quietly for almost half an hour when Kate broke the silence.

"I think that's everything. We should probably head back."

"Yeah, let's go."

Their eyes met and they smiled. They held the gaze for a moment, and then, remembering where they were, broke away.

Tony sighed in frustration. "Kate…"

She looked back at him. He cleared his throat. He hadn't been this nervous since high school.

"Look, would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"

"No, Tony."

"Kate, come on, why not?"

She was suddenly angry. "In case you've forgotten, Tim is in surgery right now. Because of us. And you have the nerve to ask me on a date when we're standing in the place he was shot? While I still have spots of his blood on my clothes? You are unbelievable!"

She turned and walked out of the apartment. He caught up with her and followed her out of the building, saying nothing. There was nothing left to say.

Gibbs, meanwhile, was having problems of his own. He was trying to contact McGee's next of kin, but the only number he had gave him an answering machine. You didn't leave a message like that on a machine. The address he had was out of state, so he'd contacted the local police force and had them go to the house. Now he had to wait, and he hated waiting. When the phone finally rang he picked it up on the first ring.

"Gibbs."

"Special Agent Gibbs, this is Officer Gregson. We just got back from the house."

"And?" He wasn't feeling very patient right now.

"It looks like the owners are on vacation. I saw the mailman, and he said their mail's being held. They may have someone looking after the place, so we'll keep an eye on it for ya."

Gibbs rubbed his eyes. It just kept getting better and better. "Let me know the minute you know something."

"Sure thing."

There was one other thing to do.

He walked down to the lab. Abby was staring at the computer screen with red watery eyes.

"Abby?"

She started, and hastily wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "Gibbs."

"Abby, I'm having trouble contacting McGee's family. Do you know anything about them?"

For a brief moment, an odd look passed over Abby's face. She walked over to collect a paper from the printer as she answered him.

"No. He's mentioned a sister before, but I don't know anything about her." She looked down at the paper she was holding. "No luck with the bullet from Mrs. Andrews."

She handed him the paper and he scanned it quickly. When he looked up again she was watching him.

"Any news?" She knew there wasn't because he would have told her, but she had to ask.

"No." They both knew that wasn't a good sign.

Tony and Kate came in at that moment. Gibbs pulled out his cell phone when he saw them.

"Ducky, we need you in the lab." He flipped the phone off before he got an answer.

For a few moments there was silence between them all.

And I thought working with Kate was awkward, Tony thought. "Hey," he said, to break the ice. Three pairs of eyes looked at him coldly. Great, he thought, good opening. Today I got McGee shot, propositioned Kate, broke Abby's heart and ticked off Gibbs, and what do I come up with? 'Hey'. Sometimes he thought Kate was right. He was an idiot.

He tried again, in a more somber tone. "Any news from the hospital?" Ducky appeared as he finished his question, and they all looked at Gibbs for an answer.

"Nothing yet." He looked hard at them all. "This guy is still out there, and he probably knows McGee is still alive. We need to catch him before he tries to finish the job." He wasn't going to even consider that the shooters return may not be necessary, that McGee may not need 'finishing off'. McGee was one of his people, and he wasn't going to lose him. "Give me what you've got. Tony?"

"It's not good, Gibbs. The crime scene was pretty clean. We got a couple of partial prints, and there was a shoe print on the door. That's all."

Kate interrupted. "We don't think McGee entered the apartment. The door had been kicked in and the lock was splintered. There were pieces all over the floor. Also, the door wouldn't close all the way without the lock, so it must have been ajar. McGee must have suspected something. From what we can figure, Mrs. Andrews must have got free and made a run for the door - there's a bloody handprint on the inside - and opened the door just as McGee got there. She was shot first, then McGee almost immediately after. The killer must have heard us coming and left by the fire escape."

Gibbs turned to Ducky.

"I'm afraid he was rather rough with her, Jethro. She was beaten quite badly."

"Probably wanted to know what she'd already told the police," interrupted Tony.

Ducky nodded. "Quite possibly."

Abby spoke up next. "I couldn't get anything from the bullet. Maybe I'll be luckier with the prints."

She took the evidence from Tony. "Now," she said, suddenly looking and sounding more like herself, "everybody needs to get out of my lab so I can get on with this."

She reached over and switched on her music. She had work to do.