Thanks to all you reviewers! Keep it up, I really appreciate it!

Also, I want to apologize for the long delays between updates. I swear, McGee couldn't fix the problems I have with my computer! And I apologize for the last chapter's format. It seemed okay in Word, but when I transferred it over to the site, it got all messed up….

Finally, for those who haven't heard, CBS announced a tentative date for season 3 to start—Sept. 20!

Chapter Five

"And he should be just fine. It just grazed him," and the voice laughed, "But whoever this Kate girl is he called to in his sleep, you better get her here fast!"

Kate! Tony did not open his eyes, but he knew something was wrong. Something had happened to Kate. And where was he? It smelled---clean. Actually, more like sickeningly sanitized.

Hospital. Again. Kate. Dead. Haswari. Al-Quaeda headquarters. It all rushed to him

His eyes shot open, and he saw his boss gazing at him, concerned.

"You okay to roll, Dinozzo?" he asked, doubt playing in his icy eyes.

The younger agent groaned, but then sat straight up. "The papers!"

Gibbs looked puzzled. "What papers?"

"I—I found some….I think they were from Haswari's contact in the Middle East."

"Okay, I'll swing by the office, and trade you in for McGee. We'll get 'em, Tony." …………………………………………………………..

"Where were you!" Probie asked. "I've tried your cell for hours!"

Gibbs filled him in, and told the youngest agent to meet him outside.

The older man started towards the elevator, when McGee stopped him, hand still on his gear.

"You gotta see this, boss!" He pointed to the plasma, where the news network was playing.

" Authorities have not determined the cause of the fire. However, they are positive it is intentional."

The screen showed a farmhouse burning to the ground. A familiar farmhouse.

The reporter continued. "If you have any information, please contact Fairfax County Police Department. Back to you, Craig."

"Thank you, Stacey, and now for a look at the Nationals' game, followed by your seven day forecast…."

McGee stared at the screen, glumly. "Whatever was in there, it's gone now."

Gibbs nodded grimly. "Only because Al-Quaeda wanted it destroyed."

Gibbs reached into his pack, pulling out a sealed evidence bag. It was the bloody napkin he had bagged. He tossed it in McGee's face.

"Get it to Abbs, now!"

…………………………………………………………….

"Don't think you can sneak up on me Gibbs!" Abby whirled around, facing her boss. "You still don't think I believe you are getting sneakier in your old age, do you?"

"Hey, I'm younger than your biology professor when you---"

Abby glared at him. "Who told you that?"

"Well, Abbs, the older I get, the sneakier I get, the better looking I get, and, the more I listen to Tony's gossip. You can really learn a thing or two about people from him."

Abby pressed her lips together. "You know, that is true. How else would I know that you had so many demerits in the Corps, or that McGee wasn't potty trained until he was six, or that Kate's….." her voice trailed off.

Gibbs immediately lost his playful mood, and asked gruffly, "You got anything?"

"Take a look in the 'scope," she replied.

He squinted into it. "I just see a bloody rag," he confirmed.

"Well, that proves one thing."

"What?"

"The older you get, the worse your vision gets. That's not just a bloody rag, it's an old bloody tissue. Those are the fibers from your tissue, and I'd say its Scott."

"Huh?"

"The brand, Scott? But that's not very exclusive—way too common."

Gibbs looked at the technician impatiently. "Do you have anything important?"

"Well, here's where it gets interesting. I wasn't able to extract epithelial, but I did get a blood type." "Yeah?" "O positive. Most common. But I do have a hunch."

"I'm listening."

"Well, Kate…she…was O positive. If I recall correctly, Kate was given a tissue for her bloody lips. At the table you found this. This blood has been here for sometime. Probably a year. And this pattern, " she pointed to the blood stain, " could easily be the right size and shape for her lip."

"Sounds kind of far fetched, Abbs."

"Just tryin' to give you something, I said it was a hunch."

Gibbs stared in the microscope while his heart sank. "This isn't going to help us, then?"

" 'Fraid not, silver haired one."

………………………………….

"That….that…trash was taking shots at you, Anthony?" Ducky asked, perplexed, as he carefully examined Tony's wound.

"Yeah, but we're—Ouch! Easy there, Ducky!"

"Yes, yes. I've realized you've seen more hospital lately than you care to admit."

"And more funerals."

"Ah, and its one to many, is it not, my boy?"

The "boy" sent a suspicious look towards the eavesdropping Jimmy Palmer. Duck caught his glance, and nodded to his assistant. "Uh…Mr. Palmer, the substance we found on Balboa's young commissary clerk?"

"Mr. Palmer" blinked, and then reality dawned on him. "Right, I'll get that to the lab."

"By all means, and you may want to stay and talk with Abby for awhile."

"But, Doctor, don't you think---"

"Go!"

And he went.

Ducky turned to Tony. "When I was in Vietnam, I treated a young soldier who's girlfriend was severely beaten, and finally imprisoned by the enemy forces. His whole life was then focused on revenge. Of course, he ended up committing suicide, but you didn't want to hear that."

"Ducky, I'm not suicidal."

"No, but you are a young man who lost what he desperately loved."

Tony pulled his arm from the doctor, temporarily forgetting the pain. "And it seems that everyone knew it except me! Why didn't I know? Why didn't you tell me?" he fumed.

The doctor shook his head soberly. "Anthony, if we had told you, would you have listened to us? And furthermore, you needed to find out for yourself."

"And she had to die for me to find out!"

"Did you ever think you took her for granted?"

Tony clenched his fists. "My life will be focused on revenge. If it can't be on Kate, then it is going to be for her."

Ducky looked as if he wanted to press the issue farther, but he did not. Instead, he quietly commented, "Do you realize how bent the terrorist is towards \destroying the team? Reminds me of the case where—"

"Ducky," Tony interrupted, suddenly sounding so weary.

"Of course. But….he's shot at Gerald, Gibbs, Caitlyn, now you…..and he kept us captive, Caitlyn twice. Do you ever wonder when he's going to stop?"

"That's the thing, Ducky. He's not—unless we stop him."