Tony sat disgruntled at his desk. His chin rested in his palms as he ran the days events through his mind. What on Earth was going on around here? Everyone was acting unusually happy. The case they were working on had not enough suspects, yet so much evidence. He looked up when McGee came around the corner.

"What the heck is going on around here?" he asked, confused. Tony stared at him cautiously.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I step off the elevator and Abby runs over and kisses me. Then she stalks off without another word. Does anyone have an explanation as to what is going on around here?" he muttered. Tony shook his head.

"You feel it too?" he asked. McGee grunted as he threw himself in his chair.

"I wish I could explain it. But for now I guess we'd better work on this case. Abby seems to be ahead of us," he paused and looked back to Tony. "Can you go check it out?" Tony laughed and rose to his feet.

"Only if you go find Ziva and fill her in." McGee smiled.

"Sure thing."

Abby was carefully analyzing new blood splatter linked to the quadruple murder when the doors to her lab opened. Strolling confidently in was Tony.

"Good afternoon Tony," she greeted without looking up.

"Hey Abs, What you got for us?" he asked.

"New blood splatter," she told him.

"So," he began slowly. "What is going on around here?" he asked, slipping his hands into his pockets. She looked up.

"How do you mean?" she asked as she placed the tube of blood on a tray with others similar.

"I mean… What's with you kissing McGee?" he asked with a smirk. "Are you trying to get him going?" She placed a hand on her hip and smiled.

"I saw you kissing Ziva and Gibbs kissing Candi, and I felt left out so I kissed Timothy. No harm done. None permanent anyway." Tony continued to stare at her.

"Whoa whoa, back up there… Gibbs kissing Candi? When did this happen?" he asked haughtily. Abby pursed her lips, she had said too much.

"Nuh-uh I can't say anymore."

"Why don't I know anything about this?" his tone was sharper now. "I have the right to know." She shook her head.

"It's none of my business, I shouldn't have said anything."

"Well, you did, now tell me, what is going on around here?" he shouted. She stared at him.

"Don't yell at me! How am I supposed to know?" she snapped back.

"Whoa… Whoa… What is going on down here?" Abby looked up to find Gibbs, her cheeks burning. Tony swung around, hatred in his eyes.

"What's going on around here and why are you kissing Candi?" he shouted. Gibbs eyes widened.

"I don't think that's any of your business, now go dig up dirt on our victims; take McGee with you," he told him. Tony didn't move. "Now DiNozzo! That's an order!" Tony tore his gaze from the boss and stalked off. Abby backed up slowly and stared at Gibbs.

"Not that it's any of my business…" her voice trailed off then got louder. "But what the hell is going on around here!" Gibbs stared at the floor.

"Don't worry your pretty little head," he said softly. "You're doing a good job." He turned around and headed for the exit. "Just don't kiss McGee again," he smirked. "You might get his hopes up." She giggled with embarrassment.

"I'll call you if I get anything!" Abby stared at the empty room before her. There was so much going on around there today she was off balance. In the quiet room, she had a moment to think. Her eyes lit up when she remembered Warren Nottingham.

"Gibbs is going to kill me!" she shouted upon realizing she hadn't informed her boss yet. Warren's blood had been at the crime scene; though she could find no link between him and their victims. They weren't even stationed on the same base.

"Gibbs!" she shouted as she ran off the elevator into the bustling office. Over at the teams' desks, she found only Candice, Tony and McGee. The tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. "Where is Gibbs?" she asked impatiently. All three pointed to the top level, where the director's office was. "Did he tell you what Maxwell Grey said?" Silently, the three shook their heads and worked silently at their desks.

"Well, McGee? What of Ducky? Did he find any gunshot wounds on the victims?" she asked. He finally looked up from his computer.

"No evidence of gunshot residue or any gunshot wounds. But there must have been a gun at the scene," he informed her. "All of our witnesses heard gun fire. Three shots fired." Abby took in a deep breath.

"No bullets at the scene. What about casings?" she asked anxiously. McGee shook his head. "Damn!" she cursed as she threw herself in Gibbs' chair. After ten quiet, awkward minutes, Gibbs came stalking out of the director's office.

"Abby," he greeted her as he approached his desk. She jumped to her feet

"I have valuable information," she told him. "Foreign blood splatter at our crime scene, it doesn't belong to our victims, but to a Sergeant Warren Nottingham." HE stared at her as if she were withholding something.

"And…" She shook her head.

"That's it, boss," she replied. He took in a deep breath.

"Where can we find Sergeant Nottingham?" he asked. Her obvious silence was an indication that she had no idea. "What of his base camp?" Abby shook her head.

"He was stationed at a camp fifty miles east of Richmond, sir," she told. "But from an unidentified source, I've discovered that he is no longer there." Gibbs grunted.

"Well, then lets find out where he really is."

With anger and frustration, Tony stared at Gibbs as he took Ziva and headed out of the office. They were off to the camp where Sergeant Nottingham had been based. This information was crucial to the case, but he couldn't seem to concentrate on it. As he sat across from Candice, images of her and the boss locking lips was all that he could see. Was he overreacting? She wasn't his, he had no reason to oppose the union. But somehow, it bothered him. Somewhere hidden in his subconscious, he figured that maybe they could reconcile and become what they dreamed of being so long ago. The thought was naught but a shadow now. Obviously, she had moved on. For better or worse, she had moved on. It was time that he did too. Living in the past with a dream was no way to live life. The pain in his heart subsided a little, but slowly returned as he thought of moving on. He had tried. His heart had become victim to Kate. Now, once again, it was broken. Two women he cared so much about had been ripped away from him by his own pride.

The relationship he had with Kate was so rocky, that there had been no place for confession. Even if he had told her his feelings, she would have laughed it off as another attempt to get her into bed. Then there was Candice. His pride so long ago had persuaded him to leave the best thing he ever had. He ran, he ran so far away that he figured it would never catch up with him. Of course, he had been wrong. Now at the most vulnerable time in his life, she had returned. With her, she carried an air that warded him off. Working with her wasn't easy, though he had hoped that they could at least be friends again. She wouldn't have it. Her hatred ran so deep that even talking to him appeared to be impossible.

"And she has every right," he whispered to himself as he flipped through pages of information of the victim, Micheal Townes. It appeared he had a twin brother, Collin, who was a preschool teacher in Arlington.

"Got something," he said as he looked up to meet McGee in the eye. "Micheal Townes, has a twin brother, Collin Townes, he lives in Arlington. Should we tell Gibbs?" Timothy nodded.

"I'll let him know." Micheal Townes was one of the four victims from the Internet Café. The case still boggled him. Where was the gun? The bullets? If there was a victim, where were they? It was baffling indeed. The four victims had been beaten to death with blunt objects. Each object was a different, which suggested more than one suspect.

"Boss gives us the okay to drive to Arlington tonight and question Collin Townes, or at least let him know of his brother's death," McGee told him, breaking him from his thoughts. Tony nodded and jumped to his feet.

"Then lets go," he looked to Candi and smirked. "You sure you're gonna be ok here? All by yourself?" She shot his a sardonic grin.

"I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. As I have been doing," she shot back. He knew the last part was directed toward him personally. Without another word, she swung her chair around and faced away from them.

"See you in the morning," McGee called as to her as he and Tony boarded the elevator.

Abby waited in her lab anxiously for Gibbs return. She needed to know what he and Ziva had discovered. In the meantime, she was running detailed profiles on the four murder victims: David Terry, Micheal Townes, Phillip Angelo and Richard Affis. They all came from similar backgrounds. Each grew up in the suburbs with military parents and graduated from high school with honors. They had obviously grown close in Marines, because no background evidence suggested they knew each other growing up. Abby didn't feel that was relevant anyway.

More agonizing hours in front of the screen told her that David Terry was married and he and his wife lived in the suburbs of northern Richmond. She needed to be notified of her husband's death.

"I should call Gibbs," she told herself as she picked up the phone.

"Gibbs," came his answer from the other end.

"I just thought I would let you know that David Terry is married and he and his wife live in the suburbs of northern Richmond. Maybe she should be told of what happed to her husband."

"I agree," he replied. "We're on our way back right now. It turns out that Sergeant Nottingham was reported missing two weeks ago. He disappeared from his bed one night and never returned. I'll send Ziva to tell Mrs Terry." Abby gave her approval and hung up. As she returned to her reading, Candice entered her lab.

"Good evening Abby," she greeted. There was the sound of grief in her voice, Abby decided not to pry.

"Do you have anything for me?" she asked. Candice smiled and shook her head.

"Actually, I was wondering the same thing." Abby laughed.

"Nothing in the paperwork?" Candice shook her head.

"DiNozzo discovered that Micheal Townes has a twin brother. Him and McGee are going to talk to him right now," she informed Abby. "What did you find?"

"Well…" Abby began, "Apparently there in a Mrs Terry. Now… If Terry was having an affair… That makes her a suspect in his death." Candice gave a nod of approval.

"Yah, but why kill the other three guys?" she asked. Abby frowned.

"Maybe they were a hindrance. She couldn't leave them alive to report her, so she killed them too." Candice shrugged.

"Could be, but what about our shooter? I wish we could get a lead on that." Abby agreed.

Together, the girls read the files on their victims, not much other information was gathered but what they already knew. Soon after, Gibbs entered the lab.

"Where's Ziva?" Abby asked.

"I sent her back to Richmond to check with Mrs Terry. She'll call me when she gets there. Now did you find anything else? Did DiNozzo and McGee leave already?" It was sort of a rhetorical question because the answer was known all around.

"What now, boss?" Abby asked. He challenged her with his game face.

"We find that gun."