Chapter 1 - NCISHQ - Washington, DC, 6:30AM

"Kate, any luck with getting a hold of Gibbs?" Tony asked as he sleepily came over to her desk and handed her a coffee.

"No, none whatsoever. He's not answering his cell. I've been trying since yesterday morning, and all I've gotten is his voicemail and…" her voice trailed off. She looked at the cup on her desk and avoided Tony's eyes.

Tony frowned. "Hey, I'm sure he's fine. Besides, he probably just got really involved," he pondered, trying to rationalize why Gibbs hadn't checked in at all. "I mean, what would those guys think if Gibbs spent all of his time on his cell?"

"Yeah Kate, Tony's right," McGee agreed from his desk.

Kate looked from one agent to the other. "I don't know. Something just doesn't seemright. We all agreed on the check-in calls before Gibbs left. He even suggested it. He wouldn't do it… leave me…. Errrr, I mean us here worrying like this. What if something happened and he can't call us?"

"Whoa, Kate! Gibbs has been on rougher undercover ops. He's a big boy; he can take care of himself," Tony said reassuringly, although he too was starting to wonder just what was up.

Kate's phone rang just then, making everyone jump. She picked it up. "Gibbs?" Kate asked.

"Sorry Kate, it's Abby." Kate's face fell and Tony knew it wasn't their boss. "Kate, I have this feeling that something's hinky. McGee told me last night that Gibbs hadn't checked in, and I had this weird dream. Well, more of a nightmare, really. I'm telling you, I don't like it."

Kate nodded. "I know, Abby, I was just telling Tim and Tony the same thing…."

Abby cut her off, "Yea, but listen. I came in really early and I traced the GPS on Gibbs' cell. The signal was stationary."

"Abby, what are you saying? Where's the phone?" Kate asked worriedly.

"Kate, the coordinates led to Gibbs' house. I was just there. The living room was a mess. It looks like there was a struggle, and there was some blood on the coffee table. I got a sample and I'm running it now," and with that, Abby hung up.

From Kate's look, McGee knew something was wrong. He went to Kate who was standing now, staring at her phone. "Kate…what, what's wrong? What happened?"

Looking at McGee, Kate said in a quiet voice, "We need to go to the lab. Now."

A/N: Sorry to leave a sort of cliffhanger - expect an update soon! Thanks to everyone who has read it thus far.