The three other occupants of the conference room all looked at Mike like he grew a second head. He had just suggested they do nothing to find Gibbs, McGee, and their wives. It was not something they were used to hearing or even thought they would hear from Mike.

Ziva was the first to speak. "You want us to do nothing? To just forget about Gibbs and McGee?"

"No, that's not what he means. He doesn't really mean we do nothing. That would be crazy. It's a metaphor, right Mike?" Abby asked.

Mike shook his head sadly. "Afraid not, Abby. When I say we do nothing, I mean we do nothing. I mean I go back to Mexico and you people go back to catching murderers. We leave well enough alone."

"Well enough? Gibbs and McGee are missing and they have targets on their backs. That's not well enough," Abby said. He couldn't believe Mike was saying this. He was talking about abandoning Gibbs and McGee. They couldn't do that. They didn't leave a man behind

"Well, it certainly ain't ideal, but it's the best choice we got right now," Mike said. He didn't love this idea either, but it was the only way he way he could see under the circumstance. The Reynosa Cartel wasn't going to stop no matter what they did. If Gibbs, McGee, and their women came back, they'd be killed. It was better to just let them be.

No, it's not! It's not a good choice at all. It's not a choice at all. We can't leave them behind. We have to find them and keep them all safe!" Abby said forcefully.

"And how do you suggest we do that, Abby? Even if we stop the leader, it won't end. You stopped Paloma Reynosa and it didn't dismantle the Cartel. They just gave it to someone else. And they'll do it again if we stop the current leader. They're never gonna disappear and neither will the danger that follows Gibbs, McGee, and their wives," Mike said.

"So you think we should just let them go? Let them run?" Tony asked.

Mike nodded.

Tony shuddered. He didn't like it. He hated it in fact, but Mike wasn't wrong about the danger. He'd tried not to think about it, but the fact was that the Reynosa Cartel wasn't just going to go away. There would always be someone to around to control it and any grudges it had. "Okay."

"Tony, you can't be serious! You can't be agreeing with this," Abby said.

"I don't like it any more than you do, but Mike's right. Even if we found them and brought them home, what would we do then? How would we protect them? They Reynosa Cartel has people everywhere. Hell, they had people following Gibbs without his knowledge, something we didn't think was possible. They could've killed him at any moment. They were going to kill McGee. If it weren't for whoever killed Garcia, he would be dead. You realize that right. We came dangerously close to burying a friend," Tony said.

"Isn't there another way? She did not like the idea of leaving her colleagues and friends out there alone. And the thought of never seeing them again was not something she wanted to even entertain.

"Can't see one and not willing to chance it. I told Shannon Gibbs I could protect her from the Cartel and I was wrong. If it weren't for her mother, however vile that woman may be, Shannon and Kelly would be dead right now. That's not something I'm willing to chance happening again," Mike said.

"And obviously Gibbs agrees. He agreed to run. He willingly left his phone behind so we couldn't trace him in anyway. He doesn't wanna be found. He knows he and his family are dead if he's located," Tony said.

"No, he's probably just laying low and waiting for us to rescue them," Abby said.

"Abby, stop!" Mike said loudly. He hated yelling at the Goth just like everyone else did, but he had to get her to listen. "They're gone. Everyone needs to accept that now. No matter what we do, you're gonna have to accept losing them. Now, we can fight to bring them back here and they'll eventually be killed or we can do nothing and they'll be somewhat safe. We won't see them again, but they'll have a chance."

Tony sighed. "Well, it seems pretty obvious to me. We end it now. They're safe where they are, reasonably anyway."

"No! I can't give up on Gibbs and McGee. I won't!" Abby said fiercely before bolting from the room.

"She'll come around. She'll eventually see that this is the only way. She has to," Tony said.

"So what now? We cannot just all of a sudden drop this. Vance will not let us," Ziva said.

"Well, I guess he'll have to be told," Mike said.

"Ducky too. He deserves to know," Tony said.

"Get the doc and let's head up to the director's office," Mike said before getting up and heading for the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Twenty minutes later, they were all in Vance's office with him and Ducky. They'd just explained everything they'd learned to the two men. Needless to say, they were both pretty shocked.

"How sure are you about this?" Vance asked.

"Pretty damn sure, Director. If the picture didn't do it, the fingerprints on the battery sure did," Mike said.

Ducky shook his head. "All these years Jethro was grieving for people that weren't dead. It's unbelievable."

"So then I think it's safe to operate under the assumption that Gibbs and McGee left willingly," Vance said. Never in a million years did he think Gibbs would choose to run, but he supposed the man's wife and daughter coming back from the dead could do it.

"That's right. We think the man that was protecting Shannon and Kelly arranged a reunion and then getaway. Just in time too. The Cartel did discover Shannon and Kelly's location in Nebraska," Mike said.

"This is a miracle and a tragedy at the same time. Those women are alive, but they're targets and they probably always will be," Vance said.

"Gibbs and McGee too. They Reynosa Cartel is never gonna give up and they'll never be completely stopped. That's why we think that we should drop the investigation," Tony said as he looked directly at Vance.

Vance leaned back in his chair and sighed. It wasn't hard to tell where DiNozzo was going with this. And he couldn't really say he was wrong either. The moment he'd learned the Reynosa Cartel was involved, Vance worried about to keep Gibbs and McGee safe. He'd even considered Witness Protection, but he worried Gibbs wouldn't go for it. Now that wasn't an issue. Not only had Gibbs agreed to hide, he was already doing it. "We can't just drop it. Not yet anyway. There will be too much suspicion if we just drop it. But we can come up empty. The case will be switched to cold in a few months and that'll be that."

"So we go through the motions and wait to be ordered to drop it. What do I tell McGee's sister?" Tony asked. Sarah kept calling for information on her brother.

"You tell her nothing, Probie. You tell her and you make her a target. Pretty sure McGee wouldn't like that very much," Mike said.

"We tell no one. This stays between us," Vance said.

Abby knows as well," Ziva said.

"Fine, it stays between us and Ms. Scuito. No one else finds out," Vance said firmly.

"Agreed. It is best for everything. It keeps everyone as safe as they can be, and Jethro and Timothy can have peace with their loved ones," Ducky said. Despite the situation, he was happy for Jethro. His friend had his family back. He could finally find some happiness.

The others nodded their agreement as well.

"I want all the evidence you've found so far destroyed. It's the only way we'll be able to close this quickly," Vance said.

"We'll get on it," Tony said before he and Ziva stood up from their chairs and headed out of the room.