''Gibbs, I-'' Ziva stammered, walking closer to where they had been pinned down during the shooting as if the crime scene would suddenly reappear. ''I worked the scene with them!''
''I know.'' Gibbs responded curtly, walking past her towards the container. Turning around the corner, his fears were confirmed. The blood that had been there mere hours before, Tony's blood was gone. He crouched down; sweeping his fingers over the ground and against the container in the hope that there would be something, anything, left.
''This does not make any sense!'' Ziva shouted in frustration. ''Crime scenes do not just disappear! Agents do not just disappear!''
''Boss?'' McGee looked like he was shaking again, though Gibbs also noted a hint of anger in the man's eyes. ''What do we do now?''
''Work the scene.'' Gibbs stood up again, turning to face his junior agents. ''Someone is trying their best to cover up what happened here, so we'll try our damndest to find out who and why.''
Ziva and McGee nodded at each other in agreement and hurried back to the car to grab their kit. They weren't sure what they could find, if there was anything to find at all, but they were determined to try. They would collect samples of the dirt for Abby to analyse; they would bag and tag anything that seemed even slightly out of place.
''Gibbs?'' Fornell dared to get closer to the NCIS agent. He knew Gibbs would never admit it, but Tony DiNozzo had gotten under his skin, and Fornell could see the toll not having the agent by his side was taking on his friend. ''It is starting to get late. I understand that you want to find your man, but you're not going to be able to find anything in the dark.''
''We can't leave, Fornell!'' Gibbs lashed out. Realising his anger was not with the FBI agent, Gibbs took a deep breath. ''You weren't there. He was bleeding out and now he's missing and someone is trying to make it look like none of this ever happened.''
Fornell swallowed around the lump that was forming in his throat. Damn, maybe Tony had not just gotten under Gibbs' skin. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Fornell reached for his phone.
''It's me,'' He began, and Gibbs watched the FBI agent curiously. ''I'm going to need a team out at the harbour. And bring tents and floodlights: we're not leaving until we've turned over every last bit of dirt in this place.''
It was well past midnight by the time Gibbs walked down the stairs to his basement. As they'd feared, the search that night had brought up nothing. They had collected soil samples for Abby to analyse and had taken photos of the area, but there had been no new clues as to where Tony could be.
Gibbs had been reluctant to send his agents home, but the dark bags under their eyes and the exhaustion from that day had not gone unnoticed. Still, going home did not mean he needed to go to bed; he doubted he would be able to sleep anyway.
Instead, Gibbs grabbed a mug and sat down on the workbench, pouring himself a liberal cup of scotch. The amber liquid burned down his throat, and for a moment he closed his eyes and tried to release some of the tension in his shoulders.
''Where the hell are you, DiNozzo?'' Gibbs muttered, half hoping for his SFA to respond.
For the next few days their luck did not change. Abby had done all she could: she had run over what meagre evidence they had but had come up with nothing concrete. She'd been in tears when the tests revealed that the blood on Gibbs and McGee's clothes was indeed Tony's. The only reason that Gibbs had made her run the tests was to give Vance enough evidence to justify the search for their missing agent, as every day seemed to bring them more mysteries.
If the imaginary LEOs and paramedics had not been bad enough, the SD card that Ziva had used while initially working the crime scene had somehow been corrupted. No matter how much McGee and Abby tried, they could not recover a single image.
If there had been any strand of hair or flake of skin left behind at the harbour, they had been washed away with the rain or blown away by the wind before Fornell's team had arrived with the tents and floodlights.
Gibbs truly felt like he was losing his mind when he received word that any and all records about Lieutenant Murdock had been erased. From his records of his service in the navy to his birth certificate: it was as if Lieutenant Murdock had never existed.
Not only that, but the money and weapons that Murdock had stolen had been retrieved in full, and the navy was writing the case off as ''a serious fault in administration''.
It was when this had happened that Vance had called Gibbs into his office and had mentioned ending the investigation.
''I was not born yesterday, Gibbs,'' He'd put up his hand to stop the man from interrupting him. ''I know Agent DiNozzo did not just vanish, nor do I believe it for a second that your team had been sent on a wild goose chase during your last case.''
''So why are we wasting our time talking about this when I should be out there looking for my agent?!'' Gibbs snapped back, ready to storm back out of the office. Vance met his glare with a glare of his own.
''And where exactly would you go?'' He asked patiently, arching a brow. ''Last I heard you have no leads.''
Gibbs gritted his teeth. He knew he was stuck, but he could not get the image of DiNozzo grabbing his arm before losing consciousness out of his head. He knew that it was a fool's hope, but his gut told him that his agent was still alive, and Gibbs would not rest until he found him.
''I cannot allow you to continue this unless I have some concrete proof that one of our agents is in danger.'' Vance looked at Gibbs expectantly, waiting for the penny to drop. He did not have to wait long.
''I'll get you your damn proof.'' And with that, Gibbs had slammed the door to the office shut behind him and had gone down to Abby's lab.
It had taken Abby no time to come up with the DNA results from the blood on McGee's and Gibbs' clothes, and Gibbs gave her a peck on the top of her head to thank her for providing him with the evidence he needed.
He'd been slightly taken aback when the Goth leapt into his arms, though perhaps he shouldn't have been. Abby's shoulders were shaking as she fought to hold back the tears, her face buried in Gibbs' shirt.
Gibbs sighed. He was not the only person worried sick about Tony, and he really needed to keep reminding himself of that little fact. Ziva and McGee had been working tirelessly, putting out BOLOs and calling anyone who might bring them a step closer to the truth. They had started every day at the break of dawn without a single complaint and continued until Gibbs ordered them to get some rest.
Even Ducky and Palmer had been making daily phone calls to clinics and hospitals in the hope that their agent would make an appearance. Gibbs had even bumped into Jimmy at Tony's apartment door. Apparently Tony had given Palmer a spare key to his apartment when he needed someone to feed his fish Kate, but had told the autopsy Gremlin to keep it in the end.
''In case I ever needed someone to talk to. Or if I just want to watch a film.'' Palmer had explained.
Glancing over to the bin in the corner of the lab, Gibbs cringed slightly at the amount of CafPow cups. Abby and Tony's relationship was one he could only describe as 'siblings'. Tony had flirted with Abby when they first met, but never quite in the same way as he did with other women. DiNozzo was always protective of Abby: Gibbs knew Tony secretly hated the clubs Abby went to, but he tagged along to keep her safe.
Likewise, Gibbs thought, Abby could read Tony better than anyone else; him included. And Tony let down his guards when he was around her; he accepted her love and affection in a heartbeat, and she his.
''Gibbs, what if it's too late?'' Abby choked up as she spoke her mind, looking at Gibbs pleadingly. ''There's so much blood on McGee's clothes, what if he's already-?'' She could not get herself to finish that sentence.
Gibbs pulled her tighter into the embrace, leaning his chin on her head as she buried her face in his shirt once more.
''He's not gone.'' Gibbs' voice was just above a whisper, but the words felt like they echoed through the lab. He had no way to prove that it was not too late, but there was one thing he trusted more than anything: his gut. And right now, it was telling him that there was still time.
''We'll find him.'' He assured her. She pulled away from the hug to look into Gibbs' eyes, his determination filling her with new hope. ''We'll bring him home.''