Abby and Ziva on one side of the table staring at Father Thomas Brewer. While Ziva occasionally looked down at the file she compiled, Abby sat seething at the man. Father Thomas winced as he shifted in his chair. The doctors gave him some pain medicine before releasing him into NCIS custody, but it was starting to wear off.

"How long have you been selling children?" Abby asked him.

Thomas looked at her with contempt but said nothing.

Ziva shoved a pad and pencil to him. "I want the names of every child you have sold," she began. "I want to know when you sold them, who you sold them to, and where they are."

Thomas laughed at her and shoved the pad back to her. "Most of them are probably dead by now," he said. "Besides, I didn't exactly keep records."

Abby's muscles tensed. She wanted so badly to lunge across the table at him. Ziva placed a hand on her friend's arm and continued. "I also want to know to whom you have sold children besides Safir al-Ajami?"

"You're kidding right?" Thomas said. "First, these are not people you want to turn over to the police. Second, even if I wanted to give you their names, the names would be aliases. Most important however, even if you have their correct names, you'd never find them."

"Give me what you have."

"I want a deal."

"Ok," Ziva said. "Here's your deal. You give me every name of every child, the location of each child, and the name of the people to whom you sold them. In exchange, I will make certain Abby has no further involvement with this case." Abby's head snapped to the left as she looked at Ziva. "I mean after all, you have killed five of her friends, sold children into slavery, and held her at gunpoint. As a forensic scientist, I am certain that she knows how to hurt you in ways that are untraceable."

"Actually, I can even kill without leaving a trace of evidence," Abby said. "But for you, I'd take you right to the edge and bring you back, again, and again, and again. I would make it my life's work doing things to you that haven't been done in centuries and making up new things to do to you every day." By this point, she was on her feet and leaning close enough to the man, he could smell the fruity syrup from her soft drink on her lips. Ziva again placed a hand on her arm and Abby returned to her seat before taking another sip from her Caf-Pow.

"You are looking at the death sentence for each murder," Ziva said. "Plus at least seventy counts of human trafficking."

"So take death off the table," Thomas said.

"Oh I will," Abby said.

_.-~=]})*({[=~-._

Abby entered the next name into her computer. After the prosecutor and Father Thomas's lawyer showed up, her answers came quickly. It turned out Thomas did indeed keep records of his transactions, meticulously. It took Ziva less than a half hour to return to the church and collect the files from the rectory. An hour later, copies of each file were put on Abby's desk and she divided the work. Ziva and McGee each took a short stack back to the bullpen to begin searching for the children. Both Carol and Marty worked from the lab, and Abby herself worked from her office. In the five hours since getting the files, they had located nearly thirty of the children. None of the ones found were technically children any more, some were dead and beyond her help. She compiled a list of the ones still living as well as dossiers on the people who had bought them. While tracking down the next name on her list, she decided to grab a snack from the vending machine down the hall. Just as she fed her dollar into the machine, she felt a presence behind her. She turned and saw Director Vance staring at her.

"Hello… Director Vance," she said slowly.

"Miss Sciuto," he said. "You left here a couple of days ago for bereavement."

"Yes sir,"

"Technically," he continued. "It wasn't a bereavement leave since it was a friend who died and not a family member. I'll concede the sister was a close friend, but that's beside the point." Abby nodded. "Since then, you have conscripted one of my most valuable agents to use her free time and NCIS resources to bring down a drug smuggler, a human trafficker, and a murderer. All of these should have been handled by civilian authorities or at the very least other agencies." Again, Abby nodded. "I now have DEA, the FBI, Homeland Security, DC Metro, the Catholic Church, and a couple of other agencies screaming at me wondering why they were not informed of the case. I don't like being screamed at Miss Sciuto."

"Director," Abby said. "I'm really sorry for getting you yelled at, but-"

"I'm not finished," Vance interrupted. "In addition, you are continuing to use NCIS resources to find the children sold by a rogue priest. I now have to coordinate a multi-agency campaign to reclaim these children and bring those who purchased them to justice. All of this because you got this agency involved in what could turn out to be the biggest international conspiracy of this decade."

"Director," Abby tried again. "I am really sorry, but-"

"Miss Sciuto," Vance interrupted again. "Abby," he said softer. "Good job." With that, he turned to leave, stopping only to look back at her. He smiled at her face, which showed both surprise and pride. "I'm Proud of you Abby. If you ever want a job as a field agent, let me know." He turned the corner smiling again at her squeal of pleasure.

_.-~=]})*({[=~-._

It had been a productive week. Carol and Marty brought the last of their work to Abby smiling and letting her know they had found all but four of the children still alive. Abby gave both of them a hug, thanking them again for filling in for her and helping her solve this case.

"Anytime you guys need anything," she said. "Let me know."

"It was our pleasure," Carol said.

"Yeah," Marty chimed in. "And we're sorry about your lab."

Abby straightened up and looked worried. "What happened to the lab?" she asked looking around.

"You'll find it," he said as he grabbed Carol's hand.

Abby noticed the handholding immediately. "You two didn't…"

"No!" Carol exclaimed. "I mean, not in the lab."

"Then what did you do?"

Marty smiled as the two of them turned and walked out of the lab. Abby looked again at her lab, checking for sawed off legs or retractable steps, but found nothing. As she turned to go back into her office, she wondered what she would find when she decided to look harder at what happened to her lab. She knew nothing bad had happened. Both Marty and Carol were too professional, so she decided to think about it tomorrow. Tonight, though, she was going to go home and rest. Vance was working to coordinate the rescue. Gibbs, Tony, and McGee were taking care of Safir al-Ajami. Ziva was gone to work out some frustration. The Church was sending a new priest to the convent and the children and nuns were safe. For the first time since she could remember, Abby was well and truly tired.

_.-~=]})*({[=~-._

Ziva put her bag on her shoulder as she walked out of District Defense & Fitness Center. She gave a contented sigh before putting her earbuds in. As the Israeli band began playing, she looked over her shoulder and saw Gus and Ricky walking to out on shaky legs.

"Thanks for the workout Gus," she said as she began walking again. Glancing at them over her shoulder again, she added, "Sorry about the nose." She smiled slightly before looking up at her car. She stopped dead in her tracks. Her red Mini-Cooper sat in the spot she left it with exhaust coming from the tailpipe. She removed her earbuds and quickly checked her surroundings. She saw no apparent threats and no innocents in immediate danger so she dropped her gym bag while she drew her pistol and moved quickly to her vehicle. She pulled the driver's door open and brought her pistol to bear on the person sitting in the passenger seat. What she saw made her blood chill and her gun hand went numb.

"What? No kiss for your father?" Eli David asked his stunned daughter.

_.-~=]})*({[=~-._