DiNozzo's Apartment

"Wow, so this is Agent DiNozzo's apartment?" Fornell said sarcastically. He entered the opened door to join Ziva and Gibbs, only to have Gibbs redirect him into the hallway. "Somehow, I pictured it more as a Frat house or college dorm. This is actually quite tasteful. . . .Nice home entertainment system, too."

"It's bugged." Gibbs reminded him pulling him back into the hallway. "McGee never made it here."

"Right." Fornell said.

"What can you tell me, Fornell? I have two agents missing right now." Gibbs said bluntly.

"This Agent Hernandez has been with the bureau for the last ten years, and he is well respected. He has been based in California assigned to investigating insurance fraud. Since his transfer to the D.C. area three weeks ago, he started working in Cyber Crimes, specifically investigating identity theft. I have assigned two of my agents to monitor his activities. However, I don't know anything regarding DiNozzo and McGee's whereabouts."

"Boss." McGee said coming down the apartment hallway. Both Gibbs and Fornell quickly turned to face the source. There stood McGee and DiNozzo behind them. Although Gibbs did not verbally express his concerns, his feelings of concern, worry, and relief were all expressed in look on his face.

"We are fine." McGee responded to the unspoken words. "But, when I deactivated the bug at my apartment, three men appeared at my door almost minutes later. I didn't open the door and instead tried to climb out the back fire escape. However, I figured out that these men were tracking my cell phone as I tried to sneak over to my car. By the time I figured that out and ditched my cell phone, Tony had pulled up. So I got into his car and told him to throw his cell phone out the window. I think you should do the same, Boss and Ziva. I don't think that intern was working alone. Someone is tracking the new cellphones that we were just issued."

"We are all here now. Should we not make them come?" Ziva presented. "Can you smash another insect, McGee?"

"Bug." DiNozzo quickly corrected.

"Ah, yes, I mean bug . . .bug." Ziva corrected.

"Boss, I am with Ziva. I think we should still deactivate all the bugs and your cellphones, so that they come." DiNozzo said.

"Whoa Boss! Behind you!" DiNozzo quickly said pushing Gibbs out of the way, as bullets started to fly. McGee pushed Fornell to the side also. The three men were at the other end of the hall firing their guns at them. They took cover, as the bullets started flying heavy. The team and Fornell started firing their guns back. By the time their first rounds of bullets were fired back, the three men were dead.

"Are those FBI agents, Fornell?" McGee asked.

"They can't be." Fornell said angrily.

"That cranky old bat from downstairs will complain about the noise for sure." DiNozzo added, as they all stood back up assessing the damage and situation. Ziva looked to DiNozzo and giggled.

Gibbs kicked away some fallen debris as he stood up and quickly stormed away from them. DiNozzo and Ziva picked up on their boss' hostility.

"Are you okay there, Boss?" DiNozzo tried to ask casually.

Gibbs turned around and looked back at Tony in concern for him, as well as the rest of his team. He continued to acknowledge the damage of the fire fight.

"Boss?" DiNozzo said again.

"We need to turn off our new cell phones. I will have another team deactivate the rest of the bugs in our homes. For now on, we need to stay together at the Navy Yard."

"We can't live at the Navy Yard, Boss." DiNozzo repeated with a nervous laugh, knowing that Gibbs was not kidding. Gibbs approached DiNozzo very closely, treating him with a serious glare.

"Is there a specific reason why you cannot stay at the Navy Yard, Tony?" Gibbs asked suspiciously. DiNozzo became very closed lipped and attempted to walk away.

"Carlos is literally taking out our investigative senses. We had our computers taken away earlier, so we were blinded from any information on him. Now we cannot communicate with each other, since we literally had to dirt our cell phones."

"Ditch our cell phones, Ziva." DiNozzo corrected again.

"Yes, I mean ditch. It is dangerous for us to be apart right now." Ziva shared some of her observations.

"But the Navy Yard? Do we really need to stay at the Navy Yard?" DiNozzo whined. Gibbs once again glared at DiNozzo waiting for a real explanation as to why he was so against staying at the Navy Yard.

"I will. . .go back to my office and see what I can do." Fornell said in amazement of the disaster that resulted from the fire fight and of the current situation with Gibbs' team. "I will put him under surveillance."

As Fornell was about to leave, Gibbs asked to borrow his cell phone to call Vance. After informing Vance of the situation, the team returned to NCIS headquarters as Fornell returned to his office.

Vance's Office

"So, your field team had to sleep at their desks last night?" Vance asked.

"This Carlos Hernandez has effectively shut you and your team down, Gibbs. What do you plan to do about it?" Vance asked.

"We are waiting for Fornell to get back to us." Gibbs responded.

"This is the last thing that your team needs right now, Gibbs." Vance said, which earned a concerned response from Gibbs.

"I am thinking of reassigning your team." Vance said.

"Oh, no I chose my team." Gibbs said quickly, approaching Vance angrily. "This is my team." Gibbs emphasized.

"I told you to take some time off before." Vance reminded him. Gibbs tensed and regarded Vance angrily.

"And, DiNozzo needs the same." Vance added. "I still want him to see Dr. Cranston." Vance's comment earned a nod from Gibbs in agreement.

"Ziva passed her psych exam as well as the polygraph." Vance redirected. "But as far as I am concerned, she and McGee are the only two members of this team fit for duty in the field."

"What do you want us to do then, Leon?" Gibbs shot back. "This team is being targeted right now, and you want us to go home?"

"I know with Mike Franks gone now that you would have no plans of spending a few months off in Mexico, so is there another location you would prefer to take a hiatus?" Vance asked. Gibbs did not respond but scowled back at him. "The agent afloat assignment really helped DiNozzo out of his last emotional rut. Maybe that would be a good temporary assignment for a few months once again."

"No!" Gibbs shot back at Vance. "Why do you have to mess with my team, Leon? The goal is to catch this maniac not dismantle the team instead."

"Your actions have been unpredictable lately. I told you before Gibbs that I am held accountable for your actions, and right now, I can't trust you." Vance stated.

"And, DiNozzo." Vance shook his head, stepping away from Gibbs. He then turned around and headed back to Gibbs.

"Is he drinking again?" Vance asked very directly. The question made Gibbs very suspicious and defensive.

"What?" Gibbs snapped back.

"If DiNozzo had this blackout because of his uncontrolled, alcohol consumption, then I want him enrolled in a treatment program and temporarily reassigned at the very least." Vance explained.

"He does not have a problem with alcohol." Gibbs said confidently. "He handles alcohol better than anyone."

"He has had trouble with alcohol abuse in the past." Vance said, expecting Gibbs to know exactly what he was referring to.

"When!" Gibbs shouted back throwing his hands up in the air in disbelief.

"Come on Gibbs! You had to know he had a problem before, specifically when grieving Jenny's death." Vance informed him. "I removed him from the USS Ronald Reagan because of his alcohol abuse every time they made port. Although he did pull himself together by the time he was placed on the USS Seahawk that was after almost three months of a battle. How has he handled this recent case learning, after thirty-two years, that his mother was actually murdered?" Vance explained and asked, as he watched the emotions that flooded Gibbs' face.

"Why is this the first time I am hearing of this?" Gibbs asked, admitting his surprise to this information.

"That's a good question. It was DiNozzo's request that this information be kept quiet, specifically from you." Vance answered. "However, by now, your gut should have told you. Are you in some sort of denial?"

"You split up my team three years ago without warning, without discussion or explanation." Gibbs started to shout.

"I split up your team to find a mole, but at the same, I was trying to prevent you from losing two of your agents." Vance added.

"You weren't thinking of my team. You gave me no say in the matter. You gave my agents no say in the decision." Gibbs shouted.

"I did talk with both DiNozzo and David. They both accepted the reassignment before I informed you of the change the night of Jenny's funeral service. After Jenny was killed, I had to stop both of them from turning in their badges. And both of them had reservations about returning even three months later from the overwhelming guilt. After DiNozzo was transferred off of the USS Ronald Reagan, I met with him about transferring back here, where we could watch him. I also needed him here at the time, especially since your gut was unsuccessful still at that point in identifying Agent Lee as the traitor."

"DiNozzo was the last member to return, and you are telling me he should have been the first." Gibbs reiterated, thinking back to the night that he had returned from the Seahawk with DiNozzo, against what he believed were Vance's orders. "I remember the discussions sounding very different back then."

"I also told you that DiNozzo's reassignment was not a punishment." Vance shot back. "There was purpose to each of their reassignments then, Gibbs."

"DiNozzo belongs here. He belonged here then and he belongs here now." Gibbs redirected Vance to the current concern, although Gibbs had also become overwhelmed with the details that he overlooked three years ago.

"Make sure he talks with Dr. Cranston." Vance ordered. "Keep a close eye on your agent, too." Vance turned to pick up his desk phone that was ringing. As he did this, Vance could feel the Gibbs' stare burning through him.

"The other team just reported back to me that they deactivated the bugs in DiNozzo's apartment and your home. They are currently at David's apartment deactivating that bug." Gibbs nodded and left the room.