A/N

A/N. Thanks for the even more feedback. :). My quest to find out what happens seems to have resulted in another chapter. Hope you enjoy…

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'Tony, get up here and take a look at this,' Abby ordered, 'Bring the others with you.'

'Could she not simply have come downstairs and shown us?' Ziva asked as DiNozzo hung up his cell phone with a bemused look.

'Guess not,' the senior field agent replied as the trio began the two-storey climb. 'No point trying to argue with Abby when she's in all-out mother bear mode.'

'Mother bear mode?' Ziva questioned. 'You are saying that she thinks Gibbs is one of her…cubs?'

'Must be a grizzly…' McGee muttered under his breath and was rewarded by a cuff to the back of the head courtesy of Ziva.

'Just because Tony's acting like Gibbs does not mean you get to behave like Tony!' she reprimanded.

'Hey guys, get in here!' Abby yelled impatiently.

'What have you got, Abbs?'

'Tony told me to start by checking out the director's personal files. They were encrypted of course but she used an encryption algorithm she asked us to develop for her. If I hadn't known where to start it would have taken me days to crack.'

'Makes sense,' McGee interrupted, 'Vance has major codebreaking skills. When I was trying to figure out that code that Decker left behind he came up with more than one idea I hadn't thought of.'

'In that case Abby, copy all the relevant files off the NCIS server then overwrite them. If he's as good as McGee says he is, he'll likely be right behind us.'

'Consider it done, acting boss man,' Abby readily agreed. 'Don't you want to know what I found out?' Looking at the glares being focused on her by the other members of the team, she decided to continue. 'Get this. Director Shepard had Vance under surveillance and what's more, I think I know why. Take a look at his personnel file. Does anything look a little hinky to you?'

'The guy sure was promoted quickly. Every time a position became available he was straight in there.' McGee observed.

'Well done, McGee! Have a biscuit!' Abby congratulated him.

'But how does that help us? We can't really go to Vance and say "You were promoted too quickly, give us our team back and we won't tell anyone,"' Tony pointed out.

'Patience, Special Agent DiNozzo,' Abby reprimanded. 'That is not the interesting bit. Take a look at the circumstances of his promotions. Look at this guy. Vance's team leader, dies in a car crash. Next thing you know, Vance has taken his place. This head of department guy has a heart attack, Vance takes his place. The Assistant Director dies in a bungled street robbery, no suspects, no leads. Vance takes his place. The guy everybody expected to get the Assistant Directorship loses a daughter and resigns to spend more time with his family.'

'And Director Shepard died in a gun battle and Vance has taken her place.' Ziva finished.

'Director Shepard was dying of cancer,' McGee argued, 'He could have just waited a couple of months then taken her place anyway.'

'Which leads us to one of two conclusions,' DiNozzo summarised. 'Either Vance didn't know, which is plausible if she hadn't informed SECNAV, as that would mean Ducky was the only one who did know. She ran the risk of Abby finding out when Ducky handed over those blood samples but she counted on Abby's respect for Ducky to stop her from investigating further. A simple DNA test would have proved whose blood she was testing, but Abby would never go behind Ducky's back to find out.'

'And the second conclusion?' Ziva prompted.

'Whatever's going on that Vance is involved in, it's time sensitive. Whoever's behind his rapid rise to power wants results, soon.'

'We know who killed the Director,' McGee continued to argue, 'and much as we'd like to believe otherwise, it wasn't Vance.'

'We know they got to the Director through Decker,' Tony countered. 'We don't know who led them to him. For all we know, Vance could have been responsible for pointing them in the right direction.'

'But speculation and proof are two entirely different things,' Ziva reminded them.

'So we go with what we've got,' Tony decided. 'McGee, take my car and go interview the guy who was up for Assistant Directorship at the same time as Vance. Find out what happened to his daughter and why he really quit. Abbs, I need you to go back to the office and pull the evidence on all the suspicious and not-so suspicious deaths. Re-examine it, and be discreet. We have no idea how far Vance's influence reaches.'

'I'll go with McGee,' Ziva suggested.

'You'll stay here, Ziva,' Tony ordered, 'Our cover story is going to be absolutely useless if Vance finds out we've been out interviewing witnesses. We're going to have to do what we can from here.'

'What about Gibbs? I can't just leave!' Abby objected.

'We'll take care of Gibbs, Abby, I promise,' Tony reassured her, 'Ducky promised he'd call in as soon as he's finished the autopsy he's working on, which will be any minute now, and I really need you to do this now. We're counting on you Abbs.'

'Well, okay,' she finally agreed.

'I want you both to call in every hour. Call Gibbs' phone – it's more plausible for you to be checking up on him and Ziva and I have our cell phones turned off anyway. And guys? Be careful. If either of you feel like you're in any danger, call in - we'll be right there and to hell with our orders. Got it?'

'Got it Boss,' McGee answered instinctively. He didn't bother correcting himself as he and Abby left to carry out their assigned tasks.

'So now what?' Ziva asked when the pair had departed.

'We keep digging,' Tony answered. 'We look into every case Vance has ever been involved with and we find anything that doesn't add up. If this investigation comes to nothing, it'll be because there's nothing to find and we'll have to settle for knowing that Vance is just an opportunistic bastard.'

Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, followed by the call of a familiar voice from the hallway.

'Hello?'

'Up here, Ducky,' Tony called in response. The doctor had barely reached the top of the stairs when the sound of another vehicle reached their ears. 'Shit, it's Vance,' Tony hissed after taking a quick glance through the window. 'He must have come to yell at Gibbs for walking out on him.'

'Jethro?' A second voice called out from the ground floor. 'We need to talk.'

'Gibbs really needs to revise his open door policy,' Tony muttered, 'Ducky, stall him. Ziva, get in the closet.'

'I will not.' Ziva responded indignantly.

'Do you want him to send us away?'

'Ok, I'll do it, but you'd better watch where you put your hands,' she retorted. The pair quickly climbed into the closet and pulled the door shut behind them. 'Tony,' she complained, 'your elbow is sticking in my stomach.'

'That's not my elbow.'

'Tony!'

'Ziva! Shhh!' They could hear Ducky's sonorous tones clearly through the door.

'Director, what an unexpected surprise, but I'm afraid that if you've come to speak to Jethro, you have had a wasted journey. I'm afraid I cannot permit it.'

'Doctor Mallard, let me explain the situation to you. I am the Director, you are the Medical Examiner. It does not fall to you to permit me anything.'

'I'm afraid you've hit the nail on the head rather. It is in matters of medicine that I outrank you and on medical grounds that I cannot permit your interview,' the doctor explained, 'Special Agent Gibbs is quite unwell and while I must confess I have not yet had the opportunity to carry out a full medical examination, I can assure you that he is far from well enough to speak with you right now.'

'How convenient,' Vance retorted.

'Be assured, Director, that if Special Agent Gibbs merely did not wish to speak with you, he would make it abundantly clear. On the other hand, given what Agent Gibbs has been through over the past year, the surprise is not that he is ill but instead that his body is still functioning at all. I must ask you, Director, to refrain from…' The doctor's monologue was cut short as Vance stormed up the stairs and headed straight for the sick agent's bedroom. He paused as he caught sight of the prone figure on the bed. 'I trust you are satisfied now?' the doctor continued. Vance nodded.

'This time, Doctor. Be assured, however, that I will be watching you.' He turned and made his way back the way he had come. As soon as the Director had departed, the doctor turned his attention to his patient.

'Good Lord Jethro, you do look dreadful,' he announced as he began his examination. 'You certainly don't do things by halves.' The placing of a cold stethoscope on his patient's chest did what the sound of his voice had failed to do and caused the sleeping man to stir. Gibbs opened his eyes and looked blankly at the figure hovering above him.

'Ducky?' he ventured.

'Quite so, my dear friend. How do you feel?' There was a pause while the question was considered.

'I'm ok, Duck. Just a little tired.' Gibbs knew the doctor wouldn't believe him as soon as the words left his mouth. Hell, he didn't even believe himself. The doctor smiled knowingly and shook his head.

'I'm afraid not dear boy; you are in fact quite unwell. I would venture to suggest that you are suffering from a rather severe case of influenza complicated by acute exhaustion. Ibuprofen should help somewhat with the symptoms but I'm afraid the only cure is rest.'

'Been resting, Duck.' Gibbs attempted to argue.

'Indeed,' the doctor readily agreed, 'and you must continue to do so. A week's bed rest at least, then, if your condition has sufficiently improved, a further week or two at home before you come back to work.'

'But Duck!,' the sick man protested feebly, attempting to sit up. 'I can't just…'

'This is not up for discussion, Jethro,' the older man firmly but gently pushed him back onto his pillow, 'you need time to recover. I'm sure young Anthony has everything under control.'

'Has he gone, Ducky?' Ziva's voice emanating from the closet interrupted the conversation.

'Some time ago,' Ducky admitted sheepishly. Gibbs watched in bewilderment as two of his agents extricated themselves from the closet.

'How you feeling, Boss?' Tony asked, casting an appraising glance over his friend.

'DiNozzo? What the..?' Gibbs managed.

'Don't worry, Boss. You'll be back to normal before you know it.' Tony grinned and headed for the door. As the two agents left the room, Gibbs rubbed a hand across his face. He looked up at the physician and sighed.

'I don't think I want to know, Ducky. Maybe that rest isn't such a bad idea after all.'