A stream of images ran through Gibbs mind. His friend lying still on an autopsy table; the last thing he'd said to him and the look on his face when he'd said it. "I hope I can forgive you for this." He ignored the guilt filling his heart when Fornell replied.

"Negative. Seems to be an accomplice of Barclay's, the body is being transported here as we speak."

Gibbs opened his eyes; two shocks in less than five minutes was almost too much to take. "No sign of Doctor Mallard?"

"My Agents are still processing the scene; there was some foreign blood splatter but it hasn't been identified."

Gibbs sighed in relief; but this was far from over. He cleared his throat and spoke as matter of factly as he could. "We have to get this bastard."

Abby, Tony, Ziva, Mike and Fornell all agreed whole heartedly; and felt reassured by the tone in his voice. Each of them knew when Gibbs set his sights on something; he attained it. They only hoped they wouldn't lose a team member in the process.

"Boss…" Tony began. "We'll start processing here, but what about…"

"Jenny," Gibbs interrupted. "Leave her to me." He anticipated the resounding rebuttals so spoke quickly. "Fornell…"

"I'll detain her with pleasure Jethro."

Gibbs nodded as if things were coming together. "We are on the first flight out." He was tempted to close the phone immediately and the others had expected him to as well. "DiNozzo…"

"Yes boss?"

"I'm glad you're alright." He let a few moments of silence pass before taking away Tony's chance to respond. "Now, get to work."

Tony managed a smile. "On it boss."

Fornell met his Agents out in the hall way and motioned for them to join him in the elevator. "Your detail just went from Protection to Detainment."

"Who sir?"

"The Director of NCIS."

They knew better than to question him further and followed close behind as he made his way to her office. Ignoring Cynthia; something she had gotten quite used to over the past few days; he entered through the doors.

"Of course…" He muttered to himself. "That would be too easy." He left the empty office and stood in front of Cynthia. "Where is the Director?"

"She's gone home for the day."

"I just left her five minutes ago…" He tried not to yell; but wasn't successful. "What does she drive?"

Cynthia was hesitant; but not for long. "And I thought Gibbs was rude…uh she drives a silver 2008 Lexus sir."

Fornell gestured towards his Agents. "You two put on a BOLO on that car; can't be too many of those riding around the DC area…give orders to detain and notify the FBI…"

"What's the charge sir?"

Fornell didn't attempt to dampen his voice this time. "Treason!!"

Gibbs followed behind Ziva who had cleverly attained a car for their travels. Officer Clayton met them momentarily. "Wish I could say it was a pleasure…" He held out his hand for Gibbs to take.

He took it solemnly. "What are you complaining about? You get to take credit for one hell of a collar…bet the next time I hear from you, you'll be the Director."

Clayton had to smile. "I'm pleased to hear about your Agent. You Americans are relentless…"

This time Gibbs mirrored his smile. "You Scotts aint too bad either…"

Gibbs took his seat on the passenger side and looked back to see Mike rolling down his window. "Care for a little piece of advice Clayton?"

"Most certainly Mr. Franks."

"Lose the hats. People will take you and your officers a hell of a lot more seriously." He replied with a smile and watched his window start to ascend without his knowledge. And soon noticed Gibbs had locked the windows from the front seat. "I was just trying to help Probie."

Gibbs peered back at him. "You've helped enough for one day boss."

Mike agreed and stretched his legs out in the back seat. "Damn straight…after this, I'm taking a real vacation."

Abby's fingers were working over time as she processed the footage from the scene. Tony was soothing his gashes with an ice pack as he went through the crime scene photos.

"So…" He began.

Abby sensed where he was headed. "It was awful."

"How'd you know what I was going to ask?"

"Because Tony; every time you almost die, you always ask what it was like. You're pretty predictable."

Tony hid a smile. "So it was awful huh?"

She continued to type; being the master at multi-tasking that she was. "Terrible. Gibbs didn't look McGee in the eyes for a month straight…Tim gave a new meaning to the word depressed…he was always down in my lab cuz he hated being upstairs with him…Ziva was a wreck, trying to hide that she was a wreck…Ducky practically stopped telling stories…and Gibbs, well Gibbs spent most of his time with me; just listening and hugging…and listening some more. He was a wreck beyond a wreck…he was…he was…sad."

"Just sad?"

"Just sad? Tony, Gibbs doesn't get sad…he gets mad, he gets even…but sad? In all the time I've known him I've only seen him sad once before."

"Kate?" Tony added as he placed the photos back into a pile.

She nodded and stopped typing for a moment. "Yeah…and with you; with no body; no answers. He was silently falling apart at the seams…"

Tony haphazardly sat down and took it all in. "So that explains why they quit then."

"Yeah, I guess Tim just couldn't take it any more, and I don't blame him. He knew Gibbs blamed him; even if he never said it."

Tony let his head hang a little low and put his ice pack down. "What a mess."

Abby agreed as she turned back to analyzing the footage. "You got that right."

"I can't even think of a movie that comes close to this fiasco…" He thought for a few moments. "Nope, nothing. But I bet McGee will have some great material for his new book…" He was wistful as he remembered the predicament his friend was in. "Then again, not even an author could've predicted this…with all the twists and turns, I feel like I'm on a roller coaster at a theme park."

"Uh Tony, could you unbuckle your seat belt and take a look at this…"

Fornell picked up his phone and was some what hesitant to dial. "Jethro, we got a problem…"

"Just one?"

"Your Director has flown the coop…we put out a Bolo…don't worry we'll find her."

Gibbs rubbed his temples which caught the immediate attention of Ziva. "She's not running."

"How can you be so sure?"

"She doesn't run Tobias…she's up to something. I bet a year's salary…that if you find her, you find Barclay."

Fornell was reluctant but agreed. "You know her better than me…I'm on it."

"And Tobias…"

He suspected his response. "Don't mention it…"

Timothy McGee sat quietly and examined Barclay from across the room. He had been staring aimlessly at a photo for hours; and Tim could only deduce it was a picture of his wife and daughter. For a moment he felt a twinge of remorse but it quickly faded as he remembered how much pain he'd caused him. All the sleepless nights he spent blaming himself for Tony's death; all the miserable time spent afraid of facing Gibbs; not to mention the tears. He had come to terms with his sensitivities and figured he'd never be as tough emotionally as Gibbs or Tony or Ziva; and he didn't care. He was who he was; no matter how many tears he shed. And right now was another one of those times. But they weren't tears of mere sadness; but frustration. He was confined; he couldn't help Abby; Ducky; Tony, his team. He couldn't help anyone. Not even himself. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as a few tears streamed down his face. And it was then he silently prayed that he'd get another chance.

Tony reached for the phone to dial Fornell; when he appeared behind him. "Okay, that's getting kinda creepy…"

Fornell simply shrugged in response. "Your Director is MIA."

"Great…you call Gibbs?" He watched Fornell nod. "Well, you know; it may not be such a bad thing…"

"You think she's with Barclay too?" Fornell questioned; smiling at Tony and Gibbs similarities.

"You just don't know her like I do Toby…"

"And just how well is that DiNutzo?"

He ignored the comment and pointed at the plasma. "Abby's been running the license plate holders at the scene against…" He picked up on the look on Abby's face and smiled. "Sorry Abs…the floor is yours…"

"I've been running the license plate holders at the scene against the civilian and military criminal databases…and we got a hit…" His picture flashed up on the screen. "Jason McCabe…"

"Get me an address…" Both Tony and Fornell replied in the same instant; and Fornell apologized giving the floor to Tony.

Abby had paced over to the printer while the two glared at each other. She took the sheet and handed it to Tony fondly. "Any chance I can come along?" Tony simply stared at her in response. "Okay sheesh, was just asking…"

It was then Tony placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "I know my hair isn't silver; but it'll have to do."

She grinned and accepted the kiss graciously. "Don't stay gone for too long okay?"

Tony assured her with a smile and turned to the impatient FBI agent who had just closed his phone. "Fornell can you have your Agents…"

"They're on their way down now."

Tony glared at him. "I'm gonna start calling you Radar O'Reilly if you keep that up Toby."

Fornell rolled his eyes just as his Agents appeared in the door way. "Back to protection details boys."

Tony was now satisfied and sent Abby a final smile before giving the nod to Fornell. "Let's roll…"

Gibbs was staring aimlessly out of the tiny airplane window. Ziva sat to his right, and Mike had somehow bargained his way into First Class. And neither of them were complaining.

"You are happy yes?" Ziva began; hoping for some intelligent conversation this time around. Her last flight she had been left with a less than interesting Franks.

Gibbs eyes remained glued to the clouds.

She tried a second time. "I realize that this whole mission did not go as planned; but we have Grenioulle and Tony is safe. This must make you a little happy?"

"I'll be happy when this is over."

"No," she shook her head. "You will not even be happy then."

He removed his eyes from the window and snapped towards her. "Then why'd you ask?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"I don't want to talk."

"But you do…" She prodded. "We have all been on quite the Ferris wheel ride…"

"Roller coaster…" he corrected. "And yeah, we have. Is talking about it supposed to bring the ride to a stop?"

"No, but it could help with the bumps." She leaned back. "Why is talking so hard for you?"

"Why is it so easy for you?" He countered.

"Perhaps almost losing Tony has caused me to broaden my horizons. During the past month I have tried to be there for McGee, I did much listening at first; but soon found that talking helped me get through things as well."

"Good for you and McGee."

"I spent that time helping McGee; because no one else would."

Gibbs eyes squinted. "I was a jerk. I get it. My big secret has been revealed. Now tell me David; what has this little chat done to change the fact that McGee could get killed? And that I'm the reason for it…"

She examined his response for a moment. "I am interested to hear how McGee getting himself captured while your thousands of miles away is your fault?"

"He went without back up." Gibbs responded quickly.

"Again, I am lost as to your part?"

Gibbs would've thrown his hands in the air if he had the space. "There are only two reasons an Agent would go in without back up…he thought he could do it all by himself…which falls more into DiNozzo's realm…or he thought he needed to do it by himself…"

"You believe he was trying to redeem himself?"

"I know he was." He turned back to window. "And that, is my fault…"

Tony kicked through the door with ease; suddenly using all his pent up anger for a good purpose. He and Fornell entered with their guns at the ready. Tony quickly noticed the steam entering the hallway from under a door and smiled.

"I love my job." He retorted as the two stormed into the bathroom and pulled away the shower curtain. "NCIS…oh sorry…" He winked apologetically at Fornell. "And FBI…you have the right to put some clothes on…"

McGee had tried to rest his eyes when he heard a familiar voice. He stood up at her entrance and watched her greet Barclay with an embrace. She turned to face him moments later and if Tim hadn't been restrained he was afraid of what he was capable of.

"Agent McGee…"

Tim could almost feel the fury fill his eyes. "Director…"