To say Director Vance was not happy would be an understatement.

The group that met in the conference room was small, consisting of the Director, Gibbs and the three agents that made up his team. Gibbs was taking Abby's warning to heart and Vance couldn't object. Neither of them wanted to believe there was a spy within NCIS but there were two dead men whose bodies had been removed from the morgue in the basement that morning that said otherwise.

"The records Abby supplied us with go back twelve months," Tony explained, crossing his arms on the table in front of him to keep from fidgeting due to a lack of paper to shuffle. "The NSA has been watching Branley for a while."

There would be no hardcopies of the data on the flash drive, nothing tangible that could be left lying around or discovered by accident. They'd all been working on different files that had been found in the folder on the flash drive and, once they'd finished for the moment, McGee had taken back what they'd done, saved it on the flash drive and worked his magic to ensure there was no trace of the information on their individual computers.

"But they didn't tell us because Branley has one of our own on his payroll." Gibbs was the only person in the room not sitting, preferring instead to pace the length of the table. He couldn't sit down, couldn't understand how Director Vance could look so calm when inside, Gibbs knew he must be as frustrated as he himself was. Of course the Director was just missing a forensic scientist; Gibbs was missing much more. "Maybe more than one, that's what we need to figure out."

Vance looked at him. "Ms. Sciuto is working on isolating the NSA agents Branley has working for him?"

"Unofficially," Gibbs answered with a small shrug. He'd summarised the information Abby had left for him but was reluctant to let anyone else, including the Director, read it. "Her main role seems to be assisting Agent Stone's investigation into Branley. I get the feeling the NSA probably won't be endorsing her investigation into the agency."

"They weren't pleased when some of their agents were revealed to be working for the wrong side during the De Milo investigation," Vance recalled quietly. "Agent Lowry led me to believe some may have blamed Ms. Sciuto for making the discovery and for insisting NCIS be involved."

"If she is acting on her own instincts, Abby may anger someone in the NSA who will want to silence her." Concern shadowed Ziva's eyes as she looked between Gibbs and Vance. "Should we not attempt to assist her in some way? Watch her back?"

"If I thought that were possible, I'd allow you to do so. Unofficially," Vance added, an eyebrow rising meaningfully. "However, I'm under the impression Agent Stone wants nothing more to do with NCIS. He didn't seem entirely enthusiastic about having Ms. Sciuto on his team, either."

Tony frowned and stopped twirling the pen he'd found in his jacket pocket with his thumb and forefinger, wincing only marginally when it landed on the table with a loud clatter. "If Agent Stone didn't recruit her with the purpose of using what she knows about Branley, who did?"

"I'd assume Agent Lowry," Director Vance answered slowly, after a long pause in which the agents present in the room began to speculate. "Though I got the impression Agent Stone was above her in the NSA food chain."

Gibbs stopped pacing, resting his hand on the back of the empty chair at the table as a troubled expression arranged his features. "If it wasn't Catherine or Stone, it means someone higher up wanted her involved."

Almost instantly, the question turned from 'who' to 'why', a question not one of the NCIS agents gathered uneasily around the table could answer.

The office that had been put aside for her at the offices of the NSA made her feel as uncomfortable as the badge and gun she'd been given by Catherine. Abby walked around the large oak desk, eyeing the black leather chair warily. It felt like an office for someone a lot higher ranking than herself and she was almost convinced the furniture was brand new, which led her to wonder why they'd gone to the effort for someone who wasn't planning on sticking around any longer than she had to.

Abby looked up when she heard a soft knock at the door. She didn't acknowledge Catherine but the senior agent opened the door fully anyway, stepping inside before closing it firmly behind her.

"How do you like your office?" Catherine asked politely, her smile too bright to be genuine. "If there's anything else you need, please feel free to ask. Your computer is already hooked up to the network and I think your log-in details are in the top drawer of your desk... You might want to put a few things out, personal effects..."

"I'm not staying." Her tone blunt, Abby crossed her arms over her chest. "I agreed to help you because it means helping NCIS and hopefully getting one of the bad guys off the streets. When it's over, I'm gone. You know that."

"I do," Catherine admitted with a sigh; her regret was clear to read in her eyes. "I'd like to hope there's a chance you'll reconsider, though I know that's unlikely." She shrugged when Abby continued to stare at her. "It would be more convincing if you could try and act like you wanted to be here, Abby. Several people have already started asking questions, wondering why you're back. If you're going to avoid suspicion..."

She couldn't quite fight the urge to roll her eyes. "I think they're going to get suspicious of me regardless of whether I have pictures on my desk or a plant in the corner, Catherine. It might even be a good thing," she added with a one-shouldered shrug.

"No, it wouldn't." Catherine's expression reminded Abby of her college years spent living in a house with the older woman, disapproval and concern all rolled into one. "No making yourself a target this time, Abby. I mean it."

The tone of voice, too, brought back memories of her youth. She'd heard it many a time after staying out too late at an on-campus party with Annie Green, her roommate and closest friend. There'd been a time Catherine had been more like a second mother than a boss, more of friend than... Abby sighed and turned away, her gaze falling on the computer on her desk. "I don't want to fight with you on this, Catherine. I just want to get it done so..."

"So you can go back to NCIS?" The disappointment was still there, joined once more by bittersweet regret.

Glancing up, Abby shook her head and managed a small smile. "So I can go back home."

It took four days but an audience with the infamous man was finally granted.

He didn't walk from the elevators like an ordinary man, didn't hang in his head in shame or look apprehensive about the interview that was to take place. No, Josef Branley sauntered his way across the squad room floor, smiling and nodding at the people he passed, agents and visitors alike, as though he knew them all personally.

Maybe he did. Gibbs clenched his jaw, watching from the balcony outside of the MTAC doors as Branley greeted Tony and Ziva like old friends, offering his hand to each of them to shake. Neither of his agents took it, Gibbs noted with satisfaction, just as neither acknowledge Margaret Allison Hart with anything more than a curt nod of greeting.

He waited until the agents had led Branley and Allison from his line of sight before standing straighter, taking a deep breath to calm himself. The interview would take place in the interrogation room at his request. He hoped to annoy the other man, maybe get under his skin a little in the hopes that Branley would accidentally let some titbit of information slip.

"The NSA isn't going to like this Gibbs." Vance's warning was nothing he hadn't already thought of, so Gibbs merely turned his head to look at the Director. Shaking his head, Vance sighed as he joined his agent at the balcony. "They specifically warned us they were talking over where Branley is concerned."

"Jurisdiction for a dead sailor and dead marine still lies with NCIS unless I've missed a memo somewhere." Gibbs shrugged and stared down at the squad room again, watching as McGee walked out of the elevators Branley had vacated just moments before, a familiar woman following him. His eyes narrowed and his hands tightened on the railing. "Is that...?"

"Ruby Rae," Director Vance confirmed after a momentary glance to see what had caught his attention. "We need someone in the lab," he reminded Gibbs quietly. "I've gone through the records. Ms. Rae has worked with us before."

Gibbs nodded, recalling the case on which the young forensic scientist had assisted. "I guess we need someone until Abby comes back. Temporarily."

He pushed himself away from the railing before Vance could comment and took to the stairs. He nodded curtly at McGee and Ruby before heading towards the interrogation room, hoping he could control his impulse and let Branley walk away unscathed.

Agent Stone slammed the door on his way out of her office but Abby barely blinked. She shrugged and looked at Catherine and Charlie, both of whom sat in chairs around her desk.

"How is it my fault NCIS took Branley in for questioning?" She asked aloud, holding her hand up when Charlie went to answer. "It's okay, rhetorical question."

Catherine cleared her throat and pulled her gaze away from the closed door. "NCIS were warned away from the case. They've annoyed a lot of people by making it obvious they're still pursuing it."

"Annoyed or spooked them?" Abby shrugged when both of the NSA agents stared at her. "Come on, guys. All three of us know what's going on here. By acting the way he just did, Agent Stone just shot up to the top of our suspect list. Well, my list anyway. He's more than pissed off that NCIS ignored his supposedly friendly advice. Looked pretty scared to me."

"Abby, no." Catherine shook her head but Abby noticed the way her hands gripped the arms of her chair a little tighter. "You've know Ron from the beginning. He's as straight-laced as they come. The NSA is his life; he wouldn't do anything to jeopardise it."

She shrugged again but couldn't quite meet Catherine's gaze. Instead, Abby turned to Charlie, the only other NSA agent besides herself, Catherine and a select few members of the NSA's board of directors to know the real reason behind her return to the agency. "What do you think, Charlie? You were quiet throughout his whole rant. Was Agent Stone acting suspicious to you?"

Obviously uncomfortable with suddenly being the centre of both of their attention, Charlie squirmed in his seat. He cleared his throat once and licked his dry lips twice before he was able to make his voice work enough to answer her. "I thought he was more annoyed than anything else. Agent Stone doesn't like working with outside agencies and he probably feels NCIS overstepped the boundaries he'd set out for them."

"Boundaries between agencies have no place in protecting our people from those who want to harm them," Abby said mildly, arching an eyebrow when her companions stared at her. "We all want the same thing at the end of the day. I really don't get why people like Stone put so much emphasis on the who rather than focus on what's been achieved." She paused to sigh, shaking her head to try and clear her mind. "I don't really believe Stone is behind us but the way it looks makes me think someone wants us looking that way. He's playing into their hands, taking on Branley's case and being so protective of it." She shrugged a shoulder. "Whoever is behind this is very well good at covering their tracks, both here and at NCIS."

"I've made no progress with the searches you had me start," Charlie admitted with a sigh. "If someone on the NSA payroll is getting money from Branley, it's not going into any accounts I can find."

"I want you to keep looking but don't risk raising any alarms. I want them looking at me, not you." Abby lifted a hand to rub the back of her neck, glancing at her computer with a speculative glance. "If they're nervous, they'll slip up."

"Or they'll tell Branley and he'll decide you're a loose end that needs to be tied up. Permanently." Catherine sat up straighter in her chair, her eyes narrowing. "You're not making yourself a target, Abby. We've discussed this. No matter how impatient you are to finish this..."

"The NSA had no problem making me a target when it suited them before," Abby reminded her calmly. "I just need a glimpse of them, Catherine. Just something that'll point us in the right direction."

Catherine sighed and shook her head. "And how would you achieve that? Other than going around and insulting everyone you think might be a possible leak?"

An idea formed in her head but Abby was reluctant to share it. She shrugged her shoulders again, more in attempt at easing the tension from them rather than answering Catherine's question. "I'm thinking. When I figure it out, I'll let you know."

Her former boss stared at her in obvious suspicion for a few moments. With another sigh, Catherine reluctantly got to her feet, motioning for Charlie to do the same thing. "We'll get back to it." She followed Charlie to the door but stopped and turned back to face Abby before stepping out of the room. "You'll call me before you do anything, Abby."

Abby gave her a small smile in response and Catherine left, not realising until later that she hadn't verbally agreed.