Again, thanks to all the readers who took the time comment! It really does keep me going.

Just in case you were wondering: Some of you may have noticed that there are two or more chapters for every one chapter published. I haven't synced up the two b/c I don't compose my stories on the site but rather in Word. Although easier than years ago, it's still cumbersome to post stories to (IMO) so I try to put as much as possible in a posted chapter without forcing even the smallest of rewrites on my part. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 5

Tony put his desk back together and started his own investigation into the crime he had allegedly committed. He learned that the equipment used to break into the vaulted room was specialized and custom made, and he learned that the plan was ingenious. There was only one weakness in security, and whoever did it, knew what that one weakness was and exploited it, big time.

He studied a picture of the jewels. How much did he say was taken? 2.5 million? What he could do with that kind of money…

"You could start a new life."

Tony startled at the sound of his Director's voice. He clicked off the screen and looked up, "Yeah, I suppose I could. Just one problem: I didn't steal anything."

"I just got off the phone with the Director of the FBI. He's worried that you might pull a Houdini."

"Then I'd be admitting guilt, and I didn't commit any crime."

Vance already knew the story of the heist, but for some reason, he wanted to look his agent in the eye. "Keep your nose clean, Agent DiNozzo."

Tony watched him walk away and wondered where everyone was. No doubt they were conferring on his guilt or innocence. He was glad that he had this time alone and since he wasn't working any other cases, it meant he could travel down any path in pursuit of justice. His justice. He chose the path that lead straight to his father.

Ziva, McGee, Abby and Gibbs surrounded the table in Abby's lab. "We need to see the other evidence that the FBI has in this case," Gibbs stated.

The words were simple; yet the request was anything but.

"Well," McGee started, "I could hack into their database and see what they have?"

"I might be able to call over and ask?" Ziva offered.

Gibbs shook his head; none of those ideas was going to get him what he wanted. He waited until one of them figured it out, and then had the guts to verbalize it. It was McGee who got there first, "I think what you want is for us to actually see with our own eyes the evidence they have in this case."

'Now you're talking,' Gibbs thought.

"So, which one of us breaks into the FBI and steals it?" McGee put it out there, hoping Gibbs wouldn't look at him.

'Not exactly what I had in mind, but close enough,' Gibbs thought. He stared at his two agents, who seemed to be staring at each other. Ziva pointed out the obvious, "If Tony were here, he'd do it in a heartbeat and probably get away with it."

"I'm not asking Tony to do it," Gibbs said. "I'm asking one of my agents."

"I'll do it!"

Surprised, they looked at the Goth, her eyes big and her arm raised. McGee objected, "I don't really think this is something you can do, Abby."

"Why, McGee? Because I'm not an official NCIS agent like you?"

"No! That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"It's the F-B-I," he articulated. "If you get caught, you could get into some serious trouble." He then added reluctantly, "I should do it."

"Well," Ziva interrupted, "breaking into the FBI is not something either of you is trained to do. However, I am. I will do it, Gibbs. The most they can do is send me back to Israel."

Abby countered, "I know what I'm looking for and I can ask all the right questions. Also, I happen to know someone who works in the lab there. He's a friend of mine… well, not exactly a friend, but he'd like to be a friend of mine and I think if I asked him nicely, he'd be more than willing to help."

Gibbs looked at Abby and smiled. "I'll drive you over. Be ready in an hour." While leaving, he said over his shoulder, "Ziva, sit on DiNozzo; don't let him leave the building."

Gibbs walked into Autopsy and found Ducky hovering over his desk and Palmer stitching up a corpse. "Ah, Jethro, I've been waiting for your visit." He looked at his assistance and without saying a word, managed to communicate their need for privacy.

"I'll be cleaning some pipettes in the back room if you need me, Doctor," Palmer said, pushing the small cart through the stainless steel door.

They waited for it to close before Ducky said, "It's all over NCIS. Is Anthony really being accused of stealing the jewels in last month's heist?"

"It appears that way."

"And you've come down here wanting to know if he could do such a thing."

Gibbs shifted from foot to foot. For some reason, it sounded bad when he heard his thoughts verbalized.

"The mere fact that you're here suggests that you don't trust your own judgment, which is another conversation all together. But, back to Anthony: could he have pulled off the largest jewel heist this country has ever seen?" Ducky closed his book and leaned his arm on his desk, "You and I both know that answer. Our Anthony most certainly is capable. He's bright enough, gutsy enough, and given the right amount of motivation, ambitious enough."

Gibbs exhaled, visibly saddened by the dialogue.

"However, Anthony has a deep personal code that only appears loosely quilted together on the outside, but on the inside, his moral fabric is second only to you, Jethro. So you must ask yourself this question. Are you capable of pulling off such a crime? Therein lays the answer."

Gibbs thanked the doctor in his silent way and left. On the elevator, he clasped his hands behind his head and looked up, as if asking for some guidance because the answer to that question didn't bode well for his agent.

Chapter 6

"What are you doing?" Ziva asked.

"I'm tracking down my father. Maybe he can shed some light on this."

McGee offered some words of encouragement, "That's a good idea, Tony. It may be nice talking to him again."

Tony hung up his phone, exasperated. "He's out of the country, as usual. His secretary doesn't know when he'll be back." Tony thought about another avenue but he'd rather make that call from his car. "I'll be right back."

Ziva jumped in front of him and demanded, "Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to my car."

Ziva stood her ground. "Gibbs told me to watch you and that's what I'm doing."

"Actually, Ziva," McGee said, "he told you to sit on him."

"I like the sound of that," Tony oozed. "Your desk or mine?" He almost flinched under her glare. Not wanting to tangle with a woman who had demonstrated on numerous occasions a penchant for hospitalizing people, he returned to his desk, wondering just how he was going to shake these two.

Gibbs sat in his car two blocks down from the Hoover Building. He'd been sitting there for almost forty-five minutes when the passenger door swung open and Abby flopped down. "Wow," was all she said.

"How'd it go?"

"Well, they don't have one forensics lab, they have three! And each one is twice the size of my lab with equipment that I've only ever seen in magazines. Gibbs, we have got to upgrade my lab."

"How'd it go with the evidence?"

"Oh, that went fine. I was able to look at everything. I've got pictures of everything too."

The entire way back to NCIS, Abby talked about their laboratories. Gibbs didn't mind—as long as she didn't require any answers, it gave him time to think about this latest dilemma. He dropped her off at her lab and went to find Tony. He found all three if his agents staring at the plasma screen.

"What'd ya got?"

Before them appeared amazing pictures of rubies, opals, sapphires, and diamonds. These were the official photos of the priceless gems. Their beauty was mesmerizing. Vance walked up behind them, stared a moment at the sparkling rocks, and said, "I just got a call from SECNAV. Seems the FBI director wasn't happy with my answer and he took it up the chain of command. Evidently the Ambassador from Bhutan heard we had a suspect and is wondering why that suspect isn't in custody."

Tony listened to him talk, wondering when the bomb was going to drop and he'd be turned over to the FBI and shoved into a small 8 x 10 holding tank.

"What'd you tell him?" Gibbs asked.

"I told him we were working the case, like any other case, and if the facts necessitate a detention, he'll be the first to know."

Sometimes the Director could be an ally. Tony's phone rang and he almost didn't take it but at the last minute he looked at the number. "Dad? Where are you?"

The others listened as he walked back to his desk. "Listen, Dad, I'm in a little hot water right now. I'm being accused of stealing $2.5 million worth of jewels from a Bhutanian prince. Just as a long shot, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

He listened, but for some reason, his father wasn't making sense. "Dad! What are talking about?" He listened some more, still not understanding what his dad was saying. Finally he stared at the small screen when he realized they'd been disconnected.

"What did he say?" Ziva asked.

It took Tony a moment before he responded, "I'm not sure."

Gibbs stared at him until he was interrupted by his own phone ringing. He listened, then said, "Abby has something."

The team, sans their director, arrived in her lab. "Gibbs! I found something unusual. Do you see this metal ratchet tie-down?" She put an image of it on her plasma. "This was left behind."

"Yeah? So?"

"So, it's designed to lower objects from the ceiling. Think Mission Impossible."

"Okay…"

"From a photo, you can't tell its weight, but having seen it with my own eyes, I was able to match it to the manufacturer. This is a T2008C120 tie-down, manufactured by Lieings Corporation in Colorado. It's designed to hold a maximum weight of 120 pounds. Their theory is that Tony dangled from the ceiling and used a laser to open the vault. But this would never have held Tony's weight."

"They'll just say he had an accomplice," Ziva said.

"Except there's no evidence of this being more than a one-man job. They are convinced, through video surveillance and eye witness accounts, that only one person pulled off this heist."

"So how can Tony's DNA be left at the scene of a crime that he couldn't have possibly committed?"

She shrugged, "I'm still working on that part. When I figure it out, I'll let you know." If nothing else, it was food for thought.

TBC – Oohhh, I've already started my next chapter and it's getting really fun to write, which means some questions are getting answered! Hope you're enjoying it!