Gibbs was sitting on his basement steps, looking at, but not really seeing, his boat. In his hand, he had a cell phone. He was trying to decide whether to make a call or not. With a heavy sigh, he dialled the number and waited.

"Archangel." The voice on the other end was crisp.

"You said you lacked solid proof about Vance. I might have found something."

"The line isn't secure on your end. I'm currently in DC. Meet me at the coffee shop."

The line went dead.

Gibbs was standing in front of the coffee shop with a huge cup of his favourite blend in hand. When he saw the white limo approaching, he wondered how a successful spy like that could get away with driving around in a car like that. The limo stopped and the door opened.

"Get in." Came the command from inside. Gibbs shrugged and entered the car. And it was a very nice car indeed. If only he could afford something like it.

"So, what do you have?"

"I looked at some of the cases the director worked in the past. I did some black ops work, and my clearance was never pulled. There are some discrepancies."

"Like what?"

"Vance was supposed to terminate a North Korean spy. According to the files he actually did it. But I know that that isn't true."

"How?"

"Because I killed the exact same spy a few years ago."

"Interesting. Anything else?"

"There were files stolen from a Navy base. Vance and a team investigated. Found the culprit, who told them where he had stashed the files. Vance went ahead. When the rest of the team arrived, the stash was empty."

"More nails in Vance's coffin. But still no solid proof."

"Yeah. But I have something else. Vance is meeting someone tonight, at 0100 hours. I also know where."

"Did you bug him?"

"No. He thought he was alone and made a phone call. I overheard it."

Gibbs looked at the man next to him. He had to admit it. He was efficient. It would have taken his team at least five hours to put together this kind of surveillance equipment. Archangel had done it in two. That has left them plenty of time to set up. Now they were waiting for Vance to show up.

"So, how long have you been doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Your job."

"Ah. I was recruited when I was sixteen. I had just finished college."

"That's pretty young."

"You weren't that much older when you joined the Marines."

"I meant the college."

"Did you now."

"Yes."

"Being that much younger than everyone else was very annoying."

"I bet."

"And I couldn't even drown my sorrows in alcohol."

"According to one of my agents, college without alcohol is impossible."

"I managed."

"What was your subject?"

"Aeronautical engineering."

"Did you ever build a plane?"

"No."

"Pity."

"Ah, there he comes."

"Who is that with him?"

"Used to be KGB, went freelance after the Soviet Union went down. These days he works for whoever pays the most."

"Does that count as proof?"

"Depends on what the envelopes they exchanged contain. We will find out soon enough."

"How?"

"We take those two in custody and take a look."

"There is only two of us."

"I brought a Zebra squad."

"Where are they?"

"You can't make them out?"

"Should I be able to?"

"From this vantage point? Yes."

"I'm getting too old for this."

"I'm older than you are. What am I supposed to say."

"They are leaving."

"Take them."