In the morning, Ducky woke up to find Gibbs quietly fixing his kitchen sink. Ducky watched his friend quietly for a second. "You're up early." Ducky said admiring how quietly Gibbs was handling the tools.

"Uh huh." Gibbs said somewhat distractedly.

Ducky shook his head and went to the stove and studied the kettle. "Good lord, Jethro. You've made tea the proper way."

From underneath the sink, Gibbs smiled and climbed out and stood up straight.
Ducky watched as Gibbs turned the cold water knob and the water came out quickly. Gibbs had fixed the poor water pressure.

Now Ducky looked at his sofa. Gibbs had cleared it of the sheets he slept on and Ducky saw that Gibbs had folded up the quilt he slept on and put it away in the linen closet. "I never did ask you how you got here last night."

Gibbs sat at the kitchen table. "You shouldn't leave your key under the statue of your cricket player, Duck. It's too obvious."

Ducky took the kettle and poured two cups of the properly made tea. He joined Gibbs at the table and handed him a cup. "Well very few people around here know what cricket is."

"Where did you get those tools?" Ducky asked, surveying the toolbox sitting on the tiled floor.

Gibbs looked down. "My truck." Gibbs looked at his watch. "I'm going to head home before I go to work."

Tony and McGee were eating fast food breakfast at their desks. They had gone from the Motel back to the Navy Yard and pulled an all-nighter. SECNAV had been breathing down Vance's neck to get the case solved and with the absence of Gibbs, Vance had been breathing down their necks to get the case solved.

"How we do have absolutely no useable evidence?" Tony said, reviewing the description of the Admirals company. "The description of the Admirals lady friend has gotten us nowhere either. We should be glad Gibbs is off the reservation because if he wasn't he'd be in a hell of a bad mood."

McGee looked at the clock on his computer. "Is Abby in yet?"

Abby was in. She walked into her dark lab and clapped the lights on. She took off her coat and placed it on a hook on the wall but in her peripheral vision she saw a figure sitting at her desk in the other room where her desk was.

"Gibbs?" She said. Gibbs stood up as the automatic doors beeped and Abby walked in. Abby turned the lights on and frowned. A feeling in her gut told her this wasn't a happy visit.

"Sorry Abby." Gibbs said breaking his own rule.

"For what?" Abby said lacking her usual happiness.

Gibbs took Abby into his arms and hugged her. "For disappearing. You called me 16 times." Abby knew something was wrong now and returned the hug. She didn't say anything just savoring the moment. She had hugged Gibbs many times, but this was one of the only times that he hugged her.

In her ear, Gibbs whispered, "My father passed away." To this Abby broke out and tears and Gibbs hugged her harder.

"Oh Gibbs I'm so sorry."

They stayed like that a little longer, but their hug was stopped when Tony and McGee appeared in the lab. At the sight of the hug they too knew something was wrong.

Gibbs let go and walked into the lab. He stood in front of his agents, it was clear to the both of them that he had tears in his eyes.

"Boss?" They said in unison.

Gibbs looked at them both. "My father died." He said and then walked away as McGee, Tony and Abby watched them in silent bewilderment. Abby was crying too, and she walked quickly and wrapped one of her arms around Tony and the other around McGee.

Bishop came into the office at the same time she always came in. She stopped for a pace as she realized that Tony and McGee were missing, yet Gibbs was at his desk.

He wasn't doing anything in particular, just sitting there as if in thought. Bishop felt it best to leave him alone and dropped her backpack by her desk and deposited her SIG in her desk drawer as she was taught to do by Gibbs on her first official day of being an NCIS Probie.

She was about to sit in her chair when she heard her name. "You go home last night, Bishop?"

Bishop changed her mind about sitting in her chair and walked in front of Gibbs desk. "Uh yes. Tony said it was okay because I had dinner plans with um Jake."

Gibbs said nothing, just picked up a pile of folders on his desk. "Dead Admiral?"

Bishop pointed at the folder, "Oh that? We were called to the Park Place Motel…" Bishop continued on but Gibbs cut her off.

"Just the facts, Bishop." Gibbs said flatly. In other day he may have let Bishop finish her longwinded story but today he had no patience.

Bishop stuttered a few syllables but was able to talk normally. "The admiral was seen with a woman at ten at night, there were no witnesses and no one called 911 reporting gunshots. That's not that strange because the motel only had one other room occupied and its occupant was at the movies at the time that Ducky says the admiral was shot. A simple gut shot to the head. The bullet is missing…" Bishop continued but Gibbs interrupted her again.

"Did you say missing? Gibbs asked coldly.

Bishop's eyes widened. "Um yes. Ducky said the body was moved forward. He thinks that uh the killer took the bullet. Abby and Ducky agree that the gun used was low caliber because there is no evidence that the bullet dug into the mattress."

At that moment, Tony and McGee appeared in the squad room. They studied Gibbs and saw that he changed from sad to angry. "DiNozzo, how in the hell do you have a crime scene with no evidence."

Tony looked back at McGee but hurried up to stand in front of Gibbs desk. "Everything in that hotel room had multiple sets of finger prints and only three partials that we found gave Abby a name. All three of the prints owners have alibis. All we know about the shooter is that they are approximately five eight…" Before Tony could finish Vance appeared out of nowhere.

"Special Agent Gibbs my office. Now." Vance walked away toward the stairs. Gibbs stood up shaking his head. He followed in Vance's direction without saying anything.

Once the team was sure he was out of ear shot they spoke. Bishop went first. "Is something wrong?"

The boys nodded at the same time. "Boss's father died. That's why he was missing yesterday."

Vance was sitting at his desk by the time Gibbs caught up with him. Their relationship had been better than it had been in the past and Gibbs knew that as he gently shut the door that wasn't the case anymore.

"Want to tell me where the hell you were yesterday?" Vance asked, icily.

Gibbs stood squarely in front of Leon's desk. He shifted his weight and kept his arms at his sides. "Stillwater." Gibbs answered.

Vance should have expected one word answers. "Want to tell me why?"

Gibbs looked Leon directly in the eyes as if he was trying to see his reflection in Vance's pupils. "My father died."

Vance shifted his weight and changed his body language from stern boss to concerned friend.

"You were told yesterday morning?'

Gibbs said nothing. Only nodded.

"I'm sorry, Gibbs. Have you made funeral arrangements?"

Gibbs watched Leon's posture. "Yeah, small funeral in Stillwater, Thursday. He'll be buried by my mom."

Vance switched back o professional boss. "I'm sure you're away of your teams current case?"

Gibbs looked around the room without moving his body. "Dead Admiral with a lack of substantial evidence."

Vance put his hands together at his stomach. "Uh huh and because of that SECNAV is breathing down my neck wanting answers. She's also concerned that one of NCIS's best agents isn't working the case."

Gibbs gave no reply. Vance continued. "You're restricted to the Navy Yard. DiNozzo has point."

Gibbs glared at Leon. Leon held his ground. "You went AWOL on a high priority case. Recent events have certain parties questioning our relationship. I'm sorry your father passed but I can't let you do whatever you want without saying anything. Also I'm concerned about state of mind right now."

Again Gibbs gave no reply. He averted his glare and walked out of the office. This time he slammed the door.