After leaving the elevator and then the building, Ducky followed Gibbs to his truck in the parking lot. Gibbs took his keys from his pocket, opened the door and got in. Ducky couldn't help but notice that Gibbs hadn't unlocked his door because it wasn't locked. He didn't lock his house. Why would he lock his truck?

Ducky had to use both his hands and jump slightly to get himself in the truck, but it wasn't that much of an effort.

The ride to Gibbs favorite diner was quiet, neither man said nothing.

Ten minutes later, Gibbs was pouring ketchup for his fries when he finally spoke to his friend. He spoke with his soft voice, the one he used rarely. "My dad already paid to be buried. He'll be laid to rest next to my mom in Stillwater."

Ducky was caught off guard by Gibbs statement. He had grown accustomed to the silence so he was looking down at his corned beef sandwich when Gibbs spoke. Ducky looked up at Gibbs.

"What are the plans for the funeral?" Ducky asked kindheartedly.

Gibbs swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking, "Hospital said dad has to be claimed by Thursday or they'll have to cremate him. The morgue's small, not much room." Ducky scoffed in disgust. As an ME he saw that as disrespectful. Gibbs had expected that. "I'll schedule the funeral for Friday. That gives us time to solve this case."

Later Gibbs walked into the squad room. Bishop had made herself comfortable leaning against the filing cabinet in between McGee and Tony's desks. Gibbs stopped in front of her and looked down at her, something that he was entirely used too by now.

"Anything?" He asked, with more patience than Bishop had expected.

Bishop shook her head and pulled her ear buds from her ears. "I'm rechecking cellphones that were being used in the area at the time of the murder. So far no luck."

Gibbs acknowledged with a movement of his head and then sat at his desk and turned on his main computer monitor. He opened up his email. McGee had changed his email settings so he only had to sign in his email once a week so Gibbs just clicked and he saw he had 32 new emails. Most were office related, but he saw one email from Metro PD.

Special Agent Gibbs,

I'm emailing you in regards to NCIS's interest in cases that have the victim shot between the eyes, with an exit wound but no bullet.

Upon reviewing old cases I found these cases where gang members take the bullets from their crime scenes for an initiation ritual.

Sincerely, Sgt. Mickey DeRusso MPD.

At the bottom of the Email there was a list of five cases from the last year. Gibbs clicked on the first one and put his glasses on.

After reading just the first page, his gut was telling him that the Admiral was a victim of a gang initiation hit. He looked to Bishop and called her name. She looked up at him and he swung his computer monitor around pointed. Bishop stood up and walked over to get a closer look, Gibbs let her read for a minute.

"You think the Admiral was a victim of a gang?" Bishop asked, bringing her gaze back to Gibbs.

"It's the only lead we have, so yeah it's a possibility."

"What are we going to do…?" Bishop asked confused and trying not to anger Gibbs.

Gibbs picked up his desk phone and dialed.

Tony was sprawled across his twin sized bed, with his blanket half on and half off his body.

He woke to his phone ringing and groaned as he realized that he had only been asleep for two hours.

"DiNozzo." He answered with sleep forcing his eyes closed.

"We got a lead. Metro sent us links to cases with gang related hits."

DiNozzo's speech was slurred because he was so tired. "I'll be in in 40."

"No, Tony. Sleep. I'll talk to Vance."

Before Tony could protest, his boss hung up.

On the other end, Gibbs pushed the phone down and got up from his desk. He started walking towards the stairs. Bishop watched him and stood awkwardly wondering if she was supposed to follow. She decided against it seeing no reason why she should follow.

"Come in." Vance said. He was surprised when Gibbs walked in. Gibbs didn't usually knock before entering.

Gibbs placed himself in front of his boss's desk. "Got a lead. Metro PD sent case files where victim's cause of death matched the death of the Admiral. They think the deaths were gang related."

Vance shifted in his seat. "Initiation hits?"

"Uh huh."

Vance leaned forward. "You talk to DiNozzo?"

"He was asleep when I called. He needs the rest, Leon."

"Okay. You can go and talk to Metro but I need your word you won't do anything stupid."

Gibbs smiled. "I'll try." He started to walk away but Vance spoke again.

"What happened to your hand?"

Gibbs looked at his hand. It had stopped hurting and was only bruised. Gibbs guessed he didn't hurt it as bad as he thought especially since Ducky didn't seem too concerned.

Back in the bullpen, Bishop looked through the cases on Gibbs computer. She had zoned into her work so much that she hadn't noticed she was sitting in Gibbs chair until Gibbs was bending down in front of her in order to make eye contact.

"Oh I'm so sorry, Gibbs. I kind of zoned out…" Gibbs put each of his hands on the chair back and pulled it away from the desk. Bishop got the idea and got up.

"Gear up. We're going to follow this lead."

Bishop looked at her boss oddly. "But I thought you were restri…." Bishop trailed off as Gibbs stared at her, daring her to finish that sentence. Bishop said nothing else and went to her desk and collected her gun and shield.

Soon they were both in a Dodge Charger driving to Metro PD headquarters. Gibbs said nothing, but it was obvious to him that Bishop wanted to say something. Even though he knew he'd regret it he asked Bishop what it was.

"You want to say something, Bishop?"

Bishop looked at her boss who kept his eyes on the road. "Uh no. I'm just wondering if the Admiral was really killed by a gangbanger."

Gibbs said nothing, and didn't look at her.

The two were standing in front of a dead body lying on a slab in the cold, smelly morgue of Metro PD.

The ME was Tom Hubbard, a bridge friend of Ducky's and he talked and talked. Unlike Ducky however Dr. Hubbard's stories were boring and not even remotely as interesting. Also unlike Ducky, the doctor was not easily put back on track.

"It reminds me of a case study I read from Scotland Yard. Two twelve year olds…"

The doctors rambling made Gibbs miss Ducky so Gibbs interpreted the man's sentence. "Ducky tell you that?"

Tom Hubbard looked at Gibbs confused. "Yes actually…"

Gibbs looked down at the obese man. "That's weird. He's not much of a talker."

Now Tom Hubbard was completely confused. Whether it was intentional or not Dr. Hubbard turned his attention completely to the body. The two agents looked at the corpse. It was almost an exact match to the Admirals body, injury wise.

The coroner thumbed through the Admirals autopsy file. "This man's method of death was the same as your Admirals."

That was all Gibbs and Bishop needed to know and they left the morgue as politely as they could.

From a detective working the gang division of MPD, Gibbs and Bishop learned that the gang most likely to be responsible for the murders was a new gang called The Group and was made of younger members who came from all ethnicities and backgrounds. They were led by older gang members who were banished and or wanted by their former gangs.

The two left MPD Headquarters and went to the only known location of The Group. Before they even parked, they became aware of a playground. It was a new playground with a nice rubber ground and brand new equipment. Gibbs admired the sand box. It was filled with at least two feet of the good soft sand. Gibbs pulled an evidence bag from his pocket, donned a glove and scooped some sand inside for Abby to analyze.