Conner had assumed that Gibbs would head to Stillwater right away, so he wasn't prepared for the wrath of agent Gibbs when he stormed into the lab twenty minutes later. They had been lucky, the doctor was just coming to find them – the scan was perfect – Ziva hung around long enough to thank the doctor for his time before running to catch up with Gibbs. She didn't hesitate when he reached for the keys, and they were back at NCIS in minutes.

"What do you know?"

Conner jumped and moved as far from Gibbs as he could, but even that wasn't far enough. "Well, just that Abby had some suspicions when she looked at the thread and then wanted to check them out alone, but agent DiNozzo caught on and said he was going with her. I was supposed to call them when I found out about the dust, and I did, after I called you."

"What kind of suspicions?" Gibbs moved closer. Ziva stood back and was slightly amused at the fear on Conner's face.

"Um, I'm not… well, she said something about the color maybe? She didn't really say… she didn't really talk to me, only really to agent DiNozzo."

Gibbs spun around to face Ziva. "Get McGee and meet back at the car. Now!"

Ziva didn't need to be told twice.

---

Tony made record time up to Stillwater. "Abby, do you have a plan? We can't just barge in and demand a sample of his jacket material."

"I know, and I've got a plan."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

"You're plan is…?"

"Leave it to me, Tony. You just get everything set up at Jack's place."

"Abby…" Tony warned. "You can't keep me in the dark about whatever it is you plan to do. I need to be filled in, so I can keep you safe."

"Who are you, Gibbs? You don't need to keep me safe, I'll be fine."

"Otherwise I'll call Gibbs."

"You wouldn't. You know he'd take it out on you before he'd get mad at me."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've chosen to suffer the consequences. If it's what I have to do to keep you safe then…"

"Tony, I'm not going to try and do some citizen's arrest or something."

Tony pulled over to the side of the road. "We aren't going any further until you tell me what you plan to do."

Abby sighed. "Fine."

----

"Ms. Sciuto. What a surprise to see you here." Ed looked up from the news paper he was reading at his desk. "How can I help you?"

"I need a job for awhile." Abby pulled out a chair from the other side of his desk and sat across from him.

"Now why don't I believe that?"

"Then don't…" Abby started to stand, but Ed waved her back to the seat.

"Well now, don't get huffy. I'm just shocked to see you in my office after the last time we spoke. But anyway, you need a job, you say? What's wrong with NCIS? Leroy finally run you off?"

"NCIS is in the middle of an investigation and working with the Army CID. They have decided to use their lab tech, so until the case is solved I'm without work. You still need some help?"

"As a matter of fact… I'll be right back, I've got some papers for you to look over and sign."

Abby watched as he stood and stretched, her eyes caught his olive green jacket on the back of his chair, and she kept her fingers crossed under the table that he would leave the room and give her enough time to get a sample. The moment he was out the door, Abby lunged over the desk, grabbing a pair of scissors from the desk top, and snipped a few threads from where it was fraying along the edge. She was back in her seat moments before Ed walked back in with a few papers.

"If you'll just look these over and sign on the last page…"

He sat again and Abby tried to look calm and collected, taking the papers he handed to her and casually looking them over. "Alright, I'll take these with me and look them over."

"I need you to get back to me ASAP. You staying with Jackson?"

"Mmhmm."

"Alright, well… keep in touch."

Abby forced herself not to put her fist in his face at the ugly smirk she saw. If it was him, if he was behind this whole mess, there would be hell to pay, and not just from Gibbs. Tony was waiting around the corner, and walked her back to Jack's, where they had set up Abby's supplies in the back of his shop. Abby instructed Tony on how to run the simple tests and they waited for the results. Conner had called earlier to tell them that the dust was indeed from the coal mines, and for Tony that was enough to bring him in on suspicion.

They were just taking a final look through the microscope at the thread taken from his jacket when they heard Jack call from the front. "Approximately 30 seconds until you two better hope my son is in an understanding mood."

"Shit." Tony and Abby looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They heard the front door swing open, the little bells on the door alerting them, and then Gibbs voice booming through the store.

"Where are they?"

"Oh, uh, hey Gibbs." Abby peeked around one of the back shelving units and smiled the best she could considering the circumstances. McGee and Ziva returned the smile and followed quietly behind as Gibbs crossed the store in substantially less steps then usually needed.

"What the hell are you two doing?" He continued towards Tony, stopping only when Abby slid between them.

"Stop Gibbs, we've figured it out. Well, I figured it out, actually, and I probably would have a lot sooner had I not been kicked out of my lab, but then with this new evidence something came to me, and it was a lead that I had to follow because if I didn't, who knows if Hollis would've picked up on it, because really, it was just something that I happened to notice while I was here last time, and…"

-----

TBC…