a/n - wow, thank you for all the wonderful comments. You made my day. It's going to be a long journey for our gang and they are going to discover that they've made some wrong guesses along the way. Some of their mistakes will be funny, some will cause more problems.

"Psst, psst, wake up."

McGee opened his eyes to the sight of upside down blonde pigtails and a happy, childish face. "Umm, good morning." She bounced backwards as he sat up.

"Daddy put your clothes in the bathroom for you and one of his shirts because he said you can't wear an old t-shirt to work. You've got to hurry, though; he's making Mickey Mouse pancakes."

It took a minute for him to catch up with all her excited chatter and by then she was at the table, eagerly waiting for her pancakes. McGee folded the blanket as he stood up, and then waved an acknowledgement to Fornell as he made his way to the bathroom. As stated, his clothing was neatly folded on the counter along with a fresh towel. His jeans were fine for work today, but Fornell had been correct; the faded t-shirt he had worn the night before was not work appropriate. He took a quick look at the offered shirt. It was a light weight pullover that would work well as it was not too fitted. After a fast shower he joined Emily Fornell at the kitchen table. Under the circumstances he didn't think anything could make him smile, but the sight of Tobias Fornell carefully flipping mouse shaped pancakes while wearing a lime green apron over his shirt and tie came pretty close.

The two men stood on the front porch watching as Emily waited on the corner for the school bus. Once his little girl was out of earshot, Fornell turned serious. "You think there are other victims like your dad?"

"I think so." McGee hitched one hip up on the railing, mirroring Fornell who was perched on the other rail. "I could only go so far without making it an official investigation, but there have been at least two dozen deaths over the last six months that have questionable circumstances. That's just at the three nursing homes the company owns in the area. I didn't want them to know I was suspicious yet, but that much I was able to get from local obituaries. We're not going to get any help from the locals. The sheriff is married to the owner's daughter."

"Ouch. Well at least with the possibility of local corruption there's clear cause for the FBI to be investigating. How many nursing homes does the company own all together?"

"I'm not exactly sure. I do know that they own homes in at least five states."

Fornell seemed uncomfortable with his next line of questioning. "It's not that I have any doubts in regards to the samples or the lab you used, but as part of the official investigation…"

"You need to exhume my father's body and conduct your own autopsy and tests." McGee had known it was coming and understood. If the situation were reversed, Gibbs would have wanted Ducky to do his own autopsy. "I warned my mom that this might happen."

"How is she handling all of this?"

"She doesn't know the details yet; just that I have some questions that I need answered. I didn't see the point in upsetting her until I knew something could be done about them."

He'd gotten to know the young man well enough the night before that his decision to protect his mother didn't come as a surprise, but the loneliness in his voice was painful to hear. The bus arrived and Fornell stopped to wave as Emily climbed the steps. Behind the school bus he saw Sacks waiting in one of the agency sedans. Once the flashing red lights were off and the large vehicle was moving, Sacks pulled into the driveway. While they were waiting for him, Fornell explained his presence.

"I asked him to bring the paperwork we need to get started."

McGee nodded and reached for the folder when Sacks stepped onto the porch. As he signed the exhumation order for his father's grave, Sacks leaned against the rail next to him. "I don't know all the details about what's going on, but I am sorry about your dad." Sacks seemed to be working up the nerve to ask something, so McGee waited for him. "I just have one question. If you don't want to tell me, that's okay but I have to ask."

"Shoot." McGee may have been channeling Gibbs at that moment, but it kept him in control of his emotions.

"Why us? I mean, Fornell said you had your reasons to not bring in your own team and I get that, but what I don't get is why come to us about it."

McGee shifted to better see the other man. What he saw was curiosity but no ridicule. He was genuinely interested. Off to the side, Fornell watched, wondering about the reasons also. His reasons were quite simple. "I trust Gibbs to do the right thing more than anyone I've ever met except for my dad. The one person Gibbs trusts outside of our team is Fornell. Who else would I go to?"

Even as they said their goodbyes, Fornell couldn't shake the sense of protectiveness he was feeling towards the young NCIS agent.

---NCIS---

Ziva David watched closely as McGee settled into his desk, right on time. There had been something off about his behavior starting part way through the case with the child rapist the week before. He had been quiet and reserved, not participating in the after arrest celebration after they had captured the suspect, then he had disappeared without saying a word to anyone else on the team. He had been even more withdrawn at work the day before, not even reacting to Tony's attempts to tease him. She had gone to his apartment to speak to him that night and then again early this morning. His apartment had been empty both times, his car not in the parking lot. She planned on approaching him right then but there was something about his appearance that stopped her. Instead, she pulled Tony off to the side.

"Have you noticed anything unusual about what McGee is wearing?"

DiNozzo looked at her blankly, and then turned to study the other man who seemed oblivious to anything other than his computer screen. "Not really. I think that's a new sweater, at least I don't think he's ever worn it to work before. Is there a point to this wardrobe consultation?"

Ziva was frustrated, but forced herself to keep her voice low to keep from attracting attention. "That's not his sweater, it's Fornell's."

One eyebrow went up. "Really? And just how did you deduce that?"

"Do you remember that anti-terrorism luncheon we represented the agency at last month?"

"Yeah?" He still wasn't sure where she was headed, but he did remember Fornell wearing something that day similar to McGee. "So what? There's probably a thousand of those sweaters floating around DC. What's your point?"

She sighed as she clung to what little patience she had with DiNozzo. At times he could be quite obtuse. "My point is that he snagged the cuff of his sweater on the door to the conference room. The mark from the snag is still there. It's the same sweater."

"Really?" DiNozzo turned and looked back at their partner, still ignoring them from his desk. "Probie and Fornell? Wow, who'd a thought of that?" He gave a shudder and then a smirk as he returned to his desk, waiting for the moment he could hassle McGee about his new boyfriend.