A/N: I'm back... Well, sort of. My daughter is now 3 months old, and I'm just starting to write again. It's not easy to get time, as I'm sure you'll understand! Rest assured, I am not abandoning any of my stories. Thank you for your patience. F.

As always, a big thanks to Trina109 for beta-ing this.

Tony hesitated on the threshold, taken aback by the condition of the man in the bed.

It was hard to discern that there was in fact a human being underneath the mass of medical equipment. Since he'd seen McGee last, the bruising on his face had deepened, his head had been shaved and swathed in bandages, and his arm had been encased in a fibreglass cast. What little was visible was either an angry red or a deep purple. The sight almost brought the older agent to tears.

Swallowing against the lump in his throat, he settled into the chair beside the bed.

"We got the bastards, Probie." Somehow it seemed like the most appropriate thing to say. "Gibbs...well, I've never seen anything like it. When we got the door open and saw Demidov whaling on you like that, Gibbs just lost it. Ziva had to hold him back. Thought for a moment he was going to kill Demidov with his bare hands."

He paused. "Guess Ducky and I got off lightly." He paused again as a thought crystallized in his mind. Slowly he repeated what he'd told Ziva back at Norfolk. "They were concentrating on you two."

He stood, apologising to McGee as he left to find Gibbs.

...

After drawing a blank at the cafeteria, he found Gibbs leaving Abby's room.

"How's she doing?"

The sideways tilt of the head was expressive; it screamed 'Not well'. "She's insisting on seeing McGee."

Tony drew in his breath sharply, thinking of his own reaction to McGee's condition. "Do you think that's a good idea, Boss?"

"No. Convinced her that she'd have to wait till her brother gets here. I thought you were in with McGee?"

"I was... I was thinking...Boss, why take McGee first? He's an agent, he can protect himself. Ducky or even Palmer would be an easier target. And why Abby next? She had a protective detail. Unless they knew they could use her..."

Gibbs finished his thought. "To get to him." Gibbs nodded, knowing he was following the same train of thought as Tony. Outwardly, McGee often appeared as the weak member of his team. Those close to him knew that he had an inward core of steel that was frequently unsuspected and almost always underestimated.

"They thought he was weak..." Gibbs mused out loud." And they knew they could use Abby to get to him." Someone had been passing information on the team to Novikova.

"Have they found Shapko yet?"

Gibbs shook his head at Tony's question. "Not yet."

"And how did he know about Abby and McGee? We didn't even know about Abby and McGee." Tony asked.

"Everyone in the Navy Yard knows about their friendship" Ziva pointed out. Tony turned, shaking his head; he hadn't even heard her come up behind him. "You said it yourself, Ziva; he hasn't been spending as much time in Abby's lab lately. And Shapko only transferred stateside a couple of months ago. So either he's been stalking them..."

"Or we have another mole at NCIS."