A/N: Sorry for the posting delay, it's been a hectic few weeks! Between my daughter's first birthday, Mother's Day, my birthday and the usual round of work etc, real life has been crazy busy! This story is drawing close to its close, only a few more chapters to go.

Thanks to Trina109 for beta-ing, as always.

Gibbs turned his head slightly to talk to the agents next to him. "Tony. Go and find Balboa; he needs to hear this."

"On it, Boss."

He turned back to Cooper. "You're sure about this?"

Cooper bobbed his head nervously. "Yes, sir. I mean, Agent Gibbs. The call came from a cell phone that was registered to the commander's office. It was for the use of his aide, Ensign Peter Noscov."

"It explains a lot, Gibbs" Ziva added.

"Yeah. Like how they got onto a naval base in the first place. You got an address for Noscov, Cooper?"

"Ahh... yep, got it. He lives in housing on base. Here's the house number." Cooper handed a scribbled note to Gibbs.

Tony arrived, followed by Balboa, who had a questioning look on his face.

"Ready for a trip to Norfolk, Agent Balboa?"

...

Gibbs quickly filled Agent Balboa and his team in on what Cooper had discovered, then despatched Tony and Ziva to get the car. Grabbing his own gear, he headed for the elevators, only to be stopped by a voice behind him.

"Agent Gibbs!" Gibbs turned to find Director Vance standing at the entrance to the bullpen, looking annoyed. "I thought I'd assigned the Novikova case to Balboa's team."

"You did; we're investigating the murder of Agent Shapko."

Vance made a faint disbelieving noise "So why are you heading to Norfolk?"

"Just following a lead, Leon."

"This lead wouldn't happen to link the two cases, would it Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs refrained from mentioning at that the two cases were already linked.

"I'll let you know."

...

The 195 mile drive to Norfolk seemed interminable.

The time of day meant that the roads were clogged with peak hour traffic, turning what was usually a 3 hour drive into closer to a 5 hour drive. With each new traffic jam, Gibbs' frustration levels had increased. By the time they reached the naval station and passed through security, he was close to snapping point.

Thankfully, Balboa and his team had passed through security right ahead of them. Gibbs pulled the car up with a jerk and got out, grabbing his vest and windbreaker from Tony as he stalked towards Balboa.

"Gibbs, you know you don't need to be here." Balboa pointed out. "We've got this guy covered."

"Just here to help."

Balboa gave him a cynical look. "Yeah. Right." He shrugged into his own vest and windbreaker. "I heard about McGee. How's he doing?"

"Still in a coma."

Balboa flinched. "Too bad. McGee's a good guy. Are you sure you want to be here for this? I mean, wouldn't you rather be-"

Gibbs cut him off. "This guy is the reason McGee and Abby almost died. I want the son of a bitch."

"Ok. Let's go."

The augmented team spread out, surrounding the small house. On Balboa's signal they rushed in, quickly securing the place. One by one the agents called in 'clear'.

Tony glanced at Ziva as they made their way through the building. "Reckon he flew the coop?" She shook her head 'no', then advanced around the last corner.

Noscov was sprawled on the bathroom floor, glassy eyed and pale. The syringe still protruding from the crook of his elbow told its own story.

Exasperated, Tony holstered his weapon.

"We've got him, Boss."

...

Tony and Ziva stood together in the darkened Observation room, watching Noscov through the one way glass. As they watched, they could see him occasionally twitch and fidget. Even from this distance, it was obvious that he was sweating.

"I cannot believe that Gibbs would wait this long to interrogate Noscov" Ziva commented. "I have never known him to leave a suspect to roast for so long before."

"Stew, Ziva. Not roast. And besides, Gibbs knows what he's doing. Noscov here is a junkie. See all that twitching he's doing? He's starting to go into withdrawal. If he's even half as addicted as our friend Shapko was, soon he's going to be desperate to get out of here so he can get his next fix."

"And that is another thing! Why is Gibbs conducting the interrogation? Balboa has lead." The Director had decided that the moment they'd brought Noscov in.

Tony turned his head to look at his partner.

"Because Gibbs is the master. You saw the tape of Demidov's interrogation."

Gibbs had questioned Demidov while Tony and Ziva were processing the evidence from Shapko's apartment. Even Ziva, Mossad- trained as she was, had shuddered as Gibbs had brought the full intimidating force of his personality and skill to bear against the Russian.

"Demidov clearly gave the order for Shapko to be disposed of, and we know Noscov tipped Novikova and Demidov off" she pointed out now. "What more information can we get from this... filth?" Her lip curled as she spoke.

"Demidov may have ordered the hit on Shapko, but we still need to find out who carried it out."

On the other side of the glass, the door opened and Gibbs entered. He strode to the table and dropped a file on it, anger evident in his every move. Settling himself at the table, he eyed the wretched man across from him.

"What'd you want, man?"

Noscov's voice was high-pitched and quavery.

Gibbs kept his impassive face and cold stare in place.

"Svetlana Novikova."

"What about her?" The question was strained and nervous.

"You tipped her off."

Noscov licked his lips nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Gibbs slapped his hand down on the tabletop and roared "Don't lie!" Ripping open the file folder, he took out a photograph and threw it down in front of Noscov

"Special Agent Timothy McGee!"

Noscov picked up the photo and stared at it, his already pale face going paler.

"Is he- is he dead?"

"Almost." He pulled another photo from the folder and threw it in front of Noscov. "Abby Scuito!" He got up front his chair and rounded the table, leaning partway over Noscov. "You let Novikov and Demidov onto the base; when we came looking for them, you tipped them off, didn't you?" When Noscov didn't reply, he roared again "Didn't you?!"

Noscov jumped and cringed, nodding.

"I didn't want to. He- they-they made me do it."

"And Agent Shapko?"

He nodded again, tears running down his face. "They threatened to cut me off. You- you don't know what it's like. I need the stuff."

Gibbs looked down at the jittery, blubbering wreck in front of him and felt nothing but disgust.

"Good luck getting it where you're going."

He swept the file and the photos up off the table and walked out, slamming the door shut behind him.