Tony's mild worry at the office had grown exponentially with the time it took to return to the Yard and collect the van. By the time he arrived at McGee's apartment, he was almost frantic in his desire to get to his partner and find out what was happening. Once the smell of blood thickened the air around the open door of the apartment he was desperate to reach, it took all of Ellie's abilities as an agent to remind him the Director had declared the apartment a crime scene and they had to glove up before entering.

"Tony," Ellie said looking at him handing over the gloves he would need to process the scene.

Tony looked at her confusion on his face until he realized that he still had a job to do., "Just making sure you remembered." Tony said trying to cover his brief lapse in judgment.

"It's just another crime scene." Tony whispered. Ellie was pretty sure Tony was trying to convince himself and not her with those soft words.

Any hopes of maintaining order inside they apartment vanished the moment Tony entered. He saw the body on the floor covered by the sheet and all of his considerable investigative skills vanished in wake of his concern for his partner and friend.

"TIM" he screamed as he ran into the bedroom through the open doorway. He was half way to the body when he saw Kort out of the corner of his eye and quickly changed direction, barreling into them man, pushing him up against the wall and pulling his fist back getting ready to remove the man's head from his body.

"DiNozzo, stand down." Gibbs and Vance growled at the same time.

"He killed Tim." Tony still had a firm grip on the CIA Agent and was not planning on letting him go anytime soon.

Gibbs walked up behind the younger man and softly tapped the back of his head, "Do you think he'd still be breathing if I thought that even for the briefest second?"
Tony dragged his eyes away from the man he considered his mortal enemy, to the face of his Boss. Gibbs eyes told the truth of his words Tony finally freed the other man.

Gibbs gently took the young by the arm and guided him to the covered body on the floor, when Tony realized the destination he stiffened up and tried to fight the older man.

"Tony" Gibbs said firmly once again looking the man directly in the eyes, "Does that body look big enough to be McGee?"
Tony investigative instincts took over and he relaxed as the answer to the question became apparent. He stopped fighting and walked over to the body and pulled down the sheet to discover the identity of their victim, "Oh poor, Jethro?" he whispered.

"Where's Tim?" he asked looking around the apartment for the younger man.

"We don't know?" the Director said giving Kort a hard look.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" he asked looking to the four men who were in the apartment when he arrived.

"When we got here we found Jethro, a lot of blood and the apartment ransacked but their was no sign of your partner." the Brit answered for the group.

"So either he got away or he was taken by force." Tony theorized outloud.

"If he got away, he would have contacted someone in this room." Kort continued the difficult job of convincing DiNozzo what they needed him to believe.

Finally Tony acknowledged the hard truth he didn't want to see, Tim was missing and in danger. "So what's the game plan, Boss?"

"We find him."

At that moment Palmer arrived and paled at the sight of the body of the canine in front of him, "Ducky's on his way up?" Ellie asked to try and distract the man.

"No, Ducky had to leave a little while ago." he said, his eyes never leaving the body.

"Leave, where to?" Tony asked wanting their A Team investigating the disappearance of his team member.

"It was a personal emergency that came through my office, DiNozzo." Vance answered for the shell-shocked young man.

Tony turned angrily at his boss' boss , "When will he be back?"
"Not sure, when it is handled." Vance raised his hand up to stop any further question, "I can't tell you more than that."

The hard look the Director sent his subordinate ended that line of questioning.

While that conversation was happening Kort discreetly walked into the living room of the apartment and check his cell phone which had been almost continually going off for several minutes.

He almost dropped the phone when he heard the voice on the other end, "Trent, if you are getting this message then I was not as careful as I thought I was and I am probably dead. Do not try to find me. The problem is a lot bigger than we first thought and cannot be discussed openly. I need you to go to Gibbs. Tell him Rule 44 and Rule 51. As for as the journals are concerned Rule 4 best option. Please follow Rule 40 as it is a very short jump from me to you and now you are also in danger. I trust you to handle this. You must make my team trust you as well."
Kort returned to the bedroom noticing the tension in the room and only half regretting that he was going to add to it, "Gentlemen and lady, I think you need to listen to this."

AN: Rule 4: the best way to keep a secret is to tell no one, second best option tell one other person if you must there is no third best. Rule 44: Protect the women and children. Rule 51:Sometimes you are wrong. Rule 40: If you think the are after you, you are right. Please review with thoughts and comments. Stray:)