Victoria wiped the tears from her cheeks as she slipped out from under the covers and made the trek to her bathroom. She'd had nightmares all throughout the evening; the result was the pair of circles that now rested under her eyes and the exhaustion that ran across her face. Her dreams were violent and disturbing- some she couldn't remember, some were destined to be tattooed on her brain forever. The ones she couldn't recall had caused her to sit up with a start and attempt to quell the anxiety and dread that rested in the pit of her stomach. Then, when she was able to close her eyes and return to unconsciousness, she would see horrid images of gore and of death. Death that she caused.

She kept glancing at her hands as she washed her face, expecting to see them covered in someone else's blood. Victoria wondered if Tim had felt the same night terrors while he slept, although she doubted it. The thing that bothered them most about the current situation was not the destruction that could be done to them, but the destruction they were capable of doing to others. The difference was, her surrogate brother now had a trio of humans that were constantly reminding him of his own good nature. Victoria didn't have that. She didn't want to bother Tim with her worries, as she knew he counted on her to be strong. Apollo, they agreed, shouldn't be troubled with this particular problem as he had lots to worry about already.

But Victoria wasn't one to complain. She'd had nightmares before, and she would deal with them now... But a hot shower couldn't hurt in washing the tension out of her mind and body.

When she was finished she dressed and headed to the kitchen to make herself some tea. It wasn't quite eleven, and with her advanced auditory range she could hear Tim and Apollo talking in the library.

It had been almost a week since Team Gibbs had spoken with Vance- five days, to be exact- and they were still no closer to a safe and reasonable solution to their problems. It was clear that D'Amico was planning something horrible, something that put the civilians of Venice at risk. But what to do about it?

"It's been days since we broke the prisoners out of their dungeon. I have no doubt that they've made up for it by now," Apollo was saying as Victoria entered the library with her mug of tea. They looked up and smiled at her briefly before returning to their conversation. The NCIS agents were nowhere in sight.

"We can't just let them take innocent people off the street," Tim said.

"I know, son. Reports are bound to show up on the news sooner or later. But if there is one thing I know about Thad, it's that he is a man of his word. He will leave us alone as long as we let him be. But the moment we interfere, the moment we step foot in Venice is the moment we all are killed. I wouldn't mind that kind of a threat for myself, but with you two it's different. He's taken an interest in the both of you and I will not let him get whatever it is he wants."

Tim and Victoria shared a look. They hadn't yet told Apollo about McGee's nighttime run-in with D'Amico, but their father-figure could tell that Thad found the two to be potentially useful in some way. "I refuse to give him a reason to come anywhere near you," he said. Turning to McGee, he added, "and I know that your friends feel responsible for stopping him as well, and I respect their skills in that…area. But I don't think I can put them in danger with a clear conscience, either."

Tim nodded. He refused to leave Venice to whatever was in store, but he had tried to urge his team to go home. Naturally, they'd refused multiple times. McGee knew that even if he were not involved, they would stay and do what was right.

"Where are they, by the way?" Victoria's brow furrowed gently. She had become accustomed to living with them, and had even formed a friendly rapport with DiNozzo.

"Gibbs is in his room, Tony's around somewhere and Ziva went for a run," Tim informed.

Still, they were back to where they had been before. They couldn't pick a fight, hilariously outnumbered and overpowered as they were. There wouldn't be a soul alive willing, or even able, to help them, especially since they really had no idea what was going on behind the walls of the D'Amico mansion. Not knowing what kind of manpower or firepower they possessed was just one of their problems. A fight with Thaddeus alone would more than likely end with all six of them dead- he had centuries of fighting and tactical experience, which they certainly did not.

As if at the mention of their names, Tony and Gibbs entered the library as Victoria said, "There must be something we can do. What if we left an anonymous tip?"

"With the police? They'd think we were crazy. Don't they think the place is abandoned anyway? Even if they did listen, we'd just be sending in a little police squad to that nest. They'd fare even worse than we would in a fight," Apollo disagreed.

"No, not with the police, with the media. Tim, you could hack the local news, right? Send out those text alerts to everyone's phone that there's a killer on the loose or something? People will travel in groups or stay off the streets. At least there would be less humans to snatch."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Tony agreed. "Journalists create frenzies like that all the time. No one would know we did it, they'd just think it was a ploy to get more viewers or readers."

"It would be a start, anyway," Apollo conceded, staring off into space. "What do you think, Timothy? Agent Gibbs?"

"It's definitely doable," McGee said. "If it keeps even one person out of harm's way I think it'd be worth it." Gibbs nodded in agreement.

"What about your friends in the city council, Apollo?" Tim remembered. "Couldn't they do something?"

"Well there isn't much that Valero Notte government can do in Venice," the older man said. "But you've given me an idea. I do have one friend on the Venetian police force. A flightling. I can tell him what's going on. His family was killed by Thad many years ago so he would be very interested to hear that he's alive. If anyone can find out what's going on, he can. Excuse me, I need to make a call."

With that, he left the library just as Ziva entered, hardly sweating despite her long run in the heat. She was brought up to speed as McGee began pulling up softwares on his computer. His hacking and coding skills had returned with the rest of the memories of his old life, and he had already begun using his spare time creating programs that would allow him to do just about anything he pleased on the net. Despite his newfound physical abilities, his true superpower still rested with his technological abilities. He'd missed it without even realizing. However, now that he wasn't an agent he had to be very careful with what programs he created and used. Most weren't exactly "lawful" when used on the outside of NCIS headquarters. But the team noticed their youngest carrying his laptop around the house, and it secretly made the three of them glad to see Tim acting so much like his old self.

"You know, McGee, even without the wings you could have made a pretty great criminal in another life," Tony quipped, looking over his shoulder at the software Tim had created. He didn't know much about hacking, but he could see that whatever his friend had was about as "street-legal" as a car without working brakes.

"Thanks," Tim grinned, not looking up from his computer, enjoying the old rush he always got when he worked a case. It was just like being an agent again, only more dangerous in every conceivable way. "So what should the headline say? It'll come up as a text alert. I'll even put it on Twitter."

"Something that really worries people," Ziva offered.

Victoria pulled up her local news app and scrolled through the existing headlines from the past few hours. "There have been eight disappearances since we were in Venice," she said grimly. "That were reported, anyway. This was posted early this morning."

"Crime wave sweeps Venice," Tony said. "Nine missing this week."

"Not scary enough," McGee said.

"'Eight missing, presumed dead. Serial killer suspected in Venice,'" Gibbs said. There was a pause.

"Definitely threatening enough," Ziva said, impressed.

"If that doesn't get people's attention, nothing will," DiNozzo said.

Tim nodded and typed. "I'll send a followup. 'Citizens urged to exercise extreme caution.'"

As he worked, Victoria continued to scroll through the past week's news.

"Why aren't there more articles about this already?" she wondered aloud. "The only newsflash was posted yesterday, and it only says that the nine people went missing. No names or info, no comment from the police."

Gibbs' eyebrows raised slightly. That was odd, to say the least. Usually reporters would take full advantage of something like this.

But only if they knew about it.

"It's like someone didn't want anyone to know what's going on," Victoria said, not aware that Gibbs was thinking the same thing.

Ziva caught on next. "Even if the police did not have any leads, you would think that reporters would be using that to their advantage."

"Okay, everyone who follows Commune-Venezia is about to get some good advice texted to them," McGee said, looking up from his computer. "In Italian and English. I posted it on their Twitter and Facebook feeds too. I'll do the same to BBC Italy right now."

Apollo returned, with his phone in hand and a puzzled look on his face.

"My friend didn't answer his cell, so I called him at work. Someone else answered the phone. Said he was on vacation."

Gibbs' gut told him that this wasn't the case, and he could tell that Apollo was thinking the same.

"I haven't known him to take a vacation in the twenty years we've been friends."

Tim finished up on the computer, and he and DiNozzo both turned their attention to the eldest Clark.

"I asked where he went but the man who answered refused to tell me."

"Did you ask about the disappearances?" Gibbs asked, standing from his spot on one of the plush armchairs.

"Yes, actually," Apollo said. From the way they were on top of each other's thoughts, it was as if the two men had been working together for years. "He became agitated, and asked how I knew. I told him it was in the newspaper…or rather, on their website, and he hung up on me."

"The police didn't want anyone to know," Tim realized.

"Something tells me they weren't doing it for the sake of catching the guy," Tony said.

"Oh my god," Victoria said. "Apollo, did you tell the officer your name?"

"No," Apollo said, but it didn't bring anyone much relief.

"Who wrote the article about the abductions?" Ziva asked.

Victoria glanced at her phone. "It doesn't say…it's not an article, more like a headline."

"Whoever wrote that is in danger," Apollo said. "If a journalist found out that several people were missing, and no one ran with it, then someone in charge prevented them from doing so. The person responsible for that headline got it past them…and I just gave them away."

Hearing the guilt creep into Apollo's voice, McGee cut in. "It's not your fault. I'll bet that person probably hacked the website like we did…in fact, I can check."

He was quickly back behind the site's firewall.

"Only two different things were put onto the website in the past week that weren't entered from the same network of computers…meaning everyone who posts content works in an office together-"

"We know how a website is run, McGee," DiNozzo said.

"Right, well only two things weren't entered like the rest. One is the alert we just sent out. The other one is the information about the abductions, which came from a private computer... The IP address puts them in Venice. This guy is a real beginner if he doesn't know how to cover his trail."

"Which means that the tech department in any police station can track them and find them. And if the police didn't want word to get out," Ziva worried, "then that person is definitely in trouble."

"How did this person find out if the police were so tight-lipped about it?" Apollo asked.

"It might have been someone within the police that leaked the information," Tim said.

Gibbs took action, going into Lead Field Agent mode. "Can you get anything else on him?"

"I'll try pinpointing the computer. Hopefully this person lets Google know their location when they uses the internet. I can find them from there."

Everyone waited in a tense silence as McGee worked, hoping that they could find this mystery informant and warn them before it was too late. For all they knew, the police were just trying to keep quiet about the abductions because they were actively working to catch the guy…perhaps this mystery hacker really was just a vigilante hacker. But the likelihood that he wasn't was much more distressing.

….

Meanwhile, a certain young officer strode from the doors of his precinct, his green-gray eyes as vibrant as a snowstorm. He decided to walk to his destination (he certainly couldn't fly at this time of day) and a water taxi would be caught in traffic. No, he would get home faster if he walked.

It only took twenty minutes until he discreetly slipped into the seemingly abandoned mansion and went straight up the stairs to the master study. A tentative knock earned him a "Come in," and thus began his audience with Thaddeus.

"Ah, Jude, isn't it?"

"Yes sir."

"No reason to call me, sir, son. We're all family here. What did you want to talk about? How are things at the station?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Jude began, nervous. He knew Thaddeus wasn't like a cartoon villain; he wasn't the kind to kill his followers just because they brought him bad news. But Jude revered the head of their family to no end, and didn't want to displease him. "I received a tip today, some guy wanting to talk to the detective who had the desk before me. He wanted to ask about...the disappearances."

Thad frowned, clearly angry. "How did that get out? I thought we our members within the force were keeping that a secret."

"The guy said it was on the Commune-Venezia website," Jude said.

"Which means we have someone giving information to the Commune. And our friends at the Commune are not doing their jobs," Thaddeus said, menace creeping into his voice. "But why wouldn't we have heard about it before?" he wondered. "Information like that would be sure to cause quite a panic."

"I was thinking about that, and I think it might have been leaked directly from the station," Jude said.

"You may be right about that. Let's find out, shall we?"

The older man quickly pulled up the contacts on his phone and waited as he put a call through. Jude could hear stress in the voice of the man who answered.

"Hello?"

"James, do you know what I was just informed? It seems as though someone at your publication can't keep their mouths shut."

"I'm sorry, Thaddeus," the voice said vehemently. "It's not one of my people. They've followed my…your orders. We've been hacked."

"Hacked."

"Yes…twice."

"You had better explain," D'Amico warned, his temper mounting.

"Someone put out a headline a couple of days ago that eight people had gone missing. We didn't notice, or at least, no one reported it until this morning when we started getting all sorts of calls about it."

"What about the second time?"

"Happened just a couple of minutes ago. Someone hacked us and sent out alerts. BBC Italy apparently got hacked as well because they called me asking what was going on."

"Can you find out who did it?"

"We've got our tech department working on it, but this is out of their league."

"Fix this, James. The city's going to be panicking in the next couple of hours. We've already had at least one call to the police station, that we know of," Thad said, glancing at Jude.

"I will," came the reply, and then the call was over.

"I'll contact your captain," Thad said. "I'm sure he's already dealing with the press as it is. Which makes me wonder why you came to me instead of going to him. He is one of us, after all. Do you feel you can't trust him?"

"No, it's not that," Jude assured his leader. "I just thought it was odd that the guy who called asked for the man I replaced…isn't he…one of us?"

He refrained from using the word "flightling" as it was forbidden by Thaddeus.

"Yes…I believe his is one of our kind," D'Amico said thoughtfully. "Did the person calling give a name?"

"No, but it was definitely a man."

"Of refined speech, I'll bet," Thaddeus said, the beginnings of a smile playing on his lips.

"Yeah, actually," Jude said, not really understanding what was going on.

"Excellent. Thank you for telling me. You've done well."

"Thank you. What should I do now?"

"Return to your post and keep monitoring calls. I'll call your captain and tell him what to say to the city council. We'll have a press conference later today. And see if your IT department can't track those hackers."

Jude Damien excused himself and headed back to work. When he was gone, Thaddeus allowed a genuine smile to cross his face. It stayed there even as he went downstairs to the dungeon, where each cell was packed full of frightened prisoners. They'd all been threatened not to make any noise, and were constantly under watch by multiple guards, who were ordered to kill anyone who so much as sneezed.

Thad went down to the last cell on his left, where an older man, a flightling, was flexing his wings, trying to keep his body from going stiff.

"Hello," D'Amico greeted to get the man's attention.

The flightling, still in the uniform he'd worn when he was kidnapped, became angry at the sight of his captor.

"Oh don't look at me like that," Thaddeus said. "You don't want to join us, you land yourself here. It's not my fault. We could have used you, too. The young men I put in the police station to replace some of your more honest comrades are too inexperienced. But I didn't come to talk about that."

"What do you want, then?"

"Someone called asking for you today. A mutual friend of ours, I think. Do you happen to know a man named Apollo Clark?"

From the policeman's startled expression, Thaddeus smiled again. "I thought so. Thank you for your time."

With that, he turned and went back upstairs to his study. He wasn't sure of it, but the suspicious call, the attempt to warn the public of what was going on…if Apollo wasn't behind this, then they had a mole at the police station. Either way, the problem had to be fixed. Thad hoped, almost giddy, that it was Apollo interfering in their business and not some stupidly brave informant.

There was only one way to find out. Picking up his phone again, the ancient man called Jude Damien's cell. (He had all of his family members give him their numbers so that he could keep his eyes and ears everywhere, and at all times.)

"Hello, sir."

"I told you, Jude, no need to call me sir," Thad said, jovial in spite of the situation. "I know you're probably just getting back to the station now, but when you get the chance, please send me the number of the person that called your desk."

After that, he called the captain of the police station and they discussed their options. The crooked flightling cop had already told the city council that there was no serial killer, that there were vigilante hackers messing with the Commune, and that they would get to the bottom of this. Thad ordered him to hold a joint press conference with the mayor, and explain that the number of disappearances was greatly exaggerated, and that some jerk with a computer was playing a prank.

"Tell them that there were disappearances, but that they were related to an organized crime case that was being handled. Then say that you have the hacker in custody. Answer questions, lie where you have to."

They crafted their story carefully, taking over an hour to cover every detail that might come under fire at the press conference. When they hung up, Thaddeus saw that he had a text from Jude. It was the number of the mysterious caller. He went back down to the dungeon and asked his guards to rifle through the confiscated belongings of their prisoners until they found the cellphone of the prisoner he'd just spoken to. The winged policeman panicked when he saw that Thad had taken his phone.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to call our old friend," he said as he passed by. Thad clicked on the phone and grinned. "Looks like you have a missed call from him anyway."

And to D'Amico's utter delight, the number that Jude sent was the same as the missed call, which so happened to be found until the contact named: Apollo.

…...

McGee had tried several different tactics and finally found that the computer used to send out that mysterious headline spent most of its time at one particular location in Venice. It was an apartment building, which wasn't all that surprising. Tim couldn't possibly find which apartment in the building was the home of that computer, so they hit a dead end. They could call the main office of the apartment complex, but what would they say? How could they find out who it was?

"You know what? I'm sure they're fine," Victoria had said. "If you can't find them, nobody else will be able to." Everyone had nodded along, but they all knew that it wasn't true.

When they concluded that there was nothing more they could do, the six had separated, fearing for the daring man or woman who was now in danger. They didn't worry for themselves, knowing that Tim had made his trail untraceable across the internet. Ziva went to shower, Tim and Tony went to the kitchen to find something to eat and Gibbs and Apollo both remained in the library, where the alcohol was.

Victoria went to the living room to watch a movie, but her lack of rest over the night caused her to fall asleep before the opening credits.

A couple of hours later, Tony, Tim and Ziva all went to the den and found her on the couch. She made no noise but tossed and turned. It was clear that she was in the throes of another nightmare.

"Victoria!" McGee said, gently nudging her shoulder, hoping to wake her up. It worked, but the young woman shot up with a cry. As a reflex, her wings expanded. Ziva dodged out of the way in time, but Tony wasn't as quick, and got a face full of feathers.

"Are you alright?" Tim asked in concern as his surrogate sister realized where she was.

"Oh, yeah," she murmured, standing and rubbing her eyes. A glance out the window told her that it was already evening. The sun had fallen, and her stomach growled. Victoria's cheeks tinged pink as she realized that Tony and Ziva were there, and that she had just smacked DiNozzo with her wing. "I'm sorry."

"You were having a nightmare?" ZIva said, although it sounded more like a statement of fact, not a question or even an explanation.

"You look awful," McGee added.

"Do I?" she responded without a hint of irony. Ziva withdrew from the room, realizing that the two needed to talk. With a hesitant glance, Tony followed.

"You've been having nightmares all week, haven't you?" Tim asked when they were gone. "You've been looking more and more tired." It hadn't occurred to him that Victoria would be just as much, if not more torn up about recent events as he was. At least he had friends to talk to…and he knew that she wouldn't want bother him with her problems, even if he wanted her to.

"I'm fine," she promised. "I can handle a nightmare. l'll take a sleeping pill tonight and then I'll be out like a light."

McGee was going to argue when Apollo entered, followed by Gibbs. "Why are Agents David and DiNozzo standing outside the door? We came to see if- what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Victoria said, giving a stern glance at Tim. "We were just talking."

Tony and Ziva entered after Gibbs. Wanting to spare Victoria the embarrassment of having all the attention on her, Tim tried to think of something to say. Luckily, Tony did it for him.

"So are we going to watch a movie or did we just move our meeting from the library to the living room?" he joked. "Big house like this and we all keep running into each other. It's like a game of Clue."

It seemed to work, and Victoria sent the agent a grateful look.

"I would but I'm actually a bit hungry," Apollo said, getting the hint. "I came to see if anyone wanted to go out for dinner…" he trailed off as his phone rang. When he removed it from his pocket and did nothing but stare at it, Tim asked, "Your friend?"

"Yes," Apollo said, putting his phone on speaker-mode and answering with a "Hello?"

"Hello, Apollo," came a smug, amused voice that sent bolts of electricity through everyone's nervous systems. Thaddeus was unnerving to listen to, even over the phone "Just thought I'd call to see what you've been up to."