Boo! ...Did I scare you?

Here's the next chapter! Hopefully it's worth the wait (and continues to be since I don't fully know what's happening next).

I should marry MoonClaimed so she can help me in everything, not just my fics.

I own nothing.

"I do not believe it!" Ziva cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "There is only one camera in the area. One!"

"What did you expect?" DiNozzo asked, peering across from his desk. "It's a deserted road."

"I thought there would be more than one, that's for sure. And there's not even a car that drives past in the time period that Pepper went missing."

Tony frowned. That didn't seem right. "The car had to go by. There's only one way in and one way out."

"Then you find it," she huffed. "Because I have watched the footage eight times and found nothing."

The Italian stood up and strolled over to his partner's desk, leaning over to watch the footage. Ziva sped through the nothingness. "Play it again," he ordered once it had finished.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing there," Ziva said, but replayed it nonetheless.

"Stop!" Tony ordered. "Go back…. There." He pointed to the screen. "Notice anything?"

"A leaf. A leaf is falling. What does that tell us?" she said, crossing her arms.

"When the same leaf fell five minutes ago, it tells us everything."

Ziva blinked, then leaned toward the screen. She punched in a few commands and resumed playback. Sure enough, the leaf fell again five minutes later. "They looped it."

"That they did, Ziva. That they did. You know what this means, don't you?"

She looked him dead in the eyes. "This was all planned."

"Wasn't there a gas station just down the road from the camera? Maybe they saw someone," Tony suggested.

Ziva checked her watch. "They should be open by now."

Tony grabbed his coat. "What are we waiting for?"

Tony Stark groaned, squeezing his eyes tight in hopes of willing himself back to sleep. It was far too early, and he hadn't slept since… what was today? He pushed the thought away. The date didn't matter. He needed sleep, and he was going to get it. Besides, Pepper was in Washington, so it wasn't like she was going to…

Pepper.

Tony snapped awake with a jolt. How could he have forgotten about Pepper? Better yet, how could he have fallen asleep while she was still missing? He sat up, stretching his arms up and popping his back, before he blearily rubbed his eyes. Coffee. He needed coffee. Once he was fully caffeinated he'd be good to resume the manhunt.

Tony looked around the room. Abby surly had to have a coffee pot somewhere in here. How else was she so peppy? As he surveyed the room, his eyes fell on the monitor with an all too familiar face on it next to an older gentleman. He scanned the text.

"…What?" Tony blinked, sure his barely awake mind had to be tricking him. "What?"

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs!" Abby shouted as she ran into the bullpen, pigtails bouncing and arms still flailing.

"What is it, Abs?" the agent asked, a slight smile quirking his lips at the scientist's excitement.

"It's a girl," she announced proudly.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs stared at her for a minute, mind blank. "Uh, congratulations, Abs. I didn't know you were expecting."

"Oh, I'm not," Abby denied, eyes wide. "I said it's a girl, not that she's my girl, though I understand how that could get confusing. She's definitely not mine. I've never been pregnant – well, there was that one scare with Peter Malkovich back in the tenth grade, but-"

"Abby." Gibbs looked at her, eyes telling her to get to the point.

"Right. So I was running the blood like I was supposed to, and it's definitely Pepper's."

"I know that, Abs. You told me three hours ago. What's this about a girl?"

"Do you remember how Ducky told us he donated his sperm when he was younger?" Abby asked, eyes glistening with anticipation of the big news. "Well I always double check any new DNA against his, just in case. It's a slim chance I'll get a hit, but-"

"Are you saying that I think you're saying?" Gibbs asked.

Abby beamed. "Pepper Potts is-"

"Ah, Jethro! There you are!" Dr. Mallard called as he walked towards his desk. "I have completed my autopsy of our dead sergeant, and-"

"Congratulations!" Abby cried, suddenly glomping the medical examiner.

"I… Well, thank you, Abby, but it's nothing new. I do it every day," the doctor chuckled.

"No, not that! With Pepper!"

"With Miss Potts?" Ducky asked, confusion scrunching on his face. "Whatever do you mean?"

"She's your daughter!" Abby exclaimed, barely able to contain herself.

"I… what?" For once in his life, Ducky was at a loss for words.

"A few years ago you told me you donated sperm when you were younger, and ever since I've been running every DNA sample I can find against yours on the off chance that there's a match. So I ran Pepper's like I always do, and it was. It was a match! Congratulations Ducky!" she cried, throwing her arms around him.

"Goodness me," Ducky said, shocked. "This is a lot to take in. And you're sure?"

"Has Major Mass Spec ever let you down before?"

"Not once," Gibbs stated.

"I… have a daughter," Ducky said slowly, a faint smile on his face.

"I didn't know you had kids," Tim said, strolling in and dropping his stuff down.

"Neither did I." Tim stared at the medical examiner, perplexed.

"McGee." Gibbs stared at his agent expectedly.

"Right, sorry boss." Tim typed a few things on his computer and his presentation came up. "I ran a background check on a Mr. James Daveezen, the owner of the handgun that shot Colonel Olsen. He has a record. Three charges against him for possession, and he was in a bar fight last week. Got pretty brutal."

"What was his relation with Olsen?"

"None, as far as I can tell. But I'm still looking," Tim said quickly, before Gibbs could interject. "He drives a navy civic. Abs?"

"Matches the tire print by Pepper's car," the forensic scientist answered, still hugging Ducky.

"Put out a BOLO. Credit card activity?" Gibbs asked.

"Nothing since eight o'clock last night when he gassed up and hit a McDonald's."

"Is that the guy?" Tony Stark called out as he approached the team. He stopped in front of the monitor, staring intently at Daveezen. He was Caucasian with a shaved head and beady eyes. A tattoo of an axe adorned his neck.

"We're not sure yet, but we have reason to suspect-"

"Then why isn't he here?" Tony interrupted, whirling on Tim. "If you think he took Pepper, why isn't he here yet?"

"Because we don't know where he is." Gibbs' voice was calm.

Tony faced him. "What do you mean you don't know where he is? Isn't the government supposed to know everything about us? Every move we're making, every thought we're thinking? What happened to Big Brother?"

"He doesn't have Stark Tech."

Tony blinked, not expecting the response. "Well then he'd better get some before my girlfriend gets killed."

"Mr. Stark, there's no reason to use that tone," Ducky interjected. "We're doing everything we can-"

"Oh, he's doing everything he can. It's okay if you fail as long as he gets an A for effort. Is that how it is around here? Honestly, I thought you'd care more, seeing how it is your daughter's life at stake."

The team was silent.

"You saw that, huh?" Abby said, cringing at her mistake. She should have closed out the screen, but in her excitement she was careless.

"Who said you could invade Pepper's privacy like that?" Tony was fuming now.

"Mr. Stark," Gibbs said firmly, "if you continue to harass my team, I will have you removed from the premises," he threatened. "I'd rather have you on my side, but I cannot allow you to attack them." Tim's desk phone rang and he quickly answered it, looking for a way out of the tension that was quickly flooding the room.

Tony stared long and hard at Gibbs before taking a deep breath. "Fine. Send me what you have, and I'll see what Jarvis can dig up. I'll find him."

"No need," Tim said. The room looked up at him. "Daveezen's on the line. It's for you," he said, holding out the phone to Tony while quickly typing in the commands to trace the call on his computer.

Tony took the phone "Stark morgue. You kill 'em, we chill 'em," he answered nonchalantly.

"If you do not do exactly as I say, you will be chilling Pepper Pott's body very soon."