AN: Huge thanks to everybody who's been reading and reviewing! I just got back from my sister's wedding and need to catch up on responding to reviews, so assuming FF behaves, I'll be doing that later today. I've had a blast with this story. It started as an entry for LFWS on LJ with a cliffhanger prompt, but I had fun writing what happened *after* the cliffhanger. If nothing else, LFWS was worth it for this story - I never would have come up with it otherwise. :) And, as always HUGE thanks to my editor extraordinaire Kyrie.

Chapter 7

McGee yawned as he watched the screen, his eyelids sagging. He couldn't risk a nap though, not when Abby should be spooking their target any-

"Boss!" McGee jerked upright as files started flashing across his screen. "We've got him!"

"Him who?" Tony twisted and set off cracks along his spine. "Which of these idiots tried this boneheaded caper?"

"Not boneheaded." Gibbs didn't make a noise as he moved, but he was just there, standing behind McGee. "Covered his tracks. We wouldn't even have known about this if McGee hadn't been digging into that case."

"He's good, too," McGee said. "I don't know how he hid the money — I didn't turn anything up — but he's definitely our guy."

"Who, McGee?" Ziva stood in front of the computer, and McGee looked up to see she had the look on her face she normally directed at Tony, right before threatening him with the nearest office supplies at hand.

"Richards." McGee swallowed. "He's accessing the Hector files on -" He watched the changes the agent was making and grinned. "Not so smart now, are you?" He turned to Gibbs. "Call Vance — Richards just went in and changed the version of his notes in the final report to match the original amount of money." He looked back at the screen. "And now he's re-setting the time stamp on the file to the last time he opened it, three years ago."

Tony pumped his fist. "Good work, McGeek! Now we just need to take him down."

"Tony is right, McGee," Ziva said. "You have done good work on this case. We were not much help to you."

"It's not done yet, Ziva," McGee said. "We still haven't found the money. We know who to take into custody, but we still don't have enough evidence to arrest him for anything more than tampering with a federal investigation."

"We will." Gibbs snapped his phone shut. "Vance will be sending Krone's team out to a crime scene at the park two blocks from here. We're going to be waiting to arrest Richards. McGee, go sleep on the couch until after we arrest this dirtbag."

McGee wanted to argue, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Gibbs glared at him.

"On it, Boss." He went to stand up, but stumbled.

"DiNozzo, make sure he doesn't break his neck getting there," Gibbs said. "Make more coffee, then get your ass back down here. McGee's right, we still need to pin this on Richards."

-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-

An hour later, Tony wasn't surprised to see Vance walk into the basement.

"Glad to see McGee's getting some shut-eye," Vance said. "I'm about to make the call. Gibbs, your team ready?"

Gibbs nodded, and Tony was compelled to add, "Oh, we're ready, Director."

He barely winced at the headslap from Gibbs. "Right, Boss. No maiming. I know."

Vance nodded. "We play this one by the books," he said. "You'll get your chance in interrogation." He cracked a smile, and Tony winced, hoping he would never be interrogated by the director.

Vance pulled out his phone and called Krone. Tony checked the time. It was after rush hour, so it shouldn't take them long to get here from the Navy Yard.

"Boss, we'd better get into position," he said.

"Before you do, you'll need these." Vance handed them their badges and SIGs.

Tony grinned as he clipped his badge on the pocket of his jeans and slid his holster into its familiar spot on his right hip. Now things were back to normal. Or as normal as they ever got.

Gibbs led Tony and Ziva through yards and other shortcuts, so they managed to walk the two blocks to the park in almost the same time it took Vance to drive over in the agency car. Tony scanned the park before settling into a space where a brick fireplace stood near the corner of two stone walls. The walls hid him from the street and the park entrance, and the open side faced into the park itself. The spot would be good shelter if this turned ugly, and he could cover Vance and Gibbs, who had taken position behind a giant oak tree. He watched as Ziva scaled a pine tree to hide a dozen feet off the ground. He remembered the last time she'd been up a tree and swallowed, hoping this case turned out better than that one had.

It wasn't more than 15 minutes before a blue sedan pulled up. Tony knew Ducky and Palmer wouldn't be far behind, but their faulty navigational skills should keep them out of the way until the shooting was over. If there was shooting. Tony pulled his weapon out and took off the safety as he crouched behind the walls.

"Director Vance?" Krone led his team into the park. "I thought you said there was a dead sailor. Where are the local LEOs?"

"I'm afraid I wasn't completely honest with you, Agent Krone." He paused, then raised his voice. "Was I, Agent Gibbs?"

Tony watched as Gibbs stepped out from behind the tree. Krone and Proctor looked confused, but the expression on Richards' face confirmed what McGee's computer work had revealed to them. He ducked down before they could see him.

"Gibbs?" Krone sounded confused. "Aren't you-?"

"Nope." Gibbs wasn't giving anything away in his voice. "Never was."

"We have a rogue agent in NCIS, but I knew it wasn't Gibbs or his team," Vance said. "They agreed to be the bait while we smoked out the real culprit."

Tony risked peering over the wall to see Gibbs, his hand on his holster. Ziva was apparently still in the tree, because he couldn't see her. Meaning the others couldn't either. Proctor had his hands on his hips, but he didn't seem mad. Krone's arms were crossed, and he faced Vance and Gibbs. However, Richards was practically vibrating, and Tony tensed. If he ran-

"Are you accusing me, Director?" Krone stepped closer.

"Not you," Vance said.

Krone turned to the men behind him, and Vance and Gibbs stepped closer. That was all it took, and Richards was off, racing into the park. Tony pivoted and ran, glad that was the unobstructed side of his cover. He was fast, but so was Richards. The rogue agent had never been a college D1-caliber athlete, but he had a good 15 years on Tony and had never battled the plague, so they were almost evenly matched. Tony tried to herd Richards back toward the center of the park, hoping Ziva or the others could cut him off.

Richards risked a look back and didn't see the branch in his path. His foot rolled under him, and he stumbled. Tony put on a burst of speed and managed a flying tackle to bring Richards to the ground. He pulled his handcuffs from his back pocket.

"You're under arrest." He pulled Richards' hands back behind him and snapped the cuffs on, making sure they were good and tight. "And after trying to pull the wool over Director Vance's eyes, not to mention running from Gibbs and making us stay up all night, you're also screwed." He got up and hauled Richards to his feet, frog-marching him down the path back toward the park entrance. The agent was limping some, but Tony kept up a quick pace. Gibbs and Ziva met up with them about a hundred yards down the path.

"That's good work, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "Too bad, though. I was looking forward to interrogating this bastard into confessing."

"Yeah, it's not as fun when they scare easily." Tony pushed Richards toward Ziva, who smiled at the rogue agent, the kind of smile that always made Tony think of a feral animal baring its teeth. "He's not going to last 10 seconds in interrogation with you, Boss. I won't even have time to finish making the popcorn."

Gibbs just quirked an eyebrow and smacked the back of his head, and Tony grinned. "Come on, let's get McGoo. This was his case, and he missed all the good stuff."

-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-

Abby was watching the fingerprints fly across the screen as AFIS tried to find a match, when she saw a Caf-Pow appear next to her. She whirled around to find her team there, Vance in tow.

"Gibbs, you're back!" She wrapped her arms around Timmy. "McGee, your snooper program rocks." She let go of him and moved on to Tony, who picked her up and spun her around.

"Good work this morning, Abs," he said, setting her down. She reached over and pulled Ziva in for a hug, then moved on to Gibbs, who hugged her close, then kissed her cheek.

"Sorry, Abs," he whispered in her ear. "We had to do it this way."

She nodded and decided to save her thoughts on that until she had an explanation.

"So fill me in," Abby said. "I'm completely out of the loop."

"No, Abigail, I believe that honor is reserved for Mr. Palmer and myself." Ducky stood in the doorway of the lab. "Jethro, I understand you could not reveal there was an operation in place, but it was rather embarrassing to show up thinking we were to examine a dead sailor and find Ziva leading an NCIS agent away in handcuffs."

Gibbs shook his head. "Not my op, Duck."

Vance looked over at the medical examiner. "Need to know, Dr. Mallard. You didn't. And I couldn't tell Agent Krone not to call you out this morning, or it would have tipped Richards off."

"No, I understand," Ducky said. "We were not on the list of people who needed to know and solving this case took precedence over our vain desires to not look foolish. But would somebody please explain what is going on for those of who missed portions of the escapade?"

Abby listened as the team took turns telling the tale, chiming in with her own overnight adventures.

"I wish I could have seen your face when Vance walked in and answered you," Tony said.

"It was memorable, Agent DiNozzo." Vance nodded. "Miss Scuito looked like she'd just come face to face with an axe murderer."

"I- I-" Abby tried to find something to say, but couldn't.

"Don't worry," Vance said. "You played your part perfectly, and I'm sorry we had to keep you in the dark."

"So how long are you letting Richards stew?" Tony asked from his perch on the lab table.

"Richards just finished writing out and signing his confession," Vance said. "The thought of facing Agent Gibbs in interrogation was enough to have him spilling all the details."

"What I don't understand is why he did it," McGee said. "He had to know he'd get caught at some point and his career would be over. Not to mention the jail time."

"Greed, pure and simple," Vance said. "Apparently on his first case with the team, he made a mistake typing up his initial field notes and nobody questioned it. The rest of the team used the wrong number in all their paperwork, and it went into the files as the lower number. Then a few weeks later, they caught the petty officer who had been stealing. He'd had the money stashed in a box under his bed. Richards was the one charged with counting it, and he realized he could pocket the $5,000 difference and nobody would know."

McGee nodded. "So he kept doing it. In most cases, the stolen money would be spent or in an account somewhere that was handled electronically. But not all the time."

"And for the ones that turned out to be hidden in cash or something else tangible, like stocks or jewelry, he'd be able to pocket the difference." Tony shook his head. "No wonder you couldn't find any accounts, McGee. He knew that would create a paper trail he couldn't cover. He had to do the same thing as the people who stole it int he first place, keep it around."

"That is probably what he was doing last night," Ziva said. "He must have the money in his apartment. I am sure he was finding new hiding spaces for it, so that if somebody became suspicious and searched, they would not find anything."

Vance nodded. "I have Balboa's team over there now searching for the money. Once they find it, this case is wrapped up."

Abby grinned. "Does that mean they can all go home, Leon? Because they look like they're about to fall asleep standing up."

"You heard Miss Scuito, go home, get some sleep," Vance said. "You deserve to start your weekend early after the past two days."

"And then when you wake up, you four are taking Ducky, Jimmy, and me out for drinks for making us worry about you," Abby said. "McAllister's Pub, 1900. You too, Gibbs." She stared at him, then each of the others in turn. "The next time you guys pull something like this, you're in big trouble." She slapped Gibbs on the back of the head, then went around, punching each of the others on the arm.

"Ow!" McGee rubbed his shoulder.

"Abby!" Tony ducked, so she got Ziva, then went back for him.

"Tony." She glared at him as she punched the director, then realized what she'd done. "Oops." She bit her lower bit. "Sorry, Leon." She lowered her eyes to the floor and waited for the explosion.

"Miss Scuito."

She looked up. "Yes?" She braced, waiting for what he would do.

"I couldn't risk telling you." He looked around the room. "I couldn't tell any of you what I had planned. If we failed, Richards would have gotten away with it."

Abby nodded and tried to shrink down. McGee put his arm around her shoulders, and Tony slid his around her waist. "I understand." She was quiet.

"And I understand that I asked a lot of you these past 24 hours, relying on you to trust that I was handling an explosive situation appropriately." Vance looked at Abby, and after a minute, she nodded. He did the same with each member of the team. "You handled this well, even better than I expected, and as one of the best team's in this agency's history, I expect a great deal from you. To thank you, tonight's drinks are on me."

Abby couldn't help laughing as Tony pumped a fist and even Gibbs managed a small smile. For the first time since this nightmare started a day ago, she felt like things were back to normal.