Here's another unforgivably delayed, ridiculously short chapter. Maybe eventually I'll even get round to making the second one make sense...

The Doctor, Gibbs and Vance had gone up to Vance's office almost immediately after arriving back at NCIS. Vance had practically dragged the other two men into the room before they could get the promised explanation on this insanity. Gibbs had given his team the look, the one that suggested various cruel and unusual punishments if he caught them listening but sort of expected them to anyway.

Donna was stood with her ear to the door the second it had closed. DiNozzo waited for about four seconds before, in a very controlled way, getting up, smiling slightly at McGee and Ziva when they looked up from their individual parts of the case, and walking quickly towards the stairs, followed by Ziva and almost running by the time they both reached the top of the stairs.

McGee got halfway to the stairs when he heard the phone on Gibbs' desk starting to ring. He walked back to it, vaguely annoyed that Tony and Ziva got to listen and he was left to do this.

"Agent Gibbs' desk." He answered.

"Is Jethro there?" It was Ducky. He sounded worried.

"He's in Director Vance's office."

"Could you get him please, Timothy? This is important."

"Are you sure Johnson was an extra-terrestrial? It could have been the murderer's blood. He wouldn't have just let that happen without putting up a fight."

The Doctor and Gibbs both raised an eyebrow simultaneously.

"Then we're calling in UNIT. They have more experience in these fields. I'm calling General..."

"Not going to happen, Leon."

"Yeah, they'd just end up shooting everyone." The Doctor said in agreement.

"And you'd know would you, Doctor...?"

"Just The Doctor."

"Alright, 'Just The Doctor'." Vance turned to Gibbs. "You trust this lunatic?"

Gibbs nodded. "The Doc has more experience with these guys. And Johnson was a marine, Leon. Wherever the hell he was from, he was one of ours. We'll find the killer."

"It's on your head if this goes wrong."

Gibbs nodded again. He hadn't expected anything else.

There was a knock on the door and Vance's eyes narrowed at the interruption.

"Come in."

McGee opened the door, Donna, DiNozzo and Ziva hovering in the corridor just behind him. "We have a problem, Boss."

"What, McGee?"

"Palmer's missing."

"What?"

"He didn't come intro work this morning. He isn't answering his cell and when Ducky called Breena she said he never came home last night. She thought he was just working late and forgot to call."

Gibbs glanced at Vance, who gave a barely perceptible nod.

"I'm going down to the morgue. DiNozzo, go talk to Breena." He said, walking past his agents to the stairs

"What about us, Boss?" McGee said slightly sheepishly.

"Johnson's killer isn't going to find itself." Gibbs called, not turning. "You coming, Doc?"