UNTITLED (BALLROOM BLITZ )CHAPTER ONE

The Ballroom was large and exquisite. A long flight of stairs with soft Champaign colored carpet covered them. Gold railings ran on either side with one in the middle to divide the staircase for people to have room, to go up and down them. The large room was surrounded with tables that were covered in expensive white table cloths. Each table was numbered and labeled for each agency and blue candles with red plastic flowers place just right in the middle. The expensive china, crystal goblets and, silverware completed the picture. There was a dance floor in front of them with a stage in front of the floor. A band played live music that floated around the room. A large bar was set in the back. There was a mirror with white etching designs on it along with the wooden counter that shone while the drinks flowed freely.

There were representatives invited from every agency. The idea was to promote all the agencies to become better aquatinted. The higher ups in command hoped this would help to make the agencies all work together like a well oil machine.

Gibbs entered the building dressed up in an expensive tuxedo, something he felt very uncomfortable in. This wasn't Leroy Jethro Gibbs, dressing like this or going to these dinners, this was more like something DiNozzo or Ducky would be comfortable at. Thank God, they were with him and that he knew some people here. Ducky stood to his left and he looked, as Jethro knew he would, a lot more at home wearing the dark suit and tie.

Gibbs grumbled to his friend. "If I hear one more James Bond reference, I swear I'm going to head slap DiNozzo into next month," He finished with a snarl.

"He's just excited Jethro," Ducky explained, trying to quiet his friend's nerves.

Tony adjusted his bow tie, comfortable in it and wore a huge grin on his face. He was used to parties like these. His parents had had enough of them when he was a kid. There were a few things he could thank his parents for. They made sure he knew how to act, dress and dance for these sort of occasions. Still, he was thrilled to be here, nothing could break his mood tonight. Tough it was kind of funny to see his boss dressed in a tux, he'd never imagined it. Tony saw Gibbs more like Roger Moore, in his Bond days. On the other side stood Ducky, Tony smiled as his train of thought stayed on the Bond movies. Ducky, to him looked more like a mixture of all but one of the actors who played James Bond. He'd rather forget about Timothy Dalton. But the one thing that stuck in Tony's head was that he always saw him self as the Sean Connery, Bond The original.

The gathering was organized also for the different agencies to celebrate together and mingle outside of work. Due to peoples' reluctance to attend such an event, it was extended to include, The Golden Boys and some departmental heads. Tony wasn't a fan of being referred to as a golden boy but he leapt at the opportunity to dress up as James Bond and be a part of something this big and eloquent. He wanted to meet some of the brass. He guessed it was in the DiNozzo blood, these parties and these people he was so good schmoozing with.

Tony, Ducky and Gibbs descended down the stairs and entered the room filled with so many diverse people. Tony's eyes scanned the room. It was easy to spot the different organizations since they were dressed in that attire. The only trouble was telling the difference between the FBI, CIA and Homeland Security. He knew he'd remember once they sat at the right tables.…

"Pick the odd one out," Ducky said as he looked around at everybody.

"Homeland Security," Tony responded quickly. "You have NCIS, FBI, CIA… JAG… Homeland Security doesn't stand for anything," he said triumphantly.

Gibbs rolled his eyes as they broke off from each other to do as they were told. He knew that Ducky and Tony would mingle well, they were used to these types of affairs. But Gibbs had to push himself. Well, at least he knew a few of the people from the agencies. He also knew that word would definitely get back to Jenny if they just hung around each other all night. Only he knew that it was mostly him that wanted just to hang around who he was comfortable with, hell, he wasn't comfortable with being here in the first place. He let out a soft sigh and thought more about the evening. Jenny wasn't able to attend and they were there to represent DC's NCIS. Jenny loved to kiss ass on the hill as he remembered telling her when she first started and had come to visit him. Maybe this was her way of getting back at him, he snickered.

The first person Ducky almost bumped into was Harmon Rabb JR from JAG. The taller man nodded in polite greeting. "Doctor Mallard isn't it?" Harm asked.

"Please call me Donald," Ducky replied as they shook hands. "You know, I haven't been to a Gala Event this huge since being invited to Prince Alis' dinner party in '85 or was it '86… Wait it was in '86, that's right the party was right after we were informed of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster," Ducky said.

Harm pursed his lips tightly as the ME continued to relay what Harm thought as a pointless story. He tried so hard to feign interest but couldn't even muster enough will to even do that. "The others?" Harm asked.

"I didn't know them back then," Ducky answered while shaking his head. "I wonder if they were, why on Earth would they be in Peru?" He asked. "Oh right… Yes, they're doing the meet and greet. You know the meet and greet…"

"I see an old friend, excuse me, Donald." Harm quickly interrupted before going to another group of people.

Gibbs met up with Tobias Fornell who was representing the FBI. It was always customary in public places to see Tobias and Agent Sacks joined at the hip. Gibbs acted as politely as he could. "Tobias…Agent Sacks," he greeted in his usual gruff manner.

"Jethro…" Fornell replied. "I see you got roped into this as well," he said in an understanding tone. He hated that his boss had sent them on this interagency mission as well. The annoyance clearly showed. "Run along and play Sacks, mingle," Tobias said, indicating that he wanted time alone and that he wanted his agent to do what he, him self didn't fell like doing.

"Yeah, this is so ridiculous," Gibbs whispered. "I have no problem communicating what I want," he smiled at that, "only Jenny sent me. She's the ass kisser, not me."

"That you do. And my boss sent me too, so I understand, so they sent the best bastards of our agencies" Fornell chuckled.

"Ya think?" Gibbs grinned with a chuckle of his own.

Fornell moved closer and took a sip of his preferred drink. "You think if we snuck out anyone would notice," he was positive they would since they were surrounded by well trained investigators. "Hell, if we left it'd probably start a trend and soon there'll be nobody in here," Fornell joked.

"And who would give a damn about the wasted food. The only thing that's good here are the free drinks." Gibbs added to the joke.

"Well, best mingle. I feel like I'm undercover." Fornell finished the joke and saw Gibbs nod in agreement before he left.

Tony met up with Faith Coleman from JAG. The place was so filled you couldn't turn around without bumping into someone from JAG. Tony assumed that they wanted their presence known. "You want to dance?" Tony asked with his best manners and charm. "I bet you're a good dancer," he had expected her to flatly refuse.

"Sure Agent DiNozzo," Faith answered and allowed him to take the lead. "So what you been working on lately?" She made polite conversation.

Tony waited awhile before he answered. Now was the time to tease her more. He remembered how anal she was with the pencils in the glass when he had spoken to her on a case. He had teased her then too, but now he knew just how to get to her. The hell with his manners, this would be more fun, he mused "Firstly I had to dig around in mud to find some evidence and later I actually assisted Ducky do an autopsy," Tony explained. "Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to shower before coming here," he smiled, at the lie he was spinning to get to the JAG lawyer.

Faith quickly removed his hands from around her waist and gasped before she literally ran away. Tony couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. The laugh was quickly interrupted by a head slap. "Hey," Tony said.

"Play nice DiNozzo," Gibbs said harshly. He had watched the scene play out and had to admit that it was funny. But if word got back to the director, he'd have his ass handed to him on a silver platter.

"Yes Boss," Tony responded like he did when he was a kid to his father.

"Good. Now run along and get me a drink from the bar," Gibbs ordered. "I'll be over there," Gibbs pointed to the stairs where Ducky was talking to a couple of people.

"What type of drink Boss? There are a lot at a bar not that you wouldn't know that…" Tony asked and then trailed off at his mistake.

"Something alcoholic," Gibbs answered. "Other than that… Surprise me. But nothing fruity, something strong," he said.

Tony couldn't help but smirk. It was obvious what drink was running through his mind. The drink was perfect for the attire Gibbs was wearing. "Martini… Shaken not stirred," Tony said to the man tending bar. "Make it a good one."

After awhile, the bartender placed a glass on the wooden counter in front of Tony. "Thank you," Tony replied with a smile as he took the martini glass. He stayed there for awhile and wondered if he really did look like James Bond now. To quench his thirst he took a mouthful of the glass. It did taste really good.

Tony could see Ducky and Gibbs talking with some people from either the CIA or maybe Homeland Security. He walked past a group of people. He tightly held the drink so it wouldn't spill when he almost bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going," he heard someone he didn't recognize say.

"Oh sorry," Tony said and adjusted his tie. "I think I just lost my footing," he explained his actions. He looked behind him at the person who was no longer listening. "Hey, I think I tripped over something," Tony said as he excused himself. Heat coursed through his veins, almost to the point of burning. The sensation grew stronger.

"Oh God," Tony slumped against a wall with a heavy thud. The room felt like it was moving. He studied the contents of the glass. His brain was a little fuzzy but he still was able to realize that he started to feel this way shortly after the drink of the Martini he held. "Oh no, this isn't good" he licked his lips. His lips became dry after he realized he was either drugged or poisoned.

There was only one person to take the glass to and another to keep it away from. He wasn't sure how he made it to the other side of the room without walking into someone or even falling over.

"Hey, are you alright?" A voice asked. Tony's vision began to blur, and made it impossible to focus on the face. "You should sit down or something," the voice spoke again. Tony couldn't seem to move from the spot even though he tried.

Harm had noted that something wasn't right with the NCIS agent. He held Tony still by clasping the Agent's shoulders. Something clearly was wrong since he'd almost fell into the wall and he was hardly able to walk straight.

"Let me go," Tony said in a panicked voice. He then covered the martini glass with his other hand. Harm let go of the agent he recognized, reluctantly but continued to watch him even as someone began talking to him.

Movement at the base of the stairs had caught Gibbs' attention. He could see Tony stagger almost sideways to the stairs and began to climb them holding on to the rail tightly, his gait, very awkward. Gibbs knew something was wrong and it went right to his gut. He was proven right when Tony knees buckled and his hand let go of the rail so his knees now supported him on the stairs. He somehow knew he had to save the drink to know what was in it and gently put the glass down.

"Ducky," Gibbs got the attention of the ME.

They watched as Tony went from his knees to lying face down. Both Gibbs and Ducky walked quickly to where Tony was. By this time people had noticed that something strange was going on.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs called to his agent. Anyone who knew the man would have heard the alarm in his voice as he knelt down beside the younger man.

"I think I've been poisoned thought drug, now, don't," Tony struggled to tell Gibbs and then he pointed to the martini glass. "I feel like I'm burning inside out, my mouth is dry and everything's fuzzy and the room won't stop moving," Tony explained. "I only had a mouthful." He continued weakly.

Gibbs went to take the glass. Tony still felt the presence of mind to take the glass out of his reach. "DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted.

"Poison," Tony told him once again and moved the glass away from Gibbs. That was the drink he had gotten for his Boss so of course he'd want to drink his drink. "Ducky… Test… it. No," Tony said as he tried to hand the drink to Ducky.

"Don't worry DiNozzo." Gibbs said softly with concern. "I'm not going to drink it," he reassured the senior field agent.

This seemed to put Tony's mind at ease. Gibbs took the glass from Tony and handed it to Ducky. "Paramedics are on their way," someone called out.

Tony tried to lift his head up and fought to sit. He tried to move from his precarious position, only the find that everything, once again started to spin. "I need a drink," Tony croaked out. His mouth and lips were dry. Once again he licked them.

"We can't allow you to drink anything Anthony until we find out what's in your system," Ducky explained.

By now a crowd surrounded the agent. Fornell, Harm and Gibbs picked Tony up and brought him down the stairs, Tony sighed as they eased onto his back. One thing that seemed to be going well was that the internal heat had died down. Unfortunately though, it seemed to now settle in a place where it wasn't needed, Tony's lungs, affecting his breathing.

Tony coughed hard, his body convulsed each time. "Now, I really do feel like Bond," Tony's eyes closed, it was too much of an effort to keep them open. He made an effort to tear open his shirt. Ducky brushed Tony's hand away and removed the bow tie before loosening the collar.

"Damn it, DiNozzo," Gibbs cursed. "Only you can walk into a room full of federal agents and people of high security and have somebody try to kill you," he said to nobody in particular. All he could do was wait for the paramedics to arrive.