disclaimer: I do not own any of the character's in this story and is strictly for entertainment (mainly mine) purposes only. i hope you R&R :)
Father and Son
"On my count, DiNozzo, you and Ziva move in. McGee and I will follow through the front," Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs explained to his team of dedicated NCIS agents.
"These guys will probably be armed and shoot anything that moves so make sure you keep it low. DiNozzo! Zip up that vest!" Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, senior field agent on Gibbs' team, slapped himself over the head in a Three Stooges imitation. "Sorry Boss, the zip keeps sliding down on it! I'll make sure I get another one…"
"Forget it DiNozzo, you're not coming in without a vest."
"But Boss…" Tony stopped short when he saw the look in Gibbs eyes suggesting that if he didn't shut up and fast, Gibbs would be the one slapping the back of DiNozzo's head.
"Right! Shutting up Boss. What would you like me to do?"
"Go get yourself another vest, then jump in when you do. We'll need all the help we can get on this one."
Gibbs was considered one of the best in the game. His skills as an investigator were not matched by anyone else in the field. He had a 98% success rate at solving cases at NCIS. It was unprecedented and no one had ever come close to matching it. It wasn't all his doing though. He had a very capable team to help him solve cases that the Navy threw at them. There was Anthony DiNozzo, smart-alec extraordinaire and a great investigator to boot. Tony had been with Gibbs the longest out of any agent that he had ever worked with. Yes, he was a pain in the arse most of the time but he did always, somehow, manage to get his job done and done well. The other male member of his team, Timothy McGee, was a renowned computer genius. Could do anything he wanted on those damn things like a dog trainer at a show. McGee was an extremely capable agent and had a style all of his own, even if his approach was atypical of a federal agent, Tim always got the answers when DiNozzo and Ziva had hit brick walls. This brought Gibbs to the third and final member of his field team, Ziva David. Ziva was a Liaison Officer in connection with Moussad, an Israeli group working to stop the terrorism in their country. Ziva had developed quite a few skills as an investigator even though she was originally trained as an assassin. She melded well with all three men, tough and sincere without being narcissistic. Also, she was very able to look after herself.
DiNozzo ran back to the truck that held all the NCIS gear, including a couple of spare bullet-proof vests. But before Tony even had a chance to open up the truck door, shots had been fired from the warehouse that the team had been going to storm. Without thinking, Tony went into a crouching stance and glanced around the back door of the van, trying to get a visual on what was happening to his team, his family. From his position, DiNozzo could see two men, armed, and firing in the direction that he had just left Gibbs and the others. He looked with intent to see if he could make out his team but they had probably taken cover behind the car they were working their strategy out on. Tony could hear the return fire from the direction of his team and Tony desperately needed to get closer to the warehouse to take out the people that were trying to hurt his family. Tony saw a pile of about fifteen old pallet crates to his right. He decided that he was going to make a run for those crates so that he could make a better line and a better angle to protect his team. Crouched down low, DiNozzo took heed and ran towards the crates, his bullet-proof vest hanging loosely over his torso. As he ran he could hear the deflection of bullets hitting the rocks near his feet as the gunmen missed their moving target. As he ran faster, he heard the noise of return fire from the direction of Gibbs, Ziva and McGee. Getting safely to the crates, DiNozzo took a look to see if he could get a clear shot in at one of the terrorists armed at the windows of the warehouse in the middle of nowhere. How they had got to this point was not important, how they were going to get out of it alive was.
DiNozzo looked over the crates to see his team protected by the car, a blue 2007 Ford Mustang that came standard with the job. From where he stood though, DiNozzo realized that he didn't have any more of a shot at the terrorists than he did from behind the NCIS truck. DiNozzo was going to have to change his tactic. He decided that he was going to take the gunmen by surprise and what better way to do that than by sneaking around the back.
Gibbs had seen the gunmen but not quickly enough as he watched DiNozzo go and get his new vest on. The shots were fired from the derelict building they stood in front of where a tip had mentioned explosives and people that were very capable of using them inside. Gibbs heard the shot aimed in DiNozzo's direction and quickly made sure to return fire quickly, as well had Tim and Ziva, once they knew the gunman was aiming for Tony. Gibbs could hear the ping of the bullets hitting the rocks on the ground that were a little too close for comfort as well as the clunks of the metal shards lodging into the brand new Mustang. Gibbs was sure Director of NCIS; Leon Vance would have a word or two to him about them. That was not his concern for the moment though. His concern was the safety of his team and to not lose another agent like he had done with Kate. Caitlin Todd, or Kate as she was affectionately known, was an agent that had been executed with a full-metal jacket on top of a building not unlike this one. He had spent nearly a sleepless week tracking her killer down. He was not going to let that happen again. Not to his kids – his team.
The fire fight slowed as both sides had to rally for more bullets. In the commotion, Gibbs made sure to note where DiNozzo was and for the life of him he couldn't see where he had got to. He was hoping that Tony wasn't hurt somewhere out of sight, but in his gut he knew Tony could take care of himself. Tony was special to him. He had been a friend for nearly going on eight years. You begin to spend more time with your team than you would with your family, but that didn't matter to the head agent, DiNozzo, Ziva and Tim were his family – especially Tony. Like family though, Tony would do whatever it takes to protect them and with that thought Gibbs started to worry about what Tony was up to. Gibbs had a bad feeling about this.
DiNozzo was at the back door of the building and slowly opened the door and took a quick scan of the room inside. He could see piles of boxes covered in labels written in a language he was sure was Arabic. He could hear voices coming from the other end of the tunnel of cardboard. He couldn't understand what they were saying but he could still hear the echoing sounds of gunshots as the noise reverberated between the walls of the hollow room. Slowly, DiNozzo crept trying to avoid making any sound so as to not draw attention to himself. He hadn't really thought this plan through. He was going in with no back up and no idea as to where the shooting was happening. In the dim light that was passing through the dusty windows of the warehouse, Tony could hear the gunshots getting louder. DiNozzo came across the door that Gibbs and McGee were going to bust through before they were rudely interrupted by the gunmen trying to kill them. Tony figured that both gunmen would be to his right. As Tony was about to enter the room he heard Gibbs swear from outside saying something about his gun or his bum. Tony was pretty sure it was the first part. Tony shuffled quietly and skilfully through the doorway of the room that housed the assailants that had been trying to hurt his family. He ran up behind them just as Tony heard the calibre rifle that Gibbs kept in the car for emergencies blast holes through the wall aiming at the terrorist that Tony had witnessed from near the truck. The man yelled loudly as his hand was hit with shrapnel from the shattered wood. The other man was yelling at the injured one to be quiet. Tony used this distraction to get a better position near the men so he could take them by surprise.
Gibbs was outside ordering Ziva to get the rifle out of the back of car. One of the terrorists shot had been a lucky one, both for him and the shooter. Gibbs handgun had been hit by a bullet causing the trigger to jam. Swearing at the surprise of the shot and also the fact that he was now essentially unarmed, Gibbs had a thought to grab the rifle. The rifle was a strong range rifle and if a person was close enough, you could shoot a through and through injury without much effort. If anything it would cause a major distraction as he tried to figure a way out of this. Gibbs kept wondering where DiNozzo was. It wasn't like DiNozzo to be so quiet for so long, even if he was in another position. Leroy was hoping that he knew his agent well enough that he wouldn't do anything stupid. Unfortunately Gibbs knew Tony too well and was quite sure that he was up to something stupid.
Reacting on the thought that DiNozzo may have tried to follow the plan even without back up, Gibbs decided that he would cause a distraction by firing through walls where he knew his adversaries were within the building and hoping for the best. Gibbs saw a shadow flicker through the window they were near and fired his rifle toward the window feeling satisfaction when he saw a dark haired figure recoil with a simultaneous scream of pain. That had been a lucky shot. Gibbs believed that both he and the terrorist were even on that front.
Tony used the distraction of the injured gunman to draw up behind the other man idling at the other side of the big dusty window. With one down, Tony only had one more to deal with. He snuck up behind the terrorist, gun at the ready, and placed it firmly into the assailants back. The assailant jumped with his gun in hand into the view of Gibbs team. With the gun aimed in McGee's direction, Gibbs reacted quickly and swiftly, firing three rounds of his rifle shells into the man at the window. Gibbs felt satisfied as he saw the man collapse onto the frame of the window but what he hadn't counted on was the second face – a familiar face – Tony's face! His face, however, looked different. His laconic smile was replaced by a look of shock and Gibbs stared into his face for what seemed like ages. Tony saw Gibbs, gave him a slight smile, pointed his finger to his now stained shirt and collapsed.
Gibbs had essentially gone numb. They had to work fast. Gibbs ordered Ziva and Tim to move in. All three made a run for the main door. Gibbs felt his heart pounding a mile a minute. He had to get to Tony. All of Gibbs orders were given and taken but Gibbs was still on high alert while trying to get to Tony. He and the others didn't know how many more were in the warehouse. The three of them, all with a main focus, kicked the door in and cleared the main section of the warehouse. They had been lucky. No assailants were in sight but then Gibbs turned to the room to his left and he felt the colour drain from his face. Ziva and McGee saw what Gibbs was staring at. Without thinking Gibbs crossed the threshold into the next room without clearing it first. Ziva dragged Gibbs down and waited as McGee gave a quick glace and called the room empty. Gibbs was at Tony's side in a second once Tim gave the word. Gibbs noticed that Tony had not changed his vest and that blood was pouring out from three wounds in his chest. They had heard no other gun shots, did that mean...? Gibbs tried to clear the thought from his head. He had to act quickly.
"Ziva! Call 9-1-1! Tell them we need an ambulance ASAP! Federal Agent down!"
"Tim, hold his shirt and put pressure on the wounds." Gibbs looked at Tony's face. It was extremely pale with blood running from his mouth. Gibbs sat in behind Tony and tilted his torso up so that he could get under and prop Tony up from the floor. Tony's eye's opened.
"Tony! Tony can you hear me?"
"I can hear you Boss." Tony said the words but no sound came out. He felt so tired.
"Tony? Tony! You will not die, do you hear me? Tony? I need you to stay with me!" Tony could feel himself passing out in his Boss' arms. It was a nice feeling to be in the arms of family. Tony really hadn't had much of that growing up. His mother died when he was about ten. By the age of twelve, his father had disowned him and he was sent to Boarding School so he didn't interact with his family throughout the year. Gibbs voice broke through Tony's trail of thought.
"Tony! I know you can hear me! Wake up, Tony! You are stronger than this! You will fight! You got that DiNozzo!" With that last line, Tony felt a light tap on the top of his head. Tony smiled. Even if he was dying, Gibbs still managed to give him a head slap. Hell, Gibbs would probably be asked to be buried beside him so that he could give him head slaps for the rest of eternity. This made Tony laugh and then he wished he hadn't.
Gibbs' sigh of relief was barely audible but was still there. He had to wonder what his Senior Field Agent – his eldest son – was thinking about to make him laugh but it was just good to hear that sound come out of Tony.
"I got ya Boss!" Tony struggled to say as he tried to nod his head to let Gibbs know that he was going to fight.
"The Paramedics are on their way. You hang in there, you got me? I've got your six! You look after everything else!" With that, Tony fell asleep to the sound of distant sirens.
