A Desperate Sacrifice
Tony sat at his desk typing awkwardly when McGee and Ziva walked into the bullpen. "Tony? Why are you so early? Early chicken gets the worm?" Ziva said surprised that the constantly late agent actually made it before them.
"Bird, early bird gets the worm. And can't I be on time without getting the third degree for once?" Tony answered without looking up.
"Damn it Tony!" McGee swore after trying to remove his hands from the keyboard.
"Oh and I was putting glue on McGullible's keyboard." Tony said with a smirk watching as Tim futilely pulled at the keyboard.
"One of these days Tony, I am going to get you back for this." Tim said.
"What you going to do Probie, head slap me." Tony said laughing.
"He won't but I will." Came Gibbs' voice behind him along with a solid swat. "Give him the nail polish remover and get to work. I've got a meeting with the director." Tony reluctantly helped Tim de-stick his hands and sat down at his computer as Gibbs stalked up the stairs.
Gibbs had received an urgent summons from Jenny that morning and the only thing she had said was it was about Tony. He wondered what exactly Tony had done now to piss off the director. "Jenny." Gibbs said as he strode into her office without knocking. "What has DiNozzo done this time? Flirted with higher command? Missed a deadline? Teased the wrong agent?"
Jenny frowned at her best team leader; this wasn't going to go well. She knew how much he cared for Tony, even if he wouldn't come out and say it, he thought of him as a son. Jenny took a deep breath and decided to just spit it out quick- like ripping off a Band-Aid. "Jethro, Tony hasn't done anything. Joey Picard broke out 5 hours ago. Authorities think he is coming after Tony."
Gibbs paled and ran out of the office. Ziva and Tim looked up in shock at their stalwart boss as he practically bolted down the stairs. "Where's Tony?" he questioned desperately when he saw his senior agent wasn't at his desk.
"Tony? He just got a call and then ran to the elevator like 30 seconds ago. What's happening Boss?" Tim said worried at the uncharacteristic behaviour of both agents.
"Picard's loose!" Gibbs said already pushing into the stairwell. He just knew Tony was going to do something stupid.
"What is this Picart and what's it got to do with Tony?" Ziva said confused as she studied the now pale McGee.
"Not a what, Joey Picard was a case we worked before you joined up. He murdered 10 marines before we caught him. We knew he worked for or was a member at a gym so Tony went in undercover. He managed to get really close to Joey and his brother Chris. Found out they were working together, torturing the marines for days before killing them. We managed to catch them but Tony had to shoot Chris in self-defence and Joey swore he would get revenge on Tony." Tim said heavily, remembering the awful scene they had stormed in on. A marine had been dangling from the ceiling with gun shot wounds in both knees and shoulders. He had been stabbed multiple times in the stomach and was barely alive when they had arrested Joey, and now he was out there somewhere.
Gibbs burst into the garage just in time to see Tony heading for his car. "DiNozzo! Where the hell do you think you are going?" He watched as Tony flinched and hurried his pace. "Freeze! That's an order!" Gibbs said striding quickly towards his agent who deflated in front of him and stopped moving. "Tell me about the phone call Tony."
Tony turned towards his boss slowly. "Picard has my neighbour Ben. He was breaking into my apartment when Ben came out of his place. Ben was trying to call me to warn me Boss and now Picard has him. Says he will kill him if I don't give myself up." Tony tried to move towards his car but Gibbs gripped his arm tightly. "Let me go Gibbs. Ben's a good guy. He's got a fiancée and a little sister who visits him every week. He doesn't deserve to be tortured and killed for me. Just let me go!" Tony struggled to pull his arm free but Gibbs easily held him.
"Tony, I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself. I'm sorry about your friend and we will do our best to find him but you are not giving yourself up. You are a good guy and you don't deserve to be tortured either. Now come upstairs." Gibbs said as he dragged his reluctant agent back towards the elevator and took his car keys away from him. In the privacy of the elevator he gave Tony 5 stinging swats to his behind. "Don't ever run off into danger without backup. Do it again and I'll make sure you don't sit for a week.
When they entered the bullpen Gibbs shoved Tony gently towards his desk. "Ziva, watch him and don't let him leave and get Abby to trace the call to Tony's phone. Picard has a new victim and I want results. Now! McGee, you and I are going to Tony's apartment. Picard was there. Tony, stay here."
"And do what Boss? This is stupid, you can't bench me! I should come with you." Tony said angrily.
"I said Stay DiNozzo." Gibbs said getting close into Tony's face. He wasn't about to let Tony leave the safety of NCIS. He waited until Tony stepped back, cowed before continuing. "You can get everything you can on Picard and your friend." Tony collapsed back into his chair and Gibbs turned to Ziva. "He doesn't leave your sight and if he pushes you, do whatever you need to, to keep him here. Cuff him if you have to." Gibbs said as he stalked away with McGee on his heels.