Tony was careful to maneuver the string of melting cheese with his mouth hanging over the edge of the pizza slice as he took a large bite but at the same time keeping his fully-committed vigil on the building across the street.

"I can't believe you forgot sausage. Aren't you Italian?" Danny guzzled a large swallow of root beer then burped long and loud.

"Hey! You're gonna blow our cover...or, if not that… wake the dead."

"We really need to start eating better. All these late night pizzas we order at stakeouts are going to eventually catch up with us."

Tony glanced towards his partner's gut, slightly hanging over his belt buckle. "Danny…If you weren't here…you'd be home nukin' a 'Hungry Man' TV dinner then drinking it down with a beer. But, as for me….I have no need to worry. As soon as I get home tonight, I'll get all the exercise I need to work off this pizza and then some…" Tony smiled as he chewed.

"Still seeing Wendy, huh? This is pretty serious…you guys have been together for a while now. Does she know about your tube sock fetish, yet?"

Tony smugly smiled, not making eye contact with his partner. "You kiddin'? I think that's what she loves most about me. "

"Huh?"

"I stopped by her place last night to pick her up, ya know, to go to dinner. I was waiting in her living room when she walks in wearing nothing but…clean, white tube…socks. The kind with blue stripes at the top. My favorite color." Tony wagged his eyebrows for his friend.

Danny laughed out loud. "Tube socks? I gotta admit…That's a strange image…but, still nice, all the same."

"Oh yeah…It was nice." Tony took another bite, his eyes still glued on the building.

"So, I take it you never made it to dinner." Danny said.

"Needless to say…No. We never made it. Plus…Well...I ended up popping the question to her." Tony felt his face warm.
"Wait, what?! You didn't!" Danny smiled at Tony wholeheartedly, joyfully slapping him on the back. "I'll be damned. Tube socks…Who ever thought they could help in making a profound deal sealer."

Tony chuckled, quietly, "Well...she always smells really pretty, too." Danny was in awe to see the embarrassment in his friend's face, an emotion Tony rarely exhibited.

"I never thought in a million years, my partner, Anthony DiNozzo, would some day get hitched for good." Tony winked at him.

They sat in the car for the next five minutes in silence enjoying their dinner and wallowing in Tony's good news. Tony grabbed a napkin off the dashboard and wiped pizza sauce off the corners of his mouth. He then used it to wipe his forehead."Shit. It's hot tonight."

"Well, hell. That pizza didn't help. It's gotta be at least ninety five degrees out there." Said Danny.
"And in here. It sure is frustrating when we have a perfectly good air conditioner sitting right there in front of us but we can't use it."

"Comes with the job, my friend."
"Crappy stakeouts…" Mumbled Tony grabbing the binoculars off the dash as the door of the building opened. He focused the binoculars as he peered through the eyepiece towards the front steps to the entrance of the building.

"See anything important?" Asked Danny.
"No. It's not our man." Tony tossed the binoculars on the seat beside him when he heard the screech of tires from up the street heading in their direction. Light from the headlights filled their car, blinding them momentarily. Danny withdrew his weapon.

"You think that, that's necessary? Probably just some kids drag racing." Said Tony.
"You can never be too sure."

A black Sedan neared them, its speed increasing when the back door closest to them flew open and a body was pushed out to the street without hesitation. Wide mouthed, Tony placed his hand on his gun still tucked in his holster as he met his partner's gaze just before they exited the car running straight to the fallen person.

A man, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, lay face down, motionless. Tony was the first to reach him, grabbing the man's side to roll him onto his back. One of the first things he noticed was the blood that covered his shirt. "Shit. He's just a kid."
"Is he alive?" Danny kept guard over his partner and the vic, scanning the street as he watched the car speed away from them.

"Barely." Tony lifted the kid's shirt, pressing on his belly as he dialed his cellphone for an ambulance. Tony looked up at Danny. "He's been stabbed in the stomach. He's gonna bleed out if the ambulance-" Tony was connected to dispatch and immediately requested an ambulance. "We have a male down; on the corner of Lexington and Ford. Looks like multiple stab wounds to the abdomen and severe contusions covering his body. We need assistance, pronto! I mean it, this kid doesn't look like he's got much more fight in him…he was thrown from a moving vehicle and he's losing a lot of blood...fast!" Tony disconnected then sighed, heavily. "Dammit!"

Danny was calling for backup, still standing over him. He holstered his weapon then placed a gentle hand on Tony's shoulder. "What? Do you know him or something?" Tony wasn't about to tell his partner that the kid's baby face had already got to him and in a strange way, it did feel like he knew him. The boy had the appearance of innocence and all that was good in the world. He wore a clean-cut, close-cropped haircut and sported some deep-red, round cheeks. His sweet face was the last he'd expect to see in this dismal section of the city at this time of hour.

"No, I don't. But something tells me he doesn't deserve to be here."

"Aaahhh, he's probably just another kid involved with drugs." Said Danny.
"Nah. I don't think so." Tony was kneeling by his side, still trying to slow the flow of blood from his wound while checking his vitals.

Tony and Danny's heads shot up when they distinctly heard the reoccurring screech of tires growing in the distance.

"Damn. They're coming back." Said Danny.

Within the next moment Tony could swear he felt a bullet whiz by his head. "They're firing at us!"

"Get down!" Danny pushed down on Tony's back. "They're headed right towards us!"

"What do I do with the kid? He might have a spinal injury."

"I dunno, leave him. He'll be fine, but we gotta take cover, they'll be on top of us in seconds!" Danny was crouched, impatient to leave his partner's side for safety.

Tony was shocked with Danny's answer. "I'm not leaving him here! They'll run him over!" Tony was now glaring at him, waiting for a better answer.

"Then, I dunno...Drag him by his ankles to the side of the road. "Over there-" He pointed to a bench. "I'll cover you as you move him!"

Tony knew taking cover in different refuges was their best strategy. Their assailants would be fired upon by both sides and they could do more damage to their car.

Danny was already making his way to their own car for cover as he yelled instructions to Tony. "Try to keep him as immobile as possible, don't jostle his neck or back! The important thing is to keep him alive, right? Hurry, they're close!" Tony was confused why Danny wasn't helping him move the kid. He looked up and was blinded briefly by the oncoming car's headlights and almost panicked. He didn't realize how fast they were drawing upon them.

The victim was dead weight as Tony used every ounce of strength to pull him quickly to a spot, remotely safe, behind a cement, sidewalk bench, hoping it would offer 'some' protection. He swallowed hard when his dinner repeated on him as he exerted himself. He almost tripped on his feet as he ran backwards, dragging the kid. "Can't you help me out a little bit, junior?" He managed to get him behind the bench then lay in front of him on his side, protecting him like a human shield.

Danny had taken cover behind their car and was shooting at their assailants in rapid fire. Tony took aim and blew out their back windshield. More shots were fired through a crack in the rear passenger window of the assailants' vehicle as they passed.

Tony grunted when he felt a shot hit his arm and burn like fire, instantly. The car continued past them without much of a chance that they'd be back with the police and ambulance sirens filling the hot, muggy air, now heard within close proximity.

"Are you okay to stay here with him, Tony? I should follow them in pursuit-"

Tony was holding his injured arm, still laying on the ground. "Nah. They blew out one of our tires, you're stuck." He jutted his jaw towards the front end of their car.

Danny sighed, his shoulders slumping as he approached Tony. His step quickened when he saw the blood on Tony's arm, "Ahhh, Damn! You're hit?" He placed a hand on Tony's shoulder, trying to get a better look.

"Just a graze. I'll be okay." He waved him off.

"Did you get the license?" Tony asked Danny.

"Nah. Too dark. But we know the make and model..."

Tony frowned at him then rolled to face the victim. Tony rose into a crouched position next to him as he winced from the pain in his arm. He looked over the kid...his blood was everywhere now; staining his torso and hands. He admired his effort; holding his own stomach, trying to stop the flow of blood from his wound. "You still with me kid?"

Tony startled when the kid reached up and grabbed Tony's wounded arm, squeezing wear the slug had grazed it. He cracked his green eyes open, "Uh...Yeah, uh, thanks for...that." His voice was weak and raspy. His head rolled to the side then dropped, he was unconscious. A fleeting thought made Tony hesitate, an image...blood brothers. A man swearing to treat another like a brother, sometimes with the ceremonial melding of each other's blood.

"Stay with me!" Tony had pressure on his belly, as he patted his face to rouse him. He could hear the ambulance coming. "Hang on. Help is here!"

Danny rummaged through the fallen man's pockets for ID, finding his wallet. "Holy crap."
"What?" Said Tony.

Danny was staring at the kid, wide-eyed then looked at Tony."Says here his name is...Timothy McGee. I'm not sure, but I think he's my...cousin."