Tony, Ziva and McGee were sitting at their desks, finishing up their paper work for the latest mission, retrieving a Russian nuclear device from the U.S.N.S. Chimera.

Tony's head was down, resting it on his desk.

"Bet you'll be going as a rat for Halloween now, yes?"…Ziva chuckled.

Tony raised his head…"Ugh, I hate Halloween."

"Such a party popper, Tony."

"Pooper, Zee-vah."

Ziva shrugs as Tony stood from his desk…"Don't you want to see my costume, Tony?"

"For what?"

"I'm celebrating Halloween for the first time."

"Why?"

"I'm having a party."

"Oh, you must've forgot to invite me…again."

Ziva lowered her head…"Harah."…She quietly said to herself.

She moved to Tony…"You can come."

"Naw, that's okay…I hate Halloween, remember?"…Tony grabbed his bag and moved towards the elevator.

"Don't you want to see my Halloween costume?"

"I'm sure I'll hear about it from McGeek."

"Tony…"

The elevator doors close.

"When are you finally gonna tell him that you love him?"…McGee asked.

"I don't love him, McGee!"

"Okay, whatever."

Ziva sighed and moved back to her desk…"I can't believe I did that."

"Did what?"

"I forgot to invite him to my Halloween party."

"Like how you forgot to invite him the last time?"

"Shut up, Tim."

"I'm just saying….and why are you denying yourself?"

"Why do you care…because of your stupid book?"

"You know how Tony is…he's the kind of guy who needs reassurance."

"How would you know?"

"I've worked with him longer than you."

"He's right, Ziva."…Gibbs said moving into the bullpen…"What happened; you didn't invite him to your party again?"

Ziva sighs…"That was a one time thing, okay?"

"Until now."

Ziva looked up at Gibbs…"Damn it!"

"What are you going as for Halloween, Ziva?"…McGee grinned.

A large white male stood in Navy whites outside a large black van holding a folder…"Captain Lawrence Steiner…Navy SEAL, two tours of duty, one in Afghanistan, one in Iraq. Congressional Medal of Honor winner, a Navy cross; three purple hearts, amongst other commendations."…The man turned, a man sat in the back of the van, both of his legs were missing…"Sound like the perfect candidate to me."

"Why do you think I picked him, Geoff?"…A smaller white hair white man, walked up next to large man and tapped him on the shoulder…"I love his mind and courage."

"Colonel?"

"He's the one for my experiment."

"Zeus?"

The Colonel didn't respond, he just closed the back of the truck and moved behind to a large black sedan…"Ride with them, Geoff…I'll be right behind you."…The Colonel climbed into the back of the car.

"Yes, sir."…He quickly moved to the passenger side, getting in.

A young man wearing fatigues was driving the truck.

"What's your name, Marine?"

"Linders, Sir."

"Bethesda."

"Sir. Yes, sir!"

"Go."

The marine started the truck and drove off.

Tony stepped out of restaurant holding a pizza box…he sniffs it…several people in costumes walk by laughing and giggling.

Tony crunches his nose…"I hate Halloween."…He moves to his car and gets inside; setting the pizza on the passenger seat…he pats the top of the box…"Just six miles until you're in my tummy!"…Tony started the car and drove off.

Tony stops at a red light…"Come on, it's getting cold…well, warm? It's getting something…hurry up, me hungry!"…He turns…"Oh, screw it!"…He opens the box, he takes a piece out and takes a bite…"Hot, hot, hot!"…Tony starts blowing on it as the light turns green just as his cell phone chirps.

He hits the gas, he sets the pizza back in the box and pulls his cell phone from jacket…he looks down at it, it's from Ziva…he flips it open…"Tony, come to my par..."

The sound of tires screeching makes Tony turn his head just as the black truck sideswipes his car, sheering off the front end of his car. Tony's face was bloodied and bruised, his legs both severed from knee down. Tony blacks out.

A bright light shines as Tony tries to open his eyes, he tries to turn his neck but he can't, it's locked into place…he tries to speak, but he can't, he has a tube down his throat, his eyes move rapidly.

"Take it, too and replace his lungs, he has odd scaring, better safe than sorry… put in the aqua one we've been testing."

The light starts to move…"Damn, he's awake…put him under now!"

Tony's eyes slowly start to close.

Tony's eyes open again, he once again tried to turns his head…the white haired man leaned over Tony's, looking into his eyes with a small flashlight.

"Can you hear me? If you can blink."

Tony blinks.

"You were in an accident, but we're going to take care of you."

"Who is this? Where is Captain Steiner?"…A voice demanded.

"General Grylls, he was killed in an automobile accident."

"What? Then who is this man?"

"He was involved with the accident…"

The General interrupts…"What he is doing here…wait, are you going through with the experiment with this man, Colonel Harris?"…He raised his voice.

"He's an NCIS agent."

"I don't care if he's the freakin' Pope, this is a 2 billion dollar project."

"More like 2.4."

"This is not the time to joking around, Colonel."

"Sir, trust me…I've read his file and..."

"Is that man awake?"…The General notices Tony's eyes are open and flickering.

"Put him under, nurse."…The Colonel gave an order.

"Right, doctor."…A redheaded woman wearing blue scrubs moves to Tony and looks down at him…"You're going to be fine."…As Tony slowly crept back into darkness.

The General and the Colonel stood outside the room.

"How much did you have to replace?"…The General asked.

"Both arms and legs and his lungs."

"Lungs?"

"Yes, seems he had Y. Pestis."

"What's that?"

"Pneumonic plague."

"And this is the man you choose to replace the Captain?"

"It's not like I knew he had it before I started…plus, you wanted me to try out the new aqua lung anyway."

The General shook his head…"He'll be able to breathe underwater?"

"That is correct."

"What other biomods…"

"His optic nerve, he'll have better visual capability than any bird of prey and his vision will be better in darkness than that of an owl."

"Night vision?"

The white haired man nodded.

"His hearing?"

"Nothing."

"Replace it."

"There's nothing with his ears, Sir."

"I want the perfect soldier, not the almost perfect soldier, Doctor…do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."…The man waddles into the room, he leans over Tony…"I'm sorry, son…it looks like you're gonna need another surgery…nurse, prep him for surgery, please."

"Yes, Doctor."…The redhaired woman said as she walked over to Tony…she smiled at him as his eyes slowly started to close.

Tony's eyes flickered; he opened his eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the light. Someone pulls back his covers, his body is covered with a skintight black suit, from his neck to the souls of his feet.

"Tony?"…A distorted voice said.

Tony turned his head, his head bandaged up, seeing Ziva dressed as belly dancer.

Tony grinned, then groaned.

Tony tried to speak, but couldn't.

"Don't talk; you were in a car accident."

Tony looked around; everything seemed to be in slow motion.

"Tony?"

Tony turned his head back towards Ziva…she was about to say something when Tony passes out.

She moves her hand to his cheek, caressing it…"I love you."…Muttering under her breath.