Notes: Thanks all for the follows and reviews! I was afraid this fic was going to suck, but I'm much more confident about it now. Thanks again and enjoy!
As soon as the line disconnected, Vance got up and went out to the balcony overlooking the bullpen. Ziva was on the telephone, arguing with someone in another language. Tony was typing something.
"DiNozzo!" He shouted. The SFA looked up and locked eyes with the Director. "You and David report to my office immediately."
Tony nodded and got up from his desk. He stopped at Ziva's desk and said something toher. She hung up the phone after a few colorful Hebrew words, and followed Tony. They bumped into Abby as they got to the top of the stairs.
"What's going on, guys? Vance called me up here on the double!"
"I'm not sure, Abbs," Tony said. They went into Vance's office, and the secretary waved them in. Vance was leaning on the edge of his desk when they arrived.
"We have a problem," he said immediately.
"What's going on?" Tony asked, concerned.
"Agents Gibbs and McGee are being held hostage by Carmine Bonifacio. The man you took into custody today is his nephew."
Tony's eyes went wide. He knew they were dealing with Mafia, and he knew exactly what Bonifacio wanted.
"Let me guess, he wants us to release Joey, or he'll start shooting."
"Right. We have an hour before he shoots either one of them, so we need to move fast."
"You are not going to release Joey Bonifacio, are you, Director?" Ziva asked.
"I don't plan on releasing him, Agent David. Our goal is to find out where they are and get our Agents out of there. I'm not negotiating with the Mafia."
"All due respect, Director, but I've dealt with the Mafia before," Tony said. "They won't hesitate to kill them, whether or not we bring them Joey."
"That's why we're bringing backup. Ms. Sciuto," Vance said, turning to Abby. "I want you to get downstairs and try to track Agent Gibbs' cell phone. I'm going off the assumption that Carmine did not turn it off when he hung up on me. If you can't trace Gibbs' phone, try McGee's."
"I'll do whatever I can to get them back here safe, Director." She turned and ran out of the office to start her trace.
"DiNozzo, I want you to organize a rescue team with Agent Lovitz. We're going to need more than the two of you to take these guys down. David, get as much intel on Carmine Bonifacio as you can. I want to move as soon as Ms. Sciuto has a location."
"Yes, Director," Ziva said. Tony nodded and they both left Vance's office. Vance walked
around his desk and sank down into his chair. He only hoped he was moving fast enough.
NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS
For a while, the room was silent. Gibbs and Carmine just stared at each other. Tim was still on the floor, on his knees. The silence was starting to bother him after twenty minutes. As he wondered silently what was going to happen next, Carmine reached into his pocket and produced the cell phone again. He reached across to Gibbs.
"It's time we check in with your Director," he said. Tim felt a gun push into the back of hisneck, and closed his eyes for a brief moment. If he was going to die, he wanted to see Abby's face one more time. He could always count on her to comfort him. He felt himself smile as an image of Abby in her lab danced around in his head. His vision was short lived. The gun disappeared from the back of his neck, and he felt it impact with the side of his head. His eyes snapped open, and he found himself lying on the ground. Two sets of hands dragged him back to his knees. Gibbs was still on the phone.
"He's still working on it," Gibbs relayed to Carmine. "I—" Carmine grabbed the phone from Gibbs.
"Director Vance, I am a patient man, but you fail to understand the seriousness of what will happen to your agents if you don't comply."
"It takes time to get a prisoner released, Mr. Bonifacio. I have people working on this as we speak."
"Allow me to hurry you along, Director."
Carmine nodded to Frankie. He took out his pistol and fired at McGee. The bullet hit him in the shoulder, and he screamed and fell to the floor.
"Pick him up before he ruins the rug," Carmine said. Tim was dragged back to his knees in agony. Gibbs tried to stand, but was shoved back down. He could faintly hear Vance shouting into the phone. Carmine put the phone back to his ear.
"The next shot I fire at Agent McGee will be fatal, Director. You now have 35 minutes to release my nephew and bring him to me." He closed the phone and put it back into his pocket. He turned to Gibbs, who was being held down by two men to keep him from getting up.
"It would be beneficial for you to stay seated, Agent Gibbs."
"How about I shove my foot up your ass instead?" Gibbs shot back. Carmine picked up his gun and approached Gibbs. He leaned down and put his gun under Gibbs' chin.
"Don't make me regret keeping you alive, Agent Gibbs. I won't hestitate to kill you ahead of schedule." He hit Gibbs in the face with his gun, and moved away from him to the middle of the room. "Since we're going to be waiting a while, why don't we play a game?"
"What?" Gibbs asked.
Carmine moved toward Tim and cocked his gun. Tim was sagging to the floor on his knees, overwhelmed with the pain in his shoulder.
"Agent McGee," he said, grabbing Tim by the hair and yanking his head up to look at him. "When you arrived with Agent Gibbs, you were holding a file folder. You're going to tell me what was in it, and where you hid it." He released Tim's head, and he fell forward. Tim found the strength to push himself back up to his knees.
"What folder?"
"McGee!" Gibbs shouted, unable to keep quiet any longer. Tim shot a look at Gibbs. He knew what he was doing. Gibbs received another bruise on his face. Carmine fired his gun at the floor in front of Tim. He flinched, but held his ground.
"Don't screw with me, Agent McGee. I know you are lying. Here's the game. You tell me where your folder is, and what's in it, Mario won't shoot Agent Gibbs in the head." He nodded to Mario, who pushed his gun into the side of Gibbs' head.
"I—I—" McGee started, then stopped himself. This is NOT the time to stutter! He thought. The bravado from before melted away. "I dropped it in the backyard. It's got phone records in it."
"And who made those calls, Agent McGee?" Carmine put the gun dangerously close to Tim's head. Tim closed his eyes for a brief moment as the pain in his shoulder worsened. He suddenly felt the gun touch the side of his head, and his eyes shot open. "I'm waiting, Agent McGee."
"J-Joey. Joey Bonifacio. To this house." Tim dropped his head. He was ashamed that he'd broken so quickly.
"Thank you, Agent McGee. You have been most helpful." Carmine nodded to Mario. The sidekick lowered his gun to Gibbs' thigh and pulled the trigger. Gibbs nearly doubled over. Tim was on his feet in seconds.
"Boss!" Before he could take a step, two sets of hands grabbed him and forced him back to his knees, hard. "You bastard… you said you wouldn't shoot him if I told you…"
"On the contrary, Agent McGee… I said I wouldn't shoot him in the head."
Tim tried to stand again, but the hands forced him to stay on his knees.
"How about another game?" Carmine asked. "Every time you try to get up off your knees, Mario will put a bullet into Agent Gibbs."
Tim stopped struggling. It was a useless thing to do.
"Good choice, Agent McGee."
Tim dropped his head as tears slipped down his cheeks. They were going to die.
NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS
"David," Vance called as he jogged down the stairs. "How's that intel coming?"
"Carmine Bonifacio has several businesses in the DC area, all seem legitimate." As she put up a visual on the plasma, Tony and Lovitz came into the bullpen.
"We're ready to go, Director," Tony said. "Do we know where we're going?"
As if on cue, Abby came running into the bullpen.
"I got a location from Gibbs' phone!" She announced. Tony took the paper.
"This is Lieutenant Reese's house," Tony said, a little shocked. "He's our DB."
"You three get yourselves and your team ready to go, and head over there, Do not approach the house until I give you the green light. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Director," Lovitz answered. Tony rolled his eyes and followed Lovitz to meet the team in the parking garage. There was 20 minutes left to get there, and Carmine was expecting his nephew to be along for the ride. They had to get this absolutely right.
TBC…