A/N: :D thanks for the reviews for the first chapter - it's encouraging that like this story so here's the next chapter.

Previously

Flinging the heavy wooden door open, the first thing Gibbs noticed was a crumpled, bloodied heap at the halfway down the set of stairs.


Tony walked up quietly behind his fellow agent who was staring blankly at the plasma screen in front of her. "What do you see, Zee-vah?" She wheeled round to face him. "You've been staring at the plasma for hours!"

"I have not!" She protested, much to DiNozzo's delight, "It's only been ten minutes."

"You haven't found anything though," He said, flicking Ziva's ear. She grabbed his hand and quickly twisted the offending arm behind his back, pushing it up until just before she would cause more long-lasting injury than a bruised ego. "Ow! Ziva! That hurts. Please, let go, you'll rip my suit!" Tony whined. "I don't care what Gibbs says, next time you annoy me I'll..." Ziva's growled threat was interrupted by the phone on her desk ringing. She picked it up and listened to the female voice on the other end.

Tim!

Gibbs would have jumped down the stairs if it were not for Tim's still form occupying his landing space. As it was, he flew down them, taking two steps at a time. He checked for McGee's pulse then, finding it strong if not a little fast, gently rolled him over and was pleased when the young man groaned and opened his eyes. Blood streamed down his face from a cut above his eye and from his nose but he was conscious and lucid, immediately looking around and assessing the situation. "McGee, you alright?"

"I think my legs broken: the guy hit me with a fire extinguisher as I came through the door and I fell down the stairs."

"You think you can give Abby a description, get a face for this guy?"

"I can do one better boss." McGee grabbed the knife that was lying next to him, "Rule nine, boss, I managed to catch him as he walked past me on his way down...Shouldn't you be trying to catch up with him?"

"On it boss!" Gibbs replied, grinning – having decided to cut the Probie some slack, "You did good McGee, but I'll catch the guy after you get that leg checked out."

Gibbs put McGee's arm around his shoulders and stood up, pulling McGee with him. He walked him up the stairs quickly, opened the door and sat McGee on the nearest empty bench. "Get DiNozzo and Ziva down here to process those stairs." He turned to leave, "But get yourself checked out first."

"Go boss!" McGee said, lifting his injured leg gingerly onto the hard plastic bench, waiting for an unsuspecting nurse to come along.

Deciding his young agent would be able to cope all on his own, Gibbs sprinted back down the stairs.

If this guy knows what's good for him, he'll be long gone.

He reached the bottom floor and noticed a bloody handprint smeared on the emergency exit and the adjacent wall. As he cautiously pushed the heavy door open he rested his hand on his gun holster. Once outside, Gibbs looked around and noticed an unmarked white van parked twenty metres from the exit, a man, possibly the same man they had chased after before, was sitting in the driver's seat.

Tony's phone rang, startling him as he slouched back in his chair. "DiNozzo," The voice that answered made him sit up quickly. "Run a check on a white van, licence plate 088-NDI."

"On it boss! What did you find a—" Tony said before realising his boss had already hung up. He finished typing in the number and watched as the sole result came up on the screen. Tony clicked on the result and skimmed through the owner's details.

A real scumbag this one, boss.

Picking up his phone, he dialled Gibbs.

"Gibbs."

"Boss, that white van – it belongs to an Allen E. Smith, 48 years old and he has a serious record: six serious assaults, a couple of armed robberies and a DUI – he's been in and out of jail since he turned sixteen."

"Has McGee checked in yet?"

"No boss...Why?" Again there was silence on Gibbs' end as he hung up. DiNozzo stood paralysed behind his desk as he processed the implications of why McGee would need to "check in". Coming to a decision, he picked up his phone again and dialled McGee. He did not answer and Tony stopped retrying after the next three no-answers.

He decided to try a different tack and searched for the hospital's phone number before dialling it.

You'd think I'd know this number off by heart: the number of times one of our team's been in there for our various injuries.

"Bethesda Naval Hospital, Nurse Taylor speaking, how can I help you?"

"This is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS. A couple of our agents – Gibbs and McGee – went down there to interview one of your patients...a PFC Starr; I was calling to ask if they were still there?"

"Uh...Hold on one moment please." Tony could hear the sound of typing in the background, "They haven't signed out of the hospital," there was a soft ping in the background. "Did you say Agent McGee, first name Timothy?"

"Yeah, why? Has he gotten carried away with your computers?" Tony asked jokingly, causing the nurse to chuckle, "No, no... He was involved in an incident with a suspect in your case and suffered a broken leg. He's just in the casting room at the moment and then we are going to discharge him."

"Don't discharge him until I arrive: I'll give him a ride home..." DiNozzo remembered that McGee was not the only one to visit the hospital "What about Special Agent Gibbs?"

"Ah...No he's still here, at least as far as our records show. I'm sorry: maybe you should try phoning him." The nurse added helpfully.

"Thanks." DiNozzo hung up, eager to rush down to the hospital and gloat over Tim's misfortune.

He stood up and reached for his pistol in the drawer then looked up at his partner. "Ziva, I'm going to Bethesda Naval Hospital. Get down to Abby's lab and help her with trace. If Ducky finds anything...'hinky' call me." Tony ordered on his way to the elevator, his bag slung over his shoulder.

A/N: so there you go - another chapter down. :D

Again reviews/comments are always welcome (but not flames please). Be kind. Be critical. :)