Ten minutes later, his eyes fluttered open slowly, the song he'd started his drive with back on the radio.

"…I can hear the sirens comin', smell the gasoline and smoke-
I'm pinned against this steering wheel, pretty sure my arm is broke-
I can see the flames and my life flashin' right before my eyes-
I hope they get to me in time…"

Gasping for oxygen, Tony instinctively reached for his cell phone with his free arm, dialing the one person that came to his mind first and foremost.

"Yeah, Gibbs," the voice answered.

"B-Boss," he stuttered, breathing heavily, coughing as the thick, black smoke began to surround him.

"DiNozzo? You okay, Tony?" Gibbs asked, concerned.

Tony swallowed hard. The flames were getting closer and he could smell and taste the bitterness of his own blood that was now dripping from his head. Tempted to close his eyes, he answered, "M-McGee c-can have my desk."

"Tony, what happened? Where are you?" Gibbs was starting to panic now, a trait that wasn't typically seen with him, but this was DiNozzo!

There was a loud explosion, and Tony dropped the phone. Silence followed on his end, aside from the sirens in the distance.

"Tony!" Gibbs screamed into the phone. "DiNozzo! Answer me, Tony!" Receiving no answer, he did the only thing he could think to do. "McGee! Get me a trace on DiNozzo's cell! Now!" Thankfully, McGee had been working over.

The flames had now engulfed his vehicle and Tony had been unable to free himself. He didn't want to stop fighting. His head was telling him to keep going, but his body completely shut down. He'd barely had a pulse when the fire department pulled up. He was literally fighting for his life.

Within thirty minutes, Gibbs and McGee had both showed up on scene. Firefighters were still trying to extinguish the flames.

"Federal Agents," Gibbs yelled over the madness, flashing his badge, dragging McGee with him. "That's one of my agents in that car!" They let both men through and passed on the message to EMS personnel. The other driver had already been pronounced dead at the scene forty-five minutes ago.

Both Gibbs and McGee watched in awe, silently praying for their colleague and friend. McGee's stomach couldn't handle anymore and he ran to a nearby tree, emptying the contents of his stomach. Gibbs watched closely and shook his head sadly before turning back to the scene that was unraveling before him.

McGee stood hunched over, hands on his knees, taking a few deep breaths. After finally composing himself, he made his way back to Gibbs.

"Boss, I-…" Gibbs cut him off.

"Tim," Gibbs shook his head, "Don't." He looked McGee in the eyes seriously. There was no need to apologize. He was ready to break, too. DiNozzo was the backbone of this team, aside from Gibbs. No one could picture life without the man. He might drive them crazy, but he was a good agent, a great agent, and an even better person.

What seemed like an eternity later, they'd finally managed to extricate Tony once the fire was obliterated. McGee questioned whether or not it was really DiNozzo, that small bit of doubt giving him the slightest bit of hope that Tony was unharmed somewhere, even though Gibbs knew otherwise, and so did McGee. Denial sounded like the best option right now.

The man being lifted into the ambulance was wrapped in burn sheets, intubated, and the smell of burnt flesh nauseated all who were around him. He had a pulse, barely, but it was there nonetheless. Tony was bradycardic on the monitor, and two large-bore I.V.'s were established in both antecubital veins. CPR had already been initiated.

Firefighters stood on the side of the road, hands on their knees, taking a breather, praying that they'd saved another life.

The doors on the ambulance were quickly shut and the squad took off with the lights flashing and sirens blaring. Within twenty seconds, they were out of sight, their sirens in the distance.

It wasn't until that moment that Gibbs finally took the time to examine the scene. He stared blankly at Tony's charred vehicle before turning towards the pickup truck across from it, a sheet draped over the windows, nothing visible of the other driver except for an arm resting out of the driver's side window, an empty beer bottle on the ground underneath it. Gibbs ran a hand over his face and sighed, quickly blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. He couldn't let anyone see him vulnerable, especially not anyone from his team.

"Let's go," he yelled to McGee, motioning with his head for him to get in their vehicle. Those were the last words that were spoken until they pulled into the ER parking lot and made their way in, frantically searching for information on Tony's condition.

"…Please, Lord, I'm beggin' you, don't let me go like this-
There's so much left that I want to do- So much I don't want to miss…"