2 days earlier...
"Probie!" Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo plastered a grin on his face as McGee made his way toward the bullpen with coffee for the team, and a mysterious white paper bag. "You come bearing gifts? Please tell me there's a jelly doughnut in that bag..." he stood to intercept his teammate.
"Sorry, Tony," he said with a smirk. "They were all out when I got there. But I did manage to get the last of the chocolate frosted."
"Doughnuts are doughnuts, McGoo," Tony replied excitedly as he dove into the bag to fetch one. "Thank you."
"You are in a good mood today, Tony," Ziva said as she entered the bullpen, setting her bag beside her desk.
"It's Friday," he said with a mouthful of the chocolate pastry.
"Got big plans tonight, DiNozzo?" McGee asked as he placed Gibbs' coffee on his desk.
"Absolutely!" he exclaimed. "Pizza, beer and as many hours of late night TV as I can possibly squeeze in."
"Sounds enchanting," Gibbs said, sarcastically, as he strolled into the bullpen.
"That's definitely what I was goin' for, Boss," Tony grinned. Gibbs shook his head and turned to hide a smirk as he picked up the coffee cup from his desk.
"The enchanting evening's gonna have to wait," Vance said as he descended the stairs from MTAC and entered the bullpen. The agents all turned to face him as he approached. "We've got three highly decorated Marines dead in what used to be a school a few miles north of here."
"Ya couldn't tell me that over the phone, Leon?" Gibbs asked.
Vance raised a brow, "There a problem with wanting to stretch my legs now and then?" Gibbs cocked his head, holding in the reply he wanted to come back with. Vance handed him a folder, "There's a slight problem with being able to get into the building, though."
"What's that?" Tony asked.
"There's a fourth Marine," he explained. "He's being held hostage inside."
Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the director, "So this isn't an investigation," he clarified. "You need me to negotiate the hostage's release."
"And take this guy down, yeah," Vance replied. "Only I'm pretty sure there's more than one guy pulling it off."
"To take out three highly decorated Marines?" Tony interjected. "Yeah, I'm thinkin' you're probably right."
"What are the demands?" Ziva asked.
"Safe passage," Vance replied. "And you're gonna make him think he's got it," he told Gibbs.
"How do you propose we get the hostage out without confirming that for him?" Gibbs asked, rhetorically.
"If I had the answer to that, would I be handing this to you?" Vance replied.
Gibbs met the director's glare for a few moments before speaking again, "Gear up."
11 00 11 00 11
"Boss, you got a plan?" Tony asked from the back seat as they made their way toward the scene. "'Cause it might be a good idea to let us in on it before we get there..."
"The FBI has a SWAT team ready to infiltrate the building silently. All we need to do is keep them distracted long enough to let 'em get in place."
"And no one knows who these captors are?" Ziva inquired.
"Whoever they are," McGee said as he read through the file, "They're smart. They've disabled any and all street cams in the area. No one knew the Marines were even missing in the first place; they'd been taken some time in the middle of the night. It says here, they were all on leave; probably out celebrating when they got picked up."
"Some celebration," Tony said quietly.
"What would be the motive for kidnapping four Marines, of all people?" Ziva asked. "It must be personal, or they would not have been prepared to such an extent."
"And why kill three of them?" Tony added.
"Maybe they planned to kill them all," Tim suggested.
"If that's what their plan was," Gibbs started, "They would've done it and left. No one caught them in the act. They called us."
"Why would...what the hell would be the point in hostage negotiation for safe passage, when they could've just left on their own?" Tony thought out loud.
"We don't know how those men died," Gibbs pointed out. "They might've been looking for information."
"Torturing them," Ziva caught on. "But they did not get what they were looking for."
"Maybe they got the wrong guys," McGee suggested.
"Maybe," Gibbs replied, quietly as he pulled into the parking lot of the school. There were ambulances parked, waiting. The SWAT van was out of sight of the school, but Fornell was waiting in plain sight, with an unmarked FBI jacket on. The team approached him. "What've ya got, Tobias?" Gibbs asked him.
"Nice to see you, too, Jethro," he smirked, then turned his gaze toward the school. "My men have scoured every possible sniper area; there's no openings, all the windows are boarded up. No way we're getting a shot in or out of there. We're gonna have to go in."
"So there's no clue as to how many guys we're dealin' with," Tony said.
Fornell glanced at him, "Our best guess is there's at least four. No way a smaller group could've taken down those Marines. Unless we're dealin' with professionals... of course, by the look of things, I doubt it."
"Who's our contact?" Gibbs asked.
"Won't give us a name, but he won't talk over the phone anymore," Fornell told him. "Said to send you up to the door and he'd talk to you through it."
"That sounds fishy, Boss," Tony said.
"What about this doesn't?" Gibbs replied. "Why no phones?" he inquired.
"No idea. But he's got it turned off now. No other way to contact him."
"I dunno, Boss," Tony narrowed his eyes. "This just sounds like a way to take more hostages, to me."
Gibbs turned to his agents and cocked his head, "That's why you'll all be covering me...from a distance." They each drew their weapons and held them at their sides, ready to comply with their boss's orders. "McGee, you take my right; ten feet. DiNozzo, David, take my left. If the door's gonna open, it'll open to you."
"Stay out of arms' reach of the door," Tony told Gibbs, as if he couldn't have figured that on his own.
"No one shoots," Gibbs clarified. "Remember, we're buying time, not cutting deals." The team nodded their understanding and Gibbs turned to Fornell. "You ready?"
"When you are," he said, handing him an earpiece. "Soon as you've got him talkin', we'll be heading in. Be careful, Jethro. Dinutso's right; somethin's fishy about all this. Got a feeling in my gut."
Gibbs smirked at that. "Got enough of that for myself, Tobias." He turned and nodded to his team as he slid the earpiece in and began his trek toward the school. His agents followed a bit behind him, weapons ready.
"This is why I spend my Friday nights home," Tony said in a hushed voice to Ziva. "We get enough action at work."
"Why do you think I write," Tim glanced at him with a smirk.
"Why do ya think I build boats?" Gibbs said ahead of them. Ziva smirked, glancing at Tony briefly before returning her attention to their boss.
"So what do you do, Zeevah?" Tony asked.
"I happen to like action, Tony," she grinned. Tony raised his brows and shared a quick, amused glance with McGee. "But perhaps, after this, I might enjoy a pizza, beer and television night."
"You sayin' you wanna join me?" Tony asked.
"If I would not be intruding," she replied.
"Not at all. What about you, Probie? I need someone to make sure Ziva doesn't molest me. I mean, unless you're gonna be busy...writing..."
"Somehow, I doubt you'd mind Ziva molesting you," Tim retorted. "But if you're serious, sure...why not."
"Boss? Four's a party..." Tony requested.
"Can we talk about this after we talk to the bad guys, DiNozzo?" he said incredulously, as they approached the door. The team took their designated positions and Gibbs stood a few feet in front of the door. Guns aimed, Gibbs called out, "You wanted to talk?"
After a few long moments of silence, a voice sounded behind the door, "Who are you?"
"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. What do I call you?"
"Gibbs, huh?" the voice sounded. "Well, Gibbs, you can call me whatever you want. Just as long as I'm assured safe passage."
"We can send a chopper, if that's what you want," Gibbs replied.
"No need for that. I don't need transport." Something sounded strange about the voice on the other side of the door.
Gibbs narrowed his eyes, sharing a glance with Tony. "What do ya need, exactly?"
"Just you...and your team."
"What does that mean?"
"Just needed you to buy us some time," he replied. "Until the SWAT team stormed the building."
Gibbs' eyes widened when he realized what was happening. "That's a radio," he said quietly as he looked over at Tony. "Get outta here!" he yelled to his team. "Fornell, get you're men out!" he turned to run with his team, but in an instant, the building blew up; the blast shook the ground beneath them and they all went down...
Tony felt a weight on top of him as he coughed from the smoke that had quickly replaced the air around them. He rolled onto his back, causing what he now realized was a body to fall away from him. The movement was painful and he groaned loudly, turning to open his eyes. "Ziva?" She was lying on her back, as well; her eyes fixed open and her face bloody from hitting the concrete. Tony reached out to shake her, "Zi?" There was no response. He felt her neck, with bloody fingers, checking for a pulse. He found none... "No..." he painfully pushed himself up on an elbow to look past her for signs of the rest of his team.
He saw Gibbs, first. He was face down on the ground, just as motionless as Ziva. His clothes were singed from the flames of the blast and parts of him were bloodied. "Boss?" he yelled out, but got no response. Tony could barely breathe...Tears stung his eyes and pain tore through him, immobilizing him from being able to help his friends.
The smoke cleared enough for him to see McGee. His body was on its side, facing away from the rest of the team. Tim looked the bloodiest of them all, and just as still. "McGee..." came out as a whisper. He had no more strength in him. His head fell back to the ground as he looked up at what he could see of the sky through the billowing smoke. A pain ripped through his heart, making whatever physical injury he had seem petty. His chin quivered through the anguished expression that was twisted on his face. He turned his head to look at his friend beside him once more. He had to try and help her...
Tony pushed himself up with a pained scream, positioning himself to kneel beside her body in preparation to do CPR. Then he heard two shots fired and he looked off in the direction of where they'd parked the car. Before he could call out, he heard the roaring of an engine coming toward him.
At first, he thought it was Fornell; some kind of help. But the van opened up and he was soon being violently pulled into it. "No!" he yelled. "She needs help! They all need help!" he struggled.
"Your partners are dead," one of them said as they closed the door. "How you're still alive, I don't know. But you'll come in handy..."
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tbc...
