Ducky was preparing his next victim for autopsy,it had been a busy day , he and Palmer had been going at it nonstop. He stripped off his gloves and walked over to the sink,he needed to take a look at the Lieutenant's x-rays,and read more of the police report before he started making incisions.

The phone was ringing,Palmer was running some samples to Abby and he was about to let it go to voice mail but he suddenly changed his mind,knowing that Tony had left to check something out for the director.

" Hello, this is Dr Mallard." he answered, noticing a lack of communication on the other end, "Hello I said, is there anybody there?"agitated now that he had actually answered a prank call.

"Ducky, it's Gibbs." his voice was raw from the expelled water and the cold air.

"Jethro,it is so nice to hear from you, Anthony went to see if he could..." he was interrupted by a breathless Gibbs.

"Ducky I need you to go to Bethesda hospital, Tony is being taken there by ambulance, I don't have time to explain, I just need you to go!" He knew his voice was fading and he needed his friend,Tony's friend, to go and make sure he was going to be okay. He had to be okay.

"I'm on my way Jethro." hearing Jethro end the call he quickly dialed another number, it was answered on the second ring " Director Shepard ,we have a problem."

Bethesda Hospital

The ambulance pulled up to the dock to unload their patient,he was still in full respiratory arrest but he was starting to arouse,his hands starting to reach up to fight the tube,attempting to pull it out, a normal response to something down one's throat.

"We'll need soft restraints or he'll pull that tube out!" the ER doctor instructed the nurse who was taking vitals,as the bed was rolled into the trauma unit,the trauma team went to work,taking blood samples and attaching monitors and leads.

"You want me to give him some ativan?" the busy nurse asked,sensing that her patient needed to calm down to prevent any harm to himself. She reached over to a shelf and grabbed a package,pulling out the soft white restraints then proceeded to place them gently onto their patient's wrists.

"That's a good idea, lets give him one milligram IV and see how he does,right now he's probably scared, If we can get him calm enough to be able to listen we'll be able to treat his symptoms better." he pulled his stethoscope off his neck and placed the bell on his patient's now bare chest, new tubes were being placed, Tony's green eyes darting back and forth attempting to get glimpses of what the people were doing but only feeling the effects of their tortuous devices.

"O2 sats are 78 percent." the respiratory therapist announced as he turned on the ventilator, his hand still squeezing the ambu bag attached to Tony's tube.

"Get him hooked up, then get me some AGB's. I need them asap."The doctor ordered as he started to step away

Tony's eyes lit up at the mention of the dreaded test,the painful prick to his wrist always made him nauseous.

The doctor caught the anxious look and then continued,"Use lidocaine to numb the area first."

The therapist nodded as he sat up the ventilator at the patient's bedside, Tony's endotracheal tube attached, the respiratory therapist was inserting the settings,the machine now taking over Tony's each and every breath. His lungs felt as though they were resisting each and every one of them,it hurt for the machine to do its job, a grimace crossed his face.

The nurse pulled up the thick liquid and inserted the needleless syringe into the IV port closest to the IV site,the medication having an immediate effect on their patient,his eyelids growing heavy before their very eyes.

One of the nurses handed the doctor the man's identity,his NCIS badge,"Mr DiNozzo, my name is Colonel Banks, I'm an emergency room doctor. I need to ask you some quick questions okay?"

Tony was feeling the effects of the medication,it felt familiar. He attempted a nod,hoping that the doctor could actually tell that it was a nod.

"Good, I'm awaiting your chart from Medical records,but I need to know if you are allergic to any medications." he kept his voice calm and low to his patient's ear,wanting to not startle or agitate the man.

Tony thought for a second,no he couldn't remember anything, he shook his head.

"Good. Do you have any medical problems now or in the past that we need to know about?" Dr Banks asked,watching his patient's eyes starting to fade.

Tony closed his eyes and attempted to think, well, the plague thing was important, definitely, a few head injuries,broken bones,then there was the time he got shot, yeah,he had better nod. He did.

Dr Banks now needed to know what,the chart was taking too long."Mr DiNozzo, have you had respiratory problems in the past?"

He eyes rolled,'yeah', but how could he tell them that he had the plague,not pneumonia,not asthma,but the pneumonic plague. He waved for a pencil, as far as his restrained hand could wave,the hissing of the machine assisting his breathing making it presence known as he attempted to raise up in bed,gentle hands stopping him, alarms quickly quieted.

A nurse caught the gesture with the hand and reached into her pocket producing a note pad and placed a pen into his hand,his shaky hand writing the word,Plague ,on the small piece of paper.

The doctor picked it up,feeling that his patient must be confused,"No way, the plague?" his voice questioning his patient's ability to think clearly now.

"Yes, the plague." Dr Mallard startled the medical staff by his presence," The pneumonic plague."

The Dock

Ziva was wanting to hurry and leave for the hospital,the crime scene now secured and processed, they had taken Gibbs and Maddie by ambulance, Palmer had arrived for the bodies by himself,Ducky was going to be with Tony at the hospital. She had heard the call,the anger in Gibb's voice,the self punishment he was causing himself for placing his senior field agent, Tony, in jeopardy, and for what, a personal vendetta against unknown thugs. For a stranger, no, for Kelly's best childhood friend.

Her eyes still scanning the scene,processed,evidence collected,evidence of an unimaginable rescue. Her mind was having difficulty conceiving what had occurred here. It was an emotional scene to process,she had seen McGee tear up for his friend when he picked up Tony's weapon and tagged it for evidence. She glanced over at the car that was being placed onto the tow truck,the windshield removed,the steering wheel displaced.

What had Tony done? The evidence had led them to believe that Tony had witnessed the car going into the ocean, had killed the two men,his weapon found on the dock, and then he had dived into the ocean,finding the car and pulled out both passengers,even having to do CPR,not only on one victim,but two. She shook her head in amazement,she knew she could never have accomplished that type of feat,it was unimaginable for just one person.

"Ziva,you ready to go?" McGee asked as he placed the last evidence bags into his car.

She stood starring at the water,and when she responded her voice low and sad,"I never thought of Tony as a hero."

McGee gave her a small smile and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, he knew it was her way of expressing concern for her friend, her partner,"He'll be alright,he's Tony."

She nodded and followed Tim to the car,they would have to take the evidence to Abby first then go to the hospital,they had received no news,which as the old saying goes, no news is good news,Tim thought to himself as he started the car and pulled of the dock.

The tow truck had the evidence car on top and Tony's car attached to the back,any evidence of what had occurred on the dock had been removed, bagged and tagged.

Bethesda Hospital

Gibbs was not being the most cooperative patient,he had not received any news of Tony's condition. If he heard one more nurse say the word HIPPA he would have Ziva take them out when she arrived.

They had started an IV in his hand on the way to the hospital,against his wishes but they told him it was protocol, if he preached it to his team to follow the rules then he would follow the rules, set an example, he knew he would take it out soon enough.

The short nurse with an attitude, who looked like Paula Deen, had taken his cell phone on arrival to the emergency room, stating something about machine interference,which he highly doubted,doctors wore them,talked on them, and as an investigator he had come to the conclusion that she just didn't want him agitated,well,good luck on that one ,he thought to himself as he shifted around on the small,uncomfortable stretcher,

Dr Lassiter entered and looked at the chart,"I just reviewed your xrays,looks like you lucked out Mr Gibbs, no broken bones,no lung damage, blood work looks good." he looked up at his not so happy patient and actually hated to say his next line because he knew he was going to be up for a fight."We need you to stay over night though,there is always a risk of ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome,it happens frequently after drownings,the lungs will sometimes will have problems hours later."

Gibbs gave him his infamous stare or glare,whatever one would like to call it,"I'm fine, I need to see my agent, Agent DiNozzo." he shifted upwards into a sitting position and started removing the gown, giving the doctor the idea that he was not going to listen.

"Well, that might be a while, I heard that he was going to ICU isolation." not wanting to give him anymore information, the Hippa rules made it clear that no information could be passed on to anybody regarding a patient's health status, not even the room number.

"What the hell is going on with my agent, I am his Power of Attorney, I'm listed as his next of kin, I demand to be informed." his patience was exhausted, and all he could think was ,'Where the hell was Ducky?' and 'Where the hell are my clothes?'