Chapter 2: We Take Care of Our Own

[Bethesda Naval Medical Center, 1:17 AM. March 10th 2010]

It was after one o'clock in the morning by the time Reid, Hotch, Rossi, and Dinozzo arrived in the waiting room outside the OR at Bethesda Naval Hospital, McGee had been in surgery for almost four hours.

The waiting room was pretty average, it had tope walls, dark-gray tile flooring with a large brown area rug that looked like a giant piece of carpet that had been cut too small for the room, and there were average waiting room chairs with cherry-wood legs and light, blue-gray upholstery. Agent Gibbs, the seasoned and seemingly fearless NCIS unit chief, stood in the corner, waiting for any word on his agent's fate.

Abby Schiuto, the raven-haired, blue-eyed, overly friendly forensic scientist, sat near the door that led out into the hallway, dressed in a tight, knee-length, black skirt, a dark red tank top, and a cropped, black leather jacket with puffed sleeves. Her long black hair was pulled into high set pigtails from which flowed two think braids on each side.

She didn't look up until she heard four sets of footsteps enter the room. When she saw Reid, the only one besides Tony that she recognized...she lit up. She sprung out of her chair and hugged him tightly, throwing her arms around his neck. Reid froze for a few seconds, not really expecting to be hugged by his cousin's fiancé...but hugged her back.

"Spencer...you're here... Thank God. As soon as i matched the bullets to the cold case...and then Gibbs sent Tony to find you...but it was taking so long I thought maybe something had happened to you too..."

"I did kinda have to wait for them to get back into town Abby..." Tony reminded her.

"I'm ok...but Abby..." Reid began.

"yeah?" she asked.

"You're...choking...me..." he told her.

She immediately let go.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

"That's ok…" He assured her.

"Hey Boss, any word on McGee?" Tony asked, calling out to Gibbs.

He didn't answer.

"McGee's still in surgery…there's no word…" Abby replied instead, answering Tony's question. Then she sat back down to allow the new arrivals to come further into the room.

Finally, Gibbs looked up.

"This is all my fault…if McGee doesn't make it…it's on my head…"

"There was nothing you could've done Sir…" Reid began, trying to reassure him. "No one saw this coming."

Gibbs turned to face Reid then, in a wide, combative stance, his fists clenched at his sides. The look he gave Reid said it all.

There sure as Hell was something I could've done…I could've got him years ago like I should have… When Franks and I took you three into protective custody I swore to all of you I'd never let this bastard within a hundred yards of any of you ever again…but I failed, and now McGee's paying for it…

Reid spun around, looking for Sarah, Sarah was his youngest cousin, she was twenty-four, with long, wavy auburn hair, and she wore a long, navy, white, and red peasent skirt with a red blouse and a dark blue denim jacket.

Sarah and Ziva returned a moment later with sodas from the hospital cafeteria. Sarah, upon seeing her cousin who, was actually more like a second brother to her, immediately hugged him.

"Oh thank goodness… when Ziva told me what happened I…"

"Sarah, I'm here…I'm here and we're fine…you don't have to worry about me…"

As long as he's out there, we have to worry about all of us… Reid thought, though he didn't dare let on to Sarah how scared he was.

What the hell is taking them so long with McGee? Why haven't we heard anything? It's been four hours…" Abby wondered.

…

While the others sat there discussing how much longer it might be and speculating on what damage might have been done, Gibbs gave Hotch a look, and the two team leaders stepped out into the hallway.

Hotch had been observing Gibbs and his team, since he'd met them, and by now had a pretty good idea who he was dealing with.

"Agent Gibbs, I know you prefer to handle your cases, especially those involving one or more of your own agents, alone, with your own team but…" Hotch began, but Gibbs cut him off.

"But this isn't a normal case, it's not even a normal 'someone's after one of us'," Gibbs finished.

"No, it's not, and you have to realize that despite the fact that Reid is safe for the time being, my team is in almost the exact same boat. If we want to catch this man, and there's no question about it, we have to catch this man, we'll have to do it together." Hotch told him as if he was giving an order to Reid or Morgan.

"I've been on this since it started…I was there the day McGee's mother was killed… I kept those kids safe, for over a year, until Spencer finished High School, he left for college, McGee transferred from Georgetown to MIT, then Admiral McGee came back stateside and petitioned for reassignment…when he got it he took Sarah, and the two of them left for California… this bastard never left the area…" Gibbs was yelling, but whispering at the same time so that no one on the other side of the door could hear the argument.

"So you assumed that once they had all re-located, the Unsub would give up on hurting them…"

"Yes, and it worked…we never saw or heard hide nor hair of him since, not until tonight… He came back for a reason… Sarah finished her PhD in history earlier this year, came home and got a job teaching at Georgetown…maybe it's as simple as having all three of them back in the area, maybe there's more to it than that…I don't know. Either way, we need to know…"

"Then I think that's the first thing we need to figure out…the question is how, my team hasn't slept in almost twenty-four hours… They'll all want to keep going, no one's going to give up willingly, but there comes a point when a person becomes so exhausted that they can't think straight."

"My team's not much better… It was less than an hour between me sending 'em all home to get some sleep and McGee getting shot… We're not giving up on anything, we're retreating and we'll regroup after we've all gotten some sleep."

"So we're in agreement…?" Hotch asked.

Gibbs nodded, and the two men headed back in. As they entered, they were met with ten pairs of eyes looking at them curiously.

"Everyone is going home…it's late, no one's slept since the day before yesterday… if we're gonna this guy we need to be on top of our game, and we can't do that with everyone this worn out…" Hotch explained.

They all nodded, everyone understood the logic of it, but it was clear that nobody liked it…

Reid and Sarah looked at each other, then at Gibbs and Hotch.

"Where are we going?" They asked almost in unison.

"Sarah, go with the FBI agents…and Reid…you're going home with Tony…" Gibbs ordered with an intensity that allowed for no refusal.

However, Hotch was confused.

"Agent Gibbs, surely you don't doubt my team's capability in protecting one of own…?" Hotch asked.

Gibbs turned toward the FBI team leader with his arms crossed, staring Hotch down with his impenetrable blue eyes.

Hotch stayed silent, and glared back. A tense silence descended upon the room, as the two men fought a silent battle of wills.

"Of course not Hotchner… But the fact is that if the Hopper stalked him like he must have stalked McGee, he's going to expect him to be with one of your agents…he won't look for him with us… Sarah, on the other hand, is practically a stranger to you while she's practically one of us… seems to me, that one way to keep them both safe, is to switch, have them in protective custody where this bastard won't expect to find them…"

Realizing the logic of Gibbs's plan, he turned toward Sarah and McGee and nodded in the affirmative.

"But what about Tim? Who's going to stay with him? Who's going to be there when he comes out of surgery?" Reid asked.

"I'm staying." Gibbs replied, as though it had been a stupid question with an obvious answer. "For now, we have no idea what's gonna happen, but the minute there is anything to tell, I'll call ya…." He promised. "That goes for the rest of you too, I know no one wants to leave here without any word on McGee, but as soon as I know anything you'll know…"

"Now, everybody go home, try to get some rest, and let's regroup back here at eight am…" Hotch ordered.

Everyone except Gibbs, who wasn't leaving, donned bullet proof vests before exiting the building. Once outside, the group dispersed, Reid went with Tony and Sarah went with Morgan who took her to Prentiss's apartment.

…

[Prentiss's Apartment 2:30 AM]

Emily Prentiss, was an average looking woman in her late thirties, with long, dark brown hair. There was nothing about her that was obviously out of the ordinary, and yet, there was an inexplicable toughness to her demeanor that reminded Sarah of Ziva; her brother's friend and teammate, a former Mossad assassin turned NCIS agent.

Sarah found herself on Agent Prentiss's soft, gray couch, petting her affectionate black kitten named Sergio, who had jumped into Sarah's arms almost as soon as she'd arrived, while her host stalked about the apartment, making sure that all points on entry and exit were secured to her satisfaction. She could hear every footstep on the dark, hardwood floors, the crème colored walls acted as a sounding board, the echo was insane, and Sarah wondered how one got any sleep at all in this building.

Finally, Prentiss came and sat beside her, like with all of Spencer's teammates, Sarah had heard stories about Agent Prentiss over the years, in which he'd referred to her by her first name…however, her upbringing having wired her from an early age with an absolute respect for the chain of command, wouldn't let her follow her cousin's lead unless Agent Prentiss asked to be called by her first name.

"So…" She began. "You and Reid seem pretty close…"

Sarah nodded. "He's kinda like a big brother to me really…"

"It didn't take a profiler to see that…" Prentiss replied.

She waited for Sarah to respond, but she fell silent. Her fear hung heavy in the air around them like a dark storm cloud.

"Hey…you guys are gonna be ok, you know that right? You, and your brother…and Reid, we're not going to let anything happen you guys… we'll find this SOB, and this time we'll make sure he's gone for good… I promise…" she told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks Agent Prentiss…"

"Emily…"

[Dinozzo's Apartment, 5:30 AM]

Tony had dozed off into a half conscious stupor sitting in his favorite arm chair. He knew that he needed sleep, but it was kind of hard to sleep while on a protection detail. He needed to be able to wake up quickly if any unwelcome guests tried to come through that door. That's what he told himself anyway… but really, if he was honest with himself, there was no way in hell he was getting any real sleep until they finally got word about McGee.

Spencer on the other hand, sprawled out on the black leather sofa, and for once, sleeping like the dead. He too, had tried to wait up for word about McGee, but eventually, around two-thirty, he'd succumbed to his own exhaustion.

Tony shook himself out of his half-conscious state, and looked at his phone. As soon as there's anything to tell, I'll call ya. Gibbs had promised. Why hadn't he called yet? What was taking so long? It had been almost eight hours…

His eyes wandered to the mantle above his white brick fireplace. There, sat a framed picture of the three of them, Reid stood in the center, the ten year old version, with a sixteen year old Tony on one side, and a seventeen year old McGee on the other. The photo had been taken, by McGee's mother, just a few weeks before her murder, just a few weeks, before all of this madness had started. Why couldn't they just go back to that?

Finally, Tony's phone began to buzz. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Gibbs. As he picked it up to answer it, he heard a loud thud from across the room, and saw that Spencer had rolled over and actually fallen off the couch, and there he was now, on his hands and knees in front of it, tangled in the soft, purple throw blanket he'd instinctually pulled off the back at some point.

"What's going on?! Is that Gibbs?" he asked frantically.

"Yep…" Tony answered, then he swiped the screen to answer it.

"Morning Boss…"

"Morning Dinozzo… how's it going?"

"Everything's cool here boss…"

"You guys get any sleep?" Gibbs asked, his tone suggested that he was merely checking for obedience to is orders and that he hadn't asked out of actual concern, but Tony knew better.

"Nothing solid…" Tony admitted

"Figured…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Spencer staring at him with a pleading look in his eye, begging for any news on his cousin's condition. In response, he gave his friend a small nod. Hold on a sec, I'll ask.

"What's the word on McGee? Is he out of surgery yet?"

"Yep…they just took him to the recovery room…he's in rough shape but he'll make it…"

"Ok, thanks Boss…" Tony replied before hanging up.

"Well?" Reid demanded as soon as Tony was off the phone, with that same desperation for information written all over his face.

"McGee's just proven he's a lot tougher than he looks…he's gonna make it…" Tony told him.

Immediately, and without another word, Reid got up, strapped himself into his bullet proof vest, and made his way to the door. He did this so quickly that it was all Tony could do to grab his arm and hold him back before he made it clear out into the hallway.

"Hey…just where exactly do you think you're going?"

"Back to the hospital…" Reid replied, as though that should have been obvious.

"With a homicidal maniac after you? Not without me you're not…and we're not meeting everyone else there until eight…which means we don't have to leave here for another hour and a half…"

"Um, I just spent the last six hours not knowing if my cousin was going to live… if you think I'm waiting until we have to report in you're out of your mind…"

At that, Tony sprung himself out of the chair.

"Point taken…let's go… I'm going first, stay close…keep your hand on your firearm until we actually make it to the car…" Tony replied, strapping back in to his own vest.

Reid stepped to the side to let Tony through, and they left exactly as Tony had instructed.