A/N: Wow! Thanks for all the reviews and alerts! Standard disclaimers apply, I still don't own NCIS. Hope you enjoy this chapter! -abby
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McGee's stomach churned miserably after the vicious kick to his side. He tended to get nauseated fairly easily but was pretty sure he had at least a couple of bruised ribs. Tim could feel Tony's eyes on him from across the room but feared if he lifted his head he would be sick. So instead he just lay as still as he could, eyes closed, and listened to the commotion going on around him.
After Bossman made it clear that no one would be released, he and his team set to work making their captives as minimal of a threat as possible. The six gunmen completely ignored the police outside as they set about zip-tying each hostage's hands firmly behind his or her back and sitting them one next to the other along the wall.
As one of the masked men roughly maneuvered DiNozzo's long arms behind his back he discovered Tony's SIG. With his knee in the middle of Tony's back to keep the senior agent firmly pinned to the ground, the gunman pulled the weapon out of its holster and shouted for his superior. Bossman crossed the lobby in five seconds flat and took the SIG from his subordinate.
"Well, well, what's this?" the leader asked. Tony didn't even bother to look up or answer. He kept his forehead pressed to the floor as his arms continued to be painfully restrained. Not like anything I say is going to help, he thought defiantly. Bossman knelt down next to the senior field agent and without another word hit DiNozzo over the head with the butt of his own gun. Tim gasped and one of the tellers screamed as Tony went completely lax in his captor's grip. The gunman holding him easily bound the unconscious agent's hands before standing up.
"Would anyone else like to share with me? Any others packing a weapon?" Bossman's tone made it clear that lying would be very dangerous.
Tim hesitated before answering. He had been hoping to avoid this particular confrontation but knew the jig was up. "Me. I'm with him." McGee nodded toward his partner. One of the masked gunmen retrieved Tim's SIG from his belt and tied the junior agent's hands tightly behind his back before shoving him against the wall next to the security guard.
Bossman smiled threateningly. "Good boy," he mocked. "How about telling me who you are?"
McGee did not want to answer that question but wasn't given a choice when his ID was roughly pulled from his back pocket. He looked across the room just in time to see the same thing happening with the still-unconscious DiNozzo.
Bossman flipped open Tim's badge. "Ah, NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee. And who is your friend?"
A tall, rail-thin gunman was the one to check Tony's ID. "Looks like this is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo," Skinny said cheerfully.
At the sound of his name Tony began to stir. He woke up just in time to feel himself being dragged across the lobby and unceremoniously dropped in a heap next to Tim, and moaned as his already throbbing head hit the tile floor.
"Tony?" McGee kept his voice low. Five of the six bank robbers had already moved on to the bank president and were mercilessly harassing him for the vault combination. The sixth was watching the hostages half-heartedly as he tried to listen in on his buddies. Tim did not want to draw their attention. "Tony? You okay?"
Crap, Tony thought. I knew they'd be pissed when they found the guns. Out loud all he could manage was a quiet grunt of pain. His head was screaming and having his wrists tightly bound in an uncomfortable position wasn't helping matters any.
"Tony." Tim was getting worried about the lack of response from his friend. A blow to the head like the one DiNozzo had received could certainly have caused a concussion and possibly worse.
Finally McGee got the response he was hoping for – the senior agent stirred again and softly said, "Yeah, Tim. I'm all right." Tony slowly struggled into a sitting position, keeping an eye on their captors the entire time. He carefully leaned against the wall next to McGee.
The two agents watched the scene unfolding before them, frustrated but helpless to do anything as the bank president was forced to his knees. Bossman held Tony's SIG square between the man's eyes and barked, "Last chance! What is the combination to the vault?!"
"It doesn't matter what the combination is, the vault time-locked when the silent alarm was triggered. It can't be opened again for 24 hours!" The president was clearly petrified, but Tony was impressed by his composure. He decided to throw caution to the wind and try a bit of deflection before Bossman pulled the trigger and became a murderer.
"Hey. He said he can't open the vault. Why don't you just ease up a little? You've got the money from the cash drawers and besides, the bank is surrounded. What's the point? No way are you getting out of this." Tony kept his tone non-confrontational but knew full well it wouldn't matter. He could already see the unrestrained rage in Bossman's eyes even from across the lobby.
The senior agent's plan was successful. The lead robber shoved the relieved bank president back to the floor and headed toward Tony. The clear fury in Bossman's eyes made Tony falter a little as the masked man stalked across the lobby. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, Tony mused. Too late.
The reaction was pretty much what DiNozzo had expected. Without a word Bossman again used the NCIS agent's own weapon against him. He slammed the butt of the SIG against the side of Tony's head this time, just above his left ear. The senior field agent slumped against McGee, out cold.
"You should tell your friend to keep quiet," snarled the furious gunman before he turned away and stormed back to his team, ignoring the frightened sobs of the other hostages.
Jeez, Tony, that was dumb, McGee thought. But it looks like you did save the poor guy's life. For now, anyway. Tim shifted against the wall and somehow managed to ease DiNozzo into a more comfortable position, so that the older man's head was resting on McGee's thighs. Tim rolled his eyes inwardly as he thought about what Tony's reaction to that would be if he were awake to comment on it.
Tim bit down on his own nausea as he got Tony situated. It was not an easy task with his hands bound behind his back. Just then Tim noticed blood trickling down the side of the senior agent's head and neck. Fantastic, McGee thought. Just what we need. He took a deep breath and addressed their captors.
"Is there any way I could get my hands free? He's bleeding and I need to get some pressure on the wound. I can't do that while I'm tied up like this." Tim didn't expect a favorable reply and so was very pleasantly surprised by the response from Bossman.
"Switch it so that his hands are tied in the front. Go ahead and do it with the other one too," the masked leader instructed one of his men. He then pointedly said to McGee, "That's all you get. Don't you dare ask for anything else."
Tim nodded his thanks, and sat quietly as a huge hulk of a gunman cut him loose and then used a new zip-tie to bind his wrists together in front of his body. After finishing with McGee, Hulk did the same with DiNozzo before rejoining his cohorts across the lobby. Tim could hear them quietly conferring as he returned his attention to his injured friend.
"Hey, Tony. Can you hear me? I need you to wake up now." Tim took off his necktie and gently used it to staunch the flow of blood. DiNozzo groaned and his eyelids fluttered as McGee put pressure on his painful head wound. "Tony? Come on, man. Time to wake up." Slowly the senior agent opened his green eyes.
"Probie?" Tony's voice was groggy and his confusion evident. "What happened?"
McGee sighed, relieved that his partner had so quickly regained consciousness even if he was still a little out of it. "You stuck your neck out for the bank president and got a gun butt to the head for your trouble," Tim quietly explained. "Do you remember?"
"Yeah, I think so…did it work? Is he okay?" Tony tried to sit up but didn't quite make it. He moaned as a wave of pain dropped him back onto McGee's lap. "Sorry, Probie," he mumbled.
Tim shook his head and quietly replied, "Don't worry about it. He's fine, the guy left him alone after knocking you out. I don't know what they're up to now. The phones have all been ringing continuously. I assume the police trying to get a negotiator on the line, but the robbers are just ignoring them along with the police outside. I really don't understand what they think they can accomplish by-"
Tim was cut off when Bossman began to speak. "Listen up! Here's what we're going to do. Change of plans. As a show of good faith, I'm going to let everyone go except these two." He indicated McGee and DiNozzo with a wave of his gun. "The way I see it, two federal agents are a pretty good consolation prize and quite frankly I'm tired of listening to the rest of you sniveling losers cry. Now GET UP!" Bossman's genial tone suddenly became enraged and sent the terrified hostages scrambling to their feet.
What is this guy's deal? Tim wondered silently. He's perfectly polite one minute and a complete monster the next. A glance at Tony's pale face revealed that he was wondering the same thing.
The robbers arranged the eighteen captives into a single file line and led them toward the main lobby doors, being careful to stay out of view of the front windows. They obviously - and correctly - assumed that Metro PD had snipers watching them closely. Hulk cut the president's hands free and ordered him to hold the door open for the others. The frightened people ran out of the bank as quickly as they could, leaving DiNozzo and McGee alone with the six armed assailants.
Once the hostages were clear, all the phone extensions immediately began ringing off the hook. This time Bossman decided to answer, and picked up the line nearest to him. "Hello!" he said in a disarmingly cheerful voice. He paused briefly as the police negotiator spoke. "Why yes, you are quite welcome." Another pause, followed by, "Oh, don't worry. I still have some bargaining chips. A couple of NCIS special agents – Timothy McGee and Anthony DiNozzo."
DiNozzo managed to push himself into a sitting position and exchanged a worried glance with McGee.
Bossman abruptly hung up the phone and turned to face Tim and Tony menacingly. "I hope you boys are comfortable. We may be here a while."
