Tony gripped the armrest of the car door for dear life. Special Agent Gibbs drove like a madman. With his arm, he hadn't protested when Gibbs had declared he was driving, but now he was thinking he had made a serious error in judgment. He'd tried closing his eyes, but that only made it worse. Not only did it make him nauseous, but he was afraid he might miss his last living moments on the earth. "Ah, are we late for something I don't know about?" he ventured.

"Nope."

Just then, Gibbs swerved into the right lane to go around the silver Beamer in front of them. Tony held his breath as they then darted in behind a semi, only releasing it when Gibbs did not, as he had feared, plow into the back of it. He was really glad that he'd only eaten some toast for breakfast.

"Umm, wasn't that our exit?" Tony asked, as Gibbs sped right by the turnoff for the warehouse district.

"Nope."

Tony blinked in confusion. "Aren't we going to the warehouse?"

"Nope."

Evidently, plans had changed. He hated when that happened. Slanting a look over at the NCIS agent, Tony shook his head as he noted the small smirk at the corner of the man's mouth. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope."

Right. Of course not. Sighing heavily, Tony slid down in his seat and closed his eyes. Baltimore traffic wasn't exactly what he wanted as his last images of life. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, so he might as well catch a nap... and pray Gibbs didn't kill them with his driving in the meantime.

When no further questions were forthcoming, Gibbs glanced over and was surprised to find the younger man dozing. Not many people attempted to sleep in a vehicle while he was at the wheel, but he couldn't deny that DiNozzo needed the rest. Easing his foot off the accelerator, he drove a bit more sedately.

Tony jerked awake, blinking at the sunlight and momentarily disoriented.

"We're here."

Squinting at Gibbs, Tony sat up with a groan, rolling his neck to get the kinks out. He was surprised to discover they were in the parking lot of the Quantico Marine Corps base, but then his brain kicked into gear. "The CO?"

"Yep." This time, Gibbs had a blatant smirk, and Tony couldn't help but grin at him in return.

They both got out of the car and Tony fell in step behind Gibbs' left shoulder.

When they reached the reception area, Gibbs flashed his badge at the woman behind the desk. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs and this is Detective DiNozzo. We're investigating the death of Sgt. Mullens."

The secretary studied the badge, her lips pursed, but then she nodded. "I'll notify Colonel Hathaway that you're here." And then she disappeared into the back.

Tony took in his surroundings as they waited. There were a few curious looks sent their way, but no one stood out as unduly interested. He was kind of surprised to find that a military base could look so much like an ordinary office. He was jolted out of his thoughts when the secretary reappeared.

"The Colonel will see you now. If you'll follow me?"

Gibbs noted with approval that the base was neat and organized. People in uniform moved about, working with quiet efficiency. From all outward appearances, it was a well-run base. Of course, appearances could be deceiving...

Finally, the secretary stopped at a door and knocked briskly before opening it. "Colonel? Special Agent Gibbs and Detective DiNozzo."

The colonel stood up as the two men entered his office and indicated the chairs in front of his desk. "Agent, Detective," he greeted. "Please, have a seat."

"Thank you, Colonel," Gibbs said. "I'm sure you know why we're here. Special Agent Todd said that you've been very helpful in providing the files for your unit. We appreciate it. Right now, though, I'd like to get your personal take on Sgt. Mullens. What was he like? Who were his friends? That sort of thing."

Hathaway nodded, bringing his fingertips together as he thought about the questions. "Truthfully, I didn't know Sgt. Mullens very well. He just transferred into this unit a couple of months ago."

"Where was he stationed before?" Gibbs asked.

"He'd just returned from a tour in Iraq. In fact, our unit is scheduled to redeploy to Iraq within the next six months," Hathaway said.

Tony frowned. "Is that usual? I mean, if he'd just returned from Iraq, is it normal for him to be returning so soon?"

Both Gibbs and Hathaway nodded. "Absolutely," Hathaway said. "He was transferred to my unit because most of the men in his former unit were killed. In fact, most of my unit consists of the remains of other units. They were sent back stateside for some R&R and to start training together."

Gibbs nodded again, unsurprised.

"As for who Mullens spent his time with, I think you'd have better luck talking to the other men in the unit," Hathaway said. He glanced at his watch. "Right now, they should be running field exercises. I can have the Staff Sergeant take you out there," Hathaway offered.

"Sounds good," Gibbs agreed.

Hathaway picked up the phone and hit a button. "Send in Sergeant Mills," he instructed and then replaced the receiver.

In almost no time at all, there was a rap on the door and then a young man poked his head in. "Colonel?" he asked.

"Sergeant, please escort Agent Gibbs and Detective DiNozzo out to where the men are training."

"Yes, sir," Mills said, saluting.

Gibbs stood up, with Tony following his lead. "Thank you for your time and help, Colonel," Gibbs said.

"Of course. I only hope you can close your case quickly. As I said before, this unit will be shipping back out soon."

As they followed Mills out of the office, Tony took a quick look back at Hathaway and noticed that the man looked rather grim. He didn't know if it actually meant anything or not, but he took note of it. 'Though, if a man in your unit was killed while raping a woman, I suppose you would look a bit grim. It certainly doesn't reflect well on the unit.'

--

Tony looked around with interest as they drove back into what looked a lot like a wildlife preserve. He'd never been on a military base before, and he was surprised by how much land the base actually occupied.

"How long is the training exercise scheduled to be?" Gibbs asked, breaking the silence.

"Until 0200, sir," Mills said.

"Don't call me sir," Gibbs said.

"Yes si..., uh Agent Gibbs."

Tony smirked in the backseat, but was careful to keep his face averted so Gibbs wouldn't catch him. He had definitely gotten the military vibe from Gibbs, and he wondered why the man had left. And he wouldn't be at all surprised if Gibbs had been a marine. It would certainly explain how personally he seemed to be taking the case. Leaning back in the seat, he closed his eyes, suddenly exhausted. And his arm had started throbbing again.

In the rearview mirror, Gibbs could see that DiNozzo seemed to be napping again. His eyes narrowed as he took in the detective's pallor and the tightness around the man's eyes. He'd been shot enough times himself to know that the arm had to be hurting the younger man. That, combined with few hours of sleep and the stress of the situation had contributed to the detective's fatigue. They hit a pothole and Dinozzo's eyes snapped open and met Gibbs' in the mirror. For a moment, time froze and Gibbs could almost swear that DiNozzo could see right through him. Then, with a faint blush to his cheeks, DiNozzo averted his gaze and Gibbs could breathe again.

'Oh, good going, DiNozzo. Are you trying to get your ass kicked?' Tony thought to himself. He shifted a bit in the seat, attempting to get more comfortable, but refused to look in the mirror again. He didn't want to think about what he might have seen in Gibbs' eyes--it had to have been wishful thinking, anyway. Truthfully, he was surprised that Gibbs had brought him to the military base. He'd expected to walk Gibbs through the warehouse and then never see the man again... unless he was needed to testify for the case. Instead, it almost seemed as though Gibbs wanted him involved with the investigation. His musing was cut off as the vehicle stopped and he glanced out the window to see a bunch of marines in fatigues jogging out of the woods. He grimaced as he realized that these guys were going to be none too pleased once they discovered that he was the one that had killed their fellow marine... hopefully that news had yet to reach them. Gibbs must have had the same thought, because he caught the older man giving him a concerned look before returning that sharp gaze to the men approaching.

For once, Gibbs was starting to second guess himself. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to bring Detective DiNozzo to the marine base. From some of the glares he could see directed DiNozzo's way, there had been a leak in the investigation, and he knew it wasn't from his people. Narrowing his eyes, he looked over the men that were being ordered to line up in front of him, carefully noting which ones were taking a particular interest in DiNozzo. He would speak with those men personally, and leave the others to DiNozzo. With a sideways glance at the detective, he almost smiled at the casual stance the younger man had adopted, leaning back against the car with his sunglasses firmly in place. He'd ditched the sling and, from the looks of him, you'd think he was waiting for his date to arrive.

--

They were both silent as the Staff Sgt. returned them to their car, but Gibbs couldn't help but sneak concerned looks back at DiNozzo. He was impressed with the man's ability to suck it up and do the job, but right now, he could tell the detective was paying for it. Mentally rearranging their schedule, Gibbs decided lunch, including DiNozzo's meds that he'd pocketed, would give DiNozzo a chance to rest a bit before they took their tour of the warehouse.

Tony slid into Gibbs' car with a sigh of relief. He certainly wasn't sorry to be leaving the base. Although not completely surprising, it was still worrying to know that someone in his department had leaked the information that he was responsible for the death of Sgt. Mullens. He had no doubt that it was his department and not one of Gibbs' team.

"They recognized you on sight, you realize," Gibbs stated quietly.

"Oh yeah," Tony agreed, his answer just as quiet. "Good thing you arranged for a safe house for Alison. If the bad guys know what I look like, then it's a good bet that they know where I live, too."

Gibbs nodded. "After lunch, we'll stop by your apartment so you can pick up a few things. I think it's best if you found somewhere else to stay, at least until the investigation is wrapped up," he said.

'And probably for good,' Tony silently added to himself. He was under no illusions that his time in Baltimore wasn't coming to an end. Best to get going before it was no longer an option. He'd stick it out until the case was closed, though--he owed that to Alison. Aloud, he said, "There's a deli near my building that has really good sandwiches and decent prices." He paused for a beat and added with a knowing grin, "That's where I buy my coffee, too."

Snorting, Gibbs couldn't quite suppress the small quirk of his lips. Not many people felt comfortable teasing him before they got to know him... hell, most people didn't feel comfortable teasing him even after they got to know him, but it seemed DiNozzo had no compunction about it at all.