Rookie Mistakes

By: Mahiri Chuma

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own anything NCIS related – though I really wish I did, and *if* I did, oh the whumpage there would be!

Summary: He just couldn't help but think that it would be such a stupid way to die. Toy and Tim make a rookie mistake.

A/N: Honestly, thank you all for the lovely reviews and your interest in this story. It really does help me get going a little faster! It's also lovely to have something like this when your life is just too darn busy, so I am really enjoying myself and I hope you are too! There is a bit of swearing in this story, so i beg you forgive me. Someone asked about the tag at the end of my chapter. "Kila wakati ni wakati wa chai" means, in Tanzanian Swahili, "Every time is tea time!" it's a little closing I enjoy and something I like to live by, because honestly, who doesn't love a good cup of tea? I'm sure McGee and DiNozzo sure could use one about now....on with the torture, ahem, story :)

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Rookie Mistakes

Chapter Four: Like Frankie Said

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For as long as Gibbs had known the younger agent that was Tony DiNozzo, the man seemed to find an inexhaustible amount of ways to weed his way into some sort of trouble. He truly had a knack for it. A gift, Ducky had once called it.

So, when he opened that heavy steel door, a small voice in the back of his mind, one reserved only for Tony, told him he shouldn't have been surprised.

Nonetheless, he was.

The room was freezing and he felt his eyes water as the blast of cold air slammed into him like an arctic wind. He moved in cautiously, the lack of lighting making it difficult to see and he spotted the outlines of his two missing agents, both far too still for his liking.

Having found the room to be clear and with Ziva at the door, he holstered his weapon and kneeled beside the two agents. He watched the slow and shallow puffs of air that signaled they were still breathing and felt a surge of relief.

They were alive.

"DiNozzo! McGee!" he shouted at them urgently. Neither stirred and he fought the urge to slap them in the back of their heads just for not responding.

A quick assessment told him all he needed to know. They looked terrible, both pale with a hint of blue on their lips and under their eyes. If he hadn't been able to see their breath on the cold air he would have been sure they were dead. Their stillness was extremely disturbing.

He quickly felt for a pulse on both men. McGee's was far too slow and thready and DiNozzo's was almost non-existent.

He cursed under his breath. He needed to get them out of there now.

"Ziva!" Ziva's form appeared in the doorway as she pocketed her phone, having finished her call. She moved quickly, joining him in front of the two unconscious men.

She swallowed heavily and her eyes darted between them before settling on Gibbs.

"Are they -" She was glad she didn't have to finish the query as Gibbs gave her a quick, jerky head shake.

"No, help me get them out of here." his voice was urgent and held the smallest inkling of panic. Gibbs never panicked.

"Tony first. Grab his legs." Thoughts of the plague raced through his mind, as they did every time the younger man so much as coughed or sneezed. He wrapped his arms around Tony's chest and felt his throat tighten as his muscle's stiffened involuntarily from the cold.

He was freezing.

The side of Tony's face brushed his neck as he lifted him. His skin was like ice, radiating cold and almost painful to touch. In this position he could hear his breathing hitch as they shuffled out of the room and each new breath came out as a painful sounding wheeze.

He suddenly felt a near insurmountable rage towards whoever had done this to his agents. They hadn't just stumbled into that death trap. Someone had locked them in there and he was going to find out who.

They reached the warm air and moved a few feet from the freezer entrance before gently laying Tony on the ground, his head lolling to the side and his chest heaving in an awkward, uneven pattern.

Gibbs turned quickly on his heel without a second glance. He couldn't afford to let his emotions get in the way and staring at his ailing agent wasn't going to help. He still had one more agent to save and he'd be damned if he didn't get both of his men out of this alive.

Ziva moved along side him and helped him repeat the process with an equally unresponsive McGee. As they came into the light Gibbs could see the tell tale signs of frostbite on the man's hands. They were swollen and terribly blistered. He knew it was an extremely painful condition and he had seen men loose fingers to frostbite in warmer conditions. He could only hope that they had reached him before the damage had become irreversible. If they hadn't ...

"Ziva, what's the medics ETA?"

Ziva was keeling between the two agents. Her fingers were pressed against McGee's wrist, rechecking his pulse.

She looked up at him with serious eyes.

"Ten minutes." She repeated the procedure with Tony before taking his hand in one of her own. She reached for McGee's with her other hand, clenching both men's hands in her lap.

Gibbs would have smiled had the situation not been so terribly desperate. Though Ziva was incredibly tough and enjoyed obliterating any feminine stereotypes, there certainly was a nurturing side to her.

"And Ducky?" He began searching the room for something to throw over his freezing agents. The fact that they hadn't even begun to shiver, despite exposure to the significantly warmer air, was testament to how far their core temperatures must have dropped.

"Fifteen." Damn.

He found a large, thin, filthy cloth. One that had probably been used to cover some of the more perishable items in the large storage room. It wasn't ideal but it was something.

He tugged it over the two agent's bodies and watched carefully as their chests rose and fell, Tony's somewhat awkwardly.

"Ziva, go upstairs and wait for the ambulance." Though he could tell that she would prefer not to leave her fellow agents, she gave him a short nod and hurried up the stairs, towards the front of the building.

"McGee! McGee!" He tried again, tapping the man's cheek. For a moment, his eyes fluttered and Gibbs thought he was coming too. He wasn't. His eyes remained closed and he made no further response.

The man's breathing had become a little stronger but his hands were now flushed an angry red, no doubt from the thawing process that was to ensue.

"DiNozzo. Hey, DiNozzo!" He reached over to do the same to Tony but it proved unnecessary.

Tony choked awkwardly, his breaths coming in too fast to be replenishing.

"B-Boss." Gibbs leaned forward instinctively, the words sounding so similar to those uttered during his bout with the plague. He could only surmise that his apparent breathing difficulties were keeping him in the purgatory between awake and unconscious.

"DiNozzo, look at me. Tony!" He shouted, one arm grasping his shoulder. DiNozzo never disobeyed a direct order and he wasn't expecting the man to let him down now.

"Boss, sc-screwed up." The younger agent managed to open his eyes, though just barely. Tired, glossy hazel eyes stared up at him.

"Yeah, you did DiNozzo. Stay with me." The man's eyes were beginning to slip shut but Gibbs was determined to keep him awake.

Tony choked again, a small cough catching in his throat. Gibbs stomach churned in a 'somethings-very-wrong' sort of way as he watched the other man's breathing.

"M-McGee?"

"We got him." He turned towards the agent in question. His face was still pale and his eyes marked with bruise like splotches but he was still breathing.

"Screwed uu-p. M' s-sorry, B-boss." Gibbs wanted to quote his rule book as he usually did with the younger agent, but he simply didn't have it in him.

"It's ok, DiNozzo." He watched in slight despair as Tony coughed once more and allowed his eyes to slip close.

"Tony! Hey!" He shook his shoulder lightly but the man didn't respond.

"Where's my damned ambulance!" He shouted to no one in particular, a feeling of complete and utter hopelessness pulling at him as he kneeled between his prone agents on the cold, damp ground.

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Ziva raced up the dilapidated stairs and into the main dining area. She pushed a table out of her way, knocking it and it's contents onto the floor. She strained her ears, listening for any signs of the ambulance but found nothing but the sounds of the rundown street in front of the building.

She got to the door and waited.

She had never been an overly patient woman and now she found herself not knowing quite what to do with herself.

She holstered her gun, leaving one hand on the weapon and peered outside, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes while her thoughts drifted towards her teammates.

She had seen both Tim and Tony fall ill or become injured on the job but never at the same time. No, never like this and not so terribly incapacitated. She would never admit it to either of the men, especially Tony, but it chilled her to the bone.

What would she do if she lost them both? What would Gibbs do? She shook her head, removing any thoughts concerning that dark future and forced herself to focus on the job in hand. *At* hand, she corrected herself.

"Where's my damned ambulance?"

Ziva frowned as she began to wonder the same thing. There were no flashing lights. There were no sirens. She knew the response time to areas like this was somewhat lacking but she had hoped that her 'agents in distress' call would have given a greater sense of urgency.

She reached her hand into her pocket, preparing to make another call when she heard the side door open with a tentative squeak. She pushed herself against the wall and looked out the window. It wasn't the EMTs and Ducky would never enter unannounced.

She pulled out her gun and pushed herself against the wall, listening as two people entered, speaking in hushed voices.

"What do you mean federal agents?"

"Like FBI or some shit."

"Are you telling me you have two FBI agents locked up down there? Damn it, Frankie, what were you thinking?"

Ziva poked her head delicately around the corner, ensuring the two men didn't see her. Frankie, she thought. Tony and Tim had been on the trail of a man named Frank Delicatti this morning. Her eyes became two angry slits as she realized who this man was.

"They were sneaking around, Boss. What was I supposed to do? Give 'em free reign?"

Her eyes flit to the other man who was looking down thoughtfully as he smooth the wrinkles in his black suit pants. He looked as though the news was a mere inconvenience as he put a hand on Frankie's shoulder.

"No, you did good, Frankie. Were they alone?"

"Yeah. Yeah, they were alone."

She squeezed her gun tightly. When she got her hands on this man, oh the things she would do to him.

"Did they call anyone?"

"No. I don't think so."

The Boss put a hand up to his mouth, looking as though he were thinking. Just a moment more and she would have all the evidence she needed to bring this pair to trial so they could spend the rest of their miserable lives in jail.

"Ok, Frankie. We're gonna take care of this."

Ziva had heard enough. She turned around the corner, her gun pointed at the taller man in the suit.

"NCIS! On the ground!" She shouted. Both men jumped back, clearly startled by Ziva's appearance.

"Frankie!" the man shouted, his hands raised in the air from his crouched position. Frank backed away, reaching behind his back.

"Freeze! Don't do it!" She pointed her gun toward Frank, who was slowly trying to create distance between himself and his Boss.

"I will shoot! Get down!" The man pulled his weapon and she thought for a moment about Tony and Tim. She would have preferred to have more time with this man. Alone. Pity.

She pulled the trigger. In her peripheral vision she could see the other man pushed to the ground, shouting as his face was pushed into the unforgiving tile floor, blood immediately beginning to pool under his nose and mouth.

She could hear sirens in the distance. Finally.

Gibbs was on top of the man in the suit, his body thrashing wildly as he choked on the blood pooling in his mouth.

"You killed Frankie! You bitch, you killed him!" He choked, spitting a broken tooth on the floor.

"Shut up." Gibbs pushed the man's face roughly into the floor with a sickening crunch. He pushed his knee into the man's back and began to hand cuff him.

"You are under arrest for the attempted murder of two federal agents."

"Attempted murder? Fuck you! I didn't kill anyone." He bucked, trying to throw the larger man off his back, blood streaming from his twice broken nose.

His face was slammed back against the ground, this time splitting his brow. Ziva smiled humorlessly. An angry Gibbs was a Gibbs to be reckoned with.

Ziva heard the screech of tires, signaling the arrival of the ambulance. She pushed the door open and waved them inside. She felt a slight wave of relief as a familiar Medical Examiner's truck pulled in next to the ambulance.

"Gibbs, they are here."

Gibbs pulled the man up to his knees in an abrupt, violent tug, pushing him against the wall.

"Ziva, watch him."

Ziva nodded before stalking up to the man and digging her gun into the back of his neck.

"Gladly."

"Is that really necessary, Agent Ziva." the man hissed through a mouthful of blood and spit.

She pushed harder, causing the man to grunt in pain as the force caused the side of his face to grind painfully into the brick wall.

"More than necessary. If I had it my way you would be bleeding out on the floor next to your friend Frankie over there."

"Than why am I not, Ziva." She lifted his head back, grasping a handful of hear and turned his face towards his fallen partner, again grinding his face into brick.

"Because I want to see you rot in a jail cell for a very long time." The man stared at Frankie's body, trying to pull his head away from the gruesome sight.

"Fuck you. You've got nothin.'" She didn't allow him to turn away, instead she kept his head painfully pinned. She leaned closer and whispered in his ear.

"I am going to make sure you will suffer where you are going."

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Gibbs handed the man off to Ziva, confident he was in the best hands possible and headed towards the door. The EMTs were gathering their stretcher as another ambulance approached. A familiar face approached the building, his steps hurried as they always were when dealing with an injury to one of their own.

"Oh my, Jethro. What have we here?" He took in the scene before him as Gibbs led him through a mess of broken tables and puddles of crimson liquid.

"Later, Duck." The elder medical examiner stepped lightly over the outstretched hand of a very dead man and glanced over at Ziva who was currently grinding a very much so alive man into a brick wall.

"Ziva's work I presume. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." He muttered as Gibbs hurried down a set of stairs.

He could hear the EMTs following closely behind them. He didn't know what awaited him at the bottom of the stairs. Ziva hadn't been as clear as he would have liked but from the apparent vengeance that had been dealt upstairs and by Gibbs surly demeanor, whatever it was, it wasn't good.

He had known Gibbs for a long time and had become very well acquainted with the other man's moods. The Gibbs he was dealing with now wasn't happy. No, definitely not. But, though many people wouldn't be able to tell, he was also very worried and that never sat well with Ducky.

He reached the bottom of the stairs, the EMTs close behind. The first thing he noticed was the tangible chill in the air. The storage room, of course. They always kept it cooler than the rest of the building.

The second thing was the bodies of two familiar agents lying prone and extremely pale on the ground. One breathing noisily and the other completely motionless.

"Oh, Jethro..."

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So, I am getting better with update time! I feel so proud! I think it's because it's the only thing keeping me sane in school. Four hours of sleep a night, studying all waking hours and spending the rest of my time at the hospital ... all I have are my NCIS ficlets now. Isn't that a sad shame? Oh well.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, thank you so much for the feedback and favorites! It means a lot to me and really fuels that muse. I love writing this fic and I'm somewhat sad it's coming to it's end! Well, at least NCIS starts back up! I will continue updating my other story, Messages from Gaza, however if anyone is interested.

Again, thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I promise to continue with my updating swiftness. Have a wonderful week and remember to carpe that diem.

Bandar kya jaane adark ka swaad!