Warnings: None for this chapter.
A/N: Happy NCIS Tuesday! So excited to see Delilah back in tonight's episode. I love her. And yes she is coming in this story very, very soon. Thanks for all your kind words and encouragement. Hope you enjoy this next installment!
All the studying, all the planning—all that time. It had finally come to fruition.
The old, beaten up pick up truck that he'd picked his son up from school all those years ago rumbled across the countryside. Rain was driving hard against the windshield making the trip slower and more painstaking then he would have liked, but it would be weeks before Agent Gibbs and the rest of his team figured out where he'd taken their friend and colleague.
By then it would be too late. Timothy McGee would be gone. Far beyond their reach. He'd take the older one next. He'd revel in the fear and pain in Anthony DiNozzo's eyes as he realized that he was about to die. Then, and only then, revenge would be done. It would be complete. He would have taken Leroy Jethro Gibbs' boys from him. Show him what it was like to lose not just one son, but two.
Double the pain for the agent that had inflicted some much pain upon him. It only served him right.
Tony felt physically ill to his stomach. Like at any moment he was going to vomit whatever he'd eaten for dinner all over the pristine carpet.
He knew that something wasn't right about someone snooping around their desks and impersonating someone else to get a job at NCIS. It was the whole reason he had investigated it in the first place. And now, now Tim was going to pay the price for them shrugging their shoulders and handing the investigation of Howard's death off to Metro.
We should have kept digging, Tony thought angrily. Why didn't we keep digging? WHY?
Obvious signs of trouble didn't show up until the crime scene, when Gibbs told him to wrap up his work and then track down what happened to the rest of his team. McGee had never shown up with Ellie at the playground that the body of Petty Officer Collins had been found at.
Immediately Tony felt his gut screaming but he had tried to talk himself down, citing stress from the weekend with Leah's parents, exhaustion because it had been a long day, but when Tim didn't answer his cell phone he couldn't argue with the dread anymore. Ellie confirmed his fears. McGee had never called her to come pick her up. She had no idea that the team had a case. Tim's backpack had been found in the garage, along with his discarded, smashed cell phone. And his car was gone.
Now, Tony stood in the bullpen, feeling like someone was twisting a knife in his gut. "Footage shows McGee heading towards his car," he reported, the remote tightly in his grasp. "He's then approached from behind."
Bishop and Gibbs watched on the screen as a man, clad in black jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt struck McGee on the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. He then pulled a syringe from his pocket and injected the fallen federal agent with something. The trio watched as their suspect pried the keys for the Charger from McGee's hand and unlocked the car.
Tony sighed, heavily as the footage continued on to show the suspect throwing McGee into the back of the car and then taking off with it. "I've put a BOLO out for the missing Charger. Nothing's come back yet. Director Vance wants us to hand the investigation over to the FBI."
"Like hell I'm going to do that," Gibbs snarled. "My people, my case."
"Boss, missing federal agent isn't our jurisdiction," Tony reminded him.
Gibbs shot him a glare. Tony didn't back down. It was one of the qualities that Gibbs had always admired in Tony—the ability to know when to fight or when to back down. At the moment though, he wasn't sure he entirely agreed with DiNozzo that it was time to fight.
Tony, on the other hand, apparently did feel that way. "I already called Fornell. He's meeting with Director Vance as we speak."
"Son of a bitch, DiNozzo!" Gibbs spat. "What were you thinking!"
"About Tim," Tony answered, softly. "Rule ten, boss. The one we both struggle with."
Gibbs realized that his senior field agent had him. There was no way to argue with his own rules. And both men knew it was the truth. In good conscience they could not investigate this case because they could not personally detach themselves. "Petty Officer Collins," he stated, signaling a change of subject.
Tony nodded his head and clicked the remote. A photograph of the young man whose body had been discovered in a playground appeared on the screen. Tony nodded slightly at Bishop, encouraging her to report.
Bishop took a deep breath. "Petty Officer Collins was on forty-eight hour liberty from the Seahawk. He has no criminal record. Superior officers spoke highly of him. He was recommended for a promotion just two weeks ago."
"Ducky pulled some prints from the body. He sent them up to Abby," Tony reported, his voice still thick, husky. "Palmer is staying with her," he added as an after thought.
"Witnesses saw a man leaving the park in an old pick-up truck," Bishop reported. "They didn't get a good look at him. Just that he was wearing all black."
Gibbs' face paled ever so slightly. "DiNozzo. Bring the footage of McGee's abduction up."
Tony blinked, confused and then pressed the button. The three agents watched the footage over again. At the end Tony paused and cursed. "Same guy."
Bishop looked at the two men. "Wait? How can you be certain? It could just be coincidence that they're both wearing black!"
Gibbs didn't say a word. Instead he turned on his heel and made his way up the stairs like a bat of out hell towards Vance's office. Bishop turned back towards Tony, looking even more confused. Tony merely offered her a tight smile, "In the immortal words of one Leroy Jethro Gibbs—I don't believe in coincidences."
Senior FBI Agent Tobias Fornell was not surprised when the door to Leon Vance's office flew open and Gibbs was standing there. "I was wondering when you would show up."
"Whoever took McGee is responsible for killing Petty Officer Collins," Gibbs snapped, eyeing Leon across the room. "Like it or not Director, these two cases are linked."
"You have proof of this?" Fornell asked, raising an eyebrow.
Gibbs turned his heated glare on his friend. "My gut."
Fornell grinned, tensely, "Well in that case—."
"Tobias! Don't patronize me!" Gibbs shouted. "One of my people is missing! Abducted! And I'm going to do everything I can to get him back alive!"
"Fine, easy there, Jethro," Fornell said, standing. He straightened his suit coat. "I was just about to suggest a joint operation. FBI has point. You bring what you find in your dead Petty Officer's case to us—we bring you what we find in McGee's case to you."
Gibbs sighed, heavily. It wasn't the best situation. But, it was better than being on the outside looking in. He looked briefly at Vance, seated quietly at his desk, hands folded in front of him. Vance simply nodded his head. Gibbs looked back towards Fornell. "Fine. I can live with that."
Fornell looked at him sternly. "You're gonna have too, Jethro. Missing federal agent is FBI territory. I don't want you to get McGee killed because you flew off the handle."
All the anger deflated from the marine. Gibbs took a steadying breath. His team had been through hell the last few years and they had just started to get back on their feet since Ziva had left. Could they really sustain the loss of another agent? Would Tony be able to handle loosing his probie? Gibbs hated to think of the pain that loosing McGee would inflict upon Tony—he cared for both his agents like they were his sons, but especially Tony. "I'm counting on you, Tobias," he whispered.
"I know," Fornell said, a tone of understanding in his voice. "We're gonna get McGee back. Promise."
"I gave up on promises a long time ago, Tobias," Gibbs snarled before throwing the door open and leaving with a slam. He had work to do.
