Chapter 8

Tony waited for the final, inevitable darkness to claim him. When it didn't come, he blinked, turning his head back towards his would be executioner. He was dead, lying beside his blond partner who stared at his shot friend with shock and rage. Behind them, Fornell stood, his arms still outstretched holding his service piece .

Relieved, Tony exhaled. Fornell would most likely never again let him forget that he had saved his life, but Tony thought he could live with that. Yep, he could definitely live with that.

Grimacing, Tony pushed himself upwards, unable to stop a groan from escaping him. Shit, that hurt. Trying not to breathe too deeply, he stopped once he was sitting more or less upright. He needed a moment before he could tackle the standing up and remaining on his feet part. Looking back to Fornell, who came carefully closer, he caught sight of the blond going for the gun his dead partner still had in his limp hand. Grinding his teeth, Tony fumbled for his own gun. Gripping it, he brought it up and fired.

The blond howled as the bullet pierced his hand, the Sig Sauer knocked out of it by the impact.

"Secure him, Fornell," Tony rasped. "We need him alive and he may not be above suicide. One already killed himself rather than be arrested this morning." He kept his gun trained on the blond. It wavered a bit, the position straining his bruised chest, but he managed to keep it up until Fornell had secured the guy. Only then did he allow his arm to relax. Exhausted, he forgot about standing up and instead eased himself back down, just breathing.

Above him, Fornell's disgruntled face appeared, frowning down at him. "You okay?"

"Peachy," was Tony's sarcastic reply.

The FBI agent raised an eyebrow. "Well, when you're done sleeping on the job, how about we get on with it?"

It was so much like something Gibbs would have said. Tony hated him for that, but he said nothing because in the end, Fornell was right. If anything, it only reminded him painfully that Gibbs wasn't here, and wouldn't be anytime soon, and therefore he had to be the strong, indestructible one for the time being. Right. Bracing himself, he rolled to the side, pushing himself up onto his elbow. Before he could struggle up further, hands gripped him under the armpits and he was hauled back onto his feet, the hands remaining on his back until he was sure that his knees didn't give out. He didn't protest, didn't shrug it off, not at first, not until he pushed the pain back and back, into a deep part of his mind, slamming an iron door shut on it. Only then did he straighten and step away from the support Fornell offered. He nodded shortly. "Thanks."

The FBI agent had no problem understanding the depth of that one single word and just shrugged. "I'd say we're even. Nice tackle."

Tony offered him a crooked smile. "Hey, I was going to go pro once. I can tackle with the best of them."


Tim found it hard to concentrate on the searches he was once again running as his eyes alternated between the digital clock on his screen and the gallery, apparently not able to stop their distracted straying. At least he wasn't the only one. More than once he had caught Ziva glancing upwards with a frown, mostly between the phone calls she had been ordered to place to her contacts. And it wasn't just them. Several other agents threw nervous and confused glances around and it seemed to be impossible for anyone walking past to not look curiously up to the gallery.

That was ever since Tony had come back an hour ago, Fornell at his heels, and with another body for Ducky and a suspect being escorted to the interrogation room. Tony had briskly ordered someone to call Ducky so he could take a look at the hole in the suspect's hand, and then had vanished up the stairs into the director's office, Fornell right behind him. Five minutes later Tim, Ziva and several other agents had received a call from Tony for an update. Tim had given the little he had found straight, not even wondering about it until after he had been dismissed, the dial tone ringing in his ears.

There had just been something in Tony's voice that had demanded no nonsense responses, very much like Gibbs but still not the same. He hadn't seen this side of Tony for a long time, so long that he had almost forgot how intense the Senior Field Agent could get occasionally. But he did remember that this side only showed up when things truly had gone far beyond FUBAR. And it didn't sit right with him at all, the anticipation of another big shoe being dropped almost palpable on his tongue. The bad taste in his mouth had only worsened when a half an hour ago more suits with visitor badges and grim faces had arrived, being directed straight up the stairs to Vance's office; Trent Kort was one of them.

Tony had yet to re-emerge from the office and Tim actually hoped he was going to come back to his desk soon. It was bad enough that Gibbs wasn't at his desk, to have Tony absent too was just wrong. They needed him here, helping them focus, being himself, finding an errant clue, leading them. Not up there, probably bumping heads with the director, Fornell, Kort and whoever else was crammed in Vance's office.

He noticed that every eye in the room was turned upwards and he quickly swiveled around in his chair to look up too, just in time to see Tony's back disappearing into MTAC, Fornell, Kort and two other people following him in. The door closed. Turning away, he looked over at Ziva, her eyes still on the closed door. "What do you think is going on up there?"

She grimaced. "Nothing good."

"D'you get the feeling too, that this is about more than the biological weapon?" Tim had thought this for a while, not wanting to say it out loud though, but he had a feeling that ignoring it any longer was stupid. Something was going on, and he was tired of being left in the dark.

"Have you seen the director today? Spoken to him?" Ziva asked back, turning towards him.

"No." And Tim didn't need Ziva to tell him that this was strange. Add to that the hostage situation with Shelley and Tony's secretive behavior, it didn't take a genius to figure just what this other thing going on was about. "Do you think they killed him?"

God, he hoped not. He was probably the only one on the team who liked Vance as the director, but now certainly was not the time for them to lose their director as well. Even Tony would have to agree with that.

"I do not know. But if something has happened to Vance, then who is Tony reporting to? And who is directing us?"

Tim had no answer for Ziva; her direct questions had hit him hard. Sure, there were times he wished he had Tony's job. Glancing up, he felt sorry for Tony. No way did he want to be in his shoes right now.


If Tony's theory was right that the kidnapping of all the important heads in national security agencies was to unsettle the said agencies, then that plan was working just fine. From the second the agents of the other agencies had arrived - CIA, NSA and Homeland as Tony had assumed - the turf war had begun and was still raging on, even in front of their bosses' bosses. Exasperated, Tony rubbed the point between his eyes in an effort to hold himself and the building headache back.

God, he hated politics. Give him a nest of rapists, murderers and terrorists, controlled by psychopaths, anytime!

What the hell was so difficult to understand here? Bio weapon on the loose, their bosses kidnapped. Now was not the time to discuss strategies or fight over jurisdiction. Now was the time to work, to act, not sit around on their pompous asses and do nothing but exchange niceties!

But he was just the Senior Field Agent with the bad luck to be the one in charge for the moment. He was by far the lowest ranking person in the room and that was just fine with him. He was a field guy, not a desk guy, never had been. If he had wanted to push papers around all the time and have to crawl into some bloated guy's ass on a regular basis he would have made that business major his dad wanted him to do and joined the family business all those years ago.

Informing the Under Secretary of the Navy about the situation in his Navy Yard had already given him a headache. It had been the first thing he did once he got back to the office. After all, word needed to be sent out that any orders coming from the SecNav or the director of NCIS had to be ignored. While he didn't believe that was the reason they had been taken, it was still a possibility that needed to be considered and anticipated.

That headache had only worsened when the representative of the CIA had turned out to be Trent Kort. Of course it had to be that asshole. Unfortunately, this time, he had to be at least somewhat polite to the guy in order to avoid a confrontation and reach cooperation. Kort knew that only too well and boy, did he milk it, never easing up on the mean little jabs at him. So far Tony had held his temper in check, but a man could only take so much.

Linda Farington from Homeland and Walther Larn from NSA completed the circus. From what he gathered Larn was a well experienced man, but he had been too long behind a desk for Tony's liking, more concerned about pleasing the superiors than do the job right; while Farrington hadn't been in her position long enough, and might be too eager to prove herself. This morning's news had blindsided them, Tony thought, and now they tried to cope by being over confident and way too touchy and defensive. They weren't thinking far enough. Probably never heard of Rule 15, and boy, if there was ever a time to work as a team, it was sure as hell now.

So here they were in MTAC, the four of them bickering in front of the Chief of Staff, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense who watched over the video feed. Great. Just fucking great.

It looked as if the final turf war for the lead was between FBI and CIA. He sincerely hoped it was going to be FBI. All things considered he could barely tolerate following Fornell, but while he wasn't his biggest fan, he knew Fornell at least was a real agent. And Gibbs trusted him, and was willing to team up with him, and they worked well together.

But to have to follow Trent Kort's lead ... Not gonna happen. Hopefully without him having to quit.

Of course, though, Kort did everything he could in order to secure himself the lead. "With all due respect, Sirs, the CIA clearly has the best means to deal with this situation. We have the best net of informants to deduce who is behind this attack and our experience in dealing with this sort of threat surely surpasses that of my colleagues. Nothing against them, but while they usually are only concerned about single cases ..."

Enough was enough. "Bullshit," Tony sneered, his arms falling down; the glare he gave Kort would have made Gibbs weep with pride. If Gibbs were to do such a mundane thing as to shed a tear.

"Special Agent DiNozzo," the Under Secretary, who was lurking behind the three powerful men hissed, clearly displeased.

"Yes, DiNozzo, why don't you stay back and let the professionals talk here," Kort added sweetly with that derisive smirk of his that Tony just itched to blow away with a solid right hook.

"You have something to add, young man?" SecDef asked with a frown, his dark eyes piercing even through the video feed.

Tony swallowed, his respect for the man growing and at the same time berating himself for have opened his big mouth. He didn't want any attention right now. On the other hand, he just couldn't let the likes of Trent Kort bad mouth the good work his people had delivered while being in an extremely difficult position. Single cases, my ass. Straightening, he stepped forward and met the piercing eyes of his SecDef straight on.

"As a matter of fact, Sir, yes, I have. While I have the utmost respect for the work of our sister agencies," wow, he even managed to say that without sarcasm, "I'd like to point out that it has been NCIS that discovered the impending attack, NCIS that first grew aware of the abduction of our superiors, NCIS that has so far gathered all the evidence, NCIS that has already brought down five of the terrorists, and it is also NCIS that has the only suspect in custody as we speak."

He briefly took the the time to give Kort a pointed glare, before turning back to SecDef. "But I'm not pointing this out in order to receive credit. I don't care who gets credit afterwards. That's one thing our directors can thrash out among themselves once they're safely back at their desks. For now though we have work to do and we have to act fast. And even my esteemed colleagues," okay, this time he couldn't hold back the sarcasm entirely, Tony thought with an internal shrug, "have to concede that it's NCIS that's already the most involved in the investigation, and has the best chance of tracing and stopping this attack before it's too late. With all due respect, we don't have the time to stand around here and fight over jurisdiction. We should be out there working our asses off. And most of all, we need to be working together here. Sir," he added as an afterthought, not needing the horrified look the Under Secretary was giving him to know he had been out of line. Honestly though, they could demote or fire him all they want, once this was over.

"I see," was the only, rather cryptic response SecDef offered before he excused himself and his colleagues for a moment, the big screens going black as they no doubt discussed their course of action. Tony just hoped it actually involved action.

"You've been with Gibbs for too long, DiNutso."

Tony turned his head to see Fornell standing right beside him. "What's that supposed to mean?" he challenged.

But Fornell just smiled. Kort though was very happy to answer him. "It means just like your boss, you do not know what your place is."

Tony visualized decking the smug bastard, his fingers flexing in anticipation. But instead, he forced his fingers to relax and his breathing to slow down. "I'd be careful what you say in here, Kort. The boss has many friends, and the rest respect him at least. None of them would take it kindly if they heard you badmouthing an agent who was shot just this morning in the line of duty."

Kort's gaze narrowed, but luckily for him and Tony, before he could say anything the video feed came in once again, the expression on the powerful men's faces grim. "Special Agent DiNozzo," SecDef spoke up.

Breaking his glare off with Kort, Tony turned to face the curt, sturdy man. "Yes, Sir."

"You are appointed director of NCIS ad interim, effective immediately, until either Director Vance returns or we can find a more permanent replacement. We have also agreed that for now, the lead in this investigation stays with NCIS. I expect an hourly update and to be briefed before any major decisions are made, is that understood?" SecDef demanded, his gaze unyielding.

Tony might have even shuddered under it, if he hadn't been too dazed by the first part of his orders. He blinked, suddenly feeling slightly nauseous. "Me?" His voice sounded unnatural high in his ears. "Sir, that must be a mistake. I'm a field agent, not ... I mean, I'm sure any of our remaining team leaders could step in and take over temporarily."

If anything, the piercing glare only intensified. "Special Agent DiNozzo, do I understand correctly that all your agency's achievements in this affair so far have been made under your command?"

Tony shifted uncomfortably. "Well yeah, but mostly it was a team effort, Sir. I just did my job, that doesn't mean I'm fit to lead the agency," he answered bluntly. They couldn't burden him with all that responsibility! The responsibility of a team lead was more than enough to take on, thank you very much. Not to mention that his place was out in the field, on his team's six, not behind a fucking desk!

SecDef allowed a small smile to lift the corners of his mouth. "In that case you won't have a problem with keeping on doing your job and working as a team with the other agencies." The smile evaporated as he looked at all the other representatives gathered in MTAC. "That is an order. Whatever differences you have, bury them or your directors, once they are safely returned, will be hearing from me." He gave his technician a sign and once again, the video stream was cut off, leaving deafening silence behind.

With a scowl, Tony shook his head. Damn it, why hadn't he just kept his big mouth shut?


Standing on the mezzanine, Fornell watched Gibbs' boy closely. After the shock of being temporarily promoted to director and being dumped with the lead, the boy had looked downright depressed. It had been just for a moment, probably no-one else had even seen it as DiNozzo had quickly pulled himself together, an unreadable mask slamming down over his face, one of confidence and composure. Fornell didn't know how the agent could change colours as fast as a chameleon, but it had always disturbed him. Of course, it made him an excellent undercover agent and also, a surprisingly good team leader, as he had discovered during Gibbs' little hiatus in Mexico.

Maybe it would also make him a good director, but Fornell wasn't so sure about that. In the end, just like his mentor, DiNozzo was the kind of man who always took action, doing what was necessary and way above that. But while he was frighteningly good with other people, he also had a short fuse and shared his boss' dislike of paper pushers. Fornell doubted he had the patience and restraint to do the job of the director. Not to mention that he didn't feel too confident to have to follow a man who was clearly his junior and had perhaps half the experience he had.

Then again... SecDef had been right in pointing out that under DiNozzo's command, his sister agency had achieved impressive results so far, and that under truly unusual circumstances. And he hadn't even listed all the lives Gibbs' boy had managed to save on top of that. He had discreetly asked a bit around after a comment the secretary had made to DiNozzo when they had arrived and had been amazed to hear that DiNozzo had not only saved his life, but also that of Gibbs and most likely his entire team, the secretary and her two kids.

So maybe, SecDef had made just the right decision. Surely though, there would be several people who did not agree and unfortunately, DiNozzo was at the top of that list. Really though, Fornell wouldn't have expected anything else from the young agent. Right now he stood at the top of the stairs, looking down on the gathered NCIS personnel, shifting nervously. His first order had been for them all to gather on the floor within ten minutes. Those ten minutes were up now, but it didn't look as if DiNozzo was ready yet to announce his temporary promotion. He looked pretty lost, standing here on the elevated level, utterly reluctant to shift power as he knew it.

Fornell had to smile when suddenly, DiNozzo's back straightened and he moved down the stairs to the mid-level, but it disappeared when he saw the agent's hand move unconsciously to rub at his chest. It was only for a moment, by the time DiNozzo had reached the second flight, the hand was gone and nothing in his face or posture gave away that the man had to be in quite a bit of pain. Having been shot in the vest himself a number of times, Fornell knew exactly how much it hurt. And it had been a big caliber slug at way too close range. The boy was lucky the bullet hadn't penetrated the vest. Yet, if he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have guessed that the agent felt any pain at all. Hell, he had watched how somehow, DiNozzo had pushed the pain back and stored it away.

It kind of worried him. Gibbs had mentioned something once, a few years back, something about having to watch DiNozzo like a hawk the moment there was the possibility that the boy had been injured. Fornell frowned, trying to remember the exact words. 'Idiot wouldn't admit to being hurt if his guts were hanging out.' Back then he had thought it was a joke. Now he wasn't so sure anymore.

He was brought out of his thoughts by DiNozzo speaking. "Thanks for coming, everyone. I know this morning hadn't been easy. Our own got hurt and our own are being targeted – by terrorists we can be sure plan to hurt many more innocent people. You all know that; you're doing your best and beyond to stop it from happening. The work you've done so far is good. But we still have to find and extinguish this cell and I'm afraid they're not going to make it any easier." He paused, looking around, before calmly continuing. "I'm sorry to have to inform you that Director Vance, along with SecNav and the directors of FBI, CIA, NSA and Homeland have been kidnapped this morning, we think by the same terrorists."

DiNozzo stopped again for this shocking information to sink in. Fornell watched as confusion, shock and anger flashed over most faces to finally settle in grim resolution. But he could also see them glancing between themselves, especially the other team leaders. No doubt they were wondering who was going to call the shots now. Well, they were in for a surprise, Fornell thought and kept his vigil, not wanting to miss their reaction once DiNozzo told them about his promotion.

"This is disturbing news. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of time to dwell on it. Speed's of the essence here, both about the impending attack and for our missing superiors. We've informed the White House of the situation and it was decided that our agencies should join our resources and fight this threat together." DiNozzo turned towards the mezzanine. "These are our contacts: Walther Lorn from NSA, Linda Farrington from Homeland, Trent Kort from CIA – and you should all know Tobias Fornell from FBI. The five of us will be your command base. Every decision comes and goes through us." DiNozzo turned back to his people and Fornell was surprised at the unyielding strength and command he suddenly oozed. "It was also decided that the lead stays with us. With me to be exact." The young agent looked at every of the other team leaders. "Effective immediately, I've been appointed director ad interim."

More than one gasp or cry of surprise was heard around the floor, and even more doubtful or incredulous looks were exchanged. A lot were frowning. But, as Fornell noticed, there were also those who didn't seem to be surprised at all, Dr Mallard and Ms Sciuto the most obvious among them. As for DiNozzo, he stood calmly on the mid-level, showing no sign that the almost palpable doubt in the room was getting to him even slightly.

Once things quietened down, DiNozzo spoke up again. "I know this is a surprise for everyone; but the decision is made. Should anyone have a problem with me calling the shots, he or she is welcome to come to me. I'll be in the director's office." Again he looked at the other team leaders as he spoke. "You'll have to be quick though, as in half an hour we are going to have a briefing in the conference room. All team leaders, Dr Mallard, Ms Sciuto and the Agents McGee and David are expected to attend in order to present their results so far. Now get back to work."

DiNozzo didn't wait for further reactions to his little speech as he turned to walk back up the stairs, straight past Fornell and the other representatives to his new office, somehow managing not to make it look like running but a calm, unworried and decisive walk.

Yeah, Gibbs' boy sure knew the art of slipping into any role he wanted or needed to. Or maybe it wasn't a role at all and the boy was just a natural leader. Fornell wasn't sure what it was and it worried him.

"We are so screwed," Kort muttered beside him, the disgust evident in his voice. "At least, once this blows over, DiNozzo's career will be over and none of us will ever have to deal with the incompetent idiot again."

Fornell felt himself bristle, much to his own surprise. He turned a cold look at the CIA agent. While he hadn't had much to do with him so far, he had heard enough from Gibbs to dislike him already and now that he was getting to know him better, his opinion of the fellow worsened with every word out of his spiteful mouth. "So tell me again, Kort, who's got all the results so far?" he asked with a pointed glare. "If I were you, I'd be careful what you say or it will be your career on the line. Now excuse me, I need to get an update from my team. I suggest you do the same."


Exhausted, Tony leaned back in Vance's chair. As anticipated, the team leaders had come by, not losing any time. Owen Heyes had been first and had been spitting mad. Not that Tony could hold it against him. Heyes was the most seasoned agent they had, with only a few years left until his pension. Under normal circumstances, it should have been Heyes in this chair now, not DiNozzo who was twenty years his junior and not even a full team leader yet. Still, Tony couldn't be but be glad that he wasn't. Heyes was okay, but he wasn't the best or the most driven, always too careful, too slow, too prudent for Tony's liking. Then again, compared to Gibbs pretty much anyone was too slow for Tony's liking.

In the end, Heyes only had vented, assuring him that he was going to put in a complaint, but, and that was the only thing Tony truly cared about, it was also clear that he didn't have the balls to go against orders from SecDef and not cooperate. Tony found out that pointing out that SecDef himself had appointed him quenched most angry protests pretty fast. So he used it, even though he was no big fan of name dropping, never had been, never would be.

Then again, Heyes had been the worst of them, mostly, the team leaders only came by to test the waters. Some, like Ida Lopez, their newest team leader, had even openly congratulated him. The only other one he was worried about was Charles Keller. He was good, probably the best they had after Gibbs, which was good. Also, he was ambitious, which wasn't so good. Most of all though, there was no love lost between Keller and him, never had been, and that was just downright unfortunate. Not that Keller had let on on his doubts, au contraire, he had been polite and calmly assured Tony of his help and cooperation.

He didn't have to show his contempt. They went back a long time, to their days at FLETC. Back then, Keller had been dutifully taking each and every one of his classes, having been a Navy Seal until an ear infection had forced him to change his career. Tony could have related to that only too well, but he never had a chance for that. He had come to FLETC to take some mandatory courses, but with his past as a policeman and thanks to Gibbs and Morrow pulling some strings, he didn't have to go through the complete training. That already didn't sit right with Keller and it didn't help that Tony came and beat some of the records Keller had just managed to set. Then they had been both assigned to Gibbs' team; Tony by choice, Keller by orders. Needless to say that hadn't worked out well.

First Gibbs promoted Tony promptly to Senior Field Agent, not a position Keller felt he'd earned, then the Navy man and Gibbs continually clashed. Marines and Seals. Not a good idea to put them together, let alone in the same team. So after three months of hell, Gibbs threw him off his team. Keller never forgave Tony for that; he was, in his opinion, partly responsible for his failure.

Now here they were again, Keller a team leader for a few years now, having excellent records, and yet Tony was once again put right in front of his nose instead of him being chosen himself. Not only that, with the whole EJ fiasco, everyone knew now also that Tony had been offered the Rota team years before Keller got his own team. Tony sighed. He would definitely need to watch his back around him and be extra sure of any orders he gave Keller.

Finally, the last of the team leaders had left, leaving him only with a few minutes before it was time for the briefing. Closing his eyes, Tony breathed deeply, glad to be finally alone, even if it was in Vance's office. Not a room he particularly liked. Why should he, almost always only bad things had ever been delivered to him in this office. It was here that he got the Grenouille op, along with the orders to lie to Gibbs about it and be downgraded to a fucking whore, all for the sake of the mission. It was here that years later, he again got orders for another undercover op, again being forced to lie to Gibbs about it. But the winner of bad memories in this office was definitely when he got kicked off of Gibbs' team and was deployed as Agent Afloat.

Yet, right now he was glad to be here, desperately needing the solitude of this office.

"Tony, Tony, Tony!"

With a snap he jerked up, wincing as the sudden movement strained his sore torso. Fortunately, Abby was being too much Abby to notice his wince as she whirled towards him for a fierce hug. "I can't believe you're our director now! That is so cool! Finally someone in this office who understands. Well, you know what I mean. Morrow was really good, but he was just so old. And Jenny!" She let go of him and rounded the desk, starting to pace in front of it. "I loved her, and I thought she understood it too, seeing as she was Gibbs' old partner, but then she used you for her personal vendetta and I'm still not sure if she didn't kill the Frog, so there. And Vance!" she scowled. "He broke up the team and sent you so far away! I'll never forgive him for that. Just think about what could have happened to you! Okay, he came to his senses finally and he learned, started to treat you better, still, I don't think you're his favorite person and you know I could never really like someone who doesn't love you. Of course I'm worried about him being kidnapped, that is awful. I'll find him though, I'll start with the evidence from the mansion right after the briefing."

"Thanks, Abby, I know you will," Tony interrupted. Normally he'd stand up to go hug her, but he doubted he could get up without her noticing the pain standing up was likely to cause him. Abby didn't need to have to worry about yet another one of her people. Not that there was anything to worry about. He was fine, just a bit bruised. "I'm glad at least someone's happy that I'm sitting in this chair."

"Oh, you will be so good! But listen, Tony, about the briefing, I think I know now ..."

"Abs," Tony interrupted her again. "This concerns the case, yeah?" She nodded. "Then wait until the briefing to tell me and everyone else. Please don't get me wrong, but I really need a few minutes alone. To get my head wrapped around everything, you know?"

She frowned. "Sure, Tony, but you really want to know this. It's ..."

"It can wait the five minutes until the briefing starts. Please?" he begged, allowing some of the exhaustion he felt to show on his face. It worked, more or less.

She frowned, and worried at her lip. "Okay, Tony. But I think you'll regret it."

Maybe, but he really needed her to leave now, so he could gather his thoughts, emotions and strength, get up and go face the sharks. So he just shrugged, giving her a crooked, apologetic smile.

She rounded the desk and kissed his cheek. "You know, you don't have to worry. You'll be the best director we ever had."

She left before Tony found his voice to say something to that vote of confidence. It warmed his heart, but it also frightened him more than anything. He just hoped he could live up to her expectations.


"Thank you for coming," Tony addressed the assembled people. The conference room felt a bit crammed up and pretty hostile. But maybe, he was just imagining things. Not an hour in the job, and already he'd started feeling paranoid. Great. He pushed his dark thoughts away. "Let's not lose anymore time. Ms Sciuto, I believe you have some results for us?"

She nodded. "Yes, I was able to identify the toxin the biological weapon most likely contains."

Tony felt a rush. Good. Knowing the toxin would help them prepare for the attack, narrow down the possible targets and perhaps most importantly, they now had a new lead to follow. Most toxins weren't so easy to come by. Knowing which one it was could help them to find the ones who had it. Then he saw the sad and frightened expression in Abby's eyes. His gut churned and suddenly he wished, he had taken the time to listen to her.

Abby looked only at him as she continued, softly, "Y. pestis."

TBC


Author's Note: Sorry, it took me a bit longer to get this one out. Hope you enjoyed it though. Some parts weren't that easy, but boy, I had fun writing this! Thanks to everyone who reviewed or put in an alert or favorite story. You guys rock! More soon!