Disclaimer: NCIS characters that appear on the show are not mine, they belong to Belisarius Productions and CBS. The originals are all mine, they help me tell the story.

A/N: I just want to give my friend and beta Emypink a shout out for excellent work, and for all her help in making this story work, Thank Em! Please continue to review, thanks for all your reviews so far I really appreciate them.

The blue Chrysler pulled up at the main gate of the Andrews Air Force Base. The USAF military police, a corporal stripe in his arm, stepped out of his box by the gate. The car window wound down and The MP looked into the dark cabin of the car. "ID, please sir!"

Gibbs looked at the MP. His hand shot out of the window, badge and ID in hand. "Gibbs, NCIS."

"Yes, sir," The MP saluted, "if you just head for the strip, Captain Martin has his men in position for prisoner transfer."

"Thank you, Corporal," Gibbs said as the gate opened and he wound up his window. The car rolled forward over the gate. Gibbs looked at Tony who sat quietly, almost numbly, looking straight ahead as the car headed for the runway and tarmac.

"You okay, Tony," Gibbs asked, slight worry etched on his face. Since Tony's outburst earlier that day, Gibbs had noticed that Tony hadn't said much, unless he was asked to. Now, at this particular moment, he looked solemn and dour.

Tony turned to Gibbs and gave Gibbs an exaggerated smile and false answer. "Sure, boss. The sooner we give Ari this guy, the sooner Kate and the kids are back, no sweat." Gibbs grimaced as Tony concentrated on the road. Sooner or later, the stress and anxiety that filled Tony up on the inside would explode and he would react significantly to anything. Gibbs was glad that Tobias Fornell had pulled Agent Sacks off the case; Tony had never gotten along well with Sacks since being framed by the Mafia. Gibbs knew Tony would probably request riding with Al Mahidi in the armored van. He had decided to ride the van himself and Tony could follow on behind.

The car turned off the road, approaching the gate to the hangar area around the tarmac. The MP on guard walked out and held up his hand. The car slowed and the window once again was wound down.

"Evening sir, I just need some ID, regulations." The MP lent down on the doorframe. Gibbs produced his ID and badge, flashed it in front of the MP's face. "Thank you, sir," the MP saluted, stepped back and activated the gate. The gate slid open and the car rolled slowly through the gate. They made a b-line for the C-130 Hercules now sitting on the tarmac. A group of Marines formed a complete circle around the plane. Next to the plane, an armored van sat quietly, no movement within. Gibbs slowly rolled through the Marine cordon and pulled up next to the Hercules.

Gibbs shut the engine of the car off. The door of the car opened and Gibbs and DiNozzo climbed out of the vehicle. The small door in the cargo plane's side opened and Paula Cassidy stepped down onto the tarmac. Cassidy met Gibbs and DiNozzo a little way away from the Hercules. "Hello Gibbs, Tony." Cassidy smiled at her two ex-teammates.

"Cassidy." Gibbs gave her a smile. "How's our friend doing?"

"Hey Paula." Tony smiled at Cassidy, but there was no flirting or even the occasional banter that came along in their relationship this evening. Tony was focused on one thing and that was to rescue his wife and kids.

Paula placed a hand on Tony's arm. She turned back to Gibbs to answer his question. "He's sitting down in an orange jumpsuit, chained hand and foot and crowing about the fact that he's about to be free."

"Sounds like your ordinary crim," Tony said bitterly as he started for the door.

Gibbs griped his arm and held him steady. Not allowing him to move a single pace further, he said, "Tony, you and Cassidy take the car. Al Mahidi and I will travel in the van alone."

"Boss…" Tony began to argue.

Gibbs gave him a frigid look. "Are you deaf or stupid? I said I will be with Mahidi on the trip back."

"Yes, boss," Tony said anger, frustration and a sense of incompleteness filling him. He stomped off towards the car.

"Show me where he is, Cassidy," Gibbs said, turning to Paula.

Paula stared at him for a moment. "Don't you think you're being a little hard on Tony? I mean, Kate is his wife and Jason and Isabel are his kids."

"Nope," Gibbs said, his eyes watching Tony, "I need him focused and ready for the job at hand, not taking his revenge out on a man who holds his wife and kids in his hands."

Paula shrugged, then turned and led Gibbs into the interior of the Hercules. They walked through a storage area that was packed with files, stationary and paper. Paula then pulled back a cargo net, walking through with Gibbs following behind.

Al Mahidi sat on one side of the cargo plane, he was manacled to the fuselage. Opposite him on a bench sat two Marine MP's both carrying shotguns. Both made no movement save for watching the terrorist sitting across from them. They snapped to attention as Paula and Gibbs walked in. "At ease, Marines," Gibbs said casually. He walked over to Al Mahidi. The man was thin and quite tall. He had dark brown eyes that looked like soulless wells and he wore a scruffy beard and moustache. Gibbs turned back to the Marine MP's. "Transfer papers?"

"Here, sir." The Marine Corporal rose and produced a document. "I'll just need your signature and then you have control of the prisoner."

Gibbs grasped the paper and pen offered to him. He lent against the wall as he signed his name to the paper. He handed the paper back to the MP and turned to Paula. "I take it that you're tagging along with us?"

"You bet," Paula said, her hand on her side arm as Gibbs took the key from the Marine Corporal.

Gibbs nodded. "Good, because I'm putting you in charge of Tony until this mission is over. If he has a problem with that send him to me." Gibbs proceeded to unlock Al Mahidi from the fuselage. The terrorist stretched his arms and legs. Gibbs shoved him through the open cargo net, back the way he and Paula had come. The door in the side of the plane swung open and Gibbs shoved the terrorist out of the plane. Gibbs jerked the man up and eye balled him.

"Let's get one thing straight, you're only being freed because a gutless dirtbag like Ari Haswari decided to take a good man's family hostage in order to gain your release. If you so much as try and escape or irritate me I will put a bullet through your head, clear!"

"Quite, Special Agent…" Al Mahidi's clipped English syntax audible.

"Gibbs," Gibbs said, shoving Al Mahidi towards the armored van. The rear door of the van swung wide and two Marines sat in the back, one jumped out shotgun trained on the terrorist. The other marine seized his hands and chained them to the bar on the ceiling.. Gibbs turned to Paula.

"I can't take a weapon on board so have Tony follow us the whole way," Gibbs said as he handed his SIG, knife and backup to her. "I don't want Ari hitting the van on the way."

"You're the boss, Gibbs," Paula said as Gibbs gave her a smile.

"You know, I miss you as part of the team even with our arguments," Gibbs said as he turned and climbed into the van. Paula nodded, and then with all Gibbs' weapons in hands she walked towards the car.

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The armored van reversed slowly into the garage of NCIS Headquarters at the Washington Naval Yard. Tony, McGee and Cassidy stood close by as the van backed in. Junior agents covered every exit. They would be on guard duty for Al Mahidi until the hostage swap with Ari. The garage door slid down and the van's engine shut down. The driver and guard, who was riding shotgun, climbed out of the cab. The driver unlocked the rear. The doors swung wide and Gibbs climbed down and stretched his legs.

"Right, let's get him inside for the time being," Gibbs said, looking around only to find Tony moving forward. Gibbs intercepted Tony before he reached Al Mahidi. "I wasn't talking to you, DiNozzo." Gibbs looked at McGee. "What are you standing there for? I thought I told you to get him inside."

"Ah, right, boss," McGee stammered. He recovered quickly, moving towards the prisoner.

Gibbs led Tony by the arm towards the fire escape stairs. The whole time they climbed to reach the squad room level, Gibbs kept himself behind Tony. The door opened and both Gibbs and Tony walked into the bullpen.

"Boss, you reacted like I was going to kill him," Tony said in frustration.

"Were you, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked straightforwardly.

Tony shook his head. "No!" He slumped into the chair behind his desk and ran his hands over his face and through his hair.

"Then relax, Tony, you're going to be stressed before you get anywhere near Ari." Gibbs paused. "You'll give the whole game plan away if he detects that."

"Sorry, boss," Tony muttered through his hands.

"Never apologise, it's a …"Gibbs began.

"Sign of weakness, I know. I'll try to remember that, boss," Tony said, taking a deep breath and calming down.

A/N: The final act is coming up with a really fluffy ending so keep looking out for it.