Well, everyone was wondering if Mark would get what was coming to him...you kind of find out in this chapter...thanks for reading everyone and reviewing, there is one remaining chapter to tie everything up after this one. Enjoy!

Chapter 10

The man looking at them was dirty and looked exhausted but the smile on his face was all they needed to know who it was.

"Tony."

It took a moment for the shock to clear, and then Gibbs really looked at his Agent. Beneath the smile was weariness, suspicion and maybe even a little fear. Confusion rose within him for a moment until he realised the situation, Tony thought that Gibbs thought that he'd been working with Mark. He wondered sometimes why Tony's mind jumped to illogical conclusions but given the situation he'd let that issue go for now.

While he'd been thinking though, Tony's strength had been draining away and he swayed forward, Gibbs reacted immediately and grabbed Tony by the shoulders.

"I've got you, Tony." Gibbs could feel the tension leave his Agent at his words and saw that Tony was trying to rally up enough energy for what he obviously wanted to do.

"I'm good, Boss." Tony was relieved, as least the team didn't think he had betrayed them all; Mark could have made them believe anything he wanted given the chance. He was so tired but he needed to see this through, he needed to know why Mark had done what he had.

"The hell you are, DiNozzo, you're burning up." Gibbs could feel the heat radiating off his Agent even without placing a hand on the younger man's forehead.

Tony's eyes bore into him, pleading, unwilling to give up but a little cloudy.

"I need to do this, Boss." Gibbs didn't doubt that in the slightest, in fact he was proud of the younger Agent for his resilience to continue even though it meant taking down his partner and old friend.

"You don't have to do this alone." Tony brightened at Gibbs acceptance but stopped at the next part. "You pass out on the way and I'll drag your ass to the hospital myself."

"Gotcha, Boss." Gibbs moved towards the driver's seat and Tony to the passenger, leaving their other teammates to stare on in wonder for the moment that it took them to realise that they were going to be left behind. They both moved quickly into back seats of the car and strapped themselves in, preparing for a rough ride.

It didn't take that much longer to arrive at the police station, but Gibbs was seriously questioning Tony coming along for this ride. Tony hadn't passed out but the energy the younger man had had when they had told him they knew where Mark was had dissipated and his eyes were drooping.

"Gibbs, shouldn't we at least call Ducky?" McGee pondered out loud.

Gibbs had wondered the same thing, but Tony had already sent him his version of a death glare at the suggestion.

Now, however, Tony hadn't even responded to McGee's comment, he looked over to his senior Agent and really saw how pale he was, he wondered what Tony was hiding beneath the dirty clothes. He was just about to reach for his phone when Tony cut him off.

"Don't even think about it." His tone was stern and giving no room for questions and Gibbs found himself listening against his better judgement.

The rest of the journey was made in silence. The junior agents in the back understanding their friend's need to see this through, but also hoping that it wouldn't cost their friend his life.

x-X-x

Arriving at Pendleton County Sheriff's Office wasn't a quiet affair; one officer snuck off towards a room to the back of the building, others glared at the team of NCIS Agents as if they were the bad guys.

Then a commotion was heard in the room where the man had scuttled off to; a stranger seemed to watch from the window. But Tony recognised the eyes and the disguise, there was no doubt about it, it was Mark.

As soon as Mark noticed that he had been made by his old friend; he ran, but not before telling the officers in the room to arrest the NCIS Agents.

A fight ensued.

As Tony followed Mark he swore he saw McGee go down, enraged, he followed Mark through the station and out towards the fields they had previously drove past. All weariness forgotten and replaced with a new burst of energy.

The pursuit continued for a few moments until Mark slowed. A cool breeze swept through the field, signalling that the darkness was creeping upon them.

"Stop!" Tony shouted across the gap between them, the energy that had returned was slowly dimming yet again, Tony grumbled at the weakness in his body.

Surprisingly, Mark stilled and started to turn towards the sound.

"How did you know?" Mark asked, looking towards Tony with glee at his condition, he might actually be able to get rid of this pain in the ass without even trying, Mark smiled darkly. All he had to do was stall.

"It's not the first time you've changed your appearance, I did use to be your partner, remember." Tony couldn't decide whether to shout or talk it out so he settled for something in between.

"HA! Some partner." Mark had the audacity to look betrayed.

With a Shaking hand, Tony raised his gun to his former partner who was standing mere feet away; his voice spoke of the confusion, regret, and anger he felt.

"Don't make me do it." Tony himself was surprised that it didn't come out as pleading as he thought it would.

Even after all that had happened between the torture and betrayal, Tony couldn't just throw away the years they had been the best of friends, almost akin to brothers. Like partners should be. He should, at least, give him a chance to explain.

"You wouldn't, you never could." Mark looked straight at his 'friend' and smirked, raised his own secret gun, only to hesitate as Tony spoke up again.

"Don't." The statement was simple. Don't be stupid enough to threaten a federal agent because they were trained to protect themselves, if they thought their life was in danger, without a shadow of a doubt, shoot to kill.

Tony had never wanted this moment to have come but then it was him that they were talking about, he always managed to get the worst luck or was constantly getting in trouble. He almost laughed at the sheer amount of bad luck he got.

Almost.

It had stopped being funny when it had started getting the people he cared about hurt. When he saw Mark's aim shift is when he asked one final question.

"Why?"

But Mark didn't answer, didn't even think twice about what he was doing, he simply raised his weapon fully towards Tony, who had closed his eyes knowing what was to come.

One shot rang out and echoed sharply across the silent field they'd been standing on…

TBC

Ahhh Tony, I ought to lock you up to keep you safe from youself lol…I didn't leave you on a bad cliff hanger….did I? Sorry but I needed to do it, the next chapter will be out soon though so don't fret.