Ladies and gents, I am back! Did you miss me? I loved all the reviews from the last chapter (: Thank you so much! For that, I have written this chapter. So a few things you should know first. 1.) It had A LOT of explanations in it so it won't be all THAT exciting...Though there is one little scene that will have your mouth drop open I'm sure (; and 2.) It was three in the morning when I wrote this so I may have made a lot of mistakes...Please feel free to correct me!

A good sacrifice is one that is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and confused.- Nigel Short

Chapter 10- Death

Tim knew something was wrong. He just freaking knew it. His mind kept replaying everything over and over and over again. What was bothering him so badly? He took Mia in. He took off her cuffs like Tony had asked...Perhaps that was what was bothering him? No, Tony asked him to and McGee knew that with the sincere look in Tony's eyes and firm voice, he didn't have a chance of refusing his friend's request. He left... Once again another request of Tony's... That had to be what was bothering him. Listening to Tony and leaving him alone with Mia.

Part of him argued that it wasn't really that bad. Mia really couldn't have been guilty right? Plus, even if she was, she would never willingly hurt Tony in any way, shape, or form.

Didn't stop her from killing Tony's mom though. The nasty little voice in the back of his head sneered.

Shut up! He told it and rubbed his temples, looking at Ziva who was sitting next to him. Her hair was pulled back and her posture was completely still aside from one foot that was bobbing up and down brutally every couple seconds. Her eyes looked far out over into space, biting her lower lip in obvious worry.

"Ziva..." Tim started slowly "Do you think that...I don't know. Do you feel like we are missing something big here?" his partner blinked for a moment before turning her attention back to him.

"I do not know McGee." she said "I do not like the fact Mia is with Tony. We should go back."

"No, no...That isn't it. I feel like we were supposed to do something. Like we're missing something really, really important here..."

"Let us check on Tony, McGee. I am...I am worried." under normal circumstances, Tim might have teased her about worrying over the pain-in-the-ass (AKA Tony), but at the moment he was just focused on one thing.

"What is it Ziva? I know it's something...Ugh! I-" there was a pause before it hit Tim like a ton of bricks. No...No, no, no, no! This wasn't right! "Ziva..." he whispered "We both did something stupid. Really, really stupid."

"Tell me as we go check on Tony." Ziva finally said, hopping up and waiting impatiently for McGee to follow.

"Remember when we first got Mia out?"

"Yes."

"And remember the security guards told us they had already searched her?"

"What about it?"

"Didn't those security guards look rather familiar to you?"

"McGee, I do not see what the point in all this is!" Ziva said, her eyes fully trained on getting to the room down the hall.

"Ziva, those two men were Alfenso Brizio and Celso Eligio, the Italian assassins!" he said and Ziva froze in mid-step, causing her partner to fall into her.

"What? That cannot be right. If they were then they would have just taken Mia, yes? Unless they were on her side or something." she said conversationally before the realization dawned on them both.

"Tony!"

"I'm telling you! He checked himself out with an AMA!" the doctor said, wincing as Leroy Jethro Gibbs stepped up into his personal space.

"Yeah. I got that." he said his voice rising to a shout "But what I need to know is this. Who. Was. With. Him?" the doctor's eyes widened as he backed up a little more.

"A- A girl. She looked a little like him, I figured it was his sister or something." Damn. It took every fiber of Gibbs' patience to not tear this man up into shreds and burn them. Abby's call had sealed everything- How could he have not seen it before? Better yet, why the hell hadn't his agent bothered to tell him?

"Boss! We just found something out that is really important! Where's Tony?" McGee asked, running up the hall, Ziva next to him. Both looked pale, out of breath, and worried.

"I don't know McGee. According to him, DiNozzo checked himself out." Gibbs hissed jerking his thumb towards the young doctor "I thought you two were supposed to be watching him!"

"We were Gibbs!" Ziva cut in "But Tony wanted to speak to Mia privately so we stepped out for what- ten minutes?"

"You left your partner with a suspect!" Gibbs seethed and McGee winced.

"Tony trusted her. Besides, it sounded more likely she was framed by Alfenso Brizio, Celso Eligio and Elena Gioconda at the time." Tim said, worry crossing his face and then opened his mouth again quickly but was cut off by Gibbs.

"Well let me clue you in. Those were fake names. Fake identities. Abby just called me and told me that the three bozos are actually part of the same terrorist group as Mia! Elena Gioconda is actually the leader of the whole damn thing!" Gibbs was almost screaming now and the look of Tim and Ziva's face fell into one of pure horror.

"That means that the three must be working together." Ziva whispered and within that second Tim flew into action, his laptop coming out and a program opening up.

"I'm tracking his phone Boss...He is…At his apartment." Tim said, slightly surprised, that would be the last place to take a hostage.

Gibbs already was stalking towards the door, Ziva falling quickly in line with him. Tim scrambled up, grabbing his computer before sprinting after his two remaining teammates.

"You know, I would prefer it if you quit jabbing the gun into my back, I have knee problems as it is, don't need to add spinal to that list." Tony frowned as Mia pushed him into his apartment.

"Where is it?" she said "Or I go back to the hospital, with my three friends and kill your team!"

"Jesus, no need to be so pushy." Tony muttered and walked over to his bedroom. "Tell me, what is it that this flash drive will do for your little group anyway?" he yawned as he opened a drawer, shuffling through some things.

"It is a hit list." Mia scowled at him "All the people we want to kill along with plans that had been in the making for the past century."

"Hit list? Wouldn't it be kind of old now though? I mean, that is the reason you killed my mother right? To get this flash drive?"

"Your father knew where it was. He gave us a decoy instead and then when we found out, he told us he had destroyed the old one. Your mother was the price he paid."

"Wow. Must have sucked, looking back and realizing that that if you had asked your eight year old cousin where it was, he would have handed it to you without question. Truth be told I didn't think it was the greatest birthday gift at the time. Boring looking flash drive with a bunch of stuff in encryption. Talk about a letdown. Guess the old man had his reasons now." Tony shrugged as he shoved aside some remaining items in his drawer.

"Just give it to me Anthony." she said tiredly, but was stopped short when Tony grabbed his spare gun from the drawer he had been rifling through and leveled it at her.

"Sorry cous. but I don't think so."

Amelia Irena paced back and forth outside the apartment complex, waiting for her accomplice to arrive. After checking her watch several times she gave an annoyed sound and turned towards the two men in security uniforms.

"You managed to convince Agents McGee and David you were real security workers?" she asked sharply as both stumbled to complete their assurances.

"You made sure Mia was equipped with a gun and NCIS did not check her for weapons again?" Amelia snapped and again the two Italians nodded quickly.

"She had a getaway car?" she spat out and the assassins confidently answered her again. Damn. What was taking her little minion so long? Mia should have the flash drive by now. Scowling, Amelia realized there was a good chance she would have to go to DiNozzo's apartment and do it herself, damn if she shot the stupid little Agent in the process.

What number did Mia give her? Was it 897A or B? Scowling, Amelia looked closer to find this Anthony DiNozzo's apartment.

Gun out, she finally pulled out a slip of paper and read off the correct number, drawing herself closer to it. After gathering herself right outside the door she leaned into it, listening for any signs of a struggle or yelling.

There was none.

Stepping away from the door, she shot the lock, kicking down the rest of the door before running in, her weapon still raised high.

"Mia!" she called out, switching her language to Italian "Where are you? Do you have it?"

"Put the gun down." Amelia spun around, to find another gun pointed at her head a man glaring at her as she gestured for her to put her weapon on the ground.

"Anthony DiNozzo." she hissed, recognizing the face from the many pictures Mia had shown her, and the ones from the federal offices.

"Elena Gioconda." he replied smoothly "Come to grab your little flash drive?"

"My name is not really Elena you know." she said, glaring at the gun.

"I know. I know everything Amelia Irena. You are the leader of the terrorist group Mia is in. You came into America with two of your buddies to get this list." he said holding up a small piece of metal in one hand. Amelia's eyes widened as she saw the item and inched forward slightly as Tony continued talking "I know Mia was also part of your plan. She was supposed to get it. I know that originally, my father had gotten a hold of it by chance. Once he figured it out, you wanted it back...He gave you the fake version of it. When you came back to retrieve the real flash drive, dear old dad told you it was destroyed. For that? You killed my mom. Later, Dad knew he would have an eye kept on him, so he gave the drive to me for my birthday and told me to keep it safe. Years and years went by, and eventually, you found out that this little thing still existed. You found out that I had it and wanted to kill me and get it. However, Mia Foirella insisted she could get it from me without hurting me, and she would get it without me being any wiser."

Amelia hissed quietly as she looked down at the ground at her weapon and then back up at the gun pointed at her. Where the fuck was Mia?

"So you let here. However, she was taking too long. So you, Alfenso Brizio and Celso Eligio, came to America. You changed your name to Elena Gioconda, creating yourself to work for the government, same thing with Alfenso Brizio and Celso Eligio. You made it look like you came here to arrest Mia, when in fact you were here to remind her to do her job. So you killed the petty officer, and reenacted my mother's death so that she would get arrested. Once she was arrested, you got your two bimbos to shoot me, just to shake her up and make sure she was going to do her job. After that? You got her into the hospital with weapons so she would lead me here, get the drive, and then once she thought it was over, you would come up and kill me."

There was a long moment of silence as Amelia stared hard at the gun before finally speaking.

"Mia is wrong. What you are holding in your hand? Is more than a stupid list full of plans. No..." she said, her voice coaxingly as she pushed her hair out of her face "It holds the writing of one of the greatest weapons of all time. Give it to me, and I'll show you how to decrypt it. I'll let you join the group and you can belong in our family Tony. That weapon will help us conquer most of the world- hell maybe all of it!" as she spoke, her voice became higher with excitement and an evil gleam reflected in her eyes as she smiled sadistically "The thing can control people's minds. It can make people think a certain way. Ever wish people could see your way Tony? This could solve all of that." with a snort, the federal agent just shook his head before Amelia spoke up again.

"Come on Tony. You want to know a secret? The reason Mia joined the Red Brigades was because she wanted a family. We gave her that. To Mia, her father neglected her, her mother was dead, her Uncle was abusive and an alcoholic, her aunt was an alcoholic. All she had was a little, baby cousin... Apparently that wasn't enough. She came to us and we gave her everything. Wouldn't you like that chance? To be with your cousin again? Surrounded by people who love you? Come on." she coaxed and Tony rolled his eyes.

"I've heard a lot of speeches in my day...But God that was probably the stupidest." he said "Sorry, but I already have a family." he told her and reached for his cuffs.

BANG. The clattering noise came out of nowhere as Mia jumped onto Tony and they both went spiraling down on the ground, giving Amelia time to grab her weapon. It was only then she heard the gunshot.

Damn. How could he have been so stupid? Tony had been sure that he had locked his unconscious cousin up, but apparently she wasn't unconscious, and knew how to pick locks. He fought his way away from her as she attempted to pry the drive from his hand with all of her force, hitting him with what was left of her energy.

With a gasp, Tony suddenly let go of the flash drive, feeling the incredible amount of pain slash at his leg. There, Mia's knife slashed deeply into his flesh. Fire roared up into his thigh and a little whimper of pain came out. Mia wiggled away in triumph brandishing the tool and turned with a fire in her eyes. Pulling the knife back once more towards him as she started to hand the drive to Amelia.

He shot without a second thought.

Part of him watched in horror as his cousin collapsed instantly towards the ground, blood spilling across the floor.

Mia's blood. His blood.

The sticky substance quickly made its way towards him as he stared in disbelief at the red liquid. He just killed Mia? His cousin? Mia Foirella? No... That wasn't right... Instantly he felt sick as he looked at the lifeless body on the ground. No...No, no, no!

What had he done?

Looking up, he saw Elena's- or rather Amelia's face looking shocked as she stared at the body before leaning down to retrieve the drive.

"I'll shoot." he warned- or rather groaned as he attempted to raise his gun again. Amelia paused before smiling and cocking her own gun at him.

"No." she whispered warmly "I think I will." Tony gasped in pain as he went forward to shoot. A loud crack of the gun filled his ears and he flinched, expecting to feel the impact of the bullet at any moment. It never came. Looking up he saw Amelia Irena on the ground, blood flowing steadily from her head.

"No." Gibbs said conversationally from the doorway "I think I'll shoot."

There we are! Oh and before I forget, I have another one-shot up for those who are interested called "Emotion" (It may be a two or three-shot though I'm not for sure) Remember to review and tell me what you think (: