When he emerged from the elevator and walked into the bullpen five minutes later, Gibbs looked all business and collected. He dropped a clean sheet of paper with just a number on it on McGee's desk and ordered him to see if he could trace it. He'd rewritten the number on a new piece of paper; not needing everyone to know what Tony'd left for him.

"Gibbs? What is going on? Where is Tony?" Ziva asked as she walked from behind her desk to see what Gibbs had given McGee.

"You get back to work and look for something on Aaron Simmons."

"But-" she closed her mouth when Gibbs sent an icy glare her way.

"Boss." McGee called. "I got a location. The target is moving, heading south. Boss, whose number is this?"

"Keep checking it and let me know where it goes exactly."

"Is that Aaron Simmons?"

Ziva looked between them. "Should we grab our gears?"

"No and no. Stay here. Keep me updated, McGee." He said and walked out.

Vance, who'd been watching him, walked after him and got in the elevator right before the door could close.

"I don't have time, Leon."

"Oh, I know." Vance replied. "What are you going to do? You going after him alone?"

"We can't risk being seen by them. If I go alone, I might have a chance."

"If you go alone, you might get both you and DiNozzo killed." Vance said angrily.

"Leon. I can't take anyone with me and you know it. Don't tell me you have a better idea."

Vance sighed. "You're going to get your sniper rifle, aren't you? And how do you know there will be a place to use it?"

"My gut." The door opened then and he left Vance.

"I hope your gut doesn't choose now to fail you." Vance walked out after him. "And Gibbs."

Gibbs turned around in time to catch a cellphone that was thrown to him.

"Use that. They might control your moves with your phone. I'll update you with DiNozzo's location." He said and turned around and went back to the elevator.

Gibbs looked down at the phone and almost smiled. Today wasn't going to be the day of DiNozzo's death. He would save him.

He felt so proud of the younger man for jumping into action when he'd heard about those girls; he hadn't been surprised, of course; it'd always been like that with Tony, but it didn't mean he didn't feel proud every damn time it happened, and it happened a lot. But he also felt terrible, because choosing those girls had been obviously Simmons' way to get to him and he'd been successful and now Tony was the one who was going to save them by offering himself on a silver platter. How could he ever-

No. Tony would come out of this one just fine. He wasn't going to let the world lose a great man like DiNozzo.

...

The drive to the place Tony was being taken, took almost 45 minutes and once Tony felt they were getting close, he grabbed the phone and started to type a message, updating his supposed backup with his location and where he thought he'd end up at; after contemplating his options, he sent it to Vance's number and then deleted the message, lest they checked his phone later.

Vance got the message and quickly forwarded it to Gibbs' new phone and silently prayed that the whole thing would turn out alright. He knew Gibbs wouldn't be able to forgive himself if anything happened to DiNozzo and he was sure that the older agent wouldn't stay with them if things went south.

He really didn't want to lose DiNozzo, either. He'd been a little surprised today, but he'd come a long way since the day he'd started at the agency and he'd learned that there was a lot more to agent DiNozzo than met the eye. He didn't want to lose a good agent that day and more importantly, after the day they just had had; after what he'd seen in the younger man, he didn't think he'd want to lose him period.

And he hoped that Gibbs succeeded in getting him out of that mess, alive and in one piece; because as heroic as his death would be, it'd be too big a loss if he didn't make it.

...

Upon arriving to the Simmon's hiding place, Tony subtly looked around and wondered how someone as smart as Simmons had chosen that place for hiding. Aside from a cabin near the line of trees, the area was bare and empty. In a way, it gave them the opportunity to spot any wrong movement in the area; but Tony knew that if anyone, namely Gibbs, had followed him, he'd be able to easily take Simmons out; all he needed would be a sniper rifle and that thought comforted him, because there still was a chance that Gibbs had actually followed him and had thought about bringing his rifle with him.

"Special Agent DiNozzo." Simmons called loudly as he walked out of the cabin and towards him. "It's good to finally meet you again."

He kept walking until he was one step away from Tony. He'd changed; he was older now, with grey hair and lots of wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth, and he looked more vicious. Opening his arms he pulled Tony into a fierce hug and patted his back.

When Tony stood there and did nothing, he spoke in his ear. "You're supposed to hug back." He said slowly, like he was teaching a child how to hold a pencil.

Tony pulled away instead and poured as much disgust and hatred as he could in his eyes and looked Simmons straight in the eyes. "I'm here. Alone." He said. "Now's the time for you to live up to your end of the bargain."

"And I will. I will. You know me, I'm a man of my word." He nodded seriously. "And since I am, I have to kill you." He pulled out a 9mm pistol out of his waistband and aimed it at Tony's head.

Tony didn't even flinch; nor did his face hold any expression as he spoke. "Thought you wanted me to suffer." He smirked; he had to buy himself, and those girls, as much time as possible.

"Ah, yes." The man laughed and lowered his gun and shrugged. "You have a point and I have a plan." He grinned. "You see, this little thing holds ten bullets, meaning I can shoot you nine times in places that wouldn't kill you but would make you writhe in agony. Exactly what I want. The last bullet could go to your heart; although, I still haven't decided about that one; I think I could actually shoot you ten times instead of nine and just leave you here to die slowly and painfully. Yes, I think I like it better this way."

Tony bit the inside of his cheek to keep his face straight. He held the old man's gaze and showed that he had no fears. It really seemed like this was it, but strangely enough, he was totally calm. "How do I know you will let the girls go?" That was the only thing that he was worried about at that moment.

"Let them go?" The criminal blinked. "What's wrong with you? They'd get lost in the woods if I do that. I'll just leave them here. Unharmed. And I'm sure someone will find them eventually."

This time Tony's eyes flashed with anger and he didn't even try to suppress it. "You bastard; you think you can get away with this? They'll find you."

"Like you did last time?" Simmons laughed out loud and without any warning he brought his gun up and shot Tony in the right shoulder.

That caught Tony by surprise but he managed to stay on his feet and only took one step back as the bullet hit him. He grabbed his shoulder with his left hand and pushed hard against the wound but before he could school his feature, the second round entered his left shoulder which had been recently set after being dislocated. This time a low grunt of pain left Tony's mouth as his left arm fell down from his right shoulder to his side and he clenched his jaw so hard that he felt his teeth cracked.

"Hmm; didn't think you'd be this stoic. I like that characteristic for a man." Aaron said with real admiration and amazement in his voice. "Now. We have 8 bullets left. Where to shoot?" He looked Tony up and down. "We have the knees, the thighs... That's four. Umm, where else? Right; one to the stomach. Two even. That won't kill you if I aim at the right place. I'll still have two bullets left. And I don't wanna shoot you in the head or heart. That's too quick and you don't deserve quick. You tell me, where else?"

"Oh, I get to choose? I always loved it when you let me do that." Tony's voice was laced with pain, but he managed to sound steady. "Let me see... Umm, what about you put the barrel in your mouth and then pull the trigger?" Tony smirked despite the agony he was in. Staying upright was becoming harder and harder with every second and secretly he wished that if he was going to get shot again, it'd be to his thigh. Bullets to knees would end his career and if there was the slightest chance of survival, he preferred being able to walk again. With a wound to his thigh, he'd have better chances of recovering. Plus, he'd fall on the ground and it wouldn't look bad or weak.

Aaron broke into laughter. "Damn, I've missed you so much." He tried to get his laughter under control. "I love you; you and your sense of humor. It's a shame that I have to kill you."

"Oh, but I wasn't kidding." Tony said with a tone of voice that was like he was hurt for not being taken seriously.

"Yeah?" He laughed again. "Well, neither was I." And with that he pulled the trigger again and shot Tony in the right thigh.

Tony's wish had been granted, but even to his utter surprise, he stayed standing, with all his weight on his left leg. That didn't last long, though, when the fourth bullet entered his left thigh and he finally ended up on his back on the ground.

That was then that he realized he was unconsciously cursing under his breath and that he was losing too much blood to survive this one. Even if Gibbs showed up and somehow saved the day, he'd be a goner. He just hoped those girls would survive and Simmons would get his just deserts.

Damn, he was tired.

"I really don't know how to spend the last two bullets." Simmons said thoughtfully like he was trying to solve a math problem.

Tilting his head, he studied Tony. "How does it feel?" He asked quietly as he knelt by his head, tapping Tony's cheek with the barrel of his pistol.

Tony had a hard time concentrating. He couldn't move his arms, couldn't move his legs and blood was freely leaving his body from the many holes that shouldn't have been there. "To s-..." he swallowed thickly and tried again, "To see your ugly face up-close?" He smirked. "Awful."

Aaron chuckled. "You never give up, do you?" He sounded different; almost like he was actually sorry. "No, what I meant was how does it feel to be betrayed by people so close to you?"

"Who are we talking about here?" Tony asked, even though he had some ideas where that conversation was going.

"You betrayed me and now you've been betrayed."

"By whom?"

"Don't be obtuse. It really doesn't suit you." The man fully sat down. "The moment your Agent Gibbs heard about those girls, he forgot about you. Don't tell me it didn't hurt."

"I'm still not following." He shook his head mentally; he so was not going to go there now.

"Yeah, I'm sure you don't." Aaron said and pushed himself up. "You could've had everything. Everything." He shook his head. "But instead, you chose to betray me; you chose the wrong side. You made a mistake."

"The only mistake I made was not shooting you in the head when I had the chance." Tony said disgustingly.

"Yeah. That was also a mistake." Aaron smirked. "A mistake that I am not gonna make. Now; where should I put a bullet into next?"

He lowered his gun to Tony's knee and this time Tony closed his eyes. He almost wished Aaron would just shoot him in the heart.

He thought he vaguely heard something but when he didn't feel any pain in his knee, he figured the pain in his thigh must be blocking it. But then something landed heavily on him; pain ran up his legs at the pressure on his wounds and he opened his eyes with shock to find Aaron Simmons' dead body sprawled over his legs.

Right after that, two more of Aaron's men went down.

Tony's eyes quickly landed on the two goons who had been standing some feet away and saw them running towards the cabin which probably was the place they were holding the kids in.

Biting his lower lip hard and with some difficulty, he moved his right arm and grabbed the gun from Aaron's outstretched hand and aimed it at one of the goons and pulled the trigger. The first bullet went astray; Tony quickly readjusted his aim and as the man turned towards him, he shot him right between the eyes. The other one turned around and aimed at Tony's head, but the agent was faster and kept shooting at him too, watching as his bullets hit the man in the chest one after another and the man staggered back and dropped down with a look of shock on his face.

Tony's arm fell on his stomach numbly and the pistol slipped through his lax fingers; he looked around one more time before letting his head drop, too. He was so drained that he couldn't even move his right arm to a position that'd hurt a bit less.

He was done. Gibbs had shown up. And Aaron Simmons was dead; he wouldn't hurt anyone else.

Tony took a look around from where his head had landed on the ground and realized that Gibbs must be far away. The older man probably wouldn't get to him in time which was a shame; because he really wished he could talk to his boss one more time before kicking the bucket. He kinda wished to hear Gibbs telling him that he did value his life and that it did matter to him whether he lived or not. He didn't care that it sounded childish even to his own ears; he just needed to know that he meant something to someone.

But well, he couldn't get everything that he wished for. After all, he'd already had three of his wishes granted and three was the magic number.

Simmons was dead and gone for good.

Those little girls were safe.

And he hadn't been shot in the knees; which, admittedly, didn't matter much if he was going to die, but it still was one wish granted.

So yes. He was happy with the outcome. Besides, he'd die for a good reason. In the line of duty. That's what he'd always wanted. And he'd lived long enough to know his actions had had good results.

Taking a deep breath, he smiled and closed his eyes. He was content.

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... TBC ...

A/N: Before you start planning to kill me, let me remind you that this story is not finished, yet! :D

Let me know what you think.

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Thanks for all your comments, alerts, faves and PMs. Sorry I couldn't reply individually this time; I was trying to finish this chapter sooner so I wouldn't keep you guys waiting for long. Hope you've enjoyed it. :)

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All mistakes are mine.

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