A/N: This chapter is mostly case related, hence the delay in getting it posted.

Still don't have a beta so all mistakes are mine and mine alone.

Disclaimer: Not making any money on this and no copyright infringement intended.

Ch 10

When Tony came out of the bathroom after his shower he stopped and looked at the bed with a frown. It was in utter disarray from their passionate lovemaking last night as pillows were strewn all over the floor and the fitted bottom sheet had come off at two corners. Jethro had only left an hour ago and Tony already missed him. Tony stripped the sheets off the bed and went to throw them in the hamper. He saw the shirt Jethro had worn the day before and picked it up, holding it to his nose and taking a good sniff. Coffee, saw dust and Old Spice; combined they were pure Jethro and Tony loved it like nothing else. He shook his head and muttered under his breath, "God, can you be any more of a lovesick school girl, DiNozzo?"

He went to the closet and pushed aside his designer suits and instead pulled a black turtleneck and black jeans from their hangers; today was not the day for making a fashion statement. He dressed quickly and headed downstairs for a light breakfast not bothering to style his hair. He was just putting his breakfast dishes in the sink when he heard Dominic begin to cry softly. He was making his way to the stairs when Kate arrived at the front door. "Good morning, Kate," he said with a smile as he opened the door for her before heading up the stairs. "DJ just woke up so I'll be right back. There's a fresh pot of coffee and donuts in the kitchen, so just help yourself," he called down when he reached the hallway.

Tony got to the nursery to find a wailing Dominic waiting for him. He immediately stopped crying and started kicking his legs when Tony approached the crib and favored his dad with a toothless baby smile.

Tony gently scooped him up and kissed the top of his head. "Good morning buddy," he said softly as he rocked DJ in his arms. "What say we get you ready for the day, huh?" Kate appeared in the doorway with a cup of coffee as Tony was about to lay DJ on the changing table after pulling jeans and little Marine Corp sweatshirt from the dresser.

"I can get him dressed if you need to get ready for work, Tony" she offered.

Tony turned his head and smiled at her. "Nah, that's okay I got this, but thanks. It's gonna be a long day and I want to spend some time with him this morning before I have to leave. Um, are you still okay with staying here overnight? If all goes well I'll make it home tonight, but it would probably be really late."

Kate smiled as she watched Tony change DJ's wet diaper and get him dressed. "I can stay as long as you need me to. I can always call the Sisters if I need any help. You just do what you have to do and don't worry; we'll be fine."

Tony picked up a freshly diapered and dressed DJ and walked past Kate in the doorway carrying him out of the nursery and down to the kitchen. Kate had already warmed a bottle, so Tony tested it on his wrist before sitting down at the table to feed his son. "Man, look at this! You'd think we never fed him," Tony exclaimed with a chuckle as the contents of the full bottle quickly began to disappear.

When it was time to leave, Tony reluctantly handed a sleepy DJ off to Kate after giving his son a gentle hug and kissing his forehead. "I'm gonna miss you buddy. You be a good boy for Kate little man," he admonished sweetly. "I put all of our emergency contact numbers by the phone. You can call me during the day, but I probably won't have my phone with me tonight out in the field. If you need anything just call Abby or Ducky. They know you're staying here, and one or both of them will probably stop by."

Tony arrived at the office at 0930 with his game face on. When the team arrived around 1000, he pulled them into a conference room so they go over the details of the plan one more time and to review updated aerial photos that Tim had obtained. He called Fornell to get an update on the FBI surveillance, the latest intel on the main players, current activity at the farm, and to confirm that the raid was a go.

After treating the team to lunch Tony sent them up to Gibbs' office to try and get some sleep. He wanted them well rested so they would be ready for whatever was to go down during the raid. Tony took the quiet time to call home and check in on Dominic. Kate held the phone up to DJ's ear so that Tony could talk to him for a couple of minutes. "I love you little man," he said quietly earning a long coo in response. He talked to Kate for a few more minutes before ending the call. Unable to relax, Tony headed down to the lab to talk to Abby for awhile.

At 1700 Tony, Balboa and their teams converged on the evidence garage to go over the plan one final time before gearing up for what would hopefully be a text book takedown of the operation. Everyone checked their weapons and gathered additional ammunition before breaking into their assigned teams for the drive out to the farm.

The plan was for Tony's team to take point with Balboa's team coming in as a second wave and to provide backup. Ziva and Ryan would go ahead on foot while Tony and Tim hung back to intercept any approaching vehicles. The FBI would be on hand to provide real time intel as the operation proceeded. They key to the raid would be the element of surprise, their training and experience, and superior fire power if necessary. Tony hoped for a clean takedown but he knew when large amounts of drugs were involved that was not very likely.

At 1900 a caravan of federal vehicles pulled out of the NCIS garage and headed toward their target destination. Under cover of darkness, Tony's team cautiously approached from the gravel road to the east with Balboa's team coming in through the trees from the north. The FBI along with a single team of DEA agents had set up a perimeter around the entire farm to observe and provide additional cover from the south and west. Everyone was outfitted with an earwig and com unit since being able to effectively communicate out in the darkness was essential.

Ziva and Ryan jumped out of the team's van and headed through the trees toward a large well-lit outbuilding quietly keeping the other agents apprised of their location as they moved closer. They carefully ducked in and out of the shadows and behind any cover they could find as they surveyed the scene and reported back about a number of armed men coming in and out of the building.

Balboa's team reported in that they saw nothing as they approached from the north through the trees, so they spread out to provide better cover for Tony's team. Everyone was getting into place, so now all they could do was wait.

Tony and Tim pulled off the road effectively hiding the black NCIS van in a clump of trees. Thirty minutes later a nondescript white panel van slowly approached from the east. Tim jumped out from behind the cover of a large oak tree and stood in the middle of the road in front of the truck with his Sig aimed between the driver's eyes, and he didn't flinch as the truck finally eventually rolled to a full stop just inches in front of him. Tony suddenly appeared out of nowhere, opened the driver's side door and hauled the stunned driver out. With two Sigs pointed at him, the driver held his hands up in surrender.

"Who the fuck are you," the driver demanded with a shaky voice.

"NCIS, dirt bag. Who the hell are you," Tony asked authoritatively as he kept his Sig trained on the driver.

"Who? Never heard of it." Tony rolled his eyes at the familiar response.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know. McGee, search this guy and see if he has any ID on him," he ordered while maintaining eye contact with the driver. "Okay. How about this? We're Feds, is that good enough? Now, who are you and what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

Tim pulled on a pair of latex gloves and began patting down the driver. He was about to search the driver's pockets when he came across a loaded .22 snub nose revolver in the waistband of his jeans. "Got a gun, Boss," Tim announced. Tim held it up to Tony, who glared at the driver while Tim searched the man's pockets. He pulled out an old worn wallet and found an expired driver's license. "Well, according to his expired license, this is James T. Milroy, Boss."

"Boy, you're just racking up the charges tonight. I'm going to assume you don't have a license for the gun? Okay, so far you're looking at a couple of misdemeanors. Tell me what you're doing here and maybe, just maybe, you can avoid adding felonies to the list."

"Look, I don't know anything, man. I was just told to show up here with my truck and pick up a shipment and deliver to a warehouse on the riverfront in Anacostia," Milroy insisted. "I didn't ask any questions, I just want the five hundred bucks I was promised."

Tony threw Milroy up against the side of his van and holstered his Sig. "Okay Milroy, here's what we're gonna do. You are going to get back in and drive and I am going with you. Don't say anything or do anything stupid. Work with us, and you just might get out of this without going to jail … or to the morgue. Screw with us, and you are on your own. I'm I clear? I have a feeling your buddies down there don't play very nice. They got some big guns. But you know what; we have big guns, too. There are Feds crawling all over the damn place, so I strongly suggest you play ball."

While Tony was talking to Milroy, Tim announced over the com that they had intercepted the delivery driver and that Tony would be riding down to the outbuilding with him.

"Okay, let's go," Tony said as he pulled Milroy away from the van and opened the driver's door before shoving him inside. "McGee, head down and meet up with Ziva and Ryan. I'll go in main door with genius here and you guys can come in through the side door. Call Balboa and tell him to be ready."

"You got it, Boss," Tim replied with a nod before heading off toward the outbuilding at the bottom of the hill while speaking into the mic attached to the collar of his jacket.

Tony crouched down on the floorboards under the dash to stay out of sight as they approached the outbuilding. Milroy swallowed hard when he saw Tony unholster his weapon again. "I won't hesitate to shoot you, so like I said don't do anything stupid."

A few minutes later they rolled to a stop ten feet from the overhead door of the outbuilding. The driver honked three times and suddenly the van was surrounded by men with fully automatic weapons yelling for everyone to get out of the van. Tony cursed under his breath when his door was pulled open and he was dragged out of the truck. He had managed to stash his Sig under the seat knowing he was outgunned, but he still had his backup piece strapped to his right ankle and a knife in his belt.

Milroy jumped out of the driver's seat and started yelling frantically while pointing at Tony, "He's a Fed! There's Feds crawling all over the place." Before Milroy could say another word, a series of bullets tore through his chest and he fell to the ground.

Balboa shouted "SHIT" over the com as he watched through his binoculars and saw Milroy get shot and Tony get knocked unconscious with the butt of a gun before being dragged into the building with all of the other gunmen following and lowering the door. "McGee," he shouted, "they have Tony. I counted six guys with guns … knocked him out and dragged him inside."

"GODDAMIT," Tim yelled before taking off at a dead run.

All hell broke loose when Ziva and Ryan heard Balboa's radio call that Tony was now a hostage. Ziva made to bolt for the side door fully intending to burst in guns blazing, but Ryan managed to grab her arm and pull her back forcefully.

"Dang it all to hell, Ziva! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Ryan scolded as he ran a hand through his hair. "We go in there like the wild damn west and they won't hesitate to kill the boss!"

Ziva glared at Ryan but finally relented after taking a deep, calming breath. Her years of Mossad training taught her to take action at any realized threat. She had been an NCIS Agent for several years now, but when a loved one was threatened her Mossad training automatically kicked in.

Balboa and his team lumbered down the hill from their vantage point above the building as fast as they could, meeting up with Tim 50 yards from where the truck sat parked.

"Fuck, Balboa! What the hell happened, and where is the rest of my team?" Tim panted out with his hands on his knees, desperately trying to catch his breath.

"They're right here, McGee," Balboa said as Ziva and Ryan jogged over to them. With Tony incapacitated, Balboa was now in charge of the scene. "Idiot driver gave DiNozzo up to the gunmen and told them we were here. Okay, we need get DiNozzo out of there and fast. Suggestions?"

After several minutes of frenzied discussion, it was decided that Balboa would first try to negotiate Tony's release. If that didn't work they would have to take a chance at storming the building.

Inside the building, Tony groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. He didn't know how long he'd been out, but by the loss of circulation in his bound hands he figured it had been a while. He slowly raised his head and cracked one eye open in order to survey his surroundings and cursed again. Suddenly a big burly man with an 8-inch fixed blade Ka-Bar Marine combat knife stepped up to the post that Tony was tied to and snarled at him. "So you're a Fed?" he demanded to know as he waved the knife menacingly in Tony's face.

Tony winced in pain at the throbbing in his head. "Yeah. Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS. You're under arrest," he managed to say before a big, meaty fist connected with his jaw knocking him unconscious again.

Another hour went by as Balboa worked with a team of FBI agents to set up communications and work out the details for getting Tony out of there. Meanwhile, Ziva, Tim, Ryan and a couple of Balboa's team members carefully circled the building looking for any alternate entry points.

"Hey, Ziva, didn't the building plans show a ventilation system up in the ceiling? If we can get someone up on the roof they may be able to get in that way," Tim suggested.

"Yes. I will go since I am the smallest," Ziva offered. Seeing concern wash over Tim's face she said plainly, "Tim, it will be all right. I promise. We have to get someone inside and get Tony out, and you know I am the best one for this job."

Tim sighed and spoke softly in her ear while covering his com mic, "Yeah, I know you are. Just, please Ziva, be careful. I can't lose you." The last part came out in barely a whisper.

Suddenly, Balboa's voice bellowed out from a bullhorn, "This is NCIS and the FBI. Everyone drop your weapons and come out with your hands up. You are holding a federal agent. Release him immediately."

Meanwhile, Ziva had climbed a large tree and shinnied her way along a large branch that came just short of the roof of the building. She recited a prayer in Hebrew before leaping from the swaying branch and landing in a crouch on the roof just past the edge. She stayed in a crouch and carefully made her way to the grate covering the vent. She pulled the small screwdriver Ryan had given her from her belt and quickly removed the screws and set the grate aside. It was a tight fit even for her small frame, but she was able to very slowly crawl through the filthy ductwork. She whispered in her com that she had reached another grate and could see down into the large room where Tony was being held.

"McGee, I can see Tony. He is unconscious and tied to a large post near the northeast corner of the room. There is a very large man standing in front of him armed with a Ka-Bar and an assault rifle. Five other men with automatic rifles are covering the main door. McGee, there is no one covering the side door, but I cannot tell if it is locked. That may be our entry point," Ziva reported with cool detachment.

Tim closed his eyes and sighed, "Okay, Roger that Ziva. Stand by." He went back around front and reported to Balboa what Ziva had seen. Balboa was still barking into the bullhorn and there was intermittent shouting coming from the building.

Balboa threw the bullhorn down in frustration. He then barked into his com, "I'm not getting anywhere with these assholes. Okay fuck it, if we can get in that side door we can end this right fucking now. We have been authorized to take these assholes down with extreme prejudice, and that's what I intend to do. I want three teams covering the main door. McGee and I will go in through the side door. You all heard Agent David, so cover DiNozzo and let's get him out of there."

Tim called to Ziva, "Ziva, do you see a button for the main door. Okay, got it. Ziva, please be careful." He turned to Balboa. "Ziva says the button for the overhead door is just inside the side door on the left. I'll get the door up and you guys can cover Tony."

Balboa nodded in agreement and barked, "Okay. Let's move. Keep that perimeter in place in case anyone tries to run. DEA, you come in last to deal with the drugs. All right, let's go people!"

Tony began to come around again and instantly felt a wave of nausea. "Great, another concussion," he thought. Barely cracking his eyes open, he could see that something was about to go down. The gunmen were frantically shouting about "the fucking cops" and "I'm not going back to prison" and "let's just get the fuck out of here." A sound from above him got his attention and he looked up to see Ziva peering out from inside the ductwork. "That's my little ninja," he muttered under his breath. Tony stayed very still not wanting to let his captors know that he was awake as he waited for all hell to break loose, knowing the cavalry was coming in.

The men inside the building prepared for a firefight and took cover wherever they could find it leaving Tony unguarded. Tony worked to loosen the ropes binding his zip tie bound hands to the post. The ropes fell away and Tony reached down with his bound hands for his backup piece only to find that it had been taken off of him while he was out cold. "Fuck," he muttered as he made his way over behind a stack of shipping pallets.

A few minutes later, the side door crashed open when Balboa kicked it in just as Ziva dropped down from the ductwork onto the pallets before quickly rolling off and landing in a crouch a few feet behind Tony. Tim reached out his hand and hit the button for the overhead door, which shuddered in its tracks as it rose. He followed Balboa in and took up a defensive position in front of Tony's location. He wanted to look for Ziva, but knew that taking his eyes off of the action for even a second would be a deadly mistake.

"Tony? Ziva?" McGee called out over his shoulder.

"Right here, McGee," Tony answered with a groan, "on your six behind the pallets. Ziva is with me."

The room was instantly transformed into a battlefield as the deafening sound of automatic gunfire filled the room. It was over in a matter of minutes as one by one the gunmen fell where they stood; some dead, some wounded to varying degrees. Moments later Balboa shouted for everyone to "hold your fire," effectively ending the battle.

The rest of the FBI agents outside covering the perimeter converged on the building and took the ringleaders and wounded gunmen into custody. The DEA agents followed them in and took stock of the huge cache of drugs and guns they found. Balboa's team members attended to a couple of fellow agents who had been hit in the exchange of gunfire, but thankfully sustaining only minor flesh wounds.

"Jesus," Balboa yelled before he started barking out orders, "these assholes had one hell of an operation going. Okay, DEA get this shit policed and call for a big fucking truck. Miller, get on the horn and get some ambulances out here. We got a bunch of those fuckers, but we have a couple of men down too."

Tim was relieved when Tony slowly came out from behind the pallets leaning on Ziva who had a firm arm around his waist to support him. "Tony, thank God! Are you all right," Tim asked with concern as he eyed Ziva who flashed a small smile at him.

"Yeah, fine," Tony said with a grimace as Ziva led him to sit in a chair next to one of the tables covered with packaged drugs. "We get these assholes," he asked tiredly.

Tim spent the next few minutes filling Tony in on how things went down. Tony got up and slowly walked around surveying the scene. The dead gunmen remained where the fell. The wounded ones and the ringleaders were cuffed and lined against a wall being closely guarded by FBI agents.

Balboa, sweaty and out of breath, came over and asked, "You okay there, DiNozzo. You need a medic? We got a bunch of ambulances on the way."

Tony shook his head before asking frantically, "Hey, where's that big bastard that fucking hit me? I don't see him anywhere."

Suddenly out of nowhere, three shots rang out and Tony fell to the ground in a motionless heap.