'It'd taken him too long... He'd been too late... He hadn't made it in time... He'd failed his agent... He'd let Tony down one more time... He'd been too late.'

Those were the thoughts running through Gibbs' head as he ran towards the fallen form of his friend.

He'd gotten the message from Vance and with his driving, he'd been able to reach the area in a good time; but it'd taken him a little longer to find the perfect place to take a shot at the men who had Tony at gun point.

By the time he was ready to shoot; and he had gotten ready in record time; Tony was already on the ground, on his back. Gibbs' heart had jumped in his throat, but he was highly trained and knew how to calm his breathing down; so he'd aimed and right when Aaron Simmons was about to shoot Tony again, Gibbs had taken the shot.

The criminal had gone down instantly and Gibbs had quickly changed his rifle's direction, shooting another thug and then another. The other two had run away and were out of his sight; so he'd taken his rifle and had run to his car.

He needed to get to Tony.

Once he was seated in the car and was heading towards Tony, he called Vance and reported the situation. To his relief, Vance had said that the medevac was on standby and he'd immediately send it his way, which meant they'd be there in no time.

Tony would be fine.

But once he'd reached the cabin's area, all of those thoughts left him and negative ones filled his head.

Running to Tony's side, he skidded to his knees and forced down the bile in his throat.

Tony's eyes were closed and he looked so damn calm and... And damn, was that a smile on his face?

Gibbs clenched his jaw painfully as he reached out and felt Tony's throat. To his utter surprise, because there was so much blood, the younger man was still alive.

He couldn't help himself, his first reaction was laughing out loud. Tony DiNozzo had once again proved how indestructible he was.

Taking his jacket off, he pressed it against Tony's right shoulder which seemed to be bleeding more heavily and pushed against the left shoulder with his left hand.

Looking down at his left, he thought about removing the disgusting body of Simmons off Tony's legs, but then he thought that to do so, he needed to let go of Tony's shoulders, which wasn't an option at that moment.

"DiNozzo? Tony!" He called and pressed harder to elicit some sort of reaction from the younger man.

A few seconds later Tony's eyes fluttered open.

"That's it. Keep your eyes open."

"Gibbs?"

"I'm here. I'm here. Just hang on a bit longer."

Tony smiled tightly. "Thought... Thought I wouldn't get the chance to talk to you again." He said weakly.

"You're stuck with me." Gibbs grunted kindheartedly.

Tony moistened his parched lips. "Those kids."

Gibbs' heart clenched and he looked over his shoulder at the cabin. He knew he should go and check on them; see if they were indeed there and if they were safe for the moment, but he couldn't leave Tony either. Not again. He'd already done that too many times in the past week.

"Boss. Please." Tony made his decision for him. "I'll be here when you come back. Go."

Gibbs closed his eyes briefly. "Don't you dare go anywhere." He pointed his finger at him and ran to the house.

Opening the door with more force than it was needed, Gibbs heard loud screams as he stepped inside. Eyeing the scene before him, he noted that all ten girls were sitting there, some crying, some trying to hide or look smaller, but all pretty much intact. "Don't worry. I'm here to help you. I'm a cop." He reassured them, voice calm and kind. "Is there any more of you girls somewhere else?"

The girls shook their heads.

"How many bad guys?" He needed to know if there were any threats around.

"Five." The answer came from two of the girls as some of the others nodded.

"OK then; stay here and don't move until I come back. You're safe now. Just don't leave this cabin. You hear me?"

He waited till all of them nodded their heads again and then he gave them a smile before closing the door and running back to Tony whose eyes were once again closed.

He quickly resumed putting pressure on Tony's shoulders.

"They alright?" Tony asked, his voice already way weaker than a few minutes earlier.

"They're all safe and sound." Gibbs announced. "You did great, DiNozzo. I'm so proud of you."

Tony smiled tiredly. "Thanks."

"Hey. Open your eyes." Gibbs ordered as Tony's eyes started to close. "I'm sorry." He said, knowing that it'd catch the younger man's attention.

Tony frowned.

"I let you down, again." Gibbs explained dejectedly.

"You saved the day, Boss." Instinctively, Tony tried to downplay the situation, even though, deep down, that was what he wanted to address.

"I was too late. And you are the one who saved the day. You made a sacrifice to save those girls."

"That's our job." Tony stated, because that part wasn't debatable.

"You went above and beyond." Gibbs shook his head. "Back in Vance' office, when I didn't say anything-" he paused. "You know that I didn't mean it like I wouldn't mind trading you for those kids, right?"

Tony was quiet for a second but then he took a shaky breath and said, "It was the right thing to do. We didn't have time to make a plan." He realized that he couldn't voice his real feelings, even when directly addressed. Man, he was damaged goods.

"The trade was never an option. Never." Gibbs insisted; realizing that the younger man didn't know that Gibbs had never, not even for a second, thought that those kids' lives were more valuable than that of Tony's. "I just couldn't form any words and my mind had gone blank. You, on the other hand... What you did today, Tony-" Gibbs swallowed.

"Was nothing." Tony repeated solemnly. "It's our job, Gibbs. I'm just glad I could do something right, before -"

"You're not going anywhere." Gibbs growled and pushed harder on the wounds which made Tony wince and groan; at that moment, Gibbs really wished to see a glimpse of Tony the jokester; why did he have to be so serious when Gibbs needed a distraction so bad?

"Gibbs-"

"No. You will not die."

Tony grinned faintly and shook his head.

"I'll never be able to forgive myself, Tony. You have to hang on. For me." Gibbs tried being open and honest when his order didn't work.

Tony's eyes widened slightly. "Gibbs. Not your fault."

Gibbs shook his head.

"Boss. Whatever happens, this won't be your fault. You hear me?" He frowned and tried his hardest to sound stern, even though he didn't have much energy left. "This would've happened, anyway, whether you've fought for me or not."

Gibbs cringed. He hadn't fought; or rather, he hadn't voiced his thoughts. "I should've said something." He said dejectedly. "The silence didn't mean I didn't care or that I didn't mind letting you go. I was shocked." He was uncharacteristically repeating himself, not even realizing he was doing so.

Tony could see that Gibbs' mind was once again elsewhere and apparently, according to Gibbs himself, it was the second time that day; which made it a scary thing. Because Gibbs was always collected, never lost; never shocked. "Gibbs." He called, his voice getting weaker and weaker.

Gibbs ignored his plea and tensed when he heard another sound. "You hear that?" He looked up at the sky when he noticed that it was the helicopter that was getting close. "Help's here. You're going to be fine; just wait a bit longer."

Tony'd lost too much blood already, so he couldn't be so sure. Besides, he was too tired to hang on any longer. "Boss."

Gibbs looked down again and his gaze locked on Tony's.

"Not your fault." Tony said one more time before his eyes closed on their own accord and didn't open again.

"No. Dammit. No." Gibbs shook him and pushed harder on his wounds, but that trick didn't work this time and Tony stayed motionless. By that time, the paramedics were around them, trying to evaluate the situation.

Two men sat by Tony's shoulders as one gently moved Aaron's body away from Tony's and checked for a pulse. Simmons was dead.

"Damn. Two more GSWs to the thighs." Said the medic when his eyes landed on the younger agent's upper legs.

Gibbs head snapped towards Tony's legs and he cursed loudly. He could see that the dirtbag had shot to hurt, to make Tony's death slow and painful. He hadn't deserved such a quick death. At that moment, Gibbs wished he'd hit him in the spine instead of the head, so he'd live a long agonizing life. Well, at least his body had put enough pressure on Tony's legs to keep him from bleeding out, because let's face it, there was no way Gibbs, alone, could put pressure on four gunshot wounds.

He really had been late. His tired mind reminded him again.

The younger man had been shot four times, four frigging times, before he'd taken his enemy out and he'd managed to stay alive and talk to him to reassure him that he didn't blame him for any of those things.

Well, that didn't matter; because he blamed himself enough for the two of them.

Tony'd already lost too much blood before he'd even gotten to him. It was no wonder he was fading so fast.

"Is there anyone else in need of our help?" A paramedic asked Gibbs as his teammates attended to Tony; pulling the older man out of his destructive thoughts.

"Yes. There are ten little girls in that cabin. At least one of them has a broken finger." He pointed to the cabin and watched as the paramedic's eyes widened, showing his surprise. The man looked down at the injured agent on the ground, then again at the cabin, probably trying to figure out what had happened there.

"And the others?" He finally asked, looking at four bodies across the field.

"All dead." Gibbs announced. He'd been sure of the two guys he'd shot and on his way to check on the girls, he'd seen the wounds Tony'd inflicted on the other two; they were definitely dead.

That was another miracle Tony had pulled; with so many gunshot wounds and such a heavy blood loss, he still had managed to take out the two bastards who, no doubt, had been heading to the cabin to use the kids to get away from that mess. The younger man had once again saved those little girls.

The paramedic nodded his head and hurried towards the cabin.

Gibbs' phone rang at that moment and he answered it, not caring that his hands were covered in blood; he needed to let Vance know how things were going. He gave the director a brief report and was informed that two teams of NCIS agents, plus two ambulances, which had been on standby, would be there shortly and that if he needed to go with DiNozzo, he could go.

Right on cue, the NCIS SUVs showed up and pulled over and agents stepped out of their vehicles.

McGee and Ziva, who were the first ones out of the cars, quickly took in the scene with wide eyes and ran towards them. "Boss?" Tim shouted his name, but they both came to an abrupt halt when their eyes landed on Tony.

Ziva felt her eyes moistened and McGee, involuntarily, took a step back, his jaw lax with shock. Director Vance had given them a brief report of what'd occurred there, but they weren't prepared to see what they were seeing.

"Secure the scene. I'm going to the hospital with him." Gibbs pushed himself up from the ground when the medics were ready to move Tony to the helicopter. "And make sure those girls in the cabin are alright. Take them all to the Navy Yard. Vance will call their parents."

"Gibbs, will he be alright?" Ziva asked quietly before the older man could jog off after the medics.

Gibbs's eyes were locked on Tony's bloodied form. "He'd better."

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... TBC ...

A/N: Thoughts?

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All mistakes are mine.

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