The Following Chaos…

The moments that followed seemed to occur in slow motion, but they were probably the fastest to ever happen in Tony DiNozzo's lifetime.

A loud gunshot sounded and Kate let out a scream, collapsing to the floor into the fetal position, eyes screwed shut and hands over her ears. Gibbs however sprung into action, launching himself in front of his former agent, taking the bullet in his vest, which for once he had remembered to put on. If Tony had been feeling sentimental, he would've noted that he had just mirrored the action that Kate had done on that day, paying her back by saving her life, just as she had saved his. The man let out a grunt of pain as his body hit the ground, but was barely down for 10 seconds before he drew his gun and began firing at the men surrounding him and his team.

The team plunged into action, Ziva snatching the arm of the man holding her and twisting it behind his back painfully, causing him to cry out in pain and McGee somehow managing to pull his sig and shoot his captor in the leg. Kate was up off the floor and shooting a random gun that she'd found on the ground. Tony was still confused over why none of Sandy's men seemed to carry operational weapons, but hey, he wasn't going to complain about it.

Sandy.

The teenager was nowhere to be seen amongst the drama of the room, and that struck a chord of pure dread in his chest. Still clutching the gun that he had almost murdered his partner with, Tony silently slipped through the main door, leaving the progressing fight behind. His gaze snapped to the left, and then the right, attempting to catch a glimpse of the wreckless girl and failing. Knowing to trust his instincts, he took a left turn, not completely sure why (it just seemed right) and crept down the corridor, sig held out in front of him, eyes darting frantically from floor to ceiling searching for Sandy. As he snuck past rooms, he would crack open the doors and peek in, just to assure that they were empty. When more and more of them turned out so, he began feeling slightly uneasy. Where could she possibly be? She couldn't escape. If she escaped, the team would have to live the rest of their lives in fear that she would come back for them (and she most definitely would come back for them).

Only the final room of the floor remained, and Tony's gut warned him that what he was about to discover wouldn't be good. He took a breath. This room wasn't one to be taken slowly; this was to be handled swiftly and efficiently.

3…2…1...

The door tore off of its hinges, slamming to the ground with a loud bang. Tony stood in the doorway, suddenly more courageous than he had ever been in his life. His gun was in an iron grip held out in front of him, his eyeline unwavering. The firing end was pointed straight at Sandy Watson's chest.

She didn't even flinch at the life-ender directed bang on her heart. A haunted grin spread itself across her chest as she took him in, eyes almost mocking his sudden courage. Tony had an extremely strong urge to shoot her right then, but he pushed it back, willing to wait a couple of minutes to hear her last words.

"Don't even think about shooting me, Agent DiNozzo." She taunted. "It won't do you or your team any good."

"And why is that?"

Sandy let out a sly chuckle, holding up what resembled a remote control in one of her pale hands. "Because this building is completely wired, and if I die, then it and everyone else in it dies too," she rubbed her thumb lightly over a crimson circular button which practically screamed the word 'destroy', beaming at him as if she had won the lottery. Well, she practically had: she knew that Tony wouldn't sacrifice his entire family just to kill her.

When her opponent dropped his weapon to his side, the girl cackled, still clutching the fatal device. Mike Watson's daughter was not done avenging him quite yet. She sauntered over to stand in front of the open door that connected this room back to the previous one; planning to make a manic dash through it if DiNozzo remained in the main door (she was pretty positive that he wouldn't try anything stupid).

"You're never going to win this Tony. Even if by some miracle you do get out of here alive, I'll be back, and I'll find you again. You will pay for my father's death, no matter how long it takes."

Tony laughed, though his mind was spinning. The girl was insane: there was no way that he could prevent her from pressing the explosive button. Everybody in the building was going to die- Gibbs, Ziva, McGee, himself, Kate. Kate. A sharp movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he subtly shifted his gaze to spy his former partner advancing on the clueless teen, through the other room, gun in hand. Kate widened her eyes, urging him to keep the conversation going for as long as possible as she took care of the villain.

"See that's where you're wrong, Sandy. The only time that you'll find us again is in the courtroom when this is all over. In fact, after all this, the soul person who'll pay for the aftermath of your father's death is you."

Kate was drawing closer to Sandy now, sig trained on her back.

"It amazes me DiNozzo, how much faith you have in yourself and your team, especially Caitlin. She got you all into this mess in the first place! How can you possibly-"

A loud gunshot sounded and the tormented girl crumpled. Tony and Kate both lunged forward, desperate to snatch up the trigger before it hit the ground and the whole building went up in flames. Both of their hands closed around the device at the same time, and they breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief.

"Sorry if you wanted to do it yourself," Kate apologized, keeping her hands on his, "I couldn't stand to listen to her sarcastic ass any longer."

"It's fine, you deserved that." A soft smile played at Tony's lips as Kate's hazel eyes met his emerald ones. He leaned in, and Kate felt his hot breath on her lips as he murmured, "You did good."

Smirking, she allowed him to move in closer, and chuckled as their lip brushed when she began to reply, whispering, "Wow. I thought I'd die before I ever heard a compli-"

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Kate was cut off as the device clutched in her right hand began letting off the same sound, over and over again, as if it was… counting?

Tony stiffened in fear as they both snapped their eyes to the trigger, realisation dawning on them instantly.

What they saw was what caused them both to dash out of the room, screaming to Gibbs and the others at the top of their lungs: "GUYS GET OUT! WE NEED TO GO RIGHT NOW! WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME!"

This device will self destruct in 30…29…28…

A/N: It has been over 2 months since I updated this story! I'm so sorry! Schoolwork has been waying me down along with other things, but I'm back now! Stick around for more,

Louise :)