Unwanted Visitor

A couple of days after the court case, Tony had the neighbours round for dinner. Gibbs had sent Tony home early, telling him to do something to unwind. For some reason Tony just couldn't shake the odd feeling that something was wrong, but he was now so used to feeling tense that he hardly noticed it. Since the rest of the team were still at work, Tony invited Katie's family over; they often had him over, and he didn't want to be alone in his apartment at the moment. He had been a little worried about Katie's reaction to being back in his apartment, but she seemed okay with it. He guessed she had learnt to cope even better than him – he didn't think he would ever be able to visit the docks again.

The family's presence, as usual, relaxed Tony. The four of them were chatting about ordinary, non-work related topics. So Tony was a little dismayed when his cell rang – if work was calling, it was unlikely to be good news.

Back at work, the atmosphere had not been good. The team were just about to return to ordinary cases, but everyone had the same tense feeling as Tony. Gibbs had wondered if James, who had a lot of resources at his disposal (unlike the rest of Tony's captors), would hold true to his threat against Tony's life. After all he had been imprisoned for the rest of his life, which was a big motivator for revenge. Now, with Tony gone, McGee had just flagged up that someone had visited James in jail. Gibbs was worried; he wished he hadn't let Tony go home alone, but he hadn't expected James to do anything so quickly.

"Ziva. Call Tony now. Tell him we're on our way." Gibbs ordered, before all of them quickly piled into the elevator.

"Ziva? What's up?" Tony was surprised she was calling; she had known he was having dinner with the neighbours.

"It is possible that there is an assassin on his way to kill you." Ziva didn't beat around the bush.

"What?" Tony sounded confused.

"James had a meeting with someone in prison. It looked like one of the people you described as one of Omar's clients. Since you ruined his trial we figured he was after you." Ziva explained. "You think it is a good theory?"

"I know it is." Tony sighed. "Someone is holding a gun to the back of my head."

"Shit." Ziva swore in English, which was unlike her.

"I love you Ziva David." Tony said, and then the phone line was cut off.

Tony shut his eyes and tried to think. He couldn't believe that someone had got into his apartment again. He really needed better security. The man must have been waiting for him when he had got home, hiding somewhere. Tony wondered how he hadn't noticed. He smiled slightly, realising everything had come in a complete loop. Even Katie was here the second time. That sobered him up. He glanced over at the frightened family, wondering if they would be alright.

"Okay. Who the hell are you and what do you want?" Tony finally decided the guy wasn't just going to shoot him, so he might as well engage in conversation.

"I think you know who I am, Dinozzo." The man stepped round so Tony could see his face, still holding the gun towards his head. In that moment, everything faded slightly and Tony was back in the container. The man was one of Omar's 'friends'; one of the many that they had not yet caught. One of the many who haunted his nightmares.

"You." Tony paled slightly but it was unnoticeable beneath his steely expression. "You can't get out of this. Even if you shoot us all, my team is on the way. You're going down."

"I know. You put me on every watch list and I don't have the resources to get out of the country. But this is a good option – I take you with me and go out in a blaze of glory. Plus James Duncan wired me a couple of hundred thousand dollars to do this; for my family. But I would have done it for free – I want you to know, Dinozzo, that you did not win." The man sneered, caught up in bitterness.

"Basically, you want to gloat." Tony summarised, irritated. "Very mature."

"You weren't so cocky when you were tied to a chair." The man snapped.

"Who is?" Tony looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Since I don't have enough time to make this slow, I thought I would remind you of that time." The man continued, ignoring Tony's interruption. He pulled out a DVD from his pocket. "You are lucky I filmed our session."

"What is with you guys and being so creepy? Although I have to admit it is kind of flattering." Tony tried to keep chatting. His team would be here soon, he just had to hold out until back up arrived.

"You want to watch it, Dinozzo?" The man asked, although Tony knew he wasn't really interested in the answer.

"Not particularly. Despite being partial to a good movie it's not really the time." Tony said lightly, trying, once again, to reassure Katie.

"I think we should all watch it. Let you remember before you die." The man sneered. Keeping the gun on Tony, he ordered Katie to shove it in to the DVD player. She did as instructed, shaking in fear.

The film was grainy and from a strange angle. No wonder he hadn't realised they had been filming at the time. Tony took in his grimy, younger self. The Tony on screen was soaked in icy water – he looked bad; with his shirt off you could still see the fresh bruising and cuts. You could also make out part of his back, which was still a wreck from James.

"This is reminding me of that scene in 'Slumdog Millionaire'. An excellent movie; beautifully shot. Directed by Danny Boyle. Have you seen it?" Tony realised how strong his voice sounded, and smiled slightly, despite the situation. He had wondered what impression he had given.

"I guess not. You could rent it." Tony smiled more at his snarky tone.

"What was the action plan for a bomb threat on the USS Reagan?" The man currently pointing a gun at him spoke on the film, and Tony suddenly realised how distracted the guy was. He was caught up in the past, assuming Tony would be too. But Tony wasn't. Not anymore.

"That was a long time ago. My memory's not great…" Tony barely flinched as his younger self writhed and screamed.

"Does this remind you, Dinozzo, of why you should be afraid?" The man was even more distracted by Tony's screaming on the video. And then Tony realised he wasn't afraid. He wasn't alone any more. He was never alone.

Tony took a chance. He dived at the man, shoving the gun away and punching him in the face. He felt the man's nose break beneath his fist.

"This should teach you…" Tony punched the dazed and bloody man beneath him between his words. "To avoid torturing… federal agents… with attitude problems."

"That's enough Tony." Gibbs had burst through the front door with Ziva and McGee, gun out. He took in the film playing, the frightened family and the seriously pissed off Dinozzo.

"I said that's enough…" Gibbs had to fight to pull Tony off the nearly unconscious man. Tony was breathing hard, blood all over his fists and shirt. Ziva went over and turned off the film, McGee checked that the family was okay.

"You hurt?" Gibbs asked, looking towards the blood on his shirt.

"No." Tony shook himself out of his blind fury.

"Anyone else." Gibbs nodded towards Katie's family, who looked shaken but unhurt.

"Just him." Tony said lightly. He felt slightly dizzy.

"McGee is calling an ambulance." Ziva hurried over. She looked at Tony, obviously upset about the close shave.

"I'm okay Ziva. But I'm starting to think that my knack for irritating people is more of a curse than a blessing." Tony answered her silent questions.

"It's a little of both." Ziva reflected, angrily thumping him hard on the arm. Then she stepped forwards and kissed him, full on, in front of everyone. "I thought I was going to lose you for a minute." She whispered quietly.

"Hell, Dinozzo. What did I tell you about work and rule twelve?" Gibbs brought up, glaring at both of them.

"We're not at work, boss." Tony pointed out, before leaning in and kissed Ziva again, hugging her tightly at the same time.

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