Thanks to everyone who reviewed and alerted.
Next chapter is up. Who gets shot this time? McGee's in danger as the gunman flees into the woods and straight towards Tim and his team.
"Fuck!" cried Tony as he felt metal rip through his skin. He turned towards the shooter's position and readied his gun; before he could pull the trigger he felt another force hit him in the centre of his chest; 'thank God for Kevlar!' he thought. He felt the force of the bullet spin him round and knock him down. He was aware that there was more shooting going on around him but he was too busy trying to fight the pain, the shock and the rising bile he felt climbing its way up his throat.
He could vaguely hear Ziva shouting in the background, but the words were lost in the cacophony of gunfire. He tried to open his mouth, shout back that he was fine but when he opened his mouth only a small groan escaped. He tried to focus on breathing and keeping his previous meal in his stomach. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees but didn't have the strength to lift his head and examine his surroundings.
As he was attempting to draw deep breaths, trying to breathe though the pain and ease the thumping in his chest, he felt himself being pushed down into the dirt. He tried to focus his vision on whomever it was that was pinning him while he allowed his adrenaline to take over and give him the energy needed to get the weight off him.
"Tony, calm down" said a gentle voice in his ear. He recognized that voice...
"Alex?"
"Reporting for duty!" The Sheriff said wryly, his body was still covering Tony's forcing him to stay down on the ground. The former SEAL took a brief scan of his surroundings and was happy that they were both out of the line of fire; whoever that shooter was, he was a professional. The hidden shooter was still taking a few shots at Ziva and the officers…his officers!
After ascertaining their safety, Alex looked at the man pinned beneath him; he could see the blood pooling at his side. "Looks like one of those bullets caught you in the side." He ran a gentle hand over the area, trying to judge the damage and blood loss.
"My fucking luck it managed to miss the vest!"
Alex allowed himself a small chuckle at Tony's words. After working along side the man for the past few days he had learnt several facts about the younger man that made his statement irrefutable. After all, the man had been kidnapped, concussed, locked in a shipping container and suffered through the Pneumonic Plague!
"You catch that other bullet thrown this way?"
Tony nodded, "The vest caught that one, but my ribs think it could have done a better job!"
Alex silently cursed. He knew from personal experience that there was only so much damage a Kevlar vest could prevent. Tony might not have a bullet in his chest but the risk of a broken rib and a possible punctured lung was just as dangerous. He was about to further question Tony on his condition when gunfire came from a new position; at first he thought that the shooter might have moved but then he heard his daughter shouting out orders to the police officers with her.
He sent a quiet prayer skywards and turned to fire at the shooter's position. Every time he squeezed the trigger he could feel the pull on the small bullet-wound on his shooting arm. However, adrenaline and the threat on people's lives, on his daughter's life, kept him aiming.
The remaining officers were able to move forward a little at a time while others lay down suppressing fire. When they reached the shooter's last known position, however, they found an empty space and scuff marks leading out into the woods that surrounded the property.
Alex turned to survey the damage and check to see who was wounded. Rebecca was standing near him wrapping a torn bit of her shirt around his injured arm; she was safe but glaring daggers. He was glad to see that while his officers were shaken, they too were unhurt. Ziva was crouched down over the suspect they had arrested only minutes previously; he wasn't moving.
"He was shot in the head; he won't be telling us the truth after all." David's voice was hard and even but as her eyes glanced over towards her team leader, her eyes softened with concern. She made her way over to him only to have him stand up and wave her off.
"He went into the woods?" he asked Alex, fear and apprehension clouding his eyes.
Alex nodded. "Looks that way."
"Shit!" cursed Tony. He picked up his phone and tried to dial McGee only to discover he had no service. He grabbed a radio off one of the nearby officers and asked for the missing team to sign in. There were a few moments silence in which everyone's hearts were thumping so hard against their chests it felt as if their ribs would crack open from the pressure.
"Agent DiNozzo?" came the timid voice of one of the junior officers on McGee's team.
Tony released a huge sigh of relief. "Speaking. Put Agent McGee on please."
"Tony…is everyone ok? We heard gunfire; we've been moving back towards the barn to…"
"No!" interrupted Tony. "McGee, the shooter is headed your way. How far away are you from the barn?"
"I don't know, maybe three minutes now."
"Shit!" Tony cursed off radio. "Ok McGee, stay put in defensive positions. Watch your six McGee; we'll be there as soon as we can."
"Perhaps you should stay here Tony" Ziva suggested gently, worried about the potential for blood loss and shock that moving with a gunshot-wound might cause.
"Ziva, you said you would respect me as team leader…did you mean that?" he asked, searching her eyes for sincerity.
"Of course, but…"
"Then as team leader, we're wasting time. One of my team is in danger and it is my job to go and help him. I know my limits and I can handle this." He looked at his partner and awaited her response.
Ziva knew that Tony was telling the truth, that he might always push his limits in all sorts of ways, but that he knew where they were. She trusted him. She gave a short sharp nod indicating her agreement.
Tony smiled and rested a gentle hand on Ziva's shoulders. "Thanks for the concern though!" He turned around to Rebecca; "Can you and your team stay here with Caleb? We don't want to risk him."
Rebecca looked for a second as though she might argue, but she knew time was short and she knew that Tony was right…they couldn't risk a civilian. She nodded and moved her team away towards the main house.
Tony, Alex, Ziva and the rest of the officers entered the woods and fanned themselves out on DiNozzo's orders. Alex was on point tracking the shooter as he had some experience in this field; everyone else was keeping their eyes on the tree-line searching for both the shooter and the other team.
"Thanks for that Tony" said Alex quietly, as he studied the hurried footprints on the ground.
Tony took his eyes away from the tree-line and looked at Alex briefly before returning to scan the surrounding forest. "For what?" he asked, even though he knew perfectly well what the older man was talking about.
Alex knew that Tony had understood, but felt the need to voice it anyway; "Thanks for leaving Rebecca out of the woods."
"Caleb knows you and your officers…it made sense." Tony denied that his orders were for Alex's piece of mind.
"Sure" Alex replied with a small smile on his face; he knew better. He understood that Tony wasn't looking for praise and that he just wanted to do his job well, but after working alongside him Alex saw the deep-rooted concern that Tony held for other people.
McGee had done exactly what Tony had said; he and the two police officers with him knelt down on the ground with each of them watching different sectors, their backs to each other. Their guns were out and aimed into the murky forest that surrounded them. McGee had made sure he was the one facing towards the barn.
Every now and then there would be a break in the clouds and the forest would come alive under the warm glow of the sun. The green became more vibrant and the leaves on the forest floor would become a multi-coloured carpet beneath their feet. Then the clouds would move, cover the sun once more and plunge the forest back into shadows.
McGee was worried. Tony hadn't said whether or not anyone was injured; in fact the Senior Field Agent had flat out ignored his question. He and his team had been fanned-out searching the forest, looking at the ground hoping to spot any sign of recently disturbed earth indicating that someone had passed through recently. Then they heard the gunfire.
His first thought had been to rush back towards the barn guns blazing, but thankfully the more rational part of his brain seized control of his emotions. He knew Tony would haul his ass to the gym and then proceed to kick it if he acted rashly. So he ordered the officers to draw in closer as they slowly moved back towards the barn, alert for any movements in the dark forest that surrounded them.
It had been awful, that agonisingly slow pace; he imagined all the ways in which he would find his team in the barn and none of them were pretty images to hold onto. Then all of a sudden, the gunfire ended. McGee ordered the officers to hold. He brought out his mobile, hoping to get in touch with DiNozzo only to find that he had no service.
"Stupid countryside!" he mumbled.
He was about to ask an officer for one of their radios when he heard Tony's voice. From the shaky way the police officer had answered, he too had been imagining the worst. The relief he had felt hearing that his team was coming to get him was soon replaced with more anxiety.
'Was it taking too long?' 'Had the shooter found them?' 'Was anyone hurt?' These questions and others kept banging through his head. Finally he saw a line of people moving through the trees. A quick check via the radio enabled him to make sure it was Tony and the rest of them. McGee let go of a breath that he wasn't even aware he had been holding.
When both groups met up McGee could see that there had been damage taken. Ziva had blood spatter across her face, but from what he could tell she wasn't actually injured. Alex had a bandage wrapped around his upper right arm. Tony…well Tony looked like hell; he was pale and sweating and every now and then he would gently rub at his chest as is it was bothering him.
McGee almost did a double-take when he took a closer look. He could see the impact a bullet had had; there was a dent in the Kevlar exactly over where the heart lies. 'Thank God for Kevlar!' McGee thought silently, unknowingly echoing Tony's earlier thoughts.
Each team gave a small debrief of what each other had seen. Alex was lamenting the fact that the tracks he'd been following had just disappeared. In all likelihood the man they were following had taken the time to cover his tracks, leading Alex to believe that they were dealing with someone who was involved with Special Forces.
"He's good" summarised Alex, "Damn good!"
Several of the LEO's present let out soft curses; the case just kept on mutating!
"Well, at least we know someone else is involved. And given his actions…I would say this is the guy we want. He's got to be the brains of the operation." McGee saw Tony wince as he shifted his weight from one foot to another; he took a hand to his side and when he withdrew the hand there was blood.
"You're hurt!" McGee pointed out needlessly. "Why didn't you stay at the barn?" Panic was beginning to seep into his voice slightly; Tony was hurt and hadn't said anything…why hadn't anyone else noticed?
"It's not too bad Agent McGee" Alex tried to reassure the young agent.
"Not too bad?!" asked McGee incredulously. "You knew he was hurt and you let him come out here anyway?" He cast an angry look at Simmons, but Tony's voice stopped him short.
"Sherriff Simmons did not 'let' me do anything. I'm team leader Agent McGee, and I deemed myself healthy enough to come looking for one of my agents who could have been in trouble. Is that understood?"
McGee's mouth gaped momentarily like a fish. Several things struck him at once; Tony's use of titles meant that the Senior Field Agent was deadly serious and that he had better pay attention or face the consequences. He also recognised that Tony had risked his own health to come and check on him and make sure he was safe.
McGee felt a brief flash of annoyance that people felt he needed to be protected, but then he realised that it was just Tony's way. After all, the man had tracked down Gibbs when the he had gone off on his own little crusade with Maddie Tyler; Tony had run through a warehouse shooting at armed men as he went and then dived into dirty water at the risk of his damaged lungs to save not one, but two lives.
McGee felt a little warmth run through his body at the thought that Tony had treated him as he had Gibbs…with concern and fierce protectiveness demonstrated by the risk he took with his own health to make sure his Junior Agent was ok.
Rebecca had broken the news to Caleb about his grandson's death; he didn't seem too upset by it, but then again, Rebecca wasn't sure how much actually penetrated as the man seemed more than a little detached from reality.
She had insisted on driving both her father and Tony to the hospital. Tony had insisted on going all the way back to DC; he had a doctor at Bethesda that he trusted. Alex quietly assured her that the blood loss was minor and that the stubborn agent would survive the trip back to DC.
Tony left McGee and Ziva with strict instructions on processing the scene and playing nice with the local LEO's. Ziva eventually agreed to the latter after Tony promised her the interrogation of the shooter…when they caught him!
Ducky had been called out to collect the bodies. By the time he and Jimmy arrived at the run-down farm Tony, Alex and Rebecca had gone, but both Ziva and McGee were still processing the barn alongside several of Simmons' officers. Tony had called Ducky for his services and the older man had immediately picked up on the pain in Tony's voice. After wrangling two promises out of the younger man, to go and see a doctor and to tell Abby, Ducky was able to focus on his job.
He turned to his assistant and quizzed him as usual, trying to help the young man to learn his profession as well as distract him from worrying about his friend's health. "Well Mr. Palmer, what can you tell me about…"
"Hi Brad" said Tony, a slightly sheepish expression on his face.
"Only you, Tony, would demand to see a Respiratory Doctor for a GSW to the lower abdomen. You fail biology at school?"
Tony laughed. He liked the easy banter he shared with Dr. Pitt; it helped him get through the whole Pneumonic Plague fiasco. "Technically I have a chest wound too" he pointed out, "The bastard was nice enough to shoot the Kevlar second time round."
Brad's face briefly flickered with concern before he covered it with another jibe, "Probably didn't want to hear you crying" he supplied.
Alex tried to muffle his laughter at the banter he heard. When he was in the military, taking the piss out of each other was a way to get through the bad times; mockery was second nature, like breathing!
Rebecca however, was not as used to the camaraderie and was a little shocked that a doctor would talk to his patients like that.
"So come on then…off with the shirt, or will you only do that for Nurse Emma?"
Tony let out another laugh, although he quickly regretted it as the intake of breath had strained his damaged ribs. He unbuttoned his shirt and gently tried to ease the shirt off his shoulders; the material was stuck where the blood from the gunshot-wound had dried. With a quick tug he managed to remover the shirt.
"I usually get the money up front you know" he quipped, trying to hide a grimace. His ribs were really aching and the gunshot was beginning to sting as fresh blood escaped again. Brad noticed the pain in Tony's voice and the determination in his eyes not to show it, so he decided to ignore it for now.
Dr. Pitt saw to the bleeding first. "The wound's not too deep and it just grazed your side, no real damage other than the blood loss and a little tear to the muscles there." He asked a nearby nurse for a suture kit, before he turned and addressed Tony again. "I'll clean it and then I'll stitch it, and after that I will check your ribs. Once I am done, you will take it easy and you will take the antibiotics and the pain medication, or I go and talk to your boss."
"Go ahead, he's in a hospital bed though and I can guarantee you if he could walk out of here he would." Tony had a smug grin on his face, glad that Gibbs couldn't come and berate him for misbehaving without appearing hypocritical; he didn't want a head-slap!
"I know he's in a hospital bed, Respiratory Doctor remember?!" Brad wasn't Gibbs doctor, but as a doctor in a specialised field he is made aware of patients with respiratory problems when he is on call in case they need help. "And sorry to piss on your camp fire Tony, but Gibbs is up and walking the corridors of Bethesda; doctor's orders!"
"Damn it!" Tony cursed softly. "Stop laughing Alex!" Tony ordered before swiping blindly at him. He made contact but regretted it immediately. Not only did the movement pull on his wound, but he also managed to catch Alex's right arm, which jarred his injury. "Sorry" breathed Tony through the pain.
He felt a slap at the back of his head and looked up at Brad who met his hardened gaze unflinchingly. "Settle down or I'll sedate you!" he warned. There was silence as Dr. Pitt finished cleaning and stitching the wound. He then gently pressed down over Tony's bruised ribs and listened to breath-sounds with his stethoscope.
"Sounds clear, and I can't feel any breaks in the ribs but they could be fractured. I'm going to send you to x-ray just to make sure." He turned his attention to Alex; "You are sitting down on this bed so I can sort out your injury" he said, gesturing to the bloodied bandage.
"I'm staying here until I know he's ok" Tony insisted firmly.
Alex was touched that Tony cared, but knew that getting his ribs x-rayed and checked was more important. "I'm a big boy Tony; I'm sure I'll manage. Rebecca is here to keep me in line" he joked, gesturing to his daughter who was watching the scene unfold with barely concealed amusement. "Who knows, if I'm good maybe I'll get a lollipop!"
Tony frowned and looked as though he was about to argue, then Brad helpfully supplied the name of his boss and his room number and Tony acquiesced.
Tony was not impressed when he discovered he was expected to go to x-ray in a wheelchair. He had been supplied with a scrub top to keep him somewhat warm; his shirt was ruined now. The nurse was a male nurse for which he silently cursed Brad; he was making idle chit-chat about how exciting it must be to work as a Federal Agent. Tony fought the urge to roll his eyes; yeah getting shot was so much fun!
They were waiting for an elevator to arrive when Tony heard his name stated with such a disbelieving fashion he wasn't sure if it was meant for him to hear. Then he recognised the voice, the tone, the implications…Gibbs!
"Oh shit!" muttered Tony quietly. Couldn't they have at least given him the drugs before he faced his boss? 'If you have something to do with this Brad, I swear…' he thought darkly before turning towards his boss.
Gibbs stood in an old NIS t-shirt and a pair of running trousers. A nurse was at his side, gently mumbling about over-exertion and strain. 'At least I'm not the only one getting lectures' Tony thought, smiling inwardly as Maya gently reminded Gibbs that she could at any time reinsert a urinary catheter.
Tony took a deep breath and attempted to prepare himself to face Gibbs. He pasted a fake smile on his lips and gave a little wave, hiding the grimace as both his side and his ribs protested at the movement. "Hey Gibbs" he said with forced cheeriness.
Gibbs eyes took in the scrub top, the wheelchair, and the lines of pain around Tony's eyes. Gibbs' own eyes narrowed in suspicion. Tony gulped. 'Busted' thought Gibbs.
Another chapter done. Please let me know what you think.
I don't what things are like in America, but here in Britain, mobile phone reception is fine in the cities but ranges from a bit dodgy to none existent in certain areas of the countryside…like the moors and the dales. It's very annoying!
Next up, Gibbs and Tony have a little chat. McGee and Ziva both go searching for advice from both Gibbs and Ducky as Tony's time at NCIS draws to a close.