Disclaimer on Part I.

AN: WOW! Looky what I wrote! So this kinda just jumped into my head the last two days...and I have to admit, it got away from me and grew. I never intended it to be this large, and I also have to say I did scale it down. I ended it before I had originally intended, but I think it works. So I hope you like it and hopefully more to come from this and my other stories. Keep reading, and always remember your thoughts are always welcome. dark rolling sea.

Part XXI: Fireworks

Kate stood at the edge of the driveway, barely containing her tears. Colton stood watching the road with enthusiasm, as Taylor clung to Kate's side shyly. Colton's backpack shifted uneasily on his back, the bag being slightly too large for the boy. He didn't seem to mind as he pushed up on his tiptoes, as if he could see further with that extra two inches of height.

"I don't see it, Momma," he said squinting.

"It'll come, Cole, be patient," she replied ruffling his hair. He looked up at her and nodded, the seriousness in his face making her smile.

They waited another five minutes, Colton anxiously fidgeting and shifting, before he saw it. The giant yellow monster turned the corner down the street and the little boy's face lit up. He pointed and jumped up and down as a small squeal escaped.

"There it is!" he shouted. Kate smiled and nodded, as Taylor picked her head up and looked over Kate's shoulder at what had gotten her brother so excited. She watched the vehicle come to a stop in front of them.

"Be a good boy, Cole," Kate said as the little one trudged up the steps. He stopped at the top and turned to face her.

"Will be, Momma!" he said with a smile before he disappeared into the noisy bowels of the bus. The driver waved with a smile then pulled away from the curb. Kate watched it until it was gone from sight then she took Taylor into the house.

That had been three months ago. Colton had come home from kindergarten everyday with excitement and enthusiasm. He was thoroughly enjoying school, and seemed to be making as many friends as he could. His hockey was still in full flow as his second season as a mini mite started up.

They had thought his being so much smaller than the other kids his age would deter him from playing such a game, but for now, when full physical contact was not part of the game, Colton seemed to thrive. He loved it. His coaches continuously told Kate of her son's natural ability to see the game and she would simply nod. She didn't understand a lick of the game to be honest.

The year progressed and Abby and McGee announced they would be adding to the family, Abby was pregnant. The team had celebrated that night at the Gibbs' house. Tony had brought his now steady girlfriend, whose name was Robin they found out three months after McGee and Abby's wedding.

Gibbs sat back and watched as his 'family' interacted. His features settled into a gentle smile as he took in the scene in his living room, something six years ago he would have bulked at if someone had told him of the fortunes to come. Kate noticed his distance and left the group coming up next to him. She placed a hand on his arm and he looked down at her with a smile.

"You ok?" she asked lightly. He nodded once before looking up at the group oblivious to them.

"Just admiring the view," Gibbs replied softly. Kate looked back to see Colton in Tony's lap, as Tony attempted some sort of a magic trick. Colton was telling Tony he was doing it wrong, and Robin, who was next to them, was laughing. McGee and Abby were on the floor doing a puzzle with Taylor. Even Wentworth was watching Tony's flubbed magic trick.

"It's a nice change," Kate replied as Gibbs wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She felt there was something more to his standing apart. She draped her arms around his waist. "What is it?"

Gibbs looked at her and smiled. She could always tell when there was something on his mind. He closed his eyes and took in a slow deep breath, before he returned his gaze to the family in front of him.

"Just thinking about the turns in life. How one thing can lead to another and you really don't have any control over it, but you don't want to think that way. So you hold tightly to the idea that you have control over everything."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"I just don't want to take anything for granted," Gibbs replied leaning down and kissing her temple. She nodded. Colton looked over at his parents and smiled, waving wildly. They waved back with grins, before walking over and joining the party.

Two weeks after that, things started to unravel. It was as if Gibbs had felt something coming. The team caught a rough case, a serial killer preying on returning Iraqi War veterans. It was consuming much of his time, and every free moment he was trying to spend with his family. He found himself on the phone with them more often than not, not being able to be home.

It was weighing on his as time progressed. The case was coming together but slowly. They still hadn't found the killer's identity, but were closing in. The team was pushing harder than ever, determined to bring this mad man down. Finally a break came in. Wentworth and Tony came back to the headquarters with good news, a possible suspect.

Gibbs had taken the two of them with him, leaving McGee in the lab with Abby. The suspect lived in a house in a secluded area in Virginia. Gibbs surveyed the property, knowing it was a perfect place to commit the horrible crimes their killer and done and no one would be around to hear or see. They approached the house carefully, as there was a car in the drive, but no sound or movement could be detected. Wentworth and Tony went around the back while Gibbs approached the front of the house cautiously. His gut started to tell him something was wrong when he felt a hot rush of air come from under the door.

His mind was boggled for a moment, as he looked down at the dirt being sucked back under the door. His mind started to connect the dots but it was too late. He felt the heat before he heard the blast; at least he thinks he heard the blast. His body was standing on the porch one second, and next he was hurling backwards at high velocity. The door and wall had splintered in front of him, pieces of the shrapnel slicing into his face and chest.

The heat surrounding his body was intense and he felt his skin burning from the exposure. The sound was gone from his head, nothing but his own heart beat and rough breathing echoed in his ears. His sight was gone for the moment; the brilliant flash had blinded him. He grunted as his body slammed against the hood of the car parked in the drive, and felt as his momentum carried him up the slick metal. The windshield stopped him, but not before spidering and shattering.

He tried to call out to Tony and Wentworth; he wanted to make sure they were ok. His mind reeled and panicked what if they had entered the house. He struggled to get up off the car but he couldn't. His mind no longer controlled the rest of his body. The pain started to set in and he knew there was some serious damage done to his body. His eye sight slowly returned with blurry shapes and shadows. His ears continued to ring and hum.

He felt his body sliding and was unable to stop it. He closed his eyes and prepared for another shock of pain as he slipped from the car and landed with a thump in a heap on the ground. His body sprawled as he groaned aloud again. Time seemed to slow and spin around him as he fought to retain consciousness.

Gibbs could feel the hot stickiness of his skin. Blood streamed from somewhere on his forehead flowing freely through his eye, not that he could see that well out of it anyway. His mind was foggy, only patches of thought at best. His worry for Tony and Wentworth quickly snowballed into thoughts of Kate and the kids.

Coherent thought sparked in his mind and he tried to move his right arm. Pain ignited from his shoulder, spreading down his arm to his elbow and across his chest and back. He looked at it, but his mind couldn't focus long enough to see what was wrong. He then attempted to move his left arm, that one coherent thought still echoing in his mind.

The left arm moved with some difficulty, but at least it moved. He groped wildly at his pockets, not quite remembering where his phone was. Pay dirt. His fingers bounced off the hard plastic shell and he struggled to free it from his pants. Flipping the phone open he squinted and blinked to try to clear his eyes enough to see the number panel, but it was useless.

The world was beginning to spin again, to fade again and Gibbs fought to maintain that last semblance of control. He moved his right arm again and the pain exploded, causing his mind to awaken briefly. The sight in his right eye cleared for a moment and he punched in 9-1 before it faded and he felt the blackness enveloping him again.

He let his finger fall again and the phone was ringing; only he couldn't hear it. He couldn't hear anything still. He tried to talk, but wasn't even sure if sound was coming out. Holding the phone to his head, Gibbs made his best effort to form English sentences for whoever was listening on the other end. Maybe he was shouting, maybe he was only whispering, and maybe it was all gibberish, but in his head he was speaking to someone.

Then it was gone. Everything was black and his mind was floating. His fingers slacked and the phone landed in the grass next to him. The house continued to burn, smoke filling the air, but Gibbs didn't care anymore; he had succumbed to the unconscious hand.

The 9-1-1 operator that had answered the phone had had to remove her headset. The man that called in was yelling into her ear. She tried to get him to calm down and talk sensibly but his words were slurred together and he spoke in incoherent thoughts. Then the line was quiet. She thought she had heard him say something about an explosion and possibly something about others. She tried to get him to talk to her after he went silent but she got nothing in return.

She took her headset off and walked to her boss' office, knocking lightly on the wood. She told him about the cell phone call she had just received and he came to her desk to read the transcript on the screen. He frowned and then slipped the headset on his own head. He could hear crackling in the background, but it wasn't static, the phone was still connected.

They ran a GPS trace on the number and found the general location. He dispatched emergency personnel immediately and continued to listen to the phone in case the man came back to the line.

The sirens were in the distance. Gibbs couldn't hear them in his unconscious state, but Tony could. He was pinned under heavy siding from the house, unable to move. He had called out to Wentworth and received a weak grunt before getting nothing. He had been shouting for Gibbs ever since, but got nothing in return. His fear was pulling at his gut.

He began to relax a little now that he heard sirens. Possibly someone saw the smoke and called the fire department, or maybe heard the blast and simply called 9-1-1. What worried him the most though was his inability to see or hear Gibbs. Fear was a nasty creature and could do a number on your brain when you were trapped.

He wasn't afraid for himself, no, he was afraid of what might have happened to Gibbs. He was afraid of what that could mean for Kate…and those two wonderful kids. Tony tried to push the bulk that was trapping him off again, only to fail miserably again. He took stock of his body and knew that his left side had some damage, but as for extent he couldn't tell. His legs both seemed to shift, slightly, in their trapped positions. He searched what he could see again and still didn't see Wentworth. He hadn't heard the younger agent in a while and wondered if he was ok. The sirens were growing louder and louder and Tony felt the slightest pang of relief, under the fear and panic that still saturated his mind.

The paramedics were the first to arrive, with the fire department hot on their heels. Three cops rolled in seconds later as the scene exploded in sound and flashing lights. Tony started yelling, not sure if they could hear him over the crackle of the fire and the roar of the vehicles, but he shouted none the less.

They saw Gibbs crumpled by the vehicle and went to work on him. He briefly fluttered his eyes open when the touched that right arm, groaning in pain. They set to work stabilizing him. When all the sirens finally cut someone heard a faint yelling coming from behind the inferno and he left his partner to check it out.

Gibbs was vaguely aware that someone was poking, sticking, and moving his body around. He barely felt the blood being wiped away and his wounds inspected. He was floating on a plane somewhere between being awake and being unconscious. Images fluttered through his mind scattered by the fog, as he tried to form a decent thought of any kind.

The second paramedic had found Wentworth and frowned at the man's condition. He quickly released that it wasn't Wentworth yelling and started to scan the area looking for someone else. He finally spotted Tony and sprinted towards him. Tony saw the man and his face split into a grin, before pain overwhelmed it and made the grimace return.

"Can you tell me your name?" the paramedic was yelling at him as he came closer.

"Tony," DiNozzo grunted out while trying to wiggle free of his confinement. "Where's Gibbs?"

"Who?" the paramedic asked as he squatted down next to Tony and examined the scene.

"My boss."

"One guy is lying just over there unconscious. Another is out front unconscious and pretty beat up."

"They both alive?" Tony asked struggling more to free him self and only succeeding in increasing the pain.

"Relax. I'm going to go tend to the one over there. You're stable for now. I'll get some guys back here to get this stuff off you," the paramedic replied before he got up and sprinted back towards Wentworth. Tony felt the tears in his eyes as he thought about Gibbs in front, unconscious and beat up.

Kate had a bad feeling all day that she just couldn't shake. She had hid it the best she could from the kids, but she was pretty sure Colton knew something was wrong. He kept quiet about it, simply watching his mother to make sure she was ok.

When the phone rang she nearly jumped from the couch, as dread settled into the pit of her stomach. She stared at the phone for a moment before she picked it up and slowly brought it to her ear. Her eyes closed on their own as she waited.

"Hello?"

"Kate," McGee's half strangled voice came over the phone. She knew something was wrong.

"Tim, what is it?" she asked in a whisper. Colton stopped playing with his truck and looked up at his mom on the couch. He could see the tears starting to form in her eyes.

"It's the team, Kate. There was an explosion."

"My God, NO!" Kate said in a harsh hiss of words. She clamped her eyes shut trying to seal off the tears burning behind her lids. She was unsuccessful and Colton was on his feet in front of her. Taylor looked up from her coloring book, her face sick with worry.

"He's alive, Kate, but it's pretty bad."

"How bad, Tim?" she continued in an uneven voice.

"He's being taken into surgery. They think they have to rebuild his right shoulder. He's got a lot of burns, second and third degree. They're worried he has a serious head injury."

"I…"

"Kate, Abby and I are on our way to your house. Abby is going to stay with the kids; I'll take you up to the hospital. He's in Virginia."

"What about the others?"

"Tony is stable and responsive. He's got a broken leg and a dislocated shoulder, couple cracked ribs and a concussion. Wentworth is still unconscious, but responding to pain. He has a large gash in his chest and a broken right arm."

"What happened, Tim?"

"All I know is when they went to apprehend the suspect the house they were approaching exploded."

Kate was a wreck, but Abby got her off with Tim and told her the kids would be fine. Colton wanted to go with and had thrown a very good argument with Kate but it had been Abby to calm him in the end. He had agreed to stay with his little sister and take care of her. He could tell she was very scared.

At the hospital Kate had sat waiting for someone to talk to her for what seemed like days, but in reality was only an hour. Ducky had arrived and was sitting with her after he checked on Tony. Finally she couldn't take just sitting and she went to find Tony. He was also agitated being restrained to the hospital bed.

She saw the cast drying on his leg, and the stabilizer that was strapped around his shoulder and chest. Each time he moved she could see him wincing. He had smiled when he saw Kate come in and she had rushed to him and hugged him. He held her as tightly as he could; trying desperately to ignore the pain it created.

Kate cried into his good shoulder, letting out all of her fear and anger. He had simply let her, giving her the comfort she needed. When she had regained control she gave him a small smile. He told her it was nothing she wouldn't do for him and they had shared a small laugh.

But then the reality of the moment took over again and they both were quiet. Then Kate asked what had happened and Tony ran through everything he could remember with any detail. She simply listened to his tale until he was done and then nodded. There was nothing anyone did wrong; it was just a bad situation.

They sat together through the night, with very little word on Gibbs. Wentworth had come through surgery in the early morning hour and was in recovery and Kate felt that pull in her stomach, the worry tugging at her insides. Finally Ducky had come in. She saw the relief in his face instantly and rose to hug him. Once she released him she asked him for the good news.

"Jethro is stable. He came out of surgery about ten minutes ago and is in recovery. They were able to put his shoulder back together but they are skeptical if he will regain his entire range of motion."

"And the burns?" Tony asked with a cracking voice.

"They are serious, but they believe with proper care he will make a full recovery. They will leave scars but sparing infection he should come through all right. They will be moving him to the burn ward shortly after his stay in recovery."

"What about the head injury?" Kate asked pursing her lips when she was done. She knew it was the most dangerous of all his injuries.

"They are still worried about the head injury; I will not lie about that. He took a serious blow to the head and they are skeptical that he can hear at the moment. He didn't seem responsive to voices, and his ability to track movement seemed sluggish. They are monitoring him for any serious signs. As of right now all we can do is wait."

"Can I see him?" Kate asked her stomach doing flips. She just wanted to touch him, know he was still alive.

"The doctor will let you soon," Ducky replied with a nod. She waited another half hour before they let her see him. Kate couldn't stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks when she saw him bandaged and casted lying in the hospital bed. She walked to him and reached out touching him gently on the left side. His eyes fluttered and he rolled his head towards her. She softly stroked the side of his face and leaned down kissing his temple. He mumbled but she couldn't understand it. Looking down on him she got the feeling that things would be ok and it brought a small smile to her face. He had survived this far, he would make it through.