A/N: I've been without power since Friday, which is why this is later than I expected. I'm still without power. Might be saturday before I get it back. But im at a friends house atm, so I can post. Thanks for your patience~
*~.~*
Tony jolted awake, at the sound of the credits rolling on the TV. Glancing over beside him, he saw that Abby had fallen asleep as well. After a moment of collecting his thoughts, he scrambled for his phone, checking to see if he'd missed any calls from Gibbs. But there was none.
"It's been another two and a half hours," he said aloud, worriedly. "Gibbs hasn't called, and it's been way too long. He'd have called, if he'd been laid over like this. He'd have let me know."
"Tony?" Abby sleepily questioned.
"Something's wrong," he told her. "Gibbs still hasn't called," he stood from the bed, pacing as he looked at his phone.
"Well, maybe he really is going overseas," she suggested, pushing to sit up.
Tony shook his head, "He would've told me to expect the call late. Abs, something's wrong; I can feel it. I need to know... I need to call Vance," he started out the bedroom door, and began dialing the director's number.
"Tony, don't you think you might be freaking out a little soon?" Abby followed him out.
"Agent DiNozzo? That you?" Vance's voice sounded on the other line.
"You're still in the office, this late," Tony stated. "What's going on, Director?"
"What do you mean?"
"Where was the mission? Where were they being flown to? Has he contacted you?"
"Slow down, Tony," Vance said. "I can't...divulge this information over the phone."
"Has something happened, Vance? I need to know...I need you to tell me..."
"I can't," he replied. "It's not something I can talk like this about, you understand?" it was like he was talking to Tony in purposeful code; as if someone might be listening in. "Is Abby still there?"
"Yes..."
"Maybe she should come into the office for a while."
"She's...supposed to stay..." he seemed to catch on, after a moment.
"I hope you're feeling well, Agent DiNozzo. I'd like to have you back at work, soon."
Tony didn't respond, before the call ended from Vance's end.
"Tony?"
He turned toward Abby's voice, and looked at her. "I need you to take me to the office..."
*~.~*
When Abby and Tony entered Vance's office, demanding information, he held up a hand, ushering for them to close the door, then pressed a button under his desk, securing the room from any devices that might be listening in.
"What the hell is going on, Director?" Tony asked, anger mostly veiled by the fear he felt in his chest.
"Gibbs and Ziva were sent to intercept a Marine officer who had, until recently, been off the grid for nearly three months," Vance told them. "This Marine is suspected of partnering with a drug cartel running out of Mexico, which ended up getting four of his fellow officers killed."
"You sent them to Mexico?" Tony yelled, incredulously. "What the hell were you thinking? Two agents up against that?"
"No," Vance held up a hand. "First off, this wasn't my idea. In fact, I voted against it. I was suspicious of SecNav, of Jarvis' plan. It looks like I was right to be. Second, we wouldn't send them to Mexico. We had intel report that the Marine, Briggs, was spotted in Canada. He'd booked a flight under an alias, but apparently SecNav got lucky, and had an officer on leave spot the guy, and overhear where he was flying out to. His flight left Ontario at 1800 hours, our time. Non-stop flight to Austin, Texas. Gibbs and Ziva arrived an hour before he was supposed to land. It was supposed to be a simple spot-and-grab. We had sent airport security a list of known cartel member images, making sure to keep a sharp eye out, in case Briggs was meant to meet any of them there. Security checked in with me, personally, through MTAC, every thirty minutes. There was no suspicious activity, and the jet Gibbs and Ziva were on, was to land in a separate area as the commercial flights, which we had heavily guarded."
"What happened?" Abby spoke up.
"They were ambushed," Leon didn't beat around the bush.
"How? What?" Tony panicked.
"Someone tipped them off," Vance surmised. "No other way I can see it possible. The last report in, was twenty minutes before the jet landed; I hadn't expected another call until they were on the ground. But when the call came, there was one guard left," he picked up the remote from his desk and pointed it to the screen on the wall, playing the MTAC footage from the last call in from Austin.
The screen lit up, blurry at first, as the signal had taken a moment to fully connect. They could see the small jet, and the ambulances, police cars and airport security vehicles parked all around the area, lights spinning wildly, as EMT's and officers roamed the area. There were bodies; the guards, lying in blood, surround the walls. One of the guards, however, strapped to a gurney, had the video camera pointed at him, with the help of an officer. He was bloody, as well; a gunshot wound to his clavicle, was all they could see on from that angle.
"Director Vance," the man's pinched voice sounded. "They came...outta no where. Like it was planned...Like they knew about call-times, landing time...everything. They ambushed us, right after our last call ended. Took us out, quickly. They had silencers. Most of us never heard it coming. All of my men...Sir, my men are all dead..." his face showed his anguish at this fact. "And they took your agents," he told him. "I don't know where. But...but they thought I was dead. They talked...said something about a warehouse. I'm thinking it can't be far from Austin... I'm sorry, Sir... I'm sorry..."
"No," Vance's voice replied. "I'm sorry, Agent. You lost a lot of good men. This shouldn't have happened. I'm smellin' somethin' bad all over this. You rest up; get yourself better, and you call me, directly, if you remember anything else. Anything, you understand?"
"Yes, Sir. I'll do that. I hope you find your agents, Sir..."
Vance ended the video, but Tony still stared at the screen in disbelief. "What's being done?" he asked. When there was no immediate reply, Tony turned and looked at the director. "What's the plan, to get them outta there?" he asked, louder.
"We have no idea where they are, right now," Vance replied. "SecNav has denied sending anyone else out, until we receive some sort of communication; demands."
"That's bullshit!" Tony shouted, slamming a hand down on the table, causing Abby to jump. "You're just gonna let them sit there, in the hands of that damn cartel, until Jarvis pulls his thumb out of his ass? They could be dead, before then! They could already...They could..." Tony was furious, fuming, and terrified, all at once. But he felt Abby's hand take gently hold of his arm, and he looked at her frightened, tear-stained face, and drew her into a comforting hug.
"It's why I called you in, DiNozzo," Vance replied. Tony and Abby looked at him. "The guard called; told me there were four cartel members. The only reason they got the jump on them, was the element of surprise, and the silencers. He said they discussed having been sent there as a task force, and to hold the agents until further instructions."
"So there's only four," Tony repeated.
"Yep," he replied. "But there'll be a lot more of you," he told him with raised brows, and glanced over to the couch, which had been in the shadows and ignored.
Agent Tobias Fornell stood and walked into the light. "You're lookin' good, DiNutso," the older agent smirked.
"Fornell..." Tony was surprised to see him. Then he looked back at Vance, "But how does he know about this?"
"I read him in," Leon told him, "As soon as he came to me, askin' why he hadn't heard from Gibbs. Apparently, there was more than one call he was supposed to make, once he landed."
"Call me nervous," the older agent shrugged, "But after what happened to you, I worry."
"But how did you even know he was going anywhere?" Abby asked.
"He called me; let me know he was going outta town for a couple of days, and to take your call, in case there was an emergency. What, with McGee being in the hospital, and Ducky with him..."
"Fornell has a team in mind to assist you with this rescue mission," Vance interjected. "Briggs killed four people, so technically it's a serial killer we're after, along with getting our agents back."
"Hotch?" Tony asked.
"And the rest of the team, yeah," Fornell told him. "Are you up for flying, though, is the question?"
"Gibbs and Ziva are in trouble, and they need my help," Tony replied, without hesitation. "I don't care what I have to do."
"How are you gonna do this, without Jarvis finding out?" Abby asked.
"That's why working with the FBI is gonna come in handy," Fornell replied. "I don't have to report to that jackass. We don't have to charter a flight through NCIS expenses. You'll take the BAU's jet. You're technically on medical leave," he said, looking at Tony. "Jarvis isn't keeping tabs on you."
Tony looked to the floor, in thought. After a moment, he looked up at Vance, "I want McGee read in."
"He's still in the hospital," Vance narrowed his eyes.
"He deserves to know what's going on," Tony told him.
"And he's okay," Abby chimed in. "He's weak from losing blood, but he's fine. He could even go on the flight, with Tony..." she looked to Tony.
"He doesn't have to do that," Tony told her.
"But he could help. I mean, with tracking and anything computer-related," she offered. "He would be local, so he'd have a little more advantage than, say, me working from here."
"Or Garcia working from here," Fornell agreed. "You're both good, but I agree; McGee would be an asset, if he can manage it."
"Sending two wounded, into battle," Tony smirked, a bit sarcastically. "They'll never suspect us coming."
"We've already got Garcia working on finding the location of where the cartel is holed up," Fornell told them. "Vance read the entire team in, not an hour ago."
"I'd planned on coming by the house, if you hadn't called when you did," Vance told Tony. "I suggest you go home and get a couple hours of sleep. I'll go see Agent McGee, and we'll see what he wants to do. Though I'm sure he'll want to go with you. It's up to Dr. Mallard, if he deems him healthy enough to fly..."
*~.~*
Sleep had only come for Tony, thanks to the pain killers and anti-anxiety meds Abby insisted he take. It was before dawn, when Fornell picked him up to take him to the BAU jet, where he greeted the agents he'd met in Arizona, and was introduced to the rest of the team as they all settled into their seats.
"It's real good to finally meet you," Agent Derrick Morgan told him, shaking his hand. "I think it's amazing, what you did to try and save that woman, despite your own pain."
"Thanks," Tony replied, not really knowing what to say to that. He'd only ever been told that it was amazing he'd survived. Not that what he'd done otherwise, had meant anything.
"I agree," a blond woman said as she buckled in. "I'm JJ," she told him. "I'm glad that we can help out with this. I'm sorry about what's happened to your teammates. I would be out of my head, right now."
"JJ?" Tony asked. "Thank you for looking out for Ziva, all of you," he told them.
"Wasn't much we had to do," a man with a goatee told him. "I'm Agent Rossi, by the way. I'm amazed you've managed to dodge the media."
"They've tried," Tony told them. "They've probably been camping outside my apartment. But I haven't been there," he smirked.
"People just wanna hear your story, more than anything," Reid piped in. "Even though it's a fortunate series of near-impossibly placed events that lead to your survival, people like to hear things like that. It gives them hope that they have that same chance."
"Maybe so," Rossi replied to the young agent's statement. "But that doesn't mean Agent DiNozzo is ready to talk about it to the world, just yet."
"Maybe sometime down the road," Tony said. "I'm sure I'll get to a point where thinking about it doesn't make my skin crawl."
"Is there room for a couple more passengers?" Ducky's voice sounded from the entranceway.
Tony looked over, as did the rest of the team, to see the older man walk in, followed by Tim. "McGee!" Tony practically tore off his buckle and stood to greet them. "Ducky, are you sure this is okay?"
"Timothy insisted," Ducky told him. "And I told him that the only way I'd advise or allow it, is if I were allowed to come along, just in case. Not to mention, I would like to assist in finding Ziva and Jethro, if I can."
"You okay?" Tony asked Tim, as he stood in front of him.
"I'm fine, Tony," he replied. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean..."
"It's okay," Tony let out a relieved laugh, and found himself drawing the younger man into an embrace. "I'm just glad you're okay." He pulled away, looking sheepishly to the floor for a moment. "You'll be okay, with this stress?"
"If I wasn't, I couldn't keep my job, now could I?" he cocked his head.
"Let's get ready to take off," Hotch chimed in. "We can do introductions as we fly..."
TBC...