Bethesda Roof Top

"He'll live. Listen, you were trained in terrorism. Does this feel right to you?" he asked, his voice almost panicked.

She hesitated a few seconds then answered, "B plan." she answered, not what Gibbs was wanting to hear, as he looked around, attempting to figure out what the man, lying dead now, had planned to do.

The hasmat team was now isolating Raheem's body inside a vacuum container, covering it with a foam, sodium hydroxide, its hydrolysis reaction would destroy the Sarin.

Gibbs stood on the rooftop, knowing that there might be more to be concerned about.

Gibbs walked back over to where they were loading Tony onto the stretcher, covered with heavy blankets now, he looked down at his exhausted agent, "Tony, did he say anything?"

Tony looked up, he knew what his boss was asking, remembering the submarine, Sean Travis and the vial of Sarin that he swallowed, his secondary plan for killing the crew. "He said nothing boss. Sorry." he voice ragged from the wind and his bout with pneumonia.

"Get him inside, before his pneumonia gets even worse." he ordered as he walked over to the ledge and looked down, trying to get into the mind of Raheem, Adams and Ziva standing at his side.

"Ziva, get McGee to check the hospital video surveillance, see how Raheem entered, see if they show if he entered any other rooms or departments. I need to know what this lunatic did prior to getting here on this roof top. Adams, see if you can find his vehicle. We need to know where he was hidden out, hotel, motel, den, shack or cave, I need to know everything about this man before he arrived here today!" Gibbs was mad, mad at the man who attempted to kill thousands and most of all, he was mad the man who made Tony feel he had to get on the roof to save others.

Ziva and Adams left to get started on getting the information, Gibbs and a team of FBI agents started searching the roof to see if they could find any evidence of what Raheem had planned in case of his demise.

ICU

"If I get another bath I will leave." he held up his arms, the third bath he felt was a little unnecessary, he had been scrubbed clean, the line in his chest removed due to possible contamination, blood drawn from his arm in three different places, he was no longer feeling cooperative.

"Dr Pitt is sitting right out there at the nurse's station, he is in no mood to deal with your uncooperative attitude Tony. Actually, if I had to read his demeanor right now, I would say he is rather pissed that his patient placed his life in danger for the benefit of others at his own health risk, but he understands. He actually cares about you as a friend and as a patient, he would never order anything that would be unnecessary." Grace explained in her no nonsense tone.

Tony looked up, her facial expression sincere, she was just doing her job. "One more time and then I want to sleep, if that is okay." he closed his eyes and allowed the intrusion.

"You're tired." she smiled down at her patient," I understand. I will make it quick." she started with his face, the smell of antiseptic and abrasive cleaner attacked his sense of smell, it was strong and it made him give out a strong cough, one that brought of thick phlegm and made his chest ache again.

"Sit up Tony!" she commanded when she saw that his cough was not going away so easily, she could hear him having audible wheezing. She turned and hit the call light, her patient would need a breathing treatment immediately. "Call respiratory stat, he's probably in cubicle eight." several patients had been too sick to transfer during the threat of the Sarin.

The therapist responded quickly as they had him sit up and breathe in the medication through a mask, "It hurts." he complained through the plastic mask, referring to his chest, he was breathless, his voice low and ragged..

"Give it a few minutes Tony." Dr Pitt instructed as he entered the room, pulling out his stethoscope he started listening to Tony's chest, hoping that his patient wouldn't have a relapse.

Tony shook his head, the tight feeling in his chest was not going away and then he heard the alarms starting to go off, starting to warn the medical staff of what he was already aware of, he was having a problem.

"Come on Tony, if you don't want that bipap machine attached again then you need to take in some deep breaths, you're having bronchospasms, probably due the exposure to the cold when you were on the roof, just relax and breathe in deep, let the medication get into your lungs." Dr Pitt's voice was calm, soothing, he had hoped that Tony wouldn't have complications but Tony never did anything the easy way.

Tony attempted to do what they were instructing him to do, but his chest seemed to be getting tighter and tighter, the treatment wasn't working, he was smothering, suffocating. His arm was aching from the gunshot wound, he felt miserable.

"Give him 2mgs of Morphine subq, and let's get a blood gas." Dr Pitt ordered, seeing the panic in Tony's eyes, knowing he would need to calm him down, watching his sats drop to the low 70's, this was not good for his patient, he would have to make the decision soon, whether to place him on bipap or intubate him, it would be a difficult decision since Tony had specifically told them he didn't want the tube back down his throat. "Get me a stat portable chest xray too!" he added as he flipped open the chart and started writing down notes.

Grace swiped the alcohol pad across the back of Tony's arm and gently inserted the small gauged needle to deliver the medication. The respiratory therapist took Tony's left wrist and felt for a good radial pulse then hit the sensitive area with the needle to withdraw the necessary blood for the gas, within seconds it was done and pressure was applied, Tony felt every bit of the pain being inflicted which only added to the stress of the situation.

The xray technician entered with the machine, clearing everyone out for the few minutes it took to get the picture, Dr Pitt again guiding him to take a deep breath and Tony only able to shake his head,

The combination of the drugs and the procedures were taking a toll on Tony, he was wearing down, his breathing was getting no better and he knew what had to be done, he would allow it, he had no choice at the moment, he would not disappoint his boss.

"What's wrong with Tony?" a gruff voice penetrated his hearing, it was Gibbs.

"He's having respiratory problems, if you could wait outside I'll be out as soon as we have it under control." Dr Pitt attempted to calm the very upset older man, the man's facial expression was etched with worry and anger.

"Dammit DiNozzo, take some deep breathes or they'll put that damned machine back on you!" he walked over to where Tony could see his face and looked down at the man, his agent, who seemed not to be able to understand that standing out in the cold could have many repercussions on one's health.

Tony seemed to attempt to take deeper breaths but his lungs would not cooperate. He shrugged his shoulders in defeat, as his lungs continued to spasm, he couldn't do it.

Gibbs looked at a very worried Dr Pitt, the ventilator was getting placed at the bedside, he knew what he had to ask of his friend, it would be difficult to ask him to go back on the ventilator.

Gibbs grabbed Tony's right hand and held on tight, he moved his face down to where only Tony could hear him, the staff busy working on their patient, Dr Pitt allowing the older man's presence, it could only benefit his patient, "Tony, they might need to place the tube down your throat again, is that okay?"

Tony closed his eyes, remembering how it felt, how helpless it made him feel, he hated it but he had to do it for his team, for the man who was telling him to hang on to life, he nodded reluctantly, he would allow it.

Gibbs looked up at Brad and gave him the okay, again the doctor ordered the etomidate and the succinylcholine , Tony's eyes began to close as his breathing became shallow, Brad quickly inserted the tube, then ordered a central line tray, he would have to place it into his neck. Gibbs removed his hand from Tony's then moved to the back of the small cubicle as the team worked on his agent, his friend.

Hospital Lobby

The hospital was still a crime scene and Fornell and this team was doing a sweep of the building. "I need all personnel of the hospital to be questioned that was on duty, someone might have assisted Raheem in getting him access into the building or to other areas of the hospital or they might have seen something that could assist with the investigation."

His team leader nodded and went off to get the name of all on duty staff members

McGee and Ziva had been relegated a temporary office to do their work in the admitting office, searching all local databases and calling area hotels and motels for anybody that matched their terrorist's description.

They were startled by a knock on the door, Ziva opened it, it was Adams, "Did you find something?" Ziva asked, knowing that he had no luck in finding the vehicle in the parking areas of the hospital.

"Found it! I think, a car was found parked or abandoned two blocks away, but I believe we have our man's car, it was reported stolen two days ago. It has a backpack and a significant amount of trash and other debris inside as if someone has been living inside of it, but we didn't open it, the hasmat team in on the way to check it out along with the bomb squad."

Ziva and McGee jumped to their feet and followed Adams, they would call Gibbs and notify him, the car could be a problem or the answer.

ICU

Tony was now resting, the ventilator assisting his breaths but he was doing a lot of breaths now on his own, the bronchospasms were thought to be from his exposure to the cold air and the stress he had endured.

Grace rounded the corner,knowing where to find her patient's boss, "Agent Gibbs, there's a phone call for you at the desk."

He felt reluctant to leave Tony's bedside, but knew the situation was dire, that there were too many unanswered questions. He stood and followed her out to the desk, picking up the phone he spoke,"Gibbs."

"Boss, Adams found the car, it's being checked as we speak for possible Sarin or a possible bomb." McGee explained the details to his boss.

"Listen, I'll be there in a few minutes, what's your location?" he wrote down the address on a yellow post it note and slipped it into his shirt pocket then hung up the phone, not giving McGee time to ask about Tony, right now they needed to stay focused, he would do all the worrying for them.

Gibbs walked back to Tony's cubicle, Grace was changing his sheets, the others had been stained with blood from where they inserted the new line in his neck, Tony was going to be pissed when he woke up and saw what they had done, but that would be a while and he would just need to understand, it was for his own good.

He got as close as he could to Tony's ear and whispered, "Tony, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, that means you have to keep fighting." he stood upright and was about to leave when he turned and spoke one more time, "You did good today, you made us all proud." he patted him on the shoulder and walked out the cubicle, leaving him with Grace and Brad, he knew Tony was in good hands.

Tbc

Thanks again for the reviews and as I promised ...a new chapter, more tomorrow!