Warnings: Spoilers for "Truth or Consequences", are they even considered that now we've gone so far off canon? LOL
A/N: Happy Weekend everyone!I've come to a decision on whether or not I want Ziva to return. And because I'm sure no one wants to be spoiled I won't reveal it until we get to that point in the story. So, here's some more. Actually writing this has inspired me to write another fic based on this timeline. There really are just so many possibilities and I do enjoy messing with canon so lol.
As always I love to read your reviews! And thank you for favoriting or following my story!
"Tony," Abby pleaded. "You can't do this."
"I have to, Abby," Tony told her softly. He finished packing his bag and glanced at Abby. "Gibbs would do the same for me."
Abby fought hard with her tears. She knew that Gibbs was in trouble but why did it have to be Tony that went out to Somalia to save him? She wasn't sure she could handle loosing her entire team. And what about Kaitlin? She was only a baby. It wasn't fair to her that her father was going on this dangerous rescue mission. "It's suicide and you know it."
Tony slung the bag over his shoulder and sighed. "Saleem is already responsible for killing Ziva and her Mossad team. And who knows how many more innocent lives he's taken. If Gibbs and Cryor are still alive than I'm going to find them and bring them home."
He made his way out of his bedroom and down the stairs. Kaitlin was playing in her activity center and Jimmy Palmer was watching her. She was blissfully unaware that her father was about to leave her-and may never be returning. Tony bottled up his emotions and went to scoop her out of the play center and kissed her cheek. "Hey peanut, I need to talk to you for a bit okay?"
Kaitlin cooed and smiled at him, breaking his heart into about a million pieces. Tony went and sat down on the sofa. "Daddy has to go away for a while okay? But you're going to stay here with Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Abby and I'm sure Grandpa Ducky will stop by to see you as well. Alright?"
"Tony..."Abby started to cry.
"Now," Tony continued, ignoring Abby's tears as best he could. "You be good for Auntie Abby and Uncle Jimmy, okay?"
"Don't worry, Tony," Jimmy said, smiling at him reassuringly. "We'll take good care of her."
Tony kissed his daughter one last time before slipping her off his lap and onto Jimmy's. In that instant it was as if Kaitlin knew that he was leaving. Her little hazel eyes filled with tears and she whimpered, as if she was almost begging him. Please, don't go Daddy. He stood, turning away from her, unable to look at her sad expression.
Abby had tears running down her cheeks by now. Tony pulled her into a tight hug and made his way towards the door. McGee was waiting for him, Ducky as well.
"Everything is going to be fine here, Anthony," Ducky promised him, even as Kaitlin cried in the other room. "She'll be fine."
"I know, Ducky," Tony whispered, before reaching out and opening the door.
Ducky pat each agent on the back, gently and affectionately before they parted. "Anthony. Bring him home."
Tony simply nodded. "I will."
It only took forty-eight hours to realize that Gibbs was more than just completely off the grid. He was no where to be found. Dunham had not seen or heard from him or found any evidence to suggest that he was a captive of Saleem since Tony had chatted with him in MTAC. Tony and McGee were beginning to worry that perhaps Gibbs was dead right along with Ziva.
"How far is Saleem's camp from here?" Tony asked.
"Thirty miles or so. Trust me. He knows we're here. He's keeping an eye on us," Dunham replied. "Like we're keeping an eye on him."
Tony pursed his lips together. It had been the longest forty-eight hours of his life. The abrupt decision to go after Gibbs had left him in a bind when it came to childcare and Abby agreed to stay with Kaitlin at the house while he was away. She wasn't happy that both Tony and McGee were going after Gibbs but she couldn't come up with an arguable reason for the two to stay behind. "Do you think he has any captives?"
Dunham nodded his head. "He was one female captive for sure. Perhaps a male as well. There's been no sign of Gibbs when my scouts have gone to scope out the scene."
"Gibbs was a sniper, he knows how to blend in," Tony pointed out. "If that's what he's doing. My guess...my guess he's waiting low."
"Waiting low for what exactly?" Dunham questioned.
"The right moment to strike," McGee replied.
Dunham cocked his eyebrows. "Listen, I know that Gibbs is a crazy ass good agent, but even he isn't that crazy to sneak into a terrorist's camp jus to wait for the right moment to kill him. It would be suicide."
Tony glanced sideways at McGee. "Which is why we need your help, Chad. I've already talked to the Seal team. We just need you to coordinate them."
"You two seriously are going to do this?"
"Yep."
"Uh-huh."
Dunham sighed and signaled for the captain of the Navy Seal team to join them. "Okay then, but we better get working on this, because Saleem isn't going to stay in the same place for much longer."
Tony squared his shoulders and looked right at his partner. "Just get us the jeep, we'll do the rest."
"Agent DiNozzo," the Captain said, "You realize that once my men go in there, you run the risk of getting yourself killed?"
"Part of the job, Captain," Tony answered, setting his jaw. Gosh that hurts. Why does that hurt so much? And then the answer hit him, so simple and one word- Kaitlin. "If there's any chance that Cryor, Gibbs, and that female captive are alive, we need to do this. You know your end of the deal right?"
The captain nodded his head. "Yes, sir. I do. We move in twenty-four hours after you leave."
Tony pulled his helmet on and nodded at McGee. "Let's do this, probie."
Kaitlin was noticeably a different baby with her father away. Abby and Jimmy did their best to cheer her up, but it was being met with not so great results.
Even the sight of her nanny on Monday morning did nothing to cheer her up. It was tearing Abby to pieces that the baby was so distraught that Tony was away. If only he knew how much she was suffering maybe then he wouldn't have gone on this stupid mission in the first place.
"Look, I bought Kaitlin a teddy bear," Jimmy said entering her lab. "Maybe this will help calm her."
"Her security blanket is Tony," Abby lamented with a frown.
Jimmy sighed and put the light brown bear down onto the desk. "I know, Abby. But I can't bring Tony back right now. He has a job to do and Agent Gibbs needs him. He was right when he said Gibbs would do the same for him. I know it sucks. We just have to hope and pray that everything works out in the end."
Abby looked at the teddy bear. "What if...Palmer what if they don't come back?"
He sighed. "I'd rather not think about that."
"I know that Tony wouldn't have been dumb enough to not make sure that he had a will, but I just...I just don't want to think about that baby losing him when her mother doesn't want her!" Abby exclaimed.
"Kids are incredibly resilient, Abby, if Tony were to...um...not make it back from Somalia, eventually she'd be fine."
"And forget all about him."
That was probably worse than the thought that Tony could die on that mission. His beloved baby girl never having any recollection of him because he was taken away from her when she was so small. Abby wiped at her eyes. There was no way to get in contact with McGee or Tony. They said they would contact NCIS when they found Gibbs and were on their way home. Both had seemed so confident that they were going to find him.
Jimmy reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Come on, Abby. We just have to have some faith, that's all."
"I did pray for them in church yesterday," Abby admitted. "And I keep praying every free moment I get."
"See, that's the spirit," Jimmy said with a smile. "If we keep sending them good vibes they're bound to come home."
Abby sighed and hugged the teddy bear that Jimmy had bought to give to Kaitlin. Right now it wasn't helping her feel better but she prayed it would at least comfort Kaitlin for years to come.