Thanks to all the reviewers and alerters, as always! This one's a bit short, but it sets us up for the rest of this story. There are some definite similarities to the season finale; those are unintentional and either fortunate or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it! The usual disclaimers apply: I don't own the characters from the show, I don't profit from any of this, I just love writing about them.

34: Shockwave

Leave-Taking

Jethro woke just as the early morning light started to filter in through the curtains. For a moment he had no idea where he was, but then he felt a light touch that started at the back of his neck and moved gently over his shoulder blade, down his back, over his buttocks, along his thighs, then made the return journey, stopping on his neck with a slow massage.

He hummed quietly, then turned to face Tony, who was propped up on one elbow, his hand supporting his head while his eyes roamed slowly over Jethro's body, finally moving up to his face. Their eyes met, and Jethro reached out to run his fingers along the contours of Tony's face. Tony smiled, then closed his eyes and continued to touch Jethro, committing the feel of him to memory. Jethro followed suit, and they stayed there, legs twined together, until the call came at around six a.m.

Tony sighed and pulled away from his lover, Jethro's hand trailing along his back as he moved. The younger man stretched for the phone, glancing back at Jethro and smiling before flipping it open and bringing it to his ear.

"DiNozzo… hey Eddie."

Jethro watched Tony's expression grow serious, then sighed as he turned to slide out from under the sheets, moving to grab one of the complimentary robes while Tony asked Eddie some questions. They needed to get up soon anyway; the plan had been to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant before Tony drove Jethro to the airport to catch his ten o'clock flight. Now it looked like Jethro would have to take a cab, judging by the way Tony was getting up and moving toward his duffle.

"Be there soon as I can – traffic should be light this early." Tony flipped the phone shut and looked over at Jethro apologetically. "Bomber sent an email from an anonymous server about ten minutes ago. Claims four different sites as targets, doesn't name them… gave us a bunch of riddles. They're working on it at the office, FBI's been called in. The bombs are supposedly set to go off at eleven."

Jethro started to offer to go in with Tony and help, but stopped abruptly as he remembered Vance's advice to let Tony spread his own wings. He sighed, smiled softly at Tony and reached out to pat him lightly on the back of his head, then turned to go into the bathroom, leaving a confused Tony in his wake.

They showered together, but only to save time. There were a few hurried caresses as they dressed, and Jethro grabbed Tony by the arm as they were about to leave the room, pulling him into a fervent kiss, resting one hand on the back of Tony's head to hold him in place. Tony reciprocated immediately, pouring as much passion and love into the kiss as he could before pulling back abruptly. "Jeth… damn it, I have to go."

Jethro nodded. "I know. I'll get a cab to the airport. You go stop this guy."

Tony nodded; they grabbed their bags and headed for the lobby.

Tony stood with Jethro while he hailed a cab. There were several parked near the hotel entrance, and it was only seconds before one pulled even with them and Jethro opened the door to toss his bag onto the back seat. He turned toward his partner. "Update me when you can."

Tony shot him a small smile. "Gonna try to set a record with this one, Jeth. Got a lot of incentive to get home soon."

Jethro grinned back. "I should hope so."

Tony reached out to clap him on the shoulder, then turned away to leave. Jethro stepped away from the cab and reached out, grabbing his arm. Tony turned back, and Jethro smiled. "I'm proud of you, Tony."

Tony stared at Jetho, a shy smile appearing on his face. The smile melted away into a look of resolve, and he stepped close, leaning in and laying a soft kiss on Jethro's lips. He stepped back quickly. "Talk to you soon, Jethro." Then he turned and headed for his car, leaving Jethro staring after him, his expression warring between shocked and amused.

The ride to the airport didn't take long. Gibbs kept himself occupied with breakfast, lots of coffee, and a paperback thriller he picked up at one of the stores there. His flight left on time, and he slept through most of it.

He was surprised to see McGee and Ziva waiting for him as he walked out of the gate. The looks on their faces sent his gut churning. "What are you two doing here?"

They glanced at each other, then back at Gibbs. Ziva stood a bit straighter and answered him. "Four bombs have exploded in Seattle, Gibbs. All naval targets." She looked at him from under her lashes, and he realized her eyes were devoid of makeup.

"Tony?"

Ziva took a deep breath, then let it out suddenly and pressed her lips together. She looked at McGee, who met her eyes and then turned to look at Gibbs. "We don't know, not for sure. NCIS agents were at one of the targets. We've got conflicting reports… anything from one to all agents killed."

Gibbs stared at her, unable for a moment to form words. He looked around, and for the first time noticed the small crowds gathered around TV screens tuned to ZNN, showing pictures of fires, flashing lights, and smoking buildings.

"Boss…" McGee hesitantly touched his arm. "Director Vance sent us to pick you up… we're to get you to MTAC as quickly as possible… he's trying to find out who, uh…"

"Who's dead." Gibbs' voice was flat and emotionless.

Ziva nodded. "Yes… but, I do not think it will turn out to be Tony. He has proven that he has more lives than a cat."

Gibbs looked at her. On some level he appreciated her confidence and attempt to reassure him, but on another level he wanted her to just be quiet. "Let's go."

They led the way out of the airport and to the car, while Gibbs moved behind them, his attention mostly on the memory of Tony's touch that morning.

Before the Bombs

Tony forced himself to focus on the case. All he wanted was to be back in that hotel room with Jethro, so it wasn't easy. Anger about his weekend being cut short, even it was only by a few hours, began to interfere with his focus, so he looked around the room for a distraction.

The mood at the regional office was tense as NCIS and FBI agents worked to decipher the riddles left by the bomber. Everyone was conscious of the minutes ticking away; it was already 9:45 – they had a little over an hour before the bombs were supposed to detonate.

Morris Franklin was conferring with the ranking FBI agent, a woman by the name of Melinda Graves… Tony thought that last name to be particularly ominous, but he hadn't said as much to anyone, not wanting to add to the tension. Burrows and Taylor were arguing in soft voices about possible locations, while agents on both their teams were on the phone with various police and military officials.

Eddie looked up as Fitzy jogged into the room, returning from whatever errand he'd been running. "Hey, Tony! You hear Fitzy went and got himself engaged last night?"

"Yeah, we ran into him as he and Brooke were leaving the restaurant." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Tony wanted to bang his head against his desk. He shot a panicked look at Fitzy, who winked at him as Eddie's head whipped toward him.

"Fitzy! You met Tony's girl and you didn't tell me? What's she like?"

Fitzy grinned at Eddie. "She's pretty amazing, Eddie. Almost as tall as Tony, amazing blue eyes, fantastic hair…"

Eddie sighed. "Think I've got a chance?" he asked, sending a devilish grin in Tony's direction. Tony just sat back and crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows and smirking slightly.

Fitzy shook his head. "The way she was looking at Tony? No way. Shoulda seen the way they moved together… it was like they've got some mental communication or something."

Eddie turned to Tony, about to barrage him with questions, when a shrill whistle pierced the air. They all turned toward Franklin, who stood in the middle of the room with Graves at his side.

"Listen up, people! We think we've got the possible locations narrowed down… there are six, so we're going to divide you all up and send you out immediately. FBI's taking three, we're taking three. I'm coming around with your assignments now."

There was a mad rush as agents gathered their gear and got ready to head out. Tony was going with both Burrows' and Taylor's teams – everyone was doubling up so as to cover the most ground at each site as quickly as possible.

The arguing began as soon as they arrived at the suspected bomb target on the naval base in Everett. Taylor began issuing orders as soon as they all got out of the cars. "Building's been evacuated, and MPs are keeping the area clear. Eddie, you take Julie and sweep the perimeter of the building; Michaela, take Kathy and hit the second floor. Tony and I will sweep the first."

Burrows' face twisted into an ugly expression. "Who died and made you leader, Ryan? You don't get to order my people around."

Tony stopped walking toward the building and turned back to them, glancing at his watch to see that they had twenty minutes before the bombs were supposed to go off.

Taylor leaned against his car and put one hand on his hip while he smirked at Burrows. "Franklin didn't appoint anyone specifically. I've been a team leader for three years; you've been a temporary replacement for a few weeks."

Burrows crossed her arms over her chest. "My team's MCRT for this region."

Taylor shrugged. "So what? I took initiative. Deal with it."

Tony glanced over at Eddie, who rolled his eyes and shrugged. The others stood around while Burrows and Taylor argued, until Fitzy and Julie exchanged glances and headed toward the front door of the building. Tony caught their movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey! Hold up!"

Tony jogged toward them, and saw Fitzy open the door and head inside while Julie headed off to go around the building. He heard Eddie call out to him, and glanced back to see Kathy following while Michaela and Ryan continued to argue. He turned back toward the building and just before he reached the door, there was a bright flash along with overwhelming noise and heat and the feeling of flying, then nothing.