Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from NCIS. If I did then I would have written the seasons differently…eg I wouldn't have done the Tony/Jeanne or maybe even not killing off Kate. Anyhow I don't so yeah. The character Ranger Bobby Hendricks comes from the Season 3 Episode Ravenous. Any of the original characters that appear in this story are all mine.
A/N: Okay things are hotting up…and I'm halfway through season Six. I love the Tiva that I'm seeing so far. By the way for those of you who are not American, acetaminophen is the equivalent of Paracetamol. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to see where this next chapter leads. Big thanks to Emypink for her awesome betaing skills, thanks Em.
It had started to rain, now as Tony watched through the foggy windows of his car, his hands were beginning to tremble. His eyes were starting to droop and he was beginning to feel dizzy and nauseous as well. It didn't surprise him but he ignored it with a shake of his head. "I'll be fine, this is more important," Tony mumbled tentatively as he closed his eyes and rubbed them quickly with his hand. Slowly the binoculars rose again to his eyes. Tony froze as the vehicle he'd been patiently waiting for pulled away from the gatehouse at the Navy Yard. The silver Morgan purred slowly along the road as he dropped the binoculars on the seat beside him and started the Aston Martin's engine. Shifting into gear, he pulled out as the Morgan passed and began to follow. Tony failed to notice the Blue Dodge Charger turning and heading in the opposite direction.
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Ziva sat up at the silk sheet on her queen size bed sliding down with little resistance, she swung her legs onto the carpet, she couldn't sleep. Every time she tried to sleep, Ziva thought about Tony, all she could see was that smile of his that made her go crazy, not that she would ever admit that but it had that effect on her. Then she would think about the letter sitting on her dressing table. She'd been thinking about him at first but she had been angry and bitter as she lay in bed; Tony had shot her, the man who had claimed to love her, had shot her. But as Gibbs words slowly sunk into her subconsciousness she began to worry. The more Ziva worried, it became increasingly harder to not think about him, much less sleep. Then there were the keys, she had no idea what they lead to, she had secretly hoped it belonged to his new car but after examining it, there wasn't even a shred of evidence to suggest any out of the ordinary. Ziva rose and padded slowly over to her dressing table, gently she picked up the envelope along with the keys Gibbs had handed her. The letter did feel slightly heavier than expected when she had first taken it from Gibbs.
Ziva closed her eyes and placed it back down on her dressing table, resisting the urge to open it. Turning back to her bed, she walked gradually back across her bedroom before she stopped. Something inside her tugged at her, as if he was there, urging her to open the letter. Ziva stood between the bed and dresser fighting the desire to take and open the envelope, as she eyed it sitting on the dresser. With an exasperated sigh, Ziva walked into her walk-in wardrobe. Ten minutes later she came out, wearing a pair of tight jeans and white shirt and her long grey jacket with the red trim. Ziva didn't know why, but she had decided to brush her hair, dab on some makeup and spray herself with a bottle of perfume called 'Arpège'.
Seizing the letter and the keys from her dresser, Ziva walked out of her apartment, locking it and taking the stairs down to her red Mini Cooper. Ziva had no idea where she was going or why but something deep within her made her decide to go to Tony's house. Maybe she could find some peace being there, after everything that had happened today and what he had done to her, Ziva was hurting deep within herself. Climbing into the car, she dumped the letter on the passenger seat and keyed the ignition. The Mini roared to life in a millisecond, then Ziva was reversing quickly before speeding out of the car park and onto the deserted road in front of her apartment.
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The Blue Charger slowed as it drove through the main entrance of the national park. McGee looked out the passenger's side window as he searched for the Park Rangers hut. So far McGee and Jimmy Palmer had said little, McGee really couldn't see the benefit of coming out here. Apparently Gibbs did, so he had been forced to bring the other geek along. McGee liked Palmer, but at one point in the past, he had had his arms around Abby and though McGee would never admit it, it had bothered him a lot. Of course it had been by accident but that was still a sore subject when it came to both Palmer and himself. "Hey McGee," Jimmy roused him from his musings, "Isn't that the ranger we met when that bear ate that sailor?"
McGee followed Palmer's finger and was surprised to see Ranger Bobby standing on the porch of the ranger station, "Yeah Palmer." McGee pulled the car over to the cabin that was the ranger station. Both he and Jimmy climbed out of the car, jogging over to the porch of the cabin to get out of the rain. McGee pulled out his badge and ID, "Ranger Hendricks, Special Agent McGee," he nodded to Palmer, "This is Jimmy Palmer, Autopsy assistant."
"I remember you," Bobby Hendricks nodded to McGee. "Come on in," She turned and led them both into the Ranger quarters. Inside they found a man huddled in front of the fire shivering violently. Bobby removed her hat and let the red hair fall, "The freezing man lying there in front of the fire is Dr. Hank Atchison. We found him unconscious out by the lake."
"Mr. Atchison, I'm Special Agent Timothy McGee. I'd like to ask you a few questions," McGee flipped his Badge and ID at the man who looked up.
"How can I help?" The man shivered a little as he sipped a cup that had been unseen till now.
McGee pulled out his iPhone from his coat pocket, "Can you tell us what happened? How you came to be unconscious?"
The man gave him a wry smile and shook his head before sipping at the mug. "I'll help you as best as I can," He took one more sip before he spoke again, "This guy stumbled over to my camp in the late afternoon. He held a gun and apologized profusely for what he was doing." The man grinned at both McGee and Palmer as they looked at each other in surprise. "I would have thought he was a loony to begin with 'cept he spoke clearly and his eyes were bright. Not muzzy like I someone who might be on anti-depressants."
"How did you know that?" Jimmy asked quickly, "You'd have to know fairly clearly what a drugged up person looks like?"
"I'm a Physciatrist I think I should know what someone is suppose to look and react like under anti-depressants or any other type of psychotic drugs."
"I'm sorry I didn't realize. What did he ask you for?" Palmer mumbled before he asked hoping to glean something of Tony's condition if he knew what exactly Tony had taken with him.
"Well, he only needed a couple of things," the man Atchison replied, "he wanted my binoculars that I use to spot birds and write in my notepad about. He also took the acetaminophen from my first aid kit. He took the few cookies I had and ate them then and there. Said he had almost everything he needed and that he would see that some Government Agency would pay me for the stuff he had taken…I know it sounded looney but I tell you he was as sane as I am."
"What agency, may I ask?" McGee hoped he would hear the words that he knew so well.
Atchison paused and rubbed his temple as he tried to remember the name, "Ah…I think he said…NASA or NSI or…NCI…"
"NCIS," McGee and Palmer interrupted together.
"Yeah," Atchison nodded, "Said that he was sorry before he slugged me and before I passed out, he laid me out on my bed with my satellite phone next to me. It was a struggle for him because I could see he was leaning heavily on his right leg and every time his chest came into contact with anything he would cry out in pain."
McGee turned away as he dialed a number on his cell phone, Palmer held out his hand. "Thank you, we'll see that you're reimbursed for the binoculars and the acetaminophen."
Palmer and McGee turned to Atchison as he called out, "What about my cookies?"
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The Aston Martin sat once again on the side of the road, now he was parked in view of the front of Ducky's house. He had to chance it, Ducky would know his problem, he had that ability to care about him and he would know what to do about Gibbs. Right now, Tony didn't want to do anything other then have the medical examiner do a better job on the stitches, plus he could tell what he had done to his rib. Dizziness made his vision spin for a few moments, shaking vigorously, Tony fought once again for clear vision as the black dots of unconsciousness tried to take him. It had been a long day so far, he'd gotten up that morning at 0400 with Strahan to kill three members of the US Armed Forces. That felt like days ago, now it was close to 2330 in the evening and he needed Ducky's help.
Taking a deep breath, Tony opened the door of the Aston Martin. Climbing out, Tony poked his head back inside the vehicle looking for any clues that might lead a local LEO to him. Finding nothing, Tony rose from the vehicle. He would miss it he had enjoyed the ride and power but it would be evidence and it was stolen so it was as good as time as any to ditch it. It might well be his first and last time at being James Bond, he pulled the now empty Glock from his belt. It would be the last resort, a bluff if anything happened. He placed it back into his belt at the small of his back. The world spun and the black dots in front of his eyes grew bigger, fighting for control, Tony shook his head again this time a lot more sluggishly.
Tony turned and moved across the road to the white two-story house that Ducky and his mother lived in. He prayed that Mrs. Mallard wouldn't be the one to open the door. The last experience he had had with Mrs. Mallard had involved the threat of a carving knife that she had in her bra. For Tony that wasn't nice on both counts but he knew not to mess with her if she was the one to answer the door. Tony was grateful to the acetaminophen that he had scrounged off the man named Atchison back at the national park; it was keeping his pain in the rib to a dull throb. He closed his eyes as the blackness tried to take him, he stood for a second sucking in air before he felt in control again. He was feeling tired and the Morphine hadn't helped, and loss of blood was the cause for his tiredness but now he was fighting lack of sleep, loss of blood and living off the little food he had managed to get from Atchison as well. He wouldn't be touching the Morphine, it had made him pass out and he had felt woozy and totally out of it for two hour after. It was just something that he had needed for the time he was giving himself first aid.
Slowly Tony mounted the stairs, he paused as the dizziness and the black dots grew larger then ever. He shook his head lethargically and took a couple of deep breaths of air. He had to get in without problems and he hoped Ducky would do the job without too much fuss. Tony moved across the porch, every step now felt like a trial, he was fighting dizziness with every step, his body crying out almost rebelling against him. Tony reached the door and hit the bell. The yap of half a dozen corgis and the voices of Ducky and his mother being carried out to Tony, accompanied the ding-dong of the bell. He slowly reached for the Glock, Dizziness and unconsciousness were calling him to drop his weapon and crash to the ground. The door opened and even with his blurred vision Tony's eyes went wide at the sight. "B…boss…but…B…o…ss," His eyes rolled up and Tony dropped like a stone towards the floor. He was caught at the last second and helped inside the house.
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Gibbs cell phone rang, he snatched it up and flipped it open while leaving the seat that he had occupied opposite a still unconscious Tony. He eyed Ducky as the medical examiner continued to stitch up Tony's temple. The blood had started running thickly down Tony's face as soon as Ducky and Gibbs had removed the sterile strips from the wound. Now Ducky was at the last stitch as Gibbs left him and Tony in the lounge of the house, "Yeah Gibbs?"
"Boss, Tony's okay," McGee's voice travelled down the phone to him.
"Yeah, you could say that McGee," Gibbs grinned to himself as he pictured McGee's confused face, "He's here at Ducky's."
McGee's confusion clearly audible in his voice; "But how…I mean how did he get there…"
Gibbs shook his head and ran a hand over his face, "McGee, just because Tony was an amnesic for a little while doesn't mean that sometimes he tries to get the better of me."
"How is Tony boss?" McGee's voice was concerned.
Gibbs smiled. They truly were a family, "He's fine McGee, couple more stitches and a lot more pain-killers and he'll be back with us."
"Okay, well, I'm going to head back to the Navy yard with Palmer and help out Abby." McGee replied.
Gibbs nodded to himself, "You do that McGee." With that Gibbs closed the phone and disconnected. Tony's eyes were open a little as he lay there on the couch. Ducky was washing the blood from his hands when Gibbs walked back into the room. "Nice to see you back in the land of the living Tony." Tony's mouth twitched with what would have been a smile, it wasn't better then a slap to the head but it worked.
"Hey Boss," Tony croaked his eyes swiveling to Ducky. "What did you give me to knock me out?"
"A little Morphine," Ducky replied, then realized that was a mistake as Tony's eyes widened with fear, "It's fine Anthony, I gave you the smallest dose I could considering you have a cracked rib."
"Is that all I have," Tony asked hoarsely, "You mean I can get back to the terrorist group?"
"Nope," Gibbs looked at him and Tony forced himself to look at Gibbs, "I'm not gonna lose you again. The FBI has you on their most wanted list, I can't allow you to be caught with the cell, Tony!"
"Don't think you have a choice boss," Tony sat up slowly. "Cause I'm going to finish this."
"You don't have to prove yourself to me Tony." Gibbs snapped at little aggravated at Tony's stubborn resolve, although Gibbs hated to admit it but it was a lot like his.
"I'm not doing this for you Boss," Tony replied his eyes downcast, "I killed Ziva…the least I can do is kill them for her!"
"You think she's dead Tony?" Gibbs replied while standing up and walking over to his Senior Field Agent. Ducky retreated from the room, this was a father and son confrontation something the grandfather of the family didn't need to be part of, Gibbs continued: "If that's why you did what you did before that explosion…"
"Explosion!" Tony looked white before he caught himself.
"Listen bonehead!" Gibbs snapped at him, a hand almost reaching the back of Tony's head. Gibbs held himself back, the look on Tony's face said it all, he was scared that he might become the Mr. Hyde of his life again if Gibbs hand connected with his head. Gibbs sighed, sitting down, his blue eyes locking with Tony's green ones, "Ziva is not dead. She is probably right now sitting at your house holding that letter thinking the exact same thing. Don't throw the opportunity away like the one I did. Take it with both hands. I mean, God damn it, you almost screwed every other rule that I made, breaking one more wouldn't make any difference. You need each other ,I can see that, I think just about everyone does except you. Now get out of here DiNozzo."
A/N: The time has come for the letter and everything else that is a must. Please review and let me know what you think. Enjoy.