[Bait:2]
...
3rd Person POV:
Major Meyers sat down with the investigators, explaining the situation surrounding Cody's lost mother.
"She died a year ago. A boating accident, Angela liked sailing. Cody took it….well….we all took it hard." He explained to them, the evidence of lingering hurt on his face.
"Clearly." Ziva muttered. The man shot her a glare.
"Cody's had difficulties but he's never acted out before." He defended. Ziva pursed her lips.
"Your son strapped a bomb to his chest, kidnapped his homeroom and it demanding to see his dead mother. I'd say he's past the acting out stage major. And frankly..."
"Let me talk to him. I can calm him down, I can get him out of there." The major suggested, put off by Ziva's accusatory tone.
"Contact with you may only exasperate the situation." Tony countered quietly.
"Hes' my son. He's having a breakdown; his mind is playing tricks on him." the major clenched his jaw. Tony looked up at him curiously.
"Tricks? What kind of tricks?" Tony asked. The man visibly deflated but said nothing. Tony's brows rose and he leaned forward.
"Listen if this is gonna end well we need all the intel you can give us on your son." he coaxed seriously.
"Cody thought he saw his mother a couple of months ago." Major Meyers explained.
"Alive?" Ziva questioned.
"His therapist says its completely normal. Like a coping mechanism. A lot of people imagine seeing dead loved ones." The major quickly added in his son's defense.
"Well it's the part where he wants to talk to her that's got us a little worried." Tony pointed out.
"I saw the SRT teams outside the school…I know what comes next." The major told them sternly. Tony's gaze shot down to the floor, thinking about the boy's father spotting all the snipers that were ready to take out his 15-year-old son. The major stood up before Tony.
"I'm begging you, please give my boy a chance." He asked them sincerely. Tony met his stare this time with determination.
"We're gonna do all we can to get all of those kids out safely major." He assured.
"All of them. Including your son." He added for emphasis, his expression never wavering. Out of the corner of his eye he could spot Ziva wincing at his promise but didn't comment.
"Thank you." Major Meyers nodded.
...
Claire's POV:
The thermostat had been kicking into high gear, quickly heating up the small area as I had hoped. Thankfully I was dressed in lighter clothing so it didn't make it obvious that the temperature had been adjusted. Cody however was sweltering in his large hoodie that was covering the bomb.
"There are easier ways to see your mother, Cody." I pointed out from one of the desks next to the students. We had progressed from standing on opposite sides of the room but he still kept his distance from me.
"It's none of your business." Cody countered defensively.
"You made it my business when you threatened their lives." I pointed out dryly, nodding my head towards the kids. Cody huffed out, clearly becoming distressed.
"It's not up to me, ok?" he told me in exasperation. This got my attention. Finally he had slipped up in his wording.
"Who's it up to?" I asked him gently. Cody instantly heaved out shaky breaths, grabbing at his hair.
"You can't fix this." he told me instead, pleading with his eyes. I stared at him in sympathy, just wanting to help the kid but he wasn't making it easy.
"Let me try, I'm good at it." I prodded, hoping to make use of his vulnerability. Cody stared at me thoughtfully before shaking his head.
"No one can fix this." he insisted, holding back frightened tears. I clenched my jaw.
"I don't wanna fix it, I wanna end it." I countered seriously. Cody's eyes blurred with tears.
"You just have the answers for everything don't you." He muttered sarcastically. In his distracted state Cody turned only to trip over one of the side tables, sending him toppling over. I quickly stood and made my way over to help him up but Cody flinched and shot away from me.
"No, no! stay away from me" he spat out quickly and held up the detonator. I frowned sadly but backed off like he wanted. And now I was back to square one with him.
"Cody, is everything alright in there?" Tony called from outside the door. Cody shot away from the doorframe that he had been leaning against.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" he screeched, his level of calmness quickly dwindling.
"Just giving you an update. I wanna let you know that special agent Caitlyn Todd is out looking for your mom." Tony explained. I froze at the familiar name and looked at the door, my heart clenching. Oh god.
"Don't come back until you find her." Cody ordered, not picking up on my change in demeanor. I clenched her eyes shut in dismay. There was no mother. Cody was asking for a dead woman.
"I won't tell you again." Cody added, starting to calm down some.
"Alright I'm going." Tony assured. I ran a hand down my face wearily. I trusted Tony with my life but it would take some miracle to pull this off.
...
3rd Person POV:
Outside Tony clenched his jaw, his nerves becoming frayed as the situation continued to escalate. When he had approached, the sounds of distress and fumbling on the other side of the door had scared him for a moment with his mind jumping to the worst case scenario. As he reluctantly walked away with the commander in tow, he lost himself in dark thoughts and worst-case scenarios.
"How are you gonna tell Agent Conners that the kid's mom is dead?" the commander asked curiously.
"I already did, special agent Todd is dead." Tony answered dryly before answering his ringing cell. Gibbs once again had impeccable timing, at least now he could get some help on what to do next.
...
Walking towards the command center Tony was growing tired of the pestering.
"SRT is in place and we're working on getting visual access and a way to contact Claire." He rattled off, striding into the offices.
"And?" Gibbs droned.
"and we're just getting started." Tony quipped.
"What's your deadline?" his boss continued. Tony glanced out the window nervously.
"Sundown, so about 5 hours." He muttered. He could hear Gibbs sigh in frustration on the other end of the line.
"How powerful is the bomb, do you know?" he asked instead.
"Uh don't know yet, Abby and McGee are still going through the kid's computer and everything found in his room, trying to work out what the explosive is." Tony explained. Ziva quietly perched on the edge of a desk and watched him.
"Deadman switch?" Gibbs inquired.
"I'm hoping they can tell us that." He replied tensely.
"And if he doesn't?" Gibbs asked, letting he implications set in.
"You want me to take him out?" Tony asked skeptically.
"Well what do you think DiNozzo?" Gibbs shot back.
"I promised them all out alive boss, including Cody." Tony deflected.
"Yea well sometimes you can't control that, are you capable of making the call?" Gibbs badgered.
"I've done it before." Tony shrugged off.
"On a kid?" Gibbs asked knowingly.
"If it happens DiNozzo you can't hesitate, or second guess…" Tony angrily threw his hat across the room as Gibbs continued. First his girlfriend goes headfirst into a room with an unstable teen carrying a bomb and now his boss who was supposed to be helping was badgering him on his capabilities as a leader. This was enough stress then he cared to take at the moment.
"Ok if you don't trust me with your team then relive me, otherwise I have work to do." Tony spat in a formal tone before abruptly handing up. On the other end of the phone…Gibbs grinned proudly. Tony took deep breaths as he tried to get his emotions back under control, pulling the headset back on. Ziva rose a brow and sauntered up to him.
"He asked if you had the gazonas for this, yes?" she inquired. Tony shot her an unamused glanced.
"Gahonas." He corrected quietly.
"Do you?" she asked. Tony let out a heavy breath as he braced against the counter. Did he?
...
In the NCIS lab, McGee blinked rapidly to clear the dryness from his eyes as Abby paced around in circles, her hands on her hips in thought.
"There is no way that kid assembled that bomb at his house." she began. McGee hummed absently in agreement.
"Which means?" she probed staring at him intently over the shelf at him. McGee frowned down at the screen.
"Which means he either made it somewhere else or someone helped him. What do you think?" she asked again, coming to stand beside him.
"Sounds good." McGee told her instinctively, not looking up from the screen. Abby punched him in the shoulder. Tim stared over at her in bewilderment.
"What…what was that for?" he asked, his voice going up a pitch incredulously.
"You're not paying attention to me, I'm trying to tell you I think there's more kids out there. Maybe this is part of a larger plan." She explained, frowning at him and wringing her hands.
"I don't think so, Cody believes that his mother is still alive. Look at this." he quickly pulled up a site displaying pictures of Mrs. Meyers.
"He put her photo up all over the web, asking if anyone had seen her. He expects us to find her." McGee elaborated. Abby frowned thoughtfully.
"This could be a good thing." She muttered before typing away at her computer.
"There are no traces of explosives at his house. No bomb making materials, there are no plans or schematics for construction on his computer so….it has got to be a fake." Abby concluded.
"…I hope." She added as an afterthought. Something on the photos caught McGee's eye and he leaped up, taking over her typing.
"Oh, it would help if you could get a better look at it right?" he asked rhetorically.
"Well how would we do that?" Abby inquired. McGee zoomed in on a corner of the room they had had managed to capture.
"Three computers in the back of the classroom,…"
"With webcams and a mic." Abby concluded.
"All we have to do is hack in." McGee told her excitedly.
"We'll have eyes and ears and we can see the bomb." Abby grinned. They both beamed at one another before Abby turned and punched him again.
"Hey!" McGee shouted, turning to glare at her.
"We should have thought of that hours ago." She scolded before turning and tensing up.
"Don't be gentle." She gestured to her own shoulder before tensing up again.
"I'm not gonna hit you." He argued with a scoff.
"Come on, I deserve it." She insisted.
"No." McGee countered sternly. Abby turned and squinted at him irritably.
"Elf-lord" she taunted before tensing up. McGee's face scrunched in annoyance as he glared up at the ceiling.
Outside a technician looked up in confusion as he heard Abby shout from inside.
...
Back at control, Tony and Ziva had been informed of the plan and were waiting for the camera feed to show up on their portable computers.
"I don't see squat Probie." Tony growled tiredly as he stared at a blank screen.
"Are your laptops even on?" Tim shot back.
"Probie it's not the time." Tony reminded.
"Wait, Tony it's on our end. It's still buffering." Abby explained, easily diffusing the tension between the two.
"That should do it." She told them as video feed of Cody pacing in front of the camera came up.
"You are amazing Abby." Ziva grinned.
"Actually that was my idea.." McGee insisted before a thump cut him off.
"Will you stop doing that?" he shouted. Tony and Ziva frowned as the sound of muffled thumping rang through the speakers.
"Hey cut that out."
"Ow!" Abby shrieked before cutting off the phone call.
...
Claire's POV:
Cody sighed as he continued to get hotter and hotter.
"Why is it so hot in here?" he muttered, roughly unzipping his hoodie. My eyes instantly shot down to examine the device strapped to the boy's chest. Well now I know that this is very real.
"You can walk away from this." I reminded him. Cody groaned in annoyance and sputtered.
"Do you have any idea what they would do to me if I walked out of this building?" he asked incredulously.
"They won't touch you." I assured easily.
"You have no idea." Cody countered tiredly.
"I won't let them." I told him sternly. Cody scoffed as he paced towards the window. As his back turned I spotted on of the computers go blank before some typing started up. Claire, we can see you. I remained still as not to give anything away but inwardly let out a sigh of relief. Now we're getting somewhere. However, it looked like I wasn't the only one that saw this new development. Nadia glanced back and spotted the words, causing her to gasp and drop her inhaler. Instantly the words vanished and I walked over to pick up the inhaler on the floor. Cody glanced around worriedly.
"What did you just do?" he asked. I made eye contact with Nadia, silently telling her to keep quiet.
"What just happened?" Cody asked again.
"I..I don't.."
"She dropped her inhaler." I quickly covered for the teen, holding up the device. Cody rolled his eyes but didn't ask again. Mulling it over in my head, I decided to go a different route than my previous methods.
"Why don't you let Nadia go, Cody. As a sign of good faith while we look for your mom." I suggested after a moment. Cody groaned.
"No one leaves….do you get this…it…." He huffed in frustration. I watched him intently as he opened his mouth but at the last second closed it back up, holding back what he was about to say. He let out a huff and leaned against the computer. Come on kid I need ya to spill the beans here. I just hope that the team was having more luck than I was.
...
3rd Person POV:
As Cody leaned right up against the computer he gave the control center a perfect and up close shot of the bomb that was now on full display for the webcam.
"Several blasting caps wired into a central circuit board. Four visible charges, all equipped with nails to inflict maximum shrapnel damage. This is no fake bomb, Tony." Ziva explained.
"The good news is the detonator appears to be a remote in his hand." She pointed out.
"Good news?" Tony whispered doubtfully.
"Well it doesn't seem to be a Deadman switch." She told him. Tony thought back to his conversation with Gibbs and his stomach churned.
"A headshot will stop this without setting off the bomb." She continued in Tony's silence.
"Just like that…..a headshot." He muttered worriedly. Ziva hummed and nodded easily. Tony however was far from comforted by that thought. Just by his simple command he had the power to take the life of a very distressed and confused 15-year-old kid. That thought scared him, and having no one to back him up other than the Israeli assassin didn't help the situation either. It was moment like these when he desperately wished Claire could talk to them, give some insight onto what the right thing to do would be.
...
Claire's POV:
Cody continued pacing along the side of the windows. Once his back was turned I subtly nodded at the monitor. Mom is dead…..last year. Was the response typed out on the screen. I pursed my lips thoughtfully. Well this created quite the problem, her death is still pretty fresh.
"Tell me about your mom, hon." I asked kindly, turning to look at him. cod visibly deflated but didn't answer. Alright, I'll play hardball then.
"Doesn't she want to see you?" I prodded, knowing it would hit a nerve.
"Don't say that." Cody instantly replied. I shrugged innocently, maintaining the act that I had no idea about his mom.
"Just wondering why you're threatening to blow all of us up. Just to see her." I pointed out, making my way towards him. I stopped a few desks away from him, to give him space as he tried to keep his composure.
"Because I just do." He replied lamely. I nodded.
"She's dead Cody." I told him. Cody stopped pacing and just stared at me sadly.
"I know." He admitted quietly, the pain still visible on his face. I stared at him pointedly as we watched one another. Cody stiffened as he realized what had just slipped out.
"I know…I know I saw her…SHUT UP!" he suddenly snarled at me. Cody began breathing heavily as he fought to keep his emotions locked away. In doing so he smoothed back a section of his hair and turned to look out the window. I spotted a small earpiece in his ear. This wasn't Cody calling the shots after all. No wonder I kept getting mixed signals from the kid. Now to just let everyone else know.
...
3rd Person POV:
Outside a sniper centered in on Cody's forehead as the boy peered out the blinds of the window.
"Target acquired" he relayed back to Tony who was still watching from the computer feed.
"I say again, target is acquired." The man repeated while DiNozzo thought silently. Like he had feared, the choice of life and death became his decision.
"We may not get another chance sir." The commander pointed out, looking to the agent who still had yet to say anything.
"Do I have a go, over?" the sniper asked.
"Tony." Ziva prodded as they all watched him stand there staring hard at the camera feed.
"Shot is still good sir, over." The sniper added insistently.
"Sir we're gonna lose the target." The commander told him. After what seemed like an eternity, Tony finally spoke up.
"He's not a target, he's a 15-year-old boy who misses his mom." he countered. He stared hard at the feed. As if sensing his distress Claire turned to stare right at the camera feed. In that moment Tony's thoughts cleared up and he knew his answer.
"All sniper units stand down do not take the shot." Tony quickly ordered, much to the surprise of everyone else.
"Why?" Ziva asked him.
"It's a Gibbs thing." he muttered dismissively. Ziva furrowed her brows in confusion.
"My gut." He elaborated for her.
...
In the classroom, Claire was watching Cody stare out the window as the sun continued to set. She stared at the device in Cody's ear. Clear and wrapped around the top, making it easily hidden behind his long hair. Cody huffed and started to move back to his pacing when he caught Claire staring at him silently. Cody furrowed his brows as he moved and noticed she didn't lessen her gaze; it began eating away at him.
"What…don't…don't look….what are you doing just…just get away from me!" he snapped, shifting away from her like a cornered animal. Claire shrugged and turned so that her body was shielding the camera from Cody who was now behind her. She subtly brought her hands up and began moving them in an up and down motion, trying to utilize some of the sign language Abby had taught her. However, it was a bit of a struggle as she couldn't afford to move her arms much.
...
"She's signing." Abby realized as she and McGee watched the video feed from her lab.
"What is she saying?" McGee asked.
"I can't tell, she's not being obvious about it." Abby muttered, squinting at Claire's hands. She watched as Claire began signing letters instead.
"Wait." Abby thought for a moment before darting over to her keyboard to type. Puppet? Claire crossed her arms causally glancing at the items on the wall as she signed 'yes' back to Abby.
"Puppet? What does that mean?" Abby wandered back over to McGee as they both thought.
"I don't know." He muttered in confusion. Abby absently began imitating what Claire's original motions were as she thought.
"Wait, not puppet. Its marionet. Claire's saying that somebody's pulling Cody's strings." She realized.
"What like controlling him?"
"Not just controlling him McGee….controlling the bomb." Abby elaborated gravely.
"If someone's controlling Cody, they have to be talking to him." she added as an afterthought. The two techies thought for a moment before turning to face one another in sync.
"Ear wig." They both realized.
"Ask Claire." McGee instructed. Abby was well ahead of him and already typed the message.
"Wait hold it." he warned as he watched Cody come into view. They both waited until Claire was once more blocking the view of the monitor from the boy. Earwig? Claire subtly nodded a yes once more.
"Why did you just nod?" Cody suddenly asked from behind her. Claire turned to look at him in confusion, easily covering up her surprise.
"What?" she asked.
"You just nodded." Cody insisted. McGee's eyes widened as he watched it all play out. There was no way Cody would have seen it.
"Did I?" Claire asked innocently.
"Yes!" Cody snapped in frustration.
"How did he see that? His back was to Claire." McGee muttered.
"I don't know, nervous, jumpy I guess." Claire shrugged dramatically. Cody glared and watched her skeptically.
"Were you signaling someone in this room?" he asked seriously. Claire snorted in disbelief.
"No." she told him dryly. Cody continued staring her down.
"I swear." She added.
"They're not just talking to Cody. They have eyes in the classroom too McGee." Abby explained.
"Tony did you copy that?" Tim asked over the speakerphone.
...
Tony's POV:
"Roger that, now dirt bags have eyes and ears in the classroom." I grumbled tiredly. This is just what I needed…not.
"Good." Ziva mused. I turned to glower at her in confusion.
"Good?" I asked skeptically. With them having ears and eyes in the room, it made it harder for us to do anything without setting them off. And we don't even know who 'they' are. Ziva rolled her eyes.
"We backtrack the feed, it will lead us to them." She explained. My eyes lit up in realization. That actually wasn't a bad idea.
"Earwigs only have a limited range and a handful of frequencies. We have the equipment here to sweep it." The commander pipped up from beside us.
"Do it." I told him. The commander nodded and quickly dashed off.
"Abby SRT is going ahead to trace the source of the ears, can you guys to the same thing with the eyes?" I questioned. Any link we had to the bad guys was just another way for us to track them before we hit the deadline.
"McGee?" Abby asked.
"We have 3 computers with eyes in the back of the classroom. We're using one of them, they must be using…."
"The one with the blocked router, the one we couldn't hack into before." Abby finished for him.
"How long?" I inquired impatently.
"It depends. They could be using counterattack software, or a sophisticated encryption system.." I narrowed my eyes in annoyance as McGee rambled on about the specifications and what ifs of the system.
"Probie." I barked.
"On it boss." McGee quickly replied. My eyes shot up in surprise at his response.
"..Tony." he quickly amended with a groan. I bit my lip and let out a snicker.
"What?" Ziva asked, already knowing what was so amusing.
"He called me boss." I mumbled with a smug grin. First Claire and now McGee, this was truly a highlight of the week.
"Yes, is he ever going to live that down?" she mused.
"Nope." I instantly replied, my grin widening.
...
Claire's POV:
I sat in a desk near the back of the class as Cody paced the front.
"What happens if they can't find your mom Cody?" Nadia nervously questioned. Cody paused and stared down at her emotionlessly.
"You know what will happen." He replied dryly.
"Cody just let us go man." Joe pipped up weakly.
"SHUT UP!" Cody snarled at him instantly. At his outburst Nadia went into another fit of tears. Cody softened as he stood beside her desk. It was interesting how defensive he was around the boys but when it came to girls he instantly softened his demeanor. Maybe it was for the best that I was the one that busted in here. Who knows what would have happened if one of the boys tried to do this.
"Just don't…don't ask me that again. Ok Nadia?" he requested gently. Nadia nodded.
"You don't wanna carry out your threat do ya Cody" I pointed out. Cody frowned at me.
"No." he answered as if it was obvious. He turned but whipped back around as if remembering something.
"But…I …I will if I don't talk to my mother." He added lamely, trying to keep up his brave façade. I nodded thoughtfully and stood up, making my way forward.
"Talk or see? We might have time to.."
"See, see. I have to see her right here in my homeroom." Cody quickly clarified.
"I'm just saying that talking to her might give us more time." I pointed out.
"There is no more time ok?! She has to be here before sunset." Cody shrieked in distress, his face visibly paling as he looked at the fading light coming through. There really wasn't much more time to spare. I thought for a moment, looking for something to stall with.
"Nautical, civilian or astronomical?" I questioned. Cody looked at me in confusion.
"What?" he huffed.
"Which sunset, there are three." I elaborated innocently. Cody shrugged.
"Before it gets dark." He answered.
"Astronomical." I grinned smugly. Cody stared at me in bewilderment.
"Are you always a smartass in serious situations?" he asked seriously. I grinned in amusement. At least I was getting him to loosen up a little.
"It's part of my charm." I mused.
...
3rd Person POV:
"How are we doing commander?" Tony nervously asked as he paced by the man.
"We're narrowing it down." He assured before turning back to work. Tony nodded tensely and made his way back over towards Ziva.
"I can't stand doing nothing while everyone else is working." Tony muttered irritably. He was a man of action, sitting here watching everyone else work was excruciating for him. Especially considering his girlfriend was the one on the line here.
"Then do something." Ziva snapped.
"Any suggestions Zi-vah." Tony countered.
"Yes DiNozzo. We didn't really have time to question major Meyers. He may be able to tell us who's controlling his son." she pointed out.
"Commander, have your men bring major Meyers in here." Tony requested.
"That's gonna be a problem. The major was taken to NCIS headquarters." The man informed. Tony frowned.
"I didn't authorize that." he countered.
"sir your boss did." The commander explained.
"My boss is a hostage right now, I don't think she's authorizing much of anything." Tony pointed to the camera feed.
"Not that boss sir." The commander sighed.
"Right now, she's the only boss I have other than Gibbs who would contact me about this." Tony countered in confusion.
"Uh uh…you're forgetting the director" Ziva pointed out. Tony raised his brows in surprise. Must be what Gibbs was up to, getting Jenny to pull some strings for their case. Once that situation was cleared up Tony and Ziva began analyzing the bomb on Cody's chest once more now that they realized he was just being used.
"The detonator in Cody's hand is a prop, whoever is being this has the real one." Ziva explained.
"You think?" Tony muttered curiously.
"Yes." she sighed in exasperation.
"I think shooting Cody wouldn't have saved anybody in that classroom." She added pointedly. Tony whipped his head to look at her in surprise. In her own way, she was letting him know that he had made the right decision.
"It doesn't make you Gibbs." She quipped with a frown, already knowing what his smug mind was thinking. Tony smirked before getting back to the topic at hand. If Ziva was handing out compliment who was he to shoot them down.
"Someone went through a lot of trouble to raise Angela Meyers from the grave." Tony mused.
"Well he, she or they don't believe she's dead." Ziva commented.
"They intend to kill her with a big boom." She sighed.
"And blame it all on Cody." Tony added sadly. If it wasn't for Claire's communication and sharp eye, that's exactly what would have happened.
"We got the freq. on Cody's earwig." The commander informed from behind them. Tony instantly perked up and turned to the man eagerly.
"Where?" he asked.
"Don't know, they're communicating in short bursts. We can't get an accurate fix." The commander sighed. Tony groaned in frustration and thought hard. They needed more time.
...
In a van parked on a street close to the schoolyard two Latino men sat watching a video feed of the classroom. Cody pacing like he had been while the agent sat near the back with the rest of the students.
"Enjoy this next hour, Cody. It will be your last if your mother doesn't show." He warned. Cody tensed up as the message relayed over the earpiece and he turned to Claire frantically.
"We're….we're running out of time. Where's my mother?" Cody asked her.
"If I talk to my boss you'll get a progress report." Claire told him calmly.
"Ok put his cellphone on speaker." The man ordered. Cody quickly walked over and picked up her cell from the pile on the teacher's desk.
"Do it." He told her, tossing the cell. Claire easily caught it with her hand before dialing the familiar number.
"Put it on speaker." Cody added as she did. Claire did as he asked and set the phone on the desk.
...
Tony's POV:
I bit his lip as I saw the caller ID and the video feed. Ok can't screw this up.
"DiNozzo." He picked up, keeping his voice even.
"Hey, you locate Cody's mother yet?" Claire asked evenly. I paused, knowing that the bad guys would be listening in.
"Agent Todd has her number and is trying to make contact." I replied, knowing Claire would get the idea.
"What is the number?" Cody asked. My eyes widened. Stupid DiNozzo, stupid!
"I don't know Cody, Agent Todd is on it." I deflected.
"I WANT THE NUMBER!" Cody shrieked.
"You better get him the number boss." Claire told me evenly. Normally I would grin at her calling me boss but right now it was just a reminder of how I was epically failing her right now.
"I'll contact Agent Todd and get back to you." I grimaced as I shut the phone.
"You had to say you had her number." Ziva scolded quietly.
"I know" I sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I know it wasn't."
"A mistake Gibbs would have made." Ziva quipped tightly. I glared at her. I already know I screwed it up and put all of them in more danger, I didn't need Ziva adding salt to the wound.
"Sir, DOD has been studying pictures of the bomb vest. This is the remote here. One shot could destroy it." The commander explained, pointing to a button in the center of the device.
"And Cody." Ziva pointed out in a duh tone.
"There's more than just one life at stake here ma'am." The commander countered.
"Ok hold on.." I held up a hand as I stood between the two. They both had good points but surely there was a way for everyone to walk away safe. There had to be, now I just needed to figure out what it was.
"McGee tell me your making progress." I asked.
"We're making progress Tony. Backtracking the connection to the computer now." Probie mumbled as he typed away.
"Ok they're in Triangle Virginia." Tim told us.
"Piggybacking off of WIFI node at the warehouse outside the main gate." Abby added.
"I'm sending you their address. Do you want us to cut the connection to the webcam?" McGee asked. I pursed his lips in deep thought. Couldn't do that because it would tip them off. Then there was the problem off narrowing down the location and getting there without them taking notice. We needed a distraction.
"Negative probie. I've got a better idea." I told them.
...
3rd Person POV:
"You know what Tony this might actually work." McGee marveled as he and Abby went to work on Tony's plan.
"Don't sound so surprised probie." Tony quipped dryly.
"No he's right Tony." Abby added.
"We should have thought of it." She pouted before smacking McGee with the back of her hand. Tim whined in pain before repaying the gesture.
"What the hell was that?" Tony asked irritably.
"Um McGee tripped." Abby quickly answered.
"Fall down on your own time probie, can you make it happen or not?" Tony inquired. McGee rolled his eyes.
"The problem is finding the right stream to mirror Tony." Abby explained.
"We need to make a virtual hard drive.."
"To replace the physical one.."
"…and there's a key insertion phase so we're going to need…"
"…a natural buffering period so we won't be detected." The duo explained. Tony listened for a few more minutes as they rambled on.
"Guys, Phys Ed major here." He pointed out.
"We can do this tony." Abby answered simply.
"When?" Tony asked quickly.
"Uh now if you want." McGee answered.
"On my mark, DiNozzo out." Tony countered. As he clicked off Abby turned to smack McGee again.
"Ok what was that one for?" he questioned.
"Pissing off Tony, he's under a lot of pressure." Abby pointed out in concern. She couldn't imagine being inn his spot of leadership all the while his boss was MIA and his best friend was stuck in a room with a bomb.
...
Outside in the van the men perked up as they hear Claire's cellphone ringing.
"Answer it." Cody told her impatiently. Claire flipped it open and set it on speaker once more.
"We're here." She droned.
"Cody this is agent DiNozzo here. We have some good news. We have your mom." Tony explained. Cody froze before taking tentative steps towards the phone.
"You found her?" he asked quietly.
"Yes, she's being escorted onto the base as we speak." Tony told him.
"She'll be at the school in 20 minutes. You sit tight and we'll have a happy ending here." Tony added gently. Cody looked up at Claire in shock. She smiled lightly and winked at him, fully knowing that the cameras couldn't see it.
...
The mystery men listened as an armed escort was being led onto the campus.
"Do you hear those sirens Cody, you might just make it after all." The man sneered as he watched the feed. The man turned to his comrade.
'The boss was right. She wasn't dead. but she soon will be´ he explained in Spanish. The man pulled out his remote detonator and flicked it on to arm the bomb. As his hand hovered over the button, the camera feed suddenly glitched and revealed an empty classroom.
"What the hell?" he muttered as the two tried to get the feed working again. Claire popped into the camera and smiled at them.
"Suprise" She greeted, holding up a gun towards the camera. The man began pressing the detonator multiple times but to no avail.
"Boom" Tony muttered in the window, causing the men to jump. They both looked up to see that they were surrounded by armed agents.
"Not bad DiNozzo. Not bad at all." Gibbs mused from the other side of the van. Tony beamed at the praise.
...
Back in the NCIS office, everyone had gathered around Tony's desk munching on pizza.
"Brilliant Tony. Looping the bad guy's video feed while you evacuate the kids." Abby grinned at him.
"Right it was a good idea Tony." McGee added with a mouthful of pizza. Tony reached up to smack him on the back of the head.
"Hey?" McGee snapped jokingly.
"Boss. It's was a great idea…boss." Tony corrected, laughing along with Ziva.
"It was a slip of the tongue ok?" McGee muttered sheepishly.
"A Freudian slip of the tongue." Tony quipped, earning a glare from the man.
"Oh don't worry McGee, some things tony never forgets." Ziva grinned. Tony did a mini victory dance in his seat.
"That's true. So Tony, what movie gave you the big idea?" Abby grinned knowingly. Tony froze and looked up at her in confusion.
"Movie?" he asked.
"Oh yea…you know making the video of the classroom to feed back to the bad guys." McGee added. Tony frowned as he looked at his teammates sharing the same smug grins.
"Mm….uh….it just kinda came to me." Tony shrugged it off, picking up another slice.
"Oh I saw it!" Ziva exclaimed with a wide grin, Tony eyed her warily.
"It had these uh…terrorists..."
"Half the movies today are about terrorists." Tony quipped.
"No, no no…and they took over this bus and it featured that actress with the…the last name like an animal? Uh like a cow..ox.." she rambled on, Tony's expression dropping as she explained.
"Bullock." Abby supplied for her.
"Bullock! Yes, Sandra Bullock and I can't remember the title of the movie but its um.."
"I'm gonna look." McGee eagerly suggested as he walked over to type on Tony's computer.
"Oh probie don't you have a report to finish?" Tony protested weakly.
"I did it." McGee told him. Tony winced.
"Good for you. That's good. Oh wait….stop time." Tony paused and looked around the room with wide eyes.
"Has anyone seen Gibbs or Claire?" he asked as if just noticing the their absence.
...
Claire's POV:
Gibbs had grabbed me once we made it to the office and told me he had something to show me. This was all after the mild chewing out that I got about diving headfirst into the room. Despite his scolding I knew he was secretly proud of what I had done, and I knew for a fact that he would have done the same thing in my position.
"So Gibbs what was it you wanted me to see? I inquired as we neared the director's office. Gibbs just grinned mysteriously at me before pushing the door open. Inside I smiled at the Meyers family being reunited once again. Angela Meyers was alive and hugging her son tightly as they all sniffled.
"So this is what you were doing?" I mused, looking up at Gibbs. The man shrugged.
"I figured there was more to it. Turns out she was in hiding as a key witness involving a major cartel." He dismissed. I nodded in understanding. As if noticing we were there the family all turned and grinned at us. Mrs. Meyers quickly rushed over and hugged me, sending me a bit off balance at how abrupt it was.
"Thank you. Thank you for not giving up on Cody." She whispered tearfully. I smiled and gently patted her on the back, not really sure what to say. Once she was gone Cody shuffled over towards me, glancing up to make eye contact awkwardly.
"Thanks….and I'm sorry for how I acted in there." He muttered with a tight grin. I chuckled.
"There's no need to apologize. If anything, I was bringing the ass out of you by pushing buttons." I shrugged. Cody grinned at me before hugging me quick, not wanting to seem uncool.
...
3rd Person POV:
As Gibbs and Claire made their way back down the stairs Tony quickly leapt up, eager to get away from his nosy coworkers.
"Well I think it's about time we all head home huh?" he quickly suggested. As Claire rounded the corner Tony grabbed her arm and swiftly guided her to the elevators. Her eyes widened in surprise but she didn't protest.
"Got to get this one home, you know she's too traumatized to drive and such." Tony elaborated dramatically while everyone else shook their heads in amusement. Once the doors closed Claire turned to face Tony who was actively avoiding her gaze.
"What was that all about?" she inquired. Tony shrugged.
"Just wanted to get away that's all. You know stressful day and all." He told her dismissively. Claire figured there was other reasons but didn't press it.
"So….I have attitude problems huh?" she grinned. Tony groaned.
"I was hoping you would forget about that." He told her with a chuckle.
"Oh not for a while." She countered jokingly. Tony smiled and stared down at her thoughtfully.
"Well you know what else won't be forgotten so easily?" he told her. Claire rose a brow in confusion.
"Boss." He whispered deeply. Claire bit her lip.
"You liked that huh?" she murmured in amusement.
"Of course." He smirked, focusing on her lip that was between her teeth.
"Well I don't think you'll be hearing that again for a while." She teased. Tony tilted his head curiously.
"That just won't do, it could cause you a lot of problems." He muttered with a grin. Claire hummed as she leaned up closer to his face.
"Oh yea? What are you going to do about it?" she challenged with a devious glint. Tony beamed down at her. Just as he leaned down to kiss her she ducked out of his reach and out of the now open elevator doors.
"You'll have to try harder…boss." She giggled, backing away from the doors. Tony groaned at the way she said it. In his delay the elevator doors began to close and he quickly pushed his hands out to stop them before chasing after Claire who had darted away towards his cars.
