Chapter 9 September 2024

Tim watched as Nick Torres stood up at his desk; he ambled in the direction of the men's room. Tim made eye contact with Diamond and nodded. The two reached the entrance to the bathroom as another employee exited.

"Hey, Gonzalez, is anybody else in there?" Tim jerked his thumb in the direction of the restroom.

Gonzalez gave the MCRT team leader a strange look, "Um, yeah. I think just Agent Torres."

"Thanks; I need a place to talk with my team where no ears can pry," Tim smirked at the young man who scurried away. No doubt the man was headed to spread whatever gossip came into his head. Tim didn't care anymore. He nodded to Alden and the two entered the bathroom.

Tim quietly turned the lock on the door, then spoke, "So we had to send Delilah and the kids to another safe house."

"Oh no," Diamond sounded concerned.

"Yep, this one is in South Hill, Virginia; it's an old one that NCIS has had for years. But if they've had it that long, it's gotta be safe, right?" Tim tried to sound worried.

Alden tried to comfort his team leader, "It'll be okay, you know. NCIS does a good job of protecting people." He turned to the sink and washed his hands after he flushed the urinal. Tim flashed the thumbs' up to his young agent and indicated that he should exit.

Alden slipped out of the bathroom, and Tim pulled out his phone, "Hey, Tony… Yeah, I found out they are in South Hill Virginia… Yeah, that old safe house… Yep… You're welcome." He flushed the urinal and washed his hands. He dried them with a paper towel trying to listen for any sound of Torres. He knew the man was in the next to last stall; he'd seen the feet slowly rise up from the floor.

Tim walked out of the restroom and went back to his desk, opening his email to pretend to read. He watched for Torres to come back to his desk. The man never returned, of which Tim made a note in the file labelled "Torres" on his NCIS-issued laptop, where he kept most of his personnel records and the team member electronic timesheets.

~Vigilante~

"Ya sure it's the one in South Hill?" Gibbs asked Torres for the third time.

Nick nodded, "South Hill, Virginia; the safe house that's been with NCIS for years; that's what McGee told Diamond. When do we go?"

"Slow down, cowboy. Gotta verify before we move in," Gibbs cautioned the younger man. "Hampstead can surveille the property and report back."

"I can go now," Nick was pacing, impatient to get things done.

"Nope; they know you. Don't know Hampstead."

~Vigilante~

Briggs Hampstead sat in his personal car, watching the house on the outskirts of South Hill. Two agents were sitting on the front porch watching the driveway that lead up from the road. They seemed to be ignoring the utility service cut to the south of the house; that was good for him. In the twilight he could just discern a man and a woman with his binoculars. Lights came on in the house and he could see shadow figures against the window coverings. None of them were tall; that was a good indication that there were kids inside. He watched the figures move from window to window; at one of them he could clearly see what appeared to be the shadow of an adult in a wheelchair. Satisfied, he backed down to the road. Once he had a signal on his cell again, he placed a call.

"Confirmed presence of two agents, at least one adult in a wheelchair, and several kids at the location," he reported.

~Vigilante~

Tony pulled up the video feed from the South Hill property; the lone car in the driveway was the same make and model as one registered to Hampstead. Bait taken; all of the resources and time required to set up the motion-activated images and life-like mannequins at the house had been worth it. Now to determine the vigilante group's next moves.

"What did you find?" Ziva entered the home office with a plate of leftover lasagna and a bottle of water for her husband's lunch. She placed the food on the folding table and moved behind his chair at one of the computers.

Tony restarted the video capture from the South Hill property, "Looks like they took the bait."

Ziva studied the screen, watching the images carefully, "Ha, he sent the dumbest one. We got a break there; easily fooled by the imaging you set up. Now we wait for their next move, I guess."

"Hurry up and wait; never been either one of our strong suits." Tony dug into the plate of food, "Mmm, still good as the first meal was; you not eating?" He noticed that Ziva hadn't brought a plate for herself.

"I had some crackers and salad earlier; my stomach is still a bit upset," she replied. "Probably picked up something when I visited Ellie in the hospital; you know that is the worst place for germs."

Tim walked in the door as they were chatting, "Another take-down of a cop-killer came in over the feed this morning. Near Boston; the guy was just let out on parole yesterday afternoon. Seems he was shot while walking along the street where he lives."

"Hi, Tim," Ziva greeted their longtime teammate. "Would you like some lunch? There is one more piece of leftover lasagna."

"Thanks," Tim nodded.

Ziva returned from the kitchen with a plate of food and a bottle of water for McGee, "Here you go."

"Thanks, Ziva; it smells delicious as always," he dug in. "Hey, any new updates on Ellie?"

Ziva sat opposite him at the folding table, "She was able to see me, but I do not know if she recognized me yesterday. Her eyes followed me as I moved about the room. The respirator tube is out, but she still has a feeding tube. Her mother said that the doctors are optimistic that they will be able to do the surgery to remove at least two of the bullets from her spine in the next week."

"She has a long road ahead," Tony noted. "Maybe when the bullets are removed and Kasie can analyze them, we'll get an idea of who shot her."

"We can hope," Tim sighed. "I feel bad for her."

~Vigilante~

Kasie Hines shook her head in disbelief; she double checked the ballistics analysis of the two bullets removed from Ellie Bishop's spine. How in tarnation could this result be accurate?

She grabbed her cell and called Tim McGee, "Hey McGee, you are not going to believe what the ballistics results show…"

She listened as he responded, "Okay, will do and get back to you." She ended the call and grabbed two latex gloves from the box. She headed to the evidence lock-up and signed in the log.

Kasie wound her way through the shelves and boxes to the one she needed. After checking the case and evidence log numbers, she put on the gloves and removed the box from the shelf. The first thing she noticed was that the seal was broken. She opened the box; the pistol that should have been inside was missing. She signed out the box and headed back to her lab.

Dusting the box for fingerprints yielded two distinct sets; one much newer than the other. She ran the newer set through AFIS and scored a hit within two minutes. Glancing at her screen, she was not shocked at the result; it had been what Tim suspected. She snagged her phone and hit redial.

"Yeah, McGee; the prints on the box are Torres. He took the weapon that shot Ellie. I think we can say he probably was the one who shot her," Kasie ran a hand over her face. "Yeah, I know… so unbelievable!"

~Vigilante~

"I wanna play outside; Tali an' Johnny an' Morgan promised," Ariella whined to her Uncle Leon as the three older kids sat at the dining room table working on schoolwork.

"After they finish their lessons for today," he explained to the impatient little girl for the umpteenth time. Arianna had plopped herself in his lap as he wheeled around the table checking the completed work from the three kids. De was at the counter desk, checking the lesson plans for the day.

Ariella wandered over to her aunt, "Whatcha doin'?" The young DiNozzo was bored; her impatience adding to her boredom.

Delilah looked up from the page where she was making notes, "Hey, Ariella, I have an idea. Would you like to go to school also?"

"Yep," she clapped her hands in excitement. De pulled a folder from underneath the others; the lessons for practicing writing the alphabet letters, along with pictures of things whose words that started with that letter had been for a lower grade-level than her twins. Perhaps the almost four year old would be interested.

"Come sit at the table," De put a sheet for the letter A on the table; she grabbed a pencil from the box of writing implements and handed it to the little girl. "This is the letter A. The first letter of alligator, apple, alphabet, and Ariella." She pointed to the pictures and then to the child seated next to her. "Practice by tracing the lines here," she guided the girl's hand with the pencil to trace over the dashed segments to make a capital A. "Very good! Now you do the rest, and then we will practice some letter As without the helper lines."

Ariella worked diligently at tracing the letters; she stuck her tongue out when she concentrated. Leon chuckled to himself; that child was all DiNozzo. Satisfied that the children were busy with their lessons, he opened the story book Arianna chose to start reading to the youngster.

"Dat says 'cat'," the youngest child pointed to a word. It was indeed 'cat.' Leon was surprised.

"Do you know any of the other words on this page?" he asked incredulously.

"Tail, cat, run, play, ball, go, walk, s…s…sit," she pointed to the words, each one correct. "I think dis one says 'wif' and dis one says 'the,' " she added.

De had moved over by Leon and Arianna, "She can read; she isn't even three!" Leon nodded; he was flabbergasted. "I guess we need to do some sort of lessons for her also."

~Vigilante~

Members of Tony's team were sharing surveillance duty at Gibbs' house. Each one took a twelve hour shift, watching monitors from a house across and three doors down the street. They'd had a bit of luck when the house was listed for rent during the final week of August. Harrison and Philip had posed as an engaged couple looking for a place to call home for a few months. The lease was signed on a month-to-month basis and paid by an authorization from SecNav. The three team leaders hoped that they'd only need two or three months maximum to get the job done.

Sam Thomas set up a complex communication system within the front rooms of the house, including a directional super-mic that could pick up sounds from Gibb's house interior, especially the living room. They couldn't always get a good sound quality from the basement, but those conversations were recorded and then Sam worked her 'magic' on the recordings with digital enhancement and separation.

The three also rotated on firing range practice; Tony encouraged his team to keep their marksmanship at peak performance. Alden Diamond and Charlie Allison took turns there as well, often meeting up with the team member from Tony's team who had practice scheduled that day.

Phone contact with Tim or Tony was limited to secure lines only; each morning the team members would have an encrypted email of tasks for the day. Any data that warranted further inspection or items of interest gleaned from recorded conversations were shared with the three main agents of Operation Silver Fox via a secure private network set up by Anna Philip and Tim.

It truly was a 'hurry up and wait' game until the afternoon all five members of Gibb's vigilante squad gathered at his house. Diamond and Harrison were monitoring the activity for the afternoon. At the appearance of each of Gibbs' operatives, the two young agents could feel the tension building and alerted the others. Thomas and Philip returned to the house from the firing range.

~Vigilante~

Alexandria Thursday 19 September

"We got eyes-on confirmation of the South Hill location," Gibbs updated his gang. "Torres has confirmed deliveries of groceries, school supplies, and clothing to that location."

Hampstead added his two cents' worth, "Seems to be two agents on the outside watching the place. Young kids, probably little experience in more than sitting and observing."

"Clothing sizes and school supplies on the detailed invoices match what we'd expect for the kids ages and grade levels. Food for two adults who are wheelchair bound and five kids is what you'd expect also. That day McGee left his computer without logging off was a bonanza for us!" Torres smirked as he recalled the afternoon. He'd been returning from the break room when Tim suddenly bolted out of his seat and took the steps two at a time to get to MTAC. As Nick walked by the team leader's desk, he noted that the computer screens were not in the usual screen-saver that Tim used when logged off. He glanced around and skimmed the information on the three screens. He'd hit the jackpot! Using his phone, he'd taken several shots of the information about the safe house, supplies deliveries, and detailed invoices of orders made for the two families.

"So there are five of us, all able-bodied and trained shooters; two young and inexperienced agents and two cripples plus five rug rats in the safe house," Milham summarized. "Piece of cake."

Gibbs slapped the back of the man's head, "Never assume. Rule 8."

Milham rubbed the back of his head, "Yes, Boss. So what's the plan?"

"We go in as a team, from the utility cut. Langston, Milham, Hampstead will circle around front, take out the two agents outside. Torres and I will circle around back. Once we have confirmation that the ones out front are down, we storm the house. Catch 'em by surprise," Gibbs elaborated.

"I vote for dinner time," Langston suggested. "They'll all be in one place."

"Crack of dawn would be better," Nick argued. "If they are asleep when we enter, they'll be less likely to put up a fight. That way, too, if they have weapons like they did in the other house, we can keep them from getting to the firearms."

Gibbs liked Nick's idea, "Leon had his service pistol in his nightstand last time. I don't know where Delilah had her weapon, but I'd bet it was same. They wouldn't want the kids getting hold of them."

"When do we act?" Hampstead was getting as antsy as Nick; he wanted action and the thrill of it all.

"I vote for tomorrow," Nick also wanted to get the thrill.

Gibbs shook his head, "Nope. We wait for Saturday; less likely that they are on any set schedule on the weekend. More likely to sleep in."

Langston nodded, "So Saturday early morning?"

"Yep; and if we succeed we can lure out the three I really want to terminate," Gibbs smirked at the others. His new team was much more loyal than the three who had betrayed him.

~Vigilante~

"HOLY CRAP!" Harrison was moving files to the secure sharing system as fast as he could. Thomas was on the secure cell with Tim, Tony, and Ziva sharing the information just learned.

"Stay put until further instruction," Tony ordered the four at the house on Gibbs' street. "We'll be in contact within six hours with instructions for the next phase of Operation Silver Fox. Over and out."

Ziva and Tim shared an eye-roll. "Tony, this is not one of your Bond movies," she quipped.

He grinned at her, "I know that; I just always wanted to say 'over and out' for a mission. Anyhow, time to put the plan in action. Ziva, check on the supplies, especially body armor, ammo, and firearms. Tim, verify the secure channel for communication while we are en-route and on-site. Tony, make sure all vehicles are operational and ready to roll."

Within six hours, each of the team members of Tony and Tim's teams were headed to Quantico via Amtrak. Tony, Ziva, and Tim were taken to the Marine base by one of SevNav's drivers using an armored SUV. Additional SUVs and a panel truck were waiting for them at the base. The panel truck had an arsenal of weapons, ammunition, and body armor for the team.

Tim went through the roster to mentally focus, "Tim, here; Tony, here; Ziva, here." He looked at his longtime teammates; they each gave him a thumbs' up. "Alden, here; Charlie, here; Anna, here; Matthew, here; Sam, here," he glanced at the others. "We're in uncharted waters here; while the three of us who were on the MCRT know Gibbs and how he thinks, we still have the variable of his change in behavior that makes him somewhat unpredictable."

"Yeah, and we have a group of four others, three of whom none of us know other than on paper," Tony added. "Nick is a hot-head; that we know. Hampstead has a temper; Milham has an axe to grind; and Langston is a loose cannon. All of them have a beef with the system that they believe screwed them over. SecNav has given permission to act with extreme prejudice, meaning we go for the kill if necessary." He scrubbed a hand over his face and exhaled, "Anyone want out? Now's the time to say if you don't think you can handle the job." He looked around at the two teams.

All of the young agents nodded that they were ready to go; several gave the former SFA a thumbs' up gesture. Ziva gave her husband a grim nod; she would have no problem taking down anyone who was a threat to her children.

"Okay, then… My team will be positioned in the barn out in the back of the cleared area. We'll pull the vehicles into the barn to keep them out of view. Tim's team will start out in the double-wide next door to the north. Ziva, you will take your position around midnight or so," Tony laid out the plan to the others.

"I will be in the oak tree by the house; once Gibbs' team moves on to the property, I may move onto the house roof for a better shot if needed," Ziva outlined her part of the operation. "DO NOT look for me in any way. They cannot know or even suspect that I might be hidden in a sniper nest, especially Gibbs. The element of surprise is my friend."

Tim assigned team members to vehicles, "Diamond, Philip, and Allison, you take the first SUV. Thomas and Harrison, the second SUV. The DiNozzos and I will be in the panel truck with our supplies. Are we ready? Good, roll out of here at 1930. In the meantime, get some sleep."

~Vigilante~

Potomac Mills Mall, 0300 Saturday

Nick Torres tapped his fingers on the steering wheel of the rental SUV. Its darkened windows were perfect to conceal the weapons, ammunition, and body vests he had in the rear cargo area. He watched for the others to arrive at the designated meeting area behind the Potomac Mills Outlet Center. Milham was supposed to be bringing a small cargo van with their other weapons and gear.

Hampstead sat in the front passenger seat wishing Nick would stop the infernal tapping. He was nervous as a tick on a coon dog already; he didn't need Nick's nervous energy to compound his own. "Hey, you mind stopping the tapping?"

"Sorry man; I get this way when the adrenalin kicks in," Nick put his hands at his sides as a vehicle approached with its headlights off. "Looks like we got company."

Two flashes; Nick responded with same. The cargo van parked alongside the SUV. Torres lowered his window to Gibbs in the driver's seat of the van. Milham was in the passenger seat, grinning like an idiot. Langston yanked the rear door of the SUV open and hopped in. She smirked at the startled expressions on Nick and Briggs' faces.

"Distraction is your enemy, boys."

Gibbs signaled for Torres to follow him, and the two vehicles eased onto I-95 for the ride south to I-85 and the state line. South Hill was about to become real.

~Vigilante~

South Hill 0400 Saturday 21 September 2024

"We have confirmation of movement," Tim spoke into his headset as he monitored the device on the cargo van via a laptop. They had gotten a lucky draw when Milham offered the use of one of his personal vehicles to Gibbs' army of vigilantes. A tracking device had been placed on the underside of the vehicle back in August.

"Everyone in place?" Tony called for a check-in.

"Same as an hour ago," Ziva responded dryly. She really preferred radio silence, but she also knew her husband well. Tony needed some conversation to make his waiting tolerable.

At 0550, movement was detected on the utility cut. Ziva used her night scope to confirm the approach of the two vehicles.

"One SUV and one small cargo van approaching via the utility cut," she confirmed to the others.

"Daybreak in about thirty minutes," Tony added.

At 0623, Ziva conveyed the final message before radio silence, "Confirmed five individuals, heavily armed, exiting the vehicles and heading this way. Radio silence NOW."

Tim's team exited the trailer across the street and carefully snaked through the trees along the driveway; they stopped at the tree line, staying out of view. All eyes were on the front porch where two mannequins awaited their fate.

Tony's team positioned themselves at the main door of the barn, again staying hidden in the shadows until further orders. Ziva remained hidden in the oak tree, watching with her scope for as the five vigilantes approached the house.

Those who could see watched as three of the figures separated from the other two and made their way to the front porch. Tony quickly noted that Gibbs and Torres were the two who hung back and then crept along the brush line towards the back of the house.

Tim watched as the three jumped on the porch, two of them grabbing the mannequins by the neck; he had to bite his lip as they realized the figures were fake.

"Boss, we got a problem," Hampstead spoke into his comm device.

"Ya gonna tell me or make me guess?"

"They're dummies; one of 'em's got a wire going into the house," he responded. He was about to add more when the small explosives set in each window detonated blowing out the panes of glass. The three on the porch dove for the ground.

"SHIT," Gibbs cursed under his breath. "Let's go Torres; back door. We take cover in the house and fire on anything that moves."

Out front, Tim's team moved in. "Raise your hands and surrender; we have you outnumbered," Tim yelled. "If you do not do as I say, we shoot to kill."

The three vigilantes started firing at the agents; the three agents returned fire, using the trees in the front yard as cover to move in. Ziva slipped on to the roof of the house.

Out back, as Gibbs and Nick prepared to make a dash for the back porch, Tony's team came out of the barn.

"Put your weapons down, give up without a fight," Tony barked. "I repeat, drop the weapons."

The sound of gunfire came from the front of the house. In the growing light, Tony could see the looks in both Gibbs' and Torres' eyes. They were in it for the kill; he spoke quietly to his team, "Take them down for the kill; neither of these two are going to give it up."

Harrison and Thomas circled towards the rear porch using the trees and piles of wood in the yard as cover. Tony and Philip ran quickly to an old tractor as cover.

Out front, Diamond aimed at Langston's prone figure as she took a shot at Charlie Allison as she scooted to a nearby tree. The shot from Alden pierced the former CID officer's forehead and she slumped to the ground.

Tim nodded to his young agent; no time for congratulations until the threat was eliminated. Milham ran from the cover of the front porch towards the side of the house. He was gunned down by Allison as he rounded the corner.

Hampstead fired at the agents in the front yard. Alden was moving between trees and took a round to the calf. Tim watched as the younger man grimaced and rolled behind the large oak tree next to the dummy SUV. Hampstead ran around the far side of the house towards the back yard. Tim checked on Diamond and then motioned to Allison to follow him around the house on the same side as Hampstead.

Around back, Harrison and Thomas overturned the furniture on the rear porch for protection. They took shots from behind the table they'd laid on its side. Gibbs and Torres crouched behind a stack of wood. Tony and Philip spotted Tim and Allison alongside the house. Without speaking the two longtime teammates knew the plan; surround Gibbs and Torres to force surrender or a fight to the death.

Ziva perched on the rear of the roof, her weapon aimed at the pile of wood where Gibbs and Torres waited. Gibbs stood suddenly and looked around for Tony.

Tony motioned for the others to stop. He stood from his position behind the old tractor. "Give it up Gibbs," he made eye contact with the man who had been his boss for fifteen years.

"Ah, DiNozzo," Gibbs sighed. "Always the screw-up." He glanced around to see Tim standing behind him. "McGee, I tried to warn ya." He looked around more, trying to find the third former member of his team.

"You won't find her," Tony laughed. "My wife hasn't lost her Mossad skills."

Gibbs barked a loud laugh, "Gah, your wife… I knew exactly what you two were up to the whole time. A pair of horny rabbits… surprised you and your whore didn't pop out a kid sooner."

Tony bit his tongue; he would not let Gibbs' insults derail his focus. "Give yourself up. We have enough to get an indictment, but if you surrender, I can get the charges reduced." Gibbs laughed maniacally.

"Torres, we have proof you shot Bishop," Tim added. "Give it up and we can get you a reduced sentence on grounds of mental illness."

"NEVER!" Torres shouted from behind the wood pile.

Ziva watched from the roof; she noticed movement to the opposite side of the house and spoke into her comm device very quietly, "Hampstead at your three o'clock, Tony." Before she finished speaking, Harrison and Thomas opened fire on the rogue agent from the back porch. Hampstead returned fire even as he was hit in the hip from a shot. He rolled behind a pile of wood.

Harrison looked over at Thomas; she was holding her head and her hands were covered in blood. He grabbed a rag that was on the porch floor and pressed it to her wound; she'd been grazed by a bullet.

"Hold this to your head; keep pressure on it," he whispered. "You're gonna be okay; it's just a graze. Sam, look at me, you know head wounds always bleed worse than they are." She nodded that she understood his request. "Stay here."

Tony watched Gibbs; he was standing still glaring at his former SFA. A long time ago that steely blue-eyed glare would have sent him into immediate compliance with the Boss's orders. Those days were long gone. The two were locked in a staring contest when Torres stood up suddenly and fired at Tim.

Ziva went into high alert at the sound of the shots. She watched as Tim jerked sideways and then aimed at Nick. Tony and Gibbs had their weapons trained on each other. Harrison and Philip were behind Tony with weapons aimed at Gibbs. In a move reminiscent of one of her old tricks, she watched her husband draw a second sidearm from his waist and aim it at Torres.

Nick raised his rifle to take another shot at Tim; Tony, Tim, Anna, and Matthew all fired at Torres. Harrison's shot hit Nick in the throat; he went down with a scream, clutching at his neck. Gibbs raised his weapon and drew a bead on Tony. Ziva flashed back to Gibbs' basement, almost twenty years ago; the kill shot on Ari. She blinked hard to clear her head, remembering the video with the man she once considered a father figure holding a knife to her daughter's throat. She aimed for the kill shot.

Tony lunged to the ground as shots rang out. Tim hit Gibbs in the lower buttock from his position on the ground where he fell in pain from the shot from Nick. He was pretty sure he'd taken a hit in his hip. Harrison's shot hit Gibbs' left knee as Philip's shot passed through his right knee.

Tony's shot, because it came from ground level, penetrated Gibbs' groin. Ziva squeezed her trigger; life seemed to go in slow motion as she watched the bullet penetrate Gibbs' forehead. He dropped to the ground dead. Ziva quickly dropped from the roof to the ground. She ran to her husband.

Tim forced himself to his feet using his rifle as a makeshift crutch; he hobbled over to Torres who lay bleeding out on the ground. He steadied himself and put his foot from his injured leg on the man's chest. He raised the barrel of the rifle to Torres' forehead.

"Give me one good reason not to blow out what little brains are in your head," he snarled at the younger man.

"Because... I'm... cute" Nick smirked despite the pain as he barely rasped out his reply.

Tim pulled the trigger sending a round into his teammate gone rogue, "Wrong. Answer. That was for Ellie." He collapsed to the ground. He looked up to see Tony and Ziva holding each other and canvassing the scene.

A/N Thanks to all who have left reviews, favorited, and/or followed or just read along. All story-related reviews are appreciated. Unfortunately, due to a persistent troll who keeps leaving anonymous reviews accusing me of plagiarizing my own story from AO3, I have had to turn on the option to moderate guest reviews. To my legitimate guest reviewers, I apologize that your review won't show immediately, but this is a better choice than having the garbage show and me having to later delete it. This way no one else has to see the stupidity.