Disclaimer: The show NCIS and its charcters do not belong to me. They are the property of Donald Bellisario, CBS, Paramount and whomever else I may have omitted.

A/N Thank you to everyone for your feedback I was totally floored by the response.

Chapter Two

(1)

Gibbs couldn't sleep and he couldn't work on his boat because at this moment he loathed the sight of the wretched thing. He couldn't sleep; he wouldn't work on the boat so he just sat alone in the dark turning Tony's cell phone over and over in his hands.

Like his own phone it was ruined, although not from being thrown in anger. Tony's phone had been completely saturated as it lay in the pocket of the injured agent and whatever secrets it held concerning the phone call from the informant Johnson were now lost.

He'd gone to Tony's place after leaving the hospital and discovered that no call had been made to his home phone so the call that had sent Tony on his solo mission had obviously been received on the cell. With a weary sigh he dropped the phone and rubbed a hand over his face, he knew he should try to get some sleep but he'd already tried and now at 0200 it was probably too late to try to get some sleep and too early to go into work.

Maybe he should go down and do some work on his boat, it was his therapy after all and yet he couldn't help but look at the clock again and realised that it had been exactly twenty four hours since Tony had been gunned down.

With another sigh he closed his eyes, he felt guilty in away, responsible for what had happened to DiNozzo, he felt as if he'd let Tony down by not being available to him. The trouble with Gibbs was that he could be too hard on himself at times and this was one of those times as he sat there in the dark and thought about Tony DiNozzo.

There was little doubt that he was a good Agent. Yes, Gibbs didn't give out compliments to him all that often but that was just the way he was. He also knew that considering Tony's childhood, the way his old man had treated him never giving any compliments, always criticising always comparing him unfavourably to his older brother that maybe he should cut DiNozzo some slack now and again but Tony could get over exuberant at times as Kate said he did tend to go about things. As it was the younger man just sucked up any disappointment he may have over Gibbs lack of compliments and keep on going. Even though he looked for the occasional pat on the back it was like he wasn't really expecting anything from anyone in that department anyway.

Jethro opened his eyes again and gazed once more at the clock. He really hoped that Tony realised that he was appreciated and an important member of the team. He then started to think about what had caused the rift between Tony and his family. They'd had his future wrapped up in a parcel all nice and neat but it wasn't what the youngest DiNozzo had wanted to do and now he was the considered the biggest disappointment in the family, the twisted branch on the family tree, the black sheep and yes they'd disowned him but damn them this was a matter of life and death and who cared now if Tony had entered law enforcement against his families wishes, they should be here, and yet he knew that the proud family would no more swallow their pride then stubborn damn Tony would.

Gibbs glanced at the clock yet again. Damn it clock watching wasn't going to make the time go more quickly, maybe he should go and do some more work on his boat but he knew that his heart just wasn't in it and so he simply sat in the dark and watched the hours tick by until the sun started to rise heralding a new day and the fact that Tony had made it through the first crucial twenty four hours. However Gibbs new that while one hurdle had been jumped DiNozzo still had a hell of a long fight and a few more hurdles ahead of him on his road to recovery.

(2)

Kate was sitting at her desk, just before seven the next morning, she still had a lot of names to go through and she knew that Gibbs had wanted them to make an early start. 'Yes alright thank you,' she hung up the phone and sighed. 'It was highly unlikely that any of these Johnsons on the list were going to admit to being Tony's informant considering what had happened to Tony.

She glanced at the clock and frowned. Gibbs hadn't arrived yet and he'd been the one who had practically demanded the early start but even if he hadn't she would still have been here and she was sure that Gibbs would be somewhere close by even though he wasn't in the office. With this belief she picked up the phone again, and dialled the number of the next Johnson although she wasn't very hopeful that the Petty Officer would be able to, no, make that willing to help her.

Two hours later Kate was ready for another coffee, there had still been no sign of Gibbs and she couldn't help but wonder if he'd gone back to the hospital to check on Tony or maybe some other lead had come that he hadn't advised her about. Oh well it wouldn't have been the first time Gibbs had kept her out of the direct loop and she could deal with that. She knew after all that wherever he'd gone it would be directly linked to catching Tony's attackers.

'Good morning,' she looked up of a voice she didn't recognise greeting her, then watched as the new arrival calmly walked over and dumped his gear on Tony's desk.

'Who are you and what do you think you're doing?' Kate asked. She knew he must be the temporary agent but she wanted to know his name and why he was settling himself at Tony's desk. Her eyes narrowed as the man whom she guessed to be somewhere in his mid to late forties raked a hand through close cropped blonde hair and sneered at her.

'Special Agent Simon Jesmond,' he told her walking over and perching himself on the edge of her desk the way Tony had done so many times in the past. However, she'd never felt threatened or intimidated when Tony had done so, it had been one friend talking to another almost and Kate knew that there was nothing friendly about this man. "I'm DiNozzo's replacement,' he told her before standing and walking back to his desk. And I'm setting up my workstation girlie.' he didn't seem to notice or care that Kate bristled at this. 'Jeez you could have cleaned up the desk for me. I'm not taking over all these,' he picked up the files that Tony had been working as if they were something distasteful.

'The name is Caitlin Agent Jesmond,' she told him crisply. 'Special Agent Caitlin Todd, not girlie and ....'

'Yeah whatever,' came the reply, Jesmond not even looking up at her. 'Just get this junk off my desk and onto yours. Like I said I'm DiNozzo's replacement around here not his maid service.

'Temporary replacement.' Gibbs entered the office and snapped. 'Nothing permanent about this assignment Jesmond. NOTHING!"

'Well there will be when DiNozzo kicks off this mortal coil. I've heard he's not suppose to make it and this gig has pretty much been promised to me when he doesn't.'

That comment made Gibbs see red, it was far worse then waving a red rag at a bull and he literally charged at the new arrival and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. 'That is not going to happen, understood,' he growled pressed nose to nose with the hapless agent.

'WHAT!' Jesmond growled back. 'If DiNozzo is stupid enough to go and get himself so badly injured that the talk is he won't make it then nothing you say or do is going to change that. Now get your hands off me Gibbs or you'll be in severe trouble.'

Gibbs ignored Jesmond's threat and glared even harder. 'You don't even know Tony DiNozzo, he's a fighter and he won't let this beat him, he'll beat the odds. Furthermore I will be speaking with Director Morrow and advising him that I do not want you on my team on anything more then a temporary basis. Actually I really don't want you here at all, but unfortunately we need the extra man power.'

'Take your hands off me,' Jesmond snarled again as Gibbs released him with a snort of derision. 'Hey that was an assault, you saw that didn't you girlies,' he said looking from Kate to Abby who had just arrived in the office to deliver something to Gibbs. 'You saw what just happened, an unprovoked attack.'

'Saw what?' Kate asked innocently with a sweet smile on her face. 'I didn't see a thing,' she turned to Abby. 'Did you?'

'Nope not a thing,' the lab technician shook her head. 'Not a goddamn thing.'

'Oh that's right,' Jesmond snapped. 'Stick together.' he looked around to see if there was anyone else in the office that could and would corroborate his story about the assault but there wasn't. 'This is not going to stop here Gibbs,' he growled after Jethro who simply waved at him over his shoulder as he walked away so he turned and glared at Kate and Abby. 'Don't either of you think this incident is going to stop here and don't believe for one minute that I am going anywhere. I'm assigned here and I don't care if you like it or not I'm staying here until the Director tells me otherwise.'

'We'll see,' Kate said as she turned back to her computer then picked up her phone to call Lieutenant Anita Johnson a call she'd been forced to abort when Jesmond had entered the office.

(3)

Anita Johnson was scared, damn it after what had happened to Tony DiNozzo she was fearful for her own life considering she'd been the one to give him the information in the first place. There was more to this whole situation then just stolen goods from a supply warehouse, there was black market drugs and two murders although nobody even realised that the dead officers were dead, at least not yet.

Hurriedly she tossed some more clothes into a suitcase. Okay so she was going to go AWOL and yet that was better then ending up dead. She'd already had the feeling that she was being followed, watched and she was convinced that it wouldn't be long before those responsible for these felonies including the attempted murder of Special Agent DiNozzo would come after her.

She almost leapt six feet in the air when the shrilling of her phone shattered the silence of her home and she stood rooted to the spot, like a trapped animal in the shooters spotlight as it rang four times before the machine picked up.

'Hello this is Anita,' she heard her own voice greet the caller. 'I'm not in right now but if you leave your name and number I'll call you back as soon as I can. Bye.

Anita felt the fear course through her as the machine started and she waited for the caller to speak. Would it be a threat this time or another hang up instead she heard a woman's voice come on the line. 'Lieutenant Johnson. My name is Kate Todd, I'm a Special Agent with NCIS and I was wondering if you could call me back regarding a current investigation. Ahhh look,' the caller paused and became less formal. 'We have a name Johnson and we are just checking all the Johnsons we would appreciate it if you would call us to either assist us in the matter which if you are our mysterious Johnson you will know about or to eliminate you from our investigation. My number is.... ' she listened as Kate recited her phone and cell numbers before disconnecting the call.

Oh God they were onto her. How did they get onto her? Tony had promised that he would erase her number from his cell and she trusted him to have done just that and yet how had they known it was someone named Johnson. Had Tony muttered her name before he'd slipped into unconsciousness, that was the only explanation possible and yet he'd also promised her that the team would take down the ring and yet from the reports she'd heard Tony had been at the scene alone and she couldn't help but wonder why. Taking a deep breath she went to the answering machine and erased the call then started to pack her bags again, she had to get out of here, she just had to get away before she ended up in a hospital bed or worse.

Finally half an hour later she was packed and picking up her suitcases she headed for the door, she didn't know where she was going, or what she was going to do when she got there she just knew she had to get away from here. With one last glance around her living room and squaring her shoulders she headed for the front door and opening it she screamed as she saw two men standing there both whom she knew only too well, one of them holding a Sigsaur, probably Special Agent DiNozzo's stolen weapon and it was pointed straight at her chest.

'Going somewhere Anita,' the one with gun chuckled as he fired the weapon pitching the young woman backwards like a rag doll. 'Oh yes,' he stood over her already lifeless body. 'You're going straight to hell,' he put two more bullets into her head. Unnecessary yes, but then again you couldn't take chances could you, and two of his colleagues had already made a more then costly mistake by not finishing off DiNozzo. The one he'd trusted most had had his own agenda when he'd discovered it was DiNozzo staking them out but he should have finished the job and both he and the idiot he'd had with him had paid for their sloppiness and those two bodies would never be found, well, they'd be found but at least not for a long, long time.

With yet another evil chuckle he dropped the gun near her body. The gun belonged to DiNozzo and of course the Agent was in the clear for this killing but there would still be a lot of question asked and by the time the NCIS team unravelled the answers he and the rest of his band of thieves would be long gone. With his accomplice standing watch he crouched down and quickly started to rummage through the suitcase at the door, he wasn't worried about anyone coming to investigate the shots he knew he had plenty of time. He smiled as he found what he wanted then zipping up the bag he left silently chuckling to himself. Oh yes they were pretty much home free and whoever it was who had said that there was no such thing as the perfect crime didn't know what he was talking about.