It had been a relief to actually talk to DiNozzo, hear his voice, know that he was alive; still, Gibb's couldn't shake the feeling that it was too easy. There was no way that he should still have his cell phone. Even if Leo was arrogant as hell and thought DiNozzo was completely out of the game, he still should have found the phone and disposed of it. That was just sloppy and Marines weren't sloppy as a rule.

Leo Morgan was playing them. Tony was the bait, and he and Kate were the rats being drawn into his trap. The only thing they had going in their favor was that Leo didn't know they were already on the way. It was Gibbs' hope that Leo had miscalculated with McGee. Whatever he'd told the injured man to tip him off about the cabin had been inadvertent. He hoped they could get there quickly enough to deflect any reception party that Leo Morgan might be planning for them.

At least that was Gibbs hope.

He kept an eye on the map where the location of Tony's cell phone was highlighted. Every mile brought them closer to the missing agent. But Gibbs wasn't going to be happy until he actually saw DiNozzo with his own eyes.

The gravel road forced him to slow his speed to a virtual crawl although Kate still had her eyes closed. She clutched the dashboard as if her life depended on it.

Gibbs just ground his teeth and kept driving. It seemed that was all he had done all night, drive from one disaster to another, always a step behind, only arrivng in time to clean up the mess and pick up the pieces.

Around a bend in the road he saw smoke rising from the trees.

Kate pointed, "Gibbs."

He spotted the break in the foliage, saw the tracks of a car going off the road into the underbrush.

Slamming on the brakes, they skidded to a stop. Kate had her seat belt off and was out of the car before he could even put it in gear and turn the ignition off. He followed her, gun and flashlight out. Who knew what Morgan had planned for them this time?

They picked their way through the brush, following the tracks in the dirt until they found the car, its head lights shining into the night, plowed into the side of a tree.Gibbs gestured for Kate to check out the passenger side of the car. She threw him a mutinous look but did as he instructed. Cautiously Gibbs circled around to the driver's side, his gun out and held to the ready. He used his flashlight to reveal the interior of the car.

What he found made his stomach twist.

Tony was there, slumped over the wheel, unconscious. There wasn't even an air bag to cushion the damage.

"Gibbs," Kate called from the other side, "I've gotthe kid over here."

Gibbs assessed the situation rapidly. Somehow Tony had managed to get the keys to the car. Rather than wait for rescue, he'd taken off on his own, and gotten precisely this far.

Surveying the countryside around them, Gibbs saw no sign of Leo Morgan. Was he out there, just waiting for Jethro Gibbs to let down his guard? Would he grab Kate or Abby this time, or maybe Ducky? Gibbs was determined to not give up any more of his team to the madman.

He didn't know how long they had before the other man showed up, there was no doubt that it would be soon. He had to get his people out before Leo showed up to ruin their party.

"Kate, call an ambulance. I'm going to check DiNozzo over and see if we can move him in our vehicle. How's the kid?"

"Unconscious," she said shortly.

Gibbs pulled at the door; once, twice, before it opened with a squeal of tortured metal. Quickly he checked his young agent for a pulse. It was slow and it was sluggish, but it was there. Gibbs allowed himself a moment of relief even as he went on to check Tony's neck and down his spine for signs of injury. When he found none, he pushed Tony back in the seat gently.

His face was a mess, bruised and bloody from its impact against the steering wheel. At Gibbs' touch, Tony shuddered and pulled away, moaning in pain. "Stay away, son of a bitch," he said without even opening his eyes.

"Tony," Gibbs gripped him as securely as he could and tried to keep him from hurting himself further.

At the sound of the other man's voice, Tony went still. His eyes slitted open and he regarded Gibbs in surprise. "Boss? How'd you get here?" Simple amazement and immense relief could be heard in his voice.

"Getting your sorry butt out of here, DiNozzo. How badly are you hurt?"

At that moment there was an explosion from somewhere beyond the trees. Briefly the fireball lit up the night sky. Tony smiled tightly, "Left him a house warming gift when we left." He roused enough to look towards the passenger seat, "How's Ben?"

Kate was there, checking out the little boy, "He's fine, Tony. He's hit his head. Nothing worse than what happens to us every day when Gibbs is driving." Under the circumstances it was a lame attempt at humor, but it helped to lighten the mood.

He sagged back in the seat in relief. Gibbs patted his cheek, "Stay with me, Tony, we need to get you out of here."

"You're telling me!" Tony agreed amicably, making no attempt to move.

Gibbs decided it was going to be up to him to get the other man out of the car and moving. They had no time to worry about Leo at the moment, his priority was getting Tony and Ben to the medical help they needed.

"DiNozzo, I'm moving you now." Gibbs had a feeling that Tony wasn't moving under his own steam any time soon. "Is there anything I should know about your condition?"

"Uhm, left leg's bad and the feet… well, they're pretty much hamburger right now. Morgan's little security measure back at the cabin."

Tony's word made little sense until Gibbs got him turned in the car and inspected the bottoms of his bare feet. They wereoozing blood from multiple cuts.

"Think some of the glass is still in there, boss." He said matter-of-factly, like he was giving facts on a report during a briefing.

"Shit, DiNozzo." It was one more item on the list of the things that Leo Morgan was going to be paying for when Gibbs caught up with him. That list was growing longer by the second.

"It looks worse than it is, boss," Tony asserted. "Ben got the worst of the glass swept away before I took off after him. Guess he missed some though." He shrugged, then made an effort to stand, using the car frame to leverage himself up. He swayed for a bare second before falling forward.

Gibbs caught him before he hit the ground. Tony was a dead weight in his arms. "DiNozzo?"

The injured agent was out again, which was probably just as well. Gibbs knew him well enough to know that Tony would never stand for being carried. Bending, he let Tony fall forward over his shoulders. Holding onto his arm and leg, Gibbs stood, balancing his cargo.

"Kate? You got the boy?"

He could see that Ben was conscious now, if out of it.

"I've got him, Gibbs." She helped the boy out of the smoking wreck and led him toward their vehicle.

"Put him in the front," Gibbs called out to her. "I need you to ride in the back with DiNozzo."

Whereas on a normal day she might have protested being stuck in the back seat with Tony, today she just nodded and pulled the seat belt down strapping Ben in securely.

Then she crawled into the back and helped Gibbs arrange Tony. She sat with him leaning up against her, his legs stretched out across the seat. Gibbs could see the care she took with her injured partner, trying to make him comfortable even though he was still unconscious.

Gibbs took one last look around the sight. He wasn't foolish enough to think that anything was over just because he had all his people back.

Leo Morgan wasn't finished with Jethro Gibbs and the NCIS yet, not by a long shot.

My apologies on the shortness of the installments. I've gotten caught up in your enthusiasm and can't wait to share each installment with you when it's ready!

In my own defense, I do try to keep you updated every two or three days so you don't have to wait too long ;-)