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Chapter 6: You Won't Regret This

Kate stood, leaning at an awkward angle, her elbows resting against the wall, her hands meeting in a huddle around the long forgotten cup of coffee as though there were still some lingering fire of warmth in its cold depths. Her eyes were partly glazed as she once again ran through everything she had done on the case from the beginning. From the moment Tony had proposed the whole crazy scheme of letting White escape so that he would lead them to the antiquities. . . .

"I'm telling you it's the only way boss," Tony stated. "By the time we've followed the conventional routes of enquiry those items will be sitting in someone's private collection, and they'll never see the light of day again, but if we let White go. . . Track him somehow." Tony had that look of childlike glee in his eye that he always got when he had an idea that he thought might work. It was always as if he was about to embark on some great adventure, his skin ablaze with tiny sparks of energy that you couldn't so much see as sense. It was an energy that children had at moments of real excitement, Christmas morning, the first day of a holiday, the moments before a party. Adults rarely had it, but Tony, well Tony seemed to have picked up on everybody else's share.

"And just how do you propose to track him?" Gibbs asked.

Kate remembered looking surprised, she had half expected Gibbs to reject the idea out of hand with some put down that ran from glib to seething, depending on his mood, as he usually did when Tony came up with a plan. The fact that he was asking for it to be developed further indicated that he thought it might have some merit. Kate allowed her own mind to drift, was it viable? In retrospect she wished that she'd convinced herself and then the others that the answer to that question was no, but that wasn't how it had played out.

Tony tried not to betray his own surprise; he was used enough to Gibbs reactions to his plans, that he generally didn't invest too much effort in thinking them through, since he was usually shot down in flames. His excitement hitched up a notch at Gibbs interest, and his mind truly began to work on logistics. This was what he lived for. This was when he really came alive. The air around him crackled. "I'm sure Abby can come up with some miniature GPS tracer. We could arrange for it to be sewn into White's prison uniform, then all we'd have to do is follow him."

"And if he changes clothes?" Gibbs asked.

Tony's brow creased in thought, his bright smile fading slightly.

"It'll never work," Kate stated.

Tony turned to look at her, momentarily forgetting Gibbs' objection. His tone registered annoyance. "And just why is that Kate?"

"You haven't met White have you?"

McGee and Kate had collected White from police custody, and Tony had been following up an ultimately fruitless lead on Lane, when Gibbs had interviewed him. "No, why?"

"Well, put it this way he'd made McGee here seem like a tough all action hero." Kate supplied dryly. "There's no way he'd make an escape on his own. Even if you left the cell door unlocked and removed all the guards. He'd probably sit in the cell and wait until someone turned up to lock it again."

Tony looked first to McGee and then to Gibbs with a questioning expression, an unspoken request for confirmation of the voracity of Kate's assertions. They both gave slight nods, but Tony wasn't going to be thwarted that easily. "Then someone will just have to help him escape." His excitement level jumped again as the plan formed clearly in his mind. If Gibbs said yes then this would be even better than his original idea. He'd get to go undercover, take part in a prison break. . .the thoughts were forming so fast he could barely keep up. "We can set up a break whilst he's in transit to his arraignment."

"There's still no guarantee he'll take part, I'm telling you this guy has some serious anxiety issues." Kate tried again.

"Then we just make sure he has no choice." Tony supplied patiently, holding Kate's gaze for a second as he issued the non-verbal challenge for her to find something wrong with this latest amendment. "If he's handcuffed to the prisoner that makes the break, then he'll have to go with him." He turned briefly to look at Gibbs, to ensure that he had his superior's attention, before returning to Kate. "Of course that would be a tough assignment, whoever it is will have to win White's trust, get him to lead them to the antiquities. It would take someone with charm, charisma. .intelligence." He flashed his best smile in Kate and McGee's direction as he spoke.

"Yes but since they still don't allow mixed prisons, we can't send Kate." Gibbs stated, purely for the entertainment value. "Besides he's already met her, he knows she's an agent."

Neither Kate nor McGee could stifle their snorts of laughter as Tony turned back to face Gibbs whose expression was perfectly neutral.

"I was.. . .er. . .actually thinking of me boss." Tony stated, looking for some betrayal of the fact that Gibbs had known that. He had to have known that.

Gibbs made him sweat for a moment. It was a risky course of action, but they had precious little else to go on and time was most definitely not on their side. McGee had already quoted the statistics to all of them. If the goods weren't recovered within forty-eight hours then there was very little chance that they would be recovered at all. The fact that they only had one suspect in custody also went against them. Lane could easily sell the goods on without his partner, and they couldn't let that happen. This was one shipment that had to be recovered.

This was a political hot potato of the worst kind. The Iraqi's would never believe that the goods had been stolen, and would insist on their return, and who knew what the ramifications would be when that couldn't happen. The fallout would leave the politicians looking for someone to blame and the Navy and NCIS would be directly in the firing line.

What Tony was proposing was risky. Gibbs knew that, they barely knew anything about Jeffrey or his partner. It also had a high risk of failure. The problem was it was the only thing they had come up with that stood any chance of success.

Gibbs eyes narrowed. "Talk to Abby. You have one hour to set this up and then I want a full report."

Tony had punched the air at that point, his thousand Watt smile lighting up his face as he repeated in a semi- whisper. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" The self-centred moment over, he had looked Gibbs in the eye. "You won't regret this," he'd stated before heading out of the room, a pronounced bounce in his step as that boundless energy sought a release again.

Kate stared at the point where floor met wall on the opposite side of the corridor, the phrase echoing in her mind. Tony's voice repeating in crystal clear excited tones. 'You won't regret this.' She wondered if Gibbs did, wondered if in hindsight he would have let Tony go.

"Excuse me?" The voice to her left made her start. She looked up forcing vision, blurred by lack of use as her thoughts had pulled her mind elsewhere, back to some semblance of focus.

"You're here with Special agent Dinozzo aren't you? You were in the ER with him," Dr. Preston asked.

Kate pushed herself to standing taking her weight off the wall. Her muscles protested the injustice of being left in unnatural positions for so long with aches and twinges. She shifted about attempting to loosen them. "Yes," she stated, her voice slightly breathless as her mouth went dry. She said a silent prayer, as a soft mantra began to repeat in her head. 'Please don't let it be bad news.'

"He's out of surgery," Dr Preston stated.

Kate allowed breath back into her lungs and attempted to quell the tight churning of her abdomen. He was still alive.

"You can see him if you'd like."

Kate nodded gratefully, and then realised that the doctor had studiously avoided any comments about his condition. "How is he?"

"Wounds to the neck are always very tricky . . ." Dr. Preston began, pausing as she chose her words carefully. "We've done everything we can it's up to him now." She paused, trying to find something more positive to say. "It's a pity agent Gibbs isn't still here. Whatever he said certainly had a positive effect, I'm not sure he would have made it through the surgery without it."

Kate nodded; she had almost forgotten that. What had Gibbs said? The question kept her mind occupied as she followed the doctor down the corridor to the ICU room.

"Just a few minutes," Dr Preston said.

Kate nodded and took a deep breath before entering the room.