Chapter Twelve
" Good grief, Tony, its just me!" Tony relaxed, delighted to hear McGee's voice at his side.
"The gal?"
"Here. Went in another entrance. Don't know what's the scoop, but saw you. I think there's a couple guys in there, one seems to be putting up one heck of a fight."
"Wait! The chick is here?"
"Yep. Fornell, too?"
"Creepy. I don't think this is your typical take the gal home for coffee after dinner move….Ow!" Tony flinched when Gibbs' hand made direct contact with the back of his head.
"Is this a stakeout, or a lecture on Dinozzo's foolproof moves?" Gibbs demanded.
"Foolproof? That's gotta hurt, huh, Tony!" McGee grinned.
Yikes. Probie was getting more smart mouthed with his comebacks since Kate died. Someone had to continue the comic relief.
Tony crept behind Gibbs, attempting to draw nearer to the building. However, his boss placed a hand out, and pushed both him and McGee back into the shadows. Three figures stepped into view, darkness dancing over their faces, obscuring their looks.
Yet their words were audible.
One of them, his voice husky and low, snickered. "You sure we shouldn't just kill him?"
"He said alive or else. Not my choice, you know."
The first one responded. "You sure it's cool to leave him there?"
The three agents did not hear an answer. The voices had drifted away with the men.
McGee turned to Gibbs. "They have Fornell!"
"Good," Tony muttered, "He deserves it. Can't we just leave him there?"
Gibbs paused before answering. "I could do that, except for the fact we need answers. Maybe after we get them, we can leave him here."
Holding tightly to the sidearms that they had drawn, Gibbs, Dinozzo, and McGee crept warily. The two younger agents flattened themselves to either side of the door, and Gibbs, gaining a nod of signal from each, wriggled the handle.
"NCIS!" their shouts echoed throughout he building.
It appeared empty. The front rooms were lit, but McGee saw no light coming from the crack in a door a few feet away.
Cautiously he approached it. Stepping in, he ran his hand over the wall, feeling for a switch. He finally reached for his flashlight, and taking a step forward, his foot rammed against something. McGee heard a groan, and bent down to see Fornell lying on the hard floor. McGee barely turned his head over his shoulder as he yelled for his boss.
He ran in, followed closely by Tony.
Gibbs roughly rolled the FBI agent over onto his back, and examined his badly beaten and bleeding body.
"What dya think boss—should we leave him here?" asked Tony, sarcastically.
Fornell glared at him, before asking weakly. "Who…else…is…here?"
Gibbs didn't blink. "Who else is supposed to be here, Tobias?"
The keen glance threw Fornell off guard. "Backup" was all he muttered.
"Place is empty," McGee reassured. Tony and Gibbs exchanged looks. Where did the mysterious girl—obviously wanted to be kept a secret by Fornell—go?
Gibbs shook Fornell roughly. "Tell me about her!" he exclaimed. "Tell me everything!"
Fornell's eyes rolled back into his head, and the blood dripped off his chin. Then he went limp, eyes closing. Gibbs turned back to McGee. "We need an ambulance!" he yelled, trying unsuccessfully to bring Fornell back to consciousness.
"Oh, I don't think that would be necessary," spoke a voice from, behind. Gibbs froze. Even before he had heard the recognized voice, he had felt and feared the presence of someone—of him, he now knew.
Ari Haswari stepped into the doorway, followed by three men, each carrying Uzi's.
"Trust me, I have use for my good friend Fornell, here. Now, I want you to sit on the ground, and please, drop your weapons."
Tony and McGee did not move as the three men pointed their own guns at them threateningly. However, Gibbs carefully lowered his own, and nodded to his team.
Haswari wasn't going to kill them now anyway. He did not have the information he needed yet. Tony understood immediately, and putting his hands on his head, he sat against the wall. He caught a gleam of approval in the eyes of one of Haswari's men.
McGee followed Tony's lead, until all three agents were side by side, Fornell still at their feet.
"Agents Dinozzo, McGee. My pleasure," Haswari acknowledged, and then turned his steady gaze to Gibbs. "Ah! My dear friend, I see you have found me once again. And with your amiable companions, no less! I do delight in your presence, to be sure." He cocked his gun at Gibbs, his charming appearance vanishing suddelny. "Gibbs, you know what I want, and you know to give it to me."
The harshness in his voice caused Tony to flinch, but he examined his captor closely.
He had never had any encounters with the terrorist. Oh, yes, he had heard plenty. From Ducky, Gerald, from Kate herself. She might have claimed she wasn't "thinking about that terrorist," but that did not explain a few conversations they had had following her encounters.
And now, he was face to face with the very man they all hated. And Kate was right—his eyes. Now he understood what she meant. His eyes looked like ones that belonged working in an orphanage in Russia, or as counselor to kids. As a pediatrician in a volunteer clinic, or the leader of a disaster relief group.
Definitely not the eyes of the head of Washington, D.C.'s Al-Qaeda cell.
But apparently, Gibbs hadn't the heart that allowed him to be deceived. Was Gibbs that hard, or was he going soft? Either way, Gibbs could see through it.
"You know what I want, Ari. You tell me." Gibbs spoke loud and unfalteringly. The three companions of Haswari exchanged smirks. Okay, their was nothing in their eyes that portrayed kindness.
"Why, Gibbs, I can't read minds!"
"Where do you have Todd!" Gibbs demanded, about to jump up, but stopped by three Uzi's swinging directly at him.
Ari Haswari threw back his head and laughed. A deep, sincere, but mocking laugh. "You really believed what I said, Gibbs? My friend, you should not have fallen for that. Caitlyn is dead."
A/N: Hehe, I am so messing with your minds! First she's dead, then she's not, now she is! I had you tricked, admit it! You thought that girl was Kate, huh:P