Tony eyed the prisoner silently. The middle-aged man had calmed down slightly after his panic attack, but Tony could still see fear behind his dark eyes. The prisoner had alternated between fidgeting with the cuffs that held his hands together and manoeuvring his cuffed hands to rub his left arm. He sat against the elevator wall with his legs stretched out in front of him. Tony sat in a similar position on the opposite side, but kept one knee up to rest his gun on.

Tony dropped his head to one side. It had been a long day, what with chasing Harker all over DC. He'd anticipated escorting Harker to the prison van and then going straight home to fall into his bed. In any of the wild fantasies that played through his head at any given time, this had not been one of them. Since the elevator had jolted to a halt half an hour before, the temperature of the small room had risen considerably. Tony had pulled his tie off early on and was deliberating whether or not to unbutton his shirt when Harker rubbed at his arm again.

"What have you done to your arm?" he asked.

"You manhandled me that's what; I'm gonna report you for excessive force."

Tony made no expression. "Report away, do I look like I care?" Tony spoke, realising how much he sounded like Gibbs.

Harker snorted but made no attempt to retort and eyed the agent cautiously. He looked just as tired as Harker felt, although he couldn't be fooled by his relaxed attitude. It easily hid a skilled agent. Even though the gun the agent held wasn't pointed at him, he knew that one false move would have the gun aimed in one of many fatal areas in seconds. He also knew the agent loathed him. "He killed my brother, Agent Dinozzo."

"That's Special Agent," Tony corrected reflexively.

"What would you have done if someone had killed your brother?" The older man asked.

Tony's eyes flicked up to meet Harker's. "I'm an only child," he replied.

"Your father then."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "You obviously don't know anything about the relationship I have with my father."

"Obviously, I don't."

"You revenged your brother's death because you loved him?" Harker nodded. "Or you sacrificed your freedom for a man who's already dead." Harker stayed silent as Tony answered his own question. "Either way you look at it, you killed a man, Harker."

"And you've never killed anyone?"

"That's different." Tony's eyes dropped to the floor, his free hand picking inattentively at the thin elevator carpet.

"Why?"

"Because in situations like that, it's either them or me. If they're shooting at me I have every right to protect my life and those of my team mates." Harker shrugged and then hissed as he aggravated his sore arm. They fell quiet as they both processed Tony's words. It was Tony who first broke the silence. "What was it like?" he asked the man. Even after his many years as a homicide cop and as an NCIS agent, he'd never been able to understand what went on inside the mind of a murderer.

"What was what like?"

"Killing someone in cold blood, murdering. Did you feel remorse for the life you just cut short?"

"I felt satisfied, Special Agent DiNozzo. Is that what you want to hear? I avenged the death of my brother and I'm glad I did it, I would do it again in a heartbeat."

"And that's why we're different," Tony spoke softly, avoiding Harker's powerful gaze. "Because, even when the guy I just killed was trying to kill me, I still feel regret. I still have to live with myself, cos the people I've killed have families, they have parents and children, sisters and brothers. Brothers just like you. I always wish there was another way, but sometimes there just isn't."