"Go on then," Tony spoke. "Do it, finish me off."
He stared into the eyes of the prisoner. His whole body trembled as the blood poured out of his body. He used both hands to press down on the wound with what energy he had left. As he became weaker, more blood slipped through his fingers. His trousers were already stained and it had begun slowly spreading across the floor. Harker stood over him. The gun still in his hand pointed at Tony.
Tony never thought that this was the way that he would go. He had always imagined some big gun battle. He had always wanted to go out fighting. Not that he spent a lot of time thinking about his death. In a business like his you tried to avoid the subject as much as possible. If you had a near death experience on the job there wasn't time for what ifs. Whenever he was in trouble like he was now, trapped in shipping containers or kidnapped, he could always rely on Gibbs to find him. There was no second thoughts on the matter. He knew Gibbs would get there in the nick of time. This time, he realised Gibbs might find him too late.
Harker was stunned: he hadn't meant to pull the trigger. He just wanted some attention; he just wanted to get out of this hell hole. Now, not only was he charged with murder, he had just shot a federal agent.
"There's no way to escape, Harker." Tony kept his eyes on the other man's. "Gibbs knows we're in here," Tony began, not knowing himself if Gibbs did know they were in there.
"When the power comes back on he's going to have the elevator surrounded." He needed Harker to drop the gun. Harker's grip on the gun tightened.
"I'll use you," Harker decided.
Tony gritted his teeth as another wave of pain shot through him. "As what?"
"A shield, a hostage, whatever."
Tony shook his head. "It won't work, Harker."
"You wanna bet?"
"Gibbs won't let it happen. He's a trained sniper, you know. You don't think he can kill you with a single shot without hitting me?" Harker's right eye twitched. "Guess again."
"I'll take that chance."
Tony shook his head again. "I can't walk Harker, you wanna carry me out of here? I'd rather you kill me now." Harker stayed silent. "Come on Harker! Finish the job! Or are you too chicken? Just pull the trigger and finish me off!" Tony tried. Anything to get Harker off balance enough to drop the gun. "Shoot me." Harker didn't pull the trigger and Tony watched as Harker's eyes widened, near bursting from their sockets. The gun fell from his hands and Tony grabbed it immediately. Tony's head shot up when Harker cried out. His hands, still handcuffed together, grabbed at his chest. Tears came to his eyes as the pain overwhelmed him.
"Help me!" Harker gasped. His face began turning red as he struggled for air. Tony just looked on, not knowing what to do. Harker doubled over and landed hard on his knees. After taking one last harsh breath, Harker fell back onto the floor unconscious.
"Harker!Harker!" Tony shouted, but it was no use. "Damn it!" Tony dropped the gun and used some of his ever draining energy to pull himself across the floor. He pulled himself until he was sitting beside Harker. He pressed two fingers against his neck and began feeling for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. He then checked to see if he was breathing. Harker's chest lay still. Tony had almost forgotten about his own life threatening wound as he leaned over and began giving Harker mouth to mouth to try and get him breathing. After four breaths he checked his pulse again. Tony couldn't feel anything.
"Damn it!" he repeated. He didn't think anything could get any worse. He was stuck in a badly lit elevator with a gun shot wound in his thigh and a prisoner who had probably just had a heart attack, who wasn't breathing and his heart wasn't beating. Tony pulled himself up, clasped his hands together and with his last remaining energy he began chest compressions to get Harker's heart beating again.
HA, BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THAT, DID YA?