September 22, 2006: Not quite done with this story yet…

Any characters you recognize belong to the NCIS universe and any you don't recognize belong to me. I write for the sheer pleasure of creating, folks - no infringement intended. This story still isn't being Betaed so any errors are my own darned fault.

September 24, 2006: My continued thanks to those who read and those who review my writing. Your comments and support are greatly appreciated. :)

I mention once more that I have never been to Washington, D.C., never mind somewhere as specific as East Potomac Park. My apologies if the real park doesn't match with how I have presented it.

In this chapter, we're still with Tony's perspective.

Enjoy!

Tin Star

Chapter Eleven

By lilmouse

"Go on home to your kids, Herb."

- Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) to his Deputy Sheriff, just before Noon, 'High Noon', 1952

The day has become cooler and the sky a bit more menacing, with sulking grey clouds racing low in the November wind. The surface of the water is dark and it peaks periodically with small whitecaps, like whipping cream. Two sailboats are moored further down the break wall and they rock with an irregular rhythm as the East Potomac River responds to the mood of the morning. Their rigging clinks together like drinking glasses at a bar. Patches of clear, blue sky struggle to reclaim the day but it looks like Washington, D.C. is in for some rain.

A small flock of birds take flight from one of the cherry trees about a half a mile to the north. They dip south and circle over the small knot of humans that wait near an old van then they swoop away, as if sensing they might become targets should they venture too close.

Special Agent Tony DiNozzo doesn't blame them in the least.

He doesn't look at McGee, who stands beside him scarecrow still, trench coat flapping in the wind. No words are spoken because they aren't necessary. He knows that they are thinking the same thing, sharing the same tension. One last element has just been added to their predicament. It would be the perfect nightmare for any parent but neither Tony nor McGee have stepped into fatherhood yet. It doesn't really matter, though.

Being a caring human being is all that is required for the anger burning behind their eyes.

Katie Garvey has been brought to the park but she won't be offered a chance to play on the swings. She has been brought here to die with two NCIS agents who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tony assumes she was scheduled to appear here today and that he and McGee are just a bonus.

Or a complication, depending on which of the three villains you speak to.

Tony watches the little girl carefully, ready to do anything to help her. It takes a few seconds but through tears and terror, she finally recognizes him and jumps forward with a fragile cry. "Tony!"

It is a sound he will never forget. He has heard its like before. It is the type of sound made by the human voice when it most needs help, and it reminds him why he bothers to get out of bed every morning, why he strives to make a difference and have every day count.

He stares coldly at the man who calls himself Mitch and is considered a trusted part of someone's team back at NCIS. Mitch grabs at the pink robe Katie is wearing and almost lifts her from the ground in his attempt to restrain her. She screams. Tony takes a step forward and the gun in Rossi's hand levels on his chest. At a distance of a dozen feet, there is a very small margin for error. He isn't likely to miss.

"Relax, hero," the Navy officer says, smiling. "I'll let you have the girl if you can keep her quiet."

Mitch glances at him nervously then abruptly releases Katie. She stumbles but manages to wrap the robe back around her and runs for Tony. In three quick strides, he envelops her in his long arms and lifts her. He supports her weight easily despite his injuries and holds her shaking body to his chest. She hugs him fiercely as if he is the only thing in her young life that can protect her from the monsters.

At the moment, she might be right.

Tony steps back until he is next to McGee again.

"Katie," he whispers. She's sobbing into his jacket, her small hands clutching the material. Not knowing what else to do, Tony strokes her hair. "Shh, it's okay, shh." It isn't okay but if he can keep her calm, maybe Rossi won't get trigger-happy. "Katie, are you hurt?"

She shakes her head tightly. "No," she whispers, and then chokes as she says, "He hurt Marcie." Her face shatters and she wails. Tony tries to calm her by rubbing her back and looks sharply at Mitch.

"The woman closed the door on my foot," Mitch states indignantly, as if that were sufficient provocation for violence.

"She's a social worker, Mitch, what sort of threat is she to a trained federal agent?" Tony knows he should probably reign in his anger but it wants to lash free. He remembers Marcie from the hospital visit, blushing in her Wal-Mart wardrobe. Damn. "What was she gonna do? Beat you with paperwork?"

"She isn't dead if that makes you feel any better, DiNozzo. I just knocked her out and stuffed her in a closet. She didn't have a chance to get a good look at me and I…" He glances at Rossi. "I didn't think killing was going to be a part of this."

Stacey laughs. It is a bright, light sound and Tony wants to strangle her. "What did you think we did with Robert? What do you think we're doing now?" She spreads her hands to indicate the two adults and one child who are clearly in danger of losing their lives.

"These are government agents, Stacey," Mitch protests. "It'd be like killing a cop. If we kill them, we've signed our death warrant." An argument is starting. Rossi is getting distracted by the debate and isn't focussed on his prisoners. The gun drifts lower.

Tony adjusts his hold on Katie, who snuffles into his shoulder, and manages to move closer to McGee. Without looking at him, he murmurs, "Probie?"

His friend and fellow agent matches his volume. "Yeah?"

"Can you swim?"

McGee stares at him as if he is mad. Tony notes it in his peripheral vision.

"Don't look at me, Probie. I don't want them to know we're talking."

McGee immediately finds something interesting about the toes of his shoes. "Tony, I've been hit in the head and am more likely to become disoriented and drown then have a chance of getting away."

"But can you swim?"

"Sure, on a good day, but you're not in much better shape -"

"Probie, I can't see another alternative." Tony speaks softly but rapidly, his mouth barely moving so they won't attract attention to themselves. There isn't much time. He can feel it in his gut. "Here's the deal, amigo. We aren't armed. The vehicles won't provide enough protection even if we can get behind them and neither of us has the keys to drive. The bad guys now have two guns and the trees are all the way over there." He gestures briefly with his head to the woods, which start some distance from the water's edge. Even if they were to run in an erratic path, they wouldn't make it. It is daylight and there just isn't enough cover.

The younger agent glances at Mitch and Tony realizes he hadn't thought about their co-worker being armed.

"This is crazy -"

"Tim."

He has McGee's attention now. Tony has just called him by his first name and he hardly ever does that except as part of a joke.

This isn't a joke.

McGee is standing about two feet away from the break wall. He's a tall man and Tony figures he has a high enough level of physical fitness to easily vault over it.

"When I say 'go', I want you to get over the wall as fast as you can, dive as deep as you can and stay under as long as you can. Don't fight the river. It's moving pretty well in places and should take you out of range faster than if you were swimming on a clear day." He looks over at the three villains of this piece then locks his eyes with McGee. "Do you understand, Tim?"

McGee swallows. "I do. What about you and Katie?"

"We'll be right behind you," Tony whispers, and he wonders if he believes they'll actually make it that far. Right now, all he can give is hope.

"It was your idea!"

Mitch and Stacey aren't coming to blows but Rossi isn't doing very well as a calming influence. Guy's got a short fuse, Tony thinks. Gambler, risk-taker. That's what got you into this mess in the first place, isn't it, Federico?

Sirens pierce the cold morning air. Rossi's head snaps up and everyone looks to the north. Tony can see several vehicles in the distance, winding along Ohio Drive at high speed, lights flashing. They are hindered by the speed bumps. One car leaves the road and roars across the neatly mown grass, taking the shorter route towards the van. The tires are chewing the hard work of the landscapers but it doesn't deter the driver. Tony bets his last dollar that it is none other than Gibbs himself.

"Shit!" Rossi turns back to Tony and raises his gun.

"No!" Mitch jumps him and they both lose their balance, tumbling to the ground.

The cavalry has arrived but given the level of sanity present, they can't safely stay to watch the show.

"Go."

That one, urgent word is barely a breath but McGee doesn't hesitate. He swings onto the top of the wall and does an awkward, shallow dive into the river.

"Hold on tight, Katie." There isn't time for anything else. Tony hugs the little girl close to his body and bolts for the river. A bullet shatters the wall to their left. He tucks and rolls, his back taking the brunt of the impact with the top of the wall, and then they're over and into the water.

Numbing cold embraces them.

He kicks further away from the wall, hoping to reach a spot where the water is moving swiftly. A silence presses against them. Katie must have been in shock before but now she struggles in his arms. She can't breathe, of course, but Tony knows he can't surface yet. It's too dangerous. A sharp pain bites his right calf as evidence and he hopes the bullet didn't do too much damage. The girl is growing still. He hopes he hasn't waited too long. Clutching Katie with one arm, he kicks hard and uses his other arm to propel them towards the light.

They pop into the waves like a cork. Tony drags in a deep, shaky breath and uses his lifeguard training from high school to keep Katie's head above the water as best he can. They're moving fairly quickly as the current takes them passed the sailboats. He glimpses a woman sitting on the deck of the smaller of the two, near the tiller, a cup of coffee almost at her lips. Her eyes widen as she sees them and she shrieks, turning towards the cabin.

"Roger!"

A wave smacks Tony in the face and he coughs as he swallows water. With any luck, Gibbs will have the trio in custody by now. He needs to get Katie to the shore. Between the cold and the length of time under the surface, he's worried about her. She seems so pale and still. His arms are getting tired and he knows he'll run out of adrenalin soon. A quick scan shows no sign of McGee.

Damn.

To his left is the break wall, blurring by at an alarming rate: no chance to get ashore there. Upon reflection, perhaps this wasn't such a good idea, he thinks, but there isn't anything he can do to change what has happened. Knowing there wasn't another option at the time doesn't help him now.

Katie Garvey is his responsibility and she trusts him to save her. He has rarely felt so helpless.

Damn and damn.

The river keeps pulling at him and the sound of churning water fills his ears along with his ragged breathing. His attention is so focussed on staying afloat and keeping the little girl alive that he almost misses the life ring.

It splashes just ahead of him, bright orange in black water. Someone is shouting from the shoreline. He notices more boats along the break wall; a small crowd of people, some of them on cell phones, and then the life ring is near his head. He snakes an arm through it and holds on.

The rope pulls taut. Tony guesses it is about thirty feet long. He has glimpses of several people holding onto the rope, one man as an anchor, and he can tell when they start pulling them in. Unfortunately, the river doesn't want to let go and a struggle for possession ensues. Two human lives are the prize.

He looks at Katie, knows she's breathing but knows she needs medical attention and warm blankets and hot chocolate.

And she needs them now.

Still holding tightly to the life ring, he slides the little girl under and through. It feels like forever but he manages to get her arms draped around the solid, closed-cell foam so her upper body is safely above the water. There is extra rope, separate from the main line and probably used to hang the ring near the cabin. He yanks one end free and wraps it once around her chest and several times around the ring, tying it off. On shore, the people trying to help are being dragged by the strength of the river.

A fully dressed, soaking wet, wounded NCIS agent named Anthony DiNozzo probably weighs over two hundred and fifty pounds.

"Get her outta here!" he yells to the crowd, and lets go of the ring.

He hears screaming from the shore and then the current pulls him under.

To Be Continued…