Warnings: Same as the last few chapters.
A/N: Hi everyone, sorry for the delay on this post. Hope you enjoy!
Guest-Thank you!
Tony made one more round through the house before he went into the bedroom for the evening. He made sure the locks on the window were right, the drapes were drawn and then closed the door, latching the lock. A little added protection, one more barrier for Merchant to get through, wouldn't hurt.
Leah sighed on the small, full sized bed, and rolled over onto her back. Her hair covered half her face and she was breathing deeply, evenly. Nearby, in a portable crib Jack dreamed peacefully; Lincoln sleeping at the base.
He took a deep breath, placed his weapon on the night stand and then stretched out next to his wife. Tony pushed the loose hair aside so he could see her whole face. Her eyes fluttered open when his touch stirred her awake. "Sorry," he whispered, "didn't mean to wake you up."
She smiled at him, still half asleep. It wasn't going to take a long time for her to go back to sleep… it had been a battle getting Jack down for the night, bathing him in the tight little tub had proven to be a challenge and he had drained her of any energy she had left at that point. "It's okay," she whispered back, with a smile. "I missed falling asleep with you next to me."
"The man who was sleeping on the sofa every night, Leah, wasn't me," Tony said, running his fingers through her hair.
"I know. This is the man I missed," Leah said, kissing him tenderly.
Tony wrapped her in his arms, watching as she snuggled close to him and fell back to sleep. He always had a strong desire to protect her, but as she slept, safely tucked against him, the desire only grew. He would do anything to keep her safe from Merchant.
In the last few months he had lost sight of the center of his world—Leah and his son. Tonight, they were clearly back in his focus, the entire reason he was still breathing and fighting.
You promised me, Gibbs, Tony's voice said somewhere in the dark recess of his mind, you promised me they would be okay, and now they're gone. My family's dead! I have nothing!
Gibbs sat up on the autopsy table, gasping for breath and somewhat startling Ducky and Jimmy who were getting ready to start their day nearby. Clutching at his chest, Gibbs took deep breaths like his therapist had taught him when he suffered a panic attack and he felt his heart rate returning to normal.
Ducky cleared his throat, "Good morning, Jethro. Are you… alright?"
"Fine," Gibbs said, shaking his head to clear it of the image of Tony covered in blood, grieving over the death of his family.
"You look like you could use some water, Agent Gibbs," Jimmy said.
"What I need is coffee," Gibbs snapped. And to find Tommy Merchant before he gets his bloody hands on Leah.
Jimmy smiled eagerly and said he could do that. Before Gibbs could protest the young man was off and running and there was really no stopping him.
Gibbs smiled, slightly, and then it faded as he became aware of all the aches and pains in his body. He groaned and massaged his neck.
Ducky clicked his tongue. "You really are getting too old to be sleeping on one of my tables, Jethro."
"Yeah," Gibbs agreed. "But it was a late night making sure the safe house and protection details were in place."
"Are Leah and Jack safe?" Ducky questioned, softly.
"Tony took them to the safe house this morning," the team leader confirmed. "Agents are posted outside around the clock."
The M.E could tell that the former marine was not comfortable; something was bothering him. His voice was strained and the fine lines on his face very defined with worry. "Do you fear this isn't enough, Jethro?" Ducky asked, softly.
Gibbs took a shuddering breath. "There's always the chance, Duck. This is putting a lot of unnecessary stress on Tony and Leah; he was actually getting somewhere, Ducky. He could see that he needed some help and was willing to seek it out."
Ducky nodded. "Certainly this case does not help Anthony on his road to recovery. If something were to happen to Leah or to his son, it could set him back." And that setback could come with deadly consequences.
Loud buzzers echoed off the cold, concrete walls and indicated that the guards were bringing their cooperating serial killer to meet with them.
Tim was exhausted. The team had been up most of the night pitching in on a manhunt for Tommy Merchant, but the guy was a former Eagle Scout—he knew how to go off the grid. At least they knew Leah and Jack were safe. At this point, that was all they knew… they were waiting around with baited breath for the next victim to pop up…
"So, you didn't catch him?" Ty Carter said with a sly grin. "Knew it wouldn't be that easy."
"Make it easier than," Tim snapped. "Did Merchant tell you where he was going?"
"Come on, man, I told you yesterday that Tommy only told me he was going after the damn Fed's wife," Carter said.
Ellie clenched her fists underneath the table. "Yes, you told us that already. But that couldn't have been the only thing that he told you, being in rehab together. If you cooperate with us we might be able to help you."
Carter scoffed and then laughed, harshly. "I'm already headed for the needle. Really, you have no carrots to dangle in front of me, lady."
Tim was starting to get angry. Tony would have snapped his neck by this point. "A young woman and a young child are in danger, the decent thing to do here is to help us catch the guy that wants to hurt them."
"I've been locked up, with no contact with the outside world, since yesterday," Carter snapped at him. "You know what that means right? No emails, no phone calls—no text messages. Now, that doesn't cover ESP…"
"Forget it, Ellie, we're not going to get anything out of this smart ass," Tim snapped, standing up. He signaled for the guard to take Carter back to his cell. "Guess he doesn't want a reduced sentence for life, instead of the death penalty after all."
Carter's dark eyes went wide. "Wait!" he shouted as the guards grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. "Merchant didn't give me an exact location, but he mentioned something about Spencer; said he was heading in that direction..."
Ellie was confused. "Spencer?"
Tim mulled it over and then it hit him. "Spencer Street; it's in Tony and Leah's neighborhood."
"So that confirms it—he's going after Leah."
"Yeah. We made the right move getting her into a safe house."
"How long until Merchant realizes though that Leah isn't at home?" Ellie questioned.
"No idea," Tim said with a shake of his head. His phone rang. Glancing at the screen he saw that it was from Gibbs. He felt his stomach drop, knowing what it meant—they had another body.
Leah had fallen asleep with Jack after lunch.
Tony wasn't thrilled with the silence in the house once his family went to take a nap, those silly voices came back, this time however, they were not talking about baby-proofing and paint colors…
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts—and the voices—Tony went into the kitchen and used the ancient Mr. Coffee to make a pot of his favorite brew. While he waited for the coffee pot to even begin to percolate—it was slower than a snail—he sat at the counter, tapping his fingers on it.
Outside he could see the outline of the agent posted in the backyard. Tony didn't feel safe. He felt out of control.
"Damn it!" Tony yelped when, suddenly, Leah's cell phone started ringing, cutting through the intense silence.
He jumped from his seat and found her purse, rummaging around in it for the phone. Tony didn't want it to wake the baby up from his nap—it taken Leah nearly an hour to get him to sleep. Receipts, lip gloss—other things he considered unnecessary went flying all over the counter, until he found the phone and hit decline.
Tony sighed in relief when the house went silent again and he didn't hear a little voice coming from the bedroom. He looked down at the mess he had made on the counter as the coffee pot finally started percolating.
Leah was normally so neat and tidy, but her purse… that was an entirely different story.
Gathering up the various papers, her wallet and checkbook, he started to put things away, until a folded up piece of paper caught his eye. It was notebook paper, so it wasn't a receipt, and he knew for a fact any lists that she made she kept on her phone or her iPad….
Curious he opened it up and felt his heart leap into his throat…
"Is that coffee I smell?" Leah asked, sleepily as she entered the kitchen. She opened a cabinet and found two mugs. "The beds aren't very comfortable, but at least there's coffee." When she turned towards the refrigerator to get the milk, she noticed him standing there, eyes filled with horror. "Anthony?"
"You found this? How long… how long have you been carrying this around in your purse?" Tony asked, hoarsely, holding up the suicide note he had written. Her eyes filled with tears and her lower lip quivered, but she didn't answer. "Leah! How long have you have been carrying this around?"
Leah swallowed her tears. "I found it… I found it while we were packing to leave the Cape. It was in… it was in with your clothes."
Tony had never wanted her to find it, once he had made the decision that suicide was not going to solve anything. He crushed the note up in his hand and went to her, gathering his wife into his arms and holding onto her, tightly. "I'm so sorry," he whispered in her ear, "I'm so sorry that you had to find that… that I wasn't strong enough…"
She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and buried her nose in the fabric. Why she had kept the note, she really wasn't sure. "Oh, Tony, you are strong enough—you didn't do it."
He let a few tears fall and clung to her as if his very life depended on it. "I'm fighting for you," he whispered, echoing sentiments he'd whispered to Ziva three years ago.
"I know, Anthony," Leah said, kissing his chest. "Let me fight with you."
That was something Ziva had not said to him three years ago. She had seen before he did that while they loved one another—they were not each others true love. Tony, he heard Ziva saying to him, she is your soulmate, your love, let her fight with you.
Leah was pulling away from him, she smiled at him through watery eyes and smoothed his hair back. "Are you ever going to let me at least trim your hair?"
Tony smiled at her, lovingly. "When this thing is over and we're back in our house, yes. But you don't think it makes me a little sexy?"
"Well… I do like it a little long… but you're getting close to eighties rock star here," Leah teased.
"Maybe I'm going to leave NCIS and start a cover band," Tony teased back.
She was about to tell him how good it was to hear him joking with her, when the lock on the front door jingled. Immediately the smile faded from his face, he had drawn his weapon and was shoving her behind him…
Gibbs stepped through the front door with a bag of groceries. "Hey. Thought you'd need supplies."
Tony sighed and put his weapon back in the holster. "Thanks, boss."
"Figured I'd come check in. Everything going okay?"
"Fine. We were just going to have some coffee."
"Guess I showed up at the right time."
Leah laughed, softly, and went to find another mug. She retrieved the pot that was finally done and poured Gibbs his signature black cup of coffee. She then went to prepare two more mugs the way she and Tony liked it.
Tony stared at his mug for a long while before he crossed the kitchen, slammed his foot down on the pedal that opened the garbage can, and furiously tore the piece of paper in his hand. He let the small pieces float into the trash and then he closed the lid, looking up at his wife.
Gibbs watched, puzzled, and then saw the tears in Leah's eyes. When Tony moved towards her, pressed his lips to hers in quick, hard kiss—he knew—Tony had destroyed the suicide note. He felt a tremendous sense of relief; Gibbs wasn't sure what had kept the younger man from going through with it… he was glad that something had stopped Tony.
"Mama?" Jack called from the bedroom. Little feet suddenly could be heard in the hallway and the little boy appeared. "Mama?"
"Hi, baby," Leah said, smiling at him. "I see you escaped that crib."
Jack rubbed his eyes, and whimpered a little. "Hungee," the little boy said, looking at Leah and then the two men.
Leah picked him up and found some fresh strawberries in the bag of groceries that Gibbs had brought by. She put Jack in the old high chair and began to cut the strawberries into bite sized pieces for him
Tony watched them, smiling, with a bittersweet look in his eyes. Leah and his son had been why he didn't follow through and kill himself, why he had torn the note up now. It broke his heart to think of what would happen to them if he wasn't around.
Gibbs cell rang. The team leader dug it of his pocket, and flipped it open. "Yeah, Gibbs," he answered. His face went taut as he listened and then with a heavy sigh, he said, "Don't touch anything. I'll be there soon."
