Warnings: Same as the last few chapters.

A/N: Hi everyone, happy Saturday, here's new post to pass the time. Hope you enjoy!


Leah had fallen asleep in the easy chair with a book in her lap.

Tony got off the phone with McGee and went to shake her awake. "We need to go," he said before disappearing down the hall to retrieve Jack. When he got back, Leah was still sitting there, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Leah! We need to go, quickly!"

She could hear the sense of urgency in his voice and it propelled her to move. Leah stood up, grasping her book tightly in her arms and without a thought, followed Tony out to their car. "What's going on?" she asked, noticing the agents posted outside had the car ready to go for them.

"Our location might have been compromised," Tony said, buckling Jack into his seat. "We need to move to a new one."

"Compromised? How?" Leah asked. "No one knew we were here."

"Less talking!" Tony snapped at her. "And get in the car!"

Leah didn't argue with him. She climbed into the passenger seat, shuddering when Tony slammed the back door and her door shut. She wasn't sure what was going on but her heart was in her throat.

Tony jumped into the driver's seat, slammed his own door, and threw the car into drive. The small Victorian home disappeared from sight quickly as he drove off, speeding through the relatively abandoned streets of a Washington suburb.

She glanced at him, anxiously. "Where are we going?"

His jaw clenched, eyes staying focused on the road. "Another safe house."

"Was the other one really compromised?"

"Agent Brown is missing. Tim found his ID at our house with the front door wide open."

Leah grabbed onto the handle of the door and clutched it. She blinked her tears back. If Merchant could find where they lived, figure out a way to find where they had gone… there was no way to know if they were going to be safe at this new safe house. She wasn't sure she felt safe anywhere at this point.

Tony must have sensed how she was feeling because he reached over with one hand and sought out hers. He grasped her fingers between his and gave her hand a squeeze. "We're going to be okay, Leah. Trust me."

She nodded and clutched his hand. Leah trusted him with her whole life. She was not afraid to put her life into his hands, she was not afraid to put the lives of their son into his hands, because she knew, without a doubt, that Tony was going to protect them.


Ellie was surprised when Tony stepped off the elevator around three in the morning. After Gibbs had ordered Tony to move out of the safe house no one had heard or seen either the team leader or Tony; except for one phone call from Tony asking that Ellie monitor the burglar alarm at his house. They had both disappeared. "Where are Leah and Jack?"

Tony threw his back pack near his desk and ran his hands over the stubble that was covering his face. "Somewhere safe. What do we know so far, Bishop?"

"Agent Brown still hasn't turned up. Police were canvasing the area for him and Merchant," Ellie replied. She watched the tightness in his jaw for a second before continuing, "Still working on identifying the Jane Doe we discovered this morning. Should you… should you be here?"

"Merchant's targeting Leah to draw me out," Tony said between clenched teeth. "I'm not going to hide anymore, Ellie. If he wants me—let him come and get me."

Ellie wanted to ask how Leah felt about that, but held back. There was a silent rage still present in Tony's eyes, it wasn't that much different than before, but now… he seemed more focused. "We still have no idea where Merchant is."

Tony frowned and looked at the map of D.C on the plasma screen before him. "He's close, trust me. The key now is staying one step ahead of him, maybe even several. We've moved Leah and Jack; he doesn't know that yet. For all he knows they're still at the safe house."

"Do you really think Brown would have given up their location?"

"No, but we still need to play it safe—play it like he could have compromised us."

"Okay, well, if he's that close, we're going to get him, Tony," Ellie assured him.

"I know," Tony affirmed. He didn't need her rosy outlook, but he sure as hell appreciated it.

McGee came flying into the bullpen then, looking exhausted, frazzled. "Abby tried tracing Brown's phone; the battery has been removed. It's a waiting game now…"

Tony felt the same helplessness that he'd felt back in the winter, the ideology that he had absolutely no control—and that people were dying because of it—those emotions started to creep back in, but this time, Tony slammed the door shut, because this time he did have control. He was not about to let that dark side present in him win out. Not this time; not with the lives of those that he loved on the line. "We're gonna get him, Tim. Just like we got Ari, or Harper Dearing… Daniel Budd—all those men hurt our family, and you know what happens when someone hurts our family…"

He sighed and nodded. McGee blinked some sleepiness from his eyes. "Sorry, I've just been thinking… I've been thinking about what if… what if you didn't call me to go to the house to get Jack's puppy? Merchant might have shown up at the safe house and we could have arrested him."

Of course that thought had crossed the senior field agent's mind too, but Tony shook his head. "We don't know what Merchant is really planning, Tim. Listen, I did call you and you discovered Brown was missing. It gave us the chance to move Leah and Jack before Merchant could get to them."

"Every law enforcement officer in the city is on the lookout," Ellie reminded him. "If we stay focused… fueled with the right snack food and coffee, we're going to bring him in."

"It's three in the morning," McGee said, as if they needed a reminder, "Candy and coffee isn't the only thing we need. We need a bit of luck."

Something on Ellie's computer dinged. Her eyebrows shot up and she went to check it out. A thin smile spread across her face as she reported, "We might have just gotten it."

Tony and McGee exchanged glances as Gibbs charged into the squad room, tossing vests at his agents.

"Your alarm was tripped, DiNozzo," the team leader informed them. "You were right."

"Merchant went for the bait," the SFA said, shoulders stiffening. "I knew he would."

"Bait? What bait?" McGee stammered, looking at Tony.

"You didn't leave Leah at home did you?"

"No, McPanic," Tony said, calmly. "But I did park the SUV outside of the house."

"We made it look like Leah was home," Gibbs affirmed, watching his agents put on their vests. "LEO's are on their way."

McGee was still having a hard time putting the pieces together. "But we thought Merchant knew where the safe house was… why would he fall for something like this?"

Tony ran his tongue over his lips. His green eyes glanced up at Gibbs. The team leader nodded his head, slightly. "Brown showed up at a local ER. Battered, bruised, but alive. He called me right away. Merchant assaulted him at the house, dumped him on the side of the road when he realized it wasn't me. We think he only has a little bit more of his neurotoxin left and since everyone is on the lookout for him… he will not be able to get more."

Ellie followed his train of thought. "So, he's saving it up for you and Gibbs," she said. "Brown didn't give up the safe house…"

Gibbs shook his head. "He didn't. But it was after midnight and we weren't moving Leah and the kids again. We realized that Merchant had no idea where Leah was."

"I went home. Parked the SUV out front, went inside and enabled the alarm," Tony said. "That's when I called you, Bishop, to track it and alert us if it went off again."

"This whole thing was a trap?" McGee asked, eyes wide for a moment. "What if Merchant didn't take the bait?"

"No time to think about that," Gibbs said, gesturing towards his agents. "He took the bait. Now let's go get him."

"Boss," McGee said as the agents made their way to the elevator, "this has to be one of your craziest ideas yet…"

Gibbs chuckled and stepped into the elevator. "Not mine, McGee. It was Tony's idea."

McGee shot the SFA wide eyed look. This was something that the old Tony would do—was it possible that instead of hindering Tony's healing process this entire case had actually helped? "Your idea?" he repeated.

Tony laughed, silently. "Yeah. We were getting nowhere waiting around for Merchant to show up; it was time we laid a trap to catch him. Brown surviving and informing us that Merchant didn't have a clue where Leah was paved the way."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Tony," McGee muttered as the elevator sprung to life.

"Don't worry, Probie," Tony said, clamping his hand down on McGee's shoulder and squeezing it, "I do."