AN: Wow! Something like one in every ten people who read the first chapter reviewed, which is a crazy-high ratio. You guys made my day! All the encouragement also slipped some Caf-Pow to my plot bunnies, because despite plans to work on my Scorpion fic today, I ended up finishing another chapter in this story.

NCIS: Act 2

Tony stayed two steps behind Gibbs as they entered the emergency room at University Hospital. Between the short detective and the little girl, there were a few too many people here and he didn't know how Gibbs was going to handle it.

As they walked in, Tony could hear an argument down the hallway.

"Oh, good. At least I'm in time for something today," Williams said. "Gracie, can you stay with Agent McGee here while I go talk some sense into Uncle Steve?"

"Danno, you know he won't listen," Grace said, and Tony laughed before he could help himself.

"Not helping, DiNozzo," Williams said.

"McGarrett not a big fan of hospitals?" Tony asked.

Gibbs looked back at him, the eyebrow lift as clear as a paragraph from Williams would have been.

"Yes, Boss," Tony said.

"What, you guys use telepathy?" Williams said.

"If Gibbs wasn't a functional mute, he'd be listing off all the times I've checked myself AMA or refused to go to the hospital," Tony said. He didn't even bother trying to duck from the headslap.

"What the-?" William said, as Grace chimed in, "Agent Gibbs, it's not nice to hit people."

Tony couldn't help but snort at that, and when he looked over, McHysterics looked like he might explode from trying to hold in laughter.

"Boss, if that's McGarrett arguing, you'd better see if we can help," McGee said, snickers escaping between his words. "Grace and I will stay out here."

Tony followed Gibbs and Williams down the hall to the bed with a curtain around it.

"Steven, you cannot expect these fine medical professionals to treat you the same as the ones at Queen's," Danny said as they approached. "It took three years for the doctors to realize you're a Super SEAL and not mortal like the rest of us."

"Danno?" A hand pulled the curtain aside to reveal a man wearing ripped, stained uniform slacks and bandages in four places. McGarrett's hair was longer than in his SRB photo, and it was spiky above his forehead. The tattoos on his arms were colorful and detailed, but the bruises covering his torso were going to compete with the rainbow on his arms before too long.

"NCIS," Gibbs said, holding up his ID. "Commander McGarrett, when the doctors are finished with you, we need to talk to you."

"Oh, I'm finished with him," the doctor said.

"I can go?" McGarrett started to stand, but wobbled as his feet hit the floor. He pressed a hand to the bed and stood, but Tony could see the lines of pain on his face.

"Babe, you're going to scare Grace like that, and you can't go outside in October with no shirt," Williams said. "This isn't Hawaii. Washington has actual weather."

Babe? Tony repeated to himself.

"I'll have one of the nurses bring you a set of scrubs," the doctor said. He thrust a clipboard at McGarrett. "If you insist on signing yourself out, you'll need to sign these forms."

"Yes, sir," Steve said, but Tony noticed he leaned back against the bed before raising the hand supporting himself to sign the forms.

"Ducky, Boss?" Tony said, keeping his voice low.

A fraction of a nod was all Gibbs gave him.

"Detective Williams-"

The detective cut Tony off. "Danny, please."

"Danny, let's take this back to NCIS," Tony said. "We won't all fit in the car. Why don't you and Grace go with McGee — he can hail a cab — and we'll wait here with Commander McGarrett."

"Yeah, Danno," McGarrett said. "Go with Gracie."

"This does not mean you're getting out of a lecture, Steven, don't even think that," Danny said. "And you're going to be the one to explain to Grace how you managed to get hurt and involved in a police investigation on her vacation."

McGarrett nodded like he'd expected that, and Tony wondered again what had happened earlier that morning.

Once Danny left, still muttering under his breath, Tony turned his attention back to McGarrett. "Need a hand?" he asked.

"I'm good." McGarrett set the clipboard down and straightened up, grimacing. "Where are those scrubs so I can go find this son of a bitch?"

"Commander, the only place you're going is NCIS headquarters," Gibbs said. "Until we know more about what happened and if you were targeted, we're not taking chances."

"Three men," McGarrett said. "White, so not Yakuza. They had special forces-level training — Krav Maga and some jujitsu. I knocked out one of them — he hit his head on the pavement — but the big guy held me down while the third man used my ribs as a punching bag. I managed to get a couple good kicks in, almost dislocated the big guy's kneecap. I heard somebody yell. That's when they dropped me and pulled out the stun gun."

"That must have been the person who called Metro, Boss," Tony said. "McGarrett, did you get a look at their faces?"

"Steve," he said. "Not really. They wore hoodies, and something pulled up over the lower part of their faces. They all had light eyes — blue or green. Dark hair, based on their eyebrows. No scars, no tats. Nothing useful."

"Rules out Mossad, at least," Tony said.

"Do your cases normally involve Mossad?" Steve asked.

"Probably as often as yours involve the Yakuza," Tony replied. "The Krav Maga made it a possibility."

"Did they speak?" Gibbs asked.

"No." McGarrett paused. "You're thinking accent?"

"I'm thinking we need to get you back to headquarters," Gibbs said. "DiNozzo."

"On it, Boss." Tony headed out to look for the nurse with scrubs, only to run into her. "Well, that was easy." He passed the scrubs to McGarrett. "As soon as you're ready, we'll go."

~NCIS~H50~LA~NCIS~H50~LA~

McGee paid the cabbie when they pulled up at the Navy Yard. Once they made it through security, he headed downstairs to the lab.

"Where are we going?" Danny asked.

"I thought while we sorted through the case, Grace could stay with our forensic scientist, Abby Scuito," McGee said. "She's great with kids, and that's probably a better place than either with Ducky and Jimmy in Autopsy or in the squadroom while we're talking about the case."

"How about that, Monkey? You want to stay with McGee's friend Abby?" Danny looked down at his daughter.

"What about Uncle Steve?" she asked.

"When they get back here, you can come up and see him, or he can come down to see you," McGee said. "But you'll have more fun with Abby. Her lab's pretty cool." He squatted down so he was looking at Grace. "And maybe she'll let your rabbit meet Bert."

"Who's Bert?" Grace asked. "Is he a bunny?"

"No, he's a hippo," McGee said, and stood as the elevator stopped.

They walked off and loud music filled the hallways.

"This is a workplace?" Danny said. "You people are all going to be deaf."

"Abby has issues with quiet spaces," McGee said. "She'll turn it off or down with Grace there, once she has somebody to talk to."

They walked into the lab, where Abby had her back to the door.

"Abbs, music," McGee called.

The sound lowered as Abby turned around. Her red T-shirt and plaid skirt were visible under her lab coat. McGee hadn't seen the red knee socks with black skulls before, but Abby had on her favorite spiked collar and cuffs.

"You're…" Danny put his hands over Grace's ears. "McGee, I have spent years telling my daughter not to wear short skirts and tight clothes and makeup, especially around boys, and you want me to leave her with-"

"Danno, I can still hear you," Grace said.

"Yeah, Danno, we can hear you," Abby said. McGee recognized that look on her face and tried to do damage control.

"Abby, this is Detective Danny Williams from Hawaii and his daughter, Grace. Danny's Commander McGarrett's partner. We were hoping Grace could stay down here instead of having to sit around in the squadroom while we talk about what happened to her Uncle Steve." McGee glared and wished he could channel Gibbs. "They've had a rough morning."

"Danny, Grace, this is Abby Scuito, one of the best forensic scientists in the world," McGee added.

"Sorry, Ms. Scuito," Danny said. "I didn't mean to-"

Abby raised one eyebrow.

"Abbs," McGee said.

"It's nice to meet you," Abby said. "Grace, why don't we go back into my office? McGee, don't move."

Grace hesitated, but Danny motioned her to go, and McGee breathed a sigh of relief. Now to see how badly Abby was going to rip into Danny.

But when she walked back into the main lab, she ignored Danny. "McGee, I'm still hunting down McGarrett's fellow SEALs. The ones that are out have pinged, but anybody who's still serving is locked. Leon's helping me unlock them. I'll let you know when I find something."

"Thanks, Abbs." McGee kissed her cheek.

"You're not Gibbs, Timmy," she said, but she was smiling, so McGee figured he'd at least stopped Hurricane Abby for now.

By the time he and Danny made it back to the squadroom, Gibbs, Tony, and McGarrett were just getting off the elevator.

~NCIS~H50~LA~NCIS~H50~LA~

Tony joined McGee at his desk. "He freak when he saw Abby?" Tony whispered.

"Oh, yeah," McGee replied. "I definitely owe her a Caf-Pow or six."

"You two finished?" Gibbs said.

"Yes, Boss," they replied in unison.

"Whataya got, McGee," Gibbs asked.

McGee sent some information to the plasma, and Tony moved over to read it. "Boss, Abby's got some of McGarrett's old teammates, and she's looking for the rest. Director Vance is helping her unlock the classified ones," McGee said.

"Why is everything with you people classified?" Danny asked. "Steven, help these nice Navy cops out and tell them who they're looking for."

"Oh, I'm supposed to know who was trying to kill me?" Steve said. "It wasn't the Yakuza, and it probably wasn't Wo Fat. Beyond that, I don't know who would want me dead who hasn't already tried to kill me."

"Wo Fat?" Tony asked. "Sounds like part of a pupu platter."

"He's an international arms dealer and criminal mastermind who somehow seems to always have a get out of jail free card," Danny said.

"Oh, goody. I love it when we get international arms dealers for lunch," Tony said. "McHacker?"

"I can. Boss?"

"Do it, Tim."

Tony noticed McGarrett starting to sag a bit on one side and rolled his chair toward him. "Sit before you fall over and we have to get Ducky up here."

"The one McGee said was in Autopsy?" Danny said.

"Dr. Mallard is our medical examiner," Tony replied. "Also, he talks even more than you do, Williams."

McGee snorted. "Pot, meet kettle," he said as Danny started to protest.

McGarrett started to laugh, then clutched his side, teeth gritted. Tony was impressed — broken ribs were painful, and his meds couldn't have kicked in yet, but he never made a sound.

"Knock it off," Gibbs said. "McGee."

"On it, Boss."

As McFirewall started hacking, Tony looked at Gibbs, then McGarrett.

"Why were you wearing dress blues?" he asked.

"Ceremony at the Academy," McGarrett said. "A classmate of mine was receiving several awards — all posthumous. Since the dates coincided with the end of Grace's vacation, it was a good chance to shut Danny up about the wonders of New Jersey."

"Just because I prefer cities and asphalt to pineapple-infested hell holes-"

"Enough." Gibbs glared, and it shut them up. Although Danny wasn't cowed, and that was interesting right there, to find somebody Gibbs didn't scare, especially somebody who clearly wasn't military. Tony wondered what McGee could dig up on him, but made himself focus on the case.

"How long ago did you make your plans?" Tony asked.

"July," McGarrett said. "Rachel, Grace's mom, already had the trip to England planned when I got the word about the ceremony, and it only took a few days to work out the details."

"Rachel's your wife?" Tony asked Danny.

"Ex-wife," Danny said. "Step-Stan had business on Hawaii, so I followed my daughter halfway across the country, only to get hijacked by this Neanderthal into his task force. This is the first time Grace has been back to see my family since Rachel and Step-Stan moved almost four years ago."

"We'll try to clear this up so you can keep your plans," Gibbs said. "McGarrett, what was your area of expertise?"

"Classified," Steve said.

"Commander, we have top-secret clearance." Gibbs set his coffee cup down.

"Danny doesn't," Steve said. "And even if you do, most of my missions were eyes-only."

"I can get into the Office of Special Projects in LA for that case last year, but you can't tell me what you did in the SEALs?" Danny said.

"You were in OSP?" McGee looked up. "Callen's team?"

Danny nodded. "This goof was off ghost-hunting when we caught a case that involved them," he said. "Chin and I ended up in LA trying to stop a religious nutcase from causing a global smallpox pandemic. I've seen OSP, and I've met Hetty."

"And lived to tell the tale?" Tony said. "Impressive."

Before Gibbs could glare again, Ducky joined them in the bullpen.

"Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"Jethro, I do believe I have some information that would be of use," Ducky said. "One of Commander McGarrett's former teammates died six days ago. It was ruled a heart attack, but when I had the autopsy file sent over, it continued a peculiarity. The heart failed because the cardiac muscle cells collected an excess of fluid and burst."

"Ducky, did you just say the guy's heart exploded?" McGee said.

Tony saw McGarrett stiffen, and Gibbs noticed it too.

"McGarrett," Gibbs said.

"The dead man is either Master Chief Ollie Wardell or Lt. Marc Singer," McGarrett said.

"Lt. Singer," Ducky said. "My dear boy, how did you know?"

"I know what mission this involves," McGarrett said, turning to Gibbs. "Highly classified. Even I don't know all the details."

"Let me guess, Operation Strawberry Fields," Danny said.

"Yes, actually," McGarrett said.

"Seriously?" Danny said. "You're not just telling me it's classified?"

"McGee," Gibbs said.

"On it, Boss," he said. "Wo Fat's not CIA. Lodestone's been shut down, and there's no other op I can find that involves him."

McGarrett winced as he straightened up. "Did you just hack the CIA?" he asked.

When McGee smirked, Tony had to stifle a grin.

"Let's just say we have some experience with that department of the CIA," Tony said. "We knew where to look."

"If we're going to talk about this op, we need a secure room," McGarrett said.

"MTAC," Gibbs said. "DiNozzo, show McGarrett and Williams to the elevator."

"Yes, Boss." Tony offered McGarrett a hand, which he refused. But when Danny started mother-henning him, McGarrett rolled his eyes, but let Danny help him up and leaned on him as they made their way slowly to the elevator. When they finally got to MTAC, Tony wasn't surprised to see Vance there.

"Commander McGarrett, Detective Williams. I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances," Vance said. "Please, have a seat." He looked over to McGee. "Bring it up, Agent McGee."

When Vance opened a conference call, Tony wondered who he was bringing in before even they had been briefed.

"Leon, what was so bloody important that I had to clear ops?" said the small woman on the screen.

"It's nice to see you, too, Hetty," Vance said. "We believe Operation Strawberry Fields has been compromised."

"Oh, bugger," Hetty said. "That does put rather a nasty slant on the case I was telling you about earlier, doesn't it."

"What case?" McGarrett asked.

"Since I see Detective-Sergeant Williams there, I assume you, young man, are Commander McGarrett," she said. "Agent Hanna speaks highly of you, but I suppose being paired with a cheeky bastard like Detective Williams would have its effects."

"You must be Hetty," McGarrett said. "Sam's told me many stories, and I think I'm beginning to believe a few more of them now."

"Not that I mind old home week, but don't we have a top-secret SEAL mission that's been compromised, one dead SEAL and one severely beaten SEAL," Tony said. "McGarrett, are any more SEALs from this op in danger? Is the other man you mentioned the only other person on the team?"

"There were four of us," McGarrett said. "Sam Hanna was the fourth SEAL."