/N: Thanks for the patience you all had…..to reward you all: I'm giving you a longer chapter, then usually ENJOY! I also promise you all that updates will happen more frequently, since I have a bunch of free time coming along.

"Well Agent Gibbs, if your guy alive and responsive, does he know what happened?"

The moment the words left his mouth, James knew that it was over. The slight freeze of the man on the ground, and the slight tension that suddenly surrounded the other agent affirmed it. Slightly backing away, trying to look at much at ease as possible, he noticed that Gibbs was reaching for his gun. Mentally cursing James scanned for possible scenario's which would allow him to get away in one piece... unfortunately none came to mind. So when he suddenly heard some noise behind the other man he didn't waste a second, and he saw that Gibbs became distracted, he ran into the woods. This moment was not the right time to deal with them, he would have to wait for a little while longer.

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Gibbs thought he had the situation under control, James was not aware that he had been figured out. He stood between James and DiNozzo and he had the advantage of surprise, so when he heard a noise behind him he had become slightly distracted. He had not thought about the possibility of a second man, mentally cursing himself he tried to look behind him for possible threats that could endanger Tony while at the same time trying to keep an eye on James only to be confronted by a empty spot. Regrettably Gibbs had no more time to think abut it since the noise became louder, indicating that whoever was approaching was getting closer.

McGee had the unique opportunity to experience relief and fear at the same time. The scanner he used to track down Gibbs and Tony had first indicated that they were not together, but now showed that the two men had found each other. So that fact eased McGee's mind a bit, on the other side: the dots indicating the two man had not moved from their position, and since he was walking in the same area, McGee knew that there was absolute no cover for the two to hide from the storm. Thus McGee feared the worst and had persuaded the search and rescue team he dragged along to move faster.

Once again looking at the display of the scanner, McGee was happy to see that they had almost reached their destination. More or less running he arrived at the designated spot only to come to an abrupt halt when he saw the scene in front of him.

Gibbs was standing in front of a bloody figure that was lying on the ground (and since the scanner indicated that Tony and Gibbs where together, McGee assumed that the figure was Tony). But the stance Gibbs had adopted was frightening to say at least.

For all the world Gibbs looked like he would gladly tear anyone or anything apart, who as much as glanced at the man lying on the ground. Keeping his posture as non threatening as possible he tried to address his boss.

"Umm, boss……It's me……ummm…McGee???"

McGee actually could see the awareness seeping back into the other man's eyes before Gibbs reacted, in his usually cheerful way.

"I know who you are McGee. I hope you didn't come here all the way to tell me who you are. Tony is hurt pretty bad, and he needed to be in the hospital like an hour ago. Now get your ass down here McGee."

Almost falling in his haste to reach his boss, he rattled the information off that he knew:

"The rescue team was right behind me boss, they should be here any minute..." And just then he saw the condition of Tony. "Jesus boss what happened?"

"I don't know McGee, but we need to find out."

Very soon the rescue team arrived on the spot, quickly and professionally assessing the situation before they knelt down next to Tony to inventory and treat his worst injuries. The leader of the group remained aside to call for an ambulance to await the team's return. Then turning around he addressed both Gibbs and McGee "We need to get of this mountain, the storm is getting heavier again and we can't treat you agent's injuries here. We really need to get him into a hospital." Seeing that the other two men were not giving any objections he turned towards his men again. "Alright guys, lets stabilize him and get him into a hospital alright?"

The five minutes it took for everybody to get ready, were passing agonizing slowly for Gibbs. Every second it took the rescue team to prepare them for the way down, was a second that Tony did not have.

And perhaps that fear, the fear that after everything Tony went through they might be to late to save him, could explain why Gibbs wasn't more alert when one of the rescue members turned his back against him and busied himself with the I.V. that had been put in Tony's veins. He may have noticed the fact that the man wore clothing that he had seen earlier beneath his rescue jacket and he may even had noticed that when they finally went there was a strange lump of leaves on the side of their path. But all this went straight past Gibbs, who had his eyes glued to the still figure of Tony, the entire way of the mountain.

TBC……hmmm this isn't really my favourite chapter so far, but as always I'm interested in your opinion, so let me know ok? I promise to reply…bribe enough? ;)