Chapter: 2: How to Save a Life
Setting: during season eight, episode tag 'Dead Air', AU after that
Summary: What if when Ziva and McGee had turned off the radio, Tony had ended up in a deadly situation and needed their help? Will his teammates realize something is wrong in time to save both their partner and the victim? And what happens when the real reason why Tony didn't have any back-up is revealed? Will Team Gibbs survive the truth? Or will it be the end of them?

Chapter Word Count: 4,631

A/N: Wow…I never expected such a huge response! I'm actually a little overwhelmed *blushes* and I really hope I don't disappoint you guys.

The title for this chapter is from The Fray's 'How to Save a Life'. The song popped up in my mind when I was putting the finishing touches on this and I decided to use it. The song might not fully mesh with the chapter, but I still think it was perfect.

A/N 2: oh yeah…I forgot to mention this in chapter one, but this will contain hints of slash of the Gibbs/Tony kind, seeing as how I'm a huge fan of that pairing. So…if that bothers anyone, then please, stop reading.

Reviewers for last chapter:
kunoichi; keembur; CPD1988; KensiAnalise; NiceStories; Cearra; CALLEN37; dawnzy007; prince-bishop; moliviaj; Sambu; tamy-blue; smush68; Rainbow2007; guest; Polley9; CriticalThinker; Darkwriter69; angelscatie; Midnightstarlight23; lulubell76; gibbsandtonysbabe; MISSTV; apraino; tansysam; angeleyes46; Stephanie2233; lovinlife48; Midlo; moira4eku; mcgowang; marie (guest); guest; Natalie (guest); Thephoenix1996; Psyche53; Donna (guest); vinkunwildflowerqueen; Pantherbabe4ever; blueimmortal; Myboys3; Calgal48 (guest); ban-chan100; guest; AlexDN; Gibbs4eva; lvdmad; Gloworm41; NickTonyK; newgal; chinapps22; srushton24; ladykale1985; Jebeth; lauraeb; guest; DS2010; Luvliacd; cajunghost; Klecky; karlii; snlf; dixie326; PhoenixWytch; kzaboutu (guest)

CriticalThinker: thank you for your review and I'm glad you read this story. While I appreciate your criticism (it was constructive) I think there are a few things I should point out: Tony dropping his gun; I know it's not standard procedure, however, I did write, just before he did it, that he didn't even think about what he was going to do. Yes he knows he shouldn't have dropped the gun, but there is a reason his mind just went straight to action and not proper procedure.

As for Gibbs moving Tony; he knew his SFA was seriously hurt and that he couldn't move him, but he also knew that Tony wouldn't have lasted for the ambulance to get there. And as for the LEOs, they had no idea what was going on; Tony couldn't call for back-up and Ziva and McGee had turned off the radio so they had no idea what was going on. As for Abby; her part will be explained later on. And another thing; what you said, about my having Tony drop the gun being so stupid you almost stopped reading; why exactly would you jump to that first? Did it not occur to you to think;

'Oh…well maybe there's a reason the author did it like that. I'll wait and see before I cast any judgement.'

I'm not bashing your review because like I said, it really was constructive criticism, but I had to explain. Hope you understand and are not offended or anything.

Darkwriter69: I didn't. And as for Abby, don't worry, things will be explained later on. I'll come back to it

Disclaimer: NCIS and all its affiliates belong to its creators Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill, and CBS Television. No trademark or copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from this. In other words, I DO NOT own.

"Speaking"
'Thinking'
"Speaking over the phone"

Original Posting Date: Friday 24th August, '12.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive—Sir Walter Scott

As Gibbs raced through the streets, he noticed the police cars blocking off the opposite traffic at every intersection and was thankful for it as his thoughts were not on his driving, but on the man lying in his back seat.

The only thing he was concentrating on was getting Tony to the hospital as fast as possible so that he could get the help he needed. He could tell that his agent was near death's door and that terrified him. He wasn't the kind of man to admit something like that, to admit such fear, but right now, that's all he was feeling; for the first time in as long as he could remember, he was scared.

The thought of Tony dying scared him. The last time he had felt this way was when Tony had had the plague; back then, he had felt so helpless and the entire time he had been locked in quarantine, all he had been able to think about was that Tony was dying, would die, if they didn't find a way to save him. It wasn't until he had been told that the Italian only had a 15% chance of surviving, that he had allowed his hope to build and he had felt his world restore itself.

He knew then though that the 15% was only that; a slight chance. You had to want to live. So he had done the only thing he could think of; he had ordered Tony not to die. He knew it would work because he gave Tony an order, the younger man always followed, sometimes blindly, but he did and he did it because he trusted Gibbs, he had faith in him and Tony hated letting him down.

Glancing up, Gibbs stared at his agent through the rear view mirror and silently ordered him not to die.

Ten minutes later, he was pulling into the emergency entrance at Bethesda. Before he was even out of the car, doctors were already there with a stretcher and were opening the back door to get Tony out.

Gibbs got out of the car and went to help them with Tony.

"Careful," the doctor instructed as they gently lifted Tony from the back seat and place him on the stretcher. "Get him inside and directly to ER 3."

As Tony was being rushed inside, Gibbs turned back to his car and lifted the little girl out. Keeping his arms secured around her, he quickly made his way inside. He flashed his badge at the receptionist's desk and asked where Tony had gone, not even bothering to hear the rest of whatever the woman was saying.

He took a seat in the waiting room and shifted the little girl in his arms so that she would be more comfortable. Glancing down at her, he frowned a little. She hadn't spoken one word since they left the house.

"Is she ok?" a nurse asked, gaining Gibbs' attention.

"What?" Gibbs narrowed his eyes at her.

The nurse gestured to the little girl in his arms, "she's covered in blood and there's a bruise on her cheek. Let me take her and get her checked out." She reached out to grab the girl's arms.

The little girl whimpered and turned so that her face was buried in Gibbs' chest and so that her arms could wrap around his neck.

"It's ok," the nurse cooed, but the girl shook her head and clung to Gibbs.

"I'll do it," Gibbs said as he stood up and made a motion for the nurse to go. When she did, he followed.

Gibbs cleaned the blood off of the little girl and held her as the nurse tended to the bruise on her cheek. After they were done, Gibbs headed back to the waiting room. As he walking, he pulled out his phone and called Ducky, letting him know what was going on and to get Abby and then, he called Ziva and McGee. When he was done, he sat down in the chair with a sigh.

He tipped his head back on the wall and closed his eyes. He opened them when he felt the little girl shifting around until she was resting her head on his chest and he closed his eyes again.

"Agent Gibbs?" a man's voice called out and Gibbs opened his eyes to see a doctor standing in front of him.

"I'm Doctor Scott Hale," the man said. "I'll be one of the doctors working on Agent DiNozzo."

Gibbs straightened up in his seat, "Talk to me doc. How bad is it?"

"I'm going to be blunt," Dr. Hale sighed as he took the seat next to Gibbs. "Agent DiNozzo is suffering from a multitude of injuries, and at least half of them are life threatening."

As the doctor outlined each of Tony's injuries, Gibbs felt something cold settle at the bottom of his stomach. Just how the hell did Tony manage to stay alive?

"We've already contacted Dr. Pitt," Dr. Hale continued.

"Why?" Gibbs interrupted.

Dr. Hale looked at the agent in front of him, "Agent DiNozzo has severe internal bleeding and on top of that, a broken rib split off and part of it pierced his left lung. In his notes, it says that Agent DiNozzo survived the plague a few years ago, however the experience left him with scarred lungs. Because we'll need to intubate him, we had to call in Dr. Pitt who was his doctor at the time and therefore, is more familiar with Agent DiNozzo's medical work.

"Agent Gibbs, I'm going to be honest. Things are not looking good for Agent DiNozzo. His heart stopped twice before we managed to get him stable enough to operate on. If he pulls through the surgery, he'll be in critical condition and if he doesn't stay stable during the next twenty-fours, then his chances of surviving this will drop. Honestly, I'm not even sure how he managed to hold on for this long."

"He wouldn't defy orders that's why," a new voice said and both men looked up and saw Dr. Pitt heading here.

"Brad," Dr. Hale stood up, "that was quick."

"I was already on my way here for a consultation when I got the call," Brad shook Hale's hand before turning to Gibbs. "Agent Gibbs, it's good to see you again, although the circumstances suck."

"Brad," Gibbs nodded.

"So, you wanna tell me what went down?" Brad asked as he sat next to Gibbs.

Gibbs explained what he knew, which was not much, and then fell silent.

"Well," Brad's face was grim, but there was still amusement there, "at least now we know why he's still alive."

"What do you man?" Hale asked.

"From what Gibbs just said," Brad nodded to the little girl who was sleeping in the agent's arms. "Tony was protecting her. His body may have been shutting down, but he fought it until he knew help had arrived. He held on to keep her safe and because he knew that Gibbs was coming."

"Doctors?" a nurse called down to them, "We're ready."

Gibbs stood up when he saw Tony's body on the bed between the nurses and doctors. "Where are you taking him?"

"OR three is the only one that's free on this floor," Dr. Hale said as he stood up as well, "and to be honest, we can't wait to take the elevator up two more floors."

Brad stood up and looked at Gibbs. "Don't worry Gibbs. Tony's a fighter. He didn't give up then, and he won't give up now."

"Take care of him," Gibbs nodded as he sat back down, readjusting the little girl in his arms.

"I will," Brad nodded and then turned and left, with Dr. Hale following.

Letting out a deep sigh, Gibbs fell back against the wall. 'Shannon, if you can hear me…keep him safe for me.'

~…~

Abby's hands were clenched tightly together as she sat in the passenger seat of Ducky's car. When Gibbs had called her earlier for a trace on Tony's phone, panic had settled in; panic because somehow she had known that something wasn't right. She had felt it long before Gibbs had called her.

She had known that Tony and the others were in the field and had been extremely concerned about them. A few times she had wanted to call them, but she had stopped herself, knowing that even though they were doing a routine canvass, they didn't really need her calling all the time just to check up on them. But then Gibbs had called and the panic just came right in and settled down.

After they had hung up, she had paced her lab, hoping Gibbs would call her back, but he hadn't. And then, almost a half an hour after he left, Ducky came up and got her, telling her that Tony had been seriously hurt and they needed to get to Bethesda.

The panic became fear. Just from Ducky's tone, she knew it was bad and that scared her. They couldn't lose Tony. She couldn't lose Tony. They may not have gotten along when they had first met—it was mostly on her part because she had felt like Gibbs was replacing her—but then, things had changed and they had gotten close pretty quickly. Tony was like an older brother to her and she was sure, she knew him better than anyone, save for Gibbs.

'He has to be ok…he just has to be,' she thought furiously as she fought to stop the tears from falling. She jumped when she felt the touch on her hand and looked down before looking over at Ducky.

"Have faith Abigail," Ducky said gently without taking his eyes off the road. "Our Anthony is a fighter. Believe in him."

"He's right Abby," Palmer said from the backseat. "Tony's too stubborn to give up so easily."

Abby let out a watery chuckle and squeezed Ducky's hand, hoping and praying they were right. But she knew, deep down, that it would be a battle. Tony's had too many brushes with death, more than anyone else should, and she hoped that his luck held out once more.

Minutes later, Ducky pulled up in front of the hospital, and Abby was out the car before it came to a complete stop.

Ducky and Palmer hurried after her, and caught up to her just as she got inside. The three of them quickly made their way down the hallway, passing the receptionist without a word, and headed to where Gibbs had told Ducky he was.

Abby was the first to see him.

"Gibbs!" Abby called out as she ran over to him. She was about to throw herself in his arms, but came to a complete stop when she saw the little girl he was holding.

"Hey Abbs," Gibbs said softly, not wanting to wake the little girl.

"Jethro," Ducky gave a nod as he and Palmer came up to them.

"Ducky," Gibbs said on a sigh before he sat back down.

The three sat down around him.

"What happened Jethro?" Ducky asked.

"I don't even know," Gibbs let out a noise of frustration.

"This is Tony," Abby said, "I mean, it's not that bad, is it? He'll recover and go back to doing what he does best."

Gibbs could hear she was about to start rambling, which is what she did when she was nervous or excited or scared.

"The doctors don't think so Abby," Gibbs said, hating to be the one to tell her this.

"Jethro," Ducky looked at his friend and saw the fear that he was trying so hard to hide, "What happened?"

"I told you Duck," Gibbs near growled, "I don't know!"

"Then what do you know?" Ducky asked instead.

With a sigh, Gibbs told them what he knew. When he was done, tears were running down Abby's cheeks, Palmer was pale and Ducky had closed his eyes.

"What do the doctors think?" Palmer asked, and for the first time, he was able to speak to Gibbs without stuttering.

"Tony has to pull through the surgery and then he has to make it through the night," Gibbs said, "Dr. Hale doesn't think he'll survive."

"Well," Ducky cleared his throat, "We know Anthony and he is a fighter. He won't give up so easily."

"That's what Brad said," Gibbs nodded.

"Brad?" Palmer looked confused.

"Dr. Pitt," Abby whispered, "he's the doctor that treated Tony when he had the plague."

"Oh," Palmer went quiet. Back then, he had been too busy worrying about Tony to even remember his doctor's first name.

"And who is this little girl?" Ducky asked, gesturing to the girl Gibbs had.

"I don't know her name," Gibbs admitted, "I found her with Tony. It seems as if he was protecting her. She didn't want to leave him, so she came with me."

They were all quiet for a few minutes before Abby shot up.

"Where're Timmy and Ziva?" Abby asked, "Are they ok? They're not hurt, right? Because Tony being hurt is enough and I don't think I can handle-"

Gibbs reached out a hand to touch her arm, "Abbs, breathe. And they're ok. I had them stay behind to secure and clear the scene and to transport the suspect back to Headquarters."

Abby took a deep breath to calm down. Seconds later, her brows furrowed, "How are they ok, but Tony's fighting for his life? Weren't they with him?"

The moment the question left her mouth, Gibbs tensed. That was what had been bothering him about the scene. McGee and Ziva had shown up after him, and neither one looked as if they had been in a fight. Looking back, he remembered when he was speeding to Tony, and the car that he had seen parked on the side of the road. It had been their car.

"They weren't with him," the words slipped from Gibbs' lips.

"What?" Abby frowned at him.

"When I got there," Gibbs explained, "Tony was on the floor with this little one tucked to his side. McGee and Ziva showed up after me."

"But," Palmer spoke up, "if they weren't with Tony, then where were they?"

Gibbs didn't have an answer for Palmer because that was a question he himself needed an answer for. The only people who could answer that question weren't around; Tony was in surgery and McGee and Ziva were back at Headquarters.

One way or another, he would find out what really happened out there. He just hoped that the answer he got, was not what he knew happened deep down.

~…~

Back at the house, McGee and Ziva watched as the local coroner placed the woman's body in the body bag before zipping it close and taking it to the van.

McGee and Ziva watched with heavy, guilt-laden eyes; from what the coroner had told them, the woman had died just before Gibbs had gotten to Tony. And that meant, if they had been doing their jobs, if they hadn't turned off the radio, they would've heard Tony's cries for help and the woman would still be alive.

The two looked up when one of the officers walked over to them. The local LEOs had shown almost ten minutes after Gibbs had left with Tony and the little girl, and had commandeered the scene.

"We'll be taking him in," the officer said, "and try to find out what went down here."

McGee and Ziva exchanged looks.

"We can't let you do that," McGee shook his head.

"He's not Naval or connected to the Naval," the cop said.

"We know," Ziva replied, "However, he did assault one of our agents and that makes him NCIS property."

The cop opened his mouth to reply, but McGee cut him off.

"Look," McGee said, "we're taking him back with us. If you have a problem with it, have your superiors call my boss. I'm sure he'd love to hear how the local cops want to take the guy that attacked his agent away from us."

The cop flinched because he knew who their boss was and going against Jethro Gibbs was not something he wanted to do. So, with obvious reluctance, he nodded and walked away.

McGee let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"We should go," Ziva said and McGee nodded in agreement.

After securing the suspect, they took him back to their car and shoved him in the backseat. As they headed back to NCIS, McGee and Ziva were quiet. The man was still unconscious and they were both happy for that as they welcomed the silence. Each was lost in their own thoughts, their minds still on the scene they had walked into.

They hadn't thought that something like that would've happened. It was just supposed to be a routine scout, nothing was supposed to happen. But something did; Tony got hurt. While they were playing their prank, their teammate had been fighting for his life.

A groan from the backseat drew their attention and they both glanced back to see the man waking up.

"What the hell?" the man mumbled as he straightened up in the seat. He shifted and groaned when he realized his hands were bound. His eyes opened and he took in his surroundings, noticing that he was in the back of a car.

"Where the hell am I?" he demanded, "And who are you people?"

"We're NCIS," McGee said, "and you're our suspect. We're taking you to our Headquarters."

"On what grounds?" the man demanded.

"Assaulting a fellow agent, murder," McGee stated, "do you want me to continue?"

"Murder?" the man paused, "So, the bitch died, didn't she? Good riddance; never liked her anyways."

The man started to shake his head, but stopped when he felt the pain. Instead, he shifted even more and let out a chuckle, "so…that cop's still alive? Too bad. You know, he put up a really good fight. Kept calling for his teammates, McGee and what was the other name? Tiva? Viva? Whatever," the man shrugged with another laugh. "Taunted him as I kicked his ass; told him no one was coming. It was funny."

But neither one of the agents in front found it funny. Instead, the two exchanged horrified looks and the guilt that had been eating at them, increased immensely. Tony had tried to contact them, but he couldn't, because they had turned off the radio.

Their teammate had been expecting them to be there for him, to have his six, but they hadn't. They had let him down, and now, not only had someone died, but Tony was in the hospital fighting to stay alive.

He groaned at the pain shooting up his body, "He got me good though. It was a good fight; never thought a cop could fight like that."

Ziva's hands shook as she turned the car into the NCIS parking lot. The man's words echoed inside her brain. Tony had called out for her, and McGee, but they didn't answer. They couldn't. Why? Because they had wanted to play a prank; they had wanted peace and quiet from his ramblings and so had turned off the radio.

How could they have been so stupid? How could they have messed up so badly? How could they, could she, justify what they did to Tony? What they had done went against every protocol they knew. They had left Tony without backup.

She knew that when the truth came out, everything would change. Gibbs would be furious. She might even lose her job and that thought scared her. She loved being an NCIS agent; she loved being here and being around these people.

'I cannot lose them. They are my family,' Ziva thought despondently. She didn't want to lose it all, but because of her actions, she just might.

Ziva wasn't the only one thinking about what had happened. McGee was too. He still couldn't get the image of a bloodied and broken Tony out of his mind.

'How the hell did this happen? Nothing was supposed to happen!' McGee thought, 'It was just a prank. I never meant for it to end up like this! Tony…Tony needed help…he called out to us for help and we didn't hear him. We turned off the radio to get away from his talking and he ended up paying the price. Now, he's at the hospital, fighting to stay alive.'

"He's gonna be ok," McGee muttered softly, "he has to be. If he's not ok, then I don't think I will be; none of us will be."

And he knew that was the truth. They all had their place in their little family: Ducky was the grandfather, the one you went to talk or for someone to listen; Abby was like the youngest, the one most with the most child-like innocence, the one you wanted to protect; Palmer was like the quirky brother; he was computer genius, Gibbs was the mentor, the father-figure, Ziva was tough big sister who would protect you at all times, but Tony, Tony was the heart of the team.

He kept them going; when things got too rough, he'd take their minds off of it; he'd help them deal with stuff in his own, unconventional way. He was serious when needed, but was also not above playing pranks and joking around to liven up a mood.

When Tony got hurt, everyone rallied together to protect him, to help him and they would do anything and everything to make sure the person that hurt him got what they deserved; that they understood it wasn't ok to mess with one of their own.

And at that thought, he paled. He and Ziva had left Tony; they were supposed to have each other's six, but they didn't. Tony had needed help, and had called for them, but he didn't get it because they hadn't been listening. They had cut off communications between him and them and had left him out in the cold.

'Oh God,' McGee moaned mentally, despair moving through him like hot lava, 'It's our fault. Because of what we did, Tony ended up in danger with no way out and a woman lost her life.'

The faces of Gibbs and Abby flew across his mind and his heart started pounding; when it came out, what they did, he would have to face and angry Gibbs and Abby and he knew, his place on the team, and possibly as an NCIS agent was in jeopardy.

As he and Ziva left the car and took the suspect inside, the only thought on both of the agents' minds, as selfish as it was, was the hope that somehow, the truth wouldn't come out.

~…~

After Ziva and McGee left the suspect in an interrogation, and informing the Director of what happened, the two made their way to the hospital.

As they made their way to where they knew the others were, Ziva stopped walking and stopped her teammate as well.

"Ziva?" McGee turned to her in confusion.

"We need to talk McGee," Ziva asked, her dark eyes searching his face.

"Talk about what?" McGee frowned.

"What we are going to tell Gibbs about what happened today," Ziva explained. "He will ask and we need to know what to say."

McGee kept the frown for a few more seconds before his eyes widened in shock, "You want us to lie to Gibbs?"

"No!" Ziva hissed, "I do not like the idea of lying to him, but I also do not like the idea of losing my job. I think it would be more prudent if we averted any mention of what really happened, at least, until Tony is better."

McGee stared at her for a few minutes, his brain processing what she was saying. If they told Gibbs what really happened, they would lose their jobs, but he still didn't like the idea of lying to Gibbs either. He understood what she was getting at, and as much as he hated it, he had to agree.

He let out a huge sigh, "You're right. I don't want to lie to Gibbs, but if we say anything, we could, and most definitely would, lose our jobs. The three of us are the only ones who know about the radio." He paused and he hated himself for what he was about to say next, "Tony was hurt badly, and there's a chance he might not remember. So, like you said, we won't say anything until we know for sure where Tony stands."

Immediately, the guilt clawed at him, but he resolutely pushed it away.

Ziva nodded, her dark eyes were swimming with emotion, though most of it was unreadable to McGee. "I agree. I do not like this, but it is the best decision we have."

"Why borrow trouble?" McGee quipped and when Ziva stared at him in confusion, he just shook his head. "Nothing. Come on; let's find the others."

Nothing more was said as they resumed their search.

Five minutes later, they saw the others.

Palmer was the first to spot them. "Hey guys," he called out, alerting the others to their presence.

"Any word on Tony?" McGee asked as he came a stop next to Ducky's chair.

"No," Abby shook her head, her light green eyes shimmering with tears, "he's still in surgery."

"Report," Gibbs demanded of the two of them, keeping his voice low enough not to disturb the little girl in his arms.

"The guy, Franklin Morrison, is sitting in an interrogation room at NCIS," McGee explained, "Unfortunately, his wife, Luciana Morrison neé Romano, didn't make it. The coroner said she had been dead for at least an hour, which means she died just before you got there. The little girl," he nodded to Gibbs' arms, "is Vitalia and she's four years old. Both mother and daughter have been in the hospital five times over the last six months for a variety of bruises. Morrison has been arrested a few times for domestic abuse, but the wife always dropped the charges."

"So Tony walked in on the guy beating up his wife?" Palmer asked, brows furrowing behind his glasses.

"Looks that way," McGee nodded, holding back the flinch at Tony's name.

"But why didn't Tony call for help?" Abby asked, the tears in her eyes running down her cheeks in tiny rivulets.

McGee and Ziva exchanged panicked glances before McGee shrugged, "I don't know."

"Is there anything else?" Gibbs asked, his steel blue eyes boring into McGee.

McGee had to swallow back the whimper of fear; the look in his boss' eyes seemed to see right through to his soul and it felt like Gibbs knew that he was lying to him, that there was something else he was holding back. But he knew Ziva was right; he couldn't say anything, so instead, he lied.

"No boss, there's nothing else."

Gibbs let out a soft growl and sat back in the chair. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

An hour later, the quietness of the waiting room was broken by the sound of Gibbs' cell phone ringing. He pulled it from his pocket and checked the ID. When he saw it was the director, he glared and contemplated not answering, but he did, only to reply tersely, "Not now Leon," before hanging up.

Another hour passed with no word about Tony, and they took that as hope that everything was going well. Until they heard the words that sent fear through them all;

"Code blue, OR three; Code Blue OR three."

Gibbs' eyes widened and he shot up out of his seat, "TONY!"

A/N 3: and that's the chapter. So…what did you guys think? I think Gibbs may be OOC, but hopefully it's understandable, and acceptable, why he is.

A/N 4: oh, I have a page on facebook, under the same name, so if you want, find me and like me! The link is on my profile; just copy and paste it. Hope to see you there!

Once again, thanks to everyone that has reviewed and loved this story and who has it on follow/favourite. You guys are the best!

Next Update: Friday 7th September, '12.

Kila