Gibbs, Kate and the four soldiers spread out into formation and began to sweep down the mountainside, hoping for any sign of Tony, McGee or Howard. They didn't get far before Colonel Vache spotted a couple of drops of blood, under some fir trees. Gibbs bent down to study them, anger that his people should be hurt pounding in his head so hard it made his eyeballs ache.
"Blood spatter says they were running that way," he growled.
"I thought your man had been shot in the leg," Vache queried. "How the hell could he be running?"
"Tony's a lot tougher than he lets people believe," Gibbs said, almost managing a proud smile. "Colonel, if you and your men circle around, Kate and I will go straight down the middle, and we should be able to cut off any escape."
The Colonel quickly acquiesced to this plan, and they split into three groups of two. Gibbs' prediction about the skills of Vache and his men proved accurate as they disappeared into the sparse forest without a sound. Kate followed Gibbs' lead as they began following the blood trail. It was relatively easy, even though the droplets were few and far between, as the blood showed up clearly against the earth. Kate tried to forget whose blood it was, but it was too easy to imagine Tony bleeding and maybe dying. Shaking her head, as though to dislodge such unpleasant images, Kate pressed on.
Every inch of him ached, Tony decided bleakly. No, ached didn't even begin to cover what he was feeling. Every inch of him throbbed with pain. He was reaching the end of his endurance, he knew, every breath dragged into his lungs with a ragged gasp. They had covered quite a bit of ground, but Tony could still hear Howard closing in on them. He needed a break, but knew they shouldn't stop.
Abruptly, the decision was made for him as he slipped on an uneven patch of earth and tumbled head over heels down the slope. McGee rushed up to him, as he lay there, dazed. "Tony, you've got to get up!" McGee tried to heave him to his feet, but the older man's weight was too great.
"McGee, have you ever seen The Guns of Navarone?"
"This is no time for film trivia!" McGee snapped.
Tony continued as though he hadn't heard. "In it, Major Franklin, played by Anthony Quayle, is badly injured and stays behind to hold off the German pursuit, even though he knows he'll die. Run Probie. I've got your back."
McGee stared at him horrified. "I'm not leaving you."
"That was an order Tim." Tony smiled at him, and said firmly, "Go."
"No," McGee replied, equally firm. The unmistakeable sound of a gun being cocked snapped both of their heads around.
"Hello again gentlemen," Howard said softly. "Enjoying your afternoon walk?" When they only glared at him, he laughed. "Much as I hate to interrupt what was obviously a touching team moment, I think we should be heading back now." Neither moved and he fired a shot into the ground next to Tony's leg. "Next one goes through his shoulder. Move!"
The sound of gunfire ricocheted through the forest. Gibbs and Kate exchanged worried looks, and Kate was mollified slightly to see real concern in Gibbs' eyes, before they both broke into a run. Gibbs scanned the forest as he sprinted in the direction of the shot, hoping for a sight of Vache or his men, wanting to communicate with them. But the French soldiers' woodcraft skills were far above his own, and he neither saw nor heard anything of them as he dashed through the trees.
A bright flash of blue cloth made him grind to a halt, Kate skidding to a stop next to him. Hoping he wasn't breathing too loudly, and making a mental note that he was getting old, as such a short run shouldn't make him pant, Gibbs peered hesitantly through the trees. The tableau in front of him sent a chill of fear through him. Tony was lying on the ground, McGee crouched over him, while Howard covered them both with his shotgun.
While he could just shoot Howard now, that would be murder, but warning the man might put his team in a more dangerous position. What he needed was back-up, but where the hell was Vache? Kate, next to him, made a circling motion with one hand, and pointed to the direction she would take. He nodded, and they split up, circling the three men, all unaware of their presence.
Once in position, Gibbs aimed his weapon at Howard and stepped calmly into the clearing, hoping like hell that Kate was covering him. McGee and Howard both looked shocked at Gibbs' sudden appearance, but Tony smiled and waved. "Hey boss."
"DiNozzo, what have I told you about lying down on the job?" Gibbs tried not to look at the younger man, not wanting to be distracted by Tony's too pale face and the blood seeping from the wound in his leg. Instead he focused on Howard. "Are you going to do this the easy way, or the even easier way?"
"What's the difference?" Howard sneered, but McGee thought he looked a lot less confident than he had five minutes earlier.
"The easy way," Gibbs replied, still talking in that deceptively calm tone of voice, "is for you to surrender, put down your weapon and be arrested and charged for the crimes you have committed. The even easier way is for you to stand still, not surrender, and my partner will shoot you in the head. Less paperwork, you see," he added. Howard's head jerked around and his eyes widened as he saw Kate, her weapon trained on him. And now he's concentrating on three groups of people, Gibbs thought with some satisfaction.
"I'm not going to prison," Howard said, his eyes flickering from Gibbs, to Tony and McGee, over to Kate and back to Gibbs again.
"Oh, good," Kate smiled, her voice hard enough to match the cold expression on her face. "That means less paperwork." She stepped in a little, and ostentatiously took the safety catch off her gun.
Now Howard was focused more on Kate. Gibbs sidled slowly forward, quiet and deadly. "No, now hang on a minute," Howard began. "I'm sure we can work something out."
"Would you like to be buried or cremated?" Kate asked brightly, her face still cold and hard.
Gibbs reversed his grip on his gun, now holding it by the barrel, and stepped in behind Howard. He swung the gun, hitting the spy behind the ear with the butt of his Sig. Howard dropped like a stone, hitting the ground with a bump. Gibbs let Kate handcuff the unconscious man while he went to check on Tony.
"How're you doing?" he asked gently, kneeling down.
Tony's face was grey with pain now, his eyes tight with agony. But he smiled cheerily as he said, "Not too bad boss, all things considered. Shame you didn't just shoot him."
Gibbs declined to answer, looking around for Vache and his men. They appeared shortly afterwards, Vache leading them, looking slightly sheepish. "And where the hell have you been?"
"Ah, we circled a little too far. When we heard the gunshots, we made our way here as soon as we could," Vache said innocently. A little too innocently, if Gibbs was feeling particularly cynical. But the man had been very helpful so far, so Gibbs dropped the matter.
One of the French soldiers, a man named Clement, helped Gibbs as they formed a makeshift chair with their arms to carry Tony back up the hill to the waiting helicopter. McGee, after being told categorically that they could cope without his help, assisted Kate in dragging Howard, who had barely regained consciousness, towards the helicopter.
"Hey," Howard called out, after Kate and McGee managed to drag him through a patch of thistles, "you can't treat me like this!"
McGee, expression blank, replied, "Would you prefer it if we treated you how you treated us?" Howard wisely decided to shut up.