Lauren was quiet most of the ride to the hospital. Tony sat there in the driver's seat, wondering what was wrong. She kept her eyes on the window, watching the scenery float by. Tony couldn't help but wonder if she was keeping something from him.
"Lauren, is there something bothering you?" Tony asked as he pulled into the hospital entrance.
"No, I'm fine. I'm just nervous about going back to the doctor. I've always had this small fear of hospitals." she said, trying to cover up the nervousness eating away at her stomach. She fidgeted in her seat as Tony got out of the car to open her door for her. They greeted the receptionist and were shown to a small room where the Dr. Waters met them.
"Have you had any headaches, dizziness, nausea? Anything in your vision?" he asked while shining a light into her eyes.
"Nothing. I slept fine last night and feel great." she said. Waters checked her spine and took her blood pressure.
"Your blood pressure is elevated slightly. I'd like to do a MRI just to make sure everything is okay. Why don't you follow the nurse into the room and get changed into a gown. You just need to remove you shirt." he said and she hopped off the table.
"I guess if it will make you feel secure doctor. I'll be back in a few Tony." she said and left the room with the nurse.
"You can watch the MRI from the observation room. That way you don't have to worry about anyone attacking her. It's an elevated room; you'll be looking down onto the procedure. You'll just need to turn your cell phone off or leave it at the nurses station." Waters said and led Tony to the small room. The blinds were drawn as to give the patient privacy before hopping on the table.
Back in the interrogation room, a cell phone lay in the middle of the table. Gibbs, Little, and DiMarco surrounded the phone, which has been set on speaker.
"Call her." Gibbs said and pushed the phone towards the cuffed Little. He picked it up and searched through his phone book. He set the phone down as it began to ring.
"Hello?" came a female voice on the other end.
"Lucy? Hi it's Michael Little. I have Pauly here with me. Listen we think the cops are getting close to Jonny and we need to get a hold of him. Do you think you can arrange a meeting for us?" he said.
"I wish I could Michael but he went out. He said something about having to go to St. Germaine to see someone about something that happened in the mall bathroom. Michael, is he cheating on me?" Lucy said. Gibbs hung the phone and grabbed his.
"McGee, call Tony and tell him that we have a problem. Jonny is going after Lauren." he said and sprinted out of the interrogation room.
Lauren waited for someone to come into the MRI room. She sat on the elevated bench, swinging her feet back and forth before someone came in. He was decked out in surgical gear, which she thought was strange. He tied the small mask behind his head and adjusted the hat to fall slightly behind his hairline.
"There's no need to wear a surgical mask. I'm not contagious." she said. The tech gave her a look. He passed a gown to her and Lauren caught a glimpse of his wrist. She saw what looked like a tattoo, but brushed it off. It couldn't be one of the attackers.
"Put this on so we can start the procedure." he said and pointed to small room off to the left. She went inside and put the gown off, carefully folding her shirt before placing it on the small chair. She paused before opening the door. She thought back the tattoo. She remembered that Gibbs had said something about a tattoo being on Jonny Oscar's wrist, but thought that he wasn't brave enough to disguise himself as a hospital worker. She slowly opened the door and walked out. He stood next to the MRI machine, waiting for her return. She turned her back on him, a mistake on her part, to shut the door and take a deep breath.
"Lauren, why don't you turn around." he said. She recognized the voice. This was the voice of the man who attacked Paulson. She had to get out of the room. She bolted towards the door. She banged hard, injuring her hand trying to get the attention of the others in the room. She started to scream Tony's name, hoping he was listening. He grabbed her from behind and spun her around. He put a gun to her face, the same gun he shot Paulson with.
"Now now, you be quiet or you won't be the only one to die." he said.
Tony stood in the observation room with Waters, waiting for the blinds to be pulled back.
"Waters, are the blinds usually closed for this long?" he asked, checking his watch. Almost 20 minutes had passed by.
"Not normally. She could be having a panic attack. Let me see if I can get anything on the security camera." he said and turned on the monitor. A phase of static came up on the screen and Tony started to panic.
"That's weird. It's like someone cut the feed." Waters said. With that, a loud banging came on the door. Tony heard Lauren screaming his name and knew she was scared. He grabbed the intercom, hoping this wouldn't become a hostage situation.
"Oscar, draw back the blinds!" he screamed. A few seconds passed by before they were lifted, revealing Jonny Oscar holding Lauren in a headlock, holding a gun to her head. He was holding the phone used as the way to communicate with the observation room.
"Special Agent DiNozzo. Nice to finally meet you. I've heard all about your NCIS team coming to investigate Paulson's death. It's a shame you know. He was a nice kid. Too bad I had to off him. He owed me too much money." he said.
"Look, just relax. Why don't you let Lauren go so we can talk about this?" Tony said. He knew it wasn't going to work but it was worth the try. He could see Lauren trembling in her captor's arms and worried for her safety. A nurse ran in the room, shoving Tony's phone into his hands.
"It's your boss. He says it's urgent." she said.
"Boss, we got a situation here." he said.
"I figured. Look we're at the hospital. Where are you?" Gibbs asked.
"3rd floor, MRI wing. I'm in the elevated observation room talking to Oscar." he turned his back to Oscar so he couldn't know what he was talking about. "Look, there's no way I can get down there without Oscar figuring out what's going on. You just need to go in without me. I'll try and direct you to when it's right to go in." he said.
"All right Tony, just let us know when he's distracted. Tell the techs inside to turn on the machine." Gibbs said.
"Turn on the machine." Tony instructed the techs and they flipped a few switches. "Why did I just tell them to do that boss?"
"That way if Lauren can escape and he shoots at her, the bullet will be drawn into the machine." he said.
"Oh, so we ruin a million dollar machine. Bet that will go over well with the director." Tony said. Waters looked at him in disbelief. "I'm kidding. We're not going to ruin anything, we hope."
Lauren tried to wiggle out of Oscar's arms but nothing was working. Before Tony's eyes, he watched a sudden look of confidence overtake her face. He watched as she elbowed him in the solar plexus, stomp on his instep, bash in his nose, and kill his chances for future children by smashing into his groin. Oscar keeled over in agony and Lauren took the chance. She ran towards the machine, hoping to get around it and out the other door. Oscar picked up the gun and fired, hitting the machine direct on. Lauren dove for safety but she couldn't get out. The small explosion had caused the door handle to break off from a piece of debris and she was stuck.
"Gibbs go now!" Tony screamed and watched the door being bust open. The room was filled with smoke and Gibbs could barely see in front of him.
"Where is she?" Gibbs asked.
"Straight ahead. Oscar is out cold. Some debris hit him in the face. Don't worry about him for now, just get her out of there." Tony said. Gibbs motioned for McGee and Ziva to follow him into the room and told them to get Oscar in cuffs. Lauren was cowering near the door, struggling to breathe when a hand reached out in front of her. She saw Gibbs' face through the haze and grabbed onto his hand. He led her out to fresh air where Tony, a few doctors, and a gaggle of onlookers had accumulated.
"Make sure she gets treated for smoke inhalation." Gibbs said to a nearby doctor. He took Lauren by the arm and brought her to a nearby room. McGee and Ziva brought out a still unconscious Oscar and helped cuff him to a stretcher.
"Make sure you get an officer on him." Tony said and joined everyone in the hall.
"Well, that's over. We have our killer and Lauren is safe. I say our job is done. Now all that's left is the paperwork." Gibbs said.
"We can get Probie to do that." Tony said.
"Tony, come on, that is totally unfair." he said.
"Shh Probie. Or I'll tell everyone what you were doing in front of the lab last night." Tony said.
"Show me the paper." McGee said in a dry voice. Gibbs smiled and patted McGee on the back.
"Ah don't worry. I'll get him back." he said and proceeded to slap Tony on the back of the head.