To Srienia, my amazing beta reader, thank you, thank you. You are awesome!
Check out my Facebook page, link is on my profile. We have a great time over there. Thanks again to all that have joined recently and those that have been there from the beginning.
Thanks to all that have added me to their favorite author list and story alerts. It means so much to me.
##########
Staring at the computer screen, he tried to stay focused on the words in front of him, but they all just kept blurring together. Finally, he dropped his head on the desk and closed his eyes.
"Rough weekend?"
"Sorta." Tony said without picking up his head.
Making his way over to Tony's desk, McGee sat down on the corner. "Need to talk?"
Picking his head up, Tony saw the concern in his friend's face, and smiled. "It was a good rough weekend."
McGee's eyebrow went up. "Have to do with what we talked about the other day?"
"Yeah." Tony leaned back in his chair and ran his hands down his face.
"So good you can't focus and it's all you can think about?" McGeek smirked.
"Amazing." Tony shook his head.
"Must be somebody special if he's got you this worked up."
"Yeah." Tony smiled. "He is."
"I'm happy for you Tony."
"Thanks."
"Does this mean you're gonna stop with the gay jokes?" McGee looked hopeful.
"Never." Tony grinned and slapped McGee's knee. "Come on McBuddy. I do it with love."
"So you're screwing some guy or getting screwed by some guy-" McGee paused then nodded. "You're getting screwed." Tony's eyes widened. "But you're still going to keep teasing me about being gay?" McGee rolled his eyes.
"Come on, you give me so much ammunition." Tony sat up in the chair. "And you keep your opinion of who's getting screwed in my relationship to yourself."
McGeek shook his head and chuckled.
"Seriously, you're a good friend Tim."
"I know." McGee smirked.
Tony groaned. "If I don't get this report done by the end of the day, Gibbs is gonna kill me."
"Maybe you should go get him a coffee, take it to him." McGee shrugged. "Keep him focused on the Director's duties instead of the report."
Slowly, a smile played across Tony's face and he shook his finger. "That's good." He jumped up from the chair. "Thanks McGee." He said smacking the younger agent's shoulder as he headed towards the elevator.
Waiting until the elevator closed, McGee shook his head. Did Tony really think he was that clueless? The coffee and lunches last week, Tony staying late, the incident in the elevator, then the questions in the car. He always thought there was something there between Gibbs and Tony, something more than friendship. He just never thought either of them would admit it.
"Did I miss anything?" Ziva asked, walking in from her dentist appointment.
"No." McGee stood up and walked back to his desk. Whatever was going on between Tony and Gibbs, it wasn't his place to tell anyone.
"Hey Pamela, Gibbs available?" Tony asked.
"Let me check." Pamela picked up the phone and tapped a button. "Are you available for Agent DiNozzo?" A second later she put the phone down. "Go on in."
"Thanks." He flashed her that DiNozzo smile before opening the door and stepping inside. "Thought you could use this." Tony placed the coffee on the desk.
"What I could use is that report on the Gullman case." Gibbs said, not looking up from the file he was reading.
"Yeah, um." Tony cleared his throat. "Almost done with that."
Picking his head up, he pulled off the glasses and tossed them on the desk. "Almost done?" He glanced at his watch. "It's almost eleven."
"I, um, got a little distracted." Tony was talking with his hands. "But I will get back to it, have it on your desk by lunch."
Standing up, Gibbs walked around and leaned against the front of the desk, staring at Tony. "What has my Senior Field Agent so distracted that a simple report is taking him hours to complete?"
Tony grinned to himself. "Well, there's this burning in my loins." He took a step towards Gibbs. "It started this morning, when I woke up next to this sexy gorgeous man who told me we didn't have time for me to suck his cock, because we'd be late for work."
"Tony." Gibbs sighed.
"You asked, I'm explaining."
Reaching out, Gibbs' arm wrapped around Tony's waist and jerked their bodies together. "I'm regretting that decision more and more every minute."
"We could remedy that decision." Tony said as his hand slid down and cupped Gibbs' cock.
Grabbing Tony's hand, Gibbs pulled it away. "As much as part of me would love that, I have a meeting wi-" The phone on the desk rang behind him, reaching back he picked it up. "Gibbs."
Tony watched as Gibbs' eyes widened slightly.
"When?" A pause. "My team will meet you out front." Gibbs let go of Tony. "Kali just made the call."
"When?"
"Ten minutes ago." Gibbs said. Tony was already half way to the door. "Hey!"
Tony stopped with his hand on the door.
"Agent Michael's Senior Field Agent is our inside contact with this."
Tony nodded as he headed out the door. That was Gibbs speak for watch Agent Michael's six and make sure their agent inside made it out safely.
Dropping back down in the chair, Gibbs made the call.
"Agent Gibbs." SecNav's voice was friendly.
"Kali made the call." No time for niceties on this one.
"Agent Michael's?"
"Already on it, with my team."
"Good, what do you need from me?"
"Satellite time as I need it."
"Done. FBI?"
"My next call, but I'm sure the two agents already assigned to Michael's team have talked to their boss."
"I don't have to stress to you how important it is to handle this... whatever it takes."
"I know."
"This Op has been in place for eight months, for this exact purpose."
"Yeah."
"Keep me in the loop."
The phone went dead and Gibbs dialed the next number. "You heard?"
"Yeah."
"Get your ass over here. Now!"
"Bring up Bravo team." Gibbs ordered as the MTAC screen instantly showed a black van parked a few blocks down from a posh hotel. Slipping his headset on, he barked. "SitRep."
McGee and Tony both jumped from the van, as the voice resounded in their ears.
"No contact from Big Brother since the call to Michael's earlier." Tony replied, Big Brother being the code name for their inside contact. "Michael's team is in place in the hotel, just waiting for the next move."
"Any of them take a piss I wanna know."
"Understood."
Pulling the headphones off, Gibbs let them hang around his neck. Kali was the code name for Kali Zahna, a renowned bomb maker for some of the biggest terrorist groups throughout the world. Kali had been silent for months, hiding out in some posh hotel surrounded by his people. He'd only left the hotel for a few meals and a couple of shopping sprees for expensive clothes and shoes. They knew that sooner or later someone would call for his services and earlier today, someone had. CLM, Combat Liberation Movement, didn't care what cause they fought as long as it was anti-America.
"If this group had realized you were in charge this week." Fornell smirked, walking down into MTAC. "They definitely would have waited for another day."
"Yeah." Gibbs nodded.
The two of them stared at the screen before them, the image of the hotel lobby and the agents blending into their surroundings.
"This could take a while Jethro."
"I know." They still had no idea when the CLM wanted the bomb. It could be for tomorrow or for six weeks from now. Until Big Brother checked in, all they knew was the call had been made.
Fornell folded his arms across his chest. "How was the rest of your weekend?"
"Fine." Gibbs said without looking over.
"Right." Fornell smirked.
"Something you wanna say Tobias?" Gibbs sighed.
Fornell shrugged. "Just that I stopped by last night, you weren't home."
"Your powers of observation amaze me." Gibbs said sarcastically.
"Come on." Fornell smirked. "You dropped me off and tore out of there like a bat out of hell."
"So."
Chuckling, Fornell shook his head.
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "I need coffee." He headed up to the door, Fornell taking only a second before following.
The two cups of coffee were set before them and Gibbs grabbed his, taking a long swig.
"Big Brother give Michael any clue as to when he'd contact him again?" Fornell asked, deciding a change of subject was a safe bet.
"When he could." Gibbs started back towards the building.
"Kali has everything he needs stored somewhere, it's just a waiting game till he moves to pick it up."
Gibbs nodded.
"SecNav call Leon?"
"Nope."
Fornell paused a step.
"He just wants it handled. Plus we could still be waiting when Leon gets back."
"True." Fornell decided to risk making a move back to the topic he really wanted to hear about. "You gonna make it if this goes on for days or weeks?"
Gibbs stopped and glared at Fornell. "I'll be just fine."
Fornell shook his head again. "You turned down sex this morning, didn't you? That's why you're so crabby?"
Gibbs half smirked. "How was I supposed to know all hell was gonna break loose!"
"You know better than to ever turn down sex." A wide grin spread across Fornell's face.
"Thanks, like I don't regret it enough already."
Day had turned to night, back into day, and was quickly fading into night again. Sitting in MTAC, Gibbs rubbed his forehead. Still no contact from Big Brother and Kali hadn't made a move. Never good when you get the call from your inside man, then don't hear from him for almost two days.
Fornell shifted in his chair. "What if Big Brother got made."
"No." Gibbs shook his head. "He wasn't made."
"You sound pretty sure."
"He's a good agent." Gibbs cracked his neck.
"Call coming in from Big Brother."
Gibbs and Fornell were both on their feet as the call to Michael's was patched into MTAC.
"Moving in ten, rear entrance, location unknown." With that the phone call ended.
Putting his headset on, Gibbs barked. "Bravo."
"On it."
"Remember surveillance only, we don't just need the location of the material. We need Kali to make the exchange before we take him down." Gibbs heard the array of voices echo their understanding in his ear.
"Echo." Gibbs snapped.
"I have a clear view of the rear exit." Agent Michael's voice rang back. He was in an unmarked vehicle, ready to go any moment.
"Alpha anything?"
"Elevator is coming down now." Agent Camron answered. "It's empty."
"I have Kali, Big Brother and Kali's driver coming through the emergency exit." Michael's voice was surprisingly calm. "Heading towards a black Continental."
"Bravo."
"On the move now." Tony quickly answered.
"Alpha is the Cleaner on the move?"
"Already on the way up."
"The Cleaner?" Fornell asked.
"Maid service." Gibbs smirked.
"Oh, let me guess." Fornell grinned. He'd wondered how Ziva was playing into this little Op. "Ziva in a maid's outfit." He chuckled. "I'm surprised DiNotzo isn't trying to take pictures and drool-" He stopped mid-thought.
Gibbs glanced over at Fornell eyebrow raised.
"Old habits." Fornell cleared his throat.
"Where the hell are they going?" Gibbs stared at the screen, they were already two hours out and nowhere near a secure location to hide explosives. The bomb squad was en route, but waiting to see exactly where they were being lead to.
"He's already past Williamsburg." Fornell added.
"Any contacts around the area?"
"None." Fornell shook his head. "Only remote family tie in the country is a cousin in Maryland. They haven't had contact in years, that we know of."
Kali's car took a right turn.
"He's headed into a residential area." Gibbs' brow furrowed as the car took another couple of turns and headed back onto the highway. "Either he's overly cautious or he's made us."
"He's cautious, that's why he hasn't been caught." Fornell walked towards the screen.
"Yorktown." Gibbs snapped as he saw the next exit the car took. Then he yelled at the MTAC control officer. "Get me SecNav and the Coast Guard."
"What?" Fornell looked confused.
"He's going to Yorktown." Gibbs looked at Fornell. "Naval Weapons Station and the Coast Guard Training Center."
"You think he has inside help?"
"No." Gibbs shook his head. "He's headed to the target."
"But he never-"
"He doesn't need a bomb."
It suddenly registered on Fornell's face. "Shit." The Naval Weapons Station was a bomb. There were countless rumors that nuclear material was stored at the Weapons Station, the Navy denied it, but then of course they would.
"Alpha, Echo get ready."
"SecNav and the Coast Guard sir."
The two faces popped onto the screen. Abigail Boren was the first to speak. "Kali…"
"Headed your way." Gibbs nodded. Coast Guard was always kept in the loop. "Yorktown."
"The bomb?" SecNav asked.
"The Naval Weapons Station is the bomb." Gibbs voice echoed in the silent room. He glared at SecNav. "And don't give me the Navy party line that there is no nuclear material there."
SecNav squared his jaw.
"Alpha, Echo. Take him down, NOW!" Gibbs bellowed into the headset. "And remember we have an agent in there! Bravo how far out are you?"
"Ten minutes."
SecNav and Boren were both on the phone.
"Weapon Station and Training Center are evacuating to the Tempkin docked in port." SecNav said, phone still to his ear. "Guard's and Marker's men are on standby."
"Get me visual on our teams." SecNav and Boren disappeared from the screen, replaced by the vehicles from earlier. The unmarked car had just overtaken the Continental when the van positioned itself behind it. As the unmarked sedan slammed on its breaks, the Continental spun to avoid it, spinning and clipping the sedan's back end. The van came to a stop just short of the spinning car. The Continental's driver side opened and a man started running. A second later, the back door opened and two men climbed out starting to run.
Agent Michael was already out of the sedan and chasing the driver when the van door opened and Tony took off after Kali. Gibbs' eyes danced back and forth between the two chases, his eyes narrowing when the driver pulled a gun, Michael following suit. When the driver turned to fire, Michael had already stopped and fired and the driver stumbled back as the bullet hit him. Where at, Gibbs wasn't sure. His eyes immediately jumped to Tony still chasing Kali, then they disappeared into a tree filled area. McGee was already chasing after the two men.
The Alpha team pulled up to the cars, the four agents rushing from the car, one toward Michael and the shot driver, the other three heading toward the trees where Tony and Kali had disappeared to.
"Bravo talk to me." Gibbs paced in front of the screen. No reply. "Alpha, do you have eyes on Bravo?"
"Not yet."
"McGee, Tony."
Time suddenly slowed, Gibbs feeling each second as if it were minutes. He had no idea how long before the shots rang out or how long after that he heard a voice. All he knew was that in whatever span of time it took, he didn't move, didn't breathe.
"We have Kali." McGee's voice filled the room.
The pause between McGee's statements again seemed to last for hours.
"Everyone's alright boss."
Taking in a searing breath, Gibbs still wanted to hear the other voice.
"Damn it." Tony bemoaned. "Why do they always run through the mud and water? I just bought this suit. Twelve hundred dollars!"
Gibbs couldn't help it, he laughed.
"I'm billing NCIS for the dry cleaning!" Tony snipped.
"You're the one that tackled him into the mud." McGee was trying not to laugh.
"I didn't plan it that way, McSmartass!" Tony barked at McGee. "I just chased the guy for a mile, then he pulls a damn gun on me, what the hell was I supposed to do?"
Fornell shook his head and laughed.
"Shouldn't have worn your good suit." McGee said.
"Excuse me! This was supposed to be surveillance only, sorry I didn't think to wear my track shoes and sweat suit!"
"How long will they go on like this?" Fornell asked.
"Hours." Gibbs took a deep breath, then bellowed. "Get your asses back here."
"On it boss." The two voices said in unison.
Pulling off the headset, Gibbs tossed it on the seat behind him.
"What about Kali's two men at the hotel?" Fornell asked.
"Taken care of." Gibbs smirked.
From the other room, the two men sat on the couch, watching the woman's hips sway as she changed the sheets in the adjoining bedroom. She glanced out, smiled and waved then continued humming a tune.
"I need to find a maid like that." One man whispered with a grinned.
"Hell with a maid, I need a wife like that." The other man laughed.
Finished with the bed, she sauntered back into the other room, making her way behind the couch. Standing between them, she let a hand drift up each one of their shoulders, her fingers reaching their necks and massaging gently. "Anything else I can do for you?"
The two men turned to look at each other. Just as they were about to answer, a thumping crack filled the room, as their foreheads were smashed together, once, twice, and they slumped onto the couch.
"You're not really my type." Ziva smirked as she went to the cart and grabbed two pairs of cuffs. "Too bad you won't remember this part."
Gibbs glanced at his watch, again.
"Am I boring you agent Gibbs?" SecNav asked.
"Yes." Gibbs had put up with as much as he could. For almost two hours, he had been sitting listening to SecNav rehashing everything, making sure procedures were followed, and re-asking the same questions over and over. "All of our agents did their jobs and followed procedures. Agent DiNozzo interrogated Kali, he told us where the bombs and materials were, and they were recovered over an hour ago. What else is there?"
Just as SecNav was about to speak, the door to MTAC hissed open and Tony walked down into the room.
Tony glanced at the face of SecNav on the screen then to Gibbs. "Kali's been transferred to Homeland Security's custody. His driver and two others were transferred to FBI."
Gibbs looked at SecNav. "There." He sighed. "We've all been at this for three days, anything else you have to say can wait till tomorrow." Gibbs glanced at the MTAC operator and SecNav's image disappeared. He turned to Tony and skimmed up and down his agent's body.
"Yeah." Tony looked down at himself. "Haven't really had time to clean up."
Tony was covered from head to toe in a thick layer of mud, his face was the only somewhat clean spot on him. The mud had now caked and set into his clothing.
Gibbs stood up and took a step towards Tony. "You're really sexy covered in mud." He whispered.
That bright DiNozzo smile appeared on Tony's face. "Stealing my lines?"
"Send everyone home, reports can wait."
"Done." Tony nodded. "I knew you would say that. Michael stayed, but I think he fell asleep at his desk."
"Thanks." Gibbs put on his boss face. "Good job today."
Giving a little nod, Tony sighed. "I am going to take a shower here, I'm not getting in my car like this."
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Of course." Tony had already ruined a suit, he couldn't risk getting mud in his car.
"Don't stay too late." Tony knew Gibbs could go weeks without sleep if he had to. "Believe it or not, you need sleep, even if it is just a few hours."
"Just a few more things." Gibbs' eyes followed Tony until the younger man disappeared out the door. He dropped down into a seat and rubbed the back of his neck. He knew Tony was right, but sleep was the last thing he wanted.