Okay here is another chapter for you all. Hope you like it. I am still trying to keep the characters in character so to say but I think I might be stretching it a little bit.
A/N: Don't own Ncis.
Persistent hands shaking his shoulder woke Tony up. He mumbled something that was unintelligible and tried to roll over but immediately regretted it as his form fell off of the futon he was sleeping on. He landed with a thud and in true fashion shot straight up off the floor in a defensive posture. He took a few moments to collect himself and through sleep weary eyes he found he was in Abby's lab. He let his arms fall at his side and relax looking for the person who woke him up. He turned around and there was Abby, smiling at him her eyebrows raised.
"Gee Tony, glad to see those self-defense classes paying off for ya." Abby said with a laugh. He rolled his eyes at her and shook his head to ward off any lingering lethargy from his sleep. "How long have I been out, Abs?" he said while rubbing his palms into his eyes. She replied, "Just over five hours. Bossman and McGee got back bout an hour ago."
Thoughts flashed back into his mind. Gibbs and McGee were going to the athletic store to see if they could find a lead, and they had been back for over an hour. Frustration and anger began to build inside of him. An hour, they had been back for a whole hour and they didn't wake him. He looked at Abby and his anger diminished slightly, he wouldn't take his anger out on her. He would save it for the people who did this.
"Why didn't anyone wake me?" He said as he turned on his heel and headed for the door. "I was going to Tony, but then Ziva said that this was the first time you slept more than an hour and didn't have a nightmare. She told me to let you get at least an hour more. She's really worried bout you Tony. She slept for like ten minutes when you two were down here then she just kept her eyes on you to make sure you actually slept." Abby said as she hurriedly followed Tony through her lab.
Tony stopped when Abby placed a hand on his shoulder. "You need to talk to her Tony. She's really worried, we all are. And she is already stressed out enough as it is with her boyfriend still in Tel Aviv and I don't think she can keep this up." She felt Tony stiffen as she said the word "boyfriend" and immediately she regretted it.
A million emotions swept through Tony. Anger, rage, confusion, hurt, and jealousy were at the forefront. He thought bitterly to himself that he knew this was going to happen. If you let yourself love someone you run the risk of getting severely hurt. He should have known better. Ziva was an amazing woman. Obviously men would be after her. The thought had never actually occurred to him that by the time he was ready to admit he loved her that someone else would have her. "I can blame my ego for that." He said in his mind. It just isn't fair. This whole week has proven that life isn't fair. No. I am gonna make it fair. I am gonna fight. I am gonna fight tooth and nail. The people responsible for the bombing are gonna pay. I am gonna fight for Ziva. I love her, and I am gonna tell her. Yes it is selfish. I want her to be happy. But I am gonna fight for her. First things first.
"Don't worry Abby. I will talk to her tonight. I promise. Did McGee and the boss find anything at the athletic store?" He asked with renewed purpose. Abby was shocked by his new tone. It was strong and fiery. She answered, "Umm…. Yeah…They found the delivery guy and brought him in for questioning" Tony turned quickly and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks Abs." He said and then he was in the elevator.
Tony quietly entered the observation room and slid up next to the window. Ziva nodded her head at him and smiled. "Glad you finally got some sleep." She said. He gave her his first true genuine smile in days and replied, "Yeah, thanks to you. Just wish you would have gotten some as well." She shrugged and turned her attention back into the interrogation room. Tony followed suit.
Seated on the other side of the small desk in the room was an average looking man. Nothing about him appeared out of place at all. He looked like the kind of person you could meet and have a conversation with and then forget him just as quickly. Light blond hair, average height and build, nothing special. The only way a person could tell he was hiding something was the fact that he was amazingly calm. He didn't jump when Gibbs yelled, he didn't look intimidated when Gibbs invaded his personal space. The only thing that even gave the impression that he was slightly annoyed with his time here was he jumped slightly when Gibbs pounded on the table. The man began to fidget after that. Gibbs picked up the file folder and walked out of the room.
A few seconds later he joined them in the observation room. "Glad to see you finally make an appearance DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he joined Ziva and Tony by the glass. "He's hiding something Boss." Tony said.
"You think DiNozzo?" was Gibbs' sarcastic reply. "Give him a few more hours in there and he'll break." Gibbs said.
Tony stared at the man in the other room and thought hard at what would make the man crack besides time. He thought about how the man jumped when Gibbs struck the table and began to fidget afterwards. All he needed were a few more jolts and he would be spilling his guts. A smile formed on his face as a thought popped into his head.
"Boss, you think I could have a go at him? I'm pretty sure I can get him to crack." Tony said with a glint in his eye. Gibbs stared at his younger agent trying to gauge whether or not to let him into the room. With the way he has been acting lately he just wasn't sure that letting him in the same room with the guy who had delivered the fatal bomb was knockout idea. Tony could sense his boss's hesitation and said, "I won't hurt him boss. Trust me." Gibbs gave him one last piercing glance and said, "Don't make me regret this." He then nodded.
Tony's smile got bigger and said, "Ziva, I need to borrow some things." Ziva's eyes widened at his request and looked to Gibbs. He nodded and she relinquished the items. Tony gave her his thanks and slapped McGee on his shoulder and said," McGee, with me." Tim jumped from his chair in front of the monitors and followed Tony out of the room with a puzzled expression on his face.
Ziva and Gibbs watched the room for a few minutes when the door flew open and crashed against the wall with a loud bang. Tony rushed into the room while McGee was holding him from behind. The man in the chair jumped at the sight of the man coming towards him in a dangerous rush. McGee finally pulled Tony back to the doorway of the room. Ziva shot a look of pure shock and concern towards Gibbs when she noticed he started to smile and let a small chuckle escape his lips.
McGee got in front of Tony and said excitedly, "Tony, this isn't a good idea. I mean you were there when the bomb went off. It's a miracle you are even alive. I can't let you in there, you'd kill him." Tony visible calmed himself and said in a whisper that he knew the seated man could hear, "Come on McGee, five minutes. Just five minutes. No one has to know. I turned off all the equipment in the other room, no one will even know we were here." McGee pretended to contemplate the idea and looked at the man in the room and relaxed his grip on Tony. He straightened up and said, "Fine Tony, five minutes, but hand over your gun." Tony did as he was asked and began to walk into the room before McGee placed a restraining hand on his chest and said, "All of them Tony, and the knives." Tony cast a disparaging look at Tim and then finally began to give up all of the weapons he had gotten from Ziva. The man still in the interrogation room was frightened and now he looked it. His eye's had widened with every item of death that Tony handed over to McGee.
McGee with his arms loaded with the deadly arsenal looked back at the man and mouthed, "Sorry and goodbye." Tony walked into the room as McGee shut the door behind him.
Tony paced in front of the man. "What's your name again?" He asked. The man shifted nervously and said, "Mark…Mark Logan." "Well, Mark, do you mind if I call you Mark?" Tony said and he waited for the man until he nodded his head. Tony started again with, "Well Mark, you ever have a near death experience?" Mark's look of worry now had the added element of confusion as he answered, "N-no."
Tony chuckled at this and said, "Oh, poor Mark. You haven't realized it yet but this is your near death experience. See, depending on the answers I get from you is how we are gonna see how near death you get before I leave. Could be all the way or just close." Tony looked at his watch and let a small whistle out. "Only got a little over four minutes left Mark. Lets start with the questions shall we?" Tony walked behind the man and placed his hands on Marks shoulders, squeezing hard enough for the man to wince. "Who made the bombs?" Tony asked. "I-I-I don't know what your talking about." Was Marks nervous reply. Tony quickly slammed his fist down on the table and whispered into Marks ear, "Wrong answer." Tony grabbed Marks hand and placed it on the table with his fingers outstretched as Tony placed his hand on top of it and applied pressure to he could not remove it. "You know Mark I wish you wouldn't have made me do this. You know I gotta biker friend of mine who gave me just the niftiest belt a few years ago. See look." Tony said as he removed the knife concealed there. He held it in front of Marks face for a second before changing his grip on Marks hand so he was painfully holding his wrist. Marks eyes flashed from the knife to Tony's face and back to the knife. Panic swept through him. He knew this agent would follow through on his threats. As the knife in Tony's hand started down its downward arc toward Mike's hand he yelled, "OKAY! Okay, I will tell you want you want to know. Please just don't hurt me. Please." Tony released his grip on Marks hand and replaced the knife at his waist.
Tony took a seat on the other side of the table from a visible shaken Mark. "Okay Mark, now that I have your undivided attention. Why did you plant the bomb?" Mark who was still very visible scared of Tony replied, "T-They paid me…fifty grand." Tony took out a small notepad from his jacket pocket and began writing. "Who paid you Mark?" He asked. "Ryan Johnson. Guy I knew from high school. I hadn't seen him in years until I saw him a few weeks ago at a bar in Georgetown. Started talking about the old days. Met up with him a few times since then."
"What can you tell about this guy?" Tony asked scribbling on his notepad again. "I don't know. Like I said I ain't seen him since high school. We ran around together got into some trouble." "What kinda trouble?" Tony asked. Mark sighed, "You know little things. Shoplifting. Breaking curfew. Stuff like that."
Tony looked sharply at Mark, "So your high school buddy you haven't seen in years shows up. You talk about the old days, have a few beers. You hook up now and again and he just offers you fifty grand to plant a bomb and you just take it?" Mark let a look of fear cross his face because he thought Tony was going to get violent on him again. "I-I-I needed the money. That's all."
Tony stopped writing in his pad and the pencil in his hand snapped. His hands were shaking as he put the pad away. He stood slowly and began walking towards the door. "You are lucky that my boss is in the other room or so help me you wouldn't be getting out of here unless it was in a body bag." Tony said in the most dangerous voice Mark had ever heard. Mark relaxed as Tony left the room thanking his maker that Leroy Jethro Gibbs was in the other room.
Later in the Bullpen"Got something Boss!" McGee said excitedly as he pressed the remote and a mans drivers license and other documents popped up onto the plasma between his and Tony's desk. Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva came to stand in front of the plasma.
"You need an invitation McGee?" Gibbs said after a few moments with no new information forthcoming.
"Umm…no Boss. Ryan Johnson. Thirty Four. Has three priors for B and E, was sent to prison for killing a guy while he was robbing his house. Last known address was in Georgetown before he went to prison. Ummm…released last year. No record of him since." McGee said as he stood to join the others.
Gibbs took in the information and looked to Tony. "DiNozzo…" He began before the younger agent cut him off. "Put out a B.O.L.O. on Johnson and talk to his P.O. on it Boss." Tony finished as he scurried to his desk eager to bring the man in. Gibbs turned to Ziva, "Ziva…" Again he was interrupted as she supplied for him, "Check last known addresses and speak to friends and family members who may know where he is." She turned towards her desk to begin her assignment. "McGee…" Gibbs said. "Ummm…I could check his financial records to see where he's been?" McGee said. "Do it." Gibbs said as he turned and headed for what must have been his fifteenth coffee of the day.