Thursday, 1637, E Street Cinema, Washington, DC

Tony reached into his pocket for his keys as they walked out of the elevator on the level of the garage where he'd parked the car. "What did you think of the movie?" he asked Jeanne. His hand encountered his phone first, so he pulled it out and turned it back on. He'd been of two minds about turning it off completely, but he wasn't on call, he wasn't even available for duty.

"I'm not sure," Jeanne said. Tony blinked at the screen. McGee had apparently called him fifteen times in the last twenty minutes. Weird. There were a couple of texts, too. He called one up, still listening to Jeanne. "It was odd," she said. "Did you notice how they –"

He lost track of what she was saying when he read the message he'd called up. "Harris out, we're on our way. Call me."

Tony grabbed Jeanne's arm, gauging whether they were closer to the elevator and the theater or closer to his car. He decided on the elevator and turned. "Come on, Jeanne, we need to get to where there are –"

Jeanne grabbed his arm in a tight grip. "Tony?"

He turned back and saw that Brody had emerged from between two cars ahead of them, no more than ten feet off, between them and Tony's car. Tony's mouth went dry at the sight of him – and the gun he held in his hand. It was pointed straight at Jeanne. He immediately shoved her behind him, and Brody lowered the gun slightly.

Tony glowered at him. "What are you doing here, Brody?"

"I've come for what's mine," the big man said. "I've got a van right here. Come with me now and no one gets hurt."

Jeanne grabbed the back of Tony's shirt. "Don't you even think about it!" she hissed.

Tony turned his head. "Jeanne, when I tell you, run for the stairs," he muttered.

"Tony?" Jeanne said uncertainly, still holding onto his shirt.

"It's easy enough, Tony," Brody said. "Just come over here, and I won't shoot anybody."

Tony reached around behind him and eased his shirt out of Jeanne's fingers. She immediately re-entwined them and whispered, "I am not leaving without you, Tony!"

Tony's eyes darted around the space, looking for a way out. The elevator was out, it was too far and the doors wouldn't open right away. On the other hand, people could come out of the elevator at any moment. That was both good and bad, but –

Brody lunged forward to catch Tony's arm, and Tony dodged towards the opposite row of cars dragging Jeanne with him, then pushing her ahead between two cars. They were parked against the ramp up to the next level. His heart raced in terror for Jeanne. Brody wouldn't kill him, but he might be just whacked enough to kill her. A gunshot rang out, echoing in the enclosed space and tinging off metal when it struck the railing that separated the ramp from the flat parking.

There was enough room at the base of the railing to fit a small person through. "Go through, Jeanne," he hissed, shoving her towards it.

"Not without you."

"I won't fit, I'll have to go over, but I want you on the other side before, okay?" She stared at him anxiously. "Do it!" he ordered sharply, and, grimacing, she turned to comply.

Thursday, 1642, streets of downtown Washington DC

"The movie he went to is over," McGee said, looking at his handheld computing thing. He'd checked earlier using Tony's credit card data. Gibbs turned onto E street, his jaw clenched so tightly that his head was beginning to hurt. McGee looked around at the traffic-choked streets. "He was driving, so where would he have parked?"

"There is a parking garage inside," Ziva replied. "Up ahead, there." She leaned between the seats and pointed. Gibbs slalomed across two lanes of traffic and turned in to the sound of honking horns and skidding tires. Ignoring the punch card machine, Gibbs went straight through the barricade, eliciting a startled exclamation from McGee.

He started around the levels of the garage, trusting to McGee and Ziva to keep their eyes peeled for DiNozzo, DiNozzo's car, Jeanne and Harris. The elevator disgorged a small party of people on the second level as they passed, but none of them was the person they sought, so he kept going.

"Boss?" McGee said. "Tony's in the garage according to my GPS."

"Call him, McGee!"

Thursday, 1643, E Street Cinema, Washington, DC

Jeanne managed to eel through. It was a close fit for her, but she made it. Tony glanced behind him to see where Brody was, but he couldn't see the man. He climbed up onto the concrete base of the railing, then clambered over, moving as quickly as he could. He didn't like being out in the open like this. His head stuck out above the level of all but the tallest vehicles. His pocket began to ring right when he was at his most visible, and he both heard and saw Brody running around the parked cars towards the ramp.

"Jeanne, run!" Tony said urgently. "Get to the next level and hide."

"Not without –"

"He's not going to shoot me!" Tony growled. "Go!"

Giving him a desperate look, she took off running. Tony scrambled the rest of the way over the railing, preparing to follow her. Jeanne was a few feet short of turning onto the next level when three things happened at once. The elevator below opened and voices sounded in the echo chamber that the concrete structure created, screeching tires could be heard from the ramp up to that level, and Brody came around the corner onto the ramp. He aimed at Jeanne, hesitated, then fired.

That hesitation gave Tony the seconds he needed to surge forward, blocking the shot with his body. Time seemed almost to slow down as he moved, diving across the bullet's path. He felt the impact, but the pain took several seconds longer to register. Tony clutched his gut where the bullet had struck him and struggled to keep his feet, but his knees buckled. The jolt that traveled up his body when his knees struck the ground made the pain spike unbearably. He landed facing Brody, not Jeanne, so he saw his stalker's eyes open wide when he realized what he had done. Brody's hand dropped to his side, and he started screaming at the top of his lungs. "No!" he howled as he ran towards Tony, who only managed to raise a hand before the man was on him, gathering him into his arms.

Tony tried to shove him away with no success. Essence of Brody, gunpowder and the stale exhaust of thousands of cars filled his nose. "Brody . . . get off . . ."

The other man didn't seem to hear him. He just started rocking in demented grief. "Tony, no, I didn't mean – why did you do that? I'm sorry – I didn't – I love you – Tony, don't die – please – Tony . . ."

The heat of the barrel pressed against Tony's side, and he knew that Jeanne was still in danger. He had to do something, find some way to protect her, because she wasn't practical enough to have kept going once she heard the gunshot, she wasn't sensible enough to stay where he'd sent her. He had no doubt that she was already on her way back down the ramp towards them. Brave, noble, compassionate, all words that described her. And at the moment, so did really, really stupid because he could hear her footsteps coming down the ramp.

Despite his good intentions, Tony couldn't muster up the strength to do anything more than wonder why he wasn't unconscious.

Jeanne turned around at the sound of the gunshot and saw Tony hover on his feet for a second, then fall. Her heart leapt into her throat. She started running back towards him, but Brody was closer. He reached Tony first, scooping him into his arms and rocking, spewing a hysterical babble of apologies. Jeanne came to a stop, staring in anger and anxiety at Tony, who was feebly struggling in Brody's arms. She wanted to drag him away, but wrestling with Brody wouldn't help much, and it might hurt.

While Jeanne dithered about what to do, a woman ran to the foot of the ramp and stared upwards. A man came up a second later and tried to drag her away, but she shook her head. "He shot that man!" she exclaimed, pointing at Brody. "I saw him shoot that man!"

Jeanne leaned towards the two men. "Brody," she said earnestly. "I'm a doctor, let me help him!" Brody didn't seem to hear her, continuing to rock and babble. Tony's eyes were open, but she couldn't tell how much of what was going on around him he was aware of. She didn't have a clear idea of where he'd been shot, except that it was definitely in his abdomen. PAT. Penetrative abdominal trauma carried with it a laundry list of life-threatening complications. She had to get Tony away from Brody, but she wasn't sure how.

A black car screeched to a halt about ten feet short of the witness, making everyone but Brody jump. Even Tony jerked and tried to look in that direction, but Brody's body was in the way.

The rest of Tony's team boiled out of the car, guns drawn. McGee headed towards the witness and her companion, his gun held by his side, his ID in his hand. "Federal agents!" he called out, presumably so they wouldn't run away. The man kept trying to get the woman to come with him, but she wouldn't go.

Gibbs and Ziva were moving slowly up the ramp, guns trained on Brody. She wondered if they could see that Brody still held a gun in his hand.

Brody glanced up and around, looking like a cornered animal. This allowed Tony a little more room to move, and he tried to push the other man off. Brody shook his head. "I can't let them split us up, Tony, you know I can't." Jeanne didn't like the sound of that.

"Dr. Benoit, please move away," Gibbs said.

Jeanne shook her head. "Tony's been shot!" she said urgently. "I need to get a look at him."

Brody looked up again and saw how close Gibbs and Ziva had come. He leaned close to Tony and whispered something, then twisted slightly. Still holding Tony's upper body in one arm, he brought his other arm around, the gun in that hand. Jeanne flinched backwards a foot or two, but he didn't point it at her. He pointed it at Tony's head. Tony's eyes went very wide. His hands came up to grip Brody's wrist, but he didn't seem to have the strength to force the gun away from his face. Jeanne was frozen in place, though every emotion was screaming at her to find some way to stop what was about to happen. Brody gave Tony's shoulders a squeeze. "We'll be together soon," he murmured, then Jeanne heard the report of two guns almost at once.

Her heart stopped for a second, then, as Brody's gun hand dropped away, the gun falling to the ground with a metallic clunk, she realized that it had been Ziva and Gibbs who had fired. Tony's eyes were closed, he was flinching, but he hadn't been shot. Not this time, at any rate.

Brody slumped down over Tony, who let out a little squeak of pain that he would find excruciatingly embarrassing later. Gibbs crossed the remaining space between them quickly and, with Ziva still covering Brody, pulled him off Tony and rolled him over to lie flat. Jeanne could hear ambulances in the background as she dropped to her knees beside Tony. She pulled his shirt open and saw the wound low on his abdomen.

A hand came up to touch hers, and she looked down into Tony's heavy-lidded eyes. "Am I going to live?" he asked.

"Of course," Jeanne said. "Tell me how you're feeling."

"It hurts," Tony replied, his tone telling her plainly that it was a stupid question.

That was as far as she got before the paramedics arrived and pushed her aside. When she would have tried to involve herself further, Gibbs caught her arm. "Let them do their job," he said, and she clenched her hands into fists, scared and angry and worried . . . and unnecessary. The paramedics were doing their jobs fine without her. "What happened?" Gibbs asked.

Jeanne closed her eyes, trying to control the wave of tremors that suddenly swept through her body. "He just came out from between two cars, pointing a gun at my head," she said, her voice remarkably steady. "He told Tony to come with him and no one would get hurt."

"Can you show me where?" Gibbs asked intently, seeming to be entirely business. She saw the frequent little shifts of his eyes towards Tony, though, and the anxiety that boiled underneath the cool surface, and that made his attitude easier to bear.

She looked up at him, into those deep blue eyes. "I want to go with Tony," she said.

His expression softened for a split second, but then he said, "I'll see that you get to the hospital as soon as possible if we're not done by the time he's ready to go, but we have to get this right, or Brody could walk."

Jeanne nodded slowly. She walked over to the gurney. "Gibbs needs me," she said to Tony when he looked up at her.

His eyes flicked to the side and above her, and she knew that he was looking at Gibbs. "Better be careful, Boss," he said with a faint smile. "I'm a very jealous man."

"Right, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

Jeanne leaned down and gave Tony a kiss on the lips. "I'll be along as soon as I can."

"I love you," Tony said, all joking apparently aside for the moment.

Jeanne's eyes filled with tears, and she squeezed his hand. "I love you, too."

The paramedics waited for her to release Tony's hand, then took him away. For a moment she wanted to fall apart, but she pulled herself together. Gibbs needed information. Another ambulance pulled up, and so did two more cars. At least one more must have arrived while she was focused elsewhere. Agents Fornell and Glick got out of the most recent arrival and walked over. "A little late, aren't you, Tobias?" Gibbs asked.

"You shot him?" Fornell demanded, looking at the paramedics working on Brody. He appeared to be unconscious. Jeanne hoped the bullets had done fatal damage, feeling vicious and unethical, but she much didn't care.

"Didn't have a choice," Gibbs countered.

Before Gibbs could elaborate, Fornell looked around. "Where's DiNozzo?"

"In an ambulance, headed for Bethesda," Gibbs replied. "Harris shot him."

"He shot him?" Fornell exclaimed. "What happened to love everlasting?" He threw an odd glance at Agent Glick, who looked disturbed.

"He was aiming for me," Jeanne said in a small voice. "I don't know . . . Tony told me to run, so I had my back to it when it happened." She felt like a coward for having taken off, even though Tony had told her to.

Gibbs took her by the shoulders. "You did exactly what you should have done," he said. "Now, take me through what happened, and show me where."

"Gibbs?" Agent Fornell said with a rising inflection. Gibbs' brows went up, and he gave the FBI agent a warning look, but Fornell didn't back down. Gibbs pursed his lips and gave way. Fornell turned to another agent. "Martin, will you please question Agent Gibbs?" he said, and Gibbs went with a younger man. Briefly, the young guy looked uneasy, but he squared his shoulders and took Gibbs in hand. Fornell turned to her. "Now, please tell me everything that happened."