AN: Here's the next chapter, finally. I'm so sorry I haven't had a chance to update sooner. Now that "Dinner Interrupted" is complete, I should hopefully be able to update this a bit more often. Thanks so much for your comments and reviews. They are very much appreciated.

xxxxx

Tony slowly started to come around in the ambulance. He opened his eyes and searched about, frightened and disoriented.

"Sir? Sir, can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?"

Tony's eyes focused on the young paramedic who was speaking to him. "I...my...my name is Tony...Tony DiNozzo...wh...what happened?"

"There, there, my dear boy. You just lie still. Everything is going to be alright." Ducky's face moved into his field of vision and Tony felt a bit calmer just knowing that Ducky was there. He knew he would take care of him.

"Ducky? What happened to me?"

The ambulance came to a sudden halt and moments later the doors opened and Tony felt himself being quickly transported into the hospital. The blur of fast-moving lights and faces above him made Tony feel slightly dizzy and he closed his eyes. He could hear a blend of voices talking to him, asking him questions, but was too tired to care or try to respond and he slipped back into blissful unawareness once again.

xxxxx

Ducky quietly entered Jethro's new room. Ducky had made the request for Gibbs to be transferred into a double room and imagined he hadn't been too pleased about it. He sat down in the hard chair by his bed and sighed softly. This night was just getting worse and worse. First, the fire and now the holdup. When he had found the dead clerk at the convenience store, he had been so sure he would find Anthony dead as well. In truth, the wound he had sustained had appeared to be much worse than it actually was. It was little more than a graze really, though the effects were far from pleasant. This, in addition to the concussion the boy had sustained two days ago, were not a good combination. Currently, the wound was being cleaned and stitched. There was also the matter of Tony's right wrist, which appeared to be fractured. X-rays were going to be taken and a cast applied, if necessary. After that, Tony would be transferred into Gibbs' room. Ducky was unsure of how long he had been sitting there when Jethro's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Duck?"

"Ahh, Jethro. Its good to see you awake. How are you feeling?" Ducky asked, looking at his old friend with concern.

"I'm fine, Ducky," Gibbs answered automatically, then coughed hoarsely. "Throat's a little dry," he admitted.

"I'll get you some water." Ducky retrieved the small plastic pitcher from the nightstand and went off to fill it, returning a few minutes later. He poured some cool liquid into the plastic cup and handed it to Gibbs who sipped gratefully.

"Thanks...what time is it anyway?"

Ducky glanced at his watch. "4:15," he answered.

Gibbs asked as he glanced towards the window and saw that it was dark outside. "Its the middle of the night...what the hell are you doing here? I'm not badly hurt."

Ducky didn't respond to the question and with a lurch in his midsection, Gibbs suddenly knew something was wrong. "What's happened?"

"Now, Jethro, its nothing to get upset about," Ducky began soothingly. "He's going to be just fine."

"Tony?" Gibbs asked, knowing it was his senior field agent even before the look in Ducky's eyes confirmed it to be true. It was always Tony.

"Yes," Ducky nodded hesitantly. "Unfortunately, the boy was involved in a convenience store holdup, but as I said, Jethro, he's going to be okay."

"A holdup?" Gibbs' gut churned with fear and anger as he let loose. "What the hell...I told him to go home, Duck. I just wanted him to go home and get some rest. Why couldn't he do that? Why couldn't he just do as I asked? What the hell was he doing in a convenience store anyway?" He knew the question was a stupid one as soon as it left his lips. There were a multitude of reasons why DiNozzo would have gone to a convenience store. "What happened to him anyway? Was..." The words died in his throat as the door to his room entered and Tony was wheeled in on a gurney. His eyes were closed and he appeared disturbingly still and vulnerable. He and Ducky watched wordlesssly as Tony was efficiently transferred to the bed and just a few short minutes later, the three men were left alone.

xxxxx

"Do you know what time it is?" Angela Albright hissed as her husband climbed into bed beside her.

"Yeah, contrary to what you may think, I do know how to tell time," Warren replied sarcastically.

"Where have you been? I'm sick of you being out all hours leaving me alone with these kids morning, noon and night."

"Yeah and I'm out having a friggen ball for myself every day. How about we trade places? Why don't you spend your days in the factory and I'll sit on my ass all day watching Billy."

"You lousy son of a bitch. If you think its so easy being in the house with these kids, why aren't you ever here?"

"Cause I can't stand to listen to your incessant whining."

"Well maybe if you lifted a finger to help me around here once in a while, you wouldn't have to," she said, her eyes flashing angrily.

"I have a right to relax."

"Yeah, hanging out with that no good Lou Reynolds. You mark my words, it'll lead to nothing but trouble."

"I'm going to sleep." He turned away from her, struck by the truth of her words. Every time he closed his eyes though, he saw the shocked looks on the faces of the men Lou had shot. It all seemed like a nightmare, but he knew it was all true. He once again thought about calling the police, but Lou's words haunted him. He was very much afraid that he would be blamed as Lou had said he would. He just couldn't take that chance. It would destroy the lives of him and his family.

xxxxx

"What exactly happened to him?" Gibbs whispered after the transport team had left the room. There was a row of neatly placed stitches on the side of Tony's head which were very visible as the hair in that area had been shaved. His right arm was encased in a cast.

"He received a bullet graze to the head and broke his wrist, I'm assuming, in the fall. It was bent under him in an awkward position when I found him."

"Someone shot him in the head?" Gibbs asked, speaking much louder than he had intended. He was obviously furious. His thoughts immediately went to Kate and he shuddered involuntarily, realizing how close Tony had come to sharing the same fate.

"Well...whoever it was tried, but was unsuccessful," Ducky said.

Gibbs stared at Tony for a long moment then looked back at Ducky. "Wait a minute...you found him? Where? Were you driving him home?"

"Well...I did intend to drive him home, but as you can see, it didn't really work out that way," Ducky stated. He walked over to Tony's bedside as he spoke, nervously straightening the covers over the sleeping man.

Gibbs looked at Ducky suspiciously. "What aren't you telling me, Duck?" he asked softly.

"Oh Jethro. Its really not important. I don't see any sense in getting into it at this late hour. You both need your rest."

"Tony 'is' resting and I'm not tired," Gibbs replied. The more evasive Ducky was, the more convinced Gibbs was that there was something more he needed to know.

"You may not be tired, but I am. I am going to head home now," Ducky said, making one last effort to avoid this particular topic of conversation.

"Come on, Ducky...you know I'm going to find out..."

"Alright, but this is against my better judgement." Ducky realized Gibbs was not going to give up. He was like a dog with a bone. "Earlier this evening, I was awaiting word on your condition, when Anthony walked by me looking, for lack of a better term, shell-shocked."

Gibbs closed his eyes momentarily, then opened them again and stared back at Ducky. "Go on."

"Well...he was quite upset about what had happened to your home..."

"He was blaming himself," Gibbs stated knowingly.

Ducky nodded. "Yes...he believes you blame him as well."

"Crap. I don't blame him, Ducky. I never did. I just wanted him to go home and get some rest. He's been through hell the last few days."

Ducky shook his head slowly. "You don't need to explain this to me, Jethro. I'm not the one who needs convincing."

"So what happened next?" Jethro questioned. "Did you stop at the convenience store on the way home?"

Ducky shook his head, looking a little bit embarressed. "No, nothing as simple as that, I'm afraid..."

"What then?"

"I came up here to check on you. Anthony refused to accompany me. He was certain you wouldn't want him there. I should have known better than to leave him down there alone in the state he was in...I knew something was very off with him..."

"So, he just left? He walked out in the middle of the night?" Gibbs asked, feeling a little surge of anger at his agent.

Ducky nodded. "I really think the boy may have been in shock, Jethro. I only wish I had insisted he be examined more thoroughly. If I had, this never would have happened."

"Wouldn't have happened if I had just let him stay, either, Duck," Gibbs said with a heavy sigh. "I don't think blaming ourselves is the answer. I just need to work things out with him." He glanced over at Tony again. He seemed to be deeply asleep which Gibbs was grateful for. "So, what happened with the holdup?"

"Tony called me from the convenience store, which was a couple of miles away from the hospital. Evidently, he came to his senses and wanted me to pick him up. When I got there...the store clerk was slumped over the front counter..he was dead..."

Gibbs drew in his breath sharply. This story was becoming more and more disturbing.

"I then found Anthony lying in the aisle...there was so much blood...at first..." he trailed off , but Gibbs knew what he had been going to say.

"Thank God you weren't there when it happened. You could have been hurt as well..." Or worse. Whoever had done this obviously had no problem with taking a human life.

"Yes, well, I'm perfectly fine. Its Anthony we need to worry about and that poor soul who was so callously murdered in cold blood."

"The store clerk is dead?" The question startled both men as they turned toward Tony who stared back at them, looking very pale and noticeably distressed.

Gibbs groaned inwardly. Could this damn night get any worse?

xxxxx

Lou sat in his recliner, his eyes glued to the television set. He was sipping from a beer bottle, his nerves taut with anticipation. It was time for the 4:30 a.m. local news and he fully expected to be a part of it. He was not disappointed.

"An apparent convenience store holdup left one man dead and another man wounded."

"What?" Lou growled in horror, his stomach immediately flip flopping at this unanticipated development.

"Henry Sawyer, the store clerk, was found dead on the scene. Another yet to be identified man was also wounded and was brought to the Bethesda Naval Hospital. No word is currently available on his condition."

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Lou flung the beer bottle at the wall, watching as it impacted and shattered into pieces.

"Lou? Lou, sweetie, what's wrong?" His girlfriend, Charlotte, came scurrying into the living room.

"Nothing's wrong. Pick up that damn mess," he ordered. Charlotte immediately went off to retrieve a dustpan and brush. She then knelt down on the floor and began to clean up the shattered glass.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong? I can make you some tea." She looked up at him with her big doe eyes and he had to fight his urge to punch her

"I don't want any damn tea!" What the hell was wrong with this woman? She was just asking for another beating. He quickly left the room and went to the bedroom, slamming the door loudly behind him, He couldn't believe the guy was alive. Of course, they hadn't given any information about his condition. Maybe he was on death's door. But what if he was doing okay?

His late father's words came back to him. "Never leave a witness to tell a tale, Louie boy," he had said repeatedly. It was sound advice that Lou had always tried to follow. No witnesses made things nice and tidy and that was just how he liked it.

Lou knew what he had to do. He was going to have to hunt this guy down and make sure his mouth was shut permanently...