"Bloody idiots." Kort spat.
"You told us to get him when Agent Gibbs wasn't around. Well, that's not often. And, his other pal was armed. You didn't mention other people we needed to watch out for." The man was calm, letting Kort's anger wash over him. He was in his forties, with a rough looking, scarred face. His eyes flashed dangerously in the darkness.
"And what about your other cohort, what happened to him?" Kort paced in the large storage locker he had prepared for his "guest".
" I drove...they were supposed to grab DiNozzo...Orrantia took one in the leg."
Kort rolled his one eye.
"So, Orrantia is in the hospital." Kort said, a little too calmly.
"Yes. But he won't talk. He knows better."
"That is unfortunate. And now I need to clean up that mess myself. You're lucky, Tilson, that I have no time to find other...help. I am due to deliver my package fully operational in ten days. "
Kort's pacing slowed a little, as he came to a stop in front of the man.
"You and Stern, you screw up again and you won't just be missing a payment, you'll be missing a head." The words were hissed out.
There was a pause.
"Understood."
Kort stood, thinking a bit.
"Gibbs can't be with him all the time. And he's on leave...because he's a bit over the cuckoo's nest. I'm sure we can find a window of opportunity."
Kort lightly fingered the generator he'd bought just for Tony. The idea he would be torturing...reprogramming, the man himself, gave him a shiver of pleasure.
"Two birds with one, very enjoyable stone..." he said it more to himself.
Then he turned to the man, "Keep an eye on Gibbs' house. I need him here as soon as possible. An opportunity will come. And for pity's sake, stay undetected…You've done these kind of jobs before. Use the brain I know you have and figure it out."
"Understood."
They had identified the would be kidnapper as Antonio Orrantia, a wanted murderer, who made his ends meet with a long history of "for hire" situations, both in the U.S. and South America.
Gibbs wanted to question him right away, but the man was in too much pain to answer him, and the doctors pushed them away before he went into surgery.
They went back to the Navy Yard, in light of the five hours Orrantia would likely be in surgery.
Tony sat at in Vance's office with Gibbs.
"What happened?" Vance asked, eyes intent on them.
Tony didn't say anything, and seemed to be lost in thought. After the attempted kidnapping, he had been a bit vocal, but soon after, seemed to close off again.
"Someone tried to grab him. Outside the café', down the block with Ducky. And Duck stopped them." Gibbs glanced once back to Tony's now pale face before waiting for Vance's response.
"In light of everything that's happened…do we have any idea who would want to abduct Agent DiNozzo, and why ?" Vance looked at Tony, who finally met the Director's eyes.
"I dunno…why. I'm…I don't have the chip anymore…so, honestly Director, I have no idea."
Vance nodded. "When is our suspect available for interrogation?"
"They said about five hours. We'll go back in a while and wait," Gibbs said evenly.
Vance nodded again. "I want to put a detail on your place, Gibbs, and someone will be available to escort Agent DiNozzo to any of his appointments…" he looked at the younger man.
"Tony, I don't want you directly involved with the questioning of the suspect, or in following the details through right now."
Tony opened his mouth to protest.
"No," Vance held his hand up. "Your job is to let us take care of this, and get to your doctor appointments, so you can pass your psych eval. Until then, you know you can't arm yourself, and you have to cooperate, with the agents we assign to protect you." Vance's tone was gentle. He saw the completely distraught look on Tony's face, and added, "Just until we figure it out."
Tony sighed, and nodded his head, looking at the floor.
This was just another way he felt out of control, powerless to stop what was happening to him. Since the whole thing started with Jarvis, he'd felt derailed in many ways, and wanted badly not to feel like a victim. That was hard to do with everyone protecting him.
"Gibbs, let me know what you find out later. Take McGee with you. And as soon as David is well enough, we'll get her in to help."
Gibbs nodded once at Vance, grateful his first priority was to keep Tony from anymore harm.
Gibbs realized though, that Tony was not exactly pleased with the situation, as he drove him back to the house, with McGee in the back seat.
Tony was slumped in the passenger seat, looking out the window.
"Don't you think," Tony said quietly,"I should be armed to defend myself if necessary?"
Gibbs sighed. He knew the conversation was not going to end well. he saw McGee looking nervous in the rear view mirror. Too bad he'd have to witness the eruption about to take place.
"I think you know, you're still not right."
There was no sense in sugar coating it, because it would only make things worse.
"But-" Tony began, however, Gibbs cut him off.
"You have nightmares, hear voices, have episodes, even when you're awake where you're off somewhere else. You could potentially see things, that just aren't there. You pulled a gun on Jarvis, only two days ago…do you really want to carry one, right now?"
McGee was silent in the back seat, mortified.
Tony's jaw muscles worked a little as he ground his teeth for a moment. He licked his lips and continued to look out the window, but he wasn't paying attention to the scenery. He was trying to control his emotions, and the feeling of helplessness that was gnawing at him.
"What I really want,' he said angrily, "is to stop feeling like everyone's goddamned project." He turned to Gibbs.
Then it became louder, as he was almost yelling. "What I really want, is to sleep in my own goddamned bed, and not need you to babysit me."
"Tony," Gibbs began, pulling up to the house, "I get it. Believe me, I do. But there isn't a choice right now."
He looked at Tony, who was staring ahead, fuming.
"Fine," he said flatly, and got out of the car, without turning back.
Gibbs sighed, knowing DiNozzo didn't do helpless well, if at all.
Problem was, since what happened to him on The Phantom, he was more vulnerable than Gibbs had ever seen him.
He shook his head.
"He's just frustrated, Boss. I mean, Tony isn't really mad at you, he's just..."
"He'll be alright, McGee,"he said watching Tony go into his house.
He pulled away to go to the hospital, after McGee got out and then took the front passenger seat.
There was already a protection detail, off to the side, parked down the street in view of the house.
And he had Ducky coming by to check on Tony later.
No wonder Tony felt the way he did. Because, though they were only trying to help him, he'd become a prisoner again.