Filler for "Twilight." One last chapter after this to complete "Darkest Hours" and Season 2. The last chapter will probably be shorter, but will cover the moments just after the end of "Twilight."
"Darkest Hours – Part VI"
DiNozzo, this might just be the dumbest thing you've ever done.
Tony was certain there was a rather long list of dumb decisions in his past with which he could reasonably compare this particular situation, but as he lay belly-down in the dirt, all his muscles spent and struggling to catch his breath, he was simply too exhausted to even attempt remembering them all.
The first face – and voice – that swam into his consciousness, pulling him out of the dreamy haze enveloping his mind for the last few moments, was Kate's.
"Tony?" she asked anxiously as she gently bent down to check his pulse. "Tony?" she inquired again, just a bit louder. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"
Her partner was struck with a strange sense of déjà vu, feeling almost certain he'd found himself with Kate in a similar situation just recently, but unable to pinpoint the exact memory. He tried to respond, but it came out as a rather weak and incoherent mumble.
He felt a pair of strong hands carefully turning him over onto his back. Suddenly, he found himself staring up into a bright blue sky for a few short seconds before Gibbs' concerned but stern face invaded the scene of beauty before him. "DiNozzo!"
"B-Boss?" he managed to say.
Another hand was checking his pulse. "Jethro, I believe Anthony is simply shaken from his proximity to the explosion and the subsequent strain on his muscles from the attempt to escape. However, it would not hurt for him to be checked out. His pulse is rather rapid for my liking."
"N-no more hospital, Ducky," he managed to croak out.
Gibbs was glaring at him, a look that held about eighty-percent concern and twenty-percent anger. He didn't need to hear the actual lecture to know that his boss was silently reprimanding him for pushing too hard, particularly after he'd insisted to the other man that, as a condition of his early return to duty, he'd exercise a particularly high-level of caution.
"There was a….bomb…Boss," he explained by way of apology.
"No kidding, DiNozzo," Gibbs huffed before turning to Ducky. "Let's get him to the truck while we finish processing what's left of our crime scene." Then, moving his attention to Kate, he ordered, "Stay with him."
Next thing he knew, Tony was being lifted on one side by Gibbs and on the other by Ducky, and then slowly walked to the back of the truck, passing a still-stunned Jimmy Palmer and Agent McGee in the process.
"I've got it from here," he heard Kate say as he settled into the back of the truck and laid down.
I survived the plague to almost get blown up by a car bomb at a crime scene. Ironic. It may have even occurred to him that he should be concerned as to why there was a car bomb at their crime scene, had he not been taken by sleep almost immediately.
A few minutes later he blearily opened his eyes, noticing he was still lying down in the back of the MCRT crime scene vehicle. Kate was seated next to him staring thoughtfully out the back. He wasn't certain she'd even noticed he was awake until she quietly spoke.
"What were you thinking, Tony?" she muttered without turning her head to face him.
"Uh, that there was a bomb, Kate…" he insisted with as much energy as he could pull together in his weakened state.
"That's not what I meant," she sighed. "What were you thinking coming to work today? You weren't ready yet and you know it."
"I knew you missed me. All that stuff this morning with you ignoring me and pretending you were mad at me – it was just an act. You were happy to see me. It's okay to admit it," he teased lightly, hoping to lighten the mood a bit, even as part of him was glad to see that the Kate he'd come to know over the last couple of weeks had returned. After the events of the morning, he'd begun to wonder if they were going to simply fall right back into their old routine of sometimes hurtful teasing, forgetting the fact that they'd recently come to a new understanding of each other.
"It isn't funny. You could've gotten yourself blown up just now. Insisting you were faster than me and McGee. Is your manly pride worth getting killed over? We should drive you straight home and assign a guard at your door to keep you from leaving for the next week. Home is exactly where you should be right now."
"Need I remind you that if I'd stayed home this morning, you and McGee probably would have gotten yourselves blown up just now?"
"You don't know that. We might have noticed the bomb on our own if you hadn't been there to distract us," Kate offered. But deep down she didn't believe that any more than Tony did, and it irked her to realize he was probably right.
"I'm not going back home. You're the one who believes everything happens for a reason. Well, obviously, there's a good reason I came to work today."
"If I can't talk some sense into you, maybe Gibbs will," Kate hoped.
"Gibbs understands that I can help a lot more by being here than I can sitting around at home doing nothing. I'm fine, Kate. Just overexerted myself a little bit. The Boss wouldn't have let me come back if he thought otherwise."
"Yeah, DiNozzo? Well I might be rethinking that," Gibbs' voice asserted from just outside the truck.
"Boss, really I'm okay. I don't need a hospital and I don't need to go home," Tony insisted as Gibbs helped him out of the back and into the middle seat of the front cab, Gibbs taking the driver's seat and Kate the seat to his right.
"We're getting Ducky's opinion on that as soon as we get back. And since I have to focus on the case, Kate's going to accompany you to make sure you don't try to wiggle out of anything."
Tony glanced over at his partner. Kate gave him a smug, self-satisfied smile in return.
Great. Now I have to convince both Kate and Ducky to let me stay. This day just keeps getting better and better.
The hour-long drive back to the Navy Yard was unusually quiet with Tony still too spent to make much of his usual chatter, and Gibbs found himself worriedly going over the events of the morning once again in his mind.
He had fully expected the gnawing in his gut to let up as Tony's recovery continued to progress. Instead, it had persisted and even grown over the past few days. The explosion at their crime scene this morning had kicked it into high gear, and the brief moment of terror earlier that he'd somehow still managed to lose Tony, even after he'd overcome the pneumonic plague for heaven's sake, had recalled to mind his troubling recent dreams and the man at the center of them.
Ari Haswari. Somehow, he's behind this.
There was no proof. And there was no known motive – not really. And Gibbs knew if he voiced his theory that Ari was somehow behind this based solely on his gut and a few bizarre nightmares, Director Morrow might very well recommend a psych eval. Nevertheless, that explosion was no accident and his entire team was likely in danger.
As he glanced worriedly over at his Senior Field Agent, who had once again given into the temptation to rest his eyes, Gibbs thought that the timing of this new threat couldn't be much worse. Tony was in no physical shape to be dealing with this, and the rest of them were distracted and had been for the past two weeks.
And that may very well be exactly what Ari's counting on.
"Thanks for not making me go home, Boss," Tony said quietly after the elevator doors closed behind them.
Gibbs momentarily failed to respond, instead reaching over to flip the switch to his unofficial office.
"I meant what I said, DiNozzo. You find someplace quiet and you lie down. If I see you doing otherwise, I will send you home, you got that?" Gibbs tried to sound threatening, but even he knew the worry was seeping into his tone.
"On it, Boss," his Senior Field Agent agreed reluctantly. "But what do you think is the deal with that car bomb? Trying to destroy evidence or …."he drifted off, not really wanting to voice the second half of his thought. Or someone trying to kill us?
"I intend to find out," Gibbs said tightly. "But you let us worry about that right now."
Not so easy, Boss. Not after I was the one who almost got blown up.
Satisfied that Tony got the message, the Lead Agent reactivated the elevator and got off at the ground floor. "I'll be right back. Going for coffee. You remember what I said."
"Lie down. I got it." Tony assured the older man.
In the bullpen behind my desk. Where I can still hear what's going on.
Kate, Tony, and McGee stared open-mouthed as their boss mounted the stairs to MTAC, the words "someone really is trying to kill us" still hanging uncomfortably in the air around them.
"Wh- why would someone be trying to kill us at a crime scene?" McGee asked flabbergasted.
"Some crazy lady sent me pneumonic plague through the mail, Probie. Obviously there doesn't have to be a logical reason," Tony snapped back, his nerves suddenly on edge.
"This isn't the work of a crazy person, Tony. Whoever this is knew what they were doing," Kate observed nervously.
"Yeah," Tony sighed, forced to agree with his partner. "And why do I get the feeling Gibbs knows more than he's letting on?"
"Probably because he does," Kate responded distractedly. Then, as if being abruptly reminded of something, she changed the subject. "You didn't lie down for very long, Tony."
"I'm fine now, Kate. We have bigger things to worry about, don't you think?"
That was probably accurate. Still, Tony looked awful. "Maybe so, but if you pass out again…"
"I didn't pass out the first time, Kate. I was just….resting," DiNozzo insisted.
"Whatever. But you should go sit down. It might be a long night."
Although he rolled his eyes dramatically, the Senior Field Agent had to admit, if only to himself, that his chair was looking pretty inviting right about now. He also found himself wondering when Kate had become so adept at reading him. She was getting almost as good as Gibbs, though he was uncertain if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
McGee and Kate shared a concerned glance behind his back as Tony was half-walking and half-dragging himself to his chair.
"Hey, maybe we could get Chinese takeout since it looks like we may be here a while," McGee suggested.
"That's a great idea, McGee. Tony, what do you want?" Kate asked hopefully.
As he laid back and closed his eyes, his stomach rolled at the thought. "Nothing for me, Kate."
His two partners shared another worried look, this one longer. Someone was trying to kill them, and their teammate was obviously still only operating at half-capacity.
It could prove to be a very long night indeed.
If he wasn't hungry before, he was even less so after Agent Fornell's visit. He was currently thinking that the name of Ari Haswari may have just wiped out his appetite permanently.
"Boss we need you to get back to the office as soon as possible. And please call me when you get this – it's urgent. We just saw Agent Fornell and an old friend of ours is back in town…" Tony had lost track of how many messages he'd left for Gibbs since Fornell's visit bearing the bad news.
"Why don't you just tell him what's going on?" McGee asked.
"Never know who might be listening, McGee. And you know how the boss is with technology. Might accidentally put it on speakerphone or something." He was trying to keep his tone light, but DiNozzo was terribly concerned for Gibbs. One more call and I'm taking McGee to go look for him.
As if reading his thoughts again, Kate assured him, "Gibbs can take care of himself. I'm sure he's fine, Tony."
"I know he can take care of himself, Kate, but he has no idea Ari's back in the country," Tony snapped without really meaning to. Or maybe he does know and he went out to confront him deliberately. The younger man wouldn't have put that past his boss if Gibbs had suspected that Haswari was the one behind the explosion this morning.
"Just because Ari's back in the country doesn't mean he's the one trying to kill us," McGee attempted to offer helpfully.
The Senior Field Agent just glared at him. "Don't tell me you really believe that, Probie."
That silenced the junior agent.
"Kate, you're awfully quiet all of a sudden. What're you thinking?" Tony inquired, realizing he'd become pretty adept at reading his partner as well.
"That I should have known Ari had something to do with that explosion. And about how much I wish I'd killed him when I had the chance."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Tony comforted. "We've pissed off a lot of people. That explosion could've been set up by any number of people. Besides, we thought Ari was out of the country until just now. You couldn't have known. And I'm guessing the Boss will be more than happy to take care of that other problem as soon as he gets the chance." If he gets the chance.
"Maybe you should try calling him again," McGee suggested tensely.
"Yeah," Tony agreed.
C'mon, Boss. Where are you?
"We're not going anywhere, Boss. You're staying, we're staying," Tony asserted, heading back to his desk in spite of Gibbs' order to all of them to go home and his promise not to leave the building.
The Lead Agent watched him, a mixture of pride and concern on his features. Of all his agents, DiNozzo was the one who least needed to be pulling an all-nighter. Nevertheless, Gibbs would feel much better if all his agents were where he could personally keep an eye on them until he had a chance to take down Ari Haswari once and for all.
"I'm with DiNozzo. I'm staying, too," Kate insisted. Their boss wasn't at all surprised by this. Kate not only felt responsible for his safety, having been assigned to personally keep Gibbs in protective custody, but he also knew that she was equally concerned for Tony's health as well. The two had obviously become much closer during Tony's illness, so much so that Gibbs had found himself wondering on more than one occasion just how close his two agents had gotten, and if it should be cause for concern.
"Me three, Boss. Sorry," McGee chimed in. "I mean, uh, never mind about the apology part since it's against the rules and everything…"
Gibbs couldn't help a slight smirk. McGee had really come a long way during the past year, and Gibbs was proud of him. He was proud of all of them.
As he was glancing around the bullpen at his agents, he eyed a container of half-eaten Chinese food in the trash can next to Tony's desk.
"DiNozzo! What did I tell you?" he barked, indicating the uneaten food in the trash bin.
The younger man's eyes widened. "Boss, I wasn't exactly worried about eating after I heard Ari was back and he was trying to kill you…"
Gibbs took a deep breath, searching for some much-needed patience. "Kate, order a pizza," he directed. Turning his attention back to his Senior Field Agent, he demanded, "And you will eat it. You're not staying here all night without eating something."
Tony desperately wanted to argue, but he could see the older man was in no mood. "Fine."
Looking around at all of them, the Lead Agent said to no one in particular, "Going down to autopsy for a few minutes."
Once Gibbs was safely out of hearing distance, Tony grumbled, "I don't know why everyone's so concerned with my eating habits when Haswari's out there trying to kill Gibbs."
"Please excuse us for having a hard time forgetting you almost died just a couple of weeks ago, DiNozzo," Kate answered incredulously.
"But I'm much better now. Gibbs is the one we should be concerned about. The man takes crazy chances, Kate," Tony observed worriedly.
"Yeah, well, I'm not about to let anything happen to Gibbs if I can help it. But you need to take care of yourself, too. You're not going to be able to help him if you have a relapse or something. And he doesn't need to be distracted by worrying about you. He really cares about you, Tony. You should let him."
"Let him?" Tony asked in confusion, trying to grasp what his partner was getting at.
"Let him care about you. You aren't always so good about letting people get close to you. Don't think I haven't noticed."
Yeah, well, the people I get close to seem to always leave, Kate. "Okay, Kate. I promise to eat my pizza."
His partner chuckled. Between Gibbs and Tony, Kate had a feeling she was going to have her hands full for a few days. At least.
"Duck, are you still here?" Gibbs was feeling the rare urge to talk to someone this evening, but was met with silence and darkness as he entered autopsy.
Realizing he was alone, he allowed his shoulders to sag wearily, feeling as if a literal weight had settled on them. He looked over at one of the autopsy tables and was at once assaulted with the images from his dreams of over a year ago. First it was Kate in a body bag. Then Tony. Followed by McGee, Ducky – even Abby. But never himself.
He could have sworn he heard Ari's voice overhead, just as in his more recent nightmares. Which one, Agent Gibbs?
Ari could have just killed him earlier this evening. Instead, he wanted to toy with him. And that frightened him more than any direct threat to his own person ever could.
He'd almost blown up a coffee shop with innocent civilians. Who or what was coming next? There was no way Gibbs could protect them all.
That is, until Ari Haswari was the one in the body bag. And that was precisely where Gibbs intended to put him.
The Lead Agent wandered back into the darkened bullpen and smiled at the sight. Tony was sitting at his desk chomping on a very large slice of sausage, cheese, and pepperoni pizza, albeit with a slightly sour expression on his face. Meanwhile, Kate and McGee both appeared to be asleep at their desks.
"Glad you decided to follow orders for once, DiNozzo," Gibbs teased.
"That's not fair, Boss. I always follow your orders," Tony argued.
It was true, of course. His agent likely wouldn't even be sitting there right now if it weren't. "After you eat that you need to get some sleep, too. We're probably in for another long day tomorrow. And you're still not at a hundred percent no matter how much you lie about it."
Tony was quiet for a moment, but then hesitantly asked a question. "You're gonna be okay, right Boss?" There was an uncharacteristic vulnerability in Tony's voice that the older man knew wouldn't be present were his two more junior agents not currently fast asleep.
"I don't have any plans not to be okay, DiNozzo. But if you don't shut up and get some sleep, I might not be able to say the same for you."
The bullpen was now almost completely quiet, except for the sound of quiet snoring, as Tony had finally joined his teammates in slumber.
Gibbs quietly observed each of his agents in the darkness.
McGee, usually the quietest and most reserved of the group, was ironically the one snoring the loudest. The young man had somehow managed to fall asleep still looking as if he were ready to jump to attention at any given moment at the slightest indication of a command to do so. The Probie agent was eager and loyal, following the leads of his more seasoned teammates in remaining here to protect the Boss. Gibbs hadn't been completely certain at first, but he now felt confident that McGee was going to make a fine agent.
He moved on to Tony. His Senior Field Agent had fallen asleep kicked back haphazardly in his chair, one hand still in the pizza box. Gibbs was so relieved to have finally gotten the younger man to eat something, even if it had required a certain amount of coercion. He listened carefully to the sound of Tony's soft breathing. There was still just the slightest hint of congestion, but the younger man seemed to be resting comfortably and, unlike just a few days ago, his breathing didn't seem labored. It was a sound he was sure he would never take for granted again.
He looked over at Kate's desk but discovered that at some point she'd moved down to the floor to get more comfortable. His female agent was independent, strong-willed, and opinionated. She was also smart, determined, idealistic, and compassionate. The combination had made her an excellent agent, though at times it had also gotten her into a fair amount of trouble. However, right at the moment he was struck by how young she appeared. Kate's demeanor and confidence sometimes fooled him into thinking she was older than her years, though he was often brought back to reality by some of her more juvenile exchanges with his Senior Field Agent. He smiled down on her, instinctively covering her up in a protective gesture and amused in thinking that she'd probably bristle at being treated like a little girl were she not currently in a state of unconsciousness.
He moved over to the window, uneasiness recapturing his attention. Ari wanted to hurt him. Gibbs knew the best way to hurt him was not through causing harm to himself, but through his people. His job and his team were all he really had left in this world.
His greatest fear was that Ari knew it, too.
"Tony, are you absolutely sure you're up to this?" Gibbs asked one last time before they got into the sedan to head to Norfolk and to a probable confrontation with the terrorist cell headed by none other than Ari Haswari.
"Positive, Boss. No way am I sending you all in there without me. I'll be fine," Tony said, wishing he felt as assured as his tone currently conveyed.
The younger man had slightly more color in his face than the previous day, but was still pale and thin and for a moment Gibbs considered going against his Senior Field Agent's wishes and ordering him to remain behind. But truthfully, they needed him. And they were facing a possible terrorist attack against civilians. Faced with that kind of threat, he knew it was his duty to put aside whatever personal considerations he may be feeling and to place the wellbeing of those civilians ahead of their own.
Each of his agents had gone into this career field with their eyes wide open. They had sworn to protect, even at the cost of their own lives, and he had no doubt that any one of his agents would gladly pay that price to save innocent lives should it come to that. He had never placed his own desires above his duty to his country, and he wasn't about to start now. And neither would any one of his agents.
"Okay, then. Let's go," he ordered.
Just before they got in the car, Kate caught Tony's eye. She remembered her earlier conversation with Abby, and the forensic scientist's dream of the night before, accompanied by an image of Tony with blood all over his face. In spite of her assurances to her friend that it had simply been a bête noir, Kate suddenly felt afraid.
Reading her mind again, Tony offered her an assurance as well. "I'll be fine, Kate. Don't worry."
Returning to the comfort of their good-natured verbal sparring, Kate smiled and responded with, "You better be, DiNozzo. I'm finally going back to pilates class tomorrow. If you make me miss it again, you'll be sorry."
At last things were finally almost back to normal.
The shootout had been intense. For a moment, both Gibbs and Tony had held their collective breath, thinking that McGee had been hit. They had been immensely relieved to hear the junior agent's voice over the radio, even though he indicated that his transmitter had been hit.
Then there had been an almost heartstopping moment when the remaining terrorist had appeared and Kate had been the first to see him. She had screamed, "Shooter!" and thrown herself in between Gibbs and the bullet meant for him.
But, of course, they had all taken the proper precautions and donned their bulletproof vests. Kate was sore, but she would be fine.
Gibbs had breathed an audible sigh of relief upon seeing the bullet, stopped by the vest Kate was wearing. Tony had merely smiled and asked his partner if she was okay, as Gibbs had made a rare gesture of affection and stroked her hair.
As Tony helped her up, he couldn't think of a moment he'd been any more proud of his partner. He remembered all the times he'd been annoyed with her for continually reminding them of how she'd been "handpicked to protect the President." Now he knew why. Without hesitation, she had placed herself between Gibbs and harm. She was strong and brave and beautiful.
He offered the words of praise without any hint of teasing. "You did good." And he meant it every word of it. Even Gibbs agreed.
She was his brave, strong Kate. And now she was…
…
…
…
Gone.