Tony walked off the elevator and as soon as he did Abby flew into his arms. "Are you guys okay? I heard about the explosion!" "You blew up Gibbs' house?" asked Abby with wide eyes.
Tony said "It is good to see you too Abbs." "No, we didn't blow up Gibbs' house, the bad guys did." "And we are going to find out who that is." He said "Some of the other agents will be bringing in debris from Gibbs' house. I need you to process it." "Use McGee to help you."
"Sure…just tell me what we are looking for. What do you need immediately?" asked Abby.
"Whatever you can find out about what Gibbs' was up to before he left for this trip." said Tony. Mostly Tony was making work for McGee so that he wouldn't ask to accompany Tony out to the woods to find Gibbs. Tony knew this was an operation that they might not make it back from. He often gave McGee a hard time but he cared about the kid.
McGee ran over to Tony and said "Director Vance said you and Ziva are gearing up to go look for Gibbs' with Fornell." "I am ready to go." said McGee with is backpack on.
Tony said "McGee I need you here with Abby processing the evidence from the scene." "There is a lot to go through and Abby can't do it on her own." "We'll be communicating by CB radio so keep a radio with you so that Ziva and I can get messages through when we need to."
"Tony I need to be out there with you looking for Gibbs too!" said McGee incensed that he was being left behind. "I am just as good of an agent as you or Ziva."
Tony said "Tim, I know that you are a god agent. Hell you are a great agent. I am senior field agent Probie or have you forgotten already?" "You are staying here with Abby because this is where I need you to be." Tony walked away not giving McGee the chance to argue his case. Tony's mind was made up on the situation. Tony jogged up the stairs to meet with Fornell and Ziva in Vance's office.
McGee stood there watching Tony and then walked off.
Abby ran after him and said "McGee wait!" Abby and McGee went down to her lab to wait for the evidence to start pouring in.
Meanwhile Tony was in Vance's office being briefed on the operation to locate Gibbs.
Vance said "Agent Fornell is going to be leading his five man team." "DiNozzo, you will be lead for NCIS and handle our end of things." "You will take your team with you." "There is a truck in the garage ready for you and your team for the trip." "Everything you will need is inside." "You leave immediately." "Any questions?"
DiNozzo said "No, but I would like to speak with you alone for a minute director."
Vance nodded and said "Of course." Ziva and Fornell left the office. "What can I do for you DiNozzo?"
"Director, I would like to leave McGee here to assist Abby in processing the evidence from the scene." said Tony.
"Well, we can get some of the other agents to help Ms. Sciuto." offered Vance.
"Thank you for the offer sir, but Ziva and the back up from the bureau will be all we need." said Tony.
Vance raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Okay then, just radio back to us if you need more back up." "We will have a support team in the area if the need arises."
"Thank you director." said Tony and walked out of the office. He walked down to the bullpen and said "Let's go Ziva." Tony walked to the elevator and held it for her.
Ziva grabbed her gun and holstered it and ran after Tony. Once she was on the elevator she asked "Isn't McGee coming with us?"
Tony shook his head and said "He is staying here to help Abby."
Ziva smiled a little she knew very well why Tony was leaving McGee behind. He probably would have done the same with her if he thought he could get away with it.
Once they made it to the garage Tony walked over to the SUV that was packed for their trip. "I'll drive." Tony climbed in and waited on Ziva before taking off for their destination.
The forest was nearly an hour away and the entire car ride was spent in complete silence. When they finally arrived Tony parked and got out of the car. He put on his backpack with everything they would need.
Tony and Ziva met up with Fornell and his group.
"We are going to break into three groups of two." "There is a survival shack in the woods we will meet there in 6 hours if we haven't seen or heard from Gibbs." "If you get in trouble send a flare up literally." said Fornell. "Alright everyone let's go."
Tony and Ziva headed off into the woods with their guns drawn. Ziva paid special attention to the ground seeing if she could make out foot prints or disturbances in the foliage.
Tony on the other hand kept a look out and from time to time checked the map to ensure they were headed into the right direction. Two hours in they had made it to Gibbs' campsite. Tony said "Maybe Gibbs left some sort of message for us here." Tony started looking around. He checked in the tent and paused. "There is someone in the tent." said Tony in a low voice to Ziva. He motioned for her to take her position on the other side of the tent.
Ziva moved into position and cocked her gun her eyes trained on the opening of the tent.
Mike Franks poked his head out and smiled. "Well, it took you long enough to get out here and find me." "Jethro thought for sure you would have been here a couple of hours ago." "How are you doing darlin'?" asked Mike looking over at Ziva.
"Franks…what the hell are you doing here?" asked Tony holstering his gun. "We would have been here sooner but we were side tracked." "We were nearly blown up on our quest to find you." "It was like a scene out of Backdraft."
"I am good Mike." said Ziva laughing at the absurdity of finding him there.
"Ah hell when those Ruskies came looking for us, Jethro and I split up. I doubled back to wait here for all of you to show up." said Mike Franks getting up from his position in the tent. He grabbed his gun and said "Let's go find Jethro."
"We are not taking you with us Franks." "We are going to walk you backout to the truck and radio for back up to come and pick you up." "Ziva and I will come back and look for Gibbs." "Did he give you any indication where he might go?" asked Tony.
"Listen up kid you ain't leaving me behind. I am here to help Jethro finish this." "Now you can come with me and I will help you find him." "Or I'll knock you out like I did before and leave you here while I go find him myself." said Franks.
Tony shook his head and said "Alright, but the first sign of trouble you fall back." "Let's get moving we are losing light." said Tony.
Ziva shook her head listening at the exchange between Tony and Franks. She didn't know why Tony had even tried to pull that stunt. Somehow she thought retired agent trumped senior field agent. Or maybe it was just that Franks could kick Tony's ass.
They took off in the forest keeping their eyes peeled for anything. Franks said "There is a tree stand somewhere out here." "Jethro said he would be up there waiting." "It is pretty much out of sight but he'd have a tactical advantage over the advancing team." With Gibbs being a sniper tactical advantage was really all he needed.
"We are here to take them into custody Franks." insisted Tony half-heartedly.
Franks chortled and said "You can take what is left of them into custody if that makes you feel any better."
"Did Gibbs tell you exactly where this tree stand is?"asked Tony.
"No, I thought it was better if he didn't just in case the Ruskies came back and found me there at the camp." "Sort of an insurance policy against me saying anything." said Franks.
They walked for what seemed like forever being bitten by mosquitoes and any other bug that decided to make a tasty snack out of them. The bug bites were getting worse now that the sun had gone down and the moon was out.
Tony looked over head and frowned. "It looks like clouds are starting to move in." "That last thing we need is rain right now." "I don't know if we will be able to find Gibbs if the sky opens up."
Ziva said "I have a feeling that Gibbs will find us."
Tony walked away several feet seeing a piece of cloth tied to a branch. He was walking back when he saw two gunmen taking aim at Ziva and Franks. Tony started running toward Ziva and Franks. "Get down!" screamed Tony. He made it there as the gunmen opened fire and shot at Ziva and Franks. Tony threw his body in front of Ziva knocking her to the ground.
More shots rang out this time coming from different directions. Voices could be heard saying. "Agents down!"
Fornell's voice called out. "David! DiNozzo?"