Drowning

Chapter 30

Brogan made his way down the stairs into the basement and smiled evilly when he saw how weak and defeated Agent Tony Dinozzo appeared to be. He was highly amused by the scathing look that his aunt sent him.

'For God's sake give him some water, put some heat on and unlock the handcuffs!' Miranda implored her nephew. 'It's bad enough that you've kidnapped a federal officer and are demanding a ransom for him. There's absolutely no excuse for the inhumane way you're treating him!'

'Inhumane?' scoffed Brogan as he stood over his two captives. 'Prison – the place HE put me – was inhumane. This is justice. Didn't you used to tell me that you reap what you sow? Well, Agent Dinozzo here is simply getting what was coming to him.'

'That's absurd!' Miranda told him, concerned that Tony hadn't spoken. Perhaps he had lapsed into a deep unconsciousness. The thought fed her anger at her nephew. 'If you hadn't committed a crime, you wouldn't have been in any danger of being sent to jail. He was only doing his job. He's not well. You're going to have his death on your hands, and I'll be telling the court exactly how badly you treated him!'

Brogan stared down at Miranda and shook his head.

'You know, I'm really disappointed with the lack of family loyalty,' he told her, menacingly. 'I'm not asking any money for you, and I don't really want a bleeding heart ruining my fun. Perhaps I'll get rid of you now.'

'You'll get life for killing a federal officer,' Tony murmured weakly, drawing Brogan's attention away from Miranda. Brogan crouched down in front of Tony and got right into the agent's personal space.

'They'll have to catch me first,' he told Tony. 'Right now, your friends are scurrying around trying to get a whole lot of money together to save your sorry hide. They're too busy to look for you, and there's no way they'll find you anyway. I had that navy officer down here for ages and they never found her. And the best thing is,' he added, pressing his face within centimeters of Tony's, 'is that I'm gonna kill you anyway. I'll be taking the money and giving them a corpse.'

Tony swallowed to try and suppress the harsh tickling at the base of his throat. He didn't want to have a full-on, debilitating coughing fit in front of Brogan if he could help it.

'No-one's trying to get any money together,' he rasped. 'Only vulnerable people like the Partingtons who have their own money and love their kid end up paying ransoms. You'd better get satisfaction out of killing me, because that's all you're gonna get out of this.'

At that moment, Vay happened to look up and was met with the most wonderful sight. Behind Brogan, creeping down the stairs, was the dark-haired ex Mossad agent Ziva. Behind her was Agent Gibbs and Agent McGee. Seeing Miranda look directly at them, Ziva brought her finger to her lips.

Brogan slipped a knife from out of his belt and held it menacingly. Gibbs placed a restraining hand on Ziva's shoulder, silently warning her against advancing further while Brogan was so close to Tony with a weapon.

'Guess I'd better get to work,' Brogan told Tony, unaware that his audience was greater than two. 'I promised I'd start sending a few souvenirs to your friends. Maybe we'll start with some hair.'

Tony's eyes widened as the knife was brought closer to his face. He was suddenly seized by a severe coughing fit that he could no longer repress. As he wheezed, Brogan grabbed a handful of his hair and raised the knife.

With Ninja-like skill (that Tony would later comment upon ad nauseum) Ziva drew her own knife and threw it with absolutely perfect precision and force. It struck Brogan in the upper back, embedding itself deeply. With a gasp, the kidnapper let go of Tony and the knife, and pitched forward onto the man he had been tormenting.

Quickly, Ziva, Gibbs and McGee rushed forward. McGee unceremoniously hauled Brogan off Tony and saw that he had already lost consciousness. Ziva went to Miranda who was looking anxiously towards Tony who was obviously having difficulty catching his breath. Gibbs ignored the pain in his chest as he knelt down in front of his number one field agent.

'Agent Gibbs,' said Miranda with urgency in her voice. 'His breathing has been terribly laboured. He has been mostly conscious but rambling on and off for the last hour.'

'McGee! Get Ducky down here and call the EMT's!' shouted Gibbs.

'On it Boss,' replied McGee who was already halfway up the stairs. Gibbs placed a hand on Tony's shoulder and gripped it tightly.

'It's okay,' he told the younger man. Within such close proximity to Tony, Gibbs could clearly see the faint tinge of blue around his lips. It was something he had never wanted to see again in his life.

Tony heard the trusted voice and willed himself to get control, but black spots were beginning to dance at the edge of his eyes and he was so very, very tired. He could no longer keep his head from lolling forward, now that the coughing had subsided. Gibbs snaked his arm between Tony and the wall and encountered the locked handcuffs. The cuffs were secured to the wall by a very short length of chain, which had obviously prevented Tony from lying down.

'Ziva! Get him free!' ordered Gibbs.

As Gibbs held Tony by the shoulders and pulled him away from the wall as far as the short chain would allow, Ziva knelt beside them and began to work at the cuffs. Her worried eyes traveled to Gibbs and to Tony now and then as she worked. Ziva had been concerned while Tony was missing, but now that they had found him and he was not making any sexual comment about her releasing him from handcuffs, she was extremely concerned.

Gibbs heard the soft click as the cuffs were opened. He carefully eased Tony's arms forward to a more natural position, an action that elicited a soft moan from the younger man.

'Easy,' Gibbs told him, softly. Tony looked at Gibbs and seemed to be realizing his presence in the basement for the first time.

'Boss, it's Brogan,' he slurred.

'Yeah, we know,' said Gibbs, gently rubbing Tony's arms to speed up the return of circulation. His skin was like ice. Tony swallowed and tried to stop his eyes from rolling back in his head. Why was the room spinning? Where had Brogan gone? Why was he so tired?

'Don't feel so good,' he muttered.

'I'm not surprised, young man!' came Ducky's voice as he descended the stairs. 'Confinement in a cold basement does not come highly recommended as a line of treatment for someone with a suspected respiratory infection.'

As the old M.E. approached, however, the stern rebuking tone disappeared. He could hear the harsh breathing from the foot of the stairs. Tony was obviously going downhill fast.

'Help me lay him down, Jethro,' Ducky said quietly. 'Once the EMT's come, he'll definitely need to go to Bethesda.'

As Ziva and Miranda watched, Gibbs drew Tony further away from the wall and gently eased him down onto the cardigan Miranda quickly spread out. Tony complied. He was too tired to protest. He was simply grateful to be laying down, and, after all, Gibbs was there to have his six. He gave a sigh and gave in to the heaviness he felt in every pore of his being.