Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows. I can't believe how this story has been received. Thank you also for being patient with me. My new job has been a challenge and I am still working on a schedule. I will have another chapter by mid week.
My thanks to my beta Kara for all her help.
All mistakes are mine, and I still do not own.
Alex rushed into Bethesda's ER looking for Jimmy or Ducky. She had received a phone call from Jimmy letting her know that Tony had been admitted due to a rescue mission he was involved in. Alex was sure she had misunderstood Jimmy when he said Tony had dived into the Potomac and rescued two people from a car and was having his lungs checked out by Dr. Pitt, but she had been running to her car after she heard hospital and Tony so she wasn't sure she had heard correctly.
Alex looked around the ER waiting room and didn't spot either men so she walked up to the nurses station. "I am here to see Special Agent DiNozzo, he was brought in, do you know what room he is in?"
"Are you family?" she was asked. Alex looked at the nurse and lied. "Yes, I am his wife."
The nurse looked up from her desk and saw the Major standing before her. The nurse nodded and told her the agents room number. "Go down the hall, the room is on the left. Drs. Mallard and Palmer are already there."
"Do you know if Dr. Pitt has arrived yet?" The nurse said yes, he had arrived.
Alex walked down to the room and found Tony with Ducky and Jimmy laughing at something Jimmy was saying. Alex took a deep breath before she entered to center herself and walked into the room. She walked up to Tony, took his hand and asked, "Are you ok, what happened, why are you here, Jimmy said something about rescuing people from the Potomac River?"
Tony looked up at Alex, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know that Jimmy was calling you, I should have called you myself, I would have told you I am fine, Brad just wants to check me out. That's all. Really."
Ducky looked at both of them and told Alex, "Alexandra, he will be fine. We just want to check his lungs to make sure that he didn't get any water in them, give him some antibiotics so he doesn't get an infection, Brad is looking at the X-rays right now. Anthony is fine."
"What happened?" asked Alex. "How did you get here?"
Tony looked at Ducky and Jimmy. Tony and Alex had talked on the phone most of the week, but they hadn't had any time together. Alex had been in court and at JAG headquarters most of the week and try as they might, they couldn't even get together for dinner. They had seen each other briefly here and there, but nothing substantial.
Thursday Afternoon
Ziva had returned from her FLETC training. Tony couldn't decide if he was seeing a difference, but at least this time Gibbs was actually paying attention to her behavior. The last week had been what Tony would call his bread and butter cases. The ones that were quickly solved, didn't cause a lot of trouble and were just in and out and unfortunately mostly paperwork. Tony was playing a game on his phone when a young girl walked in and looked around. Tony didn't notice her at first but Ziva did. Tony heard her ask, "How may I help you today?"
"I am looking for Agent Gibbs, I understand that he works here?"
"He does, but he is away from his desk right now is there something I can do to help you?" At this point Tony looked up from his phone. She was a pretty girl, but very young, not more that 21-22 years old. She wasn't a red head so he knew that she wasn't a date.
"No, I need to speak to him. It is really important that I speak to him," she said. At this point Tony decided he needed to get involved.
"I am Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, is there something I can do to help you. Agent Gibbs won't be back, as Agent David said for at least an hour. We are more than willing to help you."
"No, I really need to speak to only Agent Gibbs." Tony realized that this young lady was getting upset at their 'no' answers, so he tried a different tactic. "If you would like you can wait in the break room, have a cup of coffee and we can tell him you are here once he gets back."
The young lady smiled a tremulously at Tony and said, "Thank you so much. I would love to do that. Where should I go?"
"If you follow me I can take you there." Tony walked up the young lady and held out a hand to direct her to the break room. "Can you tell me your name so that I can let Agent Gibbs know who is here waiting for him?"
The young lady looked at Tony in confusion, "I didn't tell you my name?", she asked.
"No you didn't. I can tell Agent Gibbs that a young lady is waiting for him but when he asks me your name I hate to call you 'I don't Know' is waiting for you." Tony smiled his famous smile and the young lady blushed and gave a little giggle.
"Yeah, I guess it would help you wouldn't it. My name is Maddie Tyler. I have a problem and I know that Agent Gibbs can help me. Would you please let him know I am here waiting for him?" They had reached the break room and Tony saw Alex standing there getting a soda out of the machine. Alex glance up, saw Tony and smiled. She looked over at the young lady and raised an eyebrow at Tony in question.
"Alex I would like to introduce you to Maddie Tyler, a friend of Gibbs, Maddie this is Major Alex Flores, she is the JAG attorney assigned to NCIS."
Alex looked at Maddie, smiled and said, "It is nice to meet you Maddie, welcome to NCIS."
"Thank you Major, it is nice to meet you also." Tony directed Maddie to a table and asked if she needed anything. She asked for a glass of water which Tony gave her. "Maddie is there anything else you need?"
"No, thank you, just Agent Gibbs."
"I will let him know where you are."
"Thank you Agent DiNozzo, I appreciate all your help." Tony smiled and followed Alex out of the break room. Alex had said goodbye to Maddie on her way out and wished her a nice day.
"Hi beautiful" was whispered in Alex's ear as she started out of the break room. Alex felt shivers up her back as Tony followed her out. Alex turned around and faced Tony and looked into his eyes and smiled. She was so happy to see him. She had missed him over the last few days. She had been in court for most of the week so they hadn't had dinner or any other meal together in three days.
"I really miss you Tony. Can you come over tonight for dinner and a movie, or dinner and something, I don't care what we do, I just want to spend time with you. I have missed you." Tony drew his hand down Alex's cheek, her skin was so warm. When they looked at each other this way, they didn't see or hear anyone else. Sam walked by them and poked Tony on the shoulder. "Gibbs just walked back in, you guys may want to break it up if you aren't ready to be found out," said Sam and continued into the break room. Tony turned and watched Sam walk away, turned back to Alex and smiled.
"I guess we better get going. I have to tell him Maddie is waiting for him." Alex nodded, ran her hand down Tony's arm and grabbed his hand and squeezed his fingers very quickly. "See you later," Alex whispered to Tony and turned around and left.
Tony walked back into the bull pen and walked up to Gibbs. "There is a young lady named Maddie Tyler waiting for you in the break room. She won't tell us what she wants, said she would only talk to you. She is young Gibbs, probably only about 21-22 years old. I think she is some kind of trouble, but she won't let me know what kind."
Gibbs looked at Tony, shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know a Maddie Tyler, you sure you don't know her?"
"Nope, no idea. We haven't run any kind of search yet, do you want us too?"
"No, I'll go talk to her. Give me 10 minutes and then come find me if I am not back yet." Tony said a quick "yes Gibbs" and Gibbs turned to walk to the bull pen.
Tony looked toward McGee and said, "McGee run a search see if you can find any information on Maddie Tyler." McGee started search and hit on a popular web site with Maddie's pictures. Tony and Ziva walked over to the desk to see what type of pictures she had up. McGee was scrolling down when Tony recognized a name on one of the pictures. It was Kelly Gibbs; under the picture it said 'Best Friends for Life'. Tony looked at the other two agents. "Well at least now we know why she is here. She needs Kelly's dad." All three slowly walked back to their desk.
Gibbs came back with Maddie and introduced her to the team. She smiled at everyone and they found out why she was there. Maddie started her story. "Last year I was dating a marine for a couple of months before he left for Iraq, we ended it and I thought it was over. Now he is showing up looking for a place to stay and won't leave me alone. I don't know what to do. He keep hanging around my house and I can't get him to leave." Maddie paused and took a deep breath. "He scares me and I just don't know what to do."
Gibbs looked at Maddie and told her, "Maddie, give me the marine's name and we can look into it for you. If I need to I can get the local LEO's involved as well." Maddie nodded and gave the team the information they needed. They looked up the marine and pulled up his picture on the plasma. "There he is. DiNozzo, find out where he is currently and go pick him up. I want to know why he is harassing Maddie and I want it stopped." Tony said, "Yes Gibbs" and went to look up his information. Tony put down both Maddie's address and the marines former address, went to gather his gun and badge and then looked at McGee and said, "Let's go McGee, lets see if we can find him and give Maddie a break." Tony and McGee finished gathering their things and walked out. As the elevator closed, Tony heard Gibbs ordering Ziva to do something, he wasn't sure what.
Over the next several days, Gibbs' team kept looking for the marine with no luck. He seemed to disappear without a trace. On Monday morning, Gibbs' team continued to tried to locate the marine but before they found him a local LEO called to let them know they had found the marine bludgeoned to death.
After they had discovered the body, they found that her house had been broken and it had been ransacked as well. While Gibbs was with Maddie the rest of the team was asking questions. "We have to find the answer as to why this marine was stalking Maddie, come on, why was she being stalked. What does she possibly have that he would want; and I don't think it has any thing to deal with her being beautiful," Tony said.
"Well, I think the question is what does she have the people want," asked McGee. "She doesn't have money, she hasn't received anything from anyone, what does she have?" The team stood around trying to find the answers and after going back and forth they were not closer until an unexpected visitor took them by surprise. One of the delivery guys came upstairs to give Tony a letter and then it hit him. He knew what they were missing. Tony turned toward McGee and said, "It's an address they are looking for, a physical address. See if you can locate Gibbs and let him know what they are looking for. I am going down to Abby and see if she has anything on the body they found. Contact me if you talk to Gibbs."
Tony went down to Abby's lab to talk to her about the evidence they had located on the dead body. Tony was hoping that she had found something he could use to locate the bad guys. Tony walked into Abby's lab and the music was blaring as usual. Tony observed Abby working with the spikes that they had found in his hands. "I found out what killed him," Abby told Tony without turning around.
"What?" said Tony.
Abby turned at this point to look at Tony. Their relationship had been strained since this past summer and Abby knew she was partially if not mostly to blame for the strain. She wished she could fix their relationship but she knew it would take a lot of work. "He died due to an allergic reaction to the nail."
"How can you be allergic to a nail?"
"Well, they are covered in gunk."
"Gunk?"
"Yes, that's is what its called. Gunk, it is made of fish guts and it turns out the marine was allergic to shell fish. This gunk is a mix of all sorts of shell and regular fish. He probably wouldn't have died if he wasn't allergic he would have been wounded but not dead."
"Huh, do you know where can find this gunk?"
"Not yet, but I am working on it. Give me another hour or so and I will figure it out for you."
Tony looked at Abby and saw her face, she was reaching out. Tony smiled at her, but not his fake smile, a small real one. "Let me know Abbs, it could be really important."
Tony headed back upstairs to find Ziva and McGee upset. "We were on the phone with Gibbs when we heard shots fired. Gibbs got back on the phone, they grabbed Maddie and are demanding their money back. Gibbs doesn't know about any money. We told Gibbs about needing the address and he said to stay put, he would call us when he needed us." They both looked at Tony. "What do you want us to do?"
Tony looked at the two of them and thought to himself, 'Now they want to know what to do'. Tony looked up before he could speak and saw Vance coming down the stairs. "Where's Gibbs?"
Tony answered, "We aren't sure. Maddie Tyler was taken and we don't know where, but we think Gibbs has an idea, but he told McGee and Ziva to stay here." He looked at the pair and said, "I am going down to talk to Abby again. I think she has an idea where they are, as soon as I have any information I will let you know."
Tony started back down to the lab, this time with Vance following. "Abby," Tony said when he reached the lab, "I need to have any information you have on the possible location of where he was. Gibbs has gone off to get Maddie back without backup, we have to find him." Tony was worried, he had a very bad feeling.
"I found out what type of gunk it is and located three possible places they could have killed the marine. The first is the downtown fish market."
"Wouldn't be there, to popular."
"That's what I thought. It left two others. One is a dock that has regular business, but it still would not be busy right now so that could work. There is also another warehouse where they sold gunk, but it has been abandoned."
"Abby, send the other address to McGee, tell him to get people over their now, I am going to the warehouse. Tell him to make sure I get backup as soon as possible." Vance watched as Tony ran out of the lab to go after his team leader.
Tony reached the warehouse and parked next to a fence. At that point he heard gunshots and a car racing backwards into the Potomac River. He raced around the outside of the building and sprinted toward the two men shooting at the car. Sprinting full out, Tony fired six shots, three at each shooter, and hit dead center. Tony threw his gun away and dove into the river.
He reached the car and beat on the window until it started to move. From the inside of the car Gibbs helped Tony get Maddie out of the car. Tony pulled her out and got her to the dock before going back down to Gibbs. By the time Tony reached Gibbs, full panic had gripped Tony. Gibbs wasn't moving in the car and seemed to be floating there. Tony tried to get him out, but the steering wheel wouldn't let him. Tony yanked as hard as he could before it let go of Gibbs. He then pulled Gibbs up to the dock as well and realized that neither Maddie or Gibbs was breathing. "Please Gibbs, don't make me do this," as he leaned down and gave Gibbs CPR. Tony realized that Gibbs would never forgive him if he let Maddie die so he moved over to her. Tony managed to get Maddie breathing and he could hear sirens in the background. As he went back to Gibbs he realized that Gibbs was finally breathing. "Gibbs, you owe me a new suit."
McGee and Ziva arrived at the warehouse to find Tony sitting between Maddie and Gibbs. "We need an ambulance for them both, they stopped breathing. We need to get them warm."
Ziva looked at Tony, "Are you ok, do you need anything?"
"No, I'm good. Get Ducky out here to get the bodies. My gun is somewhere over there, I just threw it and ran after I shot them." Tony heard more sirens as the ambulances arrived. He also saw more cars arrive. Out came Vance and Matthew McKenny's MCRT. Sammie was the first to reach them.
"You ok Tony? Do you need to get checked out?"
"No, I'm good. Let's get this settled that way I can go change clothes." Tony smiled at Sam. "Don't tell Alex I got all wet, she will get mad at me."
"If you don't go change clothes soon, so am I." said Sam. Tony smiled at her and went to talk to IA for the Officer Involved Shooting.
Vance came over and looked at Tony as the paramedics looked over Maddie and Gibbs and got them ready for transport. "You ok DiNozzo?"
"Yes, Sir, I'm good. Just need to change clothes." Tony saw Ducky arrive and excused himself. "Ducky, let me know if you need anything. I'm the one who shot them so if you need anything just let me know." Tony leaned in to talk to Ducky in private. He didn't want anyone to hear what he said next. "Ducky I had to go into the water. Do I need to talk to Brad or get examined?"
Ducky looked at Tony. "How long have you been wet? You need to get dry and warm. We need to know if you swallowed any water or if you have water in your lungs. I am going to call Bradley right now and whatever he decides, you do." Ducky looked and glared at Tony, "Do you understand Anthony?"
"Ducky I promise I will talk to Brad and do what he says. I need to get back over there. Let me know if you need any additional information."
After another hour or so which left Tony frozen to the bone, he finally left the warehouse and headed back to NCIS. He was shivering when he arrived in the locker room to take a shower and change clothes. He needed to change before he headed to the hospital to check on Gibbs and Maddie. He showered, changed and left for Bethesda when he received a phone call from Brad Pitt.
"Tony were you going to call me or where you just going to ignore Ducky's advice?"
"I was going to call, but I got caught up. I am on my way right now. You can poke and prod all you want."
"Good, get here soon. Have them page me when you arrive."
"Yes Doctor."
Tony arrived at Bethesda and realized he really wasn't feeling well. Tired and cold is mostly what he felt and he was ready to get warm. He had Brad paged and when Brad arrived, he just grabbed Tony's arm and took him back to X-ray. Tony didn't even have to wait. Tony knew that due to his fame with the plague, he was a star and his lungs where always first in line.
Brad set Tony up in a room and let Ducky and Palmer know that they could go to the room now. "Dr. Mallard, Tony is still shivering a bit and has started to cough. I don't expect any surprises on the X-rays, but I want to start him on a broad spectrum antibiotic. I would like to keep him overnight, but I'm not telling him yet." Ducky laughed and agreed with Brad.
"No, don't tell him anything yet. He will argue all night long." Jimmy walked up to Ducky and Brad wanting to ask a question.
"Has anyone called Alex yet? I don't want her to hear this from anyone else that he is here." Brad and Ducky looked at Palmer. They both realized they had not called her. "Ok, I guess that means I get to." Jimmy walked off to call.
Ducky in the meantime was going to check on Gibbs. Gibbs was being admitted for an overnight stay due to the fact that he had stopped breathing and the doctor wanted him to be monitored. When Ducky walked into his room he found Gibbs asleep so he walked away without waking him.
Ducky and Jimmy were in Tony's room when Alex walked in. "Are you ok, is he ok?" looking at Ducky.
"He will be fine my dear, Bradley is just making sure he is going to be fine and that his lungs are clear, nothing to worry about."
"What happened?"
After hearing the whole story, Alex was livid. She couldn't believe Gibbs had put everyones lives in danger. Both an innocent and Tonys. While Ducky and Jimmy continue to talk to Tony, Alex walked out to find Special Agent in Charge Gibbs. Alex stopped by the nurses station to ask what room Gibbs was in and was told. Alex walked down the hallway and into his room.
Gibbs looked up at Alex when she walked into the room. He was surprised to see her there, but then thought about Tony and Maddie. "Oh God, has something happened to Maddie or DiNozzo?"
"What do you care Agent Gibbs? Why should they matter at all? You left NCIS without backup, went alone to a warehouse, put Ms. Tyler into a car that was shot up and you backed into the Potomac. Tony was the first one there. He killed two men to rescue you, jumped into the river and dragged you both out. Proceeded to do CPR on the both of you. He could have damaged his lungs further and it is all your fault. You don't care about her, you don't care about him, you just did this for yourself, to make you feel better. Tony told me who she is, who she was to your daughter. But that does not give you the right to risk their lives." Alex said all this quietly but very forcibly. She was so angry she was seeing red. How dare this man risk the life of the man she loved. As she took a breath to continue Ducky walked into the room.
"Alexandra I wondered where you had gone. Anthony needs you, go keep him company. I need to talk to Jethro. I will be there shortly. Bradley is due back soon with his test results and I know that you want to be there." Alex looked at Ducky while he spoke to her. As he finished she took a deep breath and walked over to him. She looked into his face and didn't see any deep concern for Tony so she gave him a quick hug and turned her back on the room and left. Alex heard Gibbs ask if Tony was alright before she walked out.
Alex headed back to Tony's room and walked in when Maddie was there. "Agent DiNozzo, I can't thank you enough for saving my life. If you hadn't been there we would both be dead. Thank you so much." Maddie was quietly sobbing when she was talking to Tony. Tony locked eyes with Alex as she walked into the room. Alex nodded to Tony and walked over to Maddie and put her arm around the girls shoulders.
"I have it on good authority that Agent DiNozzo is going to be just fine. He is only here for precautionary reasons. He is too tough to crack." Alex smiled at Tony. "He will tell you Maddie that he was only doing his job." Maddie looked up at Alex and smiled through her tears.
"I am glad he is going to be ok," she told Alex. "I am glad you are going to be ok," she told Tony directly. "I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you after you saved my life." Tony smiled again at Maddie and took her hand.
"You need to go back to your bed and get some sleep. They are keeping all of us overnight to make sure we are fine. We can see you in the morning before you leave, ok?" Maddie nodded, thanked Tony again and walked out of the room. The nurse had come looking for her and said she would walk her back to her room so Alex could stay with Tony. Jimmy who had been hiding in the corner watched the two of them and said, "I am going to go to the cafeteria, do either of you want anything?"
"No" both said at the same time as Alex took Tony's hand and sat on the side of the bed. "I was so scared when I received Jimmy's phone call. I didn't know what happened or how you were. I didn't even give him a chance to explain."
"Alex, I am going to be fine. It really is just precautionary. Brad just wants to make sure I didn't do anything stupid." At Alex's look Tony added, "More stupid than diving into the river I mean."
Alex leaned into Tony and put her head on his shoulder. "I need to tell you something, something I just realized today. Something that has snuck up on me and I am not sure how you are going to take it, but I don't care anymore. I have to tell you." Tony looked at Alex in concern. What was wrong?
"Tony," she said as she sat back up and looked directly at him. "I, I love you. Somewhere since the beginning of January when we met in that class, I fell in love with you. I don't need you to tell me anything, but I wanted you to know. I would never forgive myself if I didn't tell you this time."
Tony was stunned. This beautiful woman was sitting here telling him that she loved him. Him, not Tony DiNardo, not some undercover guy, not someone he pretended to be, but him. Tony touched his hand to her cheek, drew her face down to his and kissed her with all the love he had for her. He couldn't believe she loved him.
"Alexandra Flores, I love you too. So much. I can't believe you love me back. It never happens for me." So he asked the one question he needed to. "Are you absolutely sure you love me? Are you sure you won't take it back?"
At that statement Alex had to laugh. "No Tony, I promise, I won't take it back. I love you." Tony gathered Alex to him, pulled her completely on the bed and started to kiss her again. This is how Ducky found them after he had talked to Jethro. Ducky turned around and left them be, so happy for Anthony and Alexandra that he could have danced a reel.
The Next Day
Alex is helping Tony get ready to leave. He had received intravenous antibiotics overnight and Dr. Pitt had told her Tony would be fine. There was no water in the lungs and he was to continue taking the meds for 10 days. "Just keep an eye on him Alex and he should be fine. If you see any problems call me. I am always available for Tony." Alex thanked Brad and hugged him. Brad knew that he now had an ally in treating Tony and making sure he was taking care of himself. She had not left his room all night and when the nurse told Dr. Pitt that Alex was his wife, Brad laughed thinking that may not be too far off one day. He was so happy his friend had found someone who treated him right.
Alex and Tony made there way out of the hospital. Tony had managed to walk out instead of using a wheelchair because they had slipped out of the room before the orderly had arrived. While Tony waited for Alex to get her car, Gibbs walked out of the hospital. "I was looking for you DiNozzo." Tony groaned to himself. He really wasn't in the mood right now to deal with Gibbs, but it didn't look like he had a choice.
Tony sighed. "What do you want Gibbs? Alex is here to take me home. I don't need you." Gibbs just stared at Tony when he said this. He was no longer Tony's emergency contact or it seems his go to guy for when he got out of the hospital. He had other people taking care of him now. People who seemed to care a great deal for him.
"I wanted to see you before you left the hospital. I wanted to talk to you" but Tony interrupted him before he had a chance to finish.
"Gibbs, I don't want to talk to you about this. You put an innocent girls life in danger. You put your life in danger and mine because I had to rescue you. You allowed personal feelings to get in the way of sound judgement. You went without backup, my God Gibbs, you almost got Maddie killed. I don't even know what to say to you anymore." Tony looked over at the car pulling up and saw Alex start to get out of the car. She walked around to open Tony's door and put his bag in the trunk. She watched Tony get into the car and walked back to close the door and turned to Gibbs.
"Leave him alone Agent Gibbs. I am taking care of him now." Alex turned her back on him and walked around and got into her car. She pulled away and neither glanced back at Gibbs.
Gibbs realized in that moment he would lose his best agent, not to Alex, but due to his own neglect and poor treatment. Gibbs realized that if he didn't fix this, he would lose his friend.
As Alex drove away from the hospital she asked Tony a question. "Where do you want to go?"
"Home," he answered.
"I know that, but which home?"
Tony looked at Alex and simply said, "Home is with you. Take me home." Tony and Alex walked into Alex's home. She set him up on the couch to rest and watch a movie. He had the next few days off so she wanted him to be comfortable. After a while, Tony pulled her down to the couch with him. "I'm ok," he said and smiled at her; took her into his arms and kissed her. Tony picked her up and headed to the bedroom.
Tony the Elephant was very happy.
Hope you enjoyed. Let me know if you want. Working on having the next chapter up mid week. Thanks again for being patient with me. I will strive to do better. I know that I hate to wait for chapters too.