Three days later, after endless hours of scouring video footage from traffic cameras and satellite imagery, McGee, Ziva and Abby were exhausted but things were finally starting to look up for two of the three remaining MCRT team members.
"Anything?" Tim mumbled tiredly, turning his head towards Abby who was in the same state of sleep-deprivation, her head burrowed in her arms as she tapped impatiently with long manicured nails on the metal top of her work station.
Abby glanced up at her computer, shaking her head slowly "Not yet… Still running facial r-…" she'd started to say but was interrupted by her computer beeping, signaling that it had found something "recognition! Found her! Or, at least her latest location!" Abby said excitedly as she sat up and began tapping away at her keyboard rapidly.
McGee lifted his head tiredly, resting his cheek on his closed fist as he watched Abby's fingers fly a mile a minute, they had little doubt in the beginning that they would ever find Lexi, but she had made a crucial mistake only a few hours ago by using her credit card at a convenience store and were able to track her from traffic cameras afterwards, "Please… I really just want to go home and sleep!" McGee begged, staring desperately at the computer that was now cycling through satellite images for the past twenty-four hours.
"So far I've seen her entering and exiting this bungalow looking house thing at least a dozen times… So I would think it's a safe bet that this is where she's holed up." Abby said, lacking her usual peppiness as she pointed her finger at the house on the satellite image that she'd paused with Lexi getting into a beat-up looking SUV.
McGee nodded as he stood up, hovering over Abby's shoulders as he typed something into the keyboard and pulling up the geo-location of the satellite location "That's good work Abs, I'll make sure to put this on your 'IOU Caf-Pow' registry for Gibbs." McGee said, kissing the back of Abby's head. He quickly jotted the coordinates down and then darted out of the lab to head up to director Vance's office with their newly acquired information.
McGee was ushered immediately into Vance's office by Cynthia "What have you got McGee?" Vance asked as he stood up, buttoning the center button on his suit coat and walking around his desk to join McGee at the six-seater conference table.
"We've got Alexis' geo-location. She's in a semi-remote location in Mexicali." McGee said matter-of-factly as he set the post-it note down on the table, poking at the sloppily scribbled numbers on the paper.
Vance nodded, squeezing McGee's shoulder before lifting the post-it note up "Good job McGee. Tell Ms. Sciuto that I owe her one of those disgusting red drinks that she enjoys so much – I have to get in contact with the LA office now." Vance said by way of dismissal as he headed back towards his desk while McGee left the office and pulled the heavy oak door shut behind him.
Gibbs bounded up the front porch steps, feeling invigorated and excited for the first time since Tony had been released from the hospital – Good news always did brighten his spirits, but telling Tony that they'd probably get to go back home to DC in a few days was better than good and he couldn't wait to tell him, "Tony! Where ya at?!" Gibbs called out as soon as he shut the front door and locked it.
Tony showed up in the kitchen entry way, dangling precariously on the arms of his crutches "In here…" Tony said tiredly, as if he'd just ran a marathon rather than hobbling a few steps away from the fridge door.
Gibbs came into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water from the open fridge door "What's wrong?" Gibbs asked in concern, noticing the slightly winded breathing coming from the younger man.
Tony shook his head slowly as he deposited himself onto one of the barstools at the kitchen island "Hungry… Tired… Thirsty…" Tony listed off his current ailments "Bit of pain…" he added, looking down at his knee that was wrapped securely in the stabilizing brace.
Gibbs sighed as he set his own bottle of water down "Alright – Well, which would you like to deal with first? Pain, Hunger, Tiredness, Thirst or the Good news that I just received from Hetty?" Gibbs asked, grinning slightly as he looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow.
Tony shrugged as he leaned his chin on the hard rubberized arm of the crutch "Good news and food?" Tony suggested tiredly, tilting his head slightly as he watched Gibbs, who quickly set to work pulling out the fixings for an authentic Italian sub – Something Tony insisted on being present in the house at all times.
"McGee and Abby found Lexi's location – she's somewhere in Mexicali… Hetty is sending Sam and Callen down there right now as we speak to go and pick her up… So, we should be out of San Diego within a couple of days, if not less." Gibbs informed the younger man while assembling the sub sandwich, watching as Tony's entire facial expression lit up like a Christmas tree.
"That's amazing! Great news! Best news, EVER! I can't…" Tony stopped midsentence and stared blankly at Gibbs for a long while as thousands of thoughts and words passed by in his mind "Is this going to change things… us?" Tony asked quietly, looking down at the granite counter top sadly.
Gibbs sighed, shaking his head as he set the sub in front of Tony and then crouched in front of the younger man, resting his palm on Tony's cheek "It won't change anything between us Tony… I told you, I'm in it for the long haul – You're it for me Tony… Don't want anyone else." Gibbs said sincerely as he stood back up and kissed Tony's forehead tenderly "Stop trying to get rid of me, you know I ain't that easy." Gibbs tossed over his shoulder as he headed to the living room and turned on the TV, collapsing into the corner of the couch.
Tony sighed as he stood up, grabbing the plate with his sub and a bottle of Gatorade, and then as carefully as possible made his way into the living room without the aid of his crutches "I'm… I'm not trying to get rid of you." Tony said quietly as he slowly dropped onto the couch, setting his drink and food down on the coffee table, then turning towards Gibbs "I'm just worried, that once we're back home… All of this easiness will change… You've… You've been so…" Tony waved his hand helplessly and turned back to his sub, taking a huge bite out of it to avoid further conversation.
Gibbs chuckled as he leaned over, placing a gentle kiss behind Tony's ear "I've been so what, Tony? You can tell me…" Gibbs whispered against the shell of Tony's ear.
Tony had to suppress the automatic response of shuddering at Gibbs' deepened voice and the heat radiating off the older man even as the blush creeped up his own face. Tony really hated that even after being with Gibbs for three months now that he still had this reaction and couldn't control it "Just… been so nice… and… helpful… I… I don't… know how… to… thank you…" Tony whispered, his breath hitching as Gibbs kept breathing warmly against his ear – a highly sensitive spot for him, as evidenced by the tenting in his shorts from his erection.
Gibbs shook his head "Don't have to thank me Tony, not for doing something I wanted to do." Gibbs said as he kissed the sensitive spot once again and pulled back, a devilish smirk on his face at the quick reaction that he'd gotten from Tony.
Tony sighed as he went back to diligently eating his sub sandwich, trying with everything inside of him to ignore the closeness of Gibbs' body to his and the persistent erection pressing against the soft cotton of his shorts, Tony opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Gibbs smiled "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden? I've seen you completely naked and with an erection… So what's changed with you?" Gibbs asked, turning to look at Tony curiously.
Tony shrugged as he rubbed his sweaty palms against his shorts "I'm not sure… It's just… I've… I've never really had a relationship with another guy… I mean, yeah, I've done other things… but… You're the first…" Tony shook his head, an ashamed look on his face as he looked down at the floor, blinking a couple of times to erase the tears that had suddenly sprung up.
Gibbs frowned as he moved over, placing one leg behind Tony's back and the other dangling off the couch as he pulled Tony to his chest, kissing the top of Tony's head tenderly "Relax… Told you we'd take this slow… One step at a time, and no pressure to do anything." Gibbs said reassuringly as he rubbed Tony's chest and stomach soothingly.
Tony nodded as he curled up against Gibbs' chest, pulling his legs up carefully onto the couch as he and Gibbs laid back on the couch, "I'm really trying but… It's just not easy for me… You're the… longest relationship I've ever had… and we've only had a handful of dates… If you can consider staking out bars and stuff dates." Tony said, laughing slightly as he turned his head to look up at Gibbs.
Gibbs shook his head and kissed Tony softly on the lips "They were dates, sure we weren't really us on these dates, but the feelings were all real… Now shut up and take a nap, you're exhausted… Even I can feel that." Gibbs said, chuckling as he continued his soothing strokes over Tony's bare torso that he knew would relax the younger man and Tony eventually did fall asleep, safely wrapped up in Gibbs' arms.
Sam and Callen pulled up outside of the small bungalow home, eyeing the one story home suspiciously and the beat up SUV in the dirt driveway, "Looks like she's home." Sam commented dryly as he put their rented vehicle in park.
Callen nodded "You ever wonder why we didn't get assigned for this operation?" Callen asked idly as the two men moved to the back of their vehicle to collect their bullet-proof vests and weaponry.
Sam chuckled slightly "You and me, as a gay couple? That's hardly a possibility…" Sam said, shaking his head as he settled his gun into its holster and sighed "I don't know… Maybe Vance knew more than he was letting on when he assigned Gibbs and DiNozzo to this case." Sam added, shrugging as he and Callen started towards the bungalow.
Callen shrugged as he and Sam positioned themselves on either side of the door "We could have pulled off a gay couple – You the military man… Me the homebody…" Callen said as he reached up, knocking loudly on the door "FEDERAL AGENTS!" Callen shouted then remained silent as they listened intently.
There was a slight scuffling inside and then a few seconds later, they heard the backdoor slamming shut "Damn it!" Sam ground out as he bounced over the railing of the porch and bolted for the backyard, sprinting after the flighty little veterinarian assistant who was fast, but not nearly as fast as Sam was.
Sam and Lexi had gotten several yards away from the bungalow before the big man had tackled Lexi to the ground, Callen came up a few seconds later watching as Sam placed cuffs around Lexi's wrists and stood her up "Nice of you to show up." Sam said gruffly as he hoisted the squirming Lexi up to her feet.
Callen smirked slightly "You seemed to have everything under control, no point in having two people chase one person." Callen said nonchalantly as the two men guided Lexi back to their waiting vehicle, reading Lexi her rights while walking.
Sam and Callen stood outside of their car, looking at each other over the roof of the car "She doesn't look the type to be a part of this scheme…" Sam commented, glancing in at Lexi – she was wearing a pair of torn jeans and a plaid long-sleeved shirt, her orange-red hair tied up in a tight braid down her back; she was skinny and unassuming, someone you wouldn't guess to be anything but nice and sweet.
"Just goes to show you that love will make anyone do anything that the person they're in love with asks of them." Callen said as he slid into the passenger seat of the car, a blank expression on his face as he stared out of the front window as Sam got in and drove them away from the hide-out.
Throughout the ride, Sam was confused by the cold-shoulder he was getting from his partner, someone he'd worked closely with for years now and had spent several holidays together with his family. Was even the adopted uncle of his two children and a great friend to hang out with and play basketball with when they had any downtime from their uncertain work schedules, now Callen was being a complete mystery to him and had no idea what happened between getting to Mexicali to leaving Lexi's hiding location.
Tony groaned as he rolled from one side of the bed to the other, opening his eyes slowly as he looked around the unfamiliar room – Last he remembered was watching baseball highlights on the TV while Gibbs rubbed his chest and stomach – now he was in the bedroom, alone and having no idea how he got upstairs.
Tony slowly rolled off the bed, sighing as the throbbing in his knee seemed to have multiplied since falling asleep downstairs, he listened attentively and heard laughter – a woman, and Gibbs talking – he slowly hobbled towards the door, using the wall as his guide since he'd somehow lost his crutches along the way.
Tony listened for a while trying to decipher who was in the house with Gibbs "I'm sure he's just fine Stephanie, he's been sleeping and taking care of himself, and I've been taking care of him as well… I'll tell him you stopped by, hopefully by tomorrow morning he'll be up to visitors." Gibbs said, followed by a door shutting a few seconds later.
Tony wobbled slightly as he tried placing his braced knee down the first step, but quickly caught his balance, holding onto the corners of the wall "Jethro!" Tony called down the stairs, waiting until the older man stood at the landing of the stairs, staring up at him "Could you possibly get my crutches for me? I can't get down the stairs without them…" Tony said, exasperation clear in his tone as he leaned his forehead against the corner of one wall.
Gibbs nodded, disappearing to the direction of the kitchen, then a few seconds later he was bounding up the stairs with the crutches in one hand "You feeling okay?" Gibbs asked as he situated the crutches underneath Tony's arms, walking backwards as Tony hobbled slowly but with practiced ease down the stairs.
Tony nodded "Yeah, I'm fine… How did I get upstairs?" Tony asked wearily as he half-hopped, half-swung towards the living room and dropped down onto the couch, letting the comforting leather swallow his aching body up.
Gibbs toed out of his shoes and joined Tony in the living room a few seconds later "I carried you upstairs, didn't think the couch was exactly the best place to sleep…" Gibbs stopped, staring blankly at Tony as a few more words danced on the tip of his tongue; he'd never been hesitant to speak his mind before, but with Tony and their newly formed relationship, he really didn't want to set Tony off with his brash 'insensitivity' that he even had to admit was sometimes overwhelming.
"In my condition? Is that what you were going to say?" Tony asked quietly, holding Gibbs' eyes with a mixture of understanding and a bit of anger, Gibbs nodded sheepishly "I get it Gibbs… I'm fragile, and yeah, maybe just maybe I'm a little vulnerable right now! But I could have handled sleeping on the couch, it's not like I haven't slept on the couch before in similar situations!" Tony said irritably, not even bothering to mention the fact that without the older man's body within close proximity to his own, the nightmares and the screams of the deceased victims still haunted him and often kept him awake.
Gibbs sighed as he tentatively reached over to Tony's hand "Look… I didn't mean it in a bad way… I just thought that the bed would be more comfortable." Gibbs said, watching as Tony let out a shuddering breath "What's going on Tony? Something else is bothering you and don't try and deflect, I can see it clear as day in your eyes." Gibbs said gruffly, pulling Tony's hand lightly to get the younger man's attentions.
Tony shook his head, extracting his hand from Gibbs' grasp "Nothing… just… just leave it alone." Tony said as he slowly hoisted himself back up to his feet, moving slowly out of the living room.
Gibbs rolled his eyes as he stood up and followed after Tony, setting his hand on the younger man's shoulder "Tony! You need to talk about this!" Gibbs ground out, staring at the back of Tony's head.
Tony laughed humorlessly as he spun around, losing his balance slightly and falling into Gibbs' chest "Talk… You're suggesting that I talk about my feelings? You only talk when it's convenient for you, so why should I do it?" Tony asked angrily as he stood up straight again and continued his journey to the den.
Gibbs sighed as he watched Tony adjust himself on the piano bench, he leaned against the door frame and frowned as Tony started plucking at random keys "I do talk about my feelings, you know… That is all I've done since admitting how I feel about you." Gibbs said quietly, rubbing his stomach idly "Why can't you do the same Tony? You've only ever deflected, or brushed it off – I know you're not fine, so why?!" Gibbs asked, his voice rising slightly as he watched Tony.
Tony frowned, lying his forehead against the cool wood of the piano, hiding the tears that had started falling down his cheeks "I can't do this…" Tony whispered hoarsely. Tony jumped slightly when he felt Gibbs set a hand against his back, "I can't sleep through the night, I know you've noticed it… The nightmares are too much… I just… I want them to go away… Damn it, I just want to be able to sleep without listening to the screams!" Tony said, shouting angrily at the last of his sentence as he looked over his shoulder at Gibbs, tears streaking heavily down his cheeks.
Gibbs straddled the bench seat and pulled Tony to his chest, hugging the younger man comfortingly "First of all, you can do this – It's only been a month and a half Tony, you're still healing, both physically and mentally. It'll take time, Tony, but you will get there." Gibbs said as he carded his fingers through Tony's hair soothingly.
Tony nodded into the center of Gibbs' chest, letting out a strangled sob as he clutched at the older man's back, brokenly repeating that he just wanted the pain to stop – and by no means was he talking about the physical pain, and Gibbs knew that – thus Gibbs held onto Tony's trembling body as the younger man truly broke down for the first time since being rescued from the cell he'd been in a month and a half ago.
Sam and Callen stared at the flat screen TV, watching as Lexi squirmed restlessly in the cold metal chair – they were waiting for the go-ahead to interrogate her from Hetty, since this wasn't technically their case, everything had to be approved through Hetty from Vance himself.
"Just got off the phone with Director Vance – He said to transfer Ms. Campbell to a holding cell, that he would be here in the morning to personally interrogate her and that our work here is done, once she's been transferred." Hetty said, her voice coming over the speakers underneath the TV and her face popping up on a small square in the corner of the television.
Sam and Callen nodded as they began shutting down the electronic equipment in the boat shed. Callen went to retrieve Lexi while Sam went to collect the car to take their prisoner to the holding cell that was only a block away from the boat shed, but the night was colder than usual and they wouldn't risk getting a cold to transport an unruly suspect.
The next morning, as predicted, Vance showed up at the LA Boat Shed and was now sitting across from Lexi with his hands folded against his stomach, ubiquitous tooth pick sticking out from between his teeth as he twirled it around with his tongue "So, Ms. Campbell… Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Vance asked menacingly, moving his hands from his stomach to the cool steel of the table.
Lexi shrugged, scratching at her cuffed wrists "It wasn't my fault! Terry made me do all of it! I never wanted to do it, but he-he-he he's just so… I can't tell you how sorry I am for hurting all those people!" Lexi cried, burying her face in her palms, letting the alligator tears fall from her eyes and down onto the steel table.
Vance shook his head as he pulled the toothpick out of his mouth, setting it inside of his jacket pocket "You had a choice, you could have said no… Why didn't you? What did you get out of all of this?" Vance asked, tapping his fingernail against the table, knowing that Lexi had a low-tolerance for annoying noises.
Lexi stared at Vance's tapping finger, her upper lip twitching slightly "I loved him! I shouldn't have let my feelings cloud my judgement, but I did it! So why keep me here!?" Lexi shouted angrily, swiping her cuffed wrists – which were mounted to the table – towards Vance's hand.
Vance continued clicking his nail against the table, smirking slyly as he watched Lexi get riled up over the fact that she had absolutely no control over her own body "How does it feel? Being locked up? Stuck to solid ground with no way of moving your arms very far?" Vance sneered, slotting a fresh toothpick in between his teeth as he continued watching Lexi struggle against her restraints.
Lexi growled angrily as she shook the cuffs around her wrists, glaring at Vance "You're an asshole! Should burn in hell like all those other faggots that Terry and I killed! You're no better than they are, thinking you're all high and mighty with your cheap suit!" Lexi shouted angrily, jostling the heavy metal table only slightly, sending it towards Vance's body but not enough to do any damage.
Vance stood up slowly, shaking his head "Sounds like you have a lot more anger towards homosexuals than you let even Terry believe, did you know he was gay? That he was just like every single person he's killed? And every single person he's hurt?" Vance asked, hovering mere inches from Lexi's face.
Lexi looked hurt for all of a second before her facial expression morphed back into the angry expression she'd been sporting since arriving in Los Angeles "That's not true! It can't be true! He told me that once we got rid of all the fags on base that we could be together!" Lexi spat angrily, standing up as far as she could to get into Vance's face.
Vance headed for the door "It is the truth, I have no reason to lie to you…" Vance said over his shoulder as he walked out of the interrogation room "You can process her and lock her up now." Vance said as he walked out of the boat shed and returned to his waiting vehicle "Clyde, to Camp Pendleton please." Vance instructed his driver.
Vance stood in the foyer of the two story home that had been assigned to Gibbs and Tony, looking around at the home with a raised eyebrow "Well this is quite… homey looking." Vance commented as Gibbs led him into the living room.
Gibbs nodded as he wrapped his hand around Tony's wrist and pulled the younger man up into a seated position "We tried to make it look lived in while we were here." Tony said as he slowly adjusted his leg to prop it up on the coffee table, "Have a seat, director." Tony added, nodding towards the free space on the couch.
Vance sat down, unbuttoning his jacket and smiling "So, how are things going?" Vance asked, looking from Tony's braced knee to the younger man himself.
Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair "Fine so far. Doctor hasn't declared me safe for flight yet, but we're hopeful that he'll clear me before this weekend since the mobility in my knee has improved dramatically from a month ago." Tony said clinically; he'd heard the doctor drone on about the ramifications of travelling to soon with all the turbulence and had his own reservations about travelling, especially after the uncomfortable flight there with his knee bothering him, going home would be way worse.
Vance nodded solemnly "We've upgraded your flights to first class tickets… Hopefully that will be more comfortable on your leg with the added room." Vance said rather sympathetically towards Tony's situation.
Tony smiled gratefully, nodding his head slowly "That's very thoughtful, thank you Director." Tony said quietly, ducking his head shyly and rubbing his thigh as it tremored painfully against the couch cushion.
Gibbs got up from the couch, disappearing into the kitchen "Is there anything else I can do for you two while I'm still here? My flight back to DC leaves this evening." Vance asked, looking between Gibbs who'd returned with a pill bottle and a glass of water, and Tony who was still kneading into his thigh vigorously.
Tony sighed, he still hated taking pills but knew it was necessary so he popped two of the hydrocodone's into his mouth, swallowing them down with a gulp of water "Nothing really… Although I'm sure once I'm back in DC I'll have things we'll have to discuss." Tony said vaguely. Of course he was referring to his lack of mobility and the probability of not being able to work at NCIS, at least not in the field, anymore.
Vance nodded as he stood up, clasping Tony's shoulder reassuringly "I understand, and when that time comes – I'll do what I can." Vance said, winking before he turned, leaving the two men to mull over the double-ended wordings that Vance had left them with.