The Negotiator

Ziva grabbed the computer screen and started to shaking it violently, yelling at it;
"Crappy piece of junk! McGee! Do something or I'm going to do what Gibbs would do: Throw this crap out the window!"

McGee looked up from his work and got up.
"You can try but that'll only give you a pay-cut for the next 2 years." He bent over to look at Ziva's screen. "Only Gibbs can get away with that."

"Get away with what, McGee?" Gibbs turned the corner and stopped in front of McGee, who stood tall, not quite knowing what to say or where to look. Ziva forgot about her computer for a minute and observed the interaction between the Boss and his, at this moment, very small team member.

"Uuuuh, nothing Boss. I was just… uh… Ziva was having problems…uh… with her…uh….computer…uh" McGee resembled a dear caught in the headlights of a car. Didn't quite know what to do, cause there was no easy way out of this on.

"What are you implying, McGee?" Gibbs stared at McGee

"Really nothing, Boss. Ziva just handles computer problems the same way you do…not that there is anything wrong with your…uh…methods… it's just…uh…"

By the time McGee had stuttered out the words, Gibbs decided the junior agent had been through enough torture, and he turned and walked over to his desk.
McGee let out a heavy sigh, and Gibbs turned around and gave him another stare.
"Sorry Boss!" McGee quickly turned his head and bent down to Ziva, who was trying very hard to look serious.

Tony walked in 10 minutes later. McGee had just finished fixing Ziva's computer.

"You're late" Ziva remarked.

"Yeah, I know, Ziva, and a good morning to you too. And that is why I brought him this" He held up one of the coffee mugs "Where is he?"

"Got called up to the Director's office 5 minutes ago for a status rapport" McGee remarked, as he was walking over to his own desk, his tone of voice a little different from this morning.

"What's up with him?" Tony asked Ziva as he took of his jacket.

"Poor McGee was interrogated this morning" Ziva said, this time she didn't try to hide the smile.
Tony laughed, "uh did he catch you doing something incriminating, Probie?"

Tony felt the familiar head slap. "Nope, but I caught you being late, DiNozzo" Gibbs walked in heading for his desk.

"Morning Boss!" Tony rubbed the back of his head.

"What's the excuse this time?"

"Well, it's actually kind of funny Boss. See, I've been brushing up on my unique talent of persuasion".

"Get to the point, DiNozzo!"

"Sorry Boss, I got pulled over on my way in"

"What did you do?" McGee asked

"Nothing Probie, or at least I didn't break any rules that weren't meant to be broken", Tony smiled at his own wise crack, but frowned when he saw Gibbs' stare.

"Anyway, I managed to talk my way out of a speeding ticket in a genius way, if I should say so my self".

"Was it a female officer?" Ziva asked, leaning forward behind her desk.

"Aha, for your information it was a male officer, but nice try."

"So how did you do it?" Ziva asked.

"Now see, I would like to tell you, but it's a DiNozzo secret. If I told you, I'd have to kill you" Tony smiled, enjoying the interaction between the two, as long as he knew something Ziva wanted to know. It wasn't so funny when it was the other way around.

"If you two don't start working soon, none of you'll be able to talk your way out of a firing", Gibbs remarked and grabbed his phone as it rang, "Yeah, Gibbs" .

Tony looked down from his staring contest with Ziva and started working through his ever-growing stack of paperwork. His work was cut short by Gibbs' voice.

"Grab your gear. We're going to the SEAL training area"

"What's up, Boss?" Tony stood up and grabbed his gun from his desk drawer.

"Dead drill sergeant found dead on the obstacle course" Gibbs holstered his gun and headed for the elevator, leaving his team, struggling to keep up with him and catch the elevator.

------------

Ducky and Palmer were already there, when the NCIS-team arrived. The area around the rappelling tower was sealed of, and there were a few basepersonal nearby.

"What've you got, Ducky?" Gibbs asked as he approached to the good Doctor kneeling by the body. He put on his gloves and kneeled by his side.

"Well, Jethro, it would seem our young sergeant here meet with an unfortunate accident while training for himself here on the course".

Gibbs frowned at the reply and started delegating.

"Tony shoot and sketch, McGee bag and tag, Ziva talk to the officer, who found the body". The agents started their work and Gibbs turned his attention back to Ducky and the body.

"You don't sound convincing, Ducky"
Ducky looked at Gibbs and smiled "Well, you did make rule number 8, Jethro. Several things about our young fellow here does not add up to death due to an accidental fall from the tower", said Ducky and pointed up.

"What do you think happened?"

"The only apparent injury is this wound to the left side of the sergeant's temple. But his head is turned to the right" Ducky pointed to the body's head.

"Somebody touched the body and turned his head" Gibbs said.

"It's would seem so" Ducky looked up at his old friend.

"Or moved him…" Tony joined the conversation. Gibbs and Ducky looked over at Tony, who was squatting a few meters from the body. He pointed to the ground in front of him.

"Looks like someone tried to cover up some drag marks over here and all the way over there" He pointed in the opposite direction. "There are tiny traces of blood leading all the way up to the body". Tony looked up at Gibbs.

Gibbs gave him an acknowledging nod, "Good work, Tony" He turned his attention to McGee, "McGee, take samples".

"Thanks Boss" Tony was one big smile when he turned his attention back to the sketching pad.

Gibbs turned his attention back to Ducky.
"Yes, there are several facts, which indicate that the body of our unfortunate sergeant here has been moved. First of all there is no blood in the sand underneath his head. Head wounds tend to bleed quite a bit, and even if the sergeant had died immediately after the fall, there would still be more blood around the head." Ducky pointed to the area around the body's head. "it actually reminds me of a case back in England when I was…."

"And secondly?" Gibbs cut Ducky of, knowing how long this could take, if he allowed Ducky to tell one of his stories.
"Oh yes", Ducky turned his attention back to the case at hand. "Secondly, the only injury to the body seems to be the head trauma. I won't know for sure of course, until we get the body back to autopsy, but there are no bruises to his chest or back, and both his femurs seem to be in one piece."
"It's was murder" Gibbs summed up the fact, that Ducky was trying to get to in his own way.
"I would say so, but we'll know more when we get him home. But I will say this, someone definitely moved this body"

"Are you done here, Ducky?"

"Yes, we'll take him home now. Mr. Palmer, if you would…" Palmer walked up to Ducky and the two men started to move the body. Ducky leaned down to the body, "Don't you worry. We'll take care of you". Gibbs smiled, "You'll have a heart attack the day one of them answers you". He walked over to the rest of the team, who were all finishing up.

"Ducky thinks the sergeant was murdered somewhere else. What did you get from the guy who found him, Ziva?" Gibbs asked

"The drill sergeant's name is Joseph Keller. He was found at 0500 hours this morning by private Mills".

"What was he doing out here this early?" Gibbs asked while making notes.

"He wanted to try and improve his time on the course"

"Any luck with that?" Tony asked and smiled.

"He was up 3 seconds when he found the sergeant. He reported it to the watch command, and stayed here afterwards." Ziva looked up from her notes, "That's it"

"Okay, Ziva, McGee, see if you can trail the blood back to the original crime scene. Bag whatever you find. DiNozzo, you're with me. We're going to talk to the base commander". Gibbs turned around and started walking.

"How does he expect us to be able to find out where it happened?" Ziva lifted her hands up, "the sand stops here, and there's grass all around. The chances of finding microscopic traces of blood are less than zero!"

"When Gibbs says find the blood, we find the blood" McGee resigned, grabbing his gear.

"I wish you luck with that" Tony smiled, silently thanking God he didn't get the assignment.

"DINOZZO" Gibbs yelled from a distance.
"Coming, Boss"

------------

"Hell of a thing! And you're saying it was no accident, special agent Gibbs? That I might have a killer running around my base?" The base commander was sitting behind his desk. He was a slightly overweight man with very little hair. He'd tried to cover all of his head with what was left, but that only made it look worse.

"It would appear so, Commander. Nobody has left or entered the base since yesterday at 1400 hours" Gibbs answered the Commander, who was clearly mad as hell. How the hell could this happen on his base.

"Yeah, we had a training mission scheduled for today but I called it of due to the circumstances"

"Was it Sergeant Keller's team?" Tony asked making notes on his PDA. He knew how Gibbs hated the thing.

"Yes it was. He was currently training a team in the third phase. Good looking group. It's got a lot of potential". The Commander seemed pleased with himself. Gibbs looked down. He hated CO's who thought it was all there fault, when ever a marine or a SEAL-team performed outstanding. Like it was all their ‘hard work' behind the desk that made a difference.

Tony glanced over at Gibbs and saw his jaw clench. He knew what it meant to the old marine, and he turned his attention back to the Commander.
"We're gonna need to talk to the SEAL team under the sergeant's command".

"Not a problem, special agent DiNozzo. They're all over in their quarters. If there's anything else you need to know, just ask" The Commander stood up and extended his hand. Gibbs looked at it and for a second Tony didn't think Gibbs was going to return the greeting. But Gibbs got up and shook the Commander's hand. But he didn't say a word.

------------

Gibbs and Tony were appointed a very small office for their interviews, and the recruits came in one by one. All pretty much gave the same answers. They were all a sleep in their beds between 2200 hours and 0530, SIR. Nobody had seen the sergeant after they were dismissed at 1800 yesterday and he didn't show up for dinner, which they all agreed was unusual. All described the sergeant as tough but fair, but both Gibbs and Tony got the feeling that there was something nobody wanted to talk about. About halfway through the list they finally got some answers. The source was a young recruit from Nebraska named Jeremy Connors.

"Nobody wants to talk about it, because most of the men in this group feel the same way as he did" The recruit said, looking at Gibbs most of the time. He was a guy with respect for authority, always addressing the senior agent.

"About what, Connors?" Gibbs asked.

"The serge didn't like certain kind of people, if you know what I mean, sir" Connors replied.

"He was a racist?"

"Yes sir, the worst kind. He hated everyone with dark skin or a foreign name". Gibbs sensed Tony shifting his weight in the chair next to him. Connors continued, "He did believe that immigrants had the right to defend this country. Didn't think they were worthy of the honor, sir. He road their asses harder then any of the rest of us. He'd kick all of them when ever he got the chance to, always humiliating them in front of the rest of us. He did everything he could to make them give up, sir." Connors looked down. "Sadly he succeeded in most cases".

"Are there any left?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes, sir. 2 have made it so far despite everything. Martinez and Cruiz" Connors looked up at Gibbs.

"Was there anyone he was harder on than the other?"

"He's had it in for Martinez from the start. I think he saw him as a personal target, because Martinez is good at this job. Keller wanted him down more than any other".

"Okay, thank you, Connors. That'll be all for now." Gibbs got up and saluted the recruit. Connors left, and Gibbs looked at Tony.
"When's Martinez?"
Tony looked through his list, "He's up last, Boss"

------------

"Carlos Martinez, reporting as ordered, SIR" Martinez stood strait and stared into space.

"Have a seat, recruit" Gibbs pointed to the chair on the other side of the table.

"Thank you, sir" Martinez sat down.

"We need you to account for your whereabouts from 1800 last night and till now" Tony asked Martinez.

"Yes sir. We were dismissed at 1800 hours, and I went to call my wife. At 1900 I went to see the base commander. I was back around 1930, watch some TV, and I hit the sack around 2200, trying to catch some sleep before the training mission this morning.

"What did you watch?" Tony asked, mostly out of curiosity.

"A-team, sir. There was a rerun last night".

"Hey, I saw that too, it was awesome!" Tony said enthusiastically.

"Totally! I use to watch it when I was a kid." Martinez was just as excited as Tony.
Tony leaned across the table, "Me too! My friends and I use to pretend…"

"What did you go see the commander about?" Gibbs cut of Tony, giving him a annoyed glare for getting of track. He wanted to head slap him, but he would never do it in front of a suspect.
"Sorry Boss" Tony leaned back, his smile all gone from his face.

"Sorry, sir" Martinez turned his attention back to Gibbs, "I handed in a request for extended medical leave next week".

"Why's that?" Gibbs asked.

"My wife, sir. She's 8-months pregnant, and there've been some complications. The doctors are concerned about her health, so they want to perform a c-section next Thursday."

"A baby, in the middle of SEAL-training?"

"I know, sir, we didn't plan it that way. But it still happened, and we're very happy about it".

"Well, congratulations" Tony said, "You're a braver man than me".

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Having a kid. Scares the hell out of me"

"It does at first, sir, but you get use to the thought and then it's the most wonderful thing in the world", Martinez's face lid up, when he talked about his unborn baby.
Tony smiled, not believing that he would ever get use to the though of being a father. Not now anyway.
Gibbs though about his daughter for a second but quickly focused on Martinez instead, the memories hurt too much.
"Why did you hand it to the commander? Requests for leave are usually handed in to the sergeant."

Martinez looked down. It was clear he was thinking hard about what to say. Then he looked up.
"I was not on the best terms with the sergeant, and I was afraid he would through it away without looking at it, sir".

"What do you mean ‘not on the best terms'" Gibbs asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Keller had a problem with me being on his team" Martinez looked at Tony, "he had a problem with anybody, who didn't come from this country at least 10 generations back." He turned to Gibbs again.
"What did you do about it?" Gibbs asked.
"Nothing, sir. I just worked harder, trying not to give him any reason to hassle me. Frankly I worked my ass off, sir, but it was never good enough for him!" Martinez took a deep breath. He was starting to loose his temper, but tried to stay calm. "He's not gonna get me to quit. Ever!" Martinez slammed his first in the table, but neither of the two NCIS agents flinched.

"We'll need to see your uniform from yesterday" Gibbs said, unaffected by Martinez's outburst.

"Why?...sir" Martinez struggled to regain control over himself.

"It's standard OP in murder cases. Everyone else already handed over theirs" Tony answered, trying to calm the recruit down.

"Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to…" Martinez looked down, "all the rascism… it just gets to me sometimes".

"You're dismissed. An officer will escort you to your quarters and retrieve your uniform" Gibbs said, closing the file in front of him.

"Yes sir" Martinez got up, saluted the men and left.

Tony finished his notes and look at Gibbs, "Man's got a bit of a temper"

"That doesn't make him a murderer, Tony" Gibbs said, and got up to leave the room.

------------

McGee and Ziva practically threw their bags down on the ground when they finally made it back to the office; 3 hours after Tony and Gibbs. Their pants were green around the knees. Both looked beyond tired, and something in Ziva's eyes told Tony, she was ready to commit murder. He stopped the joke before it came out over his lips and reminded himself to get out of the way, if Ziva ever got that look again. Instead he just said hey, and turned his attention back to the computer and the search for Sergeant Keller's personal file. He would let it be up to Gibbs to defuse the two agents.

"What've you got?" Gibbs asked walking up behind then with a fresh cup of coffee. Ziva smelled
the coffee before she saw Gibbs. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Tony wondered just how far she was willing to go to get some of that coffee and he smiled. Ziva didn't look so tough now. She opened her eyes and she and McGee followed Gibbs to his desk.

"Well right now, I haven't got any clean pants to wear for the rest of the day" she pointed to her knees. "We have been spending the last 4 hours crawling around a lawn looking for any trace of evidence".

"Yeah, and?" Gibbs rose is eyebrows.

"And? No good work? ‘Glad to see someone doing their job thoroughly'?" Ziva was disappointed, but McGee just continued, knowing Gibbs wasn't going to say anything.
"We finally managed to find a tiny blood trail, and followed it to a parking lot about a mile fro where the body was found".

"You crawled a mile?" Tony was trying really hard not to laugh. Both Ziva and McGee turned around in a second and their stare would have put Tony six feet under if possible.
McGee turned around and faced Gibbs again;

"We found a larger pool of blood by a car. Checked the licence plate; the car was owned by Keller".

"Looks like he was heading home" Ziva said, trying really hard to suppress a desire to smack Tony.
Gibbs got up and walked over to Tony.

"What'd you find in the sergeant's file?" He bent down to look at the screen.

"Not much. He's got 3 complaints filed against him for racial discrimination. He got a slap on the wrist for it last year."
Gibbs straitened up, "Let's see what Abby's got"
Before walking he gave Tony the familiar head slap, "Good job, you two"
Ziva and McGee smiled and followed Gibbs to the elevator, while Tony was rubbing the back of his head.

------------

"Do you have something for us, Abs?" Gibbs walked in first and handed the Goth her daily supply of Caff-Pow. Abby turned down the blaring music and took the canister with a big smile on her face. She took a big sip and answered;

"Things done work at warp-speed just because you want ‘em to, Gibbs" Abby walked over to her microscope and looked into it.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Gibbs asked.
Abby straitened up; "I, however, do work at warp-speed, so of course that is a yes" Abby smiled and raised her finger up as if to ask a question, "with a ‘but' attached".

"Let's start with the ‘yes'" Gibbs walked around to the screen.

"On with the show then" Abby clicked her mouse; "I analyzed the blood McGee and Ziva gave me. All samples are the same blood type, A-positive".

"According to his medical file, Keller was A-positive, Boss" Tony said looking through the files in his hand.

"DNA-confirmation?" Gibbs looked at Abby.

"That's the ‘but'. It's gonna take a least 12 hour before we know for sure".

"What about the uniforms?"

"Do you realize how many uniforms you gave me, Gibbs?" Abby raised her brows; "25! I've only gotten through 9, so far nothing. But I'm working on it".
"Take Martinez's uniform next, and call me if you find anything" Gibbs said and started to walk out.
"You got it"

The call from Abby came 10 minutes later and they all headed for the lab again. When tey came in, Abby was standing by the table and was giving Gibbs a hurtful look.
"You couldn't have told me to take his uniform first if you already knew that I'd find something?"

"Sorry, Abs." Gibbs put his arm around her and squeezed her gently.
"You could've saved me sooo much time. Anyway, I found small traces of blood on the uniform and checked it" She looked up, "It's A-positive"
"What's Martinez' blood type?"
"I checked. He's O-negative"
"Okay, time to bring him in for interrogation. McGee, get me a warrant. Ziva, check and see if Martinez has left the base" Gibbs walked over to Abby and kissed her on the head. "Thanks, Abs"

------------

The Sedan pulled up in front of a nice suburban house and 4 special agents got out. Ziva's call showed that Martinez had left the base to be with his wife. Gibbs walked up followed by the rest.
"McGee, Ziva, you take the back. Let's do this nice and easy"
McGee nodded and he and Ziva ran around the house.

"You expecting problems, Boss?" Tony asked. To him it was just an ordinary arrest.

"Weren't you a boy scout, DiNozzo? Always be prepared" Gibbs answered and unbuttoned his holster.

They rang the door bell, and a very pregnant woman answered it.
"Yes?" she asked.
Gibbs and Tony both showed their badges. "Mrs. Martinez?" she nodded.

"NCIS, I'm special agent Gibbs and this is special agent DiNozzo. Is your husband here? We'd like to talk to him"

Mrs- Martinez looked a little puzzled. "Yes, Carlos just came home. Oh, is this about his sergeant? He just told me about it" she opened the door wider; "come on in". If she had known what was going to happen, she probably never would have let the two gentlemen in. She pointed them into the living room.

Martinez was sitting on the couch when they walked in. Next to him was a young woman with a cup of tea in her hand. Martinez was smiling at her but his smile froze when he saw Tony and Gibbs. He locked eyes with Gibbs, and he didn't take his eyes of him as he got up.
Mrs. Martinez didn't notice anything and gladly introduced the young woman. "This is our neighbour, Susan. She just came over to check up on me"
The young woman smiled at Tony, but for once Tony didn't notice the attracting woman smiling at him. His eyes were focused on Gibbs and Martinez. The tension between the two was raising, and Tony moved his hand closer to his gun.

Then everything happened within nanoseconds. Suddenly Martinez reached down behind the couch and pulled out his gun. Tony and Gibbs both went for theirs, but not before Martinez had grabbed Susan by the throat and pulled her close, pointing his gun against her temple. She dropped her cup and it shattered against the wooden floor. Mrs. Martinez was startled and screamed, and Tony pulled her behind him, out of harms way. Both he and Gibbs had their guns pointed at Martinez.
Mrs. Martinez started to cry, "What are you doing, Carlos?"
To add to the tension the door to the kitchen was suddenly kicked in, and McGee and Ziva came in, guns raised. Martinez stepped back a few steps, and his grip on the gun tightened, making Susan scream. Gibbs put up his hand to stop them, but he never took his eyes of Martinez.
"Everybody calm down!" Gibbs' voice echoed out in the small living room. "Martinez! Put the gun down and nobody gets hurt"

"SHUT UP!" Martinez pointed the gun at Gibbs and held the hostage in front of him. He was sweating and his whole body was shaking.

"Listen to me…" Gibbs tried to speak, but was cut of by Martinez.

"I said, SHUT UP!" his grip tightened a little bit and he was struggling to keep his body under control.
"Carlos…." Mrs. Martinez cried out, leaning on Tony. She looked like she was about to collapse, her knees shaking and Tony was the only thing holding her up.

"I'm so sorry, honey. Please, get her out of here!" Martinez cried out. He was loosing control over his voice.

"Ziva, McGee take Mrs. Martinez outside" Gibbs ordered.
Ziva looked at her boss for a second, wanting to stay, but she knew Gibbs had his reasons for choosing this way, and she slowly started to walk towards Tony and Mrs. Martinez. She put her arm around the pregnant woman, the other hand still pointing the gun at Martinez, and whispered, "Come on, let's go". McGee was more reluctant to leave, not wanting to leave his Boss and teammate alone. Without looking at him, Gibbs said, "McGee…go"
McGee glared at Gibbs then followed Ziva over to Tony and Mrs. Martinez.

Mrs. Martinez was hysterical. "Nooooo, please Carlos!" Her plead was barely a whisper. "Please don't do this….please"

"Please, she can't be here!" The tears were rolling down Martinez's face, "Just get her out of here… Please….Honey, I'm so sorry"

Ziva took her eyes of Martinez, put her gun away and pulled gently. Mrs. Martinez followed her somewhat unwillingly, but she finally gave up her struggle. She was overwhelmed by her emotions and her knees started to bend. Ziva pulled Mrs. Martinez's arm around her own shoulders and McGee put his arm around her waist. Together they almost carried the young woman out.

"Carlos…. Listen to me…" Gibbs tried once more to talk to the young recruit, but was cut of once more.

"STOP! Just stop talking! I can't think….I…" Martinez was aggravated, and closed his eyes for a second. Gibbs saw the opportunity to take a step forward. But Martinez opened his eyes just as the agent moved, and his temper flared. "Don't think I won't do it!" He stepped back further, "God! I can't think…. I want you out of here so I can think! GET OUT!"

Gibbs didn't answer, knowing that he would enrage Martinez further. Tony sensed to hesitation and seized the opportunity, and stepped to the side.
"Carlos, listen to me. You know we can't leave as long as Susan is still here" Tony swallowed but his throat was dry. "We have to keep her safe".

"I ca-can't…" Martinez stuttered, fighting an inner battle; the good side lost the battle, and his eyes turned to Tony, "Get out! Or I will blow her brains all over the floor".

Susan was shaking all over, and her eyes were closed. Gibbs studied her for at second and he noticed that her lips were moving slightly; she was praying.

Tony loosened his grip on his gun for a second and tightened it again, "Look Carlos, we don't what anybody to get hurt here. And neither do you. I know it. You're not that kind of guy".
Martinez's eyes flickered from Tony to Gibbs; the next battle had begun. The war was far from over.
Tony noticed the hesitation, and continued, "I know what it's like to do your best, and still it's never good enough for some people".
Gibbs tensed for a second. He hoped that Tony wasn't talking about him. He might not say it out loud, but he had the deepest respect for Tony's work…most of the time. Well maybe except for the occasional screw-up. But he would never be able to replace the former Baltimore cop on his team. Tony's ability to connect with people was special. Even now he seemed to be able to calm Martinez down. His thoughts were interrupted by Tony's voice
"There's only so much a man can take before he snaps… I know you didn't mean to kill Sergeant Keller" Tony felt like he was getting through to Martinez, but then the recruit changed again. Another battle was lost.

"I want you out of here!"

"You know we can't…. " Tony knew Gibbs was going to kill for saying this, "…but I'll make you a deal…"

Gibbs' eyes left Martinez for the first time since they came, and focused on Tony. What was he up to? What ever it was Gibbs had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.

"Let Susan and Gibbs go and I'll stay here with you. We can just talk. You and me. About anything you want"

"Tony…." Gibbs' focus was back on Martinez but his mind was on Tony. There was no way in hell he was going to leave him in here.

Martinez didn't answer right away, the war raging. Then he looked from Gibbs to Tony, "…okay… okay…." The first victory for the good side.

Tony was a little startled by the response, but quickly conjured a plan in his mind. But Carlos beat him to it, "Agent Gibbs has to leave first, after you give him your gun. Then I'll send Susan out… "

"I can't do that, Carlos" Gibbs said.

"It's this way or not at all! Or I will blow her away, you hear me?!!!!" Martinez screamed.

Tony lowered his gun, "Boss…it's okay… Just get Susan out of here"

"Tony…"

"Just go, I'll be fine… We'll be okay" Tony looked at Gibbs and handed him his gun.
Gibbs hesitated but finally he took the gun from Tony and looked at Martinez. Then he took one step back… and another… and he left the house with a terrible feeling in his gut.

------------

Ziva and McGee had already called for back-up and the local LEO's were pulling up. Mrs. Martinez was sitting in the back of the sedan. Her face was red and puffy from crying and tears were still running down her cheeks. McGee had put his jacket around her, but didn't get a response from her.

Both turned and were surprised to see Gibbs exiting the house alone. Without Tony and with two guns in his hands.

"What's going on, Gibbs? Where's Tony?" Ziva asked as the senior agent approached.
Gibbs didn't answer her, but turned around facing the house. He was praying that Martinez would uphold up his end of the deal, or Gibbs would have to answer to the director, how he could give Martinez one more hostage and have left Tony there, unarmed. He never should have. Gibbs had to fight with everything he had not to run into the house again. He had to trust Tony and believe that he could resolve the situation.

Luckily Martinez upheld his end of the deal and the door to the house opened a few minutes later. Susan came running out. She almost tripped but kept running across the lawn. Gibbs caught her right before she fell flat on her face in front of him. She was crying and shaking uncontrollably, and Gibbs pulled her in for a tight embrace, trying to calm her down.
"You're safe, it's okay… it's okay".
Susan wrapped her arms around the stranger and didn't let go for a long time. Finally she did and Gibbs asked her about the situation in the house. She told him that Tony walked behind the couch and when Martinez was sure that he wouldn't move, he let her go. A female officer came up to Gibbs and Susan and helped Susan across the street.
Gibbs took a deep breath. Now he would have to focus on getting Tony out; alive.

Ziva and McGee were standing a few steps from Gibbs and awaited his instructions.
"Okay, here's the situation. Tony is in there with Martinez. He's unarmed so we're gonna do everything we can to help him from out here. We need to get a SWAT-team here in case things goes wrong".
"On it" said McGee and ran for the sedan to get his things.
"Ziva, did you talk to the wife yet?"
"No, she is too unset to talk to anyone"
"Try again. We need to know everything about her husband"
"Eh, Gibbs, you know I'm not that good with women..." Gibbs gave her the stare, "but I'll see what I can do". Ziva turned and headed for the sedan.
Gibbs sighed and walked over to talk to the local LEO's.

Tony was sitting on the couch with his hands casually resting in his lap. He studied every inch of the man in front of him, sitting with closed eyes about 7 feet away and with a gun in his lap. Tony didn't dare jump for the gun. Martinez was not some dumb drunk robbing the local drugstore. This was a guy who was halfway through the third phase of the Navy SEALs training, which says a lot about the guy. He had to be made of something special to go through the training with a sergeant like Keller. He just kept on fighting. And now he was sitting in front of Tony, and about 2 seconds away from a mental break-down. And what made him most dangerous of all; he didn't feel he had anything more to loose.
Martinez didn't look like a guy in his mid twenties. The intense SEAL training and the constant psychological pressure had made marks in the young face. He looked more like a man of 40 than anything else. There were tiny scars all the way down his arms and on his neck and cheeks. Tony could only speculate as to their origin. The hands were shaking slightly but Martinez still kept a firm grip on the gun. Tony was so occupied in his studies that he didn't notice that Martinez was staring at him.

"Why are you still here?" Martinez asked.

"To help you" Tony answered.

Martinez laughed scornfully, "Good luck with that! There nothing you can do. I'm screwed anyway you look at it." He buried his head in his hands, still keeping a grip on the gun.

Tony knew Martinez was right but didn't say it out loud. If he did, he'd never get out of here.
"Tell me what happened. With Keller" Tony tried, hoping the young man would open up to him.
Martinez shook his head,

"It was an accident" He looked up at Tony, "I swear to God, I never meant for it to happen."
Tony didn't answer but let Martinez talk.

"It was after training and I was looking for the sergeant to hand in my application for an extended leave. I was heading for his office, but then I saw him heading for his car, so I ran up to him."
Tony noticed that Martinez tightening and loosening his fist.

"When I handed him the papers, he just laughed. He laughed me right in the face and said that my kind shouldn't even be allowed to have kids. Told me to stick it so far up…" Martinez looked to the side, "Well let's just say he was very specific and colorful."

"Sounds like something I've heard before" Tony commented, reliving episodes from his own past. It send shivers down him spine knowing, that he could have been him in this situation, if he hadn't been the person he was. Racism was nothing new to Tony. There had been the usual name calling in the past. Names like pasta boy and others more colorful and cruel. But there had also been the more psychical episodes where Tony had had to fight and defend himself for being who he was. 10 years ago a night on the town almost cost Tony his life. A group of Nazis didn't like his friend, who was African American and when they found out Tony's name. Well that only made their night twice as much fun. Tony spent 2 weeks in the hospital after that encounter. His friend never walked again, and was going to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. What haunted Tony the most was, he didn't even know why. How can someone hate another person so much for something he has no control over? For something he can't do anything about and something he should be proved of?

"You have no idea what it's like! You can't even begin to understand what it's like to have people hate you for the color of your skin." Martinez almost yelled. Tony's temper flared but he managed to control himself,

"I have no idea?" Tony raised his eyebrows, "You think it's just a piece of cake being named Anthony DiNozzo? People like Keller hate Italians as much as Spanish people. I may not have a different skin color but once I say my name…" Tony lifted his shirt and revealed a surgical scar going all the way across his abdomen, "I have my scars to show for it, and they remind me every day, what kind of sick world we live in sometimes."

Martinez looked a bit embarrassed, realizing his mistake. He'd forgotten Tony's last name.
"Sorry, man. I just… it's gets to me. My wife's always telling me to turn away when people say something. She's got a heart of gold."

Tony nodded, "But you couldn't turn away from Keller?"

Martinez looked down again,
"It just… he never stops… the comments are always there… I didn't think that anybody, not even Keller would be so cruel to turn me down. I mean, how can he hate me so much? Why? What did I do?"
"That's the problem. You didn't do anything. Some people are just…" Tony said.
"I don't remember hitting him, and to be honest I don't even know what I hit him with. One minute he was yelling and laughing… the next he was on the ground, dead." Martinez got up and started pacing the room. "Then I panicked. I looked around but there were no witnesses, so I grabbed Keller by the feet and dragged him over to the obstacle course. I though I could make it look like an accident" He smiled to Tony, "Guess I was wrong, but then again I knew you NCIS guys were good."

------------

The local police sergeant was a short guy, packing too many pounds. His hairline was fading and he'd used some weird product to cover it up. The result was horrible. He was talking to two of his officers, pointing around the house and when Gibbs walked up, they turned to continue carry out their orders.

"Agent Gibbs, NCIS" Gibbs flashed his badge, trying his best not to stare at the sergeants head.

"Hello, I'm sergeant Turner, local PD" he put out his right hand to greet Gibbs, while the other pointed to the police badge on his chest. Gibbs smiled a little and shook the sergeant's hand.

"So, what have we got?" Sergeant Turner asked, lifting his pants a little to keep them in place.

"We came about 20 minutes ago to arrest a murder suspect. He pulled a gun and took a woman hostage. We managed to get the woman out, but my agent is still in there, and he's unarmed."

"Okay" Sergeant Turner took notes, "so why is your agent still in there?"

Gibbs was already getting annoyed, "it was the only way to get the hostage out. My agent stayed as part of the deal."

Sergeant Turner stopped himself for a second, but asked anyway, "but why? Why jeopardize your agent?"

"Cause it's our job to protect innocent people!" Gibbs almost yelled, "My agent made a choice and stayed so the hostage was safe. Now we're gonna give him time to calm Martinez down."

"Hey, no arguments from me. We don't get many hostage situations in this neighborhood, so it's your lead. I've ordered my people to surround the house. There's no way he can sneak out. SWAT?"

Gibbs warmed up to the man standing in front of him, and felt a little bad about yelling at him. He didn't have his emotion under total control, and it annoyed the hell out of him.

"I already had my agent do that. We're also talking to the wife to see if she can help us."

"Okay, so we wait." Sergeant Turner put his notepad away, "Hate it went I can't help my men…"

"Yeah" Gibbs turned and walked to meet Ziva, who had finished talking to the wife. Her expression didn't give Gibbs much hope that something good had come from it.

"Anything?" Gibbs asked.

Ziva shook her head, "Nothing new. She doesn't understand why this is all happening. She never though Carlos would do anything like this, and has no idea what he'll do I called the paramedics to check up on her... and just in case…."

Gibbs nodded. He looked around, trying to thing of any other way they could help Tony, "Damn" he whispered to himself. McGee came over, pointing behind him.

"SWAT's here"

------------

Martinez put his hand on an old crib standing next to the couch, Tony was sitting in. It was made from bare wood and there was a small container standing next to it.
"I was going to paint it the day before the baby came. Have it all ready for the little one."
"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Tony didn't know much, if anything, about kids, but tried his best to relate to the young man.
"No, we want to be surprised. Lisa believes it is the only real surprise left in life." He rocked the cradle; "Guess I'm never going to get to finish it"

"Hey man, that can still happen. This doesn't have to end here. Your kid's still gonna need you to be there." Tony said, trying to convince the good side in Martinez to keep fighting. A few battles were lost, but not the war.

"But I'm never going to! I'll be locked up in Leavenworth for the rest of my life if I leave this house:"
"You don't know that. If you give yourself up, I'll do anything I can to help you. Nobody has been hurt yet"
"Those are just word. I appreciate it, man, but there nothing you can do."
Martinez sat down again, the gun resting in his lap. Then a smile appeared,
"You know what I keep thinking?" He looked up, "What would the A-team do in this situation?"
Tony smiled to, playing the show in his mind. The smile on Martinez's face disappeared. "Guess those guys were too smart to end up in a situation like this".

------------

The local police sergeant stood with his legs a little spread and hands on his hips, nodding every few seconds to let the others know he knew exactly what they were talking about. He was trying to look important, but it was clear to anyone that he was at the bottom of the food chain standing next to the SWAT-captain and the three NCIS-agents. He cleared his throat,

"Okay, here's the situation. We've got two men in there. One of them is a SEAL-trainee with a whole lot of screws loose, a gun in his hand and an itchy trigger finger. The other is special agent Anthony DiNozzo from the NCIS. He negotiated 5 other hostages out and is trying to reason with the guy. Yeah, like that's ever going to happen." The sergeant smiled and looked around the group but frowned, when there's was no responds. He put his weight on his toes and looked down.

"So… what are we waiting for?" the SWAT-captain looked around the group, "Give it full force and get this situation over with?"

"Cause I have an agent in there!" Gibbs yelled.

"Hey! Your guy chose to be there! Nobody forced him. Meanwhile we've got a guy in there with a gun who we don't know what might do. He could already have killed your agent and try to shoot his way out."

"With only a handgun?" Gibbs raised his eyebrows, surprised that the SWAT-captain would even consider going in at this point, without having tried all the other alternatives.

"Hey, I'm not taking any chances. If your boy's smart, he'll know how and when to get out of the way" the SWAT-captain said, pointing his finger at Gibbs, "cause we're coming in".

"The hell you are! This is still my arrest and my call, and I say we give Tony more time" Gibbs' eyes were flaring. The captain didn't give a damn about Tony, and just thought he was a hot-shot trying to show off. It might seem that way to a lot of people but Gibbs knew better. This had nothing to do with Tony's ego. To Tony this was about protecting lives. Both Susan's and Martinez's. He saw an opportunity to get Gibbs and the hostage out and he seized it. And now Gibbs would have to trust him to get himself out of harms way. And Gibbs knew he would. Gibbs thoughts were interrupted by the SWAT-captain.
"That where you're wrong. The hostage is one of your own agents and that disqualifies you from leading the operation. The moment this turned into a hostage situation, it became MY call, and I say we go" the captain said and started a staring contest with Gibbs.

"You're willing to risk a federal agent's life, just so that you can bust down a door and feel all macho?" Ziva exclaimed.

The captain didn't take his eyes off Gibbs, "We're go in 5 minutes". He turned to join his team, but stopped and looked at Gibbs, who was fuming. "I suggest you let your boy know to keep his head down".

Gibbs took a step towards the captain but restrained himself.
"Damn it!" he whispered and grabbed the phone from McGee.

------------

Martinez jumped as the phone next to Tony rang. He pointed his gun at Tony again, and said, "Answer it"
Tony slowly moved his hand to the phone, trying not to make any sudden moves.
"Yeah" he answered.

"Tony, it's Gibbs" Gibbs stopped. He didn't know what to say. "Listen, things are not looking good from the outside".

Tony instantly knew what Gibbs was saying, "How much time have we got?"
Gibbs looked down, scraping his food on the ground, "They have a go in 5 minutes, and they are looking very trigger-happy". When Tony didn't answer, Gibbs got worried.

"Tony…"

"Yeah I'm still here"

"I'll see what I can do to delay them, but I can't give you more than 10 minutes tops."

"Guess that'll have to do then" Tony looked at Martinez who was sitting on the edge of the chair.

"Tony…. Take care of yourself. That's an order"

"Gotcha Boss" and the line went dead.

Gibbs almost hauled the phone across the lawn, but instead he passed it to McGee. He felt his gut tighten. He felt as if he was letting his senior field agent down. There was no way in hell that was going to happen.

"McGee, I need your help. I need you to delay them anyway you can. Screw with their com or something. Anything!"

McGee nodded a hint of a smile on his face. This was his home turf.

------------

Martinez looked at Tony, as Tony hung up the phone. The two men just stared at each other until Martinez broke the silence.

"They're coming in, aren't they?"

Tony didn't try to lie, and he actually didn't want to. Martinez was a smart guy, and a good guy in spite of this whole mess. Martinez knew the procedure for hostage situation, and knew what was going to happen.
"Yeah" Tony answered, trying not to break the stare. He had to come up with something fast ‘cause time was running out. Something that would convince Martinez, that life was worth living and made him give up the gun.

"What's their ETA?" Martinez asked.

"About 10 minutes" Tony answered.

"Oh shit!" Martinez leaped to his feet and started to pace the room, "shit shit shit!"
Tony watched with anxiety. He didn't know what would happen if Martinez was put under time pressure. All he knew was that the man could fall apart any minute.

"Look, Carlos" Tony started, hoping Martinez would listen to him, "It doesn't have to end that way. You can still give me your gun, and we can walk out of here together. Nobody has to get hurt".
Martinez stopped pacing and walked over and stood in front of Tony.

"Do you know what's going to happen if I go out there?" He pointed the gun all over the room and at Tony, "do you?! They're gonna be all over me, putting me in cuffs and dragging my ass out of here. My career is over! If I walk out of here, I have nothing. Nothing, you hear me?! I'm going strait to Leavenworth"

Tony felt a deja-wu coming on; he'd heard this before.
"That's no true. You have a loving wife who is carrying your baby, and right now she's sitting out there, scared to death that something's gonna happen to you"

Martinez fell back in the chair and tears started rolling down his cheeks. Tony quickly continued,
"You have a kid coming. A kid who's gonna need its father." Tony looked down, knowing it might not have been the right thing to say. He tried to explain, "I'm not gonna lie to you; you're gonna do some time for this. But if you give yourself up, we can work on getting you a good deal. You didn't hurt anybody in here. The judge's gonna know you didn't mean to hurt Keller. You didn't mean to. You don't even remember killing him".
Martinez didn't look up while Tony spoke. He just sat still crying, looking down in the floor, elbows resting on the knees.

I can't walk out of here. Lisa is never going to be able to look me in the eyes again. She'll never understand why I did it. She's always telling me to look the other way when I meet people like Keller. But I can't… I can't…" Martinez looked up at Tony and for a second Tony saw something different in his eyes. The war within was over but the good side did not prevail.

"Tell Lisa that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry"

Tony straitened up, "Carlos….."

"Just tell her that and I love her more than anything else. I never meant to hurt anybody…never… just tell her that."

"Carlos, don't" Tony's gut tightened.

Martinez took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then he pointed the gun at his temple…
"Carlos!" Tony yelled and leaped towards Martinez, his right arm reaching for the gun. He managed to grab the gun and they both tumbled to the floor… Then a gunshot echoed through the house….

------------

"Sir, we found the problem. Somebody managed to jam the frequencies, but we're good to go again. I don't know how, sir" the SWAT-officer reported to the captain.
The captain shot a glare at Gibbs, and then turned to his team, "Ok, this is what we're gonna do. Two are going in from…" the captain stopped as a loud gunshot tore through the air.
Gibbs spun around and his heart stopped for a second. The shot came from within the house.

Gibbs' body tensed as the door to the house suddenly opened. He raised his gun and took aim at the figure in the shadows. The figure took a few steps, stopped and waited. Then he stepped out into the light, hands held high, yelling, "DON'T SHOOT!" It was Martinez.
Gibbs' heart jumped, when he saw that Martinez' hands were covered in blood. He waited for Tony to follow Martinez out of the house and explain the whole thing, but Tony was nowhere to be seen. Gibbs ran around the police car, quickly followed by McGee and Ziva, guns raised.

Martinez stepped onto the lawn, and was immediately surrounded by the SWAT-team, screaming at him to get down on the ground. He started yelling, trying to explain something and pointing to the house, but his cries were drowned by all the screaming. He was thrown to the ground and handcuffed. He screamed as the brass closed around his wrists, the cops tightening it way too hard.

"Please don't hurt me!" Martinez pleaded. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody!"

He was hauled up and practically dragged away. Gibbs didn't pay much attention to him as he ran by. He only wanted to see what happened to his senior field agent. If something had happened to Tony, he would deal with Carlos Martinez later….And if that happened, all the crying in the world wouldn't do him any good.

Gibbs stopped on the threshold and lowered his gun. McGee was surprised by Gibbs' sudden stop, and tried to stop. Unfortunately Ziva hadn't noticed anything going on in front of her, being too busy looking at Carlos Martinez, so she bumped into McGee, who barely managed to stay on his feet. Trying to stay vertical he grabbed the nearest object to support him; Gibbs' coat. He immediately lowered his head, and stuttered, "I-I'm s-s-sorry, B-Boss". But Gibbs didn't even look at the agents, who were struggling to stand up strait. His focus was on the inside of the house. He stepped in and his eyes scanned the room. They stopped when they found what they were looking for, and Gibbs let out a sigh, barely audible but it meant so much.
Tony was sitting on the floor of the living room, his back resting against the wall. His head was tilted back and his eyes were closed. His left hand was pressing down on his legs and a pool of blood was spreading out on the carpet underneath, a little too fast for Gibbs' liking. He opened his eyes as he heard Gibbs running towards him. Gibbs kneeled beside him, grabbed Tony's shoulder and looked him in the eyes, "Tony, are you okay?" Tony smiled and Gibbs looked down at his leg.

"I'm fine Boss, it's not that bad. It went straight through, and the bleeding's not too bad." Tony lifted his hand and there was a huge surge of blood from the wound, "okay, maybe a little bad".
McGee and Ziva holstered their guns as they entered the house, and ran over to Gibbs and Tony.

"Keep pressure on it", Gibbs said, looking at Tony, "The paramedics will be here in a minute", padding him on the shoulder, "you did good, Tony". He squeezed Tony's shoulder and smiled.

"Thanks Boss" Tony answered and leaned a little forward to adjust himself into a better position. Gibbs' hand came as a bit of a surprise to him, when it connected with the back of his head and he'd gotten the familiar head slap.

"Auch! What was that for?" Tony leaned back and looked at Gibbs with those hurt eyes.

"Gibbs! He's just been shot!" Ziva, who was kneeling on the other side of Tony, looked at Gibbs with accusing eyes

"That's for getting yourself shot!"

Tony looked hurt for about 2 seconds, before he smiled. His eyes told Gibbs that he understood the meaning. It was the Gibbs-way of saying, he'd been worried.
Tony closed his eyes and eased the pressure on his leg for a second, causing a surge of blood to ooze through his finger.

"Tony, you okay?" McGee asked

"I'm fine, Probie" Tony opened his eyes, "Just tired. You, on the other hand, aren't looking so hot right now"
Gibbs and Ziva looked at McGee. His face had turned completely white and he looked more like an albino than anything else.

"I-I'm…. it's just…." McGee stopped and put his hand over his mouth and starred to Tony's leg.

"What's the matter, Probie? Body fluids make you a little nauseous?" Tony couldn't help laughing, when Tim ran out of the room in search of the bathroom. He almost ran into the paramedics in the hall but didn't stop. He just pointed at Tony and continued his search before it was too late.

------------

McGee was sitting at his desk, catching up on paperwork. It wasn't like him to be behind but work seemed to be going in slow motion these days. McGee looked up and couldn't help but laugh. Whether it was the competition between two men, Tony's teasing or his jokes, he didn't know. But work just went by faster, when Tony was there. "Can't believe I'm even thinking it" Tim thought to himself.

"What's so funny, McGee?" Gibbs' question pulled McGee back to the real world and made him stutter. Ziva looked up from her work and enjoyed seeing McGee squirm under Gibbs' little interrogation.

"Uh uh nothing Boss", McGee managed to form the words, and started to stare intensely at his computer screen.

"Fantasizing about some new computer software, McGee? Or maybe a hot computer geek?"

Everybody looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. Tony smiled as he walked into the bullpen. He was still limping and held a cane in his left hand.

"Hey!" Ziva walked around her desk and gave Tony a hug, "if it isn't Humpty Dumpty".

"Ha ha, that's a good one, Miss David", Tony pointed his index finger at her and cocked his head.

"Better that yours, Tony" McGee said walking up to them.

"Probie! I'll bet you missed me"

McGee held back what he'd been thinking, and said, "Like an itch on my back I just can't seem to reach"

"Everyone is a comedian today" Tony answered and gave McGee a head slap.

The slap on the back of Tony's head came within seconds. He hadn't noticed that Gibbs had joined them.
"That's MY job, Dinozzo. You're late!"

"Sorry Boss. I came as soon as I could, but it takes a little longer to get ready in the morning, and the cap was late to pick me up" Tony explained "Didn't even have time to get breakfast". He ducked his head a little, anticipating a head slap for his explanation. But it didn't come.

"Are you coming back today?" McGee asked raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yep" Tony started to limp over to his desk, "Ducky cleared me for desk duty yesterday".

"And your desk is exactly where you will be staying for the next 2 weeks" There was no doubt in Gibbs' tone; that was an order.

"Gotcha, Boss" Tony sat down, as Abby came out of the elevator.

"TONY!" the Goth almost jumped over the desk to hug the guy on the other side, "I've missed you"

"Hey Abs!" Tony caught the young woman in his arms and tried to protect his leg from the impact.
Gibbs' phone rang and he went to answer it.

"I didn't know you were back already. How did you charm Ducky to say yes?"

"It's a trade secret. I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" Tony smiled at Abby who gave him a light nudge on the shoulder.

"Hey, easy, I'm injured"

"Grab your gear, we're going to Norfolk", Gibbs holstered his gun as he was giving the order and started to gather his thing. Without looking up, he said, "don't even thing about it, Dinozzo"
Tony stopped his attempt to get up, and fell back into his chair.
Abby smiled, kissed Tony on the head, and headed for the lab.

McGee and Ziva smiled and waved as they headed for the elevator. Gibbs was the last one to leave. As he was passing Tony's desk, he stopped and placed his coffee in front of Tony along with a bagel. Tony looked up in surprise. Gibbs had already turned his back to him, and was heading for the elevator.

"Welcome back, Tony"

The End