Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 5
There was something in distorted voice, maybe its tone that had Gibbs terrified. He couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, since it wasn’t the utter madness underlined in the threat or words itself. It was something far more primal that sent his instincts on, the urge to protect his own. And just like that, he knew he had no doubts on the seriousness of the threat.
Now, there was something to be said about Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He was an experienced former U.S. Marine sniper, who served in many difficult military operations. That meant that the man was not only gifted with infallible intuition, but he had the stubbornness and the patience to get his target.
Ordinarily, the man wouldn’t take a no for answer, letting go was not in his nature. Period. If someone was foolish enough to tell him to ‘back down’, that would only guarantee that Gibbs would made sure to participate and be kept in the loop. Everybody who had ever worked with him knew that.
See, Gibbs had learned a long time ago that threats and intimidations weren’t worthy enough to listen and he certainly wouldn’t let others dictate his life or his ways to do his job. More importantly, he firmly believed that no order telling him to abandon something really important to him was worthy to follow. He didn’t back of on important things, like his team, like family " like DiNozzo -, that only made the old marine barge in at full force, like a force of nature.
He called McGee and Ziva on his way to Tony’s apartment, managing to arrive at his senior field agent in less than 7 minutes despite of the fact he didn’t live very close to it. He had try Tony’s land line and cell phone, but no one was answering the phone.
He didn’t wait for his back up despite the fact he had told McGee and Ziva to meet him in Tony’s apartment, it was too much to ask him at that moment. He just broke his own rules and dared any fool to call him on that.
Gibbs climbed fast the stairs, un-holstering his weapon as he approached Tony’s door. He had no concerns on being silent since whoever called him had to know for sure he would come in to check on his agent.
Positioning himself on the left side of the door, he paused a little trying to discern any sounds inside the apartment. When nothing was, he lifted his foot and kicked the door open. Moving in as quickly as he could, he searched the Tony’s living room for intruders, only to found it completely empty. No apparent signs of breaking and entry.
Crossing the small corridor, he checked the bathroom and the guest room, before moving to the closed bedroom door. At that point, he was a little unnerved with the possible scenarios running through his head. Tony’s apparently lack of answer to his apartment’s invasion made it worse and he drew a deep and long breath before opening the final door.
For sure, there lay Tony: completely still over his bed, sheets pulled up to his chin, like a child that had been tucked in. For a few seconds, Gibbs believed in the worse; he thought that Tony didn’t answer his phone or reacted because he was dead and his murder had tucked in his body to mock Gibbs.
Blood rushed from his face and he tightened his grip on his weapon. It took long seconds and calming breathes before he could see Tony’s chest move up and down. He was breathing, slow and steady in an almost imperceptible, but it was there. The movement alone was one of the most beautiful things Gibbs ever saw, like Kelly’s birth memories.
He approached Tony’s bed warily, afraid that his eyes had play him wrong. Right arm stretched, he looked and found Tony’s pulse. Lifting the sheets covering his agent, he found no wounds. ‘Alive, but unconscious’, he thought.
Ziva and McGee more subtle arrived on the scene almost caught him, but knowing Tony was alive made him rational again.
"NCIS! Drop your weapon!"
“Call 911, McGee!” Gibbs ordered him.
“Boss! Right!” McGee pulled his cell and went talking to dispatch while Ziva turned on the room’s lights.
“Ziva, call headquarters and tell them to send a lab team over here now! This is a crime scene. Also, have them check on Ducky and his mother and to send someone to pick Abby at home. No one stays alone until we figure what the hell is going on here!”
“Ambulance ETA is 5 minutes Boss!” McGee informed him.
“Good. Search for any signs on forced entry. Try to locate his cell phone too.”
“His cell phone, Boss?” McGee inquired further.
“Whoever called me used DiNozzo’s phone. I wanted fingerprinted and send it to Abby.”
“Gibbs. Nothing happened on the safe house or Bethesda. They’re sending a team to collect evidence here.”
“I’m ridding with him to the hospital once the ambulance is here. I’ll be back as soon as I get news from him, but I expect you to have finished interviewing the neighbors by the time I’m back!”
“Yes, Boss!”
“All right, Gibbs.”
The paramedics’ first assessment on Tony’s condition was that the young man had been drugged and there was little they could do except bring him in to identify the drug used on him and wait for it leaves his system. That didn’t surprise Gibbs and he wasted no time in ordering the paramedics to collect Tony’s blood sample for a more thoroughly test in NCIS labs.
They were leaving to the hospital when the other NCIS teams arrived. He briefly considered the necessity of informing the Director on the recent events, but give up the idea realizing that something like that had already reached Jenny’s ears.
Tony was brought to Bethesda and settled alongside Ducky to Gibbs peace of mind. He was watching over the convalescents for a few hours when Jenny finally made it to the hospital.
“I came as fast as I could Jethro.” She said softly not wanting to disturb the sleeping men on the room. “I reinforced the protections around in this room and Ducky’s mother. Also, I’m assigning other agents to provide protection for your team. You won’t be receiving new cases until this mess is sorted out.”
“Don’t you dare pull me out of this investigation Jenny” Gibbs warned her in a voice that promised retribution if she even dared to imply such idea.
“No use in ordering you that Jethro. We both know that you won’t follow that order”, was her calm reply. “But you need back up to do it and you will use it, after all, it is the second attack on your team in less then 24 hours.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Jen. Ducky was shot, Tony was drugged.” He explained to her rubbing his right hand hard over his eyes “and someone called me from Tony’s cell to warn me to stay away from him.”
“I see. So someone is targeting Tony…” She followed his logic and looked at the unconscious younger man.
“And using us to achieve it” Gibbs completed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Back in Tony’s apartment, McGee and Ziva were getting a little frustrated.
They had searched the apartment and hadn’t found signs of forced entrance or evidence that someone other than Tony had been in the apartment. That ruled out Tony inviting over whoever drugged him inside, but also meant that he or she had easy access to him. They discovered a lot of prints and a single brown long hair near Tony’s couch, which were sent to Abby together with the second NCIS team’s findings. They had to wait for the lab exams’ results.
They had no luck with Tony’s neighbors: no one had saw or heard a thing and the same answer came from the next building tenants. The run down building that Tony lived in had not security cameras, but they hoped to find something useful on the traffic cameras installed on the street.
When they left Tony’s place with NCIS agents posted to secure the crime scene, they couldn’t help but fear Gibbs reaction on hearing their reports.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.