"Missing In Action, Pt. 9"
Cota's Main Compound...
Outside Cota's Office...
Gibbs and Tony dashed out the door of Cota's office and out into the hallway--where they paused, briefly.
"Sounds like they're on the stairs." Tony pointed out.
"Guess they've got us trapped." Gibbs said, as he looked around, desperately trying to find another way out.
"Uh, Boss, that's not entirely true." Tony said, pointing a finger towards the ceiling/roof.
Suddenly a second sound became audible overhead. It was the sound of a helicopter approaching the complex.
"A chopper?" Gibbs muttered.
"Hope you don't mind boss, I kind of changed our extraction point." Tony explained.
"Not bad DiNozzo...not bad at all." Gibbs said, with a grin.
The two men then sprinted down the hallway to the right, until they reached the end of it, and found the door/stairwell to the roof.
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Compound Stairwell...
The two men raced full speed--well Tony ran with sort of a limp but you get the idea--until they reached the door at the end.
Gibbs yanked open the outer door, and he and Tony exited the compound out onto the roof.
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Cota's Compound...
On The Roof...
Tony and Gibbs stood and watched as the helicopter made its final approach, and then landed atop the compound's wide roof-top.
The chopper's doors opened up, and a man in a flight suit waved them over immediately.
"Come on, get in!" The man in the chopper shouted.
Tony and Gibbs started to run towards the chopper when several of Cota's men burst through the roof-access door.
The men raised their guns to fire at them.
Tony stopped/turned and started firing at the men first.
"Go, I'll cover you!" Tony yelled at Gibbs, during a pause.
Tony fired a few more shots at the armed men.
"No, you go!" Gibbs yelled back.
Gibbs tried to move around Tony to get a better shot at the men.
Tony pulled out a small hand gun--that he'd pulled of off Cota's number one guy--and pointed directly in Gibbs' face.
"Don't make me use this, Gibbs." Tony pleaded, as he fired out a few more rounds at the men with his free sub-machine gun.
"Get on the chopper." Tony instructed. "And tell them to take off."
Gibbs, reluctantly backed away towards the chopper.
Tony then turned both of his guns on the men and started firing once more.
Out of the 6 of Cota's men that were on the roof with Tony and Gibbs.
Tony managed to take out three of them, before his ammo finally ran out.
By now the chopper was hovering just over the edge of the roof of the complex.
Tony threw both of his empty weapons at the 3 remaining men, and then turned and ran full speed (well I mean as fast as he could with a limp) towards the chopper.
Once he reached almost the edge of the roof he leaped off towards the chopper.
He grabbed hold of the choppers 'landing legs' with a thud.
Tony struggled to hold on as the chopper lifted ever higher and away.
Gibbs leaned out of the chopper.
"Grab my hand!" Gibbs shouted to Tony, as he extended his hand down/out.
Tony shifted his grip first, and then lunged upwards and grabbed a hold of Gibbs' hand.
Gibbs pulled and helped Tony climb up inside the chopper.
Once Tony was inside the two of them watched as Cota's compound steadily shrunk out of sight.
"Thanks." Tony said, to Gibbs.
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NCIS HQ...
Inside MTAC...
A Few Hours Later...
Everyone had assembled in MTAC per Director Vance's orders, and now they waited patiently (well sort of) to find out why they were there/here.
Vance finally turned away from the tech guy that he was conversing with, and faced the team.
"I called you all here because I have some news concerning Tony and Gibbs." Vance said.
"I just received word from the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan," Vance began, suddenly showing a slight grin.
"Is Tony okay...did he find Gibbs?" Abby asked, suddenly and quickly.
Vance grinned a big grin.
"Both Tony and Gibbs are on their way home, as we speak." Vance informed them.
Everyone in the room, the whole team, breathed a collective sigh of relief.
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Airport Terminal...
The Next Evening...
Ziva, Talia, Abby, Chloe, Paige, McGee, Ducky, Jimmy, and Director Vance all stood waiting in the airport terminal close to the gate where they'd been told Gibbs and Tony would arrive at.
A set of double doors swung open suddenly and Tony and a rather scruffy-looking Gibbs entered the terminal.
"Daddy!" Talia screamed, as her father, Tony, came into view.
Ziva let go of her daughter and let her run to her father who scooped the little girl up into his good arm that wasn't wrapped up in a temporary sling.
Chloe and Paige were next as they both raced, nearly full speed, towards their father.
Gibbs dropped to his knees and threw his arms around both girls once they got close enough for him to do so.
"I'm sorry I missed your birthday." Gibbs said, to Chloe.
"It's alright." Chloe replied, through tears. "We missed you so much." she added.
Paige lifted her head up and planted a kiss on her daddy's scruffy cheek.
A tear rolled down Gibbs cheek.
"I missed you too." Gibbs said, with a slight sniffle. "Both of you."
Ziva, by now, had crossed the floor over to where Tony and Talia were.
Gibbs held onto his two daughters for a few moments.
"And in my dreams there's better days; cause you've come home to stay." Paige sang, very softly.
Another tear rolled down Gibbs' cheek, and he kissed the little girl on the top of the head.
Gibbs whispered something to the girls, and then he stood up.
As he stood his eyes met with Abby's and there they stayed as he made his way, slowly, over to where she was.
They stared at each other for a brief moment, neither one saying a word.
But then they didn't have too.
Gibbs reached out and pulled Abby close, bringing their lips together in a kiss that was as deep as it was passionate.
As they kissed, a tear rolled down Abby's cheek.
As soon as they pulled apart, they noticed that Tony, Ziva, and Talia had come up behind them.
"Director Vance," Tony said, extending his good arm/hand to Vance. "I think you might want to take a look at this." Tony continued as he handed the object he was holding to Vance.
"What's this?" Vance asked, holding the object up to study it.
The object, as it turns out, is/was a CD-Rom.
"That disc, I think, should shed some light on what's going on down in Colombia, as well as with our friends in the DEA." Tony explained.
"Which reminds me, did you get them?" Tony asked.
"Just like you said," Vance replied with a slight grin. "Got'em as they were getting off of their plane." Vance said.
Everyone else was just a little bit confused as to what Tony and Vance were talking about until Tony and Vance explained the whole thing to them.
Gibbs grinned, and patted Tony on the back.
"Not bad, DiNozzo...not bad at all." he said, quietly.
------------To Be Continued In "Aftermath"------------
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony and Gibbs make a hasty retreat after confronting Cota. Now they just have to reach the rendezvous point in time...