"All Good Things...(Chapters 6, 7, & 8)"
Chapter Six---
Gibbs folded his arms across his chest and stared at Tony for a few moments studying him in silence.
"Are you about this?" he asked the younger man.
Tony shrugged his shoulders at his boss.
"Not really, but what other choice do we have." Tony mused, tilting his head slightly to one side.
Gibbs shook his head and rubbed his weary eyes as he thought for a moment.
"I don't like it." he said, as he sat down on the edge of the bed beside Tony.
"Neither do I, but you heard McGee--we need that 'Key-Card'." Tony replied.
"Said anything to McGee yet?" Gibbs asked.
"Nope." Tony replied, looking down at his shoes.
Gibbs thought for a moment, and then shook his head again.
"Alright--but be careful." Gibbs warned.
Tony nodded in agreement.
Gibbs stood and walked towards the bathroom.
"What about Zi--err--I mean Aleana?" Tony asked, correcting himself.
"We're not leaving without her are we?" he asked.
"Nope." Gibbs called back from the bathroom.
Night came fairly quickly it seemed--too quickly in Tony's mind. He straightened himself up and checked himself out in the bathroom mirror one last time before heading out.
Gibbs had strolled across the hallway to McGee's room to check in on his youngest special agent's progress.
Tony made his way down the long hall until he reached the first turn, at which point he turned left and made his way down the second hall until he reached his destination 5 door on the right hand side of the hall.
He tapped, gently, several times on the door before Lieutenant Goli finally answered.
"Come in," she beckoned him forth in a low seductive voice.
Tony swallowed hard as he stepped through the door which she closed behind him.
"Evening," she said as she walked towards the bed swinging her hips, obviously, just for him.
"You know--if we get caught--the consequences will surely be dire." she explained, as she stooped to light two more candles on a side table near the bed.
Tony tried to force a smile and a chuckle.
"Then lets try not to get caught, shall we."
He walked toward her slowly, and she reached out for him. Her hands landed against his chest as he approached her--closer and closer. She ripped open his shirt, and quickly pulled Tony into a deep kiss.
Back in McGee's room--he and Gibbs mulled over the information that they had found on the computer.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Tap! Tap! Tap!
Gibbs slowly made his way over and opened the door. As soon as he had it opened the Colonel pushed his way inside and closed the door quickly.
"Sorry to intrude, but it is urgent." he said quickly, looking from Gibbs to McGee and then back to Gibbs.
"What is?" McGee asked, standing from the bed.
"The President is becoming too suspicious." the Colonel explained.
"Back up," Gibbs said stepping up close to the Colonel. "Start from the beginning." Gibbs said in a low voice.
The Colonel rubbed his eyes, and shook his head slightly. "Very well," he said letting out a long sigh. "I am *Cobra*." he informed them.
"Yeah, I know." Gibbs replied, with a smile.
"You're friend Ms. Gavish is keeping their eyes focused elsewhere for the moment, but I do not know how long that will last." the Colonel explained.
Gibbs rolled his eyes at the Colonel.
"Not her real name, but okay."
"Point is, if you are going to make a move, then it has to be--soon." the Colonel added.
"No good." Gibbs said, turning away.
McGee turned back to the laptop and punched in a few keys bringing up what appear to be floor plans for the compound.
"The logical place, according to these blue-prints, to hold Ziva is--here," McGee explained, pointing to a spot on the blue-prints.
Colonel Oveisi shook his head at Gibbs and McGee.
"Forgive my boldness, but--retrieving your satellite and escaping will be risky enough," he explained. "Trying to save your female friend too--would only be suicide." the Colonel said, blatantly.
Gibbs stepped closer.
"I'm not leaving anyone behind." Gibbs said in a low voice.
"I know this is difficult for you to hear, but you must trust me." the Colonel countered.
"And besides--once this is started I *Will* have to chase you." he added.
"Understood." Gibbs replied, with a nod.
"Now, about our escape plan?" Gibbs asked.
The Colonel stepped forward, leaned over, and pressed a sequence of keys on the laptop's keyboard. After a second or two another set of blue-prints appeared on the computer's screen.
The blue-prints showed the outside of the compound.
"You can exit the compound through this door," he began to explain. "It will take you out to a second, smaller airstrip."
Gibbs and McGee studied the blue-prints for themselves as the Colonel pointed out their best escape route to them.
"Between you and the airstrip though, is a set of old city ruins," he continued to explain. "On the roof there are always machine gunners--so watch out for them."
"Machine gunners. Watch out. Got it." McGee chimed in.
"At the end of the strip you will find a small chopper waiting to carry you away." he finished.
Gibbs leaned over just a little bit closer--obviously studying something else about the blue-prints.
Back in Lieutenant Goli's bedroom...
The Lieutenant muttered something in her native tongue, that Tony could not understand, as she finally hit her climax. A few thrusts later and Tony joined her.
After several minutes had passed Lieutenant Goli rolled over and kissed Tony on the lips deeply, quickly, and then settled back down against Tony's chest.
"We should do this more often." she said, with a devilish grin.
"Yeah. We should." Tony replied, with a forced grin.
The two of them laid in the bed in silence staring up at the ceiling until, finally, Lieutenant Goli fell fast asleep.
It was after midnight when Tony finally rejoined Gibbs and McGee in McGee's room.
"Here you go McGoo--one *Key-Card*." Tony said, as handed over the key-card to McGee.
"Good work DiNozzo," Gibbs said with a grin.
Gibbs spent the next several minutes filling Tony in on everything that had happened while he was away romancing the Lieutenant.
"So then, what's the plan?" he asked.
"Gibbs and I have been studying the information on the laptop very extensively, and we think that the best time would be--in about six hours." McGee explained.
"So get some rest DiNozzo," Gibbs said, placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "We've got a long day ahead of us."
Chapter Seven---
Gibbs, Tony, and McGee stood in McGee's room six hours later, dressed and ready to go.
"McGee-" Gibbs started to say.
"I know," McGee replied, rolling his eyes. "I will infiltrate the *safe-house*, download the data from the satellite, and then meet you guys out at the airstrip."
Gibbs gave McGee an approving nod. Then he turned and opened the door and the three of them silently slipped out of the room and out into the hallway.
"Hey Boss," Tony whispered over Gibbs' shoulder. "What exactly are *we* going to do?" he asked, having not been made aware of Gibbs' plan for the two of them.
"We're going after Ziva." Gibbs whispered back, plainly.
Gibbs gave the signal to McGee, and at that moment they all broke off and went their seperate ways.
Having memorized the blue-prints McGee slowly made his way through the maze of hallways and corridors. After a little bit he turned a left corner, and stumbled upon a *sentry*.
McGee crouched down and made his way silently towards the unsuspecting man. The man was starting to turn around, but McGee chose that moment to pounce. He threw his arms around the man's kneck pulling him backwards into a *sleeper hold*--a move which he had learned from Ziva.
He dropped the man to the ground, and continued onward.
Gibbs and Tony made their way down into the underground section of the compound, slowly and quietly creeping forward. After several minutes passed they finally reached the main/outer door to the compound's detention center.
McGee finally reached the inner courtyard. he crouched down and scanned the overhead areas fro snipers or gunners, or sentries of any kind--seeing none he continued towards the *safe-house*.
He reached the metal door of the *safe-house* and swiped the stolen key-card through the *card-swipe* mechanism that was mounted right next to the door.
After a second or two he was given the green light, and the door automatically unlocked itself. McGee stepped inside the *safe-house*, and the door closed behind him.
In the compound's main security room Colonel Oveisi sat watching a set of security monitors. Suddenly a red light began flashing up above the console.
"So--it is time." he muttered, as he stood and picked up his weapon.
The Colonel pressed an *Alert-All* button in the center of the console, and then stepped out of the security room.
All over the compound alarms began blaring waking anybody and everybody up.
Security guards and sentries alike began to jump up from wherever they were, grab their weapons, and scramble.
Gibbs and Tony still stood in front of the outer door to the detention center, alarms going off everywhere, when the door started to swing open from the other side. Gibbs rushed through landing a right hook across the detention center guards' jaw--knocking him backwards into a wall. The blow knocked him unconscious instantly.
"Well that easy enough," Tony remarked to Gibbs with a grin.
Gibbs stooped over and grabbed the guards sidearm and his ring of keys.
"Here take this." he said to Tony, as he tossed the guard's pistol to the younger man.
Gibbs looked around until his eyes landed on what he assumed was the detention centers' weapons closet.
Gibbs spent a few minutes figuring out which key unlocked the weapons closet.
"Got it," he said, as he pulled it open.
Gibbs reached inside the weapons closet and pulle out a sub-machine gun, a rifle w/scope, and 2 more pistols.
McGee pulled open the section of the satellite that housed the black box, hooked it up to the laptop, and began to download the data onto the pen drive.
"Come on you can do it," he muttered to the computer in his lap.
Gibbs and Tony rushed through another big door, taking out two more guards along the way. After a few more minutes they finally reached the area where Ziva was being held.
"She should be just around the corner." Gibbs said.
The two men raced around the next corner where they encountered two more guards blocking the entrance to Ziva's cell.
Tony quickly dispatched one while Gibbs took out the other. After the guards were taken care of Gibbs unlocked the cell, and he and Tony stepped inside.
Tony bent down to until Ziva's hand from around the back of the chair that she was sitting in. They could tell she had taken quite a beating in just the last several several hours.
"There." Tony said at last.
Ziva stood and shook the rest of the ropes off of her (body).
Gibbs handed her the two other pistols that he had brought with him.
"Can you make it?" Gibbs asked, looking her over.
"Yes, I can." she said, with a nod, wiping some blood from her lip(s).
"Good. Take these." he said, handing her the two pistols.
"Thanks." she replied, as she checked the two weapons.
Together the three of them raced out of the cell back towards the direction that they had come from to start with.
When they finally reached the first outer door they were met with heavily-armed guards--several of them--waiting on the other side. So the two groups began to exchange volley's of gun fire between each other.
"Where is McGee?" Ziva asked, as she fired off a few shots and then ducked back down again.
"Well hopefully he's got the satellite data, and he's waitn' on us outside." Tony said, firing off a few rounds of his own.
One of Tony's shots actually hit and took down one guard. Gibbs then fired a few shots and managed to take down two more guards.
"I thought this was supposed to be easy!" Tony shouted as a steady stream of hot metal went whizzing over their heads.
"I guess someone needs to tell them that!" Gibbs shouted back.
It took them a few more minutes, but the three of them finally managed to take out the last few heavily-armed guards. Then they pressed onwards towards their final destination.
Back in the *safe-house* McGee had just finished downloading the last of the satellite's data, and had uploaded the *Crash File* that would destroy everything left on te satellite's little black box.
He found a pistol laying on a nearby table, and used it to destroy the laptop, as he shoved the pen drive into his pants pocket.
"Now to get outta here." he said, as he made his way towards the door.
Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva battled their way through more and more armed guars until they finally reached the inner courtyard where the *safe-house* was. On the far side of the courtyard was their escape route/exit.
As they entered the courtyard, McGee was coming out of the *safe-house*.
"McGee!" Gibbs shouted as he crossed the courtyard towards the younger special agent. "Behind you!"
McGee dove to the ground as Gibbs leveled two armed guards running towards them with his sub-machine gun.
Gibbs ran forward and pulled McGee up off of the ground, hurriedly, and pushed him towards the far door.
The four of them finally dashed out into the last hallway seperating them from the outside of the compound.
Chapter Eight---
The team pushed through the heavy door and out to the outside whee they were almost instantly met with a barage of heavy gun fire and the like--as they made their way to cover within/around the old city ruins.
As they approached the ruins McGee uttered a startled cry as he took one or two shots in the leg, and fell to the ground.
"McGee!" Gibbs shouted as he turned back for the young special agent.
Gibbs grabbed McGee by the arm, firing off a few rounds at a group of heavily-armed guards running out of the compound towards them, and drug him back behind the ruins.
Gibbs dropped him once they were safe. McGee laid on theground clutching his twice wounded leg in agony.
"Ziva, check him out!" Gibbs shouted.
Ziva dropped to her knees and began tearing at McGee's pants attempting to make a homemade bandage of sorts to stop the bleeding.
Gibbs and Tony fired volley's aof gun fire at the opposing guards.
"He is losing too much blodd," Ziva shouted to Gibbs. "He needs a hospital!"
On the roof of the compound Colonel Oveisi emerged from the stairway, followed by Lieutenant Goli, and the two of them approach one of the roof gunners.
Lieutenant Goli takes a sniper rifle and assumes a favorable perch on the edge of the roof.
Gibbs pointed through the ruins, to the right side, after looking around a bit.
"Look. There's our ride!"
Tony tried to poke his head around for a better look only to have a bullet, fired by the Lieutenant, graze his temple.
"Son of a-" Tony cried, recoiling from the attack.
Gibbs and Ziva looked over at Tony.
"What?" Gibbs asked.
"Sniper." Tony replied. "They've got us pinned down Boss."
Gibbs turned and scanned the roof of the compound with his eyes, quickly, but couldn't peg the sniper.
Ziva pressed her hand(s) harder down on McGee's wounds, but the blood was still coming.
"He is bleeding to fast--If do not get him-" Ziva started to say to Gibbs.
"I know, I know." Gibbs shouted back.
It was true. He did know what would happen if they could not reach the chopper. Three of them might be able to make it to the chopper, but not while having to carry McGee on their shoulders.
Gibbs scanned the rooftop of the compound once more, but got the same results as before.
He looked around from the compound, to the chopper, and then to his team sitting there around him, and everything seemed to be running in slow motion.
---------DREAM-LIKE SEQUENCE---------
Somewhere in Kuwait...
During Desert Storm...
Gibbs is standing, in full uniform and gear, talking to one of his men. There are explosions going off all around them.
"Sorry Gunny." the man said, apologetically. "They're gone."
Gibbs' eyes were wet with emotion and anger.
"Shannon. Kelly." he whispered. "No!"
Without warning he took off running across the sand, not really sure where he was going.
"Gunny wait!" the man called after him.
And then there was the BIG explosion.
---------END OF DREAM-LIKE SEQUENCE---------
"Boss!" Tony yelled at Gibbs.
Gibbs looked up, suddenly snapped out of his trance, and looked around.
"DiNozzo!" he shouted.
"Yeah!" Tony replied stepping closer to Gibbs.
"Can you make the shot!?" he asked.
Tony stood frozen to the spot, unable to answer the question at first.
"Can you make the shot!?" Gibbs barked in Tony's face.
"Y-Yes." Tony answered at once.
"Good." Gibbs said, shoving the rifle w/scope that he'd brought with him into Tony's arms. "You only get one!"
"Ziva, gun." Gibbs called to the Mossad officer, and she tossed him one of her pistols.
"Wait, boss where are you going?" Tony asked, as Gibbs turned and headed towards the outside of the ruins.
Gibbs stopped and turned around, and pointed towards the compound.
"When he pops his head up, plug him." Gibbs instructed.
Tony nodded and Gibbs turned to walk away again. A few steps short of the edge Gibbs stopped and turned back, momentarily, and stared at Tony for a second.
"And Tony," he called over the noise. "Semper Fi."
Tony didn't know why, but standing there looking at Gibbs in just those few seconds he had this strange *gut feeling* that this might be the last time they saw each other.
Gibbs held the gun in his hands, firmly, and drew in a deep breath and then let it back out--as he stood with his back pressed against a stone pillar near the edge of the ruins.
Tony stood back where he was before with his rifle aimed up at the roof of the compound scanning its length back and forth several times.
Gibbs drew in another breath and then let it out--counting from 1 to 3 before making his move.
He stepped out from behind his shelter, gun raised towards the roof of the building--and sure enough the sniper took the bait. Gibbs couldn't help but grin slightly as he felt hot metal pierce through his body.
Out of the corner of his eye Tony saw Gibbs go down, but he resisted the urge to run to his boss' aide, and instead took the shot--nailing the sniper, who turned out to be the Lieutenant, in the center of her forehead.
"We're clear!" Tony shouted, as he lowered th rifle. "Get McGee to the chopper!"
Tony tossed the sniper rifle aside, and picked up the sub-machine gun, and prepared to make his next move.
"Wait," Ziva said, grabbing Tony's arm. "Where are you going?"
Tony turned to face Ziva.
"I'm going to get Gibbs!" he yelled over the noise.
"You could be killed!" she countered.
Tony stared her down, or at least tried to, in the same manner in which Gibbs used to.
"I'm not leaving without him." he replied coldly. "Now get McGee and go!"
Ziva shook her head, letting out a long sigh, but did as Tony instructed.
Tony bolted straight out into the middle of a firefight, gun blazing, as he headed to Gibbs' side.
"Hang on," Ziva whispered as she helped McGee up to his feet.
McGee let out a painful groan as Ziva helped him up to his feet.
Ziva ran the other way--out through the side of the ruins--carrying McGee as best as she could as they made their way towards the chopper.
Tony finally reached Gibbs' side after firing off a few volleys of personal cover fire, and dropped to the older man's side.
"Boss," Tony said, panting heavily.
"T-Tony." Gibbs breathed, with a sudden cough.
"Boss, come on we gotta get you outta here!" Tony said, taking Gibbs' hand and trying to pull him up.
Gibbs sputtered, and Tony saw blood dribble out of the older man's mouth.
"Boss!" Tony exclaimed worriedly, ropping back down to Gibbs' side once more.
"T-Tony," Gibbs gasped, as he grabbed a fistful of Tony's shirt. "They're all y-yours." he sputtered.
"Boss, come on. Stay with me." Tony urged the older man, trying again to help him up or drag him, or whatever.
Gibbs' eyes were moist with overwhelming emotion as he pulled Tony down closer to him.
"Please...T-take care of them--T-Tony." Gibbs whispered into Tony's ear with a sputter.
Tony watched in horror as his boss, a man whom he admired and respected, fell eeriely silent right there in front of him.
"Boss. Boss." Tony repeated over and over. "Gibbs!" he shouted at the older man, but nothing happened.
Tony's eyes were moist with extreme emotion, and deep within burned irrepressible rage.
"AAAHhhhhhhhh!" Tony screamed as he leapt up and opened a stream of steady fire on the still approaching Iranian guards--dropping several of them out of sheer anger.
Tony then reached down and hoisted the older man's body up over his shoulders, fired a few more shots at the advancing guards, and then turned and bolted for the chopper.
A few minutes later Tony reached the chopper at the end of the strip.
"Get in!" Ziva shouted from the pilot's seat.
Tony pushed Gibbs' body onto the chopper first, and then pulled himself up into the chopper.
"I didn't know you could fly!" Tony shouted, as the chopper began to lift off from the ground.
"In Mossad it is part of our training!" she shouted back over the noise of the chopper.
Tony fired a few more volleys of gun fire at the advancing guards, keeping them at bay, until Ziva was able to manuever the chopper to safety.
McGee leaned over, still clutching at his still bleeding leg, closer to Tony.
"How is he?" McGee asked.
Tony just shook his head miserably at McGee--wiping a few tears from his eyes.
.........To Be Continued.........
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony tries to obtain a key card for McGee. Gibbs learns the true identity of 'Cobra'; and then its time for the team to make their move.