Tony arrived home as he expected to find Megan in the kitchen and a delicious smell coming from the oven.
He placed his gear on the table and walked casually over to her, pulled her close and kissed her passionately.
She pulled away.
“Hey, is something wrong?” He asked nervously
“You used me to your advantage. That’s what’s wrong.” She snapped at him.
“What?”
“You came to me to get the warrant,” She explained. “You could have gone to someone else.”
“Yeah but we needed it fast and you were the first one I thought. Would you rather I was thinking of someone else?”
Megan sighed. “Sorry. Stark was hassling me about it and after the morning I had it really got to me.”
He pulled her close and kissed her gently on the forehead. “I understand. You have nothing to worry about I am not using you.”
“I know.” She replied. “You can go and have a shower if you want dinner isn’t gonna be ready for a while then we can watch that movie you were telling me about.”
He nodded and went to have a shower. What Stark had said to Megan about him using her bugged him. He knew Stark was just doing it because he was a lonely old man who was jealous but it still bugged him. He let it wash away along with the sweat and grime of the day’s events.
He grabbed a towel and quickly dressed and hurried out to where Megan was serving dinner. She grinned as he took his seat. “Great timing.”
He drooled as she placed a large serving of lasagne on his plate. He grabbed a forkful and shoved it in his mouth but almost chocked. It was awful, the worst lasagne he ever tasted but one glance at Megan stopped him from complaining. He ate as much as he could and tried to keep it down.
Megan seemed not to notice how bad it tasted and finished her plate first. Once Tony had eaten his he moved to take the plates to the kitchen.
Megan looked at him curiously. “What are you doing?”
“I’m gonna do the dishes. Since you cooked I can’t expect you to do them.” He replied.
She laughed and swiftly took the plats out of his hands. “That’s sweet. But I’ve seen the state of your dishes. You do realise I have to wash anything before I use it here even if you’ve deemed it clean. How about I wash and you dry? That seems fair.”
“Agreed.” Tony said as he followed her into the kitchen where Megan placed the dirty dishes on one side of the bench, filled the sink and began to wash the pasta dish that she had cooked the lasagne in. she then handed them to Tony without even looking.
“Oi watch it! You almost hit me over the head!” Tony exclaimed whipping her with the dishtowel.
“Next time I’ll make sure my aim is better!” She said sarcastically, throwing a handful of soapy bubbles at him.
He whipped her with the dishtowel again but harder, making her jump so she filled a bowl with water and tipped it over his head.
“You’ll pay for that.” He said as he grabbed her and hugged her close making her as wet as he was.
“No Tony, don’t.” Megan begged as she laughed and struggled to escape his grip.
“Never.” He replied and just as she stopped struggling and gave up he released her. “Oh now look at what a mess you’ve made.” He pointed at the puddle on the ground.
”And since you just ruined my work clothes guess what you’ll be doing while I dry these and get into some clean clothes.” Megan replied as she headed towards the bedroom.
Tony sighed and began to mop up the water.
Maya laughed. “Sounds like fun.”
Tony nodded. “Yeah it was.”
“What did you do for the rest of the night?”
“We watched the movie as planed and Megan fell asleep on the couch so I had to carry her to bed. She was so tired that her alarm didn’t wake her up the next morning so I decided to make her breakfast.
* * *
Tony crept into the room as quietly as he could with the tray in his hands. He set it on the bedside table before waking Megan up with a kiss.
She groaned before she sat bolt upright and began to get out of bed. “Oh my god what time is it?”
He gently pushed her back down. “Relax you overslept like ten minutes but I made you breakfast in bed and there’s still enough water for a hot shower but it would save water if we both shared it.”
Megan raised her eyebrows.
Maya raised her eyebrows.
He shrugged. “It would save water.”
Megan took a bite of her toast. “I’ll think about it.”
“So let me guess you shared a shower with Megan to ‘save’ water.”
“Yes I did and not only did it save water but it saved time as well because we both made it to work on time to for the first time that week.”
* * *
Tony walked out of the elevator and came face to face with an anxious looking McGee and an excited Ziva. Without explaining why they pushed him back into the elevator and Ziva handed him his gear.
“I'm on time today for once. We don't start for another ten minutes. What's the rush?” He complained.
“We've got a case Tony.” McGee explained. “We've got a hostage situation at a high school. Gibbs is meeting us there.”
“Why does it involve us?” Tony asked.
“It is located on a Navy Base.” Ziva answered. “Most of the teenagers have parents in the Navy.”
Tony nodded and snatched the car keys out of Ziva's hand. This wasn't his first hostage situation so he needed to take charge being the senior agent. He quickly explained this to the others and ignored their protests.
Maya leaned forward and huddled close. “A hostage situation at a high school! Who was holding them hostage? Did they have guns or a bomb?”
Tony gently wrapped his arm around her. “It was a student with a bomb and we had the job of getting everyone out alive and for your Uncle Gibbs that included the kid with the bomb strapped to himself.”
“Typical.” Maya said rolling her eyes. “And what stupid thing did his gut tell him to do about it?”
“Oh nothing big just got himself in the classroom to try and talk some sense into the kid.”
Maya's mouth was opened in shock. “Oh, my, god! Really?”
Tony nodded. “With Gibbs gone it meant I was in charge. I decided to go and have a chat to the kid.”
“Did you find out anything that would help Gibbs?” Maya asked.
Tony nodded. He demanded that his mother be brought to the classroom and we had until sundown to do so or everyone dies.”
“Oh no.”
“It got worse when we talked to his father and found out that his mother had died in a boating accident the year before. Apparently the boy was taking it hard and even thought he had seen his mother a few weeks ago.”
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
* * *
“Tony.” Ziva whispered to him interrupting his thoughts. It had been fifteen minutes since they had last made contact with Gibbs and the boy, fifteen minutes since they found out they one thing the kid was asking for they couldn’t give him. Tony had been trying to think like Gibbs but his head was beginning to hurt. He sighed and turned to face his partner.
“What is it?”
“The Director wants to talk to you.” She explained handing him a cell phone.
Tony nodded and took the phone. “Director what can I do for you?” he was slightly nervous and noticed his hand was shaking. He hadn’t spoken to her the day he first met Ziva and still wasn’t sure what he thought of her.
“I heard Agent Gibbs went into the classroom and is now a hostage.” Director Sheppard replied.
“He did what he thought was best Director.” Tony explained.
“Of course he did. How is the situation?”
“Well he has made his demands.”
“Which are?”
“He wants to see his mother.”
“Well what are you waiting for? Have you trying contacting her?” The Director asked anxiously.
“That may be a little difficult. His mother died last year.” Tony explained.
“He wants his dead mother brought to the classroom?” The Director asked.
“He won’t accept she’s dead. He thinks he saw her recently.”
“That’s an impossible demand.”
Tony sighed. “I know, Director. I’m working on it.”
“Define working on it, Agent DiNozzo.”
“SRT’s in place. Working on getting visual access into the room and a way to contact Gibbs.” Tony reported.
“And?” She asked expectantly.
“And we’re just getting started.”
“What’s your deadline?”
“Sundown which is about five hours away.”
“How powerful is the bomb?”
“Uh, don’t know yet. Sciuto and Agent McGee are going through the kid’s computer and everything found in his room trying to work out what the explosive is.”
“Does he have a dead-man switch?”
“I hope Sciuto and McGee can tell us that.” Tony replied.
“And if he doesn’t?” The Director questioned expectantly.
“You want me to take him out.” Tony realised.
“It may be your only option.” The Director pointed out.
“I’d like to get them all out alive, Director and that includes the kid.” Tony told her and even he noticed he sounded like Gibbs.
“I agree.” The Director replied. “But if it’s not possible, I need to know that you’re capable of making the call.”
“I’ve done it before.” Tony reminded her. She was starting to irritate him.
“On a fifteen year old? If the time comes you cannot hesitate. You cannot second guess yourself.”
That was the last straw he had had enough. “Okay, if you don’t trust me, I suggest you relieve me. Otherwise, leave me alone. I’ve got work to do, Ma'am.” He snapped at her before hanging up and handing the phone back to his partner who was standing there looking at him curiously.
“She asked if you had the bells for this, yes?” Ziva asked him.
“Balls.” Tony corrected her.
“Do you?” She asked him.
He took a deep breath. “I hope so.”
Maya gently patted his arm. “Don’t worry Dad. You have balls I know you do.”
“Thanks Kiddo.”
“But did you shoot him? Or did Uncle Gibbs mange to get him to give up the bomb?”
“Well...
* * *
Tony hesitated as they all anxiously waited for his command. The sniper was ready they had a clear view of the kid with the bomb all it took to get his boss and all the other students out without the bomb going off was one shot to the head. One shot and the fifteen year old kid who had a bomb strapped to his chest would be taken out and everyone would be safe. It would be the logical choice, what the Director wanted him to do. It would be so easy. Just one shot and this would all be over.
“Tony?” Ziva gently tapped his shoulder bring him out of his thoughts.
“The shot is still good, Sir. Over.” The sniper repeated over the radio waiting for his orders.
“Tony.” Ziva repeated, “This may be our only chance.”
“He’s not a target. He’s a fifteen year old boy who misses his mom.” Tony snapped at her before reaching for the radio to give the order. “All sniper units stand down. Do not take the shot.”
“All units stand down.” The slightly confused sniper reported to the ten other snipers who had surrounded the school classroom.
Ziva looked at him curiously. “Why?”
“It’s a Gibbs’ thing. My gut.” Tony explained.
“I knew you wouldn’t do it. I just knew you wouldn’t kill a fifteen year old kid even if they did have a bomb strapped to his chest.” Maya exclaimed.
“Thanks kid. For a while there I wasn’t even sure what i would do. But it was for the best because your clever Uncle Gibbs noticed that the kid had an earpiece in his ear so he turned to the back of the classroom where there were computers with webcams your Auntie Abby and Uncle McGee had managed to hack into and using sign language let them know that he suspected the kid was being used as a puppet.”
“Cool and you say learning sign language is a waste of time.”
He coughed and pretended that he didn’t hear what she just said. “Anyway we tried again to communicate with Gibbs but the kid was onto us which led us to believe whoever was controlling him also had eyes and ears in the classroom.”
* * *
“Dirtbags have eyes and ears in the classroom.” Tony said to his partner as the struggled again to get a good view of the classroom.
Ziva grinned “Good.”
Tony looked at her utterly confused. Was she hearing the same thing that he was? “Good?”
“We back track the feeds. It’ll lead us to them.” She explained. “Earwigs have a limited range and only a handful of frequencies. We have the equipment here to sweep.”
“Do it.” Tony ordered the rest of the agents that were working the case with them.
“Yes, Sir.” The agent replied before turning to his team. “Get the equipment. Set up for frequencies.”
Tony quickly pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and rang Abby. “Abby, SRT is sweeping earwig freqs to trace the source. Can you guys do the same thing with the eyes?”
Tony heard the Goth put him on speaker phone and ask the younger geeky agent that had been working in the lab with her. “McGee?”
“We have three computers with webcams in the back of the classroom. We’re using one of them. They must be using-” McGee started to explain but Abby cut him off.
“The one with the blocked router! The one we couldn’t get into?”
Tony sighed he hated it when they used geek speak, he couldn’t understand it and it made his head hurt. “How long?”
“Depends. They could be using counter attack software. If they’re using a sophisticated encryption system it could be a hundred and eighty to two hundred and fifty six bit-”
Tony had just about had enough. “Probie!” He snapped at the younger agent. He even scared himself at how Gibbs-like he sounded.
“On it, Boss.” McGee replied automatically before he corrected himself. “Tony.”
Tony laughed at the mistake as he hung up the phone.
“What?” Ziva asked.
“He called me Boss.” Tony explained.
Ziva smiled. “Yeah, he’ll never live that down.”
“No he won’t.”
Maya laughed. “Uncle Probie called you boss. That’s funny.”
“I know and I still hassle him about it.”
“Okay so it was a really stressful day but what about my mom? What about Megan?”
“Well it just so happens that just as we were getting the plan underway and it was beginning to seem like everyone had a job to do apart from me I got a call from her...
* * *
Tony almost jumped as his phone began to ring in his pocket. “DiNozzo.”
“Hey Honey, how’s your day going?” Megan’s familiar cheerful voice replied. “Do you think you’ll be home for dinner tonight?”
Before Tony could answer her he noticed he was getting a second call. “Sorry Megan I really can’t talk right now. I’ll call you back later.” He said quickly before hanging up on his shocked girlfriend and quickly switching to the second caller. “DiNozzo.”
To Tony’s surprise Gibbs gruff voice was the one who answered. “Hey Boss, have you located the kid’s mother yet?”
“We have our best agent’s bringing it to me now.” Tony quickly replied.
“Hurry up and give it to me!” Tony heard a voice shout down the phone.
“I don’t know, it yet. My best Agent is bringing it to me.” Tony repeated.
“Get the number! The voice shouted again. “I want the number!”
“Better get him the number Boss.” Gibbs told Tony.
“I’m working,” Tony started to say as he heard the click of the phone before the drone of the dial tone, “on it.”
Ziva suddenly Gibbs-slapped him “You had to say you had her number?”
“I know. I know it was a mistake.” Tony said as he rubbed his head.
“A mistake Gibbs would not have made.” She pointed out.
“I’m not Gibbs am I?” Tony reminded her.
“EOD’s been studying the pictures of the bomb vest. This is the remote to the detonator. One shot could destroy it.” She said ignoring his complaint.
“And the kid?” Tony asked.
“There is more than just one life at stake here, Tony.”
“And I am going to get them all out safely.” Tony told her before he reached for his cell phone and dialled the lab’s number. “McGee, tell me you’re making progress.”
“I’m making progress, Tony. Back tracing their connection to the classroom computer now. Okay, they’re in Triangle, Virginia.”
“Piggy backing off a wi-fi node at the warehouse outside the main gate.” Abby added.
“I’m sending you the address. Now do you want us to cut their connection to the webcam?” McGee asked him.
“Negative, Probie. I’ve got a better idea.” Tony replied. As he quickly told them his plan.
“You know what, Tony? This might actually work.” McGee said and Tony couldn’t help hearing the surprise in his voice.
“Don’t sound so surprised, Probie.”
“Oh, he’s right, Tony. We should have thought of it.” The Goth exclaimed excitedly.
Suddenly there was a loud crash and two cries of pain from the other end of the phone. “What the hell was that?” Tony asked.
“McGee tripped.” Abby explained.
“Trip on your own time, Probie.” Tony warned him. “Can you make it happen or not?”
“The problem is finding the right stream to mirror, Tony.” Abby told him.
“We’ll need to recreate a virtual hard drive.” McGee added.
“To replace the physical one.”
“The key is the insertion phase, so we’re going to need-”
“A natural buffering period so we won’t be detected.”
“Using a pretty standard code-”
“Which means they’ll be able to retag the algorithm during decompression.”
“So what we need is a multi-point control unit to enable a seamless-”
“Guys, phys Ed major here.” Tony reminded them.
“We can do this, Tony.” Abby exclaimed.
“When? “
“Uh… now if you want.” McGee said nervously.
“On my mark. DiNozzo out.” Tony said before he hung up. He now had a really sore head from listening to all the geek speak. He needed to remember to talk to them about that another time. Right now he had to focus on the job at hand.
“Wait!” Maya exclaimed interrupting him. “What was your idea? I don’t get it.”
Tony laughed. “Oh yeah, well your Uncle Probie and Aunt Abby followed the webcam trail, and found a location- just outside the base. They wanted to know if they should cut the feed, but I had a better idea. We inserted a video loop so the baddies, who were sitting in a van contemplating the imminent blowing up of the kid, and more importantly for them, his mom, carry on looking at a classroom full of hostages when really it is empty.”
Maya laughed. “Wow that’s awesome, did it work?”
Tony nodded proudly. “Yup just as the feed went back to real time, we descended upon them.”
“Awesome. So did you ring Megan back after you got back to HQ?”
“Well actually I didn’t have to because by the time we got back to work it was half an hour after we were due to finish and she was sitting at my desk talking to Abby and McGee while she waited for me...
* * *
Megan was the first one to notice their arrival. She glanced at Ziva before rushing over to embrace her boyfriend.
“Abby and Tim just told me how you saved the day. I’m so proud of you.” She said to him before she kissed him passionately.
As they parted the Goth wrapped her arms around the couple. “That was brilliant, Tony. Looping the classroom video to the bad guys while you evacuated the kids.”
McGee patted him on the back. They’re right. It was a great idea, Tony.”
Tony released the two women and reached around to Gibbs-slap McGee.
“Hey!” McGee exclaimed as he rubbed his head.
“Boss.” Tony corrected him. “It was a great idea, Boss.”
McGee started to go bright red making Abby, Megan and Ziva laugh. “Slip of the tongue, okay?”
“Major slip of the tongue.” Tony replied.
“Oh, give it up, McGee. Some things Tony never forgets.” Ziva said to the younger agent.
“Well he does if you know the right tricks to make him forget.” Megan added.
“That’s true.” Abby added before turning to face Tony. “So, what movie gave you the big idea?”
Tony gulped and looked around at them. “Movie?”
“Yeah. You know, making the video of the classroom to feed back to the bad guys?” McGee reminded him.
“It just kind of came to me, actually.” Tony lied.
“Ooh! I saw it! They had these terrorists.” Ziva exclaimed.
“Half the movies today are about terrorists.” Tony told her.
Ziva shock her head. “No, no, no. And they took over this bus, and it starred… um…..that actress with the name like an animal… a cow. No. Uh… ox. No, it’s not that.”
“Bull?” Megan guessed.
Ziva nodded. “Bull! Bullock. Sandra Bullock. Yeah, and I can’t remember the title of the movie, but it’s…” She trailed off trying to remember it.
McGee rushed over to his desk and started up his computer. “I’m going to look it up. I’m going to check her credits.”
“Probie, don’t you have a report to finish?” Tony reminded him.
“Oh, yeah. I did it.” McGee replied without even bothering to look away from his computer.
“Good for you. That’s good”. Tony said to him before he noticed Gibbs hadn’t followed them into the bullpen. “Ooh, wait. Stop talking. Wait. Has anyone seen Gibbs?”
“He probably went to report to the director.” Ziva replied as she packed up her stuff. “Anyway it is time for me to go, I will see you all tomorrow.”
There was a mummer of goodbyes as Ziva headed towards the elevator. Once she was gone and McGee and Abby were too busy looking up Sandra Bullock movies Tony turned to sweep his girlfriend off her feet.
“I’m really sorry I hung up on you today. I-” He started to say but Megan held up a finger to his mouth to silence him.
“Don’t worry, I understand. Just don’t make a habit of it.”
“I try not to and to make up for today why don’t we go out somewhere special for dinner.” He suggested.
Megan nodded “That sounds nice.”
* * *
An hour later they sat eating a quiet romantic dinner at the same restaurant they had gone to on their first date.
Megan was playing with her pasta; it looked like she wanted to ask him something. “Honey what’s wrong you’ve barely touched your food?”
“Nothing. I was just wondering...”
He gently caressed her hand. “What is it?”
“Well Christmas is coming up in a couple of weeks and I was wondering if you wanted to come meet my family?”
Tony almost choked on his food.
Author's Chapter Notes:
The NCIS team must stop a teenage student from detonating a bomb attached to his body, while he's taking the other students hostage at a Quantico base high school. Gibbs tries to stop him when he enters the classroom, only to realize that there may be someone else controlling the teenage student from the outside. Meanwhile, while Gibbs is in the classroom, Tony is left in charge. Megan makes Tony an offer.