Catch Me If You Can! Ch 3
Fear was not an emotion that Leroy Jethro Gibbs very often experienced but it almost overwhelmed him now. He paced in the shadows of the silent apartment building, waiting for McGee and Todd to arrive. The sickening knot that had formed in the pit of his stomach as he listened to Harding's taunts over the phone now morphed into a hard rock and he glanced down at his watch in nervous agitation before his eyes drifted to the dark windows of DiNozzo's apartment above. Damn it! He should have been here, watching DiNozzo's six. He knew that Harding was still a threat so why the hell had he allowed Ducky to talk him into going home.
The sound of a car's wheels turning on the concrete driveway pulled him from the self- recriminating thoughts and he moved out into the open to meet with the car's two occupants. The trio spoke briefly before one moved back to the car and opened the trunk, pulling out the three bulletproof vests contained within. The vests were quickly donned as the dark figures moved silently towards the stairs, each un-holstering their weapons in preparation as they silently approached the door to their colleague's apartment.
Positioning themselves on either side of the door, Cait and McGee held their guns in readiness as they watched Gibbs hold up three fingers. He lowered them one at a time silently counting down. As his last finger dropped, he lifted his foot and kicked open the door. The trio moved in, quickly scanning the outer rooms for intruders before moving to the closed bedroom door.
The sound of his front door being kicked in woke Tony with a start and, disorientated by being pulled so abruptly from a sound sleep, he reached automatically for the weapon on the bedside table. He barely had time to pick it up and aim it towards his bedroom door before it was also kicked violently open and the light was switched on, blinding him with it's sudden brightness. Only instinct prevented him from pulling the trigger as he recognized Gibbs' voice yell. "NCIS! Drop your weapon!"
"What the…? Boss?" The confusion in Tony's voice was evident as he lowered his gun and lifted his hand to shelter his eyes from the bright glare of the light as he stared at his boss and colleagues in totally bewilderment. "What…? Why…?"
"Where's Harding?" Gibbs demanded, his eyes scanning the room expectantly. "What did he do?"
Tony blinked in bewilderment, uncertain of what answer Gibbs seemed to be expecting. "Harding? Why would you think Harding was here?"
He glanced at Cait and McGee in total confusion as Gibbs quickly crossed the room and pulled open his closet, gun raised as if he expected to find the criminal hiding within, surprised as Gibbs uttered a curse when he found the closet empty. "What's going on?"
"Gibbs got a call on your cell phone…"
Cait's answer was cut of abruptly as Gibbs re-holstered his gun and moved over to the side of the bed. "Harding just talked to me from your cell phone! To taunt me that he was in the apartment with you!" Gibbs growled, his eyes now darting over Tony, searching for any sign of trauma or abuse.
The sudden realization that Cait was in the room caused Tony to blush and pull the sheet that had fallen away when he sat up back up covering himself as he stared up into Gibbs' tense and worried face. "From my cell phone?" He asked as he quickly searched around for the phone that he had left on the bedside table in easy reach when he had gone to bed. Unable to initially locate it, he began to search around the side of the table in case he had knocked it from the table in his sleep. He sighed in relief as he found it entangled in the sheet, open and the last called number flashing Gibbs' name. "Ummm, I think I might have accidentally hit the speed dial in my sleep, Boss." He sheepishly admitted holding up the phone for the others to see. "Sorry."
"Bag it!" The terse order startled the three younger agents and they stared at the senior agent in surprise.
"Bag it?' Cait asked, uncertain if she had heard the order correctly.
Gibbs turned and pinned her with an angry glare. "Are you having trouble understanding orders, Todd? I said ‘Bag it!' and that's what I meant! I want it over to the lab for Abby to take fingerprints. I want a lab team over here now! Everything is to be fingerprinted and photographed. This apartment is to be treated as a crime scene. I want to know how Harding gained entry; if anyone saw him and what the hell he was doing here! Is that clear?"
Cait nodded silently as she turned and left the apartment to radio for the ordered lab crew and to get the equipment required to transform Tony's apartment into a crime scene.
Turning back to the man still sitting stunned in the bed, Gibbs growled. "I want you to get dressed, DiNozzo, and then pack a bag. You are staying at my place until this maniac is caught!"
"But, Boss…" Tony's objection was cut off before he had a chance to voice it.
"That was not a request, Tony, that was an order! Harding has proved that he can reach you here in your apartment. That means you are vulnerable here and you are still under protection. I never should have allowed that protection to lapse! I'm not going to give him another chance to get near you!" Gibbs growled angrily before he turned and stalked out of the room with McGee casting a sympathetic look towards Tony before hurrying out of the room after Gibbs.
McGee stood and waited patiently for orders as he watched Gibbs prowl the room as if searching for evidence that Harding had been there. Finally Gibbs stopped and turned to face the probationary agent. "I want you to help Cait photograph the apartment and, after you are finished, I want a full backgrounds check on all of Harding's acquaintances, anyone who may be harboring him here in the DC area. I also want another full check on the guard- Owens? Think his name was. The one that helped Harding to escape. I'm taking Tony back with me to NCIS."
"On it, Boss!" McGee stammered as Gibbs turned away from him and back to the bedroom to hurry Tony along.
NCISNCISNCIS
Following Gibbs into the dimly lit NCIS building, Tony was surprised when Gibbs led him directly to Ducky's lab and not to the bullpen. As they entered, he caught sight of Ducky, dozing in his chair. Used to listening for his mother even in slumber, the M.E. instantly woke as he heard the quiet footsteps of the men. It was obvious that the older man had been woken from a deep sleep and called in to NCIS just to examine him. Several empty syringes and a tourniquet were carefully arranged on the table near where Ducky now waited.
Tony turned slowly towards a reticent Gibbs and quietly asked, "What's going on?"
With a light shove to his back, Gibbs directed him towards the seat that Ducky had just vacated. "You are going to have a blood test, Tony."
Tony frowned as Ducky instructed him to sit down and then rolled up his sleeve. He gritted his teeth as the needle slid into the crook of his arm and Ducky fished about for a moment before entering the vein. Looking back up at Gibbs, Tony asked. "OK Boss, what exactly are you expecting to find?"
"The reason why you didn't wake up when Harding was in your apartment. "Gibbs stated simply as he leaned back against the counter and watched as Ducky drew the three vials of blood.
NCISNCISNCIS
Leaning back against the counter, Tony surreptitiously rubbed at the small puncture wound in the crook of his arm as he watched everyone gather in Abby's lab to update Gibbs on the intruder in his apartment case.
He sighed internally at Gibbs' overprotection mode but wondered if something more than just Harding's escape motivated Gibbs' protective streak. His thoughts were pulled back to the room as Gibbs finally entered and handed a large cup of Caf-Pow to Abby before demanding. "OK what have we got?"
Abby accepted the drink and took a sip before placing the cup down on the desk as she swung herself around and picked up the evidence bag that held Tony's cell phone. "Zilch, Gibbs!" She announced as she passed the bag across to him. "The only prints on Tony's phone are Tony's- no latent or any other prints that would indicate anyone wearing gloves had used it. All the prints we found in Tony's apartment have been identified. If Harding was there, Bossman, he didn't touch anything or he was wearing gloves. No signs that the lock to Tony's apartment door had been tampered with and there were no signs of forced entry to any of his windows. I'm still examining the splinters of the door you kicked in. I'm hoping to find some indication of some type of break in."
Gibbs nodded silently as Cait began her report. "Nobody noticed anyone hanging around Tony's apartment building and the security camera shows no one arriving or leaving the apartment complex after 10 pm until our arrival at 2.15 am. Nothing in the apartment seems disturbed or missing, Gibbs, but Tony may need to check later and confirm this."
"All of Harding's acquaintances come up clean, Boss." McGee added. "All of them are still under full surveillance. So far Harding hasn't surfaced at any of their locations. The guard who helped Harding in the escape is a dead end as well. He had a heart attack two days ago and is in Washington General Hospital in the ICU." He concluded softly.
Gibbs growled in frustration before he turned to the Medical Examiner for his report. "Duck?"
Ducky shook his head tiredly and removed his glasses. "Anthony's blood results have returned clear, Jethro. No drugs detected at all. His blood count is a little low and he needs an iron supplement but that is to be expected after all the trauma his body endured a few weeks ago."
"Damn it, we are missing something here. Harding was in Tony's apartment tonight!" Gibbs yelled as his frustration and anger boiled over at the negative reports.
The small group surrounding him glanced at each other, none willing to voice what they believed had happened. Finally Ducky sighed and with a nod dismissed the others from the room. He waited for them to go before he walked around to where Gibbs stared at the small cell phone he held in his hands. Placing a hand gently on the younger man's back, Ducky quietly said. "Jethro, Tony told me that he believes he may have accidentally called your number in his sleep when he knocked the phone onto the bed. It is possible you know."
"Ducky, I know who I heard on the other end of the phone. Harding must have placed the phone in the bed with Tony after he made the call. He is playing games with us!" Gibbs insisted.
Ducky studied the agent silently for a few moments before he quietly explained. "I know that you believe you heard Harding, Jethro, but look at you! You are exhausted. I think what may have happened is you fell asleep with young Anthony's safety on your mind. When Tony accidentally hit your number, you only partially awoke, saw his number on the caller I.D. and your tired imagination did the rest."
"Ducky, I know what I heard!" Gibbs defended angrily. "Harding is still out there and tonight he managed to get into Tony's apartment and use his phone to taunt us. I am NOT going to allow that to happen again!"
Ducky sighed. "Go home, Jethro, get some sleep. Young Tony needs to rest as well. We will talk about this more when you return in a few hours time!"
Glaring at the older man, Gibbs suddenly turned on his heel and stormed from the room. Passing Tony and Abby in the outer corridor, he ordered Tony to follow him as he angrily stepped into the elevator, certain that Tony was not far behind.
NCIS NCISNCIS
Standing silently against the back wall of the elevator, Tony studied the tense posture of his boss. "You know Boss you don't have to baby sit me, I can take care of myself." He said quietly.
He watched as Gibbs' posture stiffened with his words before Gibbs' fist slammed the emergency button, bringing the small elevator to a sudden and sickening halt. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the look in Gibbs' eye in the dim emergency lighting when the older man swung around towards him and pressed him bodily up against the back wall with his own.
"You're mine, DiNozzo!" he breathed quietly, his face only inches from Tony's. "And I take care of my own! And until I say otherwise YOU will do as I say! Is that understood?"
Tony swallowed and looked over the older man's shoulder, trying to ignore the effect of having Gibbs so close to him. He was suddenly acutely aware of the unique smell that was Gibbs and the hardness of Gibbs' body up against his own. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard again, before he managed to whisper, "I'm yours, Boss, got it!"
He felt Gibbs' reach up and gently grab his jaw forcing his face to look up at Gibbs as Gibbs quietly ordered. "Open your eyes, Tony, and look at me!"
Licking his suddenly dry lips, Tony slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring into Gibbs' eyes as Gibbs whispered more forcibly, "Your mine and I protect my own, understand?'
Tony could only nod wordlessly as he felt the firm grip that Gibbs held onto his jaw loosen and almost turn into what felt like a caress before Gibbs' hand dropped away and the older man turned and hit the button that would send the car to the parking lot. Tony allowed his head to drop back against the back wall as he closed his eyes listening to Gibbs' words as they echoed through his mind. ‘Your mine!' A strange sense of belonging washed over the young man as an unidentifiable emotion tugged lightly at his brain
Author's Chapter Notes:
The after affects of an undercover operation gone wrong lingers. Tony's kidnapper has escaped and Gibbs will go to any lengths to keep Tony safe.
Chapter End Notes:
Placed in slash for future chapters.My first story 'In Too Deep' is the first part of this series.