— I own only this story and any original characters. —

This is my personal challenge for myself. I'll write a short story using the NCIS soundtrack (which is up on youtube, last time I checked), the title and the overall theme or mood of the song. Some might be AU, some more with the canon, and some episode tags.

Leo

...

He was getting too old for this. His old bones were not made for running like this anymore.

Running and then jumping over the few obstacles in his way, Gibbs finally made it to his chosen spot and then nearly fell down in his haste to get there in time.

Setting up the rifle came easily enough, but it was the finding his target with his aging eyes when Gibbs was once again reminded why he wasn't a sniper anymore. Knowing just how little time he had left, he forced himself to relax and find it. There... For a moment he saw red when he watched the men beating up their victim who, for all Gibbs knew, was already dead. It was when one of them pulled out a gun to finish the job that Gibbs started taking them down, one after another and then finally the last one; they were all dead before they even realized what had hit them.

Once again, Gibbs didn't bother staying behind to wait for the others to arrive. He was running again, but it took much too long to make his way to his fallen Agent. When he finally made it to the scene, he jumped over the bodies as though he was still fit enough for such leaps, and made it to the bloody mess in the middle of it all. Dropping down heavily on his knees, Gibbs let out a cry of fury at the sight of the bleeding Agent who looked very much dead. As if afraid to break the man even more, and what he would find, Gibbs slowly checked for the pulse. He almost cried because of the sheer relief when he could feel it strong against his fingers.

"It'll be fine... You're safe now..."

The unconscious man twitched suddenly and his breathing became hitched and more labored now that he was again aware of the pain. "Boss..?" The voice was so soft and weak, slightly hopeful, but without a doubt Tony's. Gibbs couldn't stop the relieved smile from breaking free.

"It's over now. The help is on the way. We'll get you out of here..." Since the moment was starting to become a little too Hallmark, Gibbs glared down at his frowning Agent. "We've got to talk about you breaking Rule 3."

— The End —