Umm... Updated sooner rather than later, as promised, lol. Thanks so much again for the encouraging reviews guys! I appreciate every single one of you, I really do –sends love-. To answer some questions Vance won't let Gibbs go over-seas because, at the moment, it's just too dangerous, he really doesn't want to loose any more agents despite how nasty he may seen I guess… however don't worry! –winks- For the continued security of the mission Tony ditched his phone, all shall be explained. Patience my friends! Thanks so much again. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. -Enys

"Damn…" Tony swore as bullets flew mere inches past his head and slammed into the dusty road all around him kicking up a cloud of dirt, he ducked and scrambled to find cover. The people left in the village scattered, screaming as they ran with their families to find somewhere safe to hide. Vass followed Tony, and the two ducked behind what used to be the towns', now apparently abandoned, school building. Pieter took cover on the top left corner of the structure closest to the road, with Tony right behind him. Both were out of breath and slightly in shock at the unexpected attack.

"They must have moved right through the last village..." the blond huffed in disbelief as he pulled his beretta from his hip holster, checked it over quickly and adopted an offensive stance. As Vass poked his head around the corner four trucks sped along the main road into town. Two vehicles packed with heavily armed militia rounded the corner by their position and headed deeper into the village, the other two trucks headed further along the main road around the perimeter.

"Looks like they're not interested in us." Tony added curiously, somewhat puzzled as he turned to follow the two trucks with his head that had curved past them, keeping an eye on their six.

"You're right…" Vass sounded slightly confused by the militia's actions. "But we need to move."

"Weapon?" Tony asked cautiously, Vass turned to face him with a look of uncertainty. "Ex-Marine, I know what I'm doing… and by the looks of things you need all the help you can get." The former brunet added still keeping his thick South African cover accent. If questioned as to why he spoke the way he did if he was previously in America he had a story all worked out. "… You're quite welcome to take on these guys single-handed… If its any conciliation I'm not gonna shoot you in the back." He finished sincerely with a modest grin.

"Semper-Fi?" Vass questioned knowingly, he'd worked with marines before.

"Something like that…" Tony shot back with his trademark DiNozzo grin, but there was something bitter about it, empty. The blond hesitated for a moment, thinking over whether or not it would be wise to hand over his spare gun to an almost stranger. Considering the circumstances he had no choice but to trust Tony, and that's exactly what the NCIS agent was banking on.

"Here. Cover me." The South African ordered as he pulled up his shirt and dug his spare pistol out from the back of his jeans and tossed it to Tony. The very special agent caught the weapon with ease and checked it over.

"Thanks. What's the plan?"

"Stay alive."

"Right…" Tony breathed skeptically. He covered their rear as Vass dug a radio out of his pocket.

"Ntini." The blond spoke down the receiver.

"Vass? Where are you?" A voice of African descent shot back.

"Top left corner of the school facing the main road, Geiger's with me. Orders?"

"Round up whoever you can and get back across the road we're loading up and heading out."

"Where?"

"East."

"Towards the refugee camp?"

"That's the plan brother."

"Okay, see you in a few."

"Affirmative."

Gunfire and explosions cracked and bellowed in the near distance with screams and shouts intermixed. Tony turned towards his new comrade with an apprehensive look; they couldn't stay where they were for long. The sooner they got out of the area the better.

"We'll check out the school building, see if anyone took cover, then head back across the road to where we parked the truck. Load up and head out. We'll go east towards the refugee camp, you can look for your family there." Vass explained, Tony nodded content to follow orders; he wasn't about to argue with anyone. The two men turned on their heel and headed around towards the rear of the building. Something was bugging Tony, and his detective instincts started to kick in as much as he tried to suppress them and concentrate on the battle at hand.

"I don't get it." He spoke up, talking more to himself than Vass.

"Get what?"

"They just saw us on the road, they took shots at us. If they wanted to hit us they could have, we were right there…" Tony mused, furrowing his brow in thought.

"Your point?" Vass shot back as he scanned the area ahead for hostiles.

"You saw it, they weren't interested in us…" The blond paused and turned to look back at Tony with a confused glance. The former brunet returned a knowing look. Vass didn't want to admit it but his new friend was right, if the militia wanted to kill them they would have, they could have, they were just being pushed out of the way…

"Bigger fish…" Vass mumbled as he whipped out his radio with a bitter smile shaking his head and got back on the line to Ntini. "You there?"

"Vass? You again?"

"Look to our north."

"What?"

"Just do it!"

"Okay! Okay! …" Ntini swore down the receiver in his native tongue a few moments later. "Another band of militia are heading down the road into town from the north…how did you know?"

"I didn't." Vass replied, smiling thankfully at Tony who nodded in acknowledgment with a smile of his own.

"We're caught in the middle!"

"Yah, yah…" Vass replied frustrated taking the radio away from his mouth; he paused as they reached the opposite end of the school building and hung back for a moment scanning the open area in front of them, he was feeling quite on edge. Tony scanned the area behind them both, keeping a keen eye out for anything or anyone that decided it might want to sneak up and surprise them. Putting the receiver back up to his mouth Vass sighed. "We keep the plan. We're checking out the school and heading back. If we don't get in back in time, leave."

"Copy that. Try to make it quick" Ntini replied with a hint of nervousness in his voice. Tony couldn't blame him, they were stuck in the middle of a private war and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. If one thing was for sure, the cavalry was not about to come gallantly galloping over the horizon to their rescue.

Tony nodded to Vass and the blond signaled for him to follow. Complying, the NCIS agent let the ex-military man have the lead. Checking that the coast was indeed clear the two men followed each other and rounded the corner to the rear face of the building. They took up positions either side of the entrance. Vass called out quietly to anyone inside. Muffled whimpers of pleading came in reply, Tony could only assume they were asking for help…or not to be killed. Vass announced that they were heading inside and motioned with his head for Tony to get the door. Following orders for the moment the former brunet took hold of the handle, twisted and pushed the door open. The two men entered the school with exact military-esque precision, immediately taking up defensive positions as soon as they stepped inside.

Tony closed the door behind them and moved left to a window keeping a look out. A family of five was held up in the school huddled in the far left corner, a husband and wife, their two daughters and a young son. Upon seeing two armed men enter their sanctuary the family of five gasped; one of the girls gave panicked yelp, the mother had tears running down her face and was silently sobbing. Vass gave a knowing nod to Tony as he checked his window to the right of the door, made his weapon safe, holstered it out of site so the family wouldn't panic and approached them cautiously. Tony picked up a few words out of the conversation Vass was having with them, it seemed rather one sided, but he reasoned he'd probably be scared witless too if an unknown force decided to invade his home and kill whoever got in their way without reason.

The NCIS agent sighed inwardly. He was beyond exhausted but attempted to push thoughts of sleep out of his mind, he needed to stay focused on the task at hand, helping these people and getting out alive. This whole mess was his fault after all… but beating himself up at that moment wasn't going to help anyone. He narrowed his green eyes as he scanned the surrounding buildings for militia; the screams, gunfire and explosions were getting closer by the minute. Moments later Vass had the family rounded up and ready to move in a tight huddle, he constantly spoke reassuring words to them, none of which Tony could much understand.

"You take point I'll keep them together." The blond ordered. Tony nodded and checked out the windows one last time before moving to the door and opening it. He headed out first in front of the family who exited the school after him, followed by Vass who brought up the rear. Rocket propelled grenade explosions cracked only a street away from them now, the northern force must have pushed back the militia that had come up from the south Tony reasoned. Taking the lead Tony lead the family back around the right wall of the school, the way he and Vass had approached in order to quickly reach the road. Just as they began to make their move along the edge of the school building gunfire erupted behind them and strafed the walls. Ducking out of reflex Tony darted back to protect the bundle of now hysterical people and cover his 'partner'.

Vass yelled for the family of five to move; they complied if only because the father practically dragged his kin along. The blond kept yelling at them to make for the truck pushing them from the rear. Tony came up beside Vass with his pistol in front of him ready and waiting.

"Go, I'll cover you." The NCIS agent shouted above the din. Vass shot him an uncertain glance and frowned at the amount of incoming firepower. "Go!" Tony urged, practically shoving the South African towards the road. He wasn't going anywhere, Tony stood firm. Reluctantly complying Vass nodded and quickly squeezed Tony's shoulder in thanks before moving off to safely ferry the family across the road back to their truck. Now alone Tony used what little of the wall he could to give himself some cover as he shot back at the approaching militia. "Damn it DiNozzo…" He mumbled to himself as he slowly moved back along the edge of the school towards the road. If he was going to die then and there, at least he could give that family as much time as they needed to get out. He reasoned it wouldn't make up for all the lives that had been lost due to his operation, but it would be something, at least.

Tony suddenly yelped and cringed as a bullet flew past him and grazed his left shoulder, gritting his teeth he shot back angrily attempting to block out the pain. Tony picked up his retreating pace and ducked behind the wall of the school that faced the road. He breathed deep and winced as he leant against it. Tony cringed, it was as if everything that had happened up until that moment compounded on his consciousness all at once. He felt like sidling down the face of the building and waiting for the enemy to reach him. He wanted to give up; he felt like it was what he deserved. Lowering his head he sighed and shut his eyes, his ears blocking out the sounds around him. So much for Plan A…

"Geiger!" A shout cut across his personal silence causing the agent to snap his head up. Vass slid to a halt by his side with a broad smile on his face. Tony looked at him slightly shocked but happy nonetheless at the unexpected reappearance. The former brunet had reasoned his acquaintance would just leave…people were getting the hang of abandoning him, but apparently not.

"Never leave a man behind." Vass sang. Tony looked at him with a smile that resonated many things, one of those main things being gratitude. The South African nodded and grabbed Tony's good shoulder in a gesture of affection. The sentiment from the blond struck a cord within Tony; he found himself thinking of his team back home. He figured he at least couldn't die until he got a chance to yell at them for not coming to get him sooner... He figured he owed Vass a beer for thinking him worthy enough of coming back for and he also figured that at least one person was still apparently on his side, and that was enough. For the moment…

"Semper-Fi." Tony mouthed. The blond nodded as he pulled the former brunet away from the school building in somewhat of a blur and back across the road away from the fast approaching militia. The pair barely made it back to the truck, which Vass had previously loaded with the family they had rescued while Tony was covering their rear. They took off just as their position was overrun but no one gave them chase, Tony figured it was the territory they wanted more than anything. That didn't stop the militia from letting off machine gun fire after them however. The other trucks had already left but Tony couldn't blame them. Vass still had his radio and apparently they all planed to meet up later at the refugee camp, where they would drop off the family they had rescued and anyone else the others had gathered.

"How's the shoulder?" Vass questioned as they drove with speed along a main dirt road eastwards.

"Just a scratch." Tony shrugged, not in the mood or wanting to play on his injury as he applied a ripped part of his shirt to stem the bleeding. Vass shot him a concerned glance but nodded, not content with but accepting of the answer. They could get him medical attention at the camp and the graze didn't look all that serious. Tony couldn't help but allow himself a private smile. His shoulder didn't hurt that bad, like he had said, it was just a scratch after all. They had made it out, and they were safe…for now. His smile however turned into a bitter smirk, as his thoughts curved to wondering how long the peace would last… if he could even call it that. His bitter smirk quickly warped into a self-loathing frown. If he got out of this mess alive, he didn't know if he could live with the shame and guilt of what hell he had helped create…

"Ziva, McGee, update." Gibbs ordered as he stormed into the bullpen. The two agents immediately jumped up and began to rant to their superior about the current case they were working on, which involved a murdered marine and his family. As Ziva and McGee shot backwards and forwards with what they had found, Gibbs' attention waned and he found himself drawn to the continuous broadcast about the situation overseas. At first the two agents didn't notice that their boss wasn't listening until they asked him a question and he didn't answer. Turning away from the plasma screen Ziva and McGee followed Gibbs' gaze towards the screen that sat to the right of Tony's desk. Images flash up of the conflict Tony was caught in. The text that constantly scrolled along the bottom of the images announced that a lot more people than expected have been forced to flee their homes and settle in camps. As if reading his boss' mind McGee groaned in frustration and flew to his desk.

"I can't belive we didn't think of it before!" he shouted.

"What?" Ziva questioned curiously, quite confused and slightly frustraied. Gibbs looked at her as if trying to transmit what they had realized, which only confused the assassin further. "Would someone like to tell me what's going on?"

"McGee with me, Ziva…"

"Find out where Lieutenant Williams' squad leader went and get in touch with the wife's sister and work up a list of who on the base was last to contact him. On it boss." She replied quickly sitting back down at her desk. The Mossad Officer watched as Gibbs and McGee quickly flocked to the elevator and took it down to god knew where with a quizzical look on her face.

"How's it coming?" Gibbs questioned both Abby and McGee as he waltzed into the Goth's lab with a CafPow! in one hand and a coffee in the other. Abby was standing in front of her computer like usual and McGee was seated beside her working on his laptop.

"Gibbs we don't have anything yet, we barely just started searching the registered refugee records for Tony. I know you think we're good and I mean we are good but…" The goth spoke up turning to face her boss.

"I know." Gibbs interjected rather softly, his face as impassive as usual but hinting on a smile. Abby gave him a questioning glare. The senior agent handed her the CafPow! and sat the coffee down in front of McGee who glanced up at his boss with a genuinely surprised look on his face. Abby happily raised her eyebrows as she watched Gibbs leave with a small private smile on his features, as if he knew something they didn't. Abby looked to McGee who glanced right back at her. The two held each other's gaze for a moment then looked at the door contemplating Gibbs' mood. Eventually Tim cleared his throat and the two snapped out of their hypnotized state, swiftly turning to their computers and getting back to work…

Probably a Ziva-ish focus next chapter as far as the team is considered, don't worry palmer will pop up too sometime, I was amused after Bounce.~