CHAPTER SEVEN:

"Think about it, you don't want to kill yourself along with Gibbs," Tony said quickly, "I know you want revenge on your father for leaving you in prison. So, if you use the primacord you won't get a chance to,"

Ziva took a step closer to Gibbs and Napolitano, hoping to escape his sight. There was no such luck however as Napolitano trained his gun on her.

"Don't move." Ziva raised one hand in a surrendering gesture, but kept the gun still aimed at Napolitano.

A slight movement caught Tony's eye as the door beside Napolitano opened slightly. Thanking God it made no sound; Tony looked quickly back at Ricky and spoke.

"Ricky, what do you want? Maybe something can be arranged." Ricky sneered,

"I want your boss and my father dead. Can you arrange that?" he asked the sneer never leaving his face.

"Guess not," Tony muttered under his breath, and then more loudly he said, "If you kill both of them you'll spend the rest of your life in prison. I don't think you'd enjoy that."

"With all of you people dead... There's nothing to tie me to agent Gibbs' murder. It'll be a tragic accident... As for my father, well there are lots of stairs in his house, he might just go for a little...trip."

Ziva saw him fingering the detonator in his pocket; she tightened her grip on her gun, hoping to get a shot at him. The two men on the ground began to stir and she aimed her gun at them instead.

"Move and you die," she told them. Both of them froze instantly,

"What are you doing?" Ricky asked them, "Get up!"

Before the two agents could react, the men were up and charged suddenly at them. Ziva struggled with one, fighting to breath as his hands encircled her throat. She stepped squarely on his foot before punching him in the stomach. The hands around her neck loosened, and she grabbed the back of his head and brought it down toward her knee where the collided with a satisfying thud.

Tony was bent double from a knee to the groin, when at last the FBI decided to intervene;

"FBI, drop your weapon!" The door beside Napolitano burst open and Fornell and his agent swept in. Ricky backed away pulling Gibbs inexorably with him; the Primacord around his neck slowly choking him, his face was going a mottled red.

Tony took the chance to surprise and overcome his attacker,

"I swear to God, I'll blow him to smithereens," Napolitano shouted over the din. Gibbs' blue eyes flashed a steely grey, DiNozzo took advantage of the confusion caused by the altercation;

"Down boss!" he called and Gibbs threw himself to the side. Ricky's hand fumbled for the detonator, but two rounds hit him in the chest and he fell, the detonator clattered to the floor. Gibbs stood patiently as DiNozzo cut the bonds from his hands. Finally freed, he ripped the primacord from around his throat and threw it angrily to the side.

The two FBI agents made their way over to Napolitano, and Fornell pronounced him dead. Gibbs went over to the body and in a move that belied his injured form kicked Napolitano squarely in the ribs. The body was thrown backward and there was a crack as his head slammed into a wall.

"Bastard." Gibbs said vehemently, his moment of defiance was short lived as the sharp pain in his ribs was slowly wearing down even his incredible endurance, and his legs were going numb. His eyes slowly glazed over and he collapsed on the spot. Tony leapt forward to stop him from falling, Ziva right behind him. They were too slow as he toppled to the floor.

"Gibbs?" Ziva said worriedly, they knelt by his still form and turned him onto his back gently. He was taking shallow breaths, and seemed to have trouble focussing on them.

"Boss, hold on we'll get you to the hospital." Gibbs tried to nod, but the room swam in and out of focus.

For the second time that day, they stood together watching the EMT's as they arrived on scene. Only this time both of them accompanied him. They were there when Gibbs argued with the medic about going home, and then when he was too weak to argue.

The two team members sat tiredly in the waiting room, hoping for good news.

"Tony, Ziva!" McGee rushed in.

"Is Gibbs okay?" he asked,

"He'll be fine McGee, the boss is practically indestructible." Tony said confidently. Ziva looked at him but stayed silent. Gibbs had been beaten badly. A doctor finally called for the family of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

The three of them made their way over to her, and a feeling of intense relief washed over them as she smiled;

"He's going to be okay, as long as he rests." This made Tony snort disbelievingly,

"He's sustained severe damage to his rib cage but surprisingly enough there was no damage to his organs, he has a broken nose and bleeding in his skull. We stopped the bleeding before it got too out of hand. He won't be able to work for at least two months."

"You told him that," Tony said in awe,

"And survived?" Ziva was surprised. The doctor just looked confused.

"I'm going to tell him now. Did you want to come in and see him?" The three agents looked at each other, and simultaneously shook their heads.

"No, anyone for coffee?" McGee asked, the other two practically ran to catch up with him as he sped down the hall. It was a lone and bemused doctor who went in to inform the patient of the extent of his injuries and the length of his enforced rest. Down the hall, the team heard his familiar bellow.

"WHAT?"

Gibbs was going to be just fine... The same probably couldn't be said for the doctor.

Author's note: Well, that's all folks. I'd like to thank the people who took the time to review one or more chapters. I hope you enjoyed it.