Exposition

The unexpected explosion knocked them off the porch, and Tony rolled to the side and shouted for Tim. The instant the debris settled he jumped to his feet and raced to the opposite side of what remained of the home.

This whole housecall had turned into an unpredicted nightmare.

In opposition to current events, the day had begun routinely at NCIS headquarters. Within an hour after the start of the workday, Tony, Ziva, and Tim's fearless leader, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, had summoned them into MTAC to join a live video conference.

Evidence, surveillance, and investigative techniques had proven that a homegrown terrorist, Joey Dowdy, living undercover in Arlington, had strategized to bomb a naval submarine.

Further, background intelligence agents discovered that Joey worked as a security guard at one of D.C.'s shopping malls. The wife had separated from him and taken their little boy to stay at a friend's, but luckily, the investigators had gotten an address.

Half an hour later Gibbs issued orders and divvyed assignments. He and Ziva would track down and bring Dowdy's estranged wife in for questioning, while Tony and Tim would utilize the warrant Gibbs had procured to search the Dowdy home before Dowdy got off of work.

Things had not gone as planned, however. In fact, they could not have turned worse.

The Dowdy home required a short commute, since it was a bit outside of Washington, off in a more rural, undeveloped area.

Trailers and a few wooden dwellings dotted their route, not in set neighborhoods, but with each a half mile or more from the other.

Pulling into the dirt and gravel drive Tony glanced in different directions and observed, "You can barely see the closest neighbor from here."

Tim agreed, and as they got out of the car pointed, "Look, the curtains are drawn and I see absolutely no sign of life. Dowdy is secretive, all right, reclusive."

The house, a battered wooden structure, had seen better days. The screen door hung from its hinges, doing little to protect the heavy front door. Shutters hung precariously from the two windows facing the road.

Moving from the car to the rickety porch Tony stiffened and motioned Tim to stop.

"What's wrong, Dinozzo? It looks clear. Is your spidey sense telling you something?"

"Look around you. The guy has a kid, a toddler. Do you see any toys outside? A swing? A wagon?" Tony turned from side to side, surveying the surrounding area.

"No, but remember that Dowdy and the wife separated, and the kid went with mom when she left."

"Still," Tony glanced back towards the drive, "still it feels hinky."

Drawing his weapon, he motioned McGee to knock on the front door. McGee did, then banged louder as Tony called out that they were NCIS.

No one responded, so Tony stepped back.

Someone moved inside, though, and the curtain at the front window fluttered.

A gunshot rang out and whizzed between the two agents, who instantly flung themselves onto the porch as a swift volley of bullets followed. Tony motioned Tim that he was advancing to the back of the house and signaled that he wanted Tim to slide off the porch and take cover by the cars.

It happened at that exact moment, an explosion so violent that it threw the two agents off of the porch and into the dirt of the yard.

Trying to focus though the debris, Tony yelled for Tim but got no answer from him. Heart pounding, he raced around the side of the still smoking home, frantic to locate his teammate.

The bomb had packed a punch, and had decimated almost half of the residence.

He skidded to a stop towards the rear of the home where Tim lay sprawled on his back in the dirt, hands out in obvious surrender.

Above him, Joey Dowdy stood with a gun aimed at Tim's forehead.

Tony sized up the situation and hurried to control his gasping breaths so that he could speak clearly. "Joey, man, get that gun out of my partner's face, ok? I'm Tony…"

"Shut up!" Dowdy screamed in reply, waving the gun around for emphasis before pointing it back at Tim. "Shut up! He's a dead man!"

"Whoa, now-" Tony moved carefully towards him, trying to redirect his focus away from Tim. "You don't want to shoot anybody, man, and that guy's my partner."

Dowdy loosened his grip on the gun, then quickly tightened it again. "I don't want NCIS on my property, understand? I didn't tell you that you could come up my drive or walk on my porch! I shoot intruders!"

Tony prayed quickly for guidance, aware that he was dealing with a man who was not just a terrorist, but one who had lost his grasp of reality. What was left of Dowdy's house stood in front of him smoking and smoldering, and yet he stayed fixated upon McGee.

Tony licked his lips and glanced at McGee. Tim returned the gaze, silently begging his partner to help him.

The senior field agent spoke firmly. "Hey, Joey, look. This whole deal was not supposed to upset you. You have to forgive my partner, though. He doesn't have the best social skills, if you know what I mean."

Dowdy glanced down at Tim and frowned, then back at Tony.

Tim regarded Tony with bewilderment, and Tony could see from his teammate's expression that he fought panic.

"I'll take responsibility for his conduct, though. I'm the senior agent, and I should have kept him in line," Tony continued. "This is my bad."

"You got that!" Dowdy yelled, satisfied that the agent agreed with his version of reality. "He needs to get off my land right now and he had better stay off my porch!"

"Right you are," Tony assured him and pointed at McGee. He changed his tone to an angry one and ordered loudly, "Get up and get back in the vehicle, McGee. Next time I tell you to stay off a man's porch you had better do it! As it stands now, you've got a reprimand coming."

Not daring to push his luck McGee slid sideways and clambered to his knees. Tony's ploy evidently had worked.

Joey Dowdy nodded in approval, and lowered his gun to order emphatically, "Get yourself off my land."

McGee stood, turned, and hurriedly made his way towards the house front.

Tony closely watched Dowdy, who began muttering to himself the second he saw Tim retreat. "Just like my woman- no idea where his place is or who calls the shots around here."

Dowdy stalked to the back porch steps, one of the few house fixtures which had withstood the explosion.

A terrifying scenario suddenly entered Tony's mind and he called out frantically, "Joey, where is the woman- your woman? Where's your kid, Joey?"

"Shot," he replied so quickly that at first, Tony thought he had misheard him. "Shot, that's what. I didn't need them any more."

He stumbled against the porch rail and then waved the gun emphatically at Tony. "You, too, get out of here. I don't want you on my property either. Get out of here now and head back wherever it is you live."

A movement from the splintered back door caught Tony's eye at the same time that it did Joey's. The unbalanced man wheeled, his rage rising as his baby toddled out from the debris of his home clad only in a diaper, sobbing, and covered in blood.

Joey turned on him, screaming so hard that spit flew from his mouth. "Whatcha doing, Boy? I thought you and your mama were in Heaven!"

With that pronouncement, he raised the gun and took aim at the screaming child.