A/N: The story is complete. 6 chapters. I will post one every 2-3 days. It was written for Rogue Tomato (Kelly) for the White Elephant Exchange. Kelly gave me the best prompt ever. "Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy." F. Scott Fitzgerald. Plus McNozzo friendship. It doesn't get any better than that. Life has been more hectic than I have wanted this month so I am behind. I am writing like a maniac when I can. Hoping to get it all done on time. This is for you, Kelly! Sheila

A Story of Heroes

"She's mad at me."

"Of course she is, McDoghouse." Tony said as he studied his cuticles. "Clearly, you did something wrong."

McGee made a face. "But I keep asking her what I did, and she says I didn't do anything, but she says it in a weird way like she's accusing me of something."

"Apologize," Gibbs said, not looking up from his work.

"For what?"

"Doesn't matter. Just say you're sorry and you won't do it again."

McGee looked pained. "I can't avoid future mistakes if I don't know what they are."

Ellie rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"Something sexy. Buy her a little something silky, lacy. We'll go to Victoria's Secret after work. I have something in mind that would look really good on Delilah," Tony said as a smile spread across his face.

Everyone stopped working and stared at him- even Gibbs. McGee looked down at his desk, mumbled under his breath, and then took a deep breath. "DiNozzo," he said slowly, "I do not want you to picture my girlfriend in lingerie."

"Crossed a line, huh?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Sometimes, DiNozzo..."

Ellie closed the file in front of her. "It's like listening to kindergarteners debate String Theory."

McGee blinked. "I did my thesis on String Theory."

"Whatever," Ellie said. "You want to know why Delilah's mad?"

"She called you?"

"No, she didn't."

"Then how do you know-"

"You just said that when you ask her, she says that you didn't do anything, right?"

He nodded.

She's not mad at something you did; she's mad at something you didn't do."

McGee frowned as he considered his week. "I'm on top of all my chores. No dishes left in the sink. I was a day late in picking up dry cleaning, but she said it wasn't a big deal. We've stayed on menu. Low carb. High protein. Toilet seat situation is going well. We both work long hours. In fact, I'm home before she is three nights out of five."

Ellie nodded. "Did she ask you to do anything that you didn't feel like doing?"

He narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. "I pick up my clothes every day. I don't leave wet towels on the bathroom floor like I used to do."

"Delilah isn't going to get bent out of shape about little things," Tony said. "It's something bigger than a missed chore."

"Are you having a date night every week?" Ellie asked.

Gibbs sighed. He could growl at them to get back to work, but he knew them well enough to know that without an active case, McGee's love life would plague them all day until he had answers.

McGee nodded. "Date night is Saturday…except for last week, but that was her idea. Some of her friends from college were in town and she wanted to go out with them."

"Right, and she asked you to accompany her, didn't she?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "But I told her that I wasn't in the mood for new people. I told her she'd have more fun without me there. She seemed fine with it."

Tony caught Ellie's eye. "I get it now. Delilah wanted to show him off, didn't she?"

"Oh yeah. The kind of boyfriend that hangs in there through a debilitating accident and stays committed is the stuff of legends. They were dying to see you in the flesh."

"Really? Why didn't she say anything?"

"Because she wanted you to be excited to meet her friends. You screwed up, Tim and you hurt her feelings," Ellie said, shaking her head.

"You sure you haven't talked to her?"

"Trust me on this."

"Lingerie. She'll like lingerie."

McGee glared. "Will you shut up about the lingerie already!"

Tony shrugged. "Just trying to be helpful."

"No gifts," said Ellie leaning forward. "Just tell her you were thinking today and it occurred to you that it was probably insensitive of you not to go out with her friends. Then she'll tell you how much it hurt her feelings, and it'll be fine."

"Say it one more time so I can get it right."

"Just say it from the heart, Tim. That's all she wants."

Gibbs stared at her. "Where were you three marriages ago?"

Tony smirked. "Nothing personal, boss, but I don't even think the relationship whisperer over there could've helped you."

Gibbs' phone rang and he picked it up, his steely eyes never leaving Tony.

"You shouldn't say things like that," McGee hissed.

"What can I say? Things just come out of my mouth. It's an art."

"More like a disease."

"Shhh!" Ellie said, pointing at Gibbs.

Gibbs had lost interest in his team and was focused on his call. "Uh-huh…I know, Sparky, but we're MRCT. We really have to be available for the big cases…Of course, I remember…No, I do not forget the debts I owe…Alright, Sparky, but if we get a callout, we're going to have to take it…Alright, then. Shut up and give me an address already."

Tony wrinkled his nose at McGee and McGee sighed. "We have a nuisance call."

"Please don't send me. Boss always sends me," Tony whined.

Ellie frowned. "What's a nuisance call?"

"Usually an unhappy dependent," McGee said. "There's probably a Marine overseas who's having trouble focusing because he or she is fighting with a spouse back here."

"We don't do those."

"When you have as many old buddies running units in Iraq and Afghanistan as Gibbs does, then you get these calls."

"I can't imagine Gibbs working out domestic disputes."

"Oh, he doesn't," McGee said, looking over at Tony. "Tony has a way with angry women."

"Please let it not be me," Tony said with his eyes squeezed shut. "Send the relationship whisperer. Please send the probie. It's a probie job."

"DiNozzo!"

Tony groaned. "No! Come on, Boss! Bishop just proved her worth as an expert on women."

Gibbs shook his head. "This requires your special touch. They always seem to remember how much they love their soldier overseas after a talk with you. It's a gift."

McGee couldn't hide his grin.

"Take the Elflord. He needs a primer on communicating with angry females."

…..

"She has five kids, Tony. Boss said her oldest is 11 and the youngest is 18 months. She's probably just overwhelmed."

"It's his 3rd tour. She knows the drill. Not taking his calls is her way of punishing him. Keeps him worried. It's not cool."

All you need to do is turn on the charm, get her to call her soldier, and we can get back to work."

A smile started on Tony's face. "If I work my magic really fast, we would have time for lunch or…to stop at a store or something before we go back."

Tony let that statement sit, taking note that McGee's lack of response was promising. Finally, his partner let out a sigh. "I've never…purchased lingerie before."

Tony kept his eyes on the road. "Worried you're going to buy the wrong thing?"

"What if she doesn't like it, Tony? What if I buy something she thinks isn't pretty? How do you know what to buy?"

"Look, McGee, you really can't get this wrong. Start out with something simple like a teddy. She'll be happy that you find her desirable."

"What color?"

"It doesn't matter. Just tell her that you chose that color because it brings out her beautiful eyes."

"That works?"

"Yup." Tony struggled to hide his smile.

"We passed a Victoria's Secret in the mall about a mile back."

"After we're done, we'll stop. You'll pick out something nice and get it gift wrapped. You'll apologize for the thing and then you'll pull out the bag."

McGee worked his mouth a bit. "You sure about this?"

"I guarantee you're coming to work tomorrow with a great, big smile on your face."

"Okay, but you're not going in with me."

"Of course, I'm going in with you. I have my own girlfriend, you know," Tony said as he glanced at the GPS. "I think it's this split level up ahead."

McGee looked at the houses- all drab but serviceable- products of a housing boom in the 1970's. Tony pointed. "Is that smoke coming out of the second story window of our dependent's house?"

McGee peered over the dash. "Black smoke. Lots of it."

"911!" Tony yelled as he put the car in park and tumbled out. McGee jumped out after him, barking into his cell phone. Tony got to the front door and started pounding. Nothing happened. Then he tried the door handle, and it opened. The two of them burst into the living room. It was dark and hazy like dust that floats in the air after an explosion. The room had an odd stillness to it, and they tried to make sense of shapes. Tony pointed to a form on a couch, and they went over. McGee could feel his throat constrict from air that felt thick with everything except oxygen. He dropped to his knees and felt the slender bare arm of a woman and he jerked her upward. Dark curly hair spilled over her face, but eyes blinked open. "Are you okay?" he shouted.

She shook her head as if trying to clear it.

"Where are your children?" He yelled. The air was so thick it was as if it had swallowed up all sound.

She glanced at the stairs but shook her head.

"Are they upstairs?" Tony yelled.

She said nothing. Tony looked at Tim. "I'm heading up! Get her out of here!"

"Not alone you're not!"

Tony pushed McGee roughly toward the woman and headed for the stairs. McGee fell on top of her and scrambled to his feet. He pulled her up and dragged her to the door. When they hit the fresh air he sucked it in, and then started coughing. She stumbled away from him and fell to the grass.

"Are they all up there?"

She didn't respond, coughing into the ground. He dropped down next to her. "Tell me! Are they all up there?"

She turned her head, and through the soot on her face, he could tell that she was a very pretty woman. She blinked light blue eyes. "It's too late to save them. They're gone now."

"First responders are coming! It's going to be okay!"

She shook her head and resumed coughing. He got to his feet, feeling unsteady, and hit a number on his cell. "Boss! House fire at Marine's house! The wife is outside! Children trapped inside- 2nd floor! All five of them! Tony went after them! First responders on their way! I'm going in!"

Gibbs was shouting in his ear, but he stuffed the phone in his pocket and headed for the car. Boss wasn't in a position to quarterback this situation from the office, and there was no time to argue. He popped the trunk, and pulled out the go bags, flinging them onto the road. Behind them was a fire extinguisher wedged in behind the spare tire. He had to yank it a couple of times to get it loose. The last pull freed it abruptly and it propelled him onto his back in the street. He looked at the front yard, but it was empty, and he cursed to himself that the wife probably ran back inside. When he got to his feet, there was suddenly someone in the yard, but she was stocky- unlike the slender woman he pulled out of the house.

"The kids!" Screamed the woman.

"Call 911! Tell them five children and two adults on second floor of house!" McGee didn't wait for a response as he headed back into the house. The first floor was thicker with dust than before, and fear filled his gut at the thought of struggling for oxygen. He looked around for the mother. "Ma'am! Ma'am!"

There was no movement so he turned his attention to the stairs. As he was climbing the stairs, he felt a flash of light behind him, but when he turned to look, he couldn't make out anything. He turned to the top of the stairs and saw black smoke billowing down at him. He pointed the extinguisher and sprayed. The white foam coated the walls, but only for moments before flame emerged again. Still, he kept going, spraying the walls as he went.

There were no more stairs, and he knew he was in a hallway. There was a roar now, and smoke was so thick, he couldn't see anything. Lessons from FLETC hit him and he dropped to the floor, instantly finding air. He sucked it in and screamed, "Tony! Tony! Tony!"

He crawled and sprayed along the carpeted hallway until he saw movement. It was a thin leg, and he grabbed it. There was a shrill scream as he pulled a child to the ground. It was a boy around 10-11 years old, and his eyes were wide with fear. "Your siblings!" He yelled through the soot and smoke.

The boy pointed at a doorway, and McGee saw two small children and a toddler huddled under a window. He turned back to the boy. "One missing!"

Then Tony was there on his hands and knees, coughing spasmodically. The boy grabbed him. "Maggie!"

Tony pushed him off and dragged him toward the room. "Get in there!"

"Maggie!" The boy's shrill screams could barely be heard above the roar of the fire.

"Sit Rep!" McGee screamed.

Tony pointed behind him. "Last door on right! Can't find her!"

McGee looked into bedroom. "Window sits over first floor roof! Not too steep!

Tony nodded between coughing spasms.

"Get them out there, Tony!"

Tony pointed behind him. McGee nodded. "I have extinguisher! I can find her!"

"Stay together!"

"No! You get them on the roof!" This time McGee pushed Tony toward the bedroom door. Tony's back landed against the doorframe, and McGee crawled past him, spraying for cover.

Tony rolled toward the four frightened kids, and stumbled up to a crouch. His hands felt for objects, and immediately landed on the back of the chair. Instincts kicked in, and then the chair was in the air, and he was running at the window. Glass fell like rain as the chair got tangled in the frame. He wrestled with it roughly, clearing as much glass from the edges as possible. Then he pulled the chair out and flung it behind him. He was so dizzy from oxygen loss that he could barely stay upright, but there was a welcome whine in the distance that he recognized as help, and so he kept moving. He grabbed the oldest boy without a word, and swung him onto the roof. The boy crouched among the shards of glass, and Tony could see in his eyes that he didn't need words to understand his role. Tony grabbed another child and handed her to the boy, and a small boy, and then a toddler barely conscious. Each time, the oldest boy took the offered child and flattened them against the roof. Smoke crowded him for space, billowing out of the window, but Tony found much needed oxygen at the edges. There was screaming on the ground, and he saw a woman looking up at him, but she wasn't the same woman as they found on the couch. Then he spotted a tall young man pointing a phone at him.

The sirens were louder now, and Tony knew he should drop back to the floor, and crawl after McGee, but there was the boy on the roof struggling to keep his three siblings from sliding off, and he knew that he couldn't leave them. He knelt on the windowpane, and a shard of glass bit deeply into his knee, causing him to stumble and roll out onto the roof. For a moment, he thought he was headed for hard ground, but his left hand gripped the ledge stubbornly, and he was able to twist his body so he was facing the children. The boy silently handed him the semi-conscious toddler, and he curled his right arm around her, pulling her into his chest.

The boy crouched over his two younger siblings, protecting them with his body, but he kept his dark eyes on Tony. Tony stared back at him, marveling at the boy's raw survival instincts.

The first truck blared onto the street, but Tony didn't turn his head. He and the boy stayed focused on each other in the midst of screeching brakes, shouts, sirens, and screams.

…..

Gibbs didn't try his phone anymore. He'd thrown it at Ellie, and focused on the road. She stuffed it in her back pocket, but said nothing. There wasn't anything for her to know. When McGee called the squadroom, he had barked into the phone so loud that she'd been able to hear every syllable of the call. Gibbs had the address on a sticky from his phone call with Sparky. He grabbed it and ran. Ellie chased after him.

She sat in the seat next to him and coached herself on remembering to take breaths. The GPS told her they were only a few minutes away, and she was praying they would get there before she actively began to hyperventilate.

…..

The extinguisher stream was weak by the time he reached the door at the end of the hallway. The foam killed flame for only moments before it sprang up again. McGee could only feel his way at this point. The smoke stole all the light. It was hard to imagine where he was exactly, and he wasted precious seconds pushing on a door that needed to be pulled. His hand on the metal knob scalded from the heat, but he hung on and swung himself inside. The room was dark, and he was grateful for the darkness only because it meant that was no flame. Still, the air was as thick as mud, and he gobbled air in an effort to find oxygen. His hands were his eyes, and he felt every surface. He ran into a bed, and started to move around it when he remembered how safe he'd felt as a child hiding under his. He dropped all the way to the floor and swung his long arm underneath. It took a few sweeps before his hand caught on something warm and soft. He grabbed on to what felt like a chubby leg and pulled, and then he heard a deep wail.

….

Tony's hand on the ledge had become numb, and when firefighters told him to let go, his hand wouldn't respond. A firefighter had to step above his head and pry his fingers off. Tony barely noticed. He was too busy hissing smoke damaged words at them. "My partner at the end of the hall! Room on the right! Child named Maggie!" He growled it at them when hissing didn't work, but they didn't pile through the window into the house like he hoped. They were too busy with barely conscious children. Three firefighters dragged him down a ladder, the rungs catching at his glass impaled knee. His words tumbled out of him in coarse whispers, but that was all. The ten minutes it had taken to act out this gruesome play had stolen from him six months of accumulated energy. It took effort for him to even lift his head when they pried the toddler out of his hands.

He felt grass pillowing his head, and he looked up at black smoke trying but failing to blot out the blue sky of a beautiful day. His words carried no sounds any more, but his mouth kept moving between coughs. He rolled over on the bad knee, and the pain shot through his body, but he welcomed it because it kept him from slipping away. He grabbed at the leg of a passing firefighter, and pointed at the window. The firefighter firmly dislodged his leg, and kept moving. A water cannon was pointed at the open window, and a hard rush of water hit the house like a tsunami. Tony pictured McGee being thrown against a bedroom wall by the sheer force of it.

He tried pulling himself up, and found himself looking into the face of a beautiful woman- her hair soft and curly, and her eyes the same blue as the sky. She stared down at him, and he realized that she was the woman McGee had dragged out of the house. Her face was shiny liked a freshly scrubbed child, and she didn't carry the same energy as everyone around them. She stared at him as if a curiosity, and he realized she must be in shock.

"I'm sorry," his lips shaped. Her children lay under piles of emergency personnel, and he could do nothing more to help her. He imagined that she was thinking of the one still upstairs, and his eyes grew wet. He wanted to tell her that his friend was up there too, but he wasn't sure if it was to comfort her or to tell her that her pain was his as well. Nothing was in his power any longer, and his throat, thick with emotion, gave way to more coughing. Someone took her by the shoulders and moved her away.

…..

McGee clutched the child under his arm and felt for the extinguisher. He knew there had to be a window, but it was impossible to see. Maggie struggled against him, and then, in a flash, she had slipped out of his grip. He dropped back down and caught a foot as she scrambled away. He pulled her back in. "Maggie! Maggie! I'm here to help!"

The child didn't seem to understand and she fought his efforts to hold onto her. The lack of oxygen was stealing the last of his energy, and he had no reserves for her struggling. One hand landed on the fire extinguisher, and he knew he had to get to his feet, and find a window. Yet a blackness was starting to settle over him that had nothing to do with the smoke. He leaned against the bed and used it to get to his feet, the extinguisher in one hand and a squirming child in the other. He leaned over bed, wanting nothing more than to just close his eyes.

…

"Tony!"

His eyes fluttered open and he was staring into Gibbs' face. He was too numb from exhaustion to muster a response.

Gibbs turned to Bishop. "Get people on him! Tell them that his lungs are comprised! They are scarred from the plague!"

Gibbs was back in his face. "Tim?"

Tony closed his eyes as he tried to order events. Things had become foggy. Then fear awoke in his gut, and he turned his head to the still burning house. His breath quickened and he pointed a finger. "Help him." It was nothing more a harsh whisper, but it was enough because the last thing he saw was Gibbs running toward firefighters.

….

McGee felt himself drifting away. The child beside him on the bed had grown quiet, and he felt like he was floating. He blinked his eyes in the heavy smoke one more time, but this time there was a glow. A sense of light he hadn't found earlier. His hand felt for the extinguisher, and he pointed the hose at the glow, but there wasn't any foam left. Something about the glow kept his oxygen deprived brain intrigued though, and he forced himself into a sitting position, dragging the extinguisher into his lap. With all the effort he could muster, he heaved the fire extinguisher onto his chest and tumbled toward the glow.

…..

TBC

Personal Note: I was a volunteer firefighter for a year, and went into four burning houses/buildings. It's weird. You can't see. You can't hear. You spend most of your time cutting into walls looking for fire. Steals your energy really fast. Very eerie.