Leroy Jethro Gibbs, retired marine and NCIS agent, sighed heavily as he slipped on his brown jacket, looking at his senior agent who was resting quietly on the sofa.
Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, just a regular kid with a regular life until he began working with NCIS, had his eyes half-open and he hadn't said a word all had been five weeks since Tony had begun staying with his boss, but he had yet to go to work yet. According to Director Jenny Shepard, Gibbs' lover in the past, Tony only had a week of sick leave left and a few weeks for vacaton time. Gibbs was beginning to feel as though Tony would never return to work, but decided to keep his hopes up.
"DiNozzo. Get up." Gibbs snapped, looking at Tony with an angry yet caring look. Tony didn't respond at first, didn't move, nor did he even react. However, after a few minutes, Tony shifted the blanket up his body some more and murmured quietly, "Tomorrow Boss..." Gibbs sighed in annoyance as he growled, "Ya said that yesterday and last week. Get the hell up. Now!" Tony looked like he was about to cry at first, closing his eyes and letting loose a deep breath. He then looked up at Gibbs and said softly, "I'll come in later." Gibbs was about to protest, but then simply sighed and murmured, "No later than noon, DiNozzo."
"Got it."
Gibbs made his way out of the house and into the car. He still couldn't believe how long it had been already and Tony still had yet to recover. It killed Gibbs on the inside and as he started his car, he realized that he had forgotten his cellphone inside. He sighed angrily, getting out of the car and leaving the door open as he rushed inside. A harsh wind blew by and Gibbs shielded his face from the bitter wind. Behind him, he heard his car door slam from the force of the wind and in the next instant, there was a loud explosion, knocking Gibbs onto his face.
He quickly covered his head when he fell and heard pieces of his car falling around him. When he opened his eyes, he turned to look back at what was left of his car, hearing the front door open. "Boss ar--Oh...You're okay." Tony's voice said in a rush.
Gibbs groaned slightly as he stood, his body already growing sore. He brushed dirt off his pants before looking at his car, then at Tony. "DiNozzo." Tony nodded, running back into the house to grab his cellphone. He returned in an instant, handing Gibbs his phone as he began calling everyone to tell them what had happened. Gibbs ran a hand through his hair and sighed in relief. He stared back at his car and wondered what would've happened had he had been in that car.
NCIS Opening...
Ziva David, a Mossad Agent who had been transferred to the NCIS Agency, sighed in annoyance as she drove down some streets. Then again, her driving could not be classified as driving, but instead as racing. She was going so fast that she almost hit a cat running across the road. As she swore and took a sharp turn, Ziva thought about the phone call she had gotten. Even though Tony and her were technically dating, Ziva hadn't spoken with the Senior Field Agent in a few weeks. She figured he needed time alone and didn't bother calling. After all, Tony had been through a lot this year.
As Ziva turned down Gibbs' road, she sighed, seeing McGee's car parked on the side of the road, a few cop cars, a firetruck, and Ducky's huge truck resembling an amublance. She parked her car behind McGee's and then quickly climbed out, slipping on her NCIS hat and grabbing her bag from the backseat. When she looked at the "crime scene" she saw Tony dressed in uniform and scraping something off the side of the. She smiled, but quickly hid it when she came closer to him. McGee was taking pictures as he looked up and smiled. "Morning, Ziva." He said cheerfully. Ziva nodded to him, setting her bag down and saying calmly, "McGee." She then turned to Tony and said, "I did not expect to see you at work today..."
Tony smiled as he began peering into the car. "I wasn't going to, until Gibbs almost blew up this morning." He yawned slightly, resisting the urge to rub his eyes, and then stood up, smacking his head off the door frame. He yelped slightly, placing a hand on his head and backing away so that McGee could begin searching for the detonator on the car door. Tony looked at Ziva and couldn't help but smile. He didn't say anything at first until she looked at McGee.
"Missed you."
Ziva looked at Tony and said calmly, "You could have called."
Tony nodded, remembering the last time Ziva had spoken those words. He had been transferred to the Seahawk and stuck there without any contact with the others. When he had finally come in contact with Ziva and Gibbs, Ziva had almost cried as she spoke the exact words she had just spoken.
Tony nodded and mumbled, "Could've." Just as he was about to say something else, Ducky interjected saying loudly, "Anthony, dear boy! I haven't seen you in an entire month!" Tony looked back at the older coroner, watching as he walked over to him. Ziva began moving inside Gibbs' house, trying to see if Gibbs knew anything of the explosion.
"Hey Ducky." Tony said softly, shaking hands with Ducky and smiling as Ducky begin speaking. "Well, this must be a pretty awful wake-up call. Isn't it, Anthony?" Tony nodded, saying gently, "Yeah. I wasn't planning on coming back until to--later today." Ducky laughed slightly before saying, "Yes, well, now you're back and you can help us find whoever tried to kill dear Jethro." Tony looked at the car before saying, "Well, there's no one dead, Ducky." He looked at Ducky and asked, "So...Why are you here?" Ducky flicked Tony's forehead and said with a smile. "I came to check on Jethro." He walked inside, leaving Tony to rub his forehead. He sighed heavily, walking back over to the car and asking, "Alright, Probie, what's the deal? Where's the bomb?" He took out his notebook, getting ready to jot some things down.
McGee looked at Tony, smiling at the name for once before saying, "Uh...Well, I found pieces of it underneath." He bent down to look under the car again and pointed to the gas tank. "See the wires hanging from there?" Tony bent down as well, looking at the gas tank. "Yep. So that's where it started?" He asked, lying on his stomach and writing everything down. McGee nodded and continued explaining,
"The bomb was hooked up to the door. So, when Gibbs opened the door and closed it, it would snap the wire, spark it, and then set the bomb off. But, the first time Gibbs shut the door, it hadn't been hard enough to snap the wires. If he had continued driving, he would've moved around the bomb and it would've gone off anyway. So, anyway, uh...The second time he got out, the wind was strong enough to slam the door and break the wire. Once it broke, the spark went through the wires and ran down to the bomb hooked up to his gas tank. Then--."
"Fireworks." Tony said, smiling slightly. McGee nodded and stood up, Tony following his lead after he finished writing his sentence. He sighed and looked at McGee. "We gonna be able to figure out who made it?" McGee held up a bag of evidence with pieces of the bomb inside and said with a smile. "Heading over to Abbs right now." Tony nodded and walked back inside, McGee walking to his car to place the evidence in it. He then made his way to Tony's side and asked, "You going to be alright, Tony?" Tony nodded as he looked at McGee. "Yeah, Probie. I'm fine. No worries." McGee nodded and sighed softly, stepping inside only to meet Gibbs. He quickly stepped out of his way as Gibbs walked out of his house a bit angrily.
Tony followed after him, asking, "Boss, something wrong?" Gibbs gave Tony a dirty look before saying, "DiNozzo, get your ass over to NCIS." He climbed into Ducky's truck, Ducky waving at the two points as they drove off. Tony blinked and looked at McGee, asking, "Mind if I ride with you?" McGee shook his head as he watched the truck vanish from his sight. "No...No, I don't mind." Ziva walked up from behind them and said calmly, "Let us get back. Abby needs her evidence." She walked to her car while the boys got into their car. The minute Tony got into the car, he realized that it was going to be a very, very long day.
NCIS BUILDING...
Abby Sciuto growled as she punched in a few keys, then a few more, and swore, glaring at the computer. "Why? Why?!" She shouted, typing a few more keys and concentrating on the screen.
"Morning, Abbs."
Came a voice, Abby disregarded it. She continued typing as she replied, "I can't get a signal on Tony's cellphone. I tried calling him, but he won't answer his phone. So then I tried tracking it, but it's off. I'm worried that he might be in trouble again or wants to stay far away from us. Maybe he's lost his way or something and plans on killing himself!"
"I think you're over-reacting. Try calling him again."
Abby rolled her eyes as she picked up her cellphone and growled, "I don't know where you're going with this Tony, but it'd better be good." She began calling and froze, hearing Tony's cellphone ringing and spinning around. She grinned and rushed over to him, hugging him tightly. "TONY!" She exclaimed, Tony laughing as she did so.
"Hey Abbs. I need you to process some evidence." Tony said, handing her a bag, or trying to. Abby pulled away and took it, asking, "Tony, why didn't you call?! I haven't heard from you or seen you in five weeks Tony! Do you know how many hours that is?!" Tony smiled, patting Abby's shoulder and saying gently, "Abbs, please calm down." Abby sighed and placed the bags of evidence on the metal table, turning to Tony. She smiled softly and hugged him tightly again. "I'm glad you're back Tony." Tony nodded as he hugged her back,mumbling, "Me too, Abbs." She felt her eyes watering as she hugged Tony, biting her lower lip. "I thought something bad happened to you..."
"I'd tell you before it happened." Tony joked softly, as the young goth pulled away. She smiled and said, "Alright, I'll uhm...Process anything you need." Tony nodded and handed her a few bags of evidence. "I know it's nothing much, but it's all we could gather from the crime scene. Whoever almost blew up Gibbs is sneaky." Abby sighed heavily and muttered, "Aren't they all?"
"Bryce wasn't." Tony suddenly said, Abby looking at him. She thought for a minute before mumbling, "No...He was pretty public about his ideas and things." She looked back at the screen as Tony walked over and said softly, "I'll come back down after I talk with Director Shepard. Maybe we can have lunch together or something." Abby nodded and hugged him once again, exclaiming, "That would be great!" He chuckled and pulled away, walking away and saying, "See you later then!"
WITH GIBBS IN THE BULLPEN...
Gibbs sighed as he sat at his desk. He had been wondering the same thing all day: Was Tony really ready for a case like this already? The agent had almost died, he had been tortured and ripped apart. As much as Gibbs as urged him to come into work, he feared that he wasn't ready. Perhaps there would be a time when Tony wouldn't be able to pull the trigger or end up hesitating. That slight hesitation to kill him, and that scared Gibbs.
However, he also had to be more than careful about pretty much everything now. He planned on staying in the NCIS building, along with Tony, and figuring this out until the bastard or bitch was put in jail. It was harder to trail down suspects for Gibbs than with Tony. Gibbs had thousands and remembered their names, Tony had millions and remembered only about twenty.
Gibbs growled slightly as he stood up. He was about to yell to his team about getting any progress, when his phone rang. He picked it up and sighed, answering, "Yeah, Gibbs."
"No matter where you go, we will find you and kill you. No matter who tries to protect you, they will be disposed off."
In the next few seconds, the call ended and Gibbs was left staring at the phone and revising the words. These people knew him and they knew where he lived, where he worked, and who he worked with. He could tell by the way they spoke, the words in their sentence. Gibbs looked at McGee and Ziva, who were staring at him, and said rather softly, "Stay here tonight. Don't leave the building." He then left in fast, long strides, heading to tell Ducky, Palmer, Jenny, Abby, and especially Tony the same thing.
He had to make sure that everyone was with him at all times and that no one left. If they did, they would end up like Tony, maybe worse. They would end up broken and with no hopes for tomorrow. They would lose their selves and become a different person. Gibbs would not let that happen. Not again.
Gibbs would keep everyone safe, even if he had to die in order for it to happen.