Montezuma Part 2/2
Title: Montezuma
Author: daughtershade
Fandom: Magnificent 7 (ATF AU)/NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: None
Prompt: The two teams have to work together on a case.
Summary: A murder of a Marine Corporal brings Gibbs and the NCIS team in conflict with Denver’s ATF special unit Team Seven.
Part 1
“And Larabee?”
“I’ll handle Chris. You just come up with some way to not hand over those guns. We’re setting up this afternoon at the Warwick Hotel across the street from the meet. We have good line of sight from the third floor.”
Gibbs didn’t look happy, but he didn’t say anything more. Buck figured that was all the answer he’d get. With a nod he opened the door and left. The door to Ziva’s room was still cracked and as he turned down the hall. He heard it open more and yelled back over his shoulder.
“I’ll see you tonight gorgeous.”
“I hope not,” Tony replied.
Buck tried not to trip over his own feet in surprise. He shot a dirty look over his shoulder at the grinning agent before slamming open the stairwell door. Nope, he definitely didn’t like Tony what’s-his-name.
****
It was a record. They had made it all of fifteen minutes into the surveillance before Buck and JD had gotten into an argument. Josiah looked over at Nathan, who was propped up against the headboard of the hotel bed, and got an eye roll in response.
“It’s a good thing Ezra isn’t here, I would have lost money on them lasting this long,” Josiah mumbled.
Chris was leaning up against the window trying to stare the building across the street into submission. He gave a snort before turning to the arguing roommates.
“If you two are going to make such a racket go do it in the other room. Some of us are trying to work in here.”
“Aw, hell, Chris it ain’t my fault. JD’s gone and set up a connection with that Abby chick from NCIS.”
“You were the one that wanted them involved,” Chris practically growled.
“I believe he was more interested in Officer David being involved,” Josiah replied.
Before Buck could defend himself, there was a knock on the door. JD got up to answer it. As if mentioning their names had summoned them, Gibbs and his teammates were standing in the hall. Josiah turned to look at them earnestly. Officer David was still as stunning as she had been at the bar. Vin had briefed Nathan and himself on the others after their visit to the office. Gibbs looked just like his ID photo on file. Apparently ‘once a Marine, always a Marine’ was far too true in his case. His hair was short and his clothes neat. His shoes were shined to perfection. He held a cup of coffee in his hand and met Josiah’s eyes with determination.
The room was overly crowded with all of them. Josiah rose from his chair behind the cameras and microphones. He held his hand out to Gibbs. The man looked at it a moment before taking it with a firm shake.
“We haven’t had a chance to be introduced. I’m Josiah Sanchez, that there is Nathan Jackson.”
Nathan nodded from his seat on the bed, but didn’t get up. There wasn’t much room for him to bother. Agent McGee stepped forward and shook hands introducing himself and Officer David.
“Ma’am,” Josiah said giving her a nod, “we didn’t get a chance to speak the other night. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Likewise,” she said sounding somewhat surprised. With her first impression being an angry Chris and a lascivious Buck, it was no wonder.
“We’ve got this room and the one adjoining. I’ve got the computers set up in the other room with a connection to Abby for you,” JD said with his usual level of excitement.
Agent McGee started asking him technical questions that had the rest of them staring, but neither seemed to notice as they moved through the open adjoining door into the other hotel room. Buck motioned Officer David to a chair in the corner. Nathan slid across the bed and started up a conversation on Krav Maga, something he had recently found a passion for. Gibbs and Chris had yet to relax. They still had an hour before the meeting, and Josiah envisioned it feeling like days if they continued.
“Agent Gibbs, perhaps you’d like to take a look at our set up,” he said waiving to the chair he’d been sitting in. Gibbs silently took a seat to check out the camera angles.
Josiah nodded his head towards the other room and Chris followed him. McGee and JD were hovering over the laptops still deep in conversation. Occasionally, a chipper voice would break in across the computer speakers to add a comment.
“Chris, I know cooperation is not your first impulse, but we have to embrace this.”
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I give Gibbs a hug.”
“You know full well I meant that metaphorically. They have as much riding on this now as we do. I know you’re worried about Ezra, we all are, but they’re just as worried for their Agent DiNozzo. Try not to forget that.”
“What do you think about him, Josiah?”
“Having just barely met the man?”
Chris frowned and said, “You read his file too, which is as much, if not more, than most of the guys you profile for us.”
“He’s a good man and a better agent. His case record is exceptional. You don’t have to worry about his ability, and I doubt you’ll have to worry about the ability of his people either. He doesn’t seem like the type to suffer fools. He likes to make his own rules because results are more important to him than procedure. And I think the reason he rubs you the wrong way, brother, is that you two are more alike than either of you would admit.”
JD and McGee were still chatting away completely unaware of the conversation occurring behind them. Josiah watched Chris stare a hole through the back of the young NCIS agent’s head. Apparently, he was used to the same treatment from his own boss because he never once looked away from JD or the laptops they were typing away on.
“All right,” was the only reply before he headed back into the other room to turn his stare on Gibbs.
Josiah shook his head and stood in the doorway to observe both rooms. In the corner, Officer David and Nathan seemed to have hit it off. Enough so that Buck stepped away from them with an exasperated sigh. Josiah smiled at him and moved out of the way to let him pass. Gibbs and Chris were both staring out of the window despite the lack of anything to see. Buck paused looking at the pair over Josiah’s shoulder.
“I think they’re having a stoic contest and didn’t tell us,” Josiah whispered.
Buck chuckled and replied, “Ezra’s going to be mad he missed some good action.”
“I doubt it, not when he couldn’t figure out a clear winner to bet on.”
“That would be a tough call,” Buck agreed.
“Hey Buck, I want you to meet someone,” JD said, pulling their attention away from the other room.
Josiah joined him as they made their way over to the pair. JD’s mocking tone of voice was a good indicator that something amusing, most likely at Buck’s expense, was going to happen. One of the laptops was displaying a video feed of what looked like a lab. JD pulled Buck down so that he was level with the camera at the top of the computer’s monitor.
“This is Abby,” JD said. “Abby, this is my friend Buck.”
An attractive girl with pale skin and dark hair pulled up into pigtails on either side of her head came into view. Her lipstick and eye makeup was dark as well as her clothes. She wore a spiked leather dog collar around her neck that allowed just the peek of what might have been a tattoo starting around the back of her neck. The overall picture was somewhat surprising, but not as much as the smile and cheerful wave she gave to the camera. Josiah blinked in surprise. Buck looked gobsmacked.
“Hi! JD’s told me all about you,” Abby said through the connection.
“Yeah, I didn’t tell her that you said she probably looked like a bulldog’s-“ JD started to say but was cut off abruptly by Buck’s large hand clamping over his mouth.
“Don’t you mind him, sweetheart, he does go on so,” Buck said smiling for the camera.
“He warned me about you.”
“Well, I must admit a pretty little thing like you has got to be careful. You’ll never know when you’ll trip over those men always falling at your feet.”
Abby laughed, whether it was at Buck’s comments or the comical look that JD and McGee shared he wasn’t sure. Josiah shook his head and left them to their flirting and sniping. Back in the other room, it looked as though Chris and Gibbs hadn’t moved. Josiah joined them.
“Where’s your sixth?” Gibbs asked suddenly.
“Vin has a position on the adjacent rooftop. It has a better trajectory,” Chris said.
Gibbs didn’t look happy to hear the news and asked, “You have your own shooter?”
“You’d be surprised how often we seem to need one,” Josiah replied quickly. He could tell that Chris was about to say something sharp to the man. Their leader was normally touchy when it came to Vin, and having Gibbs question him was making it worse.
“The Director hinted that you’re known for your tendency towards destruction.”
Josiah nodded and explained, “To be fair we rarely ever start it.”
“That’s funny,” Officer David said joining them, “Gibbs is usually always the one that starts it for us.”
Gibbs turned his head slightly in acknowledgement, but there was a small smirk at the corner of his mouth that made Josiah think the statement was true. Chris stood up straighter.
“Your man just pulled in,” he said.
The others gathered around the window as Chris called to JD in the other room. Thankfully, Buck directed the other two to the windows in that room. It was already crowded enough where they were. Nathan stayed away from the windows and pulled his medical kit onto the bed. He always methodically checked it before an operation. Officer David raised an eyebrow at this and he merely shrugged in return.
Agent DiNozzo looked around after getting out of the van he was driving. He had backed it up to the cargo door on the back side of the building they were observing. Thankfully, the door was large enough that they had a pretty good view of the area from their higher vantage point. DiNozzo leaned against the van and waited. If he looked over toward the hotel, he gave no sign of it underneath his sunglasses. It was only a few minutes later that a silver Mercedes sedan pulled up. Just as they had predicted, two large men and Ezra were the only ones in the car. Josiah reached over and flipped the directional microphone to project from the small speakers in the room instead of going directly into the headset attached to the camera.
“Mr. Grant, I do appreciate someone who is punctual. Were you able to obtain the quantities that we asked for?” Ezra said in a lazy drawl.
“No. I didn’t have enough time. My military contact had some trouble.”
Josiah watched through the binoculars he had picked up off of the windowsill. He could clearly see Ezra’s frown. One of the heavies flanked Tony and stepped forward to pat him down. DiNozzo opened his arms away from his body and allowed the simple search. Once the pat down was done the man pulled out a small square device that let out a high electrical screech. Everyone in the room flinched as the powerful mic squealed the feedback. Thankfully, the noise died down as the man waived the device around DiNozzo’s body.
“Checking for a wire? I don’t know if I should be insulted or not,” Tony said.
“It’s just a precaution that my boss insists on. Seeing how he occasionally does the same for members of his own family, you shouldn’t feel affronted. If you don’t have the added supplies I suppose we’ll just take what you showed us before.”
“Well, that’s the thing…”
“What thing?”
“I was expecting to get the additional supplies you were asking for and I already moved the supply you saw.”
“So you showed up here with nothing?” one of the goons growled.
“No, it was just a temporary setback. I’ll have the full supply by next week.”
“Mr. Lichtermann is not a patient man when it comes to his business. We had an agreement, Mr. Grant.”
“I understand. Believe me-I’m really embarrassed by all of this. It’s not doing my reputation any good. I’ve never had problems with this contact before. The matter is being dealt with.”
“Your assurances aren’t providing my employer with weapons,” Ezra replied.
Josiah frowned. It wasn’t going well. Ezra was playing the part, but the part wouldn’t do Agent DiNozzo any good if it got him shot. Gibbs was looking grimmer with each passing moment.
“Gentleman, if you would give us a moment. I have to impart a few practicalities to Mr. Grant,” Ezra said pulling Josiah’s attention back to the meeting below.
Ezra placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder and led him away from the goons. With Tony’s back to the two men they could only see the anger on Ezra’s face. They couldn’t hear the conversation.
“Your companion is quite charming,” Ezra said in a low voice.
“She said the same of you. What do you have for me?” Tony asked.
Ezra turned away as if disgusted with whatever answer he was receiving. He replied, “Benito Tuturo is one of Lichtermann’s runners.”
“He our guy?”
“I believe that’s your job to discover. Now shove me.”
“Are you trying to get me shot?”
“Do it.”
Tony reached out and shoved Ezra back. Ezra stumbled but kept his feet. He raised his hand to waive off the goons. Tony turned and made for his van, but one of the goons blocked his path.
“Let him go,” Ezra said with a shake of his head, but the goon didn’t move.
“I don’t think so, Mr. Bennett.”
Josiah leaned closer to the window. A fifth man stepped out of the open bay door. Three more goons jumped down from the open doorway to flank the two agents. Ezra turned to the new men and the look on his face told the story well enough. Josiah started moving away from the window, but Buck was faster, he had already moved through the room and had the door open. They were running down the hall with Gibbs and Ziva behind them. Josiah could hear Chris yelling over his mic to Vin. By the time they had cleared three flights of steps and got out of the building, they could only hear the echo of Vin’s gun. DiNozzo’s van was missing along with the three men and Ezra. The two that had come with him were on the ground bleeding. Unfortunately, so was DiNozzo.
“Tony! What happened?” Gibbs asked letting Buck and Ziva cover the downed men.
“Sorry boss, we must have screwed up. They’ve got Bennett-Standish whatever. I tried to stop them, but…”
Josiah watched Nathan rush forward to take over applying pressure to Tony’s wound. It was a chest shot far too near the heart for anyone’s comfort. It was obvious the bullet had hit a lung because Tony was having trouble breathing and talking. Nathan silenced him and started barking orders. Chris was already on the radio requesting an ambulance. Once that was done, he started yelling for an APB on the van. JD and McGee were the last to join them.
“It’s a rental. They’ll have it lojacked I’ve already forwarded the information back to the federal building,” McGee said, slightly out of breath.
“Vin, talk to me,” Chris barked into his mic.
“No need to yell,” a voice said in response.
Josiah looked up from where he was helping Nathan to see Vin loping up to join the rest of the team. The shooter looked about as angry as Chris.
“It’s all my fault, cowboy. They used the van as cover. I winged one of them, but they kept pulling Ezra in front and moving around. I tried to shoot out the tires, but they were around the corner before I could get a good angle.”
“If…wasn’t for you…I’d be…lot worse off,” Tony gasped.
Nathan snapped at him, “What’d I tell you about trying to talk?”
Vin nodded at the downed agent, but Josiah knew that the young man would carry this mark on his soul if anything should happen to Ezra. In a group full of loners the two of them were even more separate. It was that distinction that pulled such opposites together. While Vin and Chris had a bond that none of them could describe, much less deny, it was Vin and Ezra’s relationship that filled Josiah with wonder. He was pretty sure that if it wasn’t for Vin’s influence they would have lost Ezra to his wondering ways several times over.
“We’ll get him, brother,” Josiah encouraged softly, “Nothing on this earth will stop us either.”
****
Five hours of surgery had left them all frayed. Tony had finally been moved to recovery and was still coming out of the anesthesia. Several members of Team Seven were stalking the halls of St. Anthony’s like caged lions, but they were nothing compared to the cold statue that was Gibbs. He stared at the doors to the OR barely moving except to take the coffee cups that each of them took turns bringing him. Ducky sat next to his old friend with a sigh. Ever since they had lost dear Caitlin, Gibbs had become rather too focused when any of them got hurt, Tony especially. Though Gibbs would never admit it, Tony was his finest pupil. Ducky believed that there were some familial feelings there on both sides. He often wished that both men would admit such a thing, but Tony would brush it off and Gibbs…well, that was another matter entirely.
“One of the doctors stated that things are going well. Tony really was lucky, Jethro. The only thing they’re worried about is his healing process. As you know his lungs were scarred from the plague. This may make his recovery difficult and longer than expected, but he will recover.”
“I know, Duck, but things happen in operation rooms.”
“I have every confidence in the hospital staff. Frankly, I’m rather surprised you’re still here. I figured you’d be off with Agent Larabee ripping the city apart.”
“Don’t worry, I plan too once I know Tony’s all right.”
“You mean once you see him for yourself. I think we all need to give a word of thanks to Mr. Jackson. His medic skills saved the day.”
“You can say that again, Ducky,” Timothy said joining them with yet another cup of coffee for Gibbs.
“What’s the word?” Jethro asked.
“I talked with Agent Sanchez down in the lobby. I updated him on Tony and he said that Agents Larabee and Wilmington had tracked down the van. It looks like they switched cars at some point because it was found on the side of the highway. There were some tread marks. I made sure that JD had the photos sent to Abby.”
“Good.”
“They’re also keeping an eye on most of Lichtermann’s usual spots, but it’s most likely he’ll take Agent Standish someplace else if he suspects that he’s a cop.”
“So basically, they have nothing.”
“We’re working on it, Boss. Ziva is out with them now. I’m going to head back to the federal building to coordinate with JD. Sanchez and Jackson are staying here. They’re concerned that Lichtermann may try for Tony once they find out he’s okay.”
“No, I want Ziva down here with Tony. I want one of ours with him at all times. I’ll call her when I’m ready to leave and we’ll trade off,” Gibbs snapped.
“You got it, Boss.”
Timothy wasn’t gone very long before the doctor came out to speak with them. Tony was starting to come around. They were allowed to go in and see him. Ducky was relieved not only for Tony, but for Gibbs as well. They both stepped into the room. There was the usual shock of all the machines and tubes. Tony was pale, but his eyes blinked open the moment Jethro went past the door.
“Boss-“ he tried to say, but no voice came out.
“Save it, DiNozzo. Rest. Ducky’s going to stay here with you, and Ziva will be along in a bit. I’m going to get these guys.”
Ducky stepped forward to give some ice chips that were in a cup next to the bed. After a few, Tony started rasping.
“He was trying to protect me. You’ve got to get to him before-“
“I told you to rest. That’s an order. You let me worry about Standish. Besides, I don’t think Larabee is going to take this lying down. His record says he’s a former SEAL. The last thing he’s going to do is leave a man behind.”
“Tuturo…Bennett said…”
“We know, Tony. Now you heard Gibbs, rest. They said you’re doing well. I’ll be right outside,” Ducky said patting the young man’s hand.
Gibbs was already out the door before the poor thing could close his eyes. With a sigh, Ducky headed back into the hall to wait. He was surprised to see Agent Tanner leaning against the wall. The man gave him a nod. Though they hadn’t been formally introduced, Jethro had made sure that everyone had read the files on Team Seven. He was afraid that they’d try to get information the same way that they had used Ziva to get to Agent Standish.
“Hello I’m Doctor Donald Mallard, but you can call me Ducky. You’re one of Orin’s boys, yes?”
“Vin Tanner, Sir.”
“Mr. Tanner. Timothy tells me that you saved our Anthony. Thank you.”
“If I had been better, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt to begin with.”
“Now, now. ‘We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future.’ You can’t argue with George Bernard Shaw. Tony is alive thanks you and your friend Mr. Jackson. Concentrate on that and what you’re going to do now. I assume you’re here acting as a guard?”
Tanner bowed his head. He was obviously a quiet sort of person. He had good manners, which is something that Ducky saw rarely any more. It was heartening. Ducky found himself warming to the young man.
“I should be out helping the others find Ezra, but… I wanted to make sure he’s okay.”
“Well, why don’t I get us some chairs? Ziva should be along soon to take over guarding him, and then you can go and save your friend,” Ducky said patting the man’s arm.
Ducky stepped over to the nurses’ station and explained the situation. He was quickly offered two chairs which were placed against the glass wall looking into Tony’s room. Tanner took the one closest to the door and Ducky sat beside him.
“You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve done watch duty. Once in nineteen seventy eight I had to sit watch over a tribal chief that had been attacked by a lion. The local witchdoctor was positive that the lion would come to finish the job. You see, it was part of their folklore that lions possessed a singular vision…” Ducky began and continued telling the story of the lion hunt and the near death of the chief. He knew that he had the tendency to ramble on a bit, and mostly people tended to tune him out. Ducky was never offended by this. He always believed that people would retain something, the brain being the magnificent organ that it was. So his stories were held somewhere, and if some small bit of information that he could impart could be useful to someone in the future, so much the better. Mr. Tanner turned out to be a good listener. While his eyes often strayed away to look for threats in the hall, they always returned to Ducky. His forlorn face grew into a smile. He seemed interested, and he even asked some rather pointed questions. Of course the questions had Ducky veering off into other stories. The time passed all too quickly, and before he knew it, Ziva was standing over them listening to the end of a story about a Japanese minister and his mathematical goat.
“Ducky. Agent Tanner,” she said in greeting.
“Ma’am,” Tanner returned with a nod and got to his feet. “It was nice meeting you Doctor.”
“The same to you, young man. It has been a distinct pleasure. Now you go out there and you find those men. No one will get past Ziva and myself.”
Tanner gave him another nod and headed back down the hallway. Ziva watched him go before taking his chair. She looked over her shoulder into the room beyond. Tony was still asleep. There were lines of worry around the corners of her mouth, but they quickly smoothed.
“How is he?” she asked.
“Disobeying Gibbs’ orders to rest while he’s in the room. He’ll be fine, Ziva. How is the investigation coming?”
“Tanner did wing one of the men. There were traces of blood in the van. Larabee didn’t want to wait to send it to Abby, so they’re doing the work up in the lab here. Hopefully, we’ll get a hit. She’s already found the tires that go with the treads we found so we now have an idea of the vehicle. JD is checking all the hospitals to see if the wounded man turns up. Also, McGee has been running the information on Tuturo. It looks like he went to high school with Miralles. We’re still checking on that.”
“So Mr. Standish did find our man.”
“Possibly. I hope he’s okay,” Ziva said looking around her. “I’ve spent too much time in hospitals lately.”
Ducky remembered how close she had gotten to Lt. Sanders before his death of radiation poisoning. He patted her hand and looked over into Tony’s room.
“My dear, you have no idea.”
****
Chris paced around the office. He was a man of action. He always had been. Waiting for evidence and procedure always drove him up the wall. He wanted to be out there finding Ezra, but with no idea where to look it would be a waste of energy. JD and McGee were typing away on the computers like their lives depended on it, instead of Ezra’s. Buck was on the phone and had been since they got back from picking up the deserted van. He wanted to bark for a status update, but he had just got one less than five minutes ago. They’d let him know if they found anything. Vin stepped through the door. Chris knew he had headed down to the hospital. One look and he gave Chris a frown and headed for the office. Chris followed him inside and shut the door.
“You need to settle down, cowboy.”
“I can’t help it. You know I didn’t want this case, and Buck all but tried to quit on me to keep us from doing it. Dammit, I should have listened to him. I shouldn’t have let Ezra convince me otherwise.”
“A man said, ‘We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future.’ Ducky told me that at the hospital when I was beating myself up over not stopping them from taking Ezra or hurting DiNozzo. I been thinkin’ on it mighty hard and it seems to make sense. We can’t go back and change our should haves, but we can do something about it now.”
Chris raised an eyebrow at his friend. Vin always seemed to have a better grasp of things than he let on. With a nod Chris got to his feet. As they stepped out into the bullpen Vin continued.
“That George Shaw fella seems to know his stuff.”
“He was a poet, like you.”
“Huh. I may have to get one of his books.”
“All right people,” Chris bellowed getting everyone’s attention. He could see Gibbs leaning on the doorway across the room. “We know they’ve got one wounded. It’s not likely they’ll go to a hospital because they’ll report a gunshot wound. I want to know anyone with the slightest medical connection that would have anything to do with Lichtermann. Buck start shaking up some of your informants. JD get Josiah back here ASAP.”
Chris looked directly at Gibbs and asked, “You got your man covered?”
“Ziva is with him.”
“Right, JD tell Nathan to stay with Officer David.”
McGee shot a look at Gibbs and waited for a nod before asking, “What do you need me to do?”
“You and Abby go back through the records we have. He won’t take Ezra to one of his places, so check any associates and their property. Try to find a link between them and the type of vehicle that uses the tires she found.”
“On it.”
“Vin you’re with me. Gibbs?” Chris asked without looking back as he headed out the door. The older man was right behind them as they made for the elevator.
“You got a plan?” the NCIS agent asked.
“We’re going to drop in on Mrs. Tuturo and ask her about her son. This didn’t start until Ezra started digging into your murder case. Maybe if we work your end we’ll find out what we need to know.”
Gibbs gave a small smirk as the elevator dropped toward the garage. Chris could tell that Vin was trying very hard not to comment on the fact that Gibbs was getting his way. He restrained himself from cursing all Jarheads out loud.
The Tuturo house was like many in the suburbs of Denver. It was a small one story house with a dry yard and children’s bikes in the driveway. The community was distinctly Hispanic. The three of them got out of the Dodge and were greeted at the screen door before they could even get close enough to knock.
“Yes?” a woman in her early fifties asked hesitantly through the mesh.
“Hello, Ma’am. I’m Agent Gibbs with the NCIS,” he said holding up his badge.
Chris let him take the lead because he knew that in a mood he could be intimidating. Vin stood next to him silently.
“What is NCIS? We’re legal. I have papers.”
“I’m not with the NIS. NCIS is Navy Criminal Investigative Service. I’m looking into a murder of a Marine Corporal. I was hoping that I could speak to your son, Benito. He went to school with the deceased. I was hoping he might know some of the Corporal’s friends.”
“Benito isn’t here.”
“Oh, well, could you please give him my card?” Gibbs asked holding it up. The woman opened the screen door just a crack. She took the card and the door slammed back against the frame. The three of them said goodbye and started walking back to the truck.
“He’s in there,” Chris growled.
“Oh yeah,” Gibbs agreed.
They drove off around the corner dropping Vin off before circling the block. Chris cut the truck off and the two of them waited. They didn’t have to wait long before a young man exited the house yelling back to the woman inside. He headed for a car parked along the street. Chris started up the Dodge and came around the corner slowly. Tuturo was half-way to the car before he looked back over the shoulder and saw the truck. He started running. Chris stepped on the gas blazing down the block. Tuturo must have realized he wouldn’t make it to the car because he veered off into one of the neighboring yards. Chris slowed down enough for Gibbs to hop out. The Agent had the door open even as the truck was still moving, so he didn’t bother slowing too much. The older man was out of the truck and in pursuit in a blink. Chris gunned the engine again causing the passenger door to slam shut. He headed around the block only to see Vin sitting on the suspect in the adjacent driveway. Gibbs was crouched down next to the young man. When he parked and got out of the truck he heard some expressive swearing. Gibbs was giving the boy a steely eyed look.
“I didn’t do nothing. Get this guy off of me.”
“Then why you runnin’, Benito?” Vin asked finishing his pat down and pulling the boy’s arms back to cuff them.
“I thought you was gang bangers in that big black truck.”
“Do I look like a gang banger to you, son?” Gibbs asked.
“Depends on your gang,” Chris said with a smirk. He ignored the wry look he received and continued. “Let’s get him back to the office.”
“You arresting me?” Tuturo asked as he was pulled to his feet. Chris took his turn staring the boy down.
“Do I need to?” he asked.
“I didn’t-“
“Do nothing. Yeah, so we heard.”
Gibbs sat in the back with the boy. They drove in silence back to the federal building. Benito tried to put up a good front, but it was obvious he was scared. They sat him in one of the interrogation rooms downstairs and let him wait. Chris headed back up to find out if the others had gotten any news.
“Anything?” he asked as he walked through the bullpen to his office.
Buck walked past pulling on his coat and replied, “I think I may have something with a medical connection. Josiah and I were just going out now.”
“Call JD if you get anything. JD?”
“We’re still running associates. Abby has an electric copy of the blood work and she’s running it through NCIS’ databases too.”
McGee looked up from the phone he was talking on and said, “I’m working on tracking down cell phone records. Lichtermann had Ezra doing negotiations. If I can find a phone we might get a location. It’s a long shot, but I thought we should at least try it.”
“Good. Cross reference anything you get with the associate and vehicle information. That may help you weed things out,” Chris said stepping into his office for his copies of the NCIS murder investigation file. “I’ll be down in interrogation with my phone off. If Buck calls or you guys come up with something, come and get me.”
When he got back downstairs, he found Vin and Gibbs staring through the two way mirror at a fidgeting Tuturo. They were both holding cups of coffee that looked a little like mud.
“When operations finds out you were using their coffee pot they’re going to be pissed,” he said.
Vin shrugged. Gibbs cocked an eyebrow at him and said, “They shouldn’t mind. He makes good coffee.”
Chris blinked at this remark as Vin chuckled. Everyone knew that Tanner’s coffee was not fit for human consumption. Then again, what did he expect?
“I should have known. The Marines and Rangers train their men to eat grubs and worms and god knows what all. Killed every one of your taste buds.”
“Don’t they make SEALs eat raw fish?” Vin asked.
“Sushi is an accepted food. Grubs, not so much.”
“Where I come from either way they call it bait. You want to do this or do you want me to?” Gibbs asked.
Chris was surprised that he bothered to ask. After looking at Gibbs a moment he gave a smile with absolutely no humor. It was the one that generally made his men cringe.
“Age before beauty.”
“Wisdom before wiseass,” Gibbs countered and headed off to the door. Chris followed silently.
Tuturo started talking the moment they walked in, professing his innocence, claiming police brutality, and asking to be let go. Gibbs took the chair across the table and opened the file without saying anything. He stared at the boy and watched him. Chris leaned back against the wall just within reach of the young man’s peripheral vision. They watched the boy slowly wind down until the room was completely silent.
“You going to tell me why I’m here?”
“David Miralles.”
“Who?”
“You went to school with him. He joined the Marine Corps. He was a Corporal and a fine Marine. He’s dead.”
“I don’t know no David.”
“No? Let me see if I can pick out a name you do recognize. Andreas Lichtermann.”
Tuturo’s eye twitched at the name and Chris snorted. This made the boy look quickly over at him. Ezra would eat this kid alive. His tells were way too sloppy. Chris stared back until the boy looked away, but the only other thing to look at was Gibbs’ eyes. The room was cool, but Benito was starting to sweat.
“We know you work for him,” Gibbs continued.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Chris took that opportunity to move away from the wall. He walked behind Tuturo and bent down to speak directly into his ear.
“He’s got one of my men, Benny. I’m not in the mood for games. All Gibbs here has to do is match up the physical evidence he has to you. We’ve already got a warrant in progress to get it from you. It’s a matter of time now. You’re going to a federal pen for a very long time with some very nasty people. How horrible it is depends on what you tell me right now.”
Benito shivered and looked to Gibbs for help, but he received no quarter there. He was trapped between the proverbial rock and a hard place. It took all of five seconds before he was spilling everything: the fight over him working for Lichtermann, David just back from Iraq having seen the damage that weapons could do, the threat to go to the police, and the last minute grab for a wrench to stop a good man from doing the right thing.
“Where would Lichtermann take my man, Benny?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Where!”
“I don’t know! Some of the guys talked about some warehouses that he stores some of the weapons before taking them to where we pick them up for shipping them, but I don’t know where they are. Only his main guys knew. They’d bring the boxes and they’d be covered in this sparkly yellow dirt. I could never get it out of my clothes.”
“What like sand?” Gibbs asked.
“No it was dust like powder.”
“Do you still have those pants?”
Benito looked confused and replied, “Yeah, sure at Mama’s.”
Chris jerked his head toward the door. The two of them stepped out into the hall. Vin was waiting for them. Gibbs gave him an annoyed look, but Chris waved him off.
“He said it wasn’t sand. The only mining around here is mostly sand and gravel pits, except for west of the city. There are a few clay and shale yards along State Highway 93 north and south of Golden.”
“Shale would make sparkly yellow dust as they split it up.”
“Exactly. The meet point they set up for Tony was on the west side of town. Shorter distance for them to travel?”
“We need to match warehouses near those mines with the associates that they’re running,” Gibbs replied heading for the elevator.
As the three of them stepped into the office, JD bounded up to Chris. “I was just going to go downstairs. Buck called in. He and Josiah found a med school drop out that’s been doing some pharmacological work on the side for Lichtermann. They checked at his home but according to his neighbors he left in a hurry a couple of hours ago.”
“He probably got an emergency house call. Listen, JD, I want you to run that associates property list against any warehouses near shale yards on the west side of town.”
McGee perked up at this. He started typing quickly on the computer and then called out.
“I’ve got a warehouse attached to a landscaping business that is owned by one of Lichtermann’s lieutenants in Golden.”
“Landscaping?” JD asked.
“They specialize in rock work.”
“That’s it,” Gibbs said.
JD looked back and forth between Gibbs and McGee.
“But how do you know?” he asked.
“My gut.”
“JD, call Buck and Josiah and have them meet us there. Load up, people,” Chris said darkly. “We’re going to go get what’s ours.”
****
“Team Four is on their way as backup,” JD said as they exited the ATF SUV.
Gibbs followed Larabee to the back where he started handing out vests and equipment. The agent acknowledged his man with a nod. Gibbs reached in to pull out a vest for McGee. He wished that Ziva and Tony were here to help back him up, but the members of Team Seven would have to do. Despite their differences his gut told him that Larabee and his boys could handle themselves.
A nicely refurbished old model truck pulled up behind them. Wilmington and Sanchez exited already in vests. He watched Buck start checking JD’s vest and set up, but the younger agent waved him off. It reminded him of some of Tony and McGee’s interactions. Unconsciously, he looked over to make sure Tim’s rig was set up right since Tony wasn’t there to do it for him.
“Have Team Four pull perimeter when they get here, and get on the thermal I want to know how many we’ve got in there,” Chris barked. “Gibbs I want my guys taking the lead on this, no arguments.”
Gibbs stared at the man for a moment then gave a short nod. If it was Tony in there, he’d want everyone else behind him too. JD was already positioning a thermal imager at the building.
“Chris, looks like we’ve got four outside the building. Two are walking patrol. The other two are guarding the north entrance. Inside looks like seven or eight. Shit.”
The others paused in their preparations at the small curse from the boy’s lips. Apparently, it was something uncommon. Wilmington was immediately at the boy’s side with a hand on his shoulder. With that encouragement, JD continued.
“I’ve got one man in a seated position with four men around him. Looks like their taking turns smacking him around,” he said quietly.
Gibbs looked over at Larabee and from the stone look on the man’s face, he wasn’t sure if any of the men in that building would be coming out alive. He started to say something, but Buck spoke first.
“He’s still alive. And it’s got to be Ezra, because nobody else can piss off people like that.”
Gibbs watched the dark look on Larabee’s face slide into a tiny smirk. Wilmington had said just the right thing. They had apparently known each other for a very long time. Chris looked over to Vin and the shooter gave him a wink.
“All right, let’s do this. Vin, take out those perimeter guards. Two clicks when you’re done.”
Tanner was already out of sight by the time Larabee turned to the others. He looked at each of them in the eye before speaking again.
“Buck you and Josiah take the two on the door. I want this quick and quiet. When you’re done I want both of you to take lead on that entrance with JD covering your flank. Gibbs you and McGee are with me. We’re going to take the west entrance. Vin will be there waiting on us. Vin and I will take point. I want you two coming in hot behind us. No hesitation,” he said, the last directed to Tim. He waited for a nod before continuing. “Buck, three clicks when you’re ready. One click response to go in. Once the room is cleared, Josiah, your priority is Ezra. Nathan’s not here to do his usual magic so it’s up to you. JD you’ll help him while coordinating with Team Four, which should be here any minute. The rest of us will keep you three covered. Any questions?”
The others were obviously used to the game plan because there was silence on their part. Gibbs shook his head no for both McGee and himself. Chris told everyone to get into position and as they were moving away from the vehicles they heard two clicks on the radio.
“That was fast,” McGee said softly.
“Rangers are almost as good as Marines,” Gibbs said over his shoulder as they ran from cover-to-cover hiding their approach.
“Not as good as SEALs though,” Chris whispered back and Gibbs snorted at him.
Tanner was waiting at the west door even though Larabee had never specified that was where he was supposed to be. He was already positioned on the left side of the door ready to cover the right side of the room. Chris knelt by the right side of the door. Gibbs took position behind him and waved McGee over to Tanner. They waited silently for the other half of the team. After a few moments they got the three clicks they were waiting for. Larabee and Tanner shared a look that spoke novels full before Chris clicked his radio once and they were barreling through the door.
“ATF! Drop your weapons!” Larabee yelled but the room was already in chaos.
Tanner picked off two going for some boxes of machine guns off to their right somewhere. Gibbs and Larabee continued strafing left. He could hear gunfire toward the front of the building where Wilmington and the others were clearing their way back towards their position. They took cover behind some pallets of rock as the four men near their target started popping off shots. As Gibbs slid over to the edge of the pallet to provide cover fire for the other group, he could see that the chair had been knocked onto its side. There were hands tied behind the back facing them. He couldn’t tell if it was Standish or not, but he could hear Wilmington bellowing the man’s name. They had a better position to see who was in the chair, so Gibbs assumed that it was Standish. He quickly ducked back behind the rock as bullets slammed into it showering his shoulder with chips and dust.
He could hear the loud retort of the shotgun that Sanchez had been carrying. Gibbs quickly scanned the room for McGee and saw him returning fire behind some large metal drums with Tanner. Gibbs leaned out again to fire and saw one man standing over Standish holding a gun on him. Gibbs took aim, but before he could fire, Standish’s foot kicked out catching the man in the crotch. He hunched over and Gibbs fired hitting him square in the shoulder. The man spun and received two more shots, probably from Tanner and McGee. He went down hard and Standish inched his chair forward to use the man’s body as cover.
As quickly as it had begun, the room grew quiet. The gun fire echoed in the metal building. Gibbs leaned out again and saw the last few assailants laying down their guns and raising their hands. Wilmington’s team moved forward. Gibbs and Larabee came out from behind the rock to cover the remaining men. They secured the weapons and McGee and Tanner moved forward to start restraining them with wire ties.
Gibbs looked over his shoulder and got his first look at Standish. The others had cut him loose, and he was waving them away even as Sanchez helped him to his feet. The man turned to nod at Larabee, and Gibbs got a good look at his face. It was battered and bruised. One eye was starting to swell, and soon he wouldn’t be able to see out of it. His expensive looking white shirt was stained with blood, probably from the split lip he was sporting. All in all, he looked like about five miles of bad road, but despite this he was wearing a small smile.
“Your timing, as usual gentlemen, is impeccable,” he said harshly, holding his ribs.
Wilmington stepped away from covering the secured perps. He took one look at his beaten teammate before pulling the smaller man into a bear hug that had him protesting loudly. The others started laughing and each stepped forward to shake his hand or throw his arm around Standish’s shoulders. Larabee kept his position and didn’t join in on the reunion, but Gibbs caught the two exchanging a look that left the leader shaking his head with an actual grin. Gibbs could relate because he’d had the same reaction to Tony time and again. Team Four was called in to clean up, and since there had been several fatalities, all on the other side, their weapons were all confiscated pending investigation. Gibbs watched Team Four’s interactions with the group, and they seemed to treat it all as business as usual. He could see where the Director had gotten the impression that Team Seven was a destructive bunch.
“Come on, lets get you to the hospital, Nathan’s going to have a fit and that’s no lie,” Sanchez said leading their returned teammate towards the trucks.
“I have told you I’m fine. It’s nothing a little ice and some meat tenderizer won’t take care of, I assure you,” Standish protested.
Buck snorted and rolled his eyes at Larabee. He said, “And those ribs? Hell, I could practically feel them swimming around when I hugged you. We already got one agent with a punctured lung out of this business. Don’t need two.”
“How is Mr. Grant?” Ezra asked. “I tried to pull Phil’s shot, but…”
“It’s DiNozzo, and he’s fine thanks to you,” Gibbs replied. “You’ll get to see him soon. At the hospital.”
“But…But-“
“No buts, Ezra, get in the damn truck,” Chris said with a touch of exasperation.
Gibbs opened the door for the man and they both stared at him.
“Good Lord, I thought one Larabee was bad enough,” Standish said cringing back from the dual stares.
“You’ve got no idea, brother,” Sanchez said helping him in with a smile.
Gibbs looked over at Larabee and asked, “What are they talking about?”
“No idea,” the man replied and headed for the driver’s side.
Gibbs shot a confused look over at McGee and he could see his agent trying not to laugh. The chuckling quickly died when he saw he was being observed.
“Me either, boss,” Tim said quickly and followed JD.
****
Tony hated having oxygen tubes stuck under his nose. They dried it out and made it all red. He probably looked like Rudolf ready for flight. He blinked his eyes open. The last time he’d been awake he was sure he’d heard Ducky droning on about something. It was comforting. And once, he was sure he’d felt the patented Gibbs stare, but he just couldn’t seem to open his eyes to meet it. Now there was someone else in the room, but they were quiet. He was expecting Ziva when he opened his eyes.
“Wow, you look about as good as I feel,” he croaked out. Bennett-no, that wasn’t his name-smiled faintly. With the split swollen lip and swollen eye it looked a bit gruesome.
“Yes, I must apologize for my appearance. My former employer was less than pleased to know that I had been double crossing him with a seller such as yourself.”
“What?”
“Lichtermann had me followed occasionally. His man saw your charming Ms. David meet me at the bar and followed her back to her vehicle to ask her some questions. Imagine his surprise when she was picked up by the dashing Mr. Grant that was going to sell us weapons.”
“He thought you were making a move on the business?” Tony asked fighting the bed controls to sit up a bit. Standish took pity on him and reached over to adjust the bed for him.
“Yes, he didn’t realize I wasn’t what I was pretending to be until my companions came to my rescue. The hit at the meet was a misunderstanding.”
Tony tried to laugh at this, but the pain it caused across his chest had him curled up and coughing, which hurt even worse. Standish leaned forward with concern and reached for the call button, but Tony stopped him. Once the coughing subsided Tony leaned back and realized he still had a hold of Standish’s hand. He shook it and said, “Tony DiNozzo. Nice to meet you.”
“Ezra Standish, and the pleasure is all mine.”
“Thanks for saving my life, Ezra”
“I wish I could have done more. But I must say for once, it’s nice not to be the one that got shot.”
Tony blinked at this and asked, “What do you mean?”
“Well, usually when we have a dangerous case, and I find that an inordinate number of our cases are, I’m the one that ends up catching bullets. Well, Mr. Tanner and I are running neck-and-neck in that regard, but still…”
“Remind me never to come back to Denver.”
Standish chuckled at this and then winced holding his own ribs. They certainly made a pair. Tony let out a sigh. The room was quiet for a moment before he looked back over at Ezra. The man had pulled out a deck of cards and was shuffling them in his hands efficiently.
“Deal me in.”
“Certainly.”
“So what are you doing in here? Where is everybody?”
“Mr. Gibbs and the others are meeting with the incident board. There were some casualties when they came to retrieve me. I’m sure that they’ll all be labeled good shots, but we have to follow the procedure. I think Ms. David and Doctor Mallard went back to your hotel to rest since they weren’t involved. Ziva assured me that she would be back in a couple of hours. I’m currently hiding from Mr. Jackson.”
“Hiding?”
“He can be a bit forthright when one of us is injured.”
“Sounds like Abby.”
“I have yet to meet Ms. Sciuto, but JD assures me that she is fine young lady. Buck on the other hand seems to think all NCIS women are a menace.”
Tony snorted and replied, “Just because none of them are interested in him.”
“Just goes to show their intelligence. Card?”
“Two.”
Ezra dealt two cards to Tony and then one for himself. He stared at his hand a moment before laying out a straight, eight of clubs high. Tony looked down at his measly pair of threes and tossed his cards onto the bed. Ezra retrieved them with a smile and reshuffled.
“It’s bad enough I got shot, but now I’m playing cards with a guy that can draw to an inside straight and win. I give up,” Tony murmured.
“You should play with my mother. Sometimes I wonder if she bends the laws of space and time to get the hands she does.”
“Does she cheat?”
“Oh most definitely, but seeing as how I do too when I play her you think it would even out. Not so much I’m afraid.”
“You should come to Washington,” Tony said suddenly surprising both Ezra and himself. “I could show you some spots, we could make a killing.”
“It has been a long time since I’ve been to the capitol. Alas, I don’t have many friends there.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep the FBI off of you. They’re all scared of Gibbs anyway.”
Ezra gave Tony a sharp look. Tony gave his biggest smile in response. That seemed to put the former FBI agent at peace. He nodded slightly and dealt the cards again.
“Want to hear something funny?” Ezra asked. At Tony’s nod he continued, “It turns out that Chris is quite the fan of Thom E. Gemcity. You should have seen his face when he found out that Agent McGee was the one writing the books. You should’ve also have seen the looks he started giving Gibbs.
Tony gave a light chuckle with a hand holding his wound.
“Yeah we’ve teased McGeek constantly. He insists that the books characters are fictional and aren’t based on us, but come on!”
Tony looked down at his hand and found that this time he had a full house. He glanced over at Ezra, but the man was intent on his cards and wouldn’t look up. He leaned back into the pillow with a smile. Standish definitely had to come to Washington.
They spent the better part of two hours playing cards and talking. Sometimes about work, but mostly about places they’d been and funny stories about their teammates. Tony found the time passed quickly. It was probably the longest he’d been awake since he’d gotten out of surgery. The fun was put to an end when Jackson showed up. He spoke kindly to Tony, but his tone completely changed when he turned to Ezra. The southerner rolled his eyes at Tony as the taller man pulled him out of the chair and then out back to his own room. Tony grinned at him and waved goodbye. He must have fallen back asleep because when he opened his eyes Gibbs was sitting in the chair that Ezra had vacated.
“Gibbs.”
“How you doing, Tony?”
“Good. When are they letting me out of here?”
“It’ll be a while. With that lung they don’t want the pressure from air travel to cause any more damage. Ziva, Ducky, and McGee are going back to headquarters. I asked Jenny for some time so that you wouldn’t be stuck out here by yourself.”
Tony grinned and looked away from Gibbs. He said, “I appreciate that.”
“Well, Larabee offered to let me stay up at his ranch. He’s got some horses.”
“A vacation? You getting soft?” he asked with his eyes feeling heavy.
Gibbs shot him a sharp look and said, “Remind me to give you a smack when you’re better. Now go back to sleep. I’m here.”
Tony nodded and closed his eyes. Right before he fell asleep again he whispered, “Thanks, boss.”
As usual, he didn’t get a reply.
If you liked this fic you might like another NCIS/Mag7 Crossover fic by Sammie called The Mile High City Affair.
Author: daughtershade
Fandom: Magnificent 7 (ATF AU)/NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: None
Prompt: The two teams have to work together on a case.
Summary: A murder of a Marine Corporal brings Gibbs and the NCIS team in conflict with Denver’s ATF special unit Team Seven.
Part 1
“And Larabee?”
“I’ll handle Chris. You just come up with some way to not hand over those guns. We’re setting up this afternoon at the Warwick Hotel across the street from the meet. We have good line of sight from the third floor.”
Gibbs didn’t look happy, but he didn’t say anything more. Buck figured that was all the answer he’d get. With a nod he opened the door and left. The door to Ziva’s room was still cracked and as he turned down the hall. He heard it open more and yelled back over his shoulder.
“I’ll see you tonight gorgeous.”
“I hope not,” Tony replied.
Buck tried not to trip over his own feet in surprise. He shot a dirty look over his shoulder at the grinning agent before slamming open the stairwell door. Nope, he definitely didn’t like Tony what’s-his-name.
****
It was a record. They had made it all of fifteen minutes into the surveillance before Buck and JD had gotten into an argument. Josiah looked over at Nathan, who was propped up against the headboard of the hotel bed, and got an eye roll in response.
“It’s a good thing Ezra isn’t here, I would have lost money on them lasting this long,” Josiah mumbled.
Chris was leaning up against the window trying to stare the building across the street into submission. He gave a snort before turning to the arguing roommates.
“If you two are going to make such a racket go do it in the other room. Some of us are trying to work in here.”
“Aw, hell, Chris it ain’t my fault. JD’s gone and set up a connection with that Abby chick from NCIS.”
“You were the one that wanted them involved,” Chris practically growled.
“I believe he was more interested in Officer David being involved,” Josiah replied.
Before Buck could defend himself, there was a knock on the door. JD got up to answer it. As if mentioning their names had summoned them, Gibbs and his teammates were standing in the hall. Josiah turned to look at them earnestly. Officer David was still as stunning as she had been at the bar. Vin had briefed Nathan and himself on the others after their visit to the office. Gibbs looked just like his ID photo on file. Apparently ‘once a Marine, always a Marine’ was far too true in his case. His hair was short and his clothes neat. His shoes were shined to perfection. He held a cup of coffee in his hand and met Josiah’s eyes with determination.
The room was overly crowded with all of them. Josiah rose from his chair behind the cameras and microphones. He held his hand out to Gibbs. The man looked at it a moment before taking it with a firm shake.
“We haven’t had a chance to be introduced. I’m Josiah Sanchez, that there is Nathan Jackson.”
Nathan nodded from his seat on the bed, but didn’t get up. There wasn’t much room for him to bother. Agent McGee stepped forward and shook hands introducing himself and Officer David.
“Ma’am,” Josiah said giving her a nod, “we didn’t get a chance to speak the other night. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Likewise,” she said sounding somewhat surprised. With her first impression being an angry Chris and a lascivious Buck, it was no wonder.
“We’ve got this room and the one adjoining. I’ve got the computers set up in the other room with a connection to Abby for you,” JD said with his usual level of excitement.
Agent McGee started asking him technical questions that had the rest of them staring, but neither seemed to notice as they moved through the open adjoining door into the other hotel room. Buck motioned Officer David to a chair in the corner. Nathan slid across the bed and started up a conversation on Krav Maga, something he had recently found a passion for. Gibbs and Chris had yet to relax. They still had an hour before the meeting, and Josiah envisioned it feeling like days if they continued.
“Agent Gibbs, perhaps you’d like to take a look at our set up,” he said waiving to the chair he’d been sitting in. Gibbs silently took a seat to check out the camera angles.
Josiah nodded his head towards the other room and Chris followed him. McGee and JD were hovering over the laptops still deep in conversation. Occasionally, a chipper voice would break in across the computer speakers to add a comment.
“Chris, I know cooperation is not your first impulse, but we have to embrace this.”
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I give Gibbs a hug.”
“You know full well I meant that metaphorically. They have as much riding on this now as we do. I know you’re worried about Ezra, we all are, but they’re just as worried for their Agent DiNozzo. Try not to forget that.”
“What do you think about him, Josiah?”
“Having just barely met the man?”
Chris frowned and said, “You read his file too, which is as much, if not more, than most of the guys you profile for us.”
“He’s a good man and a better agent. His case record is exceptional. You don’t have to worry about his ability, and I doubt you’ll have to worry about the ability of his people either. He doesn’t seem like the type to suffer fools. He likes to make his own rules because results are more important to him than procedure. And I think the reason he rubs you the wrong way, brother, is that you two are more alike than either of you would admit.”
JD and McGee were still chatting away completely unaware of the conversation occurring behind them. Josiah watched Chris stare a hole through the back of the young NCIS agent’s head. Apparently, he was used to the same treatment from his own boss because he never once looked away from JD or the laptops they were typing away on.
“All right,” was the only reply before he headed back into the other room to turn his stare on Gibbs.
Josiah shook his head and stood in the doorway to observe both rooms. In the corner, Officer David and Nathan seemed to have hit it off. Enough so that Buck stepped away from them with an exasperated sigh. Josiah smiled at him and moved out of the way to let him pass. Gibbs and Chris were both staring out of the window despite the lack of anything to see. Buck paused looking at the pair over Josiah’s shoulder.
“I think they’re having a stoic contest and didn’t tell us,” Josiah whispered.
Buck chuckled and replied, “Ezra’s going to be mad he missed some good action.”
“I doubt it, not when he couldn’t figure out a clear winner to bet on.”
“That would be a tough call,” Buck agreed.
“Hey Buck, I want you to meet someone,” JD said, pulling their attention away from the other room.
Josiah joined him as they made their way over to the pair. JD’s mocking tone of voice was a good indicator that something amusing, most likely at Buck’s expense, was going to happen. One of the laptops was displaying a video feed of what looked like a lab. JD pulled Buck down so that he was level with the camera at the top of the computer’s monitor.
“This is Abby,” JD said. “Abby, this is my friend Buck.”
An attractive girl with pale skin and dark hair pulled up into pigtails on either side of her head came into view. Her lipstick and eye makeup was dark as well as her clothes. She wore a spiked leather dog collar around her neck that allowed just the peek of what might have been a tattoo starting around the back of her neck. The overall picture was somewhat surprising, but not as much as the smile and cheerful wave she gave to the camera. Josiah blinked in surprise. Buck looked gobsmacked.
“Hi! JD’s told me all about you,” Abby said through the connection.
“Yeah, I didn’t tell her that you said she probably looked like a bulldog’s-“ JD started to say but was cut off abruptly by Buck’s large hand clamping over his mouth.
“Don’t you mind him, sweetheart, he does go on so,” Buck said smiling for the camera.
“He warned me about you.”
“Well, I must admit a pretty little thing like you has got to be careful. You’ll never know when you’ll trip over those men always falling at your feet.”
Abby laughed, whether it was at Buck’s comments or the comical look that JD and McGee shared he wasn’t sure. Josiah shook his head and left them to their flirting and sniping. Back in the other room, it looked as though Chris and Gibbs hadn’t moved. Josiah joined them.
“Where’s your sixth?” Gibbs asked suddenly.
“Vin has a position on the adjacent rooftop. It has a better trajectory,” Chris said.
Gibbs didn’t look happy to hear the news and asked, “You have your own shooter?”
“You’d be surprised how often we seem to need one,” Josiah replied quickly. He could tell that Chris was about to say something sharp to the man. Their leader was normally touchy when it came to Vin, and having Gibbs question him was making it worse.
“The Director hinted that you’re known for your tendency towards destruction.”
Josiah nodded and explained, “To be fair we rarely ever start it.”
“That’s funny,” Officer David said joining them, “Gibbs is usually always the one that starts it for us.”
Gibbs turned his head slightly in acknowledgement, but there was a small smirk at the corner of his mouth that made Josiah think the statement was true. Chris stood up straighter.
“Your man just pulled in,” he said.
The others gathered around the window as Chris called to JD in the other room. Thankfully, Buck directed the other two to the windows in that room. It was already crowded enough where they were. Nathan stayed away from the windows and pulled his medical kit onto the bed. He always methodically checked it before an operation. Officer David raised an eyebrow at this and he merely shrugged in return.
Agent DiNozzo looked around after getting out of the van he was driving. He had backed it up to the cargo door on the back side of the building they were observing. Thankfully, the door was large enough that they had a pretty good view of the area from their higher vantage point. DiNozzo leaned against the van and waited. If he looked over toward the hotel, he gave no sign of it underneath his sunglasses. It was only a few minutes later that a silver Mercedes sedan pulled up. Just as they had predicted, two large men and Ezra were the only ones in the car. Josiah reached over and flipped the directional microphone to project from the small speakers in the room instead of going directly into the headset attached to the camera.
“Mr. Grant, I do appreciate someone who is punctual. Were you able to obtain the quantities that we asked for?” Ezra said in a lazy drawl.
“No. I didn’t have enough time. My military contact had some trouble.”
Josiah watched through the binoculars he had picked up off of the windowsill. He could clearly see Ezra’s frown. One of the heavies flanked Tony and stepped forward to pat him down. DiNozzo opened his arms away from his body and allowed the simple search. Once the pat down was done the man pulled out a small square device that let out a high electrical screech. Everyone in the room flinched as the powerful mic squealed the feedback. Thankfully, the noise died down as the man waived the device around DiNozzo’s body.
“Checking for a wire? I don’t know if I should be insulted or not,” Tony said.
“It’s just a precaution that my boss insists on. Seeing how he occasionally does the same for members of his own family, you shouldn’t feel affronted. If you don’t have the added supplies I suppose we’ll just take what you showed us before.”
“Well, that’s the thing…”
“What thing?”
“I was expecting to get the additional supplies you were asking for and I already moved the supply you saw.”
“So you showed up here with nothing?” one of the goons growled.
“No, it was just a temporary setback. I’ll have the full supply by next week.”
“Mr. Lichtermann is not a patient man when it comes to his business. We had an agreement, Mr. Grant.”
“I understand. Believe me-I’m really embarrassed by all of this. It’s not doing my reputation any good. I’ve never had problems with this contact before. The matter is being dealt with.”
“Your assurances aren’t providing my employer with weapons,” Ezra replied.
Josiah frowned. It wasn’t going well. Ezra was playing the part, but the part wouldn’t do Agent DiNozzo any good if it got him shot. Gibbs was looking grimmer with each passing moment.
“Gentleman, if you would give us a moment. I have to impart a few practicalities to Mr. Grant,” Ezra said pulling Josiah’s attention back to the meeting below.
Ezra placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder and led him away from the goons. With Tony’s back to the two men they could only see the anger on Ezra’s face. They couldn’t hear the conversation.
“Your companion is quite charming,” Ezra said in a low voice.
“She said the same of you. What do you have for me?” Tony asked.
Ezra turned away as if disgusted with whatever answer he was receiving. He replied, “Benito Tuturo is one of Lichtermann’s runners.”
“He our guy?”
“I believe that’s your job to discover. Now shove me.”
“Are you trying to get me shot?”
“Do it.”
Tony reached out and shoved Ezra back. Ezra stumbled but kept his feet. He raised his hand to waive off the goons. Tony turned and made for his van, but one of the goons blocked his path.
“Let him go,” Ezra said with a shake of his head, but the goon didn’t move.
“I don’t think so, Mr. Bennett.”
Josiah leaned closer to the window. A fifth man stepped out of the open bay door. Three more goons jumped down from the open doorway to flank the two agents. Ezra turned to the new men and the look on his face told the story well enough. Josiah started moving away from the window, but Buck was faster, he had already moved through the room and had the door open. They were running down the hall with Gibbs and Ziva behind them. Josiah could hear Chris yelling over his mic to Vin. By the time they had cleared three flights of steps and got out of the building, they could only hear the echo of Vin’s gun. DiNozzo’s van was missing along with the three men and Ezra. The two that had come with him were on the ground bleeding. Unfortunately, so was DiNozzo.
“Tony! What happened?” Gibbs asked letting Buck and Ziva cover the downed men.
“Sorry boss, we must have screwed up. They’ve got Bennett-Standish whatever. I tried to stop them, but…”
Josiah watched Nathan rush forward to take over applying pressure to Tony’s wound. It was a chest shot far too near the heart for anyone’s comfort. It was obvious the bullet had hit a lung because Tony was having trouble breathing and talking. Nathan silenced him and started barking orders. Chris was already on the radio requesting an ambulance. Once that was done, he started yelling for an APB on the van. JD and McGee were the last to join them.
“It’s a rental. They’ll have it lojacked I’ve already forwarded the information back to the federal building,” McGee said, slightly out of breath.
“Vin, talk to me,” Chris barked into his mic.
“No need to yell,” a voice said in response.
Josiah looked up from where he was helping Nathan to see Vin loping up to join the rest of the team. The shooter looked about as angry as Chris.
“It’s all my fault, cowboy. They used the van as cover. I winged one of them, but they kept pulling Ezra in front and moving around. I tried to shoot out the tires, but they were around the corner before I could get a good angle.”
“If…wasn’t for you…I’d be…lot worse off,” Tony gasped.
Nathan snapped at him, “What’d I tell you about trying to talk?”
Vin nodded at the downed agent, but Josiah knew that the young man would carry this mark on his soul if anything should happen to Ezra. In a group full of loners the two of them were even more separate. It was that distinction that pulled such opposites together. While Vin and Chris had a bond that none of them could describe, much less deny, it was Vin and Ezra’s relationship that filled Josiah with wonder. He was pretty sure that if it wasn’t for Vin’s influence they would have lost Ezra to his wondering ways several times over.
“We’ll get him, brother,” Josiah encouraged softly, “Nothing on this earth will stop us either.”
****
Five hours of surgery had left them all frayed. Tony had finally been moved to recovery and was still coming out of the anesthesia. Several members of Team Seven were stalking the halls of St. Anthony’s like caged lions, but they were nothing compared to the cold statue that was Gibbs. He stared at the doors to the OR barely moving except to take the coffee cups that each of them took turns bringing him. Ducky sat next to his old friend with a sigh. Ever since they had lost dear Caitlin, Gibbs had become rather too focused when any of them got hurt, Tony especially. Though Gibbs would never admit it, Tony was his finest pupil. Ducky believed that there were some familial feelings there on both sides. He often wished that both men would admit such a thing, but Tony would brush it off and Gibbs…well, that was another matter entirely.
“One of the doctors stated that things are going well. Tony really was lucky, Jethro. The only thing they’re worried about is his healing process. As you know his lungs were scarred from the plague. This may make his recovery difficult and longer than expected, but he will recover.”
“I know, Duck, but things happen in operation rooms.”
“I have every confidence in the hospital staff. Frankly, I’m rather surprised you’re still here. I figured you’d be off with Agent Larabee ripping the city apart.”
“Don’t worry, I plan too once I know Tony’s all right.”
“You mean once you see him for yourself. I think we all need to give a word of thanks to Mr. Jackson. His medic skills saved the day.”
“You can say that again, Ducky,” Timothy said joining them with yet another cup of coffee for Gibbs.
“What’s the word?” Jethro asked.
“I talked with Agent Sanchez down in the lobby. I updated him on Tony and he said that Agents Larabee and Wilmington had tracked down the van. It looks like they switched cars at some point because it was found on the side of the highway. There were some tread marks. I made sure that JD had the photos sent to Abby.”
“Good.”
“They’re also keeping an eye on most of Lichtermann’s usual spots, but it’s most likely he’ll take Agent Standish someplace else if he suspects that he’s a cop.”
“So basically, they have nothing.”
“We’re working on it, Boss. Ziva is out with them now. I’m going to head back to the federal building to coordinate with JD. Sanchez and Jackson are staying here. They’re concerned that Lichtermann may try for Tony once they find out he’s okay.”
“No, I want Ziva down here with Tony. I want one of ours with him at all times. I’ll call her when I’m ready to leave and we’ll trade off,” Gibbs snapped.
“You got it, Boss.”
Timothy wasn’t gone very long before the doctor came out to speak with them. Tony was starting to come around. They were allowed to go in and see him. Ducky was relieved not only for Tony, but for Gibbs as well. They both stepped into the room. There was the usual shock of all the machines and tubes. Tony was pale, but his eyes blinked open the moment Jethro went past the door.
“Boss-“ he tried to say, but no voice came out.
“Save it, DiNozzo. Rest. Ducky’s going to stay here with you, and Ziva will be along in a bit. I’m going to get these guys.”
Ducky stepped forward to give some ice chips that were in a cup next to the bed. After a few, Tony started rasping.
“He was trying to protect me. You’ve got to get to him before-“
“I told you to rest. That’s an order. You let me worry about Standish. Besides, I don’t think Larabee is going to take this lying down. His record says he’s a former SEAL. The last thing he’s going to do is leave a man behind.”
“Tuturo…Bennett said…”
“We know, Tony. Now you heard Gibbs, rest. They said you’re doing well. I’ll be right outside,” Ducky said patting the young man’s hand.
Gibbs was already out the door before the poor thing could close his eyes. With a sigh, Ducky headed back into the hall to wait. He was surprised to see Agent Tanner leaning against the wall. The man gave him a nod. Though they hadn’t been formally introduced, Jethro had made sure that everyone had read the files on Team Seven. He was afraid that they’d try to get information the same way that they had used Ziva to get to Agent Standish.
“Hello I’m Doctor Donald Mallard, but you can call me Ducky. You’re one of Orin’s boys, yes?”
“Vin Tanner, Sir.”
“Mr. Tanner. Timothy tells me that you saved our Anthony. Thank you.”
“If I had been better, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt to begin with.”
“Now, now. ‘We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future.’ You can’t argue with George Bernard Shaw. Tony is alive thanks you and your friend Mr. Jackson. Concentrate on that and what you’re going to do now. I assume you’re here acting as a guard?”
Tanner bowed his head. He was obviously a quiet sort of person. He had good manners, which is something that Ducky saw rarely any more. It was heartening. Ducky found himself warming to the young man.
“I should be out helping the others find Ezra, but… I wanted to make sure he’s okay.”
“Well, why don’t I get us some chairs? Ziva should be along soon to take over guarding him, and then you can go and save your friend,” Ducky said patting the man’s arm.
Ducky stepped over to the nurses’ station and explained the situation. He was quickly offered two chairs which were placed against the glass wall looking into Tony’s room. Tanner took the one closest to the door and Ducky sat beside him.
“You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve done watch duty. Once in nineteen seventy eight I had to sit watch over a tribal chief that had been attacked by a lion. The local witchdoctor was positive that the lion would come to finish the job. You see, it was part of their folklore that lions possessed a singular vision…” Ducky began and continued telling the story of the lion hunt and the near death of the chief. He knew that he had the tendency to ramble on a bit, and mostly people tended to tune him out. Ducky was never offended by this. He always believed that people would retain something, the brain being the magnificent organ that it was. So his stories were held somewhere, and if some small bit of information that he could impart could be useful to someone in the future, so much the better. Mr. Tanner turned out to be a good listener. While his eyes often strayed away to look for threats in the hall, they always returned to Ducky. His forlorn face grew into a smile. He seemed interested, and he even asked some rather pointed questions. Of course the questions had Ducky veering off into other stories. The time passed all too quickly, and before he knew it, Ziva was standing over them listening to the end of a story about a Japanese minister and his mathematical goat.
“Ducky. Agent Tanner,” she said in greeting.
“Ma’am,” Tanner returned with a nod and got to his feet. “It was nice meeting you Doctor.”
“The same to you, young man. It has been a distinct pleasure. Now you go out there and you find those men. No one will get past Ziva and myself.”
Tanner gave him another nod and headed back down the hallway. Ziva watched him go before taking his chair. She looked over her shoulder into the room beyond. Tony was still asleep. There were lines of worry around the corners of her mouth, but they quickly smoothed.
“How is he?” she asked.
“Disobeying Gibbs’ orders to rest while he’s in the room. He’ll be fine, Ziva. How is the investigation coming?”
“Tanner did wing one of the men. There were traces of blood in the van. Larabee didn’t want to wait to send it to Abby, so they’re doing the work up in the lab here. Hopefully, we’ll get a hit. She’s already found the tires that go with the treads we found so we now have an idea of the vehicle. JD is checking all the hospitals to see if the wounded man turns up. Also, McGee has been running the information on Tuturo. It looks like he went to high school with Miralles. We’re still checking on that.”
“So Mr. Standish did find our man.”
“Possibly. I hope he’s okay,” Ziva said looking around her. “I’ve spent too much time in hospitals lately.”
Ducky remembered how close she had gotten to Lt. Sanders before his death of radiation poisoning. He patted her hand and looked over into Tony’s room.
“My dear, you have no idea.”
****
Chris paced around the office. He was a man of action. He always had been. Waiting for evidence and procedure always drove him up the wall. He wanted to be out there finding Ezra, but with no idea where to look it would be a waste of energy. JD and McGee were typing away on the computers like their lives depended on it, instead of Ezra’s. Buck was on the phone and had been since they got back from picking up the deserted van. He wanted to bark for a status update, but he had just got one less than five minutes ago. They’d let him know if they found anything. Vin stepped through the door. Chris knew he had headed down to the hospital. One look and he gave Chris a frown and headed for the office. Chris followed him inside and shut the door.
“You need to settle down, cowboy.”
“I can’t help it. You know I didn’t want this case, and Buck all but tried to quit on me to keep us from doing it. Dammit, I should have listened to him. I shouldn’t have let Ezra convince me otherwise.”
“A man said, ‘We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future.’ Ducky told me that at the hospital when I was beating myself up over not stopping them from taking Ezra or hurting DiNozzo. I been thinkin’ on it mighty hard and it seems to make sense. We can’t go back and change our should haves, but we can do something about it now.”
Chris raised an eyebrow at his friend. Vin always seemed to have a better grasp of things than he let on. With a nod Chris got to his feet. As they stepped out into the bullpen Vin continued.
“That George Shaw fella seems to know his stuff.”
“He was a poet, like you.”
“Huh. I may have to get one of his books.”
“All right people,” Chris bellowed getting everyone’s attention. He could see Gibbs leaning on the doorway across the room. “We know they’ve got one wounded. It’s not likely they’ll go to a hospital because they’ll report a gunshot wound. I want to know anyone with the slightest medical connection that would have anything to do with Lichtermann. Buck start shaking up some of your informants. JD get Josiah back here ASAP.”
Chris looked directly at Gibbs and asked, “You got your man covered?”
“Ziva is with him.”
“Right, JD tell Nathan to stay with Officer David.”
McGee shot a look at Gibbs and waited for a nod before asking, “What do you need me to do?”
“You and Abby go back through the records we have. He won’t take Ezra to one of his places, so check any associates and their property. Try to find a link between them and the type of vehicle that uses the tires she found.”
“On it.”
“Vin you’re with me. Gibbs?” Chris asked without looking back as he headed out the door. The older man was right behind them as they made for the elevator.
“You got a plan?” the NCIS agent asked.
“We’re going to drop in on Mrs. Tuturo and ask her about her son. This didn’t start until Ezra started digging into your murder case. Maybe if we work your end we’ll find out what we need to know.”
Gibbs gave a small smirk as the elevator dropped toward the garage. Chris could tell that Vin was trying very hard not to comment on the fact that Gibbs was getting his way. He restrained himself from cursing all Jarheads out loud.
The Tuturo house was like many in the suburbs of Denver. It was a small one story house with a dry yard and children’s bikes in the driveway. The community was distinctly Hispanic. The three of them got out of the Dodge and were greeted at the screen door before they could even get close enough to knock.
“Yes?” a woman in her early fifties asked hesitantly through the mesh.
“Hello, Ma’am. I’m Agent Gibbs with the NCIS,” he said holding up his badge.
Chris let him take the lead because he knew that in a mood he could be intimidating. Vin stood next to him silently.
“What is NCIS? We’re legal. I have papers.”
“I’m not with the NIS. NCIS is Navy Criminal Investigative Service. I’m looking into a murder of a Marine Corporal. I was hoping that I could speak to your son, Benito. He went to school with the deceased. I was hoping he might know some of the Corporal’s friends.”
“Benito isn’t here.”
“Oh, well, could you please give him my card?” Gibbs asked holding it up. The woman opened the screen door just a crack. She took the card and the door slammed back against the frame. The three of them said goodbye and started walking back to the truck.
“He’s in there,” Chris growled.
“Oh yeah,” Gibbs agreed.
They drove off around the corner dropping Vin off before circling the block. Chris cut the truck off and the two of them waited. They didn’t have to wait long before a young man exited the house yelling back to the woman inside. He headed for a car parked along the street. Chris started up the Dodge and came around the corner slowly. Tuturo was half-way to the car before he looked back over the shoulder and saw the truck. He started running. Chris stepped on the gas blazing down the block. Tuturo must have realized he wouldn’t make it to the car because he veered off into one of the neighboring yards. Chris slowed down enough for Gibbs to hop out. The Agent had the door open even as the truck was still moving, so he didn’t bother slowing too much. The older man was out of the truck and in pursuit in a blink. Chris gunned the engine again causing the passenger door to slam shut. He headed around the block only to see Vin sitting on the suspect in the adjacent driveway. Gibbs was crouched down next to the young man. When he parked and got out of the truck he heard some expressive swearing. Gibbs was giving the boy a steely eyed look.
“I didn’t do nothing. Get this guy off of me.”
“Then why you runnin’, Benito?” Vin asked finishing his pat down and pulling the boy’s arms back to cuff them.
“I thought you was gang bangers in that big black truck.”
“Do I look like a gang banger to you, son?” Gibbs asked.
“Depends on your gang,” Chris said with a smirk. He ignored the wry look he received and continued. “Let’s get him back to the office.”
“You arresting me?” Tuturo asked as he was pulled to his feet. Chris took his turn staring the boy down.
“Do I need to?” he asked.
“I didn’t-“
“Do nothing. Yeah, so we heard.”
Gibbs sat in the back with the boy. They drove in silence back to the federal building. Benito tried to put up a good front, but it was obvious he was scared. They sat him in one of the interrogation rooms downstairs and let him wait. Chris headed back up to find out if the others had gotten any news.
“Anything?” he asked as he walked through the bullpen to his office.
Buck walked past pulling on his coat and replied, “I think I may have something with a medical connection. Josiah and I were just going out now.”
“Call JD if you get anything. JD?”
“We’re still running associates. Abby has an electric copy of the blood work and she’s running it through NCIS’ databases too.”
McGee looked up from the phone he was talking on and said, “I’m working on tracking down cell phone records. Lichtermann had Ezra doing negotiations. If I can find a phone we might get a location. It’s a long shot, but I thought we should at least try it.”
“Good. Cross reference anything you get with the associate and vehicle information. That may help you weed things out,” Chris said stepping into his office for his copies of the NCIS murder investigation file. “I’ll be down in interrogation with my phone off. If Buck calls or you guys come up with something, come and get me.”
When he got back downstairs, he found Vin and Gibbs staring through the two way mirror at a fidgeting Tuturo. They were both holding cups of coffee that looked a little like mud.
“When operations finds out you were using their coffee pot they’re going to be pissed,” he said.
Vin shrugged. Gibbs cocked an eyebrow at him and said, “They shouldn’t mind. He makes good coffee.”
Chris blinked at this remark as Vin chuckled. Everyone knew that Tanner’s coffee was not fit for human consumption. Then again, what did he expect?
“I should have known. The Marines and Rangers train their men to eat grubs and worms and god knows what all. Killed every one of your taste buds.”
“Don’t they make SEALs eat raw fish?” Vin asked.
“Sushi is an accepted food. Grubs, not so much.”
“Where I come from either way they call it bait. You want to do this or do you want me to?” Gibbs asked.
Chris was surprised that he bothered to ask. After looking at Gibbs a moment he gave a smile with absolutely no humor. It was the one that generally made his men cringe.
“Age before beauty.”
“Wisdom before wiseass,” Gibbs countered and headed off to the door. Chris followed silently.
Tuturo started talking the moment they walked in, professing his innocence, claiming police brutality, and asking to be let go. Gibbs took the chair across the table and opened the file without saying anything. He stared at the boy and watched him. Chris leaned back against the wall just within reach of the young man’s peripheral vision. They watched the boy slowly wind down until the room was completely silent.
“You going to tell me why I’m here?”
“David Miralles.”
“Who?”
“You went to school with him. He joined the Marine Corps. He was a Corporal and a fine Marine. He’s dead.”
“I don’t know no David.”
“No? Let me see if I can pick out a name you do recognize. Andreas Lichtermann.”
Tuturo’s eye twitched at the name and Chris snorted. This made the boy look quickly over at him. Ezra would eat this kid alive. His tells were way too sloppy. Chris stared back until the boy looked away, but the only other thing to look at was Gibbs’ eyes. The room was cool, but Benito was starting to sweat.
“We know you work for him,” Gibbs continued.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Chris took that opportunity to move away from the wall. He walked behind Tuturo and bent down to speak directly into his ear.
“He’s got one of my men, Benny. I’m not in the mood for games. All Gibbs here has to do is match up the physical evidence he has to you. We’ve already got a warrant in progress to get it from you. It’s a matter of time now. You’re going to a federal pen for a very long time with some very nasty people. How horrible it is depends on what you tell me right now.”
Benito shivered and looked to Gibbs for help, but he received no quarter there. He was trapped between the proverbial rock and a hard place. It took all of five seconds before he was spilling everything: the fight over him working for Lichtermann, David just back from Iraq having seen the damage that weapons could do, the threat to go to the police, and the last minute grab for a wrench to stop a good man from doing the right thing.
“Where would Lichtermann take my man, Benny?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Where!”
“I don’t know! Some of the guys talked about some warehouses that he stores some of the weapons before taking them to where we pick them up for shipping them, but I don’t know where they are. Only his main guys knew. They’d bring the boxes and they’d be covered in this sparkly yellow dirt. I could never get it out of my clothes.”
“What like sand?” Gibbs asked.
“No it was dust like powder.”
“Do you still have those pants?”
Benito looked confused and replied, “Yeah, sure at Mama’s.”
Chris jerked his head toward the door. The two of them stepped out into the hall. Vin was waiting for them. Gibbs gave him an annoyed look, but Chris waved him off.
“He said it wasn’t sand. The only mining around here is mostly sand and gravel pits, except for west of the city. There are a few clay and shale yards along State Highway 93 north and south of Golden.”
“Shale would make sparkly yellow dust as they split it up.”
“Exactly. The meet point they set up for Tony was on the west side of town. Shorter distance for them to travel?”
“We need to match warehouses near those mines with the associates that they’re running,” Gibbs replied heading for the elevator.
As the three of them stepped into the office, JD bounded up to Chris. “I was just going to go downstairs. Buck called in. He and Josiah found a med school drop out that’s been doing some pharmacological work on the side for Lichtermann. They checked at his home but according to his neighbors he left in a hurry a couple of hours ago.”
“He probably got an emergency house call. Listen, JD, I want you to run that associates property list against any warehouses near shale yards on the west side of town.”
McGee perked up at this. He started typing quickly on the computer and then called out.
“I’ve got a warehouse attached to a landscaping business that is owned by one of Lichtermann’s lieutenants in Golden.”
“Landscaping?” JD asked.
“They specialize in rock work.”
“That’s it,” Gibbs said.
JD looked back and forth between Gibbs and McGee.
“But how do you know?” he asked.
“My gut.”
“JD, call Buck and Josiah and have them meet us there. Load up, people,” Chris said darkly. “We’re going to go get what’s ours.”
****
“Team Four is on their way as backup,” JD said as they exited the ATF SUV.
Gibbs followed Larabee to the back where he started handing out vests and equipment. The agent acknowledged his man with a nod. Gibbs reached in to pull out a vest for McGee. He wished that Ziva and Tony were here to help back him up, but the members of Team Seven would have to do. Despite their differences his gut told him that Larabee and his boys could handle themselves.
A nicely refurbished old model truck pulled up behind them. Wilmington and Sanchez exited already in vests. He watched Buck start checking JD’s vest and set up, but the younger agent waved him off. It reminded him of some of Tony and McGee’s interactions. Unconsciously, he looked over to make sure Tim’s rig was set up right since Tony wasn’t there to do it for him.
“Have Team Four pull perimeter when they get here, and get on the thermal I want to know how many we’ve got in there,” Chris barked. “Gibbs I want my guys taking the lead on this, no arguments.”
Gibbs stared at the man for a moment then gave a short nod. If it was Tony in there, he’d want everyone else behind him too. JD was already positioning a thermal imager at the building.
“Chris, looks like we’ve got four outside the building. Two are walking patrol. The other two are guarding the north entrance. Inside looks like seven or eight. Shit.”
The others paused in their preparations at the small curse from the boy’s lips. Apparently, it was something uncommon. Wilmington was immediately at the boy’s side with a hand on his shoulder. With that encouragement, JD continued.
“I’ve got one man in a seated position with four men around him. Looks like their taking turns smacking him around,” he said quietly.
Gibbs looked over at Larabee and from the stone look on the man’s face, he wasn’t sure if any of the men in that building would be coming out alive. He started to say something, but Buck spoke first.
“He’s still alive. And it’s got to be Ezra, because nobody else can piss off people like that.”
Gibbs watched the dark look on Larabee’s face slide into a tiny smirk. Wilmington had said just the right thing. They had apparently known each other for a very long time. Chris looked over to Vin and the shooter gave him a wink.
“All right, let’s do this. Vin, take out those perimeter guards. Two clicks when you’re done.”
Tanner was already out of sight by the time Larabee turned to the others. He looked at each of them in the eye before speaking again.
“Buck you and Josiah take the two on the door. I want this quick and quiet. When you’re done I want both of you to take lead on that entrance with JD covering your flank. Gibbs you and McGee are with me. We’re going to take the west entrance. Vin will be there waiting on us. Vin and I will take point. I want you two coming in hot behind us. No hesitation,” he said, the last directed to Tim. He waited for a nod before continuing. “Buck, three clicks when you’re ready. One click response to go in. Once the room is cleared, Josiah, your priority is Ezra. Nathan’s not here to do his usual magic so it’s up to you. JD you’ll help him while coordinating with Team Four, which should be here any minute. The rest of us will keep you three covered. Any questions?”
The others were obviously used to the game plan because there was silence on their part. Gibbs shook his head no for both McGee and himself. Chris told everyone to get into position and as they were moving away from the vehicles they heard two clicks on the radio.
“That was fast,” McGee said softly.
“Rangers are almost as good as Marines,” Gibbs said over his shoulder as they ran from cover-to-cover hiding their approach.
“Not as good as SEALs though,” Chris whispered back and Gibbs snorted at him.
Tanner was waiting at the west door even though Larabee had never specified that was where he was supposed to be. He was already positioned on the left side of the door ready to cover the right side of the room. Chris knelt by the right side of the door. Gibbs took position behind him and waved McGee over to Tanner. They waited silently for the other half of the team. After a few moments they got the three clicks they were waiting for. Larabee and Tanner shared a look that spoke novels full before Chris clicked his radio once and they were barreling through the door.
“ATF! Drop your weapons!” Larabee yelled but the room was already in chaos.
Tanner picked off two going for some boxes of machine guns off to their right somewhere. Gibbs and Larabee continued strafing left. He could hear gunfire toward the front of the building where Wilmington and the others were clearing their way back towards their position. They took cover behind some pallets of rock as the four men near their target started popping off shots. As Gibbs slid over to the edge of the pallet to provide cover fire for the other group, he could see that the chair had been knocked onto its side. There were hands tied behind the back facing them. He couldn’t tell if it was Standish or not, but he could hear Wilmington bellowing the man’s name. They had a better position to see who was in the chair, so Gibbs assumed that it was Standish. He quickly ducked back behind the rock as bullets slammed into it showering his shoulder with chips and dust.
He could hear the loud retort of the shotgun that Sanchez had been carrying. Gibbs quickly scanned the room for McGee and saw him returning fire behind some large metal drums with Tanner. Gibbs leaned out again to fire and saw one man standing over Standish holding a gun on him. Gibbs took aim, but before he could fire, Standish’s foot kicked out catching the man in the crotch. He hunched over and Gibbs fired hitting him square in the shoulder. The man spun and received two more shots, probably from Tanner and McGee. He went down hard and Standish inched his chair forward to use the man’s body as cover.
As quickly as it had begun, the room grew quiet. The gun fire echoed in the metal building. Gibbs leaned out again and saw the last few assailants laying down their guns and raising their hands. Wilmington’s team moved forward. Gibbs and Larabee came out from behind the rock to cover the remaining men. They secured the weapons and McGee and Tanner moved forward to start restraining them with wire ties.
Gibbs looked over his shoulder and got his first look at Standish. The others had cut him loose, and he was waving them away even as Sanchez helped him to his feet. The man turned to nod at Larabee, and Gibbs got a good look at his face. It was battered and bruised. One eye was starting to swell, and soon he wouldn’t be able to see out of it. His expensive looking white shirt was stained with blood, probably from the split lip he was sporting. All in all, he looked like about five miles of bad road, but despite this he was wearing a small smile.
“Your timing, as usual gentlemen, is impeccable,” he said harshly, holding his ribs.
Wilmington stepped away from covering the secured perps. He took one look at his beaten teammate before pulling the smaller man into a bear hug that had him protesting loudly. The others started laughing and each stepped forward to shake his hand or throw his arm around Standish’s shoulders. Larabee kept his position and didn’t join in on the reunion, but Gibbs caught the two exchanging a look that left the leader shaking his head with an actual grin. Gibbs could relate because he’d had the same reaction to Tony time and again. Team Four was called in to clean up, and since there had been several fatalities, all on the other side, their weapons were all confiscated pending investigation. Gibbs watched Team Four’s interactions with the group, and they seemed to treat it all as business as usual. He could see where the Director had gotten the impression that Team Seven was a destructive bunch.
“Come on, lets get you to the hospital, Nathan’s going to have a fit and that’s no lie,” Sanchez said leading their returned teammate towards the trucks.
“I have told you I’m fine. It’s nothing a little ice and some meat tenderizer won’t take care of, I assure you,” Standish protested.
Buck snorted and rolled his eyes at Larabee. He said, “And those ribs? Hell, I could practically feel them swimming around when I hugged you. We already got one agent with a punctured lung out of this business. Don’t need two.”
“How is Mr. Grant?” Ezra asked. “I tried to pull Phil’s shot, but…”
“It’s DiNozzo, and he’s fine thanks to you,” Gibbs replied. “You’ll get to see him soon. At the hospital.”
“But…But-“
“No buts, Ezra, get in the damn truck,” Chris said with a touch of exasperation.
Gibbs opened the door for the man and they both stared at him.
“Good Lord, I thought one Larabee was bad enough,” Standish said cringing back from the dual stares.
“You’ve got no idea, brother,” Sanchez said helping him in with a smile.
Gibbs looked over at Larabee and asked, “What are they talking about?”
“No idea,” the man replied and headed for the driver’s side.
Gibbs shot a confused look over at McGee and he could see his agent trying not to laugh. The chuckling quickly died when he saw he was being observed.
“Me either, boss,” Tim said quickly and followed JD.
****
Tony hated having oxygen tubes stuck under his nose. They dried it out and made it all red. He probably looked like Rudolf ready for flight. He blinked his eyes open. The last time he’d been awake he was sure he’d heard Ducky droning on about something. It was comforting. And once, he was sure he’d felt the patented Gibbs stare, but he just couldn’t seem to open his eyes to meet it. Now there was someone else in the room, but they were quiet. He was expecting Ziva when he opened his eyes.
“Wow, you look about as good as I feel,” he croaked out. Bennett-no, that wasn’t his name-smiled faintly. With the split swollen lip and swollen eye it looked a bit gruesome.
“Yes, I must apologize for my appearance. My former employer was less than pleased to know that I had been double crossing him with a seller such as yourself.”
“What?”
“Lichtermann had me followed occasionally. His man saw your charming Ms. David meet me at the bar and followed her back to her vehicle to ask her some questions. Imagine his surprise when she was picked up by the dashing Mr. Grant that was going to sell us weapons.”
“He thought you were making a move on the business?” Tony asked fighting the bed controls to sit up a bit. Standish took pity on him and reached over to adjust the bed for him.
“Yes, he didn’t realize I wasn’t what I was pretending to be until my companions came to my rescue. The hit at the meet was a misunderstanding.”
Tony tried to laugh at this, but the pain it caused across his chest had him curled up and coughing, which hurt even worse. Standish leaned forward with concern and reached for the call button, but Tony stopped him. Once the coughing subsided Tony leaned back and realized he still had a hold of Standish’s hand. He shook it and said, “Tony DiNozzo. Nice to meet you.”
“Ezra Standish, and the pleasure is all mine.”
“Thanks for saving my life, Ezra”
“I wish I could have done more. But I must say for once, it’s nice not to be the one that got shot.”
Tony blinked at this and asked, “What do you mean?”
“Well, usually when we have a dangerous case, and I find that an inordinate number of our cases are, I’m the one that ends up catching bullets. Well, Mr. Tanner and I are running neck-and-neck in that regard, but still…”
“Remind me never to come back to Denver.”
Standish chuckled at this and then winced holding his own ribs. They certainly made a pair. Tony let out a sigh. The room was quiet for a moment before he looked back over at Ezra. The man had pulled out a deck of cards and was shuffling them in his hands efficiently.
“Deal me in.”
“Certainly.”
“So what are you doing in here? Where is everybody?”
“Mr. Gibbs and the others are meeting with the incident board. There were some casualties when they came to retrieve me. I’m sure that they’ll all be labeled good shots, but we have to follow the procedure. I think Ms. David and Doctor Mallard went back to your hotel to rest since they weren’t involved. Ziva assured me that she would be back in a couple of hours. I’m currently hiding from Mr. Jackson.”
“Hiding?”
“He can be a bit forthright when one of us is injured.”
“Sounds like Abby.”
“I have yet to meet Ms. Sciuto, but JD assures me that she is fine young lady. Buck on the other hand seems to think all NCIS women are a menace.”
Tony snorted and replied, “Just because none of them are interested in him.”
“Just goes to show their intelligence. Card?”
“Two.”
Ezra dealt two cards to Tony and then one for himself. He stared at his hand a moment before laying out a straight, eight of clubs high. Tony looked down at his measly pair of threes and tossed his cards onto the bed. Ezra retrieved them with a smile and reshuffled.
“It’s bad enough I got shot, but now I’m playing cards with a guy that can draw to an inside straight and win. I give up,” Tony murmured.
“You should play with my mother. Sometimes I wonder if she bends the laws of space and time to get the hands she does.”
“Does she cheat?”
“Oh most definitely, but seeing as how I do too when I play her you think it would even out. Not so much I’m afraid.”
“You should come to Washington,” Tony said suddenly surprising both Ezra and himself. “I could show you some spots, we could make a killing.”
“It has been a long time since I’ve been to the capitol. Alas, I don’t have many friends there.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep the FBI off of you. They’re all scared of Gibbs anyway.”
Ezra gave Tony a sharp look. Tony gave his biggest smile in response. That seemed to put the former FBI agent at peace. He nodded slightly and dealt the cards again.
“Want to hear something funny?” Ezra asked. At Tony’s nod he continued, “It turns out that Chris is quite the fan of Thom E. Gemcity. You should have seen his face when he found out that Agent McGee was the one writing the books. You should’ve also have seen the looks he started giving Gibbs.
Tony gave a light chuckle with a hand holding his wound.
“Yeah we’ve teased McGeek constantly. He insists that the books characters are fictional and aren’t based on us, but come on!”
Tony looked down at his hand and found that this time he had a full house. He glanced over at Ezra, but the man was intent on his cards and wouldn’t look up. He leaned back into the pillow with a smile. Standish definitely had to come to Washington.
They spent the better part of two hours playing cards and talking. Sometimes about work, but mostly about places they’d been and funny stories about their teammates. Tony found the time passed quickly. It was probably the longest he’d been awake since he’d gotten out of surgery. The fun was put to an end when Jackson showed up. He spoke kindly to Tony, but his tone completely changed when he turned to Ezra. The southerner rolled his eyes at Tony as the taller man pulled him out of the chair and then out back to his own room. Tony grinned at him and waved goodbye. He must have fallen back asleep because when he opened his eyes Gibbs was sitting in the chair that Ezra had vacated.
“Gibbs.”
“How you doing, Tony?”
“Good. When are they letting me out of here?”
“It’ll be a while. With that lung they don’t want the pressure from air travel to cause any more damage. Ziva, Ducky, and McGee are going back to headquarters. I asked Jenny for some time so that you wouldn’t be stuck out here by yourself.”
Tony grinned and looked away from Gibbs. He said, “I appreciate that.”
“Well, Larabee offered to let me stay up at his ranch. He’s got some horses.”
“A vacation? You getting soft?” he asked with his eyes feeling heavy.
Gibbs shot him a sharp look and said, “Remind me to give you a smack when you’re better. Now go back to sleep. I’m here.”
Tony nodded and closed his eyes. Right before he fell asleep again he whispered, “Thanks, boss.”
As usual, he didn’t get a reply.
If you liked this fic you might like another NCIS/Mag7 Crossover fic by Sammie called The Mile High City Affair.