'You can't be serious,' Tony thought as he saw their main suspect fall into what was possibly the world's dirtiest pond. He and McGee had been pursuing Bailey for more than ten minutes, and had been led on a wild cross country chase, only to end up here. Backup was on its way, but it would take a while to reach them, time Bailey obviously didn't have.

"Is he drowning?" McGee asked, panting as he ran beside Tony, one hand clutching the knife wound on his arm.

"Looks like it." From all the arm flailing and screaming, it was clear that Bailey didn't know how to swim. Tony reached the edge of the water seconds before McGee and looked down into the murky liquid. It even smelled horrible. Someone probably used it as a garbage dump. No way was he going in.

"Tony, I think you should get moving." McGee said coming up next to Tony, as Bailey's head momentarily vanished under the surface mid scream, only to resurface a second later, sputtering and calling for help.''

"Why me? It's too cold for swimming anyway." Tony whined.

McGee looked at him, surprised that he had to argue about saving a man. True, said man had tried to kill him with a knife, McGee thought sourly, but that still didn't give them the right to let him drown. Never mind the fact he was a suspect in a marine's murder and a possible witness to a triple homicide.

"You dove in for Gibbs and it was much colder then." McGee pointed out.

"Exactly. I've already saved one person. It's your turn, McFish."

"I'm injured." McGee protested, showing Tony the deep gash he acquired when they had tried to apprehend Bailey the first time. It didn't look serious, but it was still seeping blood. "If I get it into that dirty water, I'll get gangrene, and then they'll have to cut my arm off and how will I work at the computer then?" Tony frowned, because it was a pretty neat argument. How convenient was it that McGee was the one with the cut? He'd get a pretty scar to show off to the girls while Tony got to be wet and dirty. How unfair.

"If I breathe in that stuff, I'll die. You know how delicate my lungs are." he tried arguing for the last time.

"Then don't breathe it in. Come on, Tony, do you really want Gibbs to find out we let this guy drown just because the water was a little dirty?"

Tony threw him a murderous look and was about to say something when Bailey's wailing stopped and they heard a gurgling sound as his head vanished beneath the water. The idiot probably didn't even close his mouth, Tony thought disgustedly. With an angry move he took off his jacket, the holster and eventually his shoes. Taking a deep breath, he dove into the water.

Just as he expected it, he felt the coldness cut into his bones. It was still only spring and the sun hadn't given off much heat during the last few weeks. Shaking off the immediate urge to get out as he felt tiny bit of unidentified debris brush past his fingers, Tony swam towards the place he'd last seen Bailey's head. Even though the sun was up in the sky, its rays didn't penetrate more than a few inches below the surface. Grimacing, Tony realized he couldn't see a thing underneath the water, even if he kept his eyes open, which wasn't really an option. When he glanced over to the edge of the pond, he saw McGee talking anxiously on his cell, and Tony could only hope that help would come soon. Taking two deep breaths, he closed his eyes and dove in, feeling the weight of his wet clothes pull him under.

The moment his head was wholly submerged, the world vanished. There was only darkness behind his closed lids. No light, no sound, no smell. He didn't care for taste right now, as his mouth was shut tight. He was left only with his sense of touch. Kicking his feet to get deeper, Tony's arms started roaming around, feeling for anything that could be a part of Bailey, all the time hoping that his hands wouldn't brush against the rough, scaly skin of mutated alligators or jelly-like giant squids hiding in the water, waiting for new prey. Tony's heart pumped faster, as his imagination worked on dozens of scenarios. He realized that he hadn't been this scared when he dove for Gibbs. Sure he'd been terrified that Gibbs and Maddie would die and that he would fail, but at least he knew what was around him. He'd seen the car, knew the situation and how to react.

Right now, he was blind and alone in a place that ceased to be a single pond the moment he lost his sight. It was only danger and lack of air. So when something cold and slimy brushed over his face, Tony panicked. He yelped and let out a precious bubble of air. His heart was pumping even faster, consuming the last bits of oxygen and if Tony had opened his eyes, his vision would have been filled with dark spots. He had to get out, to take a breath, but suddenly he stopped dead as his hand brushed against cold skin. It couldn't have been anything else other than Bailey, and Tony remembered why he was there in the first place. He reached out and caught the wrist that was limply floating around. Pulling on his last reserves, Tony's fingers curled tightly around it and he started kicking his legs, hoping that he was indeed going up and not deeper in.

Bailey was practically dead weight and Tony hoped this wasn't all in vain. He wasn't sure how much time had passed from the moment Bailey sank. By the time he reached the surface, Tony's lungs were screaming for air and he was ready to call it quits and simply take a breath, not caring if it was water or air. He didn't even care for the smell that hit his nose as soon as he was up. The only important thing was air. And light, Tony thought, as he pulled Bailey's head above the surface and started toward the shore. Blinking and gasping, Tony only wanted to reach up and rub the water from his eyes so he could see clearly. The sight of a near panicking probie standing in the pond, water up to his tights looking ready to dive in after them was priceless. He didn't even realize his ears were still full of water until he was only few yards from McGee and saw his mouth move, but heard no sound. Frowning, Tony swam closer and let the probie pull him and Bailey out. Falling to his knees on the shore, he put his finger into his right ear, shaking his head to release the pressure and get some of the water out.

"-you okay Tony?" he finally heard. He nodded, looking at Bailey's motionless form. He didn't appear to be breathing.

"I've done... my thing." he gasped out, still gulping at air. "It's your turn... for mouth to mouth." he added, and ignoring the horrified look on McGee's face, he fell back on the ground, shivering in his wet clothes. Blinking into the setting sun, he couldn't hide the grin on his face as he heard McGee mutter a curse before starting CPR.

"He still has a pulse." McGee said between breaths and Tony nodded. He was tired but he didn't want to close his eyes, enjoying the light, breathing in the smell of rotten water, tasting bits of it on his tongue. His hands felt the ground, fingers curled around the grass as he heard to sounds of running feet, then shouting as the back-up finally found them. Tony ignored Gibbs and Ziva, simply enjoying having all his senses back.