As deep sleep drew in, Tony's breathing became heavier and his eyelids twitched. He fidgeted desperately as his body tried to cope with the horror that was happening beneath the surface.
"Tony, you take front," Gibbs said gruffly, "McGee on back; Ziva inside."
"On it Boss," came the replies from the three agents.
"Any sign of this man entering, or trying to enter the building and you take him down and you tell me, okay?"
"What will you be doing?" Ziva asked quietly.
"I will be inside with the director."
"Don't worry, Boss, nothing will happen to the director. We're gonna get this guy," Tony said; his voice dripped with confidence.
Tony's body shifted in the seat as the memories from earlier that night immerged within him, cold sweat condensing on his forehead. He moaned slightly but then returned to his silent nightmare.
"McGee?" Tony said into the com, squirming in his smart attire. He didn't like wearing these kind of clothes; they reminded him too much of his family.
The com crackled into life and McGee answered, "Yes?"
"Any sign of him yet?"
"None here at the back, what about at the front?"
"Nope, no sign of him here either."
"Do you reckon he's still gonna try and do it tonight?"
"I don't know, Probie, but if he does try anything we will be ready for him." Tony reattached the com to his side and returned to scouting the incoming crowd for the suspect. They'd been after this guy for months, and they'd received a tip off earlier that day informing them of his plans for tonight. All they knew, or at least all Tony had been told, was that the man was an assassin employed by anyone for the right price, and his hit list had included an impressive amount of head figures. His success rate was sickeningly high, and the only good picture they had of him was from when he was in the SAS. After he dropped out, he fell from all radars except from the line of bodies he left behind. And now he was after Jenny.
As Tony scoured the crowd of smartly dressed people waiting to enter the building, his eyes came into contact with a beautiful woman. There was definitely some amount of Latino in her, her dark hair curling past her shoulders and bouncing lightly as she walked. She noticed Tony's gaze and smiled deeply, her eyes sparkling and inviting. Tony gave her the famous DiNozzo smile back, and nodded to her as she came near the entrance. He now saw that her arm was draped over a man standing next to her. The man was smartly dressed and his mouth was taught and unsmiling. Tony cringed slightly at the bad goatee this man was sporting but smiled anyway, hiding his mild humour at the man's appearance. As the couple past Tony, he looked once again at the woman and he succeeded in locking eyes with her. He smiled, and his eyes let her know his intent to which she reciprocated through her soft expression. She turned from him as she walked into the building and went about mingling with the guests already inside. Tony looked back to the front and went back to looking for the assassin. After this mission was over, he was going to get her number.
Tony, was now violently twitching in his seat as he remembered McGee's panicked voice as he reached Tony through the com. Beads of sweat had now formed on his forehead and his clothes were damp; his body hot and jerking feverishly.
"Tony!"
"What is it, McGee?"
"Ziva has just told me that he's already inside!"
Tony paled, "What? How can he be? We've been here all night."
"He obviously got past us."
"You mean got past you," Tony said icily. "Ok move inside Probie, I'll move in from the front. We are gonna get this guy before he does something he will regret."
Tony entered the building through the entrance he had seen so many people use that night, his hand tightly gripped on his holster. As he entered the great hall he spotted Gibbs in the distance. He'd taken Jenny to the side of the room and, from the looks of it, was failing in trying to convince her not to do her speech. Tony sighed and continued to look over the crowd, trying to identify Ziva. He saw McGee enter the room from the other side and frantically try to do the same thing. Tony was still struggling to pick out Ziva when Jenny stepped up to the stand. Gibbs face was tight and a look of hard worry was plastered all over it. Tony swallowed hard and watched as she lowered her mouth to the microphone.
"Hello and welcome to everyone here," she started off clearly and happily. "Thank you so much for coming today to celebrate with me and the rest of NCIS to congratulate Director General John Trimmer in his retirement." She beamed broadly and Tony finally laid eyes on Ziva. Her eyes were wide as she motioned her head towards the bar. A loud applause rang out as Tony looked over and his mouth went dry as he saw a Latino woman with long dark hair standing at the bar. Her face was pale as she watched the man with her take out a gun. Everybody was too busy clapping and smiling to notice that this man had a gun out and Tony threw himself into the crowd. He saw McGee the other side doing the same thing. As he pushed his way through the mass of tightly packed bodies he looked over his shoulder and saw Gibbs moving quickly towards Jenny, Ziva had obviously got his attention as well. Tony went cold as he heard a gunshot ring over the sound of the applause, and he started pushing people violently to the side in his effort to reach the shooter. More shots rang out as he came near to the bar, but by the time he reached it the man had disappeared. His head jerked from side to side as he tried to locate the shooter. His attention came to a woman collapsed on the floor, her dark hair falling across her face as she lay. Tony knelt down beside her and lifted her head up. A red mark burrowed deep into her chest, and a dark red liquid was seeping into her beautiful dress.
She looked up at Tony and the life faded from her eyes, "I tried to stop him…I'm sorry…"
Tony opened his mouth to reply, but shut it again as he saw her eyes go cold. He laid her back on the floor sorrowfully and looked up in time to see McGee reach the bar.
"Tony? What happened?"
"I don't know; how is the director?"
"I can't see; there are too many people here."
"We need to find him, McGee, you saw what he looked like didn't you?"
"Well yes…"
"Spread out, he's not getting away," Tony said, his voice null of emotion. He's only purpose right at that moment was to find that man.
***
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony relives the events from earlier that day