Gibbs barged through the director’s door, slamming it loudly behind him. Gibbs began to pace. He was so angry about what happened to his senior field agent, and what Ziva and McGee had done, he didn’t know where to begin.
“Gibbs,” Vance greeted coolly from behind his desk. “I heard you shouting in the bullpen. “What’s DiNozzo done wrong now?”
Gibbs stopped his pacing and threw a glare Vance’s way. “DiNozzo has done nothing wrong, besides trust his teammates to have his six.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vance questioned.
“I need my current case reassigned. DiNozzo’s been injured, and I’m his next of kin and medical proxy. I need to be with him at the hospital.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Vance assured him. “Now, you usually don’t request a case be reassigned because one team member’s down. Are there any other problems?”
“McGee and David.”
“Well, they’re both excellent agents,” Vance said. “Whatever the problem is, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is.”
Gibbs took a calming breath and said, “Not as excellent as you might think, and they’re not agents any longer.”
“I think you better explain that,” Vance said pointedly.
Gibbs did. As he finished with the story, he looked at Vance expectantly, believing that he would agree with Gibbs’ actions. He was to be sadly disappointed.
“I can see where the two of them made a mistake, but they both have skills that are of benefit to this agency,” Vance said. “I think you were being hasty in firing them.”
“You want to give them a call and get them back here, feel free, but they’re not gonna be on my team,” Gibbs said heatedly. “You should know, though, despite your personal opinion of DiNozzo, that he’s a highly respected agent in this agency and once word of what David and McGee did gets around, no team will have them.”
As Gibbs headed for the door, he said sarcastically, “By the way, DiNozzo’s gonna be fine. Thanks for asking.”
Once Gibbs left the director’s office, he got in the elevator and went down to Autopsy. He knew Ducky would want to know what happened, and he needed to talk things over with someone before he went back to the hospital to be with his wounded agent. Tony needed his support, not his anger.
Gibbs strode into Autopsy and looked around. Ducky was in his office reading a journal. Palmer seemed to be absent. Ducky saw Gibbs enter the room and joined him in front of one of the autopsy tables.
Ducky could see how angry and upset his friend was, so he asked, “Jethro, what is it?”
“I just fired David and McGee,” Gibbs stated bluntly.
“Why in the world-”
Gibbs stopped his friend’s question with a heated glare. “You know me well enough to know I didn’t do something like that lightly, Duck.”
“You’re right, I do,” Ducky acquiesced. Gibbs’ reason for such drastic action must be very bad, given how adamant Gibbs had been to get Ziva and Timothy back after the director had broken up the team a few years ago. “Start at the beginning and tell me what happened.”
Gibbs headed for Ducky’s office, where his friend kept his liquor and poured himself a drink. The M.E. had a bottle of bourbon there just for him and he badly needed a drink to get through this story. He briefly thought about getting back to Bethesda later, then decided he’d get Ducky to drive him. He was sure the M.E. would want to see Tony anyway. Gibbs quickly downed a shot and poured another. Then he sat down on the chair next to Ducky’s desk as he felt himself calm down slightly from the effects of the alcohol.
Ducky followed his friend into the office and sat in the chair in front of his desk and waited Gibbs out. He couldn’t remember seeing Gibbs this angry and upset before, and he dreaded hearing what Gibbs had to say.
Gibbs took a sip of his bourbon and started to speak. “Tony’s been shot. I just came from the hospital.”
“How is he?” Ducky asked, genuine concern in his voice.
“With time, he’ll be fine,” Gibbs replied softly. “He just got out of surgery. He was sleeping off the anesthesia when I left him. Abby’s sitting with him so he won’t be alone.”
“Where was he shot?” Ducky wanted to know.
Gibbs looked Ducky in the eyes and said, “If you laugh, I swear, I’ll deck you.” After what had happened in the bullpen earlier, Gibbs was in no mood for any more laughter at Tony’s expense, even Ducky’s.
“Why would I laugh about someone getting shot?” Ducky asked. “It certainly is no laughing matter.”
“Ziva and McGee thought it was hilarious,” Gibbs said with disgust, then took another sip of his drink.
Ducky knew Gibbs hadn’t fired Ziva and McGee because they laughed at Tony, so he just looked at Gibbs, waiting for an answer to his question.
Gibbs finally answered, “He was shot in the ass.”
Ducky merely raised his eyebrows. He asked, “What did Ziva and Timothy have to do with it?”
Gibbs quickly explained about the op his agents had been on that day. Ducky nodded his understanding. He had been at the radio station himself that and had worked on the bodies later.
Gibbs continued, “DiNozzo called me for help. He told me he’d been shot and had called out to McGee and Ziva on his hidden mike, but they didn’t come. I guess he was afraid something had happened to them too, so he called me with his cell phone.”
“Why didn’t you call one of them?” Ducky questioned.
“I stayed on the phone with Tony until I reached him,” Gibbs explained. “I didn’t know what was going on. The shooter could still have been a threat, so I couldn’t just send an ambulance out there. And he was hurt, so I kept him talking on the phone. When I found him he was hiding in some bushes. I used his mike to call for David and McGee myself because DiNozzo’s voice was pretty hoarse from talking to people all day, so I thought maybe they hadn’t heard him. They still didn’t come, so I called Ziva on my cell and told her our location. It took them less than two minutes to reach us. They weren’t very far away.”
Gibbs continued, “I called an ambulance and had McGee and Ziva work the scene and check around for witnesses, but by the time I got to Tony, I’m sure the shooter was long gone. I didn’t get a chance to ask Ziva and McGee about what happened until I got back here just a little while ago.”
“So the microphone wasn’t working?” Ducky cut in.
Gibbs glanced at his friend. “The mike was working fine. Abby and I were listening to it on and off through the day. Unfortunately, neither of us was listening when Tony needed help. Besides, even if the mike wasn’t working, McGee and Ziva should have noticed that and tracked Tony down to give him a new one.”
“So why didn’t they hear him then?” Ducky asked.
Gibbs finished his drink in one gulp, then replied, “They turned the sound off.”
“Why in the world would they do something like that?” Ducky asked incredulously.
“According to them, they were tired of listening to his voice,” Gibbs replied, disgust for his former agents clear in his voice.
“Jethro, I can see why you fired them,” Ducky said. “As distressing as it is for me to hear that people I thought of as friends behaving in such a manner, I think you did the right thing. You’re job is a dangerous one and leaving anyone out in the field without backup is unacceptable.”
“I’m glad someone agrees with me,” Gibbs stated dryly. He didn’t want to get started on how the director had reacted with Ducky right now, so he didn’t bring it up.
“What do you think happened out there?” Ducky asked. “Do you think Anthony’s cover was blown?”
“I’m not sure until I can talk to Tony,” Gibbs said as he wiped a hand tiredly down his face. “Maybe he made contact with our killer or killers and they got suspicious, or maybe someone just didn’t like the idea of an Italian moving into the neighborhood. We may never know who did it or why.”
Ducky observed, “Maybe someone really tried to kill him and they’re a bad shot or they could have just been sending a message.”
“We may never know that either,” Gibbs replied. They were silent a few minutes, each thinking their own thoughts. Finally Gibbs said, “I need to get back to the hospital to talk to Abby and see if Tony’s awake yet.” He actually felt somewhat better after his talk with Ducky.
“I don’t think you should drive after drinking those two shots,” Ducky observed.
“Can you give me a ride?” Gibbs asked. “If not, I can call a cab.”
Ducky replied, “Certainly, I can, Jethro. Just let me get my coat.”
TBC
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