NCIS 1. Chapter 1

I AM REPOSTING THE STORY BECAUSE I THINK WITH THE HOLIDAYS IT MAY HAVE GOTTEN LOST IN THE SHUFFLE. PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! THANKS EVERYONE!

HONOR FEW, FEAR NONE

Chapter 1

*This will be the first of series of stories that I want to write. The time line starts while Jenny is still healthy and the director of NCIS.*

"Gibbs are you here?" Abby called out as she spun around looking around for him. Just when she was certain that she was alone she felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped with a little shriek and tripped over her stool.

"Whoo Abby!" He grabbed her by the arms and stood her upright until she got her balance back.

"I think you need to lay off the Caf-Pows today!" He laughed freely at the expression on her face.

"Gibbs! How do you do that? You're like some kind of ghost or something!" Abby gestured wildly.

"What have you got for me, Abs?" He got straight to the point before Abby could go off on one of her tangents.

"Well thanks to all of my babies here I have got that break you have been looking for!" She turned to the large monitor on the wall.

"So you found some DNA that was usable?" He asked her. Every day he thanked GOD for Abby; the way she could pull a forensic rabbit out of a hat amazed him.

"Of course I did! When I am here in the Land of Labby, no speck of blood can hide from me!" She pronounced with a great deal of pride in her beaming smile.

"It is a match for a Jake Hanson. He's in the system because of his naughty behavior; he served seven years for assault and battery."

"I need you to get me an address..." He started to tell her.

"Gibbs! You should know me better by now!" She admonished him as she handed him a small piece of paper. "I already emailed the others."

"You're still my favorite" He signed to her with his long fingers.

He walked to the elevator and started going over in his head exactly what they knew about the case thus far. A Marine had been murdered that in itself was obvious due the fact that his body was riddled with bullet wounds. What had been throwing them off was the fact that he seemingly had no enemies, no real friends either, no reason for anyone to want him dead. That of course only meant that they didn't know yet why anyone would prefer him six feet under.

What he was bothering him the most was the feeling in his gut; that there was a real sense of urgency in finding whom was responsible. It didn't make any sense if this was as it appeared to be, a crime of passion due to the overkill involved. The possibilities flying around in his head ranged from ridiculous to frightening.

Corporal Eric Clancy had been assigned to keep inventory of ammunitions and the weapons that fired them which meant that there could be some smuggling of weapons to either foreign or homegrown terrorists. That angle concerned him but there was something more and he wasn't going to rest until they figured out what that was.

Walking out of the elevator doors he stopped first at Ziva's desk. The Israeli Officer was on the phone speaking rapidly in one of the many languages other than English that the woman spoke.

"Ziva, are you getting anywhere with your contacts?"

Holding her hand over the receiver she responded. "He's actually a contact of one of my contacts, however I seem to be having some difficulty in getting him to trust me..."

She was not always known for her diplomacy, which was usually to her preference. However in times like these she wished that one of her short comings wasn't patience. She was confident in what she was raised and trained to be, a spy and when necessary a skilled assassin; it was her ability as a Special Agent that sometimes left her feeling a little insecure.

"Alright, then you stay here and keep working on it. We need to find out if there is some connection between Corporal Clancy and any known terrorist cells operating in the area; it's our only possible lead at the moment." Gibbs turned and started walking again towards the elevator.

"DiNozzo, McGee gear up...let's pay Mr. Hanson a visit..." He didn't even bother to turn around, knowing they would be on his heels momentarily.

"Who's Hanson Boss?" Timothy McGee was the first to speak up.

"The only suspect that we have..." His Boss answered cryptically.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Honor few fear none

"You know you that we have to get another contact, right?" A petite woman asked the taller man to her right.

"It wasn't that hard to find him, another one will come along." The man shrugged.

"It isn't just 'another one'! Come on you can't just pick one out of the yellow pages! It isn't every day that you can find a Marine that's willing to take a bribe!" She scowled at him.

She sat down on the couch which was located in the small but tidy three room apartment; for a weapons dealer her co-conspirator didn't show his wealth off for everyone to see. When she had come back here to meet him three days earlier, only then did she learn what he had done. Since then she was desperately trying to figure out her next move; everyone had been on high alert; their buyer was getting anxious and they were all on borrowed time.

"Are you questioning my judgment?" He stepped towards her with anger flashing in his eyes.

"Hey! Calm down, alright...I'm just saying that this made things a lot harder on us. I know that you did what you had to do, right?" She back peddled not wanting to enrage him anymore that she already had.

"That's right! He turned yellow on us! He was going to the Feds and blow our whole operation! I caught him copying some files!" Jake Hanson knew that he was already in deep with his Bosses and he didn't need this Goth chick telling him what he already knew.

She knew that he barely trusted her as it stood now; he had a few issues with women in general. She contemplated what she was going to have to do to keep on his good side; she had done her homework and knew that it was dangerous to be on his bad side.

She got a temporary reprieve when the door bell rang. Hanson walked over to the door to see who it was; and saw the badge being held up at the door. He glanced around the room to see if he had left anything incriminating out for them to see; he didn't want to refuse them entry. If they had a warrant it would have been the first thing the Fed yelled at him instead just showing ID.

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs." Pointing at the others he continued. "This is Special Agents DiNozzo and McGee we're with NCIS."

"What can I do for you?" Hanson replied politely; while his stare held a different attitude. "What's NCIS?"

Walking inside the agents did a once over themselves hoping to see something that would allow them to take this dirt bag directly into custody. The DNA was helpful but it wasn't enough to place him under arrest; it was found on the victim but it had been documented that he had been in a bar room brawl a few days earlier. Hanson could easily argue that it was simply from that altercation.

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service." McGee responded.

"We have a few questions." DiNozzo stepped up beside his Boss.

"About what?" Hanson inquired.

"We would like for you to come with us down to our office." Gibbs held his stare at the unshaven man in front of him; he took a quick glance behind him and saw a woman coming toward them.

"Am I under arrest?" Jake was still attempting to hide his contempt.

"Not yet...:" DiNozzo began to explain.

"Then he isn't going anywhere!" A woman who appeared to be in her 30's walked over to where they were standing. She was petite, only about 5'5 with out her motorcycle boots and in great shape; her leather pants were form fitting and hugged her curves in all the right places; along with the low cut leather vest that showed off her cleavage.

"Miss?" Agent Gibbs asked hoping she would reveal her identity.

"What you want to question 'me' now? Just because I am standing here?" She lashed back at the agent in charge, while taking a step or two towards him.

"It's a simple question...I liked to know who I am addressing." Gibbs held his ground and kept eye contact with her. Staring at her he thought that there was something familiar about her but couldn't place it.

"Well I guess you'll snoop around and find out anyway...that's what Pigs do best isn't it?" The woman snarled back at him. She knew his name, who he was and was counting her blessings. This could be the answer to her dilemma.

The agents continued to wait for an answer from the irate female; their discomfort was becoming obvious. She was angry out of the chute for no rhyme or reason; in any case the situation was breaking down quickly.

"It's like she said, I don't have to go anywhere with you. So why don't you get to the point? What would you care to ask me?" Hanson asked again, now with more confidence. She might be a real pain in the ass but at this moment she was doing him a favor.

DiNozzo stepped up more beside the man in a stance meant to intimidate the suspect which wasn't unnoticed by the still unnamed woman. "You never did tell us your name...Madam..."

She stood toe to toe with him, staring up into his face showing no signs of intimidation. Her body language was stiff and she was deliberately moving up into his personal space; her arm cocked back with her hand tightening into a closed fist.

"Does it look like I run a Whore House?" Her blue green eyes were fierce and seemed to be boring right through him. It reminded him of the stare that Gibbs would shoot him, sometimes several times a day.

"What?" Tony asked, clearly even more confused.

While DiNozzo was 'entertaining' the mystery woman Gibbs turned back towards their main goal. He wasn't about to let either one of them to take control of the conversation from him or his team. Agent McGee was taking on the security role; surveying the room for any other threats, while managing to keep a watchful eye on his teammates.

"Do you recognize this man?" He held the photograph up in the man's face trying to gauge both his reaction to it and to push him into doing something stupid, so he could take him into custody right now.

"No, why should I?" Jake replied.

"Do you get into many fights, Mr. Hanson?" Gibbs asked just waiting for the idiot to step out of line.

"What the Hell does that matter?" The younger man was slowly losing his patience with Federal Agent.

"It must be quite a few if you can't even remember him. You broke a pool cue over his head..." Gibbs goaded him.

"Oh yeah, that's right! How could I forget? Well, we both had a little too much to drink that night. After the bartender threw us both out, we had a long talk and hashed it all out." Hanson was hoping that the silver haired man was stupid enough to believe his story but looking at him he doubted it.

"Get your hands off of me!" The woman screamed at Tony whose hands were held up in the 'what the hell just happened' position.

"You think that just because you're a cop that you can go around feeling up any woman you want to?" Her hands right up in his face.

McGee watched it all unfold and saw that Tony hadn't come close to doing any inappropriate to this strange, volatile woman. Her rampage came out of no where; leading him to believe that she was simply crazy as a Loon.

Hanson flipped around to see what his partner was throwing a fit over; since he didn't have eyes in the back of his head he didn't have a clue as to what was going on. She was flailing her arms and giving the agent some rude gestures; even he knew better than to tick her off. He had seen her freak out on guys in the bar who would harass her.

"Ally, come on just calm down..." Before he could even finish his sentence he saw her fist pull back and in an instant her knuckles met with the right cheek bone of Special Agent DiNozzo; knocking him on his ass.

In a split second the agents' agenda changed. McGee charged forward to defend his partner as Gibbs came in from the right to block Hanson from trying to come to her aid; with Tony finally composing himself enough to help Tim wrestle her into a set of handcuffs.

Hanson stood there in awe of the strength that such a slender, short woman could dish out. The Feds were having a difficult time getting her in their custody. At first he was confused at to what kind of stunt she was pulling, until it occurred to him that she was safeguarding the operation; which means he was going to have to play it cool. They were running out of time and he couldn't afford to get caught up in anything right now.

Gibbs altered his attention from their formally only suspect to the ranting, nut case that just decked Tony. He watched the other man's face and could see that he wasn't even entertaining the idea of defending her; which worried him a little. It was obvious to him that she was simply providing a distraction.

"You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent..." McGee read off her rights as they lead her out of the apartment.

"Do yourself a favor Mr. Hanson...I still have some questions for you...so don't leave town or anything." Jethro left him with the warning, knowing full well that he wasn't going to leave it to chance; there would be agents on this scum bag full time making certain he wouldn't take a single step towards fleeing to go anywhere.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

On the way back to NCIS Headquarters Tony kept rubbing his cheek sitting in the front passenger seat; Gibbs was driving and McGee sat in the back with the prisoner. She was stoic, simply staring straight ahead not saying a single word; which was a far cry from the spectacle they had just witnessed back at the apartment.

Jethro glanced over at his Senior Field Agent noticed that his face was still flushed; he wasn't sure if that was only rage or mixed with embarrassment. He knew Tony well and was sure that being taken down by a woman was something that would not sit well with him. If he was in a similar situation it wouldn't have sat well with him either.

"You OK, DiNozzzo?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah Boss...You know I didn't do anything to her, right?" Tony looked over at Gibbs.

"Tony...do you even have to ask?" The older man responded without taking his eyes off the road. DiNozzo had his issues with maturity at times but he would never outright assault any woman at any time much less during an investigation.

"That's what I thought Boss, thanks." Tony sighed; the last thing he would ever want is for his mentor to think less of him.

The rest of the drive went quickly and the prisoner was dropped off at holding; her finger prints were taken as well as a DNA swab since she refused to give her name to identify herself.

Ziva had been waiting for them in holding; Tony had emailed her telling her to begin tracing the vehicles that had been sitting in the driveway at the Hanson's apartment. She had sensed an odd tone in her partner's voice; making her very curious as to what had happened.

"Tony, who did you pee off now?" She chided as she lifted her hand towards his cheekbone.

"It's 'piss off', Ziva..." McGee interjected from behind him; which was met with a stare of daggers from DiNozzo.

"I didn't do anything...I swear!" Tony brought his hands up to express his exasperation.

"Ziva, did you find anything to ID the Jane Doe we just handed over for processing?" Gibbs inquired all while smiling on the inside listening to his team banter back and forth.

"The motorcycle and car are both registered to Jake Hanson and he is the only one on the lease for the apartment." She informed him.

"The three of you figure out what Hanson is up to and how he ties in with Jane Doe." Gibbs turned and briskly walked away.

Walking to the elevator it was something was still bugging Gibbs; he knew that he had seen her somewhere before or at least a picture of her. The million dollar question was where? He was headed for Abby's Lab to drop off the finger prints and DNA swab to get her working on finding out who this woman was.

"Abs, I need you to do your magic on these..." He asked of the young forensic scientist as he strolled into her kingdom.

"What have you brought me now?" She asked her own question all while looking for another Caf-Pow.

"You get another one when you tell me her name." He told her with a stern look on his face, which was betrayed by his smiling eyes. Gibbs was never able to pull off his gruffness with her.

"She is a suspect?" Abby was already busy setting up the tests she needed to comply with his wishes.

"I'm not sure yet; right now we are charging her with assault. She sucker punched DiNozzo..." He paused, ready to calm her down and he didn't have to wait long.

"Tony! She hurt Tony! Is he alright?" Abby was off to the races.

"Relax Abby! He's fine! Other than his cheek the only thing wounded is his pride." Gibbs reflexively smiled at her. Abby was mother hen of sorts when it came to anyone in her extended family.

After reassuring her a few more times he turned and exited the lab and headed towards interrogation where she would have been escorted. "She might think she is a tough one but once I get a hold of her..." He thought to himself. One of the many skills that Gibbs possessed was the ability to make even the most macho tough guy to break down; not with physical force but with sheer intimidation.

Standing outside looking through one way window Gibbs stared at his suspect with curiosity. He had expected her to at least be fidgeting around in her seat; showing some signs of nervousness. To the contrary she was sitting back in the chair with her feet propped up on the table as if she were at home watching a movie.

He opened the door and barked an order, while shoving her small feet off of the table top. "You can do whatever you want in your home but not in my house!"

Without skipping a beat or taking her eyes off of his own she slowly sat straight up as she unlmnaced her fingers from behind her head. Then turned facing the table and leaned over resting her elbows on the stainless steel table and stared him down with such intensity that a lesser man might have been unnerved.

He in return never took his eyes off of hers; making it perfectly clear that he wasn't intimidated in the least. In those same few moments he took in her physical appearance which wasn't exactly hard to look at. Her hair was long, thick and a dyed jet black; pulled into a long ponytail tied at the base of her neck with bangs that framed her high cheek bones. The paleness of her skin had an earthy undertone to it; her eyes a brilliant mosaic of turquoise greens and blues, framed by long, thick, silky black eyelashes. The only thing unattractive was the amount of 'war paint' that outlined her eyes and lips.

His cell rang; he glanced down and read he Caller ID; it was from Abby. "Gibbs."

"I have a match on the finger prints. They belong to an Alison Malcolm, 33 years old and living in Georgetown. Her record shows charges filed 2003 for assault and battery but they were later dropped when the complaining witness never showed up for the trial." She rattled off a few other less interesting things about the woman.

"Thanks Abs. When you have the other results, let DiNozzo know. I'm in interrogation." He responded as he hung up the phone and turned it off; nothing was going to interrupt him in his quest.

"Alright Ms. Malcolm are you ready to start talking to me?" Jethro threw his information in her face, watching for her reaction.

"Nice work Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs; so now you know my name. What exactly would you like to talk about?" She asked him; all while maintaining her steady gaze.

He managed to hide his shock at her using his full name; there were very few places that even listed his given name. "How about what you and your boyfriend's hobbies are..."

As the three other team members arrived at their desks they split up; their mission to find out who the mystery slugger was and whether or not she was an accomplice in the murder of Corporal Clancy.

Ziva was about to join her other colleagues in their endeavor when her cell phone rang. "David...oh yes, thank you for returning my call..." She walked away from her desk rattling off in a foreign language.

The picture of the unidentified Doe was brought up on the large screen positioned in the center of the hub of desks. It was a blown up version of her Driver's License photograph.

"I could have taken her you know..." Tony remarked under his breath.

"Please Tony...Did you see her biceps? They're bigger than yours!" Tim giggled knowing ahead of time what was going to happen; so he braced himself for the head slap that followed.

"Probie! I would never hit a woman and that is the only reason that she's in one piece!" Rubbing his cheek again he continued. "Besides it wasn't exactly fair it was a sucker punch!"

"And you were the sucker..." Tim muttered under his breath when he was sure Tony was far enough away not to hear the comment.

Ziva hung up the phone and placed it in her pocket; as she turning the direction of her desk she nearly collided with Director Shepard. "Oh Jenny, I'm sorry!"

"That's alright Ziva I was just coming back from another mind numbing meeting with some of Washington's finest Bull Shitters." She giggled seeing the confused look come across the younger woman's face.

"Who?"

"Politicians, Ziva. They tend to be very good at misdirecting when you want a straight answer." Jenny tried to explain.

"So some woman clocked DiNozzo? I'll bet that isn't the first time that's ever happened!" The Boss's Boss laughed softly.

"How did you know that already?" Ziva look surprised.

"Good news travels quickly..." Jenny shot her a brilliant smile.

The two walked the short distance back to the others and the first thing they both laid eyes on was the state sponsored portrait on the flat screen. They both glanced at each other and back at the screen; with the same thing occurring to both of them. Could it really be her?

Without saying a word to either of the men in front of them Ziva and Jenny took off for the elevator. Neither one of them wanted to miss out on the scene that was about to unfold between Gibbs and the mystery lady; well that is a 'mystery' to everyone but them.

"What was that all about all?" McGee wondered out loud.

"That is a very good question Probie..." Tony was debating on testing fate and following them to their destination.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tim and Tony stood there for another minute or two trying to figure out what had just happened. The Director and Ziva had simply turned on their heels and walked away without a word to anyone. Had they recognized the woman in the photo?

"This is very creepy, like some of the novels you've written McMystery." DiNozzo said glancing back at the younger agent.

"Tony..." Tim's response was interrupted by his desk phone ringing. He picked the receiver and pulled it away as if it had just burned him.

"Abby! Turn down the music!" He shouted back in the handset.

"McGee! You gotta tell Gibbs!" She screamed back excitedly.

"Tell him what Abby?" Tim asked patiently.

"I was wrong! She's not really that person! Well, I wasn't wrong...I mean I was right. The fingerprints matched for a reason, it's wasn't like I could possibly know that the DNA wouldn't match! Well actually that did match too...sort of..." The Mistress of the Dark stammered on and on.

"Abby you need to cut down on the caffeine!" Tim shouted back trying to maintain the level of his voice.

"Just get down here McGee!" She yelled back before severing their connection.

On their way down to forensics both of the agents were quite anxious and excited to see what their Goth colleague had found out; a rule of thumb with Abby Scuito was that the louder and more frantic she was the better information.

"Alright! Now, what is so important Abby?" Tony chided her; the last thing he wanted to do was interrupt Gibbs in interrogation.

"When I ran her fingerprints this is what came up in the system." She split her monitor screen and the picture on the right half of it showed the Driver's License of Allison Malcolm.

"Abs! You already sent us this in your email! I'm not interrupting Gibbs in interrogation for this ..." Tony admonished her.

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!" She interrupted him; while standing in one place doing jumping jacks.

Tim walked over and put his hands on both of her arms, planting her feet on the ground. "Abby! What's wrong with you?" He was actually a little worried because she was more ramped up than usual.

That's what came up with her fingerprints." She removed McGee's hands and walked over to her computer and then her long fingers danced on her keyboard. "This is what came up when I ran her DNA..."

With a few more graceful strokes a second picture came up onto the left section of the screen; it was the same woman but her attire was completely different. Instead of the clingy low cut shirt she wore in the picture to the right; she was in a Marine Officers uniform.

"Meet Major Angela Swift Hawk, Naval Intelligence..." She beamed proudly with her arms spread wide open. The burning question in Abby's racing mind was that this woman seemed familiar to her but she couldn't begin to remember how she could possibly know her.

"Oh, this I gotta see..." Tony could no longer resist and dashed out the door with his two colleagues in tow.

Jenny and Ziva walked into the viewing room just outside of interrogation; with a two way mirror they could see into the stark white room but the individuals inside couldn't see them. It only took a moment or two for both of the friends to confirm what they had suspected; Gibbs was interrogating a fellow Marine.

"Why doesn't she just tell him who she is?" Ziva asked in puzzlement.

"Because screwing with him is too much fun..." Jenny replied never taking her eyes off of the two inside. She was trying not to gloat a little, seeing as how he didn't seem to have a clue. Where was that famous gut intuition?

It had been several minutes and so far the proverbial chess game was at a standstill. Neither side had continued any verbal conversation; they just kept staring into each other's eyes playing a unique version of 'Chicken'.

"So Gunny, are you still trying to recall where you have seen me before?" She let an almost undetectable smile cross her full lips.

This time he could no longer hide the look of shock and concern flew across his broad face. "Excuse me?"

"That is what you have been trying to do, right? I mean other than trying to figure out all my dirty little secrets." She answered with a poker face.

Jethro was being thrown for a real loop with this woman. How would a run of the mill biker chick know his full name, that he was a Marine; much less a Gunnery Sgt.?

It was only then that he really peered into her eyes and saw what he didn't expect; kinship. He believed in the adage that the eyes were the mirror to the soul and apparently she was no exception to the rule; this only confused him all the more.

"If it helps you out any, this isn't my usual 'look'..." She stopped in mid-sentence and slowly turned her head, facing it towards the invisible viewing room.

"You might want to hear what they have to say..."

"What are you talking about?" Gibbs asked of her.

"Some of your people apparently have something they feel is important to tell you..." She nodded towards the wall. It was just as well; she had toyed with him long enough.

He stood up rapidly trying to maintain his dignity, while walking out of the room in question.

This mystery was becoming more and more frustrating for him; his stellar

record in interrogations was in his mind slipping away.

"Director...Officer David, what can I do for you?" He glared at them for interrupting him; even if it was indirectly.

"Oh nothing critical Jethro...we just thought that maybe you would like know the identity of your suspect..." Jenny flashed him the smile that had been the final straw that landed her in his bed once upon a time.

Ziva simply looked on; not entirely comfortable with her role in this malay. She didn't have the same history with him like Jenny did, plus he was her superior. She felt a little torn between the two of them.

"Of all the bad guys in the sea...you've reeled in one of the 'white hats'..." She paused for a few seconds to let some of it sink in.

"Her name is Major Angela Swift Hawk; she's with Naval Intelligence." Ziva finally spoke up; watching for her mentor's reaction.

Before Ziva had finished her explanation the light bulb had already gone off in his mind. He felt like slapping himself on the back of the head for missing it before. How could he have forgotten?

He had several flashing memories surge through his mind, like an old time picture show. The first was his best friend holding up an ornately framed photo of Angela and her husband.

"Wasn't she a beautiful bride Jethro? You know Tom's a Marine too..."

That one was followed by the image of Ducky sobbing as he held him close; as they watched the television for updates and coverage on the day that the world stopped turning.

"She's there, Jethro... Oh Lord, somewhere among those piles she's there. I tried calling her but I can't even get through on a satellite phone..."

The next one had taken place later in the day; every federal agency was on alert and all other cases dropped as everyone tried to piece it all together.

"They're both missing...I don't know what she's going to do! She said everyone going to be working double and triple shifts! I know she's in shock! I wish I could be there for her! She is trying to get out of the city but it is complete chaos ….."

"Jethro, I have to go help search for them. I have to find my littlest angel..."

The final one had only occurred less than a year ago. Once again Ducky had been brought to tears with the same nightmare threatening to come to bear. He had already been worried for months, the way everyone does when their loved one is working in the middle of a combat zone.

Gibbs had made a deal with an old Marine buddy; should anything happen to her he would be notified before any representative from the corps would contact his dear friend. So when that day did come Jethro went to Ducky and told him the grim news.

"Duck...her unit was ambushed. There was a road side I.E.D.; they were pinned down. She was severely wounded..."

In each of those times Ducky had clung to one or more photos of his beloved angels. The last clue that she had given him in interrogation should have triggered his recollection; her 'look' as she had put it was dramatically different than the woman that up until today he had only seen in pictures.

The biggest difference that struck him was her hair. It was temporarily dyed a deep, coal black in contrast in all of the photographs he had ever seen. Normally it would be various shades of brunette blended with vivid reds and ambers. In any case he was struck by her distinct beauty and realized that the printed images didn't do her justice.

"Just how long have you two known this?" He asked, feeling quite foolish.

"Only a few minutes...we saw her picture on the plasma screen in the bull pen..." Ziva answered almost timidly.

Nodding his head slightly, he slowly turned towards the observation window trying to figure a more graceful exit from the situation. Then he quickly turned back to the two women; there was an inflection in her answer that raised other questions in his mind.

"You recognized her?"

Before either one of them could answer him a strange sound echoed in the room. They looked around for a moment or two before realizing it wasn't any of their cell phones; it was coming from behind Gibbs. He spun around towards the window; the Major was standing there with her finger tapping on the glass.

There was no physical way that she could have seen whether or not her communication had been observed; yet somehow she knew. The woman stood back a couple of feet and then began communicating without words.

"If I promise to be a good girl...may I come out and play?" She fluently signed to him.

Without intending to Gibbs let out a uninhibited chuckle. In her physical attire and now in her actions she reminded him of his forensic scientist. There was one fact that he had remembered once his memory had been jogged; her late husband had been wounded in Desert Storm and had lost his hearing.

Taking a few steps to the left he opened the door and gave her the invitation that she was waiting for. As she emerged from the small room she watched him closely before she scanned around the room; her eyes landing on Ziva and Jenny.

They widen in surprise as she focused on them. Ziva moved towards her and with a kiss on each cheek responded with, "Shalom."

"Shalom." Hawk responded returning the traditional greeting.

Jenny then took her turn in acknowledging her friend; embracing her in a warm, tight hug. As she released her grip she asked. "Does your new hobby entail laying out all federal agents or just the ones that work for me?"

"So, now it's Director Sheperd? I must say Jenny, I am impressed!" Hawk matched her smile in return.

"How exactly do the three of you know each other?" Jethro's curiosity was getting the better of him.

"We worked a few Ops together after 9/11..." Jenny began to elaborate.

Gibbs was subtly watching his fellow Marine's face as the Director spoke the words describing their first meeting. His trained blue eyes caught the haunting pain that flashed across her irises when Jenny mentioned the events that he knew forever changed her life; that was some of the kinship that he had sensed a few minutes ago. Jethro himself was all too familiar with that kind of agony.

Ziva opened her mouth to give more details to one of the few people that she truly trusted with her life. "We worked together in Cairo..."

The door flung open and DiNozzo and company piled in like characters in one of the movies that he loved so much; their faces aglow with delight.

"Hey Boss! She was wrong..." Glancing sideways he caught the scientist's dark glare at him.

"Wrong? I was NOT wrong!" She said so loudly that Tony winced. "I told Gibbs what the fingerprints told me! I was the one who ran the DNA test and figured it out, Tony!" It was only then that any of the three had noticed the woman in question was standing in the same room.

"You must be Abby..." Hawk spoke up and causally walked to the much taller woman; especially since she had her three inch heeled boots on.

"Yup, that's me!" Abby replied; studying the Marine in front of her. At first she answered with her usual joyous tone but then remembered what she did to DiNozzo.

"You might be undercover...but that didn't give you the right to hit Tony!" The raven haired woman shouted; all while posturing, invading the other woman's personal space.

"Abby..." McGee was standing directly behind her and whispered under his breath trying to calm down his best friend; even though he knew it would be in vain.

Abby stayed her ground and glared down at the woman who had assaulted one of her family members; no matter what the reason it was simply unacceptable. The fact that she was a Marine meant nothing to Abby; besides if it was truly necessary she would engage her secret weapon and sick Gibbs on her.

Taking no offense to the younger woman's protective instincts she held her gaze, allowing Abby to get a read on her. Her native senses told her that although this woman might be a scientist, there was a spiritual side to her as well.

"I had no intention of hitting him at all, Miss Scuito..." She offered to give an explanation.

"What?" Abby had indeed taken the time to get a feel for what made the Major tick, so to speak. The vibe she had taken away from that brief encounter was already beginning to sway her anger.

"In fact I didn't think for one second that he was actually going to let me him!" Hawk responded to her question.

"What do you mean 'let' you hit me?" DiNozzo could no longer contain himself.

"Well since I choreographed the entire encounter...I assumed that you would duck when I threw the punch..." She gestured with her arms while making her case.

Running the risk of having to endure another head slap McGee interjected. "She's right Tony. She really did give off a whole lot of clues before she swung at you..."

"What clues?" Ziva had regained her voice; she knew her partner well and chances were that he had underestimated her fellow marksman from the beginning. It was never his conscious intention but he like a lot of men would have automatically looked at a woman of her stature assumed that she was no real threat.

"Show me!" Abby interrupted. As she glanced at Ziva; believing that she was coinciding with the same line of logic.

"First I moved up into his personal space...my arm was cocked back and my hand was clenched into a fist the entire time..." Hawk came in towards Abby and began to demonstrate and describe what had occurred in the moments before she had thrown her punch at DiNozzo; minus the verbal assault.

Meanwhile Jenny and Jethro leaned back against the wall and watched the spectacle unfold before their eyes. They looked on as the female Marine toned the chronically hyper scientist down one notch at a time; which was in itself quite a feat.

"She was with the both of you in Cairo?" Gibbs turned to Jenny recalling the first days that he had met the Israeli Officer.

"Yes, on the mission that we discussed before..." Jen stared up into her former lover's eyes and saw once again his true feelings. When she had told him of her brush with death the first time the same grief passed over his face. What she had not known before was how deep his pain went and how the thought of her meeting a similar fate as his original family twisted him up inside.

"NCIS was doing a joint operation with Mossad. We had no idea that Naval Intelligence was doing a parallel investigation at the same time. We were in an open parking garage on the second floor from the top. I was caught in a cross fire position, when Ziva repelled down from the floor above and took the two assassins out."

Gibbs kept silent as he took in the full story about what had happened a few years ago. One of the main reasons he had taken the risk of trusting Ziva had been based on the knowledge of her loyalty to Jenny; the rest of it had been his own gut's intuition.

His emotions when it came to the newest Director of NCIS were to say the least complicated. Although he would never admit it to another soul part of him was still in love with her and always would be. The majority of his heart realized that any kind of romantic relationship would never work out between them under the best of circumstances but there were times like these when he fought against his better instincts. The image of her dead in a foreign land made his skin crawl.

"What neither of us knew is that there was a third man hiding in the garage. He came up from behind her and she never would have had the chance to turn and aim before he shot her in the back. Apparently Hawk was tailing this other assailant at a distance by watching him from a adjacent building." Jen concluded.

"What was the distance of the kill shot?" Gibbs asked. His own sniper skills were virtually unmatched; even by those in the following generation of Marines.

"I don't remember for certain...I think it was something like 1,150 meters at a 45 degree angle..." Jenny thought about loud as she tried to recall the finer details of the shooting.

"Actually it was 1,170 meters..." Hawk remarked not even turning away from her audience as she finished up her reenactment.

Gibbs allowed himself a broad grin; which Jenny didn't catch as she turned her attention back to their friend. He had long ago studied her file as a matter of curiosity. Her abilities as a marksman as well as other skill sets would have easily qualified her to be assigned to a Sniper team if she wasn't held back by one minor detail; females in the U.S. Armed Services were not technically allowed in direct combat units.

Although he was admittedly timid about the idea of women in infantry units more recent years in the service had taught him not to discount the idea. Since the most recent wars he had stayed in the loop so to speak and knew that females were crucial to get the job done; this came from fellow colleagues who had been and were currently deployed. Qualified women were 'attached' instead of assigned to combat units and were performing the same duties with equal success of their male counterparts.

The information in her docket also illuminated the many other skills that she surpassed expectations in; working with Haz-Mat units and flying as a combat chopper pilot. She had served in several campaigns over the years; including of course the most recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Post 9/11 she had been transferred to Marine Intelligence; partly because of her linguistic abilities.

When she wasn't deployed in either of the newest conflicts she was assigned to Naval Intelligence and had been working in a unit becoming a Jack of all Trades. Whether it was interpreting, performing interrogations or field work; she excelled at them all. During the years since the attacks she hadn't been shy about volunteering for high risk assignments either.

Gibbs knew the syndrome well; since losing his family he had also spent the years pushing the limits of his physical safety. It wasn't that he was suicidal because he didn't want to leave this life just yet and he suspected neither did she. In any case he would be honored to serve under her command during any of his service hours with the Marine corp; since he was still a Reservist.

He was brought out of his own thoughts by the continuing debate over Tony's role in receiving his own swollen cheek; everyone had come to be in agreement. He nudged Jen slightly and silently voiced his opinion that they should soon step in and focus the team; which she returned with a nod.

Abby spun around to face her good friend. "She's right Tony...you should have seen it coming..."

"Abby!" Tony exclaimed with a hurt look on his face.

"Tony, you know that I love you but her body language was very clear..." She threw her arms around him in a typical Abby embrace; comforting her friend.

"You must remember Tony that in this case size doesn't matter. What would have happened if instead of her fist she had been concealing a weapon?" Ziva calmly interjected; that was one of the first American idioms that she had learned since starting with NCIS.

"I would have known that! I mean I...I..." DiNozzo was trying to make up some kind of excuse to get himself off the hot seat but in reality he knew that everything they were saying was unfortunately true.

"Alright, if everyone is finished beating DiNozzo over the head we still have a lot of work to do..." Jethro didn't have to raise his voice or make a dramatic gesture to get his point across.

"On it Boss!" McGee, DiNozzo said in unison. They scurried out of the room but Abby stayed planted where she was standing. Her eyes didn't leave Hawk's face for several moments.

"Is there something else Abs?" Gibbs looked at her curiously. What exactly was on that mind of hers?

"I think I know you from somewhere...no I KNOW that I do..." Her fast paced mind was frantically searching for the answer that had plagued her for a couple of hours. She was confused when for a split second her brain flashed to a memory years ago of Duck Man smiling from ear to ear; then flashed to the conversation she had with him.

"Who is this Ducky? She's gorgeous! Oh, and this little girl is so sweet!" She ran her fingers over two beautifully designed picture frames which were some of the only personal effects he had on his desk in autopsy.

One photo was of Ducky in a tuxedo and a mystery woman who was dressed in a whimsical white wedding dress; love of the purest form and pride beamed from his broad face but younger face. The other was of a small red haired girl in pigtails; wearing a bright blue jumpsuit, with a partially toothless grin.

"These are my angels..." The Scotsman grinned.

"Oh my GOD! Oh my GOD! Oh my GOD!" She began to jump up and down as if she won the lottery.

"Ducky talks about you all the time!" She blessed the other woman with one of her original Abby smiles.

"That's nice to know!" She grinned at her in return.

"Abs...Don't you have some work to do..." Gibbs asked her firmly but politely; trying to head off a long drawn out Abby interrogation.

"Right...this can wait..." She was actually glad for the 'out' because now the memories that were coming to her were tragic and sad; her eyes slightly misted with tears just thinking about it. Abby turned on her high heeled boots and headed back to the Land of Labby.

With his team scattered and doing what they did best Jethro didn't have to be mind reader to know that there was one place in particular that she would want to visit next. Stealing a sideways glance at the other two women he took in their quizzical expression and realized that this time he was on the other side of the coin; he knew something that they didn't.

"I think you should come with me..." He used his arms to gesture towards the doorway.


	5. Chapter 5

I apologize for the long wait computer issues and time to work on it have not been kind! I will try to do much better I promise…..

Alright, now how many of you think you know what Hawk's connection is to Ducky? Please let me reviews, letting me know what you think of the story so far and if you were surprised.

Chapter 5

Hawk and Gibbs had reached the doorway; with his handle on the door he called back. "You two waiting on engraved invitations?"

The intrigued woman exchanged puzzled glances between themselves and hurried to catch up with other two who were already half way to the elevator. They slid into it just before the doors closed. The ride was short enough that neither of them had the opportunity to ask the all-important question. How did she know Ducky?

The elevator hissed open on the ground floor of the massive building. This one main structure held everything from basic office space to underground rooms that held some of the nation's top secret information and devices to combat terrorism at home and abroad.

It only took the group a few long strides to arrive at the entrance doors to Autopsy; behind these doors lay a true genius in his field. He was at least partially directly responsible for most of the solved cases that they had come across since he went from a field agent to a forensic specialist who in his own way talked to the dead.

Inside the famed room the scene unfolding was typical. Ducky was carefully and respectfully dissecting the corpse of a Naval Admiral who most likely had keeled over at the Pentagon due to poor diet and an overabundant amount of chronic stress. His work and report had already been finished on the body of the deceased Corporal, the case that the rest of the team was working on. Unless Gibbs brought him some new evidence to comb over his contribution to the investigation was over.

"Mr. Palmer...would you come over here? I would like to show you what years of red meat several times a week does to one's colon..." Dr. Mallard muttered to his eager assistant.

"Sure thing Doctor..." Jimmy happily obliged; he didn't consider it brown nosing as Tony would put it. He idolized Dr. Mallard and wanted more than anything to have his approval. He had been thrilled when he had been called in for an interview a few years ago to work as the Medical Examiner's Assistant; he knew that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for his career.

"What do you see?" Ducky inquired, waiting to see what his protégé had just observed.

"That he was full of shit..." Gibbs answered back a few seconds after the door swished open.

"While that is most certainly true Jethro, what I was actually referring to was..." Ducky chuckled softly, not bothering to take his eyes off his current guest. He didn't have a chance to finish his statement when a disembodied voice rang out from behind him.

"Fit loch en? Alrecht thar Duck?" She pronounced each word in both dialects fluently, first asking 'How are you?' in Gaelic, then switching to Scots for the informal, 'You good?'

He spun around so quickly that his lab coat took a few extra seconds to come to rest against his legs. There was a short lived look of confusion in the Scotsman's expression; then a brilliant smile overcame his handsomely weathered face when his eyes rested on the person before him.

"Tha gu mhath, do nighean..." He responded; his Scottish Brogue thickening as he spoke his native language; letting her know that he was doing well.

After sliding the gloves off his hands and the gown from his chest he ran to embrace the most precious thing in his life in a bear hug.

"Ah missed ye, ma hen." Ducky whispered the Scots words, that he's missed her, adding his endearment. "Fit loch en?" Switching back to Gaelic in a louder tone, he asked about her health.

"Tha gu hath, M'athair; 'S fhada bho nach fhaca mi sibh." Hawk hugged him tightly; proclaiming that she was fine and that it had been too long since she had last seen him.

"Wait...Hawk is Ducky's...daughter?" Ziva asked, with her dark eyes scrunching up in disbelief. She had been able to translate a few words of their conversation; for the past few weeks Ducky had been teaching her Scots Gaelic. A few years ago she had studied the Major's file per Mossad protocol but had no reason to remember her family members' names, until now.

"In every way that matters..." Gibbs responded in turn. He had learned through his experiences as a Special Agent that genetics alone did not make parents. A long time ago Ducky had told him the story of how he had unofficially adopted her.

"I didn't know that Ducky had a daughter..." Jenny echoed her own surprise. She wasn't as close to him as Jethro; she had just always assumed that he had never been married or had any children.

Ducky had met her biological father while serving in the Vietnam; while attached to an American Evac Unit, while on transfer with an Aussie Unit. It wasn't then nor was it presently uncommon for other countries such as Britain to have members of their respective military branches serve with American units in both peacetime and war and vice versa.

Throughout their time in the Asian Theater they became fast friends, even brothers; much the same way that he and Gibbs were now. Captain Joseph Cunning Hawk was into his second tour when he was shot down near Hanoi; his whereabouts were still unknown, listed as M.I.A.

Ducky had made a promise to his best friend that if anything were to happen; he would look out for the family that he loved so much. The young Brit had taken it one step further and over the years had grown to love them more than he ever imagined possible. He had instantly fallen in love with the little infant girl the first time he came to The States to be with them during the first weeks of the young bride's agony.

His commitment to them had gone far beyond just doing the honorable thing. He was there for every milestone in her life; from the first day of school to graduation of high school and college, to her Commission Ceremony as an Officer in the Marine Corp and as many birthdays and Christmases as he could in between; living overseas and serving in the British military he wasn't able to be with them each and every day as he yearned to. She was a young teenager by the time that he and his mother had moved permanently to The States.

Ducky stood back and took a long look at her, the beaming smile never leaving his face. He reached over and brushed the back of his hand lightly across her sculpted face; taking a mental note of the heavy makeup that was layered on it. Then his hands reached around and caressed her long flowing ponytail.

"Your hair and your face..." He said as his mouth twisted slightly in disapproval.

"I knew you would hate it! You know I have to look as different as possible..." Hawk remarked a bit defensively.

"Of course my dear, I know that..." Ducky soften his gaze and winked at her; he was happily aware of the fact that even as an adult she still wanted his approval.

Then with a raised eyebrow he looked over at Jethro and then back at her and asked, "Seeing you is always a blessing but why are you here?" The last email she had sent him was a few months ago telling not to worry that she was going under deep cover; the not worrying was something he would never be able to do.

With devilish grin she held her arms up, straight out in front of her, with her wrists together. "I got arrested!"

"What for?" The doctor inquired; he knew of course that whatever it was while she was on her assignment. What intrigued him is what she had to have done to be brought in by the team. Glancing back at Gibbs he realized from the chagrined expression on his friend's face that he had not realized at the time who she really was.

"I clocked one of his agents..." Hawk nodded in the direction of the team leader.

"Was it Tony?" Jimmy spoke up from behind his mentor. He had been so stunned to discover something so huge about the doctor that he had been silently taking in the news; of all the agents on the team somehow Tony seemed to be the logical choice.

The amused looks on Ziva and Jenny's faces and the annoyed one on Jethro's told Ducky that Palmer was indeed correct. He himself had to fight the urge to laugh out loud; it wasn't a farfetched notion that Anthony would be involved.

"What sin did he commit?" Ducky looked back to his beloved; his smiling eyes betraying the seriousness in his tone.

"Awwww...nothing that egregious! He was just in the right place at the right time..." Hawk fiend an expression of remorse; which wasn't her best performance.

"Why did you do it? I mean as soon as you reported in you could have told your superiors what was going on." Jenny asked of her friend.

"That's just it; I haven't been able to report in for almost two weeks now. I've been flying near solo from the beginning." Using her peripheral vision she watched Ducky, knowing he would be anything but comforted knowing that bit of information.

"No wire? No partner?" The good doctor tried to sound professional only because he knew it would be important to her.

"Sort of, he's been working on the outside. When I located the supplier he was going to flip him, then work his way into the deal and then the rest of my team could swoop in when it went down; hopefully netting the big and little fish."

"The intelligence we gathered was sketchy but alarming. These guys aren't just some ordinary bad ass bikers. Their connections run pretty far up the food chain and they aren't shy about making things go boom to achieve their agenda." She explained speaking to Gibbs and Jenny since they were effectively in command.

"I'll bet they aren't the most trusting types either." Shepard added to the conversation; her interest instantly peeked.

"That's putting it mildly. When I first made contact they ran my prints right in front of me...that's not software that just any Joe Schmo can get their hands on. It took me the better part of a month before they would even talk in front of me. There wasn't a chance I could get a wire or surveillance equipment in without them finding out." The Major continued making her case; she almost winced knowing how much more her dad would be worried about her.

"Why didn't they pull you if command hasn't heard anything from you? They've been tracking you with GPS on your cell phone, right?" Ziva inquired.

"They were until Hanson freaked out when it rang in my pocket while he was discussing business is unnamed financial partner. It really was a wrong number but when I answered it...he cracked me across my cheek and pitched it out the window." This time after she finished speaking rage flew into Ducky's body language.

"He hit you?" The older man's voice got a little louder.

"Honestly, I've been hit harder on the elementary school playground! The cell ended up far worse for wear. That same day Hanson and the others moved everything from the apartment in Rosalind to the one that you guys showed up at; so no one exactly knows what the hell happened to me."

She shot Ducky an 'it's alright' smile. It wasn't that she wasn't concerned but being out of touch in Washington D.C. was a far cry from being cut off from back up in the middle of the desert.

"Who's your C.O.?" Gibbs interjected trying to take his best friend's mind off the image of someone abusing his angel; if the situation had been reversed he would be fighting off the same urge to find and strangle the bastard.

"Colonel Harland Sanders..." Hawk waited for the punch lines to start coming.

"You've got to be kidding!" Jenny laughed louder than usual, almost snorting.

"No, really that's his name! His parents must have had a twisted sense of humor along with an obsession for fried chicken!" Hawk exclaimed with a loopy grin plastered on her face. "Although I don't think they could have imagined what his choice of career would have been..."

"What is so funny?" Ziva asked while Palmer joined in on the laughter and surprisingly so did Gibbs.

The fast food place called 'KFC'...the founder's name is Colonel Sanders..." Ducky explained to her, although not in his usual jolly tone. He still was focusing on that creep touching his little girl. He was trying not to express his anger because he also knew she was a more than capable Marine; which meant she would have no problem 'handling' things if it became necessary.

"So he was teased a great deal in school, yes?" Ziva was proud that she quickly understood the joke, unfortunately didn't happen most times.

"If he went to school with someone like DiNozzo..." Jimmy added before Gibbs could voice the same idea.

"What's the name of the Marine?" Hawk asked of Gibbs after all of their laughter had subsided.

"You don't know who he is?" Jenny asked with a look of surprise.

"Well that was part of my assignment to identify the supplier. When I got in only one of their members had actually met the guy in person; the other meets were made through emails and then with drop off sights. I never even found out his name; I was on another errand with other members of the gang when Hanson took him out. We had our suspicions that he was in the armory but not exactly who it was." She concluded her synopsis.

"If he was so important why did he kill him?" Gibbs wanted to know.

"All Hanson said is that he found him in one of the offices copying files. Before you ask I don't have a clue why he would be doing that. Frankly, it makes no sense to me either." She returned Gibbs look of confusion.

"What worries me is whatever the grand finale is, it's coming soon. I have an idea what they are planning to do but not to whom or where..." Her frustration was obvious.

"I take it you are talking about the Stinger Missiles that are part of the missing inventory?" Jenny inquired.

"At least that much...there is some evidence that this armory isn't the first place in recent weeks that they have 'acquired' weapons. There are a few options as to who could have pissed them off lately." The Major continued to inform them.

"Why does it have to be someone or organization that they are against? They could just be hired by an outside source for profit." Ziva took her turn trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"For money? No, strangely even these guys have standards. They aren't in it for the riches; they take on targets that are in some way against whatever ideals they hold dear." Hawk told them with a small snicker.

"What is it? What are some of their 'ideals'?" Ducky interject; he knew his daughter well. There was definitely something behind that laughter.

"Among other things they aren't particularly fond of those with any pigmentation in their skin, Jews...or half breeds…" She followed with a glance aimed directly at Ducky.

Ahh...yes...I understand!" The Medical Examiner began to chuckle. Poor Palmer looked confused; he was the only one in the room who wasn't clued in.

"So in other words you had better hurry up and solve this case before the summer gets here?" Gibbs eyes smiled, although inside he shivered at the thought of what those types of idiots would do her if they discovered her true heritage.

Ducky looked over at Jethro reading his mind; he had the same fear that froze the blood in his veins. He knew that she was a skilled warrior just as deadly when necessary as his dear friend but it was more than likely that she would be sorely outnumbered should they discover her long time deception.

"Yeah, that would be the plan…" Hawk smiled a little bit more looking at her father's right hand man; seeing the odd expression on his young face.

"You're not Jewish are you?" Palmer immediately regretted his choice of words upon catching a glare from the Mossad Officer.

"I mean not that there is anything wrong with being Jewish….it's just that you don't look like a Jew….oh no wait, I didn't mean it that way. Doctor Mallard isn't so I assumed that you weren't either…."Jimmy stammered on, rapidly digging his grave. He hated how sometimes his mouth could outrun his brain's ability to stop it in time.

"It's alright, Mr. Palmer. No, I am not of the Jewish faith….." Hawk began to explain.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!" Abby shouted from the video screen behind them.

"What is it Abs?" Jethro turned and faced the viewing screen behind him.

"I have something for you! Come down here!" The raven haired women shouted with glee.

"Abs just tell me what…" Gibbs didn't have time to finish his statement when he was interrupted.

"Gibbs….don't spoil my fun, just come here!" Abby laughed as the screen went dark.

"It appears our reunion will be cut a little short." Hawk smiled sweetly at the Scotsman; trying to reassure him.

"My dear please be careful…" Ducky's anxiety was obvious by the tension in his voice and worry on his brows.

"Don't worry Duck you know I'll cover her six…." Jethro leaned in close and spoke so only his best friend could hear.

"Yes my friend, I do." Ducky locked eyes with the Senior Agent, instantaneously sharing his personal bête noire. He had loved Tom like a son and their little angel Katie had been a song in his heart, losing them had nearly extinguished the very light in his soul. The mere thought of his ma hen being taken from him was quite simply too much to bear.

Jethro held the Doctor's face in his hands for a moment longer and then turned and lengthened his gait to catch up with the others are they left autopsy to join their black clad colleague.

In his wake Ducky turned and quietly started to reengage himself with the body before him; not even noticing his assistant still staring into space with a perplexed frown upon his face.


	6. Chapter 6

Honor Few Fear None Chapter 6

Abby's mind was nearly always in a caffeine fueled race but on occasions such as these it went in hyper-drive. Gibbs was going to buy her at least two super-sized Caf-Pows for this! Although she usually claimed not to believe in luck because it was unscientific; today she wasn't so sure in her conviction. This piece of the puzzle had no logic component to it; there was no rhyme or reason for her to run his phone records yet again or could she imagine what she would find.

Usually it would be Gibbs or maybe Tony who would take the leap to go outside the box but today she had her own gut intuition and decided to follow it. This was going to take the case and jumble it up like an evidentiary tossed salad. Corporal Clancy was at first glance simply an average Marine Reservist who since 9/11 had been placed back into active duty. However now she knew that there was much more than meets the eye.

In an instant her thoughts flew back to the scene outside of interrogation. How bizarre was this day gonna get? This morning the entire team had gone from being stalled in neutral to over-drive in sixty seconds flat. The team was now joined at the hip with Naval Intelligence; more importantly Major Swift Hawk. She couldn't believe that she finally got to meet the Duckmeister's daughter! Her friend's eyes were normally jolly and filled with life but when he talked about her they shone brighter than the sun.

She had been grateful to leave there before her emotions had gotten the best of her. She and Gibbs were the only ones who had been around to see what Ducky had gone through on that horrible day and the weeks and months that followed. How he managed to get through something like that she would never understand. Of course it wasn't until recently that she realized that Gibbs was able to more than empathize with his best friend in his time of need; a fact that Ducky himself had not known.

As she stood next to her vast array of computers and scanners she twirled her long black pig tails with her long, slender fingers; any minute now she would be able to unveil the great surprise.

In the few minutes it took to arrive to the forensics lab it occurred to Gibbs that he had not yet revealed a vital part of information to the Major; who was keeping up with his own pace.

"We may have the identity of the supplier at the armory."

"May have?" She replied back, only realizing herself that her own question had not been answered. She had been caught off guard since inadvertently meeting up with Gibbs and his team. She certainly had not expected to be briefly reunited with her father.

"The body of Marine Corporal Eric Clancy was discovered nearly two weeks ago and since he worked in the armory at Quantico, I don't think it is too farfetched to connect to the two timelines." The Gibbs responded in return.

"Unless one would believe in coincidences; which I do not." Hawk agreed just as the group arrived at the entrance of Labby.

"What have you got for me, Abs?" Gibbs asked, somewhat impatiently; as they strolled through the sliding doors.

"Haven't you ever heard of foreplay, Gibbs?" The Favorite One responded back with her usual smirk.

"Not according to my ex- wives….." He quipped back. His eyes filled with slight embarrassment as they inadvertently caught Hawk's; she met his with a look of obvious amusement.

"Have you come up with some possible suspects for Corporal Clancy's killer?" Jenny took control of the conversation. Although she enjoyed seeing Jethro uncomfortable, she was perhaps more curious than anyone else.

"Even Better! OK, maybe not better…..I mean that would be a good thing too…but this is really BIG!" Abby eagerly shouted back.

"Abby…" Ziva lowered her voice now standing beside her. "What is it that you have found for us?" The Mossad Officer smiled sweetly at the much taller woman. She had learned very quickly that it was usually best to nicely reel Abby in whenever possible.

"Drum Roll please…" Abby stopped in mid-sentence catching the look of the Boss Man.

"OK then, well we course already know that our dead guy was a Marine and that he must have pissed someone off enough to get him killed…."

"It's a good possibility that he was stealing weapons from the armory." Jenny interjected.

"Oh, then the plot thickens….Abby's eyes lit up; she always loved a good conspiracy.

"Well, on a long shot I ran his LUD's again. I wasn't even sure what else I could find but then again you never know, sometimes the stars align and then…"

"Abs!" Gibbs demanded; although more nicely than he ever did with the rest of the team.

"Right! Anyway, when I did it this time I included the calls from three weeks back instead of just two. Then something really interesting popped up…" Her swift finger tips pulled up the next screen; which highlighted on particular number that was familiar to at least two people in the room.

Jenny, Ziva and Hawk were left standing in a state of utter confusion as Gibbs abruptly turned and stormed out of the lab to whereabouts unknown.

Abby had come across that phone number on more than on occasion; numbers were something she never seemed to forget. She knew what Hell was about to be unleashed when Gibbs got a hold of him. She grinned at the other women before her debating on whether she should tell them or let them find out in a little while when the fireworks started.

As he rode the elevator up to his own desk he flipped out his cell phone and dialed the very number that had appeared on Abby's computer screen. He couldn't believe it; although it wasn't like it was the first time that this had happened.

"Hey! Did you think I wouldn't find out?" Gibbs shouted into the phone in his hand.

"Jethro…..it's nice to hear from you too. By the way what are you talking about?" The man on the other end asked, knowing full well he was about to yet again incur his colleague's wrath.

"Corporal Eric Clancy….." There was a long silence on the other end of the after Gibbs finished what he had to say. "My office one hour!"


	7. Chapter 7

Honor Few Fear None Chapter 7

As he strolled up to the glass doors of NCIS Headquarters he gathered his thoughts. Jethro was actually his friend to both of their disbeliefs; so in one way he hated keeping him out of the loop. However business was business and this was a collar that he wanted real badly. He also knew that he was about to receive an ass chewing; and that he did deserve it even if he never would admit it to Gibbs.

He nodded to the security guard at the metal detector and flashed his badge at him; along with a small smile. The guard was familiar with the man in the trench coat; it wasn't the first time he had visited.

"You can go on through….." The man in a Marine uniform said as he handed him back his service weapon.

DiNozzo and McGee were hard at work performing the tasks asked of the by The Boss. Tim's fingers were rapidly moving across the keyboard as he attempted to unravel the bits of information that was available to him. Tony was on the phone trying to get some more details from the Local LEOs that had arrested Jake Hanson. It was apparent that back then he was a member of this same gang; so maybe the original detective could shed some light on what their target could be.

From time to time they had been exchanging unintentional glances; both still thinking about the Marine Major they had just met. McGee's thoughts were of course more pure than DiNozzo who's already flourishing fantasies about the incredibly fine looking woman were threatening to overcome his ability to concentrate.

The ride up to the floor which held the Bull Pen and MTAC was a short one. He knew that it would only a brief few moments that he would actually be out of the enclosed tiny room before he would return to it. The door slid open to the usual hustle and bustle with different variety of people briskly striding to one place or another. He walked out with his head held high; looking for the man he came to see.

"Gibbs, you wanted to see me?" He asked with the smallest of smirks crossing his thin lips.

"You know damn well what I want to talk to you about!" The Team Leader growled back.

"The usual conference room is available?" The man asked politely.

"This way…" Was Gibbs's only response.

The doors to the conference room had barely closed when Gibbs 's accusing star wasn't the only thing making it difficult for Fornell not to visibly flinch.

"How the HELL could you keep this from me, Tobias?" His voice rising to a level that echoed in the metal box.

"We've danced this number before Jethro, this is no different. You know my superiors never want to share the collar with anyone." Tobias tried to pass the buck the best that he could.

"You mean that _you_ don't want to play nice?" Gibbs's rage was peppered with the knowledge that he had on more than one occasion had done the exact same thing and not involved the FBI in an investigation.

"Like you've said before…..I'm a bastard." Fornell glanced up at the taller man also knowing that his friend had come to the same conculsion; he read on his face.

"Yeah…you are…but that's besides the point. This time if you hadn't gotten caught up in a pisssing contest with me you would have known that we have a someone on the inside." Jethro purposely left out that he had not known about Hawk until two hours ago.

"What! It couldn't have been one of your people or we wouldn't be having this meeting." The creases in the skin between his ebrows reflected his confusion.

"She's with Naval Intelligence; and if you're a good boy I just might introduce you ." This time when he looked at the FBI Agent he had to fight off a slight grin and in the end was unsuccessful.

"She? When then there just might be a bright spot to coming here afterall." Fornell didn't even bother to hide his smirk.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"I usually pride myself in figuring out puzzles…..but in this case I am at a loss." Hawk frowned as she looked towards the other women.

Abby's back was still turned to the others when she started to giggle. "Who is the only person who can make Gibbs that mad?"

"You mean besides Tony?" Ziva answered back matter of factly.

"OK, the only one that uses the _conference room_?" She replied waiting for the Director and Mossad Agent to get clued in.

"I see…" They replied in unison.

"Anyone care to share?" The expression on the Major's face conveyed her confusion.

"Special Agent Tobias Fornell and Gibbs have a unique relationship. They seem to do nothing but cause each other grief, yet they seem to be friends." Ziva explained to Hawk; she could never really understand it either.

"Then I take it you mean he is FBI? Why would his number be on Corporal Clancy's cell phone? Unless…..damn…." Hawk finished her rambling in a mumble; as she was more speaking to herself than anyone else.

"The thought occurred to me as well. If I'm not mistaken we will soon be privy to the details. Gibbs should be done with him shortly." Jenny spoke up. She might be the Director of NCIS but at moments like these she felt almost giddy at the prospect of witnessing the aftermath of the latest Gibbs/Fornell battle royale.

"This case just keeps getting better and better…sweet!" The forensic guru chimed in with her usual excitement. Each time that Fornell popped into one of their cases it always proved to be a banger.

"You know that I have to find a way to return to the lion's den. It's going to be a challenge to explain how I could assault a federal officer yet walk out a free woman." The Major aimed her insight more at The Director.

"True, even if we could arrange a hearing in court on the charges we don't have the time." Shepard knew that that was a luxury that they didn't have.

"Jake Hanson seems to be paranoid about the mission being successful. I am guessing that he also has a mistrust of the police also, yes?" Ziva inquired.

"That would most definitely be true! When he's knocked back a few he rants about how the cops and the feds are nothing but corrupt and that they are so stupid that he'll never get caught." Hawk was staring at her younger friend trying to figure out what she was getting at.

"Well then I suggest that we give him a Libyan Surprise…" The Mossad Officer glanced between her two comrades waiting to see if they understood where she was going.

"Oh that is an excellent idea! That would seal it with him; he'll never question it!" Jenny laughed when she caught the look on the Marines face.

"Sure, that's easy for the two of you to say! The last time it took weeks till all of the swelling went down….and months before that imprint disappeared!" She recalled the mission in the Maghreb region of North Africa.

"I said that I was sorry! I completely forgot that I had a ring on that hand…." The Liaison Officer was usually much better at acting innocent.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… well regardless you are right it is the simplest way…." Hawk hated to admit it.

"So would you like it in the same place or perhaps on the other side to make it even?" Ziva taunted the other woman; then without notice in a flash she drew back and cracked the Hawk with a right cross that send her flying backward into the open and ready arms of Shepard.

Hawk nearly took Jenny down with her and once the two women regained their balance they both stood up; with Hawk rubbing her cheek bone. "Damn, David, I see that you still enjoy your work!"

A stunned into silence Abby was simply standing in her platform shoes with her mouth a gape unable to compute what the hell had just happened.

"Is this how you Navy people solve cases?" A voice came from the entrance to the lab. Tobias was walking in side by side with Gibbs.

Gibbs stopped in front of the three women looking for an explanation; he knew them well enough to know that there had to a good one. "So Director is this a new protocol for close combat training?"

"No but some days it does seem to be something worth looking into." Jenny smiled at her Senior Agent. Upon learning that she had officially been promoted to Director she had her dreaded the reunion with him; knowing it would to say the least would be awkward. Although she would never admit it to anyone she did enjoy interacting with him on a regular basis again; even if it was in a different capacity.

"We were just demonstrating for Miss Scuito the differences between Marine and Mossad negotiating techniques." The Major was trying not to squint too hard as her lower left eye was starting to swell; although not as much as her cheek.

Gibbs stood in front of his best friend's daughter and thought again of what she faced by returning to the side of Jake Hanson. At the moment he would be grateful that she bought him some time but how could they get to her in time if anything went south?

"I am guessing that _officially_ it was DiNozzo that gave that to you?" He raised his hand motioning to her darkening bruise.

"Since he was the object of my rage I think he would be the best choice. I know have proof of police brutality, it will be easy enough to get him to believe that the charges could be dropped in order for the corrupt feds to avoid bad press."

"OK, I HAVE to know…..why makes this a Libyan Surprise?" Abby could no longer contain herself.

The three warriors looked at each other and chuckled a little. That was one of a half dozen missions they had found themselves working together on post 9/11. Jenny spoke first. "We were surrounded in a small motel near the Egyptian border. There were six of them and they mistakenly assumed that we were three helpless women they could easily take advantage of.

Ziva took chimed in. "Then I started yelling at Hawk accusing her of getting in this mess because she got us lost in the first place."

"One of the many things we were very good at was reading each other's minds; so I understood what she was trying to do. She through the first punch; what turned out to the only punch needed. The men were taken off guard." Hawk took over the storytelling.

"So we took the opportunity to turn the tables and show those boys how helpless we really were." Shepard finished up. In some ways she sorely missed her days in the field; especially when recalling times like that.

"Now what I would like to know….what is the Bureau's involvement in all of this?" The Marine now turned her attention to the man in the trench coat.

"I would imagine we are after the same thing, Major. The weapons before they're used on innocent people." Fornell responded. He was beginning to think that maybe all Marines were capable of that stare that until now he had attributed only to Gibbs.

"Well then do you think it would have been a good idea to let my guys know what you were up? You had someone on the inside working an angle that got him killed. If we had known about it maybe one of my team or I could have covered him." The petite woman admonished the Special Agent.

"We thought were in the first ones in we didn't know there was an ongoing investigation. It's not like Naval Intelligence makes a point to list their cases for any other agency to see." Tobias knew her point was valid but for now was refusing to concede.

"It's our jurisdiction or rather ours and NCIS, either one of which you could have contacted to create a joint investigation." Hawk fired back. She was outwardly remaining calm; her voice steady. This was one thing that got her temper up and if she wasn't careful would lose it. These very pissing contests were part of the numerous intelligence errors and other mistakes that were partially to blame for her losing nearly everything in this life that she held dear.

Gibbs read her mind; much the same way she had been reading his earlier. He knew where she was coming from. He still lay awake some nights where he wondered if he could have missed something that came across his desk, something that would have prevented that infamous day.

"We can continue to debate this at a further time, for now let's figure out a way to find the rest of the pieces of the puzzle. We have a way for you to get back in but how are we going to maintain contact with you?" Jenny broke it up.

"You are absolutely correct Director. I would like to try and take someone on the inside with me; a bug still makes me nervous. I am uncertain about how smoothly Hanson will take this. He might assume that somehow you guys planted something on me while I was here; he might scan me again." Hawk reeled herself in.

"You want to use one of my people?" Jenny inquired. She knew who her choice was going to be.

"Yes, all of my people are in their positions and it would take too long to read anyone else in. I need another Marine in the armory who can replace our supplier." Hawk reasoned.

"Gibbs, can you think of anyone in your team who would fit that bill?" Jenny asked while giving him a coy smile.

Abby's hand shot up in the air as she danced around in place. "What name do you want this time Gibbs?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ducky and Palmer had their share of work to do in Autopsy, even if it wasn't the case that the rest of the team was working on. Normally Dr. Mallard could focus under nearly any conditions but not today. The human remains and the mysteries they held was what kept his mind sharp after many years of talking to the dead.

Now he found himself nearly consumed by fear and worry. He knew the monsters in human skin that lurked in this world and how cruel and depraved they could be. His daughter was a fine example of a Marine and adept at killing when necessary. However, when it came down to it he was a father first and a M.E second.

"Doctor Mallard…..Dr. Mallard." Jimmy's voice broke his concentration.

"What is it Mr. Palmer?"

"Are you alright?" He had been the doctor's assistant for a few years and was concerned when he wasn't filling his head with stories about past adventures and obscure facts.

"Yes, Jimmy I am fine."

"How long has she been in the Marines?" He finally had to ask.

"Since she was seventeen; it's all she ever wanted to be."

"I thought you could only enlist when you were eighteen?"

"Yes, well you can join earlier with parental consent." He remembered the day she asked him less than a year after her mother died.

The conversation didn't have time to go any further before the door swished open once more. This time Agent Fornell accompanied the others who had been here a short time before.

"Agent Fornell, what a pleasant surprise…." The doctor instantly knew that this particular case was now more complicated than ever.

"What happened?" When he caught sight of his love he dashed over; his now ungloved hands automatically began to gently palpate the large purple bruise that covered a portion of the left side of her slender face.

"Ziva hit me!" She pouted the way a child would tattle to a parent about a sibling picking on them.

"She started it!" Ziva allowed herself a moment to join in on the fun. Hawk was one of the only people she truly called friend and was comfortable stepping outside of her professional outer shell.

"Now how many times have I told you that you have to play nice with others?" Ducky went along with what she was trying to do.

"This is my way back in, they'll think I got released because I got knocked around. One of the organization's lawyers should be here soon. He'll immediately demand for the charges to be dropped and ones filed against DiNozzo. I'll explain to him that we can't afford the publicity either so he'll let it go." Hawk reassured her father.

"Duck, did you finish that profile on Corporal Clancy. What about him would make him turn his back on the Corp; on his country? Was there something in his background that they might have used to persuade him?" Although Gibbs did need this information, he was also steering the doctor's mind away from things that were out of his control.

Yes, Jethro I did. I have it over here…" Ducky went over to his desk to find the report he had finalized.

"Now how do we make initial the first contact between _John Reardon_ and me? It has to be solid or not only won't they buy it, they'll begin to question my loyalty." Hawk asked Gibbs, since not only was he experienced in such matters; he was also going to be the one putting his own six on the line.

"Have both of you been putting out feelers since Clancy's murder?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, Hanson knows the exact target plus the date and time; that why I know we are running out of time. This is the reason I believe we can get Gibbs on the inside; Hanson's fear of failure is greater than his lack of trust in anyone but himself or perhaps members of the Knights of the Road.

"Who found Clancy?" Ziva inquired.

"Jake did, he said that one of the members was sitting at bar that they frequent and this guy was getting loaded. He was ranting about how his C.O. had it in for him and how he should be getting paid a lot more for risking his ass for the Marine Corp. He started saying how he a some of his buddies all wanted to start making some real money. So, they did a background check that would mirror ones that the Secret Service does."

"Then that's how we get in. You spend the next twelve hours speedily looking for a replacement; tell Hanson that you are looking into some of the buddies that Clancy was talking about. Then explain that you found a guy and the two of you meet up with me." Gibbs had already thought it through.

"Abby can give us a bug to place on the attorney's vehicle. He never comes inside or really discusses any real business. I think he's hoping what he doesn't know can't hurt him. So they probably won't scan it and if they do, they'll assume you guys did it without my knowledge. At least you'll have a location of where I'll be at least some of the time." Hawk summarized.

"Was Clancy a genuine Marine? How did you get clued into him? Or was he a FED?" Hawk turned to face Fornell.

"He was a Corporal. We were actually originally focused on the Knights of the Road themselves. They had a hand in the murder of someone who as far as we could find out had nothing to do with this case, however it lead us to the armory thefts. Once we realized he was the inside source we convinced him to cooperate with us in order to save his own skin." Tobias left out no details; he knew the Major had been right about having a joint investigation. He was also trying to figure out why Ducky was so concerned about someone he had just met.

The occupants inside the room turned slightly to look as once again the doors made their usual swooshing sounds announcing the arrival of someone else; Tony and McGee.

"Hey Boss, we got something for you." DiNozzo acknowledged his superior.

"Well what is it?" Gibbs demanded when they weren't immediately forthcoming.

"The Major is correct there are a long list of groups and people that they absolutely hate; minorities, gays, interracial couples and their biracial children….." Tim started to ramble.

"I thought you said that you had something that we could use! I knew this information…." Gibbs was cut short by Palmer who apparently had just had an epiphany of his own.

"Oh I get it you're a half-breed!" For one brief moment Jimmy was thrilled when he finally got what Hawk had been alluding to earlier about her heritage, only then did it occur to him that he had stepped in it once again.

"Oh Dear! I didn't mean it that way! I….I….meant…..that you…..aren't really white…oh GOD…I mean you're half Native American…." He silently prayed that the Dr. wouldn't suddenly pull a Gibbs and that a whack on the back of the head was to follow shortly. The icy stare of the Lead Agent finally stopped his recent bout of diarrhea of the mouth.

Ducky simple lowered his head and with a sigh continued his search of the report he was looking for; normally he was quite meticulous but today the stainless steel desk was extremely cluttered. If he had thought for every a single second that Jimmy had in any way meant any of the words he just spouted off he would have given him a good thrashing.

Gibbs turned his focus back to his agents and without words asked that they continue. "I know Boss I'm sorry…" McGee stopped short remembering one of the rules about apologizing.

"What he is trying to say Boss is that we have narrowed it down to a short list. Hanson is an equal opportunity hater but he does seem to hate one group more than the rest." DiNozzo was standing with Gibbs and Hawk in front of him and all while relaying the discovery subconsciously was imaging her in a completely inappropriate way.

As Tony was speaking Ziva was watching her partner of over two years. She could read him like a book as Americans would say; she could see that he was already before he could stop himself imagining what Hawk would look without the leather outfit on. It was then that she remembered that Tony didn't realize Hawk's relationship the M.E. standing behind him.

"It seems that homosexuals seem to be the on the top of his list of a part of society that he loves to hate…" Tony was still managing to be a multi-tasker; while continuing to report to Gibbs he was still able to undress her with his eyes. He assumed that it was going unnoticed.

Then in the midst of the relaying of his findings he was completely caught off guard by an unusually hard smack across the back of his head. He momentarily lost his footing and nearly fell into the Marine in front of him. "Boss?" He stared; eyes wide trying to understand how Gibbs could have possibly done that while standing directly in front of him.

"Anthony….unless you want to experience your own autopsy while you're still breathing…put her clothes back on…" Ducky leaned in and spoke in not so hushed tones.

"Here it is Jethro. I believe that the Corporal was among other things a Malignant Narcissist and believed that the world owed him. He had no regard for anyone other than himself; he wouldn't have an issue with betraying the Marines or his country if it got him what he wanted. He also seemed to loath the fact that although not officially the Marines allowed homosexuals to join."

DiNozzo was still standing not comprehending what just occurred. Why had Ducky done that? He never reacted that way before; no matter what he had ever done. What would make him care so much that he was…well, being himself?

"That actually ties in with what we discovered. There are several high profile events involving the gay community happening in Virginia and D.C. alone. I can meet with Abby we can cross check Hanson and Clancy's files and see if there is any specific event or person that brings out so much hatred." McGee immediately began picking up where Tony left off. He was also at a loss as to what caused such a forceful reaction from the normally passive doctor. It didn't make sense; that was the kind of thing one would expect to see from a father protecting his daughter.

"Do it. Ziva check with your source again; see if he has any updates as to how many and what types of weapons we are looking at. It's possible that there is more than one target and it would be nice to have an idea what kind of fire power we're looking at." Gibbs gave out the orders. He had actually fought hard not to laugh when he saw DiNozzo's reaction to the first ever Ducky head slap. In a small way he sort of felt sorry for the guy; it wasn't as if the younger man had a clue was to whom he was ogling.

"DiNozzo you head up to the Bull Pen where I am sure that a lawyer from the Knights of the Road should be waiting for you shortly." Shepard said with a straight face. She also had to fight the urge to giggle when she saw the head slap coming. DiNozzo was known to do such things and normally could get away with it; this was apparently not one of those times.

Taking a few steps towards his friend Gibbs once again tried to reassure him. "You remember what I said, Duck?"

"Yes, Jethro I do…." Ducky said softly, peering into the deep blue eyes before him. "Promise me that you'll take care; come back as well."

"I always am, Duck…." Gibbs turned and walked away with Fornell in tow.

"Jethro….how _does_ the Good Doctor know the Major?" The federal agent asked as they exited the room.


	10. Chapter 10

Honor Few Fear None Chapter 10

"I am going to tell you one more time I want to speak to the person in charge!" The balding man hollered at one of the agents from another team.

"Sir, I told you that I just spoke to Director Shepard and she will be here shortly…."

"Can I help you?" Jenny said politely as she walked up but with an undertone that made the angry man pause.

"I was told that a client of mine was brought here under duress!" The attorney tried to pull off being an imposing figure but was hindered by the fact that he was a short and at least twenty five pounds overweight; not mention his suit was obviously cheap and ill fitting.

"If you are referring to an Alison Malcolm, then yes she was brought in for assaulting one of my agents." Jenny played along with the ruse.

"Well, there is a witness that will testify that she was only defending herself and I demand to see her!"

"Of course I will show you to an interrogation room and we can discuss what to do next…" Jenny motioned to the elevator that was behind the man who it was hard to miss also had dragon breath.

Hawk and DiNozzo were waiting in interrogation waiting for the show to begin. They both knew the stakes and were ready to convince the lawyer and therefore Hanson that the mission was safe to continue.

"You know you put up a pretty good fight, when Tim and I were trying to handcuff you." Tony wanted to goad her on.

"You didn't do too bad yourself. You recovered fairly well after I knocked your ass to the ground." She responded in turn; neither one of them showed any signs of amusement in case the others walked into the observational room.

"Hey! You didn't look _that_ good! After all, Tim and I did get you into those steel bracelets!" He turned towards her looking menacing.

"That's only because I _Iet_ you! Her back was towards the two-way mirror so she knew her facial expressions wouldn't be seen; the volume on the speakers in the opposite room were purposely muted so that nothing would be given away if the lawyer entered before either of them knew it.

"DiNozzo…it's show time…." She informed him before the door knob turned allowing the short man and Gibbs to come inside.

"Ms. Malcolm, my name is Andrew Steele and I have been retained by The Knights of the Road to represent you." He began speaking then suddenly screeched to a halt when he saw her face. "What the hell"

Hawk opened her mouth to reply but DiNozzo cut her off. "She was still struggling when we took her out of the car and she fell." He looked first at Gibbs as if asking approval, then at Steele.

"I demand that my client be released immediately and that this Agent be brought up on assault charges!" He screamed his pinched face turning beet red.

"Agent DiNozzo just explained what happened and since I was present at the time I can and am corroborating his statement…"Gibbs stepped in defending the other agent.

"I know police brutality when I see it, wait until this gets in front of a judge…." Steele argued.

"I would like to speak to my attorney privately!" Hawk suddenly regained her voice.

The door swung open and the Director leaned inside and with an icy stare bellowed at the two men. "Gibbs, DiNozzo I need to speak with you….NOW!"

Both agents feigned expressions of rage and embarrassment but dutifully walked out of the room with their heads held high.

"You need to get them to drop the charges so I can get the Hell out of here!" She hissed.

"Of course! I'm also going to make sure that he doesn't get away with this." He motioned towards her face.

"You are going to do the exact opposite. You're going to drop it and we're going to walk out of here." She steadied herself for his reaction.

"What? If you think for one moment that I'm going to let this go….." He was simply shocked. Why on earth would she want this DiNozzo to get away with doing that to her.

"Listen to me! They can't afford any more bad publicity and we don't have time to screw around! There are more important things to be attended to. Judging by the Director's face I am pretty sure that she is going to order them to release me. She knows there's no direct evidence; it's going to come down to his word against mine. Who's a jury going to believe, my face or his account of what happened?" Hawk continued to plead her case.

"I don't like it! I don't like it at all! However you are probably right." He wanted so badly to prove himself to these arrogant bastards but also knew what this mission meant to the others, especially Hanson. He always made it a point not to know too much about the Knights of the Road. He of course knew they were anything but saints but he didn't ever want to be a liability to them.

The door once again opened and the Director entered in along with the two agents. It was obvious to Steele that they were none too happy; the arrogance that they had worn before was now replaced by down played eyes and pissed off expressions.

"Mr. Steele, it has been brought to my attention that it is possible that Ms. Malcolm could have seen Special Agent DiNozzo's actions as threatening; therefore her actions were justified. All I need is to have her sign some paperwork and you can take her home." Jenny put on a mask of nervousness and insincerity.

"Director! You have to be kidding!" You ca'tn think that she's…" DiNozzo argued.

"Agent DiNozzo, this is not up for discussion! I am giving you an order, is that clear?" Jenny fired back at him.

"Yes, Madam Director!" He said with a sneer on his face. He purposely used the title he knew she hated, just because he could get away with it.

Steele looked back at Hawk and then at the NCIS Agents, then back at Hawk before he spoke again. "Well then since it appears that you have discovered the truth at hand; we will let it at that. However if your agents harass my client again I will not be so generous."

"I will make certain that they understand that, you have my word, Mr. Steele" Jenny replied why staring down the two under her command.

"Come Alison, we're leaving now." The squat little man told her.

Hawk acknowledged him by standing up but before she left she took a moment to stare coldly at the younger agent. "Have a nice day, Piggy…" While he glared back angrily she and Steele left the room.

"So do you think that Hanson's going to buy it too?" Tony waited a few moments after the interrogation room closed to ask what was on his mind.

Gibbs caught Jenny expression, which mirrored his own. She shared the same thoughts as he did, worry. "Let's pray so."


	11. Chapter 11

Honor Few Fear None Chapter 11

Jake Hanson was pacing around his apartment, full of anxiety. Time was not on his side and if he failed he wasn't high enough on the food chain to avoid the fallout if it couldn't be pulled off. Plus, this was one that he was more than glad to participate in. It was going to do him good to make those people understand they were not welcome; a few less of them in the world wouldn't hurt either.

He actually felt bad for Alison when she was led away by those stupid FEDS. On the other hand he was proud of her; that she bought them some more time to finalize everything. He made a mental note to award her in some way after this was all done. If he didn't believe in not mixing work with pleasure he wouldn't mind hitting that someday; for a moment of two he allowed his concentration to break as he imagined what that would be like.

"So have you missed me?" A familiar voice rang out interrupting his lewd thoughts.

"Ally! What are you doing here? How did you manage to get out of it…?" He stopped short of finishing his thoughts as he turned and saw her face.

"What the HELL happened to you?" He exclaimed as he cupped her chin in his hand. Did that Agent DiNozzo do this to you?" He surprised himself by how pissed off that made him.

"Yeah, well it's easy to do when I'm handcuffed to a table. You should have seen Steele, he went all ape shit on the guy." She smiled back at him.

"I told him that we didn't have the time or want the attention."

"Well, as usual you put the cause ahead of yourself. You really took one for the team this time. Don't you worry I am sure that before this is all over you'll have another shot at him." He found himself being a little protective of her, even though he had seen evidence more than once that she didn't need protecting.

"The next step is finding someone to replace Clancy. We have to be careful but we have to get someone on the inside or this is all going to be for nothing." Hawk wasn't telling him anything that he didn't already know.

"You still have anyone to check on your list?" Jake inquired.

"Yeah, I still have several I go investigate to see if they meet the standards."

Alright, well I'll check mine and you do the same then we'll meet back together tomorrow morning. That should give us enough time to run checks on them; we have to be sure this time. We can't afford to be wrong again." He was happy that she didn't throw it in his face that Clancy had been his pick.

""You should go home and put some ice on that cheek; then get comfortable because we gotta work through the night." ." At this point in time he completely trusted her loyalty to the cause but he still didn't want her looking over his shoulder as he searched for their next ally. She was smart enough that if she so chose, she could easily take over his position in the organization someday. If it came to that any warm feelings he had for her would not stop him from taking out the competition.


	12. Chapter 12

Honor Few, Fear None Chapter 12

"Ziva, any luck with that contact of yours?" Jenny asked. She was waiting with Gibbs in the Bull Pen area of the building.

"Unfortunately, I don't know if I have a complete list of the weapons and explosives that they might have but what I do know isn't of any comfort." The younger woman told her.

"What else besides Stinger missiles are unaccounted for?" Jenny almost didn't want to know. Another terrorist attack here on U.S. soil, especially one indirectly and unintentionally supplied by the Marine Corp was nightmare she didn't want to entertain.

"There were some high end explosives, along with a several dozen assault rifles and some S.M.A.W II's." The Israeli Officer finished up her list. These were items not just unaccounted for at the Quanitco Marine Base but the other known targeted facilities.

"Oh is that all?" Shepard replied, grimly.

"That's enough to supply a small army." Gibbs echoed his agreement.

"The good news is that they probably aren't intending to use that entire arsenal with the latest intended target." The others hadn't noticed Dr. Mallard approaching. "I believe that the explosives Ziva mentioned will be their main tactic.

"What do you mean, Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"The explosives would be more of a low risk method to get their point across. They can plant and conceal them with less chance of detection. They'll save the other weapons for more appropriate targets." The doctor explained how he arrived at his profile.

As he half listened to what the other members of his team were discussing Tony and Tim were gathering more information. They now had the address of where Hawk was when she was dropped off; since they had played their cards right they had executed a secondary part of the plan. Ziva had tailed Steele's car to the apartment; this one of the skills she had mastered in years in Mossad.

When she arrived luck was on their side because the lawyer hadn't stayed long and where the apartment was located provided more than ample concealment for her to stealthily move into position to place GPS locators on the motorcycles in the driveway. The security cameras outside were hidden from the view of the average civilian but not from her trained eyes. She was praying that there wasn't a car in the garage that would be used instead; considering that her friend's life was in the balance she didn't want to risk another tail in case Hanson went with anywhere with her.

After Hawk left she then skillfully removed the remaining locator from Hanson's bike and then followed the signal where Hawk was now residing for the evening and did the same. This way should the paranoid man swept for anything he would be further reassured that everything was secure. Before reporting back to headquarters she had one more task; to use the locator on the attorney's car and remove that one as well.

Tony was once again multitasking, listening to them, doing his research and still pondering why Ducky had done his first ever head slap. He glanced over and saw that Ziva had returned to her desk as Gibbs and Shepard went up to MTAC to update SECNAV with what they had discovered as well as contact Hawk's superiors.

He had noticed after the fact that Ziva had not been surprised at all when Ducky's hand had made contact with his skull. "Ziva…."

"What is it Tony?" She replied not even bothering to take her eyes off her computer screen.

"You weren't shocked when Ducky hit me, why?" He half whispered to her, hoping not broadcast it across the entire room

"That's true, Ziva you didn't seem surprised." McGee hadn't recalled that until DiNozzo had brought it up.

"Don't interrupt McNosey! I think you actually saw it coming; never mind that you didn't even try and save your partner. Why was he so mad?" He still didn't have the slightest idea.

"Tony, in all the years that you have been googling girls…" Ziva started saying.

"It's ogling, Ziva" McGee interrupted.

"Ahh yes, ogling." She had mistakenly gotten that idiom wrong again. "In all those years have you ever tried doing that in the presence of their family or more particularly their _fathers_?"

"No of course not that could be suicidal…." He hadn't even finished his sentence when he and Tim reached the same conclusion at the same time.

"She's _his_ daughter?" They both yelled in unison, inadvertently causing heads to turn in other cubicles.

"I didn't know that he had a daughter!" The two men somehow managed to speak at the same time again; only this time in a less booming voice.

"Oh man! You really stepped in it Tony!" McGee didn't even care if incurred his wrath this time.

"Where? What did he step in?" Ziva asked, looking around the office area and Tony's desk.

"Oh Ziva!" We the last thing they said again in unison; laughter in their voices, which lead her to come to the conclusion that she had once again missed something.

They readily got back to their tasks trying to focus on what pieces of the puzzle they could come up with and not on the surprising bit of information that had fallen into their laps.


	13. Chapter 13

Honor Few, Fear None Chapter 13

Hawk sat in her undercover pad and was furiously creating a believable set of documents proving that John Reardon was part of the same crowd that Corporal Clancy had hung around with both personally and in the same unit in the Marines.

His background like her own had to be impeccable; considering her new role in his eyes and the lack of time Hanson may simply rely on her choice. However, she didn't want to take the chance that he would. Not only would the mission be compromised and her own safety at risk but she would be getting another of her fellow devil dogs killed.

She actually preferred being alone on undercover assignments; in the end it was only her own six she had to worry about. She knew what Hell it would mean to her Dad to have something happen to her but she had experienced losing men and women in a war zone and repeating that was something she wanted to avoid.

She was confident that they could pull off the first part of it but was the exact target and how long did they before their efforts would be in vain?

Jethro was in his usual spot at home, the basement. He was working on his boat, something that brought him some amount of peace. He had a lot to process on this night; not only was there a race against the clock to stop yet another threat on American soil but a fellow Marine was putting her life on the line. He knew she was good at her job; still he was anxious to be accepted so she wouldn't have to be a one woman army should anything go south.

There was never a single day where he didn't think of them; the two people that his heart ached for. In the last few years he had very slowly been able to at least picture them more with smiles on their faces instead of the two dimensional images of the van and their broken bodies lying inside.

He wondered if she had been able to get to that point yet; somehow he doubted it. She had mirrored his own actions in the way that she threw herself into her work; stressful, dangerous work. It was amazing how long you can postpone dealing with the loss, with the destructive emotions that at times could threaten to consume you.

He had witnessed first-hand what Ducky had endured and had a greater understanding of it than what his friend knew at the time. He still wanted to kick himself for not telling him about his own loss; when it was revealed he didn't have to be a mind reader to see how much it had hurt the older man that he hadn't confided in him.

Now as he continued to sand down the water craft he silently prayerfully asked for the ability to not only do his job but protect the one that his dear friend loved the most. Ducky had come to terms with the loss of his son-in-law and granddaughter but losing her would probably drive him past the point of no return.


	14. Chapter 14

Honor Few, Fear None Chapter 14

"Jake, I promise you this is the guy! He's prime for the picking!" Hawk argued her point to her cohort.

"Are you sure? We can't afford another mistake!" He was afraid of screwing up again.

"Believe me I understand! I want this as much as you do!" She didn't want to push too hard but at the same time was of the essence. She knew she could handle just about any situation but it would be of great comfort to have Gibbs with her in this craziness.

"Have you found anyone better?" Hawk prayed that he hadn't or the entire plan was going to fall apart.

"No, not really; at least no one that seems as perfect as this guy….." He hesitated partially because it wasn't his idea and also because he didn't like being upstaged by a woman.

"You said it yourself that we are running out of time! Exactly how much time do we have?" She was hoping that he would give her that piece to the puzzle.

"Ok, Ok, you're right we don't have a lot of time left. Let's just say that by the end of the week….these faggots will have a surprise of a lifetime." He was so busy delighting in what they were going to accomplish that he allowed some of the information he hadn't planned on sharing with her to flow from his lips.

She fought hard to not visibly show relief in having gained this little bit of insight. What was increasingly frustrating was that she had absolutely no way of passing it along to either her own team or that of Gibbs's. "I take it that we don't have to travel far to teach these people a lesson?"

"Are you kidding? Do you think we would have spent so much time here in Virginia if the target was far away? Naw…..there are plenty of queers right here to start off the campaign." He figured that she had more than earned her place in the organization; he was reminded of that every time he looked at her face.

"Alright then, look why don't I contact him; part of the information that was uncovered by the search program was his current address and cell phone number. The sooner he is on board the sooner we can get our hands on the rest of the arsenal." She now knew the targeted group and a geographical profile to start working on; unfortunately there was no one _to work_ on it.  
"Great! You do that, arrange a meeting today and I'll contact the others and finalize the rest of the plan." Jake then pulled out his cell and walked away; completely unaware of the federal wolf in sheep's clothing that was in his midst or that another one was about to join the flock.

She casually walked to the window and played with some papers at the laptop; there was times like these where she wished she had half the computer savvy as her late husband. He was a self-taught genius in the field. Then perhaps she would have known a way to send Abby this information without risking losing the ground that she had gained with Hanson and the Knights of the Road.

She waited until she saw him pull onto the street on his Harley; then her fingers started to walk across the number pad of her cell and waited for an answer on the other end of the line.

"Mr. Reardon? My name is Alison Malcolm….and I think we have something in common. I am a friend of Eric Clancy; before he left this world he told me some things about you. Would you mind meeting me? I have a proposition for you….." She used the uncover name on the off chance that her phone had been bugged by Hanson or one of the others.


	15. Chapter 15

Honor Few Fear None Chapter 15

Jethro sat at his desk at NCIS Headquarters trying to concentrate on his own work. He had delegated most of the investigative end of the operation to his team; which he entrusted to use whatever resources it took to get the job done. He had personally trained all of them; in reality when it came to McGee and to a degree Ziva, DiNozzo in his own way had helped. In any case he trusted them with his life, he knew that while he was uncover with the Major everything would be in good hands.

He always hated this part of a sting; the waiting to get the ball rolling. He felt as if every second that went by was taking forever. He was busying himself with running through his identity one more time; not that he had to he was a season professional at being a Special Agent; especially an undercover one.

A memory flash entered his consciousness as he thought about his past; Jenny and him in Paris. In those days she was his partner; his trainee of sorts. Now of course she was his boss, an irony that didn't escape him. He knew that in her office she was gathering her own information, using sources that weren't in the databanks.

Then came the sound he was longing to hear, his cell vibrating. He picked it up and prepared to become John Reardon; a man willing to betray everything he knew for a profit and a chance to kill innocent people.

"Yah?" He listened to the familiar voice on the other end of the line. The conversation was of course brief and to the point.

As he hung up the phone he finished jotting down the address of where he was supposed to meet up with the target and Hawk. He took a deep breath and then opened his desk drawer, revealing his gun and badge. He looked beyond them to the back and picked up his new ID and his Beretta; his side arm when he was serving his Reserve time in the Corp. Now the stakes were at an all-time high; both for the two Marines and the people they were sworn to protect.

He got on the vehicle that would assist him in his acceptance of the organization; a Harley Davidson. He hadn't ridden one in many years and he was hoping that the old adage was right; once you learn you, you never forget.

He left the main gates of the Navy Yard and made sure to take the extra-long way to his rendezvous; this was so it was less likely that any of them would track him coming from anywhere close to the federal facility.

The day was clear and bright and typical mid spring weather. He quickly surveyed his surroundings; the location was wide open with virtually no areas of cover should anything go a bad. He knew all too well what it was like to lose Marines and agents in the line of duty; among them Kate Todd, the first female that he had ever lost. He would be content if he never experienced that again; even though reality told him that in itself that was a near impossibility. He was damned determined not to make it this mission.

The plan was to meet up with them at the back of the parking lot of an abandoned factory; with no witnesses to document what was about to occur. Hanson had chosen it to avoid being spotted by any undesirables, Hawk readily agreed because it fit perfectly for what she had in mind as well.

No witnesses meant that it would be easier to accomplish their goal. Hanson would be taken into custody; after all he had admitted to hiring someone to steal the weaponry from the Marine base. Then while he was being questioned back at NCIS Alison would report in to the others that Hanson had been pinched by the FEDS and then she would bring in her ringer. It was a huge risk but she was still confident in her choice to go with the Gunny instead of another member of her own team.

They were not read into the latest developments of the case and they each already had their own assignments that had already been in place. Her second, Lt. Travis Briggs would assist NCIS in the interrogation of Hanson; this was part of his original assignment before she had been out of communication.

"Where is he, Allie?" Hanson was becoming more irate every second that went by. He was so focused on it that Gibbs had already covered quite a distance towards them before he even noticed.

"He'll be here. Oh look I think it's him now….." She replied, glancing over his shoulder. Gibbs was approaching from directly behind the other man.

Jake spun around and squinted while he tried to make out the person closing the distance between them; several seconds passed before he came to a dramatic realization when he instantly recognized him.

"What the Hell?" He rotated on his heels to face his cohort only to be met by the business end of her 9mm Glock.

"I take it you remember Special Agent Gibbs?" She smiled sweetly at the other man. She kept a short distance away from him to avoid even the possibility that he could knock the weapon out of her hands.

He had instantaneously went from just north of positive that he was once again in control of the mission to enraged to the nth degree when in a flash he understood that he had been played right from the beginning.

Although it certainly wasn't the smartest move he went to lash out at the person who he no longer knew. She didn't bother trying to counter his attack, knowing that Gibbs was now directly behind him. As he reached for her Gibbs was upon him encircling the raged man's neck into a rear choke hold.

Hanson tried unsuccessfully to remove himself from the taller man's grip. In mere seconds he could feel his head begin to thump as the blood circulation was cut off from his brain; then spots began to darken his vision and finally he went limp.

"Where should we take sleeping beauty here?" Gibbs referred to her, since it was her case. Normally he wouldn't have in a million years looked to anyone else lead an investigation; regardless of whose jurisdiction is what. However in this instance he was giving respect not only to her rank but to what personal sacrifices she had make to get this far.

"Let's get him inside the factory, maybe we can get some more out of him in a less accommodating environment….." She grinned at Jethro and then assisted him in carrying Hanson across the parking lot and into the abandoned building.


	16. Chapter 16

Honor Few Fear None Chapter 16

"Are you sure that you can't cancel the march?" Director Shepard was on the phone in her spacious office.

"I understand that Mr. Forbes but we have a creditable threat against your organization; we believe they intend to use violence to stop you from marching…." She had been on the line for the last twenty minutes trying to get through to the young man on the other end.

"Alright, I understand. I will work with the local police to give you extra security. Please keep an eye out for anything suspicious and don't take any unnecessary chances."

She hung up with mounting frustration; she couldn't give one of her best friends back up herself, like in the old days. She wasn't able to convince the Gay and Lesbian Coalition or any of the other gay rights organizations doing protests; there were three others from going through with their activities this week.

On one hand she thought they were being foolish, one the other she thought they were doing the right thing, not backing down from the good fight. So far her team, Hawk's and Fornell's were covering all the bases but putting the Gay and Lesbian Coalition as the primary. Their march on Saturday was specifically to rally against the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy of the military. Ducky had profiled Corporal Clancy and Hanson and believed that gays in the military were particularly one of their current focuses. Hawk had said one of their top ten targets for their bigotry was homosexuals.

She finished up her paperwork awaiting the arrival of Agent Fornell, and Lt. Travis Briggs, he was second in command on Hawk's ONI team. They were all patiently waiting for some kind of report of where Hanson was going to be dropped off so that they could arrest him and bring him in for a proper interrogation.

Her thoughts turned to the two Marines that she was closest to; knowing them well she figured that Hanson was going to have some alone time with them before any _official_ questioning would take place. If ever asked she would deny any knowledge of anything but for a few brief moments she actually felt a little sorry for the man, for he had no idea what he was in for.

Fornell and the rest of Team Gibbs were waiting in the Bull Pen waiting somewhat impatiently for the Naval Lt. who was due any moment to brief them both on any intelligence that had been gathered from his end and what the rest of the original plan had been to take down the rest of the other scumbags in this gang.

"Has Gibbs called in yet?" The G-Man asked for the third time in the last hour.

"No, did you think I forgot to tell you about it?" DiNozzo shot back irritably.

Before Tobias could throw back a retort in return he was interrupted by McGee. "Hey, come on! This isn't going to solve anything!"

"Stay out of this, McPeacemaker!" He growled towards the younger man all while understanding his motivation for saying it.

"Do you think that we can stop it in time?" Tim asked quietly. He was usually one of the more positive members of the team but this time he just didn't know.

"I mean what if they have already planted the explosives or if they are going to strike earlier than we think?" He stammered, waiting for DiNozzo to ream him a new one for rambling on.

"We are doing everything possible, McGee; all we can do is trust Gibbs and Hawk to get things done on their end." Ziva stated so matter of factly that many would mistake her demeanor for not caring. What her teammates knew was that she had seen the tragic results of terrorisms more often that any of them; this was her way of trying to remain professional and distance herself personally.

"She's right Tim, you know the Boss would never let us down…" Tony answered the Probie with a non-typical softer tone. He couldn't dismiss his own fears of not only failing to stop the attack but of losing a fellow good guy and someone he considered to be family.

"Gibbs might be a bastard but he's also a damn good agent, he'll contact us soon." Fornell joined the conversation. He had known Jethro for a few years; many a time he wanted to ring his neck but he never once doubted his dedication or abilities.

McGee started to respond back when a man in a Naval Officers uniform came out of the elevator doors; within a few steps he was standing beside Ziva's desk.

"Lt. Briggs?" Tobias inquired.

"Yes, I was told to report in to Director Shepard." The man answered bluntly, he had not been thrilled upon hearing that he would now have to share in the glory of solving this case in the nick of time.

"I will let her know that you have arrived…" Ziva said without making eye contact, simply picking up her phone and dialing Jenny's extension.

"In the mean time you can start by bringing up to speed. I am Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo…"

"I would rather wait for Director Shepard. I don't want to share ONI files with just a field agent…" It didn't take a profiler to recognize the lack of respect in his tone.

"Special Agent DiNozzo is my acting _Senior_ Field Agent, now shall we get started?" Jenny spoke politely as she gracefully came down the staircase; the underlying tone was perfectly clear. She mentally took a note to watch the younger man and decide later on as to whether or not to speak to Hawk about his attitude.

"They're on this." Briggs glanced down at Ziva and handed it to her instead of the outstretched hand of DiNozzo's.

"When was the last time that Major Swift Hawk reported in?" He asked the Director who was now standing beside McGee's desk.

"Special Agent Gibbs or the Major haven't communicated with us since leaving here fourteen hours ago…" Jenny answered back. "We're expecting to hear from them soon.

"Agent Fornell will assist you during the interrogation…" She started to say before she was interrupted.

"I am quite capable of conducting it myself, Director! This was ONI's assignment before NCIS got involved." Briggs voice rose slightly this time.

"Lieutenant, a word?" Jenny was finished dealing with this nonsense.

She motioned with her hand for him to accompany her; then walked far enough away to give them a margin of privacy. He started to speak but she held her hand up stopping him.

"Just in case I wasn't clear before, you will give my agents as well as Agent Fornell all the files and other pertinent information that they need so that _all_ of us can work together."

"You should count your blessings that Major Swift Hawk was able to come in from the cold long enough to get the help that she needed. My best agent is with her now; they are both putting their necks out there. If that alone isn't enough incentive for you, this collaboration was arranged by the Sec Nav, which in case you've forgotten signs _both_ our paychecks." She allowed the inflection in her voice and not the volume to convey her message.

"Yes, Ma'am." He replied coldly. He knew he had crossed the line and also knew that if the Director reported that fact to the Major or even worse the Sec Nav his career would quickly go down the toilet.

The others watched with a blend of enjoyment and amusement. It was obvious to all of them that he had sorely misjudged Shepard and his own level of authority.

Without another word Jenny returned to the group with the none too happy Lt. Briggs slightly behind her. "Alright now, McGee copy everything that the Lt. has brought to us and give a copy to Abby and Ducky; the more sets of eyes we have on this the better."

"On it Boss!" Tim paused for a moment realizing how much like Gibbs the Director could be; also that DiNozzo would have a field day with his mistake later.


	17. Chapter 17

I reposted this only because there was an error I found, she has fought for her country for nearly two decades, not one.

Honor Few, Fear None Chapter 17

"Awwww, look I think Prince Charming here is waking up." Hawk remarked while cupping the chin of the man slumped in the metal office chair, his arms tied down to it.

Hanson's eyes were beginning to flutter open as his brain functions started to re-fire, it only took a few more seconds for him to remember what had happened only minutes before.

"Take your hands off me, Bitch!" He tried in vain to swing at her only to realize that he couldn't move.

"You have no right to keep me here! Where are we? I demand to call my lawyer! You Cu….." He didn't have time to finish his latest derogatory term before Gibbs was behind him with a slap to the head fiercer than anything he would ever do to his team.

"Hey! Show some respect!"

"Major, would you care to start asking Mr. Hanson some questions?" He asked waiting for Hanson to register what he just said.

"Major? You're a…..son of a bitch!" He lowered his head then snapped it back up wanting punch her only to be reminded yet again that he couldn't move at all.

"Marine? Well, yes but to be more precise, Naval Intelligence."

"You know Jake it wasn't very nice to steal all of those nasty weapons." She continued on.

"It also isn't very neighborly to try and blow other people up." Gibbs had come in front of him standing next to her; even in her heeled boots she was considerably shorter.

"Faggots aren't people! They need be taken care of! They are ruining this country for everyone!" He continued his tirade with other sickening rants; ones that she had heard aimed at her more than once in her life.

Hawk swiftly moved in and placed her finger in the hollow behind his left ear and pressed in hard causing the man to cry out in pain. "Look at me. Now we want some information and I am running out of patience. Is the Gay and Lesbian Coalition your current target? Where and when is the attack going to take place?"

"I want my lawyer! You can't do this! I have rights!" He screamed back at her; his rage was at an all- time high. How could he have been so stupid! How could this woman have gotten the best of him?

She once again planted her finger in the same pressure point behind his ear; knowing that it would leave no mark and wouldn't cause any permanent damage. "That is where you are mistaken, you are nothing but a home grown terrorist; according to the Patriot Act we can hold you for as long as we like."

"Gunny, does _it_ have a right to a lawyer?" She purposefully used that term making him less than human, the level that he placed his intended victims.

"Eventually."

"See there he agrees with you! Then again we could just let you here and walk away; you'll make it a couple of days….maybe. You won't starve; no instead you'll slowly dehydrate. Trust me it isn't real pretty; I've spent quite a bit of time in the desert."

"Your lips will split open and the cuticles around your fingernails will crack, you'll feel like you're losing what little mind you have and then well you'll slowly die."

"Someone will come for me! They'll hear me calling for help!" Although he was attempting to conceal it he was becoming a little paranoid that these two might actually follow through with their threats.

"Do you think this is our firstparty? Why do you think we made the meeting place in the middle nowhere? No one comes out here…besides why are you so confident that anyone would really care if you simply fell off the face of the earth?" She looked him dead in the eyes forcing him to look into hers_._

"Or you could go tribal on this scumbag…" Gibbs spoke up; he was actually enjoying taking the back seat and watching her work.

"What did you have in mind?" Her gaze never left Hanson's now widening eyes.

"Oh I don't know there are a few to choose from aren't there?"

"What is he talking about?" Jake was now attempting to keep the octaves in his voice from going any higher.

"Yes, there are quite a few." She looked back at Gibbs with a new gleam in her eyes.

"My grandfather told me many stories of what the Diné would do to those who were enemies of the tribe." She watched to see if he was smart enough to catch on.

"Tribe? You mean you're a half-breed!" He exclaimed the rage coming back into his voice at least temporarily. It was obvious even to him that she couldn't be a full-blooded Indian.

"I am Navajo, you Racist Jack Ass! You can at least get that much right!" Her eyes now lit with the fire of all of the others before him that tried to disrespect her people; even though only half her bloodline was Native, the Diné considered her to be a member of the tribe.

"If I were you I wouldn't do anything else to piss her off…." Gibbs crossed over behind him and leaned down to speak at his ear."

"The last terrorist she interrogated didn't have much time to… to regret it….I've seen what she can do…." This time he moved to his side to be in Hanson's peripheral sight.

"I'm no terrorist! I'm just getting rid of the ones who are ruining this country!" Hanson tried to reason with the Gibbs since he at least appeared to be more rational than she was.

"Well then, have it your way…." He shot him a look of pity. "I think I will just wait over here…. like I said I saw what happened last time…." He ended his part of the conversation with a slightly over exaggerated shiver.

He walked once again behind Hanson whose face was ashen, then once out of his sight he used his agile fingers to sign to her_, I'll check in_.

"Now that you and I are alone how about you tell me what I want to know…."

As he walked to the end of the room out of the now terrified man's ear shot he flipped out his phone and called Jenny. He waited for her to pick up on the other end while keeping his eyes on the Major and their captive; if anything somehow did manage to go wrong then he would be still be able to cover her.

Before Hanson had even regained consciousness he had called Shepard and let her know their location. The plan was for them to get here just before Hawk could do to do him any actual harm.

"Jen, we're all set on this end…yeah I think we've softened him up for you. So, they should be here any minute? Good...what? Yeah, thanks we're going to need it." She had wished them GOD's speed.

He hung up the phone and silently moved in a little closer to Hawk and was amused to notice that even from behind it was becoming quite obvious that Hanson was buying the act hook, line and sinker.

"Ok Jake, now I'm a fair minded person, really I am. Since you don't want to tell me what I need to know I'm going to give you a couple of choices as to what I am going to do with you, you tell me which you prefer and I'll go with that….."

"Look you can't do this! I'm an American citizen, I have rights! Besides, how are you going to explain what happened to me? I mean you'll go to prison!" He was fighting full out panic; he had seen how tigerishly she could fight when they had been in bar brawls together.

"Do what? I mean here I am an upstanding member of society; a Marine who fought for her country for nearly two decades….who do you think they'll believe?" She paced around him in slow methodical circles as she was talking to him; she watched his eyes dart back and forth and he tried to keep track of where she was moving.

"Major?" Gibbs spoke up spooking Hanson even more since he wasn't aware that he was once again standing behind him.

"Yes Gunny?" She responded while not taking her eyes off her prey.

"Could I request something?" He asked in the manner he would of someone of superior rank.

"Go ahead, speak freely."

"Could you pick something that isn't as messy as the last time? I mean I never did get the blood stains out of that shirt." He said with a grin that he knew his target couldn't see.

"Since you asked so nicely I will do my best to keep it tidy. Hawk kneeled down in front of him and placed one of her hands on his leg and the other one cupping his chin.

Hanson began to literally quake in his boots, the sweat ran down his face soaking his shirt. He was mentally trying to count the times where he made jokes or other racist remarks about half-breeds since he had met her; now he wished he had kept his mouth shut.

"I….I…..please don't….."He stammered.

The door knob turned on the door they had entered a short time before and even though the Marines were certain it was the two Special Agents they had been anticipating they brought their hands to their side arms just in case.

"Agents, how nice of you to join the party! Oh do wish you had arrived just a little bit later, there simply wasn't enough time for Mr. Hanson and I to have any fun at all…" She shot at fiendish grin at the two men.

"Well, in that case we could always come back a little bit later…." DiNozzo responded with a mock serious expression planted on his face.

"NO! No, you can't just leave me here, with them!" Jake screamed, this time not caring that it came out as more of a shrill squeak.

"If you go with us you're going to have to answer our questions, I mean if you're not going to cooperate then we won't waste our time taking you into the NCIS." McGee got his two cents in.

"Fine, just get me outta here!" He thrashed against his restraints.

"How about it Boss? Should we take him out of here or should we give you two more time to get the information that we need?" Tony turned towards his mentor.

"You think you can do this all by yourselves?" Jethro asked in return.

"It looks like we can come to some kind of resolution." Tony answered him.

"Alright, take him then. If he gets a kind of attitude let Ziva finish him off….I mean finish the interrogation." Gibbs ordered him.

Tim walked over and unlatched the handcuffs keeping Hanson attached to the office chair. DiNozzo pulled him roughly to his feet as McGee used the same handcuffs to restrain his arms behind him.

The two agents led him out the same door as Hawk and Gibbs followed close behind; then he was placed in their vehicle.

As they left a trail of dust out of the parking lot Hawk looked over at Gibbs; his glance meeting hers. "You know that this was the easy part."

"Yeah." Jethro didn't have to say much to get his point across; his expression did it for him.


	18. Chapter 18

Honor Few, Fear None Chapter 18

The trip from the warehouse took only about a half hour but it seemed like an eternity. Each one of them was keenly aware that each minute was one less they had to stop the terrorist plot. Both of them had many things in common one of which was witnessing too many times the cost of war, whether it was on American soil or abroad.

Hawk and Gibbs rode side by side as they approached the tallest building on the block; it towered above the older apartments and houses surrounding it in one of the oldest parts of Georgetown.

They choose the parking location as they did anything else with planned intent; the closest to the most likely egress should they need to escape If there was a flaw in their complex ruse.

"Alright Gunny from here on out we are going to be under constant surveillance inside and outside the building; many of the areas also have audio feed. " She informed of the situation even though she was sure he had already arrived at that conclusion.

"Copy that." He took in his surroundings with the experience of a seasoned special agent and veteran Marine. It was one of the skill sets that linked himself with Hawk, Ziva and Jenny.

They rode up the elevator knowing that the lion's den was just on the other side of the doors. The knowledge that at the very least Gibbs aka Gunnery Sgt. John Reardon's gun would temporarily seized if not also her own was of no comfort even if it was expected.

They were escorted by two bikers dressed in what would pass in those circles as dressed up; they wore black jeans and button down dark denim shirts with black vest were adorned with a large detailed decal of a knight in shining armor riding a Harley.

"Ahh Alison come in and please introduce us to your friend." The oldest man in the room requested of her; he himself was only in what appeared to be his mid- 50's.

"Craig, how are you?" She smoothly began her conversation knowing that if she could pull the wool over his eyes the others would be relatively easy.

"Not so good I'm afraid. We heard on the police scanner that Jake was taken into custody by the same federal agents that arrested you yesterday." He was well spoken; he wasn't the run of the mill biker. He was well schooled; the brains behind the organization.

He eyed the two before him. Although he had limited interaction with Alison Malcolm it had always been a positive experience. She fit in well with in the gang; most of the women in their circles were beautiful like she but didn't usually play roles in leadership.

He had seen that she possessed the intelligence and drive to be a real asset to them. Hanson had hand-picked her and she had proven her loyalty even before being assaulted by the goon squad of federal agents.

"I know Craig, I'm sorry I wasn't there when it went down. I was supposed to meet with him this afternoon. He told me yesterday that he filled you in; told you about Reardon?" She kept it short, sweet and to the point. The less she told him the better; it meant the less that could trip her up later on.

Craig got up from the table he had been leaning on and walked over to her; his fingers reaching out to gently touch the large bruise that was now yellowing in the center. "I guess when they couldn't break you and make the charges stick they went after him."

"What did they charge him with? I mean the only word that got back to me was that he was in custody" She asked with a convincing look of wonderment.

"Steele's with him now; he reported in just after he was brought into their headquarters. He said that he hadn't been able to see him as of yet. I know as soon as he has any information he will check in."

"I need to know Alison; can you handle this without him?" Craig got straight to the point; there wasn't a lot of time for niceties.

"Yes! I will do whatever I have to make it work!" She motioned for Gibbs to come closer.

"Craig, this is John. This is going to be our newest ally for the cause." She smiled confidently.

"Mr. Reardon, or should I call you Gunnery Sgt.?"

"John will do just fine. It's bad enough I have to go by that name when I'm in uniform." Gibbs stated angrily.

"Why did you accept Ms. Malcolm's invitation?"

"Because I am tired of having to shower, work out and fight with the faggots that the Marine Corp allows to be there in the first place!" He hated even spouting such ignorance but it was necessary to be convincing.

"I am sorry about taking away your weapon when you first came in; we had to be absolutely sure you are who you say you are." Craig nodded towards the one guard who had disappeared for a short time. In his hands he was holding a report.

"You see we took your finger prints off your gun so we could run on last background check. "

Unfortunately we had an issue in the recent past where we were betrayed by your friend Mr. Clancy." The older man watched to gage the reaction of the man before him.

"Look Sir, we weren't friends. I mean we ran in the same circles and believed in the same things but I wasn't close to him."

"I can't for the life me understand what he was thinking by back stabbing you; if you ask me he got what he deserved." Gibbs grinned back at Craig.

"I am glad to hear you say that John, you've check out so you may take possession of your weapon." Craig motioned was once more and the same man handed Gibbs back his Beretta.

"Thank you Mister?" Gibbs inquired politely.

"It's Morgan but please call me Craig." The leader requested. It seemed that their plans might not be thwarted after all. If Alison trusted him, that was good enough for him.

"OK." Jethro tried hard not to sign in relief; so far so good.

"Now Alison, the time and place will still be workable. I need you and John to go with the team and load the van then take everything and held to the rendezvous point and set everything up."

"The message will be delivered at Noon tomorrow. Those faggots want to have a party…well we're going to give them one." Craig's eyes reflected the utter joy that he felt when he thought of his master plan.

The undercover team of two wanted nothing more at that moment than to take down the scumbags before them; it wouldn't allow them to reclaim the weaponry that was under their control or stop the attack itself, since neither one of them new all of details.

"Craig, who is the target exactly? Jake never had a chance to tell me after everything had been finalized." She knew she should be safe since it was a logical question.

"The Gay and Lesbian Coalition was the final choice." Morgan told them with a beam of pride on his weathered face.

Hawk and Gibbs tossed a look between them that to anyone else in the room was one of enjoyment at the honor of being involved in such a mission. Their eyes told each other of a relief that it was the target that had been the main focus of their combined teams; that meant that even if they couldn't contact the task force in time the cavalry would already be at the rally waiting.

"However, we expect that there will be plenty of security at the rally itself so we are going to strike at the headquarters as they organize themselves before they get to the muster point of the parade." Craig's voice was almost giddy thinking of how they were going to outsmart the Pigs.


	19. Chapter 19

Honor Few, Fear None Chapter 19

The Agents and the ONI Lieutenant stood in the outer area, just beyond the interrogation room; inside was the man that everyone wanted to break. Jenny had ordered that Briggs and Fornell were to be the primary agents in interrogating Jake Hanson.

Fornell was more than pleased when Shepard had made that request of him, although he wasn't necessarily looking forward to doing it with the young man from ONI. He would much rather have Ziva or even DiNozzo to play off of.

All of them were hopeful that they could conquer their next big dilemma; the fact that Hanson knew that Gibbs and Hawk were both undercover operatives. There was little doubt that the gang would most likely send over Mr. Steele, the lawyer they had had the pleasure dealing with before; only now he could prove to be their undoing.

There was no way that they could refuse Hanson his civil rights and not allow Steele to speak with him freely and in private. Therefore when Hanson told him about the moles in the organization there was nothing stopping him from snapping open his cell phone and spilling the beans.

They had to convince the man in the tiny room that it was in his best interest to request a different attorney; which would mean that Steele might never be privy to the sensitive information. The chances of Hanson wanting to have an inexperienced public defender instead were unlikely.

"Alright….you ready?" Fornell looked Briggs.

"Yes Sir, let's get started."

The two men slowing opened the door and emerged into the room; their stride and demeanor was one of absolute authority. Hanson's comfort level was still low but he was definitely less terrified than when he was in the custody of Hawk and Gibbs.

"Now Mr. Hanson you promised the other agents that you would give us the answers that we needed, so start talking." Tobias spoke first.

Jake was busying trying to judge his new captors and whether or not they were just as dangerous as the ones who held him before. The one fact that was somewhat of a comfort was that at least he was in a monitored interrogation room in the Headquarters; they couldn't do anything the wanted to…or could they?

"Start talking! If know what's good for you. You see I learned everything I know from Major Swift Hawk…" Briggs leaned down and from beside him brought his face within inches of the other man's face.

He knew it was a ploy to make him nervous and it was working; he was no longer certain that he could walk away without a scratch so to speak. They already had him cold for at least conspiracy if not worse more damning charges.

"Mr. Hanson? Who is the target? Where and when is it going down? This is the last opportunity to save yourself!" Tobias barked the questions with his signature growl.

"I want my lawyer! You need to allow me to call Mr. Steele!" He decided to hold out for hope that he could both get him out of this mess and use him to let Morgan know about the Half-breed and Gibbs.

"Well I would rethink using Mr. Steele as your attorney." Briggs stated simply.

"What? Why? Why what are you talking about?" He was perplexed. What game could they be playing now?

"That is quite simple. You see we've pinned down the involvement of Steele with your organization. There enough to make several charges stick…." Briggs continued.

"Then what's the problem? I don't believe you, if that's true you would have had him in here by now." Jake was feeling more confident now.

"There are two reasons actually. The first one being that we would like to charge him with more if possible. You know us Feds we just love to throw scumbags in prison, for a long as possible." Fornell informed him.

"The other reason would be that as soon as Mr. Steele gets here…we already invited him. We are going to interview him in the other interrogation room and then inform him that you were the one that gave us the information to bust him with." Briggs chimed in while circling around him with the same technique that Hawk had used in the warehouse.

"He'll never believe it you have no proof!" He shouted back; his rage boiling up again.

"Oh we'll come up with the proof. You've said it yourself; you know that we're capable of just about anything." Fornell taunted him.

"The best part is that he will go back to your buddies and tell them that you're the mole; after that no one will be that _Alison_ has any part in it. It will look like you were trying to set her up this whole time." Briggs was fitting in nicely adlibbing alongside the federal agent.

"Now I don't know your comrades as well as you do of course but I don't know if they would be so willing to forgive and forget…" Tobias explained to the now more panic stricken man.

"He's right I mean you know what happened to the last man who betrayed you. " Briggs added.

"Yeah that's right." Fornell snapped his fingers as if remembering that detail.

"How long did you make him suffer? Well, I'm willing to bet that they'll find some nice man on the inside; first he'll make you his best pillow mate and then he'll meet up with you in some dark secluded area in the prison…" Tobias was now squatted down beside Jake with a look of pity written on his face.

"So Mr. Hanson we will be glad to call your attorney. Now who would you like us to call?" Briggs put both of his hands on Jake's shoulders.

Tony and Ziva stared into the dim room; both impressed with how well the session was going. The tension still hung in the air; they still didn't have the last clue of the puzzle that would allow them to prevent what was about to unfold.

"He's not very Tom Cruise, then again considering what he's been like lately that's probably a good thing." DiNozzo blurted out.

"What?" Ziva asked with a furrowed brow.

"You know when he was in 'A Few Good Men'? He was the lead defense attorney; a Naval Officer. Briggs sort of looks like him." Tony explained while continuously watching the men on the other side break down Hanson piece by piece.

"Is there anything that you cannot relate to a movie, Tony?" Ziva asked, while shooting him a look of annoyance.

"What can I say? I've got mad skills." He grinned back at her.

DiNozzo glanced over at the Mossad Officer and noticed the expression on her face. "You ok?"

"Yes, Tony I am fine. I just want to….I want to….." She said softly.

"Go in there and beat it out of him?" He asked, realizing once again that she was more than capable of doing so.

"Yes, that would be quite satisfying however I don't believe it would fit in well with your justice system." She acknowledged. She had wished that she could have been the one to watch Hawk's back during this ordeal; she owed the woman her life and she was a friend.

"You're unfortunately right; too bad I would have loved to have seen it." He chuckled when he saw her reaction and that she relaxed a little.

"It's gonna work, don't worry about it." Fornell's almost as good as Gibbs at this; he'll get the rest of what we need out of him. Tony assured her.

"Alright Jake we got a hold of Chase Danson Attorney at Law; he's going to send someone over right away. Thanks to your information about Steele we can put him away for a long time. He won't know it came from you." Briggs stated in a more comforting tone.

"Now would you like to keep helping us or do we need to wait for your lawyer?" Tobias inquired.

"You know that any hope of leniency is for you to stop this before it goes too far. If this attack takes place you'll be lucky if they send you to Gitmo." Briggs came at him again.

"What? Gitmo! You can't send me there!" Jake's voice cracked with a renewed fear. He was praying that his lawyer would get here soon and give him some good advice. He didn't know the man but knew of his reputation from some friends who had equal run ins with the law.

"Oh yes…we can. It doesn't matter if you are an international or domestic terrorist; the government views them as all the same." Briggs despite of himself was enjoying this team effort.

"So what's it going to be Jake? I mean we can't keep trying to make you a deal if you want to wait, then we'll wait until Mr. Danson gets here." Fornell reasoned.

"OK, OK, look it's the Gay and Lesbian Coalition! Those faggots are going to march today…they think they should have to right to serve in our military! Like any real man would want to serve with the likes of those people!" He finally disclosed.

"Where is the location? Is it where they are marching?" Even though that revelation should have given him relief Tobias at this moment was having what Gibbs would call a gut feeling and it was telling him that their problems were far from over.

"Yeah, the last I was told we were going to hit them at the muster point of the parade." Hanson had always thought himself loyal to the cause but right now all he wanted to do is save him own ass.

On the other side of the glass DiNozzo picked up the phone and called Director Shepard's line; so she would be aware of the situation. His next call was going to be McGee and Abby, since Ziva was already with him.

"Director? Yes, he told us where they are going to hit them. Yes, I understand…alright, thanks."

"McGee, we got it. Yes, call Abby tell her to get ready to track their phones and set up the back- up plan." Tony hung up.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Tony asked of his Mossad Ninja.

"Yes, he is telling what he believes to be the truth." She flatly replied back; the sense of urgency instead of getting better was only getting worse.

"Well Abby should be able to help us with that since we know the location that Gibbs and Hawk are currently are, thanks to you." DiNozzo offered that ray of light.

Part of the later part of the plan had been to once again rely on Ziva's honed ability to tail someone without being notice; by completely blending in with the surroundings. She had followed them from Headquarters at a safe distance and knew they had stopped an apartment building in Georgetown.

Now all they had to do is prepare for the strike at the location that had been given to them by Hanson and to await the prearranged signal from either Gibbs or Hawk and track their then activated cell phones to make certain they were covering the right location.


	20. Chapter 20

Honor Few, Fear None Chapter 20

As they walked downstairs to exit the building they were met up with the crew that was about to led them to the munitions that if deployed would kill and maim countless innocent people whose only crime was trying to receive the same civil rights as any other citizen would be afforded.

To anyone else's eyes the two Marines held the appearance of enthusiasm, the same reaction as the rest of the group. Their years of training and undercover operations made this possible; even though their inner selves were screaming wanting to commit violent acts against these monsters.

They walked silently to the awaiting vans, each of them waiting for the right time to initiate the next phase of the operation. There was going to be a short lived opening to make contact with Abby and let them know something had changed; a concept that had not eluded any of the team members.

Hawk and Gibbs were motioned by Morgan who had accompanied them downstairs to the garage. He reached over and gave Hawk and a huge hug. "Alright, good luck. Why don't you two ride together?"

"Thank you Craig. I know that before too long now, everything will have worked out just the way that it should." Of course Morgan had no idea that she in no way meant the success of his hideous mission.

Jethro pulled out his cell phone, which of course was a throw away, one that wasn't registered to any account. People in this line of work wouldn't attach their names to anything that could finger them later.

He looked up at Morgan as he turned it back on. "I didn't want to be interrupted before when I was talking with you that would be rude." He put on his best smile.

"However, if you knew her you would know why I had better turn it on now." Gibbs chuckled.

"That's your girlfriend Sharon, right?" Morgan answered back without missing a beat.

"How did you know that?" Gibbs feigned shock at the detailed information that Craig had known; of course he knew about the rigorous background check that would have been run on John Reardon.

"Let's just say that I probably know more about you than your own mother." Morgan replied matter of factly.

"Yea, I guess I understand, I mean you can never be too careful. I still can't believe Clancy tried to screw you like that!" Gibbs voice as if to show the rage at such an act of betrayal.

"Unfortunately, that is why we have to be so cautious." Morgan agreed.

"Alright then you should get going, after all we don't want to be late for the party, right?" Morgan gave her one more shoulder hug before the Gibbs and Hawk climbed into the back seat of the second van in line.

This ride seemed even longer than the last; at least if they were one their Harleys they would be in control of their fate to a greater degree. As it stood right now if somehow something went wrong they would be sorely outnumbered and overpowered. If the message didn't get to their team in time they would be forced to witness a massacre, most likely unable to stop all ten men who were part of the attack itself.

"Come one Duck Man, you know they'll both pull this off! I mean we both know Gibbs has supernatural powers and from what you've told me about her she is no less amazing!" Abby was trying to comfort one of her best friend's in this world.

"Of course you are right, Abigail. She is the only other person that I know that could probably match Jethro's abilities….." Ducky trailed off his sentence. All of the bodies in his autopsy suite were in the drawers; all of the autopsies being completed. He had asked a very eager Palmer to finish the last of the paperwork involved; he could no longer concentrate on what was before him.

Now if he got more information on this case and its cast of characters he would be able to assist with his profiling capabilities; at least then he would feel like he was doing something to help them instead feeling utterly useless. This was not an unusual emotion to a lesser degree; the team as a whole or sometimes as individuals had been in many jams before.

"Well I for one am going to think happy thoughts. I am going to hug them in my mind right now." She squeezed her eyes shut and she imagined them standing right before her safe and sound.

The image made Ducky smile in spite of himself; it reminded him that there was no one else on the planet like Abigail Scuito. "Thank you my dear for being so kind. Your optimism is delightful and just what I need right now."

"I can't imagine what it would be like to worry the way you do so much of the time. I mean yeah the team goes into some dangerous places and situations but it's not the same as being in jeopardy 24/7 like when she's a war zone." Abby was glad that she was getting Ducky to focus on something else even if it was for just a few brief moments.

"As a parent I can tell you that it never gets any easier. I know that I could never change who she is even if I wanted to. There was not one stage of her life where she fit the status quo; there was always something that she loved that was different from what girls were supposed to do." He smiled a little bit again.

"Wasn't she a Reservist before….." She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.

"Before the attacks? Yes, she had switched from active duty when Katie was a few years old. It was her idea, not Tom's. He was happy being more or less a Mr. Mom but she felt like she was missing out on too much of the first years of Katie's life."

"They had moved to Long Island when they got married; his computer tech business was established there. She hated being so far away from me but it wasn't too far by air. One of the first things they bought together was an older model UH-1 otherwise known as a Huey helicopter; she got her civilian pilot's license after she went through flight school and started flying EVAC and then later combat missions." Duck explained.

"So she joined the FDNY? Wow, I definitely wouldn't consider that a safe occupation either! I can't imagine running into a burning building or dealing some horrific car crash!" Abby exclaimed. She had always held first responders like that in high regard; knowing that they were willing to put their lives on the line just as her beloved team did.

"She was a paramedic firefighter; she started in the fire service when she was fourteen, as a local volunteer in Pennsylvania where she grew up; then by sixteen she had her EMT certification too. So it didn't take much to get through the paramedic class; she had received some basic emergency medical training in the marines as well."

"However you are correct that I still did plenty of worrying! Tom used to say that he didn't know which one of us was going to go gray the fastest! Another small but tender smile crossed his lips.

"Then they finally were able to buy the land and house where she's still at now. The business had grown large enough that he hired a few people to run the main office in Long Island; so they moved back here. She continued to commute back to the city for her shifts; she loved the crew that she was with and couldn't bring herself to leave them." He concluded; the sadness evident as he thought about Tom and Katie.

Abby grabbed his hand and squeezed it as they leaned on one of her stainless steel countertops in the Land of Abby. There wasn't anything that Ducky wouldn't do for any of them; now it was her turn.

"Ducky, we're NOT going to lose either one of them! Do you hear me? I had a bad feeling when Kate died; somewhere inside I knew that I was going to lose someone. I haven't had any nightmares or gut feelings! That means that soon we're ALL going to go have drinks and celebrate! We'll even make Gibbs come!" She giggled a bit just thinking of making Gibbs do anything he didn't want to do; although if anyone could she knew it would be her.

Ducky turned to look at her and her beaming smile and could fight back the shadows in the darkest corner. When he said his prayers every day; one of them was for his extended family. He started to respond to her self-confidence when a loud noise echoed in the room.

"I got a ding! I got a ding!" She yelled so loud the doctor winced a little.

"What is it Abigail?"

"Look! There! His cell's turned back on! Here we go!" She bounded towards the computer screen.

Jethro tried not to look too excitable when his phone vibrated informing him of an incoming text. He glanced over at Hawk and confirmed with his gaze that the next phase had begun. He typed a reply back. _'Riding around with the boys….call later.'_

This was part of the prearranged code that had been set up before he had left headquarters. He knew that Abby would understand that it meant that they weren't at their destination quite yet and that she should try again in ten minutes; to the others it would just appear that his crazy, jealous girlfriend was dogging him.

The van in front of them slowed down and their turn signal indicated that they were going to the left; it was a storage facility that was fenced in and had an electronic gate that they were pulling up to. It was the perfect spot to store weapons and have a minimal risk of being spotted by anyone.

Gibbs's phone buzzed once again; Abby's timing was impeccable. He looked down and a coded text read_, 'If you know what's good for you, you have better answer me!'_

One of the men in the seat behind them nudged his head between the two Marines. "What's going on?"

"Just another pissed off woman. She doesn't like to be kept waiting!" Jethro smirked.

"Then make it quick; you're gonna help load all this stuff up, understand?" The man didn't like Reardon and wasn't sure why; after all he passed everything with flying colors.

"You bet!" Gibbs typed in a different message in return.

'_I went to the store to get what you wanted and the first one didn't have it; so I had to run and the second store had them. Now, I'm at the hardware store and getting the parts for your car.'_

Everyone exited the vans when they came to a stop next to a row of units; where they're locker was located; a few of the men wandering to both ends of the isle to keep lookout. The door was unlocked and its door rose up; their eyes met once more offering the same prayer.

'_Please let us not be too late…"_


	21. Chapter 21

Honor Few, Fear None

Chapter 21

Abby went flying into hyper speed mode and via their cellphones and computer terminals messaged her team, Fornell and Briggs letting them know it was show time. Then she dialed the number to Shepard's office.

"Director? Gibbs made contact; his message said that the attack is going to take place at the Headquarters of the Gay and Lesbian Coalition."

"Yup, his cell is still on so I have the coordinates of where they are now; he said their loading up the arsenal right now." She made certain to keep her voice level and tried not to speak too rapidly.

"Great work, Abigail!" The Scotsman squeezed her into a tight bear hug after she hung up with Jenny.

"Thanks Ducky! I told you that it was going to be alright! Soon they are going to be back here and this will all be over!" She exclaimed the volume of her voice rising to its normal intensity.

"They aren't going to be rounded up with the others; they are going to escape the raid." Ducky started to inform her of the rest of the plan.

"What? Why would they do that? I mean the attack isn't going to happen! The weapons are going to be in NCIS custody! Why would they go back there?" Abby asked. She was about to go out of her mind wanting to crush Gibbs into one of her signature hugs.

"Slow down my dear! It's because we don't know if they have _all_ of the weapons at one location; they won't know that until they do a full audit of what they find." Although he wasn't expressing it he was just as anxious as he colleague. If wanted something badly enough could end this ordeal, two of the people he loved the most in this world would be standing in front of him at this moment.

"They are going to escape and then contact Craig Morgan; he's apparently one of the leaders of the gang. Then they can find out if there is more than one location and the team can seize those too."

"Right…of course you're right! I just want this whole thing over!" Abby reasoned; she knew that Ducky wanted the same thing, probably even more so.

Then she leapt off her stood, sprinted over and almost bowled the older man over with one of the very hugs she was saving for Gibbs. He returned it gratefully.

"Alright, people let's move it!" Tony bellowed to everyone in the bull pen as he read the same message that had just nearly simultaneously appeared on everyone's cell phone.

"What's the plan DiNozzo?" Fornell asked of the younger agent. He wanted to start barking the orders but had enough respect for him to not make a power play.

"Simon's team is going to head over to the headquarters and set up there in case we don't make it to the storage facility in time to stop them there."

"You, Briggs and the rest of us are going to go there and try catch them with their pants down."

"Why would they not have their pants on? There would be no logical reason for them to be undressed." Ziva frowned with confusion yet again not understanding the idiom.

"Ziva it's an expression; it means caught off guard." McGee chimed in with a smile across his face; while the others chuckled.

"Hopefully, this will go down clean but just in case we are taking some big toys with us; the cars are already loaded up so let's go!" Tony wanted to nail these bastards. The faster The Boss got back to take back the reigns the better.

All of the occupants of the two vans were busying themselves with stocking the vehicles with enough explosives to more than make their point; their intent wasn't only to frighten the protestors into silence but to kill as many of them as the good. In their warped minds, the less faggots in the world the better.

Hawk and Gibbs were trying to figure ways of loading the volatile items a bit slower than the others without being conspicuous about it; the more time their team had to get here and secure the location the better. It was far better to stop them here where there would be far less chance of civilians caught in the line of fire.

Gibbs checked his wrist watch one more time and calculated that any minute the fireworks of another kind should be starting. The most difficult thing for the two operatives was going to be not helping out their teammates. He was saying silent prayers that the situation wouldn't get out of control. Hawk and he had to appear to be one of the gang members when the raid went down; they had to make the escape realistic enough that it wouldn't be questioned when they contacted Morgan.

They needed to be certain that this was their only stock pile and since the Knights were known to be careful to the point of paranoia that seemed unlikely. In any case if any of the lives of the team were directly endangered all bets were off; they would have to find another way to secure the remaining arsenal.

Hawk was standing next to him about to set some boxes down when she snapped her head to look at him; her eyes telling him that her Marine radar had just picked up the same impression that he did; the others were here. Now, they had to pull off one more miracle making a believe exit from the rat trap.

"Alright, now according to the images from Abby we've got twelve individuals including the Hawk and Gibbs." Tony was scanning over the satellite pictures on his PDA that Abby had accessed off the network.

"Now, there are only two entrance points to access the property; the gate on the north side and on the east there is a swinging gate section of the fencing that has a padlock we can take them from those two locations."

"Hawk and Gibbs have already scouted and know that we will come in from those sides." Tobias knew his friend and the Major would have done so automatically.

"Right, so we split up and come in at the same time. They appear to be the third aisle from the main gate on the left side; so the team coming in from the east will most likely encounter resistant first." Ziva gave her expert opinion; this was not her first raid.

"Fornell, you and Ziva take the east entrance; McGee, Briggs and I will take the north side." He stole a glance at the Lt. and wasn't surprised by the look on his face; he quite clearly wanted to be on the side he believed would see more action.

"Reeve's team is covering the perimeter; they have bolt cutters and will try and cut through the fencing at key locations. They may not be able to have direct contact but they will be able to provide cover fire from their positions and better secure the site."

Tony was thankful that the fencing was comprised of a chain link style with the links being larger in diameter; which meant firing from the opposite side by the secondary team would be possible.

"Remember Agent Gibbs and the Major need to be able to escape; that means in the midst of all of this at some point they will get into the van nearest to the main gate. They have to get out but it has to appear that they broke through our defenses." Briggs wrapped up the huddle.

The two Marines were the first to begin loading the second van; this one was on the end of aisle down a distance from the first. They knew the assault would be forthcoming and that the key to making it credible would for them to be in a better position to escape via the most logical choice of transportation.

Tony, McGee and the Lieutenant made their way around the outer posts of the gate itself; there was just enough room for a person to squeeze past. This was the only option since they didn't have a code to open the gate besides the fact the gate opening could alert the suspects to their presence.

The three took positions on the end of the aisle awaiting their other counterparts to get into position. The east entrance was just north of the targets; this meant that DiNozzo would be able to see them just before they were set in place; then McGee tiptoed across to the corner of other aisle unnoticed by the gang members.

As Ziva worked the bolt cutters into place around the padlock, Fornell sprayed WD-40 onto the hinges of both of the doors; this would hopefully prevent any creaking or other noises from taking away their advantage of surprise.

They crept stealthily along the sides of the buildings towards the destination. Fornell spotted DiNozzo and motioned to be certain that he had also seen him. Ziva glanced quickly around the corner and discerned that Hawk and Gibbs were fortunately closer to their means of egress yet far enough away from Tony and the others that it would appear they were able to avoid apprehension.

She then when it was clear she flew across the aisle to the end of the next aisle, so she and Fornell would move in at the same time.

"Federal Agents, freeze put your hands in the air!" Tobias bellowed out as he and Ziva sprung from their positions.

"Do it NOW!" Ziva screamed. Tony and McGee screamed similar orders aimed towards the people at their end of the aisle.

Two of the men drew their handguns and moved to drop to the ground in order to fire at the agents in front of them; without hesitation Ziva and Fornell fired on them point blank a double tap; one to the heart and the other to the forehead.

A third one rushed Fornell and threw him off balance just enough to brush past him. He made it only twenty feet or so before Agent Carter had him in his sites. When the man ignored his commands to stop and lowered his weapon he was shot in a similar fashion as the other two.

The others closer to the center of the aisle moved to take cover beside the first van; flinging the doors open to giving them a spot to fire from. Two aimed towards Ziva and Tobias the other in the direction of the other agents.

Hawk and Gibbs instinctively found the best cover they could as there were caught in the crossfire; their team members were forced to defend themselves and could not hold fire.

"Gunny, you get into the van first and then crawl across to the passenger side. I'll drive it out of here." Hawk gave Gibbs the order.

"You want me to grab one of them?" Jethro motioned towards where they would be driving.

"Good idea, we'll _rescue_ one of the others and it will give us more credibility with Craig." Hawk liked the addition to the plan.

Two of the other suspects, two women tried to crouch down attempting to take out the three law enforcers rapidly advancing towards them. Ziva, Tony and Briggs were at a disadvantage too because they also had little to know cover to hide behind; their only option was to hug the storage locker doors to flatten themselves out as much as possible.

As the two women got into position they did so with the notion they were most likely not going to live through it but didn't care; they were dying for the cause. They were greeted by a hail of bullets that swiftly ended their lives.

"Ready? GO NOW!" Hawk ordered Gibbs as she slid out on her side and fired towards her teammates only making sure to aim a good foot above their heads; high enough so she wouldn't hit them but not so high to cause any suspicion should anyone notice.

Jethro kept his back flat against the wall as he moved to the van; then he pulled the door open and threw himself inside wedging his long body to the passenger side keeping his head down.

After she witnessed Gibbs move into position she rolled back towards the wall and then got up and ran for the van. As she stood up an electric shot swept across her right bicep spinning her against the wall; without missing a beat she continued on towards the van and slid into the driver's seat.

She turned the key as Gibbs screamed at the man who was now directly across the aisle from them, "Get over here! Jump in!"

The tall man turned his face towards the voice that to him amidst all of the action sounded like a whisper; when he saw who it was he made a mad dash for the vehicle and jumped into the open sliding door.

Hawk threw it into gear, cursing loudly as the pain in her arm intensified as she pulled back the gear shift. The wound was no longer actively bleeding; the blood trail ended at her fingers making it slippery when she shifted it.

"DAMN! Are you alright?" Jethro yelled with obvious concern when he looked at her after she cried out.

"Yeah, it's just a graze." She answered with a calm that only a highly trained warrior could manage. She slammed her foot on the gas and the van took spun out on the pavement.

Tony and McGee stood out in front of the vehicle as it approached them with their guns leveled ready to fire but took just long enough that there wasn't enough time before they were forced to dive out of the way.

They rolled back onto their feet after the van had passed them; firing towards it but purposefully missing by a mile. It was then time to concentrate on the four remaining gang members who had taken cover behind all four doors of the van allowing them to continue to resist arrest.

On the opposite end Ziva and Fornell were flat out on their stomachs staying as close to the wall as they could while continuing to fire. The man at the driver's side door rose up to get a better shot and one of their bullets struck him and he went down; the one at the door behind he was befallen by another bullet that finally hit its target.

When the two remaining shooters saw what had happened to the others and noticed the two agents in the rear closing in as well they finally threw down their weapons and put their hands up in surrender.

Ziva and Tobias slowly got up, still not taking aim off of the men in front of them. Tony, Tim and Briggs advanced in also not lowering their pistols.

"Move towards me, slowly" Fornell barked the order.

Tony moved to the fallen man at the rear and Ziva to the one by the driver's side door both feeling for a pulse. "Call for the medics." Tony spoke first after Ziva nodded that her man was also still breathing.

Tony then backed away and moved down the aisle out of the ear shot of the still living gang members. After the two conscious men were handcuffed and secured with zip ties around their ankles he motioned for the rest of the team to join him.

"Abby will be tracking Gibbs and Hawks cells, as soon as they stop she'll send another coded text so that's will know for sure if it's the second location for the weapons or not."

"When it's confirmed, if Morgan isn't there yet we'll give him time to arrive. Abby will calculate the time based on where the second location is going to be from their headquarters. Then we can get the big and little fish all in one big net."

"Craig, hey it's John. It was an ambush! The Feds rushed in and took out almost all of us!" Gibbs bellowed in the phone pausing long enough for the bad news to sink in.

"I don't how the hell the found out! We barely got out of there! What? Only three of us made it; myself, Allie and Anderson! Allie got hit!"

"No, she says it's not bad….look have you heard from Hanson or Steele?" On the other end Hawk could hear Morgan shrieking at the top of his lungs. Her glass half full moment was that her arm would be proof to him that they were on his side.

"I think he turned on us man! How else could they have found out about any of this? Look, was this the only place you guys stashed the weapons? If there's somewhere else that rat probably told the Feds about it too! I think we should move them ASAP before they can get to them!" 

"Alright, we'll meet you there! Hurry!" Gibbs hung up with the leader and glanced over to Hawk.

"You want me to drive?" He asked, staring at her clenching her teeth.

"No, it's alright. It just took a hunk of meat, no big deal." She had plenty of opportunity over the years to become an expert on the subject.

"He said it's another storage place about fifteen miles from here just take the highway and get off three exits up; he's going to meet us there." He informed not only Allie but Anderson in the back seat.

The drive didn't take long at bi-pass speeds and soon the skeletal crew was at the main gate of this location; Hawk punched the code supplied by Morgan into the key pad.

It wasn't long before Gibb's phone buzzed that there was a message and he opened it up to read it. He of course knew it was Abby calling to get the information the team required.

He responded in code and knew that she would instantly figure out just how long for the team to wait before they join him and the Major and put an end to this whole operation.

"What are you doing?" Anderson glared at him with rage.

"It's the little woman, trust me if I don't answer it isn't gonna be pretty!" He gave the man a small subdued chuckled.

Anderson didn't answer but continued to glare at Gibbs; this was the second time that he was texting this person and he didn't like it and he still couldn't figure out why. He was aware of the fact that Morgan knew about it and didn't care.

When they got out of the van Gibbs asked Anderson if there was a first aid kit in the van anywhere because he hadn't seen one. Without saying another word he circled to the back of the compartment of the van and removed it, bringing to Hawk.

Gibbs took the antiseptic, bandages and a roll of gauze and began gently cleaning the wound and patching it up. He grimaced when she uncontrollably flinched. "Sorry."

"It's fine, thanks it feels better already." She didn't have time to elaborate before she heard the crunching of the stones underneath the tires of a car.

Craig Morgan had been ranting and raving inside the van while one of his men drove it; behind them was another one with another two members who were going to help them load everything they could salvage in the short time they had before the Feds were probably going to arrive.

Then the screen to his cell phone lit up and he answered it. "What the Hell went wrong and why didn't you warn me?" The driver winced at the volume and tone of his boss's voice.

"Don't give me that shit…" Morgan stopped when he was interrupted by the person on the other end.

"What? Son of a bitch! Are you sure?" He couldn't comprehend was he was being told.

"Yeah…you bet your ass!" He hung up just as the vehicle came to a stop in front of ones awaiting his arrival.

When he got out and walked towards them he was greeted by his new apparent second in command.

"Craig, I am so sorry about this! We didn't see it coming…"

"You're arm hurt much?" He asked of her.

"Sure, it hurts like Hell!" Her blood ran cold as she finished her reply; she had seen that look before.

"Well I guess you deserve a whole lot worse, Allie." He in a flash he drew his side arm and aimed it straight at her and Gibbs. His men took his cue and in moments three others were pointed in their direction.

"Or should I call you Major."


	22. Chapter 22

Honor Few, Fear None

Chapter 22

_I apologize for the delay, real life got in the way! I promise to be better, only a few more chapters to go!_

_Can you guess how their cover was blown and by whom?_

_Please feel free to leave reviews!_

_There is more descriptive violence in this chapter, just a warning._

Gibbs stood there completely taken off guard; his training allowing him to maintain a look of shock. _"How the hell did this go so bad, so fast?"_ His brain was screaming silently.

"What are you talking about, Craig?" Hawk was using her abilities to control the micro expressions in her face and body language. She had not seen this coming. What had changed? How had he possibly made this discovery?

Morgan stood in front of her; he had never been one to trust women further than he could throw them but she had succeeded fooling him completely. She had even gained his respect; he wanted nothing more than to put a bullet in her head right here and now.

"No more lies!" He stepped towards her; his pistol lined up with her face.

"Alright! Alright! So now you know." Her voice remained even and strong, disguising the controlled panic as she attempted to devise a plan.

Morgan's attention turned to Gibbs only after Anderson positioned himself to cover Hawk. The other two men split their attention to cover each of the Marines from a greater distance.

"What you think he's a FED too? Please, I brought him into to strengthen my case! When I busted you, he was going down too!" She was hoping that somehow he hadn't uncovered the Gunny's true identity along with her own.

"You really think that I wouldn't find out? Do you really think I am that stupid, Special Agent Gibbs?" Craig sneered, locking eyes with the taller man.

"Why don't we waste 'em right here, Boss?" Anderson interrupted.

"Be patient my boy. Their friends are probably on their way; they could be here soon. "He replied.

"No, instead the two of you are coming with us; we're gonna take a ride to a nice little spot where they might never find your bodies." The leader smirked with an evil grin spreading across his weathered face.

He motioned with his handgun for them to get in the backseat of his luxury sedan. Hawk climbed in with Gibbs sliding in next to her. Anderson slide in next to him making the backseat more than a little crowded.

Since Anderson wasn't exactly a toothpick there wasn't enough room to leave for personal space. He slid his left arm behind her back resting his hand around her waist so he wouldn't jam his shoulder into her wounded arm. He couldn't help notice the rippled muscle of her torso when he felt a slight shiver run through her.

She felt the warmth of his touch and for a brief moment had a flashback memory of the last man to hold her close to him; her husband Tom. She had read Gibbs's file out of professional curiosity many years ago and knew that he like Tom had been a Marine Sniper. All three of them had served in the Gulf during the same conflict.

She was always amazed at how men seemed to be universally warmer than their female counterparts; right now it was a welcome sensation. The adrenaline that her brain commanded be released because of the situation they were in was causing a drop in her body temperature and the phenomenon goose bumps. She knew his mind was also grasping at straws trying to formulate a strategy to get them out of this alive.

What worried her wasn't her own safety; her faith allowed her to be certain of where she was going after leaving this life. It was the guilt of possibly taking Gibbs with her and what their deaths would do to Ducky the rest of them. She had other family, grandparents and the like but she had always had this indescribable bond with her Dad. She learned long before meeting the man how much Gibbs meant to Ducky; it was more than just mere friendship.

Now her mind snapped back to the present; these few minutes it would take to arrive at their destination would be the last chance to save themselves.

The rest of team had waited for what to them seemed like hours before heading towards what Abby had informed them was a storage facility not all that far from the site of the raid. They took both vehicles and the firepower that was aboard them and headed out. They had left Reeves and his team behind to process the scene, secure the weapons and watch the prisoners until back up arrived.

DiNozzo was driving one of the SUVs accompanied by Ziva and Fornell; McGee was behind them with Briggs as his passenger. The Lt. had made a phone call to his superior at Naval Intelligence updating him on the situation. Tony had done the same, reporting to Shepard.

Ziva had wanted to drive but DiNozzo had made his usual remark about wanting to get there in one piece. She had relented but the feeling in her gut as Gibbs would put it was telling her that something had not gone as planned. She had been taught to hone not only her skill sets by her own intuitions.

She knew Tony would discount it but she was certain that something had gone terribly wrong. She and Jenny along with Hawk had this connection; this belief that they could sense things that most would pass off as nonsense. She knew her friend and could feel her anxiety and loss of control.

The vehicles came to a stop as they approached the main gate and the key pad that would allow them to gain entry; the code had been supplied by Gibbs when he had replied to Abby's text.

They parked the SUVs near the main gate both for an escape route and to block it off to anyone else trying to flee capture. Now on foot they covertly covered the distance to where the takedown was going to take place.

Fornell and Ziva once again paired together to go one side of the isle and the other three took their positions on the opposite end; each of them had their ear pieces in which allowed them to time their intervention.

"On the count of three…" DiNozzo whispered to his teammates.

"The interagency team dashed out from their positions and screamed nearly in unison, "Federal Agents freeze!"

The echoes of their voices hadn't silenced before they realized there wasn't anyone there to respond to their command. They all exchanged glances of shock and surprise.

"Where the Hell are they?" Fornell was the first to voice what they were all thinking.

Without being told to do it they followed their training and began to walk to the isle looking for any evidence of what had happened their friends. The layout of the rest of the property had made it so that the other isles had been cleared on the way to their failed take down.

"DiNozzo, over here!" Fornell shouted to the younger agent. He had spotted something reflecting in the sun.

"What is it Tobias?" Tony for a reason unknown to him had been called the F.B.I. Agent by his first name since this whole operation started; it was as equally surprising to Fornell.

In the older man's hands were two dust covered cell phones; they didn't have to even look at the screens to know that they belonged to the two missing Leathernecks.

Tony and Tobias stared at each other unashamed to show the trepidation that was flooding their beings; the mission had gone from a seemingly complete success to an unfolding nightmare.

"TONY!" The volume and tenor in the youngest agent's voice drew immediate attention from the other agents.

They hurried over to him to see what had McGee so wound up. He was kneeling, hovering over top something on the ground.

Tim held it up with his pen, so as not to contaminate the evidence. "It's bloody…."

Ziva knelt beside him and stared at the crimson stains that were soaked on the gauze pads; even though it was already darkening and sticky it was evident that it was not from an arterial source.

"This might be from the same person as the splatter found at the raid…one of the gang members isn't accounted for maybe he's wounded." She continued, not believing it herself.

"There are tires tracks leaving this isle and out through the main gate." Briggs had regained his voice.

"Where are they?" McGee blurted out his emotions were boiling over.

"The bigger question is, how are we going to find them?" Tobias chimed in.

They had been riding in the car for approximately twenty minutes before it came to a stop; both of them had been timing the journey; it might later prove to be a means to determine where exactly they had been taken. They hadn't looked at each other since they were stuffed into the back seat of the car; there was no need they each knew exactly what the other was thinking.

"Alright, get out!" Morgan demanded, with a wave of his gun. He was standing on the outside of the car.

Hawk put her foot on the ground and started to stand up when Morgan yanked her by right arm squeezing the swollen and flesh torn area. He expected her to cry out but wasn't rewarded; instead she looked him straight in the eye with a stare that on some level scared the man even though he was the one holding the gun.

Gibbs got out of the car and held back; the old school part of him wanted to blindly attack the bastard for mistreating her. He of course was well aware of the fact that he it would prove fatal probably for them both to act so rashly; not to mention the fact that when their moment came she would need no help defending herself.

Then Morgan and his cohorts shoved the two of them into the clearing and towards the edge of the bluff. Neither Hawk nor Gibbs could see any sign of civilization around them; they were completely alone in a wilderness area of some kind.

"Alright, well now it appears that your plan to bring me down isn't going so well." Morgan laughed freely at them.

"I am going to return to headquarters and start shredding any kind evidence and start the relocation process. Since these two aren't going to be in any shape to testify Steele will be have no problem keeping us in the clear." Craig was obviously quite pleased with himself.

"Hey Boss, do we have to kill 'em right away or can we have a little fun first?" Anderson asked with an eerie politeness.

"I would say that you boys have done a good job since you starting working for me; consider this an early Christmas Bonus." Craig answered with a sickening smile; then he turned around got back into the sedan and slowly drove off.

The four henchman keep a short enough distance away to be within point black range but not so close that they could with any certainty be disarmed. They split into teams of two to cover each of the two prisoners.

"Well, who wants a crack at her first?" One of the others asked. He was blond and well-muscled and taller than the others; including Gibbs. The other three simply exchanged glances and were silent for a few moments as they pondered their co-workers question.

Gibbs stood there his mind frantically racing trying to come up with anything to take down these scumbags. He had seen the look on Anderson's and the others faces when he asked permission from their leader. Then we he said _she_, he knew for certain what they were planning to do to her. Where he was standing was within sprinting distance if only had the chance to take down this bastard.

He knew how strong she was physically and the skills she possessed but that didn't mean that she would be in the end successful in fighting them off, especially considering they were all armed with guns and knives. He had dealt with women who were victims of that most brutal kind of assault and had witnessed what it had done to them; not just physically.

"Well then if no one else minds I'll go first...don't worry I'll leave something for the rest of you." The Blond one moved towards her motioning for two of the others to accompany him in holding her down. The forth one keep his pistol aimed at Gibbs who had no place to take cover or current opportunity to take him down.

The other two dirt bags grabbed a hold of each arm and kicked her legs out from under her. She landed painfully onto some tree roots that were raised above the ground. She didn't even have time to push herself up off the ground and into a defensive position before both of them delivered punches to her abdomen and one of them unsheathed his edged weapon and held it to her throat.

"If you're nice to me now I might make your death nice and fast." The tall man jeered. The one with the knife held his position and the other moved and wrenched her arms above her head and pinned them down with each leg.

Hawk was pulling on her last reserves desperately clinging to her Marine Corp training and martial arts discipline. It didn't take any amount of thought to know what was going to happen next and to know that Gibbs had no way of helping her without getting himself killed and that simply wasn't an option.

She knew that there was no room for panic instead she continued to struggle against them waiting for her golden moment; one chance of saving herself and Gibbs.

The Blond one clamped his hands on her thighs and then began to move them towards her waist line. His fingers began to grasp the brass closure that held her pants closed.

In one final a moment she had an idea. She suddenly stopped fighting them. The Blonde man hesitated and looked at her.

"If I do everything you want, will you at least take me over there? I don't want him watch me, you know…." She gave a nervous smile praying that his need to ravage her would override any small amount of intelligence that he possessed.

They looked at each other not knowing if they should trust such a thrilling opportunity or not. I mean if she was willingly to perform it would make their jobs easier and much more enjoyable but what if she was trying to trick them?

The one of top of her jerked his head telling them to back off of her just a little. The knife came away from her throat and her arms were freed.

"If you try anything, anything at all….I'll show you what pain is." Blondie growled at her. He heaved her to her feet.

As she regained her balance she stole a glance in The Gunny's direction. When she met his gaze he willed him to read her expression, telling him to wait just a little bit longer and give her a chance to make her move.

She was shoved behind some brush just a few feet away from her original location and then pushed to the ground again by the Blonde one. One of the others stood directly at her back as she fell to her knees.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked of him; putting on the ruse of being timid and afraid. She stared at his crotch noticing his arousal.

Before he even replied she raised her hands towards her chest and slowly began to unbutton her blouse. His face lit up when he started to see her bra and the flesh it was concealing.

His instincts flew the nest when his brain only now registered his excitement. He massaged himself and then unleashed the weapon he wanted to punish her with.

She grinned at him wickedly and in a flash her hands left her chest and snatched his member, clenched it and then used them to snap it like you would a tree branch.

He shrieked in a high pitched tone instantly dropping to the ground writhing around unable to comprehend anything except the unyielding agony that encompassed him. The man behind leaned down to cut her but was greeted by her elbow smashing into his diaphragm.

She then spun around still on her knees and used the opposite hand to grab and handful of his jewels and yank with a steel trap grip. Then she leapt to her feet to fend off the third attacker.

The fourth man heard Blondie's screams the without thinking turned towards the noise; giving Jethro his long awaited chance and he took it. He advanced forward and simultaneously raised his hand to knock the gun out of his hands and his leg to sweep to smaller man off his feet.

Unfortunately, he managed to grab Gibbs and they both fell to the ground together; both of them out of reach of the gun. They rolled around together trying to weaken each other in order to free themselves.

The dirt bag accomplished his goal and was able to grab a fistful of dirt and throw it in Jethro's face. Gibbs backed away trying to clear his eyes in order to regain the upper hand. He stood up attempting to locate his attacker and try to defend himself but he couldn't see the man raising his gun towards him.

Hawk had exchanged a few blows with the final target; the others were still currently on the ground in no shape to continue the fight. He had gotten a couple of blows in but was no match for her skill or fury. She found one more opportunity and used the additional seconds she had to reach into her boot and pull the smaller knife that was always on her person. She then jammed it straight into his throat and withdrew it in the same swift motion.

She then moved to help Gibbs when she saw him disoriented and a gun pointed at him. She sprinted towards the two and in desperation flung herself onto him screaming, "GUNNY!"

The two Marines stumbled towards the bluff as the man fired off two rounds. The ground shifted underneath and both of the reeled backwards losing their footing. Gibbs was embracing her as much as she was him as they began to fall straight over the edge.


	23. Chapter 23

Honor Few, Fear None

Chapter 23

Hawk felt the shoes on her feet sliding across the loose soil of the ground beneath them. She was recalling the last couple of minutes wondering if there was any other step she could have taken to avoid what was about to happen.

When she had grappled with the other three she had taken out one of them permanently and the others long enough to disarm them. She had tossed the other two guns far enough away that they would have been unreachable; then before she could grab the dead man's piece she peered out to check on Gibbs. The few extra seconds it would have taken her to reach the pistol the forth one would have shot him; so instead she charged forward to get him out of the line of fire.

Now as they begun to lose their battle to remain on the bluff she clung onto him; then in an instant her head snapped back as a searing pain flew across her forehead before everything went dark.

Gibbs clutched at her as gravity took over and began to drag them back to mother earth. When they had first lost their fight to keep their feet planted on solid ground she had been gripping him as fiercely; just before he lost sight of their assailants she suddenly went limp in his arms.

Her now unconscious weight was making it near impossible for him to hold onto her; topping it off was the fact that they were gaining speed as they made their unwillingly decent. He had a few moments to glance down and see the body of water they were targeting in.

Although landing in water was slightly better than hitting the surrounding jagged terra it was still like smacking into a brick wall. Jethro fought valiantly to keep a hold of Hawk; she was torn out of his arms as the current of the river dragged them down stream.

She disappeared from view as he had to fight to keep his head above water; his limps cracking up against the rocks and other debris that were hidden underneath water. It was mid- Spring and the ambient air was pleasantly warm but the temperature of the water was below freezing; this alone made it hard to not give in to the darkness that was gnawing at his mind to relax and succumb to it.

Then he spotted her as she resurfaced; her slender body bobbing along with the waves as they tossed her about. He launched himself swimming with the current attempting to reach her before she was tugged under the surface once again.

When he finally caught up to her it was only because the current had changed from swift rapids to lapping waves. He swept his muscular arms underneath her and began to slowly pull her towards the river side.

Once he had made it to shore he leveraged himself so that he could continue to pull her up the embankment and unto dry ground. Her sodden clothes were making her weight more difficult to manage. He gave it once last heave before he collapsed beside her.

Gibbs gave himself only a few seconds before sitting back up and directing his attention to the Marine beside him; he gently pushed the wet bangs of her hair off of her face; her ponytail had stayed somewhat intact.

When he focused on her sculpted face is when he saw the streaks of crimson snaking their way around her eye and down her nose; now that she was out of the water the circular wound above her left eye began to bleed freely once again.

"Oh GOD No! Please not again!" Jethro exclaimed with a different kind of pain in his voice. He had a memory flash of Kate's face so still with a bullet hole right between her beautiful brown eyes. This couldn't be happening again.

"What the Hell are we goin' do?" The only man left standing asked of the others.

"I wanna kill that Bitch!" The Blond One screamed in between his continued attempts to not pass out from the seething pain that he was in. He had never experience a pain so intense or agonizing.

"They're probably already dead! They couldn't have survived that fall!" The second man reasoned. He was actually relieved that she had only smashed his balls; it was beyond painful but couldn't have been anything like the Stan was going through.

"Wrong! I saw the Agent swimming downstream! If he made it then maybe she did too!" The lucky one told his cohorts.

"I can't go anywhere! I say we just tell Morgan that they're dead! Then you can take me to a doctor!" The blond one whined.

"Yeah right, then what happens when they turn up alive, well and coming after us? How are you going to explain that to the Boss Man? I don't think so! He'd have no issue with killing us all!" Anderson yelled at the others. He was the only one to not have been taken down by the FEDS. He was of a smaller build than blond one but just as muscular.

"Where do we search for them even if we wanted to?" The one they called Mac, had overcome his testicular pain but was in no mood to go traipsing around the forest.

"Will the two of you stop whining and listen!" Anderson was running out of patience.

"Stan you drive back until you reach an area that has cell reception. Then you call Morgan and get some back up. Mac and I will start out here; we'll follow the river. If they survived they couldn't have gotten too far yet."

Tony and Tobias walked slowly towards the doors that led to the Land of Labby. They had been told by Palmer that Ducky was there along with the Mistress of the Dark. DiNozzo was trying to figure out what to say; it wasn't like he could hold back anything. He needed them to process the evidence that had been collected from the latest crime scene. The others were combing over what they had known so far about the gang, its holdings and properties and anything else that might help them figure out where to start looking for their colleagues. Briggs was contacting Naval Intelligence to report in that the Major was missing in action.

Tobias was feeling Ducky's pain; he too was a father. Of course his daughter was just a little girl but he realized that it didn't matter what their ages, the instinct to protect them was universal. He tried not to think of Gibbs and what hell he went through when his wife and only child had been murdered; he didn't know if he could live through something so incomprehensible.

The doors slid open and they didn't have to wait long for an immediate reaction. Ducky met them by the door, his eyes searching for a sighting of the two he wanted to see the most. He then turned his stare to the two men before him.

"What happened? What went wrong?" The doctor was hoping against hope that Tony's response was going to be that they were simply in another area of the building but he knew better.

"Ducky…." Tony didn't have time to respond before Abby slammed into him with one of her atomic embraces.

"TONY! What went wrong? Where are they?" She pleaded with him with her large greenish brown eyes begging him to not tell her what she feared was the truth.

"We think that somehow their cover got blown." Fornell took over the explanation as Tony could hardly breathe from the crushing hug. "When we got there the area was clear; no one was there."

"What? Tell me, what did you find?" Abby released her hold on DiNozzo and demanded the rest of what she was certain they weren't saying.

Tony held up the evidence bags as he started to explain everything that they knew. Abby snatched them out of his hands. She didn't have to use Major Mass Spect to identify the blood stains on the white gauze.

"There was a small amount of blood spray at the first storage place and then some next to a medical kit left at the second crime scene." Tony went on. "It's only a small amount of blood; the wound can't be more than superficial."

Ducky fought back the urge to run blindly out of the room and choose instead to sit down and focus inward and concentrate on any vibes he could sense from either of his loved ones. He needed to feel their presence to know that there was a reason to keep the faith.

Tobias walked up beside the older man and placed his hand on his shoulder trying to give him some amount of comfort. "We're waiting on the search and arrest warrants they should be here any minute, and then we're going to the headquarters search it and take Craig Morgan into custody."

"Come Hell or high water we'll find them, Ducky I promise you." Tony held Abby next to while grasping Ducky's hand.

Jenny sat in her office and fought to maintain her professional demeanor. It was times like these that she had after thoughts about her fast tracked career choices. She wanted more than anything to right now be in the field scouring the landscape for two of the people in this sometimes lonely world that she cared for.

She knew that there were no two people better equipped to beat the odds and come out of this whole mess alive. She had witnessed on many occasions how adept both of them were at survival, in any environment. If anyone could bring these bastards down it was her two favorite Marines.

There was a mystery and that was how on earth Craig Morgan suddenly out of the blue found out about the undercover assignment. They had all the other players that were involved in custody and it there was absolutely no way they could have been able to get a message to any other member of the gang.

This was something that wasn't setting well with her; maybe she couldn't be in the field but she could use her experience and the power of her office to make heads roll if necessary to figure it out.

_Oh please…please…don't let her die…._ Jethro pleaded with the man above. He was afraid to touch for fear that bête noire was happening all over again; that another person was going to sacrifice themselves to save him.

He softly touched her face which was clammy from the frigid water but still held the warmth of life; then got the nerve to feel for a pulse. He was rewarded by a strong and steady one. Jethro then lifted his eyes upwards and said a prayer of thanks.

He used his long fingers to gently probe around the ugly looking wound trying to determine how deep it was; while simultaneously searching his pockets for something to wipe up the blood to keep it out of her eyes. He knew of course if he found anything it would be saturated but it would be better than nothing.

Her mind was reeling trying hard to focus itself; even in its' confused state it recognized that she had to wake up now. She could sense that the danger wasn't imminent though and that at the moment she was safe. Then slowly the fog began to lift.

Gibbs had found nothing in his own pockets that was salvageable but Hawk had been carrying a back pack like purse on her back and despite being tossed along with her in the river it had remained in decent shape. He pulled out a small first aid that was in a water proof case and inside was some basic supplies. He took some of the gauze and began to clean her face off; the blood was no longer fresh and thankfully the bullet gaze on her arm had also clotted.

Once again he noticed just how beautiful she was; her facial structure was defined with high cheek bones that revealed her native heritage. When he had held her during the fall and when he was pulling her out of the water he couldn't help but notice the unique combination of hard muscle and femininity that she possessed.

As he continued his care she suddenly regained consciousness; blinking rapidly and shaking her head as if to clear and focus her mind. Instinctively she sat up and pulled her fist back to defend herself.

"Take it easy! It's just me!" Jethro sat back in case she threw her first punch before realizing who he was.

"Ohhh, my head…" She nearly fell back down to the ground before Gibbs scooped her up.

"That's what you get for trying to be a human Kevlar shield." He grinned back at her lying in arms; relieved that she seemed to be alright considering the circumstances.

"The bad guys almost won that round, huh?" Hawk returned with her own smile; seeing his gave her an insight as to what Jenny had seen in him when they were partners.

"Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. We're goin' win the war…." He looked around at their surroundings; they were out in the open and would be easily spotted from higher terrain.

"Can you walk? We should keep moving if you're up to it, Devil Dog." When he gazed back at her he knew what her answer was going to be even before she voiced it.

"Ooorah, Gunny." She sat up again and then pushed herself to an upright position; as she stood her vision doubled and she stumbled almost tripping over herself.

"Whoa, easy now…are you sure you can walk?" Jethro reached over and steadied her; then he leaned down to peer into her eyes; he was nearly a foot taller than she was.

"Yeah, I just might need a little assistance 'til I can get my balance; just until we can get into the tree line." Hawk knew from experience that it was far easier to evade the enemy among the trees than in an open meadow.

She was accustomed to not needing any help from anyone that was a first learned lesson of basic training; to never be the weakest link, to be able to do anything you put your mind to. However another early lesson was working as a unit is what gets the job done; no man gets left behind.

Gibbs firmly placed his arm around her slender waist and held onto her just tight enough to help guide her and be able to catch her if she fell. As they briskly walked towards the thick of trees he began to notice how cold the once warm air was; he was losing his fight not to shiver.

Hawk was more annoyed with her condition than afraid of it. This certainly to her loved ones dismay wasn't the first time she had been wounded in the line of duty. One of the rarities of her marriage had been that not once had Tom questioned her career; no matter how times she had come home with everything from an assortment of cuts and bruises to shrapnel wounds.

He was a Marine too and understood what that meant to her. He certainly didn't like that his love was in a high risk occupation as he had been but he respected her and knew it was all she ever wanted to be. He and Ducky used to joke about which one of them was going to go gray first.

Now as she was forced to lean on Jethro a pang of a familiar pain stabbed at her heart; in so many ways they were so much like; both in their build but also in personality. There was so many times over the past fifteen years that she had listened to her father talk about the man who was more than a best friend and colleague. She had always planned to meet him; convinced that he and Tom would have hit it off. She had often wondered if they had ever come across each other in the desert conflict they all share in.

What was even more bothersome was the chill that was consuming her as her wet clothes only made things worse. Her head was pounding overriding the pain in her bicep; the nausea that came in waves wasn't real helpful either.

Although the falling temperatures were not going to be a friend to them, the concealment of darkness was; even the most experienced tracker would find it near impossible to locate them now that the sun was on its final decent.

The two of them continued their trek now dealing with tree roots and varied levels of brush. Jethro waited for the Major to separate herself from him when she felt up to it; since that hadn't happened he wasn't going to mention it. He was observing her closely and he could see her shivering as much as he was; along with wincing from her various injuries.

The numerous aches and pains he had acquired during the fight, free fall, and subsequent landing and swim for his life were catching up to him as well. He knew that in both of them the adrenaline level was still high but subsiding enough that some amount of rest would do them a world of good and a chance to recharge their batteries.

"Gunny?" Hawk broke the silence.

"You see something?" Jethro scanned a head of them as he replied.

"Up ahead about fifty feet…isn't that some kind of rock formation?" Her vision was better than 20/20, which had allowed her to qualify for pilot training earlier in her career.

"Where? Wait, I do see it….yeah maybe it will make a decent shelter." Thanks to Lasik surgery he no longer required reading glasses; however even when he had needed them it wasn't for distance.

As they got closer they could see it was a shallow cave. Gibbs led her to one of his granite walls and she leaned against its cool surface while he explored a little further into his depth. One of the other supplies she had been carrying with her was a weather proof flashlight; it was now coming in handy.

As he scanned it he shone to the light towards the ceiling and could see a small opening; this meant that building a small fire and obscuring in it within the walls of their shelter would be possible. The dark of night and cave walls would adequately hide the smoke.

He walked back over to her and offered his support once again to his superior officer; without comment or protest she took his arm and allowed him to help her to their temporary refuge. Her head was pounding and her energy levels were dwindling.

He kept a strong grip on her hands as she lowered herself to the ground and then leaned back against the rough wall of the natural cover. She knew it wasn't necessary to give him any orders; he was more than knowledgeable to gather the materials to generate some much needed warmth.

Gibbs left her and then took the flashlight back out into the night and began to quickly gather some thicker twigs and small pieces of branches along with some dry brush. He had already discovered the water proof case that had held some wooden matches; a Marine was always prepared for anything and she was no exception.

He arrived back into the nature made structure was alarmed that she was slumped back against the wall with her eyes closed not alerted by his returning presence. He moved quickly to her side and reached out to her.

"I'm fine, Gunny….my eyelids are simply going on strike." She was trying to lighten the tension.

He returned to his task realizing that the warmth of the fire would do her more good than anything. He busied himself arranging the fuel for the campfire; mixing in the brush to accelerate its growth. He kept glancing back subtly to keep an eye on her.

The flames were already beginning to roar the cave actually was becoming more comfortable even with their wet clothes. He removed his jacket and button down shirt and laid them upon rocks that were somewhat heated by the roaring fire. He was hoping by morning they would no longer be water logged but merely damp.

"Do you need any help?" Gibbs asked.

Hawk smiled to herself thinking about how most civilian woman would freak out at the thought of removing any part of their clothes in front of a man that that the barely knew. She learned a long time before she enlisted that hypothermia in its self can be a killer. She was hoping that these items would at least begin to dry out.

"No, I got it." Hawk grimaced as her right arm bent at an odd angle to remove her outer shirt.

"Yes, you're right both of us sitting together would be a smart idea." She chuckled a little.

Gibbs strode over to her and then seated himself next to her. She had undressed down to her sleeveless undershirt and was desperately trying to warm up; he met her gaze and wordlessly asked for permission. When he received it he gathered her towards his now shirtless body.

"If you want, why don't you get some rest. I'll wake you in a couple of hours." He figured if she was feeling up to it she could take the next watch; if not he would at least have the opportunity to check her awareness since a concussion wasn't totally out of the question.

Although it was against her nature she simply nodded and within a minute of two she was sound asleep with her head resting on his shoulder; his body temperature was still warmer than her own. He looked down at her and said a prayer that they would find their way out of this whole mess. He knew once he found the double agent only GOD himself was going to be able to save him.


End file.
