He'd had nightmares about this before. Many nightmares. But none of them were as terrifying as the reality that he now faced. He'd arrived just in time to see his lover driving the car that had just crashed into the bay and then had rapidly sunk. He hadn't had time to think, just react. He'd heard the gunfire coming from inside the warehouse and he knew where the shots had originated. So he'd run.

He'd entered the warehouse and had taken out the bad guys without a thought, without stopping to acknowledge that he'd even gotten them. He knew his aim was true. He knew that each bullet had found it's target and that each target now lay dead on the ground.

He didn't slow down.

He powered on through the warehouse, cursing that he wasn't faster, that his lungs were protesting, that he might be to late to save his lover and Maddie. He felt each second as if it were an hour. He wouldn't be in time. But he couldn't stop. He had to keep going. Because without Gibbs he didn't think he could keep going, keep fighting. He wasn't sure when it has happened, but sometime in their past Gibbs had become a part of him, he thought it had happened even before they'd become lovers after his run in with the plague. Had known it for sure when Gibbs had run off to Mexico.

He finally cleared the warehouse and threw his gun away, he wouldn't be needing it now. The threat of the gunmen was nullified, now to try and save Gibbs and Maddie from the other more pressing danger that they now faced.

The water.

A small part of his mind warned him that this may not be the best idea, that he should wait for his back up. It was cold here, and the water would be colder. But that part of him was drowned out by the larger part of him that kept reminding him that it was Gibbs who was down there, fighting against the water that would be surrounding them. He had to get to them, they needed help now. And he was the only one here, the only one still alive that is.

He reached the end of the wharf and didn't even slow down. He took a deep breath and plowed into the freezing water. He knew that time was against them. He knew that they must be trapped, otherwise they would have surfaced on their own by now.

He plunged down into the dark murky depths, and he found himself doing something he hadn't done for a very long time.

He prayed.

He prayed that he could find them, that he could get them out and get them to the surface. He prayed that they were all right. He prayed that they hadn't been hit by any of the bullets that he'd seen hit the car before it went over the edge.

And then he saw it. He saw the car. He saw his lover. He saw the look of surprise and relief that flashed over his lovers face for a moment before he reached the car. He tried opening the door, but he soon realized that the water pressure wouldn't allow them to do that, by the time that the water pressure had equalized inside the car it would be to late for them. If it wasn't already. He'd seen Maddie in the passenger seat, so still and pale. That couldn't be good. He made his way back to the windscreen hoping for a miracle, hoping that they'd somehow be able to break the windscreen and get them out that way. He hit it, smashed it, but it wouldn't budge. He was getting desperate. His lungs were beginning to scream at him for putting them through this, but he didn't care. He had to get them out. He smashed his fists against the windscreen again as Gibbs shoved from the inside and he noticed movement in the top corner. It would be enough, it had to be. He'd grabbed the edge, wedged his fingers into the gap and cursed the fact that he had such large hands. But he managed to get a hold of a corner and he pulled, he pulled that small edge with everything that he had.

He could have wept when he felt the windscreen give a little. That was all he needed, he could do it. He got a better hold on the edge of the glass and saw Gibbs pushing to his pulling and then the glass was gone. Like magic, one minute it was between them and then it was gone and Gibbs was passing Maddie to him. He pulled her out, spared a look at his lover and then started the swim back to the surface.

He found himself wondering how long it had been since he'd seen the car go under. How long it had been since he'd taken a breath. He knew it had been a while, and if his lungs had been protesting before they were screaming now. But he still didn't care. He kicked with all the strength he possessed. He had to get Maddie back to the surface, Gibbs had trusted him to do that and he wouldn't let him down. Not now.

He broke the surface and gasped. The air that flooded into his poor lungs was freezing, but nowhere near as cold as the water. He swam towards the wharf with his charge, all the while he was listening for Gibbs. He was worried. He'd thought that Gibbs would have reached the surface before him. After all he didn't have the extra weight of another person to slow him down. He looked around as he swam, listening, hoping, praying. He dragged himself and Maddie onto the wharf and took another deep breath. He almost collapsed next to Maddie and lent down to check on her. He couldn't think about himself, not yet. Not while Maddie was so still, and oh hell, not breathing. But he'd been expecting that, had hoped that the shock of coming back to the surface would have been enough to start her breathing again, but it hadn't. He started CPR, again it was automatic. He was dimly grateful for all those boring first aid sessions that both the police and NCIS had made him attend.

But still there was no sign of Gibbs. He did a couple of hurried rounds of CPR on Maddie before he could no longer deny the screaming of his soul. He had to go back and find Gibbs, he had to be trapped. That was the only reason that his lover hadn't followed him back to the surface.

Again he wondered how long it had been. Had it only been a couple of minutes, or was it five minutes, maybe even ten or fifteen. Oh god. This just couldn't be happening.

He wanted to wake up.

But he knew that this was no dream. He'd had nightmares of loosing his lover before, especially since he'd run to Mexico. But none of them had been this real.

He took a final breath and then plunged back into the freezing murky water. He was faster this time, he knew where to look to find the car. And there he was, still in the car. Starring sightlessly back the way that Tony had just come. He felt his heart clench and his lungs scream again at him. But he ignored it and pushed himself to swim that little bit faster. He had to get to him, had to free him, had to get him back to the surface.

He reached his lover and tried to ignore the blue eyes that no longer saw anything. It didn't take him long to see that Gibbs was trapped by the steering column. And so he pulled it, fought with it, struggled with it, and then he felt his heart give a cheer as the steering column moved and Gibbs started to float free. He didn't waste any time, he grabbed Gibbs and then started swimming for all he was worth, back to the surface. He had to hurry. He had to save Gibbs, had to save Maddie, had to save himself.

He made it back to the surface, and he knew that they were in trouble. He could feel the cold getting to him, sapping his energy. But he couldn't give up. He made his way back to the wharf again. He managed to get them both back up on the wharf. He wondered where the hell his backup was, where the hell some help was. He looked down at Gibbs and knew that he would be seeing Gibbs' sightless blue eyes staring up at him for long time to come. He took a deep breath, checked Gibbs' vitals and then when he found nothing as he'd expected he started CPR.

"Don't do this to me Boss," he muttered over and over, it became his new mantra.

He continued the CPR, checking to see if it was working, checking to see if Maddie was breathing. He wanted to keep working on Gibbs, needed Gibbs to come back to him, but he also knew that if he got Gibbs back and not Maddie, Gibbs would be beyond pissed at him. He did one more round of CPR on Gibbs, checked again for any signs of life and felt his heart break. Where the hell was his back up! This couldn't be happening.

When he still didn't find any signs of life he forced himself to leave Gibbs and start work on Maddie again.

Each breath he took was painful, each second that passed with no signs of life from either of them was like a dagger through his heart. He hadn't been good enough, hadn't been fast enough, he wasn't enough of anything.

He began CPR on Maddie again, all the time his new mantra continued to run through his head. His world had shrunk. It consisted of only himself, and this wharf where he worked on Maddie and Gibbs and hoped for a miracle, hoped that they would both start breathing again. He wouldn't give up on them, he couldn't. So he continued.

His mantra kept him going as he repeated the cycle of two breaths and five compressions, two cycles then change people. Maddie then Gibbs then back again.

Over and over.

Time had no meaning now.

Two breathes. Five compressions. Don't do this to me Boss.

Then a miracle.

He was about to start on Maddie again when he heard her gasp for breath! She was back. Maddie was alive! His soul cheered for a moment, then he turned back to Gibbs.

He didn't know how much longer his body would let him continue. But he wasn't going to stop until he had them both back. There was no other choice.

Don't do this to me Boss.

Breathe.

Pump.

Check.

Stop.

He sat stunned, he saw Maddie reaching out to his lover, to her hero. Saw Gibbs gasp in a breath. Saw him turn his head and look over at Maddie.

The wharf was still cut off from the rest of the world, nothing else existed, and it was silent. Except for the sound of raspy breathing.

He was numb, to tired and cold to move, to happy to hear his lover breathing again, stunned that they were both alive. And humbled to witness the connection that Gibbs and Maddie shared. To relieved to care what happened to him now.

And time still meant nothing.

The bad guys were dead.

The good guys were alive.

His lover was alive.

So he sat there, between Maddie and Gibbs and thanked a god he hadn't believed in for a long time.

Then there were others, people were swarming around them.

He watched as the EMT's worked on Gibbs and Maddie. Saw them load them onto gurneys and take them back towards the waiting ambulances. He was vaguely aware that someone was talking to him. One of the paramedics. But he waved them away. He was too tired to move, to care. He could rest now.

He watched as more people arrived and swarmed over the scene. But still he didn't move, couldn't move. Moving just seemed like too much of an effort. Better to just stay where he was.

Then he saw Ducky crouching in front of him. Could feel the warmth from Ducky's hand that was cradling his face. Could hear Ducky talking to him. He had to concentrate to understand what was being said. But it was hard. He knew that he needed to answer. So he concentrated harder, he knew he had to give the right answer.

"You did a wonderful job my boy, but now we need to get you warmed up. Can you move?"

"'m fine."

He heard Ducky snort at that. So maybe that wasn't the right answer. He heard Ducky call out for McGee to bring the blanket and the oxygen from the truck. He wondered why Ducky wanted those things. Gibbs and Maddie had been taken away to hospital already and the others were all dead. There was no one else here that would need medical help. Was there, he hadn't missed something had he? No he couldn't have, he wouldn't have let something like that get by him, he wouldn't have let Gibbs down like that.

He watched as Ducky fussed with something, he wondered what was happening, he thought that he should be doing something. There was something important he had to do.

He saw McGee hurrying over to them. He thought he should help him, after all those oxygen tanks could be damn heavy, and wasn't that a piece of trivia he wished he didn't know. But his body wouldn't obey him. His arms wouldn't move and he couldn't feel his legs. He felt himself begin to panic. Something wasn't right.

"It's all right Tony, just take it easy for a minute. You don't need to worry about anything just now."

Everything was all right. Gibbs and Maddie were all right. They were on their way to hospital.

He settled back down and went back to watching all the people who were now swarming all over the place. He could see Jimmy working on one of the gunmen, saw an agent marking all the casings that were littering the warehouse. Saw Ziva retrieve his gun, and Madame Director moving towards them.

He tried to stand again, not wanting to face her while he was sitting on the ground doing nothing.

"Easy Tony, just stay where you are for a few moments. I've called for another ambulance and it should be here for you shortly."

He looked at Ducky and shook his head. "'m fine, don't need it."

He struggled to his feet as Jenny arrived.

"Report."

"Not now Director, we need to get him to hospital."

He was surprised to hear Ducky sounding so official, so forceful, and even more surprised when he saw Jenny back down and look at him. He wasn't sure what to think when he saw her look change to one of concern.

That couldn't be good.

He moved to try and comfort him and his head began to swim and his vision started to gray.

"Timothy a hand please."

He felt the world tilt and then he felt hands on him, supporting him, easing him down. Then he felt the pain. The numbness had worn off and now pain was his world. Pain and cold. It hurt to breathe, his hands hurt and his muscles screamed at him.

But he didn't care.

It was all worth it.

Gibbs was alive. His lover was alive.

And so was Maddie.

He could rest now.

The last thing he heard as his world went dark was Ducky's voice demanding to know where the damn ambulance was. He would have chuckled at that if he'd had any energy left. But he had none and the blackness surrounded him and he willingly let go.