Vance's Ghosts
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or any of the characters, aside from the bad guys ;)
Summary: The team is held captive by a paroled felon that Director Vance put away when he was still an agent in San Diego. Rated R to be safe. Violence, angst, a hint of Tiva...
(This is my first NCIS fic. Thought I'd keep it R this round. Please do let me know what you think, cause my plans are to continue posting :) thanks!)
EDITED—I fixed the spacing problem (SERIOUSLY THIS TIME!! LOL)and added some Abby stuffs I intended using in the first place :) Enjoy!
It was dark...dark and cold. When he rolled over to push himself up, Special Agent Gibbs felt the aching discomfort run through his bones from, what he now realized was, the concrete floor beneath him.
"Hello?" his voice squeaked, unexpectedly from himself. He swallowed and cleared his throat, "Hello?" he called again. There was no answer. He stood holding his hands out, feeling for a wall. When he found it, he realized that it, too, was concrete.
It was then that it hit his thoughts, 'How the hell did I get here? And where the hell is 'here'?' He began to walk forward, feeling the wall as he went, in search for a door, or something...anything. His shoes scraped the floor lightly, instinctively being cautious to not trip over whatever might be in his path. Then he felt his foot come into contact with something and he cautiously bent down to investigate what it might be. It didn't take long for him to realize it was a body.
Quickly, he found its arm and went down the the wrist, feeling for a pulse. As he felt the strong rhythm, he realized that the room wasn't quite as dark anymore and he looked up to seek out the cause. High on the far wall was a brick-sized opening. The color of the rays that began to shine in helped him to conclude that it was coming from the sunrise.
He looked back down at the body that was now lit enough for him to recognize. "McGee?" Gibbs shook him lightly, but his Agent didn't respond. He stood again to assess the room. It was empty, aside from the two of them. The room was no bigger than a storage locker, and the gray walls gave no clue as to what its purpose might be. He made his way to the door once he saw it, reaching for a doorknob and finding that there was none there. He pushed against it with no result but to realize that the door was made of sturdy metal and, indeed, locked from the outside.
The only logical thing that came to mind was to start banging on the door. Neither he, nor McGee, had any of their gear...in fact, they were both in off-duty clothing. McGee was in pajamas, obviously taken from his apartment probably sometime in the middle of the night. Gibbs was in a tee shirt and old pair of cargo pants. Most likely he had been taken from his basement sometime after leaving work.
He continued to yell for help and he pounded on the metal door until he heard something on the other side. He stopped and put his ear up against the cold surface.
"Move away from the door," he heard an unfamiliar voice call. He backed up over toward McGee. The door was suddenly and violently kicked open and another body was flung through the opening. The door slammed shut as the man painfully hit the wall he'd been hurled toward and he grunted in pain and dropped to the floor.
"Dinozzo!" Gibbs recognized him instantly and made his way toward the Agent.
"Boss," he croaked out as he tried to summon what dignity he might have retained. He pushed himself up from the floor and looked over to where he'd heard Gibbs' voice. The salt and pepper superior stood just a foot away looking over the extent of Tony's bloodied and bruised face and body. The younger agent opened his mouth to say something, but the room began to spin and he no longer had the power to hold himself up.
"Whoa," Gibbs caught him and helped him gently down to sit up against the wall. "You okay, Tony?"
"I'll live," he answered, "Thanks." He coughed for a moment then continued, "They don't like it when you try to fight back, apparently."
"Doesn't seem like they gave me the chance," Jethro turned and sat next to him.
"Who are these people, Boss?" his head fell back onto the cool wall.
"I don't recall anything after leaving work," he told him. "Didn't see anything. Just woke up not long before they stuck you in here with us." It was then that Tony caught a glimpse of Tim lying on the floor and did a double-take.
"They got McGee too?" he began to panic when he saw no movement from his co-worker. "Is he---Boss, did they--"
"He's alive, Tony," he said in his usual calm voice. "They must've drugged him to get him here. Must've done the same to me. Only way I can explain not knowing how the hell we got here."
"Why is he still out?" Tony began to think out loud. "They must have gotten to you first. Dumped you here then went to get McGee...then me. Considering he's kind of a light-weight, it'd take longer for it to wear off for him."
"Well, do you have any information that'd be useful?"
"Not really. They picked me up about an hour ago. I was on my way home..." he cautiously stole a quick glance at his boss before continuing, "I was out pretty late...decided to catch a cab home. Whoever is running this operation new what they were doing, I can say that much. They t-boned the cab I was in. Pretty sure the cabbie was killed instantly. They pulled me out...soon as I realized what was happening I tried to get the hell out of there, but they got me into the van before I could think twice."
"Did they say anything to you? What the hell do they want?"
"Other then obscenities as they shoved me into the back? No. Well, one of them said something...I..." he shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. "He said 'Three down...'" His eyes began to dart around in front of him and his brow furrowed. "He said 'Three down...and three to go." He looked over at his boss. "Ziva..."
"That's one," Gibbs looked straight ahead.
"Who else could they mean?"
"That all depends on what the motive is...what the hell they're trying to prove here."
"Obviously someone is really pissed off at us about something. I can't imagine what all of us could've done to go to this much trouble..."
"More likely it's not us they're aiming to attack here." Tony flashed a confused look at his boss's words.
"They...have a funny way of showing it."
"I'm guessing we'll find out soon enough." A rustling came from the other side of the room and they looked over toward McGee.
"Wha-- what the hell? Where--" he rolled and pushed himself up.
"Hey, McSleepy," Tony said, hoarsely. Tim looked over at them and stood. "No idea where we are, but, at least you've got great company."
Within thirty minutes they began to hear noise on the other side of the door again. The Israeli cuss words became clearer as they got closer to the door. The three agents stood in preparation for the door to open. They shared a quick glance right before the door was flung open and Ziva was violently pushed in, her back slamming into Tony, and the door immediately closed before Gibbs or McGee could get to it.
Ziva stepped away from the body that saved her from hitting the wall and turned to see him. She was out of breath and disoriented. Tony tried very hard to conceal the pain caused by his second collision of the day as he looked Ziva over for damage.
"Tony..." she said and looked around the room. "McGee? Gibbs--" she stumbled to the floor on her hands and knees before any of them could catch her.
"Ziva!" Tim knelt beside her, "You okay?" She held her hand up as she tried to catch her breath. Gibbs knelt down in front of her.
"I am fine," she said and looked up at him, "They drugged me...several times." She gave a small laugh as she repositioned herself to sit. "They were wrong to think a simple sleeping drug would keep me from fighting back. They sufficiently disabled my ability to successfully resist, but I am fine."
"That's good," Dinozzo said and they all looked over at him, "Cause I'm not doing so great myself," he said as he slowly slid back down to the floor.
"Tony...you okay?" Tim started to stand, and then they all saw the trail of blood that painted the wall behind him.
"Tony!" Ziva crawled over to him and opened the jacket that he had been clutching closed. The shirt beneath it was soaked with blood all down his left side. "What did they do to you?"
"He was in a cab," Gibbs explained, "They rammed it to capture him. Dinozzo!" Gibbs squeezed his shoulder to wake him, "Stay with us. Keep your eyes open."
"Tell me what you know about these operatives," Ziva said in effort to keep him conscious as she tore open his shirt to investigate the origin of the bleeding.
"I don—I don't know what they want," Tony coughed. "But I've been thinking...they wanted to take you all quietly-" he coughed again, "Capturing me the way they did—they wanted it to get someone's attention..d-dead cabbie- disappearing NC..I ...I ...S agent..." he grunted, "Department figures out we're all m-missing..."
"Get the attention of someone at NCIS..." Tim chimed in.
"The attention of whom? We are all here!" Ziva said as she took off her top shirt, leaving her in a tank top, and using her shirt to wipe the blood on his chest in search of the wound.
"Insert...stripping comment here," Tony choked out between coughs.
"We're not all here," Gibbs said, "Who would be affected by the four of us disappearing?"
"Abby?" McGee suggested. Jethro looked at him and cocked his head a bit. An obvious choice, but...
"Who could've pissed someone off enough to deserve this kind of retaliation?" Tony squeaked.
"Vance..." Gibbs said.
"Oh God," Ziva said and they turned their attention back to her. "I think I found the problem." Gibbs moved closer to the place she was indicating. Just below Tony's ribcage, protruded a fairly large piece of glass.
"Is it that bad?" Tony smirked at his boss.
"We need to get you outta here, Dinozzo," his boss answered. McGee stood and went to the door and began yelling.
"Hey!" he pounded, "HEY!"
"McGee!" Tony said as loud as he could and Tim turned to him. "Ya think they're gonna let me go cause I have a booboo?" Then he began to gag and Ziva backed up slightly as Tony vomited blood onto his lap. McGee looked around in thought with a furrowed brow, then turned back to his task.
"We need a doctor in here! Hey!"
"Tony," Gibbs squeezed his shoulder again, "Come on, ya gotta stay with us." But Tony's eyes began to roll.
"Tony?" Ziva held his face in both her hands. Then his body began to shake.
"He's going into shock," Gibbs took his arms, "We need to lay him down."
"Hey!" Tim continued to bang and yell, "We need help in here!"
Unexpectedly, the door opened, and McGee moved out of the way. "Ducky!" McGee said when he saw the familiar ME walk in. "Thank God you found us. Tony needs help!" Ducky walked over to the mess in front of them and called out to the people who still stood at the door.
"I'll need medical supplies." The men were already prepared, and threw a large medical bag into the room.
"When you are through, you will return the bag with all of its instruments. If anything is missing, your friend will be killed," the man told him before closing the door.
"Which friend?" McGee asked as Ducky went to work on Tony.
"It doesn't matter because they'll get everything back, McGee," Gibbs told him.
"Let's just concentrate on the task before us," Ducky said. "If you can inject this into his arm, Ziva..."
"What is it?" she asked as she took it and readied his arm.
"It'll kill the pain and knock him out, as it seems I'll need to be sure the glass hasn't nicked anything important," he said as he put on a pair of latex gloves and readied several instruments. "But by the looks of it, and the position of the glass...and the fact that it's gone completely through, I'd say there's a good chance it's grazed his stomach and hopefully nothing else. It seems that this is actually the exit end of the glass...which could only conclude that the entrance..." Ducky turned Tony slightly on his side with Gibbs' assistance, "Is right here." The glass was barely noticeable in the huge gash near the back of his left side.
"This is my fault," Ziva said. "If I hadn't ran into him when they threw me in here..."
"This isn't anyone's fault but the men out there," Gibbs said to her. "That glass was already in him from the crash and he didn't know it..."
"Until my body forced him against the wall and pushed it all the way through."
"Miss David," Ducky said calmly, "I need you to concentrate on assisting me now. What's done is done...but what matters right now is helping Tony. If we don't do this right, he could die. Can I count on you?" She let the words sink into her before she nodded in compliance.
Director Leon Vance stepped off of the elevator with a yawn and made his way to the bullpen expecting to speak to Agent Gibbs. Coffee in hand, and a laptop bag in the other, he didn't notice the lack of agents until mid-sip of his drink. Instead, Abigail Scuito paced nervously up and down the aisle in the bullpen, biting her thumbnail and dialing a number into her cellphone.
"Abby," Vance said as he approached her. She didn't stop her pacing, but put her phone to her ear, only glancing momentarily at the man to acknowledge she'd heard him. Moments later, she frustratingly slammed her phone closed.
"No one is answering their phones!" she said, nervously.
"Where's Gibbs?" Vance asked, confused.
"That's the problem!" she said, "Gibbs isn't here and he's not answering his cell or his home phone. I've called Tony and Tim...even Ducky. None of them are here, and none of them are answering."
"What time did you get in?" he said making his way quickly to the stairs.
"I've been here all night," she said, following him up the steps. "Gibbs had me working over some evidence from a case and I wanted to finish it before they got in this morning."
"What time did they leave yesterday?" they made their way into his office.
"Gibbs left pretty late. Maybe nine. Tony and Ziva came down to my lab a little after that and asked if I'd found anything. Tony asked us if we wanted to join him for drinks. We both rain-checked and I'm pretty sure they left after that."
Vance's office line rang then. He walked over and picked it up, greeting the caller.
"Director Vance," said an officer on the line, "We received a call from a Miss Scuito there at your department inquiring about the whereabouts of Agent Tony Dinozzo."
"Did you find him?" Vance said, and Abby's eyes widened.
"We talked to the bartender at the pub he was last seen at. She said he got in a cab to go home. From there, I followed up on a call about an accident less than a mile from here. Looks like it might be the one he was in."
"He's not in it?"
"No, sir. Looks like the cab was intentionally hit. The cab-driver is dead. There's blood in the back seat and broken glass from the divider. It seems he was abducted by whomever hit the cab."
"Did anyone get description of the vehicle that hit it?"
"A couple witnesses said it was a black van; no plates."
"Thanks, officer. I need you to bring the cab here. Please call me if you get anything else," he said and hung up the phone.
"What's going on? What'd they find?" Abby asked, pleadingly.
"Agent Dinozzo was in a cab when it was struck by an unidentified black van. Apparently the cab was hit because they wanted to take him."
"Why would they wanna take Tony? What's going on?"
"I'm not sure. But I have a feeling I know where the rest of the team is. I don't want you to leave the building, Abby," he said as he opened his bag.
"I'm not leaving till we find them," she said. "They're bringing the cab in, right? I'll go downstairs and wait so I can start right away."
"You should find everything in order," Ducky said as he handed the medical bag to the masked man standing in the door. "Of course, he'll require pain medication and antibiotics."
"We'll bring them in as they're needed, Doctor," said the man. Gibbs glanced at the other men holding guns behind him.
"Eh..." the doctor started, "What, exactly, do you intend to do with us now?" The man made no surprised response.
"You'll stay put until you're needed."
"What does that mean?" Gibbs asked.
"It means you'll all stay in this room until we're asked to bring you in to talk to the boss."
"Talk to him about what?" The man grinned behind his mask.
"You'll find out soon enough." The door closed again. Ducky and Gibbs looked over at Ziva who was sitting against the wall with Tony's head propped up on her lap. She wiped at his forehead with a cold cloth and looked up at Ducky.
"What do we do?" McGee asked Gibbs. He didn't have an answer for him.
"Tony needs to be in a hospital, Jethro," Ducky said quietly. "He should be receiving fluids and regulated medications. Not to mention a clean room...I managed to stop the bleeding and sew him up, but there's no way to tell how much blood he's lost before he even got here."
"I don't know how long they plan to keep us all here," Ziva said, "But the director must have gotten word that we're missing. Someone will come."
"They didn't get Abby," Gibbs said. "It's been too long. She must not have left the building last night."
"Well, that means she's still there. She'll be looking over the evidence; the cab," McGee said.
"She'll be able to find us better than anyone," Ducky said.
"And hopefully, Vance will figure out why this is happening," Ziva said.
"The director took the week off," Ducky chimed in. They looked at him. "Well, I only know because we had lunch the day before last. He said he and his family had some business to attend to. He didn't say where, but I know they were flying out that day." There were a few moments of silence.
"Hey, Boss, I think I might know what's going on," Tim said. They looked at him. "Vance must've known something was going to happen. He was getting his family out of town to protect them. Maybe these people didn't foresee this happening-- had to come up with a last-minute plan."
"So they took us instead," Ziva said. "They needed collateral."
"Or they needed someone to tell them where he went," Gibbs said.
"Or perhaps both of those reasons," Ducky said, "And their leader will keep us here until he gets his questions answered."
"But we don't have the answers," Tim said, "And even if that's the case, why hasn't he already asked them?"
"He's letting us sit in here and wonder for a while. It's a tactic," Gibbs answered.
"One you've used yourself on many occasions," Ducky said.
"Now all we have to do is wait," Gibbs concluded.
"What'd you find, Abby?" Vance said as he entered the lab. "I expected you to be downstairs."
"I got everything I could from the cab," she said. "The cabbie's blood was all over the front seat. I ran him through the database but found nothing unusual. He was just an innocent victim. The blood I found in the back belongs to Tony," she held back tears. "Wherever he is, he's hurt."
"Ducky is there with them," Vance said, "And they'll want to keep Dinozzo alive."
"Do you know something?" she turned to him, surprised.
"I might. Did you find anything out about the vehicle that hit them?"
"Yeah, the paint and metal shavings I pulled from the side of the cab have a blend specific to one make; it's called a Citroen Dispatch," she put the picture up on the screen. "These puppies aren't even available on the market yet...not here anyway. This was a special order. I searched for any local dealerships that might have ordered one in the past month and found one; Tom's New and Used Foreign Cars, fifteen miles from here."
"I'll send someone down there now," he said.
"Wait," she stopped him as he turned to walk out. "You said you might know something. What do you know?"
"Miss Scuito--" he began to protest.
"No! My friends have been kidnapped and are being held somewhere against their will! Tony could be dying! They could all be killed! If you know something, you have to tell me!" Normally the director would be furious. But guilt washed his face and he couldn't continue to hold back the information.
"This might be my fault," he said. Abby was speechless. "Three days ago I received a phone call from the office in San Diego. A former partner of mine was killed. They suspected a man I helped put away four years ago who was recently paroled. After they told me he had somehow skipped town, I decided to get my family out of here. Chances are, that agent was killed after being forced to tell him where I was. I wasn't about to let my family become part of his game. I wanted to get them out of here right away, then come back to tell Gibbs..."
"But you were too late," Abby said flatly. "You should've told him right away."
"I wasn't thinking straight at the time," he said angrily. "But now I am. And if I'm right, and it is him that's doing this, our friends' lives are in danger. And the only way I can try to fix that is to find him." Abby didn't look away from him. "If I'm right, Abby," he moved closer to her, "He wanted you, too. You are the one forensic scientist in this place that I'm a hundred percent sure can find our agents, and that's a huge upper hand to their operation." He backed away a little. "So, right now, I need you to do me a favor...and try to set aside your anger towards me and focus on finding them." She cocked her jaw for a moment.
"Okay," she said in almost a whisper.
"Oh...God!" Tony hissed through gritted teeth as the pain thrust him into consciousness.
"It's okay, Tony," Ziva grabbed his hand and gently held his head, "Ducky is here. He fixed you up."
"I don't feel fixed up..." he squeaked. "It hurts," he looked down at the source of his pain to find it bandaged but bleeding through. He let out a struggled breath and sucked it back in just as quickly. She felt his whole body tense and looked up at Ducky who worriedly made his way to the door.
"We need the medicine now!" he shouted as he banged a few times against the metal.
"You gotta breathe, Tony," Gibbs said as he squatted down beside him in front of Ziva. Tony's face was covered in a sheen layer of sweat and turning red from holding in his breath.
"Can't, Boss," he squeaked. "Hurts..."
"Pain killers are on the way," he said. Tony let out a breath and sucked it in and held it again. His right hand clamped onto Ziva's, and the other was balled up, painfully clenched, between the wall and his side. Tony looked over at Ducky as the men handed him the meds and bandages through the door and closed it again. His attention went back to Dinozzo as he let out his breath and wasn't able to hold it any longer. His breathing was loud a labored and McGee stood nervously a few feet away watching Tony's legs helplessly kicked and repositioned over and over in panic.
"Is-- can I help? What can I do?" Tim stuttered.
"This will help," Ducky said as he finished filling the syringe from the vial of painkilling medication and knelt down to stick it into Tony's arm. Ziva held him still and watched his face as the syringe emptied into his vein. Soon, he began to calm and his features began to relax. Tim watched his legs as they calmed and his feet settle comfortably to the floor. His breathing slowed to normal.
"Tony?" Ziva called softly. He looked at her.
"Feeling better..." he said then looked over at Gibbs, "Sorry 'bout that, Boss..." Gibbs smirked at that and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Give us a little warning next time, Dinozzo," he said and stood.
"Thanks, Duck," Tony said when he found the doctor's face.
"You're a bit feverish, Tony," he said, filling the syringe again with a different vial. "You may have an infection, which isn't very surprising, considering our circumstances. Reminds me of a similar situation many years ago...on an ice fishing trip of all things. Imagine, if you will, being in the middle of nowhere, freezing cold at that, and in the midst of some winter-time fun, falling into a bit of unstable ice into a frozen lake, only to be stopped by a rather large protrusion of broken ice, not unlike glass, impaling him right under the ribcage and hooking him there, for lack of better term..." his story was interrupted by Gibbs clearing his throat. "Yes, well," he stuck Tony with the syringe again and began injecting the serum, "I suppose the moral of the story would be, always be prepared. It was a good thing I'd brought my medical bag with me."
"You patched him up too," Tony concluded.
"Yes, well...the ice also punctured his left lung, and the cold was on his side that day. Not to mention a chopper lift to the hospital a couple of hours later. But in hindsight, I had a good bit of practice repairing a similar injury as yours, dear boy. He was back on his feet in less than a week." He began stripping off the bloody bandage from his chest.
"What're the odds I'll be as lucky?" he asked him. After a short moment and a quick glance at Ziva, he answered.
"I've seen you come through worse. I think you'll be fine," he put the clean bandage on his patient and stood to walk over to Gibbs. "They'll be coming back to retrieve these soon," he told him as he folded up the syringe and vials in a cloth. Gibbs gave him a questioning look he knew all too well. "Don't worry, Jethro," he assured him, "He'll be fine. Abigail will find us and we'll get him to a hospital."
"Let's just hope they don't get to her before she does." They heard the door unlock and looked as it opened.
"He wants to speak with you, Doctor," the man said. Ducky looked back at Gibbs before being led out by the men and the door slammed shut as Gibbs went for it. His fist hit the door, frustrated.
"Damnit."
"We have a big problem, Abby," Leon walked into the lab and Abby spun on her heels to see him. "I had a few agents go down to check out the dealership. The place was burned down. The owner was found dead in his apartment an hour ago. They picked up a couple of computers and they're on their way here now, but they're pretty badly damaged."
"If there's anything in there, I'll find it."
"I know you will," he said, confidently. "What worries me is that there's been no contact. It's been four days. This guy is trying to get my attention, but he's not making any attempt to find me, personally. I've got agents watching my house, monitoring all my phone lines, and there's been nothing."
"Maybe he thinks you're with you family. He knows you left...but he doesn't know you came back."
"If you're right, then there's only one thing to do," he turned.
"What?" she started to walk toward him.
"Meeting with the press. You call me the minute you find what we're looking for."
Tony sipped the lukewarm broth from a plastic cup as did the rest of them. "In a way, this is the same as being in the hospital," he said to his companions. "Minus the hot nurses, no offense, Ducky."
"None taken. I'm glad to see you're feeling better," the older man replied as he bit into his bread.
"Me too, seeing as they've been giving less and less pain killers."
"When do you think they'll be questioning us?" McGee asked, setting his cup down. That's when the door opened and several men came in and grabbed the agents, pulling them to their feet.
"Time for you to meet the boss," one of them said. "You too, Doctor."
They were taken to a much larger and better lit room. They bound their hands behind their backs and sat them in chairs arranged in a circle in the room. "Try anything funny and one of your friends will be shot." They all glanced at each other as the men lined up around the room against the walls.
"What, exactly, do you think they're gonna ask us?" Tony said quietly to his fellow captives.
"Probably something to do with Vance..." Tim said.
"Well...what makes them think we'll say anything if we knew?" Tony smirked.
"Because, Agent Dinozzo," said an unfamiliar voice as the man opened a door and walked into the room. "I have something called sodium amytal. I'm sure you've heard of it." Tony shared a quick glance with Ziva then Gibbs.
"Truth serum," Ducky grumbled. "It's not one hundred percent reliable, you know."
"I think it'll serve it's purpose, Doctor Mallard. I've read a lot about all of you. Enough to know that simply asking you would probably give me no result." He walked to the middle of the circle and talked as he walked around it in front of each of them. "Unless I'm wrong, of course. So I'll ask you once without these measures...Where is Director Leon Vance and his family?"
"What do you want with Vance?" Gibbs asked. The man walked up to him and struck him hard in the face, causing him to grunt in pain.
"Oh my..." Ducky cringed at the display. Blood trickled from Jethro's nose as he tried to compose himself.
"I'll ask the questions!" the man said loudly. The others stiffened in posture as they watched saw their boss struck again...helpless to block the blows, and they could do nothing to stop it. "But," he said and turned to walk again, "I'll tell you anyway. Vance destroyed my life...destroyed my family. I'm here to return the favor. It's quite simple, actually."
"You're Harvey Manchester," Tony said, "You're the guy who skipped out on parole in San Diego. No wonder we've been sitting in there for four days."
"Dinozzo!" Gibbs tried to warn the agent, but it was too late. Harvey lunged at him, gripping the wound on his chest and squeezing.
"AGHH!" Tony yelled in agony as the pain shot through all the way to his back and made him feel as though he'd vomit.
"Stop!" Gibbs yelled as he and his agents stood, forgetting the armed men around them until they heard them ready their weapons. Ducky's heart sunk in his chest as he watched tears fall from the outer corners of Tony's eyes before the man cruelly dropped his grip and he fell forward, his bound arms keeping him fixed on the chair.
"I don't need information I'm already aware of," he said. "But I can see I'll get nothing from you this way." He looked up at one of his men, "Prepare the serum."
Ziva didn't take her eyes off of Tony who was lurched forward, his head hanging loosely and his hands in tight fists behind him. A tear streaked down her cheek. Harvey saw this.
"Take Agent Gibbs, McGee and the Doctor back to the room. We'll start with these two." The men grabbed hold of their arms and began to walk them back. Gibbs struggled for a moment as he looked at the two agents who would remain.
"I should've said something," Tim said, sitting, propped up against the wall.
"No, you shouldn't have," Gibbs said, pacing the room.
"I wanted to tell him to stop, but nothing came out."
"He would've hurt you, too, McGee."
"I sat there and did nothing!" he stood as he yelled. Gibbs stopped and stepped up to him. "I-I'm sorry, Boss..."
"Nothing you said would have helped," he said, angrily at first, but then his features softened. He looked down and patted his arm before walking away to the other side of the room.
"What am I supposed to do?" Tim asked quietly to the doctor who had come to stand near him.
"There's nothing we can do, Timothy. Nothing any of us can do but wait."
Ziva flinched as one of the men injected the serum into her arm right below her shoulder. Tony didn't seem to even notice when they gave him his. In fact, he hadn't sat up since the ordeal with Harvey.
"The serum takes a while to take affect," Harvey said. "We'll be back soon to chat." Two of the men left with Harvey, and three stayed to guard them. When she heard the door close she turned to Dinozzo.
"Tony?" she nearly whispered. He didn't respond. She stood and curled her foot around the foot of the chair and began to drag it closer to him. One of the guards raised his gun. "Please! I just need to see if he's okay. Please..." The man slowly lowered the gun and she resumed her task. Her chair hit his and she sat and tried to see his face, but he turned away.
"Leave me alone..." he said pathetically. "Please..."
"Tony," she pleaded, "Look at me. Please. I need to know if you're okay." She saw the blood trickling from under the bandage.
"I'm fine," he said.
"Don't lie to me, Tony. I know you're in pain." He turned to look at her.
"Pretty soon, I won't have a choice, I suppose," he smirked, but it faded. "I've still got pain killers in me. I'm okay." He watched her for a moment then tried to sit back up and lean back on the chair, "Shit..." he hissed through his teeth, "Okay, it hurts a little."
"Abby will find us," she said, not knowing whether she was trying to convince him or herself. He sensed that in her voice and looked at her again.
"She will."
Abby sat at the evidence table where tons of fried computer components lay splayed out in front of her, some being analyzed, and some she had attempted to clean as best as she could in hopes that she could get it to work when plugged into her system.
Palmer had come up to help her. "Not much for me to do without Dr. Mallard around," he had said with a frown. So, of course, she put him to work. He was currently on route to the cafeteria to get himself and Abby a beverage.
She stopped when the monitor next to her came up with no result and put down the components she'd been cleaning. "Damnit," she said and began typing into the keyboard, only to receive more and more errors. "Come on!" she slammed the keyboard with her fists and threw off her goggles.."McGee, I need you..." she said, swallowing. She missed him. She needed him.
"How's it going?" Palmer said, two Caf-Pows in hand.
"It's not!" she yelled and stood, hitting the table with her hip and sending a few of the components crashing to the floor. "Shit!" she yelled and bent down to pick them up. Palmer set the drinks down and went to help her, but she stood abruptly and whacked her head on the edge of the table, causing her to yelp and drop the components yet again. "Ow!" she grabbed her head.
"Abby!" he knelt next to her and put a hand on her back. "Are you okay? Do you want some ice?" Abby shifted her weight from her knees to a sitting position, defeated, and began to cry. "Abs..." Palmer ran to his drink and ripped open the top, scooping out some ice and wrapping it in a paper towel and knelt back next to her on the floor.
"Here," he handed her the ice. "Let me see it," he grabbed her head, gently and examined the small red bump.
"I'm fine," she said through her tears.
"You don't seem fine."
"I'm scared..." her reddened eyes bore into his. He understood.
"We're gonna find them, Abs. We will..." he stood and retrieved her untouched Caf-Pow and handed it to her. "Take a break for a few minutes. You've been in here for days."
"I can't take a break, Jimmy! It's up to me to find them!" she stood abruptly and began rearranging the components and typing information into the computer. "If I stop, even for a little while...that could be the few minutes late we showed up too late." Palmer knew she had a point. But felt the sudden urge to draw her into a hug. Abby was surprised. But she quickly melted into the embrace and wept the rest of her tears.
She sniffled and caught sight of Jimmy's mess of what was left of his drink sitting on the desk. "You should go get another drink," she pulled away. He grinned for a moment, picking up the half empty cup and tossing it in the trash before walking towards the door. "Jimmy?" she called, and he turned. "Thanks."
"Abby!" She heard from behind her. She had dozed off in front of her computer.
"Shit! I fell asleep!" she immediately went back to work.
"I overheard a couple of agents talking in the cafeteria just now. I know you found out the type of vehicle they used to kidnap Tony. These guys got a call in not ten minutes ago about a van matching that description, burning up a mile down the road from the dealership that was destroyed. It could be the same one you're looking for." Abby placed her hands firmly on Palmer's shoulders.
"Find those agents, Palmer, and get me that van, now!"
"Yes, Ma'am! I mean, Abby!" he stuttered and turned toward the door.
"And Palmer!" He turned back around. "Good work," she smiled, "I could use your help when it gets here."
"How long do we have to wait here?" Ziva sighed.
"Who knows? I wonder if this stuff is working yet," Tony said as he stretched his legs. "Hey, guys!" he shouted to the guards. "Any way you can take these ropes off? It's not like we're going anywhere with all these guns pointed at us." The guard seemed to ignore him for a moment. "It was worth a shot," he said to Ziva.
"Not if it gets you hit in the face," she retorted. The guard walked toward them then. "Oh, God..."
"Hey...hey, I'm sorry, man. I won't bug you again," Tony turned in his chair defensively, and was surprised when he felt the ropes being removed from his wrists. When he was finished with his, he removed Ziva's. "Thank you," he said. The guard walked back to the wall again. "That was...unusually generous," he rubbed his wrists rotated his shoulders a bit.
"Why do I feel like something bad is going to happen?" Ziva looked around.
"I don't know. We've been in this situation before. But you've been through more than me." She glanced nervously at him. "Which reminds me...you've never talked about—"
"Don't do this, Tony. Not here," she warned.
"Okay," he backed off. "I just thought maybe..."
"You thought I'd spill my guts with the truth serum running through my veins."
"No, I just thought maybe you'd open up a little...let a friend be there for you--"
"I don't want y--" she struggled, "I don't want you to think less of me...oh no," her hands went to the sides of her head.
"It's starting to work, huh?" he asked. "Don't worry...I won't ask anymore." He watched her for a moment. "And...just so you know, I wouldn't think less of you." She looked at him.
"It's not that I don't want to talk to you, Tony..."
"I know, Ziva. It's just...who you are."
"Sometimes, I wish that wasn't true."
"Ziva, you don't have to--"
"He raped me..." she said flatly. Tony felt like he'd been kicked in the chest from her words. He looked straight at her with his jaw clenched... "Before you came for me in Somalia...after they had beaten what little information I could give to them, he decided that he would keep me around...for his own pleasure," her hands gripped the sides of her chair. Tony was frozen... "I didn't tell you because..." tears began to stream heavily down her cheeks, "I didn't want you to look at me every day and think–that I was...broken..." she sobbed. And at her sobs, he suddenly regained his ability to move. His arms reached out to her and pulled her head on the un-battered side of his chest. "I didn't want any of them to think I was broken..." she sobbed.
"Ziva..." he stroked her hair, "Please don't cry...I could never—never think that way of you," he whispered. "I love you...so much," he heard himself say it, though that secret he didn't mean to tell. Not today...
Her heart must have stopped for just a moment when she heard what he'd said. But she didn't move. She let him stroke her hair and she held tight to the sides of the chair.
"We all care about you, Ziva," Nice save, Dinozzo, "I can't imagine what it was like to grow up the way you did, but the family you have now would never treat you that way." Her sobs subsided, and she pulled away from him gently and looked at his face. There was nothing insincere in his eyes.
"Thank you, Tony," she said and let go of the chair to hug around his neck.
Leon Vance stood at a podium in front of many reporters, beginning his speech by greeting and thanking them for being there. His heart was racing...this was going to be risky. As soon as he would leave that room, his life would be in danger. But that fear was overridden by the fact that his agents' lives were at stake.
He wasn't thinking when he spoke; it was a small memorized announcement with nothing especially particular to say. An exercise of NCIS protocol. It wasn't important what he said, rather that it was put on the air and seen by Harvey...
As he stepped away from the mics, he waved to the reporters and left the room.
"Director!" He was surprised by Palmer. "I'm sorry, but I have an urgent phone call for you," he handed him his cell.
"This is Vance," he said.
"Director! It's Abby. We found the van and I analyzed some soil that was embedded deep in the tire tread. The soil was mixed with some crazy amino compounds, retayne, ludigal f....it's dye!"
"Abby?"
"They're at an old dye factory. I looked it up. There's an old abandoned warehouse that used to be Nanny Ella's. It was a dye manufacturer that was in business for a short time about four years ago. I'm sending the address to your phone..."
"I take it the serum is working now," Harvey said as he walked to the two agents. "Bring the others in here," he said to one of the guards.
"We don't know anything about where Vance is," Tony said.
"I know," he said as the other were dragged into the room.
"Then what was the point in giving us the serum?"
"I needed to be sure. Now I have another game I'd like to play." He motioned to one of the guards and the guard handed him a gun. "Sit down, Agent Gibbs," he pointed the gun at him. Gibbs went to a chair and sat, glancing at Tony and Ziva. "You, too, gentlemen," he said to McGee and Mallard. They took their seats next to Gibbs. "This is how the game is played," he walked around them as he did before. "I'm going to ask a question, and if I don't get the correct answer, someone gets shot. My first question goes to Doctor Mallard," Gibbs looked at Ducky, and Ducky glanced to him. "If you don't answer correctly....hmmm," he put his finger to his mouth in thought as he looked around, "I shoot Gibbs." He aimed the gun at Gibbs. Ducky panicked. His eyes darted around.
"Don't tell him anything, Duck," Gibbs said, "He won't shoot."
"I won't shoot?" Harvey responded. "You think...I won't...shoot!" he pointed the gun at his forehead and Gibbs raised his chin. Then suddenly, Harvey turned his aim to McGee and fired, hitting him in the gut.
"No!" Tony stood to take Harvey down, but the guards were quick to surround him.
No one moved. All eyes were on McGee now. He sat in the chair, unmoving at first, except his hand that clenched the place he'd been hit. He faced forward with his eyes wide. Then he coughed once, blood coming from his mouth.
"Timothy..." Ducky moved toward him, and Tim fell from the chair to the floor on his side.
"New game!" Harvey yelled at Gibbs. "I ask you a question, and if you don't answer, two people die!" he waved his gun in Tony's face as he shrank back down to his chair and then held it to Ziva's head. "She's first. I know these two know nothing. I also know that you," he turned to face Gibbs, "And Mallard DO know something! You'll tell me, now!"
A guard quickly went up to Harvey and said something in his ear. Harvey's face changed, "Put them back in the room!" he ran out of the room. Tim coughed and groaned on the floor.
"This man needs to go to a hospital!" Ducky said to the guards. The agents surrounded McGee on the floor. The guards seemed confused as to what to do. One of them handed Ducky the medical bag. "This isn't a magic bag, people! I don't have the means to help him with these things."
"McGee, buddy," Tony said, taking the man's hand away from his wound and pressing a cloth he'd retrieved from the bag over the oozing bullet hole. Tim clenched onto Tony's hand, trying unsuccessfully to stifle his cries of pain. "We're gonna get you outta here," he said, holding the cloth firmly to him.
"The bullet has most likely penetrated his lung and small intestine," Ducky explained as he shakily filled a syringe, "The best I can do right now is to ease some of the pain and try to stop the bleeding. Attempting to operate in these conditions...it's too high a risk and not enough antibiotics," he injected the pain killer.
"Tim, we're gonna get you outta here. You just gotta hold on," Gibbs said taking his other hand.
"I don't th-think I c-can, Boss-" he choked. Ziva stroked Tim's hair trying to calm him. His breathing grew shallow and Tony could see his face turn white and his eyes grow distant.
"McGee," he squeezed his partner's hand when he felt Tim loosen his grip, "Come on, buddy, stay with us."
He tried...his breaths grew far and few between.
"Tim!" Gibbs felt helpless. He was watching his agent..his friend...die. And just like that, McGee's eyes fell closed and they couldn't see this rise and fall of his chest any longer.
"McGee..." Ziva cried as she stroked his forehead. Suddenly she was yanked away from him, as was the rest of them. The guards were rushing them to the room, and then the door closed on them.
They stood there...speechless. Until Ducky spoke softly, "I'm so sorry, Timothy," he said sadly.
"This is my fault," Tony said, staring at the door.
"Tony," Gibbs interrupted.
"Ducky could've saved him if I hadn't needed all those antibiotics. McGee is dead because of me..."
"That's not true, Tony," Ducky put a hand on his back but Tony pulled away, not looking anyone in the eye as he backed away.
"I don't need your reassurance, Duck...there's no way you can tell me I'm wrong," he clenched his jaw as his eyes stung with tears.
"You would've died without that medicine," Gibbs said.
"Maybe I should have," he said.
"Don't say that, Tony," Ziva went to him.
"Tim didn't deserve to die like that! That shoulda been me! Why didn't he shoot me? I was of no use to him! McGee was just a kid! You shouldn't have saved me, Ducky!" he ripped the bandage from his chest and threw it to the ground. "You shouldn't have...." he couldn't stop the ache in his throat. He sunk down facing the corner and hid his tears from his partners. "Oh God," he cried, and Ziva knelt beside him, wanting to comfort him, but giving him his space.
Gibbs' lips pursed as he fought back his own pain. Ducky just stood there, not taking personally anything Tony had said. He knew the man was in pain. The truth serum had made it impossible to hold
his feelings back from them. But when his eye caught site of the blood trickling down his side, he went back into doctor-mode.
"Tony, you're bleeding," he started to go toward him, but Gibbs grabbed his arm.
"You hear that, Duck?" He listened. Gunfire. They all heard it now. Tony and Ziva stood...listening to the fire-fight on the other side of the door. Then it all went silent. Tony and Gibbs shared a glance.
"Agent Gibbs!" They heard Vance yell on the other side.
"We're in here!" Gibbs yelled and banged on the door. They stood back and the door opened.
When he looked around and saw them his face relaxed. "When we saw McGee....I thought we were too late."
"You are too late," Tony retorted.
"I thought they'd killed you all," Vance finished.
Suddenly, the room seemed blurred to Tony and he staggered, feeling a sudden wave of nausea. He lurched forward and vomited nothing but water.
"Dinozzo?" Gibbs started toward him, but the agent lost consciousness and headed to the floor. Gibbs caught him under his shoulders.
"We need to get him to a hospital," Ducky told Vance.
"There's another ambulance outside," he replied.
Tony opened his eyes when he realized the constant beeping noise wasn't just his imagination. It took him a few moments to adjust to the light, then he looked around. Ziva was curled up in a chair next to his bed, sound asleep. He smiled for a second, then memories from the ordeal flooded back into his mind. A lump grew in his throat and he instinctively turned his head away. There was another bed not far from his, but it was vacant. He looked towards the door just as someone was being wheeled in.
"I'm telling you, Boss, I don't need to be in a wheelchair. I can walk just fine."
"Doctor's orders, McGee, what can I say?" Gibbs said with a smirk. Tony thought he was dreaming as he slowly sat up in his bed.
"McGee?" he said, dumbfounded.
"Dinozzo! You're awake!" Gibbs nudged Ziva and handed her a cup of coffee.
"Tony's awake!" she said, coming out of her groggy state.
"We know," Gibbs smirked. But Tony was still staring at McGee in shock.
"What's the matter, Tony?" McGee said as he stood from the chair and went over to the bed next to him and sat. "You pissed off you couldn't get a room to yourself?" he grinned. Tony blinked a few times and looked over to Gibbs.
"Am I dead, Boss?" he asked. Gibbs laughed at that.
"EMTs said I was barely breathing when they got to me, but they did CPR till we got to the hospital. A couple of surgeries and a blood transfusion later, and I'm good."
"You, on the other hand, had a massive infection," Ziva said as she sat down beside him on the bed.
"The antibiotics I'd given you at the warehouse were old and weakened," said Ducky who had come into the room just moments ago and heard the conversation. He made his way to the bed and patted Tony's hand. "They kept the infection at bay but in no way killed it. They would've done Timothy no good at all." Tony glanced over at McGee again, then back to Gibbs.
"So, how long, exactly, have I been here?"
"A little over two weeks," he answered. Tony nodded. There was a moment of silence.
"And uh...who's Tony?" Everyone's smile quickly faded and Gibbs' face went white. He stood and walked to Tony's side.
"You don't remember who you are?" McGee stood from his bed and moved closer to to him with a worried look on his face. Tony couldn't hold it in anymore and he cracked a big smile and looked back at Gibbs.
"I'm just kidding, Boss," he laughed and glanced at the people surrounding him. Their faces turned from concern to annoyance. "Oh...shit," he tried to hide under the sheet, but they all hit him in the back of the head. "I deserved that one."
"Yeah, ya did, Dinozzo," Gibbs said. Then he smirked before taking a sip of his coffee.
Fin