AN: This idea came to me during a period of paranoia induced insomnia that occurred after watching the YouTube serial "MarbleHornets". This story is a combination of sorts between MarbleHornets and NCIS, although it focuses entirely on the NCIS characters, I'm using some of the ideas from MarbleHornets.

For those of you who have not watched MarbleHornets, I will provide a bit of background. The story follows two college students who are making a film. While filming, they are plagued by appearances of a mysterious, faceless, tall man in a business suit. This man is known as the Operative, and whenever he appears, there is audio and visual distortion, the characters suffer from bouts of coughing and memory gaps. If you enjoy suspense/horror things, I really recommend the series.

Anyways, this story will mention (and possibly depict) slash, as well as abuse, self-harm, abduction, and any other number of horrible things that I haven't yet thought of. Pairings will include Abby/McGee, Tony/Gibbs, McGee/Gibbs, and a Tony/Fornell Friendship.

This takes place sometime in season 8, and will probably include spoilers up to that point.

I don't own NCIS, MarbleHornets, or any of the other pop culture references that I will inevitably end up including.

Story has not been beta-read, or proofread except by me. All mistakes are mine. If you would like to volunteer your services, please let me know.

I apologize for this long rambling author's note. Shall we proceed to the actual story?

Anthony DiNozzo Jr awoke to the shrill ringing of his phone. He burrowed under the blankets for a moment, before realizing that his boss was the only one who would phone him at four in the morning, and that he really should answer it. But the bed was so warm and comfy, and Tony didn't want to leave his safe haven.

The ringing increased in volume, and DiNozzo finally rolled over and answered the offending object.

''Okay, boss, I'm awake now. What do you need?''

''It's not Gibbs,'' a female voice stated. ''It's Vivian Blackadder.''

''Viv?'' Tony asked incredulously. ''It's been almost nine years. Why are you phoning me so early in the morning?''

Tony heard something that sounded like a sob. ''I think I screwed up,'' Viv cried quietly.

''Are you hurt? Where are you?''

''No, I'm not hurt. I don't know where I am. I can't remember how I got here.''

''Are you still with the FBI? Why don't you contact them?'' Tony had jumped out of bed and started putting on clothes.

''The FBI can't help me. No one can.'' Vivian was actively sobbing into the phone.

''Viv, can you describe your location? I'll come get you.''

''I just needed someone to know. You were always so helpful, and you seemed to like me. I'm sorry I dragged you into this. Just go back to bed, and forget that this ever happened. Everything would be so much simpler that way, if we could all just forget. I wish that I could just forget, let it all-'' Viv's rambling was interrupted by a coughing fit.

''Vivian? Just stay calm. I'm going to help you.'' Tony grabbed his keys and ran out of his apartment. He barrelled down the stairs and erupted on to the pavement of the parking lot.

The coughing was drowned out by a loud crackling. Tony pulled the phone away as the distortion threatened to deafen him. After a few seconds, the buzzing subsided, and Tony put the phone back to his ear. He was greeted with silence.

''Vivian? Viv, are you there?''

But there was nothing.

Tony stared at his phone. What was going on? Vivian had been on the line only seconds before. Slowly, Tony flipped the phone shut, ending the call. He then opened it again, and hit redial.

The phone rang once before there was a response. We're sorry, but the number you are trying to contact is no longer in service.

Discouraged and confused, Tony put the phone away. He was still standing in the parking lot, and the morning air was chilly. He thought about going back to bed, but he conceded that he would be unable to sleep.

After a few moments of deliberation, Tony decided that he would probably be most productive at work, where he could try tracking down the last known location of Vivian Blackadder. With that thought in mind, Tony quickly returned to his apartment to grab his service weapon and wallet. He also grabbed some fruit, which he would eat once he arrived at the naval yard.

The office was unusually empty, even for 04h30. Normally there was at least one team trying to solve a hot case. But that morning, there was no one except the cleaning crew.

Tony sat down at his desk with a small sigh, and munched on an apple while waiting for his computer to power up. After doing a few menial tasks, such as deleting an email about a sexual harassment seminar, Tony settled down to do some real work.

He opened the NCIS search database, and entered "Vivian Blackadder" into the search parameters. Tony was shocked when the search got zero results. There wasn't even a driver's license, or her records with NCIS. There was nothing, as if she didn't exist.

Tony tried entering the number for the phone she had used that morning, but that also garnered no results.

DiNozzo tried the same thing with a wide variety of databases, including FBI and Interpol. After getting no hits, he hit his monitor in frustration. He put his head in his hands and sighed angrily. Had he dreamt up the whole episode? But his phone held proof that he had received a call from an unknown number that morning. Thank god that his phone kept records of all incoming and outgoing calls.

Tony sat up with a bolt. Hadn't he always said that good old police work would always triumph over technology? Whatever Viv was mixed up in, they could erase all electronic records, but there was no way that they could destroy all the paper copies.

Encouraged by his sudden enlightenment, Tony ran down the stairs to archives, and signed out the personnel records for the past ten years. It was only 05h30, and he still had at least an hour until other people started arriving at work. He carried the heavy box back up to his desk and placed it on the floor.

Tony quickly sat down, and began the long tiring task of finding the elusive Vivian Blackadder.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs arrived to work in a good mood. No one else knew it, but Gibbs and McGee were dating, and had been for a few months. Last night had been particularly satisfying, and Gibbs couldn't keep the contented smirk off his face.

However, Gibbs' happy expression quickly dissipated when he exited the elevator and noticed his senior field agent sitting on the ground. He frowned as he approached and took in the scene before him. The younger man was sitting on the floor, leaning against his desk, his head lolling as he dozed quietly, a large number of folders and paper spread out in front of him.

Gibbs knew that DiNozzo often came in at night to work on cold cases, but his gut was telling him that this was different. On a whim, Gibbs knelt down and glanced at the folders arranged on the carpet. What was DiNozzo doing with personnel files for the past ten years?

Gibbs' musing was interrupted by the ding of the elevator. Tony awoke at the sound, and both men glanced towards the elevator. Gibbs straightened up and moved to his desk as McGee got out of the car. Tony quickly scrambled to put the folders away, but Gibbs noticed that he deliberately left one file to the side.

''Morning,'' McGee announced as he set his belongings down at his desk. Gibbs grunted in response, and sent the man a small smile.

''Morning, Probie,'' Tony mumbled.

''Are you working on a cold case, Tony?'' McGee asked conversationally.

McGee's question was greeted with silence, and both Gibbs and McGee glanced over at DiNozzo to see why he had failed to respond. Tony was standing over by the windows, the file in one hand and his cell phone in the other.

The agent punched in the phone number listed under the contact information for Viv. He waited anxiously while the phone rang, but was quickly discouraged as it went to an answering machine.

This is Vivian Blackadder. I'm not available at the moment, but if you'd like to leave a message, please do so after the beep.

''Viv, it's Tony DiNozzo. Call me as soon as you get this message. You need to explain what happened this morning,'' Tony said softly, not wanting the others to hear what he was saying. He turned around to see the other two agents staring at him expectantly. He stared back at them.

Ziva David was humming softly to herself as she stepped off the elevator. Her boyfriend, Ray, had taken her out for dinner last night, and she couldn't help but be happy.

Her convivial temperament turned to one of confusion as she observed the impasse that was occurring in the squad room. McGee and Gibbs were standing in the middle of the room, staring at Tony who was over by the windows. Tony was staring back at the other men. They were all silent, and no one seemed really sure about what was going on.

''Uhm, good morning?'' Ziva said hesitantly. As soon as she spoke, the tension in the room vanished, and every one returned to their desks, wishing her a good morning in return.

The rest of the morning progressed as could be expected. Tony did everything he could think of to avoid attending the sexual harassment seminar, and Gibbs stated that he would rather shoot himself than sit through one of those.

Unfortunately for the team, no new cases came in, and they were left with large amounts of time to complete paperwork. After two hours of wondering about Vivian, Tony finally decided to do something.

''I'm going to go check a lead on one of my cold cases. Phone me if we get a case.''

Gibbs stared at him suspiciously. ''You should take back-up.''

''I'll be fine.'' Tony was used to working alone, it wasn't always possible to have back-up when you were a cop. He expected Gibbs to argue, but the older man just shrugged and let him go.

Tony drove to the address listed in the file. Although they had been partners, he didn't really know that much about Vivian. Gibbs had fired her before they had the chance to connect. So Tony was still perplexed as to why Viv would phone him. He knew that she had friends in the FBI. Why wouldn't she contact them?

Tony pulled up in front of the apartment building, and located the correct unit. He knocked on the door.

''Vivian. Are you in there?''

There was no response. He knocked a few more times before trying the door handle. It was unlocked. Tony frowned, something was off. Most people, except Gibbs, locked their door when they went out. Drawing his gun, Tony took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

And so concludes chapter 1. Please don't forget to review.