Unreachable
by Pandi19
Summary: When DiNozzo breaks Rule # 3, Gibbs tragically discovers his agent is not the only one at fault.
Warnings: Angst, violence, flashback (s)
Disclaimer: I only own this doozy of a storyline, all characters belong to the wonderful folks at CBS.

A/N: This is my NCIS story and I am absolutely thrilled to be sharing it with you! There are a lot of twists and turns ahead, but don't be afraid – this is NOT a death story. Thank you so much to my wonderful beta, Jen (WCUGirl). You are the best! Also, a special thank you to Sarah and Denise – you both helped me immensely!

Chapter 1

"...ozzo. You know what to do after the beep." BEEP.

The beeping of the home answering machine ripped through Tony DiNozzo's body not unlike the bullets that had pierced his body six minutes before. His body jerked back into the floor as he became aware of his surrounding once more. He was still on the living room floor behind the couch. As he laid there, Tony tried to summon all of his waning strength to flip over and move toward the voice on the answering machine. His life depended on it.

"DiNozzo! Answer the phone! We've got a case," his boss, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' voice floated into the room through the small black box with the red-flashing-light. "Need you back here. NOW!" Without warning, there was a click and he was gone.

"Boss," Tony breathed. But there was no one there to answer him.

Tony lay hopelessly gasping in pain. He had not managed to move an inch from his position flat on his back.

A new noise permeated his being; his cell phone began to vibrate on the couch's end table. No doubt Gibbs was now calling his cell. Suddenly the phone beeped signaling the caller had left a voice message. Another jolt of pain tore through the wounded man's body and DiNozzo felt himself drifting into the silence.

"Kate! DiNozzo checked in yet?" Gibbs yelled across the bullpen.

Kate Todd looked up from her PDA and over at her partner's empty desk. "No, I've tried his home phone and cell. Both rang then went to voicemail."

"He say anything about his plans tonight?"

"Oddly enough, no. I'm sure he's shacked up with a girl from Waverly that is drunk enough to not notice he's over thirty. His phone's probably out in the car or on silent."

Kate visibly gulped when she met Gibbs' icy stare.

"I'll try him again, " Kate muttered as she quickly dialed Tony DiNozzo's home line again.

"H..y...Ton...You...after the beep." BEEP.

Tony's eyes slammed open when her heard the answering machine click on again. He rolled his head back and forth trying to stay awake – gotta stay focused – and let out a hoarse cry as his body spasmed in pain again.

Flashback:

Tony took one look around the apartment trying to figure out if he missed anything.

Pizza. Check.

Gun in safe. Check.

Remote. Check.

Netflix DVD. Check.

Mountain Dew. Check.

Cellphone on vibrate. Check.

Blinds closed. Check.

Lights out. Check.

Side table lamp on. Check.

Finding that he had all of the necessary tools for a classic night in, he eased himself onto the soft black leather couch. It had been a long week on top of an even longer month. Finally it was a night where he didn't have to be Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. He could just be Tony.

Just as he loaded the DVD into the player, his upstairs neighbor's stereo began blasting loud hip-hop music through the thin walls. Perfect. Now he knew why he didn't stay in on Friday nights. Tony had completely forgotten about his college jock neighbors whose love for ear-numbing explicit lyrics was not missed by anyone within two floors.

Maybe this wasn't the night for movies. Frustrated, he punched the eject button on the DVD player and slipped his movie back into the case. Tony went over and quickly scanned his N-64 games, quickly settling on the mindless Dr. Mario. Hoping the repetitive motions of the game with help him to unwind, he swiftly picked up the controller and plopped onto the couch once more.

He settled into a routine of beating a Dr. Mario level, taking a swig of Mountain Dew, eating half a piece of pizza , and taking another swig of soda - quickly losing himself in the moment. The upstairs jocks had settled into a routine as well, Tony guessed he'd heard Lil Jon's "Get Low" at least five times. The deafening bass was still vibrating the walls… Tony never heard the pounding on the door let alone the knock before.

SLAM! The door to Apartment 303 violently hit the wall behind it as two armed masked men busted through the entrance.

Tony's eyes shot to the open door in shock.

"Shit!" The short, stocky masked man yelled when he saw the apartment was occupied.

"You! Stand up! Hands up! Move to your right! Don't try anything!" the tall lanky accomplice shouted above the thumping bass as he forced his way deeper into the apartment.

The unarmed federal agent did exactly what the gangly giant said as he found himself on the business end of the gun. Unfortunately he did not move fast enough. The chubby equally armed assailant grabbed a fist full of Tony's Ohio State University sweatshirt and roughly shoved Tony aside so that he now stood slightly behind the right of the couch.

"Look. I don't want any trouble," Tony's firm voice filtered through the bass to the men's ears.

"SHUT UP!" The tall intruder waved the gun in Tony's direction.

Tony clamped his lips together. The evening was going to hell in a hand basket. His weapon was across the room locked in the electronic safe located on the third shelf of his movie display case not coincidentally next to the movie Clue. There was no chance he would be able to cross the room safely to get his Sig.

Through the black knit ski caps Tony could see their eyes shifting right and left –recalculating their next move. Somehow DiNozzo was he did not fit into their equation. Without warning the stocky masked man quickly took aim at the agent and fired once hitting Tony high in the right shoulder. The shock and force of the bullet entering his body put the off-duty federal agent off balance. His left hand flew out to grip the back of the couch, but he was unable to catch it as he was forcefully launched backwards onto the floor.

"Argh!" Tony was unable to stay silent as he landed on his injured shoulder as he hit the floor, blood immediately staining the crème colored carpet. He lay stuttering for breath – he gasped harshly – the fall had knocked the wind out of his lungs. Pain overwhelmed his senses and he moaned.

"I said SHUT THE HELL UP!" the lanky man towered over the fallen man, his gun pointed directly at his target.

Fearing the worst, all Tony could do was close his eyes and focus on breathing. The bullet ripped into his stomach leaving a gaping wound in its wake and he screamed. No one except the unknown intruders heard him as the darkness spread across the sky outside Tony's window.

Now that their unexpected distraction was out of the way, the two men carried out their malicious task. Stepping over their victim, the lanky man got to work quickly unhooking the 42" big screen television and swiping nearly fifty classic movies on DVD, the job was nearly complete. While the injured man lie in an ever-growing deep crimson puddle, the thieves took every item they could stuff into the large pillow cases they had swiped from another apartment's master bedroom. This was the last stop in a night-long string of burglaries at the Cedar Creek Apartment Homes and they had hit the jackpot here – big time.

Without a backwards glance as they left, the two men quietly closed the door with the busted doorknob, and loaded their spoils into a dark colored sedan and drove off into the night.

Kate returned her phone to its cradle. It was not the first time Tony was late when the team was called in due to an emergency. However, he had never been this late. A couple minutes was one thing, but almost a quarter hour was cause for concern especially since no one had talked to him since leaving earlier that evening and now it seemed he was unreachable. Picking up the phone again she dialed the one person who might know DiNozzo's evening plans.

"Forensic Specialist Extraordinaire Abby Sciuto speaking," the cheery yet sultry voice greeted the caller.

"Abby, it's Kate. Have you heard from Tony?" Kate winced as she asked her friend. This was a bad idea. Abby could freak out.

"What do you mean? He's not here?"

"Not yet and Gibbs is really living up to that second "b" right now. Tony isn't answering his phone. Did he say anything about his Friday night plans?"

"Umm…" Abby hesitated slightly in answering Kate, "He said he was going to stay in tonight. You know just veg – watch a movie, order pizza. He really didn't answer his home phone?" Abby was now twisting her left pigtail in her fingers and biting her lip.

"No, it rings until the answering machine picks up. I think Gibbs has tried him too."

"I'm sure his phone is on vibrate and his surround sound is on. Last week we watched Star Wars and it was so loud I actually thought we might be on the Millennium Falcon. He might not be able to hear the phone," Abby wracked her brain to come up with a reason why her best friend, Tony DiNozzo would not answer his phone. "I'll call him too, maybe he's having an intermission now, "with that the two friends and co-workers ended their conversation.

Abby immediately dialed Tony's cell phone. Hope turned to dread with each ring.

"Hey T, it's Abby. Are you there? We're at NCIS and you're not…I'm not sure why you're not. What's up? Where are you, Tony…" Abby's voice trailed off to almost a whisper as she struggled to control her rising emotions. Quickly hanging up she attempted to collect herself before she broke down.

"Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts. He's fine." With two deep breaths the scientist calmly dialed the phone once more. Letting the phone ring until the home answering machine picked up.

"This is Tony DiNozzo. You know what to do after the beep." BEEP

"Hey, Tony. Are you at home? Of course you're not, otherwise, you'd answer. It's not like I'm crazy Lindsay from last week or anything. Tony, listen to me. You need to call me. Come to work. We have a case. Or do both. If you're in trouble, call me or call Gibbs. Call us both. Just let me know you're okay. Okay, bye," She rambled on trying to convince herself that her friend was alright. As she ended the call the only thing she couldn't shake was the feeling something hinky was up.

Tony floated along in and out of consciousness unable to grasp anything except the all consuming pain that had become his reality. An overwhelming silence had enveloped the now stripped-bare apartment, the hip-hop hooligans had ended their crunk party a few minutes after the two masked men left the complex and the building was quietly tucked in for the night.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh," the missing senior field agent moaned as another wave of pain assaulted his body.

DiNozzo's brain was on overload. His shoulder and gut were on fire. The blood from both wounds slowly seeped out of his body. The pain was everywhere. It clouded his sluggish thoughts and stole his hope. Tony distractedly went through the events that lead him to his position on the floor behind his comfy black couch. His easy-going evening had turned into one of the hardest nights of his life. The only thing he knew without a doubt was he had to get to a phone. He needed to call Gibbs. Gibbs could fix this, but the only way to get to help was to cause more pain.

Sucking in a shaky breath, he braced himself for his next actions. Slowly moving his heavy left arm closer to the black couch, a low moan escaped. After three attempts to reach under the couch the injured man's hand latched on to the frame of the couch. Part one complete. Now came the harder part, moving his body. Tony's weak grip shook violently with shock. Gingerly he levered him on to his side using his stiff legs to assist the movement. Reaching his destination, DiNozzo tried to calm his breathing to prevent the encroaching darkness from stealing his progress. However, simple hope was not enough to keep the bleeding man on his side as his hand slipped and with a strangled gasp he was flat on his back staring into the dimly lit living room at the speckled ceiling as the black ebbed at the edges of his vision.

This time he didn't even hear the phone ringing.

A/N: Edited 5/22 to redo dividers.