Tony - 9
Kate - 7
Timmy - 6
Abby - 4
Jimmy - 3
Ziva - 2
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"Gear up!" Mike Franks yelled to his team as he made his way down the stairs.
He had just had a meeting with the director as they discussed the details of their case.
"What's the case?" Agent Torres asked as they piled into the elevator.
"Dead marine and his wife. Family friend found them when she brought their three sons home after a sleep over. They also have two daughters. The oldest was at the library studying and the youngest is believed to be abducted," Mike replied keeping his voice neutral.
Walking up to the home Mike gave out orders. "Torres pictures, Gibbs witness, Shepard daughter's room," He barked making his own way to Ducky.
Jenny walked to the youngest daughter's room as she looked for anything that could help them. She breathed a sad sigh as you could instantly tell the girl was loved when stepping into her room. The walls were a pale pink and the room was littered with art work. On the bed a mountain of stuffed animals sat. Most warn of the stuffed animals was spotted dog. Jenny knew instantly it had been dropped in a struggle as it laid discarded on the ground. With closer inspection she discovered a small smear of blood and strand of hair on the corner of the bedside table.
"She must of put up more of a fight than expected," Jenny said to herself.
:::::::
Kate woke with a pounding headache. She was startled when everything was dark and blurred. "Where am I?" She asked terrified.
Something moved in front of her before speaking. "In a warehouse."
"Why can't I see anything?"
The voice paused a few moments thinking. "You probably hit your head."
"Severe head trauma can cause temporary blurred vision or blindness," Another voice piped up stumbling over most of the words.
"Who are you?" Kate questioned.
"Timothy McGee," The second voice whispered.
The original voice followed. "Tony DiNozzo. There's also Jimmy, Ziva, and Abby, but they don't talk much."
"Kate," She told them. "What are we doing here?"
"Well I'm not exactly sure. I assume we've been kidnapped," Tony answered.
:::::::
"What do we have so far?"Mike asked as they gathered in the bull pen.
Agent Torres pulled up the crime scene photos. "Signs of a struggle in the girl's room suggest she didn't know the intruder."
"Nothing in the Todd's history shows any reason someone would want them dead," Jenny added.
"So a whole lot of nothing." Mike stated before walking off to refill his coffee.
:::::::
"How long have I been here?" Kate asked once she had a few minutes to process the situation.
"Only a few hours," Tony replied.
Kate wanted to sit up but any movement sent searing pain through her head and made her vision even worse. To try to keep the pain at bay she shut her eyes, but continued speaking, "What about you guys?"
"Well here not that long, but we've been moving around a lot. I was taken several months ago," Tony replied.
"Four months," Timmy whispered. "I think."
Tony spoke for the others. "Abby has been with us two months, Ziva four weeks, and Jimmy a few days."
"Abby is deaf," Timmy added.
"Do you know why they took us?" Kate asked next.
Tony shook his head then remembered Kate's earlier statement, "Nope."
:::::::
A week passed without a big lead. It wasn't until the lab was able to trace down dirt and paint chips left on Ms. Todd to a specific area did they have a location.
The team geared up and headed to the warehouse. "Shepard, Gibbs take the back. Torres you're with me," Mike barked gruffly.
:::::::
The kids had just distributed and ate their allowed breakfast when a noise of a door sliding opened was heard. This sound had long ago been associated with the men coming back. Though the kids were left alone most of the time they had a few bumps and bruises from visits.
"Kate can you take them to the attic?" Tony asked.
Once being in the warehouse long enough they discovered there was a loft that had a small cut out that lead to another room that they had deemed the attic.
Though her headache had mostly subsided Kate's vision was still blurred. "If Timmy helps I should, but why?"
Tony had been formulating a plan hoping that by hiding them he could protect them. "Just do it, please."
Kate had quickly learned to listen to Tony. "Be safe," She said placing Ziva on one hip and grabbing Timmy's hand on her other side.
Tony assisted in helping them up to the loft, but after that they were on their own.
:::::::
Kate felt Ziva flinch as the door below them was thrown open. She heard the man grab Tony and start yelling. "Where are the others?"
"The windows been messed with," One of the side men replied.
The man holding on to Tony laughed with a sneer. "And they left you?"
"I was sleeping," Tony replied keeping his face neutral.
The interior walls of the warehouse were extremely thin so Kate could hear what was being said. She knew the window they were speaking of and the impossibility of you being able to escape through it. They had tried and soon learned none of them were strong enough to pull up to the window or push anything to the window. Tony being the oldest was just barely able to reach high enough to fiddle with the lock.
"Well lucky you have just earned yourself a trip to Mexico," The guy spoke again dragging Tony out of the room.
Kate felt guilt seep in as she heard the door slam shut. Ziva let out a whimper and Kate moved to sooth her by running her hand over Ziva's head.
"He'll be okay?" Timmy whispered unsure of his statement.
"He's Tony he'll be okay," Kate replied with more confidence.
:::::::
Gibbs swung a door open as Jenny stepped in scanning the room. "This is defiantly where they've been holding her."
Gibbs followed Jenny's gaze to the pallets pushed together on the floor. Jenny bent down and slipped a glove on before holding up a tattered blanket with ducks on it. "Where do you think he took her?"
Gibbs looked up and spotted something. "Maybe they're hiding."
"They're?" Jenny asked following Gibbs up to the loft.
"The blanket looks well loved. Most kid's favorite toy influences their taste. Their were no ducks in Kate's room," Gibbs replied.
Jenny was speechless for a few moments. "There," She pointed out the small opening.
The kids huddled in the farthest corner as they heard footsteps growing closer.
Gibbs made quick progress in making the whole bigger to allow him entrance. Jenny followed him with a flashlight. Four pairs of eyes darted towards them as another protectively stood her ground.
"It's okay, we work for NCIS. We're here to protect you," Gibbs spoke softly.
No one moved except Abby who squinted in the dim lighting trying to read his lips. "I saw your room Kate. I know you really like dogs just as one of your friends really likes ducks," Jenny tried.
Kate moved to meet the voice and light. "Promise no harm?"
"Promise," Gibbs and Jenny spoke together.
Gibbs then held out his hand. "I'm going to help you guys out of the dark."
"Kate needs help down the stairs cause she can't see well," Timmy informed him.
Jenny was confused, but then remembered the blood on the bed side table from where she had hit her head. The fall must have been hard enough to cause temporary damage.
"Timmy I need you to stay with Abby. She's probably really lost at the moment," Kate called as she lead the other two to Gibbs.
Once back on the loft Gibbs was able to get a better look at all the children. They were all covered in dirt and all, but Kate were much smaller than they should have been. "My name's Gibbs. May I know your names?"
Kate quickly went down the line of their names. Each kid except Abby looking up when there name called. "Timmy, Ziva, Jimmy, and Abby."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Jenny," Jenny introduced herself.
Abby turned to Timmy, who by now him and Tony could pick up most signs, and signed, "Where's Tony?"
"Who's Tony?" Gibbs replied in ASL and speech.
Abby gave a small smile at seeing her own language from the virtual stranger.
"They took him also. He told us to hide when we heard them coming," Kate replied.
Gibbs turned to Jenny. "You get the kids down to the truck I'll radio the others to find Tony."
Jenny gave the kids a reassuring smile to try to calm the fear in the air.
::::::
Gibbs didn't get a chance to radio Torres and Mike. "We have them corned. They are using a young boy as a hostage," Torres rushed over the speaker.
"On my way," Gibbs shouted.
Gibbs hated the times talking lead to open fire. For something that they could of got out of alive lead to a small nine year old crumbled on the ground with blood pooling around him.