Title: And To All A Goodnight

Rating: K+

Characters: Mainly Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee, Abby and Ducky, but Vance makes one appearance.

Genre: General/case-fic.

Spoilers/season: Season seven-ish. There's no real pointers as to when it's set. Ziva's an agent, otherwise it could be any time from season six onwards.

Disclaimer: Anything or anyone you don't recognize is mine, the rest belongs to CBS.

A/N: My knowledge of the United States Navy is average at best, and therefore I apologize for any errors in ranking. Also, this has been read over but any remaining mistakes are all mine.

Written for Andi in the NFA Secret Santa Fanfiction Exchange.

December 23

The NCIS office was almost silent, the only sounds coming from the frantic typing of last minute case reports. It was almost the end of the last official working day before the Chirstmas holiday and everyone was rushing to finish and get home to their families.

Glancing up from his computer for a moment, Tony DiNozzo studied the faces of the agent opposite him. Ziva David was lost in concentration, her eyes darting like lightning from her case notes to her computer screen and back again while her hands danced across the keyboard. Looking to his right, Tony saw the same thing from McGee.

He gave a small smile as he grabbed his report from the printer and took it over to Gibbs's desk, placing the pages down in front of his boss. Gibbs didn't look up but gave a short nod.

"Merry Christmas, Gibbs," Tony muttered before he walked back to his own desk, grabbed his stuff and headed toward the elevator. He hit the down button and waited, one foot tapping the floor impatiently, for the elevator doors to open.

"Wait." Tony closed his eyes for a few seconds before turning back to the bullpen and towards the source of the voice.

"Got a case," Gibbs called out. Tony stared at him, wondering if he was joking, but then, realizing Gibbs never joked about cases, he took a deep breath and made his way back to his desk.

"It's Christmas..." McGee started, but was cut off by Gibbs.

"Captain Stephen Young has been reported missing. According to his wife, he went out to pick up his daughter and son-in-law from the airport last night and never showed."

"You think he was kidnapped?" Tony asked. He'd realized a long time ago that nothing came between Gibbs and seeking justice, not even the holidays.

"Wife claims he's been shifty recently, acting odd, like something's bothering him. And that they've received a high number of hang-ups in the last couple of weeks," Gibbs replied, then turned to McGee. "Get Young's service record up on the plasma."

McGee nodded and turned back to his computer, the service record appearing on the plasma a few seconds later. Ziva stood up and joined them and the three agents glanced over it as Gibbs returned to his desk to answer his phone.

"Gibbs." He stopped for a moment, listening, nodding occasionally. "We'll be right there," he finished before hanging up.

"I know it's Christmas, so the quicker we find Young the quicker you get to go home. Tony, Ziva, I want you two to head over to the house. Mrs. Young just called and there's been a ransom call and I want you there for when the kidnappers call back. McGee and I will head to Young's office and see what we can dig up."

The roads were full of cars packed with families and gifts so large they often obscured the entire rear window, but Ziva still managed to weave her way through the slew of vehicles to make it to the Young residence in less than fifteen minutes. Not until the car had come to a complete stop did Tony release his grip on the side of his seat; he'd been working with Ziva for over five years and still wasn't used to her alarming driving technique.

As they walked towards the front door, Tony couldn't help but notice the size of the house. It was more of a mansion, really, with four large bay windows along the front ground floor, and at least two floors above. When they reached the door it was swung open and they were ushered inside by one of the NCIS techs.

Caroline Young was a small, slight woman, with dark brown hair that had been neatly clipped up. From a first glance she fitted the classic image of a housewife, with a perfect appearance, but with a closer look the smudged mascara and bloodshot eyes portrayed a much different woman.

Hugging her arms around her body, Caroline described the ransom call to the agents.

"The voice... It wasn't a real voice. I think it was put through one of those voice altering programs because it didn't sound real at all." She paused, taking a deep breath. "He said... I mean, I assume it was a man. It could have been a woman." Another deep breath, this time shaky. "They said that Steve, he would know why they had him. That he had done something to hurt them and he was going to pay the price." She turned away and wiped a few tears from her cheek. When she turned back, she was silent for a few second before continuing.

"They said they wanted money. That it would pay for what he did and if they didn't get it they'd hurt him," she said, her voice breaking at the last three words, but she carried on. "I told them that I'd give them whatever they wanted so long as they didn't hurt him. We have money, and we can get to it fast, all I want is for Steve to be okay." She stopped and when she didn't say anything more, Tony spoke up.

"Did they ask for a specific amount of money?" he asked gently and Caroline shook her head.

"They told me they'd call back. In half an hour." She glanced up at the clock. "That's in five minutes now."

"Okay." Tony nodded and gestured towards the two technicians standing behind him. "These two agents have set up a recording device and tracker on your home and cell phones so when the kidnappers call back, we can listen in to the conversation and try to track their whereabouts."

"The number was withheld. Untraceable," Caroline said.

"We may still be able to track it," Tony replied. "And we'll coach you through the conversation."

"Can I-" Caroline started but was cut off by the sound of the telephone. She looked round at Tony, and then Ziva, a look of panic in her eyes. Ziva nodded.

"It's time."

The whole story is completed, so I should be able to upload the next chapter in a day or two. Thanks for reading and, as always, reviews are love.