Home is Nowhere
Summary: Gibbs never really appeared to care a wit about his senior field agent…until Tony disappears one night without a trace. A mysterious assailant wants revenge, and this time it looks like it may be too late.
Disclaimer: I don't own Navy NCIS.
A/N: Set mid second season, a few months after 'Chained'. This is AU people, so there are a few slight changes.
Chapter One: Affliction
"Hey Tony?" Kate sighed, poking him roughly on the shoulder.
"What?" Tony muttered distractedly, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as his eyes remained fixed on the small screen in front of him.
"Gibbs is gonna kill you if he sees you playing Tetris again – he's already mad enough about your little slip yesterday." She warned, nudging him again to break his concentration.
"Dammit!" Tony hissed, throwing his phone onto the desk with a thump as the little blocks piled up to the top of the screen. He turned his glare on to the former secret service agent as the phone began to beep, the words "Game Over!" flashing on the screen. "I was this close to beating my high score!"
"You're going to be this close to being fired if you don't start that report, DiNozzo!" Gibbs snapped, striding around the corner of the bullpen.
"But Boss…" Tony whined, swinging his chair around. "It's Christmas Eve!"
"I don't care DiNozzo. Do it." Gibbs ordered, before beginning to stride towards the elevator.
"Yeah Boss…" Tony muttered, glancing to his watch. "No wait, it's actually Christmas now." He sighed, dragging the loose bits of paper across his desk towards him.
"Oh, and Tony?" Tony paused at the soft tone, raising his eyes curiously as his boss made his way back over. "I forgot something."
"Wha-" Tony was cut off as his Boss's hand collided harshly with the back of his head. "Oh. That." He muttered, rubbing his head. "Happy Christmas to you too boss."
"You know it DiNozzo." With that, Gibbs punched the button on the elevator, stepping inside as it arrived. He smirked at Tony slightly before the doors closed, blocking him from view.
Tony shook
his head, picking up his pen and muttering to himself as he began to
write. "Not even a minute into Christmas and it already sucks…I
had a date. A blonde!"
"Let me guess." Kate said,
leaning forward at her desk. "That new secretary?"
"Yep." Tony sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Linda. Twenty-six, Five foot eight, natural blonde and sizable assets…" He shook his head mournfully.
Kate stood up, making a show of stretching languidly. "Well, I'll be off then, I'm done." She grabbed her coat and winked at Tony as she passed him. "Have fun." She stepped into the elevator, before grabbing the doors just as they were closing. "Oh, and Tony?"
"Yeah?" He muttered, not even bothering to glance up.
"Happy Christmas!" She said cheerfully, before the doors shut once again.
Ninety-four minutes later.
"Done!" Tony exclaimed, his voice echoing through the deserted building. He grabbed the report, throwing it onto Gibbs' desk as he snatched his coat and bag off his desk. He glanced at his watch as he waited for the elevator to arrive. 1:35 AM. "Great," He muttered, stepping into the elevator. "By the time I get home I'll have about five hours sleep before I have to come back to work." He sighed. Finally, the elevator arrived at the ground floor. He stepped out, nodding to the security guards, before exiting the building.
A few minutes later, he was pulling into his apartment parking lot. He opened the door and climbed out of the car, flicking the button to lock it. He had only taken one step towards the building, however, when he felt the cold, hard, barrel of a gun at the back of his head.
…NCIS…
"McGee!" Gibbs barked, striding down the stairs from MTAC. "Where's DiNozzo!"
"I-I don't know, Boss, he's only a few minutes late…maybe he's caught in traffic?" Tim suggested hastily, rushing forward quickly to hand Gibbs the coffee he'd fetched.
"Call his cell. Tell him if he's not here in five, he's on desk duty for a month." Gibbs snapped before disappearing around the corner.
Tim nodded and hastily grabbed the phone off the desk, dialling quickly. He waited for several moments, before a voice came onto the line.
"You've reached DiNozzo. Leave a message unless you're Gibbs, in which case you'll shoot me for not answering. If it is Gibbs, then I assure you I have a very good reason. I must be either dying or suicidal to not answer a call from you, Boss. Beep!"
"Tony, it's McGee. I'd get down here as soon as humanely possible – Gibbs is mad." He muttered, before hanging up the phone. He sighed, rubbing his temples.
"I'll try his home phone." Kate murmured, her eyes showing concern as she dialled. A few moments later, she shook her head quickly, hanging up. "Nope."
"When did you last see him?" Tim asked worriedly, chewing his lip slightly.
"Last night…or, this morning rather. Gibbs had us stay back to finish our reports. I left around midnight – he was still only part way done. I figure he would have been here at least another hour if he finished it."
They were interrupted by the arrival of Gibbs, looking particularly livid. "Well?" He snapped. "Where is he, McGee?"
"Uh, well, boss…you see, we couldn't exactly reach him." Tim muttered, glancing down slightly.
Gibbs' eyes narrowed suddenly, it took Tim a moment to realise that it was in concern rather then anger. "He didn't answer his cell?" Tim shook his head. "Grab your gear." Gibbs ordered striding passed them. "We're going to Tony's."
…NCIS…
They climbed out of the car the moment they arrived, slamming the doors quickly and hurrying over to the building. "That's Tony's car!" Kate exclaimed, pointing to the mustang.
Gibbs nodded briefly, before continuing on towards the apartment complex entrance, Tim and Kate following quickly behind. He surprised the others by entering the security code, allowing them access into Tony's apartment.
The search was quick – the apartment was surprisingly clean, which shocked Kate and Tim a little, and hardly anything was out of place.
"His cell, car keys and house keys are missing." Gibbs announced, striding back into the main room after quickly checking the bedroom. "As are the clothes he wore to work yesterday. I don't believe that Tony ever came home last night."
"But…his car-" Kate was cut off quickly.
"He made it to the parking lot, but he never reached his apartment. Whatever we're looking for is in the lobby or the parking lot." He walked quickly back outside into the hallway, Tim and Kate only a step behind. "McGee! You take the parking lot. Kate, you're with me in the lobby."
Several minutes later, Tim ran back inside the lobby, something clutched in his gloved hand. "Boss! I found his cell. It was under his car." Gibbs jerked his head towards the door, signalling that they should move the search outside. "Good job McGee. Bag it and tag it." He ordered as he strode back out into the parking lot. "Where are you Tony?" He muttered, shaking his head slightly.
…NCIS…
Tony groaned as he woke slowly, fuzzy images dancing in front of him as he opened blurry eyes. A moment after his sight began to clear, Tony felt a pounding in his head as possibly the biggest headache he'd ever suffered made itself well and truly known. "Argh…" He moaned, rubbing the back of his head. He froze as his hand collided with a sticky substance, bringing it into his eyesight and studying it for a moment before he realised it was blood.
His thoughts were a mess – all muddled up in his head. He couldn't remember much of anything; he found it increasingly hard to focus on anything at all, and briefly wondered what was wrong. Concussion. A voice in his mind whispered, familiar, although he couldn't quite place it.
A slight movement in the corner of his eye and he was suddenly aware that he wasn't alone. His eyes snapped to the left, slowly beginning to focus on the shadowy figure in the corner. "Who…who're you?" He slurred, his eyes blinking rapidly as he fought to sustain the picture.
"Ah. Mr. DiNozzo." The voice was soft and – slimy, was the only word he could think of to describe it. Perhaps he'd think of a better adjective when his vocabulary decided to work again. As the figure stepped into the light, Tony realised that he was vaguely familiar…he couldn't quite remember where he'd seen him though. He was sure that the concussion didn't help either.
"You're finally awake. I've been waiting so long to have a little…chat with you." The voice was dangerous, Tony decided. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with this right now. He couldn't even think properly, let alone hold a conversation with this stranger, and his head felt like some one was setting off little explosions in his brain every few seconds.
"M'fraid…M'not really feelin' like…talking." Tony muttered, almost gasping with the effort it took to talk.
"That's alright." The man smiled – but it was not a nice smile, not at all. It was an insane and dangerous smile. Despite his fairly confused state, all kinds of warning bells were going off in Tony's mind. "For now, I'll do all the talking." His smile faded as a look of enragement crossed his face. "Does the name Jeffrey White mean anything to you Anthony?"
It did. Tony realised. He wasn't quite sure what, but the name definitely rang some bells. "Sorta…" He mumbled. He had a sudden flash of a young bespectacled man, smiling dorkily in an orange jumpsuit.
The strange man leant forward – and Tony realised the resemblance. If that image was Jeffrey White, then this man was definitely related. Although probably a few years older, the similarities were there. "Sort of?" He asked coolly. "You're going to have to do better then that, Anthony."
Suddenly, something heavy was colliding with Tony's head, setting off fireworks behind his eyelids. He screamed as the pounding in his head increased ten fold, gasping for breath as he curled into a protective ball. He lay there for several moments, not daring to move in fear of the pain increasing.
"Now Anthony, think hard. Think really hard. Or do you not remember poor Jeffrey White? Do you not remember the man you murdered? Do you not remember my brother?"
Tony didn't answer. He wasn't sure he could. The pain was unbearable – he knew he wouldn't last much longer.
"Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter if you remember or not," Tony sighed as he felt the blackness closing in. "You're going to pay either way."