A/N: I do not own the characters, just want to have fun with them!

12 Hours Missing

Where is she? Chris LaSalle slammed the phone down with such a force that the walls of the old building were vibrating. Twelve hours had now passed since his partner had failed to check-in. Needless to say he was beyond worried.

Burying his face into his hands, the senior agent tried to dispel that idea that his partner was in grave danger but the growing pit in his stomach told him otherwise.

He should have never allowed her to leave the bar last night alone. He'd been so caught up with the idea of Addie Watkins showing up that he never stopped to think that his partner wouldn't make it home.

A search of Brody's home revealed that the place had been ransacked; stuffing had been torn out of the sofa, empty drawers were left open, the contents spilled. Books and knickknacks were thrown all over the place. Even the kitchen had been destroyed. But the worst part was the glass coffee table. It had been smashed to bits as if a human form had been thrown on top of it. Traces of blood were left behind in the tiny particles.

It was enough to make Christopher's stomach turn.

"I should have never let her leave last night," he said verbalizing his thoughts.

"It's not your fault, Christopher, " King returned from across the room.

Pride had already issued an all-points bulletin for the missing agent alerting all state and federal agents but like LaSalle, he was worried beyond belief. Loretta had already confirmed that the blood found at the scene was a match for Brody.

Blood. Meredith Brody could taste it.

She vaguely remembered the first smashing into the side of her face right after she had stepped into her apartment. The place where the fist had connected with her cheek and nose was blessedly numb but her head was another story. Where was she? What had happened to her? It would take more than a moment to figure it out.

Her mind was fuzzy and filled with cotton as she tried to move only to be met with breath taking pain radiating from her rib cage from where she had been kicked. She loosely remembered the sound of voices and the sensation of hands tugging and prodding her against her will.

There had been more than one person three to be exact. Meredith recognized one of them right off the bat but couldn't place name at the moment. She had tangled with him before while working a case but she was too out of it to put the details together.

Face down, Brody felt the cold air begin to blanket her body.

For a moment she is afraid to move, afraid that they are still there. She waits for another second to pass and comes to the conclusion that she is alone. Rising up on her forearms proves to be a difficult chore as her body begins to scream in pain. Every breath sends a spasm of terror through her. She knows she has to move but her body refuses to cooperate. Rolling onto her back, she lets out groan of protest as again she feels the sensation of rain on her skin.

Rain? She must be outside she reasons as cohesive thought begins to return.

Blindly, she beings to grope the darkness for her gun . It isn't where it should be she concludes, neither is her phone. Nothing is making sense as her mind goes back to the bitter cold that is assaulting her system. Why am I so cold?

She tries to sit up but the pain in her ribs sends her back down to the concrete. Reluctantly, she curls in on herself and bites down on her lip, causing it to bleed again. The sound of footsteps teases the outer edges of her mind but don't really register until she feels a hand brush her cheek.

Against her will her entire body jumps with fear. Inwardly she curses herself for being afraid but subconsciously she knows she's in a situation she can't get out of. She wants to fight back but she can't. They've done something to cloud her mind; she reasons as a set of hands roughly pulls her upright.

Pride was at his desk when he received a conference call from Gibbs. Pride attempted to quickly end call until the NCIS Agent's face appeared on the screen.

"Can't talk right now Gibbs, one of my agents is in trouble."

"I know," Gibbs answered. "I just received a message"

"What do you mean?" Pride asked waving LaSalle over.

"It has to do with a case, Brody and I worked on a couple of years back."

Pride's brow furrowed. "What happened to my agent, Gibbs?

LaSalle's stomach began to turn as a video of partner appeared on the screen. She was tied to a chair and blindfolded. Face bruised and clothing torn, Christopher could tell she had put one one hell of a fight. But nothing could prepare Christopher for what he saw next. She was surrounded by three faceless figures, holding 5 gallon buckets.

A fourth figure appeared behind her grabbing her short sprigs of dark hair.

LaSalle felt himself flinch as he watched her captor yank her head back and cover her face with a thin white cloth. The three other men then took turns in dumping buckets of ice water over her face and head. They were waterboarding her.

But why?

Gibbs appeared back on the screen. "It goes on for another ten minutes."

"What do they want?" Pride asked.

The pillar of calm, Gibbs explained that the men in the video for looking for woman that Gibbs and Brody had placed in the protective custody. The woman had been married to member of Al Qaeda and had been willing to give up secrets in exchange for new life.

"Does Brody know where the woman is?"

"No," Gibbs answered.

"They're going to kill her for what they think she knows," Christopher muttered sickly.

"Not before they attempt to make a trade," Gibbs replied.

"A trade?" Pride asked curiously?

"I've been instructed to meet them at place off of Old Plantation Road in 48 hours."

Old Plantation Road? That meant, Brody was still in somewhere in NOLA.