23 reviews in less than 24 hours? Wow! I've never had that many for a first chapter before. Thanks to all of you; and Richefic thought it was a good cliffhanger? Tony torturer extraordinaire? I'm sooo proud.

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Some time later, Ziva broke the silence.

"What did he mean, the Atlas case? I am not familiar with it."

"There is no reason why you should be, my dear," said Ducky. "It was before your time. Tony was drugged and kidnapped by a deranged woman who believed he was close to discovering that she was a serial killer. He was fortunate to escape with his life."

"Tony thinks he's been drugged?" Asked McGee incredulously.

"Or he's ill and the sensation is similar," the doctor replied.

"Do you think Tony has what killed Takada?" Asked Ziva.

"No," said Midas unexpectedly. The whole team turned to stare at him as he continued. "Takada twitched a lot, had a nosebleed, puked and then collapsed. He didn't faint; your friend can't have the same thing as him."

"Then what does he have?" Asked Gibbs rhetorically. "For all we know, there could've been more than one bioweapon aboard that ship; just look at what else we found."

"All that time, Tony was convinced he was dying," said McGee. "Maybe he was right."

"Like hell he is," growled Gibbs fiercely. "When was the last time DiNozzo was right about anything, McGee? He'll be fine." There was a slightly uncomfortable silence as they all contemplated Gibbs' statement. It was clear he was as worried as the rest of them.

"Just how unlucky does a man have to be to be infected with a bioweapon on two separate occasions?" Asked Ziva eventually.

"Are you kidding?" said McGee. "Tony's a walking rabbit's foot; he's been shot at, kidnapped and cracked on the head like, twice a month for the past five years and he hasn't died yet. Not to mention catching the plague, two car bombs, being pushed out of a plane, hanging over a seven story drop and pissing Gibbs off on purpose."

"You are forgetting La Grenouille and the CIA, Timothy," Ducky contributed. And then there was the time he got locked in a box with Ziva and shot, and the time in the hotel... oh, and the time he got handcuffed to a serial killer and went on the run..."

"Wait; Tony got shot in the box?" Asked McGee. "I thought he cut his arm on a crate."

"Oh, no. The bullet only grazed the skin and the top layer of muscle, but it required eleven stitches and a long course of antibiotics. Six inches to the left and he would almost certainly be dead. The man is a medical miracle."

"Yes, we get the picture, Doctor," said Ziva, irritatedly. "Tony is very lucky to be alive."

"Fifteen percent," said Gibbs.

"Fifteen percent of what?" She asked.

"Tony's chances, last time. Fifteen percent; maybe a little more because he was healthy to start with."

There was another anxious silence. Not even McGee has known the precise figure of probability; Gibbs had just acted as if it was a given Tony would survive. Each thought of the many times they'd almost lost their friend; and prayed it would not be this time.

"Never thought we'd be here again," said Gibbs, finally.

"Me either, boss," said McGee. "At least this time no one's mentioned honey dust."

"Honey dust?" Asked Ziva. "What is honey dust?"

Gibbs and McGee exchanged a look.

"Ask Tony," they said together.

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"You'll be pleased to know, Director, that your people have been picked up," said Skinner smugly, joining Jenny in her office.

"That's excellent news, Commander. When can I speak to them?"

"Well, they have to go through decontamination, Director, and after that they'll need to be quarantined, so maybe a week."

"A week?! You can't give me so much as a phone call in a week?!"

"The support ship, the Hydra, is also very highly classified, Director. Any communication is in danger of being intercepted..."

"I don't care how secret it is, I want to talk to my agent, Commander!" Jenny demanded. "And either you can arrange it or I'll see to it you never have access to another black op in your life."

"Director? Abby Scutio is here to see you," said Cynthia over the intercom. Jenny smiled evilly.

"Send her in, Cynthia."

"What? Who is Abby Scutio?" Asked Skinner. "I've told you, I can't read in anyone else..."

Abby opened the door and tottered in on her platform heels. Skinner stared, unable to help himself, at the unexpected pigtails, miniskirt and multiple tattoos.

"Director! Have you heard from Gibbs yet? Because I know it's all really top secret and everything but there was a bug and Tony's terrified of bugs and I think he sniffed the blood because I told him to and if he's infected it's my fault and the plague was bad enough and... And who's this guy?"

"This is Commander Skinner, Abby. He was in charge of the Chimera. Commander, this is Abby Scutio, our top forensic scientist. The Commander was just explaining why he won't let me talk to Gibbs."

Skinner was still staring at Abby's neck; she scrunched up her face and glared at him.

"You had better let us talk to Gibbs because if you don't, he taught me all these really cool Marine hand to hand techniques and I've been looking on someone to practise on for months," she threatened.

"I... uh..." Somehow, Abby's threat was worse than Jenny's. "OK. I can have a line set up but you cannot discuss anything sensitive. And it can only be a few minutes."

"That's all I need, Commander."

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It was almost an hour before Corpsman Clarke returned. He was carrying a satellite phone in a baggie. "You have a call, Agent Gibbs," he said. "To your Director."

"Forget the Director; how's DiNozzo?"

"He's stable, sir, and we're doing our best to figure out what's wrong," said Clarke, not without sympathy. "Just keep the phone in the bag. Five minutes."

"Yeah, Gibbs," he barked wearily into the plastic.

"Agent Gibbs; are the others safe?"

"All but DiNozzo, Director."

"Tony? What's wrong with him?"

"Don't know. He fainted and the doctors here whisked him away. They won't tell us anything beyond 'stable'."

"They think he has..."

"Director!" Skinner interrupted.

"That paranoid asshole still getting in your way, Jen?"

"Good description, Jethro. Are we dealing with another love letter?"

"Possibly. Calligraphy's different to Takada; but Tony barely got over the last time. Could explain why he's the only one."

"Or maybe it's just speeding things up. You could all be lipsticked."

They both considered that image for a moment.

"Hope not," said Gibbs. "McGee's still green; it wouldn't match. Tell Abby not to worry too much; the tests will be back soon."

"I'll try. I'll see if I can convince the Commander here to let me know when there's any news."

"OK. And you can tell him that next time I see him, he's a dead man for almost killing my team."

"You're on speaker," said the Commander.

"Then you'll be pleased to know I found the thing you were so worried about, Skinner. And if Tony ends up like Lieutenant Sanders, I'll let Ziva torture you a while before I kill you." Gibbs hung up.

Jenny rounded on Skinner. "Why the hell didn't you tell me there was radioactive material on that ship?" She demanded.

The commander couldn'tve looked more surprised if she'd asked him if he was wearing ladies underwear.

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The whole team sat up attentively as the negatively pressured door swished open and Dr Hansen entered the sickbay.

"How's DiNozzo?" Asked Gibbs immediately, his ice blue eyes boring into the doctor.

"Unconscious, for the moment. We've found no obvious cause for his collapse; has he eaten or drunk much today?"

"He had a bottle of water," Ziva volunteered. "But I have not seen him eat."

"Neither have I," added McGee, "and he usually waves food at me when I'm seasick."

"And has he been under unusual stress lately?"

"Convinced himself he was gonna die of his greatest fear, had needles stuck in him, threatened with an IV; what'd you think?" Said Gibbs sarcastically.

"I'll take that as a yes. Well, I think the most likely explanation is that Agent DiNozzo simply fainted. High stress, low blood sugar, high blood pressure and laboured breathing, combined with his compromised lungs, reduced oxygen levels in his blood until he passed out."

"Ducky?" Asked Gibbs, eyes never leaving Hansen.

"Possible; but in Anthony's case I think unlikely," the ME replied. "He's been in far worse states than this and I've never seen him faint before."

"Right." Gibbs disconnected his IV. "Ziva, cover the door," he ordered.

"With pleasure, Gibbs," she replied, moving to a lookout position.

"What are you doing, Agent Gibbs?" Asked Hansen, alarmed. "You really should get back into bed…"

He was cut off abruptly as Gibbs grabbed him by the shoulders of his hazmat suit and slammed him into the nearest wall, getting right up in his face; or his mask, at least.

"What the hell did you give to Tony?" He demanded.

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Bit short; but I hope you liked it. Next chap up tomorrow.