Sorry for the inconvenience but it turns out I put my draft chapter on instead of this one, and after a review about the third paragraph I've corrected the error. This chapter is easier to read.


Chapter two: Suffering

Abby had had plenty of time to consider what the man had said, to analyze the tone of his voice, and remember the stroke across her cheek, The fearful and angry look Gibbs had given her, and the million ways such a man could make her suffer. It was exactly as he had planned it and although she suspected this, she could not help but ponder her fate. She shut her eyes and let her head fall backwards, uncomfortable but she could almost forget were she was and what had been said. After the look Gibbs had given her sh wanted to hide fer face, she did not want his guilt or sympathy, she didn't blame him. No, more then that she needed his strength, she needed him to save her. The mans actions made it obvious he was targeting Gibbs and something in the way he had looked at her made her fear the torture he had planned. Gibbs tried not to worry, knowing it was a useless practice, but part of his brain screamed out at him for ever caring. 'If you don't care then no one can use it against you.' Blame burned his heart especially with her seated in front of him to serve as a constant reminder. She was going to get hurt because of him. No matter how he tried to rationalize the thoughts racing through his mind he came up with the same conclusion each time. This was his fault.

"Gibbs?" she whispered, not moving "What do you think is going to happen?" He could not tear his eyes from her, "I don't know Abbs."

Abby had drifted to sleep eventually, it felt like hours had passed since she had seen the outside or eaten. But even the pain in her stomach could not surpass the fear yet strange sense of calm that surrounded her. Although she was terrified of what was to come, she felt incredible peace settle at the bottom of her stomach, as though she had accepted that there was nothing she could do. She let dreams seep into her mind, let the pain be drowned out, sinking into silence and warmth.

Her head snapped forward as the door creaked open. The man in a suit had changed. He said something in the guards ear and left. One by one they were taken to the toilet. A grimy small room without windows. Gibbs was careful to watch the route they had taken and to remember each door that they passed. The guard had his gun trained on them as the relieved themselves and as Abby waited for Gibbs to return she wondered why they had allowed them to do so. Soon Gibbs was back and the guard stood alone, beside the door once more. It was as if nothing had ever happened. Very soon the suited man appeared again, but this time he was not alone. A short skinny man accompanied him. He had a black suitcase in his hand. They walked silently in to the room, but they looked as though they had just finished a conversation. A young man scuttled in behind to two men with a small table which he placed next to Abby's chair, the two men ignored him. Gibbs tensed, straining as the ropes. Abby eyed the man suspiciously as he placed the case on the table and took his time to open it. Abby surveyed his bony face, his cheeks sunken and protruding, he was old and gray and fragile. She almost snorted at the thought of him hurting her.

Gibbs recognized the man from several years earlier, 'Salvador. The old torturer for the prince…' he remembered back to his early NCIS days when he was a junior agent. The man had used the same case to piece by piece dismember a young woman as per orders of the prince. Gibbs was useless where he was and felt resigned to watch. The man finally had the case open, and pulled aside the velvet covering, folding it neatly. Abby's face crinkled in disbelief. Bottles of chemicals, syringes, scalpels and various other sharp instruments glittered out of the box. She shot a look at the man and struggled to get free. "no way in hell are you getting that thing any where near me!" she recognized the chemical, she knew what it would do to her. The man was unperturbed as he silently filled the syringe with a blue liquid and slid it into the vein on her arm. "No!" she screamed, "Please." Struggling to escape she yelled hysterically, fear took over her/ The suited man paced, the skinny man waited, his eyes cold and unmoving on her face. The world melted before her, pain shot through her eyes. She could feel everything, see everything and hear all but, she could not move anything but her eyes and they were slow to respond. She wanted to scream, to cry but she could do nothing. It was like watching a horror movie through someone else's eyes, with no control over where you looked in the room. She screamed in her head, frantically trying to break free of the drug, going insane quickly. 'Oh god!" She thought. She could see Gibbs' face if she tried, his face strained and lined with anger and fear. The skinny man and the guard left without a word shutting the door behind them.

Mr. Suit stared hard at Gibbs. "She has done nothing." Gibbs said, his voice low, threateningly. "And she will pay for what you have." He let his words sink in. A tear slid down her cheek her eyes rolled upwards, expressionless but behind them she screamed and screamed willing it to be all a nightmare. She wondered if Gibbs knew how this drug worked. Suit ran his hands over the instruments in the suitcase, and picked out a surgical scalpel. It seemed to glint in the light. He grabbed her face and lifted it upwards harshly, bringing the blade down to her face he let the slight pressure of his hand draw crimson pain from her face. Gibbs lost it, he shook his chair violently, the ropes tore at his wrists, "I will kill you!" he yelled. He imagined her, able to see, hear and feel everything but unable to move or struggle. He had experienced the drug whilst captured, he had the scars still imprinted on his mind. "She can feel everything." The man said calmly, unaffected by the emotion thick atmosphere of the room. "Hear and see everything." He let the blade lift from her skin, a line of blood drawn across her cheek bone. "It must make a person insane." He said thoughtfully. Gibbs watched the blood trickle down her white skin and found himself praying she would get out of this alive. The man circled her chair and stroked her hair. Then he suddenly became enraged and ripped open her dress. If she could have she would have screamed in terror, she was exposed, her black bra managing to help her retain some decency. She was embarrassed to be so helpless in front of Gibbs. The man circled once more, contemplating his next move. He went back to the case and replaced his scalpel with a hunting knife before bringing it to her wrists, he cut the ropes and she fell forward onto the floor. He cut her feet from the chair and she thanked god that she hadn't broken her ankles. The concrete was cold and hard on her face and exposed flesh. The man kicked her so that she would turn over. Defenseless she spun over with the force of his foot on her stomach.

Gibbs was angry, afraid and desperate he wanted to look away but felt he would be leaving her alone if he did so. This was getting too out of control. "What is it that you are getting revenge for? How is torturing an innocent girl making right the wrongs that you believe have been done to you?" The man paused, scalpel still in hand, he fiddled with it expertly, "You are right, hurting her will not right any wrongs. But, it will give me the satisfaction of watching you suffer as she does. You see, if I did this to you, you would not be as emotional or as pained by it. Love hurts." He took a step towards him. "You killed my father when I was still a boy. You I killed my brother when I was a teenager." His hands gripped the blade tightly, blood emerged from his own skin but he didn't seem t notice. Gibbs' eyes held no sympathy. "They killed fathers, brothers, mothers and sisters of innocent people themselves." Gibbs responded matter-of-fatly. The man continued to stare into Gibb's eyes, reliving the memory of two funerals, two men who had been his all. His mother had never been the same, he had had to grow up fast, become independent, take care of her. "Haven't you ever had to take revenge, special agent? Don't bother answering. I know you killed the man who murdered your wife and daughter." Gibbs did not react to the information. "You haven't killed me. You are torturing someone who had nothing to do with the deaths of your brother or father." Gibbs' did not blink. Abby was shocked to hear what the man had said. 'No, Gibbs couldn't have killed for revenge.' She argued in her head. But he had not denied the claim. The man threw the scalpel on the floor and stormed out. Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief. But his relief was short lived as two men entered and took her away.

She was unable to move still, the men were surprisingly careful as they carried her through what felt like endless hallways. Her skin was cold and clammy. The blood had dried as it trickled down her cheek leaving a perfect line of blood. She silently thanked Gibbs for saying the right things so that the man had stopped cutting her. But now as she was carried into a small dirty room and placed on a dilapidated bed she feared the next installment of torture. She was sure that this was just the beginning.