FRACTURED!

Gibbs had high-tailed it out of DC and to Stillwater. His gut was doing somersaults to the point of feeling like he was going to throw up. The past had come back with a vengeance and threatened everything he had rebuilt. The relationship with his father, even the fractured team relationship was slowly being pieced together.

Fortunately, Stillwater was never known for its heavy traffic. He was able to get to his father's residence without hassle. The car had barely come to a halt when Gibbs exited the vehicle. There wasn't time to worry about safety. The door was unlocked and Gibbs rapped his knuckles on the door until they hurt.

"Dad!" He called out.

"Come in," Jackson Gibbs said flatly as if nothing was amiss.

Gibbs walked in sideways and immediately scanned the living room. "Who did you bring in?" The living area was clear. His Father was alone.

"What?" Jackson was surprised at the tone.

"Damn it, Dad. I told you to stay with someone," Gibbs snapped.

"Leroy!" Jackson raised his voice to shut his son up.

"Perhaps your father is smarter than you give him credit for," Paloma Reynosa stepped out from the dining room. She stood with one hand behind her back and leaned forward slightly.

"Cup of coffee?" Jackson offered to make some.

Gibbs stared at his father as he went into the kitchen. He couldn't believe that his father was playing host to Paloma. "If you thinking of going for your gun, Agent Gibbs, need I remind you that I am not stupid. You think I am alone? You think I don't have a how you say… Ace in the hand?" Paloma asked. She smiled a dangerous looking smile.

"Killing me will not change anything," Gibbs kept his cool.

"I know…" She held up her cell phone and showed the picture of Tony DiNozzo looking the worse for wear. "But destroying you will make me a whole lot happier," she said to Gibbs. Her demeanor didn't change.

Gibbs approached her and without giving anything away, he struck her on the side of the face and wrapped his hand around Paloma's throat and applied pressure. "People will die… I'm not afraid to die, Agent Gibbs. Are you willing to have more blood on your conscience? If not, I suggest you listen to me," she still remained calm. Gibbs angrily pushed her back. She had the upper hand and she knew it.

Xxxxxxxx

Unknown Location

Tony couldn't see anything except unforgiving darkness. He could taste blood on his lips. The captors had beat him every time he had said something out of line. His heart rate increased when he heard the footsteps approach.

"There was this scene in Tarrantino's Inglourious Basterds," Tony laughed. He remembered the sound of somebody banging a cave with a bat. The scene where NAZIs were captured by Aldo's men felt familiar. Those Nazi bastards would've heard their fate coming.

"You are tough," he heard a man with a heavy Mexican accent said. "Why are you holding out? No rescue for you…" He told Tony.

Tony laughed. That just seemed to irritate his captors more. "Under the assumption that I believe I'm gonna be rescued. Waking up tied to a chair brings back memories," so far they had only pumped him for basic surface information. That could only mean one thing… He was being softened up.

"Ah… A pessamist," Alejandro's young face came into view.

"Always been known as a glass half empty kind of guy," Tony shrugged. He knew he was getting under the skin of his captor and he was going to keep at it until there were some answers at least. "The suspense is killing me… What you want with me?" He asked.

"We're keeping you here so that your Agent Gibbs will stand trial for the murder of my father, Pedro Hernandez," Alejandro responded.

Tony scoffed. "You do realize that the statute of limitations on murder has passed in Mexico," he reminded him.

"That is why… It is to be done in the US. Any which way… Your Agent Gibbs is being brought down," Alejandro told him. "And on the other hand we want eyes and ears in a Federal Agency," Tony looked at him questioningly and Alejandro pointed to him. "We will make it worth your while," Alejandro grinned.

"I've been held prisoner by better men than you," Tony shot back.

"You ARE still alive, Agent DiNozzo… If you do not serve your purpose you will be killed," he said flatly.

"Do I have Traitor engraved on me?" Tony looked down at his chest. "Nope… Guess not. I think you think you're Brad Pitt and I'm a NAZI. Inglourious Basterds… Afraid that once a NAZI removes their uniform they're wearing they are indistinguishable from the general population so he carves a symbol into their heads and therefore easily ID'd when the war is over… I don't have the mark… I won't be rescued and Gibbs will never deal with the likes of you," Tony's head snapped to the side when he was punched. "Brad Pitt's a good actor… Don't take it out on me if you don't like him," he said with a laugh.

"You will break… You will do what we ask," Alejandro was positive about that. Everybody had a breaking point.

"Okay… Okay… I got it, I got it," Tony said seriously but then smiled. "Nope… Lost it. I knew a Brad Pitt once… Nice but nothing like the actor," he quickly shut his mouth

"You really want to play it this way, Agent DiNozzo? We will play it this way," Alejandro said. He looked deceptively like a nice guy. But that successfully hid a nasty streak. Surprise was one hell of a weapon. Tony was soon listening to the footsteps fading away.

Xxxxxxx

McGee looked at Gibbs' empty desk then at Tony's desk before continuing his work. After all that had been going on, it just seemed so quiet. But at NCIS, there was always something to go on. Ziva repeated the actions of McGee before looking in his direction.

"Something is wrong," McGee said. Neither Tony nor Gibbs had been at Ziva's ceremony. She didn't admit it, but the action shocked her.

"What? There is nothing wrong," Ziva hadn't realized that she was occasionally looking at the two empty desks.

"You may be right, Agent McGee," Vance stepped into the bullpen. "Have any of you heard from Agent DiNozzo and Agent Gibbs?" His tone gave nothing away. There were times when you had no choice but to send Agents on dangerous missions. He had no delusions about that.

"Tony's missing? Where?" McGee stood up.

"And Gibbs," Ziva added.

"Agent DiNozzo's in Mexico… The last I heard," Vance said. Getting other agencies involved would be a last resort and one he'd hate to do. "We have no idea where Agent Gibbs is… If he calls order his ass back here," Vance responded. His cell phone rung and as soon as he took the call he double timed it upstairs.

Ziva and McGee were left in the bullpen to contemplate their next move without a starting point. Gibbs' desktop phone rung. The two looked at each other then at the vacant desk. McGee rushed to pick it up.

"He isn't here… No… Yep," McGee grabbed a pen and pad from Gibbs' desk drawer and sat down in the Lead Agent's chair. He began writing something down. "No! Don't do that," his voice came out loudly. McGee thought for a moment and covered the mouthpiece with his left hand.

"Ziva! Someone's been trying to access Tony's medical records. What would be the reason to backdoor it into someone's medical records?" He didn't need to hear Ziva's answer to know it. "Get this to Abby… Tell her to find you a flight to Mexico any way possible. Give her this password to get into Bethesda Hospital's Mainframe… We're going to slow it down and trace the hacker," McGee took a deep breath.

A thin wry smile appeared on Ziva's lips. "On it… Boss," she said. It was a way to comment on his taking charge of the situation. She headed towards the elevator.

McGee leaned back in the chair and smiled for a split second. But then kicked the chair back up as he switched on Gibbs' computer and rushed to turn Tony's on. At least he didn't have to worry about booting his or Ziva's on. His mind began to race when the log in password. Through deductive reasoning, it had to be something to do with his fraternity or movie.

"What is going on, Agent McGee?" Vance had been observing the interaction from the landing. Agent Gibbs had trained his team well and they could function under any circumstance. Most of the members anyway. He saw McGee darting from computer to computer.

"Someone is attempting to hack into Tony's medical records… We believe that since Tony has not been heard of and this could only mean he's captured or incapacitated. If we slow the Bethesda computers down enough… We'll be able to trace the trail back and get an accurate location. Abby is organizing transport for Ziva to head to Mexico," McGee looked at Vance who was furiously typing away at Gibbs' computer. "I mean, if that's alright by you. I probably should've…"

Vance held up one hand to silence the young Agent. "Did I say something, Agent McGee?" He asked. Fortunately, being a Director as well as very computer literate, he was able to bypass the password protected log in of his Agents' computers.

"No sir," McGee shook his head.

"Carry on," Vance pulled a toothpick out of his pocket and placed it in his mouth. "I will get a couple of agents to accompany her," Vance didn't look up but he could feel McGee's eyes upon him. "Unless you have an objection, Agent McGee," he paused on the spot.

"No, Sir," McGee answered quickly.

Xxxxxxxx

Unknown Location, Mexico

Every now and again, Tony would hear footsteps… Many times nobody talked to him or approached him. But whenever they did, there was something going on. And now he was bathing in the warmth of freshly made fire. For the first time he was able to see his prison. The steel door, walls and newly brought in crates glowed an eerie red. Tony had watched some silently build the fire. Any cockiness had long disappeared from his face.

Alejandro used a large knife to cut through Tony's shirt and tear it off. "Thank you for volunteering information to us Mister DiNozzo. Your reaction to yourself when you mentioned Brad Pitt got me thinking. Anything can be found on the internet. But I'm not a patient man… You don't get anything by just sitting around. Do you agree, Mister DiNozzo?" Alejandro reached into a crate and pulled a heavy metal object out.

"Blacksmith tools can be used to make many things. A lot of deadly weapons of course," Alejandro placed the metal tongs half in the fire making sure the handle end would not be too hot. "The tools are also excellent devices of pain, torture and eventual death. In a small German village in the sixteenth century as ultimate punishment such as a serial killer or similar, they would heat up implements such as these tongs here. Then find a fleshy part of skin… They would pinch the skin of the person and slowly peel that piece off," Alejandro acted like he was stoking a warm friendly fire.

Tony leaned back into the chair in a vain attempt to put as much distance between him and the fire as possible.

"They tore off as many strips of skin as there were victims where possible. The highest count of this punishment was fifteen strips I think. Correct me if I'm wrong," Alejandro continued his long, slow explanation. "It's amazing how much a human body can tolerate before dying or even passing out… Ever wondered how much YOU can endure before you die?" Alejandro smiled as he stood up. Tony could feel the heat radiating from the end of the tongs.

Tony shook his head slowly. "No… No," Tony said. He became more desperate with each passing moment. "Please…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jackson Gibbs Residence, Stillwater

They had been talking for some time. "Thanks for the food, Senor Gibbs," Paloma said sincerely. "Now that we have no empty stomachs and are in a more relaxed manner we should be able to discuss things," Paloma crossed her legs and looked directly at the man who murdered her father.

"Yes," Gibbs responded without saying anything else.

"My request is simple," there was a snort coming from Gibbs. "Alright… An order. I know you murdered my father. I want you to stand trial to be brought down by the justice you had sworn to uphold," Paloma made it perfectly clear.

"Two things first. Your assurance that no harm will come to anyone I know," Gibbs said. He used one hand to articulate the point.

"Leroy!" Jackson tried to interrupt.

"And… I am to be tried in a US court," Gibbs added.

"There will be no chance of you to weasel out of this one by having it outside of the US," Paloma responded. She had no intention on extraditing the NCIS agent to Mexico. The whole incident could become a political mess. The less politics involved the better and this way, it will be all above board.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, referring to the information he was shown earlier.

"When things are fully set in motion… He will be released. No sooner," Paloma's tone didn't change. So far, things were going according to plan.

"Call the authorities, Dad," Gibbs' expression changed.

"Son," Jackson was acting defiant. There had to be another way.

"Give us a few minutes," Gibbs said to Paloma. It wasn't a time to ask nicely. He stood up and studied some of the photographs on the mantelpiece and took the one of his mother and father down. That was taken a long time ago. A simple picture of them standing in front of a new house that would last all these years showing a simple time.

"She would be proud of you, Son," Jackson stood behind him.

"Dad… You remember how terrible you felt when you killed that young man in self defense," Gibbs said. It was a trying time and it had shaken his father up badly. "I murdered a man. I chased him down and put a bullet in his head. Now, it's time to face up to it as a Gibbs would face up to it," Gibbs put the picture back where it belonged. "If I don't do this… More people will die… Dad," Gibbs lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"What is it Leroy?" Jackson put a hand on Gibbs' shoulders.

"I need you, Dad. I need you to just stand by me, just be there," Gibbs sighed heavily, refusing to look up or at his Father.

"I made the mistake of not doing that before, Son. I won't do that again," Jackson squeezed his son's shoulder before going towards the telephone. He didn't like the idea one bit but was willing to stand by the actions and be there.

A/N: The story that Alejandro tells about using the tongs... It is a factual story that was in Bendburg Germany. Hope people are enjoying this. Comments and criticism welcomed.