AN1: I'm glad to see so many people excited about this story! Thanks for the reviews; they made my day I'll try to update ASAP with each chapter.
AN2: Sorry my chapters aren't very long. I'm having some trouble adjusting to longer-length pieces, but I hope you aren't bothered too much by it.
Tony dropped his pen on his desk with a flourish of triumph. He wearily smiled at the newly finished and organized stack of paperwork. Then, he looked at the case file sitting on Gibb's desk. ARAM SALIR. With a slightly dejected shake of his head, Tony grabbed his coat. We came so close, he thought bitterly, recalling the events at the shipyard. All this time and still no leads. He sighed. Oh well…he'll resurface eventually. I just hope it's sooner rather than later.
Glancing at his watch, he grabbed his coat and walked toward the elevator. He loved working late at night. The silence and emptiness intensified his focus.
As he stepped inside the elevator, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. There was no light source in the small space, so Tony whipped around and blindly lashed out. His fists connected with solid muscle. His attacker struck him on the back of the head, and Tony barely had time to comprehend what was happening as he crumpled to the floor.
. . .
"DiNozzo still isn't here?" Gibbs shouted across the bullpen.
"I have yet to see him and his cell's going straight to voicemail," Ziva replied.
"If he's not here in an hour, he's fired," Gibbs said grumpily. He naturally wasn't serious, but he was pissed off. But there was more to it than that. Though he would never admit it, even to himself, he was worried. It wasn't like Tony to take off and not even call in. Gibbs's gut was churning.
He sat down at his desk and opened his email, hoping to find something from Tony explaining his absence. Instead, there was a new message titled "No Subject" from "Unknown". He opened it and froze. McGee and Ziva exchanged glances, sensing their boss's change in demeanor as he stared at his computer screen.
"McGee, I need you to find out who sent this email," Gibbs said stonily.
A bit confused, McGee walked over to the desk and read:
If you want to see your agent again, go down to the laboratory computer at 1200 and await my communication.
His eyes widened and he began rapidly typing. "The computer this was sent from was registered to-" McGee's sharp intake of breath made everyone stare at him intently.
"Who, McGee?!" Gibbs barked.
"It's registered to Aram Salir."
Everyone stiffened. Ziva said quietly, "What do we do?"
Gibbs took a deep breath and glanced at his watch. 11:53.
"We wait."
. . .
"Were you able to tap into the computer?" Salir asked.
"It took a lot of effort on our part…They have lots of firewalls and security. Though they are nowhere near as protected as we are," the man said with a smug smile. "But we did it. We now have access."
"Good. I think we are ready to set our plan into motion."
. . .
Tony slowly blinked his eyes open. He looked around and saw he was in a dark, dungeon-like room. There was a chair in the middle of the room and a desk shoved in the corner, out of the way. His hands were tied in front of him, but not too tightly. It seemed his captor had hastily dumped him in the room. Tony quickly felt in his pockets for his gun. It was gone. He did, however, feel his phone. They must've been in a hurry and not searched me thoroughly. But they'll be back I'm sure. They're like Arnold freaking Schwarzenegger.
He began dialing, when he heard voices. They were getting louder. They were coming toward the room. Using the phone now was risky and wouldn't accomplish much. After all, he had no idea where he was or even who had taken him. Though his aching body protested the movement, Tony pulled himself over to the desk, shutting his phone off and shoving it in a drawer. He hoped that would come in use later. He crawled back to his original position and settled, just as a man walked in the room.
Tony glared at the face before him. "Tony! Glad to see you're awake!"
"Glad to be awake, Salir. You mind telling me what the hell I'm doing here?"
In a swift motion, Salir slammed his fist into Tony's temple. Black dots appeared in Tony's vision.
"I suggest you learn some manners, Agent DiNozzo. Quickly."
Tony made no response, as his vision was still swimming. Salir smiled.
"I think we are ready to begin."