It looks like I'm always on hurry these days. I'm sorry I'm not able to reply to every review, but at least I'm able to post chapters. Thank you so much for your kind words about the previous part. I hope you'll like this one too.

I

Anthony DiNozzo, formerly DC's most famous male 'Madam' was used to feeling people's eyes follow him as he walked into a room. Most of the time those gazes are filled with prurient curiosity, lust or revulsion.

This time instead, they were full of stupor. As he stepped into the NCIS QH squad room and walked toward the central area, he knew very well what all the agents looking at him were thinking, "What is he doing here?"

Should they be able to read his mind, they would discover Tony was there because he was worried sick about his lover, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the head of the agency most successful Major Crime Response Team.

Twelve days ago Jethro had left a message on his voice-mail to cancel their planned dinner-with-basketball-game, and Tony hadn't heard from him since then. In the beginning, he had thought the older man had been called out of town for something connected to his job, so he had waited for Jethro to call when he was back.

But early that morning, while was having breakfast in an Italian-style bar in Georgetown, he had spotted one of Jethro's agents, the gorgeous Israeli Ziva David, walking with the equally beautiful Abigail Sciuto, the NCIS forensic expert—and Abby, as Jethro called her, had been crying. Tears had streaked along her cheeks and it had seemed like nothing her companion was saying was able to comfort her.

Tony had found himself wondering what could be the cause of her sadness and grief and suddenly an idea had struck him. Why wasn't Jethro there to console Abby? He knew his lover and the Goth woman had a very strong bond, Jethro had told him so. So why Abby was crying in Ziva's arms? And why was Ziva there instead of being with Jethro? Shouldn't she be with him and the rest of the team if they had been sent out to investigate something out of town?

A shiver of fear had run along his spine as a terrible thought crossed his mind. What if Abby was crying because of Jethro? What if something bad had happened to him?

Once the idea took hold of his mind, Tony wasn't able to banish it. He knew that since their relationship was a secret, no one at NCIS would ever even think to alert him had something happened to Jethro.

The cappuccino now weighting like lead on his stomach, Tony had immediately called one of his many contacts in town, asking him to check if Jethro had been admitted in some hospital in the past twelve days. Then he had set down to wait, as out in the street, Ziva and Abby had walked away, both with their heads bowed.

Two hours later Tony decided he couldn't wait a moment more. So he had taken a cab to the Navy Yard and there he was, stepping into the NCIS squad room, determined to discover where Jethro was without revealing his real feelings for the older man.

So he put on his carefree, suave mask and approached the desks of the MCRT. Jethro's was empty, while the others were occupied by his team members—and all of them sported a grim, beaten down expression.

Something was definitively wrong and Tony's heart twisted in his chest.

Stan Burley, the man Tony had once felt jealous of, stood up and voiced what every agent in the room was probably thinking, "Mr. DiNozzo, what a surprise. What can I do for you?"

"I would like to talk with Agent Gibbs," he answered calmly, looking around the squad room, as if he was trying to locate the man.

"Agent Gibbs isn't here," Burley answered and Tony didn't miss the quick look the agent exchanged with his team mates.

"When will he be back?" Tony pressed, holding tight to the hope Jethro away because of his job, maybe at some kind of interagency meeting or conference.

"We don't know," someone replied from behind Tony's back. He turned around and was taken aback by how tired and pale Ziva was. He hadn't noticed it earlier that morning; otherwise he wouldn't have waited so long to come to NCIS.

He swallowed hard and asked, "Did something happen to him?"

He saw Burley and Ziva exchange another look and understood they were going to give some official reply, not the truth. So he interjected quickly, "Please tell me the truth. Jethro is a good friend and I'm worried by his sudden disappearance."

Agent McGee, the third member of team Gibbs, stepped closer to them and said surprised, "You are friends?"

"Yes, Agent McGee, we are." Tony confirmed. We are friends and so much more… "We stayed in contact after Jethro saved my life, and discovered we get along well. Last time I heard from him he left a message on my voice mail to cancel a planned dinner, twelve days ago. I thought it was because he had to leave because of his job, but now, looking at your faces, I think something wrong happened to him, and I would like to know what it is."

The three agents looked at each other, and then Ziva nodded and spoke, "We don't know what happened to Gibbs. Twelve days ago he rushed out of this building and we hadn't heard from him since then. We know he took a plane for Mexico and then…disappeared."

Tony nodded slowly. "Why did he go in Mexico? Do you know?"

"We believe he went there to help Mike Franks, his old mentor here at NCIS. We know Franks' house near Baja was burned down and there was a gunfight nearby, but nothing else. He has disappeared and so far the Mexican authorities have not been able to locate him or Gibbs," McGee answered.

"I see," Tony said slowly, as he tried to control his reactions. He had to react as a very concerned friend, not a distraught man who had just been told the man he loved had disappeared in one of the most dangerous countries of the world. Tony wasn't a federal agent, but he watched the TV news and the reports about the people killed in Mexico because of the war between the drug cartels were an everyday occurrence.

He took a deep breath and added, "Thank you for telling me what happened." He took his wallet out of his pocket and retrieved one of his cards. "Could you please call me should you get any news from Jethro? I would really appreciate it."

Stan Burley nodded, "Yes, of course," and picked the card. "And now, Mr. DiNozzo, I think it would be best if you left. I'm afraid your presence here is a bit distracting for the other agents, whom are too busy trying to listen to our conversation to do their job."

"I understand," Tony replied with a sad smile as he shook hands with the three agents. "Thank you for your time. I'll now leave you to your job."

Speaking so, he turned on his heels and walked away, his heart far heavier than it had been when he had arrived.

Where are you, Jethro? Tony wondered as stepped into the elevator. Please be safe. I cannot lose you again, not after having just found you. Please God, look after himPlease.

-x-

Darkness.

It surrounded him like a living thing, suffocating and crawling along is body like the cockroaches he had seen when he had first been dragged in this room.

Hurt.

There wasn't a single part of him that didn't ache: his ribs, his arms, his left hand, his face, his...

Hunger.

He licked his lips, and tasted the salt left there by his tears.

Fatigue.

He was exhausted; his starving body hung from chains fixed to the ceiling, his weak legs barely able to hold him upright.

Cold.

Who would have imagined it could be so damp in an underground cell in the arid Mexican countryside? He thought, his naked body shivering in the darkness.

Pain.

For how much Tony and his father, and Abby, and Ducky, and Stan and Tim, and Ziva had to be suffering right now. The agony of not knowing where he was, the inability to do anything to help...all of them had to be eating at them.

Stubbornness.

He simply couldn't let go. Surrender wasn't in him. He hadn't let go after Shannon and Kelly had died...he wouldn't let go now. He would fight till the end, until there wasn't any blood in his veins or breath in his lungs.

Comfort.

In his memories of better times...

Talking with Shannon at the train station. Their first kiss. Getting down on his knee as he asked her to marry his and the joy he felt when she said 'yes'. Their fumbling yet perfect wedding night. The day Shannon had said he would be a father. Kelly's birth. Her first step. The first time she had called him daddy. Her shining eyes when he put her on a pony...her eyes brimming with tears as she begged him not to leave her… "Don't go, Daddy, don't go..."

No, get away from them. Good memories... he needed good memories.

Meeting Tony in Rick's hotel. Watching him dance on the Sensual Delights stage and knowing they would soon have their own private dance in the bedroom. Sleeping in a park, with the kid warm in his arms, his soft hair tickling his chin. Meeting again in the NCIS interrogation room. Their dinners together. Their weekend at Tony's Virginia Beach resort. The tattoo. Their confession of love. The wonderful, happy months that had followed. The projects for a future together-

Light.

No, not the light. She is back, she is back...no, go away, go.

Her voice.

"Nice to see are finally awake, Agent Gibbs..."

Agony.

A savage kick to his exposed groin. Pain blazing along his nerves as he struggled to prevent himself from crying out.

Her malicious laughter and the metallic glint of a blade.

No more, please, no more...

A stab.

He screamed.

He screamed until the darkness, this time benign, enveloped him again and the pain ceased.

At least for the moment.

At least until he woke up and the torture would begin again.

How much abuse could a man's body and mind bear before it was too much?

-x-

Gibbs regained awareness little by little, all the while wishing he could stay unconscious.

Pain, both physical and mental ceased when he was unconscious and sometimes, when he was lucky, he dreamed.

Shannon, Kelly, Tony: he had seen all of them in his dreams. In his dreams, they had dried his tears, washed his wounds, and offered him water to soothe his throat, raw with screaming.

But try as he might, he couldn't stop the inevitable.

Gibbs opened his eyes and was almost blinded by the light. He closed them again as his exhausted mind tried to find an explanation.

Where he was?

He was no longer hanging from chains, but lying down.

Had he been rescued? Was the light the cold, white one of a hospital room?

He opened his eyes again and this time was able to take a look around.

He wasn't at the hospital. He wasn't even in a room. He was outside, lying on the ground surrounded by bushes and rocks.

A shadow fell across his face as someone knelt by his side.

"I'm done with you, Gibbs," Paloma Reynosa said, running her manicured finger along his aching jaw. "It's getting dangerous to hold you. The police are searching all the villas to find you for you, and my hermano cannot stop it. I don't want them to find you in my house, so I will leave you to rot here, where the sun and the wild dogs will finish my job. But before I go," she grabbed his jaw hard, making him face her. "Know that should you survive, I will kill everyone you ever met— your co-workers, your friends, your ex mother-in –law. I even promise to personally visit Pennsylvania and shoot your father in the head." Her fingers tightened, bruising the already discolored skin, "So die, Gibbs. Die."

Reynosa stood up and walked away. Gibbs followed her with his heavy eyes, watching her board a truck and disappear in a cloud of dust.

The sun beat down on him remembering him both of Kuwait and of the day he had pulled the trigger and killed Pedro Hernandez.

It was probably fitting he would die out here, in the deserted Mexican countryside.

He just hoped the end would come quickly, before someone could find him.

So all the people he loved would be safe.

Gibbs tilted his neck to face the sky and smiled as he recognized Shannon and Kelly's faces in the shape of the clouds over his head.

Then he closed his eyes and fainted.

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This was a very hard chapter to write. As I said, I hate violence and I abhor torture. However, it was important for the rest of the story to show at least a bit of what Gibbs suffered. I couldn't leave it just to your imagination, although I tried to be as 'delicate' as possible. Please let me know what you think and remember that reviews make me update faster.

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PS Just to make it clear: in the end, Gibbs is not 'giving up', but in his shocked state he is thinking that if he dies, his loved ones will be safe. It is basically the same thought that - as I see it - pushed him to taunt Alejandro in "Rule 51" what he shouted to the Mexican guy to shoot him. Gibbs doesn't want to die, but is ready to die if it will ensure his loved ones' safety.