Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER:- I do not own NCIS or its characters and no copyright infringement is intended.

Gibbs and Tony returned to the office and Tony headed to the locker room to take a shower. He set the water temperature as hot as he could stand and inhaled sharply as it stung his head wound. He stood under the shower allowing the heat and the water pressure to penetrate his aching and tense muscles and almost scrubbed the skin from his hands and forearms in his determination to cleanse himself of Becky's blood. After drying himself, he changed into the spare set of clothes he kept in his locker.

Gibbs escorted Tony to Autopsy for Ducky to check and suture his head wound. Tony was overwhelmingly relieved that Becky's body was nowhere in sight. The pit of his stomach had churned with dread as he imagined himself walking in during her autopsy. Fortunately, Ducky had enough wisdom and foresight to prevent that from happening.

Ducky looked at Tony and shook his head. He was still unhappy that Tony and Gibbs had disregarded his advice and not had the younger agent admitted to hospital.

"By the look of you, young man," he said "I suggest you take a seat on this table before you fall down."

Tony silently was vaguely aware of Ducky re-taking his vitals and clicking his tongue against his teeth to indicate his displeasure when he found Tony's blood pressure was still a little high and his pupil reaction still sluggish. Tony screwed his eyes closed when Ducky administered a syringe containing local anaesthetic into his scalp and he heard the ME vent his displeasure once again when he inserted 11 stitches in his head wound.

During the whole process, Tony had barely taken his eyes off the closed morgue drawers, vaguely wondering which of them housed Becky's little body. Since he started with NCIS, he had literally seen hundreds of bodies placed into the morgue drawers but it was infinitely harder to accept when the person in question was someone he knew, someone he cared about.

He remembered how he felt when Kate was killed. McGee had struggled with demons of his own before coming to the morgue to see Kate. Tony had followed McGee to the morgue, in case the younger agent needed some support – not that he would ever admit that to McGee. Tony's chest suddenly tightened as the still vivid memory flooded back to him.

Ducky's voice disturbed him from his morbid musings. "Anthony??….Anthony??"

"Sorry, Ducky," Tony answered

"I asked you about the nausea and headaches," Ducky repeated

"Oh," Tony answered flatly. He was too exhausted to pretend to be fine. Besides, judging by the way Ducky was looking at him, he doubted the old medic would believe him. "The nausea's not so bad now – headache's killing me."

"I'm not surprised," Ducky said crossly. "You have a very nasty head wound and you should be in hospital! I do wish you'd reconsider about that."

"Please, Ducky," Tony said quietly "I have to do this...I have to tell Becky's parents what happened. I'll come see you tomorrow, have x-rays, CT scans whatever you want but I have to do this tonight!"

Ducky saw the quiet desperation in his young friend's eyes and it worried him greatly.

"Of course, my boy," he said as he patted Tony's arm. "Of course."

--oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo--

While Tony was in Ducky's capable hands, Gibbs had gone out for a coffee and a Caf-Pow. He was now seated in Abby's lab, waiting for her to arrive. The ding of the elevator sounded and he allowed a tiny grin as he heard Abby's frantic mantra, even before the doors had opened.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," Abby repeated frantically as she ran from the elevator to her lab as fast as her platform boots would carry her. She ran directly at Gibbs, almost knocking him to the ground with the force of a linebacker as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Oh my God, Gibbs! How's Tony? Where's Tony??"

"He'll be fine, Abs," Gibbs said. "He's got a concussion from a pretty bad knock to the head - Ducky's stitching him up at the moment. We're going to see Becky's parents in a few minutes."

He held her tightly to reassure her before prising her hands from around his neck.

"I need you to start processing some evidence," he explained, pointing to the evidence bags on the nearby counter. "The clothes are Tony's, the blood will be his and Becky's. The pipe was used to dent DiNozzo's hard head and that's his Sig and what's left of his cell. See if you can pick up any prints or anything else that will help us catch this bastard."

"Yes, Gibbs," she said in a quiet and subdued way that was very un-Abby like.

"Abs?" he said lifting her chin with his fingers. "He'll be fine. He'll stay at my place tonight and knowing Tony, he'll be here in the morning. You can see him then."

He handed her a large container of Caf-Pow, before leaning in close and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks for coming back in so late, Abs."

--oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo--

Gibbs went back to Autopsy to collect Tony for the trip to Pete and Helen's home.

Tony looked absently out of the window of the car occasionally closing his eyes and breathing deeply to ward off the nausea.

"You sure you're up to this?" Gibbs asked.

Tony gave a small nod but remained silent. Although it was already 2330, there was no need to call ahead. They knew the couple would be awake and desperately waiting for any news of their precious daughter. The rest of the drive to Pete and Helen's was completed in silence.

As they parked the car at the front of the house, they noted the lights in the home were on. Tony looked to the front lawn where, just a few short weeks ago, he had watched Becky playing with her puppy. His head pounded unyieldingly as they walked up the path and knocked on their front door.

NCIS agent, Nathan Taylor met them at the door. He had been monitoring the family's phone in case a ransom call was received. He looked at Gibbs and Tony grimly.

"McGee phoned and told me about Becky. I'm sorry Tony," he said. " I haven't told them yet, thought you'd want to speak with them yourself."

As they entered the house, Tony wondered how he could find the words to break the news of Becky's death. As it turned out, he didn't have to say a word – the look of grief and despair on his exhausted face was more than enough to let them know.

Helen cried out in anguish and fell to her knees while Pete and Gibbs helped her to the couch where she continued to cry inconsolably.

"Why, Tony?" she asked. "Why our little girl? She never hurt anyone! She was a good little girl!"

Tony had no answers as he crouched beside her and held her hand. He closed his eyes, knowing Helen's questions and her broken-hearted sobs would haunt him forever.

--oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo--

Pete excused himself to take Helen upstairs and call for the family doctor. His voice was emotionless from shock and grief as he spoke.

"Tony, coffee's already brewed in the kitchen. You know where everything is. Help yourselves. I'll be back down in a few minutes."

Tony nodded, rising to his feet. He swayed a little, almost losing his balance. Gibbs' hand grabbed his elbow and silently steadied him. Regaining his equilibrium he gently shook off Gibbs' support.

"I'll get the coffee," Tony said quietly.

"Need a hand?" Gibbs asked.

"No thanks, Boss," he replied. "I'll manage." Gibbs nodded his understanding.

Gibbs assisted Taylor to disconnect the phone tracing equipment. They packed it away, while waiting for Tony and Pete to return. Ten minutes later they exchanged a grim nod and as Taylor left to return to the office, the family doctor arrived and was directed upstairs.

Noting that Tony had not returned with the coffee, Gibbs walked to the kitchen to help. The coffee was made but the kitchen was deserted and the backdoor open. Gibbs ventured on to the back patio and found Tony sitting on the back lawn with a golden retriever puppy in his arms.

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Flashback

Tony heard the excited voices of a dozen little girls as he walked along the garden path of the Barnes' home. As he rounded the side of the house, he noted how the backyard had been transformed with strings of colourful fairy lights and balloons. Becky sat opening her birthday presents, surrounded by her little friends. Tony saw Helen fussing with the food and decorations on the party tables and Pete, resplendent in party hat, was capturing the action on this Handycam.

Tony paused for a moment and placed the large box he'd been carrying on the ground.

"Hey, Hot Shot!" he heard Pete call. "You better not be planning to leave that and run. With a dozen females here, I'm counting on some male support."

Becky followed her father's gaze and seeing Tony, she immediately jumped to her feet.

"Tony!" she squealed excitedly. "You came!"

Tony returned her smile and squatted on his haunches to give her a hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

"Happy Birthday Becks," he replied. "I told you I was coming."

"I thought you might have to work," Becky said.

"And miss out on your cake! No way!"

Tony saw Becky frown a little as she saw the large box he had placed on the ground behind him. She was too polite to ask if he'd brought her a gift but her curiosity was evident. She took Tony by the hand and started to drag him towards the party table and the food. She had such a crush on Tony and she couldn't wait to introduce him to her friends.

"Wait, don't you want to see what I have for you?" he asked.

She looked up at him, her large brown eyes filled with excitement. She glanced quickly at her parents who nodded their permission. She looked at the box again, unsure whether to open it.

"Go on, Becks!" Tony encouraged. "Open it up."

Pete positioned himself and his Handycam to capture the priceless, look of delight on his daughter's pretty face as she opened the lid to reveal a fluffy little Golden Retriever puppy.

End Flashback

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Tony's breath was visible in the cold.

"Trying to catch pneumonia?" Gibbs asked

"This is Brandy," Tony said, not answering the question. "I gave her to Becky for her birthday a few weeks ago. She really loved her! Said it was the best gift ever!"

Gibbs smiled, "I bet she did," he continued softy. "Family doctor's just arrived. You going to be able to get up?"

"Might need a hand, Boss," he said sheepishly.

Gibbs lifted the pup with one arm and extended the other hand to Tony, helping him to his feet and holding on a bit longer to ensure he didn't fall back on his butt. He put the pup back on the ground and guided Tony back into the house.

By the time they had taken the coffee back into the living room, Pete was waiting for them. Pete and Tony hugged briefly, before the Commander directed them to the couch while he took the armchair opposite.

Pete had managed to keep a tenuous hold on his composure, although, he was barely keeping his rage and grief at bay. He directed his question to Gibbs.

"Who did this, Agent Gibbs?" he said "Why?"

Gibbs kept his voice steady and soft. "We don't know yet, Commander. We are still gathering evidence at the scene but it's very early in our investigation. We have our best forensic and medical people working around the clock to find whoever did this."

Gibbs checked his watch; it was after midnight. "We can talk more about this later, you need to be with your wife. I'm sorry to have to ask you this, Pete. We need Becky's next of kin to officially identify her body. Can you come in to NCIS later today, say 1500?"

Pete swallowed several times before answering with a raspy, "Yes."

Gibbs looked at Tony who was raging a war with his own composure. "We should go," he said.

Once again, Pete and Tony hugged, their silence conveyed their shared grief and heartbreak.

The return journey was made in complete silence, each man lost in his own thoughts. There were several times when Gibbs thought Tony had given in to his exhaustion and fallen asleep. A quick glance at his agent found him awake and staring absently at nothing in particular.

-oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo--

It was almost 0100 by the time they had arrived at Gibbs' home. He walked Tony to the spare room and watched as he fell onto the bed in an exhausted heap, not even bothering to remove his outer clothing.

Gibbs handed him two tablets and a glass of water. Tony cast a wary eye over the tablets.

"I'm not taking sedatives, Boss." He said firmly. "I'm going in to work with you in the morning."

"These aren't sedatives, DiNozzo, although God knows you could use the sleep. It's only Tylenol."

Gibbs waited until Tony had swallowed the pills before heading for the wardrobe and retrieving a spare blanket. He unfolded it and tossed it over Tony before heading for the door.

"You need anything? he asked.

"No, Boss," Tony mumbled, as sleep quickly overwhelmed him.

"Get some rest," Gibbs instructed, "I'll wake you in 2 hours."

Gibbs waited by the door until Tony's breathing had evened out and he was sure he was sleeping. It took only moments as he had been out on his feet. He left the door to the room ajar and headed for his own bedroom.

Gibbs groaned as his alarm clock sounded at 0300. He felt his way down the dark corridor to the spare room to wake Tony for a concussion check. Standing at the door he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was then that he noticed Tony's breathing had changed from a deep and even rhythm to rapid and shallow breaths. Tony wasn't having a full-blown nightmare but his dream certainly wasn't pleasant.

Gibbs leant down and gently shook his shoulder to wake him. "Hey, Tony."

Tony woke up with a start, momentarily disorientated until he recognized the concerned face of his Boss.

"You with me?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm up." Tony mumbled, raising his hands to rub the pain from his throbbing temples.

"Bad dream?" Gibbs asked, although he knew the answer.

"Something like that," Tony replied sleepily.

He closed his eyes and leant back into the pillows.

"How's the head?" Gibbs enquired.

"I'm fine, Boss," Tony mumbled sleepily.

Gibbs' exasperated expression needed no words to enforce his message and Tony hastily amended his statement.

"Headache's bad, nausea's tolerable and you're only a little bit blurry now."

"You know the drill, Tony," Gibbs said, walking across the hall to the bathroom.

"Anthony DiNozzo. Born July 8th. Attended Ohio State. Go Buckeyes." His voice held no expression as he rattled off the answers to the usual concussion check questions.

"And today's date?" Gibbs asked.

"November… 2nd, 2008," Tony dutifully replied.

"Good job," Gibbs said, returning with a glass of water and placing it on the bedside table. "Get some sleep."

"I was asleep. You woke me up!" Tony grumbled as Gibbs made his way back to his own bedroom.

--oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo—oo00oo--

Gibbs felt as though he had barely closed his eyes when his alarm clock woke him again at 0530. He had just enough time for a run before waking DiNozzo for another concussion check. He changed into his running gear and tried to stretch the tension from his body as he walked down the hallway, past the spare room. The door was wide open but the bed was empty. Gibbs checked the bathroom - no Tony. He walked down the stairs and spotted Tony sitting in an armchair, staring at a spot on the floor.

"Couldn't get back sleep," Tony answered before the question had been asked.

"How's the head?" Gibbs asked

"I'm good, Boss," Tony lied.

Gibbs eyed Tony sceptically. "Really, DiNozzo, cause you look like crap!" he remarked as Tony rolled his eyes.

Gibbs decided against taking his run. Although he enjoyed the routine and the exercise it provided, he could almost feel the tension and anger emanating from the younger man. Tony wasn't one to share his personal feelings freely but if Gibbs could get him talking about what happened last night, it may help him deal with any misplaced guilt. He fired up the coffee machine and sat across from Tony while he waited for the coffee to brew.

"Feel like some breakfast?" Gibbs asked.

Tony shook his head, then immediately regretted the action as the pounding in his head worsened. A few minutes later, he looked up questioningly as Gibbs placed coffee and two pieces of lightly buttered toast in front of him.

"Eat what you can," he said. "Might help settle the nausea."

After a few moments Gibbs asked.

"Want to tell me what happened last night?"

"Not much I can tell you, Boss," Tony said flatly. "I went to Pete's to go through the list of possible suspects from the search McGee ran. No one on the list stood out and Pete was too distressed to concentrate. I was heading back to the office when I had a hunch and went to see a buddy at Metro PD."

"Rob Symonds is Duty Sergeant at the V St Station and he also plays ball with Pete and me. I wanted to see if there had been any reports or possible sightings of Becky that hadn't been advised directly to NCIS."

"He let me check through the police logs of all calls received by 911 or directly to all Metro PD stations. There were hundreds of calls about the gas main explosion on16th Street but nothing that related to Becky's kidnapping."

Tony took a long sip of coffee before continuing.

"I was just about to come back to the office when 911 received an anonymous call from someone saying they'd heard a child crying in a deserted warehouse complex at Piermont Estate. By that time, most of Rob's patrol units had been called to help evacuate the high-rise apartment block on 16th. The caller sounded like a kid and Rob thought it might be a prank call but I told him I'd check it out."

Tony cringed a little, expecting a harsh reprimand for not calling for back up sooner. Gibbs sat impassively waiting for Tony to continue.

"I drove to the guardhouse at the entrance, the guard wasn't there so I drove in. I'd been at the complex for about 10 minutes and was just about to mark it up as a prank call when I thought I heard a child crying. I followed the sound to Warehouse 10B and called you."

Tony closed his eyes as he recalled what happened next.

"The crying turned to screaming and I had to go in, Boss, I couldn't wait. I drew my weapon, opened the door and headed towards the back storerooms. By that time, Becky was…Becky was moaning. I couldn't see her, but I knew she was in the second room. I was so intent on getting to her that I guess I didn't check the first room properly. I walked past the door and someone hit me from behind. I screwed up Boss.... and Becky...."

He scrubbed his face with his hands before continuing. "When I came to, I couldn't see straight. Becky was crying. Her voice was a whisper but she was calling for her Mom. I tried to get up but I was too dizzy and couldn't walk. So I crawled to the second storeroom and I found her. She was covered in blood and I couldn't stop the bleeding. So I took her in my arms and I hugged her. I told her to hang on, that everything was going to be fine. I told her that help was coming and I would take her home to her Mom and Dad."

He looked up at Gibbs. "I promised her, Boss! I promised them!"

He took a few moments to gather his composure. Gibbs remained silent, allowing Tony to continue at his own pace.

"The next thing I remember is waking up and you and Ducky were there," Tony whispered.

As he looked at Gibbs, Tony's expression changed in an instant from unbridled anguish to white hot fury. His green eyes were wild with rage.

"I want this guy, Boss," he hissed through firmly gritted teeth as he vowed "and I'll get him if I have to chase him into hell!"

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