Chapter 4:

McGee sighed heavily as he stared at his computer screen. It was quiet in the NCIS building, seeing how he was the only one in the room at the moment, and McGee was trying to track down Gibbs' secret messenger. He was about ready to pound his head on the table and crack the computer screen in two. This was the third time he had tried tracking the damn thing and this was the third time it had said that the phone was off and he couldn't track it.

The youngest agent looked up at Gibbs' desk and blinked, not realizing that he had come in this morning at all. His coat was hanging off the back of his chair, but McGee only remembered Tony coming in and saying he was going to get pizza. Of course, he had to sneak off so that Gibbs wouldn't see, seeing as how everyone was to stay in the building at all times. However, Gibbs excused this rule when they had a case. The reason? Gibbs figured that if they collected the body and evidence fast enough, they would have time to solve the murder and get out of there alive.

"Probie!" Tony's fine chimed, making McGee sigh in annoyance. He looked up and watched as Tony set the pizza box on Gibbs' desk for the time-being and then slipped off his coat. He tossed it onto his chair and smiled, bringing the pizza over to McGee's desk. Tony sat on the edge of McGee's desk and placed the pizza on his lap, a huge grin playing across his lips. "I got some breakfast, Probie!" McGee rolled his eyes and looked at Tony, asking, "Don't you think it's a little too early for pizza, Tony?"

Tony laughed slightly as he stood up, placing the pizza box on McGee's desk, and walking over to his own. "It's never too late for pizza, McGeek! I mean, it's pizza. It's was NCIS agents eat." McGee took a deep breath before murmuring, "Sure, Tony." Tony began rummaging through his desk for something while McGee stood up and stretched. He walked around his desk and spun the piece of pizza around so that it was facing him. His butt was killing him after sitting for so long and he wouldn't mind standing up with a piece of pizza in his mouth. As McGee watched Tony look around for something, he went to open the pizza box.

---

Gibbs sighed as he walked down the small little hallway from the elevator leading to Abby's lab. According to Abby, the bomb had no signature and was one of kind. However, that didn't mean that the OTHER bomb wasn't from the same person. She was, unfortunately, still putting together that puzzle. She had, however, discovered that someone had to have been in the house in order to set off the bomb. This then lead to the second body Ducky had found in the room that Ziva had been knocked out in.

He was still pissed about his agents almost being killed and about the bomb setting off his car. Hell, that was a decent car. Got him where he needed to be when he needed to be there. Not it was gone and he had to go by another one. Of course, he wasn't like Tony and cared so deeply about his car that he would cry over it, but it still angered him. Not only that, but the text messages he kept getting couldn't be traced which put his agents in even more danger. If only they would give him clues about the next mur--!

BOOM

Gibbs immediately dropped to the ground, hearing the loud explosion and feeling the slight amount of pressure. It may not have been as deadly as the other two bombs, but it was definately enough for someone to have been injured. He looked up at the smoke filling the room from something that had once been lit and heard the fire alarms go off. He stood up and rushed over to the bullpen, his eyes widening at the sight he saw. McGee was lying on the floor with some serious burns on his face and arms and trying to stay awake. He was breathing heavily and every now and then he would groan or whimper in pain.

Tony was already at his side, making sure he would stay awake until the paramedics arrived. He was talking to the younger agent, smiling and talking about one of Tom Cruise's movies.

Gibbs rushed over to his agents as he looked at the remains of the pizza box, lying on the floor as nothing but a few pieces and ash. He turned to Tony and asked, "Call paramedics?" Tony nodded and looked at Gibbs, saying quickly, "On their way, Boss." He turned back to McGee and continued on with his story as Gibbs took a deep breath. He looked around at a few panicking people. There was nothing he could do at this point. However, now he felt even more fear. The terrosists were able to sneak bombs INSIDE the building now so it didn't matter if they left or stayed in the building.

Suddenly, Gibbs' phone rung. He picked it up immediately and looked down at the caller ID: Unknown. He sighed angrily and answered it. "What do you want?"

"We are not afraid to attack our own kind."

In the next minute, the line went dead and Gibbs knew instantly what he was talking about. He rushed from the building and down the stairs, beginning to call the only one of the team that had an accent almost identical to the man's on the phone: Ziva David.

WITH ZIVA...

Ziva sighed as she looked around for her jacket. She moved around a few boxes that she had yet to unpack and then in her bathroom, checking behind the door. She growled angrily as she rushed over to her dressar and slipped out her SIG. Ziva holstered the gun as she finally saw her jacket, lying on the floor beside her bed. She bent down and grabbed it, growling, "I do not know why it was there in the first place!" Ziva grumbled something in her foreign language before rushing over to the door. Suddenly, she heard something move. She shut the door and spun around, gun at the ready. She looked around every inch, every corner of her house very, very carefully.

As she moved, she heard something bump in her room. She pressed her back against the wall by her bedroom door and peered around the corner. When Ziva didn't see anyone, she decided it was clear to move on. However, the minute she stepped into her room, the bedroom door slammed into her, knocking her head against the doorframe, and causing her to pass out on the floor.

---

Gibbs sighed angrily as he stormed from his car and made his way up the stairs leading to Ziva's apartment. He had his gun at the ready and the minute he kicked in the door, he knew that Ziva wasn't there. Her gun and jacket were placed on the couch with a friendly little note signed to a Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

As Gibbs walked over to the couch and picked up the piece of paper after putting on a plastic glove, he looked around the room for anything that would give the rotten bastards away. He began catching his breath as he read the note, holding it away from his face.

FIVE HOURS IS ALL YOU HAVE TO FIND HER BEFORE WE PUT HER DOWN. YOUR OTHER AGENTS ARE NOT OUT OF THE LOOP YET. BE PREPARED.

Gibbs sighed angrily as he ran a hand through his hair and thought about ways that he could protect his most fragile agent; Tony.

AT THE HOSPITAL...

Tony sighed as he took a seat next to McGee's bed with a bag of chips. He looked at McGee and opened the bag, wondering how much longer it would be until the younger agent awoke. After riding in the ambulance with McGee and sitting in the waiting room for what seemed to be hours, he discovered that the burns weren't that serious. They wouldn't leave any scars, but it would take at least three weeks for him to heal.

As the senior field agent took a deep breath, he heard McGee's voice croak, "Get any...F-For me?" Tony looked up at McGee and smiled, saying softly, "I didn't know McGoo could tell any jokes." He looked down at his bandaged hands, which had been burned slightly from the blast, and then back up at McGee. McGee's eyes were still closed, but he appeared to be lucid enough to talk to.

"You don't...Kn-Know a lot...Of things....A-About me..." McGee murmured, making Tony smile again. He placed a chip in his mouth as he replied, "Same to you, Probie. But I do know enough about you to know you." Suddenly, McGee's eyes fluttered open and he turned to look at Tony. "I could...Tell you...A few things..." Tony blinked as he laughed slightly and said, "You're not dying, McGoo. The scars will heal pretty soon and you'll--!"

"Wh-What did...What did your dad do...To make you...F-Feel so powerless...Against him? Even now...?"

Tony stopped talking suddenly, feeling a wave of emotions hit him. However, he hid this on the outside with a smile as he said, "So that's what's been on your mind." He relaxed in his chair as he thought about a number of things that the fat bastard had done to him. Some were minor things, like hitting him when he was late or locking him in his room for a few hours when he misbehaved. Some were more major things, like the time he had shoved Tony down a flight of stairs and cracked his head open. When he had awoke two days later, his father told him that it was an "accident" and that he had "slipped and fell".

McGee closed his eyes again and murmured, "I won't...Tell anyone..." Tony chuckled slightly as he ate another chip, asking, "Yeah, right, Probie. The last time I believed that was when you told Kate when I lost my virginity." The younger of the two opened his eyes again and smiled, saying softly, "You shouldn't...Have pushed my...M-My buttons, then."

Tony nodded. Reasonable excuse. He was pretty good at pushing buttons, as his father knew very well, and he was also very good at pissing a lot of people off. He wasn't exactly sure why he was so good at it or why he enjoyed it sometimes, but it didn't matter to him.

"Well...Where would you like me to start, McGoober?" The older agent asked, eating a few more chips. As McGee thought, he said quietly, "The first time...He--He hit you..." He shut his eyes again as Tony took a long, deep breath.

"Alright, that's reasonable. The first time he hit me was when my mother died. When she was around and alive, he played the nice daddy role, but you could tell he didn't like me very much. You know those evil looks that parents give their kid when they don't want them to do something? Or the look Gibbs gives you when he wants you to shut up? It was kinda a mix between those two looks that he gave me. Anyway, my mother had died and about..." Tony thought, sticking another chip in his mouth. "Probably a month later, maybe less, can't really remember, I knocked over one of his vases. So...The big old fatty hit me, gave me a black eye." He smiled as he thought about it, suddenly losing his appetite as he set his bag of chips in the garbage. "After that, it kinda escalated. If he had a party, he'd lock me up in my room until it was over or when he remembered I was up there. If I said the wrong thing or disobeyed one of his orders, he would hit me. Oh! But there was one time when he uh..." He trailed off, looking at McGee.

"I snuck out of the house once, which didn't bother him, but when I came back, he was pissed off that I hadn't done my chores. He was yelling at me, threatening to lock me in my room again, and shoved me down a flight of stairs. I honestly don't think he had meant to do it. It was weird. Almost like he was acting on autopilot." He sighed heavily and thought about some other things he had done, however, he wasn't sure if McGee wanted to hear the rest.

"I'm still...Listening..." Came McGee's voice, weak and hoarse.

Tony nodded and sighed again, continuing, "When I went against him sometimes he would give me baths in cold water. And I don't mean just cold," he laughed slightly. "He would make sure my lips were turning blue. If they weren't, then he'd be sure they were. I remember that at one point he threatened to kill me and I believed him. That was mostly the reason I had run off. Surprised he even found me where I was...And that's pretty much my lifelong story."

He smiled and said, "But don't get me wrong. I mean, I was a pretty bad kid. I was always getting in his way and stuff, y'know? Bugging him and driving him over the edge. It was my own fault that he did the things he did and I guess I deserved what I got. He was just making sure I stayed in line."

"That what you think, DiNozzo?"

Tony jumped at the voice and spun around, looking at Gibbs. "Uh...Well, yeah. I mean, look at me, Boss." He laughed slightly. "Even you can't stand a single day with me around you. It's only natural that he went over the edge." He looked at McGee and sighed, realizing that the agent had fallen asleep long ago. He turned back to Gibbs and asked, "Everything all right?"

"No, DiNozzo. Everything is NOT all right. You didn't deserve any of his crap." Gibbs snapped, making Tony flinch slightly. "But, Boss, I mean...You gotta think of this from his point of view. I misbehaved and I was a pretty awful kid."

Gibbs sighed angrily and snapped a litle louder this time, "Doesn't matter! You were just a kid, Tony! Do you think I treated Kelly the way Gregory treated you?! Do you think I locked her up or beat her everytime she was bad?!" Tony shook his head and said quickly, "No of course not, Boss! But that's because you loved her, right?" Gibbs stopped fuming for a minute. It suddenly occurred to Tony that that was what Tony must've been thinking. At such a young age, Tony had known that his father had hated him, didn't want him, didn't want anything to DO with him. How could a child think that for that long and become the man that Tony was today?

"Tony," Gibbs began, however, he was cut off when his phone rang. He flipped it open and barked, "Yeah, Gibbs."

"Four hours."

The line went dead and Gibbs swore, making Tony stand up. "What is it, Boss?" Gibbs sighed angrily and looked from McGee to Tony. "They've got Ziva and we've got four horus, DiNozzo, do the math." He rushed from the room as Tony rushed after him. "What?! Boss, what do we do?"

"We treat this like any other case, but work faster this tiem, got me?" Gibbs asked, rushing out to his car, Tony on his heels. He nodded as he hopped into the car and said, "Got it, Boss! We going to see Abbs?" Gibbs didn't respond at first, just started his car. He let loose a sigh as he looked at Tony and said, "If you had been my kid, DiNozzo, I would've made sure you were loved everyday of your life." He then began driving as Tony was left staring at Gibbs and smiling slightly.

4:57:36 Time Left