Tony awoke to the sound of a heated argument outside the room 'Rene' had shown him to, having got a couple of hours of sleep but feeling no better for it. The words were loud and being spoken quickly in French but he understood the gist of what was being said - Jeanne and her father were arguing over the arms dealer's decision to free him. Weakly pushing himself into a seated position, noticing for the first time how much he'd bled on the sheets, he waited to find out which one would win. He knew it could be difficult to say 'no' to your own child but he was hoping that Rene had a strong hold over Jeanne, that she would accept her father's decision because he wasn't sure how much more of a beating he could take. Sure he was used to being injured, and had even been tortured a couple of times before, but he knew that he was in a bad way - the amount that he'd bled giving that away and he wanted to live long enough to see his children grow up.

The door opened and both stepped into the room. Jeanne glared angrilly at him but Rene offered him a small smile before the man realised just how much he was still bleeding, and the arms dealer's expression morphed into one of concern. Blinking at the older man in confusion he wondered what was wrong, not understanding the look. He asked if he could go and swung his legs over the side of the bed in attempt to stand. His legs buckled from under him and he found himself feeling light-headed. Much to his amazement Rene moved to his side and helped him to his feet, calling for some guards. The guards, somewhat roughly, manhandled him downstairs and into a car. Giving him his wallet and cell phone back Rene told the guards to drop him off at an address that he didn't quite catch. Nodding they drove to an abandoned warehouse and dumped him, quickly leaving.

Groaning he pulled his cell phone out of the pocket Rene had tucked it in and dialled the number for Abby's lab, glad Jenny had sent him updates whenever the numbers changed. He'd memorised them even though most of the time he wouldn't even consider using them - he still felt a little hurt by the way they had taken him for granted. It took a couple of seconds, which felt like hours, for Abby to answer the call.

"This is Abby," she announced.

"Hey Abs," he coughed.

"Oh my god," she gasped. "Tony?"

"Yeah, listen can you put a trace on this call," it seemed increasingly diifficult to talk. "Send the team an' maybe an ambulance."

"Sure," she agreed. "Are you okay?"

"I will be," he answered. "Are M.J and Katie there?"

"They're with the director," she informed. "You got cute kids."

"Tell them I'm okay, would you?" his vision was blurring. "Might want to tell Gibbs to hurry up as well."

"Tony, Tony, are you okay?" she sounded worried.

"Mmm, yeah," he closed his eyes. "Tired."

"You need to stay awake," she practically screamed. "Gibbs and the ambulance will be there soon."

"Sorry Abs," he gave into the pull towards darkness.

...

Gibbs slammed on the brakes as he reached the warehouse Abby had directed them to. Not even bothering to properly park he sprinted inside, his weapon drawn. His eyes were immediately drawn to the unconscious figure that was Tony, curled up on the ground. Rushing to the younger man's side, he quickly checked for a pulse. It was weak but there and he let out a quiet sigh of relief. He could hear Abby screaming over Tony's phone and assuring her that he was there and that the younger man was still alive he hung up on her.

There was the noise of sirens as the ambulances approached and, not taking his eyes off Tony he ordered Agent Lee to wait outside, to meet the paramedics. Nodding hastily she ran to do as instructed whilst Gibbs attempted to rouse the younger man, to get any response that would suggest a return to consciousness. Unsure what to do, how to help, McGee and Ziva stared in shock at the two men, scared that Tony may not survive and they would never get the chance to show him that they had never meant to hurt him (McGee having told Ziva about what had transpired in Abby's lab). They had reason to be worried: the young man was a mess, his face was covered in cuts and bruises, as was all of the skin that they could see in fact, and his clothes were drenched in blood.

A screech of brakes heralded the arrival of the ambulance and Agent Lee showed the paramedics over to Tony's still unmoving form. Quickly checking his vitals they loaded him onto a stretcher, covering his face with an oxygen mask. Gibbs followed them to the ambulance and, telling the rest of the team to process the scene before heading to the hospital, jumped in beside the younger man to accompany him. The others watched the ambulance speed away, worried about the injured agent.

Gibbs found his eyes glued to Tony as the paramedics continued to work on him en-route to the hospital. He'd known what he was doing was wrong when he dumped all of the younger man's stuff on McGee's desk when he returned from Mexico. If he was honest his attitude towards his then senior field agent was completely uncalled for. Despite what he'd claimed at the time his memories hadn't fully returned, he'd hardly remebered Tony until the younger man left. When he'd realised that he'd pushed his senior field agent away he'd been angry, not at Tony but at himself and had taken that anger out on the rest of the team. He hoped the younger man would be alright, Tony deserved an explanatin and an apology for his actions.

They finally reached the hospital and doctors swarmed around Tony, rushing him to be treated. Gibbs found his worry mounting at just how badly injured Tony was. The last thing the special agent heard, in regards to Tony, before he lost sight of the younger man was a concerned call from one of the doctors treating the agent.

"He's crashing!"