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Previously on A Deadly Phobia:

"Fine, we'll be right behind you and Jethro, I'm sure we'll find Anthony to be just fine." Ducky tried to reassure his friend before hanging up the phone. He hadn't noticed that Gibbs had already disconnected the call a few seconds earlier in his eagerness to leave. As Gibbs and Ziva hurried into the elevator to meet up with McGee who was ready and waiting at the gassed up car, Gibbs nagging gut caused his worry to escalate as he thought to himself;

"What have you gotten yourself into now DiNozzo?"

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A Deadly Phobia

Scene Seven

1:47 PM - Dental Clinic

Tony couldn't seem to stop his eyes as they kept trying to close completely - the Valium that had been added to the Novocaine was enough of a dose to put even the largest man out for hours but he couldn't let that happen. He had seen enough murder cases in his long career to know that he didn't want to become one. He also knew his only chance to break free would be when they left the clinic to move him to another location as they had been discussing for the last five minutes while Tony sat there trussed up and half listening. He was more focused on his fight to stay awake so as not to miss his opportunity to attempt to escape.

He was further motivated to remain conscious because he knew that it was up to him to find a way to leave as many clues behind as he could for when his team eventually figured out where he had gone. He wanted to kick himself for not even telling Ziva the name of the dentist he was going to see but at the same time he knew that if anyone could track that information down even without so much as a syllable of the dentist's name to go on - it was his team. Even without the luxury of using a GPS signal since his phone lay scattered in pieces on the thin carpet covered floor around him.

But no matter how good he knew their investigative skills to be, Tony knew he would have to keep stalling as long as he could to buy his team some time. Sure - they would figure out which dentist he went to eventually, but it was definitely going to take a while with nothing to go on.

A few minutes later Tony hadn't even realized he had lost his battle against the drowsy pull of the drugs until he was rudely awakened by a stinging slap to his face causing his eyes to flash open fully expecting to see the face of the duo's obvious leader, Cal, looming over him. But instead he was surprised to see the other man, the one referred to as Jesse, glaring down at him in anger right before he ripped the tape they had only recently applied – crudely off his mouth.

"Don't go fallin' asleep on us Aa-gent Dee-No-zzo!" he warned – purposely exaggerating the sound of Tony's name. "What do you think this IS – a damn day at the spa?"

Tony shook his head, willing himself to become more alert and focused, he looked around to regain his bearings, spotting his nervous dentist who was still standing frozen in the same place he was standing after stabbing him in the hand. Tony's mind was spinning. Why would this man try to take care of his tooth one minute and the next be hurting him. The investigator in him wondered if perhaps these thugs were holding the man's wife or something in order to get him to help them capture Tony. But then he realized that made no sense at all since there was no way the dentist could have known that Tony would be coming in today.

He decided to stop trying to figure that part out for the time being, there were just too many missing pieces that only served to skew his reasoning. He decided instead to play along while he continued to try and uncover just what these men wanted badly enough to cause then to kidnap a Federal Agent.

"No - I don't think it's a day at the s-spa by any means - bu-ut I dooo think . . . it's about t-time you tell me what the hell you want from me! Wha'ss thiss all about?" Tony's words were slurred due to the increasing numbness of his tongue and lips - making it harder to enunciate and definitely impossible to sound demanding or threatening in any way. He could almost feel his blood pressure rising from how angry he was becoming over the entire situation and if the throbbing in his wounded hand was any indication, that feeling was right on the money.

"Oh you'll find out soon enough cop! But right now? We're leaving – and ya know, the more I think about it, maybe it's best if you do take a little nap! At least for the short drive we'll have to take to get to where we're takin' you. Can't have you causin' any more trouble now can we?"

Tony had barely followed what he had just said as he watched Jesse quickly pulled out his own gun from the back waistband of his jeans – the same place Cal had kept his own gun hidden, Tony's entire body tensed, he cringed in anticipation of the pain that was surely to come when he saw Jesse swinging his gun hand slightly back and up over his head before bringing it down in an dangerous arc and bashing Tony in the back of his head directly hitting the base of Tony's skull and instantaneously knocking him out.

But right before the lights went out Tony noticed something. The hand that was bringing a gun down on him like the drop of a hammer . . . wasn't covered in any kind of protective glove whatsoever.

'What an idiot.' was the last coherent thought that raced through Tony's mind as he succumbed to the new injury.

Inside Gibbs' company issue Dodge Charger racing down the North Central Freeway at over 100 MPH . . .

Gibbs was focused bobbing and weaving down the highway with his foot getting heavier and heavier on top of the gas pedal. McGee sat in the passenger seat plugging in the address to the Charger's GPS device in an effort to distract himself from the peril he saw whenever he looked up. Ziva was seated in the back seat doing the exact same thing by keeping her eyes on the text she was typing as she worked on sending Palmer the exact address of their destination.

The young ME had done a great job keeping up with Gibbs fat first - but once they got off the side streets and onto the freeway it was a different story! The heavy truck that Palmer and Ducky were riding in was no match for the Charger as they soon found themselves lagging further and further behind. Palmer sighed in relief when he heard the familiar beep coming from his cell phone alerting him to a text message and knowing that someone was going to text him the address. Since he knew Dr. Mallard would skin him alive if he attempted to read the message whilst driving - he quickly directed his mentor to the message so that he could verbally relay the address to Palmer instead.

Palmer was more nervous than usual, it seemed he was responsible for getting he and Dr. Mallard lost on the way to a crime scene more often than not - but this time was different. This time he was going to get them there in record time since this time - it was his friend at risk. It was Tony who was missing and possibly hurt - or worse. He quickly pushed the negative thought from his mind and put all of his energy back into getting them there as quickly as possible.

The tires of the Charger burned dark shaded rubber skid marks on the pavement and kicked up smoke and debris in it's wake when Gibbs slammed on the brakes before even waiting for the odometer to show less than 50 miles per hour as he pulled up a half a block from the rear entrance of the clinic, jumping out of the car without even turning it off.

McGee reached over to finish the job, grabbing the car keys from the ignition he too was out of the vehicle in a flash as he raced up to catch up to Ziva and Gibbs as they were already halfway to the clinic. The closer they got the more nervous they became and the more Gibbs gut was churning – almost getting to the point of being physically uncomfortable.

The clinic appeared to be closed. There were no cars in the lot, no sign of activity at the Dental office whatsoever.

"Both of you listen up – you will proceed with caution since at this point we have no knowledge that any crime has even been committed here. You will not do anything until we can assess the situation – Is that clear?"

After receiving a nod from both agents Gibbs proceeded. "McGee – head to the front entrance and wait for my signal. Ziva – with me."

Once Gibbs and Ziva arrived at the rear entrance to the clinic Ziva moved to one side of the door while Gibbs stood at the opposite side. There were no windows on the back side of the clinic so they had no way of knowing what lay beyond the door in front of them. Ziva quietly twisted the knob just to test and see if it was open, the knob barely moved – it was locked tight. She looked over to her boss for further instructions.

Gibbs was whispering quietly into his hidden mic talking to McGee who was now in position in front of the main clinic entrance. McGee listened to his bosses' orders through the ear wicks they wore as part of their usual field gear. "McGee – sit rep."

"Door's locked tight boss – lights are off."

"Copy that McGee, same back here. On my mark we'll have to kick the doors in and if that doesn't work – shoot the damn lock if you have to!"

McGee could hear the worried tone in Gibbs voice but he had to admit, he was extremely concerned himself – afraid of what they might find behind the doors, or worse – who they might find and in what condition.

Everyone assumed their readied stance as they waited for Gibbs mark, "One, Two, three . . . GO!"

Door frames and splinters flew everywhere as both doors came blasting open from the force of both Gibbs and Tim's powerful kicks. Gibbs went in the rear door ahead of Ziva while McGee entered through the front. McGee was now standing in the waiting room while Gibbs and Ziva were staring at a somewhat long hallway that had side doors along the way – most likely offices or treatment rooms and the like. As they proceeded down the hallway Gibbs threw open one office door that appeared to be that of the dentist since it had his name on the opaque colored glass. Swiftly glancing around the small office he yelled out to Ziva, "CLEAR!" then it was Ziva's turn as she opened the next door which was a restroom that proved to be clear as well.

Tim looked around seeing an obviously vacant waiting room, he then spotted the receptionist's desk to his left and a door straight ahead of him that he knew had to lead to the treatment area. He knew better than to not announce himself before entering into an area where his gun yielding boss and co-agent were.

"MCGEE COMIN' THROUGH!" he yelled. There was no need to be quiet now since it was clear no one was there.

He spotted Ziva and Gibbs half way down the hall at the same time they looked over at him. Together the three approached the next door while each of their stomach's dropped in anxious worry – then as soon as they had opened the door and stepped into the room both Ziva and Tim's mouths dropped wide open while Gibbs' jaw actually clenched more tightly shut as the sudden shock and growing worry managed to make his fury soar.

The place was a disaster! There were instruments and a tray among other things strewn about the floor, there were remnants of duct tape laying on the main treatment chair, drawers and cabinets left open and then all three of them caught sight of something far worse than the messy room – fresh drops of blood. Drops of smeared blood on the treatment chair and more on the carpet below. Too much blood to have come from someone's mouth for sure, even if a tooth had been pulled it wouldn't have produced the amount of dark red blood that they were looking at now. But thankfully it was too little blood to be from any life threatening injury which was the only positive thing they could find about the entire bizarre situation.

The three agents stood in stunned silence almost too frozen to move, even knowing they had to get started before the trail became any colder, but before they had even started moving again they all heard a quiet gasp coming from the doorway behind them. All three heads spun around to see Palmer standing in the doorway holding one of the medical kits they brought in just in case it was needed for Tony or anyone else such as the dentist. Palmer was staring wide eyed at the obviously empty room – and at the blood. Ducky walked in right behind him and looked to see what had caused his assistant to stop so suddenly in front of him when his own eyes spotted the red drops as well.

After pausing for but a moment they knew they couldn't avoid the inevitable as they all started moving at exactly the same time, although every single one them felt as though they were moving in slow motion.

How had the day changed so dramatically in just a matter of hours? Even though no one said it out loud as they processed the scene, an eerie sense of deja vu overwhelmed each and every of them as they all thought back to the day when Tony's car had blown up and they had to process that scene as well, thinking at the time that the burned body seated inside was their friend and family member – one very special agent Anthony DiNozzo.

TBC

I almost didn't stop it here but I thought it was the most powerful place to end this chapter. I have holiday plans too so I didn't have a lot of time to keep going. I will update in the next few days though! Pls review! Thanks!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!