Save Me

This chapter would have been up on Wednesday (Nov 3rd) but my computer had decided to contract a virus that corrupted the operating system, couldn't even actually turn it on because there was nothing to turn on. So it took a few days but it's back now and nothing had to get erased so I was just super happy about that.

Super excited for this chapter! I've been waiting for this moment since I started the story lol. Plus I don't remember if it was ever said when Tony and Lila last saw each other after he joined NCIS so we're just gonna stick with how this chapter says it for the sake of, well, the story.


Ducky sat in the hospital room, the overhead light at a dim setting but it was still light enough to read his book without trouble. He felt anxious and kept glancing over at the unconscious woman lying in the bed, almost as if he was starting to expect something. A thin golden chain was wound loosely around her hand, connected to the locket that rested in her palm. Ducky raised an eyebrow when he saw her hand clenched around the locket. A few minutes ago, it was relaxed.

"Delilah?" Ducky asked softly, putting his book down and walking over to the bed. He gingerly put his hand over hers and looked her over. "Delilah, can you hear me?" Her hand twitched and a grin crossed the doctor's face. "That's it...come on, wake up." She let out a soft noise as her face creased to a frown. "I know it's hard Delilah but you have to wake up." Ducky paused and, if he was ever asked later, he would never have been able to tell anyone why he said what he said next. "Tony's in trouble...he needs you."

Large brown eyes snapped open then blinked several times, disoriented. The hand being held by Ducky twitched and he let it go carefully as he took a slight step back to not overwhelm Lila. The heart monitor went a little faster then it was previously and she tilted her head back to look at it. Understanding dawned on her as her eyes shifted over to Ducky.

"Dr Mallard?" Lila asked, confused and sounding a little rough.

"Well at least your memory is in tact." Ducky said, smiling. "How do you feel?"

"I...I'm...where's Tony?" Lila asked, attempting to sit up.

"He's not here." Ducky said. He put his hand on Lila's shoulder to keep her down.

"Where is he?" Lila asked.

"He...he and the others...they went to find..." Ducky stalled, unsure of whether he should tell her. The heart monitor picked up again as Lila's eyes widened and she struggled against his hand to sit up. "Delilah please calm down. You've only just woken up, you shouldn't..."

"He can't!" Lila said. She frowned and tossed off the blanket. She disconnected the heart monitor and twisted around to shut it off before the buzzing drew in more attention.

"What are you doing?" Ducky asked.

"Dr Mallard, Randalls is going to kill Tony!" Lila said, turning back to face Ducky. "Please, I know Tony, I know he's got it figured out. You have to get me there."

"Delilah, Tony has the other members of his team with him." Ducky said. "There's no danger to him."

"No, please, you don't understand." Lila said.

Three Weeks Ago - Washington

"Another day, another round, eh Delilah?" Lester asked, smiling. Lila glared at him as best she could. She was on her knees, her arms cuffed behind her back and attached to a small chain in the wall. "I think you're almost ready."

"Ready for what?" Lila asked.

"Ready to show your delightful ex-boyfriend what I can do." Lester said, crouching down in front of Lila. "Do you know where we are Delilah?"

"Enlighten me." Lila said.

"We're in Washington." Lester said. Lila froze, trying to keep her face expressionless. "Right near where good old Tony is. You're going to send him a message for me."

"No." Lila said.

"You don't have a choice." Lester said. He snapped his fingers and another man came over. "See this man here? He's an ex-naval officer, one of my boys now. You're going to play hunter and the rabbit. Guess what part you are?"

"Why the hell are you doing this you sick twisted little freak?" Lila asked, straining her wrists in the cuffs.

"Because I haven't gotten the chance to really mess with our good friend, special agent Anthony DiNozzo in such a long time." Lester said. He punched Lila in the side of the head, causing her to fall to her side. She was too dazed to do anything when she felt her hands getting released. It didn't matter much because a few seconds later they were in front of her, getting tied with rope. "Now, be a good little girl."

"Go to hell." Lila said. She bite back a yelp when she was roughly pulled to her feet.

"You and my boy here...one way or another...Tony's gonna get a message." Lester said. "Don't try anything sneaky now. Our friend needs to know that I'm here afterall." He smiled and pushed Lila to the other man.

Present

"Me and that guy...we moved closer to NCIS." Lila said, telling the story quickly all while letting Ducky help her walk around the room. "When I tried getting away, he chased after me. I thought if I killed him I could get away and keep Tony from ever getting involved again. Obviously not...after I did...kill the guy...I tried getting further away but didn't make it. Got through some trees and that's the last I remember."

"So this whole thing has been one big trap." Ducky said.

"Yes, that's why we need to get to Randalls before Tony does." Lila said. "Or at least before Randalls can do anything."

"You're talking about sneaking you out of a hospital room that's already heavily guarded to keep anyone from getting it." Ducky said.

"Between the two of us, I'm sure we can come up with some way." Lila said.

"How? The only people allowed in here are your doctors and NCIS and I don't think your doctors will..." Ducky paused and slowly looked at Lila. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Delilah...how do you feel about black?"

"This is starting to seem far too easy." Ziva whispered as they circled around the house. It looked like just a regular old house. Tony remembered it from Lila's last visit years ago when they had gone for a drive and she had pointed it out. To most people, it was just a house, but to Lila and Tony, it looked like her parents' place.

There was a for sale sign in the front yard, just like the last time he had seen it. He wondered if anyone ever really bought the place.

"Everyone stay alert." Gibbs said. The team stayed low as they moved toward the house. Tony kept his eyes on it and could have sworn he saw a curtain move. Gibbs tested the doorknob and found it turning easily in his hand, the door opening without a sound. That sent off a warning signal in Tony's mind but he ignored it as they moved into the house and spread out. While the others took the main floor and upstairs, he went down to the basement. It was completely unnerving when he got down the stairs and found it to be a near exact double of Lila's 'apartment' in her parents' house. The television was on but muted and there was a man sitting on the couch.

He looked only a few years older then Tony himself with light brown hair cut neat and a goatee. He was dressed in a navy blue suit with a black tie. He had a lit cigar rolling between his fingers. Tony didn't do anything, just stood there, waiting to get acknowledged. He could hear noises from the upper levels and they weren't exactly nice ones but they weren't gunshots. Slowly, the man turned to look at him. When Tony had walked into the room, he only saw one half of the man's face. Now he saw the other and winced slightly at the scars and missing ear.

"Your girlfriend does good work." The man said, simply, gesturing at his scars.

"I knew I had a reason to be proud of her." Tony said. "You know this is it right?"

"Is it?" The man asked. "And no card?" He put the cigar to his mouth.

"We have all we need on you, Randalls." Tony said. "You're not getting away ever again."

"You say that...but you don't really mean it." Lester said, exhaling smoke. He rose to his feet and turned off the television. "Do you like the set up?"

"You're sick." Tony said. Lester smiled. "For a man going to jail, you're certainly happy."

"Oh I have a little secret." Lester said. "And eight year long secret. Oh...and...a six year old one. So I have two secrets."

"What?" Tony asked.

"One of them is in the bedroom. Go ahead and look, I'll wait." Lester said. Curiousity got the better of Tony and he moved to the bedroom. He could hear a voice in there and frowned. Slowly he turned the knob and opened the door. There was a woman standing with her back to the door. Light brown hair cascaded down her back in slight curls. A black shirt and blue jeans covered her body. As she turned, he looked up to meet familiar blue eyes widened behind simple glasses. Tony stared in disbelief, his jaw hanging open, his own eyes wide in shock. For a long time, neither said anything, just stared at each other, hardly believing what they were seeing.

"Nicole?" Tony said finally.

Six Years Ago - Washington

"Visitor DiNozzo." Kate said, walking past Tony's desk. The addressed man looked up and couldn't help but smile at the woman walking from the elevator to his desk. Her hair was once again light brown, she had changed it back last year. Tony stood up, his eyes traveling down over the woman's bare legs beneath her shorts.

"Lila, you definitely know how to surprise a guy." He said, moving around his desk to hug her tightly.

"Like you're complaining." Lila said, laughing.

"Well considering you were just here three months ago and usually your visits are more spaced out then this...nah, I'm not complaining." Tony said, smiling brightly. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Oh you know...I was...around." Lila said, shrugging as she toyed with a pen on Tony's desk. "Thought I'd swing by."

Tony only knew that she had left Baltimore PD a couple of months after he had transferred to NCIS. He didn't know where she worked now or what she did but she sounded and looked okay every time he saw or spoke to her so he wouldn't complain about the lack of knowledge. He knew that it was at least a similar job to what they had been doing and he was wondering if it was CIA or something along those lines that she had joined. Something that moved her around a lot, he knew that much.

"LILA!" The pair looked as Abby can sprinting over from the elevator. The goth girl collided with the other one and Tony had to grab Lila's shoulders to keep her from falling.

"I've only been in here for four minutes." Lila said. "How do you know these things?"

"I'm just that good." Abby said.

"Well I'm two down now...Kate, you want a hug too?" Lila asked, looking at the desk across from Tony's. Kate looked up from whatever work she was doing and swiftly shook her head. Lila laughed. "Can't say I didn't offer."

"So what's up Lila?" Abby asked, stepping back. "You don't usually visit this frequently."

"I was in the area." Lila repeated. "Umm...guys, not that I don't love seeing the two of you because, well, that's always my favourite part of being in Washington, but uh...do you know where Gibbs is?"

"Well he was..." Tony started.

"Right here." Gibbs said, walking over to them. "Delilah."

"Hey Gibbs." Lila said. "I have a favour to ask of you."

"Alright." Gibbs said. "Come with me." Lila extracted herself from between Tony and Abby and followed the older man to an empty briefing room. "So Delilah, what can I do for you?"

Present

Gibbs heard the noises on the main level but ignored them as he searched through the rooms on the upper floor. He had been through two bedrooms and a bathroom with only one more bedroom and the attic to look in. He carefully opened the last bedroom door and quickly knocked out the man in there. He looked around but saw nothing else of interest. Looking in the closet, all that was there was some clothes for a little boy.

Only one place to look now.

He moved out of the room and looked down over the stairs. There were still noises and then a man was thrown to the bottom of the stairs, unconscious. Gibbs smiled slightly and moved to stand under the hatch for the attic. He looked up at it then reached up and pulled the cord.

Six Years Ago - Washington

"Tony never knows alright?" Lila asked. "Not until Randalls is put away for good."

"That might not be the best idea." Gibbs said, crossing his arms.

"I know it's not the best, but it's all I got right now." Lila said. "Even these visits are getting bad. Gibbs, I can't...I can't endanger Tony."

"What happens if he finds out on his own?" Gibbs asked.

"Then I'll deal with that then." Lila said. "You're the only person who knows anything. You're the only person I know who's like a vault. Please Gibbs, it's not the best idea, I know that, but I'm hoping it'll only be for a short while."

"I won't tell him." Gibbs said. "This is your stuff to tell."

"Thank you." Lila said.

"Once this is done though...I might expect you on my team." Gibbs said. Lila smiled slightly at that. "You'd be good to have."

"Thank you." Lila said. "Once this job is done...I'll definitely get back to you on that." Gibbs grinned and nodded.

Present

Finally.

Standing on the ladder to the attic, Gibbs looked to the only spot where there was light. In the corner of the small empty room was a young boy with a baseball cap over his head, huddled in a large coat, wide brown eyes stared fearfully at Gibbs.

"It's alright." Gibbs said, staying put. "I'm Gibbs. Do you remember me?" After a moment, the little boy nodded and slowly started to crawl over. "I'm going to get you out of here. We'll get you to see your mom real soon." The boy was close enough now that, when Gibbs held out his hand, he touched the child's arm. The boy was still cautious but he knew the old man so he would trust him. He allowed Gibbs to help him down the ladder then they both stood at the top of the stairs and listened for signs of anything happening on the lower levels.


So Nicole...Lila's sister...is alive? I just twisted this story right up. Eight years she's been with Lester Randalls...wow. I was originally not going to have any flashbacks in this, except for the one with Lila and Lester, but then I realized that a few extra things needing to be added in so the exact flashbacks were thrown in. Hopefully I won't need any next chapter.