Todd sighed as he walked out of the building, coughing harshly into his right hand and soot covering his face. McGee was standing off to the side, asking a few people questions. He looked back at Todd, before thanking someone and walking over to him. "Is the fire out?" He asked, looking at the soot on Todd's face.
Todd wiped his face off with his hand, saying softly, "Yeah...But no one's here. Tony was definately here though." McGee blinked as he asked kindly, "H-How do you know that?" The newest agent sighed with frusturation, saying, "There was a single chair in a room with handcuffs lying on it...Bryce doesn't have handcuffs, McGee." McGee's face dropped in a bit of defeat as he asked, "Any signs of Bryce?" Todd nodded, walking towards the sedan and opening the back door, reaching in for his bag. "There was a toolbox full of tools that he had used on Special Agents DiNozzo and Gibbs last time. One of the officers recognized it from the evidence files..." He pulled himself from the car with an extra shirt in his hand. He began wiping off his face as a voice asked, "Fingerprints?"
Todd turned around to see Gibbs, frowning angrily as Ziva rushed inside to collect evidence. He sighed heavily as he responded, "We may be able to collect a few, but what's the point? We know who it is already..." Gibbs nodded and heard his cellphone ring as he snapped, "Then find something that will lead me to my agent. You're supposed to be here to help, not state the obvious, Special Agent Todd." He walked off, answering his phone, as Todd tossed the shirt back into the sedan and slamming the door.
He looked at McGee and smiled. "Well, let's find something." McGee nodded, following Todd inside the meat factory, hoping that they would find something to lead them to Tony.
Gibbs sighed as he answered his phone and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, Gibbs."
"Special Agent Gibbs. It certainly has been a while, hasn't it?"
Gibbs felt his eyes widen slightly as his blood went cold in fear. "Bryce." He growled.
"Aha. So you do remember me. That's good...Very good."
Gibbs walked a bit farther away from the meat factory as he said angrily, "It's only been three days since you've taken my agent, Bryce."
"Oh? Oh yes...It appears it has." Bryce chuckled, the sound of tape ripping behind him.
Gibbs tried to listen to the backround noises, tried to hear a chain or something that would allow him to know where Tony was. "Where the hell is he, Bryce?"
Bryce didn't respond at first, the phone extremely quiet. As Gibbs waited, about to yell, he replied, "He's safe, if that's what you're worried about Dear Jethro."
"He's not safe when he's anywhere near you, Bryce."
"Harsh, Jethro, considering that I let him live this long." There was the sound of a gunshot as Bryce swore. "I missed...Your agent runs pretty damn fast. He must be used to it, running all the time."
Gibbs quickly snapped his fingers, catching the attention of McGee, who was placing evidence in the car. He pointed to the phone and McGee quickly began calling Abby. "Ya gonna give us something, Bryce?"
"The famous Leroy Jethro Gibbs, solver of any case, wants a clue?! Well, isn't this a surprise!"
Gibbs was about to reply, when Bryce cut in, "When water fills the ar, there may be a chance. However, when mud fills the air, all is lost." The phone suddenly began beeping and Gibbs swore, hanging up the phone and looking at McGee. McGee shook his head solemnly and Gibbs rushed back over to the car, seeing Todd step out of the building and coughing harshly, dropping to his knees. Gibbs' brow furrowed as he looked at McGee, who was also staring in a bit of shock.
As Gibbs watched Todd cough, he saw Ziva crawl out of the building looking as pained as Todd did. Gibbs quickly yelled to McGee, "Call the paramedics! NOW!" He rushed over to Ziva and Todd, crouching down beside them. Ziva was still on her hands and knees, coughing as Todd lay on his right side, gasping for air. Gibbs tapped Ziva's cheek and said softly, "Stay with me, Ziva." Ziva nodded, clutching her throat with one hand, and said between coughs, "I-It was...A-A...Tr...Trap, Gibbs. Bryce....Bryce wanted us...T-To find this...D-Dammit..." She began coughing harsher than before and Gibbs looked at Todd, making sure he was still breathing. He seemed to be fine for the moment, other than taking shallow breaths.
Gibbs sighed angrily and looked at Ziva, hearing her say softly, "P-Poor...To...Tony..." Gibbs nodded, looking down at his phone and murmuring, "Poor Tony..."
ELSEWHERE...
Tony panted heavily as he sat against a tree, his hands bound painfully behind him, jamming into the side of the tree. Bryce stood over him, grinning like mad. He paced back in forth in front of Tony before saying softly, "I will let you run once more. You are a fast runner." He ignored the crazy man as he swallowed and looked at the bullet wound in his leg. It hadn't exited and that could be bad. Very, very bad.
Bryce walked towards Tony, tipping his head up so that they were making eye contact. "Hmm." He murmured, looking around Tony's face. "It appears that you have some scabs..." He sighed heavily, setting his bag on the ground. Tony bit his lower lip, feeling sweat running down his face as the pain in his leg throbbed.
Bryce revelaed a roll of duct tape as he walked over to Tony, feeling the young man's face. "What did you do, Tony? Run into some trees as you ran in fear?" He laughed and ripped a piece of duct tape off, sticking it over Tony's scab. "Well, I'll fix these marks on your face." Tony felt his heartbeat increasing as he watched him put pieces of duct tape on all of his scabs. He felt like crying at that moment, all of his fight was washing away, and he had to hold back tears as he watched Bryce stare at him.
"Now, stay still." He said calmly, grabbing a corner of one of the duct tape pieces on Tony's face. Tony tried to ready himself for the pain, but it came quicker than he expected. With a might RIIIIIIP of the tape, Tony yelled in pain and felt blood running down his face. He squeezed his eyes shut and panted heavily, mumbling something.
Bryce removed the other pieces just as slow, and watched in ecstasy. He stared at all the blood, hearing Tony pant heavily in pain and in an effort to stay awake. He chuckled softly as he untied Tony and held up a single finger. "You have one hour, Anthony DiNozzo. After one hour, I will hunt you down and take us to the meeting place."
Tony was confused. Meeting place? What meeting place? Bryce had never spoken of a meeting place before? He decided that it was probably some stupid thing Bryce came up with and stood up. He swallowed before running as fast as he could away from the maniac.
Bryce chuckled and looked at his cellphone, mumbling, "Come on Jethro...The clock is ticking."
