Anastasia winced as she began to regain consciousness. Pain shot through her arm as she tried to sit up.

"Oh so you're awake now?" The man asked as he grabbed onto her arm.

"I can't hear you." She could barely get out.

"What do you mean you can't hear me?" The man continued. "If you couldn't hear me you wouldn't know I'd been talking." When she didn't respond he promptly smacked her across the face and her eyes shot open. "I expect you to answer me when I talk to you."

"I can't hear you." She said again. Before she could get anything else out he smacked her again.

"You're just as naive as your idiot of a mother!" He replied. "There's no way you can't understand me…"

"I'm deaf!" She screamed out. "I don't know what you want from me… but you're going to have to face me and speak slowly if you want me to understand you."

"Alright." He said slowly. "Just to make sure you understand… I… Am… going… to… kill… you."

"Why?" Anastasia asked shakily.

"Because your mom and dad took away the love of my life. It's time for them to know what it feels like."

Caitlin and Sarah were anxiously waiting for the elevator to arrive at Abby's floor. "Mom and dad are gonna freak…"

Sarah nodded. "I don't even know how to tell them…"

"Just… tell them… Rip it off like a band-aid." Caitlin advised as the doors slid open.

Sarah gave her a glance before they walked down the hallway and briefly knocked before going into Abby's room. "Tim …" Sarah began.

"Shhh!" Tim replied immediately indicating that Abby was sleeping.

Sarah shook her head. "Tim this is really important…"

"Where's Stace?" Tim asked noticing the absence of his daughter.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you… She… she ran away." Sarah admitted.

Tim's eyes widened before he pulled out his phone to call Gibbs.

"Gibbs." His voice rang grumpily through the phone.

"It's Tim are you at NCIS?" He asked immediately.

Gibbs took a moment before replying. "What's wrong?"

"Anastasia ran away…"

"I'll have Tony run her cell phone and we'll work on tracking her down." Gibbs replied immediately.

"Wait Gibbs!" Tim called before he could hang up.

"What Mcgee?" Gibbs snapped.

"Make sure you tell anyone you contact that she's deaf… And try and get an ASL interpreter on the case." Tim said quietly. "I'll be there as soon as Abby wakes up and we tell her."

"We're on it Mcgee." Gibbs replied before hanging up his phone.

"Mcgee?" Tony asked as he watched Gibbs begin to dial another number.

"Anastasia ran away." Gibbs said before the person on the other line picked up.

Tony took in a deep breath as he realized everything that meant right now. Then he stood up and angrily made his way to interrogation. "AGENT SLACKS!" He shouted as he made his way into the room where he was interrogating Ducky.

"Anthony…" Ducky warned sensing his temper to be rising.

"No Ducky you don't know what's at risk right now." Tony replied immediately. "Where's Mr. Edwards?" He asked Agent Sacks.

"I don't know." Agent Sacks replied. "I would presume at home…"

"I need to know now." Tony demanded.

"Why is this so important to you?" Agent Sacks asked impatiently.

Tony slammed his hand onto the table. "Abby's youngest daughter ran away… If Mr. Edwards is looking for a way to get back at the team… this is his biggest chance."

"Stacey must be terrified." Ducky said in realization. "Agent Sacks this team needs to take care of her."

"Look… just because some girl ran away doesn't mean my investigation can stop." Agent Sacks said impatiently.

Tony decided it was just best to ignore him at this point. "The chances that she's still okay right now are pretty low. If she's wandering around downtown she can't understand or hear anything or anyone… Ducky we have to find her."

Ducky nodded. "Does Abigail know?"

Tony shook his head. "I don't know… All I know is Mcgee called and asked Gibbs to get working on it."

Ducky sighed. "Let me finish up here with Agent Sacks and I'll come and help."

Tony nodded before heading back to the bullpen where Tim had arrived. "Abby know?" Tony asked as soon as he saw Tim.

"Yep." Tim said, trying not to let the pain show. "She doesn't want anything to do with anyone right now. She thinks it's her fault that Stace ran away… She's worried we're never going to see her again."

"Are you okay?" Tony asked realizing how he would feel if he heard that Sienna had done something like that. She'd only been in the world a few days but to Tony, she was his world.

Tim took in a deep breath. "No." He admitted. "I'm going out looking for her… I'll be back, call me if you get any updates…"

"Wait!" Tony said as he grabbed his partner's shoulder. "I'm going with you."

Tim shook his head. "Tony I have to find her myself…"

"Are you seriously still having an ego right now?" Tony asked in disbelief. "This isn't just a chance for you to show how great you are."

"Tony just… let me do this." Tim was begging.

Tony shook his head. "I'm driving. We're going, now."

"Fine… but I'm not going to be happy about it." Tim said angrily.

"Stop being such a five year old and come on."

Abby was sobbing into Ziva's shoulder at the hospital. "How could Sarah let this happen?" She hiccupped.

Ziva took in a deep breath. "Abby you know this isn't Sarah's fault…"

"MY DAUGHTER RAN AWAY!" Abby shouted out.

"Abby stop!" Ziva demanded. "You can't stress... it's bad for you and the baby's health."

Abby continued to whimper when a knock came at the door. "Mom?" Caitlin asked softly after Ziva waved her into the room.

Ziva was shocked when she saw the mascara tracks down the young girl's cheeks. "Caitlin what's the matter?" She asked tentatively.

"I was ignoring her… It wasn't on purpose… but I wasn't listening to anything she said. I wasn't doing anything to include her." Caitlin admitted. "I just wanted to feel like something was normal about my life."

Ziva pulled her into her open arm. "It's not your fault." She promised her quietly. "A lot has been going on…"

"My little sister ran away from me… what else am I supposed to think?" Caitlin asked shakily.

"Alright… Caitlin honey…I need you to stop crying…" Ziva said uncomfortably.

"Why?" She asked through her sobs.

"You're too high pitched… and…" Ziva immediately made a face of discomfort. "I'm going to lactate…" She finished.

"I'm sorry…" Caitlin continued to sob.

Ziva sighed. "It's going to be a long night."

"Please stop!" Anastasia was begging from inside the dark closet. "Let me out! Please!"

The man opened the door and flicked on the light switch. "What do you want?"

Anastasia looked down and saw her purpling legs. "Please… let me go…" She was begging. "Or just call Agent Gibbs at NCIS… They'll give you anything you want…"

"Agent Gibbs?" He asked, looking intrigued. "Give me his number and I'll see what I can work out for you."He handed her his phone.

Anastasia quickly dialed in Gibbs's cell phone number before handing it back to him. She watched quietly as he called Gibbs. "Agent Gibbs?" The man asked as soon as the phone stopped ringing.

"Yes?" Gibbs replied as he clicked the record button.

"I have something I understand will seem quite valuable to you."

"What do you want for her?" Gibbs asked immediately as he looked up to see Tony and Tim coming out of the elevator and he waved them over as he put the phone on speaker.

"Ten Million."

Gibbs shook his head. "How long?"

"Three hours?"

"I can't do that… I'd need more time." Gibbs admitted. "And proof that she's still alive of course."

"You want to talk to her?" He asked.

"She can't hear me… But let her tell me she's alive."

He handed the phone to Anastasia "He wants to know you're alive before he'll get me the money."

"Gibbs…" she said as she started to cry. "Tell mom I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… Just… help me."

The man snatched the phone out of her hands. "I'll call you back in one hour to arrange a drop off location."

"If I don't have the money?" Gibbs asked tentatively.

"She dies."

"NO!" Tim shouted out just after Gibbs hung up the phone.

"You do realize what you just risked there Mcgee?" Gibbs asked angrily.

"Gibbs… We need to get her back." Tim said as he slowly backed into his chair.

"But on the bright side we know she's alive." Tony pointed out.

Gibbs gave him a glare. "I'll go talk to Vance and see what I can do…"

"Tim you should call Ziva and Abby at the hospital." Tony pointed out.

Tim sighed before pulling out his phone. When the ringing stopped the phone was answered by a very annoyed sounding Ziva. "You better have something to tell me that's important or I'm hanging up Mcgee."

"Tell Abby Stace is alive." Tim said quietly.

"Just alive… Not okay?"

"Someone has her. That's all we really know right now… I heard her… She's hurt but I don't know how badly…" Tim replied.

Ziva took one look at Sienna sleeping soundly in her cradle and she lost her breath. "Tim… I don't know what to say…"

"They're asking for ten million in three hours… Do you have anyone that owes you some major favors still?" Tim asked.

"I'll see what I can do Tim…" Ziva said quietly. "But I can't make any promises."

"Thank you Ziva." Tim said before hanging up the phone.

Tony sat down. "You know it's really weird to think that I live with someone who could probably get anything she wanted just by threatening someone."

"Not now Tony." Tim cut him off. "I can't deal with you right now…"

"Mcgee get up here!" Gibbs called from upstairs.

Tim immediately stood up and ran up the stairs. "What's the plan?"

"We can't get that much that fast…" Vance replied. "But I have half right now."

Tim looked at him in disbelief. "You have five million just sitting…"

"Look it's intended for another ransom… but there's more time to get that one delivered. I wouldn't do this for anyone but your daughter." Vance cut him off. "SecNav will hear nothing about this, are we clear?"

Both Gibbs and Tim nodded in response. "So now what?" Tim asked.

"We wait for him to call us back."

"This is really just a waiting game? The life of my daughter is on the line…" Tim began to argue.

"Look Mcgee, you know how ransoms work. We'll offer him half before we get her back and half after… But we really arrest him as soon as we have her back." Gibbs replied.

"Gibbs… I'm usually not thinking about what might happen if that doesn't work… Because normally I don't know the hostage…" Tim started. "But this time, it's my baby girl…"

"Tim…I understand that you want to go get her right now… But you and I both know that can't happen." Gibbs said gently as they walked back into the bullpen.

Tim slowly sat down in his desk chair and put his head in his hands.

Ducky then arrived in the bullpen from interrogation. "Do we have any updates Timothy?"

"She's alive… for now…" Tim said quietly into his hands.

Ducky sighed inwardly. "What's the plan?" He asked before sitting down at Ziva's desk.

"We're going to offer half the ransom as soon as he calls back." Gibbs informed him as he took his own chair.

"When's he calling back?" Ducky asked just before Gibbs's phone rang and everyone jumped into action.

"Hello?" Gibbs asked as soon as he opened his phone.

"I have a drop off location for you. Do you have the money?" The man asked.

"Yes." Gibbs replied flatly as Tim put his head in his hands.

"Alright so ten million for the girl?" The man asked.

"I'll give you half before you give me her and half after." Gibbs replied.

"I can live with that…" The man debated. "Alright, meet me in the alley between seventh and J in half an hour." He said before hanging up.

Gibbs immediately got up. "What are you just sitting there for?" He asked impatiently. "We have twenty minutes to get pre-set for this…"

"Right." Tony replied as he grabbed his SIG from his desk. "Mcgee! Come on!"

"Tim shook his head. "I can't do this…"

"Tim there's no time to think about this right now." Tony replied as he handed Tim his badge.

Tim nodded before he followed them into the elevator. "This better work…" He muttered under his breath.

Author's Note: So this is a little shorter than I was planning on… But I thought this was the best place to end it! I hope you guys are enjoying the story! I'm going to be starting on the next chapter in the next hour… "Right after I get myself a Nutter Butter". Please Review!