Shock Chapter 10

Disclaimer: This story is my own creation, but the characters (or most of them) belong to CBS, D. Belisario, whoever wrote the original story, etc... I don't own them, but I'm jealous of those who do!

Initiate

Tony sat on the stool next to the little boat in Gibb's basement, tossing files onto the work bench. None of these folders containing case records for the past few years held any sort of clue..

If they harm one hair on her head...if something happens to the baby.. Shhhhff. Shhhhhfff. Phhht. The last of the stack landed on the work bench, and Tony stood up. "I still don't see anything.. we need more to go on..I've put away a lot of criminals, Gibbs...

"I know, Tony." Gibbs nodded, adding the last of his files to the pile too. "But until we find more direction, we go with what we can. We will find her.."

"Hey boss." McGee's face appeared on the steps as Gibbs finished speaking. "Using another computer, I managed to trace the data from the email back to a cafe downtown.. I have photos of everyone in the cafe at the time the video was emailed..they had a decent camera set up..."

McGee held the file out to Gibbs, then, thinking twice of it, handed it to Tony. "Sorry.." He said, with a shrug to Gibbs.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at McGee, then waited patiently for Tony to look through the photos. He was half way through the stack when he paled, lifting his eyes to Gibbs. "I know who has her." He turned the stack of pictures toward Gibbs. The photo on top was of a man appearing to be about 50 years old, slightly grayed hair. Though the picture was blurry, the uniform he wore was obvious.

"A former partner, Tony?"

Tony shook his head. The lettering on the name plate, though blurry, was unmistakeable. "No... the uniform...if you look closely.." Tony couldn't get his words straight. He took a deep breath. "It's my uniform, Gibbs.. from when I was on Homicide in Peoria. Bastard's been in my apartment, I . His name is Michael Opale. I thought he was killed in an explosion that killed two officers in '97. He was a pledger in the Alpha Chi Delta fraternity, only he didn't make it, couldn't stomach the initiation. After he failed the initiation, he disappeared.. he turned up in '97, long enough to kill a few of the other Alpha Chi Deltas...he detonated a homemade bomb in his house when we went to arrest him.. took out two good officers...he was trying to kill me.. I'd tried to convince the captain to let me go on my own, but he insisted we all went."

Tony frowned. "We found a body in the house, DNA was a match to Michael's."

Gibbs grabbed his gun and badge and headed for the door. "Let's go."

McGee followed closely, but Tony hesitated, looking at the picture again. His stomach was tied in knots. This guy had been vicious in his attacks...the first brother killed had been dismembered, his parts found in three different locations. The second had been killed execution style; one bullet to the head, the third brother had been found with his throat sliced open. There had been no mercy for any of them, no defensive wounds. From what they had been able to tell, he had not held any of his victims captive before killing them.

Was Ziva already dead? Had the happiness he'd known for the past 24 hours already ended?

"DiNozzo. Come on." Gibbs called back over his shoulder from the top of the stairs.

Tony tried to shake himself free of his fears as he moved to follow them out of the basement. It's my fault, if she's dead...just like it's my fault those officers died. Just like it's my fault the brothers are dead.. Dear God, please let Ziva and the baby be ok..

Phhht... Whhhirrr.

Ziva opened her eyes again, looking around the empty room. Her torso felt heavy, as if there was a brick on her chest, but looking down she didn't see anything different with her machanical sound she had heard before continued. She no longer felt cramps in her abdomen, and felt devastated by the possibilities that that could mean. She had known about the baby for only a short time, but in that short time, she had come to be excited about the idea of having a little one, and sharing a future with Tony. Where was Tony? Was he alive? Was he looking for her? Would he still want to try a relationship if something happened to the baby...?

Click, squeak, creak. The sound of a door whose hinges were in need of oil opening pulled her from her momentary woes, and she turned her eyes toward the small beam of light that came through the opened door. She could hear traffic outside the room, where before all she'd been able to hear was the fan in the computer that was in the room. Whoever had entered walked toward her, their shoes muffled on what she could now tell was a carpeted floor by the scuff of the footwear with each step. In a voice that was altered by a voice changer, she heard a snicker, and then "It'll be easy to make him suffer...he made it too easy.."

Click. She blinked her eyes against the sudden brightness of a desk lamp, the beam angled at her. Look for clues, listen, smell... She thought, trying to find things that would help, if she was able to get to a phone. Chh...click... A familiar sound, what was it...she had heard it often. BANG!...Thud. She felt something hit her chest, a heavy, painful something. Her chest felt like it was on fire, and when she looked down, gasping for breath, she saw dark oozing blood. "Tony..." She cried before everything went dark.

A/N: Please don't hate me! Review instead!