Disclaimer: I don't own anything NCIS and I make no money from any of this.

A/N: Thanks to everyone for the awesome reviews. You are all amazing. Shout out to you all. Some Papa Gibbs in this one, some Tony angst, a good dose of hurt comfort and more death and destruction. Enjoy!

Two more chapters after this one.

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"Unlove"

Chapter Ten

"Hang On, Tony!"

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Cari's head flew up when she heard the gunshot. "Oh no." Her voice was only a tiny whisper. "Tony." She felt an amazing sadness take her over. Though she didn't really know her rescuer, she had come to understand that he was a man of honor and great courage. It horrified her to think that he'd been killed on her behalf. For a moment, she didn't know if she had what it took to go on alone, but then she realized it would discredit his apparent sacrifice if she just gave up.

"Think, Cari," she silently instructed herself. Just as she was about to squirm out of her hiding place and try to get farther away, she heard a sound. Holding her breath, she remained absolutely still. And her patience was rewarded.

She gradually saw a very tiny light; then two sets of shoes appeared only a few feet in front of her. Straining, she listened intently, trying to decide what to, if she should reveal her hiding place. Because as they stopped, it was obvious that one of the pair of shoes belonged to a women.

"Ziva," a man's soft and unfamiliar voice reached her ears. "He's going to be ok. They didn't kill Tony. I'd know if he was dead."

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Arik Famad turned toward his angry Captain. "I had to sir. He was going to kill Rodgers. And like you said, we need to know who he really is, if we're in any imminent danger. I'll kill him myself, once we're through with him."

Famad left a still seething Captain Hannah standing a few feet away, while he pushed Hutton's body off the man lying still and silent beneath him. "If I'm not too late already."

Holding his flashlight up so he could see, Hannah sighed and advanced, shining it down. "Well, Arik? Was it worth it? Is he still alive?" Famad's fingers found a spot on Tony's neck and pressed. He was rewarded with a fast fluttering. "Yes, he's still hanging on. Unbelievable."

Pushing Tony over onto his back, Famad then stood, before pulling the unconscious man into a fireman's hold and hoisting him to his shoulders. "Lead the way Captain. I'm sure we can make him talk when we get him back to the cabin."

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Cari decided it was now or never. Calling out a soft, "Please. Help me," she began squirming out of her hiding place. She stopped when within an instant two guns were leveled at her face and an angry woman's voice, none the less deadly sounding for its calmness, instructed her to halt. Cari managed to extend her empty hands, and could not keep the tears from flowing.

"I'm not armed. I'm Ensign Cari Castilles. I was with Tony. Please, please, we have to help him. Oh God, I'm afraid they killed him."

At that Ziva quickly holstered her gun and assisted the shocked and crying woman out of the brush, as Gibbs kept a careful watch. "You were with Tony? How badly was he hurt? Where did you leave him? Was anyone else with you? Who fired that shot? Why are you alone? Why are you not wearing a shirt?" Ziva's questions came fast and furious, and she gave the terrified woman a little shake.

Gibbs, still alert for any sounds hissed at his obviously distraught agent. "Ziva! Stop it. Get a hold of yourself. Let the woman answer you."

Cari tried to stop her crying, but now that the immediate danger seemed to have passed, she couldn't stop shaking. Hoping things hadn't just gone from bad to worse; her quiet, broken hearted sobs filled the air.

Ziva took a deep breath and got herself under control, realizing that she had to calm down, or she would not be able to help anyone, especially Tony. "Right Gibbs. Sorry, Ensign." Helping the frightened woman to her feet, Ziva continued in a gentler voice.

"I am Agent Ziva David, of NCIS. This is Special Agent Gibbs. Special Agent Tony DiNozzo and I have been working undercover, trying to infiltrate the gang who has been murdering Navy women. You are safe, we have you." And Ziva slipped an arm around the younger woman, steadying her.

"But anything you can tell us will help us find him. Do you think you can talk now?"

Cari drew one last shuddering breath, and nodded her thanks as Ziva released her, and then took her jacket off, wrapping it around the shivering woman.

"Yes, I'm sorry." Another deep breath. "I was taken by three men, kidnapped earlier today. I thought Tony was with them, but, but then he helped me escape. He's hurt; he was shot when he fell. We both fell, but they shot Tony." Her voice raised slightly with each word, until her hiccupping breaths stopped her, and she pressed a hand to her eyes, trying to stop the scenes that were playing out in front of her.

Ziva closed her own eyes, hating to have what she had already suspected confirmed. "How badly was he hurt?" she asked, dreading the answer.

Cari lowered her hand, and continued. "It was bad. He was hit at least twice. I tried to help him; I'm a medic, so I have some training. I put a tourniquet on his arm, but he was bleeding a lot." Taking yet one more deep breath, Cari willed her medical training to take over.

"He was shot in the left arm, that's what was bleeding so badly. A through and through. I bandaged him, that's why I have no shirt." A mirthless little laugh accompanied that remark. "But he was also shot in the shoulder, just below his collarbone. Left side. That bullet is still in him, and his collar bone is broken. I think he has some broken ribs too, and his breathing was getting worse." Silence reigned for a moment. Then Cari softly added. "We had to rest; Tony needed to catch his breath. We were just starting off again, when, when," her voice trailed off and her composure broke again.

Satisfied that no one was close, Gibbs reached out a long arm. Smoothing the young woman's hair back from her dirty face, he gave her a tentative smile. "Shhh, it's ok. What happened next?"

Carried looked him in the eyes, and was reassured by what she saw. The introductions Ziva had briefly made suddenly registered with her. "Gibbs. You're Gibbs." It was a statement, rather than a question. "Tony said you would find us. He said you always have his six."

Gibbs felt the words go clear through him, straight to his gut. His expression changed slightly, altering from his concern for the shocked young woman in front of him, to fear that maybe this time, he might have been too late. Tony needed him and he had no real idea where he was, or what had happened. Though he refused to let on to Ziva, the last gunshot they'd heard had him alarmed. Gibbs truly believed he'd know if Tony was dead, but of course, he had nothing scientific to base that on.

Though they never talked about it and though Tony could anger him faster than anyone else on the team, Gibbs cared very deeply for the younger man. He knew if he'd ever had a son, he would want him to be exactly like one Anthony DiNozzo, Jr. It shocked him sometimes, since his and Tony's personalities were so different, at least on the surface. Tony was all laugher and jokes, and did his best to not only have a good time with life, but make sure everyone around him did as well. Gibbs tried to ignore life, except as it related to whatever NCIS case they were working on. But even he was often affected by Tony's obvious delight in living. He had lost count of the number of times he'd had to hide a smile at some of DiNozzo's antics, especially when it involved other members of the team.

Shaking his head slightly to refocus his thoughts, Gibbs repeated. "So, what happened next, Cari? I have to know exactly what took place in order to help Tony."

Cari squared her shoulders. "We were going to head north; Tony wanted to get us close to a road, so we could try and flag someone down. But they showed up. Hutton and, well, uh, um, I'm not completely certain who they all were. But I heard Hutton's voice. He said we had unfinished business."

Ziva had opened her eyes, staring intently into Cari's face as she had listed Tony's injuries a little earlier. Now she had to keep herself from closing them again. "What did he mean? What happened next?" her voice sounded flat to her own ears.

"I don't know for sure. Tony pushed me, shoved me away and yelled at me to run. Then I heard him shouting and, I took off. I didn't want to leave him, but I knew unless one of us got away, we had no chance. And Tony, he couldn't run, he could barely stand up. I don't know what happened!"

Cari's voice picked up speed as she related the terrifying events. "I heard a lot of yelling and, ugly sounds, and I just ran away from it as fast as I could, and hid here. I heard the shot a little while later. Did they kill him? Did I get him killed?" Tears welled up again, as Cari's horror was brought fresh into her mind once again.

Gibbs face was hard as a rock and his voice resolute. "No. He's not dead. I'd know it." He roughly patted Cari on the shoulder, but turned toward his agent. "Here's what we're going to do. Ziva, you're going to protect Cari. There was a spot just a little ways back, where we had cell reception. Call Tim, give him those coordinates. Have him lead the team in as soon as he can. Then, your first and most important job, Agent David, is to protect Miss Castilles. Do you understand that?" He peered into her eyes, willing her to listen to reason.

Ziva looked set to protest, but as she thought of all Tony had gone through to get this young woman to safety, she knew she had little choice. "Yes, Gibbs, I will take care of her. You stay safe, and find Tony. Please Gibbs," and Ziva could hardly believe the pleading tone she found herself using. "Please, bring him back to me. I love him. And I haven't told him yet. Please tell him I love him, when you see him." Her eyes challenged Gibbs to forbid her to love Tony, but all she saw in his eyes was his dawning comprehension and concern.

"I'll bring him back, David. But I'm NOT telling DiNozzo I love him. I'd never hear the end of it." With that Gibbs turned her back the way she'd come. "Now go on, get Tim on the phone. Get out of here."

As soon as Ziva and Cari were out of sight, Gibbs looked around. The shot had some from the west, not too far away. He figured it had been maybe 10-12 minutes since he'd heard it. Assuming Tony was still alive, but knowing he was injured, they would have to carry him if they were planning on taking him somewhere. So they would have to move a lot slower than he did.

Gibbs headed west, alert for any sounds that might give him direction on where his agent was.

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Famad carried the wounded man easily, following Captain Hannah as he led the way back to the cabin. He thought about the risk he'd taken, shooting Hutton like that. Famad had gotten sucked into this club, almost by accident. He'd enjoyed it at first, he readily admitted that. His baser nature was all in favor of the rapes they'd committed early on. But when the rapes had turned to torture, and the torture to murder, something inside him had sickened. He'd wanted out, but had seen no way for that to happen, short of his own death. And he very much wanted to live.

When Rodgers had become part of this, at first he'd thought the guy was just another sicko, like all the rest of them. But something had been a little different, and when Rodgers had asked him if he'd regretted getting in, back in front of the apartment complex, he'd known then. Famad might be sick and twisted, but it didn't mean he was stupid. He'd figured Tony was on to them and maybe even working undercover. What he'd been trying to decide ever since that moment of clarity was how to turn the situation to his own advantage. He had no real concern for Rodger's well being, or whatever his real name was, but he was more than willing to use the man to his own advantage if possible.

And somewhere along the way, he had developed an absolute hatred for Hutton. That man had redefined sick and twisted, enjoying the torture and murder to the extreme, getting off on the women's pain and shrieks of terror. He was a bully, and a racist and Famad had known it was only a matter of time until one of them killed the other. He was just glad it had worked out that he could pull the trigger that had ended that particular bastard's life. Now he just had to figure a way to stay alive until he could get away from Captain Hannah. Famad figured they'd get whatever information they could out of Rodgers, then if necessary, he'd kill both of the other men, and leave the state. Leave the country if he had to.

Hannah cautiously opened the door to the secluded cabin. "Put him on the floor," he instructed. "Then go take a look around, and make sure no one has followed us. I'll try to revive sleeping beauty here, then we'll get to work."

Captain Hannah had been doing some thinking of his own. He was extremely angry at himself for having been taken in by Rodgers. He was normally a very good judge of character, and though he had liked the man, he had also thought he recognized a particular streak of evil in him, one that was necessary for the games they liked to play. Hannah had been doing this for a long time. He had wondered briefly about Rodgers, but when the kid had talked about the Emily Cokelur case, he'd been hooked. He'd followed that case avidly, and the chance to find out what had been done to the young woman had obviously colored his judgment. Well, he was over that.

Hannah watched as Famad nodded, and then turned around to go outside and check things out. As soon as his back was turned, Hannah with catlike stealth, advanced on him, drawing his knife silently. A quick slash and all that was left of Famad was his gurgling astonishment that it had ended like that. Hannah dragged his body into the cabin and dumped it unceremoniously in the corner. "Sorry, friend, but I can't trust anyone now."

Wiping the blade, he turned at a sound behind him and found Tony's eyes open and staring, obviously trying to figure out where he was and what had happened. His face was a mask of confusion and pain, and Hannah had no intention of letting those two useful tools go to waste. Laying the knife carefully out of reach on a shelf, he advanced on the wounded man.

"Well, Rodgers, or whatever your name is," he sneered. "You've led us a merry chase, and cost me two good men. But that's about to end now. You can make this easy on yourself and tell me what I want to know. Or you can make it entertaining for me, and you'll still tell me everything I want to know. What's it going to be, son?" Hannah had sidled around behind Tony, and before Tony could respond, he leaned over his left shoulder, using a knee to press into the bloody bullet wound.

A groan escaped Tony's lips as the pain burst forth. White hot anguish shot through his shoulder, and he tried to stifle his cries.

"Nothing?" Hannah demanded, increasing the pressure. "Really, nothing to say?" He could sense a killing rage coming over him. Shifting back, he eased the pressure from his knee. Feeling around with his hand, he discovered the broken pieces of Tony's collar bone when they shifted marginally. "That's okay, I don't mind waiting." And he leaned his weight forward, pressing harder, grinding the bone pieces into each other.

Tony could feel the nausea rising up as the bones moved. He'd had a lot of experience with pain prior to this, but nothing in his life had prepared him for the agony he was feeling now. Suddenly all that mattered was getting it to stop and he opened his mouth, ready to spill all he knew.

But as the words started to form, he suddenly saw Cari's frightened face, and knew she was at risk if he talked. Then in the middle of the sheer torment he was in, he thought of Ziva, and how disappointed he believed she would be if he gave in. Finally, as he snapped his mouth closed, and raised his right hand, futilely trying to pull Hannah's arm away, he could thought of Gibbs, and could swear he heard his voice in his head.

"Tony. Hang on. I'm coming. You know I've got your six. Just hold on, son."