Chapter Nine

Gibbs didn't have much luck with his search for Tony. He had managed to successfully compile a list of all of the potentials when he got into work on Monday, after almost shooting the computer three times, but luck was not on his side and his team caught a case, keeping them in the office pulling 18 hour shifts, sleep caught in naps behind desks and on Abby's futon in the lab.

It wasn't that it was a complicated case; in fact it was relatively simple to solve compared to some in the past, but it was high priority and with high ranking officials on Director Vance's back, he was hounding Gibbs for answers, who in turn was running his team ragged. So, by Friday morning, Gibbs had his team doing paperwork at their desks and hoping beyond hope that they wouldn't get another case to ruin their weekend, and a long list of potential Baltimore cops that could be Tony sitting on his computer waiting for him to look at their pictures.

The case hadn't helped Gibbs' mood; a young female Petty Officer had been snatched from her home and raped, before being found the following morning, disoriented and wandering the streets near her home. It turned out to be another Petty Officer assigned to her unit. He'd apparently been asking her out constantly for months and when she'd refused once again, he'd snapped. The Petty Officer's father was a close friend of SECNAV, hence the urgency to find and arrest her attacker.

It wasn't the case itself that had affected Gibbs' mood so much, it was his team. As soon as they heard what had happened to the victim, his team had began to give him pointed looks. They still didn't believe him when he told them (repeatedly) that nothing had happened while he was being held at Spring Court (he'd recently discovered that that was the name of the building he'd been taken to), but with Ducky offering him 'a cup of tea and a chat' every single time he'd entered Autopsy, Abby treating him with kid gloves, McGee unable to look at him period, he was starting to lose patience with them. He'd walked in this morning to find Kate and Ziva arguing over whether to confront him, for crying out loud. Ziva had been on his side in a way, stating that 'he will talk about it when he wishes to talk about it', but Kate had been all for an intervention. Like he was going to sit down and talk about his problems even if something had happened. Maybe with Tony... you found it easy to talk to him.

Gibbs rolled his head back. Sure, Tony would be easy to talk to, but the likelihood of me finding him, or even finding the time to look isn't great, and even then, what if he doesn't want to see me? He seemed like he did back at Spring Court sure, but if he's a cop then he was undercover so it was probably all part of the act. I could find him only to be ignored entirely.

Gibbs looked back down at his computer screen. He'd ignored his own paperwork that morning, instead starting to look down the list. Two hours later and he'd made it to almost half way, having been stopped multiple times for various pieces of paperwork requiring his signature. At least he was now officially allowed back in the field, having passed the psych eval the previous day. Having to sit at his desk and dictate all week hadn't been fun; he was a doer, not a teller. He looked in the direction of the window and thought about Tony again. Okay, so he might not want to see me. I still need to know who he is though, I need to know his full name at least. If I know that, maybe I can forget about him. Or not...

He sighed and stood up. "Going for coffee," he grunted at his team, heading for the elevator.

.

On his way back he took a small detour to sit on a park bench. He needed to think, and the office wasn't the ideal place to do it. Sipping at his coffee, he got himself comfortable. Why can't I stop thinking about Tony? Like I told myself two weeks ago, I'm not gay, I've never liked guys before, so what the hell is it about him? It can't be his vampire nature, I've met plenty of vampire guys and never reacted this way with them, so it has to be something else, but what? I could ask Abby, but that would bring up some very awkward questions, same goes for Ducky. Tony might know, but then I go back to my original problem, I have to find him.

He brought his head up and nodded firmly. "So I'll find him," he murmured. "Get some damn answers, if nothing else."

He stood up and headed towards the Navy Yard, but didn't get more than two steps before he felt like he was being watched. He turned slightly, trying to make it less obvious that he'd noticed, but couldn't see anyone. And now I'm imagining things. Great.

.

His mood worsened when he got back to the office, sat down at his desk and saw what someone had left there while he was gone.

A booklet. From a charity, aimed at victims of vampires, specifically those who were raped.

He stared at the booklet, took a deep breath and looked up at his team. McGee had his head down so far he couldn't possibly see his computer screen, typing faster than ever before; Ziva was doing paperwork and he could tell by looking at her that she had nothing to do with it, but Kate... Kate was looking at her computer sure, but the way she kept glancing up every few seconds to see what Gibbs was going to do with the booklet was telling. Wonder what happened to the intervention idea.

He'd had enough, by any means. Standing up from his desk slowly, he picked up the booklet by it's corner and threw it into the trash before picking his coat back up and walking away.

"Going out, if I'm needed call me."

He hadn't even reached the elevator before his team were up and racing towards the other one. How on earth they ever managed to subtly arrest a suspect was beyond him. He shook his head, walking into the elevator along with two other agents as it arrived.

.

He drove around aimlessly for a few hours, torn between not wanting to go home and wanting to go back to work to continue his search for Tony, but not wanting to face the questions from his team. What he had done with the booklet earlier would only make them more convinced that he'd been raped while in captivity, but right now he didn't care. He didn't honestly know how to make them understand, without finding Tony and getting him to tell them, which had actually crossed his mind. Though knowing my luck they won't believe Tony either.

It was dark by the time he finally pulled up in front of his own house. Tired from a lack of afternoon coffee, he decided to at least try to sleep, and if that didn't work, he could go into the office to continue his search. The team should have gone home hours ago. He just hoped that they weren't all waiting inside again. If they were, and if they started in on him again, he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to resist the urge to shoot them.

He got out of his bright yellow Challenger and headed around to his front door. He was reaching for the handle when he felt it again; the same feeling as earlier that day. Someone was watching him.

He checked his gun and walked to his front gate, looking up and down the street. He couldn't see anyone, so turned and went into the house. He did however, do a rare thing and locked his front door. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself but the events were creeping him out a little.

He didn't turn on any lights, instead going to his living room window and taking another look at the street outside. He looked up, then down the street, before looking up at the inky blue star-studded sky.

He was about to turn away, checking up and down the street a third and final time, when he thought he saw something move, deep in the shadows at the far end of the road.