AN: Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate – I hope you have a wonderful holiday. For those of you who don't celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful day too. Here's a little something for your Easter baskets :)

First of all, I want to apologize for not responding to reviews for the previous chapter. It was a crazy busy week with work and real life and I just didn't have time. I'm not the world's fastest writer and I really wanted to get this out today so I hope you understand – I promise to do better this chapter. I really do appreciate all your feedback. You've been incredibly supportive, especially those of you who have been responding since the beginning and I appreciate it more than I can say. Even the smallest comment can brighten up my day so thanks so much.

I'm off to Easter dinner now – Enjoy!!

*****

Something was wrong.

Gibbs awoke with a sense of dread and a sick feeling in the pit of stomach. His eyes immediately went to Tony who appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Gibbs gently felt Tony's forehead and found that although he was still warm, it in no way rivaled the fever from the previous night. Feeling a bit better, Gibbs allowed his eyes to close again, but he then heard the sound that had likely caused him to awaken in the first place...coughing...Tony's coughing...

He'd been fearing it would happen from the moment that bastard Bellingham had injected the contents of the syringe into Tony's arm. Ever since he had developed extensive scarring of his lungs due to the plague, it was important for Tony not to let himself get run down. Gibbs knew the consequences could be dire if his agent was to acquire pneumonia. He watched like a hawk as the young agent seemed unable to keep still, tossing and turning in his sleep with sporadic coughing. Eventually, Tony began to show signs of awakening. He burrowed further underneath the blanket before opening his eyes and gazing sleepily up at Gibbs. "No rescue yet?" he asked, his voice raspy from a combination of just waking up and his developing cough.

Gibbs shook his head. "Not yet, DiNozzo, but I'm real hopeful something good will happen today."

"Yeah? That's great, boss." Personally, Tony didn't really share Gibbs' opinion, but what did he know? Gibbs and his gut were right more often than not. They were silent for a short time before Tony spoke again. "Is there any more water?"

Gibbs glanced at the two empty water bottles on the floor and then his eyes went to Sheldon who was sprawled out asleep on the couch while Pete and Sam were seated at the table playing a card game. "Can we please have some more water?" Gibbs called out.

"Pete slowly got to his feet and retrieved two bottles of water which he brought over to Gibbs. "You hungry?" he asked as he handed Gibbs the bottles.

Was he kidding? "I could definitely eat," Gibbs replied as he twisted the cap off one of the water bottles and passed it to Tony

Pete nodded and went back across the room, returning only seconds later with a package of crackers which he handed to Gibbs. "Thanks," Gibbs accepted the crackers, the first food they had been offered in days. In normal circumstances, he would have turned his nose up at them, but now, the crackers were priceless. He opened the package and offered a cracker to Tony, "Here, DiNozzo. Eat this."

Tony shook his head, looking at the cracker distastefully. "No thanks. I'm good with the water."

"Come on, Tony...just try..."

"Boss, please...I can't..." He knew Gibbs was only looking after his well being and he really wasn't trying to be difficult, but just the thought of eating anything made his stomach flip flop.

Gibbs saw the very real distress in Tony's eyes and decided to let him off the hook. "It's okay, Tony," he said softly. "If you can't eat, you can't eat...I'm not going to force you."

"Thanks..." Tony felt a tickle beginning in the back of his throat and unsuccessfully tried to stifle an eruption of coughing. When the coughing fit had ended, he shot an almost guilty look in Gibbs' direction.

All too familiar with the many expressions of DiNozzo, Gibbs met Tony's eyes, having no idea what his agent could be feeling guilty about. "What's on your mind, DiNozzo?" he finally asked.

"Nothing, boss..." Tony dropped his gaze and instead concentrated on playing with the fringe at the end of the blanket that covered him.

"DiNozzo...tell me," Gibbs coaxed.

Tony sighed, still not meeting Gibbs, eyes. "It's just...I'm sorry, boss...I'm sorry I've been so worthless during all this. You've been having to take care of me and I haven't been any help at all...If I wasn't sick, we might have already gotten out of this mess..."

Gibbs gently thumped Tony on the head. "What's the matter with you, DiNozzo? How on earth can you even for a minute think any of this is your fault?"

Tony shrugged. "I don't know…I just…"

Gibbs interrupted, not giving Tony a chance to finish his sentence. "Did you invite yourself to my house for dinner the other night? Did you ask to come along in my car? Did you beg Bellingham to shoot you up with God only knows what kind of poison into your system? Did you, DiNozzo? Because if you did any of that, I'll agree that this is your fault. But if you didn't…Damn it, DiNozzo…" Gibbs' voice was rising with every word. He brushed his hand back through his hair in frustration as he consciously forced himself to speak in a lower tone. "I don't even understand for a second how you could think any of this is your fault."

Tony said nothing. He just stared back at Gibbs with misery written all over his face. He despised hospitals with a passion, but all he wanted was to be in one right now, sleep for a week and let the doctors make him better.

"Tony? Are you listening to me? This is in no way your fault, got it?"

Tony nodded, but Gibbs could tell his words hadn't really sunken in and he was more worried than ever about his young agent.

*****

"Please send him right down," Ziva instructed then hung up the phone.

"What's up?" Tim inquired. He could tell by the look on Ziva's face that it was important.

"Tony's father..."

"Oh man...Do you think he knows something?"

Ziva nodded. "I would say it is a certainty," she replied.

The two agents waited a seemingly endless time for the elevator doors to open and a grim-faced DiNozzo Sr. to step out. They stood up as he approached. "Mr. DiNozzo," Ziva extended her hand. "It is a pleasure to see you again."

"Hello, Ziva," DiNozzo Sr. offered a faint smile as he took her hand. "You are looking lovely as always."

"Thank you." She knew he was lying. They had worked through the night and she was far from looking her best.

DiNozzo Sr. turned towards Tim. "It's good to see you again too, Agent..." He trailed off as he stared at Tim blankly, obviously having no recollection of the young man's name.

"McGee."

"McGee," DiNozzo Sr. repeated with an apologetic smile. He glanced around the bullpen area seeing no sign of his son, further confirming what he already suspected to be true. "I've been unable to reach Tony...was wondering if maybe he's undercover or something?"

Ziva and Tim exchanged a glance. "No, Tony isn't undercover," Tim replied.

"Oh..." There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence. "Where's Gibbs?" DiNozzo Sr. asked. "I need to speak to him. It's of some importance."

"Gibbs isn't here," Tim stated. "You can talk to us about whatever this matter is."

Ziva was growing impatient. "Enough of this tiny talk."

"Small talk," McGee corrected automatically.

"Small talk. Mr. DiNozzo, what do you know about Tony's disappearance?"

DiNozzo Sr. sighed heavily as his fears were finally confirmed without a shadow of a doubt. "I don't really know very much. Late yesterday afternoon a man called and said he has Tony and he wants 15 million dollars for his return."

"Caller ID?" Tim asked.

DiNozzo Sr. shook his head. "Unknown caller."

"Did he say when you need to give them the money?" Tim grabbed a notebook and pen from his desk and began to jot down details.

"Twenty four hours."

"What time did he call?" Ziva asked.

"4:30."

"Where's Gibbs?" DiNozzo Sr. asked, interrupting the agents' questioning. "He's so full of advice to me about my kid, but now that he's missing he's nowhere to be found?"

"Gibbs is also missing," Ziva explained.

"What?"

"They're together," Tim stated. "At least they were as of yesterday afternoon...Why don't you take a seat, Mr. DiNozzo. We have a lot to go over.

DiNozzo Sr.'s expression was one of confusion and for a second Ziva believed she saw a hint of jealousy on his face.

*****

"I'm going to go make the call to set things up," Sheldon said quietly. He glanced over at the two agents, but they didn't appear to be paying him any mind.

"Why can't you just call from here?" Sam asked.

"Because there's no signal way out in the woods, you moron," Pete answered.

"Yeah, what he said," Sheldon nodded. "Now you keep a close eye on them. That kid is really sick, so I doubt they'll be giving you any trouble, but if they start anything, just slap the cuffs back on."

"No problem...we'll keep a tight rein on them," Sam replied

Satisfied, Sheldon grabbed his cell phone and the keys to the van then left the cabin without another word.

*****

Gibbs placed his hand over Tony's forehead, undeterred as Tony tried to move away from him. "I don't have a fever," Tony muttered irritably.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that," DiNozzo," Gibbs responded with a slight frown. Tony was definitely starting to heat up again. Gibbs wasn't sure how much more his body could take.

"Well?" Tony snapped.

Gibbs ignored the younger man's tone. He knew Tony was trying desperately to be brave, but there was no way he could disguise his eyes which were filled with fear. "You'll be fine, DiNozzo," Gibbs reassured. He patted Tony's hand and gave him an encouraging smile.

Tony nodded and tried to respond, but instead had another brutal coughing fit which left him breathless at the end of it.

"I think we need to sit you up, Tony." Gibbs gently put his hands on Tony's back and helped him up into a recumbent position. The older man then gingerly sat on the cot, hoping it was strong enough to support both their weights, and pulled Tony back against his chest.

"This again, boss?" Tony quipped as he managed to catch his breath. "Didn't know you liked me so much. You can't seem to keep your hands off me." Truthfully, he was greatly comforted as he leaned back against Gibbs. Even though he knew Gibbs really couldn't help him, it still made Tony feel safer somehow.

"Keep it up, DiNozzo." Gibbs smiled at Tony's words, knowing that the attempts at humor were signs that the young man was still fighting. "Just remember, you're going to get well and when you do, I won't have forgotten any of this."

Tony returned the smile and the two fell into a companionable silence. After a short time, Tony began to speak. "When I was really little...my mom used to hold me like this when was sick..." Tony said softly as he closed his eyes, becoming lost in the memories. "Most of the time she wasn't around that much. She was always shopping or organizing charity events...but when I was sick, she was always there. She would tell me stories...feed me chicken soup... You'll feel better soon, bambino. That's what she used to call me sometimes, bambino. I...I used to like being sick...sometimes I'd even pretend to be sick when I wasn't...those were the only times I ever used to feel like anyone loved me..."

Tony trailed off and Gibbs thought he had fallen asleep. Tony's defenses were down... way down. Gibbs knew he would never be letting these things out if they weren't. He couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly sad for a little boy who had only gotten love and attention when he was sick. It was wrong...it explained so much.

"Af...after my mom died...it just kind of stopped...my dad...he just always sent me away...camps...boarding school...it was like he didn't even know I existed most of the time. After my mom died, that was it...no one cared about me anymore..."

Gibbs could hear the sadness in Tony's voice and he tightened his hold on the young agent. "Not true, DiNozzo...lots of people care about you," he said gruffly, fighting back emotion. "Abby, Ducky, Ziva, McGee...they all care about you...and I care about you too, Tony." What the hell had been wrong with DiNozzo's father? It wasn't the first time Gibbs felt a flare-up of anger towards the man and as blanks began to be filled in, he was even more furious.

"Really, boss?" Tony questioned sleepily, sounding very much like an uncertain little boy, and Gibbs could tell that this time he was definitely about to drift off.

"Really, DiNozzo. I care about you very much..."